Those Days of our Lives

I will be leaving Mumbai in a few days. Every time before I leave, it is a practice to visit the school, our teachers and staff. The name of my school is Smt. Sulochana Devi Singhania School and boy, am I proud of it! It is the best ICSE School in Mumbai (I feel that way, always will). I have studied there for fourteen years, right from Junior K.G. to Std. 12. And those were the best days of my life. Yet! There was a time, after I gave my ICSE board exams when I strongly resented everything about my school, mostly because all my friends chose to study in Junior Colleges instead of continuing in my school. My dad black mailed me emotionally and persuaded me to such a great extent that I cried a river. But that did not change his mind! (This is where you pity me). And the first year there sucked! (I don’t make friends..It just happens or whatever:S) But later during that year my friends joined me, well, they took admission here and Std. 12 was simply brilliant! We were a gang of maybe ten? And we all loved each other’s company so much! I miss that the most. Well, we all are in touch and whenever in Mumbai meet each other, but it isn’t the same. I miss English literature too! Shakespeare’s works! Julius Caesar and King Richard II. I could read them over and over again.

The Throw ball era:
Only we know the way we troubled our professors, with all our hue and cry wasted at least fifteen minutes of every period begging them for what we called “free periods”. Why did we need free periods? To play throw ball! And the boys played football obviously. When I look back at those times, we were happiest when a teacher granted us our free period (It was indeed hard earned). We needed our ID to get the ball from out P.E. teachers. “ Chal Avantika, bhag na! Time waste ho raha hai”, she said. After all, every period was for just half an hour. We ran like crazy till we had the ball and reached the ground. I was what they call “katcha limbu”. How embarrassing! I was always picked last. . (Here’s where you pity me again). While playing all was well for maybe fifteen minutes. There was a girl among us who wouldn’t let the game finish without starting an argument and calling the opponents cheats. I do not remember a single time when we have played the game till one of the teams won. It was so annoying! She hated losing. She started arguments and always left the game abruptly. In the beginning, we tried convincing her so much but she ALWAYS left. After a few more times we didn’t even bother. Man! Those were the days! When I think of that today, I know that those petty arguments made things more interesting. Our throw ball era wouldn’t have been memorable if it had not happened regularly. Exactly why I do not remember the other times I have played with my friends that clearly.

The Punishments:
Class 12 C, my class, was reputed to have been the naughtiest, most mischievous class in the ISC section. ALL our subject teachers have walked out of our class! Our Computer teacher has walked out THRICE! Once, we gave her an impression that we did not respect her at all. Well, maybe because we did not listen to her when she asked us to keep quiet and kept disrupting what is supposed to be a disciplined atmosphere. She got so mad that she walked out without telling us that she was and locked us within the class from outside. We were all so taken by surprise that all we could do next was laugh (One more teacher down!). One of the boys’ walked to the door and failed to open it. “Eh! Woh door bandh karke chali gayi!”, he said. Dear Lord! What a blown out of proportion situation to deal with. We knew what was coming next. Apology letter! Our second one to our Computer teacher, I believe. We must have written several of them during that academic year. We have made our teachers so mad before and when they see us today they tell us how proud they are of what we are doing.

They have only one expectation: “Please keep coming to school whenever you are in town. This is what keeps us going you know, ex-students coming and visiting us. Every time we see our new batch of students we keep wondering about what the earlier batch did.”

We love them so much! Unfortunately, most of the teachers who had taught us have now left the school and have been replaced by new ones. What we fear most is that even if we do keep visiting our school there will be no one there to meet. The cause of visiting the school would be lost. And that disappoints us the most.

Is PINK really the way to go?

Before I forget! Hail Rafael Nadal who won Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive time! And “I told you so”, to my friend who had to give me Rs.500 yesterday. :P

It is raining. So I and my friends decide to get drenched for some reason…for fun they say? And we had fun. We were on our bikes and I had to put petrol when my vehicle switched to reserve. So our next pit-stop was the Hindustan Petroleum Pump. I had to wait for I guess around fifteen minutes. There was a huge queue for the ridiculously ‘high priced petroleum’. Suddenly, something blinding struck in my eye. It was brighter than a thousand suns (courtesy Iron Maiden). And it was pink. Fluorescent pink to be precise. A man of the age of maybe twenty-five was wearing it? Boy! Did I have a hard time controlling my laughter! What was he thinking wearing a pink shirt in the middle of the day and that too carrying it with so much of confidence? Sadly he did not manage to steal all the limelight. Shortly, there was another aged man (looked like a father of two children) who wore a light pink, checked shirt, with white stripes. Hahaha! Behold, before I could completely size this man up, came another one wearing a dull pink t-shirt. Oh! I was left wondering, then and for hours longer. What happened to men? When did they embrace the color pink into their garments? Are they trying to make a fashion statement? Are they introducing it? And if someone is introducing it, why are other men bothering to join it? Do they believe it brings them sex-appeal? Pink isn’t metro sexual color, if that’s what they are calling it. More like a homosexual movement? For someone like me who wouldn’t recommend anything pink to even women, pink is inexplicably ghastly on a man.

A word to mankind, pink does not look good on you! It applies to pink t-shirts, shirts, turtle necks, coats and trousers (Warning! Before it comes to that) likewise. Pink makes no sense on a man, and doesn’t attract the female species. Oh! But if you want to get rid of a girl who constantly is a pain in your ass, pink IS definitely the way to go!

P.S. Spain just had its first victory in the Euro Matches. Kudos to David Villas for his breathtaking and startling goals! Flying kisses to my darling Cesc Fabregas for the header that won the match for Spain 4-1 against Russia. All in all a great treat for the eyes!

P.P.S Take cues from the Axe Effect advertisement. I somehow seem to appreciate it on many levels despite its lewd nature. :S

Juno

Rarely does one look at movies with perspective…I have hardly ever been to a movie with high expectations and a need to analyse…I have rarely wanted to assume the position of a critic…I believe that a critic has the power to murder good movies, easily influence the audience into believing that even a decent movie is nothing but trash. Critics ARE human beings and what they portray with awe or disgust is but their opinion of a motion picture that has been produced with a lot of effort, money and talent combined. Critics walk into the theater with great expectations and there are very few movies that meet them. And there are very few movies that make a common viewer become a critic. Juno is one such movie. And if you have watched it, God bless you!

I nearly missed it. By the time my exams were over, the movie ran in selective theaters and that too only very late into the night. But lucky was I to have Inox run it at 10 a.m. on the weekends! And with two friends I saw probably the most moving and exceptionally well shot, movie of the year 2008. It will not make sense to narrate to you the story of Juno. I’d rather have you watch it without even the slightest of knowledge about it.

Being eighteen years of age, I could not be burdened more with responsibilities which involve only academics, and a bit of household work that I find myself forced to do because I live in my uncle’s home. Juno features a sixteen year old girl who turns out to be pregnant with a child that was a result of unprotected sex with a friend from her own school (Bleaker). The level of maturity displayed by such a young girl when she decides against aborting the child and giving it up for a couple that is desperate to have one is appalling (well, it is only a movie, but when you are one with the story that IS how you feel). Even better: She approaches her father and stepmother with the situation only after she has prepared a future for the child (impressive!). Surprising: Her parents don’t see it as much of a situation. They are pretty proud of her preparation and are both very supportive. Her father helps her out with the adoption formalities and her stepmother with the technique of handling pregnancy. Seems, this kind of thing was pretty common there for if I was in her place, I would be writing from my grave:S. The couple that Juno sees (Marc and Vanessa), on reviewing appear to be a rich family that does not disguise its good nature. On further review Juno finds out that Marc plays guitar, is a musician, loves horror movies, practically a man that she would love her child to have as its father. It is apparent that she likes the couple more because of the kind of guy Marc is. Vanessa is portrayed as a woman in great desperation to have a child. Later during the picture, she observes Vanessa in one of the malls playing with a child and comments: If she had a chance she would steal the child. Marc is portrayed as a character which is deceitful by nature. Juno realizes this when Marc plans to divorce Vanessa but hangs on to her decision to let Vanessa adopt her child. And through all this she even realizes that she is in love with Bleaker despite his reputation that originally kept her away from him. (The orange tic tac scene was quite a sensation.).

The movie is a flavor of “family is always behind you”, “First impression isn’t the last impression” and loads of sweetness and sarcasm combined. With country music as a background score and a finale to a delightful experience, it creates appetite and leaves you wanting for more!