The best ideas come to me at the worst of times. What else can explain me sitting down to write this blog post at 3:00 a.m.? Actually, blog post ideas take some time to coagulate in the head. The seed, or the little irritation is planted by some event or some random memory. And then it sits there for days, sometimes weeks, gathering layers upon layers of ideas and coherence in the warmth of the oyster shell. And then, one moment of inspiration and a cup of warm coffee later, they tumble out, sparkling as ever to form the beads on this necklace.
Even as I write, I have at least 4 unpublished drafts sitting in the list of posts, waiting for me to find words to express them with. And then there are some more ideas that are just churning in my head --- some deliciously sarcastic, some chuckling-ly funny and some others that talk of serious topics. But these aren't all that keep my head occupied all the time. There are thoughts about assignments and presentations which are due in a couple of weeks, there are musings about what life might be at a new place in a couple of months from now, and there are fleeting memories of what life was only a year back. And the thoughts that lie most dormant in the far recesses of the mind are those about research projects, class assignment problems and ideas about future dimensions in problems that I want to explore: they never seem to consciously bothering me so much.
Every now and then, however, these last set of ideas jump up and shout in the brain. I may be writing a blog post, may be solving a statistical equation, or even might be brushing my teeth --- and all of a sudden this brilliant idea just clicks into place! Suddenly things begin to make so much sense; suddenly there appears a dimension to a problem which I never though existed! And it is so tempting to just open the thing right then and there and to start working on it... whatever else I may be doing then seems unimportant. Often, these ideas provide keys that unlock a whole chamber of treasures, and exploring them, tweaking features, understanding their operations, etc. are just so much fun! It is like suddenly spotting a gold nugget beside a river while you are there collecting little pebbles --- you want to throw everything away and run and just get it, all else be damned!
Most of the time, these jumps pay off pretty well; and I tend to get a lot of knotty problems solved when these flashes of brilliance come along. But not always: sometimes I end up delaying homeworks just because I was busy last night reading through some journal paper that was interesting :( However, these little leaps of faith are rather addictive. The thrills lie in being in the highly productive mode every now and then, and do outweigh the little time I spend mourning over split milk. You will know what I am talking about only if you have suddenly sat up at 4:00 in the morning some day and looked afresh at a problem. Whether you are able to solve it or not then doesn't matter so much --- all that matters is the fun of looking at the problem differently! At the end of the day, I am in grad school to enjoy myself --- I don't really care too much what the grades have to say. :)
Even as I write, I have at least 4 unpublished drafts sitting in the list of posts, waiting for me to find words to express them with. And then there are some more ideas that are just churning in my head --- some deliciously sarcastic, some chuckling-ly funny and some others that talk of serious topics. But these aren't all that keep my head occupied all the time. There are thoughts about assignments and presentations which are due in a couple of weeks, there are musings about what life might be at a new place in a couple of months from now, and there are fleeting memories of what life was only a year back. And the thoughts that lie most dormant in the far recesses of the mind are those about research projects, class assignment problems and ideas about future dimensions in problems that I want to explore: they never seem to consciously bothering me so much.
Every now and then, however, these last set of ideas jump up and shout in the brain. I may be writing a blog post, may be solving a statistical equation, or even might be brushing my teeth --- and all of a sudden this brilliant idea just clicks into place! Suddenly things begin to make so much sense; suddenly there appears a dimension to a problem which I never though existed! And it is so tempting to just open the thing right then and there and to start working on it... whatever else I may be doing then seems unimportant. Often, these ideas provide keys that unlock a whole chamber of treasures, and exploring them, tweaking features, understanding their operations, etc. are just so much fun! It is like suddenly spotting a gold nugget beside a river while you are there collecting little pebbles --- you want to throw everything away and run and just get it, all else be damned!
Most of the time, these jumps pay off pretty well; and I tend to get a lot of knotty problems solved when these flashes of brilliance come along. But not always: sometimes I end up delaying homeworks just because I was busy last night reading through some journal paper that was interesting :( However, these little leaps of faith are rather addictive. The thrills lie in being in the highly productive mode every now and then, and do outweigh the little time I spend mourning over split milk. You will know what I am talking about only if you have suddenly sat up at 4:00 in the morning some day and looked afresh at a problem. Whether you are able to solve it or not then doesn't matter so much --- all that matters is the fun of looking at the problem differently! At the end of the day, I am in grad school to enjoy myself --- I don't really care too much what the grades have to say. :)
I can oh-so totally relate! I sometimes have all these simultaneously brilliant ideas that I just want to puke out on paper -- but once I'm in front of a blank screen, I just can't get it out. And it sounded so good in my head! And don't forget the dry spells where you really want to write something... but couldn't, for the life of you, come up with anything remotely interesting! And writing at 3am? Attagirl ;)
ReplyDeletesheer class!!! kya start tha bhai :)
ReplyDeleteSo nicely crafted...
and btw waiting for chuckling-ly funny posts :P
p.s: am tired of writing: well written post... ,so frm now, assume my comment at top, always as: well written post:)
oh man you have a lot going on in ur head.looking for to ur deliciously sarcastic posts and "i am like" hope all ur drafts turn to posts soon..:)
ReplyDeleteThe saying goes 'Strike the rod when it is hot'. And whenever the ideas are ripe enough 'hit the nail on the head' no matter where you are, what you are engaged in doing or what other job might be getting hampered.
ReplyDeleteOnly then is creativity possible. The moment other priorities come and disturb you, the blossoming never takes place, thoughts are nipped in the bud. I well realise this.
lol. ur right. i have drafts piling up too! but they have to wait - exams and assignments have to be dealt with first :(
ReplyDeleteaapki ek badi poetic side bhi hai: "And then, one moment of inspiration and a cup of warm coffee later, they tumble out, sparkling as ever to form the beads on this necklace." aahaa, mujhe almost subhan allah kehne ka mann ho gaya ;) yep, i have a few drafts lying around as well, just that sometimes i revisit them and they don't sound as appealing as they did a few days back...talking about 3 am ideas, that's one of the very 'normal' things in my weird bag :)
ReplyDeleteI often find that brilliant ideas come to me when they particularly when their usage is useless! Jeez, what am I even saying!
ReplyDeletePrincess Banter, yes of course... these things keep happening at times: whether the sudden flashes of brilliance slipping away when you actually sit down to write something, or when you think you haven't written in a long time and need to do something but words just don't come out. I know what you meant there.
ReplyDeleteBTW, a little correction --- it should have read "Attaboy" for writing at 3 am :)
Varun, thank you so much, bhai. All sorts of posts are coming. Well-written post to theek hai, lekin don't forget to tell me when they stink as well. I appreciate honesty very much!
Pallavi, thank you so much, really! Like I said, the drafts will turn into posts only when the divine moment comes! :)
Maa, thank you. I just know what you are talking about.
Ricercar, :( I know, I know! :(
Life lover, thank-u ji! :) 3 am ideas are the hallmark of a good blogger then, shall we say? :D
Supremus, it is called word-play! :P Well, yes... some ideas do tend to come when they will no longer be useful! :)
nice blog..i had something like that a few nights ago. decided to study an algorithm instead of blogging.
ReplyDelete(didnt learn a thing that night)
Bulla, thank you! Never mind if you didn't learn much that night --- the fact that you forced yourself out of blogging space to go and study something is important.
ReplyDeletearre..its happened to me too..patha hain..sometimes im thinkin about writing about something i really wanna note down, but i realy actually get down to it right at midnight after wakin up from a deep sleep! :-/
ReplyDeleteDi, :) welcome to the club!
ReplyDeletev nice.. I can especially relate to the first para.. the lifetime of an idea from the seed to the final publication :)
ReplyDeleteSuhrid, thank you so much. And welcome, of course... :)
ReplyDelete