Exams suck

This is not an original statement. I’ll bet this phrase has been around as long as the concept of exams itself. There were probably cave kids whose parents wanted them to learn to draw pictures on the cave walls in the belief that it bettered their lives in a completely useless way. All the non-artistically inclined kids probably expressed the same sentiment by a series of extremely rude hand gestures.
And the awful truth of this short and pithy sentence hits you like a brick wall only when you have something else you really, really, really want to do.
Yes, I have something else I really, really, really want to do.

I’ve finished my Data warehousing and mining exam and I’m also done with Artificial Intelligence. What have I learnt? Reading most of the textbook and trying to remember it all in a day will give you a headache. Don’t try this at home. I’m a professional.


I’m just going to go whip up some hot and sour instant soup and settle down with my e-reader. Georgette Heyer, Wodehouse or Douglas Adams...I really can’t decide.

When’s my next exam? Sorry, no comprendo.

Of things that are unlooked for and found/The farce called IPL

I intended this entry to be fun and frisky with humourous accounts of my attempts at cutlet-making, waiting in a hotel lobby for an hour for a table and other similar study holiday exploits. So you’ll have to forgive me for being a little non-frisky and telling you that I also spent some of the best moments of my life in an obscure little ice cream parlour, French loaf, Flower Drum and sneaking into schools.
Things are never going to be boring. I’ve discovered that not everything happens the way you think it will and sometimes, the way it works out is much better than the way you expected it to.


I’ve also spent a lot of my study time catching up on the nation’s doings in the newspapers. I am sick of seeing Sashi Tharoor, Lalit Modi and Sunanda Pushkar on the front page everyday. I mean really, do we have no better news to cover than IPL scandals and scams anymore?
I was surprised when the more important news of Sashi Tharoor stepping down as Minister for External affairs was not given as much space in the front page as details of the 70-crore ‘sweat equity’ and Tharoor’s alleged relationship with Pushkar.
IPL sucks. I don’t have anything against cricket as a sport but as a commercial money-maker and as an entity which holds the power to sway the politics of a nation through not very commendable means, I feel that the basic principles of sport itself have been tarnished.

Study Holidays - Part One

My semester practical exams are over! It wasn’t smooth sailing all through but it's over and that, my friends, is the important thing. The study holidays have begun and I use the word ‘study’ loosely. I’ve already spent three days doing things completely unrelated to academia and I’ve never felt better. The fun ends here though. Unless I at least take out my books by tomorrow, I fear I will be murdered in cold blood by my parents who have this strange idea that I should actually study in the study hols.

The last three days however, have been a blast. It’s great when your friends know how to cook good food, celebrate birthdays or are just amazing people to hang out with. I made a huge list of things to do in my study holidays. It is not humanly possible to do all these things when death by basilisk stares is held over your head, but I intend to try anyway. Keep watching this space for more on Crazy Study Holiday Exploits and How I Placate My Mother. To be continued...

Another Twentieth

It’s Kay’s birthday today. Most of the gang are officially twenty now and the charm is kind of wearing off. Of course, it was a lot of fun and I was bowled over by Kay’s awesome nachos. Not to mention the rest of that fabulous meal. And the cake. And the ice cream and jelly. God, sometimes food just makes your day.


The rest of the day was spent mostly in social satire involving pop stars who have barely entered their teens, kidding the birthday girl and taking loads of pictures. Oh and sticking heart stickers on our phones. Don’t even ask.



Weirdly, there was none of the usual madness which accompanies birthdays. Maybe we’ve just celebrated too many birthdays this month. Yeah, that must be it. I’m suffering from birthday burn-outis: a rare medical condition which lowers your adrenaline levels on birthdays and makes you write angst-ridden blog entries.


Speaking of medical conditions, yesterday I either had a sympathetic reaction which made all my blood flow to my feet or an anaphylactic reaction to a vaccine. In simple terms, I blacked out for a few moments. Anyway, it wasn’t a lot of fun when it happened but it sure was funny to everyone else after I got over it. I would like to impart a piece of wisdom here: Life generally plots against you when it comes to any funny business. You so rarely derive the same pleasure from other people’s sympathetic and anaphylactic reactions than the joy they seem derive from yours.
Sad.