Getting Back

So, hello my dear (and few) readers. Here is an update from my side : the autumn vacations silently passed away on October 15, 2009. It was put on life support till October 18, thanks to Diwali and the reliable, good old Sunday. Yet, on October 19, it draws to an end. Of course, being the lazy creature I am, I took time off till October 21st. But as much as I might not want it (or perhaps I do want it), I must get back to college.

My attempts at getting a data card for my laptop have been futile. My laptop, though only a year and a half old, has become too old - she's become sick, infested with deadly viruses (relics of my failed international admissions process). So, no data card for now. Of course, I realise that it is a great tragedy to my ambitions of world domination (pun intended), but nothing that cannot be worked around. I feel like I'll be walking on crutches for one more term at least, unless a miracle happens or unless I get a new lappie (which I'm hopeful about, actually).

My goals for this two-month term are quite clear : consolidate a space in all societies that I am a part of (and in the case of FNIC, work hard to make the Futures Club a success). More importantly, I want to keep in touch with the world outside of St. Stephen's (which is tough given that I will not have unrestricted access to the internet). But still, whatever I can do.

As I head back to college, there is an excitement about meeting all my friends again. But then, most of my friends are day scholars. The rest of my day is to be spent with my few rezzie friends and myself. Myself - that is something on which I need to work now.

Why St. Stephens Must Change

It has been almost four months since I last had a blog entry. Yes, I must confess that I've grown old in this duration, and (much to the chagrin of my loving mother) thin too. I've come to St. Stephens College in Delhi (arguably one of the most reputed colleges in India) and I'm looking forward to making the best out of my years here.

What is my initial reaction to St. Stephens'? Well , it is just another college, yes, but what makes it different is that its reputation attracts a lot of good talent from all over India and competing and interacting with these minds actually broadens your horizons. Teaching-wise, St. Stephens is as good or as bad as any other regular Delhi University college. Infrastructure-wise, St. Stephens is quite terrible - the loos in the hostel are dirty, there is no power back-up and there is no air conditioning.

Unfortunately, there are many people in the college who are hanging to a sense of importance and a sense of exclusivity based on the past legacy of the college. For them, being a Stephenian makes them, by default, superior to people from other colleges. But what they must realise is that the past will long be forgotten, what will matter twenty years down the line is not Shashi Tharoor or Amitav Ghosh, but what we do today. The results of the college have not been too good of late, and unless we rid ourselves of the arrogance of being Stephenian, we won't be able to unlock our true potential.

Now let me get to other aspects of college life. The residence is a good place, in the sense that they don't stuff 3-4 people in a single room. Initially, it was a single room for each student, but today the first years have to share their rooms. But that is not really a problem, its a good learning experience in tolerance. Ragging, to begin with, was minimal (the routine song-dance) but later reduced to zero. The residence is a good place, and the rezzies are quite surely the cream of St. Stephens college, not because they've scored more than others (which they usually haven't) but because these men and women have a personality, a distinct personality.

In college, the Extra-Curriculars are extremely good. But there are a lot of, what I would call immature kids, who go to each and every society in that juvenile optimism that it'll look good on their CV. What they fail to understand is that in the long run, your CV is supposed to represent you, and not the other way round. So, I've joined just the societies that really interested me. But the society I most look forward to working for is the Finance and Investment Cell (FNIC), not only because its most professionally-run than other societies , but also because it has some amazing people at the helm.

How other colleges perceive St. Stephens' college? Well, most colleges give us importance that I feel we do not deserve in the first place. Every college takes St. Stephens as a benchmark, be it quizzing or debating or anything else. We've long back been upstaged by Hansraj in quizzing, and our grip on debating is also loosening. I do not take this to be a sad development. It is a stimulating thing to be overtaken by others, because that provides you with the next benchmark to strive for. If you don't have a goal, how can you go about doing your task?

So, as another term appears on the calendar entry, I am waiting eagerly to get back into the muck and work my way up. Why do I want to go up in the first place? Because I want to change things, because I want arrogance to be defeated, and because I want to pursue the truest form of education.

Six Years That Changed My Life

Year I (Class 7): When I climbed the stairs to the D-block third floor on 22nd April 2003, to VII L, i was completely numb. And then I entered a classroom and 40-odd unknown faces stared at me, and i was made to sit beside one such person - Rohan Bhatia. He was an eccentric friend, quite innocent and immature, who was always over-enthusiastic. Then I met Aishwarya "Aishu" Raj later that day in the D-block lounge. He had joined the school one day before me and we quite instantly hit it off, perhaps because we were both 'new fish' in the dirty pond. Ritin Kakkar (a decent bloke) scored 50 in the first Monday Test results that I witnessed. Shayeri (an arrogant-sweet wisecrack) was the 'established' topper and Sukriti Mishra (sweet, but obsessive. God knows what happened to her) was leading the charge of the newcomers. Then there was Lavi Aggarwal (who juggled the third position with me), Prachi Jain (sweet) and quite a bit more. By the end of seventh, 'our' group included me, Aishwarya, Rahul Bhatnagar (oh God!) and Tushar "Tush" Agrawal (a kind, arrogant kiddo).
How it Changed Me: I made a friend for life, in the form of Aishwarya, and also that I was intiated into a ravine that I fell into next year.


Year II (Class 8): Rewind to the Class VIII assessment exams. A 'firang' who is taking the exams with us stands up, all unnerved, while the class teacher tries to calm him. Welcome, Sushant "Sushi" Tandon, to our group. This guy beat me badly in table tennis, but by Class XI, I was able to beat him on a regular basis. Class VIII only reminds me of perversion. Something tells me I was at my most perverted then. But maybe it was only an innocent child's inability to come to terms with things around him. Then, there was a budding friendship with Charit Taneja. And when we came to know that sections would get shuffled in ninth, we all prayed very, very hard. The clock, meanwhile, went on ... tick-tock, tick-tock ...
How it Changed Me: By Class VIII, I had seen the nadir of perversion. It kind of gave me a broader perspective about life, far beyond even my current age.


Year III (Class 9): April 2, 2005 : He has a bag hanging on his shoulders, standing on the short flight of stairs that lead into C01. Welcome, Shubham "Bum" Prakhar, into my world. What can I say about him that I have not already said (check out this blog's archives for more). It was kind of awkward, talking to Mr. ICG and a hosteller. Plus his frequent quizzing incursions and all. But yes, he kicked me, kicked me hard. My jealously of Shubham defined me for the next two years. I had pledged to come out of his shadow in two years (something I achieved). But two other amazing friends of mine - Yash "Hashish" Chopra and Tanmay Singh, I came to know this year. Tanmay (the big, bruiser of a boy) I first saw practicing for a dance in the assembly and have been friends with him since, and Yash ... I don't know when or why we became friends, but its been good so far. And yes, Aishwarya is still in my section. And how can I forget the JSTSE classes? The stay-backs, meeting Debolina "Debo" Roy, Sameer "Sam" Mittal and all the fun we used to have. Oh, I still miss those lovely JSTSE classes!
How it Changed Me: I had become very ambitious, the beginning of all my later success is in class 9, on the day that Shubham Prakhar came to my class.


Year IV (Class 10): Oh God, the boards are here! Add to that the fact that I was rejected by the JSTSE people! The year couldn't have begun on a worse note. Somehow, it went downhill from there. My NSO, NCO, NSTSE ranks stabilized. The boards were fun, walking every morning to Sanskriti, eating a chocolate, and taking the exam - it was completely sans any stress. And yes, Shubham beat me easily in the boards. I was defeated. I had touted the boards as the last 'battle' between Shubham and I, and I had lost, I had been vanquished and humbled! Yes, I cleared the NTSE (which buried the ghosts of JSTSE), but that was more like a post-script.
How it Changed Me: I had been humbled, and all the ambition broken. I could never study that hard EVER again. It felt like the last four years had been undone, and maybe they had actually been.


Year V (Class 11): Oh God, new class, new people! For the first few days, I felt completely hapless - for the first time in four years, there was no Aishwarya to talk to! What would I do? Well.... I found Aeshwarya "Aesh" Raj, and Jayati "JT" Sindhu. In two years, only God knows how much I have irritated these two supremely sweet people. And then there was Mohul Raj Singh, with whom I always have a rocky friendship, and Sukrit. Class XI was more of an ascendancy, when I was beginning to get a grasp of where life was talking me. And mid-way through it, I met Kritika "Kritu" Bajaj. For the next two years, she's been my closest confidante.
How it Changed Me: Class XI gave me valuable lessons in managing people and other 'dps' experience that was to stand me in good stead later on.


Year VI (Class 12): The most amazing school year I could've wished for. I went to quizzes, debates (won some, lost a lot - but it all made me better at a rapid pace). My 5-day hostel misadventure and then my confinement in THAT room in DSOI, Dhaula Kuan. But throughout it all, Aesh and JT and Kritika were always there for me - they never let me feel sad or lonely. Then I interacted with Neelanjana "Neelu" Gupta and with a whole lot of other people. This was the year of my failed foreign applications, of my greatest truimphs and humiliations. And when it ended the way it did, with a 98% and "delhi topper" tag in the boards, it all seemed very ordinary in comparision with what a year it had already been.
How it Changed Me: Class XII has made me what I am today - entirely.


Thank you, amazing people mentioned above, for being there in my life. I owe a part of me to all of you, each and every one of you. Without you, I am nothing, and I can be nothing.
And people from school with whom I interacted only after school got over:(1) Aditi Bajpayi(2) Stuti Govil(3) Nimisha Jain(4) Parmita Mathur
Thank you to all of you too.

Wanted: Some respect for the CBSE Examinations

Before I begin my advocacy of the CBSE Board Examinations, I must make a few things clear. Firstly, I think the CBSE exam pattern is extremely flawed. Secondly, I have said before and I reiterate that scoring in the CBSE exams amounts to nothing - it does not, in any way, prove a person to be intellectually superior to another person.

This said, I now begin what I want to say. Any parent, any student and a lot of teachers consider anybody who cracks IIT, especially the top 1000 ranks, as a human whose mental capabilities are far greater than those of others. Those who top CBSE, in comparision, are almost invariably considered bookworms and rote learners. They are seen as creatures who are dipped in their books for the four-five months before the Boards and as creatures who lack imagination.

So, first let me talk about IIT. I have seen people who have cracked IIT (my cousin stayed with us and cracked IIT with AIR 210) at close quarters. Indeed, their skills at Physics, Chemistry and Maths are unparalleled. But does mastery of three subjects make them intellectually superior? True, they know about different approaches to solve a question and are better at applying what they learn than what most of us are. But beware, do not believe that this is in any way their intellectual superiority.

I say this because even these IIT people are, in a way, 'conditioned' to solve things like that. In Class X, I was among the best in the sciences in my school, but today I'd be lagging far behind. What changed in these two years? Did the others' brains grow faster than mine? No. Over two years, these IIT aspirants were conditioned to look at a question and were taught different ways to solve it. Done on a sustained manner, it made them more adept at solving questions.

But the point is that these students are solving questions, they are not doing anything creative or imaginative. They are not using most of their brains, just the small logical part of their brains. These hard-working men and women have not outgrown the rest of the student body, they have simply greater reasoning and logical skills.

Now coming back to the CBSE toppers. True, the CBSE English is among the most subjective and consequently, one of the most lop-sided examinations ever devised. Imagination and different lines of thoughts are discouraged and one must write answers that follow a particular line of thought. But that said, to score in the CBSE exams, one needs clarity of though and a flair for expressiveness. If I want to score in CBSE, I have to write my answers as briefly and as curtly as possible without leaving any details. Even in English, I am not supposed to write just anything, I must write what has been asked of me. And over a scale of 30-40 roll numbers, the CBSE English marks remain fairly relfective of one's skills in the language.

This said, it is extremely easy to master CBSE. It is easy to learn about the loopholes of the CBSE system and work your way up it. But then, the same applies to most other examinations, even the SATs and is nothing new and exclusive to the CBSE. But to score 99 in Economics took me a lot of practice and a lot of clear thinking. And to score my precious 100 in Maths took me a lot, a lot of hardwork. And my 98 in Chemistry and 95 in Physics did not come easy either.

So, all said, I want to say that scoring in CBSE proves close to nothing, but neither does scoring in IIT. What really matters is how you are able to apply all that you learn in the institution that you go to. Maybe the crux of the matter is the disrespect of arts and commerce subjects in India. So, till the day that Economics commands the same respect as Astrophysics, engineers and doctors will continue to be looked at in awe and the "poor" and "unimaginative" B.A and B.Com students will have to live in wait for the due respect that should be accorded to them.

One Day of Being a Celebrity !

As the dust finally settled on 22nd May 09, it emerged that I had not topped All-India, but was merely the Delhi topper. Early morning, being woken up by a call by the Principal, Dr. Shayama Chona, and since then the day has been little short of a fairytale.

But throughout it all, I knew that this was a one-day celebrityhood; that next day everything will be over and I'll be back to anonymity. But this moment, a teardrop on the cheek of time, shall forever be memorable and that is what I tried to do - to savour every moment of what I knew would next come only if I assassinate a public figure. So, I try to recollect every moment and etch it forever, indellibly, in my mind.

First, some Hindi newspaper ending with 'Patrika' called me and took my interview for half an hour. For the next two hours, there was nothing. I was wondering if due to my presence in Kolkata and not in Delhi, would I be deprived of all the media attention? But then maybe now I understand why the calls dried out - because I was talking to Sonali, Kritika and Deboleena! But once I kept the phone, it was like a flood broke out.

TOI called and took my telephonic interview. Then came HT, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran and what not! And then the electronic media came. First up was NDTV's Monideepa (whom I had seen several times on the news). She got sweets for me, some Bengali ladoos maybe. Then they took an interview, but that was the comfortable part since I've already been on NDTV Metro Nation.

Then came the Bengali news channel, 24 Ghanta, but NDTV continued shooting. They shot me on facebook, typing, moving the mouse and all. Then as soon as they left, News X came and took an interview. Then Sahara's Komolika was calling me, and once even said "If you do not come here, I will lose my job!" But the 24 Ghanta people did not let me move anywhere. She kidnapped me and took me to her studio.

On the way, Star Ananda, 24 Ghanta's main rival, called me and when they realised that I was with 24 Ghanta, they banged the phone on me. But they called back 5 mins later and did a voice-in LIVE with me. Then I went into the 24 Ghanta studio, but Sahara's Komolika was waiting outside the 24 Ghanta studio. She almost got into a fistfight with the 24 Ghanta woman. So, they went to their studio above and there Sahara took my interview, after which I was escorted into the 24 Ghanta studio, where I was LIVE for a good two hours.

Which actually left me quite drained. In the two hours that my father put his cell on silent, he got 53 missed calls. 24 Ghanta gave me a two-hour break in-between. But who was I to enjoy respite yesteday. In those two hours, I have at least five interviews, including the Indian Express and the Asian Age.

Then I went and had kebabs in the South City mall at 6:00 PM, my first thing to eat since morning. And then I went back to the 24 Ghanta studio to shoot for a political discussion. And the best part was that my Bengali is so good that I spent one whole hour staring at the people there rattling 'shuddh' Bengali. By the time I left the studio, my jaws were paining out of trying to speak Bengali.

And then, thankfully, my last shoot for the day was a live video-in for NDTV India, where I (thankfully) had to speak in Hindi. But right upto 10:00 PM, I was busy giving interviews on the phone.

And today when I woke up, father had got at least 6-7 newspapers, and I was reading out the articles. "Kolkata boy tops CBSE" or "Two Toppers minus tuitions". I was misquoted at several places, but its okay - I don't mind it! And today again I leave for Star News' LIVE telecast at 1:30, knowing fully that all this is a mirage, an illusion that won't last tomorrow. But as long as it is there, I shall savour the moment.

Five Game Changers of Elections 2009

1. West Bengal: The shock of the election has come from West Bengal this time. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Bannerjee has won 19-20 seats and the Congress has held on to 6 seats. This is the CPM's worst poll performance since 1967. Though I was expecting the Trinamool to go up, I was not in my wildest dreams expecting it to trounce all of the Left by itself. Now is an opportunity for the Trinamool for 2011.

2. Uttar Pradesh: This is the second of the two shocks of this election, along with West Bengal. I was never expecting Mayawati to do as well as Mulayam did in 2004, but I was definitely not expecting the Congress to emerge as a close third to the two regional parties. What I think worked for the Congress was, along with the campaigning, the selection of the right candidates. The Congress has shown promise and I hope it does not disappoint.

3. Maharashtra: Maharashtra this time has defied logic and voted for the Congress-NCP alliance despite what was mostly a non-performing state Government. The effect of the MNS factor will become clearer in a few days, but for the Congress, Maharashtra has been the big story this election along with Uttar Pradesh.

4. Tamil Nadu: Throughout the election, I told everyone that the DMK-Congress alliance was arithmetically superior to the AIADMK-PMK-MDMK-Left. Just yesterday, I told a friend that I expected DMK-Congress to get at least over half the seats, and I am proud to say that I got it right.

5. Bihar: Lalu is now definitely facing irrelevance and I would like Nitish to take the risk now of allying with the Congress since the BJP is surely incapable of providing him a national platform. But the defeat of Lalu-Paswan has been complete and the Congress has shown its relevance even in Bihar.

Why I still prefer the Congress (but only slightly)

As the elections are drawing to a close, I thought it good to explain why my political loyalties lie with the Congress, but only slightly. The Congress, I must confess, has too many faults and the party, in my opinion, in itself is against demoracy:
(1) The party has not held elections to its Congress Working Committee (CWC) in years

(2) The party relies solely on the Nehru-Gandhi family for campaigning. Even the Prime Minister addresses very few rallies on his own

(3) The part is full of sycophants who are servile to the Nehru - Gandhi family

(4) The party's state units are almost always squabbling among themselves. The state leaders are like crabs who pull down whoever is the rising leader in the party

But the only reason that my faith in the party still remains is because of Sheila Dixit. To be fair to her detractors, her "achievements" are not really to be accredited to her:
(1) CNG was implemented in buses and autos after a Supreme Court directive

(2) The Metro Rail project was started and inaugurated by the previous BJP Government

However, she has done several things (greenery, BRT) on her own and even if the BRT has failed according to some, at least this Government is trying things. And Sheila Dixit's contribution remains more in the field of culture and the arts.

But this brings me to the next point: Why should I prefer the Congress at the CENTER based on its performance in the STATE? If I am to be a sensible voter, I should vote differently at the state and central level. 

But when I vote at the center, the thing I want most is a stable Government which is not bound by demanding allies. I must confess that as a coherent whole, the NDA seems to be better. But what is disconcerting about the BJP are:

(1) nothing concrete was done against Varun Gandhi

(2) the BJP has a habit of running down institutions. After the President is elected, the BJP could do good in respecting her. And the BJP should not pass disparaging comments about the Election Commission

Frankly, Indian democracy is "ruled" by parties that are nothing but family fiefdoms (eg. DMK, RJD, JD(S), SAD, NC, NCP, BJD). Yes, the BJP is the only party that seems to have any semblance of a democracy. The Communists, of course, are almost completely democratic but they are unable to provide a stable dispensation at the center and are too rigid to govern the nation.

All said and done, I'd prefer the Congress because of people like Manmohan Singh and Sheila Dixit.