Our brain is a weird little complicated thing.
When it comes to those things we want to remember, they slowly slip out of our brains. Let me use my engineering exams as a classic example. How much ever I tried to pull those formulas out from my brain, that I had learnt by heart, they never seemed to come out. I even tried pulling my hair continuously to see if it created a ripple effect inside my brain. No it didn't. It just turned out to be a rather painful disappointment.
On the other hand, there are some of those incidents that the brain stores in one of its small cells. It is like that balance in your account that is less than the minimum ATM withdrawal limit. So it will always remain there and you won't be able to take it out of your brain bank until you close the account. (I still have Rs. 28 in my IDBI bank account that I haven't operated since 2003. I am sure it would have grown so much in the last 15 years that I can afford a masala dosa with it)
So somewhere in my mind, there is this small cell that has this incident etched, written in stone or whatever you want to call it. I remember this incident as if it happened just yesterday. (Ok, not yesterday.....but what the heck I remember it and that is what is important)
It was lunch time in the school; a one hour lunch break. In that one hour, kids normally have lunch in 10-15mins and use the rest of the time to play in the school ground. I am just guessing that it might still be the same in junior classes and as the kids grow up the speed at which they run slows down. I blame it on the brain. As the brain works more and more, our hands and legs work less and less.
Well this is also known as "Raja's Theory of Inverse Relativity" which states that the activity of your forelimbs (four limbs) is inversely proportional to the activity in your brain.
How else could you explain the fact that infants and kids keep running without getting tired and as they grow older the brain activity starts peaking making them physically less active? And then while we sit in that Air conditioned room defining vision 2020 and preparing those innumerable slides for the presentation to the board, we would have reached the greatest height of brain activity and the only part that get their required work out are your fingers, as they type out that beautiful report. (That is prepared over several weeks and gets presented in 30mins or even less)
PS: I am not intending to present a paper on this Theory or Inverse Relativity, so you are free to copy it and make it yours.
My god how much do I digress from the original topic.
So it was lunch time in school.
I was sitting there in the class looking at my note book. I had finished lunch and was waiting, waiting & waiting for her to walk in. She walked in, actually she hopped in. She hopped more than she walked. She smiled at me and wondered why I was there. I asked her if I could borrow her English notebook. She smiled and said "Yes, Surely". She searched in her bag and did not find it. And then it suddenly hit her, "No, I don't have it. Miss has taken it because she wanted to read the answers out to the other class", she said. I can give it to you tomorrow.
"That is OK. I will take it tomorrow", I smiled back.
I hated the class teacher. I agree she had the best notes in our class and the best handwriting and the best brown cover and the best name slip, yet why did she borrow her book. (I know all brown covers are exactly the same and most of them had probably purchased it from Kumar Stores that was next to the school compound, yet her brown cover was better)
And she walked out of the class, sorry hopped out of the class. I think girls have this "hopping" gene as a part of the factory settings when they are born.
As soon as she walked out, in came Karthik my best buddy (until that day, because in the next 24 hours he was about to lose his status of being my best buddy)
So he walks in asks me "Did you get it?".
"No", I responded shaking my head. "Miss has taken it".
"You know what, I still think it is a bad idea", he said.
I stared at him and said "You were in with this idea in the morning, what made you change?"
He didn't say anything.
The school was St. Mary's Convent in Lucknow.
I was the class monitor of class 2 C. (No it is not 12 C, it is 2 C - Yes 2 (two). Stop laughing and read on)
The hopping girl's name is Sudipa Roy. Yes a lovely Bengali girl with short hair. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so yes she was probably Kajol for me (who I was yet to see in Baazigar 8 years later)
Our class had two class monitors. One was me and she was the other one. She stood first in class all the time. I don't even remember what rank I made in class (I have already told you, that the most important things, you won't remember)
I don't remember a lot from school days except a few details. And she was one mega detail I remember.So the plan was very simple. I had conveyed the "feelings of my heart" to Karthik and it was his idea that we tell her about it. (Not we, I tell her)
Leaving a note in her book was regarded as the smartest plan and as it did not involve a direct sales pitch and indirect marketing it was chosen to be safe. To put the feelings of my heart in a simple three worded sentence (that still seems to be the strongest sentence of all times to put your feelings across), I had chosen a loved piece of stationery.
No it wasn't a colored paper or anything fancy like that.
It was even more fancy than all that. It was an old box of agarbathi (incense sticks).The main reason why I chose that was because it smelt lovely and if I left that note in her notebook, it was certainly going to be noticed. I was already a little genius thinking about foolproof planning. In addition to that I was into recycling old boxes of agarbathis to convey messages. Not only was I brilliant but also had great empathy for Mother Nature. (I am still waiting to be awarded for being a self declared child prodigy)
So the agarbathi box was properly cut and that three worded sentence was already written on it. And not with pencil. It was written with two or perhaps even three different colors of sketch pen I had borrowed from my sister. She was in 7th std.
Anyway, for all the ground work Karthik was with me. He was the Amitabh Bachan that Dharmendra had in Sholay, to support him on his proposal to Basanti. But now he has second thoughts (some people are like that. They work hard towards the goal and fizzle out just before they reach their destination) But I kind of managed to keep his confidence up.
The school bell rang and we all went back to our mode of transportation back home. Karthik and I took our position in the cycle rickshaw that took us home. He lived a few blocks away from my house.
As soon as we reach home, we hurry to finish our snacks and go out to play. I remember we played cricket or football. Cricket still being my favorite game especially after having seen Kapil Dev lift the trophy just a couple of years back. I had a brand new cricket bat that could play only the rubber balls. But it was my bat and had the name GAVASKAR written on it.
Karthik and a few other boys joined for a game of cricket.Even in between overs, Karthik would ask me, "Are you sure you want to give it to her?” I would say "Keep quiet, others will hear". My sister and her friends would normally go out cycling or play shuttle badminton in the park.
After their game was over my sister was coming back while Karthik and I were seriously going through the strategy once again. (Today I know the word strategy and implementation and so on....But back then, even when we were that young we used every bit of it)
After our heavy discussion, I was planning to go back home and Kathik was planning to go back to his place. I actually walked into the house. The next 5 mins of my life still remain a mystery as to what happened.5 mins later my sister walks in as I was going into the bathroom for the evening bath; she asked me "Who is Sudipa?”
I am basically dark in complexion, but that one statement would have probably taken all the blood out from my face and made me look fairer for at least 5 seconds. (My 5 seconds of being Fair & Lovely)
Karthik my bestie had confided to my sister about the plan. (Bloody bugger)
Every detail was given out including my agarbathi box which was now a love letter. My sister was furious and she asked me to give it to her. I declined. How long can a second standard boy decline something to his elder sister. The mention of “OK, I will tell Dad” was enough for me to say “Sorry sorry....please don’t.....” I gave her that colored piece of creation....which was more than just a piece of card board.
All plans dropped. All those strategies that were worked out...... never saw the light of the day.My bestie ditched me at the last moment😞.
My love story that could have been a two way story ended up being just a one sided story, that did not even complete its journey.
My life had its first major tragedy😒😒😒 at the very young age of 8.
When it comes to those things we want to remember, they slowly slip out of our brains. Let me use my engineering exams as a classic example. How much ever I tried to pull those formulas out from my brain, that I had learnt by heart, they never seemed to come out. I even tried pulling my hair continuously to see if it created a ripple effect inside my brain. No it didn't. It just turned out to be a rather painful disappointment.
On the other hand, there are some of those incidents that the brain stores in one of its small cells. It is like that balance in your account that is less than the minimum ATM withdrawal limit. So it will always remain there and you won't be able to take it out of your brain bank until you close the account. (I still have Rs. 28 in my IDBI bank account that I haven't operated since 2003. I am sure it would have grown so much in the last 15 years that I can afford a masala dosa with it)
So somewhere in my mind, there is this small cell that has this incident etched, written in stone or whatever you want to call it. I remember this incident as if it happened just yesterday. (Ok, not yesterday.....but what the heck I remember it and that is what is important)
It was lunch time in the school; a one hour lunch break. In that one hour, kids normally have lunch in 10-15mins and use the rest of the time to play in the school ground. I am just guessing that it might still be the same in junior classes and as the kids grow up the speed at which they run slows down. I blame it on the brain. As the brain works more and more, our hands and legs work less and less.
Well this is also known as "Raja's Theory of Inverse Relativity" which states that the activity of your forelimbs (four limbs) is inversely proportional to the activity in your brain.
How else could you explain the fact that infants and kids keep running without getting tired and as they grow older the brain activity starts peaking making them physically less active? And then while we sit in that Air conditioned room defining vision 2020 and preparing those innumerable slides for the presentation to the board, we would have reached the greatest height of brain activity and the only part that get their required work out are your fingers, as they type out that beautiful report. (That is prepared over several weeks and gets presented in 30mins or even less)
PS: I am not intending to present a paper on this Theory or Inverse Relativity, so you are free to copy it and make it yours.
My god how much do I digress from the original topic.
So it was lunch time in school.
I was sitting there in the class looking at my note book. I had finished lunch and was waiting, waiting & waiting for her to walk in. She walked in, actually she hopped in. She hopped more than she walked. She smiled at me and wondered why I was there. I asked her if I could borrow her English notebook. She smiled and said "Yes, Surely". She searched in her bag and did not find it. And then it suddenly hit her, "No, I don't have it. Miss has taken it because she wanted to read the answers out to the other class", she said. I can give it to you tomorrow.
"That is OK. I will take it tomorrow", I smiled back.
I hated the class teacher. I agree she had the best notes in our class and the best handwriting and the best brown cover and the best name slip, yet why did she borrow her book. (I know all brown covers are exactly the same and most of them had probably purchased it from Kumar Stores that was next to the school compound, yet her brown cover was better)
And she walked out of the class, sorry hopped out of the class. I think girls have this "hopping" gene as a part of the factory settings when they are born.
As soon as she walked out, in came Karthik my best buddy (until that day, because in the next 24 hours he was about to lose his status of being my best buddy)
So he walks in asks me "Did you get it?".
"No", I responded shaking my head. "Miss has taken it".
"You know what, I still think it is a bad idea", he said.
I stared at him and said "You were in with this idea in the morning, what made you change?"
He didn't say anything.
The school was St. Mary's Convent in Lucknow.
I was the class monitor of class 2 C. (No it is not 12 C, it is 2 C - Yes 2 (two). Stop laughing and read on)
The hopping girl's name is Sudipa Roy. Yes a lovely Bengali girl with short hair. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so yes she was probably Kajol for me (who I was yet to see in Baazigar 8 years later)
Our class had two class monitors. One was me and she was the other one. She stood first in class all the time. I don't even remember what rank I made in class (I have already told you, that the most important things, you won't remember)
I don't remember a lot from school days except a few details. And she was one mega detail I remember.So the plan was very simple. I had conveyed the "feelings of my heart" to Karthik and it was his idea that we tell her about it. (Not we, I tell her)
Leaving a note in her book was regarded as the smartest plan and as it did not involve a direct sales pitch and indirect marketing it was chosen to be safe. To put the feelings of my heart in a simple three worded sentence (that still seems to be the strongest sentence of all times to put your feelings across), I had chosen a loved piece of stationery.
No it wasn't a colored paper or anything fancy like that.
It was even more fancy than all that. It was an old box of agarbathi (incense sticks).The main reason why I chose that was because it smelt lovely and if I left that note in her notebook, it was certainly going to be noticed. I was already a little genius thinking about foolproof planning. In addition to that I was into recycling old boxes of agarbathis to convey messages. Not only was I brilliant but also had great empathy for Mother Nature. (I am still waiting to be awarded for being a self declared child prodigy)
So the agarbathi box was properly cut and that three worded sentence was already written on it. And not with pencil. It was written with two or perhaps even three different colors of sketch pen I had borrowed from my sister. She was in 7th std.
Anyway, for all the ground work Karthik was with me. He was the Amitabh Bachan that Dharmendra had in Sholay, to support him on his proposal to Basanti. But now he has second thoughts (some people are like that. They work hard towards the goal and fizzle out just before they reach their destination) But I kind of managed to keep his confidence up.
As soon as we reach home, we hurry to finish our snacks and go out to play. I remember we played cricket or football. Cricket still being my favorite game especially after having seen Kapil Dev lift the trophy just a couple of years back. I had a brand new cricket bat that could play only the rubber balls. But it was my bat and had the name GAVASKAR written on it.
Karthik and a few other boys joined for a game of cricket.Even in between overs, Karthik would ask me, "Are you sure you want to give it to her?” I would say "Keep quiet, others will hear". My sister and her friends would normally go out cycling or play shuttle badminton in the park.
After their game was over my sister was coming back while Karthik and I were seriously going through the strategy once again. (Today I know the word strategy and implementation and so on....But back then, even when we were that young we used every bit of it)
After our heavy discussion, I was planning to go back home and Kathik was planning to go back to his place. I actually walked into the house. The next 5 mins of my life still remain a mystery as to what happened.5 mins later my sister walks in as I was going into the bathroom for the evening bath; she asked me "Who is Sudipa?”
I am basically dark in complexion, but that one statement would have probably taken all the blood out from my face and made me look fairer for at least 5 seconds. (My 5 seconds of being Fair & Lovely)
Karthik my bestie had confided to my sister about the plan. (Bloody bugger)
Every detail was given out including my agarbathi box which was now a love letter. My sister was furious and she asked me to give it to her. I declined. How long can a second standard boy decline something to his elder sister. The mention of “OK, I will tell Dad” was enough for me to say “Sorry sorry....please don’t.....” I gave her that colored piece of creation....which was more than just a piece of card board.
All plans dropped. All those strategies that were worked out...... never saw the light of the day.My bestie ditched me at the last moment😞.
My love story that could have been a two way story ended up being just a one sided story, that did not even complete its journey.
My life had its first major tragedy😒😒😒 at the very young age of 8.
PS: In case any of you are going to search for Sudipa Roy just to help me, forget it. I have already done enough searches on Orkut, Facebook, Instagram Twitter and have not found her. Why are you laughing again, I wasn't going to forget her just like that 😆.... and just in case you you really do find her....you will be secretly rewarded
😂😂😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteI used agarbathi boxes to keep them in my cupboard so that my clothes would smell good.... My god... Love letter with fragrance....
ReplyDeleteI know you are one talented person... But such colourful talent at the age of 8 ... Wow....
ReplyDeleteIf your sister (my loving mom) had not intervened....haha... Manjuammai! ������
ReplyDeleteSaju dont tell me that I was so cruel.......😣How could you picturise your loving sis as a tyrant😈
ReplyDeleteIt is an 8 year Old's story.... 😂😂😂
DeleteMy take on this story.. I think Karthik had a secret crush on Mini and wanted to look like a hero that saved the family name from dishonor. So he blurted the grand plan to Mini. It also gave him a few minutes of exclusive talk with Mini. I think that day two love stories died.
ReplyDeleteWow, that could be a completely different story we could work on.
Delete