January is over!

Can you believe that? And we have just 13 more days… Actually, less than that if you don’t count the Sundays… 11 days! Ohmyword! We have just 11 days more of classes and then we’re off for two excruciatingly looong study leave months – during which period, I am going to go mad btw. Be warned. I don’t deal so well with staying cooped up in the house with nothing to do. Yes, I know… I do in fact have to STUDY during the study leave but come on… two months!? And now there’s talk going around that our exams will be in the middle of April as opposed to 4^th of April (remember? This is why I don’t take the University’s word for it!) Ew. That’s all I have to say on this matter… for now.

Anyway, today we were at a friend, Monisha’s place working on a presentation that we have to do next Thursday and well, between all the hard work (:P) we were just sharing stories from our first days of college and how we became friends and it’s just so crazy! Where did the three years go? I mean, I think we’ve done a good job of milking our college life. We’ve done a lot of crazy things but it’s hard to believe that it’s all almost… over :(

I never quite understood why people used to say, “Oh college life is so great, you’ll never forget your college days…” I mean, yeah… but I think when I came here I had the arrogant presumption that nothing could beat my years of school. I went to an awesome school and those years were just so fantabulous. But now I GET IT!! School was great – no doubt about that (and I’m super excited about the prospect of maybe going back there one day!) - but you can’t really compare college life to that. It’s been the best on a completely different level and I’ve changed… Honestly. Sometimes, I don’t even recognize myself! It’s hard to describe but I have changed and I don’t mean to be cocky, but I’ve changed for the better and that’s not at all to my credit. I know… maybe this kind of sounds like an Oscar speech but I’ve just been thinking a lot about these things as college has started winding down… Bombay has changed me. My friends have changed me. And it's all because I didn’t get what I wanted… I got what my parents wanted and I got what God wanted!

You know what I wanted? I wanted to go the US. Or Canada. Or Australia. I basically wanted to be anywhere in the world except for India. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to live in a clean, cool and organized city… I had dreams of traveling to all these exotic places… being closer to all my friends from school… ad infinitum…

BUT I got Bombay. And if you’ve been here you’ll know that Bombay is FAR from clean, cool and organized. It’s exactly the opposite. But I am actually grateful for it beyond what words can express... now! And I am so glad that I have finally reached the point where I understand this. This is why I can get on a train-full of vicious and grumpy “first-class ladies” every morning and still be smiling away to glory... for no apparent reason! Trust me it’s taken me a looong time to get here. I was pretty grumpy myself when all this began!

The point is, that even though it's been a long journey and it's not what I initially wanted for myself, I think it's been the best possible thing. I like where I am now but I'm not so presumptuous to think that I've gotten where I need to get. I'm still a work in progress! ;)

So there are some random “deep” thoughts from the recesses of my brain for you!

Now here’s a random picture… or two!

Firstly, this is my "Mama-Dadu" and me!
He's my grand-uncle and the closest thing I've ever had to a grandfather. Sweetest old man ever!

This is Gauri! She and Jo performed in a dance-drama last weekend and I was planning not to take any photos because when I'm taking photos I get so involved in that that I miss the whole performance itself but I just couldn't resist! These are just a few of the colour pics. I took most of them in B/W but I'll upload those another day...

Joyee!
She did a role that she hasn't quite done before and pulled it off with absolute grace! So proud of you girlie!

Antu, Sonu and yours truly at the performance!
We're all into sarees now! And we actually draped them ourselves for the first time! :)

Happy Weekend All! :D

The world is not a small place!

Will be heading back to my Bombay-reality soon and I find it difficult to be joyful about that until I'm already there. Once I get to college and meet my ridiculously fabulous friends, I'll be all-okay! But for now, I'm kind of sad that the day is getting closer and I was feeling a little more bummed out than usual today because my laptop has been giving me a lot of problems and it's gone to get fixed but the guy is such a procrastinator and i'm getting kind of desperate. I mean, my granny doesn't have a TV and so my laptop is my only sort of connection to the world in a sense so I think that I NEED my laptop which is kind of scary because that's not really true. I don't NEED it. What I really need, I already have. But yeah, it's hard to always be at that place of realisation and I was definitely not there today...

But then I just got to picking up this thread of thought that I had yesterday about this holiday and just how I've been able to reconnect with so many of my friends (from Hebron especially)... made new friends in Bangalore at Radiance... Got to meet with Lambu.. twice! Spoke/chatted with so many friends thanks to the wonderful technologies of Skype, Gtalk, MSN, etc! I just got off the phone with Sakshi in Nagpur. Yesterday I talked to my dear friend and sister, Taryn in Delhi. The night before that I spoke to Natasha in the US. I got an awesomely long email from Grace in South Korea just updating us on what's been going on in her life over the last couple of months! I'm currently chatting with Niru in Australia. I spoke to Anjali and Gloria in Germany. John in the US. Meg in Canada. Alva in Sweden. Jugal in the UK. And the list goes on... And also I've added so many new people on Facebook! Now, i'm definitely not the kind of girl who's into the whole friends list rat-race but yeah, it's cool to make new connections and then realise how your new connections have connections with your old connections. You know what I mean? I'm not going to say the clichéd "It's a small world" because I've always sort of had a problem with that phrase because I don't really buy it. It's not really a small world and there are definitely not a small number of people living on the planet but somehow, we still manage to bump into the right people at the right time :)

And I'm so very grateful for that. Friendship is precious! And I feel really blessed by that today! It's one of those things that make my heart siiiiiing! ;)

And talking of singing, here's a song that I'm loving right now!

What's four months, right?

Four months. Four months. I keep chanting this to myself.

I'm on my last full Sunday back home and I am very grateful for that because this was technically supposed to be my last half-Sunday here. And it has been good! I just got back from an extended sleepover at dada and D's place and we played Scrabble, watched a hilarious movie called Waking Ned Devine (1998), listened to music ranging from Nirvana to the soundtrack of Avatar (!!!) to U2...on their awesome home theatre system (it's just magical!), ate D's awesome cooking (spaghetti last night and prawn curry with coconut rice for lunch today - she's a genius, obviously), drank breezers, made conversation, another morning with Radiance today... all in all, lots of fun!

Anyway, back to the "four months" and what that means. Well, you see two nights ago, my friend Antu mass-msged us this...

This isn't something you should know on the 1ST OF JANUARY, but I had to tell you this- just checked the university website which says that our exams begin from the 5th of april... er, all the best to us

I'm not sure how the rest reacted to that but my reaction? Well, I did my little "jump-clap-fists-in-the-air dance that I do when I'm really happy and nobody's watching :P

Now, I generally don't take the "University's" word for it, especially if it's on the website but if this is in fact true what this means is that we have like no time and it's going to be all study-study-study as SOON as I get back but this is where the "four months" thing comes in... Exams starting in April means exams ending in May... hopefully. Tops. And that means, ladies and gentlemen... that yours truly is going to be DONE with college in FOUR MONTHS! Done with Bombay in FOUR MONTHS! (I feel like I should add a parenthesis everywhere saying "hopefully" because well, who knows anything for sure, right? God loves to add a good "twist" in the story sometimes and He might just decide that I haven't had enough of Bombay yet but yeah, HOPEFULLY!)

The tragic part about that is that I have four precious months left with some girls... who have been the best friends I've made in the last four years. (You know who you are!) Also, saying goodbye to Bombay... granted, it has its quirks that really drive me up the wall on the bad days but Bombay also gave me so much. A few months ago I tried to write down the whole "Why Bombay?" story... What's that? Well, how it happened (it is quite a story...) and trying to figure out why it happened (I mean the less obvious whys of it), what I've learnt from it, etc, etc... It's a pretty long story but yeah, it is pretty awesome how some things have just become clearer to me now and if I ever manage to articulate the whole thing maybe I'll publish it on the blog one day but the basic idea is that Bombay has been both the best thing and the hardest thing I've done since I left school so it will be hard to leave but I am also so looking forward to it!

So yeah, right now I'm still half-believing that my three years in Bombay has already just come down to four more measly months, being kind of sad that I will be done with Sophia's soon, and yet being so out-of-my-mind-excited about the fact that I will be a graduate very very soon and then there are new and exciting things in store for me in the next year (more about that as and when...)! That's what four months means for me right now.

Four months.

Isn't life just beautiful? It's never the same. Every day is just awesomely new. Thank you God for that. Seriously.

Still wondering why I’m here
Still wrestling with my fear
But oh, He’s up to something
And the farther on I go
I’ve seen enough to know
That I’m, not here for nothing
He’s up to something

There is hope for me yet
Because God won't forget
All the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see
He's not finished with me yet

-- Brandon Heath, "Wait and See"

Have an awesome first full week of 2010!

The year that was... 2009!

**Right, I've been thinking about this post for like a month now. I think this might turn out to be one of my favourite posts to do on the blog every year! Anyway, so I started making little mental notes around the time my exams were going on last month and have been putting it together for the past couple of days, trying very hard to stop myself from posting it before the 31st because that was the plan but now if I keep letting it stew in my "drafts" I'll keep adding stuff and then it'll get intolerably long so I think I'll just publish it now! :P**

Another year gone by! It hasn't been all good. I mean, this year was a year of crazy things - the strike, swine flu, etc... but you know, even though some things seem terrible while you're actually going through it, when you look back, in retrospect, it's amazing... like all these threads just come together into a beautiful tapestry. It may not even come together just yet but I know that one day I will look back at some things that just didn't make much sense at the time and think, "ohhhh, that's why that happened!!"

But anyway, last year I made a list of some of the best moments of 2008 on the blog and I loved doing that because it was so great to just look back and remember! And so here are some of the best moments of 2009. Obviously this list is not at all comprehensive - that would go on for pages and pages!

Grace's visit to Bombay! (Jan)

Two beautiful weddings (Jan and August)

Chrissy and Anna (and friends) stopping through Bombay (Feb) Getting my glasses. I actually dislike wearing them, but they do help me to see clearly so I guess should be thankful for that! (Feb)

Turning 21, Kala Ghoda Festival 2009, meeting Coco! (Feb)

Antu and Coco (her cousin's daughter) at the Kala Ghoda festival 2009

Finishing off my second year of college and the after-party at Sharan's! (March)

At Sharan's place right after we finished our 2nd Year final exams! Vini and I went in the pool and made the rest jealous and they all promptly signed up for classes that summer! :P

My first Earth Hour (March)

Exercising my right to vote for the first time!! (April)
Taking D up to Ooty, Easter in Ooty, bumping into some wonderful Hebronites in Ooty... just OOTY! (April)

Club Mahindra Holiday in Thekkady with the parentals! Especially the elephant-ride! (April)

The elephant called "Chandramukhi" who kindly let us take a ride on her back! This is her "blessing" me! Sweet! April. Thekkady, Kerala.

Learning cross stitching :) (May)

Georgia and Gina - my first completed project of cross-stitching! ;)

Re-union with Taryn and Grace! And Skypeing with Tashu in the wee hours of the morning... (June)

Another reunion with Taz, Jonny and Chandni! (June)

At Coffee World, Brigade Road, Bangalore.

Random and amazing conversation with the Librarian lady who was cross-stitching on an Andheri local train (June)

Becoming a member of the American Center Library. One of the 'happy places' I love to escape to in Mumbai! (June)

Watching two plays by Naseerudhin Shah's theatre group - Waiting for Godot and Ismat Apaa Ke Naam (II). (July and September)

The infamous "Teachers' Strike". Yeah, I'm actually being thankful for this... now. In itself it was terrible and at the time, I was fuming and whining. It taught me a lot and lead to a lot of amazing things. (August)

Meg's visit to Bombay and the unplanned rendezvous with Orville! (August)

Being "photographer" at Jo's performance in Chitrangada at the Nehru Centre ;) (September)
Planning and executing Surprise Birthday Parties. We're the best at it ;) (September, November, December)

Sharan's birthday at her place, Antu's birthday cake - the one where they wrote her name as "Anutu"!, Jo's birthday at her place!

Lunch on Antu's birthday at 'Something Fishy', Andheri, Mumbai. 30th Nov, 2009

Going for Arundhati Roy's book launch of "Listening to Grasshoppers" at the Townhall. She is one amazing woman and made me think about a lot of things... (October)

Carrying out our Research Project on Foreigners' Perspective on Hospitality in Mumbai! (November)

Tabulating the data we collected at Monisha's place, Nariman Point, Mumbai.

Kaleidoscope 2009!! Best ever! (November)

The final day of K'scope

Late night, drinking wine and fabulous conversation with my favourite girls in Bombay at Cafe Ivy. (November)

Me at Cafe Ivy. We ordered a bottle of wine, two plates of french fries and made excited conversation!

Christmas Breakfast with Radiance (December)

Christmas Breakfast at Danny's place, Banaswadi, Bangalore. 25th Dec, 2009!

Lambu (Arjun Durr), another friend from Hebron came to visit in Bangalore (December)

Being Home. Because of the strike and other various circumstances, coming home for holidays all of this year has been so unpredictable but thank God, I got my holidays! And even extra days sometimes! :) (Summer, August, Diwali, Christmas)

Our beautiful house in Bangalore one summery sunset... :)

...Phew! See what I mean? It's been a gooooooood year! :) And next year will be even better, I know it! It will be a year of BIG changes and it will be kind of scary because, hey let's face it, change is NOT easy. But it can be exciting and I can't wait to see what God has been planning all along! He never fails to surprise!

Here's hoping that He makes all things new for you this coming year!

Happy New Year! :D

Just so you know...

I'm having a really awesome Christmas break at home! ;)

D and I on Christmas eve at the Leela Palace doing some last-minute gift hunting! :P

Sayo and her youngest son, John, conspiring on what present to choose at the Christmas breakfast with Radiance! I just love this picture!

Me (in a saree after a pretty long time!!) and the parentals all set to head out for a scrumptious Christmas Dinner and D's folks' place...

Dada and me on Christmas night...

Good friend and fellow Hebronite, Arjun Durr came to visit for a day! 'Twas a good time!

Hope ya'll are also enjoying the last few days of 2009! :D

The Shadow Proves The Sunshine

It's kinda quiet around here. Finally.

(1) Could it be true?

Could life be new?

It's been loud and frenzied for the last couple of weeks with college and then Kscope and while I love loud and frenzied, quiet is good. I'm grateful for quiet.

(2) All that's in my head,

Is in your hands.

I'm in the middle of exams. Two down, four more to go. The first two were pretty OK. Next one's not till Thursday so I'm relaxing a little and enjoying the stillness because it's going to get loud again from Thursday. The rest of the exams and then after the exams we have a bunch of looming deadlines with projects to meet so – madness!

(3) I'm finding that you,

And you alone can break my fall.

I'm listening to music and writing (like mad!) and reading (Pride & Prejudice, finally!) in between the studying. The studying is kind of a pain-in-me-arse but you know, if we didn't sometimes have to do things that we don't particularly like doing, everything else would also be kind of meaningless. I mean, I love listening to music more because for those moments I can NOT think about studying and that makes it sweeter.

(4) You push until you're shoving,

You bend until you break.

I think this is why I don't like being addicted to anything. Addictions always let you down and it's kind of boring. Diversity is sweet. Do things that you don't always do. Break the patterns.

(5) Let me know that you love me,

Let that be enough.

Hmm, this is turning out to be a post of random rambling/ not making much sense. That's not really new, is it? :P I did have a point, though. I wanted to say something...

(6) There's so much more than empty conversations

Filled with empty words.

Oh yes, last night (or the night before, I forget) I was thinking about how I haven't made one of those “I am thankful for...” lists on my blog for a while. And man, I am thankful for a lot of things. Anyway, so I began writing stuff down in my journal and I realised I can't just make lists because once I write down a point I feel like elaborating on the things about that thing or person that I am most thankful about. Lol. So I didn't get very far but the point is that I realised that when I think of things that I am most thankful about, they're all people.

So I want to tell you that I am thankful for you, dear blogreader. Silent or not-so-silent as you may be. Thank you for reading!

(7) Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.

Where can you run to escape from yourself?

I started this blog about 3 years ago and got a lot more from it than I ever bargained for! I don't even completely remember what the motive for starting this blog was initially but now, now I hope that when you come to read this blog you wouldn't see me. You would see something that is much much bigger than me :)

(8) In the currency of grace;

Is where my song begins.

Have a joyful week!

And if you're wondering what's with the little numbered quotes. I'm listening to Switchfoot (and falling in love with them all over again!) and the lines may or may not have anything to do with the rest of the post :P And I've numbered them for any of you fellow Switchfoot fans who might want to take a dig at guessing the songs from which I've picked up the lines! (For the record, I would not be able to do it myself. So go ahead, impress me! :D)

What makes your heart sing?

The Gateway of India

So I'm back in Bombay and "ohh my". These are busy days. Usually this section of term is the most relaxed. It's a short term between the Diwali break and Christmas and we don't have all that much to do but not this time. No siree. This time we have exams, project submissions and Kaleidoscope 2009 standing before us like one huge, very intimidating grizzly bear. And being still and calm is not so easy.

A group from Canada at Kala Ghoda

Anyway, on the first day of college my friends and I got down to action and started collecting our data for a Research Project that we are required to do. It's a group effort and we can choose to research just about anything we want and then do a lit survey, formulate a questionnaire, etc, etc. My group chose to try and find out how hospitable Mumbai is from a foreigners' perspective. (If you've been to Mumbai and are willing, do send me your email add, would love to mail you a questionnaire!)

Gauri, Jo, Me and Antu - 4 out of 7 members of our group. The other three took a break yesterday.

So on Friday we went out with our questionnaires to Colaba and Gateway of India and scavenged for foreigners to fill out our questionnaire. It was a great experience and we met all sorts of interesting people from countries like France, Spain, UK, Argentina, Slovenia, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, etc, etc. Coolest one so for me was the postman from Ireland! :D So yeah, we've had two days of that so far and we're about 60% through our sample size so that's been really great albeit really tiring because we're out there after morning classes in the HOT sun! :S

Day 3 is tomorrow! *excitement*

So I had this God-epiphany yesterday, which is what I call it when my head grasps a little bit of what my heart believes. I was thinking just how fabulous it is that God is so intimately involved in my life. He's there like my life is the most important thing to Him. So while He's telling the sun to rise, the geese to fly south (or north or whatever) and telling the spider how to make his cobweb or making Jupiter dance on it's orbit and the falling stars fly through the heavens, He's right here. ALL of Him. Interested, listening to my concerns and comforting me. Telling me in His loving ways that I don't need to worry about anything. That He is in control and He wants what is best for me.

That just makes my heart sing! Lalalalala! :D

"How can someOne so beautiful,

feel anything for me?"

- Brooke Fraser

Have a fabulous week! :)

Treasure Hunt!

You know one of the things that I LOVE about this wonderful world of blogging?
Sometimes, you find such treasures on other total strangers' blogs!
Here is one such treasure!
It's a song called 'Beautiful You' by Monk and Neagle. The video is compiled by some other total stranger on YouTube and it's not that great but just let it load and listen to the song!

Beautiful You
I can’t imagine life without You
Beautiful You
I can’t imagine being alone
Beautiful You
The only thing I ever wanna do
Beautiful You
Is have You hold me in Your arms
Beautiful You

-- Beautiful You by Monk and Neagle

Shine for you.

Guess who I saw yesterday?

TAZZO!Taz and me catching up on the couch at her aunt's place

She got leave for a couple days and came to Bangalore. I wasn't sure I'd get to see her because she left for Ooty the morning after I reached Bangalore and then had to fly back out to Delhi yesterday evening but then it worked out really neatly and I went over to her aunt's place in Kamanahalli and we got a couple of precious hours together!

I also got to see her mom and her little brother which was so great cause I haven't seen them in so long!

Taryn and her brother, Micah, who is one the sweetest 12 year old boys I have ever met!

Taryn is so very special to me. We started school together at Hebron almost 9 years ago and went through all the highs and lows that come in the life of a bunch of teenage girls together! So very glad I got to catch up with her and so excited for the awesome things that God is doing in her life right now! :) I'll get her to guest-write about that on the blog one of these days! ;)

Celebrating Light!

Light the fire

In my soul.

Fan the flame,

Make me whole.

HAPPY DIWALI!

To the sun...

On the plane, in my bag! ;)

One of the best flight's I've had in a looong time! The two seats next to me were empty and it was the middle of the afternoon, so the sun was shining in ALL ITS GLORY and the clouds - oh the clouds. So gorgeous. I was like a little kid peering out the window being awed!

Photosynthesis

Little Joys.

I was re-reading Taryn's post on my blog this summer and was reminded of this note that I'd sent out on Facebook asking people to write down 5 of their favourite things:

Little things that make me happy:

1. Walking on grass/sand/mud barefeet
2. Watching the stars
3. Dancing (salsa!)
4. Wedding photos
5. Afternoon naps (especially during exam-time ;))

What about you?

List five things that make you happy and pass it on.

I went back to read it and it's so uplifting! Here are some of my favourites from what people wrote:

• Looking at pictures of my childhood (Ribhu)
• Letters from friends - I re-read them (Sushi)
• Coloured straws. They're so bright and colourful how can you not be happy when drinking with them? Or... at the thought of drinking with them... YAY pink straws! :P (Alisha)
• Movies like Breakfast at Tiffany's (Sharan)
• Eating pani puri (Siddharth)
• Finding old photographs in the most unexpected places (Adrian)
• Babies/baby pictures (Sonu)
• The way my hair smells after the shower (Alva)
• Fresh laundry (Abi)
• Long car rides with good company and familiar music playing (Taryn)
• The weather before a HEAVY downpour - crazy winds (Dinah)

So what about you?

Do tell! (If you answered on Facebook, I'm sure you can still think of another five!)

I'm adding one more: Converse Shoes.

Photo credits:
1. summer: my barefeet in the grass, 2. Toesies 2, 3. Untitled, 4. Up Where They Play, 5. Would you like to dance salsa?, 6. Day One Hundred, 7. Pani Puri Lunch! (365-126), 8. Omaggio a Audrey Hepburn semplicemente divina!, 9. Wash Day, 10. Guitar, 11. Baby C in the Teacup, 12. - Mail Day!! -, 13. Candy straws, 14. Congratulations Missy and Charlie!, 15. Day 90/365

Maybe I'm Weird.

I'm tired. Gloriously tired.

The teachers' strike that went on in colleges in Maharashtra for more than a month got called off the night I got back from Bangalore! I am so grateful :D

So things are back to normal. Things are very abnormal but I'm loving it! Abnormal because to make up for all the classes that the teachers have missed out, we now have to put in extra hours and maybe I'm weird but I am actually pretty happy about this. We usually have classes till around 1pm but now we'll have to stay back in college till 4pm on some days to have "extra" classes so that we can finish the syllabus before the exams roll in...

Tomorrow we start at 7am! Not really jumping for joy on this one because my commute takes me an hour which means I'd have to wake up around 5am to make it to college on time. Eeks! Waking up early morning is so not my forte. But anyhow at least it's for a class that I enjoy and I actually need to use my brain! :P

Seriously, I am SO HAPPY our teacher is back. She's wonderful... and so funny :) The strike was terrible and took a toll on the students and all that but it's unfortunate that this is what they had to do to get heard!! Their demands were not unreasonable and it's high time that the govt. in India paid more attention to the Education system and everyone in it.

I guess at some point somebody has to make the sacrifice to fight for not only their benefit but also the generations to come. Of course, I can only say this in retrospect. I whined enough when the strike was on but I guess that's the beauty of retrospect. Everything DOES happen for a reason.

Anyhoo, now to writing notes and reading my big fat library book which I have to return next week.

Signing off,
Happy Tina :)

God is sheer beauty,
All generous in love,
Loyal always and ever.
-- Psalm 100:5 (The Message)

Another way to waste time?

Facebook.


Yeah, I suppose you could say it's just another way to waste time online but there are rare occassions when it can actually be useful.

Number 44, Nambala Close. The house we lived in in Lusaka.

Like just now, I chatted with this girl who used to live in my neighbourhood in Lusaka like more than a decade ago (gosh, it just hit me that I've already been on earth enough decadeS to even be able to say that! eeks!)... Anyway, so this girl and I went to nursery school together, which was called Little Big Horn (no kidding!) and we were as good friends as a couple of little kids could be but then she moved and I don't really remember much after that... And now it turns out she moved back to India around the same time I started at Hebron and she's been in Goa all these years AND next week she's moving to Bombay (and yes, I WILL soon go back to Bombay too...)! How crazy is that? Blast from the past! And what's freakier is that she'll practically be like my neighbour again because she's supposed to moving into the same area that I live in!

Now how would I have known that without the magic of Facebook? :P

My classmates in nursery school. I think this was our last day of school? I don't really remember! I may not have managed to grow a lot taller than that now, but it was a looong time ago! :P