Before~

The comfort of the creamy curd rice

Rolling on the floor , watching TV

Using Laika as my squishy pillow

Sleeping through life

And moving in my own jolly pace

Reminiscing about a happier childhood

With the same bunch of friends ,

Dipping Fries on cheese

Unbothered about kilos and hours

Driving on my scooty ,

Wind washing away my starting jitters ,

Sitting with my special friend on the cool mud

Of  my Bessie beach ,

And trying to tell him that

The Big Things in Life are actually Very Small

The montage that passes through your eyes

Before any nerve wracking moment is

A Random rhapsody of your lived moments ,

So live your life friend

Like the waves before us

Rise and crash and touch some lives ~

Mistakes make great stories

Worry only about being true to your self.

He smiled a quiet smile

Placed his hands behind my head

Leaned forward

And shut my mouth in his style

What was I saying again?

Sharikrida : A game of Political intrigue

It is not every day you get a chance to review a book before it gets officially released and I’m very pleased to announce that I got one such chance. So here comes , the first official review of the book!

Sharikrida , is a book authored by Krishna Trilok and published by Zuna Publishers. The book is set in the future where monarchy and kingdoms rule India ( now called Vehya ) again.

Btw don’t worry, this review is Spoiler Free!

The basic plot is that there are six kingdoms which rule the vehya subcontinent and the supreme ruler is chosen by a game of Sharikrida , a live action chess and strategy game. There is also a running thread about King Bharin Shah of the North fighting for justice against the evil supreme ruler Kesara Gaderia and his evil Shvagnin / Chessmaster .

As you can see , the book conjures up its own world effectively. The author has put in great effort constructing this fantastical realm so comprehensively that you want more stories from this world. Trilok should make a Trilogy!

Things which impressed me about the book especially were :-

1)      Original fantasy elements steeped in Indian mythology tapping into our rich culture

2)      The author’s English which is impeccable and beautiful. I love it that he hasn’t try to dumb down his language.

3)      The way he describes food. I had to constantly reach for snacks when he started describing lamb delicacies.

All the characters are well etched and the action set pieces were very thrilling. I felt that the book kept building its world and moving its story at an amazing pace. However , after it reached it feverish pitch and ultimate peak I felt that the sudden back story plateaued it a bit and made us think – which leads you to predict the twists.

That tiny complaint apart , this is an excellent book. I honestly think that the beginning portions were India’s answer to Game of Thrones ( a much leaner and focused version ) and the author has amazing potential to reach greater heights if he is ready to leave the safe road and start attacking ( like one of his characters said)

The book deals with governance and morality boldly and King Bharin Shah especially delivers a lot of noteworthy quotes. The implied Gender Equality in the book was beautiful to read too.

All in all , a wonderful book which you must read if you like fantasy or action or politics or thrill or just a different story. I also must say , I love the godfatheresque turn the book took and its ultimate ending. It was like there was always something up the book’s sleeve.

Loved the book!

Verdict : Read it. 4/5

You can pre order from December 22nd!

The Green coloured building

Blanket of nostalgia

Wrapped me tightly

Like a burrito

When I woke up today.

Past memories weighed me down

Go back to sleep they said

Relive those joyous days

Their glory finally acknowledged

Faces of friends

Spaces I hung out

Their authentic traces intact

Beckon me home

Ships eventually sail

Drop the anchor now and then

Thirsty for mirage

I drink salt water

It is better to revisit the green coloured building

In my head

The paths and persons more familiar and friendly

So I shut my eyes tightly.

Good night! 

Also : My juvenile post on farewell to the green coloured building is here 

It is my old school - BVM. Sometimes I get strong dreams about my school life and hope that I can relive them. I'm pretty sure I will appreciate it more this time around.

Devil's Paradise

So within a day of pitching the idea , I come up with my latest blog idea ' Devil's paradise' . Here , any original work which wants to get published anonymously gets a chance to be so published. I introduce to you , the first post - a fictional write up of a 11 year old authoress and her writing ethics. Please leave a feedback as the budding writers may continuing writing only on your honest feedback!https://semisharings.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/quandries-of-a-11-year-old/

Click Here

To Srimathi

To sudden spurts of unconditional love which truly does conquer all.

You saw the before and after

Through my thick and thin

Blood

Milk and

Water

You are my little tiny tim 

You excel in liking

Every little thing I do.

But nonchalantly overlooking

The very same things too

Worrying is in your DNA

Coolness is your USP

The best mom ever to me

You will always be. 

associated  with poet's united motif for this midweek - conquest 

Because..food!

Okay. There is this very stupid notion that foodies are fat. Oh person who thinks that way! I hate to break it to you. Loving food has nothing to do with how much you can eat (alone). There is this saying that Quality trumps Quantity and that's what I am talking about. Trying different variety of food is also an activity via which a person can show their love. And I preach so much because I fall into that category.
The category of persons who love ordering and tasting different things but too scared to do so because they don't wanna waste food and be a threat to the society. ( No , that didn't escalate. Food wastage is an endemic we can ill afford)
Writing is how I express emotions. And what better emotion to express about than the express one I have towards food? I am going to share the pictures of and give reviews of the yum food I tasted in the awesome restaurants I happened to visit in the last few days. Belt up! The ride is fun , I swear.


1.  IDDOS , KOTHRUD , PUNE

check it here

4 feet dosa

GHEE RIDDEN PONGAL

MOLGAPODI IDLI

FILTER KAAPI

Okay. Now that I have your eyeballs glued to the screen , let me begin. After a month of spending time away from home , nothing speaks to you more than your home food. South India is where I come from and IDDOS is hands down the best restaurant to have south Indian food in Pune. While the likes of Vaishali and Wadeshwar suffer from a case of severe overratedness , Iddos goes about serving awesome food quietly. 

Things to eat : 

1) 4 feet dosa : Crispy , looong dosa with yummy tomato chutney. The sambhar wasn't that great but better than most. They also serve coconut and green chutney. Didn't like the green chutney. 

2) Pongal : One of the few places which serve pongal in Pune. If you're a fan of ghee you're in for a big treat! Just melts in your mouth :') 

3) Molagapodi idli : Tiny button idlis marinated and drenched in chilly powder is just what you need to lift your day to the next level

4) Filter coffee: Nowhere near my grandmom's coffee :P but way better than your garden variety bru. Seeing the manual filter and davara tumbler ( cup and saucer) set just lifts your heart.

2. Picantos Mexican Grill , Aundh , Pune : 

check it here

Went with the whole squad

Creamy chicken Mini bowl and chicken enchiladas

Tacos

Cinnamon dusted churros in chocolate sauce

A nice restaurant to go with your friends. They had games like monopoly , scrabble and Uno. Also , they served very quickly when we kept hitting them with volume,

What to try : 

1) Cheesy chicken mini bowl : Surprisingly fresh for the amount of cheese involved , lots of fresh veggies , chicken , rice and of course cheese! 

2) Tacos: Yummy tortilla shells stuffed with the perfect blend of kidney beans , chicken , tomato salsa and sauce! Dish of the day

3) Chicken Enchiladas: Jam packed with flavor and cheese. This one is a keeper!

4) Churros: An interesting eat. While the churros and chocolate sauce were yum , your affinity towards cinnamon ultimately decides if this dish is a hit or a miss. 

What I am having today :- 

So the cook took a holiday today. So ordered in bomber chicken burger with coke from Rush hrs , kothrud , Pune! I shall update on that soon.

Yes , I can!

Guys guys! So I was trolling for guest posts and the great Arvind Passey agreed. He is a great writer I admire . Please check out his website here -->  click

Even a burglar says this. So do politicians. Scamsters. Smugglers. Thieves. Rapists. And yet these three words are linked not with them but with an indomitable will. They represent the power of positive assertiveness. ‘Yes, I can’ is not a mantra to be chanted and yet they need a person’s mind to believe in the magical message of affirmation that they carry in their alphabets.

But wait, this isn’t the text for a motivation workshop because I intend to explore the relationship of these three words with everything that society always wants to despise, shun, and rebuke. So here we take a U-turn and go back to where the corrupt, the scum, and the dregs of society wait.

Spare a moment to enter the mind of a plagiarist on the social media and listen to him exult as he looks at a picture or a text and thinks: ‘Yes, I can. I can pick this up and pretend it is mine and then the world will think I am a winner!’ He is convinced that his act is not one of wrong-doing but of a gain that his mind perceives. Even a Natwarlal is completely enshrouded in the belief that what he is about to do is for a perceived gain and not necessarily aimed at harming or hurting someone. And so he mutters ‘Yes, I can’ and goes ahead and commits his crime. Or what we think is a crime.

I am no psychologist but something tells me that these three words aren’t really bothered about who they are hobnobbing with. It is in their company that all the good and all the bad always happen though they themselves never do a thing. A babu favours a company that offers bribe because he thinks he can. A politician threatens, bribes, or convinces to make teachers give up their jeans because he thinks he can. A TV anchor shouts down every voice of sanity because he thinks he can. A manager in an office fudges sales figures assuming that the loss could be compensated in the coming month and murmurs ‘Yes, I can’. So these three words and the mind are the two main characters that come together to enact all sorts of dramas – some get hailed as positive and constructive and others get labelled as malicious and damaging. Mortals are simply a face that these two protagonists successfully project every time. The face gets to be either the hero or the villain and must be wondering at the sheer unreasonableness of everything. But no one listens.

The most complex part in this relationship between ‘Yes, I can’ and the human mind is the sheer randomness of outcome. Look at the number of criminals who convert into model citizen and admit that the miracle happened because they were convinced that they could. Valmiki did it, didn’t he? On the other side are perfectly fine people who decide to kill, elope, have extra-marital affairs, or become paedophiles all because they think they can. So these three words are no guarantee of what to really expect. The other day I heard a PR executive tell a blogger, ‘I’ll send you the press release. Please copy the entire text and upload as a post. I need to send in details by evening. Hope you can do it.’ And the blogger replied, ‘Yes, I can!’

‘Yes, I can’ is the real stealth bomber, if you allow me this analogy… and when it gangs up with the mind, you can expect anything to happen. They could come together and create the most sublime smooch, hug, and kiss or the deadliest explosion that you can think of.

Mummy

What is truly left of a person after they die? She wondered. It was a lazy Friday afternoon , S’s college wouldn’t open for another month at the least and the Chennai heat was doing its usual wonders. An afternoon well suited for endless T.V marathons and phone calls to plan useless beach meetings with her school friend. Yet her brain wouldn’t compromise today! Her mind wandered past countless thoughts while her fingers fiddled with the ring which belonged to her recently deceased grandmother.

It was a sturdy little ring , silver in colour and probably made of it too. It had a little black stone embedded onto it. An understated , rough little ring which was simple yet elegant at the same time. It used to grace her grandmother’s hand roughly a month back. She wore it regularly nowadays. It helped her to remember a person she loved

.

Not in the intense , immediate , breatheless way that hits after their death in a few days.

But in a more melancholic , quite , sad way which washes you gently yet completely

When a random old lady wears red sari like Mummy did and walks purposefully on the road

When anyone forced her to eat even she had already stated 84 times before that , that she wasn’t hungry.

When they mentioned an incident involving her sweet grandmother

Grandmother.. She was never allowed to call her that.

Mummy was pretty insistent that everyone should call her mummy ,

Or alas! Her youthful energy might suddenly disappear.

She was a tough old bird who worked in the hospital as a nurse till the day she fell ill ,

She was admitted for a small illness and passed away rather suddenly.

So abruptly that I never got to say goodbye properly.

Can’t narrate in 3^rd person anymore – I’m sorry.

I was in Pune preparing for my exams when my mummy bid adieu to this world.

Even though I couldn’t be with her that day physically I believe I connected with her soul.

Or how else could I have a dream with her the exact same day she passed away.

The dream was after I heard the news – not claiming Nostradamus like powers here.

It may have been my brain’s way of consoling my heart.

It was so real that I still hold on to it today and can visualise it pretty clearly.

Me and Mummy were together watching a movie in a theatre

Funny , because we have never done that together before. We always watched movies in her favourite  Ktv channel ( she wouldn’t change it even during ad breaks!) or old CDs of some classic Kamal film.

I find the movie boring and walk out. Probably reflects how I was pretty absent around her the last time we met..

Then there I am checking out clothes in the mall and mummy comes right behind me , I look very surprised to see her and give her a hug. I am not a big hugger but I still remember how I hugged her in that dream. She was wearing a grey colour silk saree and I was holding on to her like I’ll never let go.

And I still remember the crying and telling her , “ I’m so sorry mummy” , I  wasn’t aware that she passed away in the dream.. and I suddenly woke up and realised I’ll never get to watch a movie with her or hug her ever again.

That realization was one of the worst moments of my life. I cried forever , my roommate freaked out and had to lock our room door. It was bad.

Reverting back to 3^rd person.

Now here she was - almost 37 days later. Still rotating her grandmom’s ring.

People say time heals all wounds. The wound still exists. The pain too. We just learn to live with it.

Just learn to live without mummy.

Without her the world was definitely a less better place. Less brighter. Less patriotic. Less everything.

She was left with more sadness than before with all the thinking. What else did she expect?

This post isn’t about mummy or her awesomeness per se. It is about coping and belated grieving and search for closure I realize.

I also realize that I have been constantly shifting from first to third person. Reflects my mental state maybe.

I know you all will apologize. Mummy definitely will.

She was such an amazing woman. Obsessed with gods. More obsessed with serving people. She wanted us to join the army or be doctors. Whatever she did she gave it her all. I still remember the banana milkshake she made me once :D She has been through a LOT . Stuff which I hope never happens to any other woman. Things I can’t reveal in the name of family privacy.

She bounced back with so much optimism that I bet that the gods, she was so obsessed with, could have done nothing but grin at this old looking young woman – frail looking strong woman.

I still remember mummy giving her phone number to a pseudo religious guy and when we told her how unsafe it was , she wanted to change numbers lol

She was one of a kind and is irreplaceable.

I love her and miss her,

Please come back mummy! :’(

Bah humbug!

It's been a really long time since I wrote on this space. Looks like time wastage is faster than water wastage after all . So what's been up ? Life! :P I've been trying to do more reading and yoga ,i.e. , trying to go back to who I used to be lol

literally

Subtle message to everyone - I'm turning 18- on this March's 25th day!! ^_^_^_^_^_^
a) please courier/hand deliver my gifts. Material gifts preferred over genuine wishes from the heart .
b) the significance of this number EIGHTEEN.

Talking more on a) will only further depreciate my public image so let's move on to b)  - the so called crux of this post ( if you are really searching for one here)

aaHH . . it's so nice to be back in sss :')

well said xD

There is always this irrational hysterical hype surrounding birthdays once we hit pre / teens
 Miss the good old days of simply cutting a mickey mouse shaped cake wearing party hats and having potato chips and coke with that! Seriously , what is so special about turning older? Growing up is overrated . Sadly we learn that only when we do *sighs*
The only surprise in surprise birthdays is how the birthday kid acts surprised -_-
For more intel on b'days click ----> here

Notwithstanding this usual nonsense , we have to feel happier on our 18th - because we are supposedly ....'legal' or majors. Roughly translated this means that we can continue to do what we've already been doing - this time with legal sanction. I don't seen any parents turning cooler with curfews and higher authorities will simply find other reasons to catch us .
So what does one actually get to do when they turn 18?
1) Act surprised in the midnight when parents/hostel mates invade your room with delicious chocolate cake and apply it all over your face .

should i add more feels?

2) Say innumerable thank yous to the unbearably innumerable "Happy b'day! You're 18! party hard. " Not to sound ungrateful , but replying to the 87th post on your wall is not as cheerful a task as it is to replying to the 3rd one . Also - posting 'HBD' is worse than posting nothing at all. There are many ways to save time - Abbreviation is not one .


3) You get to watch A certified films in the theater . While admittedly , it IS useful for puny people like me to have an ID card to prove their actual age , It is highly redundant among the common mass of teens, who due to their sheer looks and height pass off as adults and have watched a hundred million A films in theater already. Also the theater owners don't really check . -____-

4) You get convicted for offences . With great age comes greater responsibility and greater punishment .

5) Another catchphrase for your mother to insult you with. Instead of saying " Samyuktha! you are seven donkey years now and still don't take care of yourself " she says you are 18 now
.
6) You get to vote . But that is only if you turn 18 before January 2014 . Choosing between a possible authoritarian , an idiot and an impractical aadmi doesn't seem very appealing though. Still Universal adult franchise is our unequivocal right - all of us MUST vote irregardless of the bleak political climate. Register a no vote in the machine - but do vote! Unless we exercise our duty cum right  , we don't have the right to moan and complain.







Got sidetracked by sensible thoughts. Where was I? .... * slaps her head* *really loses track* *reads the text again*

Yes!  It has been a long time since I blogged . Bear with the cynical tone and abruptness in flow . Will get my swag back soon :) (hopefully :P ) and my b'day IS coming up . But your wishes are more than enough to fill  my lil heart (simply putting on a front) .Birthdays are actually nice in the sense that they acknowledge the existence of a person and make them feel truly special . Also turning 18 means accepting adulthood and responsibility for one's actions - as pretentious as it may sound now , it is the first baby step towards true independence at least a symbolic landmark . Like buying stationery or going to temple before starting to study for your twelfth board exams .

All the best and advanced congratulations to all those who are writing there board exams :) If you're actually reading my blog now , it means you are procrastinating at the highest level and you are probably bored to death . Just remember that you can bask in the glory of this one focused month for months to come :D

P.S - (To be more subtle) Please do something for my b'day. I'm not this choosy in real life xP

open this ----> here 

Bah humbug! Get to work all of you,
Semi 

Miss Gadget B|

Very recently, I read an article by a friend and it was regarding the role played by gadgets on our lives. And it set some thoughts in motion. What am I without my electronic playthings? In my case (similar to many other cases) electronic gadgets are not a mere decoration or style symbol. They are my lifeline to the outside world. But, are they becoming so indispensable that I cannot lead a life without them?  So what if they do become indispensable – is it really ‘wrong’ to be dependent on our devices, isn’t it like our immediate future? In this post, I am planning to self analyze on the importance of the gadgets in MY life and I hope it mirrors something  and rubs off on you :P

The following are gadgets I hang out with:

1.   1.    Phone -

The most abundant and obvious option available. Every Tom, dick and harry and even every shiva , vishnu and hari owns a phone xP I own an android - Samsung galaxy S duos – not the fanciest but hey!  Not the lamest either. Once upon a time popular for texting, however nowadays phones are increasingly being used to whatsapp , wechat or bbm your friends. Facebook through phone, selfies through camera are also popular features. Busy bee peeps can actually use their phone for emailing, memos and even as a planner. Incidentally phone can also be used to make calls :P although I find my phone hanging the most when I open my number pad -_-  I think I can survive WITHOUT my phone only if I have another source of internet and if I hate the human race suddenly ( it does happen frequently in my case :P) P.S – Nokia 1100 will always be the best ‘phone’ ever.

 

2.     2.  Laptop - 

    IMO every college student and professional needs a laptop. It is a gateway to research and a weapon to destroy deadlines J . More importantly it helps you download and watch millions of movies and t.v shows :’), play awesome PC games xD and serves as a library and organizer for your e-books and music. When I lack a laptop in my life I feel severely incapacitated. That too when you live in a hostel, far away from the slow but steady P.C which till today remains a faithful backup guy J p.s – I have a HP lappy .

3.     3.  iPad –Generally ridiculed to be an absolutely useless device , the iPad is absolutely useless. Unless you know how to use it. Guys should really stop saying ‘ the only reason people buy an iPad is to show off that they have one’ . Agreed. There are some techie snobs who purchase apple products to show off. But when you own an iPad – YOU OWN AN iPAD!! There are millions of awesome apps to download from the iTunes storeJ instagram , facebook , google plus , paper , zomato , maps , evernote, snap guide …. I can keep going on about them ^_^  While you can’t carry a laptop everywhere you can certainly move around with your iPad and do almost all the same tasks more efficiently. Okay enough advertising. I do think I CAN live without my second generation iPad.

4.       4.Headphones –

I cannot even picture my life without my most recent acquisition; MY SKULL CANDY headphones!! Refreshingly red, they add another dimension to my otherwise quieter life . Persistent exposure to loud music does injure one’s ears but #YOLO YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE *__*   P.S – own good headphones. They really enhance your life :’) and NO , I shall not last a day without ‘em .

5.       5.Ebook reader –

Currently I live without one. My kindle died a month ago and it was one of the more emotional funerals of my life :’( while E-book readers generally aren’t the locus of our lives, they are always there in the peripheries. Living without them is painful. While an iPad is helpful for reading books – it is not as welcoming to a diversity of formats like a kindle. Ohh Kindle I miss you so much :*

6.       6.Mp3/iPod  – You obviously need one dude. Why? Music makes life beautiful ^_^  I own a transcend and iPod shuffle 3 .

7.       7.Pen drive – Only reason my friends share their t.v shows / projects / digital data with me. Wayyy more storage and utility than a cd or floppy. Really musing how small the next storage device will be. Can live without it – if your friends are willing to share theirs with you :P

While my predicament may seem doomed towards addiction, trust me when I say that all these gadgets are very useful and make up my life. I can try explaining how ‘my’ generation has been brought up with these devices and so inevitably and intricately connected to this nexus of electronics but fact of the matter is that too much of anything is bad.

 Yes devices are quicker but they make us lazier.

 Yes they save trees via paper but they waste expensive electricity.

 Yes, they were made to save time but in reality they waste a lot of time.

 At the end of the day they are mere things they have no evil intention of their own to eat up our time.

 It is up to you and me to decide how to use them

. Live life king size but also don’t forget to be wise!!

 ;) ___/\____

Ciao till then

Semi B| 

Friendship is

sss reached 100 posts with the sickbird xD this is post #101 B| To a 100 more! *clink glasses* and disclaimer : photos strictly copied from google :P no credits to me! maybe selection credits :P 

Friendship is scary,

It leaves you scarred

Brimmed with memories

Hits you with emotions

And kills you with joy

Friendship is as universal

As tomato sauce

And as natural as

A  mother’s milk

Friendship is  a tranquil moment

Amidst chaotic madness

The ability to laugh

Even after a hundred million fights. 

 Friendship is not winning

But -  losing for your person.

That one peep <3

For whom you would turn a creep!

      Friendship is madness!!

Throw your brain ,

Out  the window .

And lose your heart and sanity forever

and after.

Everyday I'm shufflin' xD

Music plays a vital role in all our lives.It makes the world a much more beautiful place to live in :) If there was a situation where i had to choose one among my 5 senses - I would pick hearing. In my opinion,

'Those who can't listen to music are deaf and those who don't are dumb'

 For a long time music to me was synonymous with film music- that too tamil songs. A.R . Rahman and Ilayaraja will remain my favorites forever and after :P
Harris , Yuvan , Vidyasagar , Anirudh , DSP are my other favorites in tamil music industry.

Even when i was a toddler of 2, I used to dance for 'mustafa mustafa' - the friendship anthem :') Due to my grandmother's influence I was forced to attend carnatic concerts and  much to everyone's amazement I ENJOYED THAT ALSO :O
Adults being adults , mistook my enthusiasm towards listening to music as equal to that of practicing it. and umm... that didn't go too well :P Only after my music teacher passed away due to blood cancer and my keyboard master got a brain stroke did they realize that my learning music didn't augur well for the universe.
Finally left alone to pursue 'listening' ,   I expanded my auditory horizons by adding western ( a bit late i admit) , hindi and anything youtube offered to my repertoire.

Listening to music also means another thing to me - shuffling. I let my shuffle do the talking , in this case singing! Weirdly my mp3 player and my itunes player, read my mood pretty well and have come handy in times of distress and happiness .
So why am I rambling about music all of a sudden?
a) music rocks
b) i have to write something :P
c) I have always wanted to put on my shuffle player and write a song about the random tune that pops :D
So here we go--------!!!-------??-----xD------>

1. This song didn't come in the shuffle. But what the heck :P This song really needs to be talked about and promoted. The song is called 'ezhavu' and it features in the underrated tamil film '5 5 5 ' . So what is so special about this track? Apart from the hilarious one liners sprinkled and the groovy beat that makes this instantly adorable , it is completely based on the creepy theme of 'DEATH' . Kudos to the director for deciding to do a song on death which many usually may find on the wrong side of superstition. This song DESERVES TO GO VIRAL.

2.The biggest tamil hit of 2012 , "sollitaley ava kadhala" ( she has told her love) in the voice of ranjitha and Shreya Ghosal pushed its music director to the zennith of his career. The album kumki has cleaned up all the music awards this year. One listen in to the album and you'll know why. Staying true to its tribal elephant based identity , almost all its tracks are melodies and the folk one is a trendsetter! This particular song though simple, stands out for its melodious tune , voice of the singers and also the stunning visualisation of the hilly forests <3

3. Ah! A kamal song on his birthday = perfect xD Didn't I tell you about the freaky skills of my itunes shuffle? 'Germaniyin' song sung by the legendary S.P.B and Janaki in the film 'Ulasa Paravaigal' ( happy birds) has achieved cult status and is one of the earlier songs of ulayaganayagan Kamal Haasan :') It is one of the favorite songs of my parents and really shows us why Kamal was known as the kadhal mannan ;) ( king of romance ) 

4.'Modhi Vilayadu' sung by Hariharan and Deva is popular for the very reason. It signifies the confluence of two very different legends who are kings of their own domains. While Deva is more popular for his 'gaana' or folk/ mass songs , Hariharan is the undisputed king of melodies. This song inspires and lifts up my mood every time i listen to it . And the fact that it is partly about cricket helps matters xD

          

5.'Runaway Heart' by Glenna is fiercely addictive and literally pulls your heart strings . It is my favorite track from the one tree hill album :'D The fact that a 20 second promo song can refuse to leave your heart and force you to track it down restores my faith in music. And for obvious reasons I visualize lucas and peyton everytime i listen this song. Why did they not end the show after the 6th season itself? :/

6. 'Parda' from once upon a time in mumbai is one of the few songs I gathered from MTV . Till then I didn't have much clue about Ajay Devgn ( apart from the fact that he  was Kajol's husband) and I still don't :P Stylish song , remake of the retro times and Sunidhi Chauhan is really flawless xD Monicaaa oh my daarling!

7 .Last song. c'mon shuffle! 'Bleed it out' by linkin park is a wild wild song ^.^ I listened to the live concert version of this song and it brought about my 'live songs' craze - where I would download the live versions of tracks instead of the official ones , much to the dismay of my friends. 'Bleed it out' is the kind of song where you can scream your guts out along with the song and feel like a rockstar and of course go CRAZY!!

As usual my shuffle has brought about spectacular variety to a small span of seven songs. I really don't know about the end product but i swear making this post and reliving these songs has been FUN indeed :D

Hoping it rubs off on you also , 

Semi :) 

ek gaon mein ek kisan raghu thatha! :P

It's been a week in Pune already!! :O
and believe it or not  - I have fallen in love with this city! <3
or maybe it is just another one of my defense mechanisms , protecting me from shocks. Whatever this is , it has aroused me enough, to write a post! So let me finish this before reality sinks in .
( Side note :

hahaha

  Defense mechanisms are pretty intriguing . Do you know that I haven't cried a single tear drop yet? My friends think it is some kind of sacrilegious blasphemy from my  part. But hey! If pessimists argue that I have effectively ended one life , I argue back that I have just started a new one :) I do miss chennai . However , I am not going to go gaga over it. Okay I just did . )
I haven't had much chance to discover the city in its entirety yet. But , from whatever I have seen - it is fresh , green , pleasant and mindnumbingly beautiful :')

So here it is . The elusive list of things I have noticed about Pune and my new life in general :

Not THIS adventurous generally :P

1) I was never a nature loving person or that's what I thought. However , climbing the hill in my college ( yes , there is a hill in my college :O ) changed that perspective. The liberating atmosphere , the refreshing smell of pure , fresh air is well worth the climbing - which in itself is exciting and adventurous! Also , I am for the first time realizing that there are four types of climate in a year :P Living in chennai can easily erase this fact into a mere illusion. Back there it is either hot or hotter :')
And in other seemingly related news I got crowned 'Miss Green' by the Mess Bhaiya ( more like a thatha actually :P ) Don't start clapping already - I got called that because i was wearing a green kurthi LOL

2) My new friend rightly said , " Here in Pune , people talk to you in Marathi . If you don't know that they'll talk to you in Hindi and after that they stop." Yeah that's right. English doesn't work with the rickshaw wallahs . Coming from Tamil Nadu , a state which has fervently opposed Hindi often in the past and which doesn't give importance to Hindi in it's education system - I am at a huge loss here . It doesn't help matters that I hated my L3 hindi teacher and in turn conditioned my hatred towards that subject. To all the young readers out there - Learn HINDI. It is very hard to learn later and in this increasingly globalized world it is good to know 3-4 languages . And learning the 'official' language of your country is never a wrong place to start :)

The fundamental problem with most Tamils in this regard ( I am heavily generalizing here ) can be summed up with one joke in a yesteryear Bhagyaraj film , which sadly is still popular. Instead of saying ' Ek Gaon me ek kisan rahta ta' the hero mispronounces it as ' ek gaun me ek kisan raghu thatha' Thatha means grandfather in tamil and raghu is a common name. And ever since then Hindi has been ridiculed and not learnt -_-

3) I love the food here. My hosts may think I'm being overly polite when i say I love roti over rice. Fact is I actually love north Indian food :') Being open to trying new dishes has finally helped this time. Thank you masterchef australia for opening my eyes about food :*

4) Heavily generalizing , yes. I find the pace of Pune to be much slower than Chennai . Maybe it is the monsoon's cozy feel . It perfectly suits a lazy person like me :')

5) It doesn't hurt that folks back home miss me . Makes one feel loved ,you know :P ( even though this may  only last for a short while)

perfectly put by some random citizen :P

6) Lastly but not the least , I am very proud of my new found independence. I make my own bed , wash my own clothes :O , do my dishes etc. Being self sufficient makes one immediately feel adult like :D I was so proud when I wore the tee shirt,which i had washed with my own hands ^_^  P.S - This doesn't mean that I'll do housework when i come back home to chennai xP Home is where the ass lays ;')

Random realization - Blood clots are very random o.O

Semi

And we blog and blog and blog!

Not sleeping exactly 

After a rather romantic surprise early last month stoopid semi went off to hibernate -_- It is perfectly alright to think so beCAUSEE ------------------------------- It is the truth :P However you should empathize or at least sympathize with her plight. She was working her socks off , for her first terms exams , which doesn't matter in anyway to the boards.
But her question is this. Why should the boards matter? Many of you may feel that that the answer is quite simple  . Board exams = marks = good college = good job = good life. Too simple , too easy. Call me a non conformist or for that matter, a communist , For what difference does that actually make to you?  But what I feel is this :

"Education is about learning for your intrinsic needs , which in the process satisfy your extrinsic ones " 

Oh I do sound like a thinker :P
What we study should actually interest and make sense to us and let us apply it in daily life. And it should satisfy our desire to understand what we are studying. C'mon guys , even the person who opens the book in the last minute would love to know what the page actually means , sure he ends up mugging and reciprocating it in the paper . But no one would shy away from the chance to run away from understanding something , when they have the choice. Would they?

And like  spidey says We always have a choice!

And whatever we hereby learn should help us get marks. It should not be the other way round. I see my teachers teach and some of them are so obsessed about what questions they ask in boards , how your answers should match the answer key of the board examiners , how your handwriting should appeal to the board examiner etc etc etc.
Yes , presentation is good. But should all the learning i get be shaped so that it fetches me the maximum marks . I prefer not. Studying that way , will not allow me to read the para in the front and the back which may matter more in my comprehension of a passage than the para itself.

Hope you can make sense outta that senseless rant , which is done with an evergrowing hatred for examinations.

Now i feel selfish and rather sorry for ranting . However as my delete key is not co operating , I have decided to continue. But this time into more pleasant matters.

Whats been up off late?
ICC WORLD T20 CUP ~ Yes , the ipl is more attractive and champions league is literally the clash of the titans yet nothing beats an intense Ind vs pak match or an Aus vs windies or Aus vs eng match (ashes much? ) We are in the super eight stages now and Group A consisting of  Australia , India , Pakistan and South Africa seems very tight!

Yuvi the man <3 

While India was trashed by Australia( by 9 wickets) - thanks to Watson . It inflicted a 8 wicket loss on pakistan xD  It is a popular saying that the pak ppl lose to everyone but the indians . However , yesterday prove that the trend has reversed , pakistanis win with everyone ( including the all mighty S.Africans ) but Indians!! They lost the battle mentally , we could see by the way mohammed hafeez and shoaib malik got out!!
India put to rest all qualms about its team composition , which really didn't need have been so severely by the critics. Then again the media is news crazy and the people are cricket crazy. Dhoni proved that he is most comfortable with 7 batsmen 4 bowlers . And we really don't have the bowling resources to go all the way into the competition. Hope we spin ourselves to victory .


MAD about 39 clues!! 
Jesss. After reading too many slow paced classics , its time to put on the safety belt and get ready for this roller coaster ride! Expect no literary richness or awesomely complex sentence formations , What you'll get is non stop action. BANG BANG BOOM.
Amy and Dan are orphans with a rich grandmother. When she dies they expect a grand inheritance instead they are informed that their family - the cahills are one of the most powerful lineages of this century and they could either hop on a clue hunt for the greatest treasure of the world or opt out for a million bucks! They obviously choose the more exciting part.
But ouch , their  aunt decides to put them in the foster care and the social services are after them. Off with their cool au pair / babysitter Nellie they travel on this thrilling quest all around the world with powerful enemy cum relatives like the rich kabras popular jonah intelligent alaistair oh and cunning irina and strong holts close behind their heels.
From america to fance to vienna and venice the locales thrill us. Third book even takes us to Japan! surely this is one heck of a series and lets all read all the nine books and enjoy :)

Lets add some more colour to our post :)
The movies of the month!

While Barfi! has wowed everyone with its beauty and subtlety heroine has shocked and bored everyone with its sleaziness and predictable scandals . However as i haven't watched both the movies , I can't really comment upon them much.  ( Then y did u even write abt it? :P Eye candy anyone?)

Looks like the tamil film Thandavam has interested everyone with its style and intelligence. Full marks to chiyaan vikram for pulling of another great performance! I will comment more elaborately on this film , when i finish watching it tomorrow!!

I know that this post is as random as it gets and is a desperate attempt to just write something . However , i have a promise to make . I am surprisingly free this month and I intent to write about one of the following at least : -

• next part of love story
• The stalker story
• Something on current affairs 
• club le mubbu - girls style :P 

I know this is pretty vague. But this must be one of the bigger promises I've made in my life :P Not a very reliable person , I am . 

AND the craziest song to go viral. Gangnam style \m/ <3

evergreen classic - which i stumbled upon only recently

and an absolutely disgusting copy of slim shady. Eminem fans please spam and kill this video!!

Semi