My Gang of Girls

This post is about My GANG, who has been with me since school and will be with me forever. We are a unique bunch, our traits and qualities endear us to many and also infuriate many..;)This is dedicated to my friends and a glimpse into our world for the others.:)

Women really do rule the world.  They just haven't figured it out yet.  When they do, and they will, we're all in big big trouble.  ~ Doctor Leon

Anne- She is the innocent one in our group, who was taken for a ride always but then the little girl grew up and now takes us for a ride (at least tries to:)). She is curious about everything, also about things she doesn’t understand and we have to explain it to her, that too explicitly... ;) We love her for her inquisitiveness and innocence.

Chanchal – A girl who is an original and just as priceless as a Da Vinci or a Picasso. She is the life of the party, her grin and her mischievous smile is infectious. Her one liners and her sense of humor is unparalleled. But what really make her adorable are her childlike enthusiasm and a heart of gold.

Khushboo – She is the perfect daughter and now I should add the perfect daughter-in-law (I really look up to her for that), who is the only girl we all don’t want to get in the wrong side of, a fact her husband would completely endorse..;).But the truth is we all love being bossed by her, she is the one string which binds us all and we love her. 

Shradha- She always has the expression of a disapproving aunt at all our antics but in the end we are rewarded with an indulgent smile when she realizes that we will never improve and remain as crazy as ever always. 

Siddhi – She is the saint among us, who is the ocean of calm in a storm though she is herself very sentimental and her huge eyes get all red along with her cute nose. She is the one who is always there for all of us though she is a very busy lady with long queues of her so called “acquaintances” actually admirers... ;).

Sucheta- She is the coolest gal among us all. She always has the most interesting stories to tell and loves to tell them, with a sparkle in her eye. We have seen her growing up and her hair growing short from her very early days when she didn’t cut them at all due to some religious reasons. We love you for the weird and funny stuffs you always tell us.

Yamini- She is the Gucci one, who would tell you how the other day she went shopping and got her Guess shades. She is the one who made us ladies from the gauche teenage girls we were, so you have to mind your P’s and Q’s in front of her. We all love her for bringing sophistication to our group. :)

Vrinda- She is the clever one. She is the only one among us who ever looks at the watch and is on time everywhere, very much to our dismay. We love her parents more than her for putting a roof over our head every time, I mean we have had the maximum number of slumber parties at her place:).We love her for her curls, her graphology and for all the lunches and dinners at her place along with all the tidbits and snacks we gorge on at her home. 

These are my girls, whom I love and adore and have grown up with. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

P.S: They are the ones responsible for making me ME, so you can bash them up for the problems you have with me... ;)

You get some, You lose some.........

I saw my air ticket, on the rightmost corner it was written flight duration 2:35 minutes from Bombay to Kolkata. I glanced at it and left it there. I didn't know that I would experience a kaleidoscope of emotions during this journey.It all began when we started packing or actually I should say attempting to pack the loads n loads (believe me its not an exaggeration)of stuff we had. There were small things which reminded me of all the wonderful times I have spent in the last few months, an earthern pot which I had made when we went to a village theme restaurant, the lost T-Shirt that I had been looking everywhere for, the purse made out of paper by one of my friends in a class exercise, etc.I left the hostel, gave the room one last glance which already looked as if it was waiting eagerly for its new occupants who would add to its cache of memories. As we drove out of the campus, there was this new and unexpected feeling of leaving something behind, the lawns, buildings, as if they all are saying that we will  be waiting for you. I had just come out of my reverie and was looking forward to my return to my city, when one of my friend gave me a goodbye card which stated what we all were feeling very simply that " we will miss each other, this time, this place". I reached the airport, a new sense of excitement came over me when it finally dawned on me that I am going home.:)  I boarded the bus which would take us to our plane, a child sitting next to me exclaimed " Uui to"and pointed eagerly towards the plane, which means there it is in Bengali, which felt like music to my ears and I also felt there it is, the day I waited for so eagerly since months. I sat on my customary window seat which I love and haggle for at the check-in counter. Then I heard a mom consoling her child and exclaiming " Baba aishe jaabe", Bengali again which means that your father will soon come and I thought of my Dad who would be waiting for me at Kolkata airport in 2 hours time. And my high had no bounds then, thoughts of Kolkata filled me and these 2 hours seemed like the longest journey ever. The despair of leaving my institute was replaced by unparalled joy of going home and meeting all my loved ones...:):)

A HISTORIC WIN

ICC WORLD CUP 2011- a dream for millions of Indians all over the world came true. Each Indian has his/her own story to tell about the moment when Dhoni lifted the gleaming World Cup amidst cheering by thousands of spectators at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai. It was very difficult to tell whether the shine on the cup was that of the unshed tears of the senior players, of the mischievious grins of the young ones, of the blessing to the miracle called Sachin Tendulkar ,or just  the glow of prayers by the countrymen to the 330 million Gods in India. 

I, too was glued to the screen and witnessed THE MOMENT on the day, which I would like to call THE CRICKET DAY:).It was a day which I would never forget in my lifetime. How can I ever forget the awe at the maiden overs and yorkers of Zaheer Khan, spellbounding fielding by the team, the calm, composed Gambhir on his way to 97, the beautiful knock of Dhoni and the flying six by Yuvraj? And the priceless feeling of cheering the team with my friends by my side, the high fives after every fours and sixes, waving the Indian flag, shouting "Come on, India" with so much intensity that it must have vibrated somewhere in Wankhede and the celebrations outside the hostel with the hapless guard shouting ceaselessly at us to get inside.A day which I can see bringing joy to Indians for many many years to come. I would like to say a big Thank You to the team in blue to have united India and to have shown to the world what to look forward to from India in the coming era.As for me, I can see myself staring at a distant horizon, with a sparkle in my eye and telling my grandchildren about this day .Amen!

Mon Cherub

I always think that there is someone around me who is always with me and who guides me, inspires me to give just that one extra bit more(though it fails lot of times..;)), laughs at my quirks, smirks at my fooling around with things I don't know, gives a "God can only save her" kinda look at my foolishness, just holds me when I am low and depressed and is generally just there. No, I'm not freaked out if thats what you are thinking.Whenever I discuss it with my friends or peers, I get mixed reactions from them. Some just look at me with an eyebrow raised as if saying" you kidding me?", some nod vigorously saying that they too sometimes feel like that and some of them just give that mysterious smile as if saying that I also got to know their secret.

 So what is this secret?. One of my friend had long back told me that all of us have our guardian angels who look after us and are with us always. In fact, there are umpteen number of books written on this very subject like 'Angel' by Dr Sneh Desai( this is the one which my friend had read).Well, I  actually don't know much about Angels but I would like to believe that they are there somewhere watching over us. If I talk to the elders in my family then, they would say we always have our ancestors looking out for us. If we listen to the spiritual gurus then they have their own take on it. I don't know which one of it is actually true but one thing which I know and is common among all of these is belief.In each explanation there is a strong belief behind it, a very unyielding faith in the unknown. And I too believe. In fact more so in what I don't see rather than  in what is right in front of my eyes. Yes, I can feel my friend around me nodding appreciatively and giving an indulgent smile. :)

P.S: In case you are wondering about the title, it means My Angel in French...au revoir.

City of Dreams which brought me Joy

Mumbai- a city which I had never visited before 13th June,2010 but had always heard so much about. The cliche' that you come to Mumbai to chase your dreams, held true for me also- I came here to fulfill my dream of doing an MBA . When I came here the city seemed not at all like what I had envisioned it to be. I was not being able to put into words what I wanted to say about the city, but was reading something somewhere and then it struck me.The one thing which stands out in the city is its pulsating energy which emanates from the hundreds walking on the streets, all in a rush to reach somewhere, the lighted billboards calling out to you and the high rises standing faithfully next to the shanties. I sorely missed the old  world charm of Calcutta, the yellow cabs, the familarity of seeing umbrellas in summers more than in monsoons :), the unhurried pace of the officegoers and students alike, etc, etc( it could become another post in my blog ;) ). The days flew and Mumbai crept into my heart and cemented its place somewhere in its corner. I fell in love, though I don't know when it happened exactly. Was it the first time I saw The Gateway of India standing tall at the edge of the Arabian Sea? Or, was it when I sat on Marine Drive with my friends contemplating life and watching waves crashing against rocks with the Sun setting in the distant horizon? I don't know. But it happened, so if Calcutta is the love of my life then Mumbai definately is a fling which i can never forget in my lifetime....:):)

One Afternoon in Class

Today, the ethics lecture set me thinking about various thing which I unknowingly did but was not aware of its purpose. If I  talk about what I learnt then, it shall be the responsibilty to enjoy freedom. Freedom is the right of every individual I agree, but how many of us actually use it and not misuse it. When we are told not to do something, that is precisely what we want to do, which is childlike behaviour.So is this what we mean when we say we want to preserve the child in us- "dil toh bacha hai jii".We do not take the ability of the child to find happiness in small things, to love unconditionally but we take the stubborness of a child in refusing to listen to elders. I think about the things which I have done and not told my parents, specially when I was a teenager then I feel that the happiness in doing them was always incomplete somewhere because I knew they do not know.So, what is the next step? There are things which we know are not wrong so does that justify not telling our parents which is exactly what one of my classmates asked Mam. The answer which we got is that we should have the sense of right and wrong to decide that just like Shri Krishna in Mahabharata(P.S: thats influence of one of my friend reading The Bhagvad Gita). Does this change anything, the lecture ends we go back to our rooms and  humdrum of life begins again and we do not hesitate to lie yet again.

What does happiness mean?

Happiness for me is the fleeting smile which lits up your face when you think of a good memory, the joy you feel when you put your hands in your pockets and find money, the glow which fills you when you are complimented, watching the sunset from your window, the stream of endearments which your mom uses to call you, the way your fathers’ chest swells up when he talks of your accomplishments are some of the moments in which I feel I am happy. We feel happy in the simplest of things, only we may or may not show our happiness to the world. Sometimes it is just a feeling of contentment deep inside our heart and sometimes we actually start smiling.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think.  Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.  ~A.A. Milne