Happy 2007!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas to all! This post is about 2006, i.e. the year of the dog, and the good and bad things about this year for me and internationally.

1) One of the most awesome experiences of my life has been miming. In the Spring Break before 9th, i signed up for miming. While signing up i thought i was making a big mistake but after the first 2 days of mime, i realized how much fun it was going to be. Our co-ordinator Mrs. Zarine Chaudhary (sp?) had her own group of people who she taught in India. She taught the deaf and mute how to speak using actions aka miming. I will never forget miming, all the fun we had during the mime workshop, the people we met and the things we learnt.

2) I, or rather many of us bid farewell to a friend in March. Natasha left Dubai in March and i really miss her...!

3) The Charity Festival took place in April. It was a wonderful event put together by many students. We had the dancers, the singers, the miming etc (I'm so sorry if i forgot anything/anyone). Those who attended or took part in the Charity Festival would know what I'm talking about when i say that it was terrific.

4) Ahh.. 9th grade began in 2006. Suddenly, new subjects were introduced to us, new teachers and new systems. "You're the pre-board batch - you have to be serious!!" - i heard that line atleast five hundred times. Thanks for the newsflash people, we didn't know that we're the pre - board batch and that we have to be serious. Still, 9th grade isn't as bad as i thought it would be (not in terms of studies, in general). I mean, atleast we're in senior school now.

5) The Swimming Gala took place in May. Every year the swimming gala rocks and this year was the same. Congrats to all the winners.

6) My grandmom passed away in May - RIP badiammi.

7) After the exams, we bid farewell to yet another friend. Diya, Jaya and their parents left for Singapore on the 4th of July and truly when we came back after dropping them off at the airport i felt something was missing.

8) The summer holidays were fun. My cousins and my brother came to visit. I went to many places with my cousins but the best was our trip to the Burj-Al-Arab. Everything is freaking gold there!!!! Pallavi, my brother's friend stayed with us also - she's so much fun! In August, many people came back from their summer vacations and we met up etc. We also remembered that we have projects to do lol.

9) Trisha left school in September and shifted to EIS Jumeirah. I miss her presence in school too. School felt pretty empty in September.

10) The Alumni Dinner held on the 20th of September was really good, though i do resent the fact that the alumni got to sit on white sation clothed tables in the quadrangle and us students were forced to sit in the court opposite the field and eat!! Anyway, I heard that the Katz went really well. When the guests exited from the hall into the quadrangle, the music suddenly began and 50 boys and girls dressed in ghagras and kurtas came running out into the quadrangle and started dancing - by the way that looked amazing. Then we came running in and did our dance (I am still embarassed about the stupid ballet dress with the sticky-out frock..) on Ole Ole Ole by Ricky Martin (I don't know the real name of the song). The most surprising fact of all - THE FOOD WAS PRETTY TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11) Of course, the Creative Festival. How can i not mention our annual Creative Festival? Even though this year it pretty much sucked... The inter-school music competition and the documentary were a lot of fun! The food court was actually ... DREADFUL!!!!!!!!

12) Our Second Term Exams got postponed... i forgot why though - can anyone please remind me? My memory really sucks. Oh, I forgot to mention DANDIYAA!!!! It was not as good as last year..

13) Diwali - The Festival of Lights! We didn't do anything besides puja and a couple of guests this time because my grandmum passed away.

14) Oh, i forgot to mention that Gayatris Diwali Party on the 20th of December ROCKED!! We all wore sarees!!

15) I Pray for Nikita Hari's health.

16) RIP Mohammed Ali and his family.

17) After the exams, we had Children's Day - i am not elaborating - check my previous post for details. Also, we went for this awesome trip to Al Ain fun City and Jabal Hafeed!!! Loads of fun!

18) A very happy Eid Mubarak to all!!

19) On the day of the parent-teacher conference, some of us went to the Al Noor Centre for Special Needs for a dance and their sports day. I thoroughly(sp???) enjoyed that experience and made a couple of new friends there. It was one of the happiest and most joyful places i have ever visited.

20) Then my one million guests arrived (ok FIVE) and i was out like everyday with them. They left on Christmas and on the morning of 26th.

21) Merry Christmas to everyone! I know i'm a bit late but still.. i didn't do anything on Christmas...

22) Pallavi is visiting again:D!!

23) Diya, Jaya and their parents came for a visit:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D!!!! We've been going out everyday and they're leaving day after tomorrow.

24) Well, well... today's the 31st - an advance HAPPY NEW YEARS to everyone! My next post should be my New Year's resolutions.

2006 seemed to be full of highs and lows, ups and downs. Then again, it was a pretty good year.

Now, 2006 internationally -

1) Personally, i am a HUGE fan of Mozart and 2006 marked the 250th anniversary of Mozart.

2) U2 swept all five nominations for Album and Songs of the Year awards, to beat Mariah Carey in the 48th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

3) The world’s second richest man, 75-year-old Warren Buffett worth $44 billion announced donating 85% ($30 billion) of his wealth in July to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable organisation.

4) For the first time in Kuwait, women were given voting rights.

5) Seventy years after its discovery, Pluto got demoted to the status of dwarf planet after the Internation Astronomical Union spelt out its definition of planet at its 26th General Assembly. As per new rules, planets to be considered so should satisfy three criteria: it must orbit the Sun; it must be big enough for gravity to squash it into a round ball and, lastly, it must have cleared other things out of the way of its orbital neighbourhood. Except for the round shape, Pluto fails the other two criteria! The new solar system then has eight planets and at least three dwarf planets (Pluto, Ceres and Xena an unknown object nicknamed UB 313) and tens of thousands of comets and asteroids. (Aww.. the cartoon is so cute).

6) Google bought the popular video sharing site YouTube for USD $1.65 billion. The deal marks the largest acquisition for Google in the company’s eight-year history.

7) Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and two of his senior allies were sentenced to death by hanging, after an Iraqi court found them guilty of crimes against humanity. Today morning, he was hanged.

8) Japan witnessed its deadliest tornado since 1941. The tornado hit the town of Saroma in the northern island of Hokkaido, killing nine people, knocking out electricity to hundreds of homes and flipped over several cars.

9) World’s ace driver and the most successful in the history of Formula one, Michael Schumacher retired from the sport. The son of a bricklayer who ran the local kart track in Kerpen, Schumacher who began kart racing at the age of four, went on to become seven-times World Champion.

10) 2006 Asian Games, the 15th Asian Games kicked off in Doha, Qatar. The spectacular opening ceremony which continued for over six days since the start of the games, was the most elaborate one in the history of any sporting event. Combining the traditional and the modern, the ceremony took participants and visitors through the Arab culture with songs, dances and Arab horses were involved in the lighting of the cauldron. There was a scintillating display of over 30,000 fireworks which lit up the Doha skies. The world’s largest LED screen making use of several special effects, was used.

Please mention if i have forgotten any major world event that took place in 2006 - i got this information from the YT.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONCE AGAIN EVERYONE!! Enjoy 2007!

Children's Day 2006

This year's Children's Day was fabulous. I'm sure most of you who attended Children's Day on the thirteenth will agree that it's been the best Children's Day ever!!! Well..... atleast it was a hundred times better than last year's.

1) THEME
We were supposed to dress according to themes (1970s and futuristic) and of course, hardly anyone did. I was speaking to Mini (somehow almost all my posts contain this line) and i was telling her about how i wanted to dress according to 1 of the themes but i had nothing to wear. I gave up on the retro theme because there was no time to go shopping:(, so mini tells me to wear an 'aluminium foil cap' for the futuristic theme. Let me explain that phrase - a cap covered with aluminium foil. I made that cap in the car hehe... I basically took a white beanie cap and covered the side with foil. The logic behind that strange cap was that in the future there are going to be these caps (probably silver) that intercept TV signals so you can watch TV in your head.... Before you think i'm nuts, please try and understand how desperate i was. Then i was wondering what to wear and i got this black top with chinese alphabets all over it. Now the reason for that is that i think China is going to be the 'Country of Tomorrow'. It's going to be one of the leading countries in the future. Therefore, a chinese t-shirt. Quite a few people who read this are going to think i'm retarded.

2) THE MORNING ASSEMBLY
Anyway, the assembly on Children's Day was amazing. We sang 'Rudolph The Red- Nosed Reindeer' and a group of people from our class(including me) sang all the echoes in Rudolph, eg: Rudolph the red nosed reindeer (reindeer), had a very shiny nose (like a lightbulb).. etc. The Fashion Show was hilarious. People from 9-12 have a unique style of introducing themselves lol. Bhavi, i won the bet HAHAHAHA!!!! The funniest part - Bhavi won this special prize - a hamper. So we opened it in class and there was a Nivea Men's Shaving Cream LOL!!!

3) THE STUFF OUTSIDE THE HALL
Our class (9G1) lost the Tug of War this year. Last year they won and i didn't take part, this year when 4 people and i joined in we lost lol. Congrats 9G btw (PS : wait for next year :p). The stalls outside were so tiny and adorable. I lost everything i played but still. I can't believe we got charged to request songs, i mean c'mon!! The Food Court was awesome though. I spent half the day there.... we were all hogging...

4) THE TEACHER'S SHOW
The show put on by the teachers rocked! Congrats to everyone who helped in that. We were on our chairs dancing the whole time!!! All the ideas were so good and fun!! There was singing, dancing, falling-off-the-chair-and-laughing type slides and karate. I loved all the dances - the one with the sirs doing the weird 'i challenge you' dance. That was funny. The Primary teachers' cute little shalalala dance was .. well.. so cute - with the matching santa hats etc. The Alka Dajeeba song was amazing, we were dancing on the chairs. The Arabic dance was wonderful. i think it was called soo sumthing soo (please tell me if you know lol). The singing by Mr. Myers, Mr. Bloud and Mr. Joseph was incredible. The singing by the teachers (Crazy Kiya Re and Ye Mera Dil) was entertaining. Even if they messed it up a bit, i still enjoyed it cause they looked like they were having the time of their lives! Of course, there were the slides that were side - splitting.

5) THE MUSIC FESTIVAL
One of the most waited events of the year, aka the music competition took place on Children's Day. The music festival was its usual splendid self. Everyone sang really well. Hats off to all those who participated and congrats to all the winners. I thought one of the biggest negative points of this year's music competition was some of the tracks, especially in the hindi pop category. I mean it's not fair that the voice of the actual singer plays in the background so there's a confusion as to who is singing. Plus, for the Pegasus house group song, the track got screwed up and that was pretty unfair. But overall, the music competition was pretty good.

Children's Day on the whole was terrific!!! I think it was unequaled - what a great way to say farewell to one of the best 12th grade batches ever!!!!

Analysing Handwritings....

I read about analysing handwritings in a magazine and since i though the whole concept was so awesome i found out more about it. It seems that if you have a distinctive or different personality you may be sure that this will be apparent in your handwriting. An unusual or outstanding personality is clearly reflected in handwriting. At first i didn't believe it, but the more you get to know, the more interesting it seems. I know i appear pretty jobless (and i am from time to time - who isn't?) but i googled the word 'handwritings' to find out more about this strange statement. The best option out of 1,756,980 results seemed to be the first one - http://www.graphicinsight.co.za/ . If anyone's interested, they should check this site out. According to this site, by analysing someone's handwriting you can determine their personality and what kind of person they are. I find that pretty unbelievable. i guess i'll only believe it if someone analyses my handwriting and is able to tell me correctly what kind of person i am (that would be so cool!).

"To a handwriting analyst, a page of handwriting reveals far more than the actual contents of the letter itself because it reveals so much about the real personality of the writer. Handwriting analysis provides the answers to many questions about personality with a depth and accuracy that sometimes seems uncanny." Please comment on this sentence and tell me if you believe it.

Plus, there is this hilarious 'relationship test' thingey on that site. Basically it gives you 'the 4 types of realtionships' found. i found it pretty funny. It is partly true though.
Go to this link : http://www.graphicinsight.co.za/personality-test.htm

Anyway, i wanted to update my blog and found this handwritings topic very fascinating so i though i'd share it with everyone. Please comment - I really want to know your views on this post.

The Differences!

How different is everyone? I mean, we're all different and that's how it's supposed to be but sometimes it's pretty fascinating to see how different we all are. 'One man's trash is another man's treasure' - i'm partly referring to that and personality - wise also. I know many of you reading this would be thinking, "Well, ya obviously..." I love the fact that what i found fascinating (like this whole differences concept) half the people will find dull and boring. I love the fact that comments i find indescribably rude, other people find very normal and harmless. I love the fact that stuff i enjoy doing, other people find boring. i kind of got this idea from Mini when i was talking to her. How terribly BORING would life be if all of us liked and disliked the same stuff? How dull would life be if all of us agreed on everything and never debated on stuff? How much would life drag on if everyone had the same interests and pretty much behaved similarly? I would hate life that way.

I went for a party on Saturday - Meghnas b'day party. We went to Ski Dubai in MOE, roamed around the mall and then went out for dinner to a hotel. In Ski Dubai, our fingers were numb from the cold. There was a kind of slide thingey - on a snow covered hill slope - in which they spin you around and push you down the slippery slope. It's loads of fun! When I saw it, I couldn't wait to go. Meghna and the others [well.. excluding Bhavi:)] were scared (they went in the end and loved it). When i went i didn't close my eyes - i was enjoying it too much... I know this story may've seemed pointless but my point is that we have different tastes. That slide excited me and Bhavi but to the others, it was another 'scary ride'.

It's the differences in people, that make life interesting. Imagine this scenario - everyone is the same. I can actually imagine. I'll go upto Aparna(i usually discuss songs with her) in class and say, "Aparna, do you love this song, lips of an angel." Her response will be yes. So then i'll name another song.. again she'll agree. There'll pretty much be no disagreement. It'll be so dull!!!!!! Where's the fun of time pass arguing if we agree on everything??!!

I would never want to lead a life where every person is alike and we are all pretty much clones. It would be way too boring....!!!!!

A Story...

Heyy.. i haven't written in this blog since .. i think the 3rd of November. i'm very very bad at doing stuff regularly, but i am going to try to keep this blog and write in it regularly. Anyway, i wrote this story and thought i'd post it here. hope you guys like it... COMMENT!!

The Heart's Desire

-
Katherine stacked up her documents and heaved a sigh of relief. She glanced up at the clock and gasped when she realized that it was already 1AM. She had been working for four hours, ‘disadvantages of being a lawyer in demand’, she thought to herself with a smile. While gathering up her things, Katherine’s eyes fell upon the six photos on her desk. Her parents, her sister, Tina, Rodd, and her first client – someone who left a lasting imprint on her life. Katherine’s thoughts wandered back seven years…..

*****

A nervous Katherine was sitting at her tiny desk waiting for her first client to enter her petite office. She was literally shivering, after all, it was her first case as a lawyer. She had done her homework and read up on the case files. Her client, A ‘Mr. Patrick Holland’ was accused of attemped murder. Apparently, he had tried to murder a businessman named Henry Thomas. Mr. Holland had also served a year’s sentence for robbing a jewellery store a couple of years back. Katherine was excited and slightly frightened to meet her first client.

A tall lean frame uneasily walked into her office. She stood up and with her warmest smile said, “Hello Mr. Holland. I’m Katherine Iowa and I will be your lawyer for the upcoming case.”

Mr. Holland looked at her with his hollow, lifeless hazel eyes and didn’t respond. The idea that those hazel eyes could look so dead alarmed Katherine a bit. What had this man gone through? Was he a criminal or was he an innocent man? After an awkward pause, Katherine sat down and asked Mr. Holland to sit down. He sat down and looked up at her and whispered, “Please call me Patrick, Ms. Iowa.”

Katherine, quite surprised, told him, “All right Patrick. Please call me Katherine too.”

She politely asked, “Anyway, why don’t you tell me a bit about you, your family, your life? Then we can talk about this case.”

“I’m don’t want to say anything. You’re another one of those police types who’ll think I’m lying to you just to get out of going to jail. They were laughing at my face… is it funny when your wife is murdered and you’re put in jail and ... you can’t do anything about it?!! Why was Lily killed, she didn’t have anything to do with it!! He forced me to rob the shop. If only Lily was still alive and well….”

Katherine was startled and shocked at the same time. Someone forced Patrick to rob the store? His wife was murdered? She tried not to let her distress show. She calmly remarked, “Patrick, I’m not a ‘police type’… I’m your lawyer and I’m here to help you. You’ve got to tell me everything right from the start. Every little detail helps and I need to know everything from the burglary till today.”

He gave her an apprehensive look and remarked, “I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Katherine smiled at this and as he took a deep breath, she switched her recorder on.

“I had worked in The Victoria Jewellery Shop – the very shop that I robbed – for five to six years and I knew it like the back of my hand. Then one fateful day, I came back home from work and found my house ransacked. Lily was nowhere to be found. I tried her mobile but it was switched off. While I was panicking, the phone rang, I answered literally in tears. It was Lily.

When I first heard her voice, a wave of relief washed over me. I bombarded her with questions, “Where are you, Lily??? Are you alright?? What happened???” She was sobbing and in between her sobs, she explained, “Some men entered the house. They wanted some password. I told them you weren’t home but they weren’t ready to listen. They sprayed something in my face and I fainted. I woke up with these people somewhere. They won’t let me go, they’re holding me hostage!! Please help me Patrick….” Then one man, their leader, took the phone from Lily. He spoke in a nasal voice, “Hello Mr. Holland. How was our surprise? Anyway, let me get down to business… I want the Victoria jewellery shop’s ‘sacred rubies’. I know you know the password to unlock the vault so please co-operate with us and bring us the rocks by Monday. Also, there are four of my men surrounding your residence at the moment and your phones are disconnected. So you won’t be able to leave the house or call anyone, especially the police. Oh yes, I forgot to mention if you refuse our offer, we’ll kill your wife and send you her body and then we’ll kill you too. Think about our proposal. Goodbye Mr. Holland, we will call you tomorrow with the plan.”

I didn’t really think about it. What was there to think about? I spoke to him the next day. As you may know, I tried robbing the shop and got caught. The next week, I was informed (when I was in jail) that Lily had been found dead. She had been stabbed. I was allowed to go for her funeral. That day, I swore revenge. I spent a year in jail and as soon as I got out, I spent another year in just discovering who that man was. I found out he was the head of some old gang that didn’t even exist anymore. He posed as a businessman. I prepared to pay him a visit and avenge Lily’s death. Fortunately for him, his neighbours heard him screaming. They sensed something was wrong and called the police. I was arrested just as I was about to kill him and, well, you know the rest. I just won’t go back to that jail. It was a hellhole. I was tortured there and everything reminds me of Lily. I would rather die than go back….”

Katherine knew they had no chance of winning the case. Patrick had no proof that any of the above was true. They wouldn’t believe him. There was no evidence, no proof, no witnesses. She believed him though. She could make out while he was telling the story that he wasn’t lying. The case was in two weeks….How could she save him?

A fortnight later, Katherine sat in the court room waiting for the jury’s verdict. Patrick was sitting beside her. He looked puzzled and concerned. The main jury member stood up and said, “We find the defendant guilty of the attempted murder of Mr. Henry Thomas.” Katherine’s heart sank. She knew that they would have lost the case anyway. There had been nothing to back up Patrick’s story. She glanced at Patrick. He was looking down. She couldn’t see his face but his knuckles were gripping the chair so tightly that they were white. The Judge sentenced him to twenty-four months in jail. As everyone got up to leave, Katherine remained behind. She wanted to schedule an appeal. She knew it was hopeless but still wanted to try. When the courtroom emptied and it was just Patrick, the Judge and his secretary left in the room besides her, she whispered to Patrick that she’d go meet the secretary and come back in ten minutes. He shook his head and looked up at Katherine with that same vacant look. She walked up to the secretary to speak to her. Katherine sat down in front of her and placed the documents in front of her. She started talking about an appeal, when all of a sudden the Judge cried out, “Stop him!!!” Katherine swiftly turned around and saw Patrick running towards the window. The Judge was already out of his seat, but Patrick was too fast. He ran right into the window and the glass shattered. He fell down three stories. Katherine closed her eyes and when she opened them, she saw the glass on the floor. She just imagined that those pieces of glass were like Patrick…shattered. The Judge was yelling for the paramedics, the secretary was calling them and Katherine just stood there and stared at the glass pieces… each piece like a prism, splitting the dull white light into bright colours.

*****

As Katherine drove home, her thoughts returned to the present. She had realized long ago, that Patrick had wanted to set himself free that day. On the way back home, Katherine took a turn to the cemetry where Patrick was buried. She bent down at his tombstone and looked at the bright yellow flowers she had placed the day before. She looked up at the sky and felt Patrick looking down. Katherine remembered one line (by George Bernard Shaw) that Patrick had said to her once,

“There are two tragedies in life. One is to not get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.”

The Windshield or the Bug?

Heyy everyone,
This is... i think .... my 6th attempt at keepin a blog lol. but this time i am so going to stick to it....!!! anyway, rayna introduced me to blogspot (*yay rayna*), coz she told me about her blog - which is really good btw - and i used to leave comments on it all d time, so i thought y not start mine? anyway, i know the name of my blog is kinda strange .... but its from one of my favorite quotes : 'sometimes ur the windshield, sometimes ur the bug....'. i dunno y but i LOVE that quote. makes so much sense.... sometimes ur the problem and sometimes ur the solution - you've just got to realize it. hmmm.... the exams are in 12 days exactly....1 word : HELP..... so i doubt i'll be able to write a lot till 28th.
here's something to think about : there are many things that we would throw away if we weren't afraid that others might pick them up....
isn't that very true.......... SO MANY THINGS!!!!!