Getting older by the day..

At various instances in our life, we realize our growing-older hallucinations and that we are not kiddos anymore. This happens gradual, it is a transition we fail to comprehend and it happens to every one of us and its no holds barred.

My set of realizations dawned long time back, though it happened in an intermittent fashion but never thought of them as a wholesome package that would inspire me to write a blog on the same.

Below are few of them, some not so serious thoughts, that struck my mind showing that the clock is ticking fast.

-- It is the general mentality when you come out finishing studies at school and college to consider fellow guys as maamas and machis and the slightly younger ones as thambis (Disclaimer: This is not the case when we see girls). At least that is how our mind perceives. But suddenly out of the blue, one fine evening, when you are coming back from work tired, a boy in search of a cosco tennis ball comes out from nowhere just to hurt your ego and asks you, 'Uncle!! andha ball eduthu kodunga!!'. At the heat of the moment, your first reaction would be to snatch his bat and hit him on his head for uttering that fateful word 'Uncle'. But, one has to accept such straightforward, naive insults.

-- Cricket has always been a companion. I have been traveling with it for years where every World Cup marks a new era. Personally being a passionate fan of Sachin, following his scores and praying for a century every-time he comes out to bat was inevitable for quite a long time. I always considered him a young player who would play cricket till the next millennium. It is only when talks of his retirement surfaced few years back, the sense of mortality creeped into my mind. I started realizing the growing age of him and with him mine. The thought of me being a 12 year old and Sachin being a 25 year old vanished in thin air.

-- There were times when I practically tried every trick to increase weight and hip size (Yes!! I was once mercilessly thrown away from a shop for asking for a jean of size 26 not many years ago). Now, my rate of increase in kilos competes hard with the rate at which US Dollars shoots. Ironically, I touched my all time high recently on the same day when dollar rose to its highest against rupee. Such a meteoric rise was a perfect example of how things change quick and a stark reminder of the ticking clock.

-- Hair-fall. When this happened at my college, I brutally blamed my hostel's hard water for this and hoped things would get better at work. But, it failed to cease even after that and only went from bad to worse as days go by. My current situation is not intolerable, but I have nightmares of being a Cho-Ramasamy if things go this way. Classic example of increasing years and decreasing hair.

-- I am firm believer that one can be branded old when he/she regales a lot about the past with stories and mini-incidents. Unfortunately, this post and one of my older posts served as a fine example of my impending old age.

Well, I sound like a 35 year old moaning about old age. I am not that old too. I am just 23 now, but I considered myself a little boy until some of the above thoughts crossed. I believe there is no means of escape from this, either getting old or getting these thoughts.

I feel I should stop here, insomnia or sleeplessness is another symptom of the 'nasty word' a.k.a Old age we hate to associate ourselves with. That is something which made me write this post.

Alma mater.. Few nibbles..

46 days 23 hours 33 minutes..
Number of days since i had posted.. well.. i am not getting bored of blogging (That still has some time left).. There were a combination of factors that prevented me from donning the blogger's cap ( work commitments, frequent hometown visits, My ISP Tata Indicom's generosity and atlast somberithanam to top it all..)

15 months 6 days..
Number of days since i had been to coimbatore last.. Last time i was in CBE, i was a just now certified engineer.. eager to join corporate world and earn money.. and most importantly had more hair and some brain in my head.. (Ok.. Let me stop my andha naal nyabagam..)
I happened to be at Coimbatore to visit my college PSG Tech last weekend.. Infact 8 of us went for a jaunt (GRE!$!%%@^(@), which was good and a welcome relief for all of us.. We roamed around and managed to take a peek at all places we spent most of our times.. Aryaas, Arunachalas, Cinemaplexes (?!!!), IM, Hostel, Snack bar, NM Bakery.. Darshan remained the same old dhum kadai.. Nothing has changed much except for the prices in all the eateries.. Imagine 10 rupess for a coffee in Aryaas.. Is IT virus slowly catching up with Coimbatore??

The bridge constructed to connect college and hostel campus was infact the high point.. It is a true marvel and nice place for photo freaks.. You could very well see lot of PSGians have their orkut profile pics clicked on the bridge..

And one more glaring difference is the absence of trees along the Avinashi Road stretch.. the roads were naked without those breezer trees.. The coconut shop near sarvajana school too has gone missing..

Apart from this, the department looked the same.. The assembly hall building is now five storeys big.. All the grasses were shaved off the Quadrangle auditorium.. PSG university has now become a commercial hub with lots of companies coming up in the E block..

Well.. At the outset, Coimbatore is still the same old serene atmosphere kinda place which may shed that image anytime.. Coimbatore still rocks.. (Non-PSGians.. kindly Excuse.. This blog may sound a bit irrelevant..)

Now, Then and the Day before..

Late nights are really dangerous.. They kindle your mind and heart with obnoxious (Hayden inspired vocab) thoughts.. True.. And tonight was one such day.. Nostalgia was at its heights with my mind strolling back in reverse gear.. I call this particular thought obnoxious because its 'harmful' to both mind and body.. They wont let you sleep and make you stand in front of your manager the next morning showing him fake smiles and farce excuses for being late.. (Power cuts and water shortages being the latest excuse premiered.. )

What other way to prevent your nostalgia from eating you.. Blog.. Hmmm.. So started scribbling something to show how infectious this nostalgia could be..


I started revisiting every stone around me and picked them to see how they have changed last few years.. I have mentioned every aspect and its effects in three different eras .. (sounds historical.. ;-))

i) School days.. ii) College times.. iii) And Present..

Myself
i) Studious schoolboy having a notorious inner-self but a timid outlook..
ii) Average college student who was a big-time talkie yet still had those traces of that good old timidity..
iii) Now, a so-called software engineer minus that notoriety and timidity and someone who does nothing to feed his brain or brawn,

My Phone..
i) STD/ISD booth owners were the richest i thought..
ii) Nokia 3315 and 1108, where Snake Game and SMS were a rage..
iii) Sony Ericsson w580i.. Sits sadly in my pocket working only as a music player to me also wanting to talk to me more..

City..
i) Chennai.. Ambattur, a suburb in chennai.. one place where urbanisation of chennai could never reach.. You shall infact call me a villager..
ii) Coimbatore.. Calm and composed.. A place wanting to be a full-time city and on the brink of it..
iii) A place where vehicles are nothing but leeches.. yes.. your guess is right.. Its Namma Bengaluru..


Home and my room..
i) Though they were three big enough rooms at my home, i didnt have one to say for myself..
ii) I had one small room to my name which had space only for my legs.. yet, I could call that MY room..
iii) Huge room where my PC lies in the corner of the room like an age old newspaper on the floor, and staring at its master to take care of the dust on it..
A.T: This PC is lucky enough to survive with me in all these places..

I wear..
i) Two options.. School uniform or torn shorts.. I had to go for option one..
ii) Neat formals (or) Stinking t-shirts and W(T)orn out jean.. As all college romeos do, option two..
iii) i am not given options here.. Even if i am asked to come in a beggar's costume everyday, I am bound to come..
Food..
i)No money, but blessed with good food.. This happens to everyone at home..
ii)Very few money and lucky enough to find a parota kadai outside your hostel to get some reprieve from hostel food..
iii) Enough money and what.. Frenetic search for food ends in burning your pocket and miraculously, college hostel food becomes an elixir..

Fun..
i) Motta maadi cricket, in distant memory yet fresh..
ii) Cricket reaching its next level in big grounds accompanied by late-night vetti maangas and night show cinema..
iii) Pool tables in corporate cafeterias..

Wallet..
i) Wallets are a big show off especially if you are among the firsts in your group to have one..
Unfortunately, there was nothing in it except for its bill when i had my first..
ii) The same stinking leather wallet which stumps everyone around with its smell was my saviour to get me out of trouble whenever somwbone asks for money..
iii) A new one now.. Still runnning short of cash but full of ABCD credit cards which i promise i would never use and which was never used before..

What next..
i) Chemistry and its necessity to mug up those equations drove me to think of pouring those acids on my chemistry master's water bottle.. Such was my enmity towards that subject and desperation for that MPC cutoff to get into a good college..
ii) Placements help you start your path.. But there are chances that it may end where it started as in my case.. That filled my 'what next' in a rather careless college life..
iii)Barrons and TIME materials filled my bed with no specific path defined now.. Even thought of speaking to Rajnikant to find out a way to Himalayas and settle there.. 'What next' column had to be filled blank now..


Phew.. Huge post isn't it.. Kudos to all those who had patience to read through this blog..

Looks like this post has a tad negative shade.. Well, thats what memories does. They make you yearn for the past, showcasing the negatives of today..