Flyaway Mind

I remember Women's Day mostly when I see the glossy ads in newspapers. But , the memories of a Womens Day during my 3rd year Btech are vividly etched in my mind.It was the time when our bossy seniors were out of the college for project work and suddenly we found ourselves as the shakers & movers of the campus. Many of our crazy ideas materialized during this time.

The idea of celebrating Women's Day in a different way sprouted from our 'qool galz' gang. Soon we had our infectious energy & enthusiasm spread to the whole gals in our college. The idea was to host a fund raising Womens Fest & donate the amount to 'Thanal' , an orphanage near to our college. The fest christened as 'Unarvu' (energy) was dedicated to Kalpana Chawla. That was the time of her demise & so feelings and emotions were running high during those days.

The Fest had all entertaining ingredients - fashion shows, cinematic dances, music, stalls, all hosted by the gals. Alltogether, there were more programs than we ever had during our Arts Fest. So for a change, the guys sat back and enjoyed (meant screaming & cat calls) while we took the reins of the Fest. The most important task was to get moral support from the guys, since for a few of them, the very idea of celebrating Womens Day was like undermining the existence of guys :) So a committee of gals were roped in from each class, to win over the guys, collect funds and make it a success. But I must say, the guys were really sporty about it and helped us amass huge amounts for our fund raising. And they were also supportive to the extend that they threw only tomatoes at us the 'qool gals' when we danced onstage. I remember the tomatoes quite matched with our red colour dance outfit. hehee

It was a feeling of being at the heart of the event, because we took all the responsibilities like booking the auditorium, arrangements for stage, audio systems & event management.

In his welcome speech, one of our popular Sir raved like this, " So I dedicate this Fest in fond remembrance of an Indian woman who made us all proud - Juhi errr.. Kalpana Chawla !!!!" The whole audience burst into laughter and a few even cheered. Grrrrr... I personally think it was deliberately done by him :) And I proudly did the introductory speech on Kalpana Chawla.

We put up various stalls during the Fest for fund raising. As usual the 'dedication counter' was a runaway hit. It's where anybody can pay 10 bucks and have a filmy song dedicated to anybody else. The songs will be played in between the events, along with the dedication message. Then there was 'face painting stall'. It was quite crowded with guys because pretty gals sat there to paint faces. Then there was 'mehndi stall' put up by some creative ones. But the toughest job at hand was for 'secret message counter' , where the unfortunate messengers had to deliver anonymous letters even to the principal.

The event was a success by all means and we were able to hand over a good proportion of money to the orphanage. That was a year when I felt worthy of having celebrated Women's Day.......

I woke up to the terrible feeling of cramps in my legs. I was still in the bus, on my way home to attend a friend’s betrothal. I was not sure of making it there on time. The bus was already late by 2 hrs, thanks to the tense situations at the Kerala- Tamil Nadu border, all in the name of some Mullaperiyar issue. After being immobilized for 2 hrs at the border, the bus finally took off from the Walayar checkpost…Suddenly you could feel & sense Kerala ; the enchanting greenery, the imposing Western Ghats & the refreshing morning air. Never had all this been so alluring ,until I started staying away from home. No longer is anything taken for granted. I particularly love traveling when it’s drizzling. If it’s a heavy downpour, you have to close your window and just sit there sulking & watching the fog developing on the glass panes. But if it’s a slight drizzle, you can leisurely keep your windows open and bask in cool air and enjoy the sight of glistening leaves & the rain drenched tiled roofs of kerala

The last 3 yrs I had been living in 3 different states..A year back, I was in Tanjore in TN.. The first thing you notice there, is the feeling of “ghee on sacrificial fire”. It used to be too damn hoooooot. And we had to walk a long way through the treeless campus to reach our class. We used to literally race to the class to sit inside the a/c. It must be one of the reasons we never bunked any classes:) There was nothing to do out under the scroching sun.My attendance level was too high to suit my character .We were too happy to sit inside the class & doze off

Another thing you notice in the campus is the ease with which you can locate fellow mallus inside the campus. They are the only ones who walk under the fiery sun with an umbrella. I guess the Tamilians & Northies are used to these environmental conditions. So as I walk around with a red poppy umbrella, if I come across anyone with a blue/green/red poppy umbrella, I can confidently walk up to them & ask “enthokkeyundu visesham”( how are you)

But the nights in Tanjore are quite in contrast with the days. Nights are heavily windy, especially during the ‘aadi season’ . They are crispy cool with clear, star studded skies. At hostel, we used to take our mattresses up to the terrace, and lie down there under those heavenly skies ,chatting all the way into the night. We used to try figuring out the constellations and the non-existent comets, that fire away in the night sky (comets will usually be a figment of somebody’s flourishing imagination)..

Then, there was this farmland behind our hostel with rose farms, paddy fields & sugarcane fields. The swaying paddy fields are a rendezvous for the peacocks. If you are shrewd & careful enough to stand like a statue/scare crow, the suspicious peacocks will sometimes allow you watch them. But the moment you take out the camera, some sixth sense makes them to flee away, cackling its horrible cry.(it’s cry is similar to a cat’s cry with a little more volume & bass) . And for some unknown reasons, we gals used to derive much pleasure, by sneaking into the rose farms & taking away some of those pretty flowers.

Then I miss the fun we had in the hostel, the hanging-outs after each exam, watching tamil movies, breaking bday eggs on friends’s heads, sitting late in college in the name of projects & seminars(but browsing most of the time)

The place is famous for the big Brahadeeswara rock temple, with its mind blowing architectural beauty,built during the reign of Chola King, Raja Chola. The tall architecture is designed such that it’s shadow never cast upon the ground , at any time of the day

It was my roommates Bday. This time, contrary to usual, we hadn't equipped ourselves with eggs & tomatoes for the midnight bash. It all started at 12'o clock, with waking up the Bday Babe by bursting balloons right over her ears. She bounced out of her bed, yelling that her eardrums were no longer functional. Then we started singing..err.. howling bday wishes & hogging yummy yummy pastries.

Since eggs & tomatoes were not readily available for adorning the Bday babe, we decided to use whatever was available at hand. This included orange peels, pastries, jam & all sort of crap things. We pounced upon her, generously squeezing orange peels into those wide open , awe stuck eyes & smearing pastries & jam all over. It was big fun , until it started snowballing into a big battle. Yummy yummy pastries were rocketing in the air & gals running helter skelter. Somebody came up with a mug of water for self defense. Needless to say, my sparkling clean room soon transformed into a huge muddy puddle

OH NO!!! NOW WE HAD TO CLEAN OUR ROOM :-((

Bdays used to be memorable times, during my 4 years of engineering. At hostel we were a gang of spunky gals named 'QOOL GALS' (QG)

On one QG's Bday, we decided to decorate her with water colours. Each one of us took turns to paint her up. She made so much fuss that we were forced to tie her up in the chair..hee hee.. We even took snaps. Feels good to recollect all those long lost days

On my bday, I was drowned in heaps of glitter. Glitter had this unique property that , even if you take bath for the next 20 days, half of them will be still sticking to your hair. I was a living joke at college for next 3 weeks with people teasing me "Oh my God.. You still didn't take bath��"

Another time we went to a vegetable vendor to buy rotten tomatoes for the occasion

QG: you have tomatoes??
Vendor: yes mam
QG: Ok... Then get me some rotten ones..
Vendor: NOOOO. I never cheat my customers. I sell only real garden fresh ones here
QG: ????????