Laugh, Think, Cry

Another New Year! Cliche but true, "Tempus Fugit, Time Flies"!! Here I am yet another year in Fargo. Three years back, who knew!!?!, there even existed a Dakota?? and today I am enlightened to know there are three "freezing" Fargos and I inhabit the coldest one! Can't believe it!! it's 22 C below the freezing point! A thin layer of frost has cut me off from the world outside, I can't see the TV tower today and I can't see the blue sky! I can't see a thing!! Perhaps NO!! that's not quite true, I do see an enchanting piece of art instead, something no artist can ever create. The patterned frost on the window pane is like those beautiful geometrical patterns we can see through a kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope - artistry of reflections. Reminds me of the first and the last edition of the college magazine we launched during 'Mansara'. We named it Kaleidoscope, to symbolize the many different phases of our college days. The amusing part was, that there were two editors but no articles to edit! Dri and I had to desperately beg for contributions! Finally, it did get published at the 11th hour, and was even blessed with a controversial write-up:))) (that's an interesting story I'll save for another day!

Mansara, the annual college fest was the idea of some of the bright ones of our very active BARCH batch. It started as a playful suggestion but soon became a goal for the Archinoids, we called our batch!! The 48 hours preceding Mansara were one of the unforgettable episodes of my life! The magazine had to be printed, the stage had to be set, the programs had to be finalized, invitations had to be sent, and a long never-ending list of the eleventh-hour to-dos!  The decoration, the music, the stalls, the excitement, the tension, the adrenaline surge, we were going bonkers! The crazy 48 hours passed and it happened! A blast it was:) I call it a REAL success! The names have changed, and the faces are different, but the spirit of Mansara lives on to this day! (touch wood!:)

College was "all play and no work":), So JAK never became a dull boy! Yes! I simply played through the five years of BARCH. There are many funny/ sad/ emotional/ unemotional stories from the good old 'Happy days' (that Telugu movie did touch the nostalgic nerve). Here's one of them..!!!

Building Sciences class was in session. A boring topic, a boring course, and a hungry us! I was trying hard to keep myself entertained to survive one of the longest hours of my life! Maddy was perched (metaphorically) next to me (birds of the same feather flock together after all) and was the poor victim of my boredom. The Prof. said Fredrick Olmstead I read fried rice omelet. He said Ghery, I read Cherry, he said Vander Rohe, I read Vindaloo. Words kept unscrambling and I whispered them out to my equally bored neighbour. Maddy started giggling and I caught on to the contagious giggle. I have a unique condition (well not as bad as the pseudobulbar effect but still a condition, perhaps!) If I start laughing or crying, I mean, if I REALLY start laughing or crying, there's no stopping. Hence, starting a giggle can be disastrous! I faced the consequences once back in school, I had to, really had to, hold on for another 30 minutes but before I could stop the tickle on my funny bone, I saw what I shouldn't have :( The absolutely rotund structure of the Prof. His head was as round as the remaining him (no offense meant but I was hungry, bored, and giggly:) He reminded me of a vegetable, I had rather not name, so as not to sound too offensive and disrespectful (I guess it was merely a matter of the moment - I could have laughed my heart out at the driest of jokes), and the next thing I did impulsively or instinctively or just foolishly was to run out of the class! The lecture room was small, and there was only one way out. The way right under his nose. Out in the corridor, I finally felt at ease. Suppressing a burst of laughter can be quite stressful!!:) I laughed and laughed and laughed. Quite meaninglessly too! A second later Maddy joined me, and we both continued with the laughing spree. The bell rang for recess! We were still laughing. The Prof. passed by us, stopping for a second, and gave a confused, annoyed,  sorry look but we continued laughing as if nothing ever mattered more.

The school episode was during an English literature class. Mrs. P was the teacher, and she was taking a class on Julius Casar, the play by Shakespeare. Act 111 scene 1 - The Ides of March..44 BC. The Roman Senate was about to witness history being created.

And in xxxx AD, two bubbly creatures, sitting in the last row of the class discussing last night's movie quite as seriously, "Ghost" to be precise. Mrs. P is unaware of the two mischievous imps. continues with her lecture. Caesar arrives at the Senate. Cassius, Casca, and Brutus are anxiously waiting to strike the dictator.

The two are still discussing Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, and "Goldie Whoopberg". Casca is about to strike. One of the two says, "You know Goldie Whoopberg is called whoopie sometimes" The conspirators strike the unsuspecting target. The other nodded in consent yes Goldie Whoopberg is sometimes called Whoopie. Brutus makes the final stab, and the two look at each other, and smile. They realized, there's no Goldie Whoopberg.. She is Whoopie Goldberg and is always called Whoopie:)).

Caesar looks at Brutus and says "Et tu Brute, then fall Caesar" and the two burst into laughter. Mrs. P is literally scandalized perhaps even more than Caesar was when he saw Brutus stab him, she immediately asked the two to leave the class.

And the two shamelessly kept laughing in the corridor while the entire teaching staff kept wondering what was so funny about Caesar's assassination:)) So that was Me and Bee and it amazes me too, how a silly spoonerism and Caesar's murder can trigger a hilarious moment!

I guess this is becoming an anecdotal blog.:) I am suddenly flooded with memories from school. Loreto was quite similar to those Enid Blyton Schools we used to read about in junior classes. Not to mention St. Claires and Malory Towers. The red brick building, green windows, secret passage, ponds, bridges, gardens, fields, the junior school park, the sister's cemetery, the piano parlor, the tiny tuck shop, Charlie the skeleton, Bruno and Cindy the huge Alsatians, exactly out of a storybook. Reminiscing about school days always gets me a little nostalgic. Those were the real wonder years. Sometimes I feel, the clock should have stopped 15 years ago :) Not that the after-school life was bad:). Things changed, interests changed, life changed, and it's been a continuous process since.

Well, life's that kaleidoscope that Brewster accidentally invented. It's not just the reflection in the mirrors but the reflection of myriad memories. Those tiny colorful glass pieces, those ephemeral moments. Yes! A twist and a turn, and the pattern changes but whether a smile, whether a tear, whether the past, whether the present, what touches the soul is flawlessly beautiful. The patterns in the kaleidoscope are beautiful, the frost on the window is beautiful and all those thousands of memories are beautiful, and they all make it worth living for!

Jim Valvano, an American Basketball coach once said, 'There are three things one should do every day, Laugh, think, and Cry'And I couldn't agree more or less. At the end of our journey, we will realize that every single day of our life was worthwhile because when we laughed we made another laugh with us, when we thought, we left an idea behind, when we cried, we touched a soul.