Hard Work vs Smart Work

I always used to have this debate with myself. Well, actually it was never a debate, rather a one sided argument that smart work is superior than hard work, and if you do smart work, you need not go for the hard part. It was not until fairly recently that I changed my stand.

There were many reasons for my earlier stand. One of the main reasons was that without much of hard work I got grades that satisfied me. And since it was the easier way out I cherished it. I was a sleep hog all throughout my under-graduation (all my school and college friends would testify to that). But somewhere in the corner of my heart there was a feeling that I was not doing justice to my potential. And I think it was one of the major reasons for my lack of happeeness(about which I have already described in my previous post).

But during last one year I have realized that its not enough to do smart work. Hard work is equally necessary. Actually both of them go hand in hand. You can achieve success with smart work, but only smart work is wastage of your potential.

But how did I realize that hard work is important? Well, honestly speaking I do not know. But I had done some sort of "soul searching". During this period I realized a very important thing. Some how I have managed not to study for grades, and I am very thankful to GOD for that. But during my undergrad since I used to get decent grades with very less effort, I got addicted to it in a way. This was one of the main reasons why I did not work hard. But then somehow after graduation I realized that this is not enough.

One of the reasons for my changing stand is a friend of mine. He is a really intelligent guy. Especially his understanding of mathematics. Awesome for a person of his age. It is not that he is very fast at calculations, but the fundamental understanding of various concepts he has is simply amazing. It took me years to grasp this much understanding of math. In spite of all his abilities, he still works hard, in anything he likes. Its not just studies. He does not study all day, which is not even desirable, but when needed he does really work hard. Say for example during the exams, this 15 year old kid keeps an alarm to wake up early and study (whereas for me, I needed my friends to wake me up even during B.Tech). He also has played a very big role in helping me to shift my stand.

So, Hard Work vs Smart Work is still not a debate for me. It has become a balanced argument. I have come to believe that both are necessary, for a happee life. I think I found a diplomatic (or should I say, a non-violent) solution. :)

Source Ben Tremblay

How to get Swimming Pool membership at IITM?

The procedure of acquiring swimming pool membership in IITM is very simple. All you need to do is the following steps:

1. Go to Gymkhana office between 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
2. Get the application form from the desk by swearing that you have got money, a passport size photograph and ID card*.
3. Fill the form and give it at the desk.
4. Wait until your name is called out (Warning : This might take arbitrarily long time).
5. When your name is called go to the desk and, give all the things that you swore for when you took the form.
6. In case anything is missing go and get it. Goto step 4.
7. Get your membership card and receipt. You are ready to swim.

Looking at all the above steps you might think that it is a painstakingly long process, but that is not the case. For me to get all these steps completed when there was a big crowd of 10 people in queue, only took slightly more than an hour.

Two very efficient people were at the desk. A gentleman, who helped people take oath before giving them the form, and also stapled their photographs on the membership card(going around in between to attend phone or nature's call with all the prospective members waiting). And a lady, who took membership fees, entered half the details in membership card and gave the receipt.

* ID Card strictly means the institute ID card that you had collected from library basement when you had joined the institute. No other cards like mess card, film club card, old swimming pool card, or any other such card from among the few you have got will do.

Nagala Trek

Getting up early in the morning at 3:30 happens only when you are going for an outing. I too was going for one such outing, a trek in Eastern Ghats. We were going to Nagala which is about 90 kms from Chennai. There were seven of us. All excited and charged up for the first trek of their lives.


We reached the starting point of out trek after some effort. We started at about 9 am. We had to reach a dam beyond which were the lush green forests in Eastern Ghats, where we were to trek. Those lush green hills made a beautiful site. We started our way into the jungles on those hills, and our destination was a pool. On the way we were going up and down the hilly terrain. It was lush green, completely under tree cover. I had seen such places before only on Discovery and Nat Geo. It was a wonderful place to be in. Swarms of butterflies moving around you, birds chirping, water flowing down in small streams, and the view of brilliant jungles and hills all around.


When we reached the pool we were somewhat tired. There we had our lunch and after that just plunged into the pool. The cool water of the pool was really soothing. Two little streams coming from uphill were feeding into the pool. It was a wonderful site. We enjoyed in the cool waters of the pool for a few hours and then got ready for our return trip to base camp. Well, return trip was fun till we were walking in the jungle under the tree shade. But once we got under the open sky at 3:30 in the afternoon we could really feel the heat. We were emptying packets of Glucon D in water bottles and having it to get some instant energy. Finally after a long tiring walk we made it to our car. And ya since our water bottles were empty we got a chance to have water from hand pump, in the village where we had parked our car. And also, we had used some fresh water, from the streams flowing down the hills. Fresh naturally purified water :).


This was my first experince of a jungle and also a trek. And it was a wonderful one. I will cherish these memories for a long time to come.

Ability... A misplaced premise?

Hector on wikipedia

I just finished watching Troy. Yes, for the first time and let me tell you it is an awesome movie, worth every second of it. The two main characters in this movie are, the great warrior Achilles, who fought for glory, and the Trojan, Hector, who fought for Troy.

Achilles was the greatest of all the warriors. He was made for the kill. His abilities were unparalleled. But all he fought was for glory. No other motive, no other purpose, but just to get his name remembered for a 'thousand years'. Although Achilles might have been a noble man, but all he sought was glory.

On the other hand there is Hector, who was also a great warrior. The greatest warrior in Troy, 'the tamer of forces'. He was also the noblest of men. He fought the great war, for his people, for Troy.

Apparently very few people knew about Hector, before this movie was released. I wonder why is it so. Is glory, the only thing that matters? Why is the story of Hector not told as passionately as that of Achilles? Is it because Hector did not fight for glory, or because Achilles was a slightly better warrior? Does that ε (epsilon) difference in ability to fight matter so much? It is ultimately the motive behind every action that matters. Isn't it?

"Take away the motive, and you take away the sin."
- Cervantes

PS : All my views about Achilles and Hector are based on what I understood about them from the movie, Troy.