Some say writing is an addiction, you can practise restraint but you can never really stay away.  That’s what has happened with me. I guess this blog was lying idle for quite some time, and I happen to have an abundance of idle time myself. So with great self-satisfaction, I have decided to be a writer..again..

Girls : Shiba, Nitika, Shruti & Vandana

Boys: Alok, Myself and Sarbojit

Poor Jamuna Das was a beggar
He begged and begged but never got bigger
His best friend was his aluminium plate
And they never let their job wait
Every morning both got together
And did what they had done forever

One day Jamuna was hungry
No one gave him anything that day
So, Jamuna was in dismay
But, as he passed by a big house
He saw its gates open
He hurried in with haste
And started munching the lawn grass with taste

Suddenly a beautiful lady came out
We were all set to hear a shout
But surprisingly she pitied him
Seeing this Jamuna’s eyes got wide
She said, “ Poor man, come inside”

Jamuna went inside with her
There he saw riches everywhere
‘Gold plated chairs, shiny floor of glass
Diamond studded curtains, and many a gold vase’

They reached the dining table
It was full of dishes in glassware
But the woman didn’t stop there

She stopped at the end of the house
Jamuna thought, “What’s going on?”
Then the lady said, pointing to the lawn“What you were munching out was stale and dry,
These are greener, softer; give them a try”

Copyright ©2007 Sushmit Nath

Hi people.
I am back to writing here. Will try to be more regular now on. This post is about my first ‘aeroplane ride’. It was on 5th Oct I got the first chance to board an aircraft. Although the circumstances that forced me to take this flight were not something to be proud of as my grandfather is very ill and I had to visit him urgently. Thankfully he’s better now.
Coming back to the experience. As i said earlier I was pretty worried and preoccupied while I was undertaking the journey there wasn’t much excitement about travelling on a plane earlier on. But the moment I took my seat on the plane I realised its gonna be one hell of an experience so I better keep my eyes and ears open.
It was an Air Sahara flight to Patna from Bombay with a stopover in Lucknow. As expected there was a delay in the start and that was pretty irritating as the plane would do rounds and rounds and then stop. Finally it was ready for take off. When the plane was about to leave the runway its speed suddenly got increased to something like an F1 car ( I suppose!) . Then it took off to the clear blue sky. I gripped my seats tightly as the transition from being on land to flying in air was the first one I had experienced. I am someone who does not like getting on ‘rides’ in amusement parks o r even the giant wheel so you can understand what I was feeling then.
Before boarding the flight I had spent almost six hours on the airport. Only pastime there was to look at various kinds of people and of course the air hostesses topped the list. They were pretty good. But the flight was a disappointment in this respect. There were two guys attending on us. the other two airhostesses were for the business class passengers. That hardly mattered but. The airport ones were much better.
Now for the flight. It was one hell of an experience. when I looked at the ground below it just seemed that I was watching google Earth on my computer screen. But when I looked at the sky, it was a beautiful sight. I was literally flying in the clouds, or over them. When the plane would tilt, it seemed like there was sky above and sky below. Wonderful it was. I was like continuously looking out of the window.
The best part of the journey came when we were flying from Lucknow tp patna. At 40,000 feet we could clearly see the snow clad Himalayas. I would have mistook it for clouds had not my co traveller pointed out it for me. It was beautiful. Then when we closed in on Patna, the view of the Ganges was also too good. I didn’t know it was such a huge river.
The most scary moment in the ride for me was when the plane was just about to land in Lucknow. As the plane descended and came to the ground level things were fine. But as soon as the wheels touched the ground the plane started shaking. God it was terrifying. I initially thought that something was wrong, but when I looked around all other passengers were calm and cool. That was a real relief. And so the next time when the plane landed in Patna I was ready for it.
It was a three hour flight . I would rate the overall experience as a good one. I hope I get more such opportunities to ‘fly’, but certainly at lower fares.. More… later..

When rain drops trickle down

Wetting my face.

It reminds me of an old friend

Who was there with me, always.

Eternity had blessed me

That I discovered him.

He was there with me, ever.

No, it was not a whim.

We spent time together,

Laughed and enjoyed life.

And prayed not to be separated,

Even when our time was ripe.

But suddenly it came one day,

‘Separation’ was the devil.

“Where art thou, my friend”, I cry

And curse that deadly evil.

Now the only prayer that rings in my heart

When I think of thee.

Is, O my dear, lost friend,

“Never forget me”.

Copyright ©2006 Sushmit Nath 

The Wait

I waited for an hour

It was a beautiful day
After a long time
I had a song on my lips
I felt like I’m on an island
Surrounded by the ocean of love
The raindrops reminded me
Of the tears of sadness I’d cried
Tears of separation

I waited another.
The road now swarmed with humanity
Everyone was so busy
No time for love!
The Sun was now shining bright
And it reminded me of the warm days
When we were together
Free from all worries and sorrows
In love
We never thought of time
Time, the villain
Or, was it just a test?

I waited some more.
It’ll be over today, I thought
How can love wait so long?
We’ll be together again
Hand in hand, breath in breath
We’ll know no sorrows
I won’t ever leave her,
No matter what
We’ll live happily ever

She didn’t come.

Copyright ©2007 Sushmit Nath

I Think Of You

I touch the morning mist

So pure and serene

The fragrance of the cool air

Beckons me,A beautiful day

The dew wet lilies smile at me

And I think of you

I drench in the afternoon rain

The heavenly drops,

Remind me

Of the unbound joys of life

I don’t want the rain to stop

And I think of you

I watch the Sun go down

In the Horizon

The last streaks of light

Inspire me towards,

The bright days ahead

I feel lonely

And I think of you

I look at the moonlit sky

The light of love again,

Embraces the Earth

The eternal divide fails ,

To separate the two

The stars join me,

In my solitude

And I think of you

Copyright ©2007 Sushmit Nath

I Am Unknown
I wonder if anybody knows me.
I hear the people talking.
I see the people whispering.
I want them to notice me.
I am unknown.

I pretend that I know them.
I feel lonely.
I touch their soul
I worry that I’ll always be alone.
I cry tears of sadness.
I am unknown.

I understand their thoughts.
I say, “Notice me!”.
I dream that someday I won’t be alone
I try to make them notice me.
I hope someday they will.
I am unknown

Copyright ©2007 Sushmit Nath

Let me take you to my institute, where I am currently pursuing my Masters in Economics from. The place is called Indira gandhi Institute of Development Research. This institute was established by the Reserve Bank of India in 1987 for purely research purposes. Over the years this place has produced an outstanding number of PhDs and MPhils. The MSc program is only four years old now and the second batch passed out this year with an average placement of 7.3 lacs.Yes, same as many IIMs. These facts surprised me as much as it did you. That makes it better than DSE will be the next question. I am not making any comparisons here as DSE has its own place among people who know what Masters in Economics and Research is all about. But what’s most surprising is that during our grads we knew nothing about IGIDR. Does it have something to do with the fact that during our grads we only think in terms of IIMs and other corporate placements , and DSE also fits in this agenda as its Placement is just too good.I think that the fact that our teachers and seniors never encourage us towards reserach and higher studies in economics has something to do with it. IGIDR takes only 17 people every year for its masters program and all from diverse backgrounds. We have students who’ve done Physics, B.Tech, an IIM graduate, an IITian, from Environmental Science and what not ,apart from Economics students of DU and CU. IGIDR provides its students with the kind of Infrastructure one can’t imagine. I was myself surprised to see what all they have in store for us. The fact that RBI spends 4 lacs on each one of us per annum may help explain that. We have one of India’s best library http://www.igidr.ac.in/lib/library.htm (mind you, its not a tall claim) which, for example, has regular subscription to more than 500 journals from all over the world. We had a two hour orientation here to teach us how to use the library effectively. It basically has everything in economics under the Sun. Two hours is a long time. then we have this Computer Centre 24*7 which has all the big things in computing http://kamadhenu.igidr.ac.in . I won’t explain much here as I was sleeping during the three hours orientation of how to use the IT resources. Plus the hostel and other accomodation facilities are better than most of the institutes in India. The best thing about the institute is its research activity. The faculty here is amazing in terms of their experience and also the teaching method such that a 90 minutes class never seems banal. Also our classroom is too good, they say it was built for around 3 crores. I can believe that. Its damn good. In the first week of our stay here we had the good luck of attending a lecture by noted Economist from Yale Univerrsity, Dr. T N Srinivasan and they say its a common feature here. I remember bunking my classes in DU to listen to Kasushik Basu, Stiglitz, Sen etc. and running around the campus for that. Its no big deal here. This place boasts of outstanding corporate placements and its alumni are all very highly placed. IGIDR in say another 5 years is sure to be a big name. I’m lucky to be here and be a part of this change. I personally feel that more and more students should try and come to this place to do their masters and not be stuck with only two choices of DSE and JNU.