"Welcome....to the real world" : Raj's college life ( Part 2)

Almost 2 months into the college, Raj had settled down to his new life. It was hectic, but was fun too. There was a lot of freedom which you never get in the schools. He had befriended a couple of guys from his group and they would sit together in lectures and tutorials. Almost 1/4th of the group comprised of the girls. Raj had anticipated a tough time in getting to talk with and know the girls owing to his schooling in all boy's school. But contrary to it, things turned out easier for him. A co-educational system, that too in an engineering college, throws many opportunities for the opposite sexes to get to know each other. Raj still found it tough chatting with the girls from other group, but he was getting comfortable with those in his own group, except for one.

On the very first day itself, Raj had sensed an aura of stubbornness around Rashi. She had done a major part of her schooling from Mumbai and every now and then she would talk about it in the class. She was very arrogant and would throw tantrums on her friends too. Raj too had had a small dose of her verbal arrows once. After that he would always try to avoid her. Rest of the girls didn't have this attitude problem. Raj would sometimes chat with them, but there was one girl with whom he liked talking.

Sapna didn't come from a very reputed convent school, neither she had a superb dressing sense like other girls. She had very average looks when compared to others. But Raj would enjoy talking to her. She would talk about her family, her school, her friends rather than babbling about herself. Sapna was good at studies and her file work for different labs was always up-to-date. Initially reluctant, Raj had now began to copy her work for almost all the labs. This one trait of boys in co-ed systems he had adopted very quickly. Raj's drawing was pathetic and the two engineering graphic classes were almost like a hell to him. Here too he would take help of Sapna, though not every time. He didn't want to be entirely dependent on her. There were a couple of boys in the group, who too were good at drawing. So, Raj would often go to Rajeev or Raghu to ask his problems.

Rajeev was very witty and the prime entertainer of the class. Though he would sometimes make others butt of his jokes. This is something Raj didn't like much. On the other hand, Raghu didn't speak much. Most of the times he was busy in his work and very few times joined the class in chats or discussions. Raj found it more apropos to ask from Raghu his doubts rather than Rajeev who always looked for an opportunity to crack jokes.

Raj was enjoying the cool college life but there were few things that were disturbing him.

"Welcome..........to the real world." : A true story (PART 1)

This is the true story of a boy Raj who learnt a bitter truth of life.

Raj leaped out of the bus and for the first time saw his almamater with his own eyes. He couldn't make a visit here before with his parents due to illness. It didn't matter much because he knew they would make a right choice. He instantly fell in love with building of the college. Though he had studied in good schools which had helped in grooming him, none of them boasted of superb infrastructure. 

Apart from the building what he saw with an awe were the groups of students moving in colorful dresses, especially the girls. Raj had studied in all boy's school throughout his school life and so had never witnessed so many girls together at one place. He was ecstatic. The teenaged heart of his was bubbling with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Even the fear of ragging which had been troubling him in the whole way to the college had taken the backseat. 

The day ended after an orientation programme, a couple of lectures and a boring computer lab. Raj got some idea about the group system. The whole class of 60 was divided in groups of 20 each. These 20 students had to attend the labs and tutorials together. Raj didn't get to know much about his group mates as many were absent and there was a lot of confusion owing to the very first day of the session. He talked with a couple of guys and they had some good timepass in the day. A girl from his group caught his eye but he didn't dare talk with her. She had some sort of stubbornness visible with her that made Raj a little uncomfortable. 

'But it doesn't matter.' Raj thought. 'We are here for 4 years. There will be many opportunities later. Just chill, dear.' As his bus moved out of college campus, he had a final glimpse of the college premises for the day. He envisioned about the fun days ahead and smiled.

I Officially Acknowledge That I Can't Afford The Luxury Of Laziness Anymore.

I couldn't blog for last 7-8 days. The reason behind it was a combination of laziness on my part and something beyond my control. Carelessness and laziness have caused loads of troubles for me in the past. But now it is becoming clearer with each passing day that I can't afford the luxury of these human traits any more. A little bit delay from my side results in a lot of 'extra problems'. This entire post of mine is dedicated to the various happenings of yesterday having their origin in a very small act of laziness by me.

I had completed all the necessary formalities for applying to BIMTECH. The online form submission as well as drawing DD from the bank were completed by Thursday. The final part of the procedure needed the DD to be sent with the printout of the receipt and few other documents. I had 10 days to send it. The bug of laziness came into action. So, the sending of DD was postponed for the next week. Naturally Friday, Saturday and Sunday didn't feature in the 'next week'.

Monday i.e. 26th of January was our Republic Day. Yesterday the truth finally dawned on me that I had very less time in my hands now. I needed to send the DD urgently. Speed post facility was available from 10 to 4 in the nearest post office. I had to drop my sister at her college around 10:15 a.m. and post office is in the way. I would have easily done my work while returning, but the bug of laziness insisted on doing it later, before picking up my mom from her school. I gave in to the bug. I redrew the plan. Now the job was scheduled to be done at 1:30 p.m. I only had to collect my documents and go to the post office. From my past experiences I knew that it won't take more than 30 minutes there and I would reach on time at my mother's school to pick her up. I didn't even bother to arrange the documents and go through them to check whether something is missing or not. This time the bug of carelessness did its job very well. As a result, at 1:30 p.m. I was busy looking for a missing document.

By the time I found the missing document and arranged the rest, the smaller hand of the clock had gone past two. I rushed to the school. My mother was on the front gate of the school, chatting with one of her fellow teachers. I didn't even turn off the vehicle and asked her to come quickly as I feared that if the railway crossing closed, it would further delay my work. After dropping my mom at home, I reached post office at 2:45 p.m. There were 8-10 people in the queue for speed post but I had ample time. Before getting into the queue I had to purchase an envelope to put all of my documents inside. That's where another small problem came in. Post office didn't have the big envelopes. I had no other option but to go and buy it from some stationery shop. By the time I got back, the queue had gone longer and time had flew past 3 p.m.
I quickly put all of my documents inside the envelope, glued it and stood in the line.

A man had been standing by the counter for past 15-20 minutes, waiting for an opportunity to get his bundle of parcels treated by the post office person without getting into the line. All the persons before me didn't give him this opportunity and neither he could push his way through as all of them were aged men. The moment he saw me, he grabbed his bundle and got in front of me. Though I'm a very patient person, owing to the all that had been happening for a while, I lost my temper and had heated argument with him. The post office personal, instead of helping me, asked us to resolve the matter ourselves. Both of us knew that eventually I would concede. A look at my face and body structure and you will know why? That is what actually happened. I could get over with my work at around 3:45 only, exactly an hour after I had entered the post office for the first time. I took a deep breath. The job was done and now I could go back home and enjoy the evening tea.

That day had another new list of troubles waiting for me. As soon as I got out, my mother called me and told that we had forgotten our 1 kg milk at my mother's school. The instruction was very clear. Go there and fetch the milk from the gatekeeper of the school. Now this was again my fault. My haste had led her forgetting about the milk. When I reached school another surprise was waiting for me. The gatekeeper had boiled the milk just a few minutes back. He didn't have a utensil in which I could take that milk. There was no other option but to wait for the milk to cool down so it could be filled in back into the plastic bag. Taking into account the winter season, I knew it would take another half hour before it happens. It was better to go home and come back in the evening. Cursing the day, I got onto my vehicle. I thought that was the end and the things won't go any worse now. I was wrong again. There is an old saying that 'best thing comes in last'.

I drive a moped, which is popularly known as Luna here. I call it my Ferrari. My friends think that my combination with my moped is deadly. So, they call me 'Ghost Rider'. Only thing missing is the 'mystical chain'. Devendra had advised me to look for a worn out moped chain in an auto repairing store, though I havn't given much thought to it myself. Now, coming back to the 'next best thing' that happened with me. Exactly in the midway to my home, moped came to halt with a couple of jerks. I didn't need to be Einstein to comprehend that it had ran out of fuel. I had enough petrol to do my work and retun home, in the morning. But the futile rides, which I had to take due to my laziness and carelessness, led to exhausting my whole fuel in the midway itself. Another icing on the cake was that both the nearest petrol pumps were atlest 2 km away and I had just Rs. 20 in my wallet. I finally reached home at 4:45 p.m., fully exhausted.

Observing what happened with me yesterday, I can now officially acknowledge that 'I cannot have the luxury of laziness any more.'

Looking back at those horrific 30 minutes.....almost a decade later : Part 2

The initial few minutes of that episode had nothing that can be said unsettling. What you see is a happy family of four with two teen aged kids - an elder girl of 14-15 and her younger brother of 12-13 years of age. After some normal conversation the kids leave their home to go to AIR for some program. In a desperation to reach on time there, they take a lift in an ambassador car. That turns out to be a mistake they could never get a chance to regret. The two goons in the car had some other plans as they turned the car in a direction away from AIR, a road leading to the suburbs of Delhi. After listening to the screams of the children, some people tried to stop the car, but they couldn't. A sardarji tried to follow the car on his scooter but inspite of all his efforts, the 4 wheeler eventually left the 2 wheeler far behind.

My mother and sister returned when only 8-10 minutes were left in the stipulated time of the serial. I told my mother the name of those kids and she recognized them instantly. That crime case was quite a notorious one. My mother too got a little curious as she knew very less about the case. The 20 minutes of the episode had been quite thrilling and I was quite eager to know what happened next. Though I knew inside what was coming, I didn't expect that portrayal to be so chilling. Those kids were tortured and then killed in cold blood. There wasn't a single expression of remorse on the faces of the killers as they dumped the bodies in the jungle. The episode ended with a manhunt being launched to trace the kids and the criminals fleeing the city.

As soon as credits rolled, my mother stood up and turned the TV off. She then told me in strict manner - not to watch the second episode of that case. Leave alone the next episode, she forbade me to watch even that serial again. I didn't feel anything then, but when I went to the bed the faces of those kids and criminals kept whirling in my mind. I couldn't sleep properly that night. My ordeal didn't end that night. It continued for few days. That episode and especially the final 10 minutes kept haunting me. It was only when my vacations were over and I got back to my daily routine did these things get off my mind.

Though it seems rather weird or a bit funny too that a 14 year old boy got scared so much by a reconstruction of a murder in a TV serial. But when I look back, I find a no. of reasons behind it.

1. Those siblings were of similar age to us (My sister and me) only difference being that I am elder.  Those murders were committed almost a decade before I was born, a time when law and order situation wasn't grim like today. Coming to know about gruesome murders of those siblings in those times literally shook me. It was natural to sense a sort of creepiness inside considering the darker times we live in. 

2. Sharpening the sense of insecurity inside me was the absence of our dad at home. It was the first time that he had to stay away from home and making only a day's visit every week(sometimes in a fortnight too). I had to take up the responsibilities of few works for the first time in my life. For few days, after watching 'Bhanwar', my mind would retelecast those scenes showing the little boy making a futile struggle with his murderer. Often I used to wonder what I would have done if something like this had happened to me, but never got a proper answer.

3. The reconstruction of the actual crime by the production house was indeed so realistic and hard hitting that even elders would get horrrified by looking at the cruelty and remorseless attitude in the crime. Years later when I browsed different pages via google regarding 'Bhanwar', I found a number of pages prasing the realistic approach adopted in this serial.

4. Mohan Gokhale was one another reason. Many people don't know him today. In fact, as I came to know later, He had passed away before the telecast of this episode. I had seen him in only comedy roles before, the most popular being 'Mr. Yogi'. Watching such an actor playing a rapist and muderer, and that too so convincingly, unsettled me. Again I was not alone in echoing these thoughts. Here's something I found in one other blog:-

                    It takes guts to play a sexually abusive character. I remember many years ago, the late Mohan Gokhale (remember him aeons ago on Doordarshan as Mr Yogi?) had played one of the infamous duo which had raped and killed the 2 children in Delhi? Gokhale was so terrifying in that episode of Sony's masterly recreation of real-life crimes Bhanwar that it never got telecast.

Almost a decade has passed since I had that whole week of uneasiness due to just a small episode of a serial. Things have gone much darker now and the bitter truth is there are far more sinister crimes being committed to the children (eg. Nithari killings). And there is no way to stop it. I reckon my fear of being insecure so many years back was not absurd afterall. 

Finally commenting on that gruesome crime. We all have heard the names of the victims as well as the murderers a lot of times. The world of cinema kept the latter alive while the formers are remembered every year, in slightly different way. When next time you watch a 70's and 80's movie and listen to these names of the goons of villain or villain himself, then don't wonder where these names came from - RANGA and BILLA.

And don't forget to watch the 26th January parade because during this parade only you will get an opportunity to watch a bunch of brave children from all over India getting accolades and awards for their deeds. In that bunch of childrens, there will be a boy and a girl who will be given a special prize, in the memory of two siblings who lost their lives fighting with their murderes.

GEETA CHOPRA and SANJAY CHOPRA.

Looking back at those horrific 30 minutes...almost a decade later : Part 1

My this post was supposed to put forward my view on the question thrown in by Big B on the way India is perceived in the western world. I realized that I needed more time and a little bit research to put in before I bring my views before people. So, I began to think about something else but nothing concrete came to the mind. In the morning, while browsing through news websites, I saw a news which reminded me of something - something very chilling that had sent shivers down my spine. I decided to share that short tale from my life when for the first time, I had nightmares.

Getting scared or afraid is as natural as the feelings of joy, anger or sadness. But unlike other feelings, fear leaves its footprints profoundly in heart or mind, sometimes for a very long time. As a kid I was scared many times - sometimes by watching a spooky serial like 'aahat' or a horror film like 'The Evil dead'. Here I'm not talking about the fear of a bully, or a very strict teacher or something like it. What I'm talking about is the fear instilled in a kid's mind via any visual medium. That's where the movies, or serials or books come in. Though latter doesn't comes in the category of a visual medium, books can be as powerful as any other media when imagination runs wild. But here I'm not talking about a book nor a movie. It's about an episode from a serial. And let me tell you before you read further - THAT WAS NOT A HORROR SERIAL.

I still remember the year and the month very well. I was about to leave my old school and go in new one. The Cricket world cup 1999 had ended a few days back only and we were looking forward to rains in a week or so. It was the month of June in 1999. That night I was alone at home. Dad had been transferred to Nagaur about a month back and Mom had gone to my maternal grand parent's home with my sister. I had nothing to do, so I switched on the TV. After browsing through different channels I finally settled on Sony as rest of the channels didn't have anything to offer of my interest. The serial which was about to be telecast on Sony was one whose name I had heard a lot but never watched before. I reckon few of you would remember its name. It was BHANWAR.

I intended to watch it only as a time pass, by the time my mother and sister returned. I didn't know then that those 30 odd minutes would leave such a psychological effect on me. I will continue in my next post with what I watched that day and what was it all about?

A story of an underdog : Slumdog Millionaire

'Slumdog millionaire' has been in news for all the right reasons so far with clean sweep at golden globes and fuelling the expectations for a good number of oscar nominations. Critics over the world have gone ga-ga over the film. Unexpected comment comes from none other than but Mr Big B himself. I haven't read his blog so far but it has been reported that he isn't happy with the west associating India yet again with slums, its poverty and other depressing factors. My next post will be focussed on the arguement put forward by Mr. Bachhan. But in this post I'm solely focussed on the film itself. Here is the review of a film that has brought India its first ever Golden globe and making the world remember Mumbai's name for something else other than 26/11. 

The film begins with Dev Patel looking helplessly at Saurabh Shukla as the latter billows out smoke of cigarette at him. A question appears on the screen asking how did Jamal Malik (Dev) end up winning 20 million followed by four different options. The very next scene shows Jamal being introduced on 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' by Prem Kapoor (Anil Kapoor) with the familiar music of KBC playing in the back ground. Next few scenes move quickly from the set of 'Who wants to....?' to the police station where Dev is being roughed up by Shukla. By the time the title of the film appears on the screen, U become curious enough to know what and why did it happen and this curiosity gets better of you. My friend Siddhartha finished downloading of this film at 3 at night. He played the movie to just check the quality of the film, ultimately getting into the bed only 122 minutes later. He was hooked to the movie, so were I and many others. This movie is indeed superb.

So what does work in this film? The major elements of the movie are not something we are unfamiliar with or have not been tried in any of the Hindi films before ( except for the game show thing). There's a long list including masterpieces like Satya, Parinda, Black friday, mediocre flicks like Vaastav and many duds which had these 3 common elements - Slums, gangsters and Mumbai. Danny Boyle himself had acknowledged this fact that he was inspired by few of these underworld oriented films. But the noteworthy thing is that these elements have been used as sub-plots. The movie essentially remains the story of an underdog (slumdog, as he is referred in the film) and his destiny as he makes a journey from the slums to one of the most coveted shows on the television.

The film never compromises on the pace, especially first 40 minutes are very much engrossing. The screenplay is brilliant as most of the time the film stays away from the cliche's and the stereotypes. The different elements have been blended very beautifully to make a coherent storyline. Another thing worth noting is that all the 3 stages of Jamal's life i.e. as a kid, then an adolescent and finally a young man have been given ample screentime. So this isn't just Dev Patel's film. It belongs to the other two actors too, especially the one who played the kid Jamal.

Every actor is perfect in his/her role. This is a kind of cinema where the film carries the actors along with it rather than vice-versa. A nomination in acting category seems unlikely but it doesn't takes anything away from the leading actors. They were all unknown to western audiences ( including our very own Anil Kapoor) but have been wooing people across the globe ever since the release of the movie.

But the film actually belongs to Danny Boyle(director) and Simon Beaufoy( writer) as well as the cinematographer. They have created a film the world is taking notice of including many bollywood themes in it with loads of drama and twists thrown in. At the end of the movie, the answer to the question asked in the very first scene appears on the screen. The same line holds true for this movie too. If this movie garners oscar nominations and eventually end up winning a few, this is all I would like to quote then - 'IT IS WRITTEN'  

Destiny and Those 54 'Elites' : Part 2

DATE 07/01/09

Destiny wrote the final page of the chapter in life's book that day. A chapter that began at different times in the lives of those 54 people but eventually concluding on the same day. There was hardly anything between the beginning and the end as most of the pages were blank. They had thought of embarking on a new journey but they couldn't even take a single step. And it was never their fault.

On 7th of jan CEO of SATYAM COMPUTERS admitted of financial irregularities in accounts and took the full responsibility of inflating the cash. The Indian IT industry was shocked, SEBI was aghast and market crashed. But the most affected people were none other than the sataym employees as they came to know about the misdeeds of their chairman, who was also an idol for many. In a single day, the world around them came crashing down. And it was never their fault.

On 27th of November satyam recruited 27 students, bringing the total to 54 from the same college. It was an achievement considering that satyam was the 4th largest IT company in India. Winning a project from FIFA was their latest success. Selected candidates rejoiced while rejected ones were dejected. Both didn't know that destiny had few other plans for them.

Out of 54, many had already decided their future course. Some got in better companies, few went for PG. I will be telling you about only those guys whom I had mentioned yesterday. This was the eventual fate of those guys.

• Gaurav was the first person from the whole batch to be employed. He is sitting pretty in Nokia-Siemens today and would hardly be looking back at the rejection he had to face more than a year back.

• Rohit never imagined of getting selected, but then he never cared much about it. He has set his eyes on telecom industry and is working in TATA indicom

• Bobby's lucky run didn't get beyond that day. He had to resume his fight to get into a premier MBA institute. His destination is still awaited.

• Nitin is the most happiest person. The comapany which rejected him thrice is struggling itself today. He has got himself a niche' place in Sree Cement, as a trainee engineer.

• Mahaveer was amused as he watched the proceeding of the day on TV. He was the most depressed and heartbroken of the lot which got rejected. Today he's is a lecturer in a pvt Engineering college and also appearing in PSUs. He is waiting for that one stroke of luck that wud propel him into a bright career.

• Devendra's frustration came to an end as it was almost confirmed that he won't be going to Secundarabad now. Delay of joining has been the most difficult for him and now he was relieved to look for other options. Hemant absorbed the news without much emotion. Though he was hopeful that company would be giving joining soon, he didn't sit at home and has been earning as a lecturer since july. His future course of action is unknown.

• And finally JP. He cracked an exam like GATE and ended up in MNIT. He's pursuing M.Tech now and is least bothered about satyam. He wasn't much disappointed anyway then too.

Though I can't say for sure, but I do believe that on 7th both the selected as well as rejected candidates would have thanked God. As an idiom rightly goes like that- 'Man proposes, God disposes'