Horrible way to spend weekend!

Every college life is unfulfilled without assignments. Some assignments can be interesting but some are awfully tiring. Recently my class was split into four groups to organize an event to learn about event management. We had been planning, visualizing, rehearsing and working on our event assignment for a while. Social media apps can be a headache especially the group created always fights in the chat instead of discussing. Especially, the super annoying voice message option. My group thought of meeting near my college to finish or have some progress in our event assignment. One of my group members told me she will pick me up at a specific place. 

So, I was waiting at the place my friend mentioned for her to pick me up. I got bored and I leaned on to a black wall of a closed shop and waiting for my friend's call to know that she has arrived at the spot. I took headphones and was listening to radio. Some random guy who looked a bit illiterate started accusing me of standing in the middle of the footpath and was having the facial expression as if he has seen some offender. Logic wise I was far away from footpath and literally standing at the premises of a closed shop. No one had a problem suddenly this random guy passed some lewd comments on me and went off before I could talk. Irony was a traffic police officer was right in front of me and was least bothered about what is happening to the people around him. 

I was glad that was not some sort of molestation, rape or any other such incident. But I felt mentally naked by allowing that random guy's accusations enter into my head and spoil the day. If I did nothing wrong why should I be worried and feel sad? Lots of questions buzzed in my head. A mere senseless comment made me to consider not stepping outside the house again. I wondered how many women around the world being affected by this? Suddenly my friend came and picked me up. We spoke about the event details and I forgot about that horrible incident. The event which we were doing was about post wedding reception. We were preparing props, decor, songs, dance moves, skit, and much more. We all became tired and thought of going home as important things are finished. The place was drizzling with raindrops. 

We were also assigned to bring sponsorship for my department's Intercollegiate and Conference for which deadline was Monday. I was worried I didn't get any sponsors yet so I went out with my friend to explore and grab at least one sponsor. We roamed throughout the offices of nungambakkam and came to the conclusion that on Saturday most people won't be present at offices and many are not interested in sponsoring to people who are not in their target segment. I was sad, tired, and sleepy and was in a hurry to return back to my friend who told me she will drop me near my home. While crossing the road, a bike Tyre went over my toes of my feet. The signal was red and that bike should have stopped but due to his negligence I may have been dead yesterday (27/08/2016). I was in statue mode, my friend who was beside me dragged me out of the place and we were walking again normally. We said our good bye and I reached home safely. 

I always tell whatever incidents happening in my life to my mom even though I clearly know she broadcasts about it and even exaggerates about it with others. I told how in the morning that guy emotionally and mentally screwed me and how I escaped a Hip replacement surgery in the evening. She started telling me idiots are there but I should have been more careful. And she told about this to my dad immediately and I regretted telling about it to my mom. My dad who did not listened to the whole story started accusing me that I should not obstruct footpaths and cross carefully. I cried. I cried till my eyes became dry and red. I was sad that no one was there for us to express our grief without being judged. 

Independence day!

August 15th 1947, India's independence day! Every Indian kid is saturated with this info from childhood. The most horrifying dialogue for some or hilarious one for me is from our national pledge "All Indians are my brothers and sisters" for some reason it sounds funny for me. 

During my school days, we hope for it to be an holiday but our parents and the school people made us to attend the event relating to the independence celebrations. Irony is there is no freedom to not attend the event which celebrates our freedom. We dress up, pin the tiny tricolour paper flag to our uniform, stand in rows and columns according to the class we belong to under the beautiful scorching sunshine waiting for the chief guest to magically appear soon. During the wait there is this unexplained joy of gossiping with our peers which I guess us millennials crave a lot more than nowadays tech addicted children. 

When the chief guest finally arrives, there is this great faux cheerful vibe and epic long speeches which reminds us it is just same old  lecture in different surroundings. The flag is hoisted by the chief guest, rose petals fall on the ground, crows scream, sunlight still roasting our skins and finally the speech by chief guest ends. We get to sit on the floor to watch cultural events performed by our schoolmates. There will be dance, music, dramas and even karate. Even though teachers shush us we still cheer whenever our besties perform on the stage. That pure innocence of our childhood to cheer for our friends is nothing compared to any philosophical quote I have seen so far. 

Then after all the events gets over, its time for vote of thanks. We need to get up from our sitting cross legged for a long time and blood gushes through the legs as soon as we get up. Some get slight pains, some get up flawlessly, some struggle to get up and I get weird snapping sounds like when fingers are folded and snapped to get a relief and also I get that sensation of standing over million pins underneath my heel. After vote of thanks, the national anthem is played in the speakers. Some listen patiently, some prove their singing skills, and I lip sync to the song with an expression of a professional actress. The most favorite moment of events for a kid like me was the chocolate given after the end of the event. So, that's the routine/drill followed during independence day throughout my school days. 

This year it was different for me. 

I wore a light green kurta paired with blue jeans, orange infused with white coloured earrings and a small palm sized black sling bag. I walked towards the bus stop and if you had read my previous blogs you must be knowing the fate of mine with buses. I was about to cross the road and my precious bus went by crossing far away from me in front of my eyes. The feel of eternal waiting for another bus to come is a pitiable thing to do. Especially for a person (me) who can't sit in one place and do nothing for more than an hour. I waited for a while, bunch of school kids were beside me dressed up in white and playing and giggling with each other. I saw a person taking his dog for a walk, the dog was adorable by the way. But still however I try to distract myself from the idea of waiting for long was not working out. I started fidgeting my fingers as if I am playing some musical instrument. Thank god the wait lasted for 15 minutes and i got into a bus. It was free of crowds, I got seated, the breeze passed inside the bus and felt like a luxury. 

The bus was as slow as possible. I reached late and did this fast walking on the pathway. Suddenly when i have to cross the road, an auto stops in front of me. Inside the auto was my friend, her mom and her sister. She told me to hop on and we went straight to college. Happiness are these small gestures that makes us believe in humanity. We waved our good byes to her mom and sister and did the rhythmic speed walking to the college entrance. Already we are using our hal-sleepy, tired bodies to walk fast and the students who are in charge of the event instructing us to walk even more faster and go inside, its late. The reasonable thing is to give a tired or annoyed look but something about this friendship that made us to laugh till we reached the gate.

We split to stand towards the our respective class queues. The chief  guest arrives and good thing about my college is they make everything short and sweet. I believed that would happen until i discovered that the chief guest is a living Wikipedia in human form. She talked, talked for so long that we started talking with our peers. The speech ended, a few girls sang patriotic songs, a girl orated about independence in Hindi and vote of thanks was done. The best part was that we were also invited for alumni meet on the same day. I met with my classmates, took pictures, went to our UG department faculty, ate the complimentary breakfast and the meet was over. That's it? So, we planned of making our reunion more memorable. 

We walked, discussed where to go and were confused where to go. After a long roaming and brainstorming, we thought of going to semozhi poonga. It is this spacious green park in Chennai. So, we take an auto and reach this park. We take tickets for us and I take pictures of the place. They were walking and i was stopping by to take picture of the flora. I am a big nature admirer. Finally they sat in a place where we talk about our past, present and future plans. It was making me feel old and young at the same time. Then we walked towards the kids play area and each of us sat in swings and talked. Some went to buy something to eat and drink. Some of us thought of making a trip to somewhere outside Chennai as a group. And some were running out of time to reach their homes. I was enjoying the swing. Maybe this is how freedom feels like. It was one memorable Independence day.

Swinging with my besties!

My first marathon!

My college conducted a marathon named "Pennkalvirun" which means Girl education run in Tamil. This initiative was to support and to bring awareness for educating girl child. The event was scheduled at Island grounds, Chennai at 6:00 am. This place is famous for the annual Tamil Nadu government exhibitions/fair to which my family visits from my childhood. My reporting time mentioned by my college faculty was 5:30 am.  It usually takes 1 hour to reach the place from my home. So, I woke up early and prepped myself ready to leave. My dad took photos of me in my marathon attire.

My marathon shirt

I stepped outside the house, It was like being in a horror movie without background music. There was no sight of sun or moon or even stars in the sky. It was pitch black. The streets were quiet but filled with street dogs. Some of the dogs to which my dad used to give biscuits whenever he sees them came near the gate wagging their tails and sticking their tongues outside to greet us I assume. We rode in a bike to reach the destination. The places passed by during the ride were unusual yet familiar. 

We spoke about how free the roads were, was the marathon really happening, should I really sacrifice my precious early morning sleep for a run which I haven't tried before, and many more intriguing things. We reached marina and in few meters we be will reaching the start point of the marathon but no sign to prove that there is a marathon happening. Finally saw a girl wearing the same shirt and entering the entrance gate which assured us that it was not a hoax. My dad parked his vehicle and we slowly walked towards the stage. Only few people came till then, Meanwhile my dad and I took pictures.  

The stage

The stage was set, the place was empty, sky was dark and I was bored. I waited for my friends to arrive, till then my dad was stuck up with me.

The start point 

I took pictures for a while until my friend called me. She came with her dad and our dads greeted each other and left. We spoke and revolved our heads like antenna to spot and welcome the familiar faces from our college. We got calls from our friends to know how to reach the venue? The event started from a greeting by a person with a mike on the stage. Later a group of girls sang some songs and the marathon for 10 KM was started. We stood near the start point and our principal waved the flag to indicate "go!" for the 10 Km Marathon.

At Napier bridge, Look at the sun rise behind me!

We did a mixture of brisk walking and running. I took pictures of whatever fascinated me. My friend got tired as soon as we reached our first lap and she said she will take rest at the venue. We passed through the iconic Napier bridge, then passed some old buildings, Anna Square bus stop and finally World's second largest beach - The marina. The route was to run from Island grounds to lighthouse and again run back to the island grounds. 

I was enjoying stepping forward along with the breeze which felt empowering to the self. Occasionally we halted at the hydration points to re-hydrate ourselves. My friend got muscle pain and wanted to walk instead of running but I felt a bit slow at some point of time. So I told my running pal that I will be leaving her side and  go faster and let's meet at the light house. But by the time I reached the light house I did not had the patience to wait for her so proceeded to take U-Turn as per the route and ran.

I ran and did slow walk whenever necessary. I kept on telling one! two! with each step touching the floor which improved my pace. The challenging part was not the distance but not to dodge anyone while running. I ran to see amazing glistening waters of the beach, to see the spectacular view in front of me, to meet my friend who is waiting for me at the venue, to not quit  in the middle of the marathon, to beat the odds, and for the cause - Educating the girl child. After a long brisk stoll and running I reached the finishing point. I finished 10 km withing 1 hour. Surprisingly I did not felt any muscle pains even though this was my first marathon. 
  

I was suprised that I finished the task. I took the medal for participation and breakfast provided by the event crew. I was given idly, sambar, 200ml flavoured drink, kesari and vada. I was not hungry at all and didn't wanted to waste the food so i gave back the idly and sambhar to them. I first ate this orange coloured sweet kesari which was delicious. Then ate vada and drink. I regained enough energy I needed. The winners were announce and we clapped for them. And that's how the marathon ended.

Me with my medal!
Oh yeah! I ran with my chappal which I found to be very much comfortable. Just because people suggesting us to wear sport shoes or do something for our well being doesn't always mean it will be suitable for us. Do or wear whichever you are comfortable with.

The stuff I got for my 10 km Achievement!

It was nice being a part of something and enjoying ourselves. No matter what happens in life just keep moving forward and be exuberant!

Some views I got to see while I ran: