PICTURE PERFECT
Bizarre though it may seem, despite being a girl and that too a teenager, I have never been enamored by any of the cosmetics and girlish fancies unlike my contemporaries. So, an announcement over the intercom at school saying that all class 12 students would have their group photographs taken in the following hours had me stunned. The room which had been teeming with my classmates, jabbering away incessantly till then, was empty even before you could complete the phrase ‘‘group photograph.’’
There was a mad rush at all school bags, and combs of various shapes and sizes along with various tubes of cleansing lotions made their way into people’s pockets.

Even an announcement from the principal in the morning, asking us to come on time to the school assembly could not have elicited such a spontaneous reaction from any student.

I was the only one left in the room, still getting over the shock of a suddenly empty classroom. Deserted by even my closest of friends, I was still pondering over where the mob had disappeared to. I decided that the restroom would be the best place to look for them. My hunch was not in vain. I was definitely not disappointed.

The place where you normally go to empty your bowels indeed had multiple uses- something I learned very fast I.e. , the moment I peeked in to the restroom.
The mirrors which once upon a time showed a person’s reflection, had many other people staring out of them in various poses. There was a hooligan like rush for the two mirrors in the toilet . Students were painting their lips, washing their face in a mad frenzy as though they hadn’t taken a bath in days. Some people’s face was contorted with the effort of ensuring that their eye brows still remained perfectly shaped . Heaven forbid if even a hair on the head was out of place. Combs would be taken out of the pockets and the tresses would be redone yet again for the hundredth time (or maybe for the two hundredth, but who‘s counting??).The normally foul smelling restroom was completely transformed. It was as though a perfume factory had erupted in there.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my friends, after debating that two hours in the loo was more than enough, started making their way back to class.

For me, it was indeed a weird yet new experience, shocking yet enjoyable. I now know why people smile when they are complemented on being picture perfect than when they are complemented on a perfect math score. The effort involved is definitely more . This would indeed be a memory I would cherish every time I look at my class photograph though i had not been a complete part or rather, even a miniscule part of the behind-the-scenes activities!!!