Accepting the term : 'Depression'

13-Jun-2020:

#RIPSushant Singh Rajput n all those common yet unknown people we lost due to depressional suicides.

Time for everyone, from every generation, to accept a word called as Depression.

Yes, it's part of our lives.

---

You might be 80 years old or 8 years, but you will witness it once in your lifetime for sure. If not you, then someone in ur family. If not family, then someone in ur friends circle. If not now, then someday for sure. Do not be in that denial.

Accept it.

You might be successful now, you might be d best person today, you might have been just growing professionally for years n years. You might say,

no way man I just cannot be in depression, no way sis I am not a weak person, no way buddy just no way.

You might be best dad, greatest mom, toughest bro, strongest sis, cutest spouse, bestest friend, motivational guru, inspirational CEO, determined policeman, bravest soldier, or just a common man.

But just do not be in tat denial ever. Accept it that there is always a chance that you might go thru depression.

Senior citizen generation might not have heard of it, nor experienced it, but they will still witness it in their kids, grandchildren and extended family or themselves too.

You might be a counsellor to somebody today, but tomorrow you yourself might need it.

Doctors n counsellors are the solutioners, but they too need not be in tat denial ever.

Because, at base, we are just human beings.

---

We need to accept the term and the phobia around it.

We will go thru it someday in our lifetime. Accept it. And it's absolutely normal, curable just like any other common diseases.

----

The toughest part of it is, there are no direct/on the spot tests which gives us the level of depression, like sugar, BP or like the N number of tests present. So there are no printed or numbered proofs or x-rays tat doctors n cousellors can show to ourselves or family or bosses or anyone and stamp ourselves or others immediately as going through depression.

---

But yes, we need to accept that Brain is also a part of our body. It needs rest, needs to be taken care of. Nurtured sometimes, fed in sometimes with what it needs. It's a kind of muscle that does not get shown off like biceps, but it's a very valuable and one of d vital organs.

---

To the HRs, Managers, Team Leads, and all bosses in all govt, private offices and all professional places:

It's ok if your employee asks for a leave of a day or two because of mental health conditions.

---

Brain is part of our body.

Dont we have acidity, stomach aches, joint pains, tooth aches, running nose, cough n cold, fever,

UTI, muscle cramps and what not.

Then why not anything about brain, apart from the just casual word of headache.

---

Let us make depression a normal term for our day-today usage.

We will see this, witness this, experience this and we should be ok with it.

---

There is no need to make fun of anyone going thru depression. Because you or your near n dear ones will go through it sooner or later. Dont be in tat denial. Accept it, understand it broadly.

Ther is no need to stress out ourselves if one or many dont understand it or make fun of you for what you are going through.

They will go thru it someday for sure. Ignore them for time being and take care of yourself.

---

Its said the best way is to open up to friends or family.

But, Yes, it's absolutely fine if you dont have a closest friend or a supportive family.

There are counsellors 24*7 available on calls, across d globe. They are trained professionals. Many do free service too.

Yes, talking to someone might just fix it on the spot or in few days.

---

But there can be situations where one might not be able fix the issue, just dont stop there. Let the positivity sync in. Give ur brain the feeds that helps it bounce back to normalcy. It's no magic. If we have 100s of good days, then there will be 10s of bad days, and 1- 2 worst days too. Dont be in that denial. Accept it. Just let those days pass by. If not possible by urself, then just get out of the bed, the chair, the flat, the home and open up to the near n dear ones and counsellors numbers are available on google just on few keystrokes.

---

Isn't it hypocrisy that we are talking about it, the media is showing it up, everybody is sharing it, highlighting it just because we lost a famous personality known to everyone. Why not make it a daily normal as there are many such cases across d globe which common humans go thru everyday.

---

The irony with Sushant's is,

In his last movie, he inacted a role that tells his kid that it's ok to be a loser, it's ok to come 2nd, 3rd, 10th or just pass or even fail.

Then why Sushant himself did not understand it.

It's because we need to understand that there are tons and tons of reasons & triggers, some known, some unknown, some weird, some pretty simple yet complicated that lead to such state of mind.

His movie role was a one such scenario where the educational tensions and the look out of students and parents towards 10th,11th,12th in general.

He portrayed that beautifully.

But we need to understand that his reasons might have been different.

---

We need to build the patience to overcome and understand and live with depression for some time. Its curable, goes off as per the severity of it.

Doctors and counsellors are the best ones to decide on it. Always take their help. It's fine, it's normal.

---

I will still keep watching Chichorey n recommend it to everyone to watch with their family n kids and friends n repeatedly the way we see other life-lesson movies.

Thanks for the wonderful message you gave through your acting Sushant.

Let us take that positively and build around it further n farther.

Life must move on stronger n calmer, and it's absolutely fine even if it does not happen. But suicide is NOT the solution. Rebuilding and fighting up is. Taking help and opening up is. Taking care of the most powerful organ of our body is.

Stay home, stay safe, stay strong, stay calm.

#mentalhealthawareness #suicide #mentalwellness

-- Rohit Kokate

If worth, then Requesting you to share it, not becoz I wrote it, but becoz we need it.

All comments can be found at:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10223135308756113&id=1383833199&sfnsn=wiwspmo&extid=sqbWKCJW87g62S0r

Comments n reactions on watsapp not put up here.

To Human Beings.... with Love from Nature

ऐ मानव,
मत कर गुरूर तेरे होने पर
आज बाकी प्राणी घूम रहे बाहर और तू कैद है अंदर !

हे इंसान,
मैंने तो एकही Religion बनाया था मानवता का,
पर तूने सबको हिन्दू मुस्लिम सिख ईसाई में दिया बिखर !
विश्वास रख उपरवाले पर,पर अंधविश्वास को भूलकर !
मिटा फर्क कपड़ो और भाषाओ में, और बस Humanity को Like कर !

क्यूंकि...
न शमशान मिलेगा नाही कबर
न आएंगे रिश्तेदार तुझसे मिलने तेरे अंतिम प्रहर !
जब ठान लेता हु मैं
तब सिर्फ राख कर दिए जाओगे एक Machine के अंदर !

मुझे Ventilator पर डाल दिया तूने, मेरा Oil suck कर कर
मुझे Suffocate कर दिया तूने, Plastic खिला खिला कर
मेरे छत (Ozone-Layer) में Holes कर दिए तूने, Trees को काट कर
अब Corona Pandemic से सीख ले ले तू
और मेरी Respect कर !

जब तू इस हद तक बदल गया की
जाग रहा उल्लू की तरह और सो रहा दिनभर !
और भूक लगतेही, बिना सोचे Open कर रहा Swiggy, Zomato और EatsUber !
तब तुझे याद दिलाना झरूरी होजाता की
पहले सीधे मूड अपने Kitchen के अंदर !

सुधर जा संभल जा, हवा में उड़ना बंदकर
फिर याद दिला रहा हु - पैसा, over-ambitions, अहंकार, घमंड
कुछ नहीं ले जा सकता तू ऊपर !

फालतु के Loans, फिझूल के खर्चे मतकर
जितना बस हो जाये उससे थोड़ा ज्यादा खुद के लिए रखकर,
बाकी सब तुझसे बदनसीब वालों में Distribute कर !

क्यूंकि...
छूत-अछूत, ऊंच-नीच, गरीब-अमीर
किसीमे मतभेद नहीं करता मै,
जब बरसाता हु अपनी कहर !

तुझे लगता है की तू safe है ?
'मुझे क्या होगा'  इस over-confidence के bubble में रहकर
गलती से भी घर के बाहर निकला, तो समझ ले की कुल्हाड़ी मारी तूने अपने Family पर !

Tough Time तो दिया है मैंने, पर Simple सा Solution भी दिया है सोचकर
कुछ वक़्त बिता अपने घर को दुनिया समझकर !
Selfish Nuclear Lifestyle से जा उभर
फिरसे Parents और Siblings से रेह मिलकर !

But....

बस याद रख -- कुछ भी न Touch कर !
तेरी lifespan बढ़ा, Mask पहनकर
ख़ुशी से जीता रेह, Soap/Sanitizer से Frequently हाथ धोकर !
and Yo-Bro! - FB, Insta, tiktok, twitter नहीं, बस यह Follow कर :)

तेरा इम्तेहा है
जीले कुछ महीने सय्यम, विश्वास से और रेह निडर
 फिर लौटा दूंगा तुझको वो खुशियों वाली लहर !

बहुत Complicated लग रहा है तो
पढ़ ऊपर Scroll कर कर !
सोच शांति से, झाँक अपने मन के अंदर
कुछ अभी समझ आएगा तो कुछ इस Mobile को बंद कर कर !

-- Always your शुभ-चिंतक :)
Yours Lovingly
NATURE

written by -- Rohit Kokate

Comments n reactions at:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10222668242399746&id=1383833199&sfnsn=wiwspmo&extid=NRb0tmiBibjo4LmC

Comments n reactions on watsapp not put up here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25-March-2020 : In first week of Corona Lockdown :

SPREAD the STRENGTH and POSITIVITY: 

Some of us might have missed one or many opportunites in life.

Once in a while we do feel that we are of no use for our family, our parents, our friends, our society, our nation, our world and for the humanity.

Sometimes we just regret that I should have tried for civil services, defence exams, become a doctor and should have worked harder and should have done that one extra thing or many other unfulfilled dreams.

NOW IS THE TIME

God has given us ONE chance to do the above. Do something for our parents, kids, spouse and for yourself.

To SERVE the NATION, we dont have to go to the border, we dont have to face the enemy.

The BORDER has come down to us, just in front of OUR MAIN DOOR. We just have to NOT cross it.

The enemy has come down to us, just outside our home, but in invisible mode. We just have to stay AWAY from it.

We just have to STAY HOME and DEFEAT the enemy and SAVE our Family, our Nation, our World.

Even after trying all this, one of us might fall sick, fall severely ill, might SACRIFICE our lives. But, We will be remembered as WARRIORS. We will be called MARTYS.

Let us get ready for the BATTLEFIELD.

Remember, No WARs end in 1 day or 1 week. Think one step ahead of your enemy. It might require us to be the SOLDIERS, the LIEUTENANTS, the CAPTAIN of our family to strategise for few months. So let us just DO it happily, WITHOUT FEAR and CHERISH every moment.

Do NOT panic, God has blessed us to be in our home - the place we love the most.

To be with our near and dear ones - the ones for whom we work 24*7

Some of us might not have either of the above privileges. So do the SOLDIERS at the WARFRONT. But still, they give their best for everybody.

Remember the war times, they neither had the family with them, nor were in their home. 

We are very lucky.

STAY HOME, STAY CLEAN, STAY STRONG, STAY CALM, STAY HAPPY.

Be PROUD of every small thing that YOU will be doing.

-- Rohit Kokate


 Comments n reactions on watsapp not put up here.

Somewhere in 2018 & 2017

Wrote somewhere in 2018:

Always Stay Strong, Stay Calm:

जिया तो क्या जिया
गर अपने झख्मों को
नमकीन पानी में भिगोए धागों से
खुद ... मुस्कुराते हुए ... न सिया
जिया तो क्या जिया !

--- Rohit Kokate

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 2017:

Wrote during the " Sonu.... Tula Maajhyavar Bharosa nai kai " craze times

Note : इस कविता का किसी भी व्यक्ति या जीवन से कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं है :)

बाबा म्हणतात ,

 सोनू ...उठ !! 

तुला कामावर जायचा नाय काय ... नाय काय ... 🤢🤦‍♂

सोनू ...तुला बॉसच्या  शिव्या खायच्या नाय काय... 🧐

Hike चा आकार कसा गोल गोल... गोल गोल ... 0. 0000 1 %

सोनू...तू रजेच कारण बॉसशी तरी खरबोल !!

आई म्हणतेय ,

सोनू ... माझा छकुला ...कामवरुन थकून आला काय ... आला काय

सोनू ... तुझी बायको काही कांम... करतच नाय नाय ⚔

बायकोचे आई करते सगळे पोल खोल...पोल खोल

सोनू ... तुला बायको पाहिजे की मी ते खरं बोल... खरं बोल !!

बायको म्हणते ,

अहोooo , तुम्हाला माझ्यावर प्रेम नाय काय नाय काय

अहोoooh ... 

बायकोची नुसती क्वाई क्वाई ... क्वाई क्वाई 🤬

बायको च्या पोळ्यांचा आकार कसा नॉर्थ पोल ...साऊथ पोल

सोनू ...आज ऑफिसमध्ये काम आहे असं बायकोशी  खोट ... नको बोल ...नको बोल !! 🤫

मित्र म्हणत्यात ,

सोनू ...वीकेंड ला दारू प्यायला जाऊत काय  ...जाऊत काय

सोनू  ... तुझ्यात फ्रायडे ची सुट्टी घ्यायची हिम्मत नाय काय...नाय काय

वीकएंड ला ऑफिस चा कांम  घरी नको आन नको आन

सोनू तुझ्या बॉस च्या

 नानाची टांग टांग ... टांग टांग !!

Jaane Yeh Dil Kya Chahata hai...

जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है,
कभी ये दिमाग से दोस्ती तो कभी दुश्मनी कर बैठता है,

जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

बच्चों के साथ होते ही ये पिघल जाता है,
उनकी मासूमियत से प्यार कर बैठता है,
उनके साथ फिरसे अपना बचपन जी आना चाहता है,
मगर फिर उनकी potty/diaper साफ़ करने से इतराता है..
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

बड़ों के सामने maturity से पेश आना चाहता है,
"मुझे freedom दो" - यह उन्हें समझाना चाहता है,
अपनी बात उनसे मनवाना चाहता है,
मगर फिर उनके feelings को नहीं समझता है,
और उनके experience से कुछ सीखना नहीं चाहता है,
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

दोस्तों के साथ कही हो आना चाहता है,
कभी cigarette तो कभी दारु पी आना चाहता है..
अपनी दर्द-ए-दास्तान उन्हें सुनाना चाहता है ..
फिरसे वोह college और hostel की life जी आना चाहता है
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

Office में अपना talent prove करना चाहता है,
Boss से दोस्ती, और colleagues से मस्ती करना चाहता है
काम होतो complaint , और ना-होतो भी complaint करना चाहता है..
तो फिर कभी सबसे ज्यादा hike पाना चाहता है..
और तो फिर, एक jump मारते ही - अगले jump की planning करना चाहता है !!
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

Teenage आते ही लड़कियों से flirt करना चाहता है..
किसी की आँखों में खोना और किसी को bike पे घुमाना चाहता है,
एक Girlfriend जाते ही, दुसरे की खोज में लागना चाहता है..
और फिरसे ये cycle repeat करना चाहता है
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

हर सुबह एक नयी उम्मीद जगाता है,
बीते कल को भूल - आज कुछ नया करना चाहता है,
अपने critics को गलत - और खुदको सही prove करना चाहता है,
तो फिर कभी श्याम होते ही 'दो घुट लगाकर' इस दिन को भुलाता है..
और किसी अनजाने को अपने regrets सुनाता है..
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

Family के साथ होतो, दोस्तों की याद दिलाता है
दोस्तों के साथ होतो, Family की याद दिलाता है
तो फिर कभी बस दुनिया से तनहा रहना चाहता है
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

सुबह की 'good morning' से रात की 'good night' तक Facebook, Twitter पे update करना चाहता है..
कोई follow , like , comment करे या न करे , फिरभी इंतज़ार करना चाहता है..
तो फिर कभी हफ़्तों इन् sites पर login ही नहीं होना चाहता है
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

रात को सोने से पहले सुबह की jogging का plan करता है,
six packs और size zero के ख्वाब देखता है...
तो फिर कभी दिन भर सिर्फ सोते ही रहना चाहता है,
और तो फिर कभी diet पे होतो 'Hyderabadi Biryani' खाना चाहता है..
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

Corruption cleanup अभियान में 'Anna' की टोपी पहनना चाहता है,
politicians और घूस लेने वाले सरकारी employees की वाट लगाना चाहता है,
तो फिर कभी traffic police को 200 की receipt की जगह 50 में निपटाता है,
और IT Returns में duplicate bills से पैसे बचाता है
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

कभी सोचता है, और क्या बचा है इस ज़िन्दगी में पाने के लिए,
सब कुछ तो है तेरे पास : कपडा, दो वक़्त की रोटी और एक छत सोने के लिए,
मगर फिर either high society life or नए ख्वाब देखता है,
और उन्हें पाने के लिए दिन रात मेहनत करना चाहता है,
जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है |

कभी लगता है की बस लिखता रहू इस दिल की चाहतों पे
मगर दिमाग की घंटी बजती है और दिल को दस्तक देते हुए ये कहती है -
बंद कर तेरी यह bakwaaz
कुछ भी तो नहीं है तेरे लिखने में ख़ास
कब आयेगा तू अपनी boring आदतों से baaz
कुछ लोग hate करेंगे इसको और कुछ को होगा तुझपे naaz
फिर काहेका ये positive एहसास
चल बंद कर तेरी 'जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है' की bakwaaz
चल बंद कर तेरी  'जाने ये दिल क्या चाहता है' की bakwaaz..

Missing the 64 Characters...

It’s been long since I blogged and people are happy about it I guess..!! It’s been almost 4 months that I left college life. Things have fallen, pretty well, in places for me and my friends. But there is something that is troubling me. I feel lonely, I can’t sleep at nights. Though staying in home, I feel aloof. It took me some while to understand what I am missing. Few days back I realized that I am missing the 64 characters of my MSIT –IIIT batch. Each individual is special and unique in his/her own way. Leaving the college, where all these characters dwelled few months back, has created a big void in my life. So this blog is dedicated to all those wonderful 64 characters with whom I have had some unforgettable moments. Wondering why I say 64, and not 63? The 64th is me. I am missing myself as well. I am finding it tough to pass the time on weekends. I don’t have anyone to talk to, in the evenings, about the daily chore on the weekdays.
So following is a small collection of the features/attributes of these 64 characters and what all I MISS!!
Prefix each of the following lines with “I MISS”

The hostel

The labs

The small ISB room

The ambience of IIIT

The JOJ

Taking the inputs from seniors

Giving inputs to juniors

The Spontaneity and dare to take a dig at anyone attitude (and that too very smartly) of Sricharan

The commitment of Dayanand

The photography of Srimanth, Budihal and Dayanand

The irritating attempts of Sai n Sandy to be in every photo…!!

We all going through the enormous number of photos almost every day in some room or the other and laughing at/commenting on them

The silence of Harishwar, Budihal, RaviKanth, Tarun and few other girls like Prithvi, Hiranmai, Divya (for gals, it’s like whenever they are not in their group)

The calmness and patience of Gyan,Pavan Kishore, Srimanth and Muthi bhai

The impatience and aggressiveness of Jay, Sreedhar, Bhanu and Paul(though only sometimes)

The voice of Rajender anna and Muthi Bhai

The noise of Thadaka and Kiran Pothina..!!

The singing of Shirish and Dany

The WALK and the TALK of Sreedhar anna and Matham..!!

The way Vallala runs..!!

The never moving Gyan kiran, Vamshi and pavan kishore while they were in their room, on the bed and watching movies or doing something or the other

Vamshi’s love for participating in online programming contests

The 4-6 abs of Narsa, Sitaram,Paddu, Raghu

The 3-tier architecture (read as bellies) of Yasaswi, Dutt, Sreedhar, Katakam, Ravikanth and ofcourse me..!!

The consistency of Sitaram at Gym

The consistency of others at just PLANNING to go to GYM…”mama Gym ki vellali repatnunchi”…but that t’row never came..!!

The way Nikki and Preneeth take their tongues out

Preneeth pushing his specs upwards almost twice a minute..!!

The smile of Sowmya

The anger of Mahathi and Vasavi

The creativity of Lavanya and Vasavi

The silence of Prithvi aka Monica

The gestures of Sandhya

The 10s of chat (IM) boxes open on the laptop screen of Lavanya ...!!

Divya’s orkutting…

The Gandhian specs of Professor Adi Bava..!!

The big gang of Vizag

The small gang of Vijaywada

The rivalry of Chiru v/s BalaKrishna groups

The very effective one liners of Gyan, Sitaram, Muthi Bhai, Budihal and Tarun as they speak less but speak right.

The sollu of Sanuks, Rahul, Unnati, Yashu and me

The MORE frequent bath taking( seen in the bathrooms most of the times) guys like Dutt, Yashu,Tarun, Sitaram and few others

The NEVER take a bath guys like Sandeep, Sairam, Sai Kranthi, and ofcourse me..!!

Our never ending discussions on the issues like “MSIT v/s IIIT”, “what would we want to change in MSIT” and “the management of MSIT” and we all taking a dig, on a regular basis, on the “MSIT management”, especially by Matham

The very impressive English of Sitaram, Raghavendra, Gyan and Rahul

The English lingo of Matham and Sreedhar

The true telugu tones of Yashu, Dutt, Kiran and Dany, Vamshi and few others.

The funny telugu lingo of Unnati, Adi and me

The funny hindi lingo of almost everyone except Sohail, Muthi bhai and me

The clean and tidy rooms of Deepak VSKS, Preneeth, Sricharan

The unclean and untidy rooms of Kranthis, Sharma, Rajender, Narsa and mine being the worst

Naveen and Kiran Pothina taking a dig at Chaitu..

Chaitu’s retaliations…

The sutta gang

The love for biryanis of both d Kranthis, Sreedhar and many others

The love for boozing parties of Sairam, Nikki, Preneeth, Bhanu, Jay and Deo

Our parties in the lab after each placement

Our weekly parties in the hostel rooms

The parcel in the hands of Kaka alias Vinod

The excellent problem solving skills of Rajender, Yashu & Vamshi

The persuasiveness and leadership qualities of Sharma, Raghu, SriCharan, Rajender, Bhanu and Lavanya

Yashu’s legside strokes and running between the wickets…!!

My few good offside strokes

The marvelous fielding of Vamshi

The all-round performance of Deepak VSKS, Raghu Prashanth and Pavan Prashanth

The lethal bowling of Sandeep

The throw bowling of Paddu, Sohail and Harishwar…!!(Sorry Harish, but fact is a fact..!!)

The "always bowling wides" guys like Sandeep and Thadaka

The “never bowl a wide” guys like Deepak, Raghu and me

The spin of Sreedhar, yashu and Raghu(Whenever Raghu wished to change from pace to spin..!!)

The deceiving slower ones of Pavan Kishore and me

The comeback of Pavan Prashanth (Hats off to u ra)

The optimistic attitude of Sricharan, Raghu, Sharma and Paul

The pessimistic attitude of many

The “Never say no” attitude of Paddu and Thadaka

The “never say yes” attitude of Rahul..!!

The namakaran(giving funny names) to almost everyone by Raghu Prashanth

Deepak Deo’s love for collecting HD movies and shouting from the top of the world, saying… “mama ee movie HD print vachindiiiii..!!”

The love for watching HD movies by Gyan, Pavan Kishore, Sitaram and many others

The love for some different online games by Kranthis, Charan sai…

The commenting of Raghavendra and Sanuks on almost everything in the world..!!

The preachings of Dany

The encouragement, “u can do it” and supportive attitude of Raghu, Paul, Sharma, Rajender and SriCharan and Muthi bhai towards everyone and everything

The punctual timings of Charan Sai and Srikanth(10 AM to 4 PM..!!)

The impuntual timings of Vamshi, Rajender, Mahesh, Sitaram and Rahul

Narayan Chaitu and Mahesh’s love for watching music videos

The offspin of Chaitu in CCL(Corridor Cricket League)

The way Murali says “Bongu” and “Bongem kaadu”

The “never come INTO the hostel rooms” guys like Paul, Pavan Prashanth, Muthi, Srikanth

The “never come OUT of the hostel rooms” guys like Mahesh, Vamshi, Prashanth Budihal and Suresh

The blogs of Raghu Prashanth, Sricharan, Raghavendra

The sober dance of Sandeep, Mahathi, Tarun, Lavanya,and Pavan Kishore

The mass dance of Yashu, Chaitu alias Sanuks, Sharma, Kranthi, Murali, Sohail and me..!!

Gyan’s “always in formal dress code”

Sandy’s “never in formal dress code”

Sandeep and Narsa’s dress code in the hostel…!!

Sharma’s mimicry acts

The water bottle in the hands of Dutt and Chaitu

The never ending discussions in the hostel rooms

The nicknames of everyone in the different games we played and the shouting ofcourse…!!

The analysis power and the enormous data storage capacity in the mind of Mahesh

The non-stop nonsense of Yashu and Chaitu aka Sanuks in the Group Discussions

The never-understandable inputs of Rehman in the discussions…!!

The “never-talk” attitude of Narsa, Murali, Vamshi, Shekhar, RaviKanth, Charan Sai and Srikanth in the Group Discussions

The infectious smile of Sri charan and Katakam

The unbearable laugh of Raghu Prashanth, Yashu and Nikhil and the 90 degree backward bending laugh of Jayvardhan..!!

The snoring of Pavan Kishore, Nikhil and Sharma in (D 309)

The patience of Mahesh (the sufferer of the snorings…!)

Jitu’s excellence in games…

Bhanu bringing in the business angle during discussions

The sollu “jokes of Jay” known as Jay Jokes..!!

Sohail’s,Tarun’s, Yashu’s and Budhihal’s love for bikes

My love for ibnlive and rediff

Mahesh’s love for Cricinfo

Sricharan’s love for google, cuil and then bing

Downloaders love for their respective downloading websites

Murali's love for CCL

Dayanand, Sitaram, Vamshi and Raghu’s love for books

Muthi and Sohail’s love for shayaris

Dutt’s love for Chaitu..!!

Sai’s love for Sandy..!!

The corridors of MSIT block in the hostel…

The cake cuttings…

The Birthday bumps…

The view of Gachibowli Stadium on one side and our very own cricket ground on the other

The food of Yuktahaar…

Watching the gals in the NBH mess…

The food items everyone used to bring from home to the hostel

And to end it all, the only one thing I DO NOT miss is the missiles of Sandeep..!!(I know Sandeep would not take this to heart, but there was not any other fitting last line better than this..!!! )

Before coming to MSIT, most of us had a rough patch in the life…either B.Tech was not in a good college, or friends were not good, or B.Tech percentage was down, or many other personal reasons. But I feel, and I guess many of you as well do feel, that we have been lucky to be a part of these 64 characters. God has been kind to us, as we met some very unique, normal, abnormal, intelligent, passionate, admirable, understandable, not understandable,ITEMS, lovable, affectionate and caring personalities ( and probably every adjective that defines a character). Its getting tough, we all are staying apart. I don’t want to write anymore emotional and touchy lines about it. Good that we have technology and our very own Xtremos to connect through. Luv u all… and of course “Miss you all”

P.S.1.: Do not take this to heart, if I have written anything wrong or embarrassing about you. Don’t worry it will stay only among these 64 characters, unless otherwise your BF/GF ( or spouse later) visit this blog and discover some really funny things written about you here..!!

P.S.2: I am sure that I have missed so many things that you all think should have been written here in the MISSING list, but the above are the ones that I could recollect over a period of 1-2 weeks..!! If you feel anything more can be added here, tell me and I will append it here, so that we have a large collection of these MISSINGS..!!

Voting: My First Experience

Casting the vote, it was my first time. In my hometown, some said: “Bachha bada ho gaya..!!” , was nice to hear that. But at d same time I felt that I too am now more responsible for the events that happen in my country.

It all began on d day the election schedule was announced, I decided to take a leave on the 16^th April. My hometown,Bhainsa, is around 200KMs from Hyderabad. My brother booked bus tickets for us. I always have had d interest in the political matters of my hometown as my father involves himself in making sure that d right candidate gets elected every time.

Believe me or not, elections in the rural areas are a different ball game. To start with, I boarded the bus in d night at Hyderabad, and was at my hometown’s bus station at 3:00AM..!! Searched for an auto, but in vain, and was surprised to not find one. My brother n I decided to take a walk to our home. It took 30 odd minutes for us to reach home. On d way, I found many political posters on d walls, on d poles of the street lights, on d ground n where not. I reached home and d first question I asked was ‘every time I could manage to find an auto for myself whenever I got down, but why wasn’t there a single auto today…?’ And I got d reply that police had banned all autos as on d earlier night they found some autos carrying liquor for illegal distribution.(for novice readers, liquor is banned 1-2 days prior to d date of polling). During d discussions throughout d day, I realized that people in d rural areas vote for d candidate and not d political party…something which is not always followed in d cities. Primary reason could be the that the candidate, his/her life and work is more visible to all d people directly in a rural area, which is not d case in the cities as many have a hectic schedule and also that there is lack of communication among people. The next thing I heard was that one of the candidates was distributing money to no limit. To my surprise, the figure reached Rs.250 per vote. Thinking of how they DO it?, Its damn simple, the money is distributed much earlier to the local supporters and during d last two days, these supporters go house to house, generally targeting the people below poverty, and distribute it. U can just replace the money with d word ‘liquor’ and read d above sentence again. I always had heard, but now I realize that money and liquor are d most powerful weapons d politicians use to increase the vote bank.

I also realized how much efforts the Government and Social groups put in just to teach the people of the rural places , most of them being illiterate, about how to use d Electrionic Voting Machine(EVM). What to press, when to press and how to press the correct button.

On d personal front, I cannot stop myself from comparing Polling and a Festival. I felt that polling is a festival that every religion celebrates keeping aside d caste and the God who u pray. For a festival, it’s a public holiday and people go to their home-place to celebrate it. So is d case with polling, it’s also a public holiday, though forcefully implemented onto the private companies by the Government of India(possibly the least best thing that a Government can do for its citizens' right: 'the right to vote') and of course many go to their home-places to cast their vote. On a festival, people get up early and go to d religious place and pray. Parallely, on a polling day, people get up as early as 6:30AM and march towards d polling booth, so as to reach there by 7AM(time at which polling begins) and be d first person to cast d vote. Some even cast their vote on their way back from the early morning walk. On a festival day, people celebrate it by going to the homes of d elderly people and wishing them. On a polling day, people celebrate it by meeting others and settling down for discussions as who will win and how. Wondering how this thought of analogy between a festival day and a polling day pinged in my mind. Its simple. The last time I was at my home was on d Ugadi day(an Indian festival), and d next time I am in my home relaxing is d polling day. And then ‘mere dimaag ki batti jali’ and I thought of d analogy. But d best thing of this analogy is that polling is a festival that is celebrated by every citizen of a nation no matter which religion they belong to.

One of My Favourite Days@IIIT

March 20^th, the day we REDISCOVERED the good cricketing skills in all d three departments – bowling, batting and fielding. Very few must have noticed that there were 3 batches of MSIT playing together.

The pretext to this match was an exhaustive CNK session at JNTU. We planned to play a match at JNTU after d session but could not due to d unavailability of the ground. Summer has started, but d day was cloudy. We returned to IIIT. We could not wait to get on d sporting shoes and tracks. Deepak, the most successful captain of MSIT!!, called up juniors. Both, juniors and also 2 seniors were on d ground in no time. Raghu was reluctant but Sandy n I did some gambling by exchanging some words and using the emotional atyachaar! trick on him and thus forced him to be there on the ground.

That’s it, no more drama, just pure action thereafter. It was a COMEBACK match for the injured player Pavan, and the ever busy Thadaka and Dayanand. Deepak n Sandy, the captains, divided d teams for a 10 over per side match. Deepak won d toss and elected to bat. Thadaka, who mesmerized everyone wid his excellent talk earlier in d day, showed some good bowling form during the practice and so we decided to give him d NEW ball. But he did not live upto the team’s expectation and gave away 11 runs and also injured a batsman, Surya. Next over was mine, did some pretty good job, just 6 runs of it.

The pitch was a true bouncing track and with a new ball it was very exciting. I just loved the pitch for what it offered to the bowlers. Thadaka, a stubborn by nature!, returned for d 3^rd over and gave away 11 more runs again !!. 3 overs up and Deepak’s team was 28/0. I bowled the 4^th over and the very first bowl Deepak hit a boundary of a bouncer, it was an awesome shot. But the next 5 balls I did not let him take a single run. It’s my personal best against d best batsman of MSIT, 5 dot balls against him, yuppie..!!. That’s it, Sandy’s team made a comeback and gave away just 20 runs in d last 7.5 overs, thanks to the economic bowling by him, Raghu n RamReddy. setting d target to 53.

Sandy’s team chased it down wid few hiccups. It was a storm that stopped Raghu and me hit the winning runs. All ran to hostel for shelter except Raghu, Deepak n I. We let ourselves get drenched by the rain in d ground. For a moment I thought it isn’t March but July or August. But then the thought of leaving the IIIT campus after two months made me realize that it is March indeed. This place has given me everything that I desired in my life – from sports to studies to friends to resources to freedom. It is upto individuals to make use of it. For me, I played my three best shots – the cover drive, the straight drive and the square cut(probably the only shots that I play!). Raghu, the only admirer of my off-side strokes, on the non-striker’s end must have enjoyed it to the fullest.

Coming back to this day’s never ending tale, we had an exhaustive photo session in the hostel wid d wet clothes on, and thank God Sairam wasn’t there! The pics speak more than what I can write, courtesy Prashant Budihal’s creativity and Deepak’s cam. Thereafter, I worked on the ISB project for thereafter. Last but not d least, we had an intense tennis practice under the aegis of Raghu and Vamshi after the dinner. We missed Sharma, who went home last night, but Sairam - the emerging player - filled the void. What more does one asks for in a single day? It had everything – studies, sports and good memories wid friends. In fact, I was raring to have a day like this as I couldn’t be a part of it in d recent past. I fear many of my batch mates or at least I will get into some sort of depression (not in its true sense) once we leave IIIT and if we do not keep ourselves busy wid something or d other then.

Finally, many of u must be wondering why I started off blogging wid this post. I already have some generalized blog topics in my mind, but sometimes life is all about what u enjoy the most and u just want to have a written script of it so that everyone involved cherish those moments later.