Then & Now ....

Then :


1. The first year in college + no mobile + a long line for that one land line connection that the hostel had + birthday+nostalgia = a wonderful surprise planned by a best friend and another best friends Mom+ another surprise planned by the newly made friends + a blunder done by inviting all seniors for a birth day bash = a fun filled first birth day away from home...


2. Classes that started at 7:00 am sharp,rush in the morning to start and the wonderful hours of sleep after returning,a college where an average of 8 hours were spent on a daily basis (that includes holidays),a library that was the witness of most of our group study hours read completing lab practical journals :)


3. The college hungry hours,a common room,one table, 3-4 tiffins,10-15 pairs of hands.....The college canteen,to reach where a small track with trees on both sides had to be followed....10 people walking in a line  to cross the same....


4. An evening,waking up at 7 after a long afternoon nap to find that chai time is over in the mess...rushing to the neighborhood chai stall after waking another friend...chai with yummy pakodas and green chutney...eating in a rush but chatting non-stop just to realise that the hostel gate will be closed at 8:00 PM sharp,taking a shortcut route and running like mad to reach just in time ;)


5. A definition of absolute fun after exams...a laptop loaded with English chick flicks enough to spend nights watching them back to back + packets of Maggi noodles for the mid night breaks and coffee mugs filled to brim with lather......


6. A college fest=  Preparing for the same a month in advance+ deciding upon the outfit to be worn+checking out the shops to find out something that fits in the budget + ending up borrowing from friends + accessories from the hostel mates = Finally the day arrives + hitting the dance floor like mad to the extent that the shoes start hurting in legs,legs aching to the extent that the joints are unable to move for the next two days ;)+hoping that the night never ends.... the aftermath= discussing the day in details for the coming few days + waiting for the pictures from that one and only friend in the group with a digi cam ;)


Now :


1. Office at 9:30,I get up at time,bath,pooja,yoga all come right after that :) ( I am a good girl that ways ),head straight to office,sometimes without breakfast....reaching where sometimes i message a colleague/friend about the no breakfast thing,and here comes whatever she can bring,straight on my office desk....


2. The lesser friends time that has been haunting since the past 1 year(for a person who has been with the closest friends for 6 years) makes me sad to the core but there comes one friend who has been a part of my life since long,someone who gets to bear a dose for all that lack of friends,midnight food cravings,home sickness,happy hugs and sad tears,I can't be more thankful for this one gem in my life


3. There have been parties and fun but I miss those old days,where with the limited money in hand we had the craziest fun,the non stop laughter..celebrations are still there,but they lack the familiar voices and love,the aura of sophistication and non familiar people,the pubs and the bars,no water-parks and water-falls,when a birth day party would be fun because of the people and not the place...I miss the innocent days where I could just be myself, when I would not have to worry talking about my interests,my favorites,everything would be accepted if not appreciated....


4. The being independent phase,emotionally,financially.....is what I feel good about,it keeps me sane and confident


5. The city that I live in,I love the weather,the cool breeze that makes the hottest summers cool and the weary nights refreshing....


6. The office colleagues,people of the same age group who joined the company at the same time,takes me back to the hostel days,giggles,laughter,fights....


Then & Now:


Wonderful Parents who stand like a pillar in all situations,lows and highs,who taught me to be honest to oneself,made me what I am....a rebel for a sister ;),who incidentally happens to be the cutest thing that ever happened to me...... :)


A set of lovely friends,from all phases of my  life....who handle all my worries n troubles in equal share....
and I thank the Almighty on my 25th Birthday......... for 


Some things that do not change.....wherever life leads me ...and
Some things that change forever ..........for the better :) :)

A PG switch and things that change !!!!

Wanted to update this space,so thought of adding some details that have been happening around.......Changed my PG accommodation and shifted to a place that is just a 2 minutes walk,to be more precise,it just the opposite lane,though it is quite comfortable now but here also we are actually confronted with major shortcomings ;) (I suppose now the perfect place for me to stay would be my own house for which I do not have hopes being single,so that is something to be left upon the person I marry, and guys this is not an indication that I am getting married soon,I am happily single for some more years to come :)) 

So talking about the shortcomings here :

• The bathroom here is slightly bigger than the ones we have in trains,though it is clean and well constructed,We cannot get enough of our hands touching the roof by just a slight raise.
• I am getting into a habit of cold water baths,because the solar heater provides hot water only till 7 AM in the morning which is too early for me to manage,so Cheers to another achievement in the list of adjustments
• The breakfast part is again a trouble,not a trouble actually it does not exist ,because till now I have not been able to put up with Rice and Oil clad chapatis in the morning,have switched to "Corn flakes" and I swear its such a saviour :)

Also there are so many things that I miss about the last PG,leave apart the monster owner,I can list them down as well :

• The open wide corridors with balconies at the end,where I did most of my phone conversations after office,ardent believer of "Walk when You talk",I am,"Abhishek Bachhan, are you listening ?",
• Jokes apart,the loved the open space outside our room there,here though the room is far better but as I step out,I find myself enclosed in a match box like structure,no open space,Have to run to the terrace on the 5th floor so as to take in some amount of fresh air :(
• The well lit market outside the lane,the lively feel of shops and people,everything was accessible at a distance of a few meters,be it medicines or ATM or grocery or small North Indian restaurants,Hot chips,Shanthi Sagar, and of course,the Cane Crush :( :(and most importantly,the small town feel the area had,I miss it the most
• The 2 km walk from from the old Pg to office,and back. In the morning when you see familiar faces on your way, an Uncle on morning walk,a lady on her way to office always dressed in smart western formals(we had times gossiping about her dresses and our expert comments on them :),girls after all ;),glancing at all the showrooms on the way and knowing the offers on almost all brands,discussing the new food outlets which caught our attraction and what not,also it was refreshing to walk back after office discussing the day in detail.
• Writing about the walk reminds me of many little kids on their way to school,chatting loudly,water bottles around their necks and cute bags on their back,it was such a treat to watch them every single morning,and here there was a special one who caught our attention,a small girl,might be 4-5 years old,with her bag and bottle along with a lunch box basket,she usually has a fresh flower in hand or her Mom's handbag,always smiling in glory,I have never seen so much happiness and gleam in the eyes of  a small kiddo on the way to school.Whenever we crossed paths,I can't remember a single day when I did not feel like hugging her,and the best part is she goes to school from somewhere besides my new Pg,though our timings do not match now,still I have some hope of seeing her :)

Its nice to take note of some short and sweet events happening around you in the course of the day,somewhere it reminds you that there are things happening everyday that can keep you fresh all day long,Thank You God for such memories from each place that I live in,Hope to build some more in the new place as well.

Tolerance ?#$%&*#

I had an amazing ability to tolerate human beings of all varied attributes till a year back,I could tolerate umpteen number of senseless talks because I am of the kind of nature wherein if talks cannot keep me interested in the starting 5-10 minutes of a conversation,my mind automatically turns off the switches and I stop listening but my facial expressions would manage to cover that up for the rest of the time.I also the ability to stay polite and calm towards people who do not know how to talk,I should rather say "Mannerless" folks,never ever did I become rude and arrogant except when it was ABSOLUTELY necessary............but since a few days,I have realised that their is a necessity to give people whom I have been tolerating for a long time, in face( not that I never felt like that before but now it has crossed limits enough to make me burst out),they have long considered that I cannot answer back,but that is just because I have not been taught to be rude and arrogant.There are a few people I have come across who have the guts to put blame even when they themselves are nothing less than brainless morons...(I know this post is becoming too much of rant but just cant help ;) Sorry folks but I find this the best way to deal with the confusions and situations I come across.......)I wish I could answer back and give in face.......Would be really happy if I accomplish that in the coming days ;)Yes that is the only way I can get a feel of satisfaction with my own self...........So please keep me in your good thoughts so that God really gives me some "real unequivocal,plain and candid" contradicting skills !!!!! ;) ;)

Best Friends !!!!!!!

Jotting down in bullet points what best friends are all about :

• Distance does not matter for them, they can fight for silly reasons like not chatting even when available on g-talk to giving them a call for reasons as stupid as craving for a nice cup of masala chai....
• They are all about trippling on a two wheeler,riding about the whole city, wandering without reasons on the familiar streets of your town :) :)
• An evening spent surrounded with people who have decided upon the agenda to be your leg pulling and still when you leave you feel like you spent the best few hours of the day with them
• They would be the first ones to yell at you for your stupid mistakes but would protect you to the core when some body else raises a finger against you
• Will listen to your cribbing about silly and odd things patiently but will not spare you without a dose of scolding,and also would have the guts of making fun of the same after you get over it
• In a restaurant, would order your favourite stuff even without glancing at you,also would pass a jargon" What else do you eat anyway??"
• Would tease you with names of the all the people whose thoughts are enough to irritate the worst out of you , but would be the first ones to come to your rescue when you are stuck with any of the aforementioned beings ;) ;)

Any further thoughts to add to the list ????

The "D" Devil .....

Definitely not about the "Delhi Daredevils"............

Would narrate an incidence which happened a few days back, me and a friend were on our way back from office and were discussing weddings("Weddings",that is what has been happening since the past six months,every time you open your facebook account,you would definitely find wedding pictures of friends and if not that, the relationship status would definitely change ...),we just heard a few friends discussing about the "talks on marriage" that have recently begun in their homes.....

To our surprise everybody present there,all the girls(well educated )along with the other discussions were completely fine with the devil that i was talking above...."DOWRY",the words uttered were:

• "that is how it happens in our society,my parents are worried about how would they get 3 daughters married,it would cost around 70 lakhs"
• "my parents said that if a guy is ready to marry you without dowry,you should definitely consider your self lucky"..

The reason to get married to a guy just because he is sort of a saint who does not hold a price tag on himself quoting a hefty some lakhs.....no matter whatever the girl's choice is,the "NO DOWRY" choice of the guy is a rare quality to find amongst the Engineers, the MBA's, the CA's,the Doctors,who have a definite no bargain prices according to their profession,the choice is yours, so what if your girl is educated, pretty, confident.... you definitely would have to pay a price for the reason she was born as a girl.

I don't know how many readers would read the above lines with  " WTF ??? expression", i felt it the moment i heard all that, and to my surprise most of the girls are okay with the "D-devil" because "that's the way it is in our society......."

I am surprised at the way the educated youth is completely fine with the concept....Education gives us the ability to understand, the ability to express,equips us with the knowledge to fight against wrong but here the degrees that guys hold are a predictor of their so called "Market Price" and not to blame the boys, girls are an equal partner in crime because they don't speak up,even when they are educated enough.....I feel ashamed because we talk of gender equality,but still we consider ourselves on a lower ground when we come to decisions as important as wedding,why cant we say no to "DOWRY",we compete for the best education, the best colleges,we put in equal efforts to achieve our ambitions,we dream about our careers,then why do we take a backseat here.......We are raised with equal affection by our parents, they spend equally for our education......they want to give us a happy, fulfilled life, then why do they fall a prey to this social vice......

I guess they are some serious loopholes in the society, in the way our thought process goes, and may be some of these petty causes are what make "India world's 4th most dangerous place for women"

Does that not need serious thinking ,to change mindsets,to change "that is how it is attitude"....

It does,and with that it requires the will to fight back, to say "No" to something that is wrong....

To My Alma Mater !!!!!!!

School life is long,the end seems so far,

But ambitions are hitched to a star,As we grow and we learn, we shall ever remember,

"Virtue Alone Ennobles"

Lines from our school anthem,just randomly came to my mind and urged me to dedicate a post to my School......St. Joseph's Convent Senior Secondary School,my second home,from Kinder Garten to Primary to Senior Secondary to High School,14 years of wonderful memories that the place gave me have been the most cherished of all the Institutes I studied at,I wonder if somebody would disagree at " There's nothing like school life "

The classic missionary building,the huge playground,the assembly stage,the magnificent auditorium,the beautiful Chapel, the calm Convent and the angelic statue of Mother Mary.........all flow like the flashback of a movie in my mind when I think about SJC.The place instilled discipline,punctuality and culture,by charging a modest fee that can be the lowest I could guess for a place like it is. Our day started with the wonderful prayer assemblies which refreshed us for the day... Yes, our school had an amazing concept for the morning assemblies,each class would get 3 days in which they would conduct morning assemblies accordingly

1. Life of a great personality,2. A topic in G.K, 3.Creative display,be it anything(skit,dance,drama)

These ideas never left us sleepy during our morning assemblies,the amount of effort we used to put to make our section's management of the same,the best. We had a class decoration competition in the starting of the academic year, the creativity with which we decorated our classrooms,the amazing charts that were prepared for each subject and the competition between different sections for the award of the "best decorated class". this was followed by elections for Captains and wise captains for each house(namely,Red, Blue,Green and Yellow),the same followed by Competitions on drama,dance and singing between all the four houses.

To participate and perform your best,we had awe-inspiring guidance from some of the best teachers in town,be it the Sports Day,or the Annual Day,teachers guided us with the same level of excitement as students....Thanks to them our school functions were amongst the best one could witness in terms of richness and performance..I still remember the Navras dance performance at one of our annual functions(all the 9 "rasas" of basic emotions,beautifully portrayed by a group of dancers on songs chosen across decades of Indian cinema,not even trained in classical dancing.......the kind of mystical experience it was,still lingers in my mind and freshens me up)

The way the teachers inspired students to take up extra-curricular activities,training them,spending extra time from work hours,that is what i guess is called devotion and love for what you do( when I am asked to spend an extra half an hour at work,frankly i know the kind of irritation it creates ;))Thanks to the blessings of those mentors(one name I would like to mention here is Mrs. Shetty,who was a mirror of what the definition of a teacher means,mentor, guide,Guru...words are not enough to express the gratitude that comes straight from heart...and Mrs. Juhi Mehra,one teacher who taught me to write and encouraged every single attempt that I made in the direction..Thanks to you,I am confident enough to dedicate this post to SJC.....

Not to forget the incredible staff,one name that comes to my mind is Nevel Uncle, a name that would come first whenever any kind of help was required. In today's world,where educational institutes have become  a source of making money,I truly feel lucky to have been to a place which has made me sense the pride in the same even after a gap of 7 years,and I am quite sure that this feeling would keep getting stronger in the years to come. The motto "Virtue Alone Ennobles" which emphasises on the strength of character,surely would be a source of inspiration to Josephites all over....Concluding the post with the remaining lines of the School Anthem..

Work and prayer are chosen ways of life,

Hope and peace to gladden every day,

Confidence and courage in every form of strife,

Faith and love to conquer all the way.

School life is a rock on which we shall build,

With a spirit of God to be filled.

As we grow in our minds

May this truth be instilled

"Virtue Alone Ennobles"

Long live SJC !!!!!!     

Nothing like home .....

Its been a week that I am back from home after a trip of 15 days and the post is just waiting to be written,The special things that make home,the most beautiful place...those talks of going home from the day u book the ticket,planning the trip,shopping for family.....the kind of anxiety just before 2 days of leaving.....u land up at the railway station 1 hour in advance,the journey always seems too long and u just keep on staring every hour at your watch........even the air of your hometown seems so familiar,so "yours",the special welcome at home,from neighbours to the maids at your place,flooded with lots of blessings,for all the days you are at home.....being the privileged one to decide the menu... from breakfast to dinner...to the envy of your siblings.......;)Dad coming home a little early than usual and staying awake a little late than usual just because your chit-chat does not take a break...........sister wanting to roam about on the streets of your town on your pet two-wheeler...shopping for all the unnecessary stuff with little sister...........Homecoming becomes a festival to Parents.....Mom becomes a little more busy to fulfill all in your wishlist for the trip.......Dad takes you to the native taking an extra leave from work......meeting grandparents after long long time..........a trip dedicated to graduation days to the second home Indore....spending quality time with best friends,wanting the hour glass to give you a break...but Alas !! one has to come back......the journey back is too short......even the train does not get late then......:( but henceforth starts the wait for another trip and the same circle continues :):)