Imagine

In the tormented times we live in today, only love can conquer hate. One visionary song composed in 1971, by John Lennon speaks of a world with no possessions, no wars, no hate. ONLY LOVE. Watch his original song and follow along with the lyrics, and you can also dream of a world united by love, not torn by hate. Imagine, 37 years after this song, nothing has changed. Maybe the time is now, Maybe we are the ones who can start the beginning of the new world. “Its easy if you try ….”

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

About having your cake – AND eating it too

The person who once famously wrote “You can’t have your cake, and eat it too” :

• Surely didn’t do a Masters in Science in Security Informatics at Johns Hopkins.
• Never ever experienced the delicious spread at innumerable potlucks all over the place
• Never started an assignment at 2:00 AM for a submission later the same day.
• Never ever tried pressing all the buttons on the elevator from 1 to 6 just to bug the friends riding with him.
• Did not work at Johns Hopkins CTY at some point in his Masters life.
• Definitely didn’t stay up for 36 hours at a stretch one time.
• Never ever went up to his professor or TA asking for more marks which he claimed he “deserved”
• Did not live on a staple diet of MAGGI (This is wat us INDIANs call what you Americans refer to as “Ramen”)
• Did NOT stay up multi-tasking between a project, an exam submission and a homework.
• For sure did NOT take Theoretical Cryptography.
• Never really experienced HAPPY HOUR in the truest sense of the word.
• Did not eat a minimum of 1 meal a day at Chipotle, Subway or Silk Road cafe
• Never ever had to endure the pain of having buttons 7, 8, and 9 on the elevator pressed as revenge
• Never ever experienced the sheer bliss of free food events. Lunch/Midnight breakfast/Dinner. Wherever, Whenever.
• DID NOT use the JHU escort van for a free ride, everywhere from Carlyle to Punjab to Giant to Rotunda to Happy Hour.
• Definitely cannot understand what a 4+4+2 or 5+5+0 meant
• Did NOT take the HIPAA course, sit through the monotony of Prof. James Hodge and live to tell the tale.
• Never flipped between Facebook & Gmail & YahooMail! & Orkut & JHU Mail every 5 seconds for updates.
• Did not watch 7713 videos on Youtube starting March 2008. (Yeah, you heard it right !!!)
• Surely does not know wat Stana Card, or Rebtel mean (FYI – its a long distance International calling card)
• Seriously  cannot claim to have done close to 80% of coursework with the same partner 🙂 Wich was so freaking awesome fun 🙂
• Never ever got so interested in politics as he did during his Masters. Oh the memories !
• Never tried his hand at playing MAFIA. And LOST. MISERABLY.
• Never EVER had the enjoyment of reading blonde jokes of all varieties with his project partner, while doing a Forensics project.
• Never heard a certain professor talk about pornography in a certain class of the Computer Forensics kind.
• Definitely DID NOT sit in Java Security class n exchange sleepy looks and PATHETIC jokes over chat with aforementioned project partner.
• Never attended career fairs SIMPLY to load up on the free T-shirts, key chains, bottles, pens and Rubiks cubes.
• Never had the chance to go up to Mountain View, CA, and interview with a certain company called G.O.O.G.L.E.
• Definitely DID NOT get an A in the final project of his Masters program.
• Never enjoyed the pure essence of being in college. AGAIN.

The person who famously quipped “You can’t have your cake, and eat it too” definitely hasn’t been on one of them rollercoasters of life, aptly termed the Masters. I say aptly termed, because when u get done with your Masters, you really feel you’ve MASTERed an insurmountable peak. You’ve evaded an avalanche of giant rocks thrown at you at the same time from all different directions. You see, finishing a MASTERS isn’t one of those experiences you simply savour and then forget. Its one of those you truly cherish. And i mean, REEEEEEEEEEEALLLLY  cherish.I can honestly say with total and utter confidence that, I will always remember THIS DAY, 11th December 2008 as the HAPPIEST of my life till my wedding day. The entire spectrum of emotions sweeping over me,  I cannot even begin to explain. Suffice it to say : “You’ve reached Rajiv Mathew’s voice mail service. I am curently flying higher right now than anyone can reach. Please leave your name, a number and a message after the beep. BEEEEEP !! ”

Today, having just got my final grade, and now officially DONE with my Masters, I can turn to that guy and say ….. “DUDE. I had my cake for a year and a half. And today, I’m eating it too. Not just ANY cake, but a devil’s food chocolate cake, loaded with chocolate chips, enveloped in a CREAMY white icing, topped with Wild strawberries and a can full of whipped cream, with a thick slab of PURE dark chocolate and a SOLITARY CHERRY ON TOP ………… WANNA TRY SOME ??? “.