Google the word you last said....

look, what I got....

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JEE, CAT... and Gtalk chat.

Pranav: Dude..

Pranav: Entrance exams like CAT should be banned.........Ping n Talk 2 me over this!!.

Alok Kumar: hi Pranav.

ssup?

Pranav: evething fine man..

agar free ho to have 2 discuss a thing

Alok Kumar: ya sure

shoot

Pranav: Entrance Exams like CAT shud be banned

for /against ??

Alok Kumar: against.

Pranav: hmm.....totally with my feeligs..

Lets talk over this a bit

As far I can recall JEE was the last thing

we faced like this

Alok Kumar: yeah

and?

Pranav: and the enthu,the willpower

and the overall stuff that one develops

while preparing

is worth

Alok Kumar: guess what, jee was the first thing tht taught us to be prepared for life

Pranav: hmm..

Alok Kumar: to come out of our cocoons and face the music.

cat and jee have multi faceted traits

for one,

they provide a flow to the student life

and other thing, given the polulation of india, the institutes have got to develop

some kind of mechanism to screen students

otherwise money will do the rest

agree?

Pranav: well ya...

Alok Kumar: i totally agree tht

many students who are toallly worth entering the hallowed institutions

are sometimes denied thru this cat and jee thing

but se the nos. of those students who actually get the chance which they would never have got otherwise

Pranav: haan....nd basically we don't have anything sensible

to suggest

If not JEE

then ?

if not CAT then ?

Alok Kumar: exactly. if not jee, then how do u give the talent the chance to show themselves.

passing or failing is a different issue altogether

given the infrastructure of india

especially the social one

its all about giving a chance

and also, education system of india is not at all tht robust tht it can provide equal opportunity to all the youth, you cannot deny competitions

and lets say, if we actually give all the students a sure shot entry to equal status institutions,

then things would be taken for granted, and even in tht case

some ppl would evolve as better than others

you see, competition is in human spirit, and the spirit would develop ways to get into onw

one

Pranav: totally...

even if not these exams,jo kuchh bhi ho....that vague thing can't kill the

basic human nature of competition

Alok Kumar: right. the thing here is nothing but very basic rule of economics. demand and supply. the demand (students wishing to do well) is huge, and the institutions are very less.

now how do you meet the demands wid limited supply

u gotta develop a mechanism

jee and cat are the mechanism as for now

abolishing them solves no purpose.

Pranav: haan...

waise I just wanted

Alok Kumar: though some solutions include increasing the quality of the other institutions which are in a state of total mess.

continue..

Pranav: haan was trying to discuss

the solution part

the increase in number of

instis

is another

controversial issue

as such

and India needs more ppl to be equipped with

Alok Kumar: yeah, it is, but the controversy here is using the name of the existing well known institutions ,

why not create a series of new institutions all together

and make them equally efficient, giving better facilities

one very strong example is the current state of iim shillong.

just bcoz it got the name iim, many students took admission there

and now news are coming tht

its a total mess out there

this is doing nothing but further diluting the existing ones' reputation too.

totally not worth it

Pranav: haan...

but yahan bi ek

prob hai

U see it took arnd 30 yrs or so

for IITS to start producing

talent that can serve the country

eshtablishing a new series

of insti

which can start giving thr IIT IIM ooutput

Alok Kumar: you 've got a valid point too, but then things can not be changed overnight anyways.

even if we increased the no. of iits or iims

then students will start fighting

for geting into a particular set of iit or iims

you see

this was the basic spirit of competition i was talking about

we can do away wid exams, but we can't do away wid the basic spirit of competition from the studets' mindset

and well, its not a bad thing at all.

Pranav: hmm..

waise yahan par agar kuchh stats daalne ho to

what stats can help me here

I think

for waale log

'll put the point of suicides and other shit that these exams do...

well the number of those

who suceeded

even after they weere not able to crack a particular set of exam

is also good...

Alok Kumar: well, yeah, but how about stating the fact that the maximum no. of suicides happen because of failed love relationships. does that mean tht every love relationship should be converted to marriage by some act of spreme court?

abolishing the exam is not a solution, educating the studets' about their other options is

.

I agree tht many students' commit suicide and undergo deep depression. here comes the role of govt. and ngo orgs.

how about starting local councelling centers at college level

telling students about the other career options

and an awareness programme can be run through pprint media about making the parents aware of their childrens' potential even if they were not able to crack some arbit exams

Pranav: haan..

Alok Kumar: things can be donee, and are being done bout delaing this issue. Kapil Sibbal abolished 10th board coz. it actually didnt serve any purpose at all. You don;'t get admission to any reputed professional institution of india just coz

you came with flying colors in xth bpard

but here the situation is differrent

and ppl who compare cat or jee with xth board, should better start developing a cocoon for their children and put them there, until the cocoon itself collpases.

Pranav: hhehe yaah.....the ppl who talk of avoiding competition

are the one

who hate to compete

aor sumwhere fear

that they ll not be abe to stand up to the point

Alok Kumar: yes man, and life ain't just anyways. think about this. A student who never competed through his life

would be the first to fumble

at the slightest pressure

are we talking bout avoiding suicides?

we are actually gonna create a bunch of morons who would take life for granted, and the day they don't get their share bcoz of any arbit thing, they would find tht they no longer can survive.

then the rate of suicides would be bigger. beat that.

Pranav: yao//

see

there are too things that being in a competition creates

the winner rejoices..

and the looser

looses of course..

but the thing

is that we are not talking abt exams

competitions where

if you loose your life is gone

CREATING OPTIONS

and MAKING the ppl

who follow

JEE and CAT

as a rat race

aware of them

yahan par kaal kar sakte hain..

kaam8

nd other than that...I am planning to enumeratesome facts from the very own book man "Psycology of success in IIT -JEE"

wahan se the spirit that developed within us..

hey ALOK..

one more thing...

Alok Kumar: yeah

Pranav: basically we here are trying to suggest that

we shud keep the

fighting spirit on

but at the same tyme

don't be single minded

like JEE /CAT is not only the thing to live or die for..

Alok Kumar: yes, exactly

Pranav: yahan par sensible dedication

ki baat utahunga

yahan par the role of mentoring...

Alok Kumar: options are always there. you just have to choose the right option

dude, wait

can you tell me

why am i talking bout this issue right now?

( i still dunno)

Pranav: hehehe....I have to speak about it kal

at the CAT insti

Alok Kumar: :P

hmmm

Pranav: there were other topics like "Google vs WAllmart" nd all

but ye waala sort of

I felt close to me

and ispe kuchh accha bol paunga

Alok Kumar: I think I am gonna post this conversation on out joint blog. It must be an interesting read.

our*

Pranav: HAAN....bilkul

Alok Kumar: unedited

:P

Pranav: yups...

:)

editing ll take out the fun...

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Here comes Winter, again.

Rain and mist bring winter chill to Delhi (IBN Live, 13th Nov. 2009)

I read the internet version of this news piece and was taken back to the sweet reminiscences of my equations with winter. Penning something on winter is not new for me, and in my other blog I did express my feelings and expectations from winter, when I was in my second year of Bachelors. ( For more reference, click http://reflectionsalec.blogspot.com/2007/10/who-says-spring-is-best-i-go-for-winter.html )

Well, Winter has arrived again. And this time it has rains to accompany itself. Rains make me feel melancholic. When you have had enough of drenching around in the showers, you have to come back, change your clothes and sit in the room watching the continuing rains pelting hard on

the roofs and parapets of your life. It feels as if you have been made to sit in a small room, feeling claustrophobic and all, and no one cares while the action continues in your life, nonchalantly.

But rain brings with itself a strange clarity in the environment. After it stops pouring, you see everything sharper and clearer. Like after the tears flow, one can see the true image of the world. The winds become even more chilly, the intoxication of the winter night escalates further. The longing for someone dear, snug and close becomes excruciatingly evident; and the sweet nothing gossips with friends become more comfort giving. The chillness of winter defines the degree of comfort one can get out of slight warmth. In temperature, in emotions, in relationships. Every thing has an inherent duality, I guess.

But even this clarity doesn't perpetuate. As the evening arrives, mist starts to surround the horizon, and the soul. One can't see neither one's own hands nor one's own thoughts. The paradigm changes only to get even blurrier. The soul craves for something, gets sad on not getting it, becomes happy to see the brighter side of it, only to find the limit of this forced happiness and ultimately finds solace in the sadness.

Two winters have passed since I last wrote on winters. It indeed is a strange season for me.

Ignites some kind of thinking lamp of my

soul, only at the expense of taking away my peace. And I normally don't mind my peace taken away except in the winter season. Back in my playdays, the ball struck us hard when it was winter.

And guess what, it still hurts hard when its winter.

Alok.

Nov. 17, 2009 (Incidentally, Pranav's Birthday)

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Irrgularity

The word mentioned above,if practiced,can lead to pissing off friends,even the best ones..

Plz do'nt do it...

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Gears,Garba n Gays

These mornings,I learn how to drive a four wheeler.Its more or less a simple job but has its own complexities with it.Leave apart the technical n responsive adjustments you learn while driving a car,the most difficult part of the learning process for me is to reach the driving school as early as 7 am.Hostel life has made me nocturnal.I remember myself as a morning person in my school days. I always messed up exams for which I continued preparing till late night.The place has changed me.Most of the times I am busy with some group gossip,sumtimes its work ,and sumtimes its just my act of lying down over my bed and staring at the fan that keeps me awake at least upto 3 am regularly.The point is I am a regular late comer to the driving sessions.Here's a snippet of conversation btw me n my trainer..

me : Sorry bhaiya,15 minute late hoon,but phir bhi time pe pahunch gaya na (shameless giggles..)

Trainer : Kya bhaiya,aap log engineer ban rahe ho,time ka kuchh to khayal rakho..

me:Aree bhaiya,samjha karo na ,hostel mein neend aaate aate 3 baj jaate hain,phir aap subah subah class laga dete ho !!

Trainer : Arre bhaiya,Aapki 3 baje tak waali classein hum bhi samajhte hain ..waise bhi navratron ka time hai,kahan se subah uthoge aap.....

Now this one hits .Infact hits hard.You know what ,the general opinion here is....If you are staying awake at nights during navratris,people feel that you are getting lucky these nights.Just one word as a thought in reply to this popular opinion "IRONICAL"..Be it the graphs appearing in newspapers showing a peak in condom sales or the reports talking about the hotel room rates per hour ,all of it sounds just a bit uncool to me.

What??

Say that again.....sex does'nt seem cool to you??
The answer is yes...and I have got something to say about it.Compare the amount of "garba sex" that happens and the talking that is done about it,the difference is magnanimous.Just to earn the advertising revenue,the news is flashed over n over.And no guessing who are the ones to suffer.

Its the parents who somehow feel unsafe about their children to the extent that they take up services from private detective agencies to keep an eye over their daughters.(something called gender inequality pinged me at this moment.but I ll talk abt it later...) As a child too,it seems awkward to imagine your parents to feel so unsafe about you.

Just now I scrolled up to read whatever I have written about Navratri and I could'nt help myself but compare the way with which I celebrated it some years ago at home.Probably "Durga Pooja " is the term to which I can connect more.I have memories of waking up as early as 3 am to bring flowers for pooja . With Durga Saptashati path in mornings and Ramayana Path during evenings its the time of the year when everything around seems to be purified .
The comparison though is not between the way we celebrate it at home and the side of the festival that the newspapers show to us.Last night I was at Indoor stadium .I was with a bunch of friends of mine and of course we enjoyed the presence of hotties around.But with all the hot property that the place promised there,something else was clearly visible there.The spirit of the festival that makes thousands of people to dance ,that makes them dress up this funny(No offences,Gujju bhais n bens ,that's a personal opinion..Leave the female costume apart,the males costume seems goofy to me).Dude,there's got to be something that makes people this much happy at this time of the year. Let it be the festival or with a tinge of sex in it,who cares??At least painting newspapers over this is simply useless...

Moving on to the gays,todays newspaper flashed something about acceptance of boys doing garba with their boyfriends.The world for this community seems to be changing after the 377 thingy.I stop myself from talking furthur as this post is going a wee bit too lengthy(AAh..U bore a**,U realised that now!!).Neways signing off with some related read n loved stuff here.

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Those good old days……..

Date: 07-09-09 (Arpi’s syaahi; Post-8)

The best experience of reading a newspaper is reading the editorial. Well, this is not because it feeds one with some intellectual matter but because it gives a gist of all that is going around, whether obvious or not. It saves time and gives an insight into the matter. Some people start reading from page 1, some from sports page while some turn to page 3. I like reading newspaper from the comment page.

Like every morning, I started the day with newspaper and to my delight (read to my surprise), the editorial did not deal with BJP, J&K, Doha and all. It was talking of All India Radio (AIR FM Rainbow). To my friends who are not based in Delhi may not understand or connect to this topic of discussion but will find the relevance in some other aspects of entertainment (say, the mushrooming TV Channels). In the article, the author was talking about the old, melodious and beautiful English songs from seventies and eighties that are played only by the AIR and less interference by RJs and advertisements. Author comments that tough there are many radio channels in the city which adopt all kinds of stupid mimicry and scoops, contests and long discussions to lure more and more listeners; the n number of radio channels are only adding to the cacophony of radiowaves traveling in New Delhi. AIR on the other hand is following the same format as it had followed decades ago. If you visit the website and try to listen to any of the program, you will be disappointed. Still, AIR FM Rainbow is picking up among the music conscious people of Delhi.

Wednesday is 09-09-09. I am excited for ten years ago, on 09-09-99, I decided to remember everything that happens on that day, jott it somewhere and read after ten 09-09 have passed. But alas, it never happened, I forgot to write it in my diary. Now, the only things I can remember is that I did not have computer or cable connection at my home. My radio played only vividh bharati and I remember how I waited eagerly for programs like chitrahaar and rangoli on DDI and chitralok on vividh bharati. DD Metro was an entertainment package and made my life colorful. Educational programs by UGC and NCERT taught me many things. Those days when discovery and NAT Geo were infants, I yearned to watch those programs but one day, when my wish came true; there were other things too. Several channels for serials, movies, music, reality shows- TV for education? The purpose was lost.

We are of course spoilt by choice now. Earlier, when our need was limited, they were answered. Today, need is less or more same but desire has increased manifold and the correct services have to be fished out of a pool of lucrative claims. Entertainment industry is manufacturing by a push system in place of a pull system. This can anyday lead to congestion and compel the viewers and listeners to turn off the radio. So, mann ka radio ……………. bajne de zara.

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An arbit celestial conversation recorded.

Was lying on the bed tonight, and saw a lonely star in the sky. And then from somewhere came a comet, approaching the star speedily.
I recorded their one sided conversation, star being the talker here.

मैं स्थिर हूँ , और तुम गतिमान। तुम मेरे पास से गुज़रोगी। शायद मैं तुम्हे छू भी लूँ। पर मैं चाह कर भी तुम्हारा पीछा नही कर पाऊंगा। तुम्हे अपने इतने पास से दूर जाते देखना ही मेरी किस्मत है, और मेरा भविष्य भी, क्यूंकि मैं स्थिर हूँ और तुम गतिमान। पर तुम्हे अपनी और आते देखने में बड़ा सुकून मिलता है। और इस से भी ज्यादा खुशी होती है यह सोचकर की तुम बस मेरी एकान्तता मिटाने के लिए इस ब्रह्माण्ड का सफर करके मेरी और बढ़ रही हो। पर काश तुम यह समझ सकती कि तुम्हारा यह सफर मेरे पहले भी जारी था, और बाद में भी जारी रहेगा।
क्यूंकि मैं स्थिर हूँ, और तुम गतिमान.

And then the recording stopped. I couldn't understand a word of what the star said. Maybe someone reading this blogpost might understand something. If you can make anything out of this recording script, please comment.


Alok.

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