The stupendous saturday!

Finally….I’m back to my ‘time-pass’ world…..(after three long posts of that Himavad trip)…and this time, its no easy task for you to escape from my blogs! I make sure I bring some of my ‘college life’ into the picture so that you won’t get bored reading all my ‘family trip’ blogs!

…………What? starting of the paragraph with ellipses? I know, but this is what I was thinking. Time is the only evil in the world…you know? It doesn’t seem to care about anyone…it just passes so fast that I’ll go mad head over heels if you say 5 1/2 months are over since my college started! Okay…lets get back to the topic….the saturday 27/11/10 was the best saturday for me since I had the experience of all the TASTES of life – bitter, sweet, sour, salty and spicy!

I was deep asleep until I realized that it was a cloudy saturday early morning (around 6.30 – 7 a.m…What? Yes, this is definitely early for me!). But, what’s with saturday? Yuck…..I have Physics practicals! The most irritating subject…added to this, you’ve to perform an experiment! No wonder I get less marks in physics everytime! Starting the day with a yawn, I woke up and just made a beeline for the bathroom. Thats it..bath was over in 10 minutes and as usual I relished my favourite breakfast (Dosa.. ) and was ready to leave. No sooner did I wear my slippers, than a call from Los Angeles arrived. Yes, you’re right….it was my sis from LA, who was eagerly waiting to speak to me about the most confusing topic of discussion – Digicam. I just exchanged a few words with her and had my way to college.

There, were some of my closest friends – Sunil and Vijay waiting in front of the lab with bated breath….oh, not for me, for the lab instructor! Just 15 minutes passed and the 3rd floor of our c0llege was flooded (both..with students as well as noise). That day, we were supposed to do ‘surface tension’ but we got rid of OUR tension since it was a demonstration experiment. “Oh….its already 8.30…we, being students have come early and teachers haven’t! And, they yell at us when WE come late!” said one of my batchmates loudly until he realized that our most disliked lecturer was standing at the doorstep and his chapter was over. And it happened as predicted, for he and one more guy faced the music. One of the best lecturers (who took lab for us) in the ‘not-so-good’ physics dept hadn’t come and this added oil to the wound. Our most disliked lecturer had to explain the experiments for both the batches……Phew….we thought tension was over. But it wasn’t, when the lecturer gave an hour long speech of our attendance shortage. He just cudn’t realize that he was flogging a dead horse as well as bending our ears. “Until now, we haven’t had such indifferent students in ‘C’ section….40% of you are regularly irregular” he said, to which there was NO reaction by us, other than zipping mouths. The lab got over at 10.15. That day we had only two classes-Maths and Zoology, which I thought would be a waste to attend as I wasn’t short of attendance in either of the subjects. Yes, you guessed it right….I thought of BUNKING!! Believe me, I wasn’t sceptical in such matters ; my decision was firm! Oh wait….I had to see my close friend Dilip, since I hadn’t seen him for the past few days…but there’s no time to talk to him….so I just hopped in, said a ‘Hi’ and vanished into thin air. Thank God, I had the company of Sanjay and Vinay, who also bunked classes to read for their ‘hell test’ (@ varsha embar….hope you came to know what I’m telling, right? ) So, I have to describe this as the ‘BITTER’ part of my day!

When I was en route to my home , I started thinking about the plans for the day……….not before I realized that I was on the middle of the road; and guess what, I had a close shave! Abba…stop daydreaming and reach home fast, dude! As soon as I got inside my house, I threw my bag and went to the coolest place (what? FYI, its not bathroom!) – my cousin’s house upstairs where some of the most fascinating things happen. I went and jumped on the couch and my cousin asked what I was doing at that time in the house. Hmmm…it took just four letters to say, B.U.N.K ; and everyone there raised eyebrows as I expected. “What kind of college have you joined! Just enjoying!” envied ARTGOD (former Scardy cat…didn’t get still? Okay…he’s my second eldest cousin). Not to mention that IOP (Implementer of plans – my eldest cousin) also gazed at me and had a laugh.

Suddenly, words from nowhere started coming out; it was about knowledge and ignorance. Phew, it was the same Artgod who always criticized something or the other and this time it was about college and education. He never toed the line of anyone since he had his own way of doing things. My aunt set the ball rolling by talking about college life, students; the ball kept rolling by introducing topics like knowledge and ignorance….woo! Now it was superstitions, spirituality…..and, wow…what a transformation! From ‘education’ to ‘Shankaracharya’s philiosophy’! Hayyappa……che! It was really a lesson for me – a lesson taught for bunking college….who has the patience to listen to philosophies instead of chatting with friends? Wait…..this discussion was also equally interesting. But one infinitesimal thing was absent….can’t guess? Okay…it was my cousin sis! It would have been perfect if she also argued with them. Now I have to say this – it was just a storm in a tea cup. IOP used to turn the tables on Artgod, who was no less in debating. My aunt sometimes tried to break the ice which would go more or less go in vain. Yappa…..first of all, it was not a burning question; and yet the discussion lasted for an hour. Artgod pronounced the judgement that my aunt should stop following blind beliefs, going to temples or rather, stop FORCING him to join temple trips, which was no easy task for her………………what? Yes, I was definitely AT SEA and was hoping for the debate to end. Finally by the ‘arul’ of Narayana, Artgod and aunt stopped arguing…….and what have you?

So the philosophical part is actually the ‘SOUR’ part of my day! Hmph…..need some rest for the mind after listening to such a boring philosophy, right? So what’s the ‘rest’ here? Obviously, Fb! What else you have to do on a free day other than logging into Fb (hope you know what Fb means).Hmm..now its time for lunch! And what do you have out there? Pongal!!!! Oops…not the correct combo….pongal should necessarily be served for breakfast. But, you never know what happens by a change. Yup…it was awesome! Usshhhhhhhh….what plans after lunch? Nothing other than sleep! Huh? Wondering what kind of a person I’m? What to do…..I took out my trigonometry book and started solving some sums. Its really incredible…the kind of stress experienced when you solve math sums. By the way, I’m not indefatigable….so I put an end to the math book and thought of having forty winks (a short sleep). I was definitely jobless! Hmm…hope you can guess the taste of this part….if you didn’t, no probs. Since I was jobless, this part can be taken as the ‘SALTY’ taste!

2.30…….3.00…….3.30…..4.00…..4.30!!!! Arise, awake and stop not till your goal is reached. I just got up and ordered my grandma (yes, I’m candid…I order her! LOL) a glass of ‘kanji’ (commonly called ‘ragi malt’ in K’taka…if you don’t know what it is, then forget it)….aahh…its was hot. I was enjoying the kanji until…….knock knock! (I didn’t realize that someone was knocking)…okay…..Bang bang! Uff…who is it? Its obvious….my cousin sis (You know, she’s the protagonist in my blogs….there’s no adventure of mine in which she’s excluded!) She said or rather,screamed “En daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?” (meaning ‘wassup’) to which I replied as usual “En diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?????” So this ‘enda’ and ‘endi’ continued for a while until I finished my kanji and she finished her tea. And this time, her nickname is ‘ND’

It was really ‘series of co-incidence’! Lol…my aunt had seen her mom in the morning, her dad in the afternoon and bro just a while ago. Now, not only she, but even her dad and bro had arrived upstairs. ND sat on the couch and suddenly a loaded question popped up. Abba….it was about the previous week’s Savandurga trip and that too, about Artgod. ND had always thought of him as a sitting duck. Nevertheless, she used to lose arguments with him (@ varsha embar a.k.a ND…chill!) Now the question arose whether Artgod was ‘tired’ during the trip or not…he accepted that he was tired and so was everyone else who had gone to the trip. She didn’t leave…she added some more ‘phrases’ to his tiredness and tried to put him in a stalemate. Artgod, as usual, got on his nerves and announced that ND was trying to build a cock and bull story……and it goes on………

Amidst this enthralling discussion, there was another thing which put us in Utopia……hot spicy chilli bajjis! Yes, my aunt had made a bundle of them since there were ‘too many’ people in the house….ND’s dad was also a very nice person to talk to. Now it follows the ‘group discussion’ – ND, me, Artgod and ND’s bro were one group; IOP and ND’s dad were the other while my aunts and uncle were the 3rd. Oh my God…eating those mouth-watering bajjis while discussing some ‘hot’ topics….this was really outstanding! Breathtaking discussions they were…….hope you guessed it right! Yes, this was the ‘SPICY’ part of my day!

Ssssssssssss……ooh, it’s too spicy! I need something sweet….and it was definitely there. OMG….I think my cousins are the ONLY people in the world to take more than an hour to decide the hotspot (like a restaurant). Adigas, Foodcamp, NKB, Fudge club……the discussion went on. Guess where it ended; no prizes for guessing….it’s Pizza hut. IOP dropped out since he was tired. So, it was the ‘fantastic four’ – me, ND, her bro and Artgod. There….just an 800m walk from the house. We set the ball rolling….and hardly when we walked a 100m, ND’s bro changed the spot. From Pizza hut to…………….where? IISc canteen!!! Weird, isn’t it? It’s after all a canteen….but there’s something more to do. Forest walk! Wokay…….lights, camera, action!

Woah….it was an untiring walk from 2nd temple road to Maramma circle. ND’s bro was studying M.E in IISc. As he was pursuing the course from 6 months, he had gathered the information about the ‘hangout places’ and food there. Not only he, but even my sis (who is in LA) had tried the food in the canteen and described it as ‘sumptuous’. ND’s bro was quite sure about the quality….but he backed away when the question about reimbursement arose! Doesn’t matter….we’ll just taste. ND showed his ID card at the entrance and made way for us to discover the food. But one embarrassing thing was that when asked who we were, ND’s bro called us as his ‘friends’. Che! What a pathetic situation for us, being his flesh and blood!

It was quite a long walk from the entrance to the canteen. We had to go under a road- bridge, climb steps etc…..finally, we reached ‘destination Prakruthi’. Again, the time came for us to prove our flop shows (as always!)….there were two veg canteens, Nesara and Prakruthi. None of us knew which canteen was known for its food. We opted for the latter and headed towards it. There were many ‘hi-fi’ people out there, including teachers (why shouldn’t they be hi-fi?). We glanced at the menu and decided our choice. It was obviously 4 plates of Pav Bhaji and a plate of Gobi…there, we gobbled ‘em up AFAWC (as fast as we could). Neither it was too good nor ‘stomach filling’. So, how about a Biriyani and a Pulav? Now this one took a long time…..during which me, ND and Artgod discussed about how ND’s bro had turned over a new leaf after joining IISc (a place known for its ‘nerdy students’, right?) Okay….the dishes arrived. It was finished within a blink of an eye…but it was a little stomach filling. What about the dessert? ND and I had ice cream while her bro and Artgod drank a hot cup of coffee.

Alas….we always tried to put the cart before the horse. First, we thought we’ll go for a forest walk and after the allegedly ‘tiring’ walk, we can have dinner. But tables were turned down. Never mind, let’s take it as an ‘night-forest-walk-after-a-heavy-meal’! Sure..it was mindblowing! We roamed the campus like anything. According to ND, the temperature was 2-3 degrees less than that of the city because more tress were present. We had a glance at the Molecular Biophysics dept, Physical, Inorganic and Organic chemistry, Electronics, blah blah blah….but the thing which is more noteworthy is the kind of experience when you pass by those lush green trees, that too in the night. Ahhh….a forest in the city which is impossible to find in these days.

Ooooo….snakes! “I’m not scared…I have the ‘eagle scar’!!!” said I, who believed that I was impregnable of snakes. However, the rest grinned. There came an untarred road which we thought would lead to a jungle like thing….and this was the moment of the day! All the fantastic four made sounds like ghosts, holded each other, watched out for snakes in the ground, cracked jokes…..hey wait…how can we forget the most important thing? The photo session!! Oh no….sad. No one had got a camera….but what is Artgod’s mobile for? Click…..our quest for street lights began. Wherever there was a streetlight, there was a snap. ND was overflowing with zeal…she took some ‘creepy’ pictures in Artgod’s mobile. And where’s the group photo? Artgod took it…the perfect one in which ND seemed to be ‘enlightened’; me and her bro standing next to her (like shishyas!) Afterwards, the walk resumed……..

Oh…it was already 9 pm! Hurry up…..ND and her bro have to reach home! Pause…..why? Oh shit….in the midst of our euphoric forest walk, we forgot the parcel order – a Bhelpuri for IOP. Now this is the perfect time to drink water, so slurp slurp slurp! 3 glasses! And the journey went on….from Maramma circle to home. Luckily, ND’s parents were waiting for us at the doorstep. Everyone else, especially my aunt was worried for only the ‘kids’ of the family were on an outing! Hey…now it’s your turn to guess the taste of this part. It’s a foregone conclusion – S.W.E.E.T!

ND and her bro departed. My grandma had come to see me, and thank God I was on time to have a few words with her. In the end….how should the day be portrayed? Hmmm…except for the starting of the day which was bitter, the whole day was Creme de la creme……..

Uff ….had a good nap. The next morning – had breakfast and logged into FB. Who’s there? ND…..she exclaimed “Endaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” to which the reply was as always “Endiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…” and the story continues…….