Counting Down: 2

So I've noticed how conversations about the New Year more often than not meander into what happened in the year gone by. Its funny really. You ask a person their plans for New Year's Eve and after they have enlightened you about the aforementioned plans, you both immediately launch into a remeniscing session about what you did last year on New Year's Eve and how it seems like yesterday and how MUCH has happened in your lives since then and well it could go on for a while. Regular readers do NOT worry, I am not about to launch into an analysis of human nature (I feel I do that a lot!). I find myself a prey to this disease as well; I think everyone who speaks to me these days know that I'm going to spend 31st watching movies on my laptop all night like the year before and the year before that. There is a certain comfort in the familiarity of the situation. It is about bringing in the New Year after all. I would certainly like a perfectly normal year ahead. The year gone by has had it's fair share of excitements and I would definitely not want a repeat telecast. Just an ordinary and uneventful New Year is all I ask for. But as usual I suppose it's wishful thinking. I have never known my life to be devoid of activity, interesting or otherwise, and I don't think I really want that to change. It could get mighty dull. Of course my definition of words like 'interesting', 'dull', 'fun' and even 'life' are often at odds with that of the rest of humanity but I guess thats who I am. Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, enjoy planning your New Year! 2 days to go! Cheers!

Blank...

We've all heard of the phenomenon of blanking out during an exam situation. But you know what, sometimes this phenomenon really gets out of hand and escapes into everyday life. Then you get blank all the time. Like as if everything is blank and nothing means anything anymore. I know I'm rambling and not making much sense but thats how it is. You drag through each day, forcing youself to act normal and by the end of it, collapse exhausted. At times like this you wonder what life is all about. Anyway, when nothing makes sense (like right now!), its probably safer to blank out than trying to figure things out which by the way is guaranteed to give you a headache. Until next time then, Cheers!

Poems, Prayers and Promises...

One of my favourite T-Shirts says, 'Music Feeds My Soul'. I find that so true. I don't know what I'd do without it in my life. One of my all time favourite artists is, yes you guessed right, none other than John Denver. It just so happens that I'm listening to one of his songs titled 'Poems. Prayers and Promises' which like all his songs is simply beautiful. I have been a fan of John Denver and his music for a long as I can remember. The lyrics and melodies all come together in such perfect harmony that you can't help but be soothed by them. Most people might not even have heard of John Denver or even if they have, it's only 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' and 'Annie's Song'. But there is so much more. 'Dreamland Express', 'Perhaps Love', 'Seasons of The Heart' and 'For You' are filled with such meaningful lyrics that you are left wondering at the genius of the guy. There are also a host of songs that narrate stories (they don't write songs like that anymore!) like, 'Rocky Mountain High', 'Wild Montana Skies', 'Matthew' and 'Leaving on a Jetplane'. Lets nor forget, 'Cowboy and the Lady', 'Chrismas for Cowboys', 'Whispering Jesse' and 'Sunshine on my Shoulders', the list goes on. I don't think I can ever tire of it. I would never have believed that such simple everyday words could be strung together so beautifully. You have to hear it to believe it. The entire list of John Denver's music is strongly recommended for anyone up for some easy listenin', and I promise you, you won't be disappointed. Hope I have inspired you enough! Cheers!

Rain! Rain!

It rained today. It was beautiful. Unexpected rain in the middle of November is quite something. And it wasn't just a drizzle, it poured like as if the heavens had suddenly decided on a very thorough cleanup drive. Add to that the cool breeze that continuously keeps spraying your face with droplets of water and the steaming mug of tea (or coffee if thats what you prefer) and it'll definitely make it to the list of your "best days". I've always been spellbound by the sheer power and beauty of rains. I love it best when the sun coming shining out after a spell of rain. The world looks so fresh and clean that you can hardly believe your own eyes. I haven't had that pleasure today, since it has been raining pretty much non-stop all day, but lets hope and pray and see what the morning brings. Cheers!

And yet another semester is coming to an end. Its been one hell of a ride and I'm glad its coming to an end, finally. I guess thats how its supposed to work. Everything passes, no matter what. And in the end all that you are left with are the memories, which is not a bad thing at all, really :)

Facebook, Orkut et al

I used to detest social networking once upon a time. Its not like I'm overly fond of it now but I can atleast live with the idea that it exists even though I choose not to be a part of it. (Well actually I don't really have a choice when it comes to accepting the idea of social networking, seeing as everyone around me talks of little else most of the time, my mother included!) Anyway, getting back to the point, I realised yesterday that maybe its not a bad thing after all. Sometimes, when reality gets a little too much to handle, maybe it would help to escape into the world of smileys, quizzes, superpokes and farmville not to mention browsing through countless photographs uploaded by someone or the other. Writing silly, inane messages on someone's wall, chatting, sending out invites, accepting invites, checking updates have all become such a part of life these days. So what does it all really mean? Are we evolving as human beings or maybe regressing back to a more primitive state? (coz believe me if we get too caught in the virtual world, I've a feeling we won't have a clue about anything in the real world!) Or is it simply that life is getting more hectic even as we speak and beyond a certain point, the pressure gets too much to handle? We know that crushed grapes make the best wine but can we really say that the pressures in life can bring out the best in all of us? There has always been a notion that people react to stress in only two ways, they produce the best results or no results at all. But what if there is a third category of people who while trying to do their best under pressure mess up at some point of time and end up neither here nor there. These people neither produce the best results nor do they get no results at all, they're just somewhere in between. What of them then? It is a universal maxim that if you're not doing your best then don't do anything at all. But is it humanly possible to deliver your "best" at all points of time? You may argue that we ourselves decide what is the best that we can achieve but don't we always end up talking about the circumstances we were in when asked about how we have performed? So when we do our best "under so and so circumstances" knowing full well that it is still below our full potential but at the the same time knowing that we couldn't have done more: what does it mean? What then happens to all the hard work that went into it? Does it count for anything? Does it matter at the end of the day that you gave it your best shot? Just because it was still not good enough, what do we do about it? The answer: NOTHING. We can talk and talk and bury ourselves with words, but we never do anything about the situation we find ourselves. The situation ends up dictating the terms of our life and at the end of the day, the only way we rebel, the only action we take is to log on to facebook, orkut et al.

Water, Water Everywhere...

These are a few pics clicked on a very rainy trip to Bombay...

A Very Harry Week...

I just spent an entire week immersed in the world of Harry Potter (reading not watching!) and I have never appreciated the genius that is J.K. Rowling more. It is one thing to have a splendid imagination, but to weave it into a tale that is so thrilling that you actually forget meals! That is something. I had read all the books before, but this is the first time that I read them all one after the other and thus truly realised how intricately each detail was planned so as to fall into place like the pieces of a puzzle. There are incidents that happen throughout the series that may not even register to the conscious mind but ultimately come together in a manner which leaves you completely floored. Hats off to J.K. Rowling! It really makes me wonder though, what is it that some people have that just sets them apart from others. Rowling with her pen is just one such example. Is it talent? skill? intellect? determination? or something quite apart from all of these which is as yet undetected? I know it is a popular tandem these days that "Winners Don't Do Different Things; They Do Things Differently" but I beg to differ. I really believe that fate has a lot to do with these things and some people are just lucky. Now I know that there are a lot of people who get to the top by sheer grit and determination and I'm in no way denying them the credit for having done whatever they have but it's just not the same as the work of a genius. Their work comes across as simply marvellous and quite effortless. And most often than not they are unaware of it. However since the world would be a crazy place if it were only filled with geniuses, I'm glad that they are few and far between and numerously interspersed with us lesser mortals. I guess it's nature's way of maintaining a balance. This reminds me of a common refrain of kids saying, "If everyone comes first, then who will come last?". I've always said that kids have a knack for hitting the nail on the head. On that note, I think I shall take my leave...

Some Days...

The sunlight came streaming in through the window forming a pool of light on the floor by the bed. A cool breeze gently stirred the half open curtains tugging at them as if to say that the day was far too glorious to be shut out. Outside, the weather was perfect, the pale blue sky stretching on for miles with not even a hint of a cloud. It was one of those unexpected days in the middle of the monsoon season, where you wonder if you are awake or dreaming. Since these days are few and far between, one must certainly take full advantage of them. I did too today, being bold enough to wear something essentially white with absolutely no fear of it turning into brown. I'll admit it was a bit of a risk, but tempting fate is fun, don't you agree? Anyway the fates were kind to me and did not decide to shower their blessings while I walked home from college. Moreover, the beautiful weather persisted all day which helped keep my spirits up no end. All in all it was a good day and I have feeling that a great start had something to do with it.

Sunny Side Up...

Eggs...The world's most heavenly breakfast and I hardly ever get to eat it! Sometimes when I'm half asleep on a Sunday morning, I almost expect to get a whiff of the smell of sizzling fried eggs before I remember that I'm stuck in a godforsaken pure veg hostel. Not that I have anything against vegetarian food, but honestly dosas and uttapas for breakfast every Sunday for a year and I'm ready to put a gun to my head. Okay, it's not as bad as that, it's just that when I think about all the omlettes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs and boiled eggs I've had in my life and now nothing, zero, zilch...sigh. I think its time this rambling ended. Until next time then.

The Wonder That Is Maggie...

During the course of the past one year of my life, I have become acutely aware of the fact that an altogether too large population of people love MAGGI. Why this fact should be so unsettling, I don't know. I personally detest maggi (I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this!) and I really don't see how people can be so crazy about it. I've had my share of maggi while growing up but at some point of time, I just got too sick of it! I am quite willing to cook it for someone else but lets just say that I will probably only eat it if it happens to be the last bit of food left on earth. Anyway, the point of this blog is not to express my opinion (however strong!) but to narrate an incident that occured last Sunday. Now, having lived in a hostel for a year, I have discovered that maggi can effectively become breakfast, lunch and dinner, not to mention an evening and midnight snack. Believe me, I have been witness to a scene where after an evening of clubbing (and getting no dinner in the process) a bunch of girls eating oceans of maggi and calling it the perfect end to the day! Anyway, after seeing endless maggi advertisements, it was quite heartening to see a real life example the other day on my way back from Bombay to Pune. The bus was stopped at the half-way point between Pune and Bombay, and I saw this girl eating maggi from a styrofoam cup! The setting was just perfect, pouring rain, chilliy breeze and a steaming bowl (cup) of maggi. I don't know what it was about the scene that touched my heart and almost made me forget my dislike for maggi. Just a thought though, I wonder what she would call it, if it got selected for one of the maggi ads? "Meri bus waali MAGGI" perhaps?

Falling...

The feeling of falling, however blissful nearly always ends with a bump. Coming back down to earth is never gentle, on the contrary it is inevitably harsh and leaves you winded and while you are gasping for breath you swear to yourself that you will never fall again and yet when the time comes, you once again shut out the voice of reason and fall headlong into the trap. It is quite the vicious cycle, one that will go on as long as mankind exists.

So the big question of the day is why let yourself fall at all? The answer is simply that there is bound to be a time when you finally land on your feet, and that is the most beautiful thing on earth. For there ends the fear of falling and begins a whole new vista of happiness unparalled by anything else on earth. Of course this is a very idealistic assumption and nowadays even a reasonable amount of happiness is considered a good deal. So that brings me back to the point that though there may never be a guarantee of landing safely, in this matter we human beings are serious exceptions to the age old saying 'once bitten, twice shy'. How else do you explain it?

Just A Thought...

When too many thoughts clog your mind, use a pensieve but if you are a muggle, then all I can say is: DEAL WITH IT!

One Art...

This is a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, which features in the movie "In Her Shoes" which I absolutely love (both movie and poem!). It goes like this...

The art of losing isn't hard to master:
So many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something everyday. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing further, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring you disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last,
or next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, and lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
The art of losing's not hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

PS # I don't know what is with me and poetry these days, but I guess I was thinking of Rashima and hence "In Her Shoes"

Lost and Found...

This is a poem called "Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep" by Steven Cummins which I had penned down somewhere and mislaid. I came across it suddenly today while flipping through the pages of a notebook and thought I'd share it...

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

A really beautiful poem...I think Mansa will agree.

The World of Studies...

Today, I realised the futility of education. As a matter of course, we students of BBA are required to study a subject called 'Organizational Behaviour'. An admirable subject, one that I quite enjoy under ordinary circumstances, but today it reached heights of ridiculousness like never before. Today we studied the 'Punctuated Equillibrium Model' which applies to temporary groups working with deadlines. If it sounds very impressive, let me assure you at the very outset that it is nothing of the sort. You will see what I mean when I give you a simple example of a school project in which you have to work with a group and finish by a particular date. Hasn't it always been the experience that, before we know it half the time is over and when the deadline is looming, the best work gets done at phenominal speeds (usually the night before!). That is exactly what this 'Model' attempts to explain, using words that could easily bounce off your head without a moment's notice. Behaviour of human beings working in temporary groups with deadlines have been studied and the performance v/s time graph has been plotted to tell us what we've known since atleast class 7, that performance is always at it's highest when the time is short and the pressure is on. Except that the 'Punctuated Equillibrium Model' would say, "Temporary groups go through transitions between inertia and activity". It really beats me hollow sometimes how so much time is wasted in telling us things that we've known for years. Anyway, before it becomes preachy, all I'll say is that there has to be a limit to the nonsense so I guess I'll wait around for that. Till then, bye!

Think About It...

There are times when you don't know whether to laugh or to cry and in all likelihood you end up doing a bit of both. So what would you call times like these?

So True...

We build walls, not to keep people out but to see who will break them down...

Happy New Semester!

When life throws you lemons, make lemonade...I just love this saying. It just encompasses in itself everything that you need to know to survive in this world where, lets face it, you never know what life will throw at you. Make the best of every situation, no matter what, simple isn't it? Yet, we are all too often prepared to quit at the slightest hint of trouble. It's human nature, I guess. Anyway, not wanting to preach, I shall get to the real point of this monologue. Vacations are over and yet another new semester has begun. A lot of people would like to believe that it actually begins from Monday, so hope to see them in class then. Let us all take up the challenge, to make the best of time we have and have a bright and sunny semester ahead (especially since the monsoons are setting in!). Oh I almost forgot, kudos to all our erstwhile toppers, keep it up guys. Cheers!

Who Am I...

It was pointed out to me today that all of us at the moment are nothing without our parents. I mean think about it, no matter how much we strive to get a life of our own, this particular 'life' that we talk about, would be kinda impossible if it wasn't for our parents. So does this mean that we are essentially living their life? And does it also mean that we don't have an identity of our own? The answer to both those questions is no. Though we owe our very existence and upbringing to our parents it does not mean that we do not exist as individuals, with a mind of our own and the will to do as we please. OK, that sounds very stubborn, so let me tone it down a bit; I simply mean that the life that is a gift from our parents, is in our hands to mould it in any way to create one of our own. Everything that we do is directed towards that end. We often hear of people going against the wishes of their parents and thereby hurting them. Although an inadvisable course of action, it sometimes becomes inevitable that we break free from the loving bonds placed around us. It is a scary proposition actually, because the minute we gather enough courage to say and do exactly what we want, we suddenly become our own person and not the one we were raised to be. There is no comforting cocoon then to soothe out the harsh contours of the big bad world out there. The day we can stand up alone with no one to hold us up is the day we can proudly say that yes we are our parents' children, we owe them everything but this is the life that I have created for myself and that it belongs to no one but me.

The IPL Bonanza...

As the IPL (finally) comes to an end, one can't help but wonder how much more cricket one can digest. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge cricket fan myself but a month and a half of non-stop cricket (Two matches a day, for heavens sake!) can take a toll on your mental health. Add that to the fact that the 20-20 World Cup is coming up, and you've got yourself perfect conditions for a nervous breakdown. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but with good reason! And it's not just the cricket that is endless, it's the analysis, that begins an hour before the game and continues for god knows how long after the game is over, I mean have they heard of the word 'overkill'? People just want to see a good game of cricket, with some classy shots and thrilling run chases, is that too much to ask for? Oh and don't even get me started me started on the new craze for '20-20' apparently to attract the female population, it has in fact served to lessen my love for the game quite a bit. But no matter what I say, I will still be caught glued to the TV from the moment someone calls 'heads' till the time they declare the 'Man of the Match' and also avidly reading the next morning's newspaper analysis of everything that went right and wrong in the match the day before. What can I say, you love it or hate it, there is just no escaping it (in this country atleast!)

Solitude...

Solitude: Painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity...
I read this quote in the Mumbai Mirror today and it got me thinking that it is not entirely true. It is ironical really that more and more youngsters stuck in the rat race of life crave solitude like the air they breathe while old men with enough of it on their hands yearn for the days when they had none. It only serves to reinforce the saying that I believe in: Be happy with what you have and not sad for what you don't.

The Dream...

A dream, more real than anything that had ever happened to her, enveloped her subconscious, completely in control of her senses. She was falling, as if she were a feather, slowly, lazily with not a care in the world and certainly no purpose except to just be in the moment, blissfully ignorant of anything happening about her. The world around her was bathed in the colours of the rainbow and the sun shone in the brilliant blue sky. She fell gently, easily, with no path to follow, swayed by evn a whiff of a breeze. It was a wonderful feeling, unmatched by anything she had ever felt, so relaxed, so comfortable and so completely free. Her gaze wandered over the landscape below, a sandy beach dotted with coconut palms with the sea gently lapping at the shore. The sea gulls swooping about, children building sand castles, a couple of dogs snoozing in the sun, little red crabs scurrying in the sand, how peaceful it all seemed. If only she could stay like this forever, but alas she must soon open her eyes and find herself back on the ground and the bright colours of her dream fading away...

Anuranan...A Resonance

Yesterday, I saw a beautiful sample of Bengali cinema, although I was ill-fated enough to have to watch the Hindi version (no offense but I much prefer the Bengali language, it's so much more soothing to the ear). Anyway, as the name suggests, the movie is all about resonance or in layman's terms the matching of frequencies (or is it wavelengths I forget which). But that doesn't really matter because the term is used strictly in the non-technical sense, ie, resonance of minds. The fact that warm and close relationships can be formed on the basis of meeting of minds and yet remain platonic is something that the film explores beatifully, through it's central characters, Rahul (Rahul Bose) and Preeti (Raima Sen). Though married to different people, they come together based on their mutual love for literature and appreciation of the finer aspects of life. There is a stark contrast between their respective marriages; while Rahul and his wife are completely and utterly devoted to each other, Preeti is stuck in a house with a husband who remains forever immersed in the stock markets with no hint of companionship. It is for this reason that Preeti is very much of a cynic while Rahul brings with himself all the qualities of a vibrant life which she admires immensely. He shows her life through new eyes and dispels her notion that life always betrays us. But just when she is inspired to visit the site of his project in the Himalayas, to see for herself the beauty of nature as he had described it, tragedy strikes, leaving Rahul dead from a heart attack and their friendship is misconstrued as an illicit affair and Preeti is left to bear the brunt of it. What follows is a tragic fall from grace, with her husband abandoning her, her mother ashamed of her and society shunning her until she can bear it no more and resorts to suicide. She is saved however and asks to meet Rahul's wife Noni who in the meanwhile has been floundering in painful waters trying to cope with her husband's death. In the poignant final scene of the movie, sitting by Preeti's bed in the hospital, Noni consoles Preeti and gives her hope to live again while finally accepting the truth of her husband's death and breaking down herself.

On a more critical note, I think it is one of the best performances of Rahul Bose, who is a refreshing breath of fresh air throughout the length of the movie without being the least bit arrogant which I find in most of his other roles. Raima sen with her quiet and dignified manner does a brilliant job of conveying emotions with her silences. Also the scenery in the movie is truly amazing, from London and the English countrside where it begins to the hustle and bustle of Calcutta and the sheer beauty of the Himalayas, this is a must watch for more reasons than one.

Something Fresh...

Trouble, like Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...P.G. Wodehouse

VIDYA Integrated Development for Youth and Adults

VIDYA is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to community development and empowerment of India's socially disadvantaged children, youth and women. A chance encounter of Mrs. Rashmi Misra (founder chairperson) with a little girl playing near a nullah was the inspiration behind VIDYA. Right in the backyard of IIT Delhi, a world renowned institute of higher learning was this little girl and her friends who did not have a school to go to. She began to teach them in her veranda and very soon she had a large group on her hands. This was in 1985. Soon after she recruited IIT volunteers and began to teach them basic Hindi and Maths and thus VIDYA was founded. In it's silver jubilee year, VIDYA today is a multi-layered program which benefits lesser privileged women and children in Delhi and Mumbai. These programs are as follows:

• Remedial and Holistic education at pre-school, primary and secondary level.
• Open Schooling through NIOS for droupout youth.
• Adult Literacy and Capacity Building of girls and women through vocational skill training and livelihood programs.
• Computer Skills Training
• Income Generation Programs including Micro-Credit Programs.

VIDYA's Mumbai chapter began in April 2001 on the IIT Mumbai Campus. It runs it's programs on the campus and in the surrounding slum areas of Powai. It works for the sustainable development of lesser privileged communities of Powai. It runs six indegenously developed programs imparting education and exposure to skills. These programs are run by professionals and volunteers although they are primarily volunteer driven. Here is an overview of their core programs:

NSS Sanganak Vidya Kendra (NSVK): This is the computer literacy center run in collaboration with IIT and offers 3 month courses in BCA (Basic Computer Applications) as well as advanced courses in web designing, java and C++. This program benefits children from lesser privileged communities, housewives, school children and community women. Every 3 months 150 people are getting computer literate and this creates new opportunities for them either at the workplace or at school/college. Orginally started with 4 donated computers and a small group of students, this unit has gained from strength to strength and today has 30 computers, 2 full time teachers and a large group of IIT student volunteers. The curriculum followed has been developed by the Computer Science Department of IIT.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS): This is an educational program for the drop out youth and adults from Class VIII to Class XII. Classes are conducted in IIT premises during the evenings to allow people to attend them after their working hours. Response to this program has been phenomenal with 300 students in the batch of 2008-09.


Remedial Education Programs: VIDYA runs three remedial education programs in an around the IIT Campus. These programs help close to 350 primary and secondary municipal school children to perform to the best of their potential in an inclusive environment on the holistic education of a child. The aim is to provide enrichment to fast paced learners and help those who are challenged. Extra curricular and creative activities are an integral part of the program and there is a strong emphasis on value education.

Umang: This is a program for children from Class III to Class IX. Classes take place in IIT's Campus School in the afternoons. 110 children from different communities enrolled in the year 2008. Over and above the regular program, there is a Spoken English Program, a Nutrition Program and a Saturday Club for recreation.

Community Outreach Program - Phule Nagar: This program has been established in the slum community of Phule Nagar since 2002. Education is enhanced by games and activities, as well as regular field trips.


Pragati Kendra - Gautam Nagar: This program is based in Gautam Nagar, a slum community located behind Hiranandani Hospital. This is a new program which begam in the year 2008 with 60 students and run by an NIOS graduate. There is also a Computer Center set up in association with Syntel in this particular community.

Vidya Margam: Women and girls from the slums of IITB are the main beneficiaries of this program. The program emphasizes on education, capacity building, vocational skill training and income generation opportunities so that they may develop confidence and become financially independent. It has 2 units: Aahar, the food unit and Udyogini, the handicrafts unit.

Aahar: It is a food unit which began with a team of 5 and has now expanded to 30 women working together to provide wholesome home cooked food to schools and offices around IITB during the lunch hours. They operate out of the space provided to them by the Women's Club on the campus. All the women are the wives of class 3 and class 4 staff of IITB and this gives them the chance to earn and transform their family lives as well as their community.

Udyogini: 'Udyogini' literally means woman entrepreneur and that is exactly what this program aims to create. This provides an opportunity to learn new vocational skills such as making books, diaries, diyas, jute bags, lamp shades, paper bags, photo frames etc and supplement their household income by marketing these products. Workshops in traditional art forms like Madhubani and Warli painting are also conducted. In the past 7 years, 300 girls and women have benefitted from this program.

That, in esence is what VIDYA is all about. It is a people's movement - people giving back to people. Volunteers are a critical asset and the core source of motivation and energy at VIDYA. Currently the VIDYA team is engaged in the preparation for their annual Summer Camp which is open to children across all programs as well as outsiders.

For more information about VIDYA log onto www.vidya-india.org

Share a Smile...

Yesterday, I saw a beautiful sight. In an auto rickshaw stuck in the endless Bombay traffic, a woman travelling with three little children was having a hard time keeping them still, so she decided to buy peace with a packet of chips. She handed the packet to one of the little boys and doubtless told him to share it with everyone. The little boy having offered the packet to his siblings and his mother, promptly turned to the rickshaw driver and offered him some as well. The rickshaw driver, though at first stunned took a couple of chips from the proffered packet and then turned back to pay attention to the road. The child by now was too engrossed with something he had found in the packet that promised to be a toy when assembled and had no idea the joy he had caused and the smile that he had brought to the faces of three people, his mother, the rickshaw driver and me.

Children are the most innocent beings and they have none of the devious and cunning instincts so common among grown ups so that we have come to expect nothing but the worst from the world, while hoping for the best is a long forgotten fairy tale. Children have the ability to remind us of that tale, to show us that 'only goodness' unhampered by any ulterior motives does truly exist.

Power of The Pen...

What do you do when you are feeling blue? What is the one guaranteed method to get you out of the dumps? For me, it's writing. Writing what, you might ask. Anything I'd say, as long as it involves the stringing together of words to create something meaningful. Words have a beautiful way of soothing my very soul for you see words are the only things that last. They can paint a thousand pictures of things long gone just so that we may know about them. They can build before our eyes the birth and death of civilizations as well as propel us forward into the realms of the unknown. Ironically, words are just as capable of dispelling great things into nothingness just as they can exalt the smallest of things to the heavens. Words are also capable of confusing us human beings no end. Just like right now, there are too many words swimming aroug in my head, each one trying to push itself forward so that it may be seen...

Mumbai - "City of DreamZ" say some; "City of CrowdZ" is more appropriate. Took a bus ride today after a long time. Had quite forgotten how crowded it could get.

Pune - Lovely place, lovely weather. Can't wait to get back there, the humidity in Bombay is killing me!

Goa - Gonna be there soon...with nothing to do except enjoy the sun 'n' sand (and the sleep!)

Kolkata - At the back of my mind but never forgotten, this is home now and forever. Can never be away from it in spirit...

Gurgaon - This is a city that will always remain frozen in time for me. I'll never get used to the endless malls and huge buildings everywhere.

So now that they (the words ofcourse!) are all out, I feel much better and I guess this is the power of the pen...

The Greeness Of Leaves...

The greeness of leaves...have you ever wondered what that is all about? I mean why are leaves green anyway? No, the answer I am looking for is NOT chlorophyll (although it is doubtless the correct one!). I just think that green is an amazing colour which is why it is the colour of the thing that sustains life on earth. Simple, isn't it? There are just so many other things in life that are just as simple, but we human beings would love nothing better than to complicate them. Take feelings for instance, there are a million times in our lives when we absolutely and certainly feel a certain way but since we are stuck with the notion that things can't be as simple as that, we COMPLICATE matters. Thats right, we analyze the situation from 20 different angles, wondering if we have missed something, however minute in an attempt to convince ourselves that our feelings are flawed or incorrect only to later realize that they were bang on target. I often wonder what would happen if we simply accepted the fact that life is very simple, so why not go with the flow?

Utter Nonsense...

Sometimes life is just one big mess, everywhere you look there is nothing but misery and pain. No hint of a silver lining, just dark clouds all over the horizon...

But then again there are days when the sun comes streaming through the window and the world is a beautiful and happy place and everything about your life is just perfect...

Ever wondered why when looking back we don't think of the days that lie in between; days which are neither the best nor the worst but just come and go as a matter of course? Thats because we, as human beings have this amazing capacity to forget anything that hasn't had a lasting impact on us. But of course that makes sense, I hear you cry out. How else would we hope to survive?! How else indeed...sometimes I write a lot of nonsense. I mean of course we have to throw out all the banal and useless stuff, what use are they? Why clutter your mind? But let us just for a minute consider the hypothesis that we could impartially record every minute of our lives in our memory, I mean they're always saying that the brain is more powerful than any supercomputer so why not it's storage device? Wouldn't it be exciting? Imagine never forgetting anything, ever! Imagine sitting in an exam and recalling every little detail that you heard and read in class (ok, for that you have to attend class first and yes I just realised that people with photographic memory can do that anyway). Ok, next scenario, never forgetting a birthday or a telephone number (oh but thats what mobile phones and planners are for). Ok, since I just seem to be contradicting myself here I'll just quit shall I? I think I'll wind up by saying that modern gadgets while making our lives easier have made our brains incredibly lazy and no one can contradict that, so there!

PS # On re-reading the post, it sounds like I've lost it and maybe I have but this one was exactly what I was thinking and I just felt like sharing it...

A Day in The Life of A Book...

Just imagine for a minute what it would be like to be a book, sitting on a dusty shelf most of your life, taken down once in a while and pages flipped, maybe if you're lucky, someone will pick you to be the one to be read but mostly you'll be pretty much sitting on your ass all day doing nothing. Sounds interesting? Well let me assure you that it is anything but that. For one thing, you can never really rest in peace, there are too many words in your head (more like your belly!) and if that wasn't bad enough, a lot of people will spend a lot of time talking about you. Either they will praise you to the skies or just plain criticize you. That is not all you have to endure. If there is a natural calamity your owners will like as not run for their lives and leave you to the mercies of the elements. On a bad day you may even be flung across the room to make a point. So all in all, prospects look bleak, huh? But you know what at the end of the day, it's worth going through all of that to know that if and when someone does take the time to read you, you will spread some warmth...the warmth of knowledge.

Ishita-isms!

These are just a few examples of the genius of Ishita Sharma. Her wit and humour have brought us all respite during the dark days of the exams. Here's hoping that she has plenty more up her sleeve to light our way through the years to come. Good work and keep it up!

What is punctuality? It is the art of waiting for those who are not punctual!

Statistics ne tadpane ka kiya vaada hai,
Ab kalam me syaahi kam, gum zyaada hai.
Haaye mar jayenge, hum toh lut jayenge,
Aise exam liya naa karo! Khudaya khair.
First line meri apni hai, aur baki gaano ke subtitles hai.
Hehehe meri stats mein buri halat hai.
What about you buddy?

The cost of studying cost accounting is loss of peace of mind, loss of patience, loss of confidence, loss of few grams of body weight, loss of precious time...ahh costing is costing me too much!

E - Extreme
C - Child
O - Oppression
Yes, that is the new definition of this totally weeaaoonn...type of subject. To add to the agony it has a f***ingly big syllabus. Ek do teen chaar band karo yeh atyachaar! Vaise maine abhi hi padhna shuru kiya hai, ur zyada bored nahi hoon, par yun hi kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aate hain. (Yeah the previous dilogue has been churaofied from the old song). Happy Studying!

A sweet relationship is pillow...
When tired you sleep on it,
When sad you drop tears on it,
When angry you punch it,
And when happy you hug it!!
So come on, now next time you take break from PPM, say thanks to it for being your best companion. And yeah don't be too loud varna bedsheet bura maan jayega!

Life Lessons In Traffic...

I came home to Mumbai for the holidays on Friday and my first thought on entering the city limits was about the endless traffic that would plague us for atleast the next 3 hours (it is ironical really, that it takes only 3 hours to get from Pune to Mumbai but yet another 3 hours to cover the length of the city to reach home!). I was proved right as very soon we were engulfed in the famous sea of traffic so typical of Bombay but what I hadn't realised was that my memory was extremely faulty. Having lived in Bombay for 5 years before moving to Pune last year, I would have thought that I would be used to all the noise, heat, pollution and endless wait by now but surprise, surprise nothing was quite the same as what I remembered. Now there could be 2 reasons for this, one being that indeed things had changed, maybe the traffic situation had worsened, there were certainly many new routes that I didn't recognize but then again there was nothing drastic to explain the feeling I had, of complete alienness even when looking at familiar landmarks. The other reason which is definitely more interesting is that the human mind always frames the things that it wants to remember in the brightest of hues and hence I could only recall in isolation the demerits of road travel in Bombay without actually connecting it to the present situation. Since this thought hit me about halfway through the journey, I thought (pun intended) that I should carry it forward to see where it goes. It occured to me that things in the past have a way of seeming larger than life. We always feel that the good times were better than they actually were and the bad times worse than they really were. It's only human to do so, to paint memories in whatever shade we see fit because we are biased either towards or against the situation. There is a lesson to be learnt from this: we should never consciously try to recreate a situation where we have been happy for we will inevitably feel betrayed by the fact that it doesn't match the memories that we have of that place and time. And since we wouldn't ever want to recreate a disheartening situation, let me assure you that it only seems worse because we are potrayed as the victim and that automatically awakens the dramatist in us all. So the point is that times will change as surely as the seasons, just let life take it's course and don't try to go back for if we do then we will only end up disappointed. Let go of anything that pulls you back and take the first step forward, it may be painful at first but it is worth it. Life goes on and you can't possibly stand still, you can try of course but the likelihood of you falling flat on your face is very, very high. Think about it...Till then I bid adieu.

To Choose OR Not To Choose?

Today I learnt an important life lesson, it's called CHOICES, we are faced with them every day of our lives, practically from the minute we wake up (Should I get up right now or snooze for another 10 minutes?) till the time we go to sleep (Should I sleep right now or stay up and watch a movie?). I've often heard people say that there are no right and wrong choices just good and bad choices; I wish to amend that: there are JUST choices. You cannot possibly classify each one of the millions of choices we make in a day as good or bad! You might argue that we should atleast ensure quality in our most important choices but then again how do you define 'importance'; what is important to one person may be completely irrelevant to the next. The argument as you see could go on forever (literally!). Hence I would like to lay this subject to a rest forever by saying that there are JUST choices, and for whatever it's worth they are what define us. We live each day as a consequence of our choices (now thats something in which there is no choice!) no matter what they might be. I truly salute the people who have realised that their life is their own creation and accepted responsibility for the choices they have made. The so called life changing or 'important' choices that we make are neither easy to make nor easy to live with (in case they affect our lives adversely) but the fact still remains that they were our own choices and we may as well be cheered at the thought that atleast we are animals of intellect capable of making choices of such nature. So we have a choice to make: Do we wallow in the past regretting decisions we've made just because people labelled them 'bad choices'?! or do we take a firm step forward and choose to make the best of the time we have? Think about it. There's always a choice, be it good or bad, right or wrong, easy or difficult, straight or crooked, worthwhile or worthless, the list of labels could go on forever! My advice: Leave the labels in the closet where they belong (ok, that wasn't me, it was Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and The City)

Till then dear reader I bid you adieu and here's wishing you Happy Choosing!

Year's End...

The time has come for fond farewells and a few tears (in some cases a lot!). Yes, thats right it's the end of a year and although it feels like it began just yesterday, it really did start off in the June of 2008 when each of us unknown to the others (except Appu and Madhu, they went to the same school) came to be a part of Symbiosis BBA. Coincidence? I would rather call it a fortunate accident or serendipity, doesn't the word have a beautiful ring to it? And now as each of us parts ways for the summer it feels like we are leaving a part of ourselves behind, undefinable and unrecognizable but a part nevertheless. The past year has been a rollercoaster ride of fun and frolic that I do wonder if it was a dream and then I realise that no dream could ever match the very real feelings that we've all come to associate with this group of ours called (I have no idea why!) 'The Geeks'. Mihir and Tarang have actually composed poetry about us so I figure that it has been quite something. It is really amazing how fast time flies and more importantly how different things are now from what they were...

Here is my message to 'The Geeks' for the summer:

Enjoy every day that you get,
For these days shall go by
Never to return again

Enjoy every hour that you find,
For these hours shall pass
Never to return again

Enjoy every minute that you see,
For these minutes shall fly
Never to return again

Enjoy every second that you live
For these seconds pass mighty quickly
Never to return again

Enjoy all the time that you have
For time once gone
Never returns again

Anyway have an amazing summer you guys and see you all in June 2009 for a fresh new year which stretches out like a blank canvas to be painted upon by none other than US!

Exam Fever!

Exam Fever is back! And this time it's knocking harder than ever before (or does it feel that way every time?). As Ishita would say, "The exams are knocking but I'm not ready to open the door yet!". It's a little hilarious actually, especially when 10 people are all studying together. We somehow always end up having the best conversations when we are actually supposed to be studying, I really wonder how that happens. Take last night for example, we all decided to sit and chat for a while after dinner, to you know get refreshed and gear up for some serious studying later and before we knew it the clock struck twelve and the rest as they say is history. This is not the first time it has happened, taking a break in our group is a dangerous phenomenon because if someone does not keep track of the time, we are all liable to fail. Thankfully we have Sehal for that. We always end us convening in her room for our 'break' sessions and then we are duly reminded to get back to the books. Each one of us has our own peculiar way of handling the pressure; while some of us will stay stuck to the books till kingdom come (read Shruti) there are some who well don't really care (read Appu, just kidding) and rest of us are somewhere in the spectrum in between. Anyway the point is that now is time to gear up and give it our best shot. So best of luck all for the upcoming exams, may we come through with flying colours and then home sweet home!

Just A Lil' Bit Of Hope...

Hope is a funny word...but only because I think it's a combination of HOME and ROPE. You see there can only be hope if you are tied firmly and securely (with a rope of course!) to the place that you call home (not literally but the thing that is deep down inside your heart). If you think carefully you will realise that I'm not completely crazy because in the truest sense, when you are floundering in the troubled waters of life, your only lifeline is that rope that pulls you home. Hence it is aptly called HOPE. No matter how crazy, insane, whacked, pathetic, horrendous, disappointing, disheartening, humiliating, depressing or catastrophic the situation may be, there is always hope. It is the sweetest music, the most comforting food and the gentlest lover there can ever be. Just a little bit of hope can lift your spirits no end on a gloomy day. It is the soothing balm that brings peace to the most anguished soul. To return to some cliched quotes, "There is always light at the end of the tunnel", "Even the darkest night is followed by the light of day" and "He that hopes shall always prosper" (ok, I made the last one up, couldn't think of any more hope quotes!); they all say the same thing! Keep Hope!

We have all heard the beautiful story of how hope came into being. The story of Pandora's Box. It is said that once upon a time there was a world where there was no pain or sorrow, no illness or disease, no hard work and everyone was forever joyful. In this world there lived Epimetheus and Pandora. Pandora had been given a large box by Zeus, God of Gods and had been instructed to keep it closed. But she had also been given the gift of curiosity and thus one day when Epimetheus was away, she opened the box and lo and behold she unleashed on mankind, all ills, toils and sickness. The world was at once engulfed in sorrow and pain and there remained no joy. In her dreary and miserable state, Pandora sat beside the box and suddenly heard a small voice inside asking her to open the box once again. She was scared, very scared because she wanted to do no more harm but she opened the box nevertheless. And the thing that came out of the box was none other than hope; hope that gently wiped away all the tears that had been shed and once again returned joy to the world. And the world was a better place to live in.

On that note, I shall bid adieu and here's hoping that we all keep hope alive, always...

A Tribute to Abbreviations...

k. This little alphabet has certainly gained a lot of importance these days. Just in case you, like me a while back, are wondering what the hell 'k' stands for, it is an abbreviation for 'okay'. Yes, it wasn't enough that it was first shortened to 'OK' but now it seems we are lazier and hence it is down to that one alphabet - k. Actually sometimes it's 'kk'; now I really wonder what that is supposed to mean (apparently it means the same thing!). I don't get it really but the irony is that I use it too, a lot actually. There are many more such abbeviations that I don't get, for instance 'y' for 'why' and 'u' for 'you', I mean why the sudden fondness for phonetics?! The list is endless actually, 'brb' stands for 'be right back', 'btw' for 'by the way' and the worst one 'lol' for 'laugh out loud'. Seriously, in a face to face conversation would you ever tell anyone to laugh out loud? My guess is NOT, but what do you know, in cyberspace anything is possible. I never really got the hang of 'XOXO' either but then I guess it's just me being old fashioned and wanting to read full words (and full sentences for that matter!) whenever I'm reading. Here's a typical example of how we simply crucify the pure English language:
A: hey
B: hi
A: wat up?
B: nothin. jus chillin.
A: cool. wanna hear a joke?
B: k
A: blah...blah...blah...
B: lol
A: listen i gotta go. later.
B: k. bye.

I wonder why it has become the way it has; is it just because life is speeding up and there is so little time for everything we do that we inadvertently resort to cutting down on the length of the words we use? I know that once upon a time there used to be endless leisure in which one could conduct correspondence in any manner of their choice and thus there was never a question of resorting to abbreviations of any sort. People actually used to spend hours and hours on composing the perfect letters. Those were the days when every piece of mail was almost a literary masterpiece. But now it's kinda tough to follow every damn rule in the book and hope to get the point across in the limited time you have as well as have a complete 'conversation' with the person in question so I guess this is the part where I heave a hugh sigh and bid goodbye and shed a few tears for the days gone by (in case you didn't notice, that rhymed!). Anyway, the point of this little monologue was to gently poke fun at those ridiculous abbreviations but somehow I seem to have (as usual) gone into philosophy. So kindly excuse my poor soul for it's erronous ways as I do bid you adieu.

Happy Women's Day!

I know it's a little late in the day (actually it's the next day), but Happy Women's Day! This is a tribute to all the women I know, not just the ones in the picture but anyone who happens to read this. The reason I've picked this particular picture is that it was a day of FUN and sometimes in life you need to have some pure, unadulterated FUN. It sort of brings out the best in you! So here's a message to all the women out there, "Have a Break, Have a KitKat"...Just Kidding. But seriously, women are capable of moving mountains and they frequently do, actually. So sometimes it wouldn't hurt to give yourself a pat on the back for doing a brilliant job and then taking the day off maybe. Relax, read a book, listen to music, watch a movie, whatever makes you happy! Let's not wait for 8th of March every year to celebrate being a woman, lets make it an everyday occurrence and then see how beautiful life can be...
PS # The women in the picture (clockwise from top left) are: Shruti, Aparna, Abhilasha, Arushi, Ishita, Madhulika, Sehal and Antara and the occassion is the trip to Lonavla on Mihir's birthday. Sonali couldn't make it that day and hence does not appear in the picture.

Very, Very Random...

I sometimes wonder at the pace of life....Things happen at the speed of light and before you know it (and sometimes you don't even know it!), you are suddenly thrust into a whole new world where things are so different, you are just left wondering, like me actually. So getting back to the topic at hand, the speed with which things happen. Life has a way, you know, of throwing things at you when you least expect them and you are just left floundering. When it rains, it pours, if you know what I mean. When the good times are rolling, life rocks but no sooner do you begin to get comfortable in your cocoon, wham! and just like that there is catastrophe and then some more. While looking at a photo album all we see are the happy times, but have you ever wondered what it takes to make it from one happy moment to the next? That my friend is called 'LIFE', and living it up to the fullest is apparently the newest mantra (if I am to believe the erstwhile TYs in their Yearbook Forms). Anyway I have no idea of where I have reached but I think I should round this one up by saying that, life with all it's quirkiness, idiosyncracies, unfairness, bad days, sad days, joys and sorrows; is all we've got so make the best of whatever you've got. Forget about what is done, don't plan too much into the future, just concentrate on the here and now and watch how wonders unfold. In all fairness, nobody said life would be fair, so lets just leave that inane statement, "Not Fair" in the closet and venture into the unknown armed only with the knowledge that anything (and I mean absolutely anything!) can happen.

Cheers to that!

PS # I think I need to make an official mention here that the "Cheers" is the Trademark of the Tribe Queen Anuja Anil Pradhan and here's hoping that she will continue to allow her humble and most loyal subject to sign off with it. Until then....Cheers it is!

The Days Of Our Lives

I think the time has now arrived to explain exactly how and why this blog was created. The original idea was that the bunch of us are so crazy that there should be a book dedicated to all our antics (well..maybe not all). That idea was soon scrapped as we realised that no one in their right mind would publish a book with no literary content whatsoever and thus dear reader you are one of the fortunate ones to witness for yourself, the Days Of Our Lives (Sorry, totally ripped that off FRIENDS). Anyway, just to give you a glimpse of the stuff you can expect, here are some snippets of incidents so far....


One day it was decided that since the mess dinner was unbearable, the order of the day would be Maggi. Mind you this was one of our initial days in the hostel when we used to religiously eat whatever food was doled out to us, so it was a big achievement (you could almost call it a rebellion!). Anyway the long and short of it was that we ended up with one packet of Maggi to be shared among 9 (very hungry!) girls. Needless to say it was quite a sight to see everyone diving to get a bite of dinner!


Another incident that comes to mind was the time when a few of us were burning the midnight lamp in order to finish a project, and a certain someone (OK, it was me) made the mistake of dozing off for a little while (can't have been more than 5 minutes) only to wake up and discover that my face was covered in designs (with permanent markers!) that would scare even the most vicious of tribes in the heart of Africa. The perpetrators of this crime (who barely escaped prosecution) were quite shameless, rolling with laughter and laughing harder when it was discovered that the marks wouldn't all come off! This continued for 2 days i might add!

Thats all for today folks but many, many more to come....Till then Cheers!

Totally Bizzare!

This is bizzare! This is more than bizzare! This is the first time in the history of the world that students are being allowed to access the internet during the course of an exam. Thats right, you heard me right, internet access during an EXAM! Okay, okay, it's not exactly as rosy as that. The exam in question is a Tally (an accounting software) exam and requires us to sit in the computer lab for an hour finishing the paper after which there is an everlasting wait while everyone has to answer FIVE lousy viva questions and only then are the gates of freedom opened. Hence, students like me who have a long, long wait before their viva are allowed to surf the net while they wait. And hence this blog is the product of sheer boredom and some respite. Now that the respite is over, boredom sets in again and I attempt to analyse the reasons behind the actions of my fellow students. A majority of them are immersed in a vicious game of Counter Strike while the remaining population is divided into two groups; one that is glued to their facebook/orkut accounts and the other that is busily scrutinizing their exam question hoping to redefine perfection. It must be mentioned that there are very few in the last named category. I would say the ones in CS category are the ones who know how to make the best out of the situation; i mean they aren't cribbing or bothering anyone, just enjoying a game they like. The social networking category however seriously need a disease named after them, something related to addiction, would be appropriate. I mean, come on, these people are either uploading photos or scrapping someone or writing on someone's wall or sending and receiving invites...they need a break! As for the rest, well what can I say, until recently (10 minutes ago to be precise) I was one of them, so I prefer not to comment. Anyway now that I have scared away most of the readers, I shall not torture the rest. Until next time then...Cheerio!

Here Goes Nothing...

Well, here goes nothing...This is my first ever blog and hopefully not my last.
A year of college is almost up and it's only now that I realise the fact. Why now, you might ask. The reply, as crazy as it may sound is that the Oscars will be airing in a few hours time. What is the connection? Well last year, I had the luxury of making myself a cup of coffee and comfortably settling down on my favourite spot on the couch and viewing the aforementioned award ceremony for the entire length of it's screening (Of course this had it's repercussions, namely my mother's incessant screams that I would fail my Board Exams). This year however, being away from home and living in a hostel, the few of us enthusiasts will have to settle for cold, hard, plastic chairs and most probably no coffee (sigh!). As thoughts of home come back to me with speed that will definitely defy light and sound, I find my enthusiasm fading. I'm sure I will spend the entire time reminiscing about absolutely pointless things, which might not be too bad actually but certainly defeats the purpose of waking up at 5 am! I truly salute the enthusiasm displayed by a fellow fan of the Oscars; in her own words, "I am getting up and watching, no matter what!!". I must mention here that this is the person, who has to be literally hauled out of bed during exams in order to complete her revision. I guess that is what life is about - ironies. Anyway she has solemnly promised to give me a buzz once she is up so that we may not break ranks, even though I am still in two minds. Lets see what the morning brings....Till then Cheers!