Dear friends,

Indeed it is very good news for all three of us. I want to sincerely thank Sunny, Gurpreet
and all others who made their efforts to help me attend the UFM meeting. Though till
date I have kept a brave face in public about the matter, I must acknowledge that what
transpired during the meeting with those members shook me from within. First of all, on
entering the room I found that no chair was kept for so called "culprits". You were
required to stand and face that humiliation. After I entered the room, an elderly
gentleman put to me the first and the only question - Mr.Srivastava, what your children
would have said if they knew about your action. The thousand answers which were
swirling in my mind in anticipation of defending my so called "UF" action of unwittingly
writing points on question paper within first five minutes of the exam vanished without
trace. I had never thought that my such action in some one eyes shall be so heinous that it
would lead to personal attack. I had been forewarned by one of my friend that members
constituting these types of committees in educational colleges generally wear their egos
on their sleeves; hence I was not to put forth any arguments in any circumstances. I had
decided to work against his opinion in the matter but the very first question numbed me. I
mumbled my apologies for my ignorance of their rules which were not there 20 years ago
when I was in the habit of writing exams. Sensing my discomfort, the member sitting
next to this elderly gentleman immediately looked into the papers, communicated in
hushed voice with him for a second and in embarrassed tone politely asked me to leave
the room. The whole incident has taught me something:-

1. There are certain situations in life when you are judged only by legality of the issue
and not by the intentions or morality involved.
2. In front of organized legal entity (UFM committee), an individual is nothing (kai DJ
pis gai - what Aamir Khan said in Rang de Basanti)
3. You are at the sweet mercy of those in power. (As far as I understand such committees
have quasi judicial nature and are governed by definite administrative rules. Yet most of
us were summarily dismissed without bothering for our explanation / giving us equal
chance to cross question those who reported on us. However to be fair to them I must
acknowledge that we were asked to give our explanation in writing)
4. You are guilty till proven otherwise (Mr. Srivastava - App ke Bacche kya kahte agar
unhe pata chalta ke aap ne kya kiya hai).
5. Erudition is no guarantee for correct behavior. Some persons, despite their
PHDs/DLits, shall always act according to their animal instinct. (In my case clearly that
elderly gentleman had not bothered to know about my alleged misconduct before making
that irresponsible comment.)

Before this incident I always thought that I have enough faculties to defend myself and
my family against all odds. Now I think otherwise. Maybe I have grown old and have no
fire left within me to fight. But I want all of you beautiful young people to grow into
responsible human beings. When you all occupy seats of power, ensure that means to
justice are as just and humane as justice itself.

- Amit Srivastava