The Golden Period

When the question of careers arises, one usually becomes a child lost in the proverbial sweet shop, which might not be true for a student in India, who generally considers Engg. /Medical as his best option. I followed the same bunch of people and joined NIT Hamirpur, to pursue a B-Tech Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, in August 2004.
Wholeheartedly I agree to the fact that the college time is the best time of life. And the most important too, as it covers the adolescence of an individual who metamorphoses, from a child, into an adult having a developed acumen. One learns to maintain a balance between his duties and his priorities. The usual priorities of a budding engineer remain boozing, playing computer games, spending time with friends, maybe some special one at times… But at the first call of duty, the warriors get ready to leave everything aside and complete their work. There won’t be a single instance when we would not have completed our assigments on time. Please don’t ponder on the means we employed for the same.
The best period during whole engineering is the first year. Our classes used to end around 4:30 during the first year, and while going back to our respective rooms, we had to pass the second year block. Sophomores used to block our way and sometimes made us answer some really foolish questions. But that too was fun as we were learning professionalism, when we had entered a professional college. Looking at the ‘third button’, we used to follow in a line and reach our rooms, where we used to be the kings, until some senior thought of coming towards us. But finally those seniors proved to be friends who provided us with books and guided us all along.
Ankush and Larzoo turned up to be my first roommates. First time I met Ankush, he reminded me of the person who used to be in my batch during crash course for preparation of competitive exams. Though, that guy was his younger brother, I confused him with Ankush. The main reason of my curiosity was the incidents of quarrels related with him. So, the first thought of having him as my roommate made me shiver. Eventually I found Ankush to be a completely different person. A real friend…
One of the most beautiful phases used to be one month before the cultural festival. I still remember being tortured by some seniors, during my first year, just because I was in dance club and my dance partner was considered one of the most beautiful ladies in first year. And the only problem was that she was tall enough and none other matched her profile. So most of the times, I was made to dance with her. That was the experience of the Dance Club. During 2nd year I joined PR Club, which was even more fun. And ofcourse, there was much to learn from the same. And there were acquaintances, which eventually turned into friendship.
I gained a lot of friends at college, which would be my worthiest treasure. And yeah finally I received my degree today by post. So finally I am Er. Rishabh Bansal… Cheers everyone!

The Robin Hood Theory

In India, 21% people are below poverty line and the population of those who can’t even earn bread for their family, twice daily, is comparable. Merely a 45% people would be self efficient, 20% of which can be called rich…
Here I want to discuss another citation from the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. During our schooldays, we heard stories of the romantic hero, Robin Hood, who robbed from the rich and gave it to the poor. Is it mandatory for the rich to feed the poor? Is it a crime to be rich? If not, then why do we find people saying that rich should pay more taxes, which can benefit the poor.
This is probably what is happening in countries which boast to be developed, because no one sleeps hungry. A set amount is paid as a reward to those who are unemployed and they are sent to some poor country where they can afford a healthy living. And sometimes this amount exceeds the wages of an employee. The result is pretty obvious. The employed also prefers to sit idle and have a delicious meal with a beer every time instead of having a dry loaf of bread twice, or seldom, once, daily. Such an idea is encouraging unemployment in the developed countries.
A better idea can be to lend some amount of money to such people with minimum rate of interest, so that they can get into a business. And more amount can be lent, if they hold assets equivalent to the double of previously lent amount. This way, their assets can be mortgaged and they will be encouraged to work harder and earn more, instead of relying on the government and blaming the rich. So people! Please suit yourself…

The monetory war...

Several books would have influenced my cognizance, but ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, has somehow pushed my instincts further. After having read nearly half of it, I strictly feel that it has a potential to go right into your brain and change your rationale about your lifestyle. Many of us at the stage of leaving college or even pursuing the graduation degree have a fear of being left out in the race of survival, because it’s the human tendency, which doesn’t allow him to consider himself the fittest, hence giving birth to the fear, I talked about. And most of the people of this clan usually have a desire, a greed, of earning more and more; which is why they hunt for a good job.
Despite of having a faint dream of being an entrepreneur, or being an artist, in short, choosing the road less travelled, one runs where he finds the herd running… behind money… behind a good job with a fat pay package… because that seems to be the last resort, especially if he is not from a financially super-stable family. Now, that’s pretty digestible. And everyone cannot become Sam Walton or Richard Branson, or for that matter, Vijay Malaya (the desi version).
Need of the hour is financial know-how. And the perfect medium is a school. Especially the schools of India need to teach the students some financial terms, which can help them comprehend financial articles easily and help them to build strategies. Though B-schools solve the purpose, but everyone can’t afford joining one. Until and unless one doesn’t know what to do with the money being earned, it cannot be invested judiciously; which is the major reason of the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Maybe one fine day, we’ll be able to get rid of all our fears and desires, and instead make money work for us; hence investing and accounting for each penny, that has been earned, knowing its actual worth.

The Turban Turmoil

A few days back, an incident of flaring-up the turban of a shool going kid by one of his classmate, in a school in London, rocked the front pages of the newspapers. In another incident, the Akal Academy in Cheema forced, even the non-sikh students, to wear a turban. And recently some SAD workers removed the turban of an officer who refused to accept their nomination for the elections.
It seems that 'the turban’ is acting as a weapon, albeit being dangerous to the Sikh community itself in some instances. And for the rest, Sikhs themselves tend to misuse their “turban power”. Possibly, that is the sole reason, why a helmet could not be designed for the Turban bearers, and the turban is acting as the super-natural power, which, according to them, might protect the upper story of Sikhs in case of a mishap.
It’s the moment when some decisions are needed to be taken, to prevent the ‘Turban Turmoil’. And now, when it has become an international issue, the representatives from the Sikh communities all over the planet should come forward to start a new round of discussion and the ministry of external affairs of all the nations worldwide should take an active part in the discussions, and finally lay down some laws ensuring the prevention of any forthcoming “Turban Turmoil”…

worse than hell

Quite miserable, he once again moves out of the room,
Once again, to the balcony,
Fiddles with clothes dried in sun, comes back in,
Goes to his room, lets out his frustration, says something stupid,
Gets thrashed for one more time.
And once again he moves out of his room,
This time to another room.
Keeps rolling around in the same vicious circle,
Hopping from one place to another in his own house.
What he lacks is peace, in his mind, in his soul.
Adulterates the atmosphere with his vibes.
Neither lives, nor lets other breathe.
Or is it the other way round?
He tries but fails; to make a presence,
To involve in a banter, says something humorous but immature.
And there he goes again.
He is alone, happy to be with friends,
His heart is splendid. He aspires for stars.
Has clandestine desires, which no one tends to embrace.
They want to see him flourish, but in their own ways.
They are the trend setters,
And they want him to follow the suit.
Study my child! They say…
They let him loose for leisure, for games,
But they want him to be disciplined.
Why not have a fixed time to study,
And save the rest to fly with dreams.
Gardener performs his duty well,
So expects the flowers to blush,
Dance with the rain, smile in the spring.
He keeps removing the weeds, to keep his little colorful kids healthy.
But the flowers fail to understand.
They don’t mind the weeds…
May god bless them with an instinct to bloom,
And spread their fragrance everywhere…

What matters is the Alma Mater

Leaders like Abrahim Lincon, Mahatma Gandhi and numerous others of the same clan who succeeded despite of studying in small schools are an exception. Talking in terms of general public, one usually tends to follow the suit, i.e. going for entrance tests after schooling, taking admission in colleges as per the availability of seats. Leaving aside a few, most of the students look at a good college, indifferent of the course being offered. During their graduation, they somehow build up interest in their field. Eventually they get jobs in MNC’s or other big firms with handsome pay packages.
The big issue that still needs to be discussed over here is the importance of graduating from a renound institute. It is a well known fact that all the institutes are graded for a particular graduation stream. These grades hold importance in the recruitment process, where companies tend to recruit students from the colleges with a grade that suits them the best. So if you want to join a big firm, you need to have graduated from a high graded institute. Otherwise, even if you are able to clear the interview and get into the firm, you’ll still need sometime to prove your worth. This time gap will cause some lag initially, which can be coped up in the later stages.
In the gist of this discussion, it can be said that, having graduated from a good institue will prevent the initial lag, which can save some time that might be of paramount importance. So, it’s a message to all the aspirants…Its time to pull up your socks and get into the arena. The competition is really tough and if you want to get through, dream for stars and you might land somewhere near moon.