Flash Back

"Aye, tor college er naam ta banglay bol"?

It was Friday, 6th August. I was going home after a long time (ok, 4 months not that long, but still...). And that too after a busy week with loads of work. I was really really tired. Somehow I managed to board Uttarbanga Epress from Sealdah station
As soon as the train started moving, I felt drowsy. Fortunately the seat I reserved was in the upper berth. I was releived by the thought that at least no one would disturb me. So I quickly completed my usual dinner with fruit cake-snacks-water and went up. And within minutes, I was in a deep slumber. I didnt know how long I slept, all on a sudden I heard a bunch of question being thrown to somebody, like the one mentioned earlier. And it sounded so much familiar to me!
A: "Jalpaiguri Sarkari Karigori Mahavidyalaya"
Q: "Ore na..e to besh bangla jane!"
Q: "Tor rank kato?"
A: "Baro sho pochattur"
Q: "Baro sho pochattur ta abar ki?"
Q: "Ami to barosho pochattur bole kono rank hoy kina jani na"
Q: "Tor extra curricular activities bol?"
Q: "Jah baba..eto puro boba hoye gelo re.."
Q: "Akhoni ei aboshtha..akhono to intake e hoy ni tor..kaal ki korbi?? Hahaha"
Q: "Aye, amra ki toke ragging korchhi?"
A: "Na" (reluctantly)
Q: "Tahole amra ki korchhi?"
Q: "Tui amar saathe chol"
A: "Kothay?"
Q: "Kothay abar? Amar berth e, pasher compartment e"
Q: "Are baba bhoy pachchis keno? Amra toke marbo na"

It didn't take much time for me to realize what was going on :) And that reminded me I was in the same position 10 years back. Fortunately, I didn't have to encounter seniors on my journey to the college itself. It seemed, I was watching a video, a flash back of 10 years. I was feeling both excited and at the same time a bit sad as well. Excited, coz it reminded me of the good old days once more. And sad, because it has been 10 years! But nothing much has been changed, really. The same questions, the same kind of replies ("Bobar kono shotru nei" :P ).
I started enjoying the "interaction" so much that I forgot all of my tiredness and sleep. In fact I was about to get down and join them,(Of course I could, being an Alumni!) Then I resisted myself. Let them enjoy what they are doing. These are the moments they will cherish forever. Just like us. Even after 10 long years, we could not forget a single moment of those glorious years. And neither we will. To all of my college mates, I can just say:
Thank you. Thanks for making those 4 years so precious for me.
Happy 10th Anniversary!

The massacre and the aftermath

First and foremost, my deep condolence to the families of all the victims in last friday's Jnaneswari disaster in Sardiha, West Bengal. REST IN PEACE ALL WHOSE LIFE HAD COME TO AN ABRUPT END. I pray to the almighty that the ones still suffering injuries get well soon.
It is not that we have not seen a passenger train getting caught in an accident before. In fact we are quite familiar with that, mostly because of the poor infrastructure, shortage of manpower (yes, Indian Railways have almost 1 Lac of vaccancies at this moment including all posts) and everly increasing number of trains.
But definitely we have not seen an accident of this magnitude in last 10 years or so. The last one I remember was the Gaisal disaster back in 1999 when almost 300 people were killed in a head on collision.
But even then politics was not involved as much as this time. And I am very very frustated because of that. Instead of agreeing to the fact that it is our cumulative failure to help protect passenger security, the local political parties are trying to blame others. Tussle over the investigating agency -CID or CBI (Link ), conspiracy theories and obviousy, the civic polls..all making headlines. Four days have passed by, and we still do not know who are behind this massacre. And probably we never will. Worse, amidst all these, it seems we even forgot that there are some ill fated people, still outside the various hospitals, waiting for the dead bodies of their beloved one.
For god's sake, cant we stop politicising everything that comes our way and act a little bit more sense?