I am no Vampire.. But I am Smart..

'Girls do not look smart. They look beautiful. Only Boys look smart.' was the reply message I got to the SMS I had sent 'Watch HP.. Emma looks Smart..! Hurry..'

I felt that message was more a lesson on 'Growing up' than a lesson on English usage. This happened during my first year at college.Obviously I had not 'grown up' then.However today that message seems to me as something which is not exactly correct.Why can't a girl look smart? and why cant a boy look beautiful..?. No energy to argue.(Frankly,I have no points)..Its just a feel.. but to the bigger issue..

So this 'extra effort' before the mirror(and more often than not you satisfy the ego like the accident affected Kamal of Anbesivam).I recently came across the term 'Glampire' in a newspaper. The article gave tips on how to look glamorous like a Vampire!. In this age , even vampires look hot.!Obviously this has been post'Twilight' effect. Literally 'post twilight' is 'Night', where one has to sleep and stop thinking about looking good. I haven't read the books nor watched them , but the writer has got one pulse right. Girls today will like even Vampires. Only condition, It must look good.....

Being the prankster that I was , I have never bothered about the way I look or rather I thought I looked OK.I knew I was not HOT. But that thing never came to my mind somehow. However , that was of course until Class X.Go to a new place and things change.Being a newcomer at school in Class XI , I was surprised myself. My popularity ratings soared up in the first week of my arrival.The things that you never ever thought about or cared about will come to the forefront when estrogen's approach and sometimes propose. The poor testosterone works/reacts or worse thinks.Sometimes thinks too much.It thinks it looks smart.

For the first time in my life , I was bothered about the way I combed my hair. Sometimes I feel my hair is like me.It never flattens. Every time you try to make it straight , it pops up.If you dig deep into my hair , you can find a habitat of creatures that are normally found on top shelfs of abandoned biology labs.And I am not exaggerating. I put in the pains to make my hair presentable in public. Suddenly you start looking at hair styles. And by my research in those days Shah Rukh's hair in 'DIL SE'(especially that 'Dil se re' song) was my favorite and Bobby Deol's being my least favorite.

Another thing being a teen that bothers those days are the 'Stalactites' and 'Stalagmites' that occur on your face.Yes.. Worse thing being a teen is being affected with acne and pimples.We also feel that we get pimples because somebody actually is looking at us which is absolute stupidity.(Remember Cheran's Autograph?).
Never before heard words like sandal paste , turmeric powder,(There is always dilemma turmeric powder, it cures pimples but also stops any growth of hair..), Skin doctor consultations occur..

Another thing.. You were specs, you are smart..Wow..!.. Go then.. Buy it right away...!

As this madness went on.. But it all stopped somewhere down the line, and thank god for that....
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There came a time when I was extremely insecure about how smart I was. This happened because as days went by , the definition of smartness had changed.Smartness was more like "Wow...he knows the LOG book By heart".(There was one chap whom I thought was a smart guy because he knew the log book by heart.Looking back he was the dumbest I have seen.)

I wanted to be this 'Smart' and I dug deep.I think it was probably choosing a course that one normally avoids did it in. I was doing something not too many people knew anything about but have lot of opinions. Suddenly there are benchmarks to pitch me against. I was not allowed to freely pursue my own version of being smart but more importantly, I was expected to be accountable for my stupidity,simply because lot of people could really make out when I was being stupid.

Again.. The Definition of being Smart had changed..

Smartness now means the satisfaction of understanding a conversation and being able to either contribute to it or learn from it. There arises comparisons with "smarter" people and , I don't care. There are moments when I am humbled just listening to someone explain something so passionately.People have extremely twisted definitions for this word "smart" and most of them involves coming first in class or clearing CA exams the first time around.(which on further scrutiny would prove the opposite.)


And by my own interpretation of what smartness really means , I am quite a genius.!!


BTW.. Who's Robert Pattinson...???


P.S. When your mind is constantly preoccupied with something else , all your creativity(if any)can offer only this bit of crap.(Read Shameless Self Appraisal).

Its Tortoise Time.. Jump into the Pensieve ..

REWIND.... Several Years back.. The days of Innocent Sundar.(I am still innocent , but that was a time when everyone believed I was innocent ... oops... choo choo..ok....finger on my lips..no more controversies...I promise..)

Right then.. I am pulling my most favorite photograph. The date on the back of this photograph reads 03.03.1998 !



Some Memories..

It was right inside this class that I for the first time in my life felt really bad for being an 'average'. The class was supposed to be taken to IIT.The class teacher had announced the previous day to not to bring lunch the next day since we would be going to IIT.She could have left it at that. She gave too much build up. She said that IIT was full of deers and we could spot them the next day. Everyone in the class got excited. Next day arrived. However just an hour before the 'departure',the teachers made a mess and for some crap reason they said only 15 of them could be accommodated in the bus for the trip. So who were those 15 ?.

The choice of my class teacher were the meritorious ones.The first 15 rank holders. So.. That being the case , I was obviously left out.I was fuming with anger.(It all started way back...).That disappointment was too much to handle at that age.I was in tears. Half of the 'left outs' were in tears.It seemed like nobody cared. A punishment for being an average.

I went to my parents and complained.I urged my father to take up this issue of 'partiality' with the class teacher in the Parent Teachers meeting. He promised me that he will take up the issue in a big manner.So..I got ready for the 'war' and on the day of the Parent Teachers meeting ,I accompanied him.

However,the class teacher had taken the first step. She handed my Report Card even before my father could raise the issue.He just had a glance at my marks and not surprisingly , my father forgot the 'purpose' of his visit.! By the end of the half hour meet , I had had enough and I pulled some courage to speak about the trip to my class teacher. The class teacher consoled me by saying that I will end up studying in IIT ! and this trip meant nothing..lol.. and 5 years hence...I took COMMERCE GROUP..(for the marks I got in my tenth , I could not even get science group.. Where the question of IIT..)...
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Moving on..

I think the photo was taken on the day of a games period.Most of the guys played cricket and the caps say it all.Moreover , I look dark and it confirms that it was straight after the games period that this photograph was taken.!

I vaguely remember the 'Jesus play' that we had staged.Vijay Shankar(Top row second from left) played Joseph.Praveen (Middle row fourth from left) played a sheperd and I played his Son.I still remember myself forgetting my lines and saying someone else's lines.

I have contact with 13 people in this photograph. I dont know what the others are doing presently and where they are.2 other persons from this photograph went to Vivekananda College and one of them was my classmate too.

There was a revamp of sections after class 5. Vijay Shankar , Varun(2nd Boy from left seated in the first row)and myself moved from 5B to 6A. So from 6A , I went to 7A and then to 8A.(Varun left the school after class 8.I'll write about varun separately sometime later.)

I went to 9A...The Real fun Began.....

I think I became a kind of 'poriki' in class 9. I have already mentioned in my previous blogs some of my 'looti's . As a continuation , I would like to mention about everyone in the following photograph , so that the memory remains...

So here it comes.. The Class 10 photograph.I am going to mention every incident I remember and about everyone I remember.



Wow.. Where do I begin...????..I'll go row wise.

The Topmost Row..- WE THE BOYS..
Crude but true..Normally 'cold war' arises with girls. Boys would fight with each other and then forget the next day.However , we had factions within boys too. Vijay and KD (bespectacled boy at the centre) never spoke with each other. Arul (The first from right) and Sivaram( fourth from left) never spoke with each other.I dont know the reason.I still think they dont speak with each other.

SO..lets begin with Vijay Shankar..
He was the Hard worker. He always wanted to win. He wanted to come first in class but could not. Not that he did not put effort. He did. But there were girls who would beat him. He was the first among boys though.(I once beat him in class 3. I scored 3rd Rank and he scored 6th Rank.I remember this because it was both the first and last time that I was among the top 3 rank holders! and my father gifted me a BSA Champ for my 'achievement'.) I still remember how upset he was when in a 'Class Test' in TENTH , he had scored 13 on 20 in mathematics.(I was in joy that I managed 8).These class test marks were averaged and then added to the term marks. So one had to score good marks in the class tests also.He told me that he would get centum in mathematics in the next test and make the average go up.Some say. Some do. He Did.. That was how determined he was.He was the only one in this class who went to IIT. He is presently in some European country doing some research. His present job description is as follows."Heterogeneous catalysis using solid acid zeolites for intelligent activation of methane in the Van Bokhoven Group, Institute of Chemistry and Bioengineering, ETHZ"...As you see.. He hasn't changed.However the thing that surprised me was the fact that in class XI he was into a relationship.

Another memory of Vijay Shankar that I have is the 'Help Age India' Quiz that we lost.Myself , Vijay and Vikram(My Senior) were team mates.It was buzzor round and the answer was Abandiranath Tagore (I forgot what the question was). I pressed the buzzor and answered Rabindranath Tagore and I earned negative points for the team. We were very upset. I was the culprit.I think he did not speak to me for a week after that had happened. That's the way he is.During our Class X excursion , we played truth or dare !. And Vijay's had to dance with someone.I forgot who he danced with. Aishwarya had to give flying kisses to Arul Karthik..! It took some bold shouting from Raksha our senior to stop the nonsense that was happening.Even I felt , things were going overboard that day.

Next to Vijay is Bharath and next to him is Arvin.(Note: He is not Arvind. He is Arvin.He was/is an atheist).Bharath was the fun guy. He would be friends with anyone. Arvin's sister was Akila. She was in Class 8 when we were in Tenth. I remember Bharath dancing and singing 'Akila Akila' song to Arvin's sister in the corridor.What fun he had. He went to polytechnic after class 10. Arvin is now in Perth doing some PG.

Next to Arvin is Sivaram. He was the class leader in class 9. He was the obedient monitor who would promptly note down the names and submit it to the class teacher.He had this notebook where he would note down names of people committing 'crimes' inside the class. Suppose say , I had spoken foul words. He would write 'Sundar - Speaking Bad Words'. And if I repeated it , he would put +1 next to it.!Every one in the class had 'Gaandu' on him.

During one meeting , he asked the principal what must be the student's reaction when some teachers use foul words. All the teachers in the hall were stunned.He asked this because Prathima miss(She was a superstar.First from right in the fourth row) would open her mouth and shout 'U all behaving like rickshawallas and panwallahs..& dressed like onyx workers..'.He was offended I guess. I was sitting next to him and as it always happens , they all thought it was me who had spoilt him and made such a nice boy ask such questions. It was made as though that he was my mouth piece. Sivaram is now employed in Pune after doing electronic media from Anna University.

Next to Sivaram is Muralitharan.The thing I remember about Murali is the fact that in class 9 he cursed me that I would never get any facial hair after we had teased him for his lack of 'maturity'.I cursed him back by saying he would never have any pubic hair.!.. Ha... I am sure he has lot of them now.. (oops).. He was a fun guy. He would imitate everyone and pass comments and would be always laughing. He is doing his PG in United States now..(Unbelievable!).

Next to Murali is KD (Kedharnath).As I have said before , he was my first teacher with reference to 'that'. The biggest problem with this guy was the fact that , he would be around us for all the crimes but this dog would study and score well.During Class 9 , in some application form , KD wrote 'Indian' when asked for religion.! A separate blog is required for writing about him.He has been part of that many crimes.He is also a Kamal Fanatic.(probably much more than me).He is presently doing his masters in Aerospace Engineering at University of Cincinnati.!(payapulla bayangarama padikkudu.)Next to Kd is Arun.He did his engineering from Sastra and is presently employed in Wipro.Probably , he was the most 'Conservative' boy I have ever seen.He once slept in history class and started snoring!.

Coming to the Second Row..( Not sure whether I should write this.. )

The first one from left is Lakshmi Manasa. A CA student.!Everybody (except Swathi)had issues with her and I dont think she is in speaking terms with most of them still. Next to her is Swathi.A very good person.She is now a Pal doctor(Dentist).Her best friend was the person left to her. The fifth girl from the left was Aishwarya and she was a Dubai Import.I dont remember much.The 9th girl from left is worth mentioning. Her name is Sowbarnika.I was once asked to sit beside her by my class teacher and I refused by passing some comments about her.That incident was pricking me for 7 years. I felt really bad. I apologized to her for my silly behavior recently and felt better only after that. Next to her is Poornima. The thing I remember about her is she is a huge Hrithik Roshan Fan.She had gone crazy when FIZA released.The Bottom Row , The first one from left is TK Lakshmi.Everyone says she was very helpful to others.(Enakku yaarume help pannala. Infact she was the one who complained about me to class teacher often).The fifth girl in that row is Preethi. In class six , I had slapped her.! Felt bad later but never apologised.

The Teachers.

I am going to mention only about some of them here. One is VJ(V Jeyalakshmi) , the English teacher. The teacher I loathed.(Fourth from left in the middle row). She was TK lakshmi's Chitti also. I dont know why , but I never liked her class.Once , for a letter writing exercise, I wrote 'Signing off' instead of 'Thanking you'. She was scolding me as if I had committed some murder.It was a letter to a friend and not a formal letter. I tried to make this point to her , but she would never listen. She said "You are using 'Signing off' . Do you think you are a MTV VJ ?.". I replied back "I am not a VJ , you are only VJ". I was referring to her name. The class broke into a laughter.She was an example of how a teacher should not be.

The ever great PGS sir.The Sanskrit Sir.His Sanskrit class were fun.We have had lots and lots of fun.Even though I have got plenty of scoldings from him , I never felt bad. He has even slapped me once.!He was very happy that I scored 83 in Sanskrit. He never expected it from me!.

Aruna Miss.The Vice Principal.(Fourth from left in the fourth Row).The person who was responsible for me going to class X.I had failed class 9.My class teacher Prathima wanted me to leave the school and join somewhere else since she thought , It was never possible for me to clear class X.However, the vice principal had faith in me. (Wise principal, I should say). However my parents had to sign an undertaking that I would study well.My target was that I had to pass quarterly exams. I did not. I scored 30 in maths. But still she persisted. I ended up scoring 74 in maths in my board exams.What an achievement!.
The School House captains were selected from class X only. I stood the election for Kapota House. I had given my symbol and started campaigning too. It was then Aruna miss called me and asked me not to stand in the election since I was 'provisionally' promoted to class X. This was the second time I felt really pathetic for being an 'average'.I had to obey her. That disappointment still hurts me.
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Well Back to the present. I met some of my old class mates recently.Some of them could not make it. I understand their problems.I myself being in mandaveli met bharath who is in mylapore after 7 years!.Life has changed so much.




We relived events of the past. It was after a long long long long long time that I laughed out heartily.An evening where I forgot worries temporarily and had a date with laughter and nostalgia ...!

Rarely.. Sometimes..In evenings and memories such as these.. Life seems to be Beautiful..!


P.S:- 100 !!!

Paaji and Life Lessons..

Even though this post is about Sachin Tendulkar , it is substantially in its entirety not about cricket!.This post will take a good 15 minutes of your time.Its because I am going to take you to the other side of this great man. The Reason why Sachin became Paaji/GOD.(Well Paaji is his nickname..Yuvraj supposedly calls him Grandpaji. The real fact is Sachin is more fit than Yuvraj at the moment!)I am going to be helped by Harsha Bhogle through one of his unofficial video.

So lets begin..

This a video of Harsha Bhogle (An IIM Alumnus himself) addressing a group of IIM students.The date of this video is some time in 2007 , when an article in some crap newspaper (an equivalent of Headlines Today in print media) had the title "Sachin 'END'ULKAR ".They had said it was the end. The light had faded.Even the greatest of greatest fans of Sachin had let him down during those 12 months . That was a period where he did not perform like Sachin everyone knew. He had been 'booed' at Wankhede ! His home ground. And Harsha Spoke ... ( At the end of it , I am sure ,you would have a lump in your throat.)




Inga enna solluthu... Sachin Sachin Sollutha ...??

Some noteworthy points.

* Sachin was and is extremely confident.He had never had doubt in his abilities.If you are confident, half the battle is already won.A life lesson indeed.

* Sachin loves cricket.That means he loves his profession.Hence he gives his best.Love your profession or choose the profession you love.Easier said than done.

*One of the biggest truths. Sachin is talented all right. But he is not extremely talented like Yuvraj or for that matter his friend Vinod Kambli.Sachin stands apart because Sachin possesses the temperament unlike the other two. Talent and Temperament always do not go with each other. But when they do... It creates magic.

*Sachin knows his limitations and about others too. He does. He did not have runner during the world cup.! Even though the answer he gave may convince some , The real answer actually is "The runner would not know how I have hit the ball , and since it was Sourav Ganguly who had come on to the field as runner, the probability of him knowing is very very less.. and hence I did not have a runner.".. Sachin does not talk about the inabilities of his team mates and hence he omitted the Ganguly part and referred Michael Schumacher instead... Hahaha.. Wonder why Harsha and Ravi could not understand.

*The thing about Ravi Shastri.Maximize what GOD gave you. You may not be extremely brilliant and talented , but maximize whatever you have. Sachin has.Ravi has. If only some one like Yuvraj realises this.Its not always about ability. Its about doing justice to it.

*'Allow yourself to think that you can do it. You might actually do it.'To make Sanjay Manjerakar realise something is a task.Sanjay Manjerakar in my opinion should not have played for India at all. He was pathetic.( similar to his commentary).He and Ramiz Raja make a good nonsensical pair on television.Even Doordarshan's hindi documentary..oops..commentary is better.

*Sometimes..even after giving everything,even after planning extremely well, things might not go your way. Who better than Sachin to be an example for this. The failures (even though he is blamed) is not his fault at all. The reason why Sachin hit the second boundary of Glenn Mcgrath.!We know now , what Sachin spoke during the team meeting in the break.We do not know what Mcgrath had planned. However there was a high probability of Mcgrath being unsettled. That has happened before. It did not happen that day.On March the 1st 2003 , he had unsettled Wasim Akram , Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis. Mcgrath could have been unsettled. No one else really believed that one could actually chase except Sachin.

"In every organisation , there are officially designated leaders and people who by their actions makes others to look upto them as leaders". How true!. (Even though he is very mean to Sourav Ganguly , that day Virender Sehwag or Ganguly could have taken the responsibility to knock Mcgrath. They did not.We Lost)

*'Sachin averaged 91.5 last year.. Instead of saying Wow , we are saying he has not reached double figures in eight out of 15 innings.His mean is still high.Unfortunately his Standard Deviation is also high.'(Ha.. Standard Deviation is a Measure of Risk..! Yes.. Risk of Sachin Tendulkar being referred as Sachin 'End'ulkar.)

HE Bounced Back.. After that lull phase , he hit purple patch and we know how.

Sachin will fall from his stratospheric heights once again. He will still be good.Please dont say its his end when that happens.This person is extremely committed.(It really hurts when someone questions the commitment factor. It really does.) A person such as Sachin must have a world cup medal with him. Give him the greatest gift he yearns for. A World Cup Victory. The team must realise this. Win it for him. Win it for the greatest match winner.

As Harsha Says.. Give Geniuses their due.. They understand their game better than others. Dont ask him to retire..

There is none who is eligible to receive the baton from him yet...!

P.S.
This is my 99th post in this blog.Its been nearly 5 years.The number 99 is very relevant to Sachin.Knowing him , Even though he has most centuries , he would give all his centuries in exchange for a World Cup Medal. This 99 is to highlight he is not after centuries. Nor am I .