From the campus... SMS

We were a part of the crazy SMS maniac campus generation. Thanks to service providers like Airtel and Aircel, ours was controlled frenzy. The maximum number of free SMSes per day was limited to 100 for student pack. And for those who think that 100 is a good figure, trust me, it wasn't.  To survive a long day of boring lectures and that too with the numerous gossips floating around, it was actually too less. I remember the day when I woke up to my best friend/roomie promising me my ever fav Diary Milk. I realized that something was up since she is not this sweet, usually. And the reason became quite obvious in a few minutes - my free SMSes for the day were done for, and the day had not even begun! Moreover she didn't look like she had lost her sleep!! Those are the figures we are talking about. Hope you get a picture now.

SMSes helped classmates let the late comers know what was in store for them, or if the lectures had been shuffled (so that you can plan and avoid a particular subject for which you already have enough attendance). For cross-department friends, it was absolutely necessary to synchronize their bunking. And while in auditorium, who doesn't like a well coordinated booing? And most of all, it made one feel like a hero(ine) for mobiles were banned in the campus. There was a friend of mine who had made a storage closet for a mobile on her notebook. She had carefully cut a neat dwelling fitting her phone in one notbook, and one befitting the charger in another. Such were the ingenious methods devised to smuggle the phone in and out of the college hostel and to charge them inside empty classrooms.

Not to mention the numerous funny, crazy, and chalu forwards, silent sorries, fights and as my friends recently reminded me, pranks! One of us once received a forwarded message. What made it special was that it was sent by a spirit(or so it claimed!). All we had to do was to give a missed call to a number at night, and the ghost will call you back at midnight. And well, the courageous ones gave miss calls, and midnight swept by without anything happening. But the phone did ring, early in the morning. As we picked the call all so scared, there was a guy at the other end of the phone shouting and screaming. He was indeed blood-thirsty, caused by the fact that he received numerous miss calls during the night spoiling his sleep!

And oh, this will not be complete without saying about messages gone astray. How would you feel if a gossip about you landed rght on your inbox? Well, definitely not an intended gesture, but a small 'spelling' mistake :) The consequences depend on how well you manage it at the moment, and of course, on your luck. I really really do not want to explain more.

There are probably numerous more incidents to quote, but the point is made. Campus was where we enjoyed everything to its most. And simple as it may seem, SMSes contributed big time to it. Love you, my dear friends... such a time will not come by again, but the memories are ours, forever...

My relationship with ghosts

As the girl walked towards the tree on a no moon day, there was suddenly an eerie silence, and the screech of an owl from a distance disturbed the silence. But she continued walking, and then suddenly, there was a figure right in front of her... it was a little girl, and her face was distorted and she walked  towards her....


It was at this point of the movie that I heard a knock on my door and boy, wasn't I scared to the core? As I walked to the door taking teeny-weeny steps and checked, I found to my immense relief that it was my neighbor who had dropped in to ask for a cup of milk!  But nevertheless, this incident made me think about the hate-hate relationship I share with ghosts.

I know that there exists this class of 'abnormal'(what else?) people who love to watch horror movies, and later (can you believe it) do not flip or flinch about it... and then the other class who actually watch these hiding behind their chairs. Cowards, really! Why take the pains of watching it and scaring oneself to death? I have never understood the psychology behind that behavior. And then comes the third section, the one I am proud to belong to, who changes the channel as soon as they see its a horror flick. But wouldn't mind watching ever favs (read, Manichithrathazhu) or a few minutes of some gross horror movie(though we later regret it and walk around as if ghosts are all jobless and in search for you!).

But then horror doesn't really start or end with movies. I remember that as a child, I had listened to numerous stories of ghosts haunting paddy fields at night. It might have been a clever parent who floated those stories around as we kids, never strayed alone after dark listening to those (which now seem like) crappy stories. But ghosts had made a permanent scar on me right then. I have never been scared of the lack of light, but the notion that there are unworldly creatures lurking in the dark waiting to pounce on you, has always always always scared me. And with me grew the fear which gradually gave way to hatred. I hate ghosts (well, who would want to love them, eh? )

This reminds of an incident from my college life. Onam was around the corner and to make sure that I get good seats in a bus bound home, I woke up before dawn and walked down to the bathroom area. It was while I was brushing that I heard a sound behind me. I strained myself and tried to listen. A panic-struck me could not bear to turn back and see what's happening and hence opted to look in the mirror right in front of me. The mirror gave a good view of the corridor and I couldn't spot anyone/anything. And then suddenly, from nowhere, I saw a figure on it, with a long robe draped around it and hair all around where the face should have been. There was no mistaking that it was staring at me, I could feel it, I could sense it. But I couldn't make a noise, it was as if I could no longer talk or make a noise. As it walked towards me, I turned around with all the energy I had and managed to throw everything I could find then at it and ran. At the door I met my roommate, and she saw me on the verge of tears, but I wouldn't explain anything, she said later, I just ran! As she put her head in, and checked to see what happened, she was blasted, in full-fledged Tamil, by some bewildered girl in all so drenched night clothes! I had thrown mugs of cold water onto some girl who decided to use the bathroom when she woke up in the middle of her sleep. My best friend did her best to explain to the girl that I was scared and mistook her for a ghost. But that kind of alleviated her feelings (I wonder why ;). And once I had calmed down enough and they managed to pull me out from under the blanket, it was not just the wet girl that I had to face but also my best friend who by then was agitated by all the Tamil bad words showered upon her so early in the morning!!!

And now, my husband has resorted to hiding in the house and scaring me every now and then so that I get around this fear of mine. But a couple of days back, when he did this at a time I least expected, I threw the spoon at him. I had a knife with me on the other hand but thankfully, I did not throw it! And now, he has withdrawn from his attempts too. Oh, dear life!

Scary houses, Halloween stories, and all horror movies freak me out. I make out strange patterns lurking behind the shower liners. And the strange coincidences drive me crazy. Anytime, I talk about ghosts, I feel its eyes on me. And oh God, there is a knock on the door, and am not expecting anyone at this time of the day!