Trysts with the wild

Happy 100th post dear blog!!!!!! Wow, some journey that ;-) I didn't know what special stuff to do for the 100th post. Didn't get any ideas like what i did for the 50th. So you'll just have to put up with a normal post! But well, its been acknowledged. This blog is an integral part of my boring life! and i love it, and all its readers! Thankyou!


Wondering what the pic is about? Read on!

The mobile creations of mother nature are best admired when they remain where they are supposed to be. In the past few months, i have come to realise that what one considers beautiful on a tree can become a nuisance when its somewhere you don't want it to be, and something you thought was cute, can get onto your nerves when it affects something dear to you. Lets get to the point.

The balcony is one of my favourites laze-zones at home. It became an even more comfy area once my grand-dad brought in this very normal plastic chair with a great cushion. I could sit there for hours doing nothing. The first thing about my balcony which was destined to be doomed was apparently the back side of the air conditioner, which juts out right at the top, slightly below the ceiling. None of the members who inhabit this abode ever paid much interest to that metal box, probably because it was way over head, and ofcourse, there's no necessity to strain one's neck and look up at it once in a while! Looks like the ac suffered from 'attention-deficit' disorder and decided it was high time it came into the lime light. It was sometime in March last year, when i woke up one morning and opened the balcony door, just to see two birds flutter out into the open in great hurry! Ofcourse they left back a feather or two as a souvinier, for me to look at till they came back after a few hours. The incident called for constant vigilance. I sat at my table with what in chennai is called an 'ottara kucchi', a loooong stick with a brush at the end used to remove cobwebs stuck to the ceiling. One had to tap the side of the ac as soon as
the birds (which we confirmed were infact pigeons!) flew into the balcony. But human as i am, i got tired of the irritating practice, and called it quits. Miraculously, the birds seemed to have stopped coming in! Or so we thought. The calender turned to october, and i started hearing sounds at night. Bird sounds. Pigeon sounds. I hit the ac with the stick, and they didn't budge! The activity of these birds then varied from dropping their dirty sticks and leaves all over the white floor, to blessing us with their feathers now and then, to (the most important of them all) colouring our white walls with their excreta! Or should i say they perhaps thought our walls looked so dull, and wanted to add some life to it, and maybe they also found the smell in the air too bland, and wanted the pleasant aroma of their SHIT to fill in! And then they advanced to dropping their matter on the floor, on my cushiony chair, on everything except, luckily, us! These acts of indecency called for a check on what they were doing up there, and how many members the family had! Our long-moustached watchman climbed a ladder up and informed us that there was a meticulously built nest, and 2 FAT pigeons! A cry from me to remove the nest was immediately opposed by my grand-dad's belief from yester-year that if a pigeon's nest was disposed off, it would bring rifts in the family! And believe me, he was so staunch with the belief that we put up with the stench and the dirt for a few more days. As everything has limits, so did my patience, and after he saw the art work of the birds on our table once fine morning, he called for the disposal! "whew!". The nest was indeed a piece of art. Very meticulously built. But the point was that this house we live in was also very meticulously built, and we dont have problem with birds building their nests meticuously on trees! As for the pigeons, they both went inside a plastic bag which our servent maid took home. Whether she ate them, or let them free is still a mystery, though she does claim she let them go! Our floor and walls successfully stank for over a day, inspite of the phenyl wash and my attempt with the room freshner! The gap between the ac and the ceiling was skillfully covered with cardboard boxes which were hibernating peacefully till that moment! No more pigeon trouble.

Just when we were convinced that the trysts between our balcony and wild had come to an end, another incident made us realise that our balcony was probably meant to be George of the jungle or Mowgli of jungle book! One of the gifts i got for my birthday was this very nice rope swing. It stayed on the floor for about a month, until we finally got the hooks ('S' kokkis!) and hung it a few days back. Now the balcony was paradise! Listening to radio at night, watching
the stars and swinging...aah! The swing was given so much attention. There was a whole photo shoot with it! Each member of our family took turns to sit on it and smile, while others stood at the back and smiled wider. And i must say, it was a very photogenic swing. The photos were promptly sent to all the NRI members of the family and the happy comments were passed. And then, mysteriously, the swing started developing HOLES in the corners. At first, we thought the
poor structure could not withstand the bulky weight of our bodies, and i must say that none of us burdened the swing less than the other! More of the rope started to disappear. It was very very creepy. Yesterday, as i walked in from college, i heard my mother shouting "pudichaachu! there's the culprit!". I ran out to the balcony to see a squirrel happily nibbling away to glory, and in the process, getting a free ride on the swing! Ha! How happy and comfortable it looked! It ran away when it realised it had an audience, but promptly came back when we hid and waited.That was it! My mother took the swing (or what was remaining of the swing) off the hook and placed it on the floor of the room. Turns out the squirrel got angry. The mats in the balcony, which haven't been attacked till date, were all bitten, and their fragments lay on the floor, lifeless! What's more, the little creature had the guts to enter the house and nibble at the swing that was sitting on the floor! Oh God save! And i apparently find squirrels very cute. *sigh* Thus ended the short life of my beloved swing!

Pigeons and squirrels are nice to watch when they're on trees. Now, after some not-so-nice experiences, my mind refuses to forget the bitterness of the stench and dirt and nibbled fragments and the early death of a gift. And so my balcony stands swing-less, awaiting the next encounter with the wild! Lets see how long this break lasts!

PS: The picture depicts what i'd be doing if the swing were still alive. And that pic, is among the numerous ones we took.

Yours "looks like i'm not the only one who loves the balcony'ly

Signing off...

GONE?

This post is very very sudden. I'm supposed to be either sleeping right now, or studying! Though the former seems inviting, and the latter seems a necessity, i find myself compelled to sit and type out this post because (a) My Blog hasn't seen an update in way too many days for my standards and (b) Some incidents in life have to be recorded as soon as possible! I don't know how many of you noticed the 17th of feb hype a few posts back. 17th of feb just passed, and looks like it was a day meant to make a mark on every year's calender henceforth, for me! And so it did, despite my strong belief that it wouldn't! Need i rattle on further?

My smile in a matter of seconds, turned from METALLIC to NON-METALLIC! My braces came offfffff!!!!! : D :D Aww the freedom! Actually, it feels very weird to feels one teeth again and use a normal brush and have a mouth devoid of rubberbands! I couldn't believe my ears when the golden words were spoken, though they were a little technical, i felt like slapping my dentist... "So, shall we de-bind them today?" and instead of jumping up and screaming, i said "yeah sure" without even smiling! Ofcourse all the jumping happened at home!

Ok, i'm running short of time! So one last time... YAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! :D

Yours "the alloy stopped hugging my teeth"ly

signing offff....

A 2 hour incident

UPDATE 15/02/07 - Happy birthday Anish! Have a great day, and a great year to come :)

They walk in, wearing the same colour, bags slung on their shoulders, their expressions un-readable. They make their way to the back of the room, perhaps in search of privacy from the chattering crowd, savouring food, having fun like a bunch of maniacs living the last day of their lives. They sit down, but not next to each other. He takes a seat at the rectangular table's longer side, and she at the shorter side. Their lines of sight intersect at a right angle. Silence seems like the preferred mode of communication for a while, or more than a while... She looks at him, he keeps his face straight, looking at the noisy group of girls right infront of him, perhaps wondering how people can still afford to be happy when his life seems like a road with way too many potholes...a road where enjoying a ride seems like a distant notion. She stares at him...at his unbelievable determination to not look her side...and then she looks away, perhaps with a mixed feeling of rage and guilt. She then pulls her bag up to the table, and places her head on the bag, her face down, as if in defeat. He finally looks at her...she doesn't move her head. He takes to looking outside the window above her head, where another gang sit on a parapet wall fooling around in the hot sun. The noisy group of girls were now getting louder with a video shoot..damn why did cellphones ever have to be invented?

She lifts her head, slightly relieved to see that he's changed the position of his head. She talks, like she's explaining something. He doesn't flinch. The expression on his face can now be clearly read as anger, and hers, apology mixed with anger. She continues to talk...he says something, and turns his head back to the group of girls, the anger and her words bringing tears to his eyes. They reverse postitions...he puts his head down, she stares straight ahead. Tired of looking at his lowered head, she begins to read. Out of the silence and the strained atmosphere, she hears a voice. She looks up to see a friend enquiring in a genuinely concerned tone whether everything's ok. She tells him its all fine, and he shrugs and walks away. He lifts his head after a while and she closes her book...she talks again. Her hands move...slapping the air in various directions...as she tries to prove her point, convince him, explain to him. The strands of her hair that escaped being tied back,dance on her forehead as she shakes her head vigorously in argument. He begins to talk, his face displaying pain as it could never be described, holding back tears. She fights back, making him remove the glasses that rested on his nose and place 3 fingers of his right hand on his closed eyes...She walks out on him. He sits there alone, his half grown beard complementing the eyes glistening with held-back tears, and his expression. The girls at the table infront of him are now busy almost breaking their juice glasses shouting cheers!


Just as he puts on his glasses, resigning himself to any fate, she walks back in with another couple. She sits next to him. Was the argument over? The foursome speak. The couple that joined them joke around a little. She looks at him for a long moment, and then places her head on his shoulder. He can't understand her, but he smiles. He smiles a big smile, with all his teeth, and pushes her head off his shoulder in mischeif. They both smile giving their faces an expression that seemed impossible a few minutes ago. Her kohl filled eyes also glisten with tears as she looks at him now, maybe feeling blessed to have ever met him, and to have him by her side till whenever... He looks at her smiling, seeming happy, but maybe wondering what it is in her that makes every argument so short lived, and why on earth looking into those kohl filled eyes and dancing strands on her face gave him such satisfaction. The noisy group of girls slowly lined out of the table infront of them.

Having witnessed this 2 hour drama, i have a question - Are relationships worth it all?

This topic is open for discussion ;-)

Yours "Some observation that"lySigning off...

20 on 20th!

Through the times of insignificance rose a moment of significance. A moment that turned into an hour, and eventually, a day never to forget. Like i'd already mentioned in the comments section of my previous post, i have these amazing people around me who never let my birthday pass by like just any other day... This post is a tribute to each one of them, whose wishes i'll carry along with me for life, and whose doings are never to be forgotten. I don't think things get better! One of my friends very correctly stated that the 20th of january will tell me how non-insignificant life actually is! I agree. Its some great feeling, and one never gets tired of sayin thanks. So once again, to each one of you, who made my day what it was, Thanks a million! God bless you all!

Right from my 12 o' clock wishes, and the before 12 wishes (people who said, am very sure i wont be able to catch you at 12, so am wishing you before hand even if its technically not yet 20th!), the sms', the day calls, the ISD calls, and std calls, the mails, the cards, the gifts, the visits...each of those...made me feel so... significant! And ofcourse, all those were all the better with the first round of chocolate pastries, which were dutifully squashed onto every member's face, thereby giving the photo a title "cake faces", and the 2nd HUGE, yummy, chocolate, full, round cake with 20 freaking candles on it, in a dark room... *sigh* surprises make the heart overwhelm with...i don't know what! I'm finding it difficult to put to words what i felt... but if there's one thing thats for sure, it was a postitive feeling...it was something euphoric! It was one of those rare days when i had no problem whatsoever in displaying my braced teeth, and not artficially, in genuine smiles, and surprisingly, my mouth didn't want to stop doing it! It didn't hurt...from the minute i woke up to a number of msgs on my cell, to 11.00pm when the last guests left...to much later, when i finally drifted into slumber. The whole day seemed too good to be true... like it happened to someone else, or to some part of me that didn't exist till that minute, and then suddenly became a part of the different parts that make me.

The day was probably the ONLY good thing my college has ever done to me. We were taken aback, and very very happy when saturday was declared a holiday... it was all perfect! There wasn't a single moment which came close to being sad...except this realisation of the number 20! 20 somehow feels BIG. Really BIG! Like all your young and sweet days are gone forever...like its defining a whole new phase in life. Like hell, my mom got married when she was around 20!! That should say something now! Any comments on that? ;-)

I don't want to list out the names of people who i'd like to thank, for the fear of missing out anyone. So... to ALL of you out there, who made 20/01/2007 my best birthday ever, who kept me smiling the whole day, who made me nostalgic to the point of tears, who spread warmth with the first sound of voice, who left my palms stuck to my mouth in awe, who made me chuckle with the teasing tones, who said it all in one look, one deed, one word... THANKYOU! Love you all! You know there's this song...in which someone's being asked the most she's said with just one word... For this moment, i'd say my word 'thanks' means a million things, but still, if not the most, its the least i can say! God bless!

PS: I paid my dentist a visit too on my b'day. Looks like he wanted to see me too! But well, he didn't give me the gift i was waiting for.... :( he didn't take my braces off! But he promised me that 17/2/07 is goin to be the day! :D

Yours "days to be remembered, perfect...they're all perfect..."ly
Signing off....

Insignificance

UPDATE: 20/01/07 - Happy birthday Devs!!!!!!!! Hope you have a day as rocking as ever. And well, you could say same to you if you want! :D And may your day, your year, and every other day be...brighter than SUNSHINE ;-) Have a great day!!

Can one ever lead such an insignificant life that its acknowledgement wouldn't be necessary? If i say yes, it would contradict the words you see under my blog title. But considering the past 5 days, maybe i will have to contradict those words! You wait for holidays, they come, and before you know it, you're typing a post about how they're all over, and you don't know where the hell they went away to so fast! The pongal season is always looked forward to...if not for the pongal, atleast for the holidays! And being in chennai, i spent one whole day glued to the television. And the other days seem like a haze now. I do remember that i watched Guru :) And that i rode along besant nagar beach at 1.00pm, with the hot sun trying to penetrate my skull. I watched 3 movies, two of which were filled with japanese - chinks. I've always thought that ALL chinks look the same. If there's one thing those 2 movies made me realise, its that they DO look different after all! And one of those movies, i really liked. The last samurai. Am in no mood to write about the movie. The other movie was Memoirs of a Geisha.

Well, since i did say that all that happened was insignificant, lets move on to the only thing i could say holds some significance. I did something i never did as a kid, and never thought i'd ever do. I SWALLOWED MY RUBBERBAND! The one on my braces (i dont think i've gone to the extent of swallowing the one i use to tie up my hair yet!). The realisation of the missing rubberband first took me to all rooms of the house, to find out if i'd removed it and kept it somewhere...but well, no trace of the green thing anywhere! Considering i'd just finished my dinner, i had to accept the hard truth...that my stomach had been invaded by something my teeth would never grind, and my intestines would never digest! *sigh*

And so i live on with the insignificance... its sort of fun in a way, but it makes one lethargic, and sleepy, and bored, and unwilling to move out of the house and catch a bit of sunshine, burried in one's own thoughts, thinking about the hurdles to cross, wondering whether one is destined to do what one is presently doing... i end this post with the most significant lines i have heard in these few insignificant days...

Katsumoto: You believe a man can change his destiny?
Algren : I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed.
----The last Samurai

Yours "Perfect...They're all perfect" ly
Signing off...

Out of a painting, Out of a moment

Blood stained skies, red. With blotches of purple, like a blood clot on hurt skin...patches of blue, like hope showcases itself in a less intense shade of copper sulphate, streaks of angry orange... the flame displaying its ferocious acts... an even spread of pink, almost making the wide open space feminine... hints of pale green...tranquility among the pleasing harshness of colour, tinges of yellow...blending with, and getting lost in the orange. A sombre sun, half hiding, lazily drifting into the unknown, throwing its last rays out in impeccably straight lines, acting like it has nothing whatsoever to do with the riot of colours dancing in the sky, holding a pair of eyes in awe, a pair of eyes that refuse to look away for any reason, big or small. The trees, the coconut trees, blessed with a green so natural, sway slightly in the breeze, appear black in the hours of twilight. A black that reveals the symmetry of the big leaves, and their patterns, their ends pointing into the open, poking the air with their sway...reaching out for the hues. Birds, big and small, shed all their colour and fly into the horizon in all blackness, their formations flawless, their wings moving in waves, like a lullaby at a distance.

And the eyes still remain fixed, resisting blinks, in an evening reverie, a reverie that got invited to prevail forever, but didn't, looking at something beyond the colour, beyond the festival in the sky, beyond the horizon...lose strands of hair tickle the neck and ears, as if answering some ungiven order of the wind. And the lips, now dry from a continuous half open mouth, in conspiracy with the eyes in admiration, begin to mutter...words flow out in such brilliant coherrence, that interpreting meaning would seem useless, all that mattered was the words, near poetry, poetry without rhyme, a song without a tune, a story without a plot, a play without characters, a voice without varying tones, like a dream on earth...an unwritten destiny pulling the cart of life. And a thousand hapinesses were lived in that moment, a thousand heartbreaks burst out in that single tear. The eyes still remained fixed. Watching the spectacle through a glistening tear that refused to trace its way down the easy path of the cheek. And there it was, a minute of completeness, a balance of emptiness and fullness, a moment of equal clarity and haziness, a tear of joy and sorrow in one, a mixed sense of achievement and loss, a moment of the truth and the fake on par, the bridge between that relished past and the feared, ambiguous future. All in that moment of complete one-ness. Of self acknowledgement. Of a floaty, dreamy truth. Of life itself.

Yours "moments..."ly
Signing off

2 0 0 7

2007. Happy new year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To the whole wide world. I was personally dreading this year as it happens to be a year of decisions for me. But now that it is here, i welcome it with the grace of a ballerina ;-) and a will of iron (yeah?), a mind like the free breeze (as free i hope), and a vision as clear as saint gobain glass (ha!) :D I wish....I wish... Its going to be some task, making things fall into place. But i hear challenges enrich the soul, make people grow, feed the mind... and i think i have to get ready to see if all that is indeed true!

Wow, some blabberation that para was. Anyway, i didn't do a 'looking back on 2006' post... when i think of 2006, the first thing that comes to my mind is.... obviously....the football worldcup. The Italian Glory. I don't think i ever cried watching any match before, but that match... n even the semi finals match where italy won...some feeling i'd never experienced before. And i'll never forget how it felt like to be screaming sitting on the floor of a dark room, only inches away from the television. I do think of alot of other things also, but this is what i'd like to mention, because it meant so much to me! I dont even know how... but it meant so much. Another big discovery made in 2006 - Nothing sticks to your braces worse than popcorn. Dont ever try to speak, or laugh, or smile if you've just had popcorn. For the love of your own maanam!
Craziest moment of 2006 - Footsie's naming. Some carnival that was!
Jumpiest moment - Maybe right before the new year dawned. The music realy got to me!
Most awe evoking moment - At kenya, in January, at the arc.
My Hero of 2006 - Big Surprise!! Johnny Depp :D
My Mr.awww of 2006 - Bill Pullman ;-)

Ok this is getting way too *rolling eyes* types with all my heroes and crap! Anyway, I'd like to wish you all a very happy new year. May the best of everything come to you in 2007, and always.

2007, here i come. Fight me all you can ;-)

Yours "We're not making any reslotions are we? Any comments Calvin?"Ly
Signing off.....

Chlorophyll in my nails

I love the colour green. Infact, it happens to be my favourite colour. I think that happened because i fancied wearing green while playing hide and seek as a kid, convenient as it was for camouflage, to hide in the bushes, behind the plant fences, on the trees. Half my wardrobe consists of green clothes, much to my mother's disapproval, as a result of which shopping with her would mean buying non-green clothes. Sad for me, for i hardly ever shop without her. The only time i went diwali shopping with one of my friends, my mother(who was in kenya at that time) was smart enough to tell her that greens, blacks and off-whites are not allowed! And very annoyingly, my friend stuck to the code, and didn't allow me even to look at clothes having those colours as the main! And i ended up getting something in rust. RUST. Ok, it wasn't so bad actually!

Green can be such a radiant colour. When you're cooking something, and say you have a mix of tomatoes and capsicums or beans on the stove, you'll realise it looks very nice, in way that appeals not only to your eyes, but to your mouth too :) And then one suddenly thinks about all the colours that are so richly present in the things we take for granted, in the things we dont bother to take a second look at... The rich red of apples, the subtle yellow of the babycorn, the happy orange of the carrot, the dark purple of the betroot, the pink-purple-white blend of the turnip, the lush green of cabbage, the dark green of okra, the pleasant green of capsicum, the pastel green of lime, the shiny green of chillies, the dull green of beans, the wet green of coriander, the fresh green of spinach. The fresh green of spinach. Spinach. One green i like looking at. But when that green takes advantage of my liking for it, and abuses my taste buds, and forces its way through my oesophagus, it crosses a line so delicate, that it spoils the relation between us. To be more direct, i hate spinach. Keerai.

Need i mention the varieties? Molai keerai, murungu keerai, paalak, methi..blah. If there's anything besides the green that i like about keerai, its chopping it. The process is quite complicated, considering the leaves need to be painfully seperated from their dear stems they've always been attached to, and thought they'll be attached to forever. Once the plucking has been satisfactorily carried out, chopping round 1 begins. There's this krrr krrr krrr sound that arises from the movement of the knife, backward and forward on the leaves awaiting execution, that could easily pass for music, depending on what one defines music to be. To me, the sound of the knife on keerai comes second only to the sound of a knife on capsicums! Crazy as that might sound, it is true. Removing the mid-portion of a capsicum, containing the seeds, the portion that is not usually eaten by normal humans, gives a sound that my brother and i find absolutely appealing. If one has not ever heard it before, i suggest one does it asap. Coming back to the keerai, round 1 of chopping usually results in uneven bits of leaf, strewn around the place, making it seem more like a mess than ever. And so one steps into round 2 of the chopping, making the bits more even in size, making them smaller, re-cutting the tender stems which are allowed entry with the other leaves. Aah then one stares at the vessel...with the mass of green staring back, and maybe even yelling out "how dare you hurt me so!" depending on one's state of mind. That done, one gives the mass of green the holy bath, under tap water, in an attempt to keep away from their intimidating stares. The cooking of the mass of green can be elaborated in
a whole different post by itself, but i shall refrain.

So lets just say one keeps the vessel aside... and one realises one's hands have a green tinge. One's nails are definitely green too. What do they call it? Aah, chlorophyll. When i had first come across that word, early in school, maybe in my 4th std, i remember pronouncing it again and again, using not only my tongue and voice, but my whole mouth and jaw, and telling people around me that the reason plants are so green is because of CHLO-RO-PHYLL. And so one turns to the next task at hand...forcing the green out of one's nails. *sigh* And as one does that... flashes of an experiment carried out in the biology laboratory encroach upon the brain's territory. There it was, a whatmann no.1 filter paper, protruding from a test tube, holding on it, adsorbed pigments from a leaf that was crushed with the help of a mortar and pestle, the pigments loosened out by acetone and petroleum ether. The pigments occupied parts of a bell shaped design...colours green, yellow and a light orange forming curves. It was easily the most interesting experiment that year, and the most beautiful thing the bio lab had seen, other than the royal colour of copper sulphate blue. Another colour that remains one of my favourites. I think i'll stop here. Though considering the number of topics i've touched, i could go on forever, as one thing always leads to another, and one thought triggers another.

comments section - tell us your favourite sounds, and colours :D

Lastly, i'd like to say a little prayer for my uncle who passed away recently. May his soul rest in peace, and may he find more happiness than he ever had. God Bless.

Yours "krr krr krr" ly
Signing off....

With love

For as far as my memory can stretch, the cards i've given/sent my parents, or relatives, have always been signed "Love, Dibs and Divs". Dibs, being my brother. And as i was sigining my father's birthday card a few days back, i started to wonder, for how much longer i'm going to sign cards that way... wonder if my bro still signed the cards he sent, that way. You know its a little strange when you realise some habits wont last forever... There will come a time when maybe i'd realise that i'm old enough now, and so is he, and I'm telling my parents something that i feel, and maybe he doesn't feel that way... and ultimately, my cards are going to have my kids names in them, and maybe there wouldn't be space for my brother's name... and ofcourse, he'll have his kids names to list down to, and i wont figure there....

Its all about growing up i guess, and growing older...to my parents, the both of us will always be the same... their kids...But i keep wondering when i'll stop thinking of my brother and me as one, atleast in matters such as these... though he really doesn't live in this house anymore, there's not a single day paati wont say something about him when she's making sambar, or i'll just listen to some song and remember how the balcony witnessed the worst sound ever, his strumming and my singing...

Well, i'm not giving you another senti post about my brother. nope. Today happens to be my father's birthday... So i'd like to say Happy birthday Dearest appa...you're the best! Its been years since i was with my dad for his birthday, or mine. So, gifts have invariably been in the form of words, and cards (to him). I've never really got him the perfect gift, or given him a surprise or anything... when i got old enough to realise its fun doing things like that, and that it'll really make him happy, and mean alot, the circumstances for such an event to happen just weren't right. But someday, i should make it happen...for the person he's always been, and the strength of his character, and his subtle ways...for being the perfect father i'll always look up to. anyway, for now, I wish he has a great day, and a great year cuz he deserves every bit of it.. :)

So pop, Many more happy returns of the day...

With lots of love,
Yours truly,
Dibs and Divs

Signing off....

Sinful Something

Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate!

Hmm... i just came across that very recently, and it led to the triggering of such wonderful signals in my nerves, that i felt like i was eating chocolate, tasting it when my tongue had nothing but saliva, smelling it when there was nothing around but the smell of a rotting black banana (which i just chucked btw). Every occasion in my house has been graced by the presence of chocolate cake, God knows why the other flavours were never given a chance! (well am very sure that its because i invariably bought the cakes, and i always wanted to eat chocolate!). I don't know what it is about chocolate....but the taste of melting chocolate on my tongue always makes me say 'heaven' once i'm done swallowing it!

And then there's this other thing about chocolate. I love licking molten chocolate off my fingers! I know so many people who find that utterly disgusting and unhygenic, but to me, its just yum! And because i love doing this, i give dairy milk chocolate bars enough time to melt away to liquidity in my bag and then open them on the bus journey back home...and then lick the chocolate with alot to stare at out of window (including sunsets and cloud patterns, nice buildings and dirty water - colours green and brown). Thats what i call the perfect journey home.

Single pieces of cake, with single candles always make it into the house on birthdays. And there's this bliss one gets out of getting just one bit of that cake. Somehow seems more satisfying than having a whole, big, round cake saying happy birthday blah sitting infront of you! I started writing this post because there's a new bakery that's come up very close to my house... and its called "Sinful something". I loved the name, but i'm yet to check it out. The fat lady behind the counter looks like she does half the eating when she's baking, but she looks very pleasantly plump, like how a chocolate cake seller should be :D Ok, i don't know what that was supposed to mean.

Anyway, this is a tribute to Barista's chocolate excess (still cant thank nidhee and nanya enough for getting me those for my birthday!) And Java green's Death by chocolate, which i eat more often than any other chocolate cake! And well, i love brownies too! :D And maybe i should also say its a tribute to the movie Chocolat. The chocolate in that movie is so mouth watering, and so lovely looking, that it makes you yearn for chocolate to touch your tongue! I remember pausing the movie, getting a bar of mars, and then continuing it. *sigh* well, not to leave out the fact that Johnny Depp so rocked :D Now you know why i watched it in the first place! ;-)

Ok, quite a useless post. But well, what's blogging for?

Yours "Now i feel like eating chocolate cake, dont u?"ly
Signing off.....

When they get to your head...

UPDATE - 12/12/06 - Happy birthday Bharat! If anyone's wondering who i'm talking abt - Happy birthday Tsb! (its happened, i'll just say 'bharat' in conversation flow, and the other person'll be like "who?" , and then i'll have to say umm, tsb!) Anyway, tsb, take some time off from your research articles, and chagas disease and have a blast! After all, its not a crime to get back to being the lord of randomness ;-) Hope you have a great day, and a wonderful year to come. We're hoping you'll give us more updates! If you were in chennai, your birthday cake would definitely have been idly/pongal with 20 candles planted on it! But since you dwell in the idly-less wilderness called toronto, you'll have to put up with normal, boring cake! ok, have a nice day. God bless.
I give you this.
And for your sake, Happy birthday Rajnikanth! ;-)


You know the exams are getting to your head when....

• MBA becomes Molecular Beacon Aptamer.
• Ppt becomes 'precipitate' rather than 'power point' (This one's for sandhya! Who actually asked me 'did you send the precipitate to your cousin?')
• You have dreams, Tarzan fashion. Just that you're hanging on a rope from the pyrole ring structure of glucose rather than trees!
• You instruct your mother to add equimolar quantities of rice and rasam to your plate!
• You end up telling anyone who'll listen to you that trangenesis is very sinful as it involves super-ovulating female mice/cows, mating them, sacrificing them when they're still pregnant and then flushing out their oviducts to retreive the eggs for DNA microinjection! ARGH! Yes, i'm obsessed! Last sem i was obsessed with rennin production, which was previously got by sacrificing new born calves! (I do know biotech involves so much of sacrificing the animal world to save we mortals, but it still feels so bad! Murderers!)
• You stare at your fist, open it and close it, and realise how fast your contractile muscles are working, how fast the nerve signal is being transmitted, and how much work your body has to do just because you FELT LIKE moving your palm! And you make a genuine attempt not to move any muscle unnecessarily!
• You look at your hair, and think of how inserting some keratin gene into sheep induced over-production of their fleece! Will it work with me?
• You're addicted to some kind of eatable! Last sem it was mars chocolate. I had to eat one every afternoon at a particular time...this sem, its been peppy mini cheese balls! Or cheetos...*sigh*
• Finally, you have elaborate conversations with the pictures of football players stuck up on your pin-up board. (Ronaldo, do you know your head is as round as the football? What if someone kicks it mistaking it for the ball? Ronaldinho, do you know your teeth are so big and sharp, i could scrape a coconut? Beckham, i don't know why i'm so oscillating when it comes to liking you...One day you're all giving amazing free kicks for england, the next you're promoting some big beck perfume and hoping you're 4th kid's a girl! argh!)

Besides all that... there are my exam sms'... 3 more for this sem! Heights of ridiculousness!

Enzyme Engineering and Technology

How're the enzymes treating you? I bet they have no clue, that the sky is blue, and they deserve to live in the loo, till they get a flu, and a speech from laloo, on how to make the paper a hulabaloo!

Genetic Engineering

Chromosomes walking in my head, Chimera infesting my bed, Looking at AGTC my poor eyes bled, Leaving my body, my brain fled, To hell with your genes! - it mockingly said, and continued to savour molded bread, and so into a brainless head i fed, Facts and figures, white and red, Till my Doc declared me half dead!

Bioprocess Principles

Do you know the story of bioprocess? It was brought to the world by Moses, But ditched him and joined the circus, Where it got dumped into a heap of molasses, Sat on the graveyard crosses, Jumped onto the tuxedo of the scientist Contois, Made friends with the lab Funguses, And finally entered our brain closets!

Thats it :D For last sems crazy sms', you can have a look at this.

Have just one more paper to go. And then i'll come up with a more worthwhile post! Till then, please entertain yourself with this, and entertain others by putting up poems in the comments section if you please!

Yours "Till my doc declared me half dead"ly

Signing off......

N'-5'-Phosphoribosyl formimino-5-amino imidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide isomerase!!!!

UPDATE : 2/12/06 --- HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHRUTI!!! :D Have a rocking day! And may the coming year bring us more singing sessions (rather, killing the songs sessions!), craziness sessions, HP discussions, Depp oggling sessions and the likes ;-) And obviously, more 'lets land up at divya's house' sessions :D :D And am awaiting my 'special' treat! Told u i love the special treatment! hehe... anyway, have a nice day man. God bless.


Exam time... i need to have a post related to them! But am definitely not talking about the only paper i've written...

I loved some of the sms fwds that came in recently...exam fwds! here's a sample.

RULE OF HALVES
Half the portion is not covered.
Half the covered portion is not properly taught.
Half the properly taught portions you wont learn.
Half of what you learn, you don't understand.
Half of what you understand, you won't remember.
Half of what you remember wont be asked.
Half of what is asked, you won't be able to answer.
And Half of what you write will get half the marks!
So why learn and waste time?

Well... learn and waste time to get atleast those half marks! I don't know how relevant it is to people across the globe, but it definitely holds good to a certain extent for us anna uni students!

DECLARATION
At the end of the exam paper...
I hereby declare that the answers written above are true to the best of my friend's knowledge and belief. I claim no responsibilty of the correctness of answers. All the answers I've written are fictitious and are related to no real subject matter. Its just written for enjoyment (!!!no!). Any resemblance with the correct answer is purely coincidental!

Well... nice time pass!

And thanks to shruti for those 2 messages right before my first exam! ;-)

Another one that i really laughed at!

Go switch on sun news immediately. Exam has been postponed due to floods!
(i was like ehh?) *scroll down*
First anniversary for this message!

Ok it might have been pretty yawny! But i was getting too groggy with biochem, not to mention sleepy and saturated. Everything started moving tangential to the head... and maybe my glucose/carbohydrate/energy/ATP levels aren't high enough for quick activity and productive grasping! Or my ion channel pumps arent working quick enough(maybe they want me to sleep too?)... There, i really have been into bioechem havent I ;-) And there i go blabbering yet again... *sigh* After effects for studying from immovably fat books for 3 days :( And its just the beginning... Am so waiting for dec 12th! AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh cant they just get over!

PS: The title of this post is actually an enzyme used in synthesis of the amino acid Histidine! I happily skipped it just cuz the names were too long! :D Pl pray it doesn't come! please!

PPS: Nov 26th - Happy birthday Charenya!!!! VMites - Our class charenya! Another doc in the making!

Yours "what a contrast to the prev post" ly
Signing off....

Reminiscence

Nothing interesting to update :( But there's something all the same.

Wishes... to my cousin, Who lived with me for 4 good years, and is now having one hell of a time in the USA sleeping at 5 in the morning and all... i think i'll call him 'sleepless in Raleigh'... To Karthik - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! for the 21st of nov. Hope you have a great great day, and a lovely, less hectic, wonderful year to come! God bless.

Thinking about him makes me remember some very desperate situations in my life, for which he did the calling of the desperate measures... its like... sometimes you wonder what the hell you would have done if a few people weren't with you in life. He's one such person... always been around when one needed help. And great company when you want to have a fun conversation! I can just recall my dog bite...and how he took me staright to the doc inspite of having an exam the next day! I still remember telling him " Hey i got bitten by a dog da!" And he was studying... and he looked up and said "Yenna di solra!!" and thus started quite a tension filled, painful day! And then there were the floods...i remember the way he held my hand and dragged me to the end of my street through waist deep water wearing a helmet on his head, looking like an astronaut (though astronauts never dress in beckham jerseys and shorts!)... i would have never reached college for my exam if it werent for him! And the exam promptly got cancelled... heavens! Why talk only about the desperate situations? We had great fun too... i made him cut a slice of chocolate cake in the terrace once on his birthday... so that we could watch the sunset together! (well, it was more me dragging him to watch it then him enjoying it.. but he definitely enjoyed the cake!)...and the million and one times we stayed up late talking about some idiotic topic (which would invariably be my idea) like what is death! How does it feel to die! or about how people are when they get into relationships! or just GOSSIP. And in the process of the talking, i'd make sure he doesn't go to bed at his usual time which was around 10-10.30! He sleeps at 5.00am nowadays! Sheesh!

Anyway... when i started typing this post, i thought i was going to stop after the wish... but something changed somewhere...and i just typed on. Maybe it because i'm missing all the fun, and his presence at home...especially during exam time when i'd crib endlessly to him about how i havent studied anything! And the cribbing would change into a discussion session about something else and i'd forget that i hadn't studied! Or the opposite... he'll just walk in and say 'yenna di padikave illai nee, indha sem gone aah pinne?" and i'll get all hyper! And ofcourse all the times i'd get CRAZY at night, and open his eyes when he was sleeping...somehow, he'd never get angry or anything... he'd just smile, and sometimes even wake up to keep me company. Well, sitting at the pc always reminds me of my bro and my cousins... because we've had this 'court sharing' concept with the chair! If we want to do something together on the pc, we'd share the chair! One gets to place half a butt on it! And i'd either sit and read orkut profiles from his account with him, or see the photos of the girls he wants me to see ;-) And keep teasing him with anyone and everyone! Sigh... i could go on and on and on... and there's no use. When we start talking about people, we just can't ever stop...people just walk in and walk out of our lives...but they sometimes make such an impact, leave behind such clear imprints that we end up thinking about them very often... what they would have said, how they would have reacted, what they would have done... and this post, has been long pending. I'm glad i got down to writing it today, unexpectedly.

So thats it... i was actually planning to write about new toothbrushes and how you feel like brushing your teeth often when you get one! And i was also supposed to announce to the world that my braces are coming off in 2 months! :D suddenly, neither seem so significant... the 1st anyway was never ever significant!

So to karthik, big bro... many more happy returns. And wish you well... for life... :)

PS: The name of my football will be announced later. Enjoy the wait ;-)

GOD HELP ME THROUGH THESE EXAMS PLEASE!

Yours "Looking back"ly
Signing off.....

What's in a name? Definitely something!

My name is divya. It means Divine. :D I don't know from where parents get such apt names! ;-) Ok, i'll stop. I have this thing with naming my belongings... my scooty is called Basanti reloaded (reloaded cuz the old dabba one was called basanti)...and it was named by 2 of my schoomates, nitya and nidhee. Those were the days... *sigh*! We named nitya's spirit ramdayal and nidhee's kinetic dheendhayal! And anu's cycle seetharaman. And at that time, nilesh decided to name his bike fatang mclaren, but changed it to something else after that! Crazy huh? And that too the name basanti was in some weird way is connected to sholay! I think thats what the heroine was called. oh God, let me save you guys the confusion. Dear loyal readers, i need help.

I need a name for my dear football! And where better to get suggestions? :D Anything is welcome.. and if you have a reason to justify your name, better :D I remember in the movie 'cast away' Tom hanks, names his volley(?) ball wilson or something! So English names, south indian names, any type accepted! More than one name is welcome...pl extend your help in this extremely important issue in my life... i have so far christened all my soft toys, none of which i have bought (my fave being ginger!), the pencil pouch i used to use in school (Toni, which had a twin, meaning someone else had the same pouch!)...we once had a naming ceremony for one of the soft toys that was gifted to a friend! And we made a document and signed it! It still exists...he was called Gonguna alias mussi by the way!Anyway. let me not continue. Just give me some names!

I have had one so far... Mr.B, one of my friends suggested. But i didn't like it too much. Besides, it'd be like stealing tsb's name! So any names other than mr.B are welcome! Oh wait... i have had a few more suggestions just now... azzurificated, pirlos, italios,(which is all btw because i supported Italy in the worldcup, and always have!) which i am not shunning! So pl, feel free to add to the list!

PS: The picture shows my football in a very dirty condition after today's rooftop game ;-)

Thankyou for your time.

yours "Whats in a name?"ly
Signing off....

A Few Hours' Musings

There are some phases in life that can be extremely frustrating. Phases where you question alot of things knowing very well that the answers will remain in hiding for a very long time...but that doesn't really stop you from asking. You're asking yourself after all...so no big consequence to anyone at all. Except that living in doubt can cross the 'mystery in life' quotient sometimes and begin to eat into your head...

Ok please ignore me. I am having study holidays, and any person who has been reading this blog from day 1 would know what my posts are like during this period! They get crazier. Out of the fact that you are given holidays to study, but end up with some futile attempts, and finally arrive at the 'atleast i tried' phrase. The idea of giving one such long study holidays i believe is to make one study out of guilt of having wasted a good many days. You waste, you regret, the tension builds,you study. Not too bad a system eh? You do end up studying after all! Not so easy actually...

I just opened my books again after a 9 hour break ;-) Yes you read that right, 9 hour. Don't ask me for how long i studied before that! Anyway, after a good nine hours (in which i did alot of things from attending paatu class (music class), to watching 'sleepless in seattle') i opened my book again, and that led to alot of thinking that had nothing to do with genetic engineering. I thought about my paatu class... and about how its taken me so many years to appreciate the beauty of carnatic music. I silently thanked my mother for forcing me to attend my classes when i hated them. I've been learning since i was around 9 years old! And then there was some discontinuing in the middle...and then got back...and somehow today, i did something i've never done before. I asked my teacher to sing me a song. The one she started teaching me, one of my mother's favourites (so, i'm learning it for her!)...i wanted her to sing the whole song. And when she did, i almost cried...there are some voices you want the whole world to hear and be proud of, but when you realise it may not happen after all, you feel blessed to have heard it yourself. One such voice belongs to my teacher, a great woman. I'm not saying this out of sheer admiration for her voice, but the no.of things she has had to face in life. And so the Yamuna Kalyani came out as an ocean of melody, with so much feeling, so much life and love for music, such lightness, completeness, perfection, so much devotion that if Lord Krishna was listening, he'd have cried too. God bless her.

Then there's "sleepless in Seattle". A movie whose trailer i just happened to see... and decided to watch the movie after seeing a Tom Hanks - Meg Ryan combo on screen. I can never forget 'you've got mail'. I know some of you must be snorting at the so typically girly choice of movies...but hell, they're feel good, and i like them. "Sleepless..." was one of those movies that just carries you away and makes you believe anything possible, because of the way it seems very natural, with normal people, normal lives. But once the movie's done, you feel like you're snapping out of a dream...there's going to be no magic, no meeting on top of empire state builiding, no tom hanks!! If am lucky enough, maybe the guy of my mom's choice will look smart, wear glasses and be sensible enough ;-) So get on with life and tend to your books! First things first...

But no, instead of studying, i type out this post. With the song my teacher sang ringing into my ears in Bombay Jaishree's voice. With flashes of Meg Ryan's lovely eyes and Tom Hanks' casual manner running through my mind...and the questions flood back. Question your purpose in life, question your reason for existense, question the future, question some things you're sure you do not want answers for because it'll definitely make things worse, question your own life, and the things it stands for today. There may be answers. But you prefer to keep them with yourself... as i've heard "Knowing is the easy part.Saying it out loud, is the hard part" There's another phrase...

There are 2 great days in our lives. One in which we were born, and the other, when we come to know why. - William Barclay

We are born for different reasons. There are days when i think i was born to be the sole admirer of every sunset that the earth gives me...and there are other days when i think i was born to eat! And there are days when i think i was born for some other things... The purpose of this life may be discovered a little late, but will be discovered all the same... and there's always time. Time'll take care of it all... :) Thats the hope we live in. Hope can be the best, and the worst.

And so i pray...when i'm at a loss of words even to pray, there's a song i love...its called praarthnaa. By Euphoria. And Palash sen's voice spells the words out...i don't know how many times this song has brought tears to my eyes. I'm glad i did not count. Thank Heaven's for lyrics! A few lines...

Dil kisika dhukhakar khushi chahoon na
sirf apne liye zindagi chahoon na
haan tujse mein chahoon yahin, kya hai ghalath kya sahi, bhooloon na...
hai yahi praarthna...

Gham ke baadal jo chaaye, ghabraoon na...
aarzoon ke ho saaye, dar jaaoon na..
tujko ho vishwas mujpe, aur isse zyada me tujse chahoon na
hai yahi praarthna...

On that note...

Yours "Musings in madras"ly
Signing off...

A rarity from my pencil

The 6th of november... :D Sandhya, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! Have a great day! Actually you will... considering you're going to be spending the better part of it with me ;-) he he. Anyway, looking forward to another year of drunken laughter, sidey comments, and utter craziness... n that'll happen even more naturally, now that exams are around the corner! So...have a blast! and stay sane atleast today ;-)

i sketched johnny for sandhya... and i loved it!! :D And hope she did too.... Parting with the sketch was so :(. But i never drew it for keeps, so tata deppy. I trust you have been handed over to someone who is as crazy about you, and will definitely take care of you better ;-)

I really dont know what to post about... this should do for now. Study hols, yet again!!!! *sigh*

Yours "sketching suddenly seems worthwhile"ly
signing off.....

More to 'tying the knot' than you think!

They say...marriages are made in heaven. True. But lets just rephrase that a little to read,not marriages, just the 'couples' are ,made in heaven. Now i can suddenly visualise our dear God sitting and making 'poruthams' between a girl and a guy, something that josiars do again, just incase ;-). Now that we're settled on just 'couples' are made in heaven, shall we discuss where marriages are made? Marriages...are made in huge, noisy, decorated,over-crowded kalyana mandapams, or marriage halls should we say, where one can easily get lost, or easily get caught in the claws of some good ol' maami who wants to know your age for some devious reason! And point to be noted - the maami will always hold your wrist! Maybe because she knows you're waiting to run away in the first OPPORTUNE MOMENT (now do you know where i got that from!) hmmm, wicked! Oh just ignore me! I have attended 2 marriages, 2 days in a row! One was a family friend's, and i knew i had to go, but the second...believe it or not, was my grand-dad's sister's son's wife's elder sister's daughter's marriage! I am definitely not kidding you! Let me be truthful, i go there for the food! And imagine my plight when both kalyanams had the SAME Goddam menu! SAME STUFF! How unfortunate? I was starting to hope i had paati's rasam sadam for dinner! Only the dessert was different, and well, dessert is never my area, so *sad*! There are some things that i just HAVE to point out about these weddings... aah, am loving this! A typical tamil, brahmin marriage (reception) will have the following features, without fail :

1.A loooong queue waiting to congratulate the bride and groom. SO long that you would prefer the queue at sathyam cinemas because there, atleast you get to watch a movie after the queue! Here, you'll go and say congratulations, and neither the bride nor the groom will recognise you, but they'll be all super sweet and say thanks so much for making it, and then we, the extremely glad people, will have a teeth show for the flashes!Point to be noted - the mamas and maamis standing infront of you in the queue will invariably HUG their gifts like someone's waiting to grab it and present it as their gift! And i always feel like saying "Maami, pattu podavai kasangida pordhu, paathu!"(your silk saree is going to get ruffled up!)

2.Music. Or thats what its called most of the time. It generally means having this famous, or not-so-famous carnatic vocalist singing her/his throat off, when she/he is nothing but IGNORED. All you have is a few thathas or mamas sitting in the first row and pretending to listen, but promptly clapping after every song gets over. WHY do they have to put themselves through this? OR you have something called a LIGHT music 'orchestra' that makes such heavy music that the vibration seems to penetrate right to your stomach and make you feel like you could do with a puke! Their base gets inside you! Its just too loud for the hall...oh damn. It doesn't matter if you are sitting 100 miles from the speaker, it just reverberates! And it feels like you're walking into a one way street called deafness!

3.FOOD. THE issue! People like my thatha always aim for the 1st 'pandhi' and wont leave without drinking 2 payasams! And he's very proud of it :D But well, the trend seems to be changing. Receptions no longer have "yellai sapadu" (on banana leaves) , with the traditional rice with one karandi of ghee, and the payasam and vadai. Thats just for lunch! Receptions have what they call BUFFET (read:painful system where you don't know whether to concentrate on putting the food into your mouth without embarassing yourself, or holding the plate without pouring its contents onto the pattu saree of the aunty almost sticking to you in the crowd!"!) With north indian cuisine, chaat, bandha dessert. Yesterday for instance, the dessert was grand. There was ras malai, srikhand, carrot halwa, and vanilla icecream with chocolate sauce optional! What the hell is one expected to eat! I settled for the first and the last :D And you'll definitely have the famous line - "Shaaptela mama?"!caution - if there's ever a paneer sabzi on the menu, please be satisfied with eating the gravy, because the paneer cubes, tempting though they may look, are either never cooked, or too hard to bite and so unfair on my braced teeth! Am i a foodie or what! sapaduraami!

I could go on forever...with the pattu podavais and jewellery and the 'Oh nee avarodu ponna, ivaroda pethiyaa's and the 'divya vaa idhu? ipdi valandhutaale!"s and meeting up with some distant people you've never heard of, and mind you, it will never ever be some smart looking chap that you can have a time pass conversation with! The latest trends in weddings - youngsters who are forced to attend - Laugh at the cellphone, message till their fingers fall out, seem BUSY! Maybe i shouldn't be talking about that? I was doing exactly that! No other choice you see! and trend 2 is with the brides... don't know what happened to doing some cool hairstyles...Its just hair let lose, falling down. And its almost always artificially straightened. Come on brides! Do something different ;-) And... my paati's sly questions when one is getting dressed for the ocassion are not to be missed...what fuss she makes on jewellery! The more the fuss, the more i feel like not wearing the stuff...lol. Her line - "oru kalyanathuku pona, naalu per varuva ma, idhalaam potukanom!" My line -"Paati, yenaka kalyanam?" She - "Solardhu kelu ma!" So much for being a girl!!

Now this doesn't mean that when you invite me for your wedding, i will whine like this before coming. NO. Attending weddings of people you know personally is a very nice experience...it makes me happy. It makes me so happy, i can never explain. When one of my relatives got married, i almost cried when the thaali was being tied...its such a moment u know...:) and suddenly, i understood why mothers and fathers cry after that moment. Its such a bittersweet moment. Its lovely.

So i'd like to end by saying, am looking forward to having a good time at your wedding ;-)and i'll definitely do a post on it! :D

PS: for those of you who had a prob with the tamil lines, pl ask! Just din have the patience to translate, am sorry... :) (i think thats only for nik!)

Yours "why don't one of you just get married?"ly
Signing off...

WEird as WEird can get...(updated)

UPDATE oct 23rd, 2006 - Happy Birthday dear bloggg!!!! :D Or is it happy anniversary? ;-) Whichever it is, its been one year since i started putting down episodes from my mind, opinions on various issues, crazy rants, various feelings etc into this blog...and its been a wonderful experience. A big thankyou goes out to all those people who read this blog, and leave their comments, and make me feel like continuing this activity...make it worthwhile. Thankyou so much, love you all and God bless!! I hope you have as much fun reading my posts, as i have writing them. Looking forward to continuing this for a very very long time :D

I have been tagged by shruti to write 6 weird things about myself. Considering i am such a crazy person, this should not have been so difficult for me...but only when I started thinking did i realise how difficult it is! So...here's what i think is weird about myself.

1. I talk to inanimate objects :D And my football tops the list! I can think of so many coversations i have had with my football after kicking it left and right! Once i even said "Am sorry i impart so much pain unto you...but i love you so much!" I know i must be out of my wits to be publicizing this...but hell! I remember that convo very well! Other things i talk to regularly include one of my soft toys, stars, well, i better not go further into this! For the love of my own image!

2. Since we're on the topic... I fabricate conversations out of thin air! Between myself, and anyone! And those conversations can get pretty long, and interesting too! :) And trust me, they're carried out with so much emotion and action... its a monoact! yes,I am crazy!

3.I know i'm a girl...;-) ok, sad way to start. But yes, when i change my earrings, its quite an 'issue' in class! "Divya, yenna visesham? Earrings change pannite?" yes, i don't ever bother...with earrings, or any other accessories! I change my earrings maybe twice a year, not more! And i've been told by so many people that i should style my hair or do something worthwhile with it... but...No, it remains. Unleveled, straight with curly ends. Don't know if it'll ever happen! Guess am not too much of a girl eh? ;-)

4.When i fall in love with a song, i go to the extent of literally 'mugging up' the lyrics from wherever, and listening to the song non stop! No other song for days...and sing the song also non stop! I know i've mentioned this before...yes, my bench mate in class definitely has a tough time!

5.I like taking photographs of shadows. Some of you have seen them ;-) I find it immensely interesting...sort of like the blackness of a shadow has some character that a normal picture doesn't have. And thats why, however late i am for college early in the morning, i just don't realise it when i am looking at my own shadow on the wall, cast by the rising sun...its a black and yellow combination that just drives me towards the camera...and just makes my morning!

6. Aah...the last! Hmmm... I don't need alcohol to get drunk! I keep saying i can get high on air! My mom used to think that something happens to me after 11.30pm...she'll tell my cousin or my bro "paithiyam pudichurthu da!" (she's gone mad) and i do the craziest things when am in that 'phase'...chuck pillows at my mom, just keep laughing for everything, opening my bro's eyes with my index finger and thumb when he's just drifting into slumber land and probably even get slapped for that!, keep talking continuosly and not allowing my cousin to sleep...and the likes :)

So there goes...weirdo divya for you!

And... The noise here is tearing my ear drums! But, its the festive season, its the biggest festival of the year...its smiles, and happiness,and ghee sweets, and new clothes, and drowsy head-baths at 5 in the morning (or slightly later, considering me!)...HAPPY DIWALI!!

Comments secn - Tell me what you think is weird abt me, please!

Yours "does anyone get crazier?"ly
Signing off....

Perspective

I tried playing football in the moonlight. Only to realise the moon's more visible to kick, than the football :) ok, bad one...ofcourse, considering i'm quite human, my eyes required some assistance to see this round white mass that was rolling around the place, playing hide and seek with my feet...or is it catch and catch? ok, whichever. And so, the legs that are mine carried the rest of me, unwillingly, to the switchboard, where my fingers pressed some white switches, and my football ground got its flood lights:D My feet were plugged into sneakers, without socks :) yuck? Thats the truth.

The football's time had come. It was going to get punished for running away and hiding in the dark. It dreaded this moment, and was crouching under the grey,cement bench, hugging the
dirtiest corner that had an empty packet of diwali fire crackers. It was not to be. The sneakered-feet (yay anu!) stealthily got closer and closer to it...and slowly rolled it into the limelight! ;-) It was gently moved forward and placed at THE spot. Aww, why did it have to be the same spot? The football knew what was coming next, but as always, wondered how long it'd be before the wall would come crashing into its small round structure.ONE...TWO...THREE...and baaaasssshhhh!!!! *sigh* And so the football said, 'no matter, i'll allow the wall to bash me, but i'll go back like the boomerang and strike those barbaric feet, suddenly sneakered!'

Her time had come. The lights were switched on, and playing the game gave her some sort of
solace she couldn't derive from other things, other people. Her focus was on the ball, and only the ball, her mind veiled from everything else the world wanted to show her, from anyone who tried a chance to haunt her thoughts. She gazed at the few stars, and waited for the hint of a breeze, but when none came, she started to search...for her article of solace. It had rolled over to the small gap under the cement bench, which had become the ultimate dumping ground for any box, fire cracker or food, that the neighbour next door had done a great deal of contribution to. She allowed her feet to roll out the dirty, white football and lead it to her shooting point. This was the moment she loved, gathering all her energy and concentrating it on her right foot. She took the shot, with the passion of a footballer, and waited for the ball to promptly come back with as much force as it could muster.

The football was in rage.The shot landed on it harder than last time! It struck the white wall with so much force that it went slightly off target. It missed the feet, got the head. It was ok, it would strike the enemy and teach her a lesson! But to its shock, the enemy reacted so quickly, it hardly had time to chose the spot...and this time, it went flying onto the glass pieces at the end of the ground. OUCH! The next time the feet touched its cover, there was a difference...and Lo! it realised, old times are back!

She thought it was coming right back to her forehead. Perfect for a header...and she was moving, her eyes moving from up to down, tracing the trajectory of the ball. But something pricked her foot and she turned her head...and the ball hit the left side of her head and flew off in the wrong direction! It was her shoe...decided to give her a bite. She thought of how she put them on a while back without socks, and contemplated the possibilities of a bite, but didn't bother. She unlaced them, got them off her feet and tossed them away. It was all back to normal...playing barefoot! She thought of her mom warning her about her feet getting hard and black, and the need to apply some KRACK cream soon ;-) But now, football was the thing...no fun if the feet didn't get black...she found this unsurpassable bliss in washing the blackness away with cold water, laughing at her pink, puffed up face after playing, tasting salty footballer sweat trickling down from the forehead, and allowing the breeze to chill her sweaty body...she looked around and found the ball over the glass piece corner that she avoided...she carefully rolled it out and continued the game she would play for a long time to come...never alone, in the football's company.

Synopsis - I played football yetserday night with my shoes on(first time). I didn't wear socks. My shoe bit me. I tossed the shoes away and got back to playing barefoot. My mom keeps tellign me not to do that if I don't want my soles to become victims of KRACK cream. Like always, i continued playing. I came home and washed my BLACK soles, laughed at my face,
became clean. Had a great time. :D :D So, nothing much huh? Indha chinna matter ku poi ivalov periya post thevaiya? ;-)

Yours "Some perspective in life"ly,
Signing off...

Universal language indeed...

UPDATE 8.10.06 - Happy birthday, Reks!!!!!!!!!! Hope u liked the gift :) we had alot of fun making it... and we all felt like keeping it for ourselves! Have a great day! And a wonderful year to come... well, considering u sit next to me in class, u'll definitely have a wonderful year to come! ;-)

Sometimes we rediscover songs. I read somwhere that the mark of a good book is that it changes evertime you read it. I believe in that line. Not only for books, but some movies too. Maybe it applies to songs too? You suddenly realise the beauty of a word or a note or the way a certain part has been sung or the instruments...something. And when that happens to me, rekha, who sits next to me in class, has to put up with me singing the song all day long, atleast for 3 days. Sorry reks! But recently, i have started to rediscover the voice of someone whose been around for long...i've heard him so many times, but something changed somwhere, and some of his songs became an addiction a while back. Srinivas. Blessed with a voice that has moved me to tears. His songs that i happened to 'rediscover'include

• Chotta Chotta nanaiyidu Tajmahal (movie Tajmahal, A.R.Rahman) - if you havent heard it, pl do. And if u've always thought the song sucked because of the 2 people in the video, then you are mistaken for sure! Its lovely...
• Kayil midhakum kanava nee (movie ratchagan, A.R.Rahman) - Again, doesn't have a great video, but the song suits the context beautifully. I kept singing this song in college so
  much that my deskmate really really felt like slapping me.:) i finally stopped!
• Anbe sugama (Movie paarthale paravasam, A.R.Rahman) - Unlike the other 2, i like this
  one's video. The lyrics..."Vazhkai oru vattam pol, mudindha idathil thudangaatha..."

Its funny how none of those movies did too well...but its Rahman we're talking about here! Genius. Seriously....and the lyrics rock...but the voice is srinivas's...its the 'feel' he imparts...God bless. He's "nila kaigirathu" on tv moved me to tears...cha.

And i have recently taken to getting mesmerised by the magic in Naresh Iyer's voice! Bloody
hell...these singers! I used to tell sandhya that i want to marry palash sen's voice (he's the lead singer of the band euphoria)...now, there's one more to the list. I want to marry Naresh iyer's voice! God bless him too!*sigh*. His 'munbe vaa' from the recent flick "sillunu oru kadhal"(which btw was so bad, i can't find any reason surya n jo agreed to do that movie except that it'd give them a reason to be with each other!) and all his rang de basanti songs...Tu bin bataye, robaroo...awesome voice. And...there are times when i get into this spree of listening to dabankoothu type songs...with fast beats...and the new song that goes into that list, is 'kummi adi' from sillunu oru kadhal,in naresh iyer's voice! Very jumpy number... :D Not exactly dabankoothu, but jumpy!

Well...just a small list of songs that make me feel the same thing whenever i listen to
them, no matter what the mood is...

• Always makes me happy - Vizhiganil ariginil vaanam (azhagiya theeye),Drops of jupiter(train)
• Always calms me down - Vellai pookal (Kannathil muthamitaal)
• Makes me smile - Le chale (My brother nikhil),Nenjodu Kalainthidu (Kadhal Kondein)
• Makes me feel floaty - aqueous transmission (Incubus), I'm ready (bryan adams)
• Makes me marvel at the feeling people call 'love' - Tu bin bataye (RDB), Ab na ja(euphoria)
• Makes me nostalgic - Yaaron (KK), My sacrifice (creed)]
• Gives me hope - Bridge over troubled waters (Simon and Garfunkel)
• Makes me feel all dark - November rain (Guns and roses)
• Makes me want to fall in love ;-) - I'll always be right there (Bryan adams)
• Makes me one with nature - Nila Kaigirathu (indra)
• Makes me jumpy - I'll be there for you (Rembrandts), Dus bahane (Dus), maahive(faakhir)
• Makes me cry - Thenpandi cheemayile (Nayagan)and any other song that suits my state of mind!

Ofcourse i can never do justice to the songs i love... they cannot be all mentioned. But this post goes out to all those singers, who make it possible for us to love what we hear, and make music such an important part in our daily lives...SPB, Hariharan, Srinivas, chitra...actually, the list is endless, no use trying a mention. :)

"The most beautiful things in life cannot be said. Thats why you have music"

Yours "Music can do things to you. Things that no one can!"ly
Signing off...