Ruma 的个人资料A Brand New Day照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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5月27日 Old friends have come back into my life! Isn't it strange how life somehow comes full circle ? Maybe it's the universal law, some Divine Will operating here. Maybe it is the way things were meant to be. Forgive me for sounding abstract; what I am really driving at is how stunned I am at my success rate at searching out old acquaintances via the internet. Each time I've made contact with a person from my past, the experience of reconnecting has always been a joyful one. We may never meet in person, but the amazing pace at which old friendships can be reforged, is something to be marvelled at.
Mimi, or Sushmita, who is on my Friends' list here is one of the first persons I searched out from the Net. She is my first cousin, with whom links had snapped due to many reasons. However, the memories of childhood are something which is so hard to wipe away, overtake all else in the end. Today, she and I have found a common footing once again, and it's great to know that she is well settled with a satisfying career and family life.
Many more old friends have re-surfaced in the meantime. Aditi, a shy, girl who was a year or so younger than I was, was a neighbour from my early teen years. She and I got along well together, because at that point of time, we scarcely had much choice of friends to choose from. Perhaps this was what drove us onto a path of everlasting friendship. At that point of time, she was my contact point to the Western world, having freshly arrived from London, armed with a baggage of the latest music releases, music system, and books. We'd gloat over the pop divas and movies of that time (it was Abba and Boney M, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Star Wars at that time). Thanks to the latest social interfacing site called Facebook, I have now rediscovered Aditi, happy to know that she is living in the very same house that we had met years ago, and living as a single, career lady with her widowed mother.
Many moons ago, I shared a wonderful friendship with an equally giggly girl, called Sarita. She and I would share comic books, discuss world issues, and take long cycling routes through desolate routes. Entertainment would mean hanging around the newly opened ice cream parlour or the local lending library, sharing "Papri Chaat" and "Paani Puri", or simply playing Badminton.The kind of stuff we did back then would strictly be a strict no-no in today's day and age, where security and traffic are the two major concerns. Sarita and her family were ex-Singaporeans, and I would listen with amazement to the tales of a foreign country I had simply no idea of then, in the Net-deprived times.
Sarita and I have talked for the first time since then, this evening. I cannot even describe the feeling of elation I'm experiencing. It turned out that she and I live in the same city, and in adjacent localities!! And we never even knew about each other all this while!! Life is simply amazing....and that is it's beauty. Friends last forever......no amount of time can ever separate true friends. A big thanks to all my friends, past and present, for giving my life so much meaning.
 5月12日 Dilemmas faced by parents and children during College Admission time. My heart goes out to students aspiring for college admissions. Not that I didn't know of their woes previously, but it just happens that I am now on the other side of the fence, and am helplessly watching the unfolding of events. My elder daughter has recently given her std. XII Board Examination. In times gone by, this would mean a long, relaxed holiday, in which the child and parent had enough time to unwind and forget about studies for some time. However, in these competitive times, society and the entire education machinery does not allow for such frivolous ideas. Instead, right after the all-important school leaving examination, you have to be on your toes, to answer a zillion other entrance exams to various colleges, both government aided and private. Each time you are appearing for an Entrance examination, you are expected to know the do's and don'ts of the exam format. For example, in order to answer the IIT JEE ( Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination) one has to have had prior rigorous training and tutoring to excel in that particular format of examination. As a result, the child seeking admission into ANY course...even if it's for BBA or the Hospitality Industry, has to come from an extremely supportive and financially strong background. Here's why:
1. You pay the school fees, buy extra reference books etc at school level.
2. Your child has attended interminably long coaching classes for "N" number of years in order that he/she qualifies for
joining the Science Stream at school in Std. XI.
3. After the much-dreaded Board examinations are over, you have to immediately admit your child into a coaching class or tutorial home that caters to the various joint entrance exams.
4. Simultaneously, you pay a huge package towards the prospectus and admission forms for a good number of colleges, since one is never too sure whether that all-prized seat will be available for your child at the time of admission.
5. If and when luck strikes, and your child has gained admission into a decent institution, be prepared to shell out MORE cash towards the fee structure that the college demands, including the personal expenditures for the student..
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I don't wish to scare any body here, but in many cases, in addition to all of the above, you are expected to answer National Level Aptitude tests, the scores of which just qualify you to approach the professional degree college(s) teaching the subject. This is particularly true for Architecture course, in which the student has to rely on self study for passing the aptitude tests.
Education has become Big Business, right from the Nursery School stage to the School Leaving stage. We as parents helplessly watch the turn of events and, like puppets on a string, follow the route relentlessly all for the sake of seeing our kids standing with dignity among his/her peer groups. |
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