Boards Shoards

Boards are coming,yeah, Boards are coming,yeah. And you know what? Surprisingly enough, I'm not tense at all, while SOME people are crying and banging their heads with tension.
I dunno why I'm not worried. Lots of people stay up till 3 am and them wake up at 7, to study again. I can't do that, ever! I hate compromising with sleep and I don't ever before an exam, as in, quickly go through the main points and every thing. I've found that it actually confuses me more than anything. I take extra care to sleep on time the night before an exam, and The Hindustan Times agrees with me. Quoting them, darlings -

"Inadequate rest impairs growth and learning and school students need seven to eight hours of sleep a day. Sacrificing sleep time studying is wasted as what is read is not retained. It's only when the brain is well rested that you can retain better."

I also remember reading an article ages ago about an experiment. Here, people were to remember simple patterns of placing cups or something. Like, the blue one comes first, red second, etc. The people who'd slept well remembered the pattern most correctly while the second group,who'd not slept, made more mistakes. It seems that the brain adjusts and arranges info acquired while we're asleep.
After reading that article, I'd made it a point to study facts or things that I found very confusing, in the night, before I went to sleep. Maybe its my imagination, but I those facts correctly now, without any confusion.
Good for me that I'm not worried. My friend's friend says that someone in her school hanged herself. She was a tenthie and an idiot. How can you suicide for marks?
I don't get it. Life's AMAZING. How can you give it up for marks? OK, it may not be amazing to her, but that means that she should try to make it better, not die!
Yeah, maybe it's about aiming. My aim is to study, while enjoying at times too. She probably aimed for more than she could manage, thus overloading.
No one can stand failure, thus the stupid act to ignore your 'failure'. Its all in the mind.
Why take tension? I think its very idiotic. Though it can fuel your will to work harder, too much is er.... not good.

Places to go

Here are some visit-able places that you've probably never even heard of. Well,delhi is full of monuments,and you can't expect each of them to get the same attention can you?

ASOLA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Its close to tughlaq fort.
Its almost within city limits. If you want to go in,you should pay for a guide,its worth it. You'll find black bucks here(yeah,the same "protected" species that salman shot), nilgai, jackals, and deer.

AGRASEN KI BAOLI
It lies off hailey road,near connaught place.
Its a thousand-year old stepwell. It has 3 floors and is said to be haunted.

PATAUDI PALACE
Pataudi in Haryana
Nice place,green and everything, good place to spend a few hours relaxing. Built by Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan,its home to the cricketer, Tiger Pataudi. Its 60 km from delhi.

Yes,all this info has been nicked off magazines.
A comment by my friend when i told her about all this- "Kya baat karti hai? A sanctuary in delhi? How come they spared it? I predict- apartments and malls to be seen there soon..."
Very likely to come true.

Holy Shit

Ok. I suppose everyone knows about the book by Dan Brown, Da Vinci Code. Do you remember the reference to a picture called Madonna Of The Rocks/Virgin Of The Rocks (VOTR)? This para is from a book i was reading- Secrets Of The Code.The para is an excerpt from a para by Lynn Picknett

here it goes-
"...We should take a look at one of his other religious paintings, VOTR ... The following revelation is so sensational, so apparently ludicrous, as to appear the product of a Freudian delusion, or an infantile fantasy. Yet it should be remembered that Leo (da vinci) was primarily a hoaxer, a joker and illusionist- and that he hated the holy family ... clive and i wrote in the Templar Revelation that Leo was subtle in presenting his secret heretical code "for those with to see" and did nothing that was "the equivalent of sticking a red nose on st peter." But as we discovered more recently, we were wrong.
Do not think of the reverential hush of the great art galleries ... Think more of giggling school boys passing naughty scribblings behind the bike sheds ... A clue lies in the title of the painting- "rocks" was italian slang for testicles, ... Equivalent of the modern term-balls. And so it is that the reason for the mass of rocks above the holy family becomes shockingly obvious.
Almost growing out of the Virgin's head are two huge male "rocks"- topped with a massive phallus that rises to the very skyline,comprising no less than half the painting. The offending article is created out of a mass of rock, yet it is clearly discernible, and is even impudently topped with a small spurt of weeds. ... This is Leo the hoaxer and the heretic at his most audacious- and vicious. He created the grotesque make appurtenances deliberately, no doubt perversely and savagely inspired by the organisation commissioned by him ... With a giant penis growing out of her head, he is clearly saying "to those with eyes to see " that this is no Virgin.

Here are some visit-able places that you've probably never even heard of. Well,delhi is full of monuments,and you can't expect each of them to get the same attention can you?

Some Kidney Freak

Aren't there times when you just want to kick someone hard in the ass? I want to. I want to kick that stupid doctor, Dr Amit Kumar.
Yes, the kidney guy.
He is so immensely besharam.
He gets caught, but instead of going nicely and quietly ("yes, i know i made a big mistake. I should pay for it, i agree. Lets go to jail."), he tries to actually bribe the nice police people! ("yes, i know i made a big mistake. I should pay for it, i agree. Here, i'll pay YOU! I think you don't get paid nicely enough. Here, here, take it. Bacchon ke liye mithai-vithai kharidna!).
And then, back in delhi, at the airport, he was smiling so nicely for the media. Hello? You are a criminal darling, not SRK with his bodyguard.
And the media is busy doing weird stuff. Instead of telling about his crimes, they tell us that his house hard kidney-shaped pools. Tch tch. Kidney obsessed, isn't he?
And they're also very busy naming him- Kidney Kumar, Dr kidney, Dr khaufnak, Kidney Kingpin and Khooni Kumar. My favourites are Dr. Dracula and Kidney Chor. The latter gives of visions of him diving at people and emerging with a kidney, to scuttle away at full speed.
And his looks are best described by my mom- "bilkul hevan jaisa lagta hai!"

Good vs Evil

I installed a new facebook app, Good vs Evil, around a month ago. Just 1 person has voted as yet, and he voted me 100% evil. Well, the guy is a big weirdo, but i do agree i'm quite evil, and i'm not at all offended by his saying so. There's nothing wrong with being a bit evil, not in a way as to hurt someone emotionally or physically, but by being naughty. Also, i don't think being mean to the people who dislike you is wrong. Its not great to be good always, because-
#1 If it weren't for evil-ness, i don't suppose we'd appreciate goodness as much as we do. Also, that much niceness would make of gag. Imagine he there was always light, and on darkness at all, them you'd probably wish for a bit darkness, wouldn't you? Oh yeah, this brings of to...
#2 Too much sweetness is BORING. I'd certainly want a change. Somehow, in the quiz about what kind of guy you'd fall for, i got "sweet guy".
Ewwww...
I gave the quiz again, changed 1 answer, and got "the frat boy". Hmmm... Definitely my style. Come on, isn't the guy who plays Draco loved because of his evil grin? He is SO adorable.
I don't mind being a bit evil, but i suppose others do, and take it far too seriously. Take Anuj for example. I had a hard time convincing my parents to let of in to sam's house on the last pre-board, and we were trying to watch a movie in the little time we had. Then, anuj pops up. He bores me to death and tries to show up very pathetically boring clips, thus, wasting our movie-watching time. Should i act courteous? Well, i didn't. I called him a kamina. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything, but to tell him that he's annoying. Sorry anuj, but you are irritating. Not that i'm not. I actually take pleasure in saying things that exasperate others and make them feel like banging their head on the wall.
So, the point is,don't be good always, or evil to the people who are nice to you, but he someone makes fun of you and you don't reply cause you're a goody-two-shoes, you'd be better off retaliating. And make sure neither side wins in the battle of good vs evil.

The suicidal tendencies of a hollow-horned, ruminant, quadruped mammal.

We'd once gone to my dad's friend's house, and that's when uncle told up about this goat he'd got for bakra-id. He'd got a nice, white goat, and decided to keep it on the terrace. The goat was well-fed, happy, and full of goatly-goodness.
On id, when uncle went to fetch the goat, he couldn't find it! They found a while later lying atop a car parked on the ground floor. The goat had apparently jumped to its death.
My dad says- Stupid animal... How much did it cost?
Bro says- maybe it decided to suicide and become shaheed, rather than surrender to the butcher.
Me- hahahahaha...
Such was the story of the real shaheed bakri (remember that chapter?).

Please don't forget me

You know,i've been thinking,all of us have our own different stories of our life, different thoughts, we all respond differently to things,people and songs. Everyone is unique and has a different story of things we've done. Only we and some of our family and friends know about it.
Now, imagine, that everyone forgot everything about you. Your friends,family,everyone you know, doesn't remember you or anything you did. Not even at the back of their heads. Wouldn't you sort of be dead? Because you didn't make a difference in anyones life,didn't leave an imprint that you existed. All you did,your story is lost. There's no evidence you existed.
Or maybe, what if you really died. Everyone you knew,who loved you, with whom you shared your life, died, and noone remembered you anymore. If you made a difference only in a small group of peoples lives. You were forgotten and all the beautiful things you'd seen and experienced and felt were forgotten. Evidence you existed, your clothes, your letters that you wrote, your diary,in which you recorded your thoughts and everything that happened to you, were destroyed. Th things you did,the relationships you created were of no importance,cause everyone important to you was dead. You were lost,your memory lost, no effect made by you remained, no sign that you existed remained, and your memory had faded away, your ideas and dreams disappeared along with you, how'd you feel? I don't know why, i find the whole idea very frightening.

About the blog…. And what not to write in an exam.

Oh yeah people…about the blog…no, it’s not like I decided to abandon it or anything, but, I didn’t have the time to update it. Ok, maybe I did, but I didn’t have the heart to use my spare time writing a blog than playing games or watching movies.
How selfish of me.
Ah, but this doesn’t mean that you stop visiting my blog. Visit it regularly, and you may occasionally find a new post.
I was busy earlier with my pre-boards, and later, with enjoying the holidays after them, but I’m busier now, now that we’ve got our papers. I don’t suppose anyone need be told how horrible they were and how my parents are after me now to study harder, etc….how….not interesting.
Anyway, as you all know, I have amazing style, creativity, flair, (…blah, blah, blah,…) and imagination. So, I usually try to show my creative aptitude in my language papers. I’ll give you a very recent example:

Q. As a concerned citizen, you welcome the decision of the planning commission for a sharp increase in allocation for education, (…blah, blah, blah…). Write a letter to the editor sharing your views.
Now, we have a nice letter to write on our hands, and I don’t use my creativity? Nah…impossible. Here’s how it went (I’m serious):

156, My House Road
Wherever You Wish, 110099

76 January 2008

The Editor,
The Times Of India,
16, Their Building road
Wherever They Wish, 110099

Sir
Subject: Planning commission’s decision
This letter is regarding your article,” Allocation for education. Teachers rejoice as salaries increase” was excellent.(….blah, blah. Totally serious, to get marks, you kow…)
Yours faithfully,
Crystal Das Khan

Hohoho. Ok, I know it wasn’t funny, but most people don’t have the guts to do that, AND get a “good” in it (yeah!!!).
Well, adding a little humor to the language you know, is ok, but to the language you don’t know?? Don’t try it, kids, its harmful to your health (you see, you write dumb stuff, marks get cut, you get horrible marks, you get upset, parent see marks, parents get high BP, parents go to hospital, you under stress….so, bad for health)
Here’s what happened when I wrote totally idiotic stuff in my French paper:
Q. Write a message to your granma that you can’t come visit her this week-end cause ________ (make a shoddy excuse).
I wrote the whole message beautifully, but in the end I signed off:

Ta grand-fille,
Rakshas

NOT A GOOD IDEA. I didn’t know how to sign off. You can’t write “amicalement” can you? I wrote what I thought was for grand daughter and added a pretty little ah-so-humorous name, Rakshas. Now, I firstly signed off on the right, not left (damn), and grand-fille means nothing (double damn).
Teacher says: IS THIS WHAT YOU’VE LEARNT?
Ooops. I can’t believe she smiled as she gave me the paper.
I would love to go on rambling, but I gotto go study. Nooo….my mom isn’t standing behind me and prodding me in the back to go study. I’m going cause I want to, cause I like it, and I know that studying is better than writing blogs,and cause I love French, and chemistry too…as much I love ….. (whew!!! she’s gone.) HARRY POTTER

Wishes

Wishes for 2008 (may all this happen!)

1) More nice movies like Taare Zameen Par. The movie was very cute. It makes you laugh, makes you cry, and leaves you feeling good at the end of it. And the songs were too good. 'Meri Ma' makes you cry, and the title track has some very good lyrics. Can't stop humming it.

2) Real news - ok, I know I've written entries already criticizing the stupidness of news channels, but we seriously need some real news. Look at Aaj Tak. It started two almost similar news channels - Dilli Aaj Tak and Tez. Dilli passes its time sending its reporters around Delhi to show where to shop in Delhi (as if we don't know). Now, what is Tez to do? It shows clips of weird things going on around the world (like, off from 'world's most amazing videos'), or clips from reality shows (zoom in to Rakhi Sawant's cleavage, give her publicity, etc). But they crossed the limit recently. I was flipping through channels (I know, ne pas zapper, but still ...) and paused at Tez. There was a guy in their studio who looked like he hadn't bathed for a week, sitting and singing a song I'd never heard in a damn besura voice. I was just wondering what the hell this was about,when he abruptly stopped singing, raised his hand to his nose, and pinched it close. He them took a deep breath through his mouth, relaxed, and then began to open and pinch close his nostrils rapidly as to produce a nosy tune of the song he had been singing. When he stopped, I was choking with laughter, but the reporter calmly smiled and congratulated him on his 'kala'. Sheesh. News channels ke itne bure din aa gaye?

3) Old design - I really want the notebooks with the old designs back. The new ones by Janta Book Depot must be cheaper for the school, I suppose, for they do look like it. I hate the horrible green cover with black flecks. It looks diseased. I want the nice Tushar Publications notebooks back.

4) Ba dies - I'm not a horrible person that I want someone dead, and neither is Ba a vamp that she should die, but it's time she died. 'Kyunki Saas bhi...' has completed around a million episodes and Ba's grand children now have grand children, but that lady is still alive and kicking. I'm sorry Ba, but its time to go.

5) Pakistan ki gatha - I wish Pakistan turns into a nice democracy with true elections sans anymore bloodshed and its people live happily without fear. Mein kitmi mahan hoon. Meri jai ho!
Oh yeah, also, when Pakistan elects its PM, he/she will come to meet me personally cause thanks to my dua, he/she was elected.

6) Ed board - I become the main editor of the Ed Board. Atleast I'll ensure it won't suck as much as this year's did.

7) Whatever -whatever plans I have for this year may actually take place and not remain just plans.

8) Travel - I hope I travel abroad yet again. And due to Pre-Boards, I didn't even get to travel anywhere this winter.

9) Claire - I know this is very mean of me, but I hope a really cute guy comes instead of my host, Claire this year. A nice, sweet, shy and cute guy. Ok, I'll stop dreaming. French and cute and not my hosts boyfriend? Nah. Impossible.

10) Packaging dream - I know this won't happen, but I wish the Lays and other companies would use less plastic in packing their meagre amount of chips. How many times have you just opened a bag of chips and still had to reach really deep inside to get to them? And they're polluting the environment too, those assholes.

11) Etc - I wish for world peace, etc etc

What are your wishes this new year? SMS your wishes to 9877777777. Type 'wishes' your wish and win amazing prizes! (yeah right, you will...)

2007 Ki Jai

2007 is gone. I'm sad that it has, but you really can't hold on to anything for long, can you? I have to agree that it was an amazing year,and maybe more memorable than the last few.
When the year began, I really was expecting a lot from it. Firstly, because it's the last year with section F and also because I believe 7 is lucky for me. You all must have read in the newspaper how 9 occurred again and again in Benazir's life. It's similar for me. I'll tell you the gatha in another post.

This year was simply amazing. We got Lakshmi ma'am as our class teacher, and though we hated her sometimes, we loved her too, and couldn't deny that she taught us a lot. Then, the French exchange trip was too good. I was a bit baffled at first by the speed with which the people spoke French, but began to enjoy it too. I was lucky to have my host in Cognac (yeah! Cognac!), as I got to see Cognac, as well as Angouleme and Paris. Paris was pretty, but quite small, and the Eiffel tower was huge! There weren't cute guys in France at all, unlike what Meha had predicted (well, except for my host's boyfriend. Damn.). I also discovered (even though I expected it) that the French thought us, like, VERY backward, expected we slept on the floor and gasped in surprise when they found us using the Net or Hotmail. It was also hilarious sometimes, like when Vidisha's host turned out to be lesbian and when Utkarsh showed us the video of the theme park he went to, where the background of a kids' ride had pictures of nude girls. (Read all posts in May)

I sadly had to miss our assembly,which I can guess from descriptions, was horrible. Because -
a) very few were allowed to participate and
b) Sambhav was apparently selecting the songs (sheesh.)
c) etc.

Then, I also loved the time spent at my grandma's place with my cousins in the summer holidays, though it was a bit cramped in the 4-bedroom house. Everyone in the immediate family was staying there and it was one of the most wonderful times I spent with my family. Everyone was so caring and loving. Out of the 9 cousins, I'm the middle one, 4 older, 4 younger. It made me feel good inside to see how everyone cared about me. I wasn't left out of anything. I went with the adults to the hospital, I played with the little kids, I went shopping with the older kids, but, it would have been nice if we all hadn't met because my aunt was sick. We all used to laugh and smile around her, make plans how we'd go for a whole family trip to Shimla or some place, when she got well. She didn't. God bless her soul. (Read post She)

I had to work hard to catch up with work after the holidays and man, was it tough!
Since then, till now, I've been discovering work I haven't done and was supposed to do in the holidays.

My aunt died soon after the assessments, and my reaction to the news wasn't unlike the one I had on hearing that Benazir had died. I went "Huh? What? Are you serious?" It's a pity she left with dreams in her eyes of getting well, going for family trips and of one day showing me her home in Lucknow. I haven't been there yet. I don't think I want to go.

Then, I fell in love again. No, not that way... I fell in love with life. I don't know why I felt so happy and thankful for everything. This happened exactly after the half-yearly's. There was Saturday after the last test and Id on sunday. I spent the next few days visiting places around Delhi where I hadn't been before, and suddenly felt very thankful for being here, where I am. I realized that life couldn't get better than this. Well, it would be good enough if people stopped wanting more. That time, there was nothing I wanted and felt happy just looking around at the things I have. I kept smiling without a reason, being nice to the worst of people and was sooo happy for around one month till when it began to wear off a bit. I mean, seriously, we're so lucky! I go to Asia's best school, am born in the world's most culturally diverse country and live in the capital! Delhi is amazing, extravagant, diverse and I'm some of the lucky ones who live in Delhi, but not on the road. I was thankful to my great-great grandfathers for not going to Pakistan and to my parents for coming to Delhi. I have a father who is ready to blow a couple of lakhs so I can see the world. My mom is so lenient with me, (unlike other Muslim mothers who want their kids in burqas) and allows me to wear anything except the sleazy dresses. I have a loving brother, who only recently turned into a preacher, (after going to college). I don't know about you, but I love my country of a million different views, of billions of ideas, of thousands of languages, of a crore examples of hope and faith, of the everyday exercise of democracy and freedom, of people with the strength to stand up for their rights, of the many accommodated cultures, and I'm proud of my country who is willing to change without losing its roots from the past. Here is a country willing to keep you no matter which religion or caste you belong to. I've never not been accepted or made fun of because I'm a Muslim in a country where majority of people are Hindus. This general acceptance isn't found in all countries. And I really love my life because of all that.

Thanks a lot 2007, thanks a lot.
And oh yeah, Adi is still an ass. Time won't change my view about him.