Summer Of '97

Those were the good old days, when earning for a living, or slogging for hours in front of the laptop seemed passe.
I was never bothered to think beyond today.
Tomorrow was just a dream which others were free to dream about.Not me.
I wanted to live and love the present.

I was, desperately trying to gain a foothold in the inner circle, or so-called infamous ones.

And the came the perfect opprtune moment.
The Fashion Show which was a part of the Annual Function in college.
Overnight I had laboured to transform myself from an ugly duckling into a princess ! (Only if others had thought so too)
And then the walk on the ramp,the floodlights, camera,action,pictures being clicked.
That was my moment of instant fame, and I had enjoyed it to the end.
It was also a day of my first close brush with the opposite sex.
It was late and two of my new found admirers wanted to drop me back home.While in the cramped Auto, one of them clearly under the effect of alcohol, tried to get close.Only that I was luckier, else the evening would have been definitely murkier.

That day onwards, I decided to be aggressive and smarter than what I already was.

The ugly duckling grew up and gave way to a Tigress.

Clearly trying my best at networking, and improving my Public Relations was the sole objective of the last days in college.
As a brilliant outcome of my efforts on being popular, also came the party which I had thrown on my Birthday in the last summer of college.
Friends were invited selectively, lavish food preparations undertaken by my own engineering hands !
Euh...what a high it was...I wanted my party to be the toast of the town!
I simply splurged all my saved up pocket-money just to make it special.Gosh, the college days were indeed golden.
My close friend had gifted a perfume called Cindrella... Till date, I carry the fragrance in my memories.

THOSE were the days, and THESE are the days....the HIGH is still there,the passion for life still abounds in plenty, albeit in a more sombre fashion.

I still crave for friends, I still love to live in the present, and yes I still do fall in and out of love at the drop of a hat !!!

Though today I am no longer the ferocious snob from college, a friend also rightly observed "The Tigress hasn't changed....."