My trip to Chennai..

I'd been to Chennai (Madras) for the last four days. I'd gone to answer an entrance exam there. Boy had studied there for the last two years and from what I'd heard, I had very low expectations from the place, but to my surprise I was amazed at how big and beautiful the city actually is. Here are a few pictures I took on the 16 hour train journey..

These pictures are of Kerala, Gods own country. I've never visited the state but have passed through it, by train, on my way to Ooty a few years ago. It's know for it's numerous coconut trees. Take a look at these pictures..

This is a picture of the University of Madras. Beautiful, isn't it. Looks nothing like a place where people would come to study.

These are a couple of entrances to the Marina Beach. It's right opposite the University, but sadly I didn't have time to visit it. :-(

This, believe it or not, is The Spencer Plaza, a shopping mall! Is it just me or does it look more like a fort than a mall?

This is a picture of the Santhome Cathedral, built over the grave of Saint Thomas the apostle. This one picture I didn't take cause there were many people praying there and I didn't want to trouble them, I googled it instead. It's gorgeous.

The city is delightful. Very well planned. Beautiful architecture everywhere. Statues in every corner. I'm actually looking forward to studying there for the next two years. For now, I'm crossing my fingers and awaiting my result, but I have a pretty good feeling about this.

Things I love the most..

1. I love taking long walks when its drizzling.


2. I love laughing till I cry.


3. I love receiving letters as much as I love writing em.


4. I love pink roses.


5. I love the scent of the first rain.


6. I love falling asleep when I hit the bed. (Doesnt happen often.)


7. I love that feeling after a good night's sleep.


8. I love spending the whole day at the beach.


9. I love everything about Christmas.


10. I love KFC!

Life goes on..

A few days ago when I really really wanted to blog, I couldn't, cause my computer had decided that it'd be a great time to crash. And once it was back in shape, I spent a HUGE amount of time reading blogs that I've come to know and love. Now here I am, back again. It's difficult for me to blog. I don't yet have my own PC and I fear that someone in my family will walk into the room and find me blogging and want to read it. While there's nothing in my blog that I wouldn't want someone from my family to read, I like the thought that this is a little private place I have where maybe someday I'll write something that they may not want to read.

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Anyway, things don't look pretty from the college admissions point of view. I've sent out all the applications and I'm waiting for their acknowledgement cards and it's makin me nervous. All I can do right now is wait. And sit n study for the exams which will start less than ten days from now. But I can't study, not with out the acknowledgement card in front of me even though I know there's no reason why they would reject my application.

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Just a thought- "It is wise to look ahead, but foolish to look further than what you can see."

Buh Bye BSc!

Yay! I'm done with my exams at last. I'm done with graduation. It'll be months before my results are out and more months before my convocation, but I'm pretty much done with graduation. And while there's a sense of accomplishment and happiness that I've gotten through 15 years of education unscathed, there's this feeling of dread too. Until now it's been easy for me, I always loved science and maths so when I finished my tenth I knew which way to go,and by the end of pre-university I'd fallen in love with Statistics and I knew what I'd get my Bachelors degree in. Actually at that time I thought I really knew what my Masters degree would be in too. But right now, I'm not so sure. Of course I'm filling in applications n mailing them, rummaging around the Internet looking for courses, looking for universities... I wanna go here one day and the next day I think maybe I should go there. I wanna do this one day and that the next. And then I think maybe I should take a break from studying till I figure out what I really want to do, but the thing is, I don't want to take a break.

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I'm sooooooooo confused!

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Just a thought- "Undecided people lose half their life, the energetic double it."

I'm sick and tired of you!

Okay Flu, so you caught me, or rather, I caught you, though I had no intention of doing so. Now that you've stayed with me the past three days, giving me sleepless nights and sleepy days, when do you plan on taking your leave? My finals start tomorrow and I have no time to entertain you. The hints I'm giving you are anything but subtle. I must tell you, you must be a little retarded. Cause with all those yucky tablets and that yuckier water coming down my throat, anyone would get the point and take a hike. Let me say it loud and clear now so you understand me this time. GET LOST!!
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Dear Reader,
I'm sorry you had to be witness to that disturbing conversation with Flu. Anyway, I'm feeling better now. Yesterday my head felt like it was gonna explode and my eyes felt like they would pop out any minute. But then mom made soup for me and sat next to me on my bed and stayed awake till dawn just cause I couldn't fall asleep. Boy always tells me that he misses home most when he's sick. Next year, when I go off to further my studies, I'm gonna miss this royal treatment too. Mama, if you ever read this, I LOVE YOU! You're the best!!

Top Ten Quirks

1. I can not stand anyone touching the insides of my wrists. Touching? Did I say I touching.. I cant even think about the insides of my wrists. And I can't continue this post right now cause I'm just so freaked out about the veins that look like they're gonna pop out of my wrists.


Ten Minutes Later..


2. I get really irritated when someone near me is using a pen-pencil. I don't like the noise they make. And the vibrations they give out while drawing lines with them.


3. I don't like animals as pets. I'm neither a dog person Nor a cat person. I cant even manage with a pet goldfish. I don't hate them, I'm not scared of them, I just don't understand them and can't think of a reason why they'd rather live with me than with their own kind.


4. I'm miserable at talking to people over the phone. I just can't do it right (and this includes calling up the pizza joints.) I'd rather go n meet a person, no matter how far he is, than talk over the phone.


5. I hate it, absolutely hate it when people touch me with wet hands.


6. I don't like the taste of water. Everyone tells me it's tasteless, but I beg to differ. I try to force it down my throat but I don't drink as much water as I should. I'm probably killing my kidneys a little everyday.


7. Sometimes I mumble and stutter and slur all at the same time (and I'm talking about when I'm completely sober) I don't know how I manage it. And these periods last from 5 minutes to 2 or 3 hours.


8. I get the craziest songs stuck in my head and mostly it's just one line.


9. I'm hungry all the time, except when I'm eating. 5 minutes later I'll be hungry again.


10. With all the acid attacks I hear about, everytime I turn down a guy, I live in fear for the next one week or so expecting him to pop out from around the corner and melt my face away.

To my very loud neighbours.

Dear neighbourhood brats,

You've got your summer vacations. I get it. You are boys and boys will be boys. I get that too. Further, you're Indian boys and Indian boys during their summer vacation have to play cricket. I'm no fool. I've been in India for the last 12 years. I've been in this very building for the last 12 years. And so, I understand (or at least I act like I do.) But must you scream so loudly? Especially you. Yes you, the over sized 15 year old with a voice bigger than ****in King Kong's. I have a good mind to thrash you with your own bat. And if I were as strong as I am in my head when I'm thinking of whack the senses out of you, I'm sure to come downstairs and do just that.

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I mean, you're in high school for Pete's sake! Wait till you're in my shoes and you have records to submit and exams to study for. Then we'll see who's gonna play cricket. I understand you have such a passion for the game, prolly more than the entire Indian team put together, but do you have to shout out the howzaaats and the siiiiiiiiixes in such a way that the pillars of the building get cracked? If ever this building collapses, I hope with every tiny vein in my body that it falls on that empty head of yours. I honestly do. And pray tell, why do you have to ride that bike around the building so many times? Go, try the road. I don't care if you don't have a license. It'd be great if you were in jail for a few days.

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I don't mean to sound like your grandmother, shouting at you to keep your voice down, but hello! I stay two floors up and I'm doing some very very important graph work here. So if you don't shut it, I'm gonna wear the shoes with the hardest soles tomorrow and march downstairs and kick your pompous ass to la la land. So for your own sake, put a sock in it.

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Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Mel.

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Just a thought- "Don't show others how quickly you can go. You might reach the hospital first."

Who am I?

The most logical answer to this question that I can think of is, "I am me." Yup, that's exactly what I am.

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I remember when I was in the 10th we had this talk (yawn) and the lady (who apparently had nothing better to do that day) asked us one by one to stand up and give an answer to the question, "Who am I?" While most of the students struggled to find words to explain who they were, the lady kept repeating, "There's no wrong answer." But when they said "My name is..", she shot it down with, "That's your name. I asked you to tell me who you are." When they said, "I'm so n so's daughter" she said I didn't ask you for you dad's name. When they said "I like this n that" She said "I didn't ask you what your likes and dislikes were." And it went on this way.. In my head the voices kept screaming,"Shut up lady, or I'm gonna hurt you real bad." Sadly I was the only person who could hear those voices. And not soon enough, the bell rang and we ran home, as fast as our legs could carry.

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Now, 5 years later, I still don't understand the point of her question. Sure I am me, but what makes me, me, is my personality and what I am to my parents, my friends and everyone around me. My likings have a lot to do with who I am and so do my looks (and I don't mean to be vain.)

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So who am I? I'm a twenty year old girl. I live in Mangalore. I'm part of a very close knit family. I have a whole lot of friends. I smile a lot. (Anyone who knows me will attest to that.) I love reading. Shakespeare is my all time favorite. I'm 5'5'' and I weigh 45 kgs. N nothing I eat can make me put on weight. (And in case you're wondering, I don't exercise, much to my mother's chagrin.) I'm a li'l crazy and I think it's fun being that way. I like long walks. I love getting wet in the rain. I think KFC is the best thing that's ever happened to chicken. I will soon complete my graduation in Science. I hope to do my Masters in Statistics and in English Literature. I like writing poems. I hate talking over the phone. I'm many things. Many things I'm not. But one thing's for sure. I'm pretty unique, cause I'm the only one who's me.

Just a thought- "Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?"

Everything But Humanity Bangalored?

I'd been to Bangalore over the weekend, with my family and returned just yesterday. And if there's one thing about being in Bangalore that I find quite irksome, it's the people there. It's shocking how travelling less than ten hours to the east can result in such a distasteful environment.

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We'd just gotten off the train when we were accosted by a number of taxi drivers and rickshaw drivers showing so much interest in where we would like to go, you'd think they were in love with us. The only love they really had though was for filling up their pockets. As soon as we spoke of our destination, a hotel, not more than ten minutes away, they started quoting numbers off the top of their heads, numbers like 350 and 400. I had to pinch myself to ascertain that I was not dreaming (having a nightmare actually.) Once I did that, I had to make sure they were not dreaming, so I asked them if they were. We finally found a rickshaw driver who agreed to take us to the place for 50 bucks. We got on the rickshaw and 10 seconds into the ride he said that the place we were going to didn't have any vacancies and that he knew a better place where he could take us. We told him to take us where we wanted to go or not take us at all. He was almost as stubborn as we were and we ended up getting off this rick and getting on another who took us to the place we desired. On getting there we found that there was enough room not only to accommodate us but also to take in the entire of the rickshaw/taxi driver population that was positioned in front of the railway station.

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The days that followed were not much different from the first and we tried to walk, if the distance was agreeable, which resulted in sore legs, for we walked for seven hours straight on Sunday. Bangalore is place where you wouldn't want to meet with an accident, not that one would want to meet with an accident anywhere else, but if you were to have a fall anywhere else there'd be people coming to your rescue almost immediately, in Bangalore though, you'd probably bleed to death before a good Samaritan happens to pass your way. I even had the chance to see an ambulance with a blaring siren, not given a second thought, stuck in traffic like everybody else.

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In the end, the trip was fun, the credit going to all the shopping I did and all the food I ate and none to the people. I must say I'm glad to be back home though, with all the helpful people, the gracious rick drivers and the friendly faces. Where humans are still almost humane.

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Just A Thought- "Man makes counterfeit money, but in many cases money makes counterfeit men."

Baby Steps

Hey there,

I've had this blog space for nearly a year now and finally decided that it's about time I started making good use of it. So today, I'm gonna go from being just another person in this world to being just another blog on the Internet.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not just any other person. I may not be extra ordinary but I sure ain't ordinary. I'm simple, yet complicated. I'm sane, but not quite so. I can be really lively and oh! so lazy. I'm very friendly but I do have foes. I'm contradiction personified.

So stay tuned. Who knows... My absurd ideas and paradoxical thoughts might just make an interesting read.

Just A Thought- "Life is as you see it- Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"