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Here is an ode to lost romance, in the time of busy kitchens, offices, and homes. The title is borrowed from Eliot's poem The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/picturepurrfect685/5442962418
Here is an ode to lost romance, in the time of busy kitchens, offices, and homes. The title is borrowed from Eliot’s poem The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock.
The Love Song of J. Sadhana Prakash
Office,
Chapatis, onions, potatoes and salt
Know no halt.
In her tired musings
Sad Sadhana sought her spouse
In that never-never land,
In high green grass
Trailing billowing silks,
She beckons,
Leads and follows
In turns.
In the led life
An arena had become the house,
Not a moment to relax,
That reminds her
She has to prepare the details of income tax
Office, chapaties , onions, potatoes and salt know no halt.
It’s six o’ clock.
Hurry, hurry
Tiffins to pack,
Kids to send to school,
House to lock,
The maid hasn’t come.
In the bus she hopes for a seat
To rest her already tired feet.
It’s six o’clock.
Dinner to cook,
Homework to supervise,
The furniture to be dusted,
The sweet-nothings had become rusted
Long out of use.
She tried her best
But civil wars always bust the bubble
Leaving behind the forlorn rubble.
Cold shoulders
Gradually turned the bed cold.
The constant worry –
I hope I haven’t forgotten the pill –
Otherwise,
I’ll have to face the abortionist’s scalpel,
Turn the weakly dose
All the more chilled
Once, the plan for ‘our two’ was fulfilled.
What a hassle it was
Planning pregnancy
Getting leave and a bed in hospital
The round of ‘ayahs’ and crèches
Had become nightmarish.
Office, chapaties, onions, potatoes and salt, know no halt
With the changed social role
Sadhana resents she was born a female
And he a male.
The children to bear
To rear,
The house to run,
Money to earn
Force her to ask the overwhelming question –
Is it worth it – this all?
Will there ever be a time
When she will bid goodbye
To her dreams, indecisions?
Putting on a brave face,
Smiling,
But who won’t, can’t forgo a chance
To throw a lance
At him.
(Perhaps, a resultant of her tensions?)
And the emotion
To which the spring, the air, the very season contributes,
Eludes them.
They have almost forgotten the first flush.
Hurled accusations, a sense of being cheated remain.
In the never-never land
Trailing billowing silks
She beckons
In turn.
Pic credit: Picturepurrfect (Used under a CC license)
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Children should be taught to aspire to be successful, but success doesn't have to mean an IIT admission only!
Imagine studying for 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 whole years for the JEE exam only to find out that there’s only a very, very slim chance of getting into an IIT. It is a fact widely acknowledged that the IIT-JEE is one of the toughest exams not just in India but in the whole world. Apart from IITs, the NITs and IIITs of India also accept the JEE scores for admission. There are said to be a total of 23 IITs, 31 NITs and 25 IIITs across the country.
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So, it’s quite clear that the journey of making it through IIT is as challenging as the journey of getting into an IIT. Third and most important of all, the acceptance rate or the odds of getting into an IIT are below 3% which is a lot lower than the acceptance rate of highly and very highly ranked US universities. Four, getting into an IIT of one’s choice doesn’t mean one will also get into a branch of one’s preference at that IIT.
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