Then there was this story I read about this girl who always won something in a lucky draw. Always. You know the kind that happen in office Christmas bashes or charity balls. That got me thinking, How well do I fare in these draws? Somehow the law of probability does not apply to me. So if the chances are that the draw is for something that brings a smile to my (already glowing) face, I can be sure that all I’ll get in the end is the other half of the coupon that held my number. On the other hand, if the draw involves something that involves a rigorous exercise of my limbs, my thinkbox or my lachrymal glands (you get the drift), I am sure as the sky is blue that I will pick up the “winning” number.
You don’t believe me do you? Here, let me drop some precious bits from my past. I can prove by historical examples, that what I stated above is absolutely true. I don’t lie at all, believe me.. In fact I don’t even like to write the “”L” word.. but I’m digressing here..
So this takes me back to my school days, in which the teacher would have to select “actors” for the school play from a class. The kind that make up the trees or butterflies in the background. For this kind of a role, usually 99 students were selected out of 100. And while I would wait with glee for my name to be called out for selections, I would be told that I’m the 100th girl who was just not “right” for that coveted role of a stone. Then there was a time, when as a lil kid I participated in a “partner” race where the girls were made to stand at one end and boys at the other. Each boy was handed the name of an animal, and each girl the name of the animal cub. The boys had to find their cub in the shortest time. The partner would later have to dance somewhere ( I don’t remember where). Well, while all the girls flounced off with their partners, I was left standing with a chit bearing the name of a… well , a “kid”. (Till date, I like to believe that one person was intentionally not paired to make the game more difficult. However, it may have been the case that my partner simply decided to scoot after looking at me). Yeah..lil kids can be really mean.
On the other hand, whenever the Chemistry teacher held an oral quiz and threatened to beat the life out of failing students (and this she did quite often), things were quite different. When questions were of the kind that required composition of water, I wouldn’t be asked to answer. Even when I jumped vociferously up and down with my hand extended like the statue of Liberty. On the other hand, when the question involved solving equations that touched almost all the elements in this wide world, the teacher would immediately spot my “earnest” face. Yes, even if I tried the well-tested method of slinking down to the lowest level of the chair..err ground. (Here I would proudly like to add that I never did get the teacher’s stamp of disapproval on my cheek. Cannot pass up the chance to flaunt my academic achievements, can I?)
Things like this continued well into my youth when I kept getting the life-lemons (yeah..yeah.. the same ones from which, you are supposed to make lemonade, I’m told. But then..)
Anyway, this particular episode shines out at me and screams pick me! So I participated in this collage-making competition along with a friend. The theme was “Beauty” and we toiled over our work to make an actual collage that showed nature’s beautiful things. (And not just pictures..let me clarify here! We actually stuck different things to make them look like birds, mountains, rivers and suchlike). Everyone saw our piece and said that we were sure to win. While the entries were being judged, we went out to “celebrate” and practice our acceptance speeches.
When we came back, we came to know that the award had already been given away to a goon, who stuck 5 pictures of different actresses to make a collage. Apparently, the judges liked “all” the entries so much, that they decided to draw out a “lucky” winner. We came to know later that the “lucky dude” was a chaddi-dost of the judges. So while the winner walked away with the prize (with erstwhile help of Kimi Katkar and Sonu Walia), we had to pick our dropped jaws from the ground and straighten our drooping shoulders.
Anyway, why am I suddenly ranting about this you ask?
Well, I submitted an application for a course for which an audit occurs for only 10% of the applicants. I was smug in my belief that I will never be called for audit that has such a low probability. So I kept delaying submission of my application. I can be very lazy, if I want to. (Before you form an ill-opinion of me, please do note, that I can be lazy, I’m not always lazy. You can ask all my friends, I swear.). Well, my joy on receiving a mail from the institute was short-lived, when I also saw that I had been selected for the audit. I should’ve known. The audit will cost me a lot of time in application processing, and more important, I will have to spend my carefully accumulated calories to gather documents for the same. Oh, here’s my cue for cribbing. How can life be soooo unfair!?! Boo..hoo..
Oh well, the bright side is that because of my sacrifice, 9 other people must be dancing somewhere around the world and celebrating with beer! Sigh, someone pass me a pint of that stuff as well.
You don’t believe me do you? Here, let me drop some precious bits from my past. I can prove by historical examples, that what I stated above is absolutely true. I don’t lie at all, believe me.. In fact I don’t even like to write the “”L” word.. but I’m digressing here..
So this takes me back to my school days, in which the teacher would have to select “actors” for the school play from a class. The kind that make up the trees or butterflies in the background. For this kind of a role, usually 99 students were selected out of 100. And while I would wait with glee for my name to be called out for selections, I would be told that I’m the 100th girl who was just not “right” for that coveted role of a stone. Then there was a time, when as a lil kid I participated in a “partner” race where the girls were made to stand at one end and boys at the other. Each boy was handed the name of an animal, and each girl the name of the animal cub. The boys had to find their cub in the shortest time. The partner would later have to dance somewhere ( I don’t remember where). Well, while all the girls flounced off with their partners, I was left standing with a chit bearing the name of a… well , a “kid”. (Till date, I like to believe that one person was intentionally not paired to make the game more difficult. However, it may have been the case that my partner simply decided to scoot after looking at me). Yeah..lil kids can be really mean.
On the other hand, whenever the Chemistry teacher held an oral quiz and threatened to beat the life out of failing students (and this she did quite often), things were quite different. When questions were of the kind that required composition of water, I wouldn’t be asked to answer. Even when I jumped vociferously up and down with my hand extended like the statue of Liberty. On the other hand, when the question involved solving equations that touched almost all the elements in this wide world, the teacher would immediately spot my “earnest” face. Yes, even if I tried the well-tested method of slinking down to the lowest level of the chair..err ground. (Here I would proudly like to add that I never did get the teacher’s stamp of disapproval on my cheek. Cannot pass up the chance to flaunt my academic achievements, can I?)
Things like this continued well into my youth when I kept getting the life-lemons (yeah..yeah.. the same ones from which, you are supposed to make lemonade, I’m told. But then..)
Anyway, this particular episode shines out at me and screams pick me! So I participated in this collage-making competition along with a friend. The theme was “Beauty” and we toiled over our work to make an actual collage that showed nature’s beautiful things. (And not just pictures..let me clarify here! We actually stuck different things to make them look like birds, mountains, rivers and suchlike). Everyone saw our piece and said that we were sure to win. While the entries were being judged, we went out to “celebrate” and practice our acceptance speeches.
When we came back, we came to know that the award had already been given away to a goon, who stuck 5 pictures of different actresses to make a collage. Apparently, the judges liked “all” the entries so much, that they decided to draw out a “lucky” winner. We came to know later that the “lucky dude” was a chaddi-dost of the judges. So while the winner walked away with the prize (with erstwhile help of Kimi Katkar and Sonu Walia), we had to pick our dropped jaws from the ground and straighten our drooping shoulders.
Anyway, why am I suddenly ranting about this you ask?
Well, I submitted an application for a course for which an audit occurs for only 10% of the applicants. I was smug in my belief that I will never be called for audit that has such a low probability. So I kept delaying submission of my application. I can be very lazy, if I want to. (Before you form an ill-opinion of me, please do note, that I can be lazy, I’m not always lazy. You can ask all my friends, I swear.). Well, my joy on receiving a mail from the institute was short-lived, when I also saw that I had been selected for the audit. I should’ve known. The audit will cost me a lot of time in application processing, and more important, I will have to spend my carefully accumulated calories to gather documents for the same. Oh, here’s my cue for cribbing. How can life be soooo unfair!?! Boo..hoo..
Oh well, the bright side is that because of my sacrifice, 9 other people must be dancing somewhere around the world and celebrating with beer! Sigh, someone pass me a pint of that stuff as well.
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