Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Goof goes to Ahmedabad - Adieu Chennai

Ah! So tis my last night in Chennai for many more nights to come. After 23 years of haunting the conservative Chennai and being a prominent pest at home and outside, the good old fate has conspired to get self shifted temporarily to Ahmedabad. And well,to anyone who generally is well versed with my ability to get into the soup often, it sure would come as a surprise that self has been asked to present myself as a student at the IIM Ahmedabad.
I mean, today self went to visit my school where teachers generally remember me for the wrong reasons like 'the boy who made another drink orange paint calling it juice' or 'the fellow who came late for a public examination' or 'the fellow who asked preposterous doubts'. And at school I chanced to meet my library teacher who still evokes a shudder in me. She is generally know to treat even fellows who looked like wrestlers with the utmost disdain, discarding them like snapped rubber bands. She had somehow got wind of the IIM A thing and on seeing me, she immediately began a tirade. The following conversation (or rather, monologue) ensued:-

Library Ma'am (LM): :- Such a shame! I dont know ever of a miser like you. Got into IIM A and no sweets? HMPH! Shameless fellow!

Self Err.. Uh Oh! I forgot that bit Ma'am.

LM:- Whoever gave you an IIM seat! Shows lunacy is spreading to all places! I am just not able to think of you as a manager seriously managing and being a corporate honcho and all! I am sure the IIM A thing was a fluke!

Self:- Err... Umm...I d agree ma'am. I had four calls and converted none other than this. Even I think it really is a fluke.

LM(Hitting her forehead):- Aiyoo!! Such a hopeless fellow you are! A total lamb! Is this not the time for you to assert yourself and proudly say "I got in because of merit" and heave up your chest? Those fellows in IIM A will mark you as easy prey I am sure!

Self(thinking):-Now whatever I say, she will find a way to call me hopeless. Better to let it be...

After this, she wished me all the best and stuff and we parted on the same cheery terms as we always were wont to be in. But the point here is, she sure was baffled about the admit thing.

Now well, since this event has occurred, self has packed up the bags (mom had a hard time getting me to pack) and in another eight hours or so is going to be bundled in a train bound for western India. A new city awaits my arrival and soon, it will be a place where self would probably be unwittingly unleashing chaos, mayhem, pandemonium and all those sorts of noisy things.
One feels rather strange when one leaves a city to go to another place after twenty three years spent in one place. A sense of permanency unknowingly steals over you if you have stayed that long. Kind of you begin to think you can understand the finer feelings of the guano-decked statue that has been around a street for a long time. Now it almost feels like how it felt when I was toddling with an ill-fitting uniform into the LKG class and felt the teacher was the most hideous creature I had ever seen.
One however, should shine with optimism and dismiss such doubts as someone sure must have said (No matter even if he has popped off and probably only looks down from a portrait these days). So away self goes to hop on in the IIM A campus and generally continue my topping form as a prominent pest and a blot in a neat page.
The next time self publishes here would mostly be from the campus. Adios Chennai!! I love you and will strive to prove that I am indeed a 'Pachcha Tamilian' (err...palakkad tamilian) at Ahmedabad!
Cheerio
:-)