Summer of 99 - Concluded
contd...
Phew! I followed her to the class room. I was the cynosure of all eyes in the class that day.....sure... i knew all about major chords, minor chords...tuning the guitar......but was completely ignorant about one simple thing. - I didn't know how to wield the guitar!
My "15 Minutes of fame"....lasted for a good 5 minutes that day...the instructor was fed up and continued with his lessons on the "Major Triad".......
"Listen class!" he started ....."The triad is constructed by stacking up the notes of the scale "every other note". The first note is called the Root. The second note is called the Third because it is three scale steps away from the root. The third note is called the Fifth because it is five scale steps away from the root."
What the heck? Why would one call the second note THIRD.........and the third note FIFTH? I seriously doubted if I could really tame a guitar.......the entire class was busy practicing lessons......I was cursing my luck... I still hadn't paid the fee......I can back out anytime I wish.......will the old man buy the guitar back from me..
Will S.P = C.P?
I was out of the predicament soon.....the class ended!
She came up to me and said "Hey easy.....Relax."
"No bond! ......I just can't ......I'm not that material of which great artistes are made of.....I'm seriously thinking to back out" I repented.
"Hey ....I have a name ...." she said
"Oh....didn't I ever ask for it before....go on ...please..." I said.
She told me her name.
"Nahh......I think I'd better settle for Bond "I was at my derogatory best....
She hit me with her guitar ..."Now listen, I know u had a torrid time today....I'm here to help you"
"Look, thank you ....but if I wanted help, really ...I would have asked for it....."
"So....I'm too late.....u have already left.......u didn't learn a damn thing didn't u.....except to quit!" ...she laughed. "Dumbo! I've seen Top Gun too....did I get Charlie's dialogue right?" she winked.
She taught me the basics of guitar that evening.....fret.....string skipping....harmonics....the tonic......and most importantly - Major Triad. I felt much better. I walked home with a spring in my steps that day.
The Sachin and Agassi posters in my room were slowly giving away to the ones of Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, John Lennon, and George Harrison..........
I was gradually getting better with every class and found a good friend in - Bond!
We would sit together in the evenings after the classes and would discuss a wide gamut of topics - Objectivism....to the new "Bhoodham" (devil) that comes for the Onida TV Advertisement. She could go on and talk about anything...she had a natural flair for it....she was a voracious reader....introduced me to the world of Ayn Rand...& Objectivism.....said she finished reading The Fountainhead & Atlas Shrugged when she was 15.....phew! I was confined to the works of Bach, Jeffrey Archer, grisham & Crichton...and thought Illusions was the only good book to hit the earth.
We were different in many ways ...our thoughts......interests...ideologies all were different...I was this happy-go-lucky kinda guy and she was very strong-headed ....all the girls that I had met before were sort of maudlins...she was a cut above the rest and I was terribly attracted towards her...
All good things come to an end! - The Guitar classes came to an end we promised that we would keep in touch with each other ....and.... we did!
The results were out.....she had made it into this college somewhere in the deserts of Rajasthan & she was very excited about it. "Dumbo.....I'm going to BITS, Pilani...I just can't believe it!" ....she kinda shrieked over the phone.
I ended up in an engineering college down south. She was all set to leave....we met in a coffee shop that had newly come up in the city. This would be our last meeting. I had planned to tell whatever I had in my mind .......we met up in the evening......debated over the pronunciation of Mocha.....it was "mo-KK-a" For her ...I vehemently believed it was "mo-CC-ha" ....the waiter intervened.... "mo-KK-a" won hands down!
We didn't do much talking that evening. Both of us were kinda silent.....our conversation was limited to the desert life of pilani.....the gaudy neon lighting in coffee shop and other 'not-so-interesting' things...it was well past 8:30 in the evening when I dropped her at her home....
"Hey Dumbo........u coming to the railway station tomorrow? You have to!" she bid adieu...
I could see lots of ambitious faces in the railway station....she was standing with the six-string in her hand and had already made few friends.... The G.T Express started its long journey.....
"Palat.....Palat....." she turned back this time......waved me Good Bye!
I left the city in a couple of days to pursue my engineering.
My new room was a total mess .I was frantically trying to put things in place.....and then this guy came up running ..."Macchan......edho oru
ponnu line la irrukka......yaara ava ? Sollave illa!" [Dude ...some female is online....u never said about her to me....whoz that?]
It was her...."Hey dumbo.....forgot me or what? Only a single e-mail ......." she was at her best...trying to put up a fight....the usual way she adopts to start the conversation.... "And hey listen.....u know what? Junta here are sac (read: cool).....we don't have the concept of attendance itz so different..."she then spoke about the greenery......the yellow buildings...the clock tower..... Tennis and basket ball courts....sprawling campus........... PR Number and the whole Registration process...
I learnt more about ....Practice School........Make-Up....CDC......test-series ....connaught....ShivG ....thadi ..... in the subsequent calls.
"Don't u have any thing to tell about your college...?" she questioned.......there wasn't actually anything to boast of...."Life really sucks here.......u know what? We don't even have a music club here.....I'm bored to death...." I cribbed.
"Chalo.....i have a test tomorrow i gotta ghot now....bye...." she said.
"Wait!....u gotta go what ?"
"GHOT! Thatz how junta call studying here.....Bye. Bye".
I didn't meet her during my semester holidays....she said that she just can't afford to miss this big cultural fest ....she wrote volumes about Oasis in her subsequent mail.......the various departments....Sponz....Art & Dee...that made Oasis a whooping success....blah blah....
We finally met. She came down to the city for her semester holidays....we freaked out like crazy....quarreled over insignificant things...and then she said that to me....
"...dumbo...u know what .....I'm going psenti with this guy......" she blushed...for the first time!
I knew what 'psenti' was ....i had become accustomed to the bitsian lingo......and didn't know how to react........
"Congratz!" i said after a long time......"Poor guy ...didn't he manage to find any real good looking ones?" my insignificant sentence was ignored........she was staring down at the cup of mocha.......she then narrated how they got psenti.......i was in the middle of nowhere.....didn't know how to react.......and then there were the bouts of giggles.....they were slowly transforming to boisterous laughter....she was laughing like crazy.......
"Hey ...whtz wrong with you now.......u Okie?" I asked.....
"Yeah......." she still couldn't control her laughter..........i was kinda intrigued.....and then she continued
"You know what...do u remember the last time we came in here....i was awfully silent and so were you......i would have made a big mistake that day.....thank god i held my nerve.....back then, i thought you were the one for me" she laughed again.
I was startled by her directness........"I would have been glad if u hadn't said this........you are so damn direct aren't u?" She still was a cut above the rest......this time i hated her for that...........
I should have held my nerve ...i didn't.....i simply blurted out......things were apparent now.........We were silent again......i dropped her back......we just met twice after that evening.......i had to head back to hostel in a week....i was actually glad about it....
I came to know through a common friend that she broke up with this guy in the second year.........The amount of phone calls were gradually decreasing in the subsequent years....Mailing became a mere formality.......and then the inevitable happened -- "We Lost Touch" ....
I eventually completed my engineering.... joined a most respected software company..........work wasn't demanding......i was doing the regular connectivity testing that morning....tracing the IPs ....i knew it was a wild goose Trace :) .... It was then i saw this mail on the Bulletin-Board....."Need pointers to institutes teaching the guitar in Chennai!" .....i stared at my mail client ....for what looked like eternity...
I opened the text editor and typed "March 5th was when i saw her first. There was a complete turn around of things on that particular day.............."
"Will i ever see her again?"
Hail the glorious uncertainties of life........u never know...!
"Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life!" :-)
Phew! I followed her to the class room. I was the cynosure of all eyes in the class that day.....sure... i knew all about major chords, minor chords...tuning the guitar......but was completely ignorant about one simple thing. - I didn't know how to wield the guitar!
My "15 Minutes of fame"....lasted for a good 5 minutes that day...the instructor was fed up and continued with his lessons on the "Major Triad".......
"Listen class!" he started ....."The triad is constructed by stacking up the notes of the scale "every other note". The first note is called the Root. The second note is called the Third because it is three scale steps away from the root. The third note is called the Fifth because it is five scale steps away from the root."
What the heck? Why would one call the second note THIRD.........and the third note FIFTH? I seriously doubted if I could really tame a guitar.......the entire class was busy practicing lessons......I was cursing my luck... I still hadn't paid the fee......I can back out anytime I wish.......will the old man buy the guitar back from me..
Will S.P = C.P?
I was out of the predicament soon.....the class ended!
She came up to me and said "Hey easy.....Relax."
"No bond! ......I just can't ......I'm not that material of which great artistes are made of.....I'm seriously thinking to back out" I repented.
"Hey ....I have a name ...." she said
"Oh....didn't I ever ask for it before....go on ...please..." I said.
She told me her name.
"Nahh......I think I'd better settle for Bond "I was at my derogatory best....
She hit me with her guitar ..."Now listen, I know u had a torrid time today....I'm here to help you"
"Look, thank you ....but if I wanted help, really ...I would have asked for it....."
"So....I'm too late.....u have already left.......u didn't learn a damn thing didn't u.....except to quit!" ...she laughed. "Dumbo! I've seen Top Gun too....did I get Charlie's dialogue right?" she winked.
She taught me the basics of guitar that evening.....fret.....string skipping....harmonics....the tonic......and most importantly - Major Triad. I felt much better. I walked home with a spring in my steps that day.
The Sachin and Agassi posters in my room were slowly giving away to the ones of Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, John Lennon, and George Harrison..........
I was gradually getting better with every class and found a good friend in - Bond!
We would sit together in the evenings after the classes and would discuss a wide gamut of topics - Objectivism....to the new "Bhoodham" (devil) that comes for the Onida TV Advertisement. She could go on and talk about anything...she had a natural flair for it....she was a voracious reader....introduced me to the world of Ayn Rand...& Objectivism.....said she finished reading The Fountainhead & Atlas Shrugged when she was 15.....phew! I was confined to the works of Bach, Jeffrey Archer, grisham & Crichton...and thought Illusions was the only good book to hit the earth.
We were different in many ways ...our thoughts......interests...ideologies all were different...I was this happy-go-lucky kinda guy and she was very strong-headed ....all the girls that I had met before were sort of maudlins...she was a cut above the rest and I was terribly attracted towards her...
All good things come to an end! - The Guitar classes came to an end we promised that we would keep in touch with each other ....and.... we did!
The results were out.....she had made it into this college somewhere in the deserts of Rajasthan & she was very excited about it. "Dumbo.....I'm going to BITS, Pilani...I just can't believe it!" ....she kinda shrieked over the phone.
I ended up in an engineering college down south. She was all set to leave....we met in a coffee shop that had newly come up in the city. This would be our last meeting. I had planned to tell whatever I had in my mind .......we met up in the evening......debated over the pronunciation of Mocha.....it was "mo-KK-a" For her ...I vehemently believed it was "mo-CC-ha" ....the waiter intervened.... "mo-KK-a" won hands down!
We didn't do much talking that evening. Both of us were kinda silent.....our conversation was limited to the desert life of pilani.....the gaudy neon lighting in coffee shop and other 'not-so-interesting' things...it was well past 8:30 in the evening when I dropped her at her home....
"Hey Dumbo........u coming to the railway station tomorrow? You have to!" she bid adieu...
I could see lots of ambitious faces in the railway station....she was standing with the six-string in her hand and had already made few friends.... The G.T Express started its long journey.....
"Palat.....Palat....." she turned back this time......waved me Good Bye!
I left the city in a couple of days to pursue my engineering.
My new room was a total mess .I was frantically trying to put things in place.....and then this guy came up running ..."Macchan......edho oru
ponnu line la irrukka......yaara ava ? Sollave illa!" [Dude ...some female is online....u never said about her to me....whoz that?]
It was her...."Hey dumbo.....forgot me or what? Only a single e-mail ......." she was at her best...trying to put up a fight....the usual way she adopts to start the conversation.... "And hey listen.....u know what? Junta here are sac (read: cool).....we don't have the concept of attendance itz so different..."she then spoke about the greenery......the yellow buildings...the clock tower..... Tennis and basket ball courts....sprawling campus........... PR Number and the whole Registration process...
I learnt more about ....Practice School........Make-Up....CDC......test-series ....connaught....ShivG ....thadi ..... in the subsequent calls.
"Don't u have any thing to tell about your college...?" she questioned.......there wasn't actually anything to boast of...."Life really sucks here.......u know what? We don't even have a music club here.....I'm bored to death...." I cribbed.
"Chalo.....i have a test tomorrow i gotta ghot now....bye...." she said.
"Wait!....u gotta go what ?"
"GHOT! Thatz how junta call studying here.....Bye. Bye".
I didn't meet her during my semester holidays....she said that she just can't afford to miss this big cultural fest ....she wrote volumes about Oasis in her subsequent mail.......the various departments....Sponz....Art & Dee...that made Oasis a whooping success....blah blah....
We finally met. She came down to the city for her semester holidays....we freaked out like crazy....quarreled over insignificant things...and then she said that to me....
"...dumbo...u know what .....I'm going psenti with this guy......" she blushed...for the first time!
I knew what 'psenti' was ....i had become accustomed to the bitsian lingo......and didn't know how to react........
"Congratz!" i said after a long time......"Poor guy ...didn't he manage to find any real good looking ones?" my insignificant sentence was ignored........she was staring down at the cup of mocha.......she then narrated how they got psenti.......i was in the middle of nowhere.....didn't know how to react.......and then there were the bouts of giggles.....they were slowly transforming to boisterous laughter....she was laughing like crazy.......
"Hey ...whtz wrong with you now.......u Okie?" I asked.....
"Yeah......." she still couldn't control her laughter..........i was kinda intrigued.....and then she continued
"You know what...do u remember the last time we came in here....i was awfully silent and so were you......i would have made a big mistake that day.....thank god i held my nerve.....back then, i thought you were the one for me" she laughed again.
I was startled by her directness........"I would have been glad if u hadn't said this........you are so damn direct aren't u?" She still was a cut above the rest......this time i hated her for that...........
I should have held my nerve ...i didn't.....i simply blurted out......things were apparent now.........We were silent again......i dropped her back......we just met twice after that evening.......i had to head back to hostel in a week....i was actually glad about it....
I came to know through a common friend that she broke up with this guy in the second year.........The amount of phone calls were gradually decreasing in the subsequent years....Mailing became a mere formality.......and then the inevitable happened -- "We Lost Touch" ....
I eventually completed my engineering.... joined a most respected software company..........work wasn't demanding......i was doing the regular connectivity testing that morning....tracing the IPs ....i knew it was a wild goose Trace :) .... It was then i saw this mail on the Bulletin-Board....."Need pointers to institutes teaching the guitar in Chennai!" .....i stared at my mail client ....for what looked like eternity...
I opened the text editor and typed "March 5th was when i saw her first. There was a complete turn around of things on that particular day.............."
"Will i ever see her again?"
Hail the glorious uncertainties of life........u never know...!
"Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life!" :-)
Comments
keep writing and all the best.
Hey I just chanced on your blog, and was thrilled to know that you play the guitar. And why is that? well, i've just started to learn it.
Could you let me know some of the good schools around here?? Right now, I'm going to this guy in Anna nagar, and its more of a one-on-one session there, while what im really looking for is a classroom - with many other students as well?
Could you let me know ...?
happy clicking,
Shivendra