I usually stay away from books I categorize as 'self-improvement'. Reason being its not reading the book that is the hard part, its implementing what you read. But last Wednesday was one of those days when I came back really hungry from the univ. Even with the microwave promising me that the rice will be done in 15 minutes, I couldn't stop loitering around it watching the countdown.
Well anything is better than watching the microwave clock countdown, so I picked this book off our bookshelf (yes even as desi grads we have one of those in our house!), it turned out to be Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" (here is a video of the same). I cannot say when I crossed the line between idly flipping its pages and becoming engrossed in reading it but when I went back to check on the rice, the microwave had zeroed its countdown half an hour ago.
So taking Randy Pausch's advice I tried building myself a list of childhood dreams I want to achieve too. Some are really from childhood, some are current (but still very much akin to childhood dreams). I hope to add more to this list and tick some off along the way.
5. Buying loads of stuff at some mall in Mumbai
As a child I was always struck by the glitter and glamour of malls in Mumbai. Their colourful displays caught and held my attention easily and I wished I could buy all those pretty things on display. I realise now that I was more taken by the idea of carrying out loads of shopping bags than by the idea of the actual stuff contained in them. Why Mumbai malls only? Well for one they are full of people doing window shopping so if you have many many shopping bags on you, you manage to turn some heads! Talk about being the center of attention! I more or less achieved this on my shopping spree before coming to US and will hopefully continue such shopping sprees whenever I go to India.
4. Being a really good thinker
Now whats a "thinker" for me you may ask. Well I have many smart friends around me. They are smart in many incredible ways... one can code fast....one can solve puzzles fast...one can design well...one draws well...one writes well...one can calculate fast...so on and so on. I always wanted to be really very good at one such mental ability. From my own experiences and as Randy Pausch pointed out, its not the end but the means that count. My struggles to try and achieve this goal have given me their own benefits.
3. Watching several American TV shows
Back in India I loved watching Sabrina, Bewitched, Small Wonder, The Real Ghostbusters to name a few. My problem was they never showed all episodes in sequence and they never even showed all the episodes! I enjoyed watching Disney movies like Twitches, Halloweentown but sometimes couldn't because the cable providers didn't think the Disney Channel was important enough to be aired always. Coming to US, Netflix and Youtube helped me fulfill most of this wish of mine and let me watch some other good TV shows too.
2. Meeting (strike that out and replace with Building) Data
Randy Pausch wanted to "be" Captain Kirk. He struck that out and replaced it with "meeting" Captain Kirk. Me being from The Next Generation and having seen his Last Lecture started with keeping the goal as Meeting Data. But the day after I saw Randy Pausch's lecture, I also happened to see Brent Spiner's interview (he is the actor who plays Data in Star Trek TNG). Did I want to meet him? Certainly not! I wanted to meet an android who calculates fast, has super speed and strength but still tries to be human. But did I want to meet such a robot created by someone else? After an AI class this sem, I can define this goal more accurately. I want to build a robot like Data. Perhaps I will someday...
1. Being a Professor
There are two sub-goals to this dream. The first being my liking for teaching which I partially fulfilled at Atharva but would love to make it my fulltime occupation. The second sub-goal being getting the Ph D required for being a good professor. Dr. Chaitali has a nice ring to it don't you think? :P Again, perhaps someday....
So that concludes my dreams list for now. Unlike Randy Pausch's list, I am glad its not absolute. Hope to continue revising and changing it!
