Friday, December 20, 2013

Half an update...

I've been having fun with SM of late. She has long since accepted the fact that I tend to get lost in my world every so often & that I often ramble on with stories that don't have a 'point'...

Anyway, there's a conference going on in my department. So, there are plenty of new faces around here for a while. SM introduced me to a certain S (let's call him S* for now) (that's one of the good things about SM - she meets & talk to a lot of interesting people & even introduces me to them ;) ).

And so it turns out that S* is here for a project & not to attend the conference (though like all sincere students, he has been attending quite a few talks). SM introduced us & was kind enough to do some PR for me and mention that I was 'very smart'. (Thanks, SM!). And I ended up trying to explain to S* what I was working on until our conversation got interrupted (and never to be resumed!)

Last night at dinner, SM suddenly asked S* why he wasn't talking to me :) (SM does that to people - I'm not exactly the most engaging conversationalist in the world, & I prefer listening to people, & last night, especially, I was really enjoying the conversation between SM & S* -  with the end result that I'm usually like an observer rather than part of groups, especially at meal times...) S* apparently gave her a very good response. (I'd call it 'diplomatic' :P )

Oh, I seem to have forgotten why I started writing this and what more I was going to say , so I guess I'll stop now...

Senorita B

My friend R used to tell me about a certain girl named B. And when I finally went to take an exam which B was supposed to take as well, R told me, "You'll find a very smart girl there. When you see her, you'll know it's B". And that was how I met Senorita B for the first time.
(On an aside, R seems to have done some PR work on my behalf as well ;) & yes, modesty prevents me from elaborating further on this. Plus, "knowing how way leads onto way, I doubt if I should ever come back" :P (That fellow Frost did put it ever so nicely!) )

Anyway, back to Senorita B... It was later when the results were announced that we became classmates & friends. She's one of the few people I became friends with almost at once. And yes, like R had said, she was smart. In fact, she is really smart. Add to it some real hard work. & yes, that is a bit more like her.

And the best part is, she has a terrific sense of humour. And most importantly, she laughs at my (often pathetic) jokes. She even tolerates my puns (though at times I have to explain to her what I meant. Like ERnesto ;) ). She has equally crazy dreams. (& so she cannot make fun of mine, which is a big plus ;) ) She does not take offence easily, and know when things are said in jest...

And like any other human being, Senorita has her share of faults, the most glaring one being a certain fondness for the word 'Podi', which she throws on me every so often & in every context she can. (Methinks she's on some kinda secret mission where she has to use up a certain quantity of 'Podi's' & she uses them all up on me...)

But then, we've had so much fun that I can overlook these faults ;) Like our 'mirar fijamente' at the senor & her trying to provoke me by saying how the senor chatted with her even after returning to Spain. & finding a new target to 'mira fijamente' at. :) & our language madnesses... Her letting me stay in her room & her visit to my campus...

Ah, Senorita B, there is so much more to say, but on another day, maybe...

In parallel universes...

The past few days, I've been wondering what the me's in other parallel universes would be like...

- In some universe, I would be more interested in clothes, make-up, shopping & other girly stuff instead of football & drumming :D

- In another, I would actually go and talk to people & have long conversations with them without having to know them for ages first. I might even be the life & soul of parties!!! Oh, & I'd be audible even if you weren't right next to me or almost sticking on to me :P

- In yet another, I would walk daintily & prettily, like a demure damsel :D :D :D

- In one, I'd be the drummer in a band :) Oh, & play football as well :P

- In some other, I'd be less picky in my food habits. & I might actually eat fruits :)

- In another, I'd not need to be alone to sing my heart out :)

Wow, that's quite a list already!


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thank you, Praveen

Just a quick note to say thanks.

Thank you, Praveen.

- for all the fun we had.

- for being one of my best friends.

- for making me smile.

- for being a guinea-pig for my gazpacho.

- for making me coffee.

- for listening to all my ramblings.

- for giving me hope in my Spanish-footballer dreams.

- for the teasing.

- for putting up with campus chai on your birthday, of all days.

-  for just being there. And being you.

- for giving me your copy of 'Carry on, Jeeves'.

- for all the encouragement/motivation.

- for not laughing/mocking me for sitting in the football ground.

- for the music recommendations.

- for inviting me to your exhibition at AF.

- for trusting me.

- for not judging me.

- for the Subway coffees and Udupi coffees. (& the Irani chai ;) )

- for cheering me up when I was down.

- for all the hope and optimism when I needed them.

- for giving me the courage to do things I'd been hesitating to.

- for answering my random and at times weird questions.

There are many more things I wish we'd done - I wanted you to see my campus, I wanted to hear you playing the guitar, we should have tried jamming. I wish at least some of the plans we'd made had happened...

But, I'm glad for the moments that we did have.

Thank you, Praveen. Thank you for being a part of my life.

I wish you the very best. May you find success in all that you do, and may your dreams come true...

The true picture

It's time for me to clarify certain rumours circulating about me...

#She's very hard-working.

I wish I were. I'd be one of the laziest people in the world, but then, who can take the effort to make a serious claim and follow it up?

# She's the most sincere student here.

Yet another baseless rumour. What to do?

# She studies all the time, and reads heavy stuff.

No, I don't study all the time. Reading, yes, I do. A lot. Most of the time. And heavy stuff? Just because there are books lying on my table doesn't mean I've read them all. And, well, the presence of a few equations here and there doesn't automatically make it 'heavy'. Or 'serious'.
 As if this weren't enough, Senorita B. wondered aloud where I'd be if I actually studied. At least she, for one realizes the actual amount of studying that I do...

# She doesn't talk / she talks non-stop

Well, I do talk. Non-stop with some people. And not at all with others. There are also days when I just have to talk. And weeks where I just don't feel like talking.

# She's smart.

Not all that much. There are way too many instances where I realize how dumb I am.


# She's beautiful.

:) *Flutters eyelashes* Not really. I'm just another girl :)

Further clarifications as and when needed.

There's so much to do - I've actually been reading the same 4 books for almost 3 weeks now. This from someone who was known as 'the girl who reads'. Ah! I finished LOTR and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in less time than that, and I thought they were the ones I took forever to finish. (Not counting 'The Old Man and The Sea', which I abandoned after not being able to move beyond the first few pages even after many months, and 'Crime and Punishment' and 'A clockwork orange' which I'm still only halfway through, owing to their disappearance in the middle of my reading...) Why, SM told me ,"I am getting irritated. You're still reading the same books"...

Time to go back to reading and finishing my pending work. I should have known better than to make statements like "In fact, I've given myself a deadline" (I even felt proud for a moment, for having given myself deadlines!) Alas, laziness is ever-present...

Adios!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Just a quick post

Oh, so the whole of  August & September, and a bit of October, seem to have just sped by without any posts... Not that anything is going to change now, but then, there is always hope...

So, the other day, I was chatting with Senor M., my Spanish teacher. And I thought I'd just ask him about the weather, and so I asked him if the autumn had started. He replied, "hahaha, the autumn starts by itself, one does not start it", and I was puzzled. It was only when I went back to read what I'd typed that I realized I'd asked, "Have you started the autumn?" #Facepalmmoment

The other day, I was talking to my mother and telling her I needed at least half an hour to cook a meal, but she could do it in a much shorter time, given her speed. And she asked me, "Are you saying I'm a fast woman?" It took a minute for me to realize that she was playing with words!

And now that I'm actually supposed to write something, I'm suffering from Writer's block every single time I put my pen to paper or my fingers to the keyboard. And as usual, I can't even go back to read what I've written, not even to revise it :(

On an unrelated topic (not that the above were somehow related topics!), PM finally served me coffee made by him :)

Ah, I'm wondering if I did actually wake up in the morning, or did I just reach the lab in my sleep?

Serious question to be pondered over...

Adios!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The fleeting thoughts of the moment

I just got back from the football ground - it's been ages since I sat there and actually watched people play. (I was there for a couple of minutes just the day before, before AG dragged me away to watch a play, so that doesn't count). And I realized that I'd been missing the ground quite a bit. The weather being pleasant, I could happily roam about on my cycle before coming back to watch a game with nearly a full field. I don't know how many people were actually playing, but the turnout was definitely quite high, more so given the possibility of a sudden downpour at any moment...

I'd been happy that I could recognize the players even when they were in other clothes. But maybe I'd become complacent a bit too soon - I could identify the guy who came late and went on to be the GK for a while, but I couldn't place him for sure. All I could come up with was that he's one of the regulars. Maroon 17? No, I don't think so. The Navy Blue? Could be.

(There's someone out there who always makes me think, 'Stick figure running'!)

Speaking of the GK, I was almost envious of his skills (and that of some of the others!)...

And I'm reminded of this :
 

(from here )

And today, I saw someone wearing a Man U jersey. I've earlier seen him wearing an AC Milan jersey once as well a Real Madrid on another day. I suddenly remembered some 'Zlatan' trolls I've come across, and was wondering if it's possible to support so many teams. One per league? I know I can't - I end up feeling "unfaithful" even at wondering if I could (or should) support another team (maybe from another league). Does admiring a team mean supporting it? Ah, questions... As ever

Maybe I'll just stop here now...

Adios!