Anirban Sengupta

Well, I'm posting after a long, long time. The thing is, I was busy. Extremely busy. My classmates and I got outrageous amounts of homework at school, and that too just before the exams started, when we were supposed to be studying for the upcoming exams. Then came the exams. After that, I was on vacation in Kolkata, India. School has reopened now (after the vacations), and at least we're not getting as much homework as we used to. I don't suppose this phase'll last long, though. Anyway, I've got nothing else to report. I'll be coming back off and on, when I get something more interesting than this to write on.

Well, I've been away a long time. A lot has happened. School re-opened on the 12th of July. My first term exams took place. We had our Assembly Programme at school, in which I was part of the Welcome Song and a mime depicting a theft. I read a lot of books. I listened to a lot of music. Other than that, not much. Oh, we had huge amounts of fun at school, though. Laughing is inevitably the order of the day. I got a lot of presents for my birthday. Hopefully, I'll post more regularly now.

Thirteen years ago on June 8, 1993, I was born. And today's my birthday. Need I say more?

Ha. I went to Crossword Bookstores at Inorbit Mall on Sunday. And guess what? I saw Indian Idol 2 Sandeep Acharya. Here, this is him. And this is a Wikipedia article on him. Not too long.

Well, the monsoon's come to Mumbai, make no mistake about it. It came about eleven days earlier than expected. We had heavy - very heavy - rains in the city on the 30st of May, and its too much to hope that today'll be any better. But what shocked me most was how life in the city was disrupted due to the rains. Local trains chugged an hour late, people were stranded in their cars due to the heavy traffic jams here and there, and many areas got waterlogged. You might remember that on the 26th of July last year, Mumbai went through a monumental flood. The city was shut down for days. Well, I'd have thought that the municipal corporation would have done something by now. If life gets disrupted on the first day of the monsoon, I shudder to think what'll happen when the rains are at its peak in the middle of the season.

Oh, and one more thing. I went to see the movie Fanaa at a multiplex on Sunday. You might not have heard of it; its from Bollywood, the Hindi film industry. Anyway, it was pretty good. The story's about how a blind Kashmiri girl and a terrorist fighting for an independent Kashmir fall in love, and are faced by many difficult choices. Almost the whole movie's shot in Kashmir, except for a bit in Delhi. It kind of reminded me of my time in Kashmir last month. The scenery was stunning. By the way, I heard that terrorists hurled grenades at two tourist buses in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, leaving as many as thirty tourists injured. Well, I count it as good luck that I came out of the place in good time.

So, that's all for now.

Well, I'm back. And now that I'm online, let me tell you more about my trip to Kashmir. As the title of this post says, Kashmir really lives up to its reputation - heaven on earth. The whole place was amazing. Awesome. Mindblowing. It felt like you could stay there forever. Anyway, read on.

I left by train on the twelth. My train was at 10:02 PM. I (and my parents) had an AC first-class coupe booked for us, with one of my father's schoolfriends. I've never been in an AC first-class carriage before. Its rather different from the other types of carriages. There are four berths in a coupe, instead of the normal six. The seat covers are red, not blue. There's a wash basin, collapsible tables, hat and coat pegs and a bell for instant service. Whoa. We were on the train for the whole day of the thirteenth. We ate and drank, had fun and read books. We had discussions on things ranging from my school to Dan Brown's books.

I suppose I'd better tell you about our group, which consisted of seventeen people - ten adults and seven children. Most of the men were old schoolfriends, who had studied with each other while in school years ago. And the seventeen people were divided into five families. That's all. Our group met at Amritsar.

We reached Amritsar the fourteenth. Over there, we visited the Golden Temple, Wagah Border and Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Memorial. The Golden Temple's really awesome. Its made of pure gold, and its located in a vast compound. There was a huge line leading into the temple. And there's a tank of water surrounding the temple itself, in which devotees bathe. There are three floors in the temple, including a roof. After that, we went to the Wagah Border. Its a historic place. Its a narrow stretch of road, and on either side is a gate. The gate on our side was the Indian one, and the gate on the other side was Pakistan's. We took a lot of photos. And then went over to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Memorial. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place in 1919, when General Dyer of the British fired at thousands of innocent Indians at Jallianwala Bagh, blocking all the exits. We saw a replica of the well into which many people fell, not wanting to be killed by the British, and other such things. We left for Jammu by train that night.

We reached Jammu in the morning of the fifteenth, and went off to Katra by bus. Katra's the base camp for the Vaishno Devi Temple, which one really has to see if visting Kashmir. We slept and rested ourselves in the afternoon, and left for the Vaishno Devi by ponies in the evening. We reached the temple by eleven a night. When we got there, we went through a cave, and saw the pure-golden stattuette of the goddess. It was rather breathtaking. We started the return journey near two in the morning. We got back to Katra by five.

That same day - the sixteenth - we left for Patnitop in the afternoon. Patnitop's the highest point of Jammu, and its a really soothing and peaceful place. The weather and climate was brilliant. When we reached the place, it was hailing. It was the first time I've been witness to hail, and I was really excited.

On the seventeenth, we explored Patnitop, and took lots of photos. I actually saw a cloud going by within feet of me. Then, at noon, we left for Pahalgam, a city in Kashmir. Till now, we were in what's called Jammu, but now we were going to Kashmir. We had a lot of fun. We passed through the rather long Jawahar Tunnel, which connects Jammu and Kashmir. The journey took a rather long time as well. In the night, we passed through Anantmarg, which was the terrorist horde of Kashmir. We had some Kashmiri cherries during the journey. In the end, we reached Pahalgam at half past ten at night. I saw there what I'd only seen in movies previously - breath coming up in condensed water before my face.

We were at Pahalgam on the whole on the eighteenth. We visited Chandanwari today, though. The place was filled with ice, and we went trekking. It was great fun. We took boots, gloves and walkng sticks, as it was mountainous terrain as well. We made a minature snowman. The scenery on the way was awesome. There were army officials walking beside us all the time.

Now, the nineteenth was the big day. We left for Srinagar that day, at noon. But quite a few things happened before that. We had decided to go to Kashmir Valley in the morning by walk. But we soon saw that the road was too long. So we came back, the children on horses. And then, Srinagar. It took almost four hours to reach the place, but reach we did. There were two or three check-points outside the city. We got inside the city safely, though there was a bomb blast in Srinagar only yesterday. We took a rest for some time. Then, in the evening, we left for a shikara ride. A shikara is a small boat, in which quite a few people can fit, and which has a roof on top. Shikaras run on the Dal Lake. It was awesome. Dal Lake is huge. We saw a lot of sights, including the place where a bit of the Bollywood movie Mission Kashmir was shot. The shikaras were bobbing up and down, and we saw lots of houseboats as well.

The twentieth was a rather large fiasco. We left for Gulmarg early in the morning. Our journey seemed to take us through some rather run-down places. A lot of time was taken up in the bus. But when we finally got there, it was raining. And so we couldn't go up the Gulmarg Ropeway to the place where we had wanted to go - where there was lots of snow. We came back disappointed. Even worse, all the photos on our digital camera got deleted, due to some fool at the local photo studio. All the photos we'll be able to see are the ones the other people of our group have taken. Oh well.

The twenty-first was, by contrast, rather exciting. We went up to Sonmarg, another place near Srinagar where you get snow. Really good. We had to go up to the snow on horses. We made another snowman, if a larger one. We threw snowballs at each other. Then, the children in our group (which includes me) came down on sledges. That was an amazing experience. And then, of course, we came back to level ground on horses. After that, we went back to Srinagar.

The twenty-second was the day of the houseboat. Nothing too exciting in the morning. We ate breakfast and lunch, and packed and left for the houseboats we were going to stay in. That was at noon. We and our bags were taxiied to the houseboats in shikaras. There were two houseboats - three families in one and two families in the other. The names of the houseboats were Pearl Ship and Miss India. I and my parents were in Miss India, which was probably better than Pearl Ship. We've got a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and three bedrooms, one larger than the other two. There was a balcony at the front. That same day, there was another bomb blast in Srinagar. And so there was a curfew from eleven at night.

The twenty-third was the day of the big departure. We left our houseboat at eight in the morning with our bags, to be taxiied to the shore in shikaras. Then, we went away to Srinagar's airport. We had to pass no less than seven check-points to get inside the airport, as there was another bomb blast that day. We had an Air Deccan flight to Delhi at 10:20 AM, in which four of  the five families of our group would go. Well, that was easy. After getting down at Delhi, we ate a lunch of chicken sandwiches. Then, we had a rest of a few hours. Two of the families live in Mumbai, including our family. We had a SpiceJet flight to Mumbai at 4:45 PM, which got delayed to 6:00 PM. The other two families live in Kolkata, and they had an Air Deccan flight to Kolkata at 9:20 PM, which got delayed to 11:30 PM. Anyway, I boarded my flight and cam back home safely with my parents. That's all.

Well, first things first. I'm sorry for not posting here more often, but I guess I just had many more things to tend to. For example, the biggest pile of holiday homework I've ever got in my life. So here I am again.

Let me fill you in on what's been happening since I last posted. After the exams, I was promoted to Class 8 and we even started class. But it was mighty difficult, most probably because we had no textbooks. We'll have 'em only from June, when school will re-open after the Summer Vacation. History had thousands of names, science and geography had thousands of new terms, and the others had a fair share of difficult things as well.

Then, of course, the Summer Vacation started, on the 27th of April. But a lot happened on the day the results were declared. I was the topper in my class and the third best in the whole on Class 7. I was called down to the Principal's office, with many other "good people". We had photos taken with the Principal, and she gave us a fair number of certificates. It was a great day.

And so let me come to the way I spent my holidays till now. I didn't do much, except read books, listen to music and a whole bunch of useless things. Then, of course, there was nothing much to do. And oh, I did a bit of the holiday homework.

Now for the big thing. I'm off to Kashmir for eleven days. After all, sightseeing is what vacations are for. But I hope the militants don't blow me up into small pieces.

So, that's probably all there is to it.

I'm back, everybody! The exams went really well, and I think I should be able to do fairly well. But the good thing is that I'll be online everyday from now on.

The exams are coming up at school. I'll have to study for them. And so will be unavialable till the end of the first week of April. Wish me luck.

There are more to come. So prepare yourself.

I had a bad day at school. Just read on.

Only one thing was good, and that was that we had our Physics Activity today. I guess I'll get full marks, as it was extremely easy. And now for the bad thing.

We got a sound reprimanding from our class teacher today, for misbehaving in class. It seems that some teacher went and told here that her class was making a lot of noise and was disturbing everyone in the vicinity. With good reason, apparently. Oh well, I guess life just isn't that fair.

Well, school wasn't all that good today. We had a Biology Activity, and that was probably the only fun thing we did today - I'll tell you why a test was so good.
You see, the invigilator in our class was, well, out of his mind. While we were writing the test, he was calmly doing his own work, and not even looking at us. He didn't stop us from talking during the test - even stranger. He walked out of the class two times, which allowed us to discuss the test and do a bit of cheating. And that was why the test was so good.
But it was really enveloped by some bigger developments. We got a sound reprimanding from our class teacher. Not for the test. You see, we had been making a lot of noise in class and, as the Standard/Year/Grade Ten Board Exams were on at our school, a teacher once came in and told us not to make noise. Unfortunately, that was the very time that our class teacher decided to appear in front of the door of our class. That teacher told here about how we were behaving, and it ended in you-know-what.
Oh well. And by the way, I'm now officially the topper in my class.

A lot has happened here since I posted my last entry. Let me recount them in due order. Don't disturb me. Or I'll kill you.

First of all, my uncle came over to Mumbai from Kolkata. He stayed here for a day. It was a good time, as he's a good man, my uncle. He's given me many games (  ). He had come to Mumbai on work.

Second, a friend of my father came here from Kolkata. I had a good time with him as well. He's an amiable fellow. He's also the father of two of my good friends.

And now for the third and probably the most important thing. We had an Assembly Programme at school. We had been practising for it for a long time, and we had to stay back at school after-hours for practise sometimes. I was the narrator in a drama and one of the two comperers - the other one was my great friend, Anirudh. It went amazingly well, and we were critically acclaimed (  ). Even the Vice-Principal of our school applauded us and said that we did extremely well. Sadly, the Principal wasn't there.

Fourthly, we bought a bookshelf to kepp the enormous amount of books that I have and a new table for the computer. They look pretty good. The computer-table is quite compact and sleek. And the bookshelf is amazing. I can kepp even more books now.

Lastly, we got our Report Cards at school. Today. There was a problem with mine, though. I've got ninety-seven in Social Studies, but my Report Card says it's eighty-two. I'll have to bring along a few test papers with me to school tomorrow to let the teachers verify the marks. And I'll be the toper in my class!

Those were all the important things that took place in the last few days.

I believe that I'm going to be real busy for the next month or two. I might be very irregular. Just thought you'd better know.

I have reason to believe that a huge lot of things took place in the past few days. Let me tell you more about them.

The Kama Sutra Worm attacked computers worldwide on the 3rd of the month. There wasn't much damage done, though.Rather different from what was predicted. I guess the awareness campaigns were good enough to convince people.

The Saraswati Puja took place. Here's a quote from Wikipedia about it -

The goddess Saraswati is worshipped during Navaratri. In Eastern India, Saraswati Puja is a very important festival. The last three days of Navarathri starting from Mahalaya Amavasya (the New Moon day) are dedicated to the goddess. On the ninth day of Navaratri (Mahanavami) books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the gods early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments. The puja is concluded on the tenth day of Navaratri (Vijaya Dashmi) and the goddess is worshipped again before the books and the musical instruments are removed. It is customary to study on this day, which is called Vidya-aarambham (literally, Commencement of Knowledge). During Basant Panchmi, which comes either at the end of January or the beginning of February, prayers and pujas are offered to her, especially by artists, musicians, scientists, doctors, lawyers.

In Indian mythology, the goddess Saraswati is the goddess of learning.

You remember that ew album I was talking about? Well, it's ready. Look for yourself.

I thought I'd better tell you about an extraordinarily funny incident (notice the adjectives) that occured at school. A girl in one of my friend's class vomited over a boy.

The girl sat behind the boy. And, all of a sudden, she started vomiting, which resulted in The Great Big Incident. Pretty funny, huh?

 

P.S. Don't get too "affected" by this. I assure you that I do not take much pleasure in laughing at others.

Today was, in Indian history, a great day. It was on this day that Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to independence, died. He was assasinated, actually. The whole of India always observes two minutes of silence in his honour on this date. I hope you do it as well. It's all about patriotism, you see.

I'd now like to tell you people a few things.

Firstly, I'e started writing a personal diary. Not online, of course, just a normal diary. It's pretty exciting, mind you. Maybe you should try your hand at it as well.

Secondly, I'll be adding a new album to my photo albums. Watch out for it. I'm not reealing any details about what it'll be about right now.

And that's all (  ).