The Night before An Examination

             It is the night before my final examination. From tomorrow morning my examination will start. As the evening draws to a close and night approaches, my usually strong nerves seem to be melting. Nothing seems to work right. I keel turning the pages of my text book. But that does not help. Immediately after I have turned one page, I seem to forget what is mentioned there.

             I am at a Loss to explain why this is happening. I am getting more and more restless. One moment I am drinking water and at the next I am checking my fountain pen.—if I have filled ink in it. Though I know it very well that I have already refilled three of my fountain pens.

             I keep checking them over and over again. It again proves that my nervous are falling apart.

I am not a bad student and have fared quite well in all my examinations and there is no real reason for me to feel what I am going through. I keep checking tip the suggestions which our teacher bad given us, those which I had made myself and constantly in my own mind I try to answer those questions. Will this question come flow long should I write if that quest ion does come? These are some of the many questions which seem to plague my mind over and over again. Then, I got with myself. I decided, I must stop it. I might as well put away my books and relax by watching television. But I again start to follow my questions, the possible answers keep coming back to my mind. I get more fed up with myself and ultimately before I go to sleep, I feel like a jumping crow. I hope, this experience does not recur in my life on any other occasion.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

             Subhas Chandra Bose, the great patriot, was born at Cuttack in. the year 1897. As a student he was meritorious. He went to England, appeared at the I. C. S. Examination and came fourth in order of merit, but he did not want to serve the British masters. His aim was to make India free. He joined the Indian National Congress and became its President. He wanted to fight the English and win freedom for his motherland. When the Second World War broke out he was put under house arrest in his home at Elgin Road, Calcutta. But nothing could tame his spirit-he escaped from there and went first to Germany and then to Japan. He organized an army called the Azad Hind Fouz. The soldiers loved him so dearly that they called him ‘Netaji’. Netaji led his army and came to Manipur, but his attempt to free India was not successful at that time. Whether Netaji is dead or alive remains a mystery even today. Dead or alive, Netaji has his seat in our heart.

Our Idea of A Gentleman

             A gentleman is he who maintains ‘gentility’ in all spheres of life. The term ‘gentility’ implies some universal norms. It may be inherent as it can be acquired through careful observation can constant practice till it becomes a habit. Gentility, throughout the world, is considered to be synonymous with politeness, kindness and friendliness — all bunched together. A gentleman is not recognized and acknowledged for his wallet or attire, but for his conduct and natural capacity to translate his conduct into a practical intercourse with whoever he comes across. A gentleman can easily win the heart even of an alien and, thus, can earn the friendship of many. On the other hand, the phenomenal truth has to be admitted that in this age of sophisticated complications and stress it is very difficult to preserve one’s gentleness all the time, especially in the context of the heterogeneous characters a gentleman has to be in communion with in his everyday-life. But a true gentleman, whose gentleness wells up from the core of his character, can maintain this noble code of conduct whatever is the situation. In short, gentility is doubly blessed — blessed with one’s peace of own soul and blessed with other’s love and faith.

Unemployment

             One of the primary duties of the society or of the central or state governments is to provide opportunities of employment for everybody, especially for the young men and women. But, in our country there are more people than the number of available jobs and that is why thousands of young people, after finishing their studies remain unemployed. Everybody considers unemployment a curse. And this curse is so harmful that it becomes a disease, weakening the minds and bodies of the younger generation.
             It is also necessary for the students to change the basic attitudes towards occupation. It is a common feeling of the people that they should go only for jobs in state or central government or government owned companies, in banks or very big establishments. They do not want to take a certain amount of risk and start their own business. Never do they look for avenues in the agricultural field and in other areas where they can do things on their own. Here the question of self help, Imagination, daring and dauntless diligence comes in.
             Instead of blaming the government for everything, our people should change this attitude and look opportunities themselves. The government also should in the meantime recover from the hangover of their time-old policy of mixed economy and adopt a new fiscal policy of setting up big mother units and small ancillary units and boost up cottage industries to open up new employments.

Summer in Bengal

             Summer is a very prominent season in West Bengal. Baisakh and Jaistha of the Bengali calendar, approximately from mid- April or mid- June of English almanac, are the two summer-months here. Summer brings gradually increasing heat after the temperature climate of the spring and bathes in perspiration before the rainy season sets in.

             Summer is compared by many poets to an ascetic silently engaged in deep meditation sitting at the center of a circle of fire. It is shorn of all luxuries and excesses, Actually, Summer months constitute the lean time on the year. Our mother Earth comes nearest to the Sun in these two months. Summer gives us the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The hottest sun at its zenith drives away man and cattle equally from the open to take shelter in the shade.

             The water of the rivers and ponds is evaporated by the blazing heat of the sun. The sources of natural water dry up and the people in the areas where tap-water and tube-wells are not many suffer a lot from the lack of drinking water. Summer diseases spread like wild fire taking the toll of lives. Whirl wind goes on arising dust and flight, over the bosom of the bare fields and grey woods.

             Dearth of food and vegetables rules the market hut some juicy fruits and few fragrant flowers are the only boons these terrible months terrible bring for us.

Drought

             Drought is a period of continuous dry weather, especially when there is not enough water for people’s needs. During droughts it never rains for months and months, not even in time of the rainy season. Drought causes untold misery to the people. Rivers, canals, ponds and pools get dry. There is heat wave and hot spell. The thirsty earth gapes for rain. People experience acute shortage of drinking water. The water level for the tube wells supplying drinking water in villages goes down. The blooming cornfields dry up. As it causes widespread damage to crops, cattle perish for want of fodder and famine starts stalking the land. Various diseases break out. Prices of food stuff goes up so high that most men cannot afford to buy them. So drought is a bane to most men.

Duties of A Student

             A student is seeker after knowledge. It is obvious that a student’s main concern is to study. There are some people who say that students should be like devotees in the temple of learning. They must keep aloof from all other activities. The main duty — the only duty — of a student should be to study and learn. There are others who opine that a student is as much a member of a society as anybody else. As such, he must be alive to the other demands that society makes on him. A student life, according to the latter, should be alive to the bigger problem of life. The fact is that a student of today is a citizen of tomorrow. As a future citizen every student has the duty to equip himself properly.