Amid the paeans to the Indian Growth story here I stand with my Bachelor of Engineering Degree , questioning its very purpose. It is sheer ambivalence of feelings that I am going through whether to adulate the fact that I am a BE or is it more by accident than by intention that these four year journey has ended.
Well engineering is a mini odyssey laden with experiments , practicals , sessionals , projects and “farzipanti”.
Yes FARZIPANTI comes out as a side branch of engineering ,not baking with codified language but encrypted with that cipher text which only an engineer can decipher. On top of this blissful activity is placed a slice of physics and nothing less than the poetry of electrons changing the dynamics of life. (done electronics & telecommunication).
The first year of college is the subdued phase where everyone gives you a discourse on the wonders of engineering.
You still are very nascent and much like a school student dreaming practical solutions to invent, design and build things. You are true to the kindred spirits of engineering and use your time constructively in having a brief overview of basic engineering subjects. You listen to everyone from your professors to lab attendants to your seniors, library in charges.
You are devoid of the slightest vestige of engineering mischief and you live a life respectable student.
But then comes the the second year, a translator of all prejudices you ever had. You are finally in your department and your seniors paradoxically enough , expose you to what engineering in itself entails : the promise of knowledge and a roller coaster of fun.You want to dive into the empty space of not mastered existence but then you are brought down and laid bare; for you are a fresher and cannot make such a remarkable transition. Your quest for marks somewhat loses momentum and you keep your eyes wide open to learn the blissful coexistence of farzipanti and performance.
You begin to have a taste of the art but not a connoisseur yet, you engage yourself in various activities.
Then comes the Third year which widens your doors of perception and you finally become the coveted senior .It begins with proxy attendance and narrows down to last date submissions . you feel like a hero when you break the monotony of learning and just start faking it up…books , notes are last days rescue…and then you know how to give maximum performance in minimum time.
But in between comes the havoc of Campus Placements. You are again brought back to ground .A sudden deluge of seriousness sweeps you and then you stand at the center of your being ,on the crossroads of doing something worthwhile. You try to master all the theories learnt, start reading newspapers , you meander into this very part of making a career .
The placements give you that little high which you never had ,as if you’ve got a life jacket to guard you against the turbulent future.
Then comes the time to bid adieu to your seniors, and you march on with the torch lit by them to the Final Year, the ultimate year of Farzipanti.
The fourth year is like the year of the master of the trade. You experience something like-
“Float down the river
Over the pebble or stone
Don’t worry about swimming
Just rock and roll.”
Literally its not that you are a complete rebel , You have papers to clear, projects to submit, keep your CPI at a decent level but with the juxtaposition of having fun and seriousness. Its not that I am full of complacency about a degree completed but being a BE is not just to learn some Hi-tech vocab of physics or complex engineering mathematics. It prepare you to a plethora of life skills ,its about seriously enjoying life….
Likely said –“to be or not to BE”
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Bold and The Beautiful
“The Bhartiya Nari” has broken all shackles of subjugation and has arrived on the center stage with more temerity than skill or sense. She in her urbane avatar has made shyness, modesty completely vestigial. She flaunts her noodle straps and hot pants with a confident countenance. She dotes on a treasure of cosmetic products and wouldn’t even mind to go under the knife to get that perfect look. She is working, she is independent , she boozes, she fags , she wouldn’t even mind to live in.
Ah what a metamorphosis indeed. To think of it is this what women libation is all about. I am in a great fix as to how to define or to do the caricature of “aaj ki Bhartiya nari ” Take the television for example ,the leading soaps of our TV channels –“agle janam mohe bitya hi kijo” “balika vadhu” showcases the harassed and troubled female populace and the above description of women would be descended into faction . Then on a TV commercial of i pills make this notion very capricious. Then a survey that 80% of the women in India are sexually active before marriage surely seems dubious but again causes a serious aberration of my thought process.
To make it more worse there goes an “ITEM GIRL” (with due apologies to our favorite drama queen ) imitating our Sita Maiya
to choose her pati parmeshvar. She says she’s gone back to the archaic days of doing the arduous job of selecting her var.
She took the bold step of dating more than a dozen men in front of the camera and then on selecting one.
She avowed that she is a Bhartiya nari and applied mehndi for three coveted sajnas and then on settled for one not with a mangal sutra but a ring.
If I further exercise my desire to explore the world of misunderstood women of present era , I am again appalled by a completely different bevy of power puffed ladies. Yes it is quite a debate that do the women in power display the boldness and charisma.
There is our honorable first female president who is a complete epitome of “luck by chance” . Her work is subtle and no body is aware of her charisma. Then the UP Chief Minister who has been the butt of of scams and scandals does no further justice. Then comes the efficacy of our Speaker Meira Kumar , well she completely bowls you over. The softness of her voice is no handicap but her ability to negotiate and make peace unveils the untapped power of women.
Then on one is reminded of The Barkha Dutts, The KIran Bedis, The Arundati Roys, The Indira Nooyis , The Kiran Manjumdars, The Sania Mirzas,the Nirupama raos, for that matter even the Aishwarya Rais who have invariably transformed the cliches and hackneyed phrases associated with women.
So after a heterogeneous account of today’s “Bhartiya Nari” I finally conclude-
The Gen x woman is no iconoclast , avidly attacking morality . She is someone who has become aware of her needs be it emotional, financial, physical or mental and would do anything to fulfill them. She is no inane creature who makes impotent efforts to improve her plight. She is bold enough to dream and achieve . She knows her accounts and is aware of her feminism. She is out there beaming with beauty to take on a world of opportunities regardless of the clothes she wears , or the relationships she is into.
She is no Sati , no Savitri but the bold and the beautiful.
Ah what a metamorphosis indeed. To think of it is this what women libation is all about. I am in a great fix as to how to define or to do the caricature of “aaj ki Bhartiya nari ” Take the television for example ,the leading soaps of our TV channels –“agle janam mohe bitya hi kijo” “balika vadhu” showcases the harassed and troubled female populace and the above description of women would be descended into faction . Then on a TV commercial of i pills make this notion very capricious. Then a survey that 80% of the women in India are sexually active before marriage surely seems dubious but again causes a serious aberration of my thought process.
To make it more worse there goes an “ITEM GIRL” (with due apologies to our favorite drama queen ) imitating our Sita Maiya
to choose her pati parmeshvar. She says she’s gone back to the archaic days of doing the arduous job of selecting her var.
She took the bold step of dating more than a dozen men in front of the camera and then on selecting one.
She avowed that she is a Bhartiya nari and applied mehndi for three coveted sajnas and then on settled for one not with a mangal sutra but a ring.
If I further exercise my desire to explore the world of misunderstood women of present era , I am again appalled by a completely different bevy of power puffed ladies. Yes it is quite a debate that do the women in power display the boldness and charisma.
There is our honorable first female president who is a complete epitome of “luck by chance” . Her work is subtle and no body is aware of her charisma. Then the UP Chief Minister who has been the butt of of scams and scandals does no further justice. Then comes the efficacy of our Speaker Meira Kumar , well she completely bowls you over. The softness of her voice is no handicap but her ability to negotiate and make peace unveils the untapped power of women.
Then on one is reminded of The Barkha Dutts, The KIran Bedis, The Arundati Roys, The Indira Nooyis , The Kiran Manjumdars, The Sania Mirzas,the Nirupama raos, for that matter even the Aishwarya Rais who have invariably transformed the cliches and hackneyed phrases associated with women.
So after a heterogeneous account of today’s “Bhartiya Nari” I finally conclude-
The Gen x woman is no iconoclast , avidly attacking morality . She is someone who has become aware of her needs be it emotional, financial, physical or mental and would do anything to fulfill them. She is no inane creature who makes impotent efforts to improve her plight. She is bold enough to dream and achieve . She knows her accounts and is aware of her feminism. She is out there beaming with beauty to take on a world of opportunities regardless of the clothes she wears , or the relationships she is into.
She is no Sati , no Savitri but the bold and the beautiful.
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