In school.....we were required to opt for a 6th subject.......and on the platter lay....Economics, Computer Science, Commerce and Home Science........and disregarding the other three..... i chose Home Science.
It all began in Std. 9 from when we had to study Home Science for 2 years....ie., till Std. 10. Some of my friends too had taken the subject....but, my reason for choosing lay in the fact that Home Science was easy and sorts. Anyways...we knew Ms. Sayeeda....who taught Biology in the lower classes.......she was ok.......still....we had to experinece her Home Science classes. As always.....teachers used to call me by all sorts of names....because i was talkative in class......the tradition continued upto Std 10....for eleven long years.
The initial classes were boring....... was jam-packed...as the girls from the other sections also had to assemble in our class..... we had to scramble to find seats.......once hitched up on the table....another time...when i sat at the edge of a chair.......to the extent of falling!!!!
Std. 9 was pretty boring...i could say...as studies ruled high...and new teachers to face...the bigwigs of school...and they were nice...indeed.
Std. 10. approached us......special classes were scheduled....... we spent them......paying rapt attention...trying to be good kids. The school re-opened after the summer vacation.....we were faced with home scince again...but thank heavens......there were places to be seated comfortably.......i remember it was a pain to attending those sessions....most of the times....i was drooling on my book......so much so that i've been sent to the bathroom to wash my face....six times.......suddenly Ms. Syeeda.......shouts.....'Mouna, go wash your face and come'....this sentence is imprinted on my mind.....as my Kannada lecturers too repeat the same thing......though not as many times.
Fun...was defined by the time that we spent during Home Science periods.....we.....a group of 3-4 girls used to sit together...... me.....apart from dozing.....used to chat continously......thus the teacher found reasons to seperate us.....about 'n' times...either nive and me... nive and lekha....or lekha and myself. She got so used to pull us apart that her eyes would scrounge for us the instant, she entered class.....lo...we were supposed to sit at the places alloted to us. She never found satisfaction in doing so...as i would with anybody beside me......and her mission failed.
Ms. Syeedas' were consecutive periods.....hence we were given a break of ten minutes or so inbetween.........during which we were forced to put our heads down.....my guess is that none of the students ever did such a thing.....one would rather do anything else.... our resort was to run out.....quite exagerratedly. We went upto her.....excused us........on the pretext of visiting the loo....which we did....we had a short tour around the campus.....return after 10-15 minutes. She pardoned us for the first few times.....for the little extravaganzas' that we provided ourselves with........in vain...later on she allowed only two of us to go. Our ramblings were highly disorganized......due to which we wasted most of the time deciding where we had to go...the amazing thing is....we even ventured to the field once....which was prohibited during class hours.
Our class teacher Mrs. Vincent did catch us a few times.....and let us off.....withut even mentioning a word......what luck!!!! And thus......a few other teachers did come to know, but never took it seriously.....as our bunch constituted of some pretty good students...i assume that saved us from trouble.
The year came to an end.....more studies happened.....at the end came board exams.
All the home science people did quite well...despite our terrible marks obtained in tests conducted in school.
Heard that Ms. Syeeda got married, about two years or so.......she was a good lady......for she let us rule the roost during our final moments at school...though she curbed us a little bit.
Kudos to us......the mischievous.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Mockery....
Man excels in this particular field......
whereby...he has been showered with many awards....
Mocking animals...like the monkey.....
has been his passion for years.
Now....the stage has been reached.....
where.....he fools, mocks himself....though unaware.
And is it time???? to guard ourselves.....
from life's banal issues......or are we even aware.
Only when life kicks us into the disparities....
do we realise....the essence of being sane.
On the other side.....do we continue ignoring
the nuisance that we have accomplshed for ourselves???
whereby...he has been showered with many awards....
Mocking animals...like the monkey.....
has been his passion for years.
Now....the stage has been reached.....
where.....he fools, mocks himself....though unaware.
And is it time???? to guard ourselves.....
from life's banal issues......or are we even aware.
Only when life kicks us into the disparities....
do we realise....the essence of being sane.
On the other side.....do we continue ignoring
the nuisance that we have accomplshed for ourselves???
Darkness....
There are bright as well as dark things to anything.....among the list does come life.....that too in the topmost position.......
I shall talk about darkness and the colour associated with it.....black...
Darkness is scary.......frightening,
accompanied by weeping.
Which the accomplished mind excels in....
But, is held back with much refrain.
I like the dark.....
including stories which are stark,
Mystic........enchanting......pure....
none of which is so sure.
The shades of black,
enveloping the span of time and space.....
the trees....the nature....
regardless of all ills'.
Strong, powerful......
where ghosts....dark magic flourishes.
And lo.....vanishes,
for light to make it's appearance.
Dark and black.....
necessarily on paper....
contemplations of the senses.....
is put into stillness.
By version of,
writing and art.....
thus the sixth sense...
is put on alert.
I shall talk about darkness and the colour associated with it.....black...
Darkness is scary.......frightening,
accompanied by weeping.
Which the accomplished mind excels in....
But, is held back with much refrain.
I like the dark.....
including stories which are stark,
Mystic........enchanting......pure....
none of which is so sure.
The shades of black,
enveloping the span of time and space.....
the trees....the nature....
regardless of all ills'.
Strong, powerful......
where ghosts....dark magic flourishes.
And lo.....vanishes,
for light to make it's appearance.
Dark and black.....
necessarily on paper....
contemplations of the senses.....
is put into stillness.
By version of,
writing and art.....
thus the sixth sense...
is put on alert.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Reservations???
The ongoing strikes about reservations tells about the dire state in which our country lies.....
Ours is a multlingual...multireligionistic country. Where the differentiation starts perse...... to whom one is born.....to the caste on is appointed to......... to the place one originates from.....the language one speaks...etc.....the list is endless......and the point is where does it end.........it is not cliched.
Thus is the situation, since hundreds of years or maybe even thousands of years...... have we done anything to help it....apart from say......... a gandhi rises against the downtrodden and he dies. Period.
Though i do agree that we are doing something about it........on second thoughts...are we???
The government of India (i'd rather use the term 'we' since we constitute the government and it is we who elect the babus) did not grasp the situation beforehand......and one cannot blame them. As, when the british left India.... the 'country' was composed of a hundred kingdoms under their respective rulers........ who invariably hated each other...... and some thousands or more languages were spoken.........and a few religions that existed....obviously made it difficult for them....to bring such a nation together......and who is to blame ....is it gandhi.........who caused independance to happen.......in the formation of two nations....which could not tolerate the shadow of the other......or it is us????
Here, we are, in the 21st century where....... computers is commonplace......religion, caste, being poor does not hold good anymore.... .and above all english....the ultimate. By which, even the villagers speak the anglicised version of the local tongue. As mentioned before the early rulers of free india could not do much and the later years saw various small portions added to the country........ the awakening of the leaders to the state of affairs.......even so the consequences of the partition could be felt after 5-10 years.
Then, arrived the era of making laws which spanned through a long stretch of time.......we could have made progress...on the other hand....we did not......
Now.....the government realises that the country is out of hands......where a disgusting person ruled the state for 20 years...while the voting power is with the people and no-one else....and lo, they realise that this person is upto no good...and decide to oust him from office..........literally.......the region being rich in natural resources.....history..... and.....in common sense....definately not. The government in it's attempt to equalise the torn society.....did introduce reservations.......and presently....... in the field of higher education.
The outcome......according to me is ridiculous.......as students go shouting on the streets, saying that the merit are not recognised....taking into notice that this idea is still in it's infancy of becoming a law......
On contemplation, has the indian common man been given his due of merit, say...even that of an exixtance as a human being.....or worse possessing a life of his own. Do we think that the days of woe and suffering are past us...and if we think so...the answer is definately....NO.
Dalits are till today, tortured till they embrace death....the surest thing that could happen to anyone. Harijans are made to carry faeces (it is a job where money is given)........a women is raped because her father could not reapy the landlord......bonded labour flourishes.........and the art of killing the poor, ravages like the spirit of a rabid dog....
Coming to thinking of it.....these people are made to do so for centuries and decades..........will they even have the courage to open a book.......forget reading a medical journal. The media has also been doing it's role of hosting various shows which forcasts people and their opinions......and what do we get to hear.........that injustice is metted out to the merit.......everything is politically aligned....and so on and so forth. One of the funniest statements to be on television is that the OBCS' do not know how to read english...how will they read the text books....... on further analysis it is heart-rending to hear somebody speak like this....
Let me take the example of the infamous pourakarmikas' of Bangalore......... i see a mother son duo cleaning my streets every day......they've been on the job as far as i remember....and to think of it....even her father, grandfather has been on the same lines since decades. I approach them....telling him to learn english......the job is done...... can i expect him to read a hi-fi journal....stating that...hey i've taught him english.......it's his job to read the material. The reply is neccassarily negative. He cannot read it simply because....he is not used to...nor his parents are used to......the essential point is that everything takes time......it is inborn or inherited....so as to say.........probably....his children will be able to do so provided that he is able to use his intelligence and knowledge. Intelligence and skill just cannot flash in a second.
The summary of this piece being........since we have not treated peolple rightly.....it is not right on our part to expect miracles to happen.....compulsively....is is time to change our habit and attitude.......and to let things take it's time.......we cannot further it anymore....as it is....we are entangled in this mess.......and to top it all...man is known for his inborn traits of selfishness and jealousy....
PS: Overheard from a respectable lecturer...that if things were to be in the same vegetable existance would have been much better, than the the process of transformation (for the worse????)
Period.
Ours is a multlingual...multireligionistic country. Where the differentiation starts perse...... to whom one is born.....to the caste on is appointed to......... to the place one originates from.....the language one speaks...etc.....the list is endless......and the point is where does it end.........it is not cliched.
Thus is the situation, since hundreds of years or maybe even thousands of years...... have we done anything to help it....apart from say......... a gandhi rises against the downtrodden and he dies. Period.
Though i do agree that we are doing something about it........on second thoughts...are we???
The government of India (i'd rather use the term 'we' since we constitute the government and it is we who elect the babus) did not grasp the situation beforehand......and one cannot blame them. As, when the british left India.... the 'country' was composed of a hundred kingdoms under their respective rulers........ who invariably hated each other...... and some thousands or more languages were spoken.........and a few religions that existed....obviously made it difficult for them....to bring such a nation together......and who is to blame ....is it gandhi.........who caused independance to happen.......in the formation of two nations....which could not tolerate the shadow of the other......or it is us????
Here, we are, in the 21st century where....... computers is commonplace......religion, caste, being poor does not hold good anymore.... .and above all english....the ultimate. By which, even the villagers speak the anglicised version of the local tongue. As mentioned before the early rulers of free india could not do much and the later years saw various small portions added to the country........ the awakening of the leaders to the state of affairs.......even so the consequences of the partition could be felt after 5-10 years.
Then, arrived the era of making laws which spanned through a long stretch of time.......we could have made progress...on the other hand....we did not......
Now.....the government realises that the country is out of hands......where a disgusting person ruled the state for 20 years...while the voting power is with the people and no-one else....and lo, they realise that this person is upto no good...and decide to oust him from office..........literally.......the region being rich in natural resources.....history..... and.....in common sense....definately not. The government in it's attempt to equalise the torn society.....did introduce reservations.......and presently....... in the field of higher education.
The outcome......according to me is ridiculous.......as students go shouting on the streets, saying that the merit are not recognised....taking into notice that this idea is still in it's infancy of becoming a law......
On contemplation, has the indian common man been given his due of merit, say...even that of an exixtance as a human being.....or worse possessing a life of his own. Do we think that the days of woe and suffering are past us...and if we think so...the answer is definately....NO.
Dalits are till today, tortured till they embrace death....the surest thing that could happen to anyone. Harijans are made to carry faeces (it is a job where money is given)........a women is raped because her father could not reapy the landlord......bonded labour flourishes.........and the art of killing the poor, ravages like the spirit of a rabid dog....
Coming to thinking of it.....these people are made to do so for centuries and decades..........will they even have the courage to open a book.......forget reading a medical journal. The media has also been doing it's role of hosting various shows which forcasts people and their opinions......and what do we get to hear.........that injustice is metted out to the merit.......everything is politically aligned....and so on and so forth. One of the funniest statements to be on television is that the OBCS' do not know how to read english...how will they read the text books....... on further analysis it is heart-rending to hear somebody speak like this....
Let me take the example of the infamous pourakarmikas' of Bangalore......... i see a mother son duo cleaning my streets every day......they've been on the job as far as i remember....and to think of it....even her father, grandfather has been on the same lines since decades. I approach them....telling him to learn english......the job is done...... can i expect him to read a hi-fi journal....stating that...hey i've taught him english.......it's his job to read the material. The reply is neccassarily negative. He cannot read it simply because....he is not used to...nor his parents are used to......the essential point is that everything takes time......it is inborn or inherited....so as to say.........probably....his children will be able to do so provided that he is able to use his intelligence and knowledge. Intelligence and skill just cannot flash in a second.
The summary of this piece being........since we have not treated peolple rightly.....it is not right on our part to expect miracles to happen.....compulsively....is is time to change our habit and attitude.......and to let things take it's time.......we cannot further it anymore....as it is....we are entangled in this mess.......and to top it all...man is known for his inborn traits of selfishness and jealousy....
PS: Overheard from a respectable lecturer...that if things were to be in the same vegetable existance would have been much better, than the the process of transformation (for the worse????)
Period.
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