Sumit Kumar

Those who have stayed in Patel hall, would invariably recall the long list of restrictions that one had to observe during the introduction period, when you first set feet into the Hall in the second year. One of them was not to go home during the weekends. However, there was this guy, who dared to get away from the Hall during one of the weekends. When this was realized in one of the interactions in the mess, the angry seniors threw all sorts of queries on him. The guy replied in a very cool manner that he had gone to Kolkata to be a part of an anti-reservation rally. While some seniors still shouted at him, after they were gone, I commended him for it. Having been a part of another such rally a few days earlier, I knew what it meant and how it is hard to restrain your feelings when such an issue arises. And then, the guy introduced himself as Ankik Dhar. When I tried to look back in the time today, these were the first reminiscences of Ankik that came to my mind.

During the days that followed, Ankik grew up to be hugely popular in the Hall, with his charm and persona and a friendly attitude towards all. He was full of energy whenever you saw him. (With no offence to many of my good Bong friends,) he had broken the general perception about the Bongs, who had been largely found to be aloof, sitting in their rooms, cramming up the books, in an attempt to build high CGPAs. But Ankik was different. Be it the football field, be it the drams practices, be it the tempo shouts – he was everywhere. He was the ever-reliable goalkeeper of Patel Hall and IIT Kharagpur football teams. While many dream of representing their institute at the Inter-IIT sports meet once before they pass out, he was representing Kgp ever since his second year. He was directing plays and was a regular feature in almost all the plays performed by Patel, and even won a best actor award, this feat too achieved in his second year itself. And not withstanding all these achievements, he did maintain a high CGPA also, 9+ right throughout! And above all, was a great human being and had a wonderful rapport with all his batchmates, juniors and seniors. It was hard to find him without that big smile on his face. His never-dwindling tempo led to the coining of the popular epithet of “Tempo Da” for him.

Quite befittingly, he was awarded the Best Outgoing Patelian for 2009. He got a much-coveted job at JP Morgan and a promising future dawned onto him.

—–

When I switched on the TV yesterday evening, all the channels were blaring with the news of the blast in Pune. It was being told that the cause of the blast was bursting of an LPG cylinder in the German Bakery, a popular restaurant in an uptown area in Pune. Very soon it was confirmed that it was not so, and a terrorist attack had taken place and explosives had been used. Nine people had died and several others were injured. Heart went out to those who had lost their lives. But for a country which had seen so many of such tragic incidents in the recent past, with much higher casualties, it wasn’t exactly an incident to sit down and mourn. What could have we done, apart from cursing the terrorists and blaming the inefficient government and the intelligence agencies.

Then within a couple of hours, I got a phone call from Mandal. I got the news that had shattered all of us who knew Ankik. He had gone to Pune to meet his sister and the two, along with a friend were sitting in the ill-fated restaurant. These terrorists had taken him away from us. Suddenly, the figure of nine appeared to be too high. These three constituted one-third of that nine! Moments of disbelief followed. Whoever I tried to contact, was either not in a state to talk or was saying, “No this cannot happen”. The news channels were saying that the bodies had not been identified. But the Patelians who were in Pune had visited the site and they had identified the body. It was our very own Ankik! The population of India is over a billion. And out of that billion it was he who was sitting in the restaurant.

And this news didn’t change much either. We could not do anything still! Once someone is gone, what else is left to be done? All day I had been hoping that someone says that he had been wrongly identified and it was not him and he is just injured and is in hospital. Man always tries to hold on to the tiniest of the twigs, in the form of hope, when the fate has pulled him down.

Just a thought goes out to his parents. Sitting far away in Kolkata, it took them just a moment from being a happy family to losing a young son and a young daughter. Indeed, life lies so much in an unsteady poise. One moment here or there, and nothing is left of it. Some people say life is invaluable. May be this is the reason. When something is so delicate, it has to be invaluable. But it does appear insubstantial at times. After all what was his fault? Just going to enjoy an evening with his dear ones? Did he have anything to do with the designs and the motives of those ruthless terrorists?

Rest in peace Tempo Da! You can leave this world, but never our hearts. May the Almighty give all the courage to your family to get across this.

I had this video of him singing Kal Ho Na Ho on Patel Hall’s farewell. Who knew what the tomorrow had in store for him.

Some pictures to remind us of him:

Thanks to NDTV, MSN, The Times of India, Indian Express, The Telegraph, The Hindu and DNA India for covering Ankik’s story.

Toiling through the school days, one always dreams of a life free from all sorts of anxieties and apprehensions. During those days it appeared that if only those exams and classes and home-works were not there, there was nothing else that could have acted as an encumbrance in the pursuit to such a carefree life. How we envied our elders who didn’t have to go to schools and didn’t have to slog through nights preparing for exams. How much we resented our teachers the day they showed us our answer scripts. We always had a complaint, irrespective of how much marks were given. We were so used to hearing comments like, “Hey, it doesn’t cost me anything to give you marks. So why won’t I give marks to you if you deserve them?” And our musings would be, “If only you realized the level of exertions we went through for this paper.” And then the crestfallen spirit would take comfort from another thought, “Ok, some day all this will be over. And I’ll have a life”. But that day only appeared farther and farther.

Life has taken a long course since those days. The life that I dreamt of as a kid should be here now, at least in terms of the timeframe. But it is not the time or the age that defines the way you perceive your life or what life offers to you. What I realize now is that my dreams then were not to be a grown-up person, but rather to attain a state of bliss in life. And what I realize as a harsher truth is that whatever state we are in at a particular moment, we always have a craving to attain that state of bliss. A state which seems too far all the time, either in the past or in the future.

A small and unheard village has suddenly been in news and has been the center of attention amongst all the astronomers and other enthusiasts of the world. Ever since it was discovered that the Total Solar Eclipse of 22 July, one of the rare celestial occurrences, would be best viewed from the village, people have been thronging the dusty roads of Taregana, 60 km away from Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Such a widespread enthusiasm can only be attributed to the interest shown by the state government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and their efforts of making this event turn into a grand spectacle.

For a state which has been used to live in darkness for a long time, this darkness that the eclipse brings with it might well just signify the phase which is taking it towards light, however slow that journey may be. There was a period when the powers-to-be in the state made a mockery of the technological advances that the rest of the world was going through. To them, lack of education was a tool which would help them control the masses in a much more effective manner. In the post economic liberalization era, investors made a rush towards different parts of the country, but Bihar was totally neglected and this led to the further broadening of the gap with the other parts of the nation, that the state had already been experiencing in terms of economic benefits and quality of life of the people in general.

The most disappointing facet was of course the fact that all this never mattered to the leaders here. No effort whatsoever, was made towards promoting any sort of development. Education, industrialization, health care, internal security- nothing was going right in the state. That’s what darkness meant to the people of the state in its actual sense of the term. Those who dreamt of doing something in their lives and were capable of doing so were forced to go to other states to realize their dreams, in most cases never to come back. Education could have made the poor people see through the grand hoax of democracy that they had been made part of by the government. Remember how Lalu Yadav used to explain what to do with the Electronic Voting Machines – “Press the button near the lantern symbol and wait for the peeenk sound”. And the naive villagers were all too happy to follow those humble directions.

While things have not improved by leaps and bounds, a sense of anticipation of something better happening to the state has been certainly there ever since Nitish Kumar took charge. Roads are being built, power supply has been better, crime rate has considerably gone down and people are feeling much secure living in their own homes. This occasion of eclipse gave the government a chance to show that it really “cares” for the people of the state and those who come from outside. And it has been a job well done so far. People are saying that Nitish needs at least one more term to transform the state totally from the sorry state of affairs it had been. Yes they are true. May be he needs even more. It takes considerably smaller time to obliterate something than is needed to create it.

It is widely supposed that life goes on in a phasewise manner with one phase coming after another, bringing something new with it. So although each phase has a significance of its own, once it is passed, it is confined to the obcurities of some distant memories and imaginations. But this phase of my life was too long and too consequential to be metted out a similar treatment. These five years at IIT Kharagpur, including four years at Patel Hall have not just had some significance of their own, but have transformed me as a person as a whole. I guess its the same for anyone who comes here!

It would be quite a cliché to say that I never realized how these five years have passed in a whiff! But yes those are the very thoughts coming to my mind as I type some of the last words sitting in my room in Patel Hall. Yes, it does seem like yesterday, when a jubilant self of mine having qualified the “toughest competitive exam in the world” and beaming with utter confidence had arrived at this campus of Kharagpur. When I looked at my final grade card today, I just couldn’t imagine how and when did  I complete so many courses! Ten semesters and over 60 grades to look at – that indeed had to be a big list. Although one enters here with a feeling of having conquered the world, it is very soon they realize that life has much more to offer and all of it is available right here in this campus. There would be lots and lots of things to learn here. Things that would make him a real and complete person in every regard. Of course, given that one makes full use of all those opportunities available here.

While I would have enjoying going on writing about my stay here, I better stop here and catch on with my packing. have a train to catch in sometime! So this is where my last post at Kgp ends.

Goodbye to all those whom I have known during the course of my stay here. Hope we remain in touch throughout the course of our lives as well and vindicate our belief of we all being a part of one big family!

The sorry state of affairs that the Bharatiya Janta Party finds itself in at the moment is in many ways a refelection of the past.  Ten years ago, it was the same party that led by Atal Behari Vajpayee had come to power for a second term after leading a successful campaign to evict the infiltrators from the rugged terrains of Kargil. Most of us who in our school lives grew up with Vajpayee at the helm of the affairs, were definitely enchanted by his demeanor and oratory, not withstanding those long pauses. In many ways he appeared to be a natural leader of the country. But more than the country, his ability lied in keeping his own house in perfect order. He was the undisputed leader of his party and also successfully led a big coalition. Although Lalkrishna Advani had that stature within the party, his appeal definitely couldn’t go deep into the masses and he failed to build up an umbrella underneath which a formidable coalition could have existed. And that brings us to the basic question of leadership.

Politicians in India invariably fall into one of the three categories.  First are the overtly ambitious ones who fail to recognize the authority of anyone above them and are determined to get to the top through any means.  Then there are the opportunistic ones who are not driven by any ambition but are rather just committed to keeping their coffers filling in and can follow any path or ideal as long as they are kept satisfied. And then, the third cateory belongs to the enduring sycophantic ones who are happy with their own capacity, whatever that is and feel honoured in eulogizing the top bosses and dutifully carry out their orders.

The best way to distinguish between the two major political parties of the country would be to observe the fact while the BJP is full of the leaders of the first category, the Congress is full of the ones of the third category. The regional parties mostly comprise of the second category. This very distinction in the structure of the two parties has been the cause of their position as they stand now. As long as Vajpayee was the unquestioned leader, all the others worked in close co-operation that took the BJP to the unexpected heights in the 90’s. Now as the Vajpayee-Advani era nears a closure for the BJP, the fight of egos has already started spelling doom for the party. The problem is that no leader can claim to be more experienced or more qualified than any other.

This lies in sharp contrast to the Congress, a party which has had many able leader over the ages, but without pursuing an ambition of their own, they have regarded the word of the “leader” as the law. And the leader has always been someone from the “family” across the generations. However naive and inexperienced they have been, the party has been kept intact just because of this fact. A temporary phase of disintegration was quite apparent after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. While P V Narasimha Rao managed to keep his Prime Minsiter’s chair safe, after the loss of 1996 elections the clash for supremacy among Sitaram Keshri, Sharad Pawar and some other leader threatened to bring about doom for the Grand Old Party. It was not until a reluctant Sonia Gandhi assumed control that such fears were laid to rest.

While the Congress claims that it has many youth leaders, it is hard to find a single youth leader within its ranks who has risen without any family backing. In principle BJP may whine about the dynastic policy within the Congress, the truth is that this very policy has helped the latter avoid any infighting and put forth some “young” faces. Might be that BJP needs to realize soon that principles and ideals don’t work in Indian politics. If one has to go through all the rigors of grass root level politics before claiming the role of a popular leader, he or she doesn’t exactly remain young. Lucky for the youth champions like Rahul Gandhi, Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot that they had their parliamentary berths waiting for them even before they knew anything about it. And too bad for BJP that Vajpayee was a bachelor and Advani’s daughter is a mediaperson, quite aloof from politics!

As I come to the end of it, that is the stay in the Patel Hall of Residence, I must say that instead of getting emotional, I am getting rather retrospective -- about all these days, the vastly satisfying and enriching experience that this stay has been. And as I look back, I definitely have a lot of moments to recollect, some nice and some unfortunate but all of them to cherish for sure. It is very true what they say – “You enter a boy here, and you leave having become a man.”

Patel Hall to me has been what others might call a celebration of life. I don’t know why, but so very often during the last four years, the best and the happiest moments for me have been those when Patel Hall has excelled in a certain field. This began right on the first day of my association with this Hall, when after the hall allotment in our first year, on the day of the tea-party, we had a march all along the way from the Netaji to Patel holding aloft the Sports GC that the hall had won that year. More than anything, it was an indication of many more of such occasions to come during the course of my stay here in the coming years. And this very much turned out to be a reality as the days went by. Some of the biggest moments that I can recall when we had lots to celebrate were the prizes in Illumination and Rangoli in 2nd year, silvers in athletics in 2nd and 3rd years, “matki-phod” of VS after illu in 3rd year, the election victory in 3rd year, the English drams performance in 4th year, a number of golds in sports and the subsequent GC in the 4th year, golds in Eastern groups in 4th year and in choreo in 5th year… well these were just some of the big moments.

While we at Patel have always considered ourselves to be a complete unit and have stood for one another whenever the need has arose, the one occasion when this fact came to the fore was during the unfortunate chaos at the beginning of my 3rd year when the whole 2nd batch year had to be sent off to a different hall. While the solidarity the hall showed then was phenomenal, the way the alumni of the hall grouped together and pressurized the administration, also established the fact that the spirit of a Patelian doesn’t wane a bit even after leaving this place.

As I pass out, there have been certain issues which I have observed over these last few years and would like to convey to my juniors and to the coming batches. As the new batches come, they are enthused with all the tempo and it is really heartening to see them doing all that it takes to carry forward the traditions of the hall and in some way or the other trying to contribute towards the hall’s cause. But at times I have been dismayed by the changing attitude in the senior years. While I totally agree with the fact that we are all here to build careers and need to give due importance to our academics, let us not forget that we are here to gain much more than what is written in those books and what is taught in those lectures. And for all those who dream to make it big in life someday, the Hall is very much a starting platform towards such a dream. The hall is a “tool” through which you can exhibit and utilize all your talent and thereby also getting an opportunity to learn about your strengths and weaknesses which definitely will go a long way in preparing you for your professional lives. One can show forth his qualities in numerous ways in the hall. To give some examples, by being a part of the teams discussing various strategies, sitting through the meetings deciding the validity of various budgets, taking leadership roles in various capacities, doing all you can to get your own problems solved like the ones regarding mess, maintenance etc. The very essence of life here is being able to grow up so as to take care of oneself in every possible way. IIT Kharagpur provides a great platform for all this, and not making use of it would be to let go off a unique opportunity of a lifetime. I have met various alumni in the recent times and all have stressed upon this point – the “real life” doesn’t begin after Kgp, but to a large extent it does while staying at Kgp itself. The logic of “time getting wasted” for say working for illu or cheering the Hall in an event is as foolhardy as it can be.Its well-known that how much time the Kgpians spend in their studies and other seemingly “important” stuff.

Well, all this was just for those who need a proper justification for coming out of their rooms and possibly devoting some time for the hall which they would have anyway spent loitering around. But above all this, I have always enjoyed working in big or small groups in the company of thoroughly dedicated people working towards a common goal. When I look back at my life at Kgp, the best memories I have are not the ones sitting in the classes or working in the labs, but sitting with all the people on the Patel Hall flagpost during the Illu nights or giving those enormous tempo shouts.

To talk about the changes that the hall has been through over these years, the hall’s position in the soc-cult front is nothing short of a dream saga which I have seen being unfolded right in front of me. And I only hope that things only get better in the coming years. Sports also have got just better over the years and the GCs in the last two years have been a mere cakewalk. Illumination not being held in my final year was a major disappointment and I sincerely hope that things will be normal next year onwards. While opinions regarding Illu will always remain varied, it will always have a special place in my heart. I am pretty sure I am going to miss those continuous night-outs trying to give proper shapes to the figures on the chatais. And I have always kept telling that the feeling that is generated by a 23 feet high chatai being lighted by the whole hall together can’t be likened to any other.

Well, I have decided not to take any individual names here, my concern being that I’ll always miss out on several other names. But as a whole the stay at Patel would have never been the same without the seniors who guided us during the initial phases and then went on to become some of the closest friends. And then the juniors who provided their full support in whatever decisions and steps we have taken during this period. My batchmates have been obviously the ones with whom I have shared this journey in its entirety, but apart from them we have been pretty close to our senior and junior batches as well – this being a remarkable feature of Patel Hall. I am extremely confident that the bonds which we have built here will stay as intact over the later years if our lives as well.

Well, the debate will keep raging on – Was Slumdog worth the hype and all the awards. Yes, undoubtedly there have been better films made in Bollywood itself. And of course, A R Rahman has composed many many memorable soulful numbers over the years and Jai Ho might just be one of them. And more importantly, the Oscar is by no means the only benchmark to judge a quality cinema or music.

But just the fact that this glory for Slumdog Millionaire puts India so very definitevely on the world cinema radar is enough for this nation to stand up and rejoice. India in spite of being the country which produces highest number of movies by far, has so far failed to make a mark on the global level, not because of the quality but mainly because of its lack of association with the bigger names and studios of the world. This win for Slumdog is definitely going to inspire the movie-makers in India to promote their movies at a much larger world-stage and hope to bring to the Indian cinema the recognition that it deserves.

In India, the movies are mostly all about the stars. It is definitely sad because there are a huge number of crew involved in coming up with a successful movie. And yet, all people talk about are the lead actors and sometimes the director, producer, music composer, singer of the movie. That’s why the Oscar for Resul Pookutty for best sound-mixing is all the more significant. In a place where the technicians have mostly been the unsung heroes of the films, this should be something for them to cheer about.