She promised him she would leave before the clock struck 12, for she was expected around 12.15. But being the truant she was, she stayed put till the time of the rendezvous.

At five past that hour, she heard a distinctive sound. This sound was more frightening than that made by the clock announcing the hour of the day for she knew only he could cause it. She scampered to her closet, put on fresh clothes, grabbed her case and headed straight for the door. She knew he would be at the doorstep within a couple of minutes. She always preferred the stairs for health reasons. 

Not today, though. 

She could do almost anything to avoid an encounter with him, for she knew it would not be pleasant. So she directed her footsteps towards the elevator. Darn! The elevator wasn’t functional. The dreaded encounter now seemed a certainity. Gloomily, accepting defeat , yet praying with all her heart she took the stairs.For a brief moment, it seemed as if lady luck was smiling on her. Maybe she had overreacted. Maybe her ears were ringing. She heaved a sigh of relief. She couldn’t have been more mistaken. He stood a couple of meters away, at the other end of the garage, engrossed in conversation with a someone. She shot for cover and watched through the tiny opening in the wall. She thought she was a goner. But then an alternative route struck her panicky mind. She headed back for the stairs keeping an eye out for him. Instead of going up, she took the opening that went right behind the stairs. That way the stairs shielded her from his gaze. She now found herself in front of the godforsaken elevator. The exit loomed a couple of meters away. How she longed for a teleporter. Why was technology so slow? Swearing under her breathe, she made her way toward the exit keeping close to the wall all along. Then she realized he might see her from the garage door where he stood, chatting. She waited for the murmur to die down, telling her the coast was clear. And all of a sudden, it stopped. She prepared herself to make a dash for the exit. She was so close. She couldn’t fail now. Then she turned around and her jaw dropped in shock. He stood a few feet behind her, trying out the elevator button with his back towards her. Swiftly, she hid behind the other side of the wall while he realized the only way up was to take the stairs. She waited. Then grabbing her chance, she ran for the exit. All the way to the rendezvous point she wished against hope he hadn’t seen her and that she wasn't too late.

A couple of hours later…

She waited for the sound and she wasn’t disappointed. For the second time that day, it made her dread the moment she knew she’d have to face him (and if he'd seen her earlier that day, his wrath too). Quietly, avoiding his gaze, she got into the front seat of the car. Five minutes of uncomfortable silence, she thought she could finally relax.

And then he asked “Did you get the job done ?” 

The tone of his question made her realize the futility of lying to him. 
Somehow, he knew.

Everything had been in vain.

Organ talk

^Its time to talk 'Organs'.

My job being to talk about the following critical ones only.

Heart

Its pointless to elucidate it's functions and importance. What I will talk about though is, how your daily intake of junk food can drastically reduce healthy heart functionality. All the fatty food that we consume leads to the fattening of the pulmonary arteries- a major cause for heart attacks and other symptoms leading to one.

Abnormal Aorta

         

             Normal Aorta

Abnormal Aorta with fatty streaks

             
Brain

The specimen at display at the Organ talk had Hematoma. The black thing on the right specimen is the clotted blood due to a severe head injury that was evidently fatal.

A normal brain(left) v/s one with Hematoma

Lungs

Yeah, smoke your worries away. But do remember the effect it has on your lungs(See pic). Apart from exponentially reducing the alveoli count, it makes your lungs much less spongy(which effectively means- the lungs' capacity to expand upon inhalation has reduced significantly). Seeing the skeptical look on one of our faces, the demonstrator had us touch the right lung. Both healthy one and the one blackened and damaged due to smoking. I could see from the look on this lucky person's face that she wasn't too happy about it. 

            

A smoker's lung

Blocked Alveoli

Liver

The following picture is why alcohol consumption is not the healthiest of options. Besides the fact that it severely hampers normal functioning of the liver- which includes emulsification of fats, manufacture of bile juices and blah, it doesn't make your liver look good, does it? 

A cirrhotic liver- scarred and blotchy

Bones

Now this reminded me of the Amul jingle 'Piyo dood in every season, piyo dood for a healthy reason'(Drink milk in every season, Drink milk for a healthy reason). Because Osteoporotic bones are weak. So much so that a slight bump against a piece of furniture will cause your bones to crack or break away neatly. 

Why was I present at an organ talk anyway?

Well, my mother's department organised this event on the occasion of the death anniversary of the former head of the department and she asked me to be there. Since I had nothing up my sleeve that would excuse me from this event , I obliged. And boy, was I glad I did that. It wasn't boring at all! Last year's event had been more of a dull exhibition. This year- we, a former school-mate and me, walked in amidst a great introduction by the head of the department. Grand, I tell you.
 Apart from meeting up with our old science teacher we chatted with the weenies about the weird changes made to our good ol' school. The tea and luncheon only made us happier. What was astonishing though, was the way the tenthies(DPS) took on the 11th and 12th standard people(from other schools) in the organ talk quiz. Maybe it had something to do with the booklets they were provided beforehand. The token of appreciation for the winners was a Lucky Bamboo- a Feng Shui plant said to bring good luck.

Post Organ talk, my friend and I headed for our local haunt and gorged on an odd assortment of junk food- golgappas, tikkis, momos, pasta and faluda. 

A deliciously hypocritical finish to a long day.
 

Don't read this if you are anti-HP

Its that time of the year again-When the magic world threatens to abolish the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy and reveal themselves to the Muggle world. The reality of the magic world acquires a surreal quality. It's the one time when you can tap bricks with your wands and shout spells without the fear of ridicule. Only the skeptics will roll their eyes and call you a crackpot. It's a matter of perception. You see what you wish to see. Those who believe in it's existence, see it. The rest - poor unfortunate souls who wish for the existence of a parallel awesome world but can't bring themselves to accept HP.

Anyway, coming back to the essential issue. How great is the Harry Potter franchise? And by that I mean the characters and not the actors. Don't get me wrong here though. The filming of the Harry Potter books was a necessary evil. The movies can never match the audience and the magic created by the books. But it did make the novel reading a more pleasurable experience, providing a face to those few characters we couldn't visualize. However, I still think that Voldemort did not receive justice. (Read further before going into shock upon reading the previous statement.) The guy plotted and murdered. He rightfully won the title of the darkest wizard of all time. And still none of the versions of Voldemort(at different stages of his life and after he was resurrected) shown in the movie look anything like the word picture painted in the books.The seedy-looking kid in the movie hardly has any resemblance to the book's description of last heir of Slytherin when he first met Dumbledore. And that is not where it ends. Take Sirius and Lupin, for instance. Or Bill Weasley. However carefully I looked, I couldn't locate the coolness in him in Harry Potter 7.1. No fang earring or long hair tied in a ribbon.
I do loath not seeing the book being truthfully portrayed in the movies. The details get distorted.And that sometimes spoils the experience if you've read the book. Plus, anyone who hasn't read the book will not be able to get the story behind the story.

There are a very few cases where the movie turns out to be as interesting and gripping as the book. Expecting faithful  portrayal of the book is like asking the Americans to speak British English. So, in spite of myself, I watch all the HP movies and enjoy them a lot too. I have done that ever since I became sensitive to HP's existence. And it won't be any different this time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2.
*Jumping with a combination of excitement and elation*