A lot of planning had gone into it. He was very excited but also nervous. This was the first time he was meeting her after after college. Truly speaking, they were not close in college. They spoke only 1 time. He can still remember it verbatim. Was it because he had feelings for her or just that he had a perfect memory. The second assumption was satisfying for his self. How can he feel for someone he hasn't met or talked to for 4 years. It would be foolish if it was so, he thought.
A few weeks earlier, he feeling restless and missed his college days so much. Probably because of the work load and stress. He missed his college days so much.
Of all things that played in his mind when he thought of college, this one was intriguing. It was the technical festival of their college. There was this event on writing a JAVA code. He was not into programming but was obliged to come because his roomie had a vacancy in his team. There, in that team was this girl who was also like him- accompanying her roomie. They were mostly silent and talked only towards the end. So, they talked.
He: "" Where are you from?
Warangal and you?
I'm from Adilabad.
Oh really, I lived there for 2 years.
Where in adilabad?
not Adilabad exactly, in Nirmal.
OHh! I'm from Nirmal too. Where did you live in Nirmal?
haa near Vashista junior college. My brother was in Intermediate. I was in Vashista school.
Where is your brother now?
in Texas.
OHh then, He must have seen the columbia space shuttle falling down.
Oh yes, he did.
It must have been thrilling?(excited)
It was very sad.
Ya, yes. It was so sad.""
That was it.
on their way back to their college, he stood up and gave her seat in bus. No more talking.
For the last few weeks, he missed her so much. His mind always thought about this conversation without his permission- How silly it was to ask about space shuttle, How can the sight of people dieing be thrilling.
Then he got her telephone number through some of his friends. He was not sure if he should do this. She might not recognize me. But he can't live like this. He called her. All his fears were thrown away. She not only recognized him but also seemed very happy talking to him after such a long time. They talked for an hour and a half, his highest ever with anyone, he was not much of a talker. And what's more- They even decided to meet. The venue and date were to be fixed later.
A couple of more telephone conversations and she made it clear she was not coming to any place other than their college. so he was here, in front of their college, waiting for her. He was back to his college after 4 years. But he was thinking of her. Will she really come? What am i going to talk, I should have saved something that day on the telephone. Now, he has nothing to talk about. Why was here in the first place?
All that memory stuff was probably nothing, may be because he had not talked to any other girl. He was not much of a talker, remember. He hoped it was not for that reason. He hoped it was something else, anything other than that. He hoped it was love.
March 23, 2008
Hope of Love
March 22, 2008
My first article
The last day of consecutive holidays is either the Best or the worst day of the holidays. I'm feeling a little bored and a lot lazy. I try to write something, but don't know what. A few days back, I helped my friend in writing an essay. We sent it for a column in The Hindu. The topic was Student Suicides. Well, Suicides at IIT would have made a better topic for me. I could have written pages on what is wrong with the system, the people..blah blah... the usual stuff. But this one was about general student suicides. I suggested a few things- I'm publishing my views here. I don't want my effort to go in vain, just in case The Hindu thinks it unfit for publishing in their newspaper :D
The spate of suicides among the student community these days is alarming. The most common reasons stated are the pressure to perform and the fear of failure.
Beneath these two reasons is a common reason of lack of opportunites and the mindset of parents, teachers and other people who influence children.
Lack of opportunities- The Indian education system since long has not been braod-minded in according importance to non-professional courses. This creates a misconception among parents and they want their children to be either a doctor or an engineer or an IAS- nothing else. This increases the pressure to perform for the students at a very tender age. Poor performance in school at this stage causes irreperable damage to the child's confidence. He feels he is failng his parents and builds a low feeling about himself. If at this stage, he is told of the other big things he can do- in sports, arts, law, vocational skills and is made to believe that these things are as good as any other field, the damage can be reduced.
For this, we need changes both in the elementary level and higher education system.
In the Higher education level- make specialized istitutes in fields as diverse as law to agriculture and music. Though we already have many universities, the quality is dismal and entry into such colleges is not considered 'prestigious'. There is a need to change this conception by investing heavily in providing quality higher education standards even in non- conventional fields(non-professional) areas entry into which is considered good. The critical aspect here is the number of such universities. Less number will again result in fierce competition and hence defeat the purpose.
In the elementary level, changes have to be made in the number of parameters on which students are judged/graded. At present, a student is evaluated in 6 or 7 subjects in a final examination. This should be broadened to include sports, art & craft etc.
Establishing more number of specialized schools which concentrate on say sports or arts like drawing, music etc will be a good proposition. This helps children to know what they are good at early and develop skills for a brighter career in their focus area.
All the above suggestions are long term and are made to reduce both the importance of marks and the fierce competition for entry into a few select courses. Unlike these, elimination of board exams or decreasing the standards of exams may give results in the short- run but the country might suffer from the poor standards of education. We only need provide opportunities in diverse fields for students.
HOLI
Yesterday was Holi. Another beautiful day in my college life. This one is going to remain in my memory forever. Our wing had the greatest fun in the hall. People must have thought we have gone mad. But like always, Who Cares? CFE Rocks.
March 14, 2008
Planning to Follow your dreams?
For the last few days, I was reading 'The Alchemist'. Was an interesting story with a thrilling finish. But does that really work- I mean should i pack up and move to a place i get in my dreams? and for the 'universal language of soul' part- I'll agree to it. But the language is not unique. It does not have a specific meaning - no hard and fast rule. It is upto the person and different people interpret it in different ways. I, sometimes, did feel like some external force is trying to guide me and i believe it is true for others too only if they take the time and interpret it in the right way.
The story where -a king after losing battle and running for his life, gets inspired and returns back after he observes an ant repeatedly failing to climb a rock but not giving up till it succeeds, is an illustration of how to find inspiration from nature. We lack good role models in this age- Role models whom we can get inspired from and whom we can afford to follow blindly. In such cases, nature is a very good preacher.
