Matt dancing!!

Matt Harding was a new name to me till recently. However, having searched for him on the web, I am amazed by the awesome job he is doing. He has pictured himself in all 7 continents and 70 countries dancing at exotic locations. He is inspiring people to come and dance with him and is sharing happiness. How true is his statement “People want to feel connected to each other”. I myself would love to be connected to people from different nationalities and walks of life in this world. I think people would like to mingle with all others, irrespective of cultures and nationalities . Although Matt does simple dancing (I cannot do that!!) he has inspired many people to come and dance with him all around the world. Good job Matt!!

Matt's dancing theme is common to “The compliment guys”. All of them are doing their bit by making people smile and feel good. I think it this way people can forget their worries and be less stressful..

The picture above shows Matt dancing with two other people in front of the camera. Both look happy and smiling while they dance with Matt.

URL: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/1619925971_52c2462f34.jpg

The Compliment Guys

Wow!! The people who happen to pass by Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott (the Compliment Guys) at Purdue University on Wednesdays between 12:30 to 2:30 PM are so lucky to get personalized compliments from the duo. These guys bring cheers to lives of many and touch their heart. They lift the morals of people giving sincere comments in the current economic downturn. In return, Brown & Westcott expect nothing. I know how good it feels to be complimented I was recently complimented for my good performance in Maths quiz and I felt on the top of the world. Similarly, when I complimented my cousin for his awesome pics which he has posted on facebook, he felt very nice and thanked me for the compliments. He said, “Adhip, you have made my day”. It is rightly said, “Small efforts make a big difference”.
I have chosen this smiley cap picture as a thank you from me to “the compliment guys”. I want to make them feel happy just like they are making several people feel happy.

URL: http://rlv.zcache.com/happy_face_hat-p148109470807671371q6hl_400.jpg

My King is here

“Adhip” means “King”. When I think of my name I feel I am a king and the world is my kingdom. Adhip is actually a Hindu name adopted from “Sanskrit” language. My father told me that it was not difficult for them to find a name for me. They always wanted my name to start with “A” since my dad’s name also starts with an “A”, Ajay. They also wanted my name to be uncommon. Thus, my father bought a directory of names. My parents together shortlisted a few names and then they finally decided on “Adhip” along with my grandparents. Adhip is not a common name even in India and thus in a crowd or a class when my name is announced, there is clarity that I am the only one. Moreover, when I have to register on websites for e-mail address or user name, I always get my favorite ID “adhipnagpal” and thus I do not have to add prefix or suffix to my user ID. Another positive is that for any reason when names are listed alphabetically my name comes either first or is close to the top few. The only negative which comes to my mind is that sometimes people do not find it easy to pronounce my name correctly. Again, I love my name; when someone calls me by my name, Adhip, I hear it as “King Adhip” and feel as if I am a king.

URL: http://www.kongehuset.no/aim/kongehuset/16/7/storage/file.image.jpg/Scale?geometry=373x334%3E&Set:quality=100

I chose this picture because this gives me a feeling that I am the KING.

Life is a journey, not a destination

You must be wandering why I put the quote “Life's a journey, not a destination”. When I was looking for quotes I found many, but this one by Steven Tyler somehow took all my interest as it has become a very popular phrase. I decided to find out what it really means. Life is a journey and not a destination has a very deep meaning behind it. The core message by this quote is that in life you go through many obstacles and opportunities and it does not matter if they are hard or easy, good or bad, life never stops; you never know what will happen next. You will continuously evolve. If life were a destination, you wouldn't get anywhere in life. It would become standstill.

I chose the painting below by Joann Dufau (Click on the link to read about the artist and the painting). It certainly represents the theme of the blog. The angel is moving around the world, moving past all obstacles, searching for her destination. She is taking all pains that come her way on the road of life.

Malaysia Week - Unforgettable Sibu

When I joined ISKL I was told that everyone in MS gets to go to a place in Malaysia for few days as part of curriculum. Since then, I had been looking forward to Malaysia Week. Once the programme for MW was announced, the excitement grew. I was assigned to Pulao Sibu, an island in the East Coast of Malaysia, in Johor state. We were a group of 24 MS students accompanied by Mr Callan, Ms. Whiting and parent volunteers.
We reached Sibu on 15th March 2009 afternoon after an 8 hours bus ride. From the jetty we got a 30 minutes boat ride to the island. We were dropped on one side of the island and our first task was to reach Sea Gypsy resort (our abode for the next few days). 24 young and brilliant minds easily traced the route and we were at the resort quickly. Soon we were assigned Chalets and room partners. Maxson & Non were my room partners. The activities over the next few days were fun filled, starting with getting up early to finish breakfast by 7:30 am. This was followed by fishing, swimming, races, quizzes and many more. Journal writing was in the evenings after dinner. Another challenging activity was for all of us to memorise the names and two unique things about all others. Though difficult, we all were successful as success carried a reward – S’mores.
The day before departure for KL was spent on Survival Island. Here we made shelter, prepared yummy food for ourselves and also made a SOS sign. I loved the rice and can never forget this eventful day. Later we had the tug-of-war game wherein my team (Sibu Monyets) won. The last day dinner was a Bar-B-Q followed by a bonfire and yummy ice-creams. Next morning we set off for KL.
MW brought all the 24 of us very close and we have all become very good friends. Team Building was really great. I have already started looking forward to next year’s MW.

Economic Crisis

I never knew what Economic crisis is, though I had seen my dad glued to CNBC a lot during the last 1 year. On Monday, I was thinking what topic to choose for my new blog post and I saw "Economic Crisis" flashing o the TV screen. I asked my dad about it and he explained me a bit on what it meant. I am writing below what I understood. I know that the economic crisis means much more than what I have understood and written here.

With the information I have, I understand the Economic Crisis started when the banks didn't have money. All their money was gone because people were unable to return the money they had borrowed as housing and other loans. Thus, banks started collapsing. Further, the industries and the offices didn't get loans from banks to buy materials and pay the employees and workers. because of this, there were job losses or delayed salaries. This resulted in people unable to buy expensive things from the market. This lead to shopkeepers loosing business. Overall, lots of people, businesses, banks, industries etc have run out of cash. Even the stock markets crashed.

Today, the world is looking forward to Obama and other world leaders to introduce policies which can bring us all out of Economic Crisis.