After those little things in life!

A very warm and heart-felt hello to everyone out there! Now one may wonder as to why I am so chirpy. And the reason is, I have no specific reason to be happy. And nobody needs a reason to feel a smile. Now do they?

It just occurs to me... in the process of nitpicking over the small details, I've been missing the main joy of life. And that is to enjoy whatever I have. And I have plenty! I have a friend who gets angry if he feels I'm being tread over... I have another friend who threatens to kill me if I get myself killed (That, is a loooong story!). And there is yet another friend who consoles me, telling me she'll kidnap a japanese particle theorist for me to wed!

Now all this might seem silly. But then again, isn't the joy of life truly hidden in all these little things? And one shouldn't need many things to make one happy. And I'm glad, I'm still smiling even if I don't get the things I want immediately. It just means that I need to cheerfully work harder or patiently wait for it or something better!

If only we could follow this philosophy wherever we go... whatever we do... imagine what a happy place we'd be living in! =)

And so, in this spirit of goodwill, I present to you some of the things I wish to accomplish before I bit Adieu to this life -

• Learn the Violin
• Take a P.hD. in High Energy Physics
• Go to the Kyoto and visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha atleast once!
• Watch a Noh Performance in the beautiful city of Kyoto
• Be a Shinto no Miko atleast for a day!
• Visit the Stonehenge
• Learn to play the Biwa
• Sing in the rain
• Play in the snow
• Fish in a waterfall
• Build a shelter for destitute and old stray animals
• Write a novel
• Wear a furisode
• Watch the sun set from the Alps
• Camp out in the Kalahari
• Cuddle up with eskimos
• Help save Olive Ridley hatchlings
• Drink Sake
• Learn to cook the heavenliest payasam!
• Die at 70!

Hmmm... not quite the complete list if you ask me. But for now, this will do! I'll keep the world updated as I accomplish one task after another from this list!

And strangely, I feel like I'm on the top of the world! =D

Noh dancer, this fall

It has been long! I know... but right now, my life seems to be stuck in this rut and for some reason, it is almost like I am expecting something drastic to happen. But the event eludes me like the plague!

Ah well... things will happen when they do! If people reading this blog don't already know, I am crazy (read rabid fangirl crazy) about Japan and her culture. And it is one of the first things in my 'To Do' list of my life that I go to Kyoto and be the audience of a Noh drama. And yes. I didn't say Kabuki... I said Noh.

I don't know... sometimes I feel like there is a very strong unexplainable bond between me and that city... almost like I have something waiting for me there! It's an eerie feeling at times but I sometimes feel as though it is my destiny to go there and wander around the numerous shrines and temples there!

And as I was in this state of mind, I managed to write down what I felt in the form of verse. I'll say it isn't that great or anything. But hey! I'm not Emily Dickinson! :P

The swirl of the autumn leaves to the ground
The sound of the thunderous applause before...
My feet that lace the wooden stage
A Noh dancer presenting tales of yore.

They see no expression save that on my mask
They hear no lament beneath
The tale is all they'll know for now
But none of the sorrows burried deep.

My eyes may shed unseen tears
My heart may cry out unheard
The unbearable weight of the soul
And the solitude dreaded and feared

They crush my hopes and blow them asunder
They sneer as they back me against the wall
But the applause once more before unseeing eyes
For me, a Noh dancer, this fall.

(I know it has a twinge of melancholy and sadness. But for some reason, I always feel a little sad yet content when I think of Noh... the same way I feel when I think of Shinto priestesses. Ever wondered what runs through an actors mind as he goes through his story telling? The stoic expression makes the performer immune to such guesses... but somehow, I view his heart as an even more vulnerable thing because of this aspect!
Ah well... I know I'm making little or no sense whatsoever! I hope you liked the poem. =D)

P.S. I know the poem is not that great that someone would be tempted to plagiarize it. But just in case you feel like doing it, I'd advice you to draw inspiration from this and write something of your own. Believe me, it gives you such a wonderful feeling!

Why...oh...Why?

I know it has been long and for those few souls out there who follow my blog, I am sorry! I was feeling a bit under the weather (and who wouldn't if one had to break steel rods and contend with silly professors who go on about something being 100 'degree' Kelvin!).

The other day, my university had this huge fest thingy where people from every other college and university were invited and people were having a splendid time (Apparently). It just happened that the conveners had invited a very famous actor to inaugurate the proceedings. Being in the masters course, I have come to terms with the fact that the main administration views us exactly like how they view an empty class room. Oh well... no big loss there!

And so, I think it's justified when I think that not many people from my class would go the fest. But dear Elbereth's polka dotted babushka was I wrong! Now, I didn't know that one of my classmates was a very big fan of this actor. And well, I don't know why, but recently a lot of text messages are doing the rounds with this particular actor as the butt of their jokes.

And so, as my friends and I sat, a day after the actor had dropped by, how we found the jokes funny and well... how the guy was such a dork at times (in his movies). I mean come on! I despise heroes who carry their hero image wherever they go... put on airs... make an already insufferable life a tad bit more vexing for the general public. So, I joined in with much enthusiasm.

It was then that I noticed one of the girls had a face that looked like she had just bit into a lemon. This girl was the same person who was die hard fan of the actor.

One should've been there to see the way she glared at us all... if only looks could kill! (And thank heavens her's could not!)

And this brings me to the topic of discussion. Why do people follow so madly and blindly after their 'idols'? I mean... come on! That is not real and they know it. But even then, they adulate them and wash their cut-outs with milk and other valuable edibles! And proclaim their love for them by starving sans food if the idol cut his pinky!

It is about time we woke up and looked around. In the end, as we are busy swooning over them, the idols are happy raking in on the moolah! In this fairytale world, only one person has a 'happily ever after' ending, ne?

And for those who are curious, the girl still acts a little coldly towards all of us and plainly, I couldn't care less!

Amused.... very amused...

There were times in one's school days when one would hear about classroom fights and cold wars where gangs would form around the two battling warriors and slowly the whole classroom would end up taking one side or the other. And well... being ever the aloof observer (read daydreamer of the first degree), I have managed to avoid being a part of such groups since my school days. And now that I am in Post Grad, I think I can be forgiven for thinking that such kind of immature fighting would not happen between adults who are all mostly above twenty!

And boy, was I wrong! I recently understood that many of my classmates have been checking my Library account without my knowledge and that they are gauging my preparation for the exams based on this data. Well... Since I hardly visit the computer cabins of the library, I didn't even know I had an account until one well meaning classmate informed me as to how most of the girls and some boys indulge in what can only be termed 'hacking' in order to obtain the information they want!

And then there is this habit of moving books from their shelves to other places that only the person who moved it would know! I mean come on! What would a book on Quantum Field Theory be doing in the middle of Wren and Martin grammar workbooks?! It's downright silly, peeps! And then there is this fake modesty of proclaiming ignorance even when knows everything!
I even know of a girl who hid her library books in her bag so that her friends (I wasn't with them at the time) wouldn't know what books they were! And I wonder... here I am, an adult in almost every sense, having a strong hold of sensibility in my top floor and a pinch of decency in my genetic makeup! Why can't they be like that?

Now now... before someone jumps the gun saying I'm ranting again in personal anguish, let me make something very VERY clear. Just because someone else knows my resources I am not going to score less than what I am worth. It's just that, that person will have a chance of scoring high as well... And since we follow the grade system, there isn't that fight over one mark and half a mark! Why don't people understand this basic fact? When I see the way some people in my class behave, I can only feel very amused!

Ah well... whatever! I am just as I've always been and that's what matters the most, right? ;D

Oh... And I delivered a seminar on QCD! My classmates really liked it and they also loved the backgrounds I'd designed for the slideshow! Now I get to design it for everybody, if I have the time. :) And there's nothing more enjoyable than getting to play around in Photoshop CS3 with so many brushes about! Yay for me!

What's the problem peeps?

Today was one of those days where you get up with the feeling that everything will be just fine! And then you turn around and you find that things aren't going the way you want them to and there is nothing you can do to stop the hilarity from happening... and what's the point if everything went great? This post wouldn't have been more than a line long, if it had been so!

I had bagged a seat in the bus to college by seven thirty. But strangely, the darned thing didn't start until it was eight fifteen! And so, my whole aim of reaching classes in time were thrown to the wind! And to make sure I felt even more miserable, the lady who sat next to me seemed to have given up brushing her teeth decades ago! How did I know that, you ask? No! I wasn't kissing the woman! It's just that, she made it a point to sigh with her mouth placed exactly in front of my nose as she leaned over me to see if the bus driver was ever approaching.

Now, I have nothing against impatient people...actually I do, but that's deviating from the topic. If you are indeed going to go all dramatic and sigh left, right and center, please do it with a clean mouth! And no sooner had her stench reached my nostril, I was praying the bus start soon! Maybe the breeze would take it away!

And so, after a harrowing bus ride to college, I found myself forty five minutes late for class! I know! I know! I am incorrigible! But hey... just you wait! I was able to answer almost all the questions that were thrown at the class despite missing class. So, there!

And no sooner had theory classes gotten over, Lab sessions started. And I think today was one of those days when every professor suddenly remembers their mission in life and grills every unsuspecting grad student into giving a reply as to why the CRO is not working (the fact that there isn't anything inside it is immaterial, darn it!).

And so, one of the batches got grilled and as I was the first one to do that experiment, I was soon called over and asked myriad questions! And I should say I made every goal keeper in the face of the planet jealous... the way I fielded those questions... I was treading dangerous ground as like always, the equipment had died on me and I had to use the theory behind the experiment to fabricate a plausible answer!
Apparently, one of the boys who was doing the same experiment felt it was against his moral code to do something like that and worked on what screwed up reading the long demented equipment threw at him.

And by the time I was done with answering the questions and finished my own experiment for the day (It was the most annoying, nerve wracking, patience testing experiment ever!), it was five in the evening.

And if you think this was the end of the day's events, you are so wrong! The bus ride back home was just as hilarious. What would have taken any normal metropolitan bus an hour to achieve, that particular bus did in two and a half hours! And all because some pea brain had died and since he was the second cousin of the fifth cousin twice removed of the fourth son of the chief minister's personal cook, he just had to be buried with all the police escort that is normally given to martyrs and other equally silly people!

And now, as I sit in front of the system, typing this post, all I have to say is....

I'm friggin' tired peeps! Good night! =D

Meetings....Memories....Musings....

The past few days have been a potpourri of emotions and experiences... From the happiest to the most annoying...

I managed to meet up with a school friend of mine (two of them actually) and I now know I have good, well meaning friends... It's amazing how we've managed to be the best of friends for close to eight years! And I hope I continue to have their love and affection for many more years to come. One day was never enough to convey everything we wanted the other to know! And I am sure the others felt just like that...
The meeting leaves such a beautiful imprint on my mind and heart now that I think back to that day! =D

And now for the worst...well... not exactly 'worst' (I've seen worse!) but well... Ah fiddlesticks!

I'm not going into the details of what exactly happened. But let's just say there was a particular running into a person I know who gave me quite the cold shoulder... Ah well, if that person thinks feels it below their station to have a courteous conversation with me, nothing I can do to change that!

There is only so much a person can do to salvage a relationship and if it means one has to grovel and beg to be treated with warmth, I wonder if that kind of a warmth is indeed needed!

*sigh* I've had enough harrowing memories thinking of how I did not stand up to my desires and wishes just because I thought they would offend the people around me. And now I realize... the ones who are so deeply offended by my dreams when there is no actual reason to be so are not exactly doing me or the world a favour.

So, that's one heavy baggage off my back!

And now for a little confession from my side... I've observed how I let every single slight meted out to me take a hold over my thoughts... and how I thought of every single person who's made 'not-so-very-funny' comments of me as some sort of mortal enemy. I've also grown more aware of the fact that how I've felt a little heart-broken when people have forgotten I existed...when I was all alone when everyone else had a group to call their own.

And now as I sit in front of my system, tapping away at the keyboard, watching the words form, I realize the ultimate truth - GET OVER IT!

There! I've gotten over all the times when I never got a reply for my urgent messages... I've gotten over the times when being the 'everybody' meant being a 'nobody'.... I have gotten over the times when things didn't work out the way I've wanted them to... I've gotten over the times when I was forgotten.

And suddenly, I feel so much lighter!

VG Cats! And Fanfiction!

Ooookay... Maybe this is a little bit dorky... or maybe it's not!

I just came across this webcomic strip that goes by the name : VG Cats. It's just a parody on the world of Video gaming. Worth checking out actually!

:D And all the main characters are cats! Double bonus, I tell ya!

>>Clickity Clickty!<<

And I finally managed to update stories on Fanfiction.net.

I understand that Fanfiction's not that great a thing and all... but well, it's one of those quirks that I enjoy! So, yay!

Apart from that... nothing's been happening. All universities and other educational institutions have been closed until further notice because of the fighting in Sri Lanka. Ah! When I think of the backlog that will form because of this little hitch, I wish the fighting would stop already!

Ah well... Cest la vie!