A series of memories that were initiated on a particularly cold evening, triggered by a hot tea, prompted me to blog again. I was doing a little jig on the patio, cup in hand, trying to keep myself warm, when my mind decided to distract me from the cold by tuning onto some old memories.
Turning the clock 9 years back, brought me to BVM Elamakkara(The school of cricket in Kerala, where players like Tinu Yohanan and Sreesanth have done their schooling). BVM had a tradition of maintaining a high standard interms of quality education and the teachers were hell bent on ensuring this, by putting our noses to the grinding stone. However the 5'5" kid who answered to the calls for Roll: 3, did have certain distractions, that made sure that his schooling days weren't that dreary. The first of my series of crushes was a classmate of mine. By the way, all of them in the cupid's series, went the same way as the sign board at the Press Club Road in Cochin -> ONE WAY !!
The 16 year old in me was instantly attracted to this goodlooking girl in the fourth row of the class. Naming her G1. A relief to my wandering mind, which could now focus on this welcome distraction, rather than paying attention to the complex equations on the blackboard. My trances were frequently interrupted by those missiles(usually chalks, on certain occassions dusters too came forward to kiss my forehead) projected on an elliptical path by the teachers. More often than not, the teacher would ask me to point out to the section on the board, where she had last written. By the time, I reached North-west after starting from the south of the board, the whole class would be off in peals. I felt really happy to seeing her pretty smile and decided to do this more often. I started paying more attention to the details on the blackboard, after I learnt that a 6 footer who frequented the gym, had already set his eyes on G1.
The cupid sent another of his arrows and this time around, it pointed me to another member of the opposite sex(Codenamed -> G2), in the next division. This probably explains why my grades showed a steep incline and reduced the number of missiles projected in my direction. A friend of mine, to whom I confided the name, told me that the best way to become friends with G2 was to strike up a conversation with G2's best friend. The best friend would then sing my praises in front of G2 and lo and behold, Game on !!!. Trusting the so called Mr. Know it all's words(He considered himself to be bit of an authority, on all topics, that started and ended with girls), I found myself striking a conversation with Miss. Best Friend. Regular chit chatting at the doorways, canteens and the labs set the tongues wagging. However, I did manage to achieve the objective of this initiative. The long haired G2 started giving me appreciative glances and smiles and it lead me to treat Mr. Know it All at one of the cities best Bakeries. This tryst would not last too long. G2 started referring to me as Miss. Best Friend's admirer in front of her friends. It broke my heart. Mr. Know it All wasn't able to participate in that year's school culturals because of his black eye.
The third and the final one of Cupid's arrows stuck me a year later. It was the day the juniors were supposed to land. I had cycled all the way to the temple nearby, on the occasion of India's pool match at the world cup. I was mumbling my prayers when I saw a girl with the "centershock" hairstyle, doing the same. She just knocked me out cold on that day. Simple, elegant and with the sweetest of all smiles, she was just too wonderful. Realisation, that my mouth was wide open came, when a piece of coconut that was broken by a devotee on the nearby stone, flew into my mouth. She gave me one of her 1000 watt smile and went to the next shrine. I tailgated her for the next 5 mins, until a particularly fierce looking Uncle(Must be her dad) appeared on the horizon. As my Mom wanted me to come back home in one shape, I took flight, after reassuring myself that "Withdrawal needn't always mean defeat".
My joy knew no bounds when I caught a glimpse of her at school. Suddenly, I was volunteering for running errands, that involved going to the the classes of juniors. Spent quite some money at the hair dressers, trying to discipline the unruly clump of hair at the back of my head. Finally, the clump which looked as if it was at attention to the national anthem being played, decided to take a break. Went to a local gym nearby, trying to get all the abs and the muscles that were portrayed on the pics at the gym. Two days of torture awakened me to the fact that girls fall for sensitive guys, rather than well built ones(Does this still hold good ??)
Good looking girls were rare(at least in our school) and ones that were single, were rarer still. My first competitor came in the form of a player from our basketball team.Cometh Breaks & this moron would run all the way to the opposite building, to talk to her. Mr. Know it All came up with a feeble suggestion(from behind a desk) that girls dig Basketball players and football/cricket were things from the past. A very determined me, watched a couple of matches of NBA playoffs and hopped on to the basketball court during the next PT period. 15 minutes and a couple of bruises later, I went back to the football field to see if my old position had been filled. To corner her, was just about impossible. She seemed to be attached by some invisible umbilical cord to her best friend(Her friend is now a successful playback singer in Kerala) for the entire stretch of the day. If by any chance it was broken, Mr. Moron would hookup the "connection".
By some strange coincidence, I did manage to talk to her. Kendriya Vidyalaya had their culturals on a Friday and all of us at Parvathy Miss's Tuition class, decided to do a Mass bunk. We reached KV just on time, before our school's Fashion Show was about to start. Taking positions upfront, the 10 of us started the biggest chants that the event had seen. Slowly, the folks from our school, who were sitting separately, joined us at the front. Amongst them, was a very familiar face. Thanking the same God that I had cursed after India slid to a humiliating defect against Zimbabwe, I decided to do some stress testing on my voice. For the next 10 minutes, I was chanting the school slogans as though my life depended on it. I did some damage to my vocal chords, but it did serve it's purpose. She did talk to me for 5 mins and exuberantly joined the gang with the chants. Wow, I just felt so happy that day...
Trying to fathom the thoughts of a teenager is a tough deal. It is downright complex. It is a time when none of us knew what the truth was to most of the questions around us - from how to woo girls to How does it feel like to have 3 pegs of whisky. Being ignorant to any of these questions, would make you "Uncool" and it would result in you being treated as an outcast. The truth is that none of us knew the answers to anything, at that point. When I look back at those days, I feel like laughing at some of the stuff I did back then, to either impress the girls or to showoff in front of my friends. But then, those were some of the best days in my life. Those memories, keep me going forward.
Last words:
1. G2 & G3 are happily married and G1 is still on the Single/committed stage.
2. Mr. Know it All seems to have missed quite a few more culturals, with black eyes, missing teeth, bruised ribs etc. One of his theories , did however work and he has moved to the "Happily Married" state. He is still available for any advices, as per the last conversation I had with him a couple of years before. Do so, at your own risk.
3. No idea about Mr. Moron.
4. Four paragraphs from the end, I had asked a question. Could someone(I want to get it from the girls this time around..Hell yeah, I don't trust guys) answer that for me ?
4. My quest continues.
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