The Write Stuff - Issue 2
Contents
Finally, for once, the heads of our
college saw it fit to let someone else do the talking and believe it or not,
this was at the cost of invaluable ‘teaching time’. And our dormant
societies awoke and busied themselves (at least a little) organizing the
“STATE OF THE NATION LECTURES”.
First up was Mr.Vikram Chandra, a
newscaster and now an author (The Srinagar Conspiracy). He lectured on the
‘mess’ that Kashmir is in. Having reported on Kashmir for the past 10 years,
he provided us with a perspective devoid of unemotive statistics or the
stereotype black and white literature.
Prof.Bibek Debroy, an economist from
Trinity College (Cambridge), economic advisor to the Indian government and
director -Rajiv Gandhi Institute of contemporary studies…phew…. was next,
speaking on the state of the Indian economy. He was by far the best of the
speakers (in my humble opinion of course). Animated and humourous as he was, he
had the audience in rapt attention while he spoke on the dismal performance of
our economy. He argued against the socialist policies of the state and stressed
on international trade based on comparative advantage as a solution to revive
our economy. What was more interesting was the Q&A session that followed
with some really good questions, which as expected, were dealt with brilliance.
Then came our (now extremely popular) CVC,
Mr.N.Vittal, an IAS officer, who prognosticated how India could become an
economic and military superpower in the 21st century. A ‘pucca’ south Indian
(Tamilian to be precise), he felt we “felllooows”
must harness IT to strengthen our economy.
Next up was Mr.Pawan Kumar, an IFS
officer, who gave a talk on the ever-growing
Indian middle class & how callous we’ve become. A very sombre but
informative talk, it highlighted our indifference towards the society as a whole
and our selfish attitude which some people
tried to justify, though unsuccessfully. Our aloofness to the poverty
that screams for attention and our endorsement of bribery for the smallest of
things are points in his case. A tiny little change in our attitude &
slightly increased social responsibility is all it takes to uplift the society.
Prof.
Andre Beteille, a professor at the Delhi School of Economics and a world famous
sociologist, spoke to us about the antinomies of equality. A brilliant talk but
none of us seemed to have grasped what exactly he meant to say.
Then came along, Mr. Gurcharan Das ,
ex-CEO of Procter & Gamble and a strong believer in the capitalist system
(he arrived in a Merc.) & the miraculous self regulatory market. An optimist
(a touch too optimistic), Mr. Das strongly felt that poverty would reduce by 50%
in the next 20 years. Like everyone else, he went on to say that the knowledge
economy and the IT revolution (oh! Not again….) will be the keys to our
success. Our own specialist on Development Economics, Mr.Atul Mishra, pointed to
Mr. Das some shortcomings in the theory but they did not dampen his optimism one
bit. But hey, it’s just a theory (who knows?????).So lets hope IT can indeed
help India stage a comeback and maybe we will hit the top league soon. Lets see
what the future holds for us.
Last up was Ms.Sonal Mansingh, an eminent
Bharatnatyam and Odissi dancer, she
spoke of how ‘dance ‘ could be used as a medium for social transformation.
It was quite amusing to listen to her bring out the difference between “naach
gaana” and “nritya and sangeet”.
The series was overall enlightening and
enriching, exposing us to the experts in various fields and their differing
opinions, especially about the economic development of India. Hopefully by now
the doubts about the usefulness of such lectures (though at the cost of classes)
have been dispelled and we will have more in this continuing series of lectures.
Abhijit Ramalingam (III B Eco)
Nobody thought they would pull it off,
but boy!! Did they pull it off! A fantastic 7-day trip to GOA with a noisy,
crazy and wild group of First Years, the Presi of the HPS and the G.Sec
single-handedly (!) managed to make the tour a phenomenal success and etched it
in the memories of each and every one of us.
A chilly 18th morning saw platform four
of the Nizamuddin Railway Station buzzing with anticipation and enthusiasm. The
passengers of the train were given a hard time as our excitement was let out in
shrieks of joy and tuneful (less???) songs that lasted for the entire two days
of the train journey. Junk food galore, mindless chatter and a chorus of "GOAAAAA"
every few minutes along with several trips from coaches S2 to S7 (there were so
many of us that we came to branded as " that noisy, mad bunch of kids"
by everybody on the train including those operating the pantry car), and the two
days were gone in a flash. Arrival at 'Margao' provoked comparisons between the
International airport at Delhi and the Margao railway station!!!
The weather was delightful but it failed to prod us weary travelers do
something exciting and our first night in GOA passed off uneventfully.
The next day, it was on to Calangute and the beach where a perfectly clean and dry group of twenty was transformed into a sand-covered, bedraggled (and soaked to their skins through their clothes) bunch of ragamuffins! Next we moved on to the Calangute Tourist Resort and discovered that all our rooms were along a single corridor (which of course meant that nobody would stay put in their respective rooms...day or night). A quick trip to the beach (again) and then a fantastic cruise aboard the Santa Monica in Panaji followed. The following morning was spent shopping
MURPHY'S LAW OF THE OPEN ROAD
When there is a very long road upon which
there is a one way bridge placed at random and there are only two cars on that
bridge, it follows that -
the two cars are always going in opposite directions
they will always meet at the bridge
Things
get worse under pressure.
MURPHY'S CONSTANT
Matter will get damaged in direct
proportion to its value.
MURPHY'S LAW OF INTUITION
The strength of your intuitional powers
is directly proportional to to the negativity of the subject of intuition.
MURPHY'S OTHER LAWS
You will always find something in the
last place you look.
When a broken appliance is demonstrated
for the repairman, it will work perfectly.
No matter how long or how hard you shop
for an item, after you have bought it, it will be on sale somewhere, cheaper.
If you say something and stake your
reputation on it, you will loose your reputation.
If you apply Murphy's law, it will no longer be
applicable.
Excitement is in the air;
smiling faces expectant hearts throng the arena. The miss world beauty pageant
contestants and the future little winners speak of their glorious intentions and
their vow to change the world and fight evil........fight AIDS.
It’s a dark and dingy alleyway, in it a small wooden dilapidated
structure sucked away from the innocent world giving it a discarded look. A very
unfortunate few know that there is a whole world of activity going on around
there. About twelve who have given up on life, some not even aware there could
be a better one, and none knowing there are
women out there who vow to give them a chance to live.
Children, sans childhood,
come out on the streets holding banners that are beyond their comprehension.
Institutions and social figures of consequence make pleas to people in helping
curb the deadly contagion. Onlookers watch, worry, wish that the world was a
safer place ....
and forget. Who cares after
all?
This the saga of one inmate of that unholy abode of wails......"His
odour was overwhelmingly repulsive.... features grotesque....who ...as he.... as
he tore me ...tore my faith in God. He flung my life into a never-ending abyss
of suffering. He gave me a deadly virus to live with......I gave him my curses.
A passerby
contemplates---"One out of every ten lives with AIDS like me. But, only one
of ten such, hopes to survive like me. But
I say, why am I different ?
Why does society shoo and shun me ……and …..those very life saviours look
down upon me as an outcast and still raise meaningless slogans to help me!? But
I still hang on with the desire to survive and live long. These hypocrites
don’t shake my faith in those who are working day and night
to create the life saving drug. I’m waiting….
Look at the grave incongruities of life, where, on one hand women face
only darkness and on the other hand , life holds a lot of hope. This awakes us
to the sad fact that where women could be hopeful and aspire for a healthy,
safer life, most of them for many unfortunate reasons are denied this right.
Think people ……….its
for us to instill “hope”……… give them the kind of leading
light………allow them a second chance…..and accept them as our fellows.
V.Rajitha
BCom II E
Long ago I was a child,
Nestling in my home sweet home.
The weather was warm, the wind was mild,
I was safe and snug as in my mothers
womb.
My parents flew off each day,
To search for means to earn our bread.
I was left all alone to play,
Outside our door I was forbidden to tread.
This captive life didn't appeal to me,
I wanted to flap my wings and soar.
This seemed an unfair deal to me,
From life I desired much more.
Then one fine day when I was all alone,
I flew into the sky.
It felt so great to be
air-borne,
The joy of freedom made me cry.
Initially time passed with pleasure,
Freedom filled my heart with glee.
I had no work, only leisure.
Thus began the world of fantasy.
My dream world was soon shattered,
I realised I had committed a blunder,
The clothes I wore were all tattered,
The lull was over and there was thunder.
To face the storm I tried so hard,
Suddenly I heard a beckoning voice,
Help was a distant by a yard,
But for it I had no choice.
With gratitude I held the hand,
But very soon I realised,
That I had entered the demon's land.
By this discovery I was surprised.
Here dishonesty and materialism were the
latest trend,
Money made the world go round.
Nobody here is nobody's friend,
To moral values none were bound.
Oh! How I miss my family,
Oh! How I miss the times we shared,
Oh! This world is so ugly,
Oh! How I miss the times we shared.
This is not the freedom I desired,
To destroy the world man conspired,
This isn't the reason why I left my home,
A home as snug as mothers womb.
This is not the
freedom...................
Nandini Dawar
The poll conducted in our college to
determine “Which is the most happening place in the college?” got
participation from 192 students. The result of the poll was as follows:
|
|
Location |
|
|
|
No. of People |
|
Percentage |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hostel |
|
|
|
40 |
|
|
20.82% |
|
|
Day Schi Point |
|
|
34 |
|
|
17.71% |
|
|
|
Canteen |
|
|
|
30 |
|
|
15.63% |
|
|
Co-op |
|
|
|
27 |
|
|
14.06% |
|
|
Misc. |
|
|
|
13 |
|
|
6.77% |
|
|
Classrooms |
|
|
12 |
|
|
6.25% |
|
|
|
None/Cant say |
|
|
9 |
|
|
4.69% |
|
|
|
Field |
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
4.17% |
|
|
Audi Steps |
|
|
7 |
|
|
3.64% |
|
|
|
Bank Steps |
|
|
6 |
|
|
3.13% |
|
"In this age of women's liberation,
we don't feel weak and helpless, do we? We don't need the support and extra
'care' that we recieve. We are quite capable to fend ourselves and after all,
when we assert equality, let it be in all respects. But what if a real courteous
youth stretches his arm out saying "Ma'm please" then, I’m sorry,
but I am obliged to accept just as courteously"
V.Rajitha
"Of course, because Indian men are
very aggressive and discourteous, and if it we were up to them, they wouldn't
willingly give up their seats to women"
Upali Dasgupta
Eco-I B
"Ya, because chivalry seems to be
dead among the majority of Indian men. It is a harrowing experience for the
women to stand in a bus and they obviously won't fight for a seat."
Dewan
Eco-I B
"Yes, otherwise guys will sit
there"
Siddartha Butalia
Eco-II B
“No,let them fight for their own
seats..... thats talking equality "
Varun Dalal
India unbound -Mr. Gurcharan Das
In this book, the ex-Chairman of Proctor
&
Gamble India tells the story of India's
ascent from poverty to prosperity, from tradition to modernity, as projected by
him. The story begins with the author's birth in the early 40's, when India was
struggling for freedom, but is not bound by chronology; instead the author goes
back and forth in time in order to provide meaning and context to events. The
book criticises Nehru's model of state-led socialism, that invested in self
reliance through public sector monoliths; but deprived the masses from basic
amenities in health and education. It systematically built and preserved
bureaucratic controls and attempted to kill all enterpreneurial initiatives. It
encouraged socialism and xenophobia at the cost of efficiency and wealth
creation.
To conclude, the author believes that the
lives of the majority of Indians in the twenty-first century will be more
prosperous than their parents' and grandparents' lives. All in all a very
interesting book, a MUST read for anyone who wishes to understand the interplay
of history, politics, economics, sociology and religion in shaping our present
and future.
The catcher in the rye - J D Salinger
This book has been steeped in controversy
since it was banned in America after it's first publication.
Superficially the story of a young man's expulsion from yet another school, The
Catcher in the Rye is in fact a perceptive study of one individual's
understanding of his human condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in
1950s New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again.
In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of
term, and goes to New York to 'take a vacation' before returning to his parents'
inevitable wrath. Told as a monologue, the book describes Holden's thoughts and
activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous
breakdown, symptomised by his bouts of unexplained depression, impulsive
spending and generally odd, erratic behaviour, prior to his eventual nervous
collapse.
However, during his psychological battle,
life continues on around Holden as it always had, with the majority of people
ignoring the 'madman stuff' that is happening to him - until it begins to
encroach on their well-defined social codes. Progressively through the novel we
are challenged to think about society's attitude to the human condition - does
society have an'ostrich in the sand' mentality, a deliberate ignorance of the
emptiness that can characterise human existence? And if so, when Caulfield
begins to probe and investigate his own sense of emptiness and isolation, before
finally declaring that the world is full of 'phonies' with each one out for
their own phony gain, is Holden actually the one who is going insane, or is it
society which has lost it's mind for failing to see the hopelessness of their
own lives?
When we are honest we can see within
ourselves suppressed elements of the forces operating within Holden Caulfield,
and because of that I would recommend this thought provoking novel as a
fascinating and enlightening description of our human condition. However,
beware... for that very reason it is not comfortable reading.