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 :):)

The Good Old Days !!!!

Its 5::20PM in my watch and its raining heavily outside,My mind is full of flashbacks from the past urging me to write this post as soon as I can.

When I was a kid, the best thing that rain could bring was a holiday from school,it was just awesome to be on the way in the auto and you see schoolmates coming back shouting "Its a holiday",coming back home in those water filled raincoats,with Mom ready to cuddle your wet hair with a towel,and the wonderful hot food items,including those hot roasted "bhuttas".Apart from that seeking permission to get wet in rain with all the kids in the colony,making paper boats and struggling to keep them flowing intact, getting drenched with all the playfulness that those little raindrops could instill within yourself.

When I moved towards my graduation years,away from home,for the first year every single time it rained,I would miss home like anything,I would stare at the downpour,deeply soaked in those memories,Soon after those days passed,and things started getting on track,the shower would bring with itself lots of greenery in and around the hostel and college making me fall in love with my surroundings.Standing in the college labs performing those experiments,eyes stuck on the beauty that i could see outside,the ring road in Indore soaked wet and all that you could smell in the air was the intoxicating smell of sand.Planning to bunk classes and walking to the canteen taking a path that was some sort of a small jungle,lush green trees on both the sides,playing all sorts of silly games over those cups of tea,searching for carts selling "bhuttas" and savouring on them like we did not eat anything in ages.Even in the hostel,getting drenched on the terrace and demanding the Mess wali aunty to prepare "Hot Pakodas" for the evening snacks.

Again its raining today, I am stuck in office,staring at the downpour,makes me feel like running out and getting drenched but I am bound by the rope of discipline,still i love the beauty this season brings along(Here,Bangalore would never give you a chance to miss rains !!!!!)but I still feel the nostalgia in my nerves, wanting to go back to those carefree old days,the uninhibited joy that these "pitter-patter raindrops" bring, I am missing home,missing my college,friends and I miss my life back in Indore.........I wish I would relive those moments again. I am going to walk back to my Pg with an umbrella(I love to do that as well),would love to see those drops falling on to the surface of mother Earth,rejuvenating everything that comes its way.....

 

Simply Adorable !!!

I have a friend X who has another friend Y,and I have a small story to share about them........X was in a relationship with Z about which Y did not know(Z is a friend of Y as well)......Y has been the most special friend of X from a long long time,so it was quite unobvious for X and even Z not to disclose about this relationship to Z but they did not(because of some very obvious reasons).After more than a year of being in the relationship,X finally disclosed his"committed status" to Y and informed Z about it.

If I would have been in Y's place,I would have killed X and Z for not revealing their relationship to me for such a long time,would have fought to an extent where I would have reached to a conclusion that would just have said"How could they",would have sulked, cried and hated them for not telling me the truth...........Now I would tell you what his friend Y did.

She accepted the fact beautifully without any grudges,complaints or misunderstandings.She was happy for her friends and that could be felt as she spoke.She was graceful and sublime in considering the facts and I was just speechless by her manner. I just wondered that how could people be so simple , and have the ability to uncomplicate things. This must look like a very small incident but I am really amazed by the simplicity of the young lady who harmonized the whole matter and found happiness with her friends' decision. Hey "Y", in case you read this, I would just like to tell you that i just loved and and am ammmmmaaaaaaazeeeeed by your integrity and naturalness. You have taught me a basic ingredient of life" Welcoming happiness with open arms without hard feelings for the people whom you love even when they were a little late in sharing it with you".

No Boredom ahead .........

Boredom............I always wanted to analyse the term.....what does it actually mean..is it about not being able to do what you really want,being stuck up with something that seems dull to you,or doing what is same every single day....I guess boredom is one thing that all individuals feel at some point of time in their lives....The same has been happening to me every single day in the past one week which has eventually led me to write about Boredom(i feel its quite weird for someone to write about a topic as weird as this ;))

At every single stage in life till now,barring the childhood days when the mind was not so free to think about tedium(since there were lots of other inquisitions,dreams that never let the mind so jobless)....everything that continued for a long duration without a break would become boring and difficult to carry out any further....If I examine my life practically,when i moved from college to work,Boredom started haunting me more often than ever before.Every fifteen twenty days at work once i feel as if life has no meaning other than waiting for salary to come every last day of the month ;))But just a few days back i realised that not everybody's life would be full of many new things on and off,many new achievements,a milestone at every stage to cherish,refresh and motivate,all of us would settle down doing the same set of things after a certain point of time....and all those things would be what we call as life.....and I realised,"How can I be bored of LIFE"??

And then I came to a conclusion that Boredom is just a state of my mind and I will have to ensure that my daily routine does not lead me to it,Yes routines would be same but some spice can be added to that too,Listing below how would i do that :

•  Keep dreaming the same way i used to when i was a small kid and not letting them die beacuse my life has taken a turn different from what i dreamt of

• Will have to keep finding newer, innovative ways in my work, which would prevent my work to be monotonous
• Will have to try taking risks and responsibilities,being a liitle more proactive would rather help
• Would spend more time to my hobbies,reading, dancing, cooking and keep adding to what I am good at
• Giving the mind and heart a dose of self content by doing good and getting praise;)(after all being recognised for the good is equally important)
• Looking forward to achievements, however small they might be(achievements are a source of self pride ;))
• Would not force myself to do things that my mind forces to do, even when they are unimportant(I do them just because the mind is more towards the analytical side and wants things to be perfect)
• Would not burden myself with expectations but would look forward to continuous growth and make efforts for the same
• Enjoy the fact that it is wonderful to be imperfect at times :) :)
• Will take responsibility for decisions and would not regret them but rather try to avoid mistakes for the next ones to be taken

Life is not going to be a saga of great milestones achieved always, but it would definitely be a celebration of simple and stupid stuff that goes around it and i promise myself that i wont ever get bored of LIFE :):)

A well deserved VICTORY :) :)

A gap of 28 years, close to the trophy a couple of times but could not get it....Alas, 2nd April 2011, a very tough match, lots of hitches in between, people all over India with fingers crossed, lots of jinxes, not moving from their seats, as if celestial phenomenon links people from the same country together and adds to the destiny,or rather Victory :):)

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011,the most valuable trophy for any Cricket crazy nation, comes to India :):) and being one of the proud Indians to witness the game :) :) the feeling is a mix of emotions, patriotism and proud....Most importantly, when the Cup adds the most important feather to the cap of Master Blaster,"Sachin Tendulkar"a dream to come true after 19 years, watching him being carried on shoulders over the ground,kudos to Gautam Gambhir, and also Dhoni ,who is an addition to the list of most successful Indian Captains who managed to add to the outstanding performance of the Indian Cricket Team when they needed it the most....and above all when the match was so damn difficult to win,I suppose that is why its said, Victory tastes sweeter when it comes through lots of hard work.......:) :) and the Indian team tastes sweet sweet success....:D

Congs team India :)  You have made us all proud :)

Mann Lafanga Bada ;)

Mann lafanga bada, Apne mann ki kare......

Yun tou mera hi hai,mujhse bhi na dare.......

Bheege bheege khayalon mein khoya rahe......

Main sambhal ja kahoon woh  fisalta rahe........

Just was listening to this song when realised some crazy facts about my "Mann ;)" :

• The "mann" wants to go back from where it started,it always have to crib and cry about things and when it finally gets the desired thing,it realises this was not that it wanted
• It would think of all the possible ways to keep itself busy,to be the most utilized in the rat race of so called "intelligence" but it really wants to be in that child like state always,no inhibitions,no rules,it wants to be a free bird on one side but the other side forces to be what the world considers acceptable :( Poor thing, how to balance the extremes?? :(:(
• Has the ability to look calm but inside it would have killed the other person i dont know how many times (over something that was unacceptable to my "mann"),why does'nt it have the independence to answer straight on face....and enjoy the surprise by which people are taken aback ;)It wants the guts to tell people"Shut Up, I know better than you,keep those suggestions and advices with yourself :) :)

It needs wings to fly even if its just for a day,left upon by itself,free of everything that inhibits,binds.......I wonder if such a day would come :):)