The best of School Days….Part I

Ok…so how many schools did I go through? There was this Happy Bells in Delhi where I did my LKG, some home in Auto Nagar (Vizag) where I did my UKG. Then came DAV (Ukkunagaram) where I did my 1st and then came the last of the schools which definitely to me was the best; Bhaktavasalam Vidyashram. It was here that I finished the rest of my schooling (2nd to 12th), a glorious 11 years of my life.
The school was started in 1990 and I too started at the same time.did I grow along with the school or did the school grow along with me? I am sure that for most of my batchmates (chaddi ke dosts) who like me spent 11 yrs of their life in BV would agree that the school grew with us…
It was unlike any other school; we all felt it was more like our college. In fact having gone through 2 colleges after my schooling, I can definitely say the camaraderie we had with our teachers couldn’t be found in any other place.
Hmm, so…..I started in 2C (I hope I am not mistaken). Rani Rajaram was our class teacher. We were a batch full of fun loving (after all that’s what you would find in a 2nd std guys) monsters. There were Vidyashankar, Srikanth, Srinath, Ritam, BK, KP, Naresh, Vinod, Marla, Swapna, Vandana, Rekha, Deepa, Priya……I am very sorry for not being able to remember my other classmates….But fun we had a lot….memories which remain still? Hmm..lemme see….having gone to Vidyashankar’s house to play thru the day…guess his sis was just months old at that time…having chased Kailash and his gang thru out the play ground, then locking them up in the toilet…and later getting reprimanded for that…and then trying to play football (I was pathetic at it…then..and….now) in Srik’s house…
This was followed by 3A…Vandana ma’m was our class teacher…much the same group of students…few additions were there…Bharani, NKarthik, Bhargava, Kaviraj….couldnt remember much about my 3rd…..
Then came our 4A under Rama Padmanabhan ma’m. I remember this about her..she used to say..we are her children….there is one more thing for which I am very grateful to her..will tell you shortly…It was in 4th that we started playing pad cricket. Shyam and Karthikeyan were the masters of making the wonder Ball….it was a great evolution…we started first by just making a hanky into a ball…later…we crumpled papers….followed by taping them with rubber bands….Then…Shyam brought his variety….he soaked papers in water….and then crumpled them and later dried them….This brought out a very hard ball…which could be thrown to a long distance….It was in 4th that I accidentally broke the nose of one of my friend – Shashank….i came back to class expecting a lambasting from our teacher…all she said was….hencforth be careful…..Ohh…..I couldn’t have been more relieved in my life…
Following this we entered 5A. we started with Rajeshwari ma’m as our class teacher, she was succeeded midway by Uma Maheshwari ma’m…It was in 5th that I first started acting in plays…it was Chandragupta Maurya tale under the guidance of Vijiyalakshmi mam and Hema Sreenivasan Mam……it was a wonderful experience..and it made me a drama bug…
In 6A, we had a host of class teachers…there was this Malini mam and then Rajagopal sir. It was also in 6th that our core gang first got split. It was both good and bad experience. Bad - because we had to come out of our comfort zone. Good..because we came to expand our circle of friends. From our 2C group, there was Vidyashankar, KP, Rekha…we also had Sathya, Sriram, Krishnan……in 6th it was a so-so year…the most memorable event being acting in a dance drama as a monkey and then in a dance in Lucas
Then came 7B…Srikanth, Srinath (Varuna), Manja, Naresh, HK, V.Archana, Sindhuja and others…..in our 7th we used to play inside our classroom too. It used to be fun. We had a great Chem ma’m – Annapurna ma’m. She could never be satisfied with anything less than the best of our best efforts. In 7th, it was a drama featuring Shivaji..a hindi drama….The most wonderful drama experience we had was during our project time..it was the Pygmallion/My Fair Lady play….there were Deepak, Ramya, Madhumita, Ravishankar and myself….the last play in the last day turned out to be such a laugh riot that it left Sudha ma’m fuming with rage….
8A was my next class. I really looked forward to it. Firstly because I came back to Korattur after spending 4 yrs in wilderness (Mehta Nagar), hence I could play a lot more. And the other reason was simple…it was from 8th that we could wear pants rather than shorts. It was supposed to be the coming of age. Most of the things I remember about my 8th was the UCO bank ground where we played cricket like crazy. If the group was large, we would go off to Aavin ground. UCO ground..I think I have told about this in an earlier post. 8th wasn’t too good with regard to drama – I just got to play the role of a wrestler in some Shakespeare play. The solace was that the play had quite a few beauties of our times 
9B it was next….Preethi ma’m was our teacher for the 2nd straight yr. Our 9B gang was too much shaitaan and haraami group – we njoyed like hell. Srik left for DAV and then came back. This was the yr in which we watched Titanic in our class, had a great trip to Vedanthaangal (well I didn’t go..it was a diff story altogether)..and as for drama, 9th was the yr of Duryodhana..a sanksrit drama. I had the privilege of having two wives….both were my really good friends…one of them was my sis (irony of India)….other nice stuffs we did was a 11th vs 9th cricket match..a best of 3 stuff in which we came out victors. And yes..it was after 9th that Vaishali left ot Mysore.
10B under Malathi mam, it was a good yr to be in. One which made me realize the importance of not being over confident. This was the yr of Ten Commandments, a play for which Varuna and myself watched the movie umpteen times to get the nuances of Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. Vidyashankar and Srik were in the Sanskrit drama under Padmaja ma’m. It was in 10th that we did a Sanskrit drama – all 4 of us..Srik, Varuna, Vidhya and myself..some play about Durvasa….Srik, Vidhya and varuna were the Trimurtis. Post 10th, we had lot of defections…or rathe ri would say people went in sight of greener pastures. Srik, Varuna, Bharani, BK, HK, Saroja, Sindhuja, Kanchanai, Manja and all….We literally got decimated. But then the fun we had from now onwards was different…and great in its own ways. XI and XII to follow….

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Nalabaaham - The art of making a perfect gravy…..

Of the more than 100 times I tried establishing myself in the kitchen, there was only one instance when I succeeded in making a gravy that really looked its place…..Most of the times, I either overdid the onion part of it….or the tomatoes’ raw taste didn’t seem to leave the dish at all. Coming to think of it, a lot goes into preparing this. Right amount of vadhakkals, dumping the veggies in the right sequence….

So here is how I did this (am I seeing signs of Khana Khazana in myself??? Aaah come on….)….the gravy was for a lobia dal…a real favourite of mine….Experience taught me that the gravy will be of superior quality, if the onion is really chopped to pieces, and I really mean to as small pieces as possible…and to get the real tangy taste..peel off the tomato skin before cutting them to really small pieces too….

Wanna add spiciness to this??? Get yourself finely chopped/cut ginger, garlic and clove (my personal favourite)…..Now for the operational part of it….

Take a kadai….pour oil in it….allow it to get hot….then put your chopped onions in it for vadhakkals….(or sauté as they call it)…a good quality vadhakkals is judged by the degree of translucency achieved by the onion….a glazy look…In between you may also add your ginger, garlic and cloves….now that you get that glazy look on your pan….put the chopped/cut/mashed tomatoes too…..If tomatoes outnumber your onion, it is the right recipe for the tangy gravy….you may have to be patient now…for it takes ample time for the tomato to lose its raw odour….a good indicator of this (apart from your nose and tongue) is that the oil has to simmer above the surface of your gravy, now you can put in your turmeric, masala and all other such condiments as you deem it fit….Now tha bakra is ready for the bali….you may put your dals/aloo/or whatever that you want to…in this gravy…allow them to get sufficiently cooked….a key thing to do in the closing stages is to ‘sunda vittufy’..this will give the necessary consistency to your dish…..

Some of the common pitfalls – having a half sautéed onion, retaining the fresh/raw odor of tomato (yuck), forgetting to put salt (as you wud have noticed in the above recipe of mine)

Some of the cool options for which such gravy can be used – Lobia, aloo mutter, soya chunks

And most important of all…Luv what you cook…that will make it more palatable…

You know you are VELAAAA to the core when you come up with this....

A bit here, a bit there….

A kiss here, a hit there….

Bull shit, there is a fair share….

Forcibly writing a verse is a nightmare….

It goes back to the school days….

From school to house, there were many ways….

You chose the one, which had most fun….

Friends were in, Romans and countrymen were out….

If somebody passed a snide remark, you were always ready for a bout….

Ohh this is so sick, rhyming away like a prick….

Still you go through the torture <no rhyming word found>

Would I wish all those days would come back? I won’t give it a thought….

Memories are more cherished in hindsight, reality is not…

Ginger tea, onion pakoras, UCO bank playground..these I remember the most…

To Meks, Pakki, Sriks and the experience I am having with them – I would raise a toast….

Teachers there were, but more of a friend and a guide….

Spending time with them was always a joy ride….

Now I am gonna stop this..for this is so juvenile….

‘Mawune…centum vaangale…velaka maaru dhaan di…..’

These were the words of our idol..my idol…who moulded us, made us realize how important it is to take up responsibilities and live up to them….

To her house we went in droves. To study, to have fun, to eat and to laugh. The first day at her house, I was not exactly dreading it..but was thinking ki..’what the hell, what different am I going to do other than what I would have done in my home’…..Then she came…and asked us to study as usual….no great shakes….no great funda…just she said..do what you would be doing in your home….(my doubts about the usefulness of this whole exercise was increasing)….

The differences were that..out of the blue she would ask any of us some questions…for which we had to be prepared with the answers…and of course…once every hour..we had a wonderful serving of tea…and then also has lunch at her house…..In fact there were days…when we used to sit in a circle around her..and she used to place in our hands a mouthful of rice with curry….brought back memories of those vacations spent with sithi giving us food under the moonlight….

There was also a change in our whole attitude..we started looking forward to going to her home…and left the place..only when she asked us to….never by ourselves…And then…there was the parting shot….’So far you had come here to learn something, henceforth if ever you come..that would really mean you come here out of affection..and not for any other purpose’….Am thanking her…. each moment of my life….

Sunday Times…

It was generally a trip undertaken strictly on Sundays….the day would start at 6 with appa waking me up and amma having a nice coffee ready to boot….TVS Max100 it was which we cranked up……appa riding the bike…and me being the pillion with 4 bags in hand….and we rode our way to greenery…..

The first time I came with my father in this road, I seriously thought we were to go into a semi gothic type building which seemed to be an anachronism considering the fact that I was asked to bring with me at least 4 bags….the closer we went to the structure the more apparent it became as to what my purpose in the whole scheme of things was…that of a faithful caddy carrying the bags even as Tiger Woods was contemplating what shot to play next….I must add that this job came with its own perks….that of sharing a cup of coffee with appa early in the morning and also getting the chance to ride the bike from house till lucas junction….

Koyambedu it was which welcomed me….though I used to view it with sleep weary eyes…we parked our bikes on the left kerb….said a Hi to our grapes waala….and then went right in….it generally started with aloo and pyaaz…followed by any and every greens you could lay your eyes on…beans, avaraikai, karamani, vendekkai, murungakkai, keerai, pudina, malli, chow chow, kathirikai, lauki, gobi, phool-gobi, sepankezhangu. To end the internal rampage, for desserts we bought the customary inji, pachai melahai, poondu and karuvepilai…..Having made our mark in the coliseum that was Koyambedu, my arms would be aching from the weight I was carrying…..I would try to not hear appa’s calls to me even as he would stop to buy (yes its not yet over) thengai. Finally as we came out and I was sprinting towards our bike to keep all the load, appa used to cross the road ( I rarely accompanied him on the last lap) to get our box of grapes, vazhaipazham and vellirikkai….and then we went home….

Back in home it was a raja varaverpu….for waiting for us and fussing over us was thaatha, who used to oversee the distribution of the vegetables and keeping them in fridge and shelves….and now even as appa and I sat on the table sipping one more coffee, I took vicarious pleasure in seeing meks doing the running around to keep the veggies inside….by this time it was 9, thaatha and appa would go to have their bath (this being Sunday, bath was a strict no no for me pre lunch)

Of course, then there were those strictly Sunday-ish rituals to be watched on TV….chandrakantha, sunTV super 10, aachi international, some crazy mohan drama, then there was this Dara singh serial in Zee tv which was wonderful….

Strangely the Sunday evenings were the most mentally tiresome times to pass by…You always had that weariness which precedes the fact that come Monday, you have to be in school….add to that the fact that I generally didn’t finish my homeworks on Friday and Saturday almost always meant my Sunday evenings were spent with books (which was the last thing I ever wanted to do)…..Even as we were watching superhit muqabla and its counterparts in other channels…..meks and myself would take turns to polish our shoes…I still remember the extent to which thaatha used to get irritated with the umpteen no. of times that the brush slipped from my hand and clanged on the metallic stool…..

Finally this wonderful weekend ended with amma giving us all a glassful of milk…and we lumbering off to sleep wondering how much better we could have spent our weekends if only we finished off our homeworks on Saturday mornings……

Yellah Habibi....

Okay….so here we go…..there is bound to be those intial tightening of muscles that you get when you try running after a long gap….but keep at it..eventually the tempo will be built…ippadi solliye blade podaraan da……nee nadathu daa dubuku…..

You know it is always difficult to look at yourself in the mirror…of your conscience….especially when you know when the dies are loaded against you….but look…you must….because unless you face yourself..there is no turning a new leaf….So here I am….a cold blooded, indifferent, selfish nothing…..trying to put pieces of my own picture together….

Shukraan

Okay..so this is long overdue….a big round of heartfelt thanks for all those who persevered with me in these days. I thank my parents, my family, my fiancée, my friends and all those who very patiently guided me through all this…..