GEMs of India

An open letter to all the sane authorities of Indian Education System and Government/s in general.

Greetings.

Recently I followed some news encapsulating the proposed changes in the CAT examination to be conducted this year that most probably would translate to reality, much to the horror of General engineering male candidates, or GEMs, if you will.  

The proposals included- reducing either the weightage of the quant section or reducing the number of such questions, for a simple reason- to combat the growing majority of engineers being admitted to the country’s prestigious B-schools. The first question that comes to my mind is - WHY? If any GEM is talented enough to crack such tough exams because of the aptitude that he has developed over years of hard work and toiling, why do the authorities wish to discourage or rather stop them from joining top schools. Wasn’t the big black blot of reservation not enough that now we’ll have to face this impartiality too?

Well, before I go any further, it’s important to state here that I am not against any caste, creed or division. I respect people for the content of their character and not by the caste, sect, religion they come from. But the basic point remains- What could the GEMs have possibly done wrong to face such humiliation and tampering with their careers?

Many of my friends, including me could have been at the IITs given our general category rank had there been no reservation. And possibly, if the entire system would have been based on pure merit our most prestigious IITs wouldn’t have been struggling in the global rankings. Perhaps more of us GEMs would have got the opportunity, the exposure that we worked so hard for and those that the reserved candidates often take for granted. No offence, but it’s true. While I worked hard to secure a decent rank in JEE during my preparation years, one of my reserved friends used to enjoy his evenings playing out there in the field. Well often he used to call me a fool to have been working so hard. Pretty cool huh? An academically/intellectually  lowly mind ridiculing me by stating- “Why do you study so hard dude. Look at me. I’ll make it to the IITs I am sure, but I am enjoying my life at the same time”. Well now to think of it, I should have taken his advice, after all what good did all of it do to me?

But yeah! Coming back to the topic. I am afraid the same 4 year old memory has come back to haunt me again, but this time the problem is much more devilish. Coupled with reservation we have an extra 5 points if you are a girl candidate, reduction in the traditional quant section etc. One would argue that it’s all to diversify the students that choose this field, i.e. students coming from humanities, arts, etc. need to be encouraged. But think over it, the 2 year of MBA programme would most certainly expect me to be a good analyst, an optimizer for the company that I’ll be serving- to say the least. Won’t it need someone with a reasonable quant aptitude that sort of covers it up and gives GEMs an edge over others to perform well and produce the desired results in the real world?  In my opinion, it does.

But still… GEMs continue suffer.

I won’t go on and on enumerating all the problems that the reservation policy and the attempt to keep engineers away from B-schools have. I’ll offer a simple solution too, if only the authorities are interested, read concerned.

Solution is- instead of continuing to spoon feed everyone and struggling to get everything on everyone’s plate, teach them how to cook. Understand the importance of merit. I understand there are weaker sections in our society and they need our help. No doubt. But what we are doing is neither helping them out nor doing any good to our country. Instead of reserving seats for them, give them fee waivers, incentives/resources to study. Provide them free coaching, free books, guides, internet, test series to prepare for national level examinations. This applies for all non-GEMs. Do everything you could, or rather we could to help them rise up to the same level as us- but strictly, grant such concessions only before and after the exam. Not during the exam. What do we do to the 2 year old who does not know swimming? Throw him in the pool saying that JAL MATA would take care of him? Or do we train him to swim? Of course we train him. Similarly train the weak students before the exam, not during the exam. Spare the exams to test only the merit and not anything else.

Their also has been a substantial fall in the number of CAT- takers in recent years, mostly engineers, and much of it owes to the aforementioned reasons. Coupled with this, or rather as an outcome of this, the number of engineers going abroad to pursue higher studies is at an all-time high. Top talent is being drained out annually to the US and here we cannot stop pondering as to why brain drain is happening? And neither do we have state sponsored foreign education like China that mandates its students to return back once they’ve finished their education to serve their country. Well there’s a reason that the world is ahead of us, right?

Rise above the good for nothing vote banks, rise above such concessions, rise above such excuses. If you really wish to solve these problems, get to the root of it. Of course the people in power are intelligent enough to figure this out but problem is that they don’t want to. If they really want it, it’s just a matter of time that the new, refined, purely merit based system would be accepted by all.

In a country where what is RESERVED counts more than what is DESERVED, GEMs continue to lead a miserable, frustrated and below their standards kind of a life. God, I plead for mercy. Hope you have no reservations on this.

Sincerely

A fellow GEM.

*Disclaimer- Pardon me for the language but not for my intent.     

Bestest Core Team ever

Bestest Core Team ever

With officially dissolving the Core and Executive Team of IBC 2k14-2k15 session, only to promote all to a higher level, I finally have a chance to extend my gratitude specifically and exclusively  to my 3^rd year companions, my family at MANIT. A post would have been insufficient to encapsulate all I had to say and also I wished to make the moment memorable, hence I made up my mind to give you all a well-deserved place in my blog.

Guys, we have rocked it big time. We have made it bigggg, we have made it Huuuuggggeeee. I say this not only because IBC hosted few of the biggest events ever at MANIT, it’s much more than that.

Everyone’s a witness to the quality of events we’ve hosted this session, along with the trend-setting majors of the likes – MG 3.0, VB and Career Workshop.  With the amount of dedication that the CORE members and executives had, the outcome was well within imagination. I specifically talk of the personal front.  

The situations in which our team was formed, the extremely repulsive environment in which the rich legacy was passed onto us, the trust that our seniors posed in us and the promise we made to them to take IBC to greater heights- which definitely seemed to be a very distant dream back then.

I, first and foremost, would definitely like to thank from the bottom of my heart to one person without whom our core team could never have had made it this through. Ankita, I distinctly remember last February. Had not you shown enough courage to stand back with IBC, none could ever imagine the IBC that it is today. Year long, you’ve been the master of everything at IBC. You are the perfect all-rounder, and no one could ever fill in for you. What you’ve done for IBC in these two years- reminds me of Vivek sir. And professionally, I think things have been more difficult for you, if it were bad for all, it was worst for you, then also you made it, and you made it bigggg.. You are my greatest source of inspiration, the biggest contributor to IBC’s success this year, the silent guardian of each and every affair at IBC, the ultimate care-taker of IBC. Thanks for being there. You surely are the bravest girl I know of and the BACKBONE of team IBC 2K14-2K15. And as they truly say- “What Rajni can’t, Ankita can”.

Anshuman, bhai… among the 2 closest members I always had by my side in the most horrible of the conditions, it were you besides Ankita. I proudly say this- had either of you given up back then, I surely would have followed or I would never have been able to serve the way I should have. Be it anything, anyplace, anytime.. you were always there to stand up for the right, to support me in all my hearty ventures. You were a constant support. Even after being burdened with what they call –‘MADE EASY’, you did all you could. Thanks for everything bhai.

Akanksha. I think we became good friends only in the 3^rd year. And the inception of our friendship for sure was not an ideal one. But the maturity with which you’ve handled the difficult circumstances and the level of understanding that you’ve shown is truly praise worthy. I felt it at times that perhaps all of it was getting a bit burdensome for you and your patience might as well collapse, but no, you stood there, you stood there for the team, you stood there for US, you stood there for our family, you stood there for IBC. I very well understand how difficult it might have been for you, but you certainly have made our family proud, very very proud.  Thanks for being a wonderful friend, thanks for being a friend with whom I could discuss the extremely sensitive issues of the team. Thanks for keeping our family intact.

Aayush. Brother, truly speaking, a year back, when I had big dreams for the team, I had the 3 pillars in mind- I, Ankita and Anshuman. Despite being the king of wild dreamers, I never dreamt of you playing a worthy role in my big IBC dream. Our relation on the personal front was no doubt flourishing and one the best I had at MANIT, but professionally, I had so less of an experience with you. And at the beginning of this year long journey, I seriously was not very sure of how your part would be defined, how we’d accommodate ourselves professionally, how would things work out. The start was a bit clumsy but the momentum our professional relations gained during techno rose to its unimaginable heights since then. There was no looking back after October 2k14. I always silently appreciated the amount of professional space you provided everyone and am glad you did. With the amount of hardwork you have put in this year for IBC, you certainly have earned what I am about to say – “I realise that you have been the 4^th missing pillar for IBC this year”. Thanks buddy. On a personal note – “Phoda hai bhai apan ne, really proud of our professional camaraderie”.

Kamakshi. Hahaha.. the cutest member of our family.. True that before this year, I never got to work with you but this year I had the opportunity. And I am glad to have worked with you. The perseverance you have with our work is worth complementing. I remember the countless troubles we had to go through for the MG 3.0 poster, and me calling you every other moment to work it out a different way to match the specifications provided, even a day before our minors you sat down for something like an hour for the same. I thoroughly enjoyed working with you on the MG 3.0 poster and one of the biggest compliments I have ever received at IBC came from you. I know not if you remember it, but it certainly made my day. Whenever the team needed you, you were always there. Thanks for being there.

Nimisha. I’ll always appreciate your- stick to the basics- attitude. Event manager, oh yes you are, all the logistics always with mam, not to worry, they’re safe and secure. You were always ready to fill in any lacuna in the team. Nobody to sit at the registration desk- wait I’ll do it. Nobody to go for the permissions with Ankita- wait I’ll go with her. Timings of two events clashing- wait I’ll sort it out. Whenever and wherever the team needed someone to fill in, you were the first one to respond. Proud.

Shreya, Swati and Sadhana. The three S’s for the 3 S’s of the team- Strong, Spry and Sincere. The H7 authorities were always left to you and you people definitely took the best care of it. Again, our friendship blossomed this very year and I am very happy and very proud of having you people in my one big loving family. Swati, I don’t care of what people say- I certainly appreciate the kind of jolly atmosphere you aimed to keep at IBC, it definitely made things a bit easier for everyone.  Sadhana- as Vivek sir said- You’re a taskmaster whom we needed at many occasions. And Shreya- the happy go lucky friend one always needs to talk to when looking for positivity around.  

Arnav. We’ve known each other for 3 years now, but I guess the foundation was laid somewhere around the IBC farewell last year. As you yourself have said at multiple occasions- “Tere sote hi sab senti ho jaate hai, that’s why you don’t sleep early”. True that.  Working with you was of course un-imaginable for me a year ago, but things have changed big time, and I am glad they did.

Diksha and Palak. I didn’t get to work with you people much. But Diksha, I remember the incident when I was hosting a dinner at my place and I asked you about your aching ankle. I have never felt so sorry for having asked a question as I did that day. Hahahaha, Sorry to make you cry. By the way, how is it now? And Palak, I always felt that you wanted to be more with us, and I appreciate that whenever you could, you did. Be it the birthday celebrations, be it the dinners, be it the parties, whenever it was possible for you, you made it a point to join us. Not everyone can do it, am glad you did.  

This year was a dream run. My team rose from the ashes to the unimaginable heights- both personally and professionally. I heartily thank you all to have given me the opportunity to experience the best phase of my graduation. It’s hard to say if this was my last lengthy post; it’s too early to promise that. But a year like that, a society like this and a family like ours for sure needed this documentation. 

Thank you again.

P.S: Kamakshi and Akanksha, the team’s eagerly waiting for our customised T-shirts.                                          

My Sinful Path

I recently participated in an online literary event where i was required to come up with an interpretation or real world incident that connects to a famous poem by ROBERT FROST- The Road Not Taken. So I came up with this.

My Sinful Path

I stood at the crossroads in 1947,

One path prophesied the hell, other Heaven.

I was not satisfied and I craved for more,

No doubts about that, I knocked the former’s door.

I attempted thrice, but could not win,

Kept passing the responsibility to the next of kin.

My neighbor was empathetic but I never cared,

I tried everything that could keep her scared.

I nurtured snakes in my backyard to bite my neighbor,

Then came the time when it hit me hard and I had to suffer.

I kept on trying, but it kept on turning gloom,

Meanwhile my neighbor entered the space, went to moon.

When my snakes failed to seal the deal, I approached the dragon,

In the facade of pushing my cause, it conquered me for once and forever.

My neighbor asked me to get along time and again,

And alas I think today, it wouldn't have been a bad option.

Never learnt from my mistakes, never from my pain,

All my efforts were always in vain.

I lost my identity and it was entirely my fault,

Perhaps in 1947, I should have given it some thought.

If you are still wondering who I am,

Well, Pakistan was my name, and I finally claim all blame.

The Time Travel

The Time Travel

“It’s the last call for passengers of Flight no. 9W10 to Singapore. Kindly report at the boarding desk”, announced the Mumbai Airport authorities.

I rushed to the boarding desk, completed the essentials and finally boarded my flight to Singapore.

While I had been travelling alone in India, this was going to be my first foreign experience. This trip promised me a much needed break from my monotonous routine.  I chose Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand tour package over others as the brochure promised taking me to exotic locations that we Indians usually see in our typical Bollywood movies and are tempted to be  there at least once, all this at a little-over-affordable price.

I located my seat, placed the handbag on my lap and took a deep breath to mark a fresh beginning to the much awaited holiday.

Once I settled down, I peeped to look around for people who were travelling with the same touring services as I was, and as expected, they were all old couples on their second honeymoon. Lack of companionship wasn’t a blow; I had been living a lonely life since years. I never had friends to hang out with; I chose this life for myself. The competition that my parents expected  me to face and get through never allowed me to make friends, saved a lot of time and energy though and promised me a stable career.

The flight took off a little late, perhaps waiting for a passenger. I took up a magazine from my bag and made myself busy and cut-off from the chitter-chatter of the oldies. The seat next to me was fortunately unoccupied.  

“Hey, hello”, said the stranger, “I guess, this is my seat”. I turned to look whether I was the one being addressed. And yes, the girl in yellow was indeed talking to me. “Mam, may I have a look at your ticket?” , I literally snatched her ticket to view the details. “The ticket clearly mentions seat no. 22A, which must obviously adjacent to 21A and 23A. Using a bit of common sense, one can clearly make out that the count for seats begins from left, so if this compartment mentions 21-23A, yours has to be the middle one”.

The girl gave me a perplexed look, took a minute to interpret what I said, and slowly settled on her seat, adjacent to me.

“You haven’t changed a bit nerdy-birdy , have you??”. I turned to her with a baffled face, to make sure if she was talking to me. Oh yes she was. Before I could say anything, she continued, “You don’t seem to have moved on to better things nerdy, you are still the same, engrossed in the boring magazine, never giving a damn to what’s happening around.”

I tried to make out who was she, was she a neighbour and old friend, no, I never had friends, an acquaintance, ugh.. And why was she talking to me like that??  People don’t talk to me like that; people shouldn’t talk to me like that.

“Mr. Aman Sinha, nice to see you again”. Still puzzled, I looked at her, anticipating an introduction.  And before I could ask for it, there she was striking again, “I realize nerdy, however hard you press your nerves, you won’t be able to trace where we met. So I’ll help you relax your nerves”.

“Get to the point”, I kept saying in my mind.

“Tishani Joshi, was with you at high school”.  

I tried to recollect, but again she interrupted, “I asked you not to put in efforts, your nerdy little brain won’t be able to recognise me”.  

I didn’t get a reason as to what trouble I caused her, which made her talk to me like that, and I thought it was better to avoid wasting my time in things I haven’t paid for and what wasn’t in the travel agency brochure. So, I reverted back to the magazine and decided to ignore all her subsequent interventions.

As I struggled to engross myself with the magazine at hand, she fired again, “Singapore ha?? 7 day tour package?? Alone??”.

“Yep-Yep-Yep”, I tried to keep it as short as possible.

In the next 5 hour journey, there were a couple of such attacks, my answering pattern being the same. For sensible questions, I did spare some kindness.

We landed at Changi International Airport, Singapore and headed to our hotels.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

go to: http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel-part-2.html

The Time Travel (Part 4)

continued from: http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel-part-3.html

She stopped mid-way for something, I slowed my pace, still moving towards her.

“Everyone freeze for a moment”, she announced. I stopped mid-way.

“I want you all to meet a very special in my life, he’s probably my everything and this has been the longest period after which I’m meeting him, presenting to you-‘Rahul Sharma’”.

That came to me as a blow, I stood there numb with my spine going cold all of a sudden. Everyone stood up to greet Rahul Sharma, as Rahul and Tishani walked up to the lunch table. They passed by me, with Tishani dropping a ‘hello’, to which I could not even respond.  While Mr Rahul met everyone, I stood there shocked and heart-broken. Well this was certainly something I didn’t plan for. Why didn’t it ever occur to me that her side of the story might be completely different? A girl so deserving in terms of relationships, should definitely be in a prospering relationship. I was ruined, didn’t had a word to console myself though. Though I thought it was good that Rahul came just at the right time, had he been 5 minutes late, I would have embarrassed not only myself, but Tishani too. That was the only thing which served as a drop sized relief in the ocean of agony and heartbreak. I left the place then and there.

Tishani’s room was next to me. All through the afternoon I could hear Rahul and her laughing aloud and singing to the full pitch of their voice. I tried not to hear, but all that I tried to resist Tishani, was not just sufficient.

In the evening she knocked my door and introduced me to Rahul. He appeared to be a nice guy, a six-feet frame, a perfect physique, charming smiling and down to earth attitude, seemed good enough for her. Tishani informed that everybody were to leave for the city tour, I tried to pull it down as I was in no mood, but couldn’t refuse on her insistence.

Rahul accompanied us on the city tour. He was very well acquainted to the city. For all information about the places he presented to our troop, he seemed to be our tour guide for the day. His presence in the group created the same effect that Tishani’s presence used to. Giving me an all new reason as to why they were together.

We returned to our hotel at night, and I chose to order my dinner to the room. I didn’t have any strength to face anyone. Tishani however didn’t return to the hotel. From all I knew, they had some other plans together. All night I lay on my bed, lifeless, waiting for the trip to end soon.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Day 6

I got up late. My phone had a few missed calls from Tishani and a text.

‘I tried waking you up, you were seemingly in deep sleep and didn’t pick up. I returned this morning and left with everyone for the market. Join us when you are up. Rahul is with us to help at marketing.’ her text read.

I felt all the more hopeless reading the last sentence of her text, and was in no mood to step out of my room. 

I didn’t reply to her message because I didn’t know what to. I stayed in my room till evening trying to revert myself back to the set of movies I brought, which I could not. My mind was playing a never-ending slideshow of my moments with Tishani. I could not get myself out of those memories.

By the evening, everyone came back. I was invited over dinner, and gathering all the strength that I could, I somehow managed to join them. Everyone was discussing the tour nearly coming to its end, how they’ll cherish the tour for their lives, exchanging each other’s contact number, sharing photos from the tour. I replied to the questions that came my way in the best possible way I could wearing a fake smile, trying to hide my plight.

Post dinner, I moved back to my room and heard a knock. Tishani it was.

“Hey, where have you been all day?  I was expecting you at breakfast followed by shopping, but you didn’t turn up; didn’t reply to my texts either. Why? Everything alright?”, she asked in a go.

“Umm… yeah sort of…”, I replied lamely.

“Hmm, you seem a bit stressed, I have something that’ll cheer you come. Come with me.”

She walked up to the bed and sat crossing her legs, asked me to sit by her side. She had her digicam held in her hands. She started showing me the tour pictures right from the first day. It was a sort of total recall journey. A few pictures of day 1 had me wandering alone, caught giving funny expressions unknowingly. Brought a smile to my face. She commented and gave me background of every photo that she showed me. Then followed day 2 and 3 and 4. We had a few pic where both of us shared the same frame, few of the sorts that I would have loved to get enlarged, printed and framed to my room’s walls. Sitting so close to her, I could feel her fragrance spreading all over me. The fragrance that she carried was ever so fresh as her face and smile. She scrolled down to the next day, day 5. I was hardly in any pic. I seemed to be replaced by Rahul. The issue that seemed to elude my mind for the past half an hour made a haunting comeback. I tried to control myself as hard as I could from breaking into tears in her presence. She left my room in the next fifteen minutes after making sure at her end that I was all good and back to normal.

The night then ran its course.

…………………………………………………………………………….

Day 7

I got up early, packed all my bags and went down for supposedly the last community breakfast. Greeted everyone with a smile and morning wishes; tried to maintain distance with Tishani as far as possible, to avoid letting my heart down again. And we all left for the airport and boarded our flight to India.

It was 22A, my seat number, this time. And I remembered how I made my first ever conversation with Tishani 6 days ago, how the roller coaster of events started, how her deeds and presence made me a better person in just 6 days, and how my heart broke. 21A was occupied by Uncle George and 23A by Aunt Mary.

Uncle George started the conversation, “So young Man, taking everlasting memories from the tour.”

“Yes Uncle, certainly.”

“She said a ‘Yes’ then?”, Aunt Mary enquired.

“Aunty, I didn’t propose.”

“What?, she literally shouted, “O Gee…Why didn’t you?”

“Aunty, I was all prepared to propose her the day Rahul joined us, but I guess Rahul is the right person for her and I didn’t want to be the third person in their relationship. They seem to be happy and I didn’t want to embarrass them. Thus I retracted.”

“Rahul… you know who he is?”

I looked at her in surprise and anticipation.

“He’s her maternal cousin idiot, he lives in Bangkok.”

The announcement came to me as a thunderbolt revelation. I took few minutes to think over it all once again, everything seemed to make perfect sense now. Why he joined us at Bangkok, why she appeared to be so close to him, why she made those announcements, why he was so well acquainted to the city, and why she didn’t stay at hotel that night, because she must’ve been invited by her aunt, Rahul’s mom. As my thoughts cleared, I uttered aloud, “Oh my God, what have I done?”.

Aunt Mary and Uncle George stared at me in amazement and anticipating my next move. “Uncle, Aunty, we still have an hour left before we get down at Mumbai airport. I want to do this now… should I ?”

“Yes ofcourse son, go ahead, we’re with you”, they said in unison.

I walked upto an air hostess and tried to describe her in brief what I wished to do. She arranged for a few things I asked her to. I went to the washroom, glanced at the mirror to check if I looked perfect for the event, stared myself in the eyes and reassured myself, “Go for it Aman”.

I tucked in the pocket microphone that the kind airhostess agreed to lend me. I stood at the entrance of the compartment, took a deep breath and started,

“Attention everyone, I am Aman Sinha. Exactly six days back, I took the very same flight for the tour. I was an utterly idiotic and loner kind of a person; unaware of the earthly culture of relations and socialisations and its importance. These 7 days, have somehow changed me significantly and now I am a very happy person. I feel complete at an emotional level; I feel to have achieved everything. The girl sitting right there at 42A, Tishani Joshi, is the one whom I attribute this change in me to. She made me realise on what I had been missing all these years. Tishani, will you please come here”.

 She looked at me in complete surprise. She started taking steps towards me and when we were a mere 2 steps away, she paused.

I continued, “Tishani, you are the sole reason for the 360 degree change in me, your deeds inspire me to live a better life, you have opened up a completely new horizon for my thoughts and relationships to prosper. Your presence completes me. These seven days have been so awesome for me, I wish to make the coming seventy years and more awesome for both of us, I present to you every bit of my 5 foot 4 inch frame, will you be with me?”, I completed and bent down on my knee holding a yellow rose that the air-hostess managed for me, awaiting her answer.

She looked deeply into my eyes for a few moments. There was a pin drop silence in the flight, everybody staring at us, anticipating a happy ending.

“Mr. Aman Sinha, your aren't a loner and definitely not an idiot, dare you use those words again. Aman, you make me feel complete too. I wish to make the coming years awesome for us too.”, she said with moist eyes. She took the yellow rose from my hand, held me by my hands and got me up, followed by a hug, which was my first hug, so I didn’t know the proper protocol, but holding on to her tightly seemed appropriate. I could hear fellow passengers cheering us with their blessings and applaud, as we hugged.

“Why didn't you propose me at lunch that day?”, she whispered in my ear. “I wanted to, but then Rahul appeared all of a sudden and I was intimidated by his 6 feet framed structure”, I answered jokingly, holding her tightly. She giggled in my ears saying, “No need for such intimidations, there is just one Aman Sinha whom I know and have fallen in love with for life”, she reassured me. “Miss Tishani, let’s not say you’ve fallen, let’s say we’ve risen in love, gives me the winning feel”. She giggled again and finally said, “Yes, I’m with you, for now and forever”.

Everybody chanted, “Love is in the air, Love is in the air, Love is in the air”. 

………………………………………………………………………………

That’s my love story. Five years have passed since I made the memorable tour. We married a year ago. It seems unlikely, how the seven day tour transformed my life drastically and shaped my life for better. But this is how destiny plays its part. Hard to believe, but true. And as they always say,

‘When it happens, it happens’.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….....................

The Time Travel (Part 3)

continued from : http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel-part-2.html

Day 4

The day started with a community breakfast once again. I took my seat and looked across the table to see who all were present. I counted heads and realised 2 ladies were absent.  One was Tishani and the other was Aunt Mary. And it surprised me that I was getting familiar with quite a few names of people travelling with us. I was wondering what would have been the reason, when I saw them coming down the stairs.

Aunt Mary was dressed like a queen, with a tiara. A green gown, netted sleeves, hair styled fashionably, a few beauty products I was unfamiliar with and a beautiful smile, she looked adorable. Tishani by her side, aiding her to get down the stairs. I realised that everyone at the table stood up as the ladies walked up to the place, and as they reached everyone started to sing the ‘Birthday song’ for Aunt Mary. Uncle George came up with a cake lit with candles, singing in rhythm to the group. Aunt Mary’s eyes were all moist with the loving gesture of the group as she cut her birthday cake. After everyone did, I walked up to her and wished a happy birthday.

I walked up to the counter to get a tissue. Tishani was there already.

“I sense the party was your idea”.

“Yes it was, you liked it?”, she asked smiling.

“While the celebration was chalked out with a purpose of making Mrs Mary happy on her b’day while she was away from home, my liking-not liking should not be given importance, but as a matter of fact, Yes I liked it”, I said in a breath.

“Oh Aman, it wasn’t just for her, it was a celebration planned for all of us, to make us feel good, to make memories for us all that we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives. And, I think you got to practise taking breaths while you state a long-long sentence”, she said giggling.

All of us left for the city tour then.  But all throughout, I was stuck at a thought. Why was it that, Tishani bothered to waste her time and energy for an activity which gains her nothing at an academic or intellectual level? Why was that she planned a celebration for some old aunty she just met three days ago? Why was it that she cared so much for the people around? Seemingly, she didn’t gain a thing out of all that. But is that what makes her feel good all time, because she’s ever so smiling? But then again she wasn’t gaining anything, I wasn’t sure of her GPA though.  All that confused me more and more. I had to ask, but I wasn’t sure I should.

Our city tour took us to National Monument, King’s Palace, Independence Square, Petronas Twin Towers, Boutique Chocolate and National Mosque. Each location being more alluring and Eden than the previous one. While my eyes were blissed at the sight of this Shangri –la, my heart was immersed in the loving aura that Tishani weaved around her. Everyone seemed to be so happy having her around. Every time I looked at her, I saw her smiling, clicking photos of the old couples, suggesting them romantic poses, making them happy. Subconsciously I started to actually like her presence around me, I exactly could not figure out why, but yes her presence made everything around look so beautiful.

Later at the dinner that night, she gifted Aunt Mary and Uncle George a GANESHA idol, which I remembered she bought at the market when I was with her, a day before.

I finished my dinner and started to move towards my room, I sensed her catching up, and I turned to face her, she stroke a conversation.

“Hey, what plans?”

“Umm, nothing unusual; was thinking to watch a movie before moving to bed.”

“Aman, I guess movies can be seen when you are back to India”.

“Seems you have a better plan”, I enquired smiling.

“Actually yes. I was wondering if you could give me company to the terrace. I think the view of the city would be great from such a height. So you in?”

“I am sure I would have never thought of that, but it sounds better than watching the same set of movies all over again. So yup, I am in”.

We took a lift to the 24^th floor, and thereby stairs. The night sky adorned with stars looked just as magnificent as the city lit with lights all over. We chose a spot and stood there gazing at the beautiful city and alternately admiring the night sky. I learnt something that night, gazing at the night sky stimulates your philosophical thought process, which I rarely used.

“So you said you were the only child of your parents”, she asked.

“Yes, that’s true”.

“Is that the reason why you choose to remain cut off from people around you?”

That seemed a rather direct question that I was subjected to, but unlike other times, I chose to discuss.

“Umm, I don’t know. If you could present me your hypothesis, I’d be in a better position to answer”.

 “Hypothesis”, she giggled. “Aman, it’s okay if you use daily terms while conversing informally”.

I was clueless of what she said, but she continued.

“You didn’t have any siblings growing up with you; both your parents were working, which means the only major talk that they could’ve afforded with you while you were growing up must’ve been centred around you academics. Because of which you perhaps grew up believing that academics is all that holds importance; that is what is needed for you to build up a stable career; never involving yourself with people around; never having informal talks with anyone, never trying to know what people around you are upto.”

“Is that actually required?”, I asked doubtfully.

“Aman, I have been with you at high school. In the 240 working days that we had in a year, you followed the same routine each day. Your itinerary was so predictable that other students used to bet money on what your next move was going to be. Ofcourse they were jealous of your good grades, and their mocking you should’ve been none of your concern, but if you think hard about that time, I guess you can’t remember anything except a few scientific equations and your pointer”.

“Umm, yes… no... yes my pointer was 9.8. Darn, the C.S teacher, she was unjust to me because I questioned her degree. What was yours?”

“9.65”, she replied.

“That was a good CGPA too, considering it was high school. But it confuses me all the more, was your social conduct at that time same as it is today?”

“Yes, more or less”.

“You seem to be a good manager”, I said in a complementing voice.

                        

“Aman, focus is one thing and isolation is another. Even if you have high goals in life, focus will fetch you your set targets. But isolation will restrict your personal and professional growth. When you pass out of college, you’ll have no profs, no teachers, whom will you learn from then? It’s the people around us from whom we learn our lessons, lessons that life has to teach us. Its people around us whom we have to turn to; for happiness, for celebrations, for living a life instead of just being alive”.

I was silently listening to her, her words were making sense to me, though at a slow pace. She seemed sure about her hypothesis and I found not a point to contradict, unlike earlier times.

“Life isn’t a ladder that you keep climbing up throughout your life, its rather a tree, where you grow life long, spread your branches in the sky, in all directions without hesitating and yet keeping your roots and values strong and intact. Not only does it gift you an evergreen life but also provides a much needed comforting shade to people around you”, were her words.

We stood there for a while; I was cogitating all that she said to me, until she stated that it was time to return to our rooms to rest. As I lay on bed that night, I couldn’t sleep. In my ears were reverberating Tishani’s voice and in my mind my social conduct since childhood. I couldn’t think of even one instance in the 21 years that I lived on the planet when I made someone smile. For the first time in my life I was disappointed, disappointed from myself. I lay there thinking how I could mend this for my coming life; and realized how weak I was to mend it all by myself.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Day 5

Two thirds of our tour was done. We left for Thailand early morning. In the flight my seat was next to Aunt Mary. Tishani’s seat was 2 rows ahead of me diagonally.  Last night’s revelations and realisations were still running in my mind. I wanted to break the glass walls of isolation that I myself built around myself. Thus I tried to strike a conversation with Aunt Mary.

“Good morning aunty”.

“Good morning beta, how are you?”

“I am good”.

“You say so, but your eyes tell that something’s been keeping you awake; anything that you’ll like to share?”

“Nothing in specific aunty, regular stuff”, I said hesitantly. I wasn’t sure of how sure I should go in the first informal conversation.  

“You two make a cute couple”.

The last statement left me flabbergasted; it stunned me top to bottom. I couldn’t say a word, my heartbeat almost doubled and breaths went heavy.

“Why, I mean how… I mean what made you think so? “, I asked stammering.

“These old eyes have seen the world Aman, you are travelling with around 20 old couples, ask anyone and they’ll tell you what they see in your eyes, something which even you might not cannot observe in yourself. I saw you on the first day and I see you now, five days down the change that I’ve seen in you has been largely because of the girl sitting 2 rows ahead diagonally.”

I listened like a child, my heart brimming with mixed emotions, confusions and abdomen feeling fluttery.

“So what should I do?”

“You can either choose to be with her, confess what you feel for her and make a new beginning of your life with her, or continue with the life you have been living all these years”.

She paused for a while I sat evaluating.

“Think well, but avoid overthinking, it’ll weaken the decision you make.”

“Aunty, You sure I should go ahead?”, I asked to confirm.

“Beta, you sure that what I see in your eyes is true?”

“Yes aunty.”

“You answer your question then, go ahead; make this tour memorable for all”.

For all my remaining time in the flight, my inexperienced mind came up with a million plans for proposing Tishani, discarding one after the other. I surely didn’t want to commit a mistake that would ruin the most important test of my life. The ideas were still flowing in when we reached Bangkok, and subsequently our hotel.   

We were all to gather for lunch, and I had a plan in mind, which till now appeared to be flawless.

In the next half an hour, as I wished it to be, all were at the lunch table, I was ready, well dressed, arranged for some flowers; with my heart pacing, I anxiously waited for Tishani to come over.

And then she came, dressed in blue, curls of hair set perfectly, deep blue oceanic eyes, wearing the most beautiful smile time could ever see; my heart skipped a beat at her sight. As she started coming towards the table she greeted everyone in her regular style, “Hey ya”; everyone looked in her direction; I stood up, took a deep breath, looked to her in the eyes and started walking towards her. We were both walking towards each other, and my wait finally seemed to end, with each passing step that we took towards each other, brought me closer to her, to my life. 

go to : http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel-part-4.html

The Time Travel (Part 2)

continued from: http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel_28.html

We checked in our hotel, had our lunch and were asked to gather at reception for the night safari.

It was my first experience in a real jungle. They led us into the jungle via a tram and then it was a walking trail. With just two youngies and rest all, around twenty, oldies, our troop was the slowest. I was wondering what the individual cost for this safari would have been. Would it have been cost and time efficient if I missed this safari and utilised the time working on my incomplete thesis?? It wasn’t turning out to be as fascinating as they pictured it in the brochure. All I could see were a few drowsy lions, few over excited tapirs and a group of seemingly insomniac nocturnal animal species. Not that I was irritated over losing my time to this night safari, the thing that was getting on my nerves was miss Tishani making all sorts of howling, growling, screeching, hooting sounds to, I guess amuse the oldies, which apparently fulfilled its purpose.

We returned to our hotel after the night safari episode and were instructed for the coming day’s schedule.

Day 2 was supposed to be a city tour. As I walked out of my room, I saw Tishani in the lobby. And as usual she was there chatting with an old aunty. That’s what I disrelished in her the most. She appeared to waste much of her time in such pointless chats. Given a chance, I would have asked her the effect of this useless energy wasting blabbering on her CGPA. None the less, I tried to save myself from such time wasting endeavours as far as possible.

A few locations for sight-seeing and then we were asked to let ourselves in a market. From what I happened to overhear, the old folk wanted to buy things from a never ending list for their children/grandchildren. I was least interested in shopping. Hence I decided to sit by myself in the bus and wait for them to return. Tishani left with them. I thanked God for the momentary peace.

I plugged in my ear phones but before I could press play, I saw Tishani coming back. She entered our bus and stood at the doorway.

“Nerdy, I want your help. Umm… actually, I need someone to help me carry my shopping bags. So I was wondering if u could just…”.

I loathed her for addressing to me by that name. My mom used to say, “Even when you are good at something, you shouldn’t blabber about it publicly, it brings misfortune”. 

“God forbid, if my grades drop down this semester, you’ll be the sole reason”, I murmured to myself. But I said a “Yes” out of courtesy.

I followed her on a mute mode thereafter, until she commenced to break the seemingly uncomfortable silence.

“Are you the only child of your parents nerdy?”

I stopped. She went a few steps ahead and on realising that I wasn’t by her side, turned to me.

“Hey, what happened?”

“Miss Tishani, I am here to help you. It might be important for you to know that calling me by that name will push me to break this deal of helping you. So what do you propose??”

“Oh..oh..ok ner.. eee sorry.. Aman... Aman. Yes, I mean no… I mean ok... I’ll be cautious.”

“Comforting that’ll be, and ‘yes’ is the answer to your question”.

She led me into something around 62 shops, shopped around 18 different items, attempted to take my opinion for some;  which I guess, seeing her dull expressions; didn’t seem to help. Whatever it was, as soon as I thought my sufferings were about to end, came a blow when she said, “Now it’s time to shop for myself”.   

I was awestruck at this masterpiece of God. “What must’ve been his expectations when he created this girl?”, I thought.

“Don’t worry Aman, I sense your discomfort, just a few cosmetics. I promise less than 20 minutes”.

“Thanks for the concern, I am ready to suffer”, was all I could say.

She walked into a cosmetic shop, before I could follow her in; I received a call from home. Indian mothers are ever so concerned about their children; they fire a series of questions at you as soon as you pick the call up. As I hung up the phone after answering all her concerning questions, I heard Tishani calling my name. I moved in. She turned towards me asking, “Is the lipstick too bright?”

I was taken aback by her impeccable beauty. Her lips literally seemed no less than rose petals under the effect of the bright red lipstick. It was just perfect.

“Aman, I am waiting for a reply”, she said.

“Yep, yep… I mean yes.. I mean no… not too bright. It’s perfect”, I said stammering.   

“You sure?”

“Yes, of course”.

It was time to return back to our bus. I helped her carry her bags. But I couldn’t resist looking at her once in a while in admiration.  When strands of her hair tried to hide her lips, I was tempted to ask her to reposition them, but was afraid to be taken otherwise. So I chose not to comment or compliment.

 When we were back to the hotel, I had my dinner ordered to my room. And as the day had been tiring, I went to bed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Day 3

I woke up hearing my phone ring. It was an unknown number.

“Hello, whose this?”.

“Aman, it’s me, Tishani. We’ve to leave for Kuala Lumpur in an hour, so I was wondering if we could have our breakfast together.”

Good grief, how did she get my phone number? I’ll have to be a lot more cautious; I told to myself.

“Umm..hmm..25 minutes, cafeteria”.

“I’ll be waiting”, came the reply.

I got ready and was at the cafeteria on time. In these 25 minutes however I tried to develop theories on what was wrong with the girl. Why would she want my company? Given that she had stolen my number, was good at making wildly grunting/howling noises, perhaps I was being smuggled to a human trafficking gang. 

That was one of the most unlikely yet convincing theories that I stumbled upon.

This girl didn’t seem to respect my time. I couldn’t see her at the cafeteria. I selected a table and sat there waiting for her. I took out my phone to call her, but then heard her voice.

“Here we are Aman, come join us”.

As I stood up to looked past her, I could see around 36-40 great old tour companion of ours. So it was going to be a community breakfast. Living in a nuclear family, this one thing was something I didn’t appreciate much. Of course she didn’t mention this on the phone which made me feel awkward as I wasn’t mentally prepared for this. But considering that my walking away would have been against the social protocol and would have looked insulting, I chose to sit down quietly.

All throughout the breakfast, I got to hear different stories from each couple about their lives, each one being more confusing and complicated than the other; their life experiences, each involving more thrill than the previous person’s narration; their love stories, each involving more struggle than the previous person’s story. Hearing all that two things were clear to me, one that this was the heaviest breakfast I ever had as it involved so many stories, emotions and thrill topping my ordered cheese grill; and second I was a failure till date to understand and involve myself in the social paradigm that people of my race seem to display so well. “Ask me for a summary for the past half an hour and I’ll never be able to provide it”, I said to myself. However, a few blinks at Tishani made me believe that she seemed to gel in really well with the group. By this time she was familiar with everyone’s first name and … Good lord, socializing appeared to be one of her strongest subjects.

We left for Kuala Lumpur past our breakfast; rest of our day being majorly spent in travelling, checking in our hotel and having a community meal once again towards its end.

go to : http://ahirraoakshay2020.blogspot.in/2014/05/the-time-travel-part-3.html