"Absolutely no recreation..."

"Why?" i demanded.
"He might want to see you." said Dad.
"Why?" I demanded.
"To see if you are good enough." replied dad.
"Why?" I demanded yet again.
"Excuse me?"
"Why?" i asked.
"Rick! Will you pull out those earphones?!"
"Oh gee..."

And i was on my way to Subhojit Sir's tuition. I told Dad to chose the physics teacher with great care, one hears some worrying stories about people hopping from place to place, from teacher to teacher and still not satisfied. So one needs to be careful.

When narrating a story i must stick to the main story. Digression, though wonderful in the eyes of the author, tends to be boring for the not so enthusiastic reader. So i cleverly leave out the stories of the "grocery man's deception", the "xerox man's spot" and of course, the one that i can never forget-"missing Rick".

After a most eventful journey we reached the building where this celebrity of a teacher preached physics. All the grocery shops that i had seen along the way knew him. I, being the most incurious and innocent type, attributed all this to his fledgling fame.

We reached at a quarter to seven. From a quarter to seven to a quarter to eight, on being contacted five times, sir announced that he would be there in fifteen minutes every time. I made a mental note to synchronise my watch with this guy, he sounded my type.

After making the mistake of wishing a good evening to a guardian and earning smiles of appreciation from everybody, i had just begun to make myself home, when sir entered at 8 and i hastily put away my mobile and earphones and assumed an expression appropriate for the occasion.

My first impression of the guy was that he is somehow related to P.C.Sorcar. The similarities are striking. My second impression was also that he was related to P.C.Sorcar. He talks too much and doesn't like to be interrupted. However the similarities stopped right there. Thankfully. Physics and magic, served on the same plate taste atrocious. At least in theory they do.

"I have a philosophy- All that really matters is a student's sincerity." he began. To this i could think of a hundred sarcastic replies which have become so common that i decided to let the statement pass unopposed.

"All these students are running after FIIT-JEE, Brilliant, Resonance, but they don't stop to think. Who actually gains? They teach for profit, while I teach..." All too predictable. I silently watched him, my face reflecting shinning respect. The guy had red hair. Red stands for danger. Then i noticed it was orange.

"It is my belief that parents shouldn't ask their wards to go for any particular target. Every student, by the time he is halfway through class 11, begins to have an idea. He begins to know his limits, his strength, his potential and he can make his own targets."

I smiled cheerfully at dad and mouthed "See See,I told ya!" But my happiness, as always, was short lived.

"Students need to study at least 6-7 hours apart from school. In class 11-12 there's no time for recreation." he declared vindictively. Funnily enough, he was looking at me. That killed me. Dad looked at me with a most pseudo-benevolent expression. In fact since i was the only student, a lot of other guardian looked at me to gauge my reaction. I looked away pointedly.

"Ho ho, i compared you with my daughter and her reaction would have been quite similar..ho ho.." smiled a man.

Another uncle nudged his wife and pointed towards me and all of them smiled understandingly. Correction/Conclusion: They thought they understood.

"First class is on 1st April" he barked at the parents of the HS students.

"Not a hoax i hope, sir?" I said.

He looked at me uncomprehendingly. Then he smiled.

"No, i hope its not an April Fool."

A murmur of laughter followed this.

Then he distributed a sheet with "Rules and Regulation" written in bold at the very top. And my hopes of an informal atmosphere sank without any conspicuous bubbles.

"Test in the last week of every month." Thats the highlight. The highlight that induced lowlight in my heart.

At this point the interaction was disrupted by a woman who was requesting sir to change her daughter's batch pointlessly.

My dad snatched the opportunity.

"See, son, the time has come. Your celebrations end today. From tomorrow you are not..."

"Mom! Dad's starting again!" i said, partly indignant, partly apprehensive.

Dad stopped prudently. Me and Mom together are formidable opponents.

Sir stopped with a lecture on how he plans to teach throughout the year and other stuffs of considerably lesser interest. So that's it. Another countdown begins. The countdown to the rush.

16 days till 1st April. 15 days to be accurate, its 12:00.

Yesterday's newspaper.

Forrest Gump. Rohan, although i agreed with you before, i must expostulate now. In my opinion, the film did connect emotionally. The acting was, of course, just what to be expected from Tom Hanks, but the storyline too was an unusually beautiful one.

I played pool and guess what? i lost to a couple of strangers! Well, it came down to that shot of mine before which both me and Ratul were doing rather well. And then i fouled. Crap! We lost. And er, a small excuse is that it was my second day at pool, i did play quite well actually, in case you were thinking i was hopeless at it. That wouldn't go down too well with my ego.

I fisnished "Anything for you ma'm" by Tushar Raheja. An interesting, funny book. It talks about simple normal things, but the way it talks about the simple normal things is the factor that appeals to me. Definitely a nice read.

Thats about that folks, nothing of interest in my life presently but its just a matter of time before i am back in form, living up to my reputation of being a weirdo!

An ode to all those things that confuse a teenager's vulnerable mind.

I was reading my own blogs for a change. Amazingly enough, i found out new things. Why are some things just so strange? "Incongruous" fits well here.

I love to repeat this and with good reason: "I have time" With a burst of intelligence and creativity quite unexpected of me, i decided to wallow in some deep contemplation, you know, transcendental ideas.(i don't exactly know the meaning, but there, i was thinking along those lines.) And i felt lightheaded after the hour which spent thinking.(pig-headed is another probable explanation but i prefer light headed for purely personal reasons.)

Sometimes i get so absorbed in fiction that i begin to confuse my facts and the other times i get so absorbed in facts that i forget that theres something beyond facts. And hence i shuttle back and forth and thats basically the way i do things. And i don't do all that well but not all that path either.

Some people can write short stories that strike a chord, the stories aren't necessarily extraordinary, its the idea, the little nuances that make them original and hence less/more than ordinary. No, i am not showing of my inside knowledge or expertise about the topic but i just realised these and i feel i want to write it all down.My Blog page looks happy and chirpy with calvin all over it so thats where i decided to write.

Some say that seeing is believing. Some say that seeing is not necessarily believing. Some say that even not seeing is sometimes believing. Now, i know i am quoting all of these out of context but i... it strikes me as weird. Confusingly weird. Exasperatingly weird. You get the message.

Another thing, isn't whatever we write basically plagiarism? Nothing wrong with me, but i just had this idea, stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.

The Wall-E track "down to earth" evokes complex thoughts and feelings.

Isn't there a subtle difference between "pensive" and "ruminative"? Thought so.

I cant believe Einstein was the first one to propose the theory of relativity. I think its impossible no one did it earlier. Its all relative!

And is there any real reason behind the existence of the word "inevitable" in the dictionary?

The word magical contains seven letters. How come i never noticed it before, hm?
It is magically confusing!

All of the statements above are interrelated. I know that much but how or why, i have no idea. I don't expect anyone to relate to this blog, its impossible. Period. Its just so confusing. But then...*grin*-

"Alls well that ends well"

"did u think, u were tricked?
By the future u picked?"
.............Theres something in those lines...
(i am not being really sincere to the lyrics but, it isn't likely to harm anybody is it?)

Decadence. (I honestly didnt find any relation between the title and the post but then, thats the point.)

I want to write a long long blog post. Yes, inspite of those invariable "sighs!" and "oofs!" and "oh dear"s i will write. It will involve a lot of digression of course, since when has "to the point" been my forte,huh? It was written umpteen number of times in those little white sheets that i smeared with inscrutable shit(for want of a better word)for the past few days but i efficiently ignored it each and every time. And so, coming back to the point(what point? very intelligent question indeed, but most good writers do so, to create an atmosphere of relative importance) i want to write a long long post.

What is the essence of a long post?- My analytical mind asks me. The essence of a long post is the length, my analytical mind tells me. I decide to put my mind to rest, temporary shut down. Permanent shut down wont be preferable for the greater good, what will the world do without me? its not like Subhas Chandra is still around to look after things. So temporary shut down. Now, begins the mindless talk. (As you can see my mindful talk is the quintessence of excitement, if all this excitement is enough for you, take my advice and check out the next blog. The following part will be too exciting for you. I know what this feels like, i had to proof read this thing.)

1. Amitava Ghosh writes really well. But i dont know the meaning of importuning. So i wont read Amitava Ghosh now, the dictionary is five steps away. FIVE STEPS. Too much work, literally as well as mechanically.

2. Forest Gump is an excellent movie but Dad is sitting in my room playing his part in a "man to man" talk. He is turning too serious for my liking. And forest Gump is er, not so watchable in front of dad.

3. Three friends gave me their opinions on the guitar that i should buy. That was just what i needed to decide. Now i have a most clear cut idea. Three clear cut idea(s) to be precise. Even my mindless brain tells me that its "back to square one".

4. The thing about maths is that one needs to have brains to do it. Limit of hindsight, wont you agree?

5. The thing about fun is one just needs to take out the time and have it. I dont care whether you agree or not, I am in the mood for some drastic fun. Drastic insensible fun.

-On the verge of madness.(this is a metaphor, mind, it doesn't mean what it means.)

He-He!

19 DAYS to go.
Mum is making me eat 3 different kinds of pills. Dad brought home some mysterious looking syrup that is supposed to help rejuvenate my memory. It had Brahmi in it, if that means anything to you. Didn't mean anything to me except a terribly bitter taste.


Mum is taking extra precautions that a mosquito doesn't even get within a mile(er, meter) of me. She is industriously spraying my room with insect repellents as a result of which even i get repelled from my room.

She is telling me not to skid on the marble floor which i am exceptionally fond of. She forbade me from jumping on the bed the other day. Dad scolded me because i got a little excited in the terrace.

BUT,

I--

I climbed the water tank. The water tank is on the roof of the stairway that opens to the terrace. I had to maintain my balance on the railing, i was so happy to realise i didn't have vertigo. I climbed under the water tank, climbed on top of the water tank. Couldn't quite climbed into it because well, its the water tank. Why? Because i felt like climbing. Flawless reason, that.


There's a construction going on in front of our building. My crazy ball(very aptly named, i suddenly realised) took a beautiful dive from my window and straight into the green pool that contains god-knows-what in the corner of the construction site. My heart sank but the ball didn't. That inspired me.
Avoiding my mum with the stealth acquired as a result of centuries of practice(yea, i like exaggeration), i slipped out of the house. Scaling the wall, i stood in front of the pool, trying to decide the best course of action. I found a forlorn looking but sturdy bamboo(not in its popular metaphoric sense)beside the pool. Taking that bamboo i tried to poke the ball.
I did succeed in poking the ball but it was only after i poked the ball that i realised i shouldn't have. Me and hindsight. It just floated away from me, bobbing as if mocking my stupidity.
I moved ahead. Precariously balanced at the edge of the pool, i tried to pull the ball towards me. The ground near my foot began cracking and pieces of mud fell into the pool. I ignored it and went forward leaning dangerously. But my instincts worked with unexpected, sudden, welcome alacrity. The bamboo pole was approximately 10 foot long. I decided to check how deep the pool was. Just in case.
So, i took the bamboo and drove it vertically into the water and let it go. I never saw it again, it went straight in. Probably it was the bubbles or the disgusting green colour, but i lost interest in trying to retrieve the ball.


Its so rarely that i hear the "doog-doog" sound of the monkey-wallah that yesterday, when i heard it, i couldn't resist the urge to go out and take a look at the monkeys. They were friendly looking fellows making faces at every passer by. I returned the scowls with substantial interest. Now i admit it that i am not really adept at monkey language but apparently that particular monkey thought otherwise.
I made a remarkable face and some remarkably nonsensical noises. Apparently that meant something because the monkey took offence. It scratched my arm when i ventured too close. Mum said monkey scratches aren't dangerous. Phew!


Seen lizards up close? I did. This particularly brave one took a dip in my coffee. It died, poor fellah, but i would have followed suit if its treacherous tail didn't give it away.


I have a chip in my shoulder. Literally. It happened when i underestimated the height of the cupboard.It hurts, i tell you.


And i end with a piece of advice. Never SMS and make omlettes simultaneously. The probability of you coming out with a unburnt omlette and all limbs intact, is nil. I did that. But thankfully, i realised my folly early, just got a burnt forefinger. Left forefinger.

Kolkata.

Kolkata is claustrophobic. Kolkata is kaleidoscopic. Kolkata is beautiful. Kolkata is filthy. Kolkata has a culture. Kolkata is infamous. Kolkata has people. Kolkata has monsters. Kolkata has terrorists. Kolkata has saints. Kolkata has tress. Kolkata has smoke.Kolkata has me. Kolkata also has ______. Kolkata isn't perfect. That's why it is perfect.

^_^

Mood.

I was studying history. The fact isn't really relevant but i thought i would mention it anyway. The point is, i was studying history and was in an absolutely wonderful mood. My subconscious mind registered that a truck had pulled up in front of our building. It was full of stones, there's a building under construction right in front of ours. The men opened the latch that held the stones in the back of the track. The stones rushed out with that characteristic gravely sound, the delightful sound of flowing stone. The intensity of the sound decreased progressively till it was just a trickle, the trickle of a few rocks rolling out of the floor, almost reluctantly. And then, the sound of silence. How long did it last? 5 seconds? 7 seconds? It sounded uniquely refreshing. And it changed my mood.


Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours.--Mark twain.