I Want To Make Something!

I want to make something. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as I make it. I think I have a penchant for making websites, or that’s what my friend said. Rest assured, I haven’t invested a dollar in any of them.

Yes, a few of them have been successful, one even has 9000 hits, but that’s about it. The rest have been glorious failures.

For the people out there looking to start something on their own, here are some pointers on how not to fail. I think they may be reliable since they come from one who has experienced these failures first hand. So here goes:

1) Whenever you start something new, your first attempt is never your most successful, unless of course, you’re Bill Gates.
➡ Personal experience: This blog trumped my first one by a mile. It took 2 months to gain the viewership that the first one garnered in a year. ( https://thecarmaniac.wordpress.com )

2) When you venture into a new field, always research it extensively before you start something of your own.
➡ Personal experience: This summer, during a series of long showers, I decided to open a math help website. Unfortunately, I only thought about it in the shower because when I did make the website and showed it to a friend, he made me aware of WolframAlpha. Turns out, Stephen Wolfram didn’t win the Turing Award for taking long showers! Still, if you do need math help, drop by my website, WolframAlpha can’t solve word problems you see. ( https://mathematicsgenie.webs.com )

3) Market your product like it’s the last thing you ever did.
➡ Personal experience: I learnt about Internet marketing from a year of futile efforts and constant head banging. Considering my hashtag on Instagram with about 50000 pictures tagged and the 9000 hits on this blogs, I may have finally struck some solid ground. How did I do it? Turns out, everybody loves some positive feedback, give them that, and they wag their tails around you like a pack of Dalmatians.

4) Be consistent in your output, unless you are content with your fifteen minutes of fame.
➡ Personal experience: Whenever I slacked off on any of my websites for a sustained period, I noticed that my viewership declined substantially and trust me, there is nothing more difficult than getting up from a slump, and I think this applies to every part of life. Always remember, you are not the only one with something to offer.

5) People will tell you that you are not good enough. Ignore every single one of them! You can only succeed if you are mentally prepared to succeed, and negative comments are like unwanted weeds that need to be uprooted.
➡ Personal experience: Most people at my school thought I was just a kid who studied too much. Nobody thought that people would like to visit my websites and read what I write. When my initial attempts at wooing page views didn’t work, I actually believed them for a bit, but then I realized how wrong they were, and proceeded to run my websites with full force. I guess my realization worked for the best.

6) Last but not the least, be patient. This is something that a lot of people ignore. One must understand that it takes time to reach out and showcase what you have to offer. Even Google takes a few weeks to list new websites on it search engine database.
➡ Personal experience: It took seven attempts over five months for my first publication in Wheels Magazine and the much needed Blackberry that I won for it. As for my blogs, I started my first blog site on March 18, 2011 and the second on January 6, 2012, but I only won my first award on May 2, 2012 , in the form of the Liebster Award for my second blog.

So these were my six tips to avoid failure. I’m afraid I can’t offer any tips for success, not yet at least. A man once said, “Success is of your own making and no one can help you with it.” Something tells me I’m that man.

BLOG OF THE YEAR 2012

I am extremely honored to have Bullet in a Maelstrom awarded the Blog of the Year 2012 Award! This is my second blog award, after the Liebster Award early last year. For this award, I am extremely thankful to one of my most faithful followers, Zygerina! Check out her poetry at http://zygerina.wordpress.com/ , you’ll love it!

Now, I haven’t been posting much these past few weeks, and I have a reason for that – I was applying to colleges and writing several college essays. But I promise, as soon as I’m done with school, on March 25th, I will resume weekly posting.

On to the rules now:

1.  Select the blogs you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012 Award’.
2. Write a post and tell about the blogs you have chosen and present them with their award.
3. Please include a link back to this page and include these rules (do not alter the rules or the badges).
4. Let the blogs you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the rules with them.
5. As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display it on your blog and sidebar!

I confess I am not the best follower someone can have, but there are some blogs that stand out to me and I would like to award them. They are (in no particular order)

Lauren Grace Evans

I really love reading her random thoughts on daily life and her posts have made me laugh on more than one occasion.

h20 by Joanna

Joanna is a great photographer, and her picture series on water drops has inspired me to try out new and innovative styles of photography.

MAZE A DAY

Warren Stokes is easily one of the best pencil artists I have ever seen. His infinite creativity always amazes me and I love viewing his maze drawings.

Well, that’s it I guess. I started Bullet in a Maelstrom last January and I am glad that I have been able to gain over 650 amazing followers in such a short time. Keep reading guys, there’s a lot more to come!

Ciao!

– Himanshu 

Sunset Against the Burj Al Arab

Here’s a picture of the sun setting behind the Burj Al Arab, the most expensive and only 7-star hotel in the world. The scenery around depicts the Jumeirah Beach and the houses on the Palm Jumeirah in the background.

For more of my photography, visit my Instagram account @himanshusahay . To buy prints of my photographs, visit http://instacanv.as/himanshusahay or http://himanshu-sahay.instaprints.com

The Euros – My Take

Yes, the Euros are drawing to a close and yes, my beloved Germany has been kicked out of the tournament. Regardless, I have opinions of the teams that participated in this year’s showpiece. They follow, in alphabetic order:

Croatia – Euro 2008’s rising stars largely disappointed this time. Mandzûkić provided some bright sparks for the squad but the results never showed for the team as a whole.

Czech Republic – After delighting audiences in the group stages and finishing top of Group A, they went out without a whimper against Portugal. barring that match, a good display of attacking football from a team of which not much was expected.

Denmark – After coming out on top against World Cup finalists Netherlands, the Danes set the tone for some unexpected results to come further in the tournament. Little known Brøndby IF striker Krohn- Dehli proved to be a revelation for the side after scoring against both Netherlands and Germany. Overall, a good squad waiting to create a lot of upsets.

England – The butt of all jokes after a sheepish attacking display though the course of the tournament, England was the team of which a lot was expected and it did not bring fruit to those expectations. Star striker Wayne Rooney failed to deliver against Italy in the quarter finals and penalty misses by both the Ashleys ensured that England were going home earlier than predicted.

France – After playing some good attacking football early on, despite failing to score against England, France were said to be a good prospect later on in the tournament but a dapper Spanish side proved to be too good for them. A mediocre performance from a world class team.

Germany – The stars of the qualifying rounds and the group stage. The only team with a perfect record in the group stage, they were ousted from the tournament by the dark horses of Italy. The semi final exit is quite characteristic of Germany, who always fail at the end of any major tournament, having reached the final of Euro 2008 and the semi final stage of the 2010 World Cup, and losing both to Spain.

Greece – The team that scored some goals and provided a few hurdles to Germany in the quarter final stage. A good team with some fresh faces, but has a long way to go in order to emulate the Euro winning Greek side of 2004.

Italy – The dark horses of the tournament. After crashing out of the World Cup in 2010, Italy lost 3-0 to Russia just before the group stages. Not many people expected the Azzurri to reach the final, but they did. With temperamental striker Balotelli delivering at the right moment and talismanic midfielder Pirlo at the
top of his game, this side certainly has what it takes to beat Spain in the final.

Netherlands – The Oranje were the top scoters in qualifying and much was expected of this star studded team. With the likes of Sneijder and Van Persie at the peak of their forms, a lot I questions were asked when the World Cup finalists crashed out of the group stage without winning a single match. They certainly need to go back to the drawing board with their new coach after Bert van Marwijk announced his stepping down from the job.

Poland – The Euro 2012 co-hosts weren’t really expected to make many inroads in the tournament and they didn’t. Finishing at the bottom of their group, they drew two matches and lost one.

Portugal – After losing to Germany in the first game of the group stage, pundits around the world had already written this side off. However, captain Cristiano Ronaldo had other plans. After some stellar performances by him, Portugal found themselves in a semi final penalty shoot out against Spain. In front of 23 million viewers, Bruno Alves hit the bar with his penalty effort and Cesc Fabregas slotted home the next to send Spain through to the final. Controversially, captain Cristiano Ronaldo did not take a spot kick.

Republic of Ireland – Undoubtedly the weakest side in this year’s tournament, the Irish lost all thee of their games, conceding nine goals and scoring just one.

Russia – The Russians entered the tournament with high hopes after beating Italy in a warm up game the week before. However, they played rather ordinary football and did not qualify beyond the group stage.

Spain – The team of the moment, Spain cruised through the group stage with a solid defense and great passing displays. After winning the Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010, they look to retain the title of Euro champions and are on course after qualifying for the final on penalties at the expense of Portugal.

Sweden – The team comprising the likes of Ibrahimović and Elmander, largely disappointed in the group stage. They did win their last group match against France, but by then it was too little too late.

Ukraine – After beating Sweden convincingly in their first group game, talk was of the Euro 2012 co-hosts progressing through the tournament. A narrow loss to England in their final group game meant that this was not to be and the Ukrainians were knocked out of the tournament.

Prediction: The Final
Spain and Italy both go into the final with very strong sides, but I would tout Italy for the win solely due to their diverse attacking strategies and adaptive formational play compared to Spain’s rigid and almost formulaic way of moving the ball about the ground.

Best Player of the tournament – Andrea Pirlo. The work horse in Italy’s arsenal has provided one stellar performance after another and is already being tipped for the European Player of the Year Award.

Best Striker – Mario Gomez. The Spanish – German striker has performed consistently in this year’s tournament and righteously deserves to be called the best.

Best Midfielder – Andrea Pirlo. No surprises here; my candidate for Player of the Tournament has certainly proved his mettle in the midfield region and has coupled his attacking forays with some solid defensive displays.

Best Defender – Phillip Lahm. The German captain has proved time and again in this tournament why he is such a coveted player around the world and these performances make him an omnipresent influence in the German defense.

Best Manager – Paulo Bento. The youngest manager in this year’s tournament brought out some great performances from his team and proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in the footballing world.

This year’s tournament has been unlike any other and has provided us with some very vivid displays of fine attacking football. Poland and Ukraine have done a truly commendable job in hosting the major event that the Euro Cup is.

Finally, kudos to us fans for supporting the teams we like, throughout the tournament. We did a great job in egging the teams along even when prospects looked bleak.

To a successful Euro… (Pun intended!)

The Arab Awakening: The Syrian Situation

As more and more Arab countries move towards civil revolution, one can only infer that the citizens have finally woken up to the wrongdoings of the past and have realized that change will only happen if they bring it themselves. Many Arab countries have faced totalitarian rule for decades now. The citizens of Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and now Syria, all have taken matters into their own hands as have fought their oppressors. Some have succeeded, some haven’t. 
While dictators like Muammar Ghaddafi and Hosni Mubarak have been ousted from their respective governments, theses countries are a long way from peace. As their governments have fallen, many social and political groups have claimed power, leading to total chaos and anarchy. Still, the future is bright. For others like Syria, the struggle has just begun. With President Bashar Al Assad still in power, the country faces an uphill struggle against the governments genocidal tendencies. One advantage these people supposedly have is that governments around the world are aware of the situation in the country and have condemned the president and his government. The UN has already issued sanctions and a future Iraq style invasion of the country seems possible. The UN observer team being rejected access to the country only made matters worse. The recent mass killings in Syria have left hundreds of innocent civilians dead, among them women and children. A prompt response from the UN and major European countries seems likely.
Already, all foreign assets of President Assad’s family have been frozen and his British wife has been barred from entering the UK. Several countries, among them India, the US and Australia, have issued travel advisories to their citizens against visiting Syria, unless absolutely necessary. With the situation in the country only worsening by the hour, one major question comes to mind, has a civil war begun? The events of the coming days will unfold this mystery and will define Syria’s tryst with destiny. Until then, everything is left to chance.

Related articles

• Arab countries sending mercenaries into Syria (blacklistednews.com)
• Another Mass Execution Is Discovered in Syria (nytimes.com)
• Annan Leaves Syria Without Government Steps to Implement Plan (voanews.com)

A Pragmatic Look At the New Year

What new year? What is there today that wasn’t there in the year gone by? Other than the 12 in the date, nothing has changed. The stresses of everyday life are omnipresent. What’s there to be joyous about? The fact that we’re heading closer to Dec 23 2012, or the fact that the ongoing worldwide crisis doesn’t look like better? While the competition for food is heating up in Africa, the West is enjoying lavish buffets for the New Year, is that why everyone is happy? Job security is on a steep downward slope and employment itself is in the dregs; enough reason to be happy about?
Next new year’s eve, keep these things in mind, that is, if we survive 23rd December.
Ciao!