Saturday, May 06, 2006

Do Something Constructive!

If we imagine that there's a devil and an angel inside each one of us, then the angel in me has always been screaming those words at the beginning of each vacation. The devil in me tells me to read novels and play computer games. Well, the devil usually wins!!

But, I've come to the sudden realization that if either my student status or bachelor status were to end, there will be no more long vacations to do all those things I wanted to do that can only be done during holidays. I mean, sure I'll have some time off now and then, but you can't beat a 3 month long summer vacation. So, I tried to jot down my "To Do" list for the vacations... and the first few things that came out were very loser-ly academic type things! *sigh* NEXT! I said to myself, and these popped out:

- Learn to skate well on ice. Right now, I can't even do a medium-speed stop maneuver. I enjoy skating, and it would be more fun, duh, if I could skate better.

- Refresh my English! We use so few words in regular conversation or writing that over a period of time, we stop using the really expressive words, even if we know their meanings and usage well enough.

- Write more poetry. Write some short fiction. Write longer fiction. Just write! Few people may read it... far fewer people may like it... but the day you lose your writing habit, you lose something precious. The day you lose your reading habit, you lose far, far more... but fat chance of that happening to me!

- Learn to cook better. With my genes I ought to make an expert cook, except that I don't believe talent is genetically encoded. But my Mom, my tongue, and my roommates will be infinitely happy if I can push my lazy self into reading a few cooking books for a change and churn out something beyond the basic few dishes I've taught myself so far.

- Keep physically fit. Go to the gym, play tennis, play squash, something. I used to play that odd game of cricket or volleyball... or, during holidays, sign up at the gym and pay them a few visits... in the past, to assuage my guilt, but I think its time for more drastic measures *determined expression*

- Learn one musical instrument, either the piano or the violin (my personal preference, no offense to guitars or drums or whatever). I've attempted to do both before, but I don't quite have the feel for them. But just because I'm bad at it doesn't mean I've lost the enthusiasm!

- And, my very own little secret wish: Ballroom dancing. Don't laugh! Chup! I said, Don't laugh! I have two left feet and a body more rigid than our last cook's puris, but I'll learn to dance with a partner and do it well, someday!

Add to this the Science blog idea, and I guess I can make this a busy summer for myself.

But why do I get the feeling I'm still not going to be doing too much beyond reading novels, playing computer games, playing bridge and doing my research? :)

Cheers,
Prashanth.

7 comments:

Sankar said...

pacha,
good luck with all these. I used to think like this each vacation. But at the end of 3 months, I would realize that nothing had been done. Hope you are able to successfully complete some of the these wishes :)
But I got to admit... the best one was ballroom dancing. I can hear peps laughing out loud upon reading this... But do make an attempt and good luck with that.

Artful Badger said...

hm..i did try salsa..not too much luck

alraqs said...

~ lol..if you hadnt told me not to laugh, I wouldnt have, coz I dont know you and you could have very well been the next john travolta or some such...but telling us not to laugh was your own downfall, you know :)
~ ah the joy of resolutions...express what you want to do, or what you think you ought to do...ultimately, you only end up doing what you normally do, most of the time anyway...

Artful Badger said...

Well good to have some plans for the summer...you have a lot of time in hand..
If you are going to be in University there is tonnes of stuff to do..they have some summer courses as well..

Prashanth said...

Sankar,
Yeah, I can imagine him rolling on the floor laughing. Damn, I shouldn't have said it :)

Ramani,
I'm in the mood for a long vacation, so no summer courses for me. Plus I have my candidacy exam :(

Alraqs,
Thats right. But lets see how it goes!

Intern,
I don't understand why you say "beautifully written" for such silly mundane posts.

Well, don't overdo the one-shot thing for *work* because it burns you out quickly. For hobbies? Sure!

Anonymous said...

ROTFLOL.....pacha and ball room dancing.......it will look like a robo dance. and u need to append ur list:
- take pictures and send them to ur family.
- get driving permit.
- call up anna once in a while.

luv
anna

Divster said...

You know what.. U shud take up the chance and actually go for that ballroom dancing. It can't be that bad after all! Atleast U satisfy ur curiosity..even if it threatens to be a hidden camera gimmick!

Ballroom dancing is about posture, grace and most of all rhythm. U need to be smooth in all these three areas..these are the basics for any dance. Ballroom dancing also is about "balance" attained with ur partner. So, u not only move in ballroom dancing.. but u move in sync with ur partner..and this means U have to learn the art of guiding her through it as well.

Now that I have given a small insight to 'what-it-takes' for ballroom dancing.. I ask you, do you wish to possess all of the above?