Ragging or something else....

I STILL REMEMBER my first day in college. I had been caught by a bunch of seniors and was being ragged in the most benign way possible. Obviously not silly but genuine questions were posed and there was no such thing as buzzer round. All answers could apply and I thought I was doing quite well.

I was asked to introduce myself in-front of seniors and my classmates. Everyone was stranger for me and I remembered everyone like, “wo smart wale sir, gori wali ma’am, tota-maina wale sir-ma’am, maggi jaise hair wale sir, miss chuimui and Jhansi ki rani”. ;) J

Another senior asked me reason for choosing journalism as career and one of the most common question, why I left the Lucknow University as Lucknow is much better than the Bhopal. Finally one by one all my batch mates introduced them and answered several questions put by seniors in the most benign way. We had our ragging session from morning 10 to 8 pm (oh God…..! how much pathetic it was and how much I tired that day). But after being ragged from morning 10 to 8 pm, we had samosa and tea party from my seniors’ side. So I felt a quite well as I was too hungry.

 Finally I reached back to my room that was quite stranger and uncomfortable for me. I tried to sleep but there were some assignments that were given by seniors, which could not let me sleep. That assignment remembered me my school days when I had lot of home works and wanted to sleep without doing that. But it was my college where I have to maintain my image and reputation so I struggled hard to write some articles on a piece of paper.  

It was second day of college, I was worried about my admission as it was confirmed for the other branch till then. But I started to attend the classes because I had planning to transfer my admission to the Bhopal branch and had also assurance from my HoD sir. While I was sitting outside of the cabin of our lovely  HoD and was waiting eagerly for conversation with him, 5 feet and 10 inches of legs walked to me and asked my name and native place. He also told me that some of seniors are waiting for me into the class. “ Sir I’m waiting for HoD sir, he told me to wait here and will come after meeting him”, I said in gentle way.(but worries and nervousness could be seen on my face).

I was still waiting for HoD sir, a bunch of seniors walked around me and again instructed me to join them into ragging session and went back. “oh God… ye seniors bhi kya samajhte hai khud ko..sakal dekha nai chale aaye”, I murmured.  J  I immediately roped in to join them and then the Q and A round turned into a competition of asking best question from us J J .

 After facing hundreds of introduction session by seniors, super seniors, super-duper seniors, I mugged up two lines “Good Morning sir, Good Morning ma’am” and said these words 50 times in a day, having fake smiling on my face. Even I also started to dream these two lines J “Good Morning Sir, Good Morning Ma’am”
College campus, Bharat Bhawan, Ravindra Bhawan and Saprey Sangrahalay seemed to be my in-law's house and my rented room seemed to be my parents house.
Anyways, finally I mixed up with my seniors, classmates, teachers and I had also confirmation of my admission into the same branch after struggling much. (my struggle for confirming admission into the Bhopal branch includes a long story L. I will write it further in future.) We enjoyed our days too much with our seniors, classmates and HoD sir and felt that I have a large family members here in the Bhopal. However, every day I had tight schedule from morning 9 to 12 pm and sometimes morning 7 to 12 pm. (not even had SundayL). But still we enjoyed too much as everyday was new for me and I visited several places like Manav Sanghralay, Van Vihar, Kerwa Dam, Kaliysot, Hanuman Tekri, Bhojpur, Chatarpur, Khajuraho and other places. J We did lots of photography and cracked jokes and cooked traditional foods at several places.

Finally I realized that, everyone was too good and caring sort of that never let me miss my family. All my seniors and batch mates were always ready to share our loneliness or any miss-happenings. J Especially our HoD sir seems to be another father for we people.

To be continue…..

A break to do your things....

Some of the moments of our life robotically catch our attention. Similar things happened with me, while standing at traffic signal and eagerly waiting for red light turning into green.
As i noticed, with each numbers that were changing rapidly at the traffic signal board (41, 40, 39...), everyone was so eager to head their vehicle and it seemed to me that they have competition among them to head their vehicle first. However, they were eager to head their vehicle but they were also busy in several things. A middle aged man was setting his t-shirt in a proper way while a young one was opening the tank to check the level of petrol.
At the moment, i was also looking for short cut and planning to break the traffic rules but at the same time i was also busy with my mobile because i had a message from my friend. I was not the only one there who wanted to break the traffic rules even after being busy, but everyone standing there was busy with several things and wanted to
 go ahead.
An old uncle started to clean his spectacles and aunty who was sitting at the back seat was checking her purse whether she had her keys or left it somewhere in the house.:(

However, everyone needs a break after driving a long distances but they do not want to stop at the traffic signal. Why people do not want to stop at the red light with their own instead of trying short cuts or trick to break the rules of traffic signal. I personally feel that, traffic signal is the best thing which gives us an opportunity to check our mobile phone, wallet or purse, set our  t-shirt, check the time or level of petrol. J I know i'm talking like a SAMAJHDAR (sensible) kind of girl but I feel all these things.J

Missing those comments... 

It was Sunday, I was sitting at DB City mall and having my dinner alone as I didn’t have company to share the dinner and talks. I was concentrating on my pizza and coke which I ordered, suddenly chuckling appeared across my ears and I could not control myself to turn back.

A group of 4 people including 2 youngsters and 2 elder people (woman and a man) were having their dinner. It seemed to me that they were family members of two children along with their lovely mummy –papa (I wish I could be with my parents….missing you motu mumma and ever-dearest papa). “Take the salad…you always pretend to avoid such things… fayade wale chije to ye ladki kha hi nahi sakti…!” woman scolded the girl and put few salad into her plate. It remind me about my mother who always use to scold me for green vegetables, fruits and especially milk, but I was never interested for such things and used to underground the fruits into my bag and threw it on my way to school. Once my elder sister shared with me, when I was 6 years old i use to pour the milk into the drain situated at the corner of our yard and informed mummy, "I have finished the milk :)" and mummy use to become happy and commented, 'good girl'. J

But, of course at this stage no one is here to scold me but even after that i'm taking such things like green vegetables, fruits and milk without any instructions. Sometime i also use to suggest to my roommate that she should take the vegetables and pulses. Obviously she doesn't like my comments but i do comments.  (what a change Ankita????) J

Well, come back to the DB city…..

It was clear that they were completely stranger for me but the girl in blue jeans and yellow kurti who seemed to me to be of my age. She had not a nice impression over me. She was staring me continuously and looking much confident. She also looked quite happy as she was with her family members. I felt that she was thinking about me that how one can take her dinner alone.

I don’t know why but I did not like to see that girl with her family members. Holding the coke into my hand, I stood up and went towards them, without thinking. Within a few seconds I poured the coke at the girl and started, "oh…sorry…! Sorry..! Please pardon me I was seeing somewhere else….i'm so sorry…!

“Oho…bittu jadi utho …. jao wash room jao clean karo ye sab…!” said the mother to her daughter while Bitto made her face and rushed towards the washroom along with the her mother.

“Koi baat nai beta, just carry on your work…hota hai ..!” father told me. However, no one can understand the fathom agony running somewhere in my heart and I knew it very well that I have done it intentionally.

“Is it a jealousy which exist in my heart just because of the fact that I am far from my own family?” sitting back to my place I was thinking.  "What kind of jealousy is it?, how can I do such things, they are stranger for me, why should I care......" i was thinking all these things and lost into my dreams.

Finally I could not complete my dinner as it seemed tasteless and left for my room with a little drop of tears which automatically rolled down on my checks :( obviously m living as a paying guest with a family of flabby aunty who is sometimes so lovely and sometimes she react like a cruel lady. 

Uff Ye Cellphone....!

I was travelling by a local bus from 7 no. bus stop to New Market. At one of the intermediate bus stops, a girl who was in her early twenties, and was dressed in T-shirt and jeans, got on. She climbed into the bus with difficulty, since her left hand was held up in the air, somewhat like a police man signalling traffic to stop. On a closer look, it became clear why she was holding that rather odd pose.
There was nothing wrong with her left hand, only its palm had been freshly decorated with mehandi (henna) and she obviously did not want the design to be smudged. Since the bus was fairly crowded, the girl was forced to keep standing, her right hand holding tightly onto the overhead rail.
Suddenly her cellphone started to ring, without waiting for even half a second, she dropped her right hand, took the phone from her jeans pocket and started chatting with someone who appeared to be her boyfriend. So she was involved in her conversation that she seemed very oblivious of the fact that she was in a local bus which jerked, swayed and jumped as  it weaved its way through heaved traffic on a pot-holed road. She also appeared to have forgotten that local bus  have a tendency to start and stop suddenly. 
What happened next was almost preordained. Without any warning , whatsoever, the bus driver, who had seen a motorcyclist cut in-front of him, braked hard. Most of the passengers, seated near where the girl was standing, were enjoying the romantic mush she was spouting.
I admired the girl's discipline, she kept her left hand upright and continued talking over the phone in her right hand, all the while trying desperately to maintain her balance. Quite naturally she failed to do so , she crashed onto an elderly man who was unfortunately enough to be standing in front of her. He in turn, rammed into the man in front of him, the cellphone flew out of the girl's hand, bounced off the head of a passenger sitting near the front entrance and flew out of the door.
'Mera phone..! mera phone..! Bhaiya roko...! screamed the girl
Roko...roko....bus roko......! 
But the local bus drivers wouldn't have the bad reputation that characterizes them if they started listening to the passengers' plea. The bus continued merrily on its way. As for the girl,she showed not an ounce of remorse or even attempted to apologies to the man she had crushed into or to the one her cell phone had hit. All she did was to console herself, "never mind". Anyway that phone was a year old and i was going to threw it away. My dad will get me a new, latest model by the evening.
I am sure most of us have witnessed the similar bizarre incidents, or maybe, even undergone horrible experience, such as almost being banged by a speeding motorist who was more intent on talking over his cellphone than driving his vehicle or having a pedestrian suddenly stepping into your path of vehicle because he or she was trying to cross the road while engaged in a cell phone conversation.
Cellphone are source of another problems also. 

       

                         Identity Crisis...!

                        

                  

                      Who am I? What do I see?

                               

              I have come here to discover the truth me.

                               

              There I am different, here I am too,

                              

              Either way, I am left with a blurry view.

           

               

                I am UPian to some, Indian to the rest

          All seem to be putting me under some large test.

                 Never quite fitting into the larger scene,

                  Constantly shifting, ready to scream!

           

                    My accent is big in one UPs land

    

                  My parents is too on the other hand

                     Different styles, different paces

                 Me trying to keep up in both the races.

           

                  Will continue to try to meld the two,

                   A difficult task but one I must do.

.

An Initiative by Tamil Nadu Government

In a pioneering initiative  by the Tamil Nadu  is quite 

admirable step towards the education of rural and needy children. Chief Minister Jayalalita is providing free laptops to students of government-run and government-aide higher secondary schools,arts and science colleges. The scheme, which will cover 912,000 students this year at a cost of Rs. 912 crore, is designed to give a major boost to information technology literacy. Social welfare programmes intended to increase enrollment and reduce dropout rates in schools are not to Tamil Nadu, which was first state to introduce a comprehensive mid day meal scheme.Boys and girls in the schools run by government are being provided free uniforms and text books. From this year, under another novel scheme envisaged by the chief minister, pupils in classes 10th, 11th and 12th will be given cash incentives to complete schooling. Even in this context, the free laptops scheme is exceptional-backed by a serious pedagogic effort, it could have a far-reaching impact on improving access to higher education for boys and girls from poor and needy families across the State. All higher secondary schools in Tamil Nadu have computer labs but students do not get sufficient exposure to computing, not to mention coding and programming. The free laptop scheme could open up a whole new world of knowledge based opportunities to a generation of students who hope to do well in higher education and then in the job market.

Equipping and appointing trained computer teachers should be the next big step towards achieving the universality in computer education.

They've Set Up Bonds With Old Age House

 None can deny that relationship matter. It protects us from the dog-eat-dog world. Love and friendship act as buffers to the horror of human competition,but it's lacking today,affecting the elderly people.
Doctors, Philosophers and Sociologist have been pointing to the fact that they have fallen prey to a clash between two generations.
They have said this is the reason why the status of elderly people is changing, causing loneliness to them.
The city, where number of old age homes is rising is also witnessing this problem. Also, a research work done under under the guidance of Asha Shukla, HOD of Centre for Women Studies. says,"Bhopal tops in cases of old age abuse," One such lonely lady is 72 years old Moni says, "i am happy here,enjoying my life. I dont want to disturb my granchildren's studies" May be she is happy, but one can very well fathom her mental agony and pangs of loneliness she's suffering from.
Like Soni, there are thousands of senior citizens, living in old age homes in the city.
With lump in his voice, Rajesh, who is living in old age home, says,"I was very happywith mywife, son and daughter-in-law. But after the death of my wife,my son and daughter-in-law changed their attitude towards me."
"They told me to leave the house,as they can't afford me anymore," he adds.
"May be my wife was working as maid for them. So they're keeping me. Thats why i was forced to live in the old age house after her death. Now i have my own world . i have lots of friends who are alone like me. We are enjoying our life."
Physical problem too, sometimes forces one to live in old age homes. Children of many people are settled abroad. Such people too feel isolated and choose to nlive in old age homes. An old couple, Mahesh and Mitali are living in Lions Senior Citizen Home, They say, "We have only one son and who lives abroad,so we have chosen to stay here, enjoying our life."
There are three big old age homes in the city-Anand Dham, Karunalay and Lions Senior Citizen Home.
Dr RP Mishra, president of Anand Dham says," Our purpose is to provide shelter to the homeless, right now we have 22 men and 16 women."
There are three catagories of people who come to live in the home. Those who are homeless come stay till death. Secondly those who whi live temporarily return to their houses if the situation permits. Thirdly, those who come for only for day time return home in the dusk.
The4 is appointed with health care and yoga training facilities. Thosev who are3 above 60 years are eligible to stay there. Karunalay, where ten people live, is basically meant for the Christian. The Lions Senior Citizen Home is appointed with free homeopathic treatment, games, yoga and other other facilities. This is basically a paid old age home which charge between Rs 2500 and Rs 3000 per month. Prem Lata, manager of the home says " The people come here from various district like Guna, Gwalior, Sagar and Jabalpur. They are living here happily, enjoying the company of others." Blame it on generation gap or economic liberalisation or lack of education at a time when the elderly people need special care, they have to leave their houses only to live in old age homes-broken. Emotional isolation it's true, breaks down both body and soul.
"Bridging gap between the two generations is needed, Says Aasha Shukla Hod of the Centre3 of Women Studies, Bhopal "  She further says," The elderly people have fallen victim to this generation gap."
Post retirement is the best part of life, but at this age, they are being neglected, Those who are young say about the elderly people, 'Buddha Sethiya gya hai." this kind of abusive language should not be used against the elderly people, she says. She also says only education can help solving this problem, as after five years 40 percent of the population will be old. A research work done under her guidance says the generation gap is the main reason for rising number of old age homes.She has also started an old age care certificate cource for the young generation.