Author - Jui Purohit.

*CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS PART(2)*  15th October 2022 - 8:00 A.M. - It's Saturday and I got up late. We all got up late for that matter and that's how I could make do with it. So, late breakfast, dilly-dallying on a so called holiday. Even if it's holiday for all, I have to cook 3 meals, fold clothes, arrange the scattered books, newspapers, and other silly things lying here and there . 10.30 A.M. - As a sweet surprise, my phone buzzed. And it was Tina at the other end. How elated I was to hear her voice after years. I couldn't recall the last time I had talked to her. We now live in an age of advanced technology, texts, video calls, everything's available at a click of button. Yet we are so busy doing our things that we forget to connect. Tina asked me whether I was free for the day, so we could meet. She's been living in Australia since years now. She was visiting India after many years. I was glad we would be connecting. 12.00 P.M. - I reached the restaurant o...

*CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS PART(1)*  I turned the page to read the next entry from my diary of 1995. It was embellished with stars, smiley stickers. I had made some drawings here and there, some butterflies, balloons and flowers in red, pink and blue. Coffee mugs, sandwiches, spooky faces. It was so colourful, vivid and huey that it made my eyesight blur.....wait....or was I teary eyed? 13th October 1995 - 8:00 A.M. - The regular revision with Tina done. Today Tina had got yummy sheera made by her mom for breakfast. I love her mom's cooking. She's a great host, never let's anybody leave her house empty stomach. We both read all the History-Geo chapters while relishing sheera. And thankgod, we finished it before the 'famine-prone region' lesson. That way we are very guilty conscious! Today after completing our studies, our group of friends had decided to meet up. All of us wanted a break from this PL (preparatory leave) and exam pressure. But it's Friday the 13th t...

 12th October 1995 - 8:00 A.M.- Tina and me studied for three hours. She had come to my place as usual. The chirping birds in the balcony kept us company throughout, as if encouraging us. We scribbled flames, in between, when we got bored. All the names of boys were matched to all the names of girls. It was so much fun. Then, to relax for a while, we took a stroll in our garden. And while relaxing, adding to our Botany knowledge, we discussed the flowers and some insects for zoology sake. Our small talks keep us cheered and refresh us both, everyday. 12:00 P.M. - Revised important Math formulae, solved the difficult sections from the past papers. I have decided that I will score excellent marks in the term exams, so that I don't have to slog more in the later half for boards. But when you study Math, don't you get hungry? It's like all the energy is sucked by the subject in one go. So it was lunch time now. 3:00 P.M. - After lunch, took a quick nap, 'siesta' is a mu...