my childhood...

I remember having a really tough time understanding maths when I was young, it was very shameful when my teacher would ridicule me in front of the entire class for not being able to add two numbers correctly. There were other students who had similar trouble like me, but in my case the pangs were multiplied because my father is a mathematics teacher. My elder brother was a brilliant student and as happens in most Indian families, comparison with my brother was inevitable and peer pressure was huge. I remember I had secured 36 rank in the first standard, alas there were only 36 students in the class. In the next grade I stood 35th but then there were only 35 students left in the class cause one student had quit the school (Those were the times when both my brother and I would come first in our classes, the only difference being he would be first from front and I first from behind). After more than twenty years now, I still have the report cards which are a testimony to my individual brilliance :).

The following years were very interesting as I alternated with rise and fall in my rank in the class. My parents were terribly confused and so was I... I always did the same thing but ended up with vastly different results. It was not that I was wonderful at sports either, I was almost pathetic in any form of sports. I usually came last in 100 mtrs or 200 mtrs dash and could never complete any distance greater than 200 mtrs anyway. I used to love long jump as it required the least effort among all other sports and some how I would just cross the qualifying mark, however I never won any prize for any sport in my entire student life. One thing I was really good at was watching cricket, hockey, football etc and I was an expert in encouraging and cheering a team but I was never a participating member of any team. I was extremely introvert and would usually spend time alone making toys (like cars out of cardboard boxes), sketching cartoons and painting (usually scenery of a mountain range and a river, with huts and trees). While things did improve with age and I have changed quite a lot from what I was years ago, I still am very introvert and prefer being alone. My friends and family fret about my unwillingness to go to parties and malls etc but that's the way I am. I do hope to improve on this front though, in the same way as I managed to improve my mathematics skills (I won the Best in Mathematics shield of my Batch in Standard 12 :) ).

Alien in my own country...

Why is everyone against people from Bihar and UP. India is a free and united country, why is then there so much public drama over jobs being taken away by outsiders. We show our displeasure when Americans fret about outsourcing jobs to India but are ready to fight our own country men who come in search of a decent living to prosperous cities. It is really sad to know that people within their own country are being treated like aliens. First it was in Assam where poor North Indian workers were ruthlessly thrashed and some even killed, then the chief minister of Goa says he does not want a train from Bihar as he did not want Beggars in his state. It was then followed by the chief minister of Delhi and now the biggest political drama which is happening in Maharastra, especially Mumbai. People are being beaten up, even killed and crores worth of property damaged. Probably the politicians have found a way to engage the youth, having failed miserably in their promise of providing employment.

I sometime wonder whether it is practical to ask all "outsiders" to learn the local language? The migrants from other states are anyways a tortured lot, everyone starting from government officials, traffic police, auto drivers and vegetable sellers fool and fleece them merrily. Every state where some people are crying hoarse over the issue of Biharis invading their cities know for a fact that most migrants end up doing menial jobs which does not threaten the local population in any way. The poor laborers and workers are the one who bear the brunt of such public display of anger. When I think of reasons for such behavior, I get no plausible answer apart from the one of strengthening vote banks. Having branded BJP as a non secular front, the so called secular parties have found a new method of creating a divide among societies. I sincerely hope the Indian public understand the real motif of these politicians and treat them no better than they deserve.

Having said that I really dread for the day when similar events will start enfolding in Bangalore, for I am an outsider who does not know the local language.