Trip Down Memory Lane : First Impressions are NOT Always the Best

Everyone seems to be jumping on to the bandwagon and saying that "First Impression is the Best Impression", but here is a story to contradict that and to prove that appearances can be deceptive. Or better still, my favourite translation of that "Everything is not what it seems to be like"

I told you about how I switched schools. And when I came here, there was a boy in my class, I will call him SK, who was the class leader. He was notorious, but well liked. He would stand in front of the class when the teacher was not there, and lead a general discussion. Mostly about movies, sometimes he would lead a game of antakshari with movie names. And when the general noise level would rise above a level he would revert to a basic command "stand up, raise your hands, fold your hands, sit down", and the class would quieten immediately. And if that didn't work, he'd proceed to get a scale and whip everyone on the hands.
And one day, I was on the receiving end of one such beating. I am not sure of what happened, but I think I started crying immediately after that. I was never beaten, and according to me, if I didn't do anything wrong, I would never be punished. That, coupled with the anger of the new school led to the waterworks, I think.
What happened next was unbelievable. SK came to me, and told me to go wash my face and come.
Then came an important part of the year, the class election. The teacher specially called me to the fore, and made me contest the four way contest, also featuring SK. SK got just one vote, and I felt as if he got just desserts. But the thing is, I won. I had been there for just a month or two, and I was the class leader. But I soon realised I never possessed the skill to keep a class under control, and so I quit barely week later, under the pretense that I was too new here.
 And after that, he never bothered with the whipping on me again. I'd be a bit pissed of since he probably thought me a sissy and a cry baby, but I soon became his second in command. When he wanted to go out, I was in charge. I had to write down the names of who would talk. He gave me special instructions not to write the names of the new students.
As years passed by, SK shunned his leadership roles in the class. That onus came to fall on my shoulders, except when I shunned it as well. To be frank, SK and I were in the same class for 7 years, and I was leader for 4 of these years, and one year was rotational leadership. And in these 4 years, plus one time in 11th, as a leader, I learnt one important thing. I can't keep anyone from talking. It just wasn't humanly possible. So I started letting things slide. I told everyone in my class that they were free to talk, as long as they didn't make a fracas, or make too much noise. If the noise grew to a level, I'd whip out a piece of paper and start noting names, with a threat that it will be handed over to the class teacher or something like that. I can safely reveal that I never handed in a list ever.
 SK ruled for just one year after I came, but I can honestly say that he is a better leader than I will ever be, and is one of the greatest human beings I have seen.
My first impression of him? Just the opposite. But that is real life. 

A Trip Down Memory Lane : New School

This is the second installment of the Trip Down Memory Lane series, and dates back to April 16 2001. This was the day I transferred from my old school to my new school. The reason for the shift was that we had changed houses just the previous year, and it was a lot of trouble covering the large distance between my school and our house. I kept going through a lot of benefactors for one year, but that is a story for another post, which hopefully will come today itself.

It was the day after Vishu or the next day. My mother accompanied me to the school. She knew the Principal, it seems, but that wasn't going to change anything. The class was just filling up, so I went and thanks to some girls I found out an empty seat and settled down. My mother sat there and chatted with the students there for some time, when the bell rung for assembly. Everyone seemed to know what to do, and where to go. Everyone, that is, except me. I kept trying to follow someone I had seen earlier, sometimes running to keep up with them. As I stood in the scorching hot sun, and looked around the stage, barely taking anything in, the only thing I could think of was that I was abandoned. Imagine a tiny little puppy wrenched from its mommy, and left to fend for itself in a hostile, dog-eat-dog world, that was me, that was all I could think of.

One phrase from one of my father's friends, who happened to be a teacher at the school, comes to my mind now. "This school is not like your old school. There is less control here, you won't feel that strangled and bound up here." That automatically implied less discipline, and more rowdy behaviour, and less intervention from the teachers. That was the opposite of what I was used to. I thrived in ordered situations where authority was always around to enforce order. So this was going to be more tough than I imagined. And I quickly realised that. Where back at my old school, there was rarely a sound during free periods, here the noise was deafening. I could not bear it, and I often used to go out to the corridors, looking outside at the entrance. And if someone asked me what I was doing outside, I would shamelessly reply I was missing my old school. Here there was no control over the class by teachers and the noise level was intense. But looking back, it was one of those decisions that made me who I am now, made me a better human being, and taught me a lot about how life actually is. I never said this to my parents, but that decision taught me a lot, so thank you for that.

It took me a long time to get used to the school, but it was a better teacher than any for me, a teacher of life.

Rain...the Song of Nature

As I sit here, in my room typing this, a cold jet of wind is whipping over my body. The window is open, and you can hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on the soil. Occassionally, there is a huge whip of light in the sky, followed by a roar. Such is the song of nature called rain.

And considering it has never rained here like this for months, it is a welcome relief. The heat was unbearable, and we were all sweating like anything. But that was yesterday. Today, right from the morning, it has been like this. And I am loving it. Do you know what the greatest addictive smell is? The smell which emanates from the deep crevices of the earth, when the first drops of glorious, life saving rain thrash down on it, reviving it, resurrecting the land, trees, humans and animals alike. No natural event is so commonly, unanimously accepted, relished and enjoyed by animate and inanimate beings alike. Oh, i love rain, and I wish it would never end…

But, given that is is not yet rainy season, it is not bound to last long, So the only thing to do is enjoy it while it lasts…So long!!!

A Trip Down Memory Lane...

Welcome all to the new series that is part of my blog called A Trip Down Memory Lane. We all like to relish our past. When we are alone, we sit and reminisce about those good old times, the times when you had so much fun with so little, and a time when the whole world was wrapped in mystery and wonder. We long for the times when scientific knowledge didn't reduce the amount of wonder that nature bestowed upon us.
Coming to the point in question, what I want to lay out right now is my LKG days...
Do you remember the first time you ventured out of the safety of your homes, and were enrolled in KG? I do, and the way I remember it, it was wet...I was crying most of the time. I remember just flashes of what happened. But here it is anyway...

My parents were liars back then it seems. The number of lies they used to drag me to school seem unbelievable. Here is my favourite -" You don't want to go to school? Fine. Don't. Let's just go and see if the school is still there or not. You don't have to go in, we'll just go, see it and return". That has to be one of the lamest lies I have ever heard, and you have to be pretty gullible to drink it all up. And I drank it all up, not one, not twice, but times and times again.
The first day I got there, I was pushed in and abandoned. I cried. A lot. And when it subsided, I took up the only toy I can remember picking up there-a horse, a pretty small one. I remember playing a little, then it is blank.
Here is another interesting note- One day I went to the toilet in the morning itself. And it so happens that near the toilet is an exit, and guess who I saw there? My father. And somehow, it stuck in my crazy little head, that he was going to be there every day. I don't know how many days it took for me to realise that it was all a big coincidence.
Concluding on a couple of hilarious notes:
Once I saw a couple of kids eating something from their tiffin boxes. Oh boy, it was too much. I went home and threw a tantrum, for I wanted a tiffin box bad. Why did no one understand? I needed it bad!!! And finally I got one. But the next thing was what to carry inside it. My parents decided on chips. I took the thing to my class like a king carrying a scepter, or like MS Dhoni carrying the World Cup. As soon as I was in the class, I tore it open and started munching chips. Take note that I had eaten a half hour ago from home. And in came a teacher. She looked at me and asked me one sentence. One that I still recall, and one that my parents never let me forget.
"Raavile thanne aanodo theeta???"
("Eating in the morning itself???)
One last ironical note-Back then I was scared of rain. Questions that I asked my mother daily were these-"Will it rain?" "Can I keep my towel crumpled up?" Because for me, a towel was meant to be folded perfectly and I was scared my mother would scold me if I didn't. Given that I was pretty scared of her back then. She was damn strict when I was little, but got to say this, if it wasn't for her, and her strictness, I wouldn't be where I am right now. So thank you mother!!!

A New Look

Today I come to you with a new look and name. The name of my blog has been altered, because the name I used to use was too much about 'me'. True, it is my blog, and I deserve a place to showcase myself, but it just got to a point where it was just too much. I have been always about me. I don't know where it actually came about from, but that is true. I never felt it was wrong or anything, and I fed the feeling on and on, till I felt I was the best ever. Yup, that is the truth.
And I think that every time I give an exam, or every time I do anything at all, I need to do it perfectly. It is as if the job is the very means of existence for me. And I can no longer live with that. I just became the class topper, and now I am scared if I will lose the title next semester. I know it probably sounds insane, but it is a fact. And all of my so called friends are just patronizing and condescending to say the least.
I know it is probably boring you a lot, but anyway, I will end with a few words...
"Much of our fear about life comes from thinking of ourselves as if we were a small cup of water. From that limited perspective, the loss of just a few drops of water would feel like a serious threat to our identity and security. How different it is to be the ocean ! When you're the ocean, they can't hurt you.They can take a whole tub of water from you - and it won't hurt you one bit."

Ticket to Cloud Nine

Vishu just came and went. It was not the old splendour that accompanied it, but with a couple of cousins, we burst crackers and celebrated. The best part of the festival is getting what is called "Kaineettam" ( means the elders give you money ). But the best kaineettam I could ever ask for came 2 days later. To be more precise, it came today.

It all started with a message that our S3 results were out. Oh my God!!! It has been 5 months since that exam, and that exam had it all. All the drama, and all the excitement. So much so that an exam had to be put off twice. It was in January that the exam finally happened. And there was the EC lab exam. An exam I nearly flunked ( refer my previous posts ). And as I jumped on the computer to check out the results, my heart was pounding. Will I fail EC lab? I have never ever in my life failed an exam, and I do not want to start now. All of the things I had ever worked for were on the line. I usually don't settle for anything below a GPA of 9. But now, I was willing to settle for anything, as long as I passed. I clicked on the link, and the list slowly unfolded. By now, my heart was trying to leap out of my rib cage. I scanned the document, down and down, cursing the fact there are so many other students, and I finally saw my roll number. And I saw the number scratched by its side. My breath got caught in my throat.
9.31.
The adrenaline that pumped into my blood stream now served another purpose. I couldn't control my emotions.  It was a feeling like no other. Here I was, praying to God to just help me scrape through, and here I was, getting 9.31. Thank you my King for Saving Me.
My eyes scrolled down my class. As far as I could see, not her person had got as much as me. I scrolled to check the guy who has beat me last semester. 9.13.
I was the class topper.
Finally!!!
Having topped my class for 7 straight years, I was dejected when I was relegated to second place my first year in college. And now, finally, I have done it again. And I've got no words to describe how I feel.
Oh God, Thank you so so so much, for being there for me every bit, and for saving me.
I am on cloud nine, and I never want to go down again.