From a Combination of Words to an Identity

How do you come up with such fancy names?

Hello MysticDews, or whatever that handle of yours means.

Didn't quite get the tale behind your MysticDews identity.

This was a fraction of number of questions of that nature. A lot of people have been asking me about the MysticDews identity that I maintain throughout my social cloud. I wanted to do a post on this when I started writing here, but somehow it didn't seem appealing to me at that time.

So where did this MysticDews actually come from?

It happened one chilly morning, when I had to attend a lecture at my physics classes. As usual, I reached a little early and was wondering what to do. I walked on the grassy ground nearby and dew drops on the foliage caught my attention. I wanted to photograph it and asked one of my teachers if he could allow me to use his camera phone for a while. I clicked a few pictures and was so lost that I didn't notice that all my classmates had arrived and were watching me click those pictures. I heard someone whisper "He's a mysterious guy..."

The day continued, and ended with not even a distant particle of hint that it would be the making of something that I'll be identified as. Next day I couldn't attend the lecture and when I later met my friends, they asked me where did I disappear and that the teacher was asking about why the dew drop boy didn't attend. I replied, without much thought,

"The mysterious guy disappeared like the dews - Mystic Dews."

That's when I first used that name. Later in the night, while on the bed, looking at the stars from my window the sound of Mystic Dews kept ringing through my ears. I liked the fanciness of that name and the way it came into being - so much that I decided to use it as an identity for myself.

That is the story of MysticDews - from a combination of words, to an identity.

With a special thanks to all those who appreciated me for that handle, I end this post.. :)

BarCampMumbai4

The two day BarCampMumbai4 concluded last Sunday. I had the pleasure to be present for the unconference on both days. Besides the knowledge that I gained, it was great meeting my twolks (twitter folks, for those who can't figure that out) and new people.

It started on twitter, with people discussing about the BCM4 days ahead of the actual event. I wanted to attend BCM3, which took place last year, but unfortunately I couldn't. So this year, in spite of unending college assignments, I firmly decided that I will be attending BCM4. Unlike earlier BarCamps, BCM4 required participation from all those who attended it - you either present a session, or volunteer for other activities. After remaining awake for two nights and filling up pages with stuff that teachers never really check, I reached the venue - SJM SOM, at IIT Bombay on Saturday morning, for day 1.

The day began with registrations and we received a geeky t-shirt from the platinum sponsor for the event - Directi. (I always wanted a t-shirt like that, as much as I want a tattoo like this one.) We later proceeded to the SOM Well and had our breakfast (credits to Vipul Mathur for the attractive picture). Then after a short introduction session by Abhishek Thakkar, began the sessions. Most of the sessions were focussed on startups. Established people talked about their success stories and gave some valuable tips. There were a few product demoes which invited lively discussions and feedbacks. I won't get into details of the sessions as a list of those can be found here, on the BarCampMumbai's website.

More interesting than the sessions was meeting my twolks (ok, I wasn't following all of them earlier, but now I am). I met Preshit, Shadez, Aalaap, Unitechy, DanishKhan1, Asfaq, aDeSe, dhempe, PunkPolkaDots, Netra, UrmiRaj14, Maharana, VipulMathur, santoshp, and Shwetank at the tweetup that we had near the coffee shack at IITB. (If I'm missing out someone, please let me know).

Day 2 was more interesting, we had a small introduction session, wherein everyone present at BCM4 had to introduce themselves in a 20 second time span. Later we had an interesting session by Appu and Vipul Mathur, both photography enthusiasts and excellent photographers on Photography Communities and why should we be sharing our photos.

While listening to the sessions, a bunch of us, including me started a community effort that we code named Houston Wayfinder Mission ;) As DanishKhan1 described it, it is a top secret, and any disclosures might lead to serious complications. Preshit proved that one can be famous on twitter without even having an account there. The Houston Wayfinder Mission is still continuing on twitter, with Wayfinder updating Houstons on the current status regarding the subject. Well, this might not have made sense to you if you are not one of the 5 Houstons or Wayfinder himself (oOps, itself, I mean ;) )

With all that fun, and after-BCM4 Minute Maid sponsored by Preshit, BCM4 had a happy ending. I'll be a regular at BCM from now onwards and hope to present a session sometime.

Photographs from BCM4 have been uploaded on Flickr and can be found here.

Broken

The recent past was quite sad and shocking for me on the personal front.

The last two weeks have been the worst of my life. Major misunderstandings, irreconcilable differences and similar stuff that cropped up has sort of broken me down into a million pieces. I feel i have lost all my strength. People i trusted and called my own seem to have been lost somewhere, in a place where i don't seem to find them. The current situation due to some absurd and baseless misunderstood reasons has been such that i feel a lot lonely and as if i am an alien to this society. Just a couple of friends who have been really understanding and caring have helped me live through these testing times of mine. I still speak to those selected few about my emotional condition and the things that i am being made to go through, and they are the only ones who understand me, listen to me patiently, and are actively helping me to overcome this sad part of my life. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for helping me to keep standing and face the situation. But i must say, all this taught me a lot. Most of all, I learnt to be a bit aggressive, else people just take you for granted and walk all over you. I have changed a lot after all this, though i don't know, whether for the good or for the bad. Although that rough patch seems to be passing away now, but it has left a wound deep in my heart, and i'm sure it wont go away.

It sits there, reminding me of how people changed. It sits there, reminding me of a goal, i have to achieve. It sits there, quiet, yet hurting. Covered, yet painful. Silent, yet speaking a thousand words...