Careless Whispers

Opening Scene:
Class 6th, a day after the 2nd term exam. Maths answer sheets being given back to check the correction and get parents signature. Screwed up majorly. (worst ever, except once in 11th – but ranchi +2 schools, have this perversive attitude of setting the toughest possible papers, and u did very well if u managed to avoid red)
Next:
Hell broke loose @ house. Dad, back from another draining day at office, let me know wat he thought of my effort. Bhaiya was the consoling factor, he told me he’ll teach me & despite his 10th boards (a big big thing for a young student), he took out time for me, gave me tips, helped me with my course. Instilled in me a liking spclly for maths, a subject I liked to hate. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned to him leave alone thank him for being there and pulling me out from the slump. If this day would not have happened in my life, I might not have been where I’m now. Thanx dude, thanx a lot.

3rd Scene:
Maths class (1st class of linear equations), me sitting with my frnds, both chatting and not paying much attention to what was being taught in the class, and I was caught doing so. The teacher humiliated me as much as was possible ethically (? nah), socially (? nah), legally, well that’s the term. She did and said all that a sadist teacher would do, she even (almost) made faces at me while shouting at the top of her voice. After a looong lecture she told me to come on the board and solve the problem that she was doing, now I wouldn’t have normally but her acrimonious talk + her asking me to do it again and again got on to my nerves. Thanks to bhaiya and the inspiration drawn from the previous scene I had already done this chapter, I went to the board finally and solved it. The change of expression on her face and the change in tone of her voice that happened in a nano second, is one of my most satisfying moments till date.
4th scene:
The same teacher in the parents teacher meeting at the end of the final term, showering praises at me while dad was beaming.

I never looked back since then, the past was history and I did not want to repeat it. Thou I never came 1st in class, (u have to start early for that) but I was no longer a looser. In the next exams (class 7th 1st term) I broke into 1st three, and earned a Cadburys Dairy Milk from my cousin sister (I’m getting nostalgic thinking abt the small things in life with which I associated so much pride and pleasure).

That was that this is now I’ve come a long way "certainly not the star eyed teenager, walking into kgp station for the 1st time". I just hope that I can keep my self-motivated for watever I want to do coz since then there has not been much that I’ve really craved for and worked for which I could not get. And this is true for every one if u’ve really set ur heart to it half the battle is won. Reminds me of an sms that was doing rounds "whenever u feel low, depressed or useless ...take hope! Cheer up! Remember that u r the same sperm that once won a battle against a million others!"

25 days since my last blog, too long a span for someone who had become quite fascinated with the blog world. Hope that the next post wont have to wait for so long, and now back to the topic...

CAT is ready to jump out of the bag yet again, as 20th November (CAT 2005) nears different people have different reactions to it, some think it’s a lost cause, some others are confident of belling it, well this time I’m not absolutely sure which way I’m heading. Last year I had almost placed my self in the former category, but then on the D Day I realised CAT is actually not very difficult to crack. The endless rounds of card games, the lengthy hours spent for Illu, all took their effect, I screwed my strongest section (and it wasn’t even hard). It was tantalisingly close, a classical case of "So near yet so far". Buddha said of my (rather, our) failure, Justice is served, after all u cant crack competitive exams like JEE/CAT without working for it.

This year the scene is no different, I’m trying again to pull off a fast one, adamant to prove Buddha wrong, I’m working hard to crack CAT without working hard. Lets c wat TIME has in store for me.

Officially 1st October is my b’day, and boy did I celebrate it in style… My being a 5.5 day/week office, Saturday nite is the only time I can party, and that’s wat we did.
Arnd 10 of us had gone to totos, the garage, its one of the best pubs in mumbai, and for me totos has become almost a regular affair. Just like every other time we did not get place to sit, I had 4 half bottles of beer when we left. Thou we did not go back home but decided to go to J.W. Marriot, the 5 star hotel in Juhu. Going there (to any 5 star for that matter) for the 1st time I did not know where the lobby was (where the others were). We went to the ground floor, while the guys were waiting on the 1st. Some company called Intelnet had thrown a party there and not realising it was a private party we went inside. A DJ was playing, ppl, (including lots of grls in dresses u usually see only on page 3 and movies, and think they cannot be for real) were on the dance floor, with disco lites talking full effect it looked perfect. When the waiters served us, we did not know how to react, so we simply picked up some of the triflings. Later we realised the situation, so without making much fuss, decided to catch up wid the others. After a little while wen others decided they have had enough and started to leave 3 of us (booming wid confidence at the ease of it) decided to gate crash into the party again.
We had lots of fun we got bolder by the minute, came to the dance floor, fooled arnd a bit, asked a couple of grls for a dance, finally got an opportunity with 1 hot chick. After a while I realised that the booze too was on the house, I started wid a beer and moved on to White Rum (bacardi), the last I remember of the day is that I was dancing wid this grl and then every thing is a blur. I came to know that after the 5th peg I remember taking, I gulped down lots more, according to one of the guys "vo (me) sincerely pee raha tha".
If by any chance I would have got the bill, my entire bank balance would have had to go. Fortunately nothing of that sort happened. We reached home by 5 in the morning, I was totally wasted and have no recollection of anything that happened after abt 1 30 – 2, fortunately did not do anything stupid with anyone there. 4 - 5 guys had to finally pull me out of the rickshaw and throw me on my bed, I have twisted my ankle a bit and there is a lil pain around the knee. This is the 1st time it has happened to me that I’ve got so drunk and I’m sure it’s the last, But the day was worth it, a day to remember (whatever lil I can recollect of it).