Anirban Saha's

1st year days.. so many unknown faces.. yet known hearts. After the first few classes , I came to know my roll number.. My roll number is 9.. So somewhat I managed to get in touch roll number 7, 8,10..

Roll number 8, and 10 were roommates..and are girls. They supposed me to be an intruder. from Labs to sitting at exam halls, I was inbetween them! While roll number 7 was the dexter in my Orkut friend list.. and yes we were good friends!

Roll number 7 is Anindya Bhattacharya..who had Dexter as his Display picture at Orkut. ..and now who on earth would wish to keep that as a DP, I couldnt understand. I have always let the person in me out in the public, and have always used my Face as the display! But the more I got to know him, the more we became friends.. he is a superb person at heart, a superb student and yes, till now my biggest academic help!

Roll number 8, and 10 are my sweethearts Aninya and Annesha.. we were coolest of friends and we still are and touch wood we shall remain…and yea! they tie me Rakhi!! Sweetest sisters they are, my help during the sessional exams without a fail!

They introduced to me another girl in the physics lab, who when introduced gave a very illogical smile the reason to which is still not very clear to me… roll number 30.. Deboleena Dutta, who happened to be the only girl in her practical group and she did not like the company she was in. So she shifted! so my group was… of 2 guys.. anindya and me… and three girls!

Slowly but very gradually we became very very good friends, and they are the few of the people I trust unconditionally.. we started calling ourselves ponchobhoot.. Ponchobhoot refers to the five elements that make up the human nature. we were 5 distinct people , distinct in the truest sense.. but yes very sincere and professional.

Well thats the story of ponchobhoot.. i wish it  exists the way it previously was even after years from now…

Its not that I dreaded life away from home. Infact I enjoyed the first 3 years outside home.. well thats the hostel life.

The start to a life away from home was smoooth! No hurdles, no problems.. I had already developed as a planner by then.. thanks to Orkut It was so very smooth, I never imagined that to be smooth.. no sudden excitement or flop shows. After getting my room organised, I realised.. yea I am blessed with room mates like Swastik and Rohit. But yes, sometimes I used to get angry when they used to fall asleep when I felt like talking!

The first day at the auditorium was special. Repetition of promises for a “fantastic” infrastructure and ragging free zone.. I had to strain my ears to listen to stuff.. I found HOD of English to be inspiring enough.. she asked us to lead a free yet responsible life.

A 4th year guy spoke on behalf of the seniors..I was quite motivated but did find anything “auspicious” about the occassion to which he continually kept mentioning. Months later, I found out it was Debmalya da

The first five minutes of my college life, actually found ragging in the otherwise ragging free zone! My seniors presumed me to be overtly smart, having a high self esteem… err being a narcissist, and that I should be taught a lesson for having sent a friend request to a college senior over orkut! Well yes.. that was some time, I wouldnt love to recollect. From being called out from the class, to be threatened, to being called to the tea shop.. it was quite an experience. The only positive that I could have drawn out of it was… yea, I was made to speak to unknown people, speaking all ridiculous stuff, which otherwise I wouldnt have dared.. was made to sing weird songs with boasting confidence.. and I wont go to the dancing part at all.. the dancing included the steps of “changing bulb” and “padling the boat with one feet”.

Well yes those were the first few days of folking together with other 1st years so that seniors cant spot me.. to having my dinner by 7:30 pm (if at all) so that I dont have to face the seniors..

I had found friends in Aninya, Annesha, Anindya and DD… well thats another blogpost for you.

My introduction to social media was done by an edition of “unish kuri”, in the later part of 2006.  I joined orkut following my cousins.. Orkut for me was another tool for me to collaborate and study

I  remember I used to scrap Agnit with physics problem. The only community I was active in was ISC study forum.. created by Saurabh Goenka. I made few friends there like Tusha, Kaveri, Sanmitro.. and yes solving problems for them was fun.

After my ISC exam, I got more involved in orkut. I used to get engaged in the ravishing discussions in the community “World asks, Indians answer”, “Indian idol 3″. Yea.. that was my first exposure to actual public speeches (in writing though) I remember fighting with Clifton Brooks, few of staunch India haters from USA and Pakistan. I made few friends from Pakistan and Bangladesh. I was already a fan of Emon Chatterjee by then, and made many friends at the related community. Friends like Tomoghno da (powell da), Ankita, Roshan are still in touch with me. That was the time when I started interacting with them at a larger scale, moderating people and understanding them.

After I recovered from the shock of my WBJEE rank, I realised the blunder I made.. yea, I had already chosen BCET as my college. I felt the urge to meet the people here. Our college started late, by that time most of my schoolmates had joined their colleges. They used to talk about their start to college life, their new friends, girls and the inevitable seniors!

So the best thing that I could have done was to join BCET’s group at Orkut. I even opened a new community “BCETians 2007-2011″. Well yes, I made some stupid questions like “Who is Mr SKSharma?” in the BCET community, to which my seniors ridiculed me. But true, back in 2007, no SKSGi existed. It was only one college name that everyone knew. Getting back.. I even joined communities that were made to meet your batchmates in the universities. I went aggressive when I found a guy – Silver Saurav quite offensive. What I did was to join WBUT version 07-11, owned by Arnab (Heritage institute) and it was fun fighting with Silver saurav.. there we made friends many out there of which Bastab, Proma, Subhobroto are the prominent.

It was fun interacting with people of my batch over orkut! I even used orkut to find my roommate!! Yea, initially we were promised two people in one room, later the hostel manager changed it to 3 beds in one room… So I had to find the third guy, and what better than Orkut could have helped me? I met numerous friends, who are with me even now… be it Anindya, Satwati, Sandipon, Raj, Ritobroto,Koustav, Govind Singhi, Arnish.. well after having a good chat with Swastik, we decided of becoming roommates..

Trust me those days were of fun, where talking was the only thing we could have done to get our jobs done.. we had to talk to so many people so that they didnt create nuisance in the Emon chatterjee or Amit Paul fan club..so many people so that they become more loyal  to our community… it was the time we really started to collaborate and work. Basically it was the time when words were actually sold !.. and that gave me a name “orkut” in the boys hostel when I joined it..!

If I say that my life actually started with the college life, I wont be entirely wrong. I hardly used to speak to any one before during my school life with very less friends. Other students used to know about the existence of Anirban and that he takes part in quizzes and elocution, but never did I interact with them properly. I remember the only space where I used to talk was the virtual world..Orkut being the widely accepted one.

My WBJEE rank was 10529. ..and yes, I didnt expect this bad a score. I went to the counselling hall, met a person who stood at the first stall put up by a college. I went through the words – “Bengal College of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur”. The man, with a subtle smile , tall,fair.. asked me what department I wished to take.. my reply to him was “Are there Quizzes? enough books so that I can prepare for the IITJEE next year?”

The bridge between the elder and the young is fast bridging, than was in the times so conservative. Yet the tradition of respect shall continue, when transparency is there mixed with shared values and responsibility. One slip, and you loose the worth you are..! (Just A Thought)[Link]

To this few people responded:

Avishek Roy (ex-BCETian, presently working in TCS) :

“traditional customs of respect do keep us apart and different from others”

Mr. Simarprit Singh :

‎”Worth” is becoming more tangible and in my view it is “no good worth” if it can be lost in one inadvertent/ or otherwise slip… times are changing

Sarbani Ghosh (Student, University of Delhi) :

I feel, personally, that the bridge was always in the making. Yes we are seeing tangible results now but it was always a fusion of thoghts of young and old. whenever a generation matures to take up the responsibility to run the world they assume supremacy, as in their ideals and values do. The bridge today is palpable but the differences even amog siblings is so great that the effective distance remains the same. Its always a one man’s thought that can confer some stability to the system , though short lived, but so has been the case always although the process is self- destructive as Marx always professed.

Debmalya Sen (ex-BCETian, presently working in Tech Mahindra) :

somewhere or the other the word respect is missing or rather should i say the awe is missing, its not with all but i do feel that somewhere with this bridge the respect is going lost…

Nikita Ganguly (student, final year, B.Com, South City) :

I really second ur notion on d need to develop n retain inter-personal relationship, ethics n values, especially on d part f youngsters n infact d urge to erase d differences shud b encouraged greatly by us!

To Mr Singhs response, I responded :

‎”worth” needs to be built sir, with credible work, inter personal relationship, transparency, ethics and values… its more of what you can share than what you need to recieve. Any person who sees a disbalance in the same removes the “worth” associated!

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Yes, the social media is fast bridging the gap and the communication. Today, I follow my teachers on twitter, my dad has subscribed to my FB updates on mobile, so has many of my friends and yes, my own didi. We have access to our idols, near ones, friends updates so very easily. There used to be a time, when elders used to stay with their friends who matched their taste and age group. Today, a teacher can get in touch with his/her students, connect to them at a personal basis… but yes, should know where to draw the line. Few people mis understood my statement , but it I believe yes, to build inter personal relationship transparency is required.. “shared” values of respect for the other needs to be there.. if a senior/elder respects the other, the other must reciprocate.. else where does one relationship stand? In a similar way credible work and responsibility needs to be shared.. it infuses new spirit of responsibility and only takes both the parties in the relationship forward. Today, suppose I give Sourav a particular job, and he accepts it, I will be there to help him..while he will also learn from the work and the experiences that I would share.. but if his attitude towards me or the work isnt good, I have to be dismissive of the idea.

Similarly on the part of the elders, I feel if you donot add value to the system, share things with your youngsters, share your thoughts and values and try to dominate instead of sharing, it creates a bad impression.

I feel, understanding needs to be there both ways.. since the young people are young (ohk, thats the way I can put it best) and they lack experience and exposure to the outer world, the elders need to take the step 1 to communicate with the youngster.. The other way can also be seen, when the youngster knows he/she lacks experience, they need to understand how seniors can guide them.. they should be told the stories found in our religious books.

Anyway do leave your comments as to how a striking balance can be maintained, either here or at Facebook thread.

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