Washed out!

Well one of these days I had to try and wash some clothes. I couldn't really depend on the dhobi all the time. He shows up about once a week and that's about it. I had this huge stack of clothes lying in my 'laundry bin' (Which was actually a spare dustbin... but you really didn't need to know that.) So I pick up the whole armload and stuff it into the bucket. I rip open the packet of soap powder and chuck the whole thing in. I then put both the pieces of the packet together and try to read the instructions. They said to use the whole packet for a whole bucket. Now mine was only a half bucket. So I say to myself, "What the heck! They would probably come out better." Now this 'better' wouldn't mean brighter or whiter but..... Hmmmmnnn I haven't really thought this through. Well that apart, I soaked them for about an hour (the instructions on the packet did say half an hour, but... - by now you should be familiar with the concept of 'better'). So I step in about an hour later to 'do my washing'. I lift the first article out of the water and well it looks clean... Anyways I sort of pound on it like the way I have seen the woman who comes to do the washing at home. I open the tap and rinse it out. After I had finished all the others, I take a look at them. The black one seems black, the dark blue one seems dark blue, (so far so good) but the white one seems pale yellowish-brownish-yellow. "What the heck", I say to myself. "Maybe it is the effect of being wet and the colour of the light reflecting off the tiles behind it. WHATEVER!! I put them all to dry with a flourish. I have a bath feeling rather proud of self. So they dry the next day and WHADDYA KNOW!! The black one is black, the dark blue one is dark blue and........ oh! The white one is still yellowish-brownish-yellow. Hmmnnn..... I need a clothes brush - the kind with the stiff bristles to wash clothes else they wont turn out the way they are supposed to. And on this conclusion I rest my case for tonight.

Carry on! Carry on!

I got this from an old and good friend. Nice one Sada!!

It's easy to fight when everything's right,
And you're mad with the thrill and the glory;
It's easy to cheer when victory's near,
And wallow in fields that are gory.
It's a different song when everything's wrong.
When you're feeling infernally mortal;
When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,
Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!
There isn't much punch in your blow.
You're glaring and staring and hitting out blind;
You're muddy and bloody, but never mind.
Carry on! Carry on!
You haven't the ghost of a show.
It's looking like death, but while you've a breath,
Carry on, my son! Carry on!

And so in the strife of the battle of life
It's easy to fight when you're winning;
It's easy to slave, and starve and be brave,
When the dawn of success is beginning.
But the man who can meet despair and defeat
With a cheer, there's a man of God's choosing;
The man who can fight to Heaven's own height
Is the man who can fight when he's losing.

Carry on! Carry on!
Things never were looming so black.
But show that you haven't a cowardly streak,
And though you're unlucky you never are weak.
Carry on! Carry on!
Brace up for another attack.
It's looking like hell, but - you never can tell;
Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,
And some who in brutishness wallow;
There are others, I know, who in piety go
Because of a Heaven to follow.
But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,
For the sweetness and joy of the giving;
To help folks along with a hand and a song;
Why, there's the real sunshine of living.

Carry on! Carry on!
Fight the good fight and true;
Believe in you mission, greet life with a cheer;
There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.
Carry on! Carry on!
Let the world be the better for you;
And at last when you die, let this be your cry:
Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

IIT - KGP

Well.... well... well... So I am here finally. Actually I have been here for like about 3 weeks but not bothered to update this blog. Can't blame me. I have had limited access to the internet. Or maybe I just didnt feel like. Tonight I am in the mood for writing something about life here at IIT. The thing is that I hold some kind of post of sorts here so it really restricts my writing. :-)
What would all my fellow batchmates think of me if I wrote about their inane questions in the class or I put up pictures that I have taken with my mobile phone camera while they were sleeping. :-) You never know what you find on peoples mobile phone cameras ;-)
Hence I am going to have to restrict this freedom that I thought I would have by creating this blog. I wish I could..... but then to sound very cliched, If wishes were horses beggars would ride.

Let me begin by telling you a little about some of the day to day activities that happen. I shall leave out the academic stuff because that is what we are supposed to do here. And you all must have gone through some kind of formal education so you all know what I am talking about.
I seem to have written about a million mails to people telling them about life in this place. Hence forth you shall have to check my blog to know what is happening. If you don't then I shall have to resort to other means of persuasion such as death threats, plain threats, cajoling, pleading and then finally begging.

A little about the longest railway station in the world.
IIT Kharagpur is located at Kharagpur. Kharagpur is in West Bengal. OK so what is so interesting? I know that the above lines are boring. So is Kharagpur. There are only two things in Kharagpur. One of them is of course my college better known as IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is one of the better schools on this side of the world. The second thing here is the railway station. Yeah, the railway station. No I am not trying to show you that other than IIT there is nothing here. Kharagpur is supposed to have the longest railway platform in the world. The length of this world record is 833 m. Apart from these two there is little else in Kharagpur. As one of my professors so tactfully put it in regard to attendance "There are only two things here. One is my class at IIT and the other is the platform. If you are not here then I shall make sure that you are there (Platform)" indicating the dire consequences of abstaining from his lectues.
Ok now just like you, when I heard about this eyesore of a railway platform for the first time I too was ooh-ing and aah-ing about it. Now I would have detested that stupid platform had it not been useful to me. Allow me to elaborate.
A little bit about the geography of this place. Kharagpur is situated about 116 kms from one of India's metropolitian cities Calcutta or today known as Kolkata. Kolkata is thus about 2.5 hours by train from this wart of a platform.
So last Saturday my good friend SM and self headed down to Cal. (Cal = Calcutta=Kolkata). I wanted to get a few things and do some sight-seeing. So we took a cycle rickshaw and went uneventfully down to the sore of a station. Ater purchasing our tickets we headed down onto the platform. Upon alighting from the bridge we enquired and found out that our train was supposed to leave in about 2 minutes. So in about roughly 180 seconds we sprinted about 800 m. Why 800 m you ask?
The beauty of this platform is that 2 trains usually come one after the other on the same platform. And our train was supposed to be in the front. As luck would have it our compartment was in the front of this steel caterpillar on this rotten leaf of a platform. So we did the 800 m dash only to find out that the train had just left. The smartest thing to do next was to find out the time and the place of the next train. That was two platforms away and was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. The bridge was about 800 m away from our current geographical location. So we upped our skirts and ran to the bridge and arrived on the new platform.
A small deviation: Do you read Calvin and Hobbes? Well it is one of my favourite comics. Calvin looks at his pet imaginary tiger - Hobbes and says "Hobbes, do you believe in God?" Well his alter-ego-tiger says that he doesn't. So Calvin looks skywards in utter confusion and says "Well there must be someone out to get me"
I too felt like that when I realised that the train was at the other end. When I finally arrived at the door of my compartment, all I could do was clamber in, find a seat and nod-off.
So if anyone comments on this railway platform in relation to the world record length, I warn you all hell shall be let loose.

Watch this space for an account of my first time (washing clothes).

Rise and Fall - 5

Then he concluded:

I spoke to HIM
The Superlative DiVINITY
Asked HIM for the reason
HE said "Reason? Its the biggest disability"

Said HE, "Work with no qualms
And I assure You Life
But first you must meet
The Examiners, Poverty & Strife"

I tried to be smart
And outwit the ONE
I denounced his offerings
Rather have Wealth & Fun

HE said "Oh I see
you've just met Compromise,
The Prince of Strayed Men
the King of the Unwise"

"Forget him Now",
"But he? ...... HE is HIM"
I fumbled for words
As my mind filled to the Brim

These two voices inside me,
Me, on my side
The other,The devil
Who is after my hide

I finally realised
The cost To be Free
A soul of a sinner
And that sinner is ME

Rise and Fall - 4

To which I replied:

We can't know it all
For that is the prerogative
Of him that knows it all
Of him that ever lives

We are mere mites
In the sands of time
All the strings are pulled by Him
He who is divine

Remember in the thirst for reality
As the words of Fred Durst do
"Life is a lesson
You learn it when you're through"

But we must rest not
In the hope of a favour
For only he who is brave
Does fortune really favour.

And when our time comes
Silently we must not die
Rather go skidding into our grave screamin
"F**k whatta ride!!"

Rise and Fall - 3

He wrote back:

But u see my friend
In what we speak,
Only the surface we scratch
Of the base not the peak

We quote and rhyme
Of the rise and fall
Of the reality of this world
We know nothing at all

Its time to be brave
No cowardice at all,
If you want to Rise
Then Be ready to Fall