Brake fast at Tiffany's

Its 8 a.m. and i somehow manage to drag myself to the mess for a quiet breakfast. Of course, my life, simply by virtue of being mine, never grants me the privilege of reading a virgin newspaper.
I walk up to the serving counter to fetch my morning cuppa, and then it happens...i walk into some half familiar faces...some freshers with whom i have made eye-contact before...

Romantic novels haven't explored the half about eye contacts. Accidental eye contacts, conforming with the high possibility of severe repugnance aren't very pleasant most times. The bitch is that after about 10 or so such eye-contacts, either party feels morally compelled to make conversation...obviously, since we are so acutely socially programmed, the moral compulsion invariably leads to dialogue, or in this case, an active monologue.

I won't quite call myself a morning person. And chirpy, tra la laing 20 somethings don't quite cut it for me. I sat at a table, laying out the paper, checking yesterday's headlines...and these three juniors got up from their chairs, and parked themselves alongside me.(and btw, it is common courtesy to put away the newspaper when people walk up to you during breakfast) In a mess that seats over a 100 people, the four of us were sharing one table...in celebration of human bonding.

One of them was kind enough to ask me, "Can i join you?"...quite an astute question, since he had guessed that me and my morning were coming apart. I mean, come onnn, when someone walks up to you with a cup in one hand, and 2 omlettes and wada sambaar in the other, is he really asking?? Anyways, there was this other guy, and this severely stern looking girl along with him who tagged along. The guy was carrying some class pre-reads and marking away with muti-coloured pens...the types to study for blood tests. Now, guy No.1 asks the girl as to why grades have to be so competitive...that life should be more learning centric (read: loser friendly). The girl snaps back saying that the current grading system still dosen't differentiate the ones who are the best from those who form the rest. This is someone who would probably believe that the Spanish inquisition was just tough luck for the heretics...Guy No.2 still enjoying wada sambaar seems to have his priorities clear.

All through the conversation, i wasn't even spoken to...but my presence was frequently acknowledged with passing nods suggesting that i was in tune with the intricacies of their daily lives. I tried in vain to act interested. The 'disinterested nod' is an art i have yet to master. You see, i have moved from the cutting edge of technology (read:engineering) to the buttering edge (read:branding). My reactions are still caught at the binary level...

Guess after all, breakfast was never meant as a leisurely meal...why didn't they rid us of the confusion by spelling it right in the first place...