Maha's musings

I didn't expect that my mom would turn so offensive just to let me go out for such professional purposes. Her demeanour reminded me of the mother of my college days where she would say a strict NO  to all my requests to be a part of "friends' day outs".  "Why are you restricting me? It's a good chance to get to know about the club that too in NIT Trichy campus. I...", I was sputtering in irritation. "Nothing is needed. Attend everything online. If you can't, just leave it. The BIG DAY is just a month away. We can't leave you as you wish. Give that stupid key to me first of all.", she shouted unsparingly. But I was relentless. "I have to go and I'm going", I said to myself.  Answering her back would prove useless as I finally would have to follow whatever she would say and even dad couldn't come to my rescue. So I chose to convince her by highlighting the pros of attending the meeting.  "Whatever it's for. I do...

"Where are you going?" came the question in a hurry. "NIT..", said I with a pride that couldn't be hidden, as I handed over a 10rs. note to the conductor. It was 4:40pm and I had to be there at 5:30 sharp. Considering the situation that it was my first time at NITT, I wanted to reach at least 15mins prior, so that I could reach the venue— "LH-2 Logos" that had been mentioned in the flyer. When enquired, I was told that LH stood for 'Lecture Hall'. That was totally serendipitous that I chanced upon the flyer on the Instagram page of Toastmasters Internationals' NIT Trichy Chapter, the previous night. The moment I saw that, I couldn't help typing text asking if the outsiders are allowed to give guest entry. I wasn't sure if I would be answered, as it was crazily late at night for a person to respond for such official queries. But to my pleasant surprise came the answer within minutes..."Toastmasters clubs are always o...

We deliberated for Nayum bro and his family to join us. We made calls but nothing was answered. "He might be trapped in traffic!", told Raksha's mom. We stopped calling him and waited for a couple of minutes. To our relief, he came with his two daughters dressed in a pretty way alike. "Happy birthday Shyniii.....", Screamed Raksha seeing her friend. Everybody wished her as well; not so excitedly as Raksha though. She responded with her signature muted smile. It added beauty to her angelic aqua marine long frock.  "Where is your mom?", we probed. Her dad went on before shyni would even open her lipstick tainted mouth, "She isn't keeping well and it was too late...."   "So....?", I interrupted impatiently, thinking that the entire plan would come to a standstill.  "So nothing. She will join us for Mukkombu", He completed tracing my suspicion. I grinned with apparent satisfaction. "Flake out!!!", people mocked a...

Marriage is an auspicious occasion where we can encounter diverse people all in the same vibes. The smoky air was filled with wafting aroma of the freshly knit garlands, incense sticks and ripe bananas. The cheerful children were running helter skelter in sheer fun. The chairs in the hall were overturned slacklessly, sporting the carefree mood of the people there. They were waiting for the photoshoot while chattering blaringly. Amidst those chilling people, I spotted our colleagues occupying the penultimate row in the most disciplined way possible. Raksha's mom was surrounded by three of our junior colleagues and her daughter.  Raksha was in stunning maroon frock with her blonde hair pulled right into a tight ponytail. The necklace was dazzling amidst the colourfully dressed pretty women and a couple of murkily dressed men😉. Despite the stunning look, something was missing. We walked past the scantily populated rows to reach them. My mama accompanied us all the way, introducing me...

I saw some of my relatives loitering outside the wedding hall. Most of them couldn't recognise the "grown me". I didn't try to talk to them either, as I was puzzled as to how to address them. When I was standing there tapping my foot, I saw those twin sisters passing by in tandem. It was so nostalgic to spot them there. They were those childhood frenemies with whom I had bittersweet companionship. The brawls we had while playing snake and ladder, hide and seek and the beatings I got because of the sleepovers at their house flashed through my mind. Puzzlingly enough it didn't dawn on me to stop them and talk.  "Come...come... We shall go!!!", rushed Kani bro, as he entered. Surprisingly enough, the exit was crowded with our junior colleagues, chitchattering, posing for selfies and groupies. It seemed they had been waiting for some more friends to join, before entering the hall. As we both went, they too joined. My eyes were in search of Raksha's mom a...

When I noticed it was already 8:45pm. I was reminded that I had some preparation works and a score of papers to be evaluated. Though it was a Saturday eve, I couldn't put the work off as the next day would be a gala day. So,  leaving everything behind, I dived deep into the heap and that in turn kept me engaged for another hour.   When I was halfway through the preparation, my mobile buzzed. As a good stroke of luck, it was kani bro. Before I could ask anything, he went on instructing me to wait near hotel Mayas and assured that he would pick me from there. I felt awe. With a satisfied, "Okay, brovvv!!!!" I hung up. However I was thankful that he didn't mock me (as usual) for having rejected his offer and being strayed.  With a great anticipation for the next day, I went to bed, after texting Raksha's mom about the timing and other stuff. It was a long night. I couldn't get a wink of sleep, tossing and turning.  The next day dawned to the tone of my alarm. Wit...

Finally after the long day, I reached home late as it was Saturday. When I went to hit the bell, I saw the door locked. When phoned, my mom let me know that she had gone to the reception as she couldn't attend the wedding the next day.  "But why?", I asked her to which she replied that she would let me know later in a jiffy and hung up. That's my mother. Telephonic conversations with her have always been annoyingly incomplete. What else to be done, I fished out the key, opened the door to find my sister juggling with her laptop and phone as usual. When asked she revealed that my mom had to go to temple the next day hence the schedule had to be revamped.  It was a mild dent to my plan as I had wanted to introduce my colleague-friends to my mom and vice versa. Besides I had also rejected the offer to be dropped from Chathram to the wedding hall.  My ever-alert brain started suggesting me numerous ways to reach the wedding hall. Either to go on my own, or to hitch hike. ...

"Hey.. We are going to Mukkombu after attending the wedding and there we shall cut cake for Shyni." revealed her mother and that made her redden with anger. Of course we dodged that without paying attention. It's best to leave kids unattended when they sulk else they will turn unstoppable.  "Oh that's a decent plan "IN MY ABSENCE", RakZzz.", I grinned at Raksha which tickled her to smile back. It indeed sounded a solid plan to me. I gave a satisfied thumbs up to Kani bro who smiled from his table. He asked me in turn if he had to pick me from Chathram. I said that I would reach the hall with my mom as it happened also to be our relative's wedding.  Then the troop gathered again as it was a free hour for all of us coincidentally. I asked Christina ma'am if she would join us too. She told me that she would attend the wedding but couldn't participate in other activities. "Okay.... but I expected...", I let out rather disappointed...

Though the movie plan was halfway through, nobody seemed to bother about that. Days were elapsing and grew busier and busier. Revision exams, evening study duties, question paper settings, deputations, bla..bla..bla.. went our days, equally hectic. Of course except for those "sought after we-time" where we share topics in plenty, range from funny slips of the tongue to heartwarming classroom incidents.  Despite all these, I kept reminding people of "THE DAY" in one way or another. The discussions were multifarious— when to start, where to meet, what dress to be worn, what to bring,... But none of them could lead us to conclusion until Saturday evening.  Luckily on Saturday, Raksha—my senior colleague's daughter joined us in devising the plan. Despite being a little girl of grade-4, she was so determined in persuading us to sketch our plans and finalize. When a little girl came to us cajoling, we couldn't help but budged. Mr.Nayum was totally against the mo...

The day was amazing. With that I can sumup the whole day. But it is not what the day deserves. The fun I had, the lessons I learned, the smiling faces I encountered, the care and concerned I felt deserve to be written at least as a novella.  It's Dec 4,2022 to increase its charm it was a Sunday. Not those ordinary sort of Sundays,spent in loathsome, monotonous routine, distinguished only by a biryani and a casual evening tea-talk with dad. It's one of our colleagues' wedding. It was at least a fortnight ago, I received the invitation. Since then I had been awaiting this big day even more than the bride and groom themselves, as the knot had to be tied between my colleague and our distant relative. That was a good opportunity to catch up both with my family and friends. Having all that in mind, we started hatching plans well ahead of the day. The usually enthusiastic me turned more and more hyped as the number of people began to snowball.  The enthu doubled up when one of my ...

I kept watching him. He snipped the paper and took up the piece of paper which sported my article. I guessed that he would keep it with him (may be as a good reminder of his teacher) but weirdly enough he grabbed a stapler along with the snippet and headed to the exit. In a wink of my eyes, he placed that duly on class' bulletin board and turned back to grin proudly at his companions.  I couldn't help blushing, seeing my write-up along with my pic, placed right in the middle of the big bulletin board just as to invite people into the classroom. I gestured him to come.  Come he did, with a conviction that was stunning. I asked him to remove the clipping from the bulletin board (of course I didn't want it to be removed) but being a teacher, I thought I had to let them realize the simple truth which I had chanced upon on social media (as usual) "when you are busy celebrating your little accomplishments, you won't find time to accomplish bigger ones!!!"  So, I tol...