Blackout Bash

A two week break from blogging has literally made me lethargic to typing. But what could I do? I was running out of my purse and had no choice other than cut down my ‘extra’ expenses. And that means no more regular surfing on the internet. Further, the series exams at college and never ending submission of assignments didn’t leave me with much time to even think! Now they are all over – for the time being – until the dates for the university exams are published.


Now that the Kerala Government has introduced a 30 minute load-shedding, we at the hostel are happy to have thirty minutes extra at night to relax. It’s not mentioned in the Hostel Prospectus how to spend this thirty minute period. So, we have the time of our lives. The den - Room no: 21. Last week the blackout was from 9-930 pm, that’s just after the dinner time, and the beginning of the study time. But there’s no power supply, so who gives a fuck about study time! A few of us gather in no: 21 and decide what to do. The ideas are random and interesting. Well the first day a few guys took their vengeance on the assistant warden – “Kuttichathan” (or ‘the little elf’) - that’s what we call him! Well if you’d ask any OCSCian whom they despise the most, there would only be one unequivocal answer – Kuttichathan.

The night started off with the usual 7 o’clock bell. There were more than 5 guys in the most wanted room, Room no: 8, which is a triple room! As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts, it’s a crime to be in a room other than one’s own during the study time. Seeing the assistant warden approaching the door, Prashant rushed to the door and slowly closed it. Before he could close it fully, came a push from the other side. Instinctively, he pushed the door back in an attempt to close it. But before he could react, Kuttichathan was already in the room. Then there was silence for a moment, followed by a myriad of abuses and complaints from him on everybody in the room. None reacted, hoping there’s always an opportune time! And it came soon, the same night indeed, thanks to the load-shedding! One of them commented, “He’s not had enough even after locking him inside or throwing a burning cracker into his room through the ventilator!” This rivalry is age old; in fact it started on the day of his arrival several months back, when 8 of us were caught in my room, singing and howling, accompanied by plastic bottle percussion at midnight! And it was after the fear of getting burnt alive (which we wouldn’t do!) inside that Kuttichathan’s room was sealed, the ventilators shut and the bolt on his door was replaced with a key system! The lights went out at 9 and everyone inside room no: 8 rushed to the second floor to rebel! I did not know what was happening. I was in one of the rooms on the first floor and all I could hear was loud thuds on the stairway. Being dark, I hesitated to leave the room and check out. After a moment, there was howling and yelling from the second floor and I could make out it was the devils’ protest against their leader! There was a myriad of sounds from the upper floor, from those of owls to frogs, vultures to bats! And all the assistant warden could do was bear with it until the power was resumed. Guess what, time just drags by when there’s a blackout! Thirty minutes locked inside in the dark can seem a life time. To add to his turmoil, one of them turned off the line to his room so that he wouldn’t realize when the power supply came! I’m sure he had a very tuff time inside having no way other than to bear with what was happening just outside his room. I bet he didn’t have the courage to come out in the dark and shout at the offenders. In fact no one would. That was the first day of our blackout bash. Yes, a few were apprehended by the assistant warden on the following days out of suspicion. But who cares, there were no evidences!

Nothing much happened the following day, except for beating up every one in the dark! And a few guys even got belated Birthday Bums! I somehow sneaked out of getting beaten by the group. But I wasn’t lucky enough. Some had noticed that I wasn’t beaten up! A few guys followed me. Two of them (Prashant and Akhil) lifted my feet in the air hoping to lift me and beat me up. But alas, somebody had forgotten to support my back, and down I went! I fell on the concrete floor with a loud thud right on my upper back. The pain was excruciating and I yelled out on them – “What do you m*****-******* want? What the fuck were you thinking assholes?” But before I could make a next move, everyone had fled.

Each passing night was getting more and more interesting. The blackout seemed to be our stress buster! The third day a senior – Zackhu Bhaiyya – joined in too! Vinit, Akhil, Joseph, Koshy, Samuel, Prashant and I were the others. The topic for the day was – First Crush! Pretty interesting one! It may sound weird that some even had crush in their kindergarten! Zackhu Bhaiyya for instance had his first crush on his KG classmate! :-O The story flowed in. He still remembers her bringing Arrowroot biscuit and he eating Krack Jack biscuit during the break time! And yes he remembers the minutest of details. She’d break her biscuit along the holes in it and share a half with him and he does the same with his Krack Jack!!! Hell! Joseph’s story is one with a cinematic twist! He had a crush on a senior school girl. She comes to school early in the morning to practice basketball and he would reach before the scheduled time to see her. And the thing that attracted him to her was her mini skirt (almost the same reason I had my first crush; I’ll come to that later). The first turning point in his crush life was when he literally touched her! OMG! He was rushing to the class late after watching her bounce balls in the court. He took a turn to his class from the stairway when she was coming down. He hit her accidentally in his rush and turned around to see it was his crush, right in front of him. It hurt a bit, but it was rather a gentle caress on him, which I think he still cherishes! Vinit’s story is the one I liked the most! A crush on his teacher, and that too his Biology teacher! Well he was bowled over by her beauty in err…his 4th grade! Then she was his math teacher. His feelings for her intensified when she came back to teach Biology (Hmm…) in his 9th grade. You know, its puberty and stuff and no better person to teach ‘him’ Bio other than her! No wonder he secured 92% in his 10th! He remembers back in his 9th, his teacher (or rather crush!), would call each of her student for viva. She would be seated on a chair on a raised platform above the ground level. Each of them would go up to her on the platform and attend the viva. Being a 6 footer (he might have been nearly 6 feet back then), he had the advantage of having a clear top-view of her… you know what! And yes she used to wear low necked salwars and sarees! But it seems like the teacher soon got to know things more clearly and after some time as soon as Vinit would be starting to step up to the platform, the teacher would say – “Vinit, you better stay there, so that I can see your face when I ask you questions”! He’d gone to his old school last December. And guess what, she is now teaching Biology to his younger brother! Vinit says she’s still the same as he’d seen her years back! Prashant had his first crush when he was in his 5th grade and Jacob Koshy in his 8th.

Next it was Jacob Samuel’s turn. This one was more of an emotional bond, though temporary. The girl was his neighbor’s cousin, a Bengali beauty! (Man, I must tell you Bengalis are really pretty!). The girl was introduced to Samuel by his friend (her cousin). She was a year younger to Samuel. Her cousin introduced her to him and they got to know each other. Though there were only a few minutes of chat between the two, he seemed to be attracted to her quite very much. The urge in him to meet her again increased. Once he saw her standing in front of his friend’s house. He could not resist the temptation, or may be necessity to go and talk to her. But he could only talk to her for 5 minutes or so, cuz something seemed to inhibit him. Both of them came to know each other and soon there was this “emotional” thing coming into play! It was when Samuel least expected a separation that she announced she would only be there for another week. He waited outside his house to wave goodbye to her while she was leaving. He had her company for over a month, but her parting hurt. Well now it was my turn! I have had many crush, but to start with, it happened when I was in my 2nd standard. Her name was Lakshmi. I had a crush on her for over a year, but it got literally crushed when I had to leave the school. Dad got a transfer to Kolkata, and everyone had to shift there. I did not have any crush for the next three years (at Kolkata), cuz I studied at a Boys’ School! My first serious crush was in my 7th grade, when I returned to Thrissur (Kerala). As far as I could see, she was the most beautiful girl in class (but later on, I came to know that it was not just my perception, every boy felt the same!). What attracted me the most was her outfit. She dressed well clad in a shirt and a short skirt (she wore the shortest in class!). She was perfect! I stared at her every chance I got. Getting an eye contact was the greatest accomplishment those days! And undoubtedly I was lucky. It was the PT (Physical Training) hour. She and I had not gone out to the ground. I made up an excuse that I had headache and convinced the trainer that I couldn’t stand in the sun. I don’t know what her reason was (may be me!). She was sitting in the front row and I, on the second last. She was lying with her face down on the table, and I was continuously staring at her from behind, lost in thoughts. At some point of time, she had turned around and was looking at me. It took a moment to realize that she was now looking at me! Oh my god! My day was made. I was more than amazed when she got up and made her way to me. She sat down on the next seat beside me and we talked for some time. She left to her seat before the PT session got over. It was 7th standard and sitting alone with someone of the opposite sex would be adultery in a Convent School (no offence to my school!)! This acquaintance continued for a year more when a new character came unexpectedly into my life, for the wrong reasons.

Now that the chapter with crushes is over, its time for a new more interesting topic to light up the blackout! Adios…