Skip to main content

2017 - 18

I started writing this post in  the second week of March while on a break from studying for my ICSE Board Examinations. My aim was to write a post to be thankful for all that has happened and to remember all that happened in the past year.
The post is slightly long and involves a lot about me, myself and I. Please do bear with all the self - praising and if you get bored, I would understand why you closed this tab :)

School:

My time in Sishu Griha Montessori and High School finally ended after thirteen and a half glorious years. Our formal graduation ceremony was held on 9th February, 2018 and I was one of five students who was bestowed with the honour of delivering a speech. That gesture on the school's part was truly heartening. My speech mainly revolved around our life from joining school in Montessori and graduating as the batch of 2017-18. The day was sentimental but most of us managed to control our emotions. For one last time we gathered together over dinner, realising that it was the last time we would be celebrating together as Sishu Grihites.

The school year began differently. We were called to school about a week before the rest of the students resumed as we were in Grade 10 and our teachers wanted us to have a head-start.
The first two months of school were hectic. Two rounds of elections were held to constitute the Student Council, we held our annual inter school Model United Nations  competition and in the middle of all that we wrote our tests and scrambled to finish portions well in advance.
The beginning of the year was a test of many things - academics, emotional well being and integrity. The last year has shown us many of these qualities in different people and has resulted in us exploring many avenues of change in friendships, competitions, hobbies and how we act towards one and another.

The next few months flew by and were marked with regular class tests as well as two week long exams. Many of us began taking our studies seriously. A drastic change was observed in some people's behaviour and attitude towards exams. People began doing better in their exams and hoped to increase their percentage, a holy and feared word.
By December, the exam fever had reached the suburbs and we were waiting for it down town. The talk of applying to new schools and how difficult it was what was being discussed at everyone's table during Break.

By February, after two Preliminary Examinations as well a Mid Terminal Exam, our confidence was shattered, yet our teachers guaranteed us that our performance in these preparatory exams would be much worse and not necessarily indicative of how we will do after a brief two week long study holiday break and then our month long examination. They promised us that we would all do well.
Although our results are not yet out, I am fairly certain that all of us have done well.

With the end of the examination on 26th March, 2018, our school lives had OFFICIALLY come to an end. We bid farewell and exited the holy gates, eagerly waiting for the following academic year, in  different schools after a well deserved summer break.

It is with complete happiness that I announce that I will be attending one of India's finest schools - Mallya Aditi International School (MAIS) where I will be studying Political Science, Economics, History and Sociology with an intent to study either Public Policy or Political Science or in related areas such as International Relations in the future.


Other Stuff: 


I have learnt a lot over the past year; dealing with failures, celebrating success, exploring new technology, making new friends and expanding my knowledge.

A key achievement that I feel is noteworthy is that I am now a certified PADI Open Water Diver. My sister and I got certified in Bali, Indonesia in the months of September and October 2017 respectively. Scuba Diving has been something that I have wanted to do (along with sky diving) ever since I watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara in 2011. Now that I have conquered  going underwater, I would like to try to sky dive sometime in the near future.
I attribute this (the certification) as one of my most notable achievement as an essay on scuba diving and getting certified and why I liked that sport/ hobby that was submitted by me as part of the admission process was probably instrumental in securing admission in MAIS.

Over the past year, a lot of responsibilities have fallen on me. I was elected to the position of House Captain in school that naturally led to a lot of work. At the end, we lost the House Cup, but lifted the Co-curricular cup, beating all other Houses by a mile. I was instrumental in leading the Organising Committe of our Model United Nations in school. Being on the Organising Committee has taught me a lot in the area of team work and getting people to do their job. I attended Harvard MUN India in Hyderabad and was awarded a Special Mention for representing Libya in the IMF.
I was also the Co-Chair of a committee in the Intra-School MUN. The experience was great!
Our school also graciously thanked me for being a founding member of a Quiz Club that was established and run for the past three years. The reigns of this horse has now been transferred to my school mates who are in Grade 9/10.



My sister will be leaving India for good in August as she will be studying Chemical Engineering in The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan, NYC, USA. It is absolutely amazing that she managed to get in and receive a 50%+ merit tuition waiver for her studies. I hope that she has a good time there and HRH Trump does not present himself as a hurdle.

I have completely recovered from my Sports Injury in which I suffered multiple fractures in my leg in April 2016 (due to a fall while on a mountain biking adventure). My final surgery was done in mid April 2017. Recovery took a few months. I am back to playing whatever I want, although my fitness has considerably fallen. I have continued to cycle the busy streets of Bengaluru at least three or four times a week. As I recently shifted houses, access to the Golf Course has been easier and I have been playing regularly with the intention of playing at least once a week on the course and practice a few times in the Driving Range. Cricket remains to be one of my favourite sports, however I have not been playing much. Regularly exercising has been helping me in the past few months. I feel that my fitness has been regained considerably.
I look forward to the upcoming IPL season and hope that the trending hashtag #eesalacupnamde (Translates to: This time the cup is surely ours) comes true and Royal Challengers Bangalore wins.

As is obvious, I am making an attempt to start blogging frequently again and I hope to continue this streak.
The past year has been absolutely fabulous.  2018 is going to be way different. The stock market is expected to do not too well, my sister will be half way across the globe, I will be in a different school, surrounded by new people and I will probably curate new hobbies and expand as a human being in terms of knowledge and learning and in size, vertically, NOT horizontally. I look forward to all of this!

Cryptocurrencies, Stock Market and Investments:

In the field of technology, I was fascinated by Block Chain and then obviously cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin caught my eye in early September and I managed to convince my father to open a trading account to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple and Ethereum. Over time, our profits grew and we felt our first shock when the market collapsed in January. Nevertheless, my faith in cryptocurrencies is unabated and although my profits are not as high as in 2017, I continue to trade and inspire people to invest in cryptocurrencies. I manage the investments of my sister, grand mother and parents. No one can guarantee whether at the end of this, I will have a fortune or lose my initial investment which was itself worth pennies (not risking too much due to obvious reasons).
I managed to participate in an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), a new experience in the field of cryptocurrencies.  While I am writing this section of the post, the company, Sphere looks promising (especially after FaceBook's data scandal) and is doing well. My investment looks secure, but no one can predict the future.
With some of my profits, I have managed to completely self fund (not counting Birthday money or money given by relatives and parents) an Amazon Echo, Amazon's virtual assistant. The field of AI has blown me off my feet and the availability of a product like Echo in this price range is stunning.
Due to the bearish markets that we are in right now, my focus on cryptocurrencies has shifted from merely investing in existing ones to ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) and reviewing their abilities and benefits. A principle that I have developed is to not invest more than 1% of my personal portfolio in cryptocurrencies and I am sticking to that.

2017 was also an amazing year in the stock market. With the exclusion of one company, all my trades were in profits and I have managed to sizeably grow my portfolio. In the months of April and May and a part of June, I hope to enhance my trading skills by spending more time understanding the stock market and executing more trades independently rather than using my father to do so for me.

So that was the last year, I'll be back next year with a similar update. Until then, I'll obviously be writing on different topics. Stay tuned :)








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Visiting the Kasturinagar (KA-03) RTO - a tumultuous but manageable experience to get a Learner's/ Driver's License without an agent/ driving school

Ask anyone, and I can guarantee that they will have a story (and in most cases, many stories) about their trip, or rather, numerous trips to the RTO for something as simple as getting a Learner's License (LL) or a Driver's License (DL). In this blog, I hope to make your life a tad bit easier by guiding you through the entire process, which may seem easy at first but is full of (overcome able) challenges if you know what you are doing. I turned 18 in January this year, and besides cutting a cake, I worked on my LL application online. I challenged myself to complete the entire LL to DL process by myself and without the help of an agent or a driving school, unlike what the majority do. The lengthy application process and multiple visits to the RTO, impressed upon me why most people decided to pay a little extra to get an agent to do it for them. Still, I was determined not to pay a single rupee more than the official cost. I succeeded.  Do note that this answer is concerning the K

Living life out of a suitcase

  December 2022 As I sit on my fourteenth flight for the year, with two more scheduled before the curtains are drawn on 2022 (god bless my carbon footprint), laptop open, a glass of wine and a blank word document, I begin to ponder over my journey over the last few months. Penning it down and (at the risk of sounding philosophical) ‘reflecting’ on this journey seems imperative.  --- May 2022   After two wonderful years of ups and downs in Le Havre (thank you, COVID-19!), I said my good-byes, packed my bags and was on the train to Paris. But that was not my final destination – for now at least. After spending two nights at a friend’s, dropping my baggage off at a relative’s, catching the French Open and a round of golf in the middle, and a train to Beauvais (an hour north of Paris), I was on a flight to Barcelona. Checked in to my hostel, met my friend, went for 3 days of the Barcelona Formula 1 Grand Prix together, watched a Redbull 1-2 finish, celebrated with beer, sangria and tapas,

Kicking off a 'political career' in an idea-based, grassroots level political party

Despite having been following politics for the longest time, and now studying it full time, I never joined a political party. When people used to ask me "who do you support?", my answer was standard, "no one". Luckily for me, ever since turning 18 and being eligible to vote, there hasn't been an election in which I'd be forced to cast my vote and tell people that I have made a definitive choice about a particular political party. At a time when politics has become ever so polarising and dirty, I couldn't be happier to associate myself with the BNP. It was in February 2020 that I was introduced to the Bengaluru NavaNiramana Party. I found their vision, leadership and ideas incredibly refreshing. Though I was aware of their launch/ kickoff meeting that took place in Freedom Park in early 2020, due to a friend's TEDx talk taking place simultaneously, I could not attend. Then, between Board Exams and the lockdown that took us all by surprise, I forgot ab

A few questions we must ask ourselves about the situation surrounding the Babri Masjid/ Ram Mandir controversy

August 5, 2020, was a historic day in India for two reasons. First, it was a year since the special status of J&K was revoked, and the state was converted into Union Territories; it resulted in it being directly controlled by the Central Government in Delhi and no longer controlled by an elected government under the federal setup. It was simultaneously followed with a year-long (and still ongoing) internet and communications blockade. Second, it was a day celebrated by right-wing Hindu nationalists because of the  ground-bre aking ceremony (Bhoomi Pooja/ Puja) that was held to begin construction of a temple for Lord Ram; a temple being built on a land where a mosque that was demolished by close allies of the BJP in 1992 lay. Reaching this point was not easy. It was a struggle that lasted for decades, multiple cases in court, contributions from the Archaeological Survey of India, claims of Muslims invaders building a mosque over a temple etc. The court finally ruled in favour a temp

The Young Adults Series at the Bangalore International Centre

 November 2020 With France reimposing lockdown restrictions, closing universities, and restricting people's movement to just 1 hour per day, I decided to fly back to India. My rationale was simple; rather than attending online classes in a foreign city, with no roommates, no extra-curricular activities during which I would have usually interacted with people, and it being illegal to meet anyone you are not living with, it made more sense to return to a safer environment in which I could enjoy more freedom, as Bangalore was in a pretty good state, at least compared to France.  While waiting to board my flight at Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and came across a post published by the Bangalore International Centre . Clickbait-ly titled  'MUN Ki Baat'  (for those who don't get the reference: PM Modi has a monthly radio show called 'Man Ki Baat'), it piqued my curiosity, and I found myself watching a recording of it. When I in

Ministry of Railways 'Disposes Of' my RTI request regarding deaths on (Shramik) trains

Similar to the Vande Bharath Mission that was launched by the Indian Government to repatriate Indian nationals stranded abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic (when regular flight operations were banned across the country), the Government of India launched the much-needed project to enable reverse-migration of its nation's most destitute - our migrants. Migrant labourers who are typically from rural parts of India, due to a loss of income, livelihood, coupled with a fear of catching the virus and 'wanting to die at home', began walking back to their villages, at times 1000s of kilometres away. With all trains and buses ceasing operations, their journey was on foot, in back of trucks, and has resulted in many deaths. At the same time, it has shown their grit and determination with heart-breaking stories of people like the 15-year-old girl who cycled 1200 km with her father to reach home. After not even acknowledging the problem for over a month, the Government launched special

Vélib Bikes | A firsthand experience of Paris' Bike Sharing Scheme

Micro-mobility has always fascinated me. Back in April 2019, I test rode various Yulus which left me amazed by the concept and the ease with which I could get across town (relatively) carbon-free and cost effectively. When I was in Stockholm on an exchange trip in late 2019, I couldn't help myself but try out Bird and Lime scooters despite it costing quite a bomb. Though I can't quite remember the exact amount I paid but I remember it being upwards of 50 kronas/5 euros/400 Indian Rupees for a short 10-15 minute ride; something that was very expensive considering that I had a public transport card that allowed me to take unlimited trips across the city and to most of suburbs an hour or two away. A Vélib stand a stone's throw away from the Eiffel Tower While Bangalore has cheap modes of transport to get around the city, be it the buses, auto-rickshaws, cabs the metro or even Yulus and Bounces, one cannot say the same about cities in Europe. A single use ticket in Stockholm co