THE SLEEPING BEAST !
I must have been in class-5 at that time. It was our half yearly exam. The timing of our exam was such that it was in the second shift( our school would run in 2 shifts- 7 to 12 and 12 to 5). Till class 5 we were in 1st shift and we wern’t quite acquainted to the teachers of the second shift. So everyday a new face would come for invigilation. Mostly they were strict and just before the exam the older students who would sit with us in the same class room would guess the invigilator and pray for a lenient one to come. And every time an invigilator would walk in there would me chorus of sounds like ‘phew’ and ‘sigh’ coupled with hi-fives with friends for a lenient invigilator( which would mean more opportunity to cheat!), and sounds like ‘gosh’ and ‘shit’ for a strict one coupled with instant folding of hands and turning of heads upwards (meaning .. marr gaye yar! Ab bas oopar wala bachale ! ). On one such exam, as usual the guess who game was on, few guys were standing at the door, watching who’s going into which class and after some time the invigilator arrived! Seeing him I almost jumped off my seat! My mouth went wide open as to how a man can be this huge and monstrous, he was tall as tall could be and fat like a beast. His eyes were all red and fiery. He was looking like a monster who could devour the whole class in one go. But in stark contradiction to my thoughts the chorus didn’t sang ‘gosh!’ but they ‘sighed’ and hands didn’t fold they hi-fived! I just couldn’t understand why? How? How could this beast give a sigh of relief to the elder students? Meanwhile the bell rang and exam started.. I looked at him once.. he was sitting in the wooden chair his red eyes darting the opposite wall. I didn’t dare to see more of him. I started writing my paper. After 15 minutes I heard a loud sound – ‘BANG’ or ‘THUD’ or something like that! I suddenly looked around and to my utter surprise that sound was created by the collision of the mighty head of the invigilator and the table. Damn! He was in sleep! After a moment he cozied himself by folding his arms on the table and digging his face into them ( they served as pillow! ), and that was it! He went into his deep slumber, even started snoring. The elder students went into a tizzy! And our class’ students didn’t know how to react because this was something out of our imagination – AN INVIGILATOR SLEEPING IN MIDST OF EXAM!! Now I knew why there were sighs instead of goshs! He woke up only when the peon brought him chai and after having tea he went into sleep mode again and started snoring even loudly ( the chai effect maybe!) and once again when 10 minutes were left for exam to end so that he could sign our answer sheets ( maybe for him invigilation meant only that). That invigilator was RAO SIR. But I must must mention that he was a really nice person at heart. He never taught us but accompanied us on scout guide rally once and was genuinely helpful (only if we could nullify his snores at night)!
So this was one crazy incident of “THE SLEEPING BEAST” ... a snippet of my even crazier school life !
Also check out "SNIPPETS OF MY SCHOOL LIFE .. [1] - "THE GREAT INDIAN PUNJABI KUDI" CLICK HERE !
Hi friends. The time has come. For me. and for many of us, our 12 year long school life has come to an end ! Those magical and wondrous 12 years, full of fun, friendship, love, tears, examinations, results, sports, co-curriculars and well yeah studies too(only a little though !). And like every good thing its has to come to an end. And it has , leaving behind a flood of memories- some sweet, some sour, some bitter, some tasteless but memories to cherish nonetheless. So in this particular series on my blog I’ll try to pin-up all those interesting and crazy memories of my school life on my blog so that they are here forever to cherish! I hope all the readers will enjoy this series.
The first memory I’m going to pin-up is that of my bindass friend – Tanpreet ! She was the one who urged me to write something about our EMMS-10 school and gang of friends there and gave me this idea. So this one’s for you Tanpreet !
THE GREAT INDIAN PUNJABI KUDI !!
Our school had organized a spoken English class in the summer holidays, thanks to our principal Mrs. Shashi Bhatia. So in one of those sessions, our tutor Mr. Navin Vaid had given us a situation to improvise and speak on. The situation was – “you are in Mumbai. The public transport is on strike. Its raining heavily. You have to reach to a certain place 10kms away for an interview. What would you do?”. Everyone of us gave our opinions, none were effective enough! Then came the turn of Tanpreet. Without think for a minute she fired- “ sir I’ll push some passerby and make him fall and then snatch his vehical and go"! For few moments everyone in the class went speechless with their jaws dropped. Everybody was staring her. Navin sir couldn’t make out what to say. After a while everybody broke out into an impromptu laughter! So this was tanpreet- the punjabi kudi! Always lively, vivacious, chirpy and bubbly, full on bindass, completely fearless, inducing life and vivacity to each and every moment! After that day I never had even a pinch of doubt that her life is gonna be rocking. One could slog hours and get 90% marks but tanpreet’s confidence and fearlessness were unmatchable!
KEEP ROCKING AS ALWAYS, MY “GREAT INDIAN PUNJABI KUDI” !
PS : This series will be a collection of more such small incidents and thoughts related to my school life. Please wait for more “SNIPPETS OF MY SCHOOL LIFE”
Dedicated to all the GIRLS I’ve come across in my life. Specially for – RITIKA and NEETU ( the best girls I’ve ever met.. they still don’t cease to surprise me ! )
(CONTINUED AFTER THE PREVIOUS PART )
So she was gone, and now my position was- I was in nehru nagar with zero money in my wallet ! I had to reach my home in sector 10 after picking up my bike from fiitjee office. The only good thing going for me was that my mom and dad were out of station and there was no one to question my absence from home for such long hours with cell switched off. So then started my journey back home. By the grace of some really nice people who gave me lifts successively I reached the fiitjee office. From there I picked up my bike and then returned home. I opened the door and went in. The clock flashed ‘9:15’ . I drank water aplenty and stretched myself on sofa. My thoughts were still stuck to her. ‘she was going! Oh god she was going! I might never see her again! She changed my life and now she was going! I was lost in these thoughts for good 1 hour. I was getting restless. I looked at the watch once again.. ‘10:17’ it flashed. I vacillated for a moment and then stood up picked up the keys, locked the door kicked my bike and zoomed off. To where?? Ah! C’mon you would have guessed it- ‘durg station’!
At 80kmph I reached durg station. It was about 10:30 now. I barged into the station without bothering about the platform ticket ( there are plenty of ways to get out of station without platform ticket! ). So I ran around the platform searching for her. I saw here and there and finally spotted her. She was going from platform 1 to platform 2 via bridge. I jumped on the tracks and crossed the tracks between platform 1 and 2 and stood there at platform 2 to welcome her. She saw me. She was stunned! Her eyes went wide as she crossed me. She turned back and gestured. “what are you doing here?” . ‘nothing just chilling’ I mimed and winked one of my eyes. She placed her hand on the forehead and mimed- “hey bhagwan !”. I found a suitable position from where I could see her easily and clearly. After some time she stood up , said something to her dad and started walking towards the coffee shop. “yehi mauka hai” I said to myself. I too went to the coffee shop and stood adjacent to her... “1 coffee caffechino” she ordered. “same for me too please”I said without looking her. Dad’s always have a watchful eye on their daughters, ‘I better play safe’ I thought.. “ hi” I said.
-“ hi.. tu yahan kya..”
-“did I ever tell you that you are the best thing to happen to me in this stage of my life”I interrupted. “I wanted to say just this” I continued “THANKS” ! she gave a warm smile.. our coffee was ready.. we both took our coffee and walked in separate direction. I leaned against the pillar and kept looking at her. She would stealthily glance sometimes ( scared of her dad). The train arrived and she boarded the train and hastily settled at the window seat so that she could see me. She waved slowly. I waved back. The train jerked, started and rattled away. I kept waving at the train till it was out of sight. She was gone.. I didn’t have any of her pictures, though it was imprinted in my heart forever.. (such embarrassing cliches I write sometimes.. any ways..).. she did not have a mobile( she hated them) no e-mail id (same reason).. she mailed me her landline number from her father’s id after a week or two. I would ( still do ) miss her.. but whenever I would.. I would go to jublee park, feel her hands firmly gripping mine and we both would keep gazing at the stars.. just like that day- 2 moths after her departure..........
I was lying there and felt like tumbling down the hill and surrendered myself to the gravity and rolled down in ecstasy. I kept laughing the rest of the day till I reached home. I felt like calling her ( though she had warned me not to call her quite often.. but chalta hai ). But my mobile was missing from my pocket.. damn it must have slipped while I was tumbling down the hillock.. damn.. I wasn’t worried too much about my cell.. I was worried about her number that was loaded in my cell phone.. I lost it !
SHIT SHIT SHIT !!!!!!!!!
THE END !
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Dedicated to all the GIRLS I’ve come across in my life. Specially for – RITIKA and NEETU ( the best girls I’ve ever met.. they still don’t cease to surprise me !)
-“ NO ! FOR EVER!”
(CONTINUED AFTER THE PREVIOUS PART )
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks!
-“ but how can you leave... I mean no... stop kidding.. its just not done.. its not possible.. how can u leave now ? I mean in the middle of the session.”
-“remember I told you once, that dad is setting up his business in Bangalore.”
-“ ya” I said looking at the ground .
-“ now everything is settled there and he can’t keep jumping between bhilai and Bangalore , so he’s taking us with him. He has had talks with a CBSE school there and they have agreed to take me in. The course is same , so there isn’t so much of a problem. I’ll also be shifted to FIITJEE’s Bangalore branch “ .
-“ when are you leaving?”
-“ today at 11:30 “
-“ what the hell ?? this is crazzy yaar..”
-“ I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you earlier but you were so busy preparing for the test for the past 2 weeks, that we couldn’t meet properly and I wanted to tell you earlier today but your mood was off and I feared how you would react to this..”
-“ when do you have to reach home?”
-“ by 8:30 ..”
It was 7:30.. phew!! I stood up hastily saying- “ you wait right here.. I’ll be back ! don’t go anywhere..” and started running ( leaving her puzzled). For the next 30 odd minutes, I kept running and running around the whole of Nehru nagar stopping in between at a few places.. first halt was ‘Intimate flower boutique’ . “ I want a bouquet of yellow roses.. fast.. I don’t have much time so pllleeaasse make that quick . Here’s the advance... I’ll come back in a few minutes to collect it !” and saying this I exited the shop and started running again. My second halt was ‘HUM-TUM gift shop’. “ kamal bhaiyya kuch mazedaar sa gift chahiye.. jaldi!” I said panting. I continued –“ and please avoid ghisa pita gifts like those teddies and bracelets n stuff.. show something different and exciting !” . “ are yaar ab itni jaldi kya dhoondhoo?” he said. I was madly searching for a gift when my eyes fell on a mirror which was reflecting the opposite shop’s board which read- ‘HOT TOMATO SOUP’ . “ GOT IT !” I exclaimed... I ordered the gift and asked kamal bhaiyya to pack it beautifully and make it ready while I come back. “Aur aaj mere paas paise nai hai.. bharosa rakho.. aur agar wo nai rakhna toh ye ghadi rakho..” I said and started running again ! “bhaiyya I tomato soup pack kardo..” I ordered at the shop. And while the gift and the soup was getting ready I collected the bouquet from ‘Intimate’ and on the way back to the park I collected the gift and soup too. By 8:05 I reached the park. I was gasping for my breath. She was petrified to see me like this. Seeing the stuff in my hands and said-“ aree yaar all this now....”
-“ shhhhh...” I interrupted. I bent on my knees and extended the bouquet of yellow roses towards her, and continued- “ this might sound a bit queer.. don’t worry I’m not proposing to be my girlfriend.. but ‘WILL YOU BE AS SPECIAL AS YOU ARE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE’ “.
-“ YES !” she said emotionally and took the bouquet from my hands.
- “ here’s a gift for you..”. I gave her the gift.
-“ open it na !” I said. She opened it and took out a coffee mug.. a black coffee mug.
-“ well I know tomato soup will be the last thing you would have in this mug but.. well I couldn’t get anything else” I said and poured hot tomato soup in the mug. As soon as I did that, the mug started glowing and the hidden message “YOU ARE SO SPECIAL TO ME !” sparkled on it ( surprise surprise.. It was a thermal sensing mug which illuminates on adding hot substance.. physics is actually not that bad !). her eyes beamed with joy seeing that! And for that one beautiful smile I could run another 100 miles without hesitating. Her eyes were moist again. She placed her hands on my cheek and said- “ oh god dear ! today I wanted to roam the whole of bhilai before leaving.. you made it possible and now with soo cute gesture .. you have made my day dude ! I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell !”
-´my pleasure madame’ !”
She bent forward and planted a warm and friendly kiss on my cheek. I went red with blush.. I hesitated first, but then I too gave a soft peck on her cheek. We bear-hugged each other for a few moments.
It was time for her to go..
-“ by the way, you were out of your home for the whole day! What will you tell your dad !?” I asked.
-“ I told him beforehand only that I’ll spend the whole day with tisha. Now I’ll walk up to my place.. byee dear ...”
I kept waving at her till she was in sight ! after a while she disappeared into the darkness of the night .....
Hey guys ! this is not the end ! not yet..
TO BE CONTINUED..
DISCLAIMER :-
ALL THE EVENTS AND CHARACTERS ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY RESEMBLANCE IS JUST A COINCIDENCE.
