43 things I want to do in life

Out of sheer habit of searching for all answers on Google, I typed the million $ question in the search bar "What do I want to do in life?". Google was as reliable as ever and did give me answers. Lots of them. The most interesting of the results I found was a site called 43 things. Millions of people around the world have jotted down what they want to do in life. Inspired by this and for the lack of anything better to do, I decided to make a list of as many things as I could think about that I wanted to do with my life. So, here goes nothing: Learn at least 3 Non-Indian Languages - preferably French, Latin and Spanish Exercise regulary and get my weight down to 55 Learn Swimming Write a book Learn to read and write Malayalam Learn to play a sport - maybe tennis or batminton - professionally Enroll for dance lessons Learn to play a musical instrument - Violin Travel to all parts of India in the next 5 years Do my MBA from ISB in the next 7 years Pass my FRM Get married Learn to cook like Mom Learn to drive a car Buy a car Donate every year to a charitable cause Buy a house Get an overseas holiday trip for mom and dad at least once Own business suits in 7 different colours - black, blue, beige, grey, brown, black pinstripe, grey pinstripe and matching shoes Start gardening Buy property in Kerala Retire by 40 Start my own business / consulting / whatever - Be my own Boss Have a daughter (maybe 2) Learn to skate Learn to play chess (professionally) mmmmm ----- this has been lying as a draft for a very long time. Maybe I'm not too ambitious. Or maybe I'm not too innovative or imaginative. Anyway, I have decided that this is all I want to do in life as of now. In future... who knows the future? But changes in life may force this list to be amended to things like I want to live, I want to be a good human being, I want to be free....... Maybe.....

Megastructures

I am a self-admitted couch potato. There is nothing I would rather do with my time than curl in front of the TV with sole possession of the remote and freedom to surf as I please and watch what I want. Life has been quite good in that respect so far! One channel which has always been reliable in terms of being watchable all the time is NatGeo. It is really good, well, at least most of the time. One show on it has caught my attention time and again and that is Mega structures. The show is about what its title suggests - Mega structures around the world. The biggest steel and concrete and glass structures made by man. Marvels of modern engineering. Visions, really marvelous and unbelievable visions, ones that change the course of history or the map of the world. Structures which emerge as a tiny spark of idea in someones head, reflects in some vague sketch on someone's drawing board and by the end of the process makes its mark on human society and civilization and stays there for centuries. It is amazing as to how far a tiny speck of imagination can take us. I guess it is to these ingenious ideas that we owe life as we live it today. All the modern conveniences, right from the all consuming fire to the humble safety pin, all were initially just ideas - some born out of necessity and some out of - well - pure luck... I am overawed by how much work actually goes into creating these monster structures. The dedication, the skill and most importantly the sense of purpose that seem to possess everyone on the project - right to the guy who replaces the drill bit. Its as if each one of them knows that they are helping in creating or rewriting history. Im sure that is a great feeling - something that gives you a satisfaction of having done something worthwhile with your life. Not all of us are lucky to be a part of something that is so monumental. But I guess we can still contribute our bit by being a part of the world which admires and utilizes and preserves these structures…