The Ol' Birdie on wheels....

the sun had just started shining, after a long day of downpour. and the weather was just perfect for a ride. And anyways, I was fed up of being home, staring at my monitor, wondering what I can blog about......

For some unknown reason, I never mentioned my bicycle in any of my blogs, and its even surprising because it is one of the many things that my world revolves around (ironic, isn't it?) My pink ladybird bike was gifted to me by my parents when I was 9. It was quite a surprise for me, and so I didn't have a chance to customize it myself (I wouldn't have chosen PINK, for god's sakes!) And my life confined to the walls of my house and my school ended right then and there, and I began to explore the world outside.....

Coming back to today, I was feeling upto a bike ride. I always believed that my bike had a sense of its own but it was always overshadowed by my sense of purpose, like going to class, getting something, repairing…etc. so today, when the sun started shining, I decided to let my bike take me out for a ride,wherever it could with its own sense ( as long as I knew the way back home, that is!) , while I used mine to brood about things that I could never think about in my shoebox flat.

So I stepped out, fuelled my wheels with a lot of air, and then set out. I thought while I rode; I rode while I thought. I thought about my friends, my family, my cousins. I thought and thought, as I rode through the crowded market, and through the quiet, deserted roads. I thought as I rode through the busy traffic, and even as I rode through lonely construction sites. Kids were cycling by too, going to their classes, or coming back; or simply racing for the fun of it. Ladies were going by in clusters, some muttering about their chores, some about their kids, and some, just gossiping in what sounded like gibberish. People rode by in their cars. As I rode by a school, I saw kids being whisked off to their homes for the day, in their buses, excited as the school day had come to an end , and a fit of nostalgia hit me right then. There were the workers at the construction sites, still working tirelessly, even though the sun had set. I kept riding, till I thought that my thoughts had been done for he day, and then I concentrated on my bicycling.

I thought about how my bicycle had taught me a lot. It had taught me that if I work hard enough, I will eventually reach home. That every time an uphill problem faces you, you must believe that there’ll always be a downhill solution for it, because only then can life be even. That when life meets a dead end, you don’t need to stop there; you can always turn back and have a new start. That one-ways are traveled upon only by people who are confident about where it leads to, just like life. That accidents and mistakes often happen because the person at wheels is not confident that he can do it properly. My bicycle taught me, that here is learning other that the one inside classrooms; and that it is called realization. That people who think that education gets over when the school day ends, are seriously mistaken. My bicycle taught me that you can learn from the littlest things in life, if only you have the will and curiosity.( and last, but not the least, my bicycle also taught me that expectations are not meant for Indian roads! Practical, isn’t it?)

My reverie ended when my cell phone beeped in my pocket to show me a message and I glanced at the time. It was time to go back home now!

“ This much from a simple hour-long bike ride?”, I know. But it is the truth. I’m still trying to find out how I could write this big a blog on my ol’ birdie! I think its because it was always there for me, whenever I wanted to brood over, it was always there to take me to places, to explore….it never left me! (though its certainly had intentions to, the kind of repairs it has had!)

In the end, all I can say is, that this little bike ride was a really good one indeed!

blogging, for a blogger....

here i am! here, in this site, typing as much as have never, but should'nt there be a story how i got here? ok, lets go into the flashback (filmy, i know!)

well, once upon a time(6 months ago) i was a plain girl, studying for her SSC exams, having no time at all for most of my interests, for i had to get into a good college!but yeah, there was something with me and languages...i simply adored them! whenever maths or geography bugged me to the heck of bugging, i would simply draw my composition book and the composition notes of my class, then choose randomly, a subject to write upon, and voila! that was my way of giving a break to my geography-filled brain! and another advantage was that i could convince myself, my family and my conscience, saying this was study too!good times...

my other friends from school, though, were completely opposite. they always said that they would give up a language for anything in the world! i often disagreed (though my verdict for marathi was quite the same many-a-times!).their judgement of language was of a subject which reduced their percentage and denied them admission in the college of their choice.but i disagreed yet; i did not care much about percentages anymore,when it came to languages, because i could connect to them better than my other friends.besides, i would never give up on my languages (second thoughts on marathi, of course!)

so as soon as my hectic schedule came to an end,i turned to blogging ( which was suggested to me by my cousin Puja, on a lonely holiday, when i had told her all of this), and found that it was a brilliant substitute to my stolen (not quite) hours of break-time!article writing had always appealed to me,and expanding on a subject was my favorite.apart from all the technicalities, i had found a time-pass, an outlet and that too on the world wide web!and besides, blogging also helped me to stay in touch with writing, which is good for my future plans of pursuing mass media. so everyone's happy!

blogging has revolutionised my style of writing,given me a chance to write on the internet. and im surprised why i never thought of writing this before; maybe because it was only after i started blogging that i realized what it was! and now i will live happily, ever after.....

moral: keep blogging, everyone,everywhere!

A heartfelt farewell....

hey this is another poem from my collection, dedicated to all my school mates.....

To love, that comes by only once...
To friendship, the bond that between us runs...
To sweet memories that will live, always,
Though we go our separate ways...

To the heart that,I know, will always love me,
To the tears that, I know, will leak out for me,
To the ears that, I know, will die to hear me,
To the eyes that, I know, will cringe to see me...

A Heartfelt Farewell I give to you,
Knowing I have got one in return too;
I close my eyes and feel the pain,
Of losing a friend, I'll never have again....

-Shruti

il pleut, et je suis heureuse!

this evening i was, as usual, sitting online and chattin relentlessely, when suddenly the electricity went off,and on came my irritation. but just as i went out to my balcolny, i knew why.the sky was no more the pale blue it had been this afternoon, actually hardly any of the sky could be seen, because a thick bunch of dark gray clouds obstructed my view; a storm was on its way!

now i may seem excited, because it was now time for a prototype rainy day , which includes cool rains, hot chai and piping bhajjiyas ( an irresistible indian combination perfect for the rains), but it was also overshadowed with worry, for we mumbaikars have experienced 26th of july, 2006,and have become prone to identify the other side of the seemingly innocent rains! the traffic, the floods, and the relentless honking, coupled with fog, and clogging drains....in short its a nightmare for those out of their safe homes, but obviously not for those who enjoy it inside!

well i am quite positive about the rains, so for me, this calls for a treat!anyways, right now, i am going to enjoy the lightning and thunder, with my hot chai and piping bhajjiyas, in my balcolny!

cheers!

Result?????????mmmmmmmmmmmwa!

Have you ever been so happy that you could climb up to the highest tower on earth and shout like george of the jungle? well, i did, on the day my results showed up. though not literally!

2 days ago, when i was chatting with one of my friends, i got the news that the end of part 1 was near........in two days the decision was to be made, the results, to be declared! the end of my long and tiresome journey through std 10 was here!well, im actually exaggerating. but yeah, results are a fright, like a nightmare for everyone!that day went by...now there was only 1 day to go!

but results also have another side, other than the incarnation of devil himself; that of anxiety, of excitement, of relief.finally they are here...finally our prayers are going to be answered, finally we are going to know the truth, finally we are going to know our worth......

the d-day dawned up. it was like any other day, the sun still rose from the east, the sunlight still came in strands through my window and curtains,and an individual beam came and illuminated my room exactly the same way it always did, but today was different, today was special.i woke up, ran all errands and at sharp 10:57 am, i went and sat beside my brother to check my fate as it appeared online. and then the golden word to be typed, the key.... the seat number! and then my eyes, ignoring all other details, settled on the angelic number...92.91!

my heart skipped a beat....and then there was a deafening noise which irritated me; till i realised that the source was moi!i was screaming, i was happy, because i got what i had expected, what i had worked relentlessly hard for. my dream had after all come true!

now, guys, this was my experience, to each his own! my experience did teach me this though, that if you work hard enough in the right direction and with the right force, thn the goal won't be too far away, because hardwork never goes wasted.what we must do though is believe that nature and God are just, and that you'll always get your worth, some or the other time.i got my worth, the value of all the hardwork i had put in, and i did also get what i'd value above everything, my life itself; the pride and happiness in my family's eyes.

enough of being senti now, lets party!

career? omg!

career is something which creates a lot of controversy and doubt among people, especially freshman-going-to-junior college-16-years-old-and-still-in-dilemma people like moi!as far as boasting and gigs was concerned, kids like me like to claim ourselves as grown ups, but it is now i realise how very small i am! because i am at a point where i have to take the most important decision, one which concerns my life and one which is creating more problems for me than it is solving.

in my defense, i would say that i have always wanted to do something unique, away, risky. something which includes writing, reading, and cultural thingies! something which includes travelling, interacting with people, knowing about places and being known,being counted upon......and all of this brings me to journalism!but now this field so very vast and varied, that just coming upon it as a general profession does not solve the dilemma.

it all comes to this, that unless you have a very straightforward one way plan, you won't face this dilemma. as for undecided and unsure young ones like us, the battle continues.........

scuba divin' in the sri lankan seas..........

scuba diving, you have to be there to believe how very fascinating this adventure sport is! and the feather in the hat was that it was in sri lanka that my dad proposed we sign up for it! now that sure is something.........scuba divin' in the sri lankan seas!!!!!!!!

it was evening, around 6 o'clock when we , on the way from the famous Unawatuna beach to our hotel in Bentota, stopped by a scuba diving centre in Hikkaduwa to do some R&D , and made up an appointment for scuba diving the next morning. that was one restless night!

we arrived right on time, excited as we were. the instructor greeted us and showed us some videos,gave us some notes, and taught us the sign language. after that we had to fulfill certain formalities,wear our scuba diving costume and gear and then be off!!! now, we were taken into the shallow waters to do some exercises,clear our masks, control pressure difference and its effects and learn to breathe through the oxygen mask, but that was most of the fun part. it took us some time to learn those exercises, upon which we qualified to do scuba only upto a certain depth. as bad luck had it, we were short of time so we could not learn and improve much, so we could only do the scuba upto about 2 meters . but none the less fun!

the instructor took us one by one into the deeper water, and i was the last. when it was my turn, i braced myself, to go ahead and experience! the instructor took me to the coral reefs, the beautiful flower-like patterns formed by the corals were a sight!and the fishes! they very well complimented the dark blue background with their fancy colours.it was a completely different world, untouched and pure, giving you the feeling like you have entered the sets of Finding Nemo! the sea floor, sandy and off-white, the beautifully coloured corals, the blue ocean with the sunlight hardly penetrating its mysterious blue-yet-transparent sheen, and the wonderfully colored and shaped fishes..........you imagine the scene yourself!

i really hope and look forward to entering this world again, and this time i will be ready to explore this land of fantasy, dreams and marvel.

my 10th std experience...........

hiyo! well, let me start wid y i really thot of putting THIS as a blog...........it is because ive been brought up in an environment where exams are important, and the SSC, the most important of them all! u may think of me as a geek, but believe me, ive never thought any less of myself!so this 10th grade year was the most significant of all, and quite different too...........because this year i was everything, from a geek to the most mischevious, frm the quiet studious to the most talkative and funny, from the staying-out-of-trouble-mind-ur-business girl to the i-dont-give-a-damn-what-happens dude! dont get it? complicated..............

firstly, it was hectic, because i was burdened with the feat of studyin 10 whole textbooks, but i managed, with my classes et all! this was my last year at school, or probably so, and so i had made p my mind 2 do everything tht i cud 2 make it memorable.it was lyk any uder year i wud hav expected 2 be, but for all i knew, it was special.........

but then in the end it all comes to this, that separation was 2 come, it was always over the horizon, comin closer.........and now here we are, strugglin for some contact!all those memories, the fun, the studies, the parties, the hangin-outs...............they have to be kept in a preserved chamber of our minds.we are walkin away now, in different directions, our paths may never intersect, we may never know each other anymore, but one thing is certain, that this special year will always remain in the forefront of our mind.

all in all, from this year i may or may not have learnt a lot, when it comes to subjects, but its for certain that i have learnt one thing:that friends may come and go, but memories leave a mark on ur mind, which nothing can ever wipe out, which can never disappear and which will always remain so very close.........

education system: what d hell r u up to??????????

2de i read an article in the newspaper, which opened up my eyes wide to what i thought as rocket science being no more difficult than ABC. seriously, what r u up to?
when my parents wer little, as they recall, getting 65% meant tht the child is EXTREMELY brilliant. they say tht decimals in percentage never existed, and tht competition was not what was expected frm the students; kids loved to gain knowledge. and nowadays?
by implicaton, it means that 2de we students are dumbed down frm knowledge-gainers to mark-scorers. and yes, this is not a promotion, rather a negative change i wud say.though as a student of 10th grade i shud thank the sytem for making things easy ofr us, somehow im not able to bring myself upto it.why the hell shud i suffer?
the reason for my fury is tht we r spoonfed more often than not;like when a child falls, u're not blaming his carelessness, but the ground for being uneven. the reason as evry1 states freely, is the growing failure and suicide rates. i don't agree much.suicides have certainly not gone down by taking these steps.its like, wen a person is failing, it is not his fault tht he did not study, but its the fault of the toppers for topping n giving rise to competition. or so is it accepted.
all the measures taken, such as best 5, grading system, 70:30 quotas, leniency in college admissions, bringing down the cut of percentages, quotas for SC, ST; sports and other activities leave a lot of students on the unfair side, because thee are taken by keeping solely the poor- scoring students in mind,whereas meritorious students are being thrown largely out of perspective, and i say so as a neutral student.
the solution for this? to make people look at the self-proclaimed profanities such as pressure, stress and difficulties with a positive outlook; pressure is necessary to move things forward on their path, simple law of physics, and we must abide by it. taking pressure as challenge is the key, because SSC is not the end of the world and there will be more challenging exams .
so it is now upto us, whether we accept ourselves to be so handicapped with our studies that we need crutches like such to move forward, or we want to wholely , solely attack our exams with all our might and be happy to claim that we have done this with both our legs intact.