THE TREAT!!!

                Treat!!!!!! Everyone loves treat. I bet no one would say “no” to treats. But isn’t it special if your teacher takes you out for lunch? I was given a treat by my class teacher during my higher secondary, not only me I was accompanied by all my class mates. It was during the month of May 2007. The last exam got over and I started walking to the school. Usually we go to school from the exam centre to see our teachers and to inform them about the exam paper. That was the last day and we decided to meet our class teacher. My class strength was 21, 11 girls and 10 boys and we met our teacher at last. He was my physics teacher and he promised to ‘treat’ us after our exams. Actually we just went to meet him and to say a big ‘goodbye’. He walked with us till Bedford and he called us to the restaurant (osi la kedacha yaaru venanu solluva!!!). We were 21 and it was too much for a small restaurant. I ordered ‘chicken fried rice and we shared our foods. We ended our lunch with a dessert. The bill was several thousands and our sir paid it (naamaku oru adimai sikkitan!!!). We parted our ways from Bedford after handshakes and goodbye hugs. Good memories are those which keeps us going, isn’t it???

FRIENDS FOREVER...

        Nobody wants to lose their friends, they wouldn’t dream too but that is the worst part about life. “Change is permanent”, it’s very much true and we are forced to continue our life without them. We continue to switch from careers, places and curriculum's, we make new friends but we remain close to only a few whom we like much and we take oaths not to forget each other and to remain in touch. The saddest part is only a few follow their oaths and the others forget our old friends. I wouldn’t blame them they might have a tight schedule and have difficulties in work place or would have found more compromising friends. A best friend is one who is there for us when we are happy, sad and who takes part in mischievous activities with us. A true friend is one who is there for us even if the world is against us. Friends are precious and the relationship gets stronger by fighting. So don’t lose contact with your friends and regret later. Let us form an unbreakable bond with the glue called friendship…

        Dedicated to my final year friends……..

The funniest day of my life!!!

                             Rewind…… I was doing my final year higher secondary. My school was much aware of the safety precautions and they installed a fire extinguisher in every classroom. The fire extinguisher hung in front of every class. It looked like a scary doll hanging in front of new houses. They installed a clamp to hold on the extinguisher. Unluckily, the clamp which was installed in front of our classroom broke… The extinguisher was kept inside the class as it could no longer be hung out. My classroom had three rows and four columns of desk accompanying with chairs. Only two persons can share a desk. We had a cupboard which stood at the front corner. The extinguisher was placed on top of it. We use to have lunch in the class and almost everyone was there except the hostellers. Krishna would play with the extinguisher after having his lunch. To us it looked different and everyone would watch him. He would carry the fire extinguisher to us and will make noises pretending that the white smoke came out. He would mimic the exact noise of an operating extinguisher. It continued as a routine and he kept on doing the same. One fine day, Krishna was holding the extinguisher as usual and he was scaring people. It was February and we were busy filling our slam book.

“Krishna!!!Did you fill my slam???” Geetha shouted from a corner. Krishna turned towards her and I don’t know how it happened but the white gas spread out. Everybody tried to get out of it but soon the place turned into a mass of white powder. I saw a white mist surrounding me and I couldn’t see a single soul near me. I was irritated by the smell. I went near the window and was peeking out, trying not to inhale the bloody CO (Carbon monoxide) powder. Krishna was still there trying to put out the extinguisher but he couldn’t. He took it and ran out. He didn’t hold the tip of the extinguisher’s pipe and due to the pressure the pipe swung forth and back, up and down. It made circles wherever he carried. The mist cleared from the class . I was the only one who got stuck inside. Everything turned white including the floor, desks and chairs. The powder settled everywhere in the class. My friends came inside and Krishna was back too. He was white allover from his hair to his shoes. We began laughing at him. Everyone burst out of laughter. We laughed like we never had. The funniest part was he inhaled CO and was taken to the clinic. He had a stomach wash and was normal after a day. We blamed the school for keeping the extinguisher inside and luckily no one was punished for it. It happened to be a day which was the funniest of my life.

VALENTINE'S DAY

        Today is a special day. Yeah it’s the Valentine’s Day. Hope everyone would be aware of that. We may have varied opinions about love. I would say that love is the language of the heart. Love is a key factor of our life.

Many would be gifted to enjoy this day with their beloveds. The rest of us too have a chance for sure. We bother about the colour codes for the day. It’s a day that is most welcomed by the youths. The day may connect two strangers and at the same time it can also unite the broken hearts. It’s a festival of hearts. A day meant for love.

My first trekking experience

           It happened during my third semester holidays. It was a warm sunny day. I went to the ground after my breakfast. My friends were discussing about something. I interrupted their conversation. Have any plans? …. “Can we go to marana parai?” Kevin said… Everyone was interested and we started walking. We were a group of eight. We had to walk three miles to reach the place. We travelled through tea bushes and reached that place at last. Marana parai as the name indicates is the rock of death. It’s a view point made of a single rock. We spent some time there.
Viki asked “Can we get down?”

Why not?  Vimal said.

          I thought they were kidding. After some time everybody got up and started to get down the hill (Are they mad??). I had no other go so I went with them. Kevin came near me and said “Take it easy man we will come back after getting down a little further.” It was walking through a steep (Nearly crawling). If I just misplace a step that’s it I will be down there dead. I was cautious on my every move. My friend Kevin helped me every time when I was afraid or slipped. The place was covered with rocks and bushes. I carefully snatched the bushes and slowly got down the rock. “Is it over and can we go back?” I asked curiously.
“We have come here before” Suresh said. 

“Yep” Prince replied. 

“Let’s go further” Vishnu commanded.

           We followed him. We ended in a place and there was a rock and a tree. We should get down the rock and climb up the tree and reach the next rock. If we slip from either the tree or the rock then we will go down for sure. I can’t do this I said. Everybody encouraged me. I had no choice. Six of them went to the next rock. Kevin was behind me and he was watching as I got down from the rock. I made it at last. I wondered whether I could go back!!!!  There was a slope and I started running. It wasn’t so steep so I ran swiftly. Kevin shouted” Stop! Stop! Stop!!!” He was standing below and watching me. I knew he was saying something but I couldn’t hear anything. He came near me and tried to stop but I didn’t. He took his hand and caught me firmly. What was he doing? He asked me to look down. I watched down and nearly fainted by looking at the deep valley. I thanked him but he was angry and scolded me. If he had not stopped I would have been dead by now. The other tasks were easy to complete. We go down the rocks. 

The place was dark because of the trees. It looked like an abandoned forest. We were afraid and I searched for a weapon to protect ourselves and I ended up with a log. On the way we saw a cave and we were so afraid and we ran past it. We reached a place where there was a small stream. We went up by following the stream and there was a beautiful falls and the place was so cold so no one was interested to get wet. The grass was wet and we finally made it to the tea bushes. We went through them and finally saw a road. We went to it and sat down for a while. I saw a black thing in my right leg. It was a leech and I took a stick and managed to get rid of it. Leeches are blood suckers and you don’t feel their presence unless you see them. My friends got alert and everybody began to search themselves. Vishnu, Kevin and Prince were also the persons who got bit by the leech. We carefully removed the leeches from their body . We couldn’t see a single person on the road. We couldn’t recognize the place. We walked, walked and walked…. We got lift from a vehicle and we reached our homes. I was happy to be back at home. I couldn’t forget that day. The experience was like hell. It was worth remembering for a life time…

THE QUEEN OF HILLS

      

   Everybody in the world is tired of their work. We wait eagerly for the upcoming weekdays. Sometimes we are so much tired of our work and need rest at least for a while.  “Vacation” is the medicine to cure tiredness. Usually people visit theme parks and hill stations. They mostly prefer hill stations because of the fresh air and the climate prevailing there. It sweeps every one of our feet.

The Nilgiris, one of the most popular hill station has many spots were fun is not a limit. We get thrilled by the places such as Lamb’s Rock (Coonoor) and Doddabetta (Ooty). Doddabetta is the highest peak in the south. The lamb’s rock has been pictured in many films. If you step front to see the altitude then we may nearly faint. Ootacamund (Ooty) is famous for its botanical garden. You can see almost a million plants and trees.

 Every year they organize the flower show, were you can see a thousand varieties of flowers. Another valuable place to visit is the rose garden. Colourful roses can be seen for almost a mile around. There are almost 2000 varieties of roses. You can’t keep your eyes out of it. The childrens park and the boat house at Ooty are places where you can enjoy with your family. The Sims Park (Coonoor) organizes fruit show every year and you can find many new varieties of fruits. The fruits which you haven’t heard off!

The Pykara falls and the Pykara boat house located at the outskirts of Ooty are unique of its kind. Mudumalai located at Nilgiris has an Elephant Sanctuary. It’s famous for elephant rides. You can see the wild animals there by safely riding on the back of an elephant. The Queen of the Hills has many places and everything is different of its kind. It would be a breath taking experience, I bet. The fun is unlimited and don’t miss to visit it.

GET-TOGETHER WITH FRIENDZ

         

              Have you ever missed your friends? Hope everyone would have. We keep shifting from places. They cannot be with us every time but their memories can. My school days were the most exciting of my life. This blog is about the get-together we had recently. We organize get-together at least once in a year and will spend a day with our beloveds. I got texts from my friends about the get-together. They asked me to be at sharp 10 in the morning.  The location was Bedford which was near my home. I got up at 8 and reached there by 9.45. I waited there patiently and I texted my best friend” Where are you?” She told that she almost reached the place and will be there in few minutes. At 10, I could see a familiar face walking by, I recognized it was geethanjali my best friend. She greeted me with a smile and she asked about me and the college. I replied her and we were chatting for some time. We waited for the others to come. She told that Parghat will come a little later. Parghat is from Ooty so naturally it will take a hell of a time to cross those bends and reach Coonoor. I enquired about my best pal Julia and geetha told me that she is on the way.

 After sometime two of my friends came. One was Julia and the other was lokeshwari. They shook hands with me. We four decided to walk some distance because the place was a bit crowded .I asked them about the plans they had for the day. The clock ticked 10.30. Parghat came at last and joined us. We 5 went to suicide point (To end our lives….lolz). That was our favourite place. The hot spots for get-together were my school and the suicide point. The suicide point was accompanied by a cemetery. It was a good place for taking pictures. We started to the place. It was a big walk. We went in rows me, geetha and Julia together with Parghat and loks behind or we shifted randomly. On the way my friends spoke about their experiences and I shared mine with them. We reached Cemetery. The place was abandoned and the gates were locked. I wondered how we could get in. Geetha went by the side and she climbed up the wall and jumped in. She was one heck of a girl. Her pet name was monkey because she involves herself in activities like this. She called us in. The other girls were not interested to get in. They found it difficult to climb up and waited outside. Geetha called us in. We went inside and she took us to a grave and she took a coin from her purse and kept it in the grave. She asked me and Parghat to touch the coin. We three pressed our hands against it. She yelled “Come out David!!! We are waiting for you (Is she nuts???). I wondered who the f **k was David. Parghat pointed his hands somewhere and I looked keenly and saw a name board (IN THE LOVING MEMORY OF DAVID).Are you nuts??? I asked geetha. She told that she could easily make the coin move by calling the person’s soul. She tried times but the coin didn’t move a bit. She moved the coin by herself and pretended that it moved by itself (Enna koduma sir ithu!!!).

          Loks and juls shouted from the outside. We couldn’t hear the voices and we got a call suddenly. Loks in a disturbed voice said” Runaway you fools!!!”.The call ended and we ran to the end and got out by another way. We walked through tea plants and finally found them. They were laughing to glory and we were fooled by them. We finally reached the suicide point. It’s a single rock and everybody was afraid. We managed to take pictures there and we traced our path back. By the time we went back to Bedford it was almost half passed two. We were so tired and hungry. We went to a restaurant. Geetha and I ordered chicken fried rice. Everybody ordered their favourite dishes. We bought two large packs of ice creams and asked for five spoons. We ordered blackberry and butterscotch. We mixed up our spoons in both the packs and within a short time the whole place was a total mess. We left the restaurant and reached Bedford again… We shook hands and departed. Geeth accompanied me as we have to go by the same path. After a while the road diverged and showed two paths. She said bye and walked towards her home. It was a pleasant experience. It’s a chance to meet our friends and share many wonderful experiences with them. I miss them. Love you guys!!!

PS: The pictures don't relate the post.

MY SCHOOL

           

              I did my higher secondary in Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School located at Coonoor. The Nilgiris. I can’t forget the days of my school life. They are good memories which are worth remembering for a life time. It was a co-ed school and I studied in boy’s school up to X std and entering the school was a great experience.
Actually I am a bit reserved and I shiver to speak to girls. The girls  used to come and speak and ask me to be friendly to them. It was a Anglo Indian School and there was total freedom given to everyone. There were a few rules but they could be broken very easily. I learnt many things in my school. I easily got rid of my reserved nature. Students are usually seen in pairs in and out of the school. But mostly it was not misused. I would say that such type of relationship between a boy and a girl is essential to know about the opposite sex very well. The teachers were so much supporting and they encouraged us till the end. The favourite part was the treat given to us by our class teacher during the day of the last board exam. I couldn’t forget that day still. All my friends (girls) were crying and everyone was so sad about leaving school. We had a great lunch there (pavam sir!!!)and our sir paid the whole amount. So nice of him. I still love my school and I visit there often. I am proud to be the alumni of stanes. Stanites rock.

MY HEART BLEEDS

This is the continuation of my previous blog. If you haven’t read the previous one then please scroll down…

The tuition continued a few more days and after that we both planned to stop it and continue with our 12^th studies as we had a tight schedule. I used to go to math tuition daily in the morning at 6. It was difficult to get up so early in my place. Usually the mornings are very cold and you could see mist all over covering up. I managed to go anyhow. She also joined the tuition but I couldn’t speak much there because the tuition was located at the center with both our houses on either end. Whenever she sees me she greets me with a smile and says ‘hi’. But I never responded well to anyone.  I lost many friends due to my reserved nature( Even good figs!!!!!).At school they used to tease me with her. I liked it but my instinct said that it may lead to some problem.  Yeah I was right. The next three months were the crucial part of my life. I hated it like anything. She didn’t speak with me for a week. I don’t know what happened but I was just ignored. Totally!!!. Nov 11^th was her birthday. She gave sweets to everyone but at that time I was busily chatting with my friend and she skipped me and went. I turned to her but she pretended as if she didn’t see me. My heart skipped a beat. What did I do???. I desperately wanted her friendship. I knew something had had happened and someone should have told her about my love. I was not angry on anyone. Months passed by. I decided to speak with her I just went to her and said ‘hi’. She didn’t say anything. I raised my hands and looked at her beautiful eyes and said “Friends?”. She smiled at me and shook her hand and went off. Her hand was soft and cold. The next day she spoke to me as before. We became the best buddies. I then realized that fights are essential to grow up a strong relation.

            The day of farewell came at last but the sad part was it wasn’t a farewell actually. Because of the problem which was created by my seniors we weren’t allowed to enjoy. The public exam got over. I did well except bio. I enjoyed during those holidays. She gave me a number but that was her father’s. What could I do with it? I messaged to it. I didn’t get a reply and once I got a call and a bold voice spoke “Who is this?”. We had an intro before so I spoke without getting tensed. I inquired about her and he told that he will text me her number.  I thanked him after the call ended! and I typed a message and sent to her. She replied and we spoke like never before. I had 100 free msgs per day during that time and It wasn’t enough. I texted only to her and she texted only me. We spoke about everything from our fight at school and about ourselves. I wanted to see her but it wasn’t possible because I was at Trichy and she was at Coonoor. She joined college and I was waiting for counseling. 

Her msgs started to decline. She would chat but it started to decrease rapidly and at a point it stopped. Now even if I txt her she will reply very rarely. We will meet during get-together’s and will have a nice time but after that she will become busy. She has many friends in her college and my bad luck is that she fell in love with her college friend. She never told me about this. Once during my third year I invited her to my house for my birthday. We spoke and had a nice time and I walked her to some distance to give her company. It rained and she had an umbrella and she tried to hold it to me also but she couldn’t reach my height and I got it and raised it high so that we could fit into it. She was very close to me and we spoke about college life and then finally we reached her house , she said bye and left. I proposed her the same evening. Her answer was a big NO. I tried to convince her but couldn’t. She told “See Mani, you are my good friend and you always will be”. Then after some days I came to know about her love and stopped disturbing her. She is my good friend now also. I still love her. She and her memories will live throughout my heart forever, till my last beat…

Do you know how it feels when you see the person you were dreaming off???

     I can still remember the day I met her first. Wow!!!  I went for the entrance exam conducted for high school. I was seated at the last table. The whole place was dominated by girls. The place was filled with colours and I could see good looking girls all by my side. When we were all seated and about to write the test suddenly a parent entered and followed by her I saw a girl and she had an oval face,loose hair and she was wearing a blue and white chudi. She was looking super cute. I fell in love the moment I saw her and my heart beat rose to an uncontrollable limit… I was sweating!!( In Ooty? Am I kidding?? But that’s LOVE I suppose) . I wanted to be with her so I decided to write the test properly and I took away my looks from her. She sat beside me and she began to write fastly. I didn’t write so well but the maths problems were very easy and I could solve almost all! The test got over!!! They collected the papers and I desperately wanted to join here hoping that she will also join. By seeing her face and by the way she spoke with her mom( In fluent English) I concluded that she will surely get through this. They called one by one and showed their marks and interviewed them. The hype was too much that I was about to leave the hall(vada poche!) . But I waited for an answer, she was called before me and was given a group. I don’t know what group she will opt ( bio or commerce or computers). I was waiting, waiting and waiting. At last they called me(Thank god)and the first mark they showed to me was chemistry I think . We had individual questions in phy,chem,math and gk. I got 2 or 3 out of 15. I was shocked to see my mark and I was ashamed of myself. The co-ordinator of higher secondary he spoke at last stating that my math marks was good and I can be given first group( Bio). I cannot believe that it was happening. I was at ‘cloud nine’ and I marched out with joy. By the time I left she was nowhere, I searched everywhere but couldn’t  see her.

                I was waiting for the day to join school and it came atlast and I went  to school. The school was very near to my home(walkable distance). I marched towards school and I enquired about my class and I was directed towards it by a staff. I entered and sat on the first bench(I was a big fruit in school!). I was nervous because it seemed like a new world to me. The bell rang and the students entered the class and I was amazed to see her entering my class(Is this dream or what??). I pinched myself a thousand times and I was overwhelmed by the joy. She was wearin a blue skirt ,white shirt and a navy blue sweater. I couldn’t get my eyes off her!. But I was seated in the first row and I was not able to turn often. The first period was general intro as usual and during the break time I was sitting quiet in my bench. Two girls approached me. They looked at me so curiously. I changed looks and didn’t turn by that side. The girls approached me and asked my name. I looked at them. One of them was fat and she was wearing a thick glass( soda bottle!) and the other was white and had good looks. They introduced themselves. Suddenly they started speaking to me as if I was their close fren. I was so much troubled by their approach. It was a desk where two persons can be seated. The lean one sat next to me.” Mani looks cute na” this was said by the lean girl. The moment I heard it my heart froze(crazy fans!).I wonder how girls get this much guts. Then I realized that the problem was with me. They became my good friends and they usually walk with me after class to bus stand where we separate to our houses.

                I was waiting to speak to her. I wanted to be familiar to draw her attraction towards me. I was active during all class. Maths class was my favourite and my math mam guided me very well. If anybody gets doubt in math they will approach me( most of them were girls!)and I taught them what I know. A year was about to end and I haven’t spoken to her. I was waiting for the auspicious moment and the day came atlast!. The exams got over and we were ready to face the next tedious year and it was holiday time. My mom asked me to go to tuition but I was not much interested . The tuition teacher was my mom’s friend and he told my mom that two of his friends are coming to my tuition . I enquired my mom about their names. She didn’t remember it but she told both were girls. I told my mom if my friends are also going then he would be a good teacher and somehow convinced her( My mind said she will be there in tuition). I went to tuition the next day and I was astonished to see her. The tuition got over and the other girl who came called me and asked me to come with me. I went with them. On the way they both were speaking to glory forgetting that I was also coming with them and her friend asked me to join the conversation. This time I spoke boldly trying to suppress my fear. The time was almost 8 in the eve. Imagine a boy walking with two girls and I was shaking inside. The next day was as usual but the other girl didn’t come. I developed courage to speak to her but couldn’t. Everything ended in vain. Then after tuition I came out she was waiting for me. She asked will you come every day and I just said yes. She told me that the other girl will not  come hereafter because her parents were arranging  tuition somewhere nearer her home. I was worried whether she will also join her and asked her in a polite manner “What about you?” she smiled and said “I am not gonna go there”. She also told that she liked this place. We became best buddies then. Actually we will walk speaking about classes and the most of it will be spoken by her. Once she took my hand and forced me inside her home and she introduced me to her mom and dad. Her mom is the exact photo copy of her. I have seen her during entrance itself by I didn’t notice much as I was looking at her only. But her mom was so nice she spoke well and after having tea and a chat for about 2 hours i left their house with a big smile….