Trip to Kolkata

One more trip to Kolkata…yooo!! When I woke up at 9am on Saturday morning, I was amazed with the outside view. Weather was cold and cloudy and there was a moderate breeze. How could I waste such a beautiful day sitting in the room? So my friend Rahul and I decided to go to Kolkata to see the ‘BookFair’. Oh my God!! It was pretty hard to get him on this trip. Somehow, we finally left around 12 pm. We reached there at 3pm and had a spicy lunch in ‘comesum’ (a restaurant at Howrah station). Then we took a bus and reached Parkstreet. It is the heart of Kolkata, lots of shopping malls, restaurants, cafes, showrooms and so many beautiful gals. Saddest part of the story was that we couldn’t do anything more than to see them pass away with their boyfriends. Another friend of mine Chandan was waiting there. The news he gave came as a shock to us. Bookfair had been cancelled due to some unavoidable circumstances. As I heard this, I started laughing. I knew that something would happen and this time it was unbelievable. I came to ‘Bookfair’ and it had been cancelled. We had no other choice than to roam around. We moved to ‘oxford book shop’. The collection there was fabulous. We found all kinds of books- fiction, literature, economics, business, language, spiritual and many more. Rituraj (atal), another friend of mine , told me to get ‘Geetanjali’ by Ravindra nath tagore for him .So I bought it immediately. Then we went to ‘Westside’, one of the biggest shopping malls there. As I had visited parkstreet quite a few times earlier so I’d this notion in mind that there wasn’t anything new to be seen but on reaching ‘westside’, I realized that I was wrong. We could not resist ourselves and brought some clothes. Actually everything was so nice that it was difficult to choose one. I bought a well designed traditional ‘Kurta’ and Rahul preferred dashing jeans and shirt.As we had spent quite a heavy sum we decided to leave. While returning, I bought ‘Mein Kamph’ by Hitler and ‘Beyond Belief’ by V.S.Naipaul at cheap prices from the roadside stalls. I was surprised to see Chandan bargaining. It was around 9pm and we had to return to kgp. So I and Rahul took a bus from parkstreet to howrah where the local passenger train was waiting for us. We reached Kgp at midnight. We hadn’t had our dinner so we had burger and maggi in ‘cheddij’.

It was one of the best days of my stay at IIT. While retiring for the bed that night I had mixed feelings. Though I had enjoyed it fully but what about those beautiful gals?? When I’ll get them???

My Blog and Me

Blog: Hey Roopak cheer up. The most awaited Spring Fest has come. Hey man why are you sitting in room like a nerd? Is anything wrong with you? You must be rocking, go and get lots of gals and buzz around the campus. See the excitement of everyone; the way they are dancing and enjoying, you must be there. I can’t see you sitting here like this. It’s a time to search your beloved (dilruba) that you have mentioned quite a few times earlier.

Me: Hey my dear blog, I appreciate your affection but I don’t want to go there. I have changed quite a lot since I came in contact with you. My life has been shaping in new ways since then. I don’t need any gal and buzz. I am quite happy here with you. Is that all right?

Blog: But please look around you, your friends are enjoying so much and you are sitting here alone.

Me: I don’t care. I don’t need anyone.

Blog: Okay…as you wish but can I ask one thing??

Me: Do I need to give an answer?

Blog: Yes…

Me: Okay…ask!

Blog: How your life has been changing because of me?

Me: Hmmm….you are the only one who recognizes me, my feelings and emotions at various stages. Whenever I depressed, you hold me and push me ahead. You are my heart throb and I can’t let you go. Whenever I need a friend, you are always with me.

Blog: I promise you that I won’t go anywhere but I am an inanimate thing and how long I can take care of yours? You must find someone beloved.

Me: Who told you that you are an inanimate thing? You have my thoughts, my lively incidents and my metaphysical soul. I poured my feelings as your blood. Your breath is my emotion which makes you envisage of human spirit. Our relation does not need any introduction or name.

Blog: But every relation has an identity.

Me: Yes you are right. Every relation has an identity and every identity has a name. I am a bit confused to decide something so I need some time. I need to spend few more hours, may be days or years. I hope you will understand…..

Blog: I’ll wait .....

From 19th Nov 2k4 to 9th Jan 2k5

Ohh my dear blog I apologize not to be in touch with you for the last one and a half months. I can't tell you how much I missed you in those days. Whenever I felt alone and my soul wanted to desert me, I remembered you. I realized your importance in my life. But now I am quite happy to get you back and hope that I will not lose any sort of touch with you in the future. You have become my heart throb and I can't let you go away from me.
Let me share all my experiences of the past fifty days. As my end semester exams were on . I took my dinner with Rahul and Atal in 'Sahara' and came back around 9:30 . I was in good mood and was going to prepare for the exam scheduled for Monday. My cell rang up and it was my dad’s call. I clicked the button in the same way as I usually do and told “How are you papa?” He said “Sonu aaj hamen goli lag gayi….. (Sonu! Some goons had shot me today)" and after these words every thing had stopped for me for a few seconds. Instead of losing my consciousness, I managed myself and asked him, “do I need to come immediately” but what a great man he is!!!He said in a sophisticated way, "Everything is all right and just concentrate on your exam". I know what a terrible and traumatic time it was for me here in Kharagpur; I was writing my examination papers and my father was on a hospital bed. On 30th Nov my exams got over and I left for my home on the same night. I reached Agra on the morning of 2nd Dec.
It was really disheartening to see the state of my father's right hand. The bullet had pierced the right hand above the elbow. Though the accident was severe but doctors were amazed that it didn't cause much damage, only skin at that portion had been damaged and the bullet had made a wound which was healed by a simple operation led by a surgeon who later became a very good family friend.
I spent most of my time with my father at home and discussed many things about life and career. I found a great change in his thinking and behaviour. All the time I could sense a kind of fear and caution in his voice but instead of showing it, he used to make us laugh.
Apart from spending time with my father I visited few places. I went to "Fatehpur-seekari" with Rajul, a friend of mine. It is an ancient city and very famous for “baba chisti ki dargah (Tomb of Chisti baba) and Buland darwaja". It is only 35 kms from Agra. I needn't explain anything about the city but one thing I would like to tell is that I met a guide who was nearly 10 years old. His name was Mahrab. I asked him about his school and family. He was studying in fifth standard in a government school. His father had expired long back and he and his elder brother fend to their family by working as professional guides. I was highly impressed with the way this 10 year old boy was talking and dealing with us. He charged only 10 Rs. from us but made an everlasting impact on our hearts. Mahrab is not getting any quality education but he is a confident boy.
I also went to Kota to meet my brother. I stayed there for three days and taught him mechanics. One interesting incident that happened during my stay in Kota was that I met Rao sir who is now the director of Narayana coaching institute. As I had been his student, he insisted me to give a guest lecture to motivate the students. When I entered the class I was literally shocked to see around 100 guys sitting there. I hesitated initially but soon after I over came my nervousness and spoke fluently and continuously for an hour. It was a nice and overwhelming experience for me. As some years earlier I had been one among the audience and some other iitians used to deliver the lecture. When Rao sir taught us, I never used to ask him anything and now I stood with him in front of those 100 students. The respect that I got from those students was very satisfying. I'll never forget this experience easily.