A fraternity prepares to take its final bow!

My juniors are busy right now, trying to organise a farewell function for my batch, and I feel a lump forming in my throat. I mean, four years just went like that. I still remember that day, 5th of September 2002, when I first entered this campus, as a student. I barely knew a soul, and was nervous. Would I fit in, would I be able to handle the pressure? My head was aching with questions, questions whose answers I would find in the course of my stay here.

I really shouldn’t have worried about finding friends; I found so many, I still am counting my blessings. As regards handling the pressure, well, I could say I did manage to do a fair job, with a few bumps here and there, but nevertheless a fair job. And now its time to leave, to somehow start evaluating these four years, and this is the most difficult and the most tortuous of tasks someone can take on himself. Mind you, no matter how stressful this task may be, it is something enjoyable as well, because when one pauses to turn the pages of Time, memories rush anew and flood the eyes with tears. Tears of joy, for having had the opportunity to live in those times, in that way. Tears of sorrow, of not having lived more freely, of not having enjoyed oneself more fully. Tears of guilt, of not having befriended more people, of not having tried to know more about one’s acquaintances. Whatever the emotion, it just flows out.

Long ago, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, not in public, not even when I am absolutely grief-stricken. Maybe, I will keep my promise this time as well. Maybe I won’t. Because really, I am confounded as to how I should approach this day. On one hand, I should feel happy I am leaving college. For all that I may feel, I really was fed up of the college, its bureaucratic attitude to everything, and its miserly nature, as far as student activities were concerned. Sure, there were some good times, but once you lose the camaraderie you share with an organisation, no matter what happens, it can never be regained. But on the other side, I also feel grief is a more apt emotion, as I will be leaving a place where I spent four of the most eventful, and no matter what I may say, most definitive years of my life so far. Here is where I made friendships, friendships, I hope and pray, I can sustain for life. There is the sadness of leaving one’s friends, of the last stand of a fraternity that stood through thick and thin, who were not just friends, but more than that; at times guides, at times, philosophers, at times, patient and understanding ears to our laments, and at times, swift rebuking voices. There is the anxiety of the experiences awaiting me when I finally wear the black robe. Am I sufficiently prepared for the challenges that lie ahead? And then there is the excitement of finally being able to take one’s decisions for oneself. Not that one blames or faults one’s parents, but then it is an exciting feeling to be identified as Mr. So and so, or Ms. So and so, and not just Mr. So and so’s son or daughter.

This isn’t intended to be my farewell speech. I am not much for emotional speeches. So, this may just stay on my blog. Where my friends can come and see and laugh at the follies of this fool, maybe for the last time. Where friends can come and remember that they knew this man, this oh-so-common man.

Musings of a beautiful person!

Iva Mae, perhaps the first person besides the GST crowd, who read my blog and actually took the time to comment on it, is a great poet.Sometimes, her poems are all thought-provoking, while sometimes, they just make you want to cry, or at least wipe away that tear just gathering in your eye. This is one of her latest ones. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

If I Must Go

If I must go and you remain,
I hope you don't suffer too much pain
from my leaving.

If you go first and I must stay,
I know I'll feel it shorn away
that part of my heart.

When we met some years ago
I couldn't guess, didn't know
how much I'd love you.

Through silent tears I still can see
Your sparkling eyes wink at me.
It's been worth it all.

I can't be sorry, won't regret
The day we smiled, the day we met.
My God, I thank you.

What a friend you are, sweet love.

© Copyright 2006 iva*mae (UN: crankee at Writing.Com)

Are we civilized enough?

As I sat down to read the newspaper in the morning, gory details of a local scuffle in Navi Mumbai dominated the headlines. Also was prominent the case of a young prodigal scion of a illustrious family having sullied the name by having sexually assaulted and violated a 52 year old woman. And I put the paper down. Please, are we so denigrate a species that we have no other things to put on the first pages of our dailies?
Maybe we are, and as such deserve to be tortured so everyday of our pitiful lives, being reminded so. But surely the future holds promise? Maybe it does, but it all depends on how you define 'the future'? If we are to include the likes of the class 10 students who drugged their female classmate, took her to her own house, and taking advantage of the absence of her parents, violated her, then I fear the future's bleak. I don't want to sound moralistic. But, somewhere down the line, I find this to be most scary. A society wherein in a moment, minds can turn to such demonic pursuits, and that too with no fear of the consequences, is somehow doomed to become the scrounging ground of wastrels. In this particular case, the students may be minors in the eyes of law, but if one asks oneself, these kids, and I use the term with great trepidation, have the maturity far surpassing the ordinary adult. I have no doubt that they were aware that what they were planning to do was not right, neither in law nor in the eyes of social norms, as also of the consequences of their actions. And yet, it did not inspire any horror in them of the act.
The young of a nation are the Hope, the light that will dispel the Horror of the past, of those who had the opportunity to change the course of history but didn't, or couldn't for lack of courage. Somehow these youth inspire no such goodwill. They aren't the Hope, they are the Horror. If this is the road the future has chosen, then stop boasting about the prowess of India in the world, of how its statesmen are welcome at the high tables of power, of how men of fortune are lining up to put their monies in the Indian markets. All this will be in vain when we lose a generation to such perversions. All the industry of the ages will crumble if the society it aims to support no longer respects the law, nor fears its blow. Till then, cease this empty boast of being a glorious civilization. We have abdicated that throne long ago; it's only the vestiges that we enjoy now, as shameless lepers on a public dinner.

The Fair Singer

Another one of Marvell's marvels. Hope you enjoy it as well.

THE FAIR SINGER.
-Andrew Marvell

TO make a final conquest of all me,
Love did compose so sweet an enemy,
In whom both beauties to my death agree,
Joining themselves in fatal harmony,
That, while she with her eyes my heart does bind,
She with her voice might captivate my mind.

I could have fled from one but singly fair ;
My disentangled soul itself might save,
Breaking the curled trammels of her hair ;
But how should I avoid to be her slave,
When subtle art invisibly can wreathe
My fetters of the very air I breathe ?

It had been easy fighting in some plain,
Where victory might hang in equal choice,
But all resistance against her is vain,
Who has the advantage both of eyes and voice;
And all my forces needs must be undone,
She having gained both the wind and sun.

The Definition of Love

I found this poem one day whilst just browsing the net, and fell in love with it. The gamut of the emotions being expressed is so very heart-rendering, that I simply felt I needed to share it with everyone. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

THE DEFINITION OF LOVE.
by Andrew Marvell
MY Love is of a birth as rare
As 'tis, for object, strange and high ;
It was begotten by Despair,
Upon Impossibility.

Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing,
Where feeble hope could ne'er have flown,
But vainly flapped its tinsel wing.

And yet I quickly might arrive
Where my extended soul is fixed ;
But Fate does iron wedges drive,
And always crowds itself betwixt.

For Fate with jealous eye does see
Two perfect loves, nor lets them close ;
Their union would her ruin be,
And her tyrannic power depose.

And therefore her decrees of steel
Us as the distant poles have placed,
(Though Love's whole world on us doth wheel),
Not by themselves to be embraced,

Unless the giddy heaven fall,
And earth some new convulsion tear.
And, us to join, the world should all
Be cramp'd into a planisphere.

As lines, so love's oblique, may well
Themselves in every angle greet:
But ours, so truly parallel,
Though infinite, can never meet.

Therefore the love which us doth bind,
But Fate so enviously debars,
Is the conjunction of the mind,
And opposition of the stars.

Witness Protection et al!

The judicial system is in for some serious reform, or so it seems. And mind you, unlike every time, when the legislature, who incidentally is the only body other than the judiciary itself, which can initiate such reforms, these measures may just make life a lot easier for everyone, especially those seeking justice.
Firstly, the First Lady of the Nation, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Mother India, Leader of the People, Guardian of the poor teeming masses, Saint Incomparable, suggested that the Government get its act together and assemble a Witness Protection Program. About time, I say. For once, actually, maybe once in a while, Mrs. Gandhi does make sense, and this time, she’s making the right sort of music. Justice in India is not just about cold, hard evidence made up of inanimate objects; it’s a living process, embodied by its reliance on the testimonies of the witnesses, as was very strongly demonstrated in the Jessica Lal murder trial. Merely because the witnesses failed to agree upon the guilt of the accused, the Honorable Court found it fit to acquit each and every one of them, notwithstanding the mountain of circumstantial evidence, screaming out the culpability of the offenders. Many witnesses turned hostile, some because of personal compulsions, some because of coercion. Those who turned away from Justice mostly did so because they were scared, that someone would seek vengeance on them for supporting the opposite side. They need to be reassured that even if those being prosecuted are rich and powerful, they cannot stand against Truth and survive. For this, the might of the State must be pitted against the brawn of the reprobates. Only then will the phenomenon of hostile witnesses somewhat abate, and those fleeing the courthouses in fear will again rally around to the truth.
For those who turn turncoat because of personal compulsions other than the fear of retribution, Dr. Manmohan Singh has offered a beautiful solution: Punish them. Hold above them the sword of Damocles: Testify or Perish. Let us see how many turn hostile then.

The Jessica Lal case also had opened the floodgates for the proposals to revamp the judicial system. Accountability, especially among the lower echelons of the judiciary, in recent times, has become a matter of concern, and ensuring the same has become of prime importance. That the judiciary in itself is capable of purging itself of such demons is an undeniable fact, and the legislature as also the executive should desist from trying to interfere in the process beyond a certain extent. However, one suggestion of the executive at this juncture I found particularly potent and that was the mass recruitment of judges for the lower rungs of the judiciary, in order to at least alleviate to some extent the enormous load on the system. Such a proposal is fraught with many flaws in that it could be a way by which politicians could push in their favourites. But in all, it is a promising solution; only the devil lies in the details.

The Bar Association of India is proposing to drop the archaic nomenclatures of My Lord when addressing judges and instead refer to the Honorable Legates as Sir/Lady, or Mr. Justice et al, as in use in the United Kingdom. A most noteworthy suggestion, hope the judges approve. I would also like the BAI to suggest dropping the cumbersome black robes, and maybe go in for the formal attire, as followed by the U.S. courts. Nothing like discarding the black robes in the hot summer months, eh?

I have the Power...(and the Energy too)

Finally the PM got what he wanted all along. His nuclear pact with Uncle Sam firmly sealed in that nice leather file, the Left shown its place in the state of affairs, and for once seeming like the man in power, and not just the man with power, Dr. Singh has come a long way. If Vajpayeeji’s reign came to be characterized by Lahore and Agra, then Dr. Singh’s tenure will be marked by this pact.
Energy security is something every nation is beginning to realize the importance of. In a country where 70% of our energy requirements or rather our electricity requirements are met by coal, we are in a most vulnerable position. The non-renewability of coal is a cliché, but the fact’s that we need to move to more environment friendly and reliable sources of energy as quickly as possible.
India has 15 nuclear power plants in operation, with an installed generating capacity of 3,310 megawatts (MW). Seven more plants with a capacity of 3,420 MW are under construction and scheduled for completion by 2009. In addition, there are two research reactors, which produce most of the country's weapons-grade uranium. Nuclear power accounts for about 2.7 percent of India's generating capacity.
Under a July 2005 deal, agreed in principle between India and the United States, New Delhi would commit itself to certain non-proliferation standards including allowing international inspections of its civilian nuclear plants. In return, it would gain access to U.S. civilian nuclear technology, including fuel and reactors denied for 30 years. India's military facilities would not be subject to inspections under the deal.
The agreement hinges on India separating its nuclear facilities into civilian and military components. The United States has said it expects the "great majority" of India's nuclear reactors to be placed in the civilian list. But top Indian nuclear scientists are opposing this, saying it would place restrictions on the weapons programme. Only four nuclear power plants in operation (capacity 620 MW) and two under construction (capacity 2000 MW) are currently under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Dr. Singh said this week that New Delhi would place nuclear reactors that generate about 65 percent of atomic power in the civilian list and open to inspections, in effect stating that although the United States is entitled to expect a whole lot of things, to what extent India will comply is solely her prerogative.
Indian scientists are especially opposed to classifying the experimental "fast-breeder reactor" (FBR) programme in the civilian list, saying it is part of the country's research efforts. The FBRs, which use spent fuel from existing heavy water reactors to process plutonium, are intended as the mainstay of the country's nuclear power programme. Their concerns are justifiable, and surely the deal, of which I know nothing as of now (wink, wink) would have taken care of such fears and issues to the satisfaction of all concerned.
All in all, even if the Opposition may term this an outright sellout of Indian interests, we have to understand that in today’s world, it is highly impractical to expect that someone will give you something without expecting to give up something in return. Besides, as far as safety and security are concerned, well I am of the view that even if blemished by the Iraq matter, wherein although it directly instigated no conflict, the IAEA still is the premier body as far as atomic energy is concerned, and allowing them access to our civilian nuclear reactor facilities would only improve the state of affairs beyond the current great position that we are in.
The cordiality and bonhomie that was evident in the body language of George W. Bush vis-à-vis Dr. Singh shows the camaraderie the two statesmen share. Based on the foundation of the pro-India presidency of Bill Clinton, methinks this is the beginning of a new chapter in India’s relations with the US, a beautiful chapter marked by trust and friendship.