An unplanned trip....but the best one!

 So, this February, as soon as I rejoined college for the second semester, on a weekend some five of us decided to plan a short trip. As usual, the place of the trip was the hot topic of little conflicts. We shortlisted the nearby places like Kasuali, Shimla(obviously because everybody prefers to go to hill stations), but due to freezing cold the plan was dropped. Finally we thought of Amritsar because although few of us had seen the golden Temple earlier, but had not experienced its magnificence when it was all lit up at night. It is roughly five hours from Patiala, so we fixed it for the trip. We did not plan much and left at four in the morning. By around nine, we were there at Amritsar. Although we had booked this hotel near the Temple, but we wanted to stay too close, so we had to go hotel hunting in the morning itself. Luckily we found this hotel adjacent to the Gurudwara and checked in. This whole Hotel hunting episode was an altogether a different story, but I am skipping that for now. We freshened up and left for the "Darshan". After standing for about two and a half hours straight, we finally got an entry inside. Ofcourse, the two hours of standing in the queue was worth it and each one of us offered our prayers to the "The Granth Sahib".
We thought we could make it to the Wagah border on the same day and leave by the next evening. But it was almost three, by the time we came out and as the Border was some 35 kms from the place and would have taken us around 1 hour so we decided to stay a night more(again the hotel hunting episode popped in). Since morning we had no time to eat, so we sat in the first restaurant we could spot and had a yummy meal "Amritsari Naans" and lassi.
The last time I went to Amritsar was seven years back on a school trip. It was so different back then with narrow roads, unruly traffic and one couldn't make out that just at the corner of the street lies our historic Jallianwallah Bagh. Presently, the whole area near the Golden Temple has been revamped completely.The area has been named "The heritage street" which doesn't look like a part of the country itself. It has been redesigned as a mall road where no vehicles are allowed. The street has been designed such that it gives a modern as well as that typical old city look. There are hundreds of little shops, very well constructed, which sell punjabi styled juttis, phulkari suits and duppattas,  special amritsari food items.
We took a stroll in the street, took pictures, sat and chatted for a while and as it became dark, we decided to go back, freshen up and visit the "Golden Temple"(the moment that we all were desperately waiting for). As we were approaching the Temple, I was experiencing an anxiety and excitement inside.
The moment we entered standing in front of it, I was dumbstruck, how beautiful and serene it was. For a moment, I paused, and I had this gush of emotions inside. I had never thought or even imagined that I would experience something so beautiful in my life. The shadow of the Temple in the water surrounding is a memory I could not capture in the camera, but its still present in my eyes. All of us sat in front of the marvelous "The Golden Temple"(now I know why is it called so!) and gazed at it for hours together. There was a lot of hustle and bustle around but I was so peaceful and calm that I barely could listen to anything going on. There were no thoughts, nothing at all but tranquility. Everyday, at 10, I talk to my parents and my younger brother and I have alot to say about how my day was, what all happened every time. I was really excited to tell them, but I seriously had no words to explain, how I was feeling actually. I told them about the whole day, about almost everything, the food, the hotel, the market. I wanted to capture that beautiful picture of the Temple with my eyes and send it to them right away. All I could tell them was that you should definitely come to Amritsar, because I would not be able to explain it here.

I think I am nostalgic about it right now, so I am closing it here today and going in that state again for a while(its almost 2 o'clock at night).
But, there is much to the Amritsar trip, the Heritage Street, the amazing food joints. I would be coming up with it soon. For all those who like to shop from those little local shops(the bright and colorful stuff), I am going to post my next blog soon!

Photo credits: Simpi Sonowal...my budding photographer. Ofcourse she would have killed me, had I not mentioned that it was her who captured it!

An eye opener! "Matribhasha Divas"- The 21st February

I can post a thousand blogs in English comfortably  but writing a full sentence in my mother tongue would seem like walking bare foot on burning coal. A week ago, people did not forget to wish and send messages for the whole love week(The valentine's week), but hardly anyone knew that today i.e. the 21st February is the "International Mother Tongue day". UNESCO is celebrating this day with the theme "Towards sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education". The University Grants Commission issued directions to almost all the educational institutions to observe this day.

Yesterday, I got this notification on the phone that our University is organizing an essay writing competition on Matribhasha Divas and as usual, the notification went straight to my ignore list. After reaching college, we were told that there would be no classes and the competition would be held. So, everyone was chilling out either in college, or went back to hostels for that good morning nap, which is mostly drowned in class lectures. Of the whole batch of some fifty students, thirty of us were held back by our professor to participate in the event. Everyone was trying to figure out for that one valid excuse and run from the hall. But anyway, she made us to sit and told us to just write down an essay for fun. Everybody started writing casually, cracking jokes in between, asking for translations, finding the stuff on the net and chatting. Eventually during this fun session, I was taken aback with the fact that I was literally hunting for even the simplest of the words in Hindi. I was not able to frame a good single sentence in my own mother tongue. It was nothing but a paragraph, where I was not able to put any expression. I realized that after passing the tenth standard , I never really read Hindi books, newspapers, novels, poems. Even in school we studied it because it was a part of the syllabus and without scoring well our grades would go low. It wasn't only me who was trying hard but almost everyone was in the same situation.

There is a reason why it is called "The mother tongue". When the child learns to speak for the first time, it is his mother tongue that he has been listening to since the moment he becomes conscious about his surroundings. We connect and communicate with each other through the medium of a common language. Taking  a very common example of this, when we move to a new place and we are alien to the language, the culture, the society, if we come across someone belonging to our native place, we usually communicate in our mother tongue. It is that common factor which readily connects us to the person and we feel that sense of belonging. We cannot express our feelings, emotions in a second language than we do in our mother tongue. Then why is so that it is on some random occasions that we are proud to speak in our local language? It is true that today English is the most widely spoken language, but does it mean that we would forget our roots? 

Today everyone wants to study in an English medium school so that they do not face any problem when they enter the world outside. It is commendable that the schools teach students to read, write and speak fluently in English. The local language, the mother tongue is treated as merely a part of syllabus that needs to be completed. Students are given punishments for speaking in any other language but English. The ones who come from a convent school would easily relate to it. It is not only the school or college authorities but the peer group as well which compels us to communicate in a language which is acceptable by all. Today, if you are not affluent in English, people would look down upon you, not comfortable in being friends with you, might sometimes humiliate you. The events and programs conducted in educational and any other institution are all English based. You cannot think of being a part of an event if you do not know the language. As its true, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."One of the basic requirements of any multinational company or any other organisation is communication skills and command over language. Nobody is to blame because, the world is so competitive that to survive with dignity and to keep pace with the times, we have to be eloquent in English.

Its the youth who can bring "the youth" closer to their language. I being a Himachali, never really listened to or enjoyed listening to "Pahari songs". The growing culture of western music has trapped us all in its never ending web. But after listening to some well sung "Pahari" songs in the voice of Mohit Chauhan, Laman band, I grew fond of my folk music. They have brought up so much revolution in our songs that now I would make my friends listen to it.Recently this TVF series, "Tripling", added our Pahari folk song, towards the end of their series that it made the series even more dearer to me. There can be such hundred other ways to encourage people to learn and respect their mother tongue.
We should not hesitate to speak our language because that is where we come from, and that is imbibed in us since childhood.
 '
So this whole "Matribhasha Divas", was an eye opener for me. I should know "Hindi" as well as my local dialect, the same way and even much more than I know English. Afterall, it was India which gave Sanskrit to the world and  that is where many English words come from.

And indeed, an experience for life!

Donning the uniform as they say, is the most prestigious as well as the hardest to get. I always had an inclination towards joining army but never really knew how to go about it. So this December, I was called in for SSB(obviously i applied!) in Bhopal. Before going I never thought that it would come out to be one of the best days of my life so far. Those five days that I spent at the selection centre gave me so much to remember that I would  cherish it for the rest of my life.I would not write about the tests, procedures, the selection criteria cause that you can find in end number of websites but I will definitely share my experience  that I wanted to pen down the day I came back. 

So there were some hundred and fifty girls, all dressed up in their sport's outfits , high ponytails, pouring with enthusiasm,chirpy and confident but sophisticated at the same time. We were told to be present at the Bhopal Station on time and so till we waited for the bus to come, we casually intermingled with each other. Everybody was hiding their nervousness behind their smiles but somehow everyone knew the stress that was on. The first day was just an introductory one, filling forms,verifying documents, giving us our chest  of the numbers, alloting us our rooms and at the end of the day we were packed in rooms with some six girls in each room. That night nobody really talked much as the next day was the "Day" which would decide whether we stay for the next four days or leave. I passed the screening and forty of us were left after the day one. We were allotted new rooms with new people, new chest numbers and everyone had that awkward look on their faces( it always happens when some random girls are put together.) We had to leave our names before crossing the gates and our chest numbers were our identity at the center. We could never leave our rooms without wearing our chest numbers. Everyone was cribbing about the phones being taken away. So no social networking, no watsapp, no calls, no late night conversations, it seemed as if the whole world came to a standstill. This practice of not having our phones for four days came out to be the best part of the whole stay. We were talking to new people without any screens in between. We made the best of friends in those four days, and we are still connected, like really. 

Their wasn't much difference for the hostlers because we ate in the mess, had a habit of sharing rooms, bathrooms etc. The only difference was we were made to sleep at ten so that we could get up fresh at four in the morning for our tasks. Waking up at four in the winters was one of a task for everyone. Sleeping for those extra five minutes till the other roomies used the washrooms was a bliss. Nobody could enter the mess without formals or their track suits. it was very different feeling of imagining a good officer's life. The girls of the previous batch who were the recommended ones, had a very confident look on their faces and we were so fascinated by them. They told us about their experience at the center and what all happens during the medicals. Everyday we came back with new adventures, tests, stress, and enjoyed our evenings at the canteen. Gradually we shared our secrets, our life back at our colleges, offices, and so talking for half and hour in the room was the most awaited part of the day. 

We had this IT room for calling which had the landlines placed at some four corners. Girls on the phone are like polar bear hibernating,(you would see them after hours). Nobody ended the call before an hour or so. There was a boys batch simultaneously with us so the poor boys never got a chance to even touch the phones. The manager at the IT place was forced to place a separate phone for them. We were lucky enough to be allowed to go for movies inside the army cantonment. It was an open theater with a huge banyan tree just behind the screen. The last day just before the final selection we were told to pack our bags in the morning itself and keep them in the luggage area. Leaving our rooms with the luggage looked like those reality shows with a sad song playing in the background. The results came out in the presence of the whole batch in a very formal way and those who were recommended for the medicals, were so calm and composed. All this time, while waiting for the results I was thinking if I am selected , what would my reaction be. Face covered with hands with that Oh my God look on my face or very calmly smile at everyone gathering their praises and astonishment at the same time. Before I could decide  my take on that, the results were done away with. Out of forty, only four were recommended and taken away for the next round of interview, while the rest of us were dreaming about getting there. 

Nobody really knows the criteria the SSB follows while selecting and rejecting candidates but nobody questions it. It is fair as they scan you in and out in those four days. The rest of us, not the recommended ones got our phones back, some calling home, others booking tickets for return and some taking each other's numbers. We were stuffed in the army bus and dropped at the same place where we were picked up from. But this time we had a lot to take back!!!