A CALL FROM WITHIN

New Delhi,the capital of India.....the city has some mystery that never ceases to charm.This place was my home for 16 years,I was so rooted here that I almost forgot my original birthplace. I did my entire schooling and college from here and made my best friends here.But now the time has come....to go back home.I was afraid if I could adjust myself there after so many days. But MIRACLE happens.
As my train entered West-Bengal,I could recognize easily that it entered West-Bengal just by looking at the the lush greenary.Within a few minutes I could see writings on the wall in bengali proving me right. A child always can recognize his/her mother.
I always felt Kolkata belongs to medieval period with its narrow overcrowded roads,but this time I had Victorian feelings for the city,yes MIRACLE happens.Its really amazing how my way of looking at things have changed and this change I believe is for good.This time I felt an unusual serenity difficult to express in words, a peace and stabilitythat I longed for in the past two years.

tricky life......most difficult decision I am taking.....only time will tell whether I have become a mature lady or still acting foolish............lets see..........ausssss!!!!!

Only 38 women have received nobel prize since 1901. Of the noted ones are Mother teresa(1979) for peace,Shirin Ebadi(2003) for peace, Toni Morrison (1993) for literature,Marie curie (1903,1911) in physics and chemistry.
2009 is a memorable year as this year 2 women Elizabeth Blackburn,Prof. at uni of california and Carol Greider,Prof at johns Hopkins University shared nobel prize with Jack Szostok,Prof. Harvard Medical School in medicine.
Telomerase or immortality enzyme for which they received ultimate honour has lot of medical application in cancer and degenerative diseases.
Greider said,"this a tremendous victory for curiosity driven science"- true,Science is not only applied science but also passion to unravel mystries of life as well as determination to solve basic problems based on natural phenomenon.
But this nobel prize to the two respectable women mean lot more than fight between appliedVs curiosity science. It is a voice against those people who think women are unfit for science.....who think women don`t have analytical minds.....who fear if they employ women they will be at loss as she will concentrate more on household chores blah blah!!!
But they proved women are all rounders. Carol Greider,is a former triathlete who was preparing for a bicycle spin when she got the call from nobel committe.She likened the group`s work to that of auto-mechanics. Its impossible to fix a broken carburettor if you dont know how it normally works. That what happens inside the cells" she said before taking her 2 children aged 9 and 13 to school.

I dont have a title for this post

Hell !!! I am missing someone whom I regarded as a demon in my life.....His dominating smile and his arrogance used to put me off every time I met him. His careless ways of doing everything under sun was too much for me to bear. Now that I wont meet him ever in all possibility I think of him and more so I have realized why so much I used to hate him. Actually we are so alike-we think and do the things similarly and it is rightly said that `like repel like `.

Once I asked him why u chose to be like a particular way you are and he replied quickly`that is the easiest thing for me.`I am sure if I had asked someone else he/she would have given me a complicated philosophical type answer.

And I like confident people for sure.

New life…new excitement …new dreams

It was the afternoon of 6th August 2009, the day I will remember and cherish for long time to come, the day when I got my admission for my PhD. After my registration, I was asked to visit the MOHR office for my hostel accommodation.
The man with specs said “room no. 219 allot ho gaya hai aapka Ghosh madamji, possession le li jiye aap” and handed me the keys saying “yaha sign kar dijiye”. I went down the stairs asking how to go to Varsha hostel. Go straight then turn right again turn right u will find mother diary then turn left u will find blah blah………………….I nodded and said thank you with a grin.
I took a rickshaw to my hostel. It was a single seater room with a cot, wall almera, study table, chair and another furniture( I don’t know what it is called ) to stock up things.
I went downstairs and paid my mess bill for this month of August. “hum aapko bed-tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner serve karenge…month mai do din mess bandh rahega………….” He went on and on…I asked only one question” non-veg milega” “haan haan hafte mein teen din milega”
The next day confused by the ambivalence of my feelings of leaving my mother’s place and excitement of starting a new life I finally reached Varsha hostel, room no.219 with all my luggage- beddings, some utensils, clothes and of course the books. I cleaned the hostel room and spread out newspapers in each of the racks above which I piled up my books and clothes…phew!!!!!!
Then I went to the next room “ Hi, how are you, ready for the inauguration function?” “yes just coming in 2 mins, Ghosh” office bearers, faculty members as well as students call me by my surname now, Paulomi is long forgotten. After the function we were treated with a good lunch, evening was free so I used up the time to repair my bicycle. Tired after the day’s busy schedule I quickly finished up my dinner and thought of sleeping early but it was so hot inside my room that I thought I better go to the library and study something. I got hold of Nature journal, laid on sofa. Somebody shook me up “Ghosh, it is already morning 8`O`clock, my god u felt asleep in the library! “Yeah! I don’t know how?” “You better be fast now Ghosh, or else you will miss your morning breakfast.” "Yes you are right Naidu"

My MSc life

Okey I am done with my post graduation finally. Happy Happy feeling….may be for some….I have no feeling. If someone ask me what is the value of your degree-certainly cant answer this question, even if I get a 100 years time to answer. For me the degree is not destination but a certificate that ensures I move forward in life towards a bigger goal. It ended on a strange note, totally different from what I had pictured from movies and novels. I thought I will be awarded degree wearing black dress – a perfect convocation, little did I knew that in India you don’t get a convocation until you earn a doctoral degree.

But besides that my masters provided me with some strong interplay of emotions. Friendships, bitterness, laughter, jealousy, hatred, rivalry – ah I had survived it all. But I am happy I learnt the lessons of life, it is better late than never.

Now when I look back, I feel it was the most glorious phase of my life. I will truly miss my MSc days. I will miss the tea-stall in front of Arts Faculty, where we used to have our compulsory tea each day. And of course the chole kulche shop adjacent to it. And who can ever forget the juice of Jai Jawan ?

I will miss the Metro station where we used to sit till dawn to have our last few minutes talk as if we would never meet again next day.lolz. I will miss my DU special bus service where I had made friends unrelated to my course of study.

I will miss my flower arrangement shows with Sreya….which was of utmost important to us the two idiots…..yes much more than making our file work done.

I will miss the 8:30 class in the morning, I developed a passion to never reach late for the class…hahahah I know I am odd.

Yes and we talking endlessly about 3 people...I am not sure I will miss them or not but at certain point that formed very important part of our discussion. hahahaha

I will miss my Central Science Library and my Hindu college library a lot.

I will miss Kamla nagar, Patel Chest ...............feeling so nostalgic already.

I dont know what to write about.......though I have so many things running on my mind.
It seems I lost my flow of writing and maybe perhaps of my life. Both have become highly disorganised now.
Confidence is in all time low, all my body is etching, I am brutally tired, am ashamed and my head is held down with fears ---- all my state of mind in one sentence.
I am terribly hurt but no tears is left to roll down my eyes.
I want to run, run and run. Run away of my present .....m... far away............

profound thoughts

Captains and Kings may rule the world,but it is the presence of those we love and the memory of those we have lost,but who continue to live in our hearts, which bring beauty to living and make all that we do wothwhile.
by William Klug,Cummings and Charlotte Spencer

happy new year ?

Another year.....Happy New Year, the words are repeated again and again....well I also reply back with a conscious grin " Happy New Year" wondering what is to be happy in this new year.
Nonetheless this will be my last year of formal education. I had waited for years for this occassion and when it has finally come I am rather nervous as to what is next ?
Sometime I find my time and my life is moving so fast.....years go away quietly but in a fraction of moment and at other times I feel I am at some stagnant place frozen,months take a long time to get over.
When the going gets tough,the tough gets going.I dont know in which latitude and longitude of earth i will be five months from now. Waging a rebellion against all my loved ones I walked on a path whose end-point I was totally unaware of, never heard of, and of course never seen of and now that the road is somewhere near showing some final destination I am almost collapsed. I am so used to the everyday journey that I am in love with it. It is much the same way that Indian wives do- they start loving the person they get married to,may be the only difference is that their future is decided by their loved ones but mine was decided by fate.

7 reasons why a girl should go for short hairs

1. Saves time and energy
With long hairs, a lot of precious time is wasted in combing and in maintenance. The same is not an issue with short hairs.

2. Saves money
Short hair implies less quantity of shampoo,conditioner,hair oil, mehendi and what not.

3. for a neat look
Yes everyone has to agree on the fact that short hairs give a neat and clean look.

4. Let people guess your age.
you can easily become 3-4 years younger with short blunt hair while long hairs always give that mature look. And I don't need to give examples for that,it is very well implied.

5. Easy to go for experiment
short hair provide ample opportunity to experiment with different hair styles because if a hair style does not suit the girl she can easily chop it down. But with long hair one thinks a lot before experimenting.

6. power quotient
Ex prime minister of India Smt.Indira Gandhi, the first woman IPS officer Dr.Kiran bedi, Condoleezza Rice, Princess Diana- the real powerful women ever existed/exists had/have short hairs.

7. Nullifies unwanted attention
Typical Indian male mentality is to appreciate girl with long black hair. Short haired girls can be assured that their partner look for substance rather than superficial looks.

That day I can never forget in my whole life.........it was Friday,7th Nov........i was loitering in CP in search of a Lilliput pizza and got late. So from Central Secretariat Metro station I hired an auto way back to my home. Luck hit hard and my auto broke down in the middle of the road. My home was still 3 KMs away. I tried to find another auto but all my attempts were in vain. I decided to walk. It was already 7 p.m but then I had no options.
I walked passed the florist without appreciating the flowers, i was in no mood to do so and then passed the Parsi graveyard. I stopped. I was standing still,one part of me was wanting to walk past as quickly as I can and another part wanting me to explore...but what ? I simply could not answer to myself. I gave in to my curiosity and squeezed in through the half opened gate.

There was a mass of people inside busy in the rituals. I found for myself a heap of sand, which was at a safe distance from those people and made myself comfortable. I watched them keenly though I could not make out much in the twilight. Soon I got lost in my own profound philosophic thoughts.........my eyes were open but I could not see....in simple words images were formed in the retina but not co-ordinated in the cerebrum of the brain. I was not asleep, yet not awake. But then I was filled with serenity...never before I experienced so much inner calmness.

Something vibrated in me,actually in my pocket,that launched me into reality. My Phone. Mom called me. " Where are you?" " ah aaah am coming home", I stammered.

Disconnecting the phone, I looked up. Hell! All people gone. I am all alone surrounded by graves, with moonlight shining on them. Yes it was already night I noticed, a cold lonely night. I shivered. " winter has set in, I said to comfort myself but I was aware of the obvious reason i shivered.

I hurriedly got up. Oh blow !
The gate was locked.
I walked towards the gate and thanks to my cerebellum I could easily climb the gate and fell on the road. The gate was not high perhaps because there is nothing to steal from here but why the hell it was locked.
I saw an auto coming and waved to it. It stopped. " Lodhi rd jaoge bhaiya" " ha, 35 rupaye."
Just about 3 kms aur 35 rupaiye, but i nodded.

Reaching home, my mom shouted at me....." what fun you get reaching home late ? you are a blot in our family..........your paternal grandfather was a doctor, your maternal grandfather was an engineer, your father was a diplomat and look at you....you are nothing but a kabariwala......roam in streets without a purpose".........I slammed the door of my room gently....something within me made me calm like mid-ocean water.....I looked at the moon through my window and then searched for my pillow in the dark ( I did not switched on the light, maybe I was in love with the darkness) and laid down without changing my clothes...i don't remember when i was asleep.

FASHION

This morning when somebody from my deppt asked me " Hi paulomi, i have got a new nose ring, how is it ?" My reaction was " yakkk !!! what is this ! What have you done to yourself ? Look at me,I dont even have my ears pierced and you got your nose pierced in addition to those of your two ear rings and on the top of it bought a new nose ring to show off ? " Damm man, must we have some fashion policing in Uni.
The same afternoon I saw another girl in uni wearing nose ring and my reaction was `cool ,ekdum bindass`

The difference between the two was that the former was in salwar kameez and later was in tanky top with some junk accessory. I am sorry to say but some type of deep rooted notions is there which may be wrong but it is just like that......................it is simply called `high end fashion.`

The normal dress code for my deppt students are either kurti with jeans or patiala suits which has become quite monotonous and it is a shame that I also belong to the same category.
My advice to anyone who wants to enjoy latest trends of fashion among young girls/guys must visit ecotone of Hindu/Stephans area......I am highly influenced by the crowd there but in order to be one of them I need my own car coz in Delhi public transport wearing `high end fashion ` is a big disaster.
so my kind of fashion is.....well.......I sincerely want to wear saree and come for class. Quite odd in uni as no student does this but then fashion is all about being different and and being looked at...again these are my viewpoints..may be totally wrong.

okey, today is friday,24th. Another week just passed by in apparently a single breath. Not significant week though but who the hell can stop me from blogging.

monday taxonomy practical was fulfilling.....finally...finally i succeeded in drawing my floral diagram....and cutting ovary et al dissections too .i did a jiggle in my mind......moreover i brought my taxo file for checking..haha `keep up the good work ` i said to myself .....n the top of that when geetz proposed that we give our seminar the first ..i readily agreed without throwing tantrums....i am never like that....so sincere haha paulomi mutated to prerna ?? haha nevertheless i was happy but soon some revese mutation took place....we bunked the next practical cls......spent time lazily in D-school, Hindu college and finally eating ice-cream outside Arts Faculty.

Tuesday.....maha bore...my special paper....some stupid jokes n cls gets over....I wonder why I have not bunked my tuesday cls yet??? I feel so sleepy in the cls.

wednesday was Ok ..nothing memorable ...actually i forgot what actually happened that day...yes i was sleepy the whole day

thursday haha thursday.....the ecology practical....i was mentally prepared to collect dirty water but this time we became the gardener .....digging up field at various depths for some stupid test which I hardly understand.....most of the time i dont understand what goes on in the ecology prac. and the pracs I understand we don`t get the result for that....and for the 1 % experiment in which we have some result, it is incomplete result that we have....nyways that was my frustration .....

OH yes on thursday i actually got to know as to why i was sleepy in the cls all these days...i was down with fever...popped some pill and soon became changa again.

friday ..today well it was busy..yes....i dnt know where he hell my times passes...got material for the seminar.....hv to read n prepare it by sunday...hell !!!

had diner in mb maam`s home and now will go to sleep..............................................

gua ore mines trip

The place i put up ( my masi`s bunglow )


the lonely night of Gua


the `air strip`



Asia`s biggest Sal reserve- Gua






the untouched innocence



And so it came to be........



Litti- a popular dish of jharkhand



Karo river






the rusty village

A trip to IIT KGP

One fine afternoon Geetanjali came up with the proposal “hey are u game for kgp…” I said “ well, we can go, I need a break so badly.” Well if any one ask me to go anywhere in PLANT RESOURCE UTILIZATION class I am always ready.

My only concern was mom…but I nicely cajoled her to visit kolkata that time.

Yes, I was excited. And that was for many reasons- first, I wanted to go miles away from Delhi anywhere. Second I wanted to break from the schedule. Third, my friend is there in KGP and many more reasons. The work and learning was lost somewhere.

My train was on 23rd October night. I came to my University with the luggage and lodged them in Rubina`s room. After class I shifted them to Preeti`s room as she was also the one among us. My other travel mates were Ankita, Manisha, Pratibha, Indresh and geetanjali of course. We 5 met at Metro Station and reached New Delhi Railway station where we met other two. We boarded the train on 23rd October night




It was from the next day morning the real fun started. I was awaken by the song ` ek mira ek radha …dono ne shaam ko puja ` bullshit song and then it was followed my some other equivalent songs sung by my classmates. Then started what I expected…men murdabad. Indresh tried to defend but failed in every respect miserably




The train was late by two hours 20 minutes when it reached KGP. We reached the campus flat on 10 minutes time. We were mad …..clicking photos midnight is madness afterall.

Next morning we started our studies…Ankita took rickshaw to class there too as usual.

I met my friend but the meeting was short of 4-5 mins or so and then we never met. Now I am determined never to talk to him anymore.

The theory class was boring and I, Preeti and Pratibha was found sketching, I was amazed to rediscover my one time hobby.
But the Hand on Training was Fundu, something we never was taught in DU.

The teachers were cool though my interaction with them was limited. One nice thing was the cool research scholars…I wish I could have stayed a bit longer there. I even started looking for a bf there and my travel mates started looking for me. I found everyone suitable there..haha I always do ….but on a serious note I found the guys a big time smoker….each one of their lips were colored black.

And the final thing was the food, which was East Indian always, so simply I loved it.

All in all my trip was Awesome.

After my course ended I packed my bags to join my mom in kolkata.