AN ORDINARY GUY.
THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME.
I was quite a strange guy,according to my friends.Studied in St. Vincents(a boys' school) till class 10,and was gradually nearing completion of a
seamless transformation from my mom's cute,chubby cheeked crybaby "monu" to a naughty boy. All day I played pranks at school and even
at my tuitions.I was part of a wild group of boys,the ones you would come across in boys' schools every now and then.But,the fact
remained,that I was a good student i.e. not in terms of impeccability of behaviour or sincerity,but in terms of marks.I never burned
the midnight oil,but studied quite regularly.If I got a word of praise from the teacher in a class,for scoring highest in a class test,
I would invariably ensure that the good work was undone in the next class by splashing water on some unsuspecting guy,or slanging my
heart out against someone else for some negligibly unnoticeable grudge,or some other silly act.I remember one incident when the whole
crowd ran to the windows in the midst of a classroom just to see two street dogs mating below a tree.The spanking we had after that
reminded us of its occurence whenever we sat on chairs,benches,anything(non-discriminatory pain,isn't it?),and particularly strongly
every morning during the glorious process of defecation(for the next 4 days,to be precise).
Like typical students of a boys' school,we were really never short of testosterone(though many of us never bothered to read what
testosterone and the endocrine system actually were),and it showed when we had the school fetes.Loreto Convent and
A.G.Church were names treated with utmost love(more lust than love,according to me) by some.Looking at them,one would ask "who says
the women are oppressed in this country?". Large eyeballs were ready to pop out any moment,tongues started hanging(dry in the
heat,no saliva though) in delight,baboon smiles appeared on our faces,the song dedication stall(well,we had those in school too,no
Radio Nitroz,though) had a sudden rush and almost started crumbling under the enthusiasm of so many hungry wolves. Some girls smiled
shyly,some lifted up their noses as if to defy the sky,twisted their lipstick-laden lips and turned their faces away. And the rare instance
that a guy talked with a girl,they became the centre of attraction. After the minute long conversation was over,the look on the boy's
face was as if he was Tom Cruise."Could you believe it man!She asked me the cost of this pen in my pocket!!CAN YOU IMAGINE!!!
GOD,THANK YOU!!!".This was the general scenario.
Coming back to worse things, I got 94% marks in my board examinations. Mom and dad were very happy. I wanted to get out of home,
as fast as possible,utilizing these marks.As talks started of me moving out for 11 and 12,my mom(like typical Bengali moms) got sick and didn't
eat food for 3 days. I had almost zeroed in on taking admission at DPS,Bokaro,but had to forcefully wrench the thought out of my mind.
I went to Burnpur Riverside School,one close to my home,and one where maximum of my school friends had shifted base.I was sad and
to console myself,I thought:
THIS IS ME.
AN ORDINARY GUY.
THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME.
Now. First day of school. A co-ed school. I still remember what my mom told me that first day."Be a good boy. Talk to girls properly.
Don't get angry unnecessarily". I was unsure how this would turn out. Of course,I had few of my old friends in my class. The first few days,
I was actually afraid to interact with them. All that came to mind was "you nasty brute...you naughtiness personified...you foul mouthed
monster...girls will run away from you...they don't talk with people like you...they talk to good boys...coz they are GOOD GIRLS".
But,gradually,I discovered that girls could also be naughty,crack jokes just like us,bunk classes and have fun. I made quite a few friends
among them.And in the highly effective process of dissemination of information,we got to know each others' "code names" for referring
to the other sex and discussions of various aspects of it.I found a whole new consumer base to target with my talent,one that
I had taken to great heights and made it an art,i.e. legpulling.This new consumer base mostly consisted of lovebirds(dedicated,fickle minded,
wannabe,and "used-to-be").Even unwilling(and sometimes,unsuspecting) candidates(mostly simpletons) were pulled into forged link ups,
created so perfectly by the combined team effort of a few people(wonder where the brilliance of team work fled when we had our
practicals,where we spent more time manipulating calculations than in doing the experiments). These things may seem ruthless time killers,
but they served the very important purpose of providing valuable gossip material.
As a student,I found myself on a declining curve.My marks began slipping down a bit,and assortments of scoldings at home were just
value-added benefits ready to steamroll my brain at the slightest pretext.I also made friends with quite a few number of boys who
came from other schools. I started indulging in more fun and frolick. The devil of adolescence was rapidly taking over the reins
of my mind,body and soul.Mindless gossip throughout school,during tuitions and even after tuitions became an important part of my
life.Trying to ape many others,took correspondence coaching from Fiitjee.Never took it seriously,and as happens,the study material
zoomed past my grey matter without dropping even a small pebble of knowledge on my skull. I still remember how I used to flip through
the pages of those booklets without understanding 90% of what was printed on those pages.At tuitions,I paid less attention to the
teacher and concetrated more on the jokes and sniggers he was being subjected to,without his knowledge. Sometimes I wondered what
would ultimately happen of me. Would I be able to settle myself well in life?Would I succeed in making my parents feel proud of me?
Would I become wealthy and prosperous,and get that life of contentment that eludes so many?
Some questions can't be answered so easily. I couldn't,and thought that the best way to these answers was to turn on my pc and play
Prince of Persia or to squat on Orkut(Facebook wasn't so popular then).Life was good,full of memorable incidents. I remember the day
the class 11 students gave us the farewell.Such celebrations are always accompanied by events meant to bring out the naughty boy in you.
The would-be-pass outs were asked to come on to the stage and speak "whatever they wanted".Due to an inexplicable sense of outrageous
courage that overpowered me,I remember having walked on to the stage and in front of all the teachers,staff and students and proposed
to Sujata,the girl on whom I had a crush. All the girls gaped at me with mouths open,the teachers were shocked(luckily the principal was
down with fever that day),some guys hooted and cheered for me.Whatever it was,I enjoyed the moment. That one day,the last day at
school,I was the most talked about person(be it in good or bad taste,didn't bother me),and I loved it.
Back to worse things. I got 85.4% marks in my board exams,and this was concrete proof of my degradation.
I again thought:
THIS IS ME.
AN ORDINARY GUY.
THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME.
Daily bouts of scoldings and insults followed,the ones the elder boy in the family is usually subjected to. Whatever time was left to prepare
for the competitive exams,I tried to utilize. But,I felt a strange sense of lack of enthusiasm. Didn't crack IIT-JEE,as expected. Got a
rank of 24948 in AIEEE,which wasn't a very pleasant surprise but gave a sense of relief(atleast I wouldn't have to die hungry,hah!),which
sufficed to get me chemical engineering here in NIT Durgapur(mom was happy again,her son was so close to home..typical bengali mom).It's
been just 19 months till now,and life is quite ordinary. Many things bad,many things good.Still now,I wonder what would happen of me. Those
3 questions still have no answer.But there's one thing(among many other things) I've learnt here.And that's why,irrespective of what happens,
I tell myself:
THIS IS ME.
AN ORDINARY GUY.
AND THAT'S WHY THERE'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME.
