Calling for a change

Sorry for being away for so long from the blogosphere. I had gone back to my home town to take a whiff of fresh air, a desperate change that I needed from everything that I am doing out here. Though saying a sorry does not mean that I am pledging to be regular as my exams are on my head... something which has been my cause of concern since I have taken up post-graduation in Mathematics. I am a part of a premiere university of the country...a place I had aspired to be at. Out of school, college was real fun in the initial years...everything seemed adventurous and mesmerising until I started questioning the prudence of things. I don't aim to play any blame game through this but would only like to share what I strongly feel about.

I had accepted the way things were placed to me during my graduation days in Mathematics. It is rightly said that "Ignorance is bliss" as I was ignorant and hence totally contended with the way things were happening around me. But life cannot be that merry always unless you pledge to remain ignorant throughout. As I took up my Master's in Mathematics I started moving out and meeting people, seeing things the way other veterans in my field were seeing it, reading more and more and not to forget keeping my ears and eyes open all the time (which were shut until I was enjoying everything).

I suddenly realised how badly things around me need to change...an overhaul change in the system is the need of the hour. Everybody resists change. Nobody wants to make any efforts to change what has been happening since years...all are now used to it...they eat the same thing, they walk the same thing, they talk the same thing and they sleep the same thing. I wouldn't have minded so much had this 'they' included only my peer groups but unfortunately it includes teachers and the system administrators too.

Talking a bit of the changes I think are urgently needed.

a) Agreed that in graduation level the student is required to be aware of every aspect of the subject so the course should be more extensive than being in depth, but what is surprising is that even at the Master's level the students are asked to take up subjects they don't wish to pursue at all further. Unlike in the Western Universities where you can actually design your own course here we are asked to study the options which had been framed a decade or two ago keeping in mind the interests of the students of that time. Don't the changing scene around us make it mandatory to restructure the course and provide what is aspired by the students of the present decade?

b) The examination is aimed to test the memorising abilities of a student more than the problem solving abilities. For heaven's sake this is Mathematics...I fail to understand how can somebody put the same set of question papers year after year without any alteration whatsoever? Does it at all judge the thinking ability of the student who is already aware of the type of questions that will be posed in the examination? What do you think that a student coming out of such a system will contribute to the Mathematical fraternity? Does it not reflect the the unwillingness in the part of the question setter to actually invest a little bit of time and make the question paper a bit more problematic than just posing the same theorems year after year? May be you would like to argue that it is a university for the masses and not everybody can cope up with the pressures and challenges that such question papers threat to pose. Well I would counter argue by reasoning that at least try and adopt this in the internal examination so that students get to screw their brains somewhere or make the question paper a bit more flexible so as to accommodate both the category of students.

A student who has taken a Master's degree programme in Mathematics generally opts for either teaching and imparting what has been gained in these five years or takes up research to gain further knowledge. In both the scenes it is important to weapon the student with reasoning skills which is at least expected form a premiere university I am in.

Well to end it just like to say that when you start questioning things you definitely loose out a bit as you are unable to give in your hundred percent to it then, possibly that's the reason for my drop from a topper to a 70 per center, but I don't think I should to mind that, at least I dare to question what is wrong and not accept it the way it is served to me. Any takers??

The Interview with God

What does future has in store for us is a question we think about most of the time. We plan what we will do tomorrow, the day after and the day after. We keep planning for our future and set bench marks for ourselves. And then when things don't happen as per our plannig, we complain that we have faced failure. Indeed it is a failure when you cannot make things happen the way you want them to happen, but then there is nothing to be fretful in it. Rather it should serve as a lesson for the lacunas you must have left as a result of which things did not happen as per your whims and fancies. This is a very standard explanation which you will get when you go to any person elder to you and complain him about your constant failures.

But today I realised the way of looking at it. I felt as if I had a rendevous with God who explained me the other side of the coin. Things sometimes don't go our way as they are not destined to happen that way to us. We always tend to keep a very short-term perspective about the incidences that happen to us forgetting about the larger picture. And we always do what our mind suggests us to do after an ordeal of judging the pros and cons of the decision. But God knows it all. He knows what our heart wants and that we have been constantly fighting with ourselves to synchronise it with the wants of our mind. Often we succeed but then when we don't, we fail in the endeavours we make as per our mind, so that fearlessly we can then listen to our hearts!

The path when you listen to your heart is tougher. But what keeps you driving is the burning desire asociated with it. And then things you achieve after a lot of pain are immensely taken care of. So it becomes a smooth ride soon. And what you love if you do that you are able to give in your hundred percent and achieve greater heights of success.

My blog has become a channel of preaching, I guess. Just that I want my friends to know through my testimonials that Life is very sweet, only if we know how to live it.

Basant Panchmi

I hail from a place which is very culturally rich, West Bengal. Every small festival is enjoyed with full vigour and enthusiasm. Yesterday we celebrated Basant Panchmi by hailing the Goddess of Knowledge, Maa Saraswati. Way back in my home town on this day the highly spirited lasses celebrate the day by wearing a saree, irrespective of what age group they belong to. Even the six or seven year olds will wear small sized sarees especially meant for them and will show extreme precision in keeping the pallu properly. As a kid I used to wait for this day like anything.

Well was just missing the fun this year so thought of penning it down.

Mine is bigger

Met a girl today. Totally helpless and hopeless about life. She seemed to have lost all the meaning to her life. She is alive on anti-depressants, and can any time cut her nerves. Looked visibly tensed. On the verge of crying on every little trigger, smiling only when absolutely necessary, and is absolutely sure of the fact that her worries are the biggest than all. I tried to console her saying that all of us have our share of worries and struggles in life, but after every instance that I tried to put, she used to say that mine is bigger.

Why is it that we always feel that we have the most troubles to face, the saddest life to live and are the most unlucky ones? My mother always says that in grief we should see the people who are in worse conditions than us and in extreme happiness the ones who have achieved more than us. This way we can live a balanced life.

Okay, coming back to Simran, the girl I met today, the reason for her wanting to end her life is a break-off from her boy-friend. Sigh, this is the 21st century and woman can still be in such a pitiable condition! She got herself too emotionally involved with the guy, somebody who later on turned out to be crooked. The reason, I feel, for landing up to this state is that a woman generally tends to give up everything for the person she loves, to some extent she even forgets about herself and He becomes everything for her, she looses her individuality. And then when the guy merrily ditches her, she cries, cribs about him being unfaithful, and takes this extreme decision to end her life. I don't say that only women attach themselves so much but then the recovery ratio is better in the case of men.

Why do we forget about our own self while in love? I know true love means two bodies and one soul, but doesn't it mean that both of you have equal respect for that soul? If I see that the person I love does not have any respect for that soul, I will try and part ways from him thinking that he never deserved to share my soul. I love my soul and anyone who will share it has to prove himself in every way to stake a rightful demand on it.

So people it's not a crime to fall in love with somebody but it is the biggest crime to think of ending your life for love. There are others who love you, and don't forget that its his unfortune that he never realised your true love and made a joke of it and not your fault that you loved him with a pure and honest heart.

And given however deep the roots of understanding may be...never loose your identity, your individuality.

The story of Kajri

Born in a family of three sons and four daughters Kajri was the fifth child. Tall, fair, slim, a bomb-shell of her times. The guys in her school used to die on her walk, on her long black tresses and on her mesmerising smile. She was too smart and forward for her age but not outgoing. Hailing from a very well-to-do family she was able to update herself with what was latest in the fashion front. From bel-bottoms to corduroy pants to smart kurtis to sarees she used to look awesome in whatever she wore. She was the princess.

Kajri, amongst all the siblings, used to speak the least. So Kajri's mother used to be very worried about her as to how she is going to manage the challenges that a woman has to face in her life. She had a world of her own, her share of dreams, her own fantasies and nobody was privileged enough to know them. Her silence wanted to say something all the time. Deep thoughtful eyes with thick layer of kohl and shaped in eyelashes. She never seemed to be conscious about her beauty though. It was immaterial for her. She wanted to look good only in her world and used to bother about the comments that her fictitious characters used to make on her. A damn to all the compliments that other girls would normally die for.

She used to have fun playing with her sisters and brothers though. Family was something she can die for. A disciplinarian father and a caring mother, she was blessed with everything. She cherished her childhood. But her silence was not without any reason..she was the most intuitive amongst all. Kajri lost the purpose of her life, her mother, when was in her 3rd standard. Soon there was a vacuum in her, a void to be filled. But who? Nobody at that early age could provide any solace to her. She withdrew herself more in her world. And then when she had just started to recover she lost her father when in 9th standard. Life lost all its impotance to her.

She did not die. Optimism and sense of self- belief kept her alive. I will have my better days is what she kept on telling herself. There will be somebody who will hug me tightly and not let me fall off in pieces. She started living again. A phoenix born from the ashes I suppose.

And then she attained her puberty and off to be married soon...she had decided not to compromise on this, come what may. She only nodded a yes when she found the guy who was straight out of her Utopian world. She happily got married to her Man and was blessed with a little Kajri soon.

Moral of the story: Just stick on. Things will take time to happen but then surely someday they will fall into place. Life cannot be struggle-free but what really important is how we react to them. This story is not to make you feel bad, rather it is to tell you to be thankful for whatever you have in your life. Count your blessings!!

A new fish in the pond

Hey so here I come with a bang!!! A blog devoted to all those people who believe in costantly changing in life and moving forward with no prejudices attached. Aah difficult, i know, all of us tend to attach ourselves with the environment we are in, with the people we stay with, with the things we use always... but then that is the essence of life . How you come out of these attachments and move ahead in life totally fresh. "anasakt aur madmast" was how Kabir used to be described.


Its equally important in life to not accept everything prima facie, questioning the prudence of things is what I have always learnt doing. So you can expect all the unusual stuff in this blog-- facts mixed with philosophy, sometimes convincing, othertimes totally illusionary, just straight from intuitions!!