Days to SEM

days to sem
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Hi there friends, it’s been a long time I have penned something। Was really busy for the 7th end sem & the only 1, I mean no 7th course or curriculum gives U another such encounter। Its once & its over & yeah of course ! It’s gr8। Although exam was fair but still I m skeptical about the BPUT’s checking…it’s a bull shit & I mean it. I bet every one would agree! Keep away the toppers except Nanda (our genuine EEE topper). Lots so modules still lying out need to cover a lot. …the Power system topics (PSE, PSP, PSOC) add to the trouble which are truly in gullible. Its 15 days to sem & I m in the mid of pacific ocean. I cant sail back & the destiny is far…the Communication Engineering course (CE) was over so early, the bald teacher (Mr. Girish) ostracized the details & the way he completed was just a fiddlestick. We still remember the day when he declared the course’s over & we were looking on to each other’s face with utter surprise.


Coming to Power System Protection (PSP); a great fight between Mam & Sanjay ended the class. Anita Mam left us. That is the way we were left over onto ourselves to finish the course.
Power System Engineering (PSE) Mr. H.K. Panigrahy the cartoon teacher, so innocent. The class raillery made him to escape from the college in a way as if he’s a pick pocket. Yeah the last time we remember talking to him was the evening after the NBA accreditation, when we forced him to pay us Rs.200 for the sweets, he handed the money & flew away….(very funnnyyy indeed…) & we never saw him again in the college…
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Power System Operation & Control (PSOC) was the only subject that was over in time & it was the only arduous paper for sure. All in all it was a hunky dory.
Marketing Management (MM) I was the hot favourite of Durga Sir. For my Business-Plan which bagged the 1st prize @ IIT-kgp beating the team from IIM-B. Judges: IIMs, XLRI & ISB. He always gave away my example when it comes to innovation “Sinha’s Pedal power generator.” Sinha! Sinha! Sinha! …in the whole class & this became a cliché for me. Everybody looked on to me whenever the class started & that was really embrassing…I was like “hey friends its not my fault?”
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Advanced Electronic Circuits (AEC) the BP sir, I remember only 2 things in class…”when the Transistor T1 is ON; transistor T2 is off & vice-versa”. Huh…still it’s such a lovely paper. I truly enjoyed reading AEC & managed to do well in sem. The preparation was all in haste.
The end sem was fair & okay except the CE paper…& still fingers crossed for the results.
You ask an engineer how many days U need to finish a book & he replies “When is the sem?” Well if you ask me then I would honestly accept such criticism & I bet every engineer would love it.
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Well friends this end sem exam was just a normal stuff but the only specialty is that, it was my penultimate sem to step out as an engineer. I mustered 4 long years to be an engineer & now I m only 150 days away to pass out. I would certainly love to pass-out soon & don’t want to visit the campus again for the special purposes (All BPUTians understand this Buzz Word). If I still manage to pass-out safely, adding to my worries the Global-Recession is waiting for all of us to engulf for the sin that we are freshers. (likes of L&T infotech has put me on hold not before 2010).
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This sem was no different from the rest of my sems & the strategy was all the same i.e. ‘No strategy’. I love blogging & it all started in the 3rd Year. I have always said I love my college; everything here is to be loved about…except The PRINCIPAL...(BASTARD)
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The legendary hostel life, The next best thing was the hostel, not opulent but still it was very comfortable living with the Bumpers, super seniors & the immediate ones. The Block-shaped beds made of cements, your bones will crack but the bed wouldn’t even if you try to harm it.
I have been in hostel-1 ever since it was the only boys hostel in the campus with its block shaped bed & small kitschier architecture. If you see it at a glance it gives a feel like “Hey how can I fit in”? Don’t blame your size but instead the architecture is to be blamed” for the notion.
But as I started living there I loved it, persons with what so ever the biggest sized like that of ‘Asutosh Padhy’ also fitted in comfortably. After KIIT my Alma was the 1st ever private college to introduce the internet facilities into the hostels & set up a LAN way back in 2005, in the state, which was commendable.
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Note: No comparison of KIIT & JITM. It’s a joke.
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My 1st room was 107- the ground floor, then flew up to the 2nd floor in room-310 in front of somu’s room (Josh might know him better). In the 3rd year I joined Ullas & Puru sir at room-212. It proved to be a turning point of my life. Presently living with Rajeeb-The scientist (I call him) & a fresher in room-208. The fresher might hate me for I tell him to fill in the water bottle all the time. (haa haa..).
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Getting up late & rushing for the toothbrush & toilets which is always pre-occupied no matter how early I may rise from bed…? How irritating…? Later on beating the doors & yelling-out “Saale! Nikkaaal ! ”…”Nikkaaaaal Mat !” (i.e. “Don’t Wank”)…I too need to bathe. Even you get the bathroom free, again you have to crack nuts to get a bucket & mug. U might discover your mug & basket moving floors up & down through out the hostel. As if its was a public property or everyone has got only yours. So again shouting & moving room to room begging for a mug & you end up with nothing. So you get out to class like this. The situation is worse in the winter season, the water’s so chill. Still the hostel was our niche; we were happy & safe in our hostel. It was not so opulent but we have absolutely fitted into just like a screw fits in..? The loud songs & the loud cry-outs @ the balcony, the scene still rumbles in the heart. The hot discussions about ‘Amrita Mam’ (EE teacher), hot chicks (although rare in JITM) was one of the favourite time-pass. There were a lot of guys who considered themselves the master of witty-banter, Man2, Amit (Jaundice) being a few. Mrinal hitting ‘Amrita Das’ hard on her debut class.
can U see me ?
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The college atmosphere is tranquil, quite comparable to a gurukul as it’s rightly named as “Engineering Gurukul”. I m sure it was true but...until the PRINCIPAL joined us. Its all green everywhere so many trees, vegetations, hills, villages, paddy fields & so much. It gave us a feel as if we landed onto forests. The air was so clean, absolutely pollution freee. So we had frequent encounters with the greats of like The King Cobra & some of the highly venomous scorpions & yeag the like of Pythons tooo & these innocent creatures are brutally killed in a place where Engineers are build, what a disguise! A beautiful temple resided in the heart of the hill, it was so beautiful & it’s a store house of so many memories of so many love buddies, Even I m a part of it. So many love stories started, so many cherished, so many got closer, got intimate & the rest was left over. Just one word would suffix all i.e. the temple has a gr8 history & it’s also a witness of my Love story. During the rainy season the clouds come down to the hills to bestow their love & beauty to us. It’s worth capturing. The hostel balcony gives the full purview of this wonderful scenery.
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The only communication link to the town is the local busses which never followed any itinerary. Like you may wait for hours & end up walking up to Ranadevi. Other alternatives are the Jeeps, trekkers & autos where we have to climb up & then it rumbles the way on to the roads like jet-planes & we enjoy being @ top, without shifting the center of gravity, we were so used to & so are the drivers. This experience was really unmatchable as no where can we enjoy such thrilling top-travel. Yeah girls might miss it out every time & can only imagine the pleasure I narrate. It’s been a long time travelling @ top because of my love.
The legendary basketball court. Yeah how can I not narrate that?


The 1st time I came to college I carved out a common consensus & agreed to my dad that it’s a very good college for me, because it had ‘A basketball Court’, internet facilities & EEE as a branch. Truly speaking the name Electrical & Electronics fascinated me ever since I saw it, going through various brochures, IITs being one of them & this is the way I landed up here. As of for me, the college had everything I wanted. I always loved Basketball & it’s definitely male.
Moti Ram, final yr. Chemical engineering with his 1-man army, is an excellent Basketball player, happened to be my informal coach, he taught me basketball. So genuine & such a well behaved guy, He got my lips burst out with blood the very 1st day @ court with his excellent jump & shoot, while I was standing behind him for the ball. Thus I started playing & managed to take revenge by hurting him innocently every time I could. He taught me how to pass, how to shoot & how to stab in the court. Well soccer was his favorite game & basketball was 2ndary to him. I always thought if he played his 2ndary game basketball so well, then how would he have been as a soccer player? Always into Skype with his bunch of foreign girl-friends & had wished to meet all his girl-friends one day. Then we formed a group with Dibya, Manas & our great Hanu (Rajesh). Hanu learnt basketball so early, so fast bcoz of his immense interest to learn & became a great shooter gradually, later led the Mechanical Basketball Team. Dibya & Manas were excellent players either. We shared great memories @ the Legendary Basketball court. Got hurt so many times but always prayed, for I dint wanna give my blood to the court, its very painful. I can still recall the tooth shedding blow of Suresh sir (my super senior) to Body Bhaina (my Bumper) who got @ least 3 of his front row tooth ripped off. Isn’t that spookier & painful to imagine? Suresh was a real body builder & only played with fouls, kicking the private balls, ripping of tooth, punching the chest defending the ball & lots more but indeed very innocent. We have juniors now carrying the trend to keep basketball still alive in JITM with Durga, Saroj being excellent players from Sunabeda the place where MotiRam hails from. They have been his juniors & equally talented players like him. But always wished that some day the girls would turn-up to the court to cheer us up, while we played like Chicago Bulls.
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Randevi ki shham
A small village surrounded by hills, the official AID center, Orissa’s chapter. The santosh & his family with their fast food center (samosa, bada etc.). Again it was a place to share & cherish memories, the ranadevi’s tea; so tasty & soothing. It was so cherishable, walking up to ranadevi during the sems was indeed a fun with friends & a nice refreshment. The Indian triangle (samosa) had its own importance during our graduation days. The friends company made it more special. The ranadevi is indeed a BUZZ word ! for all JITMians. The endless chats, gossips, pulling legs, comments, clichés, passive cigarette smoking with friends, cursing the faculties, the lab assistants, debating on stupid mark-cuts & planning to revenge on for the DEC lab (haa haa…). Discussing about figure of hot Chiks... Ranadevi is also very special for the memories of hiding out from the faculties as they too frequently visited to smoke & caught out a lot of guys doing the same. All in all ‘A superb experience’ & a wonderful memory stored in the castle of heart.
Note: I m a passive smoker.
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Now thats it. I can’t list more good things coz I don’t find much reason to appreciate.
Hey, wait a bit how can I forget the Girl’s hostel…..?
It made the campus life really interesting; a girl’s hostel in the campus was the sole reason for a lot of guys to stay in the Boys Hostel, but not for me actually. Our bumper batch was the batch I admire & then it’s ours. Had lots of memories with the bumpers. The Balaji Temple at the campus is another open memoir. We always had a look at our costumes passing by the girl’s hostel for no obvious reasons, it sounds so funny. Looking on to the roof & trying to figure out the girls.
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Huh! I was so innocent.
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Vicky came running behind me to JITM, when I was in 3rd Year. I m very happy to have him & only him with me (it’s for Vicky only: hope ‘U’ MTV-B***A, understood).
Okay that’s all folks. I tried to be an optimist with this article; I have listed the things which I lived @ JITM & we LIVE the moment, we LOVE.
The best’s of all above that came as a gift to me @ JITM is the ‘I’ group with Mrinal, Vikash sir & JOSH, I love them the most..........To be Continued....>>

VILLAGE STAY @ PRADAN

Essay about the village

Bansitoli is a village where I was placed for the village stay. It’s a hamlet of the main village Sehal & hence is named Sehal Bansitoli. This is situated about 13kms west to sub-location ghagra. This village has about 100 houses & a population of about 500. The nearby village is Jalka where the majority is Sahukars & they have their shops on which the villagers were dependent for basic amenities. This village is a very nice one; the people here are very interactive & supportive. They didn’t give me a feel that I m a stranger. Of-course they gave me so much respect when they came to know that I m a Pradan Dada.
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Long Ago they say that due to fight among the sadan & aadivasis because aadivasis reared pig a person named bansi came here & then others followed him, thus slowly it became a hamlet & hence named so.
In bansitoli the majority of people are oraon 90 families (ST) , there are 7 lohar families, 2 yadav families & 1 Christian family but they all live together. There is no discrimination among them which is a very good sign & they never fought. They all stand together.
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In this village about 90% people migrate i.e. they go to bhatta to carry bricks & earn some money, they go to Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab etc. Every body leaves the village for bhaatta in jnaurary & return by june for agriculture & after that they again prepare to go to bhatta. Thus this is their way of income. There is local market called Bazzar every Tuesday & Saturday. They say Tuesday is the Big bazaar & Saturday is the small bazaar.
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Prime occupation of people over here is agriculture & paddy is there staple crop which they grow in the kharif season. They also cultivated several vegetables, dal like urad, arhar, chanaa, moong & they also cultivated badam as a cash crop as its in high demand. For livelihood people here also reared hen, goats, pigs & ducks that they sold in the market for cash. In this village the production of paddy is very good. Almost every family has enough to eat through out the year & they sell the paddy in jalka when they are in need of money.
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Here the land resources are classified in to local names like Donn (low lands) which are again classified into Donn lower & upper they are also denoted by 1 & 2. The next one is the mid-lands named chaura denoted by 3 & the last one is high lands called Tand denoted by 4. Donn lands are suitable for paddy cultivation bcause it has water logging facility. The next chaura is good for Khandagiri & dehati quality of paddy. The next land Tand is suitable for vegetables, dal, chana, urad, arhar & badam etc. There are about 250 acres Donn, 300 acres chaura about 250 acres Tand. I also saw the arrangement for extracting kranch oil, sarso oil called as “chipa”. I have also helped them in doing that.
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There are 4 SHGs in this village namely: Kisan, Sarna, Bajrangbali & Challa Mahila Mandal promoted by PRADAN where the women save their money in a box & maintain their account. This ensures that their self sufficiency in emergency. They sat ever Friday & collected the money with entries in their pass-book. They also attained the cluster meeting on 2nd of every month.
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They celebrate various festivals like “budhiakaram” where the old ladies worship to get rid of the diseases for their family & the village after puja they all dance & drink handia. Then they celebrate “chodikaram” where the girls beat the boys with a flower & enjoy a lot. They also celebrate “Sarhol” where they worship their lands for good production & good rain. They celebrate “holi” & “diwali”. They also celebrate “durga-puja”, dussehra & kartik where they worship laxmi goddess.
In this village children go to school nearby & then after 5th class they go to nearby village. For higher studies they have to go to ghghra or lohardaga or gumla. There are only 3 hand-pumps in the village out of which 2 are functional, except that some families also depend on wells for drinking water. There is a dam in the village & a local river flows through the lands of farmers where they irrigate with the help of the river. Most of the women take bath in the river & also cleaned their utensils in the river. There was a lift irrigation scheme operational in the village since 1997 by Pradan for 4 years but is now uprooted due to some problems as a result people are facing difficulty in irrigating in the off-season. They are primarily dependent on rain for agriculture & irrigation. This village is very nice & I have made a lot of friends with whom I played football & enjoyed ghost stories at night. I was also invited by some didi for dinner for 4 days & I enjoyed that. Here the prime means of entertainment is radio then some times they also watch TV with the help of battery &watch old movies that I enjoyed a lot with the villagers at night & continued till morning. Here the people are very nice & I really enjoyed my village stay.

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Typical Women
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It was a bit difficult task for me to find out a typical woman. I discussed about this with dadas in the evening & they suggested me few names. I went to the didis & interacted with them. Out of them I got 2 names they were Bhikhain didi & Phagi didi. Bhikain didi is still struggling & is not in a good position so I felt that she is not a typical women whom I m searching. But when I interacted with Phagi didi who is in a better condition now & asked her to tell her story she told me that:

Just after her marriage with Tirpa dada, due to some problems in the family & some personal conflicts, her father in law had threw them out of their house & dint give any land or home to live. Thus they took shelter in Nand Kishore dada’s home for about 15 years. They had 5 children 2 boys & 3 girls. Didi then took the charge on her hand & went to bhatta for income, while dada remained at home in the village with 3 daughters & reared their cattle. I personally felt it very strange for me.
Didi told me that she got up at 1 am to prepare liquor & then from 6 am to 5 pm she carried bricks after that from 6 pm to 9pm she sold liquor to ensure additional income. In the meanwhile her 2 sons were with her. Every day she followed the same routine she worked very hard & thus saved money & returned her village to look upon her family. Dada too was dependent on Didi’s income for everything. Didi kept something for her family gave something to the family where she took shelter & thus her struggle continued. In mean time she also ensured that her children do study something. She said that she continued like this for 18 years & then she had built her house in which dada’s was contribution was with meager.

All lands went to them after her father-in-law died & now they have their own land, phagi didi had a major contribution is building their home because she was the only earning member. As I said dada was not going to bhaata & remained in the village. She said Tirpa dada’s brother is living in shimla & never come to village so they now cultivate the whole piece of land. I asked her since how many years she got her land & she replied its been only 6 years she got it & before that she had to go to bhaata & now after so much of struggle only she had come to a better position. Now they have their land & they do agriculture. Her children are grown-up & married. Thus all because of her struggle & patience their family is now in a good position. So I really admire her.


Economic Analysis of Families

I interacted with some families in the locality & during the interaction procedure in the initial days of my stay I came to know that in the village there are a lot of poor & medium families. The villagers also pointed out that near about every house are okay with their lands & production capacity except a few & they are mainly poor by money as they don’t have additional source of income.
So interacting with a group of dadas in the evening time on my 5th day of my stay, I enquired about the poor families & they suddenly replied that, “we all are poor”. When I tried to get deeper into the discussion I came to know that there are a lot of families who have insufficient land & so they don’t manage to have reserve of paddy through out the year for their consumption. Then for additional income source most of the people from the village go to Bhaata. Most of them consider the families of this kind poor among themselves. So I enquired among the dadas who are such families, they fetched me few names. They told me that in this locality where I live there such families who are poor.

There was a dada in the group itself who claimed that he is poor & therefore he has to go to Bhatta. I asked about the standard & the reason why they consider that families poor & also asked them about status of the poor families one by one. I got a lot of assumptions & I was not satisfied with their explanation because they were not sure about the actual status of land & production capacity but they knew that they are poor. Thus I selected few such families & tried to get deeper by engaging my self into direct discussion with the particular dada rather than asking the dadas in the group to ascertain the production & standard of the poor families they listed.


Poor Family-1

Name of dada: Goya Oraon.
Name of didi: Sheela Oraon (sarna mahila mandal)
Kids: 3 boys & 1 girl.
Parents-2
Land: 1-1/2 acres (approx.)
Production (last year): 15 mann= 600kgs/ 6 quintal (approx). Insufficient for whole family.
( 1 mann= 40kgs) Sufficient only for parents @ home.

Consumption: 2kg/day*365= 730kg (7&1/2 quintal approx.)

Migration: both dada & didi go to “Bhatta” @ Punjab, Tripura, Ayodhya. (Last time: Ayodhya)

Dada’s income @ bhatta= Rs.3000/ month
Didi’s income @ bhatta= Rs. 1500/month
Savings at Bhatta: 2500/- per month.*6= Rs.15,000 half yearly. (savings from income)


Expenditure @ Bhatta:
Consume rice= 50 kg per month @ 12/- = Rs. 600 per month
Consume vegetables= Rs. 200 per week *4 = Rs. 800 per month
Soap, surf & other requirements= Rs. 100 = Rs. 400 per month
Total Expenses at Bhatta = Rs. 1800-2000 (approx per month)

Village expenses

After returning from Bhatta
Consume rice= 2.5 kgs * 180 days = Rs.5500/- per 6 month
Oil, surf, soap = Rs. 150 per week * 4= Rs. 600/- *6 = Rs. 3600 per 6 month
Vegetables= Rs. 100 per week * 4= Rs. 400/- * 6 = Rs. 2400 per month
Expenses for family = Rs. 11,500

Agriculture (about 150 decimil. Land or 1.5 acres)
Rs.1600 per 50 decimil for paddy * 3 = Rs. 5000 (approx)
For other vegetables = Rs. 1000 approx.
Expense in agriculture = Rs. 6000/-

Total Expenses in village = Rs. 17,500/-
Total Saving from Bhatta = Rs. 15,000
Balance in hand = Rs. 15,000- Rs.17,500= - Rs. 2500/- (negative balance in hand @ village)

Negative balance Balance for the year= Rs. 2,500/- (falling short of money)


This analysis shows that this family is economically poor & dada’s claim that he is poor was correct. But when I looked on to the background of this family, I discovered that this family has good reputation, nobody is involved in drinking, no bad habits, no fights, no violence against women & I really appreciated this approach. In spite going through rough patches I found the family standing together.

To support their negative balance they rely on daily mazdoori. They get Rs. 60/- per day as per the work. For emergency purposes they sell off the paddy & compensate later.
Except migration while living in village the only source of money is selling off the paddy.


Not so poor family

In the filed nearby where we play football with local boys, this dada’s house is built in front of the field so many a times the ball is hit high & falls on his newly made house & the khappars cracks, didi then keeps the ball & don’t give us. She never quarrels & after some time gives the ball. I came into interaction with this family when the boys sent me one day to get the ball from their house because they believed they she would not deny me. After that when ever he saw me always talked to me & greeted me. I came to know about his family status & standard after interacting with him since last 6 days.



Name of dada: Sumra Oraon.
Name of didi: Sundermuni Oraon (sarna mahila mandal)
Kids: 3 boys
No cattle, No animals.
Land: 4 acres (approx.) all given on lease.
Production (last year): 22 mann= 880kgs/ 8.8 quintal (approx). insufficient for whole family.

Migration: whole family with dada Goes to “Bhatta” @ chhatisgarh.
Also visits Bengal for carrying Paddy during October.

Expenditure:

At Bhatta
Rice = Rs. 750 per month *6 = Rs. 4500 per 6 month. (50 kgs @ 14/- per Kg)
Vegetables= Rs. 1200 per month *6 = Rs. 7200/-
Soap, surf, oil = Rs. 800 per month *6 = Rs. 4800/-
Total Expenses for 6 months = Rs. 16,500/-

At village
Kerosene= Rs. 100 per month * 6 = Rs. 600 for 6 month.
Soap, Surf, oil= Rs. 400 per month * 6 = Rs. 2400 for 6 month
Total = Rs. 3000/- for 6 months

Agriculture (only 50 decimill by own)
Mazdoori= Rs. 120 per man *2= Rs.250/- per day * 3 persons = Rs. 750/-
Boundary of land = Rs. 250/-
Ropai= Rs. 12.5 * 20 didis = Rs. 250/-
DAP= Rs. 15/- * 16kg = Rs. 250/-
Potash = Rs. 7/- * 8 = Rs. 60/-
Urea = Rs. 6/- * 12 = Rs.72/-
Cost of seeds = Rs.180/-
Total Expense on agriculture (paddy) = Rs. 1800/-

Total Expenses = Rs. 21,300

Income:

From Bhatta = Rs. 3000/- * 6 = 18000/-
Goes to Bengal for carrying Paddy = Rs. 5000/- for 2 months in October.
Total Income = Rs. 23,000

Balance for the year= Rs. 23,000 – Rs. 21,300 = Rs. 1700/- per year


This balance is very important for them because this gives them some security against health problems, some emergency expenditure & anything else they may need.
If they fall short of money due to som unavoidable circumstances then they rely of mazdoori they seek a day’s work in someother’s field, engage in making some ons’s house, seeks mazdoori from sahukars etc. Sometimes he has to travel other village also to work & earn money daily. Didi on the other hand is engaged in household chores & sometimes she also engages herself in mazdoori while working in other’s field during paddy cultivation (ropai).
Thus they manage their family & continue their livelihood.


Relatively Well-off

It is a relatively well-off family who is the neighbour of Satan Dada where I lived. Everyday I interacted with dada in the evening with tea & I collected the information over a period of 3-4 days. This dada is very hard working & conscious about the education of his children. His mentality is very open towards new ideas & is not reserved that’s why I loved interacting with him & always visits his house in the evening. Most of the time he asked me about the life in town & big cities & how to create awareness of conscious education for the village children.

Name of dada: Nand Kishore Bhagat.
Name of didi: Bajo didi (Bajrang Bali Mahila Mandal)
Kids: 3 boys & 1 girl.
Land: 5 acres (approx.)
Parents: dead
Production (last year): 150 mann= 6000kgs/ 60 quintal (approx). Sufficient for family.
( 1 mann= 40kgs)

Migration: No.
Rice consumption: 3kg * 365= 11 quintals approx.

Expenditure
Vegetables: Rs. 400 per month * 12 = Rs. 5000/-
Pulses: 2kg @ 40/- per week= 80*4* 12 = Rs. 3840/-
Soap, surf, oil= Rs. 600 per month * 12 = Rs. 7200/-
Petrol= Rs. 400 per month * 12 = Rs. 4800/-
Biscuits for kids: 400/- per month * 12 = Rs. 4800/-

Total Family Expenses: =Rs.25,640/-

Expense on agriculture = Rs. 10,000 per year

Total Expense = Rs. 35,640

Income

Didi (school teacher at aangan baadi) = Rs. 1200* 12 = Rs. 14,400/-
Sold paddy (4000 kg * 7) = Rs. 28,000/-

Total Income: = Rs. 42,400/-

Cash Balance= Rs. 42,400 - Rs. 36,640= Rs. 5760/- per year.

Savings in LIC: Rs. 3000/- already deposited.
Rs. 3000 will deposit in future.


Touching Moments

Initially 2 days I felt bad because I was feeling alone as I was new to the community but after that I adjusted so well that even if I am said to spend another 2 months over there in bansitoli I would enjoy the stay.

This incident touched me when small kids (ajit & rohit) while retuning from school brought me a mango & some jamun with a guava of their own for me. Then I took them to hotel for eating samosas.

Subhash, kalwari, Bibdhe, prakash, sumeal, suersh, chaita & rohit were me close friends & we played football in the evening.

This is very funny, son of nand kishore dada “chotu” 2 years old, always forgot his name whenever I asked him. He says “I donn know”. Then I told him his name & asked him everyday to ensure that he remembers his name & thus after 3 days whenever I asked him he tells me his name “swadesh bhagat” & now dada & didi give the credit to me.

I also helped kalwari’s sister who is mentally challenged. One day she went out & was not obeying anybody & was walking away from village I saw that & I asked her mom if I can try, then I went to her & tried to convince her to come home after a lot of hard-work I managed her to bring back.

I used to play with Phagi didi’s grand son Anoop who always cried out whenever he saw me. When I m away he laughs when I approach nearer he crys.

I used to run behind the hens & tried to catch chicks after a lot of running I am able to catch a chick, I took it in my hand played with it & leave it after some time.

In the evening I helped ajit & sumitra in reading their books when ever they found any difficulty they asked me & I helped them every day.

Chaita had a radio & he played it very loud we all sat together had long chats & enjoyed the radio for hours.

I also enjoyed watching TV at night with the community whole night & that too old movies it gave me a feel as if I m in a theater. I enjoyed the old movies the way we enjoyed the new ones. It was a nice unforgettable experience for me.

I also enjoyed playing football with all the friends in the school field.

While watching Satan dada irrigating his land from the river with a pulley arrangement; I asked him to teach me & I also did the irrigation which involved a lot of toil.

I also helped didi in extracting the Kranch oil from the chiipa which they believed to have medicinal qualities.

I always used datum of sal & never used my brush & paste although I had it.
From the 3rd day of my stay I stopped sleeping on the bed arranged for me & started sleeping near the tree with my group.

One night I drove away a mad dog to ensure that my friends sleep well at night.

I enjoyed long chats with budhmania didi, bajo didi, phagi didi, satan dada & nanadkisore dada in the evening.

I also enjoyed the invitations for dinner by various didis Fagi didi, Bajo didi, Somo didi and Budhmania didi.

I was also frightened by the ghost stories at night which Bindhe, chaita, subash told me.

Rohit, Subodh, ajit & chotu always loved me for I gave them biscuits in the after noon.


My discomfort

I had to travel a long distance to respond to the call of nature.

Initially 2 days I felt a bit alone as I was new to that place but then I adjusted well very easily.

Seeing people killing pig was a personal discomfort for me.

Seeing Kalwari’s sister who is mentally challenged & his pain made me sad.

Sometimes I dint enjoy the local jungle vegetables which I have never tasted in my life.

My dislikes

Irresponsible & unconscious education at school.

Uprooting the LI & then crying for help.

Women & girls going out long distances to respond the call of nature.

On the other side of the village, most of the children didnot go to school.

They were a bit low in maintaining hygiene.

My Learnings

I Came to know about the really poor.

Now I can adjust in any kind of village I feel without electricity & other facilities.

Now I learnt social interplay with the poor families.

Now I understand their problems & feel that it’s our social responsibility to help them.

SHGs

There are 4 SHGs in the village which is promoted by Pradan. They are:

Name of SHG Name of Lekhapal Members
1.Kisan Mahila Mandal Kalwari 18
2.Sarna Mahila Mandal Manohar 16
3.Chala Mahila Mandal Arjun 21
4.BajrangBali Mahila Mandal Bajo didi 18
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They sit every Friday & 2 members from every SHG attend the cluster meeting on 2nd of every month, as per the number assigned to them.

The SHG is formed since 2002 & is 7 years old. They regularly conduct this meeting. It was formed with Pradan’s assistance.

Benefits:

1. They take loan to buy cattle for agriculture.
2. They take loan to build their homes.
3. They take loans for higher education of their children.
4. They take loans for marriage & other personal uses.

The main aim behind forming this SHG is that the women in the village collected their savings which acted as an emergency fund for them. After formation of SHG didis claimed that they have been benefited a lot by this practice & they now are in full form to continue this. Now they don’t have to ask money from anybody else at higher interest rates, now they can always ask for help from their SHG at nominal interest rates of Rs.50 per Rs100/ week for a stipulated period of time & this ensures their self-sufficiency. Their families have been benefited by schemes like Mango plantation which was given to the SHG members. Being an SHG member ensured that they are in touch with PRADAN & they can seek help from PRADAN’s dada, they claimed. Now they have enough savings. They have bank accounts one is savings account & other is credit account they are now assisted by professionals from Pradan which they say is valuable for them.
I was really impressed by this practice this is something which I had never seen before

I express my hearty thanks to my field guide Mr.Rajeev Ranjan for guiding me & giving me the opportunity of village stay. I also like to extend my thanks to my field friends Prakash Da, Sukanta Da, Rajibul da, Pankaj Da & Suchit da. They frequently visited me during the village stay & helped me in the preparation of report & presentation.

Regards Abhishek Sinha

I don’t wanna die unnoticed…B-PLAN @ IIT-Kharagpur

Hi, friends…it was just after the laurels of NIST & CSIR, I having recently seen death so closely…। (I shouldn’t B alive). God knows why this happened to me? But I surmise I was saved for a special reason may b for something big or even bigger. This is a story of 3 friends who were in a state of mind that they din’t want to die unnoticed.” It’s a story of 3 friends who took risk, redefined the notion i.e. “You don’t need to be at the best place to do the best thing” & how their lives changed.
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All this started with Vidya (I know she ll be happy to see her name huh!). Last year, I was in 2nd year & she was my branch jr. then, she asked me to join her @ IIT-kgp’s Annual Techfest “KSHITIJ’07”. But unfortunately I wasn’t interested, I even dint care about this festival it was just a fiddlestick for me. But again I had my mid-sems at the same time so it was a nice reason to say ‘NO’. She had told me to visit the site www.ktj.in & find out the updates, after I met her in puja Vaccations of 2007. Coz this time, I was in the 3rd Year & had promised to join her @ IIT.
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I returned to college, where the flame of renaissance taking the shape of an inferno inside me. For I always said to myself “its been Too…much of nonsense activities since 2 years of engineering…now I don’t want to waste the remaining 2 years , I want to do something” or as Mrinal Says “I don’t want to die unnoticed.” Meanwhile Kiran, a true friend of mine approached me to participate in Kshitij’08. He called upon me & we went to hostel to check the website.
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I too broke out about Kshitij to Vikash Sir & Mrinal. We then started browsing the site; you won’t believe we had to muster for more than 3 hours just to find the suitable event where we can fit in. For the very first time we were experiencing such standards which epitomizes itself. It was a really superb & mind boggling experience for us, the Kshitij website. After much moil we ended up with 2 events of our caliber the “EUREKA” & the “B-PLAN”. EUREKA- the technical paper presentation contest, which was something we all felt that we can qualify. But the B-PLAN was really elusive for it had 48 judging parameters. It was a management contest which was open to all engineering & B-Schools all over INDIA & abroad including IIMs & IITs… after all it’s an IIT- buddy... So planning’s begun on the hostel-roof. We were like “kya Karen, kismen jaayen ?” Then Mrinal suggested an option of meeting Jeevan Sir, XIMB who is a full time senior faculty @ CSREM, Paralakhemundi. Mrinal knew him when he was in the hostel in the summers & Jeevan sir was here since the inception of CSREM. So we went to meet him & the response was overwhelming…he was happy to meet us & really impressed by us for we had CSIR award in our hands. He felt that our Project or say product “MPPG” (Off-Grid Micro Power Generator) was something which is sellable. He encouraged us that we should go for it.
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Analyzing it we discussed & we had a brain storming session within us: me, MRINAL & VIKASH sir. I was really interested to go for it, but Mrinal was like: it’s going to be tough; all the 48 judging parameters gave us the feel that it may b possible but may not be in the delineated time. We also had semesters @ the time when the submission were scheduled. I still remember the submission was on 16th Dec. & the sems commenced from 18th Dec. So it was a tough fight of time b/w the papers & B-PLAN. After a horrendous brain storming session of 2 days were came to the conclusion that we are “ON” for the B-PLAN & the EUREKA as well. I remember Jeevan sir resolved my anxiety & confusion in a very simple way he said, “From this point of your career, you cannot become 9.0 pointers all of a sudden nor you can collapse ending up being 5.0 pointers, so it’s the time to deliver, go for it.” This one line ended up all my confusion that percolated through my mind & heart. So full time we were ON for this B-PLAN contest. We knew we had to work very hard as it was a complete alien stuff for all of us; way ahead from the technical stuffs. It was something which is B-School culture, so to catch up to that standard we had to really crack nuts & we were preparing ourselves for it. This commitment meant giving up the sems for the contest; it was not like leaving the papers instead it was like giving the full time to this B-PLAN & not to the worries about the semester. If at all we have to read for semester we knew we needed a strategic time-out.
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Thus started a legendary journey of success! That point of time I was in the 1st floor right wing in room no-212 with Ullas & Puru Sir. Vikash sir was in room-211, so it was a perfect resonance for me. So after the 3rd mid-sem classes were over & we had official holidays to study for the semester (5th semester). 3rd Year Electrical Engineering is the toughest in BPUT just the way it is @ IIT-Kanpur...; (I don’t know Satish our frined from IIT-Kanpur, IIM-B told us!). We were under the sheer guidance & leadership of Vikash Sir. Packed up my laptop geared up with Vikash sir, Mrinal & we (budding entrepreneurs) were on the way to CSREM to be with Jeevan Sir. He was our only hope we knew if at all we can do something we have to learn everything from him. He started mentoring us, first he made us understand all the parameters & then how are they interlinked. All the parameters would appear same for a new-bie, but that’s not always. IT was very important for us to understand each & every parameter to the fullest if we had to be selected. We had our short-term goal; to clear the screening & get into the top 20 teams to be shortlisted by the judges. Mentoring started & he asked us to start writing bcoz that’s the only way we can end-up with the Executive Summary (final dossier of 4 pages to be submitted). So we started writing & collecting data. Another sheer problem we had to face was with the intermittent supply of internet connectivity. As I had already described about our narcissistic principal Dr.C.V.Gopinath (the real bastard) came up with his atrocity & fucking set of rules & destroyed the student culture @ JITM. He laid-off the internet connection during the college hours i.e. from 9am-5pm, for he thought this would encourage students to attend the classes regularly. Now this is ridiculous we are no longer toddlers that you need to tell us when to attend class & how to study. Anyway! You are troubling us in the end for the shortage of attendance (even for the genuine reason). We were in dire need of this internet connection because for fresher’s like us internet & google is like GOD we could learn a lot from internet, collect data, interact with persons in the same genre, get to know more about B-PLAN how to initiate how to start writing. Jeevan sir was very clear in his approach; he mentored us, clarified our doubts & taught us the way how to write & how to initiate. He made corrections but ensured that it’s we who end-up writing the Executive Summary. Everyday we got up in the morning pack-up the laptop & we three get out to CSREM everyday to work on our B-PLAN. We sat in the library discuss among ourselves, started wiring & got it validated from Jeevan Sir. Meanwhile we came across ALOK sir, XIMB classmate of Jeevan Sir; now room-mates. Even working with Jeevan sir was not that easy, he’s such a busy person. So we interacted with ALOK sir whom VIkash sir knew very well. Man!! He’s a great guy to work with. We approached him & he too started mentoring us.
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Now we had 2 great mentors JEEVAN & ALOK sir, XIMB who were our GURU’s for the B-PLAN that’s why I say that this journey changed my life. When you have such great teachers, I feel it’s the biggest asset you have earned in life. So when Jeevan Sir was busy we sat with Alok Sir & veice-versa. There were times when both couldn’t spare time with us so this was the most difficult situation for us because we had our doubts piling like heaps & we were helpless. We then understood the value of time, value of person, value of hard-work & the value of quality. See this is something we silently started learning from them, it was just a beginning but we have miles to go. We then did our home-work, we knew that they can give us a modicum of their time so we learnt that we need to be more specific in our approach & plan. We lacked the basic writing skill-set then Jeevan sir told us to stop playing with words & start writing the fact & we did gave it a decent try. We were mentored for about half-an hour & we jot down all the details so that we can formulate it later. In the night we all sat together in my room with me centered with laptop; Vikash sir & Mrinal sat on both the sides making a semicircle poking our heads into the arduous but interesting task. We 3 discussed the details, formulated it, checked whether we all are satisfied & thus we finished writing out the parts one by one.
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Executive Summary Parameters:
a. Outline of the business concept.
b. Identification of Market Opportunity.
c. Market Plan: Strategy for addressing demands and competition.
d. Economics, profitability and potential returns including timeframe for achieving cash flow positive.
e. Risk Mitigation and Business Sustainability.
f. Intellectual property status.
g. Capital Requirements.
h. Exit Strategy.
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We have finished the Outline of the business-concept thus phase-by-phase we were writing up the other parts. When we started writing we could feel our confidence got a bootstrap as we could see things getting done in time. We now got some gyaan on the parameters, then we invoked all the other details available on the internet with the data, made right selections & thus formulated the stuffs. We were getting things right, we were on the track but sometimes there were blunders too, after all its B-PLAN contest.
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ALOK sir indeed helped us a lot. Later phase of this B-PLAN Jeevan Sir got too busy & it was very difficult for him to get some time for us. But AlOk sir anyways managed to give us sometime. What a way to deal, the way he explained us the parameters it was so crystal clear; there wasn’t even a flake of doubt for the things he explained us. Thus we collected & formulated the stuffs got it cross-checked & validated by ALOK sir. He pointed out our mistakes & thus we knew where to make corrections & how to corroborate, substantiate & underpin.
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T.Patrick Walsh from University of Illinois came to our college JITM to undergo a pilot project for his LED lantern. He was teamed-up with Vikash Sir & his group to carry out the R&D project. Patrick & Vikash sir were the winner of the Mondialogo Engineering Award in collaboration with UNESCO organized by Daimler, got huge sum as seed funding. He too participated in the B-PLAN contest organized by the Oxford University & won the contest. He shared his business-plan dossier, which became a perfect reference for us…Thanks Patrick ! With so much in our hand we became unstoppable. We felt like things were turning on our favour for we were honestly dedicated to our B-PLAN. We finished parameter A), B), C) with ease. The next section proved to be a bottle-neck for us which included Cash-flow projections, break-even & pro-forma balance sheets. These were the financial analysis on a large-scale which was fiddly & challenging. For this domain…we had to move on with our economics teacher Anita Patra mam who is an expert in financial analysis. She’s been with JITM since 9 years before she moved on to CSREM & now she’s a full time faculty there. She welcomed us & appreciated our move to aim for IIT she too promised us to give her 100% & she did. She helped in making the cash flow projections, pro-forma balance sheets & finally the break-even chart in MS Excel (we dint knew that) she said this much would seal our position & we were confident to get into the top 20 list. After two & a half days of analysis with Anita Mam our financial section became rock solid. Now we moved on with ALOK & JEEVAN sir for the rest.
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Everyday it became our routine, we got-up, packed my laptop & marched on to CSREM to work on the B-PLAN. Moreover CSREM had wireless N/W so we had full time internet connectivity during our work. Days passed working the way everyday…while our friends were going through tough books of Electrical Machines, Microprocessors, Control System & many more. We had nothing in our mind by that time it was only B-PLAN & B-PLAN running through our mind. Our peers silently commented us, it was like “Where do you march on everyday with a laptop…buddy its exam time!” The simple answer was “yaar! We are busy”. We dint had morsel of time to study because in the morning we discussed it with ALOK sir, Jeevan Sir & Anita MAM; Night time we made our typical semicircle in my room & continued the good work late night until it was bed time: may b around 1am-2am daily. Every day we were moving on nicely with our Executive Summary but that badly on the other hand with our semester preparation which was getting really crappy. Semester was approaching so did the submission deadline. After spending a month of intense & focused hard work we got our Executive Summary done but wasn’t explicit. We needed some crafting & editing.
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We wasted a whole day of work day only to calculate the income tax i.e. 30% of corporate tax but at last came to the conclusion that for SSI we have relaxation from Govt. Of Orissa & all the calculations were again reverted back. It was really tiring so is the financial analysis. We also met the chief of SSI, Orissa & talked about our B-PLAN he too guided us with a very nice concept i.e. if the % of production for achieving the break-even is less that 50% (preferable is 40%) the business is profitable. We used this concept & was very helpful in the final presentation. He also asked us to send our Executive Summary, but we were becoming professionals & we realized the value of Intellectual Property & thus we decided not to share anything about the B-PLAN with anybody except our mentors & so we did. All these were great learning experiences.
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Bad times also tried to stop us; like we got a message that Vikash Sir’s dad is ill & is admitted in hospital for some unidentified problem & he had to move urgently leaving everything aside. We too were very sad with this news & we wanted him to leave soon. I accompanied him in the morning upto Palasa station.
Slowly but firmly we started to feel the pressure, because the work was not designed for 2 people & the absence of Vikash Sir was felt badly. Mrinal came up with his idea of adding a new member to our group & he had the name of a girl this time, for he wanted to make our group complete..so he approached me the name Shweta. I agreed! Now we became again 3 & ON. But this time there was a difference than the previous group. She can never match up the void created by Vikash Sir.
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By God’s grace Vikash Sir was back & everything was okay @ home & here too. With his return we were back with a bang; now we were a team of 4. The preparation was a real test of attitude & someone dint match up the level which we had set. We took this B-PLAN preparation on to our soul & we expected the same from our new member, but…Anyway! With some atrocities in the approach we managed everything.
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But Jeevan Sir was very enthusiastic with the new member’s entry. I guess he always tried to impress her by his humor & very friendly nature. He was more interested…haha!
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By the time Vikash sir had to move on to Mumbai for his award ceremony organized by the Mondialogo Community which came on such a nice time. We planned to get our Executive Summary checked by Patrick, which Vikash sir carried in a pen-drive to Mumbai. He & Patrick edited our Executive Summary. Now our 4 page dossier was ready for the final submission. We too reviewed the editing; it was short, precise, seemed more accurate than before. So finally we were ready with our final submission.
The only thing left was validation by our director D.N.Sir, IIM-C. So we went to him with our plan & we got a very good response. He reviewed the plan & was satisfied with the work. Thus a silent confidence rumbled through our hearts. I cant say how much this feel boosted our confidence, getting validated by someone who is itself a BRAND (IIM-C). We have learnt a lot from him & we owe our achievements to him too.
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Thus with all the hard-work, toil, risk, expert validations, brain-storming sessions & 1 wrong choice our B-PLAN executive summary was finally over.
You wont believe me if I say you that the database of IIT-KGP isn’t fool-proof , yeah! Its true they have been trying to reach us & were calling some one called Mrinal from Patna & Abhishek from Kolkatta & asking them to submit the technical paper abstract by the deadline. We had registered for the events with our contact numbers & e-mail but still they had such mis-interpretations. We came to know this after we called them personally before that we were expecting the call from IIT, but…at last it was all a hunky-dory. We then called the so called Mrinal & Abhishek from Patna & Kolkatta & warned them…huh! (karna padta hai yaar !!) After all it was done with great hard-work.
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Thus the submissions deadline was 16th Dec & guess what the semesters were scheduled from 18th Dec…huh! Hope U know the engineering way…the last 15 days are the Einstein Days when no body wastes a modicum of their time but we were busy in our own way…of course the semester preparations were on but were not that comfortable as before…we had scarified our semesters but by God’s grace everything was okay !
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I was given the charge of attending all the computer works & my laptop (IBM-Thinkpad) is truly a legend. I ll tell you how? Later…
To be continued……..

kal main Engineer ban jaaunga...

Hey folks...today is the last night as a student...tomorrow i ll be an engineer.
I was tortured for 4 Long Years...& i have read somewhere that "Tortured students become Engineers"
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Cheers !
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Last Paper: Computer Networks...(CN)
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Date: 12th May, 2009.

My Press Release !

Aalok- Revamp Lighting, Empowering Lives

My Room-208, 1st Floor, Right Wing, JITM-boy's Hostel-1

“Necessity is the mother of invention”, this dictum has governed the most breakthroughs in the technical domain thereby fortifying bases of mega successful business ventures. Aalok is a pristine targeted at vast Indian niche market segment which is either off-grid or has inadequate grid supply (for 1 -12 hrs.)

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Aalok came into being owing to the foresight of Mr. Abhishek Sinha (8th sem EEE) and Mr. Mrinal Anand (8th sem ECE) and the legendry vision of Prof. D.N. Rao., IIM-C, director of JITM .This concept was felicitated as
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The BEST ELEVATOR PITCH @ IIT-KGP's "B-Plan Contest" @ "Kshitij’09" & 26th Feb, 2009, Indian Express, Vizag.

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The BEST INNOVATION @ IIT-KANPUR'S "Bio-Business" @ "Techkriti’09"

Press Release in Sambad, 20th Feb, from Berhampur, Orissa
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Aalok is a multi-purpose lighting system encapsulated in design of typical hurricane kerosene lantern in its 1st prototype state it is comprised of following

Components;

a. 12 LEDs
b. Rechargeable battery, 6V/2.4 Ah.
c. A Solar Panel
d. Adaptor (6-12V)
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Its multi charging options include:
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a. Usage of solar panels
b. Use of Off-Grid Micro Power Generator (CSIR accredition) CSIR accredited & awarded


c. Use of grid charging via adaptor.
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It provides 8 hrs. of lighting for 2-3 hours of grid based charging, 5-6 hours of solar charging or 20 minutes of charging via Off-Grid Micro Power Generator. The life of Aalok is conservatively 2-3 years & the device is practically maintenance free. Currently its priced at Rs.1000/- per unit. (It was for the B-PLAN contest)

Chaath Puja....missing out again

Its been just 15 days I m back from home after DP vacations, but I surely missed the auspicious diwali & our great chhath puja. For we bihari’s chhath puja is very pious & is the biggest festival. We can afford to miss any festival away from home but we can’t afford to leave this one in particular. It has great importance in our life & belief. I have been captive in this college since the day I got into my Alma. It’s not that I donn love my college, I certainly do, but I hate the principal & the vice-principle with their fucking set of rules. This isnt a local or religious puja of Orissa so we don’t have holidays here. But yeah this is something, when every one certainly misses home badly…as much as I do.

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Since, I had the chance of attending the puja only in the 2nd year. It was awesome carrying the basket laden with puja materials, fruits, prasads, big bunches of banana, long long sticks of sugar-cane on the head, the males in the family are given the opportunity to carry it bare footed up to the ghaat (pond, river source), I started carrying when i was in 10th coz the elder son takes on the onus as its considered very holy. I have been enjoying this puja till my 12th it’s always awesome!

Last time in the 3rd year, I couldn’t go home as the internals (alias; mids) were scheduled. It wasn’t a great deal to miss out, but couldn’t go home anyway... missed home badly! So did mom missed me…his only but talented son, she couldn’t talk to me for her voice has gone heavy & she was crying the last time. I had decided to go home next time even if it accounted me to miss the mids.

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But...as we say “history repeats itself & it did” the cliché has been true. This time too the mids are scheduled at the same time when the chhath puja is. I had always wanted to go home, but couldn’t decide. Called mom & had a talk with her, asked her if I can home, 2 days earlier the puja? She wanted me to come home, but she candidly denied. She said it’s been only 15 days I have returned from the DP vacations, so advised me to just relax. She said, “It would be hectic on your part to travel”. I refuted her; said it’s not gonna be a great problem but she wanted me to stay & continue with the internals. I was very eager to leave the mids as its now has become a stale thing…any how it was decide that: I have just returned from the vacations so it was better for me to stay & continue with the studies as mommy says often.

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Today is 4th Nov…it’s a day, I ll always commemorate…No, no, nah, I guess I won’t forget this day for the reason I guess my blog reader’s know well…”The great engineering picnic of EEE roadies”. Today it was the 2nd day of internals & they were pretty okay as I was the 1st one to come out…I mean finish the paper from my hall in both the sittings; all the thanks goes to Rahul & he may forward it to persons whom he likes (as they helped him to get the Qs before). An hour with Rahul before the internals and I m sure that I m not going to fail, I may sound pessimist but I bet U, It wouldn’t have sound better if I would have said the other way round i.e. I m going to pass…(hahaa).

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It was the 1st day of the puja, where mommy pays all the tribute & worships chhathi maiya (maiya: mom) our religious name, gives water to her as a symbol of respect & utter faith to the setting sun in the ghaat (pond or river side). Papa would have carried the prestigious & religious basket over his head bare-footed to the ghaath & my sis (a lil fatty) would have all the pleasures listening to her new i-pod (although a duplicate one, but for her it’s an i-pod…let it B).

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Its was PAPA calling on my cell today evening & it was mom wanted to talk...hiding her heavy voice & pretending that she's fine but she wasn't. I knew it as there was nothing much to talk about followed by her silly Q. After some time she couldn’t resist & bursted out…crying over. She said, “son I have denied you to come but don’t feel like doing anything without you. All these festivals are chore without you” & cried over phone. Oh! it was so pinching, I just wanted to rush out & reach home, if I could, but I couldn't…I really couldn't. I thought I should have gone yaar…internals weren’t a big deal. Mommy would have felt better, even I would have done the puja ah ! missed it out all over again. But on the other hand Junaid (JUNI) was walking along with me returning from Sanjay’s home. Well I said mom “come’on mommy stop crying its okay, it’s been just 15 days I have come”, imagine I m iterating the dialogue which mommy has patented. But who can stop those tears it were out for her only but talented son, wouldn’t mind if U wish to throw the talented out of it, those tears would engulf & fill the eyes of every mom in the world when her son or daughter is away from home in the festivals & special occasions, may be Christmas, E-id or whatever…I reconciled mom saying, “mom there are a lot of friends who missed-out the puja as they were so long distance apart from their home at least for them please stop crying who would escort them if I fly out to you for I m nearer. We all played the chhath song in loud speakers & wanted to feel like being @ home. How honest was the attempt mommy? Okay now stop crying it won’t be good if u break out again”, its hurts…By any means no 1 in this whole world can make her stop crying except herself. I bet U, but again it’s MOM…who has cuddled the world in her laps & my mom is the same, lovely, caring & utterly dies for his only & talented son (hope u r not annoyed). I love her so much I can’t express as I don’t know how to? Some one please teach me…please!

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Tomorrow morning it’s the 2nd day of chhath, when the same puja would be repeated for the rising sun…the auspicious & great puja would end. I can see my mom worshipping, the way the aunties do & it would be the time for the Prassad…its distribution & subscription (I mean sevan). I know my sis is in full profit, she would handle the prassad section. Any ways I won’t be awake to witness the great morning but I can only anticipate it to be as superb as it always was, getting up @ 3am & preparing for the puja which would end by the sun rise & worship.

So tat’s our Chhath-Puja which drives me crazy & I m freaking out as I missed it. No one to blame but the time as I always say & believe: Destiny has surprises in store for me.

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I missed out…this time too, but some day I would surely make it to home @ Chhath-puja & would carry the basket (full of almost everything) bare-footed to the ghaath & would cherish the moments of eternity, utter faith & worship with my family & the community. I guess by that time I would gift her (my sis GUDIYA) the original i-pod which she always dreamt of & I would shed the sin of being her only biggest enemy in the world between her & her i-pod, the way I M today.

I love them…the sentence itself is the only proof of my inner self.

This writing is my tribute to my ever-loving & pious mom, who has been my inspiration.

I shouldn't B alive

Tête-à-tête with Death

Just after the laurels @ RRL & NIST, we were flying high in the sky. The confidence was boot-strapped by our hard work & generosity. Then we were on for the branch picnics. Every branch had organized their picnics & so it was, we the ‘EEEians’ hung out for the picnic on Nov 4^th’07. We choose to go to a beach as it was our only option. The place Paralakhemundi is in the extreme south & is an estuary to Andhra-Pradesh. The neighboring areas are full of beaches & ponds, which make a bee-line for all the picnic spots & adventurers. But one thing is of utter importance i.e. whether it be Palasa beach or any other normal beach in the vicinity; every beach is very-very dangerous for its high flying tides which are very cruel & conflated with immense energy… So we EEEians were on for the Party. We choose to be @ Srikakulam beach, same stuff. It was nothing but a death-trap. We boarded into a dilapidated bus counting its ages, but yeah! high on acceleration & celerity. So tumbling up & down we travelled to our dive like bunches of Humpty-Dumpty.

I observed the dumbest of guys who had jitters talking to girls had gone for a make-over. My GOD so much fun, so much singing, dancing & all that, I loved it. Felt as if school-days were back. It was so refreshing. I m not criticizing the fun & frolic but the thing which I saw in the bus was a strange view for me particularly or U can say the 1^st ever of its kind since, I joined engineering, the college taught me to maintain a distance from the opposite-sex, to mind, to stay away from them & rest, the girls taught us (not all…mind it!) as they maintained such a high-profile, GOD knew y? My school was much better! We dint had women’s-libber coz we dint needed it everything was just so accurately default, so much love & respect for everyone sprawled from inside. We missed this kinda co-operation from our opposite-sex in engineering indeed where we are expected to grow-up, but I felt my self much more matured in the school, no shame & no embarrassing moments working, playing & reading together. Since it has been 3 years being in the same branch & college so I shouldn’t complain about all this as it has now became a stale subject, who cares? God knows what’s the problem? I remember the very old dictum, “wherever women are concerned the un-expected always happens!”

Reverting back to the picnic & the bus… We reached our destination tumbling & my GOD it was so kool, such a superb place to hang out with. I was just thanking all who have selected the spot. It has a long bridge like structure spreading into the sea for few meters & the pillars supported it. It gave us a feel of a light house. Altogether the place was really nice, but yeah it was a dead beach, only few people who accompanied their repertoires were present. So me, kiran, pritish, samal, manoj & others decided & started playing volley. Playing & dwindling into the water we were enjoying to the utmost. It was a catchy & charming moment. But as I say destiny has some more surprises in store for me or something else for me to amaze. So I was going to experience a death-stroking more particularly breath-stroking stunt. In the meanwhile of volley we interrupted & we started making human colosseum & it was decided that a guy will climb & would jump into the water. It was fun giving exercise until.

Water was also very friendly. But the nightmare came true for me. I slipped the human architecture & suddenly lost the earth beneath. It was so strange, just imagine…ha! Even spookier to imagine isn’t it? So I though I would again gain the land. But it was the acme of my surprise I was pushed into the water to the side where level was dread & was flowed away strongly. I said to my self, it can’t happen to me common! Stop this game. But I was literally shocked inside the water (very salty indeed). I was getting deeper & I was encountering shocks. I tried to call Kiran, Hold me! Hold me! But I can see him static & restless. He could do nothing but to shout, “Sinha! Sinha!” I felt as if he was asking where you are going. Now, how could I answer him, such a stupid Q? It isn’t a joke he was really helpless & could do nothing but to shout for help, as he dint knew swimming neither I. Chandan (nick name: BURLA) when I met him, showed a strange expression, déjà vu as that of kiran. Samal too slipped off the architecture. I was unaware of this fact, but he was in a much safer situation @ least better than me. I wanted to jump but I missed the podium upon which I can lift up. On the other hand the much arduous work was to act against the water which was as strong as a wall. It doesn’t allow you to defy & grasp a breath. I rose, jumped with all my might & took a flashy breath to continue the vie. I was getting terror shocks. I was slipping off & off. So is this the end? I asked? May be! was the answer my reflex prompted. I couldn’t believe that all my frnds were standing & they are not moving a bit, literally struck by brazen shock. They had no other option then to see me flowing & getting away from them. I remembered the innumerable stories of people’s flowing & being drowned on to their voyage to picnics. I could see my name in the LIFO: Last in to the OCEAN & First out in the newspapers. Spookier utterly spookier!

In the small time I remembered everyone & everything I could. I could see my mom crying & grasping for breath. I could see all my laurels being wasted as all of them were recent wins & I was prepared for the ultimate end. I even remembered that my 3^rd mid & 5^th end sem were still unscheduled & I m unable to attend them. Most hurting fact was that I couldn’t add any further to my Achievements List as the recent wins were just the rookie season for me. I saw everything I could in that poky time of my tryst with death. I was wearing a blue band which was the only subtle & perceptible symbol as my arm waved for help. No one, neither the public present over there came forward. It all happened in such a short span of time, I can only presume you all to understand. I can actually find myself fighting inside the water, kicking it, punching it hard to get-up but I couldn’t. I was so helpless felt like crying, wish some one could have help me! Please my heart cried for help a message sprawled inside, “save me! U all are my friends…plz plz do something fast. If you be late to come to me, what’s the use? I would be gone by that time, make it fast friends…I need you.” I wanted to scream but the acerbic, barbarous, bestial & callous current didn’t allow me to convey this silent message. I wanted my friends to understand & everybody out there to do the same. It was so true & frightening, I m getting pilomotor-reflex (goose-bumps) narrating this. Trust me!

So finally the climax’s over, I remember the discovery series “I shouldn’t B alive” a perfect alias for the header.
TARA, my friend, somewhere was cuddling like a baby emulating a fish in the shallows of water, heard me. He came forward caught me! I could feel, Thank You GOD I m going to live now. Ah! I m relieved. He was like the GOD’s errand boy to me. He caught me & I pulled him towards me to get the grip. He wanted me to come forward, paddle forward. I could see nothing but TARA. He was my only hope. He was the narrow line between my life & death. Then some swimmers dared to come to me. A boy pushed me form back & I put in all my tactics to come away from the danger. I wanted to live, yeah! I wanted to live, seriously enough of this bad & void game. Oh finally I was safe to the shore badly defeated by the tides. I could see samal grasping & laughing as if it all was a joke. He too was punished but not like me. It was not at all a good experience. Kiran, Chandan & every one came to me, cushioned me expressed their fear that spelt inside them it was so true brazenly; I could see the fear so crystal clear on their faces. Never have I seen such frightened faces.
Thank You TARA, GOD & everyone…who love me. Here is I m safe & strong.
But the intrepid TARA was the gutsy lass who gave me my life back into my palms & felt as if he whispered “LIVE ur LIFE to the fullest this time”…which led to my lifetime achievement at IIT & much more…, soon to come on my flash list…Oh! Indeed it was very peculiar. The whole drama was so petulant & of course a never-ending, never-forgetting fear had made a mansion inside my heart & the memory is as fresh as if it all happened yesterday. Then I got my self dressed well & sat like a good-BOY (suna pilla in Oriya). That’s how my 1st picnic in engineering was an event to be ever remembered for me & all my friends who saw me drowning …A fresh anecdote of trauma ends for us or may b it’s a new beginning…! Of my life.
But one thing I can assure, after all this game my life changed a lot. I was destined for something & I m on the track to accomplish…my mission. For me life itself has been a game, ever since I m playing it.
Rightly said by Steve Jobs, “Your time is limited; just don’t waste it living someone else’s life”
Finally I should end with something I started i.e. “I shouldn’t B alive”… but I m.

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