Conversion: You Should Have A Choice To Pick Your Religion

* This is a fictional story which portrays my view on religion and how we all have deserve a chance to pick a religion of our choice.
* Read this with an open mind, and try to understand the point being brought on
*My deepest apologies if this does hurt anyone's sentiments
 
" My name was Mr. X, but from today onwards I would be know as Mr. Y. Why? It is because I decided to convert from Religion A to Religion B and I have to change my name as to make it legal. I know you are thinking it's because I got married to a  lady of Religion B and that's why I have to convert, but no. I converted because I no longer feel belong to Religion A's teaching and found a sense of belonging in the teaching of Religion B. 

This life changing decision came to me with a price, and that price is my entire family. Because of my decision, My family and everyone I know has decided to shut the door on me. I am still the same person as before. The same son to my parents, the same brother to my siblings. But just because I decided to convert to a different religion I have now lost my family. Is this even fair. 

We often change our smartphones from one brand to another which suits our preferences that differs over time but when it comes to religion, I'm called a sinner just because I converted from a religion which I never choose to begin with to a religion I felt belong. Remember I never choose this religion when I was born. My parents were Religion A devotees and they gave birth to me but that does not mean I must follow the same religion as them. 

From the day I was born I was only thought the teachings of Religion A and no other religion and that is why I was identified as a person of Religion A. I did not choose this religion when I was kid, instead I was told to follow the teachings of a religion practice by my parents. Only if as a little child, I was allowed to explore all different religious teachings and picked the religion of my choice, I would not have lost my family today.

In today's world we have the opportunity to compare different things before we decide to buy something. We try on different shirts before buying one. We are so careful when it comes to buying a house or car but when it comes to religion, we obliged to stay  to the religion which we are born into although we may not feel it is best for us without having an option to choose a religion which is best for us. 

All I am asking is for is to give our younger generation a chance to explore different religious teaching before practicing one. I don't want them to go through what I've gone through just because I converted. Because at the end of the day we all deserve to choose what religion we belong too."

Phew! After 7 Years, I'm An Engineer

Yes as the tittle of the post itself says, after a long 7 year years, I am now official an engineer. To be more specific a chemical engineer... For the rest, it usually takes a mere 5 years to be an engineer (1 year foundation + 4 years undergraduate) but no, I took the road less taken. A diploma for 2 1/2 years followed by spending 7 months at home before joining an university for 3 months only to quit for another university which I end up spending the next 3 1/2 years there to finally complete my undergraduate program.

I have had to face all sort of things during the last 7 years en route to be an engineer. So many challenges were thrown on my path and some brought me so close to the verge of quitting. From things as simple having difficulties from bonding with a new group of friends, to being told that I should quit engineering because I don't fit to be one to the point I lost my dad, I have seen it all and yet I am so pleased I have crossed the finishing line.

The most defining moment came during 2008, when back then I was on a scholarship for my diploma. I took life easily and was only focusing on having fun instead of putting an effort on my studies. One of the semester I did so badly (GPA: 2.12) and I came on the verge on losing my scholarship. It was only than I realised how much I have strayed away from my goals.

I was called up to the dean office that day and I thought the dean was going to give me some words of motivation to get back on track. I was in for a harsh beating because no that only happens in an ideal world. Reality is not a very comforting place. My dean called me in to tell me I should quit engineering all together. I remember the exact words, "Sukesh, what made you think you deserve to be an engineer? Who even told you that you can be one? Look, in your SPM you are bad at maths. You should just quit engineering and go do something your level like mass comm." 

It hit me so hard and actually convinced me that I should quit because I am not good enough. But life has a way to show you support when you least expected it and without my best friend Eugene, I would not have continued my diploma. I remember we having a deep conversation one of the days and that changed me forever. I realigned my goals and my attitude and I never looked back again.

I manage to rescue my pointer during my diploma, but it was no where close to land me another scholarship or even qualify to a merit based university like UTP. In May 2011 I came for the edu camp, attended the interview, was kept on the pending list and finally was rejected. It was my dream since I was 16 to enter UTP and when I got rejected I thought my dream was over.

Dejected, I joined a different university which in my opinion was so poor in quality. I was so depressed an homesick where I started behaving differently. I isolated myself, slept for a couple of hours, hardly mingled with anyone and was always waiting to go back home. I would cry to sleep and dread to go back to my hostel.

When all seemed lost, I was rescued again in the form of another friend, Franzeene Nadia. She told me that UTP was having an intake in September for the first time and encouraged me to re apply again. She told me I had nothing to lost even if I was not selected and that it was worth a shot.I applied, was shortlisted, was kept on the pending list and than was rejected. 

Suddenly the system should I was accepted. When I called them, they told me no I am not selected. The following day I has an offer letter issued to me that I was accepted. After an intense clarifying session with many parties, I managed to force my way through to enter UTP.

Ever since I entered here, there was no turning back from me. This was my second chance at life and I intended to make the very best of it. From a student who once scored a mere 2.12 GPA, I managed to pull my self up to score continuous Dean's List in UTP. Once of the major reason why I managed so was because of my good friend Mohanan Rooparn.

Without him, I have no idea how would I have even completed my undergraduate program. He has been an amazing friend to me and a huge support as well. Always ready to help me academically and would be patient enough to explain me things despite my stupid doubts. Yes Oopen, I owe a big part of my degree to you.

7 years of university life is not something easy to endure, you will meet many different types of challenges and obstacles. The only way to survive is to be mature, mentally strong, be a positive person and yes have wonderful friends who will never quit on you. I am blessed to have them all. I hope my story here can inspire those who are struggling to do well, because I was once in your shoes as well and need someone to inspire me. I hope I can inspire you now

Trust Me, I'm An Engineer!!

If Casey Could Speak

Casey on her first day home

Casey has been with us now for over a year. She came to us as a little pup, so small and cute and now she is all grown up. Over the year, Casey has tried communicating to us with her barking. So I decided to have a chat with her recently and this was the 5 things I learned from our chat.

Casey Seeking To Get In The House

1. "Why is Mr. Fallen always get to stay inside the house and I have to be outside?"

Well Mr. Fallen is our beloved cat, and he stays in the house while Casey is our protector, taking care of the house. She always looks for opportunity to run into the house and live the life Mr. Fallen is living

Excited Casey Asking Me To Carry her

2. "Why don't you carry me anymore like you used and only Mr. Fallen gets carried?"

Well when Casey was a little pup, we could easily lift her with one arm high up. But now she is all grown up and big which makes her heavy. So yeah it gets difficult to carry her but that does not mean we don't love you anymore Casey.

 

Casey Welcoming Me Home

3. I asked Casey, "What do you when I am away?" and she answered through her barking saying "Waiting for you to come home and cuddle me."

Every time when we get back to home, Casey would race to the gate and stand up with her front paws on the gate just like this. She gets super excited when she hears our car engine and starts jumping over celebrating our arrival

4. "Scold me all you want but please don't pour water and soap on me, pleaseeeeeeee!!!"

Fearing The Water, Casey Hides Her Cage

This is her exact reaction, every time I want to giver her a bath. She would run around avoiding me and even try to hide in her cage. She would do anything to escape the bath. After having force her to take her bath, she would sulk with me and avoid me the whole day. She would not even want me to cuddle her. But she would be okey the next day.

Casey Marking Her Territory

5. "You are never going to enter in this house!!!!!!!!"

There is this stray cat outside my house which my brother feeds everyday and whenever Casey sees her, she will go on barking and barking until the stray cat is gone. She does not bark to Mr. Fallen but only to this stray cat.  Maybe she feels that by having one cat in Mr. Fallen, he is already hogging all the limelight, things will only get worse for her if she allows this stray cat in too. I guess that's why she is becomes so strict when she sees this stray

Having Casey is one the greatest blessing in my life. She loves me like crazy and is always loving and excited to see me. This little chat today surely did help us get closer to each other. I'm sure there are more things on Casey mind and once I find out more I would share it here once again.

Chocoholics And Their True Love

Chocolates are one of the most essential things in my life. It is something I need on a daily basis. A day without a bite of chocolate can drive me nuts and make me so edgy. I know that I am one big chocoholic. But I cant be the only one around here who is a chocoholic.

Thus I have taken the liberty to identify my fellow chocoholic around me because I believe every chocoholic has their one true love chocolate which is their favorite above other chocolates and ask them what is their favorite chocolate and why do they love them so much and below is their answers.

1. Kavithraa Baskaran

First up we have the beautiful Kavithraa who is my junior in university and is currently doing her internship. She was one of the first person who came to mind when I wanted to write about chocolates. Here is her answers

"KITKAT-  chocolate-covered wafer biscuit bar instead just chocolates. So it's a bit filling i would say. It's not too sweet. It's not bad in calories either. On of the best waffle chocolate bar

Ferrero Rocher - At its center is a whole hazelnut which is my favorite and surrounded by a chocolate hazelnut paste filling which is inside with chocolate wafer sphere and covered in more chocolate and crushed nuts.These are nice and also have this aroma smell that gets me attracted to it haha. MY FAVOURITE OF NUTS AND GREAT CHOCOLATE TASTE 

M&M - The taste is damn good doesn't taste like a candy corn. trust me the color are attractive. Remember once they had this M&M Mc Flurry in MCD omg it was heaven, i wish they could have it back now. I want it so badly it taste so good and the white ice cream tend to be colorful after adding on M&M Hee"

2. Lakesh Waran
" My favorite chocolate would be Pepero which comes under the brand of Lotte. The reason why I love pepero is because Pepero has its own outstanding milk chocolate taste with a crunchiness of almond . The stick which is covered with the chocolate is soft and blends well with the taste . I can easily finish 2 packs in a go .
 


3. Buvana Paidithally Rao 

" My favorite is dark chocolate especially from Ghirardelli, the best ever, its been my favorite since I am young, Its not sweet thou but the relaxation I get after each  piece in my mouth is so speechless... moreover its healthy as well, so no weight gain and i also get to eat my favorite chocolate with no restriction"

 

3. Dinesh Thulasidass
"I love Hershey’s Kisses Almond Chocolate because it gives me the taste which keeps me stay fueled and hyper. It helped me to stay confident and focus through my exams and football tournaments.

Kirthana savoring the moment with her chocolate

4. Kirthana @ Kim Jong Dae
"Favorite Chocolate: Kinder Bueno and Cadbury

Reason: The coco n milk is very rich in both of these chocolate and their texture is great... They don't melt easily even when its hot.. They make me forget who I am for a moment. These r non alcohol chocolate and very milky n chocolaty.not to forget...their reasonable price.

5. Sukesh Pandian

Being a chocoholic, this post wouldn't be complete without my view on what is my favorite chocolate and why

 " I have had the luxury to try many different kinds of chocolates including both chocolates available in foreign land and locally available. Out of all these chocolates I have tried my number pick will

always be M&M. To be precise its the milky chocolate M&M that comes in the dark brown packet.

It is hard for me to describe why I love this chocolate a lot. To me, it's God's greatest creation lol. Its so chocolaty and perfect. I have tried the NIPS MILK CHOCOLATE and it turned out to be a disaster.

I could eat all my desserts with M&M let be biscuits, cakes and even ice-cream. Nothing beats M&M for me. Owh yeah I also have a friend who will only eat the red colored M&M only lol"

I am sure that there are more chocoholics out there than the person who featured in this post. If you are a huge fan of chocolates, do comment your thoughts on your favorite chocolate here as well. Because there is no better thing in the world than chocolate.

  

Counseling: A Taboo That Should Be Broken

The common perception of the public when they hear that someone is attending counseling is to automatically assume that they are crazy or mentally ill. I am not saying this is what everyone assumes but it is safe to 8 of 10 people would do so. I won't blame them for thinking so because ever since we were young this are the kinds of things we were told when we are growing up.

That is the main reason why such taboo exist that attending for counseling/psychiatrist session means that you are mentally ill. But many fail to realise the importance of having regular counseling session and what difference it can make to an individual life who is going through a tough phase in life

Recently I cam across a case in my university whereby a student had a breakdown. He/She recently broke up with their lover and if I'm not mistaken, a close family member also had passed away while having to cope with the exam stress. It was too much too handle and the person started to act differently from norm. The university management we aware of the issue and contacted his/her parents and they got him/her to consult a psychiatrist. The current state of the student is unknown but I hope and wish for a speedy recovery for that student.

Concerned about this issue, I spoke to a lecturer from my university regarding this issue and what my lecturer told me shocked me. The lecturer said "Sukesh, this is not the first case of a student having a mental breakdown here. This kind of cases happens on a yearly basis just that it is not widely known by the rest. Only this case seemed to have gone a little viral, but yes Sukesh this things happens almost every year"

It is shocking to me because, having spend 4 years, this was the very first time I have seen such issue, and to know this happens on a yearly basis is not something healthy. Thus the need to encourage counseling sessions for students should be a pressing issue from the university management.

My university already has 2 counselors available for students to meet, but the issue is how many students knows that there is a counselor available in the university that they can speak to times of need. For me, the management and counselors needs to do more to promote the existence of these counseling sessions and highlight the importance why students need to do

It is important to do so as that will encourage students who are having issues at an initial stage to approach their counselor and discuss about it. This can help avoid student's conditions from getting severe and also avoid the possibility of them taking drastic measures.

Current most viable outlet any student here has is by taking a subject called "Peer Counseling". It is a curriculum subject of 1 credit hour. Personally, I find this one of the most beneficial subject I have done in the 4 years of my degree time. We conduct group counseling session whereby we have total freedom and trust in a circle of people to share our deepest secrets and not being judge upon what we say.

I have managed to share many sad moments that happened to me and was well supported by my peers. Every time, at the end of the session, I leave as a better men. It was for 10 weeks and the session was about an hour only. Now imagine students here can do that throughout their 5 years, every week for an hour. I am sure you will have more confident and mentally stronger graduates being produced. Graduates who can cope with the stress they are going through without breaking down while having an outlet to share their issues.

In conclusion, counseling is a taboo that should be broken and have it encouraged for everyone to be involved in