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!

The Days Of Our Lives

I think the time has now arrived to explain exactly how and why this blog was created. The original idea was that the bunch of us are so crazy that there should be a book dedicated to all our antics (well..maybe not all). That idea was soon scrapped as we realised that no one in their right mind would publish a book with no literary content whatsoever and thus dear reader you are one of the fortunate ones to witness for yourself, the Days Of Our Lives (Sorry, totally ripped that off FRIENDS). Anyway, just to give you a glimpse of the stuff you can expect, here are some snippets of incidents so far....


One day it was decided that since the mess dinner was unbearable, the order of the day would be Maggi. Mind you this was one of our initial days in the hostel when we used to religiously eat whatever food was doled out to us, so it was a big achievement (you could almost call it a rebellion!). Anyway the long and short of it was that we ended up with one packet of Maggi to be shared among 9 (very hungry!) girls. Needless to say it was quite a sight to see everyone diving to get a bite of dinner!


Another incident that comes to mind was the time when a few of us were burning the midnight lamp in order to finish a project, and a certain someone (OK, it was me) made the mistake of dozing off for a little while (can't have been more than 5 minutes) only to wake up and discover that my face was covered in designs (with permanent markers!) that would scare even the most vicious of tribes in the heart of Africa. The perpetrators of this crime (who barely escaped prosecution) were quite shameless, rolling with laughter and laughing harder when it was discovered that the marks wouldn't all come off! This continued for 2 days i might add!

Thats all for today folks but many, many more to come....Till then Cheers!

Totally Bizzare!

This is bizzare! This is more than bizzare! This is the first time in the history of the world that students are being allowed to access the internet during the course of an exam. Thats right, you heard me right, internet access during an EXAM! Okay, okay, it's not exactly as rosy as that. The exam in question is a Tally (an accounting software) exam and requires us to sit in the computer lab for an hour finishing the paper after which there is an everlasting wait while everyone has to answer FIVE lousy viva questions and only then are the gates of freedom opened. Hence, students like me who have a long, long wait before their viva are allowed to surf the net while they wait. And hence this blog is the product of sheer boredom and some respite. Now that the respite is over, boredom sets in again and I attempt to analyse the reasons behind the actions of my fellow students. A majority of them are immersed in a vicious game of Counter Strike while the remaining population is divided into two groups; one that is glued to their facebook/orkut accounts and the other that is busily scrutinizing their exam question hoping to redefine perfection. It must be mentioned that there are very few in the last named category. I would say the ones in CS category are the ones who know how to make the best out of the situation; i mean they aren't cribbing or bothering anyone, just enjoying a game they like. The social networking category however seriously need a disease named after them, something related to addiction, would be appropriate. I mean, come on, these people are either uploading photos or scrapping someone or writing on someone's wall or sending and receiving invites...they need a break! As for the rest, well what can I say, until recently (10 minutes ago to be precise) I was one of them, so I prefer not to comment. Anyway now that I have scared away most of the readers, I shall not torture the rest. Until next time then...Cheerio!

Here Goes Nothing...

Well, here goes nothing...This is my first ever blog and hopefully not my last.
A year of college is almost up and it's only now that I realise the fact. Why now, you might ask. The reply, as crazy as it may sound is that the Oscars will be airing in a few hours time. What is the connection? Well last year, I had the luxury of making myself a cup of coffee and comfortably settling down on my favourite spot on the couch and viewing the aforementioned award ceremony for the entire length of it's screening (Of course this had it's repercussions, namely my mother's incessant screams that I would fail my Board Exams). This year however, being away from home and living in a hostel, the few of us enthusiasts will have to settle for cold, hard, plastic chairs and most probably no coffee (sigh!). As thoughts of home come back to me with speed that will definitely defy light and sound, I find my enthusiasm fading. I'm sure I will spend the entire time reminiscing about absolutely pointless things, which might not be too bad actually but certainly defeats the purpose of waking up at 5 am! I truly salute the enthusiasm displayed by a fellow fan of the Oscars; in her own words, "I am getting up and watching, no matter what!!". I must mention here that this is the person, who has to be literally hauled out of bed during exams in order to complete her revision. I guess that is what life is about - ironies. Anyway she has solemnly promised to give me a buzz once she is up so that we may not break ranks, even though I am still in two minds. Lets see what the morning brings....Till then Cheers!