Suresh had been married for the last 20 years. His was a small family with his wife, son and an ageing father. All of them were going through a very delicate phase in their lives. Each one facing a different sort of trouble magnified in their own way.
Suresh's father had spent over a month in the hospital after being diagnosed with Cancer. The Chemotherapy making him weaker day by day. But he didn't lose hope. He kept fighting against his illness.
Despite being from the upper middle-class society strata, Suresh was bogged down by debts and he had none to share his burden either. He was working overtime and pushed his last penny to keep his family intact. The once bright and radiant face of Suresh's had baggy eyes, dark circles and lines of tension engraved across the forehead.
Suresh's wife Gayathri was running between 2 worlds. She was the submissive, gullible, soft-spoken, responsible home-maker. Gayathri was a person who struck a terrific balance between work and family.
Suresh's son was the apple of his eye. He would do anything for him. He was attempting his board exams in a month's time. The tense atmosphere at home didn't come to his rescue either.
Suresh was in a state of mental imbalance with so many things on his mind. His brain simply refused to co-operate with him anymore. The pressure was building up.
One fine morning, after visiting his recovering father in the hospital, he came to his cabin in his office and saw this one mail from his friend that just said -

" Hope is all we have when everything falls apart, Use it well ! "

That was the magical phrase. It shed light on a lot of void space in his mind. A whole new vista opened, showing him numerous ways. Energy multiplied. Plans propped up in his mind. Hope gushed its way into him, reaching every cell, every neuron in his body. All because he had forgotten that one word that now added so much meaning to his life now, H O P E !

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All the fun, high spirits, screaming, bunking, and the unusual routine has taken a U-turn and has bid adieu for this year. Lethargy has started to creep in and books seem to alienic. Sitting in class for the whole day seemed so wierd.
Adventure comes in the form of an Electrical Workshop Lab which I've started dreading now. With all those big big instruments and complicated circuits, I sit looking nonplussed with a bunch of bulbs and wires in my hand. If I had more hands, they would be found tugging my hair in all direction. My partner in crime is no better either. So ultimately at the end of the 3rd hour, I somehow figure out what to do and manage to get my observation book signed after several entries in the breakage list.
It seems exams have been advanced this semester due to the elections. Accepted that college days will not return again, but then I feel its time to move on.

Life is just too melancholy and monotonous now.

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The busy days have finally come to an end. When have good things lasted long? Hmph!
I witnessed my first ever college- level cultural show yesterday. It was our college culturals and unlike the other institutions, we compete between our own departments. The competition is on par as the population is pretty large with more than 15 departments. Each department is given 40 mins to showcase their talent. There are the Highlight Performances apart from that, which is supposed to be the best.
We, the freshers perform as a separate team and are always the 1st to perform. That always gives us an advantage to look at the rest of the show uninterrupted.
I must say, the stage was simply mind-blowing, the DJ playing Fanaa in between performances, and the list of the chief guests was exciting as always. Gracing the occassion with their presence were the following stars-
1) Grace Karunas with her Seena thaana had the crowd dancing and screaming for more.
2) Srikanth who said that he didn't even attend his own college's culturals and came to ours.
3) Suchitra, who sang a fusion of all her songs and wrapped up with the cliched "Semma hot machi "
4) Chinni Jayanth who sang Aalavandhan, his 1st musical debut on a stage and of course he mimicked Rajni and Kamal.
5) And finally a bear like Dhanush, who passed on the words of wisdom given to him by Superstar.

The show began at 8.30 in the morning and went non-stop and ended at 10 at night. Atleast for me it worth all the tiring hours through the week as my department won the overall championship and also the Most Creative Performance Title. It sure was a delightful moment when they announced that -
"The Department of Information Technology wins the Overall Championship for the third consecutive year"
Screams, Howls, Whistles, Drumrolls, Claps and the numerous voices that cheered and yet were heard as one.

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When there is a combination like Mani Ratnam, Sabu Cyril, Rajiv Menon and Vasanth, you just can't cook up excuses. As expected, the set was magnificent and majestic at the huge Jeppiar College grounds.
The show was late by an hour, the introduction being a recorded video that had Revathy thanking a long list of people. The black and white stage was graced by a huge projector screen in the background that sported different pictures, sometimes even motion pictures as backdrops for every performance apart from the huge theme prop's like bridges, pillars, swings, trees and so many more. Each theme got better as the show advanced.

The night began with a kathak dance sequence by Banupriya and moved on to 60's and 70's songs performed by Prakash Raj, Vineeth and Shreya(of Mazhai fame). Interjected was a fusion performance by danseuse Shobana. The 80's songs started with Shaam dancing to the tunes of Ilamai Idho Idho... the disco set was a marvel to the eyes. The next performance came as a shock to most of the crowd. A fat Simran and an emaciated Simbu dancing for Rakamma kaiya thattu. The jhatak matak of Simran seems to have lost its charm. But the crowd continued cheering.
The show resumed after a break to hear Blaaze sing his rap going with the theme of the night. When Blaaze sang Adankaka, the crowd went berserk. With his accent and the tongue twisting lyrics, we were more than grateful when he went back to his rap.
I'm really sorry, I attended the show only till this performance and had to get back due to an emergency.

But I must admit, Sabu Cyril had done a brilliant job. Each song had a different look. The costumes were beautiful and looked graceful when teamed with brilliant choreography by Kala and Brinda. The old songs had used minimal colors, the majority being Black, White and Red. But as the era modernised one could spot more of Gold, Pink, Blue, and more jazzy shades as it advanced to the current period.

I missed Kamal Hassan's performance!! sigh sigh.

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The last few days have seen the other side of me, the busy side. With the intra-department culturals round the corner and the sports week going on, I've been engaged in a lot of work. I have registered for so many events, that I even forgot which ones I enrolled for. The lecturers also don't seem to take pity on us and and are breezing through the syllabus in a mad rush just to finish the portions. Yep, my semester gets over by mid-April. It seems like I was cribbing about E.D just yesterday and my 1st year is about to come to an end in almost 2 months. Maybe its because of all these activities.
Today I was on my way back from college and this cute little boy hardly 3 years old comes running to me and pulls my dress down. I bend down to pick up the little fella and he asks me to take him for a walk around the apartment. :o) I agree and soon I find myself surrounded by little angels each one with a request so honest that you just can't deny them! Oh! Kids, they are such pure and wonderful souls.
Ah! But I'm reminded of all the work left in the moribund life. Nothing good ever lasts forever.
This too shall pass......

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