An excited gathering of students assembled to listen to former President A P J Abdul Kalam when he took the stage at the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur on Saturday.
Replying to a question on which role of life he has enjoyed the most, Kalam said being a teacher had been his dream and he became President to market his dream of developing India by 2020.
Given the occasion was the golden jubilee of the school and the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the former President quoted Vivekananda several times during the interaction.
Kalam asked the students to acquire knowledge, inculcate creativity, be righteous and courageous and have an indomitable spirit.
Kalam also faced difficult questions from the students, whom he described as responsive and intelligent. “What does ‘Buddha smiles’ mean and how can nuclear arms bring peace?” asked a student. Kalam replied: “Peace smiles and when all countries around us have nuclear weapons it is better to acquire them, as strength respects strength.”
The former President smiled when none of the students present raised their hands when asked how many of them wanted to be a politician. Later, replying to a question on why Presidents and Prime Ministers are old, Kalam said if the youth is not involved in developmental politics, how could they expect young people to lead the country? Kalam had answers for every question — from campus violence to his happiest and saddest moments in life. The former President asked the students to “navigate their time properly”. He chanted the four-fold mantra of success, saying it involved goal setting, acquiring knowledge, hard work and perseverance.
He also felicitated the heads of 10 schools, which are celebrating their centenaries, and released a special cover to mark the golden jubilee celebrations.
[Source: Express India]
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Monday, January 14, 2008
Dr Kalam addresses students at Narendrapur
Monday, October 8, 2007
Subho Pujo
Aar daWsh din por-e pujo.
Tar mane, paanch din pore mahalaya, shokal chArte-te ghum theke uthe akashbani-r shei haunting tune ta. Aar aro haunting oi "matlo re bhuban, bajlo tomar alor benu". bochorer ai ekta din coffee allowed chilo..i wish, i really wish.
joy goswami ekbar likhechilo:
shorir anonde pure khak,
kal bhore ponchishe bosihakh"...
Economy of words, so powerful. Ei raate anonde pure khak howa, kal bhore mohaloya; eta ekta habit chilo, ekta obhyash. I wish again.
Narendrapur-e shokal charte-te uthe radio shonar dour kokhono hoyeni (block-er kone maharaj-er ghorer shamne, dining hall e worker ra, onek jayegate kintu sujog chhilo )...kintu shedin shokale prayer hall-e ekta lomba "oi giri nandini, nandito medini, bishwa birupini, nandanu te" hoto. Abaar shei shorir anonde pure khak. Dilipda, jituda-r ekta pet gaan chilo -- "dosh haate oi, dosh dike ma, choriye elo anondo, ghore ferar bajlo banshi, boichhe batash shumndo..anondo re, anondo" -- i could literally hear the banshi. Shedin amader usually monthly test-er last exam thakto. Seshob mathaye uthechhe...bari kokhon jabo....ar shai bari ferar pothe raater kolkata...raastar mor-e mor-e pandel bandha hoye gechhe...jeno ek ekta jomat bandha anondo.
deshantori chele meye,
mayer kole elo dheye,
shishir nir-e elo neye,
snigdho okal boshonto,
anondo re, anondo"
.... deshantori chhele, huhh...i wish, i sincerely wish.
Shebar, 1997 er pujo. Shei usual madox square-e shobai meet korechhi. Atri (chasha), arunabha onek deri kore elo. Partha (traang) sharadin-er jonno esechilo, raate bari firbe bolchhe. Anindya (Gupi) aar aami chesta chalachhi oke kono bhabe atke rakhar. Shara raat theke kalke shokal shokal kete porlai to holo. Naa, Jagulia naki onek beshi cool. Chasha-o bolchhe thakte parbe na--borojor raat barota. Beriye pora jak tahole. Ekta anonde shorir ta purchhe...this collective happiness...pujor lighting e notun jama gulo kemon adbhut onnorokom dekhaye. Moloy bolchhe bari firbe. trang-ke kichhutei raji korano jachhe na. Gupi ekhon phik phik kore haschhe. Thik achhe, porer bochor ar jholash na. Porer bochor hobe; aschhe bochor abar hobe....
I wish i knew that was going to be my last pujo till date, ten years...i wish, i wish from the depth of my soul.
Aamar mayer mukher haashi,
sharat aalor kiron raashi
komol bone uthchhe bhashi,
mayer gayer shugondho,
anondo re, anondo
"shubho pujo" to all of you...
Author: Saikat (Ghota) Ghosh is a 1993 madhyamik alumnus, presently doing his Post Doctorate in MIT, USA.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Blind Boys academy: a success story
At Sealdah, keeping track of train movements, separated travellers or even sounding simple alerts are six visually-challenged persons who come to the aid of the commuters, making nearly a thousand announcements a day on an average.
Trained at Narendrapur Blind Boys academy and Calcutta Blind school - Arup Chakraborty, Ranjit Choudhury, Dilip Bala, Pradip Dey, Polly Bhattacharya and Manju Basak are the members of this announcement team at Sealdah, which functions from the control room of the divisional railway manager. Middle-aged, some married and with grown up children, these Eastern Railway employees work together with their colleagues, doing the same hours, and refuse special treatment.
Here is the full article on Kolkata newsline.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Narendrapur on radar of high investments
According to recent reports, Kolkata has left behind other metros in terms of real estate investments. cheap living costs despite high growth is what attracting the real estate developers to the city, who have identified Garia-Narendrapur, Behala-Joka and Howrah as three major locations where development growth will see high escalations in the coming days.
Here is the report published in The Statesman.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Where is thy Green?
On the way back to hostel after the summer / puja vacations, Kamalgazi used to be my breaking point. My sensors could acutely catch that smell of wet green as soon as our car would drive past the area. At this point, the sense of returning-to-the-cage was so overwhelming that the vast emptiness around the campus would grip me hard. Later, as i grew up, this would turn into a sense of peace as soon as the wheels would reach Mandir Gate. It was then, a bliss, within the world of screeching horns, dirt and noise. Little did I anticipate that this bliss would eventually be grapled by the polluted resonance of the city? Today, Narendrapur has completely lost its neighboring serenity, which eventually are making impacts on its own environment. The Realtors are baying for every inch as the area is attracting investments thanks to the metro extension to Garia.
I wonder - down the line, 25 years from now, will there exist a 160 acre green campus?
Here is an interesting analysis by Business Standard on the current real-estate scenario on newly emerging Calcutta.
