ADOLESCENCE !!

Suddenly we were in the 10 STD, and as they say…. had become seniors!! Just two years to go, and we would be out of school to college .Promoted from the Old Hostel Dormitory and common, open air showers to the New Hostel Cubicle with closed toilets made us feel real macho!! Rubbing shoulders with our seniors, made us feel Big!!Preference Q for food in the Canteen, and most important on the playground for Basketball or Tennis made life wonderful!!

Nitul Dhupelia and Deepak Advani were my best friends.We hung out together, went for movies and ate ice cream at Elphinstone Theatre, samosas at Buhari and Ceylon Parotta at Astoria, a way side seedy Hotel just below the Chetput Over Bridge !! The food never tasted so good. Nitul was an Elvis freak.Highly music oriented, he had to keep listening to Jail House Rock everyday. But then it was days of Summer Wine, Bachelor Boy , Lonely Lady and Summer Holiday !! That’s when we got the pangs of Adolescent Love !! A Carnival at the YWCA on Poonamalee Road was the meeting point for most Girls and Boys. So the three of us decided to try a hand at this complicated venture. By then most guy’s already had Girl Friends and were seen taking them out for Movies, feeling jealous and left out that we did not, and so to YWCA we went !! Bell Bottoms, Flowery Shirt, Sunglasses, and Beatle Boots we got on to our Bikes ( Cycles ! ) and sped away !! Beginning of the month, each one loaded, with Pocket Money, the world was round and we were right on Top !!

The place was packed with Guy’s from Schools all over. Kids with whom we had competed on the field of sport and in the swimming pool, were again there to compete for Girls !! Nitul say’s … Man we are in for a fight !! Deepak ( the most handsome of the three ) comb’s his hair Elvis style, and me … Wondering what the hell am I getting into !! Walking around I found the most Charming Girl with hair up to her Knees at the Pyramid Stall ( Where they keep Tin Cans like a Pyramid and you had to bring it down with 5 Throws of a Tennis Ball ! ) Being good in Cricket, I went for it !! She was staring at me as I prepared to Chuck….. So very conscious I missed it totally !! The crowd watching erupted in Laughter. Angry with myself, but still conscious of her eyes on me, I chucked again, to dislodge part of it, 3 to go …. No way was I going to clear the table, anyways in the end … Bottom Row was in tact!! More important I had got her attention !!

She was Ramani !! We went to the next stall to play Hoop La, and to my luck she got a Ponds Powder, Wow that made my day !! To the eat stall for Sandwich, Kwality Ice Cream and Cotton Candy !! Conscious that my wallet was getting thinner, I steered her away to a nice place where we could sit and watch the action.. Suddenly there was a commotion, typically Nitul had got into a fight, with another kid who jumped the Q at the Darts Stall !! Dumping Ramani, I ran to find my friend bleeding through the nose and Deepak holding a Hanky to it !! So, we got together and bashed up this kid, by then it became a free for all !! Net result we were thrown out and so ended our search for girl friends !! The Matron, complained to our Head Master, who in turn called our Parents over and Dad !! Gosh, at that age it was tough going man !!

After the session with the HM, he took me out for Lunch to Dasaprakash, in stoic silence we ate, and at the end said .. “If you fight, fight for yourself or for your principles not for someone else !!”