TRaiN HiJaCK ePiSoDe

Dear diary,
    A lot has happened over the last 10 days that it has become a bit difficult for my mind to delve deep into my memory to retrieve my tour memories. What with one big event- I'd say a catastrophe- following another with very little time gap, it became incomprehensible for the mind to digest the first one and accept the next. Giving you the entire details our eventful and not so joyous yet memorable tour would need reams or paper, so I'd tell you about the incidents the memories of which the Trical'14 batch would cherish in the years to come.

16th december 2012     THE TRAIN HIJACK
         The tour started on a high note amidst shouts of 'Har Har Mahadev' and the two buses left the Rajputana hostel, the fog having reduced the visibility to zero. Having reached Mughal Sarai and with nearly 4 hours of time left to idle- it later went on to six, the train owing to the thin visibility was delayed by 2 hours. And thus Anthaaksahris and Dumb shows- mini flash mobs in their own like, attracting the attention of on-lookers and thus a time pass for them as well.
        And the sleep deprivation started to wear on us. The wait became more intense and with the announcement of the arrival of our train, we woke up from the slumber and collected our belongings to wait for the train. The hazy image of the advancing train brought relief onto our faces and the wait to a comforting sleep ahead was over.Little did we know that there was something very wrong with the train.
        We were to witness our first train hijack(Ever heard of one)- one that was to show the Bihari might, their unity in considering public property to be their very own, one that Lalu had bestowed upon them years ago when he became the Railway Minister.As the puffing engine slowly swept past us the coaches that followed gave us the fright of our life. They were fully packed with people- no less than 300 of them were stuffed in each coach. The initial reaction was one of shock, disbelief at what we saw and hope that the reserved coaches would empty at Mughal Sarai and that we'd get into our compartments as usual.The train came to a halt and nothing happened. All the coaches were bolted from inside giving us no chance to even get ourselves inside. And there we were staring at our compartments, not knowing what to do, completely awoken from the slumber we were in.
         Soon panic started. The doors of S7 and S13 were furiously banged, abuses hurled at the passengers for not vacating. Nothing would budge them, it was as if we were trying to trespass their property. Finally, when the doors did get open, hardly a student could get inside. Getting in was not the option, that much was clear, The compartments had to be cleared before we could get into them. The police were playing hide and seek with us worried that we might ask them for help when they were as much helpless as we were.Tension increased as people ran helter skelter asking for instructions.New leaders erupted passing orders from Sirs, telling us not to panic. Slogans soon started 'kahi nahi jaaegi ye train'. We had Santosh and a few others inside the train pulling the chain everytime the train tried to budge.
            On the other side some of our friends(Ajay Bhaiya,Ajeet, Mufeed, Sardar and others) with the help of the police force have managed to empty S13. Just when success was within reach and we were almost getting in, plans turned upside down. The Biharis had threatened us that they would set the coach on fire. Knowing very well the intentions of the mob, we alighted the train and in front of our own eyes the tour got cancelled before it even began.
          And so we retreated, the sullen look on our faces said it all. As a last attempt- Pallav and the core team took charge of this one- we staged a demonstration asking for justice. Media was roped in and with the DRM intervening, the station master caved in. He promised us that our train would be waiting for us at Naini and that we should reach there by the Anand Vihar train. So thanx to the core team, we managed to reignite the hopes of our tour that were long extinguished.

   Ironically the mob from Patna was heading to Allahabad to appear for the Railways recrution exam. When the Railways should've provided them with an extra train, it didn't and the people had to take this unruly step. The people couldn't be wronged either; Such is their need. Still, to give us a sense of last triumph, they couldn't manage to give their exam which was scheduled at 11 am as the train dropped them at Allahabad at 12pm.

                                                                                                            (to be continued)

THeFT: THRouGH THe eYeS oF THe BuRGLaR

                                                                                                                         3:50 am, 18th October. 
                                                                                                             Some place close to Allahabad
                                                                         
                The moving train came to a halt; Exactly at where I had anticipated. I alighted from  the puffed general compartment breathing fresh air for the first time in 2 hours.There was pitch darkness all around. Not a sound could be heard or a living being felt outside the compartment. You wouldn't find people loitering outside the trains at these ghostly hours. Save the twinkling of lights on the distant highway or the faint murmur of the horns, there was nothing else discernible in the vicinity. Perfect setting for my mission. It was always the outskirts of Allahabad that had been my favourite spot. I started walking towards the sleeper compartments making sure that my movement hasn't attracted my co-passengers attention. The stench of urine and fresh dung was wafting through the air as I made my way past another general compartment. When will I be liberated from this stench? The time is not far, my friend, came a reassuring voice from within. I had seen many kids board the train from Benaras with these flashy bags clung to their shoulders. These bags always had laptops, my friends told me. One prize catch and a 50,000 to the agent and off I'd go to Bombay with the job.
              With these thoughts in mind, I came to a halt at the A.C. compartments, the coach has an abrupt ending unlike the other connected coaches, clearly demarcating the rich- poor divide. The A.C. compartments were never worth a try.They were always locked and were under constant vigilance.So I hastily made my way across- I had to hurry. It would only be a matter of time before the train would make its way to the Allahabad station- thus reaching S1. I tried the latch and Lo and Behold, it was open. I opened the door slyly, boarded the train, closing the door after me not making a sound in the process.I checked to see if my entry provoked anyone and was happy to see that not a soul stirred. I stealthily made my way across the compartment, my eyes searching for the catch.I can't risk pulling the bags from underneath the seats. My search was limited to the luggage people had along with them on their berths; the untethered ones. As I was nearing the exit, the guy on the middle berth stirred my excitement. He had two bags along with him- Both the flashy laptop bags, I guess- one pressed against his waist and the wall, the other fully exposed bag just grazed his thighs and was fully resting onto the wall. How foolish can people get? Maybe he was one of those guys who believed in the' Nothing would happen to me or to my belongings' theory. I'm about to prove you wrong, mate. With my heart thumping against my chest, I slowly grabbed the bag, lifted it and pulled it towards me in a perfect arc. Phew!! He hasn't even stirred. Phase I has been perfect. I checked the contents to make sure it had a laptop and there it was. Now for the escape. Making sure that there was no police around, I stealthily opened the door, made a leap onto the ground and went for the run. I ran across the fields to reach the highway my eyes gleaming with pleasure.
                               Through the eyes of the victim:
          The T.C. was banging against the berth asking me for the ticket. That broke my sleep and it was only a while later I realized I was in the train travelling home and not in my room. I woke Koti up asking him for the ticket. It was then that two things struck me. One, the train was standing at the Allahabad station. Two, there was only one bag to my right on the berth. First,I thought it was my eyes pranking me. Then I thought it was one of my friends playing pranks with me. I frantically checked for my bag on all the berths of my cubicle only to be met with failure. I started panicking, I woke up all my friends and teaming with them I started scoring the platform for the thief knowing very well that my efforts would be anything but futile. I met the T.C. who advised me to lodge a complaint with the railway police and R.P.F on their behalf enlightened me by saying that the theft must've occured on the outskirts of Allahabad and that wasn't under their jurisdiction and that I had to either lodge a complaint with the Benaras or with the Vijayawada police. Thanks to their nonchalance, I had to board the train that had eventually started running with even registering a complaint.  I was completely broke and it was my dad's reassurance that brought me back to my normal self.   Came back home, lodged an F.I.R here. That was only as a formality, what's lost has been lost and can never be replaced.

P.S.  Guys, It can be really disheartening to let your things be robbed by bastards like these. Not that you don't know, but still. Make sure you chain lock all your belongings underneath the seat and for those you have along with you on your berth, make sure you either chain lock them as well or are in a position that even a tiny twinge would awaken you. Hold your beloved ones and things tight, both literally and metaphorically.

eXPiRY DaTe

Dear diary,
            Everything in this world comes with an expiry date; from commodities to human form, everything withers away some day or the other. So does my tendency to stay away from home; so to say, at IIT BHU. Manufacturing settings of my brain have set the expiry date at around two months. Implying that during the first two months of my staying away from home, my brain functions normally. Once the expiry date is reached, symptoms of home sickness start surfacing one after the other. The only remedy to this queer condition of mind would be to go back home, get rejuvenated and set the counter in my brain back to zero.
            With the expiry date long reached- I left Vijayawada on the 16th of July- so that's 20 days past my 2 months barrier, the symptoms have already started surfacing. Like in SWADES, images pertaining to my home start popping up in my mind. Thus begins a virtual slide of photos; photos of my home, my parents, my friends, the 'Addas' we have, literally everything of fondness in Vijayawada finds its entry into the slide show. Home obsessed guys like me have a really hard time now, more so if you're 30 hours away. You would start losing interest in the worldly things- Not that your life would turn morose or something but the pang of being away from home evident all the same- things that were hitherto fun would become disinteresting; the disinterest discernible from the inadvertently long stares into infinity and thoughts ending at nothing.
           Strangely though, none of what I've told you before seems to happen during the first two months-Of course instances like the happening of CT's or your famished soul staring at the 'Mess ka Khana' would bring back the yearning to go back home. The fast approaching 
CT's only make the yearning more, thus increasing the frequency of slide shows and the number of times I call home-Listening to the voices of my parents and friends gives me solace. Now Is there a cure to this state of mind? The only respite from this feeling would be to launch yourself into a busy life not giving your mind the time to realize the distance. And the more elegant solution, to make the place where you stay your home. Some of my friends have managed to achieve this but for a guy like who has spent the first 17 years of his life at the very same place, whose childhood memories happen to be hidden in  every nook and corner of my city - a part of my soul still lingers there taking pleasure from them, detachment from home would always be painful and no amount of fun, however lively the life    
I lead here would compensate for the distance in heart. 
           I can only find solace in waiting for the day when I'd be leaving to home and meanwhile, I'll pretend as though of detachment doesn't exist, living my life here to the fullest-One and a half year, not much of a time left here, I guess.


Bye.

a 'ReCoRD BReaKiNG' BDC

Dear diary,
             The Blood Donation Camp that KU organized was a real hit with a record 494 units of blood collected on a single day.True, this would be stale news for you. The newspapers had already done the revelation a week before. So over enthusiastic I was in donating blood that inspite of my being completely exhausted from the day's work, weak from the rough week I had earlier, I donated blood. And the result was obvious. MY body succumbed to the double loss of health and blood; a bout of viral fever. It took me 3 days to be able to walk the length between my room and mess.This coupled with a series of other preoccupations left with me no time to tell you this.
          Going back to what happened last week.This Sunday, unlike other Sundays, the sun had risen pretty early for me, at 5:45 and work started at 6; the work of readying the common room for the 'BDC'. It was fun; All of us KU guys getting together to work. Work seems fun when like-minded people do it together; Better still when what you're doing isn't for your own self, when you're not being paid, when you're doing it to experience 'The Joy Of Giving' without expecting nothing in return.
             Today was the one day when the KU people get the pomp and glamour that they're hitherto denied; Of course you gain importance when you're entitled the responsibility of getting  blood donated from a pretty girl, from taking her to the alloted bed to giving her the supplements after the donation to making sure she is fit to go back home. This also attracted the envy of the Non-KU guys as they tried their best to linger around in the common room but were ultimately shooed away. Today was the day when KUites weren't perceived as just 'They have nothing to do at IIT BHU Yaar. Left with nothing else to do, they turn towards KU.'There was no room for cynics to say,' They joined KU for money Yaar. Where do you think our monthly 20 goes? Into their parties, Aur kaha?' They couldn't blurt that out today. Heights of cynicism. Instead of the praises that KUites deserve, they hurl allegations at us. To hell with these cynics, KU would continue to do what is destined to do.
          Coming back to the BDC. The smooth flow of traffic started at 8 in the morning with the number of students reaching a peak from 11-12. It was good to see that more number of girls had given blood from the previous year's comparision. Their presence added glamour to the event. The boys flocked in large numbers too and Yes they added glamour as well. Marred by a few instances of 'people losing their senses after the donation'- the one where the guy started kicking his legs really shook the scene- the rest of the proceedings went on smoothly.
         The event came to close on a high note when momentos were presnted to the 'Sunderlal team'- They had to devote a complete day for a noble cause. Then we got together for the KU group photo- This ritual usually marks the end of every big event in KU.
        Had a pleasant time today. Am really glad to be a part of KU.


Bye.
       

PHeW!! oVeR aT LaST

Dear diary,
          The last week had been really sluggish; Time seemed to be crawling at snail's pace- time dilation occurs under two circumstances: One, when you travel at speeds close to the speed of light, as Einstein earlier contemplated and the second, psychological dilation of time occurs when you're stuck in unpleasant circumstances. What unpleasant had been happening to me? Of course, it's the CT's that had been playing havoc with my life and threw my life into turmoil. Stuck in the vortex of trying to complete the syllabus and the urge to try to comprehend what is being read, the CT experience hadn't been altogether pleasant. 
        The advent of CT's sparks off some noticable changes amongst our lives here. You wouldn't see people doing unproductive work-not completely atleast- discussions erupt-not on girls or any other damn thing, but on the dull inanimate things being discussed in the books. Geeks attain utmost priority, you would see more number of people loitering near their 'Abode of Knowledge' trying to gain every ounce of knowledge that would fly past their room. Some of the least expected ones end up in their rooms asking them to throw light on the 'dark matter' shoved into their hands by their Profs.
     Walking through the CT's was for me, like being stranded in a desert with the only vista being the Oasis strewn with rich palm trees- the end of CT's in my context. The distant vista seems to be beckoning you but you know you'll have to bust your ass to make it there.What with the Oasis reached - the icing on the cake being the BSC Sir's test today. This was a one of a kind test, a student's paradise, where the only talent to score marks would be to be able to crane your neck to look into your neighbour's paper who is sitting close enough that your shoulders almost touch, without being caught.
       Now that things are back to normal, that other adversity that has been fogged by the CT's would come into light- Job crisis. Data structures and the C programming find their way into every household. The 'Word Power' and the GRE guys cry ' Hail Norman Lewis' in unison; the IAS guys would snuggle into their books of 'God knows what'.What with the crisis getting deeper and deeper there seems to be less of Bakchodi and more of the useful stuff going around. Let me leave it here and hope that peace prevails until the advent of the next CT.

Bye.

"iNDePeNDeNCe": HoW We ReaLiZe iT?

       Come 15th August and the patriotic fervour sets in on the Indian crowd. With loud speakers blaring patriotic songs, songs that proclaim India's rich cultural heritage, the Unity in diversity, songs that describe the heroic acts of our freedom fighters and the agony they had to go through to bring India the much acclaimed Independence from the colonial rule; With the  national flag being hoisted in every Gali, the national anthem being sung at every gathering, the feeling of Indianness gets escalated that results in the electric sensation running down the spine saying: 'I'm proud to be an Indian'. With the young India taking to the streets holding flags, rising their voices in unison for the 'Vande Mataram' and the 'Inquilab  Zindabad' hope rises in the Indian hearts that we've got a glorious future ahead.
       It is only a matter of time when this fleeting sensation of patriotism withers away and we start being our normal cynical self, accusing India of not being able to live upto the dreams of its freedom fighters, resorting to the cliched phrase:' 65 years on Independence and look at where we stand. The same dire state of destitution, politicians bred in corruption, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer theory and then we say in mock despair:'Kuch nahi ho sakta is desh ka'.
    And saying so we turn towards the USA or any other assumed Utopian country for comfort.The sort of dominance and the hold that the West has on the world and India in particular infuriates us but left with no other choice, we resort to aping the West. Imperialism has discarded its earlier image of colonization, it now means dominance, having a very loud say in the country's internal affairs. So India and Indians have been reduced to mere puppets in the hands of the West; And so we have more T-shirts shouting 'I love NY' than those that even talk about India, Hard Rock has crept deeper into our minds the melody that swayed India. English has become an inseparable component in our lives leaving us with no other option than to make it our 1st language-followed of course by the native ones. India has always been a safe haven for all the MNC'S - read as companies from the West- for they well know that imported stuff appeals more to the Indians than the home made ones.
     True, India has managed to rid itself from the colonial rule on this very day 65 years ago, But the West still manages to shape our thoughts and the country's future at large. With the trade rules liberalised and the foreign investments made open in the 90's the MNC's now have a lion's share in the Indian economy. With the FDI probably to be made open in the retail sector in the near future, we are only one step closer from being completely dependent on the West, the era of Imperialism is bound to return, Of course this time there would be no struggle for freedom and the chances of being liberated are very bleak.

CaReeR CRiSiS

Dear diary,
        The tension here was more than what I had expected it to be; not that I was anticipating this. Prepared though I was for this confrontation with career, looking at life from the crossroads, having to decide for the future isn't any fun. Back when I was a kid, growing up was fun. Getting to break the barriers one by one, that age has imposed on us gave me happiness. But now the very feeling of growing up is giving me creeps.Content I was with my life when the only important decision I had to take in life was to choose the flavour of  Cheetos I had to buy. The question ' What are you going to be when you grow up?' had had a completely different meaning in my life. A naive and carefree me gave answers ranging from Soldier, Businessman, Scientist, Industrialist, to the more recent 'Job lag jaye yaar bas'.
      The tension was evident from the moment I made my entry into Rajputana- the very same hostel that housed me in the first year, that saw my my entry into the Institute, when the grave and the appalling realities of words like future and career weren't fully aware to me- the entire branch has become alert, discussions erupted everywhere; their central theme being career, resolutions being made, efforts being intensified, clarity being sought for various career plans.
       Blessed are those who've chosen IAS as a career option- atleast they know what they're supposed to do- and those who've managed to stay at the top- their pointers might drive them home as far as jobs are concerned- but for the confused souls like me, life remains a mystery. With the arrival of companies for intern to be flagged off in a fortnight or so, the crisis has only deepened. With core and software being the only career options- Leaving of course the possibility that you would want to continue studying in India or abroad- there isn't much to choose from. Either you start off with the basics of Electrical Engineering or wrestle with coding( Both these options sound gruelling to me).
     Hence started my III year, confusing and intriguing at the same time- intriguing because you never know where you would end up-with the only ray of hope being the IIT tag. No. I don't think that would be of much help either. Can only hope for the best, as of now. It is when being realistic ceases to be of comfort, we turns towards optimism.
       This is all I can say for now: 'God bless our confused souls'.


Bye.