Exam Fever!

Exam Fever is back! And this time it's knocking harder than ever before (or does it feel that way every time?). As Ishita would say, "The exams are knocking but I'm not ready to open the door yet!". It's a little hilarious actually, especially when 10 people are all studying together. We somehow always end up having the best conversations when we are actually supposed to be studying, I really wonder how that happens. Take last night for example, we all decided to sit and chat for a while after dinner, to you know get refreshed and gear up for some serious studying later and before we knew it the clock struck twelve and the rest as they say is history. This is not the first time it has happened, taking a break in our group is a dangerous phenomenon because if someone does not keep track of the time, we are all liable to fail. Thankfully we have Sehal for that. We always end us convening in her room for our 'break' sessions and then we are duly reminded to get back to the books. Each one of us has our own peculiar way of handling the pressure; while some of us will stay stuck to the books till kingdom come (read Shruti) there are some who well don't really care (read Appu, just kidding) and rest of us are somewhere in the spectrum in between. Anyway the point is that now is time to gear up and give it our best shot. So best of luck all for the upcoming exams, may we come through with flying colours and then home sweet home!

Just A Lil' Bit Of Hope...

Hope is a funny word...but only because I think it's a combination of HOME and ROPE. You see there can only be hope if you are tied firmly and securely (with a rope of course!) to the place that you call home (not literally but the thing that is deep down inside your heart). If you think carefully you will realise that I'm not completely crazy because in the truest sense, when you are floundering in the troubled waters of life, your only lifeline is that rope that pulls you home. Hence it is aptly called HOPE. No matter how crazy, insane, whacked, pathetic, horrendous, disappointing, disheartening, humiliating, depressing or catastrophic the situation may be, there is always hope. It is the sweetest music, the most comforting food and the gentlest lover there can ever be. Just a little bit of hope can lift your spirits no end on a gloomy day. It is the soothing balm that brings peace to the most anguished soul. To return to some cliched quotes, "There is always light at the end of the tunnel", "Even the darkest night is followed by the light of day" and "He that hopes shall always prosper" (ok, I made the last one up, couldn't think of any more hope quotes!); they all say the same thing! Keep Hope!

We have all heard the beautiful story of how hope came into being. The story of Pandora's Box. It is said that once upon a time there was a world where there was no pain or sorrow, no illness or disease, no hard work and everyone was forever joyful. In this world there lived Epimetheus and Pandora. Pandora had been given a large box by Zeus, God of Gods and had been instructed to keep it closed. But she had also been given the gift of curiosity and thus one day when Epimetheus was away, she opened the box and lo and behold she unleashed on mankind, all ills, toils and sickness. The world was at once engulfed in sorrow and pain and there remained no joy. In her dreary and miserable state, Pandora sat beside the box and suddenly heard a small voice inside asking her to open the box once again. She was scared, very scared because she wanted to do no more harm but she opened the box nevertheless. And the thing that came out of the box was none other than hope; hope that gently wiped away all the tears that had been shed and once again returned joy to the world. And the world was a better place to live in.

On that note, I shall bid adieu and here's hoping that we all keep hope alive, always...

A Tribute to Abbreviations...

k. This little alphabet has certainly gained a lot of importance these days. Just in case you, like me a while back, are wondering what the hell 'k' stands for, it is an abbreviation for 'okay'. Yes, it wasn't enough that it was first shortened to 'OK' but now it seems we are lazier and hence it is down to that one alphabet - k. Actually sometimes it's 'kk'; now I really wonder what that is supposed to mean (apparently it means the same thing!). I don't get it really but the irony is that I use it too, a lot actually. There are many more such abbeviations that I don't get, for instance 'y' for 'why' and 'u' for 'you', I mean why the sudden fondness for phonetics?! The list is endless actually, 'brb' stands for 'be right back', 'btw' for 'by the way' and the worst one 'lol' for 'laugh out loud'. Seriously, in a face to face conversation would you ever tell anyone to laugh out loud? My guess is NOT, but what do you know, in cyberspace anything is possible. I never really got the hang of 'XOXO' either but then I guess it's just me being old fashioned and wanting to read full words (and full sentences for that matter!) whenever I'm reading. Here's a typical example of how we simply crucify the pure English language:
A: hey
B: hi
A: wat up?
B: nothin. jus chillin.
A: cool. wanna hear a joke?
B: k
A: blah...blah...blah...
B: lol
A: listen i gotta go. later.
B: k. bye.

I wonder why it has become the way it has; is it just because life is speeding up and there is so little time for everything we do that we inadvertently resort to cutting down on the length of the words we use? I know that once upon a time there used to be endless leisure in which one could conduct correspondence in any manner of their choice and thus there was never a question of resorting to abbreviations of any sort. People actually used to spend hours and hours on composing the perfect letters. Those were the days when every piece of mail was almost a literary masterpiece. But now it's kinda tough to follow every damn rule in the book and hope to get the point across in the limited time you have as well as have a complete 'conversation' with the person in question so I guess this is the part where I heave a hugh sigh and bid goodbye and shed a few tears for the days gone by (in case you didn't notice, that rhymed!). Anyway, the point of this little monologue was to gently poke fun at those ridiculous abbreviations but somehow I seem to have (as usual) gone into philosophy. So kindly excuse my poor soul for it's erronous ways as I do bid you adieu.

Happy Women's Day!

I know it's a little late in the day (actually it's the next day), but Happy Women's Day! This is a tribute to all the women I know, not just the ones in the picture but anyone who happens to read this. The reason I've picked this particular picture is that it was a day of FUN and sometimes in life you need to have some pure, unadulterated FUN. It sort of brings out the best in you! So here's a message to all the women out there, "Have a Break, Have a KitKat"...Just Kidding. But seriously, women are capable of moving mountains and they frequently do, actually. So sometimes it wouldn't hurt to give yourself a pat on the back for doing a brilliant job and then taking the day off maybe. Relax, read a book, listen to music, watch a movie, whatever makes you happy! Let's not wait for 8th of March every year to celebrate being a woman, lets make it an everyday occurrence and then see how beautiful life can be...
PS # The women in the picture (clockwise from top left) are: Shruti, Aparna, Abhilasha, Arushi, Ishita, Madhulika, Sehal and Antara and the occassion is the trip to Lonavla on Mihir's birthday. Sonali couldn't make it that day and hence does not appear in the picture.

Very, Very Random...

I sometimes wonder at the pace of life....Things happen at the speed of light and before you know it (and sometimes you don't even know it!), you are suddenly thrust into a whole new world where things are so different, you are just left wondering, like me actually. So getting back to the topic at hand, the speed with which things happen. Life has a way, you know, of throwing things at you when you least expect them and you are just left floundering. When it rains, it pours, if you know what I mean. When the good times are rolling, life rocks but no sooner do you begin to get comfortable in your cocoon, wham! and just like that there is catastrophe and then some more. While looking at a photo album all we see are the happy times, but have you ever wondered what it takes to make it from one happy moment to the next? That my friend is called 'LIFE', and living it up to the fullest is apparently the newest mantra (if I am to believe the erstwhile TYs in their Yearbook Forms). Anyway I have no idea of where I have reached but I think I should round this one up by saying that, life with all it's quirkiness, idiosyncracies, unfairness, bad days, sad days, joys and sorrows; is all we've got so make the best of whatever you've got. Forget about what is done, don't plan too much into the future, just concentrate on the here and now and watch how wonders unfold. In all fairness, nobody said life would be fair, so lets just leave that inane statement, "Not Fair" in the closet and venture into the unknown armed only with the knowledge that anything (and I mean absolutely anything!) can happen.

Cheers to that!

PS # I think I need to make an official mention here that the "Cheers" is the Trademark of the Tribe Queen Anuja Anil Pradhan and here's hoping that she will continue to allow her humble and most loyal subject to sign off with it. Until then....Cheers it is!