The shades in between

And sometimes life is just about...

2012-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

Finding joy in little wins.

Doing the dreaded dishes that have been piling up for a week, finding a tailor to mend my old jeans, getting up the guts to wear contact lenses... and finally just accepting that this is home.

Resolutions

2012-01-13T05:56:00.000-08:00

After a year of rather sporadic posts (read "4"), I decided that things should be a little different this year.

For starters, I shouldn't leave 14 drafts unattended to. Especially cryptic ones like 'Work and Caf'. Caffeine? Cafeteria? One shall never know.

Secondly, I should post once a month, at the least. That shouldn't be so hard, right? Considering it's been 13 days and this is all I could come up with, I'm going to say no.

Finally, I should attempt to write about something other than myself. As you can see, I seem to be doing such an incredible job with that already.

Here's to the new year!

Home, sweet home.

2011-07-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

The smell of moist sand and freshly brewed coffee in the morning. The clanging of vessels in the kitchen competing with Nithyasree's shrill voice. Dad's loud complaints about the Government. Fighting for bed-space with sister. The smell of Amma's saris neatly stacked on the desk. The secret stash of french cheese lays in the cupboard. The old washerman staggering past the house with his crinkled smile. Endless post-it plans. Episodes of Gilmore Girls watched at 2 am with melted butter on popcorn. Bessy beach at 4. Extra chocolate chips at Arun Unlimited. Gorging down chilly cheese fries at Eatlica and missing dinner afterwards. Masala Chai on rainy days. Study sessions on the water tank. Sobbing silently behind the bathroom door.

I wish I was home.

Happenstance

2011-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

It’s funny how sometimes the most seemingly inconsequential excuse for an incident can alter the course of ones life.

For instance, had I not been dreadfully bored that fateful Wednesday evening and hit the youtube link for Rebecca Black’s Friday, I would have never known how to get down!

(Insightful, aren’t I?)

Then, and now.

2011-06-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2010

I was knee-deep in the production of Madras Plus, scampering from one part of the city to the next to unearth some sort of potentially intriguing story to meet the deadline. I was powered by 4 hours of sleep, soaked from head to toe thanks to Murphy's infamous ways… Yet, strangely, I was happy.

June 15, 2011

I'm clocking my sixth hour for the day working on an IT project. When I get home, there is a pile of laundry, dirty dishes, electricity bills and Mo (my not-so-friendly neighbourhood mouse), waiting for me. I can see happiness lurking around the corner, and yet, no matter how many turns I take, I always ram into a wall.

To Write, or not to... Write.

2011-05-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say that I have lost the ability to write. For starters, it look all of 2 strawberry yogurts, one chocolate milkshake and a frustrating 11 hours at the office to even come up with that much. To top it off, I don't know why I for starters-ed the previous sentence... Or topped off this one.

Que Sera. Sera.

Random Rambling - Nothing more, nothing less

2010-12-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

> Black coffee, capsicum maggi and sleepless nights seem to be taking over my life, little by little, every day. Yes, I'm ruling out the possibility that the sleepless nights could be caused by caffeine overdose. Caffeine is the elixir of life. Period. Well, my life atleast.

> I think we as individuals spend way too much time debating, and almost no time acting. I've seen it happen a lot off late, and if we don't invest even quarter of the time we spend trying one-up the other's argument actually working towards what which we fight about so passionately, I think we should just shut up.

> I've become both a social and fashion disaster. Most of my clothes don't match anymore, and in addition to that, I seem to have developed acute foot-in-the-mouth disorder.

> Salpa adjust maadi, kannada gothilla. Yes, I definitely have a ear for languages.. To think it only took me 4 months in Bangalore to pick up that much.

> Its funny how everything that drove me obsessively crazy for the past four years has magically disappeared into thin air. Maybe it's because I have a whole new list of things to obsess over now.

> Working as a QA for four months, I seem to have learnt more about technology than I had in my four long years at college. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone about the pin diagram of an 8086 microprocessor. Not really your thing? How about 8085?

> Does anyone know what is happening in the world? I for one, don't. Even though I get 2 different newspapers delivered at my doorstep. I need to read more.

Diwali

2010-11-07T09:37:00.001-08:00

There's always something magical about it :)

My own little victory

2010-10-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

The big bottle of aquafina stares at me from across the room. Large, looming and annoyingly blue.

Three days ago, I thought buying a 2 litre bottle of water would ensure that I didn't have to keep running to the store. But little did I know that this particular bottle was designed by a narcissistic bottle-designer (yes, that's a profession) who knew that this bottle would land up in my hands. That's when the battle began.

Its been 2 weeks since I officially began living by myself. The 6 weeks at TWU never counted as I always had friends around, the sole purpose of my apartment being the comfy bed it offered.

But now, I'm on my own. Apart from managing my career, I need to do my own grocery shopping, make my own coffee and most of all, make sure I'm fed thrice a day... a concept I'm yet to really comprehend. Having been a bit of a spoilt kid back at home, whether it was going out to get a photocopy or getting a glass of milk at night, there was always someone by my side - something that I realize now that I took for granted. At 21, I still wish I could cling to my mum's saree as I cross the highway in front of where I live. I'm yet to cross it on my own.

I stare back at the bottle, knowing fully well that if I don't fight back, I will go thirsty. I take a pair of scissors and gnaw at the lid, and twenty minutes into the battle, it finally gives up. Bruised but delirious with joy, eleven at night, I take my first sip.

Maybe, just maybe, I can handle this.

The next chapter

2010-10-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

So I watched Julie and Julia, and while for most people, it might have inspired to cook, for me, it did to write. The last time I was here, I was a full-time student, a part-time journalist and I had atleast a semblance of a social life. I was at home - with my family, my friends and all that I thought defined me. Now, I am more than hundreds of kilometers away from everything familiar, struggling for balance in this journey I so fondly call life.

The past 6 months have been nothing short of roller coaster ride. All that was evil in college met its fitting end like a cliched chick-flick, but with it also came the heart-wrenching farewells. I’m not one for sappy lovey-dovey status messages about how college was the place where all of our hearts moulded into this well… um… giant heart, but I know I’ll miss the handful who stood by my side through everything.

Following that, I plunged head long into being a journalist and spent a crazy month on reporting assignments till my trusty renolds pen gave out on me. I did everything that reporters were supposed to do, from drinking obsessive amounts of coffee to developing a formal phone-voice that always made one sound important. I learnt how to write, how not to write and that the Government is always available for a quote when you’re tooting their horn, but awol when the slightest thing goes wrong. I also got a whole lot of free food wherever I went – not that I ever bragged about it! :D

After spending months being insanely busy, I finally got the month of nothingness that I longed for, and let me tell you I was bored out of my mind! Apart from the few times I hung out with friends, there was really nothing to do and I was itching to get involved in something again. But motivated I was, to the cause of nothingness, so I didn’t move a finger.

Then, finally, came the beginning of the rest of my life – Work. I joined work on Aug 11^th, a timid doe-eyed college student who’s idea of professional training was an enormous classroom with someone talking about corporate policies and business models. Boy, was I wrong! Being in a challenging, yet fun learning environment for six weeks made me wonder why the academic part of college was always such a disappointment. I met a whole lot of inspiring human beings, and in the process made a few friends to keep.

I’m on my first project now, ready to climb the corporate ladder, so to speak.I clock 40 hours a week, drink really bad coffee and strike up conversations about exchange servers and quality assurance.

I don’t know what the future holds. All I know is, tomorrow is another day.

Looking Back

2010-01-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

To manic mondays, sleepless thursdays and a forgotten saturday,
To 2 am realisations, hysteria attacks and words that went astray,
To laughter, fountains and the secret blue bubbles,
To procrastination, reports and the quest for mango-doubles,
To broken promises, faded friends and cold deception,
To endless love, hazy dreams and carefully crafted decisions
- I owe this year.

And there goes another year

2009-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

So, i'm almost there.. the big TWO-O. Do i feel older? Not really. I still happily took my McDonald's balloon and swished it around, and got icecream in my hair from trying to get in as much of icecream and fries as I possibly could before my 9 year old cousin beat me to it! :)

I loved my 19th year. It was the year of big bang theory, the year I got to tour Frisco the right way with my friends, the year I got my big break at a paper, the year my sister and I turned into shopaholics... It was one hell of a year!

Here's hoping this year is just as good :)

Growing up

2009-06-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

I know I haven’t written anything in a long time. I’d get this instinctive impulse to write something, and I would sit down and conjure up some pseudo intriguing opening line and then... crickets. Nothing but an empty space. My exams came and went by, and all I remember is sitting down with my books for hours on end and drawing a blank when the time came.

And then the good lord brought about my much-awaited holidays, and I was just about to let the pleasure of nothingness sink-in, when I felt a hand grip my throat and push me back into reality.

Placements in July. I am expected to get a job in the real world in a month and be a grown-up. I feel like I should know all the answers, and yet I'm still asking questions. I’m supposed to own an apartment, make my own coffee and pay my own bills. I have never written a cheque before in my life. I have a licence, but I’m yet to summon enough courage to drive a real car on a real road. Heck, I manage to get into an accident on a bumper-car!

I’m not ready to be done with college in a year and get my act together. I feel like it was just a month ago that I walked into this huge campus thinking these will be the most defining years in my life. In some ways, it really was.

I’m still living in the plastic bubble of comfort built by my family and friends. I just hope that when I step out of it, I don’t run out of oxygen.

People, people, people

2009-03-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

We had our college culturals last week, which apart from being quite exhausting, was also a LOT of fun. But it isn’t the beyond brilliant Karthik concert or the dramatic (to say the least) last day I am going to write about. This year, I got to work to work with a lot of people first hand, and three years into college, I am still amused by how I meet such different people every single day! Back when I was in school, I always thought I had everybody figured out and that 17 years of schooling had allowed me to meet such a wide ensemble of characters that categorizing new people I met would be a piece of cake. There was the jock, the guy/girl in the front bench with the spring attached to their seat, the lit stud, the ‘eehh, nee laan yaar’ type, the quizzing type, the clumsy type (me included), the too brilliant for their own good type, the gossipy type, the ‘everyone is crazy about me' type, the always online type, the silent type and the hyper type! But during the 3 days of our culturals, I realized that there’re a lot more than just those.

Firstly, there is the ‘aiyyo (in hushed tones) prachane’ type, which consists of a group of people (more often than not, boys) who think that they have been sent by God for the prime purpose of ‘protecting their honor and their women’! These are the men, inspired by the legendary heroes of all time (like Vijay from Gilli, of course), and step out to solve the world’s prachanes. Strong or weak, big or small, these men, brave and valiant as they are, believe anybody’s prachane is their prachane, and set out to make the world the safer place with their unfailing weapon – sheer macho-ness.

Then there is the cool type. These people so cool, that they feel the need to inform the others just how cool they are, so that if anyone is lucky enough to become just as cool as them, they’ll know who they caught it from! If the average human being wants to consciously be one among them, they need to sign a document which emphasizes that for better or worse, they shall remain united. After all, in unity lies coolness.

And finally, there is the ‘aaaaaaaaahhhhaaa’ type. They just aaaaaahhhhaaa.

There are about umpteen more of these, but these were the ones that stood out. At the end of the day, what can I say – You gotta love college!

The return of the 'moral' police

2009-01-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

I remember reading from my Social Studies book back in school that the Indian Constitution declared India a sovereign, secular, socialist republic which guaranteed justice, equality, liberty and integrity for all its citizens. I might not have taken it quite seriously back in the seventh standard, yet I remember this statement 7 years after I heard it, so it must have meant something to me back then, as I thought it did now. But turn on the news today, and all the pride and conviction withers away and I am left plainly disappointed. Recently, the Sri Ram Sena workers rushed into a pub and beat up girls for behaving in an “obscene manner”. When questioned about this, their leader told a prominent news channel that perhaps the manner in which his men had taken action was wrong, but he wanted to know why no one was looking at their message.

What message, you ask? Viciously attacking women is pardonable as long as it is for the greater good. I am sure you are as glad as I am that the perpetrators of this vile act have got what they deserved, going to a bar, drinking and sitting down with the opposite sex like that, that too wearing jeans. Perhaps, it would have been ok had they been in a saree. Perhaps not.

Of course, the men indulging in similar ‘distasteful’ behaviour were barely harmed. Or maybe they were and it wasn’t covered enough by the media. Who knows. But the bottom line is, everyone – the media, the politicians, the attacking party and the victims alike are focussing on the women who were involved. And that is because this isn’t the first or second act of blatant discrimination. I’m sure there are a host of reasons people will spew out for why it’s a different situation for men, and honestly I am sick of hearing or even talking about them.

So what is this moral behaviour and decency they talk about? Beating up people who go against your principles of right and wrong? Destroying property in the name of your cultural integrity? This wasn’t what the leaders of our country envisioned when they said equality, justice and tolerance. Or maybe I am wrong, since there are people out there redefining what Indian culture is and is not.

So, rejoice, we have a new clan of people taking the law into their own hands and deciding what is good for the country. Don’t you feel so much safer?

Randomness

2009-01-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

• My new semester is new no more, and it’s back to the old life of Monday Friday unit tests and late lab submissions. Certain ambitious professors want us to develop our own Operating System by the end of the year. Piece of cake! Next year this time, all of you will be using the “CSE third year A” ! I’m sure Microsoft is shaking in their boots.

• I watched a grand total of seven movies this weekend, most of which were cartoons on a sugar rush. Love Story 2050 was quite the crowd pleaser! I spent the rest of the weekend praying that I have red hair in my next life. I also saw Pretty in Pink, which is one of the cutest movies ever!

• In my quest to write more, I have written a grand total of (drum roll) ONE article! Laziness is next to godliness. So are chilly cheese fries.

• For those of you who it may concern, you wear a pair of jeanS. Not ‘a jean’. I don’t know what ‘a jean’ is but the closest I can come up with is a pair of jeans ripped in the middle vertically! NOT a pretty picture.

• The GRE/CAT prep everyone seems to be doing got me thinking of a new venture. So I started the “Saravana Bhavan table sweeping association” for which I’ve successful y recruited members - may the force be with you guys! Your love and support will help us grow strong :)

• I went for the Chennai Sangamam festival, which was a beautiful display of Tamil culture. I got to see the peacock dance and the bull dance, which was quite fun. I also got to eat rich Tamil food which was truly delicious. To my annoyance, the people dressed up in funny Charlie Chaplin like outfits kept running up to shake my hand or do a funny dance in front of me. Even pretending to be on the phone didn’t help!

Ringing in the New Year

2009-01-04T05:01:00.000-08:00

The clock struck 12 on December 31st and 2009 was finally here. I expected to feel a rush of adrenaline, pop a few of my imaginary party poppers (strangeness is one among my many attributes) but my usual new year’s enthusiasm had pulled a disappearing act. All I wanted to do was curl up with my soft pillows and sleep. I usually follow an elaborate ritual – making a few new years resolutions, writing down my predictions for the rest of the year in my gorgeous active-thrice-a-year diary and a long chain of phone calls and messages, but this year I groggily muttered an ‘I will have a bath everyday’ before dozing off. Hmm, maybe the joint aches and the sudden urge to tell little kids stories about the old days really does mean something!

The other day, I sat with a couple of my friends and we spoke about our aspirations, regrets and where we saw ourselves 20 years from now. Though it might have been just another conversation, I am sure it is one of the few isolated moments I will remember from college. As one of my friends pointed out, some of us may get where we want to, some of us may not. Only time will tell. All we can do is hope, and work towards it.

I think that was when my new years resolution hit me. Three days after January first. I wanted to write more. Whether it would be about shoelaces or rocket science, I would.

Which is worse?

2008-12-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

Knowing there’s a problem and not knowing the solution, or not knowing the problem altogether? Suspecting every man’s intentions, or taking a leap of faith each time? Arguing about every little misunderstanding, or letting all of them fly by? Taking a chance that ends up in a failure, or not taking the chance altogether?

One can never really say.

All in a days work

2008-12-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is a story loosely based on the life of a young girl who works in the house across my street.

Pitter-patter, the sound of the water dripping onto the vessels wakes her up at 4 a.m. It is yet another day, and she needs to wash the vessels before the sound of the water wakes the owner’s wife. She had forgotten to do them the previous night. The sight of children playing on the street till late in the night had her mesmerized enough to forget her daily routine. Maybe one day she would get to play. Perhaps on the street with children her age. Or in the comfort of her own home with dolls like her master’s daughter. She used to watch the girl longingly as she braided the doll’s curly locks. The doll wore a new dress each day – shades of red Monday through Wednesday and black and blue the remaining days. She remembered looking down at her worn-out shirt and skirt, one of the only 2 pairs of clothes she owned. Her mother had given her the new dress, telling her that it was on the occasion that she was going to start a new life and everyone needs a new outfit to commemorate an important event in their life. And that dress was now in rags.

Her master was never cruel to her. He was the nicest man, but he never smiled. She knew he was an important man though, he received so many phone calls. His wife was nice too as long as she didn’t cross her. If she did her work on time, the lady of the house would give her food on time, and allow her to sit by the table while the family dined together. She used to look forward to this moment each day as it reminded her of the days her brothers and sisters would gather around the fire in her village to eat a hearty meal.

A lot had changed since then. When her father had lost his job, her family could no longer afford to keep her around the house. When her father’s friend offered to send her to work for a rich family in the big city, she volunteered to leave because she couldn’t stand to see the tears her mother shed every night.

She used to listen as her master’s children attended tuition every day. She collected the papers they threw away and practised the alphabet and numbers with great concentration. Driver uncle had said that she had learnt more than what her father knew at her age, and she smiled to herself wondering how proud her father would have been had he seen her.

She never spent the money she earned working there. Though a meagre amount, she let it accumulate so one day she had enough to visit her family again. After six long years of toil, she had just about enough.

Pitter-patter, she heard the water bring her back to reality, and she began to scrub happily. Soon she would be home.

Nostalgia

2008-12-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out my book shelf the other day, which I am rather proud of, because papers and old coffee cups don’t co-exist anymore. I presume that’s why man invented the concept of a kitchen – to keep the coffee off old math papers. I’m glad that 19 years of life experience has left me with much wisdom :)

So as I embarked on my mission to clean (i.e. use my dustbuster as a microphone to sing out ‘summer breezin’ as loudly as I could), I found my ‘memories’ box which seemed to be overflowing with a number of things.

A letter from an old friend from 7 years ago about how Michael Owen was the cutest footballer ever, my old slam book with endless accounts of how people have never heard me open my mouth (no, I am NOT making that up!), my old epaulet from school (I remember how proud we were to be seniors), bangles from Rainforest from a year back which I am sure I’ll never wear but will never forget, among many. I also found a copy of ‘that fat hat’ which has to be the cutest book ever, I remember being beyond excited to buy it back in primary school – a cautionary tale of what happens when a cat is too worried that her friend wears a big hat but finally realises how it doesn’t matter what other people think, quite a thought-provoker back in the day! I also have an overdose of SF souvenirs – SF pens, frames, books, bookmarks, maps, keychains, snow globes... I guess that explains the overflow :)

It’s always a mixture of emotions when I come across old things. There were countless good times. Excursions, dumb-c, sleepovers, mid-day coffee-day french fry craving sessions with a few good friends, the beach and all the running around in circles pretending to play football. But it’s sad also, how things have changed since then. People I saw everyday, I now talk to a few assorted days a year, and some only on birthdays.

My precious ‘salangai’ which was once something that meant the world to me currently lies in a corner gathering dust along with my the ‘nethi chutti’ and other dance memorabilia. I did try going back to my dance classes, but nothing was the same, and I eventually dropped out again.

I also found photos from the time one of my closest friends stayed in my apartment. We used to spend every evening in the terrace playing shuttle, or talking about our other eccentric neighbours, or occasionally studying! I still see her sometimes when she comes on my bus, and we try to uphold our long list of traditions carefully crafted over the past 14 years, but it’s not the same.

My nostalgic session went on for many hours, as I went through every little thing I had saved up through the years. It reminded me of times when life was uncomplicated, and all I worried about was whether I would be able to catch the latest episode of friends before my dad got home and caught me!

I love each bit of what I found, good or bad, because it made me what I am today. And I went out and got a bigger box in the hope of many more to come :)

New beginnings

2008-12-09T10:43:00.001-08:00

I had written this a long time back, when I witnessed something happen to someone I really care for – let’s call her Sara. I always thought that if I ever started a blog, I would put it up. So here goes.

My little sister rummages through her clothes desperate to find the right outfit for her first day of college. She tries on various shades of nail polish and wonders which shade will give her the good, but not goody-goody, slightly-sophisticated-moderately-intelligent look. Glasses or lenses? Which makes her look more interesting?

I watch her amused and realize that I went through the same cycle around two years ago. Was it going to be my yellow with green salwar that I spent a fortune on? Or the more docile black one I picked up at Hyderabad? Or did that have too many flowers?

I wonder why it made a difference really… the outfit I wore on the first day of college. I knew I picked the green one after drawing out a huge pro-con list. It seemed so important that day, making the right impression, finding the right group of friends. College is supposed to be the best time of your life. Half way through it, I can’t really say.

College was a lot of firsts for me. My first large scale victory, my first on-camera performance, my first shot at writing among many. I didn’t get to make that right impression, nor did I find myself having the amazing time I was told I would have. As far as friends go, I have friends. But it’s impetuous to assume that just because you hang out with so many people, they automatically become your life-long, forever and for always kind of friends. I did find a few people who do genuinely care, and I guess that should be enough to stay afloat. I find nothing amusing about coming up with fake couples who are in fake relationships and have fake fights, fake kids and deal with fake everyday situations. Especially when you are expected to go through with it every day. So, well at 19, I go ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’, just to fit in. As far as classes go, I have to stick around for the sake of attendance. Nothing on the curriculum remotely fascinates me, and if I do develop an interest in something, leave it to the competition around to squash it. Feeling stuck became a way of life.

But now I realize, atleast I was a given a choice. And so was she. We were given the choice to make what we wanted of ourselves, the choice to learn to face up to manipulation and competition, the choice to learn to deal with the real world.

I remember now why that first outfit was important to me. It was my chance at a new beginning. And I had the power to make that beginning whatever I wanted to.

She and I watch Sara, walk away from her family, away from her friends, away from all that is familiar. After years of toiling with her books and coming first every year, she was being packed off to a small village in the middle of nowhere to pursue her higher education.

Sara turns around and smiles but she is scared and she knows her future is bleak. She hadn’t given a thought to what she would wear on her first day. She was alone. She wasn’t given the choice.

Together we stand...

2008-12-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

A week after the Mumbai terror strikes, the shock hasn’t reduced in its intensity. There is nothing that hasn’t been said already about the attacks. Every one of us was in some way directly or indirectly affected by what happened during those 60 hours. We sat glued to our television screens, switching from one news channel to the next, wondering if any of them had an update.

What’s different this time around is that the people of our country have really had it. There’re protests held in every part of the country with the same banner – ‘enough is enough’. This isn’t another political game, serious action needs to be taken. Why was the prior warning neglected? Why was it that when the people expected L.K.Advani and Dr.Manmohan Singh to come together to visit the victims, they couldn’t? Though it seems trivial, to most it meant that the leaders of our country were putting aside their political differences to work for the country’s best interest. And yet, they couldn’t get themselves to comply to provide the people a sense of re-assurance.

Even with the Kerala CM making derogatory remarks towards Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s family just goes to prove how much politics is still a game to our leaders. Whether or not he was wrong not being present to offer condolence like the Karnataka CM, he should have had the humanity to understand what the family of a soldier who lost his life fighting for the nation must be going through. Saying it on television, then denying he said it and saying that the opposition twisted his statement... In how many ways can you twist ‘not even a dog would have gone there’ when there is a video of him saying it? Don’t tell me all the malayalis in India misinterpreted that statement!

Maybe it’s safe to say some action against terror will be taken this time around considering election time is approaching. Maybe Indian politics will get us somewhere after all.

All we can do right now is raise our voices and let them know that we are serious. We can write so more people read, protest so we get the message through. For most of us, that is the best we can do. No effort, however small is futile. And we owe that much to the lives of the soldiers and civilians lost during one the most tragic episodes the country has ever witnessed.

Lo and behold

2008-12-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

I’m here! After months of debating, contemplating, in other words sheer laziness, I finally got myself to put my best foot forward. And that would be the left one.

You know how when you are bang in the middle of exams, you make up imaginary lists of everything else you would rather be doing than learning how to design a database for some make believe petroleum company? Well, now that I have so much time on my hands, watching Tom and Jerry re-runs and flicking marbles into the air doesn’t seem as enticing as it did a week ago!

I have taken up redecorating my house though. Partly because my mom very subtly indicated that she would have me shipped away if I continued to make a mess and partly because there are only so many times that you can bang into something each time you enter your room before thinking, hey maybe the stack of ironed clothes from 2 weeks back doesn't really belong right next to the door. Nor do the roller skates I pulled out for my 8 year old cousin to play with weeks ago. Ouch.

But among the more productive of my suggestions - I told my dad that my sister doesn’t really go with the ambience of the house, so I was wondering if he would consider trading her in for someone who was blonde! Judging from the look on her face, I think those roller skates might have been left there on purpose.

And I hate these stupid rains, my house has been converted into a mini-island of sorts with waist-deep water for the average human being. I say average human being, because those of you who who have seen me, know that I would probably sink in such a situation! So that rules out going anywhere other than my garage, and even there I need to proceed with caution. And to make things worse, even my brand new Sony phone is blue from the weather. It seems to turn off every time it begins to rain!

So much for the much-awaited holidays!