Warwick Diaries

Its been a full year since I wrote anything! And like always, the long gap makes me all the more conscious of what I write in this 'comeback' blog post!
Anyway, this one is about being a uni student in UK and it wasn't until my friend from India asked me 'How's life in UK?' that I thought of writing it...
Well....its fun and nice...and given the number of Indians around, you may actually forget you aren't at home.
But there will always be these little moments we'll miss when we go back home:

1) Going shopping and mentally converting all the prices to INR and then uhh...leaving a few things behind.
2) Its freezing cold and you have like a million layers on but drunk British girls walk by wearing practically nothing, screaming and puking all over the streets of Leamington Spa.
3) The waitress at Costa Coffee glares at you for not ending each sentence with a 'Please' or a 'Thank you'.
4) The fire alarm going off at 3 am at night (Seriously, why does somebody always have to try smoking in their rooms at this unearthly hour?!)
5) The cleaning lady comes knocking on your door the only day you decide to sleep till late.
6) You crave golgappas, namkeen, papad, maggi and all those things we so take for granted back home.
7) When vegetarian food tastes sucky, has no salt (of course!) and comes with fat and oily fries.
8) The Costa Coffee guy stares at you when you ask for 8 sachets of sugar (8 is normal!)
9) When the shops close down at 5 and you have nowhere to go :(
10) When u finally start cooking by yourself, discover there's always been a chef hidden deep inside you and start bragging to your family members back home (come on...I'm sure you do that too!)
11) That feeling when that essay is due the next day and you haven't begun writing yet.
12) It being sunny when you are about to leave home but raining when u do ;)
13) And when you do go back to get your umbrella, the wind ensures it is turned upside down and broken and you are drenched..
14) When you and the Tesco delivery man are down to first name basis.
15) When you feel handicapped if you don't have access to the internet (*shudder*) for even a minute!
16) When its summers and the sun just doesn't go down and there are girls in itsy-bitsy shorts everywhere (:D)
17) That moment of realization when water no longer means just water. It means either one of- tap water, still water, spring water, sparkling water, mineral water etc etc...
18) When you start categorizing the world into Chinese & non-Chinese (sorry, but true!)
19) When the pound rate starts going up just before the fee instalment due date... :(
20) And finally....when chips become 'crisps', college becomes 'undergrads', beer becomes cheaper and dissertation becomes a pain in the neck!

For Delhi, with Love

Delhi. It’s where I spent some of the best years of my life.

A thousand places in one; it’s where dreams are woven.

Where dreams are lived.

Where friends are made. And lost. And new ones found.

Where love happens.

Where friends become family.

Where maggi tastes best after bunking a class.

Where long walks lead to the ridge. [And monkeys scare you away!]

Where sitting alone in a coffee shop earns you free cookies.

Where the 2nd lane behind McD always takes you home.

Where it never rains for long.

Where ‘chikoo’ and ‘paan’ flavoured ice creams taste heavenly.

Where the greenery charms your senses.

Where winters mean steaming cups of coffee at Arts Fac.

Where IPL bets always fail (Damn!)

Where cute yellow sippers get lost. And are found again :)

Where a ‘good day’ lasts forever.

Where a missed call denotes that the class has begun.

Where three aces spell money.

Where DUTA and DUSU ensure frequent holidays.

Where a game of LIFE makes your day.

Where December and Crossroads go hand in hand.

Where birthday cakes are rarely chocolate!

Where Ludo means endless hours of fun.

Where you can shop till you drop.

Where hot chocolate fudge makes you drool.

Where Saturday means a roll, momos and a movie.

Where a diva cannot shake a leg.

Where happiness comes in a packet of fun flips and costs five bucks.

And then again...it is also the place

where ‘puchkas’ taste nothing like they do in Calcutta (No. Not even remotely close).

Where hostel food does one of 3 things- it either tastes good or it looks good or neither (mostly the latter).

Where girls in frocks climb over walls.

Where ‘badaam’ is well....’mungfali’ (:-P)

Where frequent bomb scares occur the day before tests. And no, they don’t get cancelled :(

Where they don’t deliver pizza at India Gate!

Where there are lesser number of guys in your class than your marks in Macro(!)

Say Sorry....the right way

Jennifer Cavalleri once said- "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

I, however, choose to differ.

It is only to those who are special to us that we say it to. For it is by saying it that we convey just how special the other person is and how much it matters to us that he/she must not be upset. If it weren’t so, we simply wouldn’t bother apologising. At least, I won’t.

A simple word, sorry, said in the right way (the most important part) goes a long way in cementing strained relations.

Most people use it as an extremely convenient escape route. There is nothing inherently wrong in it. What is wrong, however, is how they see it (and hence, say it)-

Err. Say sorry. Escape. Wow. Things have never been this easier.

Unfortunately for them, it isn’t so. The word loses its essence unless it is meant and more importantly, said in the right way. While nothing is more pissing off than a “sorry” that isn’t meant, it spoils your case further if said in a rush or without the suitable extra sentences required (for those who didn’t get it, I mean stuff like “I didn’t mean to”, “I will never do it again” etc. Although the receiver knows just how mechanical these ‘added frills’ are, it does help your case. Trust me on this).

It is inevitable that this discussion reminds me of an old friend. This guy has an absolute knack for saying sorry. He can say it so convincingly and with such finesse that it leaves you wondering why you were angry in the first place? And I respect him for this. Manipulative it may seem, but I still think ‘the art of saying sorry effectively’ is a very useful one and does come in very handy.

A perfect afternoon

Its been soooo long since I posted something that writing one feels a li'l odd now...

Was leafing through old photographs the other day when I came across mom & dad's wedding photographs....

They were absolutely amazing.....the old world charm, the innocence, the youth, the love and the pristine purity... I always thought that black and white photos captured expressions more beautifully than coloured ones and these photos proved it...

This particular picture captured all of the above so perfectly that I thought I must share it with all of you... Looks like its out of a movie...

Love the pure look on mom's face... love the moment.

I urge all of you to fish out your parents' wedding photos and take a look at them. It'll make your day. Just like it made mine.

Painful moments...

Life is good....

College is gud too. I m actually liking 3rd yr! My days are one big blur of college, naps, food, net and of course, my beloved phone. Every thing's good...

Except...(why is there is always an "except" or a "but" after every good thing in life? Ah...) this 1 thing that I choose not to think about. Each day, a tiny voice at the back of my mind reminds me of this particularly painful part of life...two tiny words capable of creating havoc in anyone's peacefully progressing life-CAT and/or M.A.

And then there is this other voice, a much louder n influential one, which reminds me of the greater pleasures in life. The joys of sleeping (ultimate bliss...), talking on the phone, chatting, playing "bhabho" or "laal paan ki satti" or flash, shopping, eating (well...of course), reading "Twilight" simply to fawn/drool/hyperventilate over Edward Cullen or even of sitting on my bed doing absolutely nothing. And the emotionally susceptible person that I am, I get carried away by the sound of it and lose all sense of direction and any amount of focus and determination I may have gathered earlier.

One part of me hopes, at the end of each day, of beginning tomorrow.

The other part, tells me "its not tomorrow yet!" This part is also very fond of sentences like "c'mon-its-3-mnths-away-ther's-still-lots-of-time" and "this-is-3rd-yr-clg!-go-n-njoy-urself!"

The fact that the CAT ppl expect us to be aliens/ rocket scientists/ nuclear weapon designers/ MENSA members only adds to the pain.

Sigh...if only i was doing engineering and still had anoder yr of graduation left. Or even better, 5 yr law. Postgrad wudn't be so close at hand then.

If only societal pressures would not force me to continue with education. If only ppl arnd me weren't this serious...

Ah man...If only....