A Day With The Kids

Intro : Wrote this 8 months before. ummm yeah forgot to post it :P :D

It’s been two month since I joined MAD and today, for the first time, I met the kids. I was in the class with Swathy to arrange the desks and benches for the ECS donor’s event when the kids started coming. They screamed ‘Chechi…’ seeing Swathy and came running and hugged her :) I understood how happy they were to see her.
After they all settled down, Swathy introduced me to the kids. At first I kind of felt awkward as I didn't know what to say and the kids were also shy. They just gave short glances and bowed their head, smiled secretly and looked at each other. But then from here and there I started getting questions like ‘What is your name?’, ‘What are you doing?’, ‘Where is your place?’ etc. After that initial awkwardness I chatted with them as if we knew each other for a long time. They asked about my hobbies, favorite author, my college and what all. It was like viva-shooting questions from all around me. But only difference was this is one viva I really enjoyed :D. One of the girls sang a song for me and it was beautiful. She had a mesmerizing voice.
We conducted a painting competition and it was fun. Some were really interested in drawing and some were more interested in making building with the crayons and crayon boxes ;). Some were happy to pose for pictures and some was terribly shy to face the camera :p. I was scared whether they would get bored after a while. But seeing their happy faces I knew we all made their day brighter. As they bid goodbye and went, a small part of me was feeling blank…wanting to spend more time with them…and must say I felt jealous of the teaching volunteers for getting to teach these wonderful kids. But then hats off for making a difference in their lives :) The happiness I got from spending two hours with them was loads more than getting a new dress or b’day surprise or hanging out with friends.

The only sad part being a FOM intern is I don’t get to interact with the kids always. And today, I must say, it was bliss.

Music- Ecstasy, love, bliss and passion

Music has always been a passion for me. Though I haven’t learned to sing or play any sort of instruments, I have always admired singers and instrumentalists. I have had loads of friends who were good singers. Maybe that’s why anything related to songs attract me. I love songs that have a good beat, whatever genre it is in. There was a time when I simply liked the songs-filmy ones or albums- just because they were good to hear. Later on I began to give more importance to lyrics. Even if the songs are boring I used to listen just to get the lyrics, some of them which bring out the emotions inside you easily. Then again as time passed on, I began to notice about the voices. I get easily turned on by people with good voices. I don’t remember when it all started but I do remember falling head over heels hearing RJ Rakesh’s voice from Club FM who did a show called Love Bytes. The disappointing thing was they play the same set of songs again and again. But I always tuned in from 10pm to 12pm daily just to hear his voice :P Yeah I know. weirdo!!!

There were times when I got really paranoid about some of the songs (I still do ;) ). That times my ringtone, message tone, alarm tone, favorite playlist etc would consist of that particular song only. I would listen to it about 50 times daily. My status updates in all social networks and messengers would be its lyrics. I Google all available information about the singers, the scenes, the movie, the plot, the composer, the lyricist etc. People say even if you love a song so dearly listening to it after a while bores you. Not me!!! I still listen to my favorite songs over and over again. I thought to list down the songs, the ones I remember, that took me to paranoiac state :D

1. Song: Kangal Irandal

Movie: Subramaniapuram (Tamil, 2008)

Singers: Deepa Mariam, Belly Raj

Lyrics: Yughabarathi

Music: James Vasandhan

Genre: Soundtrack

Cast: Swathi, Jai

*It was when Orkut was in limelight. I didn’t change my status for a very long time :D

2. Song: Pookal pookum

Movie: Madrasapattinam (Tamil, 2010)

Singers: Harini, Roop Kumar Rathod , Andrea Jeremiah, G.V.Prakas

Lyrics: Na.Muthukumar

Music: G.V Prakash (my favorite :* )

Cast: Arya, Amy Jackson

*Friends said its weird to see me wearing t-shirt and jeans and having a classical ringtone for my mobile :P who cares!!!

3. Song: Aaromale

Movie: Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya (Tamil, 2010, though I heard this song on January 2012 only)

Singers: Alphons Joseph

Lyrics: Kaithapram

Music: A.R.Rahman

Genre: Psychedelic rock

Cast: Silambarasan, Thrisha

*Don’t know why my mom and most of the friends didn’t like this song much but it just makes me go crazy, even nowJ. I never understood why Darshana sang this ALL the time (before me hearing the original soundtrack :P ).  She sang the part ‘aaromlee..’ like some crazy rock star. But then I got curious when I listened to one of my friends, Abhay, sang the same song while performing at CET’s Dhwani’12 eastern orchestra competition. After that only I downloaded the song and huff!! Then I knew why she sang all the time :P. I still wonder why my windows didn’t break due to my speaker’s volume :P

An interesting fact about this song is that it was made in just about 4 hours!!!

4. Song: Thaai Thindra Manne (cholan ecstasy and classical version)

Movie: Aayirathil Oruvan (Tamil, 2010, though I heard the song towards the end of 2011 only)

Singers: Vijay Yesudas, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Shri Krishna

Lyrics: Vairamuthu

Music: G.V.Prakash

Cast: Parthiepan, Reema Sen

*One of my friends, Govind, recommended this song along with the song ‘Penmane...’ from the same movie.

5. Song: Muthuchippi poloru

Movie: Thattathin Marayathu (Malayalam, 2012)

Singers: Sachin Warrier, Remya Nambeesan

Lyrics: Anu Elizabeth Jose

Music: Shaan Rahman

Cast: Nivin Pauly, Isha Talwar

*I still remember opening my mouth when I first heard the song in the theatre. It was actually Remya Nambeesan’s voice that captured my attention. It was like haunting and soothing your soul at the same time. Later on only I noticed Sachin’s voice and after that it was about 2-3 weeks of replaying the button again and again :D :P And the scenes are also simply amazing- kudos to the cinematographer. Although I'm not a student of LBS anymore, when I heard Sachin Warrier is coming for the union arts club inauguration, me and my friends woke up early and went to my ex-alma mater, just to hear his voice :P And that's when I heard 'Namosthuthe...' properly when he sang. I didn't notice the song much while watching TM but now. . . Sigh!!! 

6. Song: Namosthuthe

Movie: Thattathin Marayathu (Malayalam, 2012)

Singers: Arun Alat

*And this is my recent crush or I don’t know what to call it. I sleep listening to this ‘devi shuthi’ , wakes up listening to this, currently my alarm tone and ringtone :D. Problem is I’m forgetting to attend calls nowadays :P I feel like getting positive energy listening to this song, bringing all positive thoughts, feeling lighter, and my mind and head feels clean. . . It’s actually Sanskrit with fusion music (I guess that’s what you call it). The English translation along with the lyrics can be found here.


And with that I bow onto you :) Thanks for reading :)

A Rainy Night

Recently I went through my drawers and found many diaries and bits of paper in which I wrote. . . My my! I used to write a lot though half of them are not complete or are just trash. The following one, dated 28/7/10, 11.12pm caught my attention.


      It is pitch black outside the window. The frequency of the rain keeps changing minute by minute. For a while I stood near the window listening to their angry voices. Yes! The downpour was so heavy that I could actually hear it scolding me.


     I drew in a long breath. The smell of earth filled my nostrils. I could feel the plants rejoicing in the rain. The leaves would be void of dust and dirt. The rain purifying them from the inside of its soul. I listened carefully for secret messages from the nature's tears, but I received none. Was that a simple visit? I closed the window and the rain splattered on the window as if they didn't want me to go.


       Do they miss me like I miss my soul?

10 Things I Do During Exam Time

People always post the same things about what students do during exam times. Well some of them are true in my case and some are not. Two days before my s8 university exam, Distributed System, and here I’m blogging about the 10 things I do during exam time. . .

1. Gets itchy feet all the time to leave the house and travel to some new places. The wanderlust that would end up in reading travelogues (mostly places in Trivandrum which are isolated) and checking out the places to visit. My travel list is growing fast but chances of visiting them are almost zeroL.
2. If my camera (CANON IXUS 95) is anywhere near me then I would end up taking photographs of all the mundane things around me like the clothes stand, the brass vessel where I keep coins, handbags, watch, key chains and if I’m not too lazy then the flowers,  seeds,  leaves, sand, birds, sky. . . Oh sometimes I take pictures of  the prints on my text books at various angles :P. 
3. Daydreaming about my crush- what would happen if everything works out well, what if not, what he would be doing right now, how we would unexpectedly meet at a resort at Alapuzha (for Dachu’s bachelors party ;) ), what if he turns up on my 22^nd  B’day party, stalking his Facebook profile and so on.
4. Playing Angry Birds, even though I finished all the levels, just to beat my friend’s top score :D. Yeah Gold Crown!!!
5. Planning what to do after exams- planning, scheduling, asking opinions. . .etc
6. Reading and rereading old messages in mobile inbox.
7. Looking at the mirror and showing weird faces.
8. Reading all the troll posts on Facebook.
9. Talking about future life and having heated discussion about silly things in life which we have never ever given a damn about (happens during combined studies).
10. Thinking what to blog next or work on a new story. Don’t know why but my creativeness wakes up when exams are on full swing K

One of the snaps I took during an exam time ;) :P

Yeah I know all these are reflected on my grades but then I can't help it :-|. Guess this would be the last time I'l ever do such things between my exams as my B.tech life is about to end (hopefully). Sigh!!! Not sure whether I should get elated or dismayed. . .

First Day Of Last Semester

Let me give you a fair warning. This is not a fictional post. There’s nothing interesting in this post. So don’t waste your time reading this. It’s about a single day of my life. I just wanted to remember this particular day after long long years (if ever I forget) and so here I’m posting for me and the people who are mentioned in this post…

S8 Day 1: 01/12/11

Started from home a bit late and yeah so reached college after 9 am or something. Well then saw that I’d Dachu for company, as always. Entered class at about 9.30 am. Most of them were absent and four of them wore colour dress including Meera :O not fair!!! No staff came and we all chatted for a while. Dachu and Arya were discussing about Hindi serials. Omega and Meera started singing weird Tamil serial songs (kolangal…kolangal…) and then Dachu started singing which shut everybody up :P.

I then went to wish Rasmi best of luck (she’d lab NOS lab exam) and Raju went off for union duties. Later we all sat in the veranda and chatted, gossipped and teased errr yeah Dachu only (obviously). Then went in search of our ‘dad’ and again straight to class to fill out some records. Went to canteen. Had ‘vada’, chilli ‘baji’ and tea under the trees (thanks to the PTA benches)…talked about college days…life…the white dog…weird actions done during dumb charades(sunil gavaskar for Madagascar, shesoladate for she’s all that :P)…and then walked or rather ran in the rain(rest of them had flu). Out of the blue moon someone will start ‘wanna be my chammak challo?’ or “oh la la oh la la” :P.

Again straight to class, under the fan and more gossips. We were then given the registration forms to fill out. I told Dachu, this would be the last time we fill this form and everybody got sentimental (well my eyes are blurry with tears right now…sob). Took pictures though Akhila mam was there.

 Then we got the time table. Wow! The best time table I’ve ever seen in my entire college life. We got Fridays off for project but was sad that we couldn’t bunk Friday noon’sL. But then Wednesday noons are lab free ;) Buhahaha!!! Dear theatres… await us J

Some mam entered our class and everybody forgot what to do… whether to stand or keep quiet or errr what do we usually do??? She was also in a confused state what to say :P. My friend took her shawl and covered herself. I still don’t understand why she did that :D. Planned to go to beach but cancelled due to rain. So planned to go to Omega’s house but then nobody wanted to move from their places…

Then had a three course lunch @ canteen veranda- my ‘chappthi’ and potato stew, Dachu’s rice, ‘rasam’ and spicy potato fry and Omega’s ‘appam’ and curry. Though six of us ate from three lunch boxes our tummy got full. Sat there enjoying the last bit of rice and licking curry from fingers and chatting about nothing in particular.

Then everybody got dispersed. Dachu and Omega went home. Arya, Meera and I went back to class. 

There was a Mehandi Attack by Jaggu J. Rasmi came with sad news- not full output L. Back to home sweet home...

And then it was a BYE to the first day of last semester...

A Bolt From The Blue

It was the month of September. No special days or events happened or were there yet to happen. After just another mundane day at school, I walked back to my home. Starving to death and tired from the rush, I was surprised to see my mother waiting for me at the door. Weird! She should be busy making tea and baji’s. And she was smiling wickedly. More weird! I asked, ‘What?’. And she giggled. Oh man! Either she turned lunatic or was trying to do make me loony. ‘There’s something on your study table’, she said and burst out laughing. ‘Eh? A gift? But my b’day was months ago’. ‘Go and check molu’.

Entering my room I did not see anything big or distinguishable among my textbooks and entrance materials. At the center was a big post cover (which was opened) with my name and address crawled (my handwriting is better now I come to think about it) on, and it was air-mail. Who on earth would send me an air-mail???

I took out the contents, stared at the photograph and the signature on it and screamed at the top of my lungs. Oh! My head felt dizzy. Well a picture is worth a thousand words. So I've uploaded the photo here so you can understand the abnormal behavior of my mother and my insane sickening ear-splitting scream and dizziness.

Oh yes! I got a signed photograph and reply letter from Daniel Radcliffe a.k.a Harry Potter. I couldn't breathe properly that time. I Googled and found his address. I had sent him a card and letter on his b’day because I was crazy about him that time- his eyes, his hair, his laugh…Sigh! In the site it was mentioned that Daniel gets an average of about 300 letters a day from all over the world but he will not fail to reply his fans, but it would take about minimum six months to get a reply. Still I got his reply just after three months ;).

I couldn't eat dinner properly that night. I was bursting to call my friends and tell them the big news. But I told them next morning only, after the physics tuition. Naturally, they didn't believe me. After I showed them the letter and photo I was almost beaten to death for not telling them :P (well then I was not sure whether I would get a reply). I had a bit of fun enjoying the ‘J’ factor of my friends :D.

I still do not know whether he was my first crush or just a favorite hero (now I don’t have any :|). It might seem like a silly childhood fantasy coming true for you, but that was one of the special days of my life. I felt as if I saw Santa Claus. I have gotten over my craziness now; but I still look at his signed photograph and letter.

P.S I did not post this to make other HP fans jealous. I just wanted to remember that happy day if I ever feel that there hasn’t been any joyful day for me. Cheers!!! :)

Another Love Story

Something caused me to open my eyes. Everthing was so blurred and I just wanted to retreat to my sleep. But then the smiling face of my husband tardily came into view. "Morning, sweetheart", his low voice filled my heart with so many emotions that it was difficult for me to breathe. I stretched my hands and hugged him tightly, and he caressed my cheek with his stubble-filled chin. I just wanted to stay in that warm cocoon forever.

My memories of meeting him came back to me as if somebody was playing a film inside my head. I still remembered each of the details as if it had happened minutes before...

It was almost 10 pm when I reached the railway station. I was on my way back home after Shif's marriage. If it wasn't for my job I would've stayed a few days more in Bangalore. The train was scheduled to start for TVM at 10.15. So I'd 15 minutes to get myself settled. Found my berth (my compartment was empty,which was a relief), got a bottle of water and a magazine and got comfortable. Though tired, sleep wouldn't catch me before 1 am. So I started reading and the shrill sound of a whistle cut through the silent night. Such a big city, but there was not much rush. Well it was a Tuesday, and obviously nobody would want to go for a holiday. A high-pitched curse reached my ears as the train started moving and I turned my head to locate the source. A tall guy was running towards my coach wearing shades (which seemed weird, because it was goddamn NIGHT time), and a bag carrying about two tonnes of weight. I was surprised at the speed with which he was running. Couldn't see his face clearly though. Saw him jump into the coach and heard the slamming of the door. Heard him panting above the sound of the running train. I returned to my magazine and to my annoyance he came to my compartment. Well, couldn't he see that there were more than half a dozen empty compartments? He removed his shades, gave a smile and I felt as though something was dropped into my stomach. I didn't return his smile. I was too mesmerized by the face behind those shades. He gave a quizzical look with his eyebrows raised because I was making a complete ass out of myself by staring at him with my mouth wide open. His question zapped me out of my trance: "Mind if I join you? I would love to have some company during the trip, but if you want to be left alone, I can get a seat in another compartment". The fused bulb lighted in my mind and I said, "No probs, just...er...you know...err please have a seat" (GOD!!! What a jerk was I?). Again, he gave that puzzled look he gave me before and removed the two tonnes off his shoulder. I returned to my magazine (not reading a single word of it, of course) as he started settling down.

After two or three minutes, I heard a "huff" and saw him stretching his legs and arms, out of the corner of my eyes. My heart skipped a beat when he extended his hand introducing himself, "Hi, I'm Pranav". I shifted in my seat thinking, 'So fast, eh?', but didn't take his hand and said nothing. He started laughing and said, "I assume you're a Malayali. Me too. Can't understand why you girls have a tough time speaking to strangers. I know it's not always safe but do I look dangerous? Yeah I know what you're thinking but believe me I'm not like what you think I am. Okay, atleast you can talk with me right? Most probably you must have read about all the precautionary security instructions regarding theft on trains. I won't offer you anything to drink or eat!" He told all this in one breath and I actually began to smile and gave my hand, saying my name. My arm felt tiny in his huge one and I began to take in every single detail of him though my instincts were clearly screaming at me not to trust his handsome looks. A single stud pierced his left ear, he had a sharp nose and dark eyes. His hair was very messy from his running and he didn't bother to comb it. Well then, not all guys are the same, caring about their hair as if they are the finest of silk threads.
He wore a blue T-shirt and faded jeans and a Fastrack watch like a typical teenager. He looked like a rich kid, but then I thought, if he were one, he would've opted for an A/C coach. As if he read my mind he said, "I prefer to travel in ordinary coaches, you know. At least then I would be able to enjoy the scenery and I love the feeling of wind on my face". I smiled and said, "Yeah, me too". I felt happy thinking that there were guys who enjoyed scenery other than bikes, cars and girls. Ahem! "So what you do?", he asked and I told him about my job and then we began talking freely after sometime. I noticed that he was different from all other guys I'd met before and our views were similar. He loved social work, books, travelling and swimming. I felt as though I was talking with my twin soul.
I never gave my mobile number to strangers, not even to facebook friends. Couldn't understand why I prayed hard that night hoping he'd ask me for my number. But he didn't ask anything about my whereabouts. ANYTHING!!! Either he was decent or didn't find as interesting as how I was drooling about him. It was not fair for a handsome guy to be alone with a desperate single 25 year old girl. Time flew and it was about to be 3 am. But I was wide awake, unlike him, who was yawning between each intake of breath. He yawned and said, "Well I guess you're worn out. I don't wanna keep you awake anymore". Tired? Me? Ha! Fat chance. I could just keep looking at him all night till the early rays of the morning sun hit his face. He kept his bag as a pillow and said, "Good night". I wished him too and lay down, pretending to go to sleep. After his breathing became normal, I stole a glance at him to see him sleeping so peacefully while I was burning inside. Then I don't remember what happened.

The next time I opened my eyes, I saw him leaning against the window,the sunlight pouring in from all sides. "'Morning sunshine. Rise and shine!!!", he said. It took a while for me to register that it was not a dream and it was about to be midday. Oh God! He must have thought what a sleepyhead I was. "Guess I missed the breakfast", I said stretching my arms. "Well I saved you a plate of vadas. I was not sure whether you'd like them but I knew you would be hungry, so I err... you will eat them right?", he asked. I sat staring at him with a bludgeoned look and he started laughing and asked, "Helllloooooo remember me from yesterday?? You're not completely awake, are you?". "No I errr, yeah I'm hungry. I'll freshen up and come.Thanks anyway", I said smiling and went to the loo. I can't forget how happy I was. After eating two of the four vadas (he ate the other two) we chatted for a long time, had lunch, had tea and dinner. Those were the colourful days of my guy-less black-and-white life.

Time flew and it was time for us to say bye. My heart beat like hell. I expected him to ask my no, atleast my e-mail id but oh! The final wave was heartrending. I felt like a stupid dreaming child who dreams about being a Cinderella or Rapunzel. It took a while for me to become myself again. I rejected all the proposals my mother brought for me. I understood that movies had similarities with life. My heart went numb and cold gripped me tightly when I thought about him. . .

One year and three months and four days later, my life changed. I was on my way back from work and it was raining heavily. I was dead tired and after taking the bus ticket I leaned against the cool window of the low-floor(thanks to KSRTC) and fell asleep. After a while I felt water on my right elbow. OH pleasseeee....NOT a leak in this one too!!! I opened my eyes and thought I was still asleep and having a dream about Pranav. But when his wet hands touched my cheek I knew he was beside me for real. "I don't know whether it's the right time but will you marry me?", he asked. I gazed at him like a small baby looking at something new with wonder. My mind and brain were not working simultaneously. One was screaming to say the word "YES" and the other was making me difficult to breath with all the emotion. "Hey", he said in his soothing voice and I replied by kissing him tightly. I knew he got my answer and we hugged and a loud cheer erupted around us. One group covered my closest friends and the next group were full of strange people. It turned out to be Pranav's friends and surprisingly without my knowledge, my friends had been searching for him for the past one year. Ah well! That's what friends are for!

And then meeting each other's parents, fixing the marriage date, inviting people, bachelor parties, shopping for dresses and voila! Within five months, we got married. A few extra things were added to my "favorite" list after that, for example rain, buses...wink! I still go for rides in the low-floor bus, mostly at night, through the endless roads...with someone warm and strong beside me and then my heart says silently to me, 'you are lucky'. . .