Author: SK

my latest love story…

Dear _______,

Hope you remember me. We had seen each other briefly during the Landmark Quiz at Bangalore on November 1st this year. The first time I saw you outside the auditorium, when I was waiting to be let in. For the first time in many years (don’t know how many), my heart skipped a beat when I saw someone. I must say you look breathtaking. Gorgeous. And add to that you attend quizzes! Couldn’t be better!

Briefly forgot all about you as i cribbed to Dushyanth about our juniors at IIMB. Then got to the task at hand and cracked the prelims. You were still out of sight, out of mind. And then I qualified for the finals. Was part of the team “vidi vici veni” (or some such stupid thing Dushyanth had come up with). Team 8.

I clearly remember that you were sitting in the second row close to where I was on stage. Remember establishing eye contact with you during the course of the quiz and maybe exchanging a smile or two while I was on stage. For the length of the finals I was up there, I drew my inspiration from you.

Then shit happened. Derek, as is his wont, chucked us out of the finals mid-way through the quiz. I remember hopping off stage and parking myself in the second row, a few seats away from you. We were separated by some guy who’d accompanied you, Shamanth and aadisht. The eye contact continued. I clearly remember us exchanging a few more smiles for the rest of the quiz. I also remember explaining a couple of answers to you. All the pain of not having done well in the finals was erased.

Then the quiz ended. I have this idiotic habit of drinking a lot of water, especially when it is provided free. As a result, I had gotten quite pissed off and rushed to the men’s room. By the time I emerged, you were gone. Lost in the madding crowd. Lost forever?

____ (I don’t even know your name), if you are reading this (I sincerely hope you are), please drop in a comment with contact details. It is after more than a year that I have had a crush on someone. And it would be really tragic if the story I have narrated above didn’t have a continuation.

Lots of love,
Karthik

getting treated…

it’s really awkward when you’re out on a date and the girl is treating. on one hand the man in you wants to do the ordering and stuff, the talking to others, etc. On the other hand, it’s HER treat, she’s the person in charge of the tea/dinner. you’re just a guest and you behave like a good guest and allow the host to make the decisions! feels really awkward…

was just thinking… the few times i’ve been out on a 1-on-1 rendezvous with a girl, it’s she who has paid! cheap guy i am, i must admit!

was the armor research successful??

I had written in these columns a few days back about the process by which people can take girlfriends/boyfriends “on rent” and referred to them as “petromaxes” (concept borrowed from “Golmal Radhakrishna” *ing Anant Nag, Chandrika and Vanitha Vasu).

One case I had mentioned in the story was regarding a “good friend” who had taken her boyfriend’s best friend on rent when her boyfriend was too busy…

She happened to read it today. Said it was a “disgusting concept” and that they were just friends. Then a few minutes later she messaged again saying that she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.

Now the question that is puzzling me is whether my “armor research” was successful. No physical ramifications yet. Oh yeah, this female was a really good friend of mine not so long ago. Perhaps my closest female frined but for this other female who was my benchmate in school from 1st to 10th standard. It’s all over now (though i must tell you that the sinusoid has been on the decline ever since her rental started). Such differences are not likely to last long and i’m sure we’ll make up some day. However, it’s unlikely whether we’ll reach the same dizzying heights of friendship again.

So, my dear friend, tell me whether my armor research was successful or not. Else your head will blow into a thousand pieces.

Update

An hour after I put up this post, her boyfriend (the regular one, not the petromax) came to my room and started shouting at me saying how i’ve depressed his girlfriend because of my writing and stuff. About how I shouldn’t write whatever crap I want without taking the concerned people’s permission. He went on for an hour. I just allowed him to shout as much as he wanted peppering it with timely “OK”s. Rather, I was engrossed in the newspaper while he shouted…

presidential stuff…

Standard practice is when someone does something stupid, you tell it to a lot of people so that everyone can have a good laugh. Sometimes people find interesting excuses to make sure people don’t make fun of them.

Sathya is the president of the IIMB student council. He’s been upto a lot of goofy stuff of late. Some of it is really hilarious. Even if it’s not true, it is worth laughing at how he makes them all up. However, he keeps exhorting to us wingers not to make any of his stuff public.

He says that being the president of this institute, he needs to maintain a certain stature and some stuff we might find funny might turn out to be controversial and he might get impeached! This way the ugly bitch manages to get away with all his goofy stuff with not more than a handful of us enjoying the sight/news of it!

of haircuts and hand washes… arbit stuff

Went home on Saturday and was promptly sent away for a haircut. He cut it really short and took off my sidelocks. Couldn’t recognize the guy in the mirror after i’d put my specs back on! Funnily, no one noticed it!

Then, back home, I washed my favorite pair of jeans. Originally light blue, it had turned a strange shade of dirty green after a dip in the Kaveri at Hogenakkal and a machine wash with surf excel hadn’t done much good to it. Soaked it in water, scrubbed it till my hands pained, beat it on the washing board, did everything to turn it back to blue. Proud of my effort now.

Speaking of clothes, my blue suit let me know today that i’ve become fat. Refused to sit properly on my shoulders. Had a tough time at an otherwise good lecture by a leading consult company about its private equity practice.

hassled…

it’s one of those days today when i’m generally hassled in life and don’t feel like doing anything. Totally bored with everything and i got this feeling that i’m so screwed in life. That i lead the most pathetic life in this world and there’s no one to support me. First time in eight months i’m feeling this way actually.

Usually this thing has a cure when I have an extended conversation with someone I’m comfortable with. Sathya was around for the last couple of hours and just left for some presidential work. And for a change, it doesn’t seem to have worked. Still very pissed. Hope I don’t get into that depressive cycle I was in 8 months ago!

And contributing in no small measure is this ugly wisdom tooth trying to find its way out. Not able to open my mouth wider than a centimeter, making it difficult for me to eat!

And then, there’s constant depressing feeling that I’m getting too fat and doing nothing about it.

money for nothing… and chicks for rent…

Have noticed this strange phenomenon in the course of the last one and a half years. Something vinod bhaskaran has christened “rental”. Rental of girlfriend/boyfriend I mean. Becomes especially significant in a place like IIMB where most people live in hostel and away from their near and dear ones.

According to Vinod, rental can be described as a process where a girl and a guy get really close to each other (as close as two people who are gf-bf) but both know that there is no chance of a permanent settlement. Typically at least one of them is already committed, which helps clearly define the terms of the contract.

Have seen quite a few instances of such rentals here in IIMB. First instance I saw was between a classmate with a bf abroad and a senior with a gf in bombay. Then, this other classmate, with a bf in Delhi, has entered into rental agreements with not one but THREE guys in my class. And now that all three of them are out on exchange, she’s entered into a short-term contract with a FOURTH guy. Mahabharata rocks!

The most weird thing i’ve seen with this female who’s actually reasonably close to me. She has an on-campus bf and they’re going really strong. Now, for the past month he was busy organizing a fest and she decided to take his best friend on rent!

For an ‘outsider’ who has never entered this kind of contracts, it seems really funny. But i guess there must be some logic to this. Too lazy to figure it out though!

Yeah, and I think a few people I’ve referred to in this post might be reading this. Researching armor.

Yet another movie

Vera,

I think it is time to tell you a saucerful of secrets. I have been on the run of late but after you defended me at the trial last week, there seem to be signs of life.

Remember a day, at the grand vizier?s garden party at Grantchester Meadows, when I was marooned, and lost for words?
When I was anything but fearless and just
short of suffering from brain damage?
When all I wanted to do was to run like
hell? And then you were in, riding a
pillow of winds, to defend me? When you asked me to just have a cigar while you took them on?

The echoes of that see-saw debate still haunt me. It had such a dramatic theme that even though it lasted just four minutes, I could see that the difference between us and them was like apples and oranges. When Corporal Clegg quoted Chapter 24, I felt comfortably numb and I went to meet mother. Though there was nobody home, it was definitely a great day for freedom.

After you
helped me get outside the wall, I
feel as if I?m coming back to life. At
last, I seem to have enough time to breathe. Now, I want to keep talking to you! The show must go on.

Hey you! It would be so nice if you don?t
leave me now. When you are in, I
know they would be the happiest days of
our lives. It is true that we are poles
apart, but I have high hopes that
we can easily fill up each other?s empty
spaces.

More about it
when we meet in the flesh. Till then,
shine on, you crazy diamond! And
don?t forget to speak to me.

Wish you were here!
Arnold Layne

PS: One of these days, I want to go on an interstellar overdrive and want to
borrow a bike, preferably a new machine. Any color you like. You can take
it back whenever you want. What
do you want from me in return? Not money, I
hope!

for the first time in four years…

Got most of my term four grades today. Except for the Contemporary Concerns Study (CCS – a project course) which i know i’ve screwed up big time. Three low A’s and two high B’s so far (here in IIMB the grading system is weird. The letter grade is accompanied by a number grade which is a real number. For example, A can mean anything from 3.50 to 4.00! The topper typically gets 4 and then it goes down progressively).

Apart from the CCS, I’ve got 3.52 out of 4.00 this term (and my CG after 3 terms was 3.31). Feeling really happy. Now I don’t care what i get in the CCS.

I’m especially happy about this one course Financial Derivatives where the general grading is really bad. I had got 20 out of 40 in the midterm when the average was 27. Finally ended up doing pretty well in end-terms and put a 3.60!!! (when the median grade was 2.2).

For the first time in four years, I’m feeling proud of my grades. The last time I felt this way was in 3rd term in IIT when I’d put 9.46 after 2 terms of 8.75 (that was out of 10).

Update
I got 2.79 in CCS. Much higher than expected. My term GPA is 3.4 (highest in four terms) and my CG stands at 3.33

shoes and lunches…

my search for a good pair of sneakers ended two days back. went to a multibrand discount store called “why pay more” in front of my house and bought a pair of Nikes. Went back home and told my parents that I’d spent Rs. 1900 on a pair of sneakers. And they freaked out.

“We know you have a lot of money. But why spend more on something like a pair of shoes when you can get similar ones for Rs. 500?” All arguments on brand and comfort didn’t make sense to them. A shoe is a shoe is a shoe, they countered.

In another incident, I recently told my parents that I’d spent Rs. 300 on lunch at a Thai restaurant. Once again they freaked out. “You can get six good lunches at Adigas at this rate. Four even at MTR. Henceforth you shouldn’t have such expensive lunches. So many people go hungry because they don’t have enough money to eat. You may rather give money to charity than having such expensive lunches”…

This time I decided not to react and quietly walked away.