Change …

It seems only yesterday that I wrote this post  about finishing the first year of my college life. Three years have passed and in a month my college education will officially get over. I still am the same person that I was three years ago. Only a little more wisdom (or at least I’d like to call it that). I stand by every word said in the post, although I have no clue about the friend-betraying part now. What was I talking about ?!?!

When I look back on these four years, I can’t help but feel a slight pang of nostalgia. I had a few bitter incidents in college like every regular student does. These memories marred my thoughts about leaving college. Up until a few months ago, I thought I’d be happiest to leave and I’d never miss it one bit. But my sister always said, when you look back in time and review all your problems it will look so obscure and pointless. Oh, how so true! Now when I see it, all the fights and angry outbursts look so silly and sometimes even laughable. Only the good memories remain now.

I met many a wonderful people in these four years; some making a huge mark in my life. I consider myself lucky to have some great friends. That reminds me of another thing that my sister asked me recently. She asked me what it would be like to have all her classmates now in the same classroom that they studied and exactly in the same seats. I pondered over it. Would it be the same? Like everyone else, we friends have vowed to stay in contact with each other. But the gritty truth is most of the time, people lose touch. See, that is the thing I hate about nostalgia. You reminisce about those good memories but it reminds you that can’t relive the moment again. Sure, you can have reunions but it won’t be the same. People change. The childish innocence that you loved in your friends is partly lost..

I am starting to sound like the ‘Catcher in the rye’. Aren’t I ? But it is one of those things that one can only rant about but do nothing about it. Change is after all inevitable and one must learn to welcome it(Now I’m sounding preachy!). So here I go and I’m saying it, I will definitely miss college life!

P.S : So what about you ? You loved your college life and are you in touch with your college friends ? Share your thoughts

To read, or not to read, that is the question…

Ever since Mankind came into existence there have been three debatable questions – Apple or Microsoft ?, Friends or How I met your Mother? aaannnnd Ebooks or printed books?. Since the first two questions would eventually end up in a Youtube-comments-type quarrel, I am going to answer the third question. (Oh and also because that is this week’s writing challenge).

Ebooks or printed books ? I’d pick printed ones over Ebooks any day. I have three main reasons for that :

1. I talk to my books. (Oh no.. I am not mad ! )
2. I want a huge personal library.
3. Oh the smell of books !

 

I talk to my books :
 

Yes. When I find something interesting or a funny thing about the character, I write it in the book. That is my way of interacting with the book. I picked up this habit while reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. I found the characters and events in the books so fascinating that I wanted to record my reactions then and there. Even if I can do this with Ebooks by using some sort of ‘Notes’ tool, it wouldn’t be the same. It loses the personal touch. I treasure old books which have little notes and actual handwriting by people. I wrote a post about it in my blog too.
Secondly, I do not trust technology. It would only take a matter of seconds for things to get lost in the digital world – be it a battery failure, virus attack or physical damage to the device. Technology changes so fast that many products go obsolete when a new version comes.

I want a huge personal library
 

A book in one and a hot cup of Tea in the other, amidst a serene place surrounded by books is every direction is every bookworm’s paradise. Ever since I started falling in love with books, this has been my dream. I want to have a personal library where I own every single book and where every books brings to me a pleasant memory.

The smell of books….

Ahhh… The wonderful smell of old books. I got this really old book from the library. The smell was so distracting that for every few minutes I buried my head in the book and took in the smell. (funny that I fell asleep doing that ).

I am not against Ebooks. They are convenient. They are portable and make things a lot more easier. But they definitely are not my type. That doesn’t mean I won’t use Ebooks when I have absolutely no option. When I do have the option, I will always pick up an actual paper book. May be I am old fashioned but I pledge to read the printed word.

Photo Courtesy : freekoza.com & epublishabook.com .

Life under the wheels…

It is a typical evening in Poonamallee High Road. The traffic slowly gains momentum with the arrival of the yellow coloured college buses. They race past snail-paced trucks and two wheelers while their occupants doze off under the scorching heat. Amidst the buzz stands a hapless dog. It looks left and right uncertainly, waiting for the right moment to cross the road. When the road clears up, it swiftly moves forward. In the blink of an eye a speeding bus runs over the animal. The air is filled with an agonizing howl followed by a dreadful silence.

Dogs getting run over by vehicles is not an uncommon sight in Poonamale High Road. Once in a while I see a bloody mass on the road, squashed so badly that it hardly resembles a dog or rather anything. I flinch in revulsion, wishing that I never saw it. But it was always just a moment’s worth of pity and I never really gave it a thought. Now it’s different. Recently, I witnessed a run-over accident. It all happened so fast that I didn’t actually see the dog getting hit but I just heard the howl.The driver could have used the brake but he didn’t. My dog-loving friend was aghast after actually seeing the dog going under the wheels. She became upset throughout the journey. We tried in vain to cheer her up by telling that the dog would lead a better life in its next birth(?!?) and the driver would be born as dog(!?!?). That obviously didn’t work. But that incident really got me thinking.

It is murder, not any accident. Many people dismiss it because the victim in case is just a dog; a five sensed creature. That makes me question the underlying foundation of moral values in our society. We have been taught by our textbooks that Man is a superior being, God’s greatest creation, blah blah blah. So we labour under the illusion that treating beings below our intellectual level like scum is our birthright. Why the brazen display of power?

Aliens vapourize people in ‘War of the worlds’ and ‘Independence day’or any other Sci-Fi hoopla. Why ? Because they can. They find it mighty funny to kill the pea-brained humans who get in their way. We sympathize in the theater for our movie-counterparts but in reality have we ever taken such animal-killings seriously ? Drawing comparisons between a Sci-Fi movie and real life may look silly but apparently I am not alone in this.

If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth – beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals – would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals? ~Attributed to George Bernard Shaw

In the end it all boils down to one thing – Life. Be it a Man or an animal who goes under the wheels, it is still a life that is getting snatched away. I am no saint. I am still the same old person who is afraid of dogs and who doesn’t like to stand within a 10-metre radius of a dog. But the next time I see a dead dog on a high way (which I hope doesn’t happen again) it won’t be revulsion. It will be pity on the human race for it stoops so low as to inflict its brutality on a helpless little creature. As they say, all cruelty springs from weakness.

What’s that song ???

Alright ! I need your help. If you don’t have the patience to listen to my rant, skip to the last part of the post and help find the name of the song that’s been stuck in my head for nearly a month. If you do wish to listen to me, read on!

You know what it is like to be this close to saving Princess Peach in Super Mario but getting killed by the stupid dragon ? Cruel, right ? Well, this is worse than that. You hum a song all the time but you don’t even know the name of it.

I hum songs all the time. It has become an involuntary habit and relatively a harmless one until three weeks back. There I was shaking my head side to side humming my favourite tune. Suddenly I realize ‘OK What’s this song?’ and the weeks that followed had periodic outbreaks of ‘Gaaah’s and ‘Grrrr’s and occasional head scratching. The more I thought about it the more it became an enigma. Where did I first hear it ? Since when did I start humming the song ? I was clueless.

Thus began my quest (or I’d prefer to call it that). I searched the net for songs. I searched for random folk music but nothing. What do I search for when I don’t have the lyrics nor a tiny bit of music? To partially quote the Old Rose from Titanic, “It now exists.. only in my memory”. I tried Apps where you hum the tune and it’d find out the song. I sang the tune to my friends with my horrible “la la la”s. Nothing worked. Nada.

I screwed my mind really hard to remember something about the song. At last I heard four beeps. I have heard those beeps before. BAM ! Of course, from my old Key Board!! It was as if a heavy metal hammer struck me. Now I had an idea where the tune came from. It was one of those inbuilt demo songs in the Casio Keyboards. I was 13 when I bought my first keyboard. It’s been 8 years and at last I remember where it came from.

Still, it was like a punctured balloon. I couldn’t find the tune anywhere. But today I decided to do some serious research and had to undergo the painstaking job of skimming through 3 parts of this Casio Demo Songs Video and guess what ? I found the tune! I was jumping up and down the bed with excitement and stifled cries. After nearly 8 years I listen to the song from something else other than my own voice. Oh the feeling !! Wait. It isn’t over yet. I still don’t know the name of the song.

Now that I have found the song, I need your help. Please tell me the name of this song. It is precisely at the duration 19:01 of the video. I would be really really really thankful if you could tell me the name of the song.

Thanks in advance !

UPDATE :
Thanks to Balu, I’ve found the song at last ! It is a Russian folk song called Troika .
P.S : One of the reasons why I love the internet and wordpress ! Has answers for everything.

Childhood revisited …

Thanks to The Daily Prompt‘s new blog post idea, I get to write about my earliest childhood memory.

Me !

Before I begin with my earliest memory, there is a bit of a family history that you should probably know. When I pose the same question to my sister about her earliest memory she’d tell me some stories about things that happened when she was just 6 months old. I think that’s an elaborate cock and bull story that she always pulls off on me. My father’s told me that his Uncle could remember things that happened when he was in his Mother’s womb. Well,…Let’s just say that I’m reserving my judgment on that. So, in a family with such ‘history’ of good memory I seem to lack that skill very much. See that little baby in the left side of blog’s banner ? That’s me but I have no memory of that phase of my life.

My earliest childhood memory is in my kindergarten classroom. In the first few months of school I felt very homesick but was fortunate enough to have a sweet classteacher Mrs Ramathilakam who put with a whole class of cry babies. I was also quite lucky to have a kind girl for a classmate. I remember her face vividly. She was a very fair and chubby girl with a coconut tree hairstyle much like mine and she brought the coolest set of goggles to school everyday.

Every time I cried, she would put on the goggles and give me a big smile. Then, I would stop crying. If she put down the goggles, I would cry. This went on for sometime but never once did she stop being cheerful. I don’t remember how we both talked to each other. She spoke Malayalam and I spoke Tamil and neither of us knew much English to have a lively conversation. Yet, we both laughed and smiled at each other. She was also the first person to teach me a Malayalam word “Vellam”(Water). I don’t remember much of my kindergarten though. I think she left the school in UKG. It is all very vague right now. I try hard to recollect her name but I guess it has just left the realms of my memory.

Yeah.. Vague it may be but thinking about all those good memories brings some warmth to the heart and I hope the girl grew up to be a kind person as she was the day I met her. So, what’s your earliest childhood memory ?

Across the Fence…

http://fineartamerica.com

The trees spread their tresses, each a different shade of green. They swayed left and right rhythmically to the beats of the storm. It looked like they were showing off their lush green leaves with mighty pride. Amidst the throng of trees stood a lone climber plant trailing along the sides of the building. Its dark green leaves wiggled feebly to the wind. Unlike the trees around, it couldn’t dance in the wind because its body was tied to plumbings for support. The lonely plant looked around the trees with envy and a tinge of sadness. With darkness slowly enveloping the evening sky, the plant was becoming less and less visible. Who would notice such a small plant like me, it thought with pensive sadness. Drops of water began to trickle down its dark green leaves. It was raining. Hiding its tears in the rain the plant looked across the fence and was slightly taken aback to see a girl looking at it curiously. It did not expect any spectators. As time went by, a sympathetic smile unfolded across her face and she went inside her house. I’m not alone after all, the plant smiled to itself.

____________________________________________________________

Cyclone Nilam sure did bring about a lot of damage in the city but it also created this sweet little moment for me. As I looked across the fence, I saw that plant among the trees. In many levels, the climber reflected my thoughts.. I smiled to myself…

Tagged !

I’ve been tagged (In case you are wondering, it is a game ) by Diana. I found the game very fun. So, the rules of the game are :

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.
2. They must also answer the 11 questions the ‘tagger’ has set for them.
3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.
4. They must then choose 11 bloggers and tag them in their post.
5. These lucky bloggers must then be told.
6. There are no tag backs.

So, 11 things about me :
1. I have a liking towards old English folk and old songs as such. (So suggest me some good songs)
2. Atticus Finch is my hero and of course Snape too !
3. My fantasy ‘reading’ place would be in the middle of a Japanese style bridge
4. I collect key chains.
5. I’m scared of clowns.
6. I love learning new words.
7. My favourite posts in my blog are : Finding Darling Miss & When Shakuntala went under the knife. I really enjoyed writing those two posts.
8. I hate littering on the road.
9. Another fantasy of mine is to buy all the shops in Pondy Bazaar.
10. I love teaching.
11. I am a big fan of Ellen Degeneres.

Now to Diana’s questions :

1. Share one or more things that blogging has taught you
For one thing, blogging has taught me a lot about other cultures. In these two years of blogging, I was introduced to a lot of new things from many bloggers.

2. Share one or more things about blogging that you want to change.
Nothing. It is good the way it is now.

3. Between present and past, what is the biggest good/bad change in You?
I have learnt to put myself in others’ shoes and see things in their point of view. Ever since reading “To kill a mockingbird”, I have learnt what it is like to be in others’ position. As Atticus Finch said,
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

4.How do you prefer to spend your free time?
I spend my time reading novels. (I prefer reading outside my house, in the verandah facing the trees and a cup of tea in my hands). I love reading articles and stuff in the internet (Wiki being the best friend). Then, there is always good old Facebook !

5. Which place will you chose – an evening on beach, snow clad mountains, a night in desert, a cool garden or at home with AC on in front of TV.
That’s a tough one. It’s a tough competition between the mountains and the beach. I will choose the mountains because I have never been to a snow clad mountain before and I grew up reading “Heidi” !

6. Which new language you will like to learn?
I would love to able to speak in Sanskrit. I have seen only a few people who’ve mastered the skill to speak it.

7. Have you prayed for something? What is that? Did you get it?
I have prayed for a lot of silly things. I got some and I didn’t certain things. But no complaining!

8. If I had got one more chance… Have you ever felt so?
I have felt so many times but later one if I turn back and think about it, things all happened for a reason. So no complaining !

9. Which fiction character could you relate to the most?
That’s a tricky question. Had the question been ‘favourite character’ the list would have been long. Anyway, I relate myself with most with Charlie from ‘The perks of being a wallflower’. While reading the book, I felt it was like reading letters from my own past. He too is/was an introvert coming out of his shell. So it was quite relatable.

10. Which is your favorite Cartoon character?
Heidi , Little Lulu, Powerpuff girls, Dexter’s Laboratory,

11. Are you afraid of dark?
No, sir ! I’m a very nocturnal person.

My questions :
1. What is your favourite post in your blog and why ?
2. What is your favourite song/movie ?
3. What’s the reason why you love blogging ?
4. Suggest me a good book or movie !
5. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever come across in your life ?
6. What’s the one thing that you regret doing ?
7. Who is your inspiration ?
8. Your secret ambition ?
9. Tell us a new fact or info which others don’t know much about.
10. Create your own question and give an answer to it.
11. Favourite historical figure ?

Whom do I tag ? .. Lets see.. So, here’s a list of people whom I think will like the game If you don’t have time to tag others, you can post the answers in the comments section too

* Nirupama
* Balu
* Sanju
* Mahesh
* Jayati
* Amit
* Dr Ganesh

Happy posting !