Happy New Year 2012!

So, the year starts from January 1st again....

I still remember how 2011 started...

Head bang start to the year, partying and dancing away till 3 in the morning; 

bonded with people whom I never thought would b mine, 

but lost people who were 'mine' (where they really mine in the first place?),

long lost friends - some came back, some did not..

learnt bowling from a friend who can make me happy and sad,

watched innumerable movies with a new relationship - 'the roomie',

had fun, went to parties and life restarted after 4 pm..

Mc Donalds outing with friends who care to share,

bajji outings and midnight maggi sessions,

feasted on non-veg after a loong hiatus..

been live witness to Master Blaster's 96th century in a thrilling cricket match,

tried rebonding in vain, learnt to have patience like hell, 

tele-teaching and forgave people,

lived through legal complications and likely legal issues (phew!),

became predictable in my surprises and started having crushes again :)

rubbed things the wrong way, but still glad that mistakes happened,

hearts broke and tears fell,

traveled 3 hrs to watch a 90 min movie, 

because I realized people and their company matter more than anything else...

bunked coll, went 4 a movie, lied and got caught red-handed,

made a movie and have ever since appreciated every scene in every movie,

faced defeats and success in the same place and time,

saw good times and bad ones too,

won a 1st prize and was still not happy,

had a surprise just the way I wanted and was still not happy,

finally learning that God knows best! 

got pampered to the core and walked alone when the going was tough,

Made my nest, my space and yet broke down within the confines of my space

submitted my dissertation and realized I can do things all alone, 

that I can live life all alone!!! 

So,.. lived through such contradictions the entire year. 

God, what an year!!!! Thanks for being there all throughout! :)

Déjà vu!! Not my mistake, blame it on the magic of Mysore!! :)

This is something I have shared with people on and off.. And this is something that I will keep sharing.. :)

Post my graduation, like all others (or at least like most of them) I too sat and blindly prepared for my Post Graduate entrance exams. Born and bought up in Mysore, all I wished for was a PG seat away from home (Crazy!). And so, here I am, doing my post-graduation in Bangalore.

Happy to be away from home, and have all the freedom I could have, I was raring to go to a new place, a new college, a new environment, a new experience….So, I am not really eager to come home in the weekends (courtesy : the traffic snarls I have to endure before I get to Majestic from Whitefield!!). But then, I invariably end up coming to Mysore because Mysore is irresistible!! :) Mysore is a lovely place and I am in love with it more than ever. It’s an amazing feeling to get down at the railway station and see the yellow board ‘MYSORE’ with the marvellous Chamundi hills at the background. Even with my eyes closed, I can recognize Mysore and its warmth. The air here is distinct and definitely has something peculiar and ‘namma’ feeling in it!

As I reach home, home-made food welcomes me. Next morning it’s the traditional morning trek to Chamundi hills with friends and the customary breakfast at GTR. Try telling a Bangalorean about this, and pat will come the reply, ‘‘Chamundi betta? We also have Nandi betta’’!! Huh?? Come on!!!! What & where is the comparison!?! That is when I realize that the beauty of Mysooru can’t be explained. For it is not a place that can be described, it is a feeling that can only be experienced. :) Everything in Mysore has more to offer than what meets the eye. Even the routine Mysore palace which leaves every tourist spell bound is spectacular and even more beautiful than what the regular eye can decipher. From the ‘quaint sun ray’ view of the palace at 5.30 a.m on my way to II puc tuitions to the ‘mid-night’ view enroute to Chamundi betta for those memorable drives… I have seen most of the ‘views’ and believe me, the manifestations are magical! :)

Well, as less eager as I was to come home, I would be even less eager to get back to Bangalore. Very reluctantly I reach the railway station by 4 on a Monday morning. But by the minute I reach the station, am all rejuvenated! I love the railway station, especially at that time when everyone is sleeping warmly in their beds. It gives me a feeling of getting into an adventure. I love the silence, the train’s whistle breaking the silence, the darkness, the cold, and the wait… the place where many journeys begin and where many end. I reach Majestic by 7 and college by 9, and then the grind begins, until next Saturday, when again it’s a journey back home…

The best part of my PG life, however, seems to be my countless train journeys. The rush to board the 3’o clock Tippu express, which gets me home in 2 and a half hours flat; the serenity of the Mandya-Mysore stretch, the lush green paddy and sugarcane fields, with the occasional spotless white cranes, the wide expanse of our lifeline Cauvery and her tributaries beneath me, the village rustic with his herd of sheep, the rare peacock, the slight drizzle, all, as seen and felt through my foot board seat…Spectacular!! :) 

All said and done, I am just waiting for my course to get completed and get back home, to get back to Mysore.. Well, the countdown has already begun.. 298 days to go!!! :) Mysore, am waiting to grow amidst you once again!!! :)

Why? Why?? Why???

With the moon above, as I travel,

I cant help but marvel,

At God's marvellous creations,

And His hand crafted situations.

Is there an answer to every 'why'?,

Or is it most of the times answered with a lie?

Is it for a lesson or only the pain?

Oh my!! My questions start again!!!

Bas ithna sa khwaab hai... :)

This is cut, copy, edit & paste of a song from my favourite movie 'My fair lady'. This is to be sung in the tune of 'All I want is English Marie'.. an old Marie biscuit advertisement. The last stanza in unmodified.. :)

All I want is a room somewhere,
With books n books everywhere,
And one enormous chair...
Ah! Wouldn't it be loverly!

Lots of money for me to spend,
Wit no work at all for me to mend,
Warm home, warm family, warm friend(s)...
Ah! Wouldn't it be loverly!

Aw so lovingly sitting absoluminutely still..
I would never budge till spring!

Someone's head resting on my knee,
As warm and tender as he can be.
Who takes good care of me...
Ah! Wouldn't it be loverly!

Update!

Well, through all d ups n downs, life seems to have come to a standstill... So, am taking time out now to UPDATE on what’s happening in my life.. PG life is very bugging n very boring... No one told us all that we struggle for one year to gain 3 whole years of boredom!!! :) But strangely, am happy despite this boring, busy life. Am happy, don’t know y... Guess I am loving this solitude… this freedom (something that I have been longing since 10 years!!). But now that I have all the freedom, I don’t know what 2 do wit it!!! Forget misusing it, I don’t even seem to b using it!! :)

Well, we are d 1st batch of PG’s in coll (not quite easy n not nice:(). Sushma Reddy is my co-PG. So far our relationship has been good. She is from Blr itself n her family is very sweet to me. Apart from her, I don’t really talk much to the other PG’s (Lakshmi n not talking!!! Ya, ya, u read it right!!! :)). We have a senior lecturer, Dr. Archana Patil- very friendly , very pretty n is the only other person (other than Sushma) with whom I am myself in campus. Its all in all a ladies’ dept-from the HOD TO PG’s to technicians to ayah! (Phew!! How boring!! Yawn!!) :). Being the 1st batch, we r d senior most in college. Apart from us two, there r 6 more PGs- 2 each in Ortho (braces dept), OMR(diagnosis n x ray dept) n Endo(root canal dept).

I don’t like Blr. If I had come to Blr a year earlier, I wud have been spoilt n pampered to the core. Now I know my way in n around Blr, which would not have been possible otherwise. So, maybe things do really happen for the good. It’s made me more independent; it’s taught me not to trust ppl easily n if I can say so, more mature! :)

I am not really eager to go home in the weekends. But with nothing left to do n too much of ‘solitude’, I invariably end up going to Mysore. Mysore is a lovely place n am in love wit it more than ever. It’s a lovely feeling to get down @ the railway station n see the board ‘MYSORE’ with d Chamundi hills @ d background. Even with my eyes closed, I could recognize Mysore n its warmth.. The air there definitely has something peculiar in it! :) I usually reach Mysore by 6 in d evening on Saturdays, talk with everyone at home n sleep late to get up next day only by 11 am. I then head for my ‘beauty bath’ of 1 hr duration (head bath-coz my hair dint like Blr waterL). By d time I settle down, I realize I need to sleep early in order to wake up early next day for my 4.30 train back to Blr. As less eager as I was to come home, I would be even less eager to get back to Blr too. Very reluctantly I get out of bed at 3 n reach station by 4.

But the minute I reach d station, am all rejuvenated! I love d railway station, especially at that time when everyone is sleeping warmly in their beds. It gives me a feeling of getting into an adventure. I love d silence, d trains whistle breaking d silence, d darkness, d cold, d wait… the place where many journeys begin n where many end. :) I reach majestic by 7 n coll by 9, n then d grind begins.. Patients, case-histories, biopsies, grossing, fixing tissue in formalin, processing it, sectioning, staining, viewing under d microscope…Ah! Something that I always wanted to do!! :) Not to forget d seminars, d case presentations, d journal clubs… something that I never wanted to do!!! :( It goes on until next Saturday when again, it’s a journey back home…

It’s a great feeling to take theory classes n though I was myself a back bencher n quite talkative during my BDS times, I do get irritated when students talk in between d class (not fair on my part! I agree!:)). I enjoy approving or rejecting their wax carvings of teeth(even we did that as students). I love playing the role of an examiner or an invigilator. I love it when the students walk separately when I walk past, or when they make way for me (the way v do for our staff). I love being on d other side of the coin. Can’t believe I can b a teacher too! I kind of relive my life seeing these students… to think I was also like them just 6 years ago n am today in my staff’s shoes is a great feeling n well, I feel old too!!! Lol!!! :)
I wish i cud take more time out to keep my blogs updated,if not evolved! :) one more month to wind up with ist yr PG (hurray!!) :) n 2 more years to wind up completely!! :( miles n miles to go...............

My letter to the editor of Bangalore Mirror!! [:)]

This letter surprisingly appeared in Bangalore Mirror on April 30th, [page 22]!! [:)]It was sent in response to a reader who blamed the govt for not acting against Pramod Mutalik.

DON'T BLAME GOVT

Pramod Mutalik was arrested within 48 hours of the Mangalore incident and also most activists of the Shri Rama Sene. The cases against them are being heard in courts. The elected government has not failed in its duty and it can’t sit in judgment of the issue and it is up to to the judiciary to provide justice to the victims. This government, unlike the previous ones, is at least acting against Pramod Mutalik in various cases that have been pending since quite some time and has arrested him quite a few times. You cant blame the state government if he gets bail. Regarding anti-incumbency in Karnataka, this is a Lok Sabha election and we are voting for a central government. So it is the Congress-led UPA which is facing anti-incumbency. It would be wise for our voters to rise above petty local issues and think big and think about the problems facing the country as a whole.

Dr Lakshmi Krishnan, Mysore

CHANGE OF SEASONS...

Curled up with my book,
My thoughts race back in time,
To the time I was held by a hook,
A hook which I believed was bliss supreme.

So naive I was, and naive I still am…
To have believed life had bestowed upon me a gift.
Only to now feel like a dam,
Torn down by deceit.

The dam trusted in its maker,
And so did I…
Only to learn better,
That ‘trust’ is a word destined to die.

As I sunk in this negativity,
I heard the pitter and patter
Of the rain, trying to do its duty,
Trying to remove my minds 'clutter'.

Through the window, I opened up
To the first rain of the season…
I stood there numb,
Trying to reason with reasons…

I know not why, I know not how…
But I know now that for sure it is…
Am a fool and there was no love,
And definitely no ‘good wish’..

As the rain grows fierce,
The thunder and lightening within
Does not seem to cease,
And all my questions seem thrown into the bin..

‘Why are there no answers,
But only empty faces?
Why have I no answers,
Just some more blank questions?’

Like the first shower,
Trying to beat the heat,
I too want it all over
And have my life laid out neat.

The rain seems like noise...
When all I want is a voice…
A voice to tell me, am cared for,
A voice to give me the reason to live for.