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.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
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..
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..
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Osama bin Laden - Martyr Or Terrorist?
I don't know how many will read my blog. I don't know how many will accept my views. But I am writing this blog for my own self and for the few people out their who can comply with my view point on perhaps the world's most famous personality - Osama bin Laden.
Talking about him and all the chaos surrounding his death. Many people in the Islamic world hail him as a 'mujahid'. They say he waged a battle against the U.S.A- a country which can cross any limits to accomplish and establish their supremacy in the modern world. On the face of it, for any muslim, he is indeed a warrior who fought for all the muslims and performed the duty of jihaad.
But everything is not as it seems. It is a matter of fact that America especially under the Bush regime behaved like an imperialist,bloodsucking maggot, who in the name of war on terrorism did nothing but disrupt and destroy the lives of tonnes of people in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and other similar places. What was perceived to be a war on global terrorism ended up as a civilian war killing more than 5,00,000 people in Iraq alone. Many children were killed, women were raped, and many more rendered orphans. The tyranny of the Bush regime never ends.
It was against this undefiable act of deamonism that Osama waged a war against. A justifiable act indeed. But the method he took to continue with this war is a matter of huge controversy. He declared fatwas (religious orders) favouring the killing of America and its allies which included innocent citizens. He claims this was in accordance to jihaad(struggle against evil) prescribed in the Holy Quran. But his fatwas had serious theological flaws.
Talikng about jihaad, the Holy Prophet laid down strict rules against the killings of women,children and non-combaters. He also prohibited attacking people by taking them unawares. Unfortunately Osama's fatwas transgressed all these restrictions. He considered women and children to be legitimate targets of jihaad. He could have been an example not only for the muslim community but also for the whole world if he had followed the proper path.
But sadly he ended up tarnishing the image of Islam, a religion which deeply emphasises on the principle of peace. Yet people call him a martyr who fought for Islam. A sad but blatant truth. I don't know how many comply with my view, but this my way of thinking and this the way I follow and perceive Islam to be. I finish my blog with a quotation from the Holy Quran which says...
"If anyone kills any innocent man its like killing the whole of mankind"
Monday, April 25, 2011
A Train Journey To Kerala.........
Looking at the title you may obviously think that it is just another description of just another train journey to a beautiful state called Kerala. Well indeed its a journey to my motherland Kerala but the blog I am writing is not a travelogue. Its about my encounter with a man I met during the two day long yatra. My interaction with him thought me a thing or two about the subtle intricacies of life that one needs to follow.
It was after my SSC exams in mid march 2009. Since that was an important year and due to some personal reasons I had not visited my native place since the past four years. Not long, you may think. But for a person like me its too long a time since we have none of our relatives living in Mumbai. Besides Kerala was a place I yearned to live in thanks to its scenic beauty and pollution free environment. Something which is unheard of, in a bustling,24×7, metropolitan city like Mumbai. Sometimes I have gone to the extent of cursing myself for the prospect of having to live in Mumbai inspite of being born in Kerala. Due to all these reasons I wanted to rocket to Kerala as soon as my exams were over. Luckily my dad's friend was planning to travel to Kerala due to business reasons. I booked my ticket with him and in no time in a matter of few days I was of to my hometown all excited.
Day one of the journey passes away entirely travelling through Maharshtra. Its only the next day morning that you enter the Kerala border through Mangalore. One of the very first stations is Calicut-the place where the iconic personality Vasco da Gama landed as he first came to India. A man of short height but stout stature boarded the compartment and sat right in front of me. I got a little excited as I could now talk to a local of Kerala. He looked a little out of place as he was adjusting baggage under the seats. I asked whether he needed help but he did not mind my words. At this point I got a faint notion that my co-traveller was a grumpy man who cannot be easily befriended. And my intuition only got worse as the journey progressed. My uncle who was with me tried making all sorts of friendly gestures with him but everything turned futile. Apart from occasional glances, he just won't talk.
I became restless and tried hard to figure out his personality, but to no avail. I wondered why would anyone wan't to sit idle throughout a long journey. To my mind he had already become an imbecile, egoistic man who disliked public communication. The rest of the journey continued in the same vein with I making gestures by which he understood we were tired of his attitude.
The train hustled and bustled into Trivandrum and we got up to collect our luggage and exit the train. As we were about to leave I gave a final glance to the man, upon which he woke up and came closer to us. My uncle too turned and looked towards him. He said," I know that I have been too recessive. But you must understand that I am not in that frame of mind. I just lost my son in a bus mishap. He was the only one to me." As soon as he said that,he left leaving the two of us doing nothing but staring at each other. We didn't know what to do, what to say but pick our baggage and get out of the train. Suddenly the whole world turned upside down. We were the ones who were imbeciles, egoistics and all those damn slang words in the world. My uncle was quick to run behind him and tender an apology. We watched him as he walked, shoulders drooped into the busy bush of passengers.
"Prejudice is the worst thing that can destroy a relationship son. It leads to miscommunication between people. Had we thought about the matter from his perspective, we could have avoided such a situation.", commented my uncle. That day I learned that we need to think both ways before we come to a particular decision.Our gestures might have hurt him. But there is no use talking about it now. We should have realised that before. In life there might arise many a situations like this and we may end up being at crossroads. At such a juncture, thinking about people from there view helps to make a right decision rather than make a decision based on your view and regret it life-long.
It was after my SSC exams in mid march 2009. Since that was an important year and due to some personal reasons I had not visited my native place since the past four years. Not long, you may think. But for a person like me its too long a time since we have none of our relatives living in Mumbai. Besides Kerala was a place I yearned to live in thanks to its scenic beauty and pollution free environment. Something which is unheard of, in a bustling,24×7, metropolitan city like Mumbai. Sometimes I have gone to the extent of cursing myself for the prospect of having to live in Mumbai inspite of being born in Kerala. Due to all these reasons I wanted to rocket to Kerala as soon as my exams were over. Luckily my dad's friend was planning to travel to Kerala due to business reasons. I booked my ticket with him and in no time in a matter of few days I was of to my hometown all excited.
Day one of the journey passes away entirely travelling through Maharshtra. Its only the next day morning that you enter the Kerala border through Mangalore. One of the very first stations is Calicut-the place where the iconic personality Vasco da Gama landed as he first came to India. A man of short height but stout stature boarded the compartment and sat right in front of me. I got a little excited as I could now talk to a local of Kerala. He looked a little out of place as he was adjusting baggage under the seats. I asked whether he needed help but he did not mind my words. At this point I got a faint notion that my co-traveller was a grumpy man who cannot be easily befriended. And my intuition only got worse as the journey progressed. My uncle who was with me tried making all sorts of friendly gestures with him but everything turned futile. Apart from occasional glances, he just won't talk.
I became restless and tried hard to figure out his personality, but to no avail. I wondered why would anyone wan't to sit idle throughout a long journey. To my mind he had already become an imbecile, egoistic man who disliked public communication. The rest of the journey continued in the same vein with I making gestures by which he understood we were tired of his attitude.
The train hustled and bustled into Trivandrum and we got up to collect our luggage and exit the train. As we were about to leave I gave a final glance to the man, upon which he woke up and came closer to us. My uncle too turned and looked towards him. He said," I know that I have been too recessive. But you must understand that I am not in that frame of mind. I just lost my son in a bus mishap. He was the only one to me." As soon as he said that,he left leaving the two of us doing nothing but staring at each other. We didn't know what to do, what to say but pick our baggage and get out of the train. Suddenly the whole world turned upside down. We were the ones who were imbeciles, egoistics and all those damn slang words in the world. My uncle was quick to run behind him and tender an apology. We watched him as he walked, shoulders drooped into the busy bush of passengers.
"Prejudice is the worst thing that can destroy a relationship son. It leads to miscommunication between people. Had we thought about the matter from his perspective, we could have avoided such a situation.", commented my uncle. That day I learned that we need to think both ways before we come to a particular decision.Our gestures might have hurt him. But there is no use talking about it now. We should have realised that before. In life there might arise many a situations like this and we may end up being at crossroads. At such a juncture, thinking about people from there view helps to make a right decision rather than make a decision based on your view and regret it life-long.
So friends, I hope you might have learnt something out of this ordinary blog I wrote and you may use it in your life.
Monday, February 7, 2011
MY FRIENDS IN COLLEGE.......
I had started my blog on the topic-FRIENDS FOR LIFE???.....and I think the intended people liked it.Hence I have decided to continue on that topic but with a more dip of reality.
Since my childhood days, I have maintained that no one comes close to school friends.And i think that notion is the same for all of us.But college is a bigger fraternity and the friendships we have there have a great effect on our personality.Hence i am going to describe about the closest circuit of friends i have in college.People not included in this list should not feel offended as i am going through a lot of time and space crunch at this moment.
Here are the people who make me what i am in college.(in alphabetical order).
AMEY MORE
Amey.He is the quintessential,typical college loving,happy-go-lucky kind of guy.Apart from being a self crafted batsmen who plays for the prestigious MCA,he is one of the coolest guys to hang out with.He turns out to be the convener for almost any get-togethers organized by our friend circle.Tall,lanky and kinky,Thats how you describe a guy like Amey.
GAURAV AGARWAL
Gaurav is the perfect 'boy next door' type of guy.You will encounter people like him every now and then in AAMCHI MUMBAI.He is also the ultimate TechGuru not only among us, but also among the whole of SYJC.and i bet he can even give the B-tech students a heavy run for their money.There is no other word beyond his,when it comes to tech related things.Be it mobiles,laptops,PCs and what not???And thats why he is a hit with girls?!!!!
MAHENDRA VARMA
Yes the name itself has royalty etched on it.He joined us from the UBS college when we were in the 12th grade.But i must admit that he has gained more friends and popularity in a single year than we did in two!!And thats Mahendra.He is damn funny and humorous.He can kick the ass out of anybody in the so called 'War of Words'.So don't mess with him.....!!!
MOHAMMED REHMANJI
Mohammed is the cute,bubbly funny man of our group.He can imitate our college professors to the teeth with no stone unturned!People say i am good in the subject of biology.But i credit him to be the ultimate when it comes to that field as he is far more dedicated than me.He is always cheerful and blushing.Have a dull moment??You ain't happy for some reason??Just hang out with him and everything will be fine.....infact you will cry with laughter....!!
MUKUL KAREYA
What do heptathlons do??They specialise in one or more forms of athletics.And that is what Mukul does. Though not true to the definition, he is a guy with the ultimate sportsmanship spirit.He can sprint,he can run long distances,he can win tele games for your team and most importantly, he can play football. And man...he does play it damn well!He is a professional and plays for the Yuva Sports Club in Bandra.He is also one of the best in academics among us.....though he denies it always(ha.who listens???)....
SHAYARSH SINGH
The most dedicated among us when it comes to dreaded word called studies.If any one of us studied like him, then we would have got our names pasted on the 90+ lists long back.very quiet and keeps to himself mostly.You will have an impression of a book-worm when you look at him......and seriously,he is one...
SOHAIL SHAIKH
Last but not least.Sohail.He is dark,he is rich, he is shy, and he is a self proclaimed physicist(much like Mukul) and he is from the land of the West-Saudi Arabia.Yes.Even though he is an Indian, he resides in Jeddah.Yeah, he is an import.We call him 'tadipaar' OR simply 'refugee'!!
He again like Mukul denies that he has excellent academic records.But again-who listens?!!He is a typical character who doesn't mind going to ends for friends even if it requires him spend huge prices.....
And hence these are the people i be with in college......These are the gems of my life......
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friends For Life???
Everyday as a 12th grader, my days pass by in a jiffy with the company of my friends. Playing football, teasing each other by names, ridiculing some teachers and all. Yes its the time of our life to make merry......
But people like us rarely think of the larger backdrop. Maybe we don't need to. And perhaps we should not. Because its this time of our life that we get to enjoy. Get to feel the aroma of friendship. The aroma of sincere commitment for each other. We get to enjoy all the moments we spend together. We rarely are concerned about our studies(we consider it as a second priority). But sometimes in the middle of this bliss and happiness suddenly a question pops out of nowhere.
"ARE WE GOING TO BE TOGETHER LIKE THIS FOREVER TILL THE
VERY END OF OUR LIFE?"
If you consider the facts of life, the answer to many of us would seem to be in the negative. And indeed so it will be. In just a matter of few days our first years of college life will be over. All scattered back to their respective nests. All will make themselves ready for the challenges life will throw with them. All will have to explore and survive the big bad world which is waiting for them. At such a juncture, friends will count only as people you meet during a long journey to some place. No doubt all will be in touch thanks to wonders called social networking sites. But will we be ready to spend time so nonchalantly at that time. Now in our moods we may say yes. But looking at the larger picture it will be a time when you will be dogged with family responsibilities. Our young shoulder will feel the pressure to make a career for ourselves. all the childhood buddies will be scattered all around like pearls of a broken necklace.
Such a period is inevitable yet necessary. So this as my first blog is a tribute to my friends. We all came from different parts in Mumbai to one place called Bandra. Yes its pure destiny. Otherwise my Friend Gaurav who lives in Bhayander wouldn't have met me - a person who stays so far away in Ghatkopar. We all spend two years of quality friendship and the time for us to part has come.
So after many years if you see any of your friends in some city in some part of the world, then just remember that it was God then and it is God now who wants you to meet again...............
"THANK YOU MY FRIENDS FOR BEING IN MY LIFE!"
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