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Post # 50 :)

Eet

'Its like forgetting the words to your favorite song,
You can't believe it, you were always singing along,
It was so easy, and the words so sweet
You can't remember, you try to feel the beat'


Once upon a time, there was a little boy. A happy and healthy baby, he was born into a very privileged family, the kind that seem to lack nothing. They were a wealthy lot, not just in money, but in other things too, that mattered much more. They were kind and loving, looked out for their friends and were generally popular. The father and the mother of the little boy loved each other immensely, and why wouldn't they, since they had every reason to celebrate life as they knew it, every other day.
When their son was born, they were naturally overjoyed, and having a large family scattered across the globe, all of them came together to celebrate.

He was born a beautiful baby, and even at this age, everyone could tell he would grow up to be a handsome man. Friends and well-wishers never stopped arriving, as they envied the couple's good fortune, cooed at the baby and stared at him in wonderment.; his mother was over the moon and his father couldn't be prouder.

As he grew up, his parents never saw a day when their little son wasn't up to mischief. He caused chaos in the house, running up and down all day, disrupting the household work, breaking valuables and teasing the life out of any girl that came by his house. But yet nobody minded, because all they had to do was take one look at that adorable thing and all their anger would vanish.

As years passed by, he became an absolute charmer, as he greeted his mother's friends warmly and shook hands with his father's friends. His mother saw the mischievous glint in his eye and would just wait for the moment he would make her burst into laughter. Being an artist, she painted scores of paintings which she treasured deeply. She would display them proudly in the hall and gaze at them, content.

This family of three would go for vacations with friends, buy ridiculously expensive items and led a happy life. But by no means was this boy a brat. You see, born and brought up in the high society had taught the mother an important lesson- if you can't stay grounded, you can't stay at all.
She taught her son the most basic of values, and taught him to respect everything, from the food he ate to the people he met. She taught him to be sincere and polite, kind and humble. As he listened to his mother day after day, he turned out to be one of the most loyal, charming and genuine person one would ever have the good fortune to meet.
So even though his mischief did bring back a few complaints, his parents knew his heart was in the right place. A crack here and a joke there always did good to a person's soul, his mother used to say.
As he became a teenager, and grew taller and more handsome every day, he had a strong, independent mind of his own. He had heard and seen enough to attain a good judgement of what was right and what was wrong. He had grown up to be vary smart indeed. His mother secretly loved passing him the phone as girls giggled madly over the line and asked to speak to her son. She was very, very fond of him and they were one small happy family for a while.

Until one stormy, fateful evening and a terrible evening it was.

The mother, that evening, decided to drive to the local store to buy some groceries.
As her son reached home that evening, he was exhausted. His football coach had started rigorous training, and that boy was an exceptional player, best he had seen in a long time, he used to say.
So as he came home that evening and found his mother nowhere in sight, he just assumed that maybe she was with a friend or probably caught up somewhere. After some time, when he had taken a shower and cooled himself off, he tried calling her and found her unreachable.

He called his father, and he too, was equally puzzled. After hours of calling and checking up on the possible places where she could be, they finally approached the police.
The police, to be fair to them, carried out a thorough investigation. It was revealed that she had bought the groceries and then was never seen again. The car was left abandoned on the road. There were few passersby on the road because of the bad weather and there weren't much leads to follow.

The father used his contacts to make sure that people on the case worked to the best of their abilities. An extensive list of suspects was made and were interrogated thoroughly, but still nothing was found. It was as if she had vanished in thin air. The son got into a wild fight with some boys of another school who suggested obscene reasons explaining her mother's disappearance.

Seventeen days after that terrible evening, the mother's body was found outside her house, tossed carelessly at the edge. An autopsy of the body reported that she had been assaulted and murdered by being stabbed in back and chest and struck on the head.

Misery struck that family from then on. It was as if a cyclone had come and devastated everything they had ever known. You see, they were the perfect family across the street with the perfect house. No matter what, nothing this bad ever happened to families like these- they were the people to whom the local club first sent the invitation on special occasions, the people whose lawn smelt of freshly mown grass and house of potpourri. Murder of the mother didn't fit anywhere in the picture.

In the first initial days, the father and son were by each other's side. Friends and acquaintances mourned with them and rarely left them alone. Condolences were expressed and food and flowers arrived but the fact remained; neither of them had ever felt grief like this before and they didn't know how to deal with it.
As the weeks passed, they started to get on with their life but somehow, neither of them ever recovered from the trauma. A tragedy may bring out the best in people or the worst. For the father and the son, it brought out both.

They both worked harder than ever before, put on the bravest face possible while trying to help each other out, hoping that the killer be found. The father buried himself in work, hoping to fill the void caused by his wife's absence . Everything has a cause, he used to think. What had gone wrong here then? He couldn't for his life even begin to IMAGINE why anybody would even consider hurting her like it had been done. He completely involved himself in the investigation, worked ruthless hours but as the days passed, the case, like all others, began to lose momentum.

The son tried to gain some sense of normalcy in his life, as he became the 'dead woman's kid'. He avoided the pitying eyes, and was rash at any discussion that involved his mother. He busied himself in friends and school, sports and work, ignoring the sympathy.

Slowly and unknowingly, a distance crept between the father and the son. At first, they had been inseparable, supporting each other throughout, but the mother's absence started to gnaw at them. She had been like the glue of the family, the butter of the sandwich, keeping them together. They both stayed away from home as much as possible, avoiding each other. The father saw his wife's shadow and his incompetence in catching the killer in his son. This in turn made the son realize his father's lack of support and love at this time, making him bitter and resentful.

Time passed and the lives of the father and the son, which had always been interconnected in different ways soon took a separate turn. A time came when they would barely nod when they passed each other; they had learnt to live without each other.
The son, as he occupied himself and got on with his life, never saw one moment where he was truly content at the end of the day when he lay on the bed. He could never be the same former self he once was; it was like something inside his heart had died.

Until.

Until one beautiful, sunny, ordinary day when all that changed again.
You see, on that day, a little girl came along....

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Ronaldo is SEXY.

Here are a few random facts about my knowledge of football:

- I possess none.
- But I'm freakishly excited about today's Argentina v/s Germany.
- I'm supporting Argentina, mainly because their coach is Maradona, and the name Maradona sounds SO cool. I wish my name was Maradona. Also, because yesterday was Ritika's birthday and she invited all her German Exchange friends and all they talked about was their stupid German Exchange for the whole FIVE hours and I'm starting to get just a LITTLE bit irritated of Germany.
- Its saddening that Portugal got out so early, poor Ronaldo.
- Ronaldo's expression in Shakira's Waka Waka at 2: 09 is INSANE. REALLY.
- Waving Flag is so much better than Waka Waka.
- Though I like the thing that Shakira wears in her hair in the video.
- Kerala is the second-most-football-crazy state in India. When I went there this summer, there were all these slogans painted on the walls, like 'Argentina Fan Club' and stuff, which aren't there anywhere else.
- The most-football-crazy state in India is West Bengal, but I guess everyone knows that.
- Also, I've finally decided I'll support Real Madrid and Manchester United because of Ronaldo&Kaka and Rooney respectively.


Here are a few random facts about Kerala:

- There are just TOO many trees, I'm sorry. They're taking the phrase 'Go Green' way too seriously.
- They have huge, airy houses (flat culture doesn't exist there) with even bigger ceilings. Guess what the view is from the balcony? OF TREES.
- Beaches and Sea is the awesomest thing EVER. Delhi should have a beach. I don't think I can ever get tired of looking at the vast, endless expanse of sea/ocean. Its beautiful.
- Black soil we read about in Geography? Yeah, its REALLY black.
- The golden sand in Calicut was coarser than the black sand in Kovalam.
- Everyone there eats directly using their hands, so each restaurant has a separate area that says 'WASH'.
- Most restaurants don't serve mineral water. They boil the tap water and mix a herb in it which turns the water slightly red. I didn't pretend to be a vampire at all.
- Keralites, or maybe south Indians in general, I dunno, shake their head in a funny way. Like Noddy does, only 360 degrees instead of his up and down. But the problem is, you can't tell whether its a yes or a no.
- Everyone there has a smile on their face and goes around grinning all the time at everyone. I wish people in Delhi were like that. Here, people hurl abuses at you for no reason.
- HORRIBLE clothes.
- NO HOT GUYS. Outrageous, really.
- There is a British and Indian name for a lot of places, like Cochin and Kochi. Thiruvananthpuram and Trivandrum.
- Beaches are so crowded.
- Waves are POWERFUL!
- In movies, they show the hero and the heroine are having the time of their life at the beach. But they always skip out the part where they should feel so ICKY after going to the beach because sand is everywhere. Movies lack any kind of practicality, really.
- Their biggest movie star there is Mohan Lal.
- Fort Kochi is not actually a fort, its old Kochi.
- And its AMAZING! They have all these cool streets like Princess Street, Rose Street and there are a lot of homestays there which are fickin expensive, even more so than Taj.
- The wind at Kanyakumari's shore is SOOOOOOO strong that I could swear my feet got lifted up in the air for just a second.
- Everyone there goes around wearing hats and sunglasses because the sunlight is so strong.
- I couldn't find one McDonald's in the whole of Kerala.
- Kochi airport is gooooooood.
- There was stuff like Ratatouille (yes, like in the movie!!), lobster and steak in the daily menu.
- Kerala has great spices, apparently.
- Lighthouses are cute.
- India's coastline's view from air is awesome.
- Shells are cute too.
- They also eat a different kinda rice, which are fatter in structure and bad in taste but more nutritious.
- EVERYONE WEARS A DHOTI. Not pretty. Though I wore it once too. :D
- In spite of, or because of, all that, Kerala IS extremely beautiful.

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Worth a thousand words?




































Inside an elevator.











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Not Intrusted


Everyone knows that no one really studies before July after you've completed tenth (doesn't apply to science people). But the school can't let us stay at home for WHOLE three months, can it? So this is what my school does- makes us reach school at SEVEN A.M. in the morning. Yes. Seven. Because its too hot at 7: 45. It lets us off at 1. Because its too hot at 2. This would've made sense, just a TINY, TINY bit if we had something to do in school.
For example, yesterday
First Block - Played Pictionary.
Second Block- Made up plans for tomorrow's trip but then dumped them all.
Third Block- Roamed around in school.

Break

Workshop

Its like this everyday. Anyway, coming back to my post topic,

We have workshops every single day. Career Counselling. People from different organisations come everyday to make us aware of all the options we have before we make a decision. Mostly, we are told about the unconventional, lesser known careers, which is rather fun. Like yesterday, we had a guy telling us about animation. Did you know that the entire Avatar was shot in an airport hangar?!! Wait, I'm going a little off the point now.
So we have very different people coming up and talking to us. People in my school don't accept anyone new easily. They poke fun and mock them, unless they judge them cool enough to listen.

There came some people who spoke a little differently. With an accent, or weird pronunciations. Face it, nobody's perfect. There was this one guy who kept pronouncing interesting as 'intrusting' and kept saying 'You needs'. So maybe its a little funny. Once. Twice. Then you've had enough with the mockery.
This is one thing I don't get- if people speak in a different way, why does the rest of the world have such a huge problem with it? Is it the reluctance to accept someone unusual?
My dad always says, if the content in your speech is good enough, if there is power in your words, then it doesn't really matter how you say it. People want to listen to you.

Last year, we had this teacher who broke up words, like she'd say, "Consti...." Pause. "Tution." "Legis...." pause. "Lation". When she started to teach us, many people inserted a 'pation' after the consti, before she could get to tution. But then everyone started to realize, she was a really, really good teacher. The best in her subject. Soon everyone forgot about the consti, and listened to her eagerly.
New Kid started making fun of the 'intrusting' guy and I told him to get over it.
"Come on, Srishti," said New Kid. "Don't be such a Mother India."
That doesn't even make sense. How does not making fun of somebody make you a mother India? Its not even called being nice...its just plain, common, courtesy.
And the New Kid is a published author.
Go figure. :|


We were taken to an old age home today. It was nice, but I certainly can't say moving. Everyone treated them like they were time bombs, who could explode any time and start crying and narrating their life story. They looked happy enough. A girl in my class started crying. Really. She did. :|

One important point one uncle there raised was, why don't we have religious studies as a subject? Not centered on one particular religion, but a basic, common understanding of all religions. After all, religion is an integral part of any society, its important that we know about it.



He's telling us about his childhood days. :)


He's telling us a joke. Everyone was laughing crazily when he finished, but I didn't get it. Something' really, really wrong with me.


I also had to stand up and tell them how cool it was to be there! I used some really good Hindi words. :D

Also, I really, really like Regina Spektor. That woman is a genius. I love her music. Its all about Lady GaGa and Mariah Carey these days....Regina Spektor trumps all of them. Here is one of her coolest songs-




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Can I get some fire?

So on Saturday night, I was at the New Friends colony market. Its a really good market actually, with loads of good restaurants without the snobby air of it.

I was with this other person (henceforth referred to as 'Uncle') and this another person (henceforth referred to as 'Ann').
We were waiting for our juice and I looked around aimlessly. There were food stalls and magazine vendors, as I checked out their titles.
Then Uncle pointed to us, a group of three girls. Look at them, he said. They're smoking, his voice more patronizing than usual.
I resisted the urge to say "So?"
Ann looked mostly unconcerned.
Uncle looked at them, disdain clearly visible on his face.
"Do y'know, smoking is prohibited in public places?", he told us in a matter-of-factly tone.
And then I realized something-
He wouldn't have given them a second glance, if instead of those girls, there were a bunch of guys standing there and smoking.

Which they do all the time. But does anyone bat an eyelid? No.

He still had an expression of distaste on his face, as if he'd swallowed a particularly juicy fly, and I half-expected him to go over there, snatch the cigarettes out of their hands, stump them beneath his feet and yell, "Batameez!"
I didn't want to say anything or I'd be chastised for Not Knowing Anything and Speaking Without Thinking.

I was a little confused; as far as i had seen, he was a man with modern views.
Then why this prejudice?

This question is not directed at him, but to all people in general who have a problem with ONLY girls smoking in public. Or smoking at all (or anything else, for that matter).

Is this how its supposed to be, then? Even though smoking in public places is banned, when guys do it, thats alright, but when girls do it, its not? Is that it? Now smoking is a guy's domain? Isn't that sexist?

In this day and age, when we pride ourselves on having a female President, when the gap between girls and guys is fast getting bridged, where does a prejudice of this sort fit?

Merely allocating a third of seats in the Legislature to women isn't gonna do the trick. Sexual prejudice is deep-seated, and needs to be combated in our everyday lives. The very mindset of people has to change. Handing out political power doesn't necessarily mean change. Its little things like these that matter.
Now I'm no smoker, nor do I think that its a very good habit. I mostly dodge the fumes, as I know that passive smoking is equally harmful. But I don't believe in this kinda prejudice.

In 10th, in Political Science, we had a chapter- Gender, Caste and Religion. It taught how discrimination takes place in each of these three.
We study about it so much, we make notes, we get marks and sometimes even straight A's. But when it comes to practical application, we fail miserably. Then we go back to our rigid, old-age, dead beliefs (not implying that these are ALWAYS bad), wholly convinced we are right.
Theory is BASED on practical application. If after reading about all kinds of biases, being explained how they are wrong in a thoughtful, logical way, we still cannot apply it in our lives, then its safe to consider our entire year absolutely wasted.

On a completely different note, I'M GOING TO CAMP!!!
Youreka, thank you, thank you, thank you for existing! 11th June, I board the train for Chakrata, or Room on the Roof. My major will be watercraft. I shall learn all about rafting, reading water currents, paddling and all that. I haven't yet decided on my minor.
Maybe I'll be awesome at my major. Maybe that one week will be the best week of my life. Maybe I'll meet the love of my life.
Who knows? Anything can happen.

I CAN'T WAITTT!!

Whooo-hooooo!!



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I'll miss you, Ma'am


Dedicated to Brinda Ma'am, the awesomest teacher ever.



So we were a mixed section. I am, or rather was, in tenth D. Here, there were nine students with French as second language and 30 students with Hindi as second language. French and Hindi classes were at the same time, so needless to say, we were thrown out of the class, since we were the minority.
Our fun started with this. Going out and looking for an empty class wastes a lot more time than waiting for the teacher to come in the class.
Ma'am, we always went in the opposite direction so you'd find us later and we'd study lesser.
We always pretended that we didn't know the class we were supposed to be in even though you told us to be there the previous day.

We knew how you loved to talk, so if we weren't in the mood to study any particular day, we thought of topics in which we could engage you. Wines, cheese, Paris, other teachers, your students, interior designing, your travels, Michael Jackson...we knew how to make you talk. And we loved you for it. And yet again, when we had spent the entire class talking about all this stuff, and the bell would ring, you'd say "Don't make me talk tomorrow, children".
And we would smile sincerely but still do that the next day.

I never got my Get Ready to class, and you still forgave me. My French notebook was an assortment of doodles, lyrics of songs, quotes, everything but French.
You always said that you'd call my parents but you never did.

Its funny, but we actually looked forward to French. Not because we could sit back and relax and just chat. But because we could do that AND study, both at the same time.
Because you became our best friend, Ma'am. Because we never could get enough of you, no matter what. Because you gave us hundreds of thousands of assignments and made us do them while consulting us about your perfume. Because we could call teachers by their names in front of you.

We love you, Ma'am. You ask us if other children mimic you and we can honestly answer yes. Then you'd laugh and tell us to show you. And we did.
You shared with us all your experience, some even personal, and told us all you could.
We came to your house to study, just before the French board, and couldn't help gasping at your beautiful house, which you had mentioned so many times before. I still remember sitting at your beautiful terrace, talking about everything.

Yes, Ma'am. You're the best, Ma'am.


All my love,
Srishti

P.S. I never ate the chips of those sixth class students. Neither did I leave that note. Swear, ma'am.

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Set Free

I AM DONEEEE!!

O.V.E.R.

overrrrrrrrrrrr.

Well, okay, stupid MCQ's are still left. But thats just for 20 marks. On 31st. WHO CARESS??

The point is, I'm almost free from the exams which have been ruining my life since practically the whole year.
And they went smoothly. In your FACE, CBSE. Heheh.

My Leesha's back and thanks to her, the room of my wall now adorns a gianormous New Moon poster. Edward yo. :)

These few months have been very, very hard. But now, I'm ready to take on April-May-June. Which are hopefully going to be one of the best months ever.
In fact, last exam just got over today and I already snuck out to a place where minors, such as myself, are not really, umm allowed. But I didn't take part in any of the err, activities, so its cool.

Since the exams are over now and every person on this Earth who I'm even remotely associated with is very concerned about those, the obvious question now is:
What next?
What are my plans for future, and stuff like that.

Well, I, after great deliberation and negotiation, have decided to choose Humanities.
Needless to say, I've been met with a lot of skepticism, criticism and a huge amount of advice.
Many (Mostly Apoo) says that I'll be wasting my time and ruining my future and not utilizing my 'mental aptitude' to the fullest.
That I'm crazy to take this and regret my choice later.
That I'll have to live in a rented apartment with cheap momos as my dinner every night, because I'm gonna have to work really hard and will receive very little in return.
That I'll struggle and struggle my whole life and still be denied the appreciation I want and /or deserve.

All I can say is, first do your homework right and then come and talk to me.
For the first time in my life, I'm actually excited about studying something. To hell with everything else.
Of course, it is true that I'll be stuck with a bunch of dopes who'll not be able to distinguish photosynthesis from photography, but who cares.
What I'll be studying for the next two years is:
English- Everyone has to study that. I want to study that.

Maths- Which will be my death I'm sure, but its always nice to have a challenge.

Economics- Love it as of now, but lets see.

Political Science- This...should be interesting.

Psychology- CAN'T WAIT!!

I'll also be studying French and Biology, but from somewhere else.

Some may say that my choice of subjects is really not respectable, whatever, but its better than Science, where even if I spent my every waking hour studying, I'll still only be acceptable.

I met a lot of great, self-actualized people today. I wish I were like them. Hell, I wish I WERE them.

My pathetic existence never ceases to amaze me.


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