The year that was mine.

Entirely mine.

So here's what was going on while I went on blog-hiatus. Gak, these days (months, more like), everytime I blog, the post is by default a comeback post.

• My IIMK life has come to an end. (Tragic sigh follows)
• Which also means that my hostel life is over. Phew!
• Niqah over (I know I make it sound like an army commander reporting about a completed mission. That's how I felt once the hullabaloo had died down.)
• My heart wants a sabbatical, my brain wants other stuff.

Yeah, I wanted to do this post couple of weeks back, but like everything else I plan, this one got pushed down the procrastinated-pipeline-of-things-I-totally-have-to-be-doing-already.

Living Alone
Fending for myself in a new city was daunting, sometimes even aggravating in the start. Especially when you are a lazy bum and a geographically retarded bum at that, like me. Fun nevertheless. I could make impulsive decisions and just go buy stuff when I fancied so. I could do crazy stuff and just be me, and not worry, since hey- no one cares! And the beauty of earning and spending it on my family and myself. I still remember receiving my first paycheck. Great day!

And haunting the second hand book store. It became my favorite haunt in all of Calicut after IIMK. Thanks to Rahul!

Roomie love
Sure this life came with its baggage. My colleague and I had joined together, and lived together. Boy was that mad. We're as unlike each other as possible. To the point where if I like something, I know she'll hate it, and vice versa. We couldn't stand each other's lifestyle. So when she moved out after getting a new job- the move practically saved our friendship. Ridunkulus as that may sound. See, some relationships are like that. It's better not to spend too much time together in such cases cos that will just ruin things.

Anyway, I made a truckload of friends at my hostel. A motley crowd in fact. They came and they went. Some stayed longer thanks to their respective exams or courses, some lasted only weeks before they ran from the crap food and kleptomaniacs that infest the hostel. But despite the number of days they spent there, I fell in love with all the girls who were unlucky/lucky? enough to be my roommates. Some were strong, intelligent and outspoken and awesome like my first roomie Amu. Some were whimsical like Luna Lovegood (Leah!). Some were mature and sametime crazy like Christie. Whichever way, all beautiful, all amazing.

Coming back, main point of the whole crazy hostel life:
I lasted a whole year!
It's definitely something to be proud of, kid. I survived bad food, consequent sicknesses, forthmentioned creepy kleptomaniacs and more.

Niqah-
ok, I'mma be brief about this cos ceremonies and social functions ain't my thing. And the Niqah just emphasised that fact. I love being around my family. Extended family included. I unconditionally love them all no matter how weird or flawed they may be. They're family. Everything's forgiven.
Anyway, my Niqah event was crazy fun thanks to this extended family. We came together as one single unit, had fun, goofed around and in general- had a great time. What I didn't love was the dress-up part. SO not me.

And the wedding songs that I usually am ok with when singing for someone else getting married. But when it's me they are singing to, I'm actually yawning! I can't stand the cheesier than cheesy lyrics (try this: "the girl blushed as they made her wear the pretty flowers". Gaaaaah. Seriously? Seriously? I'm supposed to not laugh at that??!)They're fun as long as you don't sing em to me!

 But it was fun watching my cousins and mom and dad and the photographer who came plead and beg me to Smile like a girl would smile dammit! All I could muster was my half-smile/smirk.
And here's proof that I've had the same smile ever since I was a wee bratty kid. (I was a brat. A spoilt one at that)

Le smirky face

They wanted something else. I tried a grin, but that was ruled out as unwholesome. How? Was it an alligator laugh? Or you find the girl seeming like she's on dope? Maybe it's the second. Or maybe it's just me. Siiiiiigh.

IIM aka Heaven aka Para-para-paradise

Saving the bias for last.
Like I mentioned, my IIM phase is over. And that's a huge void that will never get filled up. Ever. This is where I need a melodramatic emoticon to express all my melancholy and pain at departure from said heaven.
 
    This is where I got over the trauma I had received from my dept head from post grad years. ok, I really want to say awful things about him, but I realize I'll just be damaging myself, so I refrain.
     This is where I grew into a confident, self-assured, strong person. Most of that had gotten wiped off the slate from the above mentioned miserable black hole of a human.
     This is where I lived in an awesomely happy environment, great colleagues and superiors and had the luck to work under the Most Amazing, The Person I Respect Most, Perfection Personified, Frikkin' Amazing Guru - aka, my Boss. Or in simpler terms, the Chief Librarian & Information Officer plus a million other titles he works by. I'm still awed by his humility despite how genius he is. He could have been a mean pig, but he chose to be awesome. Respect.
    This is where I perfected my work ethic and realized I'm a quick learner and pretty sharp at my job. Yay! Major ego boost.
    And how can I forget! This is where I got the chance to meet greats like RBI Governor, ministers of Kerala Cabinet and all. 
    This is where I fell in love with the awesomeness of Tumblr too. And also found and fell irretrievably in love with The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

    This is where I fell in love over and over AND over again with a place. I don't think words can do justice to how unbelievably heavenly my work place is.

See what I'm going on an on about?
The clean, clean, cold air. The long walks downhill, the adorable workplace friends (I love you allllllll!), the everyday joy of going to work here!, and the fact that we get to work in a place where the work ethic mostly consists of 'do your work. no need to stress out. is all.'/ I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting the finer points.
But oh well, one can never explain beauty. Only attempt and fail.

I just made a point to take a mental snapshot of my paradise before I left. (cries into pillow)

   

Birthdays and things giving me warm fuzzies lately: Pt I

 It's my birthday

I'll get high if I want to

Can't deny that I want to

But I'll lie if I have to

(Florence + The Machine cover)

Nothing like a bit of Florence to liven up, angst up things.

 Birthday!!!

Ok, first off I'll calm down. Next, I'll tell you all how I'm not exactly pro-ceremonies. I'm the kind who skips all sorts of ceremonies That includes birthdays. I don't really care about birthdays any more.

ONLY, I have an amazing set of friends and family, {and since recently, one adorable fiance}who have been showering me with birthday wishes, lots of amazing surprise gifts and hugs. Maybe that's why we should get into the birthday spirit. It reminds us of all the people who take the time out for us, spend days thinking what would be the awesomest gift to give us, and in the end? I'm a radiant being, happy and once again reminded of how blessed I am.

Le blessings =)

• I'm thinking I must be a known, certified, chocolate-addict; considering all the chocolate gifts I received. And all I have in reply is, "Yessir!".
• One buddy sprang a surprise on me, giving me an IIMK souvenir coffee mug. Hurray!
• But I must say the awesomest of all the awesome gifts I got was definitely what my techie-minded platonic got me. An app! Designed especially for me! Of my blog!! That's like awesome of epic proportions! You're perfect bro!
• God Almighty was super considerate and for my birthday I had lovely, dark climate, no heat, mild showers. Love.Love.Love. =)
• I've been listing my gifts (aka additional blessings) and I'm STILL going to do this one tiny gripe here, IN SPITE of everything. Beloved everyone in my life, for my next birthday or anything important in my life:
  Gift me books. Books and more books. I can NEVER have enough of books. So.. in case of you find this annoying, you can instead just take me out on a platonic book shopping date. I'm super-easy to please! You don't even have to spend a dime on me! 

Platonic book dates
 And that last thing about platonic book dates reminded me. I just went for one two weeks back with an equally book-crazed soul. That was so much of amazing. We scouted out this second-hand book store. And ohmygoodness. They had piles and piles of great books, popular books, unheard-but-sounds-thoroughly-interesting books all stacked up in rows and rows. The pair of us spent a good part of an hour digging into the mounds of paperbacks and by the end of it, I had decided on 3, he had decided on 2.

• AND I was acknowledged for my talent/knack at finding the better books.

But seriously, it's more of a thing like how desert animals can sense water from anywhere. It's a sense thing. And I'm so not showing off that I have a talent at these things. ;) *wink-wink-nudge-nudge
Haha. Jokes apart, thanks Rahul dude. You're a friend indeed. You got me to overcome my inertia about exploring the better parts of the city where I've spent a whole year doing nothing much but just work.

Anyways, presenting to you, my haul from the adventure. May such fun repeat themselves ever and ever on.

My year at IIM is almost over, so I'mma be returning home. Take at the least a short sabbatical, read, read, read, watch movies, do stuff with friends.
And erm, will be getting legally married by the end of this month.
Hahaha! Was that a total mindf**k hiding subtly in between the lines for you?

My Niqah
But yeah, true. Technically I'll be married on October 31st of 2012 since we're doing the Niqah on that day. But no major change really. No moving-in, no nothing of the sort for now. The wedding will be only next year. So yeah, I'm getting married, but mostly it will be like an engagement period. Even though Niqah is what's important in our faith. Wish me luck for that day though! I'm totally socially awkward, tend to be foot-in-mouth most of the times and occasionally publicly weird as well.

City tripping
Went a bit footloose all over Calicut city (mall hopping mainly), and guess what I found and bought at the mall this weekend?
Jenga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, for those of you who don't know;

Check from 6.49 mark of the video. This clip is from my ALL TIME favorite reality program "One Night Two Days", a South Korean chunk of awesomeness where 6 celebs go tripping, solving missions, just being them dorky selves and in between- like here: Playing StarCraft like nerds and then, Jenga!!
That's how I wanted to play Jenga and ended up buying a pack for myself.
I know most of the world knows S.Korean pop culture only as Gangnam Style. But seriously, there's a whole alternaverse of friggin' awesomeness in South Korean pop culture.And this clip is one of them being much tamer than they usually are. And they usually are dorks.

-Spoken like a true, devoted fan of 4 years and counting.
Take care!

PS- I definitely need a tag for pop culture.

The post about the fact that I've put a ring on it. Metaphorically =)

Yes ladies and gentlemen and the wookies all over who bother to check up on my blog. Back with apologies for not blogging so long and happy news!

I'm engaged.
Cue squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and in case of friends you-gotto-be-kidding-me. (which i can totally understand considering what kind of weird nut I are.)


No seriously. I'm engaged. No longer single (that was awesome while it lasted =) ). Will be married next year and then moving to Mohali to boot. Lol.

Quite a huge much to take in i guess. Anyway, he's from the same profession as me (Libraries you nerds!), which means we've loads of common ground in between. But no, it's actually an old fashioned arranged marriage, even though everyone's second guessing considering we're both librarians. Gah. Doncha know I never was a romantic? Well, ok, sure that's going to change now though. *Giggles!

Righto then all. I'll be back with a more proper blog post later down the week.Otherwise I'll be getting killed by a dear friend who has promised to do the deed if I ever stop blogging. Where'd I be if not for such awesome friends?? And now, signing off. and taking my fiance with me. neener!

Annyeong! 

1/1/'11

exactly my plan for coming year. NO!! it's not any obvious hint towards running away or something as idiotic. 
What am I? 15??
I just want to travel more! See more places, find the peace, bring in more creativity and joy.

1/1/'11 is here finally!

 As for new year wishes,

Not much to say, 'cept wish everyone a happy, happy, REALLY happy year ahead.I never was much into ceremonies. I'm unceremonious even in the required times.
Which is why new years do't mean much, neither do resolutions.But sometimes you totally have to promise yourself some stuff.

My resolution #1 [and the only one really] as regards my blog: Less comebacks and more posts. 

Yes! Cheer for me so that I don't end up breaking this word!

***
What was 2010 for me?
Apart from being extremely busy, over-straining myself and breaking down in the process;
I went places,
Learnt more stuff,
Have gotten much more patient [or so methinks]
and watched tonnes of Korean stuff.

The good:

1. Samsung died on me and I switched to Nokia ExpressMusic.
2. Had several meetups with the Girlfriends-of-the-{add several, several} millenia. Last one was yesterday. Awesome!
3. Uncle's housewarming.
4. Subscribed to the awesomest Indian magazine out there-The Tehelka.
5. Almost forgot- lots happening for The Downtroddence [will post on them soon. real soon!]!!

Sad things?

1. More people got married and drifting away
2. Friends and friends' family getting abused, cheated upon and divorced. =(
3. Read lesser books cos of lack of time SLASH lack of time management.
4. And another favorite girlfriend moves out o town. =( But she's doing really fine, so- w00t!
5. .Deaths, suicides.
6. Most of my Eids and my Christmas this year were ruined thanks to effing-aptly timed exams. Dang!
7. The kitten I saw getting killed by some stray dog. Could do absolutely nothing to save it. Had to watch it die.

Another to-do for 2011-
Meet at least ONE blogger buddy. We'll see how that turns out. =/




PS- and don't forget! 2010 was The year of Rajni! ynna rascala...! ;) I don't know about you, but I think he's one of the humblest actors out there in all of Indian tinseltown

The year after the Beginning, and before the Ending

This one's a look-back at my past academic year. The fun year! This might be rather long, you are warned!

June- Second year begins, on a rather sullen note for me since I was still melancholic with my cousin's death. But my friends helped me recover soon. Vaikhari moved into Vinaya's home. My favorite surrogate brother calls! Admitted that I have more surrogate relationships than anyone else around me. But he's my blue-eyed boy! The felicitation thingy. Doesn't help much that our dept always bags ranks as a habit. And we have to always do speeches and organise events. Sound of Music rules. I share my S.o.M cd with friends and we're singing High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, Maria, the Farewell Song etc.. Last year's crush still flickerin' from somewhere within. New lecturers, we get prejudices against some, but that changes soon. Begin- the Cognitions workshop. Kinda ok with that since my pack always happen to be together in everything, adventure/misadventure. Got new friends bcos of those Communicative Skills classes. Me and Vinaya get seriously bitching abt irresponsibility of our dept with....our teachers Prof Babu&Efthikar! Actually we bitch abt everything with our teachers, they're all more informal than any other dept. I have the best deptmental family in here!! Books,books and more of 'em. New ma'am for journalism, she roxx! By now we bgin bunking Cognition classes.They were gettin too bawring. Singing songs all over the place, "like the gypsies", Anil sir quips! Some teachers are taking 3month leaves. So thoughtful of them..
27 June- Prajisha's b'day. Gift her bag, bookmark and card.

July-Novel summary assignment. These classes when Leena ma'am make us summarise novels is fun. We get to ask the person questions and make 'em sweat, (obviously they havent read the whole thing yaar!) Windsurfing on the buses to college and from college as always. Wimbledon matches. Federer equals Borg's record of 5 Wimbledon titles!!!!!Love ya Fed! Some Union workshop at college, since me and Vinaya are Joint Convenors we HAD to sit down for the revolutionary speeches(which were kind ok).Vaika joins in later, she too a joint convenor. We bgin talking thru paper chits and gestures.Starved thru the 3 hour long programme. The next week witnessed a fight at college. We watched it all! Rain hols declared. Interviews for admission begin. Lots of rain walks and runs!!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.Me and Vaik deathly worried,"will JKR finish off Harry?" J class- me as Pratibha Patil,prez candidate in meet-the-press. Cool me fended off questions thrown esp by Nami and Vinaya.

August- Literary association of department inaugurated in style.And I'm chosen as Secretary!! Reaching college drenched is becoming a habit for us now.And in Kerala it's raining from June to December virtually! Lunch times are mostly turning into Mad-Hatter's tea-parties.Me and Nimisha arguing passionately(with witnesses-mostly threatened into saying so;)that Idiputtu and Idiyappam are 2 different food items. Others argue as heatedly that they 2 are one and the same.Onam. Welcome party for freshers. Soft-core ragging.Just silly kid stuff. Namitha's birthday-Aug15. Gift her watch and card. 18-Thanzeela's b'day. Riph sweet is back home!Both of us spend quality time together going for shopping and eating out.
Nimisha is all sweetness.For she's the only one who wants to listen me sing Avril,Linkin Park, and anything english. I enacted Iago in Shakespeare hour!!

September- Nami n me verbal duel.Well,all of us do! Began Orkut account! Wild singing sessions continue.We were born-entertainers who force our vocal skills on others, *chuckle! Everyone else begin Orkutting as well. Bunkings continue. Strikes n fights. Footloose,settle down near green-house. Vrinda and I race down to Portico.I win! But my footwear wears out=( // Sporty's damn cool-dumps boyfriend and still happy-no heart breaks and tears. Sooraj n Fenrir Greyback distribute toffees to celebrate T20WC Indian win. Bad communications day.Written words hurt deep. Soothing balm from N.But everything's sorta changed.I can forgive,but can't forget. But all's fine now.

October-My big day!!Thanks to Orkut I get my long-lost neighbours and school pals. I invent a story out of Nokia ringtones, Bollywood style!Everyone loved it! Vinaya and Vaikhari get a TV break to dance for their college.EID. Busy times, overloaded with assignments. Jashn-e-Debates season begins.A new dimension of me comes out bcos of this.

November-Debate season begins. finally the impossible has happened.I fall out of luv with the Union's attitude with the rest of my pack.But I still idealise them sort-of.Sajla (popular singer of Kerala, plus our friend,she's my class mate.), Vrinda,Nimisha and me go bag shopping for Sajla after classes.Fun.//22nd is a remarkably awesome day.We all set off for wedding gift shopping for Prajisha's big sis.Vaik was in foul mood from ruck with Achayan.To cheer her we go to a tourist spot near Sports Academy local branch.Vri's friends live there.Me,Nimisha and Namitha ended up fighting over umbrella instead. Off shopping for gift.But all do shopping for themselves, and now we're late.Uff! I bought a cool black bead bracelet.Finally we resolve and buy a pretty dress for her.Vaik-Nimisha fight.Foul moods again.
25th- Prajisha's sister's wedding.What's even more special is that I'm attending my very first Hindu wedding and I'm gonna eat my very first "Sadya" all veg and rice.Fun at wedding,witnessed "thalikkettu" and I made a dumbass of me trying to drink the "rasam" with my hand. Impossible!! After cool wedding, we skip off to Namitha's home.Fun time there too.She's got a parrot couple[Chinnu-Minnu] and a single parrot[Rooney, ya reference to Wayne Rooney!] plus a late dog[Jimmi]. Back home late evening,I'm dead tired. 4th b'day of Harmony!

December- I began "Pieces of Me"-my bloggie pet!! 7th-Ragi's b'day. Sajla buys a Scooty Pep. I learnt "Stone-Paper-Scissor" from my young cousin. Association Inauguration and Film Screening. Can you believe it?Instead of watching TZP with my school buddies Baju&Shamnas( yay, the 3Smashers rollicked all over town that day!), we get sorta trapped in the theatre and hadta watch a stupid B grade Malayalam slapstick comedy cos
TZP was over there.=( Nonetheless, enjoyd the time spent togetha and did laff at some one liners.. I did get to watch TZP later on though.

January 2008- . I can actually argue patiently and bring rivals down to their knees (as long as they aren't cheating, that is.) My first year's results came finally after 7 months. I met an Orkut friend. Attended class mate's wedding.A first!

February 2008- In semi-finals of debate, won against the odds, beat the Business dept! Are we dark-horse league or what?! GA fractures leg. Namitha and me are crazy abt debates as a whole now, actually hunted down the whole college for juniors' debate! Our winning streak didnt last long.Lost out in the finals, but we still feel something foul in the air.
College day-mega fun, but it ended with me getting a sore throat which later on developed into a full-fledged bad cold. Z is actually me. i crush'd.

March 2008- Vinaya sprains leg. Bunking spree is very much fun! Friends ho to mere friends jaisa honi chahiye. They motivate crushes and once it is achieved, they will pull u back bfore hings get too complicated!Luv u darlings! Power-packed singing session today.Max fun and croaky throats at the end.Back to back Bolly and spriklings of regional stuff and English.Totally.Rocked.The.Place. Shopping in town,myself bought a cute,chunky bag.=D Tug wars,tributes, crushes-here me and Nami are totally hopeless cases!Happy Feet last edition. Dusk begins blog. Fling and Flirt donno what to do with themselves,can't even call quits, grf!
Official last day of second academic year-Farewell party went smooth,no hitches and much fun. And on a happier note, smoke has died down!
Then the exams.
The End of a very happy year. happys ending!
--------------------------------------------------------
Books I read in the second academic year:
English,August-Upamanyu Chatterjee/ Goddess Abides-Pearl S.Buck/Writer's Diary-Virginia Woolf/Villette-Charlotte Bronte/The Bridge Across Forever-Richard Bach/Secret Garden-Frances Hodgson Burnett/Wuthering Heights-Emily Bronte/To Kill A Mocking Bird-Harper Lee/French Lieutenant's Woman-John Fowles/Harry Potter&the Deathly Hallows-JKR/Nanny-Charlotte Bingham/Jonathan Livingston Seagull-Bach/Prophet-Kahlil Gibran/Poems-Matthew Arnold/Rubaiyat-Omar Khaiyyam>Fitzgerald/Disgrace-JM Coetzee/Journey to Ithaca-Anita Desai/Istanbul'Memories of a city-Orhan Pamuk/Unbearable Lightness of Being-Milan Kundera/Clandestine in Chile-Gabriel Garcia Marquez/Persuasion-Jane Austen/Inheritance of Loss-Kiran Desai/Chetan Bhagat/Othello-Shakespeare/Collected Stories-GGM/Hundred Years of Solitude-GGM(man,u need some kind of tough stomach for this book.Weir.D!)/Interpreter of Maladies and other stories-Jhumpa Lahiri/Queen's Confession-Victoria Holt(again and again)

Movies I watched:
Salaam-e-Ishq/Don/Omkara/Khosla ka Ghosla/Bheja Fry/Shrek3/Metro/TaRa RumPum/Chak De!! India/Taare Zameen Par/Dil Hain Ke Maanta Nahi/Music and Lyrics/Pride&Prejudice and In Her Shoes for the Nth time/Om Shanti Om/Race/

Mere cousin ki shaadi hain, so we're partying!

Weddings are always fun in my family. More so for me because this time it was a favourite cousin. Unlike the way it is in most cultures, in mine,[ or I guess more correct, in my joint family,] weddings are not just a ritual. Its more of a fun time and never get over with the "tying of the knot". Nah. Here, its more like a week-long party-time extravaganza. More of strengthening of family ties. Don't think that I'm this family lover. In fact,I hate having to attend any wedding that's not my immediate family or friend.

It's more like you see in Ekta Kapoor serials. Not much drama, but lots of masti, many pranks, "ragging the bride/groom", wedding songs, and many many tiring rituals. Bringing the groom home, then going to bride's home. Going to groom's home. Groom's ppl come home. Blah blah.

This time around, I was in the role of photographer too. I can't sing well. the only wedding where I sang was Zubeen's. Then my cousin tells me how weird I sounded. So I stopped and began cheering instead. Clapping and all. Aisha and me are like the cheer-leaders. Kind of. But we are in very decent clothes and we don't shake bon-bons and don't dance. Doh! So this time around I was cheering AND snapping pictures.
Night times are lively and we all end up talking till morning and then barely have energy for the wedding.
More happiness this time because my ex-dietitian cousin gets engaged!! He makes more of a fun brother than a dietician, [I'm not sure what's the real spelling]I say. I mean, yeah, he gives all the perfect tips to fatten up, but failed in his job, 'cos I was too lazy and used to my eating habits to change 'em. His fiance's name triggers a lot of jokes 'cos the her pet name sounds like "fuzzy". *chuckle!
And everyone tries pushing their luck in getting Chronic Bachelor married off. But to no avail. I just hope he brings some change and marries some Lebanon (they're supposedly the most beautiful looking women)

In between all this hulchul, I get an opportunity to work for the local govtal web portal. Me and my pals have been to a meeting. Let's hope it all comes out positive. I really want some experience in the writing fore. After the meeting, we 3 do some tiny shopping and eat out. Tasty, but messy.

p.s- I really really hate the way brides are made to wear heavy jewellery and supposed to grin and bear it throughout the day.

I can see more parties in my life coming up!!

Rantings of a whole week(almost)/ Happy Feet Part3

Long time since I blogged. This one was supposed to happen last friday from college. Y'see, I had been acting pretty out of control from home and as a result, our broadband limit reached the brink sooner than ought to! So I planned to blog side by side with Dusk from college.. if it hadn't been for the lousy connection, I wouldn't have logged out half way through the post. That didn't work out as planned, so here I am, after a week!

What a week it was! As if all of a sudden we had realised that, "this is the last week of our second year." We were outrageous!
*We go shopping*.
I bought a cutesy bag, we checked accessories, collectibles, blah blah.. We were all over the place! As if that weren't enough, Vinaya snaps our whole footloose madness on her camera. Then by afternoon, we return collegewards. Or as Namitha aptly said, "back home". Back home....Home sweeter than our real home..home that brings stronger feelings than the real home..Or am I not mistaken? Isn't this alma mater our real home?

The next day, we don't step outta college, but that doesn't lessen our deeds! First hour, Faim brings cream cake as it's her fiance's birthday. Me,Vinaya and Shalima lick the pastry clean.. Yummmm! Next hour Vinaya and yours truly step out of the campus to return the cds we'd taken. Lollipops and umbrella in hand we walk and talk a lot of stuff. Or rather a lot about some subjects.
Back at college everyone's looking at the sky. Wassup? we ask, looking upwards ourselves! Turns out there's this rainbow surrounding the sun! A circular rainbow! Mebbe I should say raincircle!
Whatever! Anyway, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, it was show time! We just lounged around our favourite place near the main entrance..and sing! Duniyawale kya kahenge iski parwa nahi hame! We began with our current anthem Azeem-o-shan-shahenshah and were on a roll! Whoooo!!! You should first of all understand that 9o% of the campus consists of pseudo-sane and dignified people. We make up the rest 10% who set the mood around the place we are. Plus, we notice now that when we sit somewhere which is already full, one-by-one everyone leaves the place, making it our own kingdom!! When this kept happening everytime we settled down, Vaikhari, me and the rest couldn't help but wonder...."body odour?"
And it had us sniffing about, until we finally decided we didn't smell any worse than the rest.

*Thursday*
Our mini concert rocks the campus (partly)
Anyways,we sang:::*better take a long breath*
Azeem o shan Shahenshah/Jashn-e-Bahaara/Pehli Nazar Mein/Kiya Kiya/Saiya Re/Salaam e Ishq/Khaike Pan Banaraswala/Ye mere dil/Khalbali/Rang de Basanti/LOOSE CONTROL!!/ Bure Bure/Say na say na/Soni de Nakhre/Mauja/Nagada/Bum Bum Bole!/Jise dhoondti hu mainKoi milgaya/ Aankhe Khuli/Welcome/Bole chudiya/Falguni songs/Ek Ajnabee/Ek nazar mein bhi/Kajra re../ Maiya/ Where's the party tonight?/Heyy Baby/Darde disco/DIL MEIN BAJI GUITAR/apun bola/aati kya khandala/.....plus a whole more. We basically stuck to fast numbers, so to keep the mood upbeat and funky.
All the sound effects from yours truly. Since I'm more learned at the lyrics fore, that was good. Like in "Saiya re", I would sing,"Ye adaa..", the rest would complete,"Haaye!"
And in "Khaike Paan Banareswala", the "chhora GAnGA KInarewala".. and we did the drums, guitars, oh the whole orchestra babe! We had the whole music coming out from us! And the filmy antics too!
The best was probably "Azeem O Shan Shahenshah", me and Vaika did the drums part so adeptly, we were W.O.W!!
There were the old songs too. Mere sapnon ki rani, our all time mad fave YAHOO!!!! vagera vagera..
And smatterings of Tamil (A.R Rahman numbers) and Malayalam.
We did a seperate section of ad songs.Jojo was really enjoying along with us. Saifu was ready to have fun.He asked us girls to surround him and sing wedding songs for him. He pretended he's a bridegroom. We sang a lot, then sent him off. Then came the campus' Kunal Khemoo. He first tried to be all angry with our singing, but finally gave in and suggested us to sing a funeral song. Huh? We sang anyway!
I might have missed out some of the better songs.. We forgot to sing Beedi Jalaile!Whatte miss!
Finally back home after tiring ourselves out completely. I was still bubbling with the adrenalin, texted Namitha a message.It's like this,"This is the day the Offbeats made some noise and hoped someone would complain so that they could fight back and make more noise!" She really loved it.

*Friday*
Free hours showering down upon us. Hmmmm, maza aagaya bhai! We tripped over to the canteen ( there's this low lying tree nearby). Vinaya takes out the soap-bubbles box we'd bought the other day and blows. Shooo mainy kyooot kyooot bubblezzhh!! I giggle like silly girls and wave my arms around to catch 'em. Namitha snapped a pretty pic o' Vinaya blowing bubbles. Then_
We climbed a tree (and sing silly songs, with gestures.. B comes along,tries to shake us off the tree.)
I scraped my knee( well, not the knee. My ankle actually. But I had to keep the rhyme na!)
My dress (thankfully) hasn't got a tear
We bhangra on our way back to portico
I whistle everywhere
And underneath my head-gear, I have got kinky hair!
I think that's enough of really corny rhyming attempts. *Sigh!*

*Apart from this*
Vaikhari is helping(rather too enthusiastically) in completing my "my vices" list. Its still under construction. Dunno when I will post that one. Or should I? I might be scaring people out!
Why she's so helpful now? Because I didn't apologise for accidentally stamping on her 2 mile long skirt!
My defence:She's a friend. I don't feel the need to say sorry to friends! B'cos they are friends,duh!
Anyway, about this vices list.
Vaika reckons I'm arrogant.
* BIG gasp from everyone* (I hope they will gasp!)
I'm the least arrogant person you'll ever find on Planet Earth. I might ace a test or win prizes and all.But I'll come back with the same scrawny face. No emo! I'm the nicest, most down-to-earth, humble girl you will ever have the fortune to meet! Ha!
I Am Not arroGant! I'm nice all through! See?

*Last day of academic year*
We are supposed to step down from being the funky, bunker, way-so-zany 2nd years to being ""serious, mature""{this deserves extra double inverted commas!} final years.
So- the mucho talked about farewell party. Thankfully no hitches. Except that we had an extreeeeeeeemly tough time shoving the teachers into the party place. Good food, great anchoring from Dhanya and the rest of the girls. We felt so proud that we gals had single handedly organised the whole thing. Vinaya remarked that she felt like a powerpuff girl! Juniors turned out to be actually nice!
We didn't have a propah lunch later on. None are bothered! We are all feeling so rested. Laid-back, sedated. Like, we finally accept the sad truth that the year had ended! Too quick! Way too quick!
Last episode of Happy Feet.
Vinaya takes off her shoes. Complains of weary feet. I think, why not? Me too goes, off with the shoes! Then rest of the girls take off foot wear and we walk down the path happily, singing our anthems {Azeem o shan shahenshah, Sajnaji Vari Vari, Kajrare, blah blah}. Of course, everyone except Namitha are bare feet.
End of road. On with shoes and slippers. Goodbyes for a month. After which the exams begin. *Groan* Kisses and hugs all. Love ya all.
Ciao!
Oh yeah,we might be getting togethah for Pretty's wedding.

Post wedding hangover,and I'm tired. AND I have a debate to work on!

Aah, what I need now is to sleep. Wrapped very cozily in a blankie.Fan full on.Windows open. Let the night breeze in!
Or even better, sleep under the dark blue sky,all those cute stars shining down.Can't help but remember the movie "Taare Zameen Par"[ Stars on Earth].
Oh,this dream won't work out. I know!
What with the thieves lurking around,and mosquitos. Oh the mosquitoes!

Mom has a huge suspicion that the watch man who makes the rounds around our place is a thief.
The days when he's on sick leave,are the days when our neighbours' cars' music systems got robbed.8 houses robbed in that one night! Gasp!! ( C'mon,you gasp too! )

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The reason why I really wanna go and sleep is because I'm that tired.
Went for my classmate's wedding.
The first classmate-wedding.Makes it special!
My friends didn't really like it.They were like" nothing's going on!!"
When we finally left the wedding pla
Thats bcos bebe, in my community,weddings aren't simply rituals.They tend to become a mega 7-day celebration!!
Thats why I'm tired.
Where's mah coffee?

Woops! Almost forgot that I'm on a diet!! No caffeine allowed.But tea is ok.
But-I hate tea!!!!!!

And now I'm simply wasting my time!!!
I have to practice for the debate that's on tuesday!
Against the Bachelor of Business Administration department.
Of all the topics to choose from, we end up with "Commercialisation of Cultural Arts"
And I'm left with a face that clearly speaks out "Are you guys seriously mad?"
Anyways we are in favour of this commercialising thing.

If you all have any good ideas,suggestions that could help me,
do drop in and tell me!!
Remember,its on tuesday!
This tuesday!!

Catch you all later.
Wish me all the best!

Wedding season

It's the wedding season at college.
A lot of weddings coming one after the other.
This sunday is Sporty's sister's wedding.And she has invited half the college for it.So its sure that we'll have a ball this Sunday!!
On February 3rd,we'll be witnessing the wedding of a classmate.Yipes!
Atleast 4 girls are engaged, and getting married this year itself.
And amidst all this hullabaloo some of my friends are getting dreamy-eyed wondering what their wedding day will be like.
Don't dare ask me!
I'm not into weddings at all.If anything I'm the one who was shell shocked, when one classmate whom I didn't expect to get married so soon,online declared that she's engaged.
And I was like--NO WAY!
LIAR!
TRYING TO FOOL ME!
And such other thoughts buzzing in my head.

So what's my plan to do after college?
Study some more years,get a good job,save money,go globe trotting,then live single!!!!

That's it!

I know it mightn't work out the way I want it,but still..who's gonna stop me from dreaming?
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That's the original post.Mom was troubled by my declaration to be a single.
SO I TAKE IT BACK.
Just for a peaceful life.I'd rather stay away from getting mommy tensed.;)