Information you can live without.

I hate this transitory phase. I am at home currently but would return to my b-school in a week's time. Half of my clothes lie in the laundry bag, a few in the cupboard - all neatly washed n ironed while a few peep out of suitcase. Half of my stuff is still back there in my other home - that lovely hostel room back in MICA...and in all this I feel halved..incomplete..somewhat hanging in between 2 places..neither here nor there. I mean..my post-its are there and important stuff to write about here! My silver earrings here and the matching bangles back there :( I wish I was all in one place..me and my belongings. I feel so incomplete without them..no, not just the clothes, books, jewellery and stationery..but my life! I am not liking this duality - I miss my mirror, my marker pens and my cupboard door full of post-its. I miss evening walks around the campus, the after-dinner walks and that liesurely breakfast full of news and gossips.

I am increasingly irked by my behaviour. I plan a lot, decide on a few but eventually end up doing almost nothing. What else can explain 85 unfinished drafts of blog-posts? Make that 86 - if I give up finishing this one too.

Mindless social networking. Those stupid stupid FB quizzes..going back to them after a few hours to see if any other equally lame homo sapien has bothered 'liking' or commenting. How shallow am I gonna get?

Its been ages since I wrote a poem. A long time since I read a good book..Ok, the last one was 2 weeks back. But 2 weeks of utter joblessness?? Adding the same set of people as friends on Orkut, Facebook, LinkedIn..followed by scraps of 'Wassup? How u doing?' to the same people I didnt even bother talking to back in school or college. Aargh! I seriously dont need this form of active social life.

Thankfully the offline social life is not that pathetic. But yeah, my parents have become increasingly intolerant of my erratic biolgical clock. I am my most active self when they are asleep and just vegetate around the house during the day. Cant blame them but then its too difficult to adopt normalcy now, that too for a few days.

Gastronomically speaking (no updates are complete without this) it has been a blessed holiday so far. Sabudana wadas, khichdi and other such holiday-items are ticked off in the list. The long lost love for cooking was rekindled and I realised once again why MBA was such a bad idea.

Here is the list of what I cooked this week:

1. Vegetable Pulav
2. Jeera rice
   
3. Baingan ka bharta
4. Chocolate brownie
5. Vegetable momos
6. Gobi ke pakode
   
7. Onion-Potato-Chilli Bhajji
8. Pasta in tomato sauce
9. Maggi (some 4 times in one week)
   
10. French toasts (had them after almost 2 years!)

Cooking is sucha stress-buster. So is cleaning the cupboard. De-cluttering is good. Clears the mind. Just what I need right now. But cant :(( Who cooks at 2 am? nd who will eat?? as for cleaning the cupboard...damn! the cupboard here is almost empty :( So here I go..back to my cribbing session. Missing good things in life..getting bored of boredom and lacking motivation to break this vicious cycle.

What a waste I am!

Yo MICA Yo!!

So I hit the 'publish' button on the previous post, switched off the laptop and crashed on to my bed some 5 minutes back and then I remembered!! Of course I could not sleep knowing that I had forgotten to update my loyal fan base of 10 about one of the most historic events of all times!

MICA THRASHED IIM AHMEDABAD AT FOOTBALL (2-1)

Yay!! Remember you read this here first! Though we have already seen to it that tomorrow's DNA or Ahmedabad Mirror will carry a dramatic, 'will-make-you-sit-at-the-edge-of-your-seat' half-page story on the same. (Go Team Interface! ;))

Aah! First match of the season and the boys have already made me proud.

P.S: MICANs/ IIM A junta - kindly ignore the fact that we didn't win a single match last season cause as darling Celine Dion croons 'A new term has cometh!' :)

All I remember is 'Addhi haddi di nangi chudail!' :D

Its 3 am and this is when I am my widest awake.

• I won 3 baddy matches today!Yay! No the opposite team wasn't a limbu-timbu. It's just that my partner was, you know, good :)
  
• My MICARE (On-campus, students-run provision store) bill was only Rs.53 and I actually felt bad that I didn't contribute much so had two Maaza to alleviate the guilt. With a 30% sudden spike it now stands at Rs. 69 :|
  
• A case-study writing competition on which I had worked with a bunch of junees declared its result today. We didn't make it. Not because we weren't good enough but because the guy heading the competition decided to shelve our case topic on his own whim and fancy!! I mean ya, WTF!!
• Viraj was slightly mad at me for not doing things that I had promised him some time back (3 weeks back :| He sombrely reminds). I gave him a dozen excuses and prayed he will understand :D No wonder he calls me 'nalayak' :(
  
• It's Garba time in Gujjuland!! And do you know what am I doing tonight? Sitting on my bed typing out this silly post which no one except my great grand child will one day read! Hmph!
  
• Ok, let's try once again..it's Garba time in Gujjuland!! And do you know what I had for dinner? White, bland, oily rubber balls that also go around by the name Sabudana wada!! A culinary rape, to say the least. Grr..
• Ok, for the last time..it's Garba time in Gujjuland!! 'Abe stop yelling and start that Retail wala assignment due day after' ' Are you done transcripting the FGDs? chal insights likhne baith' 'Kya hua? insights nahi mile? Toh findings likh aur insights bolke thok de :P' ' Media laws & Ethics ka assignment hua?' "Fir SCM kaun uncle karega?'
  
• Sigh! So even though it's Garba time in Gujjuland..(dil pe dagad rakhke) Do I look like I care? :(
  
• Oh how could I forget? (actually one must try to.. but harrowing memories!) Yesterday a bunch of us frustrated souls went for a late night show of 'Dil Bole Hadippa!' Well let me just say - the company was good, the ambience was good and I am still wondering why the heck was Sherlyn Chopra wearing a muffler over a bikini top and hot pants? Rani - get married, have kids! It's high time. Shahid - Don't get married, you are totally drool-worthy right now.
  

Exam's in 3 days..no wait, 2 days :0
And home* in 6 days!! :)

*Home - place where Sabudana wadas are like Sabudana wadas.

There's something about him...

I saw him again tonight. He was nervous, yet smiling. His smile radiated from across the distance and I quickly forgot that I was in a foul mood. He grabbed my bowl of hakka noodles and threatened to devour it all by himself. I simply turned around and said go ahead. He was perplexed and returned it sheepishly. I smiled knowing that I am never so generous to others.

He came up to me to talk about his worries, the tension was obviously killing him. I was only too glad to be of some help. He promised that I would be the first one to know of any good result of his impending predicament. I knew then that I had been a good friend. He put a hand around me and shook me by arms. Silly boy, he doesnt know that his playfulness had won me over a long time back.

He wishes to talk more but I know I should leave. I can only be a friend and that's all can he be to me. I am happy to have him as a friend and can't complicate things in either of our lives. Sometimes it's only fair to keep it simple.

I think of that special someone he has back home and curiously I feel no animosity towards her. How could anyone not like him? But then she was the blessed one and so was he to have her.

But I cant leave without telling him of all that he has meant to me. Someday I will tell but today's not the time. Let me be the friend that he needs right now. Let me be the support that he seeks. Not because I want him to like me. Not because of what I want him to think..may be because I need a friend too. Yes, just a friend in my life. That's all.

Gunda..no, not the movie!

Yesterday the happiest moment in the day came at 4.25 am. The Chandni junta (if awake) must have thought I am seriously demented to laugh my head off in the dead silence of the wee hours. All this over one pic of a 'gunda'.

If the above lines don't make any sense, well they aren't supposed to. Thanks Abhijit. You know you were my best friend once...and now I know why :)

*****

Ever since 2nd year has started, I am becoming more and more aware of the fact that my MICA days have remained largely un-jotted. Apart from the few idle evenings, Mathew movies and random bakwaas nothing is recorded :( Memories are fading fast! Need to hold on to them...coz there is nothing worse than forgetting about a good time you once had!

To stop train, pull the chain!

Today was a saturday. I realised that coz we had Pav-bhaji for dinner (yes, I by-heart the Mess Menu Time-table). Another thing I realised...the Ganpati fest is still on! So much for getting senti last week and pouring my heart out over the last post.

Where did the week go? Isn't second year supposed to mucho relaxed? Didn't our seniors laugh at us mockingly last year when we raced for classes? I had avenged to do the same to my junees next year. Then why am I sitting next to this junee in the library when have I should been watching movies and making merry? Why do I see the whole 'academic riguer' (yes ChaCha did exactly what he meant!) giving me rigor mortis?

The 'To do' list is now running into pages...so outrageous that its almost funny.
Not that I had been only slogging my ass off all the time..I did play basketball once this week and ended up breaking my specs :| The next day was fun too...heavenly infact! Played badminton is rains for almost 2 hours. (Plastic shuttle folks!!)

But then why do I feel life is slipping away super fast?
Remember how it feels while traveling in a long-distance train? You want to read the names of those tiny hamlets that pass by..but you just cant. Its that feeling! And some higher intelligence tells me that this train shall never stop! :(

Is it so bad or am I simply cribbing too much? :|

Amchya gharcha Ganpati

My dissertation research proposal looks back at me. I haven't typed a single word for the last 30 mins. I simply stare blankly...the mind clearly lost in a myriad of thoughts. Of some place else...

Kai challa asel aata tithe? Babdu office madhun aala asel...Baba, Kaka hi aale astil. Jevana zali astil..rather urakanyat aali astil. Murti kitpat tayar zali he baghnyat Shashi kaka dang astil. Dar varshi pramane ajun chehra, dole, shela ani dhotaracha painting urlela ashnaar. Mag Shashi Kaka damdaati karun tya JJ chya artist la pakdun basavnaar...pandhra dhotar ani tyavar silver-green ashi patent border. Shela matra gulabi ani soneri border. Shindenchya murtichya hya goshtinvar compromise karna shakyach nahi!! Dole kadhnyat matra tya artist cha talent panala lagta..aaju-bajuchyanni bolaycha hi naahi..fakt thakk houn baghat basaycha ani zala ki tya mhatarya artistcha chehryavarcha anand baghaycha! Hey sagla Shashi Kakanchya able guidance khali..afterall in-house artist tech. Tashi majhi aai hi artist..magchya varshi Ganpati che dole ani moracha pisara tinech paint kela hota!! (Pose hoti : Moravarcha Ganpati)

Shashi Kaka murtiche incharge tarr..Baba ani Sharad Kaka decoration incharge. Varchya maalyavarcha (attic) toh lokhandi trunk khaali aanlyashivay decoration chi survatach hou shakat nahi. Tya pitaaryat kai kai nahi asa vicharu naka...Ganpati che vastra, bhandi, lightings, ekda chukun aanlele ani kadhich na vaparlele disco bulbs, devache daagine, plastic chi phula-veli, kadhikali vaparlele thermocol che blocks, 5 varshanpurvi decoration la vaparlela velvet ani moon paper ani lahan mulanchya crafts chya kit madhye saptil tya rangi-berangi tiklya, mani, khade, laces ani metallic borders!! Darr varshi tyat navin navin goshti sapadtat..almost like a Pandora's box!

So Sharad Kakanni toh jad (almost 20 kilo) pitaara malyavarun khali kadayla Babdu la sangitla asnaar jo tyane soyiskar ritya Kaustubh var dhakalla asel. Kaustubh hi shevti Babdu Shethchach bhau...tyane te Sai var paas on kela asnaar!! Shevti Kakancha patience sampnaar...ani High Command chidlele baghun doghahi Kaustubh-Babdu maalyavar chadun toh trunk mukatyane khaali kadhtil!

Mag decoration kai karaycha hya var ek kautumbik discussion-cum-debate hoil. Baba mhantil - "Hya varshi kahi tari saadhach karuya" Tyavar Kaki ani Aai hi duzora detil "Ho, ho..aata vay zala aapla..nahi jhepat aata..barrich varsha kela khoop..." Babdu-Kaustubh faar kahi bolnar nahit..tyanna mahitiye..hey dar-varshi che dialogues ahet...kiti hi saadha mhantla tari tya doghanna akkhi ratra sagle jagavnaar ani nahi nahi mhanta..decoration "saadhach aapla kahitari" chya definition chya well beyond janaar.

Ratri 11 vajta finally decoration chi theme tharel.. Hya varshi chya Ganpati chi pose : Shri Krishna chya avtaratla Ganpati! "Ubhi murti..mhanje side la jaast decoration hava..maage kami..kimaan 5 ft che pillars tari have bajula..Garden scene karuya...Pillars varun hirvya veli soduya..samor ek fence karuya...sawdust la green colour deuya ani suklyavar gavat mhanun vapruya....ki khara gavat ugvaycha?? ani ceiling varun ek laaman diva soduya. Bhinti var curtains chya magun dhaga paint karuya...nahitar sandhyakal cha effect dakhvayla dark navy blue cha background ani tyavar chandane...ani 3 varshan purvi vaparlela card board cha chandra aselach na? Kai?? Tutla? Thike...punha banvu..ani tyanchyavar white paint maarun silver colour chi chamki takuya!!" Sarvanumate finally decoration chi theme tharel!

Thermocol
Cardboard
Plywood
Velvet papers
Paint
Silver glitter
Golden glitter
Sawdust
Curtains
Khoti phula
Khotya veli
Khari phula
Laaman diva

Ashi checklist tayar hoil...kaam delegate karnyat yeil. Aai aavdine pillars la grey colour marayla basel. Sai ugaach madhye madhye karayla yeil. "Mala yeta na painting, mala karu de! Mi elementary chi exam pan pass zale na" vagaire ugaach justifications deil..bakiche sagle tila major ignore martil :P Tichyavar avishwas mhanun nahi..mhanje toh aahe! pan mostly konalahi aapla kaam sodaycha nahiye...Kaahich kaam naslelyanna saglyat tukkar kaama miltat he anubhavane mahitiye - "Jaa thanda panyachi bottle gheun ye", "He khali padlele khile uchal" , kinva "Fevicol madhye pani taakun dilute kar" vagaire vagaire...

12-1 vajta Utpal Kaki ani Mothi Aai (Aaji)chi wicket padel...sakali laukar uthun naivedya karaychay mhanun tya zopayla jaanar...Magchya varshi saarkhi agdich crisis situation asel tar matra Utpal Kaki madatila thambel..nahitar ticha baakichyanvar major confidence asto! Neeta Kaki entertainment quotient sathi thambel ani 'olya chandanyanvar chamki taak' - ashi Sai-level chi kama karel :P

Ratri 3 vajta Aai chi wicket padel ani ti zopayla jaeel..Kaka ani Babancha to paryant teesra chaha zalela asnaar. Suddenly realise hoil ki thermocol kinva paper samplay...pahate 3 vajta mag Kaustubh Sheth gadi kaadhtil ani drive cum shopping saathi baher padtil. (Ganpatichya aadlya ratri Dadar-Lalbaug chi decorations-viknaari dukana suru astat). Ratrabhar kaam chalel ani pahate kadhitari Shashi kakancha murti tayaar aslyacha nirop yeil.

Murti aanayla jaane ha ek major thrilling experience asto. Pahate-pahate tar ultimate majja yete! Murti gharat yei paryant baki tayari zaleli aste - mhanje kasa-basa to paryant sagla neet aavarlela asta. Murti baghun sagle as usual ultimate khush hotat ani Mothi aai che dole panavtat.

Sakal hoil ani decoration la finishing touches lagayla lagtil..."Almost done" he vakya kiman 15-20 vela mhanun zalya nantar Ganpati stthanapanna hoil ani puja suru hoil...aarti hoil, naivedya vadhnyat yeil. Ani mag amche Babdu sheth, Kaustubh sheth dharadhurr zopayla jaatil. Baba tarihi davakhanyat jaatil ani donhi kaka aaplya factory madhye.

He sagla chitra dolyasamuran jatay..geli 22 varsha tya chitraat mi hi hote...madhye madhye ludbudat..ratrabhar jaagat..majhya so-called exemplary creative ani imaginative skills display karat...ani Ganpatit 11 divas ka hoina 'Joint Family' cha anand ghet. Aaplyavar aalela kaam dusryavar dhakalne..airvi 4 pan aata eka velis 12 jevanachya patravalya vadhat, ani 12 mansaat ek toilet-bathroom share karat (!!!) he divas ayushyacha ek immemorable part zale..

Aaj ratri kharach Cost Management kinva Dissertation proposal honaar nahiye majhya kadun! Mi ithe ka aahe...hech kalat nahiye mala :( Deva saathi nahi tar ghara saathi tari aaj mala ghari asayla hava hota asa saarkha vattay..Aai ugaach 2 vela call karun senti suddha karun geli. Hmph!

Pan 'It sux' chya palikade kharach kahi uttar nahiye..
Udya sakali laukar uthun, zara traditionally dress up honyache nakhare karnare..
Campus mandiratlya pujela hi jaeen...pan gharchi majja nahi.
Aso.
So finally, jithe asal tithe..."Ganpati Bappa Morya" ani "Pudhchya varshi Ganpati barobar tumhi hi ghari (me suddha) ya!!" :)