Ravit's Blog

I had started this post yesterday... ===== Hello there, Time for me to spill some more thoughts onto this page. A couple days ago I would have posted but I had to finish my work (wrapping up my third pomodoro block) and yesterday I had just forgotten to do so. But today...now....it is just 9pm so I'm going to take it easy for the next hour and enjoy the early night before wrapping up for the day. ===== Ironically, though, another task popped up and I spent the time till 10pm doing that. Now, it's about 24 hours later, and I'm here again at 9:29pm. I want to enjoy the time for the next half hour and work on this post. I've finished my work for the day. I actually have some more exciting software development tasks coming up in my company Konect, so that's something to look forward to working on tomorrow. Hmm... maybe I'll talk a bit about what I observed regarding my tasks. Some of them are fun, some of them aren't. I'll tell you one thing that I don't...

One of Bhagavad Gita's themes is that of man and work--the individual's obligation to fulfill his duty during his lifetime. I suppose during the time Gita was written, determining this was more straightforward. There were warriors, the Kshatriyas, merchants, the Vaishyas, and priests, Brahman. People could move freely between these casts before the system was rigidified, as best as I understand. Nonetheless, they had a clear-cut sense of duty and knew what they had to fulfill in life. Based on what I know, I feel that identifying one's Dharma is more complicated in today's world. I was taught that I could become whatever I wanted. I was not educated from childhood, like Arjuna or Rama, that I will grow up to fight and govern, or that I would be a merchant. My duty is not clearly laid out for me, as it seems to have been for Arjuna. In these past few months in quarantine, I've left the house once to pick up my high school diploma and 12-14 times to go running. Living...

Ok, so from the first few chapters of the Gita that I've read so far, I notice that Lord Krishna seems to emphasize the role of duty and work in life. He had a few ideas that caught my attention, which I'll detail here: In his state of despondency and depression, Arjuna asks Krishna what the purpose of work even is, when renouncing one's desires is the action that brings one closer to God. Krishna responds that work (karma) is an integral part of life , and that while suppression of temptation is indeed crucial, it does not imply that one should turn to inaction, but that one should merely work because it is work, and not expecting any return or reward. Even Lord Krishna engages in work and fulfilling his duty (as with life and soul inevitably comes work), but he does so in a manner that is disengaged and not expecting or anticipating some outcome, but simply because it is Dharma. Different castes have different roles to fulfill in life, and Arjuna's role is that of...

Hello, It's been a loooong time since the last post... Lately, I've been spending my time indoors. From 5-7 I stay in my room, either play piano, read, or sleep if I'm tired. In my quarantine time, I've finished my 8th grade book The Grapes of Wrath  and started plenty more. I've also cleaned up my room, taking after Dr. Peterson's suggestion. Recently, I started reading Bhagavad Gita (Professor S Radakrishnan's Sanskrit to English translation) out of curiosity as to what one of the most respected Hindu scriptures recommends as the proper way to live life. So far, it is interesting to hear about Lord Krishna's recommendations on what the ideal individual should do and what the aim of life is according to this great scripture. The nature of the dialogue to have the ultimately flawed disciple, Arjuna, communicating with the ideal Lord Krishna, who has supposedly achieved the highest state of life, makes it convenient for me as a reader to relate to both ce...

Hi everyone! Lately, I have been trying to improve my life. Not that it isn't great already, but just that I feel that there is a large degree of happiness and potential I still have yet to unlock. Both in terms of the variety of activities I pursue (last post), as well as the things I value, and my outlook on life. One idea I read a few weeks back is on the topic of successful people. In essence, it went something like: most of those who are successful are not successful because of some inherent talent or some insane ability to always work hard. They are successful because they know their potential and are not afraid to pick themselves up when they fail. I want to lead a successful life. Most importantly, that entails one where I am both happy and satisfied with the things I am doing. One means I am pursuing of achieving both of these characteristics is through maintaining a growth mindset and maximizing my utility of this mindset through my day-to-day life. As a consequence o...

Happy new year! 2020.... My senior year of high school has flown by pretty quickly. Not unexpected, but nonetheless, crazy to think about. At the moment, I am quite happy, as I finished the last of my college applications on Sunday, and the workload in that regard has dropped significantly. As I wrap up most of my academic classes, I am excited about the relatively greater degree of free time and freedom I will have over the next three-fourths of a year until college begins. Although I'm not quite done yet, I do feel quite relieved of the looming pressure of application season; I have been looking forward to this time for several months. Now I know things rarely go exactly according to plan, but there are a few things I am truly looking forward to experiencing: just some ways I want to have fun: Running - I have been recreationally running for about six months now. I started last June, and hope to keep up my engagement in the activity and hopefully see an improvement. YouTu...

Hello everyone. It is December already and 2019 is almost over. Wow. It is the last day of Thanksgiving Break, and I had a nice day today. We are in the midst of rainy weather and cold temperatures, and it doesn't look like it'll be clearing up for the rest of the week. Today was a good day for me because I got work done and had quite a bit of fun. Now I just ate good food and am relaxing before I go to sleep. I don't have much more to say. Hope that I can continue maintaining productivity and satisfaction with myself as I did in the past. Still not perfect, but I will continue to work on improving my reflection and following through with my goals. Because life is good right now and I don't have much to say, I'll end the post here.