The Vacation Irony

A couple of years ago I came across this quote about vacation.

“When all else fails, take a vacation.” 

But what if you wanted to take a vacation and all else fails? Well, that is exactly what happened to me.

After a dull year, I really needed a vacation. I had to get away from books and pump some positive energy into my life. While most of my trips are between Hyderabad and Bangalore, I needed something more this time. Few quick phone calls later, my sister, brother-in-law and I decided to take a 10-day trip to Kerala. This would be my second trip to Kerala in less than 2 years.  There is something very magical about that place; you can never get enough of it.

Tickets were booked and an itinerary was drawn. I was supposed to take a flight from Hyderabad to Trivandrum and my sister and brother-in-law who already left a couple of days earlier would pick me up from the airport. My flight was scheduled for 4 P.M.  from Hyderabad. My over cautious dad would always rush us when we are travelling. More often than not, this would lead to a lot of confusion and few angry exchanges. But this time, I was in control and planned everything to the tee. The airport is a 30 minute drive from my house. We decided to leave at 2 P.M considering all the traffic so that I would have enough time after reaching airport and as per the plan we conveniently reached the airport at 2:40 P.M.

 I saw that the check in at the Indigo counter has already started. When I gave my ticket, the pretty girl at the counter looked confused.  She looked at me and said, ‘Ma’am, the check in for this flight has been closed. The flight is about to take off in 15 minutes.’

‘How is that possible? The departure is at 4 P.M!’ I said with utter disbelief.

She pointed out the departure time on my ticket. It was at 15 hours. Damn the 24 hour format!

 I couldn't believe what had just happened to me. I could only think of my dad’s I told you so, my sister’s fury and all the lost money. I could feel the blood rush and my head throbbing.  I immediately called my dad who was still in the airport, to come back.  I ran from one airline to another, inquiring frantically about the next flight to Trivandrum. My only option was to take two connecting international flights. The first was from Hyderabad to Bangalore starting at 2 a.m and the next from Bangalore to Trivandrum at 8 a.m. I had to pay a little more than twice the amount I paid for my missed flight. On our way back home, my dad did not speak a word and I knew I am probably still not ready to plan a trip completely on my own.

It was 10:30 P.M and my dad wanted us to leave lest we miss this flight as well. I wanted to protest saying the flight would not depart for another 3.5 hours, but better sense prevailed and I remained silent. He dropped me off at the airport at 11 P.M and to my horror the flight was delayed by 2 hours. I called my dad again. He took my call and said ‘What now? There is no way you could have missed this flight as well!!’

When I told him that the flight was delayed, he said in a flat voice, ‘the next time I come to take you from the airport, it will be when you are returning from Trivandrum. Now go and explore the airport. It is beautiful’. Sigh!

I checked in my luggage and looked around the around the airport. It was indeed very beautiful but I was too tired and annoyed to enjoy it. It was pretty cold and the dry winter air blew across my face.   Three more hours to go and I couldn't wait for this nightmare of the day to get over. I took out a shawl and wrapped it around and decided to take a small nap. An hour later, I woke up to see few more people in my lounge. It was pretty quiet except for the occasional announcements. The T.V in the room was on mute and late night edition of news on NDTV was running. I noticed that my flight has been further delayed by an hour. Having lost all the excitement about the trip already, I just went to sleep. The light sleeper that I am, I kept waking up at regular intervals to check the time. Finally, the flight arrived at 5 in the morning. The only good thing about the whole trip so far was that I got a window seat. You are never too old for a window seat in a flight. Or for that matter anywhere.

It was still very dark outside and the well-lit city looked gorgeous.  The view was exceptional but my droopy eyes got the better of me as I spent the journey with another one of those little naps. The flight landed in Bangalore at 6:45 in the morning. I immediately collected my luggage and ran to the international departures to catch my connecting flight. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that this flight was delayed by 2 hours as well! Annoyed, frustrated and sleep deprived (yeah, all those silly naps were not enough) by now, I just sat in the lounge doing what I had been doing the whole day – waiting. I was little happy to see few familiar faces from my earlier Hyderabad flight. I went and sat next to an old couple and decided to strike a small conversation. I spoke to them for a while and went around looking for the costliest coffee I have ever had in my life. I had to pay Rs 97 for a cup of coffee but then I really needed one to stop myself from smashing the cameras of all those chirpy honeymoon couple who were talking ‘selfies’ at 7:30 in the morning, at an airport, that too!

I walked around for a while and came to the lounge. The old couple were taking a nap. I, pretty bored by then, thought would strike up a conversation with someone around. But none of them seemed interested in talking to a zombie-looking me. But, hey, at least I had sparrows for company. That brought me to a question, why were there so many sparrows in the Bangalore airport again?

An hour later, pizza hut opened to rescue the hungry me. I bought garlic bread, a small pizza and lemon tea. Just when I was about eat my garlic bread, an air hostess came and rushed us all into the flight. I had to stuff my mouth with all the things I bought and in the process burn my mouth completely before running into the flight. Though I was little sad for not being able to enjoy my pizza and garlic bread, I was happy to be in the flight after endless waiting. The excitement slowly started kicking in again as I was just a couple of hours away from finally starting my vacation. But, considering how my luck has been till then, it was extremely naive of me to think that it was all over. The flight developed a technical glitch and did not start for another hour. So, there I was, waiting again, only this time, in the flight.

27 hours, 2 delayed flights, unending waiting and a burnt mouth later, I finally reached Trivandrum. I kept my excitement down because I couldn't afford to jinx the vacation again. And you know who else had to wait endlessly as well? My sister and brother-in-law, who waited for over 4 hours in the Trivandrum airport to pick me up.

Well, after such a terrible start, it was only fair that I had an awesome vacation later and I did.

Moral of the story:

1) Just let your dad plan the trip for you. They do an awesome job.

2) Ban the 24 hour format.

3)  When you have such experiences, never start writing a blog post about it. Even before I could realise, I spent endless hours on this post, much like the start of my glorious vacation.

P.S. The picture was clicked at the Bangalore airport to kill some time. Seems like the man had similar vacation too.

The Train Stories.

For someone who claims to love travelling, I must say I haven't travelled much. Forget going out of the country I have not even been to the whole of South India to begin with. All said and done, whatever little travelling I have done so far, more often than not, I have done it alone. My parents get paranoid as hell every time I travel alone and insist I go in 2 AC or 3 AC.  

Every time I travel by train I hope I would meet some interesting people who would change my perspective about life or would give me some story which would probably become base for some book I intend to write. But the truth is such things never happen. Not in AC coaches at least. The reason being those closed windows which don’t let you hear the sounds of the running train or the hustle of railway stations and the curtains which are always drawn, making you invisible to the person who is sitting next to you. The excitement of seeing your fellow passengers soon fades away as M 25 is clued to his laptop, F 19 is lost in her cell or M 56 is snoring away to glory. (Yes, even if it is just 8 PM). 

While I understand there might be few of us who would want to read and not liked to be disturbed but how about we put that book aside, pack that laptop in, shut that phone for a while, look around, smile at people and strike a conversation? For all you know, the 'real' life might be fun and interesting too!

 And this is what happened when I did that. I helped a man reach his son who met with an accident.

A couple of months ago I was travelling from Hyderabad to Bangalore. After all the drama my family created when they came to drop me off at the station, I was more than happy to get to my berth. I plugged my charger, put my phone for charge, took out a book and went to the upper berth. I immediately drew the curtains off and marked my territory. But after a while the AC stopped working and the train halted at some random place for really long time. I got down and sat on the lower berth only to realise that the other passengers were fast asleep and it was only 10. I looked around and saw a man working. 'Is that a laptop?’ I asked, knowing clearly that it was not a very good question to ask to strike a conversation. He looked up and said 'yes' with a straight face and went back to working. I knew that was the end of the conversation with him. After a while he opened his food box and offered me some probably after realising that I have been staring at his food. I smiled and declined even though I could eat up the entire contents of that box. After a bit of talking we established that one of my classmates from college is married to his nephew. (God! the world is really a small place). He immediately took out his phone and dialled his nephew's number. Awkwardly I took the phone and spoke to her after god knows how long. I gave her my number and hung up. 

At around 1 in the night when I couldn’t sleep I took out my cell and saw few missed calls from some new number. It was from that classmate who was trying to reach that uncle but couldn't, to inform him that his son had met with an accident. I woke him up and gave him the phone. A gazillion worried calls later; he found that his son was doing okay. The next morning he thanked me for whatever little help I did and left.

Now, this might not be one of those life changing incidents, but I realised the 'train stories' we all look for, happen only when we open that curtain and say a little 'hello' to people around. So, next time when you are in a train, look around. Maybe you will find someone like me sitting across trying to make a conversation :)

Because he meant something to all of us!

It is just one of those days when I am finding it difficult to give shape to my thoughts through words. I do not know where to begin with because a feeling as overwhelming as this has never happened before. An exam in two days and a splitting headache would not be good enough reasons for not saying a good bye to this gentleman who has defined cricket for me and because of whom I started watching cricket.

I am a 90s child. All I heard while growing up was 'Cricket'. And with cricket came the word Sachin. I hated it when the only channel we had then-Doordarshan, showed some bunch of guys wearing white and playing a game all day. My cousins would not come out to play and I would not get to watch something of my choice.Initially, I never watched a cricket match because I wanted to. I just had to because I had no choice. I didn't know any other cricketer for a very long time because I never heard anyone talk about anyone else. I didn't know what a gully,mid on or long off was. I used to hear those guys in the commentary box saying different things about run rate,strike rate and bowling speed. It never made any sense to me. But I was still there, watching him move the ball to boundary while the country erupted with joy.And when he was at the crease, the country remained still. That's when I knew he is much more than 'just a player'. I didn't care if his straight drive was best in the world or how he lifted the ball. I just had to see him play.

 He started playing one month before I was born. He was my Super-man when I was a kid, a huge crush when I was a teenager and a man whom I respect immensely now. For the first 10-12 years of my life I watched him because I had to. And then, I watched him because I wanted to. That incident from the 1999 World Cup when he looked at the sky after scoring 140 of 101 against Kenya is etched in my memory. And that was the most defining moment for me from the world of cricket.  Then came the 2003 World Cup and that match against Pakistan. I remember it was a Maha Shiv Ratri and I prayed that I would stay awake all night if he made a century. A kind of prayer I am sure I would have never made even for my most important exam. He didn't score a century and I didn't think it was necessary for me to keep my promise. Call it  lame or stupidity but I knew I did it for him.I saw him reaching that 200 in Gwalior and smiled. I saw it coming sooner or later anyway. And when I saw him  live, playing  an IPL match, I couldn't have asked for more.

Yesterday when he retired, I didn't feel anything. I didn't want to accept it at first. I kept telling myself that I will still see him in test matches or an IPL match (yes, that's a solace too). But that sinking feeling refuses to go. Now, when I see a match being played, I know I ll never ask 'is sachin playing?' He has kept the country busy for two decades. And we have kept him busy too with the constant criticism and expectations which were humanly impossible to achieve.And yet he did. It is hard to let him go but then he needs the rest more than anyone. And will I stop watching cricket because he retired? No, because that is a sad way of looking at his retirement for me. It is something he loved the most and its the thing I love the most.  Now, let that man have some rest. Let him put his feet up and judge others. I am glad I was born in an age where I could see history being written.

Thank you Mr Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. You will be missed!

(Photo courtesy- Google images)

Learning to live with it..

I know its a decision I made. Every morning I wake up thinking about it and every night I go to bed hoping it does not happen again. But deep down I know there is no escape. Was it a decision made too early? Was I too naive thinking I can go through with it? Its not easy living with it. The feeling of being lost among 100 people around you is something I go through every day now.

"Accept it! wake up and face it! You paid for it!" is what they all say. But only I know what it takes to gather myself  and go ahead with it every day. I know there are many out there like me going through the same feeling. But then, we all know that in this journey we are alone. Its been over 3 months now and I am still learning to live with and accommodate it in my life. I will eventually make peace with it. Or maybe not.

What can I do? Early morning classes are a pain that way!

Look! I am writing again!!

I had to do this. I had to write something today. I don't even know the direction of where this post is going.Its just probably going to be a rant.So, if you already have enough people in your life who whine and can't get over themselves, then go ahead and read the post because you are used to such people anyway. And if you don't,  then go ahead and read because you cant miss out on such people!

I have always understood the little aspects of life fine and better when I gave them the shape of words. I generally have an opinion about everything. From Henri Rousseau's painting to why dogs bark so much in the night.So, writing is just a way of documenting my thoughts.I know they are no life changing thoughts nor something the future generations should know. But then, one day when I become famous (for what,I have no idea) and when people want to write my biography, they can start off with my blog.Each post on this blog is an outcome of some mood swing. I write when I am sad. I write when I am happy. But today, I am indifferent. I am neither happy nor sad (nor drunk) but still I want to write. Writing gives that kind of comfort which no friend or a movie or a sitcom can give.Okay fine. I get that, you get that I want to write.Lets move on,shall we?

This blog has been up for almost 6 years now. I was a silly teenager when I first started this. My first post was about my junior college followed by some heavy opinions on love,life and death. Wow! Funny, how I thought I understood the deeper aspects of these things even before I was out of my teens. That was the time when I didn't know the difference between crush and being in love. Having studied in an all girls' school for major part of my life, I have to say I had my first major crush pretty late. And when I realised the guy was already with someone,my heart broke.I could feel the world falling apart and life didn't make any sense any more.I gave up and never thought I could like a guy ever again. But then when I was told the girl 'dumped' him for some other guy,I could hear the birds singing,feel roses smiling and see cows standing on the middle of roads again! And I had my closure with that guy finally when he sent me a friend request on Orkut and later, on Facebook. #win.Oh,by the way, that guy absolutely has no idea even till now about the major crush I had on him. After all, teenage is all about how smartly you hide the blush on your face when you see your crush walking towards you.No?

Coming back,I have come a long way since I started this blog. When I read my posts, I can see my that phrase of life in them.This blog stands as a testimony for my major growing years. It saw me falling in and out of love with life,struggling to make an identity and finally discovering myself.Well, the last one is still in process, but nevertheless. This blog is like that best friend with whom you don't really talk regularly but you always know you can get back when you need.

I am not promising that I will write regularly, but I am sure I cant stay away from writing for too long!

Them, us and the exam hall!

After writing so many exams, I have gained enough knowledge to present my thesis about the Lords of the exam hall- THE INVIGILATORS! Well yes, you may be the President of India, but on the day you give your exam, you are completely at the mercy of these people. It’s an easy job you say? Well, how would you like to spend some 3 hours in a room full of random people, doing nothing but stare into white papers, dirty walls, an old Timex watch and a cow gazing outside the window? Oh wait! Something inside just screamed “Is that not what YOU do in exam hall too?”. Ah! Well of course! Apart from all that, I also observe the invigilators. They are completely under rated comedians of our society! Yes, I understand most of you would not agree with me using the word ‘comedians’, more so because they generally don’t let you write those 2-3 words after the final bell rings! And that is NOT funny. Invigilators are very interesting people to observe. Sometimes, 3 hours feel way too less for observing them (of course it’s a different issue when you know nothing in the paper).Here are the different types of invigilators that I have observed in my long experience of sitting idle in exam halls.

1)  The I-am-so-smart one: This kind of invigilator thinks he is extremely smart for the humble human kind. Generally, his moves are something like this:

Step 1- Slowly walks to the entrance of the class room and stands at the door for a while. Pretends like he does not really care about us copying.

Step 2- A few minutes later, he walks out of the class room casually. This is when we get all excited and start peeping into our neighbour’s papers. Boom! Our Mr Smarty Pants is peeping from the window!

Step3- Catches you and gives you ‘was I too smart for your liking’ look.

2) The Detonator: He is invariably the most annoying of the lot. He bosses around trying to create ‘fear’. He obviously believes that the exam hall is his territory and people taking the exam are at his mercy. There was one time when an invigilator actually said "there are two ways in which you can leave the hall in less than 3 hours...1. You finish your paper early 2. You copy and I'll throw you out". Really? Wow! Also, he reads out every instruction which is already given in the paper and announces the time left every half an hour! All you can say is ‘die!’

3) The bored soul:  This kind of invigilator bothers you the least. He comes, gives the question papers and sits in some corner. If the invigilator is below the age of 30, he is generally seen meddling with the cell phone and if he is above 30, you generally see him signing additional sheets. After he is done doing that, he orders a chai , and has a chat with the other invigilators who also mostly fall under same category. Every now and then he peeps into the class and makes sure everything is fine. I always wonder, we are the ones writing exam, we do all the hard work and he gets to have chai! Talk about equality I say!

4) The Over friendly one: This one is generally a newbie in school/college and wants to impress the students. So, when he catches you copying, he not only does not say anything but also smiles at you (sometimes winks). He even helps you in the exam with answers. It is sometimes awkward when you know the answer he told you is wrong and you can’t do anything about it but write it down (true story!). He generally goes to the smarty of the class, looks into his paper and gives away the answers to his ‘favourite’ lot, earning the wrath of the smarty. (Again, true story) (No, I am not the smarty I am talking about!). After he is done with the ‘social service’ he goes around the class, makes himself comfortable on the bench where there is only one kid sitting and strikes a conversation.  Poor kid!

5) The Peeper :   He comes, stands next to you and peeps into your paper. He reads your answer and gives you the ‘look’. The moment he stands next to you, you stop writing and find it extremely difficult to even remember your own name!  Still, our Peeper will never take a hint!  He is mostly the one who teaches you that particular subject. It is unofficially ‘the end’ of your paper then.

6) The Love Birds:  All of us surly must have heard of all those love stories that happen in school and college. If they are invigilating in the same floor, then its a win-win for everyone! :P . Don’t we just love them!

7)Tie your papers amma :  For them, it doesn’t matter if you have finished your paper or not or if it is your life or death case , all they care is if you have ‘tied your papers’ or not!  We might be writing that one answer that could help us clear our exam! But heck! Why would they care? They obviously believe tying the papers is the only thing that can save our lives! And we are left with nothing but thinking Last 15 minutes ki kimat tum kya jaano invigilator babu!

So, have I missed any kind here? Personally, ‘the bored soul’ is my favourite! Tell me yours! J

  

Can't think of a proper title!

This one is a warm up post. I will come up few more meaningless rants about life very soon (that's the plan at least, for now). It is taking forever for me to come up with one decent line. That's what happens when you don't write for long. And why have I not written all these days? That's a loonng story!I ll try and sum it up in one word 'LAZINESS'. I am one of those optimistic people who totally believes that there are actually people out there who read my blog. And hence this long explanation. Moving on..

# I love 2011! It is going to go down as one of the best years of my life!Considering how awesome life has been this year, there should have been more posts, but I was busy being  lazy.

# When I told the same thing to my friend, she asked if I 'fell in love'. Now why exactly would you relate those two? And 'fell in love' with what?

# This year I found my lost love for reading books.And yes, it feels brilliant!
Of all the books I have read this year, the two books of 'The Shiva trilogy' take the cake. Now, I don't really know the significance of these books from literature point of view, but they sure seem to have answered some of my questions about mythology. I know it's all fiction, but the reasoning given in the books seems very true or at least I wish they were true.

# The biggest disappointment, I must say, has been 'Six suspects'. It is like taking you to the 27th floor of building to show some beautiful landscape, only to throw you down from there! Makes sense?no? never mind.Even the book was like that.

# I was planning on starting a blog in which I would review the books I have read. I will probably do it on the day the science guys find some pill to kill laziness.

# My classes start from tomorrow. The geek inside me is so excited!

# Online shopping is so addictive. It is worse than drugs!

# By the way, did I mention I am done with my exams? Oh wait! I have another set waiting in December!

# Talking of December, I think it's the best month of the year! The weather is perfect(in Hyderabad that is), exams are done, Christmas is around, people everywhere are happy waiting for  new year to start. Apart from all that, my happy birthday is also in this month!!

# Here is the wishlist of books that I want to read in 2012. I did say my birthday is around right? (well, when Jimmy Wales can do it, why can't I?)

# Any tip on how to get rid of cold in less that 24 hours?

# Okay now it's time for me to go and get busy with doing nothing.

Crimson Love

Not very long ago, I was lying in a closed dark room with my friends. They were all from different countries and each of them had their own stories to tell. I had mine too. All of us waited in that room for someone to come and take us along with them and spoke silently to each other. I wanted to travel, see the world and be with different kinds of people, just like how my friends did. 

One day, a man walked into the room. He lifted and held me tight. 'Ouch!', I thought. He looked at me with pride and said, "Gorgeous! You are going to fetch me handsome money some day!" He made me sit on a chair and left the room. My friends said they agreed. I was quiet attractive and definitely stood out. I wore a beautiful dress which was a splash of crimson red, yellow and orange which made me look even better. I was the talk of the town and everyone wanted to own me. I was a mystery and people wanted to know more about me. 

A few days later, the man walked in again. Every time he came in, he took one of us along with him.  I had never seen him this happy before. Not even when he sold my friend Emma. They said she fetched him a lot of money and made him rich. I was sitting on the same chair where he left me last time, staring at him. He lifted me, kissed me on my head and smiled. He immediately took me out of the room. After a long time I had seen so much light. The warmth from the sun rays felt good. I knew the time has come for me to leave this place and my friends. I was happy that, finally I was going to be in the real world. But the thought of leaving my friends made me sad. I neither knew the person who was going to buy me nor the life I was going to have. I wondered if I would be treated like a precious possession or just get thrown away in some corner of the house after a while, as was the case with a lot of my friends. I  loathed the thought that people these days don't care much about us. There was a time when we were treated with great respect. I have heard that some of my ancestors were even worshipped. But well, times have changed and so has our role.

Coming back, when I reached the desk, I saw a handsome young man, probably in his mid 20s. He paid the amount and seemed very excited to take me along. He then took out a small piece of cloth and wiped my face. It had a nice smell to it. He made me sit next to him in the car, smiled at me and drove away. I think it was that dimpled smile that made me fall in love with him.  When we entered the house, his mother seemed quiet unhappy about him bringing me to the house. She scolded him for wasting money on me. He didn’t care a bit and took me to his room. I loved the fact that he stood by me.  I knew we would share a very special bond in the coming few days. He left me on his bed and went away. I waited and waited for him staring at the blank walls. His mother entered the room a couple of times but completely ignored me. It didn’t bother me anyway. I knew she would like me eventually.

After a long wait he came back. My happiness knew no bounds. He seemed pretty relaxed and at peace. He was in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. That combination, I must tell you, can never go wrong. He brushed aside a couple of curls that were falling on his forehead and sat opposite to me. After few hitches, we got to talking. Or rather, I was talking and he was just staring at me. His enthusiasm and eagerness to meet me every day after his work, his undivided attention made me fall in love with him even more. He took me everywhere he went and flaunted with great pride. He respected me and took good care of me, something which I always wanted. I knew ours was not going to be a lifelong relationship.  And yet I had a hope that he would not let me go and always keep me by his side. Over the next few days, I told him what I was all about. He never spoke much, except reacting to my stories in mono syllabic sounds. I made him laugh with my witty one liners. I had so much to tell him. He loved me because I made him forget all his sorrows and took him to a new imaginary world. I thanked my father for passing on his great sense of humour to me.  He said one day I will become very famous because of my ability to make people laugh. Slowly, my Mr. Handsome and I got closer. On the days he came back tired from office, I would just lie down next to him silently.  I knew he would make up for it the next morning.

After weeks of being together, I could sense our relationship was coming to an end. Now, it was just the matter of few days before it actually happens. We both knew that one day it would all be over. We needed to move on. He had a life beyond me.

A couple of days later, I heard him talking over the phone about sending me over to his friend’s place. I hated him for doing that. I sat next to him with a billion thoughts ringing in my head.  How can he do this to me? Break ups are really hard. This one was no different. He promised he would always love me but deep down I knew someone will soon take my place. He would never touch me again. But, wait, he loves me! So, probably he will still take me back from his friend and take good care of me. After all, we have been such good friends. I wanted to yell, please don’t send me. But I couldn’t. My train of thoughts was interrupted when his friend came in. My guy told him several times to take good care of me and send me back as soon as possible. I was right. He did love me a lot! His friend laughed and said, “Oh dude! It’s just a book!!”

Yes, I am book and I had a love story too. After all, its only words and words are all I have to take your heart away!

Get a life!!

Few months back I was attending Costing and Financial Management classes for my group 2 of PCC. These classes used to start at 6 in the morning and hence the break at 8:30 was the only interesting part of the whole lecture. So, one day, when the break was given, I rushed out to have some dosa or chai. And then something horrible happened! There she was..Pochamma(name changed :P) coming out of an opposite class room where final classes were being held. And she was not alone-Alivelu was with her too! Wow!my day could not get better I thought. I immediately turned to go back to my class room hoping they have not seen me. But damn! I was late! Pochamma shouts my name and this is what happened after that-

Poch : haaaiii Keerthiii!! howww are you re??So many days over I didn't see you only!

Me : Hey! am good!how are you? yes! long time!Have not see you after inter!! and hey Alivelu!nice to see you too!

Alivelu : You look very different!!

Me : good different or bad different??

Alivelu : I dunno re! you look really nice now! What you had makeover aaa??

Me : hehe..yeah I have changed a bit since inter..

Poch : you are still attending PCC class aa?? You wrote CPT before us no?

Me : well yeah..I have not been lucky since then.

Poch: But you used to study well only no in inter? what happened now?

Me: I dunno! **smiling**

Alivelu: Poch and I taking final classes. We are giving our attempt this may. You are still giving your PCC aaa? that's why we didn't find you any of the final classes.

Me : Oh nice! good luck! **still smiling**

Alivelu : you also best of luck re. I hope you clear off PCC soon. It is easy only na?why you are taking so long?

Me : ** still managing to smile** thank you. I will go now. My class will be starting.

Poch: give me your number. I will call you.We will talk!

Me: I have your number..I will give you a missed call..chalo bye!

Alivelu and Poch : byeee!!!

Pretty awkward conversation right? Let me give you some background.

Back in intermediate, I could never stand Alivelu and Pochamma (turns out,even after 4 years, I cant stand them). They were those nerdy girls who wouldn't talk to you if you get more marks than they did! They will take your answer sheets, compare your answers with their answers and question the lecturer about the marks given to you! not theirs but YOURS!! They are also that type who come to you before exam and say "I didn't study anything re!!i don't know what I am going to write today! I will puccaa fail!" And after exam, they will come to you and say "I told you no I will fail?I am going to fail!you must have written well only..you studied well no" and when results are announced, they pass! not just passing, they get in 90s or even top the class! And then they come and give you explanation! "I dunno how I got these many marks re!I am only so surprised yaar!" They may even kill you, if you wish them 'best of luck' before the exam. The completely believe it will 'off' their luck!!!

Okay, first of all no one cares how you are going to write your exam! not at least me! And if I get more marks than you, then probably I did write my exam better than you! It is possible you know? And you tell the same stuff before every exam..Don't you think I would have figured out what an irritating liar you are!Did I ever give you any vibes showing I was interested in your marks or how you study or how you just get lucky with your marks?What do you want to prove anyway? Do you want me to believe that you are so cool that you just get your marks without studying? Are you seriously kidding me? The whole college knows how much you study even for a small class test! So stop that 'i dint study anything' stuff! We are not buying and and you are not the first of kind that we are seeing!And what is with your 'off' luck?? your years of slogging did not give you the difference between 'of' and 'off'??I just have one thing to say to people like you-GET A LIFE!

And about that conversation, seriously! What was with those pity looks!! I don't need them! I am sure I have made your day when I said I was attending PCC class! you are going to write final and knowing you two, I am sure you might as well clear it in first attempt..So good for you! Sure you have cleared you PCC and I know I will too! I at least had life all these years! I totally respect academic success you got in your lives. I would have respected you too if only you got them by not showing others down! And dear Pochamma, you might want to know that a lot of our college people remember you for your god forbid taste in guys and eye hurting choice of dresses! And Alivelu, no one even knew that you existed in that college! So, here is to hoping that you both become better people and not judge people with their marks!Amen!

No offense to anyone..I just had to let all this out of my head! And I have nothing against people who take their studies seriously. Its only with people who treat people with bad academic records like dirt!

P.S. I never gave a missed call to Pochamma. I never had her number in the first place ;)

They just happen!

Something strange happened today. I have never been a tantrum throwing, loud,shopoholic,indecisive kind of girl. I always knew what I wanted and I have a knack of getting things done without much fuss. I plan everything so that there is 0% error. Most often or not, things do go according to my plan. But there are two things I can never plan out properly- Studies and relationships. I know these are two most important things in life, where you actually got to plan and execute them to perfection. But somehow these two things never seem to work the way i want them to!

Firstly, lets see how career planning never happened to me..All I knew was that, mathematics is not for me. So, I decided, I would probably do medicine or something. Then in 10Th,I realised even physics is not for me. And hence, the only choice I had was to do commerce. I jumped into it not knowing what next. I went around telling people I want to do civils. But I knew it would take a while before I am actually ready for it. In the mean time, I heard a few of my friends were going to do CA. And I thought, "wow! that sounds cool! may be I should do it too!". And I started preparing for it. When I cleared the first level without much effort, I thought maybe I am meant for this..Its been 4 years since all this happened and I am still struggling to clear level 2.

2007-Indian cricket team was kicked out of WC and I cleared my entrance exam

2011-Indian cricket team wins the WC and not very long before I get kicked out by CA institute people for the answers i write in exams!

Coming to relationships..This is the most complicated thing which even a 91 year old cant define forget a 21 year old like me. I sit and try to figure out what exactly happened in all the relations i had with people, few of which went horribly wrong and few sweetly right. As they say, life is what happens to you when you are planning it, i feel relationships are what happen to you when you are planning..err..nothing. You never know when you have fallen in love with a person, when you started being empathetic with the person whom you never really liked, when a new friend happened and when you have fallen apart. I never knew when a normal 'hi-bye' friend with whom, I was trying to set my friend up with, became my best friend and when have I become the person who cant see eye to eye with the girl,who was once considered to be my soul sister.

I know these are not the things which happen only to me. It just bugs me that I have no control over the most important things in my life. I don't know anything when it comes to what I want to do in life and what to do with people who happen to me! All I know is, I was not supposed to write this in this post and was actually supposed to write about buying the book of Highway on my plate. But writing this seemed more appropriate. Maybe that's how it is. You just do what you feel is right and not go around planning every detail of your life! And about that strange thing that happened today, I shall post it next time.

P.S. I felt like Carrie Bradshaw from SATC when I was talking about relationships :P :P

:)

Alright!

Here I am again..Blogging seems to be one of the scariest things these days. I dont want to crib about the severe writer's block or something. Its just that,I have lost all interest in writing! It sounds and feels extremely weird because I have always been fond of writing. I tried so many things to get the interest back but nothing worked. I started reading a lot of books and blogs hoping for some kind of motivation but all in vain! When my friends ask me about my blog, I really have nothing to say. I have not posted something substantial in months now. Not like things are not happening around me! In fact 2011, so far has been the most happening year with me finally clearing a group in my CA exams, India winning WC, sister getting married blah blah blah..now if i think about it,maybe its just complete lack of enthusiasm or confidence coupled with a dose of laziness and exams.

All things said and done, I am really looking forward to this year. With 2010 being an extremely crappy year, I can only hope 2011 to be good. Maybe more of laughter and less of tears, more of fun and less of exams and of course more of blogging and less of procrastinating. I know I am little too late..but chalta! :)

How do you feel when you realise that, the one person you admired,adored and looked up to all your life is not the person who you thought that person was?? everything seems to be a sham and you are stumped. You wonder about your own identity because you know, you are who that person made you. Was that person always like that? or did that person change?Why do people change? Should people change? how far is the change good? is it good at all?Should we stop complaining about other changing and instead change ourselves?Are people actually changing or are you just over reacting? What happened to the morals taught in school?Should there be new set of morals for the present generations?

Sharukh,sex and IIT..

Born in a state where people cant look beyond engineering/medicine as career option and with a sibling who has done her graduation from IIT, it was beyond imagination for people when I said I want to opt for commerce. Things like 'have you gone crazy?? what will you do with commerce?will you be a typist?? why cant you do IIT as well like your sister and build a nice career for yourself? ' and so on..Well, I can't do much except feel sorry for people with such sad attitude.

The craze for engineering has been so huge that it has become an unsaid norm for kids to opt for it without even thinking about the existence of the other courses. And the result? A.P has been manufacturing lacs of B.TECH graduates every

year. It does not stop there. This B.TECH degree is followed by one 'M.S in U.S'..And again where you do this B.TECH is a huge thing. Getting into IITs, NITs is the best thing you can do for yourself even if it comes at the cost of killing your teenage years. If a kid scores some 60% in his 10th, he is almost written off and is thrown into those classes where probably a junior lecturer would come a teach them. And that

is the end of that kid's dreams as there would be no scope for improvement. Based on how you slog in your 10th, the college decides which exam is worth your metal. Above 90%? then go to the section where they would coach you fo

r all the 'elite' exams..below 60% in 10th would mean you are fit only for clearing intermediate exams!!

All said and done, the name IIT spells magic in our country. When Neha Dhupia said with all the vengeance that only sex and sharukh sell, she probably dint know something called 'IIT coaching'. Just a board outside your house or cellar saying 'IIT coaching given here', will fetch you thousands of moolah. Well, the craze for IIT is definitely understandable as these institutes, if not guarantee, at least ensure their students have good careers.So what if they dont give us path breaking engineers or scientists, they sure are producing many authors! Recently when I walked into a book store near my place, I was amazed to see the collection of books written about IIT by IITians or about IITians. some of then are, 'Jab se you have loved me-a story of an air hostess and IITian, A roller coaster ride- When IITian met a Bitsian girl, Heart breaks and dreams- the girls at IIT, Anything for you, ma'am- an IITians love story and of course, our very own trend setter, five point someone! I do not know how well these books sell, but knowing the madness, I am pretty sure these books will never lose their market!!

I have nothing to say...I am here because..well, no particular reason..It has not been long since I posted my previous post,but I am here again to blog..that too nothing in particular..and what made me do that?I have been reading a lot of blogs of late and it feels good..It feels nice to read..And why am I doing that?There was one time when I used to read a lot of books..I used borrow books,buy them or even steal them (yup! done that too :P)..That was the time when I had nothing much to study and needless to say, I had no computer with Internet access..Then, one day, someone introduced me to Orkut..At first, I thought its probably Orbit or 'or cut'..I have seen the addiction and thought maybe its not for me..I eventually gave up the whole idea of not being on Orkut, once I realised I was not being part of conversations that took place at college since 'Orkut' was THE most happening thing then..Wait a minute..I was actually telling about how i used to read books..so yeah..coming back..now, I have a whole shelf of books of which 90% of books i have not read..yet,every Sunday i go to Abids and buy more books!So,clearly the obsession shifted from reading books to buying them. So,what is the point you say?..I say,no point..Moving on...After sticking to Orkut for considerable amount of time and after telling people that I am happy with one social networking site when the phenomenon called 'Facebook' hit the heads of all the internet users, I gave up yet again and became a part of Facebook as well..Now after being hopelessly bored of Facebook, I started reading random blogs to kill time and hoping that this would help me in getting back to my old habit of reading books ..That brings us to the answer to the question 'And why am I doing that?'...Continuing...Today, I was ranting to one of my friends about not being able to blog about anything.Well, he could not help me with anything useful..I then landed at some random blog which gave tips to people like me..as in people who are bored to death and have nothing to do..that blog said,just open your blog(if you have one) and write anything.. That brings us to the answer to the question 'what made me do that'..

Thank you Mr Someone whose blog I stalk...Its been a useful piece of advice :)

In a 'tax'ing class.........

5 a.m :

**Alarm rings** ...Grrr!..*snooze* and back to sleep..

5.20 :

Dad at door saying "its 5 45!..wake up!"...getting out of bed like a mad ninja and rushing towards the bathroom only to see that the time is NOT 5.45 and I fell for the age old trick again..

5.53 :

7 minutes to the class and 7 kms to cover..racing against the time(:P), here I drive!

6 10 :

Finally reach class and lo..no sir!

6 15 :

Sleepy head wants some more sleep!!

6.25 :..

There he comes..look at that book!..I can easily substitute it for a 5 kg dumbbell!

6.30 :

What????..its just been 5 mins???

6.45 :

Okay..45 minutes to go..hmmm..I think I should change my watch..looks good for this dress though..* sneeze* *sneeze* *sneeze*..okay..now I am sure I am allergic to Anchal's deo..or maybe her!...ssshhhhh! concentrate in class...

6.50 :

I have no idea why I am sitting here!..seems like most of them have no idea either..umm..okay, that girl is listening to the class..*scanning the class*..did I just see those two guys holding hands????...oh yes!..they are!..*scanning even more*...what the hell is she wearing??..must have picked from some mela for 1 re or even less!..

7.01 :..

Calling Vandana, "3rd bench, 4th guy,looks like your dad, no?"..

Vandana : *laughing like she's seen the funniest gag of AFV*, "NO"..

me : "see properly!"

Vandana : "okay..yeah..maybe.."

me : "sir looked at us..look into the book "

7.07 :

This place is annoyingly crowded! he should get a bigger place..after all, he charges rs 4000 per person..assuming the study material is some rs 350 at the maximum, electricity say 30 per head, since they dont switch on lights in the morning, and 2000 for his efforts..he's still left with lots of money!..4000 multiplied by 200(students)..thats a lot for boring us for an hour!

7.15 :

*scribbling in last page of book*

" I am bored!..what is he reading from that book, that it is putting me off to sleep?"

"I have no idea!..am going crazy"

"I want to sit in a rocket and crash out of his class"

"hehe..hows the audit going?"

"ok types..the manager is an eye candy :P"

"awesome!my cute guy didnt come to class today..no wonder its super boring!"

.

.

.

.

7.20 :

Damn!..he's asking questions!..what the hell did he teach???

*turning the pages like I am looking for some lost diamond*

please dont ask me..please dont ask me...

*drops the pen and goes under the bench*

7.23:

phew!..that was close!..7 more minutes..bah!

7.25 :

5 more minutes to go!...finally!

7.30:

Done!..oh wait!..he's starting a new topic???..nooo its time!..look at your antique looking watch!..did it stop working??..take mine if you want..but leave us!..

7.40 :

Still teaching!??when will you say those magical words "We shall continue the class tomorrow at the same time"

7.45 :

Ah!better sense prevailed!..thank you so much!..we shall see tomorrow if i want to continue!

Save Hyd!!

Dear whosoever concerned...

I have been born and brought up in Hyderabad and like any other hyderabadi, i absolutely love my city..I have seen this place growing,expanding and spreading its wings to far far areas. I have seen people from all over the world praising this place. I love the two different cultures hyderabad offers and can never get enough of it. As much as i love this place, i cant push the sadder state of our city aside. Let us accept the fact..the city sucks! and its not just the traffic, a lot of things here suck..and all these are not something which are totally unavoidable nor which cannot be controlled..Superficially the city is beautiful (good job there!)..but, take a proper look at the pavements(i mean,the 'shops' of the street vendors), the roads (Yes,they are wider..and also deeper!), the public transport, the tourist places, the power failures, the traffic jams, the increasing levels of pollution for instance...The place has become so commercial and so congested that seeing the beauty of the nature, even in the early hours of the day is probably something which we, hyderabadis should forget..

A walk along the tank bund is not a pleasure any more nor can we reach any place without getting stuck in traffic jam. Adding to the already existing mess, is our newly found love for 'bandhs'!!..Some political leader's car's tyre gets punctured, call for a bandh!..No,thats not an exaggeration..Look at the bandhs that have happened in the past few months and you will exactly know what i am talking aboout.

I might be one of the thousands of people who complain about their city and do nothing else, but then, am i left with a better choice?I do not want to use a plastic bag, so, i take my cloth bag almost everywhere i go. But still, i end up bringing home a dozen of them. I want to commute by public transport, but then, do not find buses on time or in the route i need. i follow traffic rules, my parents pay all the bills and taxes on time and yet we do not get what we deserve!Am not blaming you completely..it is also us who lack common civic sense. What i intend to say is,you do your work right and everything else shall follow.. I am tired of being the person who wants to do things right but cant because of several others, who lack basic common sense!

When a small place like Darjeeling can completely ban the usage of plastic, why cant a city like hyderabad which is bigger and has more educated people do? i know the whole theory of people becoming aware of things and that awareness should develop individually, but how long do we wait for that??..just forget that and enforce a strict rule!just like how you enforced the whole 'wear helmet..someone is waiting for you in the house' rule!! I am 20 and i can do things which are under my control..but what about the things like roads not being laid after they were dug for some water works,the 400 year old sewage system which clogs when there is little rain and the untimely powercuts??

Am not complaining about everything..am complaining about the things which are not in individual control and are in your control..we,as responsible citizens shall do our duties and you do yours properly before blaming everyone in general..And what i have mentioned is very little..I fail to understand,how can you be so ignorant about the obvious?..I mean do you know anything at all??Save Hyderabad!

An early action in this regard is appreciated.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Worried Hyderabadi.

I Wanted to be.............

• A chef

**The obvious reason being, the love for food.Not like I am a great cook or something:P**

• A teacher

**Dont know the exact reason.Probably, the thought that i could beat all those whom i hate in the class and there would be no one to whom they can complain :D **

• A cardiologist

**I heard back then that they earn a lot..so big bucks was the reason :D!**

• An IAS officer

** My mum told me that a guy who saw my horoscope said i would become an IAS officer and hence this joined the list :P "

• Kaam wali bai

**Absolutely no reason whatsoever!!**

• IAS officer disguised as kaam wali bai

** This was probably cos of the strong love for both 'ambitions'!**

• Psychic

** Well yeah! :D**

• Interior designer

**Arranging a couple of things strategically made me think i could be good at it!**

• Fashion designer

** Was the 'in thing' in school for a few days**

• Script writer

**After i wrote a small class skit for teacher's day.**

• Movie director

**when some intellectual told me that a director is the reason for any film to be good:P**

• News reader

**Few news readers on Doordarshan served as inspiration**

• Journalist

** LOVE that profession!!**

• A basketball player

** yeah captaining a couple of games and playing with kids of 6th and 7th class made me want to be the lady Michael Jordan :P **

• A government employee

**Absolutely loved the fact that my mum had nothing to do in her office and yet was getting highly paid!:D**

• A Post man

** Grins**

• A Restaurant owner

** Thought i could have unlimited food if i owned one :D**

• A playback singer

**What was i thinking!!!!!***

• A dancer

** Yeah!This was when i went along with my sister to dance classes when i was 6. Later I discontinued because i wanted to play/sleep in the house and not dance!**

• A Receptionist

** I loved picking up the phone as a kid. So, once an uncle of mine said "she is the receptionist of your house!" (he was supposedly trying humour)**

• An Air hostess

**After my first flight journey, when I saw those perfectly dressed ladies!!**

• A Farmer

**No apparent reason i can think of. Probably because I took 'farmers are pillars of our country's development' way too seriously!**

• A Typist

**Hmm...why not!**

• CEO of Pepsi co

** Jai Indira Nooyi :P**

• A job where all i have to do is keep signing on papers

**Am open for the job even now!!someone listening??:D**

• Photographer

** My love-photography!**

• Traveler

**Any day!!**

• A fence painter

** This is the Tom Sawyer effect! :P**

• The President of India

**Maybe! :D**

• An Ice cream parlor owner

**:D:D:D***

• working for CID

**Seriously!! Some aim i had!!:P:P**

• A Choir singer

** Was part of school choir for a year and though i was made for that! :P**

• An Auditor

**yeah!..whatever!**

....................................

Am sure all of us were asked as kids what we wanted to become when we grow up. The most lucrative answer we gave,the smarter we were considered. The above is the list of things i wanted to become till I was forced to decide something 'solid'. As kids,everything attracts us..right from a balloon seller to a story teller. I never thought about/wanted to be a CA...yes,i wanted to be an auditor but i also wanted to be a farmer and a postman/woman(whatever the word is!)..whenever i think about all this,it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Wonder Years-

"When you are a little kid, you are better bit of everything - artist, scientist, athlete, scholar. Sometimes, it seems is like a process of giving those things up, one by one. I guess we all have one thing we regret giving up. One thing we really miss. And we gave up because we were too lazy. We couldn't stick it out. Or because we were afraid."

At 20, i crave for being the kid i used to be and for the time when what i wanted to become changed every day and which never really bothered me. They say I am a grown up now but i don't remember when I actually did . Probably on the day when i stopped thinking,imagining and started taking life too seriously.

On the romantic side...

She looked into her mirror and saw an old, wrinkled woman with lifeless eyes gazing right back at her. She touched the reflection and wondered if she's the same woman who was once described as epitome of beauty and elegance. Her laugh was compared to the music of running waters and her complexion to that of milk. Time,she thought, had stolen all her beauty and charms. Brushing aside her chain of thoughts she looked over her lawn where she saw her 70 something husband sitting and reading the newspaper. He looked at her,waved his hand and blew a kiss. She waved back smiling, and looked into the mirror again. She saw a vibrant beauty smiling back at her.....

Ummmm...

Just when you are dejected and everything around seems to fall apart, its a ray of hope that rejuvenates your spirits and keeps you going. Its all about the optimism you carry and the faith you repose in the things you firmly believe in.It's easier said than done. Its not an everyday thing that you can accept a failure and get back with normal life.It requires quiet a nerve to overcome the humiliation you face after the failure, to stand against all odds, to answer every question that hits you,to face the world and more importantly to face yourself. When at crossroads of life, all you need is a pinch of encouragement and loads of support to make the right decision. There is whole of ocean behind every wave. So yeah, giving fresh oxygen to the not so happening life..Adios :)

'We are going nowhere' conversations.......

On a boring afternoon,you switch on your comp and sign in to chat..not like you are really interested..just looking for a way to kill time..you don't find any interesting person to chat..so you leave that aside,and get involved with something else...then something terrible happens!!....**sounds of thunder**....A chat window pops up and you see who it is...its this guy whom you've known for a long time but somehow never managed to stay in touch...in fact, you almost forgot when was the last time you spoke to him and remotely remember how he looks... and the chat goes more or less like this....

X: hey!

You:hey! **Who is this???**

X: how are you??

You: Am good. How abt you?? **okay..thaaat guy!!**

X: am good too!

You: so long time na.. **so long that i actually forgot who you are!**

X: I swear.. Really long...so how’s life?

You:pretty good..yours? **why do you care??**

X:pretty good as well. **copy cat!**

You:so what else? **There we go again..am bored and don't want to talk anything**

X:..hmmm..nothing much my side. **Then why did you ping??..i was happy doing my work**

........10 minutes.......

X:There?? **yeah..but i wont chat**

You: hey got to go..i ll catch you later..it was nice talking :) ** hypocrisy!**

X: oh!!..okie..it was indeed nice re!!..chal catch ya soon!! **ha!..time to be invisible!**

In these kind of conversations,you dont really know the meaning or the purpose of your chat....with few, the conversations just flow..you can chat for hours together..whereas with few,you just cant go beyond these few lines....