Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Teachers

What must I do when the teacher hasn’t come?
I can’t sit stiff in class and keep mum.
But its good if the teacher is strict and tough
And you begin to feel that you’ve had enough

Do teachers fill up forms of white and blue?
Or write in handbooks that they’ve had the flu?
Do they stutter and stammer for low attendance?
Then why must we do that? It makes no sense.

Are the teacher’s records ever checked at all?
They can say they are ill and go to the mall.
Anyhow, if these teachers do miss their class
We have an equally boring time in the library, Alas!

I was rummaging through a couple of my old notebooks, when I came across this poem. Obviously written in a fit of boredom, I couldn’t help but laugh as I read through it. I must have written this several years ago. It makes absolutely no sense….and is quite childish actually, but its fun to come across such weird pieces of writing years later.

On teachers’ day, I am at a loss of words to describe the teachers who were part of my life. My life didn’t change radically due to their pearls of wisdom. Nor was I deeply inspired by any of them. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t have asked for a better set of teachers. But they were there…..and I learnt….what any student learns in class. Nothing more. Nothing less. But still, kudos to all the teachers who put up with moi for so many years!
The profession is losing the dignity and respect it commands. I really hope someday, I can take time off my ‘busy life’ and teach. And if I do that someday, maybe some other frustrated teen will write this poem sitting in the library because I would have bunked to go see a movie.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

The Perfect Pair of Black Jeans

My obsession for black jeans began with my visits to the orthodontist. Trying desperately to ignore the high-pitched shrieks coming from within the doctor’s room, I used to bury myself in the tabloid and fashion magazines kept in the reception. After hours and hours of gorging on such magazines, I learnt a couple of important facts on fashion. Everyone must have a pair of black jeans. They apparently went with every occasion (Back then….and even now; I don’t frequent these ‘occasions’). And they took off the extra kilos from….ahem….wherever you wanted them taken off. Every celebrity urged you to own a pair. Almost as if they would come out of the magazine, pull you by your collar and jinx you to buy them. And almost all designers went gaga over the black jeans of film stars and Page-3 socialites.

I began the search for my pair of black jeans. I was in need of a new pair of jeans anyway. I had managed to cut off all my old pairs to transform them into shorts or capris. So I had no pair of decent jeans for the ‘occasions’. And thus I began my quest for the ‘Perfect Pair of Black Jeans.’ I came across all kinds…….from gravity-defying low waist pairs to the skinny kind that can give a stick insect an inferiority complex. None matched my standards. Or my fussy attitude and stingy budget. I had almost given up for good when I saw the words SALE plastered upon one of the top branded shops in a market. I ran towards it to buy my pair. There was almost a premonition that I would get my pair there. But on opening the door, all I saw were men’s jeans. So they use a skinny gorgeous female model to advertise the SALE and then sell only jeans for the male species. Well, I guess that’s the whole point….of luring the male species.

So after 4 years, I have managed to find the “black jeans”. I had to widen both my budget and criteria for the perfect pair. But the moment I looked into the mirror after trying them on……I realized that they were indeed something else. So occasions or no occasions, I will still probably strut around in those jeans…..after all; it took me the longest time to procure them.

Ultimately, I learnt that everyone must have a pair of black jeans….even if they take you longer to find than your entire orthodontic treatment!