Sunday, October 30, 2005

And Let there be Light!

In the beginning of this world, God said, "Let there be light...".
Once a year, we get to play God...
As the Indian community gears up to celebrate Deepawali, turning the darkest night of the year to the brightest, my favourite memories of the festival we all love so much...

Never been much into crackers and those bombs...remember being really scared once when one of my friends tried bursting one of them in my presence...since then I have stuck to small fuljharis and anaars...

My mom synchronizing the lighting of diyas, as if organizing an orchestra...and we kids eagerly awaiting the green signal to light those diyas placed at every concievable nook and corner of the house...I believe, and still do, that my home never looked more stunning and picturesque...

The sweets!Though I do not have a sweet tooth,I love making them...or rather, help my mom make them...

New clothes...hmmm...and someone's looking good!...Never mind...girls gotta dress up once in a while!

Diwali cleaning...hmmm...lots of work...really really hard work!

Lakshmi Pooja...I'd been told once that we had to specially clean our houses and light up all the corners so that Goddess Lakshmi could find her way in!

And of course, Illu and Rangoli in Kgp...
Well...its a lot of hard work...and a lot of dirty work too...I mean just go take a look at someone who's just finished working on a chatai or done a few hours of rangoli, and you'll know!...But at the end of the day, relax and enjoy...and take in and appreciate all the work and bucks that go into making Illu such a big event in the Kgp calendar!

Happy Diwali to all of you!

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Five reasons to cheer after all!

We can all find a zillion different reasons to detest our campus at any given time. But love it or loathe it, you can’t ignore it. And just in case you are tired of the constant whining of what could have been, why not appreciate what we already have and can get from it( apart from a degree that is!). At least five reasons come to my mind, and here they are:

1. Clean Kgp, Green Kgp ! Its one of those very rare places where you can go out for a walk and not wrinkle your nose in disgust because the road side garbage pit got even more appalling. What’s more, the later and darker it is, the more breathtaking it becomes!

2. Friends are forever ! They come in all forms : the jhandaaoing kind, the peace-maaroing kind, the nocturnal kind, the muggu kind, the stud variety, the anti-muggu brigade, the nahalis, the atthis, the sattis, the chhaggies and what have you! A plethora of categories exist to choose from, and boy, do they last! Where else can you form friendships like you do here? Anybody who has spent any amount of time here would agree that life without them would have been, well…a different story altogether!.

3. It’s a whole new world! So you were the topper of your school. So you thought you were on top of the world. So you thought books are all that is there to conquer. Well dude, think again. There are limitless avenues to explore and Kgp teaches you that it’s never too late. You can start over all again from scratch and still find the time and resources to excel. Be it sports, dramatics, music, or good ol’ literary skills, many a talent were discovered and honed here!

4. Are you man enough?! Talk about education going beyond textbooks and actually molding character and personality. Remember the time you failed in that interview, or the time a prof screwed you in viva, or those heady days of illu and rangoli, or the time your friend was sick and lying in a hospital, or the time your hall won that all important G.C., each experience is there to savor. Life does have its own queer way of imparting its lessons!

5. Live and let live! I remember being really fussy about my choice of food, with a million nakhras about what kind of spread would be allowed to pass through my oesophagus. Then Kgp happened! Now, I don’t throw tantrums if the ‘cuisine’ in front of me doesn’t match my very high standards. In other words, I have become tolerant, and I can survive without those very things which had seemed to make life so impossible just a few years ago! I can live without eating, without sleeping for hours, without cleaning my room, without money in my pocket, without switching off my computer, and sometimes, without a shoulder to cry on. I have learnt to survive. When I walk out of this place, I know I can face anything!