Three’s never a crowd!

After quite a long time (4 and a half months, for sure), I called up one of my closest friends — to know that she was 4 months pregnant!! So much for being “close friends”!!! 😛

And after the inital whats and whaats and whaaats, I let out one string of abuses her way for not letting me know. And with that ever cheeky that-don’t-impress-me-much tone, she tells me, “Oh! I thought I’ll just give you all a surprise!” Apparently, in all that excitement and tests and waiting-for-the-confirmation delays, she forgot to call us. Then she thought about it a month later…by then she was sure she’d get killed for not having told us friends. And then, she thought ‘what the heck, let the baby come out…and i’ll let them know”. The ass! Hehe…she was quite sure then, that we wouldn’t be meeting till the baby’s out 😛

I’ve been friends with this mad girl since my 9th grade…and it’s always been the ‘heights of fun’ when the two of us, along with the third musketeer, joined together! All 3 of us are “younger sister” to some super brothers…and while we both have 1, she has 3!! Which explains her escalated level of madness!

We’ve stayed cooped up in her smelly bedroom from morn till night, pretending to study…while all we ever did was read novels and eat and make endless phone calls and eat and sleep and eat and gossip and eat and…oh, you get the picture, right? We’ve walked from her house, all the way to mine (some good 8-9kms) in the scorching sun, chattering away on about everything. We’ve spent hours together discussing loves, crushes and heartbreaks.

We’ve travelled all over Trivandrum for no reason at all (as a result of talking animatedly and boarding any damn bus without looking at the name board!!)…in fact, once we sat right in front of the conductor’s seat in the bus and refused to take a ticket 😀 Just before getting off the bus, when the conductor asked us for the ticket, she actually told him “Oh, innu ticket edukkan oru moodilla” (Oh, we didn’t have the mood to get a ticket today!) 😛

We’ve bunked our classes to join a third class’ PT hour {two of us were in the same class n this mad one was in another; so, while the every class had just one PT hour a week, we had one everyday…almost ;)}and play in the hot sun (guess we were the only 3 girls the PT master didn’t hate :D)! We’ve always wanted to be in the same class (precisely why the teachers conspired and always made sure at least one among us was separated from the gang during class hours) that she’s hidden under our bench, only to be discovered and thrown out by the teacher!

Edited to add this after this memory suddenly came back: We’ve lurked around after school hours, waiting for all the teachers to leave, then gone behind the school building and tried to understand what’s the ‘cool’ factor about smoking 😉 After a puff each and volleys of coughing fits and teary eyes, we ran off into the girls’ loo when we heard our PT master demanding who the smoker was (he saw smoke, apparently!) A poor 7th grade boy got caught and interrogated [they did the spell smell-check on him, but he came off clean :D], but no one ever figured out!

We’ve bunked school to attend the “La Fest” (an inter-school fest conducted by Loyola School in Trivandrum, every year), in spite of being warned against it by our class teacher–and then disappointed her by bringing her leave letters signed by our parents that actually said “Was unable to attend class since I wanted to attend La Fest”, instead of a cooked up “fever” story 😀

Long story short, we’ve been the perfect ‘undisciplined gang of girls’ at school (and SO NOT proud about it now 😦 ) By the time we passed out of school, we ‘grew up’ and vowed we’ll become better people. All that took to make us better people was to get the 3 of us going in 3 different ways 😀

We still get back to being the ‘undisciplined gang of girls’ whenever we meet (though we pretend to be civilised). All of us were mad enough on the other’s wedding and instead of gifts, presented the ‘bridegroom’ with condolence messages (through the bride of course! who wants to give away the disaster that’s in store :D)!?

I can’t believe she’s going to be a mom! I can only pity the poor baby that’s on its way (am done pitying the husband by now 😉 ). Love you girl! Can’t wait to see you!

back to school

Just before sleep took over by about 11.45 yesterday night, I got up from in front of the TV and walked into the comp room — to sign out from gmail: instead, I saw a mail from a very close friend with a subject line “:)”. Now, with this guy, you can expect just about anything. So, I fight my sleep and sit down to read it though (it’s long too). I expected to fall off the chair any instant. But oh my! the mail made me smile so wide, I thought it’d tear my mouth through 😀

It was a letter of ‘memories’: an unexpected reminder of the good times. I wonder what made him write to me. He began with the line “There is nothing more exciting and soothening than the letters from an old friend… I thought: so who am I going to write to today? And I could think of none other than you.”  I am touched. I’d love to lie to you all by saying I was one of the best of his friends then; someone who influenced his life so well…blah blah… But no. I don’t have a clue why he could think of no one else…and I couldn’t care less…

Because the mail was about memories of school…of that age of innocence when you say/do/act like there’s not a care in the world; that age when all one wants is to get out of school-life and get into a job; that age when (like now too) Fridays are welcomed whole-heartedly, but boredom settles by Saturday mid (unlike now!!); that age where one does all sorts of mischief (and think parents don’t realise); that age when everything was just so nice…

Oh! The minute I finished reading it, I told myself “I must blog about this”. Instead, I sent him a reply with a “Lon-mail-ahead alert” 😀 Truly one of my longest mails ever — with all that I could remember; sad enough, because we were classmates right from Std 7, but I barely even noticed him till Std 10: even after that, we were only quite formal with each other. It wasn’t until 3-4- years back that we got in touch again and became fast friends. So, to have received such a mail from him, reminding me of those days was a real surprise — and a wonderful one at that!

I’m not quite sure he’ll survive through my reply 😉 he’ll either stop using the Internet, or we’ll continue this by pulling in more friends. Oooh…I am so damn elated (and excited at that prospect) right now. A million thanks for taking me on a trip back memory-lane, MC. You’re the best!!

Wanna go back to that age…all the way back to school.

Carrot-top marries Brinjal-head ;)

Quite a shocker, though!

I always thought blondes were just picturised as dumb — seems they are pretty unlucky too! 😀 Poor thing…after a 67-year-long wait, she gets ditched!

Guess some guys love being strung from the little finger of the girl. 😉 Or maybe it was the money…it being recession and all. US being the worst hit, am sure he was actually being sensible for once. Why else would Archie marry Veronica? Betty was always the better one — sugar and spice and all things nice.

Now, wonder if it’s just a teaser…to bring people back into the lives of Archie and his gang.

I remember how crazy I was about the whole Archie business. I remember telling my mom that someday I’ll make lots of money, babysitting someone’s kid. I loved ‘chocolate sundaes’ just because the gang always had them at Pops’. But I never had them for real until years later 😀

I used to compare most girls between Veronica and Betty: and always ended up having more veronicas–because none of my friends/acquaintances knitted sweaters or cooked surprise dinners or baby-sat for a couple in the next street 😀

‘You’re worse than Reggie” or “Moose is more intelligent” were oft quoted phrases to male classmates. Some of them wondered if these were new abuses 😀 (Like the guy who thought toching a girl makes him pregnant 😉 )

...but looks like he finally did decide! 😀

I longed to eat hamburgers the way Jughead did. Finally, when the first pizza-hamburger shop opened in Trivandrum, I rushed to get one for myself. Sadly, I realised it didn’t fit into my mouth! Well, after all these years, I still can’t manage to eat one without messing up my face, dress and my immediate surroundings! 😀

I always thought Midge was a beauty! The way Moose hovers around her like this protective shield was one of the sweetest things. The one funniest thing I remember about Archie n Moose is when Moose decided to punch Archie and he says “Count till 10 before you hit me, Moose.” At the count of monte cristo 7, Moose gets stuck — and Archie escapes 😉

And of course, Big Ethel! I always thought a certain friend of my best friend looked exactly like Big Ethel. And we both used to laugh our guts out whenever we see either Big Ethel or Lekha. 😀

What will Reggie do now? He always had a thing for the brunette. Mr Lodge must have had a siezure when he heard the news! Or maybe he’s dead — he was quite old then itself 😀 Or, maybe he died when he heard the news! He despised the ‘boy’ so much!

And am sure Jughead must be pissed: he never quite liked Veronica. Well, he never quite liked any female other than female-hamburgers, if there were any…but between these two, am sure he’d have preferred his best friend kneeling down in front of Betty. 😉

Waiting to grab the first issue of the latest season in August! 😀

Life was like that! Fun, not obnoxious!

The only part of work-life that I enjoy these days are the 2 hours that I spend in the bus — one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening at night 😀

The instances of ‘life’ that pass one by — a couple in front of small juice-shops, the crowd around a pani-puri wala, the more affluent groups in a Cafe Coffee Day, a smokers’ group under a tree’s umbrella, a daily chat-point in the middle of a busy footpath — are priceless and has a nostalgic value that transports one to their own such days.

Invariably, every single day, when such instances pass by me, I re-visit my school and college days (though we never belonged to the affluent CCD types or the smokers 😉 ). I think of the friend groups that I belonged to — which would fall into at least two of the above mentioned categories…and I long to go back to those days. Only, I’m not quite sure which group/period I’d love going back to the most. All of those are unique in their own ways.

And now, when I think of friends, I think of the number of leaves I must apply for. The early parts of 2009 (and the later parts of 2008 ) seems to be a marriage season for my friend groups. Since August 2008, already 7 friends of mine have got married — 2 of them are on queue, and will be married soon!

The most fun, I’d say happened during Post Graduation Days. I did my PG in a college that had (still has) a dictator for a director…and the most unbelievable rules. Our batch, the only all-Malayalee batch till then (among the different streams of courses, and among the different batches in our own stream), re-wrote a few lines in the college’s proud ‘disciplinary’ history.

We bunked our mid-semester exams. Something no one till then hadn’t (and wouldn’t) even dreamt of!

We were 15 of us, from various parts of Kerala. When chicken pox broke out in the college and the hostels were vacated for quarantine, I  declared that exams’d been postponed (I and Merlin were the only hostelites) — and all of us happily went home! In fact, when the class rep called us all up the next day morning to inform us that the exams were not called off, we were all in various parts of the state and simply refused to return! 😀 For the same reason, ours became the only batch which got a mass suspension! 😉

The icing on the cake was when, during one of our film production classes, we were asked to write a small 5-minute script — any plot, any idea, any genre. We presented a spoof on an issue that’d popped up between the Director and one of our classmates.

There was a bus strike on a particular day, and this classmate of ours, who comes to college in her own car everyday, took a leave and cited the bus strike as an excuse. The Director was furious! What followed was a major blasting session in his room — she was asked never to enter the college campus in her car! 😀

With this incident in mind, we scripted the following story:

A few points: The college’s name is SCMS; the Director’s name is Mr Pramod Thevannoor (who is a renowned smoker 😉 ); our roll numbers were ‘FP – xxx’. I and Manju (another of my classmates) actually went up to the front of the class room and enacted the whole thing! 😀 And so went the ‘script’ :

This is a real life story…a short one…just two days old…the story of Candida Joseph! Candy was shocked when the faculty assistant barged into the class and announced that HP-176 was to meet Mr Priyesh Perumbavur, with immediate effect! From her very first day at MCSS College, she had realised the mistake of her lifetime — joining there!! Now with this added headache, reluctantly she walked to the Corporate Office. The issue was simple: why was she absent the previous day! That too, when there was a bus strike going on..!! Waving her rejected leave application on her face, the Director was demanding for a reason. Fighting the clouds of cigarette smoke in the cabin, she racked her brain for an apt explanation. Was it her fault that everyone on campus knew she drove to college in her own car?? Obviously not!!  And the Director was not at all amused by the bus strike story. His decision was rather quick…she was expected never to take a leave again. And not just that…she was banned entry into campus if she came in any vehicle owned by her or her family!! The watchmen were told not to let her enter the college if she did so…and they jumped with joy!! Candy was flustered…depressly oppressed. What the **** is his problem? Candy set her mind on revenge!! REVENNNNNNNGE (BG Music:tatata tatataaa…Sethuramaiyer CBI tune) Money was never a problem for Candy. In a couple of days, MCSS had a new neighbour! Whozzat??? Candy! She bought a plot, right next to the college premises!! Not only did Candy come to college everyday, she came in her own car…and where did she park it?? In her new plot, her very own parking area…right where the Director could see it through his window!
A new beginning…… and……. Thank You…!

Yes, obviously, the Director had his own sources; he got to know and was furious! The funniest part was that the classmate who depicted ‘Candida’ was on leave the day we did this scripting exercise. But the next day when she came to college, she was called again by the Director and asked to stay away from college until she brought her parents and apologised to the Director! 😀

Well, we had a lot of explaining to do to the poor girl who was at a total loss! 😀

Those were the days! Miss all you guys and gals! Sigh!

Look forward to a one-hour bus journey tomorrow too…and look forward JUST to that! 😀

And yea, “Hi everyone. Just to let you now that I am alive!”

back to work…

…but feels more like I’m back in school! 😀

Strangely, I had been a school-goer (wonder what my parents were thinking!)…and I vividly remember trudging back to school every June 1 — when the monsoon sets in, full force, in God’s Own Country. Wet uniforms and wet socks, which causes incessant chills and itch-under-the-feet respectively, was never an issue for the teachers and parents. Students were expected in class everyday! Bah!

The situation is more or less similar now as well. After a break of 157 days from work (!!!), I joined back this monday — and I feel like I used to on those June 1sts, long back 😉 .There’s no time for anything. Time seems to fly — and in Concordes, that too 😉 Before I know, it’s morning and I’m struggling to wake up. Before I’m ready to be awake, I’m already in the bus. Before I’m settling into my seat, I’ve reached office. Before I even take in the jobs for the day, it’s time to catch the last bus home. Before I’m properly seated and letting out a tired sigh, I’m stepping into the kitchen. Before I finish chewing the first tid-bit, it’s time to sleep…and before my eyelash-neighbours kiss each other goodnight, it’s time to wake up!

And being married doesn’t help at all. Hehe…I can’t be lazy anymore. Can’t over-sleep. Can’t quit breakfast anymore. Can’t quit dinner anymore. In fact, there’s no point in doing all that — because I have to prepare food, no matter what I  choose to do.

Either I shift this house (it’s a really nice one!) somewhere close to Race Course Road; else, I get my boss to shift office to J.P. Nagar (highly unlikely 😀 ). Living 13 kms (read as 1.30 hours one-way travel) away from your workplace is not the most intelligent thing to do in Bangalore. Sigh!

All this translates into ‘no time for blogging’! That’s what I’m hating the most about this entire arrangement! And once you take a break from blogging, it’s damn tough to come back (as I’ve proved more than once already! 😀 ). And New Year Resolutions are just not meant to be!!! Like any other genius, I also took one — to blog everyday. So far, I’ve hopelessly failed in that!

From what I see, the year has started on the wrong note…or was it me? Ummmm…now let me re-cap — which side of the bed did I wake up on Jan 1? The foot-side, I guess! See… I’m not even making any sense here in this post! First post of 2009. And this is, so far, my worst post ever! I pity all you readers for the rest of the year. But swalpa adjust maadi; keep visiting, keep reading! 😀

Happy New Year again, folks!

P.S.: All you people who are single, remain so forever! Enjoy life. 😉 😀

Memories of a 5th grader

Before you start reading this post, please scroll down and read the disclaimer (it’s in italics, grey) in the post right below this one 😀 (I’m sure you’ll have to read it for quite sometime from now on!)

My “online time” is lesser than the state’s monthly ration allowances! The maximum I get to do these days is open Gmail, open Orkut, open WP and then log out before I can do anything useful! I was succumbing to unknown mighty forces that are against me being online — and had almost become used to it…until yesterday!

A chat box opened up in my Gmail and asked “Remember me?” After initial moments of 😯 , I was thrilled! It was an old, old, ooooooold classmate. We shared a class, a bench and our friendship in 5th Std! And then we’d lost touch. A few years ago, when I’d started my Orkut account, I’d searched for her, but wasn’t lucky. And now, here she was.

We had a few long gaps amidst one liners…14 years is a long long time — and if you think there’d be lots of stuff to catch up on when you meet such an old friend, let me tell you, there’s none! 😀 We had no clue what to talk about…other than one-liner replies to “Where are you these days?” and “What you up to?” and the like. And well, if you think there’d be nothing to talk about after the first round of such awkwardness, let me tell you, you’re wrong! Hehe…we launched into a trail of “Do you remember whens” 😉 . Oh God! It was the best catching-up I had had in a long time!

We discussed kho-kho games and falling-downs (I hated that game and would always end up bruised; so would she); we discussed about those irate teachers and our incessant chatting (apparently, once we both were asked to sit at two different seats, well away from each other because of our non-stop talking — and I started crying; being the true friend she was, she started off too! 😀 ); we discussed a few horrid male classmates with whom we’d always get into a quarrel — and I’d go marching to the staff room to complain, bring back a loud-voiced Sir and get them guys shouted at! 😉

We literally laughed out loud discussing a classmate who never used to touch a girl, for fear of him getting pregnant! Ever if his finger brushed against a girl’s by mistake, he’d bring out his towel and rub “it” all off vehemently! (He’s with Infosys now, though I don’t know why I’ve mentioned it here 😀 ). Then there was this Anti-Love Association we’d started — 4 of us friends — against “love” (I still don’t think I was a voluntary member of that 😉 )! Hehe…we used to snoop around, find all sorts of “couples” on campus — well, there was nothing much we fifth grades could do about it — bitch about them majorly! 😛 There was also another secret society we were members of — but of what, we now got no clue! I only remember tiny visiting cards and a symbol on our thumbs (used to make it by dabbing ink onto the bottom of a sketch-pen and pressing it on out thumbs!)

Apparently, once those horrid male classmates pushed her off the bench and she landed “thud” on the floor, right with her bruise facing the floor. Well, we had our revenges too…we used to stone those guys during our every single badminton sessions! — psssttt…and get stoned by them too! 😦

The funniest of all was the recollection of her and myself on stage once — hair all done up and tied with colourful ribbons that matched our dresses — singing away to glory!! 😀

Anyway, it was a rather playful walk down memory lane…becoming a 5th grader again, even if for a few minutes, was awesome — and I enjoyed it so very thoroughly! 🙂 Now, that once-upon-a-time little girl is a stunningly beautiful woman! I was shocked when I saw her picture — and gaped for quite a while! 🙂

I’m so glad we’re back in touch. 14 years of fun we’d missed. Welcome back, Indu! 🙂

Every morning, fresh and smart…

RJ strikes again!! This time, I’ve been tagged to write a love poem. But, this one can’t be just any love poem…there’s a catch (thank god! 😀 ): You get transformed to this 4th grade version of you; make the poem ultra cute and super sweet, filled with innocence and write about Love!

Well, a lil’ intro to the poem: love-life started early in life for me 😀 —and that too, when I was in 4th grade (which makes this tag even more apt 😀 )Really!

I had this crush (though I, then, shyly called it ‘love’ 😀 ) on a school mate…his name was Vimal (still is, am sure 😀 ). Oh…the way he used to sing…the voice…wow…even at that age, I used to dream about singing a duet with him some day!! So, I dedicate this 4th grader’s poem to my 4th-grade crush 😀 (Anyone else who expected this dedication—I’m extremely sorry; so happened that I met Vinay first 😀 )

Every morning, fresh and smart
With my brother, to school I walk
Every morning, fresh and smart
I see him and I gawk.

I find him among the crowd
I see him walk in by the gate
Oh, he looks smart and proud
All for a glance from him, I wait.

Every morning, fresh and smart
I prepare myself to speak to him
Every morning, though fresh and smart
I feel weak and shy to even look at him!

Until one day, I finally see him
Strolling alone by the park…and oh my!
I pray for some courage and walk up to him
And I almost tell him, “Vinay…”

I almost tell him, “Vinay…”
His voice, the song he sang…is all in my mind…
And I almost tell him, “Vinay…”
“Vinay…”, I almost tell him.

Well, I never got to talk to him. 😀