What to write??

I haven't posted something for quite a long time. I don't really have anything very interesting to say. So, this one is about something very silly that I get yelled at for everyday and I still can't change it.

At times while explaining certain things I assume the styles of different people who I've had the pleasure of knowing. Apparently, their company is not pleasurable to my mother. Very annoyingly, of all the styles that I tend to assume, which are those of  anyone I meet for a short while, only one suites my mother. Even more annoying is  the fact that this reproduction of styles happens in front of my parents and in their presence alone.

I kept a track of all the kinds of things I say when I do this seemingly unacceptable thing and discovered a trend. But the funniest part is the fact that I don't realize that I'm doing it until after I've actually sparked off my mother's temper. Then I check myself and a few words into my explanation, I get yelled at again. So much for trying!

P.S. : Trina Didi, your style of talking is the only one my mom doesn't object to. It happens to be sweet. I use it when I'm admiring something. :)

Oh! Some teachers!!

Our Chemistry teacher is a unique person. I will refer to him as RC. The other day I so badly wanted to throw something at his face that I broke a part of my geometry box in an attempt to restrain myself. That was one class I thought I have to record.
He is short and he always walks with his head facing the ceiling. Thus, he strode into our class in his usual way and opened his reference book (the contents of which he attempts to learn by-heart everyday). He stood staring at the opposite wall for a few seconds and then, without moving his eyeballs, began explaining a certain topic from the text book, or should I say narrating. When he begins this routine everyday, he goes on with breathless continuity until the bell interrupts him. But that day he, surprisingly, stopped of his own accord. He borrowed a textbook from a student seated at the first bench and instructed, "Turn to page147, para 2, line6, word5. The spelling of 'liquefaction' is wrong. It is given as 'liquifaction'. It should be 'liquefaction'. Okay. Now, turn to the exercises at the back. Start question number 5.13. I am writing the hints on the greenboard."  Having had his say, he proceeded to copy down the 'hints' from his reference book. This was what he wrote on the board: Try yourself (yourselves):
                                                                        Hint(s):
                                                                                 ...............................................................

  Five minutes after this he proceeded to explain the next topic which was surface tension, vapour pressure and viscosity. He began, "Suppose there is a bedsheet and four students are holding it at four corners. Then what will happen to it? It will become like a stretched rubber membrane. Now if a small child is added inside the bedsheet and he starts pinching it from down, then it will become like concave shape. Now, throw that child and put another child on top of the bedsheet. This child will pinch it from top, no? Then what will happen to it? It will go up. It will become convex in shape. So, this is surface tension if you think in terms of  molecules of a liquid. ......................................................................................................................................................................... Now, when we go to high altitudes, the atmospheric pressure decreases. So the boiling point of water decreases. That is why people in hilly areas need pressure cooker to create pressure and cook, otherwise they have to go hungry. But nowadays new pressure cookers are available which are automatic. You press one switch and the food cooks by itself and then the switch is made off and the next switch is made on.  .......................................................................................................................................................................... You may have seen small small ants swimming in a bowl of water. But actually they don't swim, they walk. When you were small, your mother must have told to take sugar out of its container carefully because many ants will be there, no? Actually when you put it in the milk or tea, the surface of the milk or tea acts like  stretched rubber and the ants walk on it, so you may drink ants also. .......................................................................................................................................................................... Okay. Today I have practical class with you, right? Let me ask you, which do you prefer; hot soup or cold soup? Obviously, as all of you said, hot soup. Why do you prefer hot soup? ...... Yes, it is more tasty, but why can you tell me? .......... Okay, you think about it ha, tomorrow I will discuss."     Thus ended his class. In his usual way he picked up his reference book and walked out with his head towards the ceiling.

If you were sitting there, in his class, wouldn't you feel like tearing his hair off?

As promised, the next day, he resumed his discussion on soups. This was what he said, "Hot soups tastes better because of surface tension. When the soup is hot, surface tension  is less and the soup can spread out  uniformly on your tongue and touch all the taste buds at the same time. So, you will get all the tastes which your taste buds can perceive. But if the soup is cold, then it will not get chance to spread on your tongue  before you will eject it."

:)

The Million Dollar Laughter :)

It was my first day in a new school. I made my way into a 'class 9 A'. With 27 pairs of eyes fixed on me, it took quite an effort to smile and put that easy-going "koool" expression my face. There was pin drop silence in the room. Apparently, nobody had been aware of my arrival. The bell went off and a couple of minutes later the class teacher walked into the room, as usual, with one hand on the stomach and the other hand rather busy tossing the register, head unconsciously tilted towards the ventilators.  Thus began the most boring ritual of having to introduce myself  every 45 minutes (and not to mention, those teachers wouldn't be satisfied until they had every detail regarding my parents' education and employment history and every detail of all the preceding schools I'd been to. Infact, I can't believe how I could have been nincompoop enough to have played along with them like a 'teacher's pet'.)

Nevertheless, I didn't have to put up with this ceremony the first time I told my class teacher what I was to be called. Barely had I uttered the name when the whole class burst into laughter. While I wondered what was so strikingly hilarious about my name, the laughter died out, like wine poured over barbeque burns out, in a matter of seconds. But one girl who had seated herself at a desk parallel to mine continued to shake as a consequence of uncontrolled peals of laughter. The girl and I, as I later discovered, shared the same title. That was the silly reason for the sudden outburst of  laughter.

As the days went on, she became a good friend of mine and I, hers. I realized that her laughter governed her way more than she did her laughter. She had in her the power to make others almost roll about in laughter even in the most strenuous environment. Many a time people used to ask her how much N2O she had inhaled.  As the days further unfolded, I figured that she expressed most of her emotions with smiles of  different lengths and thicknesses. This character of hers had its consequences, especially when a stubborn grin would refuse to budge and she would stare back at an angry teacher.

Once she and I went to IIT Guwahati as a team to participate in Technothlon. There was a hill in the campus which carried on its crown a point that gave a splendid view of the capital city of Assam. We decided , one evening during our stay there, to walk up to the view point and see if  we could take any pictures. There were thickets on both sides of the road and it was almost sunset by the time we had traveled three-quarters of the road. Just then her phone rang. She listened to the person on the other end for a while in complete silence. Then she turned about and took to her heels. Not having a clue as to what spirit possessed her, I followed suit. Only on reaching the bottom did she stop. When I caught up with her she said, "It was ma'am on the other end. She just came to know that a leopard lives on this hill."  Having explained herself, she burst into peals of laughter (apparently at her own childishness). We both laughed till our jaws hurt, speculating about how, ironically, we had commented on this being a tiger reserve just a few minutes ago. 

On 28th September, 2011 she left for Jodhpur  creating a gaping hole in all those school lives which she had enlivened. Now the days drag on and its only memories that come back to taunt.

Cotton Candy

The Autumn sky is a treat to the eye. At dusk, when twilight is breaking and the sun is saying its last goodbyes to this face of the earth, streaks of  crimson rays reflect off the edge of each cloud which, until that moment, appeared to be snow white cotton candies.
At about 5.30 p.m. , the clouds disappear and a bright, beaming moon comes into the spotlight. It presents astonishing new patterns and images every night until the curtains of darkness close and the moon rests for one spooky night, only to reappear with more bewildering patterns. Once it shaped itself into a diya and ironically it chose the diwali night to stage its act.
The north star is the moon's best friend. It seems to me as if the night grins back at me with its one diamond tooth sparkling(the north star) as though it is amused by the reactions of the millions of people whose hearts it has touched.
That's why I like the autumn nights best. :)

R.I.P. recalled

8th October was the last day of my Puja vacation in Shillong. The next day I would be taking the flight back to boredom. So I decided to do something that  I would remember long after I fell back into the monotony of daily life. 

I had to fool my brother,pester my sister, bicker with aunt, etc. etc.........but finally we were off to "the graveyard". I had never  been to a graveyard before. I used to imagine it to be a spooky place where skeletons would grab you by the neck from behind and feast on your soul . But , it was totally the other side the coin. The moment I stepped in I felt so relaxed and at peace that I just couldn't believe such a feeling existed.

We were examining the inscriptions and wondering what kind of  lives they could have led. There were quite a few messages that got me pondering even about the families of the departed. 

There was a freshly dug grave which had the date 29.09.2011. The first reaction to the lettering was my brother's. He said, " Hey, this guy died the day BEFORE my last exam!" Immediately after I exclaimed, "Oh, thank God he died the day AFTER my exam!" By then my sister had gone crazy and she added her bit in.("This guy died ON the day of my last exam!!") End result: we named him 'Exam Guy'. 

A few paces ahead the earth sloped down steeply and prompted me to enquire where the cemetery ended. She replied, "Oh just here.This is dead end." 

But I haven't touched upon the funniest  part of the story as yet. We spent an hour there and made our way back to our dwelling. When my aunt asked how our trip had been, I promptly replied, "Oh, the graveyard was so sweet!" And that, everybody, is why I am a typical GIRL.