Cursed

After the continuous yelling of the mother, the environment was lit up by the cry of the newborn.
"What is it?" asked Jacob as he stormed into the room.
"A girl," the attendant replied.
"A girl? What did you just say? Is it a girl, Sarah?"
"Yes, my master."
"Oh my Lord! Why have you forsaken me? Is this the outcome of our prayers that you give us a vile creature as our first child?" Jacob looked up and shouted.
"But at least have a look at the girl. She's so beautiful." Sarah requested.
"Not for a mountain of gold will I have a look at her .... Nevertheless, what's done cannot be undone. All we can do right now is get rid of this curse as soon as possible. Go and throw her into the fire before the people become aware of this calamity that has hit us."
“By the maker of heavens and Earth, don't do this to me. It's my first child. For God's sake, have a look at the child.”
Jacob came near Sarah with signs of anger and disgust clearly visible on his face. As he looked at the girl, his facial expression changed. The little creature looked at him with bright eyes and moved her hands as if she were saying, "Take me up, father. I am your very own child."
Jacob also got an impulse to hold the child in his arms but he reined in his emotions. The stern feeling of disgust was however softened by a single look at the child.
"Alright, if you want you can keep the child alive but mind it, no one in the village should know that we had a baby girl. Tell everyone that we buried her alive."
"Yes, my Lord. And thank you."
The girl was named Rebecca by her mother.
She lived happily, away from the public eye. Jacob also developed affection for the child and brought her toys and eatables every now and then.
Five years passed and Rebecca grew up inside the walls of her house. She was rebuked whenever she even thought of going outside.
"You know Sarah, I am scared of one thing always." Jacob said.
"And what is that, my Lord?"
"As you know our law does not allow us to have a girl as the first-born. What if some day the judges of the village come to know about this dual crime of ours?"
"I too am afraid of the same but let's not lose faith in God."
One day Jacob left home early while Rebecca was asleep. Sarah went to have a bath without bothering to shut the gate. Rebecca got up and seeing no one near herself she went outside the room. Seeing that her mother was in the bathroom and the gate was open she went outside to quench her curiosity of the outside world.
"Who are you girl? I've never seen you in the village." a passer-by inquired.
"Yes I don't come out. I am Jacob's daughter." the child replied innocently.
"Jacob's daughter?" the passer-by wondered and went away.
In the evening a messenger came at Jacob's place.
"Jacob, you have been summoned by the judge tomorrow morning."
"Me? Why? What crime have I done?"
"I am not aware of the details. You'll know them tomorrow."
Jacob could not sleep the entire night. He knew what his crime was but what troubled him was how the judge came to know about his daughter.
~ Next Day ~
"Jacob, you have been found guilty of having a girl as the first-born and then concealing it from the people. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"No, my Lord."
"The punishment for you is that you'll throw that cursed creature into the well tomorrow and get rid of her but if you fail to do so your entire family will be executed."
Jacob passed the entire night weeping and wondering about the events of the next day.
Next day Sarah dressed up Rebecca in her best clothes.
"Where am I going today, Mum?" she asked.
"Your father will take you out for a camel ride today," Sarah replied with teary eyes.
"Wow, that'd be so cool."
Jacob took her outside on the camel.
"Wow father! This feels so good."
"Y..yes my child."
"Why are you sad, father?"
"To tell you the truth my child, the village folks have ordered me to kill you or they will kill us all."
"Kill me? But what have I done, father?"
"Because you're a girl, my love."
"I love you and Mum. If taking my life can save you then I would love to die."
On hearing this Jacob started weeping.
Jacob placed her over the well. The child was strong but was a child after all. Horror was evident on her face. Jacob looked at her fear stricken face. Her eyes were pleading but she did not utter a word. Jacob closed her eyes tightly and pushed her.
"Faatherr...!" she cried and caught hold of the rope.
Jacob opened his eyes and pulled the rope hurriedly. He held her up in his arms, raised his sword and headed towards the village to fight for the life of his child.

Welcome to IIT

Main Building, IIT Roorkee

So you've cracked JEE and are about to get into one of the ‘prestigious’ IITs? 

Are you excited? 

Ah. Stupid me! Definitely you are. Why shouldn’t one be? After all you are one of the few thousand people who have sailed past the remaining 12 lac people.  Though you may mark this achievement as a milestone in your life’s diary you should know that this is not the end of the road. Interestingly, it is not the beginning either. You are just about to cross the START mark. 

Bottom line — you know nothing. And by nothing I mean — NOTHING!

Before I continue I must make you aware of the fact that this write-up is not meant to demoralize you, it is in fact meant to motivate you to such an extent that you start imagining your name with one of the greats and not just as an EMPLOYEE NUMBER 5421 at Facebook or Google. Don’t get me wrong though, this is one of the best things you can achieve in life but can you do better? Yes, you can.

Soon you’ll get on, high, with the life of IIT. You will not feel that cool about being an IITian inside an IIT as you’ll feel outside. “Oh Man! You’re from IIT?” — People will react like they have just seen an alien. They will assert your super ‘intelligence’ even before talking to you but know that the same ‘intelligence’ will decay faster than Ununoctium once you get inside an IIT. 

You will get along with cool stuff like night-outs, night long gaming, partying, trips, bunks etc. and I advise you to enjoy all of these because you may never get time or you will never enjoy them as much in your life ahead. I don’t want you to be one of those people who’ll sit on a bench in their old age and think — ‘Yaar, kaash woh trip pe chala jaata!’ (How I wish I could have gone on that trip!)

I don’t want you to be one of those people who after a year or two at IIT smile at everyone who says — “Teri job toh mast lagegi” (You’ll get an awesome job) — but deep inside they know that they haven’t learnt anything after they got into IIT. I don’t want you to sit on a high-paying job and regret — Yaar, kuch gain nahi kiya IIT mein (I have gained no knowledge while being at IIT). 

 You will meet all kinds of people in IIT –

a) The one who will study for the sake of learning.
b) The one who will study for the sake of CGPA.
c) The one who will not study.
d) The one who will have more knowledge of your field of study than you.
e) The self-enthusiast.
f) The sports-keeda.
g) The gamer.
h) The musician, the dancer and the list goes on.

You will meet different kinds of teachers too –

a) The teach-nothing type.
b) The super-cool type.
c) The knowledge-lover type.
d) The weird depressed-of-life type.

One thing that you’ll experience for sure is that there will be more number of people running after placements and marks than there will be people running after knowledge. I want you to be of the second category. 

Remember at the beginning I told you that you know nothing? So, how do you start?

Start small; you don’t make an OS on day one. When you’ll taste from the ocean of knowledge you’ll realize even more that you know nothing.

It is more like — the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

I advise you to keep two things in your mind, always –

1. Every new thing, however small, you learn makes you better than thousands of people on this planet.
2. However much you have learnt, know that there are still people smarter and more knowledgeable than you.

 I advise you not to run after money or placements. When an almost illiterate person dealing in scrap will earn more than you, that day I will ask you, ‘What is the use of your knowledge and smartness?’ and I bet you won’t be able to answer.

Gain knowledge & Innovate.

Perhaps you will not be able to earn a crore per annum that way but in your old age when your name, your research, your innovation will be held with the greats of past, that smile, that smile on your face can never be purchased by any amount of money. The day you’ll see your nation rise, you will smile.

Collaborate.

Love thy classmates and collaborate with them to design and invent stuff. Competition? I am sure you’ve left it with your JEE result. Or are you still in a competition for salary? What are you actually living for then? Think.

Can we have a silicon valley in India? Can we bring our IITs near MIT in innovation, knowledge and brilliance? 

Yes, we can. You can.

Change

Where is the change sometimes I wonder
All looks the same like the valiant sun yonder
It still burns and gives its rays
Softening our hearts and lighting our ways
The moon still shines and follows its course
It's we who've put ourselves behind locked doors
Upon these parts whenever I ponder
Where's the change they make me wonder
The colorful birds sitting on the trees above
Still sing the melodies of pain and love
The rainbow still shines after the rain
It's we who've flushed the happiness into drains
There's still vigor in the flight of butterflies
Alas! We've chosen to shut our eyes
Much beauty lies in the blue bolts of thunder
Where is the change sometimes I wonder

Hate

In this busy world of hate
They leave the commoner to fate
In this deck of cards they're the ace
When resisted they ask, "Which race?"

They ignite fires with flames unto skies
For their music are the innocent cries
They've flown rivers of blood longer than Nile
Rivers which can even turn a desert fertile

They kill woman and child with ease
When asked they say, "Preparing for peace."
You need your own hands for this fight
Because the real world has no dark knight

Fate

It has been four years since you were taken away from me by the cruelty of fate. I still remember your beautiful face when you smiled in that orange dress. The tears flowing from my eyes still wish that they could stop to see you smile, to challenge the brightness of the sun, to put the winter drizzles to shame but Alas! you're gone, far beyond the realms of my world. While I run in this wilderness laden with the falling snow flakes I appear cold and numb but inside I can feel the warmth of your blazing love. You'll never know how lonely I am left without you. Yet again I want to hold you, to hold you and cry out my pain on your shoulders, to hear your heart beat for me, to hold your hand tight but all's vanished, vanished like the vapours in air.

I've never seen any sunrises or sunsets after your left... it seems everything has just, just stopped happening. Sometimes everything is so blindingly bright that I am unable to open my eyes while at other times it's all darkness, darkness encompassing everything, far and wide. I don't like anything here. I want to be united with you for eternity.

Every year on this very day I look up to see your face and I see you, I...I see your rosy cheeks have turned pale and your eyes swollen. You've also cried time and again since then. I want to wipe off the drops from your face and tell you to stop crying, tell you that one day we will meet, again. But I hate it when I can't touch your face. It seems I've lost all my strength to even raise my hands up to your face.

You put a red rose at my grave and burst into more tears. Then you run away and leave me, leave me to sleep and wait for another year.

Unto Perfection

If you are not better than what you were yesterday you have wasted a precious, precious day of your life. What do you wish for? What do you yearn for? What do you anticipate to reach? Do you wish for fame, popularity and fortune? Do you wish for wealth, to show off or to probably buy an island of your own one day? If this is what you are yearning for and longing for then my brother or sister, you have been deceived, you have been deceived by the glitter of this world. You are still standing confused about what to do with your life.

Look at the person next to you. What makes you better than him? You may be a student in a class of hundred. What do you think makes you better than the other 99? And for God's sake don't tell me, marks. At the end of the day almost 90 of you will graduate from the institution and most of you will get a job but the question stands, 'What makes you better than the other person?' What did you do for the world that the other person didn't? What knowledge gives you an edge over the other person?

What you need to do today is hunt for something, hunt for your passion. Search for the thing in life that you can dedicate yourself to. Time will pass and you'll get old but your love, your passion inside you will ripen and before you're mixed into the earth you'll either leave a beautiful piece of art behind you or you'll make the world a better place to live.

Don't just let this post scroll away. Think. Think about your love. What can you live and die for? This is what all great men do, don't they? But they were not born great and neither are you.

Tonight and all the following nights, ask yourself, 'What did I learn today and how am I better than what I was yesterday?'

Ah, by the way, Good Morning.
Awake, unto perfection.

Marooned

I see the bright white ball of fire turning red, visible to the naked eye. The change in the lighting tells me that another day from my life is about to come to an end. I don't know what time it is though, I've lost count of time. I still remember myself getting mad at my wrist watch when it stopped 20 days back. I hit the watch many times in a hope that it may start working magically. I think it may be 4 P.M. or wait, it can be 6 P.M. too. After all I don't really know in what part of the earth I am. I've stopped sensing cold or heat.

It has been three months or precisely 92 days since I was left on this island by the thunderstorm. I've kept a count of days in this little diary of mine. I don't have a mirror to look what exactly I look like after these many days but the blurred reflection in the ocean tells me that I don't look that smart now. Unshaven and in the same clothes for 92 days, I probably look like those people from the novels who were left alone on islands. Ah, how stupid of me! I myself am an owner of this undesired privilege now.

I've lived here on the water from the ocean, coconuts and a strange fruit of which I do not know the name. It looks like a poisonous little fruit and I had actually tried eating it one day to commit suicide but then I found that it was the most delicious thing I had eaten in years. Perhaps God didn't want me to die. I haven't tried to kill myself since then.

This is a well traveled trade route, each passing day I see hundreds of ships passing in these waters. I've tried to signal many but to no avail. Still, I shout and try to signal ships standing on this cliff nearby. Hope, you see, keeps things, relations and the broken-hearted alive.

Actually, it is not so bad down here. I've started loving this beauty of nature. It was nature herself though who left me here, marooned. I cannot say for good or worse though because all the other members of the crew are dead, perhaps. It is sometimes tough to judge between death and life.

There is something here which overpowers and breaks me down sometimes, this loneliness. It would have been beautiful had there been someone with me to share this life. I cry sometimes thinking about the girl from the town whom I loved. Then, I wipe my own tears...who else will, if not me?

I see a ship coming this way. It is the nearest I have ever seen. I'm going to try my luck once again.

I sign the page of my diary with my rank daily. I've never used or heard it in many days after all.

Captain Robert Miller.