1

"The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed." - Henry Ford

2

"Winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts." - Sylvester Stallone

3

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." - Booker T. Washington

4

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle

5

"Forget yourself and start to work." - Gordon B. Hinckley

1

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." - Ralph Nader

2

"Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work." - Booker T. Washington

3

"Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential." - John Maxwell

4

"The man who moved a mountain was the one who began carrying away small stones." - Chinese Proverb

5

"Your success and happiness lie in you." - Helen Keller

1

"Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." - Mark Twain

2

"Every achiever I have ever met says, 'My life turned around when I began to believe in me.'" - Robert Schuller

3

"You say I started out with practically nothing, but that isn't correct. We all start with all there is. It's how we use it that makes things possible." - Henry Ford

4

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief
becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen." - Claude M. Bristol

5

"Life is a series of problem-solving opportunities. The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you depending on how you respond to them." - Rick Warren

I hear with my faint ears
the powerful voice of thee
I see through my dim eyes
the majestic frame of thee
I imagine with my weak brain
the days I had lived with thee

thee hands have I held
and roamed around these busy streets
thee eyes do I search
all around now
but in vain

hundreds of beautiful stories
did I hear from thee, when I was a child
and how could I forget those

it was thee
who showered on me
utmost love and care
and moulded my mind
with thine
it was on thy sacrifice
this lineage survives still

it was thy affection that I longed for
your laps were my pillows
and your belly my punching bags

my dear grandfather,
the day when I died, was when you died
while I was still alive

the potful of your ash
that they gave
took myself
into my grave

where is your voice now
where are your stories now
and where is my companion

where can I hear back
your deep snorings
your loud laughter
and
your wise sayings

still
couldnot I find an answer to the puzzle
that you had thrown to me
and
still
couldnot I trace an end to the story
that you had half-told
before you died

still still still
and still I couldnot find an answer to the puzzle
that this life has thrown on me
and
why should I miss you?

the togetherness that we felt
and the moments that we shared
will ever remain
in my memory
my beloved grandfather...

                                - Ariv.

26

Coal is the single biggest component for Thermal Power generators, typically accounting for ____ of input costs.

Answer: 60-70%

27

Fuel Management supply chain consists of:

a. Fuel Planning,
b. Fuel Sourcing,
c. Logistics Management,
d. Bulk Handling,
e. Yard (Stockpile/ Inventory) Management and
f.  Overall Quality Management.

28

A better fuel management framework, if followed in power stations, has the potential to reduce the fuel supply chain costs by ____.

Answer: 7-12%.

29

Coal Logistics and Inventory management includes:

a. Supply chain optimization,
b. Demurrage reduction,
c. Quantity loss reduction,
d. Freight sourcing and negotiation,
e. Inventory reduction etc.

30

Coal quality management includes:

a. Tracking of coal quality across supply chain,
b. Reduction of GCV losses by proper yard layout,
c. FIFO practices and
d. Stockpile management practices.


31

What are resin traps?

Resin traps are a safety device used on the outlet pipelines of ion exchange units, high-purity water systems and activated carbon and media filters.

In many systems, a valve failure can allow media to escape from the treatment vessel.

Hence, resin traps are installed primarily to capture the media from escaping out of the treatment vessel.

Not only is the loss of this media expensive, it can easily cause damage to downstream pumping equipment.

A resin trap is used on service outlet and backwash lines.

32

What are Ion-Exchange systems?

Ion exchange systems are used for efficient removal of dissolved ions from water.

Ion exchangers exchange one ion for another, hold it temporarily, and then release it to a regenerant solution.

In an ion exchange system, undesirable ions in the water supply are replaced with more acceptable ions.

For example, in a sodium zeolite softener, scale-forming calcium and magnesium ions are replaced with sodium ions.

33

What is an Ion-Exchange process?

Ion exchange process is an exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex.

Ion exchange is a reversible process and the ion exchanger can be regenerated or loaded with desirable ions by washing with an excess of these ions.

In most cases, the term is used to denote the processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or mineralic 'ion exchangers'.

Ion exchange is widely used in the food & beverage, hydrometallurgical, metals finishing, chemical & petrochemical, pharmaceutical, sugar & sweeteners, ground & potable water, nuclear, softening & industrial water, semiconductor, power, and a host of other industries.

Most typical example of application is preparation of high purity water for power engineering, electronic and nuclear industries.

Ion exchange is a method widely used in household (water filters) to produce soft water.

34

What are Y-strainers?

Y type strainers are used to remove solids from flowing fluids or gases by means of perforated sheet or wire mesh straining element.

Y type are suggested to use where the solid % is less in quantity.

  

The dirt or foreign particle holding capacity is less than compared to Basket Strainer.

These strainers are very compact and can be used in horizontal, vertical lines.

35

What are Basket strainers?

Basket strainers feature top removal of the screen. The screen is in the form of a basket, with a lifting handle, so that all particulate captured and retained by the screen can be easily removed for disposal.

Basket strainers are intended for applications where large amounts of solid particulates are expected, and where clean-out would be more frequent.

There are mainly two types of basket strainers: (a) Simplex type and (b) Duplex type.

a)    Simplex type Basket strainers:

Simplex basket strainers are used where the line can be shut down for short periods to clean or change baskets.

Simplex pipeline basket strainers are used in piping applications where a greater screen area to pipe area ratio is required. By providing a greater screen area than a Y-strainer, one can optimize the total open area and minimize the potential pressure loss through the basket.

Simplex strainers are used to protect pipelines, valves, and spray nozzles from water flow problems. They reduce the necessity for frequent cleaning and provides a cost and time saving benefit with less downtime.

b)    Duplex Type Basket Strainers:

Duplex type basket strainers are used in continuous flow applications where the process cannot be shut down for cleaning.

Some examples are lubrication systems, industrial or marine oil burners, chemical plants, cooling lines in power plants, compressors, condensers, ink supply lines to printing presses, and for water lines to cooling towers and pumping stations.

The primary benefit of a duplex basket strainer is to provide uninterrupted downtime for maintenance and cleaning.

This type of basket strainer has two separate strainer basket chambers that operate    dependently. When one basket chamber becomes full, the flow is switched to the other allowing the first basket to be pulled out and cleaned.

A duplex basket strainers are ideal for applications where pipelines cannot be shut down for basket change out. 

1

The United Nations (UN) estimates that by 2050, ____ of the World’s population will live in nations that are short of Water.

Answer: Half

2

Shortage of Water = Demand for Water - Availability of Water

3

What do you mean by the term 'Water footprint' of an individual?

Water footprint of an individual is the sum of one's direct and indirect freshwater use.

[Water footprint = Direct water usage + Indirect water usage].

4

Direct water usage:

The direct water use is the volume of freshwater used by an individual, at home.

5

Indirect water usage:

Indirect water use relates to the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed.

6.

Water availability scenario for India:

The per capita availability of water at national level has been reduced from about 5177 cubic meters in 1951, to the estimated level of 1,820 cubic meters in 2001, with the variation in water availability in different river basins.

Given the projected increase in population by the year 2025, the per capita availability is likely to drop to below 1,000 cubic meters, which could be labeled as a situation of water scarcity.

7

Can the Municipal Treated Sewage Water, used as make up water for CW system, in Thermal power plants?

Yes. However, the extent of re-treatment before utilization in a thermal power plant, would depend on the quality of municipal treated sewage water that is being made available for utilization.

8

A Steam Thermal power plant operates on _____ Cycle.

Answer: Rankine

9

What is a Thermodynamic Cycle?

A Thermodynamic Cycle is a series of thermodynamic processes which returns a system to its initial state.

10

What is Thermodynamics?

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics concerned with heat and temperature, and their relation to energy and work.

11

What is a Process?

The operation by which a system changes form one state to another is called a Process.

12

What is a Thermodynamic Process?

A Thermodynamic Process is an operation by which a thermodynamic system changes from one state to another (i.e. from an initial state to a final state).

Whenever a thermodynamic system changes from one state to another, it is accompanied by change in energy.

In case of open systems, in addition to the change in energy of the final state of the system, there would also be a change of matter/ mass to the system.

13

What is a Thermodynamic State?

A Thermodynamic State is the macroscopic condition of a thermodynamic system, as described by its particular thermodynamic properties or variables.

For fluid systems, typical thermodynamic properties or variables, are pressure, volume and temperature, etc.,

The thermodynamic state of a system is fully defined or identified, by values of a suitable set of measurable properties, known as thermodynamic state properties or variables.

14

What is a Thermodynamic System?

A thermodynamic system is the content of a macroscopic volume in space, along with its walls and surroundings, in which thermodynamic processes takes place, according to the principles of thermodynamics.

A thermodynamic system is a quantity of matter of fixed identity, around which we can draw a boundary.

The boundaries may be fixed or moveable.

Work or heat can be transferred across the system boundary.

15

What is an 'open thermodynamic system'?

When either Work or Heat, or both along with mass can be transferred across the system boundary, it is called an open thermodynamic system or an 'open system'.

16

What is a 'closed thermodynamic system'?

When either Work or Heat or both, can be transferred across the system boundary and not the mass, it is called a closed thermodynamic system or a 'closed system'.

17

What is an 'isolated thermodynamic system'?

When nothing can be transferred (neither Work nor Heat nor mass) across the system boundary, it is called an isolated thermodynamic system or an 'isolated system'.

18

What is called the 'Surroundings' to a system?

Everything outside the boundary of the system, is called the 'surroundings' of the system.

19

What is an 'Universe'?

The 'system' and the 'surroundings' together constitutes the 'Universe'.

20

What is a 'Thermodynamic property'?

A quantity or a variable or a parameter, which is an attribute of an entire system, and which defines the state of the system is called a 'Thermodynamic property'.

Examples are temperature, pressure, volume, concentration, surface tension, and viscosity etc.,

21

Thermodynamic properties are divided into two broad types: _______ & _______.

Answer: Intensive properties and Extensive properties.

22

What is an 'Extensive property'?

An 'Extensive property' is any thermodynamic property, that depends on the size (or extent) of the system under consideration.  

Example: volume, mass, energy etc.,

23

What is an 'Intensive property'?

An 'Intensive property' is any thermodynamic property, that can exist at a point in space, and which does not depend on the size of the system under consideration.    

Example: temperature, pressure, density etc.,

24

What is Acid rain?

Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, and is  a result of air pollution.

It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure.

25

How is Acid rain formed?

Acid rain is caused by release of SOX and NOX from combustion of fossil fuels, which then mix with water vapour in atmosphere to form sulphuric and nitric acids respectively.

Song of The Flower

I am a kind word uttered and repeated
By the voice of Nature;
I am a star fallen from the
Blue tent upon the green carpet.
I am the daughter of the elements
With whom Winter conceived;
To whom Spring gave birth; I was
Reared in the lap of Summer and I
Slept in the bed of Autumn.

At dawn I unite with the breeze
To announce the coming of light;
At eventide I join the birds
In bidding the light farewell.

The plains are decorated with
My beautiful colors, and the air
Is scented with my fragrance.

As I embrace Slumber the eyes of
Night watch over me, and as I
Awaken I stare at the sun, which is
The only eye of the day.

I drink dew for wine, and hearken to
The voices of the birds, and dance
To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.

I am the lover's gift; I am the wedding wreath;
I am the memory of a moment of happiness;
I am the last gift of the living to the dead;
I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.

But I look up high to see only the light,
And never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn.

                                     - Khalil Gibran

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SAVE OUR MOTHER EARTH

BUREAU OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

1

"The key to happiness is having dreams; the key to success is making them come true." - James Allen

2

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." - Edgar Allen Poe

3

"Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world." - Oscar Wilde

4

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers." - Orison Swett Marden

5

"All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose." - Brian Tracy

1

"The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work." - Arthur
Brisbane

2

"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted." - David Bly

3

"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier

4

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action." - Anthony Robbins

5

"One must have strategies to execute dreams." - Azim Premji

The ugliest of the ugly places I have ever been
which was worst than a stinking ditch
and
horrible than a hell
was
my own mind

the most beautiful among the places I have ever been
which was wonderful than the heaven that I had imagined
and
the most peaceful place in this earth
also
was my own mind.

                    - Ariv.

Even if I see you leaving me
and moving to an unknown land
which you do not want it
to be disclosed to me
please allow yourself at least
to stay in my memories

I know you are afraid
that I would start searching for you
again
and that a painful life
may follow us both
as both our families are
dogs and cats over us

never know
how would I lead a life
without you
and the disconnect that we may face
sure would have my life pass in discontentment

but
believe me
I would lead a life
that would make you proud
whenever you see me again

                                  - Ariv.

1

"Henry Ford could get anything out of men because he just talked and would tell them stories. He'd never say, 'I want this done!' He'd say, 'I wonder if we can do it.'" - George Brown

2

"The difference between success and mediocrity is all in the way you think." - Dean Francis

3

"Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity." - Joseph Sugarman

4

"The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been." - Alan Ashley-Pitt

5

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." - Albert Einstein

It was in May.
The sultry noon seemed endlessly long. The dry earth gaped with thirst in the heat.
When I heard from the riverside a voice calling, "Come, my darling!"
I shut my book and opened the window to look out.
I saw a big buffalo with mud-stained hide standing near the river with placid, patient eyes; and a youth, knee-deep in water, calling it to its bath.
I smiled amused and felt a touch of sweetness in my heart.

                                                        - Rabindranath Tagore

1

"The history of the world is the history of a few people who had faith in themselves." - Swami Vivekananda

2

"Ability may take you to the top, but it takes character to stay there." - William Blake

3

"To move the world we must first move ourselves." - Socrates

4

"The only difference between a success and a failure is that the successful person is willing to do what the failure is not willing to do." - J.R. Ridinger

5

"I studied the lives of great men and women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work." - Harry S.Truman

Rain was my friend
and I was fond of this rain

my friend was this rain
and I was fond of my friend

I had this strange sixth sense feel
start from my childhood
and when i felt it would rain
it will
it doesn't matter whether the day was
amidst a spell of heat wave or a cold wave

to say that simple and short
it rained at my will
and it's true

the scent of the soil
would announce its arrival

the umbrellas
the rain coats
the paper boats
and all would be welcoming my friend

rain was my friend
and I was fond of my friend

busy riders trying to get away
from the sudden gush of rain
and the proactive ones busy finding
covered sheds around to stay beneath

the prevailing happiness multiplies
when schools declare holiday
predicting a heavy downpour

there could never be a good reason
than this to celebrate
this phenomena called rain

a lot did we enjoy
when rain was around the corner
the dark sky
whirlpool winds
a cool breeze
lovely drizzle
and then comes my rain

rain was my friend
and I was fond of my friend

a reason to rejoice
a fortune to farmers
an absolute delight
to watch this wonderful union
when it wets this soil back
to where it once belonged

huge did it pour
and more did we watch
through those wooden windows
the earth drenched with rain
and
this heart drenched with joy

delightful rain baths
despite my mother's warnings
would put me down with
cold and fever
with a running nose
did I run to school
fearing not to miss my classes
...

couldn't I feel that rain back
when I enjoyed endlessly
dancing in the rain
as an innocent kid

rain was my friend
and I was fond of this rain

rain was my friend
and I am missing him now...

oh!
and yes
it has started to rain now...

                                 - Ariv.

1

"A good criterion for measuring success in life is the number of people you have made happy." - Robert J. Lumsden

2

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed." - Napoleon Hill

3

"I've always tried to go one step past wherever people expected me to end up." - Beverly Sills

4

"Be humble always and identify with the common man; even when success and achievements want to make you proud." - Bishop Leonard Umunna

5

"You've got to win in your mind before you win in your life." - John Addison

1

"I don't have to be what nobody else wants me to be and I am not afraid to be what I want to be." - Muhammad Ali

2

"It is in the small decisions you and I make every day that create our destiny." - Anthony Robbins

3

"No matter how small, acknowledge the achievement." - Greg Henry Quinn

4

"I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." - Frank Lloyd Wright

5

"People who are afraid to fail can never experience the joys of success." - Pete Zafra

1

"In order to succeed you must fail so that you know what not to do the next time." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

2

"The highest reward for one's toil is not what one gets for it, but what one becomes by it." - John Ruskin

3

"Teamwork is the long word for success." - Jacquelinemae A. Rudd

4

"Success is achieved by those who try and keep trying with a positive mental attitude." - W. Clement Stone

5

"Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." - Jim Rohn

1

"Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds." - Charles Lindbergh

2

"I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win - if you don't you won't." - Bruce Jenner

3

"If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure." - David Ambrose

4

"The biggest temptation is to settle for too little." - Thomas Merton

5

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much." - Bessie Anderson Stanley

1

"Success is never ending, failure is never final." - Dr. Robert Schuller

2

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." - Colin Powell

3

"Enthusiasm is the steam that drives the engine." - Napoleon Hill

4

"One man with courage is a majority." - Andrew Jackson

5

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching." - Mark Twain

1

"Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own efforts. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success." - Stephen Covey

2

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi

3

"You will never find time for anything. You must make it." - Charles Buxton

4

"Anything in life worth having is worth working for." - Andrew Carnegie

5

"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napoleon Hill

1

"Not many people are willing to give failure a second opportunity. They fail once and it is all over. The bitter pill of failure is often more than most people can handle. If you are willing to accept failure and learn from it, if you are willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you have got the essential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces." - Joseph Sugarman

2

"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom." - George Patton

3

"The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do." - Dennis Waitley

4

"Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others." - Danny Thomas

5

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." - Norman Vincent Peale

1

"Success often comes to those who dare to act. It seldom goes to the timid who are ever afraid of the consequences." - Jawaharlal Nehru

2

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

3

"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and
enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass!" - Paul J. Meyer

4

"You just can't beat the person who never gives up." - Babe Ruth

5

"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" - Brian Tracy

1

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals." - Booker T. Washington

2

"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." - Peter A. Cohen

3

"Obstacles are those frightful things you can see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

4

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision." - Muhammad Ali

5

"A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.

He said, 'I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, violent one, the other wolf is the loving compassionate one.'

The grandson asked him, 'Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?'

The grandfather answered, 'The one I feed.' - Blackhawk

We won't give it back
we won't give it back

for
this is the pride
of 1.3 billion people

loud do we chant
'come on India'
love that we pour
on the nation,
on the game
and the team

don't give that back
in four years
that you won toiling
in twenty eight years

with only two matches
between
you and the cup
our expectations
and our emotions raise

win, win and win
is all that we want
we wish you
with our billion hearts
to stay there,
to win and
lift the cup
that we love

we won't give it back
and
we won't give it back...

(Wishing the Indian Cricket team...)

                                             - Ariv.

All say that
you are 70% of me

you never appear
though
most of us long for you
why do you desert us
and create more deserts

when some of us need you not
why do you flood
with your evil eyes
say me
why do you play
such hide and seeks

sometimes
you go deep under the earth
and is not be found,
even if searched deep down
at times
you spring out to dance
without notice

a poor man
having nothing to eat
would only find you
you fill our stomachs
as you fill our earth

why should not we pray for you
for
you are the cause of life
and you are our savior

you remain in our blood
till we remain
and will continue to remain
in all these fauna,
and all these flora
for times to come

you are so wonderful, and
that you remain a mystery to many
doesn't surprise me

couldn't I imagine
a world without you

how can I trace your history back
is oxygen your mother
and
hydrogen your father

all say that
you are 70% of me

water
was all that
I was saying about.

                     - Ariv.

You never know my pains
you never know my cries
you never know my worries
you never know my mind
you never know my heart
you never know my past
you never know the truth
you never know me
and
you never knew yourself
either.

- Ariv.

Just wait
I'm there

Just wait
don't cry

Just wait
I'll feed you

just wait
I'll teach you

Just wait
I'll read for you

Just wait
I'll play with you

Just wait
do this
and
don't do this

Just wait
I'll take care of you

Just wait
this'll take care of you

always wait
I am there for you
my beloved child

- by your mother.

                 - Ariv.

Your cute face
your sweet smile
your lovely kiss
your soft hands
your funny laugh
your warm wishes
your clever demands
your true thanks
your brilliant ideas
your wonderful speech
your beautiful world

I love you
my sweet little child.

                       - Ariv.

What you think you are
only matters to you
than
what others think about you
who you are -  a child

what others think you are
only matters to you
than
what you think about yourself
who you are - a schoolboy

what others think you are
matters to you more than
what you think about yourself
who you are - a teenager

what you think you are
matters to you more than
what others think about you
who you are - a married man

what you think you are
and
what others think about you
who you are
equally matters to you - a complete man.

                                                       - Ariv.

My decisions were incorrect,
they lacked far-sightedness
and you brought depth to it

you allowed me to re-consider the situation
and analyse things in a way that I haven't before
you brought the third dimension
that I had missed so far
in my problem solving

I had a problem
and I was a problem
You solved my problem
and then you became my problem
what to say

where did you learn
this ocean of knowledge
that you possess

so powerful are you
I couldn't stand before you
even though I am miles apart
I follow you with my mind and heart.
         
                                                 - Ariv.

I am an average Indian fan
when it comes to cricket

when is the match
between whom and whom
where is that to happen
what would be the team like
and who would likely be taking this trophy

what's their record
at home and away
heads to heads, and
tails to tails

heads or tails
who calls first, and
who won the toss
bat or bowl
bad or beautiful
all stats starts rolling out
and all analysis done before
in the minds of an average Indian fan
just like me
even before the players
themselves think

(and when the cricket fever is just around the corner
just thought of penning this one for all those Indian fans,
and
when I said fever, I recollect
I really fell sick with fever for the past three days
Oh! what a coincidence,
when cricket was played around a corner of this world - in Aus & NZ)

I still remember the B&H 1992 world cup
that was played in Aus & NZ
when I was doing my schooling then

those days
the TVs had only 10 channels
as factory settings
and nothing much more than that

and even then
there was only one
like a dawn, the DD
which did do a live relay

there was no star sports now
I learn that even star sports has many versions
star sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on...now
such was our situation then
but we still loved it

there was no cricinfo then
where you clickinfo
as you like, now and then

our only cricinfo was by then
through a knockinfo
that would mean
knowing the score by
knocking the door of my friend
when even we weren't having a telephone
to call and ask
what's the score?

by the way,
knockinfo mostly worked successfully
as we used to get the score of knocks made by the batsman,
but sometimes
it even did have its side effects
when we used to get knocks on our heads as wickets
for the knocks made on their doors
by my friend's fathers, who were wickeds

and even my father was not an exception
the first one to deny me watching and playing cricket matches
and his curse had anyway proved to be true

"you'll fall short of marks in your IIT exams,
and that'll be because of you playing and watching these useless
matches, you'll not understand now, but certainly later"
and that was the curse
the curse for my lifetime
and when he said
he should have really meant it
I wasn't able to understand then

the curse succeeded
the facts proved that his words were in fact true
as the curse became true now

I failed
and I became false
before him
my head got down
my shoulders drooped

I had only one option then
to leave my love for cricket
for the next 5-6 years and
concentrate on my studies

took my father's words as
words that were to be written on gold
spent my college days
without wasting a second

went on to top my college
did higher studies
got a decent job

restored my interest back in cricket
and now I watch matches
along with my father
who is more than happy to see me successful

his curse for me
at that point of time
made me understand
the importance of
prioritising things in life

certainly cricket at that time
when I was a student
should not have been my priority
and I shouldn't have spent most of my time
playing and watching
I still rue that

but no worries
a happy end
to the story
and
to my career as well

my old love for cricket didn't die
it still is
someone ever said, old love never dies
he said it
and I feel it
my love for cricket...

To all those Dear teenagers who are getting cursed by their fathers for watching and playing cricket before their exams, just how I was once by my father:

My father's curse had rather improved my life
and for that matter
I now understand that
none of our father's curse would ruin our life

rather it would only allow us to succeed
if we listen to them
and understand their real meaning

if we deeply think
there can be no one else
than our parents who are more interested
in creating a better future for us

respecting them would
get us an opportunity
to lead a respectable career and life too.
                                           
Yours sincerely
Ariv.

Teacher,
I am a hit today
because of the hitting
that I had received from you
during my school days

those corrected me
those changed me, and
those made me think

just think now
how much you cared for me
and
how simple you made me understand
every complex thing
for the very first time

whatever it was
an atom,
a plant cell,
algebra, or
the world wars

amazing I say

teachers are the unsung heroes
whose pains we hardly feel
and
whose efforts we barely remember

but
could not we forget
their divine faces
till our end
in whose mould we were shaped
for the world to consume.

                               - Ariv.

I shall have to read
all these books
lying on my shelf
before
these white ants eats them

there is a tough competition
between both of us
as to
who would
eat these books
first

as usual,
I can't
and
certainly they will.

                   - Ariv.