Jekyll2022-03-25T20:53:29+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/feed.xmlAhmed BaqaiAhmed's Portfolio and BlogAhmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduLongboarding š¹2022-03-15T04:15:20+00:002022-03-15T04:15:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/longboarding<p>Itās been a while since I longboarded. Itās not because I donāt want to, itās just because one of the cells in the battery is unbalanced and as Jaden Smith once said, āLife needs less unbalance and more new balanceā. Yeah, he probably never said that but Iām sure someone from NewBalance thought of that as a slogan. Anyways back to longboarding.</p>
<p>Itās important to understand that longboarding is different from skateboarding (yes I used the skateboarding emoji, they donāt have one for longboarding). Skateboarding revolves around tricks, jumps, exquisite feet movement, baggy pants, the phrase āyeah, just gonna pop shove it over the railing and the rest is YOLOā, monster energy drink, broken wrist and much more. Longboarding on the other hand compared to skateboarding is what cricket is to baseball: less ways to get hurt, but all the better and gentlemen-like.</p>
<p>No, but in all seriousness, what is a longboard? Simply, a board with wheels meant to cruise on. Thatās it. Nothing more, nothing less. You can just stand up, push with your feet and scream āYAHOOā. Now of course, I mentioned battery, meaning that Iām not spending time and energy pushing. Iām speeding down (or up) the streets of Berkeley, with indie music in my ears (sometimes some rap just to bring some hype), with not a worry in the world. Unless of course, I see a giant pothole or crooked part of the road and then Iām dead. Not literally (Alhamdulillah), but scratches and bruises everywhere. All the less, itās completely worth it.</p>
<p>So why am I writing all of this? I have no clue. I just miss my longboard and it might be time to get a new battery (for a $100 bucks :( or by trying to get some sponsorship/promocode/college-student/something-something program). But if thereās one thing to take away after reading this, itās that you should get a longboard (electric if youāre cool) and just start cruising. Vroom Vroom (but translate that to the electric domain) and God speed.</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduItās been a while since I longboarded. Itās not because I donāt want to, itās just because one of the cells in the battery is unbalanced and as Jaden Smith once said, āLife needs less unbalance and more new balanceā. Yeah, he probably never said that but Iām sure someone from NewBalance thought of that as a slogan. Anyways back to longboarding. Itās important to understand that longboarding is different from skateboarding (yes I used the skateboarding emoji, they donāt have one for longboarding). Skateboarding revolves around tricks, jumps, exquisite feet movement, baggy pants, the phrase āyeah, just gonna pop shove it over the railing and the rest is YOLOā, monster energy drink, broken wrist and much more. Longboarding on the other hand compared to skateboarding is what cricket is to baseball: less ways to get hurt, but all the better and gentlemen-like. No, but in all seriousness, what is a longboard? Simply, a board with wheels meant to cruise on. Thatās it. Nothing more, nothing less. You can just stand up, push with your feet and scream āYAHOOā. Now of course, I mentioned battery, meaning that Iām not spending time and energy pushing. Iām speeding down (or up) the streets of Berkeley, with indie music in my ears (sometimes some rap just to bring some hype), with not a worry in the world. Unless of course, I see a giant pothole or crooked part of the road and then Iām dead. Not literally (Alhamdulillah), but scratches and bruises everywhere. All the less, itās completely worth it. So why am I writing all of this? I have no clue. I just miss my longboard and it might be time to get a new battery (for a $100 bucks :( or by trying to get some sponsorship/promocode/college-student/something-something program). But if thereās one thing to take away after reading this, itās that you should get a longboard (electric if youāre cool) and just start cruising. Vroom Vroom (but translate that to the electric domain) and God speed.The Beauty of European Football ā½2021-09-23T03:30:20+00:002021-09-23T03:30:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/football<p>Letās talk about <a href="https://www.uefa.com/">Football</a>! Real Football; the sport where you consistently kick the BALL with your FOOT. Now Iām not an experienced Football pundit, nor am I <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi">Messi</a> who knows the ins and out of the game better than anyone on the pitch but I am a strong supporter of the sport. As someone whoās not constrained to any specific team (go <a href="https://www.liverpoolfc.com/">Liverpool</a> and <a href="https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/">Spurs</a> tho), I find myself watching all the teams in all the leagues: <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/">Premier</a>, La Liga, Serie A, Bundasliga, even MLS from time to time.</p>
<p>To me, the beauty of the game isnāt in the physicality, but the mentality of the sport. Of course, you need to know the intermediate individual skills like shooting in top corners, or dribbling through the defensive lines, or trapping the ball after a drop of 25 feet. But thereās a secret ingredient: creating space. Now you may present the argument that there are other sports where this ingredient is also crucial like Basketball and American Football. And yes, you are right; it is crucial. But in European Football, a player never has complete control of the ball. In other sports, you can use your hands to hold the ball. In Football, you only have your feet (keeper excluded). This means that space is even more important. In order to have decent control of the ball, you need to ensure there arenāt too many players near you, hence space.</p>
<p>Navigating through this space is what makes a player top class. You should be navigating whether you have the ball or not. If youāre a defender, you should close up the possible spaces an opponent striker can squeeze through. If youāre a midfielder with possession of the ball, youāre dictating the space of the striker with your <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/through-ball">through ball</a> or <a href="https://footballperformanceanalysis.com/category/basics/crossing/">cross</a>. If youāre a striker with the ball, youāre looking for the smallest of cracks to squeeze through, youāre looking for a gap between the goalieās legs, youāre looking for space.</p>
<p>Now as you watch more and more Football, you start to think like the players. You start creating space in your head. Thereās a voice in your head that tells <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah">Mohammed Salah</a> to make the run to goal as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Alexander-Arnold">Trent Alexander Arnold</a> has the ball. To your surprise, Alexander Arnold does shoot the ball to Salah as he makes his run, and 10 seconds later, Liverpool are winning by one goal. Thatās the moment you feel like a king. You feel in touch with the game. Youāre not actually guiding the game but you are in your head. Itās almost like riding a horse. The horse knows where to go but youāre the rider. You control the horse even though you donāt. In this case, youāre the rider and Football is your beautiful horse.</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduLetās talk about Football! Real Football; the sport where you consistently kick the BALL with your FOOT. Now Iām not an experienced Football pundit, nor am I Messi who knows the ins and out of the game better than anyone on the pitch but I am a strong supporter of the sport. As someone whoās not constrained to any specific team (go Liverpool and Spurs tho), I find myself watching all the teams in all the leagues: Premier, La Liga, Serie A, Bundasliga, even MLS from time to time.Chai ā2020-12-23T04:15:20+00:002020-12-23T04:15:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/chai<p>If youāve never had Chai before, then stop reading. Go to your local Desi restaurant and ask for Chai right now. For those of you who donāt know, Chai translates to āteaā in Urdu/Hindi. But I would never call the classic British or American tea, āChaiā. You see, with the translation comes a transformation. Any tea canāt just be Chai. So what makes Chai, Chai.</p>
<p>For me, itās simply the process. To make authentic Chai, you canāt just boil water and stick a tea bag in there. I mean sometimes thatās necessary when you just need that extra caffeine boost without spending too much time in preparation, but to really get a quality cup of chai, you have to let yourself be free with the pot.</p>
<p>You see, youāre not just idle when the water slowly comes to a boil. You stare at the water with such perception that you start to channel your inner thoughts. The water isnāt water anymore, itās a symbol that represents you. You add the tea leaves, the cardamon, the cinnamon, all the spices that you need. They represent the essentials of life. Even with these essentials, the water continues to evaporate. You see yourself struggling and unpleasant. You add the milk, which represents love. Thereās a change in temperature, but soon to your surprise, it starts rising again. The mixture is at a boil once more. It keeps rising and rising until it reaches the top. Thatās where you panic and turn off the heat. You release the pressure. Thatās when the mixture is finally at equilibrium. Your life is at equilibrium. And thatās when you think to yourself, what the hell is this comparison between life and chai. What was I even thinking about? Oh well, at least I get my cup of Chai! Lifeās good!</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduIf youāve never had Chai before, then stop reading. Go to your local Desi restaurant and ask for Chai right now. For those of you who donāt know, Chai translates to āteaā in Urdu/Hindi. But I would never call the classic British or American tea, āChaiā. You see, with the translation comes a transformation. Any tea canāt just be Chai. So what makes Chai, Chai.Rain š§ļø2020-11-17T02:29:20+00:002020-11-17T02:29:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/rain<p>It rained today in Berkeley!</p>
<p>Iām telling you this because I have a special appreciation for rain. To most people, itās just water falling from the sky.
But for me, Itās such an exciting natural phenomenon. Every time it rains, thereās a cool breeze the flows throughout the house. Mornings arenāt really mornings anymore. The sun isnāt really out. Instead of feeling the constant urge to pee when you wake up, you feel the coziness of your blanket to an extent youāve never felt before. Youāre wrapped tight enough for your body to stay nice and warm, but your face is exposed to that cold 62oF air. Itās actually quite pleasant.</p>
<p>After a quick contemplation of those random, scattered thoughts in your brain, you finally decide to get out of bed. Suddenly, you sense a distinctive aura. The physical change in the atmosphere has created the idea of emotional and mental change in your mind. Youāre filled with hope that this day is going to be different than the past days. Itās going to be exhilarating, engaging, productive; a day where your actions will portray a flow of spontaneity. You tell yourself that itās just an illusion, and you carry on.</p>
<p>After situating yourself in the kitchen, you start boiling water for your morning coffee (instant coffee, of course, this is college, we donāt have time for a pour-over or a french press). Youāre too tired to make breakfast, so you just warm up one of the Desi sweets your roommateās mom left in the fridge for the household. You finally go out to your deck, and thatās when you really experience the reality of the situation.</p>
<p>Your deck is wet. Telegraph Avenue is wet. The Berkeley hills are wet. Thereās a certain shine on the nearby trees because guess what, theyāre wet. There are people playing spike ball on Memorial Glade and theyāre wet too. Everythings wet. I mean thereās literally water pouring from the sky, why wouldnāt things be wet?</p>
<p>Well, thatās the beauty of rain. Itās not that it just makes everything wet, but a single act of water pouring from the sky simply changes everything. It changes the way one plays Spikeball because now itās easier and softer to dive. It changes the experience of oneās daily hike through the Berkeley hills because now the water is refreshing and motivates you to push even more. It changes the direction of your stroll through Telegraph Avenue because you donāt want Pizza anymore, you want Hot Cocoa.</p>
<p>Rain brings change to everything. And change is lovely. When youāre stuck in a continuous routine, you need change, you want change. You need something to tell you that life is not dull or constant or boring or exhausting, itās simply dynamic!</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduIt rained today in Berkeley!Indigo š£2020-11-12T02:29:20+00:002020-11-12T02:29:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/indigo<p>Itās a beautiful color, Indigo.</p>
<p>But apart from being a shade of blue, I define Indigo as a feeling. How come you might ask? Well, if Elvis Presley was having a Blue Christmas, and loving him was Red for Taylor Swift, then why canāt Indigo be my vibe.</p>
<p>Before I even get into the definition of this vibe, you need to know some things about me. For starters, Iām a very social person. I live for personal interaction and always try to view life from anotherās perspective. I find this to be very refreshing while also being an opportunity to grow as a person. Additionally, Iām very optimistic. A little too optimistic some might say. I always try to find a silver lining and tend to ignore the negatives in life (This may not always be a good thing tho).</p>
<p>Anyways, now that you know a little bit about my character, Iāll finally try to define Indigo.</p>
<p>Indigo is going to the nearby coffee shop to work. But instead, you end up sharing your life story with the person right next to you simply because you needed their laptop charger.</p>
<p>Indigo is going to class and sitting in that open seat next to a stranger.</p>
<p>Indigo is taking the bus to Trader Joeās to find yourself the ingredients for a nice Gouda Grilled cheese. But instead, you end up getting dropped home by a friend of a friend you only met once before and end up sharing your grilled cheese.</p>
<p>Indigo is walking into a party but leaving 5 minutes later to go to Taco Bell with that one person from your CS class who youāve always wanted to be partnered with for the weekly lab.</p>
<p>Indigo is finally going to that Coldplay concert and singing the lyrics to Yellow with the person right next to you.</p>
<p>Indigo is the feeling of meeting someone you barely know, but in that moment, you feel as if youāve spent a lifetime with them.</p>
<p>Now that you know what Indigo is, go out there and feel it!</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduItās a beautiful color, Indigo.Why I Decided to Document My Thoughts2020-11-05T02:29:20+00:002020-11-05T02:29:20+00:00https://ahmedbaqai.com/why<p>You might be wondering, why did I recently develop this urge to write a bunch of stuff and post it for everyone to see. To be honest, I donāt know myself. What I write over here could literally have no meaning to you. All I do is transcribe my thoughts from my head to this platform. I donāt even read my drafts sometimes, I just post them. For me, itās not so much about the style of writing, itās more about the content (even if my sentence structure may not be grammatically correct).</p>
<p>I remember, someone said something to me once about documenting their thoughts. Our brain is a very complicated system and like a lot of complicated systems, itās handling a lot of information at the same time. Often times, our brain gets clogged up with random ideas that God knows where we got from. Itās helpful to empty out our brain once in a while (or at least provide the illusion of emptying it out). Previously, I would just talk to myself sometimes to do this. I could do it for hours. As Michael Scott once said, āSometimes Iāll start a sentence and I donāt even know where itās going. I just hope I find it along the way.ā That pretty much sums it up.</p>
<p>I never know where these short blurbs are going to end up. I just hope in the end, Iāll have something that I can look back to in the future and contrast it with my future thinking and ideologies.</p>
<p>So, if you want a glimpse of what goes on in my head, feel free to keep reading! If not, I totally understand. Sometimes, I even donāt like whatās going on in my head LMAO.</p>Ahmed Baqaiabaq@berkeley.eduYou might be wondering, why did I recently develop this urge to write a bunch of stuff and post it for everyone to see. To be honest, I donāt know myself. What I write over here could literally have no meaning to you. All I do is transcribe my thoughts from my head to this platform. I donāt even read my drafts sometimes, I just post them. For me, itās not so much about the style of writing, itās more about the content (even if my sentence structure may not be grammatically correct).