On The 40th Anniversary of Internet..!

              It was just a couple of days ago I have uploaded my latest blog, thought that it would satisfy my scribbling urge, but bemused to find that my discontented soul forcing me again to pen down my wavering thoughts. I was just seeking out for a suitable topic, and the news caught my attention in yahoo homepage; today (6^th November2009), its Internet’s 40^th anniversary. The statistics is saying that one third of the population is trapped in this web of technology and there would be a radical change in internet five years from now. In my essay, I would not enter into the technical and statistical jargons as I do not intend to utter a word in which I don’t consider myself to be an expert.

Precisely, ten years ago, I knew nothing of internet, in fact anything of computers. Unexpectedly, had chosen a field where I was a novice, if it was any of the science subjects or any field of literature, it would have been more familiar to me, but things do not happen sometime as the way they should. Anyways, I was introduced to internet merely a decade ago. In those times we were not allowed frequent access of internet as there were some pre-notions in our parent’s mind , that it would surely spoil their children and above of all it was expensive. Sometimes, in a week or in a fortnight, I used to get the privilege of surfing. However, as time changes, the situation also have changed. The amount of opposition I used to face still leaves me in awe. It’s not only my parents but the majority of people have got the same mindset and of course there are specific reasons for this kind of attitude.  Lack of knowledge leads us to any sort of fear. People in India are still in darkness that what exactly the internet is useful for. If I agree to the fact that internet is proving itself malicious to the society, then it is just because most of us do not know where exactly to draw the line. In recent years, World Wide Web is expanded its root so robustly that most of the young generation has become dependent on it and some people from the elder age group as well. Our elders blame mostly the social networking sites and the chat servers for spoiling their offspring, and they are right up to a certain extent. Everything has its own share of pros and cons and there is no exception in this matter. Some mishap mainly occurs when people fail to notice any kind of inconsistency in any particular profile where they cannot distinguish between original and the fake one. On the contrary, I am a vivid user of internet and hope no one will question my originality in this regard and even our friends and familiars are accessing through the same medium. There are some more reasons why still people do not believe in the authenticity of internet, mostly in India. There are some educational institutions that have launched their official websites and claims themselves as technically proficient. Ironically, when they announce any kind of important notification, say for example, the results or the exam timetables, the specific page never opens on the very crucial day. Same goes to the online shopping sites, I have got some personal experience regarding that, I opted for online shopping and selected one latest novel, after the shipment, to my surprise, have found that some pages of the specific book is totally blank and never the less the book looks like a paperback copy! What a shame!! No wonder why some people still cannot trust internet. Some stalwarts working round the clock, researching on the cyber security or the threat protection of internet, trying to represent this latest technology as an authentic and accepted medium of communication and at the same time some are reluctant about the matter and ruining their every effort. We need to know that at this era the technology has reached to a certain scale where each and every individual has to be well acquainted with the every bit of it. When I have started with this article, I have made sure that this should not sound like a well formed school essay about internet. According to me, it is a good medium of communication, which has made our world small, precisely a Global Village, where in no time we can connect to anyone of any part of the world. If I consider myself to be a tech savvy, in no doubt I would find many followers of my path. The positive aspects of internet are endless, but on a tragic note, very few people are aware of that. If we put a little effort to make our elder generation a bit more knowledgeable and our next generation well informed, then it might ease our life to a certain extent. Our elders need to understand that days are gone when people used to send letters through pigeons, and the kids should know how to use technology very intelligently without causing any harm to anyone.

The truth which I believe in is, we cannot force anyone to change their mind but we can bring the change to ourselves to show the world that change is always not bad. With my due respect to our traditional values, it’s always nice to accept some change; sometimes acceptance makes our life simple. Change can be depicted as good or bad but improvisation is unquestioned, and I think we can always welcome improvisation, because it is going to benefit us in every way. It’s well said that “Every innovative mind always faced tremendous opposition”.  Be it the case of first electric bulb or the telephone or airplanes, nothing was accepted in the first count, but today, these stuffs are mandatory in our lives. Same goes to the invention of internet; hopefully it would be wholeheartedly accepted to each and every generation. As a concluding note I would like to add “First be the change you want to see”!!

A Simple Question

‘Professionalism’, ‘Career Oriented ’, these are the few over spoken words nowadays. In my opinion not only over spoken but also over hyped. This time I have promised myself that, this article of mine would not stretch too long. If not sounding like an ancient geek, then I would like to divulge my opinion on this matter. None of us can truly recall when exactly these terms came into the picture. As a kid, our one and only one intention was to score high in school exams. I still remember, how dreadful those annual exam days were, those syllabus used to appear like never ending stream of punishments. That was not the end of the story; first time appearing for the board exam seemed scarier. It was sometimes tough to differentiate who was exactly appearing for the exam, we or our parents. On a serious note, that was just the preliminary part of the journey. Exam is the word that never fades out from our life but what exactly changes is the time and situation. There is just one minor difference, in schools or colleges we had to appear for some specific set of exams and now in work places we face it in every step we take.

Now I have reached such a stage where those frightful school exams seems heavens to me. Our parents tried to provide us with sufficient education and we have more or less utilized those resources. According to the convention we are leading a very successful life, somebody has become doctors, some engineers, some marketing head or some are HR professionals. Everyone is working round the clock, satisfying their superiors, finishing their projects on or before deadline, just for the sake of the heavy pay packet at the end of the month. A perfect picture of our life explains from getting up early in the morning and coming back late at night and this is the process by which we can accomplish all the amenities needed for our perfect life. It doesn’t matter if we lower our self esteem every day, doesn’t matter if we need to be tightlipped after seeing any misdeed happening in front us, it doesn’t matter if we deprive our family (after all, where our family will stand if we run out of money!!), it doesn’t even matter if we cannot see our parents at their very last moment of their lives, after all we are professionals! We should restructure our self as a person with no emotions present, no personal life existing and last but not the least with no sign of self-respect and of course none other than a money vendor , doesn’t matter even if it seems like slavery. If you have such signs present in you then be very proud of yourself as you have bagged the title of a ‘Professional’, ‘Career Oriented ‘successful individual.

If I try to fish through the ocean of mass, then I must fail to single out a person who is not following the convention and living a completely altruistic life. You cannot make everyone happy in your life, so we people, end up making our superiors happy and sacrifice our personal life. This is just my personal experience, things might be different for others, life might be a cake walk for some people, but the truth is that at some point of time everyone feels that some way or the other they have turned into a robot, where only you should be dedicated to your work and nothing else. Correct me people if I am wrong, but can you deny to the fact that, in this era we are more successful at our career front but a complete failure in our personal lives, if everything is well balanced then why are the Indian joint families disintegrating, why are people facing relationship problems, why a bulk amount of people suffering from depression? The true definition of happiness is hurriedly diminishing from our lives. I am neither a social activist nor a person in limelight but I have always learnt that “A pen is mightier than sword”. Here I do not want to act as a trendsetter or want to bring some change because I, am myself trapped in that same whirlpool and acting as a hypocrite but still I want to ask you a simple question, is everything justified? If I do have the remedy I would have initiated but in this case may be a radical change is needed.

Mumbai….A Place of Contradiction

Mumbai- the city of dreams; where time doesn’t give us a chance to realize when one complete rotation of our planet gets over. It’s been nine long years in Mumbai and I am bemused by the reality that I have grown nine more years. Writing about life after coming to Mumbai always seemed outlandish to me. It reminds me of my school days when after any educational trip or excursion we all were compelled to write about our individual experiences. But today I don’t want to restrain myself going with the flow. That is what people call it as the “Charm of Mumbai”. Those who have migrated to Mumbai and also have got some writing streaks have always shared their thoughts in some or the other way and I admit that I am no exception.

I always boast to people that I have got a very strong intuitive power, those who really know me will agree with the fact. The very first day when I have stepped in front of my residence here, I sensed something unusual, some positive vibes which didn’t make any sense at that time that how it relates to me .Its’ the truth, that Mumbai always has something in store for you. I felt that something better was waiting for me though with the flow of time I did not give any special consideration to the fact.

As I have got the privilege to be in three metro cities in India i.e.; Kolkata, Bangalore and last but not the least, Mumbai; different cultures have been ingrained in me and which has proved to be beneficial for making me grow as an individual. As an outsider, I had a very surreal idea about this city, for which I cannot exactly blame myself, like, people here talks only in Hindi, everything happens over here in a very filmy style (as we used to see in movies), people are really very advanced over here etc. But, all these were there in my mind before coming to Mumbai. My first misconception was shattered badly when I was in college and I saw people conversing in the local language and to my surprise our lectures were sometimes conducted in Marathi. For a girl who doesn’t even understand a word of that language, those lectures seemed like severe punishment, though Professor’s mind did not change after my repetitive request.

My second illusion got over when I saw; here guys do not talk to the girls!!! There was a clear distinction in our class and enumerable times I felt that I had gone back to sixties. Never ever in my life, I shopped from streets, but here people prefer shopping from there. My dear mother always taught me that we should go for the quality not for the quantity and I eventually follow that till date. My college life in Mumbai was the most non happening part of my life. Attending lecture and returning home in time, was the only motive of my friends, no bunking lecture, no gossip in canteen and no outing, no CCD, no Pizza Hut and no movies in the weekends, precisely no college days flavor!!! I truly used to feel that I was in hell, missed Kolkata, my old friends in Bangalore. There were times I had cried my heart out and wanted to go back to Bangalore or Kolkata, but life never leaves any kind of option for me. Out of frustration I started cursing myself and my father for taking admission in that college. Though my college is an exception, as other colleges in Mumbai have got metropolitan environment and students enjoy their college life along with studies and extracurricular activities. It seemed to me that I was in a wrong college at the right time; true, but those days were building blocks my career and the typical monotonous environment helped me to concentrate only on my studies and career. But I have achieved some treasures for which I am really proud of; my friends in my college. I have never seen such nice and helping people in my life. They have always stood beside me through thick and thin and a word of gratitude would not suffice their role in my life.

Not once but several times I have complained to my friends and family that here people are very indifferent to others; like in a queue everybody stands and after purchasing your ticket the relation is over, true it is, though partially.

After finishing my college life the typical pressure was built on me for getting a job. Surprisingly with zero effort, I got my first job and at that time I understood the hidden string of Mumbai; i.e.; “here no one would die with an empty stomach.” Rarely you will find people over here who want to intrude in your life without your permission and reminds you about your downfall in life, the city believes in one hymn “Moving On”. The flavor of Mumbai, the city never looks back and never brood on the hard times, very much justified why this city is excelling in every field. Here people are not culturally strong as the people in West Bengal and this is the fact. Anyone who is efficient in the field of art, music, classical dance, or writing, painting and knows how to portray their qualities will surely excel in Mumbai. Many times I have felt that in Mumbai people with no qualities have gone very far in their life but I failed to notice that they have got one quality that is “Representation” and that’s the key to succeed in this city, strange but true. The intellectual quotient of this city is really low. Only handful amount of people think that there is need for intellectual recreations.

To be very honest I very much detest Mumbai trains but when I started travelling I had seen millions of people travelling everyday for four-five hours just for their living, everyone with full of energy, full of life. They know how to spread joy over small things and how to turn this hectic travelling into an interesting one. If one part of Mumbai is selfish and competitive, the other part is cordial to a greater extent. Here I have seen people helping someone who fell sick in the train and they never did care even if they had been late for that reason. I would like to share a nice example for that, I was in a bus approaching towards station and it was during the peak hours in the morning, when everyone was rushing to their work place. One middle aged person, broke his hand as he kept it out of the window and an adjacent bus dashed on it. The bus conductor stopped the bus and took him to a hospital!!! To them it was their duty to look after their passenger. Is Mumbai really heartless or we fail see the good part of Mumbai?

When I first came to Mumbai, my friends used to say that whoever comes down here never wants to go back and I used protest them like an idiot, I always used to feel that I would never reside among those people who have got no knowledge apart from making money and partying in the weekends. Numerous times I made fun of my friends that they didn’t know the difference between Bengal and Bangalore and I seriously meant that .Agreeing to fact that here people have less knowledge except from their matter of interest, if I say now; they don’t feel the urge to know anything more as they get everything in their very own state. It’s we who are migrating from other states and making this city over populated, they are getting everything in this city, a good education, a good career and a better life; normal people don’t require anything more than these to spend their lives. In spite of the hectic schedule when time comes to celebrate, they never miss any chance to enjoy it thoroughly, be it Ganapti or Navratri or Diwali. During Ganpati festival we go to our friends place after the office hours, in Navaratri people attend those Garba, Dandiya Ras after their office hours and dance till wee hours in the morning and the same goes for Diwali celebration. I salute their energy level; appreciate their way of enjoying life.

When it comes for friendship or love I have always preferred like minded people; when even silence would speak louder than words, when our chemistry would match. It’s very obvious that here it’s hard to find a person who matches with my mindset. My college life made me feel that I should not hope for that but secretly wished for that person who will be my mirror image and just by one glance I can recognize that he is the person I am waiting since ages. I fear, my words may fall short if I want thank Mumbai for the same but it would be selfish of me if I don’t. It doesn’t matter if the person doesn’t stay in your life forever but a moment spent with him can change our dimension of life. The insatiable thirst of searching the motive of one’s life never ends but it has to be initiated once. Mumbai has invoked the” me “in myself. I have found a reincarnated me.

My friends and familiars from Kolkata say that I have become a Mumbaikar, and the friends over here say that I am biased about Kolkata but I say that people have got perception problem. One is my native place another is my present habitat. Nothing can be treated as substitutes as both the cities have got their very own flavor and both are close to my heart. In my college days I always said that I did not find any reason to love this city, Mumbai might have listened to it. Three years back when I went to my native place I realized what was the pain of staying away from a place you love and I understood that I fell in love with this city, I laughed at myself and was bit surprised that I finally fell in love with this city. Sometimes we do need a reason to love something. Now I get nightmares that someday I have to leave this city, like one feels the same pain of breaking up with someone one dearly loves. I can’t even think of going back to Kolkata not only because I can make a better life over here but also because I love Mumbai. It is the city where your dreams come true and each molecule and particle of this place will support the one who have their very own dreams and desires and has got the courage to chase it.

A Welcome Note..!

Hello,



This is my first blog ever and i am highly excited to test my writing potential.Let me see if i can become a trend setter in the writer's world..!



Maitreyi