I speak = Climbing stairs with that 10 kg bag in school, I thought was always unfair. But then there were incentives to follow. I liked studying or I was the monitor of the class are two horribly wrong guesses. And those who had strict parents will have the quickest guess that they were forced into going to school, incentives! Bullshit. The incentive(s) for me were the girls in my class and especially her. She was sweet and even with those broken front teeth (mind you I am in class II) she looked cute, sweet, lovely, and most beautiful; I can keep on adding adjectives. And I liked looking at her, I always envied that stupid monitor of our class, besides the fact that he got to wear that badge he also got the chance to look at her face as the bugger used to stand up when ever the teacher was not there, I on the contrary, a born back bencher could only look at her back. So that was my first love! Yes of course I loved her, and my second, third and so many other Loves to follow were exactly the same, and I only kept looking. I loved all of them deeply and life just kept moving on. And while over the years I never got the courage to talk, forget propose, to any of these lovely girls some of my friends in some other part of the country were living a completely different life or rather love life.

A Girl Speaks = [Chorus]: [Climbing stairs with that 10 kg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .incentives! Bullshit]. The incentive was a guy in my class, my boyfriend (writer’s note: mind you I am using the same timeline and therefore this is also Class II, phew!). We sat on the same bench and, he was my man! And I felt like a queen, we held each others hands under our table. The entire class knew it so no other gal could dare flirt with him vice versa for the guys of the class. But then one day I found him with another girl and we broke up, I was shattered, he ditched me. (End of class II) It was only in the beginning of class III when another one walked into my life; with him I even shared my tiffin, I did not want to commit any mistake this time. But it wasn’t to be, mistakes were committed, and between my first kiss (please read smooch), walk on the beach with him, night long tele calls, archies cards and gifts, candle light dinners, men kept walking in and out of my life. I am happy for all what happened to me, because if not for anything else, these men did make my life spicier and ME – wanted.

A Guy Speaks = [Chorus]: [Climbing stairs with that 10 kg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .incentives! Bullshit]. The incentive was her. I really liked talking to her. And my friends told me that she had something for me. (all of this in class II). I never missed an opportunity of talking or getting close to her, and I would like to believe that she did the same. I thought I loved her, but what we shared was precious to me, and I didn’t want to risk it and therefore, I never said it to her. Time passed on, and we developed great bonding. We passed out of school; she left the country and I started college. Years later, thanks to the technology these days, we got in touch.  She is still single and so am I. We talk endlessly of the lovely days spent at school, of the gifts that we have preserved till date, and of how life has changed or not changed. I think I love her, but I still can’t say, I don’t have the courage, she is Precious to Me!