2012 Excursion- The Last One

So here it is, a detailed account of my wonderful excursion.

On the 18th of october 2012, we boarded the AP Express going to Delhi. It was early morning around 5:30 and we all were in our school uniform. Our much caring and considerate principal had reached the railway station too. I was carrying the same big blue bag. After the usual- bye, take care, call us every night and don't skip your meals routine with my parents, I was ready to travel once again with my friends.

Thanks to the constant girl-boy things happening in our school, this time we were allotted separate coaches. Sangeeta maám was our group incharge. She was totally awesome throughout the trip. So after tucking our suitcases below the seats Anika opened a bagful of homemade muffins. They were really tasty! Then we changed to our travel clothes and got rid of the school uniform at last. The guys had also joined us after sometime and we started playing dumb charades. (The Shawshank Redemption and Apocalypto are two movies you should certainly give to your opponents when playing this game).

By the time it was 11 in the afternoon, all of us were sweating like pigs. It was so stuffy and hot inside the train and the wind was doing nothing more than blowing dust onto our faces. So people started buying coke bottles (not for the coke but for the fact that the bottles were icy). I would hug the bottles and somehow try to cool myself.

Later in the evening after we all took a short nap, Sangeeta maám joined us and after we requested her a lot she started telling us ghost stories from her childhood. I have never believed in anything paranormal and it was really hard for me to digest her stories. But then it was good entertainment for quite some time. So while listening to he stories, all of a sudden Lorry gets a message from I forgot who, telling that Gnana had a crush on Jhiri. On hearing that all of us girls started laughing our heads off. Maám got quite curious as to what was happening and atlast we had to tell her about it (I am so sorry Gnana and Jhiri).

Then at Nagpur railway station, maám bought the famous Nagpur oranges and she offered them to us all. There at that station a gang of Pathani boys somewhere between the ages of 18- 20 also got up into our coach. They didn't have reservations and sat near the washrooms all the way till Delhi. Kashmiri people are so striking. They have those long pointy noses, snow white skin and tall builts!

The rest of the day was spent gossiping, sleeping and listening to songs. At night, I and Sambodhi went to the next compartment and slept on the middle berths.

The next morning we woke up early to the annoying call of the chaiwalas screaming "choi choi" in their unusually irritating voices. Nobody drinks chai coffee at 4 in the morning for God's sake! I don't know how but Anika and I end up discussing about test tube babies, the first thing in the morning and to my greatest amusement, later that day I see a huge testtube baby centre!

So it was around 6 in the morning and we all were busy counting the number of people who were pooping on the railway tracks when all of a sudden I see huge words written in hindi all over the walls. The other girls had all read it in their minds and had decided to shut up but I ended up blurting out the words- डॉ ____ सेक्स ____. Omg! I felt so stupid after this and decided to shut up for sometime. Later I find out that these walls are quite famous and almost anybody who has visited Delhi by train has read them.

We reach the New Delhi station at last. We are whisked off to our Hotel Anand in Karol Bagh in three buses. We had decided beforehand as to who would use the washroom when. We were given 45 mins and in that teeny weeny 45 mins, 4 of us had to take bath, dressup and repack. Yeah we were successful in getting ready within the allotted time. Then we went to the Parliament house. It was really cool to go inside that huge colonial piece of architecture. The only bad part- no cameras were allowed. Thanks to Tanmayee's uncle we got this wonderful opportunity to go sit inside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

It was almost 4 pm by the time we came out and then we were taken to AP Bhavan. Although the place didn't look too good the food was out of the world. We were given various telugu food items in those segmented steel plates. I still don't know if it was the food or our hunger which made us take second helpings. Then we headed off to India Gate. There we took lots of photos. The guys bought the red lighted horns and went about flashing them all over the place. India gate was also where some roadside gavaars tried to take photos of Anika and Kruthi when they were posing and then Sangeeta ma'am had to go and check their phones.

Now comes the best part of every excursion- the railway station chaos. If you remember I had mentioned something about the railway station escapade in our previous excursion in my old post. So something happened yet again. Our train was to come in platform number 6 or 7. The buses took us to the last platform of the station. From their amidst lots of garbage, beggars, eve teasers and many many stairs we were made to go to the first platform. Couldn't they have simply dropped us off in the first platform instead of making us walk all the way till there? Then we were denied food in McD which we were ready to pay for and were taken to Comesum (an eatery outside the station). They told us to leave all our bags and belongings in the middle of the road and the guys were made to look after them. The teachers were screaming at every other student  they could set their eyes on. We ate in batches and two were made to share one plate. Then they guys went inside and it was our turn to keep guard over the luggage. We all looked like gypsies. Most of us had started putting newspapers on the pavements and were sitting there. Then after everyone was done with dinner we went back inside the station and climbed more stairs and reached platform no. 6 and waited patiently for the Ranikhet Express to come.

More to come
keep reading  :)

Screw You CCE!

The mosquitos are synchronised flying above my head. I have a socials exam tomorrow and I am still left with my geography portion.

This CCE thing is really getting on my nerves now. Exams every other day. Tons and tons of assignments and marks for class behaviour. 

Mr Kapil Sibal I would like to inform you that your method is not working.

I am stressed to no ends. I am sleep deprived. I am tired.

I am tired of having to perform well in every test be it a 5 marks recitation.

This thing keeps me on my toes all the time.

I want a break now!

Nakralu Chestava ;)

Vulgarity!!!
That is what Fahmeeda maám our "beloved" history teacher used to yell at us. She was the one who broke the history class is boring theory.
Her classes were the perfect backdrop for all the nuisances any kid could create. She hardly left her chair which gave the last benchers ample opportunity to create a healthy ruckus inside the classroom. Last year was the peak. The guys started aiming chalk and pen caps at the ceiling fans. They would hit the moving fan and fall around the classroom and Fammy will be left wondering how on earth is it raining Caps and Chalk??

The windows at the back overlooked the street so whenever anybody shot a piece of chalk at the fan the last benchers would turn back and start scolding imaginary people on the road and she will be more than once forced to believe that it is actually one of the street urchins throwing stuff inside the classroom rather than one of her very own students.

My classmates would all crowd outside the classroom just before she arrived and complain that the classroom is giving out some foul odour. Alas the poor lady will have no other choice but to take us to another empty classroom. Once a guy got his cellphone to school and all of a sudden during the monotonous explanation of the French Revolution Eminem started rapping. Having the kind of unity we can boastof my whole class started making other noises to distract her from the music but yeah the phone WAS confiscated.

Her favourite dialogues are Laga toh teer nahi toh tokka, I can see vulgarity in you and Nakralu Chestava. History has always been fun with her. Not the chapters but the jokes. I just hope no teacher is reading this blog. X

^_^

He is cute. Just admit it.

My BookBank

I love reading books. I so totally love doing that. My joy knew no bounds when I found Uncle Tom's Cabin by H.B Stowe in the summer reading list. I have almost managed to stock quite a few books just enough to be called a mini library.

I would like to thank my parents for inculcating such a beautiful habit in me. Not only had they managed to plant the reading bug in me but they have also made sure that I read all sorts of books without any discrimination.
I fondly remember the days when mom used to read out fairy tales of Andersen and The Grimm Brothers. Our favourite was The Rosebush and The Sparrow. I used to always secretly weep by the end of the story.

Then there was this book called Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. I used to be quite intrigued by the idea of attending school in railway boggies.
As I started reading books by myself dad started loading a cupboard with classics like Tom Sawyer, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Kidnapped and Little Women. Pride and Prejudice was my first "adultish" classic at the age. Mom forbid me from reading it so believe it or not I read below my blanket!

Then I found Sushi....she read lots of famous five. We almost mastered the whole collection. Mom had to always snatch away the books during exams.I also started having a crush on Fatty one of Enid Blyton's characters from The Five Findouters.
Also I used to go and discuss about books quite enthusiastically with my english teacher. My first thriller was Smack by Aroop Kumar Dutta.
My favourite books include Uncle Tom's Cabin, Roots, A Flight of Pigeons, The Clifton Chronicles, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Walk to Remember.
I have read The Twilight series and all five of Chetan Bhagat's books :P
Just yesterday I bought a few more books. Looking forward for a nice week of happy reading. :)

P.S: There are two pigeon babies in the cardboard box I set up for pigeons a few months back :D

She-Man

Who is a super sister? What can she do?

My sister Prayashi is someone who can be called as a supersaversister.

Now comes the question of what can she do or what did she do?

Soonu Moonu as I call her, can slap a guy (not just a guy but the most notorious guy) from her class when he is high one fine day and tells that I am one of those few hopeless seniors who loiter around the love point in our school. Hello! who does he think he is?.....firstly there is no love point and secondly I would be the last person to go there. Hi5 girl for landing that thaaaash on his face :D

She can also come to my immediate rescue when mom and I are arguing over baseless topics like hindi serials or star world shows?, ashton kutcher or johnny depp and blah blah. Mom can be really irritating at times and had it not been for my SSS mom would have turned me deaf with her constant lecturings by now.

She is someone who can answer calls meant for me and say stuff like- She is sleeping or she is busy studying- you may find it rude but then except for praful and SSS I don't think anybody else can understand or believe me when I say I HATE PHONES AND UNNECESSARY PHONECALLS.

She can stay up late till 12:30 plaiting my hair all over so that I can those frizzy waves the next morning when I wake up. She is also someone who has attempted numerous times to set me up with a guy but has failed miserably. She is also someone who thinks that every other guy whom I speak to is actually my secret crush.

She is there for me always and forever. She has bravely fought for me and have gone against my parents for me. She is the hero. My superhero. This girl is like a fierce tigress who is always protective towards me. Love you SSS!! <3

Uptown Girl

I had known her for quite sometime. Had almost been like around seven- eight months since we met. We live in the same apartment and were in the same section. But at that time I somehow found it quite difficult to open up to her. We remained acquaintances for a very long period. But one sunny winter afternoon we managed to lit the spark in our friendship.

It was christmas eve. There was a party somewhere in our colony and almost every kid was excited and preparing for it. You came upto my house that afternoon. Instead of sitting inside the house that day we carried my flower chairs out to the landing in the steps. Then we started talking. I don't remember what. Considering our frequent conversations I bet it wasn't anything other than old days or school. We both enjoyed each other's company :)

That one afternoon visit changed our relationship forever. Now she would come to chat everyday. We would sit on those flower chairs and talk for hours endlessly. Then slowly the steps itself replaced the chairs. It became our adda. We would comment on the passer-bys. Bitch about our classmates. Recall our olden days and friends. Discuss books and act as if we were the queens of high street fashion. The year came to an end. We got placed in the same section again :D 

I found a person who loved reading books living right next to me. We started with The Baby-Sitters Club and now we are reading books like The Clifton Chronicles and The Kite Runner. Thanks to her dad we had even had the opportunity to scour through millions of books in the annual Hyderabad Book Fair twice. We would always end up pooling our money and buying lots of second hand books. We have prepared cold coffee, maggi with cheese and capsicum and chocolate cake. 

We have had many sleepovers and once she insisted that the tubelight be kept switched on all through the night. But in the end I didn't let it happen. We have tried our hands in combined studies too and I must say the results weren't too bad.

She makes me walk that one extra round everyday. She calls me up at weird times and demands that I go eat ice cream with her. She is improving a lot in badminton. She no longer minds my stupid, sarcastic tongue. She is that one person whom I tell everything. Believe me or not she knows me in and out. I too am holding onto one of her most prized and delightful secrets right now. She wrinkles up her nose at my kind of songs. We both love watching movies like The Help which most people of our age would call boring. 

Even though we are the best of friends at home, in school things are a bit different. I am going to work on it too. I call her Kutii not Kutti. We have started going to the same tutions too now. She is somebody whom I am going to miss a lot if I am ever to leave this place. I just thank God that he sent this bleach to my life. 

Lived a happy satisfying life in Assam. Then dad got transferred to Hyderabad, well he asked for it. Sister used to have asthmatic problems so dad thought Hyderabad had the best climate and would help her recover quickly. But not once did I hear anybody mention anything like we are going there for your education. Oh come on. So yeah we come here and I see my new school. The name itself is sick. Pallavi Model School. Of course I shouldn't be blaming my parents for this, my father's colleagues recommended this one. Before school dad acted like- yeah you are in the land of brainys here. They are very sharp and intelligent you have to study well to keep up with them.
I attend school. Infrastructure sucks. The so called super brains are nowhere to be seen. Books they couldn't get  better editions. So why am I here? I am waiting for class 7 to get over. It gets over atlast. I miss out on the all rounder certificate to SR because I am not at all into sports. Next comes 8C. Well the best year of my school life till date. With the likes of Nikhil, Siddhant, Amrutha, Anukruti, Sachith and Sajedeh in my class.......8C had to rock. We followed the mantra One for all and All for one. It was a memorable year. We had loads of fun. I along with a few of my friends made a movie for Unicef. Also I saw how friendship disintegrated because of boyfriends. I met this girl called Lorry.  We instantly hit it off. We became the best of best friends. There was the elections. Campaigning.....Posters....Flyers....Day of elections.....Speech.....Ballot Papers....Voting.....Malpractice.....Discipline Vice Captain.
Got promoted to class 9. A new beginning. New section kind of sucked. Not one friend. Not one interesting person. Everybody just made their own groups and stuck to themselves. One stereotyped guy even had the audacity to tell that boys won't play with girls. I sat with one superdecent Vaishnavi for thewhole year. Can you believe it? And on top of that all my other best friends ended up in the same section. I would always sneak out from my section and join them people whenever I got a chance. Teachers started gossiping big time. New rules came like boys and girls maintain one hand distance. Don't sit together. Use separate staircases. It was called a co-ed just for namesake. But then I got really close to some people. We had our share of fun. I joined Fiitjee. An IIT coaching institute. Again this was recommended by dad's colleagues. Those days in Fiitjee were sick. I don't have a better adjective. Though I was never sure about my ambition, I was very sure that I would never become an engineer. I used to sit in the classroom aimlessly, cluelessly. I failed in one of their internal tests. Not exactly failed but yeah for me it was a big deal so I felt like a failure. I couldn't handle that stress anymore. I changed. I couldn't handle failure. I would end up being upset for the slightest of failures. So yeah I ended up leaving Fiitjee. I am no more in contact with any of those friends  made there. I can declare without any hesitation that Fiitjee was my biggest Failure.
So just a few days back I get a phonecall from my aunt in Assam and she is scolding me for hanging out too much with friends instead of studying hard. I didn't expect this coming. I hardly go out. Just because my cousin is hardly ever allowed out doesn't mean she should try and stop me. She wants me to join Fiitjee after 10th and get into IIT and pursue a career in engineering :O . And all this is because I am in the city of engineers, Hyderabad. This was what hurt me the most. I didn't have the liberty to study what I wanted. Time and again this society has always reminded me about the importance of money some way or other. All we think about is MONEY. It doesn't matter what is in stake. We can sacrifice Family. Happiness. Interests. Satisfaction......all for a few wads of notes. But then maybe this is what happens in third world countries. My family is kind of really huge and anybody's business is everybody's business. They have discussions if any of us wear short skirts. They have discussions if any of us takes too many photos. They have discussions if any of us don't eat brinjals. This is one hell of a family. So when I joined fiitjee they all knew. And if I say I don't want take up science they all will pounce on me. Arts is NOT respected. It is not even treated as a subject here. So the safest way here is to go with the flow. My parents tell that I should take up whatever I have an interest in. I am one confused, tortured and failed bitch. Just hope I can make up my mind by the end of class 10.

Be the change!

Elders hardly welcome changes. The world has changed. The times have changed. But the mindsets of Indian adults haven't.

People happily accepted coming out of the stone age then why not now? Why don't they just accept reality? Fine, we are Indians, we are conservative, we think more about what others will think, we are scared of society. But do we really need to take such steps just for the sake of society? It is high time that people come out of their shells, accept reality and take things positively.

This can't go on any longer. We must end it right away.

Excursion

28 September 2011

I was jumping with excitement right from the morning. This year our school was taking the 9th standard students to an adventure and personality development camp in Bangalore. Our train was due at 7:15. Knowing that the Kachiguda Railway Station was well away from our house, we started two hours early. After taking directions from many people we finally reached the station. It was drizzling continuously and the railway station was very wet, muddy and stinky. Dad was getting very anxious. He bought platform tickets which was really unnecessary.

                                                                       Our shoes!!

After running hither tither for some 15 minutes we reached Platform number 3. My coach was S12. I reached it only to find a stinking drippy mess inside. All the people who came for seeing off their relatives and friends were crowding inside the train. The lights weren't switched on yet. I knew I couldn't tolerate it so I kept my luggage on my seat and came out only to be driven back to my place by my over anxious parents who were scared that I would catch a cold because of the slight drizzle outside and also they feared that someone who take away my seat. Later the lights were switched on. My friends started arriving. Surekha maám arrived too. My parents rushed to her and made sure that I would be made to call them once every week. Everyone were constantly getting in and out of the train. Alast at 7:20 our train made its first move. Lots of goodbyes, take cares, waving hands, last minute instructions and shouts of joy and laughter filled the air around us and slowly those familiar faces out there in the station faded away. Yeah I was on the way to my very first official excursion. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                            Me and my girlfriends!!            

                                                       With my best friend Lorry!  


Initially all of us girls sat together and shared foodies and tried playing S.T.D (situation truth dare). Later Lorry and I decided to go find an empty and less crowded place for ourselves so we left them and found ourselves a place near the teachers and started playing Deepest Darkest Secrets. But that couldn't last long enough because other people started joining us. Later Dhruva, Rahul, Trishala, Neha, Rishabh, Saisagar and Shreya joined us and we played quite a few games and then dinner time came. Mom sent me two mushroom and egg Frankies and most of my neighbors were either vegetarian or were fasting due to Navaratri so I relished them alone. Then the teachers played spoilsport by making us shut the windows and go to sleep in our respective berths. Lorry took the lower berth on the left and I took the upper berth. There was a mirror placed right in front of us and it was placed in such a way that we could see each other's faces but not our owns. So we started showing each other actions on the mirror which later developed into a game of dumb-charades. I went to sleep later and so did Lorry with her special mosquito repellent bed sheet.

29 Sepetember 2011

We were awake till 12 am that day as it was our dear friend VV's birthday.  We called him up from NP's phone and wished him happy birthday. Lorry even wrote a poem for him and recited it on the phone.

                                              Lorry is making fishtail plaits for Neha!!

I heard stories about some notorious kids smearing tooth paste on the faces of the sleeping kids so I slept in constant fear of that but thank God I woke up next morning relieved to find that I wasn't their victim. We brushed our teeth and ate some biscuits and then went back to talking, singing and also hogging. We reached the Bangalore railway station at 7. That placed stinked real bad. Surekha maám I must say knew the station real well, she took us and started moving towards the exit but thanks to some careless kids, confused teachers and over burdened guide, we roamed around the railway station for some good 15 minutes. It became so irritating.

At last we somehow managed to find our way out. There were two buses parked there and our group boarded the first one but unfortunately the lively and awesomer kids boarded the other bus and we got bored after some time so Lorry and I started playing This or That. To our immense pleasure we found out that we had so many similarities and only some 8-9 odd dissimilarities. We reached our destination after a half an hour ride. The place was called Breakthrough. We were greeted by three smiling ladies. Two were the ammas with trays of chocolates on their hands and there was Linda the manager who was all smiles and more smiles. She showed us our dorms and told us to skip our baths and come down for breakfast immediately after choosing our beds and keeping our luggage. I was the first one to rush inside the dorm. We found ourselves two bunk beds in the corner. The upper one for Lorry and me and the lower ones for Trishala and Neha.

Then we went down for breakfast. We were served puris with some tasty tomato and gram delicacy.  After that we all assembled in the garden house. There Linda told us about the rules and regulations one should follow during our stay there and made us all sign a contract on the white board. We felt important after that. Then we all went outside and then Timmy told us why the organisation was called Breakthrough and gave us a few clues as to what we would be doing there for those three days. Then Sam ( BT staff) told us all to find a partner each with equal little fingers. Lorry and I were so glad to find out that we had equal little fingers but hopes came crashing down as Sam told that we should make two groups with the two people with equal sides on either sides. Thus our groups were formed. We named our gang 'Pirates' while the other team was 'Spartans'.'Pirates won in almost every game that was played out there. We played Man- bear- gun which is the cooler version of rock-paper-scissor. We played another game with ping pong balls and bats and a basket. Then we were told to rest for 30 mins and we assembled again.

The Contract which was signed by all of us!

                 
                        Me doing one of the low rope activities with all of my friends spotting for me!!

                                             Another low rope I did with Pooja!!
                                 
This time it was time for the low ropes. We were divided into three groups. Ours was called the Devil Rangers and was headed by Sam, a true professional. he taught us about spotting people which means you got to make sure the person who is doing the activity doesn't hurt himself or fall down. Then we headed towards the Shakira bridge then there a few other activities all something to do with ropes and balance. I could do everything real well. Sam told so and even Manjula maám. Then came time for lunch. The head cook, Ruth is great. The food was fabulously yummy. It made us feel at home. After lunch we played another game which was all about skill and cooperation. After messing up 15 times we did it. Then we were served awesome pakodas and lemonade by Padmamma for tea. Next we went for the giant shoe activity. Our group consisted of Harsh, Saisagar, Vrinda, Anika, Ruth, Ashwath, Manoj. We came second in that race. We could have done better as our team was the strongest but it is fine. Next we had this water game. There were long tube with a few holes. there was a plastic ball inside the tube. You had to cover the holes and fill the tube with water so that the ball would rise. I and Ashwath played that game crazily. I covered two holes with two of my index fingers and pressed my cheek into another. Ruth got the ball but then Manpj and Harsh left the holes and thus the ball slipped out of Ruth's hands and we lost.

                      Another activity where we had to make structures with paper, straws and cello-tape

Then came the bathing time. Everyone rushed into the washrooms. People were going crazy. They were banging on the doors and yelling at people to come out fast. after that everyone dressed up and went downstairs to the hall to watch the Disney movie "Cool Runnings." It was a nice movie about some bobsledging champions who aspired to get into the Olympics. After that we had dinner and at night back in our dorms everyone got up on our beds and we played S.T.D again and then had chips and biscuits and went to sleep.

30 September 2011

We got dressed early in the morning and roamed around the compound for a while. It was still 6:30 and breakfast would be served at 8:30 so Lorry and I started gossiping and then we met Linda who was about to leave to meet her dad as he was going to have an eye operation done. She told Vivian would be in charge that day. Vivian was this cute school boy looks type guy. He rocked. He was like this no nonsense guy who made sure that everyone minded their own businesses. But we just couldn't stop exclaiming how cute he was. That day we had tons of activities and also the very amazing zip lines. While going for the zip lines up the huge rock, Linda told us four (me, Lorry, Neha, Shruti) the story of her daughter, Tanya's proposal.....it was so cute and adorable. Later we found out that we were the only privileged ones to hear that story. It was so thrilling to leave ourselves from a height of 40feet.
           

     
                                      Me ready with the harness and helmet to try out the zip lines!!

Suddenly it started raining heavily and we all rushed bak to our dorms. After the rain ceased all of us kids started playing Lock and Key, Chain cut and Chor police. I even fell on a puddle and dirtied my clothes. Next we started playing Dumb charades and Antakshari. Our team was doing fine though we lost by 2 or 3 points.

                                                        Us playing Dumb Charades
                                   

 

Me showing the actions during the game.....as you can see my clothes are all muddy because I fell on that puddle

After that lorry and I rushed for our baths. Came down had dinner and then was the time for the campfire. Harsh was the dj. We all danced like we never danced before. It all ended with another shower and we all ended up on our beds by 11:30.

                                    That is all of us with me in the centre just before dancing!!


1 October 2011

Our last day in breakthrough. We went for the cave activity after breakfast. Me and Lorry went inside together into the dark cave where you could not see anything and we were also the first ones to come out. We felt very proud about it. Then while we were discussing about it, I suddenly stood up and thanked Lorry in front of everyone for having held my hand and for guiding me throughout our journey inside the cave. Many people followed suit and thanked their partners after that. We got our certificates. Then was time for us to say adieu. We almost felt like crying. Sanjay the awesomy but camera shy guy wouldn't take a photo with us so I pulled him by his sleeves and somehow managed to have our photo taken with him and Sam. While leaving, I got along with me a red leaf from their garden. It is still here though the redness has gone. The last minute over there was the saddest part as we all boarded the buses and all the Breakthrough staff were waving at us from the gate. Will never ever forget that scene.

           
                              Me, Lorry and Anika with Sanjay the awesomy and Sam the professional

                   
                                            Us with Linda the coolest manager ever!!

                                              Zebra's butt captured in the lens in the zoo!!

Next we went to the Banerghatta National Park which was a big wastage of time. They could have instead taken us to Commercial Street or M.G. Road for shopping. We reached the railway station at 6 only to catch the train at the nick of time. While coming, Nitish, Ashwath, Siddhant, Ruth, Anika, Lorry, Neha, Trishala and me sat together. We had lots of fun initially. Then suddenly someone told something against NP's bf. NP couldn't tolerate it and left us and started crying. The boys were surprised to see how NP reacted to such small things and they got NP back/ We all had our dinner and at night after everyone slept, we switched off the lights and tried to talk sense into NP's head. Personally I don't find anything wrong with being in love but what she was doing was totally different. She just defends that guy like anything. She herself says that she is always wrong and he is always right, she always cries and apologizes when that guy cuts the call even if it is not her mistake. She won't tolerate anyone speaking anything against him. Their love story as we all feel is one sided as, we won't deny that he loves her too but it is not only love NP does but also devotion. She is devoted to him. So we counselled her for the whole night till 3 am. In those few hours all of us came to know each other so much better. NS cried after remembering his dead cousin who was only 16, TV almost cried while telling me how lonely she felt during the whole excursion and she told me how all her friends were drifting apart. RM cried after seeing NP's condition. I was almost about to breakdown but I controlled myself. It was such an intense moment. After that we all went to sleep. Ashwath and Siddhant took the lowest berth on the left, Anika on top of them and Neha on top of Anika. Ruth on the lowest berth on the right, me on top of her and Nitish on top of me. Lorry slept differently due to lack of space.

                     
                                                On the train while coming back!!

2 October 2011

Then at 4:30 Surekha maám woke us all up telling that the station was only 5 minutes away when actually it was some 1 or 2 hours away. All of a sudden when I was still half asleep there was this loud commotion and I heard people shouting "Where is Rishabh?" I was surprised at first thinking where would he go....people searched for him all over. I thought someone must have kidnapped him while we all were sleeping. Then suddenly he comes out from nowhere as if nothing happened and tells us that he was in another coach. Felt like kicking his ass for scaring us like that. Atlast we reached Kachiguda railway station. I felt bad thinking that our excursion had come to an end. Will never forget those awesome days. I found new friends. Met new people. Learnt to overcome my fears. And the biggest thing I travelled alone. Thank you everyone for making this trip so memorable.

 
                                                                   With Chewie!!  

                                                 The yummy Dosas Ruth prepared!!

                                                                 Lunch time!!!

                                                                   Same clothes!!

Thank you for the music!!!!

                                       

You know there was this period in my life when I used to claim that I hated music and was not at all interested in it. Ofcourse I didn't hate it but neither did I love it. Plus I was an extremely shy kid not that I am not now. Even now I am extremely shy when it comes to speaking face to face with strangers or not too close friends.

And most of the times if i said that I loved music I had to sing in front of my dad's office colleagues. It was bad of my dad to expose me to such kinds of torture like show them a few kathak steps, sing a few lines. Of course he just wanted to show them what awesome daughters he possessed but I didn't like all that. So I thought that instead of taking the risk of having to sing in front of people I would better say I hate music. That day onwards no one bugged me to sing. My sister became their target.

But I love music now. Can't live without it. I won't get sleep until I listen to atleast three songs before sleeping at night. I can solve the maths problems faster if there is some song playing in the system. Everything is so better when there is music. I love listening to Celine Dion and Glee. I am obsessed with Bryan adam's Everything I do and also Asha Bhonsle's song- Raat akeli hai from Jewel Thief. I don't know what I would have done if I would have continued saying I hate music.



                          I LOVE MUSIC

What is it with me and my afternoon nappies?

My exams are going on and according to mom one should always have a little nap in the afternoon to be able to study better in the evenings. So I didn't dare question her this time and did as she told. But my sleep? It was a disaster. 

I hate being woken up once I fall asleep. And it happened today. Happens almost very other day but not as fast as it happened today. I know it was exactly one hour since I closed my eyes. Some neighbor of mine. Some cranky old lady and her son were screaming at the top of their lungs in Telugu. It would have been fine if I could have atleast understood what was that very important discussion that had to break my sleep. I wanted to scream back at her, "Will you please shut up?" But my self conscience held me back. I didn't feel like doing something which I hated if others did. So with no other option, I just got up from sleep. It hardly comes to me and so when I get it everybody wants to snatch it away. That lady she better watch her manners. Next time my sleep is broken it won't be good.

My sis sleeping nicely on he study table

  She is another specimen...sleeps till she can sleep no more!! I am jealous of these people.

Pigeon- The Mess-maker!!

I woke up with a weird dream today. A dream which gave me partial satisfaction and also a little bit of sorrow. Actually the place where I live has got loads and loads of pigeons. They never leave behind an opportunity to enter any house if they find any window open. They build nests everywhere. They lay eggs everywhere. They shit everywhere. They make that horrible gutar-gu sound everywhere. They haunt me everywhere. The worst part they have started coming in my dreams now. Today morning must be around 4:30 I woke up with this sick feeling in my stomach after seeing a dream where a curious pigeon enters a washing machine and then suddenly a lady comes and switches the washing machine on. Ofcourse she doesn't know that there is a pigeon inside. When the lady comes back later to take out the clothes she is surprised to see many many feathers coming out of the washing machine and thus my dream ends there.

That is not all they do. Till last year they almost made the shelf in my balcony there permanent nesting area. First one layed eggs. Thinking they would fly away once the petite pigeons grew up, we didn't disturb them. But they started growing.Grew almost as big as their mommy but they wouldn't take the name of flying. We got fed up. So one day daddy went and took them and threw them from our balcony. Surprisingly enough they spread their wings and flew away. But came back again, only to lay their own eggs the next time. I can say that my shelf supported two generations of pigeons. So atlast our landlord decided to put grills in our balconies. Thank God I don't have to peep out of the door knob to see whether there are any pigeons anymore before stepping out to get some fresh air.

I just can't dare to think about the way Sonam Kapoor dances with that pigeon on her head or of any other Bollywood actress who runs among the pigeons in front of the Gateway of India. I don't want to hurt all the pigeon lovers out there but at the same time I had to spill out my frustration some day or the other. Though I am an animal lover, I am not much fond of pigeons. All that what comes into my mind when I think about the word pigeon is- MENACE. Dad says they are a symbol of peace but for me they are just another beings which irk me like hell. Yeah, here they come again. Bye bye I got to chase them away now.

How today changes

It all struck me suddenly today when I overheard my parents talking about Lakshmi, our maid. She has been with us for two years now and she and her son are almost like our family members now. Lakshmi didi is the most talkative lady I have ever seen or heard. She can talk continuously for ages and ages. Many a times I could see my mom taking advantage of that. Didi would be so engrossed in talking that she would forget that she is mopping the same place for the past 13 minutes and the floor would end up sparkling clean. My mom also found a mate in Lakshmi as after coming to Hyderabad she has become quite lonely. Being a homemaker she doesn't require to go out quite often and also my apartment residents like being to themselves. People hardly visit each other here. My neighbor next door has never visited us since three years and the vice versa. So my mom used to thoroughly enjoy Didi speak though she never admitted it. Lakshmi would speak about all sorts of things. She would bring gossip about our whole colony, speak about her good old days in Saharanpur and tell mom all the problems she is facing in life.

One fine day she came and informed mom that she admitted her son Shubham to an English medium school. I was a bit surprised as I didn't quite expect her to send him to such a school as she as well her husband both are more or less illiterates. She requested mom to stitch the school badge on his uniform. So thus he started attending school. When initially he found it a bit difficult to catch up with his studies mom volunteered to teach him for free. From that day onwards he came home for tution regularly. Mom really did a good job as Shubham stood first in his class too. Then after almost a year we went to our hometown Guwahati during our summer vacation. When we came back the next day I was shocked when I heard that her husband left off without notice one night. How could he do that? Though I was never much fond of Didi, thoughts of all kind started gushing into my mind. He left behind his wife and 5 year old son and also took away all their savings. I understood what didi was going through that day. The days after that made me a lot more empathetic towards her and her plight. Mom started feeding Shubham his evening meal in our house. Lakshmi didi started getting used to this kind of a life and then suddenly came her husband out from nowhere. It seems he went to Nepal for a few days.

Now he tells that he is leaving to Qatar in search of a job and is going to keep didi and Shubham in Nepal with her in-laws. Didi doesn't want to go but she knows it will be hard for her to keep going with the amount of money she gets every month. Things are bad. they are leaving during dushera. Hope things become alright. Hope Shubham studies well and grows up to be someone who will take care of his mother. Till then we can only hope for the best.

Happy Teacher's Day!!!

I didn't know it till now but now since I know it I think I ought to let all those people know who still don't know about it. The concept of teachers day started something like this. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, India's former President was much loved by his students and on his birthday all the students wanted to honor him. But when they reached his house Dr. Radhakrishnan surprised them by saying,"Instead of honoring just me why don't u mark my birthday as a day dedicated to all those teachers out there?" So thus came the concept of Teachers Day. It is all about trying to make that person who groomed you into what you are today feel special.

A good teacher according to me is someone who teaches beyond books. She should be someone whom you can talk to about anything anywhere. she should be someone who can keep her students engaged and should be someone whose classes every student always looks forward to. She should be someone who can change a boring subject into a totally different subject. My eight standard Hindi teacher was somewhat like that. I idolized and adored her from the very first day. I still remember her saying one, "मैं आप लोगों को अच्छे तरह से ओब्सेर्वे करुँगी और जब मुझे बोअर्ड्स के कोर्रेक्तिओन के लिए दिल्ली जाना पड़ेगा तब किन्ही दो बच्चों को ज़िम्मेदारी सोंप कर जाऊंगी. From that day onwards I started behaving excellently, with my immense ability to not talk for hours together i displayed perfect behavior in the classroom and yes she gave me the responsibility. I was on cloud 9. The day came when she had to leave for a few days. My job started then. I did it wholeheartedly. When she came back she was more than happy with me so thus started our guru- shishya relationship. Along with the lessons she used to tell us some short and sweet stories. Not only stories......the best part about her was she used to tell us her personal experiences. Once she told us one incident which made me realize that one should never ever expect their parents to apologize. 

Those days spent with her brought a mental change in me. Like her I too wanted to take everything positively, wanted to strive to produce the best and wanted to chill out about everything. She became my role model. But then I reached class 9. Kept my fingers crossed hoping to get her as my teacher again but alas it didn't happen. But I will always cherish those days I spent in her classroom. Kuti and I gifted her a novel named Mahabhoj. She has been my inspiration and when she won the best teacher award, I can proudly say that no other student was as happy as me. She helped me in those times when I was depressed. She sought to discover the best in every student and she surely won our hearts. This one is dedicated to the best teacher ever who taught me till now- Miss Manju Verma!  

The lyrics of the song- Teacher Teacher

Just when I thought I finally learned my lesson well,
There was more to this than meets the eye.
And for all the things you taught
me, only time will tell,
If I'll be able to survive. Oh yeah.

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Can you tell me all I need to know?
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
Or will I fall when you let me go? Oh no.

Am I ready for the real world, will I pass the test?
You know it's a jungle out there.
Ain't nothin' gonna stop me, I won't be second best,
But the joke's on those who believe
the system's fair, oh yeah.

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Can you tell me if I'm right or wrong?
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/b2a ]
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
I wanna know what's goin' on, Oh yeah.

So the years go on and on, but nothing's lost or won.
And what you learned is soon forgotten.
They take the best years of your life,
Try to tell you wrong from right,
But you walk away with nothing. Oh Oh.

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Can you tell me all I need to know?
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
Or will I fall when you let me go?

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Can you tell me if I'm right or wrong?
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
I wanna know what's goin' on, Oh

Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Teacher, teacher, can you reach me?
Teacher, teacher, can you teach me?
Teacher, teacher, Ooh yeah.
Teacher, teacher
Teacher, teacher