A rant against 'Society'

Society: A community of people living in a particular region and having shared customs, laws and organizations.

Society is not really a new concept. Mankind has been living in societies, big or small, since ages. And it even makes sense, you feel much more empowered and secured in a group than as an individual. But what about the concept of society in modern times?

I am an introvert. And as an introvert I seldom feel the necessity to interact with people without any reason. Let me give you two examples here:

• It's been 7 years since I have shifted to a new neighbourhood, but I still don't know the names of most of my neighbours. I don't know what they do, and how many family members they have. I don't care what they do for a living. And I don't remember taking any kind of help from them, although I might have helped them a few times.

• When I was in college, we were told to be seniors' pet because ultimately they are going to come handy in all the situations. Now I may be an exception here, but I never really required any senior in any matter whatsoever in my 4 years of college life. And I beg to differ that the situation would have been much different if the seniors were there to 'guide' us.

Now, I am not saying that we shouldn't be interactive with our neighbours/seniors or people who may not be directly or immediately helpful to us. Of course, it's useful to live in harmony with everybody. But, I just want to prove that while it may be difficult in some situations, it's not at all impossible to live sans the help of the society in modern times. All you need is own your support staff (which in most cases is your immediate family and friends).

And this lets me make my main point: if we don't really need society to live in present times, my question is why are we still expected to conform to the arbitrary norms set by this intangible entity called "society"? If I never cared what people in the society are doing, why should I give a rat's arse about what society thinks of my behavior and attitude?

Again, I am not saying that we shouldn't behave ourselves or be allowed to do whatever the heck we think of. That will invite nothing but chaos. I am just saying that I don't feel the need of this society's acceptance to do something. My only concern has been and will always be what my family and friends think of me. Whether they accept me for who I am or if they have some problem with anything that I do.

So, what's the catch then? The problem is that your near & dear ones don't feel the same. And it's their self-inflicted need to behave in accordance with what the "society" wants:

• Nobody cares if I wear certain types of clothes but your family wants you to be a 'gentleman'. They don't want the society to think that you are a 'rogue'.

• People might not notice your drinking/smoking habits, but your friends won't want to be seen with a chain smoker/addict.

• There is an extreme pressure on you to live up to your family's expectations by getting education from the best institutions possible and bag that top-notch job, so that the family doesn't feel humiliated by hearing the relative's kids' salary tab.

• Your spouse would want you to behave in a certain way so that They don't feel embarrassed in a party.

...And you will have to oblige, because you love them!

I feel that there are just too many unsaid rules, besides those that are stated in Law, which one must follow in order to live up to the 'expectations' of the society. Otherwise, you will be branded a 'rebel' or a 'loose character'. 

• You won't get good matches to marry (as if this is the ultimate goal of life).

• You won't have too many friends (why so much pressure to have 100s of friends?). 

• Society won't accept you as their own (I ask who gave this society the right to tell what's wrong and right for us?).

I don't know where it ends. And I don't understand why this society can't let us live our own damn path3tic life? Why does it need to interfere in every matter of our life? 

Or may be all this is just not true at all. May be everyone is only concerned about themselves and they don't have time to think what others are doing (at least I don't). May be this pressure to live up to the society's high standards are created by our own fickle minds. Nobody actually gives a rat's arse. 

Think about it. 

When Friends Become a Problem

'A friend is someone with whom you don't have to pretend to be somebody else, you don't require their approval for something, because you know that they will accept you howsoever weird you are or whatsoever weird stuffs you do.'

~RavS, 2012

I like to talk about my friends almost as much as I like to talk about myself. The 1 line intro about myself on the blog and the number of blogs tagged with the keyword 'friends' shows that.

In recent times some interesting situations related to friends have developed which I would discuss here.  Hopefully some of you would read this, and we can together brainstorm and find some viable solutions to these 'problems'.

I am a reserved person, and I take good amount of time opening up with somebody. As a result, I have had only a few (but very close) friends. I am not in touch with most of my school mates and unfortunately it's the same with college mates as well. But still all in all, I am contact with a lot of great persons. Which is one of the root causes of my troubles! I will come to that in a minute...

We all have friends, right. Some of us have only a few, while others have way too many to count. But   does it make sense to our Facebook friends as our real friends? I bet half of them are acquaintances at best. While it's coo! to say I have 459 friends, it just doesn't work that way. Yes, it sounds sweet to call ALL our school mates, college mates, or work colleagues as our friends, but if I apply my above stated definition, the number of persons who would qualify, would be just a fraction of whom one calls as ‘friends’. 

I would say, a better term to use for them would be 'contacts' or 'network'. Which means many of them will come in handy when you require something and you can in turn help them out when they need you. A strict give and take relationship supported by some old memories spent with them, and a few conversations here and there thrown in between. That, by the way, isn’t such a bad thing according to me.

My personal problem with too many friends arises when I consider them all as equal. When I say I am a friend with someone, it's my moral responsibility to be in touch with them, to know about their whereabouts, and to inform them what’s going on in my life. Now, if I do that with about 50 people, the only work I would be doing all the time, would be to ‘be friends’ with them.

So, somewhere a distinction has to be made about who among your contact list qualify as acquaintances, and who are close friends and a part of an extended family. I am trying to find that distinction and balance.

The second problem that I am having nowadays is being forced to choose between work and friends. Now friends are an integral part of life, almost as important as family. But for me, work is equally important because it defines who you are. In last one year, if I have learned something about myself, it's that being competent enough to do something useful, being able to contribute to some cause is essential for my very existence.

You only have 24 hours in your day, and there is only so much that a human can achieve within that time frame. It’s so easy to be in contact with friends when we are in school/college/workplace together because we see each other on a daily basis. We laugh, we joke, we help each other all the time. But when we have to part with them and other priorities come up, it starts getting incredibly difficult to keep up with the same people. Your schedule is no longer in sync with theirs.

So, the crux of the matter is the following questions, that I have been battling with, in recent times:

1. How do you cope up when you have too many friends?
2. How do you draw the line between 'friend', 'good friend' and 'my bro/sis'?
3. How do you balance the time that you need to devote to work and the time you need to devote to friends?

If have any answers to them, please do comment.

And yes, if it makes you feel any better, “Happy Friendship Day”.

एक बेरोजगार की आह...

क्यूँ पूछते हो मुझसे तुम ?
वही सवाल बार बार


बस थोडा थक गया हूँ,
नहीं मानी है पूरी हार

कल तक कहा 'चैम्प' मुझे

अब कहते हो,हूँ मैं बेकार

अब तकल्लुफ बस करो,
मत पूछो ये मुझसे यार

लो मैं ये खुद कहता हूँ,
हाँ ! हाँ ! हूँ मैं 'बेरोज़गार'.




--कात्यायन पाण्डेय "घायल"

Reserved Thoughts

So much has been said and acted upon reservation that it seems nothing else is left to be said or done. And yet, every year the same question arises again. I always wanted to say something of my own on this flaming topic. I know, a lot of people might not agree with what I say but what needs to be said, needs to be said.

I am from General Category. Which means I have never "enjoyed" reservation of any kind. And that leads to frustration; when you see other "less capable" students reaching where you want to reach. And in reality it doesn't serve any one, since those who eventually get admission also quickly realize that it they shouldn't have!

It is frustrating to see everyone and their dog enjoying reservation these days. Reservation for SC, ST, OBC categories, reservation for migrants, reservation for minorities of all kind, reservation for girls, reservation for handicapped, state quota, foreign quota, management quota, EWS quota... There are so many kinds of horizontal and vertical reservation that I believe General category students should also get a special reservation of their own! Don't get me wrong, I fully support some of these reservations. And had I been getting benefits of reservation somewhere, who knows I might have been supporting all kinds of reservations!

Having said that, I think if reservation has been granted after all, then it is idiotic not to take it. I see scores of seats go empty every year in college since there are no eligible students in the reserved category for them. I see women travel standing in the buses because some lazy ass men have occupied their reserved seats, and they are too chicken to ask for their own right.

Reservation in a way has been good for me too. Some of my bestest friends come from reserved category whom I might have not met if they weren't from their respective categories. Of course, counter arguments can be given that one is bound to find good friends wherever one goes, but as I look back, I am not ready to trade them with any one else.

I think reservation per se is not the main problem. For me the lack of sufficient resources is. Even if you abolish reservation fully, the cut throat competition will still exist. So until and unless we can generate enough resources the headache is not going anywhere. Think about it, if 120 students are sitting in an exam for 100 seats, do they really need reservation?

Tell me who among them needs/deserve reservation and who doesn't.

And the biggest malaise for reservation is not the reservation itself. It's the ill thoughts attached with reservation. Personally for me, caste is nothing to be talked about (just like religion). But, reserved category students are still thought of as "lower caste". Casteism is still strongly prevalent in educational structure (which is ironic, since main aim of education is to free us of this third world thinking). People instead of working hard to grab the opportunities are doing everything in their power to either get or stop reservation, which brings further hatred towards each other.

I think to an extent reservation is still needed. And in some cases (PH) it will always be needed. But it's important to not take it for granted. People who need reservation must be given, but it should also be taken promptly from those who don't need them any more without caring for vote bank/protest. Children need to be taught of value of hard-work rather than short-cut. "Quota to hai hi!" thinking must go, for good!

So, what's your own thinking about Reservation? Please let me know in the comment section. (please keep your reservation status away while giving your views!).

Kill me... So I don't feel terrorized

This is going to be another blog post written in a fit of rage. And I have reasons to feel this way. Because once again I feel like crap. Yet another terrorists attack in an Indian city and as it usually happens yet another failure on part of us to stop it.

Well I just don't know what to say at this moment. I haven't had (God forbid) a first hand experience of a terrorist attack, so I don't know how that feels. But I still share the pain and anger of so many Indians who are suffering today and or have suffered before. Because I know how it feels when a loved one is taken away from you without warning. In my case, it wasn't unnatural but still untimely death and even after 2 years I haven't been able to come on terms with it. So, on some level I do understand.

And along with pain, there is anger and frustration. And there is tonnes of it. Because year after year after year, we get attacked by some bloody lunatics, sometimes in the name of "Jihad", sometimes in the name of revenge against "Jihad seeking people", sometimes in the name of not getting their "rights". And every time we are able to do nothing (except of course "condemning" the attacks and feeling sorry).

Attack happens, then people volunteer to help each other, there are RIPs and condolence messages sent, blogs (like this one) are written, opposition parties blame the ruling party, central Govt. blames state Govt., everybody blames failure of intelligence, TV channels sensationalize the issue and the so called debates go on for days to find out what went wrong, and then we let the police investigate the issue for months until it's forgotten. Then we get busy with our lives; until next time. But I don't blame people for that, because we don't have time to stop and feel terrorized. 

But the simple fact is that slowly and slowly the terror is creeping in. When I was a kid, I didn't know anything about terrorists attacks (even though a few had happened at that time). But as I grew up in the last decade, the terror network and the rate of terrorists attacks has grown up with me. And today the situation has become so worse that, even though I won't say that I feel terrorized to go outside, the fear of getting attacked is there somewhere in the mind.

And that leads me to suspicion; I feel suspicious of my fellow passengers, the way they behave, the things they are carrying etc. I imagine what would happen if "this" bus full of passengers gets blown up and the catastrophe afterwards. You can call me anything you want for doing that, even a coward if that suits you. But the simple fact is that I value my life, because there are people dependent on me, and will become even more dependent as I grow old. If something happens to me, they get brutally affected.

And I think I don't deserve this experience, neither do my fellow citizens. Why can't we be like people of so many other countries who are living a may be little more miserable but a terror free life? 

So how do we get out of this mess? I don't know. I am not the policy maker, I am not the judiciary. I am just an ordinary citizen ratting out, demanding his right to travel freely anywhere in his country, without any fear. They tell women not to roam in cities at late night, because "it's dangerous and stupid". I am waiting to see when they declare getting out of home at any time of day "dangerous and stupid" for ALL the citizens.

I don't know how to stop the terrorists attack or how to deal with these kinds of situation. But I tell you one thing, if someone tries to hurt my family in anyway, I won't take it lying down. I won't negotiate with them; I will retaliate with all my spirits (never mind if I fail/get beaten down in the process). I will let them know Loud & Clear that I am there to protect my family, so they feel terrorized the next time they think of doing something like that. Because if I can't do that then I don't deserve to be a part of my family.

Main, TV aur Vo... (sab bakwaas)

When I didn't have the computer system (around 7 years ago) TV was the main source of entertainment for me. So, I would spend hours watching TV especially on Holidays. After getting Cable Television the choices increased exponentially. So always had something to see. Getting another TV seemed God sent. But soon I started tor realise that it was actually a curse rather than boon.

Those bitchy vamp ladies started to laugh even more heinously and our sati-saavitri, holier-than-thou, I-m-the-bhartiya-naari, I-can-wail-more-than-you, heroine started to get more and more ugly with her cry cry. Here I am trying to sleep as I have to go to school tomorrow and here comes Paarvati-my-bhains and Tulsi-my-unmentionable, the next generation super heroins who could never be wrong and have taken the task of rooting every evil in the world. A few times I myself almost came to weeping because of head ache from their 'Shock.. Shock.. Shock..' scenes. 

A lot of years have passed since the first generation of rona-dhona Serials, but nothing much has changed. Every entertainment channel is advertising it's 'breakthrough' serial based on a 'new' concept. But you open any channel, it will still have a touch-me-not heroine who is always considered wrong and who will silently suffer because she is trying to save her family name. Who will never keep up with her work but will try and find a problem and then solve it. 

And the lady villains whom you never see eating, cooking, dusting or anything but always making plans to destroy their enemy. (I recommend them to our I.B.). The heroes who are actually side actors, always misunderstand and get misunderstood. Always, ready to get/give a slap when the heroine gets frustrated.

What's more hilarious is they always get to wear a new saari/dress in every episode even when they are almost at the verge of breaking down from depression. They will always wear makeup and tonnes of jewellery even when they go to bathroom. And I can bet with anybody that there can NOT be an episode where not even a single character cries truck-load of glycerin. 

The problem is that average viewers of such shows (housewives) really get emotionally attached to them and they really can not withstand anything wrong happening to the protagonist. Even they can't be blamed for the lack of 'real' entertaining stuff. So, it's like a chicken and egg situation.

When the scene of fictional series is such, the hope hinges on Reality TV shows. Now barring a few shows, the reality shows are even more depressing. Nothing looks real. Everything seems to be scripted in order to trick the stupid viewers to come and watch the drama. People are marrying on TV and then taking divorces once the show is over. A lot of people are fans of Big Boss. But I don't understand what people like in seeing 'celebrities' swearing at each other. And the latest "Maa Exchange" is such a ridiculous concept that I would like to personally exchange the Maa-Behen of creative head of the channel.

The only ray of light for me are the Sports channels and News Channels. But as I highlighted in one of my earlier posts, the sports channels are becoming more and more money hungry and fleecing the viewers. And ever since India TV came, it changed the concept of a "News Channel". None of the Hindi News Channel (now including NDTV India) will show you news without sensationalising/dramatizing it. And with English News Channels, you might have heard about a few things regarding CNN IBN too like how they are showing wrong reports and covering up things etc. So, don't know what else is left then.

There are a few other types of channels also like Music Channels which are perfect for limited time-passing, but nothing more than that. Or everyones' favorite (and safe to watch) Spiritual Channels. I have tried to watch them a few times, but they are so good (no pun) that I couldn't watch them over long periods, because of getting overwhelmed.

There are English movie and English Entertainment Channels but I am not really comfortable watching them with family (tell me if you are!). I have recently started watching (after downloading) foreign TV shows. They are like a breath of fresh air. So, it is so easy for me to get hooked to them and watch them episode after episode till the series gets over and then move onto another series. Everybody knows almost all Indian TV shows (except our own traditional Saas Bahu) concepts are 'inspired' from the foreign ones.

This is one of those blog post's where I give all the problems but don't offer any solution. I just can't think what can be done about this situation anyways. I guess till the time the viewers (the females in our family) do not start to say NO to such stupid stuff, I will have no option but to pour my frustration in a blog post. I really have high hopes from the new gen. alpha female. Please don't disappoint me ladies. Please.

Paper Setter's Mindset

"Let her/him attempt this paper and pass it"

"Did they copy the paper from another university?"

"WTF was that, was the paper of some other subject?"

"Did they got this paper made from the peon or from the lab assistant?"

Sound familiar? Heard of them? Well these are a few things either I have said or heard people talking about whenever the conversation turns to exams. And these days, I can't really blame anyone for thinking or talking like that. When one works really hard (well cramming GBs of data is not easy!), you expect to get rewarded for it by an easy paper (Of course, when you know the answer, the question is easy) and then some good paper checking, making the hard work successful and giving the mind the right signals that hard work is rewarded.

OK?? NOT OK

But the way we (OK, at least 'I') get the exam papers, my mind gets the signal that it is OK, if I don't work hard. It is OK, if I don't prepare fully for the exam. It is OK, if I bank on my general knowledge of the topic rather than actually knowing the answers to questions. It is OK, to just study a topic 5 mins before the exam and go and write the paper (ask me, I did it in my exam on 31st December 2010). But everyone including me knows, in reality it is NOT OK.

Ideally

(please take note of the word) the exam should be taken to check your 'general' understanding of the subject (not everybody is an expert in Analog Electronics alright). But the paper setter seems to think as if we would have become an expert in 3 months of studying the subject, like it was the only subject that we had to study.

Ground Reality

I find it most ridiculous when you get a 15 marks question when all 'you know' AND/OR 'it can be written about' is of 5-7 marks. So, what options do we have? • Growing the limbs and redundant body parts of the answers which should have only got the mid-gut (read core).• Choosing larger font size (16 rather than normal 11 or 12). Also making use of cryptic fonts (think Webdings or Monotype Corsiva). • Making the text 'centered' rather than 'justified' (leaving margins on both sides of sheet.) • Leaving a blank line after every 3 lines or so of text, on the pretext of making the answer seem legible and neat.

Size Does Matter

And teachers also seem to go for the length rather than the content of the answer. 

"You see, he has written 7" answer so he gets 8 marks while your answer is just 6.25" inch, I still gave you 6 marks, what else do you want?"

"You should have explained this also (even if it means going out of context). This is not enough for a 10 mark question (crap some more)"

Choices. Really?

I don't know which syllabus the paper setter follows, because you almost always get 10% or more of question paper 'out of syllabus'. What's hilarious is that those questions will be given as a choice. So, you exhaust all your choices in 'don't-know-from-where-the-MoFo-gave' questions. So, now all you are left with are the questions that are 'compulsory'. Hey, don't blame the paper setter, he/she gave you a 'choice'. It's you who didn't take it. The choices between questions is also horrible (See my this time's ACN paper to know what I mean).

And what's more ridiculous

...is the way the question paper is set. Instead of asking the question in a simple manner, they will twist it like Jigsaw Puzzle. There will be wrong or incomplete information provided in the question (shame for an end term question paper). The paper seems like has been made at the last moment, just like we prepare near the judgement day. So, whichever question is seen first is given without caring that it is actually going to be attempted by thousands of students in coming days and may be the deciding question for whether the student passes. Recently, a friend told me that his question paper contained significant number of questions from a single page of a book!

I know

...what I have written here is not 100% applicable for all the papers we get. I was quite impressed by the way last paper I gave was set. And University exam papers can't exactly be set like School Board exam papers, all scientifically prepared because they don't have that much resource or time. Also, some of what I have said might be the result of some bad exam experiences (lack of preparation, lack of intelligence, hard luck etc.). But what I have said is not entirely wrong. If you have ever faced University Semester style exams, you will agree with that.

PS: Now that I am all bossing around here like I know how to set the perfect paper, I wonder how I would have set the exam paper. Hmm.. Interesting! Well all I know is that I would have definitely experimented with different styles, like I do in blogging and life in general!

AdsAreTeasements

So, India-South-Africa Test Series concluded recently. And what a great series it was. Though India couldn't come out trumps but it was heartening to see them fighting RSA ball to ball (literally!).

But this post is not the 'post' series analysis by yet-another-wannabe-cricket-expert. This is actually about the agony of a long lost cricket lover who is just frustrated to see the deck of ads being slapped on him every second of his cricket watching moments.

I was a big cricket fan. I really was. Used to go to others' home to watch cricket since we didn't have cable TV at home in childhood. Liked to watch match from end to end and always remain scared when Sachin used to bat (thinking he will get out soon and the match will be over). Used to enjoy fall of each opposition wicket like only a true Indian fan can do. Have in memory a lot of memorable cricket moments. Well in last 5-7 years, I turned to other sports and so now cricket is not that much of a passion to me.

One can say I have moved on. But I would say I was pushed into NOT watching cricket. And I would partially blame Coke, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Airtel, Parley, LIC and other such companies for that. And more than them the very TV broadcasters, the courtesy of whom I get a live feed anyway. 

In good-old-days, there were ad intervals in between overs because the fielders used to take place and the batsmen took guard, changed ends etc. Sometimes, the match got so exciting that you desperately wanted a break, so it was good to see ads. Turn the clock to now-a-days. You see half of the first ball (bowler is already in action) and half of last ball (batsman defended, don't mind where the ball went), even half of the fall of wicket (Ball knicked the bat, it's going to a slip fielder, of course he is gonna catch, hey check out this latest ad of paan-masala).

And if that was not enough, slowly you started to get those side advertises in during overs. Replays and other 3D analysis were already sponsored, so don't worry about them. And now my new favorite TenCricket (Let's not be anonymous and POINT the culprits this time) has taken the Ad hysteria to an altogether new level by showing the ads on the grass close to wicket-keeper while the bowler is taking action. Now, all that is remaining is to see ads occupying the remaining center screen. Com'n why don't you change it to 24x7 shopping channel? Stupid me; I thought 'ads in between overs' meant "in between 2 overs". Now I know; it means "in the middle of an over".

OK, I agree cricket is a huge money game. Broadcasters have spent money lavishly to buy the cricket rights, and they have to get their money back. Every second of TV viewing is worth lacs. Every pixel of TV screen is like gold dust. But I have a question; is Cricket a more watched or higher value game than say soccer or F1? or even Tennis? OK, may be in India, what about worldwide? So, why is there not so many Ads during the transmission of those sports? OK, some of the tactics like Ads sidebar is employed there too (broadcasters are the same!) but still I can safely say, I watched more of Soccer or F1 than Advertisements.

Watching cricket now gives me a feeling that I as a viewer is being taken for granted. I don't have anything else to do, I don't have any other choice. So, come what may I will have to digest whatever crap is served on screen. Even the Ads Hungry Google doesn't do such an act!

I just hope this article/post reaches the eyes of some sports channel broadcaster (besides my friends). I am not saying don't earn money. By all means do it, but at least be ethical and care for your viewers.

My First Mental Vomit [Poem]

Well its frustrating,
Don't you think so?
When you have to say something,
But have no one to go.

Yes there are parents, but lets admit,
We haven't been as close to them.
Well may be when we were kids,
but now life's all different and grim.

Of course, there are friends to give a shout,
but they got their own problems too.
You don't want to freak them out,
and give them yours to chew.

Yeah, nowadays you have 'The Internet'
You can spend your whole life exploring.
But when you realize its hollower than thou,
It feels incredibly boring.
Google after all, is not the answer,
Not for everything.

Sometimes in life you hit a low patch.
And you seek someone to come hold you,
say "you idiot, why did you fall?"
and then listens to all your excuses,
without taking a call.
(I realize, one can do the same,
by standing in front of wall :)

And here goes inner pessimist:
"Hey, why would anyone choose a loser?
And if there is anyone, 'that' crazy,
Why would she choose me,
since losers are in majority."

So, you sit there alone,
or may be talk a walk.. lonely.
Oh God why this life sux,
Why can't I have a problem alley?

You don't always listen to me,
All I want is someone to listen.
But isn't made of concrete,
but blood and flesh.
OK not just a problem fellow,
but someone to share life's mess.
Someone a bit more intimate.
So you don't second guess,
just say and don't regret.

And when you realize its nowhere near you,
the frustration amplifies,
Noise in head screams out loud,
And the inner you silently cries.

Wanted to end this piece on a happy note,
say there is still battle to be fought.
That the 'solution' to problems is waiting somewhere,
eager to be found out.
Yes, hope is still there,
but that's dwindling day by day.
Becoming more and more difficult to tell now,
how much longer its gonna stay.

Is my faith weak or the 'fix' doesn't exist?

An Open Letter... to Mr. Kalmadi, President, IOA

Dear Respected Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, 

I am writing this letter to let you know what I think of about this whole CWG issue going on, fully knowing that I may not have the all the wisdom to talk about it, but still having the right to do so, being a concerned Indian. 

First of all, let me congratulate you for staging such a successful (at least for me) Common Wealth Games. I know that this wasn't done because of your efforts only. There was hard work and patience of numerous other people also involved. But since you were the head of this whole project, my first wishes are for you. 

Delhi got the Common Wealth Games 2010 hosting right in 2003 only. But, I was too small/ignorant to know about the significance of that at that time. I only came to notice about it at around 2006, when Indians went to Melbourne CWG to showcase their performance and invite the world to come to Delhi, India 4 years later. I was happy not only because India was staging a grand event, but also because the Government was promising a lot of dreamy projects in conjunction with Games. More roads, more flyovers, newer better buses, expansion in Metro network. Then there was mono rail project, renewing the Ring rail and beautification of whole city in general. And this got me salivating, after all people like me were going to take advantage of this later.But alas, many of these promised things either weren't delivered at all or were under-delivered. Of course, this isn't your fault, I know. 

2 years back, when media suddenly woke up to the reality that people under you were sleeping and working at a snails pace, then only I got to know about the whole issue of things to be done in order to stage the event successfully. But like typical Indians, I was hopeful that we will be able to do everything right at the end. And credit goes to you and other heads involved with the Games, who regularly kept on coming in open reassuring us that everything is fine and everything will be fine. But, things started to look a bit bleak when Mr. Fennell, President of CWG started to express serious concerns over the state of preparedness, there was even talk of shifting the event. And then there was that ugly cold war between you and CWG officials. Thankfully, you got it resolved on time and I felt that everything will be alright. Now I realise that like you, I was also trying to solve the problem by ignoring it. 

Anyway, as the time passed on the media became more and more hyper. Now, I don't watch news channels but the one paper that I zealously read seemed to be hell bent to prove that the Games are over before they even started. The horror news of all things bad started coming in the open everyday. For a moment even I got doubtful about the organization of Games, with deadlines after deadlines getting missed, unusually long rainy season, threat of Dengue and other diseases, bridges collapsing, corruption allegation, officials fumbling with their statements, negative publicity in the international media, athletes refusing to come, countries expressing apprehension over the security issue in the backdrop of a 'small' terrorist incident, people showing lack of interest in the Games, apprehension by sponsors et al. And it was disappointing as well as confusing. Everyone seemed to be against you. But you kept a brave face and refused to stand down till the whole thing was over. I truly respect what you did at that time. 

And finally the show arrived. I haven't had the opportunity to watch too many opening ceremonies in my life, but the one we organized will remain in my memory forever. It was heart warming to see the glory of India been shown in such a fine fashion. The roar of the crowd in the stadium filled my heart (and million others) with pride. And as we usually have, everything was forgotten quickly and temporarily to focus on the good part (finally!). I went to see a few games along with my friends and we had a great time (though we didn't win much!). But, the performance of Indians throughout the Games was exciting to watch. The Closing ceremony too was equally majestic. Now, I wonder, how would all this be possible without we organizing the Games. 

I believe that media has been biased against you. Your have been blamed for a lot of mess that wasn't yours. A lot of things going bad was because of the multiplicity of working agencies who were not ready to work in tandem and maintained a tendency of delaying things till the end. Even your own countrymen went against you because of hearing all the negative things about you. I didn't like you getting booed during opening and closing ceremonies. Thankfully, you didn't show any negative emotion then. 

But, even you will agree with the fact that, we could have done a lot of things better. The budget went to an astronomically limit reaching over 15 times the original estimate. While some of it is understandable, with inflation and procuring better facilities, but mostly money could have been saved with some smart management. It was amusing the hear about spectators being shown 'houseful' signboards but the stadium still going empty. But, you and your team were so busy taking care of million other things. 

And now that the show is over, the real show begins. You are being showcased as the real culprit, and seem destined to be trialed like Kasab. I don't have any special affection for you but I feel you should be acknowledged for what you did and should get a fair trial. If you are proved guilty than each and everyone involved must get a stick. It is so easy to criticize from a distance, but one should not forget that organizing event of such large magnitude isn't a mean task. Being made a scapegoat, is the least you deserve. I don't think you will get another chance, but you tried your best to get 2014 Asian Games into Delhi and are partly responsible for projecting a good image of India and brightening its chances to bid for 2020 Olympics.

I wish you could have resigned just after the Games. Here is wishing you good luck. 

Yours Delhiate 

RavS

Me and Autowallah(s)

First a short story: 

Last summer, I had to drop off one of my family member to the Old Delhi Railway Station. And family didn't want me to go in bus (along with the luggage). So unwillingly in the sweltering heat I left home in search of an auto. Now its well into noon. So, spotting auto was anyway difficult. But I tried and kept on asking one autowallah to another to go to the station. Everyone kept refusing: one said they won't go there, one said no petrol, one was too tired, one didn't even stop, one said he had prior commitments, one was charging astronomically high (so sad, his meter also wasn't working that day). After 6 unfailed attempts, and running around for about 2 kms, I finally got an auto to go there, that too by meter. And the reason he agreed was because the fare charges had increased that very day. Anyway, I took the auto back home and we started the journey to the station. All around the route, I thought he was taking alternative routes in order to take us for a ride. But I overlooked it, and kept my eyes on the kms travelled and doing fare calculations all the way (the meter wasn't updated with new fares). In the end the fare turned out to be 20 Rs. less than what the autowallah was originally asking. But then, he started asking for 10 Rs. luggage charge for 2 bags that were so light, that even I could carry them! So we haggled for sometime and didn't give him any 'tip'. End of Story 

Well the above incident is not one off. In fact, this is more the norm than an exception for me (and for many others I am sure). And that's where I hate travelling by autos. 

OK, I understand that CNG prices are rising day by day and the autowallahs have to spend a tonne in the maintenance of their carrier. And so periodic revision in auto fares is justified. What I don't understand is that even when the fares rise, they don't get ready to go by meters but instead start asking for more money. I would always want to go by meter even if it costs me more in the end. Whats fare is fair. At least, that way I will be saved from the headache of quarreling for fare. 

Another problem is that they simply refuse to go at some places, may be because they won't get another 'savaari' from that area or may be its too close/far off. But, doesn't auto come under public transport? So why do they think of it as a private vehicle in which they are doing us a favor by giving 'paid lift'. 

Yet another problem is their misbehavior. Now, all these problems may appear to be copied from the local newspaper, but I am writing these after experiencing them first hand. Many a times, they simply ignore the passenger. If you ask to go by meter they will bluntly refuse. In case you go on and say you will complain, then better watch out for those expletives. 

And well autowallahs isn't the only guilty party. Their poor cousins rikhshawallahs are even worse. Yeah, I know these are not good old 90's days where you can travel 3-4 kms for just Rs. 5. So, the minimum a rikshawallah will ask is Rs. 10 even if its for 1 km. The prices they quote (no really, they quote!) show undigestable variance. This Sunday only, one rikshawallah asked for 40 Rs. to go to a place where I went by giving Rs. 20 just 2 days before! For autos at least the govt. fixes the fare. But what about rikshaws? 

Now, the simple solution to all these problems is to simply ignore auto and rikshaws and use other means of transport, right? Well, that's exactly what I do. The distance that the rikshaw usually covers is < 3Kms. And I prefer to jog/walk my way till the destination. The autos usually cover a larger distance. But more often than not, you can get buses/metro also close to your destination. Yeah, they can be crowded, but I prefer physical discomfort than mental one (I admit, I am not the best in the world when it comes to bargaining). One less vehicle on crowded road because of you is an added bonus. And not to forget the large sum of (pocket) money you are saving doing this! 

But, alas, sometimes you don't have a choice. Some elderly person may be travelling with you. Someone might be too tired/weak/sick to walk with you. Or you may have to reach your destination at the earliest (not knowing exactly where to go). In all these conditions you have to return to bad old auto and rikshawallahs. Now, I will be fare (fair!) and say that I have met a few rikshawallahs and autowallahs that were kind enough to go by meter or whatever price you tell without much group discussion. But those ones are an endangered breed. 

So, God either give me strength to fight this unfare treatment from autowallahs or give them some brains, so I have one less thing to maunder about. 

PS: One friend of mine once said, "if you can't resist molestation, enjoy it." (it wasn't exactly 'molestation' he said). Another friend of mine, once told me an inspiring story of how a semi-literate man built a mini empire of sort by buying and running rikshaws. What I get from these two anecdotes is that, since I have suffered a lot due to rikshaws and I am not great in studies either, I should probably buy a rikshaw and become a rikshawallah. That way auto and rikshaws won't be a pain but competition! After all, Be the change you want to see.

I NO Longer WANT to be an Engineer

(The very first post turned out to be a Super blog rather than a mini one, as promised. Well, sorry, but I had strong opinions on this one..) 

First an excerpt from my friend's email.. 

To tell u the truth ! sometyms it's kind of frustrating to think one self as an engineer specially wen u have a university as gud (take it the other way) as mine. "6Th semester ends in just 1 n 1/2 months".how does that sound for tomorrow's times of india headline? but there is some respite , atleast from now onwards our course will be on time..but still i would say, whats the point of doing engineering like that?? i mean there has to be someone who should take responsibility..i mean, do we Indians even know the meaning of word" accountability?? any way, i won't bother u much ! since u are free..i'm giving u an open chance to air your views on this. 

Sounds familiar? Well, to me it felt like someone took my thoughts there and wrote it as his. When I started my B.Tech. I had a lot of hopes.. Hope that I will be a better person after 4 years. Hope that I will not only be getting a degree and a job but also knowledge and confidence.. Hope that I won't just be a B.Tech but a Computer Engineer.. After all I chose Computer Science..

3 years have passed since then. While I am still confident of getting a degree and a job in an year. But all the hopes that I had from the college and from the engineering education have been brutally shattered (sorry, if you don't like the metaphors but I don't have better words to explain how I feel).. 

I thought I will be doing innovative work, learning new technologies, building things that I could be proud and other be envious of, being in company of professors that are a master of their subjects... But, here I am today, doing the same old rot learning that I specialized in, back at school. Whats path3tic is that now, I can't even do that properly. Grades are getting lower and lower by each semester, dragging down the confidence as well. 

Last semester I had a real scare in an exam. I had 2 real bad experiences which I won't want to have ever again in my life. I got to know, how it felt like going completely blank in an exam. How it felt like not being sure if you are going to get in even 50%. 

Alright, so who is at fault here.. Me?

• Me, because I refused to study the subject just because I didn't like it and didn't know how was that going to help me anywhere in the future. 
• Me, who didn't regularly attend that particular subject's classes because the teacher not only couldn't generate any interest in the subject but also seemed a bit rude to me. 
• Me, who thought of passing yet another exam by just cramming the notes a day before the exam... Well if you also feel so, then, sorry I don't agree with you. 

I feel that a student should be given a right not to study any subject (say Maths) if he knows that he isn't exactly cut-out for it, and can better utilize his time making 3D models. If later, he will feel Maths has importance in his life, then he will automatically strive to learn it, as the need arises. 

I also feel that one should be given freedom not to attend any class if he/she doesn't . I mean, whats the use of torturing him/her for an hour when he/she is not interested to study that subject. Will having 70+% attendance going to insure good grades and more importantly attained knowledge? 

A counter-point that's given is that if there is no barrier of attendance then nobody is going to attend classes and there will be no difference in between a regular and a distance education college. 

Well, I disagree.. What I have seen is that, if the teacher is brilliant and can motivate students then the class is not going to be empty. Pupil come not to mark attendance but to actually learn something. They respect the teacher and automatically behave. And those who don't have any interests in studies, aren't going to attend classes, whether the minimum attendance is 70 or 90%... 

I am still to figure out..

• Why do we need to study 6 subjects in 3 months (excluding practicals) and why do we have to keep our files well maintained even-though they are going to be trashed at the end of the semester?
• Why do we have to spend half of the semester duration writing exams? 
• What are we actually going to learn in a 3 months (or in my friend's case in 1.5 months!) semester with books that seem more history than technology, teachers that seem more concerned with how the student looks or behaves in the class rather than what he/she is learning and a education system that wants to squeeze in every little thing to learn in 4 years time without even checking the ground reality and taking the problems of the learners into account.

• Can't we instead choose 3 subjects out 6 every semester and study them properly rather than juggling with all of them?
• Can't we spend more time doing practicals than copying practical work?
• Can't we go into exams with an assurance that our hard work will be rewarded with proportionate grades, and we won't get more or less marks than we deserve?

But hey, who am I to ask these questions. Just an ordinary student, who wasn't even smart enough to get into an IIT (as if IITians are the brightest blokes in this country). 

So, at last, to the question that my friend asked, I would say sorry my friend, there is no accountability in most part of engineering education in India. Their idea is that you can become an engineer only if you pass all the subjects they have prescribed and they will ensure that you get to sit for each of those exams (after all, you have paid money to them!). Now, whether you learn anything or not is not their responsibility. 

And yes, you have the right to remain silent in this matter.. Thank you very much.

PS: I dream of one day becoming the Education Minister of India and recognize the Engineering education and Engineer as a profession. They are no better than unskilled labors... And also, upgrade all diploma holders to degree holders so that they stop feeling inferior.