Five things I never wanted to do..part 1

Why only five, yes the list can be extended to thousands of such incidents and this post will cease to end. I've to put some stop somewhere, that's why i'll mention those five which are still as vivid in my memory as if these incidents have happened just yesterday.

Starting with the first and oldest of these -

I was in fourth standard, and doing nothing much just little work and some play. I had a good old company of my friends. My school was also not so far from my village and i always took special interest in listening to the complaints of my fellow friends at village who used to go to schools in the city. I hated to be a narrator of sad stories, though i always had some but i never told anyone about those.

Someone has rightly said

"Times will never remain the same, and nor thou will remain same ever."

Now it was my time to move into such a school about which those guys used to complaint.  Always pretending to and trying to be a happy lad, i never wanted to go to that school which would take one hour to reach. I was not afraid to travel two hours daily in commuting, but i never wanted to give my friends a reason to laugh at me the same way i had done to them till that time. My parents had already chosen a good school for me, far away from village. Some schools always had a reputation to stand out apart in reputation with a bunch of strict teachers and a flock of intelligent students. And I was very afraid of both of them.

But i was none to decide as decision was already taken that I would be giving the entrance exam next week. I was told that it would not be that easy to get through the entrance test, as thousands of students from Amritsar and nearby villages would be trying their luck to get into that reputed school. I prepared well for two months for that test, yet i was scared in my mind of losing this flock of dear friends in this lovely school, which was neither much reputed nor so far from my home.

One more reason (which i think was more considerate) was that i never wanted to lose my position of class topper which i had earned in this previous school for last five consecutive years (since KG till 4th). In my village, it was a matter of pride and people do looked upon me with high opinion and also had high expectations from me. Before the test i was pretty confident to clear this obstacle with some luck and hard-work, but somehow i wanted to remain in the same surroundings.

The day came and i was nervous just like any other day when i had exams. I never wanted to hurt my own ego [and of many others too] that i couldn't make it to that reputed school. I wish there could be someway that i would pass this test yet couldn't make it to that school. Alas, but things were pretty straight forward at those times. I was confused about how to attempt the test. I entered the hall which was already packed with so many other students and got my seat. I was handed over the question paper by a lady teacher [she looked so similar to those unkind and strict teachers who would first insult and humiliate the student in front of whole class and then reporting it to the parents too]. One hour went and i was lost writing answers to the questions. I was happily running my pencil over the answer sheet almost done with first half of questions and hadn't missed any question. I was pretty sure by that time of making it into that school and then i stood up from my seat. I handed over the answer sheet to the teacher. I attempted first five questions out of ten, out of which two were of mathematics and two punjabi and one of science.  The teacher gave me a hard look through her spectacles and then turned her face towards the class. I came out from the class little confused whether i had done something wrong or not.

It was time for a result which was [at least] known to me already. I knew next few days would be hard trying to answer everyone what really went wrong and then again back to the same school as a class topper. It did hurt my ego a little bit whenever i had to face someone who was studying in that school. But again same sad stories of those big schools and my heart went merry-go-round. I was still sure if i had attempted the whole paper, i would have got admitted there. But that's how i wanted the things to be and it went my way. Even now when i think about it, it perplexes me which way should have been the ideal one. I never know and will never get to know what difference it would have made in my life.

One more year passed happily, again topped the exams [and time for same rounds of celebrations again]. Yet i don't regret my decision, as next year i got into a big reputed school of same category.

Initial first month was horrible as i used to count numbers of hours left before i could go home and met those friends again. Later on, those guys who supported me during those tough times became good friends. I don't know what i lost in that one year, but i do admit i earned that one more year of happiness by attempting half-heartedly in that test !!!

Tata's cheapest car

Many visionaries have put forward their opinion that India will outperform US in 2030 as the next democratic Superpower (China ignored). I've read a few out of these and I am sure many of those reading this post are also aware of US losing its sheen in financial meltdown of its economy. Just like any other Indian citizen, I was also proud of the fact to see my country a superpower ignoring the grey shade that still more than half the population of this fast developing country resides in rural areas with no access to basic amenities of living, yet reading those articles in top-notch journals made me believe that our country would become a super power in two decades.  Some of those articles which i could briefly mention in this post-

" India is an emerging geek superpower - Angela Saini, Guardian "

" With more than half of Indian entrepreneur and managers believe that India will become superpower by 2030, and every four out of five support the fact that India is going in right direction " quoted another article in an online forum. The idea of this post is not to compare the stark resemblance or ambiguity in thoughts and reality and I am no-one to judge the criteria which highly complex and deceptive in nature. Since I have spent this little time in US, i came to know a little about the economy of this country. What I've sensed here is quite amusing, and is far away from what is depicted in the articles back home. This country is known as "The land of Abundance" and yes, it is indeed. It's not a tough task to determine the attitude of common citizens of this country, and it's pretty similar to any other human being across this land on earth. All one needs is a home, a secure future for one's child and some money to enjoy the life and fulfill the timely needs. I've tried to understand how the citizens here think about their country and economy, and to be disgust, they are not much bothered unless they are getting paid well to enjoy a vacation in Miami or Florida in summers. To my utter surprise, last week i read an article that this summers only half of the population have enough money to enjoy a vacation abroad, rest staging a protest against the economy for low salaries. How many in India do have this privilege of spending summers abroad without worrying about work? Unless people don't have sufficient balance in their bank accounts, they don't bother at all about the ruined economy or war against Afghanistan. This little insight into the minds of local citizens must have given you a fair idea about fun-loving and lavish life-style of people here. With no intentions of criticizing the locals, all i want to express is my independent opinion about this country which had once tamed the world economy with its technological and managerial advancements. Till now I've been to few places here and it fascinates me to see the long-term planning and vision for future so vivid in terms of infrastructure. The planned highways, inter-state US highways, parking lots, postal system are few of the examples, where US led firms are far ahead.

A major chunk of US budget goes in medical insurance of each and every citizen of US. The first and foremost right of every human being is to get the basic medical facility. Before a home to live, a meal to eat and imparting education to judge what's good or bad, one's health is of utmost importance. If you remove this one point from US annual budget, it is still roaring high with a GDP rate of over fifteen percent. But i agree in terms of economy, the GDP is always gross taking into account all the budget deficits and surplus to calculate the GDP growth. Among over hundred countries surveyed for the annual budget deficit for the year 2010, US ranked lowest with India at third lowest. It clearly describes the correlation between these two gigantic economies of world. India surely is trying to buffer its economic system from the tight constraints from outer world and have succeeded to quite an extent too. A country still known for its poverty rather than growth, known for its caste and reservation system rather than meritocracy in technology; my professor asked me expecting me to answer his question,

"Do everybody in India now owns a car since Tata's have launched their cheapest family car only for two thousand dollars?"

I wish I could have an answer..or at least own the same car  to answer myself on this front..