Children's Day Rant

Chilly breezes have started making their presence felt, making waking up a really hard thing to do, making me think of Christmas already.

There's one other thing that this autumn breeze reminds me of- the 'thud's of closing brown windows back at school.The way we used to keep stones so that they wouldn't close(later on the latch thingies were installed). Half yearly exam at school would be sometime in December. And a bit before that we'd have Children's day celebration. Like today! 

I recall being a Nurse, a Teacher and Mother Mary for the fancy dress competition held in school as part of the Children's Day celebrations. Also that skit we performed in Class 4 on child labour. With Simi Miss as our Class Teacher. For which we won the first prize.

Children's day itself would have only a few little things like this for me to remember of. But spending my childhood at NMCS was awesomeness. The kids now don't find school as great as it was for us. But that's because we had all the fun, we broke all the rules, so yeah, sorry, you kids don't get to do things that we did.

A friend of mine here from Pune holds that his Boys' school was way more fun than any co-ed school. I simply do not agree. I mean, how can it be? You have boys, you have girls. You have all the fun with your girl/boy gangs, plus you get the fun of being together!

Like, at first, if you chatter a lot, you'd be warned by your teacher that you'd be made to sit in between boys. But in a few years, that would be the sweetest punishment you could get. All those years of growing up together, the teasings, the gossips, the fights, the groups, the crushes...and most importantly, the friendships :D

Appa has a gang of friends from college whom he still meets. I do too. From, school. The strongest, the closest people I have are still from school. Those idiots next to whom I sat in class 8 always, how hard Jihan Miss tried to shuffle the Class. we'd be togther. Some how. 

Canada, Pune, Chennai or Thrissur, when we meet, we just become our usual crazy selves. 

Well, childhood is something special for all of us. And we all have a little kid within us (And some of us still kid around a lot :P ). No matter how we hated homeworks, exams, assignments, those occassional 'caning's, we'll still remember school with a little smile. We really grew up there. Together. And there's no dearth for stories once we start talking of that place.

Reality Check

Life gives you issues, problems, situations that you can't deal with. And then it gives you reality checks. I didn't know Chintan Buch too well. But he was the second person I met on my first day at campus. And now he's no more. Sahil too.

Suddenly the things that you thought were big and huge becomes trivial. People who were with you are no longer there. People whose lives were entwined with theirs are going to have a real tough time. I hope they find the strength to cope up with the loss.

Who knows if tomorrow is yours? Each day is a gift, a blessing. you never know what might happen the next day, the next hour. You may plan a lot of things but life...how do you know how long you have?

I wish I hadn't wasted days and time away. All that we do in the time we have on this earth is the only thing that counts. And what we do affects others- their time on the face of this planet.

People wants to know the future, go back to the past but just forget to live in the present. It never made sense to me before. Now it's starting to. We're all here for sometime. We're blessed with a set of people who share the kind of same time line. It would make that short while pleasant for all of us if we only be nice to each other. Silly fights and bad blood doesn't seem to make sense. What if you never get a chance to apologize later? What if they don't get a chance to make it up with you?

Today I see Chintan's face on many people's DP and cover pic. People are trying to hold on to the good memories, cherishing the time well spent. One day it would be yours. Mine. Life is a wonderful gift. It should be enjoyed to the fullest before the curtain falls. 

Phase.

If it wasn't for darkness we wouldn't know light. So it is alright if things are not always alright, right? I was one proud and content and deliriously happy person and suddenly it's all gone down the drain. Suddenly it's all cold. And it's not November that's making me feel chilly. But if all that happened before was just a phase, all what's happening now is just a phase too. I'll be fine. Won't I, honey?

"And I Say, thank you for the Music!"

This be another fresh Sunday morning. I’ve woken up with a great mood, feeling completely pleasant and content. Gayu is in the kitchen already and I’m sure some delicious aroma would waft this way in a few minutes. Eli and Jumi are at church.

I feel quite thankful to the big guy up above. Thankful for being able to share Giggles, aka HOME with these three. It’s been about a year that we’ve started staying together, and this has been one of the best years of my life.

The only thought in my mind after joining work was to get away from here, ASAP, look for a job that’s closer to what I’d learnt, get away from a place with silent, monotonous people who are glued to computers for most part of their lives, and now I find that I feel differently.

We still run around in the Aakashganga society. Run around as in hold our hands and literally run around the place. We still walk down the roads singing songs and laughing loudly. We still manage to get into silly misadventures and laugh ourselves to sleep most nights. One year at Infy does not seem to have rubbed on its ‘silent-serious-monotonous-people’ effect on us.

Even my Infy hours are fun these days. I’ve started playing badminton again. Thanks to Madhu. I’ve picked up quilling, something I’ve grown to love. Giggles is a 100% quilling basic literacy achieved home. I’ve also joined the Poona Musicale choir, so now even on my weekends I get to do something really worthwhile and enjoyable. Music, you be such an awesome thing. If life can be a song, currently, mine is a soft, smooth, happy one. Not a great classical piece, but something like a good pop song from sometime back that’d bring a smile on your lips when you hear it after ages quite unexpectedly.

Though things haven’t always been great, I know I can feel alright pretty soon coz of the people I’m with. People do have that kind of an effect on me. I was supposed to be the first one to leave Giggles, now it looks like I’ll be the last. I’m quite happy with the way things are now,  and when Jumi and Eli speaks of moving, I feel uneasy. Now I understand how Gayu must have felt when all three of us, me especially, used to speak of moving.

Some phases in life are simply too blissful that you’d want time to stay still. I know it wouldn’t, and that time would fly by. But if it could stop here for a while, I’d be only too happy. Giggles will never be the same without all of us together. Just like the Harihar Nagar series wouldn’t be the same without the 4 main characters.

But life will move on. None of us knew that we’d be working at Infosys, of all the places, when we took up Journo, Vis comm. or literature. But Infy happened. Giggles happened. Something better will happen to all of us. And even after that, when we meet, I’m sure the madness will remain. 

When Death comes home.

Ever known death up close? i hadn't. Death used to be in movies and books. In other people's houses. Far away from me and my world. Until June 12th.

Started writing it ages ago. i don't think i'll finish this one. Coz when i try, i see her face on a poster against the wall. Inside a mobile feezer in our hall. In the coffin at the cemetery. And i go cold and numb. I miss you mammy. 

Back to Pune. This time, at Giggles.

 At Mysore they pampered us. They gave us the best of everything. And then they parcelled us off to Pune in a 14 hour long bus journey.

The Pune ECC was welcoming enough. It was the actual hotel hotel. Here, all of us, boys and girls were put up in that one same building. Of course the amenities were awesome too. But we were busy with a different task now. No, not the job.

House hunting. We were shown around houses of all kinds in the little area of Pimple Saudagar. I fell in love with Aakashganga the minute I saw it. The others wanted to make sure that we had chosen the right option so they went around to a lot of other places. But finally we ended up at Aakashganga.

By the way, ‘others’ include Jumi, Elena and Gayathri. Jumi, AKA Sleeping beauty is kinda like me in many things. She would sing out, do the valips, thinks similar, talks the same words I do exactly at the same time as I do. She’s nice and jolly.

Elena dear is the sceptic. The perfectionist. My companion when it comes to leaving late from work. Ever caring, ever helping.

Gaya is our very own Appukkuttan. That look-that untimely giggle-that’s all that takes to set us all off. By the way, our house, no, home is named ‘Giggles’ coz this is where we are learning to live the fun way.

A few months back, I never knew anything about cooking, the value of money, adjusting, responsibility and the like. Living at our own apartment has taught me a lot of things. For starters, one needn’t wash rice grains for half an hour. Also, if the electricity bills are not paid, the power gets cut. And that it’s okay to sleep on the floor for a few months before you’ve saved enough to buy a cot.

There are a lot more things I need to learn though. I’m still a shellfish. May in due course of time, I can be better and make our Giggles even more warm?

‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward,’ One of those ‘though for the day’ lines we used to read out at the morning assemblies. Things are starting to make sense. Things do happen for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. I’m glad they do.

Mysore DC- The Place to Be

"Did you find your room?"
"Yes, Appa."
"Do you think you can come out to meet me in ten minutes?"
"um....i'm not sure...This whole place is a maze...i don't think i'll find the way out in.."
"Okay, then, i'll see you next time. I've gotta head fot the bus stand."
"um...Okay."
"You alright, right?"
"Yep. Bye!"

With a telephonic bye, i was stranded in Mysore. No, Mysore DC- the place to be.

Finally, after all that waiting , i got my call letter and on the 23rd of July (yeah, just a week before my B'day) here i was ,in Mysore.

The place looked as if it didn't belong to the usual India that we see outside its gates. Spick and span roads meandered through lush greenery where architectural masterpieces mushroomed. Everything i saw was different. Magneficient.

The hostel room was more like a hotel room, complete with A/C, TV, coffee table, two huge wardrobes and anything else a fresh trainee would need. You could mess up the room however you pleased, but it would always be made for you. They simply pampered us with facilities over there.

Do you want to play, at Mysore DC, you had cricket fiels, football fields, basket ball courts, badmiton courts, squash courts, table tennis boards, lawn tennis courts, swimming pool, a complete gym, aerobics classes, yoga, snookers, rock climbing, bowling alley...you name it, it was all here.

The DC was also armed with 7 food courts which housed a variety of counters which served a multitude of dishes that promised to satisfy any palate. All at a subsidized rate.

It was one awesome place- If you had the time for it! At Infosys. you learn. Learn as in educatge yourself, books, tests etc...that happens a lot. That happens quite consistently and strenuously that you'll be amazed at yourself. Even people who never bothered to learn in schools or colleges would find themselves at war with sleep struggling to finish assignments and learn more- For the TPI.

The TPI , or Training Period Incentive is that wonderfull extra 5000 that they promised if we get straight A's for all the tests and assignments conducted(which eventually nobody got but everyone struggled for).

For the first time in my life, i compromised my 8 hours of sleep. There was no way one could get that with all those assignments and tests and the Compre...oh my God, the Compre!

I ceased to see daylight for most of my stay in the DC and familiarized myself with the nightlab- the wonderful long hall with lots of computers where you stayed up after 11pm to learn (and slept off uncontrollably despite the security guard's scolds in kannada...)

Mysore seems to be ages away now.

A lot happened in the short span of 11 weeks.A hectic, busy and wonderful 2.5 months.

Of the 30 people in our batch, 13 turned out to be Malayalees. The whole batch was a mad lot. Fun was never ending.

Mentioning class would never be complete without naming Lijasa and Deepasa- my group mates. These guys changed me from "Do-not-disturb-me- while-learning" types to almost a normal human collage going spirit.

I guess the very first thing i've said to Deepn was to stop playing music while i did my assignments as it disturbed me. But now, i love working working with music. Especially Mombasa.

Both the 'Asas made my class time so much fun. I've never been scolded by any teacher in my entire student life for disturbing the class in any manner. At Mysore, we were always caught for talking, giggling, and other class time "no-no"s.

Fruit Ninja became my addiction during this period. How i would battle hard with Lijasa to win the highest! (I still win, btw. Except maybe the zen mode :P)

A lot of good times happened here, Purple haze, Onam, My b'day, Krupa's B'day, little outings, night time singing, all time madness, sometimes lonliness, no time to call home...

I really wish i'd started writing my diary in Mysore. It would have been the first pages of a wonderful new chapter in my life. Mysore DC- The Place to be.