Still Waters Run Deep....

It has never stopped amazing people close to me, that on being woken up in the morning, I have a perfectly sane conversation with them, assure them that I am awake and will do whatever it is that I’m supposed to be doing and promptly go back into deep slumber without even realizing it. Mom says it’s a total lack of will-power on my part to get up. When this happened again last week, I realized the true reason. It’s due to what I call “Real Dreams”.  Let me illustrate.  Last week, I assured my friend over the phone that I was awake. I then closed my eyes, for what I thought was a few seconds. In those few seconds, I had a dream- and its setting was identical to reality. I was wearing the same clothes, was in the bed I really was in, in the same room I actually was in. And in that dream- I woke up.  In that dream, my flat mate came to my room and so did some strangers- and started sawing my closet door citing repair work.  So in the dream, I was awake. And since we r...

Not the Alkaline one. I’m referring to the slang-ish word for Spectacles. More specifically, the person wearing them. Battery is among the words that have been used to “call” me. Others being, Chashmish, four eyes, Soda Buddi, and the very not funny “almost blind”!! A high power of -5.5 , ensures that I am very much dependent on external support for eyes- spectacles and lenses. Have been wearing specs from the time I was 10. I spent a year pretending I could see the blackboard, and moving progressively closer to it to prove I could.  I also tried other tactics like flooding the classroom with lights from all sources, which did make it relatively more visible. I couldn't admit to difficulties, since I had declared to my Mom that I would not get specs (as she has). Until, the headaches, my near empty notebook and interrogation by mom proved, that I could see the board- but not what was written on it! And thus, I was on Spectacles- directly with a power of -2.5. I was the class rep ...

“I need help” I said over the phone. “Oh what happened, tell me”, said my friend, the concern very apparent in his voice. Encouraged, I replied, “Well, I came to the supermarket Mohideen to buy Sugar, but they only have it in large packs. But it seems it will be available in the other supermarket nearby, Al Madina” “Hmm, yeah it will be available there”, replied my friend clearly puzzled as to what help I needed. “Er.. can you   tell me exactly how to go to Al Madina from Mohideen?” I said I was greeted by a volley of almost indecent laughter! Well, I couldn’t blame him. Both the places were about 4 mins from my hostel. I knew to go to both places individually, but just couldn’t figure out the way to go from one to the other! The place is China Cluster, in International City in Dubai. This is where I spent 4.5 months of my GMBA at SP Jain Center of Management. That this incident occurred almost after 3 months into the course didn’t help. My sense of direction has always been a sou...

“Oh, you got leave for 4 weeks? That’s too much!” She blurted. She was slightly annoyed at this news from her friend and co-worker. The leave meant she would have to mentor someone as replacement and take additional work load for herself. She knew it was coming anyway- her co-worker had been planning her wedding from a long time now. She sighed and looked out of the window of her 4th floor office. The coconut tree leaves were swaying lazily in the breeze- without a care in the world.  She was mesmerized by the rhythmic dance of the leaves and stood transfixed. Her mind went to a day in her childhood vacation in Chennai. She was 6 years old and was playing in the thread and plank swing. Despite numerous requests from her grandparents to be careful, she was doing acrobatics. She took off the plank and started climbing the rope. Halfway through, she lost her grip and fell. She was hurt, but didn’t care. But her grandpa, known for his quick temper, came running and shouted,”E valav ...

I first wrote this article when I was 15.. on a paper with a pen (ah.. those days!). I re-wrote this when I was 20. So the target audience is of a similar age group- but, age no bar! Hope you enjoy this! --- Ramya I was watching the news when suddenly my neighbourhood flashed on TV. The news reader was reporting: "In yet another series of leopard-spotting, a leopard was today spotted at Raheja Estate in a suburb Borivali, in Mumbai. The forest officials were called immediately from the National Park which adjoins the area. The leopard was caught by the forest officials. We, at NDTV have filmed the entire capture and will be airing it shortly. Meanwhile, this has sparked a debate on………." Wow, a leopard in my colony. And I being in Chennai for vacation missed the entire thing. It would have been so much fun! Then I would have watched the whole episode live. The vacation soon got over and I was back home. College started soon and the whole boring routine started agai...

The cab arrived. We loaded the luggage into it, and after saying fond goodbyes left for the airport. I and two of my classmates were flying back to Mumbai from Dubai for our mini vacation. After an uneventful cab ride, we reached the airport. At the check in counter, I offered a smile to the Chinese guy and asked for a window seat. He smiled back and said, “I will do much better than that ma’am. Our Economy class is full and we’re identifying passengers for upgrading to Business Class. I am putting you in the priority list for upgrading. This boarding pass is for economy class, but just ask the personnel at the boarding counter, he will upgrade it”. I thanked him and left the counter happily. My two friends also got the same priority listing. After this, we finished all the formalities and went towards the Duty Free shopping area. I enjoyed whiffing the various perfume brands- which were beyond my liquidity at the moment and then went to the chocolates and nuts section. I got separate...

“Oh Damn” I cried out in frustration as soon as I saw the email. Nothing could ever go right.  I had had a good night’s sleep and woken up at leisure at 11 am. The next day was to be communication skills assessment on self – introduction. I settled down at 12:30 and started preparing for it. Just when I started, the mail which made me curse came. We were to have the assessment on the same day.. And not the next as originally scheduled. I immediately went into a spate of negativity- why did things always get messed up this way? Muttering to myself, I ordered food and started getting ready for college. The bell rang- and my food came. I paid the money and opened the parcel. I had ordered one stuff paratha which usually came in four pieces. But the parcel was bulky- on counting I found that there were actually eight pieces- two stuff parathas instead of one!! I mentioned this to my room mate. Her spontaneous reaction was, “Wow… you are so lucky- all such good things happen to you...