Skool is koool !!

End of an Era ….. well, so to say

2006-12-22T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today, a 15 year long association ended as swiftly as it had begun. Today was the last day of my entire schooling life. End of something I had been doing 15 out of the 18 years I had lived on the earth. It has made me what I am and holds the key to what I might become.

I look back in amazement, awe and delight at how eventful these 15 years had been. And I also look back in despair sometimes thinking about the way it would have been much better had I been a bit more alert and willing to work that extra bit.

My school days were spent in three different schools that came my way just when I needed a pleasant change of scenery and when a certain block of education had ended and I needed to move on to the next higher level.

For example, my pre nursery and all of primary school years (i.e. till class 5th) were spent in Munger Notre Dame and the entire high school experience saw me in Notre Dame Patna ( classes – 6 to 10). Which was a school much bigger, better and more competitive than the previous one. Then came the time for the drastic change and life in plus two ( 11th and 12th) were spent in Don Bosco Patna where I could live my own way and let it lose, where I could be absent when I wanted to.

Truly speaking, these years were spent in self discovery as well as exploration of man’s intentions and nature. Through the various people I met in these three different schools, I developed a very good understanding of how to deal with diverse group of people and remain diplomatic as for the general good.
Good amount of time was also spent in trying my luck at anything and everything and hence participating in almost every contest that came to the school. This was the real good thing about school. I always had the opportunity to keep testing myself and know where I actually stand.

And from now on … no one’s gonna ask me which class I am in and would no longer get the pride in saying that im in a higher class than they had assumed me to be. No more years coming after years by default and no more assessing myself and maturity on the number of class I was in. A bigger number like 9 or 10 meant I was bigger and must act more mature.

19th December – the official last school class of my life.

I kept up my tradition of arriving in class right in the middle of the first period. I do regret it a lot because I had intended to come by first trip and spend some quality time with my friend Nimisha in the morning. But as they say, once a later always a later 

No teacher dared entering the 12th std. class on its last day in school. The one’s who did, well, they did enjoy too. Our bubble of joy, that is, the big yellow balloon that someone had blown and sent out on a round trip of the class, kept being tossed about between us and occasionally by the teacher. We also wrote our feelings on it anonymously and left it to strike at someone’s head so that that person may read it and put down his/her feelings too.

Classes and break got merged into each other and we had our mouths filled with eatables almost throughout the day. Anyone would come up and ask us to open our mouths and pop up some sweet delight into it. We all welcomed each other with open mouths !

Then there was this vigorous slam book filling activity going around. Even if the two concerned had never looked at each other, let alone talk to each other, they wrote beautiful things about them in the book. Well, some used it as an opportunity to say what they had not had the chance of in the two years together and say exactly what they felt about the other person.

Nostalgia will certainly grip us hard once a significant number of days elapse, as for today, there is the ultimate joy of freedom from attendances and school bags. A long holiday….. a holiday from school that will never end. …..   !!

The entrance ....... (Meru)

Trinity Returns - (Nimisha)

Our corner of the class




                 The bubble of Joy - this was the balloon that did the rounds in class with                                                               everyone putting down their feelings on it...

Jaane kya hoga aage ......... Nimisha looking towards the future...

.....kal hum kahan tum kahan .... (Meru kissing Ragini and Nimisha)

Kabhi khushi kabhi gham .... (Nimisha n Meru, laughing n crying)


My desk in the last period - slam books, pens, specs (Khushboo's), handkercheif .....

Did I forget about the trip? naaaaaah

2006-12-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

It was better than Ibiza!!

Well, better call it the Confessions Tour. It was that a game of truth and dare in the bus on the return journey spilled all the beans about who likes whom and all that had been going on since the past two years. This was the perfect setting to hear things straight from the horse’s mouth coz we all knew that we would never get such an assembly again. It was pretty interesting. And damn amazing how every news from every corner was out to everyone! We thought only we knew some things, well, we were wholly wrong.

From how we asked the lights to be turned off in the bus and were downright refused….to how we celebrated when they were actually turned off after some time. And then again to our disappointment, turned on ….and how we then covered ‘em up with bags and bottles so that it looked even better for only a faint candle type shimmer remained. It was something to remember.

Now something about the place to which we went – It was a dream destination for me. Buddhist shrines and stupas and the sanctity of the place…. I always wanted to be in some place like this…and had we stayed any longer, I would have changed my mind about returning home. Plus the feeling while standing on the remains of Nalanda University…… it can only be felt. I could imagine how it must have been being there and studying there among those colossal structures and assembly platforms. It would foster the development of the entire spirit and not just of the mind. Such a contrast to today’s education, isn’t it ?

Here are some pics—






And we have a whole good collection of pics plus a video of the trip done by Ragini.

So ..now …just like any Lonely Planet host that visits India, Im gonna say …”I’ll definitely be back”….!

Music please ……

Science aur Commerce ki khaandani ladaai

2006-11-27T04:28:00.000-08:00

This is a tradition, an integral part of life in +2 at great DBA.

Every year, students from different backgrounds, schools and of different shpes and sizes enter the campus of DBA as fresh plus two students. They have very little idea about the life here but by the time they are mid way planning to fail in the finals, this tradition sweeps over them. The Science and Commerce sections are literally, virtually and pathetically at war.



This rivalry never fails to enter the compound every year. I dont know how it starts but the point is that it does. And this year too, very much in keeping with the tradition, we are at warring fronts. But this year has a slight change. You know, feminism is picking up everywhere, so unlike the guys havin a fight, this year its the girls, ready to blow up each other's self esteem (ie, if theres much left of the commerce section).



Today was the finals of the morale decreasing DBA Football Cup. Our team finally created history by winning its first match to score the bronze. And how did they reach this stage without even winning a single match? Well, the school that was to play backed out at the last moment.

So, we were in the feild.....enjoying the match. Yeah, great fun. And....unfortunately for them, the commerce group was sitting beside us. Well, we had heard of a gr8 story and Sansani creating kaand of their class so we had to make them realise their fault. We began shouting their wrongdoings in the most concealed but insinuative manner.

Now, any human soul would have never understood what we were talkin about unless they had first hand info of the event. So the fact that they reacted frustratingly showed that they were guilty. See how intelligent we are. :P

They started exhibitting their humming bird traits by humming gaalis in pure hindi, english and hinglish. Well, we reacted with " aaaen ! ka boli? " ..."nahi bujha raha hai" ..."kani jor se bolo, sunaai nahi de raha hai" ! ......frustrating them even more and burning all of their energy. Well, treat them the way they are, thats our motto.

Just 20 more days remaining of school and we aren't hasitant in taking all sorts of pungas we should have taken right in the beginning of the session. But we have had to do it some or the other time, and it was today.

Then we vented our long developed rage against the 11thers in their face. Their hiding behind doors and locking the classrooms from inside are some of the better things they do. So we warned the 'outstanding' girls of their class to mend their ways.

Now the nexrt stop is involving the teachers. If we dont do it, they will do it. So its better we do it and be done with it.

Ab aaega maza. I personally dont think any kind of anger in an institution does good. Everyone is a stranger here. We have met by chance and will never meet again so we must not confront anyone in a way that would make it difficult for us to confront them five years down the line in a different setting. But still, i too told the juniors that their ways aren't going unnoticed as they think they are.

So now......after this much ado about nothing, diplomacy will be best to use.

Ready?.................. Fight!

Yeah! ...we're going to Ibiza...!

2006-11-15T04:39:00.000-08:00

We all made sure that we reached class today coz of the reminder. And were obviously planning strategies to face the music. To our horror....everyone except the one who was not supposed to be absent, the actual 'culprit', had arrived. Now this is for the record...goes down to the DBA hall of fame ....everyone was present today (except for one)!!!!.....and what was the occasion? ....to be scolded. Yes, we were all present coz we were expecting to get punished and nicely shaken by the class teacher n the principal. Had it been something like a celebration....half of the class would stay home. This shows what we are made of!

Ok...so...after 45minutes of strategy planning and mental preparation....( yaar, you wont have a thing, just blame it on Camp2 ...seems like none of them will turn up today :p, we'd say we were all responsible for this, its the second last month for us in school ! ..relax ....etc etc. ).....but seriously everyone was damn scared.

The assembly over, we went to the class, all of Camp2 had indeed turned up, our class teacher's period, takes the attendance and starts teaching KingRichard II.......we were counting our stars by then.....and then the unthinkable happened ......sir JP stopped and said ....."I wont go any further today because i have something important to tell you.." .............ahemmmm.....all eyes to the floor.

And then it began......he uttered those words that are still resounding in our ears .....he said ...

" You wanted to go on a picnic ...?"

All eyes lit up at once....(that usually happens on the mention of the word 'picnic' in our class... in whatever context) .....WT...!!! u kidding? picnic ??? just out of the blues ? ....this was the last thing we were expecting to hear. Infact, it had long been pushed out of the list of things we would ever expect. And there it went .....happily down our throats.....n there was just laughing, singing, planning, dreaming .....from then on.
Everyone behaved as if they had never seen the light of the day before and it was their first time to step into the world of aliens. But it's true ......everyone was amazed...coz we usually arent that lucky as a class. :D

And wats more.....if we dont go by this Saturday, the trip would most probably be cancelled...coz we dont have much time to delay it. We'd be in school till Dec. 20..thats all......so all the fingers and toes are crossed
By the way....wats the destination? ...well, not ibiza this time. Though we're going to the most boring and obvious location for picnic of schools and colleges in Patna ...we aint disappointed....we dont need no place to make us happy .....khoob jamega rang jab mil baithenge 12 yaar .....:D....we just need each other for havin a great time.

We're goin to Rajgir, on a one day trip. Mom went to the same place 20 years ago from college, so let me expereince our culture too. Its a place almost everyone has been to. So..why not ?

Children's Day at school

2006-11-15T04:15:00.000-08:00

"HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY, STUDENTS", said our 'born bangali', short n sweet physics sir and... "SAME TO U SIR!!!" ...was the reply he got.

And then my freind went up infront of the class and declared.. "SIR IS GONNA GIVE US A TREAT!!!" ..."YEAAAAAHH!!" ......and he disappeared in a fraction of a millisecond, never to be seen again ( well, he was absent even today..so..)

But this didnt deprive us of our treat :D ....we had a great one by our class teacher. The menu included chicken and veg pizzas, chocolate cake and two kinds of cold drink.

Man ! it was my last official children's day. Next year i'll be 18 and morality says that thou shalt not celebrate something meant for kids when thou art officially an adult. Well....this one had to be a memorable one for me. Though not much for the quality of the program we saw, but the fact that we still managed to like every moment of our stay there was great.

To begin with, our group assembled in class early in the morning and we had our fake champagne opening ceremony with our favorite soft drink...Thumbs up. Its not a personal favorite of any of us but a collective favorite for our group for some undisclosed reasons :p .......and we finnished half of the foodstuff we were supposed to finnish during lunch time.

Next up, the assembly. Really, the teachers must have just had the idea about how they see the assembly on a children's day taking place and never thought of practicing to see how it would actually turn up. Man! ...you know ....well, I shouldnt elaborate much but it was the kind when while singing a common song such as "I have a dream" ....someone knows when the line "I beleeeeeive....in angels" is supposed to be stretched and the rest of the troup is blissfully unaware of it.

Then there was the same sing-song programs designed for us. And bingo!! we somehow knew exactly which teachers would sing again this year! What a surprise.

And then there was this "cartoon dance" ......man! father! son! holy ghost! ......this was beyond the term pathetic. I dont really feel like ridiculing the efforts put by our teachers .....but this had to be seen to be beleived. I will have nightmares about this till my next life. And if, God forbid, i ever lose my memory, this will be the first thing i will remember while regaining it.

It had teachers dressed lousily in giant cloth faces with unproportionate eyes and mouth cello-taped on them and a stick by their waste to fake the hands. They moved and swinged by the music and the kids went "Yooooooo!!! hoooo!! wow!! " .....these kids are so encouraging....i could go and sing raag Meghmalhaar and come down with red roses in this kinda audience!

Then there was also supposed to be a football match between the teachers and Students11. The match ended up in the crowd desparately making their way to the exit gate from the middle of the feild while the game was still on. How much sun can the kids tolerate afterall??

Theres another aspect of the day that i would elaborate later if i feel like. It was about us minding the huge sea of kids yet again this year. Last year our seniors relaxed coz they were seniors. This year our juniours relaxed coz they are juniours. Its always our batch in the middle! well.........but its not that we are complaining...we loved that. Where else do kids double your height ask you permission for going to the loo? hahahaha .....the day was fun.

But in the end ....our class teacher gave us something to forget the excess fun. He asked us all (specially girls) to be present tomorrow coz he wasnt really pleased at seeing the remains of our champagne opening ceremony at the back of the class. We hadnt left so much evidence though, just some large splashes and the bottle on top of that. thats all !

Blaze of Glory....

2006-11-04T23:09:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is one of my most favorite songs. i really liked it the first time i heard it on tv around 10 years back and quickly recorded it on my bad quality walkman and then listened that version till i saw it again on tv. And it's unbeleivable that it is still being shown on a few channels. Mabye this song will never be too old. Maybe somebody like me will listen and fall in love with it again.

Now i have a really good quality mp3 and recently found out all the lyrics....it's great.



Here it goes .....

zara baat ki gehraayi ko samajhiye .....

Arz kiya hai ...

Wake up in the morning

And I raise my weary head

I got an old coat for a pillow

And the earth was last night's bed

I dont know where Im going

Only God knows where I've been

Im a devil on the run

A six gun lover

A candle in the wind....yeah!



When you're brought into this world

They say you're born in sin

Well at least they gave me something

I didnt have to steal or have to win

Well they tell me that Im wanted

Yeah Im a wanted man

Im colt in your stable

Im what Cain was to Abel

Mister catch me if you can


Im going down in a blaze of glory

Take me now but know the truth

Im going down in a blaze of glory

Lord I never drew first

But I drew first blood

Im no one's son

Call me young gun

You ask about my consience

And I offer you my soul

You ask if I'll grow to be a wise man

Well I ask if I'll grow old

You ask me if I known love

And what its like to sing songs in the rain

Well I've seen love come

And I've seen it shot down

I've seen it die in vain

Shot down in a blaze of glory

Take me now but know the truth

cause Im going down in a blaze of glory

Lord I never drew first

But I drew first blood

Im the devils son

Call me young gun

Each night I go to bed

I pray the lord my soul to keep

No I aint looking for forgiveness

But before Im six foot deep

Lord, i got to ask a favor

And I hope you'll understand

cause I've lived life to the fullest

Let the boy die like a man

Staring down the bullet

Let me mke my final stand......

Shot down in a blaze of glory

Take me now but know the truth

Im going out in a blaze of glory

Lord I never drew first

But I drew first blood

And Im no ones son

Call me young gun

Im a young gun

One deadline, three projects and some uncertainity..

2006-10-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

Whew!! ..... so back to school excitement once again. After the much awaited diwali hols. I still wish it lasted longer ....

So tomorrow (infact today, its 1:10am already) .....is the deadline given to us for submitting the environmental science projects. Not one, but three of them. And i, just like every other year, have no serious plans of submitting it lately. (Man! with such kind of daredevil attitude in evading deadlines and threatenings so easily, i should have had a dozen shiny Red n White bravery award medals in my possession.)

Actually, i wanted to have a glimpse of what the others are cooking up so that i can make something miles ahead of them in quality. i really need to see someone else's work before setting the standards for myself. Now this is no self degrading and inferiority complex issue, just saves me some energy coz i dont need to be too good when beeing ok would also do.
Even though i have clear intentions and a fairly good idea about the status of my project and its possibility of making it to school tomorrow, i do make it a point to confirm with any or some of my good friends about their progress. Well, even if it actually doesnt help either of us when marks are deducted for being late, it sure gives the psychological advantage of not feeling like the
ugly duckling of the class. So i did confirm with one of my friends and just lazed out on knowing that she shared the same idea about submitting it.

But then, this hated-by-all but the i-think-im-the-smartest guy of the class comes online and declares that he pleaded the teacher to extend the date (even though he had already completed all three). Now the cruel intentions behind it were that "see, I did it despite having no chance, therefore im so responsible" image he wants to portray of himself and the other was to remind the teacher of the date so that all the rest of us who hung merely by the mercy of the teacher's poor memory had no chance. Talk about villains.

So, here i am......executing my new plan about keeping awake till it's time to get ready just to avoid the trouble of being late. I am really frustrated and have given fourth degree tortures to myself by constantly missing school only coz of not being able to wake up! Even if im just 30 minutes ahead of the time i was supposed to wake up, the chances are grim. And i figured out that there's simply no way to wake myself up once i get into the Kumbh Karan mode. So....simply do away with the fuss. Simply stop sleeping.

I have to keep awake not only till 5:30 when its time to start getting ready but 7 hours after that too. God.....i need you on this one. In the dress rehersals i had been undertaking for my master plan, i did manage to keep awake nicely till 6:30 but then dozed off till 11. And that was my closest to making the plan work. So.....right now...im gonna test the limits of human endurance. The war has been waged gentlemen ! Just keep ur 20 fingers crossed.

Politically correct statements

2006-10-29T03:17:00.001-08:00

Ok.....so just like any other reputed journalist of the city, i had to give my views regarding what had happened in my ex-school lately ;)Hehehehehaha. So I was asked to give the official statement on behalf of the organisation im associated with.

Well, actually you know what..? they just make my grey cells exercise a bit too much and when i finally come up with something after a brainstorming session at 12 in the night and mail it....it gets read and thats that. It doesnt really make it to the leading dailies of the nation...heck ! not even of the city. So why did I spend so much time and effort on it ...? Maybe just for getting into the habit of putting forward my views on every current topic in town, as if they mattered. :D Good enough reason for it.

So, I had written that statement just the day after the incidence took place and sent it but the reason im posting it now is that i never got any feedback for it till day before yesterday. Ok Ok...i didnt ask, i admit. But anyways ...here it goes.

After reading my statement, I was told by the organisation's head that im becoming a politician. :D (refering to my diplomatic approach)....well, does anyone know about my future plans ? Joining politics is my ultimate aim in life. I'd be really proud of myself after i'd be through with everything you are supposed to do in your life and finally make a mark in the political world. Seriously, it's the only way of doing something for the nation and my dear state.

Here's what i wrote ( though i wanted to hit it straight out at both the school and the student, i spared them both and came up with a third point.)

The recent national news about a student carrying a mobile phone to school despite it being "strictly prohibited" and getting expelled for it raised quite a few eyebrows, for, not only did she get expelled but also received a character certificate that would not land her into any other school from now on.
We can analyse the situation in the following manner :-

The attitude that the present generation of children have is known to everyone. They have become complacent regarding rules. That "Rules are meant to be broken" has become their favorite funda. Warnings and threatenings have failed innumerable times infront of these audacious kids already, so it's not the recourse that any institution can adopt now for bringing about effective change. So how else can you tame a wild horse? You dont spare it.

Although it may appear so, but the act here was not directed against one particular student. Infact, it was just a message to all other students to beware of their actions and comply unquestioningly to the rules that have been laid down. Afterall, if someone simply keeps repeating the same warnings again and again, without any actual execution, how much weight would the warning carry after some time? It wouldn't take these kids more than a few minutes to draw the obvious conclusion that "nothing really happens here" and "who's afraid of warnings afterall? ". So it was high time to show them that real things do happen here and that real life is not as easy as they thought it to be.

It is accepted that the schools need to enforce their rules, but in a certain limit. No rule is bigger than a student's life. Afterall, school is a place meant only for learning. It's here that you learn the lessons of your text book as well as the lessons of your life. Jeopardising any pupil's future is not what the school has any right for, specially when the child is facing special circumstances and is not expecting a brouhaha for taking such a small step. Who willingly invites trouble for themselves? Absolutely no one.
Every child reminisces his/her school life with warmth and sweet memories. But if slaughtered by memories of bitter experiences such as these, school life doesnt really remain something to feel happy about.

Where have all the human feelings gone? Why have the schools not been able to imbibe self control and willpower among the students that prevents them from taking steps that are not acceptable to the institution? Why does somebody have to go against the law ? What was the method adopted by the institution to make students realise the exact extent of their punishable act, that they still have not understood it ?

And hence we can contemplate on the following point : What is that descipline that merely hangs by the edge of a sword? Descipline is something that should willingly be embraced by all.

If students don't realise it on their own, the schools have somewhere failed in their purpose.

Hot News!!

2006-10-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

My ex-school is getting national coverage. It began with India tv (that seriously has very little to report on) followed by Star news which actually aired a one hour special for it. And all this brouhaha for something that is probably the last matter of national concern.

Now a girl brings a cell fone to school despite the fact that it was "strictly prohibited" . So, to make everyone realise how "strictly" can any rule be imposed, the principal dismisses her right there, with such a character certificate that would not land her in any other school after this ! The girl lodges a case against the school. Good job.

Here, i have two contrasting opinions. I had been in that school for 5 years and i know its way of functioning very well. When a rule is made, however illogical( this one infact is one of the few more sensible ones)is followed to the extent of a Nazi camp : shoot at sight. No mercy.
To some extent, even if it violates some human rights,it is correct. I have seen students in this school intentionally doing things that they were not supposed to, just to appear koool and kind of above the law ! Half of these kids did all that just to feel real, coz they still couldnt beleive they secured admission in the best school of the state, so expressed their joy this way. So the only way they could be contained was by straight action. Coz if you only gave threatenings and warnings instead of the real stuff, it wont take more than a few milliseconds for these kids to be complacent and draw the obvious conclusion that 'nothing really happens' and who's afraid of warnings afterall ??
And something really amusing to see was when those super-kool-appearing chiks did something wrong and got caught red handed :)) Infron of the principal, they were no Angelina Jolies, they had the expression of leprosy pateints. At those moments, i used to look up and say 'Thank god for jayshree !(principal)"

The other opinion is that this school is really going overboard in its attemp to be near perfect. Anything that goes too perfect does not survive for long. And there were just too many injustices inflicted by it on its students that i wanted to sue this arrogant school myself. But then, i didnt want to be kicked out and get a character certificate of the nature this girl got. And i wish India TV existed during my time ...alas..
There were just too many offensive stuff going on there, i'd make a list of all that i can remember and post 'em later.

2006-10-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ooooh no...not again ... ! :)

There was supposed to be a test today. Chemistry test.

I was aware of it since Friday and this time...really determined to 'blast it baby' ! But...i cannot let go of my Procrastination Princess crown so easily....

On sunday when i seriously thought of giving the lesson a glance, i thought i'd do it right at the end of the day to ensure least memory loss. At night, it got postponed to the morning. Similary, the morning into the first trip bus, the first trip bus into the second trip bus, the second trip bus into the auto.....and when i finally packed my bag to set out for the auto, i discovered there was no space for that brick-size book in my bag, and obviously i couldnt leave the water bottle, umbrella and lunch box behind.... So all the plans were actually futile. But i still continued with amazing courage and reached 30min. late (the test was in the first period). But this was not actually my own fault.....you know those public autos that wouldnt move without packing the vehicle with as many people they can find on the street, even if this needs a full 15-30min....Well, its sitting in these vehicles that has actually made me realise the importance of time.....

Now, i dont know what savage beastly soul has possessed me of late...i have become devoid of any kind of emotion. The same emotions that used to bring tears to my eyes a few years back, now dont even make me blink. If i was heading to school, aware of a chemistry test, without having gone through the lesson and 30min. late for the first period, when i was 13yrs of age.... would have given me a serious brain injury....but now ....i just dont think ... But the fact is , when i used to think, i used to make myself nervous and everything went wrong. Now that i have simply learnt to throw away the thoughts of concern, nothing goes wrong and im cool as ever. So coming back to our horrific moment, without a single thought in my mind, i peeked into the class and unlike being scolded for almost committing a sin, i get a warm welcome. Coz when only 17 out of 44 students are present, anyone's lotus feet on the threshold of the class are most welcome, no matter what time they reach, atleast they reached !
And the test? ...do you think God will be unfair to me?? ...the test got cancelled.

But there was another surprise in store.....a surprise math test! ....rumors for which started circulating as soon as chem. ma'am left us all grinning ear to ear.
(see, people are very pessimistic....they cant understand that sometimes something good can happen without a catch....well, blame it on Reliance...)
But that didnt happen too....i dont know what came over SujIIT JEE ....But he left us with a warning that he'd be giving us the test the day all students are present ...(heh...so long dude! not in this decade atleast...)

Well, some days are just too good ...there are too many pleasent memories of this day that i'll need another blog site for writing all of them ...maybe when i live a day that really doesnt have much to brag about ...i'd bring in some nostalgia ...

till then byebye!!

2006-10-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Guru gyaan : Chha gaye Guru !

This is the best part about school life - you get to have a whole lot of fun with the teachers ( not necessarily with them but more when they are not around). We have had our fair share of kool teachers who never let our lazy minds go to sleep by constantly giving us food for thought by some or the other characterics of theirs :D

[No offence intended. The views are based on the casual observations by some 40 students]

First up is our super kool Physics Sir. He's the epitome of coolness. No matter how much chaos there is in the class, he can never go beyond his characteristic "Yes please", in a monotone, when it comes to sternness. But what he's known for most are his one liners and his amazing ability to memorise ( we cant help but surmise how good a student he himself must have been in his school days). His ability to memorise surpasses mere chunks of text.......hehehe.......he memorises entire diagrams! Now thats photographic memory, but alas, its short term photographic memory.......
His one liners include "Do me and show me" , "Write it down this diagram", "......makes it able(pronounced aible)....." etc. His bright red Danger copy is his ultimate weapon and sole source of inspiration. its what keeps him teaching. The day he enters the class without it, we're sure that its gonna be a free period, and we have been proved right at several occasions.

Then there's our Maths teacher who is so hell bent on getting us into IIT that we have modified his name slightly to reflect his ambition and we now call him Suj-IITJEE. His "even matlab......." and all the several "matlabs" following it still cant make us understand the 'matlab' of what he's trying to say. His "axe" (for "x" ) has earned him the prestigious and much coveted title of The Axe (D)effect and in his famous equation : y = mx + 'she' .............now, keep guessing who 'she' is :p. (for all of you who are well acquainted with linear equations and graphs, thats not really difficult). But whoever 'she' is, she has given us great laughs in class and we liked her so much that we started including her in other equations too. She will remain with us as long as we remember Suj-IIT JEE.

Then there's our Chemistry ma'am whose hairlenghth suggests her hairoil is some kind of a chemical marvel in itself (now when did she get the time to invent that??). The hair reaches the knees and is seldom restricted by a hairpin. Thats a whole topic for research in itself, i'd rather concentrate on the teaching style.....................the loud and clear voice, the overanimated expressions, the uniformly modulating voice at fixed intervals..............ahh.....she was made for theatre, and we all beleive in that from the bottom of our hearts, no jokes. She is the "mummyji" for all of us, since if you get to count the no. of times she repeats the word "beta" in class, you'd have to outsource the work to some other planet. She is the perfect mother no doubt, always interested in solving petty disagreements among the boys (regarding girls). And amidst all the politics, unfulfilled dreams of becoming an actress and a thousand household chores running in the head while dictating chemical equations to us, she still finds time to attract students for private tuitions !

2006-10-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

Back to the future!!.............err......present, past, watever !

They say 'tommorow never comes', but in my case, 'today' never comes either coz everyday i wake up to say "today im gonna study" "today im gonna begin my routine"............n that today has not yet arrived.....The preparation of my so-well-thought-after n perfect study routines occupy more time than their actual execution. I dont even remember having ever executed them infact. And i keep telling everyone that if a child works on my mastermind routines, he/she will never lose a single mark in the answer sheets, which i bet is true. But then, as people are natural devils by default, they dont forget to add "so why dont YOU follow them?"..........well well........if everyone did everything perfect, wouldnt they become God?? hehehe.....................thats just to please myself.

So, just one more day and i'll be back to school after a long gap (no, i wasnt sick or anything, it was just one of those small vacations that got stretched into a large one by me). To explain the real circumstances, if you see the previous blog, you'd unravel the mysterious enthusiasm i built for going to school and mark my dreamy words there......"I have to make it somehow and i will".........So i made it there not only on that rainy day but five days hence. Yes, i even went to school on a Saturday only coz it was a working day (this is a Guiness record)............and so i didnt go for the next five days :D (this doesnt even deserve an entry in the Limca book, its so common in my part of the world). Really, it was never intended. It just happened by chance. The first day was intentional..... you know those Wednesdays, the middle of the week, who wants to go? so thats the best day to be taken off.

Thursday - just happened somehow, i dont even remember,

Friday - was once again rainy (since the previous night)

Saturday - ho gayi teri balle balle !!!!

Sunday - ho jaaegi balle balle !!!!

Monday - the news papers declared the schools would be closed due to heavy rain

Tuesday - some confusion about the reopening of schools (only nine made it from my class)

Wednesday - mild fever, good enough excuse!

Thursday on - Dussehra hols !!

So there goes the week.........but, no excuses will work now and I dont even feel like taking an illegal holiday anymore. Its simply amazing how i keep running away from school despite being aware of the fact that its the last year of my entire schooling life, that there'll be no more school in a few week's time, no matter how much i yearn for it. Yet i always rejoice on an unexpected holiday announcement and am always full of solenmity on the last day of any long holiday. My state of mind is like that of a startled Jerry infront of a ferocious Tom when it comes to thinking about attending school everyday. Maybe my genes are programed that way. I have always been ambitious at school but winning the 'Perfect Attendence Award' never even ventured remotely in my thoughts. I could never develop a fascination for it. I considered it once but in the context : "No way ! how can someone do that!!?" It goes to show that habits die really hard and i've had this habit of finding ways of being away from school since the time i opened my eyes (not literally).

ok, I'll make it there once again, its not that bad afterall ! All i have to do is wake up when its still dark n starry outside, if i make it before the bus leaves, i'll open my eyes straight in school with the arrival of dawn, then the boring ritualistic assemblies, the classes that are ok-ok kind of, the friends who are more varied than the good n bad characters in a K-serial, the dismissal and the quick ride home........all done by the time its 1 'o clock. So where's the fuss? The fuss comes when i cant get a head or tail of whats happening on the blackboard in chemistry period. Thats the only headache......... and sometimes physics too, but thats managable when you actually listen. Rest everything is fine. infact its quite a bore not being there and not having first hand info of the latest gossip topics.

And there's going to be a retest for all those who failed in any subject (i didnt......well its another thing that i made it through in physics theory by just one mark.......its whether you're in or out that matters here :p ) from the 6th.........n though im not sure what the rest of us will do by that time (very few who made it across in all subjects), im quite pessimistic and am evading all possibilities of having us on our own to study. Well......fingers crossed......

2006-09-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

It was a PERFECT rainy day ................

The 3:15am alarm goes ........oh God! its no time to wake up ! I cant understand a possible reason for me setting this alarm except to annoy my neighbors who annoy me all day by playing the same old "ek baar aa jaa aa ja aa......" in full volume.

4:00am...........mmmm......one hour remaining. I'll wake up after 5 minutes, thats for sure.

5:00......awww........damn!.....I've missed the bus already, so no use waking up now ! .....the second trip bus arrives at 6 ......so I'll be up by 5:30 at the max...........

6:05 .......!!!! nooooo! this cant happen !! ....................And everything that my class teacher had said recently on the report card day about my poor attendance starts ringing in my ears. I have to make it anyhow and I will.

It was 7:00am exact when I set my best foot forward and marched ahead for the long journey to school. But there was very little to worry about. My spirits were high since I had seen in the routine that we had chemistry in the first period. So, all I had to do was crash into the gates just five minutes before the chemistry period got over, throw my bag, take the last seat possible, close my ears, look out of the window and relax ! Im always willing to miss chemistry .......everyone in the class knows that, including the teacher.

Well......maybe I shouldnt have stepped out today, especially with such high spirits, when I could so clearly see the ominous dark clouds looming. But I had my umbrella with me.......I'm always prepared buddy !
And.....................it started pouring as if it would never rain again, right in the middle of my journey. All I could do was appreciate the might of nature since i was safely packed in a small auto by then. A few drops started making their way right from the top of the auto to my hand. Now this was what I was waiting for. I wasnt really angry at those trickling drops ......'challeable' I'd say on a rainy day. But very soon, a huge truck passed by my side in full speed ( God knows what it was chasing on an empty street) and did me the honors of completing the picture-perfect rainy day by spoiling the last of what was remaining of my immaculate uniform. I had seen people being splashed before and thought "aww unlucky people ! :p " but this was the first time it had happened to me .....!

Ok......so I had already changed two autos and it was time to board a rickshaw which would finally complete the Tour de Patna. By this time I was so soaked up that an umbrella was not necessarily required anymore. Thankfully the rickshaw was covered on the front by a plastic cover and it was the best time I could take my comb out (that i had carried today after constant inspiration by one of my fellow classmates) to make atleast my face look presentable. So I combed my way to school........but........it got all straight as soon as i stepped out of the rickshaw, it was still pouring heavily.

Hey, wait a minute..........the voice coming from my classroom didnt sound anything like the shrill voice of Chemitry ma'am ...................I peeped into the class to find half of the class standing in punishment and our class teacher Sir JP teaching a lesson of literature accompanied by a stern expression ! This was not possible ! Did I sleep on Sunday to wake up straight on Tuesday? Monday routine just doesnt have literature ! This was the perfect icing on the cake to my wonderful morning so far. So I spent the next 3 minutes deciding whether I should enter the class or wait for the bell to ring. After a hand-gestured goonga-behra type quick conversation with my dear friend standing in the first row, I decided taking the last step of my journey. I entered and spent the rest of the class standing with my friends in punishment for not bringing the literature book. Quite a contrast to looking out of the window and relaxing, that i was looking forward to. And for the first time in my life ......... i wished it was the chemistry period !

2006-09-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

When jealousy strikes !

Of all the kinds of people I've had to face in the 15 years of my schooling life (montessori included, and let me tell u, it was there that i learnt that not every 3 year old was as innocent as me ), this one is the most wierd case.

Background : Ok, lets begin it like this............I have been an above average student most of the times and did quite well in whatever little things i used to do apart from academics. This enabled me to gather a huge friend circle and not a single enemy.

Scene 1 : I go into this new school with the same innocent attitude i built back then in montessori 1. There are kids from almost all over Bihar here. I have no problem adjusting.

Scene 2 : I suddenly start scoring "comparitively" good marks and easily above all the girls in the class. Nobody has any problems too. Fine with me as well.

Narration : Its about this classmate of mine who is from a chhota sa town of Bihar. Yeah, when i say "chhota", take it to be a place where people cant differentiate between "sh" and "s" sounds. Yes, that small ! We teach her how to speak, how to write good answers in english ..........................................and................................apni hi thaali mein chhed !!!! She starts this uninvited competition with me.
By God's graceful mistake, she has the same height, same skin tone, same hairstyle and same initials as mine !!

More insight : She copies me in everything, thinks that im one step ahead of her (though she's the one who is four times more hard working than me n scores more in physics n chemistry). Actually, i have no regrets enjoying this superior position without having to work for it, but sometimes it gets a weee bit suffocating to find someone always on thier toes to dabaa your gala.

For one thing, I cant really understand why she competes with me. Is it all because i score good in english and environmental science ? ( its a matter of shame actually to score well in humanities subjects, being a student of science). She knows very well my dangling situation. Im on the verge of failing in physics n chemistry most of the times. Still nothing deters her enthusiasm. My nayiaa is so close to doobing and somebody is in the mood to race it ! man !
It seems like Im the only kaanta on her way to complete superiority.

Climax : English language teacher announces that 'one girl' has scored way above the others. My frenz sitting on the front bench confirm its me. HEHEEHAHAahaha....
All she can do is sink into herself and put her head down in order to hide her grunt. But, everyone else notices that before i do. To add insult to injury, everyone starts asking me for a treat infront of her pale face.........................ab aage aap khud hi guess kar le to achha hai .....................

End : arre abhi nahi .......................abhi to bohot kuchh baaki hai !

Moral : Raja Jaisingh ko apni praja ke saath kroorta nahi dikhaani chaahiye thi. ( I borrowed this from Champak for the time being) I'll let everyone know later.

2006-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Disaster Management --- humse seekho bhai !

It was the recipe for Double Disaster- Physics and Chemistry practicals, both on the same day. So lets start it off with the one that hit us first ...

"United we stand, devided we fall ........especially in the examination hall "

Well, chemistry practical test : its the epitome of 'bhaaichaara' and 'behenchaara' that can exist in a class. Kids who dont normally give a damn about each other on any given day, help and receive help with open arms, eyes and ears. It just doesnt matter if its that shorty, that snobbish, that person you thought never spoke, that geek or that plain wacky guy everyone laughs at, when you're stuck in the middle of an experiment and multicolored salts and sollutions are driving you nuts,, all the people mentioned above suddenly metamorphosise into the one and only friend you've ever had. Such is the power of the indespensable 'Chemistry Practicals'. And the marks for it, well, to a large extent depoend upon the people around you.
In two words, its 'combined effort'....................thats coz im still thinking about the one word to describe it.
So, to further describe the atmosphere in CP ( dont tell me you dont get it), its the one of mutual benefit. We all know that we may not get many more chances of helping our fellow buddies, so why waste the opportunity of earning 'punya' ? Everyone wants to go to heaven, right ? And im quite sure my classmates will make it straight, without an entry ticket. (now dont ask about me. i already have my vessel of punya overflowing...........do you think i've been a haughty nerd all my life ? )
The moment we step out of the lab, the effect of the 'friendly gas' we had all inhaled, fades out in the background and normal life is back on track. The same old shorty, the snobbish, that person we think never speaks and the geek reappear and that plain wacky guy gets laughed at again.

You would say that im very casual in dealing with a serious topic such as 'cheating in the examination' but to justify myself and everyone else i'd say that we are all grown ups and we know what we're doing. We also know that in the Boards, none of us will either help or recieve help from anyone in the vicinity. We'll just trust ourselves in the real examination and are extremely thankful to these internal assessments for making us aware of what cations and anions really are!

Ok, so thats a bit too much of chemistry for you all.

Heading straight for the physics Lab .................

"Its a different ball game altogether"

Yeah, physics practical tests are the complete reciprocal of their chemistry counterpart. The tables are set, the paper ready and we notice the person sharing our table only after we are half way through the experiment and realise that the pencil box contains no erasers. Thats what physics is all about! Complete concentration and precision in recording your observations. No one needs to ask anything..................... ( not because we all are physics freaks but because all the necessary data and formulae are provided in the question paper itself and the questions tell you everything you need to do).

We come, we stay and we conquer as well as leave without even creating a pin drop of noise (except for the occasional crashing of the lenses by someone who has yet to learn how to remove them from their stands).

The disaster part in Physics practicals is not the practical part itself but the dreaded theory = the practical notebook ! Though all of us diligently wrote all the experiments that we had performed in the class earlier, complete with graphs and tables (last night effort for most), we never took the pains of getting it checked by the teacher beforehand, so, none of us would be getting any marks alloted for it this time. But we're quite happy that we managed to get over this day, unscathed ! Perhaps the government should take tips from us regarding Disaster management.

2006-09-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Bio practicals - Bahuut nainsaafi hai !!

Obviously, just like any other exam or test, i left memorising the major part for the morning even if i could have done that easily the day before. And quite surprisingly, i managed to complete everything in the bus, before the assembly and in the class. So, thats when i knew something was fishy.

Everyone had already used their 'neural networks' and deduced that from among the 5 flowers we had to examine, only two would make it to our tables ( it wasnt the pea season, we never saw an onion flower before and sunflower would be a bit too expensive for the school to arrange ! ).
Our deductions were proved correct when we saw the school 'maali' plucking hibiscus flowers from the plant near our classroom window, just 15 minutes before the test. Nobody probably told him to avoid the plant near our class, much to our amusement. So, with “maali ji ki jai ho! “ we were all happy that we knew everything we were supposed to (ie, supposed to) know.
Equipped with knowledge, writing materials, enthusiasm and a new and shiny Wilkinson Sword, i was relaxed when i entered the lab. The fear of the unknown was always there, but it got overshadowed by the light of the known.

The probable flowers arrived to our tables, along with a broad grin on every student's face. Then arrived the stem that we had to make a slide of ( heck! a piece of cake. I could say it was monocot even without putting it under the microscope, and indeed it was). My Wilkinson Sword was determined to slaughter anything that came its way. It cut the potato pieces like butter and the stem as, i can bet, no one had ever cut in the past two centuries.
So, you would say, where the hell the things went wrong?
Yes, they are going to go wrong very shortly.....have patience.

I made three exact pieces of potato for the experiment and put them in their respective solutions, properly immersed and covered with another petri dish. I knew 30 minutes( as mentioned in the quesion paper) was not enough for these potatoes to show any signs of a change of environment so i let them stay and soak up the sun in their petri-dish-paradise for quite some time ( now dont tell me that this was my mistake, for, the last time when we did this experiment, not a single soul, teacher and lab assistant included, got any observable differences after a good one hour!).

After one hour and a half : I was still sitting with the same old exact pieces of aloo that were supposed to have changed by now. “Ok”, i thought to myself, “its time for another plunge”, and threw the pieces again in their respective solutions.

Half an hour later : They showed absolutely no desire to change their merry state of well being........................so there they went again !

At this point, the thought did occur to me to just write what we had been made to write in our notebooks, all hell with the observations!.......but.......showing loyalty to my favorite veggie, i stuck to my decision of writing only what i actually saw. Afterall, ye aloo dil ke bure nahi hote.......... it wont let me down!

30 minutes hence : After using all my skills of precision, when i still couldnt find any change, i cut the thinnest and tiniest aloo pieces that were yet to be seen in this world. These tiny tots also stayed in the sols. for another half hour with their parents whereas i, in the meantime, used all the five senses to determine the tonicity of the sols. from the beaker itself but alas ! in vain.

Finally, one of the tiny ones showed signs of enlargement- yippi !! But the rest simply refused to co-operate. So this one made it respectfully to the answer sheet while the rest had to cling to the last support called “tukka” = “wild guess”.

Now this is the injustice part ----> When we did this experiment in the class once and absolutely nobody got any results, we had made the teacher aware of this. Well, as teachers usually do, she dictated the results to us ( probably got last year or saw from some book , i dont know how, but somehow she knew what was spposed to come ). So now, i can blame the solutions for not showing me any outcome, for, if something that was supposed to happen in 30 minutes didnt even happen in 3 hours straight, then little else can be blamed ( ......God curse me if i ever trust potatoes in my life again).

2006-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

om
::shree ganeshaaye namah ::

Har acche kaam ki shuruaat ganesh ji ke naam se ki jaati hai ......thats wat we have learnt right ?

So today, i feel honored to announce the beginning of my blogging season ! (season iss liye kyuki mere dwaara shuru kiya gaya har kaam sirf kuchh din josh rehne tak hi chal pata hai .....im usually in different modes at diffeent times ....so iska bhi season aaega aur har achhi cheez ki tarah bohot jald hi khatam ho jaaega )

oooh.....quite a headache typing ....:(

fir milenge !!

im happy im feeling glad
i got sunshine in a bag
im useless but not for long
the future is comin on is comin on is comin on.....

(bakwaas starting page hai)