Many of my friends tell me that they envy me because I get along with people very easily and they don't. They want to express extravertism as well. :P In fact, even I feel a glow of pride coming over me when I think of myself being one of those who like to mix with people. In reality, I don't mind mixing with people; I actually like better, observing them. Don't ask me why, but I do. Anyway, when one thinks of an extrovert or a person who likes to be the 'center of attention' ( I hate this comparison), one thinks of an extempore speaker, a friendly or pompous person who will have endless stories to tell about herself or himself. But actually, its quite the opposite. And it was proven to me after I took the MBTI test {http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp}. The questions were oriented in a way that you would think the answer will prove the opposite but it just reaffirms your own image about yourself.
I always thought of myself being an extrovert, but ask me if I choose to be one of those who like to raise their hands first for an opportunity to play with the microphone in front of a large audience? I shrink 2mm before I give in to my Mom's request to perform a song. In fact, I hate to be surrounded by loud and boisterous people, however, I do not shrink from throwing my ample weight around to coerce them to either quiet down or get them to leave (unless they are more stubborn than me, in which case, I leave first :P).
Have you ever considered the disadvantages of being an extrovert? What am I talking about? I am going to recount a sad little tale from my childhood that has scarred me for life :(.... :P. This, I feel may be able to justify the question.
There was this school fest in my sister's convent school, and she was in nursery. So I presume I was about 6- nudging on 7. Anyway, I was really excited to meet my sister's friends; {Bony was adorable at that age}so I was keen to meet the other teeny-tinies. We dressed up in our finest- a frilly, full-sleeved shirt, with golden buttons and a denim dungaree skirt for me, and Bony in her school uniform- a smart tunic and crisp white shirt to do her march-past in.;)
We reached her school well on time and went on to see the food stalls, where we were able to convince Ma to get us the sticky orange ice creams after solemnly promising not to let them drip onto our prim attire. After the parade {my sister had looked cute and sharp :P}, Ma went to meet her teachers, who sadly, were always very satisfied with the little twerp. (Hehe, kidding!) Anyway, I wasn't among those to get bored by long and unintelligible conversations between adults, they never seemed to get tired off. I traipsed off to the school playground and had a few swings on the jungle gym. By and by, I was glad to note, that there were others like me, veering off unsupervised by parents, undaunted at the prospect off getting a little mud on their shiny shoes. So I headed towards the see saw where I was able to strike up a friendship with a girl about my age. After a few rounds, I got tired of it, I guess my new friend was too, plus there were others pestering us to give up our prized seats. So I let them have it and turned my attention to the slide, where a queue had formed and kids were going up one by one and coming down to assume position for their respective turns. I joined the group. In my pursuit of happiness, I quite failed to notice that one of my shoe laces had come undone. A girl poked me from behind and pointed it out to me. I was quite pleased to have made another new friend, who was also quite kind?!{bonus- ding, ding, ding}. I was quite the optimist- looking back it seems I was probably a dunce, as well. :D While I fumbled with the shoe clasp, the girl asked politely if she could take the place in front of me. I, of course, quite happily forfeited my place to let her go first- happy to return the favor. Then, still waiting for our turns, I asked her her name. Suddenly, her face contorted, and in an offensively smug and vain voice she drawled, "I just asked you to give way, not to ask me questions."
I was so stunned, I kept mum for the rest of the day. This event haunted me for quite a long time :P, and I learnt a valuable lesson that day. Keep quiet unless you're in your own school.... Hehe. And I decided to abide by it till the next time I went out to my sister's school. :P You didn't think I was going to stay down forever, did you? ;)
Friday, 4 December 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
The accident
I guess all of you know what happened on the 16th of November. There was this elderly person, riding his bicycle on the road near JU, when a bus came and hit him. We didn't see that part. Bony, her friend, Rupsa and I, were crossing the road in front of her college, when I noticed a red-colored jeep backing and a cycle lying on the road, right in front of it. The tyre was completely twisted. Thinking that somebody was hurt, I started running towards the scene.
I started running towards the man who was sprawled out on the road lying in his own blood after the jeep had moved away. Bony and Rupsa, were right behind me. Everyone else started running away. When I reached the place, the sight was so gruesome, the victim was horribly hurt and his trousers were torn and legs were completely in a mangled state. A lot of blood was lost. I and another lady who, after seeing me, also came to help carry the man towards the pavement which was barricaded... Everybody else present at the scene started disappearing.
My sister was trying frantically to call the ambulance, police, and other emergency numbers. Would you believe what they did?! Some of the calls were answered, most of them were not. And those who did answer, while taking down the details, disconnected the calls. This kept happening for all the toll free emergency numbers. Meanwhile, I was able to gather his belongings, his cell phone, spectacles, his bag, all strewn about in all directions. Some passers-by helped me with the bicycle which was in a mess. We tried stopping three taxis, the drivers of which, after taking one look at the victim, fled. An emergency car with "call for assistance" message written all over it, with a uniformed policeman inside, was driving by on the opposite foot, when I and some of the other onlookers tried calling them to help. They all saw the scene and sped away in another direction.
My sister called up her friends, who were still in college, and they arrived at the scene almost immediately. A taxi volunteered to carry the victim to the hospital! We were so relieved. They carried the man onto the taxi and took him to the nearest hospital. His family was also informed immediately, and arrived at the hospital very soon after the victim was admitted. His cycle was collected as were his other belongings and a nearby shopkeeper volunteered to keep them with him till someone from his family came to claim it. The lady had been very smart and had sent a car after the bus who hit the man. His number was taken down and an FIR lodged against the driver's name.
My sister called up her friends, who were still in college, and they arrived at the scene almost immediately. A taxi volunteered to carry the victim to the hospital! We were so relieved. They carried the man onto the taxi and took him to the nearest hospital. His family was also informed immediately, and arrived at the hospital very soon after the victim was admitted. His cycle was collected as were his other belongings and a nearby shopkeeper volunteered to keep them with him till someone from his family came to claim it. The lady had been very smart and had sent a car after the bus who hit the man. His number was taken down and an FIR lodged against the driver's name.
He is in the ICU till his operation gets over by today. Bony had called his son a while ago, he is still undergoing a surgery. His legs had a very deep flesh wound, and his shoulder dislocated. But his condition is otherwise stable.
After everything was over, the blood cleared up, a police jeep came packed with 6 armed policemen, {after one onlooker volunteered to go over to the thana, less than a bus stop away} to question us, oh-so-politely, "Apnara kichhu dekhechhen?"
Arrgggghhhhhhh...
If it had not been for my sister's quick thinking and her amazingly resourceful friends and the lady, the guy would have just bled to death there on the road.
I'm so glad that I happened to be there at that time, otherwise, everybody I saw, when I was running towards the man, were running away in the opposite direction. It was only after I and the other lady who came to help, had carried the man off of the road, did other people start coming to look for taxis, etc. He had lost a lot of blood and was in excruciating pain. God! I'm so thankful to Bony and all her amazing friends, who did everything - starting from carrying the man to the hospital, informing his family and getting the man into the OT on time, by dealing with all the red tape-ism in the local hospital.
I'm so glad that not everybody is completely heartless. By the time they started arriving I had begun to feel so sick, I couldn't think at all. My sister's friends are really amazing. I was feeling so helpless, no one wanted to do anything. No taxis were helping, no one was taking any initiative to carry him to the hospital; the police and the ambulance didn't care. The boy who went with the man to the hospital, missed his birthday bash to help. I am so thankful to all of them.
My personal thanks to Saptarshi (Happy Birthday, brave boy!), Deboleena, Avinash, Samik, Somak, Rupsa, Kalyan, Soumya and Mrs. I. V. Bharadwaj for all your generous and bold efforts at having succeeded in reducing the list of the victims of hit and run cases by at least one name. And no thanks to our able police force and the emergency units!
I'm so glad that I happened to be there at that time, otherwise, everybody I saw, when I was running towards the man, were running away in the opposite direction. It was only after I and the other lady who came to help, had carried the man off of the road, did other people start coming to look for taxis, etc. He had lost a lot of blood and was in excruciating pain. God! I'm so thankful to Bony and all her amazing friends, who did everything - starting from carrying the man to the hospital, informing his family and getting the man into the OT on time, by dealing with all the red tape-ism in the local hospital.
I'm so glad that not everybody is completely heartless. By the time they started arriving I had begun to feel so sick, I couldn't think at all. My sister's friends are really amazing. I was feeling so helpless, no one wanted to do anything. No taxis were helping, no one was taking any initiative to carry him to the hospital; the police and the ambulance didn't care. The boy who went with the man to the hospital, missed his birthday bash to help. I am so thankful to all of them.
My personal thanks to Saptarshi (Happy Birthday, brave boy!), Deboleena, Avinash, Samik, Somak, Rupsa, Kalyan, Soumya and Mrs. I. V. Bharadwaj for all your generous and bold efforts at having succeeded in reducing the list of the victims of hit and run cases by at least one name. And no thanks to our able police force and the emergency units!
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Cath-arse-is
Here I am, on a journey on the expressway, giving words to my thoughts, to my feelings; something I've not done since I was in class VI. And my constant reference to class VI and way things were back then, is something you all need getting used to. Not only was that my favorite year but also the only time I actually felt I had achieved something: if not fame, notoriety :P
This is a bit new to me, so I feel at a loss for words. I wouldn't know too much about blogging. I was recently introduced to this trend by my younger sister who is an avid blogger, with fans all over the world. And with good reason. She's a prolific writer and has an amazing grasp on her ideas and use of words; she can clearly communicate the thoughts running through her pretty head, quite unlike me. It is exhausting to me to give form to my thoughts; unless they are plans of revenge.
So I will begin with myself and what I feel about the world. I ought to have arrived here a decade or two earlier. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out of sync with the modernities of this era, but, I do find it hard to keep up.
To me the world is a crazed place. Where people in the name of justice, hunt "corrupt policemen" down and kill them in cold blood in the most gruesome ways possible (unimaginable by the sane, unless they see the front pages of the daily newspapers to affirm their worst nightmares). "Corrupt policemen" is in quotes because it refers to the by-standing jawans, doctors and sweepers of the police station. Perhaps, because they're the easiest to get at?
And the erudite, including a Booker Prize recipient, a renowned film maker, social activists, students, lecturers, not to mention our enthusiastic politicians (ladies, playing a big part here, mind you- probably supporting the "woman's cause" * - I will get back to this later), are not only condoning these brutalities and acts of terror, but in fact encouraging them and justifying the wretchedness of it all.
Further, there are certain political parties (obviously in power thanks to people exercising the Universal adult franchise) which threaten nationalized banks to not hire people outside their state-proclaimed linguistic groups. Then there is another group of religious minorities who find it a great injustice to sing the national song in the language it was written, and prefer to sing it in their own tongue. Of course, one mustn't miss out on the turbulence in some of our wild, wild east states where martyrs are sacrificing their lives for the cause of independence! All this while some spend crores of rupees on making thought-provoking, original movies like Golmaal, Om Shanti Om, Heyy Babyy and Page 3, and get ample returns on them. This, in the world's largest "democracy".
People here are bound by an intricate web of rights and duties. Our cultural diversity, which each student in our country learns about, not only promotes tolerance but also instills patriotism. At least, it ought to. But the instances that I have stated in this post would illustrate a few things happening in my country that prove otherwise.
So there you have it. I'm all out of breath and need to go take a quick shower to chillaxxxx... lolzzz :D
This is a bit new to me, so I feel at a loss for words. I wouldn't know too much about blogging. I was recently introduced to this trend by my younger sister who is an avid blogger, with fans all over the world. And with good reason. She's a prolific writer and has an amazing grasp on her ideas and use of words; she can clearly communicate the thoughts running through her pretty head, quite unlike me. It is exhausting to me to give form to my thoughts; unless they are plans of revenge.
So I will begin with myself and what I feel about the world. I ought to have arrived here a decade or two earlier. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out of sync with the modernities of this era, but, I do find it hard to keep up.
To me the world is a crazed place. Where people in the name of justice, hunt "corrupt policemen" down and kill them in cold blood in the most gruesome ways possible (unimaginable by the sane, unless they see the front pages of the daily newspapers to affirm their worst nightmares). "Corrupt policemen" is in quotes because it refers to the by-standing jawans, doctors and sweepers of the police station. Perhaps, because they're the easiest to get at?
And the erudite, including a Booker Prize recipient, a renowned film maker, social activists, students, lecturers, not to mention our enthusiastic politicians (ladies, playing a big part here, mind you- probably supporting the "woman's cause" * - I will get back to this later), are not only condoning these brutalities and acts of terror, but in fact encouraging them and justifying the wretchedness of it all.
Further, there are certain political parties (obviously in power thanks to people exercising the Universal adult franchise) which threaten nationalized banks to not hire people outside their state-proclaimed linguistic groups. Then there is another group of religious minorities who find it a great injustice to sing the national song in the language it was written, and prefer to sing it in their own tongue. Of course, one mustn't miss out on the turbulence in some of our wild, wild east states where martyrs are sacrificing their lives for the cause of independence! All this while some spend crores of rupees on making thought-provoking, original movies like Golmaal, Om Shanti Om, Heyy Babyy and Page 3, and get ample returns on them. This, in the world's largest "democracy".
People here are bound by an intricate web of rights and duties. Our cultural diversity, which each student in our country learns about, not only promotes tolerance but also instills patriotism. At least, it ought to. But the instances that I have stated in this post would illustrate a few things happening in my country that prove otherwise.
So there you have it. I'm all out of breath and need to go take a quick shower to chillaxxxx... lolzzz :D
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