First Day Of Last Semester

Let me give you a fair warning. This is not a fictional post. There’s nothing interesting in this post. So don’t waste your time reading this. It’s about a single day of my life. I just wanted to remember this particular day after long long years (if ever I forget) and so here I’m posting for me and the people who are mentioned in this post…

S8 Day 1: 01/12/11

Started from home a bit late and yeah so reached college after 9 am or something. Well then saw that I’d Dachu for company, as always. Entered class at about 9.30 am. Most of them were absent and four of them wore colour dress including Meera :O not fair!!! No staff came and we all chatted for a while. Dachu and Arya were discussing about Hindi serials. Omega and Meera started singing weird Tamil serial songs (kolangal…kolangal…) and then Dachu started singing which shut everybody up :P.

I then went to wish Rasmi best of luck (she’d lab NOS lab exam) and Raju went off for union duties. Later we all sat in the veranda and chatted, gossipped and teased errr yeah Dachu only (obviously). Then went in search of our ‘dad’ and again straight to class to fill out some records. Went to canteen. Had ‘vada’, chilli ‘baji’ and tea under the trees (thanks to the PTA benches)…talked about college days…life…the white dog…weird actions done during dumb charades(sunil gavaskar for Madagascar, shesoladate for she’s all that :P)…and then walked or rather ran in the rain(rest of them had flu). Out of the blue moon someone will start ‘wanna be my chammak challo?’ or “oh la la oh la la” :P.

Again straight to class, under the fan and more gossips. We were then given the registration forms to fill out. I told Dachu, this would be the last time we fill this form and everybody got sentimental (well my eyes are blurry with tears right now…sob). Took pictures though Akhila mam was there.

 Then we got the time table. Wow! The best time table I’ve ever seen in my entire college life. We got Fridays off for project but was sad that we couldn’t bunk Friday noon’sL. But then Wednesday noons are lab free ;) Buhahaha!!! Dear theatres… await us J

Some mam entered our class and everybody forgot what to do… whether to stand or keep quiet or errr what do we usually do??? She was also in a confused state what to say :P. My friend took her shawl and covered herself. I still don’t understand why she did that :D. Planned to go to beach but cancelled due to rain. So planned to go to Omega’s house but then nobody wanted to move from their places…

Then had a three course lunch @ canteen veranda- my ‘chappthi’ and potato stew, Dachu’s rice, ‘rasam’ and spicy potato fry and Omega’s ‘appam’ and curry. Though six of us ate from three lunch boxes our tummy got full. Sat there enjoying the last bit of rice and licking curry from fingers and chatting about nothing in particular.

Then everybody got dispersed. Dachu and Omega went home. Arya, Meera and I went back to class. 

There was a Mehandi Attack by Jaggu J. Rasmi came with sad news- not full output L. Back to home sweet home...

And then it was a BYE to the first day of last semester...

A Bolt From The Blue

It was the month of September. No special days or events happened or were there yet to happen. After just another mundane day at school, I walked back to my home. Starving to death and tired from the rush, I was surprised to see my mother waiting for me at the door. Weird! She should be busy making tea and baji’s. And she was smiling wickedly. More weird! I asked, ‘What?’. And she giggled. Oh man! Either she turned lunatic or was trying to do make me loony. ‘There’s something on your study table’, she said and burst out laughing. ‘Eh? A gift? But my b’day was months ago’. ‘Go and check molu’.

Entering my room I did not see anything big or distinguishable among my textbooks and entrance materials. At the center was a big post cover (which was opened) with my name and address crawled (my handwriting is better now I come to think about it) on, and it was air-mail. Who on earth would send me an air-mail???

I took out the contents, stared at the photograph and the signature on it and screamed at the top of my lungs. Oh! My head felt dizzy. Well a picture is worth a thousand words. So I've uploaded the photo here so you can understand the abnormal behavior of my mother and my insane sickening ear-splitting scream and dizziness.

Oh yes! I got a signed photograph and reply letter from Daniel Radcliffe a.k.a Harry Potter. I couldn't breathe properly that time. I Googled and found his address. I had sent him a card and letter on his b’day because I was crazy about him that time- his eyes, his hair, his laugh…Sigh! In the site it was mentioned that Daniel gets an average of about 300 letters a day from all over the world but he will not fail to reply his fans, but it would take about minimum six months to get a reply. Still I got his reply just after three months ;).

I couldn't eat dinner properly that night. I was bursting to call my friends and tell them the big news. But I told them next morning only, after the physics tuition. Naturally, they didn't believe me. After I showed them the letter and photo I was almost beaten to death for not telling them :P (well then I was not sure whether I would get a reply). I had a bit of fun enjoying the ‘J’ factor of my friends :D.

I still do not know whether he was my first crush or just a favorite hero (now I don’t have any :|). It might seem like a silly childhood fantasy coming true for you, but that was one of the special days of my life. I felt as if I saw Santa Claus. I have gotten over my craziness now; but I still look at his signed photograph and letter.

P.S I did not post this to make other HP fans jealous. I just wanted to remember that happy day if I ever feel that there hasn’t been any joyful day for me. Cheers!!! :)

Another Love Story

Something caused me to open my eyes. Everthing was so blurred and I just wanted to retreat to my sleep. But then the smiling face of my husband tardily came into view. "Morning, sweetheart", his low voice filled my heart with so many emotions that it was difficult for me to breathe. I stretched my hands and hugged him tightly, and he caressed my cheek with his stubble-filled chin. I just wanted to stay in that warm cocoon forever.

My memories of meeting him came back to me as if somebody was playing a film inside my head. I still remembered each of the details as if it had happened minutes before...

It was almost 10 pm when I reached the railway station. I was on my way back home after Shif's marriage. If it wasn't for my job I would've stayed a few days more in Bangalore. The train was scheduled to start for TVM at 10.15. So I'd 15 minutes to get myself settled. Found my berth (my compartment was empty,which was a relief), got a bottle of water and a magazine and got comfortable. Though tired, sleep wouldn't catch me before 1 am. So I started reading and the shrill sound of a whistle cut through the silent night. Such a big city, but there was not much rush. Well it was a Tuesday, and obviously nobody would want to go for a holiday. A high-pitched curse reached my ears as the train started moving and I turned my head to locate the source. A tall guy was running towards my coach wearing shades (which seemed weird, because it was goddamn NIGHT time), and a bag carrying about two tonnes of weight. I was surprised at the speed with which he was running. Couldn't see his face clearly though. Saw him jump into the coach and heard the slamming of the door. Heard him panting above the sound of the running train. I returned to my magazine and to my annoyance he came to my compartment. Well, couldn't he see that there were more than half a dozen empty compartments? He removed his shades, gave a smile and I felt as though something was dropped into my stomach. I didn't return his smile. I was too mesmerized by the face behind those shades. He gave a quizzical look with his eyebrows raised because I was making a complete ass out of myself by staring at him with my mouth wide open. His question zapped me out of my trance: "Mind if I join you? I would love to have some company during the trip, but if you want to be left alone, I can get a seat in another compartment". The fused bulb lighted in my mind and I said, "No probs, just...er...you know...err please have a seat" (GOD!!! What a jerk was I?). Again, he gave that puzzled look he gave me before and removed the two tonnes off his shoulder. I returned to my magazine (not reading a single word of it, of course) as he started settling down.

After two or three minutes, I heard a "huff" and saw him stretching his legs and arms, out of the corner of my eyes. My heart skipped a beat when he extended his hand introducing himself, "Hi, I'm Pranav". I shifted in my seat thinking, 'So fast, eh?', but didn't take his hand and said nothing. He started laughing and said, "I assume you're a Malayali. Me too. Can't understand why you girls have a tough time speaking to strangers. I know it's not always safe but do I look dangerous? Yeah I know what you're thinking but believe me I'm not like what you think I am. Okay, atleast you can talk with me right? Most probably you must have read about all the precautionary security instructions regarding theft on trains. I won't offer you anything to drink or eat!" He told all this in one breath and I actually began to smile and gave my hand, saying my name. My arm felt tiny in his huge one and I began to take in every single detail of him though my instincts were clearly screaming at me not to trust his handsome looks. A single stud pierced his left ear, he had a sharp nose and dark eyes. His hair was very messy from his running and he didn't bother to comb it. Well then, not all guys are the same, caring about their hair as if they are the finest of silk threads.
He wore a blue T-shirt and faded jeans and a Fastrack watch like a typical teenager. He looked like a rich kid, but then I thought, if he were one, he would've opted for an A/C coach. As if he read my mind he said, "I prefer to travel in ordinary coaches, you know. At least then I would be able to enjoy the scenery and I love the feeling of wind on my face". I smiled and said, "Yeah, me too". I felt happy thinking that there were guys who enjoyed scenery other than bikes, cars and girls. Ahem! "So what you do?", he asked and I told him about my job and then we began talking freely after sometime. I noticed that he was different from all other guys I'd met before and our views were similar. He loved social work, books, travelling and swimming. I felt as though I was talking with my twin soul.
I never gave my mobile number to strangers, not even to facebook friends. Couldn't understand why I prayed hard that night hoping he'd ask me for my number. But he didn't ask anything about my whereabouts. ANYTHING!!! Either he was decent or didn't find as interesting as how I was drooling about him. It was not fair for a handsome guy to be alone with a desperate single 25 year old girl. Time flew and it was about to be 3 am. But I was wide awake, unlike him, who was yawning between each intake of breath. He yawned and said, "Well I guess you're worn out. I don't wanna keep you awake anymore". Tired? Me? Ha! Fat chance. I could just keep looking at him all night till the early rays of the morning sun hit his face. He kept his bag as a pillow and said, "Good night". I wished him too and lay down, pretending to go to sleep. After his breathing became normal, I stole a glance at him to see him sleeping so peacefully while I was burning inside. Then I don't remember what happened.

The next time I opened my eyes, I saw him leaning against the window,the sunlight pouring in from all sides. "'Morning sunshine. Rise and shine!!!", he said. It took a while for me to register that it was not a dream and it was about to be midday. Oh God! He must have thought what a sleepyhead I was. "Guess I missed the breakfast", I said stretching my arms. "Well I saved you a plate of vadas. I was not sure whether you'd like them but I knew you would be hungry, so I err... you will eat them right?", he asked. I sat staring at him with a bludgeoned look and he started laughing and asked, "Helllloooooo remember me from yesterday?? You're not completely awake, are you?". "No I errr, yeah I'm hungry. I'll freshen up and come.Thanks anyway", I said smiling and went to the loo. I can't forget how happy I was. After eating two of the four vadas (he ate the other two) we chatted for a long time, had lunch, had tea and dinner. Those were the colourful days of my guy-less black-and-white life.

Time flew and it was time for us to say bye. My heart beat like hell. I expected him to ask my no, atleast my e-mail id but oh! The final wave was heartrending. I felt like a stupid dreaming child who dreams about being a Cinderella or Rapunzel. It took a while for me to become myself again. I rejected all the proposals my mother brought for me. I understood that movies had similarities with life. My heart went numb and cold gripped me tightly when I thought about him. . .

One year and three months and four days later, my life changed. I was on my way back from work and it was raining heavily. I was dead tired and after taking the bus ticket I leaned against the cool window of the low-floor(thanks to KSRTC) and fell asleep. After a while I felt water on my right elbow. OH pleasseeee....NOT a leak in this one too!!! I opened my eyes and thought I was still asleep and having a dream about Pranav. But when his wet hands touched my cheek I knew he was beside me for real. "I don't know whether it's the right time but will you marry me?", he asked. I gazed at him like a small baby looking at something new with wonder. My mind and brain were not working simultaneously. One was screaming to say the word "YES" and the other was making me difficult to breath with all the emotion. "Hey", he said in his soothing voice and I replied by kissing him tightly. I knew he got my answer and we hugged and a loud cheer erupted around us. One group covered my closest friends and the next group were full of strange people. It turned out to be Pranav's friends and surprisingly without my knowledge, my friends had been searching for him for the past one year. Ah well! That's what friends are for!

And then meeting each other's parents, fixing the marriage date, inviting people, bachelor parties, shopping for dresses and voila! Within five months, we got married. A few extra things were added to my "favorite" list after that, for example rain, buses...wink! I still go for rides in the low-floor bus, mostly at night, through the endless roads...with someone warm and strong beside me and then my heart says silently to me, 'you are lucky'. . .

b'day baby

21^st b’day. The only time none of my friends came to my house since my 16^Th birthday. The only time two of my best friends forgot to wish me. The only time I had spent a quiet lunch with mom @all spice. The only time we had gone to Valiyathura Bridge and watched the angry waves without much jokes or laughs. The only time we watched the sunset from Indian coffee house.

Though it was just another mundane day I did have nice moments. Miss Perfect’s key chain made my bag’s new partner. Miss Brainy’s card made me difficult to breathe with all her emotions and love in those few lines. Thanks to the triple R and big S for the top and the cards (I better not speak much about it ;) ). Best surprise was from Employee no.1, a cute sleeping teddy through speed post. Well after all she’s working in the post office. I’m happy for herJ. A humungous thanks and hug to my all-suffering-rusty friend for a thousand splendid suns. And last, from the only guy in my life. . . Got a pair of juthis which do not fit because of my bear-sized feet. Sigh! Well then “The card, the pen and the Panda” was sweet.

Still. . . At the end of the day I knew something was missing but till now I haven’t figured that out. Waiting for the next birthday when it would be the twin numbers. . .   Adios!!!

Naming the Child

When the idea of writing a blog gripped my mind, the first dilemma came in choosing a suitable blog name. I tried to find something that suits my nature, my topics, my interests or anything that creates an emotion. I even tried googling to get the best names. I went for “Screams of the Heart” first. Then I felt as if it is too cheesy and took “Talks from the core” which seemed really stupid. I wondered how people got all the cool names. Then my eyes found the pile of Tintin comics on my desk. The first thing that came to my mind is Captain Haddock and his world famous curses. And I went for thundering typhoons but oh oh! That was already taken. So I finalized with “Blistering Barnackles” which was available.

Voila! My first blog was created.