Happy Birthday to Me :) :)

I have always lovvvved my birthdays, right from my childhood days when I used to be all set for it with my new "color dress" which I can wear to school that day. And I love it even now, and that great day happens to be, mmmm, TODAY!!! I just turned 23. Wow!!!

I got calls from my dear ones both near and far right from the moment clock struck 12 (and even before that, as a matter of fact). And after that we cut cake (It was yummy, will post a pic here). There were 6 of us here(me, Su, Simi, Lisha, Treasa n Amulya), and while me n Simi indulged in the art and fun of cake splashing, smashing, throwing etc etc at each other, others intelligently stayed out of it and indulged in a more benefiting job of finishing the cake off. After that came the gifts part and I got my long dreamed Reebok Jacket and a salwar as gifts. Well, and after that I went off to sleep, and had a good sleep with occasional phone calls in between.



Now in the morning, there is a beautiful collage from Siva in my Inbox, and am setting off to office with a box of Diary Milk. Looking forward for a great day...

Vandu's Day Out

This was a weekend I had been looking forward to for a long while, though for different reasons. We had planned an outing to Chikmagalur, and I was too very excited. But then coz of internal and external issues within the team, it was just the guys who were going. This decision came in quite late, on Wednesday, and I was left with no time to get tickets to go home. On Thursday, I got to know that my college friends were going to Chennai, and then, that too was late, to get all approvals inplace (well.. being a girl IS hard!). And we decided (me, Lisha n Surya) to go out on Sunday.

It all began on Saturday early morning journey to the fish market, and then looong hours of cooking almost 6 dishes (well, I wanted Lisha to learn the art of cookery, so I was, u know, just guiding her on how to go about stuff :). And after a delicious, lip-smacking lunch (Rice, Curd curry, Fish fry, Fish Curry, Beans, Cauliflower masala, Salad, n Gulab Jamun for dessert), I decided to give myself a good break, and started off reading a book which I recently got my hands on (Witch of Portbello - Paulo Coelho). And in the evening once Surya joined us, we went off to Kammannahalli, and were window-shopping for a long while, and yeah, I did pick up a movie for Achan.After that came the dinner time, and catching up with a lot of news with Surya. Sorry, I don't remember when I drifted off to sleep, but am quite sure that it was well after 12, coz I remember setting my alarm up for the next day.

And today, my day started at 6:30, when the 3 of us got ready for Bannerghatta National Park, with a bag stuffed with food for lunch(we had heard from a good number of people that it's better to carry food, since you don't get much of good solid food there). And well, we started off!

We went to Majestic and then caught a bus to Bannerghatta, and dashed off straight for the Grand Safari(which was a good decision, I think, considering how longer the queue was later in the day). We first passed through herds of deers, and then to Bear Park. If you ask me how a beer looks like now, I would probably say that its verrrry cute like a dog, with a face very similar to a pig. Well, thats how I feel, and if you think that my description is wrong lemme ask you 'have you heard about the freedom of thoughts and expresssion?'


And after that we went along the place where lions are. There were a couple of them playing around ,and that made me think of Alex(Yes, from Madagascar!). Only thing am sad about is the fact that these lions chose the right side of the forest to play along, and we were sitting on the left side of the bus. Boo hoo... :(

And ho! Tiger Park.. Puliiiis, and so many of them. Boy, wasn't I happy? Those big, wilg cats, are, well.. there's no other way to put it, just magnificent. They were so very beautiful, and I actually did not bother to take their photographs, I just wanted that picture to etch into my memory right from my eyes.



After the Safari, we came back to the zoo and walked around watching monkeys, deers, antelopes, peacocks, hippo (like Gloria, agn from Madagascar!), zebra(shall I say Marty? ;), elephants and what not. We had our lunch there at the park, and started our journey back.

Once we reached Majestic though, there was a slight change of plans, We decided to go to ISKCON temple. At ISKCON, there was a long queue to be followed, and a man in white asked us whether we would like to get onto a priority 1 queue(forgive me for talkin like a software engg), where we can go directly and pray. Being brought up in a culture where we were taught to endure hardships to worship, we declined, and stood on the queue for 'aam-aadmi'. Though I felt it was commercialization of I don't know what, I loved the place, for the sheer bauty of it!



And then, it was time for us to come back home, and after dropping Surya at her place(not by Merc, by auto), we both came home. And now after a refreshing hot water bath, and a piping hot cup of tea, I sit to surf, to connect to the world outside not by the smell of soil, but by a giant web called the Internet!!!

IF (by Rudyard Kipling)

I was in 6th standard, when I first came across this poetry(when Kannan Uncle gave this to me for a read). I couldn't make much sense out of it then, but thought of it as some heavy material, just perfect for my Englist recitation competition at school. And I byhearted this(just like I did all the poems at school), and won the first prize. The next year, when I changed my school, I recited this again, and won again. It was not until 2 years later that I pored upon it, and appreciated it for what it really was, and since then, this has been my favorite. And today, when I got this as an e-mail forward, my first reaction was to post it here, because I have carried it right from my childhood until this day...

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

11:00 AM - 12:40 PM - At PES

(Before you begin reading, let me tell you, this is an extract from my notebook, I had written this in paper and pen, and am simply typing it out now)

There are times when people talk nonsense(or so it seems to us), and we are forced to listen. Well.. things are not that bad here right now. 'Coz am at liberty to write/read/play as long as I dont disturb the class. Yes, Mahesh Sir is at class talking about something called 'Deterministic Finite Automata'! And OMG, Rohan is asking doubts, breaking all my confidence that not a single soul understands what is going on. What do I say now, other than just remark to myself 'Puli Puli'!

And to my left, Simi has come to conclusion that she is fighting a losing battle by trying to concentrate, and probably that she is stressing herself too much by trying to do so, and have closed her book. And to my right, Sumi and Sree are talking about critical issues of the world (read, gossip in whispers). And hey, Sir just asked whether we have any doubts, and can you guess what a girl asked?, "Sir, what is it that we are trying to study in this subject?!"... Well, am impressed, though am not sure what the professor's feelings could have been. She is atleast trying to motivate herself, even if not about the topic in hand(I mean, Sir's hand ;), then atleast about the subject in question... Quite an improvement, I say.

If I look out of the window, I can see a small fragment of the Bangalore-Mysore road, where people and vehicles are buzzing around to reach their destination, least worried about the Tuning machines.

Okay.. turning my attention back to class(rather the people in the class), Mr. Kundithaputhran is busily(n seriously) taking down notes of god knows what, the Tamil girl with a yellow rose on her hair(Forgive me, a lil bad at remembering names) is catching up with her lost sleep, Srinivas is thinking, probably about how many additional features he can add to the existing tuning machines, and yeah, I think that Vineetha's wedding is fixed, she has her hand on her chin and is thinking very deeply.

Oops. Roll call. Let me listen, if I miss this, then the whole point of travelling that short distance from Hebbal to Banashankari is all lost.

After 5 mins:
People around me have all woken up(they dont mind waking upto attendance), and things are back to that normal, subdued mode. Simi has gone undercover, yup, on phone and under the desk(well, she can fit in there perfectly, much to my jealousy).

Nearing end of class:
Sorry, had switched myself on listen mode. Gotta do it sometimes, you see. Problems of being a student, have to put in a lot of effort :( )
And hoorah.. lunch break!!! Bubbye