Life starts after 00:00 (Engineers)

The moment you join an engineering college, you sort of sign an imaginary contract with your life to sacrifice night's sleep for all the good (or silly) reasons. Basically, you can't sleep when all your friends are thundering into the enemy in Counter Strike at 1 am in the night. Late night chats with your friends or distant mates are nothing to be compared with. Your parents have no idea that you are awake after 12-12.30 midnight for you have already turned 'Last seen' off from your whats app account ( I know right). Be it tens of Assignments or mugging for exams or a marathon of F.R.I.E.N.D.S episodes, you just can't go to bed! After all the discussions of science, religion, politics with roommates, you check the time and its 4 am and decide to sleep.  Mornings are opposite BTW as you can't leave the bed for the 8 AM class... Then you check your attendance, calculate the drop if you miss it and take an important decision whether to run to class or to keep sleeping. Its already 7.55 am!

The professors know that they suck and you attend their class for the sake of your 75% quota, so he deliberately will show tantrums like not allowing you when you are ten minutes late. In those lucky days, you might sneak in at even 20 mins past class-time but not always and the walk back to hostel will bring back all the activities you did the previous day which costed your attendance. Imaginary scenes of you pleading in front of dean to allow you to write the exams despite less attendance comes to your mind. You vow not to miss class the very next day (Too much!). 

Not to forget the exams and the all-nighters before it, studying all night and directly sitting for exam in the morning, that feeling of completion is something not everyone gets. The running back to hostel and sleeping all day without care for the world is another such feeling.

As the Second year ends, a deep realization seeps in, ' Sab moh maya hai ' and you feel like give up everything and go to Himalayas but alas that can't be! You came here for a reason- Career and degree which is still tens of exams and assignments away.  

Finally, when you get past all the hurdles, 1000 formalities, hundreds of short and long exams, and 4 years of screwing yourself up, you get the piece of paper with 'Certified Engineer' written on it. You think for a second what have you sacrificed in life for that piece of paper and wish the interviewers understand this value (Which is not gonna happen :P ). 

The habit of staying up at night keeps you up even in future when you are in job or settled and it is something like this: 

14 Perks of living in a small city

This post will cover some of the perks of living in a small city or as we call, a town. Having spent my childhood in Dibrugarh town I had my memory as ready reference for this post.

Here are 14 reasons why living in a small town is absolute bliss : - ) : - )

1. Everyone is family: 

Family is not restricted to the four walls of the house. The neighbors, their kids, their dog, their neighbors and relatives are also very much like family. Birthdays round the year, food exchanges and any help possible- You name it, you get it! You can go into anyone's house almost as frequently as thrice a day that too without annoying them. Imagine doing it in a metro- HuLaLaLa!

2. Everything you need is just few steps away: 

Stationary, Grocery, Snacks and haircut at cheapest possible rates, Wholesale firecrackers, Ready-made garments and shoes, small malls, cinema and restaurants are all near by and the owners know each and every customer by name! You can take a bicycle and tour the complete city in less than 2 hours and walk to school even if you are late!

Dibrugarh Town, Assam 

3. Sacred culture and traditions: 

Even minute traditions are followed which makes you feel very special being a part of the vibrant and colorful culture. Wash your feet outside before entering home :D

Bhawna: A type of play mostly concerned with stories of Lord Vishnu

    

4. Less or No pollution:

Noise? What is that? The noise in a big city makes life really stressful and induces headaches which is not the case in a small city or town. Vehicular pollution is also less giving us a cleaner and greener environment. Less chances of Asthma and healthier lives ;)

Less crowded street are common.

5. Tuition and art classes are fun: 

No matter which school you study all your friends will be with you in the evening at tuition, art or guitar classes because small cities don't have much of a choice for these classes. Few are reputed ones and students flock these so you won't miss your friends in the evenings. Yippee :D

Couldn't find a picture for this point but the feeling is the same as depicted in this photo :P

6. Festivities and brotherhood: 

Be it Diwali, Durga Puja, Holi,Bihu, Chatt puja, Idd or any other we all celebrate with full enthusiasm and brotherhood. There is hardly any incident of riots or hate mongering due to less outreach of politics and peaceful hearts at these places. Fortunately places like these exist :)

Bihu celebrations

Durga Puja pandal

The Procession before immersion of goddess Durga when whole city
comes out to pray for another prosperous year.

7. Fairs/ Circus (It used to be conducted earlier) and music concerts: 

Events like these are like once a year activity and whole city will turn up for these. You get to meet the random aunt you always ignore or the secret crush of previous school in such events and also enjoy with your buddies roaming around, eating fast food and doing pranks. Bliss!

A shop at a trade fair.

8. If anyone from the town achieves something big at State/ National/ International event its a GRAND celebration in town: 

People literally clog the gates of nearest airport or railway station to welcome their hero. A participant in KBC, A winner of reality show, sports star, gallantry award winner or famous journalist all are heroes for the masses in town and they are honored with garlands and prizes.

Former MP Sarbananda Sonowal felicitating 17 Year old Pinky Karmakar at
 Dibrugarh airport who was torch bearer in London Olympics.

9. The long wait and plans to visit an upcoming shopping complex/ Multiplex:  

Finally the rumors come true and you see the construction site of upcoming tall building which is surely a shopping mall or multiplex and it becomes talk of town. Friends and family plan when to go and what to buy :P

Junction mall, Dibrugarh

10. No news is secret: 

The rumors (Both true and fake) are the talk of town within hours. Any recent news or upcoming event grabs the attention of all and you can't ignore it no matter where you hide :D

11. Bi-cycles and bikes are luxury: 

If you have a bi-cycle then you are rich and you save enough time and money by saving the auto/Cycle-Rickhaw fare. It is eco-friendly and hassle-free mode of travel to anywhere in town in shortest time IF you know the shortcuts ;)

Pic Credits: Devopratim Biswas :)

12. Beautiful environment:

If you are a nature lover or nature photographer you won't get bored anytime in a town. Small buildings and absence of sky-scrappers mean that you can always see the horizon- sunrise and sunset and also admire the beauty of variety of trees and different kinds of birds. Any place near town is a picnic spot literally :)

Sunset at Dibrugarh. 

The beauty of  Tea Gardens 

13. Cricket/ Football tournaments, Carom contests, Badminton nights etc etc: 

There will be a season when every empty field will be full of people playing badminton with high power lights and proper markings, Every corner and pavements filled with carom players aiming for a strike and big grounds witnessing cricket tournament. You don't have to search for playing space, no need of any permissions, no clubs or fees and even equipment aren't mandatory. That feeling! :))

A local football game.

14. The reunion, joy and love: 

Even if you are settled somewhere else and visit the town after years people will recognize you and treat you with full hospitality, cheer and love! That's something unique about small towns. :))))

The clock tower in Dibrugarh Town

Share it if you enjoyed living in a small city and can relate to these points (Y) :) 

Blood Buddies

Even before birth at about 3-5 weeks from conception the heart of the foetus starts to beat and pump the most vital fluid tissue of our body that is Blood. It is responsible for transporting nutrients, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, antibodies, heat and most importantly oxygen. It also removes waste matter and carbon dioxide from the body. The White blood cells are body's primary defence against infections while the platelets help in clotting of wounds.

 The whole point is that Blood is life but what happens when there is shortage of this life-giving fluid? What happens when there is an accident and due to heavy bleeding the victim is close to death but only one thing can save him that is blood? Where will he get this vital fluid? The solution to this 'Blood Bank' which stores and dispatches blood when emergency. Are they enough?

Let us look at some statistics:- 

• Every year our nation requires about 4 crore units of blood out of which only 40 Lakh units are available. Shocking right? No, We live in a country of 125 crore people!
• Every 2 seconds someone needs blood BUT not every 2 seconds someone donates it. Basically demand and supply ratio is never satisfied due to lack of enough blood banks/ donations.
• A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood 
• More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day. It is not a large number considering our population but truth is that this number is never reached! Only 10 percent of this number is reached.

The most important fact of all is-

Blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors

The only solution is donate more and in large numbers and become blood buddies by saving lives of others.

Let us see blood donation process in brief now-

• Blood donation is a safe and healthy process in which a sterile needle is used for each donor and then discarded. Every healthy adult can donate blood with an interval of 56 days!
• It is a four step process- Registration, Med history and mini physical checkup, Donation and Refreshments.
• Donors are kept under rest for 10-15 minutes after donation to prevent any adverse conditions.
• For safe donation a doctor does the mini physical checkup to see if the BP, pulse, hemoglobin and temperature are alright. 
• The donation time takes less than 12 minutes but the total process takes around an hour.
• An average person has 10 units of blood in the body and one donation means only 1 unit which will soon be produced by his body again.
• The donated blood is tested for various infections by the lab and sent to hospitals for treatment of patients who need blood.

One more fact-

There are four types of transfusable products that can be derived from blood : red blood cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. Typically, two or three of these are produced from a unit of donated whole blood – Hence each donation can help save up to 3 lives. So donate 1 unit of blood and save as many as 3 lives.

Only 7 percent of people in India have O-negative blood type. O-negative blood type donors are universal donors as their blood can be given to people of all blood types. 

Type O-negative blood is needed in emergencies before the patient's blood type is 
known and with newborns who need blood

0.4 percent of people have AB-blood type. AB-type blood donors are universal 

donors of plasma, which is often used in emergencies, for newborns and for patients 

requiring massive transfusions. 

I was afraid of needles, hospital procedures, blood and treatments from childhood but got past my fear this week. I went to a Christian Medical College, Vellore blood bank and donated 1 unit of blood and the staff told me it will go to some accident victim that had arrived that day. It was not even painful and I saved one or two lives. It feels great so more and more people should start donating. I am a blood buddy and will continue donating in future too.

Are you a Blood Buddy?