I have often talked about my hatred for Mathematics. Whenever I have complained about the problems cropping up while studying, I have blamed Mathematics. But, I have never mentioned a word about the subject which has helped me to stay calm even during the most critical situations. I have always assured myself, "Never mind, there's still History...."
I had liked History from Day One. It has always been fascinating to read about people who lived years ago and to understand their lifestyle, their achievements using nothing but human labour, both physical and mental and their ability to think beyond their times. The strength of mind that they have shown before numerous wars or their failure to show it and the reasons associated with either of the two attitudes always provides for an interesting read.
How can History ever be boring? I know that different people have diffferent preferences. I myself hate Math whereas there are many who don't. But, I have seen that eighty percent people don't like History. And, its not just hatred. They treat History as an inferior subject; a subject whose study requires no special skill, a subject where success is guaranteed if you can memorize well, a subject which is infinitely boring , a subject which is useless because it deals with the past....Their comments hurt me and prick me like a needle because History has been my saviour. Over the years, I realized that it is the subject on which I have a very firm grip and it is difficult for others to loosen that grip. But, its not that I like History just because it fetches me good marks but because of the subject itself. We must know something about our past. We have got to be acquainted with the reasons for the existing world problems and those reasons can only be provided by History.
The other day, my friend was telling me that its good that I have taken up Humanities and that all my subjects are good. But, how am I tolerating History? "Even if you are studying History now, you obviously won't do your graduation in History?", she asked and then added, "Will you?", a bit doubtfully. I replied that if the circumstances let me take up History, I will do it. Then, she said, "You have a lot of patience." Now, why is it that one always needs patience to study only History? Isn't patience needed for studying itself, irrespective of what subject it is?
Anyway, I have stopped caring about such comments because deep down, I know that History is an element of my blood. I love to get transported to a different world whenever I study History and the two of us are inseparable mates. If History is removed from my blood and my soul, I will not survive...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A day of the bloggers, by the bloggers and for the bloggers
Woodsmoke mentioned in her comment on my last post that of late, whenever she has visited my blog, she has felt like a celebrity. Well, after reading this post,I'm not sure whether she's going to feel like one again because this time, there will be other celebrities also.
Rohit, a dear fellow blogger, came to Kolkata late on Thursday night to meet my cousin. This morning, he came to our house along with SubhadipDa, another fellow blogger. Then, Woodsmoke arrived too, with her sibling and my cousin, AriD. Now, AriD's a blogger too. So, we, the five great bloggers, went to Vedic Village, a resort just on the outskirts of Kolkata. Instead of wasting much time there seeing the other things and admiring the greenery they have tried to maintain there, we straightaway entered the restaurant, Bhoomi. It was a very nice place for having lunch. We(except Rohit) had rice, moong dal,mixed vegetable, mourala fish wrapped in banana leaves, prawn, mutton and two kinds of sweets. Rohit only took a very small quantity of rice, a very small quanity of dal ,an even smaller quantity of vegetable, only one type of sweet and nothing else.I was rather surprised because after reading his blog, I had somehow felt that this guy really loves to eat. I don't know when'll be the next time that I'll meet someone who eats lesser than him! Anyway, nothing was wasted because AriD was there to help the others finish off everything. During the meal, we only heard him asking us to pass some item or the other to him. And, he was sitting next to Rohit! So, there were two people sitting close to each other of whom, one's plate was almost empty and other's was completely full!
I don't know what the others will think about this, but according to me, the journey was more enjoyable than the lunch. I was my usual self all the while, talking extremely less. I obviously was teased about it but I enjoyed Rohit's and SubhadipDa's funny expressions when I talked very softly, even when I did talk. But, I also want to mention here that although the two of them talked more than I did, they are not the kind of people who go on talking. They, too, are rather quiet, specially SubhadipDa and, Rohit's voice is very low. AriD has always been a man of few words. He actually fell asleep during our return journey.So, the only person who literally talked non-stop today, was my dear sister (as she always does, of course)!
The Rohit that I had imagined after reading his posts, was definitely not the Rohit whom I met today. But, this was only our first meet. So, I'll get to know more about him after him after this. I hope we'll become more friendly after this. Maybe then, I'll be able to relate him with his blog. Today's impression is that he is a really nice guy...a bit shy but definitely, the type of person I like.
To describe SubhadipDa in two words, he is handsome and serious. Today, he was our guide and he was quite serious about his job. At the same time, that calm expression and light smile were always lingering on his face and he too, has got a good sense of humour. Overall, he is also very good and really good looking and to a good extent, I could relate him with his blog.
To conclude, the day was splendid and the other four bloggers will keep on popping up in front of me tomorrow, no matter where I go or what I do. I can imagine how many times I'll laugh to myself in the bus tomorrow remembering today's jokes( still haven't figured out why this happens so frequently to me in a bus only)!
Rohit, a dear fellow blogger, came to Kolkata late on Thursday night to meet my cousin. This morning, he came to our house along with SubhadipDa, another fellow blogger. Then, Woodsmoke arrived too, with her sibling and my cousin, AriD. Now, AriD's a blogger too. So, we, the five great bloggers, went to Vedic Village, a resort just on the outskirts of Kolkata. Instead of wasting much time there seeing the other things and admiring the greenery they have tried to maintain there, we straightaway entered the restaurant, Bhoomi. It was a very nice place for having lunch. We(except Rohit) had rice, moong dal,mixed vegetable, mourala fish wrapped in banana leaves, prawn, mutton and two kinds of sweets. Rohit only took a very small quantity of rice, a very small quanity of dal ,an even smaller quantity of vegetable, only one type of sweet and nothing else.I was rather surprised because after reading his blog, I had somehow felt that this guy really loves to eat. I don't know when'll be the next time that I'll meet someone who eats lesser than him! Anyway, nothing was wasted because AriD was there to help the others finish off everything. During the meal, we only heard him asking us to pass some item or the other to him. And, he was sitting next to Rohit! So, there were two people sitting close to each other of whom, one's plate was almost empty and other's was completely full!
I don't know what the others will think about this, but according to me, the journey was more enjoyable than the lunch. I was my usual self all the while, talking extremely less. I obviously was teased about it but I enjoyed Rohit's and SubhadipDa's funny expressions when I talked very softly, even when I did talk. But, I also want to mention here that although the two of them talked more than I did, they are not the kind of people who go on talking. They, too, are rather quiet, specially SubhadipDa and, Rohit's voice is very low. AriD has always been a man of few words. He actually fell asleep during our return journey.So, the only person who literally talked non-stop today, was my dear sister (as she always does, of course)!
The Rohit that I had imagined after reading his posts, was definitely not the Rohit whom I met today. But, this was only our first meet. So, I'll get to know more about him after him after this. I hope we'll become more friendly after this. Maybe then, I'll be able to relate him with his blog. Today's impression is that he is a really nice guy...a bit shy but definitely, the type of person I like.
To describe SubhadipDa in two words, he is handsome and serious. Today, he was our guide and he was quite serious about his job. At the same time, that calm expression and light smile were always lingering on his face and he too, has got a good sense of humour. Overall, he is also very good and really good looking and to a good extent, I could relate him with his blog.
To conclude, the day was splendid and the other four bloggers will keep on popping up in front of me tomorrow, no matter where I go or what I do. I can imagine how many times I'll laugh to myself in the bus tomorrow remembering today's jokes( still haven't figured out why this happens so frequently to me in a bus only)!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Amazing weekends
Last Saturday, Woodsmoke and me went to Gariahat market with our mothers. She needed to get some new salwars and shirts made for herself. It was so much fun! The purpose of going itself did not matter much to either of us. The real enjoyment was staying together all the time and cracking jokes about something or the other. Woodsmoke got quite bored while choosing the dress materials because the other three people with her too had to be satisfied with them. After that, when my aunt took a considerably long time to buy dress materials for herself and started talking about buying more things, you should have seen Woodsmoke's face! I didn't know that she despised shopping so much. As for me, I was pretty amused throughout. This was not because of the shopping but because of all my cousin's actions. For me, shopping always means spending four to five hours at a stretch with my parents outside, which is very hard to come by. So, even though I am not a shopaholic, I look forward to shopping. Anyway, I know that Woodsmoke was enjoying herself with her family but not quite the way she had wanted to. So, she was extremely delighted when my mother suggested that we should take lunch first.
But, my aunt was not to be put off so easily. Post lunch, she resumed her shopping business. Woodsmoke kept on teasing her that she probably wanted to buy something for every neighbour back home.Well,she took it quite sportingly! I should have liked to photograph my dear cousin's bored face when the senior ladies were choosing sarees. The man at the saree shop opened one of the sarees and showed its different parts to us. He was looking like such a cartoon that Woodsmoke whispered to me, saying that he should try it on himself. Then, the two of us started giggling and I also remember giggling over certain other things. Every time we did that, my aunt exclaimed, "Look at what they are doing!"
Woodsmoke's experience that evening at a cyber cafe was hilarious too. I went with her there and we worked at different computers. Her computer's keyboard didn't have a single letter or digit printed on the keys. When she asked the fellow there whether there was a better keyboard or not, he replied, "Why, the keyboard is perfectly alright. Only the letters are missing;that's all."
The next day, we went to Dakkhineshwar, Belur Math and Shaktigarh.This time, we were also accompanied by our fathers and our common grandparents. Once more, Woodsmoke was thrilled to see the mad crowds at the temple who were ready to throttle one another to catch a glimpse of the goddess. It was the to and fro journey that we enjoyed more than whatever we saw at these places. I didn't even know that there were such beautiful roads in West Bengal. While returning, Big 92.7 Fm radio channel started playing songs of Shah Rukh Khan movies! This time, both of us were truly thrilled and we started singing the songs. "Jadoo teri nazar", "Main Agar Kahoon", "Aankhon mein teri", "Kal ho na ho".....it was the icing on the cake!
Yesterday, me and seven other students of our school went to Jadavpur University for an essay-writing and a debate competition. Six of us, including me, wrote the essays and two participated in the debate. All were environmental topics. We were escorted by two of our teachers in a sumo and had a marvellous time both at the campus as well as during the journey.When we were having lunch on the campus, a man was sleeping on a bench nearby. Our friend, Arittra, went near him and coughed loudly enough to rouse him! And, this is just one example of the funny things which happened yesterday, thanks to Arittra of Class XI and Lalit and Soumyodipto of Class XII!
But, my aunt was not to be put off so easily. Post lunch, she resumed her shopping business. Woodsmoke kept on teasing her that she probably wanted to buy something for every neighbour back home.Well,she took it quite sportingly! I should have liked to photograph my dear cousin's bored face when the senior ladies were choosing sarees. The man at the saree shop opened one of the sarees and showed its different parts to us. He was looking like such a cartoon that Woodsmoke whispered to me, saying that he should try it on himself. Then, the two of us started giggling and I also remember giggling over certain other things. Every time we did that, my aunt exclaimed, "Look at what they are doing!"
Woodsmoke's experience that evening at a cyber cafe was hilarious too. I went with her there and we worked at different computers. Her computer's keyboard didn't have a single letter or digit printed on the keys. When she asked the fellow there whether there was a better keyboard or not, he replied, "Why, the keyboard is perfectly alright. Only the letters are missing;that's all."
The next day, we went to Dakkhineshwar, Belur Math and Shaktigarh.This time, we were also accompanied by our fathers and our common grandparents. Once more, Woodsmoke was thrilled to see the mad crowds at the temple who were ready to throttle one another to catch a glimpse of the goddess. It was the to and fro journey that we enjoyed more than whatever we saw at these places. I didn't even know that there were such beautiful roads in West Bengal. While returning, Big 92.7 Fm radio channel started playing songs of Shah Rukh Khan movies! This time, both of us were truly thrilled and we started singing the songs. "Jadoo teri nazar", "Main Agar Kahoon", "Aankhon mein teri", "Kal ho na ho".....it was the icing on the cake!
Yesterday, me and seven other students of our school went to Jadavpur University for an essay-writing and a debate competition. Six of us, including me, wrote the essays and two participated in the debate. All were environmental topics. We were escorted by two of our teachers in a sumo and had a marvellous time both at the campus as well as during the journey.When we were having lunch on the campus, a man was sleeping on a bench nearby. Our friend, Arittra, went near him and coughed loudly enough to rouse him! And, this is just one example of the funny things which happened yesterday, thanks to Arittra of Class XI and Lalit and Soumyodipto of Class XII!
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