If a worldwide poll was conducted to understand the best years of one's life, it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if the poll results favored the option "The college days were the best days of my life". I do not know about you, but I would have definitely voted for college as the best days of my life.
My college life in Govt College of Engineering, Kannur, had plenty of wonderful incidents that I would love to write about. The friends that I made, the arguments we had, the cooperative store, the canteen, the sports day, the hostel where i spent a lot of time (in spite of being a day scholar), the college day...... Oh so many little incidents that are worth a few words.
The college functions like the college day and fine arts days normally started in the late afternoon and went on until 3 am - 4 am. Everyone had their own agendas for the day. For some it was a day to booze (as if they did not do it on other days), for some of the romantic couples it was a long .... actually a very looooong evening of chat...for some it was a chance to be on stage to express their skills and for some (the majority fell in this category) it was just a relaxing day where they could vent out their frustration on anyone and everyone that walks on to the stage and booooo them. I have been party to such organized crimes of booing people off the stage. (I have actually been partner in crime of booing some people off the stage even without knowing their name. Someone we know well would come and tell us, about a particular person who would come on stage for a specific event and our job was to get together to boo them out of the stage). There have been incidents when the communication has gone so wrong that the one who had to be booed was actually applauded and the one who was to be applauded, was continuously booed.
OK, that was organized crime. Stop pretending that you have not been party to such silly crimesBut then, there were actually some people who came on stage & got the right kind of treatment they deserved. I have always felt that either these had absolutely no idea that this world was still not ready to accept their unusual prowess and ability displayed on the stage or they plainly did not about the audience (and some of them were even deaf because I have heard some "artists" saying THANK YOU very humbly even when we were booing them)
So my story was not about someone else. Since I write it, I am the hero (once again) of this story. Well, I wouldn't say I am the hero, I am certainly one of the central characters. (The day I find someone who writes about me, trust me, I will stop writing about myself. I hope no one has to go through such a bad patch in life)Year 1998. I believe it was the Fine Arts Day or the College Annual Day. Early in the morning we were all there (my group of friends and I) in the college. The stage was getting ready to usher in those talents on and off stage. Some of my close friends were making plans of an early beer session before the entertainment on stage started. While I am a teetotaler, I did give my friends an occasional company. But I do have a feeling that when they had plans to get drunk, they avoided me if it is near the college b'coz they had to bear with my "advice" sessions of the ill effects of drinking. When they were far away, I was more of a body guard than a friend to make sure these guys got back to the hostel.
Oops, I keep digressing from the main story line all the time. (Need to see a doctor to sort this problem out)So as the plan for the beer session was going on, my friends realized that money wasn't enough so we went out asking for contribution from everyone who was around. It was more like carrying a small tin and asking people for charity donations. I do believe the girls were more generous than the guys when it came to such donations. The reason being they just wanted us out of sight. Some asked me my role in this donation campaign and my standard answer was "A Friend in need is a friend indeed"
My college life in Govt College of Engineering, Kannur, had plenty of wonderful incidents that I would love to write about. The friends that I made, the arguments we had, the cooperative store, the canteen, the sports day, the hostel where i spent a lot of time (in spite of being a day scholar), the college day...... Oh so many little incidents that are worth a few words.
The college functions like the college day and fine arts days normally started in the late afternoon and went on until 3 am - 4 am. Everyone had their own agendas for the day. For some it was a day to booze (as if they did not do it on other days), for some of the romantic couples it was a long .... actually a very looooong evening of chat...for some it was a chance to be on stage to express their skills and for some (the majority fell in this category) it was just a relaxing day where they could vent out their frustration on anyone and everyone that walks on to the stage and booooo them. I have been party to such organized crimes of booing people off the stage. (I have actually been partner in crime of booing some people off the stage even without knowing their name. Someone we know well would come and tell us, about a particular person who would come on stage for a specific event and our job was to get together to boo them out of the stage). There have been incidents when the communication has gone so wrong that the one who had to be booed was actually applauded and the one who was to be applauded, was continuously booed.OK, that was organized crime. Stop pretending that you have not been party to such silly crimesBut then, there were actually some people who came on stage & got the right kind of treatment they deserved. I have always felt that either these had absolutely no idea that this world was still not ready to accept their unusual prowess and ability displayed on the stage or they plainly did not about the audience (and some of them were even deaf because I have heard some "artists" saying THANK YOU very humbly even when we were booing them)
So my story was not about someone else. Since I write it, I am the hero (once again) of this story. Well, I wouldn't say I am the hero, I am certainly one of the central characters. (The day I find someone who writes about me, trust me, I will stop writing about myself. I hope no one has to go through such a bad patch in life)Year 1998. I believe it was the Fine Arts Day or the College Annual Day. Early in the morning we were all there (my group of friends and I) in the college. The stage was getting ready to usher in those talents on and off stage. Some of my close friends were making plans of an early beer session before the entertainment on stage started. While I am a teetotaler, I did give my friends an occasional company. But I do have a feeling that when they had plans to get drunk, they avoided me if it is near the college b'coz they had to bear with my "advice" sessions of the ill effects of drinking. When they were far away, I was more of a body guard than a friend to make sure these guys got back to the hostel.
Oops, I keep digressing from the main story line all the time. (Need to see a doctor to sort this problem out)So as the plan for the beer session was going on, my friends realized that money wasn't enough so we went out asking for contribution from everyone who was around. It was more like carrying a small tin and asking people for charity donations. I do believe the girls were more generous than the guys when it came to such donations. The reason being they just wanted us out of sight. Some asked me my role in this donation campaign and my standard answer was "A Friend in need is a friend indeed"
Anyway, the main entertaining events started on stage and some really talented people and teams came on stage. This day was special for me. I had decided to take the stage in college for the first time. I had decided to sing. Yes, I decided to sing on stage for the first time. No one in my college knew this except for some really close friends. Some of them even asked me a couple of times if I was serious. There were some really close friends like Nithin and Sujith who were a great support and some really good friends who were ripping me apart for the decision.
I wasn't sure to which category of "Talents" I belonged to. But I had decided and there was no turning back.
Alright, I need to be honest to you guys, I never regarded myself as a singer but I had the confidence that I could pull a fast number. So the song was decided which was a famous Kishore Kumar song "Mere Sapno Ki Rani". I did a quick practice with the live orchestra. It went pretty good (or at least that is what the lead keyboard player told me.... which could even be to avoid my second practice session)
I knew of one of my weaknesses when it came to singing (I know other weaknesses too, but that's not relevant today.....). My voice kind of struggled to get on the high notes as it grew darker or colder. I have a feeling that my vocal chords were powered by solar energy (Wow!!!)
As expected the entertainment crossed the midnight hour. I started falling asleep next to the stage while the other great singers were crooning into the mic.
Suddenly I felt a heavy push. It was Sujith. "They are calling you back stage. You are next". I was half asleep. What half asleep, I was actually fully asleep on a long step. Without blinking I went back stage. The lyrics were tucked into pocket of my jeans and I pulled that out just like the Red Indians would pull out their revolvers from their holsters in Wild Wild West kind of movies.
Even before I knew, I was already on stage. I had a very bad feeling in my mind. My throat along with my full body was asleep for the last one hour on a cold concrete step. I did not even get a chance to do "Throat testing" before I walked up. Disaster was looming.
In front of me, I had a crowd that had people of all kinds. Some were those white feathered heavenly pigeons who would clap for anything I did on stage in the next 30 secs. And some were the blood thirsty hyenas who would tear me apart if I screwed up.
In those 30 secs when the light and sound guy was looking for a mic which would be my only magical weapon, I went to the lead key board player and said (please read PLEADED) to lower the pitch. He said, "If you screw up, we will lower it. Just sing with all the confidence. You are a good singer". 3 secs of motivational speech. And then he sang "Saa....Paaa...Saa" (the musical notes) to show the pitch I had to start with. I nodded as if I understood everything.
The song has pretty long humming of 10 secs. You might think 10 secs is hardly anything, but under those circumstances, trust me...they were long.
The music started, I stared at the audience. A bunch of blood thirsty people and some angels is what I saw........ The music slowly took its step forward and reached the point when I had to start the humming. In the next 10 secs I could have completed the humming, but I think the audience needed just 3 secs to burst into a big Booooooo as my squeaky voice converted itself from sound energy to electrical energy and passed through the mic into the loudspeakers. The hyenas in the crowd had found a prey and went for the kill. The only good thing that happened at that moment was ....that I was wide awake. A split second and I was back in senses and knew exactly what was about to happen. The next few seconds was a telepathy that I sent to the lead keyboard player and he managed to bring down the pitch to match my singing. I regained my almost lost composure and went on to sing the song. While the notes of the opening lines of the song fell in the right place I could see the hyenas calming down slowly. I could still see a small group still booing me, but I turned deaf to them. I noticed two girls in particular while I went on to sing the song. One of them actually was kind of a mini leader in that booing group while the other actually stood up and applauded the fact that I had managed to get things under control.
The rest of the 4 mins of the song went very well establishing me as someone who could handle a song (NO, I still did not want to call myself a singer). The song ended up with a loud applause perhaps more for the fact that it moved from an utter chaos to something they could hear and say "That was a good attempt".
I smiled at the keyboard player as I walked past him and saw a halo around his head. The angel who saved me that night. As I walked down the steps back stage, the girl who applauded me, Lancy, came and shook hands with me and said "You did a fantastic job. At least you did not succumb to the crowd and boldly went on to complete the song". My first compliment.
The second girl who I had noted, was still there, but had run out of her team. Well, I believe in KARMA and I knew my chance of pay back time was definitely around the corner. Not now and not today, I told myself.
As I walked past the stage I got more of positive remarks than the negative ones.
I went on to sing a couple of more songs that night without being booed by the audience and a lot more in the next two years in college.
I still do sing a little bit.
But I still hold on to that memorable night as a night I saw those Angels and Hyenas.
Interestingly I was part of the same group of Hyenas before that night and went on to be part of that even after that night.
I still believe, If a worldwide poll was conducted to understand the best years of one's life, it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if the poll results favored the option "The college days were the best days of my life".
FYI: You remember the second girl? I told you that I believe in KARMA. I got plenty of chances to get even with her and she too got many chances to do so. We have been married for 14 years. Blame it on her KARMA 😆
Alright, I need to be honest to you guys, I never regarded myself as a singer but I had the confidence that I could pull a fast number. So the song was decided which was a famous Kishore Kumar song "Mere Sapno Ki Rani". I did a quick practice with the live orchestra. It went pretty good (or at least that is what the lead keyboard player told me.... which could even be to avoid my second practice session)
I knew of one of my weaknesses when it came to singing (I know other weaknesses too, but that's not relevant today.....). My voice kind of struggled to get on the high notes as it grew darker or colder. I have a feeling that my vocal chords were powered by solar energy (Wow!!!)
As expected the entertainment crossed the midnight hour. I started falling asleep next to the stage while the other great singers were crooning into the mic.
Suddenly I felt a heavy push. It was Sujith. "They are calling you back stage. You are next". I was half asleep. What half asleep, I was actually fully asleep on a long step. Without blinking I went back stage. The lyrics were tucked into pocket of my jeans and I pulled that out just like the Red Indians would pull out their revolvers from their holsters in Wild Wild West kind of movies.
Even before I knew, I was already on stage. I had a very bad feeling in my mind. My throat along with my full body was asleep for the last one hour on a cold concrete step. I did not even get a chance to do "Throat testing" before I walked up. Disaster was looming.
In front of me, I had a crowd that had people of all kinds. Some were those white feathered heavenly pigeons who would clap for anything I did on stage in the next 30 secs. And some were the blood thirsty hyenas who would tear me apart if I screwed up.
In those 30 secs when the light and sound guy was looking for a mic which would be my only magical weapon, I went to the lead key board player and said (please read PLEADED) to lower the pitch. He said, "If you screw up, we will lower it. Just sing with all the confidence. You are a good singer". 3 secs of motivational speech. And then he sang "Saa....Paaa...Saa" (the musical notes) to show the pitch I had to start with. I nodded as if I understood everything.
The song has pretty long humming of 10 secs. You might think 10 secs is hardly anything, but under those circumstances, trust me...they were long.
The music started, I stared at the audience. A bunch of blood thirsty people and some angels is what I saw........ The music slowly took its step forward and reached the point when I had to start the humming. In the next 10 secs I could have completed the humming, but I think the audience needed just 3 secs to burst into a big Booooooo as my squeaky voice converted itself from sound energy to electrical energy and passed through the mic into the loudspeakers. The hyenas in the crowd had found a prey and went for the kill. The only good thing that happened at that moment was ....that I was wide awake. A split second and I was back in senses and knew exactly what was about to happen. The next few seconds was a telepathy that I sent to the lead keyboard player and he managed to bring down the pitch to match my singing. I regained my almost lost composure and went on to sing the song. While the notes of the opening lines of the song fell in the right place I could see the hyenas calming down slowly. I could still see a small group still booing me, but I turned deaf to them. I noticed two girls in particular while I went on to sing the song. One of them actually was kind of a mini leader in that booing group while the other actually stood up and applauded the fact that I had managed to get things under control.
The rest of the 4 mins of the song went very well establishing me as someone who could handle a song (NO, I still did not want to call myself a singer). The song ended up with a loud applause perhaps more for the fact that it moved from an utter chaos to something they could hear and say "That was a good attempt".
I smiled at the keyboard player as I walked past him and saw a halo around his head. The angel who saved me that night. As I walked down the steps back stage, the girl who applauded me, Lancy, came and shook hands with me and said "You did a fantastic job. At least you did not succumb to the crowd and boldly went on to complete the song". My first compliment.
The second girl who I had noted, was still there, but had run out of her team. Well, I believe in KARMA and I knew my chance of pay back time was definitely around the corner. Not now and not today, I told myself.
As I walked past the stage I got more of positive remarks than the negative ones.
I went on to sing a couple of more songs that night without being booed by the audience and a lot more in the next two years in college.
I still do sing a little bit.
But I still hold on to that memorable night as a night I saw those Angels and Hyenas.
Interestingly I was part of the same group of Hyenas before that night and went on to be part of that even after that night.
I still believe, If a worldwide poll was conducted to understand the best years of one's life, it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if the poll results favored the option "The college days were the best days of my life".
FYI: You remember the second girl? I told you that I believe in KARMA. I got plenty of chances to get even with her and she too got many chances to do so. We have been married for 14 years. Blame it on her KARMA 😆
Booooooooo....
ReplyDeleteHahaha...Liked that:)
DeleteCould be the title of next Dan Brown's novel; "Angels and Hyenas". Good One Sajit..
ReplyDeleteHahahaha ....... I should copyright that :-)
Delete