Friends

A few days back, I updated my orkut profile. From living “with parents” to living “alone, friends visit often”. ..Friends are family now. More than any other relation in the world, friends brighten up your day, day after day. They are the people with whom you share every joy and pain and lay bare your deepest desires and fears. I like what Anais Nin said about friends:

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

In a Utopian world, friendship would be only based on the kind of person you are. But fallible people that we are, glitter sells more than gold. Trivial things like the way somebody dresses or looks, matter. Else, we cage ourselves with shackles of our language or region. The other day, one of my friends asked-“Aren’t boys better friends? They aren’t selfish, jealous or gossipy. True, you can’t ramble on about emotions and feelings to them but, they’ll help you in need even after you’ve had a fight.” I asked back-“Why aren’t you thinking beyond stereotypes? It’s a person’s values and not their gender that determines good friends.”
As he caught the word “friends”, another friend observed-“You know why I love being with my friends. At times, when I am upset about something, and sit silently; my family will nag me about it. They’ll want to swoop out of the sky like Superman and solve all my problems. Even when they don’t understand. But with friends; with my friends I can just be…”
When I think of friendships, another thing that comes to mind is that why don’t people let a guy and a girl be just friends? A small spark starts a fire of gossip that can char a platonic friendship. Somebody please tell them to give it a rest.
At times, you have a friend so cherished, that nothing could ever dissolve or even threaten the bond between the two of you. For a friendship to be a nonpareil, friends should not be absolute copies of each other. Their basic plane of thinking should be same, otherwise they won’t find any joy in each other’s company. But, in other domains, they can be starkly different and still be happy together. Celebrating differences makes you grow more than closed cliques.
When friendship takes root in one’s heart, love blossoms. Platonic love does not bring with it the sweeping winds of teenage love. It is more the quiet intimacy of a couple celebrating their silver anniversary. Like true love, true friends are also hard to find. But, when you do find one, you no longer wonder what an angel looks like. Somebody who’ll always be there for you, before everyone else and even when everyone else has turned their back on you. A shoulder to cry on, a listening ear for life’s troubles. Just the thought of them brings a smile to your lips. They can make you smile through your tears. And they are the ones who’ve seen you crying out of happiness. And that somebody is so much a part of you that the thought of going away….It’s just too hard to bear.
Hard indeed it is when a friendship breaks. A broken friendship is a stinging wound. A wound that takes too long to heal. Misunderstandings and pent-up anger can break the bonding thread so easily. The bond shatters like glass when trust is broken. There’s an element of trust in every relationship, which when broken once, remains a scar forever. Have you ever lost a friend to things that need not have happened? A day ago, there was the joy of companionship; a day later, there’s a void. You are left behind with memories of shared laughter and tears. Had you been a child, you would have wiped your tears and extended a friendly hand, but, now egoistic adulthood has closed the doors.
“Ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened”. Sometimes in life we think we don’t need anyone. But sometimes we don’t have anyone when we need….So, if you have been keeping to yourself; go out and seek a friend. And…your world will become better.

Note: I had written this article for Sizzling Sands 08, BPGC annual magazine which came out in print last month.

Studying Economics

Taking a transfer into economics is one of the best decisions of my life. I amn’t doing all economics courses this sem, but still even two of them are enough to make me happy. At least I have things like POE (Principles of Economics) to look forward to when GAN (Graphs and Networks) or maths makes me feel like running away from college.

People still comment on my quitting chemistry. People includes, as u can guess, people from the chemistry dept. One of the seniors called me an eco spy who stayed in chem. for a year. Another prefers the term “dhokebaaz”. :D Surprisingly, even the faculty loves the game. When I was registering for economics, unfortunately every faculty at the desk was from chem. One of them says “you hate us, don’t u”. My protests were silenced. The truth is I do like chemistry; it’s just that I like eco more. Even today, when I passed one of them, he said “so, studying economics”. What am I supposed to reply?

I will be doing only economics courses in the third year. This sem, I have just two of them, POE and DYSOC (Dynamics of social change). A smaller name for it would be sociology. It is like going back to tenth standard social science and English again even though the course content is totally different. Till now we’ve done things like sociology of religion where we actually debated the origin of religion and the rise and fall of Hindutva. Getting to study all this in a technical institute gives a whole new meaning to diversified education. Most of my friends dislike, no, hate the subject but I happen to be an odd one out.

I also got another morale boost today when I read my eco Prof’s blog (yes, she writes one). Her classmates sure have done well in life. gvkumari.blogspot.com

So, that’s the world of eco for me.. .. .u r welcome to comment on it.

So Happy to be home

It is wonderful to be back home after four and a half months.
The best part is the welcome that you get after coming home. The kitchen cupboard is filled with the foodstuff I like. The fridge has all the chocolates and delicacies I like. And my mom has even remembered every brand correctly.
खाना रोज़ मेरी पसंद का बन रहा है। हर दिन menu पूछा जा रहा है। चिंकी आज इंदौर से वापिस आ गई है।
There's broadband in which a site actually opens when u click on it.
So, all I am doing is eating , sleeping (like a log) and surfing.
In short, Life is BLISS.....

Elections

The CSA ( Council of Student Affairs) elections are over. I reported at 7:30 in the morning and will go back at around 5 in the evening.Election Commission Memeber.There were 4 senior posts President, Vice President, Treasurer and General Secretary. And 4 representatives for each hostel; cultural, mess, hostel and sports.
From our hostel, there's no sports representative.

Finally, I'm here

I came to cc(computer center) today so, I thought i'll put in a post about my new life.
Living in a hostel for the first time in my life felt odd for a few days but i am getting used to it.
Over here, every body has diff time-tables. There r total 8 to choose from. my time table no. is 4.I have classes from 8 to 11 and then from 4 to 5 on all days. saturday is half day.And then, there's EG (engineering graphics) practicals from 11 to 1:50 on tuesday and thursday.
Hostel food tasted terrible for the first two days. But, on other days, the service improved. The rotis are bad so I have become a rice-eater with an occasional intake of 1 roti.And these people serve sambhar with every meal. I had samosas and coffee for evening snacks today.There's a sweet every night,but till now only the kheer was nice.
I generally have tutorials in the 1 hour. And the other clsses r lectures, held in lecture theatrs. I must say the infrastructure is huge and impressive. U can go to bits360 to know what the campus is like. There photo gallry covers the campus vry well.

I'll type more later. I have to do EG practice now.

Techno Immune

I'm going to BITS with the least high-tech gadgets possible, i.e. 0 (can't go with -ve). No Lappy, no Sony Ericsson type phone. Not even an Mp3 player. My phone's gonna be a Nokia 1100 or more likely my mother's LG model - supports Java, GPRS, coloured; amazing , mind blowing features, I know.
I'm taking an FM radio though. BPGC has three channels, BIG FM, Radio Mirchi and Radio Indigo. So, some good entertainment is guaranteed there. There are some college stations also, though I don't know much about them.
The main thing that leaves me wondering is that what would life be without handy Broadband? No orkutting and blogging?????????????????????????
There's a computer centre in Campus, but I'm not sure whether they'll allow me to use it for such frivolous activities. I mean, there might be some rule stating "To be used only for academic purposes". What'll happen then? Oh my God, don't make me think about that. I won't even be able to IM my mother. Ok there's the phone, but what about my friends.
Hope the computer centre people are open to students blogging away. If not this, at least the mail.
Or maybe some nice, kind, helpful, lappy/PC possessing soul at hostel will be my Saviour.

BITS Pilani Goa Campus

I got admission at BPGC.The course is M.Sc. Chem. (Hons.). BITS gives the option of a dual degree also. So, I am hoping that when I pass out, I'll have an M.Sc. and a B.E. in CS or EEE. The branch for BE is allotted after 2nd semester depending on your CGPA. It'll have to be 8 or above to get CS.

I have to report on the 8th of August. So less time, so much to do.Loads of preparations, lots of shopping. I think I'm going to have a hectic but fun week.

You know, a great thing about being surprised with 4th iteration result of BITS was the sudden vanishing of the need to study. I had a lot of assignments and practice sheets lined up for Sunday and Monday (Coaching off). And I was sort of "How's it ever going to get done". And two moments later, my hanged computer came to life and Whoa! I was a college fresher. A Bitsian!!!!!!

God, truly great are thy ways.

Just six days left

I love my city but today I am really wishing i lived in a bigger metro. No bookshop here is getting the book on 21st. atleast, 3-4 days later. I'll have to go offline for those days lest i accidentally know the end.
I got this new countdown at leaky cauldron.I had to make the previous one. mouse over this one and see what i liked in it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows contd..

Some more confirmed information
For the previous post, click here.

• One of the classmates will become a teacher at Hogwarts - but not Harry, Ron or Hermione.
• The "Godric" in "Godric's Hollow" is not insignificant.The significance of the place where Harry and his parents lived - the first name... Godric Gryffindor
• We will find out a little bit more about Harry's grandparents.
• Aunt Petunia will not be able to do magic.
• The Brazilian title, "Harry Potter e as Relequias da Morte", translates into English as:"Harry Potter and the Relics of Death"
• There is yet more to come about Rita Skeeter: At the Edinburgh Book Festival, JKR said: "I actually quite like Rita. She is loathsome - morally, she's horrible - but I can't help admiring her toughness. She is very determined to do the job and there is something quite engaging about that. There is more to come on Rita."
• We will discover what Dudley saw when the Dementor approached in book five. Someone asked this in the World Book Day chat; JKR said, " Ah, good question. You'll find out! "
• Sirius may appear again, though in which form is uncertain. The infamous question from the World Book Day chat read, "If we ever see Sirius again, what form will he be in?" JKR said, "I couldn't possibly answer that for fear of incriminating myself."
• Wormtail's life-debt to Harry will come into play.
• James and Lily Potter's professions/more about their lives will be revealed.
• The gleam of triumph seen in Dumbledore's eyes at the end of book four is still enormously important.
  
• Mr. Weasley's car will appear.
  

Source : Leaky Cauldron

Unforgivable

I was submitting my blog to various blog directories. There is one called blogs by women. When I submitted my blog, it said that it will not accept blogs from India. Saying that they get invalid submissions is just not a valid reason for being so insulting.
""Sorry, we cannot accept postings from India. 99% of invalid submission are from there. ""