Teenage! The most exciting stage in a person's life ( have no idea what the other beings of this planet have to say about this one). And it becomes all the more thrilling for a girl , if they are just two sisters , studying in an all -girls school, because suddenly not only "others" start noticing you but you begin to take notice of "others". Well, ideally it should have been in my case , but it didn't , probably because there was hardly or no interaction with the other gender of my age . Moreover, I was always the one worried about things like 1/2 a mark silly mistake in Chemistry test , so 13 was just another number, another year, another birthday.
My neighbor who was pursuing an advanced course in Math was home during her summer break and offered to help me with the subject. I was thrilled ( yes "thrilled" for the simple reason that I would be able to finish and practice the difficult topics much before other girls) . Didi ( that's how I used to address her ) was thoroughly impressed with my progress. A few days later, her friend's brother too joined me in the that class. Just the two of us. We got to exchange few glances whenever Didi took those cooking breaks, in between. I never liked his shoes ,dirty and jumbo sized, he almost killed me once with those when he stepped on my white bellies ( and I would never forgive him because the bow fell off). His choice of clothes was too hippy and hair was always unkempt. Since I had been the class monitor for" many many" years these were the only things I would "check" in a person. Beyond these, I had no interest. I liked his name though ( but then who kept an Om Shanker or Suresh for a name at least in a generation that we were born into) . I never thought what he had to say about my " mushroom cut " ( that's what it was called) ," Keo Karpin" smelling hair, my " frocks" ( yes I still wore frocks till then , with lots of lace work), my white bellies, and my beloved "Yamaha RX 100 ", not the bike, wrist watch ( promotional gift, might have been,my aunt got it for me and it was my most prized possession). We studied together, solved question papers ( and I always scored more) but our interaction was restricted to ," Hello" and " Bye". Summer break got over and so did the class.
A week after the school re-opened a girl from the "B" section came looking for me during the recess. Somebody showed her the place where I was having my tiffin . She was Bulbul, that's what her name badge read. Bulbul looked quite serious and said that she wanted me to stay back after the classes got over as it was a little urgent. I wouldn't have had, had she not added the word "urgent". I couldn't concentrate in the classes that followed after the break, was worried what if she wanted my history notebook to copy the answers that I had written after drowning myself in reference books( for which I was always applauded by the teacher). After being on the edge continuously for four classes the suspense got over when she came to my class room after the" long bell" .
Bulbul asked me , " Do you remember Karan?"
" Are you talking about the one who studied with me during the summer break at my neighbor's?"
"Yes."
" I do, in a way but not much, why, what happened?"
She meant business so without any beating around the bush said, " He wants to propose you , wants to know your response."
( okay so I didn't know what to say , but then I had to say something. )
" Can I answer that tomorrow?"
" Yes , take your time, but remember he is a nice guy."
( Really? What do I do even if he wasn't?)
I couldn't have thought of a better escape.Now how could I have told Bulbul that somebody who has always been a rank holder in class didn't know what " he wants to propose you" meant. So I thought I would look up the dictionary once I reached home.
On reaching home, I frantically looked for the word " propose".
Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary said:
propose verb ( proposes,proposing,proposed)1. put forward an idea or plan for consideration
2. nominate someone for an official position 3. plan or intend to do something 4. make an offer of marriage to someone.
It couldn't have been 1 ( idea or plan?).
It couldn't have been 2 ( official position?)
So did he mean 3? ( intend to do something)
It couldn't have been 4, most ridiculous of them all ( we were just 13 so obviously why would he had thought of making an offer of marriage)
Now what could have he "intended to do" was the big question , may be he wanted to study together for the upcoming examinations? Yes , he already knew I was a class topper Didi often mentioned it to him while she taught us.
Next morning , I saw Bulbul hurriedly running towards me . She wanted my answer , and I had already made up my mind the previous night,
I said , " No."
She said , " But he is a nice guy."
"But I don't think I would still want to share my notebooks with him. I worked very hard to prepare those notes."
Bulbul looked stumped. I walked into the Assembly Hall.I never heard from Karan after that.
Few months later somebody " proposed" my best friend .
And that's how I learnt the 5th meaning , the one which superseded others . But no my only regret was adding that "notebook" bit ,why didn't I stop at that "NO" ( on second thought I would have "thought about it" had I known what it exactly meant). ....hehehe
My neighbor who was pursuing an advanced course in Math was home during her summer break and offered to help me with the subject. I was thrilled ( yes "thrilled" for the simple reason that I would be able to finish and practice the difficult topics much before other girls) . Didi ( that's how I used to address her ) was thoroughly impressed with my progress. A few days later, her friend's brother too joined me in the that class. Just the two of us. We got to exchange few glances whenever Didi took those cooking breaks, in between. I never liked his shoes ,dirty and jumbo sized, he almost killed me once with those when he stepped on my white bellies ( and I would never forgive him because the bow fell off). His choice of clothes was too hippy and hair was always unkempt. Since I had been the class monitor for" many many" years these were the only things I would "check" in a person. Beyond these, I had no interest. I liked his name though ( but then who kept an Om Shanker or Suresh for a name at least in a generation that we were born into) . I never thought what he had to say about my " mushroom cut " ( that's what it was called) ," Keo Karpin" smelling hair, my " frocks" ( yes I still wore frocks till then , with lots of lace work), my white bellies, and my beloved "Yamaha RX 100 ", not the bike, wrist watch ( promotional gift, might have been,my aunt got it for me and it was my most prized possession). We studied together, solved question papers ( and I always scored more) but our interaction was restricted to ," Hello" and " Bye". Summer break got over and so did the class.
A week after the school re-opened a girl from the "B" section came looking for me during the recess. Somebody showed her the place where I was having my tiffin . She was Bulbul, that's what her name badge read. Bulbul looked quite serious and said that she wanted me to stay back after the classes got over as it was a little urgent. I wouldn't have had, had she not added the word "urgent". I couldn't concentrate in the classes that followed after the break, was worried what if she wanted my history notebook to copy the answers that I had written after drowning myself in reference books( for which I was always applauded by the teacher). After being on the edge continuously for four classes the suspense got over when she came to my class room after the" long bell" .
Bulbul asked me , " Do you remember Karan?"
" Are you talking about the one who studied with me during the summer break at my neighbor's?"
"Yes."
" I do, in a way but not much, why, what happened?"
She meant business so without any beating around the bush said, " He wants to propose you , wants to know your response."
( okay so I didn't know what to say , but then I had to say something. )
" Can I answer that tomorrow?"
" Yes , take your time, but remember he is a nice guy."
( Really? What do I do even if he wasn't?)
I couldn't have thought of a better escape.Now how could I have told Bulbul that somebody who has always been a rank holder in class didn't know what " he wants to propose you" meant. So I thought I would look up the dictionary once I reached home.
On reaching home, I frantically looked for the word " propose".
Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary said:
propose verb ( proposes,proposing,proposed)1. put forward an idea or plan for consideration
2. nominate someone for an official position 3. plan or intend to do something 4. make an offer of marriage to someone.
It couldn't have been 1 ( idea or plan?).
It couldn't have been 2 ( official position?)
So did he mean 3? ( intend to do something)
It couldn't have been 4, most ridiculous of them all ( we were just 13 so obviously why would he had thought of making an offer of marriage)
Now what could have he "intended to do" was the big question , may be he wanted to study together for the upcoming examinations? Yes , he already knew I was a class topper Didi often mentioned it to him while she taught us.
Next morning , I saw Bulbul hurriedly running towards me . She wanted my answer , and I had already made up my mind the previous night,
I said , " No."
She said , " But he is a nice guy."
"But I don't think I would still want to share my notebooks with him. I worked very hard to prepare those notes."
Bulbul looked stumped. I walked into the Assembly Hall.I never heard from Karan after that.
Few months later somebody " proposed" my best friend .
And that's how I learnt the 5th meaning , the one which superseded others . But no my only regret was adding that "notebook" bit ,why didn't I stop at that "NO" ( on second thought I would have "thought about it" had I known what it exactly meant). ....hehehe
Very interesting blog ! I was glued to it till the end !! Still searching for that 5th meaning !
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