Got my UROPS!

Well, here goes my upcoming holidays... I guess I won't be having anymore holidays like I used to. I am both happy and sad. Happy because I won't be spending all day sitting at home and just slacking, just browsing the net and watching movies, reading books. Happy that I would be running around, busy with something rather than slacking at home. But also sad that I won't have time to spend with my family, or just slacking a little while at home... Slacking for a little while is ok, but its not when you only slack for the entire day!

I got my UROPS!! UROPS stands for Undergraduate Research Opportunity Programme in Science. I had approached Prof Kini Manjunatha a.k.a. Prof K. He called me down to his office and we sat down and talked. When he asked what I'm passionate about, I was just blabbering... I went blank! Thank God, I was atleast able to say something. But all turned out well, and he started explaining to me all about his lab research.

They are working on snake venoms! Interesting, because they have just come out with a drug using one of the toxins, modifying it a bit, to reduce blood pressure! Can you believe it? Amazingly, toxins can be of help to humans! I am really interested to get started and working on the toxins... I am just waiting for my camp to get over and so I can start working on my UROPS. Research work takes long time, so its better to start early. I still don't know what my project is gonna be, but I hope it would be interesting and that I will learn something worthwhile. Its all in God's hands to make it a success or a failure, while I put in all the efforts I can. I'm simply excited!

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Aligning your thoughts, speech and actions...

It is said that for a person, the most important of all things is his thoughts. It is one's thoughts that become one's words, and it is one's thoughts that also become one's actions. And one's actions determine his character and a lot more. As such, it is only logical to say that one with good thoughts is a good person who speaks good words and does good things; and that one with bad thoughts is a bad person who speaks and does bad things.

Logically, one can arrive at this decision. But by experience, you can confirm this truth. In my 22 years of existence, I have seen what has happened to good & bad people when they have moved on to afterlife. Such an experience and examples, right in front of me in my own extended family in India, has deepened my principle to always have good thoughts about oneself and others.

Sometimes you might think that what could possibly go wrong in my life if I think badly about someone else? Or if I curse someone else? But in whatever we think, say or do, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's third law has already been thought out and explained in our dharma shastras (it is difficult to give a direct translation, as the words mean a lot more than intended, but I'll call it moral scriptures of the Hindus). The concept of karma is now accepted and regarded as logical by many people today. The common phrase they like to use is, "what goes around, comes around." Or they will say, "what you sow is what you reap."

Taking examples from my own family, the people I know closely either directly or indirectly from what my parents discuss, this truth is proven again and again. I had a great grandmother who had just passed away a year ago. My mum said about some horrible things she did, that didn't keep the people around her happy at all. She had hurt many people by her words and actions. Later she reformed her ways, but she was tossed around from one home to another as none of her sons wanted to keep her in their homes for long. She lived a long life, but for a year before she passed away, she was in a lot of pain and couldn't wait to put it to an end.

My great grandmother on the other side, who is still living but a little sick, is someone who is grumpy, always nagging and such an irritating person. She is the kind of person with whom you can never be comfortable having around. But she doesn't wish anyone any bad. She does not curse others or harm others in any way. You know how old people get grumpy and feel insecure as they age? That is how she is like. But never thinking bad about others. And look at her now. She has a good house, people are there to take care of her, she gets her monthly allowance and a devoted son (my dad) who takes care of her and provides for her.

My grandmother, on the other hand, is a living example of what will happen if one has bad thoughts. She is in such a financial mess right now, and also not being able to discriminate what is right and what is wrong, who is jealous of her own daughter-in-law and maybe also jealous of her own daughter (my mum)! I believe that someone who curses and thinks bad of another person, is never really inflicting that curse on that person but to oneself!

Its a simple rule: You do good, people will do good to you! And believe it or not, you think good, you will speak good, and you will do good. So it all lies in the way you think. Train yourself to think positively, that no matter who the person is, just think good about that person and nver bad. Your life will transform right before your eyes! It is very difficult to be honest, especially to yourself. But a honest person is one whose thoughts, speech and actions are aligned in the same plane. Otherwise he is a hypocrite.

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Results... Semester 2, 08/09

I'm quite surprised with my results this semester. Usually I would be getting at most a C+, pulling down my CAP, and my core modules would usually get the worst grades ever! But this time around, due to extra efforts I put in, my CAP improved! God, am I glad or what!! Here it is:

LSM2103	Cell Biology	B+
LSM2104	Essential Bioinformatics & Biocomputing	B
SN1101E	South Asia: People, Culture & Development	A-
SN2271	Religion and Society in South Asia	B
ST2238	Introductory Biostatistics	B-

Not bad for Cell Bio, considering I didn't do so well for my 2nd test, I got atleast a B+. I was expecting an A- as the exam was quite okay. I guess many people did quite okay for the exam and the bell curve got shifted to the right a bit. As for Bioinfo, I am so so glad for getting a B!! The exam was tough! Open book exams are always difficult to handle. I guess it would be alright now to take the 3rd year Bioinfo module, or not! Biostats is the worst... I expected a B for it and got a B- instead :( But I guess its justified, considering the high number of marks I lost for the final exam. I was so worried, and B- is certainly better than a C!!

I'm doing a South Asian Studies Minor... Last semester I took Tamil Studies I, and for this semester, I took the compulsory South Asia: People, Culture and Devt module, and a module about Religion in South Asia. Not bad grades, and I'm only too happy for my compulsory module, considering I'm a science student. The B for the Religion module is understandable, considering I lost a solid 20 marks for the final exam, due to my complacency. I promise to myself that I will never be over-confident about any module again, just because I think I know about it better.

I'm really happy and also worried. Happy because my CAP improved and that means my confidence in myself has gone up. I am only 0.15 points away from qualifying for Honours, and this means I have to work much much harder next semester, getting all B+ and above! This is what worries me. Sigh... Well, it does not matter to me whether I do Honours or not, but what I want is to graduate with a good set of grades and CCA Records. Best case scenario would be to get an Honours, and continue on with a PhD. But not-so-worst case scenario would be me not being able to qualify for Honours, graduating with a Third Class, pass with merit, struggling to apply for Masters... So no matter whether I do Honours or not, I want to graduate with atleast an 2nd Lower, meaning above CAP 3.5...

Where I end up... the results are all in God's hands. I will just do my best and give my best in everything. We'll see...

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