31 December 2007

College

,

This weekend I went back to my old college.

(Inspired heavily by the opening line of Rebecca)

Down the familiar lane I went, the bike jerking around a little almost like it was fussing “Where have you brought me mistress? , I’ve never been this way before”
True , the last I went down this lane , I had had my old bike , my friend of 7 years. Now , he was a toughie , he knew that he had to heave him self down with a puncture right in front of the mechanic’s garage , he had to run until he exhausted his last drop of petrol a safe 100 meters from a petrol bunk!Ahh the red bikes of today, spoilt, I tell ya! Gimme my old Kinetic any day!

“Parking for students” the board screamed.. there used to be a WELL here! That used to be filled by a motor! Mother of all Ironies!

I sauntered along into the main gate, I forget which was the last time I walked into a building without involuntarily flashing an access card…

The old workshop

Carpentry, Welding, Sheet Metal, Filing

Semester 1

RM in a khaki workshop dress looking around stealthily to see if there were any seniors around to rag her.

Sadistic sauntering senior: “Hello”

RM: *Panic stricken face*

SSS: “Which semester are you in?”

RM: “Been here long enough, am in the second semester!”

RM runs, stumbling on the rocks, clutching her black bag and her beloved Dovetail joint

Khandala

Our pet name for the building that never got built while we studied there. A large building that was open on all sides, we used to be served food there during fests .. Show your ID card, get a lunch coupon and get served bad food!

Fest times remind me of the treasure hunt that we went to. S and I almost reached another city by the time we figured “Zen speaks” referred to Zen motors that was a km away. We came back to the starting point a good hour later than the others and had the gall to yell at everybody that our bikes had lower horse power than the guys’ and it was unfair to declare a guy a winner!

Fest times also meant that the deadline to reach home was stretched a little to 10 PM. This was the time when the gang of hooligans I studied with mutated and developed strange strains of chivalry. They would valiantly fight to escort us to a harmless coffee stall at 6 in the evening, talk to the parents and say

“Hello Aunty! This is R, RM’s friend”

To which the mother would reply: “Which one is this?”

R: “I’ll make sure she reaches home safely Aunty, do not worry”

PPP: “Yes, R, tell her to study well also, her marks are worrying me more”

R: “ yes yes tch tch”

RM: “ Ok , wait , I’ll call your Ma!”

And how could I forget that kid who got drunk and kept throwing mud over himself while yelling out “Who’s that! Who’s that throwing mud on me!”

I watched, fascinated, from my safe fortress, two big burly shoulders in front and a tinier one next to me. Good, Vi was watching the fun too...

And then there was V. It was the day of the FEST! And there he was , sitting ALONE! My heart bled for him. Poor V! Why was he ALONE! His troubles reached unimaginable proportions in my head and I ran towards him, Bharat Mata Ishtyle , whatever it was he could tell me , RM, the savior of everybody who was alone on the day of a fest!

V: “Err Hi”

RM *Plonking herself next to him and gifting him with a thump on the back*: “ We are all sitting there

V: “ I saw”

R saunters in

R: “He’s taken the shabhari mala thing …he’s sitting here ‘coz you’re not supposed to touch women when you take it up”

V: “Oh let her be, she’s just a kid”


I can’t remember another time when I’ve felt so happy and so miserable at the same time …


Dental block

Almost Bermuda triangle like. We were forbidden to venture into the Dental Block … “Go there if you wish to have your hall ticket confiscated” was the unsaid rule.

So what did Vi and I do? We went there after the last exam of that semester.

RM: “Are you scared?”

Vi: “Not yet , if you are , we could go back”

RM*gulp*: “I’m never scared”

Vi: “hey , isn’t that the ’tronics HOD?”

RM*gapes*: “The big fat cheat ,Vi! Maybe they have illegal dealings here that they don't want us to find out…smuggling maybe?”

Vi: “ No idiot , he’ll recognize us and that’ll be the end of it all …. RUN”

The Office Block

RM:“I want my hall ticket , number 9888923”

Attender:“Shortage Ide” (You have shortage)

RM: “What shortage”

Attender: “What can it be? Petrol?”

Turned out EnE lecturer marked me absent for 15 classes ALL of which I attended! And she, obviously unaware of my plight chose that time to go on maternity leave.

RM: “That lady!! Horrid lady! I sat through all her $%$ classes!”

T: “Hush, don’t use bad words, she’s pregnant!”

RM: “Sure, I hope there’s something called divine retribution and someone flunks her kid!”

As it turned out, she lived pretty close to college and I could get a signature from her. Hall ticket nightmares drive people into doing crazy things. Like knocking on 35 doors to find out if a pregnant EnE lady resided there (I didn’t know her name either)

College had its share of surprises and shocks as well. Like the girl who asked the Trig lecturer WHY Sin (0) =0.After 3 years of Trig, there should be some things that you should give up on, right? Well, what do you know my friend, Princeton; yes yes, the last I heard of her, she was doing her MS at Princeton. And how about the guy who had a zillion crushes, got into at least 3 scrapes a week? Heppily married like they say. Yes, with a child in tow!

Like I’ve always said, college is my happy place. A place that is associated with happy thoughts-Of youth, of dreams, of ambitions, of innocence, of life and most of all, of friendship. A place where what I wanted was no different from what could be. A place of many firsts and many lasts. My happy place :)

26 December 2007

Weekday Happenings

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Legend PPP : Praying PillPopper , mother
Potterer: Dad

RM:me
Altoid:The sister , she ,well , is minty

Its the end of the year feel , theres 10% of the normal crowd in the cafeteria and the caterer happily doles out sooka chappathis without counting them , he usually lurks behind the huge casserole and swoops down on anybody who grabs more than two..considering they taste like feet..!

So now , the Pillpopper(She seems to be the high point of all my posts , shes a never ending source of post feed , I tell you!) decided to go her Maika , apparently it has been two years since she last saw her Mom.So , one fine Sunday morning ,

PPP:" Hi !"
Potterer:" err , what do you want?"
PPP(*looking miffed*):" Why does everyone respond in that fashion to my Hellos!"
Potterer(*Looks on gloomily*)
PPP:" I want to go to Secunderabad tomorrow"
Potterer:"Sigh"

Come Monday eve , PPP sporting a rich maroon sari walks daintily towards the A4 coach , while I balance a large tote bag and a larger suitcase and puff along behind her.

PPP:" Why are you puffing , do you think your BP is normal?"
RM:"Think the BP is fine , I think your eyesight is failing , can't you see what I'm carrying?"
PPP:" We better hurry , apparently this train is coming from Delhi and will stop in Bangalore for 5 minutes"
RM: "The train is coming from Delhi to B'lore and then to Sec'bad? It doesn't make sense"
PPP:"Its not logical , its just a route dear"
Potterer:" Ahem ... the train is going to Delhi ,it starts in Bangalore and it will stop in Secunderabad for 10 minutes"
PPP:" Ok , in that case , wake me up at 6 AM , set an alarm in your mobile , DON'T FORGET , else I'll land in Delhi"
RM: *Looks scared*

This meant that I was in charge of the kitchen for four days.

-Did you know that you DON'T wash bhindi after its cut? , looks like goo
-Did you know that you've got to boil the tamarind water really well to ward away the sour taste ? Else you'll have hot n sour soup and hot n sour soup for Rasam and Sambhar
-Suppose , just suppose your cooker is making that wooosh sound and spouting starch and steam in equal proportions , tilt the cooker so that the spout faces the sink , that way , you don't need to clean the ceiling... you think I could start a food blog?
-Never let the Potterer make decoction , its easier to add water to a cup of hot milk

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


Wishing you all a very Happy New year :) and I hope you get HUGE proportions of whatever you want :)




Image -123greetings.com

16 December 2007

Potpourri

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Don't know what to call this post , it's a mixed bag of all events and musings from the past week . Lets call it Pot potpourri , ok? Ok.

First of all , Altoid , Dad and I threw a party for the Pillpopper J , we called all her colleagues (her oldest colleagues from a little school near home to the ones from her new extremely corporate school) ..

PPP: “This is ridiculous, how will I ever host a party! I’ve never in all my life hosted one”

RM: “Well, I’ve never gotten married either, so shall I back out on that too?”

PPP: “Shut up! I won’t have a party!”

Altoid: “Black Forest cake and samosas? Or something southie?”

RM: “ yeah yeah …yum”

PPP : “ I will run away from home”

Altoid : “Ok , we’ll tell your friends you ran away and now they have to foot the bill”

1st December 6:PM:

The PPP is in a dark pink and gold saree socializing .. merrily(like a merry duck taking to water! Now I know where I got the Nautanki trait from)

PPP : “ Jhalak Dikhlaja? Oh yes we all love that show , I think sandhya rocks ! I’m glad you’re enjoying the party hehe .. some more cake? Altoid , do get some cake… Oh that table? It's a cradle that my mother in law gifted Altoid , I cut its legs and converted it into a low table .. no no she didn't live to see it , God bless her soul ..”

I’m glad Altoid threw that party for you PPP J.I’m glad you enjoyed cutting a cake and I’m sorry Altoid and I burst all the balloons , obviously we don't make very good event planners!

Now for a little snippet from what happened in Jaipur, it has significance to our current tale ..

PPP : “Wheres Appa”
Altoid: “He went into that emporium”
PPP: “To do what?”
RM: “Shake a leg, maybe?”
Altoid: “He’s buying one of those expensive table decorations”
Dad saunters into the car..

PPP: “Why must you waste money on table decorations, we have so many at home … then I need to scrub them with Peetambar powder …”
Stony silence ….

December 2nd dawns …
Dad(beaming) : “ Pillpopper , happy birthday and this is for you…:)
PPP: (Looks down at the wrapped table piece and for once has nothing to say..)

The week after that , PPP’s old college friends landed home to wish her and generally take off on an outing. PPP keeps telling us about her group at college -of starched cotton saris and neatly plaited hair , how life was about getting up at 4 AM to chant shlokas with her grandfather , of how she used to be his pet and how she used read Keats and Shakespeare to that almost blind old man.. It was nice to associate faces to the people my mother grew up with, fascinating to wonder at a 15 year old innocent who turned out to be MOM! A strong , loyal individual who has been such a strong force to both of us :)


Coming to the point ,college reunions aren’t all hunky dory like we found out..

B: “ hello hello PPP , I have come!”
PPP: “That's so nice of you :)
S: “ hello , B how have you been!”
B: “Who are you?” (yes ! she actually said that!)
PPP: “ errr.. S has changed a lot since college … I mean its almost been 40 years .. hehe”

A day before Altoid was leaving , we went to Chitra Kala Parishat ‘cause one of her fellow bloggers was a part of the “Bring your own Art” event.Ok all "Painting-Art-Photography" novices raise your hands.. RM raises a pair of hands and feet.. After that we took off to Kamat Bugle Rock and downed endless Jowar Rotis with cubes of butter floating on them..

And then there was Winter Funk.The 2 month Indo Jazz workshop at SDIPA.
Dance is truly therapeutic , it knows no words ,no language , it touches your soul like nothing ever can nor ever will.Learning Jazz was an experiment , a question to the self if dance was universal.Apparently , it is.

PS: Dear instructor S , getting over a crush on you seems to be such a hard task :((

;)

02 December 2007

Some gems ...

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Do you know why my weekends are never boring these days? 'Cause I just discovered a new hobby! Cleaning up my inbox in my Matrimonial profile! Good time-pass I tell you , it has all the makings of a sooper dooper hit reality show -Laughter(Lots of it , sometimes I need to hold on to the table for support ), then there is Drama("I want a soul-mate who will dig into the crevices of my until-now-un-nurtured heart"), there is romance("I want a friend-wife-soulmate-companion-cleaner-cook all rolled into one hot looking slim fair iyer chick"), there is Dard(" I will continue smiling until i find her") ; Also , ALSO a great place to find quotable quotes!

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.........

When you love someone, and you love them with all your heart, it never disappears when you're apart. And when you love someone and you've done all you can do, you set them free, and if that love was true...when you love someone it will all come back to you.......
*BAWL*

So , now coming to the "gems" part of the post .. it took me a lot of effort to choose two winners .. in this game there are no losers , because we are winners in life , even though we die in the end...my 5 mins of mic fame is up? Ok , here they are!

*CLAP CLAP*

the runner up message is ...

I'v always wondered what would it be like to watch Shiva dance? Guess they call it the Tandava. Don't Shiva and Parvati make a wonderful couple. Enough of mythology so how's work and how's bangalore?


Good message , no?All this 'cause apna profile says apun knows classical dance(thanks to Matashree who resorts to such cheap tactics of carrot dangling to sell me off)

and the winner is...

born and raised in chennai. moved to chandigarh 3 yrs back. as i belong to a royal family dint find the necessity to complete my graduation(he can atleast spell the word , so alls good-o)
lincoln said 'gimme 6 hrs to chop a tree and i'll take 4 hrs to sharpen the axe'.(see? I told you so about the quote part!).Am not gonna say am a hard worker but i've decided to work till the day the world gets rid of destitution.(SNiffff Mother theresa , you have returned!!! TRULY!)
i cannot get along with a grl who is neither well educated nor talented(Yes yes , that right solely belongs to you). 2ndly external appearance matters a lottt to me.(Arrey , of course , janm sidh adhikaar and all that, lottt= too too much)

Voting lines are open , please make the right choice , type "RMKISHAADI" followed by "001" or "002" and send it 6565656565. Till then , good night , shubh raatri!!

;)
 

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