Culture Show
Raring to go
Rain today
Will April Showers spoil the show?
Berkeley Time
Opinion Cubicle at The Daily Californian
Fingers strumming, heels clicking
Waiting...
Tomorrow is another column
Edit Meeting is to happen
Rain pelts the roof.
Editors on Berkeley Time
Chai or Kappi?
The South Indian Society at Cal had a Chai Chat.
They sold out. I'd don't drink chai anyway.
BUT
They sold out. I'd don't drink chai anyway.
BUT
The preferred drink for South Indians is coffee (pronounced as Kappi) not tea (Chai)
They should have a "Kappi Chat" next time.
I'm looking forward to the planned "Sambar Social"
Online is a critical disability accommodation for education access
The article below highlights how online and hybrid options are a critical but overlooked disability accommodation that makes education accessible to many in the autistic/disability populations.
https://www.onlinecollegeplan.com/can-someone-with-nonverbal-autism-attend-online-college/
"Communicating their needs is something that almost everyone with ASD struggles with so for someone who doesn’t communicate in a typical way, those struggles can be exacerbated, especially in school. "
"Colleges and universities across the country offer online programs and more and more of them are implementing support programs to help autistic students transition into college life more smoothly and to excel. These two things can come together and absolutely transform the future for students that can’t speak. The minimized interaction in a self-paced distance-learning degree program allows the student to focus on the things that they can do instead of having to consistently confront the things they can’t as they try to navigate their coursework. The support programs in place at many colleges are there for all students whether they are learning on campus or online and they can help to provide proper resources to students that need them, to help them stay motivated and organized, and to be there for the times that college gets to be a bit overwhelming. A nonverbal autistic student would be able to get the full college experience regardless of what method they chose to complete their degree, but it seems that online college would help reduce the stress of going to college and make communication between advisors, professors, and classmates a lot simpler."
Introducing my New Column in The Daily Cal
I'm on the Staff of UC Berkeley's Newspaper The Daily Californian as an Opinion Columnist.
The theme of my Column is "The Person Inside" and will be published on Thursdays
Super Excited at this opportunity.
I'm in the video introducing the Opinion Columnists.
I explain what my column will be about.
Introducing the Daily Cal Opinion Columnists
At The Daily Californian
My weekly column "The Person Inside" (total of 10 articles) was published on Thursdays both in Print and Online and spoke of my lived experiences with Autism.
In this introductory video, the other opinion columnists and I explain what our columns are about. My introduction starts at 3:19
The Opinion Column Team The Daily Cal
With Opinion Editors
I am here and I....
Article written in Jan for the Jeena Yahaan 2018 Brochure.
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I am here and I...
I am here and I …am humbled.
What an amazing opportunity it is for me to go to UC Berkeley. Who would have imagined this significantly challenged autistic guy even going to college, let alone the #4 University in the world, a decade back.
I am here and I...am in awe.
I am surrounded by brilliant minds and learning from the best teachers in the world. UC Berkeley is steeped in history, tradition and world-changing accomplishments. Home of 16 elements of the periodic table (including Plutonium and Berkelium), 90 Nobel Laureates, even the site of a Nobel Prize Ceremony at Wheeler Hall.
I am here and I...am inspired.
To protest, question and demand change is an unquestioned prerogative of Berkeley Students.
This is where the Civil Rights Movement and where Free Speech Movement began. Berkeley is also the birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement. Ed Roberts started at UC Berkeley in 1962 even though they had no accommodations for the quite severely-affected-by-polio Roberts at that time. His efforts paved the way for others with physical disabilities and later individuals with developmental disabilities. He started the very first Disabled Students Program in the US right here.
I am here and I.. feel supported.
No one questions my intelligence or my capability to learn in a classroom with 1000 other students. A very significant shift from my special-education days. At Berkeley, I am met with courtesy and respect from Professors and students. Rather than a traditional narrow focus based on the confusing autism diagnosis, accommodations are made to work around my functional limitations and help me be successful. I am having fun too.
I am here and I.. am galvanized.
I took up Psychology as that is the study of the human mind and behavior. I plan to minor in Disability Studies. I want to use the knowledge I gain and channelize it into advocacy and research such that it will contribute towards improving the quality of life for individuals like me. Going to Berkeley will earn me a seat at the table. I can bring about shifts in attitude and change. I can be part of the decision making about us disabled individuals instead of others deciding our fate.
I am here and I... am the tiny minnow.
I would be lying if I said Berkeley was not stressful. Academic expectations are high and the work pace is frantic. The campus is a vast ocean to navigate and I feel like a tiny minnow being swept along. I have felt out of my depth many a time. I would like to do a lot more but I can often feel just overwhelmed.
I am here and I..thank the cosmic hand.
I really wanted Berkeley. Undoubtedly the cosmic hand is at play in my journey though many of the solutions are still shrouded in fog. I can only hope that the fog thins out so the road ahead is clearer. At the end of the day, we all wish to be productive and contributing members of society.
Cancun Vacation
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| In front of Playa Delfines |
Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula, was our New Year destination this winter.
Cancun used to be an uninhabited area of beautiful beaches, snakes, mangrove forests and wetlands before it became the resort and theme-park filled tourist attraction of today.
The beaches at Cancun are absolutely OUTSTANDING and beyond expectations. The best beach by far was Playa Delfines. It's a public beach so there are no towering hotel chain right behind you. The fine white sand is silky smooth to the touch, probably due to the limestone nature of the shore. The water was at a perfect temperature or around 75-80 C, neither hot nor cold, and a far cry from the usually cold beaches one finds in the US, especially in the Bay Area where I live. It was shallow for almost 1/4 mile so one could walk all the way on the sandy floor of the sea, in just waist deep water and enjoy the waves breaking around your body. One can stand in that water all day long it seems, and I enjoyed a full 2.5 hours in the water without even considering a break.
The view of the sapphire ocean and the waves frothing and cascading one behind the other was an absolute delight. On the beach were cute little Palapas (huts) which offered some shade from those seeking shade from the not-at-all-hot sun.
The beach is home to lots of native fauna and flora. Above us, flocks of seagulls were playing around by forming patterns in their flight and swooping down almost to the level of the sea. A few just hovered in the air a few feet above the sea, almost like hummingbirds. Herons, Egrets, ibis, spoonbills, and cormorants also flew overhead. An Osprey (seahawk) swooped down and caught a fish in its claws. This beach is also home to nesting Ridley turtles in season. Now that is something I would love to see.
Water Water Everywhere!!
The touristy part of Cancun is essentially a strip of land nestled between the Carribean Sea and the Nichupte Lagoon in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The strip is just packed with resorts and hotels all catering to tourists. Come New Year, almost every other hotel had midnight fireworks, so from the balcony, you could see a series of fireworks launched from each hotel all the way to the horizon. It was an interesting spectacle.
There were also obviously lots of "touristy" beach activities to enjoy.
I went Kayaking on the morning of the Dec 31st in one of the other beaches on the Caribbean Sea. Little fish even nibbled at your feet as you stood in the waves near the shore, which was a little startling at first. The view was magnificent.
In the evening, I got a chance to enjoy the hotel pool as well.
Then it was Parasailing SkyRiding on the morning of the 1st Jan above the Nichupte Lagoon.
During our Chichen Itza tour, the bus had stopped at La Casona de Valladolid, in the town of Valladolid. The restaurant served up a buffet with enough offerings for even us vegetarians. The Cactus Salad was especially something new and quite tasty.
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| Chichen Itza |
There is a whole complex of temples and other structures around the central pyramid known as El Castillo. Inside is the famed Jaguar Throne. Unfortunately, visitors are no longer allowed to climb the stairs these last 12 years. It is a magnificent structure, but also the site to a lot of human sacrifices by the Mayans, which is a little disquieting. The Mayans sure went to great lengths to appease their spirit world. Archeologists are discovering connected caves, tunnels, and cenotes (natural sinkholes) as they attempt to unravel the mystery of their civilization and structures.
The South face of the pyramid shows both the restored and unrestored portions of the pyramid
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| Unrestored and Restored Parts of Pyramid |
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| other structures in the complex |
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| marketplace |
Cenotes are subterranean natural sinkholes, filled with water and found all over the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The Chichen Itza complex itself has a Cenote called the Sacred Cenote. We visited another Cenote near Velocidad.
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| Shell Fossil embedded in ceiling of Cenote |
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| A Giant Serpent on the side of the Tour Bus |
Overall a short but very interesting vacation. Loved, loved it, especially the amazing beaches.
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