Twenty Ten. and Eleven.

Bhai, the year is ending. Ok ok ok don't get scared, I have not transformed into a 'pan chewing red mouthed foul talking Hyderabadi Auto driver'. Yeah the ones who are never ready to go anywhere, and those who say "Madam Tum 20 rupees extra kaiku nai dethe?". True Story.

Well this post is not about the unfair practices of the autowallahs of Hyderabad. This post is a general look back at the year that was. It's been 4 years since that night on which I started writing this blog, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANGYPOISON!

The experiences I had this year were quite memorable. It's not everyday that you get to sing for your grandma, or own a football team or make amazing friends that you know will stick by you forever! I have met some pretty cool and unusual people this year, yeah, like the 80 year old Aussie Professor or the superbly talented guitarist from Purdue ( no names taken here) or the fishermen in Murudeshwar and the cook in that little hotel in Charminar who claimed to be a descendant of the Nizam!

The feeling of finally owning and learning a guitar is absolutely out of the world (Well, about the progress of my learning, ahem ahem, that's a post to look forward to in 2011). The mid-June trip to the West Coast, yep, my ancestral village was pretty enlightening and when combined with the Spanish win of the Football World Cup, pretty exhilarating! I finally figured out I am more of a beach going, coconut sipping, snorkelling person than a hill and mountain person, though I really like hillstations too. Guess it's in the genes.

I had all kinds of food this year. Pushkar food with unpronouncable names, but ofcourse that Nimsa Cake! I got to eat Sushi and Sashimi, yes the authentic ones. Chat, yes Dheeru remember that Pani Puri Competition? Yes, I ate 40 of them! The Naan and Shish Kababs outside the Court everyday, or Special Mutton Biryani from Shadab, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Just the thought of all that makes my toes curl! And there's always the never ending supply of Ammamma's home made stuff, they just get tastier year by year! Yes, I went to that fundraiser met celebs and ate all the fancy but not that tasty food. Oh yes I totally forgot KFFC!

I've been to my share of concerts and plays this year, both classical and not. My favorite classical was Nookala Satyanarayana Murthy's concert in the Thyagaraja Festival in May. That concert just shows why I totally look upto that man, and felt truly honored when he was at my December gig (Yes, Bharat, I finally said it, gig), though he was there coz of Ammamma (lol, but still). His comments about my singing are amongst my most valued. Been to a coupla rock concerts, not really famous bands,unless you call Junkyard Groove a famous band, ok they are I think, they were alright, have seen better shows!  The One by our college band set the stage on fire! 'Twist and Shout'!

The concerts I saw back home in Hyderabad, the IIIT Rockfest were awesome. I  The music scene in Hyderabad right now is really quite amazing compared to what it was a few years ago, and this is all good news. I saw some pretty good bands in Octave also. Octave was an experience by itself! The food and the music. Also thanks to Hard Rock, we do see some decent music almost everyday of the week.

Well apart from this there were a few parties, a few tears and a lotsa times when my world seemed content when I just sat down with a coupla friends in the mess, doing, well nothing and eating Lays and drinking Coca-Cola! So this just was the year gone by... here's to hoping 2011 would be even half as good:

                         "HAPPY NEW YEAR, GUYS!"

Writer's Block. I think. and I miss College.

As a girl born in the year 1990, the world around me then and the world around me now seem like two different universes. MacDonalds, Baskin Robbins, and Subway became household names thanks to the millions of USA returned professionals settling in India, pink slips there and BAM! they landed here, with families and all. Thank heavens for that. Looks like Bollywood has finally learnt the fine art of innuendoing ( if that's a word). Saif Ali Khan in Karan Johar's TV show is a good example ( Well, the statement in question can be called the epitome of all Indian innuendos, old and new). On screen kissing whether 'live' or in a movie seems to be going down quite well these days ( remember the furore raised after Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty!) well now people kiss all the time (eg. Refer to Koffee with Karan's episode with Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan). Bollywood stars dress better, eat healthier, and SPEAK much better English, well I am talking strictly about the grammer and not the content. 

So, the only thing that seems to be constant is change itself. When I got down from Mandore Express in Delhi before the start of this semester break I felt a strange heaviness in my heart. It was something I'd never felt before. I slowly realised I am sad, I am sad that yes I will miss my friends from college, those silly people without whom NLU would have been unbearable. Who were there by me through thick and thin, and I know will still be there for me forever, I just know. 

I reached Hyderabad, and a few days later when I logged onto Facebook I realised I wasn't the only one who felt that way, the whole classes's status messages seemed to be echoing the same thing, yes, we were all missing college. I can't wait to get back to college this time, though I sincerely doubt if I'd be feeling the same way on the day I am actually supposed to be leaving, the things lined up for this semester are mouth watering! Yes, It is that time of the year when all NLUites head down to the football field, when I frequently frequent Geoffreys, and make a few extra memos and presentations, yes! It is LEX LA LIGA time! The team this year looks strong, and I know we are in with a good chance this year.

Whether its interning under a judge, making friends with lawyers in court, early morning singing lessons, eating kebabs in unknown places in the Old City, or going to a Conference and bringing home old professors home for dinner, these holidays till now have been quite entertaining. I have explored the Old City to my heart's content and here's a big thank you to my guide, and fellow foodie Edward. Cheers! The Old City can be called the heart of Hyderabad where the 'Chalta hain' attitude is at it's best and there's always the smell of Dum Biryani or Shish Kabab wafting through the air. The people here have a heart of gold, yes Anwar Bhai the Naan wala outside the CAT gives us an extra naan for free if we have curry left, bless him!

So, here's Happy Holidays to everyone and Enjoy the Season! 

Cya someother time when I do something drastic like this to try and overcome the WRITER's BLOCK!

(This post is dedicated to Sandeep Chaitanya, thanks man!)

It happens during End Sems also.

A day before the Evidence Paper in National Law University,two girls decided to study together...the following is an account of the interesting thoughts that they have come up with while studying for the test.


On Dying Declaration...


Girl 1: Ok.So Dying declaration can be made orally or written..
Girl2 : Hey, this totally reminds me of the House of Wax!So, suppose you are in the house of wax, and you are like mummified in wax, and your friend is standing next to you and the killer is also there, if you point towards the killer with your eyes, will THAT be dying declaration?


Well let's ask some of the Honorable judges to ponder over that one!


While on the way to the hostel from the mess,


Girl 1: This case ok, it's for section 15..its called Perkins V Jeffrey. There was this guy who used to indecently assault this woman, you like flash her, you know what's flash right..
Girl 2: Yes, I know what flash is, it's not flash with a torch light!!


One other time,


Girl1: I can't send you files, my gtalk is f****d!!
Girl 2: Then Go, UnF*** it!!


In most cases, where there is Girl 1 and Girl 2, Girl 3 is also around somewhere, so here what happened a day after Diwali!


The Pigeon population of NLU has finally discovered that NGH is a livable place! Now there's pigeon's in every corner of the hostel.While trying to shoo a pigeon away,

Girl 3: She ( pigeon) will not go anywhere!
Girl 1: B***** dumb male/female pigeon! Go Away!
Girl 3: It's dumb, so it must be MALE!
Girl 2: Hahahahahahahahahaha!!


Girl 1 and Girl 2 were trying to study in Girl 1's room.There were rumbling noises from the balcony.


Girl 2: What  the hell, was that?
Girl 1: Oh that's pigeons in my balcony.
Girl 2: Ok..
Girl 1: Yeah it sounds like someone's having sex in my balcony.
Girl 2: Yuck..I have a vivid imagination!
Girl 1: Yeah, they are soo many of them its like they are having an orgy party!
Girl 2: STOP!


Here's the last one for now..


A few days ago on Gtalk.

Girl 1 :P
Girl 2: Go Study Exam Tommorow..Girl 1: Don't Feel like..
Girl 2: :')
Girl 1: WTF is :')?
Girl 2: An emoticon
Girl 1: Oh thats an emotional typo! 

That's all for now!!

Blah.Blah.Blah. and more BLAHness!

Random Wishlist:

1. Wants a gay friend like Lloyd. Yeah the Entourage one.

2. Want to name my daughter ( whenever that happens) Vodka.

3. Wants a lifetime supply of Oreos.

4. Wants law school to finish. Or Maybe not.

5.Wants to buy Arsenal not a stake but the whole thing!

6.Wants to be able to play "Iris" on her guitar.

7.Wants a Blackberry.

8. Wants to live on a beach.

9. Wants a CHANEL bag.

10. Lastly I want VSFC to win LEX LA LIGA 2.

OK. This post was the result of studying for the exams, well trying to study for them. Yes, it is that time of the year again, when you see Woolens, Monkey caps, overgrown beards, and sleepy confused looking faces all around. When Maggi is the food to eat, and there's Coffee all over. So if you think I am going mad, blame it on the EXAMS!!

So catchya folks later when I am finally home, after this dreaded semester finally ends!!

Kerala Fast Food Centre

A few days ago I heard about Kerala Fast Food Center from a friend. You can read more food related stuff on his really nice food blog. After finally going there and eating almost homelike food, I decided to blog about it. So here's to writing about off beat eateries!

As days passed the whole College seemed to be talking about PRAWNS, POMFRET, and ROAST CHICKEN! One day in the middle of a boring and uninspiring CT class Thara, Shashank and I decided to go and check out the place and see what all the fuss was about.

So on a cold Saturday night we finally head out to the place. We here includes the three of us and Bharatendu also( See I wrote about you now, so don't cry.). After a auto ride till Mandore, a bus ride to Paota, and finally an auto ride to the Panch Batti Choraha we reach the place. It is a little ahead of King's Pavillion, and is a small eatery next to a shop which sells other Kerala stuff like oils and Lungis. Trust me, it was kinda difficult to get a table, as both the tables there were taken by our fellow NLUites, or maybe I should be thankful to a few of them for actually getting a table. So here's a Thanks to Gautam Khazanchi ( also the new VSFC team Captain) and Riyaz Bhagat. Also Riyaz thanks for the prawns.

The inside is a like a little room divided into the seating area and a kitchen. For all those CLEANLINESS freaks out there, the kitchen is very clean and so is the place. For others like me whose main concern is the food, well the food is out of the world, and very homely.

The menu as a variety of Veg and NonVeg options. I'd call the place the "Jodhpur place to be" for the seafood lovers. True, there are other places to get seafood, but the platter is limited to fish. This place has Prawn too. There are a lot of Kerala specialities like Appam ( I must try that sometime), Idiappam, etc. There is also Idli, Dosa, etc also. There is the usual North Indian fare also available, all the Paneer and the Dal. Shashank ( the only vegetarian) had Dosa and said it was soft and he liked the Sambar too. They follow the eat till you drop, "straight from the pan onto your plate" Dosa system.

The place has a very wide range of nonvegetarian fare. There is everything from Chicken to Fish to Prawns. I was told the Chicken Roast and Pepper chicken are really good. We ordered a Chicken Curry, which looked quite nice. Bharatendu ordered a Chicken Biryani which looked almost like the one I ate at Kovalam.

The fish lovers also have a lot of options, as there is a fish curry, fish fried rice. The fish fry is also there, and the fried Pomfret which Zara got back to the hostel the day before was highly praised. We sadly could not get to eat fish, but there's always a next time.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about my favorite part of the whole dinner. Yes, the much anticipated PRAWNS! They were, to quote Thara, "Dude,The Prawn is orgasmic!". It was cooked in the same was Ammamma makes it back home. I could feel that the prawns here boiled, and then cooked, unlike what happens in most restaurants where they just clean and cook them. Doing this, as Ammamma tells me all the time at home, adds to the taste and softness. I loved the all the spices they were cooked in. TRUE SOUTH INDIAN STYLE! We had them with Parathas, which were very very very soft and very nice. I also saw Prawn Fried Rice, Chilly Prawn, and Dry Prawn Fry in the menu.

The prices are very very cheap. No dish cost above 100 bucks. Though we did hear that some fish costed upto Rs.250 because of its size. Cash or no Cash, this is the place to be, perfect for those mid exam time getaways! So after a tasty dinner coupled with Shashank's Silly Prawn jokes, I'd recommend this place to every 'home missing seafood loving" person in NLU.

Long time, no Sastaas....

True. These days people around me seemed to be losing it, and which resulted in my losing it and doing silly things which ended up hurting everyone I love in NLU. Tangypoison is not about that. It is about spreading love and happiness and joy! I sincerely apologise for all that, and as an apology post here's one full of sastas about everyone.

One day in the library,well actually today, just over an hour ago,

(On Gtalk)

Sneha: Find me a boyfriend, anyone. You know the requirements.

Sukku: No. I asked you to find me a husband before that. Not until then.

Sneha: Ok.Marry SS.

Sukanya ( loud enough for everyone to hear): Who is SS?

Sneha( all embarassed points to a bespectacled guy sitting right opposite Sukanya on the next table).

Yes Sukku , it looks like he did hear it.


Sneha (after her first guitar class): Hey Hey, I had my first lesson!

Sakshi: Oh what did you learn?

Sneha: I learnt three chords A,D,E. But I am holding it right but I am not pressing it hard enough.

Sakshi: Hold what? Press What?

Sneha looks ambushed. Sakshi is officially anointed the Queen of Pervertedness!


Saumya, and Aditi sent a random text from my phone to some random person.

Saumya: Wait till he replies, then we'll have documentary evidence.

Sneha: I'll delete my phone.

(Call it the Rajnikanth effect.)

Alok goes into the viva
And the teacher comes out first. Ala Rajni Kanth.

Pritha: What will Thara be called if he is the son of Dhara Singh?  Thara Singh!
Thara:................................................................. (for once Mr.WiseCrack has nothing to say!)
Goo Chat!

Well here is the most atrocious statement I heard this semester:
Surya to a certain teacher:
Ma'm there are many things I can do with my fingers that I can't tell you about.

20.

For once in my ENTIRE life, I have nothing to say.

Last night was perfect. The people. The jokes. OTR. The food. The drink.The song. The SURPRISE!

It totally caught me off guard, like totally! I still can' believe that now I actually own a guitar! And it's beautiful, the feeling and the guitar too. It's the feeling of getting something which you have wanted since you were a little kid. After many many many years of classical Carnatic music, it's time to do something different! But still Carnatic is still and will remain my first love.

If you thought the night of surprises ended, at 12'o clock, There was a football cake, yeah a Chocolate one looking exactly like a FOOTBALL! OMG! My room was done up with streamers and there were pretty blue balloons, and they put the guitar right on the bed, admist the balloons and infront of my blue wall, it was "Surreal....but nice." Oh yeah, and the card....AWESOME!

If turning 20 is like THAT, whoa! I'd not mind turning 20 everyday for the rest of my life!

Here's a heartfelt thanks to all my friends who made it awesome.

Thanks Zara, Thanks Sakshi, Thanks Saumya, Thanks Aditi, Thanks Geetay, Thanks Dubey,Thanks Kirti, Thanks Nandini,Thanks Foodie, Thanks Pritha, Thanks Nikita, Thanks Ramu, Thanks Sukanya. Thanks Preethi. Thanks Sandeep, Thanks Thara, Thanks Surya. Thanks Bharatendu, Thanks Shashank, Thanks Viru, Thanks Neo, Thanks Pari, Thanks Animesh, Thanks Aparna, Thanks Shreya and Thanks Ikron.

Waking up in the morning today, totally reminded me of my 12th Birthday, where there was confetti all over my room, and I woke up like an Egyptian Princess among all the decorations and the sparkly, shiny bits of paper. I could not have asked for a better last day of being a teen! Absolutely could not have!

19.

Analysis.Appraisal.Check.See.Write down. Inspect. Make Changes.

So what have I done in my 19th year of existence?

When I turned 19 last year, I wished for a miracle. I wanted something to happen to my life that would make me feel much better, make me forget the demons of the past.

I think, someone somewhere must have heard it. Something did happen. Ok. Maybe not a MIRACLE. It did have a profound effect on almost everything I did in college. Maybe I should say several things happened which made me happy.

Bah. December followed September. Got through those killer music exams. Practical was ok. The theory paper was ummm.... Results came out in Jan and Ammamma was the happiest. Thatha got me that Chocolate Ice cream which he generally gets. I came back to College. All was forgotten.

I come back to College. Lex La Liga happens. January was a lot of running around. Amar Sports.Bargain.McD.Burger.Auto.Back. A few times of those coupled with, Ikron fit to play. Ikron Sick. and a little bit of Dissolve or no Dissolve. We finally did play all the matches with the same team.

Come February. It was matches. classes. Tests. Partys. Coming back lates. Making new friends. Basically FUN times.

In April I bid farewell to the only senior in my whole educational career, I really looked upto and wanted to be like.

School closed in May. Planned to sit at home the whole time. Did just that in the holidays.

June was the root discovering trip and the Football WC. What a trip! What a WC. Spain did win. Villa was indeed awesome! The trip made me realise that yeah, I may not have all the family I want, but I do LOVE the family I have. Yes! the big group of boneheads who are exactly like how I am. And who like me exactly like how I am. Big.Clumsy.Retarded.

July came slowly and I found myself in College. As days progressed I was diagnosed with the Mid Life Crisis. 90210.Castle.White Collar. Fringe.Glee happened.

August. Nothing Happened. Mid Life Crisis continued.

That was in short my year. Oh yah Archu came to India, got me a few gifts sadly we did not get to meet.

If this year can be called special, It can be because of all the friends I made. This year was all about reaching out. It was about coming out of that little closet I hid myself in, after the second semester. Thanks Srishti. I don't know who else to thank. And as for the new friends I made I am sure you guys know who you all are. Thanks a bunch! Give yourself a pat on your backs, you deserve it for tolerating all the bullshit that generally happens around me. As for my NLU family, you guys are and will always remain the best, no one ever can replace you.

So much happened. And it's already time to turn 20. Sigh.

Cheers to the last day of me being a teen!

B.I.N

Like all great men he is known to the world by several names. Neo, Nimesh, Jha, Jha Sa, NimSa, etc. Like all great men he leaves his mark wherever he goes. You can like him or you can hate him, but, You cannot ignore him.

Neo gives life to his presentations. They are mere reflections of his highly celebrated personality.

Most people clean their rooms when they get back after the summers, not our Neo, he just shifts his saman into the nearest room he can find. Trust me.True Story.

You ask Neo his height and he says, "I am 6..5'6". Yeah, like Bond, James Bond. Only Neo is better.

Neo added life, colour, spice to our Pushkar trip. We just reached Pushkar, we were trying to find the Hotel.

Divya ( From inside the car): Bhaiyya! Punch Kula Road Kaha hain?

Neo( Inside the car): Bhaiyya! Bhaiyya! Laddoo kitne mein denge?

The world may be going to pieces, but Neo does this own thing! We decided to do things the Neo way this trip, and what a trip it turned out to be!

Only Neo can come up with words like "Chinese Nigger", and "Thai Nigger".Oh yeah, or Hyderabadi Biryani!  He is like the next Salman Khan  of India. In Little Italy he takes his shirt off, in the middle of lunch. He is said to have the third best body in college after Digvijay and Anshuman Bhaiyya!

When asked why he does what he does, Neo had this to say, " I like to make people laugh by doing shitty things".

He is a man of great tolerance, only he could have tolerated that one class every one else bunked. We all know the class and the time. He can come up with and excel at innovative games like, "Translate the hindi song into english and sing along!" Who can forget "Rock your body"!

Neo is a man of his word, when he says he will do something, he will do it. Like the time in Pushkar when he waddled through the rain water, and actually got the car. When we reached the hotel finally, he was heard saying this to himself, "Yes, I did it!". Yes, in the superhero style.

He is a man who had some great experiences in his life, yes I am talking about his other, hugely controversial trip to Pushkar, in a "tourist Taxi". Neo made friends in Pushkar too, like he "knows" the people in Cafe Enigma.

Neo was looking a little out of color one night in Pushkar,

Shashank- Are you ok?

Neo- I am not sure.

Shashank- Do you feel pukish?

Neo- No.

Shashank- Do u feel like vomiting?

Neo- No.

Sneha- Do you feel nauseated?

Neo- Yes.

That's our boy.

Neo empties the sugar bowl into his fruit porridge, and adds honey to it all and says, "Too sweet!". Neo has chocolate porridge for lunch. He is definitely credited for the discovery of the BHAGSU cake, which has now honorarily been named the NIMSA cake, after Neo.

If he chooses to take it Neo has a great career in advertising. He can come up with taglines like,
"No free French Fries, and say yes to Social responsibility".

His highly creative style of posing for photos can also make him the next hottest thing on the runways of Europe.

Neo has a unique style of playing CS. That's Counter Strike for all those bozos out there. He hides, and hides till everyone is dead and then goes around killing people. People are baffled at his talent to find new places to hide, in that same dust2 map!

Neo makes the world more colorful. Neo makes the earth go round. Neo completes our class.

Here's a trivia question,
What does Bin in Osama Bin Laden stand for?

Osama Believes in Nimesh Laden.

As the title of the post says, We Believe in Nimesh.
 Do you?

By:
G BIN Sneha BIN Sindhu

With much valued inputs from:
Zonun BIN Thara
Bharatendu BIN Agarwal a.k.a Yo BIN Daddy
Shashank BIN Amarnath
Divya BIN Sood.

and the man himself, Nimesh Jha. Respect.

Happy.Satisfied.Content.

In another parallel universe she is a long haired musician. She sings songs about the world at large, and the things dear to her. She sings for herself, she sings for the world, she sings when she is happy, and she sings when she is sad. In that same parallel universe, she drives a Candy Blue Beetle. She lives in the free spirited London of the 70's. The London where there is great music, good food, and people from all around. It was the place to be. It was the time when London became the Paris of the world.Oh yeah, and the fashion too.

Most evenings, she used to take long walks along the Thames to get away from those horrible power cuts. She used the time to come up with new music, strumming her guitar and singing to herself. London shined in the moon light too, as the plethora of night clubs lit up the city by night. She sang at the 'Red Moon', 3 nights a week. Those were the nights she looked forward to, it was when she met the hippies, the free thinkers, the intellectuals and Americans.

Every Friday she used to take the 2'o clock to Surrey to spend the weekends with her parents, and to simply get away from the busy London life.

In this universe she is a wavy haired law student, living 2000 miles away from home. She leaves home every January and goes back home in May. Then she leaves home every July and gets back in December. She is still unsure if the path that she has chosen for herself, many years ago, is the one that is right for her. Her life is caught between the fast paced big life of her city, and the slow life of the town she studies.

In a way, her university is like the London of the 70's, diverse people and diverse ideas. She writes when she is happy and she writes when she is sad. She writes about herself and about the world too. Unlike the London girl this one has hopes, fears and dreams. Dreams which she hopes will come true. She knows they will, like a few of them already have.

She is no guitar strumming, Thames walking musician but she sings too. Music makes her happy. She wants to learn the guitar and hopes that someday she will.

In many ways both the girls are alike, in many way they are different. In the parallel universe the Londoner does not have the plethora of friends the law student has. In the real universe the law student may not have all the family she wants but she loves the family she has. She may not get all the time to spend with her family but she makes the most of the time she does spend with them. The law student loves her friends. They are what she values the most. They make her world go round.

She may not live in London, she may not drive a Beetle, she may not know how to play the guitar, her life may not be perfect, but the girl in the real world is happy. Content. Satisfied.

Restaurant Review: Shivam Rooftop Restaurant

 The other day I was reading a food blog, and I figured, since I love food and writing I might as well just write a post about a restaurant. So one fine Friday evening Nidhi and I took the college bus to check out Shivam. This is my first attempt at something like this, so hope you enjoy it.

In old Jodhpur, near the Ghanta Ghar area, a few metres away from the famous Omelet,down a little winding is Shivam Paying Guest House. Look carefully, or you might just miss the place. There is a glass door welcoming you in. As you walk in you can't help notice the quaint yet warm atmosphere of the place. Your eyes invariably fall on that little board which says "Shivam Rooftop Restaurant, 4th and 5th Floor".

The climb up the four floors is a little hard, thanks to the huge steps and the low ceiling, tall ones out there "WATCH OUT!". Once there the view of Mehrangarh is amazing! You can also see a wide range of places from there including the Clock Tower, and also Umaid Palace. 

The best thing about the place was it was all done up in blue and had a very very holiday atmosphere. 

The menu is vegetarian, but has a lot of variety. We ordered Coffee. It was 'tres magnificient'. They gave it in a white mug with a blue design on it! The only other thing we ate were Nutella Pancakes. They were good, could have been better.Nidhi had Nutella Banana Pancakes, and from the look on her face, it was pretty obvious she Loved em.

  

The best part of the menu certainly looked like the breakfast. They have a continental breafast, which consists of Tea\Coffee, Egg to order, Butter toast and Banana Pancake. They had a wide range of Pancakes from chocolate to blueberry to banana. Their Italian is supposed to be quite good.

I would suggest this place for breakfast simply because of the sheer variety of things like Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, and Muesli with fruit. I can also imagine watching the sunrise, sipping that coffee or eating a poached egg can only be treat to both your mouth and your eyes!

The staff are very friendly and this seems to be a favorite haunt of 'firangs'. The pricing is very very cheap, and the whole experience is very pleasant. Finding the place can be a little tricky but once you find it it's worth a try.

I ll be back once I find more to write about! Ciao :)

LIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

If you hear a scream like that at 2am in the girls hostel, the three things which any normal and sane person would think are

1.There's a boy in the hostel

   (The truth: Hardly a reason to yell)

2.There's a MURDERER 

    (Truth: Yeah right, no murders here, on the sleepy little highway)

3.There's a DRAGON/TIGER/think on those lines

    (Truth:It's desert remember? They would probably have died in the heat, even if they did not they would have never gotten past the 'security' here. Our guards would have never let them in without them signing in the visitor's book!)

So, 2am when I hear Princess Z call out my name in those Psycho movie "shower stabbing" tones, I drag my fat ass off the bed and run down the corridor, to hear more yells, the reason? 

"Snehaaaaaaaaaa there's a LIZARD in my room".

I reach there to find Aditi already standing there with a broom in her hand, looking like one of those macho mafia killers. Then it begins, the pursuit, the hunt. It is usually accompanied by people yelling, standing on chairs, or generally waking up the whole hostel! After what seem like hours of chasing, yelling, swearing, moving everything in their rooms and the lizard going into call nooks and corners it can in that room, it finally decides to leave.

To get the views of an average NGHite on the existence of Lizards, one must NEVER EVER EVER ask to Zara. It's like asking Hitler about Jews, or Tennis players about streakers!

Here's what she had to say "I HATE LIZARDS! THEY ARE THE WORST THINGS TO HAVE HAPPENED TO THE EARTH. THEY DESERVE TO DIE, EVERYONE OF THEM!" Here's another snippet about our li'l princess, she happens to be in the ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE!

I think after exams, moots and Intras, lizards are the reason why most people lose sleep. I swear by what I said. It's not only the person in whose room the lizard is that is irritated, IT IS THE GODDARN WHOLE FLOOR! 

People have tried anything and everything from Peacock feathers, to Lizard killers, but no, those little bastards keep coming back! One fine day we were in the Bushy haired girls room, she saw a lizard on the other side of her mesh and yelled! OMG!She ran to a nearby broom and starts hitting and yelling at the lizard, and Pop! The lizards falls!

Saumya- Where did it go?

Sneha - Into the cooler it went, now you can euthanize it!!

Here's what Z has to say on the mentality of lizards during on of those tedious shooieng away sessions, " These Lizards, they will not leave till they have been shooed away. They know we are shooing them!"

The other day after classes I was on my way back to my room. I saw a triumphant looking Zara standing in the corridor! "Sneha I got a bhaiyya ji to shoo away the lizard in my room"! Yeah! Go Z!

Later on gtalk,

Z- I hit a lizard with a broom!

Me-Yay!

Z-I dont think it died!

Me- How big was it?

Z-I think it was about 5cms

Me- Zara, if you hit a 5 cm Lizard with a 2 footlong broomstick,

              IT HAS TO DIE!

Today I learnt that 'people' have chased a lizard 360 degrees around a room, and the lizard went on to the ceiling and gave them a mocking look!

So here's a little request to all the lizards out there :

   BACK OFF! WE HERE IN NGH HATE YOU, WILL DO ANYTHING TO SHOO YOU AWAY!

She sat on the little rock close to the sea. The sun was slowly disappearing into the clam waters of the Pacific. As she looked at the sun, her mind wandered onto those unforgettable days. The water always seemed to calm her down. The little rock was far away from the crowds. It was her refuge. It was where she always came to think. 

It was here that she met him. It had been a particularly bad day at work. She needed to clear her head, she needed to be with herself. He was there too. At first she did not like the idea of a strange man stealing her refuge. She was taken aback, when he smiled and said, "I thought no one comes here".

She felt at home with him. She could tell him things that she could tell no one. She told him her fears, her dreams, her feelings, her inhibitions, her deepest and her darkest secrets. She loved him. She loved him more than she had loved anything before. She trusted him, she respected him. It was with him that she was herself. It was with him that she could be anyone she wanted, but for some strange reason, she always wanted to be herself.

He always knew what to say to her. He could calm her down, something very few people could do. He knew that she liked her salad with dressing at the side, he knew that she liked to watch old movies. He always held the door open for her, he always knew what songs to play, and he always got her white lilies, her favorite. More than all of this he was always there for her.

The news hit her like a sudden wave. She had not expected it. He was so dear to her. She felt angry. She felt betrayed. Oh, how she loved him. Suddenly she felt lonely. Lonely in the midst of all the well wishers who had gathered in their house. Alone, more alone than she ever was in her entire life. For the first time in many years she felt scared. She did not have his strong arm to lean onto. 

As she sat on the little rock, she remembered how she was before she met him. Then slowly she felt calm. She felt like she was with him. Her loneliness reduced and she felt a little less scared. She was no longer angry at him. As the water touched her toes, she realized that he would always stay with her.

Been there Seen that : Aisha

The movie is skin deep

The designer clothes, the uber cool locations could not make up for the lack of acting and emotion.

The Story was supposed to be an Indian adaptation of Emma. Well, it looked more like the Indian adaptation of the Alicia Silverstone starrer Clueless. Yes, there's a confused daddy's little girl who traipses around Delhi in her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle, she tries to be a match maker, and calls everyone 'Bechara'. There is the 'oh so hot' and 'oh so angry' neighbor who tries to be distant to Aisha, but has always always been madly and deeply in love with her. Yawn. It has all the touchings of a Mills and Boons or even a Yash Chopra classic.

The clothes, the bags, the shoes, the labels, the wine, the vodka, the parties were fab, totally loved them, but there remains the almost never answerable question? Who in India dresses like that?? Did the producers think that the India public is mad? A girl who shops for three people in shops like Dior and Luis Vuitton gets a credit card bill of 53 thousand and some odd change? Really? Did Dior open a charity shop in India? Or am I in running for the next President of the United States?

Sonam Kapoor cannot act. Emma Wodehouse was a simple girl, what so we have here? A spoilt, arrogant brat! Ira Dubey for some reason always reminds me of the shrewd film critic she is in "Chicks on Flicks", in the movie she played Pinky, Aisha's best friend. Who names their kid Pinky? Abhay Deol, I did not get what his job was in the big picture? The girl who played Shefali was good. Lisa Haydon as Aarti as the NYC returned yuppie was HOT!!

In the recent years we have seen the westernization of many Indian films, whether it is the clothes or the parties. This movie just showed us how painful the over chickflickization of a hindi movie can be. A few examples
1. 6 mins into the movie, there's an engagement party. Aisha's pregnant sister is shown eating Dahi-Puri from a Martini glass!

2. Sometime later Arjun goes to Aisha's house, and she makes him a peanut butter sandwich, come on..

3. Aisha is always seen cooking things like Baked Fish or making Pot roasts, I am sorry, do we live in the same India?

4. The family eats salad for lunch, that was just the last straw.

There was not a shread of emotion, as Zara put it, not even when Aisha's sister's baby girl is born. The clothes may have been designer at the beginning of the movie, but as the movie progresses, the clothes of the other characters like Pinky and Shefali start to look wannabe. Infact, there's this one outfit of Pinky's the one that she wears when Aisha comes to make up with her, after their little tiff, when they are sitting on the hybrid of the treehouse and sandpit thing, which looks like the ones you get on Janpath. I hope you get what I am getting at. For the slow ones here's a hint- budget, cuts, movie.

Also it was like a lesson on surrogate advertising. L'oreal was everywhere. Aisha only used
l'oreal makeup, lip gloss, nail paint, lip stick. There was scenes where Sonam's make up was a tad too much, like the scene where she first meets Shefali. Her face looks an unnatural white with all the make up. There's another scene, where she's talking to her aunt, sitting in her house, where her add on eye lashes make her look scary! So much for make up.

There is nothing new about the movie, Emma or no Emma. Maybe we have seen too many of these kind of movies. Maybe for a serial chick flick watcher like me, it's cliched. Watch it if you want. Watch it for the clothes, the shoes, the wine and the locations. Watch it for Dior, Luis Vuitton and L'oreal and nothing else.

Out of the three of us who went, two say TRASH IT. And one says CATCH IT!
Talk about giving Ira Dubey a taste of her own medicine. :P

Mid-(College) Life Crisis and THE RAT!

 The above term was coined by Sandeep Chaitanya aka Eccentric Highness aka Weirdo aka a fat load of other things.  Yeah, I am not kidding. The year started, I am not exactly the oldest , nor the youngest in the University. I am bang! right in the middle. When I got back to college after that amazing Summer break, I felt alone. Yes, there were no faces I could recognize! It was like I joined a new College. I missed the old faces, the seniors who had an aura about them, I missed the people who walked around the College and you know you respected them, nope no such faces this time around. Maybe I am too 'old' to look upto the current bunch of the fifithies, or maybe for me they will always be the 'third years' I met back in the first semester.

Geez, did I just say that? I mean back in the first sememster! Whao!

The fact that everyone's turning 20 and the knowledge that I am turning twenty in a little more that a month is also affecting my daily activities! Ahh, the unavoidable journey from being a teen to a tween!

Once classes started, everything seemed soo monotonous. The same people, the same faces, and infact the same jokes! Yes Pritha, you can get boring too, but that does not mean I love you any less. We tease the same people with the same old things, and the same places to go out to. I am sure you get what I mean. It's painful.

When I think of the first semester when tests meant getting scared, and presentations meant rehearsing in your room the night before, or moots mean working the whole week, and getting all nervous before a moot, just makes me laugh at myself, and how naive I was back then. Well, the best moot marks I got till now, in this semester was on a memo I made in about 3 hours! I think I am getting old.

I think this semester has gotten onto everyones nerves, how else do you expect so many intra withdrawals? We lounge classes and listen to Sastas the whole day. Somehow, our class comes up with new ones.

Everyday at dinner I see the same things listed on the DMD white board, I stare and stare and stare at it for atleast five minutes before I make a choice, and poor Dilip ji does not understand my dilemma.

THE RAT

The most exciting thing that happened in my class till now is THE RAT. Yes, ladies and gents an old dying rat made an appearence in my class earlier today. It went from inside the podium to the High Chair of our class. It sat there for about a little more than an hour, during which time attempts were made to make sure it stayed in its place. My class people were seen taking photos and videos of it, and Rao even got a photo with it, one of those Taj Mahal tip touching photos, only here its a big,fat, ugly, old rat!

People were seen getting all excited about the fact that it peed on itself! I heard someone say, this can be the reason for free attendance. There was also a lot of yelling, and running away from class!
However in the third hour, just after breakfast, a certain teacher shooed it away causing all the drama to end!

If this continues, this crisis, soon I'll withdraw to my room and will not come out, like Miss Havisham!

Here's one a few sastas to finish the post:

Sneha- I want to work in a place that rains everyday.

Pritha- GO work in the amazon!

Sneha- But I want Singapore....

Pritha- Amazon.com, silly!

(I know what this joke must have done to your brain!)


Ok, here's one from last semester

Surya- The barbers of India protested again, the name Billu Barbar, so they changed it!

Sneha- To what? Billu the Hairdresser?

(LAMENESS EXPOSED!)

Ciao!

HIGH!

I don't exactly know what I am going to put up in this post. No idea. Maybe I'll think of something as the post progresses. So, first of all I'd like to wish all of you out there a happy friendship day!

Moving on, the rain Gods seem to have taken a sudden liking to Jodhpur, which for a rain freak like me is a good thing. The college looks amazingly pretty (Sorry Aditi, I know you are not supposed to use two adjectives in a sentence, but still I can't resist), there are little mushrooms growing on the sides of the football field. Well, yeah I actually walked on the footie field on the way to the brand new library! Yes, bigger but not necessarily better. It's funny for once, I get to use my umbrella in the rain and not the sun, yes my pretty blue umbrella.

On to some VSFC news now: A recent bid for takeover by a certain group of people from NLU, was not carried out, thanks to the fact that the AFU is apparently bringing in a new team! NAICE! The team has a new owner now, Virendra Kumar, more about him will be revealed in my next week's post which deals exclusively with VSFC 1.1 (copyright Thara).

NLU has not gotten over its obsession with Superman Tshirts! Come on guys, they are soo class 10th! Everyday you see at least two people wearing that shirt, and the only saving grace, is that it comes in different colors...well saving us from monotony and from ripping their heads off their shoulders!

My favorite Tshirt of the semester (till now)- Ketki's Benetton wala ROMA tee. Elegant, graceful, simply AWESOME.

I got all crazy yesterday and realized that I needed to bust some stress, since I could not go swimming just then, and the urge to let it all out was killing me, I finally took the dust off my music books. Yeah, maybe that was the effect of my whole summer 'review' music classes, more like remedial ones or Laxmi teachers "You sound like an OX now", I dunno, but I sang for a little more than an hour. My voice did not shake, nope it did not let me down, was not very awesome or anything, but it STOOD THE STRAIN. Maybe there will come a day when I'll be able to sing for five or six hours without really getting tired, just like the old times.

Effect of that, well I needed cheering up but but it acted as a drug, got me all fired up! and also got me some comp'lie'ments and invitations or rather threats to sing in birthday parties. First times are free, but I'll charge from the second time around, no jokes here. My facebook status message got a lot of likes, but I am still high!

Well, what can you say, had a fabulous Friendship day, Taj Breakfast, slept the whole day, CCD in the evening, and Zara and Aditi's Aloo curry! Today was a fairytale. :)

Well, I guess that's all for today, folks..cya later!

Here's a little joke to end things

Thara- Hey, I came up with something..

Sneha- What?

Thara- See if you fail or have low attendance, there's a nice excuse to tell the VC..

Sneha- Which is....

Thara- Well , sir I was getting 'high on life' just like the posters said! "GET HIGH ON LIFE NOT ALCHOHOL".

Yeah.Yeah. The dust, the sand and the killing classes. No prizes for guessing where I am. What makes it all worthwhile are obviously a bunch of boneheads whom I call my friends. :). They crack 'em.I post 'em. Enjoy.


While I was chatting with a certain Sandeep Chaitanya on my way back to college,
Sandeep- "I'll open a sand museum, depending on how ancient the sand in my room is.."


I met Azal on the train and I narrated the above to her and she says, "Let's all gather sand from our rooms and make a sand dune.."


And I come back, and classes start, and the boring like..
So After a long day I decided to unwind in SN Halls, and I was sitting with Nidhi, Nandini, Pritha, Divya, in Nikita's room. When the following happened. True Story.


Nidhi- I went behind the bar in Geoffrey's too, to make a cocktail for my friend from France.


Nandini- FFF!


Giggles.Giggles.


Nidhi - I can make you one too.


Nandini- I don't drink alchohol.


Nidhi- I ll make it without alchohol.


Pritha- Then it ceases to be a cock!


Pritha Chatterjee is well and truly back!


I guess, that's it for now..Things are still warming up..will keep you posted! Ciao.

Mumma.

I miss the steaming hot coffee when I study

I miss watching English movies in Skyline

I miss the 'Brett Lee' Chicken and Coconut rice

I miss all the gossip about Beckham and Posh Spice

I miss going for drives in the rain

I miss the Chocolate Icecream I ate again and again.

I miss talking about Brett Lee

I miss being taken care of like a baby

I miss those lovely Chicken noodles

I miss the shopping

I miss staying up the whole night watching football with you

I miss having those who's the better Club 'Real/ Manu' or 'Arsenal/Barca' debates with you

I miss trying to help you cook, but ending up tasting everything

I miss those times spent trying to pull daddy's leg but ending up pulling yours

I miss all the intellectual talk about arbitration, law and terrorists

I miss the smell of jasmine on your hair

I miss having someone to yell at me when I don't clean my room

Most of all what I miss the most is 

               YOU.

It's rainin' Kasab, Hallelujah!

It’s raining all things Kasab, hallelujah!


What is the latest obsession in India, apart from the perpetual 2Cs? A lanky Pakistani teenager named Ajmal Kasab. I know not what he was called fondly at home, but India (read millions of daily new channels, and newspapers) has decided to call him Kasab.

So the Trial Court decided to hand him a death sentence. As soon as the Judge finished the judgment, well, the whole of India rejoiced. We had news channels carrying out interviews of people, eminent and otherwise. A true jackpot for the channels! Come to think of it, when did we get like this?

Given a Gandhian past are we a country who celebrates when a person gets the death penalty? The channels here have a BIG role to play in the framing of public opinion in our country. I am sorry to say that they have not yet realized what a big responsibility that is. So, that day what do we get that day? We get images of Kasab, accompanied by some trance type music with drums. I guess they thought the music will drive the point home (point- Kasab deserves to die). A legal expert (a lawyer who is out of business), a Politician (anything to be on TV), a socialite (too desperate), and a common man (well, no idea why really, nothing this one says ever makes a difference) are given a chance to voice out their views on the latest development in the 26/11 case. (More like a chance to appear on national TV).

The whole day was spent in showing people bursting crackers, and giving each other sweets, and abusing the “TERRORIST”. Well, on Facebook groups were made to honor Kasab’s punishment, to celebrate India’s vengeance, Sweet victory against the war against terror, and so on and so forth. I was kinda irritated to find that I had gotten an invitation to join these communities. I was flabbergasted at the depravation that has crept into the society. Really? Is this the same India who once upon a time believed in peace? Are we as bad as the terrorists who were pleased to bomb Mumbai? I think we have crossed the uncrossable line which separates us from the terrorists.

Days followed, we had everyone give their opinion on Kasab’s plight. From school children to old people, every single person felt that he deserves to die. I refuse to buy this, come on in a country of more than a billion people; won’t a single soul have a contrary opinion? Where is the ‘so called diversity’ we are so proud of?

As all melodramas in India are documented in the form of a movie, this is no different. There have been rumors of a well known bollywood bigshot wanting to make a movie based on the 26/11 attacks.

Two weeks after the judgment day, I was beginning to think that the ‘Kasab fever’, had finally began to die, then I saw the most ridiculous thing ever!

Some random loser in Hyderabad (ashamed to say that it’s my city) comes up with a game in which you can hang Kasab!! Yes. I was at home, having lunch; thatha was watching a Telugu news channel, when the news reader says, “DO U WANT TO HANG KASAB?” And goes on to explain how now everyone can hang him in this brilliant game. Then we are subjected to visuals of an animated and a cartoonised Kasab, walking around a toon Mumbai killing people. The object of the game: Catch him and Hang him! Whoa, some revenge!

When have we become a society which makes money out of a terrorist attack? Oh congratulations I guess we are the first in History to achieve this one! At least we are the first to do SOMETHING!

Thanks again to the wonderful media teaching people what to do, what to think, and mostly thanks soo much for making us a society who takes pleasure in listening to someone’s death sentence! KUDOS! As for Kasab don’t worry you have successfully been elevated to the status of a Sachin, or an Amitabh. I’d say enjoy it while it lasts.

P.S.- There are girls who think you are CUTE.

P.P.S- Maybe we’ll see fansites forming on the internet...Www/ilovekasab.org

CLICK>REVIEW>DELETE/UPLOAD>LIKE>COMMENT

They say a picture is equal to a thousand words. Maybe this is what Kodak had in mind when he came up with the idea for a camera. In the good old days taking a photo was a task in itself, setting up the camera, getting the photos ready..you could simply not afford to spoil it. I remember the tough times my parents had trying to make me smile, make me look at the camera, and most importantly, sit in one place. God Bless them for achieving all the cute little baby pics of mine!

Enter the digital age. Gone are the old cameras in which you have to change the reel. Welcome a miracle called the memory card, which has to be inserted into a little slot (yes, Sunshine it's slot, not anything else) in the camera. Kaboom! It's a miracle gone are the troubles of shaken photos, blurred photos, negative malfunctioning, no more photographer screwing up the cleaning, nothing!

Now's the time of, CLICK! REVIEW and then approve or DELETE! God bless the soul who thought of digital cameras. Think again, you really think so??

Imagine you are in a mall/party and there is a bunch of teenager next to you "Hey photo! photo! photo!" and off they go clicking like a bunch of japanese tourists at the Eiffel tower. And it does not end there, everyone has to get a photo with the other, then in groups of three or four in different combinations and poses! And the photo has to be taken till its absolutely perfect, and flawless!

If what Pep once told me was true, then there are girls who go to malls, try on clothes, take pictures, and upload them on Facebook, and yeah the next logical step in the 'photo cycle' is uploading them onto the plethora of social networking sites. After all what are digital cameras for, this makes me think. Have the sales of cameras gone up by millions since facebook/orkut came into being? that can be a yes!

All that people take pictures for these days is keeping in mind how amazing it would look as their display picture! I swear by this statement! If there is an event in college, you wake up the next day morning and you automatically find yourself 'tagged' in random photos, half of which were taken when you were not even aware of it. Another irritating habit of people is tagging every single person in the photo. Like for example you are just standing innocently, and you happen to be in a photo, next thing you know, there is a notification on facebook, xte has tagged you in the a photo. You open the album distinctly remebering that you NEVER had a photo with that individual, and BAM! there you are in the corner, caught in that oh so embarassing, moment, when you thought no one was looking and were digging your nose. Now its for the world to see, oh and COMMENT!

Gone are those lovely days when photos were put in albums and were treasured, now all you have a PICASA, you don't like a photo edit it, cut it, photoshop it, add effects, make it look much better! Maybe there will come a day when, photos will again come in hard copies, and there will not be chances to alter your lovely smile in the photos! And there will natural KODAK moments and not carefully planned, edited and altered ones! :)

And the award for the lamest class in the university goes to........................

Well in this post the queen or may I say the Goddess decides to share some of teh most recent gems which I have had the oppurtunity to witness in class. Haffun! (This post is all real names and real people).

Before an early morning CPC class, people are just filling in...
Yum-Sasti!
Pritha- Aaj ka mehengayi mein thoda sastaap zaroori hain!
Speechless!

During a serious Family law presentation
Nimesh - "The husband gets a year to (im)prove his potency....."
The class erupts
Abhilasha- What? He can take treatment
More giggles....
Well, it was supposed to be prove potency..

In the library...
Sandeep- random nonsense
Sneha-Live life Sneha size!!!!

Sneha - He thinks he a cool dude!
Sandeep- No man no....
Pritha - No he's a thanda doodh!

During a heated game of Hangman
Aditi- Krypton? Thats not even word!
Sneha- It is a noble gas!
Aditi- Saumi is krypton a noble gas?
Saumya- Neon Radon Krypton blah blah blah
Sneha- Hahahahhahhaa!
Well I guess the English dictionary is losing  touch..

Sneha- Don't say Moksh! It's a nice place back home...
Thara- Moksh! Moksh! Moksh!
(Well, that's the level of brains we have in our class)

Sneha- Hey what do you want for your birthday?
Sandeep-Kohinoor Diamond!
(Great expectations......)

Prapti- Kisne Kata?
Animesh- Res judicata..

Oneday Surya and I were eating chicken sitting on the mess arc, there was a little dog eyeing my food,
Surya- Chal Bhaag ja yahasey, Kutte!
(Who tries to scare a dog by calling it "DOG"?)

Well, that's my beloved class!! I 'll be back with more :D After all it's my class ain't it? Ciao.

Of getting mugged and jokes in moots

Facing NLU are a few hills. In popular NLU culture they are called 'The Rocks'. This Friday Chripy, Bushy Haired Girl, and me decided to go on an adventue. While on our way ( well, way is basically crossing the road, and crossing the railway track) we met NB. Then the four of us picked up two packets of Lays, and a bottle of water and began our hike. We decided to scale the nearest mountain, and with a little effort, we were on the peak.

On the peak we were admiring the beauty of our college, when a few kids from the nearby village, well, came to us for money. We tries shooing htem away, yelling, sweet talking, nothing worked. Then we finally settled on a deal. We give them a buck each, and they leave. Well, the offer was accpeted and there was some consideration involved. Yeah, I am a lawyer!

So, we were searching for cash, and

Bushy- Will they take mess coupons?
NB- Yes, Saumya teach them negotiable instruments act.

WEll, we execute our deal to perfection, and well they leave....umm almost.
Have you heard of the story where a king gets dogs so he can shoo away cats, and then the Dogs become a menace? Well, I felt exactly like that king!

When we were giving them the money there was a girl a lil older than those kids, she offerred to shoo them away. Later she perhes on a nearby rock and says, "It's ok..You guys can talk!" Some guts! She eyes the Lays in NB's hands, "Mujhe Kurkure CHahiye!" Well NB tries to strike a deal again.

Ultimately we had to shoo the girl off by pretending to call Police. So, I can say with conviction that I have been mugged! Yeah, we have been!

Keep pondering over this till the next time..Or maybe I ll leave you with a few moot jokes (courtesy Bikerboy and Sunshine)

Long time ago in a moot with a certain International Law teacher as a judge, this happens
Judge- to whom does the royalty go from Mulla's books?
Counsel- To my grandfather..
and goes onto explain how in explicit details about how his grandfather wrote the books and Mulla got them published.

In an another moot a counsel tries too hard to convince
"Your Lordship, the facts are crying out that...."
Innovative use of metaphors, aint' it?

Another of Sunshine's mooting diamonds
Judge- Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, counsel?
Sunshine- Now the counsel requests the Judge to leave teh question and come back to the case at hand..
Icing on the cake!

Muksa's moot
A few seniors are sitting as counsels.
Muksa looks at the register and calls out a roll number,
Counsel- The counsel would like to inform the honorable court that the the counsels of hte parties have reached an out of court settlement, and would like the court to decree accordingly..
I can totally imagine his face!

That's all folks!!!!

Of Swaras, Ragas, and so much more

At first it was hard. I had come to hate and dread everytime Ammamma came home. Then I realised there was no escaping. I had to sit down. Say a prayer, and begin. She tells me I was a difficult student, I still believe I am. I wish I could remmeber those days...I was barely three..I knew the sapta swaras before I knew many of my cousins, before I knew how to read and write Telugu.

Ammamma yelling at me, and saying "Sruthi chudu, Sruthi chudu!" (watch the pitch), well that is my first ever memory of her. Then slowly as time passed, I started liking it. I remember the first time, I think I was in class 1 or so, oneday I randomly tell Ben, Hey I wanna sit and practise, what I learnt on Sunday. I could see she was positively elated.

My first ever formal music class, I already knew a lot of things they teach you at first. My new music teacher ( who thankfully is my  grans friend) asked me to sing all the saralis, the jantas and the alankaras. Well, I did it. From the next week began my formal training. Mondays and Wednesdays. Eight days a month. Practise everyday, without fail from 5 am to 6 am. No excuses.

Yes, I used to get up at five to sing. This was my undisturbed routine everyday for the next 11 years. Yes. There were times I used to hate it. No excuses, my grandmom used to make sure I used to sing. There were times when I used to pretend to be sick, because I used to be sick of singing. I remember that phase in class 7 . I had soo much work then with all the swimming, the school, and music. It was not as if I hated music, I loved it. I just needed some change. I used to think being able to sing what MS can sing is uncool, that was the phase when guitar was cool, and Veena was for losers. Avril was in and Bombay Sisters were out. I used to beat myself up for knowing Carnatic Music.

That's where Lin came into the picture, that's where dad came into the picture, and that's where singing the songs I listen to, and listening to the songs I sing also came into the picture. I used to take time off to listen to MS, yes I had heard her earlier, but now it was different. It was alomost as if I could understand what she was singing, it was as if the swaras were speaking to me, as if each of them had a new and different story to narrate.

I discovered a whole new world of Carnatic Music.And what a world that is! MS evidently became my idol..She was perfect in everyway, what a voice! What control, well my only wish is/was/will be is to be able to render Bhavaiyami Raghuramam the way she does. I started enjoying myself, I began to slowly fall in love with Carnatic music, the ragams ,the thalams, sruthi, laya, keerthanas, krithis, and just the whole devotion I see in my teacher, my grandmother.

I was not alone thankfully, I was not the only culturally confused girl in my class, who used to have a copy of THE MODERN ROCK ALBUM, and liked listening to Denver, and ABBA. Meet Pallavi, my best friend and my fellow tortured soul in my music class. Thankfully my teacher was not the kind who says "Ingliss sangs are baad", never, she believed that every music is divine in it's own way. I remember the many times Pallu and I used to sit in that room upstairs listening to our ipods, while waiting for our turn to sing infront of our teacher. Or the time when we introduced Laxmi teacher to Avril. She liked it. Infact, she even tried singing like her.Camplicated!

I took a few exams, sang at a few temples, gave a few concerts, won a few competitions, but none of those even compare to the satisfaction you get, when you sit down and cross your legs,and hum a nice alapana in NATA, or a keerthana in Malayamarutha ragam. Sadly, I had to leave home, leave classes afer 12th when I got into NLU. I did not miss it initially, I was actually kinda glad that no more practice, no more of Mondays and Wednesdays.

Time passed slowly, then came the cultural week in the college, I did not sing. No. I did not. That evening at the singing event I saw a few of my classmates sing. I burned inside. I did nt realise how much I loved to sing, or how much I missed it till then, until that pristine moment. Then I vowed to myself I'd sing.

A year later, in the culturals I sang. Ok, not Carnatic, but yes I sang. I had a whale of a time. Slowly came Republic day, and this time it was 'Vatapi Ganapathim Bhaje" infront of the whole college, in that golden saree which Ben gave Ammamma. I was even holding Ben's striped clutch! It was a momentous occasion, at least to me. It was a special feeling, an undecribable one, ot be able to share what has been so special to me throuought my life, with the whole college.

I just wanted to say I apologise for all the times I wanted to make myself hate it, and all the little times when I refused to practise, and all the times Pallu and I used to bunk classes and come up with lame reasons like test the next day, or run off to movies in the class times. I am so sorry ammamma. I never realised what you meant when you used to say, it will help you in the future, it will help you relax, I dint realise how true she was. Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me, helping me, showing me how I cannot keep myself away from it, after all it's in me, much like the genetic code in Heroes, this is embedded in my blood. Thank You for that. Most of all I know you will believe in me.

I have realised now, that listening to NATA, or Malayamarutham can lighten my mood instantly, and Kalyani can make me feel less homesick, and "Sudhamayi" makes me think of my friends and teh good times back home.So, it is true Carnatic music and beer have the same effect on me :). It is most definetly one of the best things that happened to me in my life.

10 Best things that happenned to me in NLU

This is in no particular order, I generally have a habit of saving the best for the last,

1. Rediscovering my blog.

2. Pushkar Trip

3. Srishti Gupta, the most amazing senior, I have ever met. It's amazing having someone you can look upto..

4. Bean Bags, yeah believe me, they are a comfort.Esp when you have to cram two huge books before the horrid managerial Economics exam.

5. BHUJIAAAAAAAAAAA- Yeah baby, have it with Rajma rice, have it with Soup, Have it with Pasta, it makes anything taste out of the world..

6. SC..nope its not the Supreme Court.. however it is Supremely HOT!

7. Victorious Secret Football Club- One of the most exciting things to have ever happened to NLU. I have joined the likes of Arsene Wenger, and have become a team owner/manager for 4 whole months. Made a lot of friends, and had loadsa FUN!

8. My Room- However dirty, or however cramped it is, it's still my room.So...Back off, bushy haired girl!

9. Geoffrey's- Smirnoff, Carlsberg, Foster's, Kingfisher's,  Blender's Pride, Royal Challenge,tonic water. Tequila Shots, dance floor, Lamb Piccata, American Corn Fritters, Fried Chicken Wings, I think you pretty much get the picture..

10. My friends, the old ones and new... I love you guys, and I can do anything for you...Believe me, I can.

Ciao!

A Postcard from Zanzibar

Sunday morning dawned lazily upon me, I had no work, nothing to do, so I realised I should clean up my room. So I decided to start with washing clothes, and in three trips to the washing machine, I had a few clean clothes, I guess enough to get me through three weeks of college. I was thinking about breakfast when somebody knoocked on my door, I open it. It was the matro, she handed me a nice little postcard. It was one of those picture postcards you get when you go to a new place, yes it was. Puzzled, I asked her if she'd come to the right door..She asked me if I was G Sneha Sindhu. Well, all the other deliveries I got till then were parcels of books/clothes/food from home, I would have known they were coming the minute they left Hyderabad.

Well, I took the card from her, and excitedly flipped it over, and yes, it was for me! It was a lovely postcard from Zanzibar sent by my long lost friend, Nikita. I was overjoyed, and I teared. Yes, I did. I was soo overwhelmed, by the little card. The little card came as a beacon of hope reminding me of the fact that there are people who still love me after everything I did. Suddenly, it was like I shedded that nasty amount of guilt I was carrying around from almost this time last year. I felt free, I really did. I felt, for that one full second that in this world anything's possible.

That day I realised, well , simply that somethings in life are way more important than others, and it's very important that you get your priority list right. Things happen to people, and you have to learn to face them and deal with them. It's also very vital that in life you must always play by your own rules, or as it was the Bushy haired girls gtalk tagline a few days ago, Live Life by your Own Terms. Well, the one year I chose not do that, to be someone else, to 'improve' myself, well, I fell into a ditch soo deep it took me a year and a post card from my friend to get myself out of it. Well, another way to look at it is..maybe I had to take the fall to remind me how far I'd gotten from myself.


I was soo happy, I pinned that card to my softboard, it's the place where I pin up little things from days/places I really want to remember. I put the card right on top, because that's where it belongs, atop everything that happened to me in NLU. Finally, after almost a year, I forgave myself. Peace.


P.S. Love you Niki, and also all the people who were there for me in the last one year...you know who you are :D.

Lameness around us!

This post is dedicated to the lame jokes we hear in NLU, its' everywhere this sastaap, in class, amongst friends, I mean it, everywhere.

One day in a heated debate in a moot,
Sunshine- Your Ladyship, when the husband comes home from work everyday he deserves something...................
(Ladyship looks disturbed, and the class explodes...)
Sunshine-  some ...............homely treatment........


Oneday in a boring class,
Addicted to Self- Arjun is Concentrate (Mital looks like he got a heart spasm)
Sunshine - No sir, he's dilute

In King's Pavillion
Vishnu- Hey split, the chicken man.....
Captain Fantastic - No man Banana split it...

In another of Addicted to Self's classes, during attendance..
"Arjun..Arjun Rao...ek Mahabharat mein do Arjun kaise ho sakthey hain?"

During a football match
Random people- They can't do shit man! They can't do shit!
Captain Fantastic- They can't shit man, they can't shit!

Oneday Kant was walking past a little VSFC group meeting, and we needed him to win the next day...like badly
Captain Fantastic- My name is Kant............
TBITRS- I am footballer!


Hence with the above submissions, I rest my case!!

Names...

Here’s a very old joke adapted to suit the needs of my sight headed class mates…


SNC and James Bond were seated next to each other , Mr.Bond with a Martini (Shaken not stirred) in hand, without an inkling of what he’s getting himself into says,

Bond- Hello, I am Bond, James Bond...and you are...

SNC- Sastry

Chidambara Sastry

Sai Chidambara Sastry

Naga Sai Chidambara Sastry

Sarva Naga Sai Chidambara Sastry..

Bond-………………………………………………………………………………………………… (with Martini (shaken not stirred) in hand).

Yeah, weird haan, how the way you write your name changes with the place where you come from. It’s new day in a new semester..and during the roll call, the teachers inevitably stop at

G.Sneha Sindhu, What do we call you?

SNC Sastry (They just go blank!)

I am sure even half of the class does not know Zonun is not Zonun, but Thara..yeah, again..

We were told by a great man that surnames come after the first name, nope not in the place I come from. I can’t understand why teachers can’t get this idea into their heads, semesters come and semesters go…but this question still remains. Imagine all the names I knew back home written backwards, lol like Veera Venkata Surya Prakash

Or

Pingala Satyanarayana Murthy (wherein Murthy is his name)

Or

Potti Sriramulu (the names Ramulu...)

Most of the illustrious South Indians have their names after their surnames..like Gundappa Vishwanath, or N.T.Rama Rao..



So here’s a lil request to all the North Indians… Before you decide which part of a name is what..it makes sense to say out the whole name first, and then ask the person concerned how he or she wishes to be addressed!! Yeah it will be difficult, but how would you guys like it if people call you..lets say a Sharma or a Trivedi? And not…Anjali or Rahul…

Chew on this till my next post!

It's Contagious, this Football Fever!

It was one of those days, those days when you wake up in the morning, and look out of your room balcony, and see a pretty picture of a blue sky, and a green football field, and the lovely brown buildings of our college, and say to yourself, looks like it's gonna be a nice day. Then ofcourse I got into my preCRE rituals, like finishing the memo, and ironing the moot clothes and stuff.

I went to the mess with my not so near neighbor, and finally got my memo printed. Slowly the second hour dawned upon us, and the first good thing of the day happened, Sunshine, actually rebutted! Yes, he walked up the judge, and said teh counsel has three rebuttal points! I should have known then, and in the third hour, my CRE went off without a glitch! Socio test was good too, and these were only lil pleasures before what was to come.

At five 10, I reached the football ground with Chirpy, and Cheery(since a particular someone was not happy with the name I gave her last), and ran off again to buy water(my job!). Sometime during the first half, Sunshine walks upto me, here's what happened:

Sunshine-Hi (with that radiating smile)

Me-Shove off! (and starts pushing him away....)

Sunshine- Arre, you were supposed to treat me na, for what?

Me- If my team wins.......

Sunshine- (in another language) You'll never win, not against them!
(just then Iki goes all out and heads one right into the goal!!) MASS HYSTERIA FOLLOWS

Nicely done, Sunshine....you are the best!!!

And in the second half, TBITRS tops it off with another one, he had viral, and is still recovering. And we beat the top team, the glamozons! And as Captain Courageous puts it, "He has fever man!" And TBITRS also become Man of the Match. Footie fever, or frenzy, whatever you call it, we caught it too! And yeah, an honorable mention to our AWESOME goalie, YOGI!! What keeping, getting better with every match. And Vishnu and ofcourse the BIRTHDAY BOY, what play! As Shitty said, "Good FootBall!"

My team played like a force, all amazing play. The night was topped by some pub hopping, and another tequila shot, and WONDERWALL!!

Next match, Friday, against Foza Neri...let's see who's the better FORCE!!

What a night!

Ok. We lost, so what? My team made me proud, they played like pros. It was just that one, one and a half second, which changed things. Believe me I am not talking like a lost football manager, I am just saying that if my team plays like they did in the first half, we can beat anyone. Yogi made an amazing keeper, he is worth every penny. Talking about pennies, TBITRS made me feel that my money is secure. Another very imporant thing about the team is, they listen and they listen to eachother. It feels nice to see them bond.
       Well, talking of bonding, my my how they did bond, af Geoffrey's, on the dance floor and even on the way to and back from our little 'Victorious Secret' night out! Guys you rock, all of you, Ikron, Thara, Animesh, Jeph, Shetty, Vishnu, Manini, Shuchi, and Srishti ( we'll have more good times, don't worry )!!!!
So as they all did last night,
VSFC Ahoo! Ahoo! Ahoo! (the 300 style, not that silly song type from Love Aaj Kal)!

Well I almost forgot, here's how the scoreline read
MCFC -1
VSFC - 0

Next match is on Saturday against RUFF, and my team is PUMPED! BRING IT ON!

Lights, Camera, Action! (FUTSAL FRENZY!)

Yes, people put your shades on, the VSFC is pluging into action. On what may seem like another normal drab day in the NLU Campus, the Lex La Liga will be formally kicked off in the evening at 5:15 pm. After days of planning, deliberating, and hoping the D-Day has finally arrived. So all those who can read and who know what's Lex La Liga, my team is well and truly playing today, call it luck or what!

The idea of having a team was drilled into my over sized brain when Shitty asked me if I wanted to invest with her..and I said agreed. I went against the class spirit, and sat with Shitty and Shuchi, in the bidding room for the team franchise. I got glaring looks from my 'lil frend', but then again, that evening I ended up being the only team owner of NLUJ2013..call it luck or what! So, the best policy as the wise Shuchi told me, is DIVIDE.

My high spirits were dampened the next day, when the player bidding din't turn out as I expected, due to all our faults, mine, manini's, shitty's and shuchi's also.Later I went back to my room, and destressed on IPC. Next day it took Sunshine sometime to convince me that we actually have a good team. Bless his soul.So, the team, which I would like to clarify, does not depend on the STAR as much as being said by a certain Association. I would like to also say that tags can be changed.

So here's my team
STAR (Captain)
The Boy in the Red Studs (TBITRS)
Ciggie
Ansh Bhaiyya
Vishnu
and Jeph

So today, after all teh running around shops, all the planning, the being called 'boss', the hard times, my team is finally being showcased on the field. We are up against the Mandore Cowboys, with all it's silk and beauty in what promises to be a good match!

P.S. feels good to open a tournament! 
In the picture you can see TBITRS and me, well making a Vand an S with our fingers!
Go......VICTORIOUS SECRET! :)

The new kid on the block!

Hello, Upper NGHers, I at the risk of sounding like the omnicient Gossip Girl, have decided to chronicle my little experience with the new kid on the block, quite literally. Meet  Damage Control Hair (I have no idea why I like to refer prople by their hair), aka the new kid on the block (She named herself) the one who has helped many a soul in NGH in wiping out the memories of a certain not so normal girl, and her even more bizarre room :). After a visit to her room, and a long session of what I'd like to name as 'catching up with things', we realise it's suddenly 2 something am, and there's school the nest day. So I am about to go when Damage Control Hair decides to visit the loo..
 I am standing there talking to teh Bushy haired girl, when the fillowing happens,

Damage - Hey are there mice in the bathroom?

Bushy - No, don't think so...

Me- Let's check it out..........

( All three in slow motion, do a Bond type walk till the Loo Door)

Damage (straining her ears)- There! Can you here it?

Me- i think it's in the pipes ( the result of too much Harry Potter)

Bushy- Let's go in and see

Slowly lead by teh brave Bushy Haired girl, we walk towards the origin of the eerie sound... She bravely opens the door, and Voila, What do we see? Not a rat, nope not a mouse, it's the NGH special extra noisy Exhaust Fan!

That's enough suspense for one blog, ta!

And also HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY! :D

P.S. Princess Z I did not mean to sound like GG, and I am well aware of the fact that it's outside my jurisdiction..