Kal, Aaj aur Kal

Today is International Literacy Day! Since 1966, it is celebrated throughout the world to highlight the importance of literacy. No doubt, the world is getting more literate day by day due to continuous efforts of organisations like UNESCO, the governments of different countries and various other non government organisations. And this significant improvement in world literacy has impacted the literacy rate in our country also. As of today, almost three fourth of Indian population is literate, and thus is friendly with 'letters'.

But numbers is not what excite me as far as literacy and education is concerned. The knowledge of 'letters' and the ability to read and write should add some value to the people. Education should not merely reduce to the transfer of information in classrooms, rather it should serve its purpose of imparting knowledge to the people, making them understand the difference between good and bad and imparting them the wisdom to go for the 'right' way leaving behind the wrong one.

Having said that,  I feel writing about two conversations which happened during the last week. The first one was with my flat mate Manish who teaches Physics at Oasis Institute. He was talking about how these days students have stopped putting in efforts into studies. "Aaj kal k bachchhe fight hi nahi maarna chahte questions solve karne k liye. Nahi bana to bhi thik hai, chhod do." However, he attributed this attitude of students towards removal of examination system from the education system due to which students don't feel the need to perform. and hence, they become lazy towards studies.

When I took up this discussion with Khandu, he said that this train was clearly visible in his classes as well. But unlike Manish, he doesn't attribute it to removal of exams. Khandu, on the other hand, contributes this attitude of students towards studies to the ease with which they get everything they ask for from their parents. Because of this relatively easy life they live, as compared to the students fifteen or twenty years back, they don't feel the importance of giving in proper efforts to get things.

I still remember the speech, on the importance of education in shaping my life and providing me freedom to do whatever I want in life, given to me by my teachers, and sometimes parents, whenever I showed slackness in studies. And yes, I didn't get everything I wanted as a kid. And sometimes I had to wait for my demands being fulfilled by parents. It was not like instantaneous fulfillment of demands which parents do today. And probably because getting everything I wanted as a kid was not easy, I learnt to put up a good fight.

We need strong social engineering in this regard to make sure that today's kids, when they grow up tomorrow, are also fighters and are capable and confident enough of achieving everything they want from life.

Facebook Friends

I always wondered whether Facebook and other such social networking sites actually help in making friends, or strengthening one's relations with the existing friends. I always saw Facebook as a place where people became 'friends' with others but never got connected with them. People made friends on Facebook whom they even didn't talk to ever. And some guys and gals used Facebook as a 'date search' forum to find out somebody to have a date with.

That's why I was probably one of the last few persons in my class to make a profile on Facebook. Even when I joined Facebook, it was a mere 'time pass' activity where I whiled away my boredom or just killed my extra time. I confess that Facebook became an integral part of my life but only the way the 'idiot box' becomes an integral part of some people's life. They spend a lot of time with it but get nothing out of it in return except for time waste.

But lately, my viewpoint about these online social networking sites and online friendships has changed. Okay let me rephrase it by saying that my viewpoint has slightly altered. I would have never become a good friend with Chirag had it not been for the online chats we use to do regularly. I think the amount of conversation we have had in one year after leaving the college must be at least four times more than the total conversation we had in the four years of college. And most of the conversation after college has been online, that too only through chats. The Outcome: A stronger friendship between us!

Similarly, had it not been Facebook, I would have never even known Nithya and Aman. I came to know about both of them through the PRS (Lamp Fellowship) page and as a result got to meet these people, with whom I have spent nice times. And I must thank Zukerberg today for making something as good as Facebook that I am friends with both of them. Hope many more nicer times are in the line! Both of you guys listening?

Not that after praising 'Facebook and online chat boxes' above, I have ,all of a sudden, become greatest of fans of these things. I still believe that the value of time these kill is much more than the value of 'total benefits' (which include the drawbacks of addiction, getting into wrong habits of random chat boxes discussing  'not so good' stuff etc) which these offer. But it again depends on the individual how to use these 'online goodies' for his/her own benefit!

And who cares if one gets to strengthen the circle of friends around? At least I don't! :-)

Roorkee Revisited (Am I running away?)

This post comes at least after 33 days after it should have been on this space. But thanks to my busy schedule(read laziness), I finally get time to sit and write it down. I visited Roorkee for a couple of days during 16-17 June last month. I reached Haridwar on 16th morning and the moment I sat in a bus for Roorkee, I was all beaming with excitement.  finally reached Roorkee at around 3 in the morning and I can still remember the thrill I had while having a walk from the bus stand to Ganga Bhawan. Nothing had changed, the same guards asking the same question on the gate, which they ask to all the strangers looking people (this time I actually was one), the same silence of early morning (early night by 'Thomsonian' standards), the same old buildings, the same old faculty quarters, the only thing changed probably were my feelings. 


The day was a cool, calm and quiet one. Slept through the first half, did time pass on net as I used to do during my college days, and yes felt a little nostalgic too at times. Spent the second half of the day with Shashi and Prashant, had nice time getting into the bakar like the old days. And while the bakar about all the unimportant things of the world was going on, I realized that despite I feel bad about the college getting over, I actually don't want to be in the college again. Yeah, I don't want to be studying engineering at IIT Roorkee again. I actually want to move ahead of the college campus and college life, the thought I was desperate about while I was in college. I remembered that I didn't particularly feel good while I was in college. And probably all the sweet and nostalgic memories of college now haunt me because, and only because, my life is not as comfortable as it was in college. Now I have to think of a lot of things, take care about what is happening and see that  I keep my sanity in the fast running world. 


This is a difficult job to do, but isn't this what I wanted in college? In college, I fantasied almost all the time about this kind of life which was challenging and not all cozy.


The next day was a busy one for me and by the time it got over, I actually wanted to run away to Delhi, my city, the place which makes me feel alive, which makes me happy!


And now when I am at my low and feel bad about the difficulties of life, and feel nostalgic about my student life, I ask myself a question: "Am I running away?"

English: A Necessity or an Option

IIT Bombay has decided to test students in English before they take admission into the esteemed institute. So, apart from the the grueling competition in Maths, Physics and Chemistry tests, students will have to face another ordeal before they get admission into the most coveted engineering college of the country. I find that a very good move as the medium of instruction at IITs is english. So, in order to understand and appreciate what is going on in the classroom, a student must be proficient in English. However, the good thing is those who are not able to pass the English test won't be denied admission to the college but they will have to undergo a bridge course. This would be an intensive preparatory course where students would be taught the basics of English apart from Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

However, in this process, a student would lose a semester and would be able to start his regular engineering studies only after a semester. This might make a few students reluctant in joining IIT Bombay and they might head towards other IITs but still, the overall profile of the students joining IITB would become better. Hope other IITs also follow this American system.

However, a few of us might argue on the fact that this move is not necessary as students who are not so good in English also manage to do all the courses without much difficulty, and hence this would lead to wastage of a semester for a few students. But if we look at the larger perspective, English has become a necessity these days. One needs to be internet savvy and unfortunately, we work in English on internet in our country. It is the language of our corporate conversation and research work, which students have to join after they obtain the engineering degree. So, one needs to have a basic level of understanding and fluency in English. Also, I have noticed that those who are good in English read a lot on internet or through books and/or journals (this might not be true always). And this gives them a lot of information about the world, or the things which happen in the world.

And there are some people, who in the name of patriotism, talk about removing English from our lives and adopting Hindi and other regional languages. I find that ridiculous. When the world is getting flat and we are moving towards more connectivity, removing (in stead of propagating) a common language from among us sounds like talking about going back to the medieval ages. When the biggest competitor of our country (China) is making English compulsory in their schools, we are making the way easier for them this way, I guess.

I am all for preserving our culture, our traditions, and everything we need to in order to have a separate identity but at the same time, having a separate identity doesn't mean keeping the developments and the other people at arms distance. That way we will not reach anywhere! We should, rather, look at countries like Japan and Korea for understanding that technical advancements can be done even without doing away with our cultural strength.

But for that we need to open our eyes and look at the things in a broader light, instead of clinging to our past and shunning everything happening around us!

Graduation Anniversary

28 May was the day in 2010 when I graduated from the college. Though the results were out a few days ago, but I got my 'Green Card' (something which one gets after completing all the formalities before leaving the college) on this very day, marking the end of my IITR life as a student. However, technically speaking, I had left my hostel/insti just after midnight and the date became 29th but since the official document was obtained on 28th, I prefer to remember/call this day as the day when I ended my undergraduate life!

However, the purpose of the post is to review (though in brief) everything which happened after I left college. And here it goes:

May 29-31: The moment I left college (came out of the insti main gate) I felt some joy, instead of the tinge which should have been there for leaving a lovely place and a bunch of very good friends. The reason for this was the frustration which had crept inside me during the last few days of college, may be because of idiotic formalities, or may be because I wanted to be free soon and get into the real world. The next three days were spent in Delhi fighting the heat and waiting to go home.

June: Job Search, coolly in the beginning and a little more extensively in the later part of the month. A little disappointment over stumbling onto a job which I didn't want to do, not even join for a day. But I guess I had, by now, inculcated the habit of accepting things in life and getting over disappointments. However, I still long for the joy which my friends had after finishing college and before joining the corporate life. But probably one doesn't get everything in life. And when finally nothing happened, I left home to join Surya in the last week.

July: Getting adjusted to Surya life and the people over there in my group, though at times thinking deeply of what I was doing and regretting the day when I decided to sit for this company!

August: Getting fully in sync with the life at Jhinjholi (Surya Training Center), good friendship with people in my group, started liking the things which were going on, though by month end I had decided to quit soon.

September: Interesting time at Naturopathy camp and very boring time at Military camp!

October: Jhinjholi training gets over somehow after a lot of tantrums and hoopla. Industrial trip, problems with HR and resignation after a sudden outburst.

November: Home, Convocation, job offer from Evalueserve. But I had made up my mind to pursue my entrepreneurial desires and was almost ready to take up the content development project at PPES (Pardada Pardadi Educational Society). Went home after finalising every thing to convince my parents and have some rest.

December: Declination of Evalueserve offer, reluctance of parents about the PPES consultancy project and finally denial from PPES's side. However, this denial, though kind of betrayal from their side, made me happy as my parents didn't want me to work there. Puri Yatra happened in between, though I didn't enjoy the trip much. After all this, I was in a mood of not doing any work anywhere and stay at home, got into a bit of dreadful state of mind where nothing seemed clear and future looked blank!

January: Interviewed with Illumine Labs in Mumbai. Rejection! Got in touch with Asha volunteers, visited a few villages. Boredom because of nothingness to do. Went to Hyderabad with plans of going to Delhi after that to find a job.

February: Came to Delhi, felt homesick very badly once I set foot in the city. Got in touch with Nirmaan people. With the plans of working with them in Patna, ran away from Delhi asap. Boredom at home and wait for joining Nirmaan. Interview with KGVK in the last week.

March: Joined Nirmaan in mid march after many delays. KGVK people never called till this time meaning rejection. Nirmann life was not quite interesting. And finally one more betrayal (I suffered) and bye bye to Nirmaan! Came back to Delhi, though this time feeling dejected and defeated!

April: Job search, applications at many places! Nothing happened, nobody called except for the LAMP fellowship guys! LAMP people call back asking for documents.

May (till today, 28th): Took  time to make up my mind for LAMP fellowship and sending in the documents, and even telling the family about this. Meanwhile, joined Pratham. Met a few interesting people and having good time over there!

Life has not been very easy or the way I thought it would be during the past one year, but it certainly was interesting! Learnt a lot from the University of Life! Hope the lesson continues! :-)

Education: Something has to be Done

It was Sunday night and after two days of loss of appetite and skipping the lunch before in the day and with a maddening headache, I felt a few rats in my tummy getting up from a hibernation and starting to yawn. Feeling happy at this regain of little appetite after a long period of around 51 hours 45 minutes and 27 seconds, I asked Sanket to go out and eat something. And hence we moved to the mess near his apartment to eat some 'light home-made kind of' food. As we sat on the bench of the mess, I saw Sanket waving to a guy sitting on the nearby bench. And all of a sudden this guy asked me whether I was an IITian. I was startled a bit but then realized that he might have known about Sanket eating there regularly and hence would have guessed that I too was from an IIT.

After that, this guy started asking me about which place I worked, how much I earned, why was I not working in MNCs like Google, MS and others or Indian biggies like TATA or Reliance, which coaching institute did I go to. Now, with a mind boggling headache torturing me, I was on on the least of ease to answer any of his questions. And then, he started telling me about what he was doing (medical aspirant) and why he was doing that (because he feels that now-a-days its tougher to get into an engineering college than a medical college). And after that, he again started repeating the same questions about my job which I had left unanswered. This was the time I realized that there was something wrong with this guy. And then I started ignoring his questions and whatever he was speaking. Later when I inquired about him to Sanket, I was told that the guy is preparing for medican entrance examinations and is disturbed mentally. Though the level of disturbance was only at the psychological level now, as it seemed, it is certain to reach a more dangerous state. In addition to that this guy lives in Delhi all alone, with no one to talk to him, console him, guide him, bring him back to normalcy.

And then we talked about so many medical and other aspirants who, after starting the preparation, take that as a larger than life aim. And how failing there repeatedly disturbs the mental make up of any person so badly. I hope our school system could do something to address this problem of 'taking things too seriously' or 'not accepting failure with ease'.

Another incident happened yesterday in office when I saw the SOPs of two MBA graduates of a reputed university in the country, which they had sent as a part of job application. To my utter dismay, in the name of SOPs, they had sent their resumes in a different file format. So when the MBA grads of such a big university don't know the meaning of SOP and didn't bother to or couldn't think of googling the word before sending it for a job application, I am left wondering what would be the condition of graduates in the shops mushrooming around us which sell MBA degrees!

And what makes me wonder is how we can upgrade the condition of education in our universities! What does it take to make a better university? And how does one get better teachers teaching at our colleges?

And the wondering goes on...................

Oh No! I am Serious!

Those who know me well know that they cannot associate seriousness with me. I am never serious and will never be, not even if the ruling party decides to declare me as the running candidate for the next presidential elections. Or wait, did I say I am never serious? No, actually I am serious whenever I hear of somebody giving a chapo (treat) or free food being distributed anywhere. Apart from that, nothing can awake me from my laziness and sleepy mode. And I not only take things in my life casually, but also I speak very casually whenever I try to open my mouth (Opening my mouth is something which I try very often, if not to speak then to eat). I bet if anyone can point out a conversation when I was seriously talking and thinking before I spoke anything would get a free water bottle from me (because I can see many of them lying in front of me at this time, thanks to no kaamwali bai coming).

At times, I realize that this attitude of mine has helped me a lot at many places in life. Being non serious with life, career (remember, it's a 19th century innovation and I don't want one), or anything else has kept me at peace and prevented me from being mad, and running madly after things, recognition, money and what not. My non seriousness with speech has, at times, created problems as new acquaintances find it difficult to get along with what I say without realizing that I don't really mean what my words intend to mean. But in the longer run and with people who know me well, I get the freedom and liberty of speaking anything without thinking whether the person in front of me likes to hear that or not. At least I am assured that his or her feelings won't be hurt as he would not take my words seriously. Waise bhi, I think that everything around us in life is so serious that we need to be very light hearted and non serious about anything happening around to cope up.

Some of my friends say, that I am still a kid; not mature enough to understand the gravity of any situation, immature to understand how the big bad world behaves. But I see everything as a small incidence, a combination of thousands of which make up any life. Do I need to give a 'larger than life' importance to any of these tiny events? I am baffled and believe me, I am baffled seriously.

P.S. Happy Mother's Day! Thanks to my mother for teaching me the difference between good and bad; and giving me the strength to chose good over bad no matter how painful the process and the result might be. Thanks to my parents in general for taking care of me so well.