Ok... I know this might be coming a bit too late for its content. Moreover, the timing for my last post and this one is highly skewed because, being at home, I tend to write stuff whenever I feel like doing it and am too lazy to post it on the blog. I feel it is time I voiced my feelings regarding the recent terror attacks and the lessons to be learnt from it. It might sound naive but I was reminded of the effect they had on our lives when one of my friends called up in the morning. He, along with his entire department, had gone for a trip to Nainital and he, in his words, had a really good time. Now, my department was supposed to go to Jamshedpur and we might have ended up having a great time too but the awful lot of terrorists decided to wreck havoc in everybody’s lives with the dastardly act they did.
I know I sound mean and silly. The consequences of the attack were far more horrific and disturbing than the cancellation of a trip. On a graver note, I pray for the souls of the people who lost their lives in this outrageous assault. I mean, seriously, these attacks are an insult. It’s like somebody smacks you in the face and your helplessness hits you in a way it never did. There is a lot of talk about beefing up security measures at all places. Great idea! But think of the vast expanse of land that this country has. Yes, there were security lapses and intelligence failures that shouldn’t have happened. But, howsoever strong your security system is, these trouble makers will end up finding a loop hole and cause bloodshed again. A long term solution to this problem is required. I understand it won’t be easy but somehow these terror outfits have to be wiped off (or made to change their ways and line of thought). Beefing up of security is a necessity but it might not be a solution.
I don’t think anybody reading this blog is stupid enough not to understand this. But think of the progress we can make without the fear of such violence. It has often been said that if India and Pakistan work together, the subcontinent will be a massive superpower. It is hard to imagine what these countries and their people have lost in the last 60 years, just because a small chunk of the people just couldn’t think straight. I pray that peace be bestowed upon our country and the entire world and all those people who are full of any kind of hatred which leads them to do such despicable acts realize that they can do so much better by channelizing their energies and resources to some more constructive causes.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Back after a hiatus... looking back at the semester!
Writing regularly for your blog is a tough job. I am so mad with myself for having left my blog unattended for so long. Quite a few things have happened since my last post. Apart from the little events in my life, there were attacks on Mumbai which made the world see a new, bolder face of terror. It has certainly done its bit to change the way everyone, including me, goes about their life.
On my front, another semester came to an end, leaving behind a mixed bag of memories. The first half of my stay in a single room turned out to be nice. However, being the social animal that I am, my group of friends made sure we spent loads of time hanging out and sharing even the minutest of details from our daily happenings. Still, what is good about single rooms is that you can choose to spend some “alone” time if you want to as being among friends is always an option.
Then we had our cultural fest Antaragni. There was a plan to start an unofficial blog and I was quite enthusiastic about writing for it. However, like many other plans it never saw the light of day. One of the other ideas which never materialised was the publication of an in-fest newsletter. The fact that it was cancelled due to “lack of funds”, noticeably pissed my friend and co-editor SDM, and neither did it make me happy. Well, I had a more or less jobless Antaragni, and to be very frank I wasn’t complaining. I met new people and participated in certain events I hadn’t had the time to participate in till now. The quizzes saw some great competition with teams from St. Stephen’s and NSIT raising the bar which unfortunately resulted in our team ending up winning nothing. Though, I was happy to prevent a total wipe-out by winning in “Word Games” (Cheers to my teammates... Bhaskar and NMJ!!)
Leave aside Antaragni and quizzing was good throughout the semester (totally my viewpoint). To everyone’s delight the Q-Club had regular meets and boy, these meets had some cool attendance. So much so, that we had to shift to the lecture halls to accommodate people. Then, we won some stuff, the most memorable of that coming at a particular ‘Infosys’ quiz. OK, so like enough details and well, yeah, nice time on the cultural front.
Talking of academics, ummm.... i hate to go into too much details, I managed to make up for most of my blunders in the end-sems and it turned out to be a decent outing except for the one course that I took as an elective. Now this course was sheer pain. It started off well but then we had the exams and everything changed. The instructor was a totally amazing guy with loads of knowledge but he was too idealistic and expected way too much out of the students. Even with the entire class scoring abysmally low marks, he kept on crafting totally mind-boggling questions which resulted in a class max score of ~30/100. All of us heaved a sigh of relief when he said that considering it was an elective course he wouldn’t fail anyone. But aaahaa!! The story is far from over. The same guy is taking a compulsory course next semester. God help us... :(
Towards the end of the semester we were greeted with another shocker. Our class trip to Jamshedpur was cancelled citing security concerns after the Mumbai terror attacks. Although on the flip side, it ended up adding another week to my stay at home. So, another 4 months at college come to an end. Gawd!!! Just an year and a half left and so much to do... need to buckle up and run.
Adios!
On my front, another semester came to an end, leaving behind a mixed bag of memories. The first half of my stay in a single room turned out to be nice. However, being the social animal that I am, my group of friends made sure we spent loads of time hanging out and sharing even the minutest of details from our daily happenings. Still, what is good about single rooms is that you can choose to spend some “alone” time if you want to as being among friends is always an option.
Then we had our cultural fest Antaragni. There was a plan to start an unofficial blog and I was quite enthusiastic about writing for it. However, like many other plans it never saw the light of day. One of the other ideas which never materialised was the publication of an in-fest newsletter. The fact that it was cancelled due to “lack of funds”, noticeably pissed my friend and co-editor SDM, and neither did it make me happy. Well, I had a more or less jobless Antaragni, and to be very frank I wasn’t complaining. I met new people and participated in certain events I hadn’t had the time to participate in till now. The quizzes saw some great competition with teams from St. Stephen’s and NSIT raising the bar which unfortunately resulted in our team ending up winning nothing. Though, I was happy to prevent a total wipe-out by winning in “Word Games” (Cheers to my teammates... Bhaskar and NMJ!!)
Leave aside Antaragni and quizzing was good throughout the semester (totally my viewpoint). To everyone’s delight the Q-Club had regular meets and boy, these meets had some cool attendance. So much so, that we had to shift to the lecture halls to accommodate people. Then, we won some stuff, the most memorable of that coming at a particular ‘Infosys’ quiz. OK, so like enough details and well, yeah, nice time on the cultural front.
Talking of academics, ummm.... i hate to go into too much details, I managed to make up for most of my blunders in the end-sems and it turned out to be a decent outing except for the one course that I took as an elective. Now this course was sheer pain. It started off well but then we had the exams and everything changed. The instructor was a totally amazing guy with loads of knowledge but he was too idealistic and expected way too much out of the students. Even with the entire class scoring abysmally low marks, he kept on crafting totally mind-boggling questions which resulted in a class max score of ~30/100. All of us heaved a sigh of relief when he said that considering it was an elective course he wouldn’t fail anyone. But aaahaa!! The story is far from over. The same guy is taking a compulsory course next semester. God help us... :(
Towards the end of the semester we were greeted with another shocker. Our class trip to Jamshedpur was cancelled citing security concerns after the Mumbai terror attacks. Although on the flip side, it ended up adding another week to my stay at home. So, another 4 months at college come to an end. Gawd!!! Just an year and a half left and so much to do... need to buckle up and run.
Adios!
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