Whispering Shadow

I don't know why I am writing this on my blog. It was 10:15 AM. I was in such deep sleep that only a canon shot could have awakened me. Or so I thought, until I was awakened by the ringtone of my cell-phone. I cursed the caller. Someone would have to be cruel to awaken a harmless soul from his sweet slumber. I heard a familiar voice. Once my brain had finished its daily booting routine, I managed to identify the owner of the voice. It was MS, my classmate and friend. I don't remember which language he spoke in but what he said vaguely translated to "Are you not coming for the lecture?" I told him that I was. I reiterated that the lecture was only at 10:15. That's when he broke the news to me "It's already 10:15." I went like "Oh F***, not again." Had it been any other phase of my education, I would have bunked with pleasure. My philosophy used to be "Why put in an effort in waking up for a boring lecture which again puts you to sle...

It is quite a spectacular view. At one moment you are watching the high rise towers of Malabar Hills sitting on the comfortable parapet of Marine Drive. At the next, all you see is grey clouds. You can make out it is raining out there, there's lightning, and then there's thunder. It looks quite spectacular because of the wide canvas provided to you, a frame which you usually cannot zoom out on in a concrete jungle that the city is. You are so mesmerized by the beauty of the view that you don't realise when the clouds have caught up with you. For a while, you feel it is just the waves smashing into the breakwater, but as the downpour grows heavier, it finally sinks in that it is raining. But you don't want to get cover. You want to stand up, raise hands and feel the rain. It gives you the impression that you are standing on the edge of the world with no one else around you. The thunder overshadowing all the sounds of a busy city and the lightning giving a cosmic feel to ...

There has rarely been a time in my life where I have had such diverse and confusing emotions as I have today. I was so looking forward to the end of college, but yet, when I face the last day of my college life this Saturday, I don’t want it to end. I never loved my college. In fact, the balance of indifference had tilted towards a sense of disdain to the ways of its functioning. So what has been this reason for the change? Is it the attachment with teachers? May be with their quirks, but that’s not a strong enough point. Is it the activities of the college? Well, whatever I loved about those activities has ceased to exist, so that can’t be the reason. I guess it’s the people, my peers, my pals. I have spent four years with them and during this period, they knowingly or unknowingly have become my habit. I am in awe of the intelligence of some and hate the sycophancy of others. I enjoy the humour and respect the humility of a few. In every way, each one’s idiosyncrasy and/or beha...

In 2005, a student from my college jumped from a building to his death, because he failed in all his papers in that year. In 2007, another followed on the path of suicide, because he thought he had failed in his final year. These are just two instances of which I personally know but they are not one-off cases. Did you know that 5000 students across India committed suicide last year due to exam related stress? I often came across the news of suicides in newspapers but the number comes as a total shocker (a reason why I am writing so soon again). And yes, the number comes from a credible source in the form of NIMHANS and has been brought to public light by none other than NDTV 24X7. Most youngsters are the life of their house. They should be brimming with ideas and energy. The future of the country is in their hands. On the contrary, they fall into the vicious circle of disappointment and depression that eventually drives them to the point of committing suicide. It is easy to say it is a...

When I joined VESIT, I used to wonder, if it was where I wanted to be. The feelings were only intensified because of what I felt about the class I belonged too, rather didn’t belong too. I was just there because of my chosen field of preference but wasn't particularly fond of my class. I was Cultural In-charge during Utsav 2005 and to make a frank confession, it was sheer disappointment. Not many came forth for the cause of the class and there were barely a few blue dots (for participation) in the standings table at the end of the day, so winning was only a far-fetched thought. I was disheartened. Four years have gone by and luckily for me thing have changed and we all have brought down the barriers which separated one group from the other. Of course their have been many catalysts for bonding- sharing assignments, people realizing the futility of labs and involving themselves in more round table conferences, the joint stand on postponing test dates, movie outings past exams, consol...

Look at the life of an average MU engineering student. The year is basically divided into 2 parts, when you have preparatory leaves (PL) and when you don’t have preparatory leaves. The former is the most boring and for some, the most daunting prospect anyone could face while the latter is always the ‘most-eagerly-looked-forward-to’ part of the academic year. Having just completed one more PL, I realize that at the end of four years of my engineering studies I would have spent effectively only a year studying. The 12 months are formed by adding up roughly one and a half months of PL for each semester. I had this SMS forward which read, “4 years, 40 subjects, 400 practicals, 4000 lectures, 40000 submissions and roughly 400000 rupees, that’s what engineering is all about.” I couldn’t have agreed with it more! Yesterday, at the post-exam chill-out session, my friends and I were discussing exactly that. Seven semesters into engineering and we really haven’t progressed much beyond our junior...

I wrote a similar one before the vivas and I am writing one now, the motive being the same - To vent my frustration. I have this paper called Filter Theory and Applications (FTA) the day after. Don't gauge the level of sophistication of the subject by the big names used. Or hold on, may be the subject is highly conceptual in reality. However, the way the university papers are set, any one without an engineering background can make it through if he can mechanically absorb a lot of formulae and algorithms and put in some practice in perfecting these. The worst part is that the amount of portion incorporated is so vast that you don't get a chance to work on the finer details and learn everything superficially. Part of the blame lies on us because we don't start early, but we are proud to take consolation in the fact that the student needn't be perfect if the system itself is faulty. I think I should stop cribbing now. I am taking a break and will not spoil it discussing Mu...

The word 'dummies' in the title is aimed at two kinds of people - those who don't know what a viva is and those who have been proven to be just that (i.e. a dummy) by the end of a viva. Instead of bragging on and on about the dire situations we students are put in, I thought why not churn up a mock viva right here right now, hoping to arouse some sympathy in the hearts of those who don't face such misery. The Background: A pair of class three students, hereby referred to as, Defendant 1 (D1) and Defendant 2 (D2) sitting in front of the teachers, who will be further known as Prosecuter 1 (P1) and Prosecuter 2 (P2) for an General Science viva. P1 is the external while P2 is the internal. Act One and Only, Scene One: P2: Please be seated in this order, roll number 3 on the left and roll number 4 on the right. P1: Which are the five constituent gases of the atmosphere? D1: Air, Gas, Oxygen, Smoke, and... P1(to D2) : Can you give the answer? D2: Yes sir, oxygen, nitrogen, wa...

By now, I should have stopped cribbing about the routine of engineering life. In fact, I should have become comfortably numb. My feelings for vast portions of what comprises an MU students life are anaesthetised. Whatever agony remains is stimulated by a fine mix of incredulous ideologies of college and an ocean of endless submissions. My college has been special at times, bizzare at others, when it comes to taking policy decisions. The so-called 'think-tank' thinks and also apparently makes decisions for the betterment of students, but the most unfortunate part is that it is in the wrong direction. The whole thought process is progressively degrading. The kind of trust, or rather, the lack of it, in the college's students has grown over the past 3 years and has reached titanic proportions this time on. There is no emphasis on students' feedback. The measures which have been taken so far have only estranged students further from the idea of discussing their problems wit...

There used to be a time when the word ‘teacher’ used to evoke a sense of admiration, respect as well as authority. Even now, it brings to mind the same emotions, but the trouble is that you don’t find someone worthy enough to call a ‘teacher’. On this teachers’ day, I pay a tribute to some of the wonderful people, who have entertained me during the three years of my engineering, who at times have made life miserable for me, and who in this process, have always tried to ‘teach’. I’ll call them teacher here on, just because of the status attached with their job and not because I associate any of the above mentioned emotions with them. I will be doing great injustice if I say the same things for everyone. It is only fair that I categorize my teachers before talking about them. So here goes: 1>Dedicated teachers who know their subject and how it is to be taught: This is the rarest of the rare breeds, almost nearing extinction. Out of the 30 some teachers that I have had, barely 2 qual...

Have you ever put in your heart and soul in something? Have you prayed that the means meet the end? Have you ever hoped that your hard work and efforts pay off? These are the first few expectations you have of a mega-event, for which your team and you put in more than 8 hours in a day, for almost a month. Focus '07 was all this and more and I can say with great pride that I was a part of it. The challenge was in the fact that the success of the event was not defined by the size of the audience who attend the event or whether the people were entertained. It was never meant to be that. We didn't want it to be the best symposium, we wanted it to be a class apart. "A Thought for the Lesser Tots", a discussion based on the theme of underprivileged children, was at the heart of Focus. The purpose was to spread a message and spread it right. People preach and often don't practise. You keep watching such discussions on TV, but they are forgotten as soon as the show reache...