Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!

image source: thehappysadfool.tumblr.com

2011 is on the verge of ending and i'll be starting the new year with lots of hopes.
 2011 was an year of ups and downs for me - academically, emotionally and philosophically. There were things that i am thankful for and there were things i wish i could go back in time and change. What this whole year essentially taught me is this:

1.I've GOT to figure myself out. I need to be the person i want to be. And this is high time i stopped caring about what other people think. Society and its conflicting views aren't going to get me anywhere i'd rather be.
2. People are nicer than you think and if you are nice to them too, life goes along better than imagined.
3. I need to take more risks.
4. There is no reason i shouldn't be happier than i am :)

I hope everyone a wonderful 2012 awaiting !!!

image source: bailey-elise.tumbr.com

The Razor's Edge

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

it was a pleasure to read this book, the style of writing is pleasant without being much flowery.. the characters are tastefully described and explored as the story progresses and the narrative has the charm of someone very intimate recounting a life incident with all the magic of story telling.



View all my reviews

On the Road

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

the pure joy of travelling exudes from the text. though its a classic the writing style retains a freshness which unravels throughout the book. a fun and joyous read it was, just like road trips of Sal Paradise which were unexpected, full of surprises, unplanned and actually would've been miserable for a normal person but when you read it with the travelling spirit of Paradise, every moment of it seems beautiful.


View all my reviews

Updates: Lets Catch up..

I've been gone for a while (quite a while) from here. Just excuse me for my absence. (just needed to blog away my sad thoughts elsewhere on the internet)  'cause this blog I've kept only for creative writing and my musings. i didn't want to mar this place by the short outbursts of frustrations that I've lately been flooding twitter with.

So, among other useless things I've been doing these past months is- catching up with Gossip Girl, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Fringe and The Pretty Little Liars. I'm also planning to start with Game of thrones and Doctor who.

Also i've stacked up my music library with songs from Coldplay (Paradise is my personal favorite), All time Low, Adele, One direction and Paramore.
The new song from All time Low is amazing!



I had also deactivated my facebook account for all these months which i only reacitivated yesterday (and had loads of fun, but i shall blog about it some other time).

October was total hectic madness with me volunteering and participating in my college tech-fest and at that time i wished it to be over soon but i ended up missing the chaos when it did. Sweet times. Then Diwali came and went and i got to spend some quality time with my family (and also to gorge on lots of sweets and snacks).

Meanwhile, I've been reading a lot (of classics). I read Jane Eyre and Tess of d'Urbervilles. I absolutely loved reading The Fountainhead. It has put into words what i had felt about this world all these years. It has left an impression in my mind that would remain for years to come. Right now, i'm half way through The Picture of Dorian Gray, it is interesting enough for the quotes and all Oscar 'Wildeness'. And simultaneously i'm also reading Jack Kerouac's On The Road and i'm just loving it. For someone like me who's been feeling a little 'confined' in my own life and situations, the words of experience of travelling like this are like paradise, to read them is oddly liberating and it feels like pure joy to travel through Sal Paradises eyes.
Apart from classics, i read Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending which you could complete in one sitting. it is a part memoir and was fun to read.

I've also been taking french classes. i have now completed Delf A1 and am halfway through A2 course. It certainly feels good to learn and do something because i want to and not because i need to. It makes me feel that i own my life, which is an awesome feeling, i tell you. I will appear for Delf A2 in February. (i am able to read children's literature in french now, it is interesting).

And Exams are round the corner again..... it was hard for me to realize but i did that in an engineering students life exams are always dogging them throughout the year. We don't have exams in the year, we have short span of times squeezed in between exams when don't have to think about studies. So, i'm gonna go back to my books now (academic, this time) but hopefully i'll also be around here to keep posting stuff.

Wish y'all a Happy December ahead!

The smell of childhood

When i was little and when we used to live in a different house, we had this small garden in front where there used to be a guava tree, a cotton plant, a tulsi plant (Holy Basil), and roses: white and pink. I was about the same size as those rose bushes, so whenever i ran over to the garden i was wrapped up in that sweet fragrance of the roses. The smell of rose still makes me nostalgic. Whenever my head is heavy or i'm over-thinking stuff (most of the time which results in stress) i go out, bring my nose to a blooming rose* (in my current house we have magenta roses in our garden) and inhale a deep breath. As the magical odor fills my senses, i am able to revisit those moments of my childhood when i used to run into the old garden. That's why the roses smell of childhood to me.

*i hate how that rhymes. 

Reading..

“What’s more delightful than an evening beside the fire with a nice bright lamp and a book, listening to the wind beating against the windows? I’m absolutely removed from the world at such times. The hours go by without my knowing it. Sitting there I’m wandering in countries I can see every detail of — I’m playing a role in the story I’m reading. I actually feel I’m the characters — I live and breathe with them.”

—	Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

Monsoon moments

image source: www.sodahead.com 

The smell of earth after its just rained, patter of raindrops on the window, how the sky looks, delightful, fresh and clean after showers, things reflected in puddles of water on the road, sound of 'SPLASH' whenever a car goes by, garden plants - lush green and thriving because of nourishment of rainwater, beads of water glistening and sparkling on its leaves.......
And having steamy cup of tea with spicy, crunchy 'pakoras' while its raining cats and dogs outside or having coffee while immersed in a romantic novel beside the window with raindrops trickling on the glass pane.
i just LOVE this season!!

what are your favorite moments or memories of monsoon?

The dissolving Resolve

June might be a month when normally a common Indian expects the monsoon to come and soothe their sun baked lives with its showers, but for me (and other unfortunate students of RGPV) june yells: EXAM TIME!!!

So, with exams on my head, i resolved to keep myself at bay from internet, television, novels, ipod, or any other object or activity that seems interesting to me, and keep my focus on studies.  For a record, the resolution lasted 2 days; it took me two days of my self imposed confinement with the books to break away.

 I didn't want to! No. Seriously, this time i want to enter the exam hall 'in preparation'( for a change ha!). But, (yes there's a but, as there is always a 'but') 15 minutes of studying seem like 15 hours of boredom! and  whenever i steal a look at my ipod (not deliberately! my eyes just wander that way out of habit :/), i feel like its calling me, begging me silently to come and listen songs from it. And that favorite novel that used to be in hands day and night, it looks so forlorn and lonely on the shelf, its sad because i abandoned it, it misses me :'(
 Even that stupid game on my phone seems to be mocking me, calling my attention. Slowly, i'm losing myself in their conspiracies to deviate me from my books. My resolve is dissolving.........

but hopefully i would overcome and this is what i'd do the whole month :STUDY

Six feet under screams

what does one do when one is in constant conflict with oneself, one's own existence?
have one's mind ailing and soul weeping? have this dying current of consciousness, with its heated blistered ebb and last shreds of frustration oozing away like smoke, leaving behind a residue of meaningless life?
these are the mere ramblings of a mind deeply plagued by unhappiness.

Moments

the deep,fresh and intense red of this rose

does the moment speak something to you?

A mere whisper of innocence 

it is to me,

one could reach out and smell its sweet fragrance

and devour one's eyes on the water droplets adorning it

past the bud and on its way to bloom

it's pure, sweet

and yet a powerful symbol

I'm Back

i know, I've been MIA for a while. There was stuff. Stuff that i'm not going to discuss here (Don't worry).
It feels strange, after a gap of almost 2 months of not visiting my blogger dashboard, not checking on comments and........... pretty much forgetting the existence of my blog and now, typing away like a maniac.  Actually, feels good, like i can start afresh. Its not like i haven't been writing lately. No. I've been writing loads, but, in my private journal. Didn't  feel like blogging any of it. So,

To sum it up, These past few weeks had been utterly boring, i've been utterly lazy, finals results and midterms came and went (irdgaf), i kind of enjoyed spring while it lasted along with ICC World cup(mind-blowing tournament, that was).

And now, i brace myself for summer: long afternoons of scorching sun and blistering heat that would restrict me indoors most of the time in coming months.That's summer for me, here in central India. i wish we could skip over to monsoon. i love rains.

Anyways, all this while, i'd been doing some reading  (as one can notice from my goodreads widget, but no one cares to) ,and i particularly enjoyed reading 'Looking for Alaska' and 'The curious incident of dog in the nighttime'. Both of them were terrific. In their own different ways, of course. Reviews coming soon!

What happened in your birth year?

Ever wondered what was world like when you were about to be a part of it? it might have been a different era and so much would've changed while you grew up. this website gives an interesting idea of

What happened in your Birth year?

i found this thing really interesting..

Sunshine

one of those days when you could do with mellow, hopeful, warm, tingling-on-your-skin sunshine after those days full of dark, cold and foreboding air, when you've exhausted yourself over things and just feel like a soulless body. you're desperately looking for something to grab as a last straw, however slim the chances and however tough the road, you just pin all your remaining hopes to it and wait; bid your time with anticipation.

misery business (paramore)

my recent favorite <3

Listen

Paramore: misery business

I'm in the business of misery,
Let's take it from the top.
She's got a body like an hourglass it's ticking like a clock.
It's a matter of time before we all run out,
When I thought he was mine she caught him by the mouth.

I waited eight long months,
She finally set him free.
I told him I couldn't lie he was the only one for me.
Two weeks and we caught on fire,
She's got it out for me,
But I wear the biggest smile.

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now.
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
Just steal it all away from you now.
But God does it feel so good,
Cause I got him where I want him now.
And if you could then you know you would.
Cause God it just feels so,
It just feels so good.

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.
once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry, that'll never change.
And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have exchanged.
I'm sorry honey, but I'm passin' up, now look this way.
Well there's a million other girls who do it just like you.
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,
They want and what they like.
It's easy if you do it right.
Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now.
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
Just steal it all away from you now.
But God does it feel so good,
Cause I got him where I want him right now.
And if you could then you know you would.
Cause God it just feels so,
It just feels so good.

I watched his wildest dreams come true
Not one of them involving you
Just watch my wildest dreams come true
Not one of them involving.

Whoa, I never meant to brag,
But I got him where I want him now.

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now.
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
just steal it all away from you now.
But God does it feel so good,
Cause I got what I wanted now
And if you could then you know you would.
Cause God it just feels so,
It just feels so good.

image sources:
dminor7.com, recreationandentertainment.wordpress.com

13th zodiac sign: Ophiuchus

Previously i used to be Sagittarius, but now i'm an Ophiuchus.
 Yes, according to these sources: huffingtonpost, cnn, there is a new zodiac to be considered if you believe in sidereal zodiac (the eastern system, in which constellations are considered for zodiac sign).

The new sign is that of Ophiuchus: which means 'the serpent bearer' in Greek. To know more about Ophiuchus, wiki link.
symbol:

REASON:

 Astronomer Parke Kunkle says that due to changes in the Earth's alignment the dates of many zodiac signs have changed. Kunkle says that as the Earth and Sun slowly move the signs gradually change, as expected.

The change didn't happen over night either. The 12 signs were designated to different periods of the year almost 3,000 years ago, when astrology began, and since then the Earth's position in relation to the sun has changed.

The New Dates:

Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18 - May 13
Taurus: May 13 - June 21
Gemini: June 21 - July 20
Cancer: July 20 - Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10 - Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16 - Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30 - Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23 - Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29 - Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17 - Jan. 20

sources: nbc, time

To the Lighthouse (virginia woolf)

currently reading..

To the Lighthouse

I'm reading Virginia Woolf for the first time. I had heard that she is a very good writer, but when read her for myself, i discovered that it's actually much better than i expected. She writes beautifully! Her characters and their innermost feelings.. they flow and unfold like unweaving a thread from its spool; distinct, complete and continuous. Its such a joy to read over her prose! i'll be reading Mrs Dalloway next, right after To The Lighthouse.

Virginia Woolf

oh well...

• today, i woke up to a really uneasy state. 
• whole morning i spent vomiting and feeling wretched and tired and everything bad that comes with an illness.
•  the doctor gave me several pills and an injection to make me feel better. According to him its acute gastroenteritis.   
• the only good thing that happened since morning is that 
• the doctor has advised me to take lots of custard, ice cream and chilled milk in my diet.
• bless him

these photos did a good job to cheer me up and to select flavors of ice cream i'd like to have

This is cool..

this is Ink calendar designed by Oscar Diaz. The ink will slowly color each day of the month as time passes by.

This is Calendar using the capillary action of the ink on the paper. It would look so awesome covering the whole wall of the room and inking the date. 

source: Oscar diaz studio

Just heard this..

I've just heard the new song 'What the Hell' from Avril Lavigne's latest album 'Goodbye Lullaby' to be released this month. My first reaction after this song was 'it's okay' but then after listening twice.. i listened to it over and over again. Now i'm just in love with the song. It's like Avril has gone back to the style of music she had in her first album. Click here to listen to the song. Enjoy!



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