v-day !

my life , my love , my liberty .... watch "times now" now !
Priyankaa wishes that ram sena, shiv sena, muthalik n the rest of the losers would just GO-TO-HELL !!!

if u look back at your life what would you remember

Final Outcome:
We didnt buy a car !

Advertisement:
For some SUV, I think Tata Safari Dicor

Theme :
Good looking guy, out in rough weather. Alone with his car. First in a tent off the side of a cliff. Then bursting the surface of an isolated waterfall. Then trekking. No habitation in sight. He looks super content !

Text :
The following lines appear and fade away, every few seconds

• If you look back at your life what would you remember ?
  
• A corner office ?
• The VIP lounge ?
• ....
  
• Tata Safari Dicor... Reclaim your life !

Intended Audience Reaction :
The audience comes back from a hard day in an air-conditioned office, switches on the tv, catches "the ad" ....... Introspects. Decides to buy an SUV (hopefully a Tata Safari) , so that they can also go live like nomads and reclaim their lives from the horrible corporate lifestyle, a major portion of which involves sitting in front of a laptop sipping over priced coffee, in VIP lounges and Corner offices.

My parents' Reaction:
Whaaaat? I cant understand the ad. Whats the corner office got to do with the waterfall??? (Question is directed at me)

My reaction:
(Dazed)
Sigh! I'd be so happy if I looked back at my life and remembered only corner offices and VIP lounges.

fortune cookie from orkut

Today's fortune: The guy who reads your fortune went on strike. No cookie for you today. Go send someone a scrap


(WTF...????...)

more trouble...

Bill in US Senate to cap H1B visas

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6: An amendment seeking to bar American companies, which receive Federal bailout money, from hiring H-1B visa holders has been introduced in the US Senate. The amendment to the US economic stimulus bill has been co-sponsored by the Iowa Senator, Mr Chuck Grassley and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Indian IT professionals, who have been the major beneficiaries of the American H-1B visa programme, could be adversely impacted if the amendment gets the Senate nod. "Companies going through layoffs that employ (H-1B visa-holding workers) have a moral obligation to protect American workers by putting them first during these difficult times," Mr Sanders told the Senate. Under the amendment, there would be a suspension of H-1B programme of any institution, receiving bailout funds, for one year. n PTI

Brilliant...excerpt from page 10,Ch. 2

"Hassan and I took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words.

Mine was Baba.

His was Amir. My name.

Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 and all that followed was already laid in those first words........"

One of the most devastating books I ve ever read. Incomparable. A fractured man from an unhappy home in the happiest and the hardest times. Brutal and Honest. Unconditional love and unsuspected blood ties. Shattering ! The kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini....

I spent the weekend in Bangalore. Quite an adventure. Realized the absolute advantages of shopping during the end-of-season sale, finally ! I dont even understand why people bother shopping any other time of the year. I discovered the nicest 2nd hand book shop, well after sun set, in a dimly lit street, rite off MG road, about 100 meters from the deccan chronical office. He had a totally brilliant collection of rare, old books of every gener imaginable. Fantabulous is the only word. There s something so poetrical and romantic about owning a 2nd hand book store, even if there s a huge probabilty that u might end up becoming an unsociable, bankrupt, customer-hating cinic !...

Fear is not the absence of courage, but rather the judgement that nothing else is more important than fear :)

OMG ! super embarrassing day ! ...
woke up late (7.20) ... left home at 8 ... zipped to college.. landed at 8.25. perfect ! ... S came back to college today with a crutch. She didnt seem to be in too much pain, hobbling along faster than I honestly expected. P and I met her at the car park as previously planned. First hour was uneventful. The drama began in the second hour when an unfortunate cockroach made an appearence, about 6 inches 2 close to me ... eew !
ugly-fugly-yucky-hairy legged-bug eyed-flying-pint sized monster!
as expected i was quick to make a complete ass of my self ! lol !
In my defense I completely spaced out! One second I was looking at the roach, and the next second I was automatically fleeing from it, interrupting sir, apologizing and nabbing a seat in the first row, as far away from that damn thing as possible !
talk abt brain freeze !
R finally put me out of my misery, at 10.30, by sending it along its way to a happier place(a cockroach heaven). That was very cool of her
Gosh ! my hero ! ...
the other big hero in my life, obama, is getting sworn in tomorrow, to take on the weight of the world on his shoulders. So many hopes, so many dreams. I found out yesterday that 2 million graduates are employed in the US alone and millions more around the world. Here's to hoping that "yes we can" is more than just a campaign slogan.

Book review: joker in the pack

another book on the struggles of campus life in the IIM / IIT. So much better than "5 pt someone" and "anything for u mam". Much more practical. DOES NOT portray an ideal world in which the hero

• narrowly escapes expulsion after some careless antics,
• manages to "get with a girl" and
  
• cleverly avoids nearly getting killed by the girl's father/brother.
  

which is the formula of all 3 bhagath novels.
I think Chetan Bhagath is one of the most over-hyped authors of our time, and he completely lacks substance.

the best books I ve ever read

fasting, feasting..... anita desai.... for uma
wuthering heights... emily bronte,.... for Heathcliff
gone with the wind... margaret mitchell... for rhett butler
home.... manju kapur... for nisha
of human bondage .... somerset maugham
little women ... louisa may alcott.... for teddy
life of pi... yann martel.... for richard parker
the god of small things... arundathi roy.... for velutha
the english teacher.... r.k naraynan
the alchemist... paulo coehlo
fountainhead... ayn rand.... for toohey
the godfather... mario puzo.... for michael

soul-twin

i dont know if this happens to everyone at some point in their lives, or whether its just me, but i had the most heady, intoxicating experience. U know how,sometimes when u just meet someone, or u see someone and u just know. u just know tht frm that moment on u want tht person in ur life, FOREVER, and I DON'T mean this in a romantic sense. In ur life as a friend, confidant, parent-figure, whatever ! U just kno tht for some reason it was ur destiny to see tht person. Its tht whole karma thing. What goes around comes around. Its fate. The whole things doctored. Every action, every experience, every single damn occurance in ur life was leading up to tht introduction. Its crazy.
So today, I found the one person in the world who I always wanted to meet. The strange thing is I dont even know who this person is. It was blog. I read a blog. If there s such a thing as a soul-twin, that blog's author is mine. I just want to meet this person. Its a purely platonic thing. I dont care if this person's a man a or a woman, young or old, married or single, firang or desi. It feels good to know tht there s one person out there just like u, exactly like u !
sigh... !

today was a slow day. Read a book by Neeraj Pahlajani and Ritesh Sharma. I ve always wondered how two people could write a book together. Is'nt a book supposed to be an excerpt of a person's vision??. They probably share a vision(lol, maybe they are soul-twins). It was quite a page turner. Interesting desi masala. Went out for coffee at 4. P and T are leaving town tomm, after a wonderful 3 weeks or so. N and R left already. Its been a while since all of us got together so it was really fun...

paidagōgía (2)

1 thing i learned today
->i d rather be loved for what I m not than to be hated for what I am ...

lucky by chance... :)

i got my second admit today ... i got into rensselaer for MS in IT... !!! yaaaay !!! .... how on earth did i get so lucky ???

saying goodbye...

my great grandmother passed away yesterday at 6:45 pm. The first thing that came to my mind is the times I visited her as a child. She played with me and told me stories, laughed with me and helped me learn. One particular memory was when she visited my grand parents and my older sister and I shared a room with her. She used to have the nicest, cleanest, and most non-scary dentures I ve ever seen !

She was my last great grandparent, the last of the old generation. She was quite a woman. I suddenly remember my great grandfather's funeral 14 years ago. I remember Prathiba, akka, nishitha and I were really young, all of us were probably under 10 years old. And I think we didnt really understand the seriousness of a funeral. i remember the four of us having a lot of fun during tht funeral-week. I remember we invented new games, and code names like "zero-zero" gate for our secret hideouts, n I remember how the three of us used to try to come up with ways to run away from the adults so we could escape from nap time and baby sitting nishitha. But akka, my sweet, terribly big-hearted sister would always go back to the adults and be properly contrite and apologize for all 3 of us. She always was, and still is, such a darling. I particularly remember Prathiba n I holding hands and standing near the portico at Abba's house when our great grand dad s body was brought out and great grand mom weeping. For some reason P and I were really silly kids and we kept laughing, we just didnt get it that he was gone. I guess its just nature's way of helping kids cope with final things like death.

However 14 years later, I m 21 yrs old and nature is no longer eager to help, me, an adult. She was 88 years old and her passing was peaceful. She died just taking a deep breath, in the arms of her daughter. After 2 years of being bed-ridden, she has gone through more than her fair share of pain.

Yesterday nishitha and I spent a lot of time together, after years, and we talked about all the memories. My great grand ma was a wonderful person, who actually lived through history like the independence movement, took care of her husband, stood by him in success as well as financial crisis and tears, and gave birth to and raised 9 children in uncertain times. Her children went on to become doctors, bank presidents, engineers, Brigaders in the military, good wives/husbands and successful parents. My great grand ma is survived by 7 children, 13 grand children and 12 great grand children. I think she lead a full life. Maybe the only shortfall was that she did not get to see any of her great grandhildren get married, my 23 year old sister is her first great grandchild.

I didnt think I would cry as much as I did. The reason I feel so terrible about what happened is because I have already started to forget a lot about my great Grandmother. I remember her devotion to God, I remember the skinny black pigtail of fake hair that she used to rap along with her snow-white hair to make a perfect hair bun, I remember her pretty blue eyes, I remember she had skin like flour, I remember her total commitment to my great grand dad, I remember how kind she used to be to her daughters and daughters-in-law alike, I remember she never ever raised her voice, but I just cant remember the finer details, like the sound of her voice or any of the stories she used to tell us as kids. Thinking about all this just makes me feel like life is so temporary, that no matter how much we achieve, soon we will be forgotten. It almost makes me feel like nothing's really worth making an effort for. Ultimately, our life on earth is temporary. This temporary life will come to an end and no one will remember us. Makes me feel broken.

I think, ultimately, only the people who you touch with your own personal kindness, will remember you, miss u and keep your memory alive.

She will always be my cute li'l greatGrandma, in life or in death.

May she rest in peace...

V for Victory.. !!!!

The people around me were far too engrossed in their own tasks to notice that I had just had one of the most unfortunate and miserable days of my life. I blinked, hoping that it was all a dream. I knew tht speaking was not an option, so I raised my hand for help. For a while no one came forward. Then finally a lady in pink emerged and asked…”what is it?”. I said…”I am done ma’am”.

”ok. u can collect your belongings from the locker outside.”

Yeah well….I had just ruined my GRE on the 22nd day of Aug 2008. An average score of 740 on 800 in quant’s was more than what I needed to start my “waterworks” as soon as I got outside of the Prometric centre. A friend of mine who had also just given his GRE smiled at me and I felt like screaming …

Slow speed and less concentration…the two things that took their toll…I had managed to miss last three questions in quant’s section…!!!
My mind was buzzing, thoughts in and out- a million a minute. I should have made sure I got a good night’s sleep, I should have taken more practice tests. I should have done the word lists another time. I should have started preparing a lot earlier than I did. I should'nt have imagined that I'd be able to do it in just 10 minutes before the exam…I should have timed my practice tests more carefully.

My head was throbbing. I got my phone out of the locker, returned the keys, got downstairs and called Papa. He sounded breathless, anxious, hopeful n so confident that I would have done well. I whispered that it was all over and that he should come pick me up. I waited near the walk bridge down the road as I had promised him. Ten mins later he arrived. My mind went blank, lucid even. It was the strangest feeling. It was buzzing for days, but at that moment when my dad looked at me from across the street, everything was quiet.

I just stood there, for moments, minutes, thinking nothing. There were people laughing, drinking tea, driving cars, smiling at each other and some even at me. No 'buzz' came to my head. For the first time in my life, I truly witnessed silence.

My first set of emotions suddenly came in. I suddenly found a certain dampness in my eyes but my mind kept whispering to me how futile it was to try and analyze why I did badly and why I was crying. I wanted to retake the GRE. Papa said everything was ok. He did his best to make me feel better. He yelled at me for crying. I knew he felt bad and it hurt like hell to see that I had disappointed him- yet again !

So many people were rooting for me. I spent the next few hours with dad at lifstyle. I didn't wanna shop, but I did anyway. Dad and I spent the 8 hours in madras till the train left to coimby, explaining on the phone to friends and family that I hadn't done 2 well.

When I look back now, I still think I could have done better, but it all worked out for best so I wish I had atleast behaved differently.

After a few days of analysis and a friend's wedding, my parents and I decided my score was good enough and I abandoned the idea of retaking the GRE. A few weeks later, Sept 19th 2008, a letter arrived in the 4 o'clock mail. ETS was offering me a free retest because the computer that I took my test on went 'bonkers' during the test and they now see that it affected my test and they were deeply sorry, n they were passing on their humblest apologies. I was pissed !!!

But yet again we decided that I was nt retaking my GRE. This time it was because it was too close to the semester exams that I was yet to even begin preparing for.

Next came my 2nd internal exams, and the TOEFL- all in the same week. I gave my TOEFL on the 28th of sept 2008. It was not a piece of cake. I don’t know what preparations one’s supposed to do for it. But for me, watching years of American sitcoms finally proved worthwhile. I got a 113 on 120 , n finally made my parents atleast a lil proud of me after 21 years !

All right GRE,TOEFL given …what’s next??

UNIVERSITIES!!!!

Many sympathetic head nods that I used to get whenever anybody asked me my GRE score had me thinking that IIT Chicago and Grand Valley University were all I could get, and even they were too good for me. Like the majority I too was unaware that GRE scores are not the sole criteria that fetch an admit …very good academics hold the key…work experience (only if its relevant)…a fabulous SOP…convincing Letters of recommendation... optional essays... CS compatibility forms... research papers... papers published in national and international journels... extra curriculars... social work.... sports ... and what not ! It’s a hell of a job trying to convince a bunch of nerds why you are better than the rest of your clan, more so if you have an average score like mine.

Fighting the feeling of impending doom, I began to try to finalize the University list. After 32 days of analysis, research, advice and rework-Universities shortlisted (finally!!!) . It took me more than a month and yet I think I could have done better …There are few of them which should not have been in my list…

Next came the tiring task of getting the letters of recommendation and getting myself to write my statement of purpose…Each university site has a different interface and sometimes I would keep looking for hours and write down the information, only to find out 2 hours later that I had gotten the whole thing wrong. Thankfully most of my teachers were super co-operative so I managed to get the LORs on time, except from one. But finally that was done.

An SoP can never be perfect…nor are there any rules to write a perfect SoP. It went through so many revisions that finally there was no connection between the first and final draft. But I was finally satisfied. 30 days, 5 valuable opinions and 22 revisions later - It looked good.

My mom s a godess. I wouldnt have gotten throgh this withot her. We shared all the work. Wow ! My dad thankfully did all the financial stuff…AoS,Bank statements etc. My parents also managed to take two trips in november to anna uni chennai and get me the official transcripts in sealed envelopes.

In between all of this was lab exams....lab viva....print outs- spiral bind-record submission....project review... abstract submission... assignment submission.. class tests... class notes... text book xerox...internal exams.. model exams...retests... clearence form signature... hall ticket collection... semester exams !!

Packets dispatched by DHL(using the university express offer cupons) in sets of twos and threes… they all reached the universities by Dec 5th 2008. My online status everywhere was “under review” or “unknown” or “application incomplete” I didnt know what else they could want- they already had my sweat, blood and sanity !!! So I waited, watched and sent out numerous emails.

On the 19th of December 2008, a friend of mine turned 21... n we all had a blast. Admission anxiety kept hitting me, but I got through the party with a plastic smile pasted on my face. But for the most part, I had a good time.

Then came that fateful morning. 20the Dec 2008. I was sleepy, pre occupied and distracted from the events of the previous day. I didn't check my email that morning. My mom however did. She was going through my inbox at around 11 a.m, as part of her routine, when she came across "the" email ! I was in my room, asleep. The email read that my application decision was available as the processing was completed and it gave the url. My mom clicked on the url in her own sweet pace, and then clicked on the status link. She saw the letter, rushed upstairs to wake me up. A brief verbal argument and a headlong rush down the stairs later - I saw it ....

I got into CARNEGIE MELON UNIVERSITY !!!!!!!!!!

Top five in the world overall!!! .... And its been rated top three for the course I m doing !

The acceptance letter was beautiful ! It said that they had selected me for my academic and non academic achievements ! I have to get it framed !

How s that for a happy-"fairy-tale"-ending !...Of course I went into shock immediately, but I recovered and I am estatic. Mom cried and Dad couldnt stop grinning ! I got hordes of good wishes from friends and family

and .... finally ... finally .... after 21 years of being a burden to them..... finally..... I ve made my parents proud !!!

V for VICTORY.... !!!!!!!!
:)

livin life .. lovin life !

Yesterday ... reality was so much better than my wildest fantasy..... yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! my life rocks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life just is'nt black n white

M.Grey: "A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

My adorable Mama n Papa (MnP).... :)

its monday... college was not so bad :)
i love the morning drive !

Got back home for lunch n spent the afternoon doing some redecorating that was long overdue. Mama n Papa are on a "spree" right now. Some friends of the family are heading over to the US in a couple of days n they re gonna see akka, so MnP are busy goin way overboard. They ve practically filled three quarters of the poor souls' bags with presents for her. They re actually making homemade sweets for her rite now. I m keeping well outta the way. Since I still have a shread of sanity I just wrote a long letter n added a bunch of pictures to it(wieghtless n occupies almost no space) !!! n i gaurentee she ll like it much more then their presents for pure sentimental value .. so HA !

MnP are usually the most SENSIBLE PARENTS around, but I guess they're bitten by the "we-miss-our-lil-girl" bug rite now, so there s some unconventional behaviour(thankfully temorary) rite now. Awwww... !

2 things i learned today
1) final year is not gonna be as easy as it initially seemed
2) i need to watch Vaarnam Ayiram a.s.a.p ! waa !

trivial ....

Finished reading one of Anita Desai's today . Loved it. She s absolutely brilliant. Just when I was settling in with the first chapter of a Steinbeck, Mama n Papa cajoled me into joining them at a dinner party. These "events" rarely leave me in good humor, today was no exception. I just got back so i m sour as hell. Ugh !

My horoscope for the day read "Keep your calm even if you are instigated. Sometimes it's better to swallow frustrations than to react. Maintain the peace."
=> easier said than done
I was instigated.
I didnt keep calm.
I didnt swollow my frustrations.
I did react.
I didnt maintain the peace.

Back to college on monday. I am not looking forward to it this time.

2 things I learnt today
1) I cant hold a grudge for too long
2) I love my cat much more than he loves me

paidagōgía

TWO things i learnt today
1) things cant go wrong in a second
2) where exactly Somalia is, on a map !

this one gave me a SMILE-ACHE :)

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough
money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something
perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams
wants to see her in an hour...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
HAVE .
a youth she's content to leave behind....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past juicy
enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her
old age....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
one friend who
always makes her laugh.. and one who lets her cry...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece
of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her
family...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
eight
matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for
a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
a feeling of
control over her destiny..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit
a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend
without;
ruining the friendship...


EVERY WOMAN
SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK
AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her
childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she
would and wouldn't do for love or more...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
how to live
alone... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY
WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to
go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a
charming Inn in the woods....
when her soul needs
soothing...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a
month...and a year...

Canis lupus familiaris

due to non stop popular criticism i ve decided to stop publishing "BORING" blogs (like the last two) !
as previously revealed i m a cat lover. "meow"s practically my middle name. :)
But i also have a dog. I hate the mean/feral/slobbering/loud/curly tailed/tailess/hairless/spotted/most importantly cat eating kinda dogs. But i can make space for a pretty one . We had two gorgeous german shephards (Rocky and candy cane) for about ten yrs, until they succumbed to disease n old age n passed onto a happier place, a doggy heaven perhaps.
But recently we adopted Juliet. Her partner Romeo was Rocky and Candy's first born son.
Romeo n Juliet lived with my grand parents for a number of years, but recently since my grandparents have also been taxed by disease n old age, we inherited Juliet pre-maturely. Juliet though she sounds like a pretty-pawed darling, is no pure-breed. She s actually a mongrel. I was about 10yrs old n i was vacationing with my grand parents when i came across one of those mobile-nurseries.
Defenition of Mobile Nursery :
potted plants on a vandi,
wheeled by a man in a lungi
N i fell in love - with a puppy! She was about two months old n she was snuggled up under dat vandi trying to beat the afternoon heat.
I cried, i wept , threw a lil tantrum, used my 'i-m-ur-grand daughter-n-i-m-begging-u' line, i groveled n finally got my way !
The vandi guy promised she was a pure breed- white alsataian . My grand mom wasnt fooled, like i was, but she bought her for me any way. I guess i was spoiled n loved too much as a child :). He charged us close to two grand for her . So thats how we got Juliet. :)
She grew up into a sort of awkward, long limbed, ungainly not too pretty kinda mongrel. But she s quite an achiever. She can climb gates, trees, walls ,anything !
oh n she loves my cat .. lol... everytime she catches a glimpse of her she has a "i d love to have you for dinner" look on her face ... lol

blogspot needs to be tweaked

blog spot is so screwed up !
i just posted the previous post at 2.38 am. n its timed at 1.36 pm.
hello? major glich !
come to think of it , the timings on all the post are completely topsy-turvey, 12 hrs off the mark !
who coded this website anyway ?

burning the mid nite oil

its 2.21 in the nite rite now
n i m still up
burning the mid nite oil with hardly a textbook in sight ! ...
nadal vs murray has been suspended after the third set . rain !
waiting , waiting, waiting.
federer s thro to the final. N i won a bet with a "seasoned bet-er" who was earlier proclaimed a permanent winner! .
Ha ha ha -quod erat demonstrandum (latin) !
2.27 a.m
spent the day reading "man, woman and child" , n spent the evening crying over it . it was one of those special books :|
i m having the most amazing weekend.. in solitude
2.33 a.m
gosh ! i am such a recluse !
2.37 a.m
this is the most boring bolg .... ever !

if at once u dont succeed ... try , try again !

its been a while.... i ve almost forgotten how to do dis ! silly me ! ....
its been a crazy couple of weeks... exams, wedding parties , n old friends leaving...
i m still waiting for my happy ending. :)
on a high note ... guess wat ? i m getting a CAT ....
i love cats ....
arent they the most gorgeous lil drops of heaven !

i ve had three earlier ...
1.tigs - resembled a tiger n hence the name !
2.kitty kat - i was an unimaginative 12yr old, hence the hackneyed name
3.blue-bee-doo – gorgeous white cat with fascinating blue eyes, rhymes with Scooby-doo

Number 4 s coming home this evening …. N as a bonus I get to keep two kittens for a week till a friend of mine recovers from surgery.. yay !

suggestions for names are welcome – the front runners rite now are

cheesecake
kunal kapoor [:)]
salem
horcrux
mittens and
Van Gogh !

dare to bite the rite ?

years n years ago when i was around 4 or 5 YRS old i was one hell of a brat !!!

apart from being a kid who used to cry during "paatu class" until my paatu master actually went ballistic n gave up on me ... i also used to also be super scared of everything n everyone !

we used to live in a cute lil appartment building back then ...
we used to live on the 2nd floor.. n i had a balcony in my room (just like rupunzil :) )....

back then pvj= scared lil rabbit
i used to be scared of everything ... the dark, old people,cockroaches,eesal(tht flying poochi tht comes during the rainy season),escalators,boys !!, my hindi teacher,the lion king cartoon(uncle scar was one scary dude), ... even my own shadow!
u get the picture rite?

so anyways, my mom used love scary movies... but there was no way in hell she could watch one when scared lil rabbit(i.e, me) was around.
so every afternoon when it was my nap time, she used watch scary movies on video( back then it was vcr not dvd players)
n since i was quite a brat i used to sneak outta my room n go investigate wat mom was watching on tv..!
i particularly remember hiding behind the door n cathing glimpses of a "VAMPIRE" movie...
n u can imagine how scared tht wud ve made me !.... vampires scare me even now, imagine back then na!
and i cud nt talk to my mom abt my vampire-fear cause i wasnt supposed to be sneaking outta my room in the first place !

so i did the nxt best thing.. i told my 4yr old best friend !
so my intelligent-bold-brave-comforting-all knowing best friend gave me ADVICE

she was like "of course vampires exist . how could u not know about them !... they drink the blood of humans to survive. they attack ppl every nite only. n only a silver bullet frm a silver gun can kill it.."

by then i was in tears ..literally scared shitless... where cud i find a silver gun????

so then she said " ok ok pri dont worry .. i know a trick ..."

n so i listened to her with wide eyed innocence ...

she said " vampires bite ppl only when they are sleeping. n they ll bite only on the left side of their necks !... so when u sleep, u must sleep in a sideways position , on ur left side so only the right side of ur neck is exposed to the vampires "

brilliant plan na !

so then practically for the next 6 or 7 years i actually slept only on my left side !
and i finally told my mom n dad abt it because i wanted them also to "safe" frm vampire bites in the nite !
they laughed so so so much :D
n finally talked me out of it !

koojium ...

i was 5yrs old back in the dark ages ... 15 yrs ago !
i actually remember it like it was yesterday ... no chordless phones , no cell phones, a lotta fiat n ambassador cars(with gears in the side of the steering wheel) , no UPS, no CDs, no laptops , no fevistick, no alpenlibe, n no cabel TV
the one n only channel was DD national ....
but i was a happy child .... :D
a quirky , sickly, skinny, slightly insane n HAPPY child
on sunday nite i used to watch the tamil news rite after the sunday movie ,... n i still remember the news reader used to end each day's session with an address ... i think it was some address that the 'fans' could write to.
the pin code was something like 641 002... (aaru naalu ondru "koojium" "koojium" rendu)
i now know that the woman was saying "POOjium" .... but my lil 5 yr old yrs always picked it up as koojium ! ... i used to love that word ... KOOJIUM ....
i actually used to spend hrs in my room , by myself , walking arnd in circles , chanting koojium, koojium,koojium !
lolz i used to have so much fun with tht ..

Bang !

bumped into an old man in a new indica today !
spent the rest of the day text-msging everyone i knew telling them what happened .... ppl thank u for being so sweet n worried ... !
well i actually reversed into him ... completely my fault .. guilty as charged !
i ll start frm the basics ... we were on our way to college today ... just like every other day .. reached the gates around 8.20 ... lil late !
something strange was up ... there were no security guards ... NIL,NADA,ZERO ! .. found out later that they were changing the security contract or sthing of that sort .
so anyways i inched into the car park after the guy in front of me like the experienced driver dat i WAS ! ...
i had to reverse twice to get into the rite position ... n the second time jus when i was getting it rite ... THUMP ! ... the soft sound of crushed metal... i reversed without checking my mirrors ... n thanks to the security-scarce car park it was chaos so i bumped into a guy whose car came outta no where !

Dont worry i m ok n so's the other guy ... there were NO dents on his or my car ... not even a square millimeter of chipped paint .. YAY ! ... i guess my car s made of rubber or i imagined the whole thing ... !
basically, i have a guardian angel :)

OBAMARAMA

the first day of college this semester i trooped into class a lil later , a lil heavier, a lil older n a lil wiser !
lol .... along with me came my hand-loom tote bag ! i m a huge fan of charity projects ... n that lil tote bag was something i picked up at a "home for the blind" charity store
all the profits go to charity n wat the heck the bag was cute...
so i walk in.. big smile on my face after sir finished roll-call a good fifteen minutes after the late bell .... and my bag is quickly referred to as my "shopping bag' by my class mates... :D
so much for making a style statement ... lolz...
i m a huge fan of Barack Obama ... n i think he s the brightest candidate in this years elections. I even 'conned' my big sister into handing over an unused Obama'08 badge that her roomie had picked up at a rally that was in her bag... n promptly used it to decorate my tote !
The bag n the badge lasted for a week after which the badge almost cracked in two n the bag became too small to carry all my books :)

i m still undeterred n i m rooting for obama 100% ... badge or no badge!!!
i think this election will be the most important election of our generation ... eventhough i dont even have the right to vote cause its not even my country ... :)
cause after all the president of america is effectively the leader of the free world n the director of 'life as we know it'

if wishes were horses, beggars would ride :-)

i should be in venice rite about now !
bridges that stand precariously over the water; gondolas that gleam like well-polished furniture; gondoliers; and the city where everything says 'i love you'...
i wud watch the sun rise .... n then trek up to one of the near by villages n knock on the door of every imposing church n admire every high sealing , every ornate statue , every sublime mural!
they'd all be mine for the day
Venice is the kinda place that i picture every person should visit alone ... with a camera, a backpack and good book .

I would probably head to venice in january .... or during the Venice Carnivale rite before Easter .
I would love to see the Sistine chapel ... the life of Michaelangelo,trully an inspiration. I'd love to go see the Sistine chapel i really would.
The art galleries , the antiques, the waterways filled with gondolas !
Then i would go see the Colloseum in Rome
n take a peep of Vatican city
n while i m at it ... i wud head to sicily n Milan !
But My very first Dream Destination - Venice!
someday .... !