A Cricket Match

Points: The occasion — The first half of the game — The second half — Victory won by the deserving learn.

             The one-day cricket match between Calcutta Eleven and Bombay Eleven was played in the Eden Gardens, It was Monday. I and my friends went to witness the match between the two teams. The Bombay team won the toss, but decided to field first.
             The opening pair came in. Bowling began from the High Court end. It was deadly bowling. The first over was maiden over. But in the second over one batsman was out. The Calcutta batsmen could not match the wiles of the Bombay bowlers. All of them were out for just 109 runs before lunch.
             After Lunch, the Bombay team began to bat. The batsmen executed fluent strokes. Calcutta Eleven’s howling was poor and fielding even worse. Bombay passed the Calcutta total with six wickets intact. For bowling Vyas deserved the highest praise. His performance was simply splendid. I felt a little sorry that Calcutta lost to Bombay. But all of us enjoyed the game very much.
             The ‘cuts’ and ‘drives’ of the Bombay batsmen were beautiful. I had a natural partiality—my weakness for the home team, But I must say that it was the better team that had won. Bombay showed better combination and strongest nerves. Cricket is, after all, a game of nerves. If nerves fail, the game is lost. Bombay was determined to win and it won.

The Examination Hall

Points:  The scene — The invigilators — The candidates.

             The examination hail has nothing common with the cinema or theatre hail except the space and rows of chairs. When the bell rang, the examinees were already in their seats, and when the question papers were distributed, there was some rustle of paper. But just now perfect silence is prevailing here. I brought an extra fountain pen in case I needed one. But I do not think I shall need it, for it is really difficult to write volumes in the English paper.
             So many young people have assembled in this hail, but there is no humming sound. Had it been the Common Room or Sports Ground, the scene would have been completely different. The invigilators are pacing up and down, and the hall is quiet. Every now and then someone or other is standing up drawing the attention of the invigilator. If one has to go out, one must take permission. A few candidates are wanting extra paper. I am sure their handwriting is unusually outsize.
Otherwise how could they consume so much paper already? When I look around, I find most of the candidates scribbling at a great speed.Some others are just trying to think out some points.
             As I am writing this, I am feeling funny. For I am just now writing about myself and my friends in this examination hall.

My School or College Magazine

Points: The time of its publication — Some of its contents — Reaction among students.

             For the first time our institution came out with its magazine last October. It was just before the Puja holidays. I am proud that I was its first editor.
             Our magazine was interesting from cover to cover. When I took it home, there was a scramble over it. Everybody wanted to read it first. Father was to read it last over his cup of tea. He said it was a treat. I wrote rather sentimental story about a lost dog. It was my first writing to appear in print. Robin of class IX wrote about the Azad Hind Fauz that had fought for freedom under Netaji’s flag. As the editor, I also wrote notes on the various events during the year. I specially mentioned our achievements in the zonal football match. In fact, every student felt proud of our fine magazine.
             Some of the boys would not care to write ordinarily. But they felt tempted to write just to see their names in print. Some wrote stories for the first time. And they were not bad. Teachers praised their efforts. They even discovered new talents in some of them. As the editor I, of course, took some credit for the success of the magazine.

Our Library

Points: The library and its books — How It whets appetite for reading more books — The library as teacher.

             I love my school. I also love my school Library. I had seen the film ‘Pather Panchali’ by Satyajit Ray. But it was in our library that I read the original book by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay. The librarian loved me very much, He asked me to read R. L. Stevension’s Treasure Island. I liked the book very much. It gave me the first taste1 of travel and adventure. I borrowed Mahatma Gandhi’s My Experiments with Truth and Jawaharlal Nehru’s Autobiography. I also read the lives of Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. I then read Rabindranath’s Gora in the original and Munshi Premchand’s Godan in translation. Both were great novels and left a profound impression upon my mind.
             One day a teacher suggested that I should read Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. The very next day I borrowed the book from our library. The tales were absorbing. My curiosity was roused so much that I read two plays of Shakespeare in the original—Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. I could not follow everything. But what I could follow was not little. I still love to recite Mark Antony’s speech, “Friends, Romans, countrymen” which I memorized.
             I am indebted for my learning to my teachers. But I should say that one of my best teachers has been the library.

Student and Social Service

Points: Students role as teachers of the masses — Voluntary projects — Social service as self-education.

             In a country Like India where a large number of people are poor and illiterate, students have a special duty to the masses. Students should spend some vacations among the masses. They should teach them orally the principles of rural banking, the uses of electricity and fertilizer, even history, geography and cultural history of the country.
             There are many things which can be done without depending on the Government. Small roads can be constructed and repaired, wells may be dug, and tanks may be cleaned. A sense of cleanliness, sanitation, hygiene, mutual help and civic duties may be inculcated. Superstitions and corruptions can be eradicated only by changing the outlook of the people.
             Students should go to the slums and backward villages and point out why there are epidemics in those areas. They should also organize cultural functions for the poor. Poverty is depressing but drudgery is killing. We should know that a student’s education is incomplete if he is not involved actively in social services. A student belongs to the society and has a duty towards it. Social service gives him the necessary training for growing up into a responsible citizen. Social service is not a fashionable cliche, it should be an integral part of education.

Newspaper in Daily Life

Points: What is news? — The coverage of a daily paper — How It serves our serious needs.

             In modern life, a newspaper is a must. It gives relish to our early morning cup of tea.
However, all events are not news. When a dog bites a man it is not news, but if a man bites a dog, it becomes news. And very strangely, such unbelievable things do happen. So it is said, truth is stranger than fiction. The newspaper also gives us news of war and rebellion of plane-crash and hijacking; of victory or debacle in a match; of a sensational murder case; and so on. The newspaper brings the world right up to our door. We get a fair idea of the progress of our own country and its relations with the neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. From our, reading of newspapers we realize that India is one and indivisible in spite of all its diversities,
             The newspaper is a good market-guide. Even advertisements are informative and pleasant reading. The daily weather forecast is useful to the farmer. The ‘wanted columns’, are in great demand to those who want to apply for jobs. Newspapers are also views papers. The editorials bring to us the vox populi. The ‘Letters to the Editor’ column is especially interesting. All kinds of queries, comments and protests are made therein by the common readers. In short, newspaper is part and parcel of our daily life.

Science in Daily Life

Points: Part and parcel of modern life — For the benefit of the common man — Revolution  In medicine and surgery.

             We are living in an age when science has completely changed our daily life. Man’s landing on the moon or sending spacecraft o Mars are spectacular events. But the common man is grateful to science for other things. These things make his daily life a Little less toilsome and more cheerful. He cannot think of a world in which there are no books and newspapers, no electricity, no telephone, no radio or TV, no trains and cars, no buses and aero planes, no medicines for curing the dreadful diseases. All these are gifts of science.
             An up-to date office is not complete without its typewriter, xeroxing machine, a teleprompter and now a word processor and computer. We are used to electric fans and room coolers, and on hot days, refrigerators. Our streets and houses blaze with light at night. All the inventions of science ultimately come to the use of the common man. Science is everywhere and for everybody. The booking counters of railways and airports have already been computerized and reservations have become quick and fool-proof.
             Science is saving life and giving new life to man. The vaccines and antibiotics have made life safer. The terror of cholera, typhoid, smallpox and other epidemics is gone for every. The average expectation of life has gone up and child mortality been much reduced. Surgery is doing miracles. Pacemakers are assuring new life to heart patients and scanners are revealing the exact spots of disease in the human body. Even heart transplantation and brain operation are taking place successfully. Our daily life is growing happier with the help of science. The new researches on superconductor may soon bring about revolution in machines and locomotives There is no end to the wonders of science, it seems, and no end to the miracles of science in our daily life.