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

So there we go.......

We met for the last time yesterday. Went to the terrace of my apartment with my camera. Made my sister the cameraman. She did a good job. Then we (me, np, rao, lorry, DJ) sat together. And started giving random farewell speeches. Inspired by the many movies........we did something. We promised to meet after 10 years. Isn't that gonna be great??........We will be 24. We should have made our career decisions by then. We will be single and free then. All those thoughts make me jump with excitement. But I just hope, I fervently hope that we all can stick together till then. Don't want to loose any of those girls. So keeping my fingers crossed for that day. We hope to meet. Hope to even go for a vacation together. Just us to Andaman and Nicobar islands in a cruise. 3rd of September. Thats the date we people are meeting on after 10 years. 4.09.2021 ........here we come!!!.......addition, we are going to sing Tadap tadap!!

I was actually thinking of downloading that special video.... will do it some other day. It takes a lot of time for doing it.

  

Welcome Rain!!

I love the rain. I love the black clouds. I love the smell of the wet soil. I love the waterlogged streets. I love the little puddles the rain leaves behind and I love the water dripping from the roofs once the downpour is over. And today I am loving the rain a lot more than I usually love. I didn't do my maths homework given by my tution teacher and I was really afraid to go there with a blank notebook. So with a heavy heart I started getting ready for my classes. The sky is unexceptionally dark outside. So mom thought it would start raining heavily and since dad is not at home....she is scared that I may get stuck in the rain as my classes are some 12 kilometers far she told me not to go. I was more than willing to listen to her. So tada!!! I gave it a miss today. When all my other friends are busy breaking their heads solving tough problems I'm sitting and blogging .

I am an ardent fan of rain. Every time it comes to pay me a visit, I simply rush to the terrace and do a little rain dance gig for it and also for my own satisfaction. I always pester my mom on such days to make hot pakodas plus my favorite ritual is to jump on the puddles. No other weather can ever please me as much as this weather can! Here's a poem by H.W.Longfellow -

Rain In Summer                                     
   
How beautiful is the rain!
After the dust and heat,
In the broad and fiery street,
In the narrow lane,
How beautiful is the rain!
How it clatters along the roofs,
Like the tramp of hoofs
How it gushes and struggles out
From the throat of the overflowing spout!
Across the window-pane
It pours and pours;
And swift and wide,
With a muddy tide,
Like a river down the gutter roars
The rain, the welcome rain!
The sick man from his chamber looks
At the twisted brooks;
He can feel the cool
Breath of each little pool;
His fevered brain
Grows calm again,
And he breathes a blessing on the rain.
From the neighboring school
Come the boys,
With more than their wonted noise
And commotion;
And down the wet streets
Sail their mimic fleets,
Till the treacherous pool
Ingulfs them in its whirling
And turbulent ocean.
In the country, on every side,
Where far and wide,
Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide,
Stretches the plain,
To the dry grass and the drier grain
How welcome is the rain!
In the furrowed land
The toilsome and patient oxen stand;
Lifting the yoke encumbered head,
With their dilated nostrils spread,
They silently inhale
The clover-scented gale,
And the vapors that arise
From the well-watered and smoking soil.
For this rest in the furrow after toil
Their large and lustrous eyes
Seem to thank the Lord,
More than man's spoken word.
Near at hand,
From under the sheltering trees,
The farmer sees
His pastures, and his fields of grain,
As they bend their tops
To the numberless beating drops
Of the incessant rain.
He counts it as no sin
That he sees therein
Only his own thrift and gain.
These, and far more than these,
The Poet sees!
He can behold
Aquarius old
Walking the fenceless fields of air;
And from each ample fold
Of the clouds about him rolled
Scattering everywhere
The showery rain,
As the farmer scatters his grain.
He can behold
Things manifold
That have not yet been wholly told,--
Have not been wholly sung nor said.
For his thought, that never stops,
Follows the water-drops
Down to the graves of the dead,
Down through chasms and gulfs profound,
To the dreary fountain-head
Of lakes and rivers under ground;
And sees them, when the rain is done,
On the bridge of colors seven
Climbing up once more to heaven,
Opposite the setting sun.
Thus the Seer,
With vision clear,
Sees forms appear and disappear,
In the perpetual round of strange,
Mysterious change
From birth to death, from death to birth,
From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth;
Till glimpses more sublime
Of things, unseen before,
Unto his wondering eyes reveal
The Universe, as an immeasurable wheel
Turning forevermore
In the rapid and rushing river of Time. 

To Divija With Love

Divija Vasudevan this one is just to let you know how angry I am, how sad I am and how terrible you are to leave us all behind like that. Wish we could have spent some more time together. It was just last year when we met, started talking, then gossiping and then our friendship further progressed and we became so close that we never thought twice before hitting each others butts in public and we termed it as "butt-slapping". Things couldn't have been better the next year as we got placed in the same section (thanks to the teachers). This gave us a better opportunity to know each other better. To come more closer. And yes we did try to understand each other better. Naah..not try...we actually understood :) The best part about you was that you got awesome food in your cute little yellow tiffin box. Be it paranthas or sandwiches never did we (me, lorry, rao) hesitate to lick it clean.

When I first entered my new section I wasn't too enthusiastic to meet my new classmates. Everything seemed so dull. The classroom was unexceptionally quite and forbidding.....but thenyou came along. It was like suddenly a firework went and lit up the dark night sky. You were the phuljhari of the class. You were the bulb among the many tube lights and you were the lighthouse in the forlorn bed of rocks set in a faraway shore and you were the pole star shining bright among the zillions of flickering and sparkling stars. I remember our first day in ninth. Some of the naughty boys of our class stole your bottle and hid it somewhere and you were running behind them and you discovered your bottle and ended up splashing water on all the people standing near you. All this while though you didn't notice I just observed you. every morning you enter the class and see me and shout...."chanaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" and I favored you in return by shouting .......'Djayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy". And we used to collect berries from the tree adjoining our school building and put them inside each others pinafores and then we had to open our belts and jump to let those berries come out of our dresses. 

Everything was so perfect until one day when you came and told us that your dad was transferred to Chennai. WTH. This is not done. How can you just come along and say something like this and expect us to not say anything in return??.......Well...eh since your papa is in the army I am excusing you or else you would have known better. Will miss this spark a lot. You know girl...though I don't express much I really am sad that you are leaving us. But as a good friend should do I wish you all the happiness and success in your future. Hope you make lots of friends over there ( no doubt you will) and hope we keep seeing each other. If not in reality at least in dreams. Phaattttackkkk (just butt-slapped you for the last time). Loved you then. Loved you now. Will love you forever.  <3 <3 <3 <3 <3