Currently listening to...

quite repeatedly...!
Me thinks Madonna looks hot despite hitting 50(Who would believe that!). Her attitude and her walk and her voice....like it all! Don't care much about Justin Timberlake though... :|
What say you?

Just a thought...

I think I'd rather be caught with bad hair than with bad shoes!!!

Lost innocence or changed for better?

Recently one of my close friends came to US, just like I had only a year back. She and I similar in more than one ways, to the extent that, sometimes I see my thoughts being spoken by her, without me having to say them. So when I was talking to her when she had just arrived, I found myself saying - yea I used to think the same way or yea I used to say that too more times than I would have liked. Many times when I found her thinking in a particular way which was naive and emotional, I immediately gave her harsh dose of reality which nobody had given me. I realized I was as innocent then. And I learned things the harder way. I didn't even notice I was doing that untill she pointed out after a month or so, that yea some things happened, and I thought of you like how you had warned me against it. I realized then I need to stop. i need to stop this subconscious effort of warning her that what she sees now is completely different from what it will be a year from now. And although it is a hard and staggering reality to digest, it is still better to deal with such shocks as they come, than being warned about them a year in advance...

But in the light of all this I can't ignore the fact that i have evidently changed so much. And when I see me now, a completely different me compared to only year back, I can't help but wonder - along the way did I lose my innocence or did I change for better?

Random thought....

Sometimes, a simple thing like reading a newspaper can make you realize how deeply connected you are to your roots, to the place where you grew up and spend more than 2 decades of your life.

I was reading news - New York Times. And then I opened the ePaper version of The Times of India. And then I read the entire paper for an hour. I went through every article, every small news about India. I suddenly realized, I don't even care what I read in New York Times sometimes, but I was actually reacting to the news here. I was feeling happy, sad, irritated, relieved and many other emotions sitting so far away from India. I felt nostalgic, sad and longed to be back. Its' not perfect - what with Amitabh Bachchan visiting Tirupati making a breaking news for a week - its definitely far from perfect.

It's....well it's just home....and is beyond adjectives like these!!

Few realizations of late!

- Carpe diem. Seize the day. Seize the moment. This moment, this time will never come in your life again. Be the moment sad or happy, live it to the fullest, you may never get a chance to feel it again!

- Always do what you want. You can never be happy doing something that others want you to do. Doing what you want will make you happy.

- Say 'No' if you want to. It's prfectly OK to say no. There's never a reason to feel guilty in exercising the right of saying no.

- Do not let others walk all over you. Ever. No matter who they are.

- Just go with the flow in life. Stop thinking or worrying about future. It NEVER helps.

Real Life or Fairy Tale?

I had a dream last night. I dreamt that I was given a choice. A choice of living in the fairy tale or real life. I don’t remember what I chose. But when I woke up I was very confused. What would I choose? What would anyone choose? I discussed this with my friends. One of them agreed with me, that the real life is too real sometimes. Sometimes we need those fairy tale moments just to reinforce our beliefs. But given a choice would we choose to abandon the real world and go live in a fairy tale? A place where there are difficulties to overcome, battles to be fought, combination of good and bad people to deal with; just like our world. But there’s also an end to it all. There’s also the magic potion, the handsome prince charming, and the funny friend always standing by your side! And most importantly there is ALWAYS “a happily ever after”. And there I thought I had my answer. Obviously yes!

But somewhere inside, I was not satisfied. It’s the damned beliefs I tell ya! Even though here, it was the belief in my own world. Despite that I come to hate it so much sometimes, the fact that it was my own to hate, was not allowing me to let go of it so easily, even in my post, even fictionally! I wondered why it was so difficult to accept an easy choice? Because we are trained to distrust the easier options? Or was there some other catch? I kept thinking, not just for hours, but for a good couple of days (wow, I really must care after all, think of all the time I spent thinking for the world I don’t even like most of the times!!). And then like a brick it hit me right in the head! ‘Seeing stars in broad daylight’ excluded (Sorry to disappoint you all!). The catch is – A fairy tale is good for only one person, the main character! It’s nice and happy in the end only for the Snow Whites, the Cinderellas, and the Shreks. What if, you are one of the dwarfs, or the ugly sister, or god forbid the Donkey!! And that’s the best thing about real world. We may not have magic potions, but we do have support of our family and friends which gives more strength than any magic potion. We may still have to deal with good and bad people and have battles to fight, but we know it’s all manageable. And there is no single happy ending, but there are many happy pauses, which work just as well, sometimes even better! And most importantly, in real life, you are the main character, the hero, the star of your story! For better or for worse!

Sayonara!

The Break-up

Yesterday, I got to thinking about relationships, any kind of relationship, and how there's always a break-up involved. If not anything else, it’s the "till death do us part" and the death does do people apart, and hence my point - There is always a break-up involved.

It’s sad and difficult and mind-crunching and stomach-twisting. And more so, if the break-up is the kind which we generally take it to be. A "break-up" break-up is without a doubt the most difficult phase of the relationship. And yes, most definitely it is as much the part of the relationship as the “flirting”, “going-out” or “being-there” is. As long as there's an emotion connecting two people, I believe, there's still a relationship, a thin string attached. And break-up is the last, the longest and the most painful emotion that two people share. And probably that is why it is so long and painful, because it is the tribute to everything shared before, a silent and sad eulogy, because this is where you can remember everything except the reason why you broke up. And yet somewhere deep down you just know you have to keep going, because there's no turning back after this.

I heard somewhere that it takes half the time of the duration of the relationship, to completely get over it. I don't know if it’s true. But this, I know - It may be possible to get over a relationship but it is next to impossible to get over a person. How do you just forget the one person, who was so important once, that you gave him all the right and the power to hurt you and make you happy or sad by his mere words? You may take him out of your life, but you cannot take him out of your heart, your mind. There will be a place in your heart reserved only for him, forever. There will always be a part of your heart, a small corner, where his memories will be locked up. That place in your mind, where you can happily remember him, and someday accept him to be as a painful, yet an exquisitely beautiful past, something that you will cherish for the rest of your life, something that nobody can take away, not even his own self if at all your paths happen to cross again.

And all there is, is the hope to reach there someday, that place, that state of mind, where one can happily think of the past as something worthwhile, something that gave a chance to give as much as receive, something that will always be enlaced in heart's deepest corners as a delicate memory to be treasured till the end of the eternity.

A hope for the end that is not bitter. Anymore.

Yes, it does!

Yes....Trust DOES have an expiry date. Mine just came for the certain individual whom I had addressed a few posts back.
At this point I almost feel cynical, and determined not to trust again.....ever!
But that's not the point, I just wanted to answer the question I asked.

Later!

Does trust have an expiry date?

Trust....something which I've always known, but believe that its now, that I've truly understood what it means.Or atleast I "trust" that I am in the process of understanding it :). Here, so far from home and close ones, you truly understand what it is that people are and how difficult it is to find the right people. And when I say right people, I mean right for you. Because,everybody is nice, but you may not find them so, only because of the circumstances. Maybe they are just not right for you. Maybe the time is not right yet.

So how do you figure out who the right people are? I guess you just know. Just like you know which dress to buy, when you see it(Though constrains like "money in the bank account" may actually stop you from buying it ;) ). I've realized after coming here, that there are so very few people in this world whom you can really trust. And then I started wondering, does even trust like every other emotion (sparing a bare few) have an expiry date. Of course, you can never stop trusting your parents, even siblings you may not trust for some reason but parents you can never not trust. I am talking about the trust which exists between two people out of bloodlock(if there exists such a term:)).

Does that have an expiry date, like you know for example canned milk, and like how it just ceases to be fit to drink after its expiry date. Just like that does even trust cease to exist between two people one day? When the relationship becomes sour, and when you just cant take anymore of it. You just have to throw it away. Or maybe cos the other person decides its time to not care about the trust anymore.

And if there exists a date like this, who defines it and how do you find out what it is?

I want to break free...

You left without a second glance
It all happened as if in a trance
I don't want to be trapped in an emotion
Pull me out, I am sinking into oblivion

Trust me!

In the recent turn of events in my life, I started trusting somebody, only after knowing them a couple of weeks. And then I came to my senses with a jerk.

And yet again, started asking questions -
How long before you start trusting someone? Should there be a time period defined, like they do while hiring, a 6 month probation period before full-time trust? Should you trust your gut-feeling, or should you listen to your brain?

I think sometimes, you just trust someone because at that moment you just want to trust that person, for this need to trust someone, because you are feeling so vulnerable. I got to discussing this with my friend, and she thought that sometimes strangers can be better listeners and maybe its for the best that you trust someone at that moment.

My dear not-a-stranger-anymore,
If you ever read this and understand that it is for you, I trusted you because I believed there was chemistry between us, there was a spark, and thankfully you have done nothing to break my trust yet.
But its best for me to break away from the shackles of vulnerability, where I give you the power to hurt me.
I think it will take a while before I am okay with giving you that power.
-Me

Later!

Sanity is a curse!

Dear Diary,

We had a party today. The three namesake houses that are considered as one. I always feel lonely at parties, uncomfortable in a group of people whom I don't know properly, to whom I can't say more than 3 sentences. Today I felt that exaggerated feeling of loneliness and emptiness inside me. With a room full of people, all drunk, all insane in their own world, swaying to music, dancing madly, and doing what their heart wanted. All I wanted to do was run, run away to my sane world, the world I know, the world of soberness. I don't drink. Not because I can't. Because I don't want to. Because I believe I am high enough on life. I don't think I need another stimulant.

It's strange how people behave when high. It's like you don't know them. And every person you catch saying - I'm not high, rest assured he's completely high. I feel scared of such people. More than scared, I feel awkward and unsure of how I should behave. And worried about some close ones.

It's weird. It's strange. It's almost alien. This feeling. I can't wait for my world to become sane again.

Ciao,
Shruti

After a long time..............

Calvin Time!! :) :D

If everyone cared...

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

~Nickelback

Being nice - investment or humanity?

This question has been nagging me for the past coupla days now. And no matter how much I ponder, I can't figure out the answer. Is being nice an investment or an act of humanity? When did being nice become an investment from the plain old "being nice"? And are all of us being nice only for a selfish motive at the end of the day?

I myself know that sometimes, I treat people nicely for some unseen time when I might need their favor. Its selfish and maybe even mean. But most of the times I am a nice pleasant person, who without any ulterior motive likes to put a smile on people's faces. No questions asked.

But recently, I discovered that sometimes, people refrain from doing that simple unselfish task of niceness, because there are low returns at the end of it. Is this right? I am confused, because if you look at it this way - they are at least not fooling a person to believe something which does not exist. They are being forthright & honest about their feelings. On the other hand, sometimes maybe its better to keep a person in dark rather than have them know the harsh truth, which can only hurt them.

And I kept asking myself, is it right to keep a person in dark by making nice, or is it better to come clean and move on in life?

Random stuff....

- I have been watching a lot of Sex & the City lately.(Yes....I am old enough to watch it AND understand it....) So much so that I actually got a little bored while watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!Gosh....I need to stop watching it!Not only I am addicted, I got my roommates addicted to it too!

- I love their shoe-craze. I think I am developing one myself :)

- I love their friendship.

- I am thinking of boycotting Valentine's Day from my life. No heart-break stories here people. The peer pressure is too much to take, and besides the response - "I have boycotted this useless day!!" sounds much more elegant than "ummm....uhuhuh....nuthing much" when people go like - "Soo-o what are your plans for the big day??"

- I am loving my single life right now. For the first time in my life, I don't feel bad about not having that someone special!Its great!!

- I have many questions in my mind about relationships, friendships. I think I keep getting more and more confused as I grow up. What's wrong with me? Am I growing backwards??[No Pun Intended :| ]

About average!!

So....this friend of mine, (unintentionally I think) pointed out, why on orkut he had given only one of the girls in our group the "sexy" rating - "Because you are pretty!". Huh!
Now I have a question. No I have several questions -
Is this right?I mean yeah agreed she's pretty, but does that give friends the right to judge other not-so-pretty people and also point out accordingly? Does sexiness depend only on looks(I know I know...obviously it does...but yet again...does it??). And is it right to get upset over something like this?

Even when you know, that what was said was probably true. Nope it IS true!Even though you go through such discrimination every f***ing day of your life (and also discriminate yourself sometimes!), and eventually learn to take it in your stride, and finally think you have grown immune to all such things....suddenly when you encounter such differentiation yet again from an angle you had least expected this to come from!Does it hurt? You bet it does!!

I am upset!Yes I really really am!I think I speak for all the "about-average" people out there, friends are the quarter we least expect such things from. Whatever!!
I think of it this way - at least this way we find people and friends, who are there with you or there for you, not just because you have a pretty face, but because of you.

Best!

Assignments, Jobs......and then some Life!

Its been really really really long since I posted anything! I don't know why. Actually I think I do. I am not about to give the same old excuse of being caught up in assignments, project etc. Because its just stupid! I just read a blog of a working wife & mother of two kids. And that just put me to shame. So here I am trying to get some grip on my life and also hoping to write more often.

So?Wat has been up with me lately?Many things actually. I won't say I am getting used to the life here. Because I know that is just an illusion. I am still not used to it yet...won't be for another year perhaps. But at least my life has been comparatively better because of some wonderful company, bearable jobs, and pretty okay semester till now(Isn't it interesting how I've listed the one thing that I actually came here for, in the end :)). Anyway. I don't care if you all don't want the details. Cos I am going to give it anyhow.

Okay.Lets start with friends. Have you been with a group of people, who swear twice in every sentence, drink 3 nights a week, and are as adorable as hugsies??No?Dude you gotta come to 313 Huntington Avenue then. I somehow always believed, guys who drink & smoke are not good. I have so changed my belief now. I mean how can you not like a bunch of people who are always there for you no matter what. Who crack the funniest of jokes. Who are there to put a smile on your face, every time you feel low. And who are just so adorable! I was chatting with my roommate some days back, and while pacifying her and trying to make her see the good in our lives right now, I realized it myself. I realized how lucky I am to be in such wonderful group of people in a strange country. A bunch of people whom I can count on. Trust me, it feels wonderful! It feels safe.

Jobs. Yes I am a cashier & a proctor(watchman if you will). And I have two words for you. Not easy! I mean to start with juggling between two jobs is itself kinda overwhelming. On top of it, being a cashier is lot more difficult than it seems like on the surface. Many people ask me why I don't leave it. Since I anyways have the other job. And many have done it too. They left this one when they got another and I don't blame them. Its not the best of jobs - pays less, hard work. So why haven't I left it? Okay here's my answer. I like to have my options open. People who know me, will vouch for the fact that I absolutely hate having no back-up option or back-up plan. Selfish?Yes maybe it is. But there are more reasons than just this. I like it. Yes I like it. I like to work there, because the managers there are really sweet and kind. Because this was the first place which helped me earn my bread and butter in this country. I owe something to them. I cant waste their training by just quitting. I know it's probably stupid, but there it is.

Working as a cashier has been one hell of an experience for me. Trust me, its not easy. I think it's more difficult than working as a software engineer. Because here you deal with people. As in deal with them right then and there. All kinds of people - nice, sweet, rude, impassive, impatient. And you gotta handle them. And its seriously fun. Earlier I used to get really tensed if someone was in a hurry, or feel really bad if somebody was rude to me, feel really happy if somebody was nice to me. Now I've become impassive towards all of this...well almost. If somebody is rude to me. I just give them a bad service :P . If somebody is nice to me, I give them extra smiles & have a good day wishes. If somebody's in a hurry, well I can't really help it. Can I? Remember the time when you are like really in a big hurry and you just want the person behind the counter to step on it? Lets just say, I know both sides of the coin now.

The proctor job. Thats just a fancy name for a watchman who sits in the lobby of university dorms and swipes cards for students to let them in. Easy? Pretty much. Except for the extreme inflexibility and odd times of shifts. Imagine getting up at 5 for a morning shift, when you were wide awake till 2 in the morning. Trust me it sucks. And the worst part is you get fired(!!) if you miss your shifts!!I am not complaining. Who promised this was going to be easy anyways??!!

My semester. Lets just say that its going really really fast. And I am actually glad for it. Only four weeks left (yippppeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!), and I know they are going to be the most difficult ones. I just hope & pray that I get through them without losing it. And get to the winter vacation fast!! :)

Till then.....Sayonara people!

Interesting...

Two halves have little choice but to join;
And yes they do make a whole
but two wholes when they coincide...
That is beauty.
That is love!

Did you ever...?

Did you ever......

- Feel the helplessness & pain of things/people slipping away from you...partly cos of your own actions...partly cos thats how life is...

- Notice that somehow the same people who have no time for you, have time for others...and you thought they were close to you...and more importantly they keep saying you are close to them...

- Acknowledge that people try to fool you on emotions...and you even believe them not because they are truthful, but because, you need to for your own sake...

- Feel unworthy because of distinction coming from the opposite sex...

- Regard life as the most boring affair, at that time in your life...and you have no clue what to do...

- Long that your best friend should be around, more than your family...

- Feel the pain and irony of the situation where you meet your Mr. Right and then realize that it is not, never going to work out because he is already engaged elsewhere...

- Wish you had straight hair instead of wavy (bloody hell...wavy hair suck!!!)

- Wish you were a little more girly!! (grin.... :D)

- Wonder - are people weird or is it me??

- Wish that all you had to do was travel around the world, read good books, listen to music, sing and play the guitar(or learn to play one), surf the net for fun (and not to search answers for algorithms assignments!!)....and still earn good money?

- Start writing a post and then go - hmmm...I have no idea how I should end this post....

Later!