The End of an Era

As the four eventful years of college life come to an end, the feeling dawns - that will this be the end of an era? No more classes to attend (read bunk), friends to amend, lectures to comprehend and juniors to apprehend. No more dining in the hostel mess, whining over mess food, nightouts filled with movies and gossips. But the end of an era also implies the beginning of a new one. A new dawn will bring fresh hopes, fresh anxieties, new friends, new lessons to learn, a completely new city, a totally different setting and a diverse lifestyle. Bidding farewell to the college days and cherishing those wonderful memories in my heart, I welcome with open arms and wait eagerly for a new life to dawn...

ELEVENTH HOUR !

Its midsem time: exam fever all around. Tension ruining the lovely ambience of the mid February air… Hmm… Valentine’s week!!! But alas! Who has the time to care about that, with exams hovering an inch above your head. All you bother about is “rattoing slides”, getting solved tutorials and photocopying notes… It seems like an unusual phenomenon is taking place is the campus on those “fatal 3 days”. When else can you spot people walking on the DPT carpet with eyes stuck to a “magical formula”, people gorging food in mess with heads engrossed in books and library flooded with students…? People even turn up late to the examination hall – busy cramming notes at the “eleventh hour” reasoning themselves with the conception “turning up 5 minutes late for exams proves beneficial when weighed against mugging up 5 formulas”

Eleventh hour – the most crucial hour in the course of any event!!!

The eleventh hour is an expression referring to the last moments before a deadline or the imminence of a decisive or “final” moment. Usage of this term may be traced back to the “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” as given by Jesus. In it, Jesus says that any "laborer" who accepts the invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven, no matter how late in the day, will receive an equal reward with those who have been faithful the longest. And also to the last moments of the First World War, which ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of the year 1918.

While in school, most of us used to be in the good books of the teachers, who spent the last week before the exams revising our portions for the third or fourth time (real ghissus !). But as we cross the threshold of IIT, we learn the skill of doing things at the last minute. Most people feel vaguely guilty about this; when the topic comes up in conversation, they make sweeping statements about how much better and more admirable they were before they came to IIT, and how appalling it is to complete everything desperately just in time.

But is it really a bad thing?

The last minute – the period of time when you know that you absolutely cannot delay any longer – is extraordinarily productive. Everyone who has studied a semester’s worth of portion in the hour before the end sem will know that their power to grasp “never seen before concepts” increases exponentially in that time period.

And what distinguishes an IITian- is the skill of mastering this eleventh hour.

“The night out”, an IITian’s solution to everything, is another example. Anyone who has ever stayed awake all night with a group of people, working against a two – week old deadline, will testify that almost any task can be concluded in a fruitful night out. A week before its release Ren-Spice saw many night outs, and believe me a month long commission was completed in a jiffy!!!

Even in event management, the law of the eleventh hour works. Most events that happen in here are hastily put together at the last minute, and the organizers exchange glances during the event in disbelief that it is actually happening. We have a belief that everything will happen the “ho jaayega mantra” and, miraculously, most things do happen. Often you are provided with some miscellaneous stuff and asked to put them together to bring out something prolific. (Behind the scenes concept: “You are IITians, so use your brains!!!). And all you can do is gape sceptically at the commander of the orders…

Perceptibly, it is not always true that last minute effort is a proficient approach towards an objective. Academically, it is almost always correct that those who have spent a large part of the semester studying diligently perform better than those who have desperately crammed a list of tutorial problems into their already crowded minds on the day before the exam. They also retain more – no last-minute specialist ever remembers anything the day after the exam. The thing is, not too many of us plan our last – minute time usage. Those who have become really good at it are known by various combinations of the words “phodu” “bond”. And ironically enough, those who are busy preparing for exams throughout the sem are known as “ghissu” “maggu”.

Thus, the main argument against eleventh hour exertion is loss of quality. The focus in such an endeavour is always to conclude one’s undertaking at any cost, and evidently one doesn’t get the time to reconsider the attempts. Most of us would appreciate the fact that, whenever we put in sustained efforts to do something, we do experience a sense of accomplishment. It would seem logical that we stop last – minute work altogether, but it certainly has its discrete significance. After all, what else can allow you to write a Business Management report, complete Material Science tutorial and study for 3 exams all in a few hours?

BRAIN DRAIN

There was festivity and celebration all around. A grand party was thrown and it was flooded with guests. Mr. and Mrs. Shrivastav were swelled with pride for their son Rajesh. The party was thrown to celebrate his success and to bid him farewell. Rajesh was a small town boy belonging to Kasauli, a hill station in Himachal Pradesh. He had put rigorous hours of efforts and got admission in a reputed college in Dehradoon, and now he was living the dream of every soul in Kasauli. He had achieved the ultimate; he had got himself placed in America in a multi-national company. He was respected, admired and esteemed by all. Every child in Kasauli aspired to become a success like Rajesh one day. Every parent aimed to raise a child like Rajesh. He was surrounded by aspiring students seeking his advice and guidance. His eyes were shining with anticipation. Day and night he had dreamt of just one thing, flying to America… he had made his dream come true.

He was leaving for Delhi the next day and from there he was to proceed for America via aeroplane. Before leaving the next day, he went to pay a visit to his best friend’s house Mohan. They had been childhood friends and gradually they had become intimate with each other’s family as well. The enthusiasm of Mohan’s family for Rajesh was no less. Mohan’s mother had especially invited Rajesh for a farewell lunch and prepared all his favourite dishes. But the one who could not contain his excitement was Mohan’s younger brother Suraj. He was preparing for college entrance exams and considered Rajesh as his idol. For him Rajesh’s success meant widening of his horizon for dreams. Even Rajesh used to be very impressed by the determination seen in Suraj and was very affectionate towards him. He used to guide Suraj in his studies and his advice meant a lot for Suraj.

After they had had a delicious meal Suraj came to Rajesh for one last help with his studies. He had a literature story and he needed Rajesh’s help in comprehending it. Rajesh always willing to help him started reading and explaining it to him at once. This is how the story went –

Once upon a time there used to be a huge Mango tree in the jungles of Kasauli. The tree was so huge that it provided shelter to all sorts of species of animals of the jungle whether it be sparrows, parrots, pigeons, crows, squirrels, deer, peacocks or monkeys. All the animals prospered in the shade and nourishment provided by the tree. The Mango tree was like their home and they all lived like a family.

Then there came a time when the jungle was hit with severe drought. The tree had shed all its leaves and fruits and it seemed that it would soon succumb to the harshness of the nature. The animals could no longer flourish in its protection. All the animals living in its refuge decided to leave the tree and migrate to a different jungle. All but one… there, in that tree lived an old parrot and was the wisest of all. He disagreed with all others on departing from the tree. Everybody tried convincing him saying that it had not only become difficult but impossible for the tree to survive the severe drought and that if he doesn’t leave the tree he too would die with the tree. But nothing said and done would convince him to abandon the tree. He stood firm on his decision saying that it was the tree were he had been born, learnt to fly, grown to full youth, developed his own family and lived his whole life. The tree had been his alma-mater and had sheltered him from all adversities of life. And now that the tree needed him nothing would cause him to desert the tree. He would give up his life but do all that he could to save the tree.

So, he was the only one left with the tree while all the other animals departed. He started his mission. There was a pond a little away from the jungle that had a little water left in it. He would fly to that pond, fill his tiny beak with water come back to the tree and pour water from his beak into its roots. He would spend his whole day serving the tree. Every cloud has a silver lining and so with the efforts of the parrot soon the tree started recovering. Leaves started coming out and the tree gained its full bloom. All the animals returned back to the tree and everybody was as merry as ever.

Rajesh finished explaining the story to Suraj, and something changed in his mind. There was a different shine in his eyes now. It was as if something new had dawned to him. He had learnt the most valuable lesson of his life. A little parrot had taught him to be wise. This was his country were he had been born and brought up. Whatever he was today, whatever success he had achieved he owed everything to his country. All the resources of the country whether it be schools or colleges have been utilised to nurture him. And now when he could be of use to his country, he was about to abandon it and serve another foreign country. No, he decided. I wouldn’t do this. I will serve my own country. I will not drain my brain somewhere else. My country is my motherland and I would serve it till my end, cause I even owe my life to it.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

4^th June, 2008

1:21 pm

Though it’s a small room, its very cosy and comfortable, may be I feel so because of the ambience of love that surrounds …

My mother lies on the bed before me, while I sit on the bed adjacent to it. The room I am talking about is a ward room in a hospital. My mother had just undergone a major abdominal surgery. I feel so overwhelmed that it became compulsive for me to write this article to articulate my thoughts and give vent to my emotions…

Mother – My Maa …

How do I define what she is for me? In a simple line- she means the world to me. She is the most beautiful woman on Earth, with a smile worth millions and a heart of pure gold. I am blessed to have such a learned mom, doctorate and a professor of Economics and yet she is like any other Indian mother… Caring for the family, worrying about her children and doing the household chores takes up most of her day. She is quintessence of a lady striking a perfect balance between home and work. She will always shower her unconditional love no matter what may be. She would do everything at her utmost will to bring me as close to perfect as inevitably possible. Only a Mom can withstand the enduring pain of unselfish giving and years upon years of dedication purely to her children’s life.

My mom had spent many sleepless nights taking care of me whenever I fell ill, but this time I got an opportunity to take care of her. Though there is very little that I can do. Every morning when I visit her at the hospital, I would place a kiss on her cheek, the simplest act of love and that itself causes her eyes to gleam. I would spend my whole day with her, trying to make myself worthy of her needs. What makes me admire her is how grateful she is for every petty thing that I manage to do, while had I been in her place, she would have been taken for granted most of the time. She can be so courageous that no matter what agony she faces, she would always be confident.

I would sit with her for hours at an end everyday and have tête-à-tête about almost everything. It is astonishing to comprehend that through all those years that I have grown up with her I never realised that I have such a wonderful friend at home… to whom I can spill my heart out. She can empathise with all my thoughts and emotions without failing for a second, better than any friend could ever have.

Moms are always taken for granted by their children. Almost all of us fail understand her worries, to appreciate her suggestions, to spend quality time with her, to acknowledge our gratitude for her endless concerns. But there comes a transition phase in every child’s life when you rediscover your mom, when you learn her worth, when you feel obliged to her. This realisation mostly dawns when you are vulnerable to the austerity of the world around… away from her shield. Only then, do you learn to value the warmth of her embrace, the worth of her unconditional eternal love.

When something has to be written about mother… words would always fail to suffice.

It is rightly said - "The hand who rocks the cradle...may rock the world".

So friends, let us take a moment of the time just to pay tribute and show appreciation to the person called MOM though some may not say it openly to their mother.

There's no substitute for her.

She will be always there for you...to listen to your woes, your braggings, your

frustrations, etc.

Ask yourself.....have you put aside enough time for her, to listen to her

"blues" of working in the kitchen, her tiredness???

Go, give her a hug and let her know that she is loved and respected. There’s no repayment for her unconditional love… except to love her unconditionally…

**DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THE THINGS CLOSEST TO YOUR HEART. CLING TO THEM AS U WOULD TO YOUR LIFE, FOR WITHOUT THEM, LIFE IS MEANINGLESS**