easter feaster!

Bonjour!

To everybody still checking out my blog, hoping for a new post
and some entertainment. Don't lose hope just yet.

As I've finished my promised tenure of posting successfully, the
least I'll be doing is post once in 2 weeks and update the
boxNet widget regularly. As I've got LimeWire installed, it's easy
to find/ upload songs. You can suggest any good one you've
heard and I'll upload it when i get my hands on the computer.

My aging keyboard's giving me quite a headache lately. So i
have to use the equally annoying On-Screen Keyboard. Now
you can't blame me for not posting often.

04.04.2007

Happy Birthday to Namya!

Happy Birthday to Meghna!

Despite all that I've called Namya- cynic, complacent, vain,
stubborn, (although i still won't deny that it's partly right.) she
still is a special friend.

All recent differences forgotten, (refer: comments of 'sound of music')
a very Happy 14th Birthday!


Meghna was one of my best friends (still is, hopefully.) while she
was my classmate from class V to VII. She left for Australia for the
better, and still communicates by e-mail. Good ol' e-mail!
I miss her loads, of late.
To see how she's doing, check her ^{recently made} blog.
www. meghnathegreatest.blogspot.com


I finally went to Namya's place for her birthday after 3 years of
refusal (inconvenience, of course. My dad was mystically out
of town near this time, every year.)
It was fun, having all your friends around till evening. Fooling around and exploring new
territory together.
I also left behind my pair of school socks. sheesh.

Class 9 has started off fine. Everybody- from teachers to seniors
to neighbors to sibling, constantly telling you that you have a
year for The Board Class.
Yeah, like we don't know that already.

The French teacher (all 3 of them, in fact.) told us on our first
day how tough and difficult French is going to be this year and
how much we're expected to toil. When the bell rang.

And we haven't seen her for the last 4 French classes, since.

scary, huh?

Well i suppose this post will be enough for another 2 weeks.
Cheers to class 9!

PS I love Black Eyed Peas, they rule!
I think 'Flintstones Heavy Guitar Remix' by Steve Vai, Joe Satriani is simply awesome!
The guitar's beyond the realms of this universe! okay, maybe a little less.
I've uploaded the above mentioned, you can hear it.
Also hear The Boogie That Be. It's coooool!

sound of music

Salut!
My sister stumbled on this really cool software. It's kind of an MP3 player on which you(that's me.) can upload your favorite music and play/ share it!
I'll be uploading my favorite songs on it which you can easily play while the internet is connected.

Let's see if you share my taste! Happy hearing!

Au revoir!

mindbender

Though it's probably not mind bending, here’s something that will keep you busy.

Each sentence below conceals a world capital, spelt out in consecutive letters.
Identify the capital.

Example: TV executives announced their September lineup.(Berlin, Germany)

If there's any you can't find, you can post it as a comment.
Let's see if you are true globetrotter!
Bonne chance!

• Captain Nemo scowled.
• It was a doorman I lacked.
• We gave the rosebud a pesticide.
• Lt. Colombo got all mixed up.
• With less violence, the film can be R- rated.
• Here is the pheasant I agonized about shooting.
• The tarp over our pumpkins has an opening in it.
• The Red Cross will call on donors for money.
• Don't yank a rabbit by its ears.
• Population is swelling to new heights.
• You must strip olives of their skin.
• Peace activists boycott a war conference.
• Would you consider Eric a pet owner?
• Kicking stones can hurt your toes.
• We returned three bushels in kind.
  

HOW DO YOU RATE?

1-9 don’t go anywhere without a map.
10- 11 you’re no tour guide, but not bad.
12-13 Airline pilots must know you by name
14-15 Marco Polo was an amateur next to you.

PS For those gallant enough, you may kindly post your results as a comment.
Warning: Post at your own risk!
I'll start and do the honors.

Courtesy: Readers' Digest mindbender

my last year in a nutshell

Salut mes amies!

I just read the comments made by some of you on the post
“This isn't the end of the road . . ." and was overjoyed that I shared my opinions and conclusions drawn from what I encountered.

Life acquaints us with many different tests and obstacles, but it affects each one in a different way. For some, it may be a reminder to be courageous or determined to hurdle the obstacle. For some, it may be a confirmation that hard- work and perseverance pays off. But for many ignorantly blissful people, the hindrance simply passes by without leaving a mark in their character.

You should hope you're not from the latter category.

I deduce that when they say every thing's got a reason behind it, they mean it.

Moving on, the results I got yesterday were directly proportional to how much I studied. My English teacher failed to teach me a lesson for being over- confident and complacent when I missed the top marks, yet again, by quite a margin. I'm ashamed to say that I got a whole grammar question messed up because I thought it would be a piece of cake.

Well Radhika ma'am, you'll be glad to know that I have learnt my lesson, alright. Taking English Exams for granted was one of the gravest mistakes I've made so far.

Also, I was quite awestruck when Saksham (my classmate) managed a 98.5 in French! Whoa! My jaw was hanging for nearly a minute. I though 98 was way beyond my reach. But he's lifted my hopes another 60 feet and inspired me to work towards something better in the French exam/ tests next year. I grappled a 90 in French which I thought was satisfactory. But now I realize I've got a long way to go!

It was an amusing end to the last day as class 8, when one paper ball in the air started a full- fledged war! I was unfortunately sitting in the corner, most prone to paper balls. Maybe it was also because Sakshi was in the vicinity!

It sure was fun, especially when the History teacher (undoubtedly has to be Mrs. Sohinee Chatterjee) was literally seeing through us. She wouldn’t be bothered if a battle broke out under her nose. But I appreciate her for being a sport. She simple ignored us after a few unsuccessful cries. The boys went a bit far by flinging water- dripping paper balls to the other side of the class.

The best part of this 8- K traditional game is when you throw a paper ball at some unassuming person and then he hits at someone else, thinking it was that person who hit him. And then you enjoy the scene form far away, guffawing loudly at the chaos you created. But that's when you get a smack with a paper ball from some other cunning classmate! This might sound theoretically confusing, but it’s practically lots of fun to witness!

And due to the circumstances that day, everybody headed for their buses 20 minutes early.

Class 8 indubitably flew for me. Even though it did not give me my most successful undertakings, it gave me a fair share of triumphant moments.
It has given me lessons to be learned (not the ones in textbooks!) and reminders that will hopefully last a life time.

These quotes accurately reflect my inference after last year.

If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y plus Z, where X is work, Y is play, Z is keep your mouth shut.

Albert Einstein

Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.

Arthur Rubinstein

Flops are a part of life's menu and I've never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.

Rosalind Russell

He's never been very successful. When opportunity knocks, he complains about the noise.

the day after tomorrow

Salut tout le monde!

Il fait beau aujord'hui. For some nice reason, I feel today is a beautiful day. Guess I'm particularly optimistic today. Maybe nobody's reminded me that I'm going to get my Final Exam Results tomorrow. Actually, I haven't been pouring me heart out over what my exams went like and how much I should be expecting and the like. You do that if you’re subconsciously worried about how you’ve performed and that happens if you didn’t study for it.

The conclusion? I shouldn’t be getting any kind of unexpected shock tomorrow, hopefully, unlike the Half Yearly Exams.

Many decisions will be taken tomorrow. Some of them being weather you should jump off the Astronomy Tower, stay in the confines of your homes mourning or out with their jubilant friends celebrating. To be sulky, ecstatic, gloomy, stoic, hyperactive, exited or simply unaffected for the rest of tomorrow.

Well, they shouldn’t be affecting me definitely, because whatever you encounter is for the better and there’s no use moaning over it. (But you’re always entitled to be exhilarated if your results are worth that

expression!)

Well, today’s also World Water Day for those who care. And you should be.


It’s high time somebody cared about the increasing amount of polluted water and the deteriorating species of the world.

Anyway, meet you tomorrow again. Those who manage to survive till tomorrow evening.

Bonne Chance for facing your destiny valiantly!

Bonne nuit aussi.

kathak delight

Bonjour to the non- existing readers!

Near afternoon, I went to my neighbor’s place for tea. Not really tea, but the snacks. They're worth getting up from bed at 2 in the night. The story dates back to the day I met Jesse Aunty in the previous apartment I lived, I hoped that she'd become my next- door neighbor someday. You'd savor anything edible she makes(No guarantee, but most of it anyway. I'm witness and critic). I gave her the honor of being best cook, after my Aunt in Kerala, though. Her culinary skills are far beyond the realm of the Universe. Well, Jesse aunty did shift right next door and wasn't I glad.

While I was gormandizing at the opportunity, the subject of the kathak performance being showed just nearby was brought up. The family was planning to go for the recital, for sheer entertainment.

My mom whipped, "Betty, you said you'd nothing to do. Why don't you go along?" I nearly choked. "Sure, why not." I babbled.

No denial I'd been moaning about how I had nothing to do all day and was getting suffocated to death because of the boredom. (References to the first Post)

But a kathak performance? I didn't like the sound of it.

As I volunteered reluctantly, I realized it wasn't all bad. I got to breathe some fresh air during the walk unlike the musty atmosphere around the TV I'd been surviving on.

I came back at nearly 10:40 at night, mom had already gone off to sleep and my sister was writing something at the computer for what seemed like a long time. She hadn't blinked for the past 10 minutes. I think so.

I had my compact dinner, occasionally glancing at my sister.

My mother, even in her sleep out rightly refused to allow me to write for the blog this late. Glimpsing at my sister, I lost my last hope and changed into my pajamas and jumped into bed.

As I sunk into its cozy confines, I was off to the place where I belong.

Ciao.

PS It was World Forestry Day yesterday, for anybody who cares.

this is just the beginning of the road . . .

dear journal,
I'm sorry to say that today was a bad and disappointing day. My sister had to leave for school from today. So I was obviously left back at home alone. I didn't do anything minutely fun or productive and the day ended on another sour note when the NTSE results were out.

I didn't have the roll number and The Hindustan Times was glaring at me with a list of numbers which didn't make sense. But that's only if you didn't give the prestigious/ reputed NTSE. I was saved the trouble of having to go through the torture first- hand by Sakshi, who told me the update of its results.

Honestly, I know ( and was also reminded often) that I didn't work hard or seriously enough for it ( despite a latent pressure of my sister being an NTSE scholar.). And the fruit of my hardly working came today as a failure to clear the first round. Well, I was kind of disappointed and was hoping that a bit of luck would be on my side, just this once.

But it's a pity that if life never confronted you with failures, you would be oblivious of all the hard work one needs, to accomplish something. I always thought that "Hard work is the key to success. " was merely a saying. Something you just wrote on in school essays, without really meaning it ( but simply because the essay is due next Thursday).

I've always banked upon my name ( For the fused bulbs, 'Sobhagya' means 'good luck') and a negligible amount of hard work at the last minute. Well, I have inferred, for the nearly 12th time that hard work pays. Though very often, it's sprinkled with luck and genes to taste.

I know for a fact that only when I desperately, from- my- heart, wanted something, I worked hard for it and I succeeded. But nobody's got ears for my excuses anymore, not again.
Only I know that and only I can change that.

There are friends of mine who worked a gazillion times more than I did, but didn't get through. They simply vowed to work harder next time. I wasn't even comparable that way.

I honestly hope that this failure will smack me on my head and wake me up. Once and for all.

Some might think that I took this NTSE a bit too far, but somethings got to open my eyes before it's too late.
I still have a long way to go and can glimpse a ray of hope.

I hope to attain enlightenment. And soon.

Yours

Still pondering