The third reason why women cry.

When Draupadi was being stripped by Dushshashan and insulted by Duryodhan and Karn, in the court of Kauravs in Hastinapur royal palace, (at the end of the rigged dice-game in which her husband, the gambling-addicted Yudhisthir, lost everything), she was crying.  True. Why? She was crying in public. Was she weak?

 

Why do people cry? For two reasons : if they are very sad, or if they are very happy. Right? Partially. Women, additionally, can cry for a third reason. ANGER. Anger throbs the brain, pressurizing the tear glands to overflow. When angry, women have tears.  Anger-crying does NOT mean weakness.

Draupadi was angry. Was she weak? NO way! She was strong enough, to maintain and consolidate the resolve for revenge, obsessively for the 13 years of exile, inciting her five (Pandava) husbands, who were somewhat passive, into ruthless revenge.

Parvati cried when her son Ganesh was beheaded by Shiva. Then her anger converted her into the ultimate destructive Mother goddess (Bhawani), threatening to perish all the three worlds, in revenge.

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Draupadi took revenge for her extreme insult after 13-and-a-half years, in the great Kurukshetra war. Only a very strong person can do that.  And, by the way, Draupadi did NOT commit suicide like Sita (at the end of the Ramayana story), because only weak people do that.

Undoing the IIT-ian in me.

Over the 5 years of 2001-06, when I was an Undergraduate at IIT KGP, I had several bad habits creeping into me, and I was OK with it since it was the IIT culture. But now I have undone it. Here is how :-

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1) I stopped waking up to my laptop : watching the sunrise is far more fulfilling. Checking the email can wait.

2) I stopped online networking for non-professional reasons : chatting for hours and hours yields what?

3) I stopped oversleeping on weekends.

4) I stopped eating out : I cook at home.

5) I stopped watching Youtube endlessly.

6) I stopped using headphones while at work : I no longer need to "be in a different zone", to be productive.

7) I stopped copy-pasting : being ORIGINAL = being SMART.

8) I stopped procrastinating.

9) I stopped lazing.

10) I stopped having a superiority complex : the IIT-JEE in not the ultimate test.

11) I stopped sitting mechanically before the computer : reading books is great.

12) I stopped postponing taking a bath during the day : a fresh day needs a fresh me.

13) I stopped skipping my workout.

14) I stopped forgetting what I learnt.

15) I stopped taking notes mechanically.

16) I stopped avoiding deadlines : no more asking for extensions.

17) I stopped thinking like a desperate student while studying : there was no more asking "Will it come in the exam?"

18) I stopped allowing the Internet to dominate my life : no more over-surfing.

19) I stopped Googling (at the spur of the moment) for every damn thing. I need not be sinking in information.

20) I stopped having an opinion about everything : it's Okay to not know everything and have the courage to say "I don't know".

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I can find that my Second Innings in IIT (2011-present) is way different from the first (2001-06).