TRiCaL 'DuRBaR'

Dear diary,
         What you are looking at happens to be the Trical 2nd year 'Durbar' in progress. Like in every Durbar, we have problems to discuss, a king to pass judgements, minister(s) to advice him and sometimes mock him, representatives among the 'Janta' from various groups and Of Course the vast majority 'Aam Janta'. The central figure in the photo, the one delivering the 'Pravachan'- There wasn't even a bomb drop silence in the crowd- happens to be Mr. Pallav aka. Pallu, taking the role of the king in this drama called Durbar. The kingship wasn't bestowed upon Pallav by his predecessors ; Owing to the CR mishap last year, the branch was left without a right leader to lead the branch and Pallav with every quality of a to-be-Neta happened to be the best bet for the post. And the bulky figure to his side happens to be his right hand ( left hand, I guess, he happens  to be standing to his left); Amandeep aka. Sardar.
        Coming to yesterday; It wasn't much of a discussion, it was a disclosure mostly; Pallav and his team were disclosing the details of the freshers; location , food, booze and stuff. The call for the Durbar starts with the king's men going room to room informing the Janta about  the meeting " Oye meeting ho rahi hai, bahar aa jao". The crowd slowly starts moving towards the location; some halfway through the movie, some forcibly woken from sleep, some starting to initiate a process called studying; All of them cursing the kingsmen under their breath.
         The Durbar finally started off with the Janta trying its best to disturb the proceedings. Amid chaos and confusion, Pallav tries to put forward his point, sometimes trying to hush the audience; mostly in vain, which turns out to be a reason for the sneers and giggles that follow. But against all odds, amidst comments( mostly personal), he raises his voice, takes the pretence of an 'angry young man', reveals the details of the fresher;  with enthusiastic leaders from every group trying to put in their point and hence their dominance in their group.
         Whatever, Durbars like these are fun, a general get together- In this busy 2nd year life, people from different groups rarely have fun together) and are never productive; A consensus is rarely reached.


Bye.

TRue DiViNiTY

Dear diary,
         Today I made a visit to the VT( The BHU one) after quite a long gap; a month and a half, I guess. This time the visit was, partly out of devotion, but mostly out of sheer necessity ; It is one of those times when you are in a foul mood( mostly for no reason and my pointers, they have succeeded in aggravating my foul mood), that you decide to go to God's abode to find solace. ( Sorry God, I might be sounding materialistic but there is nothing I can hide from you).
        So, well, I  went to the VT. There was this one sight that really moved me. He was a popular figure there for he had been performing there from quite a long time. Well the local gazal singer was the one who moved me. He was like any other singer, only he was blind. I've seen him perform once or twice before but this time I was quite observant. The pleasant smile, the serene look on his face made me want to go sit there for a minute. There was no audience to his performance there was only me, Patidar and some old chap siting beside him watching him play; People going about only offered him a glance and went on with their making wishes to God. He wasn't aware of our presence, any amount of audience wouldn't have made any difference to his divinity.
         Here was a man who, inspite of his disabilities was offering himself wholly to God, with no intention of fame or the many other things that artists receive, and look at me, perfect in shape but still fretting and accusing God of injustice for the pointers I received. Now it was my pointers that was the reason of accusation, at other times it was about my being a mediocre and not a Rockstar( which was needed en route to fame and fame means a lot at IT-BHU) or my not being in some other famed IIT, there were reasons galore. Now here was something I could learn from this man. There was no big reason for happiness. You can  be happy only if you are whole. I wouldn't talk of spiritual blabber like detachment from self or losing interest in material happiness, but this much I've realized:
  ' You can be happy only if you are content'
     Now being content wouldn't mean being in the same petty state, not wanting to change and cheating yourself to believe you're content but would mean  staying whole inspite of the ups and downs you encounter in this voyage called life.  
    Once again I've realized that life is the best classroom for me to learn things.


Bye.

PoST eLeCToRaL ReSuLTS: THRouGH MY eYeS

Dear diary,
          The results are out. The fate of the 5 states (atleast for the next 5 years) that were restless for the past 2 months (on account of elections) is out. Celebrations for some, dilemma and introspection, as to what went wrong, for others.
            Let me tell you what the first thing I did yesterday. Finished my daily chores,and then went online to check the live counting of votes in UP; one of the 5 states that was into polls that interest me coz I partly stay there. Not that I'm an active follower of politics or something but to forcibly make myself take an interest in the running of the country.
             The results did not startle me. Neither did they surprise me. They weren't my exam results to make an emotional impact on me.  Right then, SP was leading with 196 seats with 202 needed for clear majority. The exit polls predicted almost the same result. So, No surprises there. Prior to the exit polls, I always thought Mayawati had a vote bank large enough to be able to clinch the CM post once again. And why had I thought this way? 
             True, in her 5 year tenure, she was apathetic to the plight of the state, making sure it was in the same state as, when it was handed to her; The only change I've noticed in Benares in my 2 years of stay was the completion of the flyover near DLW( And the work happened to start  3 years prior to my coming here. 5 years for a small sized flyover. Now that's progress.) . Otherwise, the city lies in its own state of neglect. She did have time, though , for the tons and tons of artefacts of elephants( Other than being her party symbol, I see her being particularly drawn towards these creatures), of herself; Now this is weird. I always thought statues were made of people' Jo shaheed ho gaye'. But why she fancied to see herself in stone and in such large numbers  when she is such fine health( I mean she has no fear that she might die in the near future, like Karunanidhi, maybe.), God knows. But people still developed a liking towards her, fondly calling her Behenji. That she would come to power was what I've heard from many people in Benares. Hence my expectation.  
           Now, Rahul Gandhi; How has his charishma failed to deliver for the congress? I'm no political analyst. Let me put this straight. He failed to realize that people weren't that naive to be able not to see the difference between a prince constantly eating in Dalit's homes to give the world the pretence of a good caring ruler and a real ruler who sees to it that no Dalit goes to bed hungry; with only water to satisfy his hunger.
           All the newspapers today have been shouting this : Congress losing its grip in many parts of the country. Other the landslide victory in Manipur, there was nothing positive that Congress could take out of this. Maybe the 2G & the CWG scams has got us thinking:' Do we have no alternative to the most corrupt, money thirsty UPA Sarkar that is, Of Course the  largest single unit in the country.' That is for the 2014 elections to decide.
        Will the SP solve all the problems in UP and make it one of the competent states in the country. That, I can't say. I'm not from this part of the country, So making vague guesses would be gross. But, for now, we can only hope that the power transfer in UP & Punjab brings about real development in the next 5 years....


Bye.

X BoaRD eXaMS: MeMoRieS.

Dear diary,

                   4 years ago, on this day, my X class Board exams got off to a grand start, with Social being the first exam. I still remember how nervous I was; Whatwith 5 textbooks and tons of syllabus and my disinterest in Social (only Economics interested me), I was prepared for a disaster. However, the exam later turned out to be an easy one ( all of them were and still continue to be) and I managed a 92.
                 Yesterday when I'd gone to drop Akhil at the examination venue ( my brother has his X Board exams starting from yesterday), I've noticed that things haven't changed one bit. Anxious students; With signs of fresh sindhur on their foreheads, smiles on their faces, not completely natural but partly due to nervousness, the last minute discussions. Anxious parents; giving last minute advices to their kids, wishing them good luck, assurances that God is always with us. The scene on the whole would resemble this: Ambitious kings and queens sending their little princes to the battlefield; to fight a three hour war which when conquered would define their entry into manhood( A X pass student would be considered a man, I guess).
              It's funny how 4 years can change your position in the battlefield. As I was watching all this melancholy happen, I was actually looking for myself in the crowd; how 4 years ago, I was the one who had to take the test, how fastly time has flown; Ironically, time doesn't appear to flow faster while it is actually flowing, it is only after time has passed that we realize that time had flown faster, and my yearning to go back into the school days was there once again. It isn't that I'm not happy with time right now, it is only that schooldays were more fun, less of responsibilities, more of expecations about the future; it is easier to expect than to actually go into the future and live in it.
         Sadly though, I can only drop him only on one of his exams( Akhil has his next exam on the 16th and I'd be off to Benares on 12th). 
         Why haven't I written to you these 10 days? No reason in particular. My stomach has been venting its anger on me for having dumped incongruous stuff into it, thanks to my mess there. My liver has got infected with bacteria, so my doc says. Whatever, wish me a speedy recovery.


Bye.

PRe eXaM aNaLYSiS

Dear diary,
        It all starts two days (or is it one) before the Exam. In our otherwise peaceful and happy life here, exams are to us what storms are to a sailor; they make his voyage tough, the sailor battles his ship through the storm and what emerges after the storm is a sailor, stronger at heart, tougher in spirit and with the memories of an eventful voyage.  So, the D-day arrives, which demands actual preparation,not the combined study, which is done the whole one week prior to the exam, which eventually turns into a discussion about girls and stuff that interests us.
      So, we start the preparation. Like the caveman's search for food, our search for knowledge begins:
1. Procurement: The first step involves the procurement of raw material ie. notes. People who were hitherto considered as nerds, book worms, suddenly start gaining importance. People flock their rooms asking them, No, requesting them, for their notes so that they can have it xeroxed. Like a not-too-pretty girl suddenly receiving attention, they realize that it's their time and start doing the inevitable: show attitude. After a lot of persuading, you manage to get your hands on the notes and Eureka!!! Off to the Xerox shop.


2.Filtering: With the raw material ready, you would filter the useless stuff and now are left only with the stuff that'll earn you marks( None of us wants to do any sort of research, right!!)


3.Reading( equivalent to cooking for a caveman): With the raw material sorted out, we get started. This is the toughest part; it is going to be tough when you have very little knowledge of what you're actually doing. Starting from the base, then the concept, then the problems, you would realize that you've made a mistake by starting way too late and then the resolutions. You would say to yourself that from the next time on, you would start off early( Strangely though, this rarely happens). While some panic and black out with the excuse of a 'Defaulter', others struggle; struggle to make sense of the maze right in front of their eyes.


4.Digestion: Now is the time to see if your effort does pay off; if you can manage to pull this off. Rather, if you can digest the stuff you've read. While 'Muggus' have a happy time mugging things, others, in search of true knowledge, run helter-skelter in search of a Guru. Gurus need not necessarily be nerds, but are those who manage to get a deeper insight into the subjects, either through self realization or through nerds.
        
      And then the battlefield: The Examination centre. 
     I think I need to get going. I've got an exam tomorrow; Thanks to my roomie, I can directly start off from step 3.


 Bye.

i (We) aM (aRE) SiNGLE

Note: All throughout I would be using the word 'We' and not I coz here I'm going to tell you what, not me alone, but a major section of the youth thinks about being single.

Dear diary,

With Valentine's Day round the corner, We all say this together," Man!!! Look at us. Another Valentine's Day's gonna go by and we would still remain single". But atleast experience has taught us this: Having a girlfriend is like a villager owning a BMW Car. He has to handle the car with care; bumpy roads, ditches all throughout, and one little damage and it would cost him a fortune to get it repaired. The rest of the village( We single guys) who well know they could never in their lifetime own such a beauty, say in unison," Oooh!!! Look at her. What a beauty!!! How I wish she could be mine one day." The villager then deems himself the hero of the town but at same time starts worrying," kahi kisi aur ki nazar na lag jaye meri wali pe". So the villager starts taking extra of his BMW; showering all his love on her and his money; The BMW, Of Course cannot mint money of her own. In the end the episode leaves the villager frustrated, restless, anxious and any one of the two can happen to him: One, he would spend his life in anxiety, fear that that his BMW might get stolen. Two, if he were a sensible fellow, he would sell the BMW to someone else and lead a happy life using either taxis or public transport for his travelling!!!!!!"

So, saying so We slip hands into each others shoulders and sing aloud:

Yeh dosti koi ladki nahi todegi,

Chhodenge relationship magar,

Tera saath na Chhodenge.

                  Yes, we are those who laugh at a boy trying to convince his girlfriend, talking hours on end, saying," Man!!! look at him. He has ruined his life" but at the same time , deep down we have this feeling: ' When am I going to meet the girl of my dreams'. It isn't that we're gay or something neither are we Calcigeinophobic( fear of beautiful girls). Agreed we're no Tom Hanks to be expecting a super hot girl as our g.f. Agreed we're no Rockstars; We're not cool singers, neither are we dancers (which means no chance of dancing hand in hand with a girl), summed up: We're not famous. Still we're smart, all the same, And most importantly, are happy.But we have this one thing: Relationship -o- phobia. Afraid that relationships might change us, might decrease our degree of freedom, might alienate us from our friends. Also, this is India. Relationships are not easily accepted at home. We have large barriers( based on religion, caste and what not). We're afraid that we might not be able to make a 'Two States' out of our lives. It is these fears, with no base, that leave us single on Valentine's Day.

             Now the brighter side. There are facilities which we single guys enjoy exclusively. We see a guy going out with gals and shout aloud," B******d, look at him. Saala yaha pe to ek bhi nahi mil rahi hai. Do do ke saath jaa raha hai." And saying so, we laugh, laugh at our own fate and enjoy. Believe me, We are the ones having more real fun than the guy with two gals. We tease girls, talk about them, obscene stuff, of course and most importantly, we fantasize, about the girl of our life. How she would look, where she is right now and Man! Is she not perfect in our dreams. The commited guys can't actually do this. They're stuck to the same girl.

            Summing up, we would say this," As long as we're single, we shout this aloud,' Stay Single, Be Happy' and we're single not because fate has decided us to be but because we have chosen to be.

            Anyways, Happy Valentines Day in advance.

P.S. 1.  After you finish reading this, make sure you ask god my to bring our 'being single streak' to an end.
      2. The 'summing up' sentence was only written to show off attitude. But, No, We don't have attitude for the fact that We're single.


Bye.

IT To IIT

Dear Diary,
       The 'IT to IIT' Protest that is to be held tomorrow tells one very important thing: hum log haar nahi maanne wale hai. Agreed, the stakes are not pretty high that this event might actually stimulate the lousy politicians who are putting up a real good show out there in the Parliament; seeing to it that the bill would not come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. But the message is clear: We would fight till the end for the conversion, even harder, maybe, so that the thick skinned politicians might actually take us seriously. If not us, we would want the future IT BHU generation( I guess that would be the IIT BHU generation by then) to enjoy the benefits.
       IT has always been that neglected child who craved for his mother's attention, and that he got by throwing regular fits of tantrum. Starting from 1971; the time from when the selection here was made through the IIT-JEE, protests were held, 'Dilli Chalo' Andolans performed, assurances given by the politicians, all this for the IIT status; for the much needed 'IIT Standard facilities' and the respect( that the other IITians get) that the IT janta craves for and very much deserves.
       The student participation in these protests had always been high, clearly showing the unity and power that the student community here has. But is the adrenaline gush,that the IT Janta here possesses, enough? Yes wouldn't be the answer. The cheap tricks played by the politicians and the BHU administration had stopped this from happening for the past 40 years. But there has been development.With the bill passed in the Lok Sabha, we're only one step closer from getting the bill passed. Will the bill be passed for the common good or will it be kept hung in balance like the 'Women Reservation Bill In The Parliament', God knows. Rather, politicians know.
     Guess we'll have to wait with our fingers crossed.


Bye.