Phir kabhi rangeen shaam aayegi;
Dard ka ek haseen lamha de jaayegi;
Rakh lunga kahin chhipakar;
Pata nahi phir aisi yaad kab aayegi.....
Par dil se niklegi jo awaaz;
Dekh kar door kisi ki khushi
Honthon par hi rok loonga;
Pata nahi phir aisi shaam kab aaayegi;
Phir aisi yaad kab aayegi........
Friday, June 26, 2009
@#*!@#*&!!
Recently went through the selection criteria of IIMB.
And they have the following weightages:-
CAT:20%
10th score:15%
12th score:10%
grad score:15%
GD:15%
PI:20%
work experience:5%
They have put up the statistics regarding their admission offers on their website.
But there were some points that baffled me:-
1. Why should the 10th score be given the same weightage as the grad score, and three times higher than the work experience one?
2. The CAT itself has a quantitative bias.Add to that the funda of grad scores without normalizaton, and that explains why 92.04% of the batch are engineering graduates.The percentage of arts graduates is 0.32%(only one student).After all, you can't expect to score 87%(average grad. score of selected candidates) in your graduation if you have English literature as a subject.In fact, this also explains why so many commerce and science graduates get through(7.64% combined).
3. This points out to another fundamental problem in our education system:the absence of any kind of standarization among the vast number of boards and universities.How do you compare an English graduate from, say Stephens to an Engineering graduate from, say IIT unless you have a grading system in place?A CGPA system at all colleges will allow better selection as the grades are awarded on the basis of relative performance.Besides, the assimilation of the various state boards under the CBSE is long overdue.
And they have the following weightages:-
CAT:20%
10th score:15%
12th score:10%
grad score:15%
GD:15%
PI:20%
work experience:5%
They have put up the statistics regarding their admission offers on their website.
But there were some points that baffled me:-
1. Why should the 10th score be given the same weightage as the grad score, and three times higher than the work experience one?
2. The CAT itself has a quantitative bias.Add to that the funda of grad scores without normalizaton, and that explains why 92.04% of the batch are engineering graduates.The percentage of arts graduates is 0.32%(only one student).After all, you can't expect to score 87%(average grad. score of selected candidates) in your graduation if you have English literature as a subject.In fact, this also explains why so many commerce and science graduates get through(7.64% combined).
3. This points out to another fundamental problem in our education system:the absence of any kind of standarization among the vast number of boards and universities.How do you compare an English graduate from, say Stephens to an Engineering graduate from, say IIT unless you have a grading system in place?A CGPA system at all colleges will allow better selection as the grades are awarded on the basis of relative performance.Besides, the assimilation of the various state boards under the CBSE is long overdue.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
THE SHIMMER IN THE DISTANCE
Solitary i stand in the lingering light;
Darkness spreads;prelude to an endless night.
It's been a long time;
They say it's a changed clime,
And that i've moved on.
I too like to think so.
But sometimes mid the shadows' interchange,
And all the silly trifles in exchange,
And mid the singeing desire to forget
That last look of yours comes back,sometimes.
And i don't know if i want the wound to heal;
And i don't know how i should feel;
Sorry for me,
Or happy for you?
Darkness spreads;prelude to an endless night.
It's been a long time;
They say it's a changed clime,
And that i've moved on.
I too like to think so.
But sometimes mid the shadows' interchange,
And all the silly trifles in exchange,
And mid the singeing desire to forget
That last look of yours comes back,sometimes.
And i don't know if i want the wound to heal;
And i don't know how i should feel;
Sorry for me,
Or happy for you?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
RAINS IN BENGAL
In Bengal and areas around,the clouds gather early,and gather thick .Elsewhere, you generally wouldn't see that continuous sheet of cloud,stretching from horizon to horizon, moving at it's own lordly pace.Or the sky a perfect combination of faint black with gleaming streaks of white between.The early rains are really heaven's benediction sent down on the thirsting earth When it rains here,it doesn't just soak the ground.It falls onto memories.It falls onto tender dreams.It's the kind of rain that makes you realise the full sense of a poem by Rabindranath or Pant.The kind of rain in which you'd love to play on the roof like a little kid.......... The kind of rain that will make your heart miss something which you'll not be able to fathom.
I particularly remember the days we spent in Bokaro.With the city itself being one huge park,it was a moment of communion with nature whenever it rained........As if the woods were speaking something within their silence,and speaking something to us. The rain falling on the huge lake seemed from the distance like one continuous,translucent sheet of water in the dun coloured evening.Right from the water near your feet to the far horizon,everything seemed to be merged into one;seemed nature had gone back to her primordial singularity.And with the thin rim of shining clouds above,it was as if she was sending down all the water just in order to replenish this huge reservoir.
And there were other sights one can never forget-the mellow radiance of the streetlights in the early darkness; drops falling thick and fast from the gigantic trees near City Park;the Dayal Gardens looking regal as the rain seemed to have washed the trees a shade of fluorescent green;the faint pink disk of the sun..........It was a new beginning,and the earth seemed to have decked every remote corner .
But in Kanpur or Varanasi it's quite a lame affair.You don't really have anything to look forward to,except perhaps a drab day and waterclogged roads.Even in leafy areas like BHU, the horizon seems to have been straitjacketed into an area that hardly gives the feel of unbounded freedom as it did there.And the sight of the clouds seldom makes you feel incomplete,seldom makes you dream of either the past or the future.
I particularly remember the days we spent in Bokaro.With the city itself being one huge park,it was a moment of communion with nature whenever it rained........As if the woods were speaking something within their silence,and speaking something to us. The rain falling on the huge lake seemed from the distance like one continuous,translucent sheet of water in the dun coloured evening.Right from the water near your feet to the far horizon,everything seemed to be merged into one;seemed nature had gone back to her primordial singularity.And with the thin rim of shining clouds above,it was as if she was sending down all the water just in order to replenish this huge reservoir.
And there were other sights one can never forget-the mellow radiance of the streetlights in the early darkness; drops falling thick and fast from the gigantic trees near City Park;the Dayal Gardens looking regal as the rain seemed to have washed the trees a shade of fluorescent green;the faint pink disk of the sun..........It was a new beginning,and the earth seemed to have decked every remote corner .
But in Kanpur or Varanasi it's quite a lame affair.You don't really have anything to look forward to,except perhaps a drab day and waterclogged roads.Even in leafy areas like BHU, the horizon seems to have been straitjacketed into an area that hardly gives the feel of unbounded freedom as it did there.And the sight of the clouds seldom makes you feel incomplete,seldom makes you dream of either the past or the future.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
JAI HO!
Of a thousand vessels,mine should be
The foremost prow in pressing to the strand;
Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand.
-Wordsworth.
Achilles wasn't the hero of the Trojan war.Nor was Hector.He was a little known Greek soldier who went by the name Protesilaus.The Oracle at Delphi had prophesized that the first Greek to land on the Trojan coast would be killed,and the Greeks were naturally quite apprehensive of starting the march.Not one great warrior from their fabled Thousand ships came forward to risk his own life for the sake of honour.It was then that this unseen hero stepped out alone.He was slain by Hector as soon as he reached the coast.But the gods in honour of his courage and integrity awarded him with a place in Elysium.
And,looking at it from the metaphysical point of view,isn't that the highest elevation of the soul:to take a stand against the enemy,and the devil within,even when you know all along that you are doomed if you so so?Aren't these moments,when we are most concretely alive,and take immense joy in our existence,the most powerful arguments in favour of the essential dignity of all human beings?Isn't it the greatest possible affirmation of ourselves:conquering the fear of death?And aren't those the only moments worthy of being called 'life'?
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