Saturday, March 19, 2011 15 comments

The Holi Gift

All right, I have been quite busy in the past one month or so, and did not get much time to write blog posts. Reason being I had multiple MBA interviews all over the country. I visited Mumbai, Kanpur, Kharagpur for the first time in my life, and my visit ended with a Delhi trip. While returning home, I got a call in the evening. It was Appurv[one of my friends and a Puy], who informed me that I had been selected in IIFT. That was a great feeling. I called up a few friends and told them the same.
I was satisfied and happy with my performance[IIFT GDPI] and was expecting a convert. I managed to get into the Delhi campus in the first list itself. But a bigger surprise was about to come. I had my FMS interview on 16th march.

[You can check it out on PG here ]

And here is the link for my IIFT GDPI experience:


I personally feel that I did well in both interviews. Especially in FMS, as I wasn’t asked your normal questions. I returned home on 18th morning, and decided to meet up with 2 of my best friends. We visited the Crossword bookstore which has recently opened in Durgapur. I bought 2 books and became a life time member. Awesome place for bookworms like me to chill out. Then I visited my friends place. Got an Sms from Anand saying that I had converted FMS. Its hard to describe how I felt after that. But it was definitely a great feeling. Especially when you are with your best friends. Called up Mom and told her the news. She didn’t believe that the result could come out so soon. Also saw that a few other people whom I know made it[Abhirup, Divya, Shashank, Abhishek, etc]. Now I shall have to go to Delhi soon to pay the fees. Session will probably start in July.

I would like to thank each and every one of you[including YOU the person who is currently reading this post] for supporting me in every way possible. If it weren’t for your backup I would have never made it so far. I hope I will have a great time at FMS and I wish each and every one of you all the best in your own ventures.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people[apart from my parents, relatives and few close friends] who were really helpful. This list is in no particular order.

Puys:

Shashank The Doc Mod, Shruti ji, Neha Seth, Avneet-ji, Mayank, Rohit Awasthi, Pallavi Puri, Rito Da, Anand J, Siddarth, Dhiresh, Ashish, Appurv, Neha Chavan, Sakshi, Namita, Varnika, Varun Saxena, Anwesa, Akanksha, Bharadwaj, Rishabh, SKR, Subhankar, Krutika, Manjushaa, Priti, Arshdeep, Pallavi Kesarwani, Shruti Srivastava, Pooja Roy, Vikram, Shirsho, Lopa Mudra, Raghav, Avinav, Hari, Naga, Caartey, Gagan, Nishant, Pritesh, Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Tanveer Sir, Prem Sir, Keerthi, Adi, Abhishek Bhatia, Prerna and others.

College Friends:

Sourav Dey, Susant, Tripti, Vivek, Rittika, Satwati, Atreyee, Kuntal, Subhojit, Saptak, Ramit, Dhiraj, Arindam, Madhumita, Swati, Kunti, Binita, Lovelin, Supratik, Surajit, Manu, Amit, Ansuman, Debashis, Abhro, Arijita, Monodeep, Priyank, Pulkit, Rohit, Supriyo, Sukant, Sumit, Sangeeta, Swami Anand Prem, Shukla, Shreshta, Shashi, Satnam, Abhishek Adhikary, Sucharita, Sumit, Arijit, Aurko, Anirban Nandy, Saroj, Soumya, Soumen, Aniket, Samrat, and many more.

Others:
Sushmit, Jayanta, Sumit Pramanik, Saurabh Audichya, Praadnya, Ankita, Swapnil, and all my Facebook friends.


With this, my MBA season officially comes to an end. I am now a member of FMS[2011-2013 batch], and Delhi University. I am quite satisfied with my performance, even though I did not get a single IIM call.

Let my convert be a proof that even freshers with average acads[85 and 79 %] and an average profile can make it to the top Bschools. All the best to all of you.

Looking forward to meeting my fellow Batchmates and seniors at FMS. This is Satwinder, signing off. Good night and Happy Holi.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 4 comments

Corporal Punishment- The True Bane!


This is a sensitive topic no doubt. Corporal punishment was banned in India a few years ago. Yet the ban remains more on paper and is scarcely enforced. Teachers beat their students every day, and punishment is not just restricted to slaps or hits. In many cases students are whipped by canes, hit on the head with a duster, kicked, punched, knocked down, and what not. Something which even a policeman dare not do to a criminal.

I have personally seen teachers pound students as if they were in a wrestling match. That too in primary school. I personally find such kind of behavior unpardonable and inexcusable. Its nothing short of sadism. The teachers know that[in most cases] the child cannot hit back and will not. So they take out all their frustration on the helpless kid.

We live in a hectic world. Many people get stressed out or frustrated after doing monotonous jobs and getting scolded by their seniors. They know that they cannot abuse their bosses directly. Rather they take out their frustration on helpless victims, such as children.

Another reason is short temper. People who get angry easily tend to take out their anger on children. Especially teachers or other staff members. And then there are some people who cannot control their fury, and lash out without thinking twice. It may be due to a minor reason such as whispering during class.



The consequence is that the child may get hurt not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. And emotional scars are hard to cure. It is seen that such children who were abused during childhood either commit suicide or become criminals themselves. So rather than beating up a kid for minor faults, we must learn to counsel them.

If a teacher is caught handing out corporal punishment, he/she should be rusticated and put into prison. There can be no compromise. Corporal punishment is a crime and we have to draw a line. Else the consequence can be fatal.

To give just one famous example, Rouvanjit Rawla, a 13 year old student of La Martiniere, Kolkata committed suicide after he was brutally caned in the school. The principal actually tried to justify the act, under pretext of instilling discipline. But discipline cannot be instilled by corporal punishment, or fear.

Let us join our hands and help raise awareness on Corporal Punishment[and its consequences].
 
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