BRANDED ORDINARY

Networking shetworking

2010-09-12T12:13:00.000+05:30

Hi. Been a long time huh? Oh well I’m not even going to try and apologize for such a long period. Just consider the time period between my last post and this one of being some sort of a hibernation phase. More on that later

****

I was reading this article on social networking and its pros and cons. Now I won’t call myself a facebook addict.(orkut addict? Really?) But yes I go online once a day or sometimes even twice. I’ve managed to convince a lot of people about how facebooking is a great way to keep in touch with old friends, how it’s a great platform to share our views and also*ahem ahem* gossip. But I’ve been unable to convert this one friend of mine to a social networking enthusiast. This friend of mine –let’s call her abf for antibody facebook.-has her reasons to not succumb to immense pressure from peers and family alike to join the very appealing (not to her) bandwagon FB. She’s in one of India’s top management institutes and thus her anti fb status came as a shock to a lot of her colleagues. She has her reasons to rebel against this ‘social networking ‘syndrome. Not one of those haiyo rabba I’ve to concentrate on studies! Who has the time for FB?? She maintains that joining FB won’t solve the purpose that it’s known for- SOCIAL NETWORKING. Quote unquote abf- I can call you. I speak to my parents every other day (who btw are proud FBians). Have a bunch of school chums who WANT to keep in touch and so do i. who needs a clucking (may have used a similar sounding word) networking site?? I refuse to be a slave to this modern form of slavery!

And she’s firm on maintaining this social network virgin status even when companies approach her for interviews. Makes me sit back and wonder whether she’s right and I’m wrong?

There’s no hard and fast rule that one has to be on a social networking site are there? I choose to be on FB because of my own reasons. I get to interact with school friends who are in the USA or even in Rajasthan. It’s a great medium to share pictures, update people about certain events and know what’s going on in their respective lives. A lot of teachers from school and college are now my friends on FB. So are aunts uncles, cousins etc. But I CAN survive without knowing a certain piece of information about a certain lady’s relationship status. Likewise I do not like to give out personal information as status messages and let people comment on them. Why put up something personal and then get offended by people‘s comments? They’re going to judge you. It all becomes this plethora of information. One does not know what to do. And I’ve seen cases where misunderstandings have seeped in due to careless comments or seething status updates.

I’m not a FB addict. I can live without it. And know who really is interested in my life. But it’s a hell lot of fun…sometimes. And you can certainly be abf. I’ll get some booster shots from my friend J

Twenty glorious years

2010-03-10T23:50:00.003+05:30

Yes I turn 20 today. Born exactly 20 years ago. On 11^th march 1990. Life so far has been very good. (Do not want to sound like an LG ad but its true!) . Blame it on my rosy view of life or my sun sign (which by the way is Pisces; just so you know.) but seriously who does not have a few hiccoughs now and then. I’ve had my share of hiccoughs and the other reverse peristaltic movements (oh god seriously all those trips to Indore and other places by car! I mean if they could find a way to generate energy from all the puke 2010 would see a reduction in my house electricity bill by eons. )

Er, did I just rant on about my motion sickness?

Anyway back to the topic. 20. Yes 20. (More to me than to the reader). And I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. And cribbed now and then. My journey has been worth it because of all the people in my life. Here goes a list.

MOM N DAD- no points for guessing this one. Thank you for everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! Right from cleaning my mess to helping me complete my 11^th hour work experience projects, to teaching me the value of money and being always loving and caring. You haven’t just given me your genes but also the invaluable values. Thank you is not enough. I vow to be better everyday. Just for you.

Brother- 2 years younger but a friend and companion always. Has always let me bully him when younger and has been bullying me ever since he’s grown taller than me. For all those fights, and times when u saved me – THANKS! (Hope I get to use your phone often!)

Grandparents- lost my paternal 2 years ago in quick succession. But remember them each day. And nanaji and naniji have been the world’s greatest grandparents ever1 sheltering me, teaching me new things, all the mangoes and watermelons and the love of cricket- thanks!

Family- all the paternal uncles and aunts and cousins especially gitu di n rahul bhaiyya thank u for all those wonderful days spent together and thanks for spoiling me. All the maternal aunts and UNCLE- mama, preity masi and shivani masi – all my summers in indore were very special thanks to you.

p.s. you too gary! Thanks for being an intelligent relative. One of them I mean J

Extended family- includes Thiranis for always being so generous, shahs for treating me like their own daughter, deepali masi for inspiring me to dance and sheshai for showing me fun side of life .

School friends- karishma for being a good friend for 8 long years and still continue to do so. Ashish, parin, sid for entertaining always. Nikhil for christening me BSB. Andy, karan, aakansha for being such good friends. Apurva for bearing with me and of course tejas. The list just goes on guys. U know ur in my mind if not on the list. Or atleast on FB J… SNNAP- how can I forget snap?? Niki neshij and priyanka-er, thanks ;)

Childhood friends- aakash and akshat for bullying me, akshat rathi for talking about interesting stuff, ddt for always trying to be an inspiration but failing so hard (just kidding!), ruchi and shreeja for redefining excellence and thus leading to my mom giving me examples of ‘all-rounders’. Really thanks a lot!

friends- all the other folks-rucha, tabu,monica , nikunj,umang, kushal, tanmay for all those times when we've celebrated india's win and those times when we've sworn on every player in the team!and those who have made my life special. special mention priya- a gem of a person and raika thank u for all the madness!Also alisha! How can I forget all the frantic rides on the active to classes and our sleepovers! I thank thee!

Teachers- a friend ,expert in palmistry pointed out that I’m blessed with great teachers. And he was so right. Right from deepa tr. Who actually made me sing, and Shirley tr’s mind boggling history lessons to ruksana teacher’s –aapse to ladke stitching behtar karte hain , to late biswas mam for criticisizing me and praising me whenever apt. vidya wagh tr for being such a great teacher and vidya deshpande my guru, for adding grace in my life. Acharya sir( although I doubt he remembers me), wagh sir(he sure does!), bala mam(yes maths tr) and ugaonkar mam too!

And who can forget adke mam who has been very supportive and one of the chief reasons why my college has been bearable, nikam mam for well making me study all the pathways and yes last but not the least Bhagat sir- for patiently solving all my queries however stupid they might seem and keeping me down to earth. A BIG THANK YOU.

SHEETAL- my companion since 9^th standard. Not a day goes when I don’t talk to her. Thank you for putting some sense in my brain as always. And to her wonderful family and friends in nagar- THANK YOU TOO!

ANUJA- knowing anuja opened doors to a whole new world- for making my life so colourful I’m indebted to you ninja! And thanks to her very sweet family for feeding me and being patient with my hysterics around their dogs.

Coll folk- ohk I don’t know how many of you are going to read this but thanks shailendra, sonali mads, nalini, chana, avinash, rohit, yogesh ajinkya,subodh and of course pj n purva for making these 3 years bearable and giving me such a variety of tantrums that now I’m sure I can handle paris Hilton. Also thanks pooja , shweta (both), hemant, koshire, sumit and the whole MIND IT group. Its been a lot of fun with u guys too!

Phew! That was long!sorry if i missed out any but do know that i'm now old and my grey cells have satrted failing me :P So happy birthday to me! And now back to studying ageing. Oh life’s coincidences!

IDENTITY NON-CRISIS

2010-01-08T18:54:00.003+05:30

A friend of mine sent me a forward which goes like this-

' in U.P. or .bihar, kids surnames are decided as follows

agar 1 ka hua to EKNATH

do se hua to DUBEY

3 SE HUA TO TRIVEDI

4 se hua to CHATURVEDI

5 se hua to PANDEY

agar sab ka hua to MISHRA

and agar baap pata na ho to GUPTA..'

my reaction? 'oh ha ha..ERASE..because as it is my cell phone from maurya period is always choking from FULL MEMORY.

i walk back to class and meet her on the way up. she stops for me and i give her a smile and start walking with her when she asks me

"Message mila?"

"oh ya ..your new docomo right? (do doo do ..do dodododo..sorry couldn't resist..
)

"ya i hope you didn't feel offended.."

i gave her a quizzical look and wondered stupidly how does she know I'm from the CHATURVEDI clan..and said " about the CHATURVEDIS being mentioned? no no of course not..!"

"no i mean the joke as a whole.. i mean you know its about people from UP and BIHAR.. "

I paused.. smiled at her..a little too sweetly , fighting back the urge to slap her and said" but why should i feel bad about all that? I've been born and brought up in this city.. I belong to this state as much as you do.."

"ha ha wo to hai ..but..you see..you're still..from north in terms of culture..and er..language."

"No ..my hindi is as bad as yours..its not very fluent and i understand every word of marathi u speak because i have studied it my entire school life..and why would i feel offensive? would you if i sent you a joke making a mockery of maharashtrians? Obviously not! because YOU and I are well educated and citizens of a broad-minded Indian society..don't we make fun of sardars all the time! and we have one of them as our P.M...CHAL its already 1 'o clock."

and i took 2 stairs at a time and rose above. LITERALLY.

and BTW HAPPY NEW YEAR! STAY SAFE , STAY HEALTHY. :)

2009-12-05T10:05:00.002+05:30

1^st of December marked the AIDS AWARENESS DAY. Our professors realized that a day before. And as usual they caught hold of me to ‘represent’ T.Y. and prepare charts for the next day and arrange for the exhibition. Am not complaining though. I took it as my moral responsibility to address social issues such as these. And my friend ANUJA helped me a lot on these charts. Thanks ninja!

The exhibit was ‘successful’. And I hope I’ve done my bit to spread the message. Of course I would like to get hold of the junior guy and tell him to get his facts right about INNATE and ACQUIRED IMMUNITY. The professors were pretty impressed and patted my back. I still hope they talk to their kids about HIV and AIDS. That would be real appreciation.

I appeal to all those reading the blog- be aware of what causes HIV. And stay safe. Create awareness by talking to your kids, siblings, maids, driver, dhobiwala etc etc

Oh and happy 1^st anniversary to my blog! And thank u everybody for your response and hope this association goes a long way.

CHEERS!

the bigger picture

2009-11-13T19:54:00.003+05:30

The exam month is over. The testing times have passed..Or have they?

Finished with my theory and practical. Singular not plural. They went pretty ok... And a big hello to JD!http://janakidani.wordpress.com/ Good work there... as always J Now for the bigger picture..

This is my final year at college. I’ll be a graduate next summer and I’ll be giving entrance exams running from one city to other. Have started preparing but its not enough if I want to achieve something better. Bigger.

Each day makes me realize what is left to be done and what I have done. What have I achieved so far? What have I done for myself? For my parents? For my country? Blame it on the overcast weather for all the self contemplation which by the way is very important. Self analysis from time to time helps one become a better person.

This self analysis helped me realize the vast change I’d undergone since school. At school I was this big teacher’s pet with one best friend. Those kinds who took part in all possible extra curricular activities (leaving aside sports of course)- a leader in every sense, perceived as snobbish , full of attitude till about the eighth grade, then life changed people changed. My perspective of looking at people changed. I became a better person. Being non judgmental and respecting the individuality every being possessed was a valuable lesson learnt. By the time I left school I had grown tall not only in terms of height; but in thoughts too.

So am I a saint? No none of us are! Do I take pleasure in others times of troubles? No! Even if they are arch enemies...Umm…Maybe...Would I help them if they came to me? Yes! Surprisingly yes! Each one has his or her own take on situations life has to give. If you desperately seek advice try calling at least 2 or 3 friends… each one will have their own way of tackling problems.. So your mind too gets the bigger picture…your thinking capabilities change. You appreciate others points of views and are much more at ease adapting to those... Another valuable lesson learnt albeit with sour experiences.

Each day brings with it many obstacles some which one has been through, some very hard to handle…but at the end of the day what matters is your inner strength…and your thought process which has to be oriented in a positive way.

I know it’s easier said than done. But I am trying really hard to do it.. Believe me. Just the fact that you are trying to be a better person, taking efforts to accept your negative thoughts and improving makes you a better person. Not perfect. Just better.

score more

2009-09-24T19:08:00.003+05:30

that time of the year again!

exams fast approaching and i find myself amidst photocopied notes(and not Xeroxed, they were cannoned i guess ) , useless textbooks , fresh stationary and a lot of anxiety. my friends cant believe i don't freak out like them 1 month before exams. because i don't. i get numb so there's really no point telling yourself "ok your exams are around the corner. they're your university exams.you screw them and you get screwed in return. so all you have to do to avoid getting screwed up is study . omg not enough time left to cover all topics and what about my nth revision. I'M GONNA FLUNK! HELP!HELP!MUMMY!!"

see? no point! but that does not mean i'm not ambitious..or am a lukkha (lukkhi) ..in fact this time i'm determined to kick some butt.. very school kids type i know.. but the only possible way is to score more.

and the fact that the champions trophy is the same time as that of the preparatory leave does not help.. nor does the fact that just 10 days before the exams we have the most important festival DIWALI. so while my cousins are gonna have a blast i'm gonna be busy with biodiversity and recombinant dna technology(coz hopefully by that time i would've finished my microbiology)..

till then its just main aur meri padhai....

What’s cooking?

2009-09-16T09:54:00.000+05:30

I know I know. It’s been a really long time. Blame it on the internet service and my pc which conked out. The whole of august went in gathering prerequisites for our project on anti acne properties of Indian medicinal plants. The easiest was the source of the bacteria; for which we promptly (n happily) burst rohit’s big zit. And also practicing for the lame fresher’s put up by the other group in class. The best part was the dance. Yay!

I have a new found love- COOKING!

For the past 1 month I have been making friends with deserts and other delicacies. Being a foodie myself I never knew that I would enjoy cooking as much as eating. I have been making chapattis and other vegetables for more than 4 years now but I never really explored the other possibilities. But last month I just came across a brownie recipe and there was no looking back. Of course the brownie was good enough to eat and so was sewaiyya ki kheer. People kept asking for more puranpoli and I was more than happy to oblige. There was also the ‘sheera’ or the rawe ka halwa as we call it for savoring. And the down to earth chawal wali kheer.

So our stomachs our full. And so is my appetite for sweets...

Now to invade other possibilities J

death be not proud

2009-07-31T19:22:00.002+05:30

I don’t want a missing entry for July. I mean what did July do to me! Lots actually. The reason why there’s such a long gap between 2 posts is well yet to be determined. There’s no one particular reason which I can pin point…

Anyway July has been eventful. A lot has happened since the last post. Got my result-74.3% if anyone cares, third year has started long back... been giving tests and not being given reference books.. Had to hunt for a project which has to be submitted before year end.. ... And also had to hunt for partners which was more excruciating than searching for topics.. After all I did not wanna end up with those two who keep discussing KI KAL RAAT KE MILEY JAB HUM TUM MAI MAYANK NE NUPUR KE SAATH KYA KIYA.. Phew! So I’ve found two decent partners and my presentation can be anytime this week..

Turns out angel and demons did hit the multiplexes here and fortunately for us we saw it in English. No reviews. Am not a good critic.. Also I did manage to see Harry potter and the half blood prince.. And I did not like it..

Bhagat sir is staying back for a while. Till they find a replacement. That I think isn’t gonna be easy..

I would like to share this poem which I learned in 7^th or the 8^th I guess...

Death Be Not Proud

by John Donne
(1572-1631)

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe go,
Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Now now. I’m not depressed or anything. Nor am I dying. Just that in the past few days a lot of talk about death and dying has been going on. And I have realized I don’t cringe anymore. Nor do I feel scared as I used to. I remember vividly the day SHIRLEY Tr. was telling us about NOAH’S ARK. I was in the fourth STD then. She said God promised that he would not destroy earth again with water. But God being God found a loophole when man was being a bad boy. He said next I’ll destroy the earth with fire. And she said that can happen anytime. Coz we’re practically in the age of nuclear weapons and before God has even a chance to say BOOM we would’ve destroyed each other ourselves thanks to the nuclear weapons. That scared the hell out of me! I came home and cried and cried that the world was coming to an end and we are all going to die and I’m probably not related to modern day Noah! My mum just laughed and said we all do have to die one day or the other. That really didn’t help. But later when I got a little more sensible and started understanding things in a better way I understood what life is all about. Living with the fear that you’ll be dying one day is as good as being dead. And like adke mam told her friend suffering from HIV “you atleast know you’ll survive for 8 to 10 years... I don’t even know if I’ll get through the next two min!”

I know all this is spooky and u might think I’m going nuts. But it’s my triumph over fear of death. Everyone’s being dying.. Someday I will too.. Until then life’s a meadow... J

NOT BULLET-PROOF

2009-06-08T10:33:00.000+05:30

Going with the current trend on the blogs, I decided to write my own entry in bullet style.

· It’s proven. When you have all the time in the world to do everything including writing a decent post for your blog your grey cells fail you. Somehow even the neurotransmitters go lazy and the signal takes a long time to reach its destination and till that happens you have already moved on to resting your butt on the couch and flicking channels, some sort of default setting.

· Too much of anything can be hazardous to your mental state. In my case, too much of holiday has been showing its effects. All hail the queen!

· Ipl season over. Csk lost in semis. Dhoni looked like it was a relieve it was over. Hope it was only because he was dying to get some rest before he represented India in world cup and not because he wanted to meet some sultry south babe.

· ADAM GILCHRIST was sheer ecstasy to watch!

· Star plus shows B grade movies in the mornings! Then again it shows other mindless crap in the evening and the afternoons.

· I did not get tanned this summer! *shudders*

· Twilight sucks! So does new moon! Hmm...Why am I dying to read eclipse then?

· This is my last year in college and the only reason we all went to college has deserted us. Bhagat sir has left the faculty. Now our juniors will never be able to isolate dna till they’re in that god damned place

· I did not watch angels and demons. Because the ‘multiplexes’ wont show them. Not surprising considering that they DID NOT run DARK KNIGHT! I now miss going to circle theater which showed every English movie available.

And served extra salted stale popcorn. Or wait was it salty because our sweat was

being mixed with it? The ceiling fans obviously were placed in another galaxy.

· Results haven’t been declared yet.. and am not happy

· MAN U LOST!! HAHAHAHA

· Since when has salwar kameez been branded as formals?

· I rock at bowling!! J

· Its nice meeting old school friends once in a while.

· Hey! This bullet idea is working! I’ve actually managed to write.

· Nah I lost the zeal again.

summer bummer

2009-04-21T20:14:00.000+05:30

Its that time of the year again folks! Where u sweat it out even if you are just plopped on your bed doing nothing. Vacations on. Exams were pretty good. Don’t want to bother my mind with the result; it’s snoozing.

Summer plan just includes the usual-mangoes, sumptuous amounts of watermelons, arguments about sun screens, roohafza, Indore, swimming, books, late night TV watching, movies, scrabble with brother, carom with everyone, badminton with the aunty-in-nightie brigade in the evenings and lots more.

Till now I’ve managed to watch quite a few movies thanks to DDT! Bucket list was really moving

I cried a lot! And 27 dresses was a nice watch. Taken was depressing and Madagascar 1 and 2 are my all time favorites. Twilight was dumb! I mean falling in love with your food? It’s in the same league with the mango slice aamsutra ad with Katrina in it. Weirdoes!

The books include Sidney Sheldon’s nothing lasts forever, jef archer’s quiver full of arrows, the afghan, love story by Eric segal (2nd time) and currently reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

On TV besides friends and the really hilarious poll scenario there’s ipl! And I’m supporting Chennai super kings. I’ve never been to Chennai and the only south Indian words I know are idli, Dosa, medu wada and wannakam. The only reason I’m supporting csk is dhoni! :)

Speaking of ipl, here’s a video of the first match of season 2 played between Mumbai Indians and csk. It was interrupted by a rather unexpected visitor. We’ve heard of naked people running across the field and innocent pigeons distracting the fielders but this was one of its kind!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpp19IpeaE

ha!

anyway whats with srk? they're too busy playing games in their own team that they forgot all about the game they're actually supposed to be playing. anyway who cares! i'm supporting csk! mind it!

SURPRISE SURPRISE!

2009-03-23T13:09:00.000+05:30

Contrary to what everybody has been thinking I had a blast on my birthday!

My pre birthday gift included this really yummy sponge cake from anuja! Thanks anu! J

College folk used holi as an excuse and smeared my face with all the icing on the cake. And of course about 3 and a half bottles of water were emptied on me. :/

My 3 idiotic friends from school kept devising these small schemes as a result of which I got a bag full of chocolates from the watchman of my college and a huge bouquet of gerbera flowers awaited me at home. At about 1 in the afternoon I opened the door to find a huge bouquet of yellow roses and a large black forest cake in the shape of an ‘A’ (A for ADITI dum dum!)! Thank you very much masi!

In the evening I went out with the 3 idiots and they gave me my fake gifts and in return it was expected that I make faces and look disappointed. But me being me (read unpredictable and impossible) I loved those gifts too!! They had no other option but to roll their eyes and finally hand me my ‘real’ gifts- zoya factor and for matrimonial purposes. 2 books of which zoya factor is quite nice.

So the day was not at all like any other day. And to top it all I received ‘the’ card from priya! Priya is the greatest card maker ever! And she makes them for really close and special people. So ahem ahem I got one! J

Thank you all for making my birthday very very special!

And now let me shut myself with lehninger and PTC.

birthday special or special birthday?

2009-03-11T11:53:00.000+05:30

Its 11^th march. My 19^th birthday. I was born 19 years ago on this same day and co incidentally it was holi that day too.

Birthdays have always been special. I remember being super excited from February itself. I couldn’t wait for 11^th march.

My birthday cakes have always been home made. Almost. When we did not have an oven it was jaju aunty who used to bake delicious cakes in the shapes of dolls, butterflies and all that. My mother used to cook mouth watering delicacies and the kids from colony, school friends, family friends would all turn up for the bash. I used to love my birthday parties. Dressing up for the same was such a lot of fun. Dressing up in pink frill frocks (when I did not mind pink) and skirts and receiving compliments for the same was a ritual. And the excitement of unwrapping presents when everyone was gone was uncontrollable!

In school I used to distribute chocolates and choose a lucky friend to accompany me to distribute sweets from class to class. The teachers too used to admire my dresses. And back then all that mattered too.

Now things are different. I really don’t make a fuss with what I’m going to wear. i do not expect gifts because over the years I’ve realized that what matters to me the most is the presence of loved ones. An ideal birthday for me would be my really close friends, and my family at my place hogging on home made pasta (or pizzas or Chinese. Mum is great!)

And of course who can forget the bday cake!

Lets see what this year has in store for me. Nothing much today I guess coz its exam time. But still it is a special day for me because it makes me realize there’s a lot to do... And time is running out.. J

this and that..

2009-03-01T11:32:00.001+05:30

Been very busy lately. . No seriously! I mean had completion, had my internals, had social issues, and had family issues. Lots going on.

My internals were good. Okay as in they were just 2o marks each. 3 subjects and one of them being English *smirks*.

It’s very annoying to see the general approach of people in my class towards English. No doubt they find it difficult to grasp it as many had it as their second language but what I feel is at least there should be a will to do it. Marks are all what they care about. Don’t they realise that all the further interviews and the research papers to be written and read would all be in English? Anyway not my problem is it?

Was dad’s birthday yesterday. Had a lot of fun! Baked a cake which turned out to be pretty good considering that I hadn’t baked since last April and that one was a complete disaster. (Rock solid on the outside and half baked on the inside! disaster indeed)

But that’s that. No grand celebrations. Can’t even think of it. Not because of recession but because of boards. My brother has his boards coming up in like 7...no just 6(omg) days...

So no party sharty.. no late night TV watching.. No talking on the phone in front of him.. No talking when he studies... For 20 days to come. And then? Then what? Freak out as much you want. But hey! What about my exams???? ‘Your’ exams? 3 papers with one of them being ‘English’ and you call it ‘exams’??

Ya whatever!

p.s. I also made pizza day before yesterday which was yummy! J

Downs downs and ups!!

2009-02-08T10:14:00.000+05:30

Remember I told you about my environmental science viva?

Well it was conducted this Monday.. How’d it go?

Well let me tell you that was the only good thing that happened that day. Viva and good? No I am not a nerd who enjoys studying and loves thy exams. Read on kindly...

And anyway I had worked on the project ‘stray dogs’ and had written everything in it and the others had to copy it. And the others in my group get ‘GOOD’ and also a ‘VERY GOOD’ and I get a ‘SEEN’.

So there were people who actually bunked a day and sat at home revising for evs viva. I mean revise for evs? Let me clarify that I am no genius at evs and neither had I been studying and preparing for the viva months on end. I just believe that evs is such a subject for which you just need common sense. I mean you need to be aware of what’s happening around you and what you at your level can do to save the environment… am I not right?

So a night before the viva I had this telephonic conversation with apurva mama

MAMA: so evs viva eh?

ME: ya so? I don’t understand the logic. I mean viva on evs? What can you possibly study for a viva on evs?

MAMA: Well do all the definitions, and BOD n all.. Usse zada to poochenge nahi...

ME: YA, well they’ll ask questions on the project we did on stray dogs..

MAMA: HMM... SO FINISHED WITH DEFINITIONS?

Me: what definitions???? I mean I know all the technical terms... And I can define evs without having to mug the definitions from a reference book! I do not understand why you even need a viva on evs in the first place!! I mean all those people who’re planning to study all night don’t have the common sense to actually apply whatever we’re learning in daily life! They throw wrappers everywhere, leave the tap running in loos, and conveniently forget to switch off the fan when leaving the class room!! I mean how ignorant and stupid can people get!!

MAMA: WO! WO! So you’re gonna say all this in viva tomorrow? He he

ME: er, ya good idea!

MAMA: WHAT!

ME: ya why not??

MAMA: ER, how much did you say you scored in your last practical and viva?

ME: HMM.. 89/100 and 93/ 100

MAMA: HA fir theek hai!! All the best!!

So it was worth taking a risk…

1 hour before the scheduled time for viva- had our English lecture and the people begged and pleaded to let them mug and mug so that they could speak in front of the professor.. The teacher was more than obliging but stayed in the class to make sure everyone studies.. Me and purva started discussing our project and all when suddenly-excuse me mam, could I have a word with the students? Said an msc. Prof. Before the eng TR could say the s of “sure”- “WHO WAS THE LAST BATCH TO PERFORM THE PRACTICAL IN THE PTC AND ATC LAB!!!!” and she blasted us all for devastating the lab which the msc. had ‘painstakingly’ cleaned for 3 days…ya the msc. who cleaned and scrubbed the floors, walls, with detttol, alcohol and conveniently left the window open-result we had to do all that in a span of 1 hr because we need perfectly sterile conditions to perform our pracs. So the whole batch was instructed to come and clean the lab immediately. The people were shocked and crestfallen!! 1 hr. to go or the viva and we clean and scrub?? Noway!!

Well we just had to do it didn’t we? Hmm...The viva begins. Our group’s turn is later... In the meantime we get blasted for the very first time by our hod for listening to songs in the lab.. Big time drama... Anyway finally the moment arrives we place ourselves – me beside our subject teacher and the others right in front of the external examiner. Lets call him Mr. a.

I braced myself for anything to come. The first thing he said was”hmm I’m happy to see a mixed gender group. Good very good.” I almost blurted out BIG DEAL but controlled myself. The viva began.

MR. A – “SO first and foremost my first question to you would be DO YOU THINK EVS IS A BURDEN TO STUDENTS? DO YOU THINK MAYBE THERE IS A BETTER WAY TO DO THIS?

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT??????? That guy is asking me to officially tell him the things I had been wanting to tell him?? I mean am I dreaming? OUCH! No I wasn’t!

Couldn’t suppress a grin and I blurted- “sir! I have a well rehearsed answer to this!”

All heads turned. My project partners gave this ‘I knew it’ look... And Mr. a said “oh yes please...”

And I went on and on (of course in a more polite way and editing all the negative stuff about teachers and colleges and all that) and on about how people should actually act in a wise way and imply whatever they are learning to their daily lives and how the future lies in our hands..

Mr. a nodded and smiled. And politely said ‘good very good. So I wa...” and I started again saying things I had forgotten to mention. “That is very good miss. Aditi... Now let us hear what the OTHERS have to say on this.” Followed by” oh sure sir” and a sheepish grin.

The rest of the viva went pretty ok. Some other questions asked on practicality of the subject.

And of course there was- “Aditi!! Did you notice?”

“What?” “Your journal!”

“What about it?”

“Did you check the remark?”

‘Ya well I got a seen, didn’t I?’

“No! While you were answering sir changed you seen remark to EXCELLENT!”

Of slums, dogs and millionaires..

2009-02-01T20:11:00.000+05:30

So I saw slumdog millionaire this morning finally with a friend. And how did I like it? Well it was good. In the sense that it showed India. Not the whole of it. But yes definitely a part of it. And they showed reality which we should face and stop escaping from. All the debates, the star quotes, sms polls and the other hype that was created about this particular movie did spoil the fun. I mean I seriously would’ve preferred watching it minus the hype. When you hype a certain think the expectations increase. But still I thought the movie was pretty good.

This movie as I already mentioned has invited debates from all over the country. The debate is about many issues. Firstly does this movie mock India and its people?

I think no. it does not. We ourselves have made many movies about the Indian scenario loaded with bribery, politics, goondalism, hypocrisy, love, lust, double-standards and underworld. It has showed almost all the above stuff which has been showed in the other movies made in India (I would refrain from using the word bollywood). So why the sudden uproar? Why the hue and cry? Because we Indians can stand being underdeveloped but we won’t like it if some outsider points at our misery! No sir!! How could he do it? None of his business!! So whose business is it?? Ours? So why are we not doing anything about it?? The slums they’re a reality. So what is the solution? Demolish them and who cares anyway were these slumdogs bitches and pups go? As it is we’ve got bigger issues to tackle like ‘valentine’s day’ and the’ pub culture’ and the western influence ruining ‘our culture’. This makes me raise a question what exactly is our culture?? Why any tom, dick and harry can dictate our lives? Who are these self-appointed guardians of our culture anyway? These are cheap publicity hoggers.

I seriously feel the time and energy spent in these unnecessary issues could be better utilized to safeguard our future. If you really care about women and young girls do something to stop the flesh trade. Stop the dowry system so that no parent will frown at the birth of a girl child and regret not killing it in the womb. See to it that child marriage is not being practiced and women are no longer treated inferior. Irritated about the child beggars that bug you? Ever tried to find out whether they are really orphaned? Why doesn’t the government do anything about it? Well my question is why cant YOU? Like to roam around the happening places in the city on your to wheelers and waste fuel? Do it. I do too. But ever considered spending some time with any ngo and utilizing your time for a better cause? Wake up!

All this can definitely end. I sincerely believe in our generation. I think we’re much smarter much more capable than our elders and we are lucky to be a part of a developing nation because it makes us adaptable. Remember survival of the fittest theory? But this does not mean, of course, that we should be as they say’ like that only’. This laziness and shamelessness has to be dealt with

And about the second debate whether we need a foreign hand to be capable enough to win the Oscars? NO! NAH! NAHI! Why the whole fascination with the Oscars dude? It’s a pretty obvious thing. We make movies which suits OUR audiences. Hate the singing and dancing around trees? Well I think we should be proud of it!! No were else will you see such a thing! And I believe that there are some classics (aradhna, anand, saransh, rdb, etc. to name a few) that Indian cinema has given us. Which definitely do not need an Oscar. Oscars are no parameter to judge Indian cinema. And A.R. REHMAN has given us many better songs and better music for sure in swades, lagan, roza, rang de basanti etc. His vande mataram gives me goose bumps. So Oscar or no Oscar rehman you’re the best! And we definitely are proud of you. Having said that let me also confess that A.R. is truly deserving of the nomination.

So that’s that... Now I’ve to study for EVS VIVA. Frustrating concept. But I’ll write about it later… J go see the movie. Hindi or English does not matter... And please do something for our motherland.

MY BLOG, MY BUSINESS

2009-01-25T20:13:00.000+05:30

Ya well this should’ve been my first post but well that’s just me.....but isn’t that just what life is all about? Expect the unexpected. And speaking of expectations this is what you can expect and NOT expect from my blog.

1. It’s not about how my day was and what I did the whole day. How I spent my time in college and what I did back home..

2. It’s just a compilation of random thoughts, some serious stuff and a serious attempt at humor. I don’t mind failing on any thing. Or anyone for that matter.

3. Why is it not about what I did all day n blah blah blah…well because its not! Why should it be? I’m no Angelina jolie whose life you’d be interested in. I’m just a nobody in a random place in India doing my duties of being an obedient daughter (at least trying hard) and a biotechnology student who attends all lectures and does the practicals very seriously. Then comes home and does the assignments, watches TV, helps mum, talks to 2 best friends and makes notes for the next day. So why do you need to hear the same story everyday?

4. Another reason why my blog is not a daily is well I don’t want it to be and neither do I have time. No time?? You can have all the time in the world...blah blah blah.. Please don’t start that. When I say no time it also means lack of inspiration and motivation and interest. so that’s that

5. My blog is not 100% me. What % it’s me I can’t tell you because even I don’t know that. And I don’t want to put my 100% either. This isn’t making any sense is it?

6. All you people who think I am very good and par excellence thank you very much. But as self-derogatory as I am I don’t agree. I wouldn’t say I don’t care. That would be a downright lie. I do care. But then I don’t want to and end up being confused and go back to studying or listening to music.

7. Comments will be moderated. I thank everyone for commenting. But then this blog is for my satisfaction. Everyone’s allowed to put forth their point of view. I love debates!

8. And lastly ending this cynical post I blog because I want to. I do not blog because I have to or I should.

So thank you everyone for reading my blog. It does feel good when someone reads your blog. But even if no one does there’s still this satisfaction that I have something that’s mine and where I can have my freedom of speech and write about whatever I want to.

This blog is purely for the love of language. And to see to it that my connection with writing or attempting to write never breaks.

Till the next time then..or not. :)

BORING, BORING, BORED

2009-01-13T20:19:00.000+05:30

What exactly do u do in a boring boring lecture?

I’m sure nobody in the world can proclaim that he or she has never ever attended a boring lecture! I’ll give that person prize money and personally escort him or her to a psychiatrist.

So what do u do? Or did? For convenience let us divide the students into 3 categories a) front benchers b) the in-betweens and c) the back-benchers. As an animal of a particular species adapts itself to its surroundings so do these people.

Front benchers? Well do they really have an option? I mean ok I too sit on the font bench in 2 out of the 3 lectures I attend (ok not exactly the first right under the professor’s nose and amidst the chalk dust) but all the days in the year? I agree that some lectures are interesting but not all. What if you’re caught in such a situation? You have no other way out than dreaming. It’s the no. 1 solution in such cases. Use your imaginative powers to the core. After all where do you think great artists and poets like Wordsworth sat? (Except of course the commode. Another excellent place for a brainwave after bath tubs as in the case of Aristotle).If the teacher sees you start nodding excessively. This might cause a sprain in your neck beside the othe effects like asthama caused by the chalk dust and going deaf owing to the shrill voice of the prof. And even your brain wakes up as it gets shaken so hard because of the nodding.

The in betweens- these guys know how to play it safe and are my personal favorites. What are the possibilities one can explore in such a situation? One can draw anything in the world! My friend anuja used her caricatures and the other interesting stuff she drew in the biology class and made a portfolio out of it. People who have never attended their art class at school discover an all new side of theirs. Drawing cartoons, stick figures, caricatures, cars, or even your own inventions like superheroes with extra ordinary powers! Is such a good feeling. Other options include the cousins of drawing lettering and calligraphy. Sheetal for once was obsessed with lettering. And I hate to admit she was pretty good at it. Still is. And another friend of mine derives god knows what pleasure in writing the word ‘rat’ yes you read it correctly ‘rat’ all over the page in cursive.

Females of my class get nostalgic sometimes and start playing x and 0. And also joining the dots. At school the others use to play FLAMES and love percentage and giggle stupidly.

The last benchers are a test of time. Well atleast some are. These include two sub categories- 1) those who were born intelligent and are good at multi-tasking. These are the highly intelligent species that can text from under the bench, keep looking around and also answer satisfactorily when the teacher suspiciously asks them a question. 2) The totally ignorant, who-the-hell cares dudes (or wannabes in most of the cases) who never listen to what the prof has to say, borrow someone else’s notes and barely manage to pass. Last benchers can do all the things the in betweens can and also have a chat. They can also doze off to sleep. They are the most benefited in a boring lecture. You have to match up with all the criteria these people have in order to obtain a seat at the back of the class. And you have no business staring at these people with frustration if you cannot listen to what the professor has to say. Who asked you to sit there in the first place?

The other things that one can do are make paper planes, stare dumbly at the board and other stuff. The sincere kinds who would die but not admit directly that the desk is more interesting than the professor start completing their notes, journals etc. These are the stepping stones towards successfully surviving board (bored whichever) meetings in the future. Start practicing now! (p.s. this was written in one of the boring lectures.)

new year!!

2009-01-01T20:18:00.000+05:30

so 2009 eh?? good good.. thats good.. hope this year is much more cheerful than 2008 nad also brings along common sense and awakening in people! so heres wishing a happy and prosperous new year to everyone! stay safe, healthy and enjoy life!

The year that was and that wasn’t and what it could’ve been…

2008-12-30T18:39:00.000+05:30

Ok what it could’ve been? I can fill it with lots of stuff like” I could’ve got a free tip to Mauritius” or “I could’ve won a lottery of a billion dollars!”
So let’s just keep this to what it was… good bad ugly and pichak!
First d bad…
1.Screwed up d first year results like hell!
2.Missed out on 4 class trips out of 4.
3.Got noticed by teachers, seniors, fellow classmates, peons, lab assistants etc. etc and d result everyone knows your name! Bang! I can’t tell you how that totally sucks!
4.Formed a group of 13 friends me being d odd one out n being d odd one out you always got to sit at the head of the table, get to sit alone in class and are unofficially handed the responsibility of taking out permissions and stuff!
5.Met with a near fatal accident that has left a scar that should diminish with time.
6.Slid down snow n injured my left leg!
7.Lost the quiz recently... L
8.Saw some crappy movies like bachna ae haseeno and rab ne bana di Jodi!! Oh lord why!!

And now for some good stuff!
1.I turned 18!! Yay yay!! (Who says growing old is bad?)
2.I got a new cell phone… what’s great about that? Well it is if it’s an I phone!! (Which is now being used by my mother as I’m scared to carry it everywhere!)
3.I went for a trek in the Himalayas!!!!!!
4.Met some cool people there such as londhe kaka, himanshu, parag, farzan sir, radhika, ritesh,sarvesh,shubhu etc. etc n discovered that I have lost the race to the maddest person on earth to anuja!!
5.Did rappelling!
6.Read hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy!
7.discovered many new places one could cycle and walk in peace
8.Arranged a very successful teacher’s day – anchored it, decided the games, decided the decorations, ordered for food, argued with the seniors- hello am I in management studies??
9.Attended aunt’s wedding and had loads of fun!!
10.Had loads of fun and memorable moments with friends in coll n of course with sheetal in person or on the phone!
11.Started blogging!!
12.Made up 4 d 1st years result... Broke into top 5 for the first semesters!
13.Learnt driving a four wheeler…
14.Baked cakes on birthdays…. J
15.Isolated DNA!! The coolest thing ever!! Gives such a high!!

So that completes d list … finding happiness in small things and ignoring small things is the thing to do if u want a happy life... Happy New Year people!!

R.I.P

2008-11-29T19:39:00.000+05:30

So finally after 48 hours of intense battle with the terrorists the taj, trident and nariman house are safe. All thanks to the nsg black commandos. What I wonder is whether Mr. raj Thackeray checked the identity of those martyrs or those who laid there lives to save Mumbai. Where was i-am-the-only-one-who-cares-about-mumbai guy when the city was under siege? Did he even go out to donate blood?
And now what? What is the government doing? What it is going to do is give some compensation to those affected and be done with it! What the government should start is terror taxes or terror cess for the future you see. Because all this is going to continue. People are going to die and all the government can do is pay compensation and make statements, blame each other and be in the lime light. Till the next time.
It’s been a few hours and hemant karkare is now reduced to ashes. What I expect and await is mr.amar Singh’s statement. I am waiting for him to come and comment and doubt his credentials. Please spare us all you politicians. all we want is the end of terrorism.
We are no longer safe in our homes and what can get worse than this? Now its all on us. We have to stand up and understand our responsibilities towards our nation. What can we do? We can vote. We can choose the correct government and the correct leaders. Let us do justice to this right bestowed on us.
And for now all we can do is pray. May all those who died in this unforgivable act rest in peace.

what the hell!!!

2008-11-28T20:04:00.000+05:30

enough!!
enough of this crap!! why do we have to suffer so much!! so now people armed with ak 47 and a full supplie of grenades can just enter our homes, hotels, trains, planes and other places and just blow us off while w what we are left to do is just watch crappy news channels who proclaim "these pictures are EXCLUSIVELY on ..." exclusive???? excuse us please!!! and i totally agree with arnab goswami that we do not want those bloody politicians to come and make statements and listen to our pm while he says "we condemn this act and let us unite together to fight terrorism!"..oh for god sake's please!! wake up!! how many more bomb blasts do we really want!! america gets one 9/11 and the whole of iraq and afghanistan goes up in flames!!
enough is enough!! its been 48 hours and the siege still continues.. now its high time some stringent measures are taken and the country is assured that it can go to sleep peacefully and not wake up to the morning newspaper yelling " another bomb blast..."
my prayers go out to all those affected...

exam fever...

2008-11-12T21:10:00.000+05:30

The word itself gives you nausea. The teachers inform you well in advance.
Exams coming up people! Buck up!
Buck up my foot you think. First at least complete the portion.
And you start dreaming or rather daydreaming particularly in the boring genetics lecture where the professor goes on”blah blah blah...” in an irritating boring voice. You feel yes this is your time. This is the time when you can prove it to the world what you are. You can show that show-off in the class that only blabbering in the class with the text book placed on your lap is not smartness. You dream stupidly about the teacher announcing “…and the first ranker this time is ... no not you sonali it’s Aditi!! “
Applause applause… oh no wait that’s the teacher banging the desk with the duster.
A livid discussion about the exam meets you in the recess... Oh gosh! What do I do! the portion’s not going to finish on time and that meta teacher is going to screw the practical!. You grin stupidly and think ha! What losers... They should follow my example.
And you get lost in your dreams again... (What to do! Pisceans have this weird quality which by the way is a savior in boring lectures)
Let’s go to a few weeks before the exams. You have managed to finish quite a few chapters which is a Herculean task in itself (amidst friends, family gossip, new movies and other stuff). You realize once you go through previous years question papers that “picture abhi baaki hai dost” n you still have to cover huge amounts. You try concentrating and make a time table which you never follow.
Strange are the ways of humans. Relatives do not find any time more suitable than this to pay a visit to oh my dearest niece!! Ya right. And then the blabber mouth from college calls up to proclaim that I haven’t even started studying when you are well aware that all she’s doing is mug mug and mug!! I hate such people who have these weird strategies. Then there are others who call up and ask yar how tensed I am n how come you aren’t? so that’s my problem? That I am not tensed??
One day before exams: ok now am tensed... don’t feel like studying at all. Just revise whatever I feel like making sure I score decent marks. I don’t understand how people sacrifice on their sleep. I don’t give a damn whether my 24th revision is left or oh lets practice this for the umpteenth time... Sleep is dear.
Exam day: everything’s going fine. Mums fed me dahi shakkar. My prayers are done. Alls well. I vow to fill pages so that the examiner will at least give me some marks and I keep in mind what apurva mama advised me to do. All goes on smoothly when whats-his-name comes up and asks “hey did you do the salvage pathway?” and you’re like"yeah of course. It goes something like...Er...Salvage pathway right...Ya ya I know… oh heck lemme revise it for the last time”
And guess what it does come in the paper!!
Result comes out... Turns out I have got pretty decent marks. And sonali is first as usual. Still learning how not to dream and how to focus as my dad(a Piscean himself) puts it. The sooner I learn it the better. And I can already see myself holding my mark sheet which says 90%...

lonely lights

2008-11-07T12:16:00.000+05:30

“Aditi! Ye dekh garam garam gujiya bana hai. Jaldi bata kaisa hai…”
It’s good. Obviously it is. It’s made by chachi n taiji. Everything’s perfect. Everything except something. Something’s missing. But what??
The diwali hustle bustle goes on. Taiji manages to move the mightiest and the laziest and gets the work done. Me n shruti are busy helping wherever possible. N advait and himanshu can’t get their hands off the laptop. Bhaiya’s busy too. Lots of work to do.
And lots of gossip to catch on. Problems to be shared. College life to be discussed. There’s laughter in the air. Chacha n his pj’s bring a smile on every frustrated and tired face.
Everything’s going fine.But what the hell!! Whats this void I feel?
Whats wrong? Whats unusual?
D day (literally). Everyone’s up besides the fact that everyone slept late. Garlands are made , the rangoli put (although di still remains the maestro), all the cooking done, everybody’s busy with their cell phones messaging and replying back to peoples wishes.. I ask mum are we forgetting something? Mum racks her brains and tries to remember what’s left. “Oh! The ironing!” some how I feel that’s not what I was looking for.
Evening all the diyas ready, everyone’s looking their best. All dressed up in traditional. Time for the individual pooja everyone does. Not the usual affair. My turn. But why is chachi telling me what to do? Why am I being offered panchamrut by shruti?
Then it sinks in. and the tears start rolling.
The gujiya did not have the usual taste though made by the same people who have been doing it since years. There was no loud voice ringing in my ears shouting “beta zara star plus laga de.” The atmosphere was not charged up with the enthusiasm it had always been. Dad ringing the bell during the bhajan was a very unusual sight. The aarti was sung in such low hushed up voices. The bhai dooj story had no fun. The ubtan did not smell right. Nor did the atta ladoos...
Dadi was not there.
Nor was her fragrance. Nor was her voice.
Somehow I had to accept the fact that all the diwalis in the future would have this feeling of incompleteness staring at you on your face.