No answers to Chulbuli's questions!

After Kats's 'exams' got over she had a long list of things to do before leaving for Here. She walked with Shanti, Sanjeevani and Rekha from her hostel to Himadrija and Indigo's room in the hostel that is like so many miles away. The walk is like almost a walk through a jungle to reach another country, where on the way there is a brook(tiny version of river), big rocks, and monkeys, peacocks. Like the journey the nomads make.

Most of the times when she travels to Indigo and Hima's place, it is like a turning point, a point form where things change.While we were walking, I asked Kats, "Wouldn't it be fun if we could do this walking around everyday? See all the beauty around us." Kats rolled her eyes in reply, "And darling, who would attend the classes for me? The lizard in our wing's bathroom?" Lizard attending was not a bad option at all according to me, but for a few problems. No it is not Kats's desk partner, she doesn't have one, she refers to sit alone on the first bench in the corner of the class, it is the girls who sit behind her. Both Shanti and Rekha are scared of lizards. Also, to be able to take notes for Kats in her absence would be difficult for it(we don't know whether the lizard is a boy or a girl you see) with all the yummy distractions buzzing around, also to be able to talk in our language and ask the teacher the questions she has would need a long training.  After all of those thoughts I forgot to reply to her and I am sure she thought I had not solution to it. Before I could choose to speak about it, she spoke, "Chulbulli, you know something? If you played the same game everyday, you'll get bored too soon. Similarly if we do all this excursion everyday, it'll lose its charm. " Is it true what she said? Some games I have played everyday like hide and seek, but I am still not bored of it, what changed though was the people with whom I played. So.. is that its not just the journey but the people, the things, the sky, the moon everything that makes every journey different?

Later that night we sat in the balcony of the 'wing' of the hostel where her room is. For those who don't know about hostels, hostel is like mini home, without Mummy and Daddy, you have new and different family members. Some like to talk, some don't; some study in the same class, some don't; some are older than her, some younger, some as old as her. What is common in them all is, they have left their own families and traveled a large distance to learn. As for a wing, a wing  is a bunch of rooms that are close together, one after the other. In Kats's case, her wing has a door, their own bathroom, two basins and a balcony where the mango tree's branch spreads out its arms. 

So under the dark sky, with a few twinkling stars, and the dark green mango leaves hanging over our head as the cold winter was punching us I asked Kats that if she had the chance of doing what she really wanted to do, what she thought she really was sent to do by leaving everything now would she do it? She didn't reply! She was so silent that i could hear all the leaves above our heads rattle,  I even tried to count the number of rattles that the leaves made as she stood in silence. Then I thought maybe I asked a difficult question, so I asked her again, differently, "So if you were in a closed cold stone-made cave like room like the ones where the Flintstones live in, with a window, and there was a huge garden outside with flowers of the colour of the rainbow, and a pond with swans like in the fairy tales. What would you choose?" She was still very silent. I didn't know what was wrong with the question. She finally answered when 50 or more leaves had rattled, I think the tree was curious too. She said, 

"I would stay outside during the day play and enjoy. And at night would come back to the cave."

And then I understood what I forgot to ask her, what if she could choose only one? I asked her. And again there was silence. I started to count the stars, that is what daddy had taught me to do when I can't wait for something, and after that all I remember is black.

Kats goes to college...Chulbuli observes

Hi everyone! it's such a relief to talk(literally) to you all after such a long time.Soooooo much has happened over the past few weeks that it may take over a series of blogs to tell you all everything.

The good news is Kats is doing what she wanted to do,study chemistry.

Its a long,long story,but finally it does have a very very lovely ending.
As you all might remember Plan B was going to be taken up by our dearest Kats.But the great Bhaggu above had other intentions. Kats was living an life of uncertainty,not that life isn't uncertain,but for poor Kats life was more uncertain then than ever. On 6th of August Plan B ws posponted,i.e. the Plan B place postponed it joining date.Our dear Kats was on the "Waiting list" for the University of Bucca Urbs.It was on 6th evening itself that Kat's father decided to attend the waiting list counseling.

The wait at the counseling was phenomenal.Finally at around 4:30 pm on 9th inside a tin hall with hot winds blowing in and out of the window the vacancies in Chemistry were announced.There were 5 vacancies in the "General" category (these elder people are odd they categorize people as well,thats really odd and funny),Kats is general.Out of those from the waiting list who had reported Kats was no.2.So if you do the math,even if the girl above her took chem(which she actually did,she would get chem). After announcing the vacancies they called out all the names in the waitlist (that was really funny because they had the list of students who had reported) maybe they just wanted to increase the wait.It was like as a lolly pop was moving back and forth in front of her mouth the moment she began to move closer towards it,it moved away from her.

Finally when Kats's name was announced she got up from the milkly white chair on which she was seated.She was sitting in one of the last few rows of the tin box room.When she rose from her chair she made expression similar to the women receiving the title of Miss World or Miss Universe(not Miss.Country because in the titles I've stated they literally weep quite loudly,she was almost going to to the same,that was really funny though). And finally after 7:30 pm Kats was a bonafied student of University of Bucca Urbs.

And the journey continues...

Chulbuli is dazed by the colours...Kats visits a fair

DAY I 

18th July 2010, the first time in 2010 Kats visited Jagannathpuri(It's a place in 'here').What’s special about Jagannathpuri you may ask, my reply would be (the same  as Kats) "What not so special about it ?".No truly on an ordinary day maybe I wouldn't like the place one bit, same not being applicable to Kats, but that day, rather those set of days it was one of the nicest places to be. Many may not being knowing about "Rath Yatra"(The chariot festival), but since I've given the link you can go check it out! It is one of the most fun festivals, you know why? Because it mostly accompanies a fair with it! 

I suppose all of you know what a fair is....isn't it? Even though you may know what it is I'll tell you what it means to me; it is a treat to all my senses sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. It's like the rainbow captured into a box for a few days. Everyone is invited and you don’t necessarily need to buy something for the fair, you don’t even need to pay an entry fee. It’s free or all.

It was for the first time is the so many years Kats had spent on earth she visited the fair with a friend. And the lucky friend with whom she visited the fair for the first time was Indulekha. Since she had promised and to Indulekha that she would arrive by 5:30 pm our darling Kats left home without much money. She had 20 rupees (0.43 $) in her wallet!
But well she was so happy (like I was that she forgot ask her daddy for money).

This wasn't the first time she was visiting Indulekha but it was the first time that Indulekha didn't meet her half way to her house. Our darling was all on her own to find her way to Indulekha’s house. Initially Kats wastrel tensed as she had been through that maze before, so she was sure that if she saw the buildings etc. she would surely make her way to Indulekha’s house. After days Kats was on the cycle(her daddy's cycle more precisely) it was a different feeling, the breeze blowing through her hairs the duppata of her salwar flapping like the wings of a bat. It felt great trying to beat the wind's speed.
All of sudden she realized that she was already in Jagannathpuri, in the maze. She took a turn towards the left that looked familiar, but the narrow lane that it lead to was pretty unfamiliar and scary. Kats parked her cycle and instinctively picked her cell phone and dialled the person who would best know the way out of the maze, Baawara. He finally gave our lady directions and then finally she did reach Induleka’s house. She could have called Bawaara in the beginning itself, but I am glad she tried to explore. Like she used to when I was in control of her. Don't you think so that is not at all bad to explore a little ?

And then what happened next was the best. They visited the fair for the first time together. Everything was enchanting. There were stalls selling everything possible that a human being would require. There were stalls with beautiful toys of all colours , toys that could perform a variety of tasks or maybe just sit in one place yet amuse you with the expression on its face. Those stalls were the best in my opinion. Even though Kats didn't have enough money she went all around the fair saw all stalls. There were many stalls for women selling colourful bangles, jewellery, hair accessories etc.   

I liked many of the bangles but due to storage of money Kats didn’t buy them (even though I did influence her).She also wanted to buy some bracelets (I didn't influence her this time). “Sometimes some things look best when not with us” Kats muttered this very sentence then, I couldn't understand why she said so…

She was saving her 20 rupees (0.43 $) for something, she didn't tell Induleka what it was, but I knew it! Just 10 minutes before leaving Indulekha and Kats walked towards a potter who sat on the ground, all the items that were up for sale were on display in front of him on a plastic sheet. And then suddenly Kats pounced towards a Ganesha Idol.When she looked at it, she felt like it waited for her all this while to be picked. After making her choice as always she bargained. Bargaining is like one of her hobbies though she isn't very good at it she desperately tries to bargain and with each attempt she improves a little.

After her little purchase she ran home. It was a different feeling, after days she didn't for a few moments think how her actions now  could modify the future, she was happy and I was moderately happy (as she didn't try the tempting cotton candy nor did she buy the following balloon ).

  

Day II 

19th July 2010,not a very momentums day in world history  but definitely one for myself and Kats.It was this very day she was given a lot of money(can't say how much) to spend at the fair in Jagannathpuri.No she didn't ask for more money but her daddy just gave her as he felt that she had the right to spend it.But today though she knew what all she had to buy she didn't find a single thing as appealing as the previous day without money,god knows why!? Despite that she did buy things that she had planned to buy like nail polish and bangles for little Gunna(Kats's mum's friend's daughter ),a incense stick holder and a pair of must-have earrings!

This time though because she had the money that could buy her whatever she wanted she spent a lot of time.It got dark....

Jagannathpuri has one big problem ELECTRICITY.It was well past 7:00 pm the sky had turned greyish-blue and some stars was already on their duty.Despite that is was quite difficult for any human being to distinguish between the gutter and the road.Oh I forgot to mention Indulekha was with her today as well.And with her things was much more difficult."Indulekha's mere presence deteriorates the possibilities to achieving the target for that moment" these are definitely not my words but I totally agree to them! Things got worse the narrow lane in front of Indulekha's house had just a single bulb that too it was mid-way somewhere,hanging away from a rusted iron pole all alone...Indulekha's father guided her till the end of Jagannathpuri and then Kats took off on her cycle. 

It was such a relief to see the place disappearing away as she moved forward.Inside the fair everything was so enchanting,the rest of Jagannathpuri was scarier that a graveyard at 12:00 midnight.It was only for those few days of the Rath yatra the place was so colourful,but the rest of the year it was a scary place(not just after nightfall but also during the day).

Are people like the places where they stay ? Something for a few days and something else the rest of time ? 

Kushi is going away...Kats is so very lazy...CHulbuli is observing it all

Well again for a few days we were lost, both myself and Kats.
 No, we were not on an all expense trip to Egypt unravelling the secrets of king Tutankhamen or on an all expense trip to Disney world or to the wonderful wizarding world of harry potter (which we would appreciate if any of you could manage one for us :P ), we were just lazing around and for a change, simply watching  the rain fall, wind low, clouds thunder and mangoes fall off the tree. 

 

In the past three years or so Kats used to just manage to sleep for 6 hours a day or so, but for the past few she has been sleeping for more 12 hours a day. What does she do the rest 12 hours you may ask and you'll be surely amused and amazed on ‘uncovering’ the secret of the order in which she does things the entire day. Well she reads, writes, sings (pathetically in the bathroom, Indian Idol dreams are still awake maybe somewhere.. ref: And…Chulbuli is back….Kats decides…. ),cooks food, watches FIFA matches and post 5:30 pm roams around the entire ‘here’. I'm glad that an unplanned day isn't that hard for her any more.

 

Some more results are awaited, but now she has reached such a level of saturation that she is ready to take almost anything.

 

Khushi is going away. She is moving to ‘Redivivus urbs’, a very nice city. One big city with lots of people, lots to places to go to, many things to learn, most importantly a gazillion times better than 'here'.But as expected both Kats and Khushi are upset.But nothing can be done.This day was to come, its just that it feels that its a little too soon. Recently Khushi ‘threw' a party for all her friends (I don't know why people use the word 'threw', but they do,I find it odd, don't you?).All her friends had come.It wasn't exactly like the way myself or Kats expected it to be.We thought that it would be emotional and some, if not all would break down,none except for one did breakdown.Though Kats often says that "Sorrow and grief can not always be expressed through tears." I feel that when you really feel for someone,you can see it.I couldn't see much on many of the faces.Isn't it sad that everything is so hollow nowadays ? 

Kats,Kats oh Kats,I must write an ode on her laziness someday.She so the queen of this empire (the empire of laziness) as well.It's been ages since she cleaned her table or every cleaned the cupboard  containing her books.Maybe lazy isn't the word to describe her now,as she says she is 'relaxing'.But relaxing doesn't mean you sit on a pile of dirt does it? 

I know I've complained a lot about  Kats already.And I may seem like an ever complaining pest. So I think I must share some of my other observations about Kats and the people around her.

Kats has suddenly become a topic of interest for all her neighbours and the people around her.Everyone wants to know how much she scored in various exams,where does she intend to study,what does she intend to study,etc. Those people who never even acknowledged her existence  have suddenly got interested in her 'future'.I find it amusing.The poor girl has to answer every odd question a passer-by on the street asks her.She may choose not to answer but sadly she does mind her manners.

Amidst all of this no one has for once though of what poor Kats is going through.I know Kats hasn't done somethings in the way she was supposed to,but the things which she has done as one is supposed to, haven't given her what she wants.

I can see the disappointment in her eyes,the loss of the will to do her best.She is sad,not because she has to answer everyone,but because she couldn't do what maybe she could have.

Now for a change I feel she shouldn't answer any more questions.
She does feel like yelling on the faces of the passers by to "mind their own business".But again,the word  'manners' comes in the way.

Maybe sometime I should take over and say so,what do you think? 

Whatever maybe your answer Kats isn't that happy now,I'm trying my best to cheer her,lets see whether I succeed.