Gone are the days of schooling – A Nostalgic Feeling

How many of you are missing your school life though you would not have had this feeling at the time of schooling? Well most of us would have felt this now because life seemed to be less complex those days than present. We usually do not realize or enjoy things when we actually experience it and ofcourse, that is human tendency. I just wanted to remind you of your school days as I travel back to those childhood days. I studied in the same school right from my kindergarten till my higher secondary.

Primary Level was something I don’t remember most of the things. We used to come to school, recite our anthem…Johnny Johnny, Twinkle Twinkle, Jack n Jill etc…In the afternoons we all used to sleep over a large spread blanket. While we kids lie down, we do not know what religion is all about, we do not care if the next person is a boy or girl. Puppet shows were the only movies we watch with great excitement. We had also been great actors on stage. Yes, I remember being a “Tomato” in the Vegetable show on our then Annual Day Celebrations.

Middle Level was our next entry. It was the period, when we actually start to realize things but not fully. Our excitement start in a random fashion here. Fighting for pencils, stealing rubbers, eating snacks, playing together was fun. I remember my games teacher shouting “Fire in the mountain…Run Run Run” during our games period.We used to desperately wait for Break time as the school would provide us with a Marie Biscuit and Lime Juice. Are not those unforgettable moments? My school also took us to a movie “God must be crazy”. It was a very different experience going to theatres with my school pals with teachers as bodyguards. Doesn’t that sound funny? It was a custom in our school to celebrate "Break-up Party" on the last day of each class. We guys used to decorate our class room with colour papers and balloons. Each individual would bring eating stuffs such as snacks, cake etc whatever they could afford. The class teacher would collect all the snacks and would club it as a whole and then would distribute to each and every student. Well this was a great concept followed in my school. No ego, No Religion, No barriers...all were treated equal, all were taught to give and take and this was the theme of this "Break up Party".

Well, things started to become a little complex as we entered the high school level. Ofcourse, new subjects emerged our way. What we studied science earlier became physics, chemistry and biology now. As our class increased year by year, so was our bag weight. Though we had moved from middle to high level, our plays and mishchievous tricks had retained forever. It is funny to think of the class monitor, whose job is to write the talkative names in the corner of the board. We were so active, that we polish our shoes using paper, only when we notice our games master cross checking each and every one's shoes during the prayer time. :) We were taken to field trips to nearby places, which were full of fun. We used to participate in all inter school competitions for the reason not to win, but to gain one day of loitering here and there in a new place. Ofcourse, participation was important rather than winning. :) Normally we hated sports day as we were involved for the march past and sports drill and we loved annual day as we got more chance to bunk classes in the name of practise and rehearsals.

The higher secondary level were the most enjoyable though crucial. Well we were on the peak of our adoloscent period. We used to enjoyed a lot during these days. The school took us to movies like Mummy, Matrix, Deep Blue Sea. We also went to an excursion to Mumbai, Goa and Cochin during our 1st Term Vacation of XIth Std. Well, it was my first experience touring out with my school friends. We used to celebrate Diwali, by bursting crackers in school on the previous day with our school friends. Well all these entertainments were authorized in our school and was all done under supervision only. It would be full of fun. Our fun and frolic had come to an end when we entered class XII. Starting from the teachers to family to relatives, everybody started to force a little bit. It became a custom, in general to join tuition centres to score good marks. Practically speaking they were just to show the rest of the world that we were occupied with our studies full time. Nothing other than that! :)

I felt, my school was the place where there sprouted a gentle friendly relationship between our teachers and us. There were one or two teachers who beared all our mischeives and motivated or moulded us to do better in our examinations. My class had a very less strength and it was one of the reason that we school mates are still in touch, even now. My school had given equal importance to both fun and academics. And that is one of the reasons, I am proud of my school.

Well guys, guess you had been cherishing your own old school anecdotes as you traverse through my own compilation. Sweet Memories!

Thanks !

Shall it be named “The Imbalance Factor” ?

This piece may be boring, informative, funny, and stupid or whatever it is. But since it was boring for me, I thought of recording my thoughts here at this moment.

I had to find time to sleep, find time to relax, find time to just chill out. Those were the crucial days of my project. My swipe history had an average of 15 hours for six months. I desperately waited for my project to come to an end, as the next day I would be moved to bench.
Finally the day had come, I was on cloud nine, felt like have achieved something extra-ordinary. After all I was moved to bench!
I was so excited to be paid jobless at the moment. As other bench mates, I passed my time by reading useless forwards, orkutting etc. Days passed slowly, and it had been a month since I was moved to bench. This was the point at which, life started boring. Yes, how long do I read forwards, how long do I orkut, how long do I sit idle? I felt those crucial days were better than these idle days.

Soon after two months of bench, again I was assigned to a new project. Again work started pouring in my side; I had to extend my stay in office than normal. My swipe history graph rose gradually. Now I wished the bench life back!

Well, this each and every software professional might have come across in his/her day to day schedule. Is it the mind’s imbalance or it’s the work imbalance? The answer may differ for; each and every person perceives things in their own way.

Weekend Gateway - Wayanad

I would like to share some of the moments we had spent during the Wayanad Trip on August 4th and 5th.

It was a very cold Friday night. Though the whole Bangalore city was silent after the late night pubs, we guys (8 in number) stayed awake, to head towards the God’s Own Country, Kerala’s Green Paradise, Wayanad district. It was 1.15 am, when we started the journey on a hired Qualis. We took the Mysore Road. The road was very clear and was a very comfortable drive for we reached Mysore in just 2 hours. By then all our eyes started to roll in and we were all disturbed again when our vehicle stopped. It was 5 am, when we reached Gundlurpet. Our driver was fully exhausted, so he had stopped for tea. We all took tea and started our journey again. All guys were awake by now and we all witnessed some deer on the jungle roads which led to Kerala. There had been very frequent showers as we entered Kerala. As time rolls, we were able to see the natural beauty of the greeneries with the mist playing an apt role. We reached Kalpetta around 6.45 am, the place where we intended to stay. This place is 270 kms away from Bangalore. We booked three rooms in a lodge, where in we refreshed ourselves.

Day 1

We were all ready for the excitement, by 8.30 itself. We decided to hire a guide from the Department of Tourism, so that life would not be complex on the roads less traveled by us. We had our breakfast and were waiting patiently for the guide, who is expected to arrive office around 10 am (Government job naa !!!). The charges for the guide is 350/- per day. When the guide came and introduced himself, we were surprised to see him, as he was very formally dressed and looked like a techie with a French beard. I was mislead by the way the guides in Tamil Nadu look.

We had a seat vacant in our qualis, as if we had anticipated the guide in advance. We all took our seats and we started our day trip. The first place, our guide insisted to visit was Edakkal Caves. This place was approximately 25 kms from Kalpetta. We reached the scenic point in another 40 minutes. We had to go to the trekking point through a government aided jeep service. It was 50/- for eight persons for upward journey. We all got to the jeep and in another 10 minutes, we reached the place. From this point, we had to trek on the hill. It was an amazing trekking experience. It is advisable not to take kids or old people as the path is so steep. When we reached the top of the hill, the guide directed towards the cave. Man, it was an amazing scene inside the cave. Edakkal in its own words means a rock which is in between two mountains. The local guide says this place had been formed due to the earthquake, some thousand years ago. He also says there had been inhabitants living here. And all those were parts of history. We were also able to witness some of the carvings on the rock. The toughest part of the trip was to get down the hill. God, it was a tough task as the rocks were slippery due to the frequent showers. We had our refreshments when we returned down and we were all more excited as our next place is a waterfall. The guide directed the driver towards Soochipara Waterfalls, which was approximately 28 kms from Edakkal Caves.

It was a rainy day throughout and whatever we looked all appeared green and that is indeed Kerala! There were tea plantations all way, as we headed towards Soochipara.
We reached the place around 1 pm. We had to walk around 1 km flat and another 1 km down the hill to reach the falls. It was again a trekking adventure. The paths were very slippery and it was mist all over. We could here the sound of the falls as we head towards it. No words to describe the falls, it was breath-taking. The waterfall was so forceful that one could hardly take a bath. One should be very careful while walking, as there are leeches all around this place. It was heavily raining when we returned back. This was really a tougher one as we had to climb up the hill to reach our way back. In spite of the heavy rain, cool climate, all of us were drenched in sweat. That was indeed a good exercise for us!!

It was 2.30 pm and all of us were very hungry. We stopped in a town to have our lunch. It was already 4 pm after our lunch and we headed to Pookot Lake, which is another 15 km from that place. We had to rush because the boating tickets are given only till 5pm. We managed to reach the place by 4.45 pm and got our tickets. The Lake was a small one surrounded by mountains. It is indeed a must visit location. We went for a rowing boat as all of us were very tired by now. The boating time was around 20 minutes, after which we decided to comeback to our lodge.

We had dropped the guide on the way, where he intended to get down and reached Kalpetta by 6.30 pm and our one day excitement had come to an end.

Day 2

We decided to return to Bangalore as early as possible, as we had our friends from Chennai, who had to catch the Chennai Mail. We had to check out the lodges early by 7.30 am to avoid the rent to be paid for the second day too. Life cannot be that easy. Yes, one of the vehicle tyres had a puncture and it took an hour to get ready. We were all waiting outside the lodge. It was raining on this day too. After everything is set, we headed towards Karapuzha Dam, which is approximately 15 kms from Kalpetta.

This dam is an earthen dam, which is an ideal picnic spot. After spending some time there, we decided to return back to Bangalore.
Karapuzha Dam

On the way back to Bangalore, it was after Gundlurpet and before Mysore, we could see those sunflowers and other flowers along the sides of the road. It was a perfect landscape.

In Mysore, we made a visit to the palace. We had our lunch in Mysore and we went to Sangam, SriRangapatna. There we spent the afternoon playing in the river bank. After an hour of bath n fun in the river, we rode our way back to Bangalore. It was around 7pm in the evening we reached Bangalore. Thanks to NICE Road, as we could avoid the heavy traffic on the Mysore Road.

Two days of fun n excitement had come to an end, but those memories remain in our heart forever which can be cherished always.