Long time No see...

Its been really long since I logged onto my blogger account, or even viewed my blog. I have exams coming up from december.. Not that I am studying late nights using a torch while the entire world is asleep. I am just trying to squeeze in enough time to study between my busy schedule. Naah, I haven't become famous overnight. I just have this new found liking towards excessive sleeping. Its bliss. time to sleep.. errrr.. study..

Random Thoughts...

"Beta what do you want to do when you grow up?" I remember my aunty asking me this question when I was very young.. say about 10 years old.

"I want to be a racing car driver"

Every few years I saw my responses to this question change.. for better or for worse; I don't know.

"I want to be a singer"

"I want to be a teacher"

"I want to make this planet a greener place"

"I think I should take part in that beauty pageant.. what's the name again?"

"Ma what do you think about the catering industry?"

"I want to be happy"

and then in a few years the answers weren't quite confident as before..

"I don't know.." Had become my all time favorite response..

Obviously for some this is a very easy question to answer because they were born to serve a particular purpose. But I don't. Guess I am not too bright. Never have been. Having a purpose is not a pre-requisite for walking on this planet. Though it gives you an added advantage and trust me you save a lot of time, which people like me waste looking for a purpose to fulfill.

A friend once told me that every body gets opportunities. Your life and your future does not depend on how many opportunities you get, but on how many right decisions are you able and willing to make. Time is also a factor though. I do believe that it's never too late to start afresh, but you don't have your entire life to start. I have realised that you also need time to enjoy the fruits of your talent and hard work.

The whole idea is evolution of self. and not mutation. Atleast this is my dream. My goal to chase. What's yours?

Mrs. MOM

After all that cribbing and cursing, I'm finally back home.. Yippieee!! Meeting ones' folks after a really really long separation is a moment filled with all possible human emotions. There's happiness, anger, crying, and worrying... but mostly there's crying..

Meet my mother. MOMMY.

As soon as I got off the train..

"Oh look" to my father.. "There she is..!!"

While I'm just about to get off, my mother hugs and kisses me. and I am still standing at the gate of the coach, the one and only way to get off the coach.. Obviously there were a few grumbles and mumbles from the passengers waiting impatiently behind me. We let them pass with no hard feelings..

Me and mom started walking towards the car with my father carrying my luggage and walking ahead of us.. as usual..

"Look how thin you've become.. " My Mom said pinching my arm to feel some flesh around my bones.

"Whats with your hair??"

"Is that a tatoo?!"

"I see that you didn't bring your boyfriend along.. what?? you don't have one??.." she seemed relieved. And then she said in an almost a whisper "thankgod.."

"Let's go home.. and I am going to make you so fat and chubby that you won't be able to get inside the coach on your way back!" She said this with a warmth that I had missed all these months.. I didn't mind the getting FAT and CHUBBY thing.. I just smiled and squeezed her arm..

I'm glad that I'm home... :)

"Send this to 20 people...."

Sometimes internet really bothers me. Like the other day I was checking my e-mail account and I got a mail from a person I don't really like. It was one of those "Send this to 15 people and your wish will come true!!!! and If you get this back, that means someone somewhere is in love with you"

Frankly speaking I stopped believing in such mails long time back. Not that I did not try. Of course I did. At one point of time it really was depressing considering the fact that a very few of those mails actually were sent back to me and more over, none of my wishes came true.. I mean I have not starred in a musical so far, I haven't topped the university exams, I don't have a cute and rich boyfriend.. lets not even get to the Ferrari..

If wishes really did come true by forwarding some nonsense mails, everybody would be just sitting over the internet the entire day and forwarding mails. Probably I might even have a post-it on my computer reading:

Wishes

Breakfast at Flurys': Jam 5 e mail inboxes
An Armani dress: Jam 10 e mail inboxes
Trip to Egypt: Jam 30 e mail inboxes
President for a day: Jam 50 e mail inboxes and so on....

Its time for dinner now. So its me signing off..

Wish: Edible food in the hostel mess
Response: Negative. For this wish to come true, you need to forward mails to 1236569875132135478990023165469870 e mail accounts. Accounts DO NOT exist.

Beep....

Freedom.. and Its all mine..

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Celebrating 59th anniversary of Independent India today.. I enjoy the following fundamental rights as an Indian:

Right to equality
Right to freedom
Right to freedom of religion
Right against exploitation
Cultural and educational rights
Right to constitutional remedies
Right to property

When I was in school, there was this patriotic song which we would sing every 15th august, year after year.. "Hum hindustani... Chodo kal ki batein.." I used to love that song.. well.. I still do..

Wishing all of you a very Happy Indepedence day.. Enjoy your freedom, don't abuse it.

Teacher's Pet

Scene I

I just had to write about this one… While remembering the fun times I had with my family, I was also reminded of my graduation days. yeah.. Those were the days. When my friend circle was more or less inactive. All we had was the six of us. We ate together, laughed together, and got into trouble together. There was just no looking back. All of us were unlucky… if anything went wrong; we didn’t have to wonder whose fault it was. We would just blame it on ourselves. We were like a walking talking lean mean bad luck machine! Watch out…

Disaster was like a way of life. There was this once when the six of us were sitting in a café right outside the college premises. After the lunch break was over, we went back to the college to attend the next hour “Business Law”. What we see is a classroom echoing of only our shrill voices and not a soul in sight.

“Oh my god! Where’s our batch???”

“Do you think they decided to bunk?”

Silence and inertia…

“Ok so what’s plan B?”


“Okaaaaay…… looks like we don’t even have plan A…”


“Silence woman! I am trying to think of something!”

Here’s the wise one speaking “I think this is an amazing opportunity for us to prove ourselves. Let’s show them who’s the boss.. see.. Its like this.. If we are the only ones attending this class, the professor will think that we are a sincere bunch and then you can say goodbye to all the ‘first and last warning GET OUT OF MY CLASS’, ‘go to the principals office – all six of you!’.. I think we’d better start getting used to the idea of being teachers pet.. hehehe”

Being teachers pet was an altogether an alien feeling for us. Anyway. So we made our way into the newly found comfort of knowing that everything is going to be just superb! I mean who could blame us.. It was a perfect plan.

The professor walks in…

“Where’s your batch?”

“Ma’am they are bunking this hour”

“and what are you girls doing here??”

Silence and inertia…

“Go out! Do something.. Get a life! Do you want me to sit here for an hour and look at your faces! I could have easily gotten a free hour but for the six of you!”

That was the most embarrassing day of my life. It was even more embarrassing than the time when I was trying to prove to my other friends that I can handle a drink or two. But then after 2 drinks, I got allergic to god knows what and then there was a lot of scratching and vomiting and other stuff related to allergies.. but that’s another story.

Scene II

The next week, we thought that now was the time to prove our professor wrong. We were not a bunch of losers with no personal life. We were just a bunch of losers way too involved in trying not to get into any sort of trouble. All but in vain.

“Do you think she’ll be mad?”


“Remember what she said last time?”


“ya ok.. So by not attending this hour, we become cool?”


“Absolutely”


“Count me in”


“Me too”


“Me three” and so on…


So there we were, giggling away to glory at our accomplishment. We were so proud that day!
The day was over.
Next morning, all of us meet up at the usual time and walk towards the classroom. We stopped at the notice board and all of our faces went white! It was almost like all six of us choking on chewing gums at the same time and nobody to save us. The notice read:

“Students who did not attend the Business Law class yesterday, are required to meet the Principal. Letters to their parents are awaiting dispatch.

Signed,
Sr. XYZ
Administrator”


Note for the other five: if you are reading this, don’t forget that you love me and if you kill me you will never find a true friend like me. With luv -Tan

Homesick

Here I am. Feeling homesick again. All thanks to the new stupid rule that makes it compulsory for all students to attend the first week of the new session. Man.. And what keeps me from smashing the brains behind this stupendous RULE?! Thinking about the good times I had with my family.. Specially with my Dad.. He’s the best. I still remember the one and only shopping spree I had been to with my Dad... Oh Boy… That was one LONG day. For him as well as for me. Here are a few extracts from the limited conversation that we had that day.

So we went.. to 'Commercial Street'.. that’s in Bangalore if you’re wondering.. One of my favorite places for shopping :)

First Shop
“Oh you don’t like anything here? Its ok.. Let’s go to that one…”

Second shop
“Hmmm.. it looks just like the last top we saw..”

“No??? Ok maybe some other shop…”

Third shop
“Cummon.. they are all the same! Buy something!!”

More shops…

“No I am not stepping in.. anyway you aren’t going to buy anything.. So I’ll just wait here out side in the hot sun...”


“That’s too short..”


“What??!! no sleeves?? And we pay 700 bucks for it??!”


“I am hungry…”


“That’s enough.. Let’s go home…”


“What do you mean it doesn’t fit? Of course it does.. Let’s buy this and go home…”


“Tanviiiiiiii!!”


“%#&**#%&!!”


“I am going to wait in the car now.. when you are done, wake me up…”


And then I return after 2 hours or so… I find a father who is on the verge of a nuclear explosion. Yet in midst of confrontation, he manages to squeeze in some amount of parental interest..

“So what did you buy?”

Me “Ohh.. nothing.. they were all the same.. Maybe we should come back next week to check out if there’s new stock…..”

Child Rights and You

It was an eventful day. I never knew that you could get lost even if you took a direct bus to your destination. Initially there was a lot of heat and then there was rain, but mostly it rained.. cats and dogs... Then my friend also forgot to carry the address to our destination along. In short, we were lost.. and late for the volunteer orientation meeting.

I visited the CRY office today over here in Kolkata. Yes, its an NGO. and in case you haven't heard about it, you could read more about what they do and how, on their website. CRY is the only NGO, where it is very simple to become a volunteer. Even simpler than creating a mail ID. Unlike other big NGO's where half the time people don't even answer calls, and even if they do, they never revert. So you keep wondering whether you're not good enough for volunteering or what?!

Earlier CRY was 'Child relief and you', but recently they've changed it to 'Child rights and You'. The reason being that whenever relief work was undertaken, the benefit was not long lasting. The only way to achieve this was to adopt the 'Child Rights approach', which involves looking into the underlying root causes of deprivation.

During the presentation, we were given an insight into a 12 year old girl's life. Her name was Ursula. Her father used to work for one of the West bengal tea garden owners. And due to illegal lockouts, her father lost his job and the family their daily source of income. Poverty led to illness. Her entire family had to be admitted to a far away hospital. Ursula's uncle came down from Mumbai, helped her family to get better and offered to take Ursula and her sister along with him back to Mumbai.. Ursula dreamt of meeting Shahrukh and Karishma that night... Her parents never heard from the uncle or the girls ever again.. They were trafficked...

CRY is an enabling organisation as opposed to an implementing one. For example, they do not encourage volunteers going to orphanages on weekends and spend some time playing with the deprived children. Of course singing and dancing does take their mind of the terrible environment they are living in for an hour or two, but what after that?? Instead, CRY encourages volunteers to help with improvement of the surroundings like the quality of meals, cleanliness, hygiene etc.

Now I know that CRY is not 'Charity'. Because charity is a one time effort. This is an on going process. And it'll never stop till the time all the children of India have to right to life, health, nutrition, education, leisure, expression, religion, thought and protection from abuse, exploitation and neglect.


"Stand up for what is right..."

A song for YOU

Fate
Be gentle
Coz when you’re gentle, you are easy to handle
And fears depart.


Truth
Be good to my child
As she believes in you.

Soul
Be pious
Coz when you are pious, I appear to be less sinful


Lies
Be around
Coz you never know when I might need escape


Songs
Be joyful
Coz when you are joyful, even if you are a handful
You are happiness


Love
Be loved
Coz when you are loved, you are the heaven above
And hearts beat.

A Nation without Women: Matrubhoomi

I watched this movie with a bunch of friends in the hostel. If you really wish to watch a horror movie, then this one is the ultimate. There aren’t any ghosts or any witches. Instead there’s reality and it comes and punches you right into your face. It’s harsh, unbearable yet true.

We are all aware of the situation of the gender ratio in our country. And most of us will also blame the rural illiteracy and under or no education at all among the villagers to be the main cause for such an alarming situation. But happened to us? The hi-tech, urbane, “My cell phone is better than yours” population? Has education ruined us?

Ever wondered about Mercy Killing? Abortion? The answers to these questions will vary from one person to another, one civilization to another. It all depends on what your beliefs are. I do not advocate abortion. Hell no!

Is abortion a crime? It is a legalized crime. Although well over 11 million abortions are performed annually in India, abortion is still looked upon as a family planning technique. The MTP Act in India was passed in 1971, and it has strict rules and regulations that families and medical practitioners have to adhere to. That’s why 90% of India’s annual abortions are carried out by unauthorized persons. Most of these illegal abortions are sex selective infanticides.

Illegal abortion is one of the major contributing factors in the ever decreasing female population in this country. Of course we all are educated and well read and we know what is right for us and what is not. Even then in most of the families a female birth is considered to be defamatory to the family name. Abortion is killing. Killing even before a life is born. Now tell me on what basis do family members decide that a particular child does not have the right to live? Do people consider it to be another type of mercy killing? Does the unborn child really need this kind of mercy? To be told that she is not needed in this ever so advancing world? People who advocate this kind of abortion… well… they are already born…

Favorite Dream

Don’t fly away
My favorite dream
Don’t leave my hand
Come walk beside me.
Of all the pleasure that could be,
Greatest is the box
Full of surprises
That you hold for me.
As night arrives
So does my anxiousness
Crawls in deep;
In fear of losing
The sight of
My favorite dream…
Don’t walk away
Its destiny
I shall keep honey and cream
Along the bedside
If you promise
To come to me
My favorite dream…

Guitar Gyaan

For all you guitar enthusiasts, here’s a little gyaan on the history of the beautiful instrument… Although its not necessary to know the history to fall in love with an instrument.. I just thought I'd share it with you.The guitar, in its earliest form had 3 pairs of strings and one single highest string. It is believed to have its origins in Spain. Another guitar like instrument called the Lute was more popular during the renaissance period. By the 17th century, .i.e. the Baroque period, a fifth course of strings was added to the guitar. A course is a pair of strings. Listen to Lute (You will need Real Player to listen and view the videos)

The guitar was never a popular instrument with the musicians as it could not handle complicated music. Towards the end of the Baroque period, the pairs of strings were replaced by six single strings. This is the modern guitar as we know it. Many musicians starting writing music for guitars. Concerts were popular. Guitar was finally given the respect that it deserved.

Fernando Sor was one of the prominent musicians to play and write for guitar as a solo concert instrument. Today we have guitars ranging from contrabass (Bass guitars) to treble (Lead, electric, acoustic etc.) also varying in the number of strings. We still do have six course guitars you know.. And of course there were a few companies that took guitar manufacturing to whole new level.. Like Paul Reed Smith Guitars, Fender, Gibson to name the ultimate few…

Listen to Guitar

Places to put up in B'lore

These days many of my friends are moving to Bangalore.. The first thing that people usually look for in a new place is a place to put up... under normal circumstances that is. Well there is a one stop answer for all queries regarding PG accommodations. Its called "Free Ads".. its a newspaper kind of thing.. and no its not for free.. its called free ads because people dont have to pay anything to put up their ads in the paper.. Its easily available.. though the hot spot is traffic signals.. you can try that out.. It even has ads from people who are willing to sell second hand things. I almost bought my electric guitar from one of 'em people.. instead I bought a NEW digital keyboard ;)

Blog #1

So here I am.. Welcoming myself to the world of blogging.. yeah I know I'm late.. anyway.. I don't know what the blog is going to focus on, but lets see if I can put up some useful stuff..
Keep watching..