My Ramaiah days-3(First week in insti)

That I was selected for the two year course made everyone happy.I can't tell how I exactly felt,for I was used to faring well in exams.It brought me no special joy.It was a mixed feeling,leaving home was painful on one side,while a new place was welcoming on the other.My mother meticulously packed all that I would need in a place away from home,though I was going to stay in my uncle's home.I moved out to Hyderabad, a few weeks ahead of opening of institute.Those days before college were , largely peaceful. New place, new people and almost many things new.I spent most of the time familiarizing myself with buses and their numbers etc etc.

Finally, the first day arrived.I went to the class, and made friends with my neighbour before the class started(at least I thought so).Mr. Surendranath took the first class.It was like any other introductory class,getting to know the names and place of study.

When I told him that I attended a "crash course" in Prashanti Niketan, he said something I couldn't exactly classify.Was it a praise or a jeer I didn't understand. Later I formed a firm opinion that it was a jeer , for I learnt that those people are never known to praise anybody,except those whom they felt were newtons or einsteins.I knew that I was none. He asked us to get the exam question papers the next day.

Since I didn't have them, I asked my neighbour, to have it xeroxed. He said that he had those papers at home.I asked if he could get it xeroxed for me.He replied something, so I took it that he would get it done.

Imagine my shock the next day, when he didn't get them, and the teacher made all those who didn't get those papers stand through whole of the class.A punishment right on the second day.And my neighbour showed not even traces of being sorry for not being able to help me.

Here comes an important point to discuss.To be frank, I wasn't used to that treatment. It made me angry at both the teacher and my neighbour. I can't exactly tell whether it was justified or not.For,how can one expect an ODA(one day acquaintance) to help you?(Do you feel the same?) Well, thats a metropolitan school of thought.(I initially attributed it to Hyderabad, but later understood that its the same everywhere.)

But it wasn't so in my school.Even a ODA,once made friends was helped.No one sacrifices his life for an ODA,but getting a xerox wasn't a big deal. In all my country innocence I assumed that he would do it for me.I never forgave that fellow, and soon he wasn't seen in my class.He shifted over to an other batch, I later learnt.But it gave me a good taste of Ramaiah,and I can never forget it.

She is not fair to an outward view

She is not fair to an outward view
As many maidens be;
Her loveliness I never knew
Until she smiled on me;
O then I saw her eye was bright
A well of love, a spring of light.

But now her looks are coy and cold,
To mine they ne'er reply
And yet I cease not to behold
The love-light in her eye:
Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.

Hartely Coleridge

Faithfully copied (makki ki makki) from
"PANORAMA -A Selection of Poems"

the DEAN

Why do institutes have DEANs?.And if they ever have, why are these people expected to interfere in all MATTERs and meddle with anybody and everybody? BTW can anyone tell me if I have to put a "pull-stop" after a "qwecchen mark"?. I am confused. About what am I confused? Wait...........let me remember. Because of late I have realised that I have been suffering from wait...... what do they call it?.Let me refer to the dictionary......"amnesia". Aaah! now I remember. Its the DEANs ,that I have been talking about.I keep forgetting things and of late I started forgetting spellings.I can't say for sure whether its evoparation or evaporation. Any way I learnt a new technique and a new philosophy.

New technique: After writing a word,look at it.If you are doubtful(l) stare at it.If something looks wrong , that's it.You got to spell it the otherway man.

New philosophy:"Bhaavnayoko samajnaa hai. Bhasha ko nahi"- Hindi.
" Bhasha kaadu, bhaavam mukhyam"-Telugu.
" Its the meaning that's important , and not the spelling"-u no wht langauge.

New discovery: As usual, I forgot to mention this above.People tend to guess\understand\comprehend a word by the letters at the ends.So, it doesnt make much difference between evoparation and evaporation.

the DEANs-some time later yaar.Didn't actually form a picture of what I have to rite.

My Ramaiah days-2(In Prashanti Niketan)

The same morning I came to Hyderabad, my father took me to Prashanti Niketan, where I was to attend a "crash course" for Ramaiah entrance exam.Fortunately I found a friend who was also going there,along with me.Days rolled on(just a month ).Work was intense, but I was used to it as I finished my ICSE Board exams a few days ago. Though I couldn't grasp all those real analysis etc etc that was being taught there, I worked in Chemistry and Physics, which interested me immensly.It was the first time I went along without understanding much of anything in maths.I didn't know that it was to become my lifestyle for two years from then.

All that limits, continuity,binomial theorom and other arbit stuff we didn't have in our school syllabus started troubling me.I couldn't do anything, for I had no source who could properly teach me things.And so I made a month long co-existence with all that math, hoping that it would be over, once the exam is over.Little did I know that my assumption was a great mistake.Things went on and finally the day of exam arrived.

What a sight it was!Thousands and thousands of people, all gathered at one place.Osmania University-it was the place where the exam was to occur.I never saw so many people gathered at one place, though I had been to beaches on occasions, where I could see many people.But there, the vastness of the ocean intimidated these huge numbers.Here it wasn't so.I gave the exam and I felt that my performance was satisfactory.All the while I never bothered about "What if I couldn't make it to Ramaiah?". I really never bothered about it, till I got to join the institute and had a chance to experience the way people treat students from Ramaiah.

I gave the exam and went back home, feeling sorry that I missed a precious month after the exams, while all my friends were happily enjoying at home.I heard of their activities, the movies they saw,and a whole lot of other things they did in that month. It only saddened me, made me feel bad about those days that would never come back for me.

My Ramaiah days-1(Just after ICSE)

I studied in Ramaiah.Had my two years of hell on earth, you dont believe.(I know , many of my friends will come up, vociferously defending Ramaiah.But let them keep it to themselves.)Let me give a detailed account of my those two years, I can never forget in life.

I had my schooling in a small town , a few hundred kilometers away from Hyderabad. So, when I was first told about Ramaiah(which incidentally happened to be the night of my last ICSE board exam day)I thought,"ok lets go to Hyderabad". It was the thought of visiting places that drew me there , more than my desire to enter Ramaiah.The next day I bid farewell to my mother, sister and friends and got into the "Hyderabad Express" ,along with my father.Little did I know that I was bidding farewell to my beloved town, almost permanently.For I never got to stay in my town for more than a month, at any point of time afterwards.

The next morning, my uncle came to the railway station in Hyderabad, and took us home.All the way home,I was admiring/wondering (dont know what to call it exactly) Hyderabad.Those huge roads, large number of vehicles, planes flying overhead,large shopping malls.In short everything took me by surprise, for afterall I grew up in a small town where all these never existed.

Heidi

"Heidi is the heart warming story of a young girl who brings sunshineand joy wherever she goes.Her adventures ( I prefer to refrain myself from calling so, as she suffers a lot during her life) will take you up into the beautiful Swiss countryside and into the big city where Heidi is "educated".And,along with Heidi, you will be surprised by all the wonderful things that happen when she finally returns to her beloved mountains."This is the actual introduction I read on the book.

But for people with my tastes and considerations, this is a wonderful book. It takes you on a journey into the life of an orphaned girl called Heidi. Intially left behind with her grandpa by her fortune seeking aunt, Heidi develops a love for the simple life her grandpa leads and their home atop a mountain in the Swiss mountainrange.
She brings joyto her grandpa who has forbidden the world and prefers solitude.
Suddenly her aunt appears claiming that she has a fortune in store for Heidi , and takes her away to Frankfurt where she is to accompany "Klara",a handicapped girl of a rich family as a play-mate.The house keeper keeps making futile attempts to "culture" her , much to the amusement of Klara, who finds Heidi's company joyful.
But the girl takes ill owing to her longing for her old grandpa, her home and nature.
Finally she is sent back home by the considerate father of Klara.
Her life, especially at Frankfurt where she is almost caged and her perception of the world makes one nostalgic.It author's narration makes you laugh and weep with Heidi.
A really wonderful story.

Smile

What does a smile cost you?
What in the world are you going to loose by smiling at an acquaintance?

True, you may be having lots and lots of worries,you may be carrying the whole earth on your shoulders , I agree but no one in this world is free from worries and if every worried soul decides to stop smiling ,we would be no different from animals which dont know to smile anyway.

And there are another bunch of people , who think they are einsteins and newtons(I intentionally left e and n in smalls , I want to reiterate that these are no different men) in the making.These are especially found at so called premier institutes like IIT ( I am a sorry in a way to be here).They bother about nothing but themselves , speak to none unless he has some need with that individual. They dont return smiles and blankly stare at any pleasantry.You feel as if you have been forced into Hell for sure if you ever get into their company.God save these men!

I dont hate anyone in particular , nor am I a misanthrope. All I care for is a good-word or smile from an acquaintance.
For its smiles that keep you going miles.

Being at home

To me "being at home" means something more than mere nostalgia.It is something more than days of peaceful sleep, savoury dishes by mom and endless movies and freaking out.

Each time I go home I get to enjoy "the greatest experience called life".I am from a small town in rural Andhra , hence each time I go home I get to meet people from various walks of life. Old people in my grandma's village , middle aged ones in my father's school , young ones mostly my schoolmates.Each with their own outlook for life , with their own distinct problems ,their aims aspirations ...which represent the middle-class attitude of an average Indian, which I feel is a very fortunate thing to possess. It teaches nothing but perfect contentment in life.

I won't mislead you by saying that these people are contented with what they are and strive for nothing. True , they have their own aims and struggle to achieve them in their small own world. It is this simplicity that gives me immense joy to be one among them.

To those of you who dont really understand all these just understand how it is to listen to a neighbour who had recently married off her daughter and waits eagerly for her homecoming. Or to one of those school teachers in a village school who is worried about his son's higher education.

I will come back with more soon .

Feeling hearts

This is a review of the poem "Sympathy" written by M.Johnson.

"It was a sunny day.The day was quite warm.A sweet little girl saw a thin little bird in the meadows.She was filled with sympathy for the little bird. She thought that the bird must be feeling very cold because it was without clothes like her.

But on the otherhand the bird too felt deep sympathy for the little girl.It thought that the little girl had not any feathers on the body and must be feeling very cold.

Thus,though it was a sunny and warm day, both the little girl and the little bird thought of each others pain."

This may seem childish to most of you but this poem touched me deeply.