The perfect past

It was the tenth time i suppressed a yawn! My head hardly registered the anything that was being discussed at the seminar. It was an exam oriented seminar conducted by another college and i overestimated my potential to patiently listen to over 8 hours of lecture with just a 30 minute break in between. I totally lost it when they started  talking about varicose veins at a speed of 3 words per minute!...i was still thinking about the palatable lunch i just ate, the chair that was abusing my spinal cord, the unbelievable eye popping students around who kept nodding for even the breath the professor took!

It was 2 o clock, in a jam packed hot, humid room where the air was completely paralyzed, that's when i spotted a student religiously take notes..like every one else (where is my pen?)  but this smart ass was typing away to oblivion on his laptop! I saw signs of mental disturbance in him for sure! But what really caught my attention was the laptop.

The laptop for some reason reminded me of long forgotten NATRAJ (THE PENCIL), my red and black NATRAJ pencil the most pivotal object  of my childhood.

I would sharpen it every single day before school (prestige problems)..Just for the heck of it i'd sharpen the other end too and show of with my dual ended writing instrument!...It was the only food i got in the exam hall!..i'd chew on the wood and stare blankly at the bent backs right in front.

I remembered  the notebooks, that were neatly covered in brown paper, with a "bata" or "kiwi" label on it. The double margins, the smudged pencil marks that made pages look grey, red marks and even worse "very bad handwriting" remarks and the occasional "neat" or a star.

The eraser, that was the most hardworking stationary in my pencil case. It would assume odd shapes by the end of term and ultimately disappeared as a tiny round thing in my friends braid.

The ever strong wooden ruler,in its yellow glory bearing compass marks and my name in bold letters. It must have definitly waged wars with other scales in class but was never used for the intended purpose.

And obviously, the very 1st led pen.Renolds! .the refill that had pathetic looking ends, and the the ink totally wasted in "correcting" news papers, text books, and dads office stuff(ouch!)

I saw the laptop again...what a shame! its just there, reminds me of nothing except wasted hours, and non productivity  multiplied by guilt.Its no match for the physically deformed and emotionally challenged stationary of my past.

I finally found my pen. That professor is still speaking 3 words per minute...i open my note book and take down an important point "Prof.X, varicose veins, 3 words per minute".

I would love to look back at this sometime in the distant future.