Entry#6: Living with dyslexia

                                                                      

           I experienced this every time while reading. Yes, I was dyslexic.  I was labelled lazy, stupid and useless. I was not able to match up to the academic skills of my family. I always felt like a disgrace. But no matter how hard I tried I could not tell the difference between ƨ and s, left from right, or time on an analog watch. But I overcame my barriers and I am in my last semester at GCC studying Computer Science.

            I believe you are disabled only when you give up trying. Even though reading was harder for me than others, I knew that I was going to do it. Edison said genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I gave in my 99% perspiration and the 1% inspiration just followed. Slowly and steadily with the support of my friends, family and teachers I was able to overcome my barriers.

Even Edison took 10,000 attempts to make a light bulb. The key is to not give up.  If you know someone with disability, do not give up. Nothing is impossible: all we need is a changed approach and hard work. The world has enough opportunities for everyone. In case you are still trying to figure out the first sentence, it says, “Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read.”  

Entry #5: Are we progressing towards Dystopia

I remember the time when a mobile phone was a luxury, hanging out with friends was not a virtual thing, and fun was sharing a laugh. This has already begun to change. We can see it with our kids. This clip shows us a frightening future. As the technology grows exponentially, it takes over human relationships.  It frightens me to see what future we have to offer our kids.

During the winter break, my family decided to take a big family vacation in Hawaii. We had the plans already chalked out. Every day had some activity and some family time. Most of family was spent in uploading pictures on social networking sites, “liking”, and “commenting” on the pictures. Even at the beach, kids were playing on their Nintendo.  This is quite like in the video everyone is at the beach but watching their portable televisions.

I wonder if we have forgotten to relax. We are paying big bucks to learn Yoga and meditation techniques. Their basic technique is just breathing exercises.  No wonder the cases of depression and emotional detachment are going up. People have forgotten to read each other’s emotions. They have forgotten to hear the cry for help. This is also taking a toll on the health of people. As technology does a lot of work for us, people are reduced to couch potatoes. This is also shown in the video where the people are fat and engrossed in their own world.  Developing countries like Africa have a spirit of “Ubuntu” that seems to have lost its meaning in our developed world.

Technology is a bane and it has made the world simpler. It has provided us with easier and better ways to do our job. But are we overdoing it. This has scary prospects. We need to find a balance between technology and how we use it in our lives. We need to prioritize what is important and devote time to it. Relationships are organic they need time and nurture to grow.