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கண்ணீர் துடைப்புகளையும்

கடத்தா தொலைபேசி...

உறவினர் பேராசையுடன் நெருங்க,

மனைவி பெருமைபொங்க சிரிக்க,

விடுமுறையில்

என்னை

"மாமா" என்றழைத்தான் மகன்

"அப்பா" தொலைபேசியில் தான் பேசுவாராம்.

Prodigious commoners

          Inspiration - what's that??? That which emanates from men who made it very big in life??? Does it take a persona in the lines of Dr.Kalam, The Mahathma, Ms.Kiran Bedi to inspire us??? Hmm... Not necessary!!!

         These Chennai days are teaching me so much than did the insulated, secure days at Trichy and the fun-filled yet shielded days at Tanjore. Each day dawns with the list of regular ordeals which confront me without fail - crossing the road (thanks to the signals @ anna univ entrance and santhome church!!!), the backpack which makes 50% of my weight only to pull me back during walk, squeezy travel in mtc etc.,  In this process, i encounter men, as common as you and me (or rather me alone!!!), who make impressions, which do not get eroded that easily!!!

         The first person i am going to mention is one who does one of the difficult jobs - being a bus conductor. Most of these men, as per my observation, are very short tempered and shout to the top of their voices to keep the situation under control. Can’t blame them though!!! But, this person was very cool despite the moderate crowd. The ladies, who were standing, were made to sit after he made some men sitting in the ladies side to stand. He apologized for having dashed by mistake, someone who was standing near me. Unlike others doing his job, he was very polite and called everyone "நீங்க", "sir", "அம்மா". Usually, the passengers would be called "நீ", "அது" etc as if they were inanimate!!!

       As you may know, Kamarajar Salai leads to the Tamil Nadu legislature from Santhome via Rajaji Salai. From 9:30am, the traffic in this road would be flooded with VIPs' and their escorts' cars. Unfortunately, one day, i got held up at the signal where 3 roads converge in front of the Church. There were two traffic policemen managing the traffic for a VIP's car to pass. I had to cross the road and was waiting there for more than 15 minutes. At last, the VIP's car passed and we were signalled to cross the road. When i crossed, one of the policemen said, "சாரிம்மா... ரொம்ப நேரம் நிக்க வெச்சிட்டோம்..."(meaning "Sorry, we made you wait for a long time"). I was really surprised and gave him a smile and sped.  Despite the fact that it wasnt a part of his duty to apologize to a puny creature for something he wasnt responsible for, he did!!!

         The final one is somewhat funny. That was the day of my "Data Mining" semester examination which dawned in a less rainy and cloudy manner than the previous day. I was speeding to the bus stop with the book in my hand. After five minutes or so, when i had crossed less than half the distance, it started raining!!! That too very heavily!!! The function i ran to search for the umbrella in my bag, returned "void"!!! Adding to the downpour, the vehicles which passed by did a great job splashing water and drenching me and my book fully. Fortunately, i got a seat in a bus. But the worst part was that, my book was fully damp with one page missing and the other pages sticking with each other. I could do nothing but to curse my absent mindedness which was worsened by the exam tension. There was a lady, who seemed like a construction worker sitting behind me. On seeing my pitiable plight, she offered a plastic cover to have my book inside it. Needless to say, it was the need of that hour and i thanked her from the bottom of my heart. She gave me a kind smile and got off the bus. 

          So, to conclude, please go to the first paragraph!!!

Exam blues:( plus Random memories of UG life :)

     Now that i am done with all the examinations in my life (hope so :-/...), a rewind of those i have taken in my life becomes quite obvious for a nostalgic. 

      

     Right from my school days, these wretched events called exams used to tire and frustrate me. In-spite of being a very keen listener (only during school, as a matter of fact!!!), would not score high grades in the examinations due to minimal study at home. Maybe, that made me susceptible to all the worst grades earned during college :) 

      Came the tenth standard examinations which were played spoilsport with by the Cricket World Cup 2003. Most people of our batch prepared for the first "big" examination of our lives with eyes meandering between the books and the television!!!  Anyway, by God's grace most of us put up a decent score!!!

       Fortunately, or unfortunately, my entry into an Engineering College happened unplanned. I eliminated electronics and electricals since they were bitter lessons in Physics for me. Dad eliminated Civil, Mechanical etc for he thought that they were not "girlish" enough and would make his daughter weary. We zeroed in on "Computer Science" as somebody told me that it is "the student friendly" course which would never require hard core hard work as other courses do.

         First semester saw me being a "padips, aako" or however you call it. Constant visits to the computer lab (for i was a bio student @ school), early rising and regular studying, new tasks of getting my laundry done, cleaning utensils etc - believe me, i was this good girl during the first semester. Coming to the exam episode, scored fairly well. But i was very happy about my performance in the C programming lab exam!!! I think that was the first and last lab exam that i did very well!!!

        Then came the other semesters, with unforgettable relationships blossoming and me getting to be my "real irresponsible, lazy self". Studying was confined to the nights before the examinations with me, Ilakki and Sangee literally trying to get our heads into the books. We called those sessions "study sessions", but studies would take place only as a diversion from pulling each others' leg, my singing, sangee’s stories and ilaki's funny encounters with the seniors. To add fuel to the fire, students would be provided tea the night before the examination. We would happily waste half an hour or so just for getting it from the mess and drinking it. Once, ilak kicked me by mistake and made me limp for a day or two during a semester examination. That was very funny indeed!!! And for those exams which we studied alone, i would be dozing off often with Viji motivating me to study. She was a very patient creature trying to make me and Mahesh study. Alas!!! All her efforts would go in vain. She would even call us for snacks to refresh our "tired" minds. We go with her, eat them and be back to sleep!!!  Ah!!! Those beautiful days are being treasured in my heart!!!

         NCC was a different experience altogether exposing the unexplored side of our personae. NCC 'B' and 'C' certificate exams also had theory elements in them. Here too i had very good company in the form of Viji and Ilakki. Donno how i cleared those examinations with 'A' grading!!! God's grace again!!! They were one of the most important exams i attended since my morale had a great boost after the results were declared!!!

      For the past three semesters of my M.E., my semester exam preparations would find me sitting in a room all alone, with books in my hand, yawning, dozing etc... Exam preparations in solitude casted an abominable lull over my tormented mind...  I really missed you Viji, Ilakki, Sangi, Mahesh... :'(