Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Lets save!
The water is trickling down all pipes in the insti today. I walk up to a friend who usually doesn't mind heaping excess subzi and chaaval on his plate, knowing very well that all that is going down the drain. 'Dude, start saving water, yaar! Looks like we are out for the day.' And I wonder why adversity alone can jerk us into acting responsibly.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Minor issues
Ha! Seems like I have a controversial post and an even more controversial title.
Its a day after what is hopefully the last set of Minors I shall face on this planet and I thought about what they mean to various people I see around me and at various times.
Pre-minors
Almost everyone starts talking minor-stuff about a week before they actually begin. The reading room strength starts building up, the mosquitoes in Ex-Hall get busy again, Nescafe and the like have a ball. Attendance is pretty steady overall (one of my profs boasts about how his students attend classes till 5 in the evening and take their exams at 8 the following morning without cribbing).
The night before
Lights don't go off, the night canteen begins, much to the respite of all hostelers, suddenly everyone is so interested in what they are studying (what they have just started studying, rather!), the reading room is full, smelly, sweaty and very, very noisy. The crowd has spilled onto the street, the library and hostel reading rooms as well. Ah! the library. Do not enter this place if you want a quiet corner, for the Insti does not believe in silence. Right from the librarian to the French exchange students, who seem to have breathed the Delhi air big time.
Day 1
And they are here, it feels best to go through the grind happily. Easy and fast... that's what everyone wants them to be. Fast alright... that's the good part, but easy? Naah! Not for me, at least. But yeah, as the minors kick off, life is suddenly changed. More time to sleep, eat, read the newspaper, etc. No boring lectures and labs, no listening to trash, no running to catch the shuttle, a way to spend your weekend that's definitely unique to the Insti.
Days 2 and 3 fly away and I don't recollect much except the daily pilgrimage to hell and back.
Day 4
This is by far the best. There is the wierd feeling of being on the edge of something. A few hours away from freedom? Or just another phase that shall come back in some form or the other? Anyway, its fun to know that life will come back to normal in a few hours. There is always this extra motivation to end on a high (I mean an academic high, no pun intended!).
The following evening
I look around and everone's having a ball. Multiple games of cricket on the same battered grounds, brick wickets and stuff. The sportsies are back, so are the wannabe Federers. The hostels are back to their noisiest, the latest movies are being downloaded and dissected. Cinema tickets are being purchased in black or white, that's the coolest way to have fun right!
All this seems like on big game, that I happened to be a part of for the last two years. A land where a few digits are bigger than your name to a lot of people who are doing what they are doing only because of the same few digits, where four mad days can make or break the way you look on paper to the Insti and the blind world beyond, where biogas vehicles run on streets littered with coffee cups. I stand confused, knowing not what to say.
Are the minors just that - a minor issue that everyone just goes through and gets done with, or are they the ultimate assay of one's academic abilities? If the former is true, then what about the majors that are just a month away? A major issue in my story?Hmph... lets leave that for later.
Its a day after what is hopefully the last set of Minors I shall face on this planet and I thought about what they mean to various people I see around me and at various times.
Pre-minors
Almost everyone starts talking minor-stuff about a week before they actually begin. The reading room strength starts building up, the mosquitoes in Ex-Hall get busy again, Nescafe and the like have a ball. Attendance is pretty steady overall (one of my profs boasts about how his students attend classes till 5 in the evening and take their exams at 8 the following morning without cribbing).
The night before
Lights don't go off, the night canteen begins, much to the respite of all hostelers, suddenly everyone is so interested in what they are studying (what they have just started studying, rather!), the reading room is full, smelly, sweaty and very, very noisy. The crowd has spilled onto the street, the library and hostel reading rooms as well. Ah! the library. Do not enter this place if you want a quiet corner, for the Insti does not believe in silence. Right from the librarian to the French exchange students, who seem to have breathed the Delhi air big time.
Day 1
And they are here, it feels best to go through the grind happily. Easy and fast... that's what everyone wants them to be. Fast alright... that's the good part, but easy? Naah! Not for me, at least. But yeah, as the minors kick off, life is suddenly changed. More time to sleep, eat, read the newspaper, etc. No boring lectures and labs, no listening to trash, no running to catch the shuttle, a way to spend your weekend that's definitely unique to the Insti.
Days 2 and 3 fly away and I don't recollect much except the daily pilgrimage to hell and back.
Day 4
This is by far the best. There is the wierd feeling of being on the edge of something. A few hours away from freedom? Or just another phase that shall come back in some form or the other? Anyway, its fun to know that life will come back to normal in a few hours. There is always this extra motivation to end on a high (I mean an academic high, no pun intended!).
The following evening
I look around and everone's having a ball. Multiple games of cricket on the same battered grounds, brick wickets and stuff. The sportsies are back, so are the wannabe Federers. The hostels are back to their noisiest, the latest movies are being downloaded and dissected. Cinema tickets are being purchased in black or white, that's the coolest way to have fun right!
All this seems like on big game, that I happened to be a part of for the last two years. A land where a few digits are bigger than your name to a lot of people who are doing what they are doing only because of the same few digits, where four mad days can make or break the way you look on paper to the Insti and the blind world beyond, where biogas vehicles run on streets littered with coffee cups. I stand confused, knowing not what to say.
Are the minors just that - a minor issue that everyone just goes through and gets done with, or are they the ultimate assay of one's academic abilities? If the former is true, then what about the majors that are just a month away? A major issue in my story?Hmph... lets leave that for later.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Delhi
A wonderful thing happened yesterday - I walked into a grocery shop in Delhi, minus my usual carrybag, thinking that I could accept a polybag, for just this one time. It was only after i paid the bill that I realised that this shop had stopped giving polybags. Had to balance all the little items in my hands, but it was fun alright. Knowing some people who were going by rules and ethics was refreshing.
The Delhi Government seems to be taking the aggressive approach to its modernisation plan. While work on the Commonwealth Games front seems to be slowly picking up steam, I have my doubts as to whether it would actually take place here, given the safety situation in the subcontinent. That apart, banning polybags was a very bold move. I would bet all my money (which, considering my student status, is definitely not substantial) tha the ground situation hasn't changed a lot, but incidents like yesterday's give me hope.
The traffic situation has improved, and the heart of the city has managed to sustain its greenery. The big success is, undoubtedly, the Delhi Metro. Moving in swiftly into NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad over the next couple of years before its own deadline, the Metro makes for an eye-opening case study.
While more attention is being given to the maintenance of monuments, the glaring absence of guided tours is something that worries me. Given the rich history of the city, I guess we are missing out on a lot of money, tourism and goodwill.
Still a long way to go for the Walled City, I guess.
The Delhi Government seems to be taking the aggressive approach to its modernisation plan. While work on the Commonwealth Games front seems to be slowly picking up steam, I have my doubts as to whether it would actually take place here, given the safety situation in the subcontinent. That apart, banning polybags was a very bold move. I would bet all my money (which, considering my student status, is definitely not substantial) tha the ground situation hasn't changed a lot, but incidents like yesterday's give me hope.
The traffic situation has improved, and the heart of the city has managed to sustain its greenery. The big success is, undoubtedly, the Delhi Metro. Moving in swiftly into NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad over the next couple of years before its own deadline, the Metro makes for an eye-opening case study.
While more attention is being given to the maintenance of monuments, the glaring absence of guided tours is something that worries me. Given the rich history of the city, I guess we are missing out on a lot of money, tourism and goodwill.
Still a long way to go for the Walled City, I guess.
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