Goodbye '07 !

2007, one of the best years of my life, is coming to an end in a few hours. '07 has gone by ridiculously fast. Like I did last year, I'm going to blog about the important events of 2007 (international and personal).

Please excuse me for not being well-informed.




January :


International events -


1) South Korea's Ban-Ki-Moon took office from Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary General. I love his name ! Ban-Ki-Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon.


2) Shilpa Shetty won Big Brother (Jan 28th) with 63 % of the final vote after an international racism controversy involving her and 3 of her fellow contestants.


3) Sidney Sheldon, one of my favorite authors, passed away on January 30th. RIP.



Personal events -


1) I remember that in January, we had the whole 'Big Fight' going on (refer to mine and
Kapil's blog). I miss those days.


I don't remember much else. Wow.




February :


International events -


1) The Dixie Chicks won 5 statuettes at the Grammy awards. I know that isn't exactly an 'international event', but WOW !!


Personal events -


1) My first ever surprise party ! I love you guys ! http://shalakalaxman.blogspot.com/2007/02/surprise.html


2) The inauguration of Stupid Cupid. http://stupidcupid77.blogspot.com/


3) My birthday, which was on the same day as the EVS exam. Still, it was pretty cool.




March :


International events -


1) Storms hit the USA, killing 20 people.


2) Two earthquakes struck Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 70 people.


Pretty dreary month, internationally.


Personal events -


1) Plant-A-Flower Day. I'm sure some of you remember that.


2) Mine and Vihaan's birthday party.

3) INDIA ! After 2 whole years ! And, it was fun ! Worth missing the extra classes for atleast.


4) DESERT ROCK !!!





April :


International events :


1) A student from Virginia Tech shot 32 students and killed himself in a shooting rampage.


2) The Abi-Ash wedding.


3) Afghanistan became a member of SAARC (or is it 'the SAARC'?). FINALLY.



Personal events :


1) Tenth grade began.


2) I went for my first ever debating session. And, it turned out to be quite good, even though I was .. well, scared.


3) Discovery of Anime.




May :


International events :


.. I'm not really getting any. Please remind me ?



Personal events :


1) SO many birthdays !


2) I was in love with Sasuke and Gaara. Those were the days.


3) The play for the Ecofest. That was fun !

June :


International events -


1) Rajnikant's Sivaji broke all earlier records for regional films in India. No surprise there.


2) Tony Blair resigned as Premier and made way for Gordon Brown.



Personal events -


1) Unforgettable birthday parties. :)





July :


International events -


1) HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS RELEASED !!!!!


2) Also, HP and the Order of the Phoenix, the movie released.


3) Smt. Prathiba Devisingh Patil became the 12th president of India, and the first woman president.



Personal events -


1) I became a volunteer of SFS, and that's got to be one of the best things I've done in my life.


2) I met Puja !


3) Some of the most amazing movies came out this month.





August :


International events -


1) Sanjay Dutt was granted an interim bail by the Supreme Court.


2) TrES-4, the largest planet in the universe, was discovered.



Personal events -


1) On August 1st, I discovered Tokio Hotel (as my favorite band, my obsession).


2) August was the month during which I met the most amount of people and made the most amount of friends.





September :


International events -


Again, please remind me ?


Personal events -


1) Bill and Tom Kaulitz's 18th birthday.


2) Schmizel's brilliant gig.


3) More debating, except this time I had to start speaking.





October :


International events -


1) Aqua announced that they would reunite for a tour in 2008 and release a compilation album featuring new material. Well, this does somewhat count as an international event. Aqua were fun !



Personal events -


1) It was a jampacked month. I remember I was really busy.


2) The best Dandiya EVER !





November :


International events -


1) Madhuri Dixit made a comeback to Bollywood after six years.


2) Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf, declared a period of emergency rule.


3) On November 1st, the MTV European Music Awards were held in Munich. TOKIO HOTEL WON AN AWARD AND WERE DECLARED AS THE BEST PERFORMANCE AT THE EMAs !!!!!! One of the happiest days of my life.



Personal events -


1) November was an awesome month after the exams. The Gothic party, Creek Park, Bhavi's etc etc.

December :


International events -


1) Argentina witnessed its first woman president when Cristina Fernandez was sworn in. Also, there was a rare husband-wife, as she took over from her husband.


2) Pervez Musharraf lifted the state of emergency.

3) RIP Benazir Bhutto.



Personal events -



1) Children's Day ! :D

2) Birthdays. Loads of birthdays.


3) Christmas ! Even though I didn't do anything, I got THE LIVE IN EUROPE ZIMMER 483 TOUR DVD !! Brilliance.

4) Puja came, and we partied !







This was done in a hurry, and I apologize for the shabbiness.


Goodbye '07. You shall be greatly missed.

Elves, Santa and Christmas

Merry Christmas !



I promised I would blog on a specific topic within a week's time, didn't I ? So here I am, blogging about Santa and his elves. Apt for this time of the year.

***

Once upon a time, it was believed that Santa's elves lived up in his good ol' village in the North Pole. Many kids still believe this, so don't ruin it for them. Everyone should go through their Santa Claus/Tooth Fairy/Boogie Man phase.



Anyway. In 1925, people discovered that there are NO reindeer in the North Pole. It must've been the shock of that year. I wonder how the kids took it. BUT then they also discovered that there were lots of reindeer in Lapland, Finland. Of course, no one has actually seen the place where all the reindeer reside because it's a secret place only known to Santa and the elves (And the reindeer). We know that it is somewhere on the Korvatunturi mountain in the Savukoski county of Lapland, Finland, which is on the Finnish-Russian border.

On the sixth of January, the elves come running down from their secret village in the mountain to play in a secret field to celebrate the last day of Christmas.



Now, you might be wondering, how many elves ARE there ? That's somewhat of a mystery. There's no need to worry though, I'm sure there will never be a shortage of elves. :D



Obviously, there are many types of elves. I guess they all wear something to make them feel uniform .. Maybe a red and green hat ? I'm sure the elves have names too. Apparently, some of the elves have icelandic names (Askasleikir, Bjugnakraekir, Faldafeykir, Stekkjarstaur, Gattathefur, Giljagaur, Gluggagaegir, Ketkrokurog, Kertasnikir, Pottasleikir, Skyrjarmur, Stufur, Thvorusleikir). I SWEAR I didn't make the names up.



I read somewhere else that the elves with the Westernised names have certain duties too, six of which are :


1) Bushy Evergreen is the inventor of the magic toymaking machine.



2) Shinny Upatree is Santa's oldest friend and cofounder of the secret village in Lapland.



3) Wunorse Openslae designed Father Christmas's sleigh and maintains it for top performance. He also cares for the reindeer.



4) Pepper Minstix is the guardian of the secret of the location of Father Christmas's village.



5) Sugarplum Mary is Head of the Sweat Treats, and assistant to Father Christmas's wife, Mrs Claus.



6) Alabaster Snowball is very important. He is the Administrator of the Naughty & Nice list.


[I, once again, SWEAR I am not making this up.]





Please watch :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf4DpJys3Wo&feature=related



I don't really want anything for Christmas. Except Bill Kaulitz. Ya, that would be nice. :D

Is There Anybody Home ?

I'm back after a nice, long break. Maybe not nice, but loooooooong.


My thoughts as of now (since as usual I have nothing specific to blog about) :


1) Everyone has an autobiography to write. As the years pass by, the book gets thicker and thicker. It makes sense if you think about it. After all, everyone's life IS unique and there are pages that can be filled with their lives. Some people actually do write autobiographies and some people don't. Some people do pen their lives down on paper, and some people don't.

2) The 12th graders are leaving. They're actually leaving. I knew you guys would eventually have to go, but not so soon ! What are we going to do without you guys ? Along with the 12th graders, quite a few tenth graders are leaving too. Great. Yes, I know everyone does leave eventually and it can't be helped, but I don't want to believe it. I really don't want to believe it.

3) We need 5000 signatures by July for the Tokio Hotel petition. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

4) Why can't I blog about anything specific anymore !?

5) http://youtube.com/watch?v=FinnvMqSTFM -> Very addicted to this song.


My next post will be within a week, and it will be about a specific topic. That's my pre-New Year resolution. Everyone has those, right ?

Till the next time !

Must Read.

The above poem was written by a girl in Australia (I'm not too sure). The poem itself says it all.

Just in case you can't read it :

I fight like a girl who refuses to be a victim.

I fight like a girl who is tired of being

IGNORED and HUMORED and BEATEN and RAPED.

I fight like a girl who's sick of not being taken seriously.

I fight like a girl who's been pushed too far.

I fight like a girl who OFFERS and

DEMANDS RESPECT.

I fight like a girl who has a lifetime

of ANGER and STRENGTH and PRIDE

pent up in her girly body.

I fight like a girl who doesn't believe in

FEAR and SUBMISSION.

I fight like a girl who knows that

THIS BODY and THIS MIND are mine.

I fight like a girl who knows that
YOU ONLY HAVE AS MUCH POWER

AS I GRANT YOU.

I fight like a girl who will never

allow you to take more than I offer.

I fight like a girl who FIGHTS BACK.

So next time you think you can

distract yourself from your insecurities by victimizing a girl,

THINK AGAIN.

She may be ME and
I FIGHT LIKE A GIRL.

Tokio Hotel Updates :D

Earthlings ?

This is an altered version of my English speech. It's more like an article.

Earthlings?

Animals, who reside on our planet earth along with us, are our fellow earthlings. An earthling is defined as, “An inhabitant of the earth.” It is not defined as a human, but as any living creature inhabiting the Earth. Then why do we humans treat them as inferior species?

Animal cruelty is a sensitive topic that most people can, but do not wish to understand. For, the question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?"

Focusing on one aspect of animal cruelty - wild life, furs, and animal skins used for clothing is a fashion statement I’m sure our world can do without. After all, no one in the world truly needs a mink coat but a mink. Every year, hundreds of thousands of baby Harp seals are clubbed to death for their fur in Canada. They’re left to bleed in the snow, leaving a red bloody trail in a pure, white background. It indirectly represents us humans today, who are gradually tainting the purity of our very own home by destroying the species that harmoniously co-exist with us.

Hunting is one of the oldest and most hypocritical elements of animal cruelty. Deer hunting would be fine sport, if only the deer had guns, wouldn’t it? I despise the mentality of hunters. When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. Hunting is not a sport. After all, in a sport, both sides should know they're in the game. When a man carelessly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal, yet when he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman. Strange, isn’t it? Hunting is cruel and unfair.

Animal testing is a vile practice. Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is, "Because the animals are like us." Ask the experimenters why it is morally acceptable to experiment on animals, and the answer is, "Because the animals are not like us." Animal testing in itself, is an illogical contradiction.

If we want an end to violence, it means that we must first reject the slaughterhouse, the animal circus, and animal skins and remember that kindness to animals has been a cornerstone of every great religion in the history of the world.

Life is life, whether in a bird, or a dog or a human. There is no difference there between an animal and a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage.

Frida Hartley has rightly said:
The beasts we scorn as soulless,
In forest, field and den,
The cry goes up to witness
The soullessness of men.

***

All i have to say is, 'The soullessness of men.'

Opinions, Opinions.

I know I haven't blogged in a LONG while. A long long while. The hectic-ness (another word created by me) of school life, and a gazillion other things could contribute to my lack of blogging. And sheer laziness of course.

This opinionated post is inspired from the song How Far We've Come - Matchbox 20.

But I, believe, the world is burning to the ground.
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna find out.
Let's see how far we've come.
Let's see how far we've come.
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come.

It's the chorus.

The strange part is how those lines have so many various meanings. A thousand people would interpret these lines in a thousand different ways.

Someone told me that they feel the chorus refers to global warming and another friend said, "I think it's about closing a chapter in life and opening a new one." I also remember somebody saying this song was about a broken relationship.

I agree and disagree with them. Their opinions make sense but I personally feel the entire song asks a question about humanity's progress in life, but at what cost ? Even now, everyone in the world knows we're slowly destroying our planet (and not just environmentally), but like the chorus said, we'll just pretend to not notice. We'll just wait and find out, right ?

Oh and just in case anyone was wondering what the song is REALLY about, check their video out. It explains the band's point of view.


PS : Sorry for the late post. Also, the song of today has definitely been 'Turn Me On - Kevin Lyttle'. Anyone who hasn't already heard it a million times, GET IT !

My Usual Dose Of Randomness

Firstly, Ramadan Kareem everyone !

So now for my usual school update. Teacher's Day went perfectly. YAY :)
Oh and as of now, we are following Ramadan timings, which means I get to sleep a just a little bit more. This way, I'll be able to stay awake during classes. Our awesome class band came up with a perfect new song. It's called "Beaches". I have a part in it too. The high - pitched "Ta taaaa" part of course :P. Bhavani, the most creative person I've EVER met, came up with most of the song. She and Manali, founders of the band, have the entire album prepared - "Regular Sized Retards". Well, only the people in 10G1 will probably understand the name. I hope we record "Beaches" soon. Other than all that, school's been its usual dull self.

The above was written around a week ago. I guess it wasn't destined to remain in my 'drafts' like most other incomplete posts.

Hmm. So today, I went to the dentist to get my brace wire changed. Today also happened to be an India - England match. I don't watch cricket much (don't kill me) so of course, it didn't really interest me. At all. My dentist is an avid cricket fan though. So the whole time I was in the 'chair', he was watching the match and pulling out the wire with that horrible sharp instrument. I'm not a fan of sharp things anywhere near me, especially not my mouth. Yup, another one of my weird fears. Once, I thought he forgot about the wire sticking out of my mouth and I was about to say, "Uh hello?" or whatever noise I could produce with that metal wire sticking out of my mouth, half pulled out. Today my dad actually came and stood near the chair. I was completely taken aback, cause usually he stands right next to the TV (cricket). Then, in the middle of the whole brace tightening, my dad says something about Dhoni. This of course makes my dentist look up and start talking to my dad about cricket. All the while, continuing with the removal of that stupid wire.

Well, he's still an awesome dentist.


More later, I guess.

PS : Today's the day Walt Disney released "Steamboat Willie", one of the most famous early movies to feature Mickey Mouse. Wow (I'm a very big Disney fan, laugh all you want).

School .. And Hockey!

Yup. School's begun.

Though luckily we've been busy with Teacher's Day (dancing for 2.5 hours straight with no water isn't exactly my thing but it's strangely FUN). I'd been thinking that our dance wasn't going to work out, but after a LOT of practice it seems to be going just right. So that's great ! :) I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping it works out tomorrow, which happens to be Teacher's Day. Everything in the entertainment program for Teacher's Day is coming together perfectly too. The only hitch is that I'm going to have to change out of my saree (or sari, however you wish to spell it) for the dance, and then back again. That's troublesome indeed but I guess it should be okay.

I miss SFS so much. We went to Wild Wadi on Sunday after school and it was brilliant. All of us had a brilliant time. Everyone just seemed so happy. And now the camp's over.. The good part is we're still meeting every month! :)

We had PE today and the new PE teacher, Mrs. Priya just happens to be a hockey player. So we played hockey for the first time in the history of all our PE lessons (and that's one amusing history - involving throwball in the cricket area and dodgeball in the throwball area). I think 'Chak De India' got me interested in hockey. Today we started naming each other from the movie and I ended up being Komal. The short and amazing player who uses her height to her advantage. So shush :P. Even though I wouldn't have minded being Vidya either but Rishika already named herself Vidya. Anyway, when we got down to playing we realized hockey was much harder than we'd expected. It was fun though! I can't wait to play again. I didn't even know our school had hockey sticks!

School isn't that bad after all. Well except me occasionally dozing off in classes (and the AC konking off at 1 every single day) , but then that's something we all suffer from isn't it? And of course, projects and homework. But other than that, school's better than I'd expected.

Happy Birthday Bill and Tom and Farewell Summer of '07!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL AND TOM KAULITZ !!!

I cannot continue like this without getting something thrown at me. Anyway, I just thought I'd wish Bill and Tom Kaulitz (two brilliant people), a very very happy 18th birthday ! If you read my previous post (or if you were a TH fan), you'd know who Bill and Tom are.

Hmm so if Bill and Tom ever see this - you guys are amazing ! :)
Glücklich Geburtstag ! According to google translator, this means happy birthday. But I doubt. It sounds weird.


Right anyway. I'm done now.

There isn't really a specific point of this blog post actually. School starts tomorrow. Summer's come to anend. I've said this before and I'll say it again : WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO !? And how in the world does time fly so fast ??

Summer of '07. Such a brilliant summer ! Probably the best of my life, or atleast one of the best. I did so many things this summer that I'm glad I did. The fact that I joined SFS is something I'm really thankful for. It's got to be one of the best things that's happened to me in my life. Discovering so many new things, making so many new friends and doing so much new stuff. Braces too ! And now it's all coming to an end. I guess it's a beginning in a way. You know, a beginning of a new term with lots of stuff I'm looking forward to I guess .. It's just that I'm not really. For the first time in my life, I'm not looking forward to school starting. Projects, NO Creative Festival, 10th grade, prelims and so much work is what comes to my head when I think of school. Must be some weird 10th grade thing. I wish the summer could just rewind and I could relive it all over again. Well, all good things do come to an end. On the bright side, it IS school (the positive aspect of it) and Teacher's Day is in the first week. I love Teacher's Day ! One of my favorite days of the year (one of many). Wild Wadi's day after tomorrow too. Schmizel's gig is next week. Dandiya will eventually come. Our annual dance program. So many birthdays. There are positive things too after all.

Anyway, I think I shall end this vent/rant/post now. I'll take an early night (It's 3.28 AM right now) :P

OH ! I forgot to mention one of the most vital events of this summer. I GREW TALLER ! YAY !

I'm really done now.


PS : Happy Birthday again Bill and Tom ! I know I'm over - obsessing but it's YOU GUYS ! Duh, I'm gonna over obsess.

Tokio Hotel

I said my next post would be about Tokio Hotel. But even one HUGE post isn't enough to cover the amazingness of Tokio Hotel. They're the most successful teenage band ever.

So, to all you non - Tokio Hotel fans, go hear a couple of their songs.


Here are some of my favorites (along with the German versions) :

Monsoon [Durch Den Monsun]
Scream [Schrei]
Don't Jump [Spring Nicht]
Rescue Me [Rette Mich]
Ready, Set, Go! [Ubers Ende Der Welt]
Final Day [Der Letzte Tag]


Tokio Hotel's a German band who've always sung in German and are the most successful band in Germany. But then they re - recorded their 2nd album (Zimmer 483) in English. That resulted in international fame for them. I love their German songs and English ones. Currently, Monsoon is #2 on the European Top 20 and #2 on the international Rock Charts.

The band members are the twins, Bill and Tom Kaulitz [Lead singer and Guitarist], Georg Listing [Bassist] and Gustav Schäfer [Drummer].

Well, what more can I say? They're brilliant and I just hope they come to Dubai soon! :D



On a random note, today's Rajiv Gandhi's birthday. So happy birthday to him! :)

Jai Hind ! And this Summer of '07.

It's been a while.

To be more precise, it's been a month and 4 days since I blogged. I don't know why.
Writer's Block? Well, I can't really blame my absence entirely on Writer's Block. Honestly, my laziness is equally to blame.

Well, today was the 60th year of India's independence. Wow! India has progressed a great deal in the past 60 years and I couldn't be more proud to be an Indian. Of course, India has its drawbacks, it's negative points, its corruption. But today is when we ought to look past all that and see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that India, as a whole has learnt a few things. We also happen to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world as of now. The point remains that India is still growing and I believe, that it will eventually represent what Gandhiji and other freedom fighters truly wanted Free India to be.

So what did I do to mark 60 years of my country's independence?

I went for dance class. I finished a book called "The Cupid's Effect" [By Dorothy Koomson] and I started reading "The Inheritance Of Loss" [By Kiran Desai]. I met Rishika for ice - cream. I did some project stuff. I'm going to watch The Apprentice at 11.

In short, nothing really.

Oh also, I blogged after 35 days.

I may not have done anything to mark the remarkability of 15th August, 2007, but I do care. And I do believe in India. AND I'm proud to be Indian!

Anyway, I feel as though school ended a couple of weeks ago and I still can't get over the fact that 6 weeks have gone by since the summer holidays began. I really can't understand HOW it's the 15th of August today. I'm actually starting to understand what people mean when they say "Time flies fast when you're having fun." Because this summer has been the best summer of my life and I'm never going to forget the Summer of '07.

SFS has been one of the best experiences of my life to date. I don't want it to end. Ever. I don't want this summer to end. All of a sudden I feel like listening to "All Good Things Come To An End" by Nelly Furtado. Yes, I'm being a little dramatic but I really do feel like listening to it!

*sigh*

I shall go watch The Apprentice now. I promise I'll blog more regularly henceforth.


PS : Tokio Hotel is my current favorite band. They are truly brilliant. I have no idea why I mentioned them here, they deserve their own post (coming up soon hehe) but still. Tokio Hotel, come to Dubai. NOW!

The Interview Wtih God

www.theinterviewwithgod.com

This is the most beautiful presentation I've ever seen. It'll take 4-5 minutes to view, do not miss it.

The Eagle's Lesson

I read a mail today. It talked about the eagle. An eagle has a life span of 70 years, but most eagles pass away after 40 years.

Why?

Because at the age of 40 they are faced with a difficult choice.
Their bright sharp yellow beaks turn grey-ish and become bent. Their long talons lose the power of picking up prey. Their old-aged feathers droop and stick to the eagles' chest, making it hard to fly. They are faced with the choice of either giving up and dying then or facing a painful process of change that lasts for 150 days.

To live on, the eagle goes to a mountain top and sits on its nest. There, it bangs its beak against the side of the mountain top until it breaks. Then it waits for a new beak to grow. After that, the eagle bites its own worn-out talons and then waits for new ones to grow back. Lastly, the eagle plucks out its feathers and then waits for them to regrow.

That is when the eagle is reborn and lives on for 30 more years.

***

Sometimes change is necessary to move ahead in life.

At times, we need to let go of old beliefs and traditions and take a step forward.

Change is needed in life to exist.

Then why do so many people run away from change? Why are people so scared of a little difference in their lives? Why are they afraid of a change in their present and future?

Change translates into the word growth. Not always, but many a time.


"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."

- Anais Nin

True. How very true.

Fantasticality :P

I had almost lost hope on ever writing again (so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration :P). I mean I have 9 drafts saved in my stupid dashboard. But then Fantastic Four 2 came around. Not that I was able to form sentences again, but I just had to, or rather have to blog on one of the most amazing movies of this year !






The strange thing is that the original plan was to see Shrek The Third.

Sagari, Bhavi and I were supposed to catch the 3 PM show and we made it there an hour early :S . We were just going to buy the tickets for Shrek when Sagari suddenly said, "We should go for Fantastic Four instead!" After 10 minutes of arguing over which movie we should see, we decided on Fantastic Four 2 - Thanks to Sagari ! Then we passed time by drooling at the Fantastic Four 2 posters and this amazing sculpture (:P) thing of The Silver Surfer. After a lot more wonderstruck staring, hogging and weird-incident-with-snack-counter-guy, we entered as soon as they opened the doors. After 25 minutes 0f trailer after advertisement after trailer after advertisement of some upcoming awesome movies (and the ads were of some awesome cellphones :D), the movie FINALLY began.

One of the best movies of this year, Fantastic Four 2 was suspenseful and brilliant. It was tied together brilliantly and all the actors did a wonderful job. After the movie, none of us wanted to get up. FF2 is one of those movies that glues you to the seat and doesn't allow you to even think of leaving. The cinematography was simply amazing - It's one of those 'must-watch-in-the-theator' movies.

Well, excusing the pathetic-ness of this review (if you can call it that), my point is FF2 was much MUCH better than expected and it kicks Spidey 3's ass :D !

An Update

I've been wanting to update my blog since .. I don't know since when actually. But somehow, even though the past month has been filled with the most amazing moments (and the strangest), I just haven't been able to get past the first sentence. It's as though I couldn't form sentences anymore:P. I was going to blog about the DPS Ecofest, Spidey 3, the Completely Reduced Works of Shakespeare, strange random events (that are now a daily occurence:P) and well, loads of other things.

Now, I'm just going to blab about my thoughts from 12.20 to 12.30 A.M.

I don't understand what Heights and Distances is about.

I'm cursing myself for deleting my EVS project by mistake.

I just realized that hot French Fries can make a person smile anytime.

Ditto Galaxy chocolates.

I wish I had the strength to do my Hindi homework.

My thumb hurts again.

Today (or rather yesterday since it's 12.23 A.M.) was a lot of fun.

I am laughing because this is such a lame blog post.

Naruto is one addictive program.

EVS is a useless subject.

I must clean my room one day.

I really should be going to bed soon.

Trigonometry is fun:O.

I just realized I have CA homework.

I want to finish reading my book (I have a desire to finish books as fast as possible:S).

I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.


Surprisingly different ...

My thoughts sound more like a memo:P.


Hmm.. This doesn't qualify as a blog post. It's an update. Full stop. No post in this 'list of thoughts':S.

What It Appears To Be

I am officially in love with this picture. I have no idea why.

It reminds me of something being destroyed, and yet I love it. It's so creepy and strange. I still love it. In reality, it was just me messing around with the 'environmental' EEG folder when I was bored.

My perception :
It's like a huge hand wiping out everything else. The birds, the trees. I may sound a little crazy but I don't know - I guess it's my analysis. Scratching out the bird, the rainbow and the trees.
When I first saw the picture, it reminded me of destruction. I don't know why. Divya thought I was killing the bird(excuseee mua:P).

Another person I showed it too said, "It looks like a landmass getting up (the bones jutting out indicate mountains I guess:S)."
I thought that was a pretty interesting way of looking at it. Imaginative.

Someone else said it resembled an animal. I guess if you don't think of it as a hand, then it may appear as different things to different people.

I believe in the saying, "A picture says a thousand words." So I think I'll leave the rest to the picture.

What do you think it looks like?

Faltering Waves?

"Lands curling back into the palm of their Creator.
They retreat but don't give up.

Fulmination. Is that the new answer?
People and animals alike.

Death and carnage.
It isn't of our volition. "


Well, just to clarify this verse is NOT about the environment.

After hearing about the tragedy that took place at Virginia Tech University, it made me think a lot. About the crisis our world will go through. It's the year 2007. The initial stages of the crisis have begun. So what can we do about it? Sit and watch as we destroy ourselves? I mean that does seem like the only option, doesn't it?

Wait for World War Three to erupt.
Wait for more terrorist attacks and bombings.
Wait for more innocent people like students to die.

Not really. It's not too late.

The answer is peace. I think we all figured that out a long time ago.

There will be a time when the world will rise in protest. Very soon in fact. Instead of there being 50-100 peace organisations per city, there will be a ONE gathering.
It has already begun in the USA with the people protesting as ONE against the American troops not being withdrawn from Iraq.
Instead of waiting around for our own demolition, we will rise up against the bombings, the shoot-outs, the unnecessary wars (and the so-called necessary ones). Against our very own selves (in a way). Except we will not let History repeat itself. We won't lose something that we have always forsaken. Our unity, our togetherness. One cause, one motive, one reason, one want. Just one. Instead of 100,000,000 groups of people fighting for the same thing - One mass of people.

It has begun. It will grow. It will be successful. It's time to revive what we once had.

It's finally sinking in.

One of 'Those' Posts..

It's been two weeks since I've blogged. And I've missed it so much. In fact, even now I don't really have a specific topic I was planning to blog about. I guess you could say this is another one of those posts - random thoughts scribbled on paper that make no sense.

Well. I've been in tenth grade for approximately 2 weeks. I'm positive that atleast 27 people have asked me the eternally annoying question : "How's 10th grade?" (accompanied with a 'now your life is Hell' - ish grin).

I've been a 'tenth grader' for 2 weeks out of which I haven't really seen any huge difference between tenth and ninth grade except the fact that people actually consider us an integral part of Senior School. Maybe not integral.. but somewhat important all the same. I know my life will become 'Hell-ish'(:P) in a while, but not now! And also the fact that people find it strange that we have any kind of social life because of the fact that we are in the dreaded tenth grade8-). I'm not saying we don't have a much bigger load on our heads (Oh, believe me we do), but it's been two weeks! Not that we shouldn't start studying, but in the first week of school (regardless of whether it is tenth grade or seventh:P), people are 'allowed' to have a social life.

Oh, and now I get even more of the 'confused look' from kids in fifth and sixth saying, "You??? You're in tenth grade?? But you're so small!" Little kids, the word is short:D. I don't mind though - I'm still expecting the 6 inches growth in height by 2008:P (one inch done - 8.5 months to go. goal : atleast 3.5 inches by 2008 - Hey! A girl can dream:P).

So those were my thoughts on tenth grade - I guess I found a topic to write about after all:D.

I warned you this was one of 'those' posts, didn't I?


PS : That picture is perfect for my thoughts. Honestly.

Ramblings During A Deluded State Of Mind

"This is truly the most gorgeous sight I have ever seen. Uh.. I think this city is Dubai - I'm not too sure. Okay it really looks like Dubai. What the hell is the pilot doing? He's passing the city! No! I want to land here - it's so beautiful. Well, atleast from above:P. This is Dubai - All the tall buildings and all. Why is he flying above the sea?? We're supposed to land in DUBAI not in the SEA! I'm panicking for no reason. I'm sure he knows what he's doing.. But why is he.. Oh. Right. He's turning back. What's wrong with him - why did he take the semi - circle in the first place? He might as well have just flown across. Is that the correct usage of the word? :O! Look how close he's flying to the surface! WOW! I can see everything from this tiny little window. OH! Are those "boatsmen"?! On Abras???!!!!! Cool! This is AMAZING!!! I can see people and cars on the road!! :O:O:O:O:O!! Day-To-Day Supermarket! Okay. Is the airport next to Day-To-Day? I thought Day-To-Day was in Karama! Maybe we're landing in Karama. Or, maybe not:P. This is really pretty - Dubai is one wonderfully beautiful city from the top:)!! We're laaaaaaanding! My favorite part! Hehe. My mom looks like she's about to hurl - landings are not her thing. Wobbly handwriting alert. Okay I'm not writing anymore - Time to exit. I'M IN DUBAI NOW:D:D:D:D:D!!!!"

Incase y'all are wondering if I've lost my mind, I haven't. It's just that I wrote that in a very unstable (extremely delighted that is) state of mind. I wrote this in my diary when we were landing in Dubai. We were above the city and .... Well, you may have read the rest:). Anyway, we can call this 'Ramblings During a Deluded State of Mind'. According to me, you don't get to see Dubai from above every day so I wrote about the 'landing'. As delusional as I may have seemed, I still wanted to write it down here so I can remember it forever. Honestly, it was one of the most fantastic sights I've ever seen. The above paragraph is exactly what I had written - word to word, smiley to smiley:P. Anyway, I know that paragraph isn't a vivid description - one to set your imaginations rolling, but it's some sort of an account. Also, I may seem very confused but I was beyond excited to come back:).

Word of advice : If you get a pilot like me when you're landing anywhere, USE your diary and write about it. If he flies so low above the city that you can actually read the names of supermarkets, you know it's fascinating. It's like a helicopter! :D! Really ... WOW!

'Forget' : Harder Than It Seems..

You know the saying, "Forgive and forget"?

It's not always so easy to do that, is it?

I've always wanted to follow that saying. It's a simpler route. I mastered the first part - "Forgive". But the second part is another story. Forgetting is just really hard to do. It's pretty easy to forgive someone but it isn't that simple to forget what they did.

If someone makes a mistake (especially one that concerns me), I've always found it easy to forgive them. But even after a long period of time, I would still remember what that person did. I'm not mad at him/her at all, I just haven't forgotten what he/she did. Believe me, I've tried. I've tried HARD. But to no avail. I just can't bring myself to forget their mistake. I guess that's okay but it gets pretty annoying - To harbour no resentment, yet not be able to forget the cause for the initial resentment.

It's so much easier to forget - many a time you don't want to remember any bad history with a certain person. But it does resurface from time to time.

When I say I can't forget what the person did in the first place, I don't mean that everytime I talk to the person, I remember the person's mistake. I mean that occasionally (maybe even rarely), it does cross my mind and that ruins everything for a while. Not that I bring it up again (sometimes the past is better buried), but it's on my conscious mind when I want it completely out of my entire mind - conscious or subconscious.

How come forgiving is so easy (atleast for me) but forgetting proves to be a challenge??


Note : This post is NOT directed at any specific person.

Home Sweet Home!

So I'm on a holiday away from home, or maybe I just reached home.

Is it possible to have two homes?

Well, having spent much more than half my life in Dubai, I've always considered Dubai to be my true home, my true 'place'. But Delhi was where I was born - it's my hometown. Technically a city but there's no need to be all precise:P.

I just realized the difference between your hometown and the place you stay at (referring to a city/town/country other than your hometown/home city/home country). A hometown is where you will always belong no matter what. It's a place you may not consider to be your true home but it's where you'll always be welcome. Like me, you could consider the place you stay at your true home. But the difference lies in the fact that you may not ALWAYS belong there. It's your personal home but on a macro level, you're not a citizen are you?

I love Dubai more than Delhi. It's a fact. But Delhi's still my hometown - I can rely on it. I know I'm personifying a city but whatever (that truly is the correct word to use).

I think this post was inspired from one of those feelings that arise after you return to a place after a long time, just to see how it's people have remained unchanged and you realize how you yourself have changed. That's actually a quote but I forgot by who. Oh well. Ah - and I'm referring to Delhi (which I'm sure people understood lol).

PS : Isn't that cartoon cute!

One Of The Best Days Of My Life - DDRF 2007!

Truthfully, the day started out pretty badly. I woke up late (no surprise there), I couldn't get through to Sagari so i thought that she didn't know when to come over and she wouldn't come(:S) and SOME people were not on time (:P joking). When we finally did get started, everyone started singing in the car and after sometime my dad finally asked, "Does anybody want to watch a movie?" Then of course there were no DVD's except Dracula and Frankenstein(??????) in the car. SO they decided to watch Dracula. I was in the front so i couldn't watch anyway which suited me just fine since I was playing Sudoku on my mobile (lol). The movie got boring after sometime so we all started playing songs. When we FINALLY reached, parked and got out of the car, I got a major heart attack seeing the queue. Somehow, we cut into the queue (THANKS to the guys:D - we owe you bigtime). We finally got in and stood in the 'not-so-huge' crowd.

After a long time, they show began. Junkyard Groove - who rock, by the way - were up first! They were REALLY good and we got a photo with the bassist:D! The most hilarious part of the whole thing was the water and beer flying through the year. Apparently people find it really entertaining to throw completely full water bottles and beer cans through the air from one end to another. It was really entertaining until I got hit. Oh well, I was still having the best time. Then of course, the moshing began. We were ruthlessly being pushed from one end to the other. I held on tightly to the person next to me. I did not want to get trampled (as Nishant had warned me would happen:P). Through the moshing I was having an AWESOME time though. Also, I'm in love with the lead singer of Junkyard Groove. Not only is he really good, he's also a supporter of P.E.T.A! Could he get any better?

Lauren Harris was up next. We only saw half of them. I'm in love with them. That's all I have to say.

They announced a break (We will rock you:P) after each band. So in the break after Lauren Harris, Menaka, Vinay, Amrit, Aparna, Aishwi, Trisha, Sagari, Sunny, Muskan and I went to get food and water for everyone. After standing in the endless queue (to buy coupons) for centuries, we bought coupons worth Dhs. 120 as everything was ridiculously overpriced (Eg : Dhs. 10 for a single can of coke). We got some drinks and went back into the crowd just before Mastodon was about to perform. We were all dying of hunger and getting jostled around the place. Suddenly Vinay takes out this huge bag of chocolates (Thank you!) and we all hogged. We got fed up of waiting and thought we'd sit at the back and come back as soon as they started. Of course, they started as soon as we exited. So sadly we didn't have the greatest view of Mastodon. But they were awesome!

We missed 'In Flames' entirely. Though that doesn't really affect me since I haven't heard many of their songs. We missed In Flames because we went to get nachos and samosas (HAHAHA) instead for everyone. While waiting in queue (again), some random guy came and grabbed Vinay. Menaka, Apu and I got pretty freaked out. So Mini and I followed him and it turns out he just dropped Vinay off with everyone else. That was hilarious - we thought he was getting kidnapped (:o!)! How high were we? Then Vinay came back and started telling us about the guy. We got the food and sat and ate.

I'm not sure when exactly the following took place but I think it was after Lauren Harris. There was this Jumping Castle thingey which had a bouncy platform in the middle and 2 people had to fight with these soft fat sticks. Uhh... That was a pretty lousy explanation but I'm not sure how to put it. So Amrit and Vinay decided to try it. That has got to be one of the most hilarious moments of this year! I was laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe.

We went pretty early for Stone Sour and got a good place. I was in love with Stone Sour, I'm even more in love with Stone Sour and I will always be in love with Stone Sour. They're a unique band with the most amazing music. People started a very - ahem - interesting chant : "Stone ****ing Sour." They played their most famous songs like, 'Through the Glass' and 'Get Inside'. All of us were jumping up and down. After Stone Sour, we sat down a little towards the back of the stage area in a circle waiting for The Prodigy to begin. That was the time Abhinav decided to throw beer cans, random paper on the ground etc on my hair (already wet with a blend of water and beer). That was also the time Vinay, Sagari and Anusha broke 'the light' someone (I think, Amrit) had bought. Finally, The Prodigy began. They were really good in the beginning but they gradually got boring. So we left midway.

As usual we were sitting at the back resting ourselves against the blue and black tent. All of us were dead tired and were trying to preserve our remaining energy for Iron Maiden (:D:D:D). Ahh.. But that was not going to happen. Abhinav found half-full beer cans on the floor (The point of buying Dhs.15 beer is to actually drink it people, not leave it on the floor) and started pouring it down our hair. My hair smelled of beer, my jacket smelled of beer. I reeked of beer!! Amrit and Aparna decided to put some black nailpolish on at that point of time. Waiting for Iron Maiden was fun! The excitement level seemed to increase with each passing minute.

Finally,
Finally,
Finally.

IRON MAIDEN!!!

We were jumping up and down THROUGHOUT Iron Maiden, be it the beginning or the end. 'Fear of The Dark', 'The Trooper' (one of my favorites), 'These Colours Don't Run' etc etc were some on the songs they played. Iron Maiden was indescribably AMAZING! There performances were uniquely extraordinarily good! Luckily, we got to stay for the entire show. Iron Maiden faked themsleves leaving half an hour earlier. Also, we all thought that Vinay got lost in the middle. It turned out he was in front having a great time. *sigh*.

Also, Vinay had this fascination for pulling mine and Mini's hair. Trisha and him tied our hair together. Painful as that maybe - I hit him enough to make his head ache (hopefully).

The end had lovely fireworks. They were the perfect end to the perfect day. I got a DDR t-shirt to remind me of one of the best days of my life. It was truely unforgettable.

And I'm glad I went. Not just for the music too.

I wouldn't mind reliving it a MILLION times.


PS : The picture of the bassist and us isn't up because Radhii hasn't sent it to me yet.

A Kiddish Dedication - To Sheepie

The picture above depicts my old, un-renovated room. When I was packing Sheepie up (she looks all sleepy and dazed...).

Sheepie, sheepie, sheepie. Most of you must know about 'Sheepie the Great'. Well, I hadn't seen Sheepie in centuries (being a fortnight) because my room was being renovated and most of my stuffed toys were in boxes stored in the balcony until they could be re-arranged. So today I decided to do something about the boxes and empty them. The biggest box was where Sheepie was 'hibernating' for the week. Would you believe, Sheepie was all dirty (expected) and forgotten? She is a truckload of memories for me and I just forgot about her and all her memories for sometime (being quite a LOT of time).

I took her out and I felt so bad. You may think I'm a little retarded - major attachment to a stuffed toy, but HEY! Memories are something we cannot 'forget'. That may sound strange but think about it. That's why I have a 'Timeline File/Box' too. It's where I keep all my precious things - 'Precious' meaning things like a ticket to a movie my friends and I saw, the Al Ain Trip admission Ticket etc. Those things are 'precious' for me.

Coming back to Sheepie. I put her for a wash and finished drying her just about now. She's clean and sparkly. I actually thought she may not be the same once all the stains were gone - she may become a NEW Sheepie - like just Sheep - not Sheepie anymore. That sentence might not have made any sense. This whole post might make no sense. I'm sure you people would be thinking, "So.. She's talking about a stuffed toy:S!" But Sheepie is a lot more than a stuffed toy :P. And I realized that the memories are still there, they just needed a bit of reviving. Sheepie's back on my highest shelf and now there's another memory attached with her. I love that ... Uhh.. that SHEEP!

The basic point of this post was to say - "Awaken the memories that lie forgotten. Store these memories - Reminiscing is a lot of fun and it's very very satisfying."


PS : Sheepie deserved a post, she needed a post. Sorry if this struck people as 'lame'.

Inspired By A Bunny:P

This is a short and simple post.

For those of you who have seen the trailer of the 'Simpsons Movie'
(http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/thesimpsonsmovie/), you may know what I'm talking about below.

In the trailer, there's this ADORABLE little white bunny who's dancing around on this big patch of grass with lots of happy flowers!! The bunny's all happy and then all of a sudden this big rock title thingey saying "THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (IN 2D!)" falls down on the little bunny and crushes him - he dies :'(!

Anyway, the point of saying that was about how you can look at the trailer from a different angle. The bunny represents our hopes. The "title" is the obstacle(s) we face in our lives. We make one wrong decision and all our hopes get crushed just like the little bunny. I know the trailer's just a hilarious joke, but it appears to have a deeper meaning (I'm sure unintentionally:P). The worst possible thing to do (according to me), is to not move on in life. Even if all our hopes are gone, we need to get on with life because it won't wait for us to feel alright once again. It may not be easy, but life doesn't wait and neither should we.

I wonder, if the 'bunny' within us dies, how do we move on in life?

If we lose hope, then how can we try again?

If our hopes get crushed, shouldn't we pick ourselves and walk on?

If we stop, the world won't wait.
If we give up, we'll lose out on a lot in life.

Maybe we shouldn't let our hopes get crushed in the first place.

PS : Thanks Nishant for the help in the above post:D! Oh, and also that picture has pretty much nothing to do with the post - It's this CUTE bunny from a farm and I was in the 'bunny' mood:).

Why Not Recycle?

The picture shown above shows "The Recycling Loop". The collecters (which we can be part of) haul the recyclable items to the manufacturers, the manufacturers produce recycled goods and the consumers (another section we can be part of) purchase the recycled goods.

Most of you must be knowing the bookish definition of "Recycle", thanks to ever so interesting Environmental Science/Environmental Studies (a LOT of sarcasm intended). I apologize (really, I'm sorry!) for reminding everybody of EVS once again but I just had to write about this, being the environmentalist that i am:P!

"Recycling is the reprocessing of materials into new products."

More and more of today's products are being manufactured with total or partial recycled content. Common household items that contain recycled materials include newspapers and paper towels; aluminum, plastic, and glass soft drink containers; steel cans; and plastic laundry detergent bottles. Recycled materials also are used in innovative applications such as recovered glass in roadway asphalt (glassphalt) or recovered plastic in carpeting, park benches, and pedestrian bridges.

That was just to get you all into the EVS mood once again:)!

The point of this post is to inform people that recycling takes less than 5 minutes to do, and it helps us in the end. So why not? And it's not like you have to travel miles to the next recycling centre. We've got a recycling centre (more like recycling boxes) right in school. For people who haven't noticed YET, it's on the field - on the sandy part of the field. It takes less than a minute to put the previous day's newspaper's into your bag, and approximately four minutes for really REALLY slow walkers to reach the recycling box and walk back!!

Why throw used papers/newspapers/cans when they can be recycled to make brand new papers/newspapers/cans?

Why waste so much?

So i ask : Why not recycle?

Get over your laziness and please learn to recycle!

PS : As terrible and preachy this post may have seemed, I'm trying to get more and more people to join the recycling campaign and get atleast a little concerned about the environment.... Sorry if that annoys anyone, but that's my thing:D.

An Inspiration

1 piece of advice : increase your speaker volume a bit before watching this - the sound is low.

Amazing, wasn't it?

Stephen Wiltshire was born in London to West Indian parents on 24th April, 1974. His sister, Annette, is two years older than her brother. He lives with his mother in West London.

As a child, Stephen was mute and did not relate to other human beings. Aged three, he was diagnosed as autistic. He had no language, uncontrolled tantrums and lived entirely in his own world.

It soon became apparent, he communicated with the world through the language of drawing; first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings. Aged eight, Stephen started drawing cityscapes after the effects of an earthquake (all imaginary) as a result of being shown photographs of earthquakes in a book at school. He also became obsessed with cars and illustrations of cars at this time (his knowledge of them is encyclopaedic) and he drew most of the major London landmarks. In 1987, he was proclaimed the best child artist in Britain.

Stephen has drawn the city of Rome (featured video), Hong Kong and Tokyo. He is known as a 'Human Camera' and not only has a great memory, but is also an amazing artist.

That has got to be one of the most wonderful things i have ever read about. This man is an inspiration to so many children and people alike. As a child, people must have disregarded him, discouraged him as many people seem to think children with special needs aren't capable of doing anything. I sometimes wonder where this misconception arose from? My first trip to the Dubai Centre for Special Needs was inspirational. Those children taught me a lot more than anything else in my life. They're not ordinary - they're extraordinary. We need to understand that the message the give us is one of the most important messages of life. Each and everyone of us is special - only if we believe that we can do it (i honestly don't care how cliched and lame that may have sounded - it's true). If you don't believe in yourself, you can't achieve anything.

I am a fan of Stephen and you all should check his site out : www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk

Also, this is a picture by him of the Oxford Circus at Night and of The Buckingham Palace -

I'm a little confused tonight..

It's exactly 1.08AM. I'm sitting on my computer AGAIN. I was just in the balcony some minutes ago... just looking out and wondering, when this sudden flow of lyrics hit me. For people who don't know, i write a lot of songs and poems. Anyway, i thought i might as well write them down here and copy them into my diary later. I'm kind of sleepy anyway.

I'm really confused. I don't even know if this qualifies as a poem. It's 3 verses after all. I don't know what to call it. It makes a lot of sense to me though. I don't even know what my source of inspiration was (there is always a source of inspiration for any poem/song) - the view from my balcony isn't inspiring AT ALL. I need feedback on this one.


Endless pain, a gap in faith
I wonder when hope prevails
So many more till this date
sorrow and catastrophe
Where's the joy - why the hate?
They won't budge from the moor.

They need an answer this night,
The scarlet hue still spreads around
Why must it - this isn't right,
Ask - a hard net to place,
Maybe two more, just another fight
All for the money - for the greed.

Would this call for an intervention?
They now know what they need to see -
A mirror, show them a reflection,
A little help is always needed.
Just a little more, a little determination,
This phase should end - they'll return soon.


PS : Like i said, i'm a little confused :S...

SURPRISE!!!!

I'm one person who never gets surprises - not from my family, not from my friends, not from my relatives. So, everytime my birthday rolls around, i already know what i'll be getting from my family and from some of my friends. I know where my party's going to be (cause i'm organising it) and i know exactly what i'm going to wear etc etc. You get my point?

....Or so i thought.

So i guess that's why i was so shocked when my friends planned a surprise party for me. I didn't expect it AT ALL! It was the evening of the first of February. I was exceptionally bored at home so when Bhavi called up and said that she could make it to Spinneys and my mom told me to get her a DVD from Spinneys, i got up and ran. I didn't find it strange that my mom told me to wear some thing other than baggies and a regular t-shirt (my standard clothes) because we had a dinner party scheduled for later. I met Bhavi at Spinneys and we went to the videoshop where Dhoom 2 was starting - the part where Hrithik is dancing (YAY). So Bhavi and I were glued to the screen and i'm sure that the staff working there thought we were retarded. I mean, we were just standing there and staring at the screen. After the dance, i tore my eyes away from the screen and rented 2 DVD's - Click and Kabul Express. I was beginning to get a little annoyed with Bhavi cause she spent 15minutes looking for ONE DVD to rent. I mean, come on!

She had to get something photocopied so we went to Al Ain to get the papers photocopied. The guy at the shop said it would take 10minutes so we told him we'd come back to collect it in 10minutes. Then we went to Spinneys because supposedly Bhavi wanted to buy a birthday card for her family friend, 'Anisha'. I honestly don't know how i fell for that one. Then she was picking out a nice birthday card and she asked me which one i thought was good. I, unknowingly, chose my own birthday card thinking it's for Anisha. Ok then.

Then we went back to Al Ain and picked up the photocopies. Almost an hour had passed, Bhavi gets a call from her "mom" (Rayna lol). We were just exiting and then Bhavi suddenly remembers that she didn't get her DVD (The truth - Aparna and Sakina, who were getting the cake were stuck in traffic so i had to be held in Spinneys for 15-20minutes more). So we go back to the Videoshop. Luckily for Bhavi, Dhoom2 was still going on. So, once again, i'm glued to the screen. For 15minutes, Bhavi is looking for one DVD and watching Dhoom2 while i'm helping her.

FINALLY, Bhavi says she has to leave and that her mom is waiting outside. I went out with her to drop her and my mom(who knows about the whole thing) calls and asks where i am. Then Bhavi randomly starts dragging me towards Lebanese Village. I didn't want to enter Lebanese Village. She says, "My mom's inside!" I FELL FOR THAT - there's a limit of stupidity, i thought!! So i enter the outdoor seating part of Lebanese Village with her, and i see Rayna, Meghna, Aparna, Sakina, Trisha, Prerna and Sagari standing there with a cake and huge grins on their faces. Then they yell, "SURPRISE!!!" and Bhavi joins them. By the way, i'm still on the phone with my mom who says, "Ahh finally! Enjoy!" and hangs up on me! I SWEAR i thought i was dreaming. I didn't register that it was a surprise birthday party. MY surprise birthday party! After 2minutes and 32 seconds (i think) it hits me that this is my surprise party!!!!! I was so SHOCKED! Of course then i was so happy as well! That has got to be my best birthday party ever!! So after i got over the delight and shock of... well, the surprise, we sat down to eat. I thanked everyone like a million times!

While eating, we were discussing how they had planned it. When we all were doing lunch duty one day, i remember Aparna and Rayna left atleast 5times with the excuse of Mrs. Luke is looking for them. I, being the gullible person that i am completely believed them. In reality, they were going to the lunch hall waiting for the guys to show up and give them a card for my birthday! Rishika couldn't make it cause she wasn't feeling at all well. Mini couldn't make it because her mom had this performance in Ras Al Khaimah. Dolly couldn't come either. We took SO many photos (displayed below) and they forcefully:p gave me birthday bumps in the RESTAURANT! Oh, and then they dropped me down - OW!!! Hehe. It was the most fun of 2007!!!!!!!! Oh, and Aparna forgot the guys' card(THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CARD :D!!) and Mini's sorry card (aww..that's ok!) lol.

Thank you so much!!!! You guys are the best friends' in this universe! THANKS! That was one of the best nights of my life!

Also, my parents' were in on it - THANK YOU!

2007 till now has been full of awesome surprises for me. My parents gave me a surprise birthday present a fortnight ago - my new mobile! Also, today my family friend gave me an early birthday present - my new bean bag and my dad surprised me with a new laptop! Thanks all of you for making my birthday my best yet! I love you all! And the best part is, my actual birthday hasn't even arrived yet!

Now, my ending words -
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS : excuse the purple sleeves:P:P, i didn't know there was a party remember???!