Maithily's Scribblings

Last April, I finished my final year of graduation and joined a company through campus recruitment. I love my job since this is my first work experience. I’ve seen a lot of changes between my college life and my career. When I was in college, my mom used to say, "How long will you sleep? If you sleep like this, you’ll become fat!" But now, she says, "If you don’t sleep, you’ll become fat!" Since I work night shifts, my mom advises me to sleep well. When it comes to eating, back then she would prepare something I didn’t like and force me to eat it. Now she cooks according to my wishes. As for chocolates and snacks, it used to be, "How many will you eat? This is more than enough for the day!" But now it’s the opposite— “How many will you eat? Take a few more and eat whenever you get time." In college, the advice was, "Don’t sleep in class, even if you have free time." Now it’s, "Even if you don’t get free time, ask for it and sleep!...

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of the earthquake that recently happened in Chennai. It was on June 13th at 1:00 AM! It was quite an experience... 7.7 on the Richter scale. I was at the office. Everyone was busy with calls, and I decided to take a 10-minute break. I sat down on my chair, relaxing... Suddenly, the chair started shaking. I thought my friend was messing with me, but when I turned around, no one was there. I could feel the shaking, and my chair started moving from its original place. The whole building was shaking—an earthquake! We all rushed out through the emergency exit. Wow! I couldn’t believe it—the entire building shook for 10–20 seconds. It was fascinating to witness nature’s rare act! Originally published on 19-Jun-2010

Since I am working, I have to pursue my higher studies through distance education. In the last week of April, I had my first day of classes. I was curious because, after a long gap, I was back to studying. I wore my new dress, packed my bag, and went to the college. I attended the first session—it was quite interesting! However, my name wasn’t on the attendance sheet, even though I had paid the fees on time. I checked with the supervisor and got my name added to the attendance sheet. Three successful sessions were over. I made a few friends, and we exchanged contact numbers. Before the final session, we got a chance to meet our coordinator. While I was complaining to him about the attendance issue, I was shocked by his response. He smiled and said, "You don't belong to this class. Your classroom is in the next building." I gave him a big smile and walked out of the classroom, feeling a little ashamed. After coming out, I had a hearty laugh. Ha ha ha... I’m so silly! Origi...

I recently went to my native place, my dad's birthplace, along with my dad and relatives. It’s a small village near Thirunelveli. Since we rarely go there, we didn’t have enough items to prepare breakfast at home. So, we (8 of us) planned to have our breakfast in a nearby village. Our village has no hotels! I need to mention, we don't get food like noodles, pasta, pizza, or burgers. We had ordinary dosas (no paper roast, no masala dosa), idlies (of course), vada, and finally tea. Do you know how much the bill was? It was Rs. 120 for 8 members!!! I was really shocked because the food was so homely, yet we paid so little. At that moment, I was thinking about how much I usually spend on breakfast in Chennai. City life is always expensive… Originally published on 06-April-2010

25-March-2010 Is there anyone who doesn’t like babies? Their beautiful smiles, tender hands, and soft toes? Yes! It’s me. I don’t like babies. People think I’m arrogant and cruel. Am I cruel just because I don’t like babies? I want to be different. I like what others don’t like. But that doesn’t mean I’m arrogant! The sound of a crying child irritates me. A child pestering their mother for chocolate irritates me. A child fighting over a doll irritates me. I get angry at a baby who refuses to eat her food. So, I don’t like babies. It’s just my point of view. No one’s character can be judged by the things they like. I don’t like others commenting on my character. My character is made for myself, just like everyone else’s is for them. Am I cruel? Or am I arrogant? That doesn’t matter. I’m happy being MYSELF! 6-February-2025 Today, as I write this, life has come full circle. I am now a mother to a beautiful little girl, and my perception of babies has completely changed. Every cry, every t...

25-March-2010 We all have friends at all stages of our lives. But how many of us keep in touch with them forever??? I always wondered why 99% of friendships break at every stage. I was very close with one of my friends in the 5th class. We used to say we’d never be separated. But now, I don’t even know where she is… Then came my 10th-class friend. We were like flesh and nail—we wore the same dress, ate together, and hung out everywhere. But now she is far away from me. We talk only twice a year—once on her birthday and once on mine. And then, my college friends. Not just one, but 13 of them. Very close to me. We ruled the class! Everyone was jealous of our friendship. But how long would it last??? It was nice to hear my friends say that we’d meet once a year and have fun. But practically… is it possible? Friendship is like a train. It starts at the source station and ends at the destination. It stops at every station along the way. Friends are like passengers—they board the train of fr...

I went to Cochin on a college tour with my friends, classmates, and staff. We were a gang of 11—the biggest group in the entire tour! We got three separate rooms to sleep in. But even though we had three rooms, we all gathered in the same one, chatting, playing, dancing, singing, and teasing each other. Our tourist guide asked us to be ready by 6:00 AM the next day, so he told us to sleep early to avoid getting tired. We finally went to bed around 11:00 PM. I’m usually very punctual and always have been. So, I told my friend to wake me at 4:30 AM so that we could all get ready on time. My friend woke us all up, but I still felt very sleepy. I dragged myself to the bathroom, turned on the tap, and found the water ice cold. I called room service and asked them to turn on the hot water. The staff told me, "Ma’am, hot water is available only from 5:00 AM." I waited for half an hour, then turned on the tap again—still cold water! I started getting tense and angry because we all ha...