1st Little Step

15th September, 2014

Trying to write down my thoughts is most certainly not as easy as I thought it would be. Mostly because I have such little control over my own thoughts. A teacher once told me that I am a cynic. At the time I didn't know what it means. Come to think of it, I still don't know what it means.

Okay, I checked. So apparently I think people are all selfish. I don't get how that fits in because the sir was scolding me for sleeping in class. To be fair to myself, I never really liked him or his classes. But I digress.

I can't seem to think about myself so I'll say something about the first thing that pops to my mind: School. I'm sixteen, studying in the eleventh grade. The eleventh grade is a momentous time for Indian kids. It's the time when entrance coaching begins.

The stereotypical Indian household requires at least one child going for entrance coaching. In India, no one asks you what career you plan on choosing, they ask you whether you want to go for engineering or medicine. You decide what career you want after you get a degree. Luckily, unlike ninety per cent of Indian parents, my parents never forced me pick either of these. The only problem is that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life.

So that puts me in my present situation, studying in a prestigious school of my city. The classes are boring (as they should be), the friends are fun (as my elders warn they won't be if I am ever in trouble) and overall, life is moving forward.

People often say, the best part of high school is the experience. Honestly, my experiences upto 10th grade would give anyone the impression that “high school” is the tenth circle of hell ( For those of you who have no idea what that means, Hell is supposed to have nine levels/circles). Then something life-altering happened. My mom got transferred.

I am originally from the beautiful city of Calicut (beautiful by my definition). My mom got transferred back here, so I was going to be staying in my hometown for the first time since I was two years old. I joined a new school and met new friends. New surroundings, new life. Basically everyone else in my family hates it here. I don't.

For the first time, I'm getting that high school experience immortalized in classic artworks like the evergreen Brian Adams song, Summer of '69 (and the not-so-­classic movie High School Musical, which I watched just because it was on).
Before coming to India about four years ago, I grew up in Bahrain and studied for four years in the Indian School, Bahrain. For the first time since I got on the flight leaving Bahrain, I've got that amazing feeling I used to have going to that school.

Let's be clear, I still don't find the studying part to be fun. If I did, that would be cause to worry. But I'm among like-­minded people, and that makes all the difference. Moving here has done wonders for certain other parts of my life as well, but more on that later.

The one thing that doesn't seem to have improved is my lack of direction. I still have no idea what to do with my life. And the fact that it's been more than a month (I think) since I've been to entrance coaching isn't exactly making my parents love me.

So far, after about five months here, I've met a couple of awesome, crazy people just like me and I couldn't be more content.Actually when I think about it, I could use some extra cash, a new phone, a little more free time and some idea about my career, but those can wait. Right now, I'm just going to focus on High School.
Oh, come to think of it, I have two records I have to complete waiting for me (in a different district. Long story, don't ask.) , a theatre exam I haven't studied for and the results of my other tests, including a chemistry exam I studied theatre for. I think that will make plenty of material for another blog post, granted of course, that I'm not confined to a dark room or kicked out of the house by then. So, Lots to look forward to...