Scrambled Mess

Phew....this week has been one rollercoaster ride all the way! With my parents going to Pune for 2 days at the beginning of the week, I was suddenly 'keeping house' and being responsible for things after a very long time...and babysitting Schnapps proved to be the the most arduous task of them all! On wednesday I had to go to the Univ to collect my hall ticket...and ended up meeting these ppl there and staying for their presentation and having lunch with them....I also met this lady who works with Penguin India, as an assistant editor and whow as on campus finding out what texts are prescribed to us, coz Penguin India wants to start publishing books targetted at Indian students. Got talking to her about what she does, how she got into the field etc etc..pretty interesting...

Last night Annika, Hardo and Hana were to shift into Suku's flat...Annika came with Papa (his office is close to the Atma darshan where they were staying till yest), but Hardo and Hana said they'd come later...I assumed they'd come by midnight at the latest...when they didn't show up by that time we gave up on them and went to bed...2.30 am Schnapps started barking...there were some ppl outisde the flat...when Bhaiyya opened the door to investigate he discovered Hardo and Hana standing there with sheepish looks on their faces! I was woken up and asked to escort my friends to the flat...just about showed them the place and left them...

Today Hana wanted to got to South Mumbai - Gateway of India, Elephanta Caves, The Fort Campus, Oxford bookstore etc...they still aren't up, so I'm gonna strike the caves off the list...that requires atleast 3 hours and if we leave now we will get the worst part of the day there...no way I'm going there in the blazing heat of the anoon...let's see kya hota hai...phew....I wonder padhai ka kay hoga...just realised how little I have accomplished in 3 weeks...OK I'm trying to scare myself but it ain't working....who cares yaar...I know I'll manage...besides Exam is just a measly little 4 letter word, right?

Such a Long Journey

Last night I saw "Such a Long Journey" - a film based on the novel by Rohinton Mistry. It's quite wierd - I have the book but never got around to reading it...it was a gift by my "book misplacing" cousin, several years back...and for some reason every time I started reading it, something more interesting or more imporatant from the POV of studies would come by and I'd pick that up and abandon this one! Last night Kunu called saying that the movie is being aired on Star Movies and I should watch it (he had borrowed the book from me to read) - so I sat down to see the film. It was OK - I wouldn't rate it very high, but it was definitely worth a watch for the way Bombay in the 1970s has been depicted, and also for the actors - the star cast includes Roshan Seth, Naseruddin Shah, Om Puri, Soni Razdan, Pearl Padamsee, Ranjit Choudhary among others...

What I found worth discussing was how ironic it is that a film about Bombay, has been funded by the Canadian government...ofcourse it isn't too surprising, considering that Mistry has been in Canada since the 1970s and is funded by the Canadian govt in his writing ventures...while I was in Magdeburg I got into an argument with a prof about Mistry. He ofcourse took Mistry's representation of Mumbai and the Parsis as very realistic and accurate, whereas I felt it was highly debatable since Mistry hasn't lived in India for several decades now and can't really be called a true representative in any sense. Nevertheless I did read his short stories entitled "Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag" and found them interesting, though very quaint and prone to stereotyping the Parsi ways of living.

Review of Mistry's Works

Perfect Hostess?

The dinner went well....pretty darn good infact. Hana, Hardo and Saima came early at 4 pm, coz Hardo couldnt stay for dinner (he had other plans) and Hana wanted to shop some more! Anyways after Hardo left, we went shopping with Hana - and then to Cafe Coffee Day where we had the poor waiter in knots coz of our antics!! Headed back home to get ready for dinner, and then waited for the others to arrive. They finally came at around 8.15...after quite alot of adventures in finding the place...and well after that it was cool. Conversation flowed freely and everyone had a good time...food was lapped up as well...we hardly have any left-overs which is such a relief....always a pain to finish party left-overs!

They left at midnight...Hana and Saima left earlier, but that's coz Hana wasn't well and Saima had to get home as well...anyways...was so exhausted yesterday....and today gotta focus again...always have to get back on track eh!

Check Out The Photos

Geetanjali Bheja Fry

Just spent over an hour trying to put ALL my notes in order, so I know what I have, what I don't, what more I ned, and how much I need to work in which area...and just that exercise has exhausted me...ofcourse after this morning's chat session with my jija who's favourite hobby is making "Geetanjali Bheja Fry" my brain was already at half at its horse power limit !! LOL!!! Ironically he's my favourite jija, the only jija I really talk to and what I would list as ideal husband maal!!
Anyways back to the point, I am glad I have adequate info, the prob ofcourse is now organising so that all the scattered info makes sense and is useful..and ofcourse reading some of that HUGE amount of material I have got for New Lit Background....that truly scares me...I have more info than I need, and don't even know how and where to begin formulating my notes from an exam POV! Am so screwed in that department...only lord can intervene to help...or Dr.Bharucha, who as Hana would say is my God! Goes a bit far, but she could truly be God in this case if she were to descend on my humble abode and make sense of that huge pile of notes and photocopies of various texts I have.

Was very testy for the last 2 days, for reasons obvious enough to even a blind bat...and got thinking on the most bizarre lines...bizarre coz I'm a long way from this, but yet wondered what I'd make of my husband when I'm pregnant...with hormones like mine, I'll probably have him ruing the day he impregnated me! OK...that truly looks bizarre now that it's typed and on the screen...so tempted to delete it, but I think I'm gonna leave it just for the kicks! :)

Intelligence Test

A friend sent me this multiple intelligence test and I found it damn cool....here's what it said about me:

Your Personal Evaluation : The Seven Intelligence Areas

Linguistic: 7

Logical-Mathematical: 6

Spatial: 8

Bodily-Kinesthetic: 7

Musical: 5

Interpersonal: 4

Intrapersonal: 9

A Short Definition of your Highest Score :
Intrapersonal - the ability to assess one's own strengths, weaknesses, talents, and interests and use them to set goals, to understand oneself to be of service to others, to form and develop concepts and theories based on an examination of oneself, and to reflect on one's inner moods, intuitions, and temperament and to use them to create or express a personal view. Possible vocations that use the intrapersonal intelligence include planner, small business owner, psychologist, artist, religious leader, and writer.

If you wanna check out what it says about you here's where you go:

Intelligence Test

On a diff note, life seems to be running on two tracks simultaneously - on one track I'm like happy, content and generally pleased with the way things are progressing, but on the other track I'm about as happy with life as one is when stung by a bee! LOL, talk about confused! Invited my friends over for dinner on Saturday...looking forward to it and hope it goes off as planned. With my luck at organising soirees I'm now terribly scared of the results!! LOL!! Time shall tell....

Ditzy blond?

Tum ti ti da da da......blame it on the rain....yeah yeah!!! :)

Yeah well study fever's on..kinda,ok? I'm not one of those ppl who goes into this whole "Exams are here...HALT LIFE...cease to happen till exams pass"...it's just that I study daily, and well am a bit more serious...but everything else goes on as usual....yeps one thng that does change ofcourse is the amount of old music I haul outta the cupboards and am listening to like ALOT!! So here I am listening to stuff i was crazy about as a kid, coz that's what truly puts me in the study mood and keeps me attentive...sounds bizarre? Well that's my middle name remember? Muhahaha!!! Anywaysssss....so today I spent like the whole day with Hana. She called saying she's free all day so we made some plans, then went for shopping...she got bags, cushion covers and a skirt from Reeth which is like opp my building...anyways saw enough maal to dip into my parent's tijori! LOL!!! Later we just crashed at my place...shopping can be tiring you know! LOL! Jeez do I sound like a ditzy blond or what??? Like I care, those who know, know what I am...and that's what makes the diff at the end of the day right?

Hmmm..should get back and study some...no AF for a change coz its Mahashivratri...so gonna experience the joys of studying in the eveg. Joys yeah right...I torture you any more... :)

"Love"ly Thoughts

Just hit me that I didn't comment on the Day of Love -

St Valentine's Day

- The day passed by without me realising it this time, probably coz I was at Saima's place and we were the least bit interested in it, so didn't even stray towards that kinda topic in all our myraid discussions. Plus her area isn't really full of the kinda shops that make it impossible to ignore the day. It dawned on me that it was St Valentine's Day when I was in the bus on my way home and kept passing ricks with coochie-cooing couples occupying just one half of the seat...after the third rick, it hit me right in the middle of my phased out mind!! LOL!!

Then yesterday Annika and Hana wanted to know if I got anything - card, gift, call or more on Saturday night...and I'm like No...and then they asked if I was expecting anything and I replied, Good heavens NO - Annika was a bit surprised I think coz I've told her I'm very romantic inside all my practical sensible exterior....(which had surprised me coz I thought it was obvious to everyone but well it wasn't to her)...and well...got me thinking...I'm pretty sure at some time of my adolescence I must have wanted a guy to make the day special for me, though thankfully I don't remember any such embarrassing desires ( Amnesia can be a blessing at times, eh?), but frankly today I'd rather just be loved moderately and faithfully through-out the year rather than just crazily and exorbitantly on ONE day in the year so I could tell a bunch of giggling women how cute my Mr.Right is!! Provided there is one....

Got a forward today on Valentine's Day - one of those typical "We guys have been conned into this and it's nothing but a way of emptying our wallets" and I'm thinking of the hundreds of ad execs who market this day and are basically very very male and would stand up to defend their masculinity...and I'm thinking, so who tells you to anyways...I think the woman-bashing is getting really juvenile now, what say? Let's face it, the guys enjoy being silly just as much as the girls like it, so why place the blame on the girls?

Reminded me also of the "Big Fight" on NDTV this weekend, where one of the panelists argued that its OK to wear trousers coz this was imported from the West hundreds of years ago, but Valentine's Day corrupts Indian culture (an essentialist view of things obviously) coz it's been imported just a few years ago...I haven't heard a wierder justification!!!

In class today while analysing one of those short stories we got talking on this...snippets of the discussion:
- Why do we 'fall' in love...shouldn't one 'rise' in love? (No pun intended!!!)
- How can one claim to 'completely' understand one's beloved, when one hasn't even completely understood oneself?
- The importance of being "in love" today - and how the whole concept of love is so screwed up today....and I wonder if i know what it is...I did and still believe I have some foggy notion; to me, it' a state of content being with someone, having accepted his shadows and lightness, strengths and weakness and accepted that you have your share of them as well...but well have pretty much lost those idealistic notions of the grandeur of love and all that bullshit...been there, seen it, and now know the pitt-falls of the trap??? Ah well...think what you like...I ain't saying no more...

But before I go, my friend had posted this on her blog and I couldn't resist stealing it...I think she's caught it marvellously:

Total TP for a Change

Itched to do something that could only be classified as mindless TP so here it is,

What's Your Style? Find out @ She's Crafty
"You're a true nature chick who loves the outdoors. Because you're always running from activity to activity, you have zero time for a full, fussy face of makeup. Instead, you want to be able to hop out of the shower, pull your hair into a ponytail, slap on some sunscreen, and go. Just make sure that your laid-back, all-things-natural attitude doesn't lead to you become lazy -even on-the-go girls need to glam themselves up sometimes! "

OK...I'm still trying to get over that I'm doing this, so don't rub it in you hear me?

Busy Bee Me...zzzzzzzz

Jeez I can't believe I haven't blogged since Thursday....on second thoughts....I've just been into my inbox to see if there's any worthwhile mail to read and signed out immediately, so its hardly surprising....been a busy bee lately...with a social calendar that was full to its seams and forced me to make excuses to get some time off to relax and unwind, which is what weekends are meant to be for, not for running ard town till your looking like a a piece of dish-washing rag!

So anyways Friday passed in Veveina's lecture on Australian lit (yeah its happening at the fag end of the semester and I cudn't be unhappier about it, but one doesn't mind hauling one's buttt all the way to the Univ coz she is a good teacher, unlike some others for whom I simply refuse to waste my time, energy and commuting money!)...and then I bumped into Hana and Annika who were on campus for some lectures with the Socio profs...ended up having lunch with them...

Saturday, Saima had invited us over for lunch - that's Annika, Hana, Metschild, Hardo and me....spent the day at her place, had some amazing food (the phirni was by far the best - I had 3 bowls of it...muhahah!)....she was showing them the "garara" she wore for her elder sister's wedding and Hana (who's like excited about everything 'Indian') tried it on - I ended up being persuaded to try on aunty's wedding garara, by Hardo who felt the "colour was made for Geet"...was feeling soooooooooo thoroughly embarassed...luckily the outfit was not very typical wedding maal...only the dupatta was heavy and that was packed away, so I didn't look like a bride on her way to the slaughter house, though I did look might uncomortable! looking back on it...silly fun! Had to make an excuse to get out of going to a Kala Ghoda concert, coz I was feeling tired and wanted to return home and relax.

Sunday I took Annika, Hana and Dr.Wiemann over to Dr.Bharucha's place for lunch - it was fun, as expected. But by the time I left Annika at the bus stop (she came over for a while after Dr.B's just to see my place and well spend a lil more time with me!) I was like...dead tired. Dunno how I forced myself to study a bit....

Luckily today was the last lecture...it was with Veveina again...short stories...a terrible collection so the lec wound up fast, as there was nothing she could comment on....I mean we just skipped one of them coz it was SOOOO bad! The only decent story was Peter Carey's "Do you love me?" - with a lotsa magic realism and elements of the abusrd in it, it was interesting to read and analyse...the rest in my opinion belong in a Cosmpolitan, at the most are meant for light reading, not for MA level studying - even "Buddha of Suburbia" last year was more 'serious' lit than this stuff, and if you've read BOS you know what I'm talking of ...I was stunned when I got through BOS and still can't figure out why it's been put on the MA syllabus!!!

Blah Blah and Blah...

Well dinner went well yesterday..Mrs Metzger seems tio have fallen in love with Mumbai - I'd taken her to BOmbay Stores and she went back with her "man" yesterday and made him blow up a HUGE amount of money!! Hehehe...plus she loved the way we live....she insisted on going around our area before dinner last night...went all ga-ga at the vegetable vendors etc...quite amusing actually!!! Anyways...that's behind us now...
Now today I hope to begin studying again...have suspended studies since Sunday and feeling quite bad about it - the Exam time table is out and here I am vella as ever... and incapable of any "exam fever/nervous breakdowns/traumatic tensions" !! Had to prioritise my studies as against meeting Annika and Hana, which kinda pains but well you gotta do what you gotta do! Will be meeting them on Sat and Sun anyways...until then I must try and organise stuff and get myself into the right mood to study...tough task eh? LOL!!
On a diff note, this morning I was surfing channels and stumbled onto "Mr and Mrs Iyer" on the cable movie channel - was quite delighted specially since it was on my favourite scene - the one where 'Mani' (Rahul Bose, in a very yummy avataar) tells a group of giggling college girls about their honeymoon in the forests of Kerala, the tree-house et al...the scene when they cross a village that had been destroyed by the opposite community and how they discover a child in the midst of burning huts...and the next scene in the guest house when they witness a massacre, and 'Mani' comforts 'Meenakshi' (I still can't get over how well Konkana acted as a South Indian!)...am so glad I saw the movie...all thanks to Kunu baba, ofcourse!!! Probably wouldn't have caught it first day first show if it hadn't been for his craze for the mother-daughter duo of Aparna and Konkana Sen, and have seen it several times since then on TV!! Another MUST WATCH!!!

Germans Pouring Out of my Ears!!!

Ola....gosh I feel like I have Germans pouring outta my ears...LOL!! No I'm just kidding - on Monday I ended up going back to the Atma Darshan Ashram. After seeing their rooms, Saima and I took them to Mocha - and guess how we went there! Annika insisted we take the BEST - so we got into a crowded 422, the likes of which only a seasoned Mumbai-ite would get into!! I was totally amazed that Annika insisted they do this on the first day itself, and that they managed so well - I know Mumbai-ites who would never get into that crowded a bus, and well some more who've never travelled in a bus...LOL!!! Anyways we got down at Bhabha Hospital and walked down Hill Road to Mocha, so that they got a good idea of what that area feels like with all the street shopping, crazy amount of people, chaotic traffic et al! Mocha was bizarre - I think they've shifted the experienced staff to juhu...they were toally inept, forgetting our order, confusing it up, and getting my Currant cooler, like an hour after we placed the order and I asked them thrice what exactly they are doing with the currants and how long will they cool them! Gah...anyways they kinda liked it, so I hope meri naak kati nahi. I had to leave them for my AF classes at that time, but they went to Bandstand after that and then to the Crepe Station with one of Annika's friends whom they bumped into at Bandstand....

I had my expose in AF on Mon - it went pretty well. I got a good response for the topic and well I didn't refer to my notes even once, (thought that meant I forgot to say 2 things!), so Veeral was quite happy with me...ofcourse I had sent my expose to Pat for correction and it's come back full of red marks...so what you've read below is full of grammatical mistakes! *Sheesh!*

Yesterday I took dad's boss Dr.Metzger's wife around Mumbai...was with her all day, took her to Bombay Stores, Gateway, Malabar hill, Marine Drive, showed her the Oval Maidan, the District and High court buildings, the Fort Campus and Rajabai clock tower, before dropping her off at Taj Land's End and then heading back home for a quick bite....only to head back in the same direction (Bandra) for AF!!! Was so dead tired by the end...fell asleep rather early last night...today Dr M and his wife are coming for dinner....so am at home helping ma out with cooking, cleaning etc etc...must study a bit. Getting a bit worried now about all this vellagiri I have been doing, which is like not a very scholarly appraoch to exams...and well tho I'm not a scholar, I am a good estudent...so well...time to let the guilt rules over my vellagiri senses!!! LOL!!! Seriously tho, I must plan out carefully how I'll juggle my friends, AF and studies simultaneously- I'm glad my expose is over!!

They are here...FINALEMENT!!!

I'm so excited today...Annika and Hana are finally here!!! If you don't remember, here's a quick recap - at OvG Univ, they had this course running simultaenously in the Depts of English, Sociology and Politics, on the case of Modern India as seen in Dharavi. We had attended the classes in the Eng dept as "experts" (LOL!)..anyways the course was to culminate in a 3 week excursion to Mumbai, with some 5-6 people from each group....today they arrived...I had gone to the airport to pick them up...since there was total chaos of how to get to their guesthouse (there were 21 of them), we ended up taking ALL the bags in Suku's Bolero (he's truly har marz ki dawah) while the owners of the bags followed in ricks...quite interesting, considering we were following 1 rick that didn't know the way and we didn't either! Ended up making a wrong turn, and asking some people for directions, before we found the right way again....and this with Schnappy along with us for added maskari...muhahaha...ta dum ti dum...early morning exercise it was!! LOL!!! Anyways all said and done...me totally happy to meet Annika again... :)

Moving on or lingering in the past?

"Aicha aicha....aicha ecoute moi...aicha t'en vas pas"....hmmm...:) Feeling good in life generally...on Friday eveg I was feeling utterly depressed on my way back home from AF, and feeling that all-too familiar black hole engulf all positive emotions I have...scared as hell too, coz I had no one around me, as I did last time, to pull me out of that black hole...I'm glad it's gone...hopefully for good this time. I'm quite fed-up of dealing with this lingering bit of crap in my life...sometimes I wish I could turn back time and do things differently...but then I wonder what kinda person I'd be then? Coz all that i've gone through is definitely gone a long way in making me who I am today...and it's a pretty neat package right? LOL!! Ok there is definitely no remnant of Friday's depression!!! Muhahahaha....

Yesterday some of my classmates from MA had come over for lunch and to see my photographs from the trip - Madhavi, Deepa and Nazia - had a nice time with them! after they left I had more people coming to see my photographs..I should seriously do my album soon now...it's so embarassing to hand people this bunch of envelopes when they ask for my photographs of the trip!

Chalo gtg for breakfast now...mom says Sunday bfast doesn't comprise of internet!! LOL!!!

Mon Expose

Ok...I better explain myself before I launch into anything in French!!! For Niveau 3 in AF, one has to present a topic (Faire un expose) which has to be necessarily serious in nature, and lead to a discussion in class. So far we've had topics like Slums, Terrorism, Religious conversions, Euthanisia and Abortion. I shall be doing my 'expose' on Monday - my topic is Neo-Fascism...and well being me, I couldn't resist pasting it on my blog, even though I know many of you will comprehend next to nothing...

Neo-Le Fascisme

Bonsoir a tous!Au jourd'hui je vous parle au sujet de neo-le fascisme. Ce sujet m'interesse beaucoup et j'espere que ce vous interesse le meme.

En commencant, je vous explique qu'est ce que c'est 'fascisme.' C'est une forme de gouvernement comme communisme mais plus extremiste. C'est characterise par le controle complet des activites politique, economique, religieuses, culturales et sociales. Fascimese a origine avec Mussolini en 1919 apres la premiere guerre mondiale. Il etait influence par Napolean qui a eu le controle des publications dans son regime. Les Fascistes veulent etablir une societe de l'uniformite, sans des differences. Il ya beaucoup de persecution des minorites dans cette systeme. Les Nazis aussi sont les Fascistes, et vous savez comment ils ont tue les juifs pour etablir un pays des 'aryans' pures!

Depuis les dernieres 30 ans, neo-le fascisme a augemnte dans quelques groupes. En France il ya un homme politique, Jean Marie Le Pen, qui est tres fasciste. Il etait candidat pendant la derniere election presidentiel. Son solution pour le chomage et la pauvrete en France a compromise:

1. Reserver l'emploi pour les citoyens Francaises.

2. L'aid soicale seulement pour les citoyens Francaises

3. Interdire tous les immigrations et revoquer les permits des Algeriens et l'autres etrangers pour y habiter.

4. Arreter les immigres qui sont au chomage et leur exclusion.

Il aussi voulais revoquer le PACS (pacte civil de solidarite) qui donne les droits civil sans mariage. Cette action affectera beaucoup les gens, la plus les homosexuelles.

Si Le pen a gagne, beaucoup de Algeriens, qui ont y immigre apres l'independance de l'Algerie, sera au chomage. Le Pen voulait etablir une societe des vrais francaises! A cause de lui, il y avait de peur dans le scene internationale politique. Les gens a proteste avec les affiches : "Fascime nous tue. Touns Fascime"

Vous avez lu de la loi recent qui interdit les turbans, les echarpes etc dans les ecoles et les institutions publique? Moi, je pense que c'est une forme de fascisme parce que ce loi attaquer les minorites. Cette loi emporte le droit de pratiquer la religion comme on veut, s'habiller comme on desire! Est-ce que c'est bein etablir une societe uniforme?

En inde on peut voir ce facon de penser dans les mouvements comme Hindutva, les Shiv Seniks etc. A Mumbai, il y avait le mouvement d'exclure les gens qui ne sont pas Maharashtrians, qui ont immigre de l'autres etats pour le travail, base sur les rasions religieuses ou communs; c'est une formse de fascisme.

Moi j'ai peur de fascisme et je deteste ce facon de penser. D'apres moi, dans un age post-moderne, un age de globalisation quand le monde devient moins grand, nous avons besoin de tolerer les differences! que'est ce que vous pensez de ce sujet? Est-ce que c'est juste d'exclure les gens comme ca? Est-ce que c'est acceptable? Partagez votres avis avec moi!!!

Music Is My Porn

Been a long time since I have felt that way...it used to be my permanent MSN nickname at one time...and in the last few months I've gotten so out of touch with my music, it just ain't funny...wonder how I did without it..and why I let foreign influences dictate the stuff played at home...despite differences with others at home I always heard exactly what I wanted to, and well not that people went onto to satyagraha in protest or anything...clueless as to why I made so many compromises as far as my music is concerned...
Anyways today morning after a VERY looooooooong time I woke up early to study (partly coz Kunu threatened to stay up all night in order to give me a wake-up call if I didn't start waking up early to study!!!) and as is normal with me I put on the TV for some music...in those wee hours of the morning the music channels generally play classics...most of my favourites...so till 7 am I was listening to that...
It's been ages since I heard Madonna's 'I Remember' - my family is filled with Madonna fans...all my cousins were in their 20s when Madonna was the Queen of Pop, so I've grown up hearing her songs and can recognise most of them with just a single note...infact she is perhaps the only Western singer my mother also recognises by voice alone...she doesn't need a video and face to accompany the voice to say it's Madonna's song!!! Anyways...so as I was saying, oddly enough loyalty to Madonna is so deep that even though I'm not too fond of her newer stuff, I always give her a chance and end up getting accustomed to the new sounds (atleast), even if I don't fall in love with the song! The one I heard this morng was a big fav when it was released back in the early 90s, along with 'Rain'....
Later I was listening to my CDs of Oldies....songs like 'Doo wah diddy', 'Tell Laura I love her', 'Speedy gonzales', 'Georgy Girl', 'Summer Holiday', 'There's a kind of Hush', 'Smoke Gets in your eyes', 'Raindrops keep falling on my head', 'Rhythm of the Rain' etc etc...there's a medely running through my head even now...and i'm feeling so incredibly content I could almost let out a purr of a contented cat!!!

Study Habits?

Managed to study a bit yesterday evening, though I'm still not able to drag myself outta bed before 8 am...starting to feel like someone else is residing in me...I spoke to my school pal Amisha yesterday and she couldn't believe it when I told her I'm sleeping as late as 1 am and that I don't get up in the morning to study...I was famous in school for my "good" sleeping habits...LOL!! Germany seems to have ruined me...LOL! Seriously, I better get a hold of myself coz I only get mornings to study...I can never accomplish much in the day time, and evenings (my other golden study time) goes away in AF...again nights are out coz I never studied at night and now even if I want to, I'm too tired after getting back home from AF, making my calls, talking to my parents etc at home...no way that I can study after all that, unless under duress...even then, it would be mere pretense, which I've never done...as I would tell Amma as a kid...sure I'll take my books if you want me to study, but I'm just gonna be staring at them and flipping pages, so I might as well do as I please instead of wasting my time right? Was a truly stubborn kid and developed my own studying norms...now I seem to be developing new ones...I was complaining that my mom is probably the only mom in the world who doesn't push her child to study when exams are approaching...Pat came the reply, thats because she knows I'll just stick in my heels and make sure I don't study or else I will just push back!! What a reputation!!!Hahahaha!!!

Phased Out....

Gosh...for the last few days I've been sooooooooooo phased out, it's beginning to scare me now...I'm like vague, confused, say bizarre things that make no sense, use much more nonsensical words than I usually do...it's wierd!!! I'm feeling so odd these days...time flying past me, and me stuck in a limbo not being able to achieve anything...gick I'm not making any sense...might as well sleep...shit I just remembered stuff I had to do today...damn...ah well...

Random thoughts....

- Valentine's Day...it's never held much significance for me, so I don't spend much time thinking about it, except that it's obviously very materialised these days. I have nothing against the concept of the day...but it's silly the way people go into a tizzy about it and how they MUST express their "love" for the "special someone" in their life, ONLY on this day...but well each to it's own..as long as it doesn't affect me!!! What I do like about this day is the number and variety of flowers all florists stock! It's a sheer delight for me and a temptation difficult to resist, considering how much I love all flowers...anyways I ended up buying a bouquet of roses, to put in a vase at home, the other day, while going to AF. Only prob was the number of question I had to deal with - Is it your birthday? No. Your mother's birthday? No. Your friends? No. OH! Your boyfriend gave them to you? I didn't know I had one!! Then why the bouquet? Just like that?
LOL!!!
- Was passing by Riverdale on my way home from AF, as I do every day (this is a shop selling gifts,cards and bouquets and it is right next to my building so I can't avoid crossing it when I take the bus home!)...anyways, since Valentine's day is coming up it obviously has a lot of lowers...and bouquets of every type on display...one bouquet caught my attention...it was shaped like a heart (DUH!!), but that's not why it caught my attention. Instead of a bouquet, this was a wreath!! *Shudder* How can someone send their beloved a wreath of red roses on Valentine's day? And to top this, this wreath was circled with little red and yellow bulbs...gross?

Is the Indian Public Deteriorating?

This was what my mother and I were discussing yesterday afternoon...in the last few weeks, as anyone who'd read the newpapers would know, there have been a spate of railway accidents....before I left for Bhopal, I read about the man who was hit by an oncoming train because he was standing too close to the edge. While the paper condemned the driver for this incident, I think the man was more to blame - this whole thing about people being too stressed to follow rail-safety rules is absolute crap...who told him to stand at the edge of the platform - and if he was, couldn't fellow commuters have pulled him back? Or were they all blind?

The next incident was ofcourse one that hit national headlines, since it was the PMs grand nephew who got thrown off a train - animals is what I'd call the culprits. The same goes for the people who threw the man off the local train between Borivili and Kandivili, and the man who tried to throw acid on his girl friend but ended up harming other women in the train...all articles are pointing fingers at the railways for lack of safety...but, pray, enlighten me how the railway is supposed to ensure the safety of people who insit on crossing the tracks, when there are bridges; nsist on standing too close to the platform, despite all that common sense says and the many announcements; insist on throwing ppl off the train and acting like savages from the prehistoric age and not the post-modern thinking man....

And then I wonder if I can blame the West for thinking that India is still stuck in the dark ages and isn't a safe place to travel in...if news of this sort reaches them...sigh...a minority of idiots are responsible for the labelling of a majority of people!!! Ick!!!

Classy Punju wedding?

I blogged about my feelings towards loud and showy wedings just a few days back, so, when I heard this little bit on the radio this morning I was extremely amused! The RJ reported his friend's wedding and acc to him - despite being so loud, noisy and having "wholesale" dancing Punju weddings still have some degree of "class" as compared to the "crass" Sindhi weddings...I was all but rolling with laughter at that point, for more than 1 reason!!! He went on to describe how much he freaked out when he saw the irish coffee counter and better yet, the description on the Salad counter as " Salad counter with Ice carving statue" - ROTFLMAO!!!!!