About me

Ok, I've been reading a lot of blogs of late. And I've been reading the 'About me' pages, which are often very interesting. So I thought why not enlighten people with some things about myself (so that they realize just how wonderful, awesome (ah, modesty!)I really am ;) )

I am just another statistic.

The girl you see with a book in her hand even while she is eating - I am she. The so-called 'real reader'. The one who waits for her coffee to cool as she finishes the next chapter.

Humour keeps me going. I'm a big fan of P.G.Wodehouse, William Brown (the Richmal Crompton character), Calvin&Hobbes and Pearls Before Swine.

I have so much music playing in my head that at times, I don't even need a music player :P The flip side is that my mind plays refrains of German rock songs when I'm in the middle of a serious discussion, or 'La madre de Jose' (which I find very funny) or the refrain from 'November rain' when I'm walking by myself.

I like studying with music playing (and singing along).

I sing. Not just in the bathroom, but also in the kitchen. And the courtyard of our house. I have nothing to do with the pigeons flying away and the cats running away. I prefer to sing mostly only when I'm alone, though by now my family is used to the screaming melodious sounds of my singing (in various languages!)

I watch football. As much as I can - at least when my beloved team plays. I even have 'lucky' dresses to wear on those days (depending on where I am, and whether it's my club or NT which is playing ;) )

I love words and some word games. Thanks to Tony Sebastian, I now try my hand at cryptic crosswords when I can. (Large Australian bird with three letters, Galahad? ;) )

I love coffee and chocolates. And biscuits. And walking. Dreaming (and daydreaming).

I can be very funny, but unfortunately, very few people get my jokes, at least on the first go. I've also been told I'm the 'Queen of Sarcasm' and the one who contributes to a conversation just to hit a nail on the head. 

I lack this thing called patience. (Well, SM says I lack this so-called 'social cognition' as well, but let's not get started on all the things I lack - not a very long list, of course, but why bring it up now, when you can slowly discover it for yourself? ) Which is why I often end up going early to places and meetings, and, ironically, having to wait :|

I'm sometimes, no, often, lazy.

I'm random and something of an open book :)

I have a terrific family (something I sometimes forget to appreciate!)

I don't often talk much, not at first at least. There are people with whom I just don't stop talking once I start. There are days when I don't feel like talking, and days I just can't stop talking.

I think I've said enough already - you're welcome to try and know me better ...

What SC did**

SC* has done it. He has officially crossed the point of no return. He asked for it. And boy does it make me happy!

Yes. Yes. Yes. He asked me. TO. RECOMMEND. SOME. BOOKS.

Now, anyone who has been my victim knows me will vouch for my love for reading. And so you can imagine the pleasure of getting to show off the diversity of my readings share with someone the books that I enjoyed, in the hope that he/she (or is it they?) does, too. (Not that I wait to be asked - if I get the tiniest hint that any of my 'friends' is looking for something to read, well, even if not, I feel happy doing PR for the latest book I enjoyed, or any of the stock favourites :P) (Oh my God, that was such a long sentence, and it unfortunately reminds me a so-called 'story' in Women's Era!)

Ok, SC. You can relax. I have a few others I can recommend books to, so you won't be under constant threat of being overwhelmed. But at times, yes, your inbox will be flooded. Why? Since you asked for it :P*evil grin*

Ah, I think it's time I got back to the reading I'm actually supposed to be doing now... Adios!

(*-  The S* of the previous post will be SC from now onwards...
**-  I'm suddenly reminded of 'What Katy did'!)

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!

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!