E-book reader

So... I haven't updated anything for a long time. I guess I'm just too lazy :)

I recently bought an e-book reader. I have resisted buying one of these for quite sometime, telling myself that it's not a book. I am also a little put off by the price of these things since the functionality is quite limited. But recently, Barnes & Noble slashes the price of their e-readers and tablets as part of the 'Get London Reading' campaign (so they said). So, the basic model, "Nook Simple Touch" now sells at an insanely cheap price of just £29. That's why I decided to try it out too. But ever since the price cut, most of the units were sold out, so I decided to go for the slightly costlier model with a built in light, the "Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight" (for reading at night). I was lucky that the Arndale Argos store still had 7 in stock. 

Since I like collecting books, I don't sell or exchange them later. So, when I had to go back home after college, I sent some 40kgs of books by post and it was very cumbersome. Since then, I have abstained from buying books when I'm not at home. I purely rely on my mac or my phone to read e-books, but staring at the backlit screen the whole day and then using it for reading books as well has taken a toll on my eyes. Sometimes, there comes a point when I just can't even blink because my eyes are too dry. The eye-drop is a good stuff, but it doesn't help much. So, this e-reader thingie might just be the solution to that. Since it uses e-ink and with no backlighting, it looks like paper and is much better for the eyes. And because it's still fairly new, I haven't decided yet on which features to dislike. I'll tell you about the performance once I get to use it more often or after I root it. 

Cover

Pu Mama tan

Hringmi khawvel hnutiang chhawnin

Lunglohtui dawnin hawilopar min thliah san maw

Kohkir theih ni se hlimlai ni te

Khuarei chang tur an kan phal mawlh lo

Nang ngaiin kan ṭah a tul leh thin.

I lungtum a ni bil lo kan hai mawlh lo

Awmlai lunglian dan rual a ni nem maw

Chawitlei hraileng leh nuthai riangte

Nang ngai in tlaini an leng asin

Ṭap ṭapin zuapa an au ding zo lo.

Fam hnu zal na piallei thuahriat

Ka dawn ngamlo ka phal lul lo

I sulhnu zawng leh nunhlui liam hnu

Chhuiin nau ang ṭah kan bang dawn lo

Van a duai chuang ngei e kan tawnah.

I sakhming thamral an kan phal nem le

I lenrual zawng ten Mama tiin

Thlafam rihsang min kai san mahla

Rolung phunin chawi zel nange

Sakhming mawi Samuel Lalliansanga.

For my uncle

Still can't find a reason,
Why God took you from us.
But we are mere mortals,
Who cannot see the big picture.
Though you weren't perfect,
Yet, you were still the best.
The best uncle I could wish for,
I know you loved us all.
You know, Marcus worshipped you,
But now he's lost without you.
Sara's too young to understand,
And she asked when you're coming home.
If you'd have heard Anutei's voice,
I'm sure you'd cry too.
I spoke to mom today,
And she tried to stay strong.
But I could feel the pain,
In every little word she said.
I still can't find the courage,
To call and speak to grandma.
Because deep down inside me,
I'm scared I'd break down.
They say time can heal the pain,
But it still leaves an ugly scar.
They said heaven gained an angel,
But I still don't know why.
They'd need another brave heart,
Cause they have dad and grandpa there.
And I'm sure they won't need a doctor,
Cause there's no more suffering there.
Or maybe they need your expertise,
To plan for war ahead.
Ok, I'm just rambling here,
To find a good enough reason.
Maybe someday we'll get to know,
Why heaven needed you so bad.

A hero he will always be...

14th Feb 2013 : I was reading in the library when I got this text from my brother  "Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend" . I was shocked and browsed frantically for the tragic news on google. I read every news piece I could and tried to find some answer as to what caused Oscar to commit this horrible act. But, all I could find were speculations. No one knew the answer. It deeply saddens me and still keeps me wishing there was a whole other explanation. RIP Reeva Steenkamp.

                          Since my brother is an amputee, the name "Oscar Pistorius" is not foreign to us. Way before he competed in the Olympics, my brother and I used to watch all his training videos on the net. We would watch on and on about how he runs, how he carried himself when he stands up and basically studied his every move on the track. He was always a great inspiration . Yes, his participation in the Olympics sparked a lot of controversies as to whether he had an unfair advantage over the other runners. People may argue that his blade was lighter so he can make faster strides, but I don't think they know the full extent of difficulties that an amputee faces with a prosthetic leg. His sole participation in the Olympics, though he might not have won anything opens a new chapter in the Olympics.

                          Anyway, after the shooting incident, rumours about him always having a dark side , and all the imperfect things he had done were featured in the news. Maybe he has a dark side and yes, it was a horrible thing he did. But he will always be the man who made disability an ability, who turns disadvantage into an advantage. He will always be a hero in the hearts of many.

My views on education in Mizoram

Being born and brought up in Mizoram, I spent all my school years there. The first school I attended did a great job in instilling a zeal to learn among us kids that some of us actually choose to stay back on our own will after class to read the text books of higher classes. Consequently, after some time I was able read Mizo books while I was only in std 1.  I think that’s when I developed my love for reading.

Then from std 2, I attended a Roman Catholic school. I still remember the first exam I gave because I answered the ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ questions on my question paper and I took the question paper home lol. And of course I was allowed for a resit :D . I always liked going to schools because we had fun and life was not always about studies. Though our teachers were very good and dedicated, I do regret to say that sometimes they fail to make learning fun .But I still remember vividly most of Sister Juliet’s teaching till now. She teaches English and SS (It’s a shame she didn’t  teach us Maths ). She is a great teacher, and her classes were fun and awesome(I wonder where she is now, last time I heard she was in Rome).  Mom never forced me to study at home ,instead she would ask me if I have things to learn and if I say I did then she’d help me learn, but if I say I don’t then she would gladly let me play, so I really did enjoy my childhood days.  I knew how to balance my time between studies and other things.

Then, high school happened. This is the chapter of my life where the education system in Mizoram brainwashed me :D . I was caught up in the race between schools to produce good results in the HSLC exams.  I was in the hostel where everything was about studies. We were made to study from 6 in the morning and at night from 6 to 10 everyday. It was so monotonous, it sucked the life out of me. We were never given time to do sports or read books or do any other stuff than eat, sleep and study. I was always told how doing well was so important, and even if I volunteered to do other stuffs, I was told that I was better off studying  my lessons because I have to do well in the board exams. So,  I had been totally brainwashed :D. I slowly believed that studying was the only meaningful thing I had in my life and I gave up reading, sports, music and all my other hobbies as I was  scared that it would affect my studies. I cannot really blame my teachers because it’s what all the other schools would do too( I think :) I’m not sure) .  This goes on for a very long time and extended all throughout college as well. Maybe most people would call me ‘chut’ and I think I deserved it :) .

What I really want to say though, is that now the CCE system has been integrated into schools and this is a big leap for our education and recruiting trained teachers is a good move. But from what I hear ,it seems  these days, the competition among parents have escalated , and most kids would be made to take extra tuition classes apart from school, and are made to study hours on end. While this might be a necessity for some kids who are a bit slower than others, I don’t think most kids would need it.  I’m not saying it’s a bad move, but I would like parents to consider giving their kids some time to be kids, to enjoy their childhood and not always force them to study. What good is a person who knows lot and lots about everything, but who is not capable to face the real world?.  And education is not all about studies, it’s about all round development. Don’t make your child sit and study all the time, instead let them make friends, play games and nurture their other talents as well.

And to all the teachers, please don’t let teaching just be a means to make ends meet. Thousands and thousands of children are depending upon you for their future. Maybe, just maybe, because you don’t feel like teaching algebra that day, and a student fails to understand the concept behind it, somewhere somehow, it might turn into the most dreaded topic in his life. Or just because you want to maintain good discipline and control over students, don’t turn yourself into someone they are scared to approach when they have doubts.  You know as well as I do that there are ways to gain their trust and respect at the same time.  Children are our future, and their future depends on you. The future of the state and the country depends on you.’ You are the builder of the nation’.

 As for me, since I have come to realize that there is so much more to life than studying all the time, I am slowly trying to turn my life around. I started reading books again, began to take part in some sports, I still really really want to learn how to play the piano ( still determined to do this someday) and I am slowly learning to maintain balance in my life again. And I wish someday , we can  bring about a change to our education system in Mizoram .

Visit to Cheshire

I'm still not done with my exams . The fact that it's cold, it snows and I have to get up early to study combined with the stress that's always associated with it makes everyday a torture during exams :).
     
The week before I started my exams, I had an interview for a project at Astrazeneca at their Centre for Cancer Research in Alderley Park, Cheshire. And just so you know, I'm not a biologist or neither am I related to the medical field, but I'm from a Computer Science background so it might sound a bit strange :) . The project is in the field of NLP( Natural Language Processing) with respect to the medical literature. I will not go into detail about the project as I know most of you will be bored to death hehe .

So, the project is supposed to be supervised by a Professor from my University and a Senior Research Scientist from Astrazeneca. As I had already submitted my CV to the potential supervisor and had a very lengthy technical interview with him , I was up for another interview from the Industrial supervisor that day. Since Alderly Edge is around 15 miles from Manchester, I decided to go by train.

The interview was scheduled for 2 pm so I reached the train station at around 12:20 . I changed trains at Piccadilly and from there the train goes straight to Alderley Edge. I reached Alderley Edge around 1:10 , and walked straight from the station to find a bus which goes to Alderley Park. Since I have never been to Alderley Edge before, it's not a surprise that I couldn't find the bus station :D . I walked and walked, then finally decided to go back to the train station. When I got back there, arghh, there was a huge road map which displays everything about the onward journey. Uff, I don't know how I missed that. Then I got the bus to Alderley Park. Since I don't know where it was exactly , I decided to sit near the window to look for any sign post when suddenly I saw the main gate of Astrazeneca and I panicked lol. But, the bus was running so fast that when I finally pressed the stop button, we had already gone a long way . The bus driver looked quite confused that I wanted to get off in the middle of nowhere but I thanked him and got down anyway hehe. Then I walked back to the gate and reached the Parkland building just before 2:00 .

Then I was interviewed for about an hour. Finally it was over and I took the train back home. And guess what? Today the project list got published and I got the project!! *big grin* . While to some this may not be a big thing, but I am super excited because this is a project that I have been eyeing for quite a while, so yayyyy!! again :) . But it seems there is a super daunting task of reading huge loads of biomedical books and I have to be familiar with lots and lots of bio-related terms, so I won't have any break after exams :( . But it still rocks *happy happy happy* .

Inside Astrazeneca , mind you, these sheeps are not being tested upon, they are just happy sheeps :D

Acres and acres of green fields on the left while the office buildings are on the right side 

Another first post!

Hmmm, lets see.. I once tried blogging before, way back in 2008 , but discontinued it because I guess I was too lazy to write. So, here's another try. It's the beginning of a new year , and since the world didn't end in Dec 2012 , let me try to make the best out of  2013.

And the reason I wan't to give blogging another try is that, these days I believe I have lots of random thoughts which I want to write down in a diary, but since I am too lazy to keep a diary , I think blogging will be a good alternative. I also wanted to improve my writing skills which is so rusty by now . I don't think I have written a complete paragraph about anything that is not related to technical stuff since my 12th std.

And one more thing which led me to start blogging again is that I have exams next week, and this is another act of procrastination hehe. I think that's it for now. I hope I can write more in the future unlike the last time :) .