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A losing battle

She knew that she was fighting a losing battle, yet she persisted. For the third time in the day she made the 30 student class to recite in unison - "A for Apple, apple matlab sev " "B for banana, banana matlab kela " "C for cat, cat matlab billi " and so on ... The class consisted of kids whose age ranged from 3 to 10, most of them belonging to families who could not afford to send their kids to school. In fact, their meager income was augmented by that of their kids. Thanks to an effort by some NGO, the classes were running with a hope that at least 5 students from the 30 see how a college looks like, but the number was too optimistic a guess. No one from that village had ever seen a high school, leave alone a college. She was a firm believer of - "Match is never lost till the last ball is bowled". Being naive enough for believing this to be true, she persisted ... with a hope that she doesn't lose the battle.

A Dream

He had a dream. The old man in white beard and dressed up in a suit called up his name. Dressed up in an immaculate white shirt, navy blue trousers and a striped tie he walked on on to stage. The students were clapping. The teachers were clapping. The old man with white beard said something in English which he couldn't understand but probably said some congratulatory message. He was extremely happy. Everyone from his village had traveled to the place to see him receive a prize. He was he new hero, a new inspiration for the complete village. By the time he came down the stage he woke up. It was already post sunrise. He had to go for work. If he failed to do so, his family would have to starve that day. He, his friends and many others who worked in the brick-manufacturing unit. But, thanks to a brief interaction with a teacher from neighboring village, he was only kid in the village who could dream.

Bluetooth woes

4 months Ago - I turned on the Bluetooth on my cellphone to transfer some images of myself on to my laptop! But, for some unknown reason my laptop's Bluetooth wasn't working. Damn! I couldn't even transfer my pics. It seemed that it was a conspiracy to deprive me of my happiness. Somehow, I jugaadofied a data cable and managed to transfer it. But then, Bluetooth leads to a lot more convenience and pseud-pana. And for next few months at home I didn't have any source to jugaadofy the data cable. I spent next 4 months abusing and cursing IBM Thinkpad and its useless hardware and software (whosoever would have been the culprit). I asked many people on how to cure this illness, but in vain. Probably my hardware was faulty. Or maybe it was software that was root cause of all evils happing inside my lappy. Due to lack of proper efforts the mission to find the culprit failed and was abandoned In last few days, I managed to buy a new cellphone that has a data cable. But again da

The Prodigy

The news of her reaching the finals of a singing competition did not come as any surprise to anybody. She was gifted with a voice which her friends in her high school were jealous of. She won all singing competitions in the school. She won all singing competitions in the locality. She had been singing since she was 3 or maybe since she was 2. Even she didn't remember since when she was singing. She just dreamt of making it big in singing, and maybe one day she would have many super hit music albums to her name. Her dream was to be the biggest singing sensation in the country. She dreamt of giving autographs to people wherever she went. In fact, she had practiced different styles and zeroed in on what autograph she would give once she was famous. As of now she had to clear the last hurdle before giving a shot to becoming a singing sensation The Talent Hunt show was being aired at a prime time slot at a premier TV channel. It had 3 stages before the finals with participants being eli

Wanderer

I must confess that I have a fascination for travelling. More often than not, I get excited by prospects of traveling - not just by seeing new places at the destination, but also by the journey with train journeys being my favourite. It gives me immense pleasure to see towns and cities pass by, observe people at different places, to just get a feel of places as they come and go by! As a child I used to know many trivial details about the routes I was travelling on and nearby routes and trust me, it was extremely interesting, and it keeps me interested even today! Recently, while travelling in Delhi, I suddenly decided to take a longer route to my destination, which required to travel on metro train in all three different lines, with 2-3 stations in each line. I had no deadlines, no pressures to reach somewhere. And it was wonderful. Passing through CP , Chandini Chowk , Old Delhi - the places about which we have been hearing since childhood. One way of looking at it can be kind of a

The Fidayeen

He read the first page of the newspaper carefully. Maybe, there was some news he could help the Anti-Terrorist Squad with. It carried the news of 14 people being killed in a suicide terrorist strike. "May allah guide them and show them the right path", he prayed silently. His memory went back few years in time, litte more than 3 years when he was handpicked to be a fidayeen in the 'holy battle' as the chief called it. He had recieved 8 months of intensive training. He knew how to operate the most complex of weapons. That was after he was picked from an elementary school and groomed for years together. But such training was essential. After all, the job he was destined to do was not ordinary. He was supposed to be a suicide bomber in an important rally of a prominant national leader. He had to send the message loud and clear to the top bosses in the country. He was one of the most trusted ones of the chief, who was in charge of overseeing all the activities in the regi

Gunda

Recently during a random TV channel browsing session I came across a show in NDTV dedicated to movie GUNDA, a B-Grade masterpiece which has gained a stature of gigantic proportions.Many of us might not haver heard of the movie, but of the rest I assume most of them might have seen the movie, and a substantial proportion would have enjoyed it!! It is a kind of movie that fits into the definition of a cult classic!! The Orkut community of the IMDB 8.7/10 rated Gunda has thousands of fans, most of them can be classified under category of 'die-hard fans'. This movie has got a huge viewer base in engineering collecges and B-schools, and there are people whio consider your life as futile and worthless if you haven't seen this epic masterpiece. And there are considerable chances that the movie might make to the list of 50 all time greats, if there are enough votes keeping its ratings at the same level!! This Kanti Shah directed movie has the one and only Mithunda (fondly called as

ConneXions unlimited

PJ -> Why is telecom industry booming in India ? Reason--> People here love to have and flaunt connections ___ "Jugaad is the 57th art " - SS Shinde at his satirical best "Disgusting! This is the only thing I hate about our country... greased palms shaking hands with lack of integrity" - A comment on one of the posts in my blog https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=28026042&postID=4721678402376407155 __ Connections - Many of us around the world love to flaunt it. Most of us wouldn't mind using it. We Indians love to flaunt it and often consider it as a essential tool to accomplish tasks of varying magnitude. Many of us work in day in and day out in order to earn connections. 'Networking' - a tool often used in achieving something is a milder form of connection, for the latter is the holy grail that makes you do with impunity what the lesser mortals think is sinful. There are often sons and daughers of powerful officials, bhais and bhateejas

Snaps from The Himalayas

Some glimpses of one of the best landscapes in the country. Why long for Alps when our own old, enigmatic yet beautiful Himalayas provide such magnificent and picturesque sceneries!! Have a look. Enjoy. Location - Garhwal Region, Himalayas which lie in the state of Uttrakhand.

The winning shot

3 runs required of 1 ball, the scorecard said. It was the final of a small cricket tournament in the locality. Lots were at stake for 14 year old Sonu, as he was popularly called. His performance in the tournament could be best described as mediocre. He had never been above average in studies, extra curricular activities and even sports. No one ever praised him for he hardly did anything praiseworthy. Not even little encouragement came his way. He always wondered what was his fault. After all, he was not that bad either. But that was the way it always was. He never desired much. But like all, he wished to be admired, praised, be like others who were so much liked. Today was the day to prove his worth; to make the world sit and take notice of him. One good hit over the boundary rope and he would be a instant hero. A hero in eyes of his friends, teachers, all uncles and aunts and most importantly his parents, who were somehow never satisfied with his performance. The bowler came all ch

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