"Some books should be tasted,some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly"-Sir Francis Bacon
The one book that I have chewed and digested thoroughly is Anne Frank's Diary.I grew up reading her diary.I adored her,laughed and cried with her.
I was introduced to this wonderful work of art when I was 11 by my Moral Science teacher(Yes!! Moral Science).
Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager who suffered the wrath of Nazi era.Her only source of happiness when she was in hiding was her history books,her diary and her family.She aspired to be a writer and yearned to travel the world,but her life was cut short when she was 15 in Auschwitz concentration camp.
Her stories of life,love and learning have inspired me and made me curious of the Holocaust.I have watched every documentary and movies based on it and cried like a baby witnessing the cruel side of humanity.
She made me understand the true meaning of the phrase"Pen is mightier than sword".
Her diary will always remain close to my heart.
Its back to back posts today,cos I am in the so called "blogging mood"!!
I am on a 3 month summer vacation now...and I was just looking out for ways to spend my holidays and that was the sole reason for me to register for the FSMK camp.I never knew the camp would impact me so much.Looking back now,I am so happy that I took that decision.
FSMK-free software movement Karnataka camp was held in the month of July from 20th-28th in JVIT Bidadi.It was a 9 day camp! and the only camp I had attended before was a 15 day NCC camp but I had over 30 friends there.I had no friends accompanying me this time and I was not even an active member of Dr AIT GLUG.So I had no idea what I was up for!So with lot of apprehensions I began my journey to the 9 day camp with many questions and doubts replaying in the back of my mind"What if you are the dumbest one in the lot?","What if you don't gel with others?""what if....?"
Upon reaching there.I immediately knew I had taken the right choice.The picturesque beauty of the college and the food!!Yes the food ..so delicious..I remember calling up my mom everyday to tell her that I will stay back in the camp cos the food was so awesome!.
The food for brain was much better...We had a well thought out schedule with emphasis on every lesson and even fun activities planned out in it.
We all migrated to Ubuntu..I was so happy that day because I thought It was impossible to switch to Ubuntu from my windows 8 laptop!
We had sessions on Drupal,Qt,Android,Java plus screening of documentary Nero's guest,couple of animated movies made with the help of blender.We had discussions too .I got a clear insight of Snowden's story,before the camp I was following the story in the papers but then I had thought he is just another guy like Assange but I got to learn more and now am making an effort to let even my friends know!
The volunteers were amazing,so fun,taking the trouble of making everything perfect for us and some of the volunteers were so inspiring.The late night session of how women can contribute to open source project and their story behind Google Summer of code motivated me a lot.Infact even after the camp,I am in touch with them and they taught me about IRC .
The friends part..I have to say I am really lucky that I didnt come in a group because I got to talk with all of them and actually make more friends.I never felt alone.Even now my phone is buzzing with whatsapp messages from various fsmk friends group.
At the end of the camp .I have completed two projects a calculator in Qt and a calculator android app.!!
To all my friends who are reading this blog and regretting missing the camp,all I got to say is "finders keepers and losers weepers":P
You can still be a part of fsmk by participating in your college GLUG activities ,attending weekly sessions in the fsmk office and by keeping your fingers crossed that there is going to be another camp very soon!!
"Free software is a software that respects your freedom and the social solidarity of your community.So it is free as in freedom"-Richard Stallman
I haven't updated my blog from a long time.I was just busy(lazy),thanks to my friend Farazi ,I am back :)
I recently celebrated my 20th birthday.What so special about that ?you might ask!!..It was the way I celebrated it!
Last year,I had a party at home with friends,family and cakes.It was beautiful.
This year,there was no party,no friends nor cakes but it was the best!
I decided to celebrate my birthday with the kids from Saraswathi Sevashrama.It is a small orphanage located near Mathikere bus stop with around 25 kids and a rabbit.The kids here are sent to the local government school and are taken care by dedicated volunteers from all parts of Karnataka.They are so well behaved!!...when anybody walks into their community hall you can hear the chorus of "Good morning Madam",the youngest kid is about 2 years old and the oldest around 13.
I decided on providing them their breakfast for the day .The kids requested me to cut the cake with them,but then I was too shy,so promised them chocolates instead.The kids are so adorable,they asked me to visit them every weekend and they were telling me their tales of the last party they celebrated!
It was the best birthday ever and to top it all of,the kids gave me a pretty greeting card too..:)
You can always visit this orphanage,just to meet them and listen to their stories.Trust me ,they will brighten your day!!
Address:
Saraswathi Educational &Charitable Trust(R)
Children Rehabilitation Center
#10,1st 'B' Cross,H.M.T Layout,
Opp.Chowdeshwari Bus stop,Mathikere,
Bangalore-560054
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