Junkyard

What happens when you see that a person you really admire behaves abnormally?
What happens when you realize that "All that you want is, the person you really like should be alright"?
What happens when you begin to understand that you are ready to do anything for that person if it helps?

That's what I felt in an incident, two days back.
That incident taught me a lesson about time.
(So less we have and So much we have to do)
We read so many things about importance of time.
But, now I know because of an experience that this is serious business.
People don't write blah blah blah. They experience. They think. They know. So they write.

Every moment really is very very precious.
We all know, that we really don't know what's going to happen next.
But still we seem to ignore this fact and take things for granted.
Somewhere inside, we always believe that no matter what, the next moment is bound to be secure
and that nothing bad can really happen.

I have a friend whom I have admired for a long time. She is a gem of a person.
But now I know that she is in the true sense a genuine person (true at heart, true at words, true in mind and true in soul).
On a trip from college, she became seriously sick. Though now she is very well.
Only I know how much I have prayed (only because I felt so) to God to make her a normal and healthy person again.
We both know that we are good friends.
But now I know that a person like her is very rare and special.
Anything for her.... a thousand times over.
Get well soon friend.
After all, we have to do a lot of maahol together. :)

Dilemma is a situation that requires a choice between options that seem equally unfavorable or mutually exclusive.
We had a group discussion session in our college a few days ago. My GD went well.
But, after listening to every person's GD, I was left in a dilemma.

Some of the common topics of discussion were:

Corruption in Democracy.
Professionalism v/s Family.
Love Marriage v/s Arrange Marriage.
Bringing Religion into Politics etc.

Now, my issue over dilemma is that: In any sort of GD (i.e. either job-related, competitive, or general), what are we supposed to speak?
Should we choose the topic that has more sub-topics to shoot, the ones on which the others can't possibly argue or contradict? Or should we choose the topic that we strongly believe in?
Is the discussion only for winning over others or to impress the interviewer or for superiority among friends?
I just don't get the whole point behind it then.
According to me, the interviewer or the judge would like to watch and listen the clarity of one's thoughts, the language, the moral values etc. in a job applicant or a GD participant.
What's the use if one starts discussing about things that he/she personally opposes, but is supporting that idea in a GD just for the sake of getting more points or because he thinks that doing this will put them on forefront?
This is rubbish. This is cheat.
For e.g: In one GD, I heard students of my class supporting Corruption because they thought that they had more points to speak about. The worst part was that, the teacher concluded it saying, "Listening to the GD, I draw a conclusion that corruption is good at individual level i.e. It gives a short-cut to do some jobs and after-all everyone has certain selfish motives.".........and I was left spellbound.
Some of the students were told in a Workshop on Aptitude Development(WAD), that if you see that the other group members have chosen a certain topic, try to choose the other or one more contradictory.
Because that way, one gets more examples and more input of to speak.
(May be, this is not what they told at WAD, but, that's what the students extracted out of the workshop.)

My dilemma still continues because I am confused about what to speak, where and when? :D
But, I know a thing for sure: When I build my organization, I would never give a job to a person who has:
"Dakhwayche daat vegale aani Khanyache daat vegale!" :)
I think, in any kind of GD, we should speak out the truth at heart.
That way, we cheat no one and make sure that the conclusion of any GD ends on a good note!

On this Rakhi, Dada (Big Bro) gifted me a soft-toy which is a black monkey. 8)
The monkey has the best ever smile on his face.
Looking at the monkey, one starts thinking that,
"Nothing is ever a big trouble after all...hehe"

Staring at the monkey the other day,
I noticed that the chimp shows some of 'my emotions' perfectly.
Here are a few:



Thanks Dada! It's a really cool gift.

"चुकून चूक झाली कधी तर चूक म्हणुन सोडून देशील,
चुकीच्या गोष्टी चुकुनच घडतात, मला माहिती आहे तू समजुन घेशील.
चुकीच्या चुका करायला कुणालाही आवडत नाही.
पण काय करू चुका केल्या शिवाय माझा एक दिवसही जात नाही!

चुकत-चुकत चालवत राहतो आपली ही होडी सगळे आपण,
म्हणुन बहुतेक आठवतात आपल्याला नेहमी हेच ते चुकीतले क्षण.
कितीही टाळलं तरी घडतेच हातून एखादी तरी चूक,
म्हणुन डोंट सी इट एज अ चूक, इन्सटेड जस्ट चेंज युअर आउट-लूक!

खरं तर चूक कधीच नसते एक अती भारी चूक.
ती तर शिकवते आपल्याला बरच काही, जरी स्वतः असते मूक.
भविष्यात या चुकांचा संग्रह केला तर बनेल एक मस्त नवीन बुक.
म्हणुन बिंदास होऊन मी शिकते रोज नवं काही तरी,
करते दररोज एक नवीन चूक! "

To celebrate the launch of our first magazine, the team byte of our magazine went for a party. :-)

After having food, we went to a nearby gaming zone in a mall, almost unknowingly. :-P (This was the first time I spent 3 hours at such a place.)

I enjoyed a lot & I got to know a lot more.
I was "amazed" at the brilliant idea of the owners of the game zone to draw huge amount of money from the masses.

The basic idea behind it was that: once you enter the zone, firstly you have to buy a card (worth Rs. 100 to 1000/- cash)
The card looks just like one's regular credit/debit card.
To play any game, you have to swipe that card in a slot on that game machine.
Every game has different rate like 10 Rs, 25 Rs, 40 Rs. etc.

When you complete one game, you get a strip of tickets.
The no. of tickets is equal to the points you score in the game.

You have to collect such tickets to get the souvenir of your choice (that essentially consists of teddy bears, pencil boxes, crayons, stuff toys etc.)
The bigger the souvenir, greater the no. of tickets you need to exchange in order to acquire it.
What a great idea indeed!

I bet, the owners must be "Really Rich" by now.

Because, the crowd that it pulled was countless. Age no bar.
All poured a generous sum of money from their pockets to get those gifts.

We got 133 tickets in the 3 hours we spent there. But, we were 11 people.
And the smallest souvenir was a pencil worth 10 tickets.
Nobody agreed to take it. All wanted to have something larger.
My group decided to keep the tickets and come again next time to get more tickets.

So, now you see, the greater idea was this one:
When we asked them if these tickets can be used later, the girl on the counter answered that, the tickets are valid for a life time.
That was the trick. It's simple. They know that out of the greed for more, people would come again & again.
And we have fallen for it.

I just can't imagine how much money these people might be making in a single day.
Not just the game zone owners, but even the managers of the rest of the mall.
I can make this out because, after playing there for so much time, its usual for anyone to become thirsty.
And we had no source of water. We inquired if we could get some drinking water around. We didn't find any.
So, we had to buy the water bottles at higher rate than usual. :(

That's the way they rob you, infront of your eyes, even when you are completely cautious.

Just Kidding! Anyways, but this is how they make so much amount of the Precious $Money$

But, serious thinking apart, I had loads of fun their today.
Still, I haven't decided yet if I am going there again....for those big souvenirs. ;)

I have been working on creating a magazine for my computer department for the last one and a half month. And I proudly mention that I was the editor.

Today was its inauguration day.
And this was my speech, which was appreciated by all.

“Hello friends,

I am Ankita Katdare, a member of the team byte. As my team-mates mentioned, I am here to share a few experiences of the process of creation of The Byte with you all.

All of us have gathered here today for the inauguration of The Byte. But let me tell you, our team was never sure that we would really make this day happen. But today, I am very sure that the collective feelings in the minds of all my team mates can not be put into words.

In fact, our experience is just like reading a novel which is full of different incidents. Each chapter has a different story to tell. Each holds a special memory. Each chapter was a fun-filled learning activity.

The story of this novel rolls back to the initial days of our 2^nd year…

It was our H.O.D, Jethwa sir’s 1^st official lecture in our class. We expected that he will ask for our introductions and brief us about the syllabus. But, instead he started telling us about the various activities that he wished to conduct in the department. All of us were surprised. This was the first time he mentioned about a something called a technical magazine by the students, for the students. From that very moment, it was the beginning of what I can call a new voyage, a new journey………

The team wants to give a heart-felt thanks to Jethwa Sir for so many things…. Right from igniting our minds to think creative, he guided us in every single stage.

He gave us both: the opportunity and the platform.

For all the times we kept disturbing him to ask little doubts and queries.

For all the times we stood in his office to discuss new ideas.

For always being there when we needed him.

For teaching us the practical ways of dealing with things.

And even for bearing with our immature ways, really sir, the word thank you seems very small to express our gratitude towards you.

As I mentioned earlier, this idea was put forth in our third semester. And it took almost a year to accomplish what we had dreamt of.

In 2^nd year, we faced many obstacles. It was like a hurdle race. Back then, we never thought that this was practically possible. But as one of our team member says,

“Hum to yuhi chal padte the,

unjaani raahein thi,

lekin log judte gaye….

Aur Karwan banta chala gaya!”

We think, These lines describe this journey perfectly.

Now, we had landed in our 3^rd and final year. But, This time with a new enthusiasm and a determined attitude to fulfill the long-held dream. We all know that, in final year all the students are pretty serious about their academics. We too are. But just the idea of trying something new, somehow tempted us. We were inspired. And literally, the past 1 month was like a Roller Coaster ride, which was full of thrill and excitement for all of us.

At this point, I want to convey a message to all of our lecturers. Thank you sir and ma’am for letting us do the editing and designing work between your lectures. Without your help and co-operation, this was just not possible at all. And We assure you that, from this day onwards the so-called “magazine committee” will attend all the lecturers regularly.

Coming back to the story, Initially, We began with lot of brain-storming sessions. First and foremost issue was the naming the magazine. We wanted it to be young as well as technical. And as you can see, the name Byte served both the purposes. So, the name became, THE BYTE.

We proceeded further with deciding the sections and collecting articles for the magazine. Though, it was fun to be working with a group of 12 individuals. You may happen to know that when there are 12 people and all are working on a totally new task ….each one has something new to offer. When so many heads meet, everyone starts having a point.

I think…I am unable to count that how many times we have had real big debates while editing, designing and things where the question was who will do what?

What the team feels is that….the next time we watch a 3 hour movie, we are not going to find the flaws in it. Because now we know that why does the director need 1 or 2 years just to create 3 hour entertainment?

I remember how, we STARED at the monitors for hours while designing the inner pages. We had some real head-ache in settling on for the different page-formats, the borders, the alignments, and what not. Sometimes, we lost lot of data due to those scary viruses in pen-drives or simply due to load-shedding. We always scanned all the pen drives and we constantly reminded each other to keep pressing ctrl s, every few minutes. Sir has taught us a new lesson: Always have two things: Back-up and Buffer.

Once we completed this. We had another very important job. That was of printing. We have gone for a countless no. of times to the printing press. Deciding the best, but low-cost press, the right paper, the proper format. It was all so new. If not for The Byte, It was something we would have never experienced.

Just a couple of days back, finally the 400 copies of the magazine came fresh out of the press. And believe my words; the team’s joy knew no bounds. All the hard work seemed worth it. Infact, It’s a dream come true. As it happens commonly in all the stories, our story too became a success.

On a concluding note, I would say I feel honored to get the opportunity to stand and speak here today. Because if you ask any one of the team members to share their experiences, each one will willingly tell you this story with a different point of view. But, ultimately, all of us are a part of the same story or the same team, the team byte. All the things we have learned in this process will help us throughout our personal as well as professional life.

On behalf of the team, I urge the upcoming batch to be a part of this journey and contribute everything you can. Because friends, trust me, this is worth spending all the time in the world. You will learn while you enjoy. And lastly, when you see your own creation, you will realize its true value.

This is the first time that something like this is happening in our department. For the magazine, we believe, it’s just a beginning. It will improve with every next issue. We need to continue the story…with a greater spirit. That way, It will definitely go a long way.

This was all about our experience.

The team byte wishes all of you a good time reading The Byte.

Thanks a lot.”

Lots of cool new things are happening around. But something keeps me pricking: Why are people less interested in actually doing things and more inclined towards just getting the credit? Nobody wants to share the work. But everyone wants to share the credit. I just can’t understand. Why do all carry such attitude?

What’s more important for the person is that his/her name should appear in BOLD letters, regardless of how much quality work they contribute. Anywhere I go, I find the most common phenomena and that is: No matter what job I do, people should remember my name and appreciate my work. I have to be in the lime-light. All should see me in the fore-front. And I am left bewildered. I can only ask “But why?”

These kinds of people don’t even bother about the person who really deserves to get the applause. They are just bothered about marketing themselves. They keep secrets. They try to somehow make their presence felt. They pretend. They look artificial. They don’t help others thinking that if I help him/her; he/she might get better remarks than me. (What the heck!)

My personal experience says that the one who happens to be the real star prefers to remain quiet. For example: When people give a standing ovation to a dancer, the choreographer standing back-stage feels as if he is on cloud nine. He not even for once feels that he should be getting all the applause. “The man behind” believes in the old saying “Empty vessels makes more noise.”

They say public memory is short. People forget things very soon. If all believe this, then why are some so cautious of making sure that, “My name should be projected.” According to me, doing the work that you don’t think of as work, and enjoy doing it to the fullest is what really matters. The praises or popularity will eventually follow.
But this mind-set is so rare to find. People keep craving for selfish motives. Nobody does anything. I feel sorry for such people. To be precise:

• Can’t we be happy about the rich experience we get in the journey of creating something?
• Can’t we do things out of pure interest, merely as a pleasure or to just learn something new?
• Can’t we live in a co-operative society, rather than a credit co-operative society? :)

The institute OBB behind the camp that I recently attended had arranged a felicitation program. For this event some of my group members decided to do a skit which would portray the things we learnt at the camp and all the fun we had. Sir gave us precise instructions. But, we found that due to “space constraint” we will have to video shoot the whole thing. So this way, began our new adventure. Yeah, it was kind of an adventure.

One of my close friends at the camp came up with a fantastic & a comic idea for the play & we began working on the whole thing. This idea of writing the script was a really cool experience. I wrote the dialogues and the voice-over between the scenes. Though, we made lots of changes in it before finalizing.
The most wonderful experience was that of the video shooting day. This time we had a “time constraint.” We had to complete the shoot in just one day. And all the worst things that could happen to make us quit, did happen on that day.

We had to meet at 10:30 a.m. sharp at the OBB Office to collect the ruck-sacks and other things that we required for the shoot. But due to all the late-comers in the group, we reached there at around 11:30 a.m. We hastily collected all the stuff. Then the question arose as to how would we carry so much of load to our friend’s place. There were four of us and only 2 two-wheelers. The other was a bike. So I had to somehow manage to put it all on my scooter. It was pretty difficult to balance that between my two legs and drive the vehcile all the way without letting anything fall down.

After we reached the spot, we found the home locked. Our friend was at her college. We called her in desperation and she told that she is leaving and will reach there in a jiffy. We had already lost so much of time. So the other two guys said that we should wait outside the gates for our friend and they will go and bring the costumes on rent. And there we stood on the road, with a pile of rucksacks outside her home. (It looked as if someone had told us to abandon the house on a one-day notice) People moving about gave us strange looks.

After a while, I got a message from a friend which read: “The costume on-rent shop is closed. So we are going to some other place to find costumes.” We were in a fix. No costume meant No play. The so-called “other place” mentioned in the message was about 15kms away. We sat there wondering when they would return. We were again losing lots of precious time. Our hopes were dropping.

We planned to go ourselves to find some shops nearby her house. But to our bliss, that day, all shops either were closed or did not have the costumes. We came back home. We felt irritated. I suddenly got a message from this guy: “We‘ve got the costumes. We‘ll be there.” And I felt this line at that moment: “Hey ya, My joy knew no bounds!”

We began looking for the locations. Near that friend’s house is a small forest-like area. It’s really beautiful and we found it perfect for some scenes. We started deciding the locations. When we returned at her place again, we were admiring the weather and were thankful that it wasn’t all rainy that day.

By then, it was around 2:15 p.m. The guys who went to get the costumes had come back. We wasted no time in getting dressed. But by this time, little droplets of rain had began to fall down. We still thought that this was not real heavy rain and it would stop, once we reach at the forest to complete the outdoor scenes. When we left her house, people started to gather in the gardens or balcony because of our old-fashioned clothes. We made our way through it as fast as possible. We dreaded getting any further attention.

Later, when we had just entered the forest, it started raining like hell. We took a shelter of a tree. But it was useless. The rucksacks and costumes were getting wet. And we were all drenched. We were so idiots that we forgot even to take the umbrellas. We came back to her home half-walking and half-running. You can say, that then all our hopes of completing this were nearly shattered.
I was so wet that I thought why did I spend so much of time this morning ironing these clothes! I had to change in new clothes. I borrowed them from the same friend. After that every single person in her drawing room was thinking, “Why are we doing this?” All were exhausted. No one wanted to talk. I wished I had not bunked my college that day. Was this all worth it??

Just then the friend’s mom offered us tea. The tea was a treat at that moment. All drank non-hesitantly. And I should admit, that this tea thing is hot man! We decided to start working again after 15 minutes.

The rain was losing the grip. It was 3:40pm. We started the video-shoot. The process of arranging the handy cam on the stand and deciding the right-angles was cool. Everyone were excited for the first-shot. Soon we began to realize that when we watch a three-hour movie, we don’t understand why the film-makers take a year or more to complete it. We almost took 15 re-takes to complete just a 1minute scene. Every time some person busted out laughing. Well, It wasn’t their fault altogether because the dialogues that we wrote were simply hilarious. This way we started progressing.
Scene after scene, after every final take, we hi-fived and shouted. It was all fun. At around 6:30 p.m. all became terribly hungry. So some of them bought hot samosas. And we ate to the full extent. I don’t know why or how, but after eating, one gets a lot of energy to start with a new enthusiasm and spirit.

Another problem was that of the honking horns. There is so much of sound pollution in this city. I didn’t care about it before. When any shot was progressing so well, some stupid zooming car or an auto-rickshaw would blow loud horns and distract the whole scene. At other times, a cow or buffalo would make noise or a two-wheeler with no silencer would pass by. And we waited there making pathetic faces.

By 10:30pm at night, we had made it through. All were dying to do two things at that moment. 1.View the video shoot.
2. Go home and go to bed.
But, we chose the latter.

The felicitation ceremony went on very well. All our fellow camp participants (some of them had come from other cities just for a day) enjoyed the movie to the fullest. We were very proud of our work or should I say “ALL IN A DAY‘S WORK.”
I agree that getting medal or a certificate as a topper in academics is cool and great. But, the joy of doing something without any reason, seeing people enjoying and appreciating our work, when we are the showmen is even greater. It’s truly worth experiencing. (and yes truly worth bunking one day at the college.)

I have started liking fiction more than ever. Whenever I go to a book-store or library, I look for the non-fiction section. I find it more interesting to know about the real-life stories of real-life people.

I have read quite a few autobiographies. And to my surprise, I have always found a common-link in most of them & that thing is that, in all such stories, there is an “ordinary” boy/girl who has “extra-ordinary” dreams. This boy/girl is different from the crowd right from his/her young-age. Many-a-times, this boy/girl does some things casually or normally, that people think are abnormal. When the story moves on, you get to know that there is this boy/girl who describes the different events that he/she faces, which become the experience of a “lifetime” later on!

All of them are great tales, I must say. But, I still wonder why every story has just the same facts. Well I guess I will get to know when I write my own autobiography! :-P
Till then I hope that I get to find something different in other books.

They say, “That’s un-cool!“.
I say, “That’s so cool!“.

They say, “High speed on the road is thrill.”
I say, “Who’ll pay your hospital bill?”

They say, “I’ll see which career has better scope.”
I say, “Keep finding, you’ll only stay on hope.”

They say “This thing is “in-style“.”
I say, “I better make my own worth-while.”

They say, “Quotas are for the backward class.”
I say, “Who‘s more backward: the caste or the unemployed mass?”

They say, “Go and get yourself high heels fast.”
I say, “I would not prefer to fall over comfort that’ll last.”

They say, “I will have more opportunities abroad.”
I say, “Stay there and listen to your i-pod.”

They Say, “You gotta study whole day to get big score.”
I say, “Try quality work. You’ll get more.”

They say, “You haven‘t listened to this song?”
I say, “How could I care about every single ting-tong?”

They say, “You know my first crush was…..”
I say, “Give me a break. What‘s this all for?”

They say, “My son or daughter is now an NRI.”
I say, “Do they often call or meet you even to just say Hi!”

They say, “How can I do it all alone?”
I say, “Never mind. Charity begins at home.”

They say, “You don‘t have to be Jack of all trades & master of none!”
I say, “Then why do you want me to be an all-rounder known?”

They say, “I use the f-word almost 50 times a day!”
I say, “I know. You can‘t get better at something else, anyway.”

They say, “You are too sentimental & In controlling emotions you lack.”
I say, “I hate hiding my feelings. I reduce the possibility of heart-attack!”

They say, “Let’s flaunt a tattoo.”
I say, “It’s more of a taboo.”

They say, “It‘s a tough rat-race that firmly you have to face.”
I say, “Chill down. I will either run at my own pace or create a big mess.”

They say, “Grow up. Be mature and take responsibility.”
I say, “Stay young. Be smart and instill creativity.”

They say, “Funky clothes and accessories make one look cool.”
I say, “With that attire and the cheap English, you’ll look a complete fool.”

They say, “Why does your opinion always have to vary?”
I say, “What? Really? I thought I was ordinary.”

Actually, “They say” so many things to which I turn a deaf ear.
The good ones I pick. The rest I just let go.
Because, you know I had and will always have a “I say”. :)

It’s monsoon here.
Being confused is just another state of mind which I am unable to overcome since the rainy season has begun.

I find myself as the most confused person.
Sometimes, I do things completely out of reason.
I don’t think before doing. I ponder after it’s all done.
I like so many things. But if asked for a passion, I reluctantly say none.
The days and nights pass by. And I rise again to face the morning Sun.
It is all good to write. But, sometimes it’s no fun.
So you see, I am a totally confused person.
For now, I just wonder: How will I do in the long run?
(Note: Notice the usage of rhymes.)

This confusion always surrounds me.
Many-a-times I just don’t get how to behave with others or how to act and react.
When I am moving out, I don’t know what should I be wearing. (Actually, sometimes I don’t even know whether I should be moving out or not!)
At other times, I just pass my time wondering: Why am I doing this?
Because I realize that I should be/could be doing something else.
Sometimes, I am sitting in my room and I don’t know what should I be doing next.
I am unable to judge a person, whether he/she was/is/will be good. (Some people I know can tell this right away they meet someone new).
I precisely can’t tell the list of “my favorites!“. Huh!

I have read that this happens with so many people.
It may happen due to various reasons: Teen-age, Peer-Pressure etc…
So, I may not be the only person with these things on mind.
But then it hurts me to know that I think just like someone or somebody thinks just like me.

As I come to the end of this post , I am unable to decide whether I should really be publishing it! Heck! I am sick of this mental “dis---ease”.
But, I guess, it’s over-time now. I am on, to make some changes in my mental processor.
The processor’s speed is highly good (considering the pace at which thoughts get inside and leave my mind). But the internal circuitry has a serious problem.
May be it’s just that the rain-water is getting inside and damaging the whole thing.
I hope I get over this thing soon enough....

When I am typing these words, I can view the snow-clad mountains right before my eyes. I can still hear the gushing sound of the river in my ears, I can feel the cold wind. Yep, that’s the impact it has made on me.

I had been to 15-day trekking camp with a group of over 50 people in the Himalayas along with an organization called “Outward Bound Bharat”. Our final destination was Kafni glacier. But, even though the destination was the coolest place I have ever seen, it’s the journey up till there, is something that has made all the difference. As I try to jot down my experience, I feel, “Why did it all have to end so soon!”

Firstly, I encountered the feeling of being really far away from the house. No! Not because of the physical distance. But, due to the fact that all you get to know, when you are amidst those mountains, is that "Now, you are on your own, no matter what!"

We began our 104 kms long trek (Read again: Hundred and four kilometers trek!) at a place called Tsong. I can’t call it a village because all that place had was a small shop…the only landmark. As we started heading up through he hills and valleys with those BIG rucksacks on our backs, I felt, “Hey, where have I come? What am I doing?”

People normally get paid for carrying luggage from one place to another. And here I was pushing myself ahead with so much of weight on my shoulders, even after paying a huge amount of money. But strangely, I didn’t complain, I moved on.

And then, even though I was so tired that I was unable to put a single foot forward, the view almost took my breath away…. I stood there facing those huge mountains, some green, some brown, some white with snow & I was left spellbound.

The vastness, The greatness, The magnificence that the scene offered can’t be described here, in words. I have heard people say that when you stand facing an ocean, you realize how small and tiny you are. But this is not what I felt. I saw before my eyes the Nature in it’s true and pure form. Though I was far away from my home, I felt being really close to it. That was the moment when I thought, ”To come to the camp….is one of the wisest decisions I‘ve ever made!”

Later when we had completed a huge part of the trek, our Sir declared that we had a 1km down trek to one of our rest houses situated at Dhakuri (about 2,700 meters above sea level). My legs were aching so badly and I was clearly able to hear the sound of my own fast and deep inhalation. I was unable to make out how much distance we had covered or how much was left. Just when I was rushing down on my toes down the road between the thick green forest, I remembered the lines from a famous poem by Roger Frost:

I have always doubted my physical strength since childhood. I was never sure whether I could do something that needed a lot of physical strength. Thus, at that moment when I was losing the confidence in myself, when I wondered about will I make it till the end that day…I saw the faded view of Dhakuri getting clearer through the space between those huge trees, I practically ran up till there!

I was so overjoyed at the fact that I had made it, that I was helpless to control the tears rolling down my eyes. Though I quickly wiped them off to make sure nobody had seen them, I definitely had learnt my lesson that day.
I heard the little voice in my mind repeat the lines:

You never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit.
It's when things seem worse, That you must not quit!