BIG Citylife : Frustrated Perspective, if i may.

Kudos to the English Dept, Marvellous Topic indeed.

The City. I was born in one. Grew up in another. Visited a few. But settled in a completely new one.
On the surface, I can say I am happy, what with the home that I live in with the perfect family, fabulous friends, a well known college to go to and ample freedom to top it all off. However, very often I find myself sitting in the suffocating corner of a bus wondering if there is indeed, grass that’s greener on the other side.
To describe myself in a nutshell, id say I’m exceedingly ‘outdoorsy’. As a kid I loved climbing up ladders no matter how high, watering our garden (and watering myself in the process) and making mud puddings with my imaginary friend Suresh. When I grew up I went for wilderness camps and became an active athlete in school. All of these small happenstances molded me into a driven, nature-loving girl with dreams to make a difference in this world.
However, there always is a catch or figuratively, a large and sharp pin waiting to burst your happy bubble. In my scenario, it calls itself the City.
It is quite small mind you! But bustling with people everywhere, where oxygen is like gold (too precious to waste), water is either scarce and constantly evaporating or clogged with mosquito eggs and excess Carbon dioxide is the new next-door neighbor.
Even as recent as a decade ago, the city seemed magical and full of promise for those coming from smaller cities and towns. Siblings back home would run to the closest phone booth awaiting their brother’s exciting City stories. Tarred roads and skyscrapers were worth photographing. It isn’t the same story anymore, city life has changed drastically. Why, you might wonder. Many factors come to mind starting with over exploitation of resources, lack of hygiene to awful governance and over population. However in my opinion, it all boils down to Ignorance and lassitude.
The attitude of man has become such that he lives life for no one but himself, he thinks of life on a short-term basis, “who cares about tomorrow? Enjoy life today! “ Isn’t that correct? It is due to this sort of thinking that we have gotten ourselves in a soup. A soup that tastes like disease, smells like pollution and looks like disaster.
The point of this essay I think is to give vent to built up frustration and bring current issues into perspective. Watching trees (decades older than we are) being felled and getting caught in constant traffic jams is the new mantra we have to live by. Everyone needs to know that our current situation aptly fits the phrase “Desperate times call for desperate measures” but also that there is still time to rectify our mistakes by knowing and patiently doing what is right, instead of what is more attractive and appealing!
So, what thoughts do you think run through the mind of a person with such radical views as she enters her home after a 12-kilometer journey back home from college? After literally being mauled in the bus, avoiding successive potholes on the road that it almost seems like a dance sequence? After swallowing in that fear of being followed or watched? You would probably expect her thoughts to seem more negative or pessimistic. Surprisingly, her thoughts are completely drowned by the music that fills her ears (I-pods are magical), nudging in buses actually keeps her awake after long drawn days in college and unrelenting alertness keeps the stalkers at large.
See, the key is not to be cynical all the time, it is to see hope when no one else can, only then can you be an Environmentalist……………….
Living in a Big City.

Farm House with the kids- through the eyes of a chipmunk!

It's 6 AM and pretty much everyone is wobbling about like dazed zombies with backpacks slung over their sleepy shoulders. Amidst the many yawns and eye-rubs i was able to find some 'hey man, how u been?' & 'how were you're exams?' greetings being exchanged.
We were all getting set for yet another trip to Mr Martini's farm.As opposed to the summer program where only 14 kids came, here we had 22 and that gave me the jitters. In retrospect though, i feel silly for having felt nervous at first. The kids were naughty and sly pranksters but at the same time they were the type who'd crack jokes u could take with you even if u went backpacking in Venezuela 6 yrs from now, simply hilarious!
The group that came had a general mix of loudness(??), super energy,chatterboxes, spontaneity and quiet solo explorers. To name a few, we had the Lil cricket champ Lee, she knew more than some of the boys if u ask me, Cat malika and the sri lankan holidayers who spent a lot of their time giggling and playing with the animals. Ved who we realised suffers from Cow-o-phobia. Siddarth ,Arvind,anirudh and Chetan- the 'poi' boys who mastered that art in a matter of 48hrs. Aditya(1) who sadly had a fever throughout the programme & Aditya(2) who has the most adorable smile iv ever seen. Must not forget the PIS kids who accomplished a lot too,namely catching frogs(put a few to sleep and squish a few others), happily enjoy watching Gerry slaughter a pretty chicken, behead as many as 10 fish and my favorite --gulp down hot chillies while everyone laughed at their plight. SANJANA!! boy was she a handful! , what with wanting to "go see herpetology" and also "can we slaughter Kau?...or otherwise any other cow?"
The oh so cute Felix Holland and his dimples. Now i wont be surprised if he considers Machete production one of his career options!
During the 4 days we spent there not only did they learn to design n make bamboo rafts ( partly sink them too) but some of them even managed to climb up a coconut tree- Xavier style! We spent a Lot of time in the lake -rowing circles in the coracle & swimming among the reeds.
We saw some gorgeous snakes too and watched Shyama really bond with the checkered keel back water snake, ah! was so touching. Ha Ha.
The food was simply Mmm-mm...OK that covers the vegetarian aspect of every meal..but im guessing the chicken was splendid too. However most of it ended up in Shyams 'Lil belly.
The trek up the Nagarhole Hill was special in it's own way. It was BEE-U-T- FUL!
however, i didn't go with the entire group once we reached the 1060 m (above sea level mark) because Aditya(1) was beginning to feel exhausted.But Shyam, Xavier and i did our best to entertain him while the others carried on.
On our bus ride back from Nagarhole, we stopped to take pictures of two tuskers at the forest dept quarters that had been chained but enormous and gorgeous all the same. But as expected all the kids turned their focus to something else(which i choose NOT to mention here) Ha Ha.
Not everyone gets to bump into old friends in the middle of a forest but yea, Riddhi can tell you what that feels like!
The last day saw the kids displaying their skipping talents and Gerry's athletic skills.My oh my it was the best way to end the camp, playing lagori, dog in the bone and Xavier's Ram n Raavan.
The bus driver played horrific music which was more like noise wanting to sound melodious so for the bus ride back to Bangalore we flicked one of Gerry's Cd's. Everyone sang (read Brayed) along with the songs they knew (amazing performances i must add) and managed to guess & learn the lyrics of the ones they didn't. Precisely why i have a sore throat right now.Once we were back everyone said they're goodbyes and left. Sigh.
The point of writing this was so that we will never forget the little things in life that make us happy.
OK I'm very sleepy now. G'Nite.

More Slobber than Ruff Ruff

You know what i think,

pet owners all over the world have one thing in common. they can brag about their 'Lil cutie,pwetty baby coochi poo' pet for eternity (if given a chance) irrespective of whether or not the listener....is actually listening. I know this and yet I choose to belong to the above mentioned asinine population of humans.
Right from the time I first learned to speak as a baby, I began asking... OK i think the appropriate term would be BEGGING, my parents to 'gift me a brother or a sister for my birthday!!' (in time however I became aware of the phenomenon of the birds & the bees ,and accordingly rephrased my plea to a plain 'Produce one for me?') It was dreadful being the only child, to be given no choice but to have conversations with my orange teddy bear, to have to play 'teacher teacher' with my imaginary friend 'Suresh' and tie rakhis for cousins I met once year. It was PAINFUL. Nothing happened though, my parents didn't want to risk bringing another Me into this world. So, hence, therefore, as a result of which we brought home A dog.
A tiny little fawn fur ball , roughly 3 weeks old. He was simply gorgeous!! So small and excited. He kept tripping over his own pink paws while getting lost in the gigantic-ness of the curtains in our house. Well, one might think that the tantrum-ous girl was now going to be happy forever. Sorry boss! as always, there had to be a catch right? Father wouldn't let me name him......which is why we have had to call my dog Vikram for nearly 9 years now.
That hardly matters though, what matters is that bringing him home was the best decision our family has ever made, I haven't begged for siblings since. He's our watchdog,salesmen shoo-er!, vacuum cleaner, lean mean licking machine, morning alarm, playful 'lil brother and of course my dad's midnight television buddy. He's a bit of everything, he can be dumb( still not grasped the fetch! concept) and yet sharp enough to learn to tell time, memorize all names and routines without being taught.
Sounds very cliche but I honestly feel like there is no better therapist than a dog licking the tears off your face (is it the salt though?). He never interrupts or withdraws eye contact while I'm talking , although occasionally he tends to burp when I pause for his response.
What is totally beyond me is how these animals can be so loving and forgiving when we least deserve it.

which is why....He the Man.Always.

We was like Peas and Carrots

(Note : 'New Days' - Asher Lane blaring in the background.My current obsession.)
When i was a kid , i don't think i was ever in a particular school long enough to make good friends...when i say GOOD, i mean friends whom i was comfortable telling my secrets to (yes back then, flushing milk down the toilet was a huge deal),friends whose birthdays i could remember or come to think of it, friends i would continue to miss even after a month of being away from them. At first it was cool and felt rather nice to get farewell gifts and hand made cards(buying something from Archie's meant making a huge investment)from my friends which said that they would miss me and would remember me forever.
Eventually though, i was started to get sick of it,i hated the idea of losing out on the fun i was just beginning to experience.i had shifted schools in three different states and now my father was planning on moving to a different COUNTRY!!At first my parents would sit me down and explain to me how things like this happen to most kids my age. But with time they began to lose patience and i got tired of whining as well.
We didn't leave the country ,father compromised ...we settled for good in one place finally, again in a different state though!
High School simply flew by. Was an OK student, nothing to complain about, made many good friends (yes they satisfied the above mention criteria) and i have memories, great memories Plenty Plenty!
But then came 11th & 12th and that's where i met Sonal.The dweeb faced unfairly pretty thing i call my best friend.The first time i ever spoke to her was when we were well into the second or third month of school. She seemed like a book-a-holic to me(and I'm not wrong about that). But what i was wrong about was that , that wasn't the only thing she did.She was, I'm sorry IS multifaceted and tremendously talented .See her sketch, hear her sing, watch her catwalk unknowingly or simply listen to her sarcastic one liners. But like every other down to earth girl who is a walking testimony to the phrase 'Beauty with brains' , she is totally oblivious , about herself and what she can do.Forget showing off, she can't even take a compliment decently. It is always accompanied with a snort, a hysterical laugh or just a 'and-I'm-supposed-to-believe-you because?' look in her eyes.
I talk a lot and she always listens. That's how our friendship works i guess.We fight like idiots like most best friends do, but there's never been a fight or a period of non-talkingness that's lasted for more that 48hrs.It just gets too much. We have the most absurd conversations , send each other text messages that would seem like Greek & Latin to everyone else , laugh like hyenas after doing terribly in our exams and yes , we get high on mint fudge.
She has new friends now, who are disgustingly fantastic! Ha ha i love them too. I just hope we don't drift apart.Ever.

Sitting On a Croc's Tail

Wasn't easy trying to lift my enormous bag across the platform with people snoring away to glory inches away from my feet. I could see her standing with her mother, looking out for a familiar face so i immediately waved in her direction with my free hand.
I was too excited to say anything more than a high pitched "wats up!" to which i got an equally enthusiastic "can you believe we're actually going to do this?". The place we were heading for, along with a few other (yet to be acquainted with) youngsters was the Crocodile Bank in Chennai. For most people the idea of catching crocs, weighing them and possibly even hugging them, wouldn't sound too amusing now would it? Well we aren't most people. We literally jumped at the very idea of such a possiblity. I didn't need to hear an Ok from my parents, they knew i was a crazy child long before i knew it myself.
So there we were waiting for Mr Martini,Kau and the rest of the jing bang. Took a while for them to arrive but they did eventually. I looked around me , the people who caught my eye first were these two girls , one with bright red hair with what looked like quite a painful piercing through her eyebrow and another girl half my size with nearly twice as many earrings in each ear. "So this should be interesting", i made a mental note to myself.
Well the weekend was interesting, infact it was so much more fun than i had ever expected from any non-family vacation. The croc bank was like a resort by itself, what with its own secluded chunk of the beach, so much greenary and lip smacking food!
My favorite part of the three days was when we worked with the relatively small yet VERY snappy marsh crocodiles(also called Muggers). It was a very systematic procedure we had to follow. Drag the net through the water from one end to the other, in the process trap as many of 'em muggers as you can. Then pull them out one by one, cover their eyes(makes them feel secure) and tape the mouth. If by any unfortunate chance you happen to forget this tiny step, be ready to go back home limbless. Now comes the best part. You need a minimum of 4 people per croc, so you announce which body part you want to get a hold of and on the count of three POUNCE and hold on as though your life depended on that hold. It isn't easy doing this while the croc under you swishes it's rough tail back and forth hoping for an escape.
Doing this repeatedly for nearly 20 odd crocs took pretty much the entire day, but not for a single moment did we feel tired(did i mention we were fed really well!). We had our friends from BBC running around with us trying to catch every second of this "Fantastic Experience" (as Steve would put it) on camera.
Sigh, this had to end eventually. but never will i forget that weekend with the crocodiles of Chennai, or the people with whom i had to enjoy each minute.We formed one hell of a team!
Come next May, you'l know where to find me =)