Watch me Get Over Dramatic :-p You'll Enjoy!

I put my hands on the counter with despair. How can I be so easily tempted to something like that? I look at the counter with longing and fear. I know this decision can affect me badly. I have worked so hard for this opportunity to come. I know I should not mess with it. I cough a little to clear my throat. But what more harm can it bring to me? I have been feeling bad for a couple of weeks. I don't think this make it any worse. Despite all the careful thinking, I want it. I want it very bad.

The more I try to fight this temptation, the more it grows. My mind is losing against my heart. I never make decisions like this, I remind myself. But it’s of no use.

Desperately, I run to my sister and ask her for advice. Her wise answer is the same as of my mind’s. I go back to where I stood first.

My mind has finally lost and my heart has won. I go to the place where the red bucket sits comfortably. I open the lid and take out a packet. A devil in disguise, I think to myself. I take a pot, fill it with some water, and place it on the stove that is breathing angry fire. I tear open the packet and empty it in the pot. The smell is so beautiful or maybe the temptation has amplified it. As soon my work gets done, I take the pot off the stove.

I tell my sister, “What can I do if I like spicy noodles? I know I have to go to university and do community work after a couple of days, but I have been going through this off and on flu thing for weeks. I don’t think spiny noodles can give me a sore throat.”

P.S: I am enjoying my spicy noodles. Yummy!!! Hey,was that dramatic enough?

Just a Humble Fan of Understanding Human Behavior

“If I will not be able to become a doctor, I would like to become a psychologist.”

I really love psychology. I mean you look at someone and you immediately know that this person is good or bad, confident or in-confident, responsible or irresponsible, weak or strong, and so on. Psychology can either make your life easier or it can make it miserable. You may not trust anyone and it may become difficult for you to cooperate with the people around you. However, the biggest reason to love it is that you can help special children. I think that is a reason enough to love psychology.

“Hey, I do not believe in astrology. I only observe people and read about different horoscopes, as I believe that people born in the same month have similar characteristics. It just makes it easier for me to deal with different people.”

Let’s look at an example.

I am a Libra. I always had difficulty dealing with Aquarius people. But, then in college I made an Aquarius friend. I studied her behavior and through that I learned to deal with these people.

I used to tell her that, “You are under my observation, you know?” She used to smile and say, “Yes, I know.”

I learned that the people of this particular horoscope have mood swings. They may become very annoying from time to time. If you deal this through fighting, you are at loss. So, the best way to deal with them is to give them some space and keep a light mood.

I learned that they love you, but they show there love through fulfilling there duties. They love gossips (nearly all Aquarius women are like that). They are very intelligent. They will keep your secrets even after you become there enemies.

“You know, I don’t understand people at times. Some people may appear very bad from the outside, but they may prove to be very good at heart. It is very difficult to judge human behavior and to make a distinction between good and bad for me.“

You know some friends of yours don’t have a very good reputation, but sometimes they do something really good for you. I believe that one should be good to everyone, even such people. Maybe your personality can have some affect on them and by the way everyone has the tendency to become better. Sometimes that person turns out to have very good qualities that you might even not have.

But remember don’t trust anyone with your eyes closed.

Sometimes I want to know other people just to keep a check on my own personality. Just to keep it balanced and good.

P.S: This post is sounding like ‘Once Upon A Time’ to me. You know with the snow whites good and the evil queens evil. But what can we do, such a distinction exists. 

Moreover, I am becoming an Environmental Scientist. I love this field of study and I really happy with it, Alhamdulillah.

Can the Ozone Hole Be Repaired?

"Can't we fix just the ozone hole by pumping ozone into it?" This is the question that my sister asks me whenever we get into  debate about ozone hole and sadly I don't have an answer. But why should one be sad when there is internet available to help you solve the unsolved queries :-D.

Well, here is what I understand from an article that I just read. 

1. First of all, ozone production requires a lot of energy. Obviously we will need a huge quantity of ozone to fill the ozone hole, and we can not prepare that large quantity on land because it requires a lot of energy. In atmosphere this large amount of energy comes from the sun. 
2. Secondly, if ozone is leaked during production, it will act as a pollutant in our environment. Yes!! Ozone is good in the stratosphere, but bad in the troposphere. In troposphere (the layer of atmosphere in which we live), ozone acts as a pollutant.
   
   
   
   
3. Lastly, we do not need to patch the ozone layer ourselves. It has the ability to patch itself. The pollutants that are already present will fall off eventually. What we need to do is to stop adding pollutants that deplete the ozone layer and follow the Montreal Protocol.  According to EPA, if we keep on following Montreal Protocol, the ozone hole may patch itself by 2050.

Montreal Protocol

This Protocol was established in 1987. More than 180 countries agreed to address the problem in the Montreal Protocol. In signing the protocol, those countries agreed to root out the use of ozone-depleting chemicals like CFCs, halons and carbon tetrachloride.

So, do your best and stop or decrease the use of ozone depleting substances.

Awww, Do you love them too????

I am very delighted to be able to share the things I love the most with you. I hope that you would love them too!

1. Lonely benches

I don't really know why I love them, but I love them so much.

2. Sun rays chanting out of the clouds

3. Autumn leaves+ sunset

4. Gardens with wooden benches and bridges

5. Brothers holding hands (sense of protection)

6. Trees

I love both trees without leaves and trees with leaves. I also love looking at their barks at times.

This is my unfinished sketch of a tree in my university..

7. Fresh and green grass

8. Water droplets on car windows after it rains.....

9. Moon on a night full of stars

10. Libraries filled with books....

I also love book shops and gift shops. In a nutshell, I love books.

So, do you love any of these things??? If you do do tell me.

"Which One Do You Feel Comfortable to Communicate With, Speaking Or Writing?"

This question was originally asked by my English teacher during one of our classes.  At first, I got confused because I wasn't asked ever before to choose between speaking and writing, but then I made my choice and replied, "Writing, of course."

Well, I can say that she was quite surprised when many of us answered that they feel comfortable with writing. She, herself, as I could see by the look on her face, prefered speaking over writing.

She told us that speaking is easier and better because of many reasons. I am listing only a few of them.

1. Speaking requires gestures only and you don't have to waste a lot of words to explain you emotions.
2. You can shape your words by adjusting them to the mood of your listeners. You can even change your way of speaking to be more convincing. You can defend yourself, whenever required.
3. No Punctuation is required.
4. You can communicate in two way manner. You can observe the response of the audience to what you are communicating.
5. Speech has its own grammar. So, you can be easy at grammar usage. For example, you don't have to use complete sentences at times.

I said that I feel comfortable with writing. Maybe it's because I love writing. I am very shy in formal settings, while I am very confident in informal ones. So in formal setting I can communicate better in writing. I mean I love to express myself through colorful adjectives. I also feel that through writing I can communicate my ideas more effectively, and more confidently.

The best thing about writing is that you don't have to see the faces of your listeners. You can communicate without caring for the response you'll get. Writing makes you more brave. I love that writing has a structure and organization. You may not think before speaking, but you think before writing, so there are fewer mistakes. 

It's also easy to settle disputes and say you're sorry through writing. You can say sorry to a friend who doesn't even agrees to talk to you in school by texting her a long and elaborate apology with a lot of plzzzzzz..... Trust me, I have done this before and it is effective. 

Writing provides evidence. You can keep copies and do not have to worry about getting trouble for something that you didn't do or say.

But,I do love speaking too. I love speaking in informal setting, such as in friends, class fellows and family. I love making new friends and I usually don't have any trouble doing that. I am also trying to love speaking in formal settings. To express my ideas more confidently and fully.

Although I am a very talkative person, I feel uncomfortable with speaking in formal settings, such as in front of guests, in presentations, etc.

So, till the time that I become confident, I definitely love writing. Although I am good in public speaking, I would like to get better at it.

"Get up, couch potato."

Have you heard this before?? Well, I have been called a couch potato until I got 11 (approximately). I had this habit of lying on the couch after school and watching T.V, while craving salt (will discuss later on). I guess we all, or the Libras :-D, become couch potatoes at some point of our life. I won't ask you to agree on this one :-p

Couch Potato

Now let's look at the dictionary meaning of a couch potato.

A person who takes little or no exercise and watches a lot of television.

Fits the situation, doesn't it? I have observed that couch potatoes eat chips, drink soft drinks, soda, etc. while they watch T.V. Now, here is where my situation had been different from others. I did not use to crave food and sodas, I use to eat salt while watching T.V.  Yes, Salt!!! Odd habit, right?? Well, I later on started eating ice cube too. I would first add the ice cube in my mouth and then eat salt over it. Umm Yummy!!

Well, eating salt has been a very re-known habit of mine. Still, when the salt get's missing, my father looks at me and says,"Where's the salt? You must know":-D. Well, to be honest eating salt can never and is never a healthy activity. 

Even when I was visiting Khewra mines (salt mines) with my family. I was told, "Hey, look there is salt everywhere. What are you waiting for?" I felt so ashamed.

At that time, I wasn't fat at all. So, being a couch potato didn't result in any weight gain at that time. Maybe because I used to go out and play with my friends too.

Well, here are a few tips for couch potatoes.

1. Keep the remote away and get up to change the channels.
2. Walk up and down the stairs, or around the room, during commercials
3. Get an equipment, so that you can exercise while you watch T.V
4. Stand up and iron your clothes while you watch T.V.

Goodbye My Fear of Presentations

I nearly never had problem in delivering a presentation, making eye contact, etc. My problem was that as soon as I would reach the rostrum, my heart beat would start pounding my ear, and then my voice would start to quiver. This shivering voice was my biggest problem. Once a friend of mine commented my presentation as a "Musical Presentation" :-D. The highest marks were 9 out of ten and mine were 8. So, you can imagine that where my presentation stood. 

I never had problems, such as looking at the audience, the teacher, reading from slides, etc. I usually don't memorize presentations. I just understand them and then make bullet point on a small paper that fits the size of my palm (this was taught to me by my first semester's English teacher. So, thanks ma'am). 

I'd like to add that I don't feel shy, unconfident, or nervous, when I am speaking from my own seat, but  if someone asks me repeat the same by standing in front of the class, I start trembling. I sometimes think that I don't like to be the center of attention.

Someone once told me that I will stop getting nervous during my presentations when I'll reach fourth semester. I was like, “Yeah, it may be so for girls who do not take much stress. But in my case I can't be sure this will happen." Now, when I have reached fourth semester, I find her being 100% correct.

But, I don't give all the credit to the passage of time, and my continuous exposure to these situations. This was done, above all, with the help of God, and a little due to my own effort. I searched for exercise that can instantly reduce stress. I have learned from experience that there is no easier way to calm yourself and slow down your heart beat than this:

Deep breathing is the quickest and the easiest way to lower down your heart beat. It does so in only a few seconds.

I also found a book on how to improve my presentation skills. I found many things.

1. The first was that you should first look at your audience and smile, so that they know you are confident. I didn’t exactly do this, but, as I am usually the one who changes the slides when my group members are presenting, I keep smiling to the audience and I look at them over and over again so that I can stop being nervous.
2. I also found out that while one you are being questioned do not draw your head back because this will give an impression that you do not want to answer or do not know the answers. So, keep your head bet towards your audience.
3. This one was learned from my own experience. If you have full grasp on your topic, then you won’t get confused or nervous.

 In a nut shell, this semester nearly all my presentations went well. Although I was surprised when a friend of mine told me that she liked my Geology’s presentation (which was to the worst presentation in that semester). So, may be its all in your head, but trying to improve is not wrong. So, keep on trying….

I Find it Hilarious Because This Happens in Every Class......

....Especially when the presenter is continously reading from paper or slides, or the presentation is too boring ,or the presenter is taking up over time....:-D

'In my time' (میرے زمانہ میں)

It has been only two decades since I was born and I already refer to my childhood as  'In my time' (میرے زمانہ میں). When I try to explain my seven year younger sister something, I often use this term.  My mother then laughs at me and tells me that I speak as if I am so very old. To me, though, this seems a very correct notion. The time that I am in now is completely different from that of my childhood. I will elaborate these feeling with certain experiences of my own:

1. When I was a child, mobile phones were not so common. I remember that we used to go to a PCO (telephone booth) and call our relatives. There used to be a card, which ,when used, allowed us to talk for few minutes. Some time after this my father bought a mobile phone. This phone had a blue screen with black font. This screen was no bigger then a scientific calculator's screen. We also had a telephone installed later on. Then we bought a computer. We used a card (more specifically called Rabata Online) to connect to the internet. A relative of mine had a phone with camera and colors, and it was like a wonder for me. Now you see smart phones have so many functions and are so commonly used. Has not the technology improved in these two decades??

2. The entertainment industry has changed a great deal. Hollywood and English music has suffered a less sudden change then bollywood. When I was a kid there would be a brave and good hero and a nice and beautiful heroine in most of the movies. The music used to be soft and the voices for heroine's singing used to be shrill. Now-a-days women with heavy and less shrill voices are preferred. Heroes are mostly thieves, etc. The idea of beauty has changed a great deal.

A heroine of that time

A heroine of this time

Above all, I have changed. Not because I have grown up, but because I am not the same person, in nature, anymore. I, in my own account, have improved a lot. My interests changed. I developed new hobbies, such as reading novels (I love to read novels). I have observed my errors and weaknesses, and  I have tried and am trying to improve. I have changed from over confident to less confident (this is wrong but also good at times). My tastes have changed, my choices are now more well thought of. Nevertheless, change is still required and change is inevitable.