Archive for the ‘School/College’ Category
HRD Ministry: Please Spare the IITs and their Academicians
Please HRD Ministry, hands off IIT’s. There is so much wrong with our education system, specially the school system. Government schools are in pathetic state. No one but the poorest of the poor send their children to these schools, that too due to helplessness. Better concentrate your energy there.
The reports about your interference in IIT’s academic functioning are disturbing. Recent incident about you asking IIT dean to reconsider decision to cancel a PhD student’s admission is unbecoming. You might justify yourself with the best of oratorical strengths that you possess, but we are in no mood for that. Admission is sacrosanct to college administration and it’s wrong to meddle with that.
Going by history, I know what you would say minister. A letter came to me and I just forwarded it for redressal. Why add a point to put the matter before its Board of Governors for “suitable verification/redressal? Why not request dean/director to look if the complain had any merit?
Wording of your letter amounts to interference and you know that very well. I would urge you not to upset the already less in number teaching community in premier institutes. There people have given plush careers in foreign universities for their nation. These are true patriots and want nothing in return. There are silent contributors to nation building. They have put their blood into the foundations of IIT’s. Don’t upset them.
You know most of our Profs, the deans, and the directors have spent almost all their lives inside educational institutes, studying and teaching. They are not what you would call socially active beings. They are uncorrupted by this world and its vices. Any student who has gone through IIT’s will stipulate to this; we in fact used to make fun of our faculties for this very trait.
They just do what is the right for students and institute. If they found merit in canceling the admission to a student due to issue with the details provided, they are entitled to it. Let the student fight it out in the court. If you feel student has been wronged, provide student with all legal help, but stop writing such letters to deans of our alma maters.
I would for sure listen to what you have to say, but only after you improve the Govt. school system in our country. I don’t want to be personal, but I would listen to you minister once you are comfortable sending your own children to a Govt. school. Maybe then you would have earn some right to write such letter to the Deans, deans who have give their youth, their life, their luxuries for our nation.
Thank You Jet Airways: Flash Sale
I would like to thank Jet Airways. Long time passed since I met my college friends. Given that we all get artificially busy in our lives; it has become impossible to meet albeit in the virtual world.
The recent flash sale by few airlines including Jet Airways gave me reason to meet. Not that flights tickets are too expensive but flash sale was the last push I needed. I booked the tickets and off I went to Bengaluru.
It was just for the weekend but a weekend that washed away 3 years of stillness. Three idiots from college met and talked and talked and talked for a long time. Although I don’t agree with the attritional pricing of airlines that result in huge losses, but without that I might not have travelled at all.
I could have met few other friends while I was there, but it all got lost in the excitement and the 5km walk that I was subjected too. My legs are still paining, but all in good measure.
Nicknames
Laal naak, Lambardaar, Kholu, Dhakkan, Steel.
Before you think I am babbling like a mad man, let me clarify. These are few nicknames I remember of my college mates. I have forgotten real names of lot of them, still remember them by nicknames.
If you try and think, nicknames are not just random, they depict a personal trait. “Real names are by birth, nicknames are based on sh** you do in life”.
There was a Laal Naak with nose as red as anything you will see. When he asked a question in class, it went even redder. Kholu was the highest rank guy in our batch. Dhakkan was the closing rank. Steel had such elasticity when it came to arguments. Even if you said earth go round the sun, he would have a nonsensical counter ready to throw back at you. There were more of such names that I can’t discuss here sadly. They were based on various body parts down south, if you know what I mean.
What these nicknames do is create new friendships. We are all new to college; A bunch of strangers thrown together. Nicknames give us a sense of family. Just like parents give us a name at birth, nicknames represent a new phase of life, with a new set of people.
When you go home and your parents call you by some silly pet name, it means something special. No one else in the world calls you by that name. Same is the case with college nickname. You get a new name at work. Another by your life partner.
Each one represents a new phase, a new life, a new birth, new experiences and new memories.
हॉस्टल की यादें
सुट्टे का धुंआ, पसरा था हर ओर,
नशे की चुप्पी, न होता कोई शोर,
किस राह चलें, क्यों सोचें हम,
हॉस्टल, दोस्त, मस्ती हरदम|
ठहर जाता था वक़्त, आकर वहां,
वो धरती, आसमान, वही सारा जहाँ,
खेले कूदे, लड़े झगड़े, सब वहां,
किसने कहा जन्नत नहीं होती यहाँ|
वो किला था हमारा, हम सिपह:सलार,
सजती थी महफ़िल, लगता दरबार,
औरत जात का आना मना है इधर,
हर दीवार पर यही लिखा था उधर,
पहली बार का जश्न, जोरदार,
पहली हार का मातम, खूंखार,
किताबों की जली होली, मज़ा,
छुट्टी में घर जाना लगती थी सज़ा|
मारपीट की नौबत, कुछ कहा हो,
किसीने हॉस्टल के खिलाफ, जो,
हो जाते सब तयार, जान देने को,
जब उसकी इज्ज़त ताक पर हो|
वहीँ सब सीखा, वहीँ सब किया,
वहां नहीं रहा, तो क्या ही जिया,
हॉस्टल की ज़िन्दगी न हूँ भुला पाता,
न चाहते हुए भी ख्याल है आ जाता||
Secret Talks
Personal Secret is described as something that is known to the person alone and not to any of his acquaintances. Lie is defined as an intentional false statement. They both are related as one leads to another.
Everyone keep secrets. To keep them hidden, they lie. There are various reasons behind. Most common are shame, loss of money, property, love desertion, to brag etc.
I have come across people who kept some weird secrets, told wonderful lies. Some of substance, some just for fun.
1. Kyunki…shhh
A college mate leads the pack. You know how it’s common to deride the ‘Saas-Bahu’ soaps. Well this friend of mine just loved them. The situation was precarious; he couldn’t dare to them watch openly, lest he became butt of all jokes. So he used to download and watch them all alone quietly. As fate would have it, he shared the folder by mistake across the network and the skeletons came tumbling out.
2. Categorically denied
Our society has been divided into class and caste and so is the college admission process. However in some a stigma of being a category student creeps in. Treatment meted out to them could be a reason. There was a guy in our batch, who lied about the same. I won’t go further into the reasons, as the discussion is complex. But when it came out in the open, it left everyone wondering.
3. Had a boyfriend
Most common of them all! Don’t tell about having boyfriend/girlfriend and keep yourself in the market. It’s okay for causal flirting but when done to take advantage, it becomes tasteless. A girl fooled around with a friend to get him to do the academic work allotted to her, while keeping the existence of her boyfriend hidden. Here’s a fact: ‘Guys only help Single Girls’. She knew this well. I can’t say that my friend really cared or so he said later on.
4. From Upstate
We often find people hiding their birth place. Across Europe, I have found people from Pakistan calling them Indians. In Mumbai, few people from UP, Bihar fake their origin to be Delhi. Sometimes out of being scared, sometimes otherwise. A friend of mine introduced himself in the first year as a Delhite. It was only in the final year that we came to know he was from Ghaziabad. He tried to justify by citing NCR. Well reasons can be aplenty. We do still poke him for the same.
5. Opener
A senior at college related to me a funny story. During their first year, a guy told everyone that he was the highest JEE ranked student of their batch. He was called Kholu (common term for rank opener). He enjoyed the limelight for a semester, at the end of which people came to know the truth. They started calling him nakli kholu. Why he lied is still a secret as he maintained his innocence all through.
6. Open the Closet
A serious issue with our society as far as homo-sexuality goes. I have known at least two people who kept it a secret, for obvious reasons though. Hopefully, in future the social stigma attached o it will wither away and people would not have to hide in the closet.
7. Uncle Sam
A first year student who was a localitie was being ragged. He dared the seniors, “My uncle is in ULFA, stay away from me or else don’t tell me I didn’t warn you”. Needless to say, he got away. The fun was, everyone knew he was lying but no one dared to call otherwise.
रैगिंग
बड़े जोश से चले निकल के,
नन्हे माँ के लाल रे|
मन में जैसे उछल रहे थे,
बन्दर डाल डाल रे||
स्कूल से जाना था कॉलेज,
फुदक रही थी चाल रे|
हृदय में थी नयी उमंगें,
खोजेंगे जल ताल रे||
कॉलेज का था एक हॉस्टल,
कमरे थे बेहाल रे|
देख उनको बुद्धि ठनकी,
आया घर का ख्याल रे||
घूर रहे थे सभी सीनिअर,
होठ थे उनके लाल रे|
सोच रहे थे आया मुर्गा,
रैगिंग ले ही डाल रे||
पुछा नाम पता frequency,
हुए शर्म से ला रे|
पकड़ के ले गए नाई के,
कटवाए हमारे बाल रे||
फिर चला चल चित्र का दौर,
इज्जत ली निकाल रे|
Superman हमें बनाया,
He-man बनकर किया धमाल रे||
गर्ल्स हॉस्टल के चक्कर लगवाए,
क्या क्या सवाल न हमसे पुछवाये|
चवन्नी अठन्नी थी हमने निकाली,
हस हस के बेहाल रे|
दुपक रहे थे हम कमरों में,
सीना अन्दर दाल रे||
धीरे धीरे थी बात खुली,
पूरी तस्वीर थी साफ़ धुली,
वो तो सिर्फ एक मुखौटा था,
सच्चाई से कुछ छोटा था||
पूरा परिदृश्य ही बदल गया,
हॉस्टल लगने लगा नया,
सब सीनिअर अपने दोस्त बने,
साथ में मौज मस्ती करे,
P.D.P तो एक बहाना था,
सबको नजदीक जो आना था||
Changes and Phases
It’s been a long break from blogging. I haven’t been all that busy to tell you the truth. It’s just that the urge to put my thoughts together was missing of late. In fact I was afraid to.
We encounter various circumstances in life. Some of them were never even wished for. Things move and we suddenly find ourselves trying hard to row against the tide of this rapid change. Not everyone is apt enough to handle it. Initially we try and ignore things, up to the point that they are right into our faces. Whereby we experience an outburst followed by rescinding into a shell.
I am sure everyone has faced such times in their life. At least I have. They used to be frequent during college when the process of learning about life probably started. Before was just a mad race to the top whence there was no time to stop and think. I have faced it again during my newly started professional life. However I find it a bit different this time. Specially in terms of rebound time.
College life, that too in an IIT, gives you full control over your public appearances. You can forego classes for some time before being missed. You need to write the exams though. One could easily lock himself up in the room, coming out when and where he wants to. This aids the recovery process. One needs some time alone to come to grasp with his own insecurities and internal emotional churnings.
What happens during the professional life is that one has to go to office daily, no choice there. He has to meet people daily. One couldn’t possibly get the long away time to reflect on oneself and hence the rebound takes longer.
Now after a few weeks I feel at peace with myself al over again. As per the reasons to the dull phase, when the initial excitement of a new city, a new job, dies down, the reality of accepting it as our own, a routine strikes us. We need some time to settle down. These are the common symptoms among the migrant workers such as me who are born in one place, study elsewhere and work some where else. Here I would like to mention the city of Mumbai. The accepting cosmopolitan nature of this city has helped me a lot in adjusting to the new surroundings. It grows on you slowly. Give it some time and you will fall in love with it. I feel me again, till the next bout of course.
ArpitGarg's Weblog 
Netizens and Fake Identity
with 6 comments
One of my old colleagues initiated a Facebook discussion. Somewhere along the discussion he took the liberty of deleting one of my comments. His justification was that he intended to maintain his profile, posts and comments in a particular manner to which my comment did not adhere to. Consider here that my comment was neither obscene, provocative or political. I contested that he was trying to create a fake online impression by censoring views of his friends on his profile. All I could do was to prohibit myself from any further comments on his posts.
Enough of the petty personal low down. The issue I want to raise here is related to the realism of online profiles and social networking sites. Internet is looked upon as a replica of the real world. An extension perhaps. We have created online profiles, shopping malls, entertainment media, social networks etc for us. Netizens have always maintained that online profile is nothing but an impression of the reality. However there has been a surge in the number of fake profiles recently. Authorities across the world are trying to find a way to handle it in the best possible way.
Consider a real life scenario. You are having a discussion with someone and he starts uttering indemnities. What do you do? You stop the discussion then and there and decide not to be friends with him/her anymore. You start a fist fight. You report him to the authorities. But can you erase/delete what has been said? Can you un-say it? In the online world it becomes possible. Exactly the point I want to make. Netizens are deviating from the rules, regulations for the citizens. The fact that facebook allows a person to delete a comment by someone on his/her profile makes it a fakebook. True that it is necessary sometimes to delete an obscene or filthy remark but who is to decide what is to be deleted?
One might contest, “Why is there a need for a Netizen to bide by the regulations for a Citizen?” He might be right today. But given that we are taking more and more of our lives online, it might not be the case in near future. Effective laws and stringent checks will guard the online world not very far from now. E-self would be forced to stay in line with real-self. It would be a matter of choice nomore. Infact, strict online laws are being debated at eminent forums. Maybe in the future, online profiles would require you to enter SSN (Social Secuirty Number), thereby eliminating the existence of fake profiles altogether.
Consider another scenario. A travel agency creates a Facebook profile which brags about the services they provide. Someone who has employed their services in the past knows it to be a lie. He writes a comment on their page, stating the truth. The agency deletes the comment then and there. The page remains clean, thereby misguiding the junta. On the flip side, if they are not allowed to delete the comment then a rival company might post a fake derogatory comment. A Catch-22 situation.
What could the solution be? Nothing simple, I guess.
If this too fails then there is always Mafia Wars to settle the scores.
Rate this:
Share this at:
Written by arpitgarg
May 3, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Posted in General/Society, Real Incidents, School/College
Tagged with 22, catch, checks, comment, delete, e-self, facebook, fake, fakebook, filthy, identity, internet, laws, mafia, netizens, networking, online, posts, profile, realism, reality, regulations, rules, security, sites, social, ssn, wars, websites