The Cry of the Earth

Rain, dear rain where are you?

I’ve been waiting for long,

But there is no sign of you.

Parched I am,

Dry, with no water.

My creatures thirst,

Their life’s getting worse.

But why this curse?

My children I have to nurse.

I know well,

That my children, the humans,

Have sounded the death knell.

Disregarding all warnings,

Ringing now the doom bell.

But, I as a mother,

Have to bother.

Because I can’t be quiet,

When my children need respite.

You are the supporter of life,

Without you there is agony and strife.

Without you there is grief,

Time for me will be brief.

If you want to teach the humans a lesson,

Why trouble my other children without a reason?

Though the prize of my creation,

Has forgotten his wisdom,

I’ll never let your plans for doom,

Come to fruition.

A mother that I am,

I plead with you,

Fill my bosom with waters.

Please forgive my children’s folly,

For their faults I’m truly sorry.

I’ll teach them someday their lesson,

But for now, please hasten.

Time’s running short,

My being is coming to a naught.

Bound to them I am by my maternal instinct,

I can’t see them in pain or distress.

Please shower your blessings on them,

I’ll be thankful forever.

I don’t want to be barren,

I want life to bloom within.

I’m still searching for you,

Rain, dear rain, where are you?

Reema D’souza

B.V.B.C.E.T, Hubli

 

 

 

On the way to NOWHERE…

I was on my way to my lab, as a daily routine. Morning 9 a.m. I was early today. I was happy that I will be able to manage a seat in the bus. I was not the only one crossing the road, and hence there’s no fear of scarily fast bikers knocking me off the ground. Everyday hundreds of people join me on the way; some have become known faces by now.  No known faces were there today. But somehow the expressions seemed so much similar. Unpredictable. I wished to know whether they were happy with their jobs as I was unsure about mine. Read everyday on some magazine or Yahoo news or some random Facebook post about this word called job satisfaction. Have also read in some magazine about certain number of criteria which determine the job satisfaction of a person. Sometimes the salary, sometimes the role takes the first place in deciding one’s job satisfaction.

Agreed. Then comes along the thought – how many of these people travelling with me are satisfied with their jobs? And even if many of them are, then whether job satisfaction=happiness? If yes then why are their faces so expressionless? If not then what stops people from becoming happy rather than just being satisfied? Do they not realize that they can be happier or have they just accepted the traditional way of going to a college and getting a placement in a company at the end of the degree? Most importantly I was puzzled whether making money, is the only way to happiness?

Once came across this phrase “Work to live, do not live to work”. I felt it to be very relevant. When we say “job satisfaction”, it definitely means we are depending on the job or the job providers to make us feel satisfied. Shouldn’t this be the other way round? Shouldn’t we ourselves be making the call for what and how things make us satisfied or happy?

These questions kept making rounds in my minds, until I realized that I had missed my stop and reached the same destination as the few others. 

Sumana Biswas

Chennai

 

 

 

The Highway to Living…

The road never ends.
Even if it does, there’s the way back —

The same one where you came from.
And when you come back, you see this junction.
Which leads to other roads…

Every cloud has a Silver Lining…

In the greed to find something very big we often miss to see the beauty of small things. In the hustle and bustle of our busy life, probably we have forgotten to admire the colors of beautiful and composed sunset. The sky scrapers have hidden the seven colored rainbow which we used to wonder about in our childhood days. The job, we had once dreamt of, has merely become a work. Our emotional aggregates of worries, anxiety and dejection have burdened us so much that we, perhaps, don’t recognize the kindness in the smile of a stranger. The honking streets have subdued the quiet sound of the ocean on the shore. In the rush to find a shelter and square-time meal we have, somehow, forgotten to run behind and catch the fireflies flickering in the clear night air.

A little perturbed with all these thoughts, I went to a church to calm down my soul. It was when I was sitting on a bench trying to focus on praying when a little boy came and sat next to me. Immediately after exchanging smile with me, the mentally acute boy got back to his work. He was penning down something, and I can tell you he was pretty serious on what he was up to.

Some two minutes after that his mother called him and poor fellow had to rush to answer her call. In the haste, he couldn’t notice that the piece of paper in which he was writing had fallen down. That caught my eyes and I was curious enough to know what he was actually writing so thoughtfully. 

I picked up the paper and was dumbstruck after reading it. It went as ‘Dear God.! I am a Christian, who are you?’

This question was received by me as a current throughout my body and I couldn’t resist wondering had this letter reached Him what He would have replied. Sometimes small things come in life with such great force. That was one such moment I wanted to feel the presence of God, not for a wish to be granted but to see if this question IS easy for him to reply. I was blaspheming for the way the world is chained and divided.

I was busy mulling over this when I heard some clattering at the door. That boy had hurt himself and was crying out of pain when a gentleman came to his rescue. He rose him up and offered a chocolate so that he could stop crying. But he denied the offer stating that mother had asked not to take anything from strangers. And he told bearing a smile on his face, “All are Lord’s family, so we are together.” 

The boy stared at him puzzled for some time and then started searching for something. Disappointed with not finding that thing, he turned back and came running to me. I understood what he was searching for and gave his paper back to him. He took it and scratched the question he had written. Then he turned towards me and said, “Uncle told we are all together. The word ‘human’ spells out too easily to forget.” 

He learned a word, and I learned a lesson of life. Now the sky seems pellucid and the world seems better than ever. God is everywhere and His creation is as beautiful as a heaven. Just that we forget him, but He is watching us all the time.

Tulika Narayan

aashituli@gmail.com

Mu Sigma Inc.

http://aashi-smileforever.blogspot.com/

……WE……

We are wild, we are young
Humming a tune yet unsung…

We shout, we scream
Yet with sparkling eyes we dream….

We laugh, we cry
We whole heartedly give impossible a try…

We are new, we start trends
We don’t think twice to give life for friends

We know no limits, we know no bounds
We stand by truth however harsh it may sound….

We are full of zest, we are full of adamance
Yet our spirits evince an air of pristine innocence…

We work hard, we party harder
We may be nasty soon, we regret faster…

We are juvenile, we are bloody cool
In matters of mind, our hearts rule…

We don’t claim to be right,we don’t claim to be wrong
In the darkest times ,we keep our belief strong…

We might curse, we sure forgive
We just don’t SURVIVE, we LIVE…

 

Garvita Manwani

Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College,Ghaziabad

Ye Dilli Hai Mere Yaar?

The country we live in is an enigma in itself. The people, the colours, the vibrancy in the very fabric of life here is not something easily found. And of course, the food! There is no comparing Indian cuisine with any other in the world. Along with all these things, there comes to mind the national capital – New Delhi.

A lot is said and written and discussed about Delhi. A number of movies have been made and Delhi has become a hot spot for shooting (film shooting) the past few years. It’s often said that Delhi is a mini-India in itself, that people from all walks of life come together and make it is what it is today. There isn’t an apt describing word in the English language befitting the sentiment a Dilliwala has for his city. 

Its not all hunky-dory in Sadi Dilli though. An atrocious number of problems plague it. You could look at the glass as half empty or half full. But with Delhi, you cannot look at one side and be ignorant of the other. The duality that exists here is a rare thing indeed. 

One such thing is the sentiments towards tourists. ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ is taught to every school going kid. Even if someone is illiterate, they would be familiar with the phrase that is so often spouted off since the Commonwealth Games, its not even funny. We are advised to respect the tourists, help them when required, be a gracious host, blah blah blah. 

And then we are expected to rob them blind, fleece them, molest and rape.

Delhi is an unsafe city for women. That is an undebateable fact. But Delhi becomes worse than a lion’s den when you are a woman travelling alone. The gruesome tales in the capital/city section of the newspaper are known to everyone. But lets not go there.

I came across a group of African-American women today. I don’t want to reveal where exactlythey were from, because they are still in Delhi and probably staying at a High Commission. I was walking towards my house after an uneventful ride on the Metro and they were walking from the opposite direction towards me. What I didn’t expect was for them to walk up to me and say “Hi!” very enthusiastically. I was stumped for a few seconds before I decided to use The Brain that Dear God gifted me with. 

You see, us Indians are very formal and stuffy. Making small talk with strangers (fellow passengers, those waiting in a line with you and the like) is an unusual concept for us. There have been times I have annoyed a number of fellow passengers because of this. Those travelling in the Ladies’ Compartment surely have the evil eye perfected.

I digress.

The women told me that they have to go to a certain address in South Delhi and wanted me to help them out since people here didn’t speak English. I am very passionate about the English language and hence the opportunity to be a translator, for a short time, was pleasing. It wasn’t a faraway place they were headed to, but how do you get a dozen women around in a city unfamiliar to cab service? I tried getting the autos for them but again… a dozen women? It would have needed a procession. One auto-rickshaw driver did stop and agreed to go when I spoke to him. But as soon as he saw me relaying this to a lady who seemed to be the in-charge, his eyes got shifty and he started surveying the group. Though eventually, it turned out that the place they were headed to was sending a cab for them, the auto driver’s sudden change in attitude stuck in my mind.

Why is it that we look for ways to exploit the first person we can find and get away with it? What was the driver thinking at that instant? Surely, he couldn’t kidnap a dozen women, could he? Its the bizarre spectrum of crimes in India that makes me paranoid and unable to brush away the thought.

I don’t want to spin a depressing tale of apathetic Delhites here. I don’t have an eloquent and elaborate hypothesis on the same. But sometimes I feel like shaking up some people and tell them – would it kill you to be more humane? Why does an average Delhite have so much anger and resentment and greed festering inside him?

If only the answers were that simple.

Garima Singh

http://www.starsinmyeyes-cb.blogspot.com/

That Place Near The Metro Station…

I guess it was tradition . I was expected to follow my cousins and go for an undergraduate programme at the University of Delhi . And since I had displayed neither an aptitude nor an interest for machines or computers (except Facebook , of course) thus far , I had hardly any reason to say no to that notion . 

It is rather common for any guy my age to have heard of millions of stories about the University without even ever stepping foot there . I was no different . Probably , I could lay claim to even a bit more . (My father is a professor in the very same University) . So , on one hand , I had students complaining that most teachers never bothered to care, or worse , turn up for class , and on the other hand , I had professors like my father complaining that kids were more interested in the canteen than the class .

But both parties emphasized on one thing , what this University actually stood for — the branding , the chilled – out culture and the awesomeness . I ’ d soon discover that judgement to be spot-on .

In the mad deluge of marks this year , I too had secured a great aggregate . One that could get me into most colleges of my choice . But , I chose a path few expected me to take . I chose an offbeat course . Earth Sciences in Hansraj College . To the surprise of many , and even amusement of some . To me , it held promise .

Once my admission was over and done with , the days leading upto the 1st day were a pain . There were entire days of nothingness , and then there were random plans of hanging out at a variety of places . From the exhilarating (Chandni Chowk) to the downright bizarre (Federation of Gamers).

The 1st day of college , 21st of July , was here and I had neither a makeover nor a new wardrobe . Maybe the big ‘’ End of Season SALE !! ’’ hoardings on most brands didn’t entice me enough .

I found like – minded excited ‘fuchhas’ on the metro station itself . Everybody had really thought hard about dressing up . Yes , there were a few fashion disasters , but most of ‘’us’’ were looking great .

The day in college was unadventurous, but expected. We were greeted by confusion, chaos and half-built classrooms . Even the introduction with seniors (a .k.a. ragging) came with a disclaimer . “It is not intended to hurt sentiments . Any awkwardness or embarassment caused is deeply regretted”.

I came across a strange incident in the canteen that day . Two guys were bragging about how much they had been to the gym in the holidays and how good they now were in arm – wrestling . Obviously , the catalyst here was a group of girls standing alongside . Suddenly , one of them took out his wallet and kept the only note present in the wallet on the table . No prizes for guessing that it was a thousand – rupee note . It was now a bet . A few tall claims were made by both interested parties , but ultimately nothing came out of it . The thousand – rupee note was swiftly withdrawn , and nobody even got to see them arm wrestle . What a shame .

At the end of the day, sitting in the Metro , where I even got a seat (Hint: Always look out for the last compartment.), I thought to myself that this was maybe just a trailer for things to come . The drama hadn’t even started… 

Manan Bhan

University of Delhi

That’s Life Afterall…

Life is too short. Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. Laugh when you can, apologize when you should and let go of what you can’t change. Love deeply and forgive quickly. Take chances. Give everything and have no regrets. Life is too short to be unhappy. You have to take the good with the bad. Smile when you’re sad, love what you got, and always remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from your mistakes but never regret. People change, and things go wrong but always remember – life goes on!

Vivek Varkey

Manipal

A Journey I wanna’ Pen Down…

I have been travelling in train for ages and everytime I travel, I wish “some cool thing” happens, but I always end up in one or more family people around me, a marriage party troop travelling around us making noise and talking or a newly married couple with their 3 months old baby crying all night or a old man and women unable to walk, asking me to shift to thier birth and so on….

Every time a guy travels in train alone, he always wishes that he gets a good “accompanist”, and that too if its a girl to talk with, it would be great… great in every regards may be….

And for past three months, the travel has gone up by many a times..in CHENNAI- COIMBATORE – BANGALORE route. Pugalur, a town near KARUR is the nearest station to my grandma’s house; has small railway station (where train stops only for two mintutes or so)…

My train MANGALORE express to chennai was at about 7:20 pm in the night. Being quite lousy by nature, I managed to reach station at about 6:30 PM. Due to electricity, there was no power in the station and things all around were dark. I was standing in a small queue at enquiry counter to enquire at what time, would the train arrive ? And there “SHE” stood in front of me with her mom asking where the coach S3 would stop.

It was raining too heavily and the chilness was felt in the air. I too was wet, as I was dropped at staion in bike by my cousin. Dressed in white legging with a green salvar and a similar white ‘dupatta’, she was really great and gorgeous. With a little kajol and hairs tied, she was neither fair nor dark by complexion with a gold chain (or covering) around her neck and yes, ear ring too.

The way she spoke TAMIL too was that typical tamil spoken in ERODE, sALEm, COIMBATORE area with lots of respect in every word she uttered. She was having one back pack kind of stuff and another small bag in her hand.

Train came, we all boarded and it started… To my utter surprise, I too was put up in same S3 and i was just praying that mine shoule be near her seat. Later I was told in train by TTE that seats in RAILWAYS for TATKAL ticket has some quote for each station, because of which all our seats were together. My seat number was 30 ( Upper Birth) and she had two seats, one lower birth (for her mom may be) and the other upper one, exactly opposite to my birth. I was totally freaked out. I didnt know what to do, but I neither had guts to talk with her too.

Her mom spoke with me, asking if I too was going to Chennai and I replied yes. She said , she was going to her brothers house at chennai for the first time. Taking further I got to know that she was studying 3rd year in KONGU ENGINEERING COLLEGE, ERODE. When they said that they were going first time to chennai, the story of ‘engeyum yepothum”, a new tamil movie about a girl in chennai flashed in my mind.

Her mom offered my IDLI and SAMBHAR, which they had packed from their home. I refused to eat, convincing her that I had already had food at my grand mom’s house. She was telling her about her family and stuff and luckily they too happened to be “KAUNDS @ GOUNDER”, which in my subcaste in HINDU Religion.

Lights inside the train were put off and people were to sleep, she was having a mobile in her hand and was texting someone at night( about 9:30pm). I wondered is she was already committed… It was becoming cold and as always rain water was flowing inside the compartment, ( we all know the condition of INDIAN RAILWAYS).

I slept……… and at about 1:00 am I got up as I did not have a bed-sheet and was shivering. It was too cold, Tamil Nadu has never been so cold. she was still awake and starring at my face…

Luckily she seems to have noticed me shivering and unable to sleep and she asked me if I was feeling cold and said that she had a spare bedsheet with her, she offered me one-which she took out from her bag. I did not even think and immediately accepted the bed sheet, pulled over me and continued to pretended to sleep.

In the process of pretending to sleep, I slept deeply. It was about 5:30 Am in the morning, and train had reached that TAMBARAM area- through which enters the Chennai. I generally get down at MAMBALAM STATION and dont wait for the train to reach egmore- which is the terminating station of MANGALORE EXPRESS.

But this time, I made it; to get down at EGMORE STATION. We both had by that time become friends. On getting down at the station, some person had come to receive and as we got down from the train at the EGMORE station, her mom introduced me to thier relatives. They too asked me to which area in Chennai I belong and what was i doing . With a bye and a thank you, they all left. I was just wishing her to turn back at me and smile.

And guess what…? It happened…. She turned back at me after walking few steps and smiled. I knew such scenes happen in movies, but never knew it would happen in my life too. I still wonder where that girl is now and what she is doing now. All that I know is her name is “………………”, studying 3rd year engineering in KONGU, ERODE.

With a hope to see her some day again…

Kumaraguru Loganathan

guruassam@gmail.com

9901491788      

WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

A Day in ‘My Life’..!

10 April, 2010

I wake up a little late, trying to gather enough rest n peace of mind, to ready myself for tomorrow. I can see piles of books over my bed, my study table computer table… they make me nostalgic… the make me remember all those days… al those days when i should have been studying them, but there they lie, untouched and undisturbed. It has been two weeks since i slept peacefully… these thoughts… they haunt my dreams… sumtimes i think of sum miracle and me gettin Cse in IITk, n other times me throwing up in middle of iit exam. IIt haunted my days… and now it ruins my nights.
You know what? IIT is an illusion.. it will attract you.. lure you to work hard.. sacrifice things in ur lyf just so that u can get stamped on ur forehead and be an iit allumni.. Whenever i remember my coaching days, schoolin days of XI n XII it makes me sick.. I have wasted two years of my life… in pursuit of something which is not worth it… What happens even if i get into iit? the lyfstyle the environment will change me for sure, its said that iit drags best outta you.
All these days i havent been workin enough, i curse myself for not being sincere n strong. I curse myself for bunkin all those important lectures… I curse my self for mimicking and insulting coachin teachers just for a laugh. I hate myself for even trying to steal organic notes from library. But as its said, all is fair when u think its fair. I got kicked outta physics class three times, n still i topped physics in my coaching. That says sumthin… i have passion… desire to shut up people who insult me… i have an anger within which is willing to tell me… to give my best shot…. tomorow is the final… tomorow is the judgement day…
Amongst all these thoughts, i feel a danger… i think what if i might fail?? what if i cant take it… what if i run outof time….? what if i forgot something?? what if these two years are not enough? what if i have to take drop??
I walk towards my study table, and every single paper crushed up dere reminds me… of the endless hours ive wasted on a question … just to find out it was a damn misprint… on endless days i tried again n again to learn how to solve spherical capacitor problems, just to find out that they are not in iit syllabus…. god hasnt been fair to me… i thought… if it were… then y??? then y from the last 5 full tests in BMAT my percentile is going down… i used to be a prodigy for gods sake… but now??? im a useless pushover for some guy who crams 24 hours and comes upto me just to show that he is superior… i hate this biz, iit is not for me…or im not for iit.
after 4th of april since my boards were over, i had left all hope… what was done was done… so i stopped all my prepretions… i watched a few movies to relax… did a few songs…but nothing helped, every moment i was pulled back to reality by some or other formula i forgot…
i ran back to my books and found out that no such formula exists…
Every 10 minutes or so my phone rings up, its sum frenzied friend of mine asking what to do next, n what are u studying…i dunno why but i lie to him… i tell him i am doing revisions for the 6th time, n ive not slept since three days( which has some truth in it)… he gets screwed up n hangs up , so that he can do better than me…. it makes me smile… to have caused a friend not to sleep for a few days so he thinks he can overtake me, while im well in my dreams..
After 2-3 hours on phone with every possible acquaintance i have i switch it off… i nead some peace
My mom n dad are out, on a anniversary trip to Singapore.. My sister is in noida giving some GD/PI for mba admissions, she’ll be back tomorrow morning( lucky to come before 9 if train do not gets delayed)..

so im alone… i stare into darkness, lost in my thoughts…then a cry thought comes in my mind? wht if? what if i die today? sure that will solve my problem… and put a full stop to stress…. i start wondering about life after death… suddenly those thousands of idiots who suicided before exams, seemed right to do so… it is a possibility? no ones at home… no one will know till tomorrow after exam… ill rest in peace… but then my eyes land up on my family pic…It has got picture of my family, me my parents my elder sis n eldest bro..
i think of the expectations….
“i’d love to die as an iitians mother” these words echo in my mind….
“the money we have spent just for ur coaching, did all the jov for all of ur brothers graduation… so i need payback” my fathers words just sting my soul
“IIt is the best, dont think of the rest….” my brother said to me when i was in 10th.
” i am sure u will get into iit, no body can stop you….” my sister whispers in my mind…

i am not going to die…i am going to face it…. i am going to give it my best shot… then whatever happens… whatever the case maybe…i think i can take it..i will take it…. and most probably i will win!!!

Kumar Lauhit

kr.lauhit@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/Kr.Lauhit

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bangalore