5th sem : A sem of firsts

Ive been wanting to write this article for long , but have been unnecessarily procrastinating it for the past month. Its practically impossible to encapsulate all the motley happenings of the past semester in a regular blog post but I will try to cover as many as possible. 'Lots of firsts' would be a fair epitome to the past quarter of mine.

The start of the 5th semester marked the end of an exciting and memorable summer. I came to the college with a rejuvenated zeal to succeed and a strong will to realize all my goals for the semester ; exactly the same like the previous 4 semesters .Even though I had failed to meet my targets in the previous academic years I was determined to make this semester different. As the semester progressed it turned out to be an enjoyable ride with its inevitable ups and downs and plenty of firsts some of which I would like to share -

1) First time I got drunk - I had tasted most of the common types of alcohol with my friends and was never a fan , in fact I used to abhor it.But sticking to my dogma of trying out everything once I decided to give it a go. Being my cautious self I had decided on the occasion when I would lose my 'alcohol virginity' a year prior to the actual day. My closest seniors’ placement party was something which I did not want to miss and it was understood that one was supposed to drink there to fully enjoy the party.

After 2 shots of vodka and Sprite and 5 rounds of whiskey and Pepsi , I was sober and unable to walk straight, so I decided to stop. I then went around helping fellow drunks puke and consoling and comforting those having issues which ranged from professional club work to those wanting to know why humans do not have wings.

What followed was my first ever hangover which hanged on way too long. Overall it was an unforgettable experience which I will cherish and remember for long.

2) First time I got caught copying - I do not remember when I picked up the fallacious habit, but what I clearly remember are the guilt pangs ever since I got into it. I used to consider it as the only reason I was staying afloat in college only to realize ,sometime in the middle of the sem, that I was better off without it. It was unfortunate then, cause I got caught for copying when I was not actually indulging in the act.

It was at the end semester exam for System Programming ,an irrelevant course taken by an eccentric teacher, where I was spotted gesturing luck to my friend just when the exam started. That made the invigilator run down 15 meters and scribbled - 'TALKING' in bold on my booklet. At that second everything else became irrelevant and I just managed to utter a faint 'Ma'am' which was not acknowledged. All throughout the exam I thought of a suitable speech which I could present to the teacher to prove my innocence. After several cordial apologies and a formal letter she agreed to scratch out the scary scribble on my paper. Even though I had given up copying long before the exam the incident has scared me enough to make sure that I won’t repeat it ever again.

3)First mention in the college newspaper- I won’t be too modest by saying that this it was something I did not expect, but even though the article was microscopic ,recondite and written by a group of jobless jerks I still felt awkward being mentioned. I’m not sure if I would want it again but it sure was a grotesque experience.

4)First time I 'actually' dated - Those familiar with my short and not so sweet dating history will know the significance of the odd title. Anyways this was an unexpected first and has had many other related firsts which I will reserve for another post.

5)First 8 point sem in the department- Something for which I had made a couple of futile attempts earlier . It was unexpected which only made it more special. Even though it’s just a mediocre achievement and definitely nothing to be proud of, it, nevertheless, is a start to achieve more ambitious targets.

The semester was special in lots of ways and was by far the most eventful and satisfying. 6th sem will have to be very special to match the 5th semester's charm.

The men who turned Mumbai into an abattoir

On 26th November 2008 Mumbai , India's largest city , became an innocent victim of 10 coordinated attacks committed by terrorists. The primary targets of these dastards were the Americans, Britishers and Israelis in the country.They did this by siegeing upper-end hotels , The Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident, and hobnobbing spots like Leopold Cafe and the orthodox Jewish owned Nariman house. It took 60 long-drawn-out hours of tireless effort by the NSG and Army to bring the horrifying ordeal to its inevitable end.

These egregious attacks which shook the nation were executed by 15 terrorists who entered India through its gateway. 15 men who killed 200 people and injured 300. 15 men whose cowardly actions hassled 15 million Mumbaikars.15 men whose blind faith in violence has destroyed long-lasting families forever.15 men whose rampant destruction has caused a loss of Rs 50,000 to the financial capital and a forex loss of $20 billion to the nation.15 men whose wrongly-channeled aggression has given nightmares to more than 1 billion Indians.15 men whose vandalism has shattered the hopes of 6 billion people worldwide. 15 unscrupulous, heartless men.

Our leaders have said that we will bounce back from this terrifying incident and political leaders all around the world have condemned the attacks and have offered to help by all means possible - simply rephrasing the words which they said after the 2003 car bomb blasts and the 2006 local train blasts.Enough is enough.It is high time they took responsibility of the public seriously and made sure such a devastating incident does not reoccur.It is time for stringent action and not sympathetic statements.We have to stay united and act fast - otherwise there is no point to calling ourselves resilient and we will forever be a soft target to these obnoxious acts of terror.