The Last Post of 2008

I'm currently occupied with a Disaster Management project. Talking of disasters, the fantastic news is that my entire neighbourhood is coming together for a New Year bash tonight. Going by their tastes in party music, I can predict I'll be lulled to sleep by local Indian Idols claiming to have mastered the fine art of loud, incorrigible, nasty Akon-ish rap. That's what you call a musical disaster...

Coming from a mother who had to look up the net to comprehend the meaning of kitty party, and a father who shrieks and runs at the sight of business parties, I clearly justify my genes. I simply detest loud social dos with bizarre food, bizarre drinks and bizarre people gyrating to the sound of bizarre music. But don't get me wrong. I love music. And I love food. But throw in some 'kya ye aapki beti hai? ohh kitni pyari hai. badi ho gayi hai na? kuch padti hai ki bas mamma ko tang karti hai. ha ha ha.' dialogues, gossip, flashy sarees and lots of fake smiles coming from aunties triple your size, and you have the perfect start for a new year...

So then it's decided, I'm staying back home on New years Eve. Most probably, studying. After all, tomorrow onwards, I'm officially into my Board Year.

~jan.

(P.S. Went in for a haircut today, after realizing that I looked the same in all my school photographs taken since class 4. Same hairstyle. Same face. Same pose. And same height.

And I look a bit like this guy. Seriously.

Sigh. Well, no matter how I look, you guys have a great year ahead...Happy New Year to everybody! :D )

A long drive on a rainy day

I am a very unlucky kid. Who in the whole wide world has an exam on the first day of his/her summer vacations??
Well, the exam in question was the second round of the National Talent Search Exam. The examination centre was miles away in midtown Delhi, so we had to leave at 6 in the morning. And a few minutes later, it started drizzling....

There was hardly any traffic, and the roads seemed huge and empty. Everything was so wet and clean. There was some beautiful music playing on the radio, and the pitter patter of rain added to the scene. My nervousness about the exam just got blown away with the cool wind.
There is something so peaceful about such mornings. We hear people complaining about the environment in Delhi everyday, but I guess they've never travelled during the best time of the day!

We reached the centre more than an hour before the exam. It was a pretty decent Government school, surrounded by huge white walls and lots of greenery. Also, there were the government quarters nearby. A man was walking his cute pomeranian, that kept on running away from him, and barked for no apparent reason. Later though, we realized it was this silly pussy that had infuriated him!
I also met an old classmate who had left school a few years ago, and was thought to be Einstein-Part 2. And my exam went off ok-ok too, as I'd expected. Even if I don't qualify, I know the experience has been totally worth the hard work....

I wanted to tell you about the coaching classes I'd attended for this exam. We used to stay back at school long after everybody left, and studied trigonometry and electronic configuration (nonchalantly, obviously), and left only when it got dark. Many times, I was all alone in the empty building, and you could imagine how terrifying that was!!

Well, now at present, I'm looking forward to a pleasant vacation. And I guess my hopes end with this huge pile of holiday homework staring back at me....

ciao!
jan

Total Time Pass

My exam results were declared a few days earlier, and considering I'm still alive and kicking, you can safely assume they weren't that bad. Actually, they weren't bad at all.

So now, I have one full week of lazy holidays till the new session begins. Funny, but just when we're all excited to enter our new class, the creepy teachers give us these free tickets for some vacation to Timbuktu. But when we're dying to revise our syllabus before the exams, a holiday becomes a faraway fantasy. It's almost like offering a free air conditioned room in the winters.

In these hols, my timetable usually consists of munching Lays chips, sleeping for 10 hours, watching TV, gulping down bottles of Coca Cola, feasting on tikki burgers, french fries and ice cream. No wonder people say I've robbed a McDonald's outlet. But it's not as if I eat cuz I want to eat. I just eat to pass time. And cuz it gives me an excuse to sleep, and digest whatever I've wolfed down.

Recently, mum commented I was transforming into some human Garfield. She joked I was some sleeping beauty, who wants to be caged in a castle. (To give you a clear picture of what followed, I would advise you to watch episode 35091 of any of Ekta Kapoor's drama-filled saas-bahu soaps; but just replace the tearful bahu with a sweet, innocent looking kiddo of 13.) At the end of the argument, mum won. Obviously. It's like a nerd trying to defeat Mike Tyson at his own game. So mum dragged me off to go walking, the first step to weight loss, with her.

Walking at eight in the night with crickets adding to the background score might sound pleasant. Very pleasant. But wait. It's also the time the angry office goers return home racing in their Honda City's, and televisions are set at full volume, so much so that poor pedestrians in the middle of the streets can hear Rakhi Sawant's comments on losing Nach Baliye and Dhoni underplaying his recent victory on CNN IBN. Eight in the night is also the time when the vegetable and fruit vendors arrive with their loaded carts, and aunties are burdened with the task of deciding what curry they would prepare for dinner that night. So a peaceful road adorned with flickering streetlights eventually turns into the most happening place in the colony, and walking, the best sport in the world (not that I know many). As we walked, I chatted a lot with mum too, filling her on the latest news from school, and that Kareena Kapoor was actually lighter than me.

Apart from walking, I caught up on some reading too. Well, I'm not the one who crosses the road with her nose buried in a hard bound book and causes a traffic jam, but on the other hand, I don't need an inauguration ceremony when I'm entering a bookstore too. I just read whatever I can find, mostly judging a book by its cover illustrations and other components of the jacket. A good book, for me, refers to anything that can entertain me while nothing's good on MTV. I just read Chetan Bhagat's books-'One night at the Call Centre' and 'Five Point Someone'- and found the latter incredibly boring. I also read 'Interpreter of Maladies', which happily accompanies mum these days to work in her giant office bag , and decided that a short story wasn't my cup of tea.

Well, I've updated you about my activities in the past week, and am eagerly looking forward to my first day in class 9. But now, I gotta go. The pizza (with extra cheese) delivery man just arrived.

Rain, rain, come again!

hi everybody!

since i dont have anything to write on, i thought id write sumthing about the rain; its been raining like cats and dogs since morning!
'cats and dogs'.....hmm, isnt it a rather funny phrase? well, if u know the meaning, then do tell me!

i sumtimes feel i mustve been a peacock in my last birth. i simply loooooove the rain!
nopes, not when it simply 'drizzles'! it must rain heavily, and the trees must sway, the umbrellas must come out, and the wind must blow. thats the perfect rainy season for me!

unfortunately, cold and cough being my old enimies, im nvr allowed to go out and drench myself completely, and am restricted to stand in the balcony with my arms stretched in front of me. atleast i get to that!

i dont like it when it rains in the morning. then its not fun at all! it must rain at nite, when the street lights are on, and u can actually 'see' the rain and the little puddles reflecting the lights.
even better, if there is some melodious song playing on the FM.
awesum!

longing to get drenched,
jan

JBJ did'nt make me jhoom at all!

I went to a movie on saturday nite after ages.....only cuz it was really hyped about. it was, as u might have guessed, jhoom barabar jhoom.

CAST : a dimpled 'pretty' zinta, a bhatinda da chokra (yawn!), a tall street singer sporting a pirates inspired hairdo, a curly haired nerd, and a former miss world failing miserably by trying to be 'genuinely' and irritatingly french.

STORY: they probly didnt have a scriptwriter, cuz thr was no story at all! just a couple of 'meant to be funny' incidents. and i didnt hear a single laugh in the theatre.

director's view point : to make a movie for the genX. (what the hell? even genZ wunt wanna watch such rubbish!)

bigB's role : बीच- बीच में आसमान से टपको, नाचो, बोर करो, और भाग जाओ! although it was verrrrrrrrrrrry repetitive, i must say this was what i luvd best।

so if ur going to see this movie, DONT! take a step bkwards, and head straight towards home, and heave a sigh of relief that ur Rs.150 are still in ur pocket, not down the drain!

still hoping i might get to jhoom,
jan

Pirate of The Den - at wits' end!

आज की ताज़ा ख़बर: My friends joked they're planning to hold an inter-block competition for the messiest room. if this turns out to be true, there's no doubt they'll unanimously vote for the person who owns the room in which this computer is currently placed. yeah, me!

So today, i thought i'd simply fill up this white space by describing my room in minute detail so that u people can tell me if im really worthy of this award. (btw, my trophy cupboard has been empty for a while, so i can do with an awrd or two...... )

On the white door leading to The Den, there is a huge denis the menace poster cautoning u to back off. excellent मेहमान नवाज़ी, nah?

once inside, u are greeted not by me, but by a cute li'l baby lizard (named lizzie) playing corners. next would probly be a spiderman tshirt crying to be rescued. yeah, spiderman. NOTbarbie.

then there is a really untidy timetable scribbled on white (or is it dusty black?) board, which i hardly even glance at.

u might even be lucky enough to peek at a huge wooden cupbord right above my study table, the pride of my room.cuz it holds all the books iv ever read (i dont mean textbuks), starting from nursery rhymes to grandma stories to chicken soups.

apart from this, the only other 'pleasant' thing ull find are those kiddish 'think positive' and 'anger is bad' posters plastered onto the walls. a few years ago, it was twinkle twinkle li'l stars instead....hehe.

then there's is also a huge diwan and a black, ugly computer next to it, and loads of books and clothes and circulars with the principal's sign all over the place.

if u search patiently, which i usually do not, u might even find a newspaper dating back to 2002!
im certainly not exaggerating.
i swear my room is cleaned painstakingly by mum (as i snore away), only a day before sum visitor is paying a visit to my wonderland. other times i dont pay attention to mum's repeated warnings of cleaning up or getting grounded, and she soon gets fed up.
u know, it useless trying to make an unwilling horse drink water!! ;)

well let me tell u this isnt my permanent den. when it gets too cold out here, i migrate to another room for a few months and then return to the den in the summer. and its really wonderful to see this heaven-like place again. aha!

i dont care and never will how my room looks. its my identity, man! but u know, i have to do sumthing, cuz my friends r cuming over tomorrow! HELP ME! a starnge reason for a strange title.

(psst...heres a lil secret: during most exams, im superstitious enuf to keep that red spiderman tshirt right in the middle of the floor, and those stinking blue socks on the diwan, exactly where they used to lie when i was giving my first exam two yrs ago, which went off as i wanted it to be!)

so cheers to my den!!

jan

party animals on the prowl

Last night, I burnt my sleep trying to keep awake till twelve.

Reason: My best friend's birthday, and i had to wish her.

At last, at 4 mins to 12, when my eyelids were heavy, drooping with sleep, I decided to wish her.
She picked up the phone, drowsy with sleep, and snapped it after a 'Thank You'.
She too had kept awake for my call! We both are such big idiots! No wonder I don't believe in 'opposites attract'!

We've decided upon a theme for the party this evening - ghosts. Hey! Of all the topics in the world, or rather, out of the world, did it have to be just this ??!!

Well, it's damn spooky, but it wasn't my idea! its just that my friend does crazy things, being a very creative person....hehe.

Now I simply don't know what to wear for the party!
Every Saturday, I'm bound to pick up a nice pair of capris and some awesome Tees displayed in shop windows, and adding them to the huge pile of clothes in my bureau, but when it comes to actually wearing one, it's impossible to select! it's worse if the theme is 'fantasy', and u've gotta wear something creepy and 'straight from the streets'.

I'm not a fashion freak, nor am I really trendy, just plain 'smartly' or 'cutely' dressed.

So don't just sit there and point out spelling mistakes!
Help me! ! !

u know who

The DON is back....

Im finally back after two whole weeks of complete boredom and torture, since the net had a cold and was advised complete rest by the doc (hehe).

I hate to admit it, but im really missing that old routine of getting up early, half sleeping and brushing my teeth, rushing to catch the bus, sitting and dreaming until sumbody reminded me to get down, racing to the class and seeing who came first, teasing friends who look idiotic in two ponies, dog-earing books (later getting scolded by mum), taking pangas with teachers, getting into trouble (sumtimes), getting out of trouble(hehe) and all that stuff….skool has its own charm! sigh!

sometimes, its really amazing how we simply long to get away, away from the hustle-bustle and tensions of skool. But when u do get a few days free, u simply don’t know what the hell ur supposed to do! Ok, I know the first few days u can roam around with not a care in the world, but isn’t 2 months of doing the same thing too much?!

Sometimes, like this once, all your holiday plans come crashing down. its very frustrating, especially when the sun has made up his mind to melt all beings on earth. we hide from that orange ball inside those ACed rooms, just like roaches do!

Nothing to do, except stare at the dumb and rather ugly face of the monitor…..sigh, sigh, sigh!

iv been postponing my hhw for too long now. whenever I decide to search for some decent stuff on the net, there’s always a good friend ready to say hello, and then im down with the chatting fever.
result: no work done. three more weeks to go…..

cya,
a rather bored jan

Holiday Homework

I was planning to protest against this wretched phenomenon.

REASONS:

Holiday homework was worked out by the teachers as part of their "Student Torture Scheme".
When we kids protested, the teachers agreed (with a wicked gleam in their eyes), to give holiday homework that was 'fun' to do. Well teachers, try serving karela juice in a gold tumbler.It still tastes bitter.

This is what we got, call it 'fun' HHW:
"Geometrically represent factorization of quadratic polynomial ax2 + bx + c" err....what?

Personally, I would have preferred:
"Represent practically, movies + frnds + popcorn + no HHW ( = mast hols!)

However, there's loads of HHW to be done, and we'll be graded for it too. I thought exams come in September, or don't they?!

Blogger ke side effects.....

Hardy a week old blogger, I'm already experiencing the side effects of blogging:

1.Gaining weight (by sitting for hours on the net)

2. Internet bills

3. Red eyes

4. Neglecting TV

5. Irritated friends (who miss my incoming calls)

6. Growing impatience, lacking topics

7. Change in the entire 'holiday timetable'

Phew!! blogger होना आसान नहीं है!!

jan

dear diary......

I don't know what struck me to start a blog of my own. A personal blog is pretty much similar to a diary, and with so much work to do, I can't afford to maintain one. And writing a diary doesn't run in the family too.

But the other day, while I was bunking classes (I'd like to boast i was, but actually, it was a free period) , I decided to go over to the library and read some book. The librarian resembles Adnan Sami in many ways, but she's really kind and respectable.

I selected a book from the nearest shelf, "The Story Of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. It's pretty famous. "The story of an ordinary teen leading an extraordinary life", that's what the summary on the cover said. And after reading a few pages, I realized it was quite relevant too.....since I'm gonna become a teen in less than a month! I simply loved it!

That's when I thought how useful it can be to put down your thoughts, your feelings and your day to day activities. Although I'm no Shakespeare, I too love to write, and when there is simply no topic to write on, write your diary! With technology available, why not do it online?

By the way, my summer hols are on, so I've got plenty of time on my hands.This was my first post, and I look forward to writing many, many more in the days to come!! Please leave some comments, and encourage me to write more and more!

jan