Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Welcome to a B School

He was a teacher. His students adored him, for them he was a perfect guide. He got all their respect n love and affection. Here they make fun of his dialect. He's ridiculed for being amongst the teacher rather than students!

She was an all rounder - acads, sports, co-curricular occupied her time. Now here she's adjudged too pricy because of the confidence she carries. Ignoring her continued success, people complain that she's got lots of attitude!

He was a cool guy! Never could stop giggling, talking and cheering up people with stupid jokes. Here they find him stupid and with attitude. People stare with disbelief on his imagination.

Welcome to a B School! A school where students are in fact the biggest teachers, where you fight to survive, learn the business as well as political acumen.

Once upon a time..

Date: sometime in late 1993

I was expecting a monster to arrive. Everyone had narrated tales of this teacher and how rude, intolerant, strict, hard taskmaster she was. Anxious as I was to see this new teacher, I was looking forward to it. Having switched from a Govt Hindi medium school to an English medium one in the middle of a semester in 5th grade, I was looking for some respite in one subject - Hindi!

N suddenly a boy came running into the class room, and shouted - She's here! And everyone got back to his/her seat and fell silent. N there she was - Small, slender, dusky, with a red large bindi on her forehead, in an orange khadi saree, hair nicely done and tied with a small stick. I didn't realize I was gazing till the boy sitting next to me pinched me and said "Pehli class mein hi pitna hai??"

Well! That was Ms. Sarita Saxena, my Hindi teacher. Little did I know while greeting her that morning that she would become my most favorite teacher till date and that more than 15 years later, I would dedicate a post to her! So what made me wake up and remember her? Well, blame must goto "Tuesdays with Morrie". It opened with a question, and to answer it I had to dust off all these years. And the faint sound of her voice, turned into an image as fresh as ever.

She was my favorite teacher, and I was proudly her favorite student. No one could ever score more than me in her subject. But the credit would goto her. I still remember how brilliant she was. The best speaker I had ever heard. The way she emphasized on words, the clarity with which she spoke mesmerized me no ends.

She was the first who became privy to my writings.* She was in fact the first teacher I learnt to respect. She was an ideal, a person who I felt could understand me in all those growing up years. And then one day when I was in 10th, she stopped coming to school. A few months later I came to know she had gotten married and left the school. And that was the end of it.

I am sure, she would have forgotten this student of hers. But for me, she would remain. And would come out of the oblivion every time someone asked me to name a person who understood me 'when I was young & searching and helped me see the world as a more profound place'.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Why so Serious!

Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was....a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. Turns to me and he says "Why so serious?" Comes at me with the knife,"Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth. "Lets put a smile on that face!" And..... Why so serious?

These lines have been immortalized by late Heath Ledger and like millions around the world, I decided to right about them in this blog. About these lines, about his performance and above all - Joker!

The lines are simply awesome, moreso as they are so ironic. In direct conflict with what they actually mean! Heath Ledger delivers a performance that I personally think is THE best performance i have seen anyone delivering onscreen. He evokes that tickling feeling when he goes on rampage. A feeling that probably your animal side enjoys while watching the Joker. I dunno if I am the only one who enjoyed what he was doing on screen so much.. Ripping apart people, burning money just for fun. Fun, sure he had and so did I! And loads of it!

With his whole face covered in color, somehow you know what expressions he has. You just know it. The brilliance of his performance lies in that. And when he describes why he kills with a knife and not a gun, he reaches his zenith. I almost felt I too needed to know a few of my friends better! ;) Those of you who haven't understood my last line, go watch the movie "The Dark Knight".

But what sets this movie apart is the subtle acknowledgment that its the good that completes the bad. Its the Gods who compliment the Devil and vice-versa. Had there been no good, perhaps there wouldn't have been any bad either.

Poor Raj Kapoor, for he could never imagine what all a Joker could do!