Attention, Stand at ease, Attention… Heil Hitler

The last edition said that the next edition wud be on Dec 11 or something – I dont even remember, its been that long. In fact, the last time you guys read the blog was last year ! Things have moved on, calendars have changed and some of you have grown up in this duration (not mentally, I doubt, you wudnt be here). But I still made sure that we have at least one issue for the month of January….

Of all the days, that particular monday was very irritating. It was time for the school assembly. Its a trait of schools in our part of the world. School children, all together, the entire school standing with hands clasped to their back like they were waiting to be guillitoned by Hitler. Most faces look fresh, most smell of lavender-flavoured talculm powders and others smell of the breakfast they have had. The students dressed up in uniform clothes, ofcos with some like Yats in sports shoes getting uncaught and some like Kumar with the right bur dirty shoes and still getting caught. Ha!

Assembly meant that we had to fight the scorching sun of the southern peninsula as we tried to close our eyes and think of God. If someone fainted during the morning assembly under the hot sun, they just left them there on the ground… Only to be trampled over later as we marched back to our classrooms to the beat of a mildly hypnotizing drum. (Ok I exaggerate. They sent the receptionist to pick up the kids, who then took them to the biology lab, drugged them and then sold them to this kidney racket out of Coimbatore).

Students are discussing strange things. You wud wonder on the topics that range in the assembly hall. Most talk about the cricket match last evening. Some sulk about exams and are tense about the questions. Other cant be bothered less as they have their examination ’strategy’ worked out. Height was a perinnial assembly problem. Its one of those times that make you feel very conscious about the incremin disfunctionality in your body. Short ones like Dars and XXL ones like JD and Prav always had reasonable trouble, I thought, occupying the two ends of the line. The medium ones like Me, Yats and the lot were safe amidst the protection of others. So much so that, even if Yats and me decided go on a duet song and dance for the school song, we could do it and people around us would still be listenin to mundane, out-dated and sad-ass speeches on ‘Rain water harvesting’ – a permanent bore.
Brings us to speeches – one of the more interesting things in an assembly. Our school had a system, whereby, everyday there would be one speech. Mostly english, sometimes in the local language – tamil. If observed, the speeches had a pattern to them. Over a week, they would cover topics of Society, current events – rain-water harvesting, tree planting and such civic assignments that the school undertook and sometimes, age-old theories in science that was inversely proportional to the thoughts of Kumar and JD, in spite of being science students. Speaking has been one of my favourite arts – not just on stage but generally. Ask my friends and they would tell you that I speak… quite a lot, to put it reasonably. Ahem. No matter what, I always stand voicing my opinion, mostly at the wrong time. As I established myself in the school, I became prominent in the assembly scene. To the extent that, everytime II std. kids saw me lining up on stage, they would come with a pillow, ready to continue their sleep that was cut short by the fear of missing school bus. As an anecdote, I always felt sorry for them. What would they understand about harvesting, somebody has just sown them on earth. Why clip their innocent and lovely dreams short and deprive them of precious sleep that they will miss when they grow into irresponsible, drunkard teenagers. I guess, at their age, they are forced into everything almost – by parents, teachers, elder brothers, relatives, even the bus conductors sometimes.

Newes, coming back to speeches, I always thought that speeches made out of books, articles and so on about academic topics and out of newspapers for social issues would just bring you tick marks and dull looks that dont mean anything when they applaud at the end. They were lectures. And the next word that comes to your mind when I say lectures is, of course, ‘BORE’ (No Yats, not ‘bunking’). Exactly why the students get dis-interested. For me, it is such a nice opportunity when the entire school is together for you to present something informative, thought-provoking and entertaining. Even if a speech achieves one of the above, that would be useful. I have always tried to tailor my speeches. I try to express my opinions and views on something. Not that the student lot cares, but they can read theory of relativity and dowry harrasement from many other sources if they want to. But, my speech would be a point of view on a topic -  my point of view ofcos. Its gonna make them think – they might agree , they might not. But they do have an opinion about a topic, they did not know about 2 mins earlier. When they applaud or they dont, they have a reason behind it.

Thats a reason people would find so much of emotion in my speeches – not that I make the Principal cry with my lines or laugh out so loud that the echo scares away the animals in the Emerald Valley but I only talk about topics I strongly feel about. I was very shy as a kid… I still am to an extent. If I remember, my first speech ever was in V standard when I started comin out of my shell. The topic – Honesty is the best policy. When I finished and walked down knowing I had forgotten some important lines, along a crowd that was busy shivering in the Calcutta winter, I realised that I was being dishonest about the entire speech as those were not what I believed in. My father prepared the speech and brother perfected it. I was only a mouth-piece for the Sundars – not my opinion – no emotion – screwed up speech with forgotten lines – audience busy digging their nose after munching Bhel puri. What a loser I felt like.

Years later, when rationalism had taken over, my first speech in GG was a little different. Mala mam had assigned me with the topic – ‘Kalpana Chawla – A brave soul’. This was after the lady had passed away in a tragedy miles down the milky way. I asked:-

I: Can I rephrase the topic as ‘Kalpana Chawla and her courageous moonwalk’ ?

Mala M: No dear, Corres wont be happy with it. She proposed the topic.

I: (Thinking what on earth she had to do with my speech..) But I will write my own speech, is that ok ?
 
Mala M: More than ok, I am happy you are taking the initiative at such an early…. (not important)

I spoke about what she and her achievement meant to me. Thats what I was shariing with my mates. Ever since, my speeches have always been my take on a topic – Peace is the need of the hour, Indian Education system, Attitude, Todays’ youth, Sachin Tendulkar, etc.

Some liked it. Some didnt. I never had regrets. I never read books. I never forgot lines cos I never memorised them at the first place. They were within me. Even if some hyper-active, whiz kid were to question me during the assembly, I could give them an answer. As controversial as some were, I felt my audience liked it judging from the way they applauded, they smiled, nodded, etc. Of course, my school had a bad tendency to make you believe things easily but wrongly.

So other than the likes of strong topics like ‘Today’s Women’ by Vids, informative topix like ‘CAS’ by Neel, where he famously stood like a Vivekananda Statue tilting at 60′ backwards as mocked by Yats, Niyanth and many others and cheeky ones like ‘Smile’ by a III standard kid called Siddarth, I found the others very cliche and repetitive. I mean no offence to any fellow-speakers and I definitely dont mean to brag about the average speeches I made during school. As opinionated as this sounds, thats how I have always been – during my speeches and other takes on life like prayer songs.

I can see the question coming up in some faces – “Now, what problem do you have with them ?”

Well, I dont have a problem with them. I just have a question. What if I am an atheist ? or What if the song is from some other religion ? I dont need mahatma-esque answers, carrying intensive words like ‘unity’, ‘tolerance’ and the lot. Why would someone sing a prayer song that is not about their religion when their own religion bans worshipping other Gods ? This might sound extremist to some but is actually affecting somebody’s liefstyle… which to me, is far more important than a set of fundamental rules set out by a bunch of autocratic administrators many years ago and has been wrongly brought down by generations.

If the idea is to pray, then ‘Students can silently pray for the next two minutes’ would be more effective and purposeful according to me. One of my previous schools had an interesting concept – everyday after the assembly, the students would get back to their classes (obviously..) and have a two-minute meditation. This not only helps them pray but also serves to bring their concentration back into the classroom. I am not endorsing this but implying that there are more effective ways to remember God and invoke His blessings than force young students into singing praises of other religion Gods in a 24 X 24 arena. Think about it.

Ofcourse, there were fun parts in the assembly too. Some students did not mind getting fried in the sun as they could enjoy the tan on the skin of their favourite girls from other classes (mostly senior), who they wouldnt come across otherwise. These were also the ones that would scream out wroung answers during the assembly quiz loudly and confidently, just to seek attention.

Quiz: Who was the first Australian to win the Nobel Prize in Economics ?

Boy Hero 1: Ricky Pontinggggg.

Crowd amazed. Shoulders and necks turn. Cute Girl 1 also looks out.

Boy Hero 1: Yes, she saw me. (High Five’s all around…)

Cute girl 1: What a dimwit !
 

   There were also sweet birthday songs sung for the B-day kids after which, as a tradition ofcos, they wud present a book they have no clue about, that is 300 pages thick with porn magazines hidden in between. The Principal would open it and look at it like she s gonna start reading that moment at 312,543 words per  minute, sees the magazine inside and safely puts it in her handbag. Its only Above 18, ryt ?

The assembly was one where Yats’ lil sis wud come, sing the school song on a day we all are proud about our ‘houses’. My last year saw Mercury – JD and my house, winning and Jupiter – Yats and One’s house coming last. Ha, Sole on losers !!! The school song, well, Rajiv famously made a punk rock version of it, for which he went on to receive the Maverick Award for Offensive Literature.

More than everything, about this time, the assembly was a time, when I could see One, again. It was very different to see her in daylight. Though most of the time, she was happily taking shelter in the shade, at times, when the Sun’s rays did fall on her, she looked magical. When she gradually walks along the line from shadow to light, she illuminates the place with her gloss and brightens up my day. Her skin would reflect a golden umbrella all round her, blurring out her companions from the Homo sapiens family. She would look at me from the corner of the eye, realise am seeing her and then revert with a small smile, edging by the skin of her teeth. Its the like my prayer in the assembly almost comes to life by the time it is finished.

Ofcourse, formally, the assembly would end when Princie walks up to the mic and announces: “Tomorrow’s Saturday will be a half-working day and Tuesday’s time-table would be followed. Normal uniform and no colour dress (staring at Yats and Me)”.

PS: This edition, of course, has been a real rave, rant and vent session. Not the story-tellin me, but these were my opinions and wanted to share them with you, my wonderful audience. If you itching to applaud, you can always attach audio files – please use only .wav format. And if you are having a sensation to fling rotten eggs and burn my effigees, you are never too far away from a wall.

Please let me know your comments on everything above. I understand my apology for this gap wont count, so am not making one. The next edition is already written, so thats guaranteed, this time, next week. – Its something very close to my heart, so hope to see you all there. School Disperse! Fly High Till Next Week ~

Belated birthday wishes to Arun, Amruta, Vishwanath, Sukanya, Renate, Neels, Dars, Karan Sanky, Abeje and Divya.

 

 

That part of physics that APJ mastered…

It was that phase when there is nervous energy flowin inside you – we had just been promoted to high school. We had new subjects – a welcome change from the monotonous (though favourites) of History, Geography, Mathematics I, II and all that… though some were lucky enough to have the wonderful subject of numbers channeling through the next 20% of their forthcoming decade of academic life. There were new classmates – like MAK, Dheena, Laila – who shook her head all the time as she was talking like a fake Tokyo doll and Anisha – who had already kinda become close to One (which looked like good signs then). On a personal note, I was in ‘true lou’ the verge of a relationship. On an interpersonal note, so were Yats, Kumar, Rags, Panky, JD… (is thr anyone left ?)

We would not listen to anyone, do whatever (we thought) was right and the usual maverick attitude I have gone on and on about all along. And so, in this rosy picture, there appeared a thorn. Apparently, there was this stranger student in Rags’ school who was Panky’s classmate in his earlier school and was more than aware of Panky’s friendly exchanges with a girl back then. Now, for no reason, he started talking about age-old romantic classics in his school with Panky being depicted as the lead with a fragrant rose in his hands. Why would someone do that… like Panky was some billionaire celebrity sportsman, who had an affair with a girl and also had an accident trying to move a tree with this car ??? Panky was not exactly pleased with this free publicity and decided to react. The stranger must be empty-headed to mess with Panky but he turned out to be flat-headed – he had a clean-shaven head. Panky decided to engage in a private conversation outside the stranger’s school and enquire about his charity-papparazi work. We decided to give him company.

As it happens all the time, this school was situated at the end of the very same street in the middle of which (not exactly mid-street but a building somewhere in there..) One spent those many hours thinkin of me as she was eatin, sleepin, watchin tv, washing clothes, cleanin floor and of course, talking on the phone. A place, after my lil heart, where she lived – HOME SWEET HOME. That made me a lil nervy about accompanyin Panky in his holy trip but I proceeded. When we did reach their school and got to talk to the stranger with the clean-shaven head, it all fizzled out to an one-sided affair like the current India-Sri Lanka cricket series. And today, Panky was the Sehwag !

Considering the strategic location of the school, I opted to stay behind the gang for I knew some creature from some corner of the road or from the top of the street lights or in some car movin @ 83.3 KMPH will manage to spot me and then publish a report in school – “Arjun was threatenin this poor little guy with a knife and Mafia-like hat in FRONT OF One’s house as that poor little guy was found talkin with One and Arjun mistook him to be his competitor. I think he was One’s cousin from Hyderabad because Arjun was hittin him in telugu film hero-Chiranjeevi ishtyle“. Its better to be safe than to worry. Panky and co. explained to the stranger with a clean-shaven head how the Gita says that we should never speak (bad) of other people. Not that Panky was jobless to be bothered about all this but the stranger with clean-shaven head was spoiling Panky’s name…. by pairing him up with THAT girl – Panky had a standard and a reputation after-all. Hm.

Things like these were pretty common in our city. As petty and insignificant as they were, thanks to our high-voltage nature in the school and in our families, we were very sensitive and prone to alien-style attacks from management, our parents, girls’ parents, friends’ parents, cops, municipality and that entire self-proclaimed moral-policing lot in the city. All they needed a spark and the following day would have the city’s evening newspapers and cable channels flashing Yats’ picture with his hands evading the excessive flash light from the cameras and JD with the two fingers on either ends of hands bent and so on. I was always smart enough to be the photographer !

After the action incident was the romantic one. Of the same person. Welcome back Panky ! Now, lemme post you an interesting question. What makes you like a girl/ guy (hopefully not both… but its ok, u can still read the blog. we support EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES) ??? Know it sounds very cliche, but what attracts you to/ makes you like a person ? While the readers can answer this in the comments, lemme go on with Panky. Yats was diggin deeper with Sheetal on the phone and later Panky was foolin arnd with Sheetal wen a gal from the bg was heard mocking Sheetal. Panky found the gestures inquisitive and asked to speak to the character. The gal obliged. Panky, on hearing the gal’s voice felt his heart palpitating @ a higher rate. It was Tejal, Sheetal’s cousin sister. Panky spoke for sometime to the Tejal and later, Yats reconnected.

As the conversation link got over, Panky confessed: “That girl… has got an amazing voice. Thats so mystique and mesmerising. I think I already like her”. Yats kinda understood what Panky meant – it was not the first time for Panky and ppl always expected this with him. The connection was a lil amazing. Panky had broken up with Mahs but was temporarily considering Veena while Tejal had won the wild card entry. Of all people, Yats had to be the agent link between them. This chain reaction of hearts fusing, creating a nuclear family with Yats as the nucleus was a new phenomenon. While my clandestine love affair was intriguing enough for my brains, this was a welcome distraction. While I was baffled over how someone cud like a girl for her voice, I was conniving Panky to go ahead. For me, it was the same – Veena or Tejal – I hadnt seen them both. That perplexed me more as to how Panky cud like Tejal without seein her. But Tejal was better as Yats’ blessings wud be remote for the couple.

Panky was in start-up stage. Yats was progressing. What about Me ? One was not my JUST-friend anymore, there were no more doubts. And, well, I was special for her as well. or so I thought. How do I clarify this ? So, I decided to play the old trick. A few days, during the build-up, I had slowly told One that I was liking a girl, whom I had been friends with for a long time now. Knowing One’s frame of mind regarding my female company very well, I knew she wud be confused with strong contenders like kajal, Preeti, Sher and the lot – obviously she had no great knowledge of my past as yet. It wud hv been pathetically easy for any semi-intelligent gal to guess that it was One but then, it was One and committing sins of intelligence were against her principles.

One kept askin about who the girl was, what was she like and how I shud be goin abt it – all this in spite of not knowing who twas. Though Kajal kept warning that One s tellin u all this cos she wants u to approach her like that, I ignored Kajal’s observations. Cos for Me, it was working out my way either way. As the suspense hit zenith, One cudnt resist me it anymore and she decided to go for it.

One: I want to know who the gal is or am not discussin this crappy topic anymore.

I: Oikay. I ll tell u tomorrow in school. Please wait till then.

I had let out these lines against the plan in a flow over the phone. I was still not sure as to if I shud do this cos the same old fears of being denied shit through. But there has been this long believed philosophy of mine. Its one life for us and I believe its one chance for us (One’s chance for me..lolz).
You always get one shot at everything – right from your board exams till your interview with the dream company. one chance to make a mence for a blunder, one opportunity to woo that person. Apart from those CAT exams that u can ‘n’ number of times, its one shot u get.. to pull the trigger – do it now before the target moves on. If u need something, ask for it or yor not gonna get it. You dont win the lottery if u dont buy the ticket. You dont score a goal if u dont take a shot (Is Arsenal listening ?). Yes, fate and fortune plays an important role in our lives but those are outta our control. Whats within my control is what i can do about what i want to do. In this battle of Fate vs. Freewill*, freewill always prevails for me. This is something that I have always been tellin people around me – if u like the person, let me know. Plan it out, but DO let em know.

With the entire fortune cookie theories and contemporary discretion philanthropy runnin through my mind, I reconsidered my decision to let it out the next day as I recollected my last lines…

“I ll tell u tomorrow. Please wait till then.”

The next update is on the Dec 11. Please wait till then.

PS: Do leave your thoughts on the question posted in the blog.

Belated birthday wishes to Ron.

Happy Birthday to Pushpalata Chowdhury, Kelly Mcbeth, S.R.Balaji, Khush Bafna, Nupur, Richa Pawha, Lil’ Vedika,  and Nikita Gandhi. Fly high till nest week~

[* - Ashwin, 2009.]

 

Special Edition: Here I Am…..

Heyyyyyyy readers…… hope you are all doing great….. Its time for a little change….. Arjun had promised a special edition for this week I suppose…. The thing is that he preferred another author to do this week’s blog…. And Its meeee… I am writing this week’s edition… I dunno whether the special edition is really special to you… but I ve done my job… hope you all like it…. … Though people who are close to me can easily make out, I am not revealing myself for now…. HERE IT GOES……..

HIGH SCHOOL – The place where we spent the sweetest part of our lives – our teens. It is the time we just start learning things. (Ohhhh yeah!! A lot of things…)  The time you start liking a girl without your own knowledge and for a reason which you could not explain to yourself till date. ‘ You like her coz she is pretty?? Or she smiles at you in class?? May be your neighbour??? Is she someone else’s girl friend??(you see.. it happens sometimes..)’…. I am sure we never had answers to these questions. You just reply “Man…!! I donno all that… but I like her…” (BTW, the same goes to the girls tooooo.. stop flying arnd and get back). It was the period of our life we dint know anything fully, a mind which was not qualified enough. Take my words friends, those days, ironicaly becomes the happiest and the most joyous episode in our journey towards grave.

 

Howwwwww??? Well…. That’s simple….. WE DIN’T THINK BEYOND.… In fact, we dint know to think beyond.. We were not exposed to the real life challenges… real emotions.. real betrayals… Simply speaking, ‘Daddy is there to take care of the telephone bills, then why the fuck should I stop calling her’.., this was our life…. We lived in a world of our own; a virtual world full of mysterious happiness and fallacious pains; the pains which we laugh at by now as they were no match to the pains and grieves we come across in this true world.

We the ‘Mavericks’….. of course…. belonged to the same category of high school boys and girls.. we were just those normal students you see….. But what made us look aberrant?? What was so special about our school days?? Why are we writing these blogs?? What forces us to share our school days with you??….. Well…! Everything has a reason…

After us, GG was never the same….. just to give you an idea, here are the few rules and regulations put in effect after us… a few rules introduced and a few modified (forced to modify)….

• The Interact club of the school was completely banned.(believe me… there was no reason for it… we in fact contributed a lot of money to the school trust through this club… we booked the theatre for a new movie which released at that time and sold the tickets for a double  fare…. It was a successful plan as the tickets sold out fully… a huge profit… you may wonder then why the hell was the club banned… now read this… ‘the thing is…. the movie turned out to be an “A” certified movie…’ why the fcuk were they bothered about that…. The result is what matters…  )

• No more more inter-school fests.  (aaahh!! They made sure no more bets..)

• The students should not maintain personal relationships with any teacher in the school and vice versa.   (goshhhh..! why was that…. We never proposed to any lady teacher.. did we guys??)

• No student should visit a teacher’s residence without informing the management priorly.. (wonder why !! was that to protect the teacher’s daughter’s and wives??? How cruel..L)

• The nominees for the school pupil leaders, assistant school pupil leaders, the sports captains… all were selected by the management and the election was held among them.. (and yeahh…. They even made sure who wins in the election from that nominee list… they selected leaders who will give a big nod of their heads when the management says ‘dear.. The sun rises in the west’).

• No get-togethers unofficially… ( only official get-togethers to sit and listen to Mala mam’s songs… MIDDLE FINGER)

Those were the few effects of our impression inside that campus…. Poor juniors… Sorry guys, no offense…. Things just happened….. but I am sure our juniors loved us coz we were just the right seniors for them in every aspect…. (we sometimes even guided them to capture a girl’s heart… Ohh… that’s quite simple bb… we’ve got every strategy in the book when it comes to such things…) The mavericks never spared their issues toooooo.. any argument with the management, we ll be right there without an invite…. Heyyyyy….! They are after all our brothers and sisters… Oooooooops!!!! Did I see say sisters????? Goshhhh…. Typing error….. change it to JUST FRIENDS…

Apart from the school premises, a problem anywhere anytime in the city, a call and the dons (heyyy.. stop wondering who those dons were… who else) appear(even a missed call for that matter)……; Luckily our city is not so big….. it hardly takes 30 min from one end to the other end of the city….!! Its not those big metro cities filled with malls and multi-plexes…. But…. this city was our Las Vegas….. this…. was our heaven…. Now.. before… and forever…. Well… if u wonder what is it that we could have done in such a small city without such sources of entertainment……  you r wrong….. We took the most out of that place….. TUM TUM… again… not those big malls… a simple shopping complex …. We call it our ‘spot’.. the ultimate place… the place where every operation(ahemmmm!!) of ours was planned…. Even today, the roaming romeos catch up at this place only once in a while when we make it to our city…

‘The Roaming Romeos’….???? Yuppp…. That’s how the maverick boys were called in those days….. mala ma’am was the one who knighted us with that tag….. As I said everything has a reason…. The city has three very famous girls’ (only) schools (poooooooor girls…. Ur cries were heard, dear ones.. we were there for uuuu…)…. Famous??? Yeah… they had good academic standards…. But who cares…. They were even more popular for their charm…. The best girls in the city were in those 3 schools… goshhhh…. I get flattered even now when I think of those faces now…(oooooh noooo…. I can never keep my mouth shut… ). Anyways… they were the dream girls of those days for the boys in the city…. All eyes were on them…. But u know what……. their eyes were on us…… heyyyyy…. Stop smiling and get back u readers…. I am serious…. I swear…. I promise….. hence, we deserved the title ‘The Roaming Romeos’.

Those girls never miss any fests or games in which we play around the city…(they don’t miss even our practice sessions for that matter… yes or no guys???)… the mavericks had cricketers, athletes, basket ball players, table tennis…. indoors outdoors… etccc…..  players not for name sake alone…. They were really really good in every sport they indulged in… trophies and medals…… we were there everytime….. we rocked in every field for sure…. Awesome days they were….. to some extent, we performed so well atleast to impress  our ‘just friends’ and sometimes even to show off to the next target or may be even to impress another guy’s girl friend…(we’ve done that too guys…. Time to admit.. after all love is blind…) damnnn…. We never felt sorry for those poor guys also….. And you know, the mavericks had lovely orators, writers(there is an example for it in arjun), actors(wowwww… v rocked in that) and we had scientists tooo(saddyyyy.. the researcher)… One example for the talent we had, we organized the major event for our teacher’s day programme in just one evening during 2003 and 2004… what a hit that was!! Remember guys????

In general, the mouths that bombard us and the legs that kick us, will all just shut their asses when it comes to academics… We were the best!! Guess what!! The best English writers in school were the highest degree creators… this was well agreed by our senior faculty a$$.. ooops! sorry…. by our senior faculty mala ma’am…We made sure we perform well in academics…. Ahemmmm!! atleast to prevent ourselves get kicked out of school….(Did I say that??) Or I am sure they would have sent us home any fine morning for the havoc we created…. In fact we went to school everyday expecting our TC within that day…. During the last bell of each day, what satisfaction!!.. ‘yipeeeeeee…! Today is successfully over..’…

I don’t do justice and the blog is incomplete rather if I don’t write about the sweetest part of our entire school days. The girls… our JUST FRIENDS.. I always believe that woman is the most beautiful creation on earth… (stop smiling guys… let me write something serious.. plzzzzz)… And the teenage girls…. Wowww… honey should be ashamed…. The sweetest thing for me! We had the privilege of getting around with such girls… Thanks for all you girls who made our teenage and school life complete and so special… thanks for giving us those moments… Years have passed… we may lose touch, break off etc…. but you are our first crushes…. The girls we came across in our school, the other schools, our neighbours.. everyone… You were the first girls whom we admired.. knowingly or unknowingly… but, we or at least, I agree to that whole heartedly… you were there everytime to cool us down… everytime we got into trouble… everytime we needed company… healing all our problems with just your smiles.. you will all, forever, be in our memory…. (guys…. Just in memory…. Not outside…. Don’t get into trouble in future… your wife will whip you then…)

At times now, I think of those days… those lovely moments… and offer a small smile… coz that’s the only thing I can do…. coz I know those days will never ever come back… Even today, when I go to school and see those empty classrooms, the canteen, the ground… I can see us…. I can see us running around without worries…. I can see us giving a secret stare to our just friends…. I can see our dear teachers firing at us.… I can see us perform on that stage…. Those green tress, those tables and chairs, the basketball court… all still rest there…. Allowing us to cherish those memories… I am sure…. those walls will remember us… the windows will miss us… those teachers will miss  us… those buses and vans will miss us…. GG WILL MISS US… and we long for those days knowing that we will never make it there once again….

– The Tale of the Mavericks

 

PS: Thanks a lot to my friend for writing this wonderful piece down for me. Readers, lets see how well you have got the story so far, try guessing the author. Also, do let US know how you liked it in your comments.

Happy Birthday to Agraj Sethi and Kajal Mahdani.

See you all next week.. and Yes, I ll be back…. though I can see a few readers wanting the Special Edition author to continue..  your votes dont count in my books.. No, Maverick at Work is not a democracy. Fly high till then “In the cold November Rain“….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dogs Bite, Yats’ fight, a Shimmering light, I might… Yea, Ryt !!!

Prelude: Hope you guys have recovered from the extra-ordinary innings of Sachin Tendulkar… Amazing is his hunger and determination… Happy Birthday to King Khan Shah Rukh Khan and lovely Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Enough now…

“What is your problem exactly ? Why are u running around the house so restlessly ?” questioned Mum.

I was not sure myself. There were many questions and random thoughts of remote connection buzzing through my mind. I was not sure of what was happenin and what I was doing. I was sceptical about my feeling in love. I dint wanna consult anybody this time cos I dint want anybody to influence my decision. I wanted to take complete control of what I was doing. Have I really FALLEN in love ? Am I doing the right thing ? If I am, why am I nervous ? Is she the right girl ? Isnt 7 months too less a time to judge a girl ? Why is all this so strange ? Why is my heart beating so fast ? Why is my mind asking so many stupid questions ? In Short, I was as confused as this paragraph is.

To sort out the confusion, I needed a breakaway. So often as it has happenend, a friend came to the rescue. This time it was JD who happened to pass by my place.

JD: You’re lookin so fresh. All set for Monday ?

I: (completely freaked out by JD’s guessing abilities) Errr. ? Whats on Monday ?

JD: The Interact Club Members Installation ceremony… in which world are you ?

I: (Relieved… not great guessin exactly… after all JD got those Multiple-choice questions wrong… till he changed his answers before submitting the exam paper) Of course… Not a big deal I meant.

JD: Dont say that. We have to occupy every possible position in the school.

Even amidst all the drama, we never gave up politics. God save this gang !

I: Yea… I have to clip my nails neat n stuff..

JD: Lemme guess, One told you to ?

Damn, I told you.. he changes his answers correct in the last moment.

I:………… (smile… blushy kinda)

JD: Lol, If Yats knows this, he ll rape u publicly.

I: Thats the only thing he hasnt done to me as yet… (Laughs)

JD: You both are fucking gay. In the school, on the phone, at TumTum – together all the time….. I shouldnt hv introduced each other… my mistake.

As JD spoke on, it sparked a flashback of the initial days between me and Yats. They were not the best exactly. The silent, studious and goody-two shoes nerd that I was in the starting phase at GG, I had all the traits for Yats to hate me. The very first day I was in school I remember Darsh suggestin that I converse either in tamil or hindi so that I can get close to the students. I insisted that I wanted to talk in English, that being a common and more comfortable language for me. Yats stopped me as I was walking and asked me in tamil, “Are u some fucking Shakespeare ? Wont u talk in tamil, your mother tongue ?”. This tag of Shakespeare went on to be attached to me for the rest of my schooling, thanks to my linguistic antics.

A few weeks later, when there was this little girl singing the school song on the assembly stage, I asked JD, “Is she Yats’ sister ? They look so similar”.

Before JD could try answering, Yats did, “I am standing right next to you. Cant u ask me ? Yea, she is my sister. You dont need to be a genius to find that out. Anybody cud say that lookin at us”.

It was this arrogant and aggressive him that I kinda wanted to tease everytime we confronted. I knew he cudnt resist answering every move of mine then and I loved the contest. Everytime Mala mam or some other teacher wud pose a question in the combined class, I wud put my hand up and deliver ‘crisp and precise answers’ as Mala mam wud tag them. Yats was noticeably not very amused with my perfection and definitely not excited by Mala mam’s appreciations. Little did I know that there was this girl who was adoring me all that time… newes…

The remix of respect and hatred he had for me added life to the little party we had at school everyday. The anger and rage he had in his eyes and mind everytime he looked at this geeky, ‘puppet’ of Mala mam was terrific. He wud have wanted to shoot me 17 times in my forehead and then stab me with a knife before throwing me down from the hills near our school. Ofcourse, all that changed with the Interact Fest, the staring point of the blog. And we were now close to being the organisers of the next Interact Fest. Considering that we were the event organisers and committee members, I wonder what sorta games would have been on display. I would thank JD for introducing me to Yats and also tempting me into that incredible bet at the fest that put One in my net.. or vice versa.

As my confusion furthered over the course of the night and into the morning, it all blanked out when I saw Rajiv the following morning being chased by a stray dog in my locality, popularly known as ’stray dog’. He stopped running and it stopped chasing. I was laughing my lungs out. Thats when Rajiv luked at me and barked, “What are u laughin at ?”. Maybe, the dog was curious to know as well and so it turned its attention towards me. Damn !

I had no biscuits to distract it. The dog took a couple of steps towards me with its shoe-sole like tongue hanging out. I decided to show Rajiv that he is not the only athlete in our area and set off. Both of us were en route to our school bus stop and so I had to take the direction that led me there. I ran through the building construction that was incomplete near by. I ran zig-zag through the steps, stones and scanty cement. I had crossed the building and now it was a straight road. I had covered some distance and so looked back to notice the opposition’s position. Stray dog was standin at the very same place with its tongue still hanging out. The damn creature hadnt moved an inch. Crap ! Rajiv was laughing more than his lungs out.

Rajiv: Look at your size and look at his. Why are u so frightened by a dog everytime ?

I: He can bite me but I cant bite him you see.

Dogs were and well.. are the only creatures on earth I am frightened of and there had to be a stupid dog that greets me every morning when I am running to the bus stop. And usually, Rajiv was my saviour. Rajiv lived 13.5 houses away from mine. He was juniour by a year in academics but a definite senior in sports. Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Cricket… not many sports that he didnt play. A truly open-hearted person, so much so that he falls in love like
every third minute and brings out hopelessly standard, romantic lines like ‘Dude, She s my girl. I have realized it. I am in loveeeeeeeeeeeee’ and by the time he finishes the sentence, he wud start liking another girl… again the same lines.. and so on till he sees me panting in fronta the stray dog again.

The fearful sweat evaporated as the rays of One’s eyes hit me sharply and the romantic, crimson-red flower blossomed within me. Her morning smile was like this lazor beam that healed all the problems in me, at times so powerful that they left a hole in my soul. There was no more confusion, no more random thoughts and definitely no more stray dogs. She s my One. I have realized it. I am in loveeeeeee.

The Interact members installation would be smooth or so I thought. I was given the responsibility of introducing the chief guest on the day and I did so. For some reason, there were giggles in the crowd as I was doing it. I was a lil surprised, am not that funny after all. Once the function was over, the chief guest walked upto me and said, ‘My datar… she is Ms. nat Mrs… she in your school only. there she is (as he pointed out to the girl)’.. The girl was laughing uncontrollably. And so were the people around us. I gave a sheepish smile at him, and his Mrs. patted me on my cheeks and said, “All the best”. As I was recovering from the marital status-malfunction, Corress Mam walked upto me, “You mess up but somehow manage to recover and come out of it”.

I wish she remembered that cos this was to be my trait for a long time to come. As I walked away from the scene, I pointed out to Yats how many of the chief guests had their son or daughter enrolled in our school. There had to be a pattern and Yats explained, “Its the other way around as well. Corress is a pretty popular figure in the social circuit here and she is friends with most of the big shots like the Police Commissioner, District Collector, Industrial big shots, NGO leaders, etc. She manages to get their children into her school and then invite them as chief guests n stuff.”

‘Not bad for business’, I thought. She was a shrewd lady.

As we left school that day, we made plans to meet later that evening. I went upto One to tell her that we cant fone-speak that evening and she sulked. This was obvious and understandable… and adding more fuel to the You-are-always-with-Yats fire. I probably had to break my shell and let her inside. Perhaps, it was time to let her know. More than anything, I had to calm her feelings down and feed her with some security and surity. She cant be wandering,  not knowing whats happening and what I was thinkin. And so, I decided to play a game….

PS: Lemme know in your comments abt how u like (or dont) the new look of the site. I couldnt do the special edition this week due to technical glitches. But the following week’s post is definitely a special one I assure you. So, tune in on the 13th. Till then, keep flyin…

 

My Heart Will Go On and Onnnnnnnnnnnnn…

Its been a long time.. like forever. I apologize for the inconsistent updation of the blog. But I promise regular updates hereon. To realize what and who is different, read on and remember to comment and check the comments. So without further ado, I bring to you…….

“South-Indian couples suck. You havent taken your girl out on a movie as yet ?” exclaimed a friend from Calcutta. This comparison and degrading worked me up… But in what way is a marwari girl part of a south-indian couple ? Calcuttians basically lack logical sense u see… Cant imagine One in a scarlet red, hand-woven silk saree with thick, fresh hair till her hips smelling of seducing balsam, wakin me up at 6.a.m (she dare do that!!) with filter-coffee. One would look stunning…in that get-up as well… I would probably add a nose-pin to give her a rocky south-indian look – The Music genre Rock and not the mountain rock. Newes…

Just to prove a point, I initiated this cruel idea of arranging a movie trip for guys and (their) girls. I should confess, my only noble and selfish intention behind this was to take One for a movie and drive it up the calcuttian’s not-so-toned part of the body. But I was not to lose my senses in a rush of blood and that, Yats made sure. Yats, JD, Panky, Kumar and I sat down and drew a plan. Who s gonna say what at home, how is that goin to be co-ordinated among the parents (thanks to the closely-knit, salem (un)social circle) and who s gonna pick whom up n so on. Everything was done. We had convinced the girls we wanted. I kinda convinced One more easily than I managed. She was equally excited abt the movie. Note the word ‘equally’.

We made sure all loose ends were tied and wud not lead to a rope around our necks. The penultimate night, there were simultaneous pieces of intriguing conversation. Its assumed about JD and Vids, but now there were also Yats and Sheetal. Good in a way cos it means Yats wont block my line and One can call freely. May Yats and Sheetal stay together forever.

One: Why, a movie alluva sudden ?

I: I wanted to watch this movie.. didnt want to be alone, so am taking 13 people with me for company.

One: Lol, funny. Whyyyyyyy ?

I: I thought its high time I do something to improve this terribly conservative society.

One: By taking us to movies ?

I: We’re just making it happen that our friends – guys and girls hang out.

(After random messages)

I: SO where are u sitting tomo ?

One: In my seat.

I: I mean with whom ?

One: With Yats.

I: Errrrrrrrr ?

One: Yeah, Am sure u will not move away from him. So, in that way, I can stay second close to you.

Gawd…. girls can be so diplomatic whn they wanna say something !

I: U cant be serious ??

One: You neva become serious, do you ? Your world ends with Yats..after every deed of the day is done, you come to me… like some leftover.

I:……………… (dint have an answer)

One: Its only after your useless work with Yats is done, you have time for me. Only after he finishes the call, I get to talk to you.

I loved the way she was biting her teeth when she said ‘useless’… not sure Yats wud have appreciated it as much.

I: One, Yats is just my friend.

One: Yea ?? Then who am I ?

Fuck, she caught me. As bad as u can fall… I cudnt crack her strategic intent… damn…

I:……………… (dint have an answer)

One: What, Mr. Assembly-speech-giver ? Speak.

I: (Overwhelmed at One’s certification) All I asked u was whom you are sitting with ?

One: Why ? Who are u sitting with ? (Like she dint know !!!)

I: YYYYYou !

One: (calming down)… Why Me ?

I: (Back in my strength) Why not you ? And Do I have to have reasons to sit next to you… Its just goddamn sitting.

One: Mind it, I never said anything.

I:..errr (Actually, she didnt.)

One: Ok, I dont have a problem. (I guessed that !!!)

I then explained her how Yats is no more in a relationship with me and that he had moved to Sheetal. She was over-excitied to hear abt Yats in love (nobody, till date, believes… not Yats himself!). And then,

One: Mom s here… bring chocolates for me tomorrow… bye bye bye. [BEEP BEEP BEEP]

Later that night…

Yats: You can divert her mind but not mine. I am just a friend… fine.. What is she ?

I: Dude..

Yats: I dont believe you !!! Dont u know it or dont u wanna accept it ?

I: I dont know.

Yats: You dont ? I do ! All the past aside, out of all, why do u wanna sit next to her ? Ok, maybe thats normal n stuff… tomorrow, for some reason, if she doesnt turn up, wont u crib and sulk the crap outta the gang ?

He had a point. The very thought of her not turning up or Me watching the movie on Yats’ shoulders didnt excite me. As I spent the rest of the night thinking, I reflected on how she complained abt Yats.. not that she dint like us together but she wanted her time. She needed some exclusivity and consistency from me and for all that she gave me, those demands were very justified. For as sweet as she has been, I got a lot of chocolates for her.

The guys were in no real hallah mood. They all seemed normal till we reached the movie theatre. Slowly, the gang disappeared with their even-numbered ticket holders, leaving the One and only for me. She was wearing a blue top. She had a bright smile. It was amazing how she could digest the tension and my ignorance of her and behave as composed as she did. The next few steps towards her marked a journey…

As I looked at her eyes, longing for attention, filled with question-marks, colours of joy of seeing me and a background of tears reflecting me in them… This reflection was that mirror where I could not only see myself but see within myself. Perhaps a double-sided one, with an image of this caring and flawless soul, which deserved care and love more than anything… and all they wanted was Me. As I went closer, she looked down. She couldnt face it anymore or perhaps did not want her eyes to give it away any further. Or maybe, just maybe, the girl felt shy to look me in the eye. Cos when she did, she saw her own image of being hopelessly in love. The biggest advantage of seeing your girl bow down in shyness is that you still get to see her… and that my friend, is what I call a blessing. That moment, I was blessed and called out the name of my prayer – “One !”.

Edging closer, I uttered her name. She looked up, with her eyes stuttering in hesitation and in those wavering eyes, I saw the most foolish, ignorant and undeserving person – Me. As I put my right foot forward, I knew I was making the right decision. Fuck your definitions, this is love !!! Both of us smiled at each other nervously and lead to the movie screen.

It was a tamil flick – Nala Damayanti. As I interpreted some of the comical lines for her, I felt my heart skipping many beats. It was a different feeling to be sitting next to MY girl and spending time with her. I was on a different high and all the hundred thousand songs of being in love made sense to me. She munched the chocolates away to glory, knowing little, that I was experiencing calorie-free sweetness. As the hero took care of the ailing heroine in the actual movie, she rested on my shoulders. I wanted to rest my head on hers but I didnt want the dandruff (am fussy about my hair!). So I played my fingers on her hair. She lied there like she dint want anything else and both of us had forgotten that a world existed. The movie was over before we realised… shud have chosen a Karan Johar flick maybe…

“I will get u the CD, watch it then.” joked JD with his hands over my shoulders. I didnt have an answer for him this time. Me and One bid goodbyes with unsatisfied, incomplete smiles. Yats looked me from the corner of the eyes and made a very subtle gesture. He obviosuly dint want to over-react in fronta her, which meant I had a feast wen these guys got back to me. I didnt care and I better got used to all that. Yours Truly was in love and nothing else mattered to me than HER.

While hearts bridged at one end, they were derailing at the other. Prav sat the entire movie flirting with Malini much to the dismay of Kumar. Not the most friendly act by Prav. Jd and Vids, meanwhile, were at their best. It was YET ANOTHER Tendulkar 100 !!!

No calls that evening. My case was taken royally that evening at Yats’ place, with the lion roaring in its own den. More than anything, JD, now had solid company to get into trouble with. There were more to come !!!

Perhaps the most important lesson of this story and I repeat: You never know how you can get caught till you actually get caught! We thought we had closed all the doors but they could have been one open and there was.

Dint strike me then, cos I was floating in Ionosphere among radio-active, heart-shaped waves to a lazy saxaphone playing in the background. Among the clouds were the latest love birds in their nest, dancing to the music and getting close to each other. Intimate scene, not for viewers. So, like the good old movies, doors close. See ya’ll this friday… its gonna be a special edition.. a special dedication.

Home Work: Drop your comments,in case u forgot the practice !!!

 

The Dear Departed

Reader Guidance: Above 18 only / Parental Guidance. You can ask why should only ‘Above-18s’ read when the story itself is about students below 18. All am gonna say is, it was my duty to warn you and am not responsible if your children/ siblings/ parents sometimes…are gonna be stormed with unhealthy and ill-mannered ideas. Read On !!!

It was the season for getting elected and selected. JD and Vids had won their posts and were going around respectably now. JD – a thorough sportsman, smart student, trustworthy friend…a true all-rounder in every sense. Vids – she was an all-ROUNDer too.. The management and the 40 thieves were understandably upset with our victory. Mala bitch even came to me with a semi-wicked smile and said, “You lost” for which I replied with a smile, “No, WE Won !” which was nominated for the best back-answer award in that year’s annual day. We had drawn new lines of history… and what the arrogant board had to do was to read between these lines. Lemme explain !

Now, every student in GG, shop-vendors in TumTum, receptionist @ Food World, bus driver and conductor and all parents who attended the prize nite (LOL) knew that JD and Vids were JUST-friends.. you see how that list strategically did not include the south-indian version of Phoolan Devi, our correspondent. I bet she wud look better in that get-up, with a big red stamp on her forehead, bullet-wrap around her hips and a gun, the only ammunition that could have saved her from us. Pause for reader introspection…. The point is MADAM knew Jd and Vids were together, Jd and Vids knew Madam knew and Madam also knew Jd and Vids knew that Madam knew and ‘e’ to the power of ‘x’. What she had to spot was the delivery of the respective posts that JD and Vids were holding. Now, being JD and Vids, the co-ordination between them is gonna be closer better. So, the students would get benefited, with leaders like JD and Vids… though am not sure how the children would grow up if they had JD as their role-model…ne’wes..

In this get-yourself-(s)elected mode, there was YET ANOTHER addition to the Mrs.Usual Suspects. I’ll explain again. Our dear friend Kumar came reporting that his heart was missing, for which Panky replied: “Must have left it in the brothel last night”, which got nominated for the Best Villainous dialogue in that year’s awards. Kumar had apparently seen Malini and FALLEN in love with her. Yes, Another one bites the dust. We were biting everything other than dust when I bumped into Konica and Keerthana in the lunch break. These were the two girls I had referred to in Punter’s day out – II as Female 1 and Female 2. I guess its time to name them. For the benefit of the reader, they, JD and Me had featured in a play back in 10th grade under Mala Mam and Corres Aunty.

Konica: Busy boy, Can I talk to you for a second ?

Me: I’ll just be back.

Konica: Yeah, the last time I spoke to you was during the play, 8 months ago.

I smiled and carried on my journey to the Physics lab, thinking about the entire episode of the play………

~Inward Spiral Circles…Lots of smoke… Black n white vision, Flash-BACK~

JD, Konica, Keerthana and Myself had got selected for the grand finale play of the Annual day. There was a cute lil’ kid from III grade that got in and Harry from XII grade. It was time when I didnt know that One existed and was very much in my quite shell (Read assessing the pitch before batting !) – The teachers’ pet, Corres mam’ new admission boy wonder and Yats’ teeth-grinning, always ‘answering’, ‘puppet’, as we call them now. Me and JD were excited about this but wouldnt be allowed to attend practice during Sakthivel Sir’s physics class. A calm and composed teacher, who stays away from politics and slams Kumar on the back of the head whenever he is thirsty. A II grade boy, with his hair cut like the Lords’ ground came running:-

Boy with hair cut like the Lords’ ground: Sir, Arjun Sundar and JD are wanted Sir (Like we were some ‘WANTED’ criminals, that we went on to become)

SakthiVel Sir: No man, I cant send them now.

Boy with hair cut like the Lords’ ground: Sir, they called them.

Sakthivel Sir: Then how will I teach them man ? (Like the lil’ boy wud give the solution)

Boy with hair cut like the Lords’ ground: Sir, Corres Mam called them Sir. (Remember the line, it went on to become a very repeated and historic line in GG)

Sakthivel Sir: Both of you, please leave.

The entire play experience was a turning point in an indirect way. One of the main reasons being I got close to JD, the 2 teachers in charge – Mala Mam and LP mam – the latter being Neels’s mom as well. Corres Mam saw a new talent in Me (she went on to see much, much more). There were a lot of memorable incidences as well. One instance of particular significance was this:

Mala mam found some similar pattern in Keerthana’s dialogue delivery and imitated it using a funny tune – ‘Nanananana..na, Nanananana..na’ and we all burst laughing including Keerthana, who had the great attitude of laughing at herself and Me, who had the greater attitude of laughing at others. When Mala mam left, I did a brief role-play of an exaggerated drama actor performing on scene. Everyone was laughing at it including this sweet, fair girl with glasses bigger than her..ahem.. eyes, in the classroom. She was obviously looking at me and couldnt react for sometime wen I looked at her alluva sudden. I guess the sight of Me had frozen her for the moment.. and the next 1182 days. She went on to become ONE.

As you realise the importance of this play, there pops another relatedly-important incident. It was a Saturday afternoon, when we had finished practising and Harry and Me were sitting by the trees watching the girls’ dance. I watched on, as a fair, tall guy, whom I had once seen in the School bus, initiated a convo with Harry. They apparently knew each other and they went on talking about different teachers (a fav. GG passtime). When Harry got done about Kevin Sir, the tall, fair guy got started with Fifa Mam. I was keenly watching Geet dacing though I was listening to develop my knowledge about the school. And the next line managed to turn my attention away even from the dancing Geet.

Tall, fair boy: I was in Fifa mam’s class when she was looking so hot in this white saree. I got an instant erection. I managed to hold it till the break and when it struck, I ran to the boys’ restroom and released myself. (Harry laughed on…)

I couldnt help but look at the guy with a perplexed smile. There were not many cheaper things that I heard of in life. Boy o Boy ! My interest in Geet vanished. Thats not the kind of knowledge I was looking for. It should have been given the ‘Dirtiest Scene’ Award. But we dont award SUCH activities.. not openly atleast. That moment hinted that the next few years are gonna place me in a  lot of more embarrassing situtations thereafter.

The execution of the play was much more fun. As we were getting prepared for the play, LP Mam was praising how JD and Me were looking (Dun blame her !) as One watched on. What a pretty sight !! I would have awarded her the ‘Best Newcomer in my life (Female OFCOS)’. I must confess, I wanted to ask JD or someone around, who this cute girl was. But then, I had this ‘goodie goodie’ image you see and all that can disappear in a flash in a school where students wank off at teachers. If you think in detail, Mala mam and Corres Mam had a long hand in bringing Me face-to-face with first JD and then One. Not many people get to design their own graves!!! As I left back the cute girl, we joined a hot one (Geet) in the rehersal room. The play was delivered superbly, much to the amuse of Mala Mam and Corres Mam.

The play was done with and we were back in the classroom which was a play stage in itself with lotsa different and well-scripted characters. A classroom where learnt some of the basics of Physics from Sakthivel Sir, who was tragically taken away from us later in 2007. The play was named “The Dear Departed” and our dear teacher had departed for good.R.I.P Sakthivel Sir.

Adapted from www.meninblack.com; by Dwarkesh

Happy Ganpati! Fly High Till Next week !!!

 

Democraziee…

Alryt.. the gap has been so long that givin excuses may seem pointless… but the fact that its gonna be continuous from now offers a lot more hope. I hope all your exams went well, results were not surprising, your girl-friends are happy wit you, your phone bills are in control…oh sorry, both cant happen. So where we ?? Oh yes, the beginning of 11th grade and the elections… Here we go.

The school elections were coming up in 3 days time. We knew we wanted the posts in the secondary hierarchy – the Assistant School Pupil Leader (ASPL) – Boys and Girls. The management was nominating people from its side, which basically meant that the person, if elected, would do everything the management wants him to, which would be nothin for the students.

As a tradition, the ‘goodie goods’ have taken this post and gone on to forget that they ever held posts like these. They would pose no trouble for the board and throw no food for thought. A band of clean-shoed, no-hassle nerds, our group calls as ‘the puppets’. Something had to be done to break this trend and save the desperate, justice-hungry students of GG. So, one day, arrived their saviours (rounds of trumpets and drums) – The Mavericks !!!

The management nomination for this year was Mason. He was of the perfect, ‘do-as-yor-told’ kind, the management needed. On the other hand, we had nominated JD as the candidate from the students’ side, who as the readers know is of the ‘I give a Fuck’ kind. Now, there was a strategic issue. In the mental calculation that we did, we could guess that the contest is gonna be a close one. JD is pretty popuar n stuff among the school children, thanks to ahem-ahem, many activities. While Mason was not as popular as JD was, the baord’s backing would get him riding. So, something had to be done and here, the masterplan was born.

From our prediction, the votes would be split in half. So, to remove the advantage Mason would enjoy, there wud be a new candidate who wud eat up Mason’s share so that JD has a majority. As an example, if there were 200 votes in all, originally JD and Mason were predicted to get 100 each. Now, the new person wud get around 40 from Mason, which means (yes, you got the maths right) Mason wud end up wit 60 while JD wins with 100. The plan was approved by the panel of JD, Vids, Yats, Panky, Kumar, Saddy, Me and others. And I was chosen as the ‘dark horse’ for the project. To begin with, I was a lil hesistant cos I had heard stories from dad where people got beaten up during elections and I dint wanna take up a mission knowing am gonna lose. But then, there were consoling factors. Nobody were bigger ‘goons’ that us in the school and so I wud not get beaten up. Also, in the long run, it was important we had some sorta control.

So, the mission was officially on.

Campaigning for JD was not rilly required as the close ones, who were many, wud directly seal JD. We concentrated on those areas, which were the strong points of Mason, where kids had no clue of what voting is and the teacher standing next to the ballot wud tell the kids politely with raised eyebrows “Mason, correspondent, parents, TC, hmmmmmm….”. Thanks to my few appearances on stage during the school assembly, the kids did recognise me after my first year. A
lot of drama and circus and the day of reckoning was there.

I was ill and dint make it to school that day. I, over-confidently, knew JD wud take the honours. After school hours, the phone rang. It was One. Oh, you all hv forgotten that issue all-together, hvnt u ?? Its ok, happens wit me as well… After the standard ‘Why dint u turn up at school today..’ and ‘No, you dint miss anything important’, the mood changed.

One: I wasted a vote.

My breath stopped for a minute.

One: You lost.

I: Phewwww…

One: Loser, you relieved with your loss ?

I: Thats Ok, JD won, ryt ?

One: Yea, he did. I wasted a vote.

I: Why did u even vote for me ?? (as I explained her the whole ‘politics’ we played)

One: Gawd, so much for a post.

That was the difference. For people, it was just a post. For us, it was more than that. It was about having a say on issues that direct and control you. It was about one person taking a stand, not gettin corrupted and representing students’ needs. It was easy for the winner to be swayed by the tempting offers the board wud present him with, which would include eye-sparkling bonuses and protection, like investment bankers enjoy..sorry, used to. That wud only crash
the system, like in the invt. banking case.

Amidst the controversial poltical discussion me and One were having, the mood swung again.

One: Why do u keep bunking school for silly fever ?

I: Ah, U missed me so much o wht ?

One: Hmm….yeah, I actually did.

I: Err…

One: There was no one to carry my lunch case, joke around in the class, etc.

Insult… Time to call the detective. #447251. Yats dint pick up, but his lil’ sis did.

I: Hi, Is Yats back ?

Lil’sis: Yes.. You LOOSST !

Wow ! thats a nice welcome line… with a melodious rhyme too.

I: Thanks for the breaking news.. Yats Please…

Lil’ Sis: No point, you still lost.

She had to be Yats’ sis.

Yats: We won, yes !

Lil’ Sis (in the background): But Arjun lost..

Yats to Lil’ sis: Heavy sentences in gujrati which definitely were not expressing his love for her.

Yats: We Won !

Me : Oh yes, we did…

Yats: And Vids won too..

Me: Obviously, expected.

For the ignorant readers, Vids was contesting for the post of ASPL – Girls. She won !

Yats: JD and Vids are gonna form the ‘first family’ of the school.

I: Lol !

Yats: One said she missed you today.

I: Yea, she did. For all foolish reasons.

Yats: Now, that, you expect from One – foolishness.

I: Shut up. Only, I hv the rights to say all that.

Yats: Fuck you, stop using hopeless romantic words like ‘rights’ n all. But, she said she was feelin this way for the first time n stuff.

I: But she is foolish all the time.

Yats: Hahahah

I: Shut up n continue.

Yats: ah, she was tellin me to tell you not to bunk school this often.

I: Fine, so tell me.

Yats: Buzz off, am hangin up.

I: Dude, Even I missed her. I dint get up from bed.

Yats: lol, wht exactly were u doin ?

I: Shut the fuck up… I wud miss her all the more if I wake up.

Yats: Stop it ! Stop it ! Save all these mushy talk for your 7 o’clock session with her.

I: Oh so, are we gettin nominated for the Interact club postings ?

Yats: Oh, all the crime in last year’s fest was not enough ?? Haha.. Oh, somebody’s callin, am hanging up.

I: Am sure, its sheetal.

Yats: Yes, even am sure, so please fuck off… [BEEP BEEP BEEP]

I made some calls to congratulate JD, Saddy, Panky n other.. But my thoughts were with ONE person. The 7 o’clock session wouldnt happen cos we were gettin together at Tumtum to celebrate. After making fun of how JD and Vids would look dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. President, plans for a more aggressive Teachers’ Day and Interact Fest was on.

Panky: I think JD and Arjun should have another bet during this year’s fest as well.

Yats: No, please dont. Arjun won it last time and am the one who is suffering ever since. And this time, am sure he and One will go missing.

Kumar: I have an idea.. Lets get another girl this time.

I was laughing my head out (makin sure One was not around). The place was buzzing with fun and laughter. We were feeling on top of the world. I guess thats what friends can do to you.

Happy Friendship day ppl… not the most punctual one though. And although Raksha Bandhan reminds me of crazy things, Happy Rakhi to all the lil’ sisters and brothers reading this… and yes, no matter how much you grow up, you are still LITTLE sisters!

Fly high till next week !!!

 

No Rules ! No Fear !

“Get up, its time.” There are some sentences that we all hate to hear and this is one of them for me. The few hours of sleep that I get to enjoy are disturbed and it means that you cannot be home anymore. As the morning ray shines on your face, its time for you to rise and shine. Its time for you to go out into the world – a cruel world where you are going to be completely exposed. All your weakness, abilities and patterns of existence are going to put under the scanner. There is no place for hiding and only the fittest can survive. A world where people use each other as a ladder, use each other to shield them from violent attacks and use each other to create an environment of happiness for themselves more than anything. A world where a wonderful set of friends, flirty JUST-friends, concerned parents and selfless teachers are waiting to shelter and nourish you.

The ‘get up’ words normally come from mom, who is all perturbed that I might miss the school bus. But this time, it was from a different source. It was Yats who had come over to my place. This was unplanned. It was only 6.50am with a bus to catch at 7.30. The normal time from bed was 7.a.m. 7.15 meant ‘press panic button’ and 7.20 meant ’skip bath’. The issue is that I always had very less hours of sleep after all the hard work the previous day on the phone, tv and then with the books and hence, a shower was really important to keep me fresh for the day. So 7.20 a.m and after meant ‘there’s always second trip’ which takes me 80 mins late to school, automatically bunking the first two classes.

I came out in what I thought was very well-dressed manner. But Yats had a big laughter and laughingly said, “Over-studious! Forgot ? Its no-uniform day”. My mind is not totally on in the morning. Yats feels its like that all day.

I got ready in no time and was at the bfast table by 7.10.

Mom: What do you want for breakfast ?

I: ……………………..

Yats: Its not daily that you have breakfast, is it ?

I: Naa. Mom is not that lucky, lol.

Mom: You are only getting corn flakes.

I: Thats what I wanted anyways.

Mom: (while serving) Yats, please come home daily.

Dad: I am sure Arjun will spoil Yats and Yats will start comin late but Arjun is never going to get up on time.

I: (Licking the spoon clean) Why dont u go back and continue your P.Hd in newspaper ?

Everyone moved back from me when we reached the bus stop. They were kinda surprised to see me on time. The bus arrived. I knew I was about to begin a journey to a new destination, embarking the next phase of my life. In high spirits, I looked at Yats. He wasnt even looking at me and got up. Damn.

We set foot on school and the gang assembled before the classes. Everyone was excited about their new roles. “We never wore colour dresses when we begun our 11th standard”, questioned a +2 friend of ours. “But you werent special either!” crackled Yats. There was no respect for anybody whatsoever. No Rules, No Fear, and No Dear (for some). We were going at a speed too fast for others to understand, leave alone catch up. We were in a different zone – The Maverick Zone.

It was feeling very odd not to have JD n company in class. I had been used to seeing them all thru 10th grade. But now, there were Yats and Panky as the new partners. The crime rate could only improve… and if there was any doubt, there was One as well in the class.

Yats: So, did u notice the colours ?

I: Yes, I did. Everyone s so much smiling in coloured clothes.

Yats: Gawd, you are so useless. Did u notice One’s dress ?

I had completely forgotten. I looked around. She was looking stunning… in orange.

I: Orange ? Do ppl wear orange ? They look so ugly in it.

Yats: Ya ryt, but it doesnt make a difference in her case anyways.

I: Fuck you.

Yats: K, lets go talk to the new boy.

I: What happened to the new girls ?

Yats: They dont look worth talking to. So, lets talk to the new guy.

SO we did. We approached this guy who was in sparkling green dress, looking very gay.

Yats: Hi, I am Yats and this is Arjun.

New guy: I am Manzil Ali…

Yats: Manzil Ali khan… thats a royal name.

New-guy: No, just Manzil Ali.

Yats: errr…so what ? We ll call you Manzil Ali Khan.

I: Yats, I know we are mavericks n stuff but we cant change his name.

Yats: Arre dude, you dunno. We can do anything we want. (to him) Welcome to GG Mak.

New-guy: Mak ?

Yats: yes, Manzil Ali Khan.

Two mins later, after meeting a new student, Yats even had a nickname for him along with a surname that doesnt exist. Unbelievable. There was this another new guy, named Deena, who came in like some hurricane and questioned us, “Where s my seat ? Where s my seat ?”

Yats: This is not some parliament seat. Sit wherever you want. (Looking at me) Looks like some psycho.

I: How do we care ? We are bothered about votes.

Ryt. There was the election going to pop up shortly where the Assistant School Pupil Leader (ASPL) – boys and girls were to be elected. Our party was, obviosuly, running for it. We knew the new students are going to listen to their new friends. More in detail when the election episode arrives.

I put family before the country and so, sent a word to One through Yats ofcourse. Quite literally a word – Hi !

Then came a reply – Its not different sections anymore. You can talk to me directly…if you have the guts. News brought by a heavily laughing Yats (almost vomitting). There are certain things you should never do to a guy and one of them is teasing his ego… because it makes him do utterly foolish things.

I walked straight up to One and told her: “Hi, why you never wished me so far ?”

One : Err ? Wished you ? Oh, all the best for high school.

I: High school to hell. You never wished me good morning.

One: What ?

I: Yes, you should wish me ‘good morning’ daily from now and say ‘bye, have a nice day’ everyday.

One: Whatever, ok.

She had warmed up with the new girl students – Laila and Preetha. Ananya too had moved to the science stream and it meant One was a little lonely. Then entered another imp. character in the story ahead. This was Deepa mam – our commerce and accountancy teacher and along with it, our class teacher. Apart from managing this diverse portfolio, she had a bunch of diverse and intense specimen of students who had the reputation to be very mischievous and the potential to be the most discommoded batch in school ever. Yes, we had the prospects to make history! But, unlike our prev. class teacher in Mala mam, she was smart. She knew that our gang were the most influential (read ‘troublesome’) and got acquainted and friendly with us that very moment. She already knew me, thanks to my prev. speeches on stage. She cracked jokes with us and gave a light into about the basics of accountancy.

And if there was any doubt regarding what was to follow in the next two years, the next incident confirmed it:  As the accounts class was goin on, I tried to convey the message to One that I wanted to talk to her during the II break. She was sitting exactly next to me in the next row. She argued that she wanted to go see her sister. I widened my eyes in villainous manner to terrify her, but she dint give a heck and raised her index finger at me. I caught her finger and
Deepa mam caught us playing finger finger.

Deepa Mam: Ma, whats happening ?

I: Mam, I was just….er….

Deepa Mam: What ? trimming her nails ?

I: Hehe, funny mam (entire class laughing)

Deepa Mam: All this in the break, pls concentrate now.

I looked back at Yats and Panky, who were laughing like their lungs would fall out. I found Deepa mam’s approach very different that time cos any other teacher I knew in the school would have sent me out and then later spoke about it in the entire staffroom. Except Kevin Sir, who was like our God-father in the school. We really missed him and his classes. As JD would say, “I still remember every mensuration class of his”. Its applied mathematics for me.

The first day was a big hit and we all rushed back home cos we had to go to Yats’ place and then to Tumtum to do some routine useless activity not worth mentioning. This meant that I came back home late and called One beyond time.

One: You are very very impunctual (as the readers would claim about the blog). Dont be too complacent just because it is 11th grade.

I: What are you talkin about ? I have some other people to attend to as well. You are not where my world ends.

One: Fine, go to your world. bye bye bye. [BEEP BEEP BEEP].

I was pissed with that complacent sentence of hers. I knew she was building somethin else in her mind. But I also knew I pissed her off with my words. I really felt that I was not giving her the time she deserved. As pissed as I was, I called Yats to clear my mind.

Yats: Will you stop confusing yourself ? Just concentrate on the elections and do your work properly.

I: Then, you do your work properly. Make her up tomo as soon as you reach school.

Yats: Now, thats my full-time work is it ?

I: Lol, yes. Dont worry, I have a plan for the election.

Yats: A wicked plan am sure.

I: No, its a political one. We will play pure elections this time.

Yats: K, temme tomo. [BEEP BEEP BEEP]

Dad was listening to my side of the convo and came up with this.

Dad: Political plan ? Who is it this time ?

I: WHo who ? We’re not gonna hit somebody. Its for the elections. We re gonna split the votes and gain majority. The plan origin is mine and you will be proud of me when upcoming generations talk about me.

Dad: Gosh, you are over-smart for your age. You all are goin in a very dangerous pace.

I: For what we want to achieve, its important that we go at this pace.

Dad: The faster you go, the harder you fall. All this wont take you anywhere. Its only hard work. Its only your brains and hands that make you win.

Hands win indeed… Congrats to Congress on a thumping victory. This, in no way, reflects my support or dislike for them. See you all next week. Fly high till then !!!

 

What business do u hv wit other class boys ???

“I have an idea”, said Yats.

He was droppin me back home after a routine trip to Tumtum. 11th grade/ Junior-college was about to begin tomorrow and we were all pumped.

Yats: Why dont we ask Princi for ‘no uniform’ for us tomo ?

I: Sounds good. But will she agree ?

Yats: We’re not givin her a choice. She has to.

Princi or formally called as Principal stayed a street away from ma place and so reachin her was not a big deal. Scene shift to princi’s place. Ting-tong. Princi opened up as her lil’ doggie was already happy on seeing me. I was back. No offense to dogs/dog-owners but its just that am allergic to them. The only creature alive that I am afraid of perhaps. I insisted Yats to talk to her from the door as I dint wanna go in. He obliged.

Princi: 11th grade hasnt even started and you all hv already come up with a demand.

I: Request mam, a polite request !

Princi: Yes Arjun, I know your ‘polite request’ (smile). Ok, do it.

Yats/Me : Thank you mam. See u tomo.

We had to spread the good news among all the students so that we dont turn up as the only jokers to be in colours. In the process, we decided to meet at Yats’ place as none of us had anythin else to do. Scene shift to Yats’ place.

Me and Yats reached a lil late after a lazy tea at ma place. By then, the usual suspects were present – JD, Panky, Kumar, Rags… you know the list by know. It normally happens thus that when we are at Yats’ place, a freaky idea strikes someone’s mind. This time it was Yours Truly. Now that we have to let all the students know about the no uniform thingie, whos gonna tell One about it ? She is back in town after her Hyd trip and Me being at Yats’ place means I cant talk to her that evening. Somebdy has to tell her or poor One will be all alone in her uniform, ryt ? So, I decided to call her from Yats’ place and announced the bright proposal.

Yats: Why is it that you have to make all your mischievous calls from ma place ?

I: Its not only me Yats, everyone does. (laughs)

Yats: Should I talk ?

I: Ya ryt, we’re makin the call for u to talk ???

As I dialed the number, I flashforwarded to what she wud say on hearin me and what I wud hv to tell her n stuff. Ringing ceased and human voice on the other end said: “hello” (like you all expected anythng else…) It def was not One !!!

I: Hi Sali (One’s sis fondly called). Can I talk to One ?

Voice: Its not Sali, Its aunty. Who is this ?

I: …errr.. Its A-r-j-u-n auntyyy (Yats laughing…)

Aunty: Yes, tell me.

I: Aunty, we spoke to princi… I mean Principal madam and she has announced no uniform tomorrow. (Yats, JD laughing)

Aunty: Oh, is it… good. I will tell One. (pheww) What have you chosen ?

I: (For a second I heard “who have u chosen”, lol) Black T and blue jean aunty. (Yats still laughing)

Aunty: Haha, I meant what stream ? Commerce or Science ?

I: Oh sorry, Commerce aunty. How about One ? (Cheeky giggles)

Aunty: She has also chosen commerce beta. Bye. [Beep beep beep...]

Yats and by now, everyone was laughing.

I: Shut the fuck up. Why is it that evrytime I call up, her mom picks up and evrytime this bastard calls, One picks up. Not fair.

Yats: I did offer to talk on your behalf… (still laughing)…and you told her ‘no uniform’. You should hv repeated sayin colours or One might turn up without ‘any’ uniform at all. (Laughs)

I: Look, you better shut up before I say something.

JD: You askin her mom whats one’s stream ???… (laughs)… like u fuckin dont know…(laughs).

I: Lol, I was only being polite. And you, stop laughing.

He did after sometime when I brought up a fresh topic – teachers day. I asked abt what we should do after the semi-controversial skit last year. All of Yats’ excitement turned into smokin hot lava and burst out like a volcano:-

Yats: This time, we should do something more controversial.

JD: Lol, he means to say, no matter what we do, it shud be controversial and we shud get into trouble.

I: What a vision !!!

Yats: We have set some standards dudes and we should take it higher in school. We shud make fun of the ways they troubled us in X grade.

Panky: Yes, and we will tell ppl how Mala bitch planned to split our group.

Kumar: Our family da.

Yats: Don fuck around. We will bring out issues like…

I: (interrupting Yats) like JUST-friends…

JD: You had to say that !!!

Yats: Yes, that is an important aspect of our family.

I: Yes JD, after-all thats where a ‘family’ begins from… (laughs all around)

JD: Shut up. We’re JUST-friends. If you all dont understand, how will the management understnd?

Kumar: Everytime, he has to do this emotional blackmail shit.

Yats: Newes, we ll also show how she told Arjun not to mix with the other section students.

I: Yes – Yats and Panky.

Yats: well, you dont have to insult us in fronta the whole school. We neednt be that specific.

Panky: Yes, we ll show how Mala Bitch targeted Arjun in the latter half of X grade.

JD: Yes, all this for ‘ONE’ mistake. (laughs)

I didnt argue, not that they wud care anyways.

Kumar: And also the ‘healthy co-education’ part to Jd and Vids.

I: Yes, why dont you ask Vids to lose some weight so that it becomes a ‘healthy’ co-education ? (laughs)

JD: Why dont u ask your One to put on some weight ???

Yats: Both of you, shut the fuck up.

Panky: So,we’re doin this. Whats gonna be the title ?

Kumar: WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE WITH OTHER CLASS BOYS ?

Evryone: Perfect. Brilliant. Group disperse !

This was the first of many times when all the mysterious and troublesome plans were devised at Yats’ place. As soon as we reach his place, evryone switches to devil mode. Meanwhile, a delicious meal was ready at home and as I was about to pounce, the phone rang much to the dismay of Mom and frustration of Dad.

Yats: You have become so desperate dude, you just cant do without hearin her for a day.

I: errr.. no, it was a trick.

Yats: Oh rilly ? and wht is that ?

I: Now she knows am wearing black tomo. I am just checking if she also will wantedly wear black tomo.

Yats: OOOO… u think you’re some Sherlock Holmes in disguise. Firstly, I doubt if her mom will tell that to One. And Secondly, there are only this many colours in the world. She might co-incidentally pick up black. And thirdly and most importantly, what will that imply ?

I: Errr… I dunno… that she wants to match me or something.

Yats: Oh, what a fuck-up… match you it seems… you’re some Gladrags model that she has to match you. You’re just chekin if she has the hots for you…hmmm… But why are you bothered ?

I: Ah, its always better to keep knowledge of what your friends feel for you, u know. Newes, I have some hot n delicious food waiting for me. I ll c u tomo.

Yats: Sure sir, u hv lotsa hot n delicious stuff waiting for u… go, enjoy…. the food I mean. [Beep Beep Beep...]

Oh it’s a new world
It’s a new start
It’s alive with the
beating of young
hearts
It’s a new day
It’s a new plan
Its waiting for me,
Here I am !
-Bryan Adams
It was the beginning of a new era. We all felt it. There was anonymity and vagueness in the future. We all wanted to unveil the mystery and I guess it makes sense to end this edition in the mystery. See you all next week, for sure.

PS: Thanks for your patience. Take time out of your busy IPL schedules and keep reading.

 

Judgement Day !!!

The Road not Taken

-Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim

because it was grassy and wanted wear;

though as for that, the passing there

had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less travelled by,

and that has made all the difference !!!

****************

One of my favs – As ambiguous and effervescent as he always is – Robert Frost !!!

8.00 a.m – Nobody dared to sleep beyond it. The all-awaited board exam results were gonna be out that day. Some of them were shit-scared. Around 10 o’clock, we all gathered with our bikes at 7-er plaza. JD was late for even this, but just by 20 mins, which was better considering his high standards. We all set on our journey to see our fate. For the first time of many, the gang drove around the city with noises and horns of some mafia group on their way to wage an attack on somebody. A very nervous Yats told me,

Yats: My family will disown me if I flunk.

I: Its ok, I will adopt you.

Yats: But still, you wont console sayin I will pass ?

I: Look front and drive fast.

Yats’ O positive (or O+ which rhymes with hopeless,lol) took off and landed at the gates of GG. We all stood there for a second to get the feel. Here we were, at the gates of our destiny. Ok, its all gettin very philosophical, lets move on…

The smart-asses that we were, no matter how concerned we were abt anything, we ll never let the outsiders to our gang know it. The school management were our distant neighbours. We walked in waving hands at people passing by, crackin jokes at each other, commentin on the teachers as we passed them. In short – we walked in the Maverick style.

We passed the staff room. Pause. Mala Mam caught hold of us. Fond memories of the spot where I gave her an infamous speech after her phone call home flashed through my mind. It soon got disturbed when she told me, “You all have got good marks, go see.” with a sad face. I knew somethin was wrong. I was hopin nobody flunked.

We got to the notice board and I was gazing around checkin if I heard somebody give out unpleasant words, voices n noices. There wasnt any which meant evrybdy cleared. I went on to look at my own results. I was baffled. I went in indiv. detail and my eyeballs almost popped out when I saw a pathetically low mark in Eng II. I was speechless for a moment. All the hyped-vocabulary wasnt comin out that time. At once, I shouted, “Fuck no, thats not fuckin possible”. Damn, the first unpleasant word, voice n noise came from me.

We enquired each others’ marks and were happy for each other. There were some other shockers as mine. Vasu, the boy whose balls Yats played tennis with, topped in Eng II. I am not demeaning him, but that is just so ridiculous. Mala mam, for a change, agreed with what I thought. But ya, for all the disrespect that I hurled at her, I kinda deserved it, though the readers will understand the reasoning for why I did it. Am not gonna go into much detail abt the marks, am sure none of you bother either. Ya, everybody cleared.

We decided to get back home and see our parents. My sub-standard total meant my family got the opportunity that they were waitin for. It was not my parents really. They knew that I was inkured and couldnt do my best. But that total was still bad. Almost in every exam, experience tells me that one paper gets marked by a person who has no clue abt wht he is doin. There has to be a paper like that and none of your ppl understand, how you gave a good exam but got marked unfairly. Trust me, its not just India which is so. It was the ‘close’ family of mine which got on top. All of a sudden, you are reminded of every movie you watched, evrytime time you back-answered, evryday you woke up late (which was everyday) and every minute you spent on phone (again, almost every minute), etc. I still cant understand how the lovely relatives seem to remember the board exam marks of their son who gave his exam like 23 years ago. I am sure even he doesnt remember it as well. For all that I care !!!

Late afternoon, JD called and said he was coming to pick me up. Nobody knew where we were goin which meant we were heading to Yats’ place. As me n JD were riding, we discussed how we had got extra forms for 11th grade admission. We were passing Tumtum complex, when JD was overtaking this car, when the unforgettable happened. As he was half way thru the over-takin, a white maruti appeared in front of us from nowhere. It actually did, trust me, it felt like it appeared out of thin air like magic. JD took a sharp curve back into our lane, narrowly missing the white maruti which would hv turned red if not. Both of us had checked before overtaking and JD is one of the most cautious drivers you ll see. The frustration of low marks drained and I thanked my stars for being alive.

At Yats place, when the briefing of the incident was over, Yats’ mom came to the sit-out. She told us about Yats’ heroic words after comin home. I rewinded to 7-er plaza and re-collected his nervous words about the disowning. Me and Yats smiled.

Yats’ mom: Congrats to all of you. So, what have you all decided to do ?

Kumar: We’re going to Tumtum aunty. (Aunty must hv guessed that)

Yats’ mom: No kumar, what hv u all decided to do in 11th grade ?

There was deep silence for 5 seconds like people were gonna kiss each other. Then, Rags broke it.

Rags: Not decided aunty.

Oh yea, for once, the answer was honest, crisp and crystal clear. Minutes later, we were discussin who was gonna do what taking turns. In the end, everybody had valid reasons and interests in wht they were doing. The result:

Panky, Yats, Me, Kush, Dars, Vish, Chinni, drama girls* and One – Commerce

JD, Prav, Kumar, Vids, RMD, Rags, Vichu, Pra, Ananya, Dwarks, Neels, Subbu and shakespeare-in-disguise – Vasu — Science.

Personally, I wasnt a science guy. I cant cram elements about organic chemistry. I give a fuck about the preparation of ethyl alcohol. All I know is, it tastes and feels good after prepared. For a last minute tiff, my decision to persist with Tamil as my subject of language dint go down well with many – parents, brother, Yats, Panky, One,… well, it dnt go down well with any actually.

For a beginning, I loved the language and wanted to learn it in detail. It is my theory that until you get acquainted to a subject (which you do in college n stuff), it is the interest that ll motivate you to learn it – esp. a language subject like english, tamil, hindi, etc. The scoring theory of sanskrit dint attract me. For me, education is not abt gettin the highest marks. Its about actually knowing wht you claim to hv learnt !!!

Yats even threw the dice – “Imagine, One and you would be in the same lang. class”.

I: That, we would be anyways.

Me and the group struck silence. Everyone of us was visualising the chaos that was coming up – Arjun and One are in the same bloody class. The very thought  warmed up my blood. “Thank God”, exclaimed Yats, “I dont have to shuttle between classes anymore”.

But, more than anything, the scene was changing. Me and Yats are going to be in the same class. If the management was near-smart (well…) they should hv split us right there. They dint. Add to that, there were Panky and One with us. There was perfect company with Kush, Vish, Dars n others. When Beckham, Ronaldo, Zidane, Carlos, Casillas, etc. all come into the same team, you dont expect them to lose, do you ? On the other wing were JD-Vids, Kumar, Subbu n gang. What a combination !! Relentless, merciless and all-out attack is what was coming up. Woww !!! This is the best fucking batch ever to have stepped into high-school!!!

Yes, there were a few disappointments. Prav and Pra were moving to other schools. Some sparing for those who run the school. Oh, we ll miss Prav. Rags wasnt allowed to come to our school. His dad could imagine the kind of trouble we all were gonna spell. He got into some frustrated nun school.

We were at some high – at a crucial junture in our careers. We knew our decisions are gonna last a lifetime. The best part was, almost evryone knew what they were doing and were confident about it. It was a new beginning.

As the discussion drew to a close, we happily set off to Tumtum. Jd, Kumar and Me were in one bike with JD driving. 100m later, the sandwiched kumar, put his hand on JD to get a grip. He dint know it was JD’s hips. JD got tickled in no time and the bike went on a fairlands-drift !`!`!`!  The next thing i knew was, all of us were rolling on the road. Fuck, JD’s hips dont lie and Kumar found out.

Thankfully, none of us were seriously injured. JD scratched and tore the first layer of skin on his upper right arm. Kumar had some damage on his hands and stomach I think. I had a small scratch on my right hand which was paining badly for 40 seconds. The Tumtum venture ceased as Yats laughed for the next 36 hrs on hearing abt the incident – another adventurous Maverick day.

Our journey into the future dint start all that brightly. A speed-breaker before we even shifted gears. We just decided on our future and here we are – already on the road, lying. Was this a sign of things to come ???

Whatever said, we all loved the 10th grade experience… Classroom fun, school management’s headache, lessons of Bill Gates, friends, girl-friends (JUST-friends for some!!!), exams, high jumps, accidents – we were coming into our own. we saw it all – the best and the worst. It could not possibly we worse. Or did I speak too soon ?

Two roads diverged by a yellow wood and we…we took the expressway. And that has made all the difference !!!

At the cross-roads of our future we stood, waiting to enter the doors of a new phase of life. We kept knocking but nobody opened up. Then it struck us, lets ring the door-bell !!! Ting-tong, See you all next week. Thanks for bearing with me during my exams.

Homework: Your life till and during your 10th grade and yor take on the story so far. Its the weekend and so a long homework !

* – Drama girls refers to Konica (kani) and Keerthana – the two girls who were with us in the drama. The ones I spoke to in the school fest, the II edition of the story.

PS: A very happy birthday to Subbu (mar 23) and Dwarkesh (mar 29). Happy Ugadi ! God bless !