It's A Wonderful Life!

Some days back, I was depressed and had no idea why. Actually, I did, sort of. I knew the stupid little reasons which had dampened my spirit but I couldn’t fathom why they would make me feel so pathetic. I felt wretched and I was depressed. I wouldn’t say it was a ‘I-just-wanna-die’ depression, but more of a ‘go-away-and-let-me-stay-under-my-covers’ one.

Maybe subconsciously, I knew what was bothering me but I couldn’t really pin point it out. Or possibly I just didn’t want to accept it. Whatever the case was, for days I just stayed at home, missed college for a couple of days, wept like a crybaby and mostly just slept. Every little problem that I was facing seemed to magnify and I felt as if nothing is right anymore. It’s like sometimes things just happen one after the other and you feel as if you just going to explode if one more thing goes wrong. That’s why I just went into this morbid state and locked myself up and tried to sleep it off.

Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong in crying and letting your emotions out, but it was getting too much and it was getting on to my nerves. So, I made conscious efforts to make myself feel better.

I called up a friend and went out with her, I talked to my mom, I watched a movie, I went out for a walk listening to my favorite songs. And slowly, I started feeling better and soon enough; I was back to my usual self. And I realized how brainless I was, being all morose and brooding over nothing. I also came to the conclusion that every problem in the world had a solution, we just need to think it over. And even if there isn’t a solution, there is no reason to fret and worry and cry over it, we just have to learn how to accept and be happy!

Because I was feeling so positive about life, I decided to do something. I’ve written 20 reasons why I love my life! I don’t know when I will start wallowing in my own little ‘tragedies’ again, so maybe reading his would make me feel better! Sooo, here goes:

1.  I love the way when my mom is scolding me for something (mostly for not cleaning my room or not getting up on time), I grab her and hug her and she hugs me back and lovingly gives me a whack on the head! I love it when she makes me roll on the floor laughing when she starts doing those funny things she sometimes does!

2.  I lovvvve it when it rains and I go out and get absolutely        soaked to the skin and then later dry myself up and demand for pakoras and tea!

3.  I love the way I go nuts talking nonsense and laughing my ass off whenever I’m with my sister. And they way I feel when she hugs me every time before she leaves.

4.  I LOVE it when I’m snuggled up in my covers during those long winter nights listening to my favorite songs and getting lost in my own dreams and fantasies.

5.  I love it when I stay up all night reading an enthralling book and don’t even mind feeling groggy the next day in class because it was worth every minute!

6.  I love the way my dad shakes his head and sings along (and mom rolls her eyes) when a song of his choice starts to play on the radio in the car on one of out family outings!

7.  I love to know that whenever I’m feeling moody or low, someone is always there to put a smile on my face.

8.  I lourrrve the feeling I get when I have a long, satisfying, meaningful conversation with a close friend.

9.  I love the fact that when I’m with my best friend, we’re so comfortable, even silence doesn’t seem awkward.

10. I love it when I go completely crazy laughing uncontrollably with my friends and when every stupid thing seems hilarious!

11. I love the fact that I can watch movies back to back into the weeee hours of the night and then help myself to a midnight snack!

12. I love the feeling I get when I associate a particular song to a particular person\memory\time\place.

13. I love the way I call my friends up during those never-ending stressful exam days for ‘saantvana’ and then end up making plans about what we’d do during vacations!

14. I love doing NOTHING. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Just sitting still, staring off into space.. or just thinking, about nothing in particular.

15. I love the way we make last-second plans to bunk classed and go out to grab a bite. Also, passing notes in class and pouncing on each other’s tiffins after the very first lecture!

16. I love the way it feels when I just sit alone on my terrace, or when I go for a walk on a breezy evening, reminiscing and smiling to myself.

17. I love it when my granddad tells me some historical story (although 90% of the time he would’ve already narrated it to me before) when we all have lunch together.

18. I love it when all of us sit in the bedroom inside out quilts when it’s cold and TALK; or maybe watch TV and munch on peanuts and dry fruits.

19. I love talking to my bro about our childhood (which was the BEST phase of my life.. ever) and reliving all the games we used to play (Barbie-Spiderman-He-Man!) and how we used to fight over toys!

20. Finally, I love my life because I love myself! Despite all my imperfections, I’m a perfectly lovable creature and people lourve me! :P

I have numerous other reasons I can mention here, but I guess this entry is long enough already. Also, because I’m going to turn twenty next month (sigh, that’s right), I think it is fitting if I restrict this list to 20 reasons.

It’s an exhilarating feeling to feel happy and grateful about life!

You should try it too!

One Swallow doesn't make a Summer!

Why do you like a movie? Is it because it makes you happy? Because it inspires you? Or because it moves you to tears? Sometimes it does all three. Yesterday I saw one such movie: ‘(500) Days of Summer’. I had heard quite a lot about it and so yesterday I finally got around seeing it. It started off just like all typical romantic love stories. Except that it isn’t one. It’s a story about a boy, Tom who believes in true love and in the notion of ‘the one’; and how he meets a girl Summer and falls hopelessly in love with her.

She is the kind of girl who doubts the concept of soul mates and marriage and love. All the same, they go out and stay happily together for about a year when one day she out of the blue tells him that she thinks they should stop this and continue being friends. This sudden and unexplained decision hurts him and he fails to understand why she would end something that was so perfect and happy.

He plunges into self-pity and depression until they meet at a friend’s party again. After she invites him to another party, he gets hopeful of getting back together again but is devastated to find out that she is engaged. He is completely shattered as all his fairytale illusions come crashing down. He quits his job and whiles away his time wallowing when one day his pre-adolescent sister tells him that he should look back on his relation again and he might realize that it wasn’t as perfect as he thinks it was. As he contemplates and relives all their moments spent together he comprehends that she was right. And that’s when he starts to focus on his career (he wanted to become an architect). Much later, he meets Summer again and she tells him that he was right about true love- it does exist. But it wasn’t what they had. Something about their relation did not seem right to her but she was sure about it when she was going to marry the other guy.

Later when he waits for an interview in a company, he meets another girl who he asks out for coffee. That girl’s name is Autumn! =)

The major reason why I liked the movie was because it wasn’t like other movies. It was different. The other typical movies mostly follow this pattern: boy and girl meet, they date, they fall in love, there is a misunderstanding, they separate, and they always patch up again! And I would have been very disappointed if the boy and girl had ended up together. You see because that’s what makes it so realistic! This is how things are in the real world. Sometimes even the ideal relations don’t work out.

I liked some things that Tom says in the movie. He says that all these mushy movies and pop songs and books and cards put up a very idealistic image in front of us. Things aren’t ever perfect. I can relate myself with Tom. Even I used to believe in perfect matches and ‘happily-ever-afters’. I guess that’s how we all are at some phase in our lives. And it’s when someone breaks out hearts or hurts us that we come out of the delusion. Maybe that’s an important part of life. Heartache. Pain. That’s how we learn, and grow.

He also questions ‘love’. Seriously, what is love? Can you define it?

What I feel is, that it is this phase in our lives, (and everybody goes through it), where you start adoring and obsessing over this one person, who makes you feel alive and contented! That’s also what the movie shows: how beautiful being in love can be. How blissful and euphoric someone’s presence in your life can make you feel. It’s like your whole world revolves around that person. You love everything about them. Life seems amazing! Like Tom says in the movie, “I love how she makes me feel, like anything's possible, or like life is worth it.”

Aww! It’s such an incredible feeling! I loved their chemistry in the movie, they looked so cute together! But according to me, Tom didn’t really fall in love with Summer, he just fell in love with the feeling of being in love. He thought that she was the perfect girl for her but then realizes that it wasn’t so flawless after all. I guess everyone goes through the troughs and ridges of relationships. Isn’t it startling sometimes how something that seems totally ‘meant-to-be’ later starts to seem absurd? This is how life is. C'est la vie! People change. Time passes. Old relationships are forgotten. New ones are made.

The movie also gives you hope. Instead of moping around after a break-up, maybe if we start ‘looking’ again, we might actually stumble across a person who we feel can be ‘the one’. It’s not the end of the world! Pick yourself up and brush yourself off, life can be beautiful again! It makes you feel so… positive. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s like how Bob Marley said, “Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you’ve just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

I didn’t really understand why Summer abruptly decides to leaves him and marries a guy who she hardly even knew. But then again, she must have had her reasons. Maybe sometimes you do feel that it’s meant to be. The scene where they meet for the last time got me so emotional. I was sniffing about. It was kind of heart-breaking. Sometimes you have no idea why things don’t work out. And it hurts even more because you can’t get it. But then maybe that’s because you don’t see the big picture. At that time, you’re so morose and grieved of losing someone you love so much, that you don’t even realize that something even better might be in store for you. When one door closes, another door opens!

All said and done, I was glad the movie ended at a positive note. He finally crawled out of his despondent shell and found another girl. Maybe he fell in love with her again. Maybe she broke his heart again. Or maybe they ended up together. Who knows?

Hmpf. Love is stupid. Yet people run after it. I read this somewhere “Love is like dark chocolate. Although it always leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth, you will still be tempted to take a bite the next time around.” It’s like something totally irresistible. As they say, love is what makes the world go round!

P.S.- Another reason to watch the movie: Joseph Gordon Levitt is CUTE! ;)

Starry Silence.

This blog entry is exclusively dedicated to this silly, hilarious, extremely interesting guy I met only like four months back. It’s crazy how sometimes you just click with a person right from the very beginning and then there’s no looking back! It has been like that with us. Actually, the reason why I took so long to write this entry was because I couldn’t figure out exactly what to write as the introduction. There is just so much to this moron and I’ll fall short of adjectives! :P

The picture is a little something I made for him, which I’m yet to mail him.

Except for the catastrophic disaster on 7^th of June 2010, whenever I think of him I can only think of how witty and amusing he is and how he makes me ROFL, A-AND, how devastatingly CUTE he is. Seriously, I cannot even describe how MUCH I feel better when I talk to him, especially when I’m at my depressed best. And how when we start yakking on the phone, we go on for hours and hours oblivious to everything around us, until we look at the time and go "Oh God, Oh God" :P I just love this idiot of a person who is one of my bestest friends (because I'm completely myself when I talk to him and because I can jabber with him about anything under the sun). Also, not only is he one of the strongest candidates in my Top10 list, but he has also advanced to the stage of becoming my Back-Up! ;) *Applause* That is really something! This poem (“phom”) actually came into existence one night when I was texting with him and I wrote this sentence which he thought was cool and so he asked me to write a poem revolving around it. So I began to think and well, I just wrote it! Just like that! Everybody cannot actually understand some underlying meanings, so you’re free to interpret people! Yeah, so, here it is, an Ode to Cheenti!

Starry Silence

I lie back, staring at the walls,

Senses wide awake, slowly the night falls.

Mind wanders; off into another dimension it goes,

Thoughts sift through the breeze coming through the windows.

Thoughts, they fly, swirl around in my head,

As silent laughter echoes around the empty room,

The ceiling’s gone, the stars are wet.

The night crawls by, surreal dreams with it she brings,

Reality fades away, imagination gets wings.

I get lost in my dreamy stance, too blissful to come out,

Eyelids grow heavy; inside my reverie I have a doubt.

The darkness is shattered by a sudden blinking light,

I follow the source and it fills me with delight.

The warmth spreads all around and radiates from my face,

Pondering about it all, feelings caught in a maze.

Is it ephemeral, a fleeting stint of glee?

Or is it eternal? Or can anything ever be?

As my head touches the pillow, it starts to rain,

I smile, close my eyes and here I go again,

Thoughts they fly, swirl around in my head,

As silent laughter echoes around the empty room,

The ceiling’s gone, the stars are wet.

Drops Of Earth!

One time of the year that I completely find irresistible and totally refreshing is the monsoon season! It’s not like I don’t enjoy the other times. I adore winters. Snuggling up inside the covers, reading a good book against the window, colorful woolen hats, mufflers and gloves, warming your hands on a mug of hot coffee, sitting with your parents with heaters on having peanuts, napping on your terrace soaking in the wonderful winter sun.. But the rains! They just do something to me. The smell of wet mud, and the sound of the drops of rain falling on your umbrella, jumping in water puddles, leaning out your verandah, feeling the drops fall on your face, having hot pakoras with tea! I still remember how, as tiny kids we would make paper boats and sail them in on the roads outside our house. And how we would hope for it to rain so that we could show off our new umbrellas and colorful raincoats!


I get this excited, jumpy, exhilarating feeling whenever it starts to pour. And I just cannot stop myself from going out and getting completely soaked! Lately it has been raining heavily almost everyday! It’s remarkable how my mood stays in sync with the weather! If it’s sunny and hot, I’ll be all sullen and dull. If it’s windy and rainy, I’ll be “Wee-ing” all over the place! My excitement level also increases as the rain starts to fall harder and faster!


Today turned out to be a surprisingly fun day. It was one of my friends [Smriti (the OTHER Smritis)] birthday. So we went to her place to give her this little surprise thing we had planned for her! Some of her other friends had decorated her apartment, blown balloons and that sort of thing. When we were done with all the ‘Surpriiiiiiiiiiiiise’ yelling and birthday wishing, and squealing and hugging sessions, we realized that it was pouring cats and dogs and horses and elephants outside! She suddenly exclaimed, “Let’s go on the terrace!!” And like small kids, we screamed and ran up to her terrace (which was on the 6th floor). It was amazing, the gush of wind, the awesome thunder clouds, the huge plump water drops which in a matter of seconds completely drenched us from head to toe! I spread out my arms and looked towards the sky and had this massive smile on my face. In no time, we were running all over her terrace and jumping in the water puddles playing splish-splash like toddlers! We were singing songs, and trying out various innovative dance moves and just being simply crazy. The view was invigorating, I could see the fields, the houses, the roads, the trees, everything just seemed so fresh and bright and new! Smriti’s mom clicked our pictures (and we made lunatic poses) and after we were done, she gave us fluffy towels to dry ourselves with, because we were dripping wet. After we all changed, we were welcomed by the sight of hot big samosas and steaming cups of coffee and a chocolate cake on the table! Ah, what could have been better?
As we sat there, wolfing down the samosas, cake and sipping coffee and chatting and laughing away to glory, I got this warm feeling in my belly. Some days turn out to be way better than you can expect. Who would have thought, when we were there, sitting in out classroom and listening to our Computer science teacher babbling god-knows-what, that after some time we would be having the time of our lives in the rain?


As always the whole bright, beautiful atmosphere made me hum a very suitable song. It is called ‘Drops of Earth’ by a very talented band, which is not known to many people, ‘Advaita’:


”In this rain as it falls
Back to life come days long gone
When we raced for some cover
Drenched in drops of earth all over

Clouds admired then drops we chased
Felt the mist in that rain
Run and hide and splashed all over
Made a friend once again

In that rain..”

I completely fell in love with today. I was looking forward to such a thing, you know. I mean, getting wet alone is another thing and having a rain dance party with friends is totally another! Don’t you think it such an ammmazing aspect of nature? I mean its water! And it just… falls! On everything! Wow! (Do I sound insane? :P ) It is like a gigantic shower somewhere in the sky!
Sometimes life gives you moments that you can look back on and cherish even after years and years and years. Today has been one such day! Cheers to the rains! :D

A Musical Extravaganza!

Today has been one of those awesome fun-filled college days. Social Science students were bubbling with excitement because today we had our Western Solo and Group Singing Competition. It wasn’t just a Co-curricular competition. Based on today’s performance, students were going to get selected to perform at the Convocation AND would get a chance to go out of station to take part in the Youth Fest! Everybody was busy practicing and singing and yodeling in classes and the corridors. Well, as always we hadn’t practiced our song beforehand. In fact, we hadn’t even decided which song we were going to sing. So, the best part was, that we bunked two classes and went to a friend’s (Smriti) place to practice. We decided to sing “Sway” by The Pussycat Dolls. Out came her majestic synthesizer and we started singing. It was so much fun, singing, practicing, harmonizing, our voices blending together and forming this beautiful symphony. We would also start singing other songs just because we were enjoying singing them so much! Well, at first I decided I won’t take part in the solo contest. But then I was like, what the hell, let’s give it a shot. So I practiced a bit of “Way Back Into Love” from the movie ‘Music and Lyrics’.
We went to college, late for our next class. :P
When the competition started, we were one of the first groups to perform, and surprisingly, we sang much better than we had expected to sing! It was a great feeling, to stand there, singing, accompanied by the soft acoustic guitar being played by one of my friends (Samrath) tapping your feet, snapping your fingers along with the beat.
When the solo part commenced, I started getting all jittery. I knew most of the singers there were brilliant and I knew I didn’t stand a chance against them. As I saw the students, going on to the stage one by one and performing, I was startled and also happy to know that we’ve got such talent in our college. I mean some of them sang just amazingly well man. I completely enjoyed it, sitting there, listening to their songs, feeling them, singing along and then clapping and cheering. But as my turn approached, I was all nerves. I almost chickened out, but my friends asked me not to do so and go and give it my best try.
Then I realized, to think of winning the competition or getting selected for the fest was a long-shot. No, I did not want to take part in it for anybody; I had to do it for myself. I had to get rid of my stage-fright. I knew I had to go there and sing as well as I could. And that’s what I did. I didn’t even look at the audience (because that makes me nervous). I just looked straight ahead and after singing a line or two, I got this comfortable feeling. I didn’t do a bad job, really. And the best part was that I didn’t goof up and it helped me shed some of my inhibitions to some extent. It felt good when my friends told me I sang well. :=)
The results will be announced tomorrow. I don’t even care who wins. I’m happy that I did not back out. I would have seriously regretted it. After everything got over we went outside and the weather was amazing. It was cloudy, windy, chilly and it was drizzling. We are to give an Official Freshers party to our juniors on the 21st and we started to think of more songs that we could sing that day. It was so much fun, standing there, singing songs on the top of our lungs, and talking and laughing. The whole atmosphere had this musical ring to it which just rejuvenated my soul. And even on our way back home, on my Scooty, we kept singing songs without a care in the world.
Truly, what would life be without music? Without all these wonderful songs and musical instruments and tunes and lyrics and surs? This thought immediately reminded me of a song by Abba: Thank You For The Music.
It goes like this:

“Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty?
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me.”

I completely love music. <3 Music is life. Music transports you into another world. Music stays with you forever. Music enriches your spirit. Music makes you happy. There are SO many amazing singers and players in the world. There is so much more music to be explored and heard and appreciated and enjoyed. I came across this quote once somewhere: “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.”
I honestly have this unexplainable admiration and respect for people who can sing well.. They make the world a brighter place to live in! Kudos to all the great singers and musicians worldwide! :D

Transformation.

Last night as I sat on my bed, my earphones plugged in, feeling the loud music fill my ears, my brain, my body and overpowering my senses, I realized something. I have grown up. Okay, I know a lot of people who know me well are going to roll their eyes reading this, but it’s true. Growing up doesn’t mean you suddenly become demure and sophisticated; it means a radical change in the way you think and feel. I’m nineteen going on twenty (even the thought of entering the 20s scares me!). To most people, I seem to be this happy-go-lucky, crazy and quirky teenager. The kind who keeps hoppity hopping about, who can enter into sudden paroxysms of laughter and who has the ability to yammer nonstop. My close friends also know, however, that I can enter into dangerous mood swings and it’s better for them to stay away from me at such times! I’ve almost always been like this.
But somehow, somewhere, some part of me (although it’s not relatively a very big part) did grow up.
I think, I have started analyzing things more logically now. Earlier I used to be too impulsive. I wouldn’t follow my instincts. I’m almost out of my dreamy, adolescent cloak and I’m closer to reality. I’ve met various types of people and I have accepted the fact that they can be selfish, rude, blatant or plain disgusting. I’m aware of the fact that life can be a bitch. And worse is yet to come.
I make decisions more rationally now, and I’m in the process of getting my priorities straight. I know who my friends are and who are the people who just put up a friendly facade.
At the same time, I also know that if you really look beyond all these things, life is beautiful! :) Going to college, submissions at the very last minute of the very last day, bunking classes religiously, going crazy with friends, spending time with family, humming songs in the rain.. there are so many amazing aspects of life which makes life worth living!
I recently read my diaries. Stuff that I had written when I was 13.. 15.. 17.. I was this subdued, self-conscious, insecure girl. I used to crib and worry about piddling issues. I used to get crushes on guys who make me throw up today! I was.. dumb, truth be told. And I’m glad I’m not that girl anymore.
I also observed the gradual change in my choice of music. I started with ‘Backstreet Boys’, ‘Westlife’, ‘Britney Spears’, then moved on to ‘Sting’, ‘Linkin Park’, ‘Creed’ and then ‘Porcupine Tree’ (MARRY ME Steven Wilson!!) , ‘Radiohead’ and ‘Red Hot Chilli Peppers’.
It’s amazing how drastic the shift has been! It’s said that your choice of music tells a lot about you. If that’s true, then this just proves how much I’ve evolved over the years.
There is a LOT of scope for improvement though. I’ve made a few resolutions and I hope I stick to them. The top two are: 1. Gain weight 2. Improve your sleeping pattern (It’s after twelve and I’m wide awake and from the looks of it, I can’t see that happening today.)
I have a mountain of projects and seminars to work on, but the more I have to work, the less I do it. Oh yeah! Resolution no. 3. Stop being such a lazy ass and make sincere efforts to complete all your work on time. Sigh, as author Elbert Hubbard says, ‘Life is just one damned thing after another.”
Till then guys,
Peace out!

I'm all Ears!

God has constructed human beings beautifully. He has created us in the perfect way. For instance he has given us hands equipped with five unique fingers to perform innumerable functions. Not only are they useful for things like eating and picking things up, they are essential to do things like scratching, picking your nose..umm, ok you get the picture! And our five wonderful senses, each performing its own wonderful task. But I do admit that there are some gifts that the Almighty forgot to bestow upon us. For example, I really wish he had given us the power to close our ears the way we can close our eyes and mouth. I wish we had some sort of ear-lids which we could just pull down whenever required.
This strange thought entered my mind in the afternoon today, when each part of my body was trying its best to go off to sleep. Well last night, I had stayed up all night watching this amazingly entertaining and gripping serial ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and got up early today. (I think I saw ten episodes at a stretch!) So by the afternoon I was dead tired and desperately needed some shut-eye. So I entered my room, changed into my comfy pajamas and snuggled inside my warm quilt, smiling to myself. I had almost crossed the threshold of my dreamland, when a loud bang woke me up. Well, that was my mother, washing clothes right outside of my room (that’s where our courtyard is) and apparently she had dropped something. Grrr-ing to myself, I pulled my quilt together closer around me, and again began to drift into a badly needed slumber. Suddenly I heard my little cousin Ganu (he is only two) squealing at the top of his voice outside in the porch. To make things worse, his dad (my uncle) took out his basketball and began to dribble it right outside! To top it all, apparently every time he threw the ball at Ganu he would joyously scream “Ye maraaaaaaaaaaaaaa…ye maaraaaaaaaaaaa!” It was so infuriating that I got up, peeped out of my door and asked him to be quiet. And I think I was kind of rude. But I didn’t care. I really needed to sleep.
I finally managed to sleep. But my sweet slumber was short-lived. After about twenty minutes my grandparents came out and sat on their terrace, which is right on top of my room by the way. Now, as my grandfather is a little hard of hearing, my grandma practically had to say things twice and that too at the top of her voice. To increase my misery, they were having some kind of argument. I was rudely awakened with a shock as my grandpa went “Beh! Tum to sunti hi nahi ho!” It was so unfair! It seemed as if the whole world was conspiring against me. I pressed my pillow hard against my ear and prayed for sleep to engulf me. I was almost weeping with frustration. Would you believe it, after a while, my brother blared rock music in his room. I could NOT take it anymore. Without thinking, I got up, opened my door and screamed my lungs out “Will anybody bloody let me sleep in this goddamned house?”. To my surprise, there was prefect silence.
Finally, I managed to drift off into a wonderful sleep and slept for four hours straight.
But this experience left me pondering, about the benefits of having ear-lids. We wouldn’t have to listen to people we don’t want to listen to. We could just shut off our ears in the middle of an argument and avoid so many fights. We could sleep peacefully, anywhere. In a train, for example, we wouldn’t have to worry about the baby wailing its head off…or the fat old man in the next compartment who snores as loud as clouds thundering. You could just close your ear-lids and stay unaffected. You could even sleep peacefully during a boring lecture! I would have used my ear-lids especially during Diwali. I simply detest the way I jump out of my skin every time a bomb explodes!
Anyway, guess we can’t really do anything about it, can we? Although I’ve heard that a device has been invented, which completely cuts off all the noises around you. I guess it’d be quite useful! At least for a person like me. And for others as well, in the ears to come! :P

Nostalgia... Absurdia..

Its 14th November. 10:44 AM. I am at college, sitting at the Computer Centre. HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!!! :D Guess what, this was the first time that I didn't even remember that today's Children's day. It suddenly hit me when i read the newspaper today. School used to rock with excitement at this time of the year. We would either be taken for a movie or our teachers used to perform for us. God, I'm missing my teachers real bad today. Suddenly, I can picture Ma'am Dodia on the stage, delivering not-so-funny dialogues and everybody roaring with laughter. I can imagine Sister Lawrence wishing everyone a happy Children's day and distributing sweets. I can recollect all of us in out bright, colored attire, bubbling with excitement and chuckling and chortling. I miss my school and my friends so so much.
Anyway, It has been raining a lot here lately. As a result, its really chilly here. Just the way I like it. Atleast you don't sweat, and you don't get tanned!!

Umm.. college turned out to be not so bad after all. I mean I used to hate it in the beginning, but now I'm rather starting to like it. Ofcourse, the incessant tests, assignments, presentations, exams are a drag, but then its fun complaining about them. The one thing that I really enjoy is bunking classes. I never regret missing a class!! Its one of the joys of being in college. The second best thing about college is, you don't have to wake up at 6 everyday! Gosh, now that used to be a killer. I remember how many times I hadn't gone to school just because I couldn't get up in the morning! :P Especially during winters.
Oh and yes, something that I truly love doing is making fun of some of our teachers. Oh and this particular teacher, lets call him Mr.X drives us up the wall with his constant gibberish. We somehow manage to supress our laughter while he blabbers on. Ok let me give you an instance to prove how insane he really is. Once he had missed out calling my name while marking the attendance. So I went up to him and said "Sir, you didn't marke me presen--". He suddenly spurted, "Yas, I knows. Your the presentation has been the puts!", and gave me one of his not-so-toothy grins (because one of his tooth right in front is missing!) Imagine the amount of effort taken by me to keep myself from bursting out laughing on his face! Imagine how much stomach contraction it took me to avoid even showing my teeth.
God even thinking about him makes me wanna LOL.
Smriti, one of my pals here is sitting right beside me and poking her head at regular intervals, giving me regular inputs! :P Another thing that I'm thankful about, atleast I got some nice peeps around here. And hey we might go for a movie today. 2012. Yips!
So, to sum it up, I'm beginning to get the hang of the whole college thing. ITs fun actually. I was appehensive and almost nervous at first, but now everything seems really comfy. Hope it stays that way. Anyway, my class is almost over now. Gotta head back to my faculty. (I just love the weather!!)
See you all later!!

The hardest part of holding on is to let go..

Ever had one of those days when nothing goes right? Bet you have. I was having one such day some days back. My mom scolded me early in the morning, I fought with a friend and I had lost my Xth standard mark sheet which I needed to attach to my college admission form. I was shuffling through my shelf and my drawers frantically when a sheet of paper fell down. I looked at it and smiled. I sat down and went through it. I recalled that particular day and a deep nostalgia shrouded me. That familiar school type of feeling swept over me. XIIth standard, a hot and humid day in July, it had only been a few days since school had reopened. Our classroom was bustling with noise and energy. One group was dancing, another bunch was having their tiffins like unfed junglies., some of them were singing and just going mad and the rest was talking and laughing. NO one was in mood to study. And it was a free period anyway. Our English teacher, Ma’am Ghosh, entered our class and as soon as she did, we started groaning and said ..”Ma’am pleeeeease, we don’t wanna study today!!” she covered her ears and tried to calm us down. We were practically out of control that day! Then she said that she had something in mind and led us out into the corridor. We all got out and were asked to sit in a circle. We were 60 students, and the circle formed was huge. She then asked us to take out a piece of paper and make two columns and write our names on the top. Then we were to pass it on to the girl sitting on our right. In the first column, we had to write one positive quality and in the second column a negative quality of the person to whom the paper belonged. And after writing, we were to pass it on till everyone gets their own paper back which would be filled with everyone’s thoughts and views about us. It was so much fun! Though some of them did not take it seriously and wrote funny trash, I genuinely wrote what I felt about everyone. I was very excited to read my paper and as soon as I received it, I sat in a corner and read my negative qualities first. Most of them had written that I was very kiddish and immature. It wasn’t that bad really. Then I moved on to the positive qualities. Seriously, it was such a pleasant feeling to read what they had written. They wrote that I’m a good person, very friendly, very sweet and so on. Some of really touched my heart with what they wrote.
I really felt that it was a very good idea. Everyone got a clear picture of what their classmates thought about them. I actually worked upon my kiddish behavior and have turned a little sophisticated. Ahem ahem! I have treasured the paper safely and whenever I read it, I get such a warm feeling in my belly. People actually like me.. for who I am and what I am. It’s really necessary in the world today to interact with all types of people. Even if you don’t really like them, it doesn’t hurt to be polite and sweet to them. Sometimes those people come to your help and the others don’t. I always try to look at the good side of people.
I still remember this particular time last year. It was July and it used to rain almost everyday and we used to rush out of our class and get wet and jump and play splish-splash in the puddles. What fun! We used to sing songs and dance like freaks! The going crazy, shouting like lunatics, laughing on senseless things, hogging on each others lunchboxes like dogs.. where did those days go, where? I miss school so much. Its funny, how much I used to abhor going to school in the junior classes. In the 12th standard I went to school almost everyday. I knew it was our last year and I was just trying to cling on those last few days, holding on to those premises, the field, and the classrooms. Can’t believe I’ll be starting with college now. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. I have a completely new life ahead of me. I hope people there too love me for who I am and what I am. I have my exams to give first. Have my fingers crossed!!

Get Real!

The world watches with bated breaths, eyes transfixed on their TV screens, cell phones switched off, family outings cancelled, focused upon two people whose lives are about to change. Sounds familiar? Yes, this is what happens at least once every few months in almost all families, when the ‘Grand Finale’ of their favorite reality show is aired. The reality show craze has gripped the entire nation and how! There was a time when family melodramas were at their peaks of success and popularity. Everybody used to adore the pretty, sincere, religious, innocent ‘Tulsi’ and wanted a daughter-in-law just like her. Following her footsteps, there was no stopping other “Tulsis’ to take their places in the various other K serials. And who did not love to hate the scary vamps, flashing their gaudy jewellery and humongous bindis ostentatiously? But there has been a drastic shift from these, crawling serials with their never-ending scripts and ever-young (and almost immortal) characters to Reality shows which deal with real people, real emotions and real lives.
The audience love to see the people from middle-class and destitute families rise to such heights of fame. Plus, it gives people a great opportunity to display their talents to the world and fulfill their dreams. From ‘Indian Idol’ to ‘The Moment Of Truth’, they appeal to all! It’s inspiring to watch people change their destinies overnight!
However, as we all know, there is always another side to a coin. How ‘real’ these reality shows are has always been a question. Often it appears as if they try to put in unnecessary drama and over hype any statement made by the contestants for the other contestants. The participants and the parents always seem to have a high EQ (emotional quotient). There have been allegations on many shows that they are scripted. It is pre-decided which contestant is going to win in the end. Gradually, these shows are losing their demand too. They are becoming too clichéd and bland. It’s always the same judges, the same comments (one of the favorite of the judges- “you’re performance was mind-blowing!”), the same vote-outs and the same tears (minus the glycerin however). I think shows like ‘Roadies’ and ‘Splitsvilla’ grab the maximum amount of TRPs because of their youth, glamour and cat fights. Who would not love to watch the skin show of a bevy of beauties?
People all over the country are crazy about Roadies. Every one wants to be one. To get into the audition directly, youngsters are participating in the Roadies Battleground where it requires you to do absolutely insane tasks, (including walking on the streets screaming like Tarzan and wearing the opposite sex’s undergarments over your clothes!!) make videos and upload them. Roadies today, is one of the most popular show among the Youngistanis! It has spread across the nation like wildfire! Splitsvilla, is too catching up. Although I find the concept of ‘finding true love’ in a show like this highly unlikely and fake. Well, it’s still better than watching women with faces that look like pancakes smeared with lipstick and mascara, tears streaming down their faces, weeping in front of their Gods. The moment I find my mom switching on to Star Plus, I hurry out of the room. Whew, I cant stand them. Well, they are still loved by women. Ekta Kapoor needn’t worry much. She still has fans!

P.S.- Reality check: Love them or hate them, you cant ignore them!