The Writer's Fork: August 2013

I have quit my most favorite activity : Model United Nations (Model UN/ MUN)

Let's start at the beginning.

When you see something, learn from it, it has a use-value. When I started MUN-ing (for lack of a better word) I began to appreciate the world system, international relations, power politics, regionalism, military and economic issues that confront the world today.

I learnt knowledge and I got rewarded for it! It was great! But then it reached a stage (after about 17 MUN's) - where it's 'use-value' began to decrease. So in economics, there is a concept called Marginal Utility. It states that as more and more units of a 'product' is consumed its MU (marginal utility) falls down/decreases. So basically, in simple language, if you eat your first ice cream your MU will be the highest, but by the time you eat your 10th ice-cream your MU will be falling or negative.

The marginal utility curve is a upside-down 'U' curve. It increases, reaches a 'peak' and then rapidly falls down reaching zero and then becomes negative. And for me, my MUN curve is negative now...

I became so good at MUN-ing that I would walk in a committee and win an award on the third day. It was addictive, the reasons were intelligent and the applause later was a morale booster. But then I started asking, how much is too much? When is enough really enough?

And it hit me.

I did MUN-ing because-

(1) It was a source of knowledge.

(2) I got rewarded for it. (bonus)

(3) Not everyone was good at it, not everyone could understand the concept (double bonus)

I now have a wonderful bunch of friends and memories I have made in my last 4 years of MUN-ing life.

But the reasons I am stopping is because-

(1) I do not gain any knowledge from it... (I think once you spend more than 700+ hours, you become an expert in that specific area and the ability of the brain to 'receive' information drops)

(2) It is unfair to keep continuing in an activity where you'll keep accumulating rewards, MOVE ON and LET NEW KIDS COME IN

(3)Dear friends, after all, it is model un.

Au Revoir MUN! You were sweet and some memories were made.

I feel a sense of satisfaction as I type in this pseudo-resignation letter...

Dear Model UN,

I resign.

Have some places to travel, some languages to learn.

Yours lovingly,

Sameera

I have been called (on many ocassions) - rude, impolite, selfish, irresponsible, tactless... the list goes on.

I think the best way to improve myself (and yourself, if you think this is a self-help entry) is to travel.

When you live in a safe, secure, stable environment and somebody takes care of you (your mother or father or older siblings) - you become a spoilt brat... think of Veronica from the Archie comics.

So spending almost a month in London was a good lesson for me. I had to wake up (yes, I actually put an alarm and woke up when it rang, haha) at 6 am in the morning. Get ready, prepare my breakfast and go to college walking. Yes, back home walking to college would mean that if I leave on monday at 8 am I'd reach by tuesday 4 am. But there is nothing I miss and love more than walking down pocock street to blackfriars road and then strand and then waterloo! Walk, walk, walk, walk. Alone. Sometimes Matt or Prajwal or Tuany would join me. Some times with friends some times alone. Some times with music some times without.

It would take roughly 20-25 minutes to reach Waterloo. And then if it would rain you'd curse the world that day (haha).

Walking on those grey cobbled streets. at 8:00 am or 5:00 am or 12:30 am or 2:00 am. Back from Piccadilly circus or Leicester Square. Back from some salsa dancing at club Rumba! Back from Oxford Street or abbey road or Jubilee park. Then the curious cases of cooking rice in an electric cooker borrowed from a friend... haha or trying to cook pasta in a hot water boiler (do not try this at home).

Our spanish professor was a delight to study with. His knowledge of investments, derivatives, trade and 'washington consensus' was beyond detail-specific. The best thing was that after telling us various approaches like "Marxist, Liberal, capitalist, economic-nationalist...etc" he (when asked by a student of the most suitable approached he preffered), he would say "At all times, I will give you the facts so that you can form your opinion. at no time do you get to ask what I "think" because what I think is not important.." - isn't that wonderful? Studying in Delhi university you get used to teachers proclaiming marxism or feminism as the way to be [No offence intended].

London as a city is busy, safe, grey (weather-wise), beautiful, cosmopolitan, multicultural and the domino that controls other dominos....like New York and Tokyo. It is filled with history and when you walk in London you walk in Virginia Woolf's city, when you pass the Big Ben, you pass through Dicken's London. When you take the tube it's always to Hogwarts through King's cross station.

The museums are definitely the icing on the cake. Here are a few pictures from the Victoria-Albert museum (which is so big that 2 hours weren't enough. Always take 24 hours with you and even after that some chambers will be left unexplored..) The museum is divided into sections like Postmodern, victorian england, roman/gothic, the 1970/60/50/40/30s... Certain quarters are divided by region like South-east asia, middle east etc..

(Victoria and Albert Museum, August 2013)

Some other pictures I clicked in London -

(Abbey Road, 2013)- Apparently the tourists love to leave some love for the other roads besides abbey road... (made famous by the Beatles)

The tube - London Underground - this station was special because it was older, darker and more 18th century like..

I saw this elderly lady at the baker street station and for some reason really wanted to click her while she waited... I guess I liked her stoic-ness? (is that even a word?!)

This is my sad attempt at capturing King's strand Campus

My favorite place in KCL - the Maughan Library... I could only capture like 3/4 of what this round room is. Its like 70+ feet, circular, old-gothic building, with a round glass ceiling...It is HUGE! Rumour has it, it was shot as Dumbledore's office (lie) and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code talked about the Maughan library- apparently the protagonist lands in london goes to Maughan searching for a particular book (true) ... The maughan was built in the early 1800's as a public records office which was later turned into a library

Oxford Street- a view from Primark after a heavy rain shower..

Near River thames, a beach artist making his "tribute to love"

The lane that leads to New College, Oxford

Some scenes of HP that were shot at NC

Oxfordshire Market, August 2013

This is the place that is right below waterloo bridge. every day this man would come and blow bubbles for kids to play with! Another thing I loved was how struggling artists (dancers, musicians, singers, magicians) would come here and sing, dance, play tricks and a crowd would gather.