Confessing in doublespeak

Love ignored

2012-01-29T18:46:00.000Z

I walk with feet that don't stop

For me to listen to your

Tales full of tasteful words

My glances fail to grasp

The glimpse within your folds

You reveal despite the risk

I watch mindless figures

Walking and talking lines

We should have shared

While you fill the peripheries

Of my eyes and insides of my eardrums

With faint overtures to my attention

Crying for the tear drop nation

2011-07-09T18:54:00.001+01:00

Fingers jabbed at the thin air

Fighting for space within tiny holes

In the iron gate

Unseen face and voices unheard

In the collective plea

Asking for only a witness to their deaths

Having already forgotten

How to hope for a rescue

****************

A ticket to this land costs nothing. Almost nothing. It’s nearer to my city than my country’s captial.

Do I want to go there and be the tourist? No. The idea is abusive. Abusive to the innocence Of an entire society.

Stranded first, shelled and raped next. And finally shot in the head, without even clothes to cover their souls.

Stop

2011-07-06T06:59:00.001+01:00

Life begins only when

You know when to stop

Being stupid.

Fade(d)

2011-06-29T19:14:00.000+01:00

Those unspoken somethings
I refuse to tell you
Will make the difference between
Friend and a foe.
We aren’t enemies.
Friends we aren’t, either.
As the distance finds more space
To creep upon
You will fade, while I think
I haven’t faded.

With Nobody

2011-06-28T11:13:00.003+01:00

When all you ever did

Was hold conversations in your head

Conversations, which if heard outside,

Can leave you nobody

To converse with.

Living

2011-06-13T16:11:00.002+01:00

Life on a vertical plane

Scrolled through endlessly

Stopping now and then

To click on something,

Only to be closed moments later.

Signed in and signed out

All in a hurry.

Beep

2011-06-10T11:05:00.004+01:00

Beep.

I wnt 2 brkup

Beep.

K tc

Forgotten punctuation

Several missing letters and,

Cremated courage to say things.

Repetition

2011-06-02T08:00:00.001+01:00

I said I won't so many times
That it sounded like a simple
Yes.

Men.

2011-05-31T17:11:00.002+01:00

Men only look different.

And only so that women know

Who their man is.

Silence

2011-05-25T18:26:00.002+01:00

You don't talk.

I don't talk.

But, I get blamed

For the silence

That killed us.

Raped.

2011-05-17T11:33:00.003+01:00

My mouth stinks of your violation

With no amount of mint,

Will that stink mellow

I smell it every time I swallow

I remember it with

Every unspoken curse

I am weaker in strength, and

May not protest too well

But you will always be a vandel

Never, the loved one.

She will

2011-03-24T06:42:00.003Z

She will have an arranged marriage. ONLY.
Who decided?
Jupiter, the Planet.

She will get married by September, 2012 . Definitely.
Why?
Because Jupiter, the Planet will lose interest in her.
It would be a good eight to ten years before He found her interesting again.
But, it wont be love at first sight.

She should control her ego. Should.
Why should she?
Surya, the Sun is already high on her.

Her life has already been decided. Already.
By whom should I say?
The Solar System, of course.

I have a new blog!!!!

2010-06-10T07:34:00.002+01:00

http://arunaiyer88.wordpress.com/

I should find out how to change my url into something cooler sounding...this one s just soooo boring!!!!

But, wordpress is very difficult to grasp immediately...but its fun:)

Year 2010

2010-05-31T12:55:00.003+01:00

When this year began, I broke one of my longstanding habbits- reading the year's forecast from Yahoo.com. It has been a ritual ever since I laid hands on that Linda Goodman book way back in eight standard. So why did I decide to break this habbit, I wonder...

I felt that I was starting to live my life based on these predictions...though predictions based on sunsigns was never something I believed in when I started out, I realised that sub-conciously, my interest had gaduated from mere characterisation of the different sun signs to predictions for them.

It was upsetting when at times what transpired didn't agree with what Yahoo predicted, and at times eerie....when those two or three lines mirrored what had just happened. (Oh, btw, I read daily predictions at the end of the day to see if Yahoo had got it right...some sort of a game it was, actually)

Soon, I was gobbling up predictions for the entire week and then the entire month as well...

Soon, I spent more time at the Astrology section at any bookstore, reading up stuff I already knew...

Soon, I was investing more money on books predicting the 'Year Ahead for Aries', than I was spending on anything more worth my while...

Soon, I started reading up on which signs were compatible with my sign, Aries, and started building relationships and opinions based on what I read...

Soon, I was justifying the actions of people based on what I had read abt their personalities...

All the above and many more changes in my thought process lead me into expectations that were often too high...I decided that I would live life as it came...day by day without wondering if it would play out the way Yahoo had said it would...

It's liberating in a lot o ways, but scary as well....and tempting as HELL!!!!!

Pseudo-nerd will stop with simply wondering what lies ahead for her in this year...:)

As close as it gets to what am thinking now :)

2010-05-17T06:59:00.005+01:00

All I wanna do is find a way back into love,

I can't make it through without a way back into love,

And if I open my heart to you

I'm hoping you'll show me what to do,

And if you help me to start again,

You know that I'll be there for you in the end!

Source: Way Back into Love in the film Music and Lyrics

We are all kinds of people...

2010-04-30T10:36:00.004+01:00

We are all kinds of people
All by ourselves.
One minute We think,
Another minute We forget
We are a lot.

We laugh, We cry
We hate and We love
We lie, or don't
We are all kinds of people
All by ourselves.

We stand up against
What was thrown at us
While We inflict the same elsewhere
We are all kinds of people
All by ourselves.

We give people
What We ourselves
Wouldn't take..
We are all kinds of people
All by ourselves.

We can take for granted
Those who We won't
Let take us for granted
We ARE all kinds of people
All by ourselves
All within ourselves...

Why look elsewhere?

My Keyboard :)

2010-04-09T17:14:00.004+01:00

Dust layered them
And stuck to my fingers
In full symmetry and
Just like a border
They neatly lined
My lovely keys...
Today I shall wipe
All the layers away
Today I shall use them
To tell a story...

My post-war statement:

2010-03-26T20:54:00.000Z

I love you AND i hate you with all i ve got...i jus dont understand if i love you more or hate you more. I am letting myself down by telling you this. I know. But i cant help myself wen its you...i miss you more than anything else and i only pray you remember me as someone who you loved and who loved you truly once upon a time...

Being Alone...

2010-03-26T15:54:00.004Z

I don't think I should be left alone, she thinks
Why...? Wouldn't you ask?
I am injurious to myself, she will reply.
Was it being suicidal...her problem, you wonder...
She heard you through your eye...
She wants to laugh...she is not suicidal...
Not in the way we all understand "suicidal"
She was injurious to her reputation, if left alone...
That was her problem, do you see?
No, of course you don't see...
Would you understand what it means
To self destruct all your efforts that
Have gone into portraying yourself
A particular way...Only to be
Broken, trashed and ridiculed
By none other than
Yourself?
Of course NOT.

Seethalakshmi, mother of Vengkataramani.

2010-02-21T12:23:00.003Z

She lay shriveled...
Tubes ran in and out
Of her frail hands
While life ran slowly
Out of her...

Through a round glass
In the door,
Her family watched her...
And each had different
Thoughts for her...

In the few she had
Brought to this world...
Very few cared for her
Now...and so she
Had lived...

A life of hardwork
To begin with...
To a life of schemes,
Prejudice and
Hatred...

Her sons fell apart
And she tossed around:
"You keep her...I can't do
It anymore..."
She moved, and moved...

Till one day the stroke
Made her immobile...
Put her on a bed...
And killed many of her
Brain cells...

Today she doesn't recognise
Those she loved and hated
What was the point then?
Of a life, she lived
That way...?

I May Have Found Me...

2010-02-03T18:40:00.002Z

A sense of liberation...
Right ahead of me
A sense of hope...
All within me

A sense of remorse...
Thrown behind me
A sense of guilt...
Buried deep beneath me

A sense of living...
All around me
A sense of fate catching up
I may have found me :)

Magnets Under Cover

2010-01-26T17:41:00.003Z

"Don't react", and she held her breath
Caught that hand slowly creeping out...
Towards what is generally, just another hand
To her, a magnet under cover.

Every human body cannot be
That magnet, for everyone.
In one life one finds a few
Magnets under cover.

But human life ain't so simple
And simply finding your magnet
Won't do. Hard to come by are
Perfect magnets under cover.

Only one magnet will finally
Click. After breaking thru'
The haze of repulsions. That's
Your magnet under cover.

2010-01-26T15:25:00.002Z

There s a lot of work left to do...
For all of us...all our lives...
Working out of the distractions around
Is prolly the most difficult thing to do...
Coz...you can never really get too far from them.
You cant finish them of.
You just learn to live with them.

Why do we have hormones that
Inspire love? Inspire waste of time, actually?
We shudave had hormones that made you
More focused than ever. Its your mind after all.
Why does it have to work against you?
And never let go?

Of not someone, but some habits?
Cant we all take a shot at
This terrible game of feelings
Get bored of it, or maybe sick of it
Like really?
Then just never ever want to
Play it again...like a video game
You suck at?
Shudnt it have been that easy?

Life s fun. I want to feel it.
The fun.
So, my dear distracting mind,
Jus take a break.

Pseudo-nerd wants another chance...:)

Divine Justice

2009-12-20T17:11:00.003Z

If you say yes to a guy
And then
Tell another guy
You think you like him,
And then the
First guy goes out of
Your life without
Rhyme or reason...
What is it called?

Advent of Divine Justice

Haven't I had enuf?

2009-12-12T17:16:00.003Z

Okay.
Haven't I had enuf already???
If it would make a change, I'd more than like to yell at a FEW men in my life:
DON'T ANYMORE TAKE ME FOR A RIDE.
I don't have it in me....the innocent naivete.
I can now SEE thru all your plans to make my life a bit more miserable.

So. Please. Get. The. Fucking.Yes. Fucking. Hell. Out. Of. My. Life.

Loving Strangers...

2009-11-29T05:51:00.006Z

I was told not to talk to strangers all my school life...

I wonder why...
The best experiences in my life have involved complete strangers, who became so much part of my life for a while...
They came into my life waltzed through it and out of it, before I could blink...
Some took away a part of me, and from others I took a part away...

But I continue to dabble with them...strangers...
I ve no interest for those I have always known...
An element goes missing with them...
But the stranger has it...in plenty...

I should say I ve been lucky till now...touchwood...
Maybe anyone of my strangers could have landed me in deep troubles...
But they haven't...they ve been as harmless to me as I am to anyone...

But what will happen if some new stranger decides to be different from his predecessors? Will this thought be enough to scare me away from them?
Will I ever be scared of them?

I feel threatened by those who I know...
I cant be anything I want to be with these people...
They know me and know me well...

But with a stranger, I can be anyone...
Can't I?
I can remove the blemishes in my character...
Be someone new...be born again...

Why would I be scared of them...
My strangers...
I ve tried...hard...
But I cant and now,
I wont.

There is this one guy...

2009-11-27T13:47:00.005Z

There is this one guy...
He is my dude...
He makes coffee that is
OUT OF THIS WORLD,
And that!

I ve started loving
PJs only becoz
Of him...he cracks them
ALL THE TIME!!

Tell him he pampers me
He'll refute it with
All rightful indignation...
But, hey...:)

He lives for me,
And two other women
We are his everything
He is ours...

He is a walking dictionary,
I boasted to my friends
As a kid...and
I believe it till date...

He is my inspiration
My own personal
WALL...
My all!

He is...
Versatile
Energetic
Nerdy
Kute and,
Youthful

Venky a.k.a. Kullu
Is a handfull
Even at 50+
But most importantly,

He is THE best dad...
EVER.
Our blessing...and
Our prayer.

Love you appa...:)

Another vain triumph...

2009-11-23T11:11:00.003Z

I moved my hand...
A swirl took place
In a wine glass...

A light spill...
That a tissue
Took care...

...While the space between
Expanded
And then, some more...

I played with a strand
That had escaped
But still stuck to me...

We looked and
Looked away
But

He dropped his eyes first...
All to my vain
Triumph...

I still held ground, for
I was the insulated one
I was the one who

Could or wouldn't
Swirl the drink
That the wine glass

Of his life
Tempted me
With...

Her Danger

2009-11-02T14:21:00.004Z

She always smelt it...the scent of danger
Her mind loved that smell...
Intoxicating, with possibilities aplenty
She wanted to take up...

He friend tutted her back to the world
Her mind reared its head shakily....
Wanted her to glare at the friend
She didn't want to be away...

From that heady feeling
That was Danger to others...
She wanted to do its bidding
Just so that it wouldn't leave...

She couldn't take her mind off it
Not until she had her way with it...
She loved the idea, the presence, the scent
Of Danger- her survival tool.

I want to talk...:)

2009-11-02T13:21:00.005Z

I truly believe in Climate Change now....
It's the time of the year when the north-east monsoons hit Chennai...
It first gets delayed by almost a week...breaking centuries old met records
Then it makes the place so unlike what it is...even during this time of the year!!!!
The wind is cold and chilly...that's not something i ve known Chennai for...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning Chennai is going to begin THIS very friday...
Does anyone realise what that means for a TV student in ACJ??
NO. Well...its this breakfast show that is supposed to run for 90 minutes...
And...WE STUDENTS PRODUCE IT...

We bring in guests this time...goof-ups wont be funny alone anymore...
People are going to form opinions...
We need to move from one set in the studio to another...WITH THE MIC STILL ON!!!!!!!!

We need to do FIVE MINUTE STORIES....like one minute stories weren't enuf to make us understand!!!! ANd this time...the anchor doesnt even have a teleprompter!!!!!!!!!!! We have to gas on our own...ON THE SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooo Maiiii Gawddddd....:D

I dunno...I think we'll go mad before it gets done...:D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asha went home today...so I too decided to go home...after all I did have to wash my hair...
If i dared washing it in the hostel(...which i have a couple o times out of dire compulsions like anchoring the evening bulletin...) I think ill lose the final four strands o hair left on my head...

Am PARANOID about the water there...:((

I have a bike now at the hostel...but still decided to take a bus....i ve a direct bus bak home from Madhya Kailash..:) In this weather, an empty bus..a window seat and my zune can do wonders to my mood...:)

The wind on my face is one of the finer feelings im capable of...:D
I type this from home now...that makes me traa laaa laaa hapeeee abt it :D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India is doing pretty well in the match with Australia which s going on now...
I can hear the TV buzz...and the crowd seems happy...the commentator is pretty excited :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our hostel is in Taramani...right at the beginning of the IT corridor in Chennai...
Its a long stretch of well laid road..with really wide, desolate and unlit streets branching off the main road. This is not a residential area...the place is filled with educational and other institutions...which shut by six in the evening...
Ours and the Central Government's Polytechnic college are the only ones with a hostel in that area...

Now....CPT is filled with the cheap and rowdy guys who lech and eve tease ACJ's women...its horrible. Add to that ACJ guys getting mugged, bashed up and robbed. It's pathetic.

But these were incidents to which I wasnt in any way directly connected. There was the distant lack of understanding. But a few days back, when a group of 7 girls were on the very well lit main road, I saw it happen and affect me directly.

As we were standing on the sidelane near the overbridge contemplating if we could jump the median and avoid climbing stairs, a guy on a bike tried snatching Asha's bag...

One moment we were all looking at the crazy speeds in which vehicles moved on that road...and the next we heard Asha's surprised cry....then she fell down...and got dragged on the concrete as that bastard tried till the end to snatch that bag...when he knew he couldnt go any further or when he knew all of us knew what was happening that bastard let go and sped away....

She had deep bruises on her back from being dragged on the concrete and a HUGE lump on her head where it had hit the road.

I was literally shaking...and i was swearing profusely...It didnt really strike me that he was tryin to snatch her bag...but later when the others who were more calm told me it made sense...why would a normal person who s seen that girl fall drive away so FAST??? Im sure human curiosity is better than that.

Anyways...I made my dad come to the hostel and we took her to the hospital...we had to rule out a concussion...the duty doctor said it was nothing to worry. Relief.
By the time all that was done it was around 12...or maybe 1 in the morning...
She had to have something before she cud take her medicines for the night...

So we forced-plead a Dominos guy who was shutting shop to make us a pizza....the damn nice guy that he was agreed and yay!! We were going to have some pizza after all the drama :D

We went to my cousin's place that night...no power in my house alone, thanks to the north-east monsoons in collaboration with Tamilnadu Electricity Board :

We had our pizza sitting on the swings in the park within the flat...and scared ourselves talking abt spooky stuff :D :D

It was GOOD.

She is fine now...walks slowly...extremely uncharacteristic...:(
And everytime we walk from one place to the other it usually used to be me who had to trot next to her...she walks that fast that sometimes i have to complain :D

Now i ve gotten so used to walkin at that pace that half the time i leave her trailing behind me in her slight limp...and after a few minutes of brisk trotting for no reason but habit, I guiltily turn back and wait for her to catch up....today i apologised for that...when i was REALLY limping with my crutches she walked right beside me ALL THE TIME. Never once did she leave me alone...
I owe it to her...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pseudo-nerd....hahaha!!

Life in ACJ...

2009-10-18T05:39:00.004+01:00

We were coming back from a friend's place. Into an auto the five of us squeezed...
We talked about this and that and as always, wound up bitching about the auto guys in Chennai.
In English.
For we just assume auto guys don't know the language.

But what I heard that night changed that opinion forever:

P: It was my first week in Chennai and I had taken an auto to college. As usual the auto guy tried to drop me off somewhere way before our college. I made him drop me right outside college. He obviously wanted more money for that extra "mile". And I refused.

Auto Guy: You idiot!

P: (After going !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) You called me an idiot???????? YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Auto Guy: You LADY BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P: $*W&($*)E(%_(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

He apparently got out of the auto now. Fear of being hit washed over poor P, apparently!!!

P: I literally RAN inside the college!!!!!!!!!!! SHIT.

EOM.

2009-10-06T06:50:00.002+01:00

I don't know how much deficit I have in my karmic account...
Am sure I ve got sub zero good karma...I seem to hurt people, while hurting myself...

I wonder why I can never be just friends with a guy...
It must be some curse that ruins every single friendship I try to foster...

I try not to lead on...I try to be the cold shoulder...
It just is no match to that goddamn curse on me...
He will still find a reason to ask you out, it leers at me, even now...

I havent written here in a long while...got no time literally...
I feel neglected with all this unsolicited attention...
I want to be loved as just a friend...
I don't have it in me to be anyone's someone...

Am bored...am pathetic...
I want a friend...looks too costly in my life...

I have a class in 10...
like how DB would have said it...
not 10 minutes...just 10...

I am prolly hated by many...for simply giving up...
Am sorry but I really don't have anything to give you...

At the end of even this...I just want to be left alone...

That's me...

Addy's first buddayyyyy :D

2009-09-16T19:07:00.000+01:00

Pirindhadhai unara maruthu...

2009-08-24T18:00:00.007+01:00

Yendru theerumo indha noi...
Marundhumillai....maruthuvarum illai...
Valithu thudipadhu kuraindhalum
Silirka vaithu maraivadhu thodarum

Udalil unarchi ullavarai... Avanai...
En noiai, yenni
Sindhum thooli kanneerilum
Avan peyar...yennai ariyamal padarum...

Vittu sendraano, illai vittu vandheno...
Indru thanithu nirkum en nizhal
Ketkum kezhviku badhilindri
Ingu vandhu pulambum nilai...

Rains that brought tears...

2009-08-17T07:40:00.005+01:00

Raindrops ease the strain
Teardrops release the pain

Raindrops can make a sound
Teardrops can make you sound

Raindrops come with season
Teardrops come with reason

Raindrops ripple in a pool o water
Teardrops ripple in a spill of laughter

Raindrops make you want more
Teardrops make you want some(thing/one) more

Raindrops come with no strings attached
Teardrops come b'coz strings were attached

Raindrops on someone's face- beautiful
Teardrops on my face- more than merely beautiful

Pseudo-nerd loves the rain from inside...

P.S. I love you

2009-08-17T06:41:00.003+01:00

No questions were asked
I still sought the right words...
To explain, to state...
Things which others could only comment upon
While you took them aboard...onto yourself

In my decision, you were born...
And in you was born my vent
My space in yours...
My words for mine

Hand-in-hand we have walked
Through verbal instances aplenty
Me always ranting...
Now for the 50th time around

To you I dedicate this.
My blog, you've grown to mean more
Than you can realise in your
Non-living life...

Pseudo-nerd wrote for her blog...after all 50 is FIFTY...

that made no sense, I agree...:)

One song knows your life...

2009-08-12T20:32:00.006+01:00

What happens when you hear a song for the first time....written by some lyricist, who definitely didnt know how you felt, but still managed to, by some weird way of the world, hit the bull's eye?

You hear those lines...the tune recedes to the background...poetic license with normal words giving life to your frozen feelings...

You want to ignore the striking resemblance to ur life...but fr how long can you hold out? It gets to you...and you play that song over and over again... You know that song will remain with you forever...at least on ur ipod playlist...

Things'll change...this song may be forgotten among that list of thousands...but another chance encounter on a shuffled playlist, will bring it all back...in full force...

This is my song: Malai Neram from Aayirathil Oruvan

Pseudo-nerd switched on her laptop just to put this down...

Arv, I take inspiration from you :)

2009-08-11T09:21:00.005+01:00

Looking away I am
Every time something amiss
Anger rising for no reason
Vexation mostly apparent
Evaporation of niceties by now

Melancholic notes in my head
Ease me into being aloof

All the time wanting something
Leveling the new with the old

Over-simplification

Need escape
Erase my head

Pseudo-nerd will not refute those who think this reflects her mood.

Writing when I hadn't planned to...

2009-07-27T16:32:00.007+01:00

I never open my other gmail id...but today I did...and one particular mail sent by someone 2 days ago made me feel all touched...am sorry for being cheesy..but I reely was..:)
It read: Hey write something on your blog. I'm bored and I want to read something. (Or something mostly like this :P)
I felt nice reading it... So here I am writing something...For you to read, Ironmonkey :)

We have lectures all the time in this second floor seminar hall in ACJ (Asian College of Journalism) where I study. The room is filled with students, lecturers and guest speakers...they all congregate here to impart and share their knowledge and viewpoints on various pertinent issues.

But, there is a group, which attends every single lecture...sits through all of them; they never bunk. But they aren't expected to either understand or deliver after any of the lectures- the attenders and technicians who help put together the electronic support for each lecture, presentation and walk around the hall passing the mic when its time for questions.

When I see them, I always wonder if they understood what was being discussed at length everyday within the confines of this lecture hall...do they realise that they could be one of the most informed and aware in their clan, if they could grasp what was being spoken?

Assuming they don't....what does it feel like to sit in a hall where everyone talks in a foreign language, about things that appear very important for any number of reasons? Do they wonder what was going on? Do the power point presentations with charts, figures and estimates make any sense to them? And when people ask questions at the end of the session, and when they are passing around the mic...does it irritate them...to not know what was raising so many questions in so many people's minds?

I sometimes feel jealous of them...they can simply zone out when a boring lecture's happening...they don't have to know why news and numbers are intrinsically related to each other...they wouldn't have an exam, even if its an open book, class test...they can in simple terms be "physically present mentally absent". But we need 85% attendance in each lecture, and have to write exams as well!!! The unfair lives all o us lead....sigh :p

Pseudo-nerd wrote something for ironmonkey today :)

R.I.P. Mansi- the could have been ACJ graduate

2009-07-16T15:25:00.003+01:00

I cant remember how many times in the past 3 months I ve fallen sick...
Well, for the records, if anyone s maintaining them, I am sick, yet again...
What do I write with a running nose, a burning throat and an aching face heated by some fever?

It has been on my mind to write abt this for a long time now...ever since I took that disastrous entrance exam in an attempt to get myself a seat in Asian College of Journalism, by far the country's best J-School, right here in my beauty city, Chennai!!

The paper had 2 sections: English and General knowledge. I owe it to my considerable prowess (:D) in the language, which is the reason why am now part of the ACJ Family!
The GK paper left me in such a state of demoralisation, I wouldnt want to accept it openly...
Even if I had no clue what the answer was to a particular question, I had the audacity to write something there on the space provided. On embarrassing retrospection, I found out they were so way off the mark, I had myself as well as my frends splitting into long spells of uncontrollable laughter...

That day evening, at home, I told myself and my family to just forget abt me making it to ACJ...
Then the list of ppl selected for the interview level was out...and MIRACULOUSLY (Im not exaggerating, here!!!!) my name was there on the list...it was jus too good to believe, and that is why I say, my English will save me in life :D

One day after the list was out, to which both Asha and Rashmi (my best frends in coll) had made it, the three of us were discussing...yeah...ACJ!!! They talked abt this mail that they had been sent from the management asking them to appear for the interview on a specified date and other details. I didnt remember having gotten any mail from ACJ...and I began to genuinely panic: What if my name had been put up on the list by mistake?, I wondered miserably...

On checking my mail Id again, I had received the mail two whole days earlier and the dyslexic thing Im becomin nowadays, I had missed it!!!!! Ahhhh, the RELEIFFFFF!!!!! :D:D

Interview Day:
After spending two whole days in the company of nothing but newspapers and news channels, I arrived at the Centre quite well prepared. Im sure I was scaring a few ppl with my constant discussion of possible questions and promptly answering them myself a few times or torturing my friends into answering a few other times!!!

My turn to face the panel:
I walked into the room with my meticulously prepared portfolio (which they didnt so much as glance at :|) The questions began:

Q: I see, you've got the Best Outgoing Student Award from Journalism Department in your college...

A: Yes, Sir. I have. (Smiling modestly :p)

Q: I see from your application form, you live opposite Valluvarkottam. What can u tell us abt it?

A: (I gave a whole host of details known to me )

Q: Who is the architect of Valluvarkottam?

A: (Mentally: $%#&@(#&) Errr...I dont know, Sir...

Q: Do you know, Thirukural?

ASIDE: For those o you who ve no clue wat this place is: It is a charriot like structure built as a tribute to the Tamil poet, Thiruvalluvar. It houses a statue of the poet-saint. He is the author of the book, Thirukural, which has been translated into several world languages and provides guidelines on how man should lead his life. It is acclaimed to be relevant even today, though it was composed many several years ago.

A: (Mentally, again: WTF is this!!!!) Yes, Sir. I had Tamil as m second language in school.

Q: Recite one for us

A: (Thoroughly baffled by the direction this interview was taking) * I recited the first kural, popularised by Balachandar's Kavithalaya title music :P *

Q: Why Do you think Karunanidhi (who is the current CM of Tamilnadu and the one who built this monument) suddenly built a charriot like structure for Thiruvalluvar?

A: (Openly going %$&(&*$%&^) I....don't know, Sir.

Q: You seem to have covered the 'Margazhi Season' quite extensively. What do you know abt it?

A: (I tell them whatever I knew about the season and its popular kachcheris)

Q: How many concerts are there in a seson?

A: I dont know, Sir. (I wasnt even bothering to get baffled now :|)

After such questions which brought my morale to an all time "high", I was asked a couple of questions to which I thankfully knew the answers...how come??? Because they were questions abt news in the past weeks!!!! That is how I expected the entire session to progress!!!

Q: What is your area of interest in journalism?

A: (I think this terrible answer was a product of the complete demoralisation I underwent a few minutes back) Social INTEREST, Sir.

ASIDE: There is no such area called Social Interest. Its Social Issues :|

Q: Can you tell us what u mean by the term, "social interest"?

There...that was my undoing I think. My area of interest is NOT social issues, least of all social INTEREST!!!!!!!!!!!! My interests lie in POLITICS!!!!!!! :((

I crapped so badly after that...I dont have the heart to embarass myself in such public glare by recounting what I crapped there, trying to explain what the hell ever I meant.

They finally said: That's it Aruna. You can go.

As, I was getting up...the Dean, Mr. Sreekumar Menon went : "Wait wait!!! We need to ask you the mandatory questions!!!!

I freaked out on hearing this: "What???? The interview begins only NOW?????????", screamed the voice inside my head....

Then they asked:
Will you be requiring hostel accomodation, Aruna?

I must have sighed quite audibly with relief...and that just drew more smirks from the "PANEL"

A: No, Sir. I wouldnt be requiring it. (Bcoz I wouldnt be getting admission int he frst place, I said in my mind voice...and trooped out of the room.

The next one week before the results were out...I put myself thru hell...I dont know why it made such a big difference...getting into this place...it DID!!!!

And finally, the results came:
NAME STREAM
Aruna Television

:D :D :D :D :D :D I just couldnt help feeling happy to a fault!!!!!

Now, its a almost a week since college began...the very frst day began on a tragic note, with one of the girls falling to her death from the hostel terrace the very day she checked into it...

I dedicate this post to that lost life...Mansi.

Dying to meet Death

2009-07-14T14:36:00.007+01:00

Hands from the pitch dark
Called her forward; coaxed her on...
Whispers in her ears...
Just one more...Just one more
They seemed to chorus softly...

She left the voices behind...
Not knowing she was taking an
Irreversible step forward...
Just one more...Just one more...
The hands still beckoned...

Entering darker darkness
She left behind her shadow too
Her sole companion, thus far...
Don't stop...Just a little more...
That voice egged her on...

Down she fell that hollow duct...
The air around her making way...
Caressing her one last time
Before the waiting ground took her on...

The life within thrown out
In that bloody spurt of first injury...
She died...a Death
Entirely ordained by Fate.

Why wasn't I one, too?

2009-07-11T14:17:00.005+01:00

I ve always wanted to be a guy in my heart o hearts...

When I was a kid...it was because they could be outside longer than me...

When I started puberty...it was because they could still wear anythng...I couldnt...

When I started making frends from their side, nobody told them they cudnt stand on a road talking with a girl...because they told me that...

I had to be bothered what other people thought about me...which was most obviously a reflection on my family's reputation...well they only had to stay away from the police stations...if possible, that is...

They could flirt with any number of women...jus would be called a playboy...which finally became a cool tag to have...if I were to have done it...i'd have been called a slut...which is still not a very cool tag...

I had to take care not to be taken advantage of by them guys...why wasnt or why couldnt it have been the other way around?

They can:
#Smoke
#Drink
#Do drugs
#Or all o the above...
And guess what? Parents are mostly quite aware that their sons arent beyond these things...but still they go scotfree... If I were to do any o it? I'll have to take ten thousand precautions to ensure my parents dont come to know...am not spotted by a mama or a perima...or an elder cousin...who will of course, be a guy!!!

Night stays...trips out o city? No problem, guys. Night stays...? Do you have to, girls? Trips out o city....? Forget it, girls.
Guys can nowadays just take their girls home...introduce them to their parents...the girl is always the frst to be introduced... Well, women are still catchin up...sorry we're centuries late...

I could go on piling up such disparities...I dont want to... I jus want to say, I WISH I WAS A GUY!!!!

Pseudo-nerd talkin...

I, Me, Chennai

2009-07-04T05:00:00.006+01:00

Next year this time I hope I will not be here in Chennai...not because i have stopped loving the place....it's as close to me as my family and God knows how many fights I've fought over her...from her side...I once read another blogger's outlook on this city...this sleepy, dreamy city of mine...I will never forget the kind of humbling I felt at the end of my reading...not just at the blogger's knack in stringing mere words so as to make poetry in prose form...but at a strange charisma stemming from its abstract beauty...at the way she talked to me and every other Chennaiite who cared to listen...I one day decided to listen...

Quite some time ago:

Was walking out of office...my part-time job at The New Indian Express in Ambattur Industrial Estate used to take me there every Sunday...I was leaving early...in a rush to make it to an evening assignment on time...reached the bus terminus at the end of the road...it was, as always annoyingly, infested with D70 buses...not the one I needed and that justifies any amount of annoyance, I tell you! Now, if you ve lived in this city long enough and have been on its roads too...you cannot have missed these...ummmm...let's say, Urban Legends...there are these legends associated with Chennai's roads, signals, and even her buses that are quite amusing, yet spot on!!!!

The one about the signals goes something like this: If you get a green at your first signal on your way to either cathedral road or Mount Road or Anna Salai, it means u were lucky that day coz you will not be made to stop at any of the succeeding signals!!!! (If you get pulled over by a traffic cop, this legend does not hold gud...duh!!) Well then, you ve by now recognised what I'm on to, and of course, the other side of the coin: you get the red at your first signal, say a silent prayer asking for a lotta patience, coz you re going nowhere too soon!!!

Moving over to the one about the buses in Chennai...it'd be one of those hot, hotter, hottest days....you would be standing at this bus stop for that godforsaken bus to show up...you wait for 10 mins...you don't even bat an eyelid...it becomes 15 mins, you shift over to your other leg...but still going steady...20 mins, you actually make an effort to look once down the direction you think the bus's supposed to be coming...then at your watch...excuses, if late, formulate in your head involuntarily...(habit s a hard thing to give up, afterall :P) if hungry, and if smart, you'd now open that pack of chips or biscuits or take a peck on that Dairymilk you ve saved for such trying times...if tired, you look back at the stop, ony to turn back after finding each seat thoroughly occupied(!!!)...and you wait on...you hang on...25 mins...one bus...your bus...finally makes its weighed down way to your stop...you try making your way to the steps of the bus...

A battle ensues....you elbow, she elbows harder...you shoot him a disgusted, look he looks away but keeps at it...and finally, the bus...that bus has moved away....without you....you lost your first battle in 25 mins...of course, you don't lose heart...you cant lose heart, would be more apt...you go bak to your palce in the bus stop and while doing so you re not really surprised to note that all those who had been standing at the stop when you came have actually won their own tiny bus battles and gone away, only to be replaced by a new, equally ready lot...you definitely look at your watch now...shuffle beween the only 2 legs god gave you... Now, 35 mins have ticked away and you ve lost even a second battle...bravo!

You think you've had enuf...you flag down the first unoccupied auto (well, this takes time too...and it's an entirely different story all together!)...you haggle with him, he double haggles with you...petrol prices are discussed...stats exchanged and even new half-baked legislations are reminded, and finally, finally a fare is agreed on...you park that sore ass followed by legs on that bumpy, cushiony seat...arrange your bags...shift your position so that you can see yourself in that rearview mirror, and he cant and then....you look back accusingly at that mirror...which is just now reflecting a far away image of an empty bus...your bus...this time there is no battle...afterall what is it worth, if the person who has to battle, is on her way, on an atrociously priced auto ride, to wherever land, thinking...no convincing herself, what she saw must have been a mirage..."it must have...it better be...oh, plzzz forget it man!!!!!" ringing in her ears...

And finally about the roads in Chennai...she has a whole lot of them and their names are quite amusing, if you can be bothered, that is...for starters, Big Street in Triplicane is a well known street in the city...but what it actually is, is only a laughing contradiction of its name...quite a narrow stretch...more like a lane that was once maybe a big street...

Frankly, at the moment, am currently unaware of any legends associated with her roads...I'm quite certain there are...you know something? Lemme know!! :)

Pseudo-nerd is quite impressed :)

2009-07-03T16:29:00.002+01:00

The smoke drifted apart...a dream sequence:
Useless CDs tied together and strung in neat lines, let me into a room...
I turned my head to the right...and was struck by the orange of a wall...a queen-size bed...wrapped in a beautiful cover...
Straight ahead...new drapes in a sunny, happy colour keep the sun out...
A table, a laptop, and a framed picture o someone; a wall covered by two ample beige-coloured cupboards...on opening, I found clothes neatly stacked, hung...
The other walls abound with a personal touch here, a framed photograph there...and a couple of posters thrown around reflect on the person who slept in that room...

My eyes fluttered open and I realised I had been dreaming about the same room I was in at that moment...just that it was going to become EXCLUSIVELY mine in a couple o weeks time...and that totally excites me...:D

Thought demons can't be exorcised...

2009-06-29T19:33:00.005+01:00

"Find some one else to taunt", she screamed silently inside her head...
"You let us haunt you...we're here because you can't help being a parasite on us", jeered her thoughts.
"Do I like inflicting pain on myself?
Do I revel in that pinch of a memory that is best forgotten?", she wondered...
And they chant, "Yes you do. Yes you do. Yes you do..."

Jhankar-09 Video!!!

2009-06-24T11:09:00.004+01:00

College was actually fun...and if u re on the council ure part of anythng and everythng that happens in college... This video by Student Council 2008-09 in M.O.P.Vaishnav College puts it down nicely...its a nice video...so Enjoii :)

One World One Rupee!! :)

Clarifying the change in my blog title!!!

2009-06-23T18:49:00.004+01:00

Why would Pseudo-nerd want to start confessing in doublespeak???
I dunno how many of you know the meaning of the word doublespeak...but here's a picture that nails it quite simply:

Coined by the genius George Orwell, this word is a must-know for all political journalists...
Ask me why? And I'll tell you "Im yet to figure out why...I will at the end of reading this BRILLIANTLY SUPERB book called "1984" by George Orwell".
Why is this book sooooooooo great?
- It is set in the year, 1984...very obvious. But written in the 1950s!!!!
- It has been the inspiration for the World's best advertisement so far, in terms of its effectiveness.
- I think Orwell is a GENIUS...way ahead of his time...a visionary of scaring accuracy!

To everyone who has not read the book I would strongly suggest reading it!!
Though I'm only halfway through the book, I ve been so bowled over by the concept of doublespeak that I had to incorporate it into some part of me...like physically put it down somewhere...and where better than my newly skinned blog??? :))

Pseudo-nerd is me...and this is my blog! :)

Finally I figured it out!!!!!!!!! :))))

2009-06-23T09:53:00.002+01:00

Now I can have a new blogskin everyday tooooooooooooooo :DDDD
Am sooooooooo happpeeeeeeeeeeee :))

Ogden Nash....did u have me in mind?

2009-06-17T06:57:00.004+01:00

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to offend any dentist or dentist lovers who may or may not read this post. It is a mere expression of my personal feelings of dread when I think abt a dentist.

The most dreaded clique among Doctors must be the Dentists...why am I being bothered? Well, today evening I ve a surgery...no...an EXTRACTION!!!!! Courtesy: My "Wisdom" tooth. :| The past two days have been painful...being pounded by a fierce pain near your ear everytime you swallowed is not a pleasant experience I'd wish on a lot o people...:( It just MAKES u realise how many times in a day the human body needs to swallow.

It is a painfully frequent activity...So I go to the doctor...NOT the dentist!!! He upon examining me tells me there may be some "wear and tear"(!!!!!!!!!!!) in my jaw bone's joints...near the left ear...I may have to take an MRI scan which will suggest if or not I needed an immediate dental plus ENT procedure...in other words...a surgery!!

Freaked out as I was, considering the images that my evil, evil mind brought up for my "benefit", my dad wanted to go for a second opinion. So off we went to the dreaded den...the Dentist's clinic. There, it was proclaimed that my problem was not one of wear and tear but, of a vestigial growth for some weird reason called "wisdom" tooth. I wouldn't need a surgery on my poor (intact :|) jaw.

I would just need a small tooth extraction...Horror welling up in me, I asked the Dentist, "Will I HAVE to get it removed? Cant I jus live with an extra tooth?" He said, "Unless you'd want to keep visiting me every once in 2 months with a pain that will only intensify each time". Here, I would like to quote Ogden Nash:

"And you totter to your feet and think, Well it's over now and after all it was only this once,

And he says come back in three monce.

And this O Fate, is I think the most vicious that thou ever sentest,

That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good condition

When the chief reason he wants his teeth to be in good condition is so that he won't have to go the dentist "

Dear Ogden Nash, definitely you and me are soul mates when it comes to those DENTISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :((

Pseudo-nerd doesnt want her mouth to be violated!!! :(((

Random Rants...make them legal...if they aren't already!

2009-06-13T16:43:00.004+01:00

I don't know wat am goin to write here....this minute, I'm feeling dizzy...Yes...a few minutes back I experienced something very weird...I couldnt stand straight....I felt I was bein pushed backwards...my toes lifting...supporting that weight leaning back..."What is happening, Appa?", I asked...."You're just weak, ma....lie down for sometime....", said my dad...

As i'm lying down....my eyes involuntarily closed....I felt the light discomfort of a virtual spin..."What was happening?", I asked myself...my disturbed...or rather, perturbed mind conjured up images from the day...spent mostly outside the confines of my daily schedule...at lunch with friends...at Besant Nagar with a best friend...waving good bye to that baby boy now so much part of my days...
Slowly...very slowly it started showing me flashes of a time I didnt want to think about...when I knew what it was to be madly in love...all that hurt so much...then...now...I didnt want to see that face that haunts me till date... I force my eyes open...get myself off that bed...

I sit before my computer...stonily staring at my distorted reflection on that monitor that still hadnt come to life...I chant in my head..."You re over him. You re a new you." The screen burst into colour and sound...waiting for that command from me. Life's like the monitor...a new dimension, cloaked in mundane efforts, every time you turn it on...it waits for your command...making the most of it...giving it your best command (read: shot) is what makes it tick. "Don't give up on giving him up", I told myself as I logged into my blog...
I write here...my thoughts as they assume form in my head...it was dizzy a while back...cleared now.
Weird.
Really.

Pseudo-nerd marvels at the ability of her body to get her thinking! :)

Move on...?

2009-06-05T05:07:00.011+01:00

Why did we leave each other?
To trade tears of being together...
With smiles after flashes of memory
Can we hold hands?
We've come so far that
My hands no longer extend
To where you are...
When will I see you again?
I believe in rebirth
Do you?

I luv bad boys behind bars...:D

2009-06-02T19:10:00.004+01:00

I lowwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeee my new blogger profile pic!!!!!!!!!!! :DDD
I know I ve literally vanished from the blogger scene....coz am caught up in a whirlwind "romance" with a 9 month old guy...(yeah, I know u re happy for me...:P )
Anyways...a lotta other things have bin happening too...keepin me quite busy...more like on the run...on my toes...watever...:)
Hopefully, things shud settle down in a couple o weeks time...lessseeeeeeeee....:)))
Today, I learnt that my earlier blogger pic was available for the entire world...courtesy, Google image search...:| Wat an idiot I mustave bin...to not realise that...
Thanks, Nikhil! :)

Pseudonerd needs time for herself...quite desperately...:(

My Window Their Life

2009-05-03T18:36:00.007+01:00

Not just bird watching, but
Just watching can
Also be fun
When

You have a window seat
Less crowd in that heat
A long time away
Is where you stay

Scenes from another's life
Seen through that window
All in a fleeting glance
Where...

A mass in progress
You see their faith
In that unanimous silence
All heads bowed to The Magnanimity

A flurry of people...of lives
Move past you in that thrilling blur
Luring you to take a look...
But not long enough
When...

At a juice shop behind a stop
A group of guys pose
To that camera's flash
Reflecting in your face
In...

That smirk that
Became a grin when
They notice you and
Indulge a wave...

The bus moves on...
So does life...
But in such moments
And many more that go beneath

Living stops....for that
Split second of glimpsing
Resumes in a sweep
Letting the secrets keep

What was Pseudo-nerd thinking??? Poetry??? :D

Musings by a midnight haunted

2009-04-24T08:11:00.014+01:00

Out in the open...alone on a road though there are hordes of human figures walking similar, yet distinctively different paths...Rugged plains of my lifeland led me to a place of rare beauty....

Photographs by,
Aruna.V.Iyer

My footsteps falter taking in the sights that it offered....lush and plush was my vicinity....I had to take a deep breath before I stepped further....

Leaving behind a past of dying brown; entering this land of enchanting colour....made me wonder what life was about, after all...

Losing a few petals, or in our case a few battles, means no shame...we're but one kind...what is it to lose when there is no game?

Peace is probably the trophy....who wants it though? Half the time we lose sight of it...drowning in our own misconstrued idea of what Peace, probably is...wallowing in the darkness of place that reeks violence and misunderstanding...

Can we let that line of barrier stop clouding our mind's vision for a second? Why do lines drawn by births mean so much more than the persons born?

Finally, Life is just that small gap in time before that dew drop falls down to the earth....to be absorbed and forgotten...or maybe, fall onto another petal? :)

RANDOM RANT Number: Moonuuuuuuuu :D

2009-04-19T18:39:00.004+01:00

I give myself 15 minutes to reorganise and get into serious study mode!!!!!!
Really...at 11:13 PM on the nite before my exam...I just cant seem to convince myself to go start studying???? :|
I dunno...i ve jus gulped down a big mug of tea...in the hopes that it'll prevent me from the inevitable (read: falling asleep on my books)...this comes after an afternoon nap of four hours....sigh....

What all do I do before an exam?

Life's miseries, mysteries and melancholies come to the forefront one day before the exam.

I need to analyse my future plans today....who cares abt the near...very near future...that is my exam tomorro??

The Tv will have the best films on...especially if it s a Sunday...:|

Its the friendliest day in my life....I get SMS after SMS or I send SMS after SMS...Sometimes I even make STD calls....like THAT friendly I become!

Plan(s) Of Action to get that guy's attention...or to snub someone who snubbed me previously (read: cant remember when :P), craving for goooooooooooooddddd food....all attack me on this day...only on this day....

I want to clean my cupboard...want to find that old photograph....wonder why I don't have enuf clothes or read that Oh, so sweet slambuk entry....

And of course...the Internet...my visa to the cyberspace...here, I can open, reopen and again open all my inboxes (I have 3 different mail ids, btw) only to see that I have no new mail...

I can get hyper interested in my favourite topic, Sunsigns...and Google has enuf to keep me engaged....its fascinating, I tell you!!! :P

Or, I can blog...I can rant on my space...no one can question me...no one can tell me to stop, concentrate...u knw the wrks?

So, here, I am!!!! I want this exam to be ssssooooooooooooo O.V.E.R.
I want college to get done...but by the luks o it, I thnk ill have an arrear in the exam tomorro...but hey..not reely...I actually (at the risk o sounding too impressed with myself) end up doing pretty well in my exams, even though I haven't reely put any effort...or at least not proportional effort...NEWTON can jus go hang!!! :D

Oh...I dont copy in exams either...if at all that ever crossed ur minds...am too busy scribbling furiously in a spontaneous burst o creative energy...Im generally the first one to take an additional sheet...Wolfie an d Thoorika are witnesses to this!! :P

Anyways...I guess my 15 mins are up....booo hooooooo!!!!! I dnt want to go!!!!!!!!!!! :|

Pseudo-nerd is tearing herself away from such distractions....rippppppppp!!!!! :|

Caught mine AND your attention!!! :P

2009-04-18T07:08:00.004+01:00

When I was a kid there was one pass time muse for me...especially when I was traveling...I would look out for shops with a name that caught my fancy...and also wonder what I'd name my own shop...

Haven't been at it for quite sometime now...but yesterday, as I was on my way back home from my sister's place...I saw this kutti mess kind of an eat out...it was called:

Mr. Idly, Mrs. Sambhar
(!!!!!!!)

Isn't that cute????!!!!!???? I thought it was...:))
There are other such names...like "Rendu Idly, Oru Vadai"
"Mummy Daddy"
"Hotel Caliphornia" (near Madurai!!!)
"Gay Travels" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kirtilal Kalidas or Kritilal Kalidas???
It was for a long long time, till a very embarrassing time, "Kritical Kalidas"(Pronounced: Critical Kalidas :P) I dunno why...but that's how I read it the first time I saw the board...and it stayed that way in my head till on fine day I mentioned the place (as Critical Kalidas!!!!) to someone, and that person after bein clueless fr sometime...went HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! :| :D
It was very, VERY embarassing!!!!!! :P

Anyways...there are certain other names that put me off...like
"Mangal & Mangal" in Trichy
"Joy Alukkas" in everywhere :|
"Limes or Melons?" (a juice shop I dunno where)
"ChicKing"
"Jency Audios" (not Audio :|)
"Jyothik Pharmacy" (near ma house)

I dunno why these names put me off...but I jus cant pass by them without smirking!!! :D

So, if you know such funny, disgusting, crazy names of shops....you must lemme know!!!! :D

Pseudo-nerd loves the name "Mr.Idly, Mrs. Sambhar" :)

P.S. The one in the picture is by far the most hilarious name I ve seen on a restaurant!!!!! Just that I didnt see it in real life....came across it while searchin for a pic for this post!!! :D

HITTING ON WALLS, A BETTER OPTION!

2009-04-09T20:34:00.009+01:00

Time: 12.03 am
An SMS conversation:

SHE: Well, I ve been reminded (loaded with suggestion) of a very busy man all day...nite:)

After 15 mins:
HE: Hey sry. Was in d shwr.
SHE: Thts alright...(Just that he didn't realise she was hitting on him...thts all :|) Get some sleep. I dunno if u got any in the recent past...(Yaaaaaaaaawwwwwnnnnn!!!!)
HE: Did yu sleep d entire day? (How dare I expect anythng more exciting than this???)
SHE: No, jus in bits, with a lotta paper lying arnd me...(:|)
HE: Haha K. (:-s)

Moral of the story: QUITE POINTLESS HITTING ON GUYS LIKE THIS.

Pseudo-nerd's DISCLAIMER: Not my story, so kill that smirk! NOW!!!! :p

2009-04-07T21:34:00.003+01:00

Funny....
those posts o mine which I think were great...are the ones that get COMPLETELY ignored...
why?? :((

Pseudo-nerd wants someone to read some more...:(

Lasto LAST Sem Exaaaaaaamsss 8-)

2009-04-07T19:27:00.009+01:00

A joblessness manifestation

Exam tension
A myth in my life
A bygone rush of adrenaline
So mundane a mention...

What's the point I've wondered
When nothing studied
Can be rendered
In that paper so slender (:p)

Pages of scanned notes
Revisions in haste
Mugging, an art I now hates...

Nothing relevant to that
Studied, an entire night
Appears scrawled in type
Across that sheet so white

When will it get over, I ask?
Before I can tsk,
Its gone in a whisk!

Marks too are no benchmarks
Gotten out of proportion
To my perception
Of my submission

Happy I am,
Higher in my aim
Looking to fly
Direction sky!!

Pseudo-nerd is, as you can see, wasting time!!! :)

Random Post Number Rendu!!! :D

2009-04-06T21:09:00.006+01:00

To
hear
what is
unspoken

To
see
what is
unseen

To
feel
without even
touching

Is
the miracle
called

SCHIZOPHRENIA!!!!
A mental disorder

And people think it's Lowweeee :|

This is one of the only fwds which I ve retained in my inbox...it jus makes soooooo much sense!!!!
The concept of love, and being in love is sooooooooo idealistic, it makes me sick.
I ve bin there, done that...but hey!!! It s soooo completely a waste of time!!!! :||

And I am sure I have some IDIOT radar in me...am so freakin sure!!!!!!!! I seem to attract idiots and ONLY idiots!!!! WHY???? That's why am convinced that there is some in-built IDIOTS Radar in me...

These idiots have made me the cynic I am today...no thank you, Idiots!
I was happier being all innocent and gullible...though Im definitely smarter and safer now...wondering why the word "Safer"? Well, in my endless trysts with idiot after idiot, I seem to have placed myself in quite dangerous and often compromising situations...somehow thru some stroke of luck, I ve come mostly unscathed out of all my experimentations with...you re right, geniuses, IDIOTS!!!! :)

So, yeah...that was jus another random post...triggered by one of the IDIOTS, of course!!

Pseudo-nerd is oh so tired...wants to figure out how to turn that damn radar OFF!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I dunno why that one paragraph alone wont get coloured green...:( IGNORE IT, I say!!! :D

Random Post...

2009-04-05T20:38:00.005+01:00

I was on the phone with a friend, and it just happened that we both started talking at the same time more than once:

Me: Hey...we seem to be starting off at the same time...weird...

Him:Yeah, right...oops sorry, yeah yeah!!! :P

Me: Well...okay...i dunno if both yeah, right and yeah yeah were the right things I was expecting you to say...

Him: (Jumping to another topic before I can get a grip!!) Hey Ill tell u a joke okay?

Me: Go ahead...it better be funny! :|

Him: It will it will...there s this conference of philosophers who specialise in languages...One philosopher tells the crowd: "I know languages where double negatives are used to convey something positive, and I also know of languages where they are used to convey something extremely negative...but I don't know of any language where a double positive is used to convey a negative".

Another philosopher gets up and says: "Yeah, yeah (watever??)" :D

Hope you guys got the joke!!!!! :D

This is the first joke I got almost instantly!!! I found it hilarious!!!
And damn smart as well!! :D

There s this entire (but, small :D) book on the history of jokes, apparently...that's where this particular joke came from...this one is rated as one of the best in terms of its spontaneity, as reported by my friend (who s read that book ;D)

Jokes are the more controlled expression of our suppressed feelings and emotions, apparently again! If that were true:
Im sure most of us would have laughed or at least smirked at the new series of Sprite ads...where there is the athletic and "smart" looking guy and the fat and of course, dumb guy...who acts like he knows all the tricks of the trade when it comes to impressing girls...our smart, (note) athletic guy whereas very "smartly" approaches the girl directly and impresses thus.
Okay. NOT FUNNY. :|

Why? Why does the dumb one need to be essentially fat?
Does that mean, fat people are dumb? Or if you're dumb, you've gotta be fat? How does the logic wrk, come again will ya???

And in that particular ad, where the girl enters with a dog named KILLER, the fat guy after being told the dog's name goes: "Killer? Macho eh?? Like meeeeee" DUH. Macho guys are usually those with a lot of bulk rite??? Maybe, well toned, but still a lot of bulk. So why this implied derogatory comment? SICK.

So if this ad was supposed to be funny, well it must have a joke...which is a "controlled expression of our suppressed feelings and emotions". This ad definitely is a joke on the fat guy...so does it mean that the thin guys have so much suppressed bullhit in them that need vent through ads like these???

Why should the smart one always be gud looking and let's not forget, athletic or thin? Then who are nerds and geeks??? Aren't they supposed to look bad, but be smart?? I wish such discrimination would stop...really painful to see such crap ads becoming a hit amongst the youth...what are we? A bunch of bullies???

Pseudo-nerd likes jokes, as long as they are simply, plainly funnily just a JOKE! :|

India may not be shining yet, waking up may be!!

2009-04-05T14:47:00.004+01:00

"UPA has disintegrated", L.K.Advani

"The UPA is still here", Prnab Mukherjee

"Sri Lankan issue is not a poll issue", M.Karunanidhi

"The PM belongs to the country and not any political party", Sonia Gandhi

Headlines such as these and their parallels will play that game of political football, again, after 5 years with the atmosphere becoming rife with speculation as to who will be and who won't. The prelude to the 15th General Elections has enveloped the nation and its voters into a feeling of responsibility (probably for the first time in decades?) The media coverage, the celebrity endorsements, the various campaigns run on social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut etc. all seem to be making one strong point:

IF THE INDIAN VOTER DENIES HIMSELF HIS RIGHT TO VOTE, ON PURPOSE, THEN HE SHALL BE DENIED THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN BY DEFAULT

Television, is probably the most intimate media in today's world: it lets you and me take a closer look at that politician's face, lets us watch their reactions to questions that cannot be answered any other time, but NOW! Under such conditions, the present day politician can no longer be that arrogant Sarkar, whose decisions go unquestioned...he or she is held accountable, and that too on national television. And that makes the aspiring media person in me, feel fairly proud that she will be part of a process that truly is towards acheiving democracy in its fullest meaning.

If anyone thought social networking sites were a waste of time, well WAKE UP!!! Here is where today's youth and the newly tech-savvy politicians (read: L.K. Advani's photos and campaign slogans plastered on sites that are maximum visited by the Indian youth) congregate to converge that section of the society that has so far looked at politics as cheap playgrounds of the Indian-goon-turned-neta. To do what? VOTE this time around; select leaders based on merit and merit alone; make a difference that is the product of an informed decision.

Actor, Sanjay Dutt is not being allowed to contest elections, for he is behind all that charm, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai Blasts case; the BJP has come under severe criticism for having given tickets to controversial players like Neera Yadav, Manoj Pradhan and of course, the all infamous, Varun Gandhi; the Congress wasn't spared either for giving Jagdish Tytler a clean chit, that sparked off violent protests in Jalander.

Though it was in a situation that can only be described as Constitutional suicide, with the CEC Gopalswamy and one of the ECs Navin Chawla falling out in public, the EC has quite gallantly (in my opionion) restored its reputation in the minds of the Indian voter, that it still continues to be above suspicion. It is commendable that the EC has played its role of monitoring the elections, the candidates, and their conduct during the run up to the elections, without bias. Every once in a few days we hear of the EC slapping charges against this or that politician, with Varun Gandhi being the most controversial and P.Chidambaram being the most recent.

Are these incidents evidences that suggest that, at least a part of those billion votes we constitute, have woken up? Is this a step towards cleaner politics? Have campaigns like the TATA Tea, 'Jaago re' and the 'Lead India' campaign by Times of India actually had an effect on the young mind that is you and me?

Practically speaking, even if these campaigns do have an effect on us youngsters, how many of us have our voter ids? How is that deficit going to be tackled? In this aspect, I would like to mention here that my college, M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai came up with this project in tandem with the Election Commission in the state, called 'Youth for Democracy'. The prime aim of this project, during its launch, was to provide voter ids to students of the college. And, now a year after its launch, the project has been taken outside to other neighbouring colleges, too.

If we can ensure that every Indian citizen has a voter id, and if it can be made compulsory (in the true sense of the word) for all to vote, that by itself will sort out most of our election time confusions. Today, in my opinion, coalition politics has become the dictum because, that population which does vote, stands beyond further division or cohesion, over the past decades (thanks to the efficient way in which the politicians have played vote bank politics).

At least at the eleventh hour, will the middle class Indian, who so far refrained from voting, and from not complaining, wake up, look around and make that decision that will raise India in the eyes of the International community? We all can do so if we want our country to have leaders who can help us forage with pride and dignity into a world that is advancing every single minute. Only by electing becoming leaders who will be the nation's face world over, are we going to be a true democracy, leave alone being the largest.

Pseudo-nerd is waiting for that damn voter-id card to show up!!! :)
Wants to vote!!!! :D

We the Mutes!!!

2009-03-30T14:05:00.003+01:00

H.O.D: There is a CNN IBN debate with Ms. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi today at your college premises....Who are all interested, ma?

As always, my hand, Asha's hand a few other not-so-usual hands went up

H.O.D: Is that all, ma?

WE: (Silence)

H.O.D: It is at 4 today evening so please stay back...(Lookin at me) Come here ma, take this number down and get in touch with her ( a reporter from the bureau, who was also our super senior) abt the proceedings.

ME: Okay, ma'am.

After takin down the number, I go to the department room to return the envelope on which she had so hastily scrawled down the number...and ended up with work even on my LASTTTTTTTTT day in college, thus:

H.O.D: Please ask if anyone is interested from your first and second year classes too ma! (Looking all suitably smug) Im thinking of using this to bargain and land them internships...

ME: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

H.O.D: Yes ma..? You have any questions abt the integrity of your HOD and her commitment towards her students?

ME: No, Ma'am!!!!!

About turn: exit room

With none of the juniors falling prey for her silly internship bait...a bunch of us from class landed up in college at 4....for the all important DEBATE. Excited at seeing the crew and Mr. Veeraraghav (Bureau Chief) all already there, we ran to the canteen...we had already decided on our questions...(Me and Vipasha even had a small jig planned ;p)

Looking into the grimy canteen mirror I adjusted my greasy greasy hair....called dad and sister to tell them the all important news (smirk smirk :|) It was finally time to leave...and join the crowd of youngsters from other colleges who had been invited over to our college for the same debate...Ms. Kanimozhi was also there....

That was when it happened: We had been misinformed by Vaiju a.k.a. HOD abt the debate topic...and it was actually on Reservation Politics, when we had been told it ws to be on general politics in Tamil Nadu!!!!!!!!!!!

With all our pre-prepared questions gone with the wind, and our jig forgotten, we rearranged ourselves several times and finally settled down...the show began...

Though there were several times when we had valid points to make, we were never given a chance, thanks to all the mic hogging by the Loyola guys and of course, Vicky nonchalantly ignoring our perenially raised hands (purposely?) And there were other times when Vcky would just beat us in making the very same point one of us had in mind...:|

And tada, the show came to an end too!!! And, we hadnt spoken a word...Pat on the bak, I say. :|

After the shooting was over, Vicky n his usual couldnt care less attitude and tone, told us he was "Sorry that we hadnt gotten a chance to talk". DUH.

ME: Oh, that's so completely okay...we had such fun being your mute spectators. :|||

Pseudo-nerd is miffed by the indiffernce :|

Muah!!! To meeself!!! :)

2009-03-29T10:56:00.000+01:00

Am i feeling sssooooooo creative today????
I ve written two...yeah, TWO posts today!!!!!!!!!!!!! back to back!!!!!!
Yipppeeeee :))))

Pseudo-nerd feels happy and accomplished!!! :P :D

1408: It's an evil, evil room!!

2009-03-29T09:59:00.000+01:00

While flipping thru the channels I came across this movie called 1408 on Star Movies
The best thing abt TATAsky is that it offers u that i button...u can read a synopsis of the movie and decide if u want to watch it...
The synopsis read (in short): Horror flick
I was immediately intersted!!!

The movie is abt this famous author who writes abt his experiences after staying in fabled, haunted places...and according to him, he has never SEEN a ghost...
Meaning: Despite his using a lot of high-tech instruments or detectors, he has till date not come across anything paranormal...

In one of his fan mail, comes a post card:
It is from the Dolphin Hotel, Lexington Avenue, New York.
It reads: Dont enter 1408

Interests aroused, he calls the hotel to make a reservation for that room...it is claimed to be unavailable all round the year. Further interested, he finds that according to some section in the American law, you cant deny a person a room that hasnt been officially removed from the hotel's booking list.

So, after a long conversation with the Hotel Manager Mr.Ollin, during which he shows the author, Mr. Enslin, documentary evidence of the various deaths, both unnatural and natural, that have occurred in the room, he still decides to check in...

What follows is way beyond scary...
Everything is normal in the begining, and he is recording as usual, into his portable recorder what he sees around him. His telephone starts making scary calls...and the bedside clock starts ticking away that one hour, beyond which MR. Ollin warned no one has ever stayed...and soon enuf things start goin haywire...where he starts hallucinating abt his father, his dead daughter....he sees spectres walking around in the room, attacking him and all other scary stuff...

Nothing electronic works in the room...so he decides to use his laptop and gets into a video call with his ex- wife...he tells her he is in room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel and that she should call the police and send them there immediately... the line is lost with her lookin confused and in the middle of a lot of work....he looses hope...

In some time she s callin bak...he tells her to call the police...she says they re already there and that the room is empty!!! He tells her that he s gonna die there...line ends there...

Soon it starts raining in the room and its flooded and he becomes part of a painting on the room....of a sinking ship...he starts drowning and kicks upwards... this scene is linked to a previous scene where he falls off his surf board in the sea and gets washed ashore...he s back there on the shore lying semi-concious and we see the same coast gaurd running upto him asking if he s okay...

Its all a dream and he wakes up in a hospital room...with his ex-wife, whom he left after their daugher s death, is sitting next to him...he tells her his dream...takes her out for dinner, where he thinks he sees one of the women he saw inside the hotel room, but no..he was jus seeing things again...life continues...he pens down this really scary and weird dream...goes to the post office to send it to his editor....

The post office guy tells him they re closed for the day...a close-up shot of the guy...its the same guy he saw at the Hotel reception! All around him the other guys in the office start breaking the walls and peeling away the floors...and his head starts spinning....when it does stop...he s back in the same room!!!!!!!!!! So it was all jus an illusion the room had created making him believe it was jus a wierd scary dream...

It's now dilapidated...and he sees his dead daughter...she s asking him to help her...she s cold...
he tells her to go away...she s not real...but in the end he s overcome by emotion...he picks her up...
"Daddy, can mom you and I be togther like before?"
"We can we can we can...I ve got you now...Im never gonna let you go again"
His recorder is (supposedly) on, though they never showed it...

He starts a fire and this sets off the building s fire alarm and he is saved by the firemen...and Mr. Ollin is shown in his room saying:
"Not bad...not bad..." (or something like that...:p)
The next scene...and this is how the movie ends:
He has probably moved bak in with his ex and they re setting up a new home or watever...she wants to throw away all his old stuff...he retains that recorder alone...he plays it:
Some static before:
"Daddy, can mom you and I be togther like before?"
"We can we can we can...I ve got you now...Im never gonna let you go again"

He looks at her with a glum, "didnt I tell u?" expression. THE END.

The movie was kickass...maybe i ve not done full justice to it in the way i ve put it down here...but trust me it was sooo freaking scary that after the movie I went to the loo and my dad (who was till then asleep) knocked down something on his way to the loo (too!!) I jumped so badly and started screaming inside, that he jumped so badly and started screaming outside!!!!

And when finally all the screaming had ceased and I'd come out...he started screaming once again...but this time at me!!! For scaring the shit out of him...(he no longer wanted to pee apparently!!!! :P)

Pseudo-nerd was sooo jumpy that entire nite...couldnt sleep!!! :D

Tryst with Chennai Global Chat Room

2009-03-29T08:54:00.000+01:00

Chat rooms...they are a scary place to be in...
Today wen i switched on my lap, my Yahoo messenger automatically opened up like usual...
I generally dont log in...but today I did...none of my frends were online...I decided to log in to some chat room...just fr d heck of it...been years since I did that...
The procedure hadnt changed one bit and I logged into the Chennai Global Chat room...
The minute I was in it...5 pvt conversation boxes pounced on me from the screen...whoa...
I decided to reply to this person called Jackroc...
turned out to be a weird conversation, where he would temme nothing abt himself but kept asking me stuff...in the end he was like:
"I want enjoi watch tv"
"Ok enjoi watch tv" I said and closed the window...
He came bak with
"Bye loose"
I put the IGNORE USER button on him....:|

Okay next: ABgan17
He: Hi
Me: Hey...
Me: Are u 17?
He: Yes!!! How did u guess???? U must be a genius...
Me: Are u mockin me or are u reely that dumb?
He: Am not mocking u...but wat is d meaning of mocking?
Me: Okay kid, find someone ur age to chat up with...Im 20...way out of ur league...
He: Hmmmm..ok
Me: (Relieved) Bye! (smiley)

I closed the window. Pop. He came bak:
He: But why?
Me: But why wat?
He: Why arent u talkin to me? Am i not haaawwt enuf fr u???
Me: No. so?
He: Call me...u ll no...
Me: (smirk smirk) Not interested. Go away before i ignore u...

Now he called me!!!!
I actually got a lil scared coz my speakers started makin like a lot of static noise...wen I hadnt even answered any call!!!!!!!!!
So out i came off there....logged off my messenger...vowed never to go bak in there...

These rooms are filled with weirdos...perverts nd maybe some normal ppl too...but they are hard to come by...
On the public chat thing...where anyone in the room can send a public msg to everyone or anyone in the room:
Couple3438: Any body (note: not anybody) interested in couple swap?

After sometime:
Couple3438: Please....someone response...we need to swap wit couple....
Couple3438: Waiting for you both...come to ussss....we shw u heaven in hell...(!!!!!!)

Didnt follow that line after this coz I was busy running out of that weird weird place....
It used to be better than this a few years bak...and I ve two brilliant, normal like u and me, frends till date from the same room...

Now cant reely imagine finding anybody who is not a pervert or a terrorist or wat not here in these rooms...thts why they re scary...:|

Pesudo-nerd chides herself for havin been there! :|

Well...well...well...wat do I write abt???

2009-03-08T13:31:00.000Z

Today is International Women's Day...wat abt the local women??? Duh...:|
Why celebrate days like these...? Really...in a world where true love and respect for women exists mostly only on movies and books...where does a woman really get placed? Are days such as this, which are only marketing gimmicks of yet another male brainwave, some sort of consolation prize for the bruising female ego?

Movies on the TV, "celebrating the spirit of the Woman", make me want to laugh...wat a joke it's starting to become!!! If I, living a comparatively peaceful and free life can feel that way...what about women from say, rural India, all over the Muslim world, and elsewhere with parallel conditions? I only get mental images of women in those more "conservative" societies, rolling on the floor with laughter, if that's ALLOWED, per say.

And no, Im not discounting the fact that men have come a long way in respecting women, since wat early men times, but hey! A lot more of the road needs to be travelled down that path...and that too without reminders such as an International day for Women!

In conclusion to this rather random post...I would as a woman, only ask one thing from the men in my life...

learn to expect only as much as you give!

If this can be done...you will keep me happy at most of the times :P
Pseudo-nerd is straight-faced...not this way or that way...:|

P.S. I dont thnk Im being feminist here...if you do, well that'll jus add to the other myths abt mee! ;D

Even i want to do the 25 things abt me thingy...:)

2009-03-06T16:02:00.001Z

After smirking and scoffing at all the people who completed this list o 25 things....here I go!!!!
P.S.: Im still not doing it on FACEBOOK!!!! :D

I hope you dont know these things abt me...if you do, go jump!!! :P :D
0. I am petrified of lizards they can make me cry; I have observed them soooo much I know their behavioural characteristics!!!!!!!! I KNOW them soooooooo well!!!!!!!! :|

1. I cant stand my first name...I hate the sound o it!!

2. I couldnt read a newspaper and prevent myself from falling asleep till a few months back :p

3. I am compatible with only the following sun signs: Aries, Aquarius, Gemini and Capricorn (only gurls)

4. I am fascinated beyond words by scorpio males...I actually behave weirder than usual arnd them...!!

5. I havent met my nephew in the 5 months since his birth :(

6. I am very gullible...I tend to trust tooo soon...

7. I have changed 5 mobile phones in the past 3 years!!

8. I find the least funny o jokes the MOST hilarious!!!!!!!! I dont get the actually funny ones :D

9. I cry at the movies...no shame :)

10. I can no longer sing...but I can bray amazingly if anyone's interested...:(

11. I am tooo self concious...I drive my friends up d wall wit it!!! :D

12. If I manage to come on time one day I can keep it that way for a long time. The catch is: If I come late...the jinx still holds good!!! I can try all I want to, but i WILL NOT reach on time!!!!

13. There's another funny thng too: If I go to a particular place following a particular route, it jus happens that I will travel via the same route the same day again or the next day!!!! I'm NOT kidding or exaggerating here!!!! IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!

14. I can trust my instincts like hell!!!! They ve never ever failed me!!!!!!!!!!!

15. I love the Bakvaas Bandh Kar clips on 9XM; I love the Doctorrrrrrrrrr strip on Radio One; I love mokka comedy sooooo much!!!!!!!!!! :D

16. I have a hate-love relationship with my own sister...I hate her soooo much but at times, Im jus at other times soooo much in awe o her....and maybe thts one o the reasons I hate her...its a viscious circle I say!!! :| But I love her all the same!!! More than anyone in this world too, :)

17. I can come up with the most believable lies in a fraction of a second...I am sooooo convinving in my act!!!

18. I no longer lie at home...I ve tried very hard...but seem to have forgotten how to!!!

19. I ve sneaked outta home in the middle of the nite several times...not to party...chill out!!! :D

20. I am tooo ambitious that sometimes I sit and think what Ill tell ppl wen i ve fallen flat on ma face!!!! Dont want to be there...never!!!!!!!!

21. I can write reely well...ahem...I meant my handwriting s simply beautiful!!!!

22. I don't like people who make others laugh at the expense of another person...especially a heavy person...I WANT TO YELL AT AND KICK SUCH PEOPLE!!!! I hate such condescension!!!! :| :| :| I FIND THEM SICK!!!!!

23. I once qualified for the finals in a college quiz after clearing d prilims by gettin all d answers on sms from this reelly brainy frend o mine who found d answers on d net!!!!!!!!!! When I got selected for the finals i sent an sms to him saying "SHIT! We re selected! SHIT we re screwed!!!! :D

24. I almost got debarred in my 11th common exam for trying to help a girl with the objectives section...she was crying...i felt paavam for her...my foot!!! :D

25. My friends think I can whine and smile at the same time...talent u seee :p

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY Im doneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :DDDD

Pseudo-nerd's happy happy after a horrible day!!! :)

To the two of you!!!

2009-03-05T10:34:00.000Z

These are just some of the things, I can't isolate from you both:
III Journalism's most famous 3 musketeers :P PowerPuff gurls!! HAHA!!! :D
All three o us are ARIES!!!! Temme how many ppl will have this kinda celestial connections??? Conference calls, failed conferences on messenger...
Group assignments, running to the printers...taking pictures with and of our creations!!!
Earlier, HOD's most wanted; now, HOD's d most taunted!!!!! :D
Cant get bored of each other...differences become indifferent wen together!!!!! Spendthrifts with a conscience!!
Endless gossip, the way the face lights up at the mention of a "STORY"!!! :D "Temme some story, Iyer!!!" :D
Motivation, consultation, delegation and condemnation...all for free and there to take!!!
"U better go to the gym, from today...REGULARLY!!!!!"
"Can i have an egg frankie?"
"NO" "Why???"
"Its more fattening" ":(" ":|" ":|"
Shopping, eating out...muruku sandwich, baristaaahhhh!!!!
Pani puri (YUCK!!), canteen tea!!!
Night overs, foto sessions that get crazily funny!!!!
Introspection from another's point o view...suggestions, discussions, conversations...and guess the secret....Asha always wins!!! :|
Respect of mutual space, calling each other names!!!!
Chutkoo, meanie and iyer...the best o F.R.I.E.N.D.S :)
Relationships that go down the drain...crazy confessions, spirited retaliations; my favourite agony aunts!!!! cant do without the 2 o you!!!!!
Cant fit myself or the two o you with anyone else!!! We are a perfect 3, that was meant to be!!
Facebook fotos, ugly fotos, sleeping "beauties", OMG yawns!!!
"Do i look fat? No, fatter than usual?," I keep asking....
the most patient of replies....the most tolerant of my scandalous behaviours!!!!!
I can call them up at any time;
Cry, laugh, cry and laugh...
say am not feelin sleepy...say am feeling sleepy...yawn...
or, do combined studies over the fone...with meanie dozin off at one side o the line and me ranting out subject lines at the speed of 2000km/sec....
toleration of my exaggerations, my prejudices, my opinions, my anger, my loose tongue....my whines, my swearing...
it couldnt get better...but it did!!!!
Bday surprises, morning breakfasts, new years' eve celebrations, shopping sprees, walking on the platforms...taking a share auto and a bus between 5 streets!!!!!!

Getting together wit the juniors...lunches and dinners...frankies and subs...beaches and the funny sand etchings....fotos and more fotos...
the order in which we sit and in which we get into an auto!!!!
The haggling with auto guys...the lesbian incident on the bus!!!!
Goin to movies on impulse; making a fool o ourselves at our first intercolegiate culturals in 3 years!!!! :D :D
Council gossip...heavy frustrations...studyin together and on the trains...going to assignments together...
sundays spent at office... coming up with "creative" headlines and intro lines to other people's stories....editing horribly written copies..
HOD bashings...MOP bashings...most funny!!!
How can i forget that Bangalore trip we took....jus to shop, shop, shop and shop some more!!!! :D The number o times I embarass u guys by wanting loo breaks :D :D The woodlands hotel in Bangalore...the ATM machines...my uncontrollable chappal and bags shopping...the pain on my ass...the crying...the operation...the days after that...cant forget any o it!!!!!!
The preparations for the culturals...the screaming wen u both came on stage...I was sooo proud...and wen we won...wen we created history...i was soo happy u guys were in ur third year and I was in the council...we can call this our victory...our give back to the department without which the 3 o us wud ve never happened!!!!

Can i tell u guys how much u mean to me???? No i actually dont have to...:) Do u guys have to temme hw much i mean to u?? Not really....!! U guys are the best thing that has happenend to me among all the worst things that I ve been thru and put you guys thru!!!! This post is dedicated to you both, without whom am incomplete... love u guys sooo much that even i dont have a clue!!!! Iyer's happy happy to be jus with the 2 o u doesnt really want to think abt wen we will no longer be together in the same class... the same bench, the same auto or the same car... Pseudo-nerd feels heavy with love for her 2 best frends!!!!

2009-02-28T17:31:00.000Z

Council Chronicles- Part 007 :P

2009-02-24T14:24:00.000Z

DISCLAIMER All characters in the following blog note are fictitious. Any resemblance of the characters or the situations mentioned below to anyone in the real world is purely coincidental OR, IN OTHER WORDS You can't ask me anything...its my blog, my business, my opinion. SO: BACK OFF!! [angel smile :)]

There was a time when I joined a Students' Council out of my passion to be a leader...it happened once again...just this time, it was sans the "passion". Joining my college Students Council has disappointed even the most hopeful part of me...but, all said and done, in hindsight the entire episode looks quite comical to me! On this blog, posts titled Council Chronicles- Part 'whatever', will talk about the various outrageously frustrating; horribly ridiculous; and at times, tolerable events that I had to endure while being in that privileged group!

Lots of gossip, very little work, impossible mis-communications, hilarious goof-ups (and many more) all dominated my life within the Council. Though what I put down here may be funny (or maybe not :P), I hope it will show whoever reads these entries, how all a group of people should NOT function!!!! So the learning which is not fun but, funny will begin....well...whenever I want it to! ;)

Pseudo-nerd can think of so many things to write here...
but work beckons! :(

A new me looking back at the old me...

2009-02-18T14:23:00.000Z

Change is the only thing that is ever constant in life....however cliched that might sound, it is the truth and that's why it has become a cliche...ohhh...what a vicious circle!! :P
Anyways...now at the brink of finishing college, with days flying by in a flurry of activity and me setting the stage for the next level in my life, I thought now is as good a time as any for some introspection...so here goes...
Things that have changed in me...without me noticing:
I am no longer that dynamite that exploded every time there was the tiniest room for reaction...

Relationships don't last....only you do...be it be friends, family...and that romance was a complete waste of time!

I seem to be taking note of other people's criticism of me...the old me would have phoophooed it with a look of indifference...

I think before acting nowadays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is an ACHIEVEMENT for me...the old me could never imagine thinking any time before doing anything!!!

I have shown everyone around me that I made a right decision by taking up Journalism over that goddamned engineering!!!!!!!!

I have broadened my horizon soooooooooo much...the old me didnt even bother looking outside
Chennai for her undergraduation...!!!

I have learnt to keep my opinion to myself on many thnings...but I have to agree...I cant help muttering under my breath...I used to yell my opinions right back at the person...

I read the newspaper now...I no longer fall asleep over it!!!!!!!!!! HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!! :)))

I am able to keep myself happy most of the times with my own company...learning to face lonliness...the biggest challenge for the old me...

I have learnt to be more tolerant of people...a lot more work is required in that direction though...:P

I have the CONFIDENCE of my parents...something the old me thought was never to be hers!!!!!!! And guess what? I love it!!!!!!!!

I dont lie anymore....I actually tell the truth...i seem to have forgotten how to lie!!!!!!! WHOA!!!!!!!!! I used to lie at the drop of a hat!!!!!!!

I have somehow become the support pillar for my mother my father and even my sister, with whom the old me never ever got along!!!!!!! I now add a mature value to their lives...they actually listen to my opinion!!!!!!!!

The old me was willing to sacrifice her life s ambition, career, family and what not for one guy...but today, I can safely call myself as one of the most driven and ambitious in big huge circle!!!

The old me wanted to be rich...but by marrying a rich guy!! HAHA!!! the new me still wants to be rich...but by her own making!!!! She cant stand the idea of being financially dependent on someone...especially a guy!!!!!!!!!

So...that was just a few of the changes that I have now bothered to type out...there are several more character metamorphosis that I have been through...thanks to the few people around me I call friends and the huge lot of shit GOD threw my way over the past 3 years...
In going thru all that I have emerged a stronger person and there...the mission of GOD has been accomplished...

I still dont know if I am comfortable with this new me...definitely everyone else around me seem to be...maybe I miss the old unabashed me...the brazen words and the attitude throwing....the bitch who many people knew stands now in the garb of a semi-angel...and funnily, the bitch is the most surprised of them all!!!! :D

Pseudo-nerd feels weird with all the introspection crap ;P

Life in a Town....and the town might've just been called Trichy

2009-02-10T11:33:00.000Z

I'm a novice when it comes to driving geared (or just gear?) vehicles...and I grabbed the chance I was given to drive on NH 45...yes we were on our way to Trichy, my native...and now an "upcoming city" in Tamilnadu....never did I imagine that my father would be egging me on to floor the accelerator...to touch down on 120 km/hr!!!!!! It was brilliant...but short lived....as soon as the space on the highway seemed to get cramped by small town after small town, my father took the wheel and then onwards it was an endless foray into what goes into living life king size in a town...

Rest assured, the town will prove to you that cows still wander on roads like stray dogs; signals don't register in the minds of the average townizens; it's their birthright and in a way their talent to materialise at random in front of your car- you cud have been driving at top speed the previous minute, but you better be the master at applying sudden brakes and more importantly be the guru at predicting such random will. And if you don't get your top class car to stop, you will be treated to some low class words, and if you re lucky, you could even be the reason behind that big fist fight!!!

All through the way, you will spot things which are exclusive to towns, again! Like for instance, here the traffic cop and the security guy at a restaurant have almost identical uniforms. At one such restaurant, there was this security guy, who I mistook to be the traffic cop for that road...he helped us reverse our car...and I thought it ended there...but nope...he put one salaam for my dad (read: "give me money saar...") I was disgusted...while my dad jus drove away...he too was grumbling "Jus because he helped me reverse the car he thinks I owe him that ten buck???"
And now it was my turn...."How shameless do they get nowadays....is it his job to be standing outside restaurants like this? On top of shirking his regular work that bugger wants to make a quick buck too!!! Pah!!!"

My dad was confused..."Well its bad that he asked for money after being paid for by the hotel...but I'm sure he was jus doing his job there...." Only after a few more such confused exchanges did I understand that here (in a town) it was okay for the security guy and the traffic cop to wear lookalike uniforms....and if you desperately want to make out the difference, I learnt, that traffic cops don't wear their navy blue caps...so that s your clue, the next time you re faced with that particular desperation to distinguish!!!!

Once you ve reached that relative's house...you had better be prepared for any kind of bathroom situation...
Well if you re wondering what a bathroom situation may be...:
There would most probably be only one bathroom, with like a million (exaggerated, of course :P) people vying for that tiny space...
It may not be as clean as you would have liked it to be...and most importantly,
There may be a LIZARD...this one thing is enuf to send me swooning...so it's definitely a red alret situation for me!!!!

And then...you cant refuse food...you may loathe that vegetable they ve made correctly on the day you arrive...but you dare refuse it...your side will scorch from those red hot warning glances your mom shoots your way!!!

So, with that we come to the end of the domestic life in a towny town...:)
And where do we go from a town...??? Towards some centuries old temple that your ancestors made your Kuladeivam temple...and without telling it goes that it will be located in some remote remoter remotest village...

It s interesting to note the following when you re traveling thru rural India:
Your car will be the only vehicle for quite some distance
In the unlikely event of another vehicle, especially a four-wheeler, excellent maneuvering skills are a requisite
Kids may just run across...so may cattle...you hit either of them by the gravest mistake in life...you better be prepared for some dirty showdown!!!
There are easily ten small shrines that can be spotted within 15 minutes of driving!
If its dark, your car's headlights may just expose some bare butts, attending nature's calls, on the sides of the "road". Usually there are two pairs of bare butts, and two pairs of eyes that unabashedly stare at you braving the glare of the headlights!!!
You dare wear shades...you will get stared into quickly replacing them inside their case! Don't be stupid enuf to wear anything other than traditional clothes...you wont have the chance to quickly replace THOSE!!!

Some other unique features:
Small town people are content with whatever sense of fashion their place has to offer...the glamour and glitz of the silver screen can jus go to hell, apparently!!!
These people have that level of bhakthi in them that can make them walk barefoot through several, several such small towns to reach that particular deity...
These towns pose such huge untapped markets for several sectors...if only they knew how to make these people switch mindsets!!!
Tourist spots are majorly temples, parks or dams with a couple of statues thrown in!!
Here, girls and boys come together and hangout at temples...even friends from other religions are brought to such get togethers!!! (I likes that!!!)

But what is the most shocking of all this? Your parents, if from that place, may just be overcome with emotion at seeing the sights and sites where they grew up...and may express their heart's desire to settle down there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You scream No...you glare and say NO...you plead and say NO...no, nothing works!! :(
To them, this is living life king size...and who am I to refute that pleasure to them? :|

Pseudo-nerd is angry-cum-amused-sarcastic abt towny towny life...
Will write again after ages!!

Pseudo-Nerd observes from a window seat, her world

2008-11-10T17:24:00.000Z

Next year this time I hope I will not be here in Chennai...not because i have stopped loving the place....it's as close to me as my family and God knows how many fights I've fought over her...from her side...I once read another blogger's outlook on this city...this sleepy, dreamy city of mine...I will never forget the kind of humbling I felt at the end of my reading...not just at the blogger's knack in stringing mere words so as to make poetry in prose form...but at a strange charisma stemming from its abstract beauty...at the way she talked to me and every other Chennaiite who cared to listen...I one day decided to listen...

Was walking out of office...my part-time job at The New Indian Express in Ambattur Industrial Estate takes me there every Sunday...I was leaving early...in a rush to make it to an evening assignment on time...reached the bus terminus at the end of the road...it was, as always annoyingly, infested with D70 buses...not the one I needed and that justifies any amount of annoyance, I tell you! Now, if you ve lived in this city long enough and have been on its roads too...you cannot have missed these...ummmm...let's say, Urban Legends...there are these legends associated with Chennai's roads, signals, and even her buses that are quite amusing, yet spot on!!!!

The one about the signals goes something like this: If you get a green at your first signal on your way to either cathedral road or Mount Road or Anna Salai, it means u were lucky that day coz you will not be made to stop at any of the succeeding signals!!!! (If you get pulled over by a traffic cop, this legend does not hold gud...duh!!) Well then, you ve by now recognised what I'm on to, and of course, the other side of the coin: you get the red at your first signal, say a silent prayer asking for a lotta patience, coz you re going nowhere too soon!!!

Moving over to the one about the buses in Chennai...it'd be one of those hot, hotter, hottest days....you would be standing at this bus stop for that godforsaken bus to show up...you wait for 10 mins...you don't even bat an eyelid...it becomes 15 mins, you shift over to your other leg...but still going steady...20 mins, you actually make an effort to look once down the direction you think the bus's supposed to be coming...then at your watch...excuses, if late, formulate in your head involuntarily...(habit s a hard thing to give up, afterall :P) if hungry, and if smart, you'd now open that pack of chips or biscuits or take a peck on that Dairymilk you ve saved for such trying times...if tired, you look back at the stop, ony to turn back after finding each seat thoroughly occupied(!!!)...and you wait on...you hang on...25 mins...one bus...your bus...finally makes its weighed down way to your stop...you try making your way to the steps of the bus...

A battle ensues....you elbow, she elbows harder...you shoot him a disgusted, look he looks away but keeps at it...and finally, the bus...that bus has moved away....without you....you lost your first battle in 25 mins...of course, you don't lose heart...you cant lose heart, would be more apt...you go bak to your palce in the bus stop and while doing so you re not really surprised to note that all those who had been standing at the stop when you came have actually won their own tiny bus battles and gone away, only to be replaced by a new, equally ready lot...you definitely look at your watch now...shuffle beween the only 2 legs god gave you... Now, 35 mins have ticked away and you ve lost even a second battle...bravo!

You think you've had enuf...you flag down the first unoccupied auto (well, this takes time too...and it's an entirely different story all together!)...you haggle with him, he double haggles with you...petrol prices are discussed...stats exchanged and even new half-baked legislations are reminded, and finally, finally a fare is agreed on...you park that sore ass followed by legs on that bumpy, cushiony seat...arrange your bags...shift your position so that you can see yourself in that rearview mirror, and he cant and then....you look back accusingly at that mirror...which is just now reflecting a far away image of an empty bus...your bus...this time there is no battle...afterall what is it worth, if the person who has to battle, is on her way, on an atrociously priced auto ride, to wherever land, thinking...no convincing herself, what she saw must have been a mirage..."it must have...it better be...oh, plzzz forget it man!!!!!" ringing in her ears...

And finally about the roads in Chennai...she has a whole lot of them and their names are quite amusing, if you can be bothered, that is...for starters, Big Street in Triplicane is a well known street in the city...but what it actually is, is only a laughing contradiction of its name...quite a narrow stretch...more like a lane that was once maybe a big street...

Frankly, at the moment, am currently unaware of any legends associated with her roads, (I'm quite certain there are!!)...so till I find them out, this post shall continue...sleep after some work beckons...

To be continued...

Pseudo-nerd is quite impressed :)

You're Obese....Haha!!!!

2008-10-02T11:46:00.000+01:00

Not a very "the glass is half empty" type...but truth be told, I've had a bad year so far. And how? My weighing machine has turned into this unforgiving time bomb which is slowly but steadily ticking away...just in my case its on d move fwd!!

Control over food and lifestyle is essential not only for a healthy life, but also so that you don't have to face the embarrassing questions old and new friends/acquaintances; family..or in my case, random people ask and of, course, their unending stream of pokes at you and your bloating body!

For samplers, I go to The Park Hotel on a gourmet reporting assignment that was shoved my way at the last minute. For writing a gourmet report, one NEEDS to taste the food...no, ALL the food there!!! So at the end of the main course, (when dessert s on its way) my photographer for the day, some random guy till 2 days ago, comes to me and says (in very conversational tones, mind you!) "They should be sending LEAN people for such assignments (read: you are fat and should hence stay away from such good food) + the looks that accompany a veiled insult...

At another time: I'm scripting for a short film being done by my friend's friends....now all of us know each other very well and share a good comfort level at most of the times....it get uncomfortable only when they get too comfortable with the idea that I am a sport and will take any amount of shit flung my way! They tell me stuff like "Try and fit yourself into a single chair if possible" or "You'll never have to worry about accidents- the intruding vehicle will simply bounce off you!"....they find it all very hilarious alright....but what about me who is at the butt of most of their pathetic lame jokes?

There have been a couple of times when I've lost it with them and stood up for myself, breaking my "I'm a sport" shield. But guess what? That bounced off them and they still continue unabated...(!!!!!)

The idea of this post is not to crib and give a vent to my frustrations with how the obese me is being treated...this is to give voice to the feelings of 1000s of other fat people who may be going thru similar or maybe even worse situations in their daily lives...

Through this post I want to question all thin people who take immense pleasure in poking fun at people like me...I have a big list of them:

1)Why do you have to be so proud of having some gene in you that keeps you thin? YOU DID NOTHING TO DESERVE IT!!!!

2)Do you ever think of someone's sportiveness as something that has unlimited tolerance? NO!!! Its like elastic and you re just asking for it to snap on your hand...but all the same...it'll probably shock you for a moment, then what is left is just your normal self and a damaged, good for nothing piece which was once elastic with life.

3)Do you think fat people like being that way and think all your jokes on them are actually compliments? You guys have no clue what kind of beating, constant crap about their body from people they consider friends, their confidence can take...

4)Why can't you see beyond the physical? Simply coz you re retarded!!

5)Is your ability to make others around you laugh so sub zero, that U need to use some poor person as your material? I underline the word PERSON!

6)This is not a question, just a plain yet vehement statement: GET A LIFE!!!!!!

Pseudo nerd feels bad :(

Sunday Brunch + Market= Fun Sunday!

2008-10-02T11:39:00.000+01:00

Are you someone who gets random ideas anywhere, any day, any time? Do you talk about learning something different, while having your food, like glass blowing…but don’t know where to head? Or, maybe you’ve always been fascinated by the various types of cheeses that are there, but never found them anywhere in Chennai. Then here’s something you can cheer about- ‘The Sunday Market’ at The Park!

The popular, ongoing Sunday Brunch at The Park Hotel has some new and exciting additions to it- in terms of the food, as well as making your brunch experience complete. The Sunday Market is an off-shoot of an Italian tradition, where each town has a ‘Friday Market’ or a ‘Tuesday Market’ and so on, where the local farmers sell their produce like fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine etc.
Except, at The Park, it will be an Indian adaptation of the same. An array of cheeses like parmesan, gorgonzola, edam, mozzarella, scamoraza, at the cheese counter; a choice few ingredients like salami, prosciutto, smoked salmon, kalamata olives and salt cured olives, line the Delicatessen counter; and, whole wheat breads, muffins and cakes are aplenty at the bakery and patisserie table.
Well that’s just the beginning! The Sunday Market is essentially, a group of stalls that are put up outside the 601 restaurant, so that you can do and buy some things fun! There is a chats stall, following it are stalls for malli poo, glass blowing and kite making. The kids don’t have to feel ignored, either when there is a tops stall, where they can have and learn to spin their own tops; or they can buy a mug with their favourite cartoon on it!

Not forgetting the original purpose of going to 601, the brunch menu has a host of dishes ranging from sushi (5 veg and 5 non-veg sushi), shawarma (mostly non-veg and quite bland), seafood grills (like lamb chops, lobsters, fish etc), 15 varieties of salads, 5 types of marinades, that include chilly and soya, mustard and others, to pizzas, waffles and pancakes served with honey! All the shakes and smoothies fans also have a tall glass to grab! But wait, the menu’s story has an Indian twist to it with 8 vegetarian main course dishes like the pulav, dum biryani and a spectrum of side dishes which are accompanied by the dosa, paratha and roti counters!

Save some stomach for the finishing touch- the splendidly presented desserts! There is no need to fume, all you diet conscious eaters, as your needs are well taken care of, by a number of sugar free, yet yum desserts like the Fig Compote (a bit too sweet, naturally though!), Pineapple turnovers, Pomegranate with brandy cream to pick a few. And, for those of you who don’t give two hoots about the culprit sugar- you have the Litchee tart, which tastes exceedingly like the fruit itself, the English cake slice sprinkled with dry fruits, the tangy Blood orange mousse, the Blueberry cheesecake, which teases your taste buds, the Apple tart with the best presentation and taste among the desserts, Danish pastries, scones and many more.

All in all, like the tagline of the Sunday Brunch reads, ‘For a Fun Sunday’, head to The Park and unwind with some esculent indulgence! The Sunday Market will be integrated into the Sunday Brunch and will be an ongoing part of 601. For more information, call Sarah Stephanos- 99401 29130.

College life = Oru Kalooriyin Kadhai?

2008-07-08T20:22:00.000+01:00

Haven’t we all heard that famous line “movies are a reflection of real life”? Ever wondered why such an idea exists? It does because we tend to equate most of the things that happen in our lives with particular scenes or, at times, the name of a movie. This happens with more frequency while in college, where movies tend to invariably become an unforgettable part of the memories we all carry with us through life. When asked to give a movie name that came instantly to my mind while thinking about some of the common terms that are always heard in college, I got quite creative :p :D

Read and laugh out loud!

Bus to college = 12B

Classes = Satham Podadhey

Lecturer = Evano Oruvan

Canteen = Vattaram

Gang Leader= Sivaaji the Boss

Friend’s B’day treat = Vettaiyadu Vilayadu

Friend’s girlfriend = Kalvanin Kaadhali

New girl on campus = Yaaradi Nee Mohini

Ragging = Anjathe

Principal on rounds = Oram Po

Industrials visits = Honeymoon Travels (PVT) LTD

Exam = Kalyug

Week before exams = Andha 7 Naatkal

Viva = Encounter

Paper Out = Plan

Examination Hall = Chamber of Secrets

Examiner = Imsai arasan 23M Pulikesi /Polladhavan

Question Paper = Arindhum Ariyamalum

Answer Paper = Kora Kagaz

Caught copying = Naan Avan Illai/ Unnale Unnale

Last Exam = Independence Day

Paper Correction = Andha Kanoon

Marks = Ashambhav

Result = Pattiyal

Pass = Mayajaalam/ Vazhthukal

Fail = Devdas

No. of arrears = Aaru

Vacations = Pirivom Sandhipom

Qualification= Tamizh M.A.

Pseudo-nerd laughed too!!

Chennaiites don't forget their past!!!

2008-07-08T20:17:00.000+01:00

Cities all over the world have had their roots, in some way or the other, associated with the names of their busiest roads and Chennai is no different! Try these names- First Line Beach Road, Mowbrays Road, Edward Elliott’s Road, - remember them? These are the old names of what are now Dr. Rajaji Salai, TTK Road, and Radhakrishnan Salai. The post-independence Indian governments made it their business to replace the street names from the British era with Indian names and nobody is complaining!

However, it can’t be denied either that there are certain names that have proves quite difficult in getting replaced- they simply refuse to go away, even though the change has officially occurred. The most renowned example would be that of Mount Road which technically is Anna Salai now. Even though the name in name took place decades ago, many Chennaiites still swear by the original name, ‘Mount Road’. My mom, who has lived in this city for the better half of her life told me one day that she thought she’ll never get over calling Mount road Mount road, because that was how it was introduced to her and first impressions are hard to get over!!!

Lattice Bridge Road in Adyar (LB Road) is now Kalki Krishnamoorthy Road,while the famous Chamiers Road is Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Salai- both failures as far as name change is concerned. But topping this list would be Nungambakkam High Road which was rechristened to Uthamar Gandhi Salai, a name that never made any impact at all. Bharthi, my closest friend from school, had this to say when I casually asked about Nungambakkam High Road’s ‘official’ name: “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call Nungambakkam High Road with its official name! If I asked an auto driver to take me to that road, he would probably get confused and ask me which area I wanted to go to!”

If you thought the city’s residents were touchy about forgetting the old names of their roads then think once more! When the Tamilnadu government decided to abolish caste names from all road names, some famous ones like,Vellayan (Chettiar) Road, Beemanna (Mudali) Garden, ,Dr.Renga(chari?) Road and many more, became curiously mutilated. Of course, there were exceptions to this too, in the name of a road in T.Nagar called Dr.Nair Road- making that ‘Dr. Road’ would have been very confusing and comical to me (don't ask y...I find not comical stuff comical most o the time!! :D). Also, this abolition of caste names was not implemented in North Chennai where you can still find roads being called Linghi Chetty Street, ‘Thambu Chetty Street, Errabulu Chetty Street and so on.

And so, Chennai is the city of a splendid mix between the old and the new, for its people definitely don’t forget their ‘past’ easily! I rest my case! :)

Pseudo-nerd loves her city!!! :))

What Will I Be...?

2008-07-05T08:05:00.000+01:00

"When I was just a little girl...
I asked my mother what will I be...
Will I be pretty...will I be rich...?
Here's what my mother said:
Que Sera Sera...whatever will be will be...
The future's not ours to see
Que Sera Sera...what will be will be..."

"Final year vandhutiya ma..? Enna panna pora idhuku apparam?" (You have come into your final year [of college :p] ? What do you plan to do after this?) This is almost like the only line of conversation people around me seem to be interested in nowadays...So what do I plan to do?? This is something upon which I ve spent enough time (thinking) over the past few months...there are 2 obvious options open to me at this point: A, I decide to go ahead with my higher education; B, I work for a year in the print medium before I pursue my Masters. It's only after a lot of deliberation that I decided upon the second option: Work.

My decision to work comes from 3 major points:
i) Print medium is where I can lay a strong foundation for my career as a political journalist and I don't want to miss out on it
ii) it will be better to have experience on my CV when I finally go for my job interview in the electronic media
iii) since my UG education in Journalism has more or less been associated with the print medium, I don't want to take the risk of doing a Masters course in Broadcast Journalism/ Masscom and then going for a job with the print medium...I might probably have lost touch with the field by that time.

Decision made, I waited for the Placements Cell in my college to start talking to those students who maybe interested in working after their third year...an abysmal 14 in a class of 49 showed interest...of which how many are truly interested is yet to be seen...this small number made me falter for a minute with my decision to work..."How can so many people think working is not a good option?", my head began to wonder....but, all said and done, I think I would like to look back at my life and feel happy that wherever I am today it is because I made a conscious choice...in this regard I completely agree with what the character Geet in the movie Jab We Met said!! I am now back to that old and tested plan for my future according to which I will work before stepping into an entirely new and vast field, the Electronic media.

Besides these serious reasons behind me wanting to work lies this other reason....financial independence...what could it possibly mean....? It is not like I come from a family that has to strive hard to make ends meet...it's the idea that I can now posses that freedom of choice to do and get whatever I want, without having to think twice. I'm not talking about frivolous spending here, though that too is definitely included!!! :D I'm talking about the freedom to save or spend the money I know I ve worked my ass off for!!! I can now join that gym I ve been wanting to join for ages....or I can go to Bounce and get a "new look"...or get the best of clothes and accessories...after all gurls will be gurls!! But there' s a flipside to this freedom where I can save up all the money I earn and fund at least a part of my higher studies...or get an education loan upon my bank credit...which'll come only when I save up...
With such thoughts I registered,yesterday, with the Placements Cell in the college...hoping for a better future to come in its wake... Pseudo-nerd really did wonder!!!

Rubbing shoulders with a lesbian...quite literally!!!

2008-06-26T15:01:00.000+01:00

Attendence over, Asha haggled with me and Rashmi as to which staircase to use to get out of college at 1'o clock yesterday afternoon. After convincing her with something as lame as "we'll take that staircase tomorrow", the three of us walked the last few steps out of college...we walked with a purpose bcoz we had plans for the afternoon!! Just like how we do all things together (assignments, projects included :P) the three of us are part-timing with Chennaionline.com this semester and that was why we were now on our way to the bus stop just outside Isphani Center, our college's unofficial canteen!! We were headed to Thiruvanmiyur's famous 'Kafeoke' as Asha was doing a feature on them for the website, while me and Rashmi wanted to review eatouts along the Elliots' Beach.
We got on to this bus that said Thiruvanmiyur...it was almost empty:) While the two of them sat side by side, I took the seat in front of them. What we talked we don't know or care...but it definitely seemed to kind of scandalize the old (respectable, teacher-types) aunty who sat next to me during the first half of the journey!! She kept trying to not (over?)hear when me and Asha kept poking fun at Rashmi for her sudden M&B behaviour(!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and then finally gave up!! She openly started shooting us looks, if Asha is to be taken seriously!!!! :D She got off and we gave her a few minutes worth "air-time" and moved on to other more pressing issues like....well...hmmmm...watever!!!
Then suddenly the heroine (ahem...ahem!!!) of my story made her entry...she was this small (due to malnourishment I think) dark-skinned lady who didnt look distinctively different from the very many other such women you may find in one of the city's slums...lets call her Kuppamma alias Kups! Now getting back to my story...one minute I was talking crap to my friends and the next minute I'm struggling for space in that two-seater, which had seemed pretty spacious just a moment back!! Why...?? Our lady Kups had hogged almost all the space on the seat by sitting soooooooooo close to me....I caught myself thinking..."Now I know what they meant wen they coined the phrase, 'too close for comfort'"!!!!!! A
At this point our conversation about nothing in particular had to come to an abrupt stop bcoz I was too busy wondering if it was just my screwed up imagination that made me feel like Kups was rubbing...yeah RUBBING...herself against me, while the two behind me (as confirmed later) watched in mute disgust at what was happening in the seat before...some random woman incessantly "hitting" on their friend!!!!!! Then, when I turned my head to gauge their reactions, what I saw made me burst out laughing...I need not be the smartest person aboard the bus to know that they knew the woman was not straight as far as her sexual orientation went!!!!! It was written all over their faces!!! And they smirked while I squirmed...they even laughed a couple of times!!! We talked about what was happening and I made sure that I didn't resort to using Tamil words in between my otherwise English sentences...we didnt want Kups to know that we...errr...knew!!!!! :D
I tried putting up with all Kups' vain attempts at "seducing" (YUCK!!!) me...I decided it was an assault on me and was scared I'll be scarred for life!!!! :P So I told my friends that I was shifting to the empty seat behind them!!! I started getting ready to move past Kups...I sat near the window...when Kups spoke her first words( is the drama effect gud enuf?? :P): "Engamma yeranganum...?"(Where do you have to get down...?), like she was offended that I had cut short the little cosy crap she was probably having out there and actually didnt want to reciprocate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the time the two behind had smirked to the heavens and I had told Kups that I was just moving to a seat at the back and moved out past her, that empty seat behind my friends got occupied...So I was forced to sit on an empty seat diagonally opposite Kups on the other side!!!! I was in a few minutes shakily making my way to the rear of the bus...Kups was killing me with her 'come hitherto...'glances!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In a few minutes my friends too made their way to the back and sat with me while we saw a (rejected, dejected?) Kups getting off at the next stop...it made me wonder if that stop was her destination really...or had she just gone off looking for better company????

Pseudo-nerd is disgusted-amused by the incident...will watever later...

2008-05-31T18:03:00.000+01:00

The Chennai Super Kings have quite gallantly batted all their way into the FINALS of the DLF IPL matches!!!!!! Me being an ardent fan of the CSKs....cant stop grinning here in Delhi, whose 'Daredevils' have been shown out of the tournament, after they faced off with the Rajasthan Royals yesterday!!!! Quite naturally im drawing murderous looks from my Delhi colleagues here who are definitely of the thought that it should have been them who was grinning from ear to ear!!!! But all said and done...Chennai is after all home to super KINGS...and who better to win battles (or matches here :P) than the KINGS themselves???? :D :D Ironically, the Punjab team whom Chennai beat the shit out of tonight, have also named their team KingsXI Punjab'....but nothing like the magic of the word 'Super' I guess :P :D :D (can't stop grinning...really!!!)

Rajasthan Royals....here we come!!!!! :D

Pseudo-Nerd grins...will wonder later :)

Honour Killings- for whose honour anyways??

2008-05-31T13:21:00.000+01:00

The media called it 'Justice for Nitish Katara'....but was it really justice?? The trial has finally come to an end...or has it?? With reports of the Yadavs' lawyers claiming that they will appeal at the Supreme Court, one really wonders, "When were these ruthless murderers going to accept that they are at fault??" Does having the wealth and status that the Yadav cousins have, mean they have the passport to a possible future out of jail, when they so cruelly snuffed out that word 'future' from some one's life? And the girl over whom this battle of blood was fought....what did she have to say? She declines having felt once upon a time, that she could not survive without Nitish and the judge calls her a 'victim of society'!!! The death of someone she wanted to marry at the hands of her own brothers is quite a traumatic situation to go through, I agree...but a stronger person's grief would have turned into rightful anger at the brutality of the murder of someone who they loved, like that of Mrs.Neelam Katara, mother of the deceased, rather than her timid submission to the whims of her father and a society which has nothing good to offer to her or the nation. She, at least after the murder of Nitish Katara, must have known of her father's mafia connections(the media was filled with stories about her family's gory mafia history)...by playing along with what he wants her to say at the court is she sending out the message that her life too was under threat? It is shocking that such musings no longer shock us, the public, who have seen over the past few years umpteen stories of man killing his own loved ones in the name of 'honour'...we have heard news reports of parents killing their pregnant daughter and her lover because they chose to differ; we have seen 14 yr old Aarushi Talwar being murdered (apparently) by her own father in the name of honour again. 'Honour killings'- the fancy name that has been coined to refer to such murders....is the idea of people being murdered by family, by itself, getting more normal and routine than the fancy, sensational thing it is supposed to be to a shocked public? Will there come a time in time when we will stop feeling shocked by these 'honour killings', just the way we now yawn and move over reports of robbery? Will our land of values, and rich heritage that preaches love for all, come to this?
Pseudo-Nerd wonders... will wonder again...