My Best Memory - dedicated to my Ronnie

I truly believe…. We were meant to be

the moment I held you

I knew it was you, I sought…

tiny and cuddly

like any other baby…but even if you were not

it was you I sought…

you grew big and strong

but for me you remained

the tiny little thing which once clung on to me

you barked at strangers and growled at pigeons

but looked at me like a puppy waiting for a cuddle..

followed me around

and waited for hours

only looking for those little moments of joy..

you wagged your tail and jumped with glee

every time you saw a glimpse of me…

now you are gone

and I have nothing waiting for me…

Hoping to catch a glimpse of you

I look behind and find a lonely me

You loved me for me

And gave me more than a lick on my cheek…

you left me memories

that I cherish

you will remain as the sweetest memory

Now I know, we were meant to be…

You came and left

But you will always remain a part of me

Missed and remembered for the time you gave,

the love you showered and the joy you spread

I’ll cry no more

Even though the grief of loss tears me apart

A loss of me…

A wonderful part of me

But I know you left for a better life

To fill someone else’s world with love and smile

An angel you will remain

In hearts of many..

My wonderful little friend

We were meant to be…

We were meant to meet

And meant to part…..

R.I.P my baby, my happiness and more…

My little Ronnie, you will always remain as my best memory…!!!

The dilemma over the Ground Zero Mosque

‘Ground Zero Mosque’ is a plan to build a mosque and Islamic cultural centre two blocks away from the site where once the World Trade Centre stood. This issue has generated a heated debate among the people of America.

The idea of building a mosque was initiated to improve the much deteriorated Muslim-West relations. The supporters believe, this will become a symbol of tolerance, condemning the 9/11 attacks. The 19 fanatics who flew planes into the twin towers have generated fear and distrust in the world. Because of a few extremists the whole religion has been stereotyped. Building an Islamic cultural centre could be seen as a collaboration of the moderate Muslims and the West to combat terrorism together. It will become a symbol of religious tolerance and secularism.

On the other hand, the majority of the people are opposing the idea of building the Islamic cultural centre, especially so close to the attacked area. It is seen as an intolerable gesture for the families of the victims, constantly reminding them of the dreadful attack. The opposition has been strongly protesting and manoeuvring anti-Islam feelings in the people which is bound to worsen the situation. The plan of burning the holy book, Quran, is just another example of rising intolerance among Americans. Some people are of the opinion that building a mosque some other place would be a better idea rather than building it near ground zero. Considering the huge opposition by the public, building it near the attacked site would aggravate the situation.

A better solution would be to build a multicultural community centre in the memory of the victims of the attack. Unity among world communities is the only way to combat terrorism!

Anti-cow slaughter bill in undemocratic

In a multi-religious society faith of one community over shadows the rest and further enforces policies to dictate terms. This would seem like an anarchic system but we proudly call it democracy. One of the many examples of this is Anti-cow slaughter Bill which was passed by the Karnataka government even after numerous protests by religious minorities, civil society, dalit groups and farmers groups.

In reality, the anti cow slaughter bill has hidden agenda and a motive of exploitation behind it. Beef is a cheapest form of meat available in India which is consumed not only by the Muslims and the Christians but also a majority of Hindus and dalits. Only a small percentage of people believe that eating beef is a taboo. And these people are imposing their belief on the rest of the population by passing this Bill which is another way of dividing people.

None of the Hindu scripture, including the Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Upanishads, hold that consumption of beef is prohibited in Hinduism but still it has been preached and imposed. Then, based on what has the government banned beef is an unjustifiable argument. Banning of beef will affect the farmers, as most of them rare cows for a living. When the cow has passed its productive years, then it is sold for its meat and in this way farmers earn their living. In most villages, the ox is sold for its meat, as tractors have replaced them in the fields and they are not productive. The bill extends the prevention of slaughter to cow, calf, bull, bullock, buffalo (male and female).

After passing anti-cow slaughter bill the burden of taking care of the cattle falls on the poor farmer who can neither sell the cow/ox nor maintain it. This would discourage the farmers from rearing cattle which ultimately lead to shortage of milk. The bill equated killing of a cow to murder of a human being and offenders may be imprisoned up to 7 years and fine up to one lakh.

The bill is against the secular character of our constitution and is a fundamentalist propaganda to dominate and impose their beliefs on the people.

Beckoning Mullayangiri hills

Chikmagalur is a popular tourist destination located about 250 kms from Bangalore. It is described as a perfect weekend getaway with cool climate and lots of greenery. After researching about what we could do or see there on the internet, we decided to take our much needed family vacation in June. So in went our warmest clothes to ward off the apparently cold weather there and left hot and sweaty Bangalore.

We initially decided to drive up to the place but finally ended up taking a cab after a fight over who was going to drive. It took us around five hours to reach and felt Chilmagalur is an over glorified place, because to us it was no different from Bangalore. It had the same weather if not hotter, crazy drivers and worse roads. This was not anywhere close to what we imagined Chikmagalur to be. Well its climate change we figured or global warming that had changed the place to what it is now.

We found out about surrounding places and decided to visit Mullayangiri, Kemmangundi, Habbe falls and the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary. All these places were astounding but one place which is a must see is Mullayangiri Hills.

We started off almost at daybreak with bottled water, fruits and some snacks as we were told no refreshments were available anywhere on the hills. The drive to Mullayngiri was pleasant and smooth and as we got closer to our destination the weather got cooler and windier. We could finally feel the fresh cool air as the sun slowly disappeared into the clouds.

The view was what one would call a perfect painting. The mountains look like someone has unwearyingly covered every bit of them with beautiful lush green carpet and the clouds were perfectly placed on the tip of them to enhance the picturesque view. This is only the beginning of the soul stirring experience which we felt on the way to the beautiful hills on Mullayangiri.

Looking around at the place, no one would ever imagine that this was our very own Karnataka. The Mullayangiri hills are located 25 kms away from Chikmagalur. The hills are surrounded by the Baba Budan Giri Range of thick forests of the Western Ghats.

Mullayangiri is one of the tallest peaks in the vicinity and is a dream for most trekkers with evenly laid out grasslands covering the hills and the breathtaking panorama around. For others who just want to enjoy the scenic view can drive on the smooth roads to the place.

We drove almost to the top and were informed that there is a tiny temple right on the top of the hill. Neither the stairs nor the temple was visible as the thick white clouds had swathed the whole hill. And as we started climbing we could feel the clouds moving towards us and an overwhelming feeling of awe took over the fatigue we felt climbing the stairs.

Soon, we were over the top and on cloud 9, literally. We finally had reached on top of the highest peak of Karnataka and the view is to die for. A small idol of Nandi is sheltered by a concrete hut on the edge of the hill which completes the spectacle. The temple on top is a small one but the view is indomitable with pure white clouds passing by, a cool breeze blowing around and the fresh pure air enveloping us.

The experience of visiting the Mullayangiri hills is definitely a memory we will treasure for a lifetime. The place is untouched by the outside world which is rare in our over polluted cities. Highly recommended, take some time to visit the place, if you are a nature lover and even if you are not you should still visit, because you will become one, overnight.

have a Humane face, N Ram tells media students

Editor-in-Chief, N. Ram called upon media students to always have a humane face both as journalists and human beings.

He was delivering the key-note address at the UGC sponsored seminar on ‘The Emergence of New Media: Opportunities and challenges’, organised by the department of Communication in association with The Hindu.

“There is no use going for academic excellence unless you put in the centre the values of social justice, equity and caring for all human kind,” Mr Ram said.

Mr Ram highlighted his reflections on Indian Media growth trends, its quality issues and the ethical challenges of the same. He questions the term ‘New Media’ as media were always evolving and what was new today would be old tomorrow.

Talking about the state of the mediaduring recession, Mr Ram said, “Journalism is in crises across developed countries. There is a gloom in most developed countries over the future of newspapers and broadcast.New York Times, the world leader of print industry was in major crises and had to take a loan of $250 million during recession. Circulation and readership is declining and the impact of internet and new media has accelerated the downfall.”

He further raised the issue of newspapers losing readership due to the newly developed e-paper, that most popular newspapers had introduced on their websites ed on their websites which attracted a wide global audience. However he said that though internet use and broadband access were growing rapidly across developing countries, traditional media still held importance.

Mr Ram opined that the media had three basic roles to fulfill. Firstly, he said that all media should aim to be credible with respect to the information it disseminates. Secondly, it should be analytical, critical and investigative and thirdly he said that the media had a big role to play in education. He said that it was through the media that masses could be educated about science, technology, history, medicine etc. “Every country which values press and media has broadcast law to govern it. But India does not have any such rules for media. There is no framework of regulatory mechanism,” said Mr Ram commenting on media ethics.

Divya, I year Mass Communication Student from Mahaveer Jain College said, “Mr Ram’s speech was very informative and inspiring. He explicitly brought out the ethics of media which every journalist should follow and practice. As future journalists it was very helpful.”

Kannada Sangha

It was an important day for the members of the Kannada Sangha of SJC as the Sangha was inaugurated on Friday. Kannada Infomedia, the portal, and the new venture, Cycle Day, were also kickstarted at the function.

Fr Ambrose Pinto, the Principal, said, “I have been observing the Kannada Sangha since it was started and I am very glad to see it progress. Every year it has been improving and has organised many cultural programmes like Dollukunita and Natakas.”

Fr Pinto also expressed his concern about the fading Kannada culture. “ Majority of our students don’t have the interest to learn Kannada. People prefer English language to our regional language. Our culture and language should become our pride and we should try and spread the language. The Sangha is trying to do that and I hope they organise more activities like this,” he added.

Mr Vijay Ragavan, HOD of the Kannada Department and the Staff Coordinator of the Sangha said, “This Association is a student initiative and I am only guiding them. We are inaugurating ‘the Cycle Day’ today and every Friday we will celebrate it in the Campus.”

Bharti S of III PMC, the Vice-President of the Association, said, “We have planned to organise a photo exhibition, games like Kunte bille, Gilli Dandu and Janapada.”

Ravikiran of III PEM, President of the Sangha, spoke on the Association’s aim and said, “Kannada Sangha is not only to promote Kannada language but it is a platform for different cultures. We are planning to organise kite flying competition, photo exhibition etc.”

College cricket team gets a renowned coach

The College has appointed a new coach for the boys’ cricket team.

He has already become one among the favourites for the students. Popularly known as Baba Sir, he has coached some of the country’s best cricketers like Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Robin Uttappa, Venkatesh Prasad, among others. Baba Sir has been coaching for the past 25 years and thinks that cricket is his religion and a way of life.

“I have been a Josephite throughout my student life and now have come back to be of some use to the College,” he says with glee.

He further says, “I am a service oriented, action oriented and result oriented person. I am coaching the lads, but I am still learning and I don’t consider myself as a Guru.”

When asked about the College cricket team and his expectations, he said, “They are a promising and an enthusiastic team, but still there is always scope for improvement. It’s been only three days since I’ve come and I still have to get to know their potential.”

campus painted GREEN

Go Green day’ was an awareness campaign organised in the campus by the Social Work department REACH on Tuesday. REACH stands for Research Education Action Change which was formed earlier this year. The students came together wearing green in support of the cause. 25 students volunteered for the cause and performed a skit to alert people about conserving energy. More than 100 people supported the volunteers by walking around the campus and shouting slogan ‘Go Green, Save Earth’. The volunteers talked to the students and explained about Go Green.

Mr Benson, a lecturer of Social Work department said, “Go green is a larger process. This is just a teaser. Green stands for sustainable development. Copenhagen concludes tomorrow and this is in a way related to it. This has definitely woken up the campus.”

“It made a lot of impact on people. We wanted to do something which is related to our subjects. The core members of the association came up with this idea,” said Gangamma of II MSW who is the president of REACH.
Simi of II MSW, a Volunteer, said, “We started by chanting slogans across the campus. We also spoke to people and explained the concept of Go Green. We are not against genetic engineering, but we are against it being used in agriculture.”
John Paul of I MSW who actively took part in the campaign explained about various issues related to environment. He said, “The response was good and people were curious to know what was happening. We are not trying to convince people to stop using plastic, but telling them to use less plastic. We are trying to discourage people from using genetically modified food and endorse organic food.”
REACH has taken up several activities to sensitise people about the use of plastic, aforestation, conservation, genetically modified food and other environment related issues as part of its agenda.

A holiday that cured my travel sickness!

Travelling and me, well we don’t go together! And it took five long years to convince myself that I should to widen my horizons, before I could go on holiday finally. From being accident prone to getting sick with motion sickness, I’ve had them all and you can’t really blame me for not travelling, as who wants to be sick on holiday? So, I decided to get over my phobia, but it was only after every living soul pestered me to do so!

One weekend, my sister and I packed our bags and left for Coonoor, a hill station in Tamil Nadu. We boarded our bus after a lot of planning and decided to take the precautions of avoiding buying water, food and we carried lots of medication. Twenty minutes through the journey half the people on the bus were snoring away to glory and the other half chit - chatting. The most amusing were two men around 24 years of age, who were sitting behind our seats, bragging about their girlfriends. Thanks to them I had a good bed time story and a good nap!

We got ready to sleep in our not so comfortable seats. The bus we took was till Udhaamangalam which is popularly known as Ooty. Surprisingly the journey was smooth and we reached our destination early next morning. As I got off the bus it was a relief to a Bangalore eye, to see greenery and breathe fresh air. Bangalore has become so polluted it’s a relief to get out for a few days. The journey wasn’t over and I kept reminding myself that we had another 20km drive to reach Coonoor.

We had to take the local bus from Ooty. The roads on the Ghats section are curvy and precipitous. But the scenic beauty makes up for all the pot holes and rash bus drivers. There were tall trees and green grass on either side of the road. The dew drops on the grass looked like little drops of heaven, which glimmered at day break. It took us more than an hour to reach our hotel. We chose to stay in Hotel Gateway which is on the Church Road among the other hotels.

Coonoor is a small town, with few houses and commercial shopping area. Most of the people work in the tea estates and have tiny retail shops. It’s a great place if you are looking for a serene vacation. The place itself is so beautiful that you can just go for a walk and feel good. There’s hardly any traffic, other than public transport. Most of the local people travel by foot.

Apart from this, the weather is an added bonus. The wintry breeze makes you want to wrap up every inch of your body. As the sun comes out at dawn the thick fog fades away leaving a tinge of mist in the air. The crest of green mountains looks like it’s wrapped with a clean white blanket. In the night the warmth of the fire place makes you want to snuggle up and snooze peacefully.

There are not many places to see in Coonoor other than few parks and tea estates.

Sims Park is one of the popular tourist attractions in Coonoor. It’s a huge park which appears as though it’s in a valley. A lot of steps need to be ascended and descended in order to see the entire park. We could see tall trees covering the entire area and a children’s play area occupied the hub of the park. Even though this is a tourist attraction which a lot of people visit, nothing could compare with the natural scenic beauty of the place.

People travel from Coonoor to Ooty back and forth as it’s just one hour drive. And a better way to travel is by the toy train, which are scheduled at regular intervals. These trains cost hardly anything to enjoy – just a meagre ticket of Rs.3 and they pass through some of the most scenic places of the Nilgiris. These trains are not only taken by tourists but also the local people and school children.

Ooty is comparatively more developed than Coonoor. It’s a popular tourist place and is commercialised to a great extent. The Botanical gardens, Doddabetta, Rose garden, Fernhill Palace are some of the popular places to visit in Ooty. The Botanical gardens is a must see in Ooty. It’s a 12-hectare garden with colourful flower beds, lawns, rare trees and exotic plants of different countries are found here.

Doddabetta is another famous tourist place. It is the highest hill in the Nilgiri hills. It is surrounded by forest reserves and the view from the hill is stunning which makes it a pleasant experience.

Ooty is also famous for yummy home made chocolates which are found in most of the shops. You can everything from plain milk chocolate to fruit and nut or liquor chocolates. The choice is yours.

A vacation is all about relaxation, being lazy and not worrying about waking up on time or being late. You can laze around the whole day if the company you are with has the same ideas as you. Sadly for me, it was the not the case. My sister woke up at 6am everyday, over enthusiastic, wanting to explore the place. So I went along the plan for two day, then we decided we better stick to our own plans and do our own things before we bite each other’s heads off. So she took off early and I couldn’t convince myself to get out of the cosy bed till 11am.

I would wake up, get ready and sit in the garden outside my room reading a novel, taking pictures of the mountains and birds, sipping a hot cup of tea..

We extended our stay for two more days not wanting to return to our regular lives. But finally we did leave promising to return in three months.

On the journey home, we decided to have some fun and adventure before coming back to our confined lives. So we cancelled our Volvo bus reservations and took a local bus to Mysore. The bus was jam-packed, and we sat crushed in between people. We passed through Bandipur on the way back, and I must say this was the best decision we made, though my sister wasn’t very happy about it.

We saw deer, peacocks, elephants, wild boars and orang-utans which completely ignored the anxious spectators and were busy doing their own thing. The only sad part being that we couldn’t capture those moments because the battery of the camera had given up on us.

The people on the bus were friendly but were very inquisitive to know why two girls were travelling alone and where we were from.

We reached Mysore by 8pm, tired and exhausted and couldn’t wait to get back home. So we took the Volvo bus from Mysore to Bangalore, which seemed like heaven after the rough journey earlier from Ooty back.

It took us just three hours to reach Bangalore in comfort. And sadly with this that was the end of our vacation, but, now having had a taste of travel, I will see that I do so every once in a while!

NOTHING

a speck of nothing

on a land of nothingness

the worth of it, i can see no more

each day passes by - morning, noon and night

and there comes another bright morning

with another gloomy mood!!

every dawn i hope to remember

a smile, a laugh, a tear.........

I LOVE RONNIE!!

The moment he sees me, his tail wags, his ears stand high and he runs up to me wit the same gusto every single day. He drools all over my face and I feel the purest form of love in it. He shows me love the way he knows it. His unconditional love is incomparable to any human relationship I’ve ever had. I can vouch without fear that even when all is gone he’ll still love me like no one else. If you have not figured it out yet I am talking about my adorable little pooch.

GOODBYE

SAYING GOODBYE IS THE HARDEST THING- especially if it’s someone you love.

I and my boyfriend have spent the last few years being inseparable. I consider him my best friend, my soul mate and the most important person in my life. We have been the envy of all our friends. We would meet everyday with a smile and a belief that we belonged together. We would sit and chat sometimes discussing how long distance relationships never work and how could people survive that kind of relationship where all the problems would exist but the best part of being together would not. It was definitely not an option for us.

The horror broke when my boyfriend’s father announced that he wanted him back to handle the business. Deep within I knew this day was coming, as he’s not from Bangalore, but i kept denying the fact. After days and months of arguing about it and having sleepless nights, finally I asked him to go. Hoping and praying silently that he wouldn’t. Everyday we would sit and think about ways to avoid this discussion but ended up crying in each other’s arms. The decision was made, he would go settle the business and come back within a year.

Finally “the day” we dreaded arrived. He had his entire luggage packed, his vehicle sent back home and train ticket in his pocket. We spent the whole day hand in hand, walking like just another day. We spoke of the weather, the food and traffic consciously avoiding saying goodbye. We laughed, whispered all the sweet nothings making it seem like nothing is wrong. In these few days I realised that we could actually think from both mind and heart. And what I was doing on that day was thinking from my mind. I kept telling myself I’m ok, I’m strong; everything is going to be alright.

Hesitantly we walked out of the restaurant knowing what was going to come. We had decided, I was not going to see him off to avoid all the emotional torture. So I was going to take a rickshaw home and he would go to the railway station. We stood outside on the footpath staring in the other’s eye. I dreaded this moment, I dint know what to do or how to say goodbye. This was the time my heart took over. All kinds of thoughts bombarded my mind. I stood there thinking when I would see him next and the tears dropped down without my knowledge. Somewhere inside me I was still hoping he would cancel his plans but that was not a possibility.

We held each other and cried on the street promising we would not let any obstacle hinder our love.

The hardest part about parting is saying goodbye. On that day we consoled and made the other smile but still could not say goodbye. We embraced and I sat inside the rickshaw, looking at him. The rickshaw started moving, I put my head out to get a last glimpse of him, and he stood there staring in my way waving at me with tears in his eyes.

It’s been a while since that day and I remember every bit of it. Those few days have made our bond even stronger. It has definitely made us change our opinion about long distance. If love is true and pure nothing can ever get in between it, not even the distance. Someone sitting miles away is thinking of you just the way you are, is the best gesture of love.

bubble bursts

Only few times in our life do we realise and see what is true. We tend to oversee the most obvious things; rather we choose not to see them. There are times when I have stopped and wondered if I’m happy because I see world the way I want it and have kept myself in a bubble. I fooled myself to an extent that I secretly built a fairytale and kept adding more fantasies and well seems like the prince is never going to show up after all. The bubble has broken and yet I console myself and think otherwise. There’s always a time in one’s life when she wants to hold on so tight and not let go that you almost convince the other the same. And love doesn’t need convincing. When someone asks- do you love me? When are you coming? Will you call me? Anyone would give an assenting reply unless a jerk. It’s never the other person’s fault; for the most part I’ve never listened to what he had to say. He said things what I wanted to hear and not what is true. Probably he dint know what he wanted, no one is ever sure of what they want in life and so I can never blame him for the way I feel. But I can only feel sad for myself, because end of all I’m madly in love even though I can foresee what’s in for me. The funny part being, I’m still hoping for a ‘happily ever after’......