The Many Hues of India

There are a billion Indians and a billion Indias. Each person belongs to his own India. Overtly there’s a shining India versus a slumdog India, a progressive India versus a regressive India, people’s India versus government’s India and lastly an Indian’s India versus a foreigner’s India.

But to every Indian, their India carries a distinct and a different significance. For some, India is all about education, for the others it’s about democracy. It could be about industrialization, urbanization and infrastructure. India might be synonymous to abandoning of dowry or effort to curb female foeticide or something as basic as soil for production.

For me however, India is a land trying to battle all hardships. Yes, India has its problems like poverty and malnutrition. But how often do we give India a leeway for being one of the youngest Independent nations?

We are definitely not as progressive as the USA or any other first world country for that matter; but at least we’re trying!

I do agree that gigantic industries have taken over vast farmlands and have rendered many homeless. But underneath this atrocious act, lies the hard-to-see reality that such industries provide more employment than a farmland can. The very same homeless farmers can find suitable employment in the industries and feed their families healthy meals.

On the flipside, the many loopholes in Indian agricultural development are backfiring on itself. Pathetic technological use in the agricultural sector is leading to severe shortage of food to meet domestic needs. A country that has been known for its agriculture and green revolution since times immemorial has now come to a desperate position of importing food grains to deal with its food inflation.

Making a judgment about a country like India is never the best way to deal with its many complicated intricacies. Just like there are two sides of a coin, there are both pros and cons of India. The weightage that you allot to either determines the India that you belong to!

Projects :O

College projects are almost always detested; and in a course like BMM, one is always seen engrossed in one or the other assignment. Thus, in about a year and something, we've developed a Love-Hate Relationship with our projects.

How much ever we students make believe that college projects are painful and painstaking, at some level of depth we do relish the experience. I can’t say if we enjoy the satisfaction of handling delayed projects or the adrenaline rush we get by involving ourselves in such serious risks, but we’re determined to procrastinate until the last hour.

Recently, I was working on a cinema project with two of my classmates. A wonderful project indeed; but we had very little time in hand. All the OMGs and What the Hell (Ahem*) were abuzz after the project was announced. But with only a weekend to brainstorm and execute the task, everyone donned their thinking caps and got down to serious business.

One aspect which is completely adorable in BMM is the fact that one works for all and all work for one. My group got many of my classmates running (literally running) on campus with a paper heart clenched in their hands.

It was a pleasure shooting, tracking, running, doing all sorts of crazy things for our (and others’) videos. But we did feel time crunch; and it increased with every hour that passed by!

Day 2 was a Sunday; a droopy, drowsy holiday for all except this poor bunch of BMM’ites. (PS: we love self-empathy. It just puts us in a safe Haven of pity and helplessness). My group met again to complete the arrear work of shooting, editing and publishing.

It was comparatively a lighter day, as most of the project work was already completed. We were so excited about the project; we couldn’t stop fantasizing about it. The whole day we were humming the tune of the soundtrack that we put in the video.

Our excitement and anticipation was building. As expected, the other groups were undergoing a similar sense of anxiousness as well! By late evening, many of the videos were uploaded on youtube and facebook. They received many likes and comments.

Though this is quite an encouragement, you still can’t say if the professor will echo the same sentiment.

Well, all said and done, the experience of this project was quite memorable. Unlike certain projects which I really wish to erase from my memory, this is one project which I’ll love to remember and cherish for always.

PS: this project made me realise that a storyteller can also be a director; and a good one at that ;)

Love between War

College festivals have risen in importance to become the most recent fad amongst the youth. These festivals give a platform to students to exhibit their talents and prove their worth.

Most of the time however, the quest to show one's superiority becomes a major cause of enmity and inter-collegiate rivalry.

Among all the aggressiveness, there bloomed one love story. Here's how:

In junior college, Aryan and Sanaya were classmates. Though they shared the same classroom, they were always distant from one another.

Aryan was very social. He was the life of a party; and that is why he was always sought after.

Sanaya on the flip side, was very selective in choosing her friends. She loved to spend time with herself and was someone who would not trade her principles for anything in the world.

It was only later that Sanaya learned how to socialise. She made more friends and created more contacts. Aryan was one of them.

Somewhere Sanaya felt affection for him. But she never admitted it; neither to Aryan, nor to herself.

Soon she had to go elsewhere to pursue her Graduation. So she left her junior college (and her crush) with a heavy heart and ventured into a new space to gain new experiences.

Sanaya had lost all hope of seeing Ayan again. But here's where college festivals restored in her the faith that their rendez-vous had not yet met a dead end.

They saw, smiled and spoke to each other many a times during such festivals. But the climax occurred in Sanaya's ex-college itself, where their story had commenced.

The last event on the last day of the festival was about to begin. People were heading to the venue, when suddenly it started pouring heavily. Everyone ran helter skelter, and Sanaya was one of them who ran to seek shelter.

While she ran, she felt someone pull her in the opposite direction. She turned to look at the drenched Aryan holding her arm. Sanaya was perplexed and so were the onlookers. But Aryan slowly and gently swayed Sanaya and the two of them danced like swans on the melody of the fierce rain.

Sanaya stopped and asked Aryan why did he do what he did. Yes, this is exactly what she said. And Aryan simply smiled at her and whispered, "This is to make you realise how much I have loved you, how much I love you and how much I will love you".

Sanaya could do nothing but give a sheepish smile. She was smiling and she was crying; she was talking, yet she was quiet. She quickly embraced Aryan and didn't let go till the applauds of the spectators faded away...

The Week that was

Dear Diary,

Phew! Oh how drained of energy I am!

Anyway, let me take some time out of my super hectic schedule and write to you the events of the past week.

It started last Sunday.

My uncle and his family have come from the US to visit us. They’re not here for long and that’s precisely why all our plans have become a hodgepodge.

I’m literally fishing out an hour or two after college hours to drop by and say Hello.

Our first visit to my Uncle was on Sunday itself. It was a weekend so we were all relaxed and we had lots of time to sit back and indulge in leisurely conversations.

But the dinner plan that we had on Wednesday took a toll on me. I had lectures going on till late afternoon; and with dinner scheduled that evening, there was no point going back home and coming to South Mumbai again. So I stopped by and rested at my Uncle’s residence in Mumbai Central.

Later that day, everyone gathered together and headed to the venue. We went to a terrace restaurant at Lower Parel. It was a beautiful place indeed. We had some real good food there.

Honestly, at this moment, I am tempted to admit that all the hard work of the day did pay off well that night. But indeed I was drained out of energy by then.

The next day at college was difficult. It was another long drawn out day, with a project submission only adding to the existing stress that I had.

And believe me, Thursday was no different :(

In spite of all this, I’m not yet relieved of all obligations. In the next 14 hours, I have another project submission due and then on Saturday, there’s a plan to watch a movie with my folks.

OMG! This reminds me I’m still way too busy to spare any time. I’m sorry buddy... got to go.

Will write to you again next week.

Till then,

Adios.

Administering Polaris and Post-Polaris

Polaris preparations had begun even before our new term at SYBMM had begun. But it was almost one month before the festival, that the whole class was roped into the Polaris process. All this left me deciding which event to head or which department leader to assist.

Just then, my classmate and friend who was also the DCP for Admin and Finance for Polaris approached me with a proposition of taking on the responsibility of becoming the Admin Head for Polaris.

One condition which was announced to me right at the start was this that I would have to dedicate all my time to Administration and would have to practically miss all the events which were scheduled for the festival.

I gave this condition a serious thought because missing events was a big compromise to make. But, at the end, my determination to work for our college fest, helped me decide in favour of Admin.

What followed was a big Surprise for me and the rest of the official (and unofficial) Admin team.

With the Admin handling the registrations of participants and most importantly scoring and certificate writing, fulfilling the requirements of Admin was quite a task.

Calling of Contingent Leaders (whose call list was perpetually missing), issuing POPs to participants, collecting-keeping-and-tallying scores, answering queries, learning the schedule for the day, were all under Admin.

Oh yes, not to miss Crowd Control, which was a shared responsibility between Security and Admin and which is something why I lost my voice. :(

However, amidst all the commotion, the noise, the cheering, the frenzy, the coordination and communication barriers, the walky talkie conversations and a lot more, there was a spirit to make Polaris larger than life. And this is exactly what drove the Admin to do everything within their capacity to work under pressure and yet appear cordial and approachable.

Polaris and Janice have helped me fall in love with what I did. I admit that I went berserk during the fest with all the work that was pending. But when the results were announced, I felt a sense of relief and satisfaction. I knew, somewhere at the back of my mind, that those results were a consequence of the number game that we played as Admin, all through the final day of Polaris.

Those three days gave me an opportunity to become friendly with our FYs, socialise with people from other colleges, re-connect with long lost friends, have a party with my current college friends and do so much more, while I was heading the Administration Department for Polaris 2011.

To push when you write

How often do we challenge our thoughts? How often do we push our boundaries of creativity? Do we ever let our creative juices flow?

These questions seem like pittance when you’re not into the field of media. But if you’re aspiring to make a career in mass media (in all its forms), effective writing must lie at the very core of your talents. It serves as the nucleus for your future.

When I started out with leisure writing, I had limited versatility. But after a year of studying media, its fundamentals and writing skills, my mind has opened up to a lot of other styles and forms of writing.

Writing one piece of literature in different styles gives a different feel to the story. Every genre of literature has a different element which adds its own special uniqueness to a given story.

One of my missions now is to push my creative boundaries and try new styles of literature.

Though studying literature or writing a novel seem to be far off goals for me at the moment, I have realized the power of words, the impact it makes on your soul and the impression it leaves in your mind.

Another revelation that BMM has made is quite contrary to the popular belief that flowery language is the only tool of popular writing. To my surprise, lectures in creativity have established how words of everyday use, when placed together wisely, make a statement that creates an everlasting memory.

A simple example of the same is from the renowned novel Love Story by Erich Segal. What makes people remember the novel is a simple quote which reads like this, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Bearing in mind the teachings of creative writing, I ventured to attempt brevity. A topic like this can be discussed much at length. But I hope and pray that my select words have told a tale that will leave some impression on your minds.

I hope and pray that my attempt at brevity is not a futile one. :)

Polaris Parade

Image Courtesy: Riya Ma'am

The HOD of our BMM course Mr. Sudhakar Solomon Raj came up with a novel idea of organizing a carnival parade for promoting our BMM fest Polaris. This was an idea which attracted a lot of anticipation as well as anxiety!

A promotional parade was held never before, neither in Wilson College nor in any other College in Mumbai. Though this idea was very unique, we were sure that we would have to do a lot of follow ups.

The precursor for organizing such an event was acquiring permission from the Mumbai Police. With the agenda of the procession being that of walking a distance of 1 km on Marine Drive (the busiest and the most happening drive way here), the task of acquiring the permission appeared pretty daunting!

But with the efforts of the Security Head of the event, we managed to get the Go Signal for the Parade, which was held in the early hours of a lazy monsoon Sunday.

Another concern for us was the rain; the unpredictable force of nature which is only under the control of rain God Indra. And that was not just our concern. The participating contingents were also skeptical about the rains and what it would do to their props.

We could never answer them when they would ask, "What if it rains?" But when it did rain during the parade, neither one of us seemed to be disappointed. On the contrary, our excitement of dancing in the rain added to the gusto of the carnival parade.

The Wilson College Gymkhana was our final destination. The long walk and all the chanting and cheering left us a little drained of energy. But what could have been a better way of rejuvenating than a session of singing and dancing!

Many students from our college volunteered to entertain the participants with singing, beat boxing, rapping, dancing, etc.

The winners of the promotional event were declared soon after. This was followed by a round of lip smacking samosas for every participant and volunteer.

At the end of it all, we can proudly say that the parade which happened was a grandiose affair. For as much as we enjoyed it, so did the 12 participating contingents.

The carnival party of Polaris 2011 had so begun!