Tuesday, January 8, 2008

New year, same old

Well begun is half done, innit? *
So how is a first day at tuition supposed to be? Do you go wearing a collared shirt with a tie and a pleated skirt and horn rimmed glasses? I wouldn't know, I never had tuitions before the XIth. Except for this Math tutor my mum once called, who lasted precisely twenty minutes. Ah well.
I have that effect on people.

Anyway, this year [yes, I know its '08, I meant academic year, genius] I finally succumbed to the money minting bag of commercialized shit called coaching centers. The first day, I reached my center early [ group tuitions, har de har!] since I had to ask about the fees and stuff. The teacher in charge of the XIth was busy, so I was shuttled away to the classroom for my batch, where I waited, listening to my iPod, blowing chewing gum bubbles, being my nonchalant best. Alright, just the iPod, but you get the picture. Just then, this guy entered, and stared at me like I was a Vogon. It might have been the clothes [Black tee, striped arm band, tie, ripped jeans, Converse high tops - okay, so at least I got the tie right. I'll learn. Pleated skirt next year. Promise :P] I goggled back, and he went and sat behind me. Next up, a girl came, gaped, rolled her eyes and scampered off to the seat farthest away from where I was. I checked the address I was given nervously, sighed and went back to J-Timberlake telling me what went around came around. Since this didn't do much to raise my [pretty low] spirits, I slumped resignedly in my chair and waited for everyone else to come. The girls smirked, or gave me the eyes, while the guys stood agape.
Deep breath, deep breath, deep breath.

By this time, I was through with it. I looked back, hoping to see someone, anyone I recognized, and what I saw made my jaw drop.

Neatly divided into two blocks, and each acting oblivious to the other's presence, sat everyone. The girls all on one side, and the guys on the other.......the side right behind me. I coloured. Making a social faux pas on Day 1 hadn't been that high on my priority list. One involving 60 pairs of eyes on me less so.

Its been six months since I joined, but even then the sexist demarcation never ceases to amaze me, even though I'm the only person at tuition from a non coed school. Especially since I'm the only person at tuition from a non coed school.

But its the new year, and I guess the psychological desire to initiate a change at the crack of a new anything [Monday diets, anyone? :P] has finally seeped in at my coaching institute too.

Because now, fellow humans, and ye gods of humanity, the time is ripe for change.

And therefore, [emphasize therefore] the boys and girls have..............
.............swapped sides.
Touche.


*Also, alls well that ends well.

22 comments:

Disha said...

You're funny and normal.



Rock on.


[Hah. Gotcha. ;) :P Kidding yaaa!!! YOOUUUU!!!]

Vasudha said...

MEEEEEE!
Yes, me.
And?

:P

ishmeet said...

LOL, that was funny. And btw I can't blame the guys for ogling at you. You don't expect somebody with that look on a tuition class. Be happy you're in Delhi. If you were here, you'd be seeing guys fainting right at the door.

You made me remember my first day at the tuition and the only thing that's common between us was probably the Converse High tops. I must have been wearing some lame clothes..you can't expect me to remember because I had given into this social evil some 4 years ago I believe. I knew about the boys and the girls row already, thanks to being in a super conservative Convent school. We had some 40 guys in the class and like 4 or 5 girls. It was lame because everything went way over my head. But there's one thing that I haven't been able to understand from that day till today. How can you possibly go to a tuition class wearing a bathroom slipper? I mean that's disgusting. Wear some kind of sandals if you must but spare me the bathroom slippers. And the worst part is that the kid who looks the worst and wears the worst possible clothes is the best student of the class. Anybody who bothers to dress up is considered to be merely concerned about looks and not studies. So totally sucks I tell you.

Sexy avatar btw. :P

Shruti said...

ROFL!!! *gets up* Is it that bad to sit on the err.. other side?

Vasudha said...

Ishmeet : lol, that'd be a pretty sight :P And come on, at least I didn't have black eyeliner on. :P

You mean you sit like that in school ALSO?!? And in tuition?! Sheesh, I thought we were an isolated case. We don't have such a skewered boy:girl ratio, thankfully. Its about thirty apiece :)

Haven't encountered many bathroom slippers, though. Ours is the ACG breed. :D

*sheepishly* I bother to dress up. :P BUT. [And this is a big, major but!] This person in my tuition asked me how I managed to get the time to dress up, when there was so much to study. I'm presuming she thought I was someone who would study.Or she could've meant I don't study and act all frivolous instead.Ahem. >.<

Oh, and LOL.Thanks! :P

Prerna : You too?! :P Oh, and shaddup. All eyes are reserved for ________ [censored. :D] Sheesh*2. WHY are people sitting like that? Did someone just invent the time machine and not bother telling me? Its pretty archaic, having everyone sit separetely. I guess the thinking behind it is that sitting together poses as a "distraction" when its the reverse that's true. The forbidden fruit is the sweetest, like they say. I know so many people in my tuition who don't study, but shoot coy glances at the other side, lol. You're right. We need to translate the thinking into action.

Shruti : lol.The fifteen minutes of experience I have of it says no. Try trial and error? :P

Vasudha said...

*separately

Nik said...

lol... my academic year in g.d. had a similar beginning... the outcome was, also, along the same lines. :-P


P.S.:it's.. 'Well begun is half done'...not "in" [though u r getting better... and normality seems to be seeping in (i'm still the same old queer kid who likes saying kid... old habits die hard :-p)]

Nik said...

to ishmeet: dont know who u r, but bathroom slippers rule the (known) world! soft and fluffy *grins*.
one of my life's objectives is to go for an examination in a bath robe and bathroom slippers (SAT maybe?!)

Vasudha said...

Typo..grr. And it doesn't show up in spell check cause is is alright. :|

You're kidding me.GD?! No friggin' way 0_0

And you left out the hair band and orange peel face pack =P =P

ishmeet said...

@nikita: LOL, we have double standards when it comes to bathroom slippers. When a girl wears them, it's fine. A girl can wear almost anything and it's fine but when a guy wears bathroom slippers, that's disgusting and uncool. You get the deal don't you? Best of luck with your life's objective btw.

@Vasudha: Yeah, we've been sitting like that in school for so many years. Actually they'd make a guy and girl sit together when they're in 5th grade because they both hate each other at that time and won't talk. Who knows about sex in like 4th grade? :P But as soon as the guys figure the deal out, utmost effort is taken to keep the boys and the girls away or else the isolated "incidents" that happen in the bathrooms would start happening in bright day light.

The sex ratio in here is the worst in like the whole of India I believe. Sometimes I feel I'll never find a girl if I live here lol.

I bother to dress up as well, and I get the same kind of comments. One of the guys once asked me how I study with the kind of cellphone I have. They believe a cellphone should be simply for listening to calls. I believe it's for text messaging, playing games and listening to music!

Vasudha said...

Ishmeet : Can't say I didn't know it all in like, 5th grade :P lol, you have "incidents" happening in the bathroom? Interesting. *smirks* :P

Aww, come on! Sure you will. As far as your blog indicates, you don't need to look :)

lol.That point is seconded! :D

Prerna : Sure I will. On MSN. :P

ishmeet said...

Yer, that's my mistake. Even I had a brief idea of all the important concepts in 5th grade. But I was pretty much clueless in 4th grade. I don't think 4th grade books have chapters on reproduction do they? :P

And yep, we've had many "incidents" happening in the bathrooms because they are the only place which don't have surveillance cameras. There's one particular bathroom that has had more incidents than the others. I've never been a witness to any such incident but they do happen and such news travels like wild fire. I believe the principal is the last person to know it happened. :P

Aravindh said...

Stuff like these happen....i had an opposite experience to yours when i went to tuition with a normal shirt and pants while evry1 were dressed in cargo jeans and rock star like shirts ...you should have seen it.

Vasudha said...

Ishmeet : Lol. Naaaah, they don't.:P
I don't think we have surveillance cameras around the school, though there are rumors going around.
They don't need to bother with them anyway, the most interesting thing that's ever happened at one of the bathrooms at my school is someone trying to blow up a toilet seat with a Hydro Bomb on Diwali. :P

Well, you're lucky. Our Principal is up to all our escapades. :P

Aravindh : lol. That sounds like my kinda place :D
I wish I had seen it, so I could've taken a picture and shown it to the people at my tuition! :P

ishmeet said...

Ah bombs? Comeon, you Delhiites can do better than that! We've had guys throwing bombs from the windows of the classes on the teachers who are going below. And when somebody comes to check, they hide the bombs in the bags of the girls. A boy gave his mobile to a girl to hide during a routine checking and by mistake she threw it into the sewage naali or whatever they call it in English. We haven't found that mobile till date lol.

Yea, I know our Principal is rather lenient and slow. Can't really blame her, she's a nun. :P Okay, that was cheap. :|

Nik said...

h'm... *ponders*
i beat the lot of u... i think my parents told me about sex in th 3rd grade. not the whole 9 yards, but the basics.

Vasudha said...

Ishmeet : Arre, I'm in an all-girls school. :P And our Princi is a nun too. :P

Nik : Did I say when? All I said was I knew in the fifth. And yes, third grade it is. I have over zealous cousins :P :P

ishmeet said...

@Vasudha: An all-girls school doesn't mean exciting stuff can't happen in the bathroom! A lot of things can and don't even get me started on that! Your principal is a fast nun then, ours is way too kind to have been chosen as a principal. No wonder there have been so many *bombings* and *stuff* in the school thanks to our batch in the last 3 years or something.

See, you knew about sex in 3rd grade. I knew about that in 4th grade and still they don't wanna teach us sex education. How lame is that? The other day I heard Baba Ramdev saying that kids should be taught yoga but not sex because they *aren't* even ready for it. How much more clueless can you get?

Vasudha said...

Ishmeet : Well, kids snuff thinner if you call that exciting :P Let's see, I have one more year. Might cause a few bombings :)

And its worse. He said sex education should be banned 'cause it leads to sexual abuse and more rapes. And what will no sex education lead to? More HIV cases? India being more populated than China? More unemployment? More poverty? Idjit.

Prerna : The real reason we can't let her have it is because the url is too lame. :P
I talk like this in real life too, so it doesn't matter. Last English class, we had a debate - Women going out at night leads to an increase in sexual harassment. And I went, um, overboard since we had only speaker, and that too for the motion. So this stuff is perfectly predictable of me. :D I wouldn't really mind her reading some stuff. Such as this. ^ :P

ishmeet said...

Not allowing sex education is one big mistake they're making. I don't understand why it's seen as such a taboo. It's a natural process and we have every right to know about it and also know how to prevent things from going wrong. Almost all STD cases happen amongst minors because they're clueless about protection and stuff. But anyway, it's useless trying to put into somebody's brain when they are too clogged with traditions and stuff.

I don't understand Baba Ramdev. Why allow yoga and not sex education? I don't see the relation between the two.

Vasudha said...

Exactly! And then the Maharashtra Govt goes and bans it in schools, citing "bad influences." I really don't know what sort of ignorance they're advocating, but whatever it is, it won't take us far.

Vasudha said...

That's a rhetoric question. :P

 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com