A Day

Yesterday was an eventful day. And no it is not just because the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ won 10 nominations for the Academy Awards. What will be your reaction when you are woken up by an alarm when you felt that you have hardly slept for an hour? You would most probably switch the alarm off and go back to sleep. I did the same. Only that I know myself better and had a complicated alarm structure in place which was capable enough to wake even the mighty ‘Kumbhakaran’(If you are not sure who he is, please energize the Indian mythology section of your memory). So I woke up at 10 am and I had not slept for an hour, I had slept for 3. I looked at the newspapers at my door which had some news about the Satyam saga (I think Raju would have done a fabulous job had he been a novelist or a scriptwriter) and then I put it to the rack. My laptop was waiting to show me that I had to revise 12 presentations (Not that I remembered the contents of any). And so I started the endeavour to conquer the ‘knowledge’ hidden in those presentations. However that earnestness faded soon to give way to that amazing feeling which only comes when you are towards the end of your college life (I am going to miss this life and this institute). And so I went ahead to give the final ‘mid-term’ of my academic career (I hope so) without giving final touches to my preparation (as if there was any). Exams are easier for two categories of our species: One who has prepared well and knows almost all the answers and the other who has not prepared at all and thus has no expectations from it. However there is a third category: People who have prepared slightly and have slight inklings to almost all the questions but do not have answers to any. Yesterday I fell into this category and had to sweat a lot in order to fill in the sheets to meet the minimum necessities required to fall into the bracket of ‘successful’ examinee (The connotation is slightly different here: It means those who have not failed). However, once I was out of the exam hall there was a feeling of satisfaction which comes only after the knowledge that you are only one step away from getting your degree (That is a big hurdle though. The end term will have a paper which is most dreaded of all). So as I returned with a smile on my face, I also felt sad because in all probability I will have to leave this beautiful and lively place soon (Unless I fail!!!!).

As I reached my room I found two of my friends waiting for me. They had to scan a document. My printer-cum-scanner has lived a long and dignified life mainly because it has helped a lot of guys in distress (Here goes a lesson from my scanner. If you can help, then help others. Do not crib like its owner). So there I was entering in my room with my friends only to find that the plug point to which the device was connected does not have power at that point of time. So I had to remove it to connect it to other plug point when I witnessed a miracle. Underneath its modest structure, smiling at me, I found my long lost spectacles. It was a miracle on two accounts: One I found it after almost a month and two it remained beneath that structure all this time without even a scratch. I was jubilant. My friends demanded a party. I would have granted them their wish but for the fact, that like most of us I am also facing the ‘recession’. During the time in which my spectacles evaded me, I resisted the temptation of buying a new one despite of the repeated pressures from all quarters (Read friends and parents). It was not for the love of my spectacles (Though I really liked it) but for the reason that my brother had informed me that once he found his spectacles after a month. So clinging on this hope I refrained from buying new spectacles (Who would invest more than 2000 bucks when you have more urgent matters like buying a new hard disk?).

The third news which made me happy was the fact that Slumdog was actually nominated for 10 academy awards (Not that I agree with the jury. I don’t think it has merit to grab 10 nominations. You are welcome to disagree with me). However the news that Rahman has got 3 nominations was the cherry on the top. So I along with my friends discussed the likely winners which we can expect from the movie. Then came a message from my brother that the new season for one of my favourite series has started and the episode is up for grab. Needless to say, that I watched the episode with much interest and enthusiasm. It did not disappoint me. On the contrary, if I phrase it in the wordings of one of my friends, the episode was ‘awesome’. And to end the day I watched a fabulously told real life story in the form of a docu-drama ‘Man on Wire’. If you ever get a copy of it, do make it a point to watch it. It is an engaging watch and tells the story of human spirit. As I moved into the next day (the clock showed beyond midnight), I spent the next few hours discussing academic topics with my friends who still had their papers left. However with five good experiences in a single day I would hardly complain of the date 22.01.2009.

P.S: I came to know recently that the college, from which I did my Higher Secondary, has moved into its 150^th year. I would try to write something about my life during that phase (If time permits).