Bum bum bole masti mein dole!

TZP - I am a fan!

Amir Khan, I love you for making such a wonderful film.

I don't think I've cried so much in any film. (Sharan, did you cry?) It was mildly embarassing cause by the time I came out my whole face was dry, my nose red, my kajal had disappeared, and my hair was also messy so I was looking like a worse version of the just-out-of-bed look. But I loved it - the movie that is. It's such an important film especially for Indian parents to watch. What we lack is awareness and this movie does just that - increasing awareness - in such a beautiful way.

Again, I love Amir Khan. And I loved his character in the movie even more. Coming out of your own difficult past to help others is really something.

I am inspired. I want to DO something to change the way the education system in this country works. Maybe I'll open a school someday where kids have a whole lot of fun even in the way they are studying and every teacher will be like Amir in the movie. There will be singing and dancing and art... Mmmmmm, I like the thought of that. There's something worth doing...

Khul ke soche aao,

Pankh zara phailaao

Rang naye bikhrao

Chalo chalo chalo chalo

Naye khwaab bun le

(So free your mind

Spread your wings

In a riot of colour

Come on

Let's spin new dreams)

- From the song 'Bum Bum Bole - Taare Zameen Par)

Anyway, I better be off. I'm going to have a small Hebby (+ desi) re-union today! Tashu and Taryn. I can't wait!!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Joy oh Joy!

For Christ is born!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us, and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the

Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

(The Bible)

Happy Christmas to all!

It's a Wonderful Life!

I just discovered this photo of facebook and I love it! This was taken on our annual day at college and it's like one of those unwritten rules that all must wear traditional clothes and come on that day. Thus, we are all in salwar kameez's (including dupattas - they're such a pain those things!)
Left to right: Smriti (she lives in the hostel with me), Vini (she hates taking photos, pleasantly and surprisingly she's in this one!), Sonu (my first day college buddy!), Me (yours truly!), Antu (fellow bong!) and Sharan (well, don't we all know Sharan!)

It's Christmas Eve! I want to go to church tomorrow but I'm not sure where to go and I have no idea what time the services might be at.

Hmm, oh and my brother seemingly has the movie - 'It's a Wondeful Life' which is a really really old Christmas movie so I plan on watching that tonight. D also left us some presents under the Christmas tree, sweetheart that she is. I'm excited!

Everyone must watch Stardust. I watched it again yesterday - well I sort of fell asleep a couple of times in between cause I was tired since I had stayed up late the night before watching it - see, it's like a vicious cycle! :) My cousin (Diu) came over yesterday afternoon so we watched it together and she really liked it to. Diu's come from Bombay to work and her parents are my gaurdians there. So funny, it's like we had an exchange program.

Anyway,

Merry Christmas Eve!

What do stars do?

You know when I said, I know little about love?
Well, that wasn't true. I know a lot about love.
I've seen it. I've seen centuries and centuries of it. It was the only thing that made watching your world bearable.
All those wars, pain and lies, hate, made me want to turn away and never look down again.
But to see the way that mankind loves...
You could search the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful.
So yes, I know that love is unconditional, but I also know that love can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and well, strangely easy to mistake for loathing and what... I'm trying to say... Tristan, is that I think I love you!
My heart, it feels like.... well, my chest can barely contain it, like it doesn't belong to me anymore.

- The Star tells Tristan, from the movie Stardust.

This is my favourite scene from the movie. I LOVE the movie! It's fantastical, magical, beautiful, funny - one of those fantasy movie you must watch. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.

This scene also reminded me of the first song we sang in the Carol Service last Sunday...

One candle light another,
Then there are two,
Soon there are four,
Why can't we love one another?
Till there is peace,
And hate is no more.

Human capacity to love really is great and it is beautiful. So why can't we love one another? Imagine the power of love if it could wipe out hatred and bring peace.

Hymne a l'Amour

I'm listening to Josh Groban. He is AMAZING. I don't really like the 'Drummer Boy' song but when he sings it... nuff' said! Pa rum pum pum pum!

I had to wake up at 7:20 today and will have to do so for the rest of my holiday cause D and Dada have gone off to Vizag for Christmas with D's side of the family and usually Lulu's breakfast was D's job and now it has been passed on to me... The problem is that for some reason Lulu's not eating. She's hungry, but she's not eating so I basically had to feed her like a little baby, with the whole 'choo choo train' trick and all. I hope she eats her lunch.

I watched 'A Walk to Remember' AGAIN last night - part of the reason why it was so hard to wake up this morning.

I also started reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' but it's pretty fat so I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it before I leave.

Come they told me

Pa rum pum pum pum

A new born King to see

Pa rum pum pum pum

Our finest bring we bring

Pa rum pum pum pum

To lay before the King

Pa rum pum pum pum

So to honour Him

Pa rum pum pum pum

When we come

Pa rum pum pum pum

We're having Biriyani at my cousin's place today. Yum! And I can't think of anything else to write...

Later,

What Child is this?

That day so many years ago...

I love the story of Christmas... It's just so amazing, extraordinary, everything beyond our imagination.

Truth is born in a stable,
Hope in a baby's eyes,
The Son of God has come to us,
A tiny stranger,
Heaven in a manger...

The greatest of Kings, born in the most humble of places.

Mary, did you know?
That your baby boy,
Would someday
Walk on water...

Mary, did you know?
That your baby boy,
Would save our
Sons and Daughters...

Did you know?
That your baby boy,
Has come to
Make you new...

The son that you delivered,
Would soon deliver you...

It's not about the Christmas trees, the presents, the lights, the Santas, food and wine... It's about Jesus. The King of Kings, born in a stable. God, made into flesh to save mankind.

This Christmas, think about these things...

Think about that day, so many years ago...

The Blue of Paradise

Haha. I tried out your link to slogans, Meg. Thus, the title. It's quite funny, more random titles to come!
Holiday tomorrow! I have classes from 8 till 11:20 in the morning and then I'll head for my Granny's in Andheri, have lunch and spend some time with her before I catch my flight at 5pm. Ye ye ye!
I went out Carol singing again today. Was good fun, I love the people from church. And dear Titus made us walk a lot cause well he THOUGHT he knew the place so of course he wouldn't bother to ask anyone so we just walked... walked ...walked and then finally he asked and we had to walk and walk back! Anyway, we were still early cause the rest were late - like really late!
Gahhh, my throat is all weird!
I'm going home tomorrow!! Somehow it doesn't seem like it... like I haven't packed enough and i'm only going for like 8 days...
Anyway, I better go get some sleep!

Rejoice! Rejoice!
For Christ was born on Christmas Day!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
We have a reason to celebrate!
Rejoice!

When Worlds Meet

I sing in the choir tomorrow and guess what? I woke up with a sore throat this morning! Had to happen, right?

Anyway, I’m feeling relatively better now. And soon I will be dragged to go shopping and then again to church for a full run-through for tomorrow.

I’m so EXCITED! Tomorrow three of my worlds shall meet! Well, sort of… Orvi’s coming and he will be representing Hebby, my college buddies will also be there, hostel mates and church friends :D

I’m staying at Sharan’s place tomorrow night cause I’ll get late after the service is over which doesn’t make too much sense cause Sharan lives like MILES away but I want to go and if I manage to wake up at 5 in the morning on Monday then I’ll attend Eco. It’s going to be a long and funnnnn weekend.

Apparently we have a Christmas tree at home! Looking forward to seeing that. Today, Dada and D celebrate their first anniversary! It’s already been a year! Yikes, time passes FAST!

Can’t think of anything else to say…

Later,

Merry Christmas!

It ain't me babe!

You can ignore the title, it's just a line from my favourite song from the movie - 'Walk the Line'
I actually had classes today. It's been a rare thing this term - we've just had too many other events in college which is a good thing cause well, who wants to go to classes?? Yesterday was our 'Annual Day' so we didn't have classes and watched a program in the auditorium instead which was great fun... It was totally packed and the performances were really entertaining.
After that we went out to 'Pizzeria' and had ummm... pizzas! ;) The pizzas were great but highly over-priced so we weren't quite satisfied so we went to 'Shiv Sagar' later and even that place turned out to be expensive but we ate anyway and just chatted...
I'm going home next week! Will only be there for about a week but looking forward to it anyway.
Uploading some pics from Sharan's surprise party and other random things...
More later,

Let there be Joy to the World

Honestly, I'm too tired to blog and my brain is protesting against my body and wants to shut down but it's been five days since I last blogged and if I keep putting it off I'll have way too much to say and not enough words to say them and that could get a little crazy. So here goes. A post that may or may not make too much sense.
I've been having a whole lot of fun. This little term between Diwali and Christmas has been all about FUN and honestly very very little or no studying. I'm not complaining. I might just get used to this!
Sunday was GREAT! Besides church (where the talk was really awesome and we also had choir practice) we also had a surprise party for Sharan. The best part was that she was totally surprised and oh-so-happy and it made us all really happy too. She was jumping for joy (literally) and it was just great! She turned 18 today but we had to have the party a day earlier cause there were other various things happening today. So the 6 of us (Vini, Joyee, Sonu, Antu, Gauri and I) made our way to Vashi on an over-crowded train (that was quite an experience) and up the lift (that was an adventure!) and hid ourselves in her house as her mum (who was co-conspiring with us) sent her down for tomatoes or something and then her sister brought her into the room we were hiding in and SURPRISE!!!! Ah good times. :-)
I stayed over at Joyee's house to save myself from getting thrown out of the hostel for being late back and also to prevent getting lost AGAIN. I don't think I've written about that - so the last time I went to Sharan's place I was alone on the way back and somehow FORGOT to get off at my stop (which was the last stop actually) and almost went back to Sharan's house before I realised the train had started going 'backwards'. Agh.
I loaned my 'Walk to Remember' DVD (which my darling Dotty/Tribal Kid/Niru sent for me all the way from Aussieland) to Sharan as a part of her birthday treat cause she's been wanting to watch it for a while. Unfortunately we couldn't watch the whole thing together cause it was late and we were a long way from home.
Jo and I barely stayed awake for about two hours after we got to her place, we had a conference call with Sharan at midnight to wish her and then we debating cooking something or eating something but finally decided we were not hungry enough to actually get out of bed to do that so we just stayed in bed and drifted off to sleep...
My sleep was slightly interrupted with almost nightmarish dreams and then before I knew it, it was morning. Didn't make much of a difference though - I was too sleepy (and uninterested) to attend Eco so after Jo had her driving class we headed to college together...
Orvi's back in town! And everyone is coming to the Carol service at church next Sunday (everybody being the friends that matter to me the most) and I am uber excited about that.
Tomorrow I will be missing college cause I will be volunteering for this thing called 'Salaam Mumbai' which is like an anti-tobacco organisation. Basically it's a cricket match for kids at this stadium called 'Brabourne' in South Mumbai and there will be thousands of kids and we have to help handle them... I don't know what I'm expecting... I'm expecting I'll be tired by the end of it and I'm hoping it'll be fun... :)
And on that note (I haven't got any work done!! ahhhh) I really need a shower and sleep!
Oh wait, one more thing. I believe that God is awesome and that He is doing great things in my life and in the life of those around me and I'm excited! I'm learning a lot. And I just thought that it's time that I openly expressed that...
I'm learning to breathe,
I'm learning to fly,
I'm finding that You
And You alone can break my fall...
G'night! :)

This thing called Christmas...

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.

It’s not just a lyric, it’s true! I want to be in a place where it’s snowing now. It’s still hot in Bombay. Not as hot, but still – I want it to be cold! Many Mumbaikers seem to think it is cold though and I think it’s so bizarre – people walking around in sweatshirts and jumpers and jackets and getting sick. I guess I shouldn’t talk too much; I may end up with a cold myself. But I like to think I have Ooty blood.

I’m getting a lot of questions nowadays. Questions that I don’t have answers to sometimes but I’m glad to be questioned. For my own benefit and also for the benefit of the person asking the questions. I think it’s important to ask questions. It’s like admitting that there are some things that we don’t know and that we want to know the truth behind them and the truth is good, the truth is important, the truth is essential. And I think that if you truly seek it, the truth will show itself. Ask and you SHALL receive. Not you might, but you SHALL. It’s definite. There is no doubt about it.

One of the wise questions I got was; what is Christmas all about?

I think it’s a question, I need to think about. I don’t want it to be just about presents, Santa, Christmas trees, mistletoe, plum cake, wine, snow, etc, etc. I want it to be more.

So what’s Christmas to you?

Also, check this out! It's hilarious!

Birthday Season!

It’s birthday season over here and I’m going to be broke by the time I go back home. But I ain’t complaining – birthdays are fun, fun, fun!

Here are some pics from Antu’s Birthday. We had a GREAT time. We went out to lunch at a restaurant called ‘New Yorkers’ where they had vegetarian food! I thought that was quite funny, but they food was great. They had like Mexican and Italian dishes and oh yummy sizzling brownie. We had a whole lot of gifts that we kept producing at intervals and you should have seen Antu’s face! I love surprising people! After lunch, we simply walked down the road and tasted ‘Chilly Ice-cream’ – so bizarre. I didn’t really like it but Sharan is a great fan apparently.

At around 3, we headed off to Colaba to catch a movie (also a surprise) called ‘Aaja Nachle’. The movie was okay. It’s a dance movie thus great dancing, great songs and not too much of a story. Of course there was Kunal Kapoor in it and that really was the main attraction for me!! (He’s so cute!)

Tomorrow is another birthday, so I went shopping today and it felt really weird. It’s one of the things I’m really not good at – especially without my friends around. So I walked up and down Colaba like twice and then finally just picked up something and tried to bargain a little but I don’t think I really got good prices but whatever I just wanted to get out of there. Somehow shopping and me don’t go well together.

Oh – I’m a bit late but IT’S DECEMBER!! And CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!

It’s exciting. I love this month. But February is still my favourite month ;)

Time passes fast. Really fast. I've been out of school for almost two years! I think that will always be like my way of measuring the passage of time.

One year since I left school.... Almost two years.... Five years... and I should be done with college.... Ten years??? Who knows! But I'm excited to find out!

I read a Walk To Remember today. I started in the afternoon and finished it in the evening. It was pretty easy to read cause I kind of know the story of by heart but then again the story I know is the movie one. I dunno, I thought I liked the movie story better but then the book is also nice. They're really quite different actually. So they're both nice. I can't wait to watch the movie again!