Assam: Salivating or Salvaging?

53 people termed dead and almost four lakh homeless, and the latter now crowd the 250 relief camps set up by the government in Assam. Tremors of grotesque Assam violence have been vehemently felt in the neighboring districts of Kokrajhar, epicenter of Assam violence. Cause being the clash between the Bodos tribe of Assam and the illegal Muslims immigrants from Bangladesh. The situation is such now that people are now forced to become refugees in their own land.

The highly sensitive border of India and Bangladesh goes knowingly ungoverned. This lack of governance at the border has led to a rampant infiltration by the Bangladeshis. Majority of these infiltrators are Muslims thus leading to a sudden surge of Muslims population in Assam. Due to lack of development in the region the available resources for livelihood are scarce, already suffering from apathy of the government the people now had to compete for livelihood with the mass of ever increasing infiltrators thus leading to social tensions which then took a violent communal riot.

After the initial violence on 6^th of July, when there was indiscriminate firing, Assam congress had sent a fact finding team which submitted a report to the Chief Minister on the incident. CM underestimated the report and chose not to act. This negligence proved costly as the riot broke after fifteen days of thick tension on 21^st of July with ugly repercussions for the society.

Security forces failed to curb the violence, reason given by the state government is lack of adequate number of security personals in the state. The state required 126 company of security force but the state was shockingly 40 company short of the required number. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has blamed the central government for the lapse. He claimed that the security forces reached four days late after the clashes broke out. The Center tried to steer clear saying it acted as fast as it could. This blame game has been shamelessly played by both the sides with an ever increasing vigor. Had the infiltration curbed the situation would never occurred, but the politicians are busy defending themselves instead of their country.  The state government allegedly turned a blind eye to the infiltration as this unwanted sympathy meant filling up their vote banks.

The Prime Minister visited the state on 29th of July and gave the violence-hit state a so called healing touch of  Rs 300 crore. He met the refugees and offered his condolence at a relief camp at Kokrajhar Commerce College. With the big money being poured, it remains to be seen whether mouths start salivating or the state undergoes salvation!

Gmail: A new Doodle of Google!

Gmail: A new Doodle of  Google!

A new look Gmail has been on roll for a while. Just click on a small blue rectangle suggesting you to try the new look, with myriad enhancements on offer. With this new look Gmail, Google has brought in a new suave in its email services aimed at making the interface more user-friendly thus offering a seamless and consistent online experience.

With cut throat competition offered by businesses like Facebook and Twitter, this user-friendly revamp was much expected. Fleeting through and working with your emails is now much easier. The left side of Gmail that includes your labels, chat, and any additional gadgets you’ve used to customize Gmail is now more adjustable, more responsive, and faster. The main areas of changes had been the tool bar options, search features, usage of labels and most importantly the way you read your emails.

 A new advanced search option has been incorporated, a dropdown arrow in the search field is aimed at increasing the accuracy of your search by specifying a particular folder, sender, subject line, text, and other content. These search options can be saved and applied in the future.        

Overall, this new Gmail is sleek and has a easier to use interface. The changes are yet to be finalized thus leaving high hopes for improvement. Your suggestions, reviews and new ideas are always welcomed by Google; just click on the small rectangle at the bottom right of your screen.

KIDS FOR A CHANGE!

                                         Kids For A Change!
                 (Co-author Aditi Bhande & Anuja Vijayvergiya)


It was a rather early start on a Sunday morning for the Nagpur MADsters.  A meeting had been called for “something” called DFC.  We went, we heard , we watched , we all got bitten by the inspirational I CAN bug. Kiran Bir Sethi ma'am instilled in us the hope that our kids have a chance at being the leaders of change too! They had had their turn at being on the receiving end of things and that now it was their time to give and give in a way that the world out there would be changed forever by their little wonderous ways. A child, most of the times has beautiful amazing ideas in his/her head…ideas that never see the sun, ideas that never get considered seriously only because of their tender age. DFC allowed our kids to take matters in their own two hands and march forth to solve their “problems” with their sheer ability of seeing the world in a different light , with all the innocence and energy they possess , abilities which as we grow up clearly seem to lose.
     

                           
             
 As simple as it gets, we were given a shot of the contagious I CAN virus
and we in turn infected our kids! And, voila, our kids suddenly wanted to be the leaders of change. A child gives birth to a mother, following suit, our kids were the parents of incredible ideas. It was amazing to learn that more than materialistic pleasures, they wanted a morally conducive environment around them. They wanted to change the anti social elements in their surroundings, that is to make people aware of the repercussions of alcohol consumption. The next brooding session was to boil down on a method of presenting a solution to the problem. And the way was unanimously decided as a road play/skit. That would attract a crowd, would convey the kid’s message loud and clear!
We got practicing, the kids got better with every practice session.



They wanted to stage the skit in their locality itself so that the miscreants will get their message because after all actions do speak louder than words. A nearby shop with a raised platform upfront was chosen as the makeshift stage. The skit was divided into 4 parts, with the first scene showing the ideal family or as we called them “Bittu ka sukhi parivar” where Rupali and Girdhari portrayed the happy parents and Lokesh and Rajkumar as Bittu and Bittu ka Bhai .      Scene 2 had “Chintu ka dukhi parivar” with Jeevan playing the drunkard father and Pooja playing the silently suffering mother, while Ashish and Rani played Chintu and Chintu ki behen.
Scene 3 showed the drunkard father driving rashly on the streets and getting into an accident after being kicked out of the house for drinking too much.
Scene 4 had the narrators, Rahul and Shubham (dressed as doctors) explain to the crowd the harm caused by alcohol to the liver and other important organs.  The kids were not given any specific dialogues but instead were made to understand what the scene was all about. They then came up with their own dialogues on the spot and improvised on stage!

                         


The D-day saw our volunteers shouldering the not so impossible task of getting people interested, generating the excitement for the skit! They had to bring people out of their houses to see and hear something that as “responsible” adults, they should have eradicated long ago. A prodigal attempt by kids to bring the change! And even though there were a few who were completely uninterested in what was being done, the response was amazing! People thronged the venue to see the kids in action. Just after the play got over some men among the crowd exchanged smiles with their children promising not to be devils, but angels of peace.

                           


The kids imagined , gave ideas , planned a play ,but the best part was when these kids felt a sense of achievement and happiness when they were appreciated for their big and small solutions to make the world a better place to live in. Pooja, a kid at our centre had transformed from a timid to a confident girl who spoke out for her well being.
This time it were the kids who MADE A DIFFERENCE!

St. Pius: Love, Imagination aur Dhoka!!

5:30AM..

"Uth re.. chal uth na lavkar!"

Hmmm.. (-_-)

"Meeelaya.. uth na.. ajun kitivel zopshil..."

This is how my day used to start.. sweet sound of motherly love.. motherly affection! Words of love used flow out of her mouth.. Nirlajjae(SHAMELESS) , Nalayak(USELESS), Bin dok! (DUMB ASS!)  and.. just then one HUMONGOUS dhapata on my back!!
Ouch! that hurt.. < Mother's love is so often misconstrued! :-/ >

"Ata uthla nahi na.. laaata khashil..." :-@


Every morning i used to get flogged by my mother.. such an awesome start to my day.. and why!?
Time for school...
'Jaldi utho.. Brush karo.. khao peeyo fata fat', is all i used to hear every morning. Well.. Since generations, guys of my breed have always had this problem. :D Always a looser.. Dreaded school like hell.. And why not, imagine a horrible demon with dis-symmetrical ears and spectacles right down on the tip of her frog mouth like nose sneering at you for not knowing a correct answer.. WTF? :P

I studied in an all testosterone school, 'St. Pius X High School'... and with Saint Mary's just round the corner every afternoon we at 1:30pm we always had a testosterone exhibition .. or may be a testosterone fireworks' display..  :D  My school always had a occult warning displayed on it's gates,
 " Statutory Warning: The Following things you read are wholly and solely imagined by you, since you are thinking about it now, they are completely your thoughts,
Alert! High Testosterone Area, equally high possibility of getting mentally stripped & molested.. so.. Girls stay AWAY! but anyway you are always Welcome.. :) Girls from St. Mary's don't have a choice!"

Back to events after flogging.. All dressed up, a 'hand''some' young champu runs down the road to stand in the line for bus discussing with his friends about pokemon and WWE.. Then a quick chotasa nap in the bus and here we are.. reached.. school!

School starts at 7:30AM and for St. Mary's it's 8AM.. All the kids who travel by bus reach school by 6:45AM so if you happen to come to our school by 6:45 or 6:50 you could see children running around every where... right from a tini mini 1st STD devil to the gigantic ones from 10th STD, who by the way are always fishing.. and hungry for she-devils (Hows that possible..!? Facts are soon to come.. Patience!)  If you happen to see our school-ground at this time you could see a flurry of beautiful multicolored Frisbees zooming all around the ground, guys jumping to catch them, shouting a few good bad words here and there in case of nuclear hazard during their play.. ;-) The basketball ground is full of kids playing football using a rubber-ball.., 'full-pants' and 'half-pants' all alike.. no 'patloon-discrimination' at all! :D

So by the time our assembly time starts i.e. 7:15AM all of us would be dead tired.. now who wants to study after such hard work! Warning bell rings at 7:10AM.. All of us were suppose to drag our heavy bags to our class by 7:15.. poor souls.. so tired.. so hungry...! One look and you would literally cry! <Seeing the amount of hard work we used put in to get ourselves in study mode :P>.. But no one cares! <I thought of informing child right activist and NGOs about our ordeal then.. But first i wanted to carve an identity for myself.. and so i waited! :-P >

Being in 10th STD is always fun, top predator of school and all the class rooms and labs on 1st floor facing the road! ;-) I and my gang had a fixed place.. Row by the window! On contrary to usual widely followed slogging your feet to your class.. We used to run and occupy our seats. Prayer starts.. "Aao pavan aatma.." We literally used to feel that prayer.. right through the core of our hearts.. always waiting for 'the pavan aatmas' of St. Mary's to walk by the St. Pius street.. "Tere daan dooo.. yogya hummm kooo bana, teeri seeeva mee.. teeri seva mee!" As i said feeling right through the core of our hearts.. We always wanted to be 'yogya' for girls from St. Mary's.. Always ready for their 'seva', in case they forgot their route to college.. < As if we really had the guts to leave the prayer meet and help some damsel in distress! >  These girls were always accompanied by their parents.. But who cares! We used to shamelessly stare (read adore) them.. :D If a girl is accompanied by her father.. the situation would be like boys adoring, girl sharmaofying and the father staring (thinking, control your thoughts you as*ho**!).. :D
Love, hate and admiration all at one place! :P

Exciting prayer session end lectures start... Now.. as i said guys soo tired.. We deserve some sleep don't we!? So the first lecture.. Yawn.. Nap time! Second lecture.. stomachs grumbling! Food.. where's food.. we need food.. No one can concentrate when hungry.. So.. slow and steady the tiffins are out.. The whole classroom is filled with delicious aromas.. by the time half of the second lecture has passed everyone is salvating.. drooling! :D One bite here n One bite there... And then we have our Vasanta miss, ''Ameeeeyaaa, what are you munching.. whats in your mouth..? Hungry fellow.. Deprived of food for centuries weren't you??" *gulp* "Now stick your bum to your bench.. and dare you eat again.. i'll throw you outtaf the class!"  :D
Third lecture starts.. Indoor games time! We played golf while in class.. :P Desks with hole and two marbles is all we needed.. Any of the condition not present, 'Book cricket' or may be 'Pen fight' always saved the day.. :) By the time third and fourth lecture ended we were all ready to study... Fifth lecture starts.. All of us want to concentrate and study but next thing... Recess! And hello.. no one can concentrate with distractions! :P And after recess.. seriously speaking there is no point in discussing the lectures after recess.. :D Everything is done.. nothing left.. boredom all the way.. Douche!

One hell of a school life... friends.. teachers.. all the masti.. and not to forget the cake we used to get on St. Pius feast day.. All the guys in our school are by default droolers.. and with that cake around tongues used to start wagging for wrong reasons.. Imagine drooling with a wagging tongues wagging.. lol.. pretty messy! :) Time just went by...
And by the time we realised.. It was already the end of our final year at school.. And here we are treading our paths today... :) Nostalgic!

A tribute to all The Piusites and teachers who made my school life beautiful..


P.S. - After reading this article may make you feel teachers had nothing to do in my life.. :P but on contrary, what i am today is all because of them! Their teaching, their guidance has worked wonders in my life.. :)

Honour Thy Soul..

Houour Thy Soul

Float like a feather in the whiff of inspiration,

Let this flight be a cue for your mind’s thrusting ambition,

Let this flight nurture your heart’s tremulous desires!

Carve you way through the placid wind.. 

Sometimes.. A gush of wind may be too strong for your suave..

You may find yourself where you ought not to be now!

Clueless..You may be,

Wondering why you seem to fly?

Worry not my dear, it’s just a phase passing by!

youthedesigner.com

Feather you are.. longue in the air,

Make patience thy forte,

Wait for that zephyr.. for he’s your legato!

Carve the wind again,

For this time.. you may find yourself where you ought to be!

You resolved to fly,

Now dream to be a Quill,

For you may indite and carve our minds,

Make us life’s chef-d'oeuvre,

Help us be the change we always wanted…

So that someday it will be our turn to honour our souls!

Make A Difference!

MAD's Gullivers Travel…

Life can be strange..there are times when we get things that we didn’t even dream of and sometimes.. we crave for things till eternity. It’s a never ending thirst of wants that we always yearn to fulfill.. Little do we realize how besotted we are with those wants that we never appreciate what we already have. The more we drink murkier it gets! So self-involved are we that we fail to realize how lucky we are.. There are so many things we have that others just dream of..And for some it may always remain a dream!

It’s been a day since I visited ‘Sharansthan’… Well..it’s an orphanage.. I still can’t forget those smiling faces..happy just because someone has come to see them! The bond was instantaneous, the twinkle in their eye as they looked at us just made me realize the apparent. Now….. let your heart do the work.. just FEEL.. when someone whom you have just meet wants to remember you forever,  without any expectation.. pure love.. on pure delight of just of meeting you! Feels really good isn’t it? Just ONE meet and so many smiling faces.. All of them eager to know more about you as if you were someone great..a superstar…!

 All of this on my first day with MAD(Make A Difference)…  Just few weeks back I was wondering if it’s really worth the weight to join MAD, college..classes..with all loitering to be done! So many important things to do.. Sparing two hours would be like giving up my life! <A really heavy sarcasm intended! :-|>.. But these two hours are what really matter.. These are the two hours that are going to make a difference, in not only yours, but also in someone else’s life who is not so lucky..not so privileged as you are. A little care shown.. Can bring a hell lot of difference in this world!

'Make a difference’ is an NGO run by youth of India. It caters towards teaching spoken English, computer knowledge to children at orphanages, it doesn’t end just there, with practically no exposer to outside world, their mind is a blank canvas. You are the one with the brush..with the liberty of using myriad beautiful colours to portray of outside world for them, so that someday when they decide to face the world on their own it won’t be completely new to them. All because of you.. A Lilliputian contribution with not so Lilliputian effect!

नागपूर.. आपली संतराबर्फी!

Hepreya…!

बे.. बे.. Beee!

बे Asa kasa….?!

These are few mahol <awesome! ;)> words one needs to add to one’s Spellman’s syllabary in order to survive among the ferociously vivacious genx of Nagpur. I mean it.. have you ever heard of the word ‘Toll’?? .. NO!?.. u are an outcast here.. don’t worry though.. guys here are pretty helpful! It’s the most happening word among the guys <want hint.. “Paai bee.. tiche ‘toll’ paai!”> One thing’s for sure.. By the time you leave nagpur you’ll to develop pretty awesome nagpuri vocabulary enough to dumbfound so called <already ngp fearing..> ‘Punekars’ and ‘Mumbaikars’ <Don’t be surprised to find a slight smirk on their face.. only initially though…. Later on they too become just as hopeless!>  

 Girls from Nagpur are the quintessential of consummate dressers.. :P No not in the artistic sense…. I mean they ‘perfectly reach the highest point’ while dressing! Covered from head to toe… Be it summer… be it winter or for some even during rainy season <god help those creatures!> a SCARF <or should I say headgear!> is a must! It’s really a mystery for us guys, for we always keep wondering.. what kind of ‘double LOL khoobsoorti’ are they trying to hide from us! No wonder their stakes are always raised…! This is what you can imagine them look like…

This was something about ngp’s teenpeople.. Now.. let’s take a detour to some of the happening places of Nagpur. If you are new to ngp and have no idea where to go in the evening.. ‘Dharampeth’ a.k.a DP is the place. Catch hold of any guy walking down the street and ask him ‘Tell me THE most happening place in ngp..’ Dharampeth would be the war cry! A war cry.. YES! All most all the finest and the most refined chicks of ngp are found here.. :D And trust me when I say every evening every other guy out here in DP is brimming with testosterone and after looking at every chick thinks it’s mating season, let’s lock horns..!

And the chick…. just walks by!

DP has many ‘lock horn’ sites.. Most visited is the Amul Ice-cream parlor.. then Dinshaws <these two are located side by side! :P>.. Harry’s Pastry Corner<Amazing pastrys.. totally yum!>, Traffic Park<Biker zone.. Right from Suzuki Hayabusa to Kavasaki Ninja!!! You’ll find them here.. it’s all high power action>, Chocolate Room, Maitrey CCD…

Nagpur being the center of India<’Zero Mile’ is in Nagpur you see..> you’ll find many who come from different parts of India to pursue their graduation here. So morning time.. breakfast time on roads! ‘Keshav’ is where you can savor our daily ‘Poha’ <Have poha with ‘Tarri’ your nose will also start watering.. there’s a possibility that you’ll start to farting fire!>. Shankar nagar tapri, Prince tapri, Kasturchan Park are some other morning fire farting joints.

Farting fire is one thing.. If you want your ass to breath fire… Or if you are one of those people who keep on wondering what if my ass was a ‘Bazooka’ :P ‘SAOJI’ is the place! Considered to serve the spiciest food varieties.. But the problem is in yester years there was only one Saoji.. Now there are many.. :D Tiger Saoji, Roman Saoji, Chintu Saoji.. <No name must be as violated as Mr. Saoji’s!>     

But the brand still survives.. ;)

One must visit place is ‘Barbecue’. No place in ngp serves non-veg food as tasty as barbeque. Eat there once and the next time you visit the place even before the order arrives.. on just entering.. your mouth will start watering.. You will be ‘Aatmofied’ to be a hungry savage.. A truly spiritual experience! :P This place is a foodie’s delight.. ‘Tangdi Kabab’, ‘Butter Chicken’, ‘Tandoori Chicken’, ‘Chicken Tikka’, ‘Afgani Handi’.. You name it they have it! Taste.. guaranteed..! Satisfaction.. DOUBLE guaranteed!

Now.. Oranges! What we know this city for…. But the fact is there’s more than oranges to this city.. It’s the spirit that is cherished! <Takes time to get used to.. but a worthwhile experience!> Trust me when I say for Nagpurkars It never ends at oranges.. It’s always something more! There not much to this city.. not if you compare it to Mumbai or Delhi.. Nagpur has just reached puberty! This orange.. now is not just an orange.. It’s fully ripe, ready to be something to reckon with. That santra has become a barfi now.. Something new and dynamic.. A whole new avtar!