Yet another PL season

P.L (Prep leave) has always been a time for experimentation. The most ideal(idle) time to devote uninterrupted college-less hours to any new unexplored activity. This is the period of maximum patience, when even the most hitherto seemingly uninteresting activity starts to look all exciting. One of the recent far-fetched pastimes I took up last semester was ... uhm ... SKATING. That too, in my drawing hall. Much to the annoyance of my parents. The whole idea seemed so novel, last PL ! It felt wonderfully satisfying skating all over the house.. very liberating.  (and even more fun bumping into parents and getting them irritated. ) It gave me a sense of doing something in life. The speed, the force with which I would turn around at the corners of the room... most entertaining ! 

  This time around, I've taken myself by surprise. I've been attending Chinmaya Mission's session for three consecutive days now. I am 100% sure that I would never have managed the time for any such session during normal college days. What's more - I never imagined I would be blogging on this subject when I attended the first session either.

 These sessions have been a part of Chinmaya Mission's 'FAST Management' programme ( Fear, Anger, Stress, Time Management)  by Br.Sattvik Chaitanya for 5 consecutive days from Monday through Friday.  (Of these, I attended the last three.) His presentations, using his laptop and a wireless mouse, have been very well-structured, and he has used this form of visual communication most effectively to systematise his session.

 His talks have been thought-provoking. The most interesting point he brought out - although very tangential to the topic itself - was the whole idea of Hindu Fundamentalism, and his idea of exactly what led to the origin of political groups based on Hinduism.  The talks set me thinking about a bunch of new things, to say the least. 

 According to him, every hour of pre-midnight sleep is infact an equivalent of two hours of sleep.Interesting. He mentioned this in the context of time management, and went on to describe how one could save considerable time if this "fact" was used to one's advantage. Now, PL being the time for absolute lukkhagiri, what better opportunity or time of the year would I get to test such theories? So I actually set out to try something I never imagined myself capable of doing except on Diwali days - waking up at what I previously considered "unearthly" hours ! I actually attempted an "Early to bed, Early to Rise" today ! Went to bed at 10.30 pm (as against my usual 2a.m) and I must admit, although I fell asleep only at around 12.45am -  I woke at 5.50am, UNBELIEVABLY HIGH by my standards.

 I'd planned meticulously. After moving my bed to my study room(solely with the objective of waking early) , ensuring the room was mosquito-free, testing and setting up my music system's alarm clock( in addition to my cellphone's alarm) to play loud music at 5.30 am and discussing with my father the possibililty of a scared watchman rushing to our home at the sudden blast of early morning music, :  the Jan, feeling like a farmer, finally went to bed at 10.30pm. 

  I was to read "My Experiments with Truth", Gandhiji's autobiography, for sometime before I actually tried to fall asleep. NOT that it's a boring book.. far from that, actually - I've completely loved it so far! 

 I woke this morning(dawn, actually), had a bath and continued to read for 3 hours. A pah! to my parents for ridiculing me, making fun of me and challenging me that I would n't wake a minute before 10a.m. <> 

Incidentally, I'd begun to read an abridged version of the Bhagwat Gita earlier this week. 

 So to those who asked me a "Whatsup" in the past week (and might do so over the next 3 days) - it's the Gita,Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography and a final conclusive Chinmaya Mission session exclusively for the youth on "Attract and Achieve"( how to attract exactly what you want in your life, how to stay focussed and achieve it)  that'l keep me occupied. :)