The Dawn
Posted by Shanky as Experience, Life, Parents, Suicide, Temple, dawn, die, elephant god, faith, people, rockfort, trichy
Here is a story that I conceptualised during college days. I wrote it only now, inspired by the above line.
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He was dejected. From any angle that he looked into his life, it was a failure. Personal, professional, everything. It has been haunting him for the past few months. His father’s angy scowls did not help much. Constant words of discouragement were hurting his soul. He wanted to relieve his soul from the pain. He wanted to get rid of this misery that he is undergoing. It was too much to bear for the 22 year old heart that has been pumping extra blood everytime he thought about his failures. He decided to rest. Not just his body but his entire soul. He resorted to “that” decision which makes head lines during public exam results. “That” decision which can stir legal debates of whether it is legal or not. “That” decision that we all better know as suicide. He decided the rock fort temple top. One last visit to the god on whom he had so much of faith. Who, he thought, to be the only resort and saviour. The one person who he always believed and looked upto. Then he will show his god what he has done to his devotee.
He took the bus from trichy central bus stand to chattram bus stand. Reflecting all along what has happened in his life that he is now dying to die. He was not a very bright student at school. Still everyone liked him. No teacher at school would tell that he was bad. Every one liked him, though they made fun of him, his actions, his marks. But they liked him as a human being. He joined a very mediocre engineering college. He graduated! Boy was he happy on that day! He smiled to himself reminiscently. Those were the best days of his wretched life. He waded through the even more wretched world. All was well till then. Just then, everything turned topsy turvy. The disturbances were sudden and big just like any other natural phenomenon. Got himself hooked to pan, alcohol… and you know the list. But still, deep inside he was the same. He was the same likeable boy next door with no frills.
The bus halted and the conductor broke his reverie. He got down and walked towards the ever busy streets of Main Gaurd gate. He has come here earlier as well. He was as happy as any one in that crowd. He loved this place and would rate it the best in the world. Everyone seem to be happy. From the kid with the ice cream to the lady with the big shoppers bag to the uncle with an empty purse. Some had something and were happy. Some had nothing and they were happy too. That is exactly why this was his refuge when he feels low. He used to come here hoping that at least a pinch of that happiness will forever be etched in him. Hoping that happiness will be transferred to his pocket like how mom transfers money to his account. Just like that! And it did happen one times too many, strenghthening his hope by the day.
But today was different. He had decided. Only the action remained. He knew, today too, he will not be let down by main gaurd gate. He will be happy forever. He will not be able to feel it. But he knew or rather he felt that which could not be felt will be there. He climbed the steps with the same enthusiasm and rigor with which he climbed them, racing against his sister, several years ago. He stopped. Caught some breath. Climbed. This continued till he reached his favourite spot, just behind where the elephant god was sitting. He leaned over the railing and thought “not yet”. he wanted to enjoy as much as he could. After all this is going to be his last day of his wretched life on this wretched earth with his wretched dad. he held his face to the gentle breeze. Stood over the railing and spread his arms like an eagle. Just then, he started thinking for the first time that day. Well, he started to think rationally for the first time that day.
He climbed down from the railing and stared at the ground below. The entire stretch of Trichy was in his view now. He felt excited. He was thinking about what others will be experiencing right at this moment. Right now! When he was going to end his life. At this moment when he is going to experience death. Pat came the reply from his mind. There is a would-be mother undergoing labour pain.There is a mother who has delivered. There is a mother crying for a mis-carriage. There is a baby born at Sea Horse hospital. A happy father is distributing sweets at the hospital. A father beaming with pride at the principal’s office for his child’s admission. A happy kid after he got the ice-cream he wanted. A contented father praising his son. A disgruntled father scolding his son. A teacher punishing his student. A student walking out of college. A job-treat at banana leaf. A booze-party at the hostel terrace. A couple at kallanai, finger-locked and heads together. A fisherman with his catch for the evening, returning home. Workers returning tired after a hard-day’s work. A marriage reception at Maya’s. A bride being sent off to her in-laws place. A painful accident near mukkombu. An ecstatic festival at srirangam and the list went on… He was astounded by all these experiences. What shocked him the most was that he has not even undergone 10% of what his mind listed right now. And he wanted to end his life pre-maturely!
He came to the entrance. Prayed to the elephant god. Had his favourite paneer soda at the shop near by. And galloped down like a proud race-winning stallion. Vowing to himself to to experience everything in life, to face every challenge, rejoice every moment and live life. To start with, he bought two biscuit packets. One for the begger at the temple and another for the begger’s dog. For some reason, he felt happy and he knew it was there.
Popularity: 2%
Monsoon Raaga!
Posted by as creative, humour, monsoon, mubai, people, places, rains
Well,the rains are here with the usual bang. Been a week of action.
“Please Dont be santhusht. Thoda aur wish karo”, thats what the rain-gods seemed to say as the skies opened up.And we have already got a trailer of what we’ll be seeing for the next 4 months. Same story though!
The showers come with pin-point accuracy every year something that the Met dept here is not noted for. And they have been a source of much-needed respite from the near unbearable drip-drop,sweaty and humid conditions that the city experienced during the summer.Mumbai’s murkiest, dirtiest, mushiest(pun so obvious),slushiest and perhaps its most romantic season is back.
I had my first drench on my way back from work. Felt nice. It felt so blissful, even after numerous rain-baths, year after year. Mom dint think so.
In most flood-prone areas here, stuff like ropes, boats, nets etc are kept handy days before,to face a possible flood situation ‘baywatch ishtyle’. Most people who reside at the lower floors of buildings in such areas vacate days before, to escape a watery grave. Ask even a 4th grader here which places would perenially be under water and he would rattle a dozen names,faster than his geography lessons.
The BMC is at the recieving end yet again for the slippery roads, pot-holed roads and roads under construction which are dug up exactly a day before the rains come. Perfect timing!
And the mother of them all: The American consulate sounded an advisory to all americans who are in mumabi or who plan to visit mumbai in this period. No, not a terrorist strike or blast scare.
It reads “When in mumbai,Beware of open manholes. Dont venture out too much.” Ok, agreed that each year the notoreity of the monsoons assumes dangerous proportions. But this is ridiculous man!! Hahahaha, travel advisory!
Hot tips:
In Mumbai everything goes down the drain, except for the rain water. True.Very true during the high tide.
.High tide + heavy rains = full-too flooding + you having to swim in flood waters.
High tide timings are important. Dont venture anywhere near the sea, unless you are serious about suicide.
.Open manholes. Walk in a chain, if you are a group. If one falls, the others are there to pull him/her. If the others fall, not your fault.
.If you cant form chains and you cant see ahead while wading through the water, then play ” Follow the leader.” If the person before you goes missing after some time, then choose a different path.
. For heavens’ sake keep yourself clean after coming home at least! Leptospirosis is now becoming a common word, although people can’t spell it. It’s caused by rat urine. Obviosuly, you cant stop the rat but you can care for yourself.
.Most importantly, keep off the Eastern Express highway as much as possible,especially the vikhroli-ghatkopar stretch (now nicknamed the ‘road to death’). The reason: 136 accidents in just 5 days. A certain chemical called ‘mast’ turned out to be in surplus while laying the road. Add to that the rains which made sure that the vehicles on the 10 km long stretch were in for a slippery, skiddy ballerina show.
.Try to minimise travel. (I know its its next to impossible)
. When stuck in a traffic jam, dont get too frustrated. The guy in the posh Honda Accord is also feeling the same pinch. See, the monsoon is a great leveller; it teaches you to be patient. (I know, by now you have made up your mind to kick me)
. People who own cars: Carry out pre-monsoon checks of batteries, tyres, maintenance of your car including wipers and top-up the fuel of your car during the monsoon
.Hammer is a handy tool: To break the glass on the driver’s window from the
middle/centre, in case of an auto-lock system failure if you are stuck in a car say for about 8-14 hrs.
.Thick long nylon rope at least 20 metres long with a hook to be kept in
the dicky.Just in case..
.Keep dry and non -perishable food items in a vacuum container in some quantity. Dry fruits are recommended for pet-pooja.
.In a disaster- like situation instead of trying to reach home,first reach the nearest acquaintance.
.Also, carry a whistle with you. Remember Kate Winslet in ‘Titanic’?
. Last but not the least, get a life. Stop cursing the BMC or the administration. You wont gain much by blaming other people. You are the one in charge of yourself.
Regards
Vishwesh
Popularity: 5%
Global Masala!
Posted by as cricket, cultures, globalization, humour, people
Not long ago many of us awoke to a terrible phenomenon that India was subject to. It was called brain-drain which cost our country something more than crores n crores of rupees - talent, good talent!! The craze to study in the elite IITs, IIMs and strike it big in “Amreeka” was first and foremost on evry youngsters’ mind. US visa, permanent citizenship,Silicon valley, masters, Harvard,Dow jones were the buzzmords. Then came the ‘LPG’ (Liberalisation,Privatisation,Globalisation) era. India opened up well and truly to the world. Many lamented that Inida was committing harakiri and would never come out of it. India caught a cold each time its big brother sneezed.
But the years to follow were something very unlike it. The India growth story finally unfolded. Bollywood overtook Hollywood. Tata took over corus, JLR. Jumbo vada-pav replaced burgers for a change. Indian fashion flooded international markets.NRIs gave up their high-paying jobs abroad and rushed to india. Bingo!4 of the top 10 billionaires were indians. Bangalore was the new silicon valley the IT heavyweights and chennai the new Detroit for global auto majors. The whole world had to stand up and take notice. Suddenely everyone vied for a share of the India pie.
What better example than the IPL T-20 tournament. The glitz, the glamour, the hype and excitement of IPL has by far overshadowed everything. One and half months later,The “Manoranjan ka baap” has beaten everything outright. Its fast, aggressive, power-packed and its there right before you, staring you in the face.
Shane Warne captains Jaipur. Shaun Pollock captained the mumbai indians. I bet,20 years ago, their “India” knowledge would have been just limited to the Taj Mahal or the poverty-stricken portrait of India featuring sadhus, fire-eaters and street jugglers. The very thought of “firangs” playing on our turf, representing different Indians cities would have just been laughed off as a figment of imagination, when Indians first took to the sport of the bat and the ball. Not that IPL has changed everything overnight, its just one of the many big things that has driven home the point. The colonial inventors of the game would be rolling in their graves if they were to witness the transormation the game has underwent a in terms of the shift of power,the way the game is played, the mooalah etc.
The Hyderabadis cheered when Symonds smashed sixes of hapless Indian bowlers(nothwithstanding his role in the racist ‘monkey’ controversy Down-under).The Kolkattans went beserk when Shoaib took out Sehwag with a thunderbolt. For that matter,shoaib in current form , wouldnt even dream of getting as much support from the whole of Pakistan as he got from the Eden garden crowds.
Well,just to give you an idea, consider this:
A Paki Batsman, An Australian at the non-striker’s end, a West Indian Bowler, A Sri-Lankan wickeetkeeper, a New Zealander as an umpire, sweating it out in a power-packed contest at Wankhede in tinseltown mumbai’s humidity. And what more proof does one need of steadfast globalization!! (Er..for your information, the cheer-girls in the opening ceremony were American and the ones who followed in the latter part of the tournament were British).
To me this is globalization at its best(est) form! Indian corporate houses and Bollywood celebrities pumped in billions saying that the game was a bit undervalued.Players were auctioned like horses and each of them had a price tag attached to him. Sponsors chipped in with their moolah. Television right were sold. Broadcaster all around the world had a field time. The crowds got their money’s worth. The cheerleaders had a ball . Money changed a million hands. It was no longer cricket. Infact it was branded and marketed as cricket-ainment. New talent was unearthed. Big names bit the dust, unheard names blasted their way to the top.
As they say,change is the only thing constant and its upon us to make it a good change or a bad one. Cricket, fortunately, has adopted changes better than other sports. Move over IPL, just look at ourselves. where are we heading?what have we done? what do we speak today? We are the ones who have successfully married the paneer with the pizza,made a schezwan dosa and mineral water paani-puri.We have the largest English-speaking population in the world. So what if we dont speak it the way the brits do ,adding our own dosage of peculiar Indian accent. The point is when a country of a billion people speaks a language a particular way or adopts changes steadfastly in its own way, the other dont have a choice but to fall in our path. It wont be long before people would be trained to speak ‘Indian english’.
That would be true globalization!!
Regards
Vishwesh
Popularity: 6%
The Rescue
Posted by Ankit as jokes, people
One day, three boys were walking over a bridge when they heard a guy yelling for help. It was President George Bush. He was drowning, and the three boys rescued him. He thanked them dearly and promised them whatever they wanted as a reward.
The first boy wanted $10,000, so Bush gave him the money. The second boy wanted a Ferrari, so Bush gave the boy a Ferrari.
The third boy wanted a wheelchair, Bush said, “Why do you want one of those, son, you’re not handicapped.”The boy replied, “I will be when my dad finds out whose life I saved.”
Popularity: 3%
well, ya really cracked it.
Posted by Ankit as Uncategorized, college, jlt, people
well, one of my very good friends made me realize the fact that there are people who might have really cracked it. So i am sorry if the post of mine hurts the sentiments of anyone who has read it. Guys(and gals), congrats.. you have done a really good job.. 
Popularity: 4%
cracked T*S?
Posted by Ankit as college, jlt, people
Every other day some one or the other, on orkut changes his/her name to blah blah cracked T*S. I always get amazed by seeing something like this and wonder whats wrong with these people? Getting a job in T*S is cracking some big thing, something like hitting a jackpot for these people? Guys, get a life. I am not saying its not a good company. Its one of the best in what it does. But then a company like this takes in like a million people every year.. You have not done anything unusual that u should say “cracked”. Actually u should be ashamed of yourself for not making to something better! Recently i heard it took some 280 odd people out of some 500 people from one of the N*T’s… Apart from that they take a hell lot of people from local colleges. There are cases where the placement record of some local college becomes 100% bcoz T*S came and took all the students from there be it from any branch! Now imagine, u did like so much of studying(sometimes in branches like civil, etc), hard work, away from family to be at par with those people. How will it feel? Anyway after belonging to an nit i guess you dont have a right to say i cracked it.
Anyway those who really did, congrats!
Popularity: 4%
HK.
Posted by Ankit as Personal, jlt, people
This one has been due for a long time now i guess. Thought of writing this a long time back but with so much stuff to do here just forgot. It has been great since i got here. First day at the office, first night roaming around here, first cricket game in long time, so many firsts i guess. The city is fantastic, and so is the new environment. The work culture is great and so are my team members. I have been catching up with a lot of reading up on capital markets and financial terms as of now since my knowledge in that field is NILL! Get up everyday early around 7:30, get ready, leave for office, get something for breakfast on the way, get amazed by something or the other everyday, and then get to reading, lunch around 12:30 with my seniors and then work till 7 until dinner comes, get my dinner and come back to hotel and relax, probably chat with people and then sleep. Well that has been my usual routine pretty much the same everyday except for those days when i get back late and go out somewhere for dinner. Pretty much enjoying you can say and somewhat getting used to all this. The corporate world is exciting, attractive and full of opportunities. Lets c where it takes me. Waiting for the actual work to start, i have seen the working, the kind of i ll get involved in and its really exciting. Hopefully by monday i will start doing something and till then i have a lot to catch up with.
ps: ignorance is a bliss??
Popularity: 3%
OBC Quota in Educational Institutes
Posted by Ankit as arbit, college, colleges, constitution, india, indian politics, obc quota, people, students
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the 27% OBC quota in higher educational institutions like IITs, IIMs and other central universities.For more information about the news read here.
According to the bench of judges the present suggestion on implementation of this 27% quota does not violate the basic structure of the constitution. But then has anyone ever thought whether the ratio of the actual population of the OBC’s to the quota justified? When was the last census stating the actual population of the OBC’s carried out. By the way does anyone know that “The list presented by the commission to the Central Government is dynamic (castes and communities can be added or removed) and will change from time to time depending on Social, Educational and Economic factors.” Source:Wikipedia
Mandal commission in 1980 submitted a report saying that OBC’s(inc Hindu and non-Hindu tribes) constitute around 50% of the population. However, this findings was criticized as based on “fictitious data”. The only official census about the OBC population was carried out in 1931. How can someone be so dumb that they can allocate the quota based on data from some report submitted 70 years back??
The case on this issue had been going on in Supreme court for a long time and a law had been made in this regards. But on 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, “Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness“.
But then now, today on April the 10th, 2008, Supreme Court again passed the verdict saying that the quota can be implemented as it does not violate the structure of the Constitution. What? By doing this the Indian Government is contradicting the Constitution itself which supports the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
How can you say each and every individual of our society is equal when you only are dividing everyone on the basis of caste. Just because he is from OBC he should get more preference. Have you ever thought what will be the effects of this?
Just imagine, a person who has passed some diploma course from some arbit college and to make it worse a person who just managed to pass meagerly in his graduation, getting a post of a lecturer in one of the IITs or IIMs since he belongs to OBC and there is a reservation of around 27% for OBC’s for the post.! What will happen to the quality of teaching.? Think about the future of the students studying in premier institutes like IITs, IIMs and NITs at least. Or actually you need not bother since half of the students themselves are going to be OBCs. So why take tension, right? Its just gonna get worse!
The most benefited people are going to be the children of MPs and MLAs. They need not bother about there future anymore. There fathers would get fake OBC certificates or actually do something and officially declare their caste to be an OBC and thats it. Done. Their future is secured. Do graduation somehow. And then come join politics and revive the future of the country.
Our preamble states that each citizen should be given EQUALITY of status and of opportunity but I dont think with the quota coming up, the citizens of the country will be provided with equal opportunities. I guess the time is not far away when the people not belonging to OBC, SC, ST, etc will require a quota to thrive for existence.
Anyway, the only thing we can do is wait and watch the show. Fight hard for existence. Best of luck for the future guys!
Read more about the population of OBCs in India here.
Read about Other Backward Classes here.
Read about the constitution of India here.
Popularity: 9%
Have come a long way
Posted by Ankit as Personal, arbit, college, jlt, people, time
For so long I have felt that
I have always been…
There were tough times, hard situations to face,
an option somewhere existed which could make you go back
But then you were scared to go back, because
You were afraid of what you would face.
This…is not what I am here to say.
Since the last few months being like this, until now
I have made many a mistakes, but somehow
convinced myself with facts that i have done none,
just to believe you force it.
…not what I am here to say again.
I have been in to many a situations, where
i was tried and tested.
Somehow I always shut the door of my mind,
This time its open, wide open
for an uncomfortable guest.
This Is what I am Here to Say
Like a sound from light, I realize,
It is that time
Which is still running,
Running away from me, from you and from us.
ps: The fest is over!
Popularity: 9%
Something So Simple
Posted by Ankit as Life, Personal, arbit, good morning, jlt, people
Sometimes very simple things can make a difference. Something so simple like a good morning message in the morning can make your day good. A flash of a message on your mobile screen can cheer you up, make you feel special, its so different from rest of the feelings and you just cant explain it how exactly it feels like. But then it just feels different and special!
ps: Its weird and different!
Popularity: 7%
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