Ze Pompous Grenouille

Yesterday, as I was coming out of the lecture theatre after my ApMech class, ecstatic that I had managed to survive the last class of the semester, I was abruptly accosted by ze pompous grenouille, just outside SCOOPS. The encounter was very short, but unusual. I will proceed to describe it in the following paragraphs.

A little bit of background information first. SCOOPS stands for Students' Co-operative Shop. This particular shop is situated just outside the academic block. So it was in front of SCOOPS that I met ze pompous grenouille. Ze pompous grenouille (Frog, for the French illiterate) happens to be a 2nd year student of Comp. Science and Engineering at IITD. I do not know his name. I, very frankly, think that I don't need to, as I find the little nick-name that I have coined for him quite sufficient. All I know is that he is from the same school as I am (DPS RK Puram), and is, thankfully, not from my hostel. His nick-name, I think, is very appropriate. He is very pompous, and he looks very much like Kermit the Frog.

Now it so happens that just the evening before, my hostel, Jwalamukhi, had won a prepared debate competition. The hostel team, for a change, had not included me. I must add that within a very short period of time, I have proved myself to be one of the better debaters in Jwalamukhi hostel. So, many felt that my not being there for the debate was a bit surprising. I, for reasons that shall not be mentioned here, was unable to participate in the competition. That Jwalamukhi won inspite of this handicap reflects admirably on Jwala's debating capabilities.

So I met ze pompous grenouille outside SCOOPS, and he said, "Congratulations. Your hostel team won the prepared debate competition yesterday." And then he added in a nasty afterthought, "WITHOUT YOU." Now, this I thought was a rude comment, but charitable that I am, especially when it comes to fellow Dipsites, I tried my best at continuing an amicable conversation. "Yes.", I said, "It is pleasing to know that my hostel is doing well without my aid. One might say that I have become redundant." This, I thought was a very satisfactory reply, without being an acerbic one. However Mr. Kermit refused to give up his acrid attack against me. "To become redundant", he replied with a crooked grin, "you have to be used in the first place."

I am, I believe, a tolerant man, as many of my friends and acquaintances would agree. However, to say that I was not hurt at these remarks would be to fudge reality. I was quite taken aback at these words, and becoming hotly indignant, I refuted his accusations. "I have participated in 3 inter-hostel debating events in the past two months, Raghav, and if you don't believe me, you can go and ask somebody who is more knowledgeable than you on such matters." To this he had no answer, and he stood looking at me nonplussed. He might have been at a loss for words. Or he might simply be confused that I was addressing him as Raghav, which, I admit, might not have been his name.

At this point, if I had said "Aha!!", and prodded him gently in the ribs, I believe my victory in this little duel would have been complete. But before I could contemplate any such action, ze pompous frog walked away, saying something about being late for class.

So, if any of you happen to come across a short guy in specs, who looks remarkably like a frog, I would request you to do the needful, that is, to prod him in the ribs, and exclaim "Aha!!" Such help from my readers would be well appreciated.

Before I wrap up this entry, I would like to inform my readers, that over the next one week, entries on this blog would be sporadic and irregular. The majors start day after tomorrow, and I have much to do in order to avoid F grades in a couple of courses. So I would hope that my readers would condone these shortcomings on my part. I would, of course, start posting regularly again on the 2nd, when my majors finish.