The Final Word

The following article is NOT written by me. It has been contributed by my friend DEVDEEP.

For the starters who don't know about MAILER DAEMON (MD), it is the in campus newspaper of the I.S.M.U. Dhanbad, managed fully by the students of the ISM. For further details visit www.mailerdaemon.in Both me and Devdeep are a part of the team that worked for MD.

I know friends that that u cannot read long article but please bear with me this time.

A year has passed since I pushed myself into Team MD. And I have managed to stick to it till today. My colleagues in the team are aware of two kinds of Team MD members: one, those who are dedicated to it and work hard till the end. They ‘eat, dream and think MD’ while working on an issue. The second category belongs to those who were not able to cope up with the pressure and left MD for its and their good. Guess I am a third kind- a category still needed to be researched. (Right now, my colleagues are working on our last issue, while I am typing this article.)

But this article is not about ‘how I fared for MD’. So let us forget this part and let me tell you what is going on in MD right now. Right now, we are interviewing candidates for selecting a new team for MD.

How I had waited for this moment since the day I was selected. Back then, I imagined this day as one in which I would scrutinize, analyze and cross-question each candidate so as to bring out the true successors of our team. Now, I amuse myself by watching my colleagues do the same. Just on the second day of the interviews, I found myself hardly uttering a word. (Don’t dream of an HR like me!) ‘My colleagues, try to recall, I was there sitting right beside you.’

I watched, as some anxious, some nervous and some energetic faces took the chair before me while Ishant from one end and Shreya from the other, hovered like vultures, ready to peck at every slip of their tongue. Among the remaining enthusiasts were Sid, Divir, Sukhi, Avinash and Sukanya, ready to chip in their part whenever they got a chance. ‘The dedicated and sincere team MD.’ Meanwhile, ‘the Bad Boy of team MD’ (that’s me) was busy planning this article and was randomly generating numbers to fill up his analysis sheet. I decided to go back in time and put myself in the interviewee’s position to analyze how I would have fared in the same test.

Interviewer (MD): Would you like to introduce yourself?

Me: (Actually no. My name is a bit too long and you would forget it, the moment I leave this room. My branch will sound alien to you and my hobby-reading books- is of no practical use to you. Anything I mention thereafter about myself will generate further cross questions- causing myself to land in trouble. It is most unwise to introduce myself. But will have to say :) Yes.

MD: Introduce yourself.

Me: I would blabber out the usual intro and add nothing extra, lest I provoke further questions. All this, I would say in a loud tone, with an accent so that you get irritated and leave me quickly.

MD: What do you want your role to be in MD?

Me: (Let me think. If I choose editor it means sitting at my comp, reading other’s articles, sometimes writing by myself. OK, I will manage that, others will most probably help. Reporting will mean running here and there, speaking to admin etc etc. That is too much work. Easy decision.) I want to take up an editor’s job.

I now realize that back then my decision to choose editor actually got me selected. I escaped the PI round, something -I now feel, I would never have qualified.

MD: Where is the campus administration building and the maintenance department?

Me: (Campus Administration has to be within the campus. That is one thing I am sure of. But Murphy’s Law states that: ‘the greatest myth about administration is that, it exists.’ That makes CA a mythical place. What the hell!) I don’t know where the CA is.

Of course, I know where the maintenance department is. It is right behind the workshop. I went there once in the first year to get my window’s glass fixed. I had broken it, made it drop right from the first floor. The complaint got registered, nothing happened thereafter.

MD: What are your likes and dislikes about ISMU?

Me: (I must be cautious about this question- a tricky one. These guys love to point out shortcomings about ISMU, be it students or the admin. So to impress them, I must do the same. The part about ‘likes’ is just a pitfall, I must avoid. I am a clever guy.)

I dislike the students of ISMU. They make too much fuss about everything. There is a breed in ISM which wastes a year discussing ‘why shouldn’t we give certificates of merit to our rivals?’And prior to this, they would plan out a strategy for a month to ‘reach to a particular high status so that they can discuss the previously mentioned question.’ There is another species which goes on claiming for ‘more space.’ Then there is another which spends most of their time in challenging this claim. There is a group that has decided that its life’s ambition is to see all the infrastructural developments that ISM is ever capable of within their four or five years of stay in ISMU. Also ISM must have an increased area and the net speed must build up every year-all this they must witness while they are here. Finally there is MD which compiles all of this into six pages and hands it back to them.

What do I like about ISMU? I like the students of ISMU. There is a breed which is hell-bent on making a mark at ISMU. They would go up to any extent to fulfil their ambition, while they are here at ISMU. Be it promoting their departmental identity, helping the poor, or inspiring entrepreneurial skills, they are always out at the forefront. They are warriors. Remember the shout when the trophy of Muqabla was brought home. Remember Mechathlon, remember Sparx. Those were the times when ISM shone like never before. Ask yourself, don’t they deserve a little more than what they are getting? Maybe they asked for coaches, maybe they asked for a little more departmental and admin cooperation. Shouldn’t an effort be made to grant these? Remember: ‘A college is known by its students.’ And finally there is MD, which is composed of heroes selected from this breed. (When shall the groups mentioned previously get merged with this breed? But I guess, they are one and the same. ‘A mere flip changes the face of the coin.’)

MD: Improvements for MD?

Me: MD. When was the last time I read the complete paper? I remember noticing bar graphs in one of the issues. Then once, there was an article about status of girls in ISM - written by girls of course. You generally expect such stuff from them. ‘Good (status) generally leads to the expectation of Better (status).’ Once again, there was a full page of ‘Ruby Survey’. But that article was not for me. I have stopped staring at them since the time they started staring at me as if they were looking at an ‘ascetic kid.’ No wonders there. I hardly speak, while in group. Other than these, I hardly recall any other article. Therefore you must increase the frequency of MD so that people like me at least remember a bunch of articles to speak about.

The final question was usually based on a situation, where one had to interview an admin member usually. I having chosen editorship would have escaped this question. So let me tell you, that my colleagues pretended to be part of the admin and conducted a mock interview. From their act, the following things about the admin were clear:

The admin is ready to come up with excuses at every mistake that is pointed out.

The admin/G.Sec is ready to take up any action if ‘approached through a proper channel.’

Everything is student’s fault. ‘No proper events are conducted because students don’t turn up.’(So no point conducting a better event.)

‘The sports complex need not be improved since the students won’t maintain it.’

The Yahoo HR will never accept the existence of ISMU at least in this life.

G.Sec will simply act as an interface between students and admin. He lacks the brains or guts to gather support and fight for a cause.

There were further inferences, but I don’t remember them right now.

There you go. I have spoken my heart out. I seldom do that. Judge for yourself whether I deserve to be in MD team after giving such an interview. By the way do not mistake this for a BC article. Trivial BC is not my job. I am totally serious regarding all views expressed. Also I am responsible for any hurt feelings upon reading this article. ‘Hate mails invited.’

What are we striving for: avoiding FAILURE or achieving SUCCESS

There were two competitors A and B, equally skilled, trained, and equally good in every aspect, yet A used to win always and B lost! Curious to know why?

It wasn't an extra effort,or skill of A that made him victorious, but that it was what he yearned for made all the difference. He wanted to be successful, not to wishing to defeat B or avoid failure, but one and only one goal, to be successful!

What I want to bring forward is that during examination time or during preparation week the one thing that almost everyone says, let me study or else I will fail. Nobody says I am studying to be successful, or to gain knowledge. Somewhere down the line we have probably lost the essence of learning.
Learning is the raising of character by broadening of vision and deepening of feeling!
I cant don't blame the students alone for this, the current education system, assessment techniques have over the years groomed us into such beings who are willing to do everything to avoid failure but not strive or even think of being successful. Also we have placed a blind fold over our eyes that doesn't allow us to see beyond this, and we believe that avoiding failure equivalent to being successful...
to a certain extent the society is also responsible for this dilemma as it does not take failure as stepping stone for success.
Probably, in my view success is what you achieve when you give in your 100%, enjoy what you are doing and do even the smallest thing with utmost dedication, and not care for the result and whats seems a success to me may be a big failure in the eyes of this Hippocratic society.
So, my friend give in you 100% and enjoy the taste of success!!!!!

The Great Circus: excursion, exertion or a picnic

Over a period of time, students in an institute realize that they have not been out for a picnic for a long time. Now, the problem was how to convince the faculty. But GOD willing, the problem was solved and the professors gave this picnic an official name the EXCURSION (after all they also need an alibi to convince their higher ups for a day out). To give the whole drama some formal touch some instructions were issued such as what to wear, when to report and where to officially go.

So on a planned day, they all set out for an adventurous journey at the break of dawn. On the way to the picnic spot they get caught in a big traffic jam and reach the venue (for one moment consider it the industrial site) two hours late. If you thought that was sure to upset the industrial instructor, just forget it… for the first shock was to come just now... The instructor didn't even know the discipline of the students visiting them and considered them to be of the same mould for which this institute was acclaimed world wide. (It's not difficult to guess whose fault it was the institute or the instructor or the students themselves who should have thought about this fact before joining such an institute).

So finally these poor chaps had to sit through a lengthy presentation that had almost nothing for them. But if you look at it from the optimistic point of view it wasn't that bad. What else would one ask for after a six hour bus journey- a good place to sleep, and there you had it handful. Air conditioned hall, lay-back chairs and some body singing a lullaby for you (no disrespect meant to the instructor), what else would you need to sleep.

So after a nap of over an hour it was time to eat. So these poor chaps set out for their search for food in a world unknown. Finally after having stuffed their stomachs up to the brim, again it was time for some formalities... a visit to an industrial plant that wasn't ever going to be of any use for them. A better way of putting it, in the very words of the instructor is 'there is nothing of interest for you; it's just a PR visit'. So keeping up with their commitments, visit the industrial complex, with hardly anyone disembarking the bus…

So after all such official commitments were over was it time to rejoice? Just think all over it once, getting up at midnight, a bus ride of over six hours from the break of dawn, sitting through a dull lecture and then paying a PR visit… was it not enough to beat the spirits out of even the most merry making! The case here was no different, tired and exhausted these poor chaps had a day full of hectic activities. So they plan to take a ride back.

If you think that was all, just wait a minute, on their way back they need to take a break and that was the picnic time. From enjoying the food of the road side dhaba to drinking alcoholic beverages always was to happen and it happened. A real picnic in short.

So friends enjoy the college life !!!!!!

COMITTING MISTAKES: a rare privilege

My father always says 'Only those who do something or work have the privilege to make mistakes'. In this world there are two kind of people one who work and others who don't. Those who work are not afraid to make mistakes and once they learn from their mistakes they are on their way to success. Those who believe in sitting can never taste the pleasure of enjoying success because they are too afraid to commit mistakes. Shakespeare once said those who remain silent during a conversation pretending they are the wisest are usually the people who know nothing. It's true that silence is a virtue, but not always.
Also we need to remember one thing: Never to repeat a mistake. Repeating a mistake is a sin which one cannot dare to commit, so always make new mistakes, because it gives you a whole new experience.
This is my most humble request to all those sitting in their couches, and lying low to get up and be the part of this privileged group . So next time someone laughs at you for making a mistake, then no need to be disappointed. Just remember one thing: You are a privileged lot, which he is not!!!

RELATIOSHIPS: Living it or Carrying it

Not long ago, I bought a fine piece of porcelain flower-vase. The porcelain was one of the finest quality, unparalleled in design and covered with exotic work. I loved it so much that I kept it on my study table so that it was always within my site. One day one of younger cousin visits me and drops the vase from the table. It came to me as a real shock! But God’s grace it wasn’t totally broken, just a small chip of it comes out from near the mouth of the vase. I mange it stick it with a fevikwik and keep it on the table I such a way that its repaired side faces the wall, away from the eyes of the world with just me knowing the truth. One fine morning I notice that a crack has developed throughout the length of the vase. I felt heart broken! My mother asks me to throw away my most cherished possession as it is a bad omen to keep broken or cracked glass in house. I am in a fix!! What should I do?......

Dear friends this is not just another piece of story. It has much more to offer if you are able to read between the lines!

For those who are still in a fix, just think of the precious flower vase as relationship between two people. Or better out it up as you share a very good relationship with someone. It is one of yours most cherished possession. But one day you begin to feel that the things are actually not the way you thought them to be. The relationship is strained due to some unavoidable reasons and things are not the same as earlier. You somehow mange to patch up the things, so that the world does not know about it and continue to live with it. But not before long you realize that there is a complete break down and you cannot carry the burden any further but you don’t want to give it up.

You are in a dilemma! You don’t know how to cope up with such a situation. Then what should one do? Probably, it’s the most appropriate time to draw the line. Living in a situation that is suffocating you is not one of the wisest thing in the world, but giving it up is not easy either. It’s hard but life can’t wait, it has to move on.

The choice is yours: either to cry your heart out for a day or two or keep sobbing through out your life!!

On the eve of Valentines Day......

On the eve of Valentine’s Day As I sit all alone in my hostel room (my room mate has gone home), I feel how lonely the world has turned into. LOVE, one of the most important of spirit of life, the foundation of mankind, the source of joy for all is lost somewhere. I read somewhere: Loving someone is not about finding the person who can complete you but it’s about finding someone with whom you can share you in completeness. How true these words are! We are born single and one day all of us will leave this materialistic world all alone, empty hands. Take a moment to ponder over this fact and then answer: Why do we then seek a relationship or look forward in anticipation at somebody? Philosophically speaking, MAN is a social animal and so need friends, but the real answer lies within us. As I write this page the clock quietly ticks past 12, and it’s the Valentines Day, the day of love, joy, celebration. Everybody is ready to celebrate but do we real understand this day? How many of can recall the teachings of the great Saint after whom this day is named. But still it’s the time to enjoy…. HAPPY VALENTINES’S DAY FRIENDS!!

what is love...

Love is a feeling of happiness, sharing the spirit of joy between two mutually compatible beings, who may or may not differ in their orientations towards the essence of life. Its an essential spirit of life that rejuvenates us, enthralls us and fills us with unmeasurable happiness, taking us for a joy ride beyond the realms of this materialistic world and for a moment in this sheer delight we become all but one.

Love is the most basic yet the basis of all emotions of life. GOD created this world with a view to promote this spirit of celebration but we the mortals of this treacherous world have this sweetest of sweet feeling of life with envy and enmity.For us, love is no more than another consumer durable up for sale in market.

Probably, we are the best people to answer this simple question, 'What is Love'

Dedicated to her.....

"SHE comes like a ghost and goes like a wind

In the mean time SHE can pick you up like a pin"

These are the very words that best describe the fairer sex. I don't know what they are made up but one thing which i have learnt for sure that they are impossible. No one will probably ever be able to understand them unless GOD creates new species( which i seriously doubt). Somethings that i learnt the harder way ( and don't wish that others face the same fate) is never argue, for u can never defeat them, and u need to be a patient listener (they rarely give u a chance to speak). Also, make sure that u don't utter a word more than asked for else u are sure to hurt these oversensitive creatures.

dear friends i don't want u to read this article as a boy against girl debate, but this is what i have felt. so feel free to comment and share your views and experiences.