A trip with the PRISONERS

I know its been pretty long since I have written something. Actually I was looking for something interesting and nothing new was happening. Finally on 19th Jul y 2008 I did something new. I went on a trip with PRISONERS.
Before you get any ideas let me clarify. PRISONERS is my gang. A gang with the coolest ideals in the world. Here are its members.
We had never been on a trip together so this time out of desperation we planned out a trip to Bhandardara, a hill station in Maharashtra. Lovely place with excellent scenic spots.
The various highlights of the trip in the order of happening were:

1. First and foremost, Franklin's famous speech in a ST bus that left the onlookers dumbfounded and us embarrassed. well the topic was 'CONDOMS'. Throughout his speech he kept stressing the point that we don't discuss much about condoms that is why all the trouble exist. I believe after that day people who were traveling with us surely would never feel the lack of discussion on that issue.
2.Then came the wonderful feeling of floating in the clouds at one of the spots there. It was amazing. Right after we had lunch it started raining and we were surrounded by a cloud. It was amazing.
3. One of the funniest things of the trip was kaushal's stomach. Something went wrong with it right before lunch. So he couldn't eat, sleep or enjoy. Too bad for a gujju person like him who was one of the leading enthusiasts of our trip.
4. The best part of the trip was the lucid lake next to our hotel. It was heavenly in its appearance and we were mesmerised on day one itself. We spent nearly 6 hours in it. Everyone was trying to learn swimming and I was supposed to be their lifeguard. The surface was pretty rocky and it did hurt badly but everyone was so much into enjoying that no one realised until we reached back to our hotel.
5. Finally the food. We all are big hoggers but everyone was on a tight budget. To top it all we were famished with all the swimming and sight seeing. The only thing that could have satisfied us was an unlimited THALI and we found a place where we could get one. the food was amazing but very spicy. By the end of it everyone had their noses running and foreheads wet. Chetan was having a bad time as he hates spicy food but he didn't have an option.

The trip was one of the major events of the previous phase of my life. The place isn't important but the company is. PRISONERS is a great gang and our bond grew stronger with this trip. That was from me. Till the next post. Bye

Tutions....

Fear of unknown...
Ever felt a vacuum in your gut whenever you tread on unknown territory? I have had it many times in my life and yesterday was one such day. I was going to something that I had never done before...TUITION.
It was the day when I was on the other side of the desk, the side where more of speaking and less of writing is done, more of scolding and less of listening, in short the side of the teacher.
The Beginning...
My student's name is Anuja. A bright girl as I had expected when i first met her. She came with her mother to my place. They knew my mom as she teaches the youngest member of their family, Poorvi, Anuja's younger sister. Anuja's dad passed away few years back. He was in the Navy. Her mother takes care of them using the pension she gets. Anuja is in 12th standard, the fire test for every student in India, and like everyone else she is in jitters about it. She goes to a well known class for 12th in Mumbai. But some of her well off friends,who go to the same classes, also go to another class for maths. This has made this poor girl quite nervous about the subject. She went to her mom asking her to join the classes for maths. Her poor Mom didn't know what to do. She had managed 50000 from somewhere just to get her into those classes and now she had to get another 10000 for maths classes. So she asked my mom for a solution and without even asking me, I was recommended. Obviously i was informed later about it. At first I didn't know what to do. There were many problems. First of all I never studied for 12th in Mumbai, secondly my style of studying was completely different from the way people generally do. I am more of an analytical person who loves to find how people managed to get those formulae that help us. Also 12th was over a long time back. Recalling everything would need considerable effort. The biggest problem was I WAS ON MY VACATIONS. Teaching Anuja would be one hell of a task.
The Preparation...
I started preparing for it from the next day. I had 3 days to get myself accustomed to maths. The first day went in a lunch party followed by football and the Internet. The second day was a movie and hanging out with close friends. So I was left with yesterday as the tuition was in the evening.
The D-Day...
I woke up late in the morning with no idea about the tution. Not until lunch when my mom reminded me of it. I got to work at 2 and by 2.30 I was happily dozing off on my bed. When I woke up it was 5. Then came a series of questions in my head,
How on earth was I going to teach this girl?
If she asks me anything will I be able to answer?
What a stupid fool I am to have wasted so much time?

Somehow I managed to study half a chapter. She came at 7, as decided earlier. I don't know why but I was already feeling like a teacher. Come in, Sit here, Open the first chapter....
We studied for 2 hours and I loved it. Anuja was indeed bright but a bit unsystematic. I went pretty slow with the teaching part(I didn't want her to know about my preparations) but I think I was able to teach her everything properly. This knowledge left a wonderful feeling in me. Its really amazing when someone understands what you want to make that person understand. Try teaching guys, its wonderful.
Till the next post. Bye bye