kumaon timesocr

8/11/2019 Kumaon Timesocr

1/36


2/36


3/36

2

The

Golden

Word

Is

Unity

4

The

End

11

Yet Again G

5

Kumaon The Name

Says ItAll

8

When The

Wise

Old

Ones

Speak

12

The Infinite Loop

14

To

Kill

Eternal Love

25

Perpetual Tension

18

Elixir of

Life

15

The Sense of

Change

26

The

Undying

Lands


4/36 2

G O L E N

r-WORD

S

UN TY

W when

you

have

seen

the

cover page of this magazine, you

can

relax

and

think of the

various

possible themes it may be trying to

portray.

You may assume it is asymbol

for glory or for

the culture

we boast

of

possessing.

I assure you now; it s

noth

ing of that sort. It

does

not portray

any

perpetual

nature of our culture or glory

that we

think

is

inherited in the

tro-

phies

we win each

year.

It

also does

not

portray the undying Spirit

of Kumaon

which

led

to two consecutive

wins

of

GC

and

RCA

together

and

six

years

of

BSP and the relentless

efforts

we put

in

for

the temporary satisfaction we

get

at the BHM

Night every year.

In fact

in

reality

it represents

everything

else

other

than

all this.

It

represents

hope,

as Iwould like

to put it of a brighter future for our

hostel and,

primarily,

for

the institute.

In

the light of

my

experience in liTO and

specifically

in Kumaon, trophies are too

small

a

thing

to make

such

a

big fuss

about.

The

end results of all the

com-

petitions, as everyone

knows, may

not

KUMAON TIMES

always

be

the right result,

and hence

the

question is what

is right after all? Is

winning

RCA

trophy

the biggest thing?

Is

being

the Best

Hostel

really

that

big

adeal really that big an achievement?

It is

for

everyone to ponder upon as to

what we essentially

want

to

do.

Win

ning the trophies is

important

to us all

because our

seniors

did it

before

us

and their seniors

before them

and

hence,

we

should

also

try

our

best

to

do so. But,

have

we all, and I don t

mean just Kumaonites,

ever

paused for

a

moment

and

given

it a

thought

as

to

what

we are after is really worth

going

after?

I don t think so.

In fact,

I am

to-

tally against

the notion

of

the

namely

culture

of RCA GC and BSP that

we

ourselves, and hence

all

other hostels,

claim us of

having.

The blunt

reality

is

that we are no better than anyone

else. We

only

try to be

better

because

we

have

a goal ingrained

in our heads

and

we try to

achieve

it. Also, we were

not the

ones

who chose those goals

ourselves; our

seniors

compelled us

to

choose

them.

It s not the names of the

trophies,

which we

want

to

win

so


5/36

desperately, that matter but

the effect that comes to us in

the process

of

trying. The

golden word

is

unity.

There is

no

point

in

joining

hands to fight for something

when you know that you will l

et

go of

it

when summoned

in

the

future. Such temporary unity is

useless and

it

is strict ly discour-

aged in our hostel.

Ho

wever,

people lose faith in their goals

and pretend

to

fiow along the

river

so

that it looks like as if

the current is swift and strong,

where

as

in reality, it

is

merely

a group of few drops fiowing

down the slope. Such an atti-

tude, no matter how great the

achievements are

in

terms of

trophies, will always l

ead

to

confiict when

it

will matter the

most - when

selflessness

is

needed among individuals who

believed in the cause, and who

later deceive and are deceived

by smiles that were fake and

hands which have left. Such

conquest, which is

set

upon to

gether but not ended together,

is fruitless.

In

my four years I have

seen almost all the

faces of

liTO. Be it competitiveness of

the trophies,

be

it the inevita-

ble rigging

of

events or be it the

ugliness of

campaigning,

I h

ave

always believed

in

capabilities,

of

myse

lf

and my people and

fortunatel

y

I have always

found myself on the right side

of

that. Every year a fresh, juicy

batch

of

freshers come

in

a

nd

they a

re

highly mouldable.

And

they are all alike. It is what they

find around themselves that

defines them.

In

the light of

this, th e obvious question

arises

of the

kind

of environ

ment th ey get.

Every

yea r, the

environment changes and

truly, that is what defines the

DIPE5H

MITTAl

I

am

totally

against

the notion of the

namely

culture

of RCA,

G

and

BSP that

we our-

selves

and

hence all

other hostels, claim us

of

having_ he blunt

re-

ality

is tllOt

we are

no

better

than anyone

else

hostel s future a

nd

its evo

lu

-

tion; because what goes

in

your

head in your first year stays

there forever.

So,

what person

ality you become in your first

year is amplified to become

who you are

in yo

ur later years.

It

is

essential that you are sure

about what you want

to

do and

what you want to become

in

the process. I think this certain-

ty is what we al l lack despite

our heroics on BHM Nite every

yea r, or otherwise .

We

are fading.

We

are

losing away. We are not what

we used to

be

which the law of

change

is,

but

we

haven t

gotten better.

e

are now

weaker than any time before

us

and this is just the beginning.

Again, the golden word

is

unity.

KUMAON TIMES

If we stay together, think to-

gether, work together, we will

do great and feel great. If we

don t

stay together, dont think

together and

don t

work to-

gether, we can still do great ,

but not feel great.

This is

be-

cause

there

is

always

your con-

science inside

you

that

tells you

whether you did anything right

or wrong.

In

the former case,

this person inside you will stay

happy a

nd

wi ll help

in

motivat-

i

ng

you. But, in th e latter, it wi ll

curse you, try to dissuade you

and finally, you will die of con-

fiict inside your head.

We have won RCA twelve

times

in

the last seventeen

years,

GC

for

the past

two

years

with record margins, BSP for

eighth time in nine years and

we have been

th

e Best

Ho ste

l

for five times in the past

six

years, but we are sti ll hungry.

And we do not eve n know why

we are

so

hungry. This

is

the

time we need to search for an

swers, for

if

after doing this

much

we

remain

igno

rant, I

cannot find a way

we

can

ever

illuminate ourselves - or

as

I

would personally like

to

put it,

fill our stomachs.

3


6/36

THE

END

I have

been

f ~ n ' - o

to live

in

halcyon aays

an

unnatural

world.

The last ten years

have seen

Kumaon

in

bubble of its

own

making, separate

f

the changing world

around

it.

writes

lEEI GUPT

No one can deny that these years

have

been

legendary, something

from

an-

othe

r

day and

age.

And it

can also

not

be denied that the legend is dying, and

the bubble has burst. Soon 'Kumaon'

will

be

something

to

remember fondly,

not

only

for

our

passout

batch but al

so

for tho

se

unfortunate

passionates

who

sti ll

have

time l

eft here.

Our

culture has

been

reminis

cent

of war - both the good

and

the

bad. s I have matured over the past

four years,

my

devotion has changed

from

unthinking

to

thinking,

and

I

am

no

longer naive enough to

ignore

the

negative

effects of Kumaon's

'cu

lture

'.

Blind

passion for a cause has histori-

cally caused atrocities, and undoubt-

edly many of us have

been simi

larly

blinded

at times. However, the posi-

tives

have

been tremendous .

Kumaon

for

me

have meant two things - cama-

raderie and a quest for excellence.

When

there is a common

goal

about

which

you

feel passionately,

you

tend

to become close

and over

the years,1

have seen

and

experienced

lasting

04

friendships, as

would

happen be-

tween people fighting together on

the

warfront.

I

have

been

priviledged

to

live

in

an environment

of

selflessness

and a willingness to sacrifice for each

other, something completely

alien

to

liT's rat race.

And

I have experienced

the feeling of upliftment

when

you

re-

alize

that you care about a cause

more

than

you care about

your

personal

self. This

caring

is deeply connected

with

the

legacy that

has

been

passed

on year after. T

aking out

very personal

time

to

teach others

is not an

easy

task.

Yet

the

devotion to

a

higher

cause,

and

the

gratitude for

past guid-

ance,

has

led

every successive

genera-

tion

to mentor the next.

This

culture

is

now nearly dead

and has been dyingwithout

my

realiz-

ing it, for the

past

couple

of

years.

A

bubble

can

be sustained only by

having enough people who believe in

it.

Today,

at

most 5% of

Kumaonites

are

involved

in any

activity

at all.

The

focus on trophies, on

cultural and

sports activities,

on

improving oneself

KUMAON TIMES

maddens those who do not want to or

feel

themselves

incapable

of

improve-

ment. The dramatic personal

develop-

ment

that takes place in a person is

envied

on

tho

se

who

lack

the

capacity

for this deve lo

pment and

the

sel

fiess-

ness that comes with passion

is de-

spised

rather than

admired. And at

this time success for failures be-

comes

bringing

down the actually suc-

cessful

people.

Pulling

down

the cul-

ture of Kumaon has now become the

goal for its residents most

of

who

suffer from an inferiority complex. Joy

for such people is in

rabble

rousing,

scrounging

for

posts,

fiattering

the

lowest

common

denominator. The

end

of

thi

s year

has seen the

low

point

of

my time here

when I've

wit-

nessed that

such people now hold a

big

majority in the

hostel.

Every glorious

age

comes to an

end. So does Kumaon's

now,

butt

there are still some outstanding indi-

viduals left. I

tru

st now that these

fachchas

of mine

will continue to

de-

velop,

will

continue

to

teach

further

generations so that at least some of

the

activities I

ve

loved remain pre-

served. The Kumaon culture is

the

ability to work well and

selflessly

-

and

all of its

proponents

have been

living examples of its success not just

in liT but also afterwards. The next

few years, will show again how our

true successors win

in

life and how

the rabble rousers are shunned

by

everyone.

Because

truth

does come

out.

But

looking

just beyond my

anger, I

truly

hope that the Kumaon

legacy can extend as long as

possible.

That more

and

more people learn, de-

velop themselves, experience that

feeling of

collective joy and

pride

which

is

greater

than any

other feel-

ing.

I hope

that

when I come

back to

hostel Ido

see

some people working

for the ir passions rather than for

greed.

That was the essence of

Kumaon

that I

loved.


7/36

writes Outgoing House Secretary

ASHISH

KUMAR SINGH

W

en Iwas a achaa I

heard from

my

seniors

that

Kumaon

is

the

best

and

being the best has

its

own consequences.

We

fight

alone

against the rest of the hostels. I felt

this in

my

2nd year.

It was the

time

when

due to some unavoidable

cir

cumstances

we

lost

the

trophies

which

belonged

to us

and all

the

re-

maining hostels were anti-cheering

against us.

This

incident didn t

divide

us

but

brought us closer. It was this

day

when we

promised to each other

not

to

let

this

happen again and we

stood

by

it.

The following two years

have

seen

Kumaon s dominance- we

were the only

hostel

to lih RCA

and

GC together twice, SSP six years in

a

row

and have

been

the

proud owner

of

the

BHC shield

in

both

the

years.

In

my

four

years in liT Ihave n o ~ e d

one thing

every

year there

is

a new

hostel

competing against Kumaon,

but

Kumaon

is

always

there

.

So,

what

is

it

tha

t makes Kumaon different

from others?

Every

year there

is

anew

hostel compet

-

ing

against umaon

but umaon is

always there

,

There is a simple answer to

that.

The

trophies

we win, or rather I should say

we

earn are

not

the

result

of

the

effort

of a ew group of

people

but there is a

large pool

of

Kumaonites

from all the

batches

who

are

constantly

working

for it. We had great seniors

who

guided and motivated us and we tried

to put

in

our best in whatever we

learnt from

them . We

passed on

the

same

to our

juniors

when

we

became

seniors. There

ain t

any

personal

gain

involved in this apart from the desire

to

see

Kumaon do

well

in

the

future

and this

desire

comes

from the

sense

of

pride and belongingness

one

gets

aher working for the hostel. So the

KUMAON TIMES

unity,

team spirit, desire to be

the

best

in

everything

we do

nurturing

and

mentoring

by

the seniors

are

some of

the factors

that makes

Kumaon different from

others. This

unique Kumaon culture

has been

rell

giously

followed from

years

and I am

s

ure

will be followed in the

coming

ones.

I

wo

uld

also

like

to mention one

more thing that the

other

hostels

compete

with Ku

maon

bu t in

Kumaon, we never compete with any

particular hostel. There

are hostels

who

are occasional competitors but

no particular hostel

is

a

consistent

threat. Instead, we have set our own

records,

our

own standards which we

target and which

are more worth

an

inspiration working for. In

the

end, I

would

like to quote

the

same

line

which the BRCA President Prof.

Adi

Mitt

al

quoted

for Kumaon

at

the

BHM

night

I

t s ve

rydiff

icul

t

to

reoch

h

e

op

,

ut

it s

much

more diffi

cult to

r

em

oin

ot

th

e op.

05


8/36

TETE a TETE WITH

WARDEN

PROF PM

PANDEY

Well , let s

get

to

the

first

question. Kumaon has

won the British High

Commission Shield yet

again. Your feelings

about

this?

Well obviously am

proud . I mean, you stu

dents have worked hard,

working

for

the

hostel,

put

a lot of

effort

. It is good

that

this

is

occu rring

and

I

hope

it continues.

We won both the sports

and

the

cultural trophy,

which

is

a relatively rare

occurrence - it has only

ever happened with

Kumaon. What

do

you

say about this?

Again it is good . Usually

there is less

ove

rlap in

6

sports and cu ltural -

they are

ge

nerally per-

pendicular

to each

other

. But I don t

know

the

Kumaon

crowd

well

-

maybe

there

is

some

overlap.

It is a good

thing to see you stu

den

ts working so hard,

to

get

different

people

with different

talents

get involved In the

hostel.

As you said. we

people

practice. But last se

mester there was an

issue about

late night

practices . Your take on

t2

.

It is a

policy

in all hostels

that

you sh

ould

not be

making

noise after 11

KUM ON TIMES

as it disturbs other resi

dents. But if you are work

ing hard

w ithout making

noise, I have no

problem

.

When there are

dance

and

music

event

s round

the corner, it could cause

some problern to the

o ther student

s

It is your

job

to

try

and

persuade

them that it is in

the great-

er interest o f winning the

trophy. If they

have

no ob-

jection to you practising,

then I m fine with it.

You said

that

it was good

that

other

people were

getting

involved. How

ever

,

as

has

been

seen,

the

level

of

invo lvement

of

PG students has been low .

What

would

you

suggest


9/36

to change th is?

Well, you should

take

them

along with you,

bring them on

board

. It

would

be good if they

became

more involved

and integrated with

the

hostel. But if they

don t

want

to ,

maybe

you

could

try

to

have

events

in PG interest only. Then

they

would

get

involved.

Are there any

memorable

incidents or anecdotes

that have occurred in

your time as

warden that

you

would like to share?

I

always

like

interactions

with

the

students - all

of

them were

good; but no

specific incidents per se .

Coming back

to

the tro

phies, we

made

a lot of

e ffort this year in

every

thing ,

yet

the BHM trophy

eluded us. Was there

something

missing

you

observed

that you could

share with us so

that we

could

improve?

Well,

there

was

nothing

missing, but you should

learn to take

failures

along

with winning.

And

I

am always positive, I am

sure the

BHM

will

be back

next

year.

And other

hos

tels also

do

hard

work

- as

I said I don t really com-

pare much. The illustra

tions painted on the walls

of Kumaon

are

very nice

and I like them . Mainte-

nance is

one

of

the

bigger

issues;

there are

mainte-

nance problems. I

believe

one

of

the

reasons

maybe

is that there is no perma-

nent caretaker for this

hostel - only a

common

caretaker so

he

has a

huge workload and

maybe that

is why some

times some things

do

not

move at

the

pace they

should.

A usual question to all

wardens

-

your take

on

Discipline in the hostel?

(laughs Well,

you

gener-

ally

look

much disciplined,

but I don t know what you

do behind

the

scenes,

behind closed doors or in

your rooms. However,

from

what

I

ca

n see, eve-

rything is

under

control.

KUMAON TIMES

The first time you

met us

first yearites you spoke

about keeping academ

ics as the priority. Would

you

like to express

you

r

views

here

too?

Yes definitely. Academ-

ics should always be

the

first priority. You could be

a champion in BRCA or

BSA

but if you are not

there in academics,

you

definitely

need

to think

about

it . You are

here

for

academics, the

other

ac

tivit

ies

should

add

to

your

personality,

not come

upon

you .

Finally, any message for

t

he outgoing

batch? And

one for the cu rrent resi

dents

too?

Just keep your spirits

up

,

remember

the institute,

work with honesty

and

bring glory to the ins titute

and

the country....

For

those who shall continue,

just

work

hard, try to un

derstand

what

you are

here for, and try and

meet challenges head

on.

Thank you

sir

for sharing

your t ime a nd opinions

with

us

. We wish you the

very best in

the

coming

years as the

Warden

o f

K

umao

n.

nterviewed by-

Jyotesh Yatin

7


10/36

TH

ON S

SPE K ......

T

he

burning

passion of

Kumaon, to be the best. to welcome

competit ion with a tiger's ferocity, to

stay

on top ... .... yeah,

that passion is

very

much

there,

if

not

in greater propor

tions.

This House

gradually created

the culture

to excel,

to be

the

very best, and above

all,

to put a two hundred percent effort into

everything

we do. And

now,

I must say

that

the BHe shield has

gained

a

narcotic

status

-

we just

can

' t

l ive

without

it,

we need

regular selfish

doses of

it, and God forbid

any

unwanted scenario

that

may spring up in

such

train of thought.

Well, it would be incom

plete to rant

on

and

on

about

Kumaon's

"Domination"

i

were

to not

mention,

or

rather

appreciate, the

inc

reased

competition that

other

hostels

are posing

to be. They too

de

serve

applause for

slowly

devel

oping their

cultures. Coming

back

and seeing our "Domina

tion"

being

threatened

with

such

ferocity

by others was like

seeing

a

candle light

a

bonfire.

Last year, Kumaon had literally

dominated the trophies. But this

year, we had to share the RCA

trophy

with

Shivalik, and had to

concede

the

BHM

trophy.

Of

course, Domination is always

good

to boast

about,

but

in

the

long

run,

it

tends

to have

a

det

rimental

effect, regardless

of

the field. But competition, in the

other hand, will surely increase

the hard work

and quality put

into the

job.the job. Competi

tion generates

spirit,

maybe

due to

the

fear of conceding or

due

to

the

I

'm

way

above

you,

sonny

boy " attitude that one is

compelled to exhibit .

8

It

is very heartening to see other

hostels

catching up. And

I firmly

believe that Kumaon

will

roar

back

against

them, welcoming

the

challenge

with greater en

thusiasm

than

ever

before,

and

will strive

even

harder

to

reta in

the

thr

one.

How can I forget the Mess

meeting

That was

perhaps one

of

the better

parts

of the

night.

Man, the nostalgia

that meet

ing generated,

I

can never

shrug

that

off. That same kind

of

enthu, that same fundaebaazi

by the seniors, that same kind of

energy flowing across the room

that

put

the

laws

of

fengshui to

shame. Although

this

time,

my

ears weren't

really

ready for the

voluminous

input

of hundred

decibel

roars

and

bangs of

Kumaon's freshers.

The GC cup

has

always

been

a special

cup for Kumaon,

maybe because

it came in our

hands

after

a

really

long

time

-

and

I

do

stress

upon

really

long".

But

getting the cup two

KUMAON TIMES

times in a

row, along

with

the

RCA

trophy, is

just more

awe

some than bull-fighting with

your bare hands. And we had

reached

that "pinnacle of

awe

some"

this

year,

accomplishing

a

feat that

will

be remembered

in

lITO

history, a

fea

t

that no one

has

been able

to

accomplish

yet. This creates

a

renewed en

thusiasm

and

a renewed

energy

that prope

ls

us to con

tinuously

march

forward,

to

per

petuate

the idea of winning

and of

putting

our best

into all

that we do.

I

was

the

SSP

representa

tive

of Kumaon with Gavri,

and

hand-in-hand, we had

pro

pelled the BSP culture in

Kumaon forward.

And when we

hear

the administration

talk

about scrapping the BSP trophy,

we

can only

speculate

as

to

what could

incite

such

a

deci

sion. I

am

emotionally

attached

to this Board in particular,

having

cont

rib

ute

d a

lot

to

t

he

Board.The

BSP

is the only

medium in the institute, not only


11/36

TEJ

SHWI

RM

Transcribed by

Faheem

the

students, but also for

the

faculty.

And killing

the heart

and

soul

of

this medium? I don t

think

so

a

radio would be

so

useful if you remove its speakers.

Ok, I'll concede that the

BSP does not have

much

of a

success story to say, as there is

only

a

limited

percentage

of

the

junta

who

associate them

selves with

the

Board,

the voice

of the

Insti. But doing

such non

sense

would

just propel

the BSP

to

move

into

relegation.

And

if

that

happens, who

will

take the

media

role

that BSP

holds?

Is

there

any alternative media to

compensate

this

demotion?

Well enough said about

the BSP My fingers are getting

blistered from all this typing , so I

guess it

would be appropriate

to

put

aside

my

laptop

soon.

At

tending

BHM

Nite was

one

hell

of an experience, but

a lot

of

things I

noticed rema

i

ned

un

changed

-the really

nice

en thu ' shown by Kumaonites in

KUMAON

TIMES

designing

their stall.

the

not-so

hot liTO

female

junta trying

to

look attractive,

the onc e-in-a

blue-moon

kind

of food

served

then (still needs improvement

tho

ugh), all hostels cheering

and celebrating for their

wins,

however

big

or

small,

the promi

nent displaying

of the

trophies

in the mess

meeting,

giving

fundae to

the

juniors, blah blah

blah.

But what I

remember

seeing most prominently

were

the eyes of the

freshers; their

looks

that

unde

rlined

the

inner

motive to succeed, to bring the

cups and

the

BHe shield

home

next year

-

but most

important

ly,

to

unite as a

team,

and

to

help and understand each

other to achieve success. Keep

aspiring for more, and glory and

success will come alongside it

9


12/36

r

z

>

I

I

I

a

a

a

I

a

a

JYOTE5H

5 NGH

I

t is sa id that James Watt

was

once

asked whether a

perpetua

l motion machine

was po ss ible. He, like a typi

cal sc ientifica

lly-

minded

perso n, sa id o , Having

go ne through

tho

se ted ious

years of studying for JEE, we

know it isn ' t because it vio

lates

the Second

Law

of

Thermodynamics. In such a

case , why is the notion on

Perpetuity sti ll so popular?

10

Since

time

immemorial

,

man has been fascinated by

things that

l

ast

fore ve r, be it

the s

tar

s, mountains

or

sun.

He gave them specia l

name

s,

mad e them into gods, and

gave

gods immortalit

y - thi s

ve ry property of existing for

ever. Aristotle went so far as

to say that stars etc . were

made of some special , non

evo lving, static mate ri a l He

was , of course , proven

wrong, and am extremely

glad

that

it

was

so.

You see - the ve ry idea

of something unchanging and

always there is extremely

boring. Change is the essence

of life and by thi s law; these

other ab so lute objects

become nothing other than

non-essentia ls - because they

are so

predictabl

e, they are

taken

for g

ranted

.

What on the other hand

is

exciting

is last ing fore ve r,

yet constantly evo lving, or

int eracting. What I mea n is

constant

, undampened activ-

ity. Like the whee l of time ,

the season s - they seem to go

on forever, but neve r is the

coming moment ever the

same as the pass ing

one

.

And that

is the r

easo

n

why perpetuity is perpetuaL

Tbe tbin

gs

that are eternal -

s

tatic , but eternal - become

part of the background and

ar

e lost in the cl utter.

The

things that are pa ss ing are

but

momentary in the large r scale

of things and soon forgotten.

All

that remain

s is

that

whi

ch

is perpetual ye t dynamic ;

moving ye t constantly sti ll ;

expending

energy, yet neve r

KUMAON TIMES

exhausting

- a

contradiction

in itse lf.

These

fluid objects ,

these

endless

str

ea

ms are ab

so lutely amazing. What is

tbeir

beginning? Do they

even ha ve one? What is their

end? Will there

ever

be one?

How do they work? Are they

guided by rules? Or is it

so mething sponta

neou

s? All

these quest ion s people have

asked for millennia , and have

come

up

with

va rious

an

swers . Some say it is du e to

the omnipotent

G.O

.D. - ge n

erator,

operator

and de st roy

er. Others say it is nature that

always takes back

what

it

g ives Some s imply accept it

as it is, believe it to be

beyond

their comprehens ion ,

gaze at it and move on with

their

li

ves. And then there is

a las t, bl

esse

d

kind

.

They

don ' t j ust

watch

; they do.

They

are

swe

pt a long in the

st ream. They part icipate;

they

become

one with the

great flow. They perpet uate

themselves ;

they

s

catter

themselves and

ye

t stay for

ever energetic , fore ver ready,

forever everywhere. These

are tho se whom people ca ll

trailbla

ze rs,

proph

ets,

and

mahatma

s.

They do

so

much

in one life,

with

so much

energy,

that

one keep

s

won

dering What is their source,

how do they do it , what

k

ee

ps them go ing??

The

y

have so much in

common

with the

Great Continuum

,

that they are indi st ingui sh

able

from it . That , my friend ,

is why stuff perpetuates, con

tinues

,

through endless

cyc les , endless

chains

, end

less

moment

s - to mo ve to

infinity and

beyond

....


13/36

YET

AGAIN

S

tarting

the year with

a

tag of

being the defending champions,

it always would have been diffi

cult to maintain the standards set

by

the sporting people of Kumaon in the

previous year. The lineup

of

almost

all

the

sports

looked quite similar to

that

of last

year; but

the added pressure

that the

G

winners may

have was

seen the whole year

in

the

events.

The

start of the

season

was

somewhat

disappointing, as

aquatics

was scrapped due to

non-availability

of

a swimming pool

in

all of Delhi - or at

least

that

was the reason

given to

and being the aquatic champions

almost 5

years

this was difficult

take

in. But eventually, the iint,,,-host,

events

started with

Athletics

and the

expected

results were

given by our

athletes.

Their

efforts

made

sure

we

were having

a

comfortable

lead for

the next

sen,este ,v,

semester was a

disastrous one

and at

this poi-

nt

of

time

hol

ding the

G

looked

like

a

distant

dream.

Three

consee

utive

failures in

three field

spo

rts ensured

that

the

fight went to

the

teeth,

to

hold the tag

of

G winners.

Looking at the

performances

and

the out

comes

of

these

three events, I

feel that

they

were a

bit

unl-

ucky but that is the way sports are

You never know what is in for you in

the bag.

But the

repairs started

after en

tering

the next

line of events. Excellent

performances

in

racquet sports includ

ing

a

gold in squash and silver in bad

minton made

sure

that we remained

favorites for the title.

Basketball

was

something that we

had

left to the

back

burner -

there were

no

great

aspira

tions. But the squad made Kumaon

bagging an unexpected

bronze

. The victory

that

we

cherished the most was

that of

volleyball. Being

at the 6th position last

time, the boys really

up with

exceptional

teamw ork

and coordination and

h o N e d

how

the

s

ports culture

has

been embedded

into

UJJWAL

5HARMA

GC

veins of Kumaonites. The last event of

weightlifting

sealed

the

G

trophy for

us

Ex

treme hard work

sincerity

was

shown by these

boys,

and

they made

sure

that no

one even

remained

close

behind us in the hunt for the title

.

In

the

end,

I would

like

to con

gratulate all the residents of Kumaon

in achieving this feat of being the

G

winners twice in a row. I

am

sure

that

if

the enthusiasm

shown by

the 1st

2nd

ye rites remains as

it is now it

would not at all

be elusive to

get

that

hat

trick

of

titles.

Especially

commend

ing the

efforts of

1st year students

,

these bunch of guys are the

most

en

thusiastic lot that one could

ever imag

ine.

Kumaon s

future

looks

a

lot

bright

er with

them , and so does our future in

sports.


14/36

TH

INFINIT

OOP

R

P

5 NGH

W

ll the game had never

started in such a way.

The dice were

never

rolled in this sense

before

.

The

final round

was

on the

way

- both the

participants

were oblivious

of each

other

s

existence.

They were

both in a different dimen-

s ion. know it all sou nds

confusing but the supernatu-

ral realm has it s own beauty .

Romax knew that

what

was

his s tart cou ld be hi s end and

he may have been

encircled

in

an infinite loop of dimen-

s ion s. He knew he had corne

this far and had to keep his

thoughts focused

.

This was

because his imagination was

endless and

he wasn t. He

brooded

for so

me

ti me and

took

out

hi s small airpl

ane

.

Everything changed

with a thought he made. He

cou ld see waves mountains

and pines whizz past his

pupils. Everything around

him was so intense that he

h

ad

thoughts

of

explosions

occurring

in side his head .

Though

he had surpassed all

2

human barriers to come

through he had no answer to

the

present situation. He

climbed

the

mountain

with

ease

as the

gravity

was

down

to I

metre per seco

nd

squared. He knew he

co

uld

fly

if

he

wanted

to

but

he

didn t want to take the risk as

he cou ld have lost hi s bear

ings. All he knew was that he

had to go North -west from

the starting point. Everything

formed eroded and re

formed. All was lying

in

front of his eyes and the more

precise it was the harder it

was to scrutini ze .

Pablo knew he was not

alone and

he had to use all his

strength . All he

could

say

was that he had a clearer

sense than

before

and he was

on the way to victory.

The

terrible

part was that some

where he knew he was not

alone and the sc ribbling

once begun always unfolded

some sca ry realms. He knew

where

he was but the clouds

above

and the trench

beneath

made it more

confus

ing. He

KUMAON

TIMES

could see a fa int glimmer

ahead on the horizon. The

metal running through his

blood

was half cold; he knew

he had to lie

down

for a while

to get

it runni ng

once

more.

Hi s body was getting

co

lder.

The excruc

i

ating

stre

n

gt

h

which his mind

was

utili sing

to make the s

urrounding

s

st ill was weakening him

every instant . He knew he

had to let go .

Hi

s eyes closed

and once more

the

wind

started blowing. As they

opened he was surrounded by

metal cl iffs as stout as Spar

tans.

Sudden

ly he cou ld

sen

se the way

and

he

mu

s

tered all hi s thoughts togeth

er

just as he

opened hi

s eyes.

He cou ld

guess

what had

gone

wrong throughout the

game. This epiphany of his

made

him di sco

nnect

from

his

opponent

and hence the

infinite loop

was

suddenly

broken and the game was

about to end as he knew the

other

one was ages behind

him.

The track

was

lost and


15/36

Romax knew he had l

ost

him.He knew th at he was

fa

ilin

g and he

was

n

ow

under

co

ntro l of th e other one Pri-

mar il y he didn ' t und

ersta

nd

h

ow

the di sconn ect had co me

abo ut and h

ow

his o pponent

had ma

de

him such a pawn in

hi

s own game T

hi

s f

ru

stra

t-

ed him terribl y. He thought

that he had to do so met hin g

about the

di

sconnec tion

before

it

was too late

Running as ha

rd

as he

co uld Pablo st ruck hi s c laws

outside the wingtips of the

mo nstrous crea ture whi ch

had appeared out of nowhere.

A ll was go ing we ll when he

rea lized that tim e was not

f

un

ct i

on

ing

in

its

ge

nera l

form. He had changed it to

some thing e lse and he knew

it was w orking aga inst him

n

ow.

His v ic tory

was

und er

r

ea

l threat

SNA P They put d

ow

n

their rece ivers and

ge

ls

Romax and Pablo smiled at

ea ch other. They knew they

were about

to

fini sh the

never ending virtual

ga

me

whi ch they had themse lves

created and they themse lves

pl

aye

d . Pablo kn

ew

he had

cheated and ch anged the t ime

whi ch had made the response

eas ie r for Ro max Thu s hi s

trick had backfired. Al-

though tbey knew it was on ly

15 minutes s

in ce

th ey had

sw itched

on

the ir hea d

sets

in

the virtua l wor ld it bad

fe

lt as

if

ce

nt

uri es

had gone by

Ro max

was

happ

y_

i

s c up

of coffee was st ill h

ot

enough

...........

.

The last couple of FROM THE DESK OF

d 6

b

e ~ o

n s

~ 1 ~ \

~

;

INCOMING

HOUSE

SECY

kumaon house 6 reflects

the commitment 6 dedi-

cation shown by the resi

dents of the house. This

shows the rich legacy 6

culture w hich w as le ft

behind by

th

e se niors. As

th

e incoming house sec

reta ry,

1

have been en

dowed w ith a responsibil

ity to m a

intain the

stand

ards set

by

t he fo

urth

6

fifth

ye

ar

s.

w ill

try

t o give

m y best t o the hostel 6

w ill

ma

ke sure

that

the

hostel excels in each 6

every field w hether it be

sport s, cult or hostel man

agem ent.

it

6

' i f l Lfl

'(

iI C 1

C41

\i11 C41 %

oWii Ti , 3l Ri < iT q6 il l 'PT 1T

~ _

'IS'

,g

' l . ' I l 1ffif

t

j 'R \Xlcl 'g 1T ,'\

~

< iT

1 RlT t

'1T-2

3J1lO1i 3fWT ~ ~

< iT

,ft IT'i\ 'PT m ~ d

, ,

1T l it m 7r 'g P.


16/36

I

am star ing at

the

aged

couple on the far side of

the airport. t was a

quiet

end

,

not

at all

crowded

- ju st

plainly lit , with

fi ery

fluores

cent li ghts, and

end

l

ess

rows

of gl

azed

tiles . The hus

band

is support in g his weight

using a

cane

stick. He is

leaning ove r his wife , who is

bound to a wheelchair, to

kiss her lightl y on the lip s.

They are

the on ly beings in

that sect ion of the corridor.

But they do not seem to care.

I really can t

say if they had

felt my presence or not - my

cold

breaths, my decayed

arms , my short

dragging

footsteps - for they are en

raptured

by

each

other.

Now

they are

embracing each

other, hugg ing so wa rmly

that even a gr izz ly bear

wo uld have been put to

shame. And those are the

kind of em braces that I

yea rned for , the sheer fee l of

h

av in

g to

touch

so mebody

special so

closely and

so

wa rml y For I ne ver

had

the

pri v

il

eg

e

of

having such pro

found affection sho

we

red

upon

me

14

To ill

Moments later , I am pant-

ing and sweating l ike a hell

hound, and rushing away

from the area. I have no right

E

t

I

o disobey the Trumpet, ever.

er a

But I don ' t know why I

stopped midway . I wasn t

tramed

to do so . ] am an as-

ove

aheem 5hereef

But I am here for a cause. I

am here for a duty_ I am here

to claim a Ii fe. Not for my

own se lfi sh ga ins, for I was

s

umm

oned by nothing other

than the deep booming vo ice

of the Trumpet. And disobey-

ing the Trumpet is equi va lent

to treason to my own soul. I

cannot was te any more

time

today

; I have a lot

mor

e as

signments to fini sh til l I

wou ld be free - so mething

that never happened when

ever planned . I prepare to

rai

se

my da

gge

r

Use less

se

n

timent would do nothing to

change my mind.

KUMAON TIMES

sass in

, a ma ster in s

il

encing,

in giving final so lutions. I

have a

target

, and it is ju st

provoking

me to increasing

p r o p o r ~ ~ - one, by not

recoglllZlng my presence,

and secondl y, for inducing

more envy towards it by its

embraces . What sorcery is

this , wh ich shields them

from my blade? Who do

they

dare defy?

What is go ing on in my

mind, I ask m

yse

lf. I am a

ma ster at resist ing emotions.

But such

fi

lthy lo

ve

h

ad

pen

etrated my being

de

ep ins ide.

But HOW? I ha ve no so ul ; I

am

the master of soul s. I

dec

ide , using my power, who

is li ving and who is dead. Be

sides, the old man is destined

to

die soon, for hi s plane

wo uld soon be thundering

down


17/36

into the Atlantic.

It

is of no

use letting him free so

better take care

of

him first

in the interest of sav ing time.

There is no use in letting this

stron g love take over my

decision

-m

aking intuition

s.

I

ha

ve to make a decision and

I h

ave

to make it qu ick. I

strike again this time with a

fiery rage .

ut

my

mind

had

planned otherwise

I sit on my throne prid

ing upon my abilit i

es

as a

shrewd assassin. I had com-

pleted my duti es as a re spon

sibl e entity

and

yet I had

brought so lace to my mind

or rather my long-lost con

sc ience. 1 watch as the blaze

consumes the entire periph

ery of the iso lated

sect ion of th e corr idor.

The airport is burning on

one end fiery flames of Pro

metheus consuming it . But

apart from the two of them

none would be granted entry

across the canyon and into

my Pandemonium Fortress.

My boatmen had ve ry well

ensured that

. They would

join

my kingdom as honored

subjects with a the freedom

to love and embrace. And 1

Hades the personification

of

Death and Decay wil l ha ve

the sheer pleasure

of

experi

encing the

ir

love and passion

and

to study it. For I had real-

ized it requires more than

the

power

of

a

God

to kill

eternal love

THE

SE NSE

O

CHtJN6E

knew not the summer start .....

I felt not, its end

..

.

..

the moments under the sun,

memories to which I run ... ..

the winter I heard coming ..... .

for to me it sings out.. ..... .

the words

of

cold delight.. .. .

the words of lonely fright...

..

.

I saw the rains descend .... ..

smelt the soil at my feet... .

..

It was for the world to die . .. ..

to be reborn, in my eye . ..

never did I learn, not to wait. .... .

that which is shall be it,

a sense for life, a life for sense,

held in

change ..... life's essence.

ADITY A AGARWAL

KUM ON TIMES

Maintenance is a

fundamental concern

to all. I will work my

best to make

kumaon, which

we

consider our house

and

not

hostel( more

clean and hea thy to

live. I have some

ideas

that

can be im-

plemented next year

and will

try

my best

to

bring

the

BHM

trophy

to us .

Says Incorning Mainntu

Adarsh Patel

15


18/36

be

more

pe

r

Kumaon

BSP?

a row heers

this

perretua

l"article.

article no to be forgotten,

thrown in dust bins & espec

be revealed out

of

the den.

can

tear down these pages

; I p

ri

ELlXIROF

LIFE

When scientists searched for

ways to

create

perpetual energy

and perpetual motion machines,

they left out the abstract realm -

the realm o

our

subconscious

mind. For pe petual energy does

not

come in

machine

s it

comes

out

in ideas

it

comes out in

spirit

Ideas, whether intangible or

coming

out

in actions

ha

ve

the

power to change minds, to change

attitudes, to change environments,

to

change the wor

ld

.

f

t

were not

for these perpetual ideas that were

dreamt by some "daydreamers and

passionate fools", the world would

sti ll have been in the Jurassic Age,

minus

th

e

d i n ~ s

And

it

is

th

ese

ideas that you create, that push for

ward the perpetuation of your

being, and finally make you im

mortaL And that garnishes the

recipe for the Elixir

of

Life.


21/36

E

very year we have

seen

the

trophy in e hands of tigers

of Kumaon, and it will be my

aim for th e year

to

come that

we lift it

once

mo re.

But the

tro phy is not

the

ultimate

goa

l;

just

ano ther sy mbo l of the

s

pirit

of Kumaon ,

the

ta lent

and enthusiasm of its resi-

dents

. It is this enthusia

sm

that I hope to maintain ,

an

d

this talent that I hope to chan-

ne l in the best way possib le, so

that we

can enjoy everything

that the board ha s to offer and

emerge as

the

best like we ha

ve

done numerous times. [ feel we

ha ve a g reat year ahead , wa iting

f

or

us . So , we

se

ize this oppor

tunity, this whole year and lik e

a tiger who fee ls no fear , roar

out

l

ou

d for everybody to hear-

J I

KUMAON

KUM ON TIMES

Srijan Mishra

In coming ultural Secy

19


22/36


23/36


24/36

..a wmderful drum-

mer

al

excellent

0010

ald

y

dadaji s

first jump

m stage

It realllJ

Pull

ed Me Under

.

It was summer. and I had a folder on my

desktop named - songs

to

be prepared .

And

that

folder

contained

a

song called

Pull Me

Under by Dream

Theatre.

Of

course. at that paint of time. I did not even

know

what

any of

th

ose wo

rds

meant.

neither

had I listened to the song. But

when I listened to it. I sta rted liking it. and

I also started realising

that

I couldnt play

the

synth part. But then

I also realised

that

everybody's part was equally challenging.

But they really wanted to

do

it. And that

was what

instigated

me

to do

it. I remem

ber

walking

through the institute.

playing

an

imaginary

synth

with my

hands. People

might

have

thought I was

mad

or a show

off. but I did not give a shit.

All that

mat

tered was

that

my

effort

should not

be

lacking

in

any possible

way.

The seniors

were surprised

when we took

a

break of

4

hours before the event. as

we

thought

that we

were

done with the practices. But

I was confident and it paid off. This was

the

first time

when

I

had

seen

other

hos

tels telling me that it was an awesome

performance

before

the

results had even

come out. I

don

t

want

to

tolk about the

results. but we got the best drummer and

the best synth (to my relief) .

JeremlJ wa5

the

Dominant

5tar.

Vocals is a well

that

has

no

water in it in

Kumaon.

Or

at least. that was it was

before this year. A

certain

Mr Utsav Dos

c me

as a boon for our hostel

s

musical

cultu

re and gave us

the one

thing

that

we

wanted

most.

a vocalist. his

vocals were superb. to say

given

the fighter song that he

mean. it was Pearl

Jam.

for

christ's

For

those

who

have heard

any Pearl

so

ng

.

you

will

understand

it perfect I

those

who

don t know about

Pearl

just know that it was a really really diffi

cult song. A special mention here of Nikh

ilesh Patil and Harshit Rungta. who

were

most

impo

rtant people in western night.

as they

were

in all the

thre

songs. Ju

st

practising three

songs

for

over

20

days

takes a lot of time and perseverance.

and

for that. hats off to them. What I

about

thiS

event was that

we

m n,,,

get

all

our

seniors involved. from

fifth year

Nikhilesh

Meshram

to fresh

people

like me.

All

in

all. we had the perfect mixtu

of a

team.

It all depended

on the performance

after

that.

Now. in the last year.

I

have

seen a lot

of

musica

l

performances.

but this

was literally

legendary.

Our

individual parts

were perfect, our coor-

dination

was

perfect

and t he amount of

beer that some of us

had was

perfect.

High way star was

a song where I saw

two really great

gUitarists

perform

two really great

solo pieces in

a really coord

inated manner.

Of all the songs

performed by

them in thei r four

years. this was

critically the best

rated

performa

nce

of

this

era of

music. (Source:

a big fat panda.

or rather . the big

fat

panda

). And

now. for dessert.


25/36

the whole idea of Kumaon Domination

.

I

have to admit

we took it a litlle for.

But

I

am

a

lillie sentimental

about

this

song,

because the performance was

so catchy,

I

used

to headbang during prac1ices.

Thanks

to a wonderful

drummer

,

an

ex

cellent solo and my dadaji's first jump on

stel(] it

became

an

unfargellable piece

of musical history

in

my mental

archive

I

could

go on and on, for the

amount of learning

that

has

been

imparted on me

by

the

passi ng

out batch

(which

I sometimes

think of

as

the

most musical

batch) is enormous . I hate to

stop, but I

have

to. It's

an era

coming to

an

end, but

perhaps

,

I

am

too much of

a

dystopian

man.

Perhaps, it's a begin

ning. But for me,nothing will

ever match

the glory

in

my eyes when

I per

formed

on stage

with

artists

of such

calibre.

Be

it

any event,

any stage, any

place, that

glory is ir

replac able,

the

I is irreplac -

eaIJle I still

go

nto the music

room

I involu -

ntarily

pick up

my phone and

dial.

K h ?

an -

Room

pa

r -

.

MU5 C

room

2 .

min.

Frankly, it did not

maller

which

dialogue

was

said

by whom.

And such

was the case of the legendary

music

team

of Kumaon

hostel.

It had

been

so long .

And I

wish

that

the

future

music rep does not

h ve

to

give

the some

tille for a long

time.


26/36

H

C C

,

~ j i l l ~ '

'l>'1\

fin

'1: "'l

f4>fll

1lT "fll'I;;

"fl'li f'AT t 'l 'lT

1O'l

;"'l

f< R J3i\

ojffl ii . ~ 0 I 1 < 1 0 fiIiX 3IR

' l > 1 ~ ~ 1 ~ \lOT

"fl'Pit?

'l 'lT


27/36

T

H

ave you

ever

heard of keeps

hi

s standard and

gets PER

PETUAL

the term PERPETUAL

the maximum

marks in

every NE

TENSION ? Must have , examination in

every

year.

for we all live in a state

of

Till

the end

of

hi

s life he has

perpetual tension . How many on ly

one

so le motive and that

5 N

mark s wi ll I

get

in this

exam

? is

to beat everyone

,

to keep

Will my

train

be

delayed? everyone else beneath

his

ARITRA

I 5

What if

she rejects me? Has leve l . He may go to all

ends

my dad sent me the money I to

achieve this objective

- by NATH

asked him for? ...... .... hook or by crook. He soon

KUN U

0 I

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

That become

s only focu sed on

li st will go on

end

l

ess

ly, so staying at the

top

, and soon

I ll put it

to the backburner.

his

morals

take a

downward NO

The point is we are

always

tumble.

And

this leads to a

ten

se about

life and its

unc

ef

-

continuous

state

of

tens ion ,

tainties-

much unlike

Bud- all the

while

taking a toll on 1\

I

~ ~

INCOMING MESS

SECY

T LKS

Hello Kumaon Tigers,

; '

t

'

'.,

Himansnu

ulara

. ',.

I

am pleased

to

have this opportunity to

make

my

contribution

to the hou se as Incom-

ing mess

secretary

. My

emphasis would be on impro

ving the

existing menu rather

than in

clud

ing

newer

items,

with

the

aim of bringing

the

menu closer

to

homemade

food. 1

would

like to address the following issues:

Minimi zing wastage

of

food

Ensuring the quality

of

mess inputs

Inclusion of seasonal fruits and vegetables

Menu rotation for novelty

I persona lly feel, managing the hostel mess is about getting th

in

gs done in the best possi

ble manner within the resources available, about embracing well meant criticism and above

all, about striking balances, To achieve thi s tricky goa l, I urge all hostel mates to lend their

innovative suggestions and inputs for the improvement of our mess.

di st

monk

s who

are

s

uppose

d his skills

and amount of hard

to have no care

towards

life,

wor

k.

by so lemn vow.

There

is

another categor

y in

Thi s

state of perpetua

l ten- this sta te

of perpetual ten-

sion is mo st visible in

that

s

ian

, the ones with the

species

of

humans

called

the LOSER tag

attached

to them.

BEST

.

They

st ri ve to be the

These

guys may ha ve put in

best, put in their hard work ,

their

best shot before , but

and finall y try even harder to

after

ha ving failed to achieve

keep up that pos ition.

And their goa

ls, they tend to ge t

thi s s

pecie

s ca lled the be sts d

emot

ivated and soon fall

always fear about

conceding

prey to a neve r-ending ten-

their

position to the rest

of

sion that

continuous

ly ham

the

folks .

For

insta nce, when pers

their

best

efforts

to

s

omeone

sec ure s

the

hi ghest

excel.They

are

afraid of

re

mark s in

any examination,

he

taining the

lose r tag , Even

wants

to make sure

that

he after long periods of immense

KUM ON TIMES

preparation

, their past

comes

to

haunt

them and they are

affected

by thi s perpetua l

ten sion . In the

end

,

they

remain

l

ow

,

and mo

st of the

time unable to come

out

of

that loser pit.

These two categories

of

people ha ve

pretty

different

iss ues. But the rea son of

their

Perpetual

Tension

is

perhap

s

the

sa

me

-

the ab

se

nce of

the

pre

se

nt.

Their

mind

s

keep

on o

sc

illating be

tween

the past and the future

i.e.what has

happ

ened

and

what

will

happen .

25


28/36

They hardly li ve in

the

pre-

sent . This makes

their

li ves

mi s

erable

.

The

s

eed

of unc

er-

tainty

.

an

ins

ecurit

y

of

their

po

s

ition

s,

grow

s in the ir

mind

s.

What

if I do n ' t

make

it thi s

time

?

What if

I

don

' t

top the e

xamination

? He

start

s s

tudyin

g

harder and

harder and

g

et

s

detached

from the

pre

s

ent

, in

want of

a

better guarantee-l ess future .

So it all

comes down

to

one

statement

finall y: "

LIVE

YOUR

PR ESEN T "

Life

s

going

to be

much

more chill

and

enjoyabl e

if

yo u

forget

about

th e past and

the future

and ju

st c

oncentrate on the

pre

sent

. It s of no use

think-

ing a

bout

e

rr. .... co ns

ult

anc y,

finance

or

cor

e?"

durin

g y

our

first y

ear.

C

ome

w

hat

ma

y.

li

fe

s too s

hort

to keep di vi

nating

about the

f

uture

. It s

even

too

short to

ju

st

pla

y

it

like a ch ess

match

, pondering

and

strategiz ing ov er every

move

- in

the end

, a ll

wi

ll

get

checkmated

.

26

UN YING

l NDS

True to its chri sten ing does the wo rld exist,

Surviving on its own with

nobody s

tryst.

Cut

off from the Middle Earth s things amiss ,

Carrying forth into eo ns the aura of bliss.

The elves with their powerful magic

Swerved thi s world out

of

the tragic,

Until the land yie ld to their aura

unmatched

And became immortal itself for all lads.

t

stretched beyond where the eyes of men cou ld see

Filled with the heaven ly bliss of elves

and

trees ,

The land had itse lf co

rn

e a li ve for a ll those

Who in this world the

good

and th e green chose.

For the land ch

ose

who could set afoot upon it

But once a

creature

got

deemed

fit ,

t cou ld travels h e sands of time being immortal

Strengthened by the land s various porta ls.

Th e e lves had built their home ly abode on the trees,

With crystal clear glass buildings rising above the weeds.

The river carryi ng the nectar of the gods flowing nearby.

And beaut iful horses

scattere

d upon the grasslands nigh.

Ho

weve

r, the elves had secu red a one-way p

assage

Making those who, once on the land,

hi

s foot lays ,

Is bound to never go back to where it carne from

And travel forth to

exp

lore the who le of the g

round

s.

The e lves did t

hi

s to ens ure no fou l sp iri t ever ge ts free ,

And it is taken care

of

while its still in the hands

of

trees.

That the lands are not plotted aga

in

st by enemies of thy,

And the immortal men and elves can in peace lie.

Th e men had to earn their way into it by protecting li ves

Goodness was their on ly key towards eternal

thr

ive ,

While th e elves a

ll

ultimate ly landed up at their true home,

All cast

off

in a homely ceremony from the other shore.

The young elves never havi ng seen it prior

Are blessed by the sight they so desire ,

The sig

ht

of chariots of

water

greeting them

To take thei r place amongst its realm.

If Middl e Earth ever

fe

ll short for the elves

nature

,

They had a place they cou ld protect and nurture.

A

place

where goodn ess and greenery wou ld sa il past eons,

And love wo

ul

d be

th

e only spell in

air

sans any cons.

ANUJ KUMAR

KUM ON TIMES


29/36

F

rst

of

all, I find it rea ll y

wei rd

that

I am sharing

the title of an

article

which was previously taken

by

certa in guy ca lled Azeez

Gupta . So a kind

of

disclaim

er. I am no good at these

writing

things, which was

probably the

reason

that

I

was

not made BSP

of

my

yea

r

So, coming

to

business,

the

outgoing year. I

don t

want to brag,

but

I have

been

involved

with this year

much

more

than I have

ever

been

involved

with any

other

year, and

that

includes

even my year.

Sharing

a

toothbrush to

shitting

in the

same pot, and sometimes

even

at the

sa

me time,

I

have done

it

all with them. I

have gr

own

with them, and

their thoughts and the time

spent

with

them wi ll always

be a part of me.

Th

at was the end of the

routine part. Starting

with

my dear papa, the legendary

CUP C who sea led the RCA in

the

freaking month

of

J

anu

ary. The eth dmi of the

year who al

w ys

has the

frankness to ask for a smoke

and deny a penny, both at

the same time. Next we

come

to Kapsimes compan-

ion in arms Pushkar, the

ever

enthusiastic mason

of

his

year whose

contribution

to

the hoste l in genera l is ir -

refutably

huge. By the way,

his name

is Gaurav

, a fact

hitherto unknown to most

of

us. A

frail

tanned pappi boy

of

the year, incidentally, the

house secretary, whose spirit

held the

name

and fame of

the hostel at count l

ess

in

stances, and who sti ll weeps

that his 200

rup

ees are stuck

in

the

house day expenses,

is

known to us

all. Mr.

Azeez

Gupta, the debater cum

quizzer

who

al

so

made

us

achieve

a dream after

16

years in his tenure

as

the

sports

secy and

whose guid

ance has always benefitted

the hoste l, is alas a person

of humongous

importance to

this year(1 had to check the

thesaurus

for

the word hu-

mongous. After al l,

hi-fi

people deserve

better better

words)

.

Abhi-

f ake Bam-f al

aka

B.

F. W. G. Fec, also the I

ping

l

iving

legend of B.F.

perf on who can

li

ve

KUMAON

TIMES

Outgoing

Cultu

Niraj ~ t e l

gives

on on ly parties

with normal

food on f ame special days.

Another point worth

men-

tioning is that

he enjoys a

more prolonged orgaf m

than

a pig, i.e. the

who

le

poltu

time. Banf als f a ca ll ed

partner

Gaurav Jaithliya is

anothe r Gaurav whose first

name is not known to

a lot of

people. My

mentor,

in terms

of the teaching of the art

of

fraud

that he has passed on

to me

I

feel

there

shou

ld be a

wate

rm

ark

of

this

person s

big panda face be

hind every

page

of

this m

tribute

to

to

BSP.

A

or rather

the o

~

cles

panda).

sharing

w here

catch on

also a

7


30/36

years. And also, he also has a 100

percent success record in RCA.

The name is Mittal , Dipesh

itta

l.

Coming

forth

to the bhaand

janta. Anurag Sabae, whose

knowledge and experience in

dance has shaped a strong culture

of dance in our hostel. Apart from

dance, he

has

also hugely contrib

uted

to

our

music club

as an

acoustic guitar player as well.

Then

there s of

course

the

Igreatl

Harshit Rungta, both figuratively

and literally. Apart

from

being the

best drummer

of the

insti, he also

holds a certain distinction from

the rest of the crowd by sharing

his room with Pushkar for FOUR

years. He

also

receives

applause

for

not

having visited a bathing

cubicle

since

his second year.

Then we have Harsh Verma, the

Pan

of

the Hostel -

if

you bring

Greek references. Mozart

is

to

the

piano what Harsh

is

to

the

guitar.

Winning

the

best guitarist award

a countless number

of

times, it

was only appropriate that we

bring him the Music

trophy

before he graduated, which we fi

nally did

Alankrit Poddar comes into

the picture next. The FAC-ka-ban

da

jo

excellentfundebaaz bhi hai.

An

excellent artist, he carried for-

ward

the

Kumaon tradition of

always coming first in charcoal

painting. And also, he is very good

at fundebaazi of course. Then

comes

that

annoying Bhopali

Anant

Jain

,

who

once

upon

the

time in a land far far away, was

the

HS representative and Secy

and drove forth the HS winning

streak. Apart from HS his other

talents include planning strate-

gies

for

sports cheering and

fundebaazi

one field

in

which

he

came a close second to Poddar.

Then onto the red carpet,

comes

...

TaDa: Sunny Deal aka

Anuj Verma . Well

that

name

is

quite restrictive as he can play

the

role

of

anybody, even that other

Sunny. He is perhaps the best

8

actor and director

of

the

insti, with a reputation

of

giving great performances

for the hostel and the insti.

Now

all

rise for

the

great

Mr. OK Darpan Khurana : The

founder of the great

Indori Dynasty of Kumaon.

Following him is the

ost

Dependable Guy

of

the

Year, another Great per-

sonality who goes by the

name

of

Gandharva Gulati

aka G***u . With an iron will,

a build that gives Chuck

Norris competition and a

voice that can cause moun-

tains to crack apart, I pre

sent to you the great

G***u

.

He has

always occupied the

role of introducer of our

street plays (Sorry Push karl,

now in all of our hearts, he

occupies

the

role

of

Don Cor-

leone. You want money, you

go to

G***u

.

You want

somebody taken down, you

go to G***u . You want

funde, you may want

to

re

consider going to G***u .

last

but certainly not least, is

perhaps the only equivalent

of Winston Churchill in the

KUMAON TIMES

modern world - short, old,

but

one hell

of

a power-packed

speaker. Apart

from

being one

of the most respected speakers

of liTO, and the only one to re

ceive a round

of

applause

before his last speech

in liTO

,

he

is also the grand old bespec

tacled quizzing maestro

of

Kumaon. Here, I present

the

great Aritra Gupta to you.

Now I have been spending

quite some time poking fun and

going about cracking jokes, for

which I very well know I'll be

facing the repercussions. I may

get dragged out of

my

room

and onto Kumaon Circle, where

I will be beaten up and sacri

ficed

to

the gods, perhaps. But

all the bruises won t matter

then, for having to

miss

this

particular group

of

friends is

going

to

be really hard and

painful. In the end, it all comes

down to wishing them a tearful

farewell, and reminiscence

about all those past memories.

To them, I on the behalf

of

the

rest of Kumaon, wish them the

best

of

luck for

the

journey

that

they are set to embark upon -

the journey

of

life.


31/36

BHIN V DH R

Treading, Walking and Running for hi s life,

The Dangers along his path were rife,

Constantly inching closer to the shining beacon

Though his light does constantly weaken,

The path often obscured by a heavy haze,

He is l

ost in life s confounding maze.

The wind blows the life

s

leaves away,

But time and space hold supreme sway;

The labyrinth plays games with our mind,

And the Beacon of hope, we can t find ,

Moments flow slow and yet so fast ,

We delve into our own tangled past.

The vitality coursing through him at the start,

Had been chipped away at part by part ;

The dark dunes multiplied to hinder the way,

But from his precious path he can t stray,

Since he knows only one way of life ,

And wi

ll

protect

it

irrespective

of

st r

ife .

The destructive dark rises and lights go out,

But he realises that there starts the rea l bout;

Guided by the sentinels lamps he advances,

Trudging along the path taking his chances,

Rea lization dawns upon him that he s not alone,

And all the pawns are heading for the throne,

Inching closer but staying forever far ,

The paths altered by the reigning Tsar;

Souls vying for a place in the White

Tower

,

In va

in

the magic maze they scour,

Each sea rching the door to hi s end ga me,

Their paths different but their goal s the same.

Some players progress while others fall,

On ly few remain to heed the Curtain s Call;

Envisioning success he heads for glory,

Facing blistering battles so gory,

Eme rging victorious, observing the remains,

He sees others dreams strewn like grains .

I c= j I

= l

I

L

-

-

I

-

r

r

-

-

- -

I

A

/

~

J1 r: l

-

~ r ~ ~ r

I

The ga me of emotions immense ly inhumane,

Their minds and relations they steadily stra in ;

Not a magic maze but a tragic mirage he sees,

Understanding that there are infinite hidden

key s

Doors hidden to test the humanity of the

Winners ,

Those who trampled upon others labelled

Sinners .

And so abruptly does hi s path end,

A Pegasus of hope the Tsar sends,

Standing at the summit

of

the tower,

He sees souls vainly exerting power,

Lost, confused and struggling in va n ,

Preaching and spreading even more pain.

The storms sent from above so fierce ,

Calling out for our eyes to truly pierce,

Seeing everything but grasping nothing,

Mentally incapacitated, to the walls we cling,

Souls fade away and mystically materialize,

But only the enlightened obtain the prize.

KUM ON

TIMES

29


32/36

Go

Global

Exchange pplication Essay

First Impressions)

I chose liT Delhi be

cause it is in India which is

a radically

different

cou ntry

from Canada. I have wanted

to

travel ever since I finished

high school. And

going

on

exchange to a developing

country

will

give me a per-

spective on the

society

and

culture

that

I li ve in. Al

though New Delhi is a very

modern or westernized

place, there will no doubt be

The Indi an

Experie

nce.

A new

chapter

in my life un-

rave ls. But the name does

not suit well, for I have only

visited Delhi . To get an ac

curate picture ofa country

so

geographica

ll y large and so

culturally

diverse

one

needs

to spend at lea st a lifetime in

the

country explorin

g. To

put it in engin

kumaon timesocr

Documents