In pursuit of a slambook!!!!

SLAMBOOKS!!!!!!! As it was the custom, many were flocking around with their slambook...some with slambookS....Yes they were the final days of our college. In our MIG, neither me,vasan or bandu were interested in such things. When someone just enquired about the same, from somewhere, the words of wisdom will come from our mouth,


"இதுல நா எழுதரது நாலா டேன் நீ என்ன ந்யபகம் வெச்சுக்க பொரிய இல்ல நாந்தான் ந்யபகம் வெச்சுக்க போரென?? எல்லாம் சும்மா டா" (These are all totally waste. because either of us write on this, neither u nor me gonna remember each other!!!! these are just a show off)



We were skeptical about these so called SLAMBOOK!!!!! Maybe we were too shy to ask each one to write about us or maybe we were afraid to hear what others had in mind about us or maybe we knew what each will write about us or maybe we felt it is TOO EXPENSIVE!!!!! to afford :):)



I couldn't think of a valid reason, though i must tell u, till date, we have stood by each other on all times...Few slambooks were decorated with various colors(GIGU GIGU COLOR), art on the cover, paintings....we were really amazed. When one of my class mate took the pain of buying the highest priced slambook and decorated it till it looked(...well ugly to me...) maybe good, while he never maintained even a lab record note properly :):), i was thrilled....



Dont worry, i never bought one...I was just thrilled. Well in our room too, people bought slambooks, one went to the extreme of buying slambook one for college and hostel, while another bought one for each gender, while one another bought one for his class, hostel, day scholar and department...etc.....the criteria were endless.....



The one particular slambook which we-me,vasan and bandu were in pursuit, was a unique one of all the above i have mentioned. Yes unique in its own way for many reason. Well to list a few
1) It was bought by our room mate
2) It was never intended to be disclosed to us
3) The content of this particular slambook was only about one person



Anything felt not to be disclosed in our room, will always kindle our interest to a great extent. So this was no exception. And above all, this book had some 80-100 pages. To write about one person alone for 80 pages!!!!!!!...that needed some investigation. When few gave me their slambook to write, i turned down a few coz i couldn;t think of anything about that person to put in words...not even a line....




Even if our room mate had filled just one page, it was indeed a great work of art for us. it was around a month before the last working day, this book was bought with great care by my room mate. Even he had never bothered to carry his lab notes with such great care. For us, though it looked funny and odd, we just felt it to be just another slambook in our room.

Few days later, my room mate started using his pen to a great extent. Boss we were shocked to find him refill his ink time and again in just few days. for the past two semesters, this hero never bothered to even think about the level of ink in his pen and now what!!!!!?????The first thing that triggered curiosity in us.


Maybe he fancied himself to be the Mozart of madras for he started to burn the midnight oil. For years it is the practice in all hostels - midnight is after 2am :):)...My dear friend always found it difficult to keep himself awake after ten unless he had some important phone calls to receive or make (well if a week has 7 days, my roommate had such important calls on 8 days of the week )




Since first year, he has never took the trouble of maintaining a regular appointment with his arse, but was writing something at least for two hours daily burying all his pain in his grumbling butt.This was getting too much for us and one day vasan enquired about it
"டேய் என்னடா எழுதற...சொல்லு மச்சான்"
(what are u writing dude?)



"நா என்ன எழுதுன என்னடா? என்னோட பர்சனல் டா"
(why are u bothered? its my personal!!!!)




Well if its meant to be personal then surely its meant to be read. So was decided. My dear room mate little then realised how much he offended us:):)...so we charted out the list of scenarios, when we can lay our hands on it. Well for the first few days we read it whenever he took his bath. but ultimately we were caught red handed when the owner had to come out of the washroom early.he was angry and looked at vasan....
"நாந்தான் படிக்க கூடாதுன்னு சொன்னேனே டா" (i told u not to read).


bandu was swift with his reply "மச்சான் கிராமர் சரியா இருக்கானு பாத்தோம் டா"(we checked if the grammar is correct)


My room mate knew, we were after his book.He had to plan and he looked out for various places where he can hide his slambook. We were already through the month and were nearing our last working day. For vasan, daily morning when he wakes up, whether he brushes or not, he needs to read it, else his arse will be in great pain for the day.


So everyday morning when we wakes up, vasan would be running to all corners of the room, in search of this book. Once he finds out, either me or vasan will read out the content and bandu will listen. everything was fine for few days, until one day, bandu while mocking my dear room mate spilled out few lines from the slam book....though it was entertaining, the slambook was no longer be easily available to lay hands on.....


From then on, we had to put a great effort. it was during the final days, we encountered some real problem in finding the book. we had searched all the places in the room and we were yet to find the book. A brilliant idea struck vasan "டேய் ஒருவேள தோய்க்க வேண்டிய அவன் ஜெட்டியோட வசுருபானோ?" ( may be he had kept with his inner garments kept for washing). "டேய் அதெல்லாம் ரொம்ப இன்ன்பேக்சிஎஸ் டா" (They are all highly infectious) was the quick witty response from bandu. Though we didn't find it along with his inner garments, we did find it along with his shirts kept for washing.


The content of the book were too hilarious for us to read, that one day bandu took the privilege of reciting out a page of content from the book to the owner of the slambook!!!!! That was the last day we ever saw that book again. Though we put in a lot of effort, we were unable to find it....maybe as suggested once, he had kept it along with his inner garments kept for washing!!!!!
whether the book was respected by the recipient or not is another story. We still respect the depth and devotion that our dear room mate had for his friend that intimidated him to write an entire slambook....

As i told u earlier, if at all two people required to remember each other, it need not be written on the slambook...that is the reason maybe, the day on which he gave the slambook was the last day, he had the chance of exchanging a few words......maybe the content of the slambook was too good, that the recipient decided to cherish them till life time and not to create any new incidences which cannot be further penned down....or maybe it was too much to read or frustrated the intended person or maybe grammatical errors changed the meaning of what my dear friend wished to convey, the so called friendship bond, came to an end!!!!!

Till date the thrust to pursue anything that is intended to be personal is high and will remain high!!!! This particular slambook and its content will remain fresh in our minds for long....