30th February Exam

Hmm, I am very sure that you people can well recognise this image here. It is no wonder that this was the toughest exam of the college to date. Even after knowing so much we didn't know nothing, if you know what I mean; Since we had to articulate everything from start to end.
I couldn't do the paper earlier than an hour because my imagination had become rusty after appearing after so long for an exam of this kind, but we have to appreciate the goodwill of Raju Sarkar sir to provide us with some crucial marks at this stage, at least for me who is on the verge of losing the job. Tomorrow's exam looks to be tougher and we (me and Jha) didn't even get our photocopies done and Vimal is refusing to cooperate so we have to finish the syllabus in a few hours until Shukla starts reading his notes.

First Day of Mid Sem Exam

Ha Ha, no no, sometimes looks can be deceiving and that's what is happening here because these exams are going really smoothly and nobody is even talking about others' preparation and more to add, they are not at all concerned about writing more in hall but are trying to finish the answers in a compact manner.
I reached earlier today as I always do and found my seat in convocation hall with P.B. Sharma and Vishal Verma as invigilators (BRGR actually). They were too much concerned about conducting the exams carefully for final year students as first and third year students had already boycotted the exams in morning. (एक बार दूध का जला छांछ भी फ़ूँक कर पीता है)।
It was advanced geotech's exam and paper was too easy. Same thing will happen tomorrow, I guess. Now we are enjoying and I am listening to my favourite song 'Billie Jean' and not I'm not in mood to study tonight at least.

Mid Sem exams

It's the night before the start of midsems; all students but those of final year are ready to boycott again. Even final year people are not ready but they have to do it as they fear to lose their jobs. We were studying in Vimal's room but I found myself extremely out of place while studying geotech again, meanwhile I was logged on to facebook and found some classmates online, though I don't know they were being cool or it was the pomp of DCE engineers which was making them to do so.
Anyways, I tried hard but couldn't keep up with that small 'Xeroxed' notes and ended up here. Maybe I can do it tomorrow.
Then we've plans for some shopping despite of this credit crunch ( nobody is ready to lend a penny this time :P). I think nobody will cover that tiny syllabus; that's how we are made. We are 2K6/CE.

26th March classes.

We had AK GP sir's class of geotech or something, I don't remember it. We reached late in the class; at 9:30. He doesn't mind that. Then we put our attendance and some proxies ( which were more than the people present at first place). There was a different ambience today because most of the regular students were not present there, and those who were present included me, Jha, Narendra, Vimal, Rohan Jain and Ghatak and three girls.
Then we had Raju Sarkar sir's class in which we were again called in his room and he gave a drab lecture about Bangladesh University and disaster mitigation. I don't know why is he so much keen about this whole Bangladesh thing ( Daal mein Kuch kaala hai).
I went out to buy some groceries. It was short and funny today.

aftermaths of DTU protest..

There is nothing new in college after protests but the faces of students now shine with confidence, indicating that they are not afraid of the teacher's threat anymore. This is a good thing. We are trying to attend some classes but they are not being held and college is also looking deserted.
Rescheduled mid semester exams will start from 29th March but I don't think we need any preparation for that. Some students have their MBA interviews during exams so they are demanding for new dates. Let's see what happens.

HT Editorial

Respected Madam,
On 16th January, 2010 I read your article ‘Idiot is as idiot does’ in Hindustan Times newspaper which highlighted the ironic situation that how a movie can lead to a wrong path as it was merely produced to nurture big profits and was never intended to give any messages. You have rightfully said that it only talks about scientific ingenuity but never about the gradual development of these skills through rigorous hard work. It is utterly true that there will hardly be one or two born scientists in the crowd of lacks.
Sometimes I wonder why does everybody talk only about higher and prestigious Colleges which are doing great even without any media attention. This colleges are the eye candies of Ministry of HRD and their alumni base is very strong also the faculty is very autonomous so that no harm can be done to the glory of these institutions. Madam, you may be well aware that these institutions neither need any further validation nor do they require anymore support from public (thanks to our politicians). Everyone is dying to get their siblings in any of these professional colleges; but there are many other universities which need proper attention that they are not getting it and students study there just to gain a valid degree not for any quality education. The main reason is not the crunch of resources but it is the affection of the students and the government which they don’t get because of not being the ‘Institutions of National Importance’.
I am very much sure that our first P.M. Jawaharlal Nehru never envisaged these institutions just for overshadowing others but to create a healthy competition. Now it has become a culture that if a person is not studying in these colleges his/her study has all gone in vain. It further makes students disenchanted from their studies and their alma mater.
It is a bare truth that our IITs and even IIMs don’t stand anywhere among the best universities of the world because they have never looked upon their respective humanities departments as the other top colleges of the world do. For example – Sulmaan Rushdie is a professor of Humanities at M.I.T. and faculty of Stanford University includes four Pulitzer Prize winners (sixteen Nobel laureates are also there); definitely if it is not possible for the development of these departments upto this level then we should turn towards the colleges which have remained neglected throughout their lifetime but are capable of leapfrogging in these areas.
My personal belief is that there is no meaning of being a scientist or an engineer or a doctor if you are not socially well aware. The greatest scientist of all time Albert Einstein was a great philosopher and also was a good friend of Rabindranath Tagore similarly Nicola Tesla was so keen about poetry and literature that he became almost mad after the death of his friend Mark Twain and during his old age had illusions about his friend as if he was living with him. This shows that it is not right to neglect other art and humanities colleges in the flash of these high profile colleges.

HT Editorial

My letter has been written as a reply to a letter by Mr. Amrik Singh, printed in the editorial page. Mr. Amrik Singh shows a great concern towards the Chinese incursions in Ladakh region but my question is ,”has it really happened”. If anyone can remember the Sino-India war of 1962 then he can also remember how the Chinese army withdrew from the region of Ladakh after claiming one part known as ‘Aksai Chin’ which was never inhabited and was claimed by China from much earlier times. Before this all happened there was an offer from Chinese side to talk over the matter; it was rejected by Nehru. Confrontation was result of intelligence failure when Indian troops were assigned to fight with Chinese troops without going for any talks or negotiation. Outposts were made across the McMohan line also. This all heated up the situation as China was cynical about Indian role in Tibetan uprising.
On one side Nehru was not ready to spend money on military and on other side he was making the clash imminent. The war started in Thangla, the territory about which, India was not sure, was hers. Some Indian troops, including Brigadier Dalvi who commanded the forces at Thag La, were also concerned that the territory they were fighting for was not strictly territory that "we should have been convinced was ours". The announcement of ceasefire came from Chinese side otherwise results could have been worse.
In present time Indo-China relations are fairly good and these need to be strengthened further by positive bilateral talks, not by being paranoid about a word written on a stone. Indian Army has also denied any breach of International border so these claims are baseless. China is already leapfrogging in every field. India should take cues from its neighbour. We are already having a troubled border with Pakistan and relations are deteriorating with Nepal also so this hullabaloo should be avoided. China is too big a country to keep bad relations with.

Letters to Ramachandra Guha (HT)

Dear Ramachandra Guha Sir,

I have been a keen reader of your articles in Hindustan Times which come under the heading ‘History Matters’. Your articles really give an insight of any situation. I especially liked the one that was concerned with the situation in Manipur because of the provision of extra powers to security forces. This matter is of the type that never comes in the notice of a common man unless he goes deep into the affair. Getting to read these articles in a national newspaper is an utter delight.

On Monday January 04, I happened to read your article ‘The fitness test’ about the appointment of Governors in the states. Sir, I want to ask you a thing that why the media (except for the print media), which blows every small issue out of proportion, did not raise these issues in that amount before the nation.

Secondly, the Andhra Raj Bhavan issued a statement that Governor was in the evening time of his life and was not doing very well on health grounds, then why was he there even after being so incompetent.

The integrity of Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Rizi was also questionable at the time when he did not allow the BJP to form a Government even when they were in majority. These incidents raise serious questions about the appointment of Governors. There is a need of thorough revision of the process by a nationwide discussion but the main hinderance will be the lagislators themselves. Could you suggest any solution?