My Perfect Cup Of Coffee.

This post is in response to the question asked by Nitisha at her blog The View from 5'2" - In Search For The Perfect Coffee In Bombay. So where do I get my favorite coffee in the city? (It's Mumbai, not Bombay for me though!) :)

Unlike Nitisha, I don't prefer reading at a quiet little coffee shop. That is my travelling time activity or the sheer boredom of travelling from Malad to Powai will kill me. Coffee shops are for really long conversations about anything and everything and nothing at all, with the closest of my friends. When alone, they are for quiet times between me and my Mac. :) Photos. Coffee. Silence. And I am blissfully lost in my own world. :)

So listing here the places where they know me well enough to get me my coffee without me asking for it. :)

But Damn, You Smell Good, Like Home.

I am one of those people who had her heart broken into pieces a long while ago. Inspiring some of my best posts ofcourse - like In Loving Memory and Somedays. For those who don't know, it was a typical college romance that went on for a long long time. We met on the basketball court and it was one heck of a roller-coaster! Till things fell apart, bit by bit and we weren't 'we' anymore. We were just.... me and him. 

Mwah Shilps! :)

No matter what I write about you and the times I spent with you, nothing, NOTHING, will come close to telling you what you mean to me. Im sooooooooooooooo happy that you will be starting a new life in a new city (TRUST ME Hyd is awesome!!! And the sights... ufff kya batao!!! *wink wink*) and at the same times Im million times more sad that you are going to go away from us all...

The time I spent with you... laughing mostly... and some of it crying and some more of it fighting... I will always always remember it. When I sit to think of the three years that I spent with you, there are so many memories that crowd my mind.. All the times that bring a smile to my face instantly, making me thank the big guy up there, for blessing me with a friend like you.

I remember how we all came together, you, moni, pranita, varu and me... strangely beginning in the LR (Ladies Room) of all places!! How many times we have sat there, completing assignments, laughing about teachers, talking about crushes and boyfriends (apne AND doosro ke... hehehehe!)... and omg!! taking those million pics!!!! :) :) :)

I remember how we formulated our "MOM" theory... talking about the eccentricities of our respective mom's.. Hehehe!!! The MOM Theory of our girl gang was that all moms in the world refered some common hidden book in the world. The book had all the same theories that moms uncannily seemed to follow (for example -- "If your friend (who i have seen with my own eyes) is not going for that outing, you are not allowed", "Any guy who calls you after 10.00 PM is a 'bigda' hua ladka!")and they all referred the same dialogues -- ("haaaannn.... yeh toh guesthouse refering to home) hai!!!! mann aata hai tab aati hai... mi tar molkarin aahe na! ('Im just a maid' in marathi)" .... "Once I say NO it means NO!"... "Friends ke liye tere pass time hai... Mere liye nahi hai!!! (tragic voice)" And even if we were not allowed for those outings, or we had to invent some seriously crazy code names for the bigde hue ladke who called after 10.00PM... we found a way to laugh about it all... And my god! Do I miss that wonderful laughter! :)

Shimla-Manali trip was the best time of my life, with the SHOT gang and the crazy antics we did... The people we troubled in the trains, the masti with did our RR Gang... Remember how Karthik sprayed his deo at us when we yelled "shot diya shot diya" complete with mawali steps on the train, and yelled back "baas maara baas maara" :D :D You, Prani, Moni, Sari, Varu had the best time, in the snow, shooting snowballs at the "others" :D having CRAZYYYYY photoshoots where we pretended to be models in demand :P which we actually are anyway :P hehehhee!!! Rem how we were singing songs while we on on those horses with weird haircuts, how we ran around in the Manali hotel pretending to be ghosts (with a seriously BAD sense of humor!!), troubling couples, talking about the future late in the night and then finally saying "Abe yaar yeh sab kya SHOT hai... chalo CID dekhte hai!" ... Life was so wondeful with a friend like you.

Naintal trip was the icing on the cake, with the vodka party and the Danger Duckies... Then the jeep ride in Jim Corbett where all we saw were elephants :P, then coming and playing sakhli on the hotel grounds :D.. I remember getting scared out of my wits when we heard that sudden knock on the door in the dead of the night, with the lights all gone, and weird sounding rasping from the other side... and the GENIUSES that we are.. we carry PILLOWS as shields!!! and go open the door to not a ghost but Gul!!! Ofc no ghost would have hair THAT long! :P the gossip-cum-what happens in the future sessions in the middle of the night where Gul wanted to open the windows because "the insects will be sleeping anyway" :D

Sharing dabba in the canteen, sitting in the quad, hanging out in the LR of all places possible, bunking lects, sitting for lects and throwing paper balls, fighting with mad people in exam dept, going crazy about Salman :P (of Dance India Dance fame), enjoying every fest of college with crazy screaming... You made college a LOT awesomer than before! :) You are one of the few people who make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have friends like you guys! :)

All the best for whatever you do (Im TELLING you .NET is awesome! :P JAVA SUCKS!) And hope you find happiness where you are (If you find extra tall dark handsome from down there, send me ASAP! :P) and Ill misssss youuu!!!!! Now who will tell Pranita with me "Nice try huh, Nice try! " :( and who will tell her "Annie tak pohochne ke liye tujhe mere paise guzarna padega" I'll miss you babe!!!


Love you LOTS!,
Proud SHOT gang member,
Annie. :)

The Crazy Ending.

Last time I talked about the beginning of my 10 day long last trip with the wizards. This time Im going to talk about our amazing end to the trip. If Im boring you with all this you can skip this and come back later :) This means sweet nostalgia for all those who were a part of these incidents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11th June 2009'.
Location: Dining room of our hotel, Khurpatal. Breakfast time.


The CC's (Comps Chics') are sitting around at the breakfast table, having shaken of some guys after great difficulty :P (Plz! we need GIRLS ONLY timeouts) We sat there discussing WHAT is it with North Indians and Paneer, eating YET another paneer dish and also wondering how come people just dont sleep after eating a breakfast this heavy. I mean our breakfast comprises of Bournvita and Apple slices, maximum some toast, while here we were eating chole bature :P


Me: (glumly poking at my omelet) What yaar guys, the trip is coming to an end.. We didnt do anything fun..
Mona: (firing up) Oh shut up Ta!!! this IS fun!!! (narrowed eyes)
(Mona is extremely touchy about the fact that we all kept comparing the Nainital trip to the previous years Shimla trip which was like WOOOOHOOOO fun!!! She had missed it because she was down with typhoid :( so bad luck)
Me: (retracting) Ufff Na, I mean, we didnt have gossip sessions save the one that happened on the first day. We should plan something.
Mona: (still glowering a little) Like what?
Me: Lets get drunk!!!!! (enthusiastic)
Zai, Varu, Shilpa : Awesomee!!!! great idea!!! so how do we do it!!!
Zai: Didnt xyz (name changed to protect identity :P) have beer last night? Lets go ask him.
Varu : HA HA HA HA!!! lets US go ask HIM? are u mad? :P
Shilpa: (nodding) Lets get drunk.
Mona: Maybe we can ask pqr (xyz'z partner in crime) Hes floored by Zai anyway :P
Zai: HA HA very funny :
Me: Ok so done - Zai get the address of the daaru ki dukaan, in the meantime well decide the plan of action.
Shilpa: (still nodding) Yes Lets get drunk!
Rest of us: Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!


*everyone puts head together while Zai successfully gets the daaru ki dukaan ka address. After 10 minutes of deciding all of us wear identical evil grins. :P*



We have formulated this plan - Me and Zai, will slip away from the group while everyone is shopping later that day, and go buy the vodka. Varu, Shilpa, Mona have divided amongst themselves the task of distracting the others and getting the orange juice. When asked by anyone about our absense, me and Zai have gone to buy Cheeries :P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later. Mall Road, Nainital.


Team meet . Imagine Mission Impossible music in the background.
Zai: (whispers) Should we go now?
Me: (whispers back) No its too soon now. They will notice us gone.
Karan: (Loudly) Where are you guys going?
Mona: (smoothly) To buy Cheeries.
(We beam at each other, the guys are totally confused)
Varu and Shilpa giggle and wreck the moment :P

It has been decided that we will go boating on the Nainital Lake now.We crib a lot about being in the same duck (they had duck shaped boats) and then ultimately end up in the boats as thus : Me n Mona, Varu n Shilpa, Zai n Karan. And we also decide to hold hands and make our 3 2-seater boats into one 6 seater boat... Conviniently our boats are colored orange white and green :P Soon all people on the lake start taking pictures while we scream and yell and throw water on each other, try to shoot at Anoop (CH - Comps Hunk - SELF Christened :P though we dont disagree :P) and gang with imaginary guns :P I had the distinct feeling that we were going to make it into the headlines of the local news :D

We end up having so much fun on the lake that we almost forget the mission. Its not until, people start breaking away to go buy stuff like show peices and candles (what hello? you go to a place like Nainital and buy CANDLES??!!! I simply fail to get it!) Zai and me are least interested, so we are all set to disappear.

Zai: (whispers) Should we slip away now?
Me: (whispers back) Yes about time. Where are the rest of the girls? They need to cover for us...
(looks around here and there for Mona, Varu and Shilpa.. Spots Mona a few spaces ahead, surronded by CH and his gang, Shilpa and Varu can be heard bargaining for candles (sold 20 a peice :) and shawls from like 10 blocks away :P )

Zai and me depart.
(While 'slipping away') Me: Psssttt... Na! We are goin.. to buy cherries.
Anoop: (loudly) Hey get some for me too!
*imagine glass breaking music in the background. So far this has been anything but secret :P*
Me: (grumbling) GREAT now we will actually have to buy the damned cherries!!

Me and Zai walk around Mall road and finally take a left turn that leads us to a gurudwara and a long lane full of accessories. As expected I stop at everey stall to check out stuff while Zai taps her feet impatiently..

Me: Yeh kitne ka hai Bhaiya.
Bhaiya: 100 ka hai memsaab. Aapke liye 95 mein de dunga.
Me: Kya SHOT de rahe ho! ha! 100 mein aisa 4 aa jayenge!!!
Bhaiya: (wondering what on earth does "shot" mean)
Zai: (tapping feet impatiently while trying to scan the horizon for daaru ki dukaan)

After 10 similiar instances I realise the following things :
-- Shopkeepers in Nainital should be taken to Fashion Street/ Colaba Causeway and taught MANNERS! Hmmmpphh!
-- Eitherways Im great at bargaining :P :D got 4 bracelets for 50 bucks! Yayyy! :P
-- We are LOST! :O

Finally Zai decides to ask a shopkeeper for the right directions.

Shopekeeper: (eagerly recieving us into his pinecones-showpeices dukaan) Madam aapko kya chahiye?
Zai: Yaha pe alcohol kaha pe milta hai?
Shopkeeper: Eh?Kya?
Me: Daaru? Sharaab? Kaha milti hai?
(Shopkeeper looks like he is stuck by lightening. Me and Zai shrug and give each other a look that says "wtf- who-knows-us-here-anyway?!" :P)
Shopkeeper: Aaapko kaunse type ki chahiye? Whiskey chahiye toh yaha pe mil jayegi.
Zai: (business like voice) Humko Vodka chahiye.
Shopkeeper looks tonguetied for a moment and then points us in the right direction.

Me and Zai start walking in the right direction half wondering if at all we ARE in the right direction.

Zai: (exclaiming) Oh this is it! I overheard (xyz) telling someone about this Antiquity signboard.

We turn at the corner and find ourself facing a shady daaru ki dukaan.This place has grills with LOTS of daaru on one side, 2 men inside who look like they have practised selling daaru all their life, and a CRAZY HORDE of men on this side where we stand.

Me: Errm.. Zai .. precisely HOW do we plan on getting in there?
Zai: (drawing money from the bag) You keep a lookout. Ill go buy.

(Imagine MI2 Music.)
After like 30 seconds I get bored of keeping a lookout and decide to go have a look.
The men magically clear the path for me and look at me like I have just crashlanded from Mars.

Zai: (busy arguing with the shopkeeper) Yeh 160 ka kyu hai? Aaapke paas Absolut kitne ka hai? Smirnoff ka bada bottle kitne ka hai?
Me: Buy the big bottle!!
Zai: No! You people will get all drunk and act crazy!
Me: (rolls eyes) You DO know I have had vodka before right? And so has Mona and you *snigger*
Zai: Shilpa and Varu havent so we are buying just one.
Me: Take two!!! pleaseeee!!!!

(Men have a look like their wildest dreams have come true.)

Shopkeeper: (putting out the bigger bottle) This is very cheap madam. And very good also madam.
Zai: (firmly. leaving no room for further discussion) Ek Smirnoff dedo. (a second later) Aapke paas flavoured vodka hai kya?

Men and Shopkeeper : (EH expression) ??!!

Zai: (mutters to herself) Dont even bother.
Me: (does a jig in her head)
Zai: And now we actually go buy cherries

(Calling Mona up)
Me: Where are you? We got the "stuff"
Mona: Oh yayyyyyy!!!!!!!! Errr...We are still at the same place (like 7 kms away :) We are buying candles..
Me: WHAT??!!! YOU ppl are still THERE! Ok come fast. We are like in the middle of nowhere!
Mona: Ya ya we will be there soon!
Zai: (taking the phone) Come fast. We are going to buy cherries now. Meet us here the High Court wala turning. SOON!
Mona: ya ya.. well be there soon.

Me and Zai begin the walk uphill, looking for cherries (which we did get) Orange juice (which we got after a LOT of searching) and Soda.

I stop to recharge, and make an ISD call that finishes off all my balance. Im grinning as I walk towards the spot we were going to wait. And realise people are looking at us in a weird manner. It is SHIT cold and getting wet in the Nainital lake is making me freeze double bad. It doesnt help that the lamp overhead isnt working, people practically STARING at us, even stopping on the other side of the road, and Zai happens to dislike navycut.

Finally Zai calls up Ron and Anoop in a frantic voice demanding they come and rescue us. After a long wait of almost half an hour we see the two hunks come jogging uphill and the rest of the idiots folllowing them from behind. They come and like nice guys take off their windshis and give to us and shoo away all the rowdy people who had accumulated there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the hotel room.
Around 12.00 AM.

Everyones nicely dressed in warm cozy clothes after having taken a hot water bath which feels like heaven, I shoo the people out of the room for a while and have my own timeout, Varu comes in just as I was resting idly switching channels between MTV and VTV. Lying beside me she says 'Lets rest for a while and then we will get drunk'. I agree and close my eyes.

The next thing I know is that Im opeing my eyes to our last day in Nainital. I wake up and realise yesterday night everyone was too exhausted to touch all the maal we got!!! :P

I walk over to the bathroom grinning as the others are just waking up to me singing 'I love you.. Im not gonna crack...' :D (Thats Lithium - Nirvana incase you didnt know :P)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Annie.
P.S: We are probably the only girls for whom the process of BUYING alcohol was more fun than actually having it (which we did the next night! :D).

P.P.S: Thresholds of getting drunk :
Zai is drunk if she is throwing down JOKERS while playing RUMMY :P
Mona is drunk if she is dancing like mad, jumping up and down on the bed, to "Kyaaaa huaaaa joooo Larrrriiiii chooootiiiii..."
Varu is drunk if she is screeching "Theres something in my haiiirrrrr!!!!"
Shilpa is drunk if she is demanding more shots in high pitched voice.
AND...
Annie is drunk if she is pointing to everyone present and saying 'youuuu areeee drunkkkk!!!! I ammmm nottttt drunkkkk'!
(in my defence this is the rest of the CC's description of me. I DONT get drunk even with 7 neat shots down and I have people who will vouch for that! HA! :P)

Mindblowing Welcome - III

The guys who have come in are very drunk and immediately the guys form a protective circle around us. :P Drunk#1 takes one look at the open vending machine, the coke in Deepaks hand, and looks like hes going to have a spasm :P Drunk#2 is a wimp of sorts who obviously looks up to & acts like he follows all instruction by Drunk#1.

Drunk#1 quickly summarises the issue at hand in his own words - we are the drunk youngsters *which we were NOT!!!*, who decided to stay back in the dining hall when everyone else has gone back to their rooms *we were FORCED to stay there because of the freaking hail!!!* & we decided to vandalize the hall.. *rolls eyes* :

Comes next is the most hilarious convincing game we have ever played :P
Drunk#1 : Yeh dekho yeh diwal, aap logon ne todd ki (accusingly) Look here, you people have broken this wall.
Pratik : (calmly) Humne nai todi baba, dekho yeh darwaza, hawa se yeh zorse takraya aur diwal ki frame ki wajah se toot gaya.. We didnt do anything, because of the wind, the door slammed into the wall & it broke because of the frame.
Drunk#1 : (vehemently) mereko c****** mat banao. main engineer hu!!! dont make a fool of me, im an engineer
Gulshan: (even more aggressively) Aree toh hum kya hai? Hum bhi engineers hai!!! Accha aisa hai toh aap diwal todd ke batao!!! :P :P :P Then what are we? We are also engineers. if it is indeed so the break the wall & show me!!
Deepak & Pratik hurry toward to calm down our Batinda ki sikhni :P

Next these people go into a half an hour worth of lectures which started at kharab quality of cement used for building the wall and ranged over the entire Mechanics we learned in 1st year, & finally ended when Drunk#2 took the discussion to deeper waters when he spotted the coke bottle which was STILL in the idiot's hand! *rolls eyes*

Drunk#1 : yeh coke toh aapne churayi haina??!!! chori toh ki hai!! You have stolen the coke!!
Everyone looks here & there, wondering how to get out of this.
Deepak says: Haan toh yeh to maine li hai, toh aap merese paise le lo.... Main subah dene wala tha paise, yaha pe koi nai tha... he finishes rather lamely :P I have taken it, so take the money from me, There was noonbe here I was going to give the money in the morning.

After half hour of convincing , during which the storm calmed down to a slight wind & occasional lightening, we girls started getting really bored of the whole drama, Shilpa enquired (its around 1.30 in the night) is there any chicken left around here??!! :P , in true wizards style, we even took a few pics here & there, people posing & all, while Pratik & Deepak (the CR's of the class btw :P) sorted out the whole matter.

Finally after a long Bollywood like eventful night, we set out from the dining hall, its still dark, but there is no hail, its cold & my wet clothes are making me shiver like mad.. & then me & Pranita spotted something that made us shreik. The guys came running forward, anxiously looking at us, expecting some exclamation like "snake!" or "tiger!" lolz. As it turns out, the wind had shook up the mango trees all over the hotel area & the ground was strewn with kairi's (raw mango). And as expected me & Pranita went mad, running in opposite directions gathering up the mangos as if they were made of gold :P

We reach our rooms, & its starts to rain again. Deepak is disappointed his Bollywood fantasy didnt come true, and to cheer him up *wink wink* we invite him up to d girls room :P He, as expected, jumps at the chance, actually going in his room to check his hair & dab some perfume. lolz :P We trudge up to the CC's room (my room) where we throw the guys out & get changed of the wet clothes & the girls crib about how they are running out of night suits & then claiming my extra ones :P (I had 5 of them... what??!! I ALWAYS carry unneccsary stuff.. lolz Im a girl!! :P)


We go to the adjoining room, where a dumb charades session is already on the way. I go join Nik's team & take advantage of Mundu in the other team by giving movies like "syed abrahim ko tsunami se daar lagta hai" :O *we always give such crazy home productions :P* where Mundu hits the people sitting in the front row while depicting the word Tsunami *apparently this signifies destruction, hence he hit people :O :P :D* At last they get the movie *rolls eyes*. Nik is even more shana, he has invited signs for Biology, Physics & Chemistry (because we normally give complicated words from these subjects :P) & so we quickly get all the movies :P People start falling asleep & the Deepak proposes to shift the game to his room *in a come-hither-sultry voice* we throw pillows on him (and I think we even threw Rahul ON him) and shut him up :P

The dumb charades continued for hours, laughing & joking & dancing. We absolutely LOVED the first day of our 10 day trip, & at 5 in the morning, we girls retire to our rooms & another session starts - GOSSIP!!! :P :D :D the details of which I obv cant give here. :P We finally slept when the first rays of dawn started to creep into the room.


Morning revealed more secrets from the night. The funniest of which is this : Yogi had put this clothes in the evening to dry out on trees in the lawn *why would ANYONE do that!!! sheesh!!! :P* & during the storm all this clothes flew away & were found miles away from the original spot. But very strangely his underwear was in the same place. Making us all wonder, how can jeans fly away but not underwear!!! This provided the source of "IronMan Underwear" & "Yeh andaar ki baat hai" jokes all through the remainder of the trip...



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

Damn I miss the awesome days! *sad smile* :)

Annie.

Mindblowing Welcome - II

We run to the dining hall that is dark and empty, but thankfully open for us to take shelter from the cold rain. The wind chimes make the most beautiful sounds as the wind kicks up a strom, trees and leaves swaying like they were made of paper. Shilpa and I are overcome with excitement as we get drenched to our skins in the cold harsh rain. We all stand on the front steps, reluctant to go in, take shelter because right then in the darkness, with not a single soul in sight, this was turning out to be quite some night.

Half of us are getting wet when some cold and INCREDIBLY heavy lands on my head. I give a howl of pain and squint up and realise that it was ice. Its raining HAIL!!! Cussing and howling we run into the hall, as big huge hailstones droped from the sky. The echoing sound in the darkness sounded like gunshots. The door refused to stay put and kept banging against the frame. We all wondered what to do next. It looked like we were stranded.

Pratik, Deepak and I try our engineering heads to somehow attach a big spoon used earlier in the night to serve chicken, to hold the door in place. After few miserable attempts we finally manage to shut the door. We all gather near the door, talking excitedly (my head injury all forgotten :P) All too soon, thanks to deepak, a Bollywood like situation was envisioned, with a group of young enthusiastic idiots forced to spend the night in a room togther as it rained (hailed) outside with no escape in sight. Maybe some singing and dancing (again thanks to deepak :P) Maybe some Bhoot ki kahaniyan. Our excitement knew no bounds. So its decided that we gather up some chairs and get cosy.

Deepak in his enthusiasm has gone to the Coke vending machine and finds that it is unlocked. So smartass decides its a awesome thing and grabs a coke and turns to us yelling 'Hey guys look at this!!!' Some of us are overjoyed and step towards the machine.

Then two things happened at the same time.

As our backs are turned towards Deepak, one huge hailstone comes and crashes right on the door glass. And a big crack runs right across it, it dislodges the spoon and with full force the door does a 180, sweeping over where we were standing exactly 2 seconds ago, and bangs on the wall. And large peices of the wall come crashing down.

For a split second noone moves a muscle.

Before we could make some sense of the broken door, the fast crumbling wall and the coke in Deepaks hand, two big burly men, also very drunk, come pushing into the room. They looked like they were the people in charge and boy oh boy, they did NOT look happy at all!

To be continued....

Mindblowing Welcome - I

5th June 2009' .. Late evening..
Jim Corbett National Park.

The Wizards have finally reached Hotel Nirvana in Jim Corbett National Park after a long drive from Delhi, which was like a burning furnace. The heat has made us all tired as hell, and reaching our destination has made us all heave a sigh of relief. The hotels name puts Varu in a Nirvana song singing spree and she cant get enough of "Lithium". I m tired and hauling my BIG bag upstairs to our 1st floor room, has me wheezing for breath. The room is small but cosy, with a balcony overlooking a nice lawn. The sight of the AC makes us all go "Ahhhhhh" as we fall onto the bed, and for a while noone moves a muscle. We quickly discover something strange in the electricity system around the place. The AC being on means everything else goes kaput (weird i know) We refused to turn off the AC even for a second so we had to take showers in the dark. Since I take the longest time, I m the last one to freshen up. I start to feel human again after a cold water bath (singing "come as you are" in d bathroom) and I make my way alone to the dining hall which is at the end of the hotel grounds. After a good dinner of chicken (Ahhh) and YET another paneer dish, we make our way to the edge of the swimming pool and everyone takes up some seat, in chairs, loungers, and sunbathing chairs..

The sky is the color of ink, its getting colder, and as we are lounging there, some people decide to go catch up on some sleep. The CC's (me n my girlies) and few other wizards are reluctant to go, cz the breeze feels amazing. We sit there talking and joking, laughing and planning the next day. Suddenly, there was a flash at the horizon, and everyone sighs in relief. FINALLY the rains were going to make an appearance. Shilpa argues that it wasnt lightening, someone was taking pics and that was the flash. That has us rolling in laughter around the pool side. :P Soon enough, she is proved wrong, as the storm builds up, throws purple flashes of lightening across the cloudy sky. Everyone abandoned the idle chit chat, and gathered around the far side of the pool, sitting on the stone floor on the side of the pool, and watched the lightening as it progressed across the sky. The wind was catching up, and soon a dark cover of cloud covered up the entire sky. The lightnening was so strong, that it seemed that we could reach out a hand and touch it. It was intimadating and fascinating us at the same time. Everyone watched mesmerized.






Each flash more stunning than the last, had us getting up to our feet. Everyone switched off their cells and talks veered towards "What if we got stuck by lightening". Some enthusiastic people even start with "What causes lightening?" (Engineers through and through :P *rolls eyes*) When we thought that nothing could get more beautiful than this one, another flash ripped across the sky, proving us wrong. And then something happens that made us all give one collective gasp. The lights go off and we are plunged into total darkness.


The clouds gather up right above our heads and the winds start gathering force.. The lightening being the only source of light within miles in sight, every odd second it threw ghostly silver light on us. There was a jungle full of wild animals on the left side of us and a river flowing somewhere at the backyard. It was difficult to make out where the howling was some animal or the wind. It literally gave me the goosebumps to be standing there in the pitch black, excited and spooked at the same time, not knowing what will happen next. Then it starts to rain.


The lightening flashes again, the wind builds up so much that chairs start flying around, and we are running for cover from the sudden rain. The rain came suddenly, with full force, raining fat drops of cold water, that actually hurt. People hurry from the poolside, some people take leave now, a huge storm now very apparent. A few of us decided to stay on. CC's, King and Queen of hearts, Pak, Pooja, Karan run towards the now empty dining hall. I m the last one to walk away from the poolside, bcz the cold cold rain on my face feels so right. The rain falls on my face, feels like its washing away all that there was to do away with. There was so much going on in my mind before I left for this trip.. and suddenly for the first time in ages it seemed, I feel free. I feel happy.



It felt like it just couldnt get better than this.


Little did we know that the night was just beginning...

Highlights from the trip....

* Zai sleeping thru a gossiping session and waking up next day and saying "Aree..I was half asleep. I heard everythng. I didnt say anything bcz i was too tired"


* Gul saying "Raat ko insects soye hongena" when asked to shut the balcony door cz insects will come in :P


* Annie and Mona throwing undies on Zai even before the drinking started, sort of like preliminary exercise to getting drunk silly.


* Varu and Shilpa worrying about whether the drinking will make them lose their precious singer voices :P

* Thresholds of getting drunk : Zai is drunk if she is throwing down jokers while playing rummy, Mona is drunk if she is jumping up n down on d bed to "Lari chooti", Varu is drunk if she is yelling hysterically "thers smthng in my hairrrr", Shilpa is drunk if she is demanding more shots in high potched voice... and Annie the great is drunk is she is pointing at everyone present in the room n screeching "YOU ARE DRUNKKKKKK!!!!! I M NOTTTTT!!!!"

* Anoop and Karthik dressing up in long hair caps and bracelets and sling bags and getting down at each station on the return journey and fooling local people. Special mention to us all who acted (very well acting I may add) as enthusiatic fans scrambling for autographs.


* Anoop trying to get an ostrich sandwich from the pantry wala on Swaraj Express in thick Australian accent and trying to pass off as African.


* Anoop starting with "Gaur se dekhiye is aadmi ko..." at random times of the day / night at every random place possible. India TV has serious competition :)


* Ron eating 2kgs of chicken everyday and surviving thru it.


* Ankit not eating anything and saying "kya?" to everything asked to him. Complete with a glazed tired expression bcz of running to the loo every 10 seconds :P ROFL LMAO!!!!


* Shilpas voice going on the 1st day of the trip and she sounding exactly like Paulami from Roadies, and everyone joking about it thinking she is pretending and pissing her off!!! :P


* Annie stealing water from the extremely cute neighbour in the train in the dead of the night bcz there was none around and then striking up a conversation bcz of that (evil laugh... wht?? he was incredibly HOT!!! :P)


* The end of one love story and The beginning of another ..... (Keep guessing!!! :) )... oh n one love story getting a lil bit too enthusiatic!!! hehehehehe!!! (get a room guys!!)


* One "miss u" message that made my day and made me grin foolishly all thru the remainder of the trip... :)


* The skirmish between India and Taliban on the Nainital Lake.. LOLZ!!! Anoop Ron trying to steal the Green Duckie away from us White and Orange one... :)


* Ashwin n Rahul in a PINK duck, duly nicknamed "Gayduck" by us CC's and then them pretending to be pirates and shooting at us using imaginary guns.


* Random people in other Duckies / Dragons / Rowboats on the Lake taking our pics, cz we are simply SOOOO cool!!! We probably looked like movie stars to them.. hehehe.. :)


* Dumb Charades with Ankit acting... And while on the same topic, the IMPOSSIBLE home productions that were given starting from "Bhaagte Huye Bhoot Ki Udti Hui Lungi" (true bhojpuri movie) to "Sayed Amir ko supersonic sound ke mitocondriya se daar lagta hai" :O to "Aa Takli Teri Maang Bharu Fluroscent Color se taki main tujhe andhere mein dekh saku" :O :O :O


* Role playing by Anoop, Nik, Rahul, Me in our Kausani stay.. (Role playing is putting the CRAPPIEST tv channel and muting it and people try to say dialogues... its TOO much fun!!!)


* Jyot on the terrace of Ranikhet Hotel, describing Delhi slang to us, and accidently saying "B*** da L****" !!! Jyot!!! Gaali!!! WOW!!! LMAOOO


* Pralay saying B******* 187630 times on the entire trip, by the end of which the accent turned from Bhojpuri to Maharashtrian!!! :P


* Nana (bus driver whose name is undefined and he is known as thus, cz of uncanny resembelance to Nana Patekar) driving like a mad man enroute to Nainital Hotel when he missed a turn, prompting us all to say Hanuman Chalisa and beginning with Ganpati Aarti, all the while hanging on for our dear lives :P


* Anoop forcing his way onto the CC's (Comps Chics) Bandwagon and declaring himself Hot and CH (Comps Hunk)!!!
.

.

.

.

.

.


So many moments.. I m sure I have missed many.. BUt i have started this now.. People add as many as u can think of and leave me the links... :)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Last Train Ride with everyone.. Getting off at the station.. gathering around in a circle. laden with luggage and yet, noone wants to move towards the exit.. everyone stands there smiling at each other, till I cant stop my tears anymore. I say in a voice that breaks "Mujhe Ghar Nai Jaana...." and the floodgates open. Cry and Cry ... cry more than Farewell day, cz this is it.. truly the end.. The end of a magnificient 4 years of college life.. Suddenly everyone around me is crying too.. We hug and sing 'College Days'... tell loved ones how much they mean to me.. I cry extra hard hugging some people who mean a lot to me.. always will...


And then something makes me smile.. broadly.. in true Wizards style... the true Wizards spirit... someone says loudly "Areee yaar!!! kya ro rahe ho!!! Tuesday ko aana hai na college!!! yeh trip ke Pics submission ke liye... chalo chalo!!! Quad mein aajana 9 baje!!!" Everyone laughs and leaves ... walking slowly out of the station.. with a smile on the face..







"VJ Wizards" gave me the best time of my life, and I will forever be proud to belong to the BEST class that ever rocked VJTI.. May the Wizards Magic last forever!!! :)



~~~~~~~~~

M Leavin on a jet plane... :)

Hey ppl!!!

I know i havnt posted in over a week now, which is very unusual for me. No updates, no song lyrics, no nothin... all cz my stupid net konked off!! Apparently too much use. :P

Anyway, I wont be around for another 10 days. I m FINALLY goin for tht long awaited vacation to Uttranchal wid my friends. This time it will be different cz for d first time on any of the class trips, Im single. :P so it is goin to be one heck of a grls time out, cz everyone of us is quite literally bored wid the utterly stupid guys we hav come across. (i swear they keep getting stupider n stupider.. whr did all the intelligent guys go???!!!!) :P

I m looking forward to this trip for another reason being tht its the last class trip, and also d last one before job starts. i m assuming i m nt goin to be so lukkha tht ill hav d time for any trips whn on d job. (sigh) So all excited, shopped lik mad, wondering whr i m goin to find a bag big enuf to fit everythng in it.. :P

So tht sums it all i guess. I m goin away for 10 days. D chances of anyone missing me look really remote, n d ones who do will call me (glare.. smile..) Baaki ke sab logoko. bye bye. tc. I will miss u guys. Mwah! :)

Annie.
P.S: I got new converse shoes!!!! n they are GORGEOUS!!!

To all my frnds who will be off for MBA...

Heyyyy Guys!!!! (itne saare log hai toh common note for everyone!!! :) )

I knw this is a suprize bt i jus realized hw much i will miss u guys... Suddenly everyones headers on orkut hav changed to "IIM ___ callin" .... n it jus stuck me hw much i m gonna miss u guys..

The times i had wid u in class was d most fun time ever.. d assignments n vivas n d exams...paper balls n d trips.. all d 4 years.. d hanging out.. d bday cakes n d masti.. words jus wont suffice yaar!!! all d times wid u.. made my life at VJ d most amazing time of my life..

I m sure ur future is going to be AWESOME!!! jao sab log IIM ko thoda aur awesome kardo!!! im sure wid all d scholis from around d place... they need scholi's who can freak out!!! lik u guys!! :)

All d best ppl..Chak de fatte...N rem, smile always!!! :)
will miss u all... (sniff)
Luv forever,
Annie. :)

special note i just HAD to add:
Swati, d time wid u in dance practice was amazinggg!!! ill never forget u.. ek lambi si sweetsi ladki.. always so diplomatic lik i always say.. coming from d always politically INcorrect me. .. hehe.. i m sure IIM C is lucky to get one scholi lik u.. hehe... make sure u infuse d campus wid some of d wizrds ka crazyyyyy antics.. though i m nt sure hw they will take it if u throw paper balls.... hehe... :) i soooo wish u cud hav come to d last trip.. we'll all miss u babes!!! If it wudnt hav been for a fantastic beginning of a whole new life for u... we wud hav d most perfect Bye Bye ever!!! :)

And its all over...

Cryptography. Codes. CipherText. Cool. Interesting.
Security. Viruses. Firewall. SMIME. SSL. RC4. Diagrams.
FlowCharts. Sleep. Talking. Google. Facebook. Quizzes.
NewSongs. Texting. Sleepless. Encryption. El Gamal. DES. AES. DSA.
ExamDay. Wht to wear. Paper. Crap. Yawn. SO lengthy. Sigh

.........

Bell rings. Throws up d paper. Yell like mad. Mona n me run up n down n aisle. yelling hoarse. Group hug. Huddle. Smiles. Relief. Come out. Me yell again!!! N set of a chain effect. Ppl from above floors yell too. N heres presenting to u d batch on 2005-2009.. Btech Finally. :)

Main Gate. Class pic. Everyone say Cheeeseee... Sab Deepak ko maaro.. :P Nautanki kahi ka.. :P

Quad. Sign Teeshirts. Hugs. Pics. Basketball for d last time. Free Throw as usual. Sail thru d net. :) As usual. More pics. STARVED.

Ruia ka kattha. Frankie. Fruit Beer. Inside d cricket ground. Laugh. Stare at d couples. Make jokes. Run around. Play kiddish games. Hit ppl. Just like very other day wid d Wizards.

Grass. Sleep. Gaze at d stars. Impromptu questions and answers. First crush. Wildest dream. Make a list of everyone who liked deepak. Lolz. :P Trouble d couples again. Watch d stars. Watch d dogs makin out. LOLZ. Deepak hides his face. Throw grass on each other. Talk.

Is it really d last day as a student?

Slow walk to d station.. Is it really all over? Seems lik yesterday whn we came in to give Applied Mathematics I... was dis d last exam? Wow. time really does fly wid best frnds hm? :)

Train ride back home. Alone. Think a lot. Sweet Nostalgia.

Koi nahi yaar.. kal toh milna hi hai na.. D wizards ka magic will never end. :)

3 down 1 to go!!!!

DataWarehouse. Mining. ETL. DataBases. Extract Transform Load. Yawn.
Smiles. Long talks. Missed calls. Snooze. Wasted whole 3 days. Slept.
Study. Study. Flip Pages. Read Chat. Data Mining.
Poem. Engineer post. Think. Nostalgia. Architecture.
Classification. Clustering. K Nearest. Bayes Rule. NN. KDD.
Apriori. Quad Tree. Some Tree. Leaves. So jao. Zzzzz.
Call. Buttery. Sweet. Naughty. Sexy. Confused. :P
Overslept. Shit!!. Last Minute. Exam Hall. EVERYONE overslept. lolz.
Paper. Look around. **** *****. 1st bench. ##########. :O
write crap. Imagine Heros. LOST. Sawyer. Daydream. Write some crap.
Ro. Laugh. Frnds. Smile. Walk. Fruit Beer. Gossip. Pics.
Sleep. :)

P.S: Bad Paper... bt i can feel d last day drawing near. :)

Why I’m an enginner…

(A lot of this stuff won’t make any sense to the majority here. Plz pass over instead of reading this crap then. :P VJTI’ans plz continue and laugh extra loud)

1. I worship the guys who made Pentium. Seriously!! WOW they are cool!
2. I understand exactly what they mean by Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83Ghz.
3. I m a girl and STILL don’t bother to look into d mirror before I leave for college.
4. In 4 years my vocabulary has degraded to the level of the average frustrated guy who cusses all the time.
5. I have tried all settings, everywhere, on every single thing there is to change on my PC.
6. I have tried to repair all household appliances ranging from the TV remote to the ceiling fan.
7. I know how to use the soldering iron. And the jack plane. Lolz. Courtesy : BEE & Workshop. :D
8. I explain to my kindergardenrs whom I teach, things like wavelength of light and scattering when asked why the sky is blue. I even drew wht wavelength looks like. N got looks like :O.
9. Most of the times my lunch consists of a quick samosa/vada pav and chaas. (buttermilk) while simultaneously orkutting from d net lab.
10. I hav invented desperate ways such as stealing used files during submission time. (hi5 CC's… damn!!! I m so proud of myself for saving all dat money!!!)
11. I am online most of the night because of the concept that is commonly referred to as “Night Maarna”. My night time coffee is my savior.
12. I actually understand what has happened when someone says "Server is down" and “Netbeans killed my PC” (may the soul of the poor PC rest in peace)
13. I don’t dress up ever, I don’t know what half the things in d makeup box do and the concept of a date is unknown to me. :
14. The probability of finding a hot guy in my college is 0.0001.
15. I can type faster than u can blink.
16. Ok that gave me next point... I m excellent at exaggerating - courtesy 8 submissions. :)
17. I sing random lame stuff like "Tu hi toh mera HOST hai" :and write even lamer stuff like “Wails from the Wumpus world”
18. I consider myself as a well dressed grl if d color of my submission file matches my top. And also if I get a compliment that refers to me as female.
19. I love to talk about processors and I love to diss trical/tronix guys (Boo to u Karan!!) abt their fixation with 8085 when d whole world lives in d age of Pentium.
20. I once proxied for "Sachin Tendulkar" in 1st sem and got thrown out of class. Ahhh… fond memories!!!
21. I think my life would have been a LOT easier if Kirchoff, Newton, Lebnidz, Taylor, Tanenbaum, Laurents, Shannon, Spohn hadn’t existed. And also for dat reason I worship TECHMAX. :P
22.My conversation starts with "Wassa" and end with "TTYL" along wid P.S tht is "if u coming 2mrw mera proxy maar. roll no 26." (oh I shud probably add this too – everyone in class knows hw to sign my name. :P)
23.I discovered my exceptional talent at being a story teller during viva's.
24.I hav copied in exams approximately 3.618 times the amount u hav actually given exams. lolz.
25. My speciality is getting mirror marks in mid sems. Lolz. i.e. 03/30, 02/20, 01/10. :P
26. I know all shortcuts and function keys on the keyboard. Ctrl-D comes in handy when u watching something u shudn’t.. (smirks) and Alt- F4 comes in handy whn ur BUSTED!!! :P
27. For me the best reasons for celebration are : Reduced Syllabus, Mass Walkout, Exam postponement and Independence Day (last day of exam)
28. My favorite word is "F***" and my favorite phrase is "SHOT diya" :P
29. Whenever I got out wid frnds I’m the one who calculates to the nearest paisa the breakdown of how much who should pay.
30. Everyone in my family and neighborhood expects me to solve all their computer failure problems. I take immense pleasure in assuming a sober tone and saying "I will hav to format ur PC. I m afraid all ur data will be gone" n then act lik a hero whn I save it all. :P
31. Laminton Road is my Mecca. (All those who don’t know bt wud lik to get d best deals on electronic gadgets anyway, get off Grant Road and ask anyone where it is. Beware of ppl who will try to sell u weird stuff. Lolz. If ur a girl, don’t go alone.)
32. I spend more time at the xerox / printout wala than at home. :)
33. I think explaining the concept of mass bunk to nerds is more difficult than explaining the colors to a blind person.
34. Almost everything tht I do always comes down to "MATH".. I think in terms like Probability of this is.., Practically speaking this should be..., Assuming that.., Given that.. :P
35. I hav contacts wid the computer wala and he updates me everytime theres smthng new in d market. :)
36. The villain’s in my life are the IMPOSSIBLE amount of viruses I hav put my laptop thru. Someppl from class actually hav a CD of all viruses seen so far.
37. I love doing the victory dance which is a cross between Joey dance and Mundu dance.. this event takes place on the last day of term which is after all submissions are done.
38. My attendance in class is proportional to how early I sleep.
39. I crack technical PJ’s. I also understand/laugh at the lamest PJ’s possible.
40. I consider 40 to be the magic number :)
41. I know what are the full forms of the different file extensions. Bet u didn’t knw “jpeg” stands for Joint Photograph Experts Group
42. I copy stuff that can’t be copied on d net (baah!! Cant copied??? Yeah ryt!!) using print screen. Simple. Duh! Courtesy : the innumerable screenshots I have taken in my 4 years at college.
43. I am 21 years old and the most memorable thing I have ever done is throw paper balls at people when they are not looking. :P
44. After hours de-stressing means playing basketball in d quad. And catching the sun do down on dat majestic dome. :)
45. I think libraries have multiple uses. They double up as sleeping rooms, gossip rooms, Timepassing rooms, Listening to music rooms, Playing schooltime games such as X’s and O’s, BINGO, Name place animal thing (LOLZ).. and sometimes something even better. (wink wink)
46. If I got a nickel for every word of crap I ever wrote (exams or otherwise) I would retire ryt now as an incredibly rich woman.
47. If I sat to calculate the amount of money I wasted on assignment sheets, xerox’s, files, printouts, d stationery & even the inners and outers and the index sheets… I would suffer from a minor heartattack. :P
48. I hav hit a rheostat in frustration (whn I discovered it had 3 arms instead of d 2 I assumed) and miraculously got the right readings!! Lolz.
49. Once I wrote a whole program that does nothing and while the professor wasn’t looking added a simple statement at the end of the program tht said “cout<<”5”;” (display 5 on screen) and made him believe my program was working!! Smart eh?
50. KK- Pal, Summer of 69’, and College Days are the songs that made me cry on Farewell. I’ll miss everything on this list. Damn!! I m choked. :(

Annie..
soon-to-be-Bachelor of Computer Technology :P

2 down 2 to go!!!

Server. Client. Process. Threads. Transperency. ZzzzZ.
Backache. CORBA. Cobra. Hiss. Systems. CODA.
Missed Calls. 2 AM. Consistency. 2phase commit. Yawn.
Fault. Replication. Redundancy. Distributed. Shit.
Paper. Knw nothing. Look around. COPY. Crap. Bang head.
Limbopani. Samosa Pav. Long walk. Yawn. Sleep. FINALLY.
Nightmare. DC KT. Royally Screwed. Ab kya kar sakte hai. So jao. :P
zzzzzzz...

P.S: Seriously maardi saale ne!!! &*^$$%@!

1 down 3 to go.

Multimedia Systems. Text. Images. Video. CCITT. Compression. Gtalk.
Awesome. Daisy Chaining. JPEG. TIFF. RIFF. Quick Time. mp3.
Display. RGB. Phosphor Triad. RAID. Disk, Redundancy.
Dreams. Server. Scanner. Video Conferencing. Ro. MLR 1.
Crap. 2 supplements. Snooze. 3 hours. Crap again. Done.
Sleep. Beauty Sleep. No wait. Tanenbaum. Distributed Computing. Sigh.

N here we go again. :

P.S: This aint a comeback post. Jus update. :P cudnt stay away for long naa. dats y. :)

Submission Week Makes Evryone go MAD!!!

I started to write a post abt this.. bt no matter wht i cudnt convey jus as much as i wanted to.. so I hav put jus a few of d MANY MANY pics we have taken this last submission of our lives..

"I m really gonna miss these days

I am gonna miss my college days

Yaad hai woh saare lectures, humne jo bunk kiye the

Proxy ka pakda jaana, Lafde kya kam kiye the

Aur Baahar aakar woh kehna, "Saala kya Bekaar paper set kiya tha yaar"

Milta 1st class kabhi yahaan, toh lagti thi KT kabhiiiii

Laut kar ab naa aayenge woh mastibhare din kabhi

hoh dil yeh apna kahe ki aye dostonnnnn

I m really gonna miss these days

I am gonna miss my college days"

Everyone diligently COPYING!!! hehehe!!!

Nik d idiot!!! last minute copying!!! wid music ofc.. music is an engineers best frnd!!! :)

"Aeee...Tujhe ID kuthe aahe??!! "

("where is ur ID".. d everyday greeting from d watchman we will miss!!! :(("

My sweetest lil dimpled angel.. wid a makeshift crown. Hehehe :)

"All d 4 years we wondered wht d inside of this cabin feels like!!! Look at Varu wid d cap n me wid d 'aila' expression n d sticks!!! Shilpa actually looks ready to kill someone!!! Hehehe"

"Always wanted to get a pic there... Yaaayyyy!!! finally got it!! hehehe!!"


Look at wht we found in Gul's Bag!!! Ooooo !!! that grl in d pic looks desperate!!! Hehehe!!!(Check out d height difference.. No more 6 footers for me plzz!!! hehehe!!!)


Best Friends Forever!!! (CMU or Gatech.. No place will ever be too far!! MWAHHH!!!)


"Lalalalalal!!!!! Finally DONE wid d submissionssss!!! Yaaayyyyyyy!!!"

Mr. Microsoft wid d Ms.Wipro, Ms. Accenture, Ms. Citius, Ms. CMU/Gatech & Ms. SUNY... !!! Missed Mr. Google on this one who was talkin d pic!! :P Dont look too closely!!! U'll see phelgm!!! hahahah!!! (eyes luk nice in dis one!!)

Shot Gang at what they do best... SHOT DIYAA!!! (Non Engineers : 'Shot' is the most often used word in our dictionary.. which basically means bugging someone in d worst possible way. hehe!!)

Zai at what she does best... DHAPPING files... LOLZ!!!

D Files that made our life so miserable and fun at d same time!!! Ill miss u and NOT miss u to!!! Hehehe!!!

Peek A Booo!!!! :)

"I NEVER noticed all these CPU'sin my 4years!!! lolz.!!!"

Gullo rani.. kaho toh deepak ko bula duuu... :) (I jus wannnaaa sllleeeepppp!!!!)

"Aek toh main phoolein jaise naasukk... aur itne saare submissions... sheee thoooo" (poulami fans!! hehe REFER : Roadies Hell down Under.. if u dnt knw who poulami is!!!)

Finally Done!!! already gone zzzzzzzzzz.....

P.S : And THEN came the Farewell Party...

I wont put any pics.. but a LONG post on wht happened!!

P.S : Do see my lovely description on Karan's Blog.. Mwahh!!! (thanks for d 9/10 hehehe) :)

Wails From The Wumpus World!!!

Oh Wumpus! Oh Wumpus!

Ur the latest version of virus!

The time has come, cant u see..

To warn everyone of ur treachery!!

You hav made Varu's hair curl in frustration

And Annie curses u all d way to damnation

Shilpa still cherishes the lovely dates in ur dungeon,

But Lo! when she came out, she was a curmudgeon!!!

Your froggy eyes like tiny dents in flesh,

Your harsh voice irritates us no less

Your cackling laugh resounding in the hall

Your desire to hav everyone at your beck and call!!!

Varu is ready to crack under the pressure!!

As Annie tries (unsuccessfully) to be a go-getter..

Though Shilpa still blushes at ur glances

She is also about to reach teh end of her tether!!!

Whenever u pass, u leave in ur wake, a terible "STENCH"

For us there is nowhere to run, not even a bench

The thick gross hair that crowds ur ear

Its a wonder!!! Can u even hear??!!!

Oh Wumpus! Oh Wumpus!

Look at the lovely day with its beautiful breeze

Plz Plz be kind Oh Wumpus!!

Give us a days leave!

So Varu can go & dance with "______" (dash)

& Shilpa can have a "Bournville" bash..

Oh n Annie!! Shes anyway all d time on "long distance" gtalk,

Maybe this time, she can go have a long "walk"!!

Oh Wumpus! Oh Wumpus!

U eat anyone who enters ur "Smelly" abode

But we will bear all ur eccentricites

Cz we want to grab our "Glittering" gold!!!!

Written by Annie

With exceptional inputs from Varu.. lolz!

(Shilpa GLARES!! hehe..)

P.S: Anyone who has had "Artificial Intelligence" as a subject will knw d terms used here. others jus google "Wumpus". lolz. :)

Some FroM ShiMLa TRiP...

Best Match Ever!!!!

21st Jan 2009’ 10.50pm

I have jus returned back from college, having witnessed one of the most spectacular basketball matches ever played in the history of awesome matches in VJTI.

I walked into the quad, very tired from all the dance practice. My exhaustion disappeared the moment I spotted a basketball in the quad. Some guys were playing. I went and put in a few shots that made the guys turn red wid shame. Lolz. Ro came too, n told me he had a match at 6.30. Civil Vs Electronics. Now for all those who aren’t familiar wid any of VJTI happening, Rohit is the Civil Boys team captain. The Tronix guys team consisted of all 3pointer addict guys, so it was going to be a tough fight. On top of all that, Civil Boys were the reigning champions, having bagged gold for last 2 years in a row. N the last years captain Joy (yeah thts his name) had told Ro in no uncertain terms that the title better remained wid Civil this year too. : P

The match started late, like everything in VJ does. We expected a good fight, bt what unfolded before everyone was a complete shocker. Rohit and Jeet so well known for their coordination and amazing 3pointer skills were missing EVERY single shot. The new players were trying very hard to get some points, bt everyone received a jolt when the opposing captain out in three 3pointers in a row. The score was 09-00 with Tronix leading.

Finally Jeet managed to get a 2pointer and opened the innings for Civil. Bang came Tronix reply. They scored another 3pointer. Someone else from Civil scored a 2pointer jus as the 1st quarter ended. The score stood a shameful 12-04 with Tronix leading.
Things didn’t improve much in the next two quarters. The Tronix guys kept leading. With almost 8 - 10 points in the lead, I was beginning to get quite hysterical. “NO Ro.. don’t lose the last match of your life. This is the last chance. Noooo…”

At the beginning of 4th quarter, the score was 25-17. Tronix lead. I stood up to stand on the edge of the court and decided to do some heavy duty sledging. *SLEDGING – term used for abusive remarks thrown by on lookers to players of other team. Wide range of remarks, starting with the normal “I.T. CHAKKA..” to “saala &%^%*^(^$%#^%$”* I started callin the other guys random things like “GAY”, “Ghar pe jaa…mummy ne bulaya hai”, “Tronix Chakka!!!” N guess what.. it worked!!! The guys kept missing their pointers, and finally *OH THANK GODDDD!!!!* Ro managed to score an amazing 3pointer. The score was now 25-20.

One guy resembling Mowgli *as I was yelling out to him… Aei jungle pe jaa vapas* scored a 3pointer, which was a rude shock. The score now was 28-20. It was looking impossible to catch up. Then 0ne female from Civil, Purva, came and we both started yelling like maniacs to the other team. “Saala Gay… ghar pe jaa.” “Tronix Chakka” “Come on Guys… Buck Up” “Areee yeh dekh aya aya aya aya…. MISSS!!!!”I could actually feel the adrenaline rush.

Here the match completely took a turn. Ro, Jeet, Rishi, Nikhil and Vatsal, somehow clicked, and Ro and Jeet scored back to back 3 pointers. I was so PROUD!!! It jus urged me n Purva to yell louder. And ofc we were jumping up and down like a couple of maniacs. 5 minutes remaining. Score was 28-27.

I was so busy yelling spectacular insults to the other team , I don’t rem who scored, bt some scored a 3pointer. YES!! We were FINALLY in d lead. Both teams kept commiting a series of fouls and thus got free shots. And because of our yelling “Aeii… Kuch nahi ata hai. Miss karega Miss Karega… dekh MISS!!!” the other team kept missing, and we kept scoring the free throws. Nikhil commited another foul, and he had to leave. Bimal came in, and ran straight into the other team player, crashing into the board. He commited a foul, bt wtf. We are now soooo close..

Last minute saw some really good 2pointers. The score was 29-32. Jeet scored yet another 2pointer. 44 seconds remaining. Another 3pointer by Ro. Another foul now. Ro gets a free throw. He scores!!! I have gone mad with all the yelling and jumping. Ref blows his whistle. Game over. CIVIL WIN!!!!! 29-44. Just imagine.

The entire crowd pours onto the court. They all gather around Ro and pick him up and throw him in the air. Another group picks up Jeet and another one Bimal. Rishi heads straight for the chairs and collapses. Everyone is yelling. The traditional cry rings out. The one that everyone says, with name variations in VJ- “Tronix’s chi marli. Dhinchak dhinchak.” Some guys even begin with the side slogan “I.T. Chakka!!!” : P

I m sure NOONE in VJTI has ever seen a match so closely lost or so closely won by any dept ever. I m sure no one has seen this amount of sledging ever. Ro kept his word to Joy. The Title was theirs for another year. And nothing in the world beat the feeling of winning the last basketball match of our lives.

- Annie
*throat sore from yelling, tired from dancing and very very happy from all the jumping*

TRAIN - Part 5

Next morning I awoke, even before he came to wake me up. Some shrill sound had broken in my sleep, like I was discovering groggy eyed as I sat up, had broken in everyone’s sleep. Mr. Obnoxious alarm was crazy. Loud and crazy. I immediately looked over to his berth, and there he was awake like me, looking straight at me, I was suddenly very conscious of how I looked. He smiled , and said “Morning. Some alarm huh? ” I laughed and said “No one can sleep through that...”, starting to get down from my bunk.

We were up and ready in half hour, and we walked out near the door. He was about to leave in a matter of minutes, and I still hadn’t figured a way to stay in contact. Damn me. Then suddenly it stuck me - what the hell was the use of email if not here? As the train pulled into the station, I began “Listen if -”

He turned, and took a step back instead of going forward. There was a line of people waiting to get down, and he let them pass. The narrow passage was crowded of people, and the next thing I knew, was that I was standing close enough to see every fleck of gold in those brown eyes. It nearly damned brought my heart to a screeching halt. He looked very shy, as he said “I can get down at Hyderabad too.”

I gave him a broad smile. This was going to be easy. If these weren’t the signs then I didn’t know what else were.

We went in again, to get my suitcase. There were less than 5 people in the entire coach. We were standing near the door again when he said anxiously “Listen, don’t get me wrong, but when you are staying here, if you need anything, info or anything about places to visit, you could call me.”

“I don’t have your number” I said smilingly. I tore the last page of my diary and divided it in half. On one part I wrote my email id on it and gave it to him. He wrote his number on the other part and gave me. I could actually feel the floating sensation in my tummy. In that moment I decided to stay in contact. Always. There were a lot of maybe’s in my head. Maybe this would happen. Maybe that will. Maybe...

The train came to a grounding halt at the station. We both got down. Looking at each other, I couldn’t believe that this was someone I had met only a few hours back. He smiled and said “I had a lot of fun talking to you. It was very nice to meet you , you know. ” I shook hands with him and replied “Same here. Stay in touch, ok? I’ll call if I need anything ok?” he nodded, and pointing to the direction over his back he said “I go this way ok? Where u headed to?” “My Bhaiya‘s driver must be waiting outside.” I looked around for an exit sign and said “I go this way.” half disappointed that I had to go the opposite way, and half happy because I had his number, I smiled a little and started to pick up my suitcase.

“Should I drop you till there?” I didn’t know if my Bhaiya was to come to pick me up or not, so I told him No.

As I started to walk away he said “Heyy..”

I turned and looked at him, with a questioning glance “hmm?”

“You talk too much.” we both laughed. He added “Don’t change that about you, ok?”

I smiled and said , “You got it. Bbye.”

“Bye.”

.....


We walked in two opposite directions, that cold March morning that year. And you know wht? I never did call him up. I reached home, had a wonderful stay, checked my email. He had sent me a mail barely 2 hours after we had parted. Like I had asked him on the train, he had even sent some pictures of him with his silver-red fighter plane, and another with him in complete army uniform. He looked, if possible, even more gorgeous than I remembered from just a few hours back. I sent a thank you and reached safely sort of email to him.

But along with the mail, was a mail from my ex, begging me to forgive him, and take him back. Which I did. It ended soon afterward anyway, but at that time, he was a very important part of my life. So amidst all this, I didn’t reply to any of the further mails that he sent to me. Which were quite a few. After some weeks, the mails stopped. And after some months, he was forgotten.

Till now, when I started to write this down. I took out my old diaries and reading the entries of a 17 year old girl in them, made all the memories come flooding back. One of my friends, when I told her about this incident before I started to write it here, asked me, why didn’t u guys stay in touch? Maybe it could have lead somewhere.

To which I replied, if it would have happened, I would have discovered something not so perfect about him. Something I wanted to change or didn’t like. Something that wouldn’t be right. But because I didn’t know him further, he is perfect. Just as he met me that day in the train, because that memory of him wont change ever. Hes probably happy someplace now, with a wife and kids, and I m just a 21 year old, with changed views and changed ideals. Life is good. And because I never stayed in touch, he remains as one of my fondest memory...


Maybe we parting ways the way we did, on the platform that morning, was the best ending there could have been for our story. :)