Weight lifting

I am very tired. Did a lot of weight lifting today. Oh! The college library sucks. The infrastructure is terrible. And the most interesting trouble is that while one part of the library is on the 3rd floor the other is in another building. So, today was my unlucky day. I never step into this stinky library. However, today I did, and I also spent good 4 hrs in it. Gosh! How did I do that?

Well I wasn’t in the library for most of the time. As I mentioned I did a lot of weight lifting, so coming back to that. I wanted certain judgments, quickly, just as always in an attempt to spend as little time as possible in the library, I breezed through a few books and jotted down some relevant citations. Then began my ordeal. I had to go to the peon with these citations and then he’d give me the relevant judgments. Oh! But he was out for lunch and the other peon didn’t want to leave his place so I waited for an hour for the peon. Finally when he did come, we had to go to the other library.

This library reminded me of an old haveli. It had a huge lock and its door creaked just as it does in ghost movies. Then we entered this haunted house and rummaged through the cupboards for judgments. And then I left with three heavy (extremely heavy) books. I had to go up to the third floor to get them issued then down again to get them Xeroxed then up again to return them. And no lift to aid me. After repeating this twice I felt like dumping the books somewhere instead of going up to return them.

Rain capers

It has just begun to rain after a long, long interval. But I am already bored of the rains. It’s all so dull and gloomy and wet. And everything is so filthy. Maybe tolerating the gloominess and wetness would be easier if it wasn’t all so filthy. There’s muck everywhere. Apart from the ubiquitous muck, the rains kind of highlight all the dirt lying about the place- empty wrappers, soggy tissue papers and the rest. It’s so frustrating to look at all this mess and begin a day.

But the bigger problem is not visual, it’s nasal. The open cans of garbage are a dismal sight; but when wet they emanate a much more rotten stench. Throughout the city, the lovely smell of the rain water and fresh mud is replaced by the intensified foul stench of the various wet manholes, gutters, bins and also animal wastes. Agrh!

Rains would be fun if little more attention was paid towards the cleanliness of the city.

Persuasion

A small girl in the train. I smiled. She caught it; flashed a tray full of rubber bands at me. No, I shook my head. I didn’t need any. She picked up another tray of clips and rushed towards me. No, I shook my head. I didn’t need any. Then I looked at her, then at the clips. One of them was fine. How much? I asked her, pointing towards a clip- part of a packet of three. She quoted the price of all three. Not the pack, just one, said I. She insisted, I’ll reduce the rates, take the whole pack. I don’t need any, I reminded, and anyways all three of them look the same. No, she pointed out, one is black and one red (it was a pretty carmine), and the other “chocolatey” (it was dark brunt sienna). Ya, but still it’s the same pattern. I don’t need them.

Then I bought them, all three of them, despite their being identical. Why did I purchase those clips? For her chubby cheeks, her innocence, her cuteness, or for her childhood that was lost in selling those clips.



The least I could do was buy them (lame)

Traveling by waterfall

It’s a unique experience to be traveling within a waterfall. Imagine yourself seated and a portable waterfall alongside spitter-spatters cool drops of water on your face. And this while you’re traveling!

To avail of this experience you’ll have to travel by the railways in Mumbai, during the rainy season.

Not only the window, but even the roof of the train will splash water on your head, face, bag and so on. So enjoy the waterfall ride.

“Protective discrimination”

The government has failed in its part. And has shunned responsibility. It has taken the easy way out in order to pacify the public. Things like reservation are a facade. They hinder and not enhance progress. Such “protective discrimination” doesn’t protect anybody.

Instead of reservation the government should see to it that it fulfils its responsibilities. Better education facilities ought to be made available to everyone. Mumbai has just 4 medical colleges; instead of increasing the number of colleges the government has tried to camouflage its inefficiency by introducing reservations to an extent that there are only about 200 seats available in the open category. As a result a worthy student loses an opportunity to study in Mumbai. This has led to undue stress and severe competition amongst young students. And this terror of not acquiring admission has been well exploited by the various coaching classes. They charge around Rs. 36,000 per subject. Anxiety is clearly visible as admissions to some of such classes for standard 12th and MH-CET were complete just after the tenth standard results were declared. So, a student who worked hard through out std. 10th and scored 90.30% was denied admission to a class (not college) of her choice!

The government should show some concern for its hard-working youth and make some seats available for those who score. It cannot make these students pay the price of its negligence by introducing ceaseless reservations. And any ways reservations don’t even benefit those who they are intended to benefit. For these students who again admission on the basis of reservation still lack the knowledge that a merit student posses. They would benefit if the government were to provide them with better educational facilities and not reservations. So, please don’t shun your responsibilities towards the citizens under the garb of reservation. And those of you who demand reservation, instead please demand for your right to quality education.

Boats for 26/7

Churchgate station witnessed a host of changes in the past few days. First of all an array of walk through metal detectors were installed. Good heavens for that- one metal detector that had loyally stood all alone in a corner of the large station has finally found some companions and also now its presence makes some sense. Or else, all these years no one even bothered to check whether it functions or not, by walking through it. It had endured this loneliness for too long now.
However, my head was spinning all this while. After all why was the station being made all so “secure”? Then on 7/11 when I saw many healthy Labradors doing the rounds of the station and some politician giving a speech, everything clicked. Of course these security measures were being taken since 7/11 was approaching.
So, on the big- day the station was flooded with security officials. Hats-off to our security forces. I guess on 7/26 we shall see many boats on the roads.
What if it decides flood on the same day?

A GUIDE TO my ex-college CANTEEN AT LUNCHBREAK

The moment the bell for the lunch break rings, you should begin to run towards the canteen. Or else the mob that comes out of all the innumerable classes will block all routes to the canteen. And then reaching the canteen will become a mammoth task. You will encounter minor skirmishes, long lost friends (who insist on blocking the stairway while chatting hours on end), and those who don’t follow the traffic rules, blocking your way to the desired canteen.

Well, once you have some how managed to reach the canteen, then you will realize that getting across to the canteen counter (to acquire food tokens) is like trying to get across the road while a cycle race is in motion on the same road. You’ll have to battle with famished girls to get this blessed token.

Now you’ll have to wade through a sea of ravenous girls and give this token to the guy behind the counter. This has to be followed by a long wait. Wait. Wait. Hey! What? That other girl took your order away. Wait. Wait. Ah! Finally you’ve got it. But wait again. He has made a mistake and has given you veg fried rice instead of non-veg. oh!

Yeah! Congrats now that you have finally received your lunch you will realize that there is no place for you to sit and gulp it down. But don’t worry, any way the bell has gone. So now fight the same battle amidst the hordes of people to get back to your class.

And your food?

Don’t worry. The crows will finish it for you.
(the cat can help them)

P. S. Keep trying

A new beginning

A new beginning has never been so tough and easy at the same time. Transition from school to junior college was easy for me. While most of the girls missed school, I had no pangs of longing. In fact I fervently hoped that I shouldn’t find someone from school in college. I was pretty excited about this new beginning and wanted it to be new- without any traces of the past. And that it was – new- I began afresh, no one knew me. So I made new friends and a new image (or so I thought). Everything was nice and fun. I loved it and never missed school. Not that I had an extremely bad experience there, just that I enjoyed the freshness of everything around me. I felt different and this excited me.

I left junior college to join senior college, once again filled with a lot of excitement. I had high hopes and many dreams. My new college set my pulse racing. It was lovely and again I didn’t miss junior college. However, this time I missed my friends. Missed them a lot. It felt like a physical pain. I am a very reserved person. It takes me a lot of time to settle down in a place. It was different in school I’d make friends with the girls around my seat. So I had rotating friends- they’d change as and when teacher would change the seating arrangement (we had to sit at a fixed place allotted by our class teacher). But that wasn’t a problem I always had company I enjoyed. But in junior college things had changed, I had changed. Or may be it was a result of my freedom to sit wherever I liked. I ended up spending two years of junior college with just four other girls. Yes, just four, no more friends. We were like a cloister. We didn’t attend college unless three out of the five of us were present.

So in senior college I felt lost. I had to sit with other people- after a gap of two years. Oh! I was so used to sitting with just them. But then slowly I got integrated, made new friends. And I began to enjoy again. Senior college was fun. In fact it was excellent. I didn’t get stuck up with a few people as I had done in J.C. so when I left senior college to join Law College I thought this transition will be a cake walk. After all I wasn’t attached to anybody as such.

But then for the first time a new beginning was so tough and easy at the same time. Easy- because in post-graduation people seemed to become friends pretty easily. There was no need to get adjusted; people were not interested in that. So I made acquaintances in the first 5 minutes, despite being late by a week. The delay didn’t seem to create any problem. The atmosphere on the whole was very casual.

However, I was very uneasy. For the first time I didn’t feel excited while going to a new college. For the first time I missed an institution, not certain people, but an institution.
The campus, the canteen, the bookshop, the Xerox shop, the coffee vending machine, the trees, the corridor, the benches, the blackboard, the long climb to my class, the view of the Arabian sea from our classroom’s window, everything. Without realizing I had developed a bond with the institution. And I miss it.

As I go to Law College daily, I miss my college. And what makes it tougher is that I won’t be able to love my new college in the same way. Despite being the best law college in Mumbai it is as dingy as can be. The only solace is that the staff here does teach well.

Mumbai application
Mumbai apprehension

Since no one is accountable

Tenth standard results were out on 26th June. And the rush to secure admissions began. Long queues and more long queues were in vogue this season. Though the state government did attempt to change this eternal trend of long queues by launching a website called mumbaiapplication.com. Nevertheless, the traditional pattern of long queues prevailed. Mumbaiapplication.com provided the facility of applying online to various colleges. However, it failed to get rid of the apprehensions attached to this new facility. Students and parents were skeptical. The site itself declared that, “Deputy Director, government and any of its employees carry no liability what so ever.” Furthermore, principals of various colleges had denounced responsibility for online forms, in case of any error.

Against this backdrop of no accountability, anxious students lined up outside colleges for hours on end to purchase a form, then again to submit it. Many students applied both- on-line and off-line. In this fashion spending twice as much money and time. Sheila Tiwari, state deputy director for school education, had said that, “[she] was looking for a way to introduce technology to fight admission woes.” However, these admission woes seemed to be never-ending, as students and parents stood in ceaseless queues since 27th June, while tolerating the rains and the heat.

While errors are bound to take place, nonetheless if some authority would assure rectification and guarantee admission (in case of a fault on their part), then students would have peacefully applied online, within the comforts of their homes.

Besides accountability another disadvantage was that not all colleges had registered on mumbaiapplication.com, namely Patkar, Bhavans (Andheri) and Sathaye. This site was also supposed to display the merit lists of various colleges, which were declared on 3rd July at 3.00pm. Conversely, until 12.00pm on 3rd July the merit lists of only 12 colleges were available on mumbaiapplication.com. Colleges such as Ruparel, Ruia, Jai Hind, St. Xavier’s and Mithibai had put up their merit lists on their respective sites and not on mumbaiapplication.com. Certain colleges such as Sathaye did not display their merit list anywhere on the net. In order to fulfill its claim of displaying merit lists on mumbaiapplicaton.com, the state government should make it mandatory for all colleges in Mumbai to register and upload their merit lists on mumbaiapplication.com. Thus, students can avail of all the advantages of this site.

Mumbaiapplication.com provided 24 hours access. So, students could fill and submit their forms at any time of the day. As a result, parents would not have to miss work. Moreover, mumbaiapplication.com would save all the data filled during registration and this information need not be re entered while filling many forms; thus saving much time. In fact S.S.C. students of this academic year just had to feed their seat numbers and the site would fill in other information such as marks. The use of zip cash cards was also very thoughtful since everyone does not possess a credit card. Altogether the site is a very good attempt but despite these conveniences only 25% applicants in the open category for science, 0.87% for open category commerce and 0.13% for open category arts at Jai Hind College utilized the online form facility.

If accountability was taken then this site would have proved to be a revolutionary change. And many more students could have benefited from it.

Rome Was Not Built In One Day

Rome was not built in one day,
I know it,
The garden was also not built in one day.
It underwent
stages of transformation;

1st it was a plot
with some swings,
we used to play,
the big boys broke them,
and in summers,
cricket they used to play,
in the monsoons,
(a pond),
swimming and sail paper boating
they used to play.

Then after y-e-a-r-s
(the garden predates me)
they decided to build it,
an elaborate thing,
A jogger’s park,
a nana-nani park,
a children’s park,
all in front of my house.
With a huge ornamental piece of grass in the centre
all empty, (why)

1st they cultivated it,
different kinds of grass,
Different kinds of flowers,
sometimes beautiful,
then suddenly! All yellow
Now they want to turn the centre
into a badminton court
Rome was not built in one day,
I know it,
The garden was also not built in one day.
(still not ready)


A small plot of land
Many people
Many ideas
Some religious
(religion was kept at bay,
The garden is a place to play)
Some politicians,
Lots of time



Whatever it is,
better it is,
or else we still wouldn’t play,
In summers,
cricket they would play
in the monsoons,
swimming and sail paper boating
they would play.




My country
B
I
G
Piece of land

L O T S of time…

Mango

When I pass by the kitchen I smell sweet hay,
As I enter the kitchen, the smell intensifies.
This smell comes from a basket full of hay
In which are embedded scrumptious mangoes.
I move towards the basket and put the hay aside,
And remove a ripe yellow mango.
It is as warm as a chick.
I wash it with ice water and remove the hay stuck to it.
The entire room is filled with its aroma.
I then take a knife and begin to slice it.
It is orangish yellow, looks very pretty and alluring.
Then I dig my teeth into the soft fleshy fruit
And pull it off its skin;
Into my mouth.
Ah! It is sour.
Tuck! It’s sweet, sour.
I begin to take small bites and suck it within my mouth.
The sweet, sour taste is tickling.
Yum! It melts into my mouth.