Oru Devathai - A Review

It starts with a usual chorus with a bunch of girls singing the much clichéd tune. Well, nothing different in that now, is there? When you almost come to the conclusion that there is nothing new in that song, comes the violin background, followed by a simple tabla beat and then it goes Oru Devathai...

The first thing that caught my attention was his singing. Roop Kumar Rathod has done justice to the song. Although, he is from Bollywood, he has given the right stresses at the right places. When he sings ‘Oh’ and goes with it, that is all you need, you’ll get addicted to it. When you listen to him sing ‘nerathil’ in the second stanza all you’ll want do is to listen to him for the rest of your lives. The high notes that he reaches are just flawless. Especially when he is about to finish it off, that was the icing it needed. He has given his soul to the song.

Muthukumar has penned great lyrics for the tune. ‘Kaalgal irandum tharaiyil irunthum vaanil parakiren’ - Even though my two feet were on the ground, I was flying in the sky. I mean, to put something like that in words, it was just B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. ‘Vazhigal therinthum tholainthu pogiren’ – Despite knowing the way, I kept getting lost. Paarkathey endraalum kekathey – I kept telling myself not to look at her but my heart wouldn’t listen. Marana nerathil un madiyin orathil idamum kidaithal iranthum vazhuven – If I get a place on your lap when I am about I would die and live that way. May be it doesn’t sound all that great in English but then anyone with even a little knowledge of Tamil would understand the depth in that sentence. It’s all simple, yet the meaning and the feel that is conveyed is just magnificent.

It is indeed one of Yuvan’s masterpieces. The tabla throughout the song with a little of paino makes it very soothing to listen. Of course, the violin refrain leaves you humming that tune the rest of the day much to the annoyance of your classmates. You might think that the tune is not all that interesting but that is what makes it great. That lyrics needed a simple music and Yuvan gave that.

Bottom line, it’s an amazing song!

Just A Dream

     I was walking in the corridor, twisting my scooter key in my hand. I saw him at a distance, he looked surprised. He turned his back immediately. I didn’t bother. I went to get my scooter which was right beside him.  I take my scooter and turn only to see him seeing me with a greeting smile. He said “Hey! Long time no see.” I was surprised, for all along, he had all but ignored me. I didn’t know what to say. He asked the usual how are you-hows college. I answered not knowing what to talk. He offered me to accompany me till the gate. I was just excited, something I have always wanted. I didn’t bother to think why or how, I just right on said “Sure”.

     I took out my two wheeler and pushed it. He walked beside me, talking. We talked and talked. Sense and nonsense but it didn't matter. The usually heavy vehicle seemed a lot lighter. The corridor didn't seem to have an end. I didn't bother to know where I was going. I just listened to him, spoke to him, told him everything I wanted to tell him for a very long time.

     Suddenly there was a lot of commotion. There were people running everywhere. Someone came and told us that our sisters where stuck somewhere and that we had to go find them. We rush in the direction opposite to where people were running to. He held my hand in his and started running. It came out as a surprise but I didn't say anything. I followed him to a place which looked the lounge of a hotel. He went to the receptionist and asked something. She pointed her hand to a direction and I was about to run towards that place. But he pulled my hand, put his arms around me, and caressed me. My eyes were closed but I could see him better. When I opened my eyes, I could only see the blue bed sheet which didn't cover my feet. It had just been a dream all along. If only it was true...

-Shreeji

How to get a Bus Pass?

I wanted to write about this almost a year ago just so I'll know where to look if I wanted the procedure. But I got too lazy to put it down. The process is itself exhausted me and I didn't want to go though the whole thing by writing about it. But now when I'm applying for it again, I didn't know where to start, how to start and when to start. So here it is, the procedure to apply for a Student's Bus Pass in the city of Coimbatore at Gandhipuram.

Let me warn you about something, this in one lengthy procedure. And if you tell me that you got it done by skipping a few steps then I'm happy for you, for you need to be lucky to get it that way. For the rest of us, I'm sorry to say, it is the following steps:

1) Get a Certificate of Bonafide from your College. Most of the colleges have a separate type of Bonafide just for Bus passes, the colleges which do not have their own college buses. And also have a photocopy of your Ration Card/ College ID card if it carries your house address, as an address proof. (Get this done by 3rd of the month)

2) You need the above two proofs to 'get the bus pass form'. Yes, you need them to get a form which I'm sure is hardly worth over a rupee. This form is generally called the 'Grey form' simply because it is grey in colour. Oh yeah, by the way, the form will cost you five rupees. (By the 4th)

3) Fill this form, stick a passport size photo and get it attested from your college principal or whoever is responsible for signing such stuff. This will usually take a while. (By the 6th)

4) After getting this attested, you need to go to the main bus stand, stand is a huge queue along with the bonafide certificate, address proof and the grey form just to discover that they are simply collecting it. Now, if you're a girl you need to stand only for one evening and if you're a guy and an unlucky one in that, you may have to stand for a couple of evenings to get it done. (By the 9th)

5) They'll probably tell you when you ll get the Bus Pass ID card which is commonly known as the White card (even if sometimes it is yellow in colour) and you need to get back with them on that day. And if they don't you need to check with then every single day. (By the 12th)

6) Once you get the White card, you need stick a stamp size photo and get it attested in your college. (By the 13th)

7) With this White card, you must go to the main stand, stand in the queue for a couple of hours, pay the amount printed in the white card and get your pass. This last step, you will have to repeat every month before the 15th of that month.

I know it is one huge, never-ending procedure. But then when we come to the whole reason as to why we get a pass, it is worth it. I mean. I save almost Rs500 every month just because of the Pass. So my advice would be, don't try to skip any step for it may only lead to delay the end result.

Good luck with getting your Bus Pass!

 

The Back Bench Band

  Another day of college and I was walking towards the bus stand. I was very late and was hoping to catch a bus as soon as possible and one with a seat in that. Guess I was lucky that day, I got a window seat! As I was enjoying the cool breeze, I was thinking of an excuse for being late that day. Of course, I cannot tell my mom that I went for a treat. Only after sometime did I realise that I was humming the tunes of Mundhinam paarthene from Vaarnam Aayiram along with the radio in the bus.

  We were in the 10th std. when that movie was released. Some might think that movie was awesome and some might think it was bad. I was indifferent about the movie but the memories that are attached to the songs are priceless. A few friends of mine and I used to sing in class, especially math class (No we are not singers not even close). We never listened to class, never bothered to know what they were teaching. One of them used to help me out with the lyrics cause I was always bad with learning by just listening and then we would start. I still remember mimicking the chords and trying to play the drums by hitting the bench which was an epic fail. Of all the songs, Yethi Yethi was a hit!( Not among others but ourselves. Others used hate it because of our highly trained vocal chords) It was because of the lyrics of the song.

  Once, a substitute teacher came to our class and just let us free. As usual, we met up in the last bench (No our class is not huge, we just sat in different places) and started singing. Mundhinam Paarthene, Adiye Kolluthe, Nenjukul Peithidum and of course, Yethi yethi. The teacher thought that we were practicing for some competition and almost wished us good luck. It was then that some of our classmates named us "The Back Bench Band". (If you're one of those critics, I'm sure you're probably thinking that the name doesn't make sense. It should have been last bench band and not back bench band. But come one, it alliterates, it sounds good and we like it!)

  One hell of a time we had doing all that. I miss those days. I wish I could just rewind the time and start all over again. If only that possible.

-Shreeji

I want to escape

   There is still a lot of time before my semester exams are gonna start, but I'm stressing already. I'm worried about my marks and I hate myself for that. Is circumstances making me feel like that or have I turned into one of those geeks. Well I hope it's not the former. My nights.. well, let's just say they are not 8hrs per day and I'm definitely not sleeping because of Facebook. Roaming and hanging out with friends have decreased immensely. All this, but I'm not studying either. I think it's just the stress that is making me do all this.

  I want to escape this hell that I'm living.. Somewhere I can live with no worries, eat ice cream and not worry about falling sick, sit under shade and read a book.  Some place where I can feel the breeze hitting my face and messing up my hair. May be a place where I can fly a kite, swim, and just relax. Take a bike ride without any idea of where I'm headed. Dance in the rain and not care about what people might think. Feel every drop that's touching me. A place where I can do whatever I want without being criticized. Feel like I'm walking on sunshine. Feel like all is gonna be fine. Think about nothing. No Electronic Devices and no books under the same name to learn. No exams to take. No goal to be reached. No commitments. No responsibilities. Nothing. It's just me and the happiness in me.

 

I want be without thinking about what might happen tomorrow, what should be done tomorrow, and how things must go the next week. I'm just done planning my life like it's gonna happen the way I plan. I'm just done making others happy. In all this I feel I have forgotten about myself. I have stopped spending time for myself.


   I don't remember the last time I went on a vacation. I don't remember the last time I went out with friends. I don't remember my best friend's voice. Makes me wonder what I'm working for, what I'm living for. Makes me  wonder a of things. I'm just done thinking and analyzing my life and circuits. I'm just done doing what people ask me to do. I just want to escape.

-Shreeji