Monday, September 29, 2008

A morning to Remember

Sometimes things comes your way unexpectedly. I think Saturday morning was one of them. I had traveled to Mysore on Friday evening and we all friends(Me, Nid, PP, Nish) met to spend one of the most memorable nights. What happened and what was discussed in the night will remain secret. So by the time we all went to bed it was 3AM in the morning. Final words before sleep from Nid was "Machu wake me up early tomorrow I will take you to a special place".
We all slept in the ambiance where V TV was continuously running on one side, Nish trying to pull my blanket, PP lying half on bed half on the floor. But still there was so much serenity in everybodies sleep :).
Suddenly my phone made a sound and woke me up. It was a message from my friend. Thanks for waking me up since Nid had plans to take me to a special place. The Time showed 5:30 in the morning. After many unsuccessful try to wake up Nid, he at last he got up at 6:30.
I was in my tracks and sleeveless T-Shirt. Nid was in his usual three-fourths and pullover. The plan was for a morning bike ride to the Mysore university. As soon as we came out of the room the fresh smell of Mysore air had made its impression on me. We took the bike(without helmet) and started towards our destination. Nid was ridding slowly just to enjoy the morning. Our first pit stop was a the T-Stall in the university campus behind the ladies hostel. We looked at each other and said that sometimes when we just wake up and come we look smarter :). We had tea and I fed the dog which was looking at me with so much hope, a bun. I don't like to disappoint anybody :).

We could see people walking in the campus and were jealous of not having such a place in Bangalore. I said to myself "Never mind now that we are here lets enjoy this freshness". We then parked the bike near somewhere and took a walk to the kukkarahalli lake. We both sat near the lake for almost an hour discussing about what we have gained in life and what we have lost. We had our answers right in front of us
"We have such good friend... that's the biggest gain in life. The answer for what we have lost was that "Our friends never make us feel that we have lost anything". That's how much we support our friends.













That's why probably Shijin bhai once said "There are 3 levels of friends I have seen. After seeing you people I understood there is a 4th level too".
The next place within the university where we went was the lush green huge university playground. We walked in the ground for sometime listening to music. It was almost 9 in the morning and we could see parents coming to drop their daughters. Nid always liked Mysore girls so he was happy to see them back. After all this our stomach was asking for some food. We both went to KD road and had breakfast at Green leaf.

The sun was bright enough to suggest us that the morning was almost over. So we headed back to the room after enjoying one of the finest morning of my life till date :).

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

One of those days when a slice of memory from the past make you feel good

I have been thinking to write this from quite some time but either I was too lazy or I used to think will I be really truthful while writing. At last I thought let me give it a try.
People call me VS. You will find me responding faster when you call me with that name. My full name is Praveen Kumar VS. I still did not understand why my Dad added the Kumar in between. Never mind my family has my Dad M.K Shivanna, my mother VB Gayathri, my brother Deepak and the latest entry to the family was my bhabhi Deepa. I think by the time I finish this blog even i will be married :).

My complete schooling from 1st to 12 th was done in Kendriya Vidyalaya AFS. I can say, that was a real good foundation for my life. Thinking of those school days just makes me feel so happy. There were no worries at all. The only thing we had to do is study and play. Rather play and then study :). Let me start my stories class wise.

i still remember class 7th when we made our first friends group and named it as Pandavs. Me(Nakul), Himanshu(Arjun), Amit(Sahadev), Khande(Bheem), Mani(Yudhishtir). I would never forget Birju also became part of Pandavs by becoming the Dog that followed Pandavs in the Pilgrimage of Death. The group lasted only 1 year since Himanshu and Khande left the school. But we had our share of fun during this one year. We also used to play langadi taang along with girls. 7th was also probabaly last time we played any outdoor games with girls. Cricket fever had entered in my life.

8th standard was again special because the most beautiful girl of our school became my bench mate. I am sure so many were jealous of it but thanks to Pankajam mam who did that. She was probably the most silent girl before she sat with me. We used to speak a lot and we used to get scoldings in the class for talking. I was Named "Chatter box" but nothing stopped me from talking. I was probably the most mischievous guy in my class.
The only thing I was bothered during school was to play cricket. In the morning we used to come little early just to play short cricket. Even used to bunk the class, go to the squash court behind our school to play cricket. I was a cricket star in school. I remember kids waiting for me to go and bat. I used to love it when kids used to say "Sit sit don't go Praveen Bhaiya ki batting next hai". Cricket made me quite famous in school and also made couple of girl propose me. But never did I reply anything to those girls. I was too much into cricket that nothing else did I want in life :).

9th Standard. How can I forget the beating that I got from PT sir for playing WWF cards in the class that too sitting over the bench :). PT sir called us to his room and then asked me to teach him how to play WWF cards. As soon as he removed his watch I knew that I am going to see stars today. Every time I told him a rule, I got beatings from his folded cabel wire. Then we all had to fold our pants and crawl 10 rounds on the jerry mat. That was the last time I ever got beating in the school. That was also the last time I heard PT sir's usual dialog for me "kalranna nambidaru kulranna nambarathu".

10th standard. The only thing I remember is every teacher saying that we are going to face Board exams. Phool madam(Hindi), Rangaswamy sir(maths), Devika Madam(Social), Thewani madam(English) who made us study study and study more. But I was never bothered about all that. I always used to study a week ago to exams. Anyhow the most memorable thing during 10 was the hunger strike we did in front of Principal room for not giving Hall tickets to the students who did not score well during pre-board exams. Guys broke tube lights, fan, blackboard in the class. At last we only had to pay the fine for breaking it :).
First time I got nervous during board exams. While writing the papers I never for a min look anywhere else. Anyhow that how I faced my first Board exams like a good student for the first time :P.

11th Standard. I should tell that this is when I realized we were grown up guys. I got new friends Mrinal, Nitin, Vineet, Sudheer. Cricket was still on top of my list. This was the first time that girls became part of our group. Deepthi, Shash, Pallavi. This was the time when I had my first crush. It was none other than my chemistry teacher. No wonder I started liking chemistry. I just wanted to be best in chemistry. In lab I used to be the first to finish the lab. My chemistry record book used to be upto date. Thus I became the Fav student of Chemistry Madam. But not to mention I still got scoldings. Cant forget her dialog "Sit down sit down" in the mallu accent. I hated physics because I hated physics sir(Munga).

I also passed NDA written exam and was called for interview. The interview was in Mysore and I remember waiting in the mysore railway station from where all the candidated were picked by NDA officers. Those 5 days in mysore will always remain special. I lived a the life of a cadet. I missed becoming a pilot by a whisker. Out of the final 3 only 1 was selected. I was disappointed but as I said those 5 days made me a proud person and gave me loads of confidence.

I was also proposed by a girl when I was in 11th. She was my junior but I never said a word to her. I never even made eye contact with her. She tried her best to talk to me but somehow I was never bothered.

12th Standard. Friends Friends Friends. The only thing I used to be bothered about. Probably had more fun than ever. Cant forget Mrinal who could manage to flirt with any girl he wants. At one time he was having affair with two girls that too in our class only. He never used to stick to one girl for more than 2 months. I still remember me, Nitin going to one of the girl who really got serious about Mrinal. We told her that Mrinal wants to concentrate on studies so forget him. Vineet also fell in love with a girl in our class. So I think Love was in the air. Not to mention I was also in love but the difference was that the girl was not in our school but she was in Native. I used to give money to Mani to get gifts for her, since there was no good shop near my house. Later I realized that he used to charge me more and used to have fun with my money. Anyhow he used to get good gift so I forgive him. I also remember selling old books so that I could treat my friends for Birthday. Guess what was the treat. Kulfi near Air force canteen :). Teachers day was also fun and I had become English teacher. I bet student had real fun during my class. That is when I realized how good a teacher I can be. Anyhow one day I will be a teacher. Within no time Board exams were on our head and it was time to get serious about studies. We have had enough fun through out the year. So at last I studies and did fairly well in my exams.

Schoold days got over but I am happy that I am still in touch with all of my schoold friends. We dont meet often but when we meet we have fond memories to talk about.

Thats how was my school days. Those were the best of my life. School days were over and something better in my life was waiting for me. My college Days. Stay tuned till I write about my college days.