Back to school... not quite ...

Song for the mood: Jaane Kahaan Gaye Woh Din - Mukesh

"Well, you were the reason..."

Today when talking to Gooth I was for some reason reminded of a certain little conversation that happened about 5 years ago, a conversation about an even earlier incident that happened in school. Aah ... school! I loved school, no doubt about it. We all tend to have fond memories of school, and so do I. All the same I am sure, everyone from my school who was ever in my class will have a little something to say to me, "You were such a bore!".

You know that little voice inside us, which tells us what to do when things seem wrong? Well, in my case it was a public announcement system and it had an announcer living on a severe overdose of righteous consciousness. I was the little kid in the moral science textbook who can see no wrong ... hear no wrong ... do no wrong. I was every teacher's 'ideal' student - the value education teacher's for sure, damn! I came first in that subject every time! - and for these great reasons I was the class monitor, 4 damn years in a row! I must have gotten every other kid punished for some reason ... to me things always seemed wrong.

"Do you by any chance remember standard 8th year report collection day?"
"No ... not really ..."
"You should dude. You were the class monitor ... as usual ... and I was the kid crying in the corner of the classroom with his mother and the teacher towering over him, discussing the kids potentially bleak future ..."

I was the kid you loved to hate, in school. When I think about how I was in school, I prefer lying down and telling myself, words like, "Life is very long ... let the past be the past ... things change ... we all go through difficult times ... control yourselves ..." I was a prick! You know those things that teachers say because they have to: "All of you sit quiet! Hands folded and a finger on you lips!" ... "Stand in a straight line! Everybody ... stand quietly!" ... as far as I was concerned they were life commandments. I had to do everything the way it seemed right. Probably the teachers realized they could exploit my over-eagerness to become the Poster Boy so they thought 'let this fool do all this for me' so I was always entrusted the prestigious responsibility of class monitor.

"Oh! Was it that bad? I am sorry ..."
"You should bloody well be!"
"Huh?"
"Well, you were the reason ... that I got screwed that day! You were such a bore! Teacher's pet ... 'look at Sagar! Such a nice boy, such values, such discipline, learn something from him ...' (add a nasal tinge and a possible mockery of your school teacher to this last sentence)."

This was the conversation that I had with an ex-schoolmate over a cup of tea, 3 years after school was over and done with. And he remembered every single detail. Such episodes you don't forget easily, do you? Well I apologized to him, and to myself ... I still do sometimes. My popularity among my school friends can be judged from the fact that the last time I sent a social networking invite to one of them, he rejected it.

Then I guess, I was just meant to be that way. When I say this I am reminded of these golden words I read somewhere - No matter how bad you are, you are not totally useless ... you can always be used as a bad example.

Good night. And before I sign off, if anyone from my school ever happens to read this ... the f*** I'm sorry! You had a lot of fun in school because of me ... whether you admit it or not! :-)

Not such a bad day after all...

Song for the mood: Dido – Thank You

The most enjoyable moments in life are impulsive. A moment is, after all, an impulse.

I’m not a big fan of Sundays, here at IIIT-B. Today was different though. We - me, Pranav and Seema - left to have dinner at Andhra Mess, at around 7:45pm. We were finished with dinner by around 8:50pm. As always we decided to walk back by the longer route to college, to have juice or milkshakes near the Infosys campus which is along the way. When we turned the corner near Andhra Mess we saw the 356C Volvo bus which goes from Electronics City to Majestic Bus Station here in Bangalore.

Pranav, and I must thank him for this, had a sudden though … “lets get on this bus and go to Forum to have ice-cream”. I said yes … so basically Seema had no choice but to come along :-D. Now, this being a Sunday, we were dressed in our best clothes; pyjamas and loose fit T-Shirts, unshaved, ruffled hair … Seema was the female equivalent of all that … top of it she was wearing rubber chappals which she felt ashamed about. I wonder why she felt people will stare at her footwear. Anyways, so we got on the bus and in 15 minutes time we were at Forum mall (on a weekdays the same route takes over one hour. I guess today was meant to be this way). We walked into this big mall, wearing something that resembles a night dress at best … so we did the right thing; we went and got a picture clicked!

It was one of those auto picture taking machines, which clicks three pictures back to back, you select the one you like best and then you can get special effects like pencil shading or charcoal shading done on it. I liked the first one, where all three of us were looking ‘not’ at the camera; but it couldn’t be captured on paper coz the machine trims the borders and that would’ve erased our faces half. So we reluctantly took the next one.

Next, was Corner House ice-cream. Then we walked back to the bus-stop, got a bus immediately, and were back in college by 11:00pm. All the while on this small escapade, Seema kept seeing at the picture every 5 minutes. Well, actually we all did … it is a special picture, that captured a special moment … the outcome of an impulse on an otherwise ordinary day.

We keep searching for moments of joy. We go to great extents to do something that will make us feel good. It is these small moments that we miss out on. A mad lil’ idea, a bunch of friends and some time on your hands … all in all a perfect end to the day … with a lot of smiles, a great picture for the record … and a sweet memory … good night!

Rain

Song(s) for the mood: U2 - Electrical Storm / Billie Myers - Kiss the Rain

A lil poem of my own, an ode to the rains...

I stare through the window
At the clear blue sky
A lonely cloud smiles at me
A lonely ranger passing by

My eyes see the shining sun
But my sight is lost in time
The lone traveler of the heavens
Reminds of a forgotten rhyme

The voice of a lonely mind
The words of a different season
The beat of a laughing heart
For a soul asking for a reason

The heavens sensed my feelings
The gods arose with a thunder
The onset of my gospel
Greeted with a drop of wonder

The song had just begun
Nature gave me a stage
Millions more poured in attendance
From the skies now dark with rage

The wind carried my words away
across the fields swaying in glee
to the mountains wrapped in silken mists
wrapped them around every tree

They danced in the rivers
on the song of a lost love
Poured from the eye, of the storm,
of the angel crying above

Her tears fell on my mortal being
Dousing my flaming anger
She flew down from the heavens
To Join me witnessing nature's wonder

As we watched the earth in a rapture
I shivered in her spiritual bliss
She put her arms around me
And held me in an undying kiss

I wished to hold on that moment
I hoped it would stay undone
When the heavens conspired
To give me a reason

The song was over in that moment
Gone were the millions
The storm faded with a silent scream
Left a collage of brilliance

Then I watched the last moments
of nature's artistic splendour
She waved from the top of the rainbow
Then left with the lonely ranger