Tryst with the P

I think i am now capable of writing a book about my encounters with P. the walk to the cc block, those endless conversations with the PAs , and the ever fierce urge to burst the P's office will haunt me until i step into my grave.

Encounter 1- meet P to fight for the existence of the college play in the year 2009.
it wasn't exactly pleasant, but we prevailed! i can still recall the dialogue verbatim. while P kept emphasising on the nuisance it was, we kept prattling about the absolute necessity of it. the enchanting experience it has sought to provide the hundreds who were a part of it. we quoted the previous burgomasters of the play, their learning, their personality enhancements, etc etc. did it move P? well, NOT IN THE LEAST. we then made promises of taking up sale of tickets to relieve the teachers from the so called wrath of the students. did this help? finally, YES, but to the extent that she asked us to go back to C to finalise.

Encounter 2- the fight for a director and hall
this was probably the most interesting meeting, as it ignited in me a hope for the future of the play as i saw a junior fighting for what i believed in. we managed to get the need for an external director approved, but the hall was still in jeopardy. her reasons for the disapproval of a hall outside the campus seemed unknown to herself as she adamantly refuted every point we made including the monetary issue(the one considered to do the trick each time) by a wave of her hand! (what wouldn't have done to chop it off)

Encounter 3- hmmm- ah yes, the meeting with the director
my favourite so far, as all i had to do was sit back and relax and watch bala amuse the sisters with his sweet talk! we actually received blessings from H and P at the end of it, i wish i'd recorded that meeting. :O

Encounter 4- proposal meet + venue fight+ fight for four shows
by far the most frustrating one as i sat in P's office for forty-five minutes the previous day for an appointment and waited for two and half hours the next day along with my teacher coordinators to meet her. her eleven o' clock turned out to be one thirty! as we entered the room all i could sense was the nerve on my temple pulsating with anger! yet, we had to put up our best smile and greet her with GENUINE AFFECTION! we tell her about the progress we've made with sponsorship, only to receive a big NO for the only sponsor who had agreed to shell out the maximum. (she asks us to give her a print-out of the proposal and a list of the sponsors along with a description of their activities by the next day! ) but we take a deep breath and smile and proceed. we talk out reasons for four shows confirming in every way possible that no college activity or timing would be disrupted by the show. she finally AGREES! (during the process of convincing her we also got a glimpse of her amazingly minute knowledge of theatre- as she blinked brightly at the use of the term- double cast! it wouldn't have surprised me much had she not professed profoundly, in our previous meetings, that she had enough experience in this sphere to outdo our very own director! ) Sigh, we smile and proceed. we then draw the stage and tell her the pros of having it in the venue previously okay-ed by her. after wasting three sheets of paper we prevail. i get out of the room satisfied and exhausted.

Encounter 5- PROPOSAL
the proposal had been lying on her table for 6 hours, but when we ask her about it, she replies- "oh i haven't read it yet". we smile and proceed. we ask her about the title of the play 'Mordant Murals', she turns to S and asks- "S, is it English?." we smile and proceed. the most unsuccessful meeting ended with us having to leave assuring her that the name would be changed to a 'happier' one.

Encounter 6- Black and Blue and Other Hues
i go to her office to get the name approved without which we can't proceed with our sponsorship. she looks at it and asks me to get the permission of all the VPs. i smile and proceed to the offices of the VPs only to find one of them seated. she asks me to wait till all the VPs are there in their respective cabins so that they can come to a conclusion unanimously! (Like that's going to happen in the next 29 centuries!) i smile and proceed to P to tell her that the task ahead is impossible. by god's grace one of the VPs was in the P's office with her, i shamelessly ordered vatsala ma'am to take the list and not come out of the office unless a name had been approved off. Black and Blue and Other Hues, emerged!

Encounter 7- Letter
getting a letter signed might sound like the easiest task so far, well it took me three days and two hours of standing outside her office to get it signed. it was done and that's all that matters for now.
that's all folks! (at least for now :S)

women or we-men!

While studying my AO- Women and Development, my mind pondered over a few questions, answers to which I'm yet to find. Will i come across gender discrimination in my future life? If i do, then what am I going to do? Will I exercise my legal rights that have enough loop holes to disadvantage me rather than act in my favour? Why does the word women have men in it? Will men ever fight for women's rights?

There is absolutely no society in the world that can boast about it's perfect equity among the sexes. Gender discrimination is considered as the oldest form of discrimination that has diseased the societal framework across class, caste, religion and region. We are so used to it now, that many women don't even realise that they are being discriminated or ill-treated! Domestic violence is, appallingly, seen as an expression of love and a genuine attempt to make the other person a better person. It's puzzling that India has presented both the worst and best results of women upliftment. India was one of the first countries to bring women out of the four walls. The British Medical Journal predicates that India aborted at least a million girl foetuses in past two decades. (contradictory?????)
Renuka Chowdary revealed that when she interacted with a group of rural women, a lady came up to her and said,"My husband beats me, that's ok. But can my mother-in-law and sister-in-law also beat me?"
Well glorified planners of the country, i can't see results of your implications! Do the plans made by the government actually reach the ones who need them the most? Are these plans effective in these times? Will the roots of discrimination- patriarchy and sexism ever be eliminated?
In the hope that the w(omen)orld will become a better and equitable place with the conjoined efforts of all, I retire to contribute my bit.

To R and V, with love

Since this blog is a result of being inspired by R and V, I wish to dedicate this post to them. R and V have been my mentors for the past six months and now hold a very special corner in my heart. They changed my life from M (Meera) to D (Dragon). Dragon, which proved to be another feather on the cap of Stella's Annual Productions, was brought into my life by these two.
What was best about this year's annual production (notice the absence of the commonly mistaken phrase of "College Play") was that it was an amalgamation of the efforts of all those involved in it. Not a single was singled out! [what a sentence, i say :) ]
Well evidently R and V being the Production Managers had to do much more than any of us, but what was heartening was them complimenting us on all our little feats while most of their's went unnoticed.
I can clearly recollect the expression of their faces after the first day's show- that sense of accomplishment cannot be put into words.
R and V created a new family for me that comprised of A, B, C, D, G, J, M, N, P, R, S, T, V and Y [I have a purpose behind mentioning the alphabets alone]. Evidently, all this changed me from D to A (i.e the next year's Annual Production!!). Well, as i really don't know which alphabet i am at present, i conclude (with a great sense of pride) that R and V changed my life from A to Z and it honestly couldn't have been better! [Sniff- emotional overload ;) ]

Hail my post!

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

- Lord Tennyson

I thought this would be the most appropriate way to start, well obviously the revised version would be- And I would that my hand could jot
The thoughts that arise in me. ;)