Random thoughts

We've always had the raw end of the deal- all of us deprived students whose colleges are miles away from the city. Early mornings, awful claustrophobia-inducing buses, long hours of cramped boredom in the afore mentioned, prolonged torture if we happen to miss them, more difficulty in getting out of college than most prisons, having nowhere remotely interesting in our 20 mile radius even if we do manage to escape, and worst of all... terrible food- that we're stuck with till we get back home- late in the evening!!.. Meanwhile, ppl in city colleges sail in and out of their gates in comfortable cars and bikes.. after commutes of not more than ten minutes. They never have a dearth of places to visit around their college. And the worst bit- they get brilliant food even inside campus! Things like chocolate fudge cake, brownies, pizzas, pasta and galaxy bars are commonplace for them, not to mention cold coffees and iced lattes. we on the other hand have to make do with corn puffs, sambar saadam, bajjis swimming in oil, tea served in tiny steel tumblers and icky flavoured milk!

But, finally,.. after nearly three years of this torture.. . *drumroll* .. the winds of change have begun to blow in campus. They've brought in a mini-bakery stand and plopped it alongside our flavoured milk icebox. A whole new menu has been introduced, which at first glance looks way too ambitious for those whose baking expertise had been limited to our not-so-wonderful puffs. But, strangely enough, most of the stuff is pretty good. There are multi-coloured cakes, chocolate bonbons- that are referred to as anything from 'choc ball' to 'choc bum bums'! , doughnuts with deliciously sticky choc icing- albeit a little too chewy, apple pie that's actually pleasant, cute looking burgers with little cherries on top, yummy pizzas - whose vegetables are only slightly raw, and ooh even the little fruitnik bottles of apple and mango juice. I know none of these sound very great.. but when you're as deprived as we've been for so long, anything remotely edible and fairly hygienic seems like manna from heaven! Needless to say, the usually packed canteen is now so stuffed, that walking through it is like swimming through a sea of hands legs and familiar faces. And ooh, the best bit? All of the food is brilliantly priced- bonbons for rs.5, apple pies for 7, pizzas for 8 and burgers for 10!!.. ha! Beat that over-priced-city-college-canteen-that-sells-coffees-for-40-bucks!! J

Whoever came up with the phrase ‘fun in the sun’ ought to be hung, drawn and quartered. Summer hasn’t even peaked yet, and already I’m fantasizing about showers of rain, thunderstorms, snow, hail, blizzards … anything’s better than the agonizing torture of being slowly fried to a crisp in the Chennai heat. Some of the typical symptoms of the i-hate-summer-and-wish-i-could-move-to-Alaska syndrome include-

Not being able to survive for more than ten mins without the ac……. Living primarily on gallons of super cold water, and tons of ice….. spending all your canteen money on ice creams and juice… actually drinkin the ‘recycled’ college water when u finally run out of cash ….. taking looong luxury baths- till your fingers and toes get all wrinkled …. And being willing to sell your soul for a tall glass of deliciously iced chocolate milkshake.

Sittin in the college bus, trying desperately to sleep while waves of hot and extremely dusty air blow into my face, mopping my brow every few seconds , and fanning myself in a futile attempt to reduce the perspiration, I remember a saying, ‘girls don’t sweat, they glow!’ , and smile bitterly as I watch half a busload conclusively disproving that statement! The heat also seems to have addled the already soft brains of college authorities, who’ve very smartly decided to make us write our end sem exams in the latter half of may- in the afternoons! Like we don’t have enough things to worry about.. now we have to include prayers for a seat under a fan, no power cuts, and long lasting deodorants!!! Take the recent semester practicals for example- our lab is supposed to be air conditioned, due to which, the windows can’t be opened, and there aren’t any fans. Unfortunately – and predictably- the AC conked out, leaving us with a terribly hot and stuffy lab in which to execute horribly tricky programs. Luckily for me, I was seated kinda close to one of the two rickety, revolving ground fans. So, every 12 seconds, I’d get a breath of reasonably cool air, before the fan turned away again. Not surprisingly, I spent more time counting down the seconds till the fan turned to me, than typing out hundreds of line of code. And then they wonder why very few people managed to get the outputs!!!.... so much for summer being the best season! Anyway, I shall leave now, im late for my hourly bath :) !

Time is a tricky thing.... It crawls when u keep fussing about it, but when u happen to take your eyes off it for a moment or two, - it swooshes past you. We're now at the end of another year at college. It seems like only a week ago that we first got here and were cribbing about the fact that we'll have to waste four years of our lives at this dump. Well, three of those years have gone by in a flash,.. and somewhere along the line, this 'dump' has started looking a hell of a lot more attractive. All the petty annoyances and old grievances are now accepted with a tolerant grin. we now know the campus as well as the back of our own hands, have come to terms with our canteen and have actually begun to enjoy the food, we've learnt how to handle our heads of dept, how to manage our attendance, how to wheedle ODs and marks from our profs, have grown to love our rickety old buses - so much so that, we find it difficult to comfortably doze off on the rare occasion that we do get a good bus, we've got an " you stay out of my hair, I stay out of yours" agreement with most of our profs, and have found our own little niches in college society.

It's a big bad world out there, and we're all just getting comfy and settling down in here. I for one would definitely not like to leave. Added to that is the overall tension of what to do and where to go next... which makes me wish all the more that I could just freeze the clocks for a while.. and not have to watch helplessly as the sands of time trickle through my fingers while I try in vain to ebb the flow. ..
The last day was one filled with nostalgia, especially for our seniors. They all came dressed in flashy saris and ties, sporting cameras, and taking dozens and dozens of photos. The previous 2 years, I witnessed this ritual with indifference, wondering why on earth they'd want to remember college, and was certain that I would never make such a hue and cry on my last day. But this year was different. Watching them, I felt a strange tug at my heart, and I can well imagine doing this next year. Sigh. I hope and pray that this last year literally crawls past, but somehow, I think its going to rush by even faster than any of the last three years.. I guess we'll just have to make the most of it, and cram as many happy memories as we can into the next 365 odd days.

... my favourite author of all time would undisputably be pelham grenville Wodehouse. Born over a hundred and twenty years ago, he's written 18 musical comdies, and more than 90 hilaarious books.. his sense of humour and style of writing are truly unique. true, his stories are not gripping ... no lives are endangered every few seconds, no ghosts and ghouls and monsters of the night,. no gun fights and wars and stealthy murders.. no adventures in exotic lands,. no nail-biting suspense.... true, he does include a lot of romance,.. but his are not the type of books that you will sigh and get all moony-eyed over, nor will they reduce you to red-faced sobbing into a wad of tissues.. any tears that do well up will be a result of laughing too much!! .. wodehouse's books are the sort u can pick up at any leisure moment, .. the kind that will brighten the dullest of days and lighten the foulest of moods... his writings are generously laced with irony and effortless wit. his characters are described in exquisite detail,.. each with his/her own peculiarities in speech and manner.. your eyes cannot fail to light up and you'll find yourelf smiling as you read about their antics. irressitible as his books are to me, i find that relatively few in the city recognise his genius. most of my age-group think that the books are boring(?!!) and actually prefer (uggh!) Sidney Sheldon over him ! ah well.. to each their own i suppose..

Wodehouse has written a number of connected books, with similar old favourites... probably his best known characters are Bertie Wooster- affluent, too-helpful a nature, a strong magnet for trouble of any kind, who spends half his time trying to break off engagements with pretty girls intent on improving his mind...- and his good old faithful valet Jeeves,- calm, serene, extremely critical about bertie's wardrobe, super-efficient, with a huge brain (that bertie attributes to fish! ) that provides a solution to every possible predicament, and buckets of the ol' feudal spirit.... some of the best wooster books are "what ho jeeves", "thank you jeeves" , "joy in the morning" ....Another set of favourites are the inahbitants of the spectacularly beautiful Blanding's - owned by the lord Emsworth- a wooly-brained, genial old man, who's life's joy is pottering among his flowers, his prized pig 'the empress of blandings' , and his constant war with his head gardner Angus mcAllister.... his sister Lady Constance- stern and frosty, constantly exasperated by Emsworth's woolly-headedness,.... Sir Gallahad the eternal knight in shining armour, the stately butler Beach, Freddie Threepwood, and the motley crowd of guests always at Blandings. the stories at Balndings usually involve several attempted roberies- diamonds, pigs,- anything thats not nailed down!!, separated young lovers, broken hearts, hilarious schemes, and several false identities.... another favourite is Psmith ( i quote- "the p is silent , as in phthisis, pshrimp and ptharmigan" !!)... the perfect gentleman, and with the most absurd and yet endearing manner of speech.. and best of all is "leave it to Psmith", where wodehouse packs both psmith and blandings castle , resulting in one of the most entertaining fiascos ! :)

apart from these, there are several other hilarious characters, such as monty bodkins, bingo little, uncle fred, sally, urkridge and the rest... wodehouse also writes several stories set in america. he describes in gory detail the life in a motion pictures company, the gang wars, the street fights, the boxing matches,.. in a supremely light-hearted tone.oh well.. i could go on and on about his characters.. but, is shouldn't bore you.. for those who've read his work... well you know all about them yourself ,comrades... and for those who havent yet experienced the delight of listening in to the conversation of 'eggs, beans and crumpets' .. or who've never read an account of jeeves' opinion on bertie's purple socks... all i can say is- hop on board, and learn to look at life funny side up!.. life's not meant to be taken all that seriously... after all.. as the genius himself said - "life's a rum thing.. a rum thing inded!! " :):)

When first I awake, on a dewy morning,
Brought alive with the sound of myriad birds’ singing,
Attired in golden yellow, with a hint of saffron,
I slowly unfurl & reach out toward the sun.
Above- an expanse of blue- a sight I’ve not forgotten,
Dotted with tiny clouds, like little wisps of cotton
I watch bees & butterflies, as around me they hover,
Partaking of sweet nectar, they flit from flower to flower.
Soon the sky darkens; the sun goes down- a glowing ball of fire,
The evening breeze whistles around me, as I begin to tire.
Slowly, and oh-so gently, to the ground I fall
Weary and sore, I answer sleep’s final call.
My fallen siblings & I, like a soft blanket we lay,
Until in the morning, we’re unceremoniously swept away.