The Identity Crisis

We are living in a world where people are more desperate than ever in making their identity felt. When the competition becomes fierce it definitely leads to a crisis & that is what an identity crisis. Quite contrasting to it was the first & the final letter of Rohith where he says their identity has been reduced to a vote, a mere number. I therefore think it makes sense to write on the reasons of this identity crisis.

1.       CASTE SYSTEM:

                            The most resounding background for an identity crisis is the separation of some people on the basis of caste. It is very well known that all persons are born with a heart, 2 hands, 2 kidneys, a brain etc. Both internally & externally, the composition remains same. God never made a discrimination, did he? No, a big No. When will we as humans with highest education understand this simple truth? We stand no right to reserve ourselves a place in heaven if we continue to ignore this simple fact that all are equal irrespective of their caste, creed & gender. How can one be a proud Indian when one discriminates one’s own countrymen. Reservation therefore is an act of separating people as reserved contrary to the very purpose of equality. Although reservation may provide with job opportunities & representation but who will ensure the respect & participation of the so called backward classes in the mainstream?

                                                Today people still disregard the backward castes & harijans in spite of their representation at every walk of life. So overall the situation remains more or less the same with only a fraction of them managing to live with better standard of living & therefore continuing to take advantage of the reservation policy, the larger part still distant from the mainstream. The social harmony therefore hasn’t improved much since independence. The harijans continue to face the perils of the caste system & upper caste has refused to give away their casteist ideology. The devil being an orthodox thinking. To change this we need to work from the school level only, inculcating love , brotherhood, unbiased outlook & more importantly participatory enthusiasm. To remove casteism out of the society we need to overlap it with much aspects of love, fraternity & respect to all. Probably doing way with surnames  will do some good & the better way of is to put your father or mother’s name as surname so that one may be remembered by one’s parents’ name. The much larger vision would be to make India the biggest religion of all adopting all good things of all religions & boycotting the social enigmas prevalent in our society much like sati, dowry. Let us make India the sea where all caste, religion come & become one. Let  it be the first religion for all Indians doing away with caste bigotry.

2.       ECONOMIC DISPARITY:

                                      This when coupled with caste discrimination attracts heavy identity crisis. While we see some economically & politically strong families from Harijans & backward classes finding acceptability  in society, most oppressed people come of from the economically weaker sections & that too from the backward & harijan sections. These are people who find it difficult to make both their ends meet. Their identity is in danger. So basically after freedom, the Haves have continued to oppress the have-nots. Why is this disparity so high? It is because we Indians have never seriously wanted to uplift them & often pretended to be their godfathers in turn filling our pockets. Their identity is no more than a vote. Isn’t the government equally responsible for it as the haves are? The haves have mostly taken all the benefits meant for the economically weaker sections of the society illegally. Be it scholarships, merit schemes, ration cards, subsidies, land allotment etc. Fake affidavits & income certificates have often defied the rightful their place. We Indians love loopholes. We can built a palace out of it. Shame on all of those who have contributed to the poor’ identity crisis. The recent Panama papers revealed 612 Indians having their illegal firms based at tax havens, thereby denying the poor the tax money which would have helped the govt to improve the standard of living of the poor.

                             Why does it happen that we bargain heavily with the local vegetable vendor but not at malls & other outlets. The poor vegetable vendor has no other options to sell it otherwise he will be at loss, therefore he reduces his profit so that his children may not sleep without food. On the other hand, people pay whatever being charged by the outlet owners without bargaining because it can dent their social identity. This is how we are wrong at the right place. It leads to economic disparity leading to another identity crisis.

3  WESTERN MINDSET:

                               This one is the latest in creating an identity crisis. The younger generation with the advent of internet & social networking, are more influenced by the west & western culture. Their dressing sense, hair style, outlook etc are heavily attracted by the west, on the bargain leaving our cultural values wanting. This has often led to a friction between the older generation & the younger generation. Although there is nothing much alarming about this identity clash but at the backdrop of it is our commitment towards the country. Like for example many Indians find it disrespecting to talk in Hindi. Some find it very embarrassing touching feet of the elders. Some consider Hindi speaking, ethnic dress wearing as inferior Indians. To everybody’s surprise the young educated Indians also have inherited the racial discrimination from the west, especially towards the North East Indians. What use is this education if it cannot open one’s eyes about the reality of life. So the question is, are we becoming blinder to the realities of life while inheriting the western traditions.  Why do we compromise our sense of being Indians when dealing with the west.

4.GENDER DISCRIMINATION:

                                          Men & women are created equal. Like every action has a reaction so with every man there is a woman thereby balancing the system. So every women & men have equal rights.  Any system with unequal weights would lead to an unbalanced system & we all know that unequal system results in collapse. Therefore it is imperative for us to consider women & men as equals. It is time when we overcome our patriarchal ideology to make way for much liberal thinking based on reasoning & logic rather than on social dogmas. The rising no of cases against women is the resultant of this gender identity crisis where in spite of knowing the science of equality, men continue to ignore it by suppressing the women. Our patriarchal society is not able to digest the emergence of women as an equal force & therefore leads to a crisis. The recent cases of Sabrimala, Shani Mahadev temple, Hazi Ali Dargah, triple talaq etc are the live example of a bitter crisis in the name of gender which our constitution has out righty discarded. It is time we open our eyes & accept the identity of women as an equal force.

5.       SELF PROCLAIMED NATIONALISM:

                                                     Recently there has been a trend of becoming self proclaimed nationalists. The only test to pass to become a self proclaimed nationalist is to hold up the Indian flag chanting the slogan of Bharat Mata ki Jai. Any hypocrite may find this way easier of proclaiming nationalism. After all is just an act & hypocrites are masters in acting.  Rest who may not act so well may be called anti-nationals & arrangement for their way to other countries are made by them. A big joke, very insane. This is an identity crisis.

             Those who call themselves Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian etc first before being an Indian are the biggest bigots & hypocrite. Questioning somebody’s integrity towards the nation is unwarranted, because as a friend in need is a friend indeed similarly the Indian in crisis  is Indian indeed. During crisis the hypocrites will be the first to run away. Therefore do not become self proclaimed nationalists & do not question anybody’s  integrity as a crisis only will better tell. Do not create an IDENTITY CRISIS.

( Opinions are personal & not directed at any individual).

                                           

                                               

The Art of Parenting

We have been witnessing a lot of change in the world we live in, the pace of which has increased quite a lot in the recent years. We have read in our history books about the great revolutions of Russia, France & more importantly our own struggle for freedom. All of them being single best transformation for the whole country. After independence India saw Green Revolution as well as White Revolution which significantly impacted our growth. Next was the much rated LPG abbreviated for Liberalization Privatization & Globalization. All these were a story of yester years. For my generation the biggest transformation was the evolution of cellphones followed by internet & social networking, witnessing their growth till date from a very nascent stage. The biggest taker of all these in Indian context is the middle class resulting in classifying the section into two broad categories the upper middle class & the lower middle class. The upper middle class are the one who availed themselves all the advantages of the technological advancement the country has made & thus form a large percentage of Indian population. The younger generation lives a lavish lifestyle than their parent generation in terms of food habits, dressing, social order etc. This has given way to a new cultural evolution which might not be as perceptible as the no. of cars on Indian roads. But seriously one biggest change due to this new cultural evolution is the change in the upbringing of a child in an upper middle class family in India.

                                                     Working long hours for both partners has become a norm in India. In such a case they are left with very little quality time for their children. Like any deficiency of proteins & vitamins leads to some disease, future India seems heading to a blight. A very popular ad on television where a child manually changes the time on a clock very much sums up the gravity of the situation. The art of parenting is loosing its sheen. Although economically they must be ensuring them good schooling & comfort but morally a child isn't developing. In earlier days for most children their role models happen to be their parents. Parents crafted their children's lives. Each & every manner reflecting the impression of their parents in their lives. Much has changed now. Today parents try to offset the lack of quality time spent with their children by buying them whatever they yearn for therby loosing control of their lives. Children have the ability to pick up things quickly not knowing what is right & what is wrong. Yesterday when i was halting at a traffic red light, I saw a couple with their 2 children racing past me. Now what a lesson are they trying to teach their children! The are numerous things that a child learns from his/her parents. Unknowingly or knowingly any time we compromise on moral values we are teaching our future generation a bad lesson. Unfortunately many of us are so busy with our work that we knowingly ignore the good practices of life. Don't you think this spells a danger for our country which has so many issues to deal with? How can things change if we become so irresponsible to our children forget anybody else. A small act of kindness has become such a rare commodity that it receives thousands of likes on Fb. The younger generation probably exsists on social networking sites only.

                                                    The basic art of Parenting includes giving time to children, telling them what is right & what is wrong, talking to them, understanding them & therby take better decisions for them, imbibing in them the moral values of discipline, honesty, humbleness, respecting people, showing gratitude, helping others, standing against injustice etc etc. A dialogue between parents & children is the most important bond that keeps them together. Unfortunately the bond is weakening day by day. The whole effort seems to be on building the bank balance for a better future of their children. What use is that future when the present seems to be in a lurch. The today's parents can very well take a leaf out of their parents' life to master the 'Art of Parenting'.

Comments are invited.

My Idea Of India

Every Indian has his/her own idea of India. Every idea that sees their country being the epitome in all fields. So it is our own responsibility to make our idea a reality & thereby perform our fundamental duties well. Well my idea of India starts with the fundamental. The foundation of a structure is the biggest strength of it. Similarly our nation has a strong foundation but there has been a deliberate attempt to weaken it in recent days.

                                                          One of the strongest pillars of the nation is education. Today with every passing day the moral values are on the wane as a result the duties we are ought to perform has ceased to happen. Pluralistic society of ours has been taken over by individualistic society & the friction between them is hurting the proud soul of our motherland. So education has a very important role to play.When it comes to education the whole system involved in it has to make a call.In the recent times educational institutions have been involved in a competition of showing off. & whenever there is a showoff only the outer layer of the structure seems lightened up much like us humans who dress well clothes but not ideas. The competition for name & fame has left the foundation take the digging & recent incidences happening across the schools throughout the nation testify it. Secondly the quality of education is one serious question for the accountable to answer. We are losing quality teachers with the bait of money offered by institutions funded by big business houses. We need to check this infiltration. Why don't my fellow countrymen voice this concern as today they have been empowered with social networking sites like facebook, twitter etc. They do have time to advice people what to eat, what to watch & send people to wherever they like. I urge all of them to do something contributing on their part for education. The third aspect is parents. The recent cases of suicides in Kota directly bring parents & the society under the scanner. A country which has huge scope in multi-directional fields zero in medical & engineering as the only respectable professions. My dear parents we lack quality teachers, researchers, economists etc, cant u give them more options & therefore little more space to live. If you can do that my idea of India would be very closer to my real India. Education in the formative years develops a child & that is how he/she starts his/her journey. If the foundation in the child isn't strong my nation is at risk. Youth today has the energy to change the fortune of any nation. For my nation to make it a reality a strong youth is needed. Education therefore has to be our primary focus. A strong education system empowers a nation. Though our education system is strong but it needs little more refinement. This would also create more employment opportunities as well. As a nation our pace of development will therefore increase a lot.

                                            The concept of a strong education system is an abstract one. One can measure in terms of degree if it has improved or not on a relative scale but not in figures. The second concept which is abstract in sense but can be figured in numbers is the Global Happiness Index.We have always discussed about the GDP & national income only & have taken them as the ruling parameters for development. But GHP is perhaps the best way of measuring real development after all man is a social animal. It takes into account GDP, life expectancy, reliability on others, freedom to make choices, freedom from corruption & generosity. The World Happiness Report 2013 unfortunately ranks India at 111. Denmark, Norway followed by Switzerland occupying the top three spots. Interestingly & ironically US ranks 17 clearly stating that GDP alone is the not the real criterion for development. In fact in most of the international rankings India performs surprisingly poor. Consider a situation 10-12 years ago when in a small town in India there used be 1-2 telephones in a locality & everyone used to rely on it only for communication. Those days the inter communication & related to it was communal harmony among people was at its peak though communication to outstation could be minimal. But happiness was more so was the position on social issues therefore better was India's record on happiness index. Now today GDP might be growing but GHP is not with that respect. Isn't it alarming. My idea of India still stands a good distance away.We need thousands of people like Mr President Kalam to make my idea of India a reality. Instead of taking a political stand I urge all my fellow countrymen to take their good stand on  nation building instead of being involved in infighting.

                 Our nation is the strongest nation & we all will prove that by changing our mindset to make the fundamentals stronger day by day by imparting quality education to our children & improving our happiness index by living a more meaningful life as a proud citizen of this great nation. Jai Hind.

In search of peace

The whole idea of being on earth as I have realised over the last 2 years after pondering for days & nights is to find real satisfaction that gives one peace of mind. It is indeed a very tough task for all - those who have mone, those who dont have money & those who have little & probably need a few more. The human greed indeed often grows no matter where we stand today. I was , days back talking to my friend who earns a hefty sum of a month, complaining that it is not sufficient for him to sustain well in society. I was wondering how in life all humans just dont have an end to their desires & wishes. This is indeed the root cause of us falling prey to the materiastic needs. Aren't people earning lesser than him living?? We all are therefore somewhere handcuffed in a world of desires which are never ending. It is very simple to understand that money is just a matter of airthmatic as it adds, sometimes reduces, for some it multiplies & many divide it as well. But the matter of fact remains that the life can be made beautiful but deriving the maximum level of satisfaction by doing the work we are passionate for. The equations of life then would look easier & comprehensible.
                        Today when one looks around we find all the people wearing a mask of showoff. The emotions of love, compassion, humbleness & humanity does not have an invitation to our dictionaries & looks more often that these words are resting well in peace. But we have to understand that life can only be rejuvenated when one understands that the beauty of life lies in simple moments of realisation of the magic that we create everyday by feeling the gravity the emotions mentioned above, carries. The mantra of living a happening life is breaking the so called shackles of life which has imprisioned us ever since we lost the innocense of a child & declared ourself as grown up. I think that as we have grown up, we have become mature & therefore sometimes too serious about life, taking deep dives in the ocean of thinking, which perhaps is not required most of the times. To smile naturally greeting someone seems a distant dream long achieved. To help someone in need & showing gratitude to people who have stayed with us at tougher times seems like the script of scriptures that were written decades back. The pace of life today has geared up so highly that we have started ignoring the simplicity of life. This is where we need to find the peace. The search of peace has just begun.......

Basketball in depth by Urvashi Kataria

Basketball is one of the most followed sport across the world but sadly in India other sports have taken the charm away from it. So is the case in our own college (University College of Engg.) where the sports culture is missing. But this year it was encouraging to see our college field its first ever Girls basketball team thanks to Ritu Chittora, Sports Secretary, Brijesh Sir , the mentor & Rahul Raina, the convenor. But the most important person I believe whose resolute efforts made it happen was Urvashi Kataria, the captain of the team who brought the team together and inspired them to play well. Though the team is still amateur but I believe the stage is set in days to come where UCE will be a sporting college.
                           This year the first ever girls volleyball team was also formed under the leadership of Princy Sharma which is the most followed game in UCE. Incidentally both Urvashi and Princy have played the nationals. Talking about other sports Table Tennis and Badminton have also attracted loads of students. The fact is that we have always lacked the competitive spirit in sports and thats why we have never been able to become a sporting college. But now with the new brigade of students the change i the air is but obvious.
                            Here is an article by Urvashi Kataria which somehow missed the college magazine, showing our orthodox mentality about sports in the college. But I hope we shall encourage sports in the college and people who want to write about it. Lets make better individuals from ourselves.

Basketball, a game of recent origin was invented by Dr. James Naismith of USA in 1891 at Springfield College to provide as a sport that can be played indoors during winters. It had a very interesting start…I too had!!
Today, this game holds an important place in my life. This game alone taught me the way to live. Actually, it changed me till inside. Thank you would be a very small word for this game to express my gratitude towards it. What I am today, could not have been the same if I had been remained a book freak throughout my school life. Academics are important, but incomplete without sports.

The start of my journey:

I was 14 when I started playing. My friends and I used to watch other students play which then developed the same urge in us. Our team had a strict coach, strictness was first and foremost point. We were trained at a level to go for a fair game. My love for this game has a great contribution of our coach who insisted on us to be fair, play well, then win and then show them what the real game means.

I hold a small suggestion for those who only read and study; involving a game in your life makes your study more interesting. You study with a zeal and side by side, your fitness is also maintained. There is a life apart from academics also, which when given a seasoning of a game or any other activity, gets refined. For playing and moreover, enjoying a game, dedication from heart is required.

During our school days, we used to have early morning practice sessions, I was the one who daily reported first in court. My teammates and I started the best part of the day, the practice session, by running non stop 10-15 rounds of court followed by conditioning. A major problem we used to face was lack of players.

My most favourite part of this game is dribbling. There are a variety of dribbling stances like cross over dribble, low dribble, high dribble etc. I am the shooter of my team, or more aptly, 3-point shooter. It is a slight difficult shot because it requires comparatively more power as it is taken from a distance of more than 6.25 m from the ring. My favourite shot is lay-up shot which is a shot at the basket by a dribbler by taking off on one foot using a high jump action and full extension of arm to place the ball directly or indirectly into the basket.
Even the pain which we have sometimes after our practice session gives us a sigh of relief to us. 

It gives the feeling that Yes, you did something. The most joyous moment of my basketball journey was then when two of my team members including me were selected for State Level Tournaments but unfortunately could not go. But no issues, history was repeated and next time we won and we were again selected. This time, we vowed that let anything happen, we will definitely participate, and then finally we reached the destination on 24 Sept’10 and played the best matches of our life there.

When I came in 12th, I was not able to play because of studies, so I thought to continue it in college. But after entering here, I came to know that the court is located in boys hostel where girls do not go. So it is a disadvantage for those girls who play but can not continue. Therefore, a small suggestion from my side is to construct courts of various games for girls as well where beginners can also start a new journey.

Basketball at a public level:

I got a chance to get into a sport, But still there are some girls who have a far way to cover on. I wanted to professionalise my game but situations did not allowed. There is a common case for girls whose parents somewhere do not want their daughter to get into this field. The male-dominated society is also responsible for this mentality that girls are not made for sports. Sania Mirza, Krishna Punia, Sanya Nehwal are some names which contradict the above statement. It is the society, the public which can support them in rising or can cause a hindrance.

Basketball at National and International level:

Basketball is not a very famous sport in India where cricket is dominating. Our national game, Hockey, also does not stands upto the level of cricket. But steadily basketball is making its place among the youth. 

Many colleges and organisations in India organise basketball tournaments and championships. Here, Basketball Federation of India, formed in 1950, is the controlling body of this game and all other State Associations are affiliated to it. Some of the tournaments organised in India are National Basketball Championship for Men/Women, National Juniors Inter State Championship, National Boys Championship for CC Abraham Trophy, 3*3 tournaments held by NBA etc. 
Some of the Indian Basketball players who have reached fame are Geethu Anna Jose, Chaitanya Choudhary, Raghav Arora, Gauri Govardhan.
Some famous international teams are LA Lakers, Miami Heat, Golden State, LA Clippers.
Some international players are Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James.

OPPORTUNITIES:

There are a lot of opportunities in this game. First and foremost, one can become a player and can play for any organisation. Apart from that, the Head Coach is most sought after positions . He is responsible for managing the players in his team, setting a game plan and adjusting to the opposing team. They are always assisted by Assistant Coaches.
Scout serve a very important role . He is responsible for scouting other teams and learning more about their players and coach’s tendencies. He must understand the game perfectly and know a lot about assessing opposing players.
Trainer is responsible for meeting the pre game needs of players, such as stretching and conditioning. 

The athlete will work closely with trainer , slowly rehabbing back to full health at time of rehab. 
Some more positions are General Manager, /agent, Official etc.

CONCLUSION:

Academics for us is undoubtedly the chief aim but apart from that, there remains an irreplaceable place for a sport in our life which ends up being vacant for most of us. It teaches us to keep sportsmanship, team spirit, keep control on emotions, have a positive attitude towards everyone, have a controlled temper which proves as a boon for people. It teaches the meaning and importance of friendship that remains alive with us even outside the court throughout our lives… 

URVASHI KATARIA

I YEAR EC…

A Life Time Experience

A Life time experience

This is all about my experiences at 4 A.F.S.B  Varanasi. Initially I had my SSB date on 21^st may’12, the same day that saw me siting in an Advanced Power Electronics Practical test. Owing to this particular reason I was not able to attend my scheduled SSB. The days to come neither gave me a respite as I had my summer internship lined up in a couple of weeks and that too in Mumbai infact Larsen & Toubro in Navi Mumbai. The date of 4^th june therefore seemed improbable as well. But God was kind to me as I got a date of 23july’12 for my first ever SSB. Though initially I was pretty confident of a good show but as the day approached I started to worry a little for the better yet my confidence level was never down as it has always been my strongest point.

I started my journey on 21^st july’12 early morning  to board a train that took me to my hometown of Jaipur, the Pink City. As I had my train in evening so I made a visit to my home to freshen up having some good food in the belly as well getting the meals packed for the night. The train was on time and we ( I and one my friend) boarded the train and soon finding our places. Our focus was on our SSB. I was not very prepared for the different rounds but I had a feeling that I would fare well. The journey was about 17-18 hours so therefore we had enough time to go through the different levels of testing we were expected to undergo. The next day, a Sunday infact at 10.30am( 2 hours late of our scheduled time) we reached Varanasi Junction. The first thing I remember about Varanasi was the population. It was a vastly crowded area and was very dirty. Really ,I was not to imagine any worse condition than this and was hoping that if I could manage this thing I could manage anything in life. This was the only positive trigger I could from Varanasi apart my own confidence. The food was very ordinary that day. This coupled with the worry of first ever SSB did not make life easier. For some time there was a hazy image of myself that I saw. But it was momentary as I recollected myself and slept a lot which gave me the all needed mental as well as the physical rest. The day then went on smoothly and we did watch “Rang de Basanti” which was again a positive trigger for the days to come.

The next morning, the all awaited day of 23^rd July’12 saw us getting ready early at 5.30am and departing for the railway station from our rented room which wasn’t far from the station. As we reached the station, the candidates had already started to gather up. At 6.45am we reported to the airforce personnels on the other side of platform. After the briefing we were taken to the 4A.F.S.B Varanasi. There were 250 candidates who have reported for their ssb.

Once we reached the center our call up letters were checked and thereafter we had our breakfast. The breakfast seemed nothing as the tension of the first day was taking the energy out of us. Thereafter we were taken to a big auditorium after giving us the chest nos. I was given Chest No. 47. The first thing I imagined was this no. being called after the screening round and that is what it turned to be.

There were a hell lot of tests in quick succession and I hardly realized how many of them were right. Probably I was beaten by the pace at which things were taking place. Even I was playing safe and was hitting some right answers in between. We had 10 tests during the early morning session. Then came the big moment. We were shown a very hazy sketch and were told to write a story in 3 minutes describing the mood age and sex of the characters. I visualized three persons, one of them being injured and was lying on the ground. I made a very good story describing how Ram becomes a famous person due this very incident. After writing the story we were divided into groups and were taken to a group discussion room. Each group had 15-16 members among whom the GD was to be done. My group was indeed a very good group. Everyone fared well except some. I was happy the way I presented my story and had a discussion among the group. I was confident of my selection but still there was uneasiness till the results were out. In 10 minutes the results were out and I found 47 lucky for me. This is how I cleared the first stage.

After clearing the first stage we (62 out of 250) were taken to the candidate’s mess for the lunch. The mess was fully airconditioned having an ANTE room which had POOL table as well as the LCD. Straight after the lunch our mobiles were submitted and new chest no. were allotted. This time around my chest no. was 24. I was in group D. Next on cards was the document verifications. It also had 2 checks. Since my code no. was earlier I was free in first 15-20 minutes. But I never thought that it would take another six hours for the document verification of the rest but then this as the case. It was 20:00 hrs when we were given 15 minutes break for the dinner after which started the psychological test. This is easily the toughest test of the ssb at which your selection depends. We had Thematic Appreciation Test(TAT) in which we were shown 11 slides and for each slide we had to write a new story. The 12^th slide was a blank one leaving it on us to write any good story. After this we had Word Association Test(WAT) in which 30 words were shown on the screen and for each word the time was 15 seconds.  Next was the Situation Reaction Test(SRT) In which we were given 60 situations to react in 30 minutes only. After this followed the Self Description Test(SDT) in which we were supposed to write what we thought about ourselves, how our parents’, friends, teachers thought about ourselves. At 12.30am we were freed. The next morning timings were little extended thanks tour SDO Kinsukh sir. Late night when we went into our rooms as according to our groups, we discussed a little about the next day’s plan. We gelled together very quickly as team efforts were very important for the selection of an individual. I was very lucky to get a good bunch of individuals in my group. We all were  freshers  and didn’t exactly know what was to come. I never met such caring people ever in my life. Though from the very first day we ate together yet we started talking next day only. My group comprised of Prashant Sharma from Aligarh, Junaid Aslam from Dehradun, Siddhartha Chowdhary  and Nishant Singhal  from New Delhi. Rohit Swarnakar from Jhansi  Sujan Nag from Agartala and Naman Khanijau from Hyderabad.

24^th July’12:- The second day of the SSB. After the breakfast we were again taken to the GP room where we had the GPE (Group Progressive Exercise). We were told a story and had some situations given. We all wrote our plan in the paper and then had a healthy discussion about it. Atlast we came to a conclusion after the discussion. After this we had 2 group discussions on two different topics. This was the indoor test. Next came the outdoor test where we started off with the progressive group task. In this we had 5 levels and the difficulty level increased at each level. Initially we were little slow but later we sped up. After about an hour were we free from this task. Immediately we had the half group task. It was comparatively easier and we took 10 minutes to wrap it up. This was the second day. We had lunch thereafter and from 14:00 hrs to 19:00 hrs we were free. I played basketball and Table-tennis for most of the times while my other group mates preferred to sleep. Meanwhile we had the STD facility from 19:00 hrs to 20:30 hrs. I was happy to tell my progress to my mother everyday. The bond between me and my group-mates was getting stronger by every moment we spent.

25^th July’12:- The third day of the SSB. It was supposed to be yet another tough day for us and indeed it turned out to be one. We as usual had our breakfast and were ready for the day’s task in our shorts and T-shirts. We had the command task first where each individual is made commander for a task to be done. I was happy to help people in my group. My weight and height helped me to become helper in as many as 5 times out of 7 mates. Even I did the command task well. It took around 90 minutes to complete the whole round. After this we had the lecturrete in which we were to speak on spot on the topic given minutes before.  I did an average show there and was disappointed with my efforts. This led to the end of day three for us. The little shower did not help us in the individual obstacles as it was called off due to wet ground conditions. We went back to the mess and had our lunch. By this time the group was like a little family for me. We discussed a lot on many issues. Always stayed together, ate together, played togetheretc etc.. The way my group mates cared for me was an extra-ordinary feeling. Junaid and Sujan were the two very close to me. This period of time was really the best I ever had felt in the recent years… We played pool in the Ante room and did watch television as well.

26^th July’12:- This was a very important day as far the selection of any individual is concerned. It was the Interview day for our batch and I was in third to give the interview. Almost after 2 hours I had a call for the interview. The interview went on smoothly. He started from somewhere slowly and gradually made a deeper search into my personality. The only question where I was uncomfortable was about the secrets told to the person closest to you and of course the girlfriend question. He must have completely explored me in the 50 minutes I spent with him. He was very humble and soft spoken. The interview was well as far as I was concerned expect the name of the tourism minister of India which I was not able to tell. By 14:00 hrs all our Interviews were finished. We as usual had our lunch. The facilities provided to us was 5 star one and it seemed that 4 A.F.S.B Varanasi was in a different place than Varanasi. The food was of very high standard giving you an option of non- veg as well. Well furnished rooms with air conditioner was beyond expectations. Since we were free from interview I, Junaid and Sujan decided to go out for a movie in the nearby mall. When we reached the hall, it was 30 minutes over but still we went in for the movie “The Dark Night Rises”. The movie was awesome and I enjoyed it a lot. After this we went into the ‘Pizza Hut’ to have some ‘Double Cheese’. It was for the first time that I was eating such stuffs. Junaid and Sujan were very comfortable with it. I would love to thank them for such a visit. They made my day. This was a very wonderful experience for me. They both were very good candidates  and I hoped that we three will be able to be recommended. A hindu, the other muslim and the third was a Christian. What a coincidence.. Soon we came back by 19:00 hrs. We met Siddhartha, Nishant and Prashant on the gate only only to realize that they were forced to pay Rs1500 as the donation to the priest in the temple. We acme back a laughed a lot on the bizarre condition our other mates faced. That day we enjoyed a lot sleeping at around 1 o‘clock in the night. This was the night we all love to remember. Also we did prepare on some topics as well. We all knew that this is the last night we all are spending together. No-one knew whats going to happen tomorrow in the Conference Round.

27^th July’12:- The last and the the decision making day was on. It was the Conference Day. We were told that conference would be held on 10:30 hrs and accordingly we dressed up packing everything we had and leaving the room. We found ourself again in the same auditorium in which we were on the very first day. The conference did not take much time. In it all the 14 officers were in their uniforms headed by the Vice-President having a rank of Air Commodore. I think I gave the worst answer when I misunderstood the question of the coaching and may be the prize I had to pay was a non- recommendation. The Results were out by 14:00 hrs and none of our group members made it. Only 6 out of eventual 62 were recommended. We were sent back to the railway station with the Travelling Allowance. This was my short and a life time experience of my life. Though I was not recommended  yet I had a great experience. I advice everyone to once go to an SSB in their lifetime.

Regards:-

ANISH SAMUEL

ON DESULTORY ROADS....

            I have always been a bright student for all my teachers who have taught or more or so dealt with me. During my childhood days the first biggest challenge as a student was to do well in the secondary class and i was really fortunate to come out with real flying colors. Then the obvious question one had to answer is what are you going to opt for your higher grades.And then really we students in India had limited choices in our plate and without even pondering over such vital issues I made a move as do most of the students across the nation. As I grew up I realized that that was a bad move I made. Deep into the bowels of this notion I suspect, is yet one of the reasons apart from corruption, politics etc that has contributed its part for our slow race towards the top. The question then circles around the education system as well the social model of our society.
             The reason I bring the education system into this context is to juxtapose the pros and cons of the same as an effect on the young Indian minds which some has not learned to be wit-full enough to take a decision not to penance ever in life. Our education system has not let us develop the potential of  innovative thinking and that is why I find myself on such desultory roads which leads to rather hazy destination. But then life as a teacher has taught me what our so called education system failed to do and that is why I criticize this section of our education system which otherwise has not been that worse as some people make out. So in solidarity with the system I just propose to welcome the new traits that is "the demand of the hour'. I think a progressive thinking is always necessary for marching in tune with the complex world.

                                                                                                           The other reason for young Indian minds not to unfold their wings of innovative thoughts is the social model of our orthodox society. The peer pressure as well as the expectations of the parents coupled with their name and fame at stake in the society never lets one in the comfort zone of his/her own and then one has to succumb to this pressure to go to the much less expected destination. This is the grave reality of this great country. Many of my fellow countrymen would agree with me on this as a huge proportion of  us are on such desultory roads. This is one such thing which needs attention of our policy makers so that within good-time we make good the bad. A huge revolution is necessary to eliminate the above mentioned flaws existing in our country. We need to be innovative and invest into visionary thoughts in our young minds as quoted beautifully by an anonymous teenager:-

                                " We are born unarmed. Our mind is our only weapon. Small minds think about the people that affect the future, average minds think about things in the future, great minds think of making the future a reality."