Journal 2021- January to June
Hobbies, activities, experiences, pandemic, lockdown, journaling, food. Online classes, exams, webinars, COVID-19 infection, second wave, podcasting, books etc.
Hey everyone, as usual, this is part of my journal series which I do every four months. Unusually I’m going to make this a six-month-long one. I started my previous Journal by wishing you a new year. But, it seems like 2021 is nothing but another 2020 in a new tag. Keeping aside which year was better let me move ahead with the journal.
Let me keep aside my niche-based writeups and discuss what all made up my last four months. Also talking about a four-month journal series, there was a lot of issues that I had to talk about in the past four months rather than about myself. So all my blogs were aimed at one thing, gaining and sharing knowledge.
My last journal stopped in December 2020
Read it before you continue here for continuity.
Medium has given us an opportunity to talk about our personal space and how much it matters to us. Here is a tiny glimpse of my space and what matters to me as a tiny spot in this big world.
January
The transition to the new year wasn’t so smooth. Everything remained the same. Lockdown was easing in India, then there was some good news on the part of vaccines and the ongoing research related to the same.
On 2nd January I published my Lessons for Indian Politics for the Year 2021 was published. I received an overwhelming response for the same. I was happy to cover Indian Politics on a global stage. Also, my article, why 2020 was the best year for blogging became a massive hit. Thank you all for the support.
Academically, although my S7 portions and teaching ended. Project preliminary and Seminar had to go on. A few days later, we were instructed to come to college as batches for Literature Survey and Project presentation, along with Compiler Design lab internals.
That day was a flop. I couldn’t do well in the lab viva and also the Project Presentation had to be done again. A few days later Lab internals viva was to be conducted once more and that was smoother than this one.
The most exciting part of the first week was the US Congress Joint Session approval of Electoral College votes. As we know that Biden won in the November elections, but that had to be formally approved by the US Congress.
On 6th midnight I turned on CNN (which is available in India- hurray!) to watch the same. I could see GOP members trying to reject the votes from flip states and the Joint session split and go in for a discussion.
I was so excited to watch this and sat till 3 AM. Soon, I could see the ongoing protests on Capitol Hill. I watched the proceedings on NBC, CBS, ABC via Youtube. Then shocking capitol hill intersection happened and it was shocking for me to watch that happen in D. C. I read the rest only in News the next day, the horrifying pictures, the graphics, people’s reactions, comments etc.
On 9th January I published the journal article that I mentioned before.
Roshan Antony was my panellist for the European Refugee Crisis Podcast episode. He was extremely cooperative with that. I successfully released it On the 15th.
Courses
21st was the Inauguration of US President Joe Biden. Was glued to TV and laptop on that day. Compiler Design didn’t just end there. There was another lab exam. On 24th, inspiring by the state of the US and Trumpism, especially the refusal to accept the election results, and the insurrection that followed, I wrote a comprehensive article. It got accepted by Politically Speaking publication.
26th is special for India as it's our Republic Day. There is a special parade which happens there every Republic Day in the Capital, New Delhi. It is special for the family as it's when there are a lot of events that happen in the temples. On the same day, we could see unfortunate incidents in the National Capital. Violence and protests related to Farmers’ Bills were happening and it was painful to see a lot of visuals. A tractor rally was also planned in connection with the same.
In the last week, I got the unique opportunity to represent myself for the Navakeralam initiative, where the student community members could interact with the Chief Minister of the state and raise our concerns. Few of the students including me had to brainstorm the ideas. Unfortunately only one amongst us could go to the venue, while others could only join the event online.
On the 31st, there was MUNception which is the orientation for first-years regarding MUN and the MEC MUN Society. The juniors had done a good job compiling everything in a video format.
February
Excel, the Annual techfest of my college was happening online due to the pandemic. I was there in the content team. It was not so appealing as the Offline event. I participated in the CEO event.
The most exciting part of Excel for me was .Issue, which is a talk event where respected dignitaries used to debate upon a pressing issue. The theme was Democracy and Dissent. We were added into a WhatsApp group, where could debate upon the topic and theme. The most exciting part was the collaboration that happened with the 24 News, which is a top TV news channel in the state.
I also had the opportunity to write the report on .Issue but sadly it couldn’t get published anywhere. 3rd February was the D-day of the Indian financial budget. That evening I enlisted all the takeaways from the budget and made it into a comprehensive article.
The first week of Feb was dominated by one news- the Myanmar coup. I came up with an interesting article. On 9th, I invited ASWIN SHANIL and Harinarayanan Shaji for recording a podcast episode on a special topic. I thank them for their time and effort.
My article on incidents in Myanmar was a grand success and it received more than 5k claps.
10th February was my Mom’s birthday, that night everyone came home early to go out for dinner. That was the first time we were dining out since the pandemic. We tried a new restaurant in town, Mallus Dhaba, where they serve authentic Punjabi-North Indian food which is one of my favourite cuisines.
On World Radio Day, ie. 13th, Sangeeth S had approached me to write for IETE about the history of Radio. I was glad to accept the offer. It got released and was a big success. It was my first article to cross 6k claps and 120+ fans. It is pinned on top of my profile. On the same day, my family went on a pilgrimage to Ambalmugal which is just a few miles from my home.
On 14th, the family went to Ernakulam temple for the Temple Festival, it was quite weird in the way how things were celebrated amidst the pandemic. Similarly, I was under different pressure, ie S7 exams were incoming. I had seven theory exams to write. Almost all the exams went okay, it was my first exam after the pandemic began. The exam spanned till mid-March.
On 21st February I received the package from the US containing the Hacktoberfest T-shirt and laptop stickers.
Since it was exam week, I republished my old article on NDA 2.0 first anniversary article on medium. In the next week, I republished a tech article ie. on Beidou, which is the GPS built by China.
28th February was Science Day. In connection with the same, I had participated in three blogging contests. Two of them were conducted by IEEE MEC SB and one by IEEE MCE SB. Despite my exams, I took time to participate in the same. In one of the contests, I got second while came first in the other two.
March
On the first week after one of my exams, IEEE MEC SB asked me to publish one of the articles in connection with International Women’s Day. My exams finished only in mid-March. I am still aware of the Kerala Assembly elections which were fast approaching on April 6th. I started to plan out research and scheduling my articles on those topics.
On the 17th, as soon as my exams were done, went to Lulu for the first time post-pandemic start with family. I visited Tacobell for the first time and tried some Mexican delicacies.
Due to that, most of the time I was glued to TV and newspaper. To watch the ground reports, statewide analysis, election manifestos, etc. Kerala news channels were going crazy with the same. On 19th March I released my first article, ie. Introducing everyone to Kerala Politics, parties and leaders.
On 21st, I sat down with Kavith Viswanath, Ajes Mathew and Adv Alby Stephen to record an Episode on Kerala Politics. We had an insightful discussion on the topic. I’m sure that the political audience would have loved it.
On 23rd I had the S6 Honours Exam. Sebastian James accompanied me in the car to and from college. In the next few days, there was pizza week at my home, with the packet of pizza base brought from the mall hypermarket. We tried three types of pizza with different toppings each day. I made- Paneer Tikka, Veggie-Corn, Pasta. All of them turned really well. In the upcoming week, there was a big thunderstorm in the town that caused trees to fall on the road followed by a day of a power outage. On 29th, Nebu Titus Thomas came to Kochi. I accompanied him and ASWIN SHANIL to show him different landmarks in the city. On our way back, we dined at Meltyway a Veg only food joint there. It has a massive variety of veg dishes which you should surely try out.
On the same day, I released the Kerala elections podcast. The one which I talked about before. The subsequent article was released on medium too.
April
In the first week of the month, my maternal grandparents and other family members visited us for a short stay. It has been a long time since they had come here. On that weekend I released the final article of the Kerala Elections series, ie. How to Vote and the issues that made headlines last five years.
I’m delighted to have covered Kerala Elections in detail from various sources and adding a lot of perspective and ideas in the best way possible, without any bias and with objectivity.
6th, Tuesday was the D-Day of the Kerala elections. The colourful campaign was over but was crucial with the rising of COVID-19 cases due to the elections and beyond. The election was done with and an endless wait for results on 2nd May started. Also, there was a speculated second wave incoming in the country.
For the West Bengal Elections, I referred to the Lallantop ground reports made by the team. They covered the entire state with utmost interest and sincerity just like their Bihar elections report.
The next weekend saw the IEEE PELS’21 symposium, which was held online. The main sponsor of the event was Typhoon and Huawei. The symposium talked about Power Electronics, equipment, industries, consumer needs etc.
In the second week, Anand Raj, Alan Antony and I were part of a debate contest conducted by IEEE CS Kerala as a team. Unluckily we could only become second even if we ourselves expected to be the winners of the same. The event also had attractive prizes too.
14th was my parents’ Wedding Anniversary and we travelled to both grandparents’ homes. Throughout the month I was reading a surprising book which I reveal later.
I had participated in the Quiziva quiz event and won the same. In the IEEE MES CE Kerala Industries Webinar event, I got the first prize for report writing in connection with IEEE PES Day. Also got to participate in Quizbot and masterminds quiz.
On the 20th, my mother turned COVID positive, since then for one month our family were affected by this. I have made a detailed experience regarding how I and my family tested COVID-19 positive and my experience amidst the second wave that has struck the country. This article was published in May.
On 24th, I released an article on the reasons why we are seeing a second wave in the country detailing the possible causes and solutions.
On 25th, Tinkerhub MEC under the leadership of Alan Sebastian George invited me as a speaker for the webinar on Millennium Fellowship. I thank him for the opportunity. On 27th, I attended a Webinar on Multiple Intelligence. Check out
On 29th I had one of the best opportunities ie. to attend the NPR Politics Webinar in connection with Biden’s 100 days in Office. I woke up at 6 AM local time on that day just to attend this. The webinar was kept at 8 PM ET. Finally, an incredible month came to end despite we all being stuck under home quarantine.
May
On the next immediate day, ie. May 1st is also popular as Labour Day across the world. I woke up really irritated with leg pain. I had Mixed Signals Embedded Systems Webinar. My parents had gone to the hospital to test for COVID and I turned positive that day. That was the eve of Kerala and the five states elections results. I published the five states elections article on Medium.
Since we were all under Home Quarantine, my brother begged for a Netflix membership for a month and my parents allowed it.
I was too excited on 2nd May for the same that I really forgot that I had the disease. I woke up early at 8 AM to stay glued to the TV. The counting was really exciting. From 4th onwards I was really tired and had a high fever.
Two times I visited a prominent hospital in the city. Despite that on 7th, MUNner’s Daily asked me to publish the article on Kerala Election Results which I covered despite my sickness.
On 1st and 2nd May, I participated in IEEE Sight Humanitarian Conference.
At that time COVID was a peak in the country. A lot of disturbing visuals on the TV, high numbers, strict lockdown, travel restrictions and a lot more. On the 12th I became negative but I was still under home quarantine.
4, 5, 6 and 7 were my series exam days amidst my sickness. I missed my last exam which was linear algebra.
After my recovery, I participated in the IEEE PIE Arise event. It was a comprehensive set of five programmes with webinar series, craft workshops, managerial competitions, fun events etc. On the 19th, I participated in IEEE MEA SB Telecommunications Quiz in connection with World Telecommunications Day. My COVID experience article was released.
22 and 23rd was the days of Technoprenuership conducted by IEDC MEC to instil Entrepreneurship skills for college students. On the 23rd evening, I took part in TKM Discussion Forum on the Israel-Palestine issue which was peeking at that time.
25th was my brother’s birthday, we bought a black forest cake for him. Only four of us were there at home due to the ongoing lockdown. That night we ordered dinner from Mallu’s Dhaba. That day, my deep researched politics of covid vaccines article got published.
June
Finally, my favourite month is here but unfortunately, it was really hectic as the academic year was coming to a close. In the first week, at college, we had arts fest Layatharang. I was in charge of Essay Writing and Extempore. I had to conduct prelims for juniors and train them for the main contest.
The second season of the Family Man series was out and my entire family watched it with great interest. After that, we watched Special Ops on Hotstar. Lakshadeep Issue was dominating Indian headlines. I released an article on the same.
In the second week, I had my second series randomly held. So it was more like a class test with all the formalities. The final project presentation was also approaching next week, I had to be prepared with everything. Alongside I participated in Quaruntine 2.0, a competition by AJCET.
On 12th, I was invited by the IEEE MEC SB CS Society for a Talk Session called Talks#MEC. I had to speak and present on Digital Marketing. I thank Bharath and Salman for the opportunity.
On the 13th, I released my podcast episode on What is it like to be a MUNner? which was prepared by ASWIN SHANIL, Harinarayanan Shaji and myself in collaboration with the MEC MUN Society.
I would like to thank Niranjana for the opportunity, along with Sangeeth S and Aswathy S who are the editors of MUNner’s Daily publication. The article on the episode was released on MUNner’s Daily along with the links and feedback form.
15th was a special day, ie. My Birthday. It was a normal day at home, with strict lockdown and a lot of work to be done with. An ordinary day with a couple of wishes from everyone.
Heard on the 16th that there will be relaxations in lockdown restrictions as well as that our Final University Semester exams will be Online only. 18th it was the team’s final project presentation. Everything was ready for that day. Luckily the presentation went smooth, took only close to half an hour. I thank Steev James, ASWIN SHANIL and Devika for completing the project and guiding me throughout the period.
On 20th I released the KTU CS S6 article, solely aimed at juniors who will be struggling with syllabus and studies as such. Things were getting a bit serious as the semester and my B. Tech life was coming to a close.
28, 29 and 30th were the dates of the first three exams, ie. CS subjects. The fourth subject was Linear Algebra on 4th and finally S7 honours on 9th. With that my B. Tech-MEC life ended in a different way than people expected.
Here is my B. Tech farewell article before I wind up this story.
The six months of 2021 went quite quick and very tough. Along with that, there was a lot of good experience for me too. With catching COVID, continuing to stay in lockdown, completing two semesters and graduating from college, my birthday, participating and winning a lot of prizes, writing and publishing a lot of blogs, doing a couple of podcasts, this time will never be back and 2021 is an important continuation of 2020 and the world is yet to revert back to 2019.
I still believe that I have my own space in this world. Having your own space in this world is central as an individual. We ourselves need to build what we need to a mark in this world.
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