The Pure Bliss Of Blogging...

In the past few days I had been looking for a topic to write on. However I just couldn't find anything to my taste. While in the midst of this futile search, the simple truth hit me - I was driving myself too hard, taking it too seriously.

"This isn't the way blogging works, at least my blog doesn't work this way.", I said to myself.

Blogging in general and my style of blogging in particular stands for spontaneous and sincere thoughts, emotions and opinions.

All of my articles reflect what I feel about a particular thing, irrespective of the nature of the 'thing' or of the time elapsed since the 'thing' happened. That is why many a time my posts come a day or two after the 'thing' has taken place or at times never at all (The Earth Day or Varun Gandhi case for example). I know I sound like a hypocrite when I say so but these are incidents that

• I cannot relate to or
• Cannot give an opinion about only because I am not the right person to do so.

Many of us take up a hobby, activity or career that we feel brings out that spontaneity in us. However many us (especially in the case of a career) end up taking it so seriously, pressurising ourselves to perform and/or prove that we are so good at it, that we forget why we took up the activity in the first place. I was more or less on the same path until I came to this realisation.

During the time when we are engrossed in what we are doing, we forget all those who have helped and encouraged us and those who appreciate what we are doing.

I dunno if I was about to commit the same mistake or have already committed it. So as to be on the safe side, I apologise to all of you who have and will read my blog if you felt that I do not take into account my readers.

I will take this opportunity to thank my parents for instilling in me the love for words. I'll thank my very first reader and a dear friend Parag. Dear, If you hadn't been there to read my posts in my days as a beginner and encouraged me, I would not have written as many posts as I have today. Today my blog is followed by five excellent bloggers and kind souls who inspire me to keep on blogging. And last but not the least my readers and commenters who provide their valued views and insights. All I can say is that I am indebted to you all for what you do. This post is dedicated to all of the above. (This is the same speech that I am gonna give when I receive the 'Blog Of The Year Award', If I ever get one that is!)

To drive home the point that you, the readers, are an important part of this blog, I urge you to respond to blog posts (raves, rants, complaints, suggestion...just about anything will do). You can do that by either commenting here or (if that little comment box doesn't suit you) mail me at arjblogger@yahoo.com. I'll surely get back to you. Another thing you can do is rate my posts as they are published on a scale from one to five (look for the ratings just after the post ends).

Well it's time for me to sign off for now. Good night and have a great week.

Results Of Education

Pic Courtesy: bmaindia on flickr

I have just recovered from two long days of mourning, the reason - My exams results were declared a couple of days back and well, to put it simply, they weren’t upto my expectations.

However, a trip to the college today clearly showed me how pointless my ‘mourning’ had been. There were students who had fared far worse than me, a few buddies included! Some had even ended up with ATKT’s (KT’s for short, also known in some parts as ‘arrears’) ranging from one to a couple of ‘em to as much as KT’s in all subjects.

But I feel that the students of our college (irrespective of the number of KT’s they possess) are far luckier than those few who suffer from a lot more than just a bad result. I am referring to the horrendous cases of ragging that have taken place in the past week (and many other ragging cases that do not come to our notice).

Something that was considered a ‘ceremony of introductions’, ‘induction ritual’ or simply a ‘prank’ has become a game of humiliation and a chance to take revenge. Inspite of the fact that law prohibits the act of ‘ragging’, ignorance by the authorities at the colleges/universities tends to give the miscreants a free hand at crossing their limits. It is important to note that colleges in metro cities like Mumbai take strict anti-ragging measures and are more successful at preventing it (not completely of course) than their counterparts in towns and villages.

The ignorance exhibited by the authorities (that includes professors, lecturers, principals, deans, etc.) towards cases that could have grave consequences does not surprise me though. That’s because that’s what they usually do - ignore the students and in turn ignore their needs and requirements. Other than a few exceptions, I personally have never come across a professor in college who really takes any kind of interest in his/her students. I mention this because taking interest or at least showing it is the first step to successfully urge a student to take interest in a subject. The next would be to try and make the subject itself simple and interesting for the student, again an area where 99% of the professors fail dismally. So basically, everyone just needs an attitude makeover!

These are only a few suggestions, whereas we require drastic changes at university and collegiate levels if we are to achieve a strong, fair and sane education system. Unless this change happens, such incidents and pass outs like us (with or without our KT’s) would merely be a bad result of education!

An Eventful Week...

It’s been one helluva week!!! First the horrific attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, then the much talked about auction of Gandhiji’s memorabilia and last but not the least a week-long class tests in college (yes, class tests do count as catastrophic events especially since I hadn’t studied for ‘em).

When I first heard the news about the attacks on the Lankan team from a friend, I was attending regular lectures in college, the news was so unbelievable that I laughed it off as a joke until he showed me the headlines on his GPRS. This only shows two things -Pakistan is being crapped at, by the very terrorists to whom it had been giving asylum to all these years and no one, I repeat, absolutely no one is insulated from terrorism.

Talking about the auction…all I can say is that the whole thing, it seemed to me, was full of irony. Irony no.1: A country, a government and a society that does not even come close to achieving Gandhiji’s objectives or following his principles stakes claim over his possessions under the excuse of ‘protecting the nation's heritage’. Irony no.2: The government that pledged to ‘rescue’ the Gandhiji’s possessions could not even delay the auction. Irony no.3: A man with a personality and lifestyle completely opposite to that of the Mahatma’s, succeeds in ‘rescuing’ his possessions.

Well, about the class test. Ahem! I sincerely think we should skip that part.

Before I sign off, I would like to wish all the lovely ladies in this universe a very Happy Women’s Day (I know I’m late but please do accept my wishes along with my humble apologies).

A Slice Of The Oscar Glory...

First and foremost, a hearty congratulations to Mr. Gulzar, Mr. Pookutty and Mr. Rahman. I would also like to congratulate the complete cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire and all the rest of the Oscar winners.

The reason I waited so long to publish a post about this historic event is that I wanted to witness the reaction of the print media. And I must say I got what I wanted, all the front pages at the newsstand were flashing Rahman’s images. The insides of ‘The Times Of India’ were gushing with how-when-where-what of Rahman’s life and also loads of ‘Slumdog’ trivia.

Amidst the pride-oozing journalism, the fact that disappointed me the most was that all of it was mostly about ‘Slumdog’, it’s cast and Rahman. Save an article or two, there wasn’t much mention of the other two Oscar winners - Gulzar and Resul Pookutty. I was surprised to see a banner that congratulated Rahman and urged it’s readers to wish Rahman by smsing to so-and-so number (what about congratulating the rest of ‘em winners???)

But this one really took the cake - The UPA govt. claims that the Oscar wins were a result of their leadership!!! These people will do anything for grabbing attention.

All in all, it makes me feel proud to be an Indian, to see deserving fellow Indians achieve recognition for their talents. Jai Ho and Jai Hind.

Lectures, Assignments, Tuitions and Blogging

It’s been a month since I last punched the keys with the purpose of publishing a new blog post. As always, I am here to give the reason for my absence - it’s the new term in College. And for those of you who are laughing it off right now, it’s not just one word. As the title of the post already suggests the new term in college brings with it a host of other tasks to keep a teenager busy. There are college lectures till evening, the half hour commute home, then there are the various assignments that need to be completed (and strangely the deadline always seems to be approaching at lightning speed.) Did I mention the coaching classes every Saturday (Five hours of pure torture). In short, I have to make a complete rearrangement of my daily schedule.

Verdict: It took me a total period of one month to get into the groove of the new term and (after I finally did get into groove) to take my lazy ass over to my desk and type out my ‘comeback blog’!!!

But as you will see in my next few posts I haven’t lost contact with the outside world.

So cheer up, there ain’t no reason to fear ‘coz the Teenager is here!!!

P.S. Forgive the ending for being below my usual standards, a clear proof that I am out of touch. I’ll be back to my old ‘blogger’ self after a couple of posts, so nothing to worry about.

To All My Fellow Countrymen...

Pic Courtesy: www.gii.in

The Indian Republic Day is defined as day our constitution was adopted, the day our nation became a republic.

But taking into account the recent issues that our country has been facing, the terror attacks all over the country, the economic slowdown, etc. do you think that the Republic Day should be seen in new context?

Should we assign a completely new (or a better) meaning to this Republic Day?

This Republic Day, I am not the one giving opinions, but am asking for it from you, my readers and fellow Indians.

Jai Hind!

The 'Slumdog' Issue

The past few days have been filled with criticisms and counter criticisms about ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It’s literally been a food fight of sorts!!! While some prefer to go out in the open with their opinions others claim to merely pass on the ‘opinion of the masses’. But I am not gonna debate upon that.

What I want to point out is that, if the film makers of Bollywood claim their right to ‘creative license’ that they deserve, why aren’t they as ready to let others have a bite out of it too.

Agreed (even though I haven’t seen the film yet), SM brings to the forefront the slummy side of the city; it exploits the crime and sleaze in the city and indicates it to be the only things that the city has to offer. Agreed the westerners who have never been to India may be ‘delighted’ to see Mumbai in such light. But this isn’t any different from the fact that thousands of Indians flock to enjoy the crime infested movies by Ram Gopal Varma. Why don’t critics (and the common public) oppose him for exploiting the Mumbai’s crime scenario and projecting it as a city full of crime?

The bitter truth is that we accept anything and everything that comes from a fellow Indian, but it hurts our ego if the same comes from a foreigner. What a shame!!!

Commuting Gonna Get Costlier???

Hindustan Times, January 14th

“The BEST Administration has proposed a hike in the cost of daily, monthly quarterly and yearly passes…The BEST administration has proposed a hike of Rs 5 in the daily ordinary bus pass, Rs 100 in the monthly, Rs 300 in the quarterly and Rs 1000 in the yearly passes…”

Please correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t price rise tend to discourage commuters and drive them to use other means of travel?On a more serious note, how do you expect people to use the public transport more often if there is a price hike in fares? Ironically, many of its buses sport the public service message: Save Fuel, Use Public Transport

“Less than a year after the launch of the season passes scheme, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking wants to cash in on its popularity”

Looks like the BEST is planning to milk the cow or rather, milk the commuters’ wallets!!!

Before I sign off, please do check out the latest poll on the sidebar.

P.S. Wishing all of you and your families a very Happy Makar Sankranti and Pongal too!!!