JAKOO TEMPLE

On a recent adventure trip to Shimla-Manali, Jakoo Temple was one of the place I could say that I witnessed an amazing event. It was a cold December night (I mean it, for a South Indian whose skin is adapted to temperature of 20-40⁰ C, North is a cold place!) and after a fun filled day our guide/driver informed us (me n Santy) that we were about to visit a temple which gives us amazing view of Shimla, little were we aware what was in store (taden taden taden!!!,just wanted to do that from a long time, gives good effect while reading).We reach this place at around 8,ladded with multilayer clothing( it was quite difficult to recognize me from a distance as I looked like an Eskimo),I got down from the car and it was an uphill climb of around 200 steps from where the car was parked. With lot of heavy cold breathing ,we climbed upstairs and reached approx half the distance, when from no where a mama monkey(I know it’s a mama monkey coz the baby was clinging to its body so please don’t ask me how I came to know it was a female!!) just walks towards us, our driver who was leading the way stands still, pushes his body forward and then the monkey stands on its feet and with its arm searches the pockets of the jacket and the pant and we are left with nothing but amazement and next it was time for my security check and it is quite strange coz you normally don’t expect monkeys to do that, the same was repeated with Santy and science says that if an experiment is repeated thrice and it gives you the same result it is a proven fact!!! The driver instructed us not to panic and move coz the place is filled with over a 1000 monkeys by daytime and since its night there might be around 50 still there, I had no plans of escaping, as I didn’t want to try man Vs beast episode there! He told us not to stare at them coz that will make them follow more! He also informed that they only search for eatables like Prasad in the pockets and mean no harm (wow! that was like some good news!!).After individual security check we reached top of the temple where there is a 108 feet tall statue of God Hanuman which can be seen from any point in Shimla. We do a very short prayer mainly coz of two reason, firstly its damn cold and we wanted to leave, secondly too many monkeys staring is damn scary. At quite fast pace we climb down and enter into the car and escape down into the beautiful roads of Shimla. Back home, when we were narrating this incident, dad in law jokingly said that we could have got some of the monkeys back home coz they would have proved as better security guards than the current ones at the apartment!

RAIN RAIN COME AGAIN…

It has been two months since I posted the last blog so it was about the right time I update my memories. This blog is about weather, I am going to write about my favourite season of the year the monsoons .I intent to write exclusively on the coastal rainfall where entire 3 months in a year it is like Chirapunji .Not to worry folks its isn’t about how much cm of rainfall we receive but its more about all the good stuff of monsoon. I want to discuss this in 3 sections:

Section 1-Monsoon of my childhood days: We would pray as kids that it would rain continuously and the collector declare a rain holiday, the paper boat races on the sloppy areas of the corridors, the secretly getting wet in rain , jumping in the mud filled pits, finding colourful frogy in the water, cancellation of the dreadful assembly in morning on account of rain, the rain football matches-where diving in mud is compulsion even though you might not have saved a single goal!!!The colourful umbrellas, the oversized raincoats, the rainy season was like a part and parcel of a happy childhood J

Section 2-Monsoon of my college days: The prayer for holiday is always priority number one, the hot coffee and wafers/charmuri at Seetanna’s , the fake sick leave, standing in front of window and watching the rain pour itself graciously on the gently swaying and happy trees, the nights spent watching thunder and lightning commandingly striking in air, and one thing about rains is that it always rains at that particular time either when you enter or leave the college and when your leaving the college its always a hard rule that you compulsorily get wet in rain even though you have an umbrella in bag !

Section 3-Monsoon after college life: Praying for holiday as usual, chatting long hours with friends as shopping plans are cancelled on account of rain, getting totally drenched in rain to bring back all the good old childhood memories, listening to people who seem to curse the untimely rains, getting stuck in traffic for long hours due to blockage caused due to rains(not a happy feeling though),but all this doesn’t bring down my love for the most awaited most loved season of the year “the monsoon” .

KK aka Kiran Kumar errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Krishna Kumar...:)

This incident happened sometime in Feb this year..Well,most of my friends know this incident by heart by now and has spread like fire by now,but no harm in rewinding the whole episode...:)

It was a pleasant evening and the whole campus was awaiting to listen to numbers of KK, one of the hot favourites of the music industry in India. The open air theatre was damn crowded and I and Dilu somehow managed to get a place where we could just fit our bums. There was a huge crowd gathered at the venue and this was probably the first time I saw so many people in the campus...(otherwise,its "a desert"!!!!!I hate that dead campus, people have no expression and walk in the campus as if they are subjected to electric shock...since we are used to Aloy campus which used to be so lively and the atmosphere was so cheerful, students gathered at favourite hot joint- the 'katte',chit chatting, bunking classes, the peaceful chapel, some enjoying the light snacks at Seetanna and others grabbing a bite of samosa from samosa Ajja, some of them showcasing their driving skills in front of the audience gathered at katte (may be they suffer from 'identity crisis' or to beat the stress!!!!)...I simply adore the campus and I bet all my friends agree with me..I can never stop praising Aloy!!!!:)That was heaven...and now I visit 'the desert' everyday...and KK's visit to the campus added some colour, enthusiasm and made the campus alive (a rare phenomenon!!!!).

KK made his appearance on the glittering and flashy stage with his troop and sang a number from 'Bus ek pal'...there is a wow factor in him because his voice truely attracts the audience.. His voice is unique, appealing, melodious and God gifted, I have been an ardent fan of him. So I was quite excited when I heard that there was KK's concert organised in the campus. Moreover, it was a welcome break from the monotonous life. As he sang all his favourite numbers like Oh humdum suniyo re, pal, khuda jaane, tu hi meri shab, ya aali,etc etc, the whole crowd sang in unison and thoroughly enjoyed.He created an awesome atmosphere around and I couldn't believe that I was witnessing such a maginificient event in a desert!!!!!His spirit and enthusiasm was mind blowing though he sang continously in a hot jam packed environment...and after two and half hours of non-stop entertainment, he disappeared from the back stage (just like Shaktiman disappearing from the TV screen...hahaha..lol..).All wished that he sang and sang till wee hours of morning. It was almost 12.30 A.M. when the show was over. The crowd dispersed and we lazily walked back to the hostel.

The next morning I gave a call to my sis as the excitement was still there in me after witnessing a mega concert. This is how the conversation goes-

Me- Hi Anu...I want to share some experience of yesterday's concert.

Anu (in her own world as usual)- which concert?

Me (with full enthu)- KK's concert.He was mind blowing and the concert was rocking!!!!!he was so energetic even in such a humid and hot weather. He sang all the hot favourites..blah blah blah...

Anu-I cant imagine KK singing and dancing in midst of the audience. I cant imagine...

Me(irritated!!!)-gosh!!!!What are you saying gal?Have you lost your senses?

Anu (puzzled!!!)-I am not joking..blah blah blah..

Me- Anu,something is seriously wrong with you.. (I dropped the call with anger as I expected her to react happily!!! and I cursed myself for giving a call early in the morning).

After a week, Anu visits home and I show her the videos of KK's concert. She was dumb struck and asked me to maximize the screen so that she could get a closer glimpse of him. I thought she got her senses back since she reacted way better than the phone conversation. We all burst out into laughter as the truth came out. My great sis thought it to be KK- Kiran Kumar, head of XYZ department [do not want to disclose the dept. and the institution name as I do not want to take a risk...:)], to whom she got recently acquainted during her visit to the campus. She couldn't believe that this peculiar person who has the strange habit of covering his mouth with his hand when he speaks in his lowest frequency(as if he is speaking to himself or chanting some mantra), could also sing and entertain the audience!!!! Anu imitates him well.:)She couldn't imagine in her wildest of her dreams about this person about making a public appearance, singing and dancing, and entertaining the crowd!!!!!I was shocked and felt like killing her since I was referring to well known singer KK- Krishna Kumar...I was like, how could she ever act so stupid. But soon, the misunderstanding induced laughter in us. I shared this great but silly experience with my family as well as close friends. Anu's silly imagination became popular and it still makes us laugh till date...Cheers!!!!

This write up is dedicated to my one and only stupid sis Anu!!!!!Thanks for making our lives so wonderful with your great unimaginable imaginations, wit and humour...:) I also wanna thank Ammu for giving this idea to write in the blog, thanks gal!!!

THE TATTOO EXPERIENCE

It was a cool evening of August and I had a card in my hand. This is it I decided, I got to do it! I called the first number and then had a conversation, the person redirected me to the second number on the card, I called them and fixed an appointment at 6 pm the next day which was 21st August. The day arrived and as time approached, I had butterflies in my stomach, adrenaline rushing to all major body parts, serotonin the happy hormone secreted continuously, it was like I had just had 3 chocolate bars at a stretch but it was much more. The reason for all this excitement was because I was going to get a tattoo done .We(me n CG) reached that place at 5:45pm and then we waited outside the studio, I gave this guy, who works there, the picture and he took it for scanning. The picture was of baby Krishna who was thinking and was full of smile and that portrayed my image, a happy person. Then it was time for me to go in and I entered the studio which was a small place. Music played in the background was probably to cover up all the drilling sound. The person who was to create my tattoo was a youngster and Mangalorean by origin , because he was able to recognize that I and my cousin were talking in Konkani which many in B’lore are unable to. As a casual conversation he asked me what I did for living and I replied that I was a lecturer. At these words he stoped drilling!(for the nth time I don’t use Santoor nor do I have a baby face, why do people always stereotype a lecturer??) He took nearly 2 and half hour to finishes it. The details were done excellently and I was really happy with his work. The tattoo was placed on my right shoulder.

Since all tattoos have stories, mine too had a history and I was going to elaborate on it.The tattoo is dedicated to the two most important people in my life. My dad whose name is Synonym of Krishna and to my mother, who gave me this picture when I first left home for higher education. My Granny (who is no more), one of the greatest source of inspiration, an ardent devotee of Krishna; we grew up listening to the adventures of Baby Krishna. This is a tribute to her. I am stepping into my 25th year of life and wanted something to mark my bachelor life ;-)
The last and the most important event of the day was to take photo of it and send it to my friends and family members who took it in good spirits J

WHY SHOULD BOYS HAVE ALL THE FUN

Two weeks ago, I had gone to visit Confused Gemini but there was twist in the story and instead of staying over at her place, the three of us me, CG and The Coke Gal (her roommate) decided to stay at my other cousin Amyth’s place. This following incident occurred when we decided to get take away parcel for dinner. So on two bikes me and Ami on one and CG and Bird Guy on another we reached a restaurant Pick N Move. There we saw this guy who was dressed in loose denims, screaming tee, an inverted cap and a pull over jacket worn on top of it. To add on to his rockstar look he had his eyebrow pierced and also had chain hanging on his thighs from his waist. Smoking a cigarette he was talking to his friend. We get in ,order and collect it and come out when we see the most amazing scene. I remembered the words of some great person “A perfect man does right thing at the right time” but i guess our hero didn’t get it right! Why am I saying this is coz he was riding a red colour Hero Honda pleasure and Ami teasingly said “Why should boys have all the fun”!

HAPPINESS UNLIMITED!

One of my flashback memories, that I would love re-living. It was the send off for our seniors and I was unable to attend it! What makes it so memorable is the fact I realised that day how much my friends love me (thinking of that incident always brings a smile on my face).

It was the month of March. The time of the year when school kids esp those in tenth dedicate their heart and soul for board exams, when ice creams and cool drinks are nearly sold out at Pabba’s!, when the farewell was given to our seniors by their smart and cool juniors (hmm…that’s us).So a send off programme was decided in advance and the preparation were going on with snail speed for past one week. The unique thing about my class was that to get any work done it has to be assigned to them and they will do it, or else, it will not be done. Now the mammoth task of assigning the work had to be done in such a way so as to prevent clash of the titans. So I was unofficially assigned to do this job as I was good in Public relation! The task was to organise and take care of the requirement of different groups. Various things were set and class whole heartedly plunged into ‘the making’ of the event. The programme included dances by girls (in group, solos, gangs),dance by guys(Swathi had to literally shed tears to make the two left feet guys learn dancing…but they finally got it right!),the famous Kajrare, the skit by boys(the personalized version of Swades-we the people),the mad adds, the powerpoint presentations about our seniors, mimicking of our teachers and several games.

The previous day I start developing pain in my neck but I ignore it because there was so much of work pending, there were stage decorations we had to finish. By evening I decided that I should visit a doctor and he gave some medications (though it didn’t work).The stage was set and recording of songs and mad adds were pending and it was decided that early morning it will be completed. The time was 10pm and we had to wind up with all preparation, which was 90% done. Since I couldn’t ride ( as I had this stupid probing pain) my cousins picked me and I went home. The day of the event, I get up early and realise I cannot move my neck, ‘oh god no not today’ I keep on muttering, so then I give a call to Appu and Saran and tell them I cannot make it and though they are shocked they were quite understanding. The next 3 hours were spend on the mobile giving instructions to different friends on not to panic! I had to take rest for 1 hour after my aunt sternly looks at me and asks me to take rest! I believe I lived that day through the eyes of 29 people who kept calling me and gave live commentary .By the end of the day I do not regret missing the programme but I do have tears of joy in my eyes when my friends call me and say “don’t worry Ammu, u take care” “Ammu, we will arrange another baila for you”(and believe me they did)!. I guess sometimes in pain too there is happiness unlimited!!

Memoirs of Independence Day

It just struck me that I should be writing about this topic in the blog coz there are many things I want to share about this great day-Independence Day. I became a little nostalgic for a while thinking about the golden days of our school life. As children, this day was very big for us.

Flashback (10 years ago on this day)-

At six in the morning, my mom begins her Suprabhata- “Get up girls, you need to go to the school early today to witness the flag hosting programme.” Throwing tantrums, I and my sis struggle to open our eyes and somehow manage to wake up. We lazily get ready in our white and white uniforms, glowing white shoes (we had a P.T. Sir and a Maths Sir doing investigation on the brightness of our shoes, failing which we were prone to punishment!!!! So a day before the Independence day and Sports day, it was our duty to apply white make up on to the canvas shoes…) and a flag pinned up on our uniforms to express the patriotism towards our Mother Nation. So we happily go to the school minus the heavy luggage (our school bags and classes suspended for the day) and stand in the scorching hot sun for the assembly. The day begins with the school prayer followed by the pledge taken with due respect (which is a daily business in the school, but I would like to quote the pledge coz somewhere in our busy lives, we would have forgotten it!!!!!)

“India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage. I shall always strive to be worthy of it. I shall give respect to my parents, teachers, classmates and all elders and treat everyone with courtesy. To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness. Jai Hind!!!!”

Then our music teacher would begin his countdown-1 2 3 4-the choir of the school (who would rehearse for days together after the school hours) would begin singing- “Saare jahan se accha, Hindustan hamara….”and the whole school would sing in sync with a feeling of pride. This was followed by the flag hoisting ceremony performed by the Princi of the school. The whole school would salute the flag and pay a tribute to all those martyrs who at the cost of their lives put all their efforts to make India an independent country. The day would end with the National Anthem…”Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya Hai, Bharatha Bhagya Vidhata….” and the school would disperse. As part of the Independence Day celebrations, the students were treated with sweets and chips [which was “amrutha” (SK's punch word) to us coz we would be starving to death after standing in the hot sun!!!! :-)] We would come back home and watch the live telecast of Independence Day parade on Doordarshan. The same day, the Doordarshan channel would also air a patriotic movie which we would enjoy with all enthusiasm.

As part of Independence Day celebrations, the following Saturday was reserved for patriotic song competition during the Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) period. The school was divided into various houses- Ashoka, Sarojini, Shivaji and Tagore. There were a handful of people selected for the competition by the House leaders who would sing their throats out after series of rehearsal sessions!!!!!! As there was a system where in points were allotted to the winning teams and the runners up, the respective House leaders would try to inculcate the spirit of competition among their House members so as to win the competition!!!!! So on the D-day, the students would sing with devotion and patriotism in the presence of the Judges and the best team was declared as the winner.

The present scenario-

Friends, where are those beautiful days gone? Do we ever make any effort to celebrate this golden day marked in the Indian history. I am just lost in the mesmerizing thoughts of school days. Ah!!!! Those days Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations meant a lot to us. Now we don’t even make an effort to witness any flag hoisting session occurring in the vicinity or our workplaces. The present youth would rather dedicate this day for an outing/a get together (remember our get together party on 15.8.2008-the year we all graduated :-) !!!!!) or prefer to watch a nonsense movie with friends. The labour class would be happily boozing in the nearest bars till they lost all their senses- this is what freedom means to them!!!!… I can go on and on with many instances…On this day, I would like to dedicate a few moments for Mother India through this blog… Let's take an oath to protect our Nation and be responsible citizens.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL!!!!!

(Ammu, I just flagged off the writing session. Hope I keep up your dreams of contributing to this blog in the coming days…:-) I will make a serious effort and will jot down whenever possible…)

VALENTINE’S DAY

This is about the two memorable valentine’s day and the irony is that there isn’t any romance involved. It is one of those flashback memories that I wish to write.The year is 2007 and the date is Feb 14, I am riding my dio, and I take a turn at the bunt’s hostel junction when a two wheeler from the other end bangs onto my dio and I fall down and the scooter falls right on my left hand (since the vehicle had hit me from the right side, so according to Newton’s third law I had to fall on the left side!!). I wish to pause right now and put forth the words rightly said by the Adopted son which is “When a girl meets with an accident many people rush to the spot, four of them lift the vehicle(he meant two wheeler) and another four lift and manage to massage the girl but when a guy meets with an accident four of them rush to the spot and curse him, even though he might be bleeding, no one helps him, he has to go to garage to get his bike repaired and then go to the hospital to repair his body” so now back to the story, so as usual some of them rush to the spot and lift the vehicle which had some damage and some lift me but I don’t allow the massage part! I still am in shock as I am considered a good rider and haven’t had any accidents before, the guy on the other end didn’t get hurt nor his girlfriend/sister/wife ( I don’t know who she was) was hurt, so many people gather, shout and create scene but since I was getting late for college I said it was ok and started riding again, though I thought I wasn’t hurt, I had bruises on my hands and legs and also couldn’t move two of my fingers on my left hand. Once I reach college my good pals sense something is wrong and ask me to go to the nearby clinic immediately. The thing with friends is, they never listen and are very persistent so I am accompanied by two of my pals Appu and Dillu and after an appointment, the nurse gives me TT shots and bandages my wound and the doctor asks me to take an X-ray of my hand which is very funny because I have to keep my finger raised in certain gesture which in the X-ray is shown as a bony finger saying f…k off! And finally I am diagnosed with ligament tear and have to wear a crape bandage for 3 weeks for the muscle to heal. Another thing about friends is, they always find humour in any situation. So I have my gal pals asking me if the guy was cute, SK says “Ammu, Keep the bandage on your finger till your MSc ends who knows, you might get the handicap quota for PhD”!!!Feb 14, 2008: It was a break from the tiring projects and heavy doses of theory classes. The sport’s day of the college and we had before hand decided that the uniform will be red shirt and dark blue denim. Though we wanted cute skirts the guys refused to wear them!! The event was marching and it was a combined event so the entire MSc both first and second years had to take part. So despite differences we decided to make the event a success and it was, as we bagged the first place later on. Now the incident is memorable because it was during that time, wearing red and walking on road with any guy was considered a sin! (It was the anti-valentine committee, which later on in 2009 had become a big issue of the pink chaddi andolan!) Secondly we enjoyed a lot because of a cricket match between seniors and juniors (seniors won) and also the traditional relay which we have the record of always landing last which our juniors truly followed! The millions of photos clicked and the fun of playing and cheering pals despite of their very poor performance in so many sport events which is missed after the collage days come to an end :-(

ONCE UPON A TIME…

Reading the title do not assume that I am going to write about any fairy tale in this blog, its about some incidents in life which are meaningful and yet so unbelievable, let me put in this way last week was a very dramatic one for many reasons:

Incident 1: I had come home for vacations, as a custom which I follow, I stay at my granny’s, meet my pals and talk philosophical things about life, so one such meeting was held in Hao Ming(one of our regular adda) and my usual members of gang had a get together, Prajju joined us too, so we finish our food and then we decide to have ice cream at one of our other favourite joint Cherry Square. When we meet we talk a lot, firstly about our jobs, classmates finally ends up in philosophical thoughts and when Prajju spoke these words ,made me realise though how simple the words he spoke, it was pretty powerful stuff which made so much sense, he said “When we were kids we didn’t have to worry about anything , I am in second standard they automatically promote me to third standard, it was like life is a bus and we were traveller’s who knew what their destination was, after I finish my MSc I don’t know what to do, there is so much of confusion, it felt as if I am now the driver of the bus and have to lead it to some destination which may or may not be right”! All of us nodded our head in agreement and I said “Don these words are definitely going on my blog”

Incident 2: Four years ago, in Granny’s house, it was the Fifa world cup of 2006 and me and my cousin Nit sat there cheering for some match and I said “I wonder where all of us will be when the next world cup will be held!” Last week, one of the late night matches of Fifa cup 2010, I am sitting next on a sofa to Nit and cheering Netherlands for an awesome goal, when both of us went into flashback and laughed. Sometimes I just feel so glad the way things turn out, I never imagine I will be there at the same time cheering of course for different team!

Shakespeare rightly said ‘life is a drama!’

GOD’S OWN CAPITAL

The time is 6:20 pm, Vic and I wait at the platform for Mavelli express and then I see it arriving, my friends waving cheerfully and I say casual bye to Vic and hop on to the train and sit amongst my friends, what follows next is the usual chit-chat lasting very long. (I love to talk till my jaws start paining) and meeting my MSc pals brings back all good memories. Train journey always fascinates me because of the good conversion, packed food, lush greenery outside and the track sound. I believe it shows how diverse India is!
The objective of this all girls trip was a conference in Trivandrum (God’s own Capital). So as the train swung in its regular rhythm and we are engrossed in some conversation, Dillu gets a call on her phone. It’s Mr. R, the organizing secretary of the conference and they talk in Malayalam and after the conversation comes to an end, Appu and I keep staring at her and she gives us this ‘whatever you gals are thinking is not true’ look. So the conversation goes on like this:“So Dillu, why is it that he responds only to your call and not to our mails???” asks Appu .Dillu replies with her usual nakras that there is nothing going on. Though both of us knew she wasn’t lying, we weren’t going to give up that easily! So I kept the conversation flowing that if there is something cooking between both of you then I will be the proud aunt to Dillu’s imaginary kids Rathna and Dillesh! Appu goes one step further and hums the tune Rathu…rathu…rathu…aaja..aaja..aaja!!!
This amount teasing is directly proportionate to Dillu’s anger, so we didn’t continue longer. The train arrives at the capital city and we walk with all our bags as Sharukh in main hoon na. The hotel is nearby so we walk and after waiting 20 mins in the lobby they give us rooms, though we already had a reservation. Strike 1,We reach our rooms freshen up and decide to have the ultimate Kerala delicacy Puttu and Kadala curry with awesome Kerala Tea. So we decide to have breakfast at the hotel where we stayed and to our surprise they didn’t have the basic Kerala food!! It’s like you come to M’lore and can’t find neeru dosa! Strike 2.The rest of the day is spent visiting the beautiful Anantha PadmanabaSwamy Temple, the lovely art gallery, museum and zoo. The food wasn’t up to the mark in any of the places we dined!
Day 2 was spend in the conference where we first encountered Mr R for the first time and Dillu and He made the ‘Perfect couple’ .Though I had my presentation that day, I was busy mentally preparing a romantic duet choreography, with these two running behind trees and since it was a hotel conference hall running behind pillars. The song was “Oh little flower…” from Quick gun Murugan. So the conference went on I finished my presentation, Appu’s was the next day so after lunch we bunked the noon session and made sure we came right on time for dinner. The fun part was yet to come. The organizers had arranged for a magic show which was truly ---- I don’t have words to describe let me just put it this way…the magician thought he is a cross of South Indian superstar and a Cheer girl and his assistant was imitating Shakira but sadly the assistant was a male! So after a magical evening we sit to have dinner. Now instead of us enjoying a quiet peaceful dinner we are stuck with group of non good looking guys trying to hit on us with boring lines! Strike 3 the conference didn’t have good looking guys!
The next day turns out to be as boring as day 2 but we finish with the presentation, take all the certificates and escape, the only relief is meeting my friend Chotu at railway station later that evening! The Trivandrum melodrama ends in a very meaningful note i.e. do not expect good things always! Life aint fair. The journey back is once more full of colours, lively discussions and friendly spirits :-)

EXAM PREMIER LEAGUE

1:40pm: A warm summer afternoon, a crowed corridor, the atmosphere tense, books flipped, views exchanged, the only time of the year when the student gangs discuss actual subject content! No point for guessing it’s the EPL, the less glamorous version of IPL, except it is not a team work during the final trials. I walk through the haphazard crowd, making sure I do not stamp any students on my way to room X. I enter the room, place the booklets on the table and open the windows of the room for the air circulation as within the next 20 minutes the room will be occupied by 40 hard workers who slogged throughout night resisting their urge of not watch exciting matches of the FIFA world cup!.

1:45pm: I place individual booklets on the allotted seat according to the B-form given. B-form is a list of roll numbers where the students have to write their booklet number and signature and it is a proof that they were physically present for the exams. Once I finish arranging them, I go through the instructions which are to be given to the students prior to their exam; it’s usually the same for examinations all over India. I glance at my watch 1:50pm, time for the students to get inside the room, I ask them to do so, some of them vigorously turn pages as their life depend on it, others open up their bags dig in and bring out the usual stationary, calculator, id card and the hall ticket. The next 5 minutes goes into reflection, examination sure brings out the God in the atheist! I read out the instruction, they hear it with no interest.

1:55pm: The booklet consists of 40 pages, in the first page the students need to fill the examination i.e. BE, their University Seat Number, the semester, the branch, the date, the exam they are going to attend, the subject code, their signature, the room invigilators signature (which they do not fill but I do), the set of instructions and the space to draw the diagonal lines. The diagonal lines are drawn in specific boxes against questions to which the answers are attempted. The second page has the detailed set of instructions including those on malpractice. The third page on is the space to write and the 40^th page is for rough work. The external examiner usually from other college provides the question papers. Usually there is combination of various branch students in a single class so there will be three-four different set of question paper.

2:00pm: The bell goes off and I distribute the question paper and the next 5 minutes is spend on browsing through the content of the black and white powerful piece of paper which in a way is going to decide the future of the studentkind! The tension eases in some and others shake their head in disbelief, the testophobics nervously chew on to their fingers or pen tip in an optimistic hope that the college get raided by group of extraterrestrial this moment and the exam gets cancelled but trust me sadly it never happens. The journey of writing begins…

2:05-2:30pm: In India, there is a system of being non-punctual and the trend applies even for exams. I walk around in the class checking out that all of them have received their papers and make sure their first few moments are smooth. At 2:15pm, a tensed girl enters my class and searches in total desperation for her seat and looks at me and stops and I ask “which paper do you want?”Girl “Ma’am…8^th sem...”I knew she was nervous to the core as I could barely hear her through her shivering and stammering. “I know your in 8^th semester, which paper do you want” She looks at me as though I just pulled her oxygen mask and I could literally see her going blue and I tell her “breathe, calm down!!..Relax” In a moment she manages to bring her cardiac beats to normal and says “programme language”. I give her paper and show her where she has got to sit. It made me realize one thing that testophobia prevails through out the life span even if you might have written like 100 exams before hand. Once the agitated class relaxes, I go around with the B-form and collect their signature, sign on their booklet and hall ticket and ensure all the entries are made, in most cases they write wrong date and forget to sign which is rectified. So the first 30 minutes goes in setting things in order then the colossal of boredom over takes for the next 2 hours, not for the students but for the invigilator and that’s me in this case.

2:30-4:30pm: Life is quite strange, 2 years back I was among the ‘writer species’ and now I am walking in the room doing invigilation. When you have lot of time to spare you become a philosopher and I guess it’s the same with me, so what do I do to kill time is the million dollar question, well I do little statistical survey of the room. This idea to kill time was first suggested by a senior colleague of mine. If I had to write a repot it would go like this: There are 40 students in the class, the male: female ratio is 1:1, 20 boys and 20 girls (I am reminded of ‘Sarva shiksya Abiyan’, where the government appeals for rights to education to all despite of their sex and with this ratio I am impressed that it is implemented at least in this class). The favorite colour of the class is blue as out of 40, 15 of them have worn some shades of blue. The next is the sense of clothing, I am not a fashion analyst but most of them during exam time are not bothered how they look. The guys have the ‘I just got out of the bed look’ and girls do not feel the need to apply make up around their dark circles developed due to night outs. The next focus is on the footwear, out of 40, 27 of them wear shoes and the rest 13 wear sandals. The sandals vary in their colour, texture and size of course. The shoes interest me the most as the versatility is known. The usual brands like Reebok, Adidas, Nike, Converse etc, so I check out for the brands and the winner in today’s class is Nike as 15 of them are wearing them! The other accessories are also noted such as ear rings, watches, strange bracelets etc. Though one can engage themselves fully in the statistical analysis it can last only 30 minutes maximum. The next thing is to wait for the attendant to bring coffee or the reliever to come to the class. The reliever is the one who gives you 10 minutes of freedom from solitude walk. The times is used for visiting the rest room, taking bag out of staff room and bring it to the exam hall. You cannot escape as the reliever keeps track of time. The attendant brings you a steaming cup of coffee in the smallest cup possible.(I am not joking, the cup barely contains 15 ml, by the time it goes down the throat it disappears).No complains as it remains the sole source of glucose for the sunny noon. The order of who comes first doesn’t matter but it gives you a hope that you’re waiting for someone and time is passing by. The other time pass one can do is supply water to students, this works only in summer, during exams in winter its not applicable. All these things work only till 3:45pm, when mind starts getting restless, organizing thoughts is another way of killing time for eg:I keep thinking if I had some supernatural powers I could have watched movies in my mind without disturbing the writer’s out there, but sadly like ET that too never happens. I keep walking in the empty spaces between the seats, looking at what they write, most of which I do not understand as I am a life science person, not an engineering, the hands and mind move in coordination. Sometimes the students stare at my face continuously as I walk and I think that may be they feel answers are written on my face, whatever it may be, if it helps I don’t mind them giving blank looks. In between all the organized chaos, external squad visits twice and ensures students do not malpractice.

4:30-4:50pm: The restlessness grows further because the regular time to exit college is 4:10pm and it keeps popping in some corner of the brain. This is the time when the watchless students keep asking time.I do announce time every hour but I guess the examination affects their hearing temporarily. I was never a sports person and so I begin to feel tired due to continous walking as we aren’t supposed to sit. The students occasionally call me to sign for change of ink. You know a paper is tough when you see the following events during the due course of examinations

- Students tend to stare at their hall ticket (probably they calculate how many back papers they will have if they include the current one)

- Students keep playing with their pens, hair ,nails, shift positions too many times

- Students cancel out 1 answer more than 3-4 times

- They write too much for 1 answer, its usually the same thing over and over again

- Students leave the hall within one hour

4:50-5:00pm: The time when the earth revolves faster than usual and I keep up my pace and give them final set of instructions to make sure they write question numbers, strike out excess page, draw diagonal lines in first page etc. The bell at 4:50 brings many back out of sleep and they spring out like a brainwave hits them and write the entire 10 minutes. At 5 its time up and they usually don’t take extra time as three hours of imprisonment is sufficient! I collect the books and walk out

A relaxed evening, a crowed corridor with the hustle bustle, dialogues fly out ,“I will pass” “machha..wait for me!” “who set this question paper…” “match nodidiya”(I guess they didn’t miss the FIFA match), “aree yaar, shit I didn’t write it..”. I walk through the crowd remembering the memories of the most unchanged experience of one life even with the fast moving pace of time “The Examination”

WHY DO I LOSE MOBILE?

I have been a mobile user from the past 3 years and in that span I have lost 3 mobiles!!! And believe me I don’t lose things that easily, so I decided to write a blog as a tribute to my lost cell phones

Mobile 1: The final year of MSc, all are busy preparing for the last exam i.e. the viva voce of the final year project. We were called into a room to give instructions and our respective bags were placed outside the room. After which we departed to our allotted rooms for viva. After finishing my viva smoothly, I decided to give a call to Aunt L about my great achievement! And I dig into my bag only to find my mobile missing. The next 30 minute were spent by my friends in searching the mobile in the entire college campus. Alas! I wasn’t destined that way; I lose my mobile 1, a Nokia 1100 and am sad that I lose it. The next step is to retrieve the same number which is as follows:

Step 1: Go to a nearby police station, they have a template ,write a story using the same template, which briefly states that on my way from place 1 to place 2 the mobile fell from my pocket along with the sim (this is their actual pattern for everyone who lose their mobile)

Step 2: Take a photocopy of the letter and 1 is filed in police station, the other is given to customer care of your network and then they give you your number

Step 3: Buy a new mobile, use social networking to get back all the lost numbers of family and friends

Mobile 2: I am at home it’s the lovely monsoon of the coast, after talking to a friend I place the mobile in the telephone desk and after around 3 hrs when I decide to check on my pj’s, I cannot find it, search begins and no one knows where it is, I thought of all extreme possibilities where it would be some of which were- Jadoo (the alien in Koi Mil Gaya)-because he is active in daytime, my brothers and their pranks, evil spirits, Day time robbery etc. The three steps were carried out meticulously. It was a Nokia 1600.

Mobile 3: I am walking very briskly as I have to catch a bus home, its night and it’s a crowded bus stop and the cool atmosphere puts a pressure on my kidneys which in turn on my bladder and so I got to pee. I move to the rest room which is one of the filthiest place but one has to do what has to be done! Unfortunately my mobile slips and lands up in the gutter and I stand there and think -goodbye mobile I will miss you…I do know what awaits after this which is series of laughter from family and friends. By the way no one is really sad that I lose mobile! It was a Nokia 1650

The steps are not followed as I change my number, well step 3 is still valid, but during one of the gang meeting of my pals, (which I couldn’t attend) 5 minutes of condolence was offered to my mobile with continuous laughter and bad jokes!! So I am just about finishing my blog when I receive a message in my mobile which is from Dillz “Hi dear, cell loser, how are you?”

So the question arises again why do I keep losing mobiles? My brother has a simple answer he says “Stop buying Dabba cell phones”.!!!

COUNTRY COUSINS

Situation 1: Bhat’s residence, a fun filled evening, “So why do you give her money, when you know she spends it!!” Aunt S asks me surprisingly. I reply instantly “She is my younger sister; besides I don’t mind giving money because I myself do not spend much”. The Confused Gemini smiles nodding her head in agreement.

Situation 2: “What time is that boy coming home?”a tired Aunt L wiping her face looks at me with a hope that I say within the next 10 seconds but even I am not sure if that is ever gonna happen. I speed dial Big V (of course he is small V to me!) “Yo! What time shall I expect your arrival- standard or the V time” He mumbles something and I know its time to act, I mentally calculate some time considering the heaviness of his dialogue and my intuitions and reply “in an hour or so, probably coz”…and there goes another cock and bull story. Yup Big V indeed was the reason I got the nick name “V’s lawyer”

So I am writing this in the fond memory (they are not dead) of two of my bloody cousins…I mean my blood related cousins without whom my life wouldn’t have been so wonderful ;-) The major coincidence is the fact that both of them are of the same age and do know every intelligent and stupid moves of my life!

Confused Gemini (CG): I could actually write a biography about her life, she is practical, animal loving, Salsa dancing, dirt biker adventurous gal whose soul aim is to enjoy life the way it goes, jack all trades and master of business (she’s done her MBA).CG as the name suggests is confused most of the time as she keeps multitasking many things at a time and lands up somehow completing them. An apt listener who can at times speak words of wisdom wiser than her age. A fellow blogger who introduced me to the world of Blogging. J

Big V: I can talk about anything under the sun and moon (coz most of our talk were at night during exam times when I get bugged from reading and disturb him with my constant chit chats and he would manage to reply in few hmms and ok and at times also reply more than that).He always manages to get his work done using his puppy dog face! (He’s a grown up version of the tare zameen par kid, who keeps dreaming).He manages to get on my nerves at times by playing pranks. He lives life Kings Style. I wish you all the best to your future adventure J

BEHIND EVERY TEAR, A LAUGH HIDES!

‘A lot can happen over coffee’…this quote is seen in most of the romantic novels or advertisements of coffee, but this blog isn’t about the romance, it’s about interpretations of actions that are irrelevant bringing about a downpour of consequences (I though I should use some heavy words in my blog).Coffee place just happens to be the spot where friends hang out (includes the serial F.R.I.E.N.D.S). One such hangout is most memorable to us (me n Appu) where we nearly died of laughing and I had told her that this will definitely be one topic I will be blogging about. So the story unfolds like this: {font is changed to give some effect, if you don’t feel it, fake it!}

“One summer noon in the month of March, when I had come down town, my mother asked me to attend some pooja in Mangalore and though I was reluctant in attending it, the thought of a reunion with my pals was more appealing that I agreed to attend it, with the condition that I have quick lunch and leave early so that I could meet my pals and she agreed. So I finish with all the ‘I don’t know who your’ smiles to relatives (I didn’t know some of them were related to me, but they sort of knew my biodata) and hurry towards the café coffee day where my friends awaited me for the past half hour, as I start my brisk walk towards them, I notice their expression, Appu-with the evergreen smile on her face, Adopted Son-I hope she doesn’t comment on my weight loss look, Dillz-‘I have so much of work to finish, can’t she for a change be on time’ look and of course I did miss the other two gang members Jos and SK, after the casual hi and wassup, we settle down and then individually start the autobiography from the point where it was left in the last meeting(though we do the swearing and cursing over the phone but live meeting is always better),we order some exotic coffees and realize they have only two kinds available, what the heck! We order what ever is available. As we sip on our coffee and talk total nonsense Dillz announces that it’s her first time in a Café coffee day (let me make it clear that she is not from a remote village who has never been to a Coffee house, its just that she didn’t visit one) . Appu and I cook up some story of how your first coffee house visit should be.(romantic, friends spying and throwing popcorns used as keywords in story–as you see in some crappie bollywood movies) .Asaf makes a comment about something quite irrelevant(as he thinks) but isn’t considered so by us and that point of time ,I swear, both me and Appu laughed our lungs out!!!!It was a solid half an hour continuous laughter, with tears rolling down from our eyes and people around giving us confused look. Asaf and Dillz kept asking why we were laughing so badly, we just couldn’t respond …

Though the matter was utterly stupid and trivial, every time I think of that incidence, it brings a smile on my face; I remember it as the day I cried because of excessive dose of laughter ;-)

SOMETHINGS NEVER CHANGE…OR DO THEY?

I thought from Jan on,I will be a regular blogger but I suck at time management(I admit it!) and was unable to write a proper blog, there are so many memories to write on and I missed out writing them.(I plan to document all this coz in future if I turn out to be Ghajini (synonym of temporary memory loss) then I will require this memory booster).So today’s topic is my current profession. I am a lecturer currently working at a reputed(I guess so) engineering college, how do I feel about it? I am quite unsure but my profession has built in too many questions in the minds of newer friendlier people I meet...would love to share some of the incidents

1. For a weekend I go to my cousin’s place and there I meet this guy and my couz formally introduces and he asks me if I am working…so I say lets play the guess game, three chances to guess my profession..he agrees and says fashion designer(ya right I wear what I am most comfortable in!)and couz says keep guessing its deadlier and he goes on to say…air hostess, interior designer, the list continues and even ends up saying I work for “the company”(gangster) and I say no to all and my couz breaks the ice and says she is a lecturer and all I hear next is censored and he just couldn’t believe that I am a lecturer, trust me even I cant at times!!

2. I meet this girl and tell my profession and at every later dialogue I get this “I don’t believe I am friend’s with a lecturer “come on just coz I am a lecturer doesn’t mean I am a terrorist or is it the other way around???

3. Prajju ‘The Don’ asks me the other day “tell me ammu, do you still dress up the same way as you used to dress up when u were in college with us”(he meant do I still wear long kurtas and roll my sleeves till the elbow and wear long deadly chains)and I reply “na now since I am a lecturer I dress up in proper Indian attire(sari is not compulsory and trust me I am really happy about that) and am at my best behavior with no slang words!!and yet he did not believe it!

So in conclusion when DK(my friend who is doing her PhD in London) and I are in a conversation in the messenger she asks how does it feel to be a lecturer ,I say “Earlier I used to sleep when my lecturers taught me, now I put students to sleep when I teach”I guess in some ways things never change J

New year resolutions

It’s been so long since I had written my last blog…the main reason-me being lazy!!!
So this year I decided to be more regular. The year 2009 was a roller coaster in my life basically because it changed the way I react to things…this year I decided to make resolutions which is going to make me really very happy (not that I am unhappy, but I don’t want any grouchy moment in my life)…so this is the list of things I wish to do this year

meet my pals more often
lead an uncomplicated life
watch movies more often…once I joined the job in B’lore it seems like years since I watched any good ones
most important of all...learn how to think and talk…I am very poor at that
Enjoy life to the fullest coz 2012 boom…end of the world!!!!

Yup...That’s it for this year J