Retiring from Secondary School !

It's that time of the year when there are numerous phone calls among friends, parents and relatives full of anxiety, expectations, surprise and joy (sometimes sadness) about the results of the Secondary School Certificate examinations, Higher Secondary results & Entrance test results. When sweets are brought aplenty and people shower all their blessings, that were till now never uttered...reserved for this??!!

Anyways, now that our Class X results of CBSE have come out.....I feel like reliving the whole process...from those pre-exam days. At that time, it felt like there was so much to do and we had to fare well in the exams and all; and parents kept on poking us always to study and study !! Sometimes, frustrated and bored from studies - using Computer was a way to rewind but the wrath of parents was something much feared.


Then came the Class X Final exams. People consider it as the first big academic exam of a person's life. Well, for me, there was not too much to think of it. After CBSE internalised examination procedures and introduced CCE (Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation), the whole exam burden had fallen off. But still, the anxiety remains...that of writing your best on the boring and monotonous white & blue answer sheets. And the dread that you will get some of the hardest questions, not even heard of, very foreign - which is fed to us by teachers; and to our utter frustration, never turn up !!


Anyways, after those 20 days of exams, it feels so good to be relieved of all the pressures and we have some time to rest. In fact, a lot of time - for my school, we have about 95 days of vacation !! Tuitions and coaching sessions start and we start to become engrossed in Class XI studies. But, then, there is still that wait...wait for the results...results of the first big exam in your life. Since the 2nd week of May, results of some Boards start rolling out and the discussions start. Newspapers sport old headlines with new statistics - "Girls outshine boys", "Topper's success story" etc. etc. CBSE generally announces during the last week of May and speculations abound on the exact date of result declaration. Most students get a bit frustrated since CBSE doesn't go public on its dates. Finally, the big day comes !!

"Likely to be Announced" is frustrating !!
And "Announced" is immense relief !!

For us, it was 24th May 2012. CBSE had announced the exact time of result declaration at 16:00 hrs IST. But it was postponed to 19:00 hrs IST !! And then, as soon as the minute hand touched seven, phone lines, internet channels, SMS services were all flooded with the rush of examinees seeking their results. 5 minutes later, most of the communication channels were jammed !! Friends exchanged their marks and parents erupted in joy and spread out the message to who-knows-how-many relatives they could find. Well, I tried to abstain from this drama but somehow I went to the school. Happy Teachers congratulated us and it was a time of respect, discussions and planning. Lucky students who score really high get buckets of sweets, food and gifts from people.


The final day is a torrent of mixed emotions - joy, pain, excitement, suspense, relief ...! Toppers are interviewed and names splashed on newspapers and media. It's like the festival of marks !! Every paper sports some type of statistics !


Soon, the craze will die down as the students who have now passed Class X will take on a big journey into XI...a vast, unknown and sudden journey where they are not only unacquainted but are also subjected to immensely high levels of pressure and academic load.

Anyways, till we have time, we should enjoy these events ! And then get back to work, to focus and to labor on our future endeavours ! Best wishes to all fellow Class X students who passed to Class XI :D

So, finally I passed Class X !! And I am retiring from Secondary School to start a new journey in Higher Secondary School !!

Your friend,
Green Mota

Blistering Barnacles

Okay ! So, I've been off for a few days. This hot summer is making me a bit crazy and with the water crisis in our campus, the situation is nothing short of a low-scale artificial famine !!

Well, I got some time at night and I wrote down this short poem (under the fan obviously...) - check it out !

Blistering Barnacles

The Summer is heated; And beneath me,

The dry Earth crackles.

Hot winds in the day

Dry my derma; and remind me

That this is MAY!

Evenings usually bring about a humid

And irritating weather; while sometimes gifting

Sweet breezes, lovely, calm and timid.

And when you meet that strong gale,

Accompanied by a fierce thunderstorm; You are in pure ecstasy

With a cheery & charming face, fresh out of a fairy tale!

-© Anwesh Bhattacharya, 06 May 2012

P.S. – This poem was written due to 3 reasons which simultaneously combined to give me the urge of penning it down.

1. I wanted to come out of my poetic inactivity after a lot of days. And the summer’s weather was a good way to begin.

2. I had wanted to use the rhyme scheme I found on Kirti's Blog.

Start of Line 1 (Rhyme A)
End of Line 1; Start of Line 2 (Rhyme B)
End of Line 2 (Rhyme A)

3. During the Stage Rehearsals of Rabindra Jayanti 2012, I spent a lot of time discussing the funny abuses of Captain Haddock in 'The Adventures of Tintin' with Aranyak Chakraborty. They aren’t really abusive and ‘Blistering Barnacles’ – Haddock’s Trademark abuse caught on as the title for this poem.

Your friend,
Green Mota

Au Revoir - Our Hawk Flies Away

I don't know where I should start ! But this is a sad news for my school and myself. This year, we are losing some of our very good teachers to other schools due to transfers. Our beloved Science teacher will be going to Mumbai and this has made us all unhappy.


She was our Science teacher in the 8th standard and was also a mentor in various science projects and activities. What pains us is not so much that we will be losing a bright mind as we will be losing a great person from our school. Shraddha Madam was a strict disciplinarian, but was a very amiable character too! Our association with her has been for only about 3 years but in this short period (for teaching, it is short indeed !!) she has proved her brilliance.

Shraddha Tiwari Madam (Edit by Rony)

So anyways, we are not attending school now as the results of Class X haven't yet come out (when will they ???) ! And we went to meet her and bid her goodbye. This is a poem I wrote and we also gave her some photo collages...small pieces of memory for hers to keep !

Au Revoir - Our Hawk Flies Away

During your KVIITKGP stint of three sessions,

You gave us so much that we can’t fully mention.

Being a teacher, a mentor, a guide and a friend –

You were one whose popularity limitlessly gained.

Being our science teacher in the eighth grade,

You enhanced our academics at a tremendous rate;

And being a mentor in science projects,

You have endowed us with the keys to success.

Beyond what you have given us in academics,

You taught us the most envied tricks –

Of becoming caring and good human beings,

For serving humanity & to give life a meaning.

Now that Mumbai is calling upon you,

We hope you will create wonders there too;

And do come back sometimes to our place –

To make lovely old memories, new and fresh!

With gloomy hearts we bid you Adieu;

But we also wish a cheerful life ahead of you.

Our deep reverence for you will forever thrive –

Cherishing you as a person who touched our lives!

-© Anwesh Bhattacharya, 17 May 2012

Fun at Sher-e-Punjab on the way to Quizomania 2010-2011 !! (Edit by GM)

Your friend,

Green Mota 

Sandstorm & Rain

Wow !! Today's evening was just amazing. I have never seen such a wild sandstorm fuelled by mad winds and followed by a subtle, sweet and soothing rain. The last couple of days was really hot for the normal KGP (Kharagpur) summer. The temperature soared as high as 42 C and the hot summer winds (known as Loo, locally) were harshly dry. It seems Global Warming had taken it's toll everywhere.


But, today the evening cloud brought relief and joy. The sky was overcast and he dark clouds were seen hurtling at great speeds above thin whitish lower clouds. The wind was ferocious and the trees rocked like barbie dolls. For about 15 minutes, there was a continuous blast of wind with black clouds hovering overhead. And the win carried with it all the sand it could find loose; creating a sandstorm like I have never seen here. Along with the ferocious wind came a sweet gust of wind, cool and refreshing !

The clouds were just like this !! 

Sometime later, lightning and thunder opened their books and I was very careful to de-plug all my electrical gadgets. Soon, the rain started and brought about a much-awaited relief from the dry heat of the hot days. I stood on my balcony and soaked in those pristine showers and watched the clouds fly away leaving bare a violet-blue twilight that looked nothing but soothing.


Though the rain was short lived, it succeded in bringing down the soaring temperatures down and guarantee a nice and cool sleep tonight.

Calm Rain drops !! How it pleases me to 
wet my skin in these pristine showers :)

Your friend,
Green Mota

Existence

So, welcome to my blog. I've not planned how to continue but I will do it......so don't expect very neat blogging from me !! Anyways, this is my first poem. Give it a read :) !

Whenever I see

A look-alike of me,

I ponder over myself

To see if that person is related;

By any means to me

And whether I’m actually “me”!

The realization of his existence

Makes me think over again,

Whether the relation of that boy around

Has anything to do with my thoughts I’ve recently found.

I feel like walking closer to him -

And asking him “Do you belong to my kin?”

Even thinking about his befitting answer for the question of mine,

It seems like he is a long-lost brother found at the right time.

Just at the moment when I’m going out of my mind,

Reality takes hold of my thoughts – those of an unrealistic kind;

And prevents me from asking that stranger,

The question that would have made him feel that I’m mad as a hatter.

Then my thinking shifts to another form,

Where I denounce the materialistic platform -

I try to find a spiritual connection

Between the two entities of my consideration.

But Alas! When I’m going deeper into the cave,

The wall of the cave crumbles down like a breaking wave!

I hear someone calling that boy “Apu, why are you so late?”

And all my speculations cease to exist in that half-alert state.

-© Anwesh Bhattacharya, June 2011

Mystical ! This seemed the best Google picture for this poem !!

Your friend,

Green Mota