The Heartbreak.....

 I was never like this before and my friends are testimony to that. I was just this normal college going guy who would mind his own business, scum around with his friends, watch Messi flick a goal over Casillas or Sachin screw up the bowlers and retire back to bed after each lazy day. But since the day I saw you, my world had turned upside down and I mean it.

That was a Wednesday when I noticed you among all the other girls. I don’t know, but I think it was the grace with which you filled your feminity or the serenity in your actions that injected a viral and desperate sense of tranquility in my mind. And I myself stand witness to the fact that not a day has gone past since then when I have not thought about you before going to sleep. Don’t think I am ranting like Shahrukh Khan in his usual romantic flicks, but when I close my eyes, the first thing that comes to my mind is your smiling face. And I had tried to get over that feeling initially by using many means but none of them worked. But I must admit, that unknown to me, the uncontrollable teenager in myself who was waiting for the slightest initializations to go astray and wander like a cursed soul, had started to love this amazing occurrence. How blessed is your face! Rosy cheeks, gleaming eyes with intensity and feminine determination, the most warming smile revealing what looks like a set of the worlds most shiny and silvery pearls, your voice is like a masterpiece of eloquently stitched symphonies that would put even the great Beethoven to shame. It gives me the strength to challenge the world’s most potent atheist who disbelieves in the sheer existence of God!

Sometimes my friends believe that I have metamorphosed into a pathological lunatic from a normally quiet and understandable individual. Of course I have revealed to them about your identity since I had the sole belief that this would not go out of bounds. That would surely be an unpardonable breach of confidence on their part.

Are you aware that my grades have started to stoop low and you are the only reason behind it? I come early everyday and stand besides the college gates hoping to meet you and take the walk to the classroom in your companionship. Each day I try to muster the courage needed for that priceless walk to eternity. But sadly my already mediocre confidence diminishes with every passing millisecond. So much so that I feel like a fool standing there expecting your timely arrival. I feel synonymous with the young child who thinks he can gulp up whole of the vast oceanic expanse in a mere tumbler. Sad and dejected I give up my try with a resolve to make it the next day. My experiments in the laboratory frequently go wrong. Thats because my gaze is fixed at your ethereal charm rather than the apparatus. Even though I cuss myself and bring back the concentration, my ever wandering eyes let me down.

I am oblivious to what the teacher preaches in the class as I steal glances to look at you without the knowledge of my friends or for that matter even you. Now since we have started talking to each other, every word that you speak and every smile that you emanate feels specially propagated towards me and only for me. There is elegance in your talk, hypnotism in your smile and an sense of mysticism in your methods. It all made my imbecile mind believe that you reciprocate my feelings the same way I do. Thats the fault of my logic starved brain which believes that a movement in any direction is a sign of progress. How insane!  I have gone so mad for you that I can’t bear to see you talk to any one, even for the most professional reasons. But having said that these are the moments which make realize the hard truth of the misery I am facing. It comes as a slap to my face as I realize that I mean nothing to you, that you probably even don’t have the slightest clue that you have made life a living hell for me. This whole love thing is crumbling up my insides and with great pain I have declared to myself that I want you to pass out of my life just as a mere tree in the long road through the journey of life.
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Its been eight months of infatuation trauma for me. I still remember the day when I discovered that you were in a relationship with someone. Whoever he is, I have all the belief that he is the luckiest guy on this planet. That day, enduring great scars to my heart I threw out all thoughts about you into the darkest corner of my mind from where I hoped your memories would never be retrievable. Invariably out of the blues a famous poem by Miguel Otero Silva echoed in my ears.

"I heard her feet walk away from me
 And sensed dusk in my face
 My heart swaying between her and the street,
 I dont know from where I found the strength
 to free myself from her eyes
 to slip from her arms
 I walked, crying through rain and glass
 clouded with grief and tears
 To the loneliness that awaited me."

The Rajasthan Express.......

So as I had mentioned earlier,  we the students of R.D.National College performed a   5 day excursion to Rajasthan, more precisely  to Jaipur and Ranthambore. Well I didn’t find any taste in the idea of describing a 5 day long event in a limited issue like a blog. But still some people wanted me to write it up though I am pretty confident that you won’t find it interesting at all. On my defence I warn you that this is like a documentary. Don’t blame me if you people don’t like it!!

THE FIRST DAY: We were asked to be present at the main reservation counter of Mumbai Central railway station at 5 pm sharp to board the Mumbai-Jaipur Superfast train at 6.30 pm. I was the second one to reach the spot preceded by Nandita. Others flowed in with the passing time. All of them especially girls were accompanied by their parents. Almost all students arrived on time and checked themselves against the name sheet. Ofcourse there were those eternal ‘laters’ like Hafsa and Vivek, but they weren’t late enough to miss the train. After ensuring that all the students had arrived we went on to the platform and boarded our train. We were 39 in total and were dispersed among 9 compartments- from S1 to S9. My friends were all in the adjacent compartments and I had only Vijendra Sir and some Second Years for company. After ensuring everyone had settled down Vijendra sir relayed between the bogies to make sure all were as close as possible. Even I helped him to some extent. As night fell and people started going to sleep, we were all still awake and well. The idea of sleep seemed like absolute absurdity to all of us. Sir was with Mohsin and group and they ofcourse had a great time. Me and Mukul indulged in watching movies on Mahendra’s I-pod. So insomniac were we that we didn’t close our eyelids until 3 am. We did sleep for an hour for the sake of it though.

THE SECOND DAY: But when we woke up it was very cold. It was so cold that Mahendra snatched Jaya’s bed sheet and covered himself from head to toe and dozed of again. Me and Mukul covered ourselves in Saylee’s huge blanket and were chatting with Jaya. Our talks were repeatedly interrupted by Mahendra’s snoring which sounded  like a F-16 fighter waiting for take off. In the far horizon, orange strips tore across the blue sky marking the onset of dawn. After our body maintained some homeostasis we both got up and moved on to the other bogies to perform formal goodmornings on those who were awake (and to wake up those who were asleep!!!). By four thirty Ratnam Station arrived and we got down to free our body and experience some real cold. We bought some tea after the train started ( it sucked) and I lost my appetite. When Sawai Madhopur arrived we saw  hawkers selling some really big perus. They were so big that each of them could qualify as a medium sized coconut. Only three of them fitted in a 1 kg range. Our generous sir bought them for all of us. Even though it was bright outside we couldn’t afford to open the windows due to the cold wind. Rest of the journey was uneventful apart from the occasional shivering when someone opened the doors or windows. We reached Jaipur by 12.30 pm. We dragged our bags and loaded it onto the bus which was waiting for us. The bus sucked in the first look itself. We reached the hotel in 15 minutes. Vijendra sir instructed us to get ready in 1 hr time and have lunch after which we had to visit places like the Sisodiya garden and the Monkey valley and an ethnic  restaurant called  Chokhi Dhani. Our hotel was superb  and the food was mind-blowing given the skimpy budget to which it was squeezed in. After having lunch we all departed for Sisodiya Garden- a 300 year old garden built by a certain Raja to please his wife. The garden was huge and marvelous and superbly maintained and was peculiarly full of Cycas plants. Photography was not allowed but nobody gave a damn! Our stay was limited and we soon drove of to the Monkey valley. As the name suggested it was a  valley kind of  thing swarmed by monkeys which were used to the human attention. After spending some time there we went to the last spot for the day- Chokhi Dhani.
It was essentially an ethnic fun  place meant to present the cultural and traditional diversity of Rajasthan. There were things like folk dance, rabri,elephant rides, camel rides, puppet shows, magic shows, boat rides etc. All of them wasted there time on camel rides and missed out on other stuff. Except some of us ofcourse. It was time for food at last. We found it hard to get accustomed to the Rajasthani food but it was very healthy to say a compliment. We reached hotel by 12 in the night. We needed to get up early the next day but sleep came by hard and we wasted our time making calls to the girls through the intercom present in the hotel room.

THE THIRD DAY: As usual, the alarm was ringing on 3 of our phones and we four (Myself, Mukul Mahendra and Vivek) were encouraging each other to get up. We got up late and hurriedly got ready and ran down for the breakfast. Boys came on time. Girls were never expected to arrive on time. After all they had things like nails, hair, eyelashes, lips, face, nose, ears etc to account for.
After breakfast we set of for the Jalamahal; a palace in between a lake, the name of which I can’t recollect. The water was very polluted a few years back, hence a committee of which Vijendra sir was a part planted plants like Fragmitis austrelis  and Cesbania as part of Phytoremediation. We saw the Pargota of Jaipur; a miniature version of the China Wall which surrounded Jaipur. It was built for securing the territory during the rule of Rajputs. We then proceeded to the Amber fort. It was classy and beautifully built and showcased architecture which was not influenced by the Mughals. It took around 2 hrs to roam the whole palace. The Diwaan-e-khaas was my favourite; for its scenic beauty and the glassy gloss. Though it was a fort it resembled a palace due to its architectural style.
Next up was the Jaigarh fort which was visible from the Amber fort. Jaigarh fort was nowhere close to the architectural grandeur its companion down the hill possessed. Yet it was strategically more important and viable for artillery strikes. The main attractions were the fire arm museum and ofcourse the Jaivana- world’s largest cannon on wheels. It was a structure weighing 250 tons, made of eight metals, had a range of 35 km and needed 4 elephants to change its direction. Interestingly there was a pit dug behind the cannon which had earlier been filled with water . It was made for the man who would light the cannon so that he could jump into the water and escape the recoil impact! Enough time was wasted and so Nahargarh was cancelled and we all returned to the hotel for lunch. We then went to Jantar Mantar but could not make it in time. We were taken to the Jawaharlal Art Gallery and allowed a shopping time of 1 hr after which we took a walk into the art building. Beautiful indeed but I didn’t understand anything of it! That was up for the day and we all retired back to our hotel for dinner and yea..something called sleep- which was again wasted by making useless calls to girls.

THE FOURTH DAY: As usual hurried waking ups were followed by hurried baths and getting ready for the day. Today was going to be educational. Breakfast as by custom was great. 12 noon was the official checkout time. So we loaded our bags in the bus in the morning itself. We were first taken to an area of land consisting of 56 acres which was basically a bio-diesel project of which Vijendra sir was a part earlier. We learnt of plants like the Jatropha and Acacia tortalis. A project on 56 acres of land! My projects hardly cross 5 pages! We then went to a nature park exclusively botanical which hosted a large number of plants and trees which we use in our day to day life. Names were too scientific to be remembered and written here. There were also exotic plants from countries like Israel, Argentina, Spain, Peru etc. Lot of studies already though it was quite interesting. Especially when u get showered with knowledge by your faculty. Again due to lack of time we cancelled more engrossing ventures like a Bio-gas plant and a Water treatment plant. We went straight to the Central Park- which if I am not wrong is the largest public park in India. It had a 10 km long track! The high point is that it has India’s tallest national flag at a height of 207 ft with a flag which is 78 ft long and 48 ft wide. Huge indeed. After heading back to the hotel and having lunch we proceeded to Sawai Madhopur or precisely Ranthambore. It was a 4 hr long journey which was further added to 6 hrs thanks to our driver who lost his way and then to 8 hrs due to the catastrophic road and some unfortunate events which need a special mention later. We reached by 12 am. Ranthambore was even more cooler than Jaipur All of them were shivering from head to toe. Tempertaures hovered around 5-6 C. We arranged our bags and had dinner in the new hotel and dozed off. We had to depart at 7 am for the safari. All of us set alarms on our phones and went to sleep hoping we will get up early.

THE FIFTH DAY: Again we woke up late at 6.30 am. Bathing was not an option thanks to the blistering cold.We finished the toiletries and went out for the safari. Coffee and tea were served which was a temperory relief. Me and Mukul ran around the hotel to generate heat and also did push-ups but to little relief. It was time for the safari. We were divided in two batches; each one in an open air van(colldd!!). We were lucky to have Sir sitting besides us. He gave regular inputs and seemed to know more than the guide himself. We were unlucky to spot the tiger but we did see his pug marks. We spotted the sloth bear which is a singularity in itself. Jackals, Nilgais, Mongooses, Sambar deer, Spotted deer and the Tree Pie were the main attractions. We returned back all thrilled and elevated and had our breakfast. After that there was a gap of about 4 hrs during which we had lunch and did some shopping. Then we departed for the Hammir fort. The driver of our bus; Mr.Rahis Alam was a Sanctuary Award recipient- One of India’s most prestigious awards- for maximum number of tiger spottings! His eyes were so trained that he could see and identify all the birds perched on any damn tree; all this while driving. We also had hopes of seeing a tiger when people coming out said they spotted one. But the necessity to go to the fort ruined it. We tried when we returned but to no avail. We got an insight into Mr.Alam’s capability when while returning( it was around 7pm and dark) he spotted an owl which was on top of a tree which was on top of a considerably high hillock. We were seriously amazed. Suchandra Mam was all jaws on the floor! We returned back with complete excitement. The thrill of a safari never dies! After some time we had dinner at around 9.30pm and then there was the camp fire. A group of tribal people performed the Rajasthani folk dance and there was also some brilliant fire show performance by the dancer. The dancer also encouraged others to join him and many burst into impromptu dances. Almost all of the students joined him. I didn't. Dance was never my thing. I have never danced even in the bathroom! The camp fire dance was like a farewell gift that Rajasthan gave us. It was really the curtain closer. After some time we departed for Sawai Madhopur station to get back to Mumbai. There was this unhappy feeling about this journey coming to an end especially thinking about the time we spent with sir. All of them developed an instant bond with Vijendra sir. He came out as a superb entertainer and was a like a father figure to the students.; caring for them at all moments and even picking up fights for them with bad  men in the train. A special thanks to him.
The Train arrived at Bandra Terminus the next afternoon and we all parted ways with New Year wishes to all. A wonderful and treasurable journey had come to an end. I don’t know why but goodbyes to friends felt like farewell parties. All went their separate ways. I took the train to my home all the way thinking about this wonderful trip of ours!!!

Death's Own Country

It was an incident which happened just a month ago. I was in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu at my maternal uncle’s home. Kanyakumari was initially a part of Kerala but was later merged into Tamil Nadu due to linguistic reasons. My uncle used to frequently travel between his home and Nagercoil, a busy town in the midst of Kanyakumari on business purposes. Since I was at home he asked me whether I wanted to go along with him. My uncle used to travel using his motorcycle and you may agree that riding pillion on one is a very pleasurable matter indeed. Besides the route he used to take was the Trivandrum-Kanyakumari National Highway. You will find the whole journey enjoying yourself in the company of the majestic Velimalai Hills on one side and the serene Parvathipuram river on the other. Women washing their clothes and men bathing their cattle is a common scene on the river banks. Unlike cities, people in villages don’t have any inhibitions on bathing in the open along side the river. Parallel to the river banks are acres of banana plantations in full bloom. And when you are on a bike you get to enjoy all these scenarios even as cool, soothing air ruffles against your body.

Having foreseen the fun in the journey, I readily agreed to it. In a matter of minutes we were speeding down the highway. My uncle is a very safe driver. Though he is young, he is not reckless and I have never seen the milometer in his bike clock above 50 km/ph. Everything was going on well and I was enjoying every bit of my journey.

KSRTC ( Kerala Road Transport Corporation) bus drivers are notorious for the careless speed they input into every journey. They regularly ply along this Trivandrum-Kanyakumari route transporting passengers from Kerala to Tamil Nadu. Like them even the TNSTC( Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporation) buses have services on the same route. KSRTC drivers are nowhere close to their their Tamilian counterparts in matters of road discipline. The TNSTC buses rarely go above 45 km/ph. But the KSRTC drivers believe they are proud owners of a Ferrari 360 Modena the moment they step into their bus. They whiz past every vehicle on earth reaching 65-70 km/ph on crowded roads even in peak hours. The difference is so startling that a TNSTC bus takes 2 hrs to reach Nagercoil from Trivandrum while a KSRTC bus takes just one and half! Over the years the KSRTC buses have been the root cause of many road accidents in Kerala killing many people as reported in many shocking statistics.

The bike was trudging along when we reached the Villukuri bridge and small gypsy shops became visible. They were a temporary sight as nature would take its place again. As we cleared the small village we found ourselves behind a huge tipper lorry carrying debris from a construction site. It moved at the painstaking pace of 25 knots. I leaned outside and from a distance saw a mini van approaching us. As the van came closer and closer I could see something behind it trying to vehemently overtake it. After a few seconds I saw that it was a KSRTC bus making its usual trip and as its genetic code demanded, it was trying to overtake every other locomotive on the road. This being a normal case with these buses, I thought that it would give up after seeing the lorry in front of us. Though a part of me was wondering the worst case scenario if it didn’t.

And my coldest dreams were confirmed when indeed it didn’t give up its try to overtake the van. The bus moved parallel to the van and the lorry towards them. Before anyone could get the hang of things, the bus was sandwiched between the lorry and the van. Though it managed to sneak out from between them, the tail of the bus collided with the tail of the lorry. This resulted in a tailspin and it dawned to us that we were about to be doomed. The heavy super-fast bus twirled in an uncontrollable manner. Our bike being just meters behind the truck was in close proximity with the on-coming bus. My uncle just screeched the bike to a halt as if waiting for the bus to come and hit him. Of course the inevitable was going to happen. I almost suddenly felt a cold shiver run through my spine, my tongue suddenly felt very salty, my heart was pumping so hard that I felt it will pop out of my mouth any time. I don’t know what transpired on me but I felt that I was indeed going to die. Something inside me was nudging me to accept the bitter truth and submit to God Almighty’s will.

After taking two voracious turns on the road the bus did the unthinkable. On the third turn the driver miraculously gained control of the bus and the bus went straight beyond us missing us by an inch. So much so that I could feel the hot gas pouring out of its engine. I heard frantic, mouth-shuddering cries from inside the bus as it edged past us. The driver got the bus to a halt just a few metres behind us. It was at that point that I realized that I had escaped death by a nanometer. I wanted to jump, scream in ecstasy and shout like a mad man. But the insanity of the situation in which I was seconds before stopped me from doing that.

A foul smell took over the place and I realized that it was coming from the stressed out tyres of the bus. Smoke was emanating from the engine like a military tanker on fire. People from other vehicles stepped out and looked at the driver with a you-bloody-stupid-idiot sort of look. The driver gave them back a remorseful look. Fortunately no one was hurt. After a few moments of uncertainty everything fell back into place. The driver started the bus and drove of again. My uncle looked at me.

“It happens often”, he said trying to calm me down. I was too wretched to give an answer. We drove back home quietly canceling the trip. We decided not to mention the dreaded incident to anyone in the house. That is why this incident is a close secret between me and my uncle. I told this to nobody, not even my brother or my closest friends in college. And I never wanted to. But the other day I was watching the news when I learnt that 166 people were killed between 12 am to 4 am on the morning of 20th November 2011 in various parts of Kerala due to road accidents. The news also revealed that India recorded the highest death due to road accidents in the world, and Kerala the highest in India. Perhaps God’s own country was turning into Death’s own country.

I don’t think any of the existing conditions will improve even a bit by this post. But it was just my way of showing condolence with the victims by depicting my own experience. I don’t know how to conclude this post but that is it.

Nature At Its Best.........

We as mumbaikars don’t often get an opportunity to indulge with nature at its dazzling and picturesque best. Not at least in Mumbai though. But we, the zoology students of R.D National College, Bandra got that precious opportunity to learn and understand Mother Nature and all its subtle intricacies in its original naturality.

As per our credit system we had to perform an excursion on matters related to our subject of study. Since we had already undertaken an industrial visit to KF Bioplants to Pune as Botany students, it was the turn of zoology department to take us for a ‘ride’. And they did so aptly. The planned excursion was to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Goregaon, Mumbai. BNHS is basically an NGO or a Non-Governmental Organisation working for the conservation of nature in and around Mumbai.It is the oldest NGO in Asia running for the past 128 years.

I don’t know about you but I was hearing about this place for the first time in my life. We were asked to come on our own to BNHS. Our faculties gave us the necessary guidelines to reach the spot which is situated alongside the famous Goregaon Film City and on the outskirts of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivili. We had no idea what we had in store for us when we were in the bus which was supposed to take us to BNHS from Goregaon station. As the bus trailed like a snail along the township of Goregaon, I wondered how boring the excursion would be. But as soon as the bus entered into the Film City territory my imagination started running the other way. With every foot the bus moved, my expectations also got higher. And finally the grumpy old conductor announced that the bus has reached its destination. Clueless, we disembarked off the bus. We looked around and found our friends and faculty waiting for us. As we moved in closer I could see a board with a picture of a horn bill which read “BNHS” (that was the first time I realized the existence of this organization!!).

A relatively short man with a captivating smile wearing a T-shirt displaying the BNHS logo leaded us to CEC, the educational centre of BNHS. We were shown into an auditorium where our attendance was taken duly and our batch was divided into four groups for the nature trail (and I got separated from my friends). I looked around to study the members of my group and Dharam, Vivek, Valencia and Unain seemed to be the only people I knew. Our group had two members from CEC as our guides – Kaustubh Sir(Environmentalist) and Eugene Sir(Ornithologist). We were very lucky as we were going on the best, toughest and the most informative trail in BNHS - The Leopard Trail. As soon as we stepped out of CEC, our guides started to shower us with their enviable knowledge of ornithology. We as students could only hear the caws of crows. But they as seasoned bird watchers could make out at least 5-6 sounds of different birds including the Magpie Robin, Taylor Bird, Racket Tail Barbet, Mynas, Thick Built Crows and so on. We were obviously dumbfounded at their inimitable worth of knowledge.

We were trudging towards the entrance point of the Leopard Trail and on the way we were shown many specimens of different creatures and plants and were explained about their distinct characteristics. Kaustubh Sir also brought our attention to the bark of a tree which was valiantly scratched and nudged by a Sambar Deer. We moved on and on the way saw many flora and fauna like the Soccer ball Tree and the Leaf-Miner etc. After some time we reached the gateway to the Leopard Trail. A sign board read

“BEWARE! YOU ARE ENTERING THE LAND OF THE KING OF THIS JUNGLE- THE LEAPORDS...”

Enough to send chills down your spines. But our guides reminded us that leopards were nocturnal creatures and would not come out when people were spotted in large numbers.

We descended down a very steep inclination for a good 30-40 meters. There we met a river which though was not in full bloom, was very scenic and catchy with tiny creatures like the land crab and the water cricket moving around in large numbers. The river would get deeper as we moved forward. There were many highlights on the way like the Ghost Tree, Curled Ginger Flowers, The Wolf Spider etc. We had our moments of excitement when Dharam said he had spotted a snake and I too had seen something wiggling in the water. But nothing much developed out of that.

Then we moved along to the ascending part of the trail which was a very long and harsh climb, tiring us physically. We saw the teak tree. The leaves of this tree are peculiar. On rubbing the leaves on our hands we get a reddish brown tinge which is due to the heavy iron content present in it. I wondered that I studied about teak since I was in my 4th grade but I never came across such facts. Pop came the answer too. Its because bookish study just polishes the external mind. But the knowledge which we acquire through experience stays for ever. And that’s why field study becomes so important in building a person’s career overall. We observed some exotic trees like the Eucalyptus( Australia), Gliciridia(Central America), Gulmohar( Madagascar). Some of my answers impressed Eugene sir and he complemented me. Though I was happy I thought those answers to be childish and known to all.

We came back to the CEC after that wonderful and informative trail and learnt that we were the only ones to take the river route!! I was feeling elated and at the same time sorry for my friends who did not have the luck to trail the coveted Leopard Trail.

The excursion ended with a thanks giving session by Manoj Sir – Not to forget his trademark ‘sort of’ which he included in his speech which made us cry with laughter.

And at the end of the day we walked away with serious thoughts lingering in our minds about nature and ecology. I was thankful that I didn’t take up engineering. Otherwise I would have ended making machines and devices locked up in a four-walled room rather than exploring and playing an important hand in conserving and nurturing God’s precious gifts. Hope another such excursion comes by in no time……………

The KF-Bioplant Experience.....

I know I am not Barack Obama that people will scurry around to read my blog. Nor do I find any sort of satisfaction in presenting this blog which is not a generalized matter like my earlier blogs. Its only that I want to preserve this piece of memory so that it doesn’t get buried in the sands of time. If not for anyone, its just for me so that I don’t forget that memorable day. But having said that I must say that this blog is for all those students who were part of that day with me. I am doing B.Sc Biotechnology from R.D national College in Bandra. As per the new system of gradings the Mumbai University has made two compulsory industrial visits every year for degree college students. This blog is about first of those visits to India’s largest plant tissue culture company- KF Bioplants. What prompted me to write this blog was that this wasn’t like any other tour to any place. This tour opened ourselves to the world of reality. It also also acted as a bond maker between all of us who were almost new to each other.

The said company is situated in Hadapsar, Pune. It was planned that the bus would leave at sharp 6:15 in the morning. But like every other tour it was bound to leave late and it surely did. After it was made sure that all the students had arrived, the bus left for Pune at sharp 7 in the morning. I don’t know about the others but I had no clue whatsoever about the whole nature of the visit. I sat back in ease as I was fasting and it was not advisable for me to do a lot of shouting and enjoyment. I watched in bored fashion as the bus grunted past all those busy bylanes of Mumbai in a disrespectful fashion. I was feeling crappy because my friends and I were separated. But the surprise was about to come just now. In about 45 minutes we had cleared Mumbai and were speeding across the Vashi creek. What followed were jaw dropping scenes of nature at its full flamboyance. The same look which you get when you travel along the Konkan routes during the monsoon period.

Mahendra had brought a camera which was a 12.1 MP Canon Powershot. He was busy clicking pictures of everyone in the bus. Come to talk about it, the bus had by now divided itself into various camps. One group along with Mukul were playing Uno while some were indulging in Antakshari. Some of my friends were busy talking to Vijendra Sir.(Describing him would take a different blog altogether!). The other three members of the faculty were busy talking among themselves. After about one and half an hour into the journey,I saw a sign board which read- GHAT STARTS HERE. The bus which was proceeding at the speed of 65 km/ph suddenly slowed down to a mere 30 km/ph. We could see mountains ahead with clouds covering their heads like the crown of the glorious king. Small bursts of waterfalls could be seen almost everywhere. Suddenly there were flashes of camera lights everywhere. Everyone were jutting their heads out to get a view of the green world not associated to Mumbai. Even the all experienced faculties were looking in awe and amusement. Many tunnels, speeding vehicles passed by for the rest of the journey.

We reached the place at about a quarter to 12 in the afternoon. After dividing us into two groups, we were led to behind the factory were we saw a initiation room. The women working inside were wearing sterile outfits as described by the officer in charge. They working like trained robots oblivious to the fact that we were watching them with the gravest attention.
While the second group went in, we engaged ourselves in clicking some photographs of some really beautiful flowers, mainly gerbera. With the help of Mahendra’s super powerful camera we clicked some really beautiful pictures. Then it was time to visit the second leg of the company which was 3 kms away and which consisted of seven, monstrous green houses. We were taken into one of the green houses. I was dumbfounded as I was visiting a green house for the first time even though I had learnt about it a lot. There were tons and tons of cultured plants lined about in a tabular fashion. I went berserk and was clicking every damn thing that came in front of the camera. There were many different types and colours of gerbera flower and other orchids. I even got a chance to click photos of Vijendra Sir along with the orchids on his request.

Having done that we all proceded for lunch. As I and some of my friends were fasting we indulged in prayers during that time. Then it was time to bid adieu to Pune as we all jogged onto our bus like an army. The return journey was especially fun as the tyre of our beloved bus punctured and caused a delay of another hour. We were at Khandala at that time and simply enjoyed the climate there. Everyone got a chance to bond with the faculty and also among each others. I spend most of the return journey talking with my new found friend, Saylee who was smarter than I thought. She asked me a lot of questions about botany, vegetation of Pune and geology. At times I didn’t have answers to most of her questions.

The faculty members especially the H.O.D Vibha Ma’m confessed that she liked our group and that it was very enthusiastic.

By the time we reached the outskirts of Mumbai, it was sunset and time to break our fast. Our other friends also got along with us and shared their food items with us.

There was a sinking feeling as we were nearing the end of the journey. Majority of us got out at the Bandra railway station bidding goodbye to our friends. It was a mind blowing experience. I reached home by 9:30 but I longed for another trip but I knew it won’t come sooner.

Three days after the trip, we were in our botany lab learning the preparation of wine. That’s when our H.O.D announced the second tour which would happen in the ending days of December. And this time it was going to be even bigger. We are going on a six day tour to Jaipur, Bharatpur and Ranthambore!!!!! Damn excited!!! And I am really longing for it…………

Believe In Yourself.....

It is one of those incidents which you never forget in life. They come up as revelations when you are in need of it. These are tiny leaflets that make your huge book called life. The reference I am about to tell you is an incident that I witnessed which helped me inculcate a sense of self belief in myself. I hope it does the same to you. After months of searching for a good topic to write on, this idea flashed like lightning to me.

I was into learning karate since I was 7 years old. After three years of training when I was 10 years old, I along with about 30 odd students of our karate institution, where selected for an All India Karate tournament to be held in Thrissur,Kerala. It was a ten day trip to Kerala and was planned during the Christmas vacation in December 2005. We reached Thrissur by 26th of December and straight away paid a visit to the stadium in which the tournament was to be held. The scene was jaw-dropping, awesome and whatever you want to call it. Being born and brought up in a space cramped city like Mumbai, we were but naturally surprised to see such a huge stadium. It was actually a indoor basketball stadium with a seating capacity of about 3000. The platform or the WWE ring (as we called it then) was being built at the center. The mere sight of the ramp sent shivers running down most of our spines.

After about a day’s rest, the tournament was flagged open on the 28th of December (ohhh…I can never forget those dates) and would continue for three days. The Black Dragons- a team from Kerala were the official organizers of the tournament. We had heard plenty about their team being fearless and ruthless and the one which swept most of the awards every year. And man they did live up to their legendary reputation. We watched in awe and dismay as seasoned karate pros from all over the country perished like amateurs at the hand of the deadly Black Dragons. They moved on like trained, powerful robots and nobody could do anything about that. The first day itself saw many of our team members including me get knocked out of the tournament. Phew! I suffered a knockout and when I woke up I was at our dugout. The game was over for me.

Well the real story starts now. On the third and the last day all the different weight categories were headed towards the last rounds. Almost all of them were ensured a bronze medal at least.
As I said the fighters where divided as per their weights. Like I was in the 35-40 weight category. Of all the fighters, the one who stole all the limelight was Manoj Black Dragon-as he was called by the announcer. He kicked and swayed everyone who came his away during the tourney. People gripped with fear when they saw themselves pitted against him on the fight list. Most of his fights ended in brutal knockouts. He undoubtedly won his weight category of 55-60 kgs.

And after all that, when everyone thought that everything was over, the organizers announced a surprise trophy. The Dragon Crest as it was called by them. The speciality of that trophy was that it had no weight or gender bounds. Anybody who cleared 5 rounds in their respective categories were eligible for that trophy. Not surprisingly, the first one to get himself enrolled was Manoj. After that it was like nobody wanted that trophy. The organizers asked repeatedly about any one wanting to join as contenders for the coveted trophy. After a while a student from our institution, Deepak or Spiderman as he was know among us him stood up. He said he was ready to fight Manoj who was by now grinning and showing off thinking that he would win the trophy without any competition.

‘Are you out of your mind’, ‘He will chew you and spit you out’, ‘You are gone!’. That was the reaction from our camp. Sure he was the best from our institution and also the only one to win a gold medal from our team, but not up to Manoj, we thought.

In a matter of minutes, he was padded up and the fight would start in no time. Manoj, full with over-confidence was looking at his dugout and gesturing at the girls declaring his supremacy. The crowd was silent. 3000 people, sat like they knew the fate of the match already. Even we at our dugout were counting the probabilities of Deepak returning back without fracturing some part of his body.

The referee called the players closer, and gestured some rules to them. He drew out and after a moment shouted, “Start!” And the fight was on. The showboating Manoj was taunting Deepak who was looking keenly into his eyes. After some initial struggle he was pushed to the corner of the ring by Manoj. This was the moment. Deepak came back with a startler. Running across the stage he unleashed the deathly Bruce Lee style flying kick. It went straight to Manoj’s jaw. And man!! He ruffled across the ropes and was out of the stage. The referee counted till ten so that Manoj could come back in. But he didn’t getup, let alone re-enter the stage. The match was over! The Dragon Crest was ours! The supremacy of the Black Dragons ended. We could not believe what we were witnessing. Deepak unleashed into a flurry of somersaults and ugly gestures at the Black Dragon dugout.

Nobody gave him a chance. Not even his teammates, not even his coach. Of all the 3000 people only one person believed in him. And that was he himself. He had courage, he had power, he had swiftness, but above all he believed in himself. He never let himself down even when everyone others did so. He was holding the metal studded shining trophy in his hand with his eyes gleaming at the limelight. He knew he had achieved something and set a role model others.

Even now I think about that incident after 7 years. I bet all the people present there would also remember him. Now, whenever I am in doubt I think about this man called Deepak and try to draw inspiration from him. Because he was the one who Believed In Himself.

Why Science Students Screw up Their Junior College?

Well scholars and even normal human beings like you and I know that experience speaks on a person. And it surely does. Because this topic is written by a man who indeed screwed up his grades when he came to junior college. Its not just my tale but that of all the students who appear for their HSC in Mumbai- The City Of Dreams. Yeah…poor students are indeed left dreaming at the end.

Every year passes by and you hear all those stories of your neighborhood boys an girls who score considerably less than what their class X percentage was. Since it happened to me too, I analyzed the matter and came out with all those reasons like the air crash investigator who comes out with the cause of a devastating air crash. If gone in detail I can publish a mini book on it. But this is the shortest it can be.

First and the foremost reason is that the Class X syllabus is a hell lot simple than junior college portion. For the newbies who score in the high eighties in class X and expect to do an encore in their HSC, this comes as a Mike Tyson sort of punch to their jaw. They find it difficult to cope with the new and much harder concepts of Physics and Maths. But their conscious mind does not want to believe it and they end up trying to master that portion till the very end. Sadly they end up just trying and nothing more.

Secondly students in Mumbai think that there is a need for a good college to excel in your HSC. Hence in a valiant search for that ensures that you get it at least 20 kilometers away from your home. That means a travel time of one hour if you take a train. A worst case scenario if you take a bus. Secondly the student gets into some very damn expensive classes who as we know only want to please the student’s parents by maintaining a clean slate. They conduct tests before the student can realize what the chapter is about. In fact the chapter is completed even before the student finds out the chapter’s name. Many scientific reports believe that an average child has an attention span of only 3 hrs per day. But these so called coaching classes take up courses in the months ranging from March to June non-stop without even a single holiday for 7 hrs at a stretch each day!

By the time the vacations are over 70% of the portions are finished(what crap!). When college starts they reduce their class times to 3 hrs(great act of responsibility). So if you count 5 hrs of college plus 3 hrs of tuitions plus 2 hrs of traveling. It takes up ten hours of you active 16 hrs. Student spends time in all those daily chores for about 4 hrs. So after all this do you people in your sane mind think that the student would want to study in the 2 hrs they get to sense and feel whats happening around in this world? Of course he would not. He would instead crave for entertainment of any sort to free himself. Also peer pressure acts on him in a terrible way.

I am not supposed to say this but colleges in Mumbai are utterly useless. They would be deserted like government libraries if not for the fact that they conduct practicals. A new collegian expects his college to be a friendly an co-operative affair like his school. But it is not so. Its just like the Indian government(exists for the namesake).Teachers come and go. They don’t care about the portion nor do they take classes seriously. Even then they want students to attend all their lectures. Other reasons include the obtainance of mobile phones, want to attract the opposite sex, and to experience the all new factor called bunking. Especially if you have that odd chemistry teacher who just blabbers out his qualifications. I don’t want to go in detail about all that.

Yet there are those super humans who survive all these atrocities and come out as “Toppers”- the word itself needs coronation. We should really salute those super humans wherever we see them.

It does not end here. Theirs a lot more to it. As I mentioned I can write a mini book on this topic. This comes from a source who has experienced all this on himself and has also seen his friends who were perennial toppers in their school days nose dive with their percentages. I am sure that anyone of the above mentioned points would have contributed to your diminished percentage. Just think about. Yeah, I bet you will.

This was not a pamphlet of complain or anything of that sort. Its just what I felt. And I think you will agree with it to some extent. And do post your valuable comments on what you think about this matter..