NIZAM FETE

I decided to shift to the 2004 diary because this still covers so much of her excitement in Nizam’s college. (The rest of the 2006 diary shifts to TISS.)
24th January 2004
Name For The Diary - Narnia !
You just can’t imagine how glad I am to finally have a diary to write into. I am going to call you Narnia because it says “Narne’ on you and I want you to make as much magic for me as C S Lewis did fro Narnia. I am so glad. Today I am going to give my driving test again and I hope I get through this time.

25th February 2004
X-pressions, Kya Scene Hai!
There’s been quite a bit of excitement in college the past two days because of our college fete X-pressions. I didn’t like it too much day before yesterday but yesterday was too good. Usual starting trouble I guess.
Day before, I was supposed to help in organising ‘Kya Scene Hai’ and with the debate also.
Some of the stuff was hilarious –especially the one where the villain runs off with the hero’s chaddis.
Sat with a friend-he was talking of his life in HPS, at home, in Nizam’s etc. and about how they ragged others. Just then another boy appeared with booze in a Sprite bottle. Other girls and a few more came along too and joined us. All of us were squeezed on to the wall and the boys were secretly swigging off the Sprite bottle. So secretly that even the wiser girls didn’t know! Maybe I wouldn’t have guessed either if this boy hadn’t told me. We then saw one of the group dances and left.
Yesterday morning there was extempore.
Navika got the topic of obesity and she went on about how in poor countries rich people are fat and in rich countries poor people are fat because they can’t afford the gym. Too good it was. I got ‘Sonia and Vajpayee’. I just blabbered some utter nonsense-actually utter sense- obvious things about how they were both great and wanted to be prime minister.
Navika got the first prize and there was tie between Jagdish and me for the second place.
So we had to give speeches again. He got the topic ‘beard’ and managed to impress the jury. I got the topic “Only lunatics love”. I agreed with this and started talking about how everybody was a lunatic because everybody was affected by the moon and started talking about the importance of the moon-how it brings light to the night. To my greatest surprise they gave me the second prize though I deviated so much.

Our team (Jagdih and I) also made it to the final round in the Ad-con. The topic we got in the lucky pick was to make an ad to convince Kantaben (in Kal Ho Na Ho) that homosexuality wasn’t a sin.
Anyway, it all started with me as Kantaben teasing Jagdish about how he comes home each day with a different guy and all. Then he admitted that he was a man’s man. Kantaben gets all angry and asks him to get out of her sight.
In the next scene J acts as if he is getting all beaten up. I come as a journalist (duppatta now worn usual style and not covering my head) and talk about how homosexuality is a natural phenomenon and we do not have the right to punish others just because they are different from us and of a few ancient prejudices. Then J asked (covering his mouth ) “What about our fathers and brothers” and I said gay guys wouldn’t rape them and all. Then the scene changes and I come back again as Kantaben. J asks why I’m happy. I say very shyly that I am a woman’s woman. C’est tout-that’s all!
Other teams did well too… So J and I got the first prize.