the black sheep!

I hail from a family of..hostelers. At some point or the other of their lives,all my avakaya(fancy name for mango pickle)-loving relatives--with whom i have spent the better part of my pre-teen summer holidays,have just seen,have just heard of or just know exists has or is or will stay in a hostel. That makes me the black sheep of the family-nuclear& exteneded for being the only one who has completed 19 and has not spent a day or even an hour in a hostel. what a pity,my brother said,who himself spent 4 respectable years in hostel. It's not like i did not try to make to a res college, i did, i gave around 7 gruesome entrances to make it to a hostel via the course i'd be studying at the college. Alas, i wasn't a part of the Divine plan that Providence had designed for my family-nuclear and extended. so, i am a "simple" day schi(sounds so much cooler than res!)doing something called political science honors and who hopes to be something called a social worker in the words of a relative(distant but close, as ma puts it,get it?i dont!)whose anonymity is the price of my safety!
The most recent addition to the great hostel legacy in my family is my sister,yes my "real"(what's so hard to believe??) sister!
So the day my sister decided to opt for a certain greek-sounding science course down south(duh),it was just something consequential that she would spend her first 4 years of adulthood in her college hostel despite the fact that she could well live with either of the two mousies living in chennai,i mean aunties, and be like me-a day schi. But, why be a day schi when u can be a hosteler. So, the fees --the cost of "maintaining" my sister for a whole year--was duly paid. then followed the discussions where i played the dummy, what to do in a hostel,what to share what not to share where all the talking was done by my brother. Confession of a mute spectator: i felt left out! I mean,it's not like my sis was already in hostel,it was just immediate future not past perfect or present tense! worse still, i was asked to shut up when i would present something i had conjured in the hostel life of my imagination.
Hurt? Nay! They don't realise i am the only one who knows what its like to be a day schi-travelling in bluelines,braving the heat,rain(just this year, thanks to Global Warming)and cold,eating ma ke haatho ka khana for longer than anyone else in my family has dared to,getting to go out everyday of the week and not just twice or thrice..ah the good life!

Being single aint easy

I've been single all my life and i like it like this simply because i haven't tasted what its to be in a relationship, and i am not desperate either. I am happy knowing that someday it will be my turn. Meanwhile I have enough time to call "my" time, i don't have to sacrifice, i don't have to tell someone(apart from my mom, at times!) what I do every moment of the day, and I don't have to look good/dress up for anyone, etc. etc. Being single is great...until...you are the only "single" among your friends. Here's why:





a) In today's world its a crime not to be "involved" with anyone. And if you aren't many a time friends turn into match makers(let me remind you that in our culture retired people make matches)





b) Biggest drawback, if you aren't careful enough you will soon be an agony aunt. People in relationships will come upto you for "advice" and you will be left speechless since you never were in your friend's position and don't really know how it feels. But then you don't want to be rude and just give whatever first comes to your mind(or advice straight from your favourite romantic novel, a bit altered of course).








c) you are asked constantly why you don't have a boyfriend despite being in college. It's as if you lost out on an important criterion for admission. And if you retort by saying that you really don't care, the other person responds as if you are some kind of a saint.("oh!it's hard to find people like you!"). And you would want to further retort by saying-- DUH! But you don't because you want the conversation to end then and there!





d) You sometimes wonder if you are gay/lesbian.








e) You are always, ALWAYS after your friend's partner in her priority list. And will always get responses like "sorry, i don't have time, you know why..." when you want to meet up. They don't even have to make some effort to make up some excuse!




So you see, it aint easy being single..it's just not as simple as it seems!