Horizons....

Juvenile Delinquency

2006-04-22T23:17:00.000+05:30

What is happening to me? What kind of an achiever am I? Where have I gone wrong? What makes me so petulant? What happened to you Simran, you are phlegmatic?

Some things I always so desperately wanted to happen. I had all planned to make them happen. And today, as I try standing tall after achieving everything I once dreamt of, I am carrying the guilt… the guilt of doing some thing I aspired!!!

My friend reminded my “every thing has its positive and negative points”. It did compose me for a second. But it still ebbs a little when on counting all the ups and downs I think… It still was a mistake. Think I was always loitering with intend... :-(

SaturnaliaMMVI

2006-04-22T22:58:00.000+05:30

So SAT really did happen this time after a five year long haul. We didn’t have any one from the students who had seen it last happenin. Every thing was just perfect. Thaparians really didn’t expect this much to happen. Things looked changed. The girls for a change… sighting a pretty one on TIET campus, a rare happening! for those four days it was like we were in some medical college instead. The 4th year people really did a commendable job. Starting with the Fashion show the first night, Rock competition on the second and Euphoria on the third just didn’t stop dazzling students. As its Thapar, with the so called most technical brains, there were plenty of brain teasing competitions, quizzes, debates, mock parliaments, business strategy games, one night problems…..
I hv most of d events on video...i just had my digicam just on the 1st night. Had a blast all d 4 days...

Triumphs of mother nature

2006-03-19T13:36:00.000+05:30

The Master created different species, gave them different identities, their own specific food chains. And Darwin gave the theory of survival of the fittest.

It was a blessing in disguise when I had to move to Kumbhirgram in mid of my 12th. Kumbhirgram is a small station nested 25 kms from Silchar (in Assam). Its a beautiful place surrounded by tea plantations, wild animals and extraordinary huge trees. For a nature lover like me, its truly heaven.
I was in the Gurudwara Sahib we had in the station when this butterfly flew in. I was ammaized seeing the size of it. It could have been at least the size 12 inch computer screen. It sat there till the paath was over and then flew away. The colour of it was such, was it could be easily mistaken for a two headed snake. Possibly to avoid predators. I just wondered had I brought my cam!!

The next day again I went to the Gurudwara Sahib, hoping against hope that the mega titly (butterfly) would fly in today as well and i would click a shot. It was five minutes left for the procession to get over, lost all hopes I had shut my eyes and when I opened them.... the Beauty was makin its lading on a curtain....and for more, this time it had even brought two siblings along... and what a site that was. All three sat there for few minutes and few off soon after. As if it had brought its sibling along to pay obeisance this time...

GENDER IN JEOPARDY

2006-03-10T09:31:00.000+05:30

Two bodies,namely Adam & Eve were enlivened by The Supreme Deity on an even footing. But the Divine equilibrium has dreadfully lopsided .The famous jurist Abraham Lincoln says ,

“ The woman was not taken
From Adam’s head,we know,
To show she must not rule him-
‘Tis evidently so.
The woman she was taken
From under Adam’s arm,
So she must be protected
From injuries and harm.”

Now,if we go by default the above lines, a ‘man’ has been taken from the womb of a woman – his mother. This implies that menfolk must be enveloped in unceasing care and cuddles . Right !!!

America & Abraham apart,let’s look into India.
Goddess in ancient India, beauty behind the caul in mediaeval times, commodity later, now…she is statured in conked out stilettoes.
In the early vedic age, substantive veneration was stamped on the woman. She was synonymous with ‘ardhangini’ or ‘sadharmani’. To boot, she was was put before in the nomenclature of couples, eg. Sita-Ram, Radhe-Shyam .

With the entrance of Islamic rulers in Bharat, the position of woman reached the zenith of despondency. Particularly during the reign oh Mohd.Ghori, the female lot was subjected to perpetual barbarism.
Good riddance! The English left.But ,one job which they undertook is highly commendable. ie. Abolition of ‘sati’(by Lord William Bentick in 1829), for whatever reason it was done. In the 19th century, many social crusaders put the work of upliftment of woman on the fast track. To name a few, Ishwar Chandar Vidyasagar , Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayanada Saraswati .

In defiance of all these drives, the term ‘weaker sex’, ‘weaker’ for oblivious reasons, continues to catch the lips of anybody, everybody . Let us, in nutshell, study a girl’s life. Either killed in the womb or, if, when born, her cries are subdued by moans around. Greatest laments are felt by the old ladies of the house who are ironically ‘females’. A girl’s male siblings are placed before her on the priority platform. After her marriage, besides being on her toes around the clock, she has to give ears to nasty jibes from in-laws.
Sexual harassment, female-foeticide, female-infanticide etc. are the much talked about, least worked on issues which are curbing the Indian society towards an agonizing end.

Foeticide means killing of an unborn being(while in the womb).
Every year, Punjab kills almost 1 lakh girls, before they can breathe their first (couldn't get the stats for other states).
Aminocentesis(sex detection test) first began in India in 1974 to detect foetal abnormalities. This has taken a very derogatory shape over the years. What makes the nucleus for the desire of a boy’s birth? Reason one, to carry forward the name of the family. Secondly, to perform various rights and ceremonies. Also, to support the parents in senility.

Now, why has anything not proved constructive V. the female foeticide? Clear and convenient reply is that the law requires evidence which is hardly present. The diagnostic centres don’t give any report. There are no complainants. The patient,doctor,attendants are all in the league. Doctors have their own clandestine ways to let parents know the gender of the baby. All it costs is as less as Rs.25,000.

The Pre Natal Diagnostic Technique(PNDT) ACT,1995, Medical Termination of Pregnany(MTP) ACT, 1971 and other sections of Indian Penal Code, all stand crippled here.

Legislature frames laws, judiciary verifies it. And then …. Einie Minie Mianie Mo !!!

The big words in black and white undergo an eclipse while coming into maturity.

It was held in Vishakha V. State of Rajasthan, (AIR 1997 SC 3011), by The Apex Court that it was the duty of the management at the workplace to provide protection to women working there , both in Govt. departments and private companies.

Truth….Nothing, But The Truth … The Findings of a survey on sexual harassment of woman in workplace, conducted by The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) in 2003 held that The Supreme Court guidelines to prevent sexual harassment continued to be ignored by many State Govts..

The cases pertaining to this context are not brought up because of social stigma attached and the un-professional way in which these issues are dealt with.
Bringing up female infanticide, not apparent these days, maybe done by stealth. A practise among Rajputs in yester years where an infant girl was strangled to death soon after her birth. Reason being, desire for gallant sons and to prevent capture of the maiden by the Muslim rulers.

In India, women have only 4.4% representation the Lok Sabha. The seats which are reserved for women in various institutions are booked by wives and daughters of male politicians .
Ever…ever… we’ve tampered with the nature, we’ve faced and are still nursing the aftermath. Ozone hole, extinction of various species of flora and fauna, depletion of natural resources etc..

WHY IS EVERYBODY KEEPING A BLIND SPOT ON THE TRUTH THAT IT IS THE “ FEMALE GENDER” WHICH IS SUSTAINING THE HUMAN GENUS !!!
A MAN, VERY COMMODIOUSLY FORGETS THAT HE WAS GIVEN HIS FLESH AND BLOOD BY HIS MOTHER. THE MOTHER, WHO NURTURED AND NOURISHED HIM FOR NINE MONTHS INSIDE HER, BROOKED THE KICKS AND THE BOXES, HAPPENS TO BE A “WOMAN”.

Gud times
-Tiwana

Reap in Sleep

2005-11-30T14:11:00.000+05:30

This is one of the best piece of writing my friend Neha M.R Aggarwal gave me. Shes really gr8 at words.. read on...

Reap in Sleep

On the advent of;

every dark and star studded sky,

preceded by Sun's reign,

with stuff done and ignored,

apart of the clock's domain,

you are embraced by the Goddess of Sleep,

all motherly and serane.

Departed with tensions and menace to your complancence,

ecchanted with zephyr and slumber,you are awakened,

shaken and bothered.

By a cruel dream.

You feel tormented.

So, you call it a `boggart'.

What doesn't let you rest?

What doesn't let you sleep?

Is what has come back to you,

trauma of your own deeds.

Whan your neighbours,

in tha mean of the black,

shout their voices out loud and you are up.

That is the time when it should strike to you,

of the while, when you displayed your fiery drama,

over a false constuction and caused hue.

Under the satin blow of fan, you lie.

Fantasizing and dreaming of your fancies.

When you find yourself soaked with sweat.

Because the power has fled.

Just to let you learn of the brutality,

you bestowed upon someone.

Leaving him in a gigantic fret.

When you feel a nerve pull,

in the past midnight.

Which renders you so unhealthy.

The introspection shouldn't be delayed,

for your behavior must've caused someone dismay.

When the subjest must've cried,

her eyes red anr dry,her palpitation must've been low,

Remember that and nurse this.

For trial is, at it's glow.

Your sufferings you savour the `otherwise',

think of the past,of the mental tyrannies,

you must've caused.Even by accident,

to put anybody to blues,

must now be, forever, paised.

This has a moral,all straight and plain.

So, don't let my lyric go in vain.

All your acts come back to you,

in your sleep- by an irk or by a dream.

Finally, pause before you do,since,

it'll hit right back at you.

For Divinity has it's own play.

Be civil and be good,

so, time doesn't have to have you - slay.

Gud times

Tiwana

Nailed but Loved

2005-10-26T10:30:00.000+05:30

Just yesterday one of my friends showed me an article, which I really wanted you all to read. This is a true story.
The Japanese usually tear open the wooden walls while renovating their homes, as there are hollow spaces between them. While bringing down one such wall, a man found a live lizard inside. A nail hammered from outside had struck one of its feet. He felt great pity for the lizard.
But at the same time there arose in him some curiosity. Upon checking, he realized that the nail had been hammered nearly 10 years ago when the house was build.
The shocked house owner knew the lizard had survived without moving in the dark partition of for 10years. He wondered how the lizard had survived. So he stopped the demolition work and observed the lizard- what is did, what and how it ate. Some time later, he chanced upon another lizard, with food in its mouth.
He was stunned and touched deeply. The second lizard has been feeding the nailed one for the past 10-year.
Such love happens even with God’s tiny creatures. The man was amazed. That day he learnt that love could work wonders. A tiny lizard had cared for its partner for 10 long years without giving up on hope. I was touched when I read this story and started wondering about relationships between family members, friends, lovers, brothers and sisters. Not many of us blessed with brilliant minds care much for other human being.
We are not willing to tear the walls that create divides between our near and dear ones. We want these barricades as they protect us from the outside world and from the intrusions into our world.
And when one of us is nailed down with pain and sorrow, how many of us care to lend our help and services to the victim? Many times our affections dry up and we abandon the victim to his/her fate.
We should never abandon our loved ones. For, love is a gift. Take it and let it grow. Love is a sign we should wear. Let it show. Love is an act. Do it and let go.

Courtesy Hindustan Times

EYES or MIND

2005-10-07T12:43:00.000+05:30

We start looking/searching for something, find it and then realize that it was always there. 'We just didn't have the eyes to see it'.
Just like a close friend of mine is deeply in love with a girl who was his friend for 5 years. It is now that he tells me that this platonic relationship helped seed an inseparable bound between them. When he tells me he finally has his soul mate, he mentions "she was always there but I didn't have the eyes to see her".
It is the scenario not only in this case. This must have happened with every one at different point of time in different situations and later we all must have said "I didn't have the eyes to see it".
But tell me is it the eyes that see, or the mind?

THE EYE DOES NOT SEE, WHAT THE MIND DOES NOT KNOW.

Just close your eyes and picture the beauty of these lines for a minute.

Gud times
Tiwz

Fadia in Thapar- Courtesy ISTE

2005-09-14T12:42:00.000+05:30

The general impression one gets when hearing about
Thapar institute of engineering & technology, Patiala is good academics.
But its not so, Thapar has earned this reputation not only through academics, but
also through numerous activities organized by the
students themselves. The ISTE (Indian Society of
Technical Education, Students Chapter) is the most
active society in Thapar.
On Sunday ISTE put in a very courageous effort by
organizing a seminar cum workshop on Hacking. A Delhi
based company Appin knowledge solutions which works as
a bridge between traditional collage education and
practical knowledge was invited by ISTE Students
Chairman Mr. Kapil Jain. To build this bridge in
Thapar they had Mr. Ankit Fadia. A 20 year old from
Stanford who doesn't need much introduction. We all
know him through his seven best sellers out of which
the first one was written when he was just 16. He is
also known as Computer Hacking Guru or Computer Security expert. The Dean of Student Affairs Dr. N K Verma inaugurated the Seminar.
Just after I gave introduction to the event, Mr. Fadia took on the stage with his accent that sounds a little Greek. He started by differentiating Hacker ( good guy) and cracker (bad guy). He divided the entire seminar into three parts- Ethical Hacking, Credit card/ ATM card Hacking and Mobile Phone Hacking.

In the first part he spoke every thing about computer security ranging from Trojans, email bombs, email forging to password cracking. How to do this and never get caught for it. Even if we do not enter any of our personal information, there is this IP (Internet Protocol) address which is unique for every server around the world, that gets stored with every host website we visit. He showed how one can find IP addresses of our friends server, any other server across the world. We can hide our own IP address

completely using servers from Russia, Iran, Israel etc. He told how one can hack a web site using some
one else's computer without being near that computer. He even sent an email to himself from billgates@microsoft.com. He then brought to light different way outs for preventing all this. Sighting
cover stories from the corporate world he brought to light the importance of computer security.
In the second part, he started of with an over view of the ATM and Credit Card Hacking. How easy it was to get a morphed ATM/Credit. He also told the four different methods of cracking the four digit pin cord of an ATM card. He made it look so easy that put a question mark on the safety of these cards over normal paper banking.
The third part of the seminar was on mobile phone hacking, the in thing these days. Starting from hidden codes for different cell phones, he told how can one actually control some one else's phone. Switch it on or off using blue-jacking (blue tooth) without even the owner of the cell getting to know about it. To listen to the way out for preventing this all was
even more exciting. Over all the seminar cum workshop was a great success and the crowd of around 400 young engineers were left bedazzled.

Reported by
Simran Tiwana
(Joint Convener ISTE)

THE FRESHERS

2005-09-01T00:36:00.000+05:30

Freshers Night on wed, 24th Aug. All 2nd year student to pay Rs. 150 to the following OCSs (overall student coordinators). Sulabh, Sahil,Anika and Jasreen.
This is what the notice read on 18th Aug. This for all of us had come a surprise. Not even a single one of us out of 450 odd students knew that the dated and deeds for the freshers had been finalized. The news spread like fire, the Proctor and the hostel executive members were upset to be left out. They brought it to the Dean's notice that the hostel was not happy with the developments on the freshers night and after repeated requests he agreed to put the Proctor's name in the five member OSC team.
Now after one in Thapar I had started thinking that I am not able to put in my best into studies( muggig books) and thought I should stop restricting myself from what I am capable of doing better. I thought of starting with the freshers night.
The moment came and I was standing there in forms of Bhullar sir for the screening stuff. He asked -"what do you wanna do?". I said " basically comparing sir'. "Why" was the next question."I think this is my thing and I wanna do it this time". He again asked why with a smile but he wasn't expecting an answer this time, he continued "you enter the stage with a beautiful girl and seeing her the audience go hyby and start hooting at the top of their voice, what are you gonna do?" I said "this is some thing that has never happened to me before". "This is what is gonna happen this time, take it for granted"-he said."Simran people are hooting huuu hooo... what are you gonna do?"
I don't know how I answered his questions but next day the good news came that I was selected and Jasreen even told that Bhullar sir liked what I said.
So, I was in. The OSCs wanted me to introduce the night first in English and then do two comparing in Hindi and then in Punjabi for bhangra. The even bigger news was that I was paired with Japjeet( the most beautiful piece of art in 2nd year). So, Bhullar sir was talkin some sense han! Workin on the lines and speech with her was fun. Her voice is kinda too sweet but the lines she was to speak required her to put in more. Making her audible on the stage was different matter altogether.

Chaill chhabeele munde vekhlao, jinve taali de paawe.
Kannidaar eh bande chaadre, pinjni naal sahaave.
Doodhey kaashni eh bande saafe, jinwe uddeyaa kabbutar jaave.
Bhangra punde mundeyan de sift kari naa jaawe.. sift kari naa jaawe..
These were the lines I had selected to be a part of my comparing for bhangra. But the BIG question was how am I gonna remember this?
My introductory words were to end with the line 'so sit there, have a ball and just...' chill out chill out was to be played by the X-Team (the guys handling computers and the music). Because of the low relibility of the X Team, I had even set up Manjot with a mike to sing this if the worst happened.
The introduction was going just perfect till I said 'just...' there was a pause and I was waiting for some one to say chill out-2. The worst of the worst had really happened. But as the crowd just started hooting I said the lines myself. Man, I this was the first time I could remember singing on the stage. I managed it well. People thought it was intentional. Man I felt like kickin asses of every single member of the X Team and Manjot too.
My other two comparing with Japjeet went good. Guys were waiting to Japjeet in a suit but she appeared in a stunning blue saree. She was wearing saree for the 1st time though. The bhangra was just perfect and every one enjoyed. The function over all was ok but I think 'what goes around comes around' thats what happened with the OSCs. Even after putting in a good effort their way of management had turned almost the entire hostel against them. There was a pathetic management of sequence, air conditioning, electricity. Even the AV team __cked again. People did not seem liking western dance (OSCs were into) and all one could hear was buuu...boo..fudu fudu...
Navpreet from Patiala and Noor Shergill from Mohali became Mr. and Miss. fresher. The event was followed by an open air DJ party and dinner which I am sure every one of us enjoyed.

Good Times
Tiwana

Life

2005-08-12T23:53:00.000+05:30

What life is all about? This was the question that was going on and on in my mind for a long time...Just as when ever we are stuck on a word or phrase whose exact meaning we don't know we refer the dictionary. This is exactly what I did... I looked up for LIFE in a dictionary.
The ability to grow, breathe, reproduce is called life. This is what I a dictionary had for me.
Not satisfied with it I was still giving it a thought when my humanities lecture started... Though physically present I was mentally deep into thoughts when my friend, to my left asked where I was... I had no answer but just a question, “what do u think life is?" I don't know how engrossed he was in the lecture, he just said life is a Black Board with a laugh. He didn't utter a word after that and i didn't ask for no justifications.
I stared at the black board, the one the lecturer was using, not to try to understand what he was teaching but to see life as a black board. It took me almost an hour to dig out life from a black board.
The letters written on black board are like people we meet in our life. Just like we keep on linking letters to form words, we keep on linking people to form a family, a friend circle. The sentences we make by putting together words are just like people coming together to give life a meaning... A meaning we starve to full fill by performing different activities..
Letters, words, sentences we write on a black board are eventually erased just like every bridge we make in our life will eventually break, contacts be erased, life lost. Then why do still keep on writing???
It took me another lecture to find an answer to it. This is best that i could ascribe. Just like when the lecturer is writing some thing, few students, the brilliant ones do learn a lot. We should make our life and our actions such examples from which at least the brilliant ones learn some thing... Just as some times when a teacher asks us a question whose answer we don't know but we do recall faintly the teacher writing and explaining some thing like that on a black board. We should make/live life at least in a way that we become at least those pigments of faint remembrance for some one.

Good times
Tiws