Second Innings .....

.........."Back to School"

More than 3 months have elapsed? There was always an adrenaline rush, pumping me to script my new post; but what? I had three choices mulling in my mind for quite some time …

Number 1- to write about my Fascination towards Islam! Number 2- the best week of my life spent @ New Delhi during the last month for the National Moot Court Competition. Number 3 – “Rum & Rasam”…an unconventional story of friendship, love & sacrifice!!..

Arrgh…then from where did this “Second Innings -back to school” arrive??! .. After much thought I am writing a quickie which I felt I need to, before I forget anything about it..

It has been over 3 years since I completed my 10+2 & ever since, I have not been to my School! The reasons were varied. My urge towards going to school decreased the moment I understood that almost all my gurus have been transferred within an year, post my +2 !

3 Years from there & finally I am back to school for a different cause! Ironically, I am not back to my school! I am back to a different school for a different cause!!..

SCRIBE- Yes ! That was the reason why I went there, to assist the physically disabled.

This happened a month back when I got a call from Miss.Maheshwari, head of Disability Legislation Unit, known as the I-Scribe of Vidya Sagars.

I take a few words from their website just to enhance the post !

“When Sage Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata all those thousands of years ago, he was in a hurry and the words were spilling out of him. So what did he do? He asked for a scribe”

Especially when some of us need one desperately if we want to get on with our lives. I am talking of those who are visually impaired or have motor or other disabilities. Yes, that's exactly what a scribe does. He or she sits there and acts as the writer for people who cannot wield the pen themselves at exam time.

Post my registration in their Web site an year & half back, I got this call @ the right time when I was sitting so jobless desperately looking for a change! I was asked if I could scribe for few students over 2 weeks for the quarterly exams @ Lady Aandal Higher Sec School @ Chetpet ! I was excited for two reasons! 1) I get a change to be back to school

2) The long wait is over & I am gonna do something productive!!

Does this post have a point? - I'm not certain

Nevertheless, one thing I am certain is I can share what I experienced with those differently blessed Children of God …

8.20 In the morning & I was still on bed unable to wakeup! The snooze button in my mobile has been pressed over 11 times & I was all set to press for the twelfth!! Suddenly I was reminded of the examination that I was supposed to write for Rishab of class XI-Commerce Section @ Lady Aandal. As if an accident had happened, I was freaked!!

I experienced the same tension of being late to school during the time of exams almost after 3 years!

My mind kept telling me in the absence of my mom @ home!…Dumb***, you keep sleeping without a bit of seriousness to go to school ! Run, at least now…remove your laze & get ready soon! But I was home alone! My cloths were thrown haphazardly & post my shower I had to go deep into the mountain of cloths which I had not folded for over a month just to search the right one for the day!!!...

I was there bang @ 8.58 AM @ L.A! Another gorgeousness in my life the moment I entered the staffroom!! Aarrgh !! She’s a teacher boss!!..Rekha was the Coordinator of the examination department of Physically Challenged students.

“Hello Madam, this is Vignesh Krishnan from I-Scribe! Can you take me to Miss.Rekha?” A small giggle from this young lady & finally… “Yeah Sir (Bulb) I am Miss.Rekha, Coordinator of examination dept”!

Although I hated her calling me as Sir , I couldn’t resist telling it to her ! Finally on the 3rd day of my work @ Lady Aandal , I told her !! Madam, if you don’t mind it would be great if you could call me Vignesh! Lol..Another giggle from this female like the one’s in Tamil & Mallu movies of the 70’s & 80’s!

I was introduced to Rishab Bhutra , the boy for whom I was going to write examination for the next 2 weeks @ L.A!! Excitement as well as fear popped in my mind!

For what I have seen with most guys & gals when they interact with physically challenged kids are discomfort, fear & restlessness to move away from them & soon!..

However, I just had a problem called fear! Will I be able to make it !

Rishab is a boy with multiple disabilities! He can walk, but he has acute physical disorder. He can speak, but only in bits & pieces! His fingers are clogged in his right hand & his left hand has a small bend. Saliva pours from his mouth every half a minute as his tongue & tooth protrudes.

I was going to write, for this sweet little guy who welcomed me with a handshake. I was initially instructed by a coordinator of Vidyasagar on the Do’s & Don’s while scribing!

While I looked back in the hall, I was surprised to see around 6-7 more kids with different disabilities! I was equally happy with the amount of care the School took in case of these special Children ….

After our intro, I commenced writing for Rishab…Rishab is a fun loving, yet short tempered & an emotional kid! I was warned to have utmost patience while scribing for Rishab.My relationship grew right from day 1 of my scribing with all the other kids of different ages & different classes! There was Rahul, Rishab, Rakshith & many others …Sweet little children with high amount of enthusiasm & love !!..Rishab was a very naughty yet much matured for his age! After an hour & half of writing the first examination, i.e Computer Science, I faced the toughest challenge of scribing! Surpassing 1 Mark, 2 Mark & 4 Mark question, we reached the real marathon of writing the 8 Marks questions! 3 Questions of 8 Marks each was a real toughie…The genre of questions were quite simple & direct, yet it required high amount of elaboration taking into consideration the mark quotient! I perched on the edge of the seat trying to get what Rishab was trying to convey! Fortunately, he was given a computer in which he managed to type few words with his left hand !

I sat along with this young kid feeling terrible thinking about his plight. Slowly Rishab was getting paranoid, as I was not able to grasp, what he was trying to convey! He tweaked me thrice out of frustration & still was not able to convey what he wanted to. The words typed in the computer were neither proper nor could it be interpreted into bigger sentences.

I had to use all my interpretation skills to get the sentences right! Thanks to the tea that was served after an hour, which boosted me to think beyond. Finally, after much difficulty, I started to learn the linguistic nuances of physically challenged kids! Err; I would call them as differently abled kids …

More than writing the examination, 1/4th of the time was spent in cracking jokes & chatting … I was so hooked up with the little anecdotes that Rishab narrated to me. Suddenly, I was surprised to find something unique from this Kid. He had an impeccable capability of remembering things, especially relate things easily.

At a point, where I found it very tough to interpret a particular word which he was trying to convey, he suddenly turned back the question paper & with striking pace found the word in one of the questions in the Q.P. This was repeated wherever possible! I was mesmerized by the way he conveyed every single sentence to me.

My drive back home after the first examination took me to million thoughts that was galloping in my mind about Rishab & few other kids having different disabilities @ L.A.

Subsequent to my 3rd day @ Lady Aandal, I was a known to every kid in the Disability Unit of Lady Aandal. One thing which I loved about the school was the care that they had taken in case of these special children. Arranging Scribe to write the examination which many schools in the country lacked, special room for them to write the exams, 3-4 Coordinators just to make sure that things are in place for these kids!

Everyday I finished my examination; I longed to get back to school to write the next. I started loving the environment; I started to admire the teachers which I hadn’t done when I was a student!!!More than anything, I started to realize how much I have been missing the school days.

On one of the days, I asked Rishab if he has a girl friend...To my astonishment, he did have one ! My next obvious question was if it was one way or two way! He said it was his cousin sister & he is very much hesitant to ask for her. I couldn’t resist my laugh only to find this little kid giggling along with me...

This was when I thought about my School life! The best part of one’s life which has everything in it. Love, Hatred, Friendship, Innocence, Animosity, Ego & WHAT NOT??

And the irony about it is you realize its importance only when you come out of it.

I can go on describing about various other incidents that I experienced, during my short scribing work @ L.A. But I wonder if this would turn out to be a bore!..

So, here I come to an end !

“Folks …Just a point to ponder! I wish each one of us should strive to do something for the unprivileged, destitute or physically challenged at least once in our lifetime!

I bet the satisfaction you gain out of all these cannot be expressed in mere words….

Visit:-http://www.iscribe.co.in/

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Awakening from Slumber to "Tears" !

“Cry”

I have always explored & wondered over the reasons behind crying…. Something that I have been thinking for a very long time. Is it all about emotions? or is there a larger understanding that is required to explore this simple ,yet the most powerful word in English language which will perhaps make everyone Marvel ???..

Before I started writing this post, I had a feeling if this would end up anywhere?? However, once I commenced to explore the depth of it, it was vast & capricious; beyond a measure that I could fathom...

….There is always a lacuna between yearning & fulfillment! Every human being strives for certain cosmic balance that opens up the door of freedom & order…

Its important, that we be aware of the greater ascetic heights for attaining an equilibrium…I always felt the best way to expand our thoughts is to either speak out or write as long as we could, because the more we write, the more our awareness grows !...But I am neither a wannabe writer nor a poet !..It is my unapologetic fetish, for subjects based on human emotions that make me think & write further …

I recently read about Mr.Cat Steven & his works, (Considered to be one of the greatest musicians of United States of America).In one of his interviews, he had said,

“I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry.”

…. “Have you ever wondered the depth of this Proverb??..” My mind kept telling me…He was my drive behind writing this Post ….I started analyzing the Irony behind Steven’s Words.....

My three years of life @ Chennai was mostly spent in watching movies in theaters, as well as in a 10 years old Computer at my Aunt’s place which still continues to be my favourite …! The genre of movies, which I started to explore, changed…

From watching the demigods of Indian Cinema (Dr.Kamalhassan & Mohanlal) for over a decade, it stretched to an unimaginable extend that my exploration towards World classics kept expanding every day!!...

I learned about love, lust, friendship, relationship from Cinema & Books…!

My Mama used to tell me when I was kid that only in Indian Cinema you can see people weeping over everything. Untill my exploration towards word Cinema grew, I still believed this Stupid yet funny fact told by my Mama …!But I realized almost half of our Indians have grown conceiving the fact in their mind when I happened to watch a program in one of the famous television channels!!..For most Indians, if it was a foreign movie, it depicted only Supernatural element, Action, Thriller or Animation & nothing beyond it!!...:) Only we could cry, only we could create the so called melodramatic characters was what we have stamped!!!...

I know there is a lot of absurdity in this bizarre topic! I just wanted to penetrate into different situations where life calls for every human being to shed a tear each time!..Nevertheless, why this?..the questions kept boggling in my mind …

Something very interesting that I would like to share is an Incident that happened between me & my mom … My appa & amma always taught me on how to lead a life during extreme situations! Being a single child, they taught me the nuances of leading every bit of life as I grew along the world … Thus; we were never a closely-knit family! We cared, loved & respected for each other. However, we hardly displayed any element of emotion whenever there was a separation for few days or anything of that sought between either one of us...

However, it does not mean any exception to our closeness… Appa was & is always my mentor & Amma my best friend!! I vaguely remember either one of us having cried for almost a decade over any argument/fight or over any long separation.

This happened around a month back when I was @ Coimbatore… My mom had just finished her chores in the Kitchen by around 5.30 & I called her from my Balcony …My stomach was craving for Dosa !!...The moment she heard me, she rejected it stating her unending hours of work in the Kitchen….I argued; she howled & we parted!... The uproarious debate over the Dosa ended up after 10 minutes…I left dejected to my Balcony & continued reading John Grisham’s Ford County Stories…15 minutes passed & Amma arrived right next to me & asked if I needed Dosa…Understanding her difficulty, I said it was alright !... Suddenly she burst into tears!!..I was taken aback….

Her rejection & my dejection over this evening Dosa was a part & parcel of our life that has been happening for years & none of us even bothered to speak about it later on, even for a single minute…@ times, I was lucky enough to get & most of the time, my stomach cried !! I saw her weeping after years that I could not resist my own tears! She embraced & cried as if something terribly wrong had happened? Even if I cried a bit along with her, I wondered with amazement later on…

These 2 & 1/2 Years of separated life has made her more possessive towards me!..I was slowly but steadily becoming a mere guest @ my own house! I thought within me…

“She must have missed my presence to a great extend over these years”. Something, which she never bothered to tell me even for a single time! My dejection made her feel for me…

From then on whenever I heard Raja Sir’s Masterpiece “Chinna thai aval thantha Rasave” , I had lump on my throat !....

My friend Maria tells me, that she hates to see guys crying! We text (sms) & debate on it for hours, still unable to break our differences …I always feel Crying is a form of peeling our emotions (be it joy, sorrow, or whatever) from our physical structure … Crying is a refuge of Hope, Despair, Loss & Redemption

My fascination towards this word grew as I saw different live situations totally diverse from one another…

I remember a beautiful quote of Will Rogers – “An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh”

Strange but true!!..Sometimes small is big & this small word being explored leads us to innumerable situations that we keep encountering in our life!..

I had a chat with him after almost 8 Years … It took me around an year & half to find him in one of the most widely used social networking site…a drop of tear fell from my eyes. Alas, I found my childhood friend…We were neighbours then when I started to stay at my Newly Built house @ Kalpathy from our Ancestral home, way back in 1996..Our friendship lasted for 3 years untill I left to Kannur..We ate, slept & even took bath together! There hasn’t been a day where I had not played with him…Finding him after almost 8 years was truly an amazing feeling!..Even if I had news about him & his family from few others, we never contacted…This separation made our relationship widen to a great extend that in spite of my overjoyed approach towards him, I hardly found any excitement in his! I was shocked??...How could a person change in a course of time??..

Years passed …Life changed…Sometimes we need to accept certain bitter truths …

I still remember my train Journey way back in 2004 to New Delhi …

He called her Hasina Khalto ( Khalto is an Arabic word for Maternal Aunt) .. Sameer Hussain was 13 & I was 15 then …His face seemed as if he was a victim of some disaster …For the first time, I saw a small boy travel alone in an A/c Coach from Madgon to New Delhi via Konkan … I tried to initiate a conversation with him after almost an hour since he boarded from Madgon …Except for his name, he remained silent for the next 3 hours…

I don’t exactly remember how he began to narrate his story; but he went on to tell me what he was going through in his life after almost 4 hours of continued silence. It was a truly devastating one, which shattered me like never before…

“Yumma (Mom)! Your face is starting @ me in my lucid dreams. The words “I love you” are formed inside your halfhearted lips, cracked from thirst. I want to tell you Yumma that I know you used to come to my room at night, when you thought I was crying out of pain, to put your arms around me & kiss me on my cheeks. I know you loved me yumma.I want to tell you this, which I haven’t told you for years .Your breath was full of love, & it was full of sorrow. I wonder what you are thinking yumma...I need your forgiveness, I need you, and I Beg God not to take you .Not now. Not like how it happened…”

Sameer’s words still haunts & I still think about him... Sameer was a boy who lost his mom….His Yumma committed suicide as his dad betrayed her ..I listened to him with rapt attention & great astonishment…The district court of Goa had given a judgment in favour of his dad stating the cause for his Yummy’s suicide as physical & mentally disorder! A boy of 13 years having wealth beyond any measure has been traumatized so badly, both mentally & physically….

He still recounts the day his dad slept with another female making him & his mom sleep in another room in their house??..Does this ever happen anywhere….?? The subsequent day was like a nightmare for Sameer as his Yumma jumped into a near by well & committed Suicide…More than 2 years had passed & he was finally going into safer hands….

Sameer told about his mom. How great she was & how badly he misunderstood his mom when she kept on cursing his dad & often asked him to go to Delhi for his studies without revealing of his Dad’s secret affair…Sameer hadn’t realized how his dad was, until that day !..Months passed after his mom’s demise & his dad married the female who slept with him ….Sameer’s so-called stepmother physically & mentally tortured him for days…

He recounts his step mom having stripped & beat him once on his naked body because he refused to take bath & made him stand in the balcony for over an one hour !!..Humiliation, both mentally & phycially..There wasn’t a single person to rescue this kid except his Grandfather … His grandfather threatened his Dad & somehow boarded him to New Delhi where his maternal Aunt stayed….Sameer called her Hasina Khalto!..I remember him telling me that his Khalto was not blessed with any kids & she loved Sameer a lot …She was so generous to have accepted to keep Sameer with her for the rest of his life…Sameer said they were getting prepared for the adoption policies. I thought I was a kid before him…Even if he was born 2 years after me, he was mentally 5 years elder to me! I could never communicate with him again. I searched for him in Facebook, Orkut…all in vain.

But why did I fit this incident here ??..There is a strange reason!..Sameer never cried when he told this. Rather, I had lump in my throat when he spoke about his mom’s Unconditional love for Sameer …His grandfather had taught him after his mother’s demise on how to lead a mentally strong life….But he cried when he told about his Grandfather....Sameer loved him more than anyone in this world. He called him Jiddo....I always dreamt of meeting this Great man without whom this 13 year old wouldn’t have boarded the train from Madgon to New-Delhi..

Every body has a reason to cry, for it is one thing which creates or defines the bonding between one another!...

Surreal …Surrealism …Surrealist …In whatever form or context …This is probably how unconventional thinkers are called! Our thinking often resembles weird dreams, yet our unconscious thoughts connect life & reality!....

Often I imagined making a Desi version of my personal favourite movie “Cinema Paradisco” !...Kamal Hassan in for Jacques Perrin or the much acclaimed character of “Toto” (Adult) & Naseeruddin Shah for Philippe Noiret , the most loved character of Alfredo … This is one movie which I would have watched atleast over 10 times & still had tears in my eyes during its simple, yet the most wonderful climax ….

Different Pathos ...

I cried when I was a baby ( Innocence ) , I cried when my mom beat me over wetting the bed when I was 7 Years old ( Pain )!! , I cried when my dad slapped me for the first & last time in my life ( Till now ) ( Shock ),I cried when I faced my first failure in a term exam when I was in 8th Std (Fear & Shame)….. I cried when I was awarded the best speaker in a District Elocution Competition (Happiness) ,I cried when my friend Ashwin left from Chennai to Kochi ( Helplessness ) , I cried on the 10th Day of my Grandfather’s demise (Memory), I cried while reading Hassan’s letter to his good old friend Amir in the Kite Runner (Anguish) , I cried when Laila reads the letter written by Mariam’s Dad to Mariam (The Thousand Splendid Suns-Fiction) & when I saw “La Vitta e bella” (Sacrifice [For a wonderful bond between a dad & daughter/Son ]), I cried when Sang-woo realizes the greatness of his Grandma ( The Way Home - Jibeuro) ( {Unconditional Love} Dedicated to all Grandmothers )…….

Its been over a month since I commenced writing on this Topic …While I understood the difficulty of connecting incidents to explain the diverse reasons behind this small word, I am still in search for an exact answer?!...I hope readers would help me in understanding the larger perspective of this simple word from their point of view… Beyond emotions, beyond bonds, beyond relationship, is there a diverse Understanding??!...

4 Idiots .........Our Beginning ......6th & Final Part !...

I always thought if I was becoming Conventional after every post! One thing which I learned was that, a writer would be tagged as “Crass” the moment he drags his plot with too much repetition without reaching the destination ….

It’s been around a month since I Blogged! It would be inappropriate if I make all my avid readers wait further & make my Blog a quiescent one…Well well!

I could see a lot of speculated news in form of comments from many, in my previous post! Lol… So before it shapes into a much bigger one, let me begin!

Secret treasures of Shankara ~
Was it a dream or reality??... The Moment she flexed back, the shock numbed my senses! I couldn’t believe it was real…That was the first day, where I hadn’t slept in the class even for a minute! From Ashwin to Nithin, the news had spread among our gang! As if it was the time for jubilation, Nithin asked me for a treat!

I went home with all smiles in my face! Sharan was too eager to know, what had happened in the class! The moment I started to narrate, she couldn’t control her laughter!!...To be frank, no one could believe if it had actually happened, including me! Lol… But our excitement levels were high...Sharan exchanged her cell phone & requested me to somehow take Anjali’s picture…Then, I was using a basic set & more than anything it was huge excitement to take a Camera Phone to the Class !..There were only very few girls & guys who had an Mp3 cum camera phone in the class..

I still recollect the subsequent day in our class! Never before had I seen her in such beautiful attire …She was wearing a While Salwar which had some embroidery work in it. Her beauty was much beyond any description! But, the moment I saw her face, I was let down...Her face looked saturnine and pale, & her sensual lips …twisted with disdain …But she was definitely a marvel to stare at! All my excitement went down, the moment I smelled something that was going wrong with her …I couldn’t resist but share it with Ashwin who was sitting near me !..Despite my lachrymose logorrhea, Ashwin kept teasing me …But he was an adjuvant who always had an answer whenever I was in sheer need…

While I was trying for a spark to catch up in my case, Swaroop was a step ahead! He tried all avenues to speak to Janitha… In one instance, he dropped his mobile or something while sitting behind her in the class, in a notion that she would atleast turn back & look @ him!....From watching her every single move inside the class, he was successful in finding her place where she resided & also her Orkut Profile with great difficulty! This crazy idiot would have at least visited some 500 odd Profiles in Orkut in order to find her…By that time; we all had somehow known each other even if we hadn’t spoken a word…

Some gentlemen said once upon a time, “There is no friendship that exists, the moment you find a real treasure”… Yes, finding her Profile was like finding a treasure…But something which went terribly wrong in his secret finding, was sharing each bit of information among each one us in the Gang !..The new entrant to our gang, Mr.Nithin was a big time flirt! The Moment he got the news of Swp having found her profile, without any notice he collected her Profile link silently & sent her a friend request from his profile… Swaroop hadn’t given a friend request for 2-3 Days …The next time he opened her profile to give one, he witnessed the Shock of his life !!.. Nithin had already become Janith’s friend & on the top of it, they have had an exclusive chat too!!...

More than 3 weeks had passed since I came to Chennai & I was terribly missing someone back home! The Blog would be incomplete without mentioning about her…For me, she was my life for the last two years (i.e. 2006 & 2007)… I hadn't stayed a day away from her since she came to my house... It was an inseparable bond …She was none other than my “Honey”, my little doggie… For me, she was like my sister & for my dad & mom; she was like their daughter… You know what? Even I hadn’t slept with my Dad & Mom after my 7th … But this little one always preferred lying beneath my Dad & Mom in their bed!

I have never seen my Dad showing so much affection on anyone except me & my mom for the last 17 Odd years in our lives.... But she changed him drastically forever… I couldn’t believe so much days had passed without her in my life.. But every day I called my mom, I made sure I enquired about Honey … Once, I’d even asked her to keep the Handset in Honey’s ears as if she was gonna speak to me … !..

….. Another strange thing that happened during our Shankara days was our visit to the Famous Kapaleeswarar temple @ Mylapore…Not even a single time did I go to the temple in spite of repeated plans..I guess, towards the End, Maddy, Swp & Ashwin visited the temple for once…. You might think, what has it to do with our story??!..Well!.. Our connection with the Temple has volumes to speak post Shankara life @ Chennai…!!....

Now back to Anjali! Well!!... Hope, I am not dragging! Let me break the Suspense! Alas, our predictions were right! She did look @ me occasionally during the class hours …This kept my nerves tickling & at times I had goosebumps!!....Days passed & this continued...But unfortunately I never took any productive steps to be in touch with her! We tried all possible ways to secretly take her picture, but everything went in vain… Once, I tried speaking to Anjali during our Tea-Break…. While Janitha & Anjali was having a chat, I gushed in & excused myself... They were mum… I had to somehow initiate the Conversation...I asked where our Examination Centre would be in Chennai…Immediately I received a response from Janitha, saying it was already there in the application form...In fact we had applied for Palakkad as our Centre...But,I had to pretend in order to avoid an embarrassing situation..I was trying to equivocate so that I could cover up the situation without much damage.. I walked off without hearing a word from Anjali...Only thing which I saw, was a smile in her face towards the End!

Our Anjali -Janitha, Janitha -Anjali episode would never end! I could go on writing about more funny incidents which we faced, inside & outside our class! 3 Years from then & now it sounds really funny even to imagine! Running behind your crush in the Teenage days are real fun & doing it secretly is all the more fun! Lol...

Our final week @ Shankara was pretty bad… We rarely attended classes together…. Sometimes I used to attend the class with Swaroop, sometimes with Ashwin or Madhav…Our preparations were not in its peak or crescendo …Ashwin was the only guy who did regular studies.. I was undoubtedly the laziest chap in our whole group …. More than studies, I roamed around Chennai with Sharan, whenever I didn't have class!

One of another Aunt of mine was at Maddipakkam … I hadn’t gone there even for a day since I reached Chennai … Towards the end of our Session; I visited their place & decided to stay with them for a day or two …..My Cousins, Narayanan (...I call him Nanu aka “00”….)…& Gayatri…( aka Kayu…!!) were really angry on me for not having met them since my arrival.. Infact Nanu was instrumental in finding the Mansion addresses @ Mylapore for all of us before we arrived...Even if my connection with Nanu & Gayu has nothing much to elaborate in our Shankara Episode, there are lots to mention about them, especially Nanu in the Epilogue…

Our 40 days of stay has numerous incidents to mention, both inside & outside our class! Any Left outs? Oh! Yeah… there are plenty… In fact I haven’t mentioned about many other characters & incidents …

We had an ardent A.R.Rahman fan , Zeezhan , a mobile party ( a girl who couldn’t stay without her mobile even for a minute ) , a fat golti ,Kranthi , Kudumees (2 Traditional Iyengar guys who were the Jody No:1 of our class ) , Sania Mirza ( Nithin’s secret crush ) & many other interesting characters !!......

Our last class @ Shankara before the model exam; except for a few nostalgic moments, was pretty normal. I looked closely at some people, trying to memorize their features aware that I might never see them again. Some others shook hands for the same reason. As if we knew each other for ages, I pictured our Batch mates at a 10-12 yrs-from-now, Shankara reunion. Fat aunties with babies in tow & fat uncles who would have turned as CEO’s or CFO’s or bureaucrats or might be still writing C.A Exams!! …So where would we four be??.... Scary thought! Skipped the idea…..

…. With heavy heart, we boarded the train… In all gumptions, a Malayalee society on wheels, quaffing Chai /Coke, talking politics & coming up with solutions for social, political & family issues …They would laugh so loud that even few others would invariably smile …… The Sleeper class train was so heated up that we had to change our attire to casuals…Once the train commenced, we started our usual discussions on Movies, our Trip, our Coming back after exams etc etc!!.. The Next thing I remember was that I was sweating profusely, feeling claustrophobic ….the time was around 2.30 am...3 more hours & we reached Palakkad! The first thing I did back home was embrace my darling honey! … She licked all around my face making it clean & shiny….….

2 More days from then, we met together & took up the Common Proficiency Test! Back home, Dad asked if I would get through… Ended up in a word! G.O.K (God only knows)…

Epilogue.........
I couldn’t accept this has happened to her…

The last time I cried was on the 10th Day, post my Grandfather’s demise way back in 2005 ….It was a gloomy afternoon when I received the call from my Aunt…My little doggie; honey was no more….. I cried the whole afternoon lying in my Bed…. More than me, my Mom couldn’t accept her lose…

Post CPT, months passed & there were drastic changes that happened with all of us…..Dad got transferred to a place called Chittur & we had to shift our base from Palakkad …We left Honey for the time –being with my Uncle @ Wayanad, as we didn’t have adequate facilities to keep her with us in the New Place…Various incidents happened that made her health disastrous…My uncle had no other go than Mercy kill Honey ……

Results were out & I wasn’t lucky enough to clear the so called Proficiency test...Unfortunately, so was Maddy…Swaroop & Ashwin left for Chennai for their articleship while we kept preparing for our second attempt...The Year was a debacle in all terms, for me & maddy…

Life had to move… I shifted to Chennai & joined for ACS & B.Com from the University of Madras…Within months, Sharan left for Bangalore to join ICICI.. Life changed… New friends, new place… There were times when I was mentally down...God always had an answer for me in form of someone when I was in sheer need…This time; it was Nanu, my mentor, my motivator & more than anything a great brother! Our relationship grew stronger & stronger after every week…Another person whom I cannot forget is my Periyama with whom I stayed...She was more like my mom.... Supporting, encouraging & above all a great person…
The last time i saw Anjali was at Satyam Multiplex, when i went to watch the movie Chak De India somewhere in Dec 2007.... We just parted after a mutual Smile...!!...

After few months of joining Articleship @ Chennai, Ashwin shifted his base to Kochi for good…He could neither withstand the climate nor the work culture...

Swaroop had a different life… He had joined one of the top firms in Chennai, Manohar Choudary Associates… We met occasionally @ Kapaleeswarar temple which later turned out to be our regular meeting place on Sundays!

Madhav quit his college after clearing CPT & joined for articleship, back home @ Palakkad….. None of us were together… one after another; we were in different places… I still remember the last time we four met together… 3 Years before, @ our School to get our +2 Mark Sheets….

     ....... This is all about us… Our Beginning into life ........

Our 40 most cherished Days of fun, friendship, books, love, lust, music, movies, desire, struggle & sacrifice in our life….

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4 Idiots ! ......Our Beginning......" Part V "

Hi folks… I am back with the fifth, (but not the last) Post of “4 Idiots”… Our beginning...

Shocked guys?Before you begin reading anything in this post, I request you all to kindly have a glance of all the comments posted in my 4th Post...There is a reason for it. So those of you, who haven’t read, GO Back & GET back soon!......

I was emotionally disturbed for the last few days that I couldn’t type or even think about the last post of “4 Idiots”…I was worried that 4 Idiots was gonna end after this Post !!

It has been around 3 Years & I still feel nostalgic about those most unforgettable days..

Initially, I thought of putting an end to 4 Idiots with my 5th Post. But after repeated requests from my close friends, I have decided to extend it to the 6th…

When I commenced writing the Blog, I thought of scripting all the incidents that happened during OUR Shankara days, only as anecdotes. However, once I started writing, the past kept haunting me! So I finally decided to publish it as an exclusive story………

Again a request for all first time readers! Do read my previous posts first, before you start reading this…

Unforgettable Moments of  Shankara Days!

Katrin Mozhiye….Oliyyaaa ?? Isaiyaa?? Poovin Mozhi…Neerumma ?? Mannumma ?? Kadalinn Mozhi …………………

… “Ayyo ! Pinneyum thodanjiii” !! ... (Translation - Omg! Again started)…

Ashwin whispered into Maddy’s ears as I started to sing this beautiful number from the Movie Mozhi ! Those days, I was totally hooked up about Mozhi songs that I always kept singing it in the class!. Especially the song Katrin Mozhiye, kept me haunting everyday! Often, when we were forced to remain reticent in the class, it was like a holy-chant for me!!..I even had a copy of its lyrics in my hand!...Whenever the class got shifted to real boredom , I kept singing the song & at times, I was in a reverie about Anjali !!...

Apart from our Beach Visit, once we happened to visit Spencers too !!..Again, the missing link was Ashwin!..He stayed in the room while 3 of us left for Spencers. Myself being a T-Shirt freak, took some 2-3 T-shirts & also selected few for Swaroop!! We saw a wide range of 100 Bucks T-shirts which were really worth it …Madhav bought an Mp4 player !..Those days, Mp3/Mp4 Chinese players had just hit the market & it had created a huge demand!

I still remember the Mp4 player!..When I was not around, it was getting irresistible for all three of them without listening to my Katril Mozhiye Song! Lol !!:) ...So Madhav requested me to sing the song one day from their room & he recorded it so that they could listen to it all day!!...Ha ha !!

@ Mandaveli, my cousin Easwar & his wife Meena resided … It was just around 3 months since they were married & settled in Chennai then. So I had made the decision of not staying with them even if it was just 2 Kms away from Shankara & preferred traveling 10 Kms to Kilpauk …On repeated invites from Meena, I promised to stay at their place for 2-3 Days …Since I have been in touch with her quite often, from their Nichayadartham, I was kind of close to her…She was the nicest & the most innocent girl that I have ever met in my whole life…The 3 days which I stayed there was memorable!..She took care of me with utmost care & affection …I always yearned to have a wonderful sister like her …Nevertheless, she is definitely one person who is really close to my heart in our family….

In our 40 days of Stay @ Chennai, we faced many adventures!!...The ones, which I have written are amongst the most interesting incidents, which we all faced! This post would be incomplete without mentioning about another unforgettable incident!..

Our coaching was nearing its completion & we were repeatedly fooled by the whole Management in the name of providing good faculties , completing the syllabus on time & keeping frequent tests (not even a single test was held!!)..

With just around 12 days to go & one fine evening, Mr.NJN (Chief Mgt Head & Accounts Faculty) came up with a feedback sheet having the names of all the faculties including his, corresponding to which , few ratings & comments column were provided . He insisted us to write our comments irrespective of whether it was positive or negative along with our names. He also promised us, that the sheets would be read, only by a Doctor who was his close friend & not by any one else including him …

We wanted to watch a Movie from Inox Multiplex, which was located in the City Centre @ Mylapore. So few days back, four of us had a joined discussion, but finally Ashwin & Maddy backed out of the plan.. But we didn’t drop the plan.. I took Swaroop & went to City Centre & booked for Unnale Unnale !!As the Movie was doing gr8 business all over the city, we wanted to watch it badly, even if it had all new faces. …

I reckon, I must be the only person in the whole class to have commented negatively about Mr.NJN‘s teaching on few chapters in Accounts. I gave ratings which none in the class would have given … Highly Straight forward & had negativity to the core!!...

After all, we all had just written 10+2 …So, most of us had a fear, that if a negative opinion was passed, it would lead to a big issue & stuff!Poor Chaps, most of them would have definitely provided an excellent feedback, which would have pleased Mr.NJN too!

Since the classes were nearing its end, the number of absentees was increasing day by day. Students bunked classes especially after the first half during the half an hour Tea Break! If my memory is correct, it was on Tuesday of that particular week that we had booked for Unnale Unnale.On Monday ,during the second half , the number of Students were all time low !..Only around 45 students attended the class & there were around 20 absentees! Mr.NJN had a session the subsequent day, i.e the day when we had booked for the Movie!! ..

Initially we had a plan to bunk classes completely & go for the movie. Since the Movie was only @ 7.00, we decided to attend the first half! By 1.40, I reached Luz Mansion. Swaroop had already left & he was busy eating @ HSB. Madhav & Ashwin had finished having their lunch earlier & were waiting for me. Once I arrived, we locked the room & left. I asked Maddy & Achu to proceed for the class & told them that I would catch up with Swaroop & come to the class! By 1.50, I met Swaroop from HSB !..

In another 10 minutes, we moved towards Luz Mansion to take our respective bags & go to the class. By the time we reached the Mansion, it was already 2.10 & unfortunately, Swaroop had forgotten to take his spare room Key!..On the top of it, I kept my Bag too inside the room! Since it was already late, we didn’t take chances by going to the class & instead left for City Centre!!...Thank god! The Movie tickets were inside my wallet!

By 2.45, we reached City Centre & started to explore all the shops! Unlike Spencers, City Centre was a place where Shopping was meant only for people who were filthy rich! Shops like Lifestyle offered goods @ 50 % Discount!!Unfortunately the minimum base prize ex-discount came to around Rs.1800 for a plane T-Shirt with few stripes!!!

Nevertheless, since we Indians love Window Shopping more that Actual Shopping, prize tag does not actually matter…Thus, we decided to Window Shop till evening 6.30 !From 3 P.M to 7 P.M , spending 4 hours was really a tough job because there were only very few shops inside the City Centre ..By 5.45, we had already finished our darshan to all Shops & only the food court was left. Next we went there & had 2 Coke ..For the next half an hour, we kept sipping the Coke drop by drop !..It was a big sigh of relief once we entered the Cinema Hall !..

By 7.PM , the movie commenced !From what would have been an excellent movie if directed well , it turned out to be a real head-ache at the End of first Half …Suddenly by 8.30, during the Intermission, I got a call from Achu !!.. I was petrified when he started to narrate the incidents that happened in the class …

The feedback forms had made a great impact on Mr.NJN & the single comment from a guy about NJN ,as reported by him about his class made him wild! ( adhe adhe ,its me-the missing culprit ..Poor NJN !!),..Ashwin went on to explain about the tempestuous rage of NJN, which was never seen before! Statements like those, that “If NJN can’t crack accounts, who else can” etc were given in front of the students...

To add on, the news of 20 Absentees on the previous day after the first half took him out of Control... Half an hour of frightening verbal action was what the whole class had experienced! Thank god, I was not there...On that particular day, the ½ an hour Tea Break too was banned!!....

Like a blessing in disguise, Swaroop forgot his key, which subsequently made us move to the City Centre by bunking the whole day’s class! If not, we would have attended the first half & bunking the second half would have been totally out of question!...

By around 10.15, we came out of the City Centre... Since it was already late, we decided to board an auto & come to Luz even if it was just 1 & ½ Kms from City Centre! We were shocked after enquiring the rates from the Rickshaw guys!...Rs.40 to Rs.60, the rates kept varying ..Finally one guy agreed to come for Rs.18..Once we reached, we got the shock of our life …I gave Rs.20 & asked him to keep the change!!..But, when he said that he actually meant 80 & not 18, we were bewildered!!.... Poor chap… would have thought, that the kids could easily be cheated!

Once I started to yell @ him, sought of sullen crowd started to pull in as if some accident has happened..Swaroop was even more tensed when he saw me yell @ him to the max! Finally, I paid him another 10 Bucks & finished the deal …

The Next Day didn’t have Mr.NJN’s session! Goodness me! It was such a big relief that we were thrilled to the Core !!....The Next time I saw Mr.NJN , from mild fear ,I started to laugh suddenly… That day was really a lucky one for me!A question in Partnership A/C's was posted to the students & it was answered only by me in the whole class!..The next few seconds was the most happiest of all! Words of appreciation poured in ...I thought in my mind, “So Mr.NJN, you are appreciating the real unknown culprit!! Thank you...Lol…..”……

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the true spirits.”

The ones, which we faced, are among those …The Most Cherished & truly Memorable!

It was around 3.30 P.M when she turned back & stared at me for the first time! Well, I don’t wanna exaggerate & quote some romantic stuffs like in movies coz my thought process was totally different then!...Two days back, I had a hair-cut & my hair was in a pathetic shape that I was really upset & ashamed to be in the class !..On the top of it, I was wearing a shirt, which looked as ugly as ever! So the very thought of she looking @ me was un-believable...

The news of her partial staring had reached my gang.. Maddy & Ashwin couldn’t resist teasing me…

Ashwin was laughing amidst the whole class, as if something funny was going on…Mr.Swaroop was seated in the 3rd row comfortably with Nithin ; both of them all set to listen to the class & sight @ their respective crush simultaneously! Nithin called his crush as Sania Mirza or something!. Still I wonder what made him call that female with this name!.....

I was perplexed...I didn’t know whether to look @ her eyes or to check if she was actually looking at me or someone else or was she puzzled at my dramatic change?