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...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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.
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