If Partying's a Crime, We Are Gangsters...!

"And the champions of _______ Inter-school fest 2010 are ...."



"LOYOLA SCHOOL, TRIVANDRUM"!!!



The sweet smell of victory is something worth dying for. This is what defines us. This is what we all hold onto. Victory achieved thanks to a bunch of people who turned workaholics for weeks. Whether it be Shyam, Varghese and the rest singing it out for the group song, Gokul acting his life out on stage, Sam and Bond beating the rest in the battle of the brains, BAS sticking his fellow participants and judges to the wall in personality or our very own Loyola Dancers in Jony, Lama and Movie Star electrifying the audience and burning the floor, we Loyolites have always proved that we do it all and do it in fashion.

And the victories are not the only thing in it. We party it out as well. Park Rajadhani or Ambrosia or both on the same day. And we choose the table that attracts all the attention (Its the table, not us. Honest!). FTA's comments which make you want to beat the daylight out of him, Egghead's dares, and trying to make Shyam finally taste some Chicken Fry. Priceless. And yeah, we never forget how we grew up. The next hour is spent by transforming back into 10 year olds as we slide and swing on the slides and swings(!). Alas, the transformation is just mental, not physical for we are finally made to get down by the frustrated security.(Screw Him!) We get out and get ready to reach home and mug up something for tomorrow's early morning tuitions.(Screw them too!). Jony, jobless as always has places better than home to go to (He ruins us, I tell you). And in a sudden rush of adrenaline, we dive into autoriskhaws and in 10 minutes reach Ambrosia where we party it out once again.

They say "Life is measured not by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take our breath away". And we just happen to live through them at times like these.

Lifestyle.

Loyola School, dominating Trivandrum, in style.

HE has taken my bird and my bush.

Realisation slapped me on the face. I felt pity on my sorry face. The face which I can barely make out on the bathroom mirror. As I pour some more water over my sleepy eyes, the clock strikes 4. The hour when even the president of the country is being rocked by the cradles of sleep.

I remember people telling me that 10th was hectic. Now, my present state of affairs makes the word hectic worthy of being equated to something like a bed of roses. "Life is not a bed of roses", they say. Well all I can say is that people like BAS, FTA and Jony were defintely having more roses on their beds than me.

7 days a week. 5 of them are infected. 3 days having a tuiton each and 1 having two. The rest of the days (if they can be called days) seem to go like blurs. I feel abandoned.

Everyday I am confronted by my parents who stresses on the importance of some words like 'entrance', 'IIT', 'not studying', 'autorickshaw' etc. I reply with choicest of words and concepts that I developed after months of despair and misery. Speaking of all this, why the hell am I doing all this? Its the latest trend in town, that as soon as a child is born, his parents prepare for him, an advance admission into all the *Ks tuition centres. Jk, Kk,Pk,Ok... the list is never-ending.

I still remember my good buddy-cum-sponsor BAS inviting me to join the new Humanities stream in our school. And I...I made the biggest mistake ever. Am I destined to run after tuitions , spend sleepless nights, get into some college and live a normal, boring and effed life? No, I want to be famous. One day, I want the whole world shouting my name.

Damn all entrance coachings, damn all the .Ks , damn the alarm clock, damn everything. Take me back to my 8th standard classroom. I want to relive those magical days.
Inspire and Enlighten me O' Lord!

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice.

That month. The month. The board exam month. All I had to think about was the things I can do during my vacations(which resulted in me screwing up my Malayalam paper). Two months. A new unlimited net connection. And nothing to do except sit at home all day. The thought gave me happiness. Yet that day seemed really far off. Finally that day came. Vacations. To my shock, I found that I was getting Internet speeds of just above 30kbps. A movie needed one and a half days to finish download. During that time, I was again jobless. Most of my friends had taken a looong trip to their native place and the others had a habit of not picking up their cell-phones. All I had to do was day dreaming.

Day dreams. Sounds boring eh? One of these, on a hot sunday afternoon took me back. Back to the Loyola I had known as a 3rd grader. The huge ground where the Indoor Stadium is right now, The old park where there were swings and see-saws(which had been shifted to the children's park). The rubber tyres that were hung from the trees that where used as swings.(I found that more fun than the usual swings). The canteen which used to sell Ice-sticks and choco-bars. And the mango tree in the park which we used to climb everyday. And the greatest change I feel is the Forest. The Forest behind the ground(the present Indoor Stadium).

The Forest was our favourite hangout in the school. Elastic, Sachu, Lama and me used to run into the Forest as soon as the bell rang. Those days were a hell lot of fun. Playing hide and seek in the forest, seeing a large worm and running to Jose uncle yelling "Paambu Paambu", making holes in the ground and covering it with leaves to make a so called 'trap'. And I vaguely remember a enclosure which some seniors made with sticks and leaves. It was called 'The Tent'. There was also the time when we fooled some of our friends saying, "We went deep into the forest and we found the place where early man lived. There are coins made of wood in there".

Memories of being taken to the principal for taking part in a 'stone throwing' game which resulted in one stone hitting Lama's head and the leaking of a lot of blood head and another time for fighting with a senior almost 4 years older to us(and winning! truly :) ) are fresh in my head.

Wet. I cried. My juniors wont get to see any of this. I dont even have a picture to see it myself. Sad. Really sad.

Give me some sunshine
Give me some rain
Give me another chance
I wanna grow up once again.


(to be continued)

Excursion Brawl...!

This is what we hold on to. This is our day in the dead of the night. These 3 days are what we have been waiting for all these months...

Rewind: 10th August 2009

The hisory teacher droned on about French revolution. The last week before the examinations. Last minute revisions came in all periods. Half closed eyes looked up at the above mentioned teacher, hardly following the words pouring out of his mouth. Cometh the hour. Cometh the man. Ramesan sir. Bringing the history class to an abrupt pause, he surveyed the class with a smile. No longer was anyone sleeping. Instead of sleeping everyone was staring with their eyes wide open at this new visitor.

"The excursion is confirmed. Its a 3 day trip to Ooty , Veega Land and Malampuzha. That was exactly what we needed to get our spirits up. All classes turned into fun-filled planning sessions. Teachers were amazed to see the usually sleeping guys in full blast. But we were having our exams and we somehow forced ourselves to study for the examinations.

Fast Forward: 10th September 2009

Loyola was the place. 5 am was the time. Our fleet of battleships(read buses) were lined up and ready for action. With happiness on our faces and our minds buzzing with excitement we set off from Loyola. Cheering was done in full spirits. Our first destination was Veega Land, the water theme park(as if u dont know). We stopped at Kalpakavadi Restaurant at Allapuzha which offered pretty good food. After breakfast and a photoshoot at Kalpakavadi we continued our journey to Veega Land.

Thanks to the daredevil driving, we reached Veega Land by 10 am. By 10 30 am we get into the vast area which promised fun. Veega Land was known as the best water theme park in Kerala and we now knew why. The rides in that park will make you want to cry out for more. The land rides were our first targets. We got on all the scary, brain-freezing rides which threatened to throw its passengers out. The guys who had a go were giddy and were feeling lucky that they lived to tell the tale. The water rides wer'nt bad either. Land rides and water had the same effect. But the difference was that in the case of water rides, it was your classmates that did the damage and not the ride. Pushes, kicks and dives were done at innocent classmates which fills their nostrils and mouth with water. Finally by 5 pm we forced ourselves out of the pools and headed for the snacks stalls. Ice creams, chocolate and drinks were had before we got back in the bus.

Our next stop was Ooty, the place admired for its natural beauty. It was a cool place(literally) and the guys were simply dying to reach there.

Date: 11th September 2009

Time: 7 a m

The guys who were tired after their experience at Veega Land never showed it as they stepped down from their buses at Ooty Gate Hotel which has witnessed generations of Loyolites. We checked in. My roommates were Richie Rich, Johnny and Jitsu. Richie was making awkward comments about the hotel and complaining loudly that they had no proper lighting system(he was expecting a 5-star hotel) while the rest of us had no complaints about the hotel. And then we got a nice sound exhibition from Ramesan sir as Richie had taken too much time in the bathroom.

We left for breakfast, and then to Dodabhetta. The half hour at Dodabhetta was utilised for photography. THE TEA FACTORY, read the big sign on the front of a huge building which we were supposed to be getting in next. There we saw the various tea making machines from which we gathered nothing at all. There was a chocolate shop above this floor from where Daredevil actually bought 2 kilos of chocolate of all kinds. Then we drank a glass of tea(filled to the quarter of half) given by the authorities which was our last experience in the tea factory. We had a quick visit to the Botanical Gardens and then to a place meant for shopping which showed world famous brands with their spellings absurdly wrong and quality absurdly low.(eg. nike - nikey).

And then we were back to our room. Half an hour for the campfire. We all make it down at 5 minutes to go and reach the place. The campfire was lit. The music was on. Maniyan Uncle and Ramesan Sir were in full form. They moved, they grooved, they swerved. Almost everyone had fun. And unfortunately the day ended and we were told to get back to our rooms and stay there. Ramesan sir had to tell off a few people(including me) for wandering around at night. Ramesan sir had no sleep that night. Finally after a couple of serious adventures by both the guys and Ramesan sir, it was morning.

Date: 12th September 2009

We were packed but not ready. Not ready to leave this place. We had to force ourselves to move. And grudgingly we make it to the bus. Malampuzha was our next destination. Thanks again to the daredevil driving of our busdriver we reach Mettupalayam before schedule. Now here we had another round of music and dancing. After that we were feeling ravenous and everyone fell on the lunch that waited for us. We left from there. And reached Malampuzha by 4 pm. Our first adventure there was the Malampuzha rope-way. All were excited at this new ride. We had an awsome view of Malampuzha dam and the place around it from the rope way. And the visit to the dam and the place around it was fair fun. Then we decided to shop. The case was same as the one seen in Ooty. But we eventually bought some artefacts for the sake of buying. And that was our last experience during our excursion. Next we didnt know anything. How fast the driver was driving or what time it was or where we had reached, we never knew. We had awesome fun in the return trip and we made it a tour to remember. The movies that were played during the return went unnoticed. Singing, dancing, cheering and what not, we made the return of 6 hours pass like half an hour.

Date :13th September 2009

Time: 3 30 am

The End. We reached The End. The End to these 3 days in which we witnessed many worlds. Everyone waved goodbye with sorrowed faces. Our time was up. We were drained of words. But filled to the brim with memories.

Life is Tough. But memories like these make us want to live even more. Hope keeps us alive. Hopes about another excursion much better than the ones we have ever had.

Cheer Loyola Sons,

Cheer Till Day Is Done,

Till The Game Is Won,

For our School.

A typical day in 10th...

For all tenthies, the beautiful day starts with the rude and unceremonious ringing sound at times like 3 - 4 in the morning. Dragging myself from the comforts of my plush bed, I somehow make it to the table. After a lot of rummaging and swearing, by half an hour all the books and stuff would have made it to the table. I was thankful. Some had tuition at these insane hours. If the rate of change of tutions follow an arithmetic progression I’m sure that in 6 years, the habit of sleeping would have died out from India. I try to focus on my studies when my head starts drooping. Then my mind would go out of focus. ZzZZ….

I’m woken at 6 by a not that hard[but hard enough] knock on the back of my head. And again the lecture about how I was going to suffer came out again. The lecture i had heard hundreds of times already.

Somehow I manage to keep my head up till 8. Memories of the teacher giving projects and assignments buzzed through my mind. There was no time to worry about that now.
In half an hour I was dressed up and as I am just about to eat my breakfast, the familior sound of a car horn blared. Scooping up my bag, I make my way down to the car and after hearing all his swears of how late I am everyday, I occupy half a seat in the car. 15 people including the driver[who is not that lean] in an ambassador os not a comfortable ride. 15 minutes in the car listening to the dimwits who keep on criticzing Dravid and Tendulkar. Suppresing my urge to beat the living lights out of them, I get off at the home of all Legends. Loyola, my second home was looking down at me.
Walking across our big ground to the reach the CBSE buiding was uneventful unless you count the incident where I almost got run over by a van bringing the tiny tots to the school.

Finally, I reach my destination. X C. The class that is complete with singers, dancers, musicians, actors, cricketers, footballers, leaders, quizzers, orators, nerds and henpeck’ds. The buzz of activity is always visible through the window. At the first sight I am crestfallen. Some other lousy bit of homework that is yet to be done. Half the class was reproducing the homework from the completed books of the other half. My best friend cum sponsor Richie Rich is writing the darn homework while my other best friend Johnny talks nonsense at full blast. The guys who are busy writing include dapankuth, Lama, and Nighingale. The guys who have finished include Mustu, Juice etc.

The teacher enters signalling an end to the work that was in progress and the start of the conversations that were to follow. The conversations vary from tutions to cricket, Messi to Dhoni, LA FEST to films etc. Finally before the end of the period either me or one of my friends will be outside the class. The next teacher comes in and seeing the guy outside starts the lecture on the importance of 10th and the need to score high in the boards. We knew the importance. For most, to get an admission to 11th in Loyola, an 80% was needed. The board was letting in some hope by making a plan to abolish the board exam in the 10th. But, Alas!…It was not to be so. Our juniors were getting the privilege.

The lunch break signals the start of playtime. Unlike other schools our school gives us the freedom of playing during the lunchbreak. After 40 adventurous minutes of a couple of bruises and fights we manage to get in the class only minutes late.

The next session is the time when everyone gets restless. After a a dozen of horrendous screams from the teacher, the last period ends with the teacher rushing out of the class calling God’s name. That signals the end to the day at school.

But it is far from over. The tuition sir waits like a lion in his den to devour all who comes. After an hour of sitting in the newly installed benches in the grounds, enjoying the paradisal beauty of Loyola, and a half hour in which we finish the homework for that day’s tution, we catch the 2nd trip bus to Pattom.

All’s well until we hear about a forgotten test paper announced in the last class. We buy the papers and get into class. The tuition class is a place where I dont feel at home. The whole class except me and a few others are all the guys who get the top grade in their school. He switches on his A/C and switches off all the fans. Though I was impresses with this gesture in the 1st class, the A/C literally gave no cool air as he had set it to 24 degree cooling or similar, and as the fans were switched off everyone had the experience of sitting in a furnace. All this heat with the ever-increasing heat of the exams is sure to drive any sane guy insane. But we still hold on. The tuition sir thankfully hasn’t used question papers with different codes till now which allows us to trade answers. We somehow write it decently enough to scrape a pass and get out of there as fast as we can.

Then catch a bus to my place. Get in the house, have a bath and change. This goes like a blur. Without further thoughts I set the alarm and toss myself onto the plush cot waiting for me.