Why we love?

Its been quite a while since my last post. Tch tch to myself. I've been slacking on my recent goal to blog regularly. Oh well, when someone like me who has a lot of expectations from oneself, things can be overwhelming at times. I guess the trick is to find purpose in what you do.

That serves as a segway to my main thought for the post. What is the purpose of love in this world? At almost a lot of times in the day, your mind thinks about love in some form. It can be the camaraderie shared with friends, where you sense you will go out of way or vice versa to be there for them. It can be the attachment you develop for the people you see and are surrounded by each day - college classmates for student folks and company teammates for the office-goers. I'm not saying you love all these people, but when lives collide, there is bound to be a potential difference leading to flow of stories and perspectives that make you learn and grow incessantly. (Not to sound like Dr. Sheldon Cooper!) Love is the feeling of warmth, comfort, encouragement, respect, admiration and dreams..to name a few.

And then there is the conventional notion of love towards someone special. As there are so many unique people in this world, there are many unique ways in which we perceive and want love. Some want love to fight loneliness, some others to find an anchor in an otherwise chaotic social circle. Some want love as a means of distraction from everyday mundane ordeals, some others as a new life mode they wish to incorporate in their lives. Some want love to gain emotional support and some others want love to provide emotional support if that is what empowers them. After all, loving IS empowering yourself... to put yourself in a position to plunge headfirst into new experiences. To figure out if these experiences make you a better person in the end..

I have had an interesting conversation with a rather cynical minded friend about love being nothing but "maya" - a mere illusion of happiness that traps you. And no, this is not because of some disgruntled showdown after unsatisfactory relationships. Its true that love is not meant for everyone, either it's probably too difficult to find or if found, one doesn't appreciate its value enough - the two most commonly encountered situations. So be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it all.. and it may turn out to be a love that you hadn't hoped or prepared for..

Love liberates you, gives you the confidence you need to tackle the other obstacles in life head-on, and hits you with the blissful liberation that you are able to leave your own selfish desires aside for the happiness of someone else. But at the same time can bind you to the tenet of faithfulness. How difficult is it to build and maintain this faith and trust in one another? Have you realized at some point in time, that you can trust that person more than you can trust yourself....? Its a strange eye-opening feeling..and probably the pinnacle in love..

What do you want out of love? I would like to hear your views and comments..

The pensieve that makes you pensive

Haha, sometimes I can come up with the darnest of titles :D I'm in one of my moods tonight.. and that makes for a perfect occasion to blabber away on my blog. I remember sharing this thought with a friend that I'm definitely more fluent when I'm slightly upset as that makes me contemplative (aka pensive) as opposed to being chirpy/happy which doesn't propel me enough to pen down my thoughts.

The above characteristic in me is not just limited to blogging. I generally enjoy being thoughtful and having food for thought, rather than mindless talk about shopping or similar. I like serious movies with substance than chick flicks revolving around shiny objects, superfluous drama or seducing men having chocolate-boy looks. I have had enough of those movies portraying a relatively serious guy being swept off his feet by an overtly talkative, chirpy girl. The guy is usually a well accomplished professional (which is wrongly shown to make him lonely and sullen) and the girl has just some small-time job and a sole aim of finding the knight in shining armor (duh.. making the exception of Aragorn leading the riders of Rohan to war against Saruman's army of slimy orcs, there is no credibility to this supposed "knight" concept).

Anyway, I digress. The reason I titled this the "pensieve" is because I was taking a small gallop down memory lane today. And thinking about the things that I loved and hated. The disadvantages of being a thoughtful, non-impulsive person is that I don't act upon instinctive reactions to day-to-day events. I deliberate and then react in a composed manner. While that is usually the right thing to do, it makes for lesser and lesser instances that either caused me to squeal and jump in exuberance or, on the other hand, shake with anger enough to swear at someone or hurl a shoe at him/her. And then one begins to crave for it.. the simpler times.. the time when you weren't held accountable for your mistakes.. the time when acing your school tests made you feel you can achieve anything in this world....

Among those things I enjoyed to the core are - group dancing. I'm not a very talented one at it and sometimes I swear I dont even look symmetrical and rhythmic while dancing. Add to it my skinny arms that don't make me look even half as pretty as some of the other girls with sculpted bodies. But how about I stop giving a rat's ass to these thoughts? How about I only remind myself of the thrill I feel each time I step on the stage, take my position and await for the music beats to start? The rule about any good stage performance is to look towards the audience and not at some imaginary far-off horizon. But then they skip the part where the lights illuminating you on stage are so blinding that all you see is black oblivion in front beyond the stage's edge. So where am I supposed to look? Go figure!

Among the things that sucked the joy out of me were bouts of loneliness. I was never shy or reserved.. but I hesitated to let my guard down and get too involved with new people around me. I didn't wanna draw too much attention to myself for fear of falling flat on my face later on with no-one to help me up. I was just being cautious and not hasty. But that sorta behavior backfired more than once as people misinterpreted it as pride and being too full of myself to open up to empathizing with others. A lesson learnt the hard way after years of battling self-doubt and being limited to a hi-bye friend to most. Even today, I won't try to be the life of the party, but small gestures of making others feel comfortable around you, go a long way in making deeper, better relationships.

Enough of blab for tonight.. gonna go read something about aviation before going to bed - seeing a small documentary about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner launched by All Nippon Airways, Japan has sparked my interest :D

P.S If anyone here has contacts to a flash mob organizer, I'd be interested in adding to their numbers :P

The path into the sparkling lights...

People drive cars for a variety of reasons. Some drive to get to work, others to drop their kids to school or to their myriad activities; some others as a means of livelihood.. and then there are folks like me who drive since it gives immense pleasure.

I consider myself fortunate to be in a position to be able to buy my own car - my own mean machine that is a testimony of man's progress in engineering. I'm sure my parents' eyes must've welled up when I told them the happy news (I stay away from them in the USA so I couldn't experience it first-hand). I'm saying this not coz I'm boasting about the car, but because I'm from an average middle class family for whom owning a car is a huge deal and a product of years of careful investment. When I heard my mom dad saying they're proud of me becoming independent, that's when I prized my car even more - its my own, my baby, my faithful companion. She signifies my freedom...my independence....my efforts......and she makes me look darn good ;)

It might be just co-incidence, but I've ended up driving mostly at nights rather than daylight. There's something very thrilling about how the hundreds of reflectors lining the freeway lanes shine due to your headlights. And it feels like a game setting with you exercising total control on your ride. Adrenaline.. here it comes..

So day before yesterday I was driving a friend home. As the city of San Francisco started rising up at the horizon, it looked like jewels studded on a sloping canvas.. beckoning to keep driving to them. After dropping him and turning back home, I took a casual decision to drive by the scenic Bay bridge by the coast instead of taking the shorter internal freeway (CA-101).

(what the junction might've looked like in daylight)

It was 3:30 am after a friday night party and I was slightly tired. I began to reconsider my decision about taking this detour unfamiliar to me. Plus my phone-cum-GPS leading me home was almost drained of charge. But I kept driving and then a sight like this (even more spectacular up close) materializes in front of me!

It was mesmerizing... my body dint feel a single tinge of my weariness as I took in this image passing next to the street I drove on. "Best decision ever to drive here although its wayy too late in the night." So captivating! I was driving alone but I didn't miss anyone in those moments.... simply me and my wheels...

Hoping to have more such great drives. In a place like California, one just hits the road and welcomes any destination because the journey... is just beautiful.

My first car.. my white unicorn!

Exactly a month after starting a new phase of my life in the USA, and about 10 days of car research later.. I bought my very first car here - a new 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5S

Its proof of how you dont realize what your capacity to love can be, unless someone worth it enters your life. That's what my car has now brought out in me (I felt physical pain being away from it attending a seminar and not being driving in my car that time.. I had just got her outta the shop moments ago). The 175 hp and 180 lb-ft beauty makes for one heck of a smooth ride!

Haven't come up with a name for her.. so for now, she's Shadowfax \m/

Nestled between the sheets.....

Its 4 pm. The day is wearing off and she can feel it in her fingers as they don't slide as smoothly across the keyboard as they did in the morning. Its been a busy day.. as have been all the others so far. The last meeting with her boss was, to sum it up, infuriating. In the male dominated world of engineering, guys will be, sigh, guys. And he had gone on and on about his unmet expectations inspite of the time she puts in day in and day out into her work. Sometimes, she realizes, chauvinism and ego can make a man blind to a woman's qualities. But challenging herself has been her motto, and she is perseverant for the rewards at the end - which will whisk her away from the traps of everyday life. So she waits... for dusk..

A few guys at work had been stealing glances at her as she ties her hair and wraps her coat, leaving with a smile. They admit she's beautiful, beneath that casual jeans-n-tee outfit, but still, she is unapproachable in a way. She's not exactly the warmth of sunshine or the frolic of a giggle, but the messy head of hair denotes her vibrance and defiance. And the wise eyes to stare deep into.. that speak of a journey....

Stepping out into the setting sun, she admired the way the light falls so perfectly at that time of the day. She got the familiar feeling of imagining what tonight holds, inside the comfort of her house. Finding her car, she couldn't wait to kick off her shoes and drive away, exposing the shade of her tiny toenails, the same bright red as her Porche. Driving was like a drug to her, that gives wings to explore in endless directions. To see the city of her dreams, in all her glory...and to see it welcome and love her, as she has always loved it.

Tonight was going to special, she knew. Lets pick up some tex-mex today, she thought, and a bottle of tequila for a nice margarita, as she wasn't going to be alone. She reached her doorstep and rummaged hurriedly for the keys in her purse. The sudden calm compared to the roadside din assured her that she was finally inside. The fragrance of her scented candles teased her senses and engulfed her away from the outside world. She glanced at the clock and felt satisfied that she had enough time left before she had to be asleep... After all, every next day is off to office again and all she got for herself, were the nights.

She took a shower and draped herself into something more comfortable. Resting her heels on the edge of the couch, she relaxed for just a bit as the last few drops of water slid off her warm skin. She wanted to be done with dinner and all the chores quickly so that nothing else will distract her later. As she breezed through them on her nimble feet, she could feel her body complaining that she's overworked. But it made the sweet, intimate, personal time to follow, worthy of being called her reward. And then she couldn't keep herself any longer...

She turned off the lights and candles outside and then closed the door of her room behind her. She leaped into bed and as she held her loyal companion, a sly smile reached her eyes. With her back propped up against the cushions and pulling the sheets over her to keep herself warm, she only kept the lamp next to her glowing. Because that was enough for her to lose herself...... Nestled between the sheets of the book she held and began to read, she had found her escape....

Men and Women.. aha! ;)

Disclaimer right away - The title can be(read "is") misleading. This post is not about men AND women but rather the differences between the two. Sorry about the sudden testosterone or estrogen rush the title might have led to! It was my trick to "grab attention within first minute of your presentation" which my mentors have been trying to teach me. I could've named it men VS women, but then I'm trying not to sound feminist (an  internal joke) Anyway I digress.. coming back.

Now having been living with female roommates (and a LOT of them due to sky-high rents) for about 2 years, I have sorta been through all the stupid idiosyncrasies there are. Some of my guy friends find my stories highly amusing and I sometimes don't mind narrating some funny catfights at my expense. Its never easy when 5-6 girls are living under one roof for more than 20 days (avg "honeymoon" period before we are prone to pick petty fights or leave "angry notes" on the refrigerator). My conception about roomies was like having an extended sleepover and pajama party, but its a different game altogether. However whenever I observed similar living arrangement among the guys, it seemed like "No Problemo... more beer dude??" Aal is well :) They know to keep it simple, sort their priorities and have fun as a small family.

We all know the familiar phrase called "Men are from Mars and Women, from Venus". I'd beg to differ slightly and comment that its more like "Women are from Mercury (bitchy, irritable) and Men, from Neptune (cool or nonchalant). (and sorry Pluto, but not you coz you aint a planet anymore). Guy roomies have a capability to overlook petty issues and at the same time, show adequate consideration towards a "bro-code" of sorts. One particular example that jumps to mind is a friend who continues working uninterrupted in his room, when his roomie and his gf in the adjoining room..well..are not particularly "silent". Perfect "live-n-let-live" attitude but which doesn't necessarily slip into indifference.

Us girls, on the other hand, have a very low threshold for adjusting. In my defense, my threshold is pretty adequate but exhausted when one sits besides me and hums incessantly when I'm studying! Good friends, once upon a time, can be doomed to become arch enemies if they are roomies past that honeymoon phase. This can be manifested in myriad ways, for e.g.

• Stealing food from "her" fridge shelf. 
• Making abysmal food on one's cooking turn
• Complaining about "loudly chewing chips" that is apparently disturbing your sleep!
• Trying to make a cock-n-bull story about a burglar breaking in to "eat cereal", to avoid admitting that it was you. Developed ahead to explain how burglars here are more keen on food (cereal..yes ofc..its so tough to get!!) over other things like laptops, phones lying in plain view.

The girls that do stick through this and come out victorious (i.e. stay friends) are few and commendable. Hats off to you but you are an outlier (doh!) and I feel sorrow for the ones that don't (me included). Nevertheless, let me conclude with the cliche that it was one helluva learning experience and part of finding one's identity and compatibility :)

cheers to student life!

The 'Jhankaar' Legacy

With India winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 yesterday, it signified another thing in addition to an attestation of our skilled players. It signified bringing the groups of Indians, spread across all corners of the world, together in celebration. This included the small although-not-that-small Indian students community at Georgia Tech that I'm a proud part of. Thats the magic of cricket! But let me talk about one more equally magical phenomenon that manages a similar feat to a good extent - Indian Culture+Bollywood!!

Which "naujawaan" Indian  true to his/her salt does not feel like breaking a leg at our Bollywood dance songs?! Or any hip-hop songs for that matter? Add to it the cultural annual event - Holi - in all its vibrancy of colors and juvenile mischief, and we've got the perfect occasion to make it into a full-blown show! This is exactly what I was lucky to be part of last Spring (2010). Its called the GT Holi Show, coined "Sapne Rangeen" last time, (this year's event is named "Rang De") and is organized by the India Club at Georgia Tech (ICGT).  It is a Georgia wide event where Indian dance teams from multiple universities e.g. GT, Georgia State, Emory, UGA and even private academies participate - e.g. Kruti Dance Academy (who were also featured in America's Got Talent!)

You can also catch a glimpse of one of the performances by a group called "Paheli" below:

Me and my friends were team 'Jhankaar'- the sole graduate student group among primarily undergraduate groups, who came VERY close to professional-level perfection! (In my defense, unlike us, they've got all the time in the world to rehearse! :P) After our seniors floating the idea of keeping this tradition live this year, we juniors were on. We decided to perform on some Bollywood masala hits as a variety from the classical - Bharatnatyam, Kathhak and folk dances - Bhangra(USA and no Bhangra? Impossible!) and Garba by the other groups.

Squeezing rehearsals in between tight workloads consisting of project submissions and exams was painful; and with vastly differing schedules among us, co-ordination became the no.1 task above actual dance choreography. But rehearsing in the studios available on campus with those wall-high mirrors used to be an absolute delight! Yes it gave us sore thighs and calves the next morning but heck, the fun was much more. I made some really good friends through our team and got a lot closer to the existing ones; so if the previous sem was academically great, this semester was more kickass in terms of friendships and college participation.

This post is dedicated to all my Jhankaar friends - Anuja, Amruta, Madhura, Shreyas, Chinmay, Kunal, Anushree, Vinesh, Nilesh and Reema - you made that time at Gatech very special \m/

I regret that a maddening workload this semester prohibited me from participating again this Spring since most of our group members graduated and the juniors are too nerdy to bother :P I hope the tradition survives next year and that some grad students are able to take a little time out of work to step up and...shake a leg bro!

P.S. this experience also revived old memories from VJTI days - Annie, Ashwin, Gul, Nik, Rahul, Binu, Pranay... hope u guys miss those days as much as I do :) 

Yeah I'm all grown up now.......

Misfits...
There are all sorts of 'em out there, as varied as shapes in the clouds
With the conditions around them turning clear droplets into hailstones, each going through a different journey..
And their presence is, true to the metaphor, hard-hitting..
Its safe to admit that I've been one of them..
With a heck of a journey of my own
Oscillating between intro- and retrospection
Trying to just..................belong.

New places, new people, can be tough right?
What to say? How to do this? Do I have something green stuck in my teeth?
Standing on the brink of a new stage in your life
Looking forward to great experiences
Least expecting the shove asking you to move away
and make place for the other one everyone wants to sit next to
I think..."I wanna be that girl.."....haha...
Everyone passes through that 'wanna-be' phase some or the other time in their life
So from next time, its better to expect the shove than being surprised
Surprise is for the innocent.. not for me..
I'm grown up now..

In a way, its about learning to let go.......of your regrets......

My mom says I'm a different version of her daughter now,
She means it in the improved way
That I have become smarter and learnt to tackle more difficult situations
Somehow she had never seen that I always had that in me
That I was always a fighter...even as a kid..
Tackling criticism about being meek and afraid to speak up,
When my aversion to aggressiveness was interpreted as cowardice to be stifled
Passing that undulating childhood, I'm all grown up now
With a part of me still stuck there, looking for approval...living a de-ja-vu...

Where do I belong? Whom do I call my own?
Where are the familiar faces when I need them the most?
And when does the struggle to prove myself stop?
Life is short
So I've planned to waste a little lesser of it worrying about these
(know that the choice of word "planned" is different from "actually being able to"...argh >.< )
And just focussing on what I am known for best..
Having a level head on my shoulders, when I have to help in tough decisions
A rock to depend on for those who appreciate honesty like I do and detest prejudice against the less glamorous like I do too,
Can do almost anything, once I set my mind to it
And a store of great ambition, almost bursting at the seam! :)
Traits of being grown up eh... can no longer be a kid and cry!

I've been told that I have a trust issue
you know.. have problem trusting people...inadvertently offend them.. yada yada
I know I pay a price for this way that I've turned out to be
I'd like to think of it as a defense mechanism of sorts..
No one is born with it, its how one adapts over time
Yes I trusted my peers..... until they spoke behind my back
Yes I trusted my friends.....until some of them started preferring new friends
Yes I trusted my new friend....until the inappropriate behavior and utter misinterpretation of gestures culminated in threats
I put faith in the concept of cousins helping out cousins.... until they prohibited me from being part of their celebrations;
The reason apparently being my presence would've led to a space and food shortage (yeah I'm some 200 kg sumo wrestler who needs to gulf down 10kg chicken as a periodic snack)
So hell yeah I'm somewhat detached if that helped me get past this and still come out confident.
Come a long way from being innocent and placing blind faith.
Learnt to love, trust and give my whole being to the good, and keep a distance from the fuzzy.
Have few, but sheer gems of people in my life
Well... I'm all grown up now....

P.S. The article too sombre for your choice? Well sorry to burst your bubble then.. get a meteor-proof astronaut space suit next time. Coz buddy...they're coming for u.

So on a lighter note..

Spring is here...

Took this picture just outside the library. In a few days, all the hitherto barren trees will be blossoming with these white flowers. The weather with the cloudy and pleasant was one of my favorites.. ideal to go on a trek or something. But its weather like this which cancels my flight lessons as the wind is too gusty for safe limits. Love-hate relationship....

Airplane!

I recently started to give shape to one of my childhood dreams - becoming a pilot. I've been a member of my university's very own flying club since the last six months. Alongwith getting to know fellow aviation enthusiasts in school and learning a lot about airplanes, I also get to fly one!

Me with Cessna-172P N53527, Fulton county airport, GA

Our club currently owns 3 single-engine and 1 multi-engine Cessna trainer airplanes and has flight instructors experienced with over 500-1000 hours of flight time. All at relatively subsidized rates as this is a club run entirely by Gatech alumni and students. Its a great opportunity to pursue. All thanks to my mum and dad who were vitally encouraging and gave me the push I needed. Mum, Dad, if you're reading this.. I love you a lot and I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you!

So I've begun training for my Private Pilot license. It definitely isn't all play and no work. First I had to get govt. clearance being a non US citizen. Then there are two steps in getting a license - written knowledge test and the final flying test with an official, called the "Checkride". Before you can get there, one has to study a LOT (as if, being a Computer Science graduate student, I didn't have enough to study already!). So to get started, I joined Ground training school last semester and studied about aerodynamics, weather, airspaces, runway-taxiway signs and interpreting charts(maps). Being completely new to most of this stuff, it has been quite a challenge and I hope to pass my written test in the next couple of months. *looking upwards and praying*. 

There is naturally a waiting list in the club to start flying as there are more students than instructors can devote time to. I was lucky to get assigned an instructor in mid-December and so there was no way I wanted to go away from Atlanta for winter vacation even though all my friends headed home to their families in India. You gain some you lose some. (among the 'lose' some is also all my weekend morning sleep which I used to dearly look forward to..) It was going to be a headstart to get to fly as much as possible during the holidays before semester begins and I'd have to squeeze these sessions between overworked weekends. And so I had my first flight lesson on Dec 24th :)

It has been around 8 hours of flying for me as of this day. And every hour of this, I have experienced this chest-swelling joy of having wings of steel and freedom.... More details one at a time..

The words of Creed seem apt to express myself:

Up high I feel like I'm alive

for the very first time...

Set up high I'm strong enough

to take these dreams

And make them mine...

Happy Valentine's day ppl!

One can write really complicated and verbose descriptions of what their loved one means to them. And it can well receive praise and awe. But the simple words above is what makes one feel squiggly and warm inside :) Sometimes its ALL you would ask for....and it cant get any cuter...

Those awesome things..

Everyday, I tread my way to campus, around it as I make my way to class, lunch, job, library or just hanging about at my favorite hideouts. Walking is faster but on windy cold days like these, I prefer not reaching class with a partially frozen face and hair all over the place, and instead take the buses which are called Stingers - Georgia Tech's mascot is a bee -->

Most of the times, I notice these smallest of things, almost hit-n-miss, or the kinds that needs one to be really contemplative to notice. I happen to be one of those who can find amusement and happiness in the smallest of observations and the other times, not be satisfied even with the biggest of happenings. Well..each one has their kinks :D So here goes..

The rains are still lovely

Yeah, yeah I know I know that rains are a pain-in-the-neck when you gotta get to places and like to be dry et al. But no matter what and no matter how old I get, the rains bring the child outta me. I just like to look at the raindrops touching the plants around me, making them seem fresher than ever. And darn it, it IS really romantic to be with that special person out on a rainy day, watching the rainbow as you shudder slightly under any temporary shelter you can find and feel the aroma of wet earth putting a spell on you...

Birds chirping beats the MP3 player pounding in your ears...anyday!

I usually never used to up and about early enough to be able to hear any birds. But these days I have to get up really early to make it to my weekend activities. And when I heard that chirping one morning, I found myself transported to my room back home in India when I used to wake up as my mom switched off the fan..... (another one of those music-triggers-memory moments.. read about it more in my previous article on music)

It just rocks when you have a camera on you at the exact moment you needed it!

As I was walking, I just happened to look up and see this awesome reflection of another building in the windows of this one. Next thing I know, I'm juggling coffee + notebook + gloves in one hand, and whipping out my camera phone with the other hand! I also enjoy rounding up on cute, secluded walkways around campus which I hadn't noticed before and finding out if this can be my new shortcut. Below is one of them immediately as I turn around. (the building is the same one in the reflection and it happens to be my awesome semicircularly architectured Klaus Advanced Computing department)

Eminem in your ears when you're working out

This may not be everyone's favorite but I found it enthusing me with a strange drive. If you look at me at a place like the gym and sports arena, you'd probably conclude that I've lost my way and arrived there by mistake (well for those who don't know me, i'm really skinny). But these days, I like doing some lightweight Yoga and playing racquetball etc there. Adding to the wonderful things in life is the feel of the heated water in the swimming pool. A slight dampener there would be having to share your lane with a weird flabby guy smiling at you through those fogged-up glasses after each lap :P

More interesting stuff to come.. In the meanwhile, check out this nice CGI video for the song 'Blurry' by 'Puddle of Mud'

The Magic of Music

Music.. not just a bunch of words arranged melodiously, but an entertainment experience that is unique to each person. Some songs that appeal strongly to one's thoughts and persona, can grow on you to mean much more. Eventually, songs get associated with sparking innumerable memories and emotions. I'd been reading about human memory and different senses can serve as stimuli to memory - hearing, smell and of course, sight. I remember my friend stating in class, that the whiff of hot tea immediately reminds her of one time she and her mom were having this tea on the porch. But for me, hearing is the strongest one.

So, here is a list of some of my favorite songs back then, which when I come across, take me down memory lane...

1. Viva Forever - Spice Girls
Strong melody which rips through 10+ years to when I heard it first as a kid. strangely painful lyrics.

2. I don't wanna miss a thing - Aerosmith (Soundtrack of movie-Armageddon)
My phase in childhood where I was star-struck by movies involving NASA outer-space missions and idolized astronauts for their bravery.

3. Going under - Evanescence

Rebelling against the person you expected to be your strength, but who instead, breaks you with his patronizing, making you lonelier than before...

I was into goth rock briefly when I was cajoled into being a member of 'Bombay Rockers Association' back in Mumbai. They promoted decent gigs around town but seriously, the guys seemed to sneak a chuckle out of the acronym it formed :-/

4. Chandni Raatein - Bally Sagoo
The sweet bliss of new love..

5. Bailamos - Enrique Iglesias

The days of auditions for VJTI fests and this song used to be eternally on my 'wishlist' to do some smoldering salsa on ;) those auditions used to be much fun!
Recent addition to my wishlist dance songs - 'Telephone' - Lady Gaga, Beyonce. Catch the 'So you think you can dance' performance by Lauren on this song if you haven't already!

6. Mama told me - Ek Ajnabee
The hat-and-stick act and some fun time coining the girl gang 'Death Angels' :P (courtesy Annie)

7. Love to see you cry - Enrique
The days of cassette players, secondary school and the joy of owning my first English mix songs cassette :D

8. Dooba dooba - Silk route
Running back home after school to sit in front of the tv, switching on MTv or Channel [V] (which replaced Cartoon Network) and lazily having lunch. This was one of the songs that always came up.

9. I want it that way - Backstreet boys
The Pop craze and also for boys with chocolaty-good looks :P

10. My heart will go on - Celine Dion
Again, the days of VCR and movie cassettes. Titanic being longer than an average English movie, it had 2 cassettes instead of the usual one. My dad loves to equip our home with state-of-the-art electronics so we also had a surround sound system (disadvantage - 2,3 remote controls. universal remotes were not around yet) and neighbors were invited for watching it along with us. Amazing experience... cried till my head hurt! yeah m a sucker for emotional endings :P

This is just a subset of the mannny more songs I like, that came to my mind today. I like to share collections with friends and try and adopt to various genres. My Italian friend was into Pearl Jam a lot.. but that one..erm..didnt catch on to me.


P.S. I know this may not be one of my best writings.. but just something as fodder for your thought and to get my creativity flowing..

Romance with Vacations :)

I have been pondering over a good topic to write about since a long time.. and it just struck me.. why DO I have all this time to ponder? Its because its vacation right now! (bless these sweet times..) And its such a great thing to write about. All of us have attachments and longing towards vacations and beautiful memories that go with it. Here are some of my thoughts on why it holds a special place in our hearts..

1. It brings life back on track

There is a reason why this is the No.1 on my list (or anyone else's if they think similarly). Non-vacation times is when usually I'm either attending a semester at university or working. For graduates students like myself, school is more stressful and busier than work life. It also hurts socializing. Let alone meeting new people, I usually fall back on keeping in touch with my existing friends. This doesn't end very prettily when I have to, later, wade among fights and misunderstandings to remind them that I DO care about them :) 

Absolutely no time to think about health, exercise or a balanced diet. Pizza becomes the savior on the days of deadlines and umpteen assignments. Hail Papa Johns!

And about the "busier than work" part, yes working for a company does seem a lot more streamlined than slogging day and night at school. But its got its own cons like, you have to get up on time each day to go to work whereas in school, the day can end at 5 am and begin at noon \m/ Working = constant work+sleep, Studying=highly variable work(increasing as the semester progresses) + sleep(decreasing) monotonically earlier and then exponentially during "dead week".

Bottomline is.. vacation gives us a chance to catch up on beauty sleep and quit the regime that makes us look like coding zombies fueled by coffee.

2. Family and Friends time

Most Indian students fly back home as soon the end of semester looms near - to be surrounded by the loving care and pampering of parents, siblings and friends. And of course, the thing that we crave for... delicacies like Cheese Pav Bhaaji with sinfully buttery pav, Roadside bhaiyya wali Chaat, Triple Schezwan Rice in a small shady hole-in-the-wall "indian-chinese" restaurant and the hot-roasted chana-mungfali in Rs.1 or Rs.2 paper cones! Okay I'm kinda drifting away from the sub-topic here :D

Nothing beats seeing your parents' proud faces when you arrive home from school in other parts of the nation or world. In my case, I was sweating like a pig and covered in soot-like dirt that stuck because of that sweat when I waded my way out of the Mumbai airport. My mom had specially worn a saree just to greet me :) and then my dad displayed some extraordinary driving skills to make our way out of the airport boundary in Andheri, which alone took us an hour. But I was home and I'd missed every bit of its liveliness that stays on even into the wee hours of the night.

This winter break, I stayed on campus itself and spent quality time with my room-mates and their sets of friends who kept replacing earlier sets in our apartment-cum-free-accommodation-for-others :)

Coming back home, we stayed up most of the night playing card games, poker or watching movies and sitcoms (just the feeling that I have 3 hours to spend simply staring at the screen lazily is  more awesome than the movie itself!)


The cherry on the icing was I had a car at my disposal to just whip out and hit the road even at the slightest craving to do something in the evenings.

3. Exploring Mother Nature and beautiful places

The remaining most obvious perk to vacations is getting to travel to exotic places or go hiking up mountain ranges or down river valleys. I visited Smoky Mountains during Fall break where the changing colors of the leaves and watching the sunset from the topmost altitude was a treat to the eyes!

I want to know what you guys value the most about vacations.. please comment and add to it :) A song to end the post..

I think I'll leave it 'til tomorrow to unpack
Try to forget for one more night that I'm back in my flat
On the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can't watch the sunset
I don't have time, I don't have time