Sunday, October 17, 2010

GUEST POST BY SHUBHO DEY

 This is my first guest post. It's a post by my friend shubho dey i knew him from my tuition, he is also a blogger and has a blog  named shubho's blog.
He asked me few day's back if he could do a guest post on my blog I would request you all to read and do leave a comment for the boy... so here over to shubho....


TITLE: SOMETIMES... ANGELS TOO NEED HELP!!
Hello everyone and a very happy Durga Puja to all. This is my first guest blog on Anki’s blog.  I am going to share an experience that has touched me deeply. Durga Puja is one of the most awaited festivals of India. On the eve of Asthami (8th day of the festival)
I was out with my friends and celebrating. We were enjoying, laughing and racing on our bikes; breaking as many traffic rules as possible.
 We stopped next to a food stall for some snacks. We were having the time of our lives and everything looked just perfect.  Until my eyes fell upon a small kid. He was very cute and must have been 5-6yrs old. He was helping his father at the stall. His job was to wash the plates and serve the customers. There was a sad look on that boy’s face which nobody happened to notice in that crowd.
I tried to look away but then but things became worse. I looked on the road and saw many children walking with their families. Few of them looked at the stalls but their parents could not afford such luxuries for them. Many were not properly dressed. They looked tired and exhausted yet amazed by the glitz and glamor in of the decorations throughout the city.
I turned back at the kid. I felt sorry for him. Thoughts were racing through my mind. Maybe he doesn’t even realize that he is missing his childhood. Maybe he is okay with his poor situation. Maybe he is so poor that he doesn’t even know what luxuries are. Or maybe his innocent mind has yet not learned to differentiate between rich and poor.
Or maybe he knows everything but is helpless and silently accepted his fate.
I couldn’t do anything for that boy. So am I helpless or have I become selfish. Or have we accepted that not everybody could be taken care of.
Everybody is supposed to enjoy during the festivals.
Then why are these kids not doing what I used to do at his age?
 Why aren’t they roaming about with a careless smile on their face?
 Where’s their ice cream?
Why didn’t they wear new clothes?
 Why are they walking miles instead of sitting inside their car?
 Why doesn’t somebody do something about it??
I am still trying to figure out the answers. It’s easy to forget these questions but not so easy to forget those eyes.



Friday, October 15, 2010

water : a privilege

on the eve of the world blog action day 2010..  here's my post on water..!!


WATER (H2O)  .. well i would be exaggerating if i start on with the importance of water in our lives...!!!
but we all are a part of the intricate balance of our nature /environment...and yes it,s our need to save water. here are some ways which we could do at our home to save water on an individual level
1. don't leave the tap on while brushing
2. try taking a shower rather than bath.. takes less time...
3. save the water that you have used to wash vegetables and put it in your plants
4. washing machine takes less water 4 washing..!!
5 if u have some water left in your glass after drinking then put it in a plant rather than put it in sink
6. if your house,society can have rain water harvester ... that will be awesome
 all these are some of the things  that we can all do on an individual level to save water..!!
till the n stay healthy and happy.........

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

ME,....I ...and....MYSELF : CHILDHOOD PART I

After my award, *applause*….. (Coming down)……!!!!

I took a long *flashback* through my blog posts and thought
, “man it seems to be written by some self opinionated 30 something teacher”

And that is… aha not happening ….!!!!
 I have kept my blog theme to be life of a student and written only a Lil piece about my life……


So now it’s time readers to get up close and ACADEMIC with Akanksha Singh Gaur. (Yes that‘s my full name but now my we do not use Gaur, it just came out as my enthusiasm!!!)

 I would be doing a series of blog posts somewhat like a mini biography or diary to let every one know about me… hopefully you will enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing and also living it!!!!!




DATED: 21 JUNE 1991 AD   TIME: 2:44 AM       DAY: FRIDAY   PLACE: JAMMU

Akanksha Singh fell from heaven straight into the nurse’s lap (technically,) first  and vis-à-vis to her parents .This was the first and the last child my parents had ,after  experiencing “Akanksha Singh” they were not in the position to have the repeat telecast. The world would have been a better place if there had been more like me…. Never mind!!!


DATED:  APRIL 1993 A.D        TIME: MORNING***     DAY:???                             PLACE: JAMMU                 AGE: 2 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS   
 
 Supposed to be my first day at school but I don’t have memory of this day!!!! My mother taught in the same school… so she became “MAM/ MISS” in campus and “MOM” off-campus



NOW …..Cut to:
DATED: AROUND 1994 AD           TIME:??:??          DAY:????      
PLACE: JAMMU (phew!!! I knew this)     AGE: 3             CLASS: JUST PROMOTED TO LKG

Disclaimer; I don’t have memories of these incidents. These were narrated to me by my parents. These are a series of true events.


My first nick name was “gulu” ,( DON’T LAUGH) and suddenly there had come a new tailor ji named *gulu*( YEAH OK LAUGH!!!)   in our colony,…………..
 My mum‘s immediate ninja move: nick name changed to Anki
Which also happens to be the nick name of my 4th cousin brother, 
( named ankur), but that doesn’t bug my parents as he is my brother, when we are both together in the same room we are referred as male/female ankiz , **bugzzz me**

 so ahemm  coming back to the D-DAY , my papa had noticed that I had maintained a strange kind of an attraction toward our old soon-to-be-disowned black and white tv , I would (figuratively, of course) go inside the TV set to watch my favorite sitcom, then Hum Paanch. So he guessed may be I should see an ophthalmologist (eye doctor). The doctor one of the best in our city hid a great laugh seeing a 3yr old patient. He handed me over to a junior/intern/still a student/ probably first case/ person and started chatting with my father..  Then he or was it she?? Never mind, checked my eye sight “minus 5” was the answer!!!
 So this junior/intern/still a student/ probably first case/ person were shocked he hadn’t seen this in his entire medical career.. Really he might not have!!!
This junior/intern/still a student/ probably first case person goes to his senior to come and recheck now… that nearly senior/a little more experienced than the junior/intern/still a student/ probably first case/ person comes with the same answer minus 5. So in this way they all go to their respective seniors, when finally the case comes to the doctor who had laughed.. And BINGO he also got the same answer.

Conclusion: I started wearing specs/glasses!!!

Reactions:
*   Mom and dad .. : shattered.

Papa took a 2 day holiday from office made an ayurvedic medicine, the recipe given by some vaidya ji (ayurvedic doctor) which tasted like sand but had reduced my power from minus 5 to minus 2 in a span of 4 years but I couldn’t continue it…. It tasted horrible!!!

*   Others : shocked

*   My classmates: what is that on your face????
                                  : “my granny wears these” LOL

*   The notorious kid in my class: “see mum she tops in our class and she wears glasses, if I top I’ll also have to wear glasses, like her!!!”

    

 DATED: 1996                   TIME, DAY-????? CHUCK IT!!
   PLACE: JAMMU              AGE: 4

My first appearance on stage:………………………………..DISASTER!!

I was asked to recite a poem.. And I forgot the poem……………………


Same year…



Me: (sadly) L:  my eldest tau ji expired!( though  I had never met him)

Friend (aged 3 and confused):  what’s tau ji??(She was Kashmiri, never knew Hindi words)

Me: my dad’s elder brother, he expired!!

Friend: expired????!!!! Wow that’s nice!!

Me (glaring): he died, stupid!!!

Friend: ohh I am very sorry….!!!


DATED: 1996 AD                AGE: 5

CLASS: UKG

Middle of the year…

I came to school with plastic rose flower to give it to my class teacher (to impress her, I was a teacher’s pet.)  

… But she was not there .. Instead it was my mum.. She was my new teacher ,so I gave the flower to her, but at the end of day I took it back from her telling her that it was for my former teacher.. !!!

Same year….

My friends broke up with me because I had brought eggs in my Tiffin to school and  they were pure veggies.. So to them  I became an animal-eating,  most insensitive human being on the face of earth… I cried and went up to my mom/teacher as daughter/student she somehow made the others to make up with me……


*merits of having mum as your teacher*
*All my mom students had known that, I was her daughter so they would
Come to me and pamper me in order to be in good books of my mum…..

 *I always got my mother’s share of chocolates too whenever there was a b’day of any student in school

DATED: APRIL 1997 A.D           AGE: 5 GOING ON 6 
CLASS: PROMOTED TO CLASS I



Bye bye- Jammu…. Adieu… I miss you….. Till today ………….

Welcome Patna………!!!!!



So how did you all like it???... .Please do comment that’s my fuel…

Stay tuned for more posts like these this was the first one…... it’s more to come!!!

Monday, October 11, 2010

MY FIRST AWARD..................!!!!!!!!!!!


heyy this my first ever award. this was given to me by gaelikaa thank you. she is herself a great writer and yes i have already told her, even before i started reading her blog, that she should consider her writing professionally. so as per the custom i have to write 8 things about me...

1. I  have been wearing specs since i was 3 years old and i still wear it.
2. i want to go to Srinagar with my parents. Srinagar is a hill station in north of india. my parents lived there were for like 8years(it could have been my birth place) but they had to run away due to terrorists attacks. i was born after this experience.it still remains the most disturbed and the most beautiful place on earth. i want my parents to take me there and show me places.
3. I have had more than dozen crushes and none of them knows i had a crush on them <3
4. when i was in 7th std i wanted to be a DON,like underworld DON or MAFIA.
5. i cried like baby in the movie  P.S. I LOVE YOU
6. i am lousy at household chores
7. i am a trained classical bharatnatyam dancer and a trained classical singer.
8. I want to ride a tractor.(maybe i'll do it when i'll go to my village)




thankyou one and all !!!


now i would like to pass on this to shubo's blog

and Ramana's Musings




Wednesday, October 6, 2010

THE UNEXPRESSIVE INDIANS..



It’s been long since blogging. As I posted earlier my mom had been unwell, and yes I was very tensed these last few weeks….the situation at home is pretty ok now thanks to all your wishes.

These few weeks me and my dad are attending college and office respectively on alternative days, since we can’t leave my mother home alone. Thus either of us had to stay home. I don’t mind missing college but we have a lot of attendance issues in our college so I have to go.  Today I came back early.. our classes had been suspended because of the death of the formal principle of our college (may she rest in peace) as I came back early I could stay and my father could  run to his work . Mother was asleep in the afternoon.. so I switched on the television.. it had been a really long time since I had watched television in afternoon … as of my college and tuition.

I sat and watched a rerun of “Koffee With Karan”, it’s basically a chat show.. in which karan (a hot shot Indian film director) calls celbs for a coffee and has a     te`te` - a - te`te` with them.. this episode’s guest was Richard Gere.
Umm.. so he was not here to talk about his movies or bollywood for a matter of fact bit his main focus was on the socio-economic demography of India and of his causes such as fighting against AIDS etc. in india

He pointed one really strong point…
“ Indians are not some one who speaks their mind.. they are scared, for whatever reasons”…

 He so, nailed it.. right on bull’s eye! We all say it’s our culture .. that we are not supposed to question our elders and blah blah blah stuff bull shit ….. actually we Indians lack the skill of expression infact Today’s generation is considered manner less.. as most of them speak back to their elders .
 I remember, when I was in school I had certain friends who made regular trips to the principle’s office for the wrong reasons.. sometimes they were called even if it was not their fault and brutally scolded just for the fact that she(my principle) thought that they were trying to cause trouble. They had gaven me  “gyan”(lesson) that if I ever come around such situation (which I did a few times) “never speak back”  even if you are not guilty, if you try explaining or spoke back things can get worse  like suspension and parents being unnecessarily called and harassed . I was sometimes called for silly thing too but I followed their teachings and yes I was saved.
The same situation prevails  in my college too.. but then I was a kid and now I am an adult, I don’t like to be called and scolded for silly things such as not wearing my ID  card etc. but I can’t say or do anything just listen say sorry and leave silently pretending I am sorry when I don’t really care…the circumstances make me hypocrite and which is not who I am..!!

We are not allowed to speak anything against the rules or authority and that applies to almost all of India.. My father’s take on this, “what can you expect from a country which has been almost enslaved for 200 years by Britishers and before that by Arabs and tughulaqs.”


India’s expression is still regaining though at a very slow rate. The divorce rates have risen in India as women are now retaliating against domestic and any such injustice done against them. Gay people are asking for their rights... even some males are coming forward with their complaint against molestation done to them... by females at higher authority…
Even Da vinci actually never said anything but his work and art said it all, that was one clever way of expression though he did got into trouble… but we all can’t  and are not like him…even he never really achieved so to say anything much, in his life time  for his genius work, he was somebody who thought ahead of his time and thus unaccepted.
Even Mira bai, the  female saint who fell in love with lord Krishna, was one of a hell society rule breaker. It’s said that lord Krishna had appeared to her or in real words gave her darshan ie, met her . she really went through a lot only for the love of lord..
Gandhi ji went to jail for creating salt(the famous dandi march) . 
But we are simple, average human beings not Gandhi, Mira bai or vinci for that matter.

The most difficult but the most guaranteed path for success is “being yourself in the world” as easy as it sounds it’s much more difficult esp. for those who are different. I think we all are different in some way or other but it’s just that some of us express our self some just stay back. A proper communication is essentially important for the success in any work...

The emphasis on this issue is becoming a more important case to be thought... but till then I and many other people like me will have to remain hypocrites.