Behind my smile is everything you will never understand

Farewell

“Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened.”

Great words said by some great human.

Well, here I am referring to my school life. Yes, I am about to complete my 10^th and terminate my school life.

Well, as everybody has, I and my friends also had a farewell party organized by the 9^th grade in collaboration with school. It was a great day for me and also one of the most significant days of my school life.

We planned to play a volleyball match that day- vinayalaya warriors   vs.   Vidya super Six. I belonged to the former. This was I should say my best volleyball match in 15 years (well, that’s my age)! I can never forget it. According to me, it was the highlight of the day, and not to mention my team crushing the adversary!

I mean it wouldn’t have mattered to me if I even lost because I gave in my best. But, after winning the match I was so proud of my team (After all, I only played a teeny-weeny role in the team).

Well, I also had some scary moments during the match when our team captain, who is also my best friend, threw up in the middle of the game (maybe because of the blazing sun. Also, because he was the only one who played the most and was the most determined to win the match (well, that is what makes him a good captain).

Ok, after the match, we had to behold our annual day performances, which I initially thought would be exciting, turned out to be profoundly booooooring! 

If it was not for the chaat that was being served, I would have just slept.

After some time of boredom, my mates played some pop and TRIED to ROCK THE DANCE FLOOR. But, unfortunately it was a fiasco, they were all so shy because of teachers being there (well, you know me, I don’t dance, so I just didn’t mind teachers being there).

After fleeting disco which was a fiasco, 9^th grade dudes organized a kind of a 1-minute speech, which they called a game (Well, according to me it was one of the most frightening games of all time). Well, others enjoyed talking one-minute on the topic they received thru chits.  But, I’m not a great orator and not to mention my phobia of stage speaking! When my turn came, my adrenaline just pumped up at a rate of 100 times faster than normal. I could just speak 1 line that I could devise in my mind and that’s it, I lost my mouth, I could just exhale air outta my mouth! That was the most embarrassing moment that ever happened to me, seriously. L

My friends spoke awesomely in my opinion. Well my brother was to imitate a teacher, and he imitated our history teacher, which was the outstanding! And another one that caught my attention was one classmate’s speech. Well, it caught my attention because she ACTUALLY wept while giving the speech. I was speechless. I was like “Why the heck is she crying?” .It was then that I realized that it wasn’t SOME party, but it was our farewell day.

LOL, but I wasn’t feeling anything, though I have studied there for 4 years and she only for 1 year. All my other friends were kind of feeling emotional, but me…..nil. I didn’t understand it, why wasn’t I feeling anything? Well, I felt guilty for not FEELING anything about leaving my friends. Anyways, I still don’t feel anything (that’s a surprise because I am a sensitive person). Maybe, I am not so deeply in touch with everyone I know. But, I felt a slight sigh when I thought about my Best friend.

After that, my best friend who prepared a farewell speech (a really nerdy beginning by telling the probability of the students in our class meeting or something like that), spoke out and it was actually pretty awesome, though some people were still working on that probability thing. But, he did not give the full speech he has written, he spoke out the remaining speech in private with me and my classmates! Though , the speech was pretty reminiscent because he was studying since the inception of the school, I pretty did not feel the speech because I wasn’t present when he had fun on the roller coaster during primary school!

OK, finally the party was finished and we all departed.

Hey, I forgot to mention the gifts all my classmates have received from the school- a customized vitreous cup with a photo of all the 10^th grade students.

Finally, the most prominent phase of my school life is about to finish!

I don’t know when I’ll meet my friends again, but the fun of a reunion only comes when we departure, doesn’t it?

A goodbye isn't painful unless you're never going to say hello again. 

Life is for Living

 “Life is for Living” – That’s what I’ve learnt over the past few days. Life is not all about studying, studying and studying. It’s about living, that is what’s important.

  Until today, my time-table used to be like “Study-Break-Study-Break-Study-Break-Sleep” But, I think that I’ve understood the need to include some ‘off time’ for doing things just for the pleasure of doing them.

  It’s important to do things that you’ve a real interest in. I was missing that point until now, I hope that isn’t the case anymore. I should find things that give me real joy and work towards doing them.

  ….This is not the ‘amazing post’ that I promised to write in the ‘99^th post’. I’ve decided to put it off until a sunny day.

See ya!

Every win is not a Victory

“Every Win is not a Victory.”

 I was just watching MasterChef(alright. You got me. But, it was only the last few minutes so I just tuned in.) Well, ‘Shannon’ said that. She didn’t exactly say it but she said something similar and I transformed it. Well, it’s been an eye-opener.

‘Every win is not a victory.’ WoW!

  Somebody out of my league may have got more marks than me and won over me in the pre-finals but that person hasn’t achieved victory over me. That person has just won the battle, the war is still on. And, the war starts in 22 hours. I’m glad that I’m finally over my ‘sulking’ mood.

 I’m going to make this a short one because I got to go get started on preparing for my science exam.

  I’m going to take this one up as a real challenge. To be honest, it’s been ages since somebody last challenged me. I’m liking the feel of it J

 Yup! I’m going to study my head-off and I mean it. I’ve got a goal in front of me.

“In victory, the Hero seeks the glory not the prey.”

Life’s not fair.

Life’s not fair. But, I guess you already knew that.

                I’m talking about the volleyball match that we had today. When we needed it the most, we blew it. The students of the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th grade were divided into 2 teams and a match was conducted between them. I got to know later that, the winner would receive their prize on annual day (That just put salt over my wounds :/)

                To be brutally blunt, we lost.

It hurts to be honest. I spent so much time and effort into volleyball, I just don’t think that I deserved losing. I gave it my best shot but I’m afraid that wasn’t enough. Sigh.

                I could blabber on and on about why and how we lost the match but, I think I’ll save it for some other day. Let’s just say that it wasn’t our day. However, that doesn’t take anything away from the opposition, they played well enough to defeat us.

                I made many judgemental errors.  Just like Brutus(in Julius Caesar). Defeat was imminent I guess.

                However, I became wiser at the end of this match. Next time(If there’s going to be a next time), we’re going to put up a much better fight. I really want a re-match but, that isn’t anywhere on the current schedule. I just want another shot at glory and this time, I’m sure that we’ll make it.

                Before I go, don’t forget the eternal words.

Nobody challenges me and lives to tell the tale.

Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar – A multifaceted personality

Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar – A multifaceted personality

                Eight years ago, on a visit to my village with my family, I spotted a statue of a person right in the centre of the village. He was wearing spectacles and was dressed in a suit. I wondered who he was. I looked down at the inscription on the pedestal of the statue. It read “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar”.

That was the very first time I came across Dr. Babsaheb Ambedkar.

Casteism(and untouchability) has been around for thousands of years. People have tried to rebel but none have succeeded in doing so as successfully as Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar. He did so not through ‘fear’ but by appealing to the inner conscience of people. True, it did take time for it settle in the hearts but, the wait was more than worth the blood-shed had a feud taken place.

            History has given us many leaders but only a few have managed to shake the very foundations and be successful. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is definitely one of them.

            His page on Wikipedia lists him as an Indian Jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. That’s enough proof to tell you that he is a multi-faceted personality.

            He is a combination of the best. He has a will of iron like Sardar Vallabhai Patel(The iron man) combined with the power of pushing people into action like Mahatma Gandhi. He fought for his people and not once did he back down and ask himself why he was doing what he was doing. Many people think serving the society as a burden, not him. He believed that serving the people around him was his responsibility.

            Prejudice surprised him. As a child, he didn’t understand why it even existed. How was he different from the others? Why shouldn’t he be treated equally like the others? Why won’t people understand that he was no different from them?

            His childhood is filled with memories that showed him, how deep casteism had dug into the Indian hearts. It was etched into their hearts as though someone/something had soldered it there. Right from not being able to drink water because he wasn’t allowed to touch the water-cups to being shunned by the station master because he was an untouchable.

We might read about those incidents and feel sorry for him. But, in reality, these were the incidents that helped realization dawn on him and mature faster. He realized just how cruel the Hindu idealogy of ‘untouchability’ was.

These incidents didn’t deter him. They didn’t trouble him as they would have troubled others. If anything, they just doubled his determination to put an end to this practice.

He was curious and tried asking others “why?” but their answers never seemed to satisfy him.

It was this endless thirst for knowledge that persuaded him to become what he did. If there was one thing that persuaded him in completing his education, it was the hope that at the end, he’d have answers.

                        His parents played a really important role in his upbringing. Had his father not realized the importance of education, I doubt it if he would have even thought about sending his son, Bhimrao Ramji to school. He even shifted his house to Mumbai on the advice of Bhimrao’s teacher to give him a better education at the Elphinstone High School. He managed to keep his scores and grades high despite the cruel treatment that he was meted out to by his class-mates. In a particular incident, he wasn’t allowed to write on the blackboard because his classmates thought that their lunch-boxes, which were stacked on the other side of the black board would get ‘polluted’.

            He was identified by some organizations who were interested in improving the standards of the society. When he passed his matriculation exam, a big party was held to congratulate on his achievement of being the first to pass this exam from his society.

            Though Bhimrao Ramji was 17 years then and an educated person, he could not voice his opinions against child marriage. He was married to Ramabai a nine-year old girl from the neighbouring town of Dapoli.

            People who take full advantages of the opportunities given to them are the ones who turn out to be most successful. Bhimrao Ramji understood this ‘truth’ of life pretty early in his life and when a chance to go abroad for higher studies came about, he accepted it. This was possible through a scheme of the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad II, which gave a scholarship to some outstanding scholars to study in the United States of America.

            This was a very important stage in Bhimrao Ramji’s life. He went to study at the well-known Columbia University, New York. After years of facing unrelented prejudice in India, he welcomed the freedom and equality he experienced in the United States. Though racism wasn’t extinct, the life he led there was refreshing. No one discriminated him. It was as though he had landed in a land of utopia. It was probably from here that Bhimrao Ramji mustered up the courage to fight casteism in India. He envisioned the life he led in the US for every Indian Dalit.

            While in the university, he could have done anything. There was no one to tell him to do anything but, he chose to study. Eighteen hours a day. This led him to complete his Ph.D. thesis in just 3 years and he received an M.A in two years.

            He then went to the London School of Economics but as fate would have it, his scholarship expired and he had to come back to the state of Baroda.

            He was offered a high post in the Civil Services and held a doctorate. These were despicable days. He once again faced the discrimination because of his caste. No one handed him files or papers, even the peon threw them onto this desk. This gives us an idea of how ‘untouchability’ had become a part of everyone’s heart.

            He had enough of the treatment he was being given here and decided to quit. He managed to obtain the job of a professor of political economy in the Sydenham college of Commerce and Economics, Bombay. He still had this urging desire in him to continue his higher studies. He went to England in 1920 at his own expenses. In the next three years, he managed to get numerous awards and qualified as a Barrister-at-Law.

            He returned to his mother land at the ripe age of 23. He knew however that nothing had changed around him. People didn’t care what his qualifications there. They refused to see the light of the day and continued to treat him as an ‘untouchable’.

            It was then that Bhimrao Ramji felt that the time to do something about it had finally come about. Even though his qualifications meant nothing to other people, he was well respected within the Dalit community. He had received the best education any Dalit in those times could get and hence had the potential to be the leader of the Dalit community.

            He started voicing his opinions and things that he felt should be reformed. One of them was the separate electoral system for the Dalits and other lower castes. He also favored providing reservations for the Dalit and other minority communities. 

            Some incidents have shown his true fearlessness. He believed that justice doesn’t come on it’s own, people must try and secure it for themselves.

            Even though the legislature allowed everyone to use public water, wells and tanks, dalits were still afraid to use them. One such was the Mahad(Raigad, Maharashtra) municipality tank which had opened four years ago but not one ‘untouchable’ had drunk from it. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar led a peaceful procession to the Chowdar tank and became the first ‘untouchable’ to drink from it. This action provided the necessary courage that other’s needed and they drank from it as well.

            He believed in setting an example for others.

                        He was glorified as a hero by thousands of his followers on his return from Bombay after the separate electoral system had been granted.

            However, Mahatma Gandhi opposed it. He believed the Harijans(children of god – Untouchables) and Hindus would never reconcile if this idea went forward. He believed that Hinduism would change and leave the bad practices behind. He began a fast-unto-death.

            Only Babasaheb had a say in this matter. At first, he refused Gandhiji’s plea saying that he was doing what was best for his people but, as the matter prolonged and Gadhiji’s health began failing, he visited him. In subsequent visits and numerous talks, Gandhiji had finally managed to convince Babasaheb Ambedkar that Hinduism would change and leave it’s bad practices behind. Instead of separate electorates, more representation was to be given to the depreesed classes.

            The period between 1935 and 1950 was his prime-life. He was appointed the Principle of the Government Law college, Bombay.

            During the Second World War, he was appointed as the Labour Minister. However, he remained in touch with who he was. He didn’t turn corrupt. He said that he was born poor and his attitude towards people never changed and never would change.

            Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is best known as one of the founding fathers of the constitution.

            All his study in law, economics, and politics made him the best man available for this job. He had to make a constitution for the World’s largest democracy. He stood up to the job and did all the research he could on the constitutions of other countries and a deep knowledge of the law. He had to face this burden alone, he alone could do justice to this task. He didn’t back down by the sheer enormity of the task, instead, he faced it. Head on.

            He said that “Hinduism has only given us insults, misery, and humiliation.” At a Dalit conference in 1935, he said “We have not been able to secure the barest of human rights….I am born a Hindu. I couldn’t help it, but I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu.”

After attending a Buddhist Conference in Srilanka, a few years after the independence, he announced that all ‘oppressed’ people should embrace Buddhism as the way of life. He also said that he was going to devote the rest of his lie to the revival of Buddhism in India.

            For the next 5 years, he carried on a relentless fight against caste discrimination. The battle was half-won when the constitution prohibited the practice of untouchability in India, However, Ambedkar knew that it would take a long-time before it managed to get through the heart of every Indian.

            He embraced Buddhism in 1956 at a public ceremony. He became one with nature just 7 weeks later….

That was the end of the life of one of the most charismatic leaders in the History of India.

            He was one of those who changed the course of history, moved and shook the world. He showed the path the people should follow and occupied a million hearts. People like him don’t come about often but, when they do, they leave such a lasting effect that persists for ages to come. Few people on Earth have managed to cause a paradigm shift like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Even fewer have managed to do it with his tenacity. He was a true leader.

            Men like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar are immortal. They continue to live long after they become one with nature. His memory continues to live in the Dalits who till this date, respect him with all their heart. The coming generations will continue to respect him and cherish his memory.

My Letter to Mark Zuckerberg

Here's a letter that I wrote to  Mark Zuckerberg after I decided to quit from Facebook.
 This one here isn't the best of my letters but I thought, I'll atleast share it so that I can refer it in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am a teenager, this is the time when I have to use my brain for good things.Facebook just wastes my time meeting up with friends and such.In the time that I spend on facebook, I can do a lot more productive things.....Zuckerberg, I really think that by Inventing Facebook, you have done a lot worse to the world than good.You may have brought back old friends together, but you have made friendship into e-friendship.You are the reason why millions of teenagers around the world, waste their time on this rather than using it for the rest of the society.Well, I really think that you should somehow stop us teenagers from spending too much time of facebook.Closing it wouldn't be such a good idea since another clone might crop up but then, you do have the choice of having a tighter leash on Teenagers....Please, to save the world from utter chaos I wish that you do bring about some changes into the currently existing Facebook Scenario.

Yours Sincerely,
Tarun Mondal
(A Teenager)

TRUE EDUCATION GIVEN BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

True Education – Swami Vivekananda

“Education is the manifestation of Perfection already in Man”

“We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.”

“What we want are Western Science coupled with the Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and also Shraddha and faith in ones own self.

These 3 quotations are in my room so I thought that I’ll just write something on them because I am almost out of ideas to write on.

“Education is the manifestation of perfection already in Man” – This quote says that man is already perfect, it is just that he has forgotten to bring it to life. Education thus, helps in regaining this perfection, it sort of wakes it up.

“We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.”—This quote is self-explanatory and I do not find any reason to expand it.

“What we want are Western Science coupled with the Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and also Shraddha and faith in one’s own self” – Let me start off by telling you that this quotation might have a grammatical mistake. At the very start, I feel like “are” mustn’t be used, instead of it, “is” must be used. I don’t know why, everytime I read it, my thought goes to that. Anyways, keeping that aside…The quotation is self-explanatory again.