Bulls on Parade

Bulls on Parade- a Viewpoint from the audience

On the 23^rd of December, 2010, the highly anticipated rock concert called ‘Bulls on Parade’ and created by Muscat-renowned singer Akhilesh Radhakrishnan and Aftershock band mates Swapnil Anto and Abrar Mohammed took place. It was a more advertised version of last year’s event – ‘Scream’, organized by Karnika Ray, Malvika Asher and Binoodha Sasy and was performed at the same venue, Le Grand Hall at the Al Falaj hotel. Unfortunately unlike ‘Scream’, ‘BoP’ failed to enthrall the audience, and made many people, including yours truly, wish that they had not wasted their time and money for such an experience.

Firstly, the number of people who came to watch the bands play was quite limited, contrary to expectation. The whole show had been largely publicized and talked about, at least in our school, Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir. This could be due to the fact that the tickets were mainly sold in our school, and not in other reigning Indian schools like Indian Schools Muscat or Al Ghubra, because the organizers themselves were fresh out of ISWK. Secondly, the tickets were at a price of RO. 4.00, which was outrageous for a school-going kid. Perhaps it was due to such an exorbitant rate that many young people failed to show up. The mikes were also not working properly, leading to a vocalist’s voice being unheard, or an excellent guitar to be completely switched off. For all one knows, these could have been the factors which contributed to more people sitting outside, bored, than going inside and enjoying the music!

On the plus side, however, the bands were quite good, especially local bands Aftershock and Question Mark. All the bands had a host of guitarists who knew their way about the chords and scales well and that knowledge to make their (although a handful of) fans scream for them. But it was really the DJ Nigel Warren who got the concert-goers to sit up, take note of the songs he played and shake their hips enthusiastically around the hall. Indeed, there were little groups of dancers who cheered on their best for a mini-dance-off with another excellent dancer.

The show ended on a fair note when the results of the online voting for the best band were announced. Question Mark and school band Evolution bagged the first two places, with cash prize of RO. 150 each, and another school band, No Clue, won the second runners-up position.

Hey...again

Hey…again

We had a misunderstanding

Suffocated by doubt

It created a rift between us

We parted ways and took a different route.

And now, we see each other

We make polite small talk

And it’s as if a great burden is falling

Like a key opens a lock.

We catch each other’s eye

We grin and look away

But the bridge is rebuilt, the bond healing

We’re seeing a different angle, a new way.

It’s good to see you again, my friend

It’s good to banter again, to laugh

We thought we’d moved on to another chapter

But some friendships can’t leave the track and go off.

To The Sky

To The Sky

You’re up so high

Yet sometimes I can

Touch you and almost feel you

As irresistible as the call of an ice-cream van.

You change your shades like a mood ring

Cool blue when happy, harsh black when angered

Velvety purple when benign, silvery purple at dawn

Clouds blanket you, creamy as new curd.

Limitless, endless

Enticing, free

Celestial, mysterious

Liberated from anxiety and worry.

You call me, inviting, seductive

But you tease me, I cannot come

I am restrained by Earth’s grounded chains

Intoxicating as wine attained from sweet plum.

The Fun In Between

YEAH!  LIVE LIFE!!!!

There’s something about the time when you finish writing an exam and wait for at least half an hour on the school premises to be with your friends before going home which makes sitting for  the exam really worth it. Some people have gone as far as to say that exam time is much more fun than holidays because during the holidays, you hardly get to see your friends, surprisingly enough. Why is this particular period so enjoyed by us, the teens who always complain that studying is the bane of our lives? It’s because that half an hour of relaxing with your buds, before grudgingly going home and cramming, is precious to us. Not only do we get to spend time with our own group, we also see our juniors and seniors, who are also our friends and probably have exams at the same time. Playing football or shooting hoops helps us relish our short periods of freedom before going home. We can complain passionately about the difficulty of our papers to each other, and even tear the question papers up in defiance together, for who listens to us and supports us so well after a tough exam other than the people who have taken it with us? This is also the time when we sneak our mobiles to school, to exchange and stock up on songs to listen to after our freedom from those evil papers, and to take pictures of each other so as to carry home memories to remind ourselves of the fun we have during exams, which makes all the memorizing of hateful Chemistry equations and harrowing practices of Trigonometric calculations so much more bearable.  No doubt studying for our exams is no entertainment for us, but the thought of being with our gangs, of sharing even the tiniest bit of news, of running around trying to catch a teasing guy friend - yes, all this helps to fill us with positive thoughts of finishing an exam quickly and racing out to be with our friends. It sure does make the exam time fly by much faster!

The Cat

      The Cat

He found her, mewing pathetically, on the dusty side of the road. Chewing his cheek, he stared at her. She was so small and furry and weak that she could hardly lift herself up. He had never seen a more pitiful sight. Yet she was somehow familiar, as though he had seen her elsewhere.

Balaji bent his slim brown legs and lifted the cat. She trembled in his arms and mewed quietly. He took her home and put her in a small basket hidden in the corner of the old store-room, for if Amma or Kodhai Mami found her, they would be furious. They hated animals stepping on their clean floors.

He found some milk that Patti had bought from the old milk-seller who, according to her, was the best milkman in the whole of Tamil Nadu while everyone else knew that he had faithfully watered down the milk for the past 32 years, and fed it to the cat. She drank gratefully. A small smile crept across his face. ‘I’ll call you Radhu,’ he said, stroking her. Then, picking her up, he went to show her to his kind grandparents. Unlike his mother, they adored cats.

Thatha and Patti were sitting on the big swing in the courtyard. Thatha chewed some betel leaf while Patti sang a Carnatic song under her breath. ‘Thatha, Patti!’ he yelled joyfully and ran to show them his find. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ Patti smiled, not quite hearing him. ‘Come here, kanna,’ she said, patting the swing’s  seat. He clambered on, holding the cat carefully. Now it was purring faintly. ‘See my Radhu? She is my baby now, like how Rajan has a new baby brother.’ The two elders stared at his arms, puzzled. They could see nothing. Patti blinked her eyes several times, hoping that an image of whatever her dear grandson was showing would materialize, but nothing came. She made a mental note to tell her daughter to ask her son-in-law to take her to Ammu Eye Clinic.

Thatha was somehow wiser than his (seemingly) short-sighted wife. He ruffled Balaji’s hair and pretended to admire Radhu. ‘The boy and his imagination,’ he muttered to his wife, who nodded, glad to know that she didn’t need glasses.

Balaji heard. ‘I am not imagining her!!!! If you can’t see her, then you are blind. I hate you!’ he burst out savagely and ran toward the doorway, where he met Amma. His anger gave way to fear. He stood, head hanging, tears running down his cheeks. Amma would surely kick poor Radhu out of the house, and might even lock him up without giving him poli, his favorite sweet.

Amma stared at her son. ‘Kanna, what happened, are you hurt? Do you need something?’ Balaji was perplexed. He ran to the store-room and put the cat in her basket. ‘I’ll take care of you,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t worry, I’m surprised Amma didn’t do anything, but it’s all for the better. She’ll likely tell Kodhai Mami to leave you.’ And with this promise, he set Radhu down, lay down on the rug and fell asleep. The cat looked at him for a moment and then curled up contently by his side.

This went on for a week. Balaji grew much attached to Radhu. He would play with her, fetch milk for her and even tell her stories he’d heard from Patti. The rest of the household felt sorry for him and humored him, for the boy had no other friends at all, and plainly, his ‘imaginary’ friend was a good companion.

Then one day, Balaji heard something that shattered his world. His Amma, grinding rice, told him that his father was coming back from Madras, from visiting his brother. Balaji trembled. His Appa could be kind when he wanted to be, but he hated animals as much as his wife and would not hesitate to lay his belt on Balaji’s back if he saw or heard of the cat.

So, that night, he decided to run away with Radhu. He loved her too much to let her go. When he felt Patti fall asleep and breathe regularly, he wrapped Radhu up in a thin blanket and crept stealthily away from the house.

It was dark and terribly cold. The stars twinkled away in the sky, spreading their light over a lithe little boy who ran swiftly, a tiny feline friend clutched in his arms. Balaji ran and ran. He turned into this quiet lane and that pitch-black alley. He constantly looked over his shoulder, as if expecting to see his father racing after him, belt in his hand. The boy’s breath came out in gasps and he held Radhu tightly to his thin chest.

Suddenly, he trod on something long and soft and fell down. His heart stopped when he heard the angry growl. The dog’s eyes gleamed in the darkness, white teeth glinting evilly. It took in its prey and gave a loud bark before leaping into the air. Balaji gave a blood- curdling scream and tried to run. His legs didn’t move. Heart in his throat, he waited for the end.

 It didn’t come. All he felt was sudden warmth leaving his arms, and a loud, long yowl. Balaji opened his eyes and saw Radhu snarling, her back arched. She was suddenly the size of a giant and filled the sky, beautiful yet terrifying. Balaji couldn’t move. The dog whimpered and ran for its life, receiving three enormous scratch marks on its back as keepsake.

Balaji turned to the giant cat. She slowly began to shrink, holding his gaze with glittering green eyes. She mewed, rubbed against his legs and purred, looking into his eyes all the time. Then gradually, she began fading, evaporating into the air. Balaji sobbed. He did not understand what was going on, but he did know that his beloved friend was leaving him. ‘Goodbye Radhu,’ he whispered, patting her warm head. She purred for the last time and then disappeared. As he continued to watch the spot where she had vanished, he suddenly remembered why Radhu was so familiar. ‘Of course,’ he whispered. ‘I saw you die last month…’

Flashback

Balaji skipped along the road. It was pouring with rain, but he didn’t care. He adored the rain. Then, he heard a pathetic mewling, and saw a small cat rubbing against him. ‘Oh!’ he cried, delighted. He loved little creatures. ‘I’ll bring some food, wait here.’ He ran and crossed the road. Suddenly, there was a sharp screech of tires. He froze with horror. Turning around slowly, he saw that the cat had attempted to follow him and had gotten hit by the car. A small crowd of people stood, with the driver in the middle, cursing the poor thing fluently. He pushed past them and ran to the motionless cat, taking it tenderly in his arms.’Please don’t go,’ he sobbed. The cat opened its vivid green eyes and looked at him. Then the pupils froze in their position for eternity. The boy who was reflected in those emerald eyes stroked the dead cat sorrowfully.

                                       

Hey, y'all, Kai here. I just wrote this like an experiment, based on a seriously weird dream I once had. Any suggestions are welcome
- Kai Goldstein

The Fight With The Boys.

Mina, Lilia, Pooja, Tanya and Christie were five best friends. They liked to eat lunch together in Lilia’s classroom. ‘So, as I was saying,’ said Tanya, through a mouthful of chicken burger. ‘Rahul is the best boyfriend anyone could have.’ ‘Tanya, I can’t understand why you like him,’ muttered Mina. ‘He is such an egomaniac.’ Mina, Christie, Pooja and Lilia hated popular Rahul and his gang of idiots (according to them) because they were so mean to them (the girls) despite their “Nice Guys” image. So, when Tanya began going out with Rahul, they were stunned and horrified. But because she was their friend, they didn’t complain (much).

‘Y’know,’ said Pooja, twirling a forkful of noodles. ‘I’d love to pay a prank or two on them.’ Mina and Lilia giggled, and they spent their break pleasantly, brainstorming ideas for tricking the boys.

The next day, during break, Mina stayed in her class, eating her cheese omelets while reading J.K Rowling’s Quidditch through the Ages. But she could not enjoy the fascinating book peacefully for long. ‘Mina, Mina!’ cried Christie, bursting into the room. Mina put her book down, astonished, for Christie was usually calm and composed, even under dire circumstances. ‘What’s up?’

‘Well, Pooja and Tanya put whoopee cushions filled with water on Rahul’s and Anush’s chairs. So, when the boys sat down, you can imagine what happened. Anush suspected our gang, so Rahul asked Tanya. And Tanya was so afraid that if she told the truth, Rahul would break up with her that she blamed the whole thing on Lilia and now, Lilia’s crying because Rahul, Anush, Mithun and Varun went and yelled their heads off at her!!’ Christie paused for breath. Mina quickly got up and followed her to Lilia’s class.

Lilia was clearly trying hard not to cry, but tears streamed down her cheeks regardless. Mina hugged her tightly and then turned angrily to Pooja and Tanya. ‘Why didn’t you own up?’ she asked, glaring. Pooja’s face was abashed but Tanya’s chin jutted out defiantly. ‘If I’d told him the truth, he would’ve dumped me!’

‘So you’d rather put your best friend into trouble than not having a buffoon like Rahul for a boyfriend, right?!?’ yelled Christie. That stopped Tanya in her tracks. ‘But I love him,’ she mumbled feebly.

Mina groaned. Tanya would not be persuaded. ‘Let’s go sort this mess out,’ she muttered to Christie. They left the culprits behind, who were apologizing fervently to Lilia.

Mina and Christie marched furiously to the classroom where the boys had their rendezvous. ‘Guys, you’re going to have to apologize to Lilia,’ said Mina. ‘It wasn’t her fault.’ The boys laughed. ‘Well, Miss Mina, do you know who it was?’ sneered Mithun. Mina hesitated. She wanted to clear Lilia’s name, but she couldn’t very well put Pooja and Tanya into trouble. And Rahul was Tanya’s boyfriend. What would she do?

It was Christie who spoke up. ‘We know who they are, but we can’t tell you their names.’ ‘Oh really?’ asked Anush coldly ‘So there are two of them, huh? Well we know one of them is Pooja ‘cause she’s in our class, but who’s the other one?’ ‘Can’t say,’ said Mina. ‘But say you’re sorry to Lilia because she didn’t do it.’

‘No way!’ said Rahul. ‘Tell us the second person’s name. We’ll give them a very hard time and then we’ll apologize.’ The girls couldn’t agree to his conditions and they left sadly, for they knew Tanya. She would never own up.

The result of this chaos was that the girls hated the boys all the more and they couldn’t speak properly to Tanya. However, after a few weeks, the affair was forgotten as exams and revision conquered their minds.

One cold evening, Lilia, Tanya and Mina were walking home from the cinema hall after seeing Avatar. ‘Man, it’s good to be free after those horrible papers,’ said Mina stretching luxuriously. Lilia and Tanya agreed. They walked into an empty alley, discussing the movie and its characters, when they heard an almighty crash. ‘It came from that dead end!’ yelled Lilia and they ran in that direction. There they spotted the wreckage of a once magnificent

Toyota Camry. Mina screwed her eyes up and suddenly recognized the people in the car. It was Rahul and Anush.

The girls ran to the car. ‘What happened?!?!’ cried Tanya. Rahul moved, cried in pain and whispered ‘Car slipped on ice… was driving too fast. Help.’ Mina and Tanya bent and managed to lift Rahul out. His arm looked horrible; it was mangled and covered in blood. Meanwhile, Lilia kept sniffing the air as though she’d had a cold. Suddenly, she screamed. ‘Guys, the gas is leaking! The car’s going to blow up!!!’

Rahul gasped. ‘Tanya…Anush is stuck inside! He can’t get out; I think he broke his leg!’ Tanya and Mina stood frozen with horror and fear, unable to speak or act. It was Lilia who spoke up. ‘I’m going in.’ Mina turned, her eyes widening. ‘Lil…it might be too late.’ Lilia was pale but determined. ‘I’m the slimmest here. I can do it.’

Tanya dragged Rahul out of harm’s way and watched as Mina and Lilia lifted a heavy part of the car. Then, Lilia bent and crawled quickly towards Anush. ‘C’mon, man, you can do it.’ Anush moved a little and whimpered. Lilia worked hard. Slowly, painstakingly, she managed to drag him out without hurting him much. A sharp piece of glass scratched her arm and cheek but she didn’t even cry out. As Mina helped her move him, their time ran out and the car exploded, in a blinding, fiery blaze that sent sparks everywhere. 

Tanya, who was standing with Rahul in a safer area, screamed. She could see nothing in the resulting, thick grey smoke. For one sickening, scary second, she thought it was too late. Then, through the haze, she saw three figures (one half-sobbing and wobbling) rise, all blackened with the soot. At that moment, it was the most wonderful sight in the world for her.

Mina whipped her cell phone out and called an ambulance and the police. The paramedics came and helped bind Rahul’s arm with bandage. Then, escorted by Mina, Anush was taken away to the hospital.

Tanya, Rahul and Lilia watched the ambulance drive away. Then, they were bundled into a police car, to be taken home. In the car, Rahul turned to Lilia. ‘Lilia,’ he said sincerely. ‘Thanks. You saved my best friend’s life. For that, I’m really grateful. And…I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. I now believe that you didn’t play the prank. Sorry.’ He offered his hand to her. Lilia looked at it and grinned. ‘That’s OK, dude.’ They shook hands.

Tanya looked at this exchange and sighed. ‘Rahul, I’ve got a confession to make. I was the one who put the whoopee cushion.

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. And Lil… please please forgive me. I’m a horrible friend. I should have never blamed you.’ Saying this, she burst into tears. Lilia didn’t say anything. Instead, she simply hugged Tanya (which made the girl cry even harder).

And Rahul looked tenderly at his blubbering girlfriend. ‘Hey, I’m just glad you told me the truth.’ ‘Really?’ gasped Tanya. ‘You won’t break up with me?’ Rahul looked shocked. ‘Why would I do that?’ He winked at her and she threw her arms around him. Then the three friends held hands and went home together. And from that day onwards, the snooty, popular boys and the five girls became the best of companions.

Hehe, this is kinda based on a true event. Hope you like it! =)
                                                         - Kai Goldstein

That's Our Everyday

My life as a teen is tangled as my messy hair my mom has to comb knots out of every day. I’ve got schoolwork, which I’d not care about all given the choice, but which I’ve got to do anyway because my parents and my stupid whiner of a guilty conscience won’t let me slack off.  Then there’s the problem of fitting in and making friends. Did you know that all though people say that the class and caste system has been abolished, it still exists in a very sophisticated form in schools? They ignore this, because they don’t want to be reminded of their own school days, leaving us to be tortured within its walls. If you’re lucky and have really cool looks, money, or have good connections with those at the top, you could be the most popular kid in school, and it won’t matter if you’re the biggest jerk or witch either, because on the popularity brigade, people look at the surface first and your personality later. Otherwise, you’re stuck with the so-called ‘losers’ of the school, and no one even bothers to know your name. You’ll be given a label, like ‘Guy with Ugly Face Who’s also a Big Geek’. Or something shorter, like ‘Weird Freak’. Descriptive, isn’t it? That’s high school.

This is also the time when your body decides that it’s time it freaks you out completely and begins crazy, horrible changes within itself, whether you like it or not. Guys get facial hair, grow disconcertingly tall and develop voices that make them sound like foghorns. Girls face worse problems which we’d rather keep to ourselves. Unfortunately, with mums and teachers and counselors advising us at every corner, how’s that even possible? We teens also find that Mum and Dad seem to have become much stricter about rules and regulations and our future. The same old discussion about all this drives us mad, and we find ourselves spending less time away from home or at the computer. Hence, adults form the stereotype about us- teens are sullen, wrapped in their own life, complain all the time, don’t have enough ‘family bonding time,’ etc.etc.

That’s the summary of my life and the lives of about a million other kids around the world. We are teenagers. We fight a battle everyday without knowing its cause. We do get warnings, disclaimers, notices, etc. about how it’s going to be. But when it actually hits, and it hits us hard, we see that these notices don’t help much. We try to find our identity, or some of us lose ours. But, despite all this, we do see a light at the end of this, long, pitch-black tunnel. No matter how much we say we suffer, we always, ALWAYS end up having fun, anywhere, anytime. We make fun of the silliest, and sometimes the dirtiest things. I guess that’s why everybody says that the teenage years are the best of your life. Because I’m learning that right now.

This is my very first post here! Lol, hope you guys liked it :)