Mad World

This title is apt for college, really. :P

So, I'm writing a blog post after an entire series of drafts. One of these was during the Felicity theater practices, where Akshat decided that he'd be a lot more interested in reading a new blog post, as opposed to older ones.

2 months into the semester, and I'm not exactly sure of where the time went. What I do know is that these days my life consists of :
A. Badminton. A LOT of badminton.
B. Internet. At the library.
C. Sleep. A lot of sleep.
D. Music/TV Shows. Because DC is as much of a curse as it is a blessing.

What use I make of (B) is entirely dependent on my mood. Today, I'm proud to say, I did some good reading. In my current mindset, I'd rather not work on assignments (yes, I know I'll die a slow death 2 days before the deadlines).

Hmmmm. I finally started reading the Foundation series. And... well, I'd forgotten how brilliant Asimov is. I judge the creativity of an author with its impact against time. Asimov wrote Foundation about 60 years back, and the mere fact that it can still bedazzle me earns him lots of respect points. Robin Cook, say, didn't pass this test.

Also, I've been reading so much about the brain that I keep getting weird ideas now. Maybe I should note them somewhere to freak out future-me someday.

I really want to ride a cycle! Yesterday was a nostalgic day, I remembered cycling like crazy back at home, in the rain, with the water splashing everywhere. Of course, the initial nostalgia didn't include the not-so-loved memories of getting the cycle repaired every now and then. That bit came later. >.>

Hmmm. There's always so much more to everything than I think. I remember saying the same thing about language once I started studying it. So much more than what I see on the surface. The same holds true for what I see, too.
Sadly, I realized the last bit in today's Visual and Sonic Culture class. >.> Just a surprising moment when I listened to the prof and saw the photo he'd put up. Photos are... something fascinating.
[Insert some quote here. Something like "We hear but do not listen, we see but do not observe".]

^Really wish I remembered things like quotes. Would've saved a dozen fail moments, I swear. :|

The scroll bar for this post is shrinking at a surprising rate.
So, "I think I'll stop here". [This is one quote I'll never forget :D Yay]

Until the next time. :)

Shivani : Thank you aur sorry bolna band kar!
[Admittedly, it's the accompanying expression that's waaay more epic :D ]

I'm Like A Bird

Beat this, the title's a Nelly Furtado song.
Never thought I'd be listening to Nelly Furtado. But I did, thanks to Nick Hornby. And I love the lyrics. :)

Hmmmmm. College. Second semester.
There's a different feeling to it. I spent the last semester trying to find things, trying to see what all I could do here. Now there's a familiarity to everything, so I find myself grinning when the juice-waale bhaiya takes ages to give my juice, or when Shivani falls and damages her ankle, or when I have to run to the library to get a book issued before the 5 PM deadline, or when I come across weird stuff on DC++. :P
There's still a lot of exploring going on though, don't get me wrong. But it's nice to feel comfortable about stuff that would usually be annoying.

I went home, last weekend. Delhi. It was freezing. It was awesome. :) I met my sister! Ate her head for two blissful days ^__^

Hmmmm. I've started playing hockey. Well, trying to play hockey. Because it's not a particularly easy sport - I've never played anything of this sort. Other than the back-breaking game-play, there's also the speed of the darned ball. On that green turf of the Gachibowli stadium, it moves really fast.
But what's brilliant is the walk to the turf. Early in the morning, when the sun's about to rise, when it's quite cold, when I'm on very low sleep. And I can see the sun rising when we're playing, slowly pushing the horizon down.

Hmmmm.
I feel older.
Which is why I took two hockey sticks one morning and acted like a was skiing with them, with a "Weeeeeee!" sound which you have to hear to appreciate the lame awesomeness. :D

Teehee.
Ciao!

Anirudh : Yaar, chhichhoribaaz bolte hain mujhe. Do-do bandiyon ke saath ghoomta rehta hoon bas.
:D :D

Another Perfect Day

This is a decent song by American Hi-Fi. They sing it in a sarcastic mood, but I mean it. :)

Hmmmm.

I started thinking about something my sister had pointed out a while back - I always recommend tragic love stories. Funnily, those are the ones I like. Not sure why; probably because I find them more realistic and happy endings cheesy.
(This is a depressing thought, yes.)

Hmmm.
Sri Lanka! :)
It rained today. After a boiling afternoon. It rained for HOURS. I didn't get wet, but... the wind. I missed the smell of the mud though - until we went to the guest house. There, it was perfect. Add to the awesomeness the awesome food that they'd made :D Momos, because I'd told aunty I miss the delhi food. Pasta. Spring rolls.
Something about home made food :)

And the pineapples here. JESUS CHRIST THEY'RE SO JUICY (I'm a little disgusted at the TWSS that would fit here). But really. ^_^

Hmmm.
I woke up at 6 today! :D Saw the sunrise (though it's the sunsets that are breath-taking - I'm on the west coast). I was all ready with a bath and everything by 9! :O

Nerdily enough, the thing I want to do the most in this trip is read. Not course content, but read up about anything and everything. I've been evil this semester, not devoting any time to read anything - but this week I totally will. :)

I'm not using Facebook these days (which, I'm sure, is earning me a lot of curses from all my friends), and it feels great. A lot of shit happened the past semester - something went wrong with almost every friend I care about - which, I suppose, is "college" for you. What I really need is some time off from all the crap. And I need to learn from all those mistakes.
And make the next semester much, much better. :)

Aur aur aur. Hmmmm.
I'd forgotten many of the little things my parents do, those habits that make me love them. I was thinking of how I don't have people to click in Sri Lanka (Clicking random people in college is still fine, but I might just get arrested or camera-less if I do it here.), and I realized today that I have the two perfect people to click.

Mom's birthday in three days, I've GOT to come up with something awesome.

Well. It's been a perfect day.

Somay : Mar jayegi!
(I just called him from Sri Lanka. He thought I was a terrorist because of the international number. :P )

Good Life

I love this song - it's one of the Scrubs OSTs. (Yes, I really do think that the best way to get good music is to download the music of some awesome show).

So.
Leaving college felt... weird in the beginning. Because I wasn't even going home. But then I looked through the photos I'd clicked of Sri Lanka the last time, and well, worries aside. :)

The flight to Chennai got delayed; and I was sure I'd miss my flight to Colombo. Running with a worried expression surprisingly helps. Everyone gives way.

The flight to Colombo, on the other hand, was beautiful. The almost full moon looked like a flashlight, shining on the cloud cities. So much awesome.

I'd forgotten that it's Christmas time. Such a brilliant festival - I have so many memories of mom trying to convince me that Santa got me those chocolates after all (even the one time I saw her buying them, she convinced me that Santa gave her the money :P ). Anyway, Colombo airport is awesomely decorated for Christmas. I was tired and sleepy and weirded out when I got there, but by the time I got out of the airport, I was grinning to myself like an idiot - it was impossible not too, with all the amazing decorations. :D

Met mom and dad, and blabbered the entire way to their house - which was about an hour of me going on about college - Jeevan Vidya torture, midnight basketball, DLF maggi, bike ride :D , my pathetic bathing frequency and worse laundryfrequency, camera and clicking, and so much more.

Then I saw their house.

And. Jaw drop.

Today. Hmmmm. Bantota beach. I'd forgotten how much I love the sea - reminds me of Puri (Orissa), and all the times there, and all the coconuts and all the screaming-like-a-little-girl. (Um. I was a little girl though, so it's completely justified.)
The hotel here is amazing too. :) I had some red wine before going into the beach - I was ready to use Munna Nana's "wine is an acquired taste and you should try it" back when he made me have white wine - but I didn't need it! Dad gave me some the first time I asked. :D

Hmmm. Saw the sunset over the sea. Such. Beauty. Golden lining on the clouds. Beauty. Brilliance.
And for once, I was glad I didn't have the camera. :)

Swati Didi : Aur mere bina taash bilkul mat khelna!
(Here's apologizing for that, di. I beat them both though :D And I miss you so much today.)

We Can Work It Out

That's a Beatles song I used to like a lot, a long long time ago.

So. Hmmm. The reason I'm posting today is probably because I've got my end-sems from Tuesday. I'm in the must-do-anything-but-study mood.
Yeah, screwed, basically.

It's hard for me to summarize this semester at college - anyone who's been to college will understand why.

December. I'll be going to Sri Lanka this time, not Delhi. The funny thing is.. I keep referring to Colombo as "mom and dad's place". Not as "home". Perhaps this is because I haven't been there yet - but for the sake of the strong attachment I have to Delhi, I don't think I could call any other place "home" for a while.

Hmmmm.
My sleep schedule is seriously screwed up. The general idea is to study till 12 (erm. This part isn't strictly followed) and then play basketball. And then go out of campus to "DLF" (it's actually the local theli waalas outside the big DLF building) and eat hot maggi. And then sleep, say, around 5.
Gotta change this in the next semester. Not just because it's seriously crappy when it comes to staying awake in classes the next day, but also because there's a certain evil force called PT that returns next semester. 6 in the morning. 6 days a week.

I missed Exun this time. And I'll be missing the Crusade too. These things - and everything else in general, that mattered a lot to me half a year back - don't seem so important now. Don't get me wrong; there's always that beautiful nostalgia, the brilliant recollection when I'm thinking back about the good, good times that I've had. But I feel distant from all of this now. I wonder if it's college that does this. Everything going on in the college feels more important. Not sure if this is a good thing.

Another not-good thing I realized is that I absolutely rot at keeping track of money. Must. Maintain. Some. Sort. Of. A. Budget. Notebook.

Oh, and, through no fault of mine >.> , I've become the college photographer. Jisko dekho photo lene ke liye bula leta hai. It's fun most of the time, admittedly. :D I get involved in all weird events. :P

Got to go now - write more random crap later.
:D

Au revoir!

Vidit : Tension mat le, check this out!

Nothing Lasts Forever

The last time I posted - June 17th - seems like a lifetime ago. I can't even begin to list down all that's changed since then. An entire semester at college is now over.

It's interesting how another place can feel so much like home. I mean, sure, "home" will always be Delhi - "always" being, say, a couple of years. That's where I've spent the last ten years - I've lived, laughed, learnt, cried in that house. Sometimes I miss the feeling of Anand Vihar - specially when I remember the random moments of pure joy, like cycling out in the rain, decorating the house with lights for Diwali with bhaiya and didi, doing the crossword with mausi, walking around with mom, playing cards, taking a random early morning walk, sitting on the balcony and just thinking.

But then there's IIIT Hyderabad. Such a tiny campus that you'd think I'd feel trapped soon enough. But.. I don't. It feels wonderful for the most of it. The campus is so green and home-y. There's no time restriction either. So going out of the hostel for a walk or basketball at 4 in the morning makes my day better. Much. Better.

The people here are fascinating in general. I get it, now, why college is supposed to be the best and the worst experience of your life. The kind of people I've met here vary from passionate souls to sheer idiots to awesome friends. Meeting every person seems like an introduction to a whole new perception. And the best part is that everyone tries to be nice.

In 4 months here, I've picked up some things I'd given up on a long time back. I've made friends, with whom I can spend every waking minute. I've changed priorities I didn't think I would. I've acted crazy and insane and high for days together.

Basically, I've changed.

So.
Hello everyone.
Looks like I'm back. :D

Anirudh : Gajab ho gaya yaar!

Tribute

Rajesh Uncle died one day before I had to submit my foreign application. I had a lot of work to do, so I tried not to think about him after the initial shock of his death.

He was my neighbour. He was bed-ridden, yet he gave math tuition to many students. He taught me 11th grade math when I was in 9th. He told me I was brilliant. He was very particular about the fountain black pen he'd use. He was the first person (outside family) whom I told about my JMO rank. He was a great teacher, for he did a lot more than just teach - he mentored me. I didn't realize this back then, but the little things he'd say every time made a difference.

He had lung cancer - and died after a chemotherapy session.

I wish I'd written this down back then.

That night, I played music really loud so that I wouldn't hear his family mourning him. I didn't even go to visit his family, because I had to finish my application work. I wish I'd at least talked to Aunty. For some weak, pathetic reason, I chose to ignore his death entirely. Right now, I remember every class he took, every time he was disappointed, every time he was pleased. I remember him. I'm wish I had earlier.

Signing off,
Sakshi

Uncle : You haven't done it yet? Then do it now.

Swallowed By The Sea

Sri Lanka. Colombo.
It's only my first day here, and a wonderful one at that. Simply going out of the house is a pleasure. It's really green and beautiful - huge (H-U-G-E) banyan trees with their proproots right between the roads, for instance.

Mom and I went to a Jetty (weird word? Yes) today. The wind was blowing so hard over the sea, that the crows couldn't fly over it. And they kept trying to. That was probably the most amusing thing I saw today. The air had a salty smell to it, which reminded me of Puri (Orissa) and all the great times we had there.

Colombo lies on the West Coast of Sri Lanka, so the sun sets over the sea. That is what I intended to see today, but it was too cloudy for the entire sky to turn red. Nonetheless, the one hour I spent with my mother, sitting three feet above the sea level, enjoying the breeze, clicking photos made it more than worth the trip. (Not so much of a "trip" anyway, it took us 5 minutes by car). Reminded me of Sahil's profile picture after I clicked it. :P What I was trying to do here was... to click the crows flying still. Which is what was happening when they couldn't beat the wind.

Another vain effort, though I quite like the picture.

So many kites! And I liked the snaky shapes. :D

Two for joy?

The right side of the Jetty. The Sri Lankan flag there is hoisted down every evening, and raised back up every morning.

The Jetty. The awesome and creepy part was.. whenever a big wave would hit the concrete slabs (i.e. the things holding it up), the entire platform would vibrate. Quite apt for an "OH CRAP" moment, because you can technically fall and... er. Die.

See how cloudy it is? I was so sure it'd rain.

And er, that's mom's hair on the left. I don't plan to make the effort of cropping the pictures.

Just about all I saw of the sun.

It's been a good, good day. :)

Vishesh : Arial? NO!

P.S. Started reading the Manticore's Secret by Samit Basu. It's the 2nd book of the GameWorld Trilogy. Now I actually miss the pun-intended names that he had in his first book. Like Chorpolis, Rupaisa, Nimbupani, Al-Ugobi. :P Not as lame as it sounds. All I've got in this book is Kaos Butterfly.

P.P.S. Got a book about the greatest cons today. Should be an awesome read. :D So much creativity. :P

Eight Days A Week

7 days of pure awesome.
8, actually.

Starting from the 10th.

Day 0.
Mom, didi and I went to Khan Market after JEE. :D Mexican food FTW. Mom had a fast though (Navratras), so we got slightly sadistic.

Day 1.
Went to Sobhagya's with Namya. The metro didn't work. The escalators didn't work (Twice). The chuski mashing machine didn't work. The air hockey machine didn't work. The TV didn't work. The camera didn't work.
That's probably why I had all the more fun. :)

Day 2.
Went to Gupta's. Twas his birthday party. :D Played Risk (And I like to think I didn't suck at it). Ate some very awesome cake. :D
Then I went to Saket where I shopped with mom and didi. :D And ate. More.

Day 3.
Sat at home. And watched Scrubs the WHOLE day. Almost 2 seasons. :D

Day 4.
Spent the entire morning cleaning the house. :/
Anurag came over in the afternoon. :D Played cards (He lost almost everytime). Watched Dexter (Shudder). Talked. :D
Then I went to Gymkhana for dinner. With my family. Hmmm. Their Custard did NOT suit my stomach. >.>

Day 5.
Went to Khan market with Chandrika. :D Awesome fun. We.. gossip. Yes.
Tried a movie marathon at night, trying to get everyone to watch a movie. The sub-titles got us screwed up, so after repeating the march past in the beginning of A Few Good Men a dozen times, we switched to Wall-E. Lesser Dialogues, see. But by then people started sleeping off.
So didi, bhaiya and I decided to watch the Bourne Identity.
And I slept off. >.>
In my defense, I've already seen the movie. (Not that I remember much. Er.)

Day 6.
Matsoc farewell! Anurag also thought that it'd be cool to call OUR seniors, since we never managed to give them a farewell. But er, only one senior turned up, and I'm pretty sure we bored her.
Nonetheless. Fun.
I slept at 4 in the morning. :P Had a LONG phone conversation (it'd been a while), finished EVERY Scrubs episode that there is, got caught awake by mom (Er. She wasn't happy, no no).

Day 7.
Today. The weather. Was so awesome!
I actually got stuck in traffic for an hour, with mom. But let's just say we went on a long drive >.>
It's funny, but the very day I needed a washroom really badly, my mom chose to take shortcuts to the mall we had to get to. And the thing about most shortcuts is.. they don't exist.

I realize this is a randomly cluttered post about the week that was.
But I HAD to note it down somewhere.
It's been too awesome. ^_^

Ciao, people. I'm brain dead.


Rajat : Bet?

I'll Be There For You

Yes, this one's the famous Friends theme song by the Rembrandts.

For some unbeknown reason, I started thinking about my friends.

There's the girl I have to tell every little thing, the guy I have to talk to everyday, the guy who whines to me, the guy I whine to, the guy who's really like a brother, the girl who loves food as much as I do, the guy who makes me laugh in his weird way, the girl who makes me feel crazy (and to be dramatic, alive), the guy who says exactly what I hope to hear, the guy who gives me awesome music, the guy who knows if I'm sad in a second, the girl with whom I can talk for hours anytime, the guy with whom I only exchange stupid smses yet can tell when he's sad, the girl who sends me every damn forward in her inbox, the guy who is just classically funny, the guy I always have to poke on Facebook, the girl who brings out my girly side, the guy I miss talking to, the girl who takes detours with me, the guy I think I like >.>, the girl with whom I always laugh a lot, the girl who suggests movies/tv shows to me, the guy I suggest movies/tv shows to, the girl who's always nice everyone, the girl with whom I have a catch-phrase, the guy who is just nice, and...

Can't think anymore.

These people are.. (Insert every good word here. (Even strawberries or Robot Unicorn, if you like))

Arpita [On Scribbler's Day] : Why is Sobhagya wearing your blue coat?