Kumud Nepal

I still remember writing a letter to my principle in high school asking him to relieve us for a day to watch the final match of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. And how decisively my request had been spurned! A bit of leisure was all that we yearned for. Times have changed, and so have my thoughts. Free time doesn’t amuse me as much today, perhaps because whenever I have some time at hand, I invariably waste it. So a long break after high school wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. Frustration was fast creeping in, even before I could heave a sigh of relief having done away with the loathsome homework forever. I eventually joined a magazine, and for a couple of months, was actively engaged in writing. But for some unforeseen circumstances, I had to leave that job. Again, my sense of self-dependence vanished into the thin air. I hibernated back into my cocoon with the same old 14-inch idiot box to amuse me. Movies and cricket became my daily staples. But before long, even the most scintillating displays by my favourite cricketers stopped thrilling me. I found no panacea in the movie channels either, with the same movies being repeated time and again.

I then tried reading. Never a bookworm, I tried to force this habit into my daily routine. Initially, I managed to plough through some books but I could soon be found snoring with half-read books against my chest. Reading was not my cup of tea, I discovered. I was fast running out of options. What now? It then dawned on me that my dilapidated computer could be a perfect solution. I began to spend a lot of time online. But after my initial zest ebbed, I found out that the Internet too was far from solving my problems. It was indeed very frustrating to find the old galleries of the models in my favourite website not being updated; not too thrilling either chatting to the same old friends, “What’s up, dude?” And the monotony of it all!

I will be free for another couple of months before my college starts in the fall. How I wish time would zoom by and I would be spared this tedium. Until then, I have no option but to keep flicking those movie and sports channels. And I don’t think I will be writing applications for vacation anytime soon.