VIII B

Disclaimer: This is written from the class monitor's perspective. The author doesn't have a crystal clear memory, so some of the details might be misrepresented. 

No character, place or event mentioned in this blog is real. 

VIII B

Date - don't remember.
Time - 12:10 (after the 12:05 - 12:10 break bell) 

The last two periods are for Craft Class. 

Class strength - 44

Class leader - 3309

Game - cloth duster volley ball. 

Prologue:

The score is tied. As per international volleyball rules the team has to win by a 2 point margin. Manu S and I are serving. (I forgot the opposite team members names.) There is a cricket match going on on the side - the back rest of the wooden chair being the bat and rolled paper being the ball. (I remember Nishad as the batsman, don't remember the bowler.) There are some cadets completing their homework also. The rest of the class has gone to the Craft room. 

The Catch: 

Suddenly there is a white uniform standing near the door and a voice booms - "what is going on here?" 

We turn and find our Principal standing there. We are doomed. Our principal's name alone sent shivers, so imagine him standing at the door completely angry. 

He calls each one of us and gives a resounding slap and tells us to stand in the central garden. There are 10 of us standing there. He asks us which period is it and we answer " it is craft class". He tells us to start running around the central garden and once we reach the central path, he tells us to stand front rolls. When we reach the other end; he stops us and asks "How many front rolls did you take to reach here?" 

We - " Sir, we didn't count". Principal: "start rolling again and do count this time." We start rolling and by the time we reach he reaches the other end. He asks again and we answer "13". The number should have been the sign of the things to come. 

The after effects:

Meanwhile the news has reached the rest of our classmates, our craft teacher (who was our class teacher also) and the senior master. The rest of the class come marching in a line and stops near our class. We are standing below on the garden. Principal stops and looking at the cadets in line asks " Who is the class monitor?" My hand goes up, but he doesn't see me as he is looking the other way. Not seeing any body raise their hand, he becomes  angrier. Then he notices everyone is looking down on the cadets in the garden. It suddenly dawns on him and he turns around and finds me with a raised hand. He calls me up and gives one more slap. He asks our class teacher why the cadets weren't in the class. Our class teacher says - "these guys are always late to the craft class." Wow!! talk about adding fuel to fire.. Principal looks at me and says " Report this to Headmaster". He leaves the scene. The whole class troops into the classroom waiting for the inevitable. 

My heart sinks; Principal strikes fear but the Headmaster is a hothead. I start thinking " How the hell am I going to tell Headmaster that some of us didn't go to craft class and were playing. The Principal caught us and told me to report the incident to you." My seat is near the window and while the thoughts are racing in my head, I see the Headmaster coming along with the Senior master. I heave a sigh of relief thinking "No need to tell him". Then the tension starts again since Headmaster is looking very angry. 

He reaches the entrance and asks " Who is the class monitor?" I march to him. I see lighting and I fall "Raamjaane" style (360 degree rotation) and falls on the desk. He is ballistic and to make matters worse our senior master tells him "Sir, this class is the Number 1 troublesome and noise making class in this wing. They are a nuisance to everyone." The new information is the final nail in the coffin. He tells everyone to march out. He calls our PT trainers and gives them the order - "Make them sweat and fall back by 1:30"

The punishments:

There are three PT sirs. They divide us into groups and the punishment starts.. 

(Note: The below sets of punishments are only the ones which my group got)

Our PT sir tells us to run a lap of 400m . Being veterans in the field of punishments, we run slowly. we know that we are going to suffer and we need our stamina for the next hour. We take our time and run the 400. Our PT sir tells us to go into push-up position and we start push-ups. I hear one loud cry, then another. I check and find the PT sir standing near me with a cane. He asks me the same question he asked everyone else "Do you think you can fool me by running slowly". The cane comes down teaching a valuable lesson. After he makes sure that everyone got one each - he was fair in that respect, he tells us to run a 400m lap again. We run as if our backs are on fire.. The front rolls, the murga position, the frog jumps follow. 

The verdict:

1:30 approaches and we are marched back to the Principal's office. Headmaster comes out and calls out for the class monitor. Headmaster and I enter the Principal's office and salute him. He asks "What is the reason for this meeting?" I answer "Sir, I was playing during class time." He says " I am asking you why the whole class is caught?" "The whole class didn't go to the craft class and some of the cadets were playing in the class" He gives the verdict - "Full Class restriction". 

[Restriction(n): Formal punishments for trouble makers. It runs for a duration of one hour from 3 PM to 4 PM. A restriction will result in a negative point to the team. Similar to detention in the Harry Potter series.]

I salute and come out along with our Headmaster. He conveys the good news and adds his boon also "Your punishment will continue through Games hour also." 

We break out for lunch. The news has reached the whole school and everyone is asking us the details. A full class getting restriction was unheard of and we have set a precedent:). After lunch the school Vice captain calls me and gives me a register to write down the names of all the cadets of our class. The 44 cadets names are recorded. We get a break of half an hour after lunch and I get to fill the register. The day keeps getting better. 

The punishments start again from 3 PM to 4 PM. After the tea break, we roll again (Pun intended) till 5:30 PM.  At the end of the ordeal, our PT sir asks why didn't we go to the class. The punishments has taken its toll and some of the cadets point their finger at me. Some say everyone is at fault. My head is hanging down, I don't have an answer because I know that I should have been the only one punished. Our PT sir seeing the rift between the cadets, tells us that in a team or class there is no individual. The whole team is either good or bad, so stop the fighting and make sure that the team stays together. 

Epilogue: 

The day is etched in all of our batch mates minds. The VIII A cadets also remember the fateful day VIII B got restriction. I still think that ours is the only class ever to get a "whole class restriction", so atleast we have a record out of that. Talk about the silver lining....  

4 years at Chennai, almost

Chennai - 4 yrs, almost. Life is moving very fast. Looking back, what I have achieved, what I have lost, these 4 yrs will remain important to me..So Chennai will be important and memorable.

What all I achieved:
Friends - not lots of them. But a select few, who are good – no… great friends. It takes a great deal of patience and good heart to be my friendJ So my great friends take a bow.. take a bow... Drinks on the way.

Family - I became closer to my family. People might be wondering about this statement. After studying in a boarding school and staying away in college, this is time where I went home frequently and feel more connected to my family.

Table tennis - I played this sport a few times in my school days. The 4 years in Chennai has made me a TT player. This does not mean that I won any championship, it is just that I am able to smash both fore-hand and back-handJ thanks to HP, SK and SJ for playing with me.

Fat - 4 years have added lot of FAT in my body. The round estimate is that I am looking more like a square than round. Enough said.

Hi-fliers 2001 - I became active in our Kazhak batch activities. The OBA meets, get together, the tours were, to put it in words, FANTASTIC & BOMBASTIC & etc... The New Year promises 1 more. As always to the Kazhaks: 3 cheers - rather 4 cheers to Hi-fliers 2001. Hip, hip Hurray (4)J

JD – Jack Daniels. Not a person but a brand. Great. All you need is a group of friends and JD. Life is GUD J

What all I have lost:
1 friend - I lost a friend while at Chennai. Though Chennai is not at fault, I see Chennai as a reason. It is easier to put the blame on something else. The funny thing is that, while the person was in Chennai for a while, the distance between us (not physically) was more than when the person was in Mumbai.. to me Mumbai-Chennai seemed nearer than Chennai-Chennai. Sounds ridiculous, but true.

Some college/Mumbai friends: I became lazy.. The calls to my friends are very less. This is one bit of me I would like to change. I should call them more often.


Chennai is a good city to live if you leave out the hot summer. I think I am becoming more philosophical. The heat is the reason. So, here are some of my philosophical fundas. I learned that life is not to be weighed in terms of Advantages and disadvantages and more importantly not to be put down in a piece of paper in points. It is all about friends and family. Thinking of my own philosophy, I think the particular friend can become my family. So life will become more wonderful J

The Special Bird Blog

TimeZone1: 1300-1330: waiting for the lunch van to come
1330-1430: Lunch time. Kerala meals + Mathi fry...hmmmm
TimeZone2: 1830-1930: snacks + bird watching (the special bird blog will follow)

What is common in these two time-zones? Food..Yes and something more important, rather someone :). These two time zones are met with enthusiasm and hunger (for food).

The characters:
The bird: A female (obviously... normal che), pretty.
The hunter: @me
The Hero: the guy who is seen with the bird.
There is a conflict of interest here. This particular guy is hero because he is with the bird. But he is the villain from my point of view as he is with the bird. (Confused???)
The other hunters: the other guys from the same clan.

Before going further let me provide the disclaimer - This blog is written without the bird's or the Hero's permission. So any wrong representation of facts, I am solely responsible. But that does not imply that you can sue me.

The bird watching starts about lunch time, if at all the lunch van arrives on time. This time is spent on the first floor, and watching the bird below. Please note the interesting fact here that the hunter is above in the branch (first floor) and bird below on ground. The bird tries to avoid the hunter as usual. Once all the hunters get together, lunch is devoured in the canteen. The hunter takes particular care to sit in a table such that he can watch the bird. But the bird being a FEMALE makes sure that she sits with her back to me - the hunter.

The same routine is repeated through the TimeZone2.

One of the other incidents which come to my mind is during one of the tea-breaks; the hunter spotted the bird perched on the third floor breakout branch. As usual hunter was aiming for the bird, with mouth-watering eyes. The bird sensing that some enemy is monitoring its flight plans started taking precautions. Since then the bird has taken care not to venture out to that particular branch.

Hunter being one of the noisy ones around, had a feeling that the bird knew that his existence. In the month of October, autumn in full swing, mercury dipping and the weather gradually becoming colder - the hunter felt that it is the time for the trap to be set. But the truth is that one of the hunter's friends laid a trap for his bird (not my bird). That too this hunter had gone to a foreign hunting ground and set the trap. To avoid the jeers from my other friends, this hunter also went for the trap.

The trap - (Climax)

So the D day came. The hunter opens his Lotus Notes IM.. double click the bird's name. The window comes up. The point is noted here is that the hunter has never talked to the bird..(Plz don’t say wt*). So with his good friends around, the hunter types the words - "hello". After what seems an eternity, comes the reply - "Hi". The brain-storming session starts what trap to lay... I come up with a reply - "Do you know me?” Since my brain works faster than a computer (la Chacha Chaudhary), it creates short-circuits and bugs too faster. To my super intelligent question the bird replies - "no". the bird flies away from the trap. The famous song Ek Anek plays in hunter’s mind, especially the lines – “Chaturr chidiyan, Sayanee chidiyan, miljul kar, jaal le kar, bhaagee chidiyan, furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”. The hunter is defeated and asks something like - " i thought u knew me." But the previous answer was the end of conversion.

The End

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The new bird is sitting in the canteen, with her feathers straightened.. The hunter and his clan have a smirk on their faces. A new trap will be laid for the new bird..

How I wish this was a dream..

I call her and talk to her for sometime. I have broken my promise. The heart ruled over my brain and my sense. I wanted to talk to her but the promise was that I will not call her. But I broke that.

I want to talk to her again. I do not know what I am thinking. I want to talk to her again. The other side of my head says, "No, don't do it" . The fight again breaks out, to call or not to call.. I am feeling sleepy. Lying on my bed, I debate again whether to call or not. The phone is in my hand, the screen is displaying the contact list. The contact list reaches her name. My hand goes over to the call button again. Stops for a second.. then again the heart overrides my senses. I push it and dial her number. I pray that her phone is busy so that sense(my sense) prevail. But as Murphy's laws, when you want the phone busy, it is never so. The phone is ringing. Two rings and the call is answered.

@She: "Hello"
@me:"Hello.. Me again" (Sleepily)
@She:"Kya hua.. Bolo"
@me:"Just wanted to wish you again"
@She:"thanks" (I can hear the sound of train from the other end)
@me:"tum kahi jaa rahi ho kya..Kahan ho abhi?"
@She:"nahi..Mai shopping maal mei hoom."
@me:"mai train ki awaaz suna, isliye pooch raha tha."
@She:"iske paas se train jaa rahi thi isliye."
@me:"ohh. ok. Aur mujhe tumse baath karana hai"(the sleep taking over.. eyes are closing..)
@She:"haan.. Kya hua?"
@me:"I am feeling alone...." (She sighs)"Mai... Seriously.."
@She:"Renjith.. Please..mujhe nahi sunna..Bye" (She sounded angry and sad)
kiiiiiiiiiii.. call disconnected.. Suddenly I am no longer drowsy, my sleep is all gone, I am wide awake. Why the hell did I call her now? Why did I?????

Someone is pounding on the door. My train of thought is broken, some kids from the neighboring flats, asking for the tennis ball. I check and say no it didn't fall over to our room.

The thought train starts chucking along.. Why did I call her again? What was the need? I knew that she would not like it, but I called. How I wish I could turn back the time and not call her. I lie down again on my bed.. Sleep gone, mind blank, I am staring at the ceiling fan, as if it is the culprit.

'KiKi.. KiKi' the new message tone on my mobile breaks my thoughts and I am awake. I am awake??? I open the message, it is from my cousin, a funny sms. The time is 7:00 AM Sunday. A slimmer of hope.. That might mean that I didn't call her. Was it all a dream? My finger reaches for the call history. whewww.. the last call was to UB..thank God..That means that I have only called her once.....(Pardon me..UB has not been introduced to you all. @my friend.. @Ub a.k.a Mr. Personality, @Vashi alter ego a.k.a Captain Jack Sparrow and @me were the three musketeers at Mumbai).

This dream has got me thinking. yes, @me thinking, at early hours , on a Sunday morning.
How I wish that this all could turn into a dream and I find out again that we are still the best of friends..
How I wish that a sms or a call or a morning alarm wakes me up and I find out that it all happened in my head..
How I wish that I could turn back time and talk for hours together....
How I wish.....

A day in RJ's life

Disclaimer: the events emntioned n this blog might be normal and boring.

0700: The alarm goes off in my mob {Sony Ericksson K850i ( a 5 mp camera phone)} @me: put the alarm in snooze mode
0710: Alarm again. @me: snooze again
0720/0730: alarm again. @me:wake up... rather roll out off bed.
0730-0810: @me: brushing, reading newspaers, attending nature calls, take bath(ya I do it everyday)
0810-0830: commute to office - bus or share auto
0830-0950: @me: login to comp + regular work (my login time is officially 0730 hrs : D)
0950-1020: breakfast - juice + cornflakes (it s our company coorporate dish la corporate dress)
1020-1100: hmm this is the time when @me logs in to IM(chat) and wait for the vashi @alterego to surface. We have our Brainstorming discussion everyday asto wat r we doing here. what should we do, et al
1100-1130: t time.. the most enjoyable time in off. spent n leg pulling..
1130-1300: time stuck.. work/chat not in any particular order.
1300-1330: waiting for the lunch van to come
1330-1430: Lunch time. kerala meals + mathi fry.......hmmmm
1430-1530: again try worrrrrrking
1530-1600: t time again.. it is a vicious circle
1600-1830: this is when the work gets done. all official mails replied.
1830-1930: snacks + bird watching (the special bird blog will follow)
1930-1930: log off/shut down go home/play
1930-2130: play extended/TV time
2130-2200: dinner2200-0000: TV again/debates with roommates (sadly no phone calls; should try sm bird calls)
0000-0100: try to sleep....
0100-0700: dreamzz till that darn alarm - in my Sony Ericksson K850i ( a 5 mp camera phone) rings...

The Mathematics of Love

Introduction:
So here I am entering the bloggers’ world… My friends motivated me to write a blog. No, it was more like all my friends were posting blogs, so I thought why not me??
So the decision was taken. I created a blog in bloggers world. That done, the real problem started; what to write in my first blog. It has to be good, humorous, thought provoking.

I checked a few of my friends’ blogs for eg. The Kappa J blog, being a Kohlapur born Mallu, he wrote a good (un-understandable yet funny) blog. Though I may neither match his style nor the humor, I would love to make you laugh and think.
In my blog, I will talk about two subjects, both of which I love. The first one is the subject “Mathematics”, which most people don’t like. The second one is more general- " Love", which most have experienced or given or whatever.

Chapter ONE :- MATHEMATICS
I always loved numbers. It was a subject which did not need any essays to be written. There were chances of getting 100% marks. We study maths as a subject or as a part of subjects, for e.g. science subjects.

I remember my professor @ RIT Kottayam asking our batch the question why should we study maths or what is the need of maths. As usual some of us were saying some answers, others blinking, and some others dreaming. I was surprised at this question, because I have had the same question about studying history but not about maths. Since maths was easy for me, I never thought about that and never tried finding an exact answer to that question. (Regarding the history question, my History Sir, gave me an answer – “to understand and know the present we need to study the past. If we know our past then only we can appreciate the present and look forward to our future.”) Our Prof: then explained that like Hindi, English,etc; Maths is also a language. To be more precise, Maths is a formal language. That is why it is used in Science subjects. A statement in Maths will have only one meaning or explanation anywhere, anytime or what tone we say, a quality which no other language has. That is why newer branches of maths are invented for newer subjects.. for e.g. Boolean algebra for Digital Circuits, Graph theory for study of graphs, etc. So for any language to be clearly understood or explained we need maths.

Chapter TWO :- LOVE
A topic which is discussed everywhere. One can find lots of songs, movies, stories, even blogs about love. Everyone would have had a brush with love. You love your parents, your brother/sister, and your friends. The "LOVE" mentioned in this blog is the one which exists between a boy and a girl- nowadays in Unisex too.

I love girls. Everytime I love a girl, she doesnot love me back. So I thought why not try to derive a Mathematical formula and then I can find out why girls don't love me back. That is how I came upon this topic " The Mathematics of Love".

Chapter THREE :- The Mathematics of Love
So here the 21st century RamanuJan (rj) is bringing in Love to a branch of maths, to help make things clear and understandable. Lets us take love under Boolean algebra.
The basics:
1) It has only two values 0 or 1 i.e. either you love or you do not love.
2) There is no “you are like my friend”, “you are like my brother/sister”, etc. In case of such answers the value will be 0.
3) There should be two people involved.

4) There is only one gate used – the AND gate.

The statement ‘Love is where two people become one’ is proved as:

X loves Y the value is 1.
Y loves X the value is 1.
To check whether they are in love, AND gate them. So, we get
1 + 1 = 1.
Therefore, love comes under Boolean Algebra.
So, let me try my love stats under this maths:
I love her -> 1
She doesn’t love me -> 0
So 1 + 0 = 0.. Oops.. No, this will not work.

Epilogue:
I thought this dumb Boolean maths would make everything correct. Now I have to rethink and go for a new branch of maths. Why not PROBABILITY ? Yes, probably she loves me. There is zero probability that she doesn’t love me. Here it goes again…