The Maapla bench

A small, overclouded world of a scrabbled desk, a mobile underneath, zillions of pending assignments and a carefree self and an even carefree neighbour on the face of all the world affairs we brushed and chewed aside like a matter of practice… the last bench was something and more. The bench often veiled us (the glorified lot) from the lousiest of the faculty and the spit lectures of the same (virus repellent). It also gave a sweet view of that one girl in the classroom I had (tense imperfect) an eye on (dopamine propellant) and as many girls on the corridor we had our eyes on (jaw opener).

Maapla bench… it was from our very be hated Babu manoharan did I learn the term. Very vividly do I remember the very first day of the college, he visited and asked the whole lot (the same glorified) to shift out of the maapla bench. The etymology ends here and so did his diktat.

The Director’s mandamus was just a one way return ticket to the back bench, so was the lure and luxury of it. The bench offered timeless sleep, the option of an enduring text messaging (often from last of the first row to the last of the last row until the jammers came in), innumerous mokka games of pen fight.. nikkal kunthal , the comfort of finishing off assignments at leisure, the deluxe of doodling under the pretext of taking notes, the pleasure of the FM radio/mp3 tucked inside the full sleeve and ofcourse the plump opportunity of being the first to be sent out of the hall (yet again, the virus repellent).

Heaven had another name in a college often dubbed as hell.

Creativity spurred and lived happily in the shelters of our kadaisi bench. Many inventions and innovations took birth. The most notable were the ways to hide one’s mobile during inspection (if you happen to be a reader who has not studied under Anna University… machan.. free-ah-vidu). The mobile found its way to all possible untraceable parts of the body (self explanatory) and not to forget the false ceiling, shoe socks, wallet(the slim ones alone),under the cuffed sleeve and inside the folded sleeve and what not… but I must admit, the safest was to hand it over to a girl. It was also the birth place of the department’s dance and skit performances (ahem!) (The notebooks’ only use came in the sketching and planning during our cultural).But the best is the bits (teja!! n jk!!).. I would have still not cleared any of the computer practicals had it not been for Jaya's eraser! Owe my degree to it!

But the outside world (read the virus spitters and their immediate victims seated under the virus’ stooped nose) had always had a cynical view of our divination. We were seen as a band of uncivilized, lethargic, carefree, callous, lackadaisical and even ill spirited souls. But, did we care?

But, it would be rather ungrateful if I don’t thank the same outside world for every single sleep inducing lecture (nothing short of heaven), for being very understanding and sending us(in group) out (when we were craving for a break!), the next levels of sending us to the office in-charge (truly adventurous), safeguarding our ID cards (many a thanks not enough), advising us for a life(sure we had a laugh) and for making us what we are( a honest thank you!). And also to the other half in the hall for bearing with us and still helping with assignments/records and et al ... After all, we are a class… aint?

Just miss it… the maapla bench and the maaplae makkal …. Karuvayan (the rapper), uk(lp the origami-ist), jayakumar(darling/joker jaya), binny and jai (Guinness is yet to wake up to the duo’s record sleeping hours), kavi (all in the name), kevin(every desk has his name.. err oliver khan), amirtha, balaji and mani (the world is still spell bound by the trio’s philosophies aka mokkais), chaku (the complete entertainer and a wizardly poet), gnanaprakash(machan), vathuvayan (was he part of the maapla bench?), teja(ghajini), mad(jolly boy), mano(guru) and ofcourse all the lateral entries(they just had to be here or where would have been all the fun?)



Just miss it!

2005-09 batch.

:)

Hey everyone :) finally i get to post something in my final year of college life at st.joseph's . wow ! i am proud of myself !! 712 placed so far n still many companies to come..yet again 591 placed in CTS,yup its whooping ! Now we have our sister col- St.Josephs Institute of Technology ,built on the side walks of the long drive way to our col from the entrance . yeah ...not too big ,as you would ve guessed,but its totally air conditioned :) but its right now still under construction n those col students are using our col buses and its crowded than the usual ..:/ NEW PLACEMENT OFFICE...with awesome interior designing and NEW PLACEMENT OFFICER -Mr.Satish (Mechanical Dept.). Again theres a change in the examination pattern and internal mark schemes .back to basics,i can say. 4 unit tests and one final model ...n no half a day leave :( during the unit tests .OBT back in a new student friendly avatar..(as they call it,trust me its equally bad). n hey theres rumor that our directors son would be the next director (lucky me leaving !) .

New New!

Posting after a long time over here!its been a year since my last post here n so many changes to talk about.New mess hall for vegetarian gals ,separate canteens(missing sathyabhama anna :() n stores for gals n boys,new buildings apparently built in the same old jail style,new breakfast lanes separately for senior , junior gals n staff (for guys as usual in front of their own blocks:)),new n tough OD allowance(u win a prize in intra col. symp. -3 ODs,else win a prize each time to get OD..if ur just a finalist,forget it!!)last but not least-the ever changing internal mark scheme.
adding to this,i hear tat our buses are gonna run under a speed limiter of 50km/hr very soon...lolz cant imagine how our bus drivers wud look,like Schumachers on bullock cart!. :D
Good news too..531 or something placed in CTS alone n 100 in HCL n some 75 in Wipro n still more to come.n hey i request many more juniors to join this blog n keep it alive as days are rolling am already half way to final year.
so Mr.Administrator plz do the needful :)

A trap or a crap??

Once upon a time....nope this is not a story.i had a chance to visit a village near Madurai.Though i didn't care to remember its name,i at least cared not to erase what i witnessed.
there was this cute little goat decorated so heavily ,that i initially mistook it to be some big flower bundle(ok i know that was a weird simile!).
i could sense its euphoric feelings by the way it chewed over a big bundle of freshly cut grass provided to it.but little did it know the reason behind the ambiance.if u were from south India ,u would 've definitely known what happened next.
poor goat was killed ultimately!!!.
hmmm...so sad.now u must be wondering whether why i am talking about this.
surely am lazy to be a part of any futile social awareness campaign.so, am not hear to convey u any message about jeopardizing animal life!!
All that am doing now is working out analogies with the situation @ college and this story,which i happened to remember,fits the bill.
it was a fine Saturday evening,when a tiresomely boring lab session ended.And there stood at the door way, an enthusiastic friend of mine who had represented our grievances to the director.after listening to her narration of "changes made by our director",i just stood still to think about it,only to be shooed away by our professor.so,on my way to catch my throne in that DEATH MACHINE (our very own col. bus),i just finished analysing about the use of those changes,and the reason behind such a surprising move in THE LAND OF HIDDEN RULES .
The scene at the bus depot was totally euphoric ,with students shouting madly with joy ,i could only relate that situation to what i witnessed ages back .i couldn't help but shout madly like a goat,only to get rid of the lingering sense that we were all being enticed .
I have a psychic sense that this could be a bait to pave a way for far more stringent rules in the future!!....infact i was happy with their rules earlier.can't u guys n gals sense the change??plz..realise that we are only creating a turbulent situation hindering our smooth flight through our years at college!!!

what should be done??

everybody's weighed down after hearing about incidents like suicide at our own college premises!! first it was a MBA student then following that now we hear about vivek-a first year mech student.
incidents like these really scare everybody ,it makes me wonder about y wont anybody think of their parents for a second before they take such an drastic decision? is this the prize for a parents selfless love??
this kind of an act(suicide) is really cowardly.
first of all ,the boy shouldn't have been punished so badly but at the same time he shouldn't have indulged in a malpractice .
this boys death has definitely triggered back the suppressed anger among the students n it has definitely paved way for some freedom .
from a students point of view ,i agree with with the demands made by the students like banning ODs,allowing cellphones,ipods n other usage .
but from many parents point of view -i would definitely like to know whether if cell phones are really necessary at a place like an educational institution?
secondly ,when asked about what is really bothering about this college
all they say as a reason is "RULES".well i agree with it but hasn't this thing been there in our col. for a long time??
am sure every body who joined this college knew about the fact that its really strict ,
we already knew about the ODs , strict internal ratings , point system n all other stuff
but then y should anybody complain about the sharp teeth after putting their heads into a lions mouth??
now what i am trying to make obvious, shouldn't be misunderstood.i accept the fact that the management is too strict with everything but all i wanna ask those who joined this col is -"didn't u really not know about this college n its infamous ODs??"
now lets leave that apart,
are today's generation of students very sensitive??
what do u think is the reason behind this?? if i were to answer this question i would say
1. peer pressure to compete n taste success in all walks of life is one big reason that leads to a looser kind of an attitude!!
-come on guys n gals !! we have to accept things as they are n neither should we blame it nor should we feel sad about it. i think everybody's aware of the teachings of Bagavath Geetha !
stay cool n still be grounded to the reality .truly typing that helps!
2.secondly ,many have the habit of getting depressed about the future n we should avoid that.who the bloody hell knows about what the future holds for u? stay optimistic about it .
y have nightmares when there's plenty of good things to dream about your future?
3.use of unparliamentary words really hurts
but students please learn the theory of SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ,pretend to listen to what they r saying but don't actually listen to it!
accept that the mistake is yours, even if its not.

plz act sensibly.learn from the mistakes of others n dont ever dare to commit it!!
there is so much to achieve.

Taggglooooo...........!~!

Honestly speaking, I didn't know what the "Tagged " in the blogosphere meant, until one fine day, my cousin sent me a link with a set of questions to be answered, and asked me to blog exactly what I (managed to)answer..So here I am..trying to interpret the 6 letter word to the best of my knowledge... Sowmya presents to you - "Taggglooooo" (my own name for it, exceeding the six letters ;-))

1) Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it.
On top of my right eyebrow. Got it when I was a kid (I don't remember how old, but definitely was into schooling!)We were off to Planetarium for some "star gazing" but were late by 10 minutes. We had to wait for the next show for about an hour's time. Luckily, there was a park in vicinity - a place where kids run around, and parents chase around...I was getting high on a swing, when an ill-fated boy came in between. Two things happened - he broke his teeth, his teeth tore my forehead. I was immediately rushed to a hospital nearby, stitched back together in place , which ultimately left the scar.
2) What does your phone look like?
Its not exactly mine.It was inherited from my bro.It stays in place with the help of
a black disco rubber band (due to the loose battery).It has none of the accessories it is supposed to have,something which the mobiles promise you.Probably because my bro lost them and naturally,I didn't get to inherit them. Well when compared to my old "antique- 2100"Nokia model, this mobile definitely promises something :)

3) What is on the walls of your bedroom?
Nothing,except for a "mala" my mom got when she took VRS from Bsnl. (Yes, I(still) sleep with my Mom..!)

4) What is your current desktop picture?

A picture taken on my birthday with beautiful memories attached to it - me and bro smiling away to glory. Two pictures were taken - One where I smiled best, another where he smiled best. The first one went into my album on Orkut, the second one on his album ;-) Eventually, the first one also got the privilege of being my desktop picture :)

5) Do you believe in Gay marriage?
Yeah..Actually I believe in marriages that people are left to do freely,be it gay or non gay. I believe that it is human rights..If Gods can marry,why not "Gays"???

6) What do you want more than anything right now?
To get rid of my fear of getting hit by a bike.

7) What time were you born?
Somewhere around 8.30 in the morning on a Sunday , 4th of January,1987.
And I make it a point to sleep till 8.30 on every Sunday possible :D

8) Are your parents still together?
Ofcourse!

9) Last person who made you cry.

*Blinks*

10) What is your favorite perfume/cologne?

Poison (Courtesy : BRO)
Deo - Yardley

11) What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?

Hair colour : Black
Eye colour : Brown

12) What are you listening to?

Was listening to - Jaane do na..
Am listening to - truly madly deeply (savage garden)
Will be listening to - No clue(playlist on shuffle) :D

13) Do you get scared of the dark?
Slightly tensed.Not necessarily scared.I don't attach any particular feelings to darkness.I love candle lights,which come into existence whenever there is a "rare"power failure in our area. I enjoy it for its beauty(especially when they flicker n dance) and not for the "romantic" tag attached to it.

14) Do you like pain killers?
Only when I 'm in pain.

15) Are you too shy to ask someone out?
Yes.I would probably take more time to look at that someone straight in the eye, or starting up a conversation would be a big deal for me.I'm definitely one of those shy types.But all this is when it happens when I meet in person.I am more expressive when I m given the choice of typing or writing rather than talking.Well,thats me.

16) If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
Rasagula,Mum's Curd rice + Rasam+Potato Chips,MagiNoodles(egg)

17) Who was the last person who made you mad?
The bus conductor of 29C from Chetpet who duped me of my 5 rs..

18) Who was the last person who made you smile?
My mom, who resorts to her own childhood days every now and then, reminiscing this time, about her aunt who is around 83, admitted in the hospital now, and who greeted this 50+ woman as " Usha Kutty...Evlo naal aachu"...! :) :) It is a bliss, when you find a child jumping out someone, with the same yearning look a puppy has in its eyes, when it shows devotion to its master. Well..on second thoughts..do I need a reason to smile?! :) :) :)


*AVM BGM ;-)* The End *Pudupettai BGM* ;-) ;-) ;-)

Note :
Well, I was actually asked to send these questions to fellow bloggers, and they will go through the same stuff I went through . (Yaam petra thunbam,Vayyagamum peruga) (Excuse moi, for the wrong tamil saying! :D) So I thought I would probably paste the questions at the bottom.Anyone interested can copy them and blog them here...Your wish! :)

P.S : I happen to find that, the only other person even mildly close to the V of active in this blog is my nomenclatural clone - sowmya..so this is for you...:) Go ahead..I had fun blogging this...:) :) :)

1) Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it.
2) What does your phone look like?
3) What is on the walls of your bedroom?
4) What is your current desktop picture?
5) Do you believe in Gay marriage?
6) What do you want more than anything right now?
7) What time were you born?
8) Are your parents still together?
9) Last person who made you cry.
10) What is your favorite perfume/cologne?

11) What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?
12) What are you listening to?
13) Do you get scared of the dark?
14) Do you like pain killers?
15) Are you too shy to ask someone out?

16) If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
17) Who was the last person who made you mad?
18) Who was the last person who made you smile?
:)

THE WEIRD YET LOGICALLY CORRECT QUESTIONS

01.If all the nations in the world are in debt(am not joking. Even US has got debts), where did all the money go? (weird)

02.When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it? (to be given a thought)

03.What is the speed of darkness? (absurd)

04.If the "black box" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole airplane made out of that stuff? (very good thinking)

05.Who copyrighted the copyright symbol? (who knows)

06.Can you cry under water? (let me try)

07.Why do people say, "you've been working like a dog" when dogs just sit around all day? (I think they meant something else)

08.Why are the numbers on a calculator and a phone reversed? (God knows)

09.Do fish ever get thirsty? (let me ask and tell)

10.Can you get cornered in a round room? (by ones eyes)

11.What does OK actually mean?

12.Why do birds not fall out of trees when they sleep? (tonight I will stay and watch)

13.What came first, the fruit or the color orange? (seed)

14.What should one call a male ladybird? (No comments)

15.If a person suffered from amnesia and then was cured would they remember that they forgot? (can somebody help)

16.Can you blow a balloon up under water? (yes U can)

17.Why is it called a "building" when it is already built? (strange isn't it)

18.If you were traveling at the speed of sound and you turned on your radio would you be able to hear it? (got to think scientifically)

19.If you're traveling at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what happens? (I don't have a change to try)

20.Why is it called a TV set when theres only one? (very nice)

21.If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth? (this is nice?)

22.Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 130 when you legally can't go that fast on any road? (stupid, break the law)