2012 Excursion- The Last One

So here it is, a detailed account of my wonderful excursion.

On the 18th of october 2012, we boarded the AP Express going to Delhi. It was early morning around 5:30 and we all were in our school uniform. Our much caring and considerate principal had reached the railway station too. I was carrying the same big blue bag. After the usual- bye, take care, call us every night and don't skip your meals routine with my parents, I was ready to travel once again with my friends.

Thanks to the constant girl-boy things happening in our school, this time we were allotted separate coaches. Sangeeta maám was our group incharge. She was totally awesome throughout the trip. So after tucking our suitcases below the seats Anika opened a bagful of homemade muffins. They were really tasty! Then we changed to our travel clothes and got rid of the school uniform at last. The guys had also joined us after sometime and we started playing dumb charades. (The Shawshank Redemption and Apocalypto are two movies you should certainly give to your opponents when playing this game).

By the time it was 11 in the afternoon, all of us were sweating like pigs. It was so stuffy and hot inside the train and the wind was doing nothing more than blowing dust onto our faces. So people started buying coke bottles (not for the coke but for the fact that the bottles were icy). I would hug the bottles and somehow try to cool myself.

Later in the evening after we all took a short nap, Sangeeta maám joined us and after we requested her a lot she started telling us ghost stories from her childhood. I have never believed in anything paranormal and it was really hard for me to digest her stories. But then it was good entertainment for quite some time. So while listening to he stories, all of a sudden Lorry gets a message from I forgot who, telling that Gnana had a crush on Jhiri. On hearing that all of us girls started laughing our heads off. Maám got quite curious as to what was happening and atlast we had to tell her about it (I am so sorry Gnana and Jhiri).

Then at Nagpur railway station, maám bought the famous Nagpur oranges and she offered them to us all. There at that station a gang of Pathani boys somewhere between the ages of 18- 20 also got up into our coach. They didn't have reservations and sat near the washrooms all the way till Delhi. Kashmiri people are so striking. They have those long pointy noses, snow white skin and tall builts!

The rest of the day was spent gossiping, sleeping and listening to songs. At night, I and Sambodhi went to the next compartment and slept on the middle berths.

The next morning we woke up early to the annoying call of the chaiwalas screaming "choi choi" in their unusually irritating voices. Nobody drinks chai coffee at 4 in the morning for God's sake! I don't know how but Anika and I end up discussing about test tube babies, the first thing in the morning and to my greatest amusement, later that day I see a huge testtube baby centre!

So it was around 6 in the morning and we all were busy counting the number of people who were pooping on the railway tracks when all of a sudden I see huge words written in hindi all over the walls. The other girls had all read it in their minds and had decided to shut up but I ended up blurting out the words- डॉ ____ सेक्स ____. Omg! I felt so stupid after this and decided to shut up for sometime. Later I find out that these walls are quite famous and almost anybody who has visited Delhi by train has read them.

We reach the New Delhi station at last. We are whisked off to our Hotel Anand in Karol Bagh in three buses. We had decided beforehand as to who would use the washroom when. We were given 45 mins and in that teeny weeny 45 mins, 4 of us had to take bath, dressup and repack. Yeah we were successful in getting ready within the allotted time. Then we went to the Parliament house. It was really cool to go inside that huge colonial piece of architecture. The only bad part- no cameras were allowed. Thanks to Tanmayee's uncle we got this wonderful opportunity to go sit inside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

It was almost 4 pm by the time we came out and then we were taken to AP Bhavan. Although the place didn't look too good the food was out of the world. We were given various telugu food items in those segmented steel plates. I still don't know if it was the food or our hunger which made us take second helpings. Then we headed off to India Gate. There we took lots of photos. The guys bought the red lighted horns and went about flashing them all over the place. India gate was also where some roadside gavaars tried to take photos of Anika and Kruthi when they were posing and then Sangeeta ma'am had to go and check their phones.

Now comes the best part of every excursion- the railway station chaos. If you remember I had mentioned something about the railway station escapade in our previous excursion in my old post. So something happened yet again. Our train was to come in platform number 6 or 7. The buses took us to the last platform of the station. From their amidst lots of garbage, beggars, eve teasers and many many stairs we were made to go to the first platform. Couldn't they have simply dropped us off in the first platform instead of making us walk all the way till there? Then we were denied food in McD which we were ready to pay for and were taken to Comesum (an eatery outside the station). They told us to leave all our bags and belongings in the middle of the road and the guys were made to look after them. The teachers were screaming at every other student  they could set their eyes on. We ate in batches and two were made to share one plate. Then they guys went inside and it was our turn to keep guard over the luggage. We all looked like gypsies. Most of us had started putting newspapers on the pavements and were sitting there. Then after everyone was done with dinner we went back inside the station and climbed more stairs and reached platform no. 6 and waited patiently for the Ranikhet Express to come.

More to come
keep reading  :)

Screw You CCE!

The mosquitos are synchronised flying above my head. I have a socials exam tomorrow and I am still left with my geography portion.

This CCE thing is really getting on my nerves now. Exams every other day. Tons and tons of assignments and marks for class behaviour. 

Mr Kapil Sibal I would like to inform you that your method is not working.

I am stressed to no ends. I am sleep deprived. I am tired.

I am tired of having to perform well in every test be it a 5 marks recitation.

This thing keeps me on my toes all the time.

I want a break now!

Nakralu Chestava ;)

Vulgarity!!!
That is what Fahmeeda maám our "beloved" history teacher used to yell at us. She was the one who broke the history class is boring theory.
Her classes were the perfect backdrop for all the nuisances any kid could create. She hardly left her chair which gave the last benchers ample opportunity to create a healthy ruckus inside the classroom. Last year was the peak. The guys started aiming chalk and pen caps at the ceiling fans. They would hit the moving fan and fall around the classroom and Fammy will be left wondering how on earth is it raining Caps and Chalk??

The windows at the back overlooked the street so whenever anybody shot a piece of chalk at the fan the last benchers would turn back and start scolding imaginary people on the road and she will be more than once forced to believe that it is actually one of the street urchins throwing stuff inside the classroom rather than one of her very own students.

My classmates would all crowd outside the classroom just before she arrived and complain that the classroom is giving out some foul odour. Alas the poor lady will have no other choice but to take us to another empty classroom. Once a guy got his cellphone to school and all of a sudden during the monotonous explanation of the French Revolution Eminem started rapping. Having the kind of unity we can boastof my whole class started making other noises to distract her from the music but yeah the phone WAS confiscated.

Her favourite dialogues are Laga toh teer nahi toh tokka, I can see vulgarity in you and Nakralu Chestava. History has always been fun with her. Not the chapters but the jokes. I just hope no teacher is reading this blog. X

^_^

He is cute. Just admit it.

My BookBank

I love reading books. I so totally love doing that. My joy knew no bounds when I found Uncle Tom's Cabin by H.B Stowe in the summer reading list. I have almost managed to stock quite a few books just enough to be called a mini library.

I would like to thank my parents for inculcating such a beautiful habit in me. Not only had they managed to plant the reading bug in me but they have also made sure that I read all sorts of books without any discrimination.
I fondly remember the days when mom used to read out fairy tales of Andersen and The Grimm Brothers. Our favourite was The Rosebush and The Sparrow. I used to always secretly weep by the end of the story.

Then there was this book called Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. I used to be quite intrigued by the idea of attending school in railway boggies.
As I started reading books by myself dad started loading a cupboard with classics like Tom Sawyer, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Kidnapped and Little Women. Pride and Prejudice was my first "adultish" classic at the age. Mom forbid me from reading it so believe it or not I read below my blanket!

Then I found Sushi....she read lots of famous five. We almost mastered the whole collection. Mom had to always snatch away the books during exams.I also started having a crush on Fatty one of Enid Blyton's characters from The Five Findouters.
Also I used to go and discuss about books quite enthusiastically with my english teacher. My first thriller was Smack by Aroop Kumar Dutta.
My favourite books include Uncle Tom's Cabin, Roots, A Flight of Pigeons, The Clifton Chronicles, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Walk to Remember.
I have read The Twilight series and all five of Chetan Bhagat's books :P
Just yesterday I bought a few more books. Looking forward for a nice week of happy reading. :)

P.S: There are two pigeon babies in the cardboard box I set up for pigeons a few months back :D

She-Man

Who is a super sister? What can she do?

My sister Prayashi is someone who can be called as a supersaversister.

Now comes the question of what can she do or what did she do?

Soonu Moonu as I call her, can slap a guy (not just a guy but the most notorious guy) from her class when he is high one fine day and tells that I am one of those few hopeless seniors who loiter around the love point in our school. Hello! who does he think he is?.....firstly there is no love point and secondly I would be the last person to go there. Hi5 girl for landing that thaaaash on his face :D

She can also come to my immediate rescue when mom and I are arguing over baseless topics like hindi serials or star world shows?, ashton kutcher or johnny depp and blah blah. Mom can be really irritating at times and had it not been for my SSS mom would have turned me deaf with her constant lecturings by now.

She is someone who can answer calls meant for me and say stuff like- She is sleeping or she is busy studying- you may find it rude but then except for praful and SSS I don't think anybody else can understand or believe me when I say I HATE PHONES AND UNNECESSARY PHONECALLS.

She can stay up late till 12:30 plaiting my hair all over so that I can those frizzy waves the next morning when I wake up. She is also someone who has attempted numerous times to set me up with a guy but has failed miserably. She is also someone who thinks that every other guy whom I speak to is actually my secret crush.

She is there for me always and forever. She has bravely fought for me and have gone against my parents for me. She is the hero. My superhero. This girl is like a fierce tigress who is always protective towards me. Love you SSS!! <3

Uptown Girl

I had known her for quite sometime. Had almost been like around seven- eight months since we met. We live in the same apartment and were in the same section. But at that time I somehow found it quite difficult to open up to her. We remained acquaintances for a very long period. But one sunny winter afternoon we managed to lit the spark in our friendship.

It was christmas eve. There was a party somewhere in our colony and almost every kid was excited and preparing for it. You came upto my house that afternoon. Instead of sitting inside the house that day we carried my flower chairs out to the landing in the steps. Then we started talking. I don't remember what. Considering our frequent conversations I bet it wasn't anything other than old days or school. We both enjoyed each other's company :)

That one afternoon visit changed our relationship forever. Now she would come to chat everyday. We would sit on those flower chairs and talk for hours endlessly. Then slowly the steps itself replaced the chairs. It became our adda. We would comment on the passer-bys. Bitch about our classmates. Recall our olden days and friends. Discuss books and act as if we were the queens of high street fashion. The year came to an end. We got placed in the same section again :D 

I found a person who loved reading books living right next to me. We started with The Baby-Sitters Club and now we are reading books like The Clifton Chronicles and The Kite Runner. Thanks to her dad we had even had the opportunity to scour through millions of books in the annual Hyderabad Book Fair twice. We would always end up pooling our money and buying lots of second hand books. We have prepared cold coffee, maggi with cheese and capsicum and chocolate cake. 

We have had many sleepovers and once she insisted that the tubelight be kept switched on all through the night. But in the end I didn't let it happen. We have tried our hands in combined studies too and I must say the results weren't too bad.

She makes me walk that one extra round everyday. She calls me up at weird times and demands that I go eat ice cream with her. She is improving a lot in badminton. She no longer minds my stupid, sarcastic tongue. She is that one person whom I tell everything. Believe me or not she knows me in and out. I too am holding onto one of her most prized and delightful secrets right now. She wrinkles up her nose at my kind of songs. We both love watching movies like The Help which most people of our age would call boring. 

Even though we are the best of friends at home, in school things are a bit different. I am going to work on it too. I call her Kutii not Kutti. We have started going to the same tutions too now. She is somebody whom I am going to miss a lot if I am ever to leave this place. I just thank God that he sent this bleach to my life. 

Lived a happy satisfying life in Assam. Then dad got transferred to Hyderabad, well he asked for it. Sister used to have asthmatic problems so dad thought Hyderabad had the best climate and would help her recover quickly. But not once did I hear anybody mention anything like we are going there for your education. Oh come on. So yeah we come here and I see my new school. The name itself is sick. Pallavi Model School. Of course I shouldn't be blaming my parents for this, my father's colleagues recommended this one. Before school dad acted like- yeah you are in the land of brainys here. They are very sharp and intelligent you have to study well to keep up with them.
I attend school. Infrastructure sucks. The so called super brains are nowhere to be seen. Books they couldn't get  better editions. So why am I here? I am waiting for class 7 to get over. It gets over atlast. I miss out on the all rounder certificate to SR because I am not at all into sports. Next comes 8C. Well the best year of my school life till date. With the likes of Nikhil, Siddhant, Amrutha, Anukruti, Sachith and Sajedeh in my class.......8C had to rock. We followed the mantra One for all and All for one. It was a memorable year. We had loads of fun. I along with a few of my friends made a movie for Unicef. Also I saw how friendship disintegrated because of boyfriends. I met this girl called Lorry.  We instantly hit it off. We became the best of best friends. There was the elections. Campaigning.....Posters....Flyers....Day of elections.....Speech.....Ballot Papers....Voting.....Malpractice.....Discipline Vice Captain.
Got promoted to class 9. A new beginning. New section kind of sucked. Not one friend. Not one interesting person. Everybody just made their own groups and stuck to themselves. One stereotyped guy even had the audacity to tell that boys won't play with girls. I sat with one superdecent Vaishnavi for thewhole year. Can you believe it? And on top of that all my other best friends ended up in the same section. I would always sneak out from my section and join them people whenever I got a chance. Teachers started gossiping big time. New rules came like boys and girls maintain one hand distance. Don't sit together. Use separate staircases. It was called a co-ed just for namesake. But then I got really close to some people. We had our share of fun. I joined Fiitjee. An IIT coaching institute. Again this was recommended by dad's colleagues. Those days in Fiitjee were sick. I don't have a better adjective. Though I was never sure about my ambition, I was very sure that I would never become an engineer. I used to sit in the classroom aimlessly, cluelessly. I failed in one of their internal tests. Not exactly failed but yeah for me it was a big deal so I felt like a failure. I couldn't handle that stress anymore. I changed. I couldn't handle failure. I would end up being upset for the slightest of failures. So yeah I ended up leaving Fiitjee. I am no more in contact with any of those friends  made there. I can declare without any hesitation that Fiitjee was my biggest Failure.
So just a few days back I get a phonecall from my aunt in Assam and she is scolding me for hanging out too much with friends instead of studying hard. I didn't expect this coming. I hardly go out. Just because my cousin is hardly ever allowed out doesn't mean she should try and stop me. She wants me to join Fiitjee after 10th and get into IIT and pursue a career in engineering :O . And all this is because I am in the city of engineers, Hyderabad. This was what hurt me the most. I didn't have the liberty to study what I wanted. Time and again this society has always reminded me about the importance of money some way or other. All we think about is MONEY. It doesn't matter what is in stake. We can sacrifice Family. Happiness. Interests. Satisfaction......all for a few wads of notes. But then maybe this is what happens in third world countries. My family is kind of really huge and anybody's business is everybody's business. They have discussions if any of us wear short skirts. They have discussions if any of us takes too many photos. They have discussions if any of us don't eat brinjals. This is one hell of a family. So when I joined fiitjee they all knew. And if I say I don't want take up science they all will pounce on me. Arts is NOT respected. It is not even treated as a subject here. So the safest way here is to go with the flow. My parents tell that I should take up whatever I have an interest in. I am one confused, tortured and failed bitch. Just hope I can make up my mind by the end of class 10.