Matriculation
Examination
Matriculation
examination is considered as mother of all examinations, at least in Odisha.
And this year it has recently started to the deep indignation of some of the
examinees because the exam timings have coincided with the ICC Cricket
Worldcup.
As I
see the young students going to the exam centre I remember the good old days,
when we went through this situation. We were taught late into the nights by our
school teachers. For many of them our passing or failing was their prestige
issue. In our lower middle class family,
only the matric examinee used to get an apple a day during exam time. One
bottle of Horlicks was his/her due. Other siblings would only look at the
bottle and wished they would grow up quickly to face the matriculation exam so
that they could also have a hot cup of that concoction.
Mango Flower
This year in Odisha, mango trees have flowered
very well. Almost all the mango trees that I see in Dhenkanal and other places
are laden with sweet smelling flowers (baula,
we call it in Odia). Farmers believe that if the mango flowers well, then the
paddy harvest will also be good. So it is a good sign for the farmers and also
for the mango lovers like me.
Bramhaputra
Recently I had been to Guwahati, capital of Assam. I was
taken to visit the two places Guwahati is famous for: Kamakhya Devi Temple and
River Bramhaputra. It was my second visit to Guwahati and second visit to the
banks of Bramhaputra, one of the few rivers that is considered ‘male’. And both the times the first impression was
of awe.
It is a mighty river that flows through several countries.
With its origin in the Angsi Glacier, located on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo River it flows across southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great gorges (including
the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Arunachal Pradesh (India) where it is known as
Dihang. It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as Brahmaputra and
south through Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be mistaken with Yamuna
of India). In the vast Ganges Delta it merges with the Padma, the main distributary of the Ganges, then the Meghna, before emptying into
the Bay of Bengal.
It has influenced the local culture of several states and in
all those states there are songs dedicated to the river. Bhupen Hazarika had
sung number of songs on the river. Director Jhanu Badua has done a beautiful
documentary on Bramhaputra.
As I cruise along the river enjoying the refreshing cool
breeze, I bowed my head in reverence to the mighty river.
Tailpiece
Prayer just before the Union Budget:
Hon’ble Finance Minister, Govt. of India
Dear Sir,
Kindly add/consider women shopping bills as an investment
proff of u/s 80 C.
From Helpless Husbands.
(Got it from a social media post)
***
25.2.2015
Mrinal Chatterjee is a journalist turned media academician.
Besides teaching he also writes fiction and plays. He lives at Dhenkanal in
Central Odisha with his family and can be contacted at
mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
This column regularly appears in www.orissadiary.com
http://orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=57591
No comments:
Post a Comment