"Whoever bunks the class have to stand outside" - exclaimed the professor (Head of IT Department).
No sooner did he utter the judgement than we started rushing towards the door. We had to wink at each other, signal towards the door to gather up, hastened our steps and all this happened in just split seconds. He did not expect our move, stood dumbstruck but managed to stop us and warned not to wander around which would only catch people's attention and raise questions. The trio, Ramya, Ezhil and I had to come out of the class before he spoke any further (we didn't want him to change his mind though). That was an amazing feeling, for instance imagine how a prison inmate would feel when let out of a confined space, a freedom which he had always dreamt of. Weather was not so pleasant that being the second hour of the day however with friends, the weather always seemed perfect to have fun together.
In short, most in the batch were my besties but when it comes to trying out the daring acts, we were the best partners in CRIME, otherwise the 'Meangirls'. Ramya, known for her daring and dashing looks always 'called a spade, a spade' which made most of us think twice before talking to her, straight forward and to the point. I belonged to the type who asks people to 'Go to Hell' in such a way that they actually look forward to the trip, SARCASM in other words. Ezhil had the killer smile to die for, makes even a boring day full of laughter entertaining all of us. We all three had something in common that brought us close, the 'Devil-May-Care' attitude.
When the classes were tightly packed, we wanted to have fun and had to do it stealthily like playing games (Raja-Rani was our favourite, used to throw paper bits up in the air, pick one each, the police manages to guess the thief when the lecture was going on), eating, cracking a joke (without smiling) when everybody else starts laughing except you, all these had to be done without the knowledge of the professor which was the fun part. Jerlin and Renuga, being the Department toppers used to sit alongside and burst laughing for the timely comments we pass on, they were always spared even when caught laughing, the one advantage of being a topper where professors tend to overlook the little mischief they do. During the final year, there weren't many lectures and let us free encouraging us to prepare for aptitude tests and the upcoming projects. Ideal fun which we had always yearned for, was much of an overdose with no classes functioning as before, we were stricken by monotony. To kill boredom, we decided to bunk classes one afternoon, carefully laid a plan to come out one after another so nobody see us going out together. But our professor knew it when we three went missing that day and waited for us to come in the next day.
As soon as he came inside the classroom the very next day, he pointed fingers at us asking why we were not available the previous day, we feigned being afraid. He was trying to instil fear in everyone's mind expressing the disapproval of us bunking the classes without his knowledge. He went on saying anyone will be made to stand outside if this continues. We on the other hand wanted to get out of the classroom as soon as he gave the option, trust me, we had always longed for it and had it marked in the To-Do list of 'Things to do before leaving College'. We went wandering around the college aimlessly and came back just in time before the professor actually came out. We had to wait for a few moments that is exactly when we noticed our junior guys in the opposite class room peeking at us one at a time, smiling and passing comments on to the others. Maybe not every day they would have come across someone especially girls (beautiful, ahem ;)) standing outside a class, have they?
We were making fun of how joyous they looked at the sight of us being punished provided they know how mischievous we can be especially when teamed up with our daring lead, Ramya. We all tried to keep a stern face to whoever peeked at us, Ramya was seen scaring the poor kids (LOL). Hilarious was when we saw our professor right at our back looking at how happy we were standing outside (actually we were seated on a half wall) showing no signs of remorse. He asked us to get inside and advised not to bunk the classes anymore (that didn’t stop us from bunking the classes though). He was smiling to himself and slightly nodded his head when leaving; he used to be the coolest professor ever. What might seem an unforgettable moment for us turned out to be one for him as well, we bet he would never have come across pupils like us thereafter.
Our friends were excited at the sight of us coming inside, asked us why we had left the class when he wasn't asking us to do so. Imagine the prison inmate and the feeling he would have had when he is locked up again where everybody else will be cheering his comeback but himself, that was exactly how we felt (LOL). We looked at each other and were smiling thinking how much fun others had missed being studious and attentive whereas we on the other hand tried a little mischief and had too much fun standing outside than we had exploring the famous Brihadeeswara temple & the Sivagangai poonga (Park) the previous day. We in fact heard what we wanted to hear when the professor uttered the dialogue (see first line).
Epilogue: Ezhil went on to become one of the greatest lecturers of our college, personally asked me not to reveal any of those daring acts considering my sister was one of her students fearing she might someday have to fall prey to one of her own mischievous deeds. Now that she is out of there, I am free from the pact we signed verbally.
Thursday, 26 December 2013
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Stalked by an admirer
Ever been stalked by someone? I personally haven't experienced it in the recent past until there was someone following me. It did send chills down my spine...
That was an usual morning, i had accompanied my friend to a temple nearby, offered prayers and started to office. I was dressed colourfully, wore flowers and felt delightful. We were jabbering about something when we noticed we were being followed by someone. My friend had also noticed by the time i had realised it and urged me not to look in the direction of the stalker.
We were trying hard to hide the fright and act casually like nothing is happening because people say the more confidant you are, weaker the enemies will be. We tried criss crossing the road that was deserted, took longer strides but the stalker followed. At one point, he even tried to barge in between us looking at us closely, we walked past him and literally were breathing heavily. The railway station (Perungudi) was only a few meters away but it felt like miles walking with fright. We never looked back but he won't leave us, followed to the ticket counter and waited for us. My friend asked me to run as we heard the sound of train, people won't really mind running when trying to catch a train, do they? I resisted, asked to show signs of steadfastness so as to not make him more aggressive. We walked steadily and he followed through the steps, looking at us admiringly. By the time we reached the first floor, we had missed the train already.
We had to wait for another 15 minutes until the next train showed up. We sat on a bench with few people who were waiting. He looked at us then and there, kept a check on us while we were scared looking at him. We did not want him to get into the train, especially not into the ladies compartment as it would scare the hell out of everybody else there. 15 minutes was very long, we could not retrace our steps neither get away from there, so felt trapped. Moments later, the next train showed up, people gathered around and stood at close proximity so as to get into the compartments. We tried to avoid his gaze and mingled with the crowd, the stalker had eyes only on us and tried not to look any place else. When we went out of sight, he even came searching for us and tried to catch up with us, women of all ages stood there looking at us suspiciously. The train came to a halt for about a couple of minutes.
We tried to lower our heads and got into the ladies compartment as planned. He stood right there at the door unaware of what to do, we could sense an admiration in his eyes. I was agitated and was lost in thoughts as to what would happen next. Will he manage to get in? what to do if he gets in to the confined space? How will people react to it? i could hear my own heart beat even when the train started moving, I did not relax until the train moved few meters forward and fortunately for us, the stalker did not get into the train. I started laughing with a mix of emotions, happy and sad for the stalker, how hard did he try to follow us, admiringly and not suspiciously. I was laughing loudly for everyone to hear and told my friend, 'Azhaga poranthathu namma thapppa' [not our fault to be born beautiful naturally, was only kidding, never mind LOL] without realising people raising eyebrows. We smiled to ourselves and kept talking about it in low voice until we reached our offices.
We really can't get that incident off our minds for at least a week, still talk about it when we call each other reminding how hilarious it is to think about it now. Did i say i took a photo of the stalker when he was looking away? i have it in my mobile and show it to everyone who listened to the story. Do you want a glimpse of him?
The stalker happened to be a DOG and almost all stray dogs look alike, don't they? Thanks for reading the story.
That was an usual morning, i had accompanied my friend to a temple nearby, offered prayers and started to office. I was dressed colourfully, wore flowers and felt delightful. We were jabbering about something when we noticed we were being followed by someone. My friend had also noticed by the time i had realised it and urged me not to look in the direction of the stalker.
We were trying hard to hide the fright and act casually like nothing is happening because people say the more confidant you are, weaker the enemies will be. We tried criss crossing the road that was deserted, took longer strides but the stalker followed. At one point, he even tried to barge in between us looking at us closely, we walked past him and literally were breathing heavily. The railway station (Perungudi) was only a few meters away but it felt like miles walking with fright. We never looked back but he won't leave us, followed to the ticket counter and waited for us. My friend asked me to run as we heard the sound of train, people won't really mind running when trying to catch a train, do they? I resisted, asked to show signs of steadfastness so as to not make him more aggressive. We walked steadily and he followed through the steps, looking at us admiringly. By the time we reached the first floor, we had missed the train already.
We had to wait for another 15 minutes until the next train showed up. We sat on a bench with few people who were waiting. He looked at us then and there, kept a check on us while we were scared looking at him. We did not want him to get into the train, especially not into the ladies compartment as it would scare the hell out of everybody else there. 15 minutes was very long, we could not retrace our steps neither get away from there, so felt trapped. Moments later, the next train showed up, people gathered around and stood at close proximity so as to get into the compartments. We tried to avoid his gaze and mingled with the crowd, the stalker had eyes only on us and tried not to look any place else. When we went out of sight, he even came searching for us and tried to catch up with us, women of all ages stood there looking at us suspiciously. The train came to a halt for about a couple of minutes.
We tried to lower our heads and got into the ladies compartment as planned. He stood right there at the door unaware of what to do, we could sense an admiration in his eyes. I was agitated and was lost in thoughts as to what would happen next. Will he manage to get in? what to do if he gets in to the confined space? How will people react to it? i could hear my own heart beat even when the train started moving, I did not relax until the train moved few meters forward and fortunately for us, the stalker did not get into the train. I started laughing with a mix of emotions, happy and sad for the stalker, how hard did he try to follow us, admiringly and not suspiciously. I was laughing loudly for everyone to hear and told my friend, 'Azhaga poranthathu namma thapppa' [not our fault to be born beautiful naturally, was only kidding, never mind LOL] without realising people raising eyebrows. We smiled to ourselves and kept talking about it in low voice until we reached our offices.
We really can't get that incident off our minds for at least a week, still talk about it when we call each other reminding how hilarious it is to think about it now. Did i say i took a photo of the stalker when he was looking away? i have it in my mobile and show it to everyone who listened to the story. Do you want a glimpse of him?
The stalker happened to be a DOG and almost all stray dogs look alike, don't they? Thanks for reading the story.
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