Day 21 : One line blogpost

What can I write when eyes are blood red, teary and stinging badly? (Read contact lenses)

Day 20 : You Freak Me

Some people just freak me. I don't have to know them or even talk to them. I can be at a safe distance and yet feel their creepiness injecting into me. Don't why or even how; I feel very repelled by these people and no matter what they do, I can never feel comfortable around them.

Its not the way they look or dress or talk or behave, its just there - that creepiness. The moment I set my eyes on them I am like 'ewww!' Call it my intuition or whatever; I have never been wrong about feeling that way. When I finally get to talk to them or know them better, I find out that they are disgusting. They are not disturbing in the same manner, they differ. They can be extra haughty, perverts, over bearing, intrusive, criminal minded, cranky, whatever. The moment I look at such people, I have this uneasy feeling in me which tells me to stay far, far away from them.

1. There was this new joinee in the office. Let's call him Mr. W. While we waited in the parking for the office to open, Mr. W was walking towards us. I don't know if it was the way he walked or the look on his face; I immediately felt repelled by him and had no intentions of being introduced to him. Though that was tough to happen, considering we were supposed to be working in the same office.

Days passed and he used to try to 'fit in' the crowd. He'd call me from his desk during coffee time etc. That was pretty normal for anyone to ask during break times, but still he'd freak me completely. I avoided him as much as possible. Eventually he realized I was not even being social towards him and he slowly stopped interacting with me. Only after some female employees had a bad experience with him, did they know he was not to be entertained.

My initial feelings towards him were not wrong and it saved me from having any incidence with that fella.

2. As soon as I came here, I met many people that I was supposed to meet. There was this one female among them. Let's call her Ms. Y. When I met her at a get together, Ms. Y was all chirpy, laughy and loud. One would probably like her. I didn't. I have no clue why. I just did not want to stay in the same room as she. I got introduced and I could see it all over her face. Fake smile, fake talk, fake everything.

I never wanted to see her again. However, sometimes, people do have to meet once in a while and it so happened, we did. And this time there was no fake-ness. There was utter ignorance as if I wasn't anywhere in the periphery of her vision. This happens nonetheless, when she is invited to our house for dinner (with other friends). Of course, no points for guessing there was no reciprocal gestures either.

Oh, maybe she didn't like me either, like I didn't in the first place. Fair enough. I overlooked that, thinking I must be over reacting. But for the third time, when she looked through KK even and did not even try to make an eye contact while sitting right across us at a table, that was it She was supposedly his friend and I see no reason why there should be such animosity when there has been no provocation for it.

Since that day, I have made it clear to KK. I do not want that female any where near me and certainly not in my house if she cannot even acknowledge the host.

3. There is this another guy that makes me feel uncomfortable. Let's call him Mr. E. Though he hasn't done anything yet to prove me right, I get this uneasy feeling around him. He looks total tharrqi, and he scares me too. I am gonna avoid him as much as I can.

I don't know if I am the only such blessed with this divya shakti or is it the famous women's intuition that has started showing up way too frequently than before. I can't explain it well to anyone. There are these negative feelings that just do not go away as much as I try to think otherwise. And till date, people towards whom I have felt negative to this extent have always been in my bad books.

I am forever gonna listen to that inner voice of mine even though others might think I am a bit jumpy. I have always believed in being safe than sorry.

Day 19 : Nagpal Miss

We had a teacher in school that most students dreaded.  Nagpal Miss! She used to teach the secondary school students. V being in the secondary school, I knew most of the things she was famous for.

She was queer although she wasn't the punishing type. She had a typical way of scolding students when they misbehaved or didn't do their homework. The manner in which she said anything used to be funny for others and deeply embarrassing for the recipient.

She first taught us English in 6th class. When we came to know she was gonna be our teacher, everyone was shivering. Like if you talked during her period she would make you stand up in the class and say 'tumhara mooh toh cello tape se chipkana hoga' and when the talking got better of her patience, she actually sent the class monitor to bring a cello tape and do the needful.

Some more famous dialogues of hers.

'Hang him upside down out of the window.'

'tumhara naam toh simran hona chahiye, ladki jaise rote ho.'

'baal jungli jaise badh gaye hai. Girls give me your rubber bands. I am going to tie pony tails for him.'

'teri chuddi itni tight hai ki baithne par phatt jayegi.'

'Wipe that perpetual grin off your face. You are not a dolphin.'

'Why didn't you do your homework? Haath pe mehendi hai kya?'

'Dabba lana bhulte nahi toh homework karne kaise bhulte ho?'

And on top of it, she had a booming voice, which intimidated us further. No wonder, for her class, the students used to be most sincere and the quietest.

She was one of my favorite and best teachers in the school. She taught with utter sincerity and dedication. The only problem with her was that she made herself look so tough that students never dared to raise their hands to clear their doubts. Later, when we were in 10th, our previous principal retired and she sat in the headmistress' chair. The whole school looked like a graveyard for some days. Not many were happy with the choice of their principal.

As it so happened, she was also our class teacher and she taught us not one or two but five subjects in all, History, Civics, Geography, Economics and English. This was the time we saw her closely as she used to spend a maximum of periods with us. At times, we had 3 of her lectures back to back. She still had the comic way of shouting at students, but this time it was more playful, and somewhere even we saw her wonderful teaching skills behind the terror.

If there's one teacher I truly respect and admire, it is our Nagpal Miss. She was true to her profession, and passionate about "educating" students. There were a few teachers who were rude, biased and cheap. One told us during our class, 'I am not here to teach you. I take my salary and go home. You can join other coaching classes and pass your board exams. I am least bothered about completing your syllabus.'

Nagpal Miss, though she said all these things, there was never a hint of curtness in it. One moment she shouted at you and the very next if you asked for some doubt, she'd take pains to explain and make you understand.

Last I heard from a friend that Nagpal Miss had survived a heart attack. I just wish she keeps in good health.

There are a few people who are genuine and really care for what they do. It is, however, very difficult to find to such people nowadays. We hardly take efforts to approach people who seem harsh and rigid. Not that everyone turns out like her though.

Day 18 : Digging up the past

I am in no mood to write something great today. Great is subjective as well as relative, mind you. Instead of digging in my mind, I thought of  unearthing some previous blogposts that I love (and wonder, for some of them, did I really write all that?)

Frankly, though I am in some royal mood to, I do not want to rant nonsense like this one which I didn't know how to name or this one, again which I was not sure what to call it. 

Here are some of my *personally personal* favorite posts that I love reading time and again. Listed as and how I found them, not by priority.

1. Some picture humour

2. A confused guy who doesn't know how to say it

3. Silly stuff I did when I was a kid

4. Defending my space

5. What happened on Valentine day

6. A big fight that ensued

7. My first contacts

8. Conversations between V n me

9. Conversations between V n me 2

10. Stranger duties

11. Dilemma

12. The unending wait

I believe, this manner of blogvertising is legit. ;)

Day 17: Water, water everywhere!

'KK, wake up!!! WATER!!' I literally screamed as I woke up in the morning at 6 AM. Sleepy eyed KK was wondering what got into his newly wed wife.

'What?' he asked.

'OMG, wake up, wake up!! Our house is flooded' said I while looking down at the water level which had covered my ankles. 

This was the time when we had not even completed a month of wedded bliss. We had rented a huge two bedroom house in Vallabh Nagar, which was gonna be (relatively) closer to KK's office. 

'What happened? Where's the water coming from?' he was asking as I dashed to the kitchen to find the water flowing from the tap at full force. The sink lock had jammed and as a result the water did not find the outlet. It continued flowing till it managed to reach every corner of the house. 

Now, ours was a two bedroom house with a kitchen that had a dry area and a terrace. Our bedroom had a terrace too. By modern standards, the house was HUGE! 

First, I shut the tap and was relieved that water was no longer adding to the pool. Then I looked around. I was standing there wondering what I should do, what I should say. After all, it was a naya-naya basaya sansaar. I just didn't want KK to think I was a goose-head. I was not trained in disaster management because such disasters never occurred at mom's place. And even if it did, mom knew what to do. 

How did I leave the tap open? Well, there was this 'paani aane ka time' and obviously at around 11 PM the water supply used to be off. I must have left it on and forgotten about it. 

I was panicky, I was shivering. Oh! Did I mention, it was supposed to be KK's day to resume his desk? Breakfast was yet to be done, dabba was yet to be done and the water... SIGH!!!

'What to do?' I asked him.

'We clear this ASAP.' he said coolly as if I had just spilled a glass of water. 

'How?' 

'You take care of the breakfast, I'll do it. I will push the water in the balcony where it'll drain out.'

'But, if I do it too, it'll clear out fast.' 

'No. You are just out of your illness, I don't want you to take physical strain. Else, let's call Mr. B for his help.'

(Mr. B used to do all petty work at my father's office and he had helped a lot with the shifting stuff. He used to be close-by.)

'Nooooooooooooo, not him... he's a newspaper. He'll tell my dad the moment he sets his foot in the office.'

(Mr. B is a motor mouth. I didn't want my dad to know all this kaand that I'd done. And then the lectures that would ensue, I wanted to avoid them. ;) )

It was 6:30 by then. I walked into the other bedroom and almost fainted. Our 4 unpacked bags lay on the floor, swimming in the pool of water.

'KK, baaags.' I wailed.

'Don't worry, they are water proof. So there are no chances of clothes getting wet. Anyway, lets move them.'

We hauled the water soaked bags (at least from the outside) and kept them on tables. And KK got down to work. Now, the slopes in the house were really weird. It wasn't sloping toward the balconies, but away from them. So he had to drag the water up-slope and then the water would go in the balcony. This was taking a lot more time than expected.

'What about your office?' I asked sheepishly.

'I have to go. Can't stay home.'

'But how will I manage? I HAVE to clear the house before the maid comes in. Nahi toh, she'll tell the whole building and everyone will curse me.'

'Call Mr. B.'

'Nooooooooooooooooooooo... piliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiz noooooooo...' 

'Ok. Ok. We won't call him. Then what are we gonna do? I'll go at 11 then.'

Thankfully, mom had let me borrow her vacuum cleaner which could be used to swab floor. That meant I could take off the excess water with that. After one and half hour of manually throwing the water out, I brought out the vacuum cleaner and dried the house off the remainder water. 

By this time, KK was dead tired and he retired to bed with an instruction to wake him at 10. 

Just 2 minutes later, someone rang the door bell. I was petrified to find two men standing in front of me. One was the watchman, I recognized. 

'Hello, I live on the first floor, just below your house. We have some leakage in our bedroom. I just wanted to  see if the leakage was from here?'

I was petrified. I asked them to wait outside, while I ran in to 'KK, two men have come saying there's leakage. What to do? What to do?'

'We'll tell them the truth.'

'No, no, no, no, noooooooo, please, please, please nooooooo. I know how touchy society women are when it comes to wasting water... pleaseeeeeeee....'

'Ok. But at least let them in. We can't keep them standing outside forever.'

They came into the bedroom and the watchman cum plumber said 'Paani yahaan se leak hua hai' (The water has leaked from here) pointing to one corner in the bedroom which was sharing the balcony.

'Haan, actually aaj subah humne balcony dhoya tha. Shayad uske wajah se leak hua hoga.'(Yes, actually we just washed the balcony today morning. The leakage could have been because of that.) said KK, my HERO!

'Haan, ho sakta hai... lekin ab thode dinon ke liye yahaan paani mat daalna.' (Yes, maybe... but for a few days don't wash the balcony.)

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. 

'Look, everything's fine. Now, don't worry!' said KK with a smiling face. 'BTW, I missed my bus, you know that. That means you will have to drop me to the office.'

This happened on May 3rd, 2010. A year after that incident, many would think I am laughing it off, but no, it still gives me goose bumps.

As for telling my parents about it; they came visiting in the evening and I was feeling so guilty that I narrated the whole incident myself. :)

Day 16 : I baked

this today. Of course, it was a cake mix and not made from the scratch, But I am still proud of it! :) and it tastes yummm!!

Day 15 : That night...

She woke up in the dead of the night. She'd had too much of wine during the party previous evening, which was making her thirsty. It was 2:45 AM. She was still feeling drowsy, when she noticed faint blue light streaming from below the door.

'Shucks! I forgot to switch off the laptop.' she thought. Grudgingly, she threw her long legs out of the bed. She did not switch the lights on; she knew the way around her one bedroom apartment without bumping into any furniture. She opened the laptop and started at the screen for several minutes. Although she was tired, she was no longer feeling sleepy. She decided to complete some pending office work while she was at it. She pulled out a cigarette of a pack that was lying by the table and lit it. She breathed long, heavy puffs. Instantly she felt relaxed and calm.

By the time it was 4 AM, she'd smoked 5 cigarettes and her work was almost done. She smiled at her efficiency; she'd have a pretty laid back day at the office. Her thoughts were stirred by a soft rap on her door. She stopped her work and listened intently, waiting for another rap. There was none. She continued with her business when she heard another rap, a bit louder this time. She literally jumped out of her skin. Who could it be at this hour? She did not move from her place. Whoever it was, will probably go away. Or maybe not... should she shout out loud waiting for someone to come and see what was wrong?

'Hey, you in there? You awake? Its me! Open the door, quick!'

She recognized the voice instantly. It was her boyfriend. Perhaps he was out till late night, partying, she thought and she was not wrong. When she opened the door for him, she saw he was heavily drunk.

'Sorry, babe... was nearby, so instead of driving home, thought I'd spend the night with you.'

'It is almost morning, honey.' she reminded him. 'Anyway, you are so drunk I am amazed how you even reached here... do you know you scared me?' But he had not heard a single word from her. He was out cold on her futon. She let him lie there. She placed some anti hangover pills for him at the table like many times before and went to the bedroom to catch some sleep. Next day, while she went about her busy schedule, he'd loaf around her house till she came back. This wasn't so unusual of him to come to her place unannounced after a heavy drinking party.

She was jarred awake by some heavy banging on the main door. With bleary eyes and heavy head she sauntered to the main door. It was 7:30 AM.

'Who is this?' she asked.

'Ma'am, this is the police. We need to talk to you, it is important.'

What could be important so early? she wondered. Carefully, she opened the door to three uniformed, burly officers.

'Ma'am, early morning today we got a tip off that a murder suspect was seen coming into your house. We'd like to take a look around.'

'WHAT?? But no one came here.' She said that and instantly realized that her boyfriend was over. 'Sorry, I forgot. My boyfriend had come over... he was attending a party nearby and he just stopped over. They must have seen him. They were mistaken about the identity, of course'

'May we see him? May we talk to him?' said one of the three of them.

As far as they could see, he was no where in sight. She said maybe he was using the restroom. But when she checked that was empty too. He wasn't anywhere in the house.

'Ma'am, we hate to break the news to you. Your boyfriend is suspected to have been in a brawl that broke out at the nearby bar, and as the sources go, he was the one, who under the  influence of alcohol, beat the bartender to death. We are sorry, but if you have any information about him, we suggest you contact us at your earliest.'

'And ma'am, may I suggest, you may be in danger too. Do take care and let you know anything you hear about him.'

She looked at the futon, where just a few hours before, her murderer boyfriend lay. She looked at the untouched pills. She imagined his face in drunken stupor. He was brazen and wild, but could he have been inhuman enough to beat someone to death?

The roller coaster in her life was just about to begin...