Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Ten Reasons Why Indian Weddings are Not Fun

1. You have to meet every single member of the family, including the aunts who pinch your cheek and make vague
insinuations that you’re next on the hit list. Generally, this is followed by raucous laughter from everyone within
earshot. I don’t understand. Why is this supposed to be funny??


2. The huge crowd, most of whom you don’t know even if it’s a wedding in your own family.


3. The fact that you have to be ‘appropriately’ dressed in clothes that will guarantee death by dehydration and heat if
the hall isn’t air conditioned. In fact, even if it is, the human throng there usually nullifies all effects.


4. The point of a long ceremony followed by an even longer reception escapes me.


5. The lakhs of rupees spent on it could actually fund their kids' college education in the future if anyone cared to think
about it.


6. You hardly get to talk to the couple if you’re close to them and you can’t get away soon enough if you’re not.


7. Highly non Eco-friendly. Have you seen the amount of wastage at these things?


8. If the number of relatives cross a certain critical limit, gossip and/about scandals is inevitable.


9. The loud, unbearably terrible songs they blast on the speakers.


10. It’s just so…lame.

Friday, August 27, 2010

On Nothing in Particular

I now live with two little tykes. The word 'No' takes on a new tone of urgency these days. If you've ever been around kids for more than an hour, you'll know what I mean.They're like cute, adorable little bombs which can go off any minute if you don't pay them enough attention/ they don't like what's on TV/ they're hungry/ you don't let them use your cellphone, sharp objects or just about any inappropriate, dangerous thing that they want at the time.

There are moments though, when you can't believe how incredible they are. Most of these moments happen when they're asleep or they've just woken up and they're too disoriented to do any damage.

Chennai's gearing up for a marathon this weekend.I've always wanted to run in a marathon despite the fact that I can't even walk a kilometer without collapsing with a stitch in my side. In fact there are times when I wish that I was better at the whole sports thing, but then I think of running in the hot Chennai sun and being gawked at by the myriad population of the city, and I decide that I'll watch it on TV instead.

My latest cooking disasters include a brownie which bore a closer resemblance to a rock and projectiles spraying the kitchen from a mixer when I turned it on without realising that the lid was loose.

I also need to start learning and not just study. There's a distinctive difference between the two and I think I'm a little hopeless with the former.This is a big deal now because if I don't learn anything, I don't get a job. That is not even an option right now, so I should buckle down and get started...
Things would be so much better if I had some inspiration right about now.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Ah, well...it's been fun. Or not.

I saw a photo taken on a college trip by one of my friends recently. Simple snap, really. Five guys sitting on a grassy shore with their arms around each other's shoulders, their backs to the camera and a stunningly beautiful lake and a gorgeous array of hills in front of them. Even if you take away that gorgeous backdrop you would still know that these guys were having the time of their lives. That one photo had more soul than most of my experiences in college put together.

I read somewhere that our happiness depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. I've accepted that and I do have a lot of fun with the people I've met in the last three years. In fact, some of them are the most awesome people I know. There have been some good experiences, some bad ones and a lot of things which could have turned out better or worse than they actually did.

All I know is that I'm not looking back once I'm done with college. The basic idea is to get placed, get my degree and get out. While I'll never forget the past three years of my life (again, some absolutely fantastic things have happened. I wouldn't trade those in for the world), I will also never miss my college.
As Arnie puts it, it's hasta la vista, baby.