13th December is the day when I arrived on mother earth 24 years ago. Naturally, this day holds a special place in my life. This year, for the first time in my short span of life, I happened to write an exam that also of TIFR. The guys over there are known to be tough and this year was no exception. The exam was at the Chandrashekhar Auditorium, IUCAA (One of my favourite and frequent exam centres). I met many of my classmates and juniors. Gayatri almost scared the shit out of me when she said that she had prepared for an essay. I was put on ease when she told me that she was not giving Physics but Wildlife Conservation.
After the exam, I went for lunch with Anustuv and Avdhoot to the Old Canteen. Later that evening we i.e. me, Aradhana, Anustuv and Chiti went to Durvankur for a treat. The place was suggested by Aradhana and sponsored by me (Surprise!!!). After dinner we had cold coffee at Coffee Stop in Model Colony. I and Anustuv chatted late into the night as we used to do in our hostel days.
Next two days passed without much excitement. I was back at Aniket’s room and studying for INAT that was on 16th in Chandrashekhar Auditorium. I cleared the entrance but fared badly in the interviews. I have to do something that I don’t screw my subsequent vivas. The questions are not that difficult. It’s the interviewers who create a panic in my heart. My confidence reaches bottom low even before I reach the viva room.
I was so shaken up that I needed someone for support. Someone soothing and comforting. And the only name that cropped in my mind was Aradhana. Well she did just what the doctor ordered for me. We talked over all and sundry while walking through the streets of Pune with her punctured cycle as our solitary companion. We parked her cycle at Swargate and then went for a dinner at Girija on Karve Road. The dinner was a Marathi-Rajasthani affair and went well apart from an untimely intrusion by Aniket.
Two more days passed with books, Around the World in Eighty Days (Game) and Big Bang Theory. On Saturday night we met Kaustubh Akant with the idea of dinner but he seemed to have other ideas altogether.
Sunday the 20th was the day of the last entrance, NET. Wadia College was like a fair. I think the college was full upto the brim. I met all my friends here. This time the exam was tougher than last June but I did satisfactorily. Then we did the unthinkable to relieve ourselves from the stress. We went to play football in the university!!! And this indeed worked. I went to the university on the pillion of Barrel’s new Discover. He drove like he was reading a manual and driving. Yet he managed a decent speed and reached before others. (He broke a signal as well!!!)
After the match, we went to Subhadra for dinner. Aniket dropped me back at the station at midnight, where I embarked on Mahalaxmi Express for my next destination, Sangli.
Hope to go to Pune soon.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Exam Tour : Phase I :- Mumbai
This academic year was earmarked by me to give my best shot to the various entrances leading to a PhD. December 2009 was actually the beginning of the long season to come. IIA entrance was in Mumbai on 12th and INAT in Pune on 16th. So, I decided to give my other two entrances TIFR(13th) and NET(20th) in Pune as well.
As INAT was to pay to & fro fare, I chose Pune to be my base. I reached Pune on 10th morning. The journey was not quite exciting apart from the trouble caused by a family from Rajnandgaon who were travelling W/L. But at the Nagpur station, I had an unlikely interaction with a group of grandpas and grandmas going to Shegaon. They immediately recognized my TIFR T-shirt. They asked me whether I worked there. When I replied in negative, they immediately said that then the shirt comes from my wife who works there!
I was to stay in Pune at my friend Aniket’s room. The room is not only a spacious 2B but also is endowed with nice surroundings and a broadband connection with a 24-hour free download. To add to it, his roommates Tarang and Yatin are friendly as well as accommodating. I was left to myself most of the time and I enjoyed my time quite well mixing Internet, Studies and Big Bang Theory (Serial not the Astro one!!!) into a potent mixture.
This trip was not only to be an exam tour but a reunion with my friends as well. Apart from Pune Mumbai and Sangli were also in the schedule. The 14 days were to be of exams, interviews and sightseeing. Thus, it was a trip where pleasure was intertwined with business. So let’s start without delay. First stop would be Mumbai.
On 11th, I left for Mumbai. But before that I went to the university to meet my friends. I started with my sweetest she-friend Aradhana. After boring her for about half an hour, I had to leave her to her studies. I went to the department to meet Anustuv and to give my bag to him. There I met others as well and after having a gala time, I started for the station. Although I studied there for two long years, it seemed equally thrilling as I felt on the first day. This was the place where I had two best years of my academics and made friends with whom I shared moments of both joys and sorrows.
The journey to Mumbai in Deccan express was quite insipid apart from the mesmerizing downhill trip from Lonavala to Karjat. The slow descent of the train helped me to see the surroundings as well as allowed to click some photographs.
My friend, Iman, came to receive me at Dadar. I went to live in his room. I had brought clothing to prevent me from the cold but it seemed completely out of place in Mumbai. I slept in my minimals after many months (Nagpur has been cold for the last few months). My examination centre was in University Department of Phyiscs, Mumbai University. Apart from the fact that it’s somewhere near Santa Cruz I had no idea. Iman was no better. So, I started at about 0730 and reached the centre at about 0800 to find that I was the only living being to turn up there. The next entrants were my juniors from Pune. They had come even before only to find the dogs and had gone for a stroll! The authorities turned up at just about time. The exam went fine. (I can say that as I actually have an interview call from there. Though I applied for PhD, my marks have relegated my chance to an MTech-PhD.) The department is not what you expect from Mumbai. And after studying in Pune, it seemed like a disaster. Way to go Mumbai. You have the money. We have the knowledge.
My next stop was Bandra to see the newest attraction of Mumbai, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. But before that I was squeezed in the local train between Santa Cruz and Bandra. I have been squeezed before but this time the squeeze yielded liquid as well (The pressure opened my water bottle).
I had first thought that I would only see the sea link and come back. But after getting down at Lilavati, it seemed a crime not to go across it. So, I hired a taxi to cross it. The driver was a good-natured Jaunpuri and on his suggestion, I extended my journey to Currey road. I conceded as I was afraid to get into a Western Railway local again and I had to meet my friend Kaustubh at CST as well. I reached CST by 1415 (It can be five minutes here and there. An ardent Mumbaikar would have given you the correct time).
Kaustubh came within half an hour and we marched outside. I was meeting him after a long gap of three and a half years. The reunion was celebrated by a treat at McD (By him of course!!!). Then we went for a walk down D.N. Road. Those who have been to Mumbai know about its charm. Especially South Mumbai is just next to a wizard. So, we were lured by the charm and forgot about the 1710 train I had to catch. When we saw our watches (maybe because of a distraction), we were already at the fountain. We hurried back in time to catch our trains. He his local and me my DECCAN QUEEN.
Deccan Queen is THE train. It’s a heritage train with ISO 9001:200 certification and is the only train to have a dining car. It was on my wish-list for long. Last time I missed travelling in it because of Barrel. This time I had already pre-planned. The train stood upto its reputation and didn’t disappoint me. The chairs in the dining car chairs were a let-down though. I had expected plush and comfortable chairs but was disappointed to find plastic chairs. It maintained a great speed even when it climbed uphill from Karjat to Lonavala. I purposefully went to eat at that time and it was really fun. The speed was such that I couldn’t take a steady photograph! Although the train is great, Indian Railways might spruce it up a little more to give an even more elegant look.
It reached Shivajinagar in 3 hours while it takes nearly 4 hours and more by other trains (excluding Pragati). My sojourn to Mumbai came to an end and I retired for the night at Anustuv’s room.
The journey was a success as I gave a good exam and fulfilled my two dreams of going across the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and a journey on the Deccan Queen. More fascinating was that I did all of them on a single day within the space of few hours. Not to forget the bonus walk through South Mumbai.
12th December, 2009 is going to be etched in my mind for years to come.
As INAT was to pay to & fro fare, I chose Pune to be my base. I reached Pune on 10th morning. The journey was not quite exciting apart from the trouble caused by a family from Rajnandgaon who were travelling W/L. But at the Nagpur station, I had an unlikely interaction with a group of grandpas and grandmas going to Shegaon. They immediately recognized my TIFR T-shirt. They asked me whether I worked there. When I replied in negative, they immediately said that then the shirt comes from my wife who works there!
I was to stay in Pune at my friend Aniket’s room. The room is not only a spacious 2B but also is endowed with nice surroundings and a broadband connection with a 24-hour free download. To add to it, his roommates Tarang and Yatin are friendly as well as accommodating. I was left to myself most of the time and I enjoyed my time quite well mixing Internet, Studies and Big Bang Theory (Serial not the Astro one!!!) into a potent mixture.
This trip was not only to be an exam tour but a reunion with my friends as well. Apart from Pune Mumbai and Sangli were also in the schedule. The 14 days were to be of exams, interviews and sightseeing. Thus, it was a trip where pleasure was intertwined with business. So let’s start without delay. First stop would be Mumbai.
On 11th, I left for Mumbai. But before that I went to the university to meet my friends. I started with my sweetest she-friend Aradhana. After boring her for about half an hour, I had to leave her to her studies. I went to the department to meet Anustuv and to give my bag to him. There I met others as well and after having a gala time, I started for the station. Although I studied there for two long years, it seemed equally thrilling as I felt on the first day. This was the place where I had two best years of my academics and made friends with whom I shared moments of both joys and sorrows.
The journey to Mumbai in Deccan express was quite insipid apart from the mesmerizing downhill trip from Lonavala to Karjat. The slow descent of the train helped me to see the surroundings as well as allowed to click some photographs.
My friend, Iman, came to receive me at Dadar. I went to live in his room. I had brought clothing to prevent me from the cold but it seemed completely out of place in Mumbai. I slept in my minimals after many months (Nagpur has been cold for the last few months). My examination centre was in University Department of Phyiscs, Mumbai University. Apart from the fact that it’s somewhere near Santa Cruz I had no idea. Iman was no better. So, I started at about 0730 and reached the centre at about 0800 to find that I was the only living being to turn up there. The next entrants were my juniors from Pune. They had come even before only to find the dogs and had gone for a stroll! The authorities turned up at just about time. The exam went fine. (I can say that as I actually have an interview call from there. Though I applied for PhD, my marks have relegated my chance to an MTech-PhD.) The department is not what you expect from Mumbai. And after studying in Pune, it seemed like a disaster. Way to go Mumbai. You have the money. We have the knowledge.
My next stop was Bandra to see the newest attraction of Mumbai, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. But before that I was squeezed in the local train between Santa Cruz and Bandra. I have been squeezed before but this time the squeeze yielded liquid as well (The pressure opened my water bottle).
I had first thought that I would only see the sea link and come back. But after getting down at Lilavati, it seemed a crime not to go across it. So, I hired a taxi to cross it. The driver was a good-natured Jaunpuri and on his suggestion, I extended my journey to Currey road. I conceded as I was afraid to get into a Western Railway local again and I had to meet my friend Kaustubh at CST as well. I reached CST by 1415 (It can be five minutes here and there. An ardent Mumbaikar would have given you the correct time).
Kaustubh came within half an hour and we marched outside. I was meeting him after a long gap of three and a half years. The reunion was celebrated by a treat at McD (By him of course!!!). Then we went for a walk down D.N. Road. Those who have been to Mumbai know about its charm. Especially South Mumbai is just next to a wizard. So, we were lured by the charm and forgot about the 1710 train I had to catch. When we saw our watches (maybe because of a distraction), we were already at the fountain. We hurried back in time to catch our trains. He his local and me my DECCAN QUEEN.
Deccan Queen is THE train. It’s a heritage train with ISO 9001:200 certification and is the only train to have a dining car. It was on my wish-list for long. Last time I missed travelling in it because of Barrel. This time I had already pre-planned. The train stood upto its reputation and didn’t disappoint me. The chairs in the dining car chairs were a let-down though. I had expected plush and comfortable chairs but was disappointed to find plastic chairs. It maintained a great speed even when it climbed uphill from Karjat to Lonavala. I purposefully went to eat at that time and it was really fun. The speed was such that I couldn’t take a steady photograph! Although the train is great, Indian Railways might spruce it up a little more to give an even more elegant look.
It reached Shivajinagar in 3 hours while it takes nearly 4 hours and more by other trains (excluding Pragati). My sojourn to Mumbai came to an end and I retired for the night at Anustuv’s room.
The journey was a success as I gave a good exam and fulfilled my two dreams of going across the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and a journey on the Deccan Queen. More fascinating was that I did all of them on a single day within the space of few hours. Not to forget the bonus walk through South Mumbai.
12th December, 2009 is going to be etched in my mind for years to come.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Money Matters
Physics and Economics are two subjects which are closest to mankind. While physics delves into the nature and solves its mysteries, economics deals with the monetary part of our lives. Money has become almost as essential as air and water for our survival and existence.
While understand the laws of nature (I being a science student it’s mandatory and binding on me), laws concerned with money are beyond my grasp. Being born into a Gandhabanik (a type of Bengali baniya) family, money and its side effects run in my veins. As the blog progresses, it will unfold how my inclination and expectations from money have changed as I have aged.
When I was a kid, I understood little about money. Once an uncle of mine gave a 20 Rs note and told me to share with my younger brother. I decided to tear it into 2 equal pieces as that was my idea of sharing. My mother saved the note in just at the nick of time. But as the days progressed, my fascination towards money increased. I was feeling its power and even resorted to theft to buy chocolates and ice-candies. But I was soon caught and reprimanded. That brought the Almirah to our home.
In my school days I received only 80 Rs annually, 10 Rs after finishing exams and 20 Rs on Annual Day and Result Day. This also happened after I cried and croaked for about two or three years. My father used to talk about the importance and scarcity of money. I believed it and practiced it. Once, I gave a long lecture to our hapless bus-conductor who had forgotten to buy something with a one-rupee-coin I had given. Thinking of it, I know, I had overreacted over a trivial issue that also when I was just a 12-13 year old boy.
‘A penny saved is a penny earned’. This should be the motto of every sensible individual. But when you do overdo the saving, the only word which can explain you is ‘MISER’. I became the miser of worst kind. These kinds of persons are just pain in the ass and I was nothing less. I wouldn’t spend on myself and neither would allow anyone else to do that as well. If I happened to go for shopping, I would always start with the price-tag! It’s not what my heart wanted to do, but my brain had always a strong control over my heart.
I broke all records in miserliness in my first year of graduation. Whenever my mess used to have an off day, it used to be the same for my stomach. Once, I ate only two meals in two days and ate and drank water during the rest of the time. Aunty (whose mess I used to go) scolded me and stopped giving more off days. When she had to give one off day, she will inform me beforehand so that I could go home. I always travelled in local trains to save money and have received flak from all quarters. But I was a damn determined chap! I would drop dead whenever I had to repair my cycle or buy some gifts on my friends’ birthdays or if somebody talked about going somewhere. I would start fainting even before they reached the expenditure part! On my birthdays, I straightway went home and didn’t turn up for a few days!
In 2nd year, I started teaching tuitions. Miserliness decreased a few notches. For the first time in my life, I gave a party and bought few things as well. I even started eating in roadside eateries and didn’t sleep hungry on mess holidays. But still spending money remained a nightmare.
But in the last few years, my outlook towards money has changed drastically. I have read stories and watched movies concerned with how life is affected by money. And the deadly events occurring around the globe are related to currency notes directly or indirectly. Closer home, the behaviours of my relatives and friends have called for introspection into the whole matter. My relatives remember only when they require money. My friends, whom I knew and cherished for a long period of time, after getting jobs (some even when they were doing engineering) stopped acknowledging and recognizing me even on Orkut! This made me feel disgusted about money. While many will try to accumulate more money and retain their social positions, I have decided to be not bothered by it at all. I am absolutely confident that I will be able to earn enough to support me and my family.
G.B. Shaw once said, ‘Power doesn’t corrupt Man but its Man who corrupts Power’. Money is a power as well and has a corrupting influence if not utilized properly. I have decided to indulge in activities that will provide me with Knowledge, Happiness and Peace. Money for me will just be a tool to attain a decent standard of life for me and my family. I hope God will be on my side in my endeavour. Amen!
While understand the laws of nature (I being a science student it’s mandatory and binding on me), laws concerned with money are beyond my grasp. Being born into a Gandhabanik (a type of Bengali baniya) family, money and its side effects run in my veins. As the blog progresses, it will unfold how my inclination and expectations from money have changed as I have aged.
When I was a kid, I understood little about money. Once an uncle of mine gave a 20 Rs note and told me to share with my younger brother. I decided to tear it into 2 equal pieces as that was my idea of sharing. My mother saved the note in just at the nick of time. But as the days progressed, my fascination towards money increased. I was feeling its power and even resorted to theft to buy chocolates and ice-candies. But I was soon caught and reprimanded. That brought the Almirah to our home.
In my school days I received only 80 Rs annually, 10 Rs after finishing exams and 20 Rs on Annual Day and Result Day. This also happened after I cried and croaked for about two or three years. My father used to talk about the importance and scarcity of money. I believed it and practiced it. Once, I gave a long lecture to our hapless bus-conductor who had forgotten to buy something with a one-rupee-coin I had given. Thinking of it, I know, I had overreacted over a trivial issue that also when I was just a 12-13 year old boy.
‘A penny saved is a penny earned’. This should be the motto of every sensible individual. But when you do overdo the saving, the only word which can explain you is ‘MISER’. I became the miser of worst kind. These kinds of persons are just pain in the ass and I was nothing less. I wouldn’t spend on myself and neither would allow anyone else to do that as well. If I happened to go for shopping, I would always start with the price-tag! It’s not what my heart wanted to do, but my brain had always a strong control over my heart.
I broke all records in miserliness in my first year of graduation. Whenever my mess used to have an off day, it used to be the same for my stomach. Once, I ate only two meals in two days and ate and drank water during the rest of the time. Aunty (whose mess I used to go) scolded me and stopped giving more off days. When she had to give one off day, she will inform me beforehand so that I could go home. I always travelled in local trains to save money and have received flak from all quarters. But I was a damn determined chap! I would drop dead whenever I had to repair my cycle or buy some gifts on my friends’ birthdays or if somebody talked about going somewhere. I would start fainting even before they reached the expenditure part! On my birthdays, I straightway went home and didn’t turn up for a few days!
In 2nd year, I started teaching tuitions. Miserliness decreased a few notches. For the first time in my life, I gave a party and bought few things as well. I even started eating in roadside eateries and didn’t sleep hungry on mess holidays. But still spending money remained a nightmare.
But in the last few years, my outlook towards money has changed drastically. I have read stories and watched movies concerned with how life is affected by money. And the deadly events occurring around the globe are related to currency notes directly or indirectly. Closer home, the behaviours of my relatives and friends have called for introspection into the whole matter. My relatives remember only when they require money. My friends, whom I knew and cherished for a long period of time, after getting jobs (some even when they were doing engineering) stopped acknowledging and recognizing me even on Orkut! This made me feel disgusted about money. While many will try to accumulate more money and retain their social positions, I have decided to be not bothered by it at all. I am absolutely confident that I will be able to earn enough to support me and my family.
G.B. Shaw once said, ‘Power doesn’t corrupt Man but its Man who corrupts Power’. Money is a power as well and has a corrupting influence if not utilized properly. I have decided to indulge in activities that will provide me with Knowledge, Happiness and Peace. Money for me will just be a tool to attain a decent standard of life for me and my family. I hope God will be on my side in my endeavour. Amen!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sachin Tendulkar: The Little Master
20 has become a very important number in contemporary cricket. Now we have T20 and IPL and not to forget 20 overs of powerplays. Hence when someone as great as the Little Master, SACHIN TENDULKAR completed his 20 years in international cricket on 15th November 2009, it was destined to be the golden day in history of Indian sports. It all started in Karachi on 15th November 1989 when he started against Pakistan in the First Test match. He started his international runs career with a 15 scored on the afternoon of 16th.
A kid, only of 16, when he made his debut, started with National Stadium Karachi having posters of him jeering him to go back and drink milk. He was even hit by a Waqar Younis bouncer and was injured. But Sachin is a gritty customer and seldom is perturbed and he showed it in the very first match and continued playing in a blood soaked shirt. He didn’t have a dream of series but in an exhibition match in Peshawar, he thrashed the great Abdul Qadir for 28 runs in an over and went to make an 18 ball 53. Sadly, he had the worst ODI debut (a duck in his first innings). But ever since then he has not looked back and now is the proud owner of 17178 runs in ODIs, 12777 runs in Tests and 10 runs in T20Is and is just 35 runs short of 30000 international runs. No player dead or alive has ever thought about these many runs even in their dreams! Add to this 45 ODI and 42 Test hundreds, 91 ODI and 53 Test Fifties. A whooping amount really! The great man has played 159 Tests 436 ODIs and one T20Is. That is 1232 days of international cricket. Add to it Ranji Trophy, English county stint with Yorkshire, IPL and other tournaments and you will have a number which nobody in this world has ever touched and I bet would never touch!
But it’s not Sachin’s numbers which made me write this blog. It’s the influence that he yields over the billions of people in this country and abroad made me write this. I have watched my entire cricket on the television. I vaguely remember that the first programme that we watched was some cricket match. I started watching cricket during 1992 World Cup (I was 6 years of age then). My father used to talk about Sachin and it was whom I watched but I don’t remember anything about it. I remember about the last over of Hero Cup Final in 1993 but not to the best of the details. I started watching and understanding cricket since the 1996 World Cup. Since then I get hooked on to a match whenever it is going on and especially if Sachin is playing. In Tumsar, we used to go to garages, paan shops and petrol pumps to watch Sachin if the bus delayed. The first question on a match day on entering home was always, “Mummy India ka score kitna hua? Aur Sachin??” My mother didn’t know an iota about cricket before but I made her an ardent cricket follower. She is also a great fan of Sachin and calls her as her son.
India always had quality players like Azhar, Jadeja, Dravid and Ganguly but it has always been Sachin who ran the show on his own. It has always been, “Sachin gaya Match gaya!”. Most Indians switch of their TV sets as soon as he gets out. I don’t do that usually but the tail has generally showed “Tu Chal Mi Yeto” tendency more than often. The recent Hyderabad match showed it again. As TOI rightly puts it, “The country stops when Sachin gets going and gets going when Sachin stops!”. I personally never want to get going as I don’t want Sachin to stop ever!
It has been said many times that Sachin plays only for his records. I find this completely untrue as I have seldom seen such a committed player in any form of team sport. Yeah he does slow down when he nears his century. But we must not forget he has the most scores in 90s and actually 3 99s. And as soon as he finishes his century we have always seen him firing all cylinders to make up for the balls he lost! Moreover what are the batsmen at the other end doing?
If cricket is a religion, Sachin is the God. I also worship him and generally don’t allow anyone to speak against him. I have been in serious arguments with many on this topic (especially Ganguly fans who are usually very argumentative). Well it’s proved beyond anything that Sachin is the greatest. All his contemporaries have faded into the twilight and he still looks strong for another decade.
Sachin the person is liked as much as Sachin the player. His “Let the Bat Talk” philosophy is my favourite. Someone has said, “Art of speaking is silver but Art of Silence is Gold!”. And Sachin’s policy is just the same. He never lashes out at his critics but scores a century to prove what he is. That’s a policy which should be taken up by everyone. It will actually bring peace and increase your zeal to perform. It gains you friends and benefactors as well. When Buchanan wrote something about Sachin in his book he didn’t object. But the whole cricketing community from Geoffrey Boycott to Adam Gilchrist protested!
The way he evolved and matured through the years and how he adjusted his shots is exemplary. As soon as any bowler gets hold of any of his weakness, he discovers a new shot! All of us remember the Giles episode. Yuvraj also told how he developed shots against Mendis after he had created havoc in Pakistan. And all these shots were designed without facing him! Due to his health problems like Tennis Elbow and Back sprain he stopped playing the lofted shots. Now with advancing age, he has stopped energy consuming shots in the latter part of his innings. He plays his upper cuts, paddle sweeps and scoops which are his new weapons. But even these constraints have not stopped him from getting his centuries! We should all take cue from him and try to solve our problems with intelligence and maturity. We should at least have Plans B & C (Sachin has A-Z) to solve our problems if Plan A backfires.
We have always seen him complementing his colleagues both inside and outside the field. He has knowledge of every aspect of the game and is always there to help the team out. He is a true Team-Man. Outside the field also his words have helped Harbhajan in Australia (Monkeygate) and senior players cause (Chappelgate). He has been comfortable with all right from 2 decades senior, Kapil Dev, to a 2 decades junior, Rohit Sharma. Off the field also he has been affable and is accessible. The air of vanity which surrounds many a greats is just not seen around the greatest.
He is one of the most patriotic fellows in modern India and as Glenn McGrath says that he is one-in-a-billion individual. He exudes patriotism and when he plays well, a sense of Indianness seeps through our hearts. The whole country looks toward him as their sole representative and he has seldom disappointed.
My role model has always been Sachin. He is committed, solid, tough both mentally and physically, composed, witty, intelligent, diligent, benevolent, matured, patriotic and what else. Yuvraj correctly points out him to be the Grandpa of Indian cricket. Sachin is more and more becoming an adjective for his aforesaid qualities. People bring a reference of Sachin to make their point of view clear. I always like to quote him.
People generally talk about people who can handle pressure situations. But seldom have we acknowledged the man who virtually lives in the pressure cooker! The expectations with him are high as Mt. Everest. A 60-70 is never a good score for Sachin. It always has to be a century or else the score will be taken as a failure! No one in contemporary cricket is subjected to such pressures. It’s like if Pele kicks it has to be goal or if Phelps jumps he should come out of the pool with a gold medal or Bolt who is expected to break his own record whenever he starts sprinting. Having survived such expectations has been a great achievement! Not many can do that. We can actually compare with players like Pele, Sampras, Jordan, Muhammad Ali and a few others.
Having said all his goodies, his insularity to social issues is then not acceptable. He does some social work through Apnalaya but he should represent more. In this country he has a stature and he should use it for the development of this country. Remember how Amitabh Bachchan’s Polio campaign increased the turnouts. Sachin enjoys the platform from which he can usher changes. When he talks people listen! He doesn’t have to necessarily join politics but can do his bit for the country. Remember how his statements hastened Greg Chappel’s exit! Another instance which pained me the most was his demand for waiver of 1.5 Crore on his Ferrari. He shouldn’t have done that. To err is human which eventually he is not!
Now is the time when Sachin should be awarded the Bharat Ratna or a Vishwa Ratna as Lata Mangeshkar suggests. There is no other more deserving candidate!
Long live Sachin and his memories be cherished even a million years later. Maybe a kid will listen to a bedtime story starting as, “There was a little maestro named Sachin. And he ……………….”
A kid, only of 16, when he made his debut, started with National Stadium Karachi having posters of him jeering him to go back and drink milk. He was even hit by a Waqar Younis bouncer and was injured. But Sachin is a gritty customer and seldom is perturbed and he showed it in the very first match and continued playing in a blood soaked shirt. He didn’t have a dream of series but in an exhibition match in Peshawar, he thrashed the great Abdul Qadir for 28 runs in an over and went to make an 18 ball 53. Sadly, he had the worst ODI debut (a duck in his first innings). But ever since then he has not looked back and now is the proud owner of 17178 runs in ODIs, 12777 runs in Tests and 10 runs in T20Is and is just 35 runs short of 30000 international runs. No player dead or alive has ever thought about these many runs even in their dreams! Add to this 45 ODI and 42 Test hundreds, 91 ODI and 53 Test Fifties. A whooping amount really! The great man has played 159 Tests 436 ODIs and one T20Is. That is 1232 days of international cricket. Add to it Ranji Trophy, English county stint with Yorkshire, IPL and other tournaments and you will have a number which nobody in this world has ever touched and I bet would never touch!
But it’s not Sachin’s numbers which made me write this blog. It’s the influence that he yields over the billions of people in this country and abroad made me write this. I have watched my entire cricket on the television. I vaguely remember that the first programme that we watched was some cricket match. I started watching cricket during 1992 World Cup (I was 6 years of age then). My father used to talk about Sachin and it was whom I watched but I don’t remember anything about it. I remember about the last over of Hero Cup Final in 1993 but not to the best of the details. I started watching and understanding cricket since the 1996 World Cup. Since then I get hooked on to a match whenever it is going on and especially if Sachin is playing. In Tumsar, we used to go to garages, paan shops and petrol pumps to watch Sachin if the bus delayed. The first question on a match day on entering home was always, “Mummy India ka score kitna hua? Aur Sachin??” My mother didn’t know an iota about cricket before but I made her an ardent cricket follower. She is also a great fan of Sachin and calls her as her son.
India always had quality players like Azhar, Jadeja, Dravid and Ganguly but it has always been Sachin who ran the show on his own. It has always been, “Sachin gaya Match gaya!”. Most Indians switch of their TV sets as soon as he gets out. I don’t do that usually but the tail has generally showed “Tu Chal Mi Yeto” tendency more than often. The recent Hyderabad match showed it again. As TOI rightly puts it, “The country stops when Sachin gets going and gets going when Sachin stops!”. I personally never want to get going as I don’t want Sachin to stop ever!
It has been said many times that Sachin plays only for his records. I find this completely untrue as I have seldom seen such a committed player in any form of team sport. Yeah he does slow down when he nears his century. But we must not forget he has the most scores in 90s and actually 3 99s. And as soon as he finishes his century we have always seen him firing all cylinders to make up for the balls he lost! Moreover what are the batsmen at the other end doing?
If cricket is a religion, Sachin is the God. I also worship him and generally don’t allow anyone to speak against him. I have been in serious arguments with many on this topic (especially Ganguly fans who are usually very argumentative). Well it’s proved beyond anything that Sachin is the greatest. All his contemporaries have faded into the twilight and he still looks strong for another decade.
Sachin the person is liked as much as Sachin the player. His “Let the Bat Talk” philosophy is my favourite. Someone has said, “Art of speaking is silver but Art of Silence is Gold!”. And Sachin’s policy is just the same. He never lashes out at his critics but scores a century to prove what he is. That’s a policy which should be taken up by everyone. It will actually bring peace and increase your zeal to perform. It gains you friends and benefactors as well. When Buchanan wrote something about Sachin in his book he didn’t object. But the whole cricketing community from Geoffrey Boycott to Adam Gilchrist protested!
The way he evolved and matured through the years and how he adjusted his shots is exemplary. As soon as any bowler gets hold of any of his weakness, he discovers a new shot! All of us remember the Giles episode. Yuvraj also told how he developed shots against Mendis after he had created havoc in Pakistan. And all these shots were designed without facing him! Due to his health problems like Tennis Elbow and Back sprain he stopped playing the lofted shots. Now with advancing age, he has stopped energy consuming shots in the latter part of his innings. He plays his upper cuts, paddle sweeps and scoops which are his new weapons. But even these constraints have not stopped him from getting his centuries! We should all take cue from him and try to solve our problems with intelligence and maturity. We should at least have Plans B & C (Sachin has A-Z) to solve our problems if Plan A backfires.
We have always seen him complementing his colleagues both inside and outside the field. He has knowledge of every aspect of the game and is always there to help the team out. He is a true Team-Man. Outside the field also his words have helped Harbhajan in Australia (Monkeygate) and senior players cause (Chappelgate). He has been comfortable with all right from 2 decades senior, Kapil Dev, to a 2 decades junior, Rohit Sharma. Off the field also he has been affable and is accessible. The air of vanity which surrounds many a greats is just not seen around the greatest.
He is one of the most patriotic fellows in modern India and as Glenn McGrath says that he is one-in-a-billion individual. He exudes patriotism and when he plays well, a sense of Indianness seeps through our hearts. The whole country looks toward him as their sole representative and he has seldom disappointed.
My role model has always been Sachin. He is committed, solid, tough both mentally and physically, composed, witty, intelligent, diligent, benevolent, matured, patriotic and what else. Yuvraj correctly points out him to be the Grandpa of Indian cricket. Sachin is more and more becoming an adjective for his aforesaid qualities. People bring a reference of Sachin to make their point of view clear. I always like to quote him.
People generally talk about people who can handle pressure situations. But seldom have we acknowledged the man who virtually lives in the pressure cooker! The expectations with him are high as Mt. Everest. A 60-70 is never a good score for Sachin. It always has to be a century or else the score will be taken as a failure! No one in contemporary cricket is subjected to such pressures. It’s like if Pele kicks it has to be goal or if Phelps jumps he should come out of the pool with a gold medal or Bolt who is expected to break his own record whenever he starts sprinting. Having survived such expectations has been a great achievement! Not many can do that. We can actually compare with players like Pele, Sampras, Jordan, Muhammad Ali and a few others.
Having said all his goodies, his insularity to social issues is then not acceptable. He does some social work through Apnalaya but he should represent more. In this country he has a stature and he should use it for the development of this country. Remember how Amitabh Bachchan’s Polio campaign increased the turnouts. Sachin enjoys the platform from which he can usher changes. When he talks people listen! He doesn’t have to necessarily join politics but can do his bit for the country. Remember how his statements hastened Greg Chappel’s exit! Another instance which pained me the most was his demand for waiver of 1.5 Crore on his Ferrari. He shouldn’t have done that. To err is human which eventually he is not!
Now is the time when Sachin should be awarded the Bharat Ratna or a Vishwa Ratna as Lata Mangeshkar suggests. There is no other more deserving candidate!
Long live Sachin and his memories be cherished even a million years later. Maybe a kid will listen to a bedtime story starting as, “There was a little maestro named Sachin. And he ……………….”
Friday, November 13, 2009
Books: My Eternal Friends
It’s said that books are the best friends of a man. I know it’s not true for most of us but its 100% correct in my case. I learnt to read at an early age of three even before I heard about schools. Soon there was an urge to apply the newly gained knowledge. So, everything from biscuit wrappers, newspaper cuttings, milk powder cans became my first books. My father was in a habit of going to the Paan shop every evening. I generally used to accompany him (So that my mother could get some respite from my mischievousness). But it came abruptly to an end when I started the kattha stained paper cuttings that were thrown by the customers.
My mother taught me to read Bengali. I read the whole “Barnaparichay” and “Dharapat” and actually learnt them by heart. Unfortunately, I couldn’t learn to write and still can’t write those jukto-akkhors. So, it didn’t surprise anyone when I got 100% marks in all subjects in KG-II.
After joining SNS, my friendships with boys of my colony slowly ended. I had friends in school and in the school-bus but none at home except my mother and my brother. Then television meant Doordarshan and it was dull as it is now. We watched selected serials. But I needed something else as well. Our principal, Gill Madam, always used to prod us to read. I yielded and took my steps inside the library. I think I was in Class-III when I took my first book. I remember being scolded by the bus conductor for delaying the bus’s departure. But when I told him the reason the whole bus was actually awed. The book was in discussion was “Man and the Monk”. Sadly, though I don’t remember the story.
Our library was very big and had a variety of books. I had made it a point to read only English books (Silly and proud decision). The second book that I took was “Man on the Moon”. Since then I have been interested in astronomy. Once I read a book called “Kaziranga Trail”. It had nice story based upon poaching of rhinos in Kaziranga. Few days later I saw another Kaziranga Trail. It was fatter and I thought that the last one I read was abridged. I issued this fatty and when I went home I found it to have only a fat hardbound cover on the same book!
I generally used to read books of one type at one time. I would finish the whole set and then move to something new. The books I read in my early teenage were mainly Quiz books, abridged English classics (Jaico), Folk tales of India and South East Asia, short biographies (Glo-bee publications) and few Indian fictions. When in 9th, my brother once brought a Hardy Boys. I read it and was hooked to it. I found there were a number of them in the library. For all my remaining 9th and 10th, I read only 22 Hardy Boys, 10 Three Investigators, 10 Nancy Drew, 10 Famous Five, few other Enid Blyton Series and 1 Super Sleuth. I was so obsessed with Hardy Boys that I had given my friends, names from the characters of Hardy Boys. I was Frank, Harish was Joe and Amoni was Chet! I always had a book in my trouser’s pocket. I even started thinking myself as a hardy! When one of my friends lost a digital diary I started pondering how a hardy would have solved it! My teachers and friends were concerned about my results. I even gained a -0.25 spectacles. My librarian stopped issuing me more than one book per week and wouldn’t give me a book 2 weeks before any exam! I used to get one from my brother. But only two books couldn’t satisfy my hunger. I therefore bartered my class notes for Hardy Boys with my friends! I kept notes of all the books that I read. I read huge amount of comics especially Chacha Choudhary, Nagraj, Dhruv, Doda during these days. Apart from these Chandamama, Champak and Lotpot were my favourites. I can devour them even now!
In class 11th, I almost read nothing. Once, during a holiday break in 11th, I and Arijit obtained permission to read in our school library (Silly school! Never heard such crap anywhere else!). We read books for a few days. But such Red-Tape was unbearable and we stopped going there. In 12th, Ratnesh, a junior, showed Arijit and me two books. He was a rich fellow who bought books for just showing his rich tastes! Arijit picked “Discovery of India” and I took “Tell me your dreams” by Sidney Sheldon. I wanted the former but luckily I got the latter. I read it in 3 hours flat. Arijit got bored and read this one instead. We were just cupid struck with the books. The books were all about powerful ladies who overcame all deficiencies to become stalwarts. The books also had mild doses of sex which was a matter of everyday discussion in our lives then. In and all we fell in love with the books. Most of the books that I read were supplied by Ratnesh and some were brought by Arijit. Arijit was instrumental in my acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes as well (I have mentioned it in an earlier blog). I remember when we were watching Deewangee (Ajay Devgan was the hero), I and Arijit always knew what will happen next as it was based upon Tell me your dreams. But the end was changed by the director and we were foxed. But to tell the truth I like the book’s ending more than that of the film. Even though Arijit and me were really good friends, the books bonded us more. When I came to Nagpur, Sidney Sheldons were provided by Kaustubh.
As you would have observed that I never mention a book that I bought. The true fact is that I never bought because I generally finish a Long-Story in 2-3 hours and a novel in 4-5 hours. I do a re-reading again and then the story is printed in my brain or I sometimes keep small notes. Thus it seemed unworthy to spend money in buying a book. The other books that I read were Da Vinci Code, Angels and Daemons, Five point Someone, One Night at a Call-Centre, a book by Ken Follet (I remember the story but not the title!). Almost all these books came from Kaustubh.
My Bengali reading was limited to all that I could read when I went to my uncle’s home in the summers. My uncle once gifted me the entire collection of Sukumar Ray (Illustrious father of equally great Satyajit Ray. Sadly he died at a very early age). I read the whole book and still have it though it’s torn in some places now. I am not a great fan of poems, philosophy and books on character building. My favourite poem is “Jhansi Ki Rani” by Subhadrakumari Chauhan. I have not even read Shiv Kheda’s “You can Win” as I think that no book can teach how you lead your life. But after coming to Pune, I picked up Bengali reading again. Anandaloks and Unish Kudis helped in bringing Bangla alive in my heart. All these books were there courtesy my friends Saurabh Maity and Sayan Mondal. And since January 2007, when I bought my laptop, Bengali reading has not been a trouble at all thanks to the www. I started going to IUCAA for my Astrophysics classes in my 2nd year MSc. The library over there is just a marvel. Although we had our books on the left side, it was the right side that attracted me the most. I generally call this section as the Jayant Narlikar section as most books are donated by him and his father, Late V. V. Narlikar. I started reading more and more here. I read those awesome big atlases which have to be balanced to see properly. I also read the biography of Rajiv and biographies of eminent physicists from Galileo to Yukawa. I also read about World History and even books on Calcutta and American Cinema.
Of late I have started buying some books, all non-fictions and comparatively cheaper. But I am still averse to buy fictions. The old ones I get from the internet and the new ones do always happen to fall into my lap! I like to read but have failed to influence my near ones. My closest friends are still shy of books! Let’s hope this change. I pray to God that I never get weary of reading books.
My mother taught me to read Bengali. I read the whole “Barnaparichay” and “Dharapat” and actually learnt them by heart. Unfortunately, I couldn’t learn to write and still can’t write those jukto-akkhors. So, it didn’t surprise anyone when I got 100% marks in all subjects in KG-II.
After joining SNS, my friendships with boys of my colony slowly ended. I had friends in school and in the school-bus but none at home except my mother and my brother. Then television meant Doordarshan and it was dull as it is now. We watched selected serials. But I needed something else as well. Our principal, Gill Madam, always used to prod us to read. I yielded and took my steps inside the library. I think I was in Class-III when I took my first book. I remember being scolded by the bus conductor for delaying the bus’s departure. But when I told him the reason the whole bus was actually awed. The book was in discussion was “Man and the Monk”. Sadly, though I don’t remember the story.
Our library was very big and had a variety of books. I had made it a point to read only English books (Silly and proud decision). The second book that I took was “Man on the Moon”. Since then I have been interested in astronomy. Once I read a book called “Kaziranga Trail”. It had nice story based upon poaching of rhinos in Kaziranga. Few days later I saw another Kaziranga Trail. It was fatter and I thought that the last one I read was abridged. I issued this fatty and when I went home I found it to have only a fat hardbound cover on the same book!
I generally used to read books of one type at one time. I would finish the whole set and then move to something new. The books I read in my early teenage were mainly Quiz books, abridged English classics (Jaico), Folk tales of India and South East Asia, short biographies (Glo-bee publications) and few Indian fictions. When in 9th, my brother once brought a Hardy Boys. I read it and was hooked to it. I found there were a number of them in the library. For all my remaining 9th and 10th, I read only 22 Hardy Boys, 10 Three Investigators, 10 Nancy Drew, 10 Famous Five, few other Enid Blyton Series and 1 Super Sleuth. I was so obsessed with Hardy Boys that I had given my friends, names from the characters of Hardy Boys. I was Frank, Harish was Joe and Amoni was Chet! I always had a book in my trouser’s pocket. I even started thinking myself as a hardy! When one of my friends lost a digital diary I started pondering how a hardy would have solved it! My teachers and friends were concerned about my results. I even gained a -0.25 spectacles. My librarian stopped issuing me more than one book per week and wouldn’t give me a book 2 weeks before any exam! I used to get one from my brother. But only two books couldn’t satisfy my hunger. I therefore bartered my class notes for Hardy Boys with my friends! I kept notes of all the books that I read. I read huge amount of comics especially Chacha Choudhary, Nagraj, Dhruv, Doda during these days. Apart from these Chandamama, Champak and Lotpot were my favourites. I can devour them even now!
In class 11th, I almost read nothing. Once, during a holiday break in 11th, I and Arijit obtained permission to read in our school library (Silly school! Never heard such crap anywhere else!). We read books for a few days. But such Red-Tape was unbearable and we stopped going there. In 12th, Ratnesh, a junior, showed Arijit and me two books. He was a rich fellow who bought books for just showing his rich tastes! Arijit picked “Discovery of India” and I took “Tell me your dreams” by Sidney Sheldon. I wanted the former but luckily I got the latter. I read it in 3 hours flat. Arijit got bored and read this one instead. We were just cupid struck with the books. The books were all about powerful ladies who overcame all deficiencies to become stalwarts. The books also had mild doses of sex which was a matter of everyday discussion in our lives then. In and all we fell in love with the books. Most of the books that I read were supplied by Ratnesh and some were brought by Arijit. Arijit was instrumental in my acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes as well (I have mentioned it in an earlier blog). I remember when we were watching Deewangee (Ajay Devgan was the hero), I and Arijit always knew what will happen next as it was based upon Tell me your dreams. But the end was changed by the director and we were foxed. But to tell the truth I like the book’s ending more than that of the film. Even though Arijit and me were really good friends, the books bonded us more. When I came to Nagpur, Sidney Sheldons were provided by Kaustubh.
As you would have observed that I never mention a book that I bought. The true fact is that I never bought because I generally finish a Long-Story in 2-3 hours and a novel in 4-5 hours. I do a re-reading again and then the story is printed in my brain or I sometimes keep small notes. Thus it seemed unworthy to spend money in buying a book. The other books that I read were Da Vinci Code, Angels and Daemons, Five point Someone, One Night at a Call-Centre, a book by Ken Follet (I remember the story but not the title!). Almost all these books came from Kaustubh.
My Bengali reading was limited to all that I could read when I went to my uncle’s home in the summers. My uncle once gifted me the entire collection of Sukumar Ray (Illustrious father of equally great Satyajit Ray. Sadly he died at a very early age). I read the whole book and still have it though it’s torn in some places now. I am not a great fan of poems, philosophy and books on character building. My favourite poem is “Jhansi Ki Rani” by Subhadrakumari Chauhan. I have not even read Shiv Kheda’s “You can Win” as I think that no book can teach how you lead your life. But after coming to Pune, I picked up Bengali reading again. Anandaloks and Unish Kudis helped in bringing Bangla alive in my heart. All these books were there courtesy my friends Saurabh Maity and Sayan Mondal. And since January 2007, when I bought my laptop, Bengali reading has not been a trouble at all thanks to the www. I started going to IUCAA for my Astrophysics classes in my 2nd year MSc. The library over there is just a marvel. Although we had our books on the left side, it was the right side that attracted me the most. I generally call this section as the Jayant Narlikar section as most books are donated by him and his father, Late V. V. Narlikar. I started reading more and more here. I read those awesome big atlases which have to be balanced to see properly. I also read the biography of Rajiv and biographies of eminent physicists from Galileo to Yukawa. I also read about World History and even books on Calcutta and American Cinema.
Of late I have started buying some books, all non-fictions and comparatively cheaper. But I am still averse to buy fictions. The old ones I get from the internet and the new ones do always happen to fall into my lap! I like to read but have failed to influence my near ones. My closest friends are still shy of books! Let’s hope this change. I pray to God that I never get weary of reading books.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Love Marriages: Uniting Diversities
A few days back my friend, Taresh, came back from a weeklong trip to Pune. I went to meet him to know about the well-being of my friends back there. In the passing he told me that he had brought the new Chetan Bhagat book, 2 States: The story of my marriage. I immediately asked for it and he agreed. I started for my room straightaway as I wanted to start reading immediately. I like Chetan’s writing very much. 5-point someone is an all time favourite. Though the last one, 3-mistakes of my life, was not that good. I had read nice reviews about the new book in the newspapers and was longing to read it. But I could start only at midnight as something or the other delayed me.
I always start reading with the back cover. I find it quite instructive. The back cover as well as the title suggested a love story whose start and end was totally known, a boy and a girl falls in love then they are opposed and then they live happily live after, a typical Bollywood story repeated so many times. But I wanted to see how Chetan had treated the topic. I finished the book in one sitting in about 3 hours and to tell you the truth it’s a must read for all and sundry across the globe. It’s just more romantic and deeper than any SRK starrer and is more hilarious than any David Dhavan special.
But it’s not the book but the repercussions that have occurred in my mind are the topic of my present blog. The book echoes life of many a people across the globe involved in cross-country love affairs. {A similar situation had been in the Adam Sandler movie, “You don’t mess with Zohan”, where a Jew boy falls in love with a Palestinian girl though there it was treated with quite a different touch.} The book shows how hollow the great Indian unity thing seems when we encounter real life situations especially love affairs and marriages. I always thought that the country upholds the concept of, ‘Unity in Diversity’. But when I had gone to Hyderabad (a few latitudes south of Pune), a few years back each Hindi question had an ‘Ille’ as the answer. During the entire one and a half day visit, I talked only with men in uniforms or men wearing skull caps and was bearded.
The book deals with resistance offered to a Punjab-Tamil union. But that’s a very big matter when you consider the resistance to love affairs between people differed only by caste or gotra or some other bull-shit nonsense. I know many people strangled by this nonsense and many eventually becoming front-page and prime-time news items.
A natural feeling as delicate as love is still a matter of grave concern in modern India. People still don’t approve love marriages and many are dead against them. Even though the marriage is a matter of two individuals it becomes a matter of prestige for the entire clan (In places like Haryana the whole village has a say!). Think what would have happened if our ancestors would have considered these constraints when they first mate! As Ananya’s father correctly points out that the community is not always the reason for the restraint. The main reason is the ego of the guardians who get pissed off as their children forget to ask their permission before falling in love! As Chetan points out correctly, it’s the nature of many a guardians to have a problem on anything from biscuit to brides if their children really want them.
Although I don’t have an affair (No chance of one either how much I desperately want to!), I sometimes tinker with mother on this topic. She tells her and I tell my ideas on the matter. The only two points where we still agree is that she should be educated and we won’t demand dowry. She is apprehensive of any girl with whom I have even a small liking and doesn’t want me to venture as well!
I think it’s time we stop glorifying our own sects, values and cultures and join the bandwagon of cross-country, cross-culture, cross-religion, cross-…… marriages. This is one way through which the country can truly unify. All unity talks and high moral ideals fizzle off when it comes to our personal affairs (e.g. as seen during Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s daughter’s elopement). Hence we need to imbibe the values in our personal affairs and do it for the country (again inspired from the book) if not for ourselves. What I’m saying is nothing new as even Chandragupta Maurya married Selecus’s daughter in third century B.C. to progress Indo-Greek unity. Emperor Akbar also married Jodhabai to strengthen Rajput-Mughal relations.
Until and unless Butter Chicken be cooked in coconut oil and Rasgullas become an irreplaceable sweet for the Gujaratis, we can forget all the Unity nonsense and continue to live in a country united by a name and divided by everything else! Let’s hope all this starts rolling soon and we have a truly unified country devoid of the damn barriers that we call our ethos.
P.S: I have made sure that I’m not going to marry anyone from my Gandhabanik caste (The ones I know are all money ogling under-educated). I also am apprehensive of marrying a Bengali as I want to unify at least two cultures in India. (It will at least bring diversity to my book-shelf, dining table and travelogue if not anything more!)
I always start reading with the back cover. I find it quite instructive. The back cover as well as the title suggested a love story whose start and end was totally known, a boy and a girl falls in love then they are opposed and then they live happily live after, a typical Bollywood story repeated so many times. But I wanted to see how Chetan had treated the topic. I finished the book in one sitting in about 3 hours and to tell you the truth it’s a must read for all and sundry across the globe. It’s just more romantic and deeper than any SRK starrer and is more hilarious than any David Dhavan special.
But it’s not the book but the repercussions that have occurred in my mind are the topic of my present blog. The book echoes life of many a people across the globe involved in cross-country love affairs. {A similar situation had been in the Adam Sandler movie, “You don’t mess with Zohan”, where a Jew boy falls in love with a Palestinian girl though there it was treated with quite a different touch.} The book shows how hollow the great Indian unity thing seems when we encounter real life situations especially love affairs and marriages. I always thought that the country upholds the concept of, ‘Unity in Diversity’. But when I had gone to Hyderabad (a few latitudes south of Pune), a few years back each Hindi question had an ‘Ille’ as the answer. During the entire one and a half day visit, I talked only with men in uniforms or men wearing skull caps and was bearded.
The book deals with resistance offered to a Punjab-Tamil union. But that’s a very big matter when you consider the resistance to love affairs between people differed only by caste or gotra or some other bull-shit nonsense. I know many people strangled by this nonsense and many eventually becoming front-page and prime-time news items.
A natural feeling as delicate as love is still a matter of grave concern in modern India. People still don’t approve love marriages and many are dead against them. Even though the marriage is a matter of two individuals it becomes a matter of prestige for the entire clan (In places like Haryana the whole village has a say!). Think what would have happened if our ancestors would have considered these constraints when they first mate! As Ananya’s father correctly points out that the community is not always the reason for the restraint. The main reason is the ego of the guardians who get pissed off as their children forget to ask their permission before falling in love! As Chetan points out correctly, it’s the nature of many a guardians to have a problem on anything from biscuit to brides if their children really want them.
Although I don’t have an affair (No chance of one either how much I desperately want to!), I sometimes tinker with mother on this topic. She tells her and I tell my ideas on the matter. The only two points where we still agree is that she should be educated and we won’t demand dowry. She is apprehensive of any girl with whom I have even a small liking and doesn’t want me to venture as well!
I think it’s time we stop glorifying our own sects, values and cultures and join the bandwagon of cross-country, cross-culture, cross-religion, cross-…… marriages. This is one way through which the country can truly unify. All unity talks and high moral ideals fizzle off when it comes to our personal affairs (e.g. as seen during Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s daughter’s elopement). Hence we need to imbibe the values in our personal affairs and do it for the country (again inspired from the book) if not for ourselves. What I’m saying is nothing new as even Chandragupta Maurya married Selecus’s daughter in third century B.C. to progress Indo-Greek unity. Emperor Akbar also married Jodhabai to strengthen Rajput-Mughal relations.
Until and unless Butter Chicken be cooked in coconut oil and Rasgullas become an irreplaceable sweet for the Gujaratis, we can forget all the Unity nonsense and continue to live in a country united by a name and divided by everything else! Let’s hope all this starts rolling soon and we have a truly unified country devoid of the damn barriers that we call our ethos.
P.S: I have made sure that I’m not going to marry anyone from my Gandhabanik caste (The ones I know are all money ogling under-educated). I also am apprehensive of marrying a Bengali as I want to unify at least two cultures in India. (It will at least bring diversity to my book-shelf, dining table and travelogue if not anything more!)
Cattle Class
A few weeks earlier when Mr. Shashi Tharoor referred to the economy class passengers as CATTLE CLASS, it created quite a furore. But he might not have ever got up in the General Sitting compartment of any long distance train in India. I suspect if he had done so what name he would have given! And it wouldn’t have created any furore as well.
I have been unfortunate enough to be in them and seen them from close quarters. Last Wednesday was one such occasion. I got into the GS compartment of 2809 Mumbai-Howrah Mail from Nagpur to Tumsar, a one hour journey which seemed like eternity to me. The bogie was full upto the brim but it swallowed more and surprisingly adjusted them in as well though with great discomfort! I had read about the poor state of Third class passengers back in early decades of the previous century in Gandhiji’s autobiography. I don’t think much has changed ever since then. The bogies are still crowded and travelling in them is equally inhuman. And it’s not only in the train I travelled but it’s the story all across the country. Railways have increased so many trains along all routes but have failed to address to the apathy of the general passengers. With such a booming population in the country, this along with the Waiting List drama is the biggest problem. Travelling in these compartments is very difficult but still there is no other way to travel across the country for the poor masses. Such crowd usually brings with it freak accidents and unsanitary conditions. The passengers are to be blamed as well as they pay very less attention to the sanitary conditions in the trains (which are bad even in the elite A/C coaches).
It’s time when Railways have to take care of the problem. The numbers of bogies in the trains have to be increased and apart from it the condition of the local trains has to be improved. It was common in India to see that the trains usually came late. Now the situation of Express trains has improved a lot (With so many Superfast trains it’s bound to be!). But the locals (Not of the Metros where they are the elite) are in a bad condition as usual. They run with erratic timings and come and go as they wish. Now if they are regulated, increased in number and made a little faster, the passengers will throng those trains as they are cheap to travel as well. This will ease the pressure on the long-distance trains and the unsatisfactory travelling can be avoided.
I know the problem cannot be removed ever with such an alarming population explosion but at least some order can be brought into the problem.
I have been unfortunate enough to be in them and seen them from close quarters. Last Wednesday was one such occasion. I got into the GS compartment of 2809 Mumbai-Howrah Mail from Nagpur to Tumsar, a one hour journey which seemed like eternity to me. The bogie was full upto the brim but it swallowed more and surprisingly adjusted them in as well though with great discomfort! I had read about the poor state of Third class passengers back in early decades of the previous century in Gandhiji’s autobiography. I don’t think much has changed ever since then. The bogies are still crowded and travelling in them is equally inhuman. And it’s not only in the train I travelled but it’s the story all across the country. Railways have increased so many trains along all routes but have failed to address to the apathy of the general passengers. With such a booming population in the country, this along with the Waiting List drama is the biggest problem. Travelling in these compartments is very difficult but still there is no other way to travel across the country for the poor masses. Such crowd usually brings with it freak accidents and unsanitary conditions. The passengers are to be blamed as well as they pay very less attention to the sanitary conditions in the trains (which are bad even in the elite A/C coaches).
It’s time when Railways have to take care of the problem. The numbers of bogies in the trains have to be increased and apart from it the condition of the local trains has to be improved. It was common in India to see that the trains usually came late. Now the situation of Express trains has improved a lot (With so many Superfast trains it’s bound to be!). But the locals (Not of the Metros where they are the elite) are in a bad condition as usual. They run with erratic timings and come and go as they wish. Now if they are regulated, increased in number and made a little faster, the passengers will throng those trains as they are cheap to travel as well. This will ease the pressure on the long-distance trains and the unsatisfactory travelling can be avoided.
I know the problem cannot be removed ever with such an alarming population explosion but at least some order can be brought into the problem.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Dental Rumble
I was being bothered by my teeth for quite a few months. Those who know me know exactly what kind of a haphazard dental structure I own! Slowly and steadily I have made one of the unique dental structures in the world which has even prompted some of my friends to compare it with that of Count Dracula! So, it was the turn of my teeth to take revenge for the great state I have thrown them in!
About two months ago I started experiencing pain on my 5th and 6th teeth on the upper right side whenever I ate something sweet. I neglected it for a while but it became unbearable in the latter half of September when I started experiencing pain with every bite I ate. Now it was no time to procrastinate but to visit a dentist. That is what I did first up on the morning of 23rd as I went to Dr. Shailaja Deshpande’s dental clinic in Lakshminagar.
When in class 9th, I had read a poem on dentists. It was a hilarious poem on how the poet fears the dentist and his tools. The state of my mind was exactly like that! I was seated on a yellow throne and lo she started doing all kinds of drilling with my teeth. I was sure to lose all my teeth that day. It seemed that they will come all falling down with the kind of activity going inside my mouth. I felt like my mouth has turned into a mill! But at last she stopped and rebuked me for not taking proper care of my teeth. She was a nice lady and explained me that my unusual habit of eating only with one side of my mouth and that also with express speeds has caused the trouble. She told me that, I have particularly spoiled my 5th and 6th teeth and a root canal operation had to be done. She anaesthetized my gums and drilled holes in them. Now I was suppose to eat only with my left side. This I had never done in my life and was actually a difficult act. She had advised me to eat rice which wouldn’t require much eating!
My brother suggested me to go back home and that’s what I did. The weekend being a Dusshera weekend was to be a foodie weekend and I didn’t want to miss it! Seeing good food made me forget that I had problem eating with my left teeth. I had a nice pet-puja and then came back to Nagpur on 2nd for my root canal. Dr. Ghonmode is a competent doctor but I was petrified. The petrifaction was because of all the dental stories I heard from my friends. Anyways I’m afraid of operations but the good doctor calmed me down and told me to relax. Within 20 minutes, I was done with root canal! I even don’t know what he did with my teeth. He kept poking with a pin into my teeth and then filled in some artificial paste into it. I was told that I have to keep eating with my left side and come back on Monday to give my dental cast.
Monday morning, Dr. Shruti Nakade drilled and drilled for eternity (It is what it seemed to me!) before declaring that now my dental cast could be taken. A pink coloured, Colgate tasting paste was used to take the dental cast (I own it now!). I was called back on Friday the 9th for fitting the dental caps. Childishly, I was excited to own two steel teeth like Jaws (Moonraker)! But I was disappointed to find that the caps made were not perfect and I had to wait till Monday. I got impatient on Monday as I had not received the promised call from the doctor. At last I called and was told that the teeth will turn up sometime later. I was called at about 1430 hours and I immediately dashed to the clinic. This time there was no trouble with the caps and now I’m the proud owner of them!
But I’ve to take utmost precautions not to lose any more teeth or I’ll end up being Jaws totally!
About two months ago I started experiencing pain on my 5th and 6th teeth on the upper right side whenever I ate something sweet. I neglected it for a while but it became unbearable in the latter half of September when I started experiencing pain with every bite I ate. Now it was no time to procrastinate but to visit a dentist. That is what I did first up on the morning of 23rd as I went to Dr. Shailaja Deshpande’s dental clinic in Lakshminagar.
When in class 9th, I had read a poem on dentists. It was a hilarious poem on how the poet fears the dentist and his tools. The state of my mind was exactly like that! I was seated on a yellow throne and lo she started doing all kinds of drilling with my teeth. I was sure to lose all my teeth that day. It seemed that they will come all falling down with the kind of activity going inside my mouth. I felt like my mouth has turned into a mill! But at last she stopped and rebuked me for not taking proper care of my teeth. She was a nice lady and explained me that my unusual habit of eating only with one side of my mouth and that also with express speeds has caused the trouble. She told me that, I have particularly spoiled my 5th and 6th teeth and a root canal operation had to be done. She anaesthetized my gums and drilled holes in them. Now I was suppose to eat only with my left side. This I had never done in my life and was actually a difficult act. She had advised me to eat rice which wouldn’t require much eating!
My brother suggested me to go back home and that’s what I did. The weekend being a Dusshera weekend was to be a foodie weekend and I didn’t want to miss it! Seeing good food made me forget that I had problem eating with my left teeth. I had a nice pet-puja and then came back to Nagpur on 2nd for my root canal. Dr. Ghonmode is a competent doctor but I was petrified. The petrifaction was because of all the dental stories I heard from my friends. Anyways I’m afraid of operations but the good doctor calmed me down and told me to relax. Within 20 minutes, I was done with root canal! I even don’t know what he did with my teeth. He kept poking with a pin into my teeth and then filled in some artificial paste into it. I was told that I have to keep eating with my left side and come back on Monday to give my dental cast.
Monday morning, Dr. Shruti Nakade drilled and drilled for eternity (It is what it seemed to me!) before declaring that now my dental cast could be taken. A pink coloured, Colgate tasting paste was used to take the dental cast (I own it now!). I was called back on Friday the 9th for fitting the dental caps. Childishly, I was excited to own two steel teeth like Jaws (Moonraker)! But I was disappointed to find that the caps made were not perfect and I had to wait till Monday. I got impatient on Monday as I had not received the promised call from the doctor. At last I called and was told that the teeth will turn up sometime later. I was called at about 1430 hours and I immediately dashed to the clinic. This time there was no trouble with the caps and now I’m the proud owner of them!
But I’ve to take utmost precautions not to lose any more teeth or I’ll end up being Jaws totally!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Marathi: Is It Threatened
Threat to Marathi has become one of the biggest poll issues in the forthcoming Legislative elections. And with Raj Thakre at the helm of this affair, the matter is not likely to die down soon. The matter is not a new one and actually was started by his uncle, Balasaheb Thakre way back in 1966. Since, then the matter had not died but was not an important matter of concern until it all flared up with the starting of a new political outfit, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, in 2007 by Raj.
But is it really threatened? I have been always troubled by this matter and am just trying to put what I think about this.
One truth which nobody accepts is that Marathis are reticent to share their culture. You would find all sorts of Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Rajasthani, South Indian delicacies in most restaurants in the country as well as abroad. You are sure to find a Punjabi Dhaba, a Udupi Restaurant and a Bengali Sweet Mart in every big city throughout the country. But it’s rare to find Kolhapuri chicken, Shrikhand or Puran Poli outside Maharashtra. You won’t find a restaurant specializing in Marathi food if you go to some other big city outside the state. The only food that has become popular is panipuri but even it’s not called by the same name everywhere! Have we ever thought that we can get a Kashmiri shawl, a Kanjeevaram, a Tangail or a Benarasi in Maharashtra but it’s difficult to get a “Paithani” outside? Most people actually don’t know about it! We witness festivals like Bengali Durga Puja, Onam, Pongal, Chhath, Baisakhi ans what else right here in our Marathi cities. I know Durga Pujas in Nagpur which are being organized for about 70 years and have seen Ramlila in Pune. But the greatest Marathi festival, Ganesh Puja is non-existent outside Maharashtra. It’s still in the nascent stages in the national capital. It’s not that we don’t have enough Marathis outside but the true fact is they are not interested in spreading their culture. This kind of insular behaviour makes one susceptible of others. We must not forget that we have evolved from same Aryans who migrated here thousands of years ago. This way we have created a wall of suspicion and insularity around us. Thus whenever some crap brings the issue of cultural pollution, we straight way see what is being shown to us. We don’t know the North Indian culture and neither do they know ours! It’s time to change things. (The problem is global. We think the Europeans and Americans are uncultured and they think vice-versa).
The sheer negligence to Marathi in the cities is another factor which has led to the situation that the present day politicians are cashing on. Local people in cities are negligent about Marathi Cinema, art, music. People are actually ignorant about the extent of Maharashtra. People in west don’t know the existence of Gondia while people in Vidarbha don’t know where Karad is! Bid, Jalna, Parbhani, Osmanabad are not the names which crop up automatically when you count the districts in Maharashtra. It’s easy to fool people who are not aware of their surroundings. The politicians are totally Mumbai centric and they seldom think about what’s going elsewhere and when the need arises they simply bring out issues which are only valid in and around Mumbai. Media too has to be blamed as it hasn’t evolved itself beyond Mumbai and gives extensive coverage to this nonsense.
The immigration is not at all there in villages of Marathwada. People there haven’t seen much of a North-Indian yet and haven’t heard much Hindi outside Vividh Bharti. (I am not mentioning Television as electricity is scarce there!) It’s the cities like Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and Nagpur where you find people speaking in Hindi. Lack of opportunities and the standard of living has so much degraded in their states that they are forced to look for greener pastures. But the question is why always it’s Maharashtra and especially Mumbai. Why don’t people move to other states? The basic reason is the over development of Mumbai during British times. Also, the locals refrained from working in many areas. For example labourers are generally Chattisgarhis, Biharis and Oriyas. The supervisors are generally Keralians, Punjabis and Bengalis. Business for some reasons bloom in the hands of Gujaratis, Marwaris, Parsis and Sindhis. These are the areas the locals didn’t venture much. To add to that Mumbai has been always cosmopolitan and the language has been always more inclined towards Hindi (So, while Marwaris in Barabazar, Kolkata speak Bengali, their brethren in Mumbai don’t do that. But again you will find them doing the same in Pune i.e. they speak Marathi). This has helped people to settle here without unsettling their roots. One another reason is Bollywood. The biggest Hindi film industry is not in any Hindi speaking state but the tinsel town is here in Maharshtra. The forefathers of Hindi Cinema found it more conducive to be nurtured here instead of anywhere because of the amount of liberty they got here. Don’t forget even though, the cinema was started by Dadasaheb Phalke, a Marathi, it was nurtured by the Punjabis and the Bengalis in its initial stages. The charm of tinsel town has brought many youth to the city. Some have been successful and some have not. Nevertheless they have settled here. Same is the case with the people who came with the wish of making money.
It is true that the Railways examinations have been a bastion for UP and Bihar fellows but it has more to do with their sincere efforts and not with any favouritism. Isn’t it true that this job is never the first choice among Marathi youth? With the amount and standard of education available in the state, clerical jobs are not a favourite. Moreover Railways being a national property and each railway zone spreading into two or more states, the demand for giving jobs to locals is laughable. Even if the exam is held in Kalyan for Central Railways, the recruits will in future have to serve in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka if and when transferred. Railways have been a major factor for mass movement of people around the country. Biharis, Oriyas and Bengalis working for erstwhile South Eastern Railway (SER) have reached Maharashtra due to their work. And there’s something in the Maharashtrian soil which doesn’t allow you to go back once you move here. So, across the state you will find people from all the neighbouring states who once having arrived here have never went back! And they have never been a nuisance. Instead mixing of cultures has helped in making Maharashtra what it is! As Shahid Kapur’s character correctly says in Kaminey that the migrants are like “Sugar” which when added to the milk increases its sweetness.
Actually it is nothing more than a political gimmick. The tirade has started because the migrants have started nurturing political aspirations which has become unbearable for few. A political party has fielded some 30 or more migrants as their candidates in the forthcoming elections and this is unacceptable to a few. You would observe that the tirade is never against other non-marathi migrants as they are not politically active. The same happened when Sonia Gandhi was to become the PM!
Instead of fighting out we should maintain the linguistic unity and upheld the motto of “Unity of Diversity” for which our country is respected throughout the globe.
Also there should be steps taken to propagate Marathi in the state and in the country. Fairs propagating Maharashtrian culture (literature, cuisine, handicraft, art, music) should be organized in the state as well as in other states should be staged. The people should be made aware of their heritage. The media has a very big role to play in this. Its time they move beyond Mumbai and Pune and delve inside the state. Ganpati festival has to be celebrated pan India like Durga Puja. Learning Marathi should be made compulsory in all schools and all boards. It’s nothing new as it is in place in many states. In state level jobs more preference should be given to the locals (anyone who is a legal resident of the state irrespective of his mother tongue). The cold shoulder that is extended to non-marathis and the reticence shown in sharing the culture should be stopped by all and sundry. Until and unless the natives of Maharashtra don’t welcome people with a warm heart, the migrants will feel alienated and this trouble will continue. (It is not impossible as my parents make karanji, anarsa and chakli in every festival and our neighbours like the Bengali sweets. We share everything and they are my actual family. Without their support my parents wouldn’t have been able to live happily for 30 years in Maharashtra. To add to it, we are not going back!)
In the era of globalization, nothing can be claimed to be somebody’s own property. Can Sachin and Lata be labeled to be only Maharashtrians or Amitabh, Tatas and Ambanis should be labeled with migrant’s status only. These people have not only made Maharashtra proud but are national synonyms for rpide, success and development.
So, let’s break free the bonds and join hands to boot out the politicians who want to create linguistic differences. These are not only the enemy to the common man but also to the state and the country. Let’s join hands to make “Aapla Maharashtra”, the most prosperous and happy state in the country.
Jai Hind !!! Jai Maharashtra !!!
But is it really threatened? I have been always troubled by this matter and am just trying to put what I think about this.
One truth which nobody accepts is that Marathis are reticent to share their culture. You would find all sorts of Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Rajasthani, South Indian delicacies in most restaurants in the country as well as abroad. You are sure to find a Punjabi Dhaba, a Udupi Restaurant and a Bengali Sweet Mart in every big city throughout the country. But it’s rare to find Kolhapuri chicken, Shrikhand or Puran Poli outside Maharashtra. You won’t find a restaurant specializing in Marathi food if you go to some other big city outside the state. The only food that has become popular is panipuri but even it’s not called by the same name everywhere! Have we ever thought that we can get a Kashmiri shawl, a Kanjeevaram, a Tangail or a Benarasi in Maharashtra but it’s difficult to get a “Paithani” outside? Most people actually don’t know about it! We witness festivals like Bengali Durga Puja, Onam, Pongal, Chhath, Baisakhi ans what else right here in our Marathi cities. I know Durga Pujas in Nagpur which are being organized for about 70 years and have seen Ramlila in Pune. But the greatest Marathi festival, Ganesh Puja is non-existent outside Maharashtra. It’s still in the nascent stages in the national capital. It’s not that we don’t have enough Marathis outside but the true fact is they are not interested in spreading their culture. This kind of insular behaviour makes one susceptible of others. We must not forget that we have evolved from same Aryans who migrated here thousands of years ago. This way we have created a wall of suspicion and insularity around us. Thus whenever some crap brings the issue of cultural pollution, we straight way see what is being shown to us. We don’t know the North Indian culture and neither do they know ours! It’s time to change things. (The problem is global. We think the Europeans and Americans are uncultured and they think vice-versa).
The sheer negligence to Marathi in the cities is another factor which has led to the situation that the present day politicians are cashing on. Local people in cities are negligent about Marathi Cinema, art, music. People are actually ignorant about the extent of Maharashtra. People in west don’t know the existence of Gondia while people in Vidarbha don’t know where Karad is! Bid, Jalna, Parbhani, Osmanabad are not the names which crop up automatically when you count the districts in Maharashtra. It’s easy to fool people who are not aware of their surroundings. The politicians are totally Mumbai centric and they seldom think about what’s going elsewhere and when the need arises they simply bring out issues which are only valid in and around Mumbai. Media too has to be blamed as it hasn’t evolved itself beyond Mumbai and gives extensive coverage to this nonsense.
The immigration is not at all there in villages of Marathwada. People there haven’t seen much of a North-Indian yet and haven’t heard much Hindi outside Vividh Bharti. (I am not mentioning Television as electricity is scarce there!) It’s the cities like Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and Nagpur where you find people speaking in Hindi. Lack of opportunities and the standard of living has so much degraded in their states that they are forced to look for greener pastures. But the question is why always it’s Maharashtra and especially Mumbai. Why don’t people move to other states? The basic reason is the over development of Mumbai during British times. Also, the locals refrained from working in many areas. For example labourers are generally Chattisgarhis, Biharis and Oriyas. The supervisors are generally Keralians, Punjabis and Bengalis. Business for some reasons bloom in the hands of Gujaratis, Marwaris, Parsis and Sindhis. These are the areas the locals didn’t venture much. To add to that Mumbai has been always cosmopolitan and the language has been always more inclined towards Hindi (So, while Marwaris in Barabazar, Kolkata speak Bengali, their brethren in Mumbai don’t do that. But again you will find them doing the same in Pune i.e. they speak Marathi). This has helped people to settle here without unsettling their roots. One another reason is Bollywood. The biggest Hindi film industry is not in any Hindi speaking state but the tinsel town is here in Maharshtra. The forefathers of Hindi Cinema found it more conducive to be nurtured here instead of anywhere because of the amount of liberty they got here. Don’t forget even though, the cinema was started by Dadasaheb Phalke, a Marathi, it was nurtured by the Punjabis and the Bengalis in its initial stages. The charm of tinsel town has brought many youth to the city. Some have been successful and some have not. Nevertheless they have settled here. Same is the case with the people who came with the wish of making money.
It is true that the Railways examinations have been a bastion for UP and Bihar fellows but it has more to do with their sincere efforts and not with any favouritism. Isn’t it true that this job is never the first choice among Marathi youth? With the amount and standard of education available in the state, clerical jobs are not a favourite. Moreover Railways being a national property and each railway zone spreading into two or more states, the demand for giving jobs to locals is laughable. Even if the exam is held in Kalyan for Central Railways, the recruits will in future have to serve in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka if and when transferred. Railways have been a major factor for mass movement of people around the country. Biharis, Oriyas and Bengalis working for erstwhile South Eastern Railway (SER) have reached Maharashtra due to their work. And there’s something in the Maharashtrian soil which doesn’t allow you to go back once you move here. So, across the state you will find people from all the neighbouring states who once having arrived here have never went back! And they have never been a nuisance. Instead mixing of cultures has helped in making Maharashtra what it is! As Shahid Kapur’s character correctly says in Kaminey that the migrants are like “Sugar” which when added to the milk increases its sweetness.
Actually it is nothing more than a political gimmick. The tirade has started because the migrants have started nurturing political aspirations which has become unbearable for few. A political party has fielded some 30 or more migrants as their candidates in the forthcoming elections and this is unacceptable to a few. You would observe that the tirade is never against other non-marathi migrants as they are not politically active. The same happened when Sonia Gandhi was to become the PM!
Instead of fighting out we should maintain the linguistic unity and upheld the motto of “Unity of Diversity” for which our country is respected throughout the globe.
Also there should be steps taken to propagate Marathi in the state and in the country. Fairs propagating Maharashtrian culture (literature, cuisine, handicraft, art, music) should be organized in the state as well as in other states should be staged. The people should be made aware of their heritage. The media has a very big role to play in this. Its time they move beyond Mumbai and Pune and delve inside the state. Ganpati festival has to be celebrated pan India like Durga Puja. Learning Marathi should be made compulsory in all schools and all boards. It’s nothing new as it is in place in many states. In state level jobs more preference should be given to the locals (anyone who is a legal resident of the state irrespective of his mother tongue). The cold shoulder that is extended to non-marathis and the reticence shown in sharing the culture should be stopped by all and sundry. Until and unless the natives of Maharashtra don’t welcome people with a warm heart, the migrants will feel alienated and this trouble will continue. (It is not impossible as my parents make karanji, anarsa and chakli in every festival and our neighbours like the Bengali sweets. We share everything and they are my actual family. Without their support my parents wouldn’t have been able to live happily for 30 years in Maharashtra. To add to it, we are not going back!)
In the era of globalization, nothing can be claimed to be somebody’s own property. Can Sachin and Lata be labeled to be only Maharashtrians or Amitabh, Tatas and Ambanis should be labeled with migrant’s status only. These people have not only made Maharashtra proud but are national synonyms for rpide, success and development.
So, let’s break free the bonds and join hands to boot out the politicians who want to create linguistic differences. These are not only the enemy to the common man but also to the state and the country. Let’s join hands to make “Aapla Maharashtra”, the most prosperous and happy state in the country.
Jai Hind !!! Jai Maharashtra !!!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Simply Naughty
When I was in my BSc-II, I decided to take tuitions to fill up my free time as well as to earn some moolah. I hadn’t taught anyone outside my brother and was susceptible about my teaching abilities! Hence, when I registered with a Home Tuitions provider, British Academy, I decided to teach only upto class 10th. The first tuition that I got was that of an oriya boy, whose name I have forgotten. He was in 9th and needed someone to teach him Science, Maths and English. The academy had instructed to ask for nothing less than 1000 but the father was not going above 450. I thought over and started the tuition without informing the academy. The boy was attentive and his mother was a good cook and I enjoyed being called a SIR!
Few weeks later the academy, oblivious of my existing tuition, arranged for another one. The student was a class 10th CBSE boy named Prateek Rathi aka Naughty. I was to teach him English and was to start that at 6 o’clock in the morning of 2nd October.
Naughty was totally upto his name. He is the only brother of three older sisters and obviously too pampered! He had the bad habit of turning down teachers. He never got up from the bed once because he didn’t like the teacher at all and the poor guy had to return back! I was not aware of this whimsical behaviour and I went totally charged up in the morning of 2nd and tried to give my best. It’s funny that the first day the student judges the teacher and later it’s his turn to be judged all through the year! Maybe Naughty just enjoyed his first days! Later I came to know about his habit but he had liked me straight away!
Even though I was never sent back, there were times when tuitions had to be stopped before the stipulated hour because of his pending bath or breakfast. But most generally it had to be stopped because of Dollar, his dog. Naughty had to take him for his morning walk and more than often he would stop the session early. Slowly and steadily, I gained his confidence. I was more an elder brother and a friend than a teacher and maybe he liked that! He had this entire different lingo and attitude and was very angry with his teachers as they reprimanded him often for his poor results. He was not a bad student but he was very lazy. He had a different set of ideas from others and would write answers in his own style. His way though correct was not entirely without mistakes. I had studied the same way in my school life and was totally encouraged by my teachers. Seldom would my answers match word to word with the answers in the notebook. I found the same in Naughty as well. Whatever he wrote was from his understanding and not mugging. But as he was lazy, he understood very little! My job was to rectify his mistakes and make him little more industrious. First was easy but not the second. Because of his unpredictable mood swings, he could have just dismissed my services and which was the last thing we wanted!
To tell the truth, teaching was secondary to the money I earned that time. 1000 bucks seemed quite large at that time and I liked the scent of the money (Kya karein jaat se baniya hoon na!) I earned. I bought two watches with the fees on Diwali, one for me and one for my brother. These were our first watches and we love them very much! I bought my radio also at that time. But gradually I fell into love with teaching and when Naughty’s mother asked me to teach Babal, Naughty’s cousin, I accepted it though with some reluctance. The reluctance was more because Babal was in 12th and I was not confident of my abilities! The best days of teaching were when I used to teach both of them 6 hours a day split in two shifts. My friends were angry that I was not giving them time and were also worried about my studies. The first I couldn’t manage because these two were my responsibilities and I couldn’t shy away from them. The second I managed by studying at the time they used to solve the papers I used to set for them. For about two months, we continued with this. Naughty was weak in every subject and when his mother asked me to look into the matter, I taught him Social Sciences, Science as well. I had to resort to emotional blackmailing and had to throw challenges to get him working. Well he surprised us all by getting a very good percentage of 75.6 in the boards. His top score was 84 in Social Sciences! When he informed me, I was just struck with disbelief! As soon as I put the phone down, I was elated and jumped in joy. His success had given me a big boost. Well, I too scored very heavily in my exams.
I have mentioned in an earlier blog that I taught Naughty again when he was in 12th. This time he didn’t respond well and didn’t fare well. I am to be blamed as well for not stoking the same fire I had been able to do two years back.
Apart from the three I have mentioned here, I have taught four other students. All of them were boys of 10th and 12th and were good friends of mine. Apart from one all of them shared their beliefs, aspirations, likes and dislikes with me. But Naughty is the only one with whom I developed an attachment! When I used to go home, he would worry about my safety as my parents lived in a jungle! Sometimes he used to come to my room for studies and I used to get scolded! The reasons were generally the dirtiness of my room and my bohemian habits. So, whenever he used to come, I cleaned my room beforehand to get away from his scolding! I was a miser in those days and that also came under scrutiny more than often. In a way he was my temperature controller and I enjoyed his chaffing. He has his own tinsel world and I am happy to be a part of it. I like him as I like my own younger brother and pray to God for his success and welfare.
Few weeks later the academy, oblivious of my existing tuition, arranged for another one. The student was a class 10th CBSE boy named Prateek Rathi aka Naughty. I was to teach him English and was to start that at 6 o’clock in the morning of 2nd October.
Naughty was totally upto his name. He is the only brother of three older sisters and obviously too pampered! He had the bad habit of turning down teachers. He never got up from the bed once because he didn’t like the teacher at all and the poor guy had to return back! I was not aware of this whimsical behaviour and I went totally charged up in the morning of 2nd and tried to give my best. It’s funny that the first day the student judges the teacher and later it’s his turn to be judged all through the year! Maybe Naughty just enjoyed his first days! Later I came to know about his habit but he had liked me straight away!
Even though I was never sent back, there were times when tuitions had to be stopped before the stipulated hour because of his pending bath or breakfast. But most generally it had to be stopped because of Dollar, his dog. Naughty had to take him for his morning walk and more than often he would stop the session early. Slowly and steadily, I gained his confidence. I was more an elder brother and a friend than a teacher and maybe he liked that! He had this entire different lingo and attitude and was very angry with his teachers as they reprimanded him often for his poor results. He was not a bad student but he was very lazy. He had a different set of ideas from others and would write answers in his own style. His way though correct was not entirely without mistakes. I had studied the same way in my school life and was totally encouraged by my teachers. Seldom would my answers match word to word with the answers in the notebook. I found the same in Naughty as well. Whatever he wrote was from his understanding and not mugging. But as he was lazy, he understood very little! My job was to rectify his mistakes and make him little more industrious. First was easy but not the second. Because of his unpredictable mood swings, he could have just dismissed my services and which was the last thing we wanted!
To tell the truth, teaching was secondary to the money I earned that time. 1000 bucks seemed quite large at that time and I liked the scent of the money (Kya karein jaat se baniya hoon na!) I earned. I bought two watches with the fees on Diwali, one for me and one for my brother. These were our first watches and we love them very much! I bought my radio also at that time. But gradually I fell into love with teaching and when Naughty’s mother asked me to teach Babal, Naughty’s cousin, I accepted it though with some reluctance. The reluctance was more because Babal was in 12th and I was not confident of my abilities! The best days of teaching were when I used to teach both of them 6 hours a day split in two shifts. My friends were angry that I was not giving them time and were also worried about my studies. The first I couldn’t manage because these two were my responsibilities and I couldn’t shy away from them. The second I managed by studying at the time they used to solve the papers I used to set for them. For about two months, we continued with this. Naughty was weak in every subject and when his mother asked me to look into the matter, I taught him Social Sciences, Science as well. I had to resort to emotional blackmailing and had to throw challenges to get him working. Well he surprised us all by getting a very good percentage of 75.6 in the boards. His top score was 84 in Social Sciences! When he informed me, I was just struck with disbelief! As soon as I put the phone down, I was elated and jumped in joy. His success had given me a big boost. Well, I too scored very heavily in my exams.
I have mentioned in an earlier blog that I taught Naughty again when he was in 12th. This time he didn’t respond well and didn’t fare well. I am to be blamed as well for not stoking the same fire I had been able to do two years back.
Apart from the three I have mentioned here, I have taught four other students. All of them were boys of 10th and 12th and were good friends of mine. Apart from one all of them shared their beliefs, aspirations, likes and dislikes with me. But Naughty is the only one with whom I developed an attachment! When I used to go home, he would worry about my safety as my parents lived in a jungle! Sometimes he used to come to my room for studies and I used to get scolded! The reasons were generally the dirtiness of my room and my bohemian habits. So, whenever he used to come, I cleaned my room beforehand to get away from his scolding! I was a miser in those days and that also came under scrutiny more than often. In a way he was my temperature controller and I enjoyed his chaffing. He has his own tinsel world and I am happy to be a part of it. I like him as I like my own younger brother and pray to God for his success and welfare.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Memoirs of Academia {College (Graduation and Post-Graduation)}
II) College (Graduation and Post-Graduation)
1) I did my graduation from Dharampeth Science College, Nagpur. Most of the days I spent outside the classes not attending them! The only classes I did were of Electronics. There were few incidents in the labs where once a Zener diode failed to work because it was grounded in both the terminals. After half an hour of all kinds of tests, we found the actual trouble and laughed over it.
2) One of our friends in our Electronics batch had penchant for destroying experiments. The very first day he started doing experiments he just blew an experimental setup which has not been resurrected yet!
But the best one was in the Physics laboratory when we were in Second year. We had a thermister experiment where it was to be heated using an electric heater. God knows what happened but the heater kept glowing even after it was unplugged!
3) The one funny incident I most remember is when I almost broke my wrist. My friends were watching a MMS on a 6600 and I ran to watch it. It was one which I had seen before and I tried to run away and lo I was half in the drain and half outside it and injured my left wrist. I didn’t feel the pain at once. It creeped back few minutes later and I was writhing with pain like never before. And the only relief I got was from an IR lamp in the chemistry lab. For days I couldn’t wear my watch and belt. I still don’t wear a belt!
4) We used to go for a Mathematics Tuition. Our sir used to take classes thrice a week while twice it was taken by one other teacher. Now this guy was a pain in the ass! He would go on solving without explaining a single step. One day he had solved a problem comprising of six blackboard pages and the answer we got was wrong. We found that he had made a mistake in the second page itself. As it was supposed to be last problem of the class, we told him that we would solve the problem when we go back home. But Kaun kiski sunta hai! He gave a long lecture and then went through all the steps and solved it much to our agony! We got rid of him by complaining to our sir.
5) In First year, I finished my Mathematics-II paper in one hour and forty minutes flat. I wrote 48/50 and I got 48/50. I was in a tremendous hurry as I had to watch an ongoing India-Pakistan match. The invigilator kept prodding to check my paper and I just forcefully thrust it into her hands. When I went to my friend’s house, he rebuked me for seeing a match before my exam. I told him that I had come straight from the examination hall.
6) We could be found generally in the ground. We, me, Prasad Joshi, Adosh Dixit, Sameer Gokhale, Vaibhav Choudhary, Parvez Khan, Aniket Agarkar, Kaustubh Nimdeo, Deepika, used to talk over all and sundry for hours. We had few other friends as well. When all boys were around, if something Non-Veg crept up (which usually did!) one statement from Kaustubh was inevitable! He would immediately say, “Mi Yeto!” (I’m leaving).
7) Another batch of friends was me, Aniket, Kaustubh (My School friend), Kshitij and Aditya. Aditya was our Food and Movies guide. Whenever Kaustubh’s and Aniket’s granny used to leave Nagpur, we used to put up our tents there. All night we used to watch movies and laugh over trivial Jokes. One day we decided to watch Exorcist. Now this movie is supposed to be the most frightening movie of all times. So we decided that we will watch it in the evening with all doors and windows closed and curtained. The environment would be dark but could rush outside whenever we feel frightened. We watched the movie skipping many scenes but each one of us actually smelled the decaying body of the kid!
Another time we were coming from a party in a dhaba on Wardha Road. (We always partied in Dhabas as they are economic and gave us a chance to venture outside the city) While returning back we stopped at an ice-cream parlour for cold-drinks. We spent almost an hour to drink a 300ml bottle and cracked all varieties of jokes over there and were like a bunch of drunkards. The owner got even with us by overcharging us.
8) With Dhritiman I met a whole lot of new beings in Nagpur. He used to take me to most of the places he went. He is the one who introduced me to the Hanuman Temple in Telangkhedi. I still go every Saturday for Bhagwan Darshan and then Nari Darshan to the nearby Futala Lake, whenever I’m in Nagpur.
9) I did my post-graduation from University of Pune’s Department of Physics. The two years were of great fun especially in the hostels. In the first year, we had the habit of talking into dead of the night just outside our rooms. And there were people around complaining whenever they heard a sound. One had the famous excuse of having an exam all throughout the year. Later whenever he used to open his door we used to say, “Pata hai kal aapki exam hai”! This stopped him. Another fellow played his Mridangam. He was stopped by playing the ultimate Tabla, our doors!
10) We used to have fun with our friends especially in the night. We once decorated Umesh with a Permanent Marker while he was sleeping. The fellow just washed it and didn’t say us anything at all! We were disgusted and defeated. We tried again but with the same outcome. Whereas a side trick with Barrel did bore fruit. A toothpaste moustache was drawn and lo Barrel was not amused. We had fun but were really scared to try something again with him! Well the guy cooled and returned the plate he had brought back in a fit of rage from Sandip. He also explained Sujoy something on a software meant to design Electronic instruments! We used to watch movies (housefull) on Barrel’s laptop. Once a mouse entered into the room and it was a complete hara-kiri until Sandip threw it out.
11) Our birthday celebrations were quite weird. The birthday boy used to get birthday bumps all over his ass and sometimes was even drenched. Once we tried this with Barrel and as you have correctly guessed, the cake went down crashing. I hope the cake was delicious!
12) Avdhoot was my next door neighbor in the hostel. He had a desire to learn Bengali. And I was the most suitable teacher as I knew Hindi and understood a little Marathi as well. I started with common statements and then descended to slangs. He almost screwed me by uttering my teachings to one of our Bengali seniors!
13) We were a small group from Nagpur University. I had good friendship with only two of them, Vijay and Taresh, in the first semester. The only girl, Chiti, was even not aware of my existence. I also cared less about her as I have always been with girls. While coming back home for the winter vacations, she boarded the train as a waitlisted passenger (She was to come later but decided otherwise). I was actually annoyed on her. I softened a little after seeing the food she had brought (She has been feeding us ever since!)! We were eating a packet of popcorn and she asked for some. We replied that we won’t throw the plastic and continued eating. She didn’t say anything more. We realized our mistake soon but by then the popcorn were finished. All this happened because she had been prodding us not to throw plastics outside the train and we thought that she was saying the same when she asked for the popcorn!
14) We formed a new team when we started our third semester, me, Avdhoot and Kaushalya. The first day we went for the practicals it was a dark room practical. As soon as sir left, I said that Kaushalya should be afraid as she was alone in a dark room with two boys. She said it’s the other way round actually! I have been a fan of her ever since then.
We had great life all through the year be it the star grazing or going triple seat to have coffee at middle of the night.
15) Gathering is an important event in the Physics department. First year students are required to organize the whole event right from collecting money to the final dinner. I had taken an active part in the event when we were First year. The biggest enthusiast of all was Barrel who had framed a blue-print with Pranav even before others had returned from the winter vacation. But when our notice became a spectacle the very next day, we realized that no blue-print can cover this. Collecting money was another problem. We collected money in the canteen, from hostel rooms and where else. I remember collecting money from one fellow by waking him up at 6:30 in the morning. That fortnight was an absolute mayhem and was an experience of a lifetime for all those who were involved!
Next year we were only to be spectators. We waited a sufficient amount of time but saw no response from our juniors regarding the programme. At last we decided to talk with them. I proposed to do the talking but Chiti was chosen as the matter needed delicate and diplomatic confrontation. But what she said over there still rings in every head that was there. There was sternness, criticism and a challenge in her voice. I should say she surpassed herself that day. The juniors promised in positive and really put up a nice show in the end.
16) In TIFR, we i.e. me, Satti, Sooraj and Arun used to indulge in late night discussions which sometimes became quite hot. We had to take precautions later and subdue our actions when somebody complained that the students were boozing and shouting in the night!
17)
Please feel free to add to these memoirs...
1) I did my graduation from Dharampeth Science College, Nagpur. Most of the days I spent outside the classes not attending them! The only classes I did were of Electronics. There were few incidents in the labs where once a Zener diode failed to work because it was grounded in both the terminals. After half an hour of all kinds of tests, we found the actual trouble and laughed over it.
2) One of our friends in our Electronics batch had penchant for destroying experiments. The very first day he started doing experiments he just blew an experimental setup which has not been resurrected yet!
But the best one was in the Physics laboratory when we were in Second year. We had a thermister experiment where it was to be heated using an electric heater. God knows what happened but the heater kept glowing even after it was unplugged!
3) The one funny incident I most remember is when I almost broke my wrist. My friends were watching a MMS on a 6600 and I ran to watch it. It was one which I had seen before and I tried to run away and lo I was half in the drain and half outside it and injured my left wrist. I didn’t feel the pain at once. It creeped back few minutes later and I was writhing with pain like never before. And the only relief I got was from an IR lamp in the chemistry lab. For days I couldn’t wear my watch and belt. I still don’t wear a belt!
4) We used to go for a Mathematics Tuition. Our sir used to take classes thrice a week while twice it was taken by one other teacher. Now this guy was a pain in the ass! He would go on solving without explaining a single step. One day he had solved a problem comprising of six blackboard pages and the answer we got was wrong. We found that he had made a mistake in the second page itself. As it was supposed to be last problem of the class, we told him that we would solve the problem when we go back home. But Kaun kiski sunta hai! He gave a long lecture and then went through all the steps and solved it much to our agony! We got rid of him by complaining to our sir.
5) In First year, I finished my Mathematics-II paper in one hour and forty minutes flat. I wrote 48/50 and I got 48/50. I was in a tremendous hurry as I had to watch an ongoing India-Pakistan match. The invigilator kept prodding to check my paper and I just forcefully thrust it into her hands. When I went to my friend’s house, he rebuked me for seeing a match before my exam. I told him that I had come straight from the examination hall.
6) We could be found generally in the ground. We, me, Prasad Joshi, Adosh Dixit, Sameer Gokhale, Vaibhav Choudhary, Parvez Khan, Aniket Agarkar, Kaustubh Nimdeo, Deepika, used to talk over all and sundry for hours. We had few other friends as well. When all boys were around, if something Non-Veg crept up (which usually did!) one statement from Kaustubh was inevitable! He would immediately say, “Mi Yeto!” (I’m leaving).
7) Another batch of friends was me, Aniket, Kaustubh (My School friend), Kshitij and Aditya. Aditya was our Food and Movies guide. Whenever Kaustubh’s and Aniket’s granny used to leave Nagpur, we used to put up our tents there. All night we used to watch movies and laugh over trivial Jokes. One day we decided to watch Exorcist. Now this movie is supposed to be the most frightening movie of all times. So we decided that we will watch it in the evening with all doors and windows closed and curtained. The environment would be dark but could rush outside whenever we feel frightened. We watched the movie skipping many scenes but each one of us actually smelled the decaying body of the kid!
Another time we were coming from a party in a dhaba on Wardha Road. (We always partied in Dhabas as they are economic and gave us a chance to venture outside the city) While returning back we stopped at an ice-cream parlour for cold-drinks. We spent almost an hour to drink a 300ml bottle and cracked all varieties of jokes over there and were like a bunch of drunkards. The owner got even with us by overcharging us.
8) With Dhritiman I met a whole lot of new beings in Nagpur. He used to take me to most of the places he went. He is the one who introduced me to the Hanuman Temple in Telangkhedi. I still go every Saturday for Bhagwan Darshan and then Nari Darshan to the nearby Futala Lake, whenever I’m in Nagpur.
9) I did my post-graduation from University of Pune’s Department of Physics. The two years were of great fun especially in the hostels. In the first year, we had the habit of talking into dead of the night just outside our rooms. And there were people around complaining whenever they heard a sound. One had the famous excuse of having an exam all throughout the year. Later whenever he used to open his door we used to say, “Pata hai kal aapki exam hai”! This stopped him. Another fellow played his Mridangam. He was stopped by playing the ultimate Tabla, our doors!
10) We used to have fun with our friends especially in the night. We once decorated Umesh with a Permanent Marker while he was sleeping. The fellow just washed it and didn’t say us anything at all! We were disgusted and defeated. We tried again but with the same outcome. Whereas a side trick with Barrel did bore fruit. A toothpaste moustache was drawn and lo Barrel was not amused. We had fun but were really scared to try something again with him! Well the guy cooled and returned the plate he had brought back in a fit of rage from Sandip. He also explained Sujoy something on a software meant to design Electronic instruments! We used to watch movies (housefull) on Barrel’s laptop. Once a mouse entered into the room and it was a complete hara-kiri until Sandip threw it out.
11) Our birthday celebrations were quite weird. The birthday boy used to get birthday bumps all over his ass and sometimes was even drenched. Once we tried this with Barrel and as you have correctly guessed, the cake went down crashing. I hope the cake was delicious!
12) Avdhoot was my next door neighbor in the hostel. He had a desire to learn Bengali. And I was the most suitable teacher as I knew Hindi and understood a little Marathi as well. I started with common statements and then descended to slangs. He almost screwed me by uttering my teachings to one of our Bengali seniors!
13) We were a small group from Nagpur University. I had good friendship with only two of them, Vijay and Taresh, in the first semester. The only girl, Chiti, was even not aware of my existence. I also cared less about her as I have always been with girls. While coming back home for the winter vacations, she boarded the train as a waitlisted passenger (She was to come later but decided otherwise). I was actually annoyed on her. I softened a little after seeing the food she had brought (She has been feeding us ever since!)! We were eating a packet of popcorn and she asked for some. We replied that we won’t throw the plastic and continued eating. She didn’t say anything more. We realized our mistake soon but by then the popcorn were finished. All this happened because she had been prodding us not to throw plastics outside the train and we thought that she was saying the same when she asked for the popcorn!
14) We formed a new team when we started our third semester, me, Avdhoot and Kaushalya. The first day we went for the practicals it was a dark room practical. As soon as sir left, I said that Kaushalya should be afraid as she was alone in a dark room with two boys. She said it’s the other way round actually! I have been a fan of her ever since then.
We had great life all through the year be it the star grazing or going triple seat to have coffee at middle of the night.
15) Gathering is an important event in the Physics department. First year students are required to organize the whole event right from collecting money to the final dinner. I had taken an active part in the event when we were First year. The biggest enthusiast of all was Barrel who had framed a blue-print with Pranav even before others had returned from the winter vacation. But when our notice became a spectacle the very next day, we realized that no blue-print can cover this. Collecting money was another problem. We collected money in the canteen, from hostel rooms and where else. I remember collecting money from one fellow by waking him up at 6:30 in the morning. That fortnight was an absolute mayhem and was an experience of a lifetime for all those who were involved!
Next year we were only to be spectators. We waited a sufficient amount of time but saw no response from our juniors regarding the programme. At last we decided to talk with them. I proposed to do the talking but Chiti was chosen as the matter needed delicate and diplomatic confrontation. But what she said over there still rings in every head that was there. There was sternness, criticism and a challenge in her voice. I should say she surpassed herself that day. The juniors promised in positive and really put up a nice show in the end.
16) In TIFR, we i.e. me, Satti, Sooraj and Arun used to indulge in late night discussions which sometimes became quite hot. We had to take precautions later and subdue our actions when somebody complained that the students were boozing and shouting in the night!
17)
Please feel free to add to these memoirs...
Memoirs of Academia {School (KG-XII)}
This is a recollection of many events which have dotted my short academic life of about 20 years. The events are mostly which provided happiness in my life. There are one or two events of remorse as well.
Just for the sake of convenience I have distributed the memoirs into two parts, one for School days and other for the college days.
I) School (KG – XII)
1) The very first day I went to school i.e. in July 1989, I ran away from my class!
My father had dropped me with George Bhaiyya who was in some higher class. As soon as my class started, he took me to my class. I didn’t know a single person in the class and got petrified and fled. The teachers tried hard but I just couldn’t be controlled! I even stopped talking in Hindi. The only sentence I said was, “Aami Maayer kaachhe jaabo!” which means I will go to my mother. Luckily one of my teachers was a Bengali and she calmed me down. I cried so much that I was in a kind of frenzy and continued uttering the same lines even when I came back home and was sleeping in my mother’s lap. Ever since then I didn’t bunk a class deliberately until I started going to college.
2) I studied in Shirinbai Neterwala School, Tumsar from class 1st to class 10th. The school was some 30 odd kilometres away from my home. In the morning of 8th July, 1991 (First day to school), I went in a school bus whose driver I knew. My father told me that he will bring me back in the evening in the same bus. In the evening, the bus was a different one with an unfamiliar driver and hence I refused to board it. It was only after lot of persuasion by Mohsin Bhaiyya, whose sister was my classmate, I went into the bus!
3) Studying in SNS was never a trouble. Firstly, we had a large contingent of students from our mines and hence in starting days we didn’t feel lonely. Secondly, the teachers were so friendly and caring that I never felt away from home. The very first two friendships I made in Std. 1 were Dhritiman Mondal and Kaustubh Akant. I have lost many of my friends in the tide of time but these two are still there. In Std. 1, while trying to jump a hurdle I had injured myself. The support I got from my friends is still in my mind. I still remember the lovely scolding I received from Usha aunty which she gave while she dressed my wounds. She still remembers us and talks with us with the same warmth.
In the same class, I and Murli had accidently injured Sonu. His three fingers were fractured while we were playing with the door of our class. We didn’t get much reprimanded but I felt very bad as Sonu was my friend from KG days. He also didn’t tell his parents. But I couldn’t control myself when my father asked him on Dusshera about his plight. He kept quiet and just glanced at me. After going home, I confessed and felt such a relief. I don’t know where Sonu is but I still remember this unhappy incident.
4) My talkativeness and restlessness brought me strange punishments. One I remember was given to me by Singh Madam. I had to stand and read a whole chapter in the class while she explained. It’s worthwhile to say, I didn’t change. I actually enjoyed. Another one I remember was to sit between the girls. But, it only added to the problems. A talkative boy among girls was like adding petrol to fire. Soon, the punishment stopped!
5) My teachers had innovative ways of teaching.
Sil madam liked taking tests and we obviously didn’t! She once said that she will take a test of 5 marks. We were very happy. She gave us 20 questions of ¼ marks each!
Rao sir once taught us about Zaire in Geography. He started straight way from Tumsar Road railway station. From there we went to Cochin. I even tried to outsmart the customs and after a nice sea voyage we reached Zaire. All this happened in the classroom itself! The interest in geography hasn’t waned since.
Gill madam, our principal, was one of the best human beings I know. She knew everyone of her students personally and used to write a personal comment on each and every students report card after the final result. We all miss her a lot.
Wadia madam, our English teacher, once decided to enhance our English speaking skills. She decided to have a debate. The topic was wrong though as it proved. The topic was, “Who is better, Girls or Boys?” It created such uproar, that madam had to pacify us first.
Our SUPW (Some Useful & Productive Work) periods were fun but we generally didn’t take them seriously. For us they were, “Some Useful Periods Wasted”. So, Sarkar madam had lots of difficulty with us! She had coined the patent dialogue, “Yeh bachchha log kuchh kartaa hi naahi hai”.
I would like to thank all the teachers who taught us during these years.
6) We played almost every sport in our school. One bad habit that we had was that if we took up one sport, we continued with it until we were fed up completely with it. But one game which we liked the most was Cricket. We seldom played it in the regular fashion. We usually played it at the Kho-Kho ground, Basketball court, Football ground with one of the rods being our stumps. The bowling usually was a simple throw and sixes were considered to be out. But our favourite spot was among the trees. Two trees served as stumps and the rest were the boundary markings. The one man who commanded the show here was Anand Agrawal. We used to play the ball into the fields just outside the fence for a six (out) during the sugarcane season for the obvious of the reasons!
7) In the beginning we were a group of four, me, Kaustubh, Harish and Chandan. We had all those childish fantasies. We called ourselves with some Super-Hero’s name. I think I was Superman and Harish was He-Man. And we had the natural elements all to us. The sky was mine, greenery was Harish’s, water or maybe land was Kaustubh’s. We believed that three was inauspicious. And hence when one of us was absent; we would place a rock in place of the fourth and give it food!
8) My other friends were from Chikhla. After school, until the bus arrived, we used to play games like Pittul, Coconut, and Hide & Seek. In the school bus we used to play Antakshari and games of WWF and Cricket cards. Once we had made cricket cards of India, Pakistan and World Cup!
The friends of this time are Dushyant, Bulbul, Babai, Munna, Vicky, Hemu, Puckka, N. Shiv and others. In earlier classes we used to play Chor-Police which could have only four players. But Mohsin Bhaiyya introduced one or two characters more whenever he wanted to play!
9) In Xth, we were to have a science exhibition on our Annual Day. Nagpure Sir had planned a big depiction of a wind power plant. Our class helped him the most. When the question of the Presenter came, I volunteered. Kaustubh was my deputy. The presentation in front of the chief guest went well. But then the motors developed some problem. All motors stopped working. After fiddling for some time only two of them started. But somebody wired them wrong and they started rotating in opposite directions.
In an earlier class there were two volcanoes presented by our class. One was to show exploding and the other flow of lava. The chief guest I think was Mr. Praful Patel, Civil Aviation minister now. The exploding volcano had to be ignited using a magnesium strip. There was some problem in our earlier trials as well. It failed in first few attempts on that day as well. The chief guest moved on. He went on seeing other exhibits. As soon as the lava started pouring out of the second volcano, the whole hall rang with a single sound, “Sir Phoota”! It was from my friend who was trying to ignite the volcano and had succeeded!
10) I went to Holy Home, Serampore for my Higher Secondary. It was the first time that I was staying in a hostel and it was a new experience for me. When my father and uncle left me there, I just started crying. I regretted over my far-fetched idea of studying in Bengal. But help from my friends especially Bikash, Arijit, Baishishtha and Sanjay made my life easy over there.
11) Stories of ghosts were very common in there. There were people who actually saw them. Once after hearing some interesting stories, we went to sleep. In the sleep I fought with the ghosts. In the morning I found my neighbor halfway out of the bed and me and Bikash encroaching the area vacated by him. Incidentally Bikash had also dreamt and had fought the same ghosts which turned out to be the fellow with the bed in between ours!
12) Sanjay and I were good buddies. I used to be a one stop encyclopedia for him. And when with him it was like a house on fire. We along with Baishishtha used to chatufy people especially juniors. We were also the chief culprits when it came to decide channels on our dorm television. We got permissions for watching matches all the time. The World Cup Soccer final of 2002 was not so good for me. I was supporting Germany while Sanjay was with Brazil. Well Brazil scored three and I got three boxes all over my body.
13) There were repeated funny events in the dining room. Once while eating a feast of Chilly Chicken and Mutton Biryani, neither could I eat as something was stuck in my throat nor could I leave the table in fear of losing the chicken. Eventually Subir sir came to rescue and assured that I could have more of the delicious chicken. Then only I left the table.
Another time after a combined effect of a bowl of hot Rasogolla’s syrup and cool air of the Ganges, three of us were ecstatic and laughed for about half an hour over every silly joke uttered.
14) Our birthday celebrations meant drenching in water and cold-drinks. Whenever we had a birthday, we used to make the whole dormitory wet. In the night Subir sir used to ask, “Aaj kar jonmodin chhilo?” actually referring to the mess around us. Once after quite a number of back to back parties, we were tired and so me and Arijit decided to skip the ongoing one and went to the reading room. A messenger was sent but we stopped him as well. When at last we went, the fellows were waiting and we were drenched doubly, one for the party and other as a punishment.
15) For the final board exams, Bibhas had taught me how to signal the prepositions to him in the exam hall without making any sound. The signals were to be done with the lips only. I learnt the crypt but forgot most of it in the exam and couldn’t help him much!
Another one of Bibhas which I remember is his unorthodox therapy. Saurav was once suffering from immense cough and cold. He couldn’t eat properly. We used to get Puri and Chhole ki dal on Saturday mornings. Bibhas mixed some (I don’t know how many!) green chilies into the dal. After two puris Saurav started coughing like anything and within 20 minutes he was quite relaxed and had put out lot of cough outside his body! But Bibhas couldn’t get him eat the rest of the dal!
16)
{ There are other stories as well which cannot be disclosed in a public site! Some would need permissions while there are others which will never see the light of the day! And hence the stories are limited in number!}
Please feel free to tell other stories of these times....
Just for the sake of convenience I have distributed the memoirs into two parts, one for School days and other for the college days.
I) School (KG – XII)
1) The very first day I went to school i.e. in July 1989, I ran away from my class!
My father had dropped me with George Bhaiyya who was in some higher class. As soon as my class started, he took me to my class. I didn’t know a single person in the class and got petrified and fled. The teachers tried hard but I just couldn’t be controlled! I even stopped talking in Hindi. The only sentence I said was, “Aami Maayer kaachhe jaabo!” which means I will go to my mother. Luckily one of my teachers was a Bengali and she calmed me down. I cried so much that I was in a kind of frenzy and continued uttering the same lines even when I came back home and was sleeping in my mother’s lap. Ever since then I didn’t bunk a class deliberately until I started going to college.
2) I studied in Shirinbai Neterwala School, Tumsar from class 1st to class 10th. The school was some 30 odd kilometres away from my home. In the morning of 8th July, 1991 (First day to school), I went in a school bus whose driver I knew. My father told me that he will bring me back in the evening in the same bus. In the evening, the bus was a different one with an unfamiliar driver and hence I refused to board it. It was only after lot of persuasion by Mohsin Bhaiyya, whose sister was my classmate, I went into the bus!
3) Studying in SNS was never a trouble. Firstly, we had a large contingent of students from our mines and hence in starting days we didn’t feel lonely. Secondly, the teachers were so friendly and caring that I never felt away from home. The very first two friendships I made in Std. 1 were Dhritiman Mondal and Kaustubh Akant. I have lost many of my friends in the tide of time but these two are still there. In Std. 1, while trying to jump a hurdle I had injured myself. The support I got from my friends is still in my mind. I still remember the lovely scolding I received from Usha aunty which she gave while she dressed my wounds. She still remembers us and talks with us with the same warmth.
In the same class, I and Murli had accidently injured Sonu. His three fingers were fractured while we were playing with the door of our class. We didn’t get much reprimanded but I felt very bad as Sonu was my friend from KG days. He also didn’t tell his parents. But I couldn’t control myself when my father asked him on Dusshera about his plight. He kept quiet and just glanced at me. After going home, I confessed and felt such a relief. I don’t know where Sonu is but I still remember this unhappy incident.
4) My talkativeness and restlessness brought me strange punishments. One I remember was given to me by Singh Madam. I had to stand and read a whole chapter in the class while she explained. It’s worthwhile to say, I didn’t change. I actually enjoyed. Another one I remember was to sit between the girls. But, it only added to the problems. A talkative boy among girls was like adding petrol to fire. Soon, the punishment stopped!
5) My teachers had innovative ways of teaching.
Sil madam liked taking tests and we obviously didn’t! She once said that she will take a test of 5 marks. We were very happy. She gave us 20 questions of ¼ marks each!
Rao sir once taught us about Zaire in Geography. He started straight way from Tumsar Road railway station. From there we went to Cochin. I even tried to outsmart the customs and after a nice sea voyage we reached Zaire. All this happened in the classroom itself! The interest in geography hasn’t waned since.
Gill madam, our principal, was one of the best human beings I know. She knew everyone of her students personally and used to write a personal comment on each and every students report card after the final result. We all miss her a lot.
Wadia madam, our English teacher, once decided to enhance our English speaking skills. She decided to have a debate. The topic was wrong though as it proved. The topic was, “Who is better, Girls or Boys?” It created such uproar, that madam had to pacify us first.
Our SUPW (Some Useful & Productive Work) periods were fun but we generally didn’t take them seriously. For us they were, “Some Useful Periods Wasted”. So, Sarkar madam had lots of difficulty with us! She had coined the patent dialogue, “Yeh bachchha log kuchh kartaa hi naahi hai”.
I would like to thank all the teachers who taught us during these years.
6) We played almost every sport in our school. One bad habit that we had was that if we took up one sport, we continued with it until we were fed up completely with it. But one game which we liked the most was Cricket. We seldom played it in the regular fashion. We usually played it at the Kho-Kho ground, Basketball court, Football ground with one of the rods being our stumps. The bowling usually was a simple throw and sixes were considered to be out. But our favourite spot was among the trees. Two trees served as stumps and the rest were the boundary markings. The one man who commanded the show here was Anand Agrawal. We used to play the ball into the fields just outside the fence for a six (out) during the sugarcane season for the obvious of the reasons!
7) In the beginning we were a group of four, me, Kaustubh, Harish and Chandan. We had all those childish fantasies. We called ourselves with some Super-Hero’s name. I think I was Superman and Harish was He-Man. And we had the natural elements all to us. The sky was mine, greenery was Harish’s, water or maybe land was Kaustubh’s. We believed that three was inauspicious. And hence when one of us was absent; we would place a rock in place of the fourth and give it food!
8) My other friends were from Chikhla. After school, until the bus arrived, we used to play games like Pittul, Coconut, and Hide & Seek. In the school bus we used to play Antakshari and games of WWF and Cricket cards. Once we had made cricket cards of India, Pakistan and World Cup!
The friends of this time are Dushyant, Bulbul, Babai, Munna, Vicky, Hemu, Puckka, N. Shiv and others. In earlier classes we used to play Chor-Police which could have only four players. But Mohsin Bhaiyya introduced one or two characters more whenever he wanted to play!
9) In Xth, we were to have a science exhibition on our Annual Day. Nagpure Sir had planned a big depiction of a wind power plant. Our class helped him the most. When the question of the Presenter came, I volunteered. Kaustubh was my deputy. The presentation in front of the chief guest went well. But then the motors developed some problem. All motors stopped working. After fiddling for some time only two of them started. But somebody wired them wrong and they started rotating in opposite directions.
In an earlier class there were two volcanoes presented by our class. One was to show exploding and the other flow of lava. The chief guest I think was Mr. Praful Patel, Civil Aviation minister now. The exploding volcano had to be ignited using a magnesium strip. There was some problem in our earlier trials as well. It failed in first few attempts on that day as well. The chief guest moved on. He went on seeing other exhibits. As soon as the lava started pouring out of the second volcano, the whole hall rang with a single sound, “Sir Phoota”! It was from my friend who was trying to ignite the volcano and had succeeded!
10) I went to Holy Home, Serampore for my Higher Secondary. It was the first time that I was staying in a hostel and it was a new experience for me. When my father and uncle left me there, I just started crying. I regretted over my far-fetched idea of studying in Bengal. But help from my friends especially Bikash, Arijit, Baishishtha and Sanjay made my life easy over there.
11) Stories of ghosts were very common in there. There were people who actually saw them. Once after hearing some interesting stories, we went to sleep. In the sleep I fought with the ghosts. In the morning I found my neighbor halfway out of the bed and me and Bikash encroaching the area vacated by him. Incidentally Bikash had also dreamt and had fought the same ghosts which turned out to be the fellow with the bed in between ours!
12) Sanjay and I were good buddies. I used to be a one stop encyclopedia for him. And when with him it was like a house on fire. We along with Baishishtha used to chatufy people especially juniors. We were also the chief culprits when it came to decide channels on our dorm television. We got permissions for watching matches all the time. The World Cup Soccer final of 2002 was not so good for me. I was supporting Germany while Sanjay was with Brazil. Well Brazil scored three and I got three boxes all over my body.
13) There were repeated funny events in the dining room. Once while eating a feast of Chilly Chicken and Mutton Biryani, neither could I eat as something was stuck in my throat nor could I leave the table in fear of losing the chicken. Eventually Subir sir came to rescue and assured that I could have more of the delicious chicken. Then only I left the table.
Another time after a combined effect of a bowl of hot Rasogolla’s syrup and cool air of the Ganges, three of us were ecstatic and laughed for about half an hour over every silly joke uttered.
14) Our birthday celebrations meant drenching in water and cold-drinks. Whenever we had a birthday, we used to make the whole dormitory wet. In the night Subir sir used to ask, “Aaj kar jonmodin chhilo?” actually referring to the mess around us. Once after quite a number of back to back parties, we were tired and so me and Arijit decided to skip the ongoing one and went to the reading room. A messenger was sent but we stopped him as well. When at last we went, the fellows were waiting and we were drenched doubly, one for the party and other as a punishment.
15) For the final board exams, Bibhas had taught me how to signal the prepositions to him in the exam hall without making any sound. The signals were to be done with the lips only. I learnt the crypt but forgot most of it in the exam and couldn’t help him much!
Another one of Bibhas which I remember is his unorthodox therapy. Saurav was once suffering from immense cough and cold. He couldn’t eat properly. We used to get Puri and Chhole ki dal on Saturday mornings. Bibhas mixed some (I don’t know how many!) green chilies into the dal. After two puris Saurav started coughing like anything and within 20 minutes he was quite relaxed and had put out lot of cough outside his body! But Bibhas couldn’t get him eat the rest of the dal!
16)
{ There are other stories as well which cannot be disclosed in a public site! Some would need permissions while there are others which will never see the light of the day! And hence the stories are limited in number!}
Please feel free to tell other stories of these times....
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sherlock Holmes: An astute brain in an iron head
{ It’s one of the first articles written by me. It was written for our college’s yearly magazine for the year 2006. The biggest thanks for this article go to my friend Arijit Ghosh who is the reason for my first acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The facts that I have written are mainly from the preface of the book I borrowed from Arijit in the hostel of Holy Home, Serampore. Hope you all like it. }
Biographies are normally written about living souls. But here is a man who never breathed a real breath but is one of the most loved and known personalities in the entire world. He had his abode at 221B Baker street, London and is the most enterprising and famous detective. He is Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan Doyle was a medical man by profession but it didn’t bring him enough success. So he started writing books which include the famous “The Lost World”. But what brought him into limelight was Sherlock Holmes, his master creation. He narrated the whole series of adventures through Dr. John Watson, a retired army doctor from Afghanistan, who was the friend-cum-chronicler of the eminent detective. Holmes was inspired from Doyle’s teacher Dr. Joseph Bell of Edinburgh University. Watson is seen as portrayal of Doyle himself.
Sherlock Holmes had his own virtues and vices. He was a man who was very active but was prone to cocaine during idleness. To rake up his brains, he loved to smoke strong shag tobacco. He knew boxing, played violin and knew almost every criminal case of his lifetime. He knew the British law just as the back of his hand. But he seldom paid enough attention to other matters which had little connection with crime. He believed that the attic of the brain has to be stocked with data which is required regularly while everything can be sent to the lumber room from where it can be extracted if required. He believed in personal cleanliness but his rooms were quite dirty. He was an excellent shooter who practiced generally in his drawing room. He was known to apply very unorthodox techniques in solving a case and his knowledge of Organic Chemistry was an important tool in these endeavours. He was courteous to the ones who were the same to him. He could give enough respect to a pauper and curtly dismiss a prince if he found him to his dislike. He was well behaved with the women but generally avoided them. He was highly secretive while solving a case and would divulge all the facts and threads even to Watson only after he solved the case.
Sherlock Holmes’s practice increased gradually and at his peak he had helped three ruling houses of Europe. It is not that he was successful always. But where he failed, the official police and others had already failed. He was in a way the final court of appeal. Money was secondary to him and generally took cases which provided him with a field of interest. He practiced art for art’s sake.
Although Sherlock Holmes brought Doyle phenomenal success, Doyle’s first love was not Holmes. So, he masterfully got rid of him by killing Holmes and Professor Moriarity, his enemy, in the Reichenbach fall in the story, “The Final Problem”. But then started a long agitation from the public and media and Doyle was forced to bring back Holmes. And he did so in the story, “The Adventure of Empty House”.
Sherlock Holmes was so popular that the fans used to write letters to him at 221B Baker Street. This queer fan-mail reportedly created quite a problem for the postal authorities in London at one time. The adventures of the super sleuth started appearing from the year 1887 and ended 1927, just three years before the author’s death in 1930. In total 4 novels and 56 short stories were published in the meantime. “A Study in Scarlet” introduced Holmes. “A Scandal in Bohemia” was the first short story to be published. “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is the most popular story. Sign of four, Silver Blaze, Six Napoleons, etc are the other popular stories.
Holmes-Watson pair has been inspiration for many other authors. Byomkesh-Ajit and Feluda-Topshe are clearly inspired. Sherlock Holmes has rightly been said the most convincing, the most brilliant, the most congenial and well loved of all detectives in facts or fictions.
Biographies are normally written about living souls. But here is a man who never breathed a real breath but is one of the most loved and known personalities in the entire world. He had his abode at 221B Baker street, London and is the most enterprising and famous detective. He is Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan Doyle was a medical man by profession but it didn’t bring him enough success. So he started writing books which include the famous “The Lost World”. But what brought him into limelight was Sherlock Holmes, his master creation. He narrated the whole series of adventures through Dr. John Watson, a retired army doctor from Afghanistan, who was the friend-cum-chronicler of the eminent detective. Holmes was inspired from Doyle’s teacher Dr. Joseph Bell of Edinburgh University. Watson is seen as portrayal of Doyle himself.
Sherlock Holmes had his own virtues and vices. He was a man who was very active but was prone to cocaine during idleness. To rake up his brains, he loved to smoke strong shag tobacco. He knew boxing, played violin and knew almost every criminal case of his lifetime. He knew the British law just as the back of his hand. But he seldom paid enough attention to other matters which had little connection with crime. He believed that the attic of the brain has to be stocked with data which is required regularly while everything can be sent to the lumber room from where it can be extracted if required. He believed in personal cleanliness but his rooms were quite dirty. He was an excellent shooter who practiced generally in his drawing room. He was known to apply very unorthodox techniques in solving a case and his knowledge of Organic Chemistry was an important tool in these endeavours. He was courteous to the ones who were the same to him. He could give enough respect to a pauper and curtly dismiss a prince if he found him to his dislike. He was well behaved with the women but generally avoided them. He was highly secretive while solving a case and would divulge all the facts and threads even to Watson only after he solved the case.
Sherlock Holmes’s practice increased gradually and at his peak he had helped three ruling houses of Europe. It is not that he was successful always. But where he failed, the official police and others had already failed. He was in a way the final court of appeal. Money was secondary to him and generally took cases which provided him with a field of interest. He practiced art for art’s sake.
Although Sherlock Holmes brought Doyle phenomenal success, Doyle’s first love was not Holmes. So, he masterfully got rid of him by killing Holmes and Professor Moriarity, his enemy, in the Reichenbach fall in the story, “The Final Problem”. But then started a long agitation from the public and media and Doyle was forced to bring back Holmes. And he did so in the story, “The Adventure of Empty House”.
Sherlock Holmes was so popular that the fans used to write letters to him at 221B Baker Street. This queer fan-mail reportedly created quite a problem for the postal authorities in London at one time. The adventures of the super sleuth started appearing from the year 1887 and ended 1927, just three years before the author’s death in 1930. In total 4 novels and 56 short stories were published in the meantime. “A Study in Scarlet” introduced Holmes. “A Scandal in Bohemia” was the first short story to be published. “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is the most popular story. Sign of four, Silver Blaze, Six Napoleons, etc are the other popular stories.
Holmes-Watson pair has been inspiration for many other authors. Byomkesh-Ajit and Feluda-Topshe are clearly inspired. Sherlock Holmes has rightly been said the most convincing, the most brilliant, the most congenial and well loved of all detectives in facts or fictions.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
India: Six Decades of Independence
India has completed 62 years of independence from the British rule on this 15th August.
Well truly speaking we were under a foreign rule ever since Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan way back in 11th century. But we had accepted them and the subsequent Tughlaqs, Lodhis and Mughals as our brethren. They amalgamated into the society so well that nobody actually felt they were under any oppression. It was largely due to the way the rulers ruled especially Akbar. But after Aurangzeb came to power situations began to change drastically. It was the first time when a spirit of nationalism arose among the Marathas, the very first in the history of India. It was short-lived and actually turned more towards imperialism with the decline of the Mughals.
So, when Robert Clive arrived in Murshidabad in 1750’s, India was not like that we know now. It was fragmented on the lines of religion, language, caste and what else. The British were always thought to be meddlers from outside and they never could be woven into the social fabric. An uprising did occur in 1857 but in it personal interests played a more important role than the nationalist ones as is proved from the non-participation of Punjab, Scindia, Nizam among others. It cannot be altogether rejected as a sepoy mutiny but neither could it be called a war of INDIAN independence.
But the British did push us into the modern era albeit for their personal gains. The railways, telegraph, land & socio-economic reforms along with large scale industries would have taken a long time to come were it not for the British. But eventually, especially after the 1905 Bengal partition, nationalism arose in India in spite of all the differences nature could provide. And then came the day when we gained our freedom after lot of struggle and sacrifices.
But the India that we got after such a struggle comprised of 500 odd states excluding the British India. To add to our troubles was the reluctance of states like Nizam & Junagadh to join us as was the indecision on the part of Kashmir. But with the persistence and expertise of leaders like Sardar Patel, we were able to complete the union using both words and bullets as and where required. Eventually on 26th January 1950, India was declared a republic.
But these six decades have not been without turbulence and it all started few months after independence when our brother, the newly carved out Pakistan attacked Kashmir and ever since this is one problem we haven’t been able to solve even after three full-fledged wars and numerous pseudo wars. To compound to the problems there have been numerous religious and ethnic conflicts which have gained momentum after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. We have suffered from breach in confidence from China in 1962 that broke Panchasheel to attack us. Pakistan and Bangladesh (which was incidentally helped by us in gaining freedom in 1971) are known to harbour terrorists who have repeatedly tried to disrupt our socio-economic system time and again. Ethnic and political reasons in Nepal, Bangladesh and Srilanka have also compounded our problems by pouring in a lot of refugees.
But we have never yielded in these six decades and hope will not do anytime in the future. We have kept successfully kept our social fabric intact and have progressed economically so much that we are teemed as one of the potential superpowers in making.
Nowhere in this world will anyone find states divided linguistically. The cultural diversity in India along its length and breadth is non-existent even in the vastly big Russia spanning over two continents. The way we can bounce back even when pushed to the wall is just remarkable. A special mention in this regard should be done of the Mumbaikars, the valiant and energetic of the lot.
Even though we live in a kind of a furnace with unstable inflammatory countries outside and boiling states inside, we have been able to sustain development and create indigenous revolutions like the Food revolutions of the 1960’s and the economic ones of 1990’s.
We have been able to excel both in cultural and scientific front as well. People ranging from Sachin Tendulkar to Pt. Ravishankar , Satyajit Ray to J R D Tata, Homi Bhabha to Amitabh Bachchan are popular all over the world and have brought laurels to the country.
In spite of the differences, discrepancies, corruption (Transparency International regularly puts us in the 70s of their annual list), needless communalism & regionalism, illiteracy and poverty we have been voted as the happiest country in the world. Slowly and steadily we are approaching the pinnacle of success which our great leaders had aimed of. Its noteworthy to say that no other country which gained freedom in the previous century, with the exception of China, Singapore and few others, have not attained such success levels. While diversity has caused many nations to crash, we have gone from strengths to strengths and will do so in eons to come.
JAI HIND !!!
Well truly speaking we were under a foreign rule ever since Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan way back in 11th century. But we had accepted them and the subsequent Tughlaqs, Lodhis and Mughals as our brethren. They amalgamated into the society so well that nobody actually felt they were under any oppression. It was largely due to the way the rulers ruled especially Akbar. But after Aurangzeb came to power situations began to change drastically. It was the first time when a spirit of nationalism arose among the Marathas, the very first in the history of India. It was short-lived and actually turned more towards imperialism with the decline of the Mughals.
So, when Robert Clive arrived in Murshidabad in 1750’s, India was not like that we know now. It was fragmented on the lines of religion, language, caste and what else. The British were always thought to be meddlers from outside and they never could be woven into the social fabric. An uprising did occur in 1857 but in it personal interests played a more important role than the nationalist ones as is proved from the non-participation of Punjab, Scindia, Nizam among others. It cannot be altogether rejected as a sepoy mutiny but neither could it be called a war of INDIAN independence.
But the British did push us into the modern era albeit for their personal gains. The railways, telegraph, land & socio-economic reforms along with large scale industries would have taken a long time to come were it not for the British. But eventually, especially after the 1905 Bengal partition, nationalism arose in India in spite of all the differences nature could provide. And then came the day when we gained our freedom after lot of struggle and sacrifices.
But the India that we got after such a struggle comprised of 500 odd states excluding the British India. To add to our troubles was the reluctance of states like Nizam & Junagadh to join us as was the indecision on the part of Kashmir. But with the persistence and expertise of leaders like Sardar Patel, we were able to complete the union using both words and bullets as and where required. Eventually on 26th January 1950, India was declared a republic.
But these six decades have not been without turbulence and it all started few months after independence when our brother, the newly carved out Pakistan attacked Kashmir and ever since this is one problem we haven’t been able to solve even after three full-fledged wars and numerous pseudo wars. To compound to the problems there have been numerous religious and ethnic conflicts which have gained momentum after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. We have suffered from breach in confidence from China in 1962 that broke Panchasheel to attack us. Pakistan and Bangladesh (which was incidentally helped by us in gaining freedom in 1971) are known to harbour terrorists who have repeatedly tried to disrupt our socio-economic system time and again. Ethnic and political reasons in Nepal, Bangladesh and Srilanka have also compounded our problems by pouring in a lot of refugees.
But we have never yielded in these six decades and hope will not do anytime in the future. We have kept successfully kept our social fabric intact and have progressed economically so much that we are teemed as one of the potential superpowers in making.
Nowhere in this world will anyone find states divided linguistically. The cultural diversity in India along its length and breadth is non-existent even in the vastly big Russia spanning over two continents. The way we can bounce back even when pushed to the wall is just remarkable. A special mention in this regard should be done of the Mumbaikars, the valiant and energetic of the lot.
Even though we live in a kind of a furnace with unstable inflammatory countries outside and boiling states inside, we have been able to sustain development and create indigenous revolutions like the Food revolutions of the 1960’s and the economic ones of 1990’s.
We have been able to excel both in cultural and scientific front as well. People ranging from Sachin Tendulkar to Pt. Ravishankar , Satyajit Ray to J R D Tata, Homi Bhabha to Amitabh Bachchan are popular all over the world and have brought laurels to the country.
In spite of the differences, discrepancies, corruption (Transparency International regularly puts us in the 70s of their annual list), needless communalism & regionalism, illiteracy and poverty we have been voted as the happiest country in the world. Slowly and steadily we are approaching the pinnacle of success which our great leaders had aimed of. Its noteworthy to say that no other country which gained freedom in the previous century, with the exception of China, Singapore and few others, have not attained such success levels. While diversity has caused many nations to crash, we have gone from strengths to strengths and will do so in eons to come.
JAI HIND !!!
Gandhiji: As I Perceive
Disclaimer: The views about Gandhiji are all my own and has no influence from any man or woman, dead or alive. All views are based on my reading over the years and most recently that of his autobiography.
I have liked Gandhiji ever since I came across his contributions in my high school history books. Movies like Gandhi and Making of Mahatma also helped in making a picture of the great man in my mind. I always found Gandhiji relevant in modern times as well. And this was well proved for any non-believer by the success of the movie, “Lagey Raho Munnabhai” which escalated the popularity of Sanjay Dutt and coined the word GANDHIGIRI.
Well such was the situation when one of my friends gifted Gandhiji’s autobiography four-five months back. I didn’t get much chance to go beyond few chapters because of academic obligations. This may I had the fortune to visit the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad. The place again reconfirmed his greatness and I got back to the book as soon as I came back home. The speed ever increased after my NET examinations. Now I have finished four parts out of the five in the book.
The autobiography as we all know deals with his numerous experiments that led to salvation and truth. He had experimented with dietics, way of living and slowly and steadily had evolved into the man whom we adore and respect.
I do respect most of his experiments but I beg to differ with few of his experiments. I really don’t like the fact that he kept his sons and other youngsters in his South African and Indian ashrams devoid of any literary education. I realize that he wanted them to devote their life for the cause of the nation and the community. But I feel that it would have been better if they would have been educated because literary education does help in the matters in which he dealt with as was proved time and again by him and the other congress leaders. In this respect we could certainly mention Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who despite being oppressed in every step since childhood did successfully put the causes of his fellow brethren because of his education. So, an educated man in reality is a bigger asset than any educated man.
His experiments with nursing and dietics are well known. But in his South African days he used to prevail his ideas over others and they used to obey him out of respect and love. Sometimes this appears more as stubbornness on his part. This stubbornness has been visible even later in his life which seems not good for a man of his stature. His blind belief on British government was also not a good virtue.
But it is to the credit of the man that he so well amalgamated into the Indian society. He blended well and well-led the freedom struggle when the nation had become leaderless after the death of Gokhale. Let every nation be blessed with such sons of soil.
SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS:
I have always condemned and still condemn the way Gandhiji died. It’s our misfortune that a man who always put words over bullets was killed by bullets of people who clearly misunderstood him.
We have put him everywhere from currency notes to road corners but have brought disgrace by not giving him the due respect he commands. The statues are seldom respected and money is used for good and bad equally. At least the bad should think twice before doing something evil with the piece of paper having the greatest son of soil inscribed on it.
And lastly regarding the abuses that are being hurled on him time and again which was repeated again by a leader.
Is it not the duty of the common man to at least extract respect for Gandhiji and publicly condemn the leaders who do such heinous things?
I have liked Gandhiji ever since I came across his contributions in my high school history books. Movies like Gandhi and Making of Mahatma also helped in making a picture of the great man in my mind. I always found Gandhiji relevant in modern times as well. And this was well proved for any non-believer by the success of the movie, “Lagey Raho Munnabhai” which escalated the popularity of Sanjay Dutt and coined the word GANDHIGIRI.
Well such was the situation when one of my friends gifted Gandhiji’s autobiography four-five months back. I didn’t get much chance to go beyond few chapters because of academic obligations. This may I had the fortune to visit the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad. The place again reconfirmed his greatness and I got back to the book as soon as I came back home. The speed ever increased after my NET examinations. Now I have finished four parts out of the five in the book.
The autobiography as we all know deals with his numerous experiments that led to salvation and truth. He had experimented with dietics, way of living and slowly and steadily had evolved into the man whom we adore and respect.
I do respect most of his experiments but I beg to differ with few of his experiments. I really don’t like the fact that he kept his sons and other youngsters in his South African and Indian ashrams devoid of any literary education. I realize that he wanted them to devote their life for the cause of the nation and the community. But I feel that it would have been better if they would have been educated because literary education does help in the matters in which he dealt with as was proved time and again by him and the other congress leaders. In this respect we could certainly mention Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who despite being oppressed in every step since childhood did successfully put the causes of his fellow brethren because of his education. So, an educated man in reality is a bigger asset than any educated man.
His experiments with nursing and dietics are well known. But in his South African days he used to prevail his ideas over others and they used to obey him out of respect and love. Sometimes this appears more as stubbornness on his part. This stubbornness has been visible even later in his life which seems not good for a man of his stature. His blind belief on British government was also not a good virtue.
But it is to the credit of the man that he so well amalgamated into the Indian society. He blended well and well-led the freedom struggle when the nation had become leaderless after the death of Gokhale. Let every nation be blessed with such sons of soil.
SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS:
I have always condemned and still condemn the way Gandhiji died. It’s our misfortune that a man who always put words over bullets was killed by bullets of people who clearly misunderstood him.
We have put him everywhere from currency notes to road corners but have brought disgrace by not giving him the due respect he commands. The statues are seldom respected and money is used for good and bad equally. At least the bad should think twice before doing something evil with the piece of paper having the greatest son of soil inscribed on it.
And lastly regarding the abuses that are being hurled on him time and again which was repeated again by a leader.
Is it not the duty of the common man to at least extract respect for Gandhiji and publicly condemn the leaders who do such heinous things?
Sundays: Too Many
Ever since I gave my NET examinations on SUNDAY, June 21st, I have not encountered the other days of the week !!! {With the brief interlude of the 8 days (Sunday, July 12th to Sunday, July 19th) when I was in Pune}
I have a whole week full of only Sundays. It even doesn’t matter it’s in which week of which month. Dates and days have become meaningless in the kind of life I’m leading.
It’s not that, I didn’t like it in the beginning. I did and enjoyed myself to the hilt as I was enjoying such a period after almost two years of academics. But as is true with every other blessing, this monotonous life has just become a bane for me.
Idling around the house, doing nothing and just eating, sleeping and watching TV was extreme fun. As a matter of fact, I haven’t worn a trouser in the past one month (I don’t go out anywhere and hence I’ll be found only in my shorts) and this enterprising life has increased my weight by God knows how many kilos !!!
But the holidays can’t be said to be wasted altogether. I have started reading again and have finished Godan and am currently breezing through books on history, science and also going through Gandhiji’s autobiography. Also my knowledge of Bengali and Hindi cinema is increasing day by day. {On a No-Loadshedding weekend five to six movies is regularity. Weekdays are devoted to movies and the Saas-Bahu Dramas (courtesy Mummy)}
But still, DIL KI TAMANNA HAI KI KAHIN PANKH LAGAKE UD JAOUN. Let’s see when I can go out and do something to exercise my body as well as my brains. {With the advent of swine flu, it has become more difficult}
Let all barriers subside and this bird (lil’ overweight) can fly into the open skies to get back his lost six days !!!
I have a whole week full of only Sundays. It even doesn’t matter it’s in which week of which month. Dates and days have become meaningless in the kind of life I’m leading.
It’s not that, I didn’t like it in the beginning. I did and enjoyed myself to the hilt as I was enjoying such a period after almost two years of academics. But as is true with every other blessing, this monotonous life has just become a bane for me.
Idling around the house, doing nothing and just eating, sleeping and watching TV was extreme fun. As a matter of fact, I haven’t worn a trouser in the past one month (I don’t go out anywhere and hence I’ll be found only in my shorts) and this enterprising life has increased my weight by God knows how many kilos !!!
But the holidays can’t be said to be wasted altogether. I have started reading again and have finished Godan and am currently breezing through books on history, science and also going through Gandhiji’s autobiography. Also my knowledge of Bengali and Hindi cinema is increasing day by day. {On a No-Loadshedding weekend five to six movies is regularity. Weekdays are devoted to movies and the Saas-Bahu Dramas (courtesy Mummy)}
But still, DIL KI TAMANNA HAI KI KAHIN PANKH LAGAKE UD JAOUN. Let’s see when I can go out and do something to exercise my body as well as my brains. {With the advent of swine flu, it has become more difficult}
Let all barriers subside and this bird (lil’ overweight) can fly into the open skies to get back his lost six days !!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
(NOT) Reading: A Grave Issue In Modern India
Last day when I went to college, I faced a problem which has been staring at our faces for a long time. It’s the difficulty of students to converse and write in English easily. My teachers were discussing as how and where to start so that this problem could be solved. This gave me the idea to write this post. Hope I would be successful in putting some insight into the issue.
The biggest issue is the reluctance to read books. Leave alone the classics, kids now even don’t like to read the comics. They better like them on the television. Whenever you ask a teenager about his reluctance in reading, he will give you the excuse that after the course books not much time is left and moreover what good would it have in our careers. So, slowly and steadily they get away from the world of books. And the issue is not just with English but also with and their respective mother tongue. It is common in the Central Board schools where students actually neglect their mother tongue.
This has given rise to the trend of people in their graduation days going for English speaking and learning classes. I can understand that students from rural areas heading to these institutes but surprisingly we find more urban students there. If this problem continues, we would lose able statesmen as it’s the communication skills of an individual which shows his/her confidence. And moreover books open a new world of knowledge to us. We shouldn’t forget that education has been patronized in this country for time eternal. Our ancestors have written books full of wisdom and intelligence especially the Vedas and Puranas. Maybe these will be too tough to read but not so with Jataka tales, Ramayana and Mahabharata which come in versions suitable for reading in early teenage to the time you die old. I know many who regularly jumble the characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Actually, Mahabharata is the best dramatic story you can have. It has all the flavours you have in the society. Similarly we should also try to read classics from Dickens and Shakespeare, Keats, Shelly and Wordsworth. Close home read the regional writers. I think it’s not difficult to read Chetan Bhagat atleast!!!
All said but not much can be implemented if the parents and the teachers don’t pay heed to this issue. Reading and writing habits have to be imbibed on the students at an early age. If required, attach marks to it. It’s not wrong to give some incentive. If not by will but because of the greed for those extra marks, one will start it. And as my experience goes, reading is a big addiction. You just have to provide the first book and rest would be easy. Those who don’t read actually haven’t touched a book in their lifetime!
Excellent reading habits will always help an individual to become an all-rounder. He would be a complete human being. If it’s difficult for one to read a book because of his busy schedule, he should at least read the day’s newspaper fully. I believe if one makes it a rule to read the newspaper in the morning and read a chapter of a book before going to sleep, he/she wouldn’t require any coaching class to teach you the simple art of speaking. And if one can read and speak, writing wouldn’t be much difficult. And for reading good books you need not have a PhD! From time eternal, there have been people who in spite of their inadequacies have reached larger heights just by self-educating them. Emperor Akbar is one of the classic examples of what I have said in the last line. Closer R K Laxman is another example. So, we should take cue from these fellows and help ourselves to success.
Always remember whatever you are a vegetable vendor, a scientist or a politician how you communicate shows your inner depth. So, try to increase this depth as much as possible.
The biggest issue is the reluctance to read books. Leave alone the classics, kids now even don’t like to read the comics. They better like them on the television. Whenever you ask a teenager about his reluctance in reading, he will give you the excuse that after the course books not much time is left and moreover what good would it have in our careers. So, slowly and steadily they get away from the world of books. And the issue is not just with English but also with and their respective mother tongue. It is common in the Central Board schools where students actually neglect their mother tongue.
This has given rise to the trend of people in their graduation days going for English speaking and learning classes. I can understand that students from rural areas heading to these institutes but surprisingly we find more urban students there. If this problem continues, we would lose able statesmen as it’s the communication skills of an individual which shows his/her confidence. And moreover books open a new world of knowledge to us. We shouldn’t forget that education has been patronized in this country for time eternal. Our ancestors have written books full of wisdom and intelligence especially the Vedas and Puranas. Maybe these will be too tough to read but not so with Jataka tales, Ramayana and Mahabharata which come in versions suitable for reading in early teenage to the time you die old. I know many who regularly jumble the characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Actually, Mahabharata is the best dramatic story you can have. It has all the flavours you have in the society. Similarly we should also try to read classics from Dickens and Shakespeare, Keats, Shelly and Wordsworth. Close home read the regional writers. I think it’s not difficult to read Chetan Bhagat atleast!!!
All said but not much can be implemented if the parents and the teachers don’t pay heed to this issue. Reading and writing habits have to be imbibed on the students at an early age. If required, attach marks to it. It’s not wrong to give some incentive. If not by will but because of the greed for those extra marks, one will start it. And as my experience goes, reading is a big addiction. You just have to provide the first book and rest would be easy. Those who don’t read actually haven’t touched a book in their lifetime!
Excellent reading habits will always help an individual to become an all-rounder. He would be a complete human being. If it’s difficult for one to read a book because of his busy schedule, he should at least read the day’s newspaper fully. I believe if one makes it a rule to read the newspaper in the morning and read a chapter of a book before going to sleep, he/she wouldn’t require any coaching class to teach you the simple art of speaking. And if one can read and speak, writing wouldn’t be much difficult. And for reading good books you need not have a PhD! From time eternal, there have been people who in spite of their inadequacies have reached larger heights just by self-educating them. Emperor Akbar is one of the classic examples of what I have said in the last line. Closer R K Laxman is another example. So, we should take cue from these fellows and help ourselves to success.
Always remember whatever you are a vegetable vendor, a scientist or a politician how you communicate shows your inner depth. So, try to increase this depth as much as possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
