Bye Bye, Orthodox

So, today was the first day of college. And let me just start off by saying that my college is one of those blessed ones with an amazing faculty. I mean, it isn’t a normal college where a professor comes into class, gives a bunch of knowledge and leaves. Instead, we’re encouraged to participate, to voice our opinions and also recommended to not form opinions based on other people’s beliefs. With these kinds of thoughts, we were introduced to an Environment Education class.

The lecture lasted for one and a half hours and during it, not one minute was spent in reading from a textbook. Heck, we didn’t even have a textbook. Instead, half an hour into the class, we were asked to form groups and pictographically represent on charts what we thought was the reason for the conditions of the environment today.

The second lecture was a bit more interesting than the first one (I mean, Environmental Education is good, but it can be only so good. It’s too monotonous!). Post-lunch was the elective session (in Liberal Arts, you get to choose a couple of electives to study with your core subjects, thus combining different subjects from different streams). We were given an introduction to law, the constitution and intellectual property rights. Again, there were no textbooks. The professor just kept asking us questions in order to get us to say the right answers and also showed us a couple of videos to explain more on the subjects.

When I think about my previous twelve years of studying, I remember the hefty textbooks, the blank mugging late into the night and the likes. My friends who joined the not-so-modern-thinking courses such as medicine or commerce are still undergoing the same routine, whereas, I have been introduced to a new approach to the whole teaching and learning experience, which makes studying so much more fun and interesting.

What I wonder, is that, when is everybody going to adopt this new methodology and start making a student’s life easier. I don’t want this to happen only because I’m a student. Obviously, it’ll be a lot more fun as a teacher too, to start interacting with students and exchanging ideas and basically reviving the spirit of knowledge for learning and not passing exams. That way, wouldn’t our country, or even the world, make more progress?

Obviously, it’s a very idealistic thought and is very difficult to implement. Both students and teachers are hardly interested in carrying out their respective duties because they’re only doing it for the money and society status. But aren’t courses like Liberal Arts recognised in the world? Aren’t there so many colleges offering such kind of courses? There also are so many teachers and students teaching and studying because they have a passion for it. Why can’t this kind of thing be encouraged? Why do we still want to be stuck in this orthodox thinking?

Take a step yourself and start studying the things you love, even if it wouldn’t pay a lot. Encourage your teachers who you think seem different from the rest to engage and interact during lectures. Do it, if not to help the world by embracing this most imminent change, but because it is some serious fun. Go!

Brrr, it's cold!

So finally, I’ve arrived at Pune and at my college.

The first thing I noticed?

It is *cold* here.

Actually, it isn’t that cold for a lot of people, because it’s only 26 degrees most of the time. But for people coming from the humid city of Mumbai, it’s a little cooler than what they’re used to. They tend to keep the fans off and avoid opening windows and God forbid air conditioned rooms!

But the main problem starts when they have roommates who’re used to this climate and might even find it “hot”.  Ceiling fans aren’t designed to give air in a certain direction, unless ‘everywhere’ can be a direction and of course, the people who are feeling hot will switch on the fan without being so considerate of the other party that's feeling cold. And so, people from Mumbai often find themselves freezing under their thin bedsheets which they thought could double as a blanket because they figured, “You know, it’s just Pune, not Shimla!” and decided to leave behind the fluffy comforter which could’ve easily saved the borrowing of bedsheets and pairs of socks from other people.

Apart from the weather, there are other such anomalies in the city that was so presumed as the ‘Shadow of Mumbai.’ For instance, rickshaw valas pretty much anywhere in the city can just decide to switch off the meter and demand any amount of money from the passenger. General stores are closed on Thursdays and on other days, do not stay open beyond ten. There is no concept of a 24 hour medical store (at least in the part of the city I’m living in). People don’t have any qualms in driving on the wrong side of the road. PMT, short for Pune Municipal Transport, is a fleet of the oldest buses known to mankind and is driven at 60 kmph even in two-way lanes without dividers. Airtel users cannot get decent network in 85% of the places. And, most importantly, somehow, you always manage to wake up by eight in the morning irrespective of the time you slept the night before, even if you’re still sleepy.

Adjusting to such a different lifestyle than my previous is definitely proving itself to be a task. Having lived in a place where everything you could possibly need or want was either at a stone’s throw distance from your house, or was easily accessible because of the various options of regular and systematic public transport, it is difficult to suddenly start living like, well, *this*. Curfews were something that I knew existed, but hadn’t followed until now. Budgets were just terms used by the financial minister or school trustees, but now, it was the word that defined the limit on the money I could spend every month. I have to actually plan my entire day around the timings of the hostel mess, failing which, I either have to go to a restaurant to eat, or not eat at all. Good lord, I actually have to wash and iron my own clothes, unless I’m ready to pay 30 bucks a shirt/jeans!

With so many changes has been my welcome to the city of Pune.

And I’m getting carried away in everything so hard, I actually don’t even know what I think about it.

Hoping to survive the next few weeks without having a nervous breakdown…

Ch-Ch-Changes!

Last week, on the 2^nd of June, I had a GD/PI scheduled as part of the application procedure for a college offering Liberal Studies under a prestigious university in the student hub of India, Pune. Both the GD and PI went exceedingly well and on the day of the results, I found out that I had been accepted as a student in the university.

The deadline for the submission of all forms and documents has been posted as the 15^th of June, which means that my father and I will have to do some really quick work and get everything in place, which includes my 10^th and 12^th Board marksheets, pass certificates, leaving certificates, migration certificates (required for changing the university under which I was studying in my junior college to the university under which my senior college is), ID proofs etc, etc. Apart from that, we have to go visit the campus to confirm my lodgings at the campus hostel and also fill the admission forms there. Wow, that is some work right there.

To make matters worse, my father is moving to Ahmedabad because he got transferred there and he joins on the 13^th. And since my younger sister has school (she’s in 10^th now), my mother can’t afford to help me out because she has to manage the house and my sister’s lunch boxes. So, my father and I have to finish the work as soon as possible, which means in two days.

I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m going off to college. Heck, I can’t believe I got selected out of 500-odd students who applied for the 60 seats available. I’m gonna be studying a much in-demand course and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do because I just couldn’t decide whether to go in Arts, Commerce or Science. I mean, I wanted to be able to study Psychology, Biology, English, History, Physics and Math and also continue Music, Dancing and Photography as my Extra-Curricular activities and Liberal Studies allows me that!

But, in spite of facing the heat, what with the whole admission procedure and choosing subjects and majors/minors, somehow I can’t acknowledge that I got in. yes, when somebody asks me where I’m going for college, I can say the name. But somehow, it is emotionally not registering. In fact, a small part of me thinks that they’re going to drag me back to junior college, saying that I failed my 12^th Boards!

Everybody around me is talking about hostels and college life and managing a monthly pocket money and getting the stuff I’ll require such as new clothes, a cell phone, a laptop and perhaps even a two/four wheeler. And here I am, typing away in a frenzy, half afraid that all this is just a dream.

Well, I hope it’s not just a dream. Or, even if it is, I wanna see how it ends and not wake up before the good parts even start (don’t you hate it when that happens?)

Anyway, I better sleep now, because there’s a lot to do and I have less than six hours to sleep before starting to run around to secure my admission.

But before that, I’m gonna make myself a nice glass of milk flavoured with Mapro’s Mango flavour concentrate and sing,

Turn and face the strain
(Ch-ch-Changes!)

In case you don’t know (which is such a shame), the song is David Bowie’s Changes.

And everybody else who’s also starting college this year, I wish you a rocking college life and lots of parties and college fests ^_^

Some Original Thinking

While speaking of my transition from a junior college student to a senior college student, one thing that I’m currently undergoing is the competitive examinations. And let me tell you that they’re ample and annoying.

Well, in my case they are ample because I’m giving a lot of exams. From Engineering to Arts, the only exam I’ve not given is CPT for the CA entrance and the IIT-JEE. But I’ve covered pretty much everything else.

One thing I have realized in giving these exams is that they truly cannot gauge one’s aptitude for a subject. I saw this picture on Facebook in which a man sitting at a desk proclaimed to a zoo of animals, “To decide which the best animal is, we have arranged for a simple task as the examination – all of you must scale the tree behind me.” The comedy of the cartoon was in the fact that there were elephants and rhinos in the crowd of animals.

What defines an aptitude gauge for a student seeking admission? Is it just the Board and competitive exam marks? Or must the government see beyond those answer sheets and take a look at a student’s personality, his intelligence?

A relative in my family was talking about her neighbour. “Brilliant guy. He topped the CAT entrance and knew every concept in Business Administration. But he scored 56% in his 12^th Boards and failed his university exams. They chucked him out of the college without another word.”

Have grades overridden intelligence? Have textbooks replaced intellect? More importantly, do we even need intellect these days? It just takes a little bit of hard work, a little bit of luck, an attitude to accept rules without a thought and lots of money to get us admitted to tuition classes that can teach us everything we need to know about tackling entrance scenarios from an entrance exam to a personal interview. However, it takes less intelligence and more rote learning. It is often not a representation of what our point of views may be; it is a representation of what our point of views are meant to be.

I do not oppose people conforming to thinking within the box and not wondering beyond what we aren’t supposed to know, even if, for the sake of maintaining the rules and regulations of the organization we’re affiliated to avoid anarchy and annihilation of hierarchy. But does that mean squashing our one true gift given by God – freedom of thought? What difference is between man and other animals, apart from a conscience and an ability to think? I’m not trying to encourage stupid daydreaming or hatching plots to cause disruption on any scale. I’m simply telling people to achieve their life’s goals by doing some thinking on their own.

There was a time when people studied at night after working during the day. They had no help to get them through. But these days, with the opening of a plethora of tuition classes for every subject imaginable, the procedure of getting into the industry has been made an industry. And the universal, or rather, sole method of getting around in this industry is money. Apparently, the colour green doesn’t just allow cars to proceed; it also clears the way for you in a traffic jam of people.

Today as I sit in meditation of the exams I have recently given, a small fact makes me proud – that I studied for these exams on my own. How I have fared is something I don’t know as of now, but at least, the results are consequence of my hard work and not the spending of big bucks that are proof of my parents’ hard work.

The Conundrum of the Cell Phone

With the completion of yet another academic year come changes. These changes can include obvious things such as curriculum, classrooms and calendar schedules, and some uncommon ones such as change in friends’ circle, college and even food favourites. But the most imminent one, especially for someone with a non-Qwerty keypad, without a chat messenger, typical dabba phone is – getting a BlackBerry.

Well, that’s the most widespread choice of brand so that’s the one I’m going to talk about.

With those new commercials, especially the one featuring men dressed in corporate suits singing glee, a BB has really become a collegiate essential. I’m not talking about a BB being a social necessity (although, it is part of the reason why a BB is essential). Most people stay connected on BBM, or the BlackBerry Messenger, throughout the day. Yes, WhatsApp is a cheaper replacement for non-BBs but somehow, it isn’t as glorified as BBM.

People buy BBs because mostly everybody else has one. The whole idea is to get your entire world on one platform.

Also, while you can use WhatsApp on BBs, you can’t have BBM on a non-BB. So, a BB is doubly advantageous.

But, the whole dilemma arises on two counts – one, when you have to leave the phone and study and two, when the bill comes. Neither count is particularly pleasant, I’ve been told.

But the joy of being in the loop, of knowing what you might have missed out on, of getting those kinds of instant updates that Facebook could never give (but you do have an app for your notifications on the BB), sharing your sentiments and emoticons? They make it seem worth the trouble!

Right now, I have a phone (no WhatsApp, no Facebook) which perfectly caters to my needs of 24/7 music, texting and calling. A new academic year at a new college with new people in a new city slowly approaches. Is a BB a good idea? I wonder.

Introduction

To say that the people of my generation (I’m talking about the people in the 16-22 years age category) are about to make a change that will completely modify the world is a true statement. Of course, our generation consists of people who are so evidently different from their old school parents and other elders and so, naturally, there is enough reason to expect an alteration in the ways of the world in the times to come. It sounds so grand, when one dreams of being freed of the orthodox bonds of the old world to embrace the magnificent ‘New Age’ or the ‘Free World’. It’s the most ardent desire of a lot of people to experience such an enriching and livening concept.

However, the problem arises when one questions the nature of the change itself. That, a change is going to happen is imminent, but whether the change will be good or bad is what puts the elders in a dilemma. They want the change to be good. They want our generation to preserve whatever good they’ve done and also to expand the empire of goodness so that the next generation benefits from it. So, to ensure that we don’t forget what they want us to do, they keep hollering at us to be good at our studies/job/society roles/extra curricular activities et cetera et cetera while we learn to be neat and tidy, to be nicer to our younger/older sibling, to be respectful to every single family member irrespective of whether or not we like them, to do house chores which often involve the pet animal’s morning chores (this is just as descriptive as I will get regarding this particular chore) et cetera et cetera. Whew. It’s just too many et ceteras to handle.

As if the elder generation problem wasn’t big enough to handle, we teens face another problem – handling our social lives. College life is no joke, especially when there are hundreds vying for the same things – popularity, top grades and even dates. And I am one of the countless who’s stuck in the rat race.

And so, I present to you the experiences in my life. It might be a lot like a general teenage life, but there are things which are very different, too – things that have taught me a lot and kicked me into better shape to face the world.

At least I think so.

I hope so.