SANKALP-YUVA UNSTOPPABLE

PC (Priyanka Chopra) smiles at me showing those pearly-whites on TV , playing smart and saying,"Why should boys have all the fun?"... Well to be true, I feel no one has as much fun as girls these days ;)

We have the world falling on our feet literally... Nopes am not being arrogant... Naah! Naah! I, the girl, am not arrogant. 

We are shining bright and we are sought after.

Advertising industry has taken a complete turn when it comes to portraying women.

I feel so elated to see 'US' shining... We are everywhere, we are CEOs of organizations, we are ruling the film business,we are ruling the health and beauty industry, we are towering people in IT now. OMG, I am so happy for us. 

Men are advised to use AXE, Fairness Creams and what not just to land an impression on their women. ;) The whole perspective is changing gradually. 

Long gone are the days when women used to give in to what came in their way. Now, they demand, they explore and they 'call the shots' too.

Things are changing and I hope they are for good. I feel blessed that my family educated me and will, as long and as much I want to study.
I know there are many who are still caught up in the low-side.
I know we still have a long way to go... but I am glad atleast we have started walking in the right direction. 

Yes, my dear friends, we have started something under 'YUVA UNSTOPPABLE'. Today Jaya, Megha, Poonam (one of our juniors) and I went to a nearby slum, collected few children, talked to their parents and will be teaching them English every Saturday. Isn't it amazing?Four girls, 20 year olds, all on their own, took a step to contribute in a major way to the society for the upliftment of the underprivileged. OMG!!! I am sooo happy. The enthusiasm of the kids and the treatment we received there was exhilirating. We have zeroed in on the name 'SANKALP'. :D  Its not just we four, we have a chapter with a few members and the sankalp, I am sure u know what it is by now.

 

For once, I want to say that women are not all about suppression and pain. We have moved on. We have evolved and We are here to conquer the world. :) Enough of blame games and enough of crying behind the curtains. Optimism wins it all at the end.

Kisi mere jaisi kudi ne kaha hain :
"Bas ek kadam badaaney ki baat hain, raastey khud-ba-khud ban jaatey hain. Manzil par kadi nazar rakhney waaley hi ant mein jeet paatey hain".

Let's Keep Walking!!

HAPPINESS OF WINNING + VACATIONS AT HOME :)

Hello everyone... :)

These days I am at home :D came for Diwali and I am enjoying myself like anything. Remember the post I had written "Longing for a date with myself"??? Well, God is great. He granted my wishes so soon that I can't help smiling :) :) :) :) :) So, its not the exact replica of my imagination but its no less. I have whole 24 hours of the day for myself. I can do whatever I feel like, I can sleep anytime, get up anytime, eat anytime, bathe anytime, watch TV anytime and study anytime...yeah I am studying and studying not casually but seriously and studying a lot. So that is giving me immense satisfaction. I am not tired when I go to bed but I have satisfactory smile on my face when I go off to sleep because I am glad to know that my day was spent according to my wishes and it was far more productive than those hectic days in Bhopal. I am missing Megha and Jaya but I am happy with papa, mumma and toshu. I can't describe how cute mumma has become. She is now probably the cutest mother on planet earth (no offence please). So I am having a heavenly time dating myself :)

One more thing, before I forget, I participated in a debate competition just before coming to Jhansi. There were three rounds, first was a general selection round. The topic was given on the spot which was "Religious diversity is a hindrance to the development of a country" and I spoke against the topic. Second round was infront of a crowd of approx. 500 people. The topic was given 5 min prior to the event and it was "Due to delay in judicial procedure, punishment of the accused in public by masses is justified or not?" and once again I spoke against the topic. The third round was a group discussion round on the same topic.

So finally when the results were declared the next day, I stood FIRST :) and got a printer as prize. I am thinking of starting an electronics shop with a printer, a laptop, a webcam all of which I have won in various competitions :D :D :D

DO ENJOY DIWALI AND IN THESE HOLIDAYS TRY TAKING OUT A DAY FOR YOUR OWN SELF. I TELL YOU ITS HEAVENLY :)

WINNER AGAIN

Remember that essay I had written a few days back on racism...the topic was "Doesn't really matter whether one is black or white or are we still ruled by the colour of the skin?" Yeah...So I won the second prize :D :D The prize is a book voucher worth Rs. 1500 :D :D

Just wondering which books to buy :P :P

(for people who have not read the essay :- scroll down you'll find it :) )

Another Victory !!!!! :) :) :)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Well this big smile is for a special reason. Few days back there was an essay writing competition whose details are copy pasted from its site in the following lines :-

SMRTI » Essay Event - 2009
SRCM and United Nations
Annual All India Essay Writing Event 2009

Shri Ram Chandra Mission in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan, presents the Annual All India Essay Writing Event, conducted by the Sahaj Marg Research and Training Institute in commemoration of International Day of Youth, on 12 August 2009. An initiative of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), a non‐profit, educational and spiritual service organization, the Annual All India Essay Writing event will be organized in educational institutions across the country.

And my topic was "Love has hope, Hatred is hopeless"

I had planned to prepare it well but when I sat on my laptop to do some research work on the concerned topic I found such interesting contents (which had no connection with the topic) that I spend most of the night reading it and then, tired, I went off to sleep.

Next day, the confident me, went unprepared and wrote whatever I could think. The end result, after 1 hour was satisfactory and appreciable.:)

It was yesterday that one of my senior sir text messaged me and informed me the result. Now coming to the point...

PANKHURI SHRIVASTAVA

Yes my essay was selected as the best essay. :)

The story doesn't end here. The recognition to be awarded are :-
National Prizes: Three students, from each category,
will be awarded national prizes. Students may be
required to clear a final interview to qualify for the final
award. Selection for prizes at the national level will be
made irrespective of the language in which the essay
is written.
Regional Prizes: Three prizes will be declared for each
zone, in each of the categories. (For administrative
facilitation, 26 geographical zones have been defined.)
School-level Certificates: For every participating
school, certificates will be awarded to the two best
essays in each category.

So, precisely, I have cleared the first round and now my essay will be forwarded to the regional level. I am looking forward to going for the interview and then presenting my views in Delhi as apart from bringing laurels to their institutions, winners will have an opportunity to present their views at a prize distribution ceremony hosted by the UNIC in Delhi.

This is known as being too optimistic but who knows what has my destiny, this time decided for me. :P


Hoping for the best and praying to God,
Yours only,
Pankhuri

I HAVE LEARNED FROM LIFE !!!

It's a weird weird life. when you expect so much, it gives you a little and when you sit down with zero hope, it provides more than you have wished for. Though I am just 20 yrs and not old enough to explain what to expect from this unexpected life. But there are few things I have learned that I would love to share.

* Lord Buddha said, 'We achieve peace through meditation' yet I have learned, the most beautiful and peace giving thing in the world is to watch a little child asleep.

* Share everything you want to in life with friends and with people you care for but never trust someone who says, ' trust me I can keep this secret'.

* No matter how rich we become, we can never buy what really matters in life.

* Sometimes crying is best response (especially in front of men :P).

* There will always be someone in your life who annoys you no matter where you are and you will love it eventually and miss him when he is not there.

* Mostly it's better to shut up but sometimes it's necessary to argue.

* May be we should never let go of our deepest desire. But I have learned- letting go is the only way to keep something or someone in life.

* It's good to be yourself and maintain your dignity. But I have learned - The word 'WE' always sounds better than the word 'I'.

* We will always come across many intolerable people but there's still a difference between being angry and being cruel.

* One thing I wish I had learned when I was small is that - I wish I could have told my mom dad that I love them more number of times (which i do now).

Two things I have learned in my TEENS :

* Never take life casually (esp during your 12th standard). Its not a piece of cake.

* And finally - Do not go around with a guy very early in your life. Results can be hazardous. :P

was this post lengthy ??? :P

THE ADVENTURE OF THE "ALL GIRLS TEAM"

It was 20th February and I was in a deep slumber when suddenly I heard my cell phone ringing. So dead beat I was that I didn’t bother to have a look at who was calling and changed the profile to silent. Just a few minutes later I heard my intercom ringing and again I couldn’t muster strength to get up and receive the call. The process of cell phone and intercom ringing continued for a few minutes and then all was silent and I was happy to go back to my sleep but out of the blue someone banged into my room and woke me up. It was my friend Jaya saying “Gosh!!!! You are sleeping. I went mad calling you.” I still in my dreams asked what happened and she informed me of a quiz competition which was going to be held and she needed a partner. I at once agreed. Late night she came and told me that we couldn’t be registered as it was the last day for registration and we decided very late. But then she said that she had a talk with the co-ordinator and he said that he’ll try. Next day I went to my aunt’s house and came back on 24^th February. We were waiting for our bus at the bus stop when I happened to ask Jaya about the registration and she very coolly replied that we were registered and the competition is on 25^th February. I said fine but then 10 seconds later realization dawns and I said “Jaya today is 24^th “ . She had forgot to inform me as well as forgot that it was just the next day. But then we decided that after coming back from the college we’ll study.

So as you see the registration in itself was a hilarious incident but we didn’t know that this was the beginning of a fantastic and a very humorous episode of our life.

24^th evening at 9p.m. we sat together with our respective identical laptops and started searching internet everything about U.K. because the Quiz competition was conducted by British Council and it was all about United Kingdom as the aim of conducting this competition was to promote U.K. as an educational hub. But then as we are a little lazy girls we got tired at 11p.m. and went to sleep.

25^th morning we got ready and reached the venue (samanvay bhavan) to find many students with a very good preparation. We got a little sceptical about our clearing even the first round. We had to wait for a long time as there were some technical and organisational delays. Then we came to know that there were to be three rounds. Two of them in Bhopal itself and the final in Indore. Similar rounds were conducted in Gwalior and Indore as well and two teams were to be selected from each city and thus there will be a finale amongst six teams at Indore. We were also informed that the first prize was individual Compaq Presario laptops to the winning team members (a team consisted of two members) and the runner up prize was individual 60GB ipod to the team members. We couldn’t believe our ears which was obvious. C’mon people which competition offers such fabulous prizes. It was at this moment I whispered in Jaya’s ears “ Why didn’t we study?”. She said the same.

Now began the first round which was a written round. Few questions and visual clips of a monument, an animal mostly found in England (badgers), popular personalities (Gordan Brown) etc were displayed on the screen and each team had to write the answer on an answer sheet.

My favourite question was “Which fictional character lived at 221-B Baker Street?” I have grown reading Sherlock Holmes so I knew the answer obviously and later we came to know we were the only ones who knew this answer (the answers were discussed after the written round).

So amongst all the teams present we were the highest scorers and in the written round and we were named “THE ALL GIRLS TEAM” by the very able quizmaster, Mr. Aditya Nath. Thus, six teams made it to the semi final round which was like an actual quiz.

The first round was “Mumble Jumble” in which on a theme a word was displayed on the screen with its entire letters jumbled. Our question was Sir Arthur’s “HUKCNIBMGA” == Buckingham. We got 10 points and we started off well. Next round was the round in which questions were directly asked to a particular team and we answered that as well. So we actually faired well in all the rounds except the rounds in which we got a sports question because both of us are not much in sports and thus all our attempts to answer sports question were in vain. Round after round we managed to lead or be in the second slot until the last round which was the rapid fire round. Before this last round our scores were displayed and to our dismay we were in a tie position with another team. The rapid fire round had 4 questions for a team which were to be answered in 45 seconds. The round started and fortunately the other team which had a tie with us couldn’t answer any of the questions. Then came our turn and we were in a position that we had to answer only one question to clear to final round. We both encouraged each other and crossed our fingers. Three questions went unanswered and our anxiety level increased. It was the last question which I actually do not remember because it was unfortunately a question related to football (the sports monster strikes again) but then abruptly Jaya said “ARSENAL” and to our astonishment it was the right answer. We don’t know how she got it but the good news was that we were selected for the finals to be held at Indore on 27^th February.

So as you see without much preparation we by our wits and God’s blessings got through the semi-final.

The media people took our snaps and the next day we were all over the local newspapers of Bhopal. With high spirits we swore to give our heart and soul to the preparation and we actually did that.

The same day we came back and sat down to work. At this point we would like to thank our parents for buying us laptops because we made full use of technology and world wide web (invented by Tim Berners-Lee which we came to know during our preparation for the finals). We started surfing and then we copy pasted everything on our respective laptops. Both of us searched different arenas so that we can have the maximum study material. So here we also owe to our awesome hostel which provides us with uninterrupted internet connection 24*7.

Now the real adventure begins.

After a long night work on our laptops we were heavily sleeping when our college co-ordinator called us and asked about our plans. As we were representing our college we had to submit an application to the college principal and get his consent. We had our bus at 2 p.m. and as our college is far away from where we live we send the application through one of our friends. So what our college co-ordinator had called us for was that we hadn’t written in the application that we have the consent of our parents which we obviously had beforehand and to add to our misery for some strange reason they were not reachable. So with a good admonishment we were ordered not to go and report to the college next day. We tried to appease him but in vain. All this continued till 1p.m. and I was nearly in tears. It was only at 1:15 when he agreed with our faxing him a fresh application and then leave. Till now we hadn’t packed anything, didn’t had a bath and had to go to market to fax the new application as well as to collect our tickets from booking office. So we hurried and finally managed everything and were leaving the hostel when the other two guys selected from Bhopal called us to inform that the bus is leaving the bus stand. The time was 2:05. We told them to make the bus wait but when we were about to reach the bus stand when we got a call telling us that the bus has left. Then the chase began. We were in an auto rickshaw and were chasing a VOLVO. But is it possible??? We screamed on the top of our voices asking the bus driver to stop the bus but why would he??? So we called the guys who were in the bus asking them to make the bus halt. It was only then the bus stopped and we could catch the bus. So finally we were off to Indore after innumerable hassles and so we felt like winners as it is.

All the way to Indore we tried studying but as I feel a little woozy in buses I couldn’t but Jaya did.

We reached Indore at 6p.m. and then to our hotel which was pretty nice (I believe some 3 star hotel) and ordered a hearty dinner.

After dinner we both sat with our laptops and started grasping as much we can about U.K. But exhausted by our journey in the bus we couldn’t manage to sit very long and felt like going to bed. At this point we came across a sentence which goes like this “Sir Robert Falcon Scott went all the way to South Pole only to find that the spot had been discovered by someone else one month ago.” This sentence might not seem very funny to a lot of people reading this yet that night, maybe because of our tired minds or our very poor sense of humour, we found it extremely funny and laughed like mad people and it was all the more funny because I was so tired that I was not able to muster enough strength to laugh yet I was laughing. I and Jaya still sometimes remember the sentence and laugh even when people around us do not find it that funny. Anyways, soon we slept determined to get up early in the morning.

In the morning the alarm went on ringing and we slept like anything. Finally at 8o’clock we woke up and got ready, went for breakfast and met other participants from Gwalior.

A van came to take us and we were the only ones studying. Rest all were boys and I know they were having weird thoughts about us as we were studying all the time. Finally we reached the venue and reached late for the draw of the seating arrangement. By default we were the “D” team that was in the centre. (The previous night we were wishing that we get to sit at “C” or “D” so that we are in the centre). So our good time had started.

The quiz began and the “all girls team” was leading from the initial round. There were few questions which elated us to highest degree as on answering them made us feel proud and the answers were the result of our one night and one day’s hard work. One of them was “Which two towns were first connected by a railway line?” The answer couldn’t be guessed thus no one could answer that. We got it as a pass and we knew the answer because we had copy pasted it from net and studied. The answer was “Stockton and Darlington”.

Another of such questions was a line referring to a poem “candle in light” and we had to tell the name of the poet. The answer was Elton John but the best part was not that we knew the answer but we also knew the background details that it was modified by Elton John and read aloud on the funeral of Princess Diana. Again we had copy pasted this detail as well from net.

So finally came the last round and we were the ones leading. But somehow in the last round we couldn’t answer much questions and a team which was far behind us in the score sheet answered brilliantly well and I got nervous that we’ll not win. Jaya was very cool and calm as if losing doesn’t matter and I was a little surprised. When I asked her about this it was then I realized that she was completely unaware that it was the last round and that was the reason of her cool temperament. So we tried answering the left questions but in vain!

The score sheet was displayed and to our relief we were still at the first place but we had a TIE with the other team of Gwalior which had gained a lot of points in the last round.

So came the TIEBREAKER round in which it was like this that if one of the teams press the buzzer and give the correct answer they would win and if they give the wrong answer then the other team would win and the team who had pressed the buzzer would lose. So the moral was that press the buzzer only when you are sure of the answer.

The first question was something no one of us had heard about so no one answered. The second was very very simple yet it didn’t strike us (maybe we were extremely tensed as well as excited) and by God’s grace the other team also didn’t knew the answer. The question was “Who wrote Satanic verses?” I had read the book and still couldn’t answer. Anyways since no one answered it was good. But after this question I kept my finger on the buzzer and told Jaya that anyhow we have to answer the next question and anyhow we have to win. Jaya removed my finger from the buzzer, just in case I pressed it out of excitement.

So the next question was “Christiano Ronaldo plays for which football club?” The moment the quizmaster finished speaking I pressed the buzzer and Jaya’s first words were “Why did you press the buzzer?” Now to make clear to all of you I knew the answer as I had read about him but Jaya was not aware of this fact as we had studied 90% of the things together and she thought that I had pressed it out of excitement or by mistake as she feared. At that moment I got so confused that when I know the answer why was she behaving in such a manner? She rested her forehead on her hands and was as sad as one could ever be. But this was just for a minuscule of second as the quizmaster was near our table waiting for the answer. There was pin drop silence and I felt that the crowd had stopped breathing and then I heard myself giving the answer “MANCHESTER UNITED” and looked at Jaya who sat aghast. It was then the quizmaster shouted “and that’s the right answer and the “all girls team wins the finale.....”” that was all I could hear from him because Jaya spoke in rejoice “how did you know the answer?” and I said “I had read that” and then we hugged each other.

Finally we had won and as you now know it was sports which horrified us and it was sports only which led to our victory in the semi-finals as well as the finals. It was destined to be a sports question otherwise we would have answered Salman Rushdie wrote Satanic Verses. But then we had won and that was the ultimate truth.

We both won one Compaq laptop each. Think which competition gives away such costly and fabulous prizes. Very few. And we were the WINNERS of such an awesome competition.

The story doesn’t ends here i.e. picture abhi baaki hai mere dost..

The coming back was as eventful as going to Indore. We had hired a taxi and were waiting for the bus to arrive at a bus stop. Now when the bus came it halted at the other side of the road. We were such fools that we came out of the taxi with few of our luggage and walked to the bus asking the taxi driver to bring the rest of the luggage (which was our new laptop cartons and its carry bag.) We walked to the bus and then to my horror I saw the taxi driver drove the taxi at a very high speed in a different direction. I left all my luggage and ran behind the taxi, called Jaya and told her and she asked some men on a scooter to catch the taxi as it has our luggage. I thought that he has vanished away with our new laptops and was horrified. Those people on scooter went after the taxi in the same direction but to my utmost astonishment I saw the taxi coming after taking a round of the centre and being parked just besides the bus. I called back Jaya and we went rolling on the floor laughing.

We boarded the bus with all our luggage which had become unmanageable for us. Everyone thought we were coming from some marriage as we had huge gift boxes with us. The bus driver played some very terrible movie and everyone made him put it off so we had nothing to do except to feel happy.

We were received by my friends at the bus stop and both of us were given a bouquet each. A grand welcome awaited us at the hostel and we were two very proud girls who had proved that girls can not only manage every task on their own but can also win against all odds. We were happy to go to college the next day as we had won and we weren’t scolded by anyone for the incidents that happened before we left for Indore.

I hope this made you laugh a lot but then somewhere down the line I also believe it is very inspiring.

I also wish I and Jaya can keep winning fabulous competitions so that I can write and make you people laugh as we are very funny people.