Chennai Stalkers Inc.

Something happened today.I am confused as to how I should classify it-it was equally funny and harassing as well.And every girl in India or I must specify, Chennai would have more than one first hand experience like this.
I was at Kilpauk. I had some work near Pachayyappa's College, and after I was done with it, I was walking to the bus stop, when Mr Hunk comes by. Now I wouldn't call myself very very great looking, but I can look reasonably good when I want to, and today was NOT one such day. You can picture me, after 8 hours of college and 2 hours of travel. My hair was a mess and with smudged eye make up, I was looking pretty yuck. I was wearing normal clothes-denims and a white kurta, AND a stole. I mean, how 'provocative' could that be?? I'm explaining in detail because I'm trying to analyze what makes these guys act so weird at times.
So this guy comes along in his bike.I think it was a Bajaj Splendor. He had this unshaven look (turn-off No.1),dirty clothes (turn-off No.2) and well..turn-off No.3 is something that Im unable to find words to explain..maybe I should say his demeanor was sort of..scary. Whatever.
This guy drives his bike close to the pavement, and says,
"Excuse me,miss..miss".
The goose that I am, I stop and turn and say,
"Yes?".
Hey, I thought he wanted directions!
So he goes,
"Can I drop you?"
I mean, he said that!Just like that!! No I did not make eyes at this character. I did not even look at this guy!!
But with politeness that I cannot rid myself off, especially in such occasions, I say,
"No, Thanks" and continue walking.
But hey, we are persistent, aren't we?
The guy drives his bike at speeds ranging from 10kmph to 40kmph (It was varying proportionately with my walking speed), he multitasks.
Driving,Smiling and saying,
"Please ya, let me drop you ya, please ya" (repeat repeat repeat)
Now, I'm afraid and humoured and frantic and scared I'll burst out laughing. Oh, AND I'm looking beseechingly at any human being in the vicinity who is a spectator to this scene. Unfortunately, they were all men. You cannot get any help there. And any girl will vouch for this too.
I stop and tell the guy, "See.I DONT want a lift!!!"
And I amaze myself at how demurely I said that. I have a dictionary of swear words that I have picked from my brother and when I needed them, I went blank!!
It reached the next level, where he goes like,
"Please ya, I beg you ya, please, Im begging you"(repeat repeat repeat)
This tiny voice in my head, also called the female intuition, is asking me to run. But where??Then the one way road proves a blessing. I turn 180 degrees and walk away, to fading yells of "Please ya,come ya".
PHEW!!
I call my brother and the moment he hears me stuttering and stammering he arrives quicker than usual, and only when I sit on the bike, I feel safe.
This might seem humourous, I meant it to be that way. But as I sit and type, I realise that a lot of other things could have happened too. This is not a take on the stalkers of Chennai. Or on some characters who seem to achieve some sort of gratification in giving lifts to unknown females who don't want them. It is more of a voice to the mute spectators who stand and watch while these things happen, and sometimes, they keep watching until it is too late. They have this notion that, when they don't know the harassed party, they don't need to bother. Wrong notion. Next time you do see something similar, Do speak up!! Who knows, you might become some distressed damsel's hero :)

Girl-Rantings..

It all started when I was a kid. Say around 5-6 years of age. The boys in the flat would play the royal Indian game- Cricket in the compound, and the girls would cheer. Note that I had no idea what the game was about. I only knew that when the ball came at you, you hit it hard. One day, I walk to my friend Karthik and tell him that I want to play too. He sizes me up and says no way. After a lot of cajoling (which involved giving up a few WWF cards and other things that I don't remember now) I was allowed to field.
"You stand here ok. When the ball comes, you catch it and throw it to me, ok? You must not move from here ok?"
The buggers made it look like fielding was the most important thing to do, and I lapped it up. And the ball just wouldn't come my way, and eventually I got bored of it and called it quits. If I still harbour hatred toward the game, it is because of this.
Then I do the schooling, and they teach us - Boys play with cars and wear pant-shirt. Girls play with kitchen sets and dolls, and wear frocks. Daddy goes to work and earns the bread. Mummy stays at home and cooks food. Brothers pull sisters' pigtails. Sisters always cry.
Through junior high, after heavy doses of Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Secret Seven and other similar books, my friend Anisha and I were convinced that we were 'Tom Boys'. We would play punching games, wear only shorts and tees, stand in the tables in the class and touch the fan, crop our hair real short, play with the street dogs, pooh-pooh at dolls and call the girls sissys. But we were still girls. We couldn't understand why then, but eventually we did, and became normal.
We were doomed to be girls for life. (realisation->horror->acceptance)
Fast forward to today.

"Ma, Ill be back by 10."
"Alone??Get someone to drop you!!!"

Peak hour traffic and the car is not doing what it is supposed to do-move. My brother gets out to push it. I get out too. And get blasted for it. "Are you crazy??You're a GIRL!Sit inside."

All of this is reasonable! But what got me worked up was the following incident.
Final Sem MBAs sit for campus recruitment. A renowned UK based MNC wants to hire students for the post of Area Sales Managers. 6 boys and 2 girls sit for the job. Aptitude test- cleared.
GD-cleared.
Personal interview goes thus:
Questions about the GD.
"You like bird watching? You know what is bird watching?"
"You are good at debating? How about an extempore?" Which included further cross-questions 'Oh so you have a Boyfriend?No?Why did you say you did?I can read emotions yaar!'
After a few more cases, the guys say they like me.(HA!!)
"But..The job is risky, it involves long hours of travel, deadlines..stress..you game for it?"
What do you think?Of Course!
The good final list has my name, along with two boys' names.
Elation. Publicize it. Fix dates for treats. Its the joy that you experience when you are told you have clinched the job..You should be there to experience it.
The week end passes in bliss.
Following Monday, the Placement co-ordinator summons me.
"Gitanjali, These people called me up..They say they dont want a girl for that position."

Saying 'bye bye'..our way!

I was talking with Sandy on the mobile phone when the battery killed itself (not being able to withstand any more 'mokkai'..goes without saying).

So I reached for the land line, to 'say bye'.

Me (G):Hi de..it got cut, so I called to say bye.
Sandy (S): As usual, you and your mokkai phone di (giggle giggle)
M: Ye right (grunt) Sandy I dont know ANYTHING about Strategic Management de..We ll clear na?
S: Chi its very easy de..Learn Competencies and Comparative Advantage and crap around..42 pages..chill!!
M: I hope so di..oh oh oh! Sandy!!!!
S: Enne di????
M: Are you online??? (giggle giggle)
S:Aama sollu..fb eh?
M: (heh heh heh) this guy has commented on my status de!(gloat gloat)
S: Ahem ahem .. wait Ill go check.Aah (giggle giggle)
M: Macha we are SO hopeless.
S: Adha pathi nammele sollikirom (giggle giggle)
M: Ye right..oooh hey how is that IIT guy de??
S: He is out of town de..worst po!
M: Free free..see see Deepika Padukone splits with Ranbir Kapoor
S: About time de...But I liked Wake Up Sid!
M: That guy is just so GAY Sandy!
S: (laugh laugh laugh)
M: I mean..What DID she see in him??!!
S: (laugh dying)Hey girlie..see this..jog openings in Trent !
M: What Trent?(totally clueless)
S: Tata Trent de! (exasperation) They own Westside...those people!!
M: (WOW!) Oooh whats the profile??!! Something to do with Marketing eh?
S: Yes yes..we ll get free kurtis too!(giggle giggle)
M: (More WOW! WOW!!!) I am Liking this de!!! (giggles)
S: Seriously de..we could ask them for final year project! We can do something in CB concepts!!
M: At Westside? Like..what colours are the 'in' thing in which season?
S: Ye..something like that..why not de!Sounds nice!
M: Ah I dont know Sandy..so how are those baby pigeons in your balcony?
S: They are SO cute!Hey animal girl..you could still do a CB project on something to do with ANIMALS!!
M: Uh huh..?Like?
S: PEDIGREE!!! (in all seriousness)
M: Erm Sandy, they sure will have animal experts for THOSE! And I DID NOT do an MBA to taste Dog food!!(GRR)
S: (loud loud giggles)
By the way, those giggles are pretty loud, my mum hears them.
M: yes yes ma, Im just saying bye..
S: Yaeeesss aunty (giggle) say hi to aunty de!
M: huh huh (weak grin and vigorous noddings at mum who is pointedly looking at the timer)
S: Ooh girlie, Im joining a new gym!
M: Woo!! Why? Whats with the old one?
S: This has a better deal de..
(mother clearing throat very loudly)
M: Okay macha I got to go now de..My aatha is giving me the looks..
S: (giggle giggle) ok ok de..chal, ciao, bye bye!!

My brothers mobile phone kills itself.So he calls to say bye next.
Bro: Dai macha, cut aaiduchi da..seri vera prechane na sollu, paathukalam da..mm, bye dude. (hangs up)

Cheers..to all of us!

Looking back, these two years would have just swooshed past, but right here, right now, it seems so strange that we have just a week of classes more to go, before we break for the exams. It is a mix of emotions- happiness, warmth, elation; for having met some of the finest people I've ever known; and this heart-tightening feeling...that most of us will not have as much time as we did for others, or be as close to one another as we have been all these days!
And thus, since August 20th, 2008, we have come this far ! Made friends, teased, fooled around, became 'best' friends, fought with one another, all the hostel masti, the sleep-overs..combined studies, class bunking, getting blasted by faculty members,standing up for one another, 'being there' for each other..Growing Up!! Each one of my 58 classmates- friends.. Every single person has made such an impact on me, I will miss each of you very much!
This is my own personalised way of saying it; so.. here goes :) (p.s-There is no particular order I'm following)
Swaroopa (Roo) - One of my bestest friends here :) She taught me how it is possible for a happy-go-lucky kid to actually top the class- hard work always pays!
Deepika- My room mate and good friend :)She taught me how important friends are, how much miracle a hug can do :)
Nisha- what the word 'lady-like' means..she personifies it :)
Badri Another of my very close friends..on what it means, to just 'be there' for friends..no matter what, this guy is one person I ve been able to turn to, at any hour of any day :) thanks bum :)
Ramnathan- Another very close friend .. On the power of 'never giving up on friends'.. he has been the 'rock' :)
SandhyaAnother super cool friend :) On how, when you want to change, and make an effort, and eventually do, the world gives you a standing applause, and there is nothing better than that :)
RagavanOn what the term 'genuine concern' for friends means.. this guy .. guru ;)
Preethi On what is.. Unconditional love .. love u Pt :)
PriHow.. Smiling through your tears, colours a different picture :)
Priya(=Chess)How humble can an International CHess player get? Not more than this girl!
VigneshOrderliness=super marks!! His Exam answer papers are fit to be worshipped!
ShankeySensibility, how much more a person can achieve, by talking so much lesser!
ArchanaThe Mother Teresa of our class.. She would help anybody in distress!!
AravindOn how to affirm and re affirm one's view.. Stand by what your heart says!
DavidWho knows the greatest one-liners and the 'timing kalaichifyings' , who makes you feel so special..David, you rock :)
RameshMy jogging partner..Smartness personified! And the venn diagram has another circle eh, Ramesh?;)
SwethaTime manager! This woman.. has time for everything!! TT, books..and major roamings!
BalaOn hard work :)
SaiJananiMiss Networks!!
AbhishekOn how to say .. NO!!
SuriaCreativity .. Personified!!Keep doodling, dude :)
AndalOn family, loves and the 'i CAN do it' attitude :)
ShobanaThe cherub of the class :)A good heart is all that it takes :)
SubaOn what it means to be a 'friend in need' :) I ll never forget that weekend da :)
KarthikaOn how exactly a girl should behave.. modest, calm, no-noise types :)
SelvaThe knowledge bank of the class.. How important it is to be well read :)
JayaOn smiling through everything :)
KarthikDignity, Diligence, Leadership personified :)
RoopashreeThe most self-confident girl Ive known here!
Saravanan SrMr super-smile :)
Saravanan Jr'Possessiveness' ;) How hard good friends are to keep!
RekhaThe most photogenic girl here! :)
ThivagarOn how much fun a student can have sitting in the last-row :P
Ramya Another mix of brain and beauty :)
Lakshmi NarayananOn how, with a little confidence, a man can do anything!
RajanOn how, anything can be thrown away, for achieving your dream in life!
SyedAnna paasams :)
SumanaOn how a cute smile can make your day!
SuvarnaThe perfect, docile girl-next-door :)
HarishThe computer wizard.. 'use your strengths, and use them well, help all with them' :)
Suganya On how one can get places by minding one's own business :)
SriniWho does the best in all that he does, and eventually IS the best in it :)
SrideviWho can have ultimate fun and still top the class..anything is possible!
SripreethiFirst row damsel, most sincere girl I ve known :)
KamalFrom whom I learnt what it means to 'command respect.. it is not demanded, it is obtained' :)
GBWho has mastered the art of winning ;) but those who ve seen him practice for it will know how :)
BiswaThe guy who brings the best best lunch!!!
LawrenceMr Gold Medal :) stormy beneath the surface.. You should hear him in his 'kalaichifyin' element outside class ;)
PavithraThe head strong girl, another good friend, she can defend her stand , in ways nobody would ve known existed!
SinthiyaMiss Hairstlye ;) now that is important too!
RajiMeow! The girl who introduced me to blogging :) taught me many lessons on diplomacy :)
Praseelawho proved the proverb.. 'God helps those who help themselves'
DurgaOne of the most diligent students :)
AnanthuMaster of Multitasking ;)
BanuMiss Pretty pretty eyes!!
AbiramiWho believes, 'wherever you are, do best what you do' :)
Kumar KannanUsing your means to achieve ends.. :P He uses his 'finance boy' status..for what not ;) but thats a secret :P

Love you, all you guys!! :)

The week that was...

Last week had so many things happening..and suddenly..it was over!! And now I look at myself-suddenly, a teeny bit more sensible, mature, wiser..a summary and..the learnings:
* Started off with me, having the worst-ever attack of cold, a horrible shoulder sprain, and a huge task that I had volunteered to do, for the class (ie the placement brochure), and a deadline for the same. Now visualise this: Im stuck alone in the hostel. Almost everyone has left for the weekend. And there was a LOT of work to do..Now I have this thing about asking people for help. But this situation was too pressing. It was like I was inside this cube that was pressing on me from all directions. Awful.
Learning: The world is full of nice people :) We just need to look out for them :) Suba, my classmate ditched her Sunday plan, sat up with me through the night, and helped me through. Harish drove all the way to college, on a Sunday, again, as soon as I made this, frantic, desperate phone call, and we DID finish it!! Love you guys!
*Over a 30 minute lunch, I learned one of the most valuable lessons for life. We have all heard it.. 'Give everything your best'.. But only when we hear it at the right moment, from the right person, it hits you in the head, and you go, ' Ah.. This was what everybody meant!'
Learning: No more resentments. No more, 'Jeez what am I doing here????' Its all a waste of time!
* One of my closest friends left India to go abroad, to study. It was like, suddenly, everyone close to me was leaving! It was downright depressing. Saddening. And even though I tried to act grown-up and everything, it plainly was not working. Distance..is bad. You cannot meet up as often, you cannot talk as often.. And more than anything, there was this nagging question; 'Will this be the end of everything?'
Learning: 'If you lowe someone dearly, let them go..If get back, they were always yours; otherwise, they never were!' And anyway, thank God for the Internet :)
*We had a MAD session in college.. Make A Difference :P We invited all our faculty over, and we took turns and spoke a few words about each of them, and trust me- we were so happy talking about them, they were so happy listening to us; it was all smiles.. *sigh* :)
Learning: To MAD in someone's life, everyday :)
Thinking about all this, I felt so alive :) Thank God for this life :)*touch wood*

screw the education system :(

A couple of days back, I accompanied my brother to his Anna Univ Engineering counselling. Now Venki my bro is a classic example of MPD..lol..he was oh-so-tensed, but tried to put on this brave front, and ended up with a fever. He has his priority list set, and wanted Computer Science really bad ('I love programming..Im born to code!') but it was very sad, because his first and second choice colleges did not have any CSE seats remaining, so he had to settle for IT. All prepared, we stand in the queue, the family, for moral support, and we were, lets put it this way, listening to everyone else talk, simply because we had nothing else to do. So picture this. My brother, getting constant updates from friends..'dai machan, 3 seats left in Meenakshi da', my mum, who goes like..'cha, whats the point in having scored so much! No CSE..we should have paid up somewhere and got a seat..you know..XYZ aunty's sister's daughter got into CSC in ABC college paying 4 lakhs! What is the point in earning so much money..who else can I spend it for..' and on and on..!And I was just looking around, fretting about how old I have got, because I really felt old, looking at all the kids around..('man so young these people are.. oh great..Im aging :(' )
So then I was 'chanced to overhear' this girl's dad on his mobile. It was very convenient because she was standing right behind us. 'Sollunga maaplai, no problem! She will surely get computer science from PSG or CEG..Being an SC ST carries with it its own advantages!' My brother turned around and his jaw dropped like..like it would have hit the ground if not for all those muscles and everything else holding it in place. I mean, here is a girl, who is just as intelligent as my brother, who has scored the same marks as him, but is allowed to study in a college that any other equally intelligent student from a different caste will not even have in his priority list, simply because it is way beyond his score!
I know many of you reading this would have had first hand experience in the same. But well, what is the point talking about experiences right now. The question is what can be done regarding this??!! A good many private college (not those that sell seats) take in students on merit basis.For instance, SASTRA, Tanjavur, has just one criteria for students applying to it-a score of over 1100 for 1200. Colleges like Symbiosis have their own screening tests which only the best of the lot clear, and so do IIT and IIM, but the caste-shadow-ghost-evil spirit makes its presence felt everywhere.. and how! Finally, everybody, except those benefited by this, everyone else cribs about it. I mean..why why WHY cant we adopt something like the western education system??!! After one entire semester of a paper called Research Methods, and cramming this detail answer on how to do a questionnaire, my internship guide asks me to frame a questionnaire. My first practical attempt at it. I took one entire day with 3 re-do's. I mean, why dont we have any practical learning!! A few zoologist friends from the USA work in zoos through the summer, because such practical exposure will only get them into a good college. So how many of you guys have done anything like that...? I believe every module taught must have the students experiment it themselves. But this needs to be initiated from primary school.We might say how important this is, but we are not at all accustomed to this method and we might rebel..Whatever..Maybe I might just teach my kids to not make the same mistakes I did..to love derivations; to understand equations..and to revel in the magic of numbers..*sigh* OMG!!Did I pen that last line??!! Okay guys, lets bench that for now..Bring out the exam guides people..You shall PASS!! cheers!

Serious Thoughts

It had been a very long time since I saw the Nat Geo and Discovery channels. There was one point of time when I used to be really crazy about those.. Wildlife and conservation and the like.. At one point of time all I wanted to do was to live in the jungle like Mowgli. No laughing please. Then somewhere sometime, a lot of *well wishers* drained that idea from my head and here I am. MBA. Any way, no regrets. But I got to make many many friends who also had this 'wildlife-y' streak, and one of them is Ram (www.ramnathshekar.com ). Ram is one of my very good and famously famous friends. And he had worked with Nat Geo on King Cobras, and they made this documentary movie of which he gave me a copy and hence broke my sabbatical. Super. :) It is an excellent movie. Highly recomended, They air it very often on Nat Geo these days, and please do watch it!! (If you are not snake-scared that is). It touched on a lot of issues and one of them was the man-animal conflict. Man encroaches into animal territory, animal is homeless. Animal wants place to stay and food to eat. So it does what it has been doing since it had evolved. Hunt. Only that now, animal has no choice but hunt only available prey- domesticated animals. So man gets wild, and kills the animal, and one fine day, its extinct.There are some movies that get you thinking. This was one. Because, this is one issue that everyone can relate to. Especially everyone at the new SSN ladies hostel. (Strictly no laughing)
Our hostel had no inmates, except, ofcourse, us. And sudenly, on one blessed morning, this family of monkeys came to stay. And trust me; one of them was huge!The Macaca rhesus (right spell?); the ones you find in the temples. Bless them. We never had a problem with them..we kept to ourselves, and so did they. Until one fine day, when they toppled our big blue dustbin, scavenging for food. okay..forgiven. Next, they raided the bathroms. God knows for what joy. They messed up the entire bathroom, toppled those bins, and what not. Forgiven. No damage caused. But it reaced the climax when did the same thing when X* was in one of the loos. She screamed and yelled and cried and brought the roof down. Well who could blame her. She had this super mega size primate-o-phobia. Which has only increased with time. Poor thing. But this was a day before we left for vacations. I have no doubt the watch men would have tried relocating the monkey family by now. But the problem is that relocation almost always never works! They have tried it tim,e and again in Delhi, and in Chennai too, with dogs. But animals accustomed to one environment will will most certainly come back o the same. The only permissible solution is to do the birth control thing to them, so that the adults will not have any progeny, and the blood line will die out. Sadness.

why girls like guys

So here it goes..
(This is an original)
1. The way they ARE there, no matter what
2. The fact that they will move mountains to just see you smile
3. When you put your head on their shoulder, everything is going to be okay
4. The way they hold your hands and cross the road
5. The way they make you believe you ought to audition for the Miss World crown
6. The way they feed you ice cream from their cup
7. They share chocolates!
8. They are okay with you crying into them
9. You dont have to act brave while watching a horror movie with them
10. The way they relish whatever you cook for them
11. Because they will hit anybody who makes a pass at you
12. The way they put their arms around you that sends across the message..’my girl!’
13. They way they sing for you
14. They always manage to get tickets for your favourite movie
15. The way they always make you feel like you are the centre of their world
16. The way they fight with you and make you cry
17. And the way they make up with you, and make you cry again
18. The way they introduce you to their friends
19. The way they say ‘my baby’ and you are instantly transported to heaven
20. The way they put up with your pms and mood swings and tantrums
21. The way they travel 40 kilo metres with your favourite pasta ‘with extra mayo, please’ because you are not in the mood for roti that night (this one is for Pri  )
22. The way they tuck your hair behind your ears
23. The way they pluck flowers off the road to give to you
24. The way they kneel and mouth ‘i love you’

A few reasons why guys like girls

1. they always smell good, even if its just shampoo.
2. The way their heads always find the right spot on your shoulder.
3. The eas with which they fit into your arms.
4. The way they kiss you and all of a sudden everything seems right in the world.
5. How cute they are when they eat.
6. The way they take hours to dress but in the end its all worthwhile.
7. Because they are always warm, even if its minus 30 degrees outside.
8. The way they look good, no matter what they wear.
9. The way they fish for compliments.
10. How cute they are when they argue.
11. The way their hands always find yours.
12. The way they smile.
13. The way you feel when you see their names on the caller ID after you have had a big fight.
14. The way they say 'Lets not fight anymore' even though you know an hour later..
15. The way they kiss you when you do something nice for them.
16. The way they kiss you when you say 'I love you'
17. Actually, just the way they kiss you
18. The way they fall into your arms when they cry
19. They way they apologise for crying over something silly
20. The way they hit you and expect it to hurt
21. The way they apologise when it does hurt
22. The way they say 'I miss you'
23. The way you miss them
24. The way their tears make you want to change the world so that it doesnt hurt them anymore
source: the internet.
But its here simply because I think it makes a lot of sense :) coming up next, why girls like guys :) please feel free to add your points for the same :)

Where NOT to do an MBA :P

I am doing my MBA. I study at SSN and I love it. It has excellent infrastructure,the culture rocks, its ranked among the top ten private colleges in India, and when I say 'I study at SSN' people go 'Oh wow!SSN?!!!' But it's basically an engineering college. There are about 2000 undergrads, as compared to say 200 post grads studyin here.Now its not for no reason that everybody suggests you get your MBA from, lets call it, an institute that specialises solely in MBA, rather than, say an engineering college like mine, even though its considered one of the best. The most obvious reasons are that we must comply with University rules, we cannot tweak the syllabus to gain that 'extra' something that sets us apart from people from places like TAPMI,BIM,Symbiosis, etc (I wont even mention the IIMs). But there are a lot of unsaid reasons too. Some that get us really wild, and some that are hilarious.
For instance, this friend of mine from another engineering college, refers to the MBA students in his campus as 'aunties and uncles'. This irrespective of the fact that most freshers in the PG course would be much younger than him, because he is doing a five year course. The other day he was telling me, 'Hey guess what, our college aunties are playing a cricket match!' Now I never gave that comment much thought until yesterday, because yesterday, WE had a throw ball match, with some of the engineering kids for spectators, and one of the chaps there suddenly reminded me of my friend so much that I had to call for a time out; I was suddenly feeling very very yuck!
Then again there is the case of mistaken age differences. When we approached some third year engineering students to part with their ball for us to 'practice' for the throw ball match, one of the girls gave us one whithering look that made us feel like a cockroach cluster, and said, 'First years right???Wait.It wont kill you.' Then one of us said,'Excuse me..We're PGs' and then Miss Attitude became Miss I-am-your-faithful-junior and apologised with many 'sorry sorry akka!!!'s. Ye, 'AKKA'. Now thats another word that has me terrified these days. I mean, am I really getting THAT old??!!!
There is also this incident that I wish I'd forget asap. A friend and I used to discreetly but, I must admit, quite shamelessly, go 'sigh, sigh' over this super cute guy in our bus. 'Hey we're both wearing blue today' I'd whisper into her ear when he got on the bus, and she'd snap back sayin 'even I AM! Look, BLUE watch'. once or twice we think he caught us giggling. And one day his bag brushed my friend when he walked accross, and he turned to say 'oops..sorry' and my friend was gloating about it for a week. But I should admit, it was not just her. And I wont tell you all the crap I did, simply because this is MY blog :P Then it was exam time, semesters. First semester exams for first years of all streams and we see our dream boy walk towards the same examination block as us! Now we did know he was an engineering student, but we were hoping against hope that he'd be a fourth year..or, atleast, a third year..?! He recognises us, even tries to smile, but I think it kinda froze there, after he saw our expressions. I leave the rest to your imagination as we have conditioned ourselves to forget those terrible, disgusted-with-ourselves times :P We gave up even looking at other boys after that :P
So here we are, reformed :) And my advice to girls , do I need say it ?? But the boys, nothing for the boys :) My class boys are loving it here, Im sure you would too,if you re a guy that is ;)

The Choice

Like the day and the night
Memoirs of one always follow the other.
She regards them both as equals in her eye
The day-bright, sunny, scorching at times
Tears produced, like sweat; they cleanse once again.
She basks in his warmth, a lone flowering bush
She owes him her happiness; he has been generous with it
He dotes on her, he hurts her yet he cares for her, she knows.
She needs him just as much as he, her
Yet the sun never can and never will
Claim such a flower his own.
As he fades, the dark night she awaits,
In his envelope, she finds comfort.
With every moment, new mysteries she uncovers
She learns the languages of the moon and the stars…
She is soothed by his touch
His murmurs make her smile
She raises no questions, she feels secure
She settles into his embrace; cherished, content
When time plays his rude game once more.
As dawn breaks, her world is sunny again
With the sun, raise questions on her gratitude and loyalties
And now she is asked to make her choice.

Therefore, she lives

With today, the genies and fairies have failed her.
As the clouds gather, she braces herself,
Revelling in the silence, before the storm.

Her sun, his warmth he has extinguished
But not before he has left her singed
Sliced her with his words, she bleeds.

For the sun chose her himself, not her; him
He willed her to be a lotus, his own,
To rise and fade with him; she was smothered.

Independent she is, the gay wild flower,
Her mistake she acknowledges; amateurish, hasty.
And she forgives herself, and she forgives him.

For the storm may come, but she will remain,
Rooted firmly, she knows, this too shall pass
She may wilt, but she will blossom again.