An immense apology to my blog wall and its readers for the galactic delay in my subsequent post. Well, just lying around did take up a majority of my time. Its like after two neck wrecking semesters and two internships, finding sometime just to allow an absolute nothing to process was something akin to finding kryptonite.
Its wasn't until a week ago that I realized that I shall soon be returning to my sweetheart campus to get re-drilled yet again, not that I am complaining. So, having had enough of nothing-to-do time, I thought to let my keyboard feel the touch of fingers which till now must have been a dream that everyone dreams to achieve.
Well, this incident-cum-lesson-for-life is one of the many smithereens of events I witnessed long back during my schooling from one of the teachers to whom I will always be the closest to.
I did my schooling at Loyola School, Bhubaneswar. Having seeked admission in 2001 into the senior-most batch (i.e class V. It opened at class 5 and with every year had its senior most batch upgraded to the next); like any other soul in my class, adulterated emotions of trepidation and excitement resided in my heart. During the years, lots of stuff followed me. The teenage term of over-smart did suit me well. I think I was definitely a bit of it. I tried to be good at everything. But what I was not realizing that with every triumph as an individual, I lost the credibility of one of my classmates in me. I wouldn't say lonely would be suitable to me, because I had learnt to see happiness in the silliest of things-be it a dog pooping on the road or a man sitting in a waiting hall with his finger up his nostril with full confidence that he is the proud possessor of the invisibility watch in the Bollywood flick Mr. India. But trust me guys, there is no joy comparable to that of human companionship. I finally accepted the fact that I was the class's nomad.
Well, before my boards I was in a state of complete emotional breakdown. I was well ostracized by peers, and I would definitely say, for a justified reason. Till then marks were never a huge concern for me. But slowly I did realize that, my worst performance might stand u and face me as my ICSE grade sheet. I had lost self-confidence and was surviving a day just for the sake of it. Enter Mrs. Sanghamitra Kar.
Sanghamitra Ma'am was my class teacher during my tenth. One day she called me to the staff room, and with a genuine concern in her voice, asked me "So how are you doing Pranit?" It was the first time in months someone asked me that question. I just poured out. And like a patient mentor, she listened...
After I was done, I could feel my cheeks wet. But that was the least of my concerns. My heart felt like it could have flown in mid air, having given out a huge burden. The room was silent for a minute, when Ma'am broke the ice.
"While it takes time to build perceptions, it takes even longer for perceptions to change." That made my day.
I was dumbfounded by this statement. Realizing how true the statement was, I went back to my classroom, perplexed. That day, I learnt something really valuable. In our system of education, we need to be sensitive to feedback and work to correct ourselves, but we should not expect people to change what they think of us overnight. This should not cause us to lose spirit. Negative public opinion is not only the basis of a true democracy, but also the basic reason for improvement..a development in oneself to achieve an insurmountable height of the never-achieved abstraction called perfection. It always has some basis, maybe be professional or personal. Its our responsibility to inculcate within us the grace to accept it which ever way it is put forth in front of us.
Thank you ma'am for framing such an important part of me......
-Sarthak Pranit
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Bandh or vandalism!!!
Miss Neha Sharma was stranded at the Bhubaneswar railway station waiting for a train to take five of her family members suffering from heavy medical reason, but was not able to. WHY?
Mr. Jahangir Ahmed from Mumbai will now be sent a court notice for surpassing the final date of payment of the installment of his loan, and will suffer a higher premium with more rigid norms. WHY?
Mrs. Srinima Mishra will now need to replan her home budget for the next few weeks, keeping in mind the growing cost of vegetables in the market. WHY?
Now friends, these are question ,when asked generally, that fall into the beneficiary segment of what we call gossip. But all the above events share two characteristics:
1. Their date of occurance
2. The answer to the question “WHY”
The opposition “bandh” on the 5th of July,2010 was a blatant strike on the spirit of the democracy of India. I wonder what makes us believe that we should trust a state government who, while in power, calls for a strike. Is representation at the parliament more important to a 100 crore lost in the business market, loss of public property and vandalism towards the civic life of people? The basic idea that crosses the extremes of ridicule is the fact that a nationwide ‘bandh’ was called to oppose the govt.’s decision on the hike of petrol prices and hence harming the revenue. Will collapsing the entire financial market of the country for a single day, ceasing all revenue transactions, destroying public commodity, ceasing mass transport conveyance, strengthen the revenue overnight? I do know how an idiot knows to voice his opinion. Does that mean our “well-competent” politicians learn from it. Seems they chose to.
And moreover, it has been called by many active members of the BJP that it was the voice of the common man. So since when has the common man set fire on the bus he travels in? The common man has suffered a loss in his daily bread. If the per capita income of the average Indian in Rs 20, the opposition stole away those Rs 20 from a man for whom it was his lunch, dinner…..sleep. Can an opinion only be voiced by ceasing the country’s metabolism?
I wouldn’t believe that the “so-called bandh” was a call from a united frontier event. I can say it without fear, because member of different parties of the NDA and opposition had different version to themselves. BJP sec, Nitin Gadhkari, says “Its our right to call for a bandh (this one made me laugh)”. CPM’s Brinda Karat calls it an invocation to India. Another CPM politburo member calls it a proof of the abilities of CPM to call for a nationwide halt. All of the opposition party leaders are busy fighting for a piece of the ‘credit’ cake. But they failed to see that common India for whom the problems grew far bigger with just one day.
Due to the bandh, nationwide prices of vegetables shall increase because of the single day dumping of the entire PDS product chain. Business loss that amounted to over 1000 crores for that single day would need to be replenished. I just want to put forth a plain simple question. Is it helping to make an Indian’s life better. If it is, then I would withdraw every condemnable remark I have met yet. But if it isn’t, has India’s democracy been justified?
If petrol price is our chief concern, why did the state govt. support the “bandh” even when it had the power to change things around? Two months ago the State High court ruling disallowed BJD from participating in any bandh called by the national govt., unless it’s called due to security reasons. But, we witnessed a whole different scene. Is it the problem of not being able to find a solution to the problem. How damn hard can that be. The entire VAT on petrol amounts to 18%, out of which 16% is entry surcharge, 1% state share, .75& being the CST out of it. Are modifications in the ratio so difficult to carry out to settle down the economic scenario of a state. If a 19 year old person can come up with an idea within one hour, I won’t believe that our state govt. lacked the brains and funding to have an RnD team look into the matter.
This blog post is not aimed at motivating people or arising conflicts, but a mere remark whether the actions of 5th July, 2010 justified from a national perspective.
-Sarthak Pranit
Mr. Jahangir Ahmed from Mumbai will now be sent a court notice for surpassing the final date of payment of the installment of his loan, and will suffer a higher premium with more rigid norms. WHY?
Mrs. Srinima Mishra will now need to replan her home budget for the next few weeks, keeping in mind the growing cost of vegetables in the market. WHY?
Now friends, these are question ,when asked generally, that fall into the beneficiary segment of what we call gossip. But all the above events share two characteristics:
1. Their date of occurance
2. The answer to the question “WHY”
The opposition “bandh” on the 5th of July,2010 was a blatant strike on the spirit of the democracy of India. I wonder what makes us believe that we should trust a state government who, while in power, calls for a strike. Is representation at the parliament more important to a 100 crore lost in the business market, loss of public property and vandalism towards the civic life of people? The basic idea that crosses the extremes of ridicule is the fact that a nationwide ‘bandh’ was called to oppose the govt.’s decision on the hike of petrol prices and hence harming the revenue. Will collapsing the entire financial market of the country for a single day, ceasing all revenue transactions, destroying public commodity, ceasing mass transport conveyance, strengthen the revenue overnight? I do know how an idiot knows to voice his opinion. Does that mean our “well-competent” politicians learn from it. Seems they chose to.
And moreover, it has been called by many active members of the BJP that it was the voice of the common man. So since when has the common man set fire on the bus he travels in? The common man has suffered a loss in his daily bread. If the per capita income of the average Indian in Rs 20, the opposition stole away those Rs 20 from a man for whom it was his lunch, dinner…..sleep. Can an opinion only be voiced by ceasing the country’s metabolism?
I wouldn’t believe that the “so-called bandh” was a call from a united frontier event. I can say it without fear, because member of different parties of the NDA and opposition had different version to themselves. BJP sec, Nitin Gadhkari, says “Its our right to call for a bandh (this one made me laugh)”. CPM’s Brinda Karat calls it an invocation to India. Another CPM politburo member calls it a proof of the abilities of CPM to call for a nationwide halt. All of the opposition party leaders are busy fighting for a piece of the ‘credit’ cake. But they failed to see that common India for whom the problems grew far bigger with just one day.
Due to the bandh, nationwide prices of vegetables shall increase because of the single day dumping of the entire PDS product chain. Business loss that amounted to over 1000 crores for that single day would need to be replenished. I just want to put forth a plain simple question. Is it helping to make an Indian’s life better. If it is, then I would withdraw every condemnable remark I have met yet. But if it isn’t, has India’s democracy been justified?
If petrol price is our chief concern, why did the state govt. support the “bandh” even when it had the power to change things around? Two months ago the State High court ruling disallowed BJD from participating in any bandh called by the national govt., unless it’s called due to security reasons. But, we witnessed a whole different scene. Is it the problem of not being able to find a solution to the problem. How damn hard can that be. The entire VAT on petrol amounts to 18%, out of which 16% is entry surcharge, 1% state share, .75& being the CST out of it. Are modifications in the ratio so difficult to carry out to settle down the economic scenario of a state. If a 19 year old person can come up with an idea within one hour, I won’t believe that our state govt. lacked the brains and funding to have an RnD team look into the matter.
This blog post is not aimed at motivating people or arising conflicts, but a mere remark whether the actions of 5th July, 2010 justified from a national perspective.
-Sarthak Pranit
Saturday, July 3, 2010
A passing revery!!!
Well, this is neither any oratory extract nor an excerpt from a short story collection. Its, by its own simplicity, an experience, one that doesn't emboss a mark of didacticism of life on us, but just passes us as unimportant yet memorable incidents.
This happened perhaps during a non-so-rainy day. I was in the Saheed Nagar Mobile store, doing my internship I had just bagged, thanks to my brother. I was a new recruit so hadn't found any particular job, and was caught up in odd ones. So for a break to my legs and engaging my ever-demanding stomach, I stepped out and walked over to the eatables zone of the market. Its was summer holidays, the weather was not-so-summer, so the massive number of people in the market made me realize "Of course, I am in India!" Then I finally came up to the primary section, where they serve all kind of eatables: gupchup,chat,dahivada, ....u name it, THEY HAVE IT! If some of you don't know, its a proven concept for psychiatrists that sight of an eatable,for which a person has a fetish for, stimulates salivary glands more than the sense of smell or touch. Its was well-proved for my eyes that day!!!
Well, the walls of my stomach commanded me to go over to the chat section and order a plate of chat. For all those who didn't follow, I wasn't ordering "casual conversations"......CHAT IS ACTUALLY A FOOD. I chose a stall in a corner, since there was not much rush in that area and, more importantly, my deodorant had dried out. So, my legs guided me to find a place at that stall and give the order. As I noticed, the stall was being led by two old men. Both approaching the age of 70. One was at the main counter, plating the order and serving them. The other was in-charge of odd jobs like cutting the onions, mixing the primary batter, etc. I watched over at them looking out for some young legs that should have been doing the running jobs for them. But they just had each other. In the meanwhile, I was served my order.
I started satisfying my stomach, but my mind lingered on lanes different to those of my stomach. These men had no one at that age but just eight cartilaginous structures for limbs. I just tried hard to imagine the circumstances that would have brought them to such a juncture of life. Then the the old man at the main station asked the other "Piyaja katilani???" -have you cut the onions? Dependence on each other were all they had. It hit me then that I was witnessing one of the greatest races of my time- a race for survival.
Readers, I am from an engineering background. So I do know very well the significance of competition in this world. An all-important race to prove to the world that "I am the best" has engaged every soul on this earth. But then I saw these two people who have lived their lives and have managed to set up an enterprise entirely built on the simple concepts of trust, self-reliance and a hope to survive the flash that has taken this world.
I paid the charges for my order with a Rs 100 note. Since the old man at the counter didn't have sufficient change to pay me back, he asked the other to get the change from some other shop. I was then that I noticed that he was crippled in one leg. My feelings were a mixture of lot many emotions but respect to their sense of hope was definitely one of them. This might seem like a story you would find in every corner of a road in India. But what caught my attention was the honesty of their enterprise.
The multinationals of today are embarking upon many things to increase sales and revenue. This demand has grown to such an extent that justification for this demand has vanished, and cheap marketing has come in. I am getting reminded of a line from one of my favorite plays of Shakespeare, Julius Caesar: "Justice thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason." The present world of business transaction has grown into several unethical systems of publicity that just more than promotes capitalism. Unhealthy gossip is a part of every cubicle. Unqualified product for mass usage are so much in circulation that it no more interests the public eye. Competition is so much in our mind that we don't remember anymore what we are fighting for.All we remember is that we got to fight. But here we see an enterprise, entirely built out of the basic foundations of what a true enterprise should be made of: trust, understanding, honesty, and an objective.
People might pass this stall everyday, not admitting these two old men into their "world altering" thoughts. But, what we miss is a chance to look at two frail men who have that hope in themselves and a trust in each other to make a tryst with life.
-Sarthak Pranit
This happened perhaps during a non-so-rainy day. I was in the Saheed Nagar Mobile store, doing my internship I had just bagged, thanks to my brother. I was a new recruit so hadn't found any particular job, and was caught up in odd ones. So for a break to my legs and engaging my ever-demanding stomach, I stepped out and walked over to the eatables zone of the market. Its was summer holidays, the weather was not-so-summer, so the massive number of people in the market made me realize "Of course, I am in India!" Then I finally came up to the primary section, where they serve all kind of eatables: gupchup,chat,dahivada, ....u name it, THEY HAVE IT! If some of you don't know, its a proven concept for psychiatrists that sight of an eatable,for which a person has a fetish for, stimulates salivary glands more than the sense of smell or touch. Its was well-proved for my eyes that day!!!
Well, the walls of my stomach commanded me to go over to the chat section and order a plate of chat. For all those who didn't follow, I wasn't ordering "casual conversations"......CHAT IS ACTUALLY A FOOD. I chose a stall in a corner, since there was not much rush in that area and, more importantly, my deodorant had dried out. So, my legs guided me to find a place at that stall and give the order. As I noticed, the stall was being led by two old men. Both approaching the age of 70. One was at the main counter, plating the order and serving them. The other was in-charge of odd jobs like cutting the onions, mixing the primary batter, etc. I watched over at them looking out for some young legs that should have been doing the running jobs for them. But they just had each other. In the meanwhile, I was served my order.
I started satisfying my stomach, but my mind lingered on lanes different to those of my stomach. These men had no one at that age but just eight cartilaginous structures for limbs. I just tried hard to imagine the circumstances that would have brought them to such a juncture of life. Then the the old man at the main station asked the other "Piyaja katilani???" -have you cut the onions? Dependence on each other were all they had. It hit me then that I was witnessing one of the greatest races of my time- a race for survival.
Readers, I am from an engineering background. So I do know very well the significance of competition in this world. An all-important race to prove to the world that "I am the best" has engaged every soul on this earth. But then I saw these two people who have lived their lives and have managed to set up an enterprise entirely built on the simple concepts of trust, self-reliance and a hope to survive the flash that has taken this world.
I paid the charges for my order with a Rs 100 note. Since the old man at the counter didn't have sufficient change to pay me back, he asked the other to get the change from some other shop. I was then that I noticed that he was crippled in one leg. My feelings were a mixture of lot many emotions but respect to their sense of hope was definitely one of them. This might seem like a story you would find in every corner of a road in India. But what caught my attention was the honesty of their enterprise.
The multinationals of today are embarking upon many things to increase sales and revenue. This demand has grown to such an extent that justification for this demand has vanished, and cheap marketing has come in. I am getting reminded of a line from one of my favorite plays of Shakespeare, Julius Caesar: "Justice thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason." The present world of business transaction has grown into several unethical systems of publicity that just more than promotes capitalism. Unhealthy gossip is a part of every cubicle. Unqualified product for mass usage are so much in circulation that it no more interests the public eye. Competition is so much in our mind that we don't remember anymore what we are fighting for.All we remember is that we got to fight. But here we see an enterprise, entirely built out of the basic foundations of what a true enterprise should be made of: trust, understanding, honesty, and an objective.
People might pass this stall everyday, not admitting these two old men into their "world altering" thoughts. But, what we miss is a chance to look at two frail men who have that hope in themselves and a trust in each other to make a tryst with life.
-Sarthak Pranit
A new second....
Well, lots have changed in the last few month. My habits, my perpetual aggressiveness, choice in music, choice of books, time of waking up, everlasting love for scotch, getting habituated to the not functioning 'p' key of the keyboard, socializing habits, and several more to fill this blog. However, drawing your mesmerized view to the not-so-unusual routine of metamorphosis of the human mind is anything but my prime objective.
Its not only believed by earthly mortals, but also by the ever undead souls of the likes of Aristotle, Plato and our very own Harish Chandra that adversity brings out the best in you. Being a self-proclaimed think tank, I cant but agree with this universal rule. Often when I am in an environment of out-and-out silence, I merely remark upon the paradox of sadness and difficulties bring in success and happiness. Its like having the 7 deadly sins going hand in hand with the offerings of God. My friends sometime do mock at my choice of books, but i have gone through books like You can win, The secret, etc to gain effective understanding of this whole contradictory concept when I kinda stumbled upon a mere but pretty significant serendipity.
There are the inevitable times in everyone's life when we all must step on a thorn. And its never a pleasurable feeling. What most of us fail to see is that its never meant to be!!! In that moment of pain, more often, we are focussed not on the pain itself, but on the anguish of being singled out, asking the inevitable "why me?" question. In the larger scheme of things, that question becomes as irrelevant as the pain itself. All of us realize this sooner or later. The reason many of us do not comprehend this is because of the realization of the futility of carrying a baggage of that pain into the future. As i step on that thorn, if i start beginning to blame the thorn, sometimes the pain expands as time passes, its memory holding the center stage, coloring how we view and feel about our lives. Pain is a part of the inevitable change that is a part and parcel of the intricacies of life. Its on us to decide to crib or learn from it.
So learning from all experiences, I put forward those simple moments that have made a significant impression on my thought process and attitude. Hope this change does a lot more than just good to me.
Its not only believed by earthly mortals, but also by the ever undead souls of the likes of Aristotle, Plato and our very own Harish Chandra that adversity brings out the best in you. Being a self-proclaimed think tank, I cant but agree with this universal rule. Often when I am in an environment of out-and-out silence, I merely remark upon the paradox of sadness and difficulties bring in success and happiness. Its like having the 7 deadly sins going hand in hand with the offerings of God. My friends sometime do mock at my choice of books, but i have gone through books like You can win, The secret, etc to gain effective understanding of this whole contradictory concept when I kinda stumbled upon a mere but pretty significant serendipity.
There are the inevitable times in everyone's life when we all must step on a thorn. And its never a pleasurable feeling. What most of us fail to see is that its never meant to be!!! In that moment of pain, more often, we are focussed not on the pain itself, but on the anguish of being singled out, asking the inevitable "why me?" question. In the larger scheme of things, that question becomes as irrelevant as the pain itself. All of us realize this sooner or later. The reason many of us do not comprehend this is because of the realization of the futility of carrying a baggage of that pain into the future. As i step on that thorn, if i start beginning to blame the thorn, sometimes the pain expands as time passes, its memory holding the center stage, coloring how we view and feel about our lives. Pain is a part of the inevitable change that is a part and parcel of the intricacies of life. Its on us to decide to crib or learn from it.
So learning from all experiences, I put forward those simple moments that have made a significant impression on my thought process and attitude. Hope this change does a lot more than just good to me.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Well, my first post
Well, todays a holiday.....so got a lot of time to kill. However since net worked, accidentally got constructive. I was really bent upon finding contacts, however, didnt know how this blogging idea came up. I hope its a good one. Well, mot much about me to know. A student, first yearite, at BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, struggling with studies and everything. Thats my story. As far as today is concerned, well, i came up with sum new killer shayaris, which i wouldnt like to break on u guys nw.....lets sum time pass by...naa!!! fine tehn guys....hoping to write a lot more......
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