The “Raja” named “Rahman”

February 23.. the nation woke up, prayed, perspired,chewed nails( and some fingers),anticipated,waited and froze when A.R.Rahman won the Oscars ! The first Indian to win two in a row, the first Southie, the first Tamilian and on a personally satisfying note the first PSBBian

It would have been too easy to get carried away and fake your identity, but being the humble man Rahman is, he remembered it all.. the Sherwani, his love for mother and most importantly his mother tongue-TAMIL ( All the Saviours of Tamil who wear Western Suits for gatherings and send your kith and kin to English convents, please spare the corporation wells, they can not take you all at a time )

Amidst all this, perhaps the only aspect that pained me was the way a few fans of Ilayaraja received this news and their sequence of reactions right from the build up to the Golden Globe. It is a blessing that India has been fortunate to enjoy the best works of possibly two of the greatest musicians that ever walked on earth, yet it is a pretty shameful that some amongst us do not have the stomach to digest the success of both the musicians equally.

I am a great fan of both ARR and Raja, and both in their own ways have achieved astronomical fame. Ilayaraja revamped film music with his impeccable orchestration,mind blowing BGM and melifluous folk tunes. Rahman revolutionised it by teaching India what “sound” meant to music.While Ilayaraja stayed within South Indian horizons, ARR’s unbridled talent enabled him venture into Hindustani,Arabic,Sufi,Irish folk,Jazz,Rap,Hollywood,Sky,Moon,Stars and above !

Sad that we , in India, always have this mindset of choosing one over the other. North vs South,Tamil vs English,Hindi vs Tamil,Rajni vs Kamal,MGR vs Shivaji,Sachin vs Saurav, IPL vs ICL.. if only we realised that everything could co exist !

I did not know how to end this one, so to wind up on a pleasant note, I will try listing my favourite numbers composed by both these geniuses.

Ilayaraja

10. Enakku Piditha Paadal (Julie Ganapathy)
9. Amma Yendrazhaikadha (Mannan)
8. Then Paandi Cheemayile (Nayagan)
7. Enna Sattham Indha Naeram (Punnagai Mannan)
6. Kodai Kaala Kaatrey (Panneer Pushpangal)
5. Ninnukori (Agni Nakshathram)
4. Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi (Thalapathi)
3. Ilaya Nila (Payanangal Mudivadhillai)
2. Aagaya Vennilave (Arangetra Velai)
1. Mandram Vandha Thendralukku (Mouna Ragam)

Rahman

10. Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu (Ah Aah-Anbey Aaruyirae)
9. Sahana Saaral (Sivaji)
8. Vennilave Vennilave (Minsara Kanavu)
7. Thenmaerku Paruvakaatru (Karuthamma)
6. Pudhu Vellai Mazhai (Roja)
5. Narumugaye (Iruvar)
4. Theekuruviyai (Kangalal Kaidhu Sei)
3. Thirupachi Aruval (Taj Mahal)
2. Chandhralekha (Thiruda Thiruda)
1. Minnale Nee Vandhadhenadi (May Madham)

Now, what is your favourite ?

P.S ( My original list for Ilayaraja songs had the number “Oru Kadhal Devadhai”.. One of my friends Aravindan rightly pointed out that the credits for the song belong to Shankar Ganesh )

The “Endhiran Experience – Part 2..

Today we went to the auditorium early at around 8 30 A.M and we were all hoping for a few surprises and guess what.. we saw Superstar in his scientist avatar today !

In he walked,brisk and trim, a cheerful smile and his trade mark “vanakkam” to all of us, with his hands held well above his head.He is sporting a french beard for the scientist role and the wig is similar to his “padikadhavan”, “maaveran” days..He was in a white designer shirt and black trousers today. He was concentration personified, with a stern look and his left hand placed firmly on a nearby ladder for support, he was browsing through his dialogue papers intently.

We were then asked to wait outside as they were about to shoot some confidential stuff but from the scenes that we witnessed since yesterday and the overall theme that was evident, this is gonna be one cracker of a movie,definitely the first of its kind in Tamil cinema

We waited patiently for about 3 hours and it was fun watching the activities of all other junior artists.. most of them were North Indians and a few were foreigners, who were happy to lie down on the lawns, with the sun beating down on their backs..A few junior artists were selected for the main shot and a couple were cribbing about the length of their costumes ( they seemed pretty lengthy though for today’s standards )

After lunch, we entered the auditorium again and as we entered, we saw with open mouth and wide eyes, the Miss World Aishwarya Rai. The entire audience was stunned. Beauty at its best, and with drop dead gorgeous looks, she is definitely the most beautiful spectacle that I have ever witnessed so far. She was wearing a black top with short sleeves, that complemented her glowing skin, and a black skirt.

The director called for a break and so we rushed out to be near Ash’s car for a closer look.We waited gazing at her caravan..the door slowly opened ,a hand, visible till the forearm emerged , pushing out the caravan door, and the frame was frozen for five seconds, for all of us to gape open mouthed again..out she emerged, and now we were five feet from her ! For the next few seconds,none of us blinked,the hormones were working overtime
Light as a breeze, she got into her car, that guy Abhishek Bachan, is damn lucky , she is a “Creator’s Masterpiece”..

By the way, one more interesting news is that Danny Denzongpa( remember the DD teleserial Ajnabee/Anniyan ? ) is one of the premier villains in the movie.

Endhiran “The Robot” – A Childhood Dream Comes True !

There is a wise old saying “Do not ever get desperate, if something is destined to happen, it will happen”.. how true these words are..!

January 10th 2009, the D-Day where my childhood dream of seeing the Superstar LIVE on location was realized was one such day where destiny proved its superiority

The day could not have begun on a more worse note.. I was at home, waiting impatiently for the afternoon as I was asked to receive a top CMU dignitary from the airport and drop him at the college guest house and lo! all my friends were messaging from the college that Superstar had arrived and was in his Caravan!

I cursed my fate and luck for deserting me at this inappropriate time.. I went in time to receive the dignitary but my mind and heart lay elsewhere..

We reached my college guest house at 4.00 P.M and me and my friend decided to just have a glance into the auditorium and to our surprise , nobody stopped us from going inside!

Inside the auditorium, I got a comfortable seat and could spot director Shankar busy giving instructions to his crew..camera man Rathnavelu was listening intently.. and as I gave a casual glance towards the right of the auditorium, a face looked familiar, I turned around only to feel a hammer like bolt striking me hard to glance carefully and.. there he was! the one and only Super Star Rajnikanth ! I froze !

I was shocked, shell shocked, my heart was pumping faster, I was shivering with excitement, my eyesight deserted at the instant and blurred out intermittently, I was rubbing it hard in disbelief and there he was sitting with ultimate grace,.. cool and composed as ever..

I became crazy and lost my mental balance ( if it ever existed )..I was mesaging all my friends in an inebriated exalted state, like a child receiving his favourite toffee, a guy giving his first kiss to his love and above all, a drunkard who had just emptied his favourite bottle of drink..! I must confess to all my friends that those messages were definitely not texted by me in my proper senses.. My apologies to all those whom I drove crazy with those messages.. after all, what are friends for

The director was asking Superstar to get ready.. there he was looking sauve,chick,smart, handsome,manly, dashing,STYLISH.. curse the Oxford, it does not have enough adjectives

He looked stern at the camera, A violet colored shirt, a black tie and matching trousers, a black blazer and his trade mark coolers, wig that resembled his “Thillu Mullu” days, clean shaven, he oozed grace and charisma..

I heard him utter his dialogues even, but I am an ardent fan of Shankar and my respect towards his hardwork and creativity prevents me from describing the scene and dialogues here in public..

Once his scenes were finished, he retired to his caravan, and I left the auditorium in awe. We met Santhanam and Karunas outside the auditorium and Santhanam was his usual self, making witty remarks laced with humour.On enthusuastic fan repeated the dialogues uttered by Karunas in Polladhavan ” Boy touching girl hand, Harry Potter also same problem,5 th chapter 7 th page”, just that he picked the wrong person and told these to Santhanam instead He gave a typical reply ” Sir, adhu en problem illa Karunas problem”

Another Santhanam gem was ..
An enthusiastic female fan : “Cha Aishwarya Rai kooda dhaan photo eduthukka mudiyala,vaanga di atleast Santhanam koodayavadhu photo eduthuppom”
Santhanam : ” idha solra Aishwarya Rai yaaru ? ”

I left the place, still unable to come to terms with what destiny had in store for me for the day..A child hood dream was realised

Operation “Recognition”

Jeev swerved just in time to see a bullet whiz past his face and shatter the glass painting on the wall.His heart was now thumping heavily.His guts eluded him just for a second but he regained composure quickly enough to move to the corner of the room.His ears were reverbrating with the shrill gun shots that were sending hollowing vibrations through his chest.He turned around to make sure the occupants of the room where the public were taking refuge were safe.He was a commando in the operation to flush out terrorists who had stormed into the hotel that was the pride of the people.

He saw a kid clinging on to his mother,hiding his face in her bosom.He could not help thinking of his mother at this juncture.She had pleaded with him,begging and warning him alternatively against joining the army.She had already lost her husband in a war and wanted her son to land up in a secure government job.He was the sole breadwinner now for his mother and his two kid sisters.He knew she must be now pressing the old radio deep into her ears,( for they could not afford a television)listening pensively to the updates regarding the gravity of the situation.

He moved as swift as a swan, as silent as a cat, down the steps leading to the floor beneath.He pressed down his boots firmly to the ground, the right foot twisted acutely at thirty degrees,and starting retaliating, focussing on the directions from which the gun shots could be heard.The firing was getting intense now.After sometime,Jeev heard a grunt.Perhaps, he had his man with a shot,but the terrorists would not cave in easily.Jeev could now spot a man scamper across in the other direction,but by the time Jeev fired,the man had sped away across the ceddar to the lower floors.As he was tracing his steps backward, he bumped on his colleague and they were now pretty much sure that they had captured this floor.

Leaving the other commando to guard the wing,Jeev moved to the lower sections,where his other warriors were holding forte.As he marched downwards, his father’s last moments flashed accross his mind.He was a brave man,to whom serving the country as an army man was more a matter of pride than means of earning a livelyhood. He was a sepoy and the doting father fed Jeev on tales of bravery.Jeev’s Dad was his ultimate hero.He was fatally injured during one of the combing operations across the border.He lay helpless during his last days at the army hospital,with his wife by his side, Jeev, a mere teenager then and the two toddlers looking quizzically at all the bandages wrapped across their Dad’s body.

“Jeev,five steps to your right, and then start firing again,guard room “Pleasant” were all the inmates have been lodged.Good luck.Jai Hind”, the words of a fellow commando interrupted his thoughts.Jeev quickly moved into his position, and started engaging the terrorists.The battle continued longer this time.Jeev was physically worn out and could hardly restrain himself from swooning.”Jeev, step aside, we will take care, you come back after a short while, you have fought brave and hard enough”.Jeev stepped into the room where the inmates had gathered.Their faces were frozen with fear.Just then, a kid offered water in his sipper to Jeev.”Have uncle”, he said with his outstretched arms.Jeev managed a smile.

He rested with his back to the wall,sipping water and recollecting those last few days with his Dad.”Jeev, why don’t you join the army,along the lines of your Dad?” asked Balram uncle who was Dad’s best buddy in the regiment.His Mom gave a glum look and said ” No ji, I would not let that happen.Look at his Dad,he spent his entire life fighting for the country,yet what do we get in return ? Does the grocer push off the bills when I say that my husband serves the nation and unfortunately I have barely enough to meet other expenses this month ? I don’t want to risk the life and future of my son and my family again one more time.” Jeev gathered his voice and said ” I would realise whatever Dad dreamt of achieving”.His Dad’s eyes gleamed with hope for one last time that day.

But nowadays,Jeev was feeling the pinch.Even in the army camps,Jeev was fed up of watching all the channels dish out one program after the other on celebrity movie stars, millionaire sports persons and corrupt politicians.”Do you know that Miss Pretty Junta loves toast for breakfast ?” Jeev’s men had gone for days without food as sometimes the stock could not be brought in time to the hilly regions were they were posted.”Do you know that Mr.Saw Rook Corn has run out of space to park his new Mercedes ?” The troops guarding the border had to traverse miles of difficult terrain on foot,yet no one was bothered about it.”Hair Bhojan’s ankle sprain leaves Indian team in trouble”. Little did people know that the very day, ten jawans died thwarting infiltration.Had they not laid their lives down,entire India would have been in trouble.

But the incident that pained Jeev most was the summoning up of an actor to hoist the flag for the Independence Day celebrations at the Corporation School in his native village. Jeev was fast rising in the ranks ,and his mom was the wife of a brave sepoy who had laid his life down for the country,yet both were not even invited personally for the function.This lack of recognition even in his own neighbourhood pained him a great deal.”For whom are we fighting ? Why do we go through such ardous hours of battle? What next after this Operation ? Who would take care of my family in case of a mishap?” were a few questions running through his mind.Just then, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.It was a fellow fighter.”Jeev, the combat is heating up and we need you now for the battle”.He was quickly up on his feet.

Jeev was right outside the room now.He was fighting like how the son of a valliant warrior should.The stars on his majestic shoulders shone even brighter now.His arm was aching,his feet had grown numb,his fingers were sore ,but he just would not give up.It was a tense battle that went on for hours.The brave men fought on,without a break.All the other floors had been conquered and finally, Jeev and his comrades had succeeded in their liberation attempts.Jeev kissed in delight the “rudraksh” that his mom had put around his neck.

Jeev stepped out of the battle place to the outside world after nearly two days, the frustration due to lack of recognition still burning inside him.Just then, a young girl child reached out with a white rose in her hand.”Well done ,Uncle” she said.Jeev accepted it to thunderous applause.A few youngsters airlifted him on their shoulders.Jeev looked around and was pleasantly surprised to see his fellow comrades subjected to similar treatment.He was brought back to ground after great celebrations.Young women came up to him with autograph books,requesting him to sign and take photos.An old granny,gently walked up to Jeev and wiped the drops of sweat and blood dripping from his face with the “pallu” end of her cotton saree.Jeev could feel those wrinkles on her palm as she gently patted his cheek.Jeev’s eyes were moist with tears.Finally, the warriors were beginning to get the adulation that had eluded them for so long.

Jeev struggled past the crowd ,only to be interrupted by a milieu of cameramen and enthusuastic reporters.Flashlights were focussed on the heroes who had won the nation’s hearts.Jeev and his men blushed at their first tryst with the cameras.”Sir,…..” Jeev was being bombarded with questions and congratulatory messages,but he moved through the crowd towards a middle aged man, wearing khadi,sporting dark square framed glasses, waiting patiently in the hot sun,wiping the sweat on his brow with a handkerchief, holding the mike with the words “ALL INDIA RADIO” etched on it.Jeev gently went up to him,lowered his visage to be in the mike’s vicinity and with teary eyes and choking voice, mumbled ” Maa, I know you will be listening to this.I hope I have lived my Dad’s dream and done you proud.Jai Hind”

(The entire nation has woken up.When will you politicians wake up from your slumber and grant the brave armymen their rightful pension dues ? When you grant full privileges and protection to the ministers, even years after their tenure at office,why can’t you do the same to recognise the sacrifice of armymen who stay awake to guard us when we sleep?Are not gun totting men, who keep vigil at your Italian power maker’s door step entitled to have a bowl of rice to feed their family?
Written in support of the army men’s rightful protest towards the failure of this government to listen to their plea for a pension review.
Jai Hind).

Seasons of Change:Kaalangal Maralam-2

Arjun woke up early the next day..He was pretty nervous about going to his new workplace..After hastily gulping down a few idlys ,he rushed to his bus stop to cling on to a bus that would take him to Pillar.Luckily, he got another Share Auto as soon as he reached Pillar.There he was , crouching uncomfortably,sandwiched between fellow office goers, hoping that the ordeal would end soon.As he neared the Industrial Estate in Guindy, he glanced at his watch in despair.The connecting shuttle would start from the back streets of the railway station in another five minutes.

The stretch leading to the subway was mushrooming with people.Guys in their teens arranged themselves in a linear formation,squatting on top of the parapet walls, giving a running commentary on girls passing by.Unmindful people were glancing impatiently towards the road,waiting for their buses.The cobbler was busy showing off his dexterity and expertise at mending shoes.Arjun inched past them all into the dingy subway.

Arjun was galloping down the steps, two at a time.The hawkers were right on his face this time, trying to sell stickers,fruits, kerchiefs, pirated CD,s etc. He edged them out, finally emerging out of the subway, only to run into another bustling crowd near the lead up to the staircase at the railway station.After hustling past the train commuters, and the poor beggars who had made the staircase their own home, he was just in time to spot the shuttle gearing up to leave.

He jutted out his ID card, and the half convinced driver reluctantly let him in.Alas, when he got in,there was no empty seat available, and he was pretty uncomfortable at the sight of 15 other colleagues curiously staring at the new entrant.He smiled at a few, and gave empty glares at the others.His eyes were moving all the time, to see if he could spot at least one familiar face.As he did this, he spotted some one glancing out of the window from the corner of his eye.He fixed his glances on her now. She turned her sights, only to see him looking at her intently.Both of them exchanged sheepish smiles before the driver asked Arjun to come and sit near him as there was some space available.Grudgingly, he moved to the front.

He did not have much work till afternoon on the first day as his Team Lead was held up in a meeting in another location and would be back only by the afternoon.He was sitting in the conference room, only to be curiously surveyed by fellow colleagues in a manner similar to how a predator sizes up its prey.He pulled out his GRE book to start his preparations.By the afternoon, word of mouth passed on that his Lead had been on the look out for him.He had not met her before, and he hopped from one cabin to another, asking for directions to her place.While doing this, Arjun was mentally charting out the sort of person whom he was expecting to meet.Perhaps a middle aged woman, spectacled, disinterested in a conversation and more bothered about extracting work,stern and intimidating.But when he met his Lead, he was taken aback…

She was a sprightly person in her mid twenties.At first glance, Arjun got the impression that she would be full of life and encouraging.This comforted him a lot.She then took him to a conference room to brief him about the project.After all the formal talks, she asked him about his background.When Arjun mentioned that he was a pucca “Chennai vaasi”, she was slightly surprised as she had thought that he was a North Indian.When Arjun swore that he knew “local Tamil” and gave out the name of his college, a thousand watt smile enveloped her visage..” hey you are my junior, I too am from the same college”.Both the alumni were basking in joy that they had found a colleague from the same college !

Arjun got to know that since the project was in its inception phase, only his lead, himself and another colleague would initially be a part of the team.He could not meet the other mate as he was on leave.He got into the shuttle in the evening, but to his disappointment , the girl with whom he exchanged glances in the morning was nowhere to be found.

A week had passed , and Arjun was doing a pretty decent job of juggling between his work and his GRE preparations.His Lead turned out to be very patient and supportive.He could not have asked for a better colleague at the beginning of his career.One day, he was held up due to work and missed his regular shuttle.After bidding good bye to his Lead who was hurrying home in her car to get back to her Husband and their kid who was waiting for her,he packed his bags to leave for the weekend. Weary eyed, he reached the Velachery bus stop at around nine in the night.As he kept looking around, he found the “Shuttle” girl (with whom he had exchanged glances a week back) some distance from him,waiting for her bus.She was standing right beneath the huge lights that illuminate the place.Sporting a yellow shirt and black formal pants, two big round dangling ear rings that matched her attire , penciled eyebrows and sultry eyes, a cute pony tail that kept jumping up and down whilst she was talking on her mobile nodding aggressively,neatly trimmed nails polished in red,a silver bracelet to adorn her slender wrist,she was quite a sight that day !

Arjun still did not know her name,and so the next morning, he arrived early and took a seat in the back rows of the shuttle, hoping that she would take the same shuttle that day and join him.But as luck would have it, the others arrived, and started filling up the seats one by one.At last, she arrived,but ended up occupying a seat far from Arjun. Arjun would not give up easily that day, and was determined to know her name at least. He quickly thought of a plan B. He observed that she was fourth from the person who started filling up the trip sheet and when he could lay his hands on them,he started looking for the fourth entry in that sheet, gave a chuckle to himself,when he found the name “KALPANA”..

This Day,That Year..Part 2

June 01 2007: A defining moment in my career,the first day of the orientation programme at COGNIZANT.We had just finished college three weeks back and so we did not have even time to let the feeling sink in.The day seemed just like another ordinary day,with good buddy Viki dropping me at Liberty Bus stop in the evening and me getting into a 12B after a mini struggle ,until I got a call from Srikanth..”Machi ..I got placed da”.. those words really made the day.. I have been with him through a torrid month in his academic life and this was really warm news for all his good friends..

After the first few days, we were clubbed into a batch titled “AJ34″.Only after meeting people there,did I realise how invisible outside my department because almost all girls from IT department did not even know that I was from their college!I built bonds really thick
and fast and got to know more about a few people than those 4 years in college.It was unlimited fun,if one could ignore those minor irritants in the form of exit tests.It just seemed like an extension of college.. life was getting better..and I got aquainted to some really wonderful people..( especially KAVYA-she is one of the most interesting personalities I have ever met.. )

The fun continued through the month of July and August…and what Lalith Modi was to IPL,Siddharth was to AJ34.. he introduced a game titled “Mafia” which soon became our staple diet..It also brought our batch a lot closer..Bench life though was getting monotonous beyond a point and I starting putting serious effort towards my Graduate Record Exam preparations. On September 17,we were deployed into different projects..

I was ushered into the account “HartFord Life” in Thoraipakkam Campus.Initially,I was supporting the Business Analysts and had to make shuttle trips to Palikaranai for my Oracle Training.It was quite a challenge to keep pace with my GRE preparations during this time.I used to sit in the lobby at PKN office in the mornings for revising my word lists and in the evenings, I continued my preparations while returning by bus from TCO.I used to take up the last seat where the lights were really dim.The journey via the velachery by pass roads added to the eeriness,making me wonder if ever bright times were around the corner…

Another twist in the tale, one that would change my life for ever… In the first week of October,I was pulled into the Oracle Back End team in my project as they were short of resources to start development work.I was working under a brilliant Project Lead Hema,to whom I am indebted for having confidence to entrust responsibilities on some one who was a novice.I gave my GRE a shot on October 18,and God’s grace , I got 1450..but this time too,no time to celebrate because I had a deliverable the same day.I finished my GRE at around 12 noon,and was back to PKN at 1 30 to report to work!

Things started getting hectic in November, and again I had to balance out between my work and application procedures to the Univs(most of my work in this regard was offloaded by my sweet sister.. lucky to have her around!).

December:An eventful month..began with some drama with me almost missing my dearest friend Lakshmi’s engagement thanks to a deliverable at office.I somehow managed to pull it off and make it to the function at the last minute…It was a month of hope and near misses..Had an emotionally draining time,especially as the year drew to a close..but there was some solace towards the business end of it all,with the dawn of the new year bringing me super cool news that I was selected as the “Star of the month” at the account level for my contribution towards my project…

It definitely was a very defining year for me,career wise and also on the personal front.. one that made me carry joy,hope, and the subsequent gatecrashes, pain,disappointment,elation all along…but looking back, one that would be hard to forget..!

Skool Life Memoirs

Sometime last week ,me and my school friend were reliving our fun filled days at school-P.S.B.B K.K. NAGAR and I thought it would be nice to write down some of the most light hearted/embarassing moments here.

1.We will start from the kg days..I was a die hard Rajnikant fan right since childhood, and those were the days of video casette times and mom had just bought an imported akai set from singapore..I was bunking classes under the pretext of fever and used to watch thalaivar movies like raja chinna roja,rajathi raja,maapillai etc and once while I was with dad on the way to the casette shop, I was caught red handed by my class teacher.I had bunked the day citing fever and when she saw me,all hell broke loose.The next day,my parents were pulled up by our headmistress, and there was this female, complaining to the head mistress that I was all the time doing thalaivar styles in class.. semma dose anikki.. but years later , I had my sweet revenge.This female came to my street looking out for another ma’am’s house which was near my place and when she asked me for the route, I guided her in exactly the opposite direction( I have not seen her since!).

2.The next one was in second grade.By this time,the focus had shifted to cricket.It was one of the benson and hedges tri-series finals and I did not want to miss it.But we had a cycle test on that day, and it was difficult to get permission from the staff on test days.Luckily I had high fever that day and used it as a reason.In my school,people who had health ailments were quarantined to write in the library so that the other children would not be affected.But, we all know nature is unpredictable and right in the middle of the test, nature came calling( singles).I asked the librarian permission but being the strict female that she was,she refused sternly ,saying I was not to budge until I completed my exam.The next few moments have caused me embarassments till this day..most of my close school buddies still recall it.I do not know why I did it but after the next few seconds, warm urea matter(good enough to warm a kettle) was tricking all over the library.The librarian realised this after a few seconds and could only laugh.The next two days were a laugh riot for all at school but I was left hiding for cover…

3.Fourth grade..this time in the music class..Me and my bench mate were pretty bored with all the sa re ga ma..And I am sure all of you would have tried this cute little game.. allow air to enter your ear holes..spread your palms ,place them facing each other and gently move them towards your ears,striking them gently,and move them apart.. the faster you do, the more you feel the gush of air.Unfortunately,it did not strike my mind that this was not the cutest game that could be played when some one was singing!the teacher thought we were mocking her by trying to close our ears..and the next instant,she boxed my ears hard..the swelling did not go down for more than a week..

4.Cricket again,this time in sixth grade.It was the friendship cup between India-Pakistan at Toronto,and being the cricket buff I was, I had stayed through the night to watch India’s victory.Trouble started when one of my mates asked how Saeed Anwar was caught by Nayan Mongia and I demonstrated the dive for him.He was not visibly pleased and wanted me to give a clearer picture.I looked around and as fate would have it,my eyes fell at the teacher’s desk(which is usually higher than all other desks).Namma pasanga thaan yethi vudradhulla killadinga aache,plus naan cricketer veara,so goaded on I climbed up the desk and attempted a full length dive,and the next moment, I could feel my jaw snapping, I landed straight on my jaw on the hard floor and it required four stitches.

5.The annual sports day is always fun and the selections were on for various events like high jump,long jump etc..the P.T master was a tough man and he ensured that every body participated in the prelims of each event,whether they liked it or not.There was a guy called “eli” who was not particularly fond of high jump( he was just about 3 1/2 feet).He somehow got through the first level,and now the P.T master raised the bar.”eli” stared long and hard.. it was his turn.. we all waited with bated breath.. “eli” ran in hard, his face was looking straight at the bar.. he was determination personified.. we were alternating between watchin “eli” and our P.T master.. “eli” was now only two feet from the bar.. and as we all got ready to see his grand kick off..”eli” ran straight under the bar!He did not stop there.. he ran all the way out of the ground,up the stairs,into the class room..you should have seen the look on the P.T master’s face.. well.. no words to describe it..

6.Ninth grade time,and my friend was interested in a girl from another section.. after some R&D,we started collecting the details about her..unfortunately,when she confronted him straight,my friend panicked and gave my name out for the R&D part..In the evening,when I went to look for my cycle in the stands,I could not spot it.. and lo! after a thorough search,we found a highly shabby mass in the puddle.. Yes,it was my dearest”highway patrol”.. lying in a pathetic state..besides it was that girl’s cycle,standing upright, containing a note saying it was the girl’s work..dejected, I picked up my “highway patrol” from the mess( well girlie,if you are gonna read this by any chance ..take this from me.. when you and your boyfriend are on a jolly ride on a highway,the tyre would be punctured,the bike will run out of fuel,the brakes would fail,and not a soul or a shop would be anywhere in the vicinity..)

7.This happened during the biology class.. the teacher was busy explaining about different systems in the body and my pal was busy dozing off..she was taking classes on the excretory system and she pulled him up for a question.. poor guy was hardly in his senses.. the question was “is control of our senses of urination voluntary or involuntary?” Pat came the reply.. no second thoughts..”Involuntary ma’am”..the entire class burst out laughing.. the poor guy had still not woken up properly and he could not understand what was going on.. the teacher for her part joined the fun,came straight to his desk, made a thorough search and remarked,”well I was just wondering if I could get a sample of your involuntary actions”!..

These are a few of the incidents I can never forget..and for those who want to comment,please do include some of your memorable moments in your comments..For it is our school life that has many “firsts”.. those are always memorable days.. those hurried two minute “kuliyals”.. one or two mouthfuls of breakfast..the breathtaking cycle races to school,with each one taking pride in his/her own “highway patrols”,”cannon barrels”,”hercules mtb”,the early morning prayers, of course with one inquisitive eye always half open..the breakfast break for ten minutes in which we eagerly scan what the others have got for lunch,and gulp them down,so that the half hour for lunch could be used to play “four corners’ and tennis ball cricket..the silent afternoon naps after lunch,with a few other already planning which lane ruotes should be followed for the evening cycle race back home..telling loads of stories about the day’s happenings to mom.. and of course goin to bed with wonderful memories and hopes for the next day… as I keep saying.. sometimes I wish we never grew up..