As our first ECA (end of semester exam for those who are not in the know :D), we rapidly transformed into a bunch of disoriented maniacs, spewing random facts from our textbooks at completely irrelevant times. While Sanjana stepped with ease into her "I'm-studying-and-I-will-not-socialize" shoes, I realised that if I didn't keep in touch with anyone, I would probably end up failing every single exam.
Every morning, I would wake up at 9:30 a.m. and settle down at the dining table with the newspaper in my hands. At 10:00 a.m., I would sit in front of the television and watch Hindi songs (it was the only way to calm myself down). At 11:00 a.m., I would sit at my desk, religiously poring over my portions. After lunch, at around 3:00 p.m., I would pick up the phone and start calling everyone I knew. Here's a typical conversation between any two people whom I've mentioned in the last few chapters: -
A - Hey!
B - Hey!
A - So... how's the studying going?
B - Um.. Don't really know.. Nothing's going into my head.
A - Ah!
B - What about you?
A - Oh, the same, the same...
B - Hmmm... Hey! Did you watch yesterday's 9 'o' clock movie on Star movies?
A - I did!! It was hilarious!!
B - Especially that bit where they...
And so on and so forth...
And in the midst of all this madness, more whackiness came in the form of voice messages. For those of you who don't remember, the ad campaign featured Saif Ali Khan and Shahrukh Khan with the former practicing how to tell his love that he missed her, on the latter. A few days before my Developmental Psychology paper, I was sitting on the sofa and racking my head for a reason to start studying when I received a call from Aditi. I picked up the call and was about to say "Hey!" when with much aplomb, Aditi said, "I miss you so much it huuuurts!! Isn't this cool?" she continued before I could suspect a difference in her sexual orientation, "Send me some alright?" Before I could properly understand the situation, I found myself calling up random people and sending them even more random voice messages.
Finally, the day before the fateful exam, I felt a deep urge to bang my head against a wall and I finally decided that it was time to start studying. After cramming in as much as I could, I set off confidently for my exam only to be handed a paper that looked like it was written in a different language. I felt like I was a part of one of those movies where the protagonist gets back from an awesome party and then realises that he knows nothing in the paper, the only difference here was that there was no 'awesome party' and this was stuff that I vaguely remembered reading the previous night.
After the longest and most awful three hours of my entire life, I walked out looking like my dog had died only to find the same expression on everyone else's face. "I'm not the only one?" I asked, some relief flooding my heart. It's very disturbing to find yourself amongst people who have done extraordinarily well when you haven't and I was glad that this wasn't one of them. "No," said Kalyani in a mournful voice, "This was the worst exam I've ever written. I actually started crying in the exam - I kid you not." "It wasn't that bad," said Zaara, with a very far-away look on her face, "just very general. You can write quite a bit though." I sighed - so much for support. Hoping to turn to a slightly more interesting topic, I asked, "So after the exams get over, when does college re-open?" "In three days." said Kalyani. "Dang nabbit! There goes my recovery period." Sanjana looked rather annoyed. "I think I'm going to need a lot of cold coffee to drown my sorrows in..." I trailed off. "Rhea," said Tia, with laughter in her voice, "you're going to need a lot more than one!"
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
CHAPTER 9
"Rhea, please stop yawning! It's not helping any of us!" said Sanjana in a very tired voice. "I'm sorry but getting up at 5:45 a.m. just so that I can reach the beach, of all the places, by 7:30 a.m. is just not my thing!" I said just a few seconds before I yawned again. At 7 a.m., I found myself standing on the beach trying desperately to stay awake. It should have been an easy task, considering the fact that it was a terribly hot morning. Sanjana had settled down on the pavement, her legs crossed while Nika stared out groggily at the blue expanse of sea ahead.
"I can't take this anymore!" said Tia as she pulled herself up. "I'm going for a walk. Does anyone want to join me?" "Oh yes!" said Sanjana, jumping up, albeit still quite disoriented. She tottered for a moment or two and then regained her balance. The two of them slowly made their way towards the water.
Nika and I stared at their retreating figures. "How long are we supposed to stay here again?" I asked. Nika, her palm on her cheek, turned to em awkwardly and said, "About 3 or 4 hours?" I sighed as I tried to push my hair out of my face. "You know," said Nika, "this would actually be romantic if either you were a guy or I was a guy.." I turned to her, a skeptical look on my face and said, "How nice of you to make this a lot more awkward for the both of us now! No really..."
Nika grinned her usual way and turned to look at the sea. I followed suit only to see Tia and Sanjana msking their way back towards us. "You know what happened?" asked Sanjana, her trademark grin in place. "What happened?" asked a visibly excited Nika. It was just very like her - mundane things and celebrity gossip make her look like she's had a few shots of vodka.
"Well, we reached the water and we were talking and suddenly," she went on, " these two girls from evening college (I think..) with cameras ask us to pose for their photos!" "Oh well, that's nice!" I said. "But that's not the entire story!" said Tia, her eyes gleaming, "So these girls ask us to face the water and - get this - hold hands!" "So Tia and I are standing there and giggling away to glory," continued Sanjana, "while these two are standing behind us, clicking and laughing their heads off as well!" "We looked so gay!" said Tia, putting her hands to her head, "People must have thought we were a gay couple or something!" "Oh thank God! Zaara's coming! I don't think I could have taken any more of this!" I grinned at their indignant faces.
"Well, fine, Rhea! Atleast we're interesting people with interesting stories to tell, right Sanjana?" Sanjana nodded fervently in reply. "Hey, what about me?" asked Nika, "I didn't scoff at you guys..." "Oh yeah! And Nika too!" said Tia, with mock anger. "Hey!" said Zaara as she reached us. "Guess what?" said Tia in her 'happy' voice, "Two girls made us pose for their photos and made us look like a gay couple!" "Uh-huh?" said Zaara, confusion evident on her face, "I'm so proud of the two of you?" "Bah!" said Sanjana, "another disbeliever! I'm hurt!" "Yeah Zaara! How could you do that?" asked Nika, her head bobbing furiously, "that's equal to saying that you don't support the gay community!"
"Well in that case," said Zaara, "I'm so proud of you! You finally came out of the closet! Better, Nika?" "Yeah, whatever man! I'm bored now.." Nika smiled again. "Hey look they're handing out posters!" I said, as a group of girls started handing out rolls of chart in front of us. "Oh, we're finally starting!" said Tia, as she tried pinning on a red ribbon that she had been handed. Zaara sighed and said, "On the bright side, we'll back home two hours from now."
***********************
10:30 a.m. - We found ourselves still standing on the beach, sad faces in a row. We were holding up a poster each, dismally staring into the distance. At about 9, just as was expected, a rather strong downpour of rain hit us and we crouched under our umbrellas, which didn't really help us much. A few moments after the rain stopped, truckloads of men wearing yellow shirts started arriving at the beach to listen to some politician's rant. It was almost ironic considering that we were fighting against sexual harrassment after it started taking place right there. "So this is the thanks we get for fighting against sexual harrassment? A bunch of lecherous dodos ogling at us? That's too ironic for anyone's standards!" said Sanjana, her jaw looking a lot sharper than usual. "Well, it's over, man! Let's just go home now - I'm exhausted!" said Nika. Tia nodded in agreement and we made our way to the refreshment stands to find Cara.
"I can't take this anymore!" said Tia as she pulled herself up. "I'm going for a walk. Does anyone want to join me?" "Oh yes!" said Sanjana, jumping up, albeit still quite disoriented. She tottered for a moment or two and then regained her balance. The two of them slowly made their way towards the water.
Nika and I stared at their retreating figures. "How long are we supposed to stay here again?" I asked. Nika, her palm on her cheek, turned to em awkwardly and said, "About 3 or 4 hours?" I sighed as I tried to push my hair out of my face. "You know," said Nika, "this would actually be romantic if either you were a guy or I was a guy.." I turned to her, a skeptical look on my face and said, "How nice of you to make this a lot more awkward for the both of us now! No really..."
Nika grinned her usual way and turned to look at the sea. I followed suit only to see Tia and Sanjana msking their way back towards us. "You know what happened?" asked Sanjana, her trademark grin in place. "What happened?" asked a visibly excited Nika. It was just very like her - mundane things and celebrity gossip make her look like she's had a few shots of vodka.
"Well, we reached the water and we were talking and suddenly," she went on, " these two girls from evening college (I think..) with cameras ask us to pose for their photos!" "Oh well, that's nice!" I said. "But that's not the entire story!" said Tia, her eyes gleaming, "So these girls ask us to face the water and - get this - hold hands!" "So Tia and I are standing there and giggling away to glory," continued Sanjana, "while these two are standing behind us, clicking and laughing their heads off as well!" "We looked so gay!" said Tia, putting her hands to her head, "People must have thought we were a gay couple or something!" "Oh thank God! Zaara's coming! I don't think I could have taken any more of this!" I grinned at their indignant faces.
"Well, fine, Rhea! Atleast we're interesting people with interesting stories to tell, right Sanjana?" Sanjana nodded fervently in reply. "Hey, what about me?" asked Nika, "I didn't scoff at you guys..." "Oh yeah! And Nika too!" said Tia, with mock anger. "Hey!" said Zaara as she reached us. "Guess what?" said Tia in her 'happy' voice, "Two girls made us pose for their photos and made us look like a gay couple!" "Uh-huh?" said Zaara, confusion evident on her face, "I'm so proud of the two of you?" "Bah!" said Sanjana, "another disbeliever! I'm hurt!" "Yeah Zaara! How could you do that?" asked Nika, her head bobbing furiously, "that's equal to saying that you don't support the gay community!"
"Well in that case," said Zaara, "I'm so proud of you! You finally came out of the closet! Better, Nika?" "Yeah, whatever man! I'm bored now.." Nika smiled again. "Hey look they're handing out posters!" I said, as a group of girls started handing out rolls of chart in front of us. "Oh, we're finally starting!" said Tia, as she tried pinning on a red ribbon that she had been handed. Zaara sighed and said, "On the bright side, we'll back home two hours from now."
***********************
10:30 a.m. - We found ourselves still standing on the beach, sad faces in a row. We were holding up a poster each, dismally staring into the distance. At about 9, just as was expected, a rather strong downpour of rain hit us and we crouched under our umbrellas, which didn't really help us much. A few moments after the rain stopped, truckloads of men wearing yellow shirts started arriving at the beach to listen to some politician's rant. It was almost ironic considering that we were fighting against sexual harrassment after it started taking place right there. "So this is the thanks we get for fighting against sexual harrassment? A bunch of lecherous dodos ogling at us? That's too ironic for anyone's standards!" said Sanjana, her jaw looking a lot sharper than usual. "Well, it's over, man! Let's just go home now - I'm exhausted!" said Nika. Tia nodded in agreement and we made our way to the refreshment stands to find Cara.
CHAPTER 8
Look who's back after an age!!
*************************************************************************************
"So," said Zaara, as Sanjana and I approached the large group standing at the garden, "did you get negative hours?""We managed to talk her out of it." I said as I sat down. "We did get a warning though." Sanjana pointed out. I nodded slowly and then stared at thr ground in front of me. "Are we indulging in some remote form of gardening not yet known to most of mankind?" asked Sanjana, a puzzled look on her face. "Apparently..." Zaara trailed off as she watched me closely scrutinize a weed from five different angles out of sheer boredom, "no, really? What are you trying to do?" "She's trying to figure out how to pull the weed out fully without having to put in too much effort. You know? A clean break?" said Aditi, her dimple flashing. She looked at Sanjana and the two of them burst out into fits of hopeless giggles.
"Ha, ha, how very funny." I said in a very painful tone, "kill me! Kill me now!" I turned to my left to see Akriti pulling out weeds with a very bored look on her face. "Hey!" said Nika, quickly straightening up, "you know what we should do? We should grow weed and sell it at devastatingly high prices!" "Ooh, I like that!" Zaara grinned as she clapped her hands. "But why would anyone buy weed at 'devastatingly high prices'?" asked Akriti.
-"Because it's premium weed!!"
-"And how is it premium?"
-"Because we all voted and decided to add the word in front? Now let me get on with the story!"
I moved back to avoid her flailing arms. Everyone else nodded. "OK," said Nika, still gesticulating wildly, "imagine this - we'll start off small like growing weed in a pot and then selling it on a small scale in college, from whi.." "Do you seriously think that half the people in this place know what weed is, let alone becoming a regular customer?" asked Sanjana. "Stop butting in!! Besides I'm sure that there are loads of druggies here and we just don't know about them. Anyway," Nika continued, "so we start off small scale and slowly increase our production till we have, like, huge fields of marijuana!"
"And absolutely no one will notice that you've grown richer and own a few acres of fields filled with marijuana?" asked Sanjana, who was struggling with a particularly difficult weed. "Shut up, silly child! What are you going to name the company?" asked Zaara, nearly jumping with excitement. "I'm going to call it..." said Nika dramatically, "Nagalakshmi Weeds and Co.!" She looked back at us, grinning broadly only to be greeted by blank stares. A few moments later, we all burst into giggles. "Are you guys doing any gardening?" yelled a voice from behind us. "Yeah, yeah," I said, throwing my stick at a large ant, "What's the time?" Sanjana looked at her watch and said, "Dang! It's 1:40! We're late for HR!!" "Again?" I sighed, as I slowly straightened up, "Why does this happen to me? Why, I ask you, why..." "Oh, for God's sake, just shut up and leave!" Zaara said rather emphatically. I looked at her, my eyebrows raised andsaid, "Fine!" I was never any good at comebacks.
*************************************************************************************
"So," said Zaara, as Sanjana and I approached the large group standing at the garden, "did you get negative hours?""We managed to talk her out of it." I said as I sat down. "We did get a warning though." Sanjana pointed out. I nodded slowly and then stared at thr ground in front of me. "Are we indulging in some remote form of gardening not yet known to most of mankind?" asked Sanjana, a puzzled look on her face. "Apparently..." Zaara trailed off as she watched me closely scrutinize a weed from five different angles out of sheer boredom, "no, really? What are you trying to do?" "She's trying to figure out how to pull the weed out fully without having to put in too much effort. You know? A clean break?" said Aditi, her dimple flashing. She looked at Sanjana and the two of them burst out into fits of hopeless giggles.
"Ha, ha, how very funny." I said in a very painful tone, "kill me! Kill me now!" I turned to my left to see Akriti pulling out weeds with a very bored look on her face. "Hey!" said Nika, quickly straightening up, "you know what we should do? We should grow weed and sell it at devastatingly high prices!" "Ooh, I like that!" Zaara grinned as she clapped her hands. "But why would anyone buy weed at 'devastatingly high prices'?" asked Akriti.
-"Because it's premium weed!!"
-"And how is it premium?"
-"Because we all voted and decided to add the word in front? Now let me get on with the story!"
I moved back to avoid her flailing arms. Everyone else nodded. "OK," said Nika, still gesticulating wildly, "imagine this - we'll start off small like growing weed in a pot and then selling it on a small scale in college, from whi.." "Do you seriously think that half the people in this place know what weed is, let alone becoming a regular customer?" asked Sanjana. "Stop butting in!! Besides I'm sure that there are loads of druggies here and we just don't know about them. Anyway," Nika continued, "so we start off small scale and slowly increase our production till we have, like, huge fields of marijuana!"
"And absolutely no one will notice that you've grown richer and own a few acres of fields filled with marijuana?" asked Sanjana, who was struggling with a particularly difficult weed. "Shut up, silly child! What are you going to name the company?" asked Zaara, nearly jumping with excitement. "I'm going to call it..." said Nika dramatically, "Nagalakshmi Weeds and Co.!" She looked back at us, grinning broadly only to be greeted by blank stares. A few moments later, we all burst into giggles. "Are you guys doing any gardening?" yelled a voice from behind us. "Yeah, yeah," I said, throwing my stick at a large ant, "What's the time?" Sanjana looked at her watch and said, "Dang! It's 1:40! We're late for HR!!" "Again?" I sighed, as I slowly straightened up, "Why does this happen to me? Why, I ask you, why..." "Oh, for God's sake, just shut up and leave!" Zaara said rather emphatically. I looked at her, my eyebrows raised andsaid, "Fine!" I was never any good at comebacks.
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