Hope Is Like A Road in the Country: Amrita Sharma

(Image Courtsey: IMDB)

Amrita Sharma writes on her latest date with art, Hope and Kirsten Sheridan's August Rush (2007).

Hope is a beautiful word. Once we choose to hope, anything is possible. Hope is to desire as listening is to hearing. And I hope to be excused for trying to put Paulo Coelho's view in another way, that ,if one truly hopes for something the whole of nature conspires in order for him to get the thing. The late sequence of events has strengthened my belief in the word hope. My talks apart, for today I am here to tell the story of a kid whose life was nothing but hope itself. The Hope to follow the music that was concealed deep within but was yearning to be let out. And the Hope to see his Mommy and Papa. Or was it the one and the same thing??...It was this kid who could better understand the magic that those four alphabets come together to create...When he was big enough to open his eyes in an orphanage and to the world ,for which he had not more than little wisdom to tackle, and could just understand what the word mommy and papa means ,he hoped to see them. He hoped that he will be with them sometime...What more? He hoped to find music. He listened to music and played from within his soul and without an instrument to play!! The instinctive inclination wasn’t a wonder having been born to musician parents.......

......But the amazing part of the story lies in the way he finds hope and the way he finds music in every sound of nature. Then be it the rustle of the wind, the tinkling of wind chimes ,the whistling sound let out of a sigh, the blowing of horn, the tapping of feet, the swaying of trees, he found music every where, leave aside those created by a musical instrument!! Ask him how can he hear music, and this it what he has to say, its everywhere. Its in the wind, its in the air, its in the light, all you need to do is to open yourself out. All you need to do is to listen .He was too free form within to be put in a confinement and so expectedly one fine day he broke away from the orphanage to search for his parents and for the music out there which he was bereaved of Music seems to be overwhelming the word hope. But it has not. No sooner did he break free that he got in touch with conventional music. When he first placed his fingers on the strings of a guitar he left his guide spell bound with the astounding command of an eleven year old. When asked how he knew about music, pat came the reply, 'It’s the moon who told me to follow it and that is all I know...but I can listen to it all around me and within me'....Life has to be a combination of both ups and downs and this was no exception. Though he got in touch with music it wasn’t the place where he ought to be. Because here his love was being sold...but as I said, Hope can work wonders. It brought him to the place he belonged...to a church. Where music was not thought of as an object of sale but a revered art? If you are thinking by now that the child's second quest is abandoned, you are mistaken! In fact the whole nature was conspiring to get him to get his parents. Both of his unmarried and unfortunately separated parents who were still unaware of the existence of their son, accelerated their hope to be together. Yes, it was hope indeed which finally made the kid's mother aware that the inexplicable loss she felt all the way through was not out of no reason. Her son was still there and was alive ! And she had to find him. Though the mother had no clue , where she would find her child, she hoped to see him...

......Music was an indispensable part of the life of the three. Father, Mother and the kid. At one point of time the separation from each other, started separating them from their second love also: music. But that was not something they were destined for. So, destiny took a merry turn and they found their way back to music only to find one another and their beloved son performing in the music concert 'The August Rush' . One may call it a fairy tale as the sequence of events seems to be too much of mere coincidences, but I prefer to call it the miracle of HOPE. True...Hope is like a road in the country; there never was a road, but when many people walk on it …it comes into existence!!

Amrita Writes on Writing: Did She Forget the Wastebasket?

Writing about ‘writing’!! Funny as it may sound, but let me share (or write?) a few thoughts about 'writing' and the ‘writer’ who finds the wastebasket ,his best friend! Finally….I realized that this unbeatable tool deployed (or should I say ‘exploited’?) to vent off the wildest of imagination, ideas, emotions and expressions needs a better acknowledgment. Why don’t our dear writers ever end up writing about ‘writing’ itself?? Writing about stuffs ranging from worth raking up issues to the so-called social taboos find hard escaping the gaze of a sensitive writer….nonetheless the art of writing still doesn not lure that frequently. Fine….but since the idea did (ultimately) visit my mind, judiciously I shall not not let it ebb with the thousands other frivilous ones.

What gives writing an edge over speaking or any other form of expression ?? Well, this inexperienced little brain is naïve about any hard core theories…. but then, let me try answering…The best part about writing is ,it always succeeds in giving the writer a chance to make his/her point at least once!Isn’t writing like speaking uninterrupted?? I mean, how often do we find people who want to listen to our bla-bla?? Isn’t it always so, that any offbeat issue that we want to be considered, is mercilessly belittled? I must not be mistaken for accusing the listeners. Its just that we don’t have the option of deciding the congruent listeners and what follows is that we prefer to remain dumb and keep things to our inner being .But according to Carlos Fuentes ,writing is a struggle against silence. And here’s where the writer wins. Everything that is on his mind is also in black and white. What more?? He never fails winning over a chunk of fascinated lot who are ever willing to give ears to him. There definitely exists another race of those who don’t miss on lambasting a writer’s view, but only after going through the inscription once!! And who cares afterall, because by then the author has already made his point. Moreover, if at all ,there is an ‘anti-view’ the confrontation also proceeds in a the much likeable , decent non-violent and the ‘holding-no-hard-feelings’ way ,that is, through writing.

Shakespear called ‘mercy’ ‘doubly-blessed’(for blessing the one who shows mercy as well as the one who receives it.) . Isn't the art of writing a similar thing? For, writing entertains those who do it and also those who read it! It certainly is a doubly-blessed art. And adding yet another feather to its cap, it can also be considered as an antidote to every ailment with the immense diversity of the product of the art that is available. We have all kinds of writers whose works can be rightly described as ‘a heart-warmer’, ‘a mood-chiller’, ‘a wound-healer’, ‘a true-guide’ ,‘a support-in-times-of-strife’, ‘a worthy-companion’….and what not? Man aspired to capture the images of certain moments in life,so that ,they last not just for a split second ,but a lifetime.Technologists breathed life to this dream by inventing cameras. So why would the writer lag behind in lending a helping hand when man endeavoured to make some invaluable thoughts tangible and immortal. Well said, that writing is not apart from living.Writing is a kind of double living.The writer experiences everything twice.Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind. The act of putting the pen on paper briefly pauses the reflections and makes us more familiar with life itself!!

The Greatest New Year News: Human Beings Are Simply Incapable of Killing Time! Says Amrita’s First in 2008

Wasting time....a hitch??

It’s new year. A time to revisit shortcomings. And wasting time seems to top the list by a substantial part of the lot. Is it worth fretting on?

They say,‘half my time is wasted in waiting for the bus/train/auto rickshaw’…this goes well for people also. I mean, don’t we find ourselves ‘killing time’ while waiting for somebody or the other, every often? And to add to the fun, Itoo was sitting on a bench on the railway platform in Delhi waiting for my train to arrive with another couple of hours on my hand .In other words, Iwas killing time when I decided to dissect this lavishly used cliché.

Let’s give it a thought. Can human beings, equipped with the prized brain, actually ever kill time, doing nothing? Is the larger- than- life size human mind ever out of work? How far are we correct to say that we kill time, as long as we are in our senses?? The flow of thoughts is an involuntary action of human mind. Ok, its correct that when we talk of doing something we understandably mean doing something productive that can lead to an affirmative contribution to our way of going about in life. But how do we explain this.

Doesn’t a writer keep hunting for such idle times when he can help his mind to maneuver ideas to write about. The true treasure of a poet is his free, solitary time!

When he can nurture his abstract and intangible ideas and find words for them in form of his poetry. And its not just the people with an artistic bend, don’t scientists and researchers sail in the same boat? Every discovery of today is the end product of profound and unconditional thinking undergone in free or so called ‘uselessly wasted time’ of past. Ideas are not slaves to deliberately saved ‘right time’ or ‘right place’ fort hat matter. Wasn’t Newton leisurely sitting under the straggly branched tree, when the falling apple popped in his mind, the historic idea of the Law of Gravitation? Past remains witness that ideas leading to greatest of discoveries were seeded in idle minds and in places as mundane as a bathroom (!!!), leave aside bus stands, railway platforms ,the sides of a road or even one’s home.

And this was indeed an exact hit in the head of the nail. Thanks to Aamir Khan for his flick Taare Zameen Par wherein he has rightly acknowledged the virtue of seamless imagination and unconditional thoughts through the fantasies of a little boy.

So…what say? Sitting idle and thinking is futile? Unyielding? A waste of time and intellect?…Well, all I know is: “not all who wander are lost!!

Comedy, Terror and the Beautiful: Amrita Sharma Responds to 'Life is Beautiful'

Roberto Benigni's 1998 classic 'Life is Beautiful' (La Vita E Bella) is one of the greatest comedies and (an even greater anti-war film) ever made. Set against Nazi holocaust , the movie is a father 's amazing heroics to convert the war and holocaust into a game for his son and by doing so he's able to keep him away from all the ugliness his little world is forced to acknowledge. Benigni got the Best Actor's Academy award for playing Guido the father, the film was adjudged the Best Foreign Language film and also won an Oscar for the Best Original Dramatic Score. Same year, it was the Grand Jury Prize winner at Cannes. This piece is inspired by a classroom screening during one of the PMEL sessions.

Rightly said, 'life does not cease to be funny when people die as much as it ceases to be serious ,when people laugh’.

If comedy could manage bring out laughter from people enveloped with terror, it could indisputably be the biggest weapon to fight terror.ifmiseries don’t seem to relent and one cant help getting out of aninevitably oppressive situation ,at least one can overwhelm the heartwith joy for a while by smiling and making others smile.Thanks to comedythat has helped to bring back the smile on innumerable faces throughages.’Life is beautiful’ is another piece of comedy that has raked upthis idea. It whizzed past in a couple of hours but didn’t fail leavingan indelible imprint in our minds unveiling the idea of fighting terrorusing a weapon which may be invaluable but paradoxically, even theleast fortunate with this treasure.the treasure of the ability to smileand making others smile.

The hero of the movie,(yes,even thoughhe didn’t come up with any stereotypical heroic stunt and was notextraordinary in any way,he definitely was a hero in my opinion.Havingnever giving in to the profusely oozing sweat of hardships that heunderwent in the Nazi conentration camp during the war of fascism) ajewish Italian named Guido ,never failed to make his son smile all thetime using his humourous imaginations even in the grim atmoshpherethat was prevalent in the death camp where destiny had brought them.There wasn’t a single misery that had not gripped him.Beit the catastrophe of war his nation was suffering.Be it the longingnessfor his beloved wife Dora who was separated from him in another jewishconcentration camp or be it the terror of the ultimate end that they allseemed to be heading towards along with his little son who had just embarked on the journey of his life.

All his wit told him thatthe only way to get over such horrific fear was to hold on and notforget to laugh it off.The miseries surely were not enough to engulf hisfaith in humour.He rather told his son who was intrigued in thebeginning that it was an all new game that they had come to play andthat they had to score the 1000 quickest points to win a Tank.This wasenough to fascinate the kiddo who also started taking the hardships as agame and enjoyed it.

Guido was shot to death by the germansoldiers but didn’t fail to make his son laugh even a minute before he died!

Isn’t that a lesson to be learned and realize thesignificance of comedy.Terror is never an invited guest.It graduallylooms over the horizon.But if one learns the art of comedy,it canfortify him to fight back a terror in the ugliest guise.Because laughterdoesn’t just makes life simpler and more worthwhile but mostimportantly,beautiful.

Indeed! Comedy is the biggest weapon to fightterror.And above all,Life is Beautiful!!

Rightly said,’life does not ceases to be funny when people die as much as it ceases to be serious ,when people laugh’

If comedy could manage to bring out laughter from people enveloped with terror,it could indisputably be the biggest weapon to fight terror. If miseries don’t seem to relent and one can't help getting out of an inevitably oppressive situation ,at least one can try filling the heart with joy for a while by smiling and making others smile. Thanks to comedy that has helped to bring back the smile on innumerable faces through ages.’Life is beautiful’ is another piece of comedy that has raked up this idea.

It whizzed past in a couple of hours but didn’t fail leaving an indelible imprint in our minds unveiling the idea of fighting terror using a weapon which may be invaluable but paradoxically, even  the least fortunate with this treasure. The treasure of the ability to smile and making others smile.

The hero of the movie,(yes,even though he didn’t come up with any stereotypical heroic stunt and was not extraordinary in any way,he definitely was a hero in my opinion. Having never giving in to the profusely oozing sweat of hardships that he underwent in the Nazi concentration camps during the war of fascism)an Italian Jew  named Guido ,never failed to make his son smile all the time using his humorous imagination  even  in the grim atmosphere that was prevalent in the death camp where destiny had brought them. There wasn’t a single misery that had not gripped him. Be
it the catastrophe of war his nation was suffering. Be it the longing for his beloved wife Dora who was separated from him in another concentration camp or be it the terror of the ultimate end that they all  seemed to be heading towards along with his little son who had just embarked on the journey of his life.

All his wit told him that the only way to get over such horrific fear was to hold on and not forget to laugh it off. The miseries surely were not enough to engulf his faith in humor. He rather told his son who was intrigued in the beginning that it was an all new game that they had come to play and that they had to score the 1000 quickest points to win a Tank. This was enough to fascinate the kiddo who also started taking the hardships as a game and enjoyed it.

Guido was shot to death by the German soldiers but didn’t fail to make his son laugh even a minute before he died!

Isn’t that a lesson to be learned and realize the significance of comedy. Terror is never an invited guest. It gradually looms over the horizon. But if one learns the art of comedy,it can fortify him to fight back a terror in the ugliest guise. Because laughter doesn’t just makes life simpler and more worthwhile but most
importantly,beautiful.

Indeed!Comedy is the biggest weapon to fight terror. And above all,Life is Beautiful!!

Globalization and India's Poor: No Trickling Down by Amrita Sharma

True to what she wrote to us: 'I'm game for writing on any topic', Amrita Sharma is here again; this time on globalization and the poor in India, inspired by a classroom discussion.



Globalization is the new buzzword that has taken the people of thenation by storm lately. The nation has received unending applause forseeing unforeseen heights in international trade and economy. One cancertainly say that these are the heydays of Indian economy when internationaltrade is flourishing like never before. To top it off, the developingeconomy has fascinated the whole of world, and countries have began tosee India as a lucrative destination for setting up their overseastrade.

But while a part of the nation is busy bragging on thissuccess, there exists another chunk of population of India which isstill alienated to the term ‘globalization’. This chunk consists of thepoor living in the villages and even those living in the slums ofdifferent metropolitans and the so-called 'mini-metropolitans' of India. It’s not just the awareness of globalization that is lacking amongthe poor but matter-of-factly the effect of globalization also has nottouched the poor who are still striving to make both ends meet and arestarving for the very basic needs of life. Advocates of globalizationhave to say that economic growth of the country has increased thestandard of living of the people and the BPO industry has providedemployment for the middle class people who are now finding opportunitieseven in the global market place. Definitely, the middle class has shiftedto a better way of life but the poor is still sobbing.

Affordable healthcare facilities for children and women belonging to the lesserprivileged class is still a distant dream. The campaign taken up by thegovernment for setting up of at least one school in every village ofthe country which will also provide one meal a day, has still got a longway to go. Laws for checking child labor needs to get sterner. Agrarian policies that can help agriculture to look up in region with fertile land are craving for government's support. How can the government be so oblivious of the state of agriculture in India which is compelling farmers to commit suicide? Has globalization taken such a toll that the government needs to be reminded that a major part of the revenue of the nation still comes through agriculture?

The solution to this predicament does exist.

It’s high time the government got serious and took some giant strides for the uplifting of the poor while accentuating its economic development. The government can implement national development policies to reduce poverty while taking care of its international commitments and agreements. The middle class benefiting from globalization also has a role to play. By not being repulsive to protests for the rights of poor and (India being a democracy) by pressing upon the government for implementation of poverty reduction policies in tandem with economic growth policies ,the middle class can be pivotal in helping the poor to mollify and letting them benefit from the success of globalization.


The bottom line is: a nation cannot aim to prosper when a major chunk of its population is struggling for nothing more than a simple livelihood.

Amrita Sharma Hits T20 Out ??

Amrita Sharma's back again and this time she hits hard the new avatar of entertainment-cricket T20. We post her write-up to initiate a new theme: Is T20 killing the 'game'? As always, the ideas expressed are writer's and the blog/editor's agreement or disagreement is not intended or implied. The author can be reached at sharamaamrita1986@sify.com.

Fast,Furious and Entertaining.The adjectives most aptly describe this new version of cricket.It reflects the dawn of an all or new era of the sport.Its not just cricket but spiced up cricket.With ingredients of glitz ,glamour and speed the T20 has grabbed eyeballs of millions or more fans world over,who initially used to find it dificult to remain glued to the couches for a day or even more.This new guise of cricket is also more suited to the temprament of the generation which is unaware of the word 'patience' and wants everything in an instant.And so why not instant cricket??

And then came the latest hit.The first ever T20world cup that sped past in some seemingly fleeting moments leaving the Indian fans rejunavated with the astounding victory of the Indian team.It gave the younger lot still more reasons to celebrate as the winning trophy was bagged by the Indian team which mostly consisted of younger battalions transcending all expectations.With such affirmitive evidences to its credentials how could the T20 not have been a grand success?

But even in the midst of such unrelenting jubiliations, can we dare to accept some hard facts.That the T20 is not simply impeccable in its present state with frivolous stunts like 'free hit'which no way is worth deciding a winner between two teams which isequipped with fortified sportsman.That it is less about playing cricketand more about winning a cricket match or it is more about professionalism and lucre than quintessential cricket.Moreover it also requires a different set of players with a different temprament(fast,furious kind).

The point to be brought home isthat the T20 cannot be a substitute to test cricket or an ODI and thatthe mainstream cricket will never lose its sheen even in front of thisflashy new incarnation.

But since the festivity is still on anddoes not seem to ebb too soon,we can certainly say that this buddingform of cricket has sure got a long way to go!!

The First Student Response: Lets Redefine Our Attitude by Amrita Sharma, E-7/IIIrd Yr.

This is the first student response that we are publishing. The ideas expressed are writer's and the blog/editor's agreement or disagreement is not intended or implied.




Engineer – a person who controls engines or machines....this is how, the dictionary defines an engineer. But for us, as engineers-in-making, its time for some introspection. The question is: do we fit well into this definition or has the sudden effect of globalization and economic boom changed the point of view of an engineer? Let’s be candid and reconcile to this fact. As budding engineers we can very well sense this change in attitude towards engineering. The first thing that flashes our imagination when we think of being successfully placed is that we are working for some MNC and holding a coveted managerial post. But to me, this isn't something it ought to be. Its not that I am thoughtlessly skeptical and am loath to go with the demanding flow. It’s because this trend somehow alarms me of a bleakly situation that can crop up sometime if not in the offing. There is no dearth of work to be done in the hard-core engineering sector, but there is a dearth of willingness to work as an 'engineer', to whom, nothing can be more fascinating than playing a pivotal role in enhancing and consolidating technology, leave aside making money. With the evolution in technology, there has been an immense demand of R&D, to keep pace with the competition world over. And so, the redefinition of engineering is truly not required. If at all something is required, it is redefining our attitude towards engineering!

Let’s not forget that we, as engineers, are makers and managers of technology and not money. The world isn't running short of people who will take care of the rest! Money is just the return we get for our work and contribution this is how we eke out our living. We really didn't believe when Prof. Mukhopadhyay said that 'an engineer is some one who makes money and more money and even more money’.

We will be 'the’ engineers.