Oh and btw, my resolution for the new year- Try to eat food quicker than I used to.

I dedicate this first post of the year 2009 to my College Friends. I have known them for less than a couple of years, but I think I have known them all my life.

I thought I was going to spend my New Years with my best friend from school, Pranali and a small group of other friends. It so happened that one of Pranali's friends invited her college friends to our New Year's party. So we were a group of about 9 girls in Pranali's house. I was meeting these girls for the first time. I don't really know how to describe these girls, except that they took the word 'bitches' to a whole new level.

Arrogance just oozed out of them. When we woke up the next morning on the 1st of Jan, the house was in a mess. And here comes the part that pissed me off the most, none of them offered to help Pranali and me when we started the cleaning process. Forget help, they did not even have the courtesy to get out of the way as we walked from one room to the other trying to tidy up the place. Also,we had to remind them to chip in for the party. They had conveniently forgotten that the party was one where we all had to contribute together, that the food and drinks weren't for free.

Ok, so it was New Years and they were just a group of girls who wanted to have fun. But so were Pranali and me! Wrapping up at the end of the day is something everybody hates doing. That's the reason we should work as a team and minimize the work load. Their bad conduct bugged me to the core and I had half a mind to tell them that on their face.

This is in complete contrast to the friends I have in college. Our Masters degree brought together different people from all sorts of different backgrounds with varied goals and ambitions. But in these couple of years, we have become one united team, just the way different parts come together to form one single entity. Now, if we are given a task, like clockwork, we simply take our positions and complete the task in minimum time without too much confusion; no one needs to tell us or direct us, we are so well co-ordinated! I can swear, if my college friends were in place of these chicks today, each and everyone would have helped to tidy up the place without any one having to tell them to do it. 

I remember the beginning of this academic year when there was a science exhibition in our College. For some reason or another the news of this exhibition did not reach the Head of our department till one working day prior to the exhibition itself. At 5 pm of a Saturday we got a call from her telling us to prepare exhibits for the exhibition that was to start on Monday. We outlined the work ahead in an hour and went home. On Monday morning our exhibits were ready. Our seniors and the peons could not come early to college on Monday since they had some work of their own. Nor could our HOD. So the entire event had to be managed by the Masters junta.  On learning on the phone that we had no assistance, our HOD was a bit worried. She doubted if we could manage the event by ourselves. But we did that job without any assistance. And what a job! Zoology Department exhibits easily became the crowd pullers. The organizers actually thanked our HOD for making the event a success at such short notice. I won't forget what our Head told us that day, "You are ready! You have become efficient at handling a job".   

And this is just one aspect. My college group has taught me important lessons about friendship and unity in the process. It is said, you usually make lasting friends during your early years in school etc. and that as you grow up, relationships become more professional and self-centered. Somewhere in the race, the innocence and charm of a friend is lost. Not for us, no. I am lucky to make best friends at the Masters level, and retain it for years to come.

Thanks guys!

A Good Year, This

Its New Years already.
Funny how time flies by so quickly when you are having a good time.

Yes, 2008 has been a wonderful year for me. Learned so many lessons. Unlike 2007, these lessons weren't those I could add in my CV; but lessons non the less.

I shall always remember 2008 as the year in which I came to be a part of a relationship for the first time ever.
I was also part of a break-up for the first time.
I came to value friendship like never before. I can't believe I used to take human beings for granted the way I did before things changed my views.
2008 will, for me, be the year Yashada had a paradigm shift, the year Yashada grew up.

As I write this, I have suddenly realized I'm happy!
I'm happy to let go of another year and venture into a new one :)

I Am Here

She strolled in the woods just as she always did. But things were different now. She had let go of a burden and she felt light from within. Just as she was walking freely in those woods, she noticed hope fluttering in the air, like a butterfly fresh out of its cocoon. She wondered if she was seeing things. Was it substantial, this hope? Or was it just another mirror of past episodes? That thought filled her with dread. Dare she walk down that path of Not-Knowing once more, and risk it all again?

Cherry on Top

I feel sorry in saying this, but, yes I was prepared for the cake and the icing. R R Patil calling it a ‘small incident’, Shivraj Patil’s usual incompetency to deal with the situation, reporters asking the families of the deceased “how are they feeling right now? (What sort of a question is that??...and so on.
But the cherry on top came when Vilasrao Deshmukh went to the Taj with his actor son and Ram Gopal Verma. That was the height of insensitivity a leader, no other than the Chief Minister of this very state could exhibit. I am speechless after knowing this. And I cry in despair, is all lost? Are we doomed? Is there no hope when there is such a sick, insensitive leadership that we have elected ourselves?

It’s 1.30 in the morning. Pranali meets me online.
Pranu: “Baaaabeee I’m sooooo glad ur online!!! We HHHAVE to taaaalk!!!!”
Me: “OMG, waaaat happened???”
Pranu: “Too long a story to type, can I call???”
Me: “Haan re, call NOOOOWWW. Btw wats it bout??”
Although I already knew what it was that she wanted so desperately to talk about. Her extended ‘baaaabe, and HHAAAVE to taaaalk’ etc told me she was having guy trouble.
So she calls at 1.30 am on my landline and starts. “So I said blah blah..then he said blah blah, so I was like, so what?? Then you know what he said?? He was like..blah blah…”
I’m listening, listening, listening…
Next thing I know I can hear the engaged tone on the phone. For a second I don’t know what’s happening. Then it hits me, I had fell asleep while she was telling me something major on the phone.
Shit.
Then my cell phone rings. Pranu calling. I answer, “Babe what happened?? Zoplis biplis ki kay?”
“Umm yes I think I fell asleep…” I say a little gingerly, wondering how she’ll react.
“What??? You fell asleep listening to me??”
“Sorry sorry sorry, I was just a bit tired, and its almost 2 now…” Stop giving excuses you stupid, just accept your mistake and try to figure out how much damage control is needed.
Thankfully Pranu was in a good mood. I didn’t even have to treat her to coffee or ice cream. Come to think of it, I came off pretty easy.
I wondered what I would have done if we had exchanged places and she would have been the one to doze off while I ranted on. Hell would have broken loose…
Boy, I have good, understanding friends. Can’t say the same for them though!

Chain Ki Neend

I have been silent for a long time. Its been more than a month since I wrote last. Long silence, this. But before I commence this post I have someone to thank. For it was he who suggested (unknowingly, I guess) the title for this post. Some witty remark from Nachiket Gajare proved to be a muse for me. And I finally decided to break my bloggy silence.

I have been silent for a long time. When was the last time I “talked?” For the last few weeks I have been a mere spectator of my actions, or inactions. It was almost some form of out- of- body experience. I saw myself taking decisions I didn’t think I would, I saw myself thinking in ways I didn’t know I could. I could see myself running around, busy with some work, making excuses for my behavior, my silence. Slowly I could see myself getting lost in the crowd. I didn’t even try to get back together with that drifting, aimless, apparently busy self, till I actually realized what I was doing and why I was doing it. Staying aloof brings with it some kind of numbness which is very addictive. I didn't have to think much, but only go with the flow. I would have stayed this way had it not been for a sudden realization. The realization that I was not writing a lot, at least not like the way i used to. The new me did not like to pen down my thoughts. Unusual, for the Yashada I know.This separation from my being was affecting my (among other things), writing.

I can't stay this way! Not talking is unhealthy. I must break my silence. And hence this post.

The last few days have been super-hectic. I have barely slept. Why? Some submission, as usual. All I wanted to do after the submission was have some good, untroubled sleep. Chain ki neend, in Nachiket’s words. Well, the submission is over now and I’m at the other side of it. It would have been a very different side if it wasn’t for some Bollywood ish-style shootings taking place on the very streets of my dear city. News channels are suddenly showing scenes that look like they're from fromsome Hindi film. Whoever could have imagined terrorists coming by boat, attacking, among other places, the Taj- more than just a hotel for any Mumbaikar. Considering that complete murderous lunatics are loose in our city, wonder if any of us can have any chain ki neend…

Thanks again, Nachiket for the title.