Assignation with inevitability for Er.

The small composure by "Teachers" on the occasion of Teachers Day-5/9/15 

As a kid, the sight of Taj Mahal, the beauty of Qutub Minar must have mesmerized you. Bike races and cars on-road and off-roads, the drifting of ship away from the shore and sight, the take off of a plane with fantastic sound must have fascinated you. Imagining mysterious heavenly bodies, the amazing video games, xbox and everything, have all given us an immense pleasure. Sometimes their first hand experience and sometimes just their sight.

As a child, we always had a curiosity about the architect of these things. And somewhere at the back of our minds, building one of these fascinating machines was always a cherished dream.

Once upon a time the dream to be an engineer was dreamt by every child in you. As a child the main aim in life used to be either to drive a race car or to develop some video game. And the inquisitiveness always occupied our mind.The imagination was at its peak, the positive vibration always flowed inside you to achieve your dream. With this kind of focus you all entered into the program. With sheer determination, hard work and some part of luck in the path of your destiny, you all landed in the program which builds the world; "ENGINEERING".

One of the greatest brains of history- Albert Einstein once quoted “scientist investigate that which already is, engineers create that which has never been”, it gives such a great  meaning and engineers till date have proved this to be true.

Remember the first day, the first step in the campus of your engineering college; the new class, few old buddies, many new folks and orientation, mingling with everyone, knowing the campus, the hangout spot: canteen, the library with thousands of books, the greenery around, would surely make you happy to be part of this great world, you all entered here with a big dream of learning the world of everything and developing or contributing in your own way. This will come with a great load of work and continuous effort. But remember that there is always a reason behind every assignment, the deadline of submission, internal assessments, project work and seminars, industrial visits and internships. These hectic processes will mould you to reach and handle the toughest situations at work and in personal life.

By the middle of this process or by the time you complete engineering, the zeal which you had as a child or on the 1^st day may reach the minimum level.  The pushing questions of WHY and HOW are lost and never given a secondary thought.  This stage may be tough but the going has to be tougher. The spirit has to be kept alive in you; the necessity to learn should be the prime focus.

 It was so thrilling and lively, the burning desire was in you, to conquer the world through technology. You must always remember that the path to success and the path to achieve your dreams will not always be a cake walk.The hardship will necessarily be a part of the process and that will teach you the best lessons of life.Compromises are at every step in the program. These may seem irrelevant at first but as the career is built up the lessons will be remembered. Engineering as a whole is not merely a degree certificate in hand at the end of 4 years, it’s the way of life.

If it gives n number of reasons to put you down, show it the n+1 ways to fight back and stand for your dream. Life seems so much happier and happening when this is achieved.

Trust the words, the best part of life and the best learning experience are nothing else but your engineering program life, make the most of it. Diverse culture among your friends and assorted professors from different regions add up to the cultural values. There is always something to learn from everyone and it can be experienced in this engineering life. Never underestimate yourself or the potential that you have. Know yourself well and do not fall for other people’s judgments or humiliations. Show the world what you are capable of. Feel that need to prove your worth.

The big gang of friends which you have now won’t remain for a long time. People move to different arenas, way of life changes, some struggle to get job, some get placed well and others catch up the whole new way. Whatever the destiny might have in box, learn to grow as a person. In spite of the loaded schedule, find time for your hobbies, sports and friends. Explore the world. Learn about friendship and emotions. It will never serve you to be a slave of technology or to have false ideas of independence. Respect the bonds you develop among your friends. Nurture them. There is no better feeling than knowing that you have a non-judgmental “best friend”.

Never ever cease to be ‘students’. The world has infinite experiences to offer if you are willing to learn, and to grow up doing that is the only valid reason we can see to live. We shall always falter and fall. But then, remember what we learnt from our favorite movie:

“And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

The time is as important as it was. To reach a successful position and earn a handsome pay cheque it takes approximately 7 years. Throughout it all, keep high ambitions and faith in self, face the world, have the courage to explore and finally lead a life of your dream.  

So go ahead, learn. Have fun. Fly. Good luck.

Swaraj – the right of a common man!!

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves – Abraham Lincoln

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”- Tryst with destiny, the speech still awakes the nostalgia in every Indian. After great movements and never ending wars the SWARAJ was achieved by India. After that midnight every citizen was free from the clutches of British rule. Everyone cheered together and celebrated. The leaders had a dream, the dream to see this country with a right vision, to move forward in all paths of knowledge and be a humble guiding light to the world.

More than half a decade has passed; we proudly call ourselves an independent nation, an independent India. But that is not convincing enough. Last week when the day had approached for celebrating the 69^th Independence Day, the invitation was on table to attend a flag hoisting ceremony. The thought of patriotism was invoked but I had few questions that kept on repeating in my mind, time and again!

Few simple questions;

These questions always don’t have simple answers. If the answers are Simple they are the most difficult ones to understand. 

I Could not make it to the flag hoisting ceremony this Independence Day. Was I lazy? Was I enjoying my freedom? May be!! Was I insulting my country? And the heroes who gave me that freedom? Well... NO! I WASN'T! What I was really doing was, fighting my own little freedom struggle. Struggling to find answers and struggling to ask questions... Are we really free? What does freedom really mean? Specifically, what does it mean to us? 

“Freedom” the power in word itself, is the ability to make choice, dream the destiny, to be able to take a decision and to be able to stand by that decision till the end. Freedom in the physical environment is a thing of past. Freedom is emotional and psychological boundlessness. Where is the freedom to think differently, the freedom to act differently, to let the curious minds loose... to discover new arenas, to accept new ways, to learn new spheres, to explore the depths and to soar into the heights?

And this freedom from what? 

From the clutches of the old and ugly lies. Blind faiths and narrow visions. 

The urge to be free is the basic necessity of my life. I don’t want to be looked down upon for being a woman. Nor do I want any advantage for being a man. I want the kind of freedom where there would be "individual and unique human beings" irrespective of their gender. 

I want to be free of fear - fear of forgetting, fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of death! 

Freedom is being you! And I shall not settle for anything less. 

Let the concept of this great democratic, independent country be given a wider and deeper meaning. The independent India be given a fresh thought; the freedom of thought be used by every free thinking citizen.

But then the thought still comes back in my mind, “I am not living in a free country”.

There are still narrow walls of castes between our people. There are bigger walls of gender. Then there is religion and faith and dominance and rape. There is filth and garbage and we think cleaning is the lowest job in life. There are limits and we hate to take it far. Dreams are secondary and money is divine. Killing is ok, speaking is crime. Entertainment is worth the spending, charity is not! We love the rich, poor’s exist not.

They judge us on every step, and weigh to be good or bad. No this can’t be called as freedom. This is emotional dungeon.

So I decided to stay home this independence day. Bowed down to the war heroes and saluted my flag from here. 

They said I wasn’t patriotic. I didn’t mind. It didn’t matter. Here I am still fighting my own little freedom struggle.