The Cherished Episode Unfurled

We woke up by 5 next morning.Deepak, Sajeev and Amith were there with us at the hostel. We again faced a transportation problemo. We were going to my home again.We walked all the way to Madanmukku from where we succeeded in getting an auto to my home. We were to try and to extricate the darn pc's HDD.No one was up at home.We set a glorious precedent for prospective robbers by jumping the walls with professsional ease.We tried in vain to get the HD out.Having given up, we proceeded to school where some batchmates like bachu and jowin,govind were trickling in.

By 8 the sun was up and blazing.It would have seemed a joke that if we mentioned that we were out in the precarious rain the previous night.Everything was NOT ready.Prakash Food Products were supposed to get their stuff here by 8.30.Suraj,supposedly our chief accountant, sauntered in by 8.45.Mereen and Geethu, who wouldnt miss a class were in their places to assist their belated chief by 8.As always the girls from the hostel were there to help. Finally the food came from Best Bakery,the drinks from PFP and the ice-creams from Amul.All items were priced at their respective MRPs as we had decided(in defiance of the policies followed both by our predecessors and our unscrupulous successors) that we would not resort to rapacious profiteering and would make do with the margin that our distributors gave us.Everybody proudly wore their respective badges.The auditorium was thrown open exclusively to our seniors, the ISC-2004 batch ,to function as a restaurant where we had tables and chairs and on-demand music(for a sum of two rupees).Jamie, our melody queen manned this part and did an excellent job.the restaurant was quite popular and it was called 'La Gourmet'(I think it was Preethy's suggestion).We had the princy come in and inaugarate the stall.We gave him mango juice. suddenly everyone clapped and Joseph Mathew sir stood there wondering whether to drink the thing or not.

The show was on.We had customers trickling in.The restaurant was a hit.That year I was vice-captain of the Green House.Only once did I visit my house's tent. I was so very preoccupied with the stall's functioning.Most of the newcomers of our batch were asked to sit at the counters. What is so special about MTRS is that all newcomers find it so very easy to jell with the others.Our batch wasn't any aberration either.Sam Chacko was a new entree, popular for his eccentricity.He surprised me by his dedication and concern.He also helped by giving a lot of valuable suggestions.Sam Thomas (Shaam),was in charge of the Rupees-three-a-piece "Ice-candy", a branded euphemism for a "sip-up" which we procured for 1.75 Rs. and it surely was our biggest hit.Unfortunately, the Amul dealer hadn't the requisite stock.We could have made a lot of profit through that venture even though we hadn't any exorbitant margin.Quantity was where we could score.This was where we couldn't capitalise.In fact this was our biggest flaw.We had ordered what seemed would be reasonable amount but then that was two weeks ago when we hadn't anticipated the postponing of the stall. We didnt show the managerial acumen to walk upto the Amul outlet and tell the guy of the developments.Therefore the current imbrglio.

In the run-up to the day of the stall, we did not witness any pervasive participation.that is why it surprised me when every single person was so very concerned on the day of the stall.The girls led the way in breaking the inital lull which i must say was also quite a surprise.

It was turning out to be a runaway hit when we realised we were short on supplies.By the time supplies arrived we had already sent off two dozen disappointed prospective customers.The day was nearing close.We had SUP, Rachel miss, SVK and Suja miss (our class teachers,thats what they say) to help our accountants with the money. SUP ,as usual, was right on the money(no pun intended), with her characteristic efficiency and no-nonsense to the fore.So then it was pack-up time.Vinay,Sajeev and the girls helped with the cleaning-up. I, judicious as ever, volunteered to settle some matter with Amul(and stay away from the 'dirty' work).Vinay it seemed was totally dissatisfied with the way everyone was involved in the delivery mechanism. he suggested that on the ensuing day we would make do with select guys for delivery.

The following day by 8, I was in school. We were warming up for the second day's sale.The bundle of notes were recounted(i think).It had been placed in the safe custody of the girls in the hostel. Vinay made an announcement that we had suffered a loss of 4000 rupees.I was devastated.So was the rest of the batch.I couldnt make out were we lost such money.He cited inefficiency and mismanagement as prime reasons.I kept pondering all day how we could lose money that ran into thousands.We were really on stilts that day--Vinay's announcement had done the trick.Everything (except Best Bakery's punctuality) was impeccable.We had periodic announcements at the gallery.having run out of the 3-rupee-ice-candies we made do with the five-rupee-ones.We never expected it to click.How could you?When you had 300ml lemon-sodas at Rs.6, whichlunatic would buy these?However we did find some though they weren't as much as we would have liked.

In the meantime we had to placate Joseph Mathew Sir who was disillusioned with the restaurant.He had asked us to close it down immediately as it had ensured that none of the Std 12 students were on the ground.We coaxed and cajoled and finally got him to comply.

Vinay meanwhile had pledged not to eat anything during the time that the stall was on.A lot of us drew inspiration from that and confined ourselves to the consumption of drinks.

That night, some guys stayed back till about 8 o' clock.We had some lemon-sodas(which were
tabbed).John who was mastering the art of breaking open a soda bottle all day failed here.The mouth of the bottle broke instead.We were contemplating adding that to John's tab when Mathew,the genius, put forth hisscientific views.Since lemon-soda is also carbonated water under pressure, when opened, the gushing gas makes the possibilty of the glass pieces making it back to the bottle almost nil.With his unflinching faith in science rearing its face once again,we washed our hands off him.We even stated that we had no hand in his death if it happened.But Mat/Mathai/Mathy, the eternal patriot and science and history buff , took the bottle and gulped down the whole drink to the last sip.Then he looked at us and smiled characteristically.That night still gives me a feeling of warmth every time i think of it.

The following day Vinay broke the news that the 4000-loss announcement was all bogus. The aim was to drive home a wake-up call.For the second day in a row, I was taken aback.Jowin broke down.He was aghast that Vinay should have concealed the plan from efficient-him.Vinay tried to pacify him but Jowin wouldn't oblige.I lost track of the drama that ensued.We had the last day's sale that day.Although we had been told not to order foodstuff for the day,we defied directions and went forth with our predilections, which ultimately proved beneficial. In the meantime there was a staff meeting going on in the auditorium, which more specifically was a send-off party to Baby miss and Rema Pillai miss.We struck gold when Joseph Mathew sir ordered mango juices for all the teachers.

Eventually it was time to wind up.Having settled all the bills,we had a quite time by the tree in front of the auditorium.We bought ourselves some chips from 'Chinchus' near-by,sponsored graciously by Jinta's mother.We went to the hostel and had a good time throwing papers and pens at each other.Finally it was all over.
ASTELA FEASTA was surely a cherished episode for all of us.For us it was the epitome of camaraderie.The fact that i can recollect so much even after more than 3yrs speaks volumes in this regard.ASTELA FEASTA will hopefully be etched in MTRS history as a venture that provided (pesticide-free)products at the most reasonable rates that you'd ever get them.Here's to wonderful memory!!!!





PS:I must have left out a whole lot of events and incidents and people involved.Plz attribute that to my poor memory(something that even a religious consumption of Brahmi has not been able to cure)

The Unfurling of a Cherished Episode

I've always wanted to write on this. I'd have no qualms in saying that a miniature version of this story was unceremoniously dumped by my dearest friends when they went on to make a CD on our days at school. Well that’s over and done. It hurt me a lot and that hangover lasted for a few days. But friends will be friends and I forgave them. And they perhaps did enough later to warrant forgiveness.

Let me now draw you to this event which occurred in the summer of 2003---specifically October 2003. You won't call that summer will you; well it was hot and perhaps it qualifies to summer thus. We were back at school after a rather eventful Onam 'holidays’. There was this buzz going around the four classes which constituted Std.11.We were supposed to conduct a food stall on the Sports Day, something that has been a tradition at Marthoma Residential school for years. We decided that if we did not plan soon, we might be ill-equipped to deal with the contingency. So we did. We were hell bent on bunking classes---exploring a new avenue hitherto unexplored—which gave us the all new freedom. There was this hysteria all over the batch particularly among Jacob (john), aswin, sabari and gishin (then newcomers), nithin gopi, anand, jeev, sam and a lot of others. We convened a meeting one day and decided unanimously that Vinay must be made convener of the enterprise. We decided to do away with the committee system that made power and privilege the preserve of an ‘elite’ few. So there was just this one guy to give us direction. Many artistically competent guys were placed in charge of designing the posters. That was when everyone chipped in—right from cutting and drawing to painting. A lot of waste paper was needed for being used as coupons to be given away when the customers came. Prathip and Chacko and surprisingly then, a lot of girls came including Liya and Dincy and then girls from the hostel, worked on a Saturday to get things done. I am sure I am leaving out a whole lot of names. But then for people who don’t know these boys and girls (Ladies and Gentlemen now) it might appear monotonous.

In the meanwhile Vinay, Vishal and I had gone around Tiruvalla “buying and testing the best food available” to be ordered for the stall. We finally ended up buying food from a bakery which we hadn’t certified. We would leave school and the rest of the evening would be spent in Tiruvalla. We ordered ice-creams from an Amul outlet. We were really exhausted that day—we had sampled ice-creams from Amul too and probably that was showing. We decided to have lemonade from a nearby shop. We were really impressed with the “quality of lemonade” being sold there. We couldn’t use colas for our stall since the CSE had just brought out their famous pesticide report. Thus we made our acquaintance with Prakash Food Products, via Jitu and Bachu who knew them because they had their lemonade ‘factory’ on the Kuttapuzha-Muthoor road, who were the proud makers of these ‘high-quality’ lemonades. They even coaxed us to buy some mango juice(which we were sure wouldn’t sell much and they didn’t eventually).

Our batch is known for its flamboyance. But we know ourselves for complacency and last-minute-planning. So much so that we didn’t release our price list except on the day of the stall. In fact we had to bunk classes the previous day. That day will probably remain as one of the most memorable days of my life. I had to report to Sreeja ‘miss’ to offer an explanation for having bunked off her Physics classes. She didn’t quite digest the explanation. She asked me if I thought that I had grown so much (she taught me in Std 9 too) as to miss classes without having obtained her permission. Needless to say, I bunked again and again. The very next hour, Jowin (chaks), Deepak (deeps), Vinay (bugao) and I were at my home trying to get my printer to print the price list. My efficient printer wouldn’t budge. Finally it did and we got a distorted price list. Now we’d have to do it again. Deepak and Jowin went back to school in an auto while Vinay and I took 2 bicycles. We had to go around the school telling everybody that we would be holding a stall the next day. So we had to call Jinta, our official spokesperson from Adeline miss’ English classes where Prospero the magician had just called Caliban, a “hag-born". We finished our rounds quite quickly. When the bell rung for the day’s last class we had a train of comrades coming out from Susamma miss’(SUP’s) Chemistry class. The excitement showed. Someone jumped the walls of the school to get photocopies of the price-list. I think it was Sam—but he returned without them---I don’t seem to remember why. Vishal and I took the cycles back home after the bell had rung. That was no mean joke. For a person of my physique, cycling a total of 6 kilometres was heavily demanding. Vishal and I had to come back very quickly. Unfortunately the others had tuition classes for Maths (the [in] famous PAJ classes). I waited for Jowin to be back. And finally when he did (Vishal went home by then), we hurried to an internet café which also offered scope for DTP and printing. The final price-list was ready. We needed at least a dozen copies. But by that time, the photocopy shops were downing their shutters. So we had to revise plans. We would do it first thing in the morning. I reached home by 7:20pm.Vinay gave me a call. He was on his way to Tiruvalla (from his home@Chengannur).He asked me to be in Tiruvalla by 7:30pm.How the dickens was that possible? I gulped down my dinner (I hadn’t eaten anything since morning)and had a bath. To add salt to (deep) wounds it started raining. There wasn’t an auto neither was there a bus coming my way. I finally got an auto to Tiruvalla. It was dark and it was raining—no it wasn’t, it was pouring. Could the Sports Day be held tomorrow? It had already been postponed once. At 8:30pm Vinay was standing all alone at the Tiruvalla bus-depot. It had been an hour since he was there. He stared at me. I gave him sheepish look which made me look guilty, when I really wasn’t. We went around the town looking for shops that sold ribbons. Almost all of them had closed for the day. We finally did find one. We were introducing identity cards for our fellow students from Std 11 so as to “integrate ourselves and differentiate ourselves form the rest of the school”. That was why we needed ribbons. The ID cards were almost ready—they were being prepared by the girls in the hostel. We fell short of these ribbons. I later felt proud when these ID were acknowledged because the idea was a sort of a personal contribution which initially faced stiff resistance from Vinay and Chacko. We went back to school where Thomas Samuel sir (Karim Bhai—Terry gave him this name when we were in Std 10), the campus-supervisor-cum-hostel warden had consented to let us stay for the ensuing three evenings. We completed the rest of the cards. And thus a wonderful and most memorable day came to a nyctitropic end. We knew not what was in store for us the next day.

Rest in next.

Reverberations of an Atheist

It’s quite a shock for anyone if I tell them that I am an atheist. The next thing you know you’re looked down upon. It’s never counted upon as a belief worthy of desire. Belief in God—the ultimate tryst with spirituality (so they say) ––is supposedly an exalted virtue. I have been the object of scorn among many of these believers. Perhaps it is the intensity of their belief, or rather the blindness of it or more befittingly, their intolerance. Its not that I never belonged to their cult. I did. Not long ago I was one among them; never the hysterical sort though. I did go through a patch of uneasiness—one of mental turmoil –perhaps one that is so characteristic of adolescents. It is my profound belief that I have emerged unscathed out of this process that is inflictive on every contemporary of mine. More significantly I have reinforced my convictions of the non-existence of God. I’m a born-again non-believer.

I did venture into the concept of God, quietly intensely, I should mention. I believe that I must always transcend the circumstances of my being. Being born into a family that did adhere to a religion was a matter of chance. There was every possibility that I could be born into another religion. A child who has not attained ample development of the faculties of the mind is coerced to conn by rote the verses of the holy book. When he comes of age he has filled at least a dozen forms indicating his particular religion. Thus he attaches an emotional significance to his religion which, I believe, enslaves him for life. He then begins to stratify his acquaintances on their proximity to his point of view. This attitude later leads to grave personal and social conundrums.

I as an individual never do aspire to lead a life of that sort. I believe that by subscribing to a particular religion leaves you biased, bereft of free thought and fettered. It also leaves you vulnerable to trivial social stratifications, to political manipulations. I do not contend that I will forever remain an atheist; the argument is that the first step to self-discovery and of the concept of God is through atheism. Prayer and God should be intensely personal ---something my family taught me and which to my intellect is utterly pleasing.

Hi Everyone

This is me-Monu.Welcome to my blog.In the coming days,months and years, you'll see my series of articles on various issues of contemporary and everlasting significance....