Back, Published and Interviewed!

"The pen is mightier than a sword."

-and none can convince me otherwise......

Last month I told you that I was headed to Mumbai to participate in the second round of Classmate Ideas for India contest and ...I am Back!

I was one of the most amazing experiences of my life(still a short life; more to come!). I had prepared well and was ready wearing a new sleeveless red top and white jeans; but somehow, for some unknown reason my adrenaline levels shot up and I took to wishing that our taxi looses its way but that did not happen as I was travelling with my mother, someone too well versed with with the city, enough to baffle cab drivers trying to take us for a toss thinking us to be outsiders.

However, we reached the hotel at the right time and proceeded towards the registration area. This was outside the main hotel premises and the scorching sun seemed to burn through my arms...I had forgotten sunscreen! Consciousness started to engulf me as I wanted to look perfect on that special day and all I got was sweat on my neck as I baked in the hot sun, no dressing on my arms and a topping of my waist length hair over my back.Believe me; Horrible.

It was a relief to get inside the air conditioned hall where we were to give our presentations. I found a vacant seat right in the front and my heart started to beat so hard that it was actually thumping! nevertheless, I was glad, I was there and that my chance came after lunch...

One guy suggested prototypes of new taps that would refuse to open if there was no water in the pipeline and then there was the dangerous idea of the guy who said he would install such gadgets in every car that would sense alcohol in the driver's body and then refuse to start!

The rest went on uneventfully, until the results were declared and the tap guy got into the final round.
Also, the judge appreciated me and my idea and said so aloud to every one. I felt ecstatic!

Everything seemed so normal and I came back home. As usual I reached out for the morning's newspaper and found that the 71St convention of the Indian Roads Congress was being held in my own city and found it amusing that this should have happened right after I returned after giving a presentation on bringing up the quality of roads.

The though of having my idea published in the newspaper crossed my mind but I did not pay it any heed to it (I agree that I should have being a WB student). later my Mother read the article and started to tell me of more fantastic things like going to the IRC or the municipal corporation and that too in a tone which suggested that I was a huge dimwit and had missed the opportunity of my life! She was actually, SCOLDING me!

Nevertheless, we finally went to the 'Hitavada' office and directly spoke to the editor there. He hardly looked at the write up and said that he was ready to print it and added that it would come mostly in the next day's newspaper. I did note that 'mostly ' from his sentence and could hope only for the best. the next day was a Saturday and there was no trace of my article.

Later that afternoon, I got a phone call from my school and they asked me whether I had submitted any article. For a moment I felt relived and thought that I had overlooked it in the morning but it was somewhere in the paper and I actually asked him: " Has it come?!!!" ( the exclamation in my voice was so evident that even though my WB tutor suggests against it, I feel compelled to use quadruple punctuation marks at once.)

But the reply on the other end was not in affirmative. He then went through lengths explaining that the news office had called them to ask for a soft copy and my photograph so that it could be printed. This news however, gave me no joy instead I hung up the phone in a haste and started to cry and weep like hell!

I somehow felt betrayed.

When I went to the editor, I expected that my article came in any small but normal area of the paper. But after I got the call, I somehow was sure that they had considered my piece for the weekly special youth page(the page, according to me, no one reads...)( though people do read that column, I wanted mine to come along with the normal others). I didn't like this idea and regretted that I would have to wait for  the Tuesday's paper to finally see my article in print.

As expected there was nothing in the Sunday's paper and I again took to a fit if wailing!
I made a big fuss out of it but my mother cut me short and told me that I had no right to insult my Alma Mater at least after the fact that they were the ones who brought out my talent of acting and anchoring and they being the ones who made all of the "High Profile" Nagpur know me...
Somewhere I knew she was so right.

Then came Monday morning and  voilà! There it was! I was made to realise that life isn't all unfair! Things might take time to come your way but they do for certain...
More than quarter of a page!

Ecstatic!

Not only had they printed the article, but also given a small write up on me!


I felt so guilty...

Nevertheless, I basked I the glory of this achievement as I received a number of calls of appreciation. Then rang another call. It was from school and this time I profusely thanked them...and got over the guilt!
But the call was for more than mere appreciation...'Radio Mirchi' wanted an interview with me!
Private radio in in India can be known by no other better name, the largest private radio channel, the most popular and always tuned in on me set; RADIO MIRCHI!

Aaaa...!

Could there be a better expression?

The next day the whole thing about the interview and all ended. At least that's what I thought...
The merchant navy group of our family friends decide to give me a Party!

Party?...Fun?....They asked me to give the whole presentation there!

Never mind...

Just returned from there.
But wanted to finish posting before, in a few hours, November ends...

P.S. : I agree that they did not pay me or any thing of that sort and also changed one single word in the article that changed the whole sense (I to she) but in the whole I liked it a lot...In print for the first time officially is just so great.

Round TWO!

I had been thinking of this all along yet it seems to have really jolted me when it actually arrived.

Almost a month ago I sent off a small essay to Classmate Ideas For India, a competition that asked the youth of the country to present their ideas for a better India of tomorrow. It started as a plain writing exercise and then turned into a deep longing to be the winner.

To give you a better idea, here's what I sent-

LOCK INTERLOCK

                                                                        -Samyukta Shastri

The first piece of infrastructure that catches the eye when one enters a new place is its roads. Sadly, the condition of the roads in this country is not that pleasing.

I suggest the use of interlocking tiles to build roads instead of tar. This has a number of advantages.

The gap between these kinds of tiles allows the seepage of water into the ground rather than simply evaporating or logging and thus helps the water table increase.

One of the favourite hobbies of our municipal corporations is to build roads and then dig them up to fiddle with the cables underneath- and we are ditched! However, this jaggedness is ruled out if tiles are used. Tiles can be removed and replaced for minimal wastage and the unevenness is resolved.

Since these are made of cement, they are strong and have a longer life span as compared to tarred roads. Interlocking tiles don’t wear off easily and thus needn’t be replaced frequently. The use of these tiles saves us a bit more of our natural resources.

Though more expensive than tar, interlocking tiles are a onetime expenditure. The laying of tiles is easy and also has the potential to provide employment to a large section of the unemployed society.

Lastly, these kind of roads will provide a better aesthetic quality and green trees paved alongside will further add to their splendour.

There are enough of rewards of swapping tar for interlocking tiles and it is most practical and sustainable. 

Obviously I had been excited by the prospect of ever winning and kept thinking of it over and over again.

True as it is, thought carries mass, and also attracts the circumstances that help it materialize. The same happened yet again when I received a call yesterday saying that I was selected for the second round! This fact still didn't move me but when I got a confirmatory e-mail a few hours ago, I felt stunned. In fact I still am really numb.

Thoughts seem to have just vanished and I cant do much, only sit and stare at the print out.

They want me to travel to Mumbai and give a presentation... in just another 10 days!

Butterflies are flying all over my stomach and even the teddy form the old wardrobe is not large enough to cuddle away my nervousness!  

I have been in dramas before, anchored various times before a crowd as large as5000 people and have no stage fright what so ever; yet why do I feel that crawl in my gut? (OMG! Is that a new phrase I just coined?!)( Maybe being nervous does wonders sometimes.)

All now right now is that I am going to school tomorrow and catching hold of my Computer Science and Engineering Drawing teachers to help me make my presentation.

At this rate I'll go on writing forever!

DON"T BE OVERWHELMED!!!

I shall describe the second round in the next month's post.

...But just to boast about myself: ONLY 500 out of 60000+  entries from all over India were chosen!

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Vishnu and Sudarshan

      Life is full of coincidences and this is one of them. Let me give you an insight into Hindu mythology. Vishnu is one of the main of the main Indian gods. According to the scriptures, Vishnu's abode was underwater in the deep sea called the Vishnulok. Here he stayed with his beautiful wife Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. He himself was said to be very handsome but his skin (as argued in different scriptures) was blue or dark shaded. Vishnu has 4 hands and in them he holds- a lotus, a conch, a mace and the sudarshan chakra (wheel).

     This Sudarshan chakra is said to have been made from the sun dust and thus not surprisingly, must have been a radiant fair looking chap if he ever took the human form yet he could not have been as tall Vishnu. The wheel never left Vishnu's hand as it was the weapon of ultimate destruction; it stuck on like a true friend and coming to use many-a-time to kill evil forces that caused havoc on the earth.

     Now for the big coincidence;

     It was time for us to go home and the buses were waiting. I had entered first and preferred to stay waiting inside. Soon enough, the others started spilling inside as the bus driver threatened to leave. None of my friends had come that day and so sitting alone I started observing the things around me.

     It wasn't long before my attention diverted to two of my juniors. They always stuck around together. The first one was dark and very tall and the second one was puny but terribly fair. Sometimes people made fun of the first one and if the teasing crossed the limits, the usually calm second one would burst out on them. the first one was an ace swimmer. I don't remember what the second one did but surely he was the best friend the first one could have.

     You know where I am going, right?

     These two had qualities as if they were avatars of Vishnu and Sudarshan Chakra respectively.

      Talk of qualities, they were Vishnu and Sudarshan, at least their names said so...         

One anniversary for the country; and one for me too.

It is 15Th of August and India celebrates the 63Rd anniversary of its independence. After long years of British rule, India finally broke the shackles of slavery and rose like a free bird to soar into the enjoyment of its newly found freedom. 

On the eve of 15Th August 1947, the first prime minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke these words which have not only been etched in  the pages of history, but also engraved in the heart of every Indian;

"...at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A time comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds utterance..."

Today, as the curtains ring down on the 63Rd year of our independence,and we stand on the threshold of its 64Th anniversary,all institutions across the nation celebrate this day of independence in some level or the other.The PM hoists the Tricolour at the Red Fort in New Delhi, the capital of India; government institutions have their heads doing the same and the national flag holds its  head high on top of the buildings, it has the feeling of triumph and it is no longer under the iron fist of foreign rule.

At the school levels, the flag hoisting is followed by a march past, some sport competitions, prize distributions, and a wonderful cultural program and oh! Yes, lots and lots of speeches!


After talking of the Indian anniversary,the time comes that I tell you of what makes this date so important for ME...


I just told you of the celebrations at the school levels and that's where I come in.


I changed 3 schools in the same city and it was only in the last school that I gained recognition for my talent in oration and acting.The first English teacher of the 3Rd school gave me the first chance at comparing. ...and it was Independence day!


Since that day it was never looking back. I anchored all the functions at school and even some of the programs that were not by school but the only relation was that they were private events of the people who owned the school . I am thankful to all those people who kept faith in me even when I initially fumbled.


Today, I am celebrating the 5Th anniversary of comparing and acting. It was real celebration and I just returned home hoping that I finish writing this before mid-night.


This might not be the best blog post ever, but that is all I can write after returning from a movie, dinner and real late night shoe-shopping( seriously only my mother can go to shops just about to close and buy shoes only half an hour before midnight!).




    


  

The Lady from the newspaper...

Some days ago as I sat reading the newspaper, I came across a photo of a Lady, really pretty.

It somehow captivated me and I set to work copying it as a sketch...really poor...you can hardly recognize the lady!!! 

Spontaneity...a card game, an anecdote.

I haven't have had much time to write recently, but, I do have all the mind of narrating to you all an incident that took place about four years ago as I sat along with my father at the dining table with nothing to do, getting thoroughly bored. Now, just as key let me tell you that, when talking of playing cards, in most of the Indian languages; spade, hearts, diamonds and clubs changes to- Ispick, Badam, Chaukat and Kilver. For my story, the first one, Ispick is the most important. note that it is pronounced as- EE- spik- more or less like E- speak.

Now coming back to that day, four years back...

I sat at the dining table with nothing to do and my father was beside me, so invariably I asked him to speak or rather Ispick -( please do note the pun was deliberate!!!)

I continued to repeat like a parrot until he finally got cheesed off and said,"Keep quiet or else I'll give you a club on the head!", he said with a chuckle in his voice, proud of his spontaneity.

As if I was ever going to keep mum and said with a puppy dog face,"...Have a heart...!"

He said," ...well not unless you give me some Diamonds!!!"

That was the end of one of the most enjoyable and memorable card games I'll ever have...

Missed it!

THE MOBILE FETISH

I recently undertook a journey with my classmates as a school trip that required us to travel for 36 hours one way(and then the other way too!!!).

These chattis hours of the Chhattisgarh express have dawned a realisation upon me. The mobile fetish has gripped the human world. Every owner of a pair of hands had a mobile in his hand. Constant messaging, chatting, gaming and listening to songs was all that was going around me.

First the continuous click- clacks of the never tired texting hands and then the emotions related to the SMSs. I know of one of my companion who was so attached to her messages that she would burst out crying on receiving a reply and the situation was no different if she didn’t! She would at times not eat all together and at some rare instances she would burst out laughing as if no one else understood the joke! Yes her mobile had made some weird effect on her!

The mobile was so invented to bring the near ones closer, but rather it has parted to a large extent, the near ones. No one has any time to look up and talk. The personal contacts were formed and broken…

No one was ready to enjoy the tranquil twilight breeze that blew outside the window rather they seemed far more interested in the windows XP that worked on their lofty models. A silent competition prevailed- I must have that phone! The worst times were when the noiseless competition grew into a violent war for the charging booth.

I soon realized the implications –they all missed the beautiful scenery that went past my eyes but I pity those who only saw the message pass into the other phone. The chilly fog didn’t make a way through their hair, the beautiful patterns it made amidst the trees. The pretty red flowers that bloomed in the dark green bushes and the silvery dew that still slept on the delicate petal bed…

Yet all I could do, is feel sorry!

The Golden Night

GOLDEN TEMPLE, AMRITSAR

Enter into the vicinity of the golden temple and the instant sense of relaxation and calm will descend upon you. Even the sight of the golden dome from far away is a treat to the mind and soul. As one inches closer to the place, a huge imposing gate with a welcoming appearance stands before you. There are four such gates on all the sides to symbolize that anyone from anywhere is most welcome.

I reached this place at about seven in the evening when the lights were further adding to the splendour of the glittering gold.

Once inside, the view of the serene lake with the golden temple right in the middle is breathtaking. The lake is structurally contained and is surrounded by beautiful marble flooring. The source of the lake is an underground spring that feeds it. Pilgrims are always seen taking a dip into the holy water. This is symbolic of cleansing not the body but the soul. Beside the temple complex are gigantic dormitories and dining halls where pilgrims irrespective of gender, caste, race or religion are boarded and fed for free. The flooring and architecture is unique and shows the symbiosis of both Hindu and Muslim architecture.

All about the temple are booths where you can offer services of doing menial physical jobs such as swabbing the floor, cleaning the glass windows or cleaning utensils used to serve the holy water from the lake. This symbolises equality of every man before the almighty. No one is big or small, superior or inferior- all just the same.

Before you enter you are to get the Prasad of a sweet made from dalia to be offered to god inside. And now you are ready to stand in the long big queue to enter the temple.

The main temple stands marvellously like a floating houseboat all glided in gold from the first floor till the tip of the dome. Inside, amidst a full-fledged band of flutes, drums and stringed instruments are singers who sing devotional songs right from dawn to long after sunset. On a jewel studded platform is the Adi Grantha, the holy scripture of the Sikhs.

The shrine is three floored and is completely covered with intricate meenakari work from the inside. There are marble staircases leading you to the floors. The view of the sanctuary from one floor above and the serene lake from the window are an asset to behold in your hearts lifelong. There is an urge to just sit there forever and listen to tuneful songs that carry tranquillity all over.

The golden temple has seen invaders come and go, destroy it, but every time it has been built better. The golden temple stands for peacemaking and always will.

a fresh day...

It is a new day today and everything seems so fresh and nice. Coincidently most of the things in my life are either starting today or ending (with a promising new start). I am also new to this side of the internet and take this day to start a blog and explore all new avenues.

When good things happen to you or you feel pleasant, the time is most amusing and inspiring. And what could be better than the Hindu new year commencing today, the final exams getting over (tomorrow), being invited to the principal’s house for her son’s birthday celebrations(he happens to be my classmate), I didn’t even have a tiff with my mother for the whole day…really everything seems just so right!!!

I AM INSPIRED!

But something’s very sad… time is running out and I can’t write more, not even introduce myself well.

But I’ll be back soon!

More later

Samyukta Shastri