Posts Tagged ‘memories’
The year that was – 2014
Isn’t it a little too late to be talking about 2014 when we are already into the third month of the new year? I don’t think so. Here is why:
– Better late than never. Instead of keeping it as a draft in my mind, I might as well store it in my blog and save some space.
– I am a finance person. FY 2014 is not yet over, so technically, I am writing early and not late.
– I am finance person. Every entity under Companies Bill, 2013 has six months from the end of its financial year to finalize it reports. So even if we were to say its 2014 and not 2014-15, I have six months from December, ie. June 30th would be my deadline and am well within it.
– If you are still looking for more reason, you have something seriously wrong about you that expects you to find reasons behind the timing of a post rather the post in itself. Might I suggest some help?
Let’s be honest here. I have no fixed agenda and shall be blabbering to consume the next few minutes of your life. If you have something urgent to attend, you should consider taking care of it. There is nothing here that will turn your life. You can come back later too.
Well, if you are as jobless as I was when I wrote this, then let’s spend some time together and try to pretend you care about my past year.
A.C.A : The year 2014 hold a significance in my life mainly because I finally got a degree. Yes, until then I was only a PU graduate and a college drop out pursuing something they called CA. That meant filling the column of educational qualification was somewhat debatable. Anyway, I cleared the last set of papers and can now brag that I am a CA. *It’s a different point that people either ask me which year or which college when I tell them that and I have to clarify I have qualified. And no, I stopped giving people gyaan about how we do not have a college and things like that.*
Adieu to Deloitte, Blore: Having finished my CA meant I had completed my articleship with Deloitte. As much as I knew the end was coming, the way the journey ended was somewhat unexpected. I left behind certain desires unfulfilled. That was not how I had anticipated walking away, but sometimes life just makes you take certain paths with no alternatives. The years at the firm was filled with rich experience not just professionally, but personally as well. When I came down to blore in 2011, I only knew I wanted to be a part of Big4. Three years later, I had a lot more.
A new venture: For about half a decade, the concentration was only on finishing the course. Now that the course was completed, suddenly there was lot of new avenues to explore. It wasn’t hard to arrive at the decision of practice since it was always the goal, maybe not immediately, but definitely in the short-term. So I became another start-up in the ocean trying to stay afloat.
A new ride: The old bike at home was getting old. I could do with a new ride. moreover, experience with old bikes and blore was enough for once. And wala, I got a new bike.
Then there were other trivial things like India lost, India won. I left Bangalore and returned to Bengaluru. I could go on, but there is only so much tolerance limit each one of us has, so I shall put brakes and get to wrapping it up. And like the sun, it set and the year was over, just like that.
“I was at the mountain. And I was at the valley. And I was at the desert. And I was at the river-bed.
I was washed. And I was dry. And I was dirty. And I was clean.
I walked an ocean. And I walked a river. And I walked the thorns. And I walked the plains.
I walked alone. And I walked together.
And I will do it again…”
Re-living destination Sirsi! (Part-III)
Day 3: Sunday, 28th February, 2010.
09:30 am “My legs are on fire! Damn! Looks like all plans are going to be cancelled taking into consideration the current situation we are in.”
From about 8, lay on the bed doing nothing but assessing the pain.. don’t know how many times I heard myself saying, kal itne josh dikhane ki kya zaroorat thi. Well covering 15-20 kms in a matter of few hours can be tiresome even for the fittest, after all we stiff people were bound to fall a prey to it.
Breakfast consisted of dosa with something called as jhula, if I got it right. I was beginning to see ghee and liquid gur was a habit there. After breakfast were lazing around deciding whether or not to go out. Then decided to visit a nearby lake, and a falls further along the way. The way to the place was no less than a track for bike racing, with extra bit of ups and downs, a steep curve here and there. Reached the place. Walking was tough. The water was low, so waded through the water for a while, then went down stream where the others got down to swim while relaxed.
We found a sturdy tree bark to sit upon, with our legs in the water, it was really soothing. Also got free pedicure thingy from fishes down there 😉 WE then went further to the place of falls. Its named keppajoga. Its supposed to be the place where the pandavas stayed during their exile. There are a lot of clear signs of it. Everything out there be it carved scriptures, or space to have lunch, or offering to god, everything was in fives. It was a great place, very serene, must say it would make an excellent place for meditation and for seekers of peace. Wanted to go further, but walking downwards was such a pain that gave up on it.
The return journey was rather interesting. Myself and @nits4ever were on one bike, and we were far ahead of the others. This fella, don’t know what got into him, suddenly took a left at the first opportunity and we waited there for the others to pass by. I thought he was going to go full on force once they passed and surprise them but as it happened he had other plans. We waited for about five minutes after they left and then started. That was no the end of it. Soon after he began some sort of spiritual discourse, and I had no other option but be its victim. Finally we reached home, and I was saved from the lecture 😉 Was about 4 on the evening when we reached back. Had lunch and then it was time to relax. Needed it as much as possible. Watched TV all the while. Gotta know that network was available uphill a little ahead of the house. So went up the hill in search of the network. Had tea after returning back, chit chatted with our guide friend’s father and mother. Real great village gossip it was, that we never realised how it was already time for dinner. Had dinner, all filled, which meant it was time to relax yet again.
Although there was not much of activity that day, it was still tiring more because of the back log of the previous day! A bit of music, little idle chat, some bollywood movie, saw us wrap up another day. Peace.
Day4: Monday, 1st March, 2010
Dint realize what time the day began. Lay on the bed for a long time, very long time. Breakfast was idli and bhaji. After that roamed around the place for a while and it was time to get packing. Had cane juice before beginning, had all the exchange of pleasures with them after which it was time to leave. There was only one bike and we were four of us, so decided would go in twos, but as luck would have a little ahead the bike got punctured! We had not other means of transport and had to walk all the way until the bus stop in the hot afternoon! Found a bus to back to the city, couldn’t find a seat though. Having reached the city, caught a bus to Kumta. That took another few hours, most of which was slept sleeping, and the rest on a hungry stomach. Caught an auto to the railway station, found the train was scheduled for 4.45 which meant we had two hours before the train was due. So went to nearby hotel to have lunch. Lunch was good. Went back to the station at about 4 and more than that it was simply great to be back with network. *bliss*
The journey back was great. We found seats this time round, but still preferred the the seat by the door. The wonderful feeling was back. Even had sugarcane…
Reached Udupi at about 7.15pm, thus putting an end to the wonderful Sirsi outing!
I feel there was still a lot of things we could have done, lot more places we could have visited, but we had our constraints, and making the best of it was all we could have done, which I believe we certainly. Maybe the next time I go there, I am sure I can visit those places all by myself. Within a few days the place had become so close, and as I am writing this, I still can feel the wonderful time we spent there. Looking forward to a visit there as soon as time permits. Until such times, wrapping up the series. Cheers!
Re-living destination Sirsi! (Part-II)
Day 2: Sunday, 28th February 2010.
Day two saw me up at five. It was damn cold and I couldn’t imagine my state had there been a fan, switched on of course. Had a tour around the place. Got a feeling I could certainly spend a few weeks exploring the place without any repetition for sure. The urge for a documentary was trying it best, but had to be suppressed for the time being.
Breakfast consisted of a combination liquid gur & ghee, chutney, chutney powder, along with dosa. If I continued with the food for a week I would be sure to put on some weight. And it was a grand beginning to the first day Sirsi!
The first stop happened to be at a place called Sahasralinga, and as the name suggests it was a place with lot of “lingas” carved upon stones, amidst a flowing river. Its an awesome place, can say a very popular tourist spot. Fortunately for us there was hardly any crowd on the day of our visit. We reached there sometime in the early mid-morning and the first thing we did on reaching there was call @nits4ever, for he was join us that day, and guess what the idiot was already nearing Kumta when we contacted him. He was planning to surprise us. I am still curious as to how he had planned to surprise us without knowing where to go, what with no network at all. So having giving him directions we went down to explore the place a bit. The current was high and the river bed consisted mostly of pebbles and as I tried to cross, I almost had a fall. Thank goodness I didn’t or would have given @akshay’s cam a holy wash!. From there we went on to some old temple. The architecture out there was really commendable. No repetition anywhere around the temple. It also happened to be a incomplete one, a incomplete one it would remain too. There was a average sized pond nearby it, fully covered by lotus plants, making it look a green patch of land. Interestingly the temple seemed totally uninhabited, and i was busy clicking pics around the place, it was only when I clicked the picture of the deity there did I realise the priest was actually there and within moments of our arrival, a pooja was on! Luckily we had network out there and got to know that @nits4ever was almost at Sirsi, so one of our friend went down to pick him up while we stayed back. We had lunch at a modest roadside hotel. Lunch for me was Idli with chutney. Now that the missing dude was in, the journey begun again, this time to destination Shivaganga falls.
It was a long journey, the weather out was scorching and the tears coming down the eyes due to the speed got evaporated burring the skin. It was terrible, that. Had to park our bike and walk due to roughness of the road, a kilometre or two before we were at the mouth of the mountain. Our destination lay at the feet of the mountain opposite to where we currently were. Simply put, the journey down was fast and furious. The path of approximately five kms, was steep, slippery at places, rocky 90% of the time. Was as good as literally getting down a mountain. Got down the mountain only to see that the falls was still another mile away! There was that walk which was rather an acrobatic ride, before we finally reached to the base of the falls. It was only after about fifteen minutes after I and another friend, Vinayak reached, that the rest of the party joined in. Must say the troop was really exhausted. But there was the falls in all its beauty to make it up. We were there for maybe an hour and half or two. Then came the point of going back up. The water supply was done with. No sooner did we begin climbing the mountain, than our @nits4ever and @akshay felt their throat shout for water. For that matter, I believe it was so with each of us, only that a few could bear it while the others couldn’t. The thirst was such that they even drank the water that was falling off from various places. We met a troop of college students who asked us how further down it was to the falls, and having told the directions the one question I had was if they had enough supply of water. They did. Half way up we realised that we would have a real hard time getting back up and looking at @akshay’s state we knew it was going to be easier said than done. So myself and vinayak sped ahead to get some water or anything available nearby. Walking back up I felt maybe this was one task the roadies should be asked to do. We could feel the dehydration doing its thing. To add to it, I had my bag along, adding to my weight. Somehow we reached our bikes and sped ahead in search of the nearest hotel. Maybe about 10kms or so away we finally found a hotel. Stopped by had our fill of water, filled the water bottles we had, got some soft drink and got back to our waiting friends. Carrying 7 bottles wasn’t an easy task to do on a bumpy road when the rider was riding at no less than 50-60kms/hr. When we reached, the others were near the bike all set to ride back. Seeing the cold drinks was maybe the best feeling they would have for a very long time. The bottle was gone within few seconds. Life was back. Rode back. Stopped at the hotel once more for another round of drinks, soft of course. The tiredness was settling… Set back home. Needed a long rest before setting out again, but that was not to happen.
“Toggu rullavu kartasanchi. Bhari pormbolu yettas. (They are preparing a snack down stairs and its smelling great!) @nits4ever here has gone nuts. He is practising a mixture of ballet and item number 😉 #nowplaying My happy ending.”
After a round of snacks, headed to Sirsi again. Rode from half way down. The bike, a real specimen it was. No idling at all. Got switched off every time you slowed down. The weather was cool, the ride was good. Was it the road, was the bike, I wouldn’t know, but the bikes really ran fast, at 100-120kms/hr we were at ease, rather the bike was too. Reached the city, roamed around for a while, clicking few pics here and there. Then tiredness began taking its toll. Decided to go for dinner. Two hotels and nothing available. As luck would have it, our guide friend didn’t know his city too well. It was getting close to midnight and options were running out. So we asked him to enjoy, saying we would find dinner and would meet him later. So the trio set out in search of a hotel providing dinner, anything edible for that matter, in a stranger city. I still remember the banana we had before setting out. A few minutes later we found a hotel. Chef’s special it was. Whew! that was really a huge relief, for apples were back at home, miles away! Had burger, for nothing else seemed good enough. Was okay. Had some idle chat for about and hour and returned. Reaching the place where we were supposed to meet, we found that guy was still out enjoying somewhere and it was only about half an hour later that he returned. The mid night ride was splendid. Clocking more than 100kms/hr most of the times we were freezing in the cold weather. Yet there was a thrill to it.
“2:30 in the morning now. Still feeling wide awake. But the situation calls for sleep. Need to be up early. Wrapping up maybe one of the longest days in my life. Until sunrise, peace it shalt be.”
Re-living destination Sirsi! (Part-I)
“Its been a very tiresome day. 12.50 in the morning now. Started @ 4.15 in the evening. Dint know what I was thinking when I expected to find a seat, maybe I was expecting a reservation. All the same, you don’t get a seat in the general compartment, surely not on the train to Goa, never ever on a Friday, unless of course you got lucky. So it had to be standing journey. All I had since evening was a masala dosa which I had at a hotel nearby the railway station and a cool drink to wash it down.”
So it was, Friday, the 26th of February, 2010, De-Day. Had been planning for the trip, from quite sometime and finally it was taking life. There I was sitting in the doorway, ear phones plugged in, enjoying the tune of Linkin Park. Winds lashing on my face, my feet inches away from the ground when the stations passed by, darkness hitting hard at the sight of tunnels, kids waving from open fields, passing by life at several miles/hour, those little things always make my day. Always as in from dreams to reality. Never realized hour the four hour journey went by, or was it three? I am not sure.
As we reached the Kumta station, the sun had long set. We had to walk maybe a kilometre, or so I felt, before we caught sight of a hotel to hear the call of our stomachs. To think that was a short cut, I don’t want to think about the other route. With the baggage it was certainly more tiring. With hunger put to sleep, we had another journey to make before we could reach our destination. According to our guide friend, it was festival time and hence there would be buses very frequently, but as it happened, it was a theoretical statement. The buses to a destination was houseful and we were in the least mood to take another two hour standing journey. There were about 10-15 of us all together, and somebody said we hire a cab, but it was easier said than done. We found cabs, but the drivers were missing. And not everybody was keen to go together, so few left, and finally we were only five or six when we found seats. Its a different point that it was in the last row.
“Its twilight all around me. The temperature is down considerably. Can’t deny I am feeling the chill. My hungry eyes are feasting upon the twilight magic hungrily. In moments of glimpses that my eyes are able to catch, I was a witness to a photo-shopped alchemy. Every now and then my guide friend is butting in with the worldly description while I am lost in the other part of it. Sleep is hard to come with the bumpy ride I am on, yet a power nap would be a good idea. Btw on a govt bus on the way to Sirsi from Kumta. Going to lose myself in the twilight again..”
So it was maybe after almost 45 minutes after leaving the hotel, we were on another journey aboard a government bus which didn’t know what speed meant. No, better put, it could only dream of speed.
“Eyes catch the sight of a wonderful couple of houses, the dream house of every artist, a thatched roof, blue hue… To add to it, the twilight.. hmm… The day today, is totally going to be consumed by the twilight, wonderfully for me to savour the beauty. The bus had stopped for a while. Back to the bumpy track now…”
The road mostly consisted to ghat section, the sky was bright, it was dense rows of trees on both sides of the road, or so it looked in the darkness, the weather was getting terribly cold. As luck would have it the window wouldn’t budge. So I was taking shelter behind my bag, enjoying the beauty around me. There was no network through out, so no tweeting. Most of the crew was fast asleep, and maybe I was the only one awake. Not that I could catch sleep with the cold, anyway. After what seemed like a few hours, we finally reached Sirsi. Its was considerably colder when compared to Udupi. A part of me was glad that the travelling came to an end while the other half still wanted the bus ride to continue. It was carnival time and the city was buzzing with activity with no time to take a peak at the clock. It was decided that we would roam around for a while before leaving, but with the luggage it was pathetic moving around. Gave up on roaming plans. Dinner was tough to find with all hotels filled. Decided was better to head back. On the way to the bus stop we found a small Chinese food stall. Stopped to have some food. Ordered a Gobi Manchurian, it tasted ok. Got noodles parcelled to save time. When we finally reached the bus stop, Surprise! no bus. Found there was going to be no more for the day. It was about 11 then. Found a cab, after negotiating for sometime hired it. The journey was nothing less than going into the jungles. I was so damn tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open, but finally when we reached I was rejuvenated, or maybe the writer within was. The house which stood in front of our eyes was just WOW! Almost amidst the jungle. The house is typical village house, too good to be true. Felt was surely going to etch it into my memory before I left. It was more than 12 in the morning when we reached. Had a few chickoos and Kshaya. The hospitality was touching.
“Maybe for the first time in my life I don’t have a fan over my head. Interestingly I am not feeling the need for one either. There is no network here. So I am alone. Time to call it a day.. A long day ahead tomorrow.”
I was staying at Ravindra’s house. It was just the duo now, myself and @akshay, @nits4ever couldn’t make it due to some work. The first day was only a warm up.
Art life – The beginning
A short boy, standing in the assembly of the Independence day celebration functions. The flag is hoisted, the rest of the formalities done, the various speeches delivered, it was now time for the prize distribution function where the prize winners in the various competitions conducted with regard to the day, would be receiving their prizes. The list of the winners in the various was being announced, while the boy was lost in his own thoughts. A part of him lost thinking wish my name also is called up now, so that I can go and get a prize too.. No matter what it is, it just doesn’t matter. It was the pride of winning that, he wanted or though he dint know it, that was what it was in a way.
His thoughts raced back to his pre-primary classes where during the various celebrations only the prize winners went down to the assembly while the others watched on the proceedings from their class itself. There was a place, rather a room which was the exit from the nursery section leading directly to the quadrangle, where the assembly took place. He remembered those times when he saw others walk through there while he along with others stood there besides one of the windows from where he could have a clear view of the assembly, or rather when everybody sat down once the formal function was done. Even back then it was the same thought that crossed his mind, wish his name would be called up so that he could go to the stage to receive the honours…
The funny fact was that he very was aware that he had to win the competitions in order for his name to be called, and to win he had to compete in the competitions, which he never did. Yet the childish part of him always thought one day his name would certainly be called out…
To think it would really happen a few years later was quite unbelievable and now, years later he still found it unbelievable to take it in.
This series is all about his journey in the field of art describing the various things that happened with him, trivial most of the times, yet certainly a step towards the unknown dream.. His realization of the fact that, it was all about learning, rather appreciating the art..
Times @ Maddy Kripa-V
Year 02-03
I believe this was one of my best years at Madava Kripa, even when I was in there it was certainly a fun filled year, beautifully wrapped with all the excitement and a whole wide range of activities to be looked upon. A bunch of my most memorable moments at the school were born in this year, so in spite of this post being held back due to a lot of reasons, let me try to share the same things that this year showed me.
Solomon teacher was our class teacher for the year. She was a special teacher, and when I say special it was for many reasons. She handled English and social studies for us. She used to conduct a test after each lesson and the best thing about it was that, it would always comprise just fill in the blanks, match the following, and such other one mark questions. It always saved the trouble of reading pages long question and answers.
In English, after each poem was dealt with, while writing notes, we were required to be drawing a scene which depicted something from the poem, maybe a overall picture if it was a poem concerning something in general, or a scene or line if it was some kind of story, and we would be given marks out of ten for it. It would always be an achievement for me when I used to get 9 on the average for it, and I would be on cloud 9 on the occasions when I got 10 on 10. It was the same case in social where we were required to maintain a map drawing book, and again I was happy to be getting 9 or 9.5 usually.
Among other things, everyday after the prayers, one of us was required to read news and another was supposed to read a thought. I still remember those two occasions when it was my turn to read news, that after the normal few news items, I had spoken of those things that happened in our immediate surroundings. It was the time when signals were just installed in Manipal, and the time when they no longer worked!! My headlines went something like, Signals a waste investment in Manipal, or something like that, and I had received a merit for it. Another proud moment, among the many in that year…
For the first time in my life I heard of the concept of Friendship week, and it was because we celebrated it. It was usually in the afternoon sessions that we were indulged in these activities and I still remember that particular afternoon, when we made bookmarks for our friends. Our teacher provided us with a piece of nicely cut red colored ribbon which we used for our bookmark. We were required to give it to any of our friends, and I remember receiving one, and I am very much happy to say that I still have it with me. On the last day of the week, she had asked us to call our friends home and give them some snacks and anything else. I usually played in the evening and so I had no problem gathering friends. There were about twenty of us, and after a round of play, we enjoyed the snacks I had got along with other things. Back then it didn’t mean much, but thinking of it now, it really is a wonderful feeling to be with friends, enjoying as if there is nothing else more wonderful in this world….
We has three rows in our class, and usually whatever competition was conducted as a group, it would be between the three rows, which were named love, peace and joy. My row was “Love”, and like elsewhere, it was LOVE, our row, that won in most of the competitions. Once we had a kite flying competition, wherein each row was required to prepare a kite and then fly it during out P.T hour. Our kite was both the most beautiful and the one the touched the maximum heights. The other time that we worked together on something was, when we were required to prepare a model of, “The turtle beach”, which was a story of a turtle, which comes to the shore, to lay down its eggs. It faces a lot of difficulties on its way, which included stumbling through the bricks and other materials lying around, of a building being constructed nearby. But in the end it succeeds to lay its eggs safely, but dies in the process. It was really fun doing it, but it was more fun when children from 1st and 2nd standard came in a line, to see it and each group narrated the story of the turtle to them. Again we won it.
As I said above we received a merit for our good deeds and it goes without saying that we received a demerit for our misdeeds. On earning ten merits we got a silver star, and on earning five silver stars or twenty merits, we got a golden star. It was a very proud moment for every student to receive a star. At the end of the year, she had in fact presented us with those golden stars that we had earned. Its a pity to say that I misplaced it sometime ago, but those were really hard earned moments of happiness within those stars…
Once it so happened that our maths teacher was on leave and the class was in chaos, of course. At that time our class teacher was taking class for students of seventh standard, which was situated in the ground floor, unlike ours, which was in the first floor. She had asked a girl to make us do some work, and give her names of those who misbehaved, so that she could deal with them. It so happened that, we were having fun and that girl just for fun wrote my name as well as another guy’s name, and guess what? A few moments later the teacher comes to inspect the class!! There you go.. no excuses from her to anybody, so off we go. We had to sit in her class(seventh standard) and listen to her lecture, which happened to be the causes and results of the battle of Panipat. So for no fault of ours, we simply got punished…
Within no time we reach the end of the year, a year full of excitement, and memories that will be cherished through out. The various things that we did was mostly just for fun, back then, but now they really have paved the way for us to learn a lot things… Actually there were many more things that were a part of the year, but to pressurize my mind too much on those things would simply result in activating my tear glands. It might seem childish or whatever, but the very simple reason for it being those time will never come back, and that, they were among the best…..
A long day…(Memories-V)
It all began at a meeting which was held in connection with an art exhibition that was supposed to take place very soon. Usually whenever we plan to conduct an exhibition, all the participants meet up, decide on the various things, such as when should it be held, the theme for the exhibition if any, the size of the canvas, whether uniform size or any size of the participants choice, number of works, the amount which might be required to be contributed by each participant, and such other things. I had participated in four group shows and in most of them I wasn’t indulged in any responsible work as such, mainly coz I was very young. Yet I helped in whatever I could. So my activity in the meetings would mostly have been passive until now, but this time it was no longer so. I had got into college, so it was time i started taking on the responsibilities too.
Our sir, who helped us with most of the things said that this time, we had to do everything by ourselves, and he would just guide us whenever needed. Once most of the things were decided, it was time that we decided on invitation. We had built up a reputation of bringing out a unique invitation for each exhibition, so that was one of the most important task. Sir suggested that we would design it ourselves and would get it printed at Bangalore, coz the people in our place did the same. They would get the design and layout from us, go to blore, get it done and deliver it to us. We could save a lot on it and hence decided that we would do it that way. Now it was the question of who would do it, who would handle the responsibility. I thought this would be a right time for me to get work done by me, so I volunteered to do it. It was decided that I would be given the design and all I had to do was get it printed at a decided printers, and get it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? I thought the same when I took it up, but it turned out that it was more complicated than it initially looked.
The other arrangements began and I did whatever I could. Finally, the design was handed over to me along with the proof print or whatever its called, to show how the print looked like. It was like I was given the design today and I was supposed to leave tomorrow night, reach the next morning, get the work done, catch a bus back the same day and be back the next morning. The materials reached me, but i still didn’t know where I was to be going!! Sounds ridiculous right? But that was how it was. I was told I would be given a person’s no. All i had to do would be call him, and he would arrange for the work to be done. But surprise!! I get a number of a person, who is just an artist in blore, who might be knowing such people. I realized how things were, when it came to reality.I just used to sit back and see how things were done, but now when it came to me, i realized how things could really be.
I called up one of my friend who stayed at blore and asked him if he knew any printers personally. Like it was necessary coz I just couldn’t walk in to some press and ask for the job to be done. He said he personally hadn’t got any works printed, but he had a few friends who did and told would check on them and let me know. It was in the evening when I called him, and he told there was a possibility that they might have left too!! Man!! What was i supposed to do if they had left? But thankfully, he called me back soon saying there were two places nearby to where he worked, and his friend knew those places. I thanked him and hung up.
I have one of my uncles staying at blore and initially I hadn’t wanted to disturb him, but now I thought it was best that I took his help. And guess what? he knew a person, who was working at a graphics shop, moreover his work place was situated nearby to my uncle’s factory. Uuf!! I sighed relief…
I left the following night, reached the next morning as scheduled. Reached a bit late, so I only had enough time to shower, freshen. I changed into new clothes and left along with my uncle. We had breakfast at a hotel on the way. I had masala dosa, and when one is famished it really feels good to be eating 😉 He had to open the factory on time, so we had to hurry, but we managed to reach in time. Once we settled down, he called up the concerned person and he said he would come in about an hour. He went about with his work, while I read the news paper. Then he took me around the factory, and it was perfectly as I remembered it from my last visit. When we went back to his office, the person had come. So it was work time. My uncle explained him about my needs, and asked for a rough price. He said he would have to check out on that and so would let us know in a little while. He took the materials to check them out. He called back in a little while saying it would cost this much. The cost was readily acceptable for us, but the problem was time. He said he could give it no earlier than in three days. Not again!! We said it was urgent and that I had come solely for that purpose. So he said if the cards would not have to be punched he would give them the following day. But again that was unacceptable, firstly coz punching those holes would be another work for us, and second, we couldn’t afford to wait. But it was election time and most of the press was engaged in printing ads, so obviously there was no place for a thousand prints.
I then decided that we would check out the person whose contact no I was given and it so happened that he was out of place that day. I couldn’t just help thinking if I could finish off the work in that day. But then he said we would have to go to the place and he would speak to them. Thank god 🙂 It was in Chamarapet, and even though my uncle had an expert knowledge of the roads around, we required a little while to reach and it was twelve thirty in the noon when we reached the place, Lakshmi Mudranalaya. We were waiting outside, while I looked around the place. It seemed to be a high level press which printed and published books in large quantities.I wondered if they would accept our order. After a few minutes of wait, which seemed like hours, we were sitting in front of the owner there. We placed our requirements and agreed to it. He said he could not arrange for the cards to be punched but he could arrange it to be delivered by the evening. WOW!! I was really glad it was finally into processing. He asked me to tell everything to the designers and I did the same, and it was set. He did the calculations and it came up to 12.5k and odd.. With a few words from the no I had obtained, it was settled to 11.5k. I paid it, and we returned back to the factory. Now the thing that worried me was, whether it was possible to get it by evening. From a previous experience I knew that once printed they were required to be properly dried, or else it would simply be a mess. But I was rest assured coz, he had said we would get it by evening.
We had lunch in some hotel. I had a kulcha and some gravy. It was a peaceful lunch, with the major part of the tension got over. After lunch, went back to the factory and were just chatting. We had a tea along with another colleague of his, whom I knew very well. She suggested that in the evening once everything was done with, we go to pizza hut and have a pizza.
In the evening we went home, watched TV for a while, then as suggested by his colleague, we went to pizza hut. Had a pizza, and I even had ebony and ivory, actually the only time I had it. By then it was time to collect the invitation. We went to the place in my uncle’s scooter and by the time we reached there it had already become dark. The package was there waiting for us. Now the problem suddenly came out of nowhere. How to carry it? I tried lifting it and my goodness it was so damn heavy. It weighed more than 50kg and that would be really tough to carry. We decided we would take it in the scooter itself and I carried it and all the way back home, I had it on my lap. The journey back never seemed to end at all.. My back was slowly starting to ache, but thankfully I was able to manage. My uncle’s house is in the first floor and as we had a lot of time until my bus was due, we carried the package all the way up. Guess it was total madness to be doing that, but we did it. For the first time I saw the invitations, it looked good. Gave a copy to uncle, and just sat back to relax…
As we both were filled with the food we had earlier on, we skipped dinner. Again we had to take the package down. This time in addition to that, there was my bag too. I didn’t know how I would manage, but I somehow did. But I really wonder how he managed. With that package it would have really been a tough ride for him. We went to some fresh juice centre and I had an orange juice. Had got a return ticket earlier in the day, so just had to wait for the bus. It was drizzling slightly. I hoped it wouldn’t rain. Thankfully it didn’t. But there was a little confusion with the bus. Initially we thought it would stop at one place but when it came, there was another bus and so it stopped a little ahead. He got the package loaded, while I got into the bus and bid him adieu. I really wished I could thank him profusely, but well taken into consideration my shy nature, even if I stood in front of him to do it, words wouldn’t have come out. So the thought remained only as a thought, as I slowly drifted to sleep, thus ending the long tiresome day.
Times @ Maddy Kripa-IV
Year 01-02
Another year at the old building, third in fact. I had three years at the old building only. Maybe that’s the reason I liked it a lot. Its a pity that its not there anymore. It is brought down to give way for a new building and the one we used to call new building has now become old..
We had Mrs. Vijayalaxmi as our class teacher for the year. We had a lesson in English titled, “The pie and the tramp”. The story goes somewhat like this – It was a story of two tramps, who are going through tough times and they can’t even beg to live as begging is forbidden in their place and they were already arrested a few times for begging. The play begins with them, sitting in the street, sharing their woes, when they hear a couple in a nearby house, speaking. The husband wants his wife to give the pie to a person he sends and when she asks how she would know the person who claimed the pie was genuine or not, they settle on the idea that the person coming to collect the pie has to kiss her hand. As soon as the husband goes out the two tramps who were over hearing the conversation decide to bring their hunger to an end by getting the pie. One of them goes and gets it the way the genuine person was intended to and they enjoy the pie thus fooling the couple…
We had enacted the play and I was one of the tramp. I still remember the first scene wherein I was to be looking glum but I was smiling.. I remember our teacher saying you shouldn’t be smiling. Change your expression… We spent two classes one fine afternoon enacting it and I believe we did a good job. Was a very memorable moment performing in front of the class..
The Magnetic field theory:
Every morning, as we used to reach early to the school we had about an hour before classes started and so we used to chit-chat sitting on the steps outside the class or else just roaming here and there. Once it so happened that one of us had got a pair of magnet and was just playing with it when someone said there was magnetic substance in the soil. We found quite a lot of small particles and by chance one of us found some iron nail. That inspired us to search more junk and soon we were on a junk search and every morning we searched with around our class and nearby, with a magnet to see what we would find. Within about a week or so we found a plastic full of rusted nails, pieces of iron etc, etc.. We had planned to give it to the junkyard and share whatever we got from it. We had kept it in the cupboard only to forget it. During exam time we remembered it but then we decided we would take it on the result day. Again it was forgotten only to be remembered when we got to know that it was thrown out, the next year…
Yet another year passed within no time.. It was a sad moment to be leaving.. One thing was that I was leaving behind my favourite part of the school, the old building block and also our class teacher was leaving the school…But then there was a new year to look forward to, new adventures to be faced..
Times @ Maddy Kripa-III
It is really an awesome feeling to be recalling all the old memories and it just takes you deeper and deeper into it, bringing out new dimensions to the already fixed memory. I was completely blank when I started with this series but now the images are clearing…
Year 99-2000
We had Janet teacher as our class teacher. I still remember her birthday ka din, when we had all planned to wish her and give her a surprise. We had prepared a card for her and kept it on the table. But when the period started and she dint come, everything went out of way. Soon everybody in the class started shouting and it was like a market place come alive. She came about fifteen to twenty minutes late and she was all fumed up while coming as the noise created by our class could have been heard until the staff room. We could see her coming down the corridor. Seeing her temper we got scared and took back the card kept on the table, rubbed the happy birthday written on the board.. As soon as she got in everybody got a solid lecture!! We planned to surprise her.. But she gave us one… Her voice had the ability to keep anybody listening and the power to induce fear to anybody who was being shouted at. Actually even if you weren’t the one being shouted at, you felt the fear going down your veins..
The moment every student feared in her class would be when our answer books were given back after a test was conducted. One never knew which way she attacked. Once a few days after a class test, she called a few students and got all the books brought to class from the staff room. Once she came to the class she asked everybody to stand up. We had to catch our books as she threw it from the table.. It was a moment when the student who hadn’t done well just knew what he was going to face… In fact, hearing her, you would get a doubt about your performance, even if you thought you were sure about it a moment ago. But then she always appreciated those who did well. I guess that was one reason she never lost her temper at me. If you were good, she would be gentle with you, else you just had it…
Annanu madida galipata
bannada haleya galipata
neeliya banali teluta sundara
balangoshiya nanna pata
Bidirina bettiya galipata
bedarada bettada galipata…
…dharava jaggi
dhooradi baggi
balangoshiya nanna pata
It was the first poem we learnt and I used to keep telling it very often. Soon our test arrived and we had to write the poem by heart and the practice was the teacher used to write the questions on the board and we wrote the answers in our answer book. Of all things, I failed to notice the question on the poem. I donno how I missed it, but I dint notice it and realised it only after I had submitted my paper. I got B+ in that particular test as I hadn’t written the poem. After that incident I always watch out for the question on poem first. Its been about 9 years now, but I still remember a little of the poem as a memory of the incident…
Year 2000-01
Padmavathi teacher was our class teacher. She was a very stern teacher and just her presence kept a class under pin drop silence. She had squint eyes and that increased to her sternness coz one never knew where she was seeing. You thought she was seeing the other way but oh! no.. she was looking at you. From three years I was watchful enough to escape from her but escaping from your class teacher was going to be a tough job… Anyways there was also the gentle side of her. She had a very good practice of teaching poems. She took up Kannada and since we had to by heart poems, before starting a poem she would first tell each line and make us repeat it. Once that was done she would put in a tune for it and then repeat the process again. That way we knew the poem and wouldn’t forget it easily.. Then she used to explain it.. I still remember the poem classes of hers. They were so much fun.
The year also marked another memorable event for me when I was selected for a state level drawing competition to be held at Manglore. One fine afternoon, I was called from the class and was told about the competition. It was first of its kind for me back then and that itself was a great sense of achievement… The competition was conducted by, “The Hindu” and I was proud to be among the few, representing our school. Two were to be selected from senior group and one from junior. So that was one of the reasons to be happy about. I was also happy coz I was among the likes of Uttam Bhat and Swathi C Prabhu who were the top artists in our school, back then. I still have the participation certificate with me, serving as a witness to this memory…
Times @ Maddy Kripa-II
Year 97-98
In my first standard I had change of class teachers quite often.. Like they changed every now and then.. Initially we had Sharada teacher and then there was a change twice before Revathi teacher came in finally. Coming into the higher primary our classes were in a different building. It was like we came into the outer section of the school.. The most wonderful thing about Madhav Kripa are the corridors. They run about the stretch of the building and i can never forget those times when we used to run along them and skid having so much of fun..
We once had a dictation test and just before the test my bench mateasked me whether I knew all the words which were supposed to be knowing and I said I did. He then said that he didn’t know and hence had written them on a paper and he would copy from it whenever he wasn’t sure. The test started and the fun was the teacher went on telling words and he dint know which was which!! He was totally confused and finally gave up seeing the sheet and just went about writing what he knew. Its funny to see the simplicity of his behaviour. He thought it was easy to copy down but didn’t think he would have the difficulty of recognising what he had to write..
Our class had four rows and hence there were four leaders appointed and I was one among them. There was a chubby girl in our row and every now and then she used to pull my cheeks!! It used to irritate me so much.. I could control the entire class but for her. Couldn’t stop her from pulling my cheeks.. I remember that when I would be the most irritated, I would complain to the teacher that she was disturbing me and the teacher would ask what was she doing. The first time when I said that she was pulling my cheeks, my teacher pulled my cheeks and asked like this??
Later on she just used to smile every time I complained about her.
Year 98-99
We had Nagaratna teacher as our class teacher.. Thank god my cheek puller had left the school!! The reason how I knew most of my classmates was that I was the class leader.. Among other things like minding the class, I was also assigned to see if others had completed their notes and I remember one particular incident where in of a few who hadn’t completed their maths notes I was assigned two students to see that they completed everything and they had to sit outside the class while completing.. They were so dumb and lazy that most of the things were incomplete… Every second problem or so would be incomplete… Finally I guess I got them finish it..
Our environmental studies teacher, Uma, used to make us read out the lesson every once in a while. She used to ask a few to read a para each or so and would give us marks out of five based on our reading. It was a proud feeling to be the highest scorer.. The other thing about her was that she had a unique way of calling out one’s name.. That was something I liked the most about her. Even today when I meet her she first calls in the same way as she used to do when I was her student…
We used to have a class test every month. For English we had to by heart poems and once during English test I wasn’t able to recall one of the lines.. I was a little confused about it and so I was just thinking about it when the girl sitting next to me, seeing me concerned, asked what happened and I told her that I dint know a particular line of the poem and she promptly asked me if it was….. and told the line. Icouldn’t resist a smile when I realised that she had already seen my paper to notice the missing line.
Times @ Maddy Kripa-I
Every child has a special affection towards his school not only because he studied there but more due to the special memories attached with the school. It is due to those special moments that you will never be able to forget it. Here is an effort to bring out a few of my memories down the lane in “Times @ Maddy kripa” a collection of moments at Madhav Kripa.
Year 95-96: My first year at school, the first step in the journey. I don’t remember much of the admission and other things but I very well remember my classroom, those cute little chairs and not to forget my favourite place. We had four sections in L.K.G and I was in the C section and our class had an adjoining room where we had the provision to keep our bags. I still remember those days when many of my classmates would go in there every now and then to check if theirtiffin box was safe..
Coming into the second year I was into the A section and most of my friends were in my class. So it was better than Lkg wherein we were all in different sections. Our building was such that in the centre there was a hall and from it you could go to any of the classes. Lkg was in the same area as the hall but to go to the Ukg you had to get down the stairs which led to a lower area than the hall. We used to gather in the hall every morning for prayer before the classes began. I still remember the day when during the prayer time one of the teachers came to me, pulled my cheeks and gave me two coffee bites:) We had our headmistress, Mrs.Kusumavathi, as our class teacher and she was such a lovely and sweet person that anybody who studied as her student would never forget her…
Unlike the first year, we had full day school in the second year but we were supposed to sleep in the noon. We had a caretaker to ensure that everybody was asleep. Usually for our class Shakuntala aunty would come and she used to sit at the back of the class with a wooden scale in her hand. I never had the habit of sleeping in the noon and I would pretend to be asleep and wait for her to fall asleep. Within a little time she would fall asleep and the scale in her hand would fall down. That was a signal for us that we were free. There would be a few who wouldn’t sleep and so we used to play while everybody else slept. On the days when everybody was asleep I used to go up to her and pick up the scale and play with it. Sometimes we even played throwing it here and there.. It was usually the evening bell that used to wake her up. Everyday she used to try her best to make me sleep but never to succeed…
Once it so happened that due to some reason we were asked to sleep in another class and the caretaker there was strict. As usual I dint sleep and was playing with a rubber band which I had attached end to end thus making it a flexible rope like. She noticed it and got it confiscated… I was very sad about it as it used to be my proud possession. A few days later I was summoned to the Hm’s cabin and when I went there I found that my favourite possession was lying on the table and my favourite teacher was smiling at me seeing the happiness in my face. She then gave it back to me but after that day I dint take back to the school again..
Another memorable day was when we had been taken for a movie at video Cinerama which is situated near TC. I dono how the whole lot of students fit in the school bus. But we went there in a bus. The place is not very far from our school, walkable distance actually. The movie was 101 Dalmatians:) We had a wonderful afternoon watching the movie, enjoying and savouring each moment…
We went on excursions every year, the place usually being T.A.Pai farm for nursery students. It was a day of fun and I soon learnt that I would wait for it and think about it even days after it was over…
Power of facing the unknown (Memories-IV)
It is often fearful to be reassessing a situation which we have already been through.It keeps us wondering as to how we managed to get through, and at the same time gives the feeling of what if it happened now?? Would I be able to handle it in the same way?? I guess we tend to find it easier to face the unknown rather than the known. The impact of facing the unknown, though more threatening than that of facing the known, is easily foreseeable than otherwise.
This incident occurred when I was in fifth standard and it was the month of March which meant exam time. My exams were going on and I was down with fever. I was taking medicine but it dint subside. It is a usual routine that whenever I am down with fever I was given some medicine which we had at home and if it didn’t subside even after two days, we would go to the doctor. It was my maths exam that day and I was feeling so weak that I couldn’t sit properly. Due to my illness I couldn’t go in my auto and dad offered to drop me and he had also arranged that as soon as my exam was over I would be dropped back home. My class was in the old building, and I distinctly remember that I was seated in the first row, third bench in the middle. The speciality of the old building classrooms was that it was in a row at the right side and there was a lot of space in front of it where the autos used to be parked when the school left.(The old building is now demolished and you can now longer see the space that was once a play area, once the school left, for us) Our car was parked in front of the classroom and there was quite a lot of time before the exam was to start yet. I was feeling very tired and was sweating very profusely. We had a cooler in the car and even in that hot weather it felt like ac for me and I can still recall the relaxation I felt. However the exam began and I wrote and finished it with great difficulty. I was the first to finish the exam and when I gave the paper fully exhausted the teacher’s response was,”Check it once again. There is a lot of time”. I just said I was done and came out. Once I came back dint get up from the bed. I had done my blood test and the reports were out the next day. It said I was suffering from high jaundice!! Thankfully it was my last exam. Of course the drawing exam was left and when spoken about that, my class teacher had praised my art and said it would be no problem if I dint attend the exam, only to mark me absent in the end. Anyways I was asked to strictly take rest and follow themedication and soon enough I was fit and healthy. My results were out soon and it so happened that I was the highest scorer in maths scoring 97. A matter of pride in something worse that happened.
A memorable day… (Memories-II)
This incident took place on 12th december, 06.
The previous evening I had been for a prize distribution function of the competition conducted by Rotract Club, Kadyali. Two parents sitting in front of me were speaking of the arrangements their children’s school had made for them to go to the competition and that took me back to a small conversation that i had just a few days before when I was informed about the competition.
I was called to the staff room by our art teacher, Aruna kumari and she informed me that there would be a on-the-spot painting competition, which would be conducted by Nandini milk federation. She told me that it would be held at Manglore and the prizes would be 5,000, 3,000 an 2,000 respectively I believe. She also told there would be a bumper prize of 30,000 for the best painting of the whole lot and our hindi teacher, Jayshree, said if I got that 30k I was to give her a share in it 🙂 😉
Back to the day. Woke up early. Wasnt feeling much. It would be a competition like any other. The competition was to start at 9am and hence I started at 7 in the morning. Myself and Sachin were goin together. We reached our destination at about 8.30(the roads were excellent then, so the journey was beautiful), got our names registered and waited for the topic to be announced. At about 8.45 the topic was announced and it was,”Role of white revolution in the development of rural areas in south kanara”.The first thing I did was call Prasad sir an ask him his idea.His reply was,”madana.. sawlpa danagalannu madu. oorina janarella halu vattu madi koduvahage torisu..matte swalpa nandini avarannu highlight mada…”.And thats precisely what I did.
Here is a brief description of the painting I did as I don’t have a pic of the painting to put up… I picturized a village scene, showing two houses and also a village square where an old man is sitting and smoking a beedi. I depicted his thoughts for the development.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. When I finished it was about 12pm. They had provided us wid some lunch but i could hardly eat it. I had an apple that mom had given me and filled myself wid it. We din’t know what was where, and we decided to go to adlabs to watch a movie. So we went out an asked a person, how far was adlabs and guess what?? he directed us to an adlabs studio nearby 😀 Then we took an auto and reached Bharat mall… Dhoom II was playin then, and we got tickets for it. When we went in the first song was going on… Enjoyed the movie. It was at four the movie got over an we went back to the place of competition. There was supposed to be a formal function for the prize distribution and there was a very huge crowd. We got to know that about 5000 children had participated in the competition… We were standing outside and that was when we saw a person with a list, of prize winners’ names, in his hands. When we checked out we found that neither of our names was there and hence decided to head back home. I called home and said, I would be returnin home as I hadn’t got a prize. So mom said, “You have waited this much.. why not wait a little more.. Finish the programme and come”.
We went back to the place and again took our former place. It was then, that the first surprise hit me. The man wid the list, was speakin to someone over phone and in the end he mentioned my name!!! I was fully surprised coz I wasnt in the least expecting a prize as it was a state level competition. But I wasn’t sure that I had won something either. By then the function started and after the various usual speeches the prize distribution started. The prizes of the various groups were distributed and then the master of ceremony said, “Now for the most awaited part of this evening. The winner of the bumper prize. The second prize winner is…(It was won by someone from Kundapur) He gets a digital camera, and other things with the total worth of 12k”. By then I was sure that it was due to mistake that my name was mentioned or most likely it wasn’t me at all… but then the mc announced that the bumper prize was won by Manoj Kini:-) I was outside the hall and had to wade through the crowd to get in. By then my school name and place was also announced and the crowd was cheerin so loudly…Yet I still couldn’t believe it was me. The walk upto to the stage seemed never ending:) will never forget it in my life… I went over to the stage an recieved my prize.It was announced that I had won a computer set among various other things. Then they asked me to speak a few words. Here are the words I spoke quoted exactly the way I spoke them.”Nanu helbakadaddu enuilla adre nanu helalu istapaduvdu enendare, istavaregu nanu sadarana yella chitrakala spardegalalli bhagavahisidene adare ondusala kooda intaha prize nanage siglilla. So ivattu yarigella bahumana sigalilla avaru besare padade punaha punaha bhagavahisa beku. Thank you”. The applause I recieved still brings a smile on my face everytime I think of it.
After the ceremony I called home and informed about it an everybody was delighted. The people there asked me how I had come, so I told them I came by bus. Hence they offered to drop me back home. On the way back I got to know that the judges had liked my work very much and the moment they saw it, they kept it aside on the top. That’s one thing I wont forget for a very long long time…. when I reached back home it was almost 9 in the night..I was fully tired but was really really happy 🙂
I think this ll be among the most cherished moments of my life…
Affection towards mother (Memories-I)
I am sure every child will be affectionate towards his/her mother.Itsbecause its the mother who takes care to see that all the needs of the child is satisfied and fulfilled. She is the one who understands what the child needs even before the child learns to speak and expresses its needs.
THIS IS TO MY MOM TO SAY, “I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU”.
Well this incident dates back to the time when i was only a kiddo of about 2 years or so…It so happened that a day before this incident mom had asked dad to get oil used for lamp and he had forgotten. That day morning when he went to light the lamp, he found that there was no oil and asked mom. So mom told him there was no oil and also the oil used for cooking also was almost empty. I was there listening to all that as i always liked playing with the door of the prayer room. Mom was in the kitchen and when she called me out, she got no reply. So she assumed I had been to Fatima’s house (who was a worker who used to stay nearby and I often went to play there). But even after sometime when I had not returned she got worried and asked Fatima. She said he never came here. Then mom suddenly realised that as I had overheard them speaking about oil, I must have gone to the shop. So she immediately asked dad to go and checkout. The shop is around 300 yards away from our house. But the more interesting thing is that the route from our house to the shop includes a right, a left, again a right and then again a left and then yet another right!! When dad reached the shop it seems I was standing besides the shop leaning on the door. Then the shopkeeper who is a well known person to us told what had happened. It seems I went and stood there and on being asked what I wanted, I said, “Amma tela jhai” (mom wants oil). So he asked where my father was to which i said he was at home. On being asked where mom was, it was the same reply. Then he realised that I must have come out without the knowledge of my parents and so he decided to drop me back home and by then dad came there. It seems when I was going, on the way one the persons there asked me where I was going and I never replied 😀 just kept going..
Its almost 15 years since that but I still remember it vividly….