The Twin Tangle

Presenting to you a story I wrote in middle school. It was a time when writing short detective stories used to be one of my numerous hobbies. While it might not be the brightest detective tale you will ever read, I guess it was a decent effort on the part of a 13 year old.

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The Twin Tangle

ONE

For Jonty and Monty, it was always a great occasion to have Uncle Marino around. Once a year, Uncle Marino took a few days off from his busy schedule of managing a small shipping company in Cochin, and dashed to Calcutta, to be with Jonty, Monty and their parents. Because of his shipping business, his twin nephews used to call him Uncle Marino. He used to some like a typhoon and leave like a blizzard.

“It’s hell in Calcutta!” Uncle uttered, as he buttered his toast at the breakfast table, “pollution can’t be worse, but I wanted to see you all. I will also meet an old friend of mine, while I am here. He is also into the shipping business.”

“Who is he?” Monty queried

“Oh he is Prachand Pratap Singh, P.P. for short, a Merchant Navy Captain. Ah well! What a coincidence! P.P. also has a twin brother, just like you. He is ‘D.P.’ Durdand Pratap Singh, a professor of Physics, eight minutes younger than Prachand”

“Where do they live?” asked Jonty

“In their old ancestral house called Pratap Villa, in Diamond Harbor Road”

“That’s just great”, Monty said with excitement, “Can we come with you to get a few nagging problems of physics explained by the professor to us? After all, these are our pre-exam holidays.”

“By all means, yes” said Uncle Marino, gulping his tea. “But hurry up, we would be moving in the next 15 minutes.”

Inside the taxi, Jonty and Monty felt very excited. As twins themselves, a question was biting them no end. Jonty could not resist himself from asking Uncle Marino how would they be able to distinguish between the twins Prachand and Durdand.

“Simple” Said Uncle Marino “Prachand sports a beard while Durdand is clean shaven.”

Half an hour later, the trio reached Pratap Villa and knocked at the front door.

“Who’s there?” called a voice from inside. The door flung open and Durdand’s clean shaven face appeared.

“Hi D.P.! What a fat barrel you have become in the last three years since we met in Cochin! Ah, well, meet my nephews Jonty and Monty, identical twins like you and Prachand. They joined me to have some dirty physics cleaned up by you.”

Durdand greeted the guests and ushered them into the living room. He did not appear to be in the best of moods.

“What is the matter? Eh D.P.? Where is Prachand? Why do you look like a marooned ship?” queried Uncle Marino.

“I am alright. But I’m afraid I don’t have any idea about Prachand.” replied Durdand.

“Don’t kid me. Do you want me to believe that you have no idea where your elder twin is? Come on, I smell something fishy! What’s up? Open up and tell me all about the matter” Uncle Marino sounded serious.

After a pause, Durdand muttered, “Frankly, I really don’t know much. A month ago, Prachand left for Singapore abroad the Samudrika. A week later, he called me to tell that he would be return by air before the ship makes it’s return journey to Calcutta. The ship has returned since then, but Prachand has not. I am awfully worried about him.”

“Did Prachand make any more contact with you during this period?”

“Not at all”

“Have you enquired about him?”

“Yes I did, I spoke to the crew of Samudrika. They hardly know a thing.”

“Did you ask for Police help?”

“They would hardly be of any assistance, as you may guess.”

“I see.. Well, now that I am here, you need to worry. Prachand is my old pal and I know lots of joints where he may drop in. I will surely get to know about his whereabouts in a few days.” Uncle Marino had firmly taken center stage.

It was certainly not the right time for any discussion on Physics. Uncle Marino appeared to be in a hurry to take up his investigations about hi mate, Prachand Pratap Singh. The trio, therefore, took leave.

TWO

A week had gone by. Uncle Marino had rounded up all possible places and met all possible characters connected with Prachand Pratap Singh, but to no avail. Jonty and Monty had also got mentally involved in the case.

“Amazing, isn’t it? A captain of a ship vanishes into thin air in a foreign country, and there is no trace of him for a month! I think this offers a good chance to put our heads together.” What could be the mystery, Monty pondered.

As Jonty was about to reply, the living room door flung open and Uncle Marino dashed in. “Hey kids! I have grabbed a few clues from the crew of Samudrika. They informed me that Prachand was last seen going to Singapore Airport, about 3 weeks back, and there has been no trace of him there after.” He announced.

“Uncle, what do you reckon could be the possible cause of his disappearance?” Jonty posed a question.

“Well, I am not too sure, but there could be three possibilities. One, he might have met an accident on his way to the airport, in which he was seriously injured or was even died. But then the Singapore Police must have picked up his passport and other identification papers, and would have known his name, nationality and address by now. So also, Durdand would have come to know about it. Two, he might have gone to hiding, for which guess the chances are rather thin. I cannot find any reason why he should hide himself in another country for so long without a word to his brother or anyone else. And lastly, he might have been kidnapped. Here again, Prachand is too cleaver a guy to allow himself to remain hostage for a month. Moreover, his captors might have contacted Durdand for a ransom by now.” Uncle Marino sounded like a ship without a radar.

Jonty jumped to the conclusion, “He must have been murdered and all the clues must have been carefully eliminated by his killers.”

“Now you little ones, seems you have been reading too many detective novels off late. You should stop worrying about this matter” uncle Marino gave an angry stare. “It is none of your business. You mind your own studies and leave the Prachand affair to me. I will bring him out of troubled waters, sooner or later.” With an air of anger and frustration, Uncle Marino marched out of the room.

But, the scolding by their uncle only triggered more interest in the boys about the affair than ever before. They started thinking more about the mystery, but decided not to let Uncle Marino have any inkling about it.

A couple of days later, Uncle Marino got a call from one of his business contacts in Singapore. He mentioned that about 3 weeks back, the local police had found the body of an Indian national named Mr. P.P.Singh, who died in a car accident near the Singapore airport. The contact person could not confirm whether it was the body of Prachand. He promised to get the details from Singapore Police as soon as possible. However, this much information was enough to convince Uncle Marino that the body was that of Prachand.

“But Uncle. How can you say that it was indeed Prachand Pratap Singh, who died in the accident, and not some other P.P. Singh? It could easily have been someone else.”

“How many people by the name of P.P.Singh would you find in Singapore? Singapore is no Punjab! And add to this the fact that the body was found on the same day as Prachand was last seen, and at the same location as well. Does it not make it apparent enough? Anyway, I have asked my contact to get me more details on this. We should be able to confirm the exact identity of the dead man very soon. But I would be very surprised if it is someone other than my old pal Prachand.”

The twins were still far form convinced. But they kept their feelings to themselves. They took dinner with Uncle Marino and went to bed.

Next morning, Uncle Marino decided to visit Durdand Pratap Singh, and inform him about the apparent death of his brother. Despite Uncle Marino’s extreme reluctance, Jonty and Monty managed to somehow make him agree to let them come along with him.

When Uncle Marino broke the news of his brother’s death to Durdand, he did not look too shocked to hear it. It seemed like he had already resigned to this fate, and given up any hope of finding his brother alive long time back. After a while, Uncle Marino asked for his permission to have a look at some of Prachand’s personal papers, just to get some more clues. Durdand nodded his head, and Uncle Marino left for Prachand’s room, leaving Durdand and the boys behind in the living room.

“Well Durdand Uncle, do you remember if your brother had any hobbies?” Jonty asked.

“None that I can think of. He spent most of his time at sea. And thus never had much time for anything else.” Durdand replied in a grim voice.

“Look at all those trophies on the shelf! Did you win all those?” Monty pointed towards the shelf loaded with numerous trophies of various sizes.

“No, it was Prachand who won all those. He was a very good cricketer in his youth. He won a lot of laurels in club cricket. He loved watching cricket matches too. He was very much looking forward to watch India vs. South Africa one dayer, which, I understand, is going to be played at the Eden Gardens tomorrow. But alas….” Durdand sounded very sad.

Monty, who had been suppressing his Physics doubts all this while, finally could not resist it, and asked, “D.P. Uncle, since you are a Professor of Physics, can you tell us what kind of mirror can reflect a laser beam completely? This problem has been bugging me for long.”

“Er.. in fact, I am not in the right mood to concentrate on anything right now. But tell, me what are those things pooping out of your pockets?” Durdand pointed his finger towards the little objects kept in the back pockets of the boys.

“This is a Boomerang” Jonty took the v-shaped object out of his pocket and showed it to Durdand, “Both of us keep one with us, just for fun”

At that instant, the boys saw Uncle Marino coming out from Prachand’s room. Jonty hurriedly picked up his Boomerang and put it back into his pocket. The boys got up, thanked Durdand, and left for home with Uncle Marino.

That evening, the boys discussed the Prachand-Durdand affair for quite sometime. “Durdand Uncle did not seem too shocked to hear the news about the apparent death of his brother?” Jonty wondered.

“Hmm. I noticed that too. Maybe he had just given up hope of finding him alive, since he has been missing for so long.” replied Monty. “But why did he avoid a discourse on his favorite subject of Physics? If he was so very disturbed, why did he show interest in our Boomerangs?”

“Wait! I remember something!” Jonty exclaimed suddenly. Before Monty could reply, Jonty had got up and left the room. An instant later, he reappeared with a recent edition of “Sport Star” magazine in his hand.

“Well.. well.. This makes it really interesting.” Jonty said, while reading an article from the magazine. “Remember D.P. Uncle said that his brother was looking forward to watch the India- South Africa match at Calcutta. But the game was not even announced a month back. The announcement came only 20 days ago!”

“Prachand left for Singapore a month back. But Durdand did say that Prachand called him after a week. Maybe he mentioned about the match then” Monty reasoned.

“Hmm. May be. But whether Prachand was looking forward to see the match or not, we are surely going to watch it. You have those tickets we purchased last week, right? We don’t want to miss the game for anything” replied Jonty, with a twinkle in his eyes, as he threw away the magazine.

THREE

The Eden Gardens was packed to the rafters with cricket-crazy Calcuttans. After a long exile from International cricket, South Africa was playing it’s first one dayer, against India. Kepler Wessels was batting and batting well. He made a big hit and the crowd roared. It was a huge six, and the ball landed in the stands close to where Jonty and Monty were seated. A spectator caught the ball and handed it over to a fielder.

“Hey Jonty!” Monty shouted, amidst the roar and clapping, “What a strange co-incidence! Doesn’t that man look a lot like Uncle Durdand?”

“It appears that you are obsessed with Uncle Durdand’s affairs. Why should everybody look like him? Come on, give me my binocular.” Jonty shouted back.

Monty continued to look through the binocular, towards the spectator who had returned the ball. “Good heavens!! Not only does he look like Uncle Durdand, but in fact he is! But what on earth is he doing here?” Monty exclaimed. “He had told us that it was his elder brother who has a cricket fan. But instead, we find the younger brother here.”

Jonty grabbed the binoculars from Monty and peered through them. He too could not believe his eyes. “Goodness gracious! It is Durdand indeed! This affair is getting fishier by the day.” Jonty exclaimed.

The twins decided to keep a close eye on Durdand while the match went on. After a while, they noticed a pop-corn vendor, selling pop-corn halfway between where they were sitting, and where Durdand was. Jonty suddenly had a brainwave and called the vendor at the top of his voice, so that the entire stand could hear him. Everyone turned their heads towards Jonty. So did Durdand. As soon as he saw the boys, he turned pale. He looked surprised, shocked and embarrassed. Suddenly, he got up and left the stands.

Monty wanted to follow Durdand. But his Jonty stopped him. “There was no point in going after him. He would be going back to his house in any case. It is clear now that he left the stadium in order to avoid us. Such behavior from him only makes it more and more apparent that there is more here than meets the eye. My guess is, Durdand is definitely connected to the disappearance of his brother in some way or another. But we shall attend to his matter later. For now, let’s enjoy the pop-corn and the cricket match.”

As soon as the match was finished, the boys rushed home. Uncle Marino, after hearing it all from the boys, nodded his head in agreement, “I too have noticed some suspicious behavior from Durdand. But Durdand is not the kind of guy who would behave like this. He is basically a simple natured person, and not as crafty as his brother Prachand. Nonetheless, tomorrow I am going to search for more details about that person called P.P.Singh, who body was found by the Singapore police. Good Night boys!” Uncle Marino stood up and left for his bedroom.

Suddenly, Monty heard a sound near the window. The boys ran outside, into the garden, to see if anybody was there. An untimely drizzle in the evening had made the earth wet. They checked the soil outside the window, and found some foot marks on the soil.

“The foot-prints are fresh. Someone was spying on us, and got away before we could catch him.” Monty rued.

“But who would want to spy on us. Currently, I cannot think of anyone else apart from Durdand. If that is so, why don’t we return him the favor? Why don’t we go and spy on his house tonight? What say?” Jonty was excited.

“Done! It is 10 o’clock right now. We can be at his house by 11 if we make a move immediately.” Monty was all set for the adventure.

At 11 PM, the boys reached Pratap Villa. They climbed up the rear boundary wall, taking care not to make the slightest bit of noise. The lights of the living room were on. Silently, the boys peeped through the living room window.

FOUR

Inside the living room, Durdand Pratap Singh was seated on a sofa with a sheet of paper in his hand, which looked like a letter. He was reading the letter again and again, his face turning paler by the minute. Suddenly, he got up and started pacing across the room briskly. After a while, he picked up a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and started drinking. He tore up the letter and threw it aside. He drank heavily for a while, and slumped into the sofa, murmuring to himself, “How…. Can .. do it… er… How….”. In no time, he had dozed off, and was snoring loudly.

What a heavenly chance it was for the boys! They scaled up the window and got inside the room. Jonty whispered, “The letter must give us a clue.” The boys picked up the pieces of paper, and re-arranged them in the original position, carefully.

And lo! There was the letter in front of them.

University of Mass-chusat

18th Birdy Lane

Singapore

To,

Mr. Durdand Pratap Singh

Pratap Villa,

Sector 6,

Diamond Harbor Road

Calcutta, India

Subject:- Physics teaching assignment

Dear Sir,

Please refer to our letter no. UOM/PHY/98789, dated, 18/08/1991, regarding your contract with the University of Mass-chusat, for a six-month Thermodynamics teaching assignment.

We would like to bring to you notice that as per the agreement, you were supposed to report at University of Mass-chusat, on 15/09/1991, on time for the start of our new academic season. It is unfortunate that you have not reported here, even after a month of the expected date. You have also not responded to our repeated reminders for the same.

We would like to inform you that unless you report to the University within 7 working days of receiving this letter, we would be forced to take legal action against you for not honoring your commitment to the University of Mass-chusat.

We are hopeful that you would report for work before the deadline, and that we would not have to resort to legal action in this regard.

Yours truly,

Mr. Huan Huan

Chancellor

University of Mass-chusat

Date: 19/10/1991

“Why should he be so upset at reading this letter? After all, he still has a week’s time. And a person of his learning and teaching experience hardly needs any preparation.” Jonty wondered.

“Wonder why he did not report at the University a month back as per the agreement in the first place.” Monty added.

“Good Heavens! What are these? Foot prints?” Jonty whispered, as he looked down at the floor. A line of prints from a pair of muddy shoes has gone into the shoe case in the corner of the room. The prints were identical to those found outside their living room window an hour back.

“So it was he who was spying on us from outside our living room window. But why?” Monty questioned himself.

But Jonty was alert. “Look, he is waking up from his slumber. We must leave immediately.” He said, dragging his brother towards the window. Soon, the boys jumped out and vanished into the dark on the night.

Next morning, while Uncle Marino left the house early to fetch more information that he expected from Singapore, the boys sat down to take stock of the situation.

“Let’s piece the facts together” Monty continued, “Durdand Pratap Singh is not shocked to hear the news of his bother’s death. Then he is seen watching a cricket match, though he says his brother was a cricket fanatic. He spies on us to find out what we suspect. And is worried about a Physics teaching assignment. All that points towards a single conclusion…. And that is…..” Before Monty could finish the sentence, there was a knock at the front door of their house.

An irritated Jonty got up and opened it. His heart leaped as he saw the visitor at their doorstep. It was the surprise of all surprises.

FIVE

When Uncle Marino returned in the evening, he found the boys in a cheerful mood.

“Hey boys! What’s this high tide on your faces? Looks like you have some good news eh?” Uncle Marino asked. The boys kept smiling as Uncle grew restless.

“Why don’t you utter something.. you cunning kids?” Uncle Marino could not hide his annoyance.

“Uncle, there is nothing to utter!” Monty said with a smile, “Come with us to Pratap Villa to witness the drama yourself.”

Jonty got up, reached towards the telephone and made a call. When the person at the other end responded, Jonty just uttered a couple of words, “Go ahead”.

Keeping the receiver back on the cradle, Jonty turned to Uncle Marino and said, “Let’s go to Uncle Durdand’s house. There is not a moment to waste.”

“I am not moving from here, until you tell me what’s cooking”

“Uncle, have faith in us for once. I assure you, you won’t regret it.”

Within an hour, the trio was at Pratap Villa. Uncle Marino dully proceeded towards the front gate. But the boys insisted that he should scale the backyard boundary wall with them. They finally reached the living room window and peeped inside. To his great surprise, Uncle Marino saw Durdand talking to a man sitting opposite to him, who appeared to be strikingly similar to him in his looks.

“I thought you died in Singapore.” Durdand said to the other man.

“That was the very purpose you sent me there, isn’t it?” the other man replied.

“No, my brother, not at all. I never dreamt about it. Who put that rubbish into your head?” Durdand tried to convince his brother.

“Stop giving excuses. I know everything about what you have been doing all these days.” The other man was getting angrier by the minute.

“Why don’t you believe me!! Had no intention..” The other man did not allow Durdand to complete his sentence, and said, “I said, no excuses! Your game is up!”

Durdand’s mood seemed to change from apologetic to aggressive in a split second. He sprang up to his feet, pulled out a pistol from his pocket, and pointing it to the other man, said “Well, in that case, there can be only one Durdand in this world. And since I have the gun, you are the one who is going to have to die.”

Suddenly, a small object flew in the air and hit Durdand’s hand at great speed, deflecting the pistol out of his grasp. It was Monty’s Boomerang, right on target! While the other man swiftly picked up the pistol, the boys jumped through the window, followed by Uncle Marino. The boys quickly caught Durdand while the other man kept the pistol pointing towards him.

Holding Durdand tightly, Monty shouted, “Mr. Prachand Pratap Singh, your game is up!”

By now, Uncle Marino was panting with a mixture of excitement and confusion. “Now I have become the world’s most confused man. Why are you chaps calling Durdand as Prachand? And who is the other man here? A third brother of the triplets?”

“Relax Uncle! No more confusion now! Here, the man in our hold is the actual Prachand, the sailor, and the other man is the real Durdand, the professor!”

“You are right”. The other man, the real Durdand, said as he turned towards his brother, the real Prachand. “Tell us the whole story, you crook, or else I will pump the bullets right into your chest.”

“OK, OK. Spare me Durdand. I shall tell you the whole truth.” Prachand (the real one) begged. He continued, with a sigh, “For many years, I had been smuggling gold from Middle East and supplying it to gangsters in Singapore. A couple of months back, one of my boats on the way to Singapore sank south of Sri Lanka, taking with it, a 100 kgs of smuggled gold. When I informed the gangsters in Singapore about this, they refused to buy my story. They asked me to pay for their loss. I simply did not have so much money. So, they threatened to kill me if ever set foot on Singapore again. I was in a great fix as I had to deliver a consignment of electrical goods for the Singapore government the following month. I tried to delay the shipping, but matter went from bad to worse. I got a legal notice from the local government threatening legal action against me if there was any further delay in shipment. They also asked me to appear in person to explain the reason for the delay that had already occurred.”

“So, you pretended to be very ill, and persuaded me to go in your place with the electrical goods, and also to place an explanation before the government. To ensure people about your identity, you asked me to grow a beard like you.” The real Durdand interrupted his brother. “But the scoundrel that you are, you did not tell me anything about the danger I faced there from the local gangsters who were ready to kill Prachand at first sight!”

“And this end, Prachand shaved off his beard and posed to be Durdand.” Monty added.

“My goodness! This has really taken the wind out of my sails!” Uncle Marino exclaimed “And all these days, I was under the impression that Prachand was killed in the road accident near Singapore airport, and here he was right in front of me. The man killed must have been some other P.P. Singh. But Prachand.. er.. Durdand, did the gangsters attack you there?”

“Oh yes!” said the real Durdand, “They made several attempts at my life. I was very lucky to have survived all of them. Finally, I had to go into hiding to avoid the gangsters. Then one day, I sneaked into the harbor and managed to get into a ship sailing to Calcutta. I reached here today, and went straight to your place to seek your help, since I knew you would be in town at this time. But you were not home. And these boys took care of me.”

The Boys were smiling.

Monty said, “After the real Durdand Uncle told us his story, we took him to a saloon and got his beard shaven. We advised him to stay in a hotel till you returned home. When you were back, we called him so that he would go back to his house and confront his brother, the real Prachand. We also gave him our pocket tape- recorder so that he could tape his conversation with Prachand.”

Uncle Marino looked at the boys with admiration mixed with curiosity, and asked, “Did you boys know beforehand that the fellow here is not the real Durdand, but his brother?? For God’s sake, pull me out of these murky waters.”

The boys were still smiling.

SIX

After tying up the real Prachand and making a call to the police station, the boys sat down with Uncle Marino and the real Durdand.

“We first smelt the rat when we saw that our Uncle Prachand (in the disguise of Durdand) did not appear to be too shocked by the news of his brother’s death. Then, we noted that the one day international cricket match was not even scheduled to be held at Calcutta before Uncle Durdand went missing. Then how could he plan to see the match? And when we saw him at the Eden gardens, our suspicions were fortified.” Jonty said

“We also came to know from you Uncle that Durdand was a simple and good natured man, where as Prachand was a crafty one. Then there were the foot-prints, the identical ones outside our living room window and in this house. We were sure that he was spying on us. But the ace of the clues was the letter from a University which worried our cunning deceiver no end. Obviously, a sailor cannot teach physics.”

“And when the real Durdand arrived today, we confirmed what we always suspected.”

As Jonty finished his story, Uncle Marino took a deep breath and got up. He said cheerfully, “Broavo boys! Come on, now that the storm is past, let’s leave for shore. Let’s go home. The police would be arriving any minute now. You twins have done your part. Let the other twins settle their own scores.”

As the twins and Uncle Marino walked through the nearly empty street, the half moon above was helping the Calcutta Corporation overcome the load shedding. In a low distant voice, Uncle Marino was singing, “Tomar holo shuru, aamar holo shara”.. While you begin, I have just finished.

Done.. in 50 words..

Taking the que from Nikhil, here is my attempt at writing a 50 word story..
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Me buying stuff at a grocery shop, manned by two 10 year olds, brought from their village to work there, by the shop-owner.
Two high society girls, wearing hip clothes, enter, buy some skin-care products and leave.
10 year old to me, “Sir, which country have those girls come from??”
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Howzzat ??

Eight Point Someone

Just finished reading “Five Point Someone”. Inspired by the theme of the novel, I present to you a short story, perhaps not as interesting, but worth a read all the same.

This also is a story about 3 friends, and their struggle against the education system. But it is not based in a hallowed IIT. Instead, it comes from a run-of-the-mill engineering college, where run-of-the-mill Profs. taught run-of-the-mill students. The only thing which was not “run-of-the-mill” in the institute was final placement. Why?? Because it did not exist at all!!

The complete absence of placements from the institute made all the final year students most anxious, because they knew that within one year, they would all become B.E.s.. i.e. “Berozgar Engineers”. Year after year, as soon as the penultimate semester commenced, most of the final year students engrossed themselves in either preparing for PG (CAT, GATE, GRE etc.) or off-campus job interviews. A PG from a reputed institute appeared as the only opening towards a decent career for most. Even the usually draconian college administration, (which forced the students to maintain over 90% attendance and write inhumanly scheduled mid-term exams) understood the plight of the final year students, and did not schedule mid-term exams in the final 2 semesters.

But this year was different. Some sadistic decision makers at the top had decided to make life even more miserable for the final year students. Poor fellows, already grappling with the pressure of preparing for the tough pre-PG exams and interviews (which usually took place during 7th and 8th semesters), with their careers at stake, were forced to attend all classes and given loads of extra assignments. And if all that was not enough, mid-term exams were scheduled for 7th and 8th semesters, for the first time in the history of the institute. The poor students could often notice sadistic sense of pleasure on the smiling faces of some of the goons masquerading as lecturers. All over the country, the final year is the time, when the academic pressure is kept at its minimum, to ensure that students can work towards their future goals. But the exact reverse was happening here. At times the students felt as if the sole intension of all the extra academic workload was to prevent them from making it to a good PG institutes. They were getting crushed under the relentless pressure, but had no means of escape. Unlike most other engineering colleges, this one had no student organization either, which could raise a voice against the authorities. And no one was willing to risk rustication, by taking the initiative and independently raising his own.

Balbhadra, Baburao and Bakhtar were three such tormented souls. Like all their batch mates, they too were enraged by the career threatening goings-on in their college. But unlike others, they decided to do something about the wretched state of affairs. As Balbhadra once said “Guys, if we don’t stand up to this injustice now, we will never be able to raise our voice against anyone all our lives. We will never forgive ourselves. If our careers are not worth fighting for, what is??”

Now that the 3 had decided to do something, the big question was, what to do?? They could think of only one name which could clear the entire mess at one go. He was the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the institute. He was like the God-father of the college. No one, including the college Principal could raise a syllable against him. And whatever be his real intentions, he liked to portray himself as a well-wisher of students. The 3 friends thought, if they could somehow get the news about their plight to his ears, all their problems, might.... just might be resolved.

But all the internal rhetoric aside, all 3 knew they did not have the guts to speak to the big man directly. For all they knew, their audacity could fatally backfire on them. The Secretary might just dismiss their plea. Then they would be sitting ducks in front of a blood thirsty administration. Time was running out too. The 7th semester mid-term exams were just a week away. They simply had to stop it at all costs.

Finally, they figured it out. An anonymous phone call was the way to go. They decided to call up the Secretary, and bare all, hoping that he would understand their problems and force the administration to mend their ways. But it was not as easy as it sounded. They had to cover all their tracks first. They needed to make sure there was absolutely no way anyone could find out who had called up the Secretary. Thus, after much deliberation, they chalked out the following plan.

- They would make the phone call from a PCO, located in a completely different part of the city, from one where they stayed, lest their names could be derived from the phone number and the area from were the call was made.

- What they had to say was meant for the ears of one person, the Secretary, and no one else.

- The call would be made from a closed phone booth, and not an open phone, to make sure no one overhears the conversation.

- They would take an oath of secrecy, and not divulge their deeds to anyone, not even to their closest pals.

Now it was time for the big decision- who would make the call?? They decided to go for a draw of lots. And Baburao’s name was selected. Next in line, who would accompany Baburao to the PCO. Another draw of lots. This time, it was Balbhadra's name. Now it was time to sort out a few last minute details. What if the Secretary insists on knowing their names, assuring them immunity?? No way, never trust an old administrator, they said to themselves. If he agrees to listen to them anonymously, well and good. If not, too bad.

Another issue, what if he makes a return call to the PCO and enquires about the guys who made the last call?? Solution, make the call from a crowded PCO only, and get your asses out of there as soon as you finish, so that no one can recall your faces.

Everything was sorted out now, they thought. But just as Balbhadra and Baburao were about to depart on a bike, Balbhadra said, “Wait!! I can’t go. My grey eyes are a dead giveaway. Anyone can notice it. And there are about 3 people with eyes like mine in the entire college!! I would be hopelessly trapped!!”

“Then??” said Baburao

“Idea!! I will wear sunglasses!!”

“What?? Sunglasses at 10PM in the night??”

Half an hour later, 2 young men, one wearing sunglasses, entered a crowed PCO in a remote corner of the town. Baburao entered a phone booth and dialed the Secretary’s number, his heart ringing as loud as the phone on the other end of the line.

“Hello??”

“Can I talk to ******* Sir??”

“He is not home. Call back in ½ hour please. May I know you name??”

CLICK.

An agonizing half hour later, in another remote corner of the town..

“Hello??”

“Can I talk to ******* Sir??”

“What is the matter?? Who is it??”

“Er.. I am a student of ***** college. Can I speak to Sir please?? It is urgent!!”

“I am his daughter speaking. You can tell me. I will let him know.”

“Er.. Maam, I need to talk to Sir directly. Please understand!!”

“WHO IS IT?? WHAT DO YOU WANT??”

CLICK.

“Plan backfired!! Daughter picked phone!! Got suspicious!!” uttered Baburao as he rushed out of the booth. “Pay for the phone fast and get the hell out of here!!”

As Balbhadra and Baburao stood paying for the phone call, their worst fear came true. The phone inside the phone booth from where Baburao had made the call rang.

“Shit!! It is the return call!! Run!!” Baburao whispered in Balbhadra’s ear. Both of them rushed out of the PCO as fast as possible, without appearing like thieves, and made a dash for their bike parked at an inconspicuous place 500 meters away.

Later in the night...

“Now what??” asked Bakhtar

“Will we be caught??” Balbhadra asked the obvious

“Depends.. if the PCO owner got a good look at us or not.. But I doubt if he did..” Baburao replied

“So, our plan goes down the drain” said Bakhtar

“No! What’s a battle if it is won in the 1st exchange! We will make another try!” Balbhadra urged the other two.

“Makes sense.. the Secretary must have smelt the rat by now.. I bet he himself will pick up the phone this time.. That’s our chance..” Baburao joined in. “But hey! I am not making the call again! You guys got to bell the cat this time!”

“Fair enough.. Bakhtar! Let’s Go!!” said Balbhadra, putting on his sunglasses and looking at the his watch.. 11.30PM.

Another half hour later, in yet another remote corner of the town..

“Hello??”

“Is it ******* Sir??”

“Yes..”

“Sir, I am a final year student of ***** college.. I have something most urgent to tell you..”

Over the next 20 minutes, Bakhtar and Balbhadra bared all. They let the Secretary know all about how bright careers on the brink of ruin, due to the undue academic rigor being imposed in the final year. The Secretary appeared to be unaware of the goings on, and listened sympathetically. He offered to investigate the matter.

Soon afterwards, the sleepy PCO owner almost fell from his chair, on seeing 2 customers, one wearing sunglasses at 12PM in the night, do a jig inside a cramped phone booth.

For Baburao, Balbhadra and Bakhtar, the next few days were like the period between exams and results. Everyday, they anxiously waited for the results of their efforts to appear. They waited for some news about the Board Secretary visiting the college, or to see a change in the attitude of some of the lecturers. All the time, a sinking fear was biting them as well. What if their identities came to be known?? What if the Secretary, instead of enquiring with the students, talked to the administration first??

Soon, the mid-term exams for the 7th semester began. Every day, as they climbed the stairs towards the examination halls, the 3 hoped that the exams would be cancelled. They hoped, but in vain. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. The 7th semester ended just as it had started.

But the 3 friends were not all that disappointed.

“Although we did not succeed in our mission, at least we did not bow down against injustice. We DID raise our voice, however anonymously, but at least we TRIED.” they told themselves. "Girte hai ghudsawar hi maidane jung mei ...voh tifl kya girega jo ghutne ke bal chalta hai.."

But as the 8th semester commenced, some changes slowly became apparent. The mid-terms were cancelled. The assignment workload got considerably reduced. And what’s more, the students who had to shuttle across the country to PG interviews were even given grace attendance. All this time, the 3 friends sat and wondered what had resulted in this sea change. Was it their phone call which did the trick?? Did the Secretary ask the administration to be a bit easy on the final year students?? Or was it just a natural change in attitude?? Did the administration think, ok we have tormented them enough, let them have some peace in the last semester??

They kept wondering, but were never to know the real reason for the change. Neither did they talk about this to anyone, partly because they were afraid of a belated backlash, and partly because they thought no one would believe their stupid audacity.

Baburao, Balbhadra and Bakhtar, became the unsung and unknown heroes, whose efforts had perhaps rescued the careers or many of their batch mates. But they kept hoping that someday, somehow, the world would come to know of their heroics......

Epilogue - Saat Saal Baad....

Balbhadra was now an MBA and IT consultant. Those fateful last days of engineering were now but just a fading memory in his mind. He had not been in touch with Bakhtar for years now, though Baburao had remained close to him. But life finds strange ways of surprising you...

One fine day, while shopping in a super-mart, a most unexpected person appeared to pass by him. It was the most barbaric Lecturer in his college, who used to put Hitler to shame by his conduct in class all those years back !!

All old memories came flooding back to Balbhadra's mind.. When students used to wonder how could a teacher be so inhuman towards his students. What sadistic pleasure could he derive from trying to ensure his students do not get a chance to make it in life. How he was the most hated teacher in campus. How even the sight of him made all students utter the most colorful of expletives within.

Balbhadra recalled the innumerable number of times he prayed to God to let him get hold of that Lecturer once he had graduated. He had promised himself to give him an earful; only his own decency would have prevented him from bashing him up physically. And here, after all those years, Balbhadra found his erstwhile tormentor, standing next to him, buying grocery.

Balbhadra went up to him and said, "Excuse me Sir, do you remember me?"

"Err.. No.."

"I'm Balbhadra. I was a student of your's in engineering, many years back."

"Oh yes! I remember now. How are you?"

"I am fine. Working as an IT consultant now. How are you?"

"I am good too. I quit teaching a few years back. Moved out of the country subsequently. I am now back in India. I came to this city to meet a friend. Nice meeting you again. Bye!!"

As his old Lecturer walked away, an overwhelming sense of guilt and desperation filled Balbhadra. "What have I done??", he told himself. "This was the opportunity I had dreamt off all those years back, when I would get to meet that rascal outside the walls of my college. And I could not even say a word to him about the pain he inflicted on so many people!! I will never forgive myself for this !!".

Regathering his calm a few moments later, he called Baburao and narrated what had just occurred. Baburao too could not believe that Balbhadra had missed such a golden opportunity. He urged Balbhadra to run out of the store, catch the bugger and at least politely convey to him the fact that his students still remember the torment they had suffered in his hands.

Balbhadra rushed out of the store, much in the same way as he had rushed off after making the phone call all those years back. But the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the only chance he would ever have of giving a piece of his mind to the tormentor of so many souls, was gone and lost.

Balbhadra, dejectedly shaking his head, walked back to complete his shopping.

Will life give the trio another chance to avenge their pain?

Perhaps not.

But as they say.. Never Say Never..

Experienced vs. Freshers – an MBA perspective

Here is an article, written by me and Nikhil during our 1st year at B-school, which never saw the light of the day. I would like to thank all those batchmates, whose inputs helped us compile this article. Here's hoping this article can be of some assistance to aspiring MBA students.

"Experienced vs. Freshers – an MBA perspective"

Ashita Mittal was placed during her final year in engineering college with a leading software firm. But she never wanted to be another brick in the wall. She wanted to differentiate herself from other graduates who start their career at the lowest rung of organizational hierarchy. MBA was a natural choice for her. On the other side is Shailesh Dhawla, who worked as a software engineer with a leading software consultancy firm for 3 years. He started his job with some ends in mind, like working with a known company, client and an on-site trip. When all of them happened, the next thing was the ladder. MBA seemed a better choice to re-skill himself and make the path up the ladder easier.

Two people, different reasons but a common destination: B-School. But what about the results each one gets after the degree? What about the amount of learning each one of them can accomplish during the course? What about their performance post-MBA or during summer internships? In most international B-schools like the Harvard or Wharton work-experience is a prerequisite for entrance into an MBA course; not so in India. Most B-schools in India have a balanced ratio of freshers and experienced students. Whether the model followed by Indian B-schools is correct or not is a question of concern, but a more fundamental question is whether the students themselves perceive differences based on their being experienced or not, as significant. We will try to answer this question in the following paragraphs.

Why MBA: Differentiate or Die

In India better career paths, better pay-scales and the glamour associated with an MBA degree are major reasons why students opt for education in Business Administration. However, probably the most popular reason for students to pursue any course is peer pressure. Many freshers may be prone to such influences.

Those with experience find that MBA is a preferred way of switching areas/industries. Also when the transition from junior or middle level to senior management is desired, the ability to grasp the big picture is necessary. One's thought process improves when he learns to see the big picture, the window to which is an MBA, which provides exposure to all functional areas in an organization.

Why is experience important: nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced - even a proverb till life has illustrated it

Students with experience have a perceptible advantage in terms of final placements at the end of MBA studies. They generally tend to be more disciplined and focused as they have higher stakes. They can easily relate practical problems and situations with theoretical solutions and are also in a better position to appreciate how distorted the theory is vis-à-vis practice. Their orientation is different with a larger end in mind. They are also better at handling people. They tend to have a better idea of what they want and hence have stronger work habits.

Finally they can contribute better in class discussions, and can experiment with other functional areas during the summer internship which is a risk a fresher can't afford.

Does that mean freshers are at a disadvantage: there is no adequate defense, except stupidity, against the impact of a new idea

The most important advantage that freshers have is an open mind. They have new ideas and a fresh perspective which is not biased towards any particular field or sector. They are not constrained by rules and hence can think and do things which experienced people might not. This also makes them have a higher risk taking capacity.

Fallout of this is that freshers are usually preferred for jobs which require creativity, enthusiasm & commitment. Freshers are also good at brainstorming since diversity element is higher for a fresher. They are usually more energetic which means that class dynamics improve due to presence of freshers. Last but not the least, freshers are seen to be academically stronger.

In summer placements, many companies tend to prefer freshers over people with work-experience, to join them for projects. Experienced students have a certain amount of prejudice in going about things, adopting past practices, and thus being rather stereotypical. On the other hand, freshers are more open to new ideas and are more likely to take bold, innovative steps in conducting their summer projects.

When MBA: chance favors only those who court her

People with various levels of work-experience go for an MBA. It is not unusual to find people having 1 year to 10 or more years of experience in the same batch. The question is- what level of work-ex is ideal for leveraging maximum advantage out of business education? General consensus is that 2-3 years of experience is good enough for a person to understand the dynamics of an organization, understand different functional areas and experience 2 levels of organizational hierarchy. People who have worked for more than 7-8 years tend to form rigid opinions about the workings of the organization, which may act as a mental blockade in learning new concepts. On the other side of the spectrum, people with 1 or less years of experience are almost as good as freshers as far as practical knowledge is concerned.

The catch -- higher the number of years of relevant job experience, better the chance of lateral placements.

What results to expect after the degree: with every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see

A major advantage of a job post MBA is better quality of work and resulting job satisfaction. The jobs usually involve a business angle, where budgetary decisions have to be made, profitability is directly linked etc etc. In a nutshell – let other men do other things, managers must manage affairs of the company.

The rise in salaries is typically to the scale of 2-3 times for freshers, as compared to what he/she would have received in a job without MBA. For people with experience the immediate rise may be less steep, may be about 20-50 % but in the long run the career growth may provide a gain of 2-4 times.

Engineers – boon or bane: the more the world is specialized, the more it will be run by generalists.

With an increase in the output of engineering colleges and the rising numbers of engineers seeking an MBA, a new distinction (apart from freshers vs. experienced) has come up in B-schools i.e. Engineers vs. non-engineers. Most leading B-schools have an equitable mix of both categories of students.

There are some obvious advantages that engineers enjoy. Number crunching comes more easily and naturally to an engineer which is what much of management is all about. Also engineers are not technology-averse, hence in the IT enabled world of today it might be a bit easier for them to understand a lot of technical stuff that comes in with problems. This is all the more important when technology is inseparable part of doing business.

Engineers are also seen to have stronger work habits. This is because typically Indian engineering courses are quite rigorous than other courses. Also engineers are already exposed to quarter or semester based system during their graduation (unlike commerce or arts students) which is the system followed in all leading MBA courses. Engineers also have task orientation especially the do-ability or execution part of the problem.

However most engineers who pursue an MBA should be cautious to ward off the disadvantages they have due to the engineer-genes they carry. The most glaring problem is grappling issues relating to the commercial face of business. The transactions, the finance, are not too easy to grasp.

Again, the psychological or human (read HR) aspects might be appreciated far better by an arts graduate than an engineer. Usually engineers focus more towards the process and tend to take the people involved for granted; if this habit is not corrected it may prove to be a major problem in an organizational setting. As a corollary they do not seem to understand team dynamics; everything from teamwork to Organizational Behaviour may appear to be a dissonance. A typical attitude is ‘team work is more of social loafing’. It has also been observed that engineers have lesser creative bent of mind than non-engineers. Finally, though this is not a thumb rule, typical engineers may not be very good at communication skills, an advantage which people from arts/humanities background may enjoy.

In a nutshell: It is like driving a car at night. You never se further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip.

But then, who is better – freshers or experienced: people differ not only in their capability but also in their "WILL" to do it.

The answer is that this depends on what is the task at hand. If the task at hand is totally new to the person who has been given the responsibility of carrying it out, then ideally, there should not be any difference in the way it is done, provided the people (the fresher and the one with experience) are of equal caliber. Typically some problems encountered are, a fresher might feel overwhelmed and may not perform to his full potential; a person with work experience may approach some task on the nature of which he has partial information with some over confidence, and may not perform to his potential.

Again if the task is something that the person with experience has done before – the answer is obvious, ceteris paribus. In case of a completely new task though, a fresher has the advantage of having an open mind. People who have been in the work force may carry strong biases.

An experienced student is aware in terms of the surroundings and the way of working. He is also practical in at arriving results or actionable/ useful reports. But, creativity might be affected. Ultimately, everything boils down to the individual.

When asked whether freshers felt that they could have benefited more from an MBA if they had some experience, the answers were highly subjective – YES, if wanted to specialize in some particular field; NO, if wanted to do general management.

What next: you are today where thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where thoughts will take you.

The essence of the whole story is that whether you are a fresher or an experienced person, you must know your abilities and shortcoming alike, to be a successful manager.

Award winning Essay

Here is an essay I wrote back in early 2000, when I was in my 1st year of engineering. The essay won an Award of Appreciation in the Commonwealth Eassy Competition, organised for students across all 54 commonwelath countries.

"Implications Of The Internet On Global Society And Culture"

Throughout human history, a breakthrough in technology always brought in a change in society and culture. A civilization having a higher and more productive technology ruled over those having lower levels of technology, be it related to scientific, military or economic activities. Thus the most significant social development of the last millennium was the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which boosted up productivity to unprecedented levels, far higher than those prevailing in other parts of the world. No wonder, therefore, the European powers dominated the economics and polities of the whole world for the last 3 centuries. However, the development of Information technology (IT) in the later part of the 20th century slowly tended to level up the technological knowledge of different countries, owing mainly to the Internet. In this regard, development of the Internet has perhaps been the most significant event after the Industrial Revolution.

There is, however, an essential difference between the Industrial Revolution and the IT Revolution inasmuch as the former gave an edge in technology to "developed countries" but the later aims at undoing this very "edge" by disseminating technological know-how across the globe in no time, thereby narrowing the gap in technology. In fact, the real impact of IT revolution and Internet has nearly begun. Its full impact will be felt as the years roll by in this new millennium. Considering the potential of the Internet, it can be forecast with reasonable conviction that it will diminish most of the barriers, which presently separate the nations, societies and cultures of the world and will slowly but surely lead towards a global society and culture. An endeavor has been made in this essay to examine the extent up to which this transition may be possible within foreseeable future.

Over the centuries, man-made barriers have evolved in many directions of human societies due to one single deep-rooted human desire for survival and better living, even at the cost of others. These barriers have been manifested in the forms of political, military, commercial, racial and religious identities. These identities have been painstakingly guarded with secrets and scores of legal frameworks, national or international. More often than not these separate identities are in conflict with each other, necessitating intervention by global bodies like United Nations, Human Rights Commission, Red Cross etc. If we go a little deeper into the mechanism of these conflicts, we may find that these thrive on the foundation of distrust, misinformation etc., culminating in confrontation. In other words, barriers in communication and information promote misunderstanding and inter-community conflicts. Free access to all kinds of information through Internet will greatly enhance understanding between communities and nations.

Interaction through Internet being direct and "one-to-one", it also breaks the barriers erected by interest groups and liberates the individual from the dictates of the group representing him/her in the matter. This, in turn, encourages exchanges of free opinion across the globe, so essential for human freedom. Global opinions can be generated on any issue in no time through the Internet, crossing the barriers on nationality, religion, race, political groupings etc. In other words, we may witness a "global society" conforming to a certain human thought, every time humankind is confronted with a global issue.

As mentioned earlier, technology has always been the main determinant of economic superiority. Internet had now made it possible to reach into the secrets of technology through a global network. The whole spectrum of technology, right from research to its application is, by and large, available on the Internet. The technology could be anything, from economic activities to military purposes. Some time back, the appearance of secret satellite photographs with respect to some countries was in the news. Such a thing would never have happened a few decades back. Whole encyclopedias and even libraries are now available on the Internet. Slowly, all forms of human knowledge will be only a mouse-click away. Any individual, organization or country having the resources can adopt the knowledge for social use. Though it will take quite sometime for all developing nations to reach the technology levels of developed ones, Internet will surely speed up the process of leveling up. Eventually, the whole human race will enjoy the benefits of all technologies available in the world.

When we talk about technology and knowledge, we also have to look into emerging scenario of education and training. With the Internet one can be virtually present in any classroom, workshop, laboratory or hospital for his or her knowledge. Complete courses of universities may be run on the Internet, making distance-learning more comprehensive and qualitative. National universities may turn into world universities. This will also make education and training immensely cheaper for one and all across the globe. The quality of education and training will gradually get standardized all over the world.

Internet will also bring in a revolution in the work culture of different nations. Globalization of economy will put immense pressure on quality, productivity and cost of products and services. This pressure will compel each country and each company to adopt the most productive and cost-effective methods. In turn, this will generate a more efficient work-culture of "perform or perish". Over several decades, this will tend to create a uniform global work-culture.

As we know, the administration and management of social activities in different countries are highly influenced by national history, traditions, faith, culture and political thoughts. More often than not, such styles of management and administration do not prove to be optimally beneficial to the concerned societies, as is being witnessed in many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. All over the world, there is a slow transition from authoritative and autocratic system to democratic system in political setups. This is due to the basic human urge freedom of thought and equality in human rights. The process had so far been rather slow due to man-made barriers in free exchange of information and thoughts, as also due to various geo-political considerations. Internet is sure to speed up this process of transition by breaking such barriers of information and thereby generating global public opinion. Democratization of polity will lead to democratization of administration and management.

Industrialization and urbanization have degraded global environment to alarming levels. The new generations of mankind have to fight tooth and nail to control this degradation and restore degraded ecology to sustainable levels. This will can for universal social awareness and concern, as well as continuous checks and monitoring of the status of environment across the globe. The efforts of national governments, global bodies like UN and NGOs like Green Peace are to be integrated and coordinated through the Internet. It is not unlikely that environment management will turn out to be a global movement for human survival and will involve all age groups of people of all societies. Internet will serve as the main vehicle for this global movement.

A society is formed by cooperation of individuals committed to a common cause. A global society can be formed only through global cooperation of individuals and groups having a common objective. In the past, success of global movements has taken years to materialize, owing mainly to hurdles in communication. Internet will remove this hurdle. Faster communication and decision-making will usher in faster global cooperation and formation of global societies. Even conflicts will get resolved on the Internet, making cooperation more feasible. As all audio-visual media like telephone, wireless, television, fax, computers etc. will get integrated, all human communication from newspapers to marketing will be literally on fingertips of individuals, bringing the global communities closer and closer. New vistas of global cooperation will open up through Internet, as never before.

By far the most remarkable development due to Internet that is likely to occur in the following decades will be the freedom movements across the globe. Global societies will join together to fight for freedom from tyranny, terror, torture, deprivation, discrimination, destruction, hunger, hatred and human miseries as such. Internet will greatly reduce the need for deploying commissions, representatives, observers etc. and expenses therefore. Free flow of global public opinion and the pressure arising out of it, will serve as a deterrent against all excesses. Societies will be able to compare their levels of freedom form man-made miseries and the needy ones will raise call through Internet for global help. Due to globalization of societies, it will be difficult to defy global opinion for a long time. In fact, no such movement will remain "regional" in future. All human concerns will be "global".

One of the main reasons for disparities in human is the lack of understanding and appreciation of human rights. The form, content and extent of human rights need wide and universal publicity so that each human being knows them clearly. Extensive use of Internet will make it possible sooner than imagined. No human rights movement will succeed unless humans are aware of their rights. Internet will make them aware. From awareness of human rights will come the awareness of human responsibility. More responsible human societies will be less prone to conflicts. Lesser conflicts would mean lesser loss of human energy and resources for such activities, which do not benefit human society. Conversely, more human energy and resources will be available for the well-being of mankind. Internet will play a positive role in achievement of this objective.

Human creativity is manifested at its best in the form of art and culture. The finest of human feelings are represented in literature, paining, sculpture, dance, drama, music, cinema, telefilms, photography, customs etc. The forms of art and culture are as numerous as the human societies. Every human society desires to experience the art and culture of others. Till recently this was possible only through museums, art galleries, festivals, exhibitions, books and to some extent through audio-visual media. With multimedia Internet, access to most forms of art and culture of the world societies will become easy and cheaper. There will be greater and greater interaction between societies for understanding and appreciating each other's art and culture. This development, along with other aspects of globalization mentioned earlier, will bring human societies emotionally closer and closer. While some diversity in culture will remain due to diversity in human creativity, there will also develop a unity amongst global communities in understanding, appreciating and promoting each other's art and culture, as a global objective.

Like all human activities, there will also be good and bad sides of the Internet. While some of the good implications have been outlined above as visualized by the young generation of this new century, some undesirable implications are also feasible. Internet may be misused for indulging in spying, piracy, fraud, terrorism, electronic warfare, unethical practices, false propaganda etc. As the human civilization has survived despite human misdeeds, so the good implications of Internet will survive over the bad ones.

The overall implications of Internet will be highly weighted towards positive aspects of human developments, human fraternity and human well-being. It will usher in a new kind of commonality in all human activities, social thinking and creative expression. This commonality will lead towards evolution of a global society and global culture. We the youth of this new century, will not only participate in this great transition, but will also perhaps be privileged to be the first generation of true "world citizens".