Sunday - update 2

We're having a silent protest tomorrow morning, 8 am at Gol C, to attract the attention of BOG Chairman Mr. Muthuraman to the fact that Justice U.C. Banerjee is unacceptable to us as the one-man inquiry committee, as he is a visiting faculty at IIT Kharagpur (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law). Good luck to us.

Sunday - Update

After protests and candle marches and promises and everything, who does the insti appoint as the one-man inquiry committee to probe into the roles of BC Roy and the administration in Rohit's death? U C Banerjee, the same guy who probed the Godhra carnage and termed it an 'accident'. Wow! Fantastic! Are the authorities out of their collective minds?!! How could they even think that the janta would allow them to appoint someone with such a tainted record to probe this matter? 

Sunday

A lot has happened recently. For details, read:

http://www.scholarsavenue.org/2009/03/22/student-dies-en-route-from-bc-roy-hospital-to-kolkata/

In short, a kid died this Sunday due to medical negligence and administrative apathy. Students, already having lost faith in the Dean, Students' Affairs(DoSA), swarmed in front of the Director's residence hoping for some positive action from him. All they got was the standard beurocratic response of "We'll look into the matter, and punish the doctor responsible." Angry students got frustrated. Here, one of the media-men shooting there, did his trick. He threw a stone at the Director's bunglow. That started a mob reaction, as students broke window panes and the Director's car. After much shouting of slogans, the director resigned from his post late evening. 

Since then, we're having committees and meetings and discussions and what not. While the good news is that the students and the administration seems to have woken up, I don't know how long they'll stay awake. The reaction at the Diro's house, while violent and going against everything we've been taught since childhood, was long overdue. Seriously, how can you ignore the voice of the people you are supposed to be helping, and hope to get away unscathed? 

That said, I think that there are others in the administration, present and past, who deserved this more than the Director. I mean, that guy was new, while there are other people who have held their posts longer, and have ignored this issue longer, and it is their responsibility more that Rohit died. I think we should really try to make sure that the real culprits are made answerable.

While I should be congratulating my fellow-students for managing to get the authorities to listen to them, it came at a great cost. So, I am back to my favourite question. What if? What if we'd had the guts to protest earlier? Don't try to tell me that boycotting Illu was a 'protest'. We all, including the powers-that-be, know what really motivated that boycott. What if our protest had really been an honest protest? Would this have happened?

To be fair, blaming the janta is wrong here. There have been cases of the Institute making an example of the students who tried to speak up- Schols Ave when they published the story on BC Roy, a KGP drams troupe who presented a play on a politically sensitive issue(I forget the exact theme) and a student representative who tried to expose an embezzlement many years ago. The first two got threatened with DC and the last one, poor guy, last I heard, he was still trying to somehow finish his stay here and move on with life. 

Even with all the mistakes of the past, I feel there's still hope. Janta is charged, and is making sure that the authorities will work their a**es off. They're making sure that this is not forgotten. They're assuming an active role in the post-Sunday events. All in all, I think we've learnt our lesson.

Goodbyes

It's that part of the year again, the part with farewells and goodbyes. For me, the only difference is that this year I am at the receiving end of a farewell. Yep, I've almost finished my sentence here and I am ready to fly out. And as the time to finally leave draws near, my mind bombards me with things I need to say to you guys. It becomes increasingly difficult to remember everything, and there is this tiny nagging fear within me that I might forget something, or just not find the opportunity to speak the words out. That's the primary reason I am writing all this. Please forgive me if I end up sounding too presumptuous, but I really need to make sure that I don't leave anything unsaid, just this once.

First and the most important thing, I love you guys. All the people with whom I have interacted at all, and even those with whom I have not been able to, I love you all. You are my very dear bachhas and ben logs, and I will always cherish the time I got to spend with you. To my super-final year ben log, Deepti,Bothra, Erima, Sheekha, Ketkee, Sreeja, Varada, Sravanthi, Suma, Resham, Smriti, Sunitha and Varsha(see, I did put your name in :P ), thank you for helping me through 5th year. To my juniors, especially the present fourth and final year batch, thanks for being around, guys. I don't know what I would have done without you. It has really been an honour and a priviledge to have you as bachhas and friends. 

Now, to the other things that are playing ping-pong in my head.

Life in Kgp can really make or break you, Only one thing is certain, none of us is the same person as she came here. We have learnt, we have evolved, made a lot of mistakes, had a lot of fun, made some friends, some enemies, and we know that some people will never be the same after having known us, just as we'll never be the same having known them.

So, make the most of your 4 or 5 year stay here. Make friends, participate in stuff, learn at least one new skill, and make sure you don't neglect your acads. If you are a tech junkie, build up your departmental funda, tech funda, and make sure you have an IR worth boasting of. Kgp offers you many avenues to exploit your techie inclinations apart from acads. Use them. Others, pick up at least one Soc & Cult activity and one sports event. I not only want to see the S&C and Tech. GCs in SN, I also want to see you fighting for (and getting) slots for the football field and the volley court. And don't you ever let anyone tell you that all this is not possible.

You can get anything and everything you want in life. You got through JEE, didn't you? You qualified the same exam as the rest of Kgp junta, scored higher than a huge percentage of them. What have they got that you don't? Don't let them tell you that the techie stuff is not for girls, or sports is not for girls, or GC or Illu. Don't let sheer numbers, or height, or physical strength overpower you. Find ways over them, under them, around them. Plan your strategy at the beginning of the year. and yeah, work together.

What defines any Hall is not the name, but the people who respond to that name. The people who shout 'SN ka tempo high hai...' The people who slog for weeks to put up a fight in the name of SN. You define SN. But remember, a lone wolf will always be defeated. So move in your pack. Your unity will be your greatest strength. Use it to the full. Don't let groupism and regionalism divide you. Why be a drop when you can be the ocean?

I know this is getting too long, but there are still two events that I keep thinking of. One was way back in my first year. We were out in the Illu arena, working. That year, we'd had huge chatais, bigger than any you guys have yet seen. So, we were wiring, and this senior comes up to us and says,"Kar lo, par SN jitega to nahi." Work, but SN will never win.

Don't you ever say such a thing to your juniors. If you are asking your juniors to spend so much time and energy in an event, the least you can do is fight to win. If you put in an honest effort from your side, you won't be so disheartened when the results don't go as expected, and who knows, some day your juniors will bring the Illu matka to SN. 

The second event is my fifth year Holi. Kudos to all my bachhas who dared to participate in matka-phod, even with all the taunts and jeers from the bandas. Kudos to all the people who dared to climb again even after falling down three times. I am really proud of you, for dreaming, daring and fighting. 

Urrghhh!

I am just so frustrated right now; partially the reason is that I don't know why I am feeling so frustrated.