Journeys and more

Burrrrr.....Burrrrr....Burrrrr......Nokia mobiles are famous for their durability. They are also known for their reliability. In case of a doubt, try this, throw one down your toilet, flush hard, wait for a week and call that number. You will hear someone answer the call. But they are known for yet another reason. They vibrate like the world is coming to an end. When you are asleep in the morning with a phone beside your head, someone calls you, and if you are not a polar bear, you will most probably get furious. This is what happened. It was 20 days back that my results were announced. But my phone never stopped ringing all this while. It was 7 in the morning and the nokia mobile kicked some punch. I began to think. I didn't achieve a celebrity rank, I mean one in the top 10 or even a super star rank, I mean one in the top 50. I was miles away from even a super man rank, I mean one in the top 100. I was standing at 250. But why this hype? why all these felicitations? Why are distant relatives from distant towns who maintained good distance all this while, coming so close?

I then recalled one Mr. Nagashayana who used to teach us Public Administration in New Delhi. He called this exam, the King or Pauper exam. I just realized it was true. At least in parts.

My mom appears from nowhere, tiptoes towards the bed, pushes aside the blankets, sits beside me and reads out that day's engagements with clockwork precision. It was the sixth honour in less than a month. I felt like pinching and kicking myself again to make sure it was not that elongated dream. My mother was ready to do it on my behalf but I resisted. the last felicitation I was honoured with was two decades back when I fortunately and quite amazedly ended up winning a speed skating race held in Hyderabad. My relatives were so overwhelmed by disbelief that they kept calling home and asked i f I really won the race even two years after me winning the race. After that I was more or less the epitome and paragon of FAIL. Was it really time for me to hog the limelight?