I would really recommend this book called 'The Alchemist'. It was actually Charles who inspired me to read the book. Started during my epic trip in Easter where I travelled from Greece (Athens,
Santorini,
Mykonos, Thessaloniki,
Edessa) to Serbia(
belgrade) to Bosnia(
Morstar, Sarajevo) to Croatia(Dubrovnik, Split) to Italy(
Ancona). I recall bringing my book 'Thermodynamics for Chemical Engineers' and reading it on the train to Serbia and Charles bought a book along the promenade in Thessaloniki called 'The Witch of
Portobello'. He lent me the book on the cruise to
Ancona and while the plot wasn't drop dead amazing, it was the kind of book that makes one think.
There's this tale in 'The Alchemist' and it goes like this. (my adapted version)
Once, there was a boy who wanted to find happiness. People told him to head towards the building at the top of the hill and ask the wise man living there. He reached the building expecting to find the wise men but he was greeted by a whole lot of other people (merchants etc). He finally found the wise man and he asked for the secret to happiness. The wise man said nothing but gave him a spoon with 2 drops of oil and told him to walk around the house and make sure that the oil droplets do not fall. The boy went and returned with the oil droplets still on the spoon. The man said to him 'did you see the architecture of the place that artisans spent years doing? The flowers in the garden?' The boy was embarrassed as he was too caught up in the 2 oil droplets that he failed to notice the beauty of the place. The man then told him to go and notice the things around him. The boy went and was marvelled by the house. he went back to the man and the man said 'where are the oil droplets?' the boy looked at the spoon and realised they had fallen off. The man then told him 'happiness is noticing the architecture and the beauty of the place, while keeping the oil droplets there'
This short story in the book itself could have pretty much summed up the entire plot. (spoilers below)
It's about this boy who dreamt of a treasure that lay buried near the pyramids. he live in spain and to go to egypt, he needed to cross the desert. It was a tale of pursuing his dream, his destiny but at many intervals of his pursuit, he was successful and faced great inertia to move on. he was a shepherd who had a flock of 60, then he became an assistant to a crystal merchant who became even more successful due to his revolutionary ideas, then he fell in love and pursuing his dream meant having to give up whatever he was already successful in. It told the tale of the baker who wanted to travel but never did because life was comfortable as a baker. It told the tale of the crystal merchant who wanted to go to mecca but never did and spent his life dreaming about it. Each phase of the boy's life, he focused on the matter at hand (earning money to go to africa by assisting the crystal merchant), being a consultant of the omens to the people in the desert (where he earned respect) but he never lost sight of his goal.
it's inspiring really, how at many points in time of our lives, we are too contented with what we already have that we give up on what we really hope to achieve. My mother told me that 'passion is for the rich'. I realise that passion is for everyone and the poor might not be disadvantaged for the rich would be less likely to give up his riches for something unknown even if it could probably improve his quality of life. and the poor would just take a longer time saving up enough money to pursue his dreams.
On the boy's journey through the desert, the caravan went around obstacles, stopped for rest but he realised that they were travelling towards the destination. We need to focus on the things at hand and at this point of time for many of us (studies, whether we are doing a course we like to do or not) because it helps prepare us for the bigger picture. The moral of the story? summed up in this example. 'Just because I want to be a painter doesn't mean I should feel miserable doing engineering because I know that it will provide the means to achieve my dream and I'm going to be a good engineer so that I can achieve my dream faster' (by the way, I do not want to be a painter. that's for sure)
My friends tell me that after 6 years of working as an engineer, I would not go into teaching. Maybe, a flip through my old book would tell me otherwise. =) love what you do currently but never lose sight of the eventual goal
now back to self similar solutions. fluid mechanics ftw!
