Quick as a wink

I know I know, it has been AGES!!!

I apologize profusely.. so much has been happening and I keep starting a post and then delete it because I am not happy with it.

So enough, today I finish one of the many posts, before I head for a well needed nap!

Am in Delhi right now and with the christmas madness finally over, now begins my vacation. The first 10 days in delhi was spent making cheese biscuits, kul kuls, fudge and all the other christmas goodies.

As Wiggles puts it "jeez shreez you stink of fudge"

Anyhoo christmas was lovely. Small affair this time, with just the family. Wiggles spent christmas with us. Very nice :)

Its so easy when you have people who are so easy and laid back, hit it off with all my friends so that was nice.

Last night a few of us went to the new TC in VV. Quite nice, dint have the old TC charm but yeah... bartenders were good..extremely good, looking at our states today!

Good retro music, some dancing, good friends, good fun...

got home at 2 am and was up early to take W to the airport.

talking about the airport imagine this is you please... Me standing infront of the departure gate, in trackies, oversized sweatshirt, uncombed hair, glasses and fluffy gorilla slippers...

DO YOU KNOW THE NUMBER OF DOUBLE TAKES I GOT!!!!

only me... and the best part, this was the third time I was doing it. Went to the airport twice yesterday the same way.

Off to see Ghajini today...seems like an interesting movie.. need to find a copy with english subtitles..

Went to varanasi for a few days with aussie girl, YP, W and some other friends. It was really nice..

W had to do an interview on the leprosy colony and I was the official translater. Yeah yeah dont choke on your drink. I did the job perfectly fine thank you very much.

More on that in another post.

The funniest part of the trip... 8 people in one auto, singing christmas carols on the top of our voices and having the cops stare at us..

Yes you heard me right, 8 people in one auto. We took the backrest out, and two girls sat facing the other direction, the other 3 girls sat on the seat. W, me and the driver shared the front seat.

As Pappu our driver said - one on the left and the other on the right

I hung on for dear life and spent the entire trip propping my self up.

This was the case for the 2 days we were there and the average time for our journeys were 40 minutes.

Ok so thats a pretty decent post on the past few days. I now bid farewell, my pillow beckons me.

PS - have cut my hair super short.

Done it, said it, noted, quoted

So I have a major presentation due at the end of the week but as you can see I am being quite good at procrastinating. So let’s get on with what’s been happening in my life!

Trampolines
Now you’ll probably know about my previous trampoline incident. Well I went on it with dreads and spent most of the time on my butt laughing while he kept jumping up and down and I rolled from side to side.
Well come on give me a break it was my first time on the trampoline!

Carnival 2008 saw me on the trampoline again. This time with Ficus. I was on my feet longer that the previous time but majority of the time spent was on my butt. I was laughing my head off at my ridiculous efforts at the trampoline and so was everybody else!

My legs did not cooperate with me like they do most of the time. And I did a couple of interesting falls. You know what the sad part is, I do the exact same falls while walking on solid ground! Remember the 3Bs

So that was fun!

Sick days
Woke up on Friday morning feeling absolutely horrible. I called in sick and went back to bed. Spent most of the day in bed fighting a fever and body ache. Finally got around to going to the doctor on Saturday (see told you I was a procrastinator) and found out that I have infected tonsils and that is what is causing the low grade fever, body ache etc.

You miss home and family tremendously when you are sick. When I went to the clinic on Saturday and while I was getting my temperature taken and telling the nurse what’s wrong, I just broke down into tears. Don’t know why, I was not that sick. But I just felt like crap and all I wanted was my mom to feel my forehead, kiss me on the cheek and tell me to go to bed.

I miss home!

New hobby
In the words of my teacher (aka hiccups) “oh no I created a monster”
So I have picked up a new hobby, crocheting and I have been on quite the roll. Have already done 6 beanies, 1 scarf, 1 slipper (am working on the other one now) and future projects include mittens.
Yes I am quite obsessed with it. The fact that H put an album up on facebook and in every picture there is me in the background crocheting.
So guess what your getting for Christmas!

Injuries
None so far for this week, well apart from the muscles in my gluteus maximus which are complaining after my disastrous attempt on the trampoline. However I did play an entire game of Frisbee without falling. Now that’s an achievement.

Books
The Other Boylen Girl – good history / fiction. Worth a read
You are here – quick read, not what I was expecting
My sisters keeper – have just started this one. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another?

Movies
Elizabethtown – all is can say is Orlando Bloom – glazed eyes..drool….yummy. Ok now that I am done with that, it’s a cute movie. Good cast, decent story line. Worth watching.

Fools gold – Mathew McConaughey – glazed eyes…drool..yummy.. another nice movie. Involves scuba diving, treasure hunting, ships and sex in the church. Worth a watch!

Sound of music – so I have never watched this movie before (yeah I know I suck!) finally got to watch this one. Love it. We all sang along and ate quesadillas. Good Sunday evening!

Other movies watched include – little mermaid, mean girls and other random stuff on TV.

Music
Got loads of new stuff from Aussie Girl and wiggles. On the top of my list for the week
Are you going to be my girl – Jet
Disturbia – Rhianna
Your so vain – Carly Simon
Thunderstruck – AC/DC
Have a nice day – Bon Jovi
Free Fallin – Tom Petty

FYI - my presentation is done !

Tears of happiness and sadness and other things happening

So I have not done a post in ages, forgive me oh loyal reader. Life has been interesting as usual. My internet at home is finally working *yay for me*
And while I work on this post, I hear the resident shrew rummaging around my kitchen and I have just shut the door and hoped it will go away.

This is the same shrew which tried nibbling my toe while I was washing my dishes, which lead to me screaming hysterically while I was on the phone with mom. Ah the joys of Kodai.

Ala-bama left on sunday. Miss her terribly!

Have learnt how to crochet. Made my first beanie. :) Its loads of fun to do and quite addictive.
Am now in the process of making christmas gifts for every one.

Semester is coming to an end really soon. Work has been going good. A couple of busy days ahead. I had gone down to chennai last weekend to do the voice over for the alumni film. The editing has been done and we should get the final copy in a day or two. Its going to be weird hearing my own voice. FYI realized I have a slight lisp. This realization came when I needed to say the word 'interest' for the voice over. Took about 10 takes to get it.

Looking forward to the Halloween party this friday. Any suggestions for a costume will be highly appreciated.

Laughter has been the theme for the past week. With random conversations in the staff lounge, impromtu dance parties which include wild random moves by moi, sexual connotations in conversations and chilling with the BW boys.. my stomach hurts with all the giggles.

Well that was a pretty random post. Hopefully will have some interesting posts soon.

Last movie watched: Waitress - quite random
New fav song: Long jacket short skirt by Cake
Food: whole wheat banana apple pancakes
Drink: freshly made grape juice

The motions of thy emotions

Emotions have been running pretty wild this past week and in the midst of down right depression I have had fleeting moments of happiness.

Been doing a lot of soul searching lately
Old fears creeping back into my mind
Learning about my self,
Things I can do and things which leave me a crumpled mess on the floor
I have learnt
That there is an ugliness inside of me
That I can be spiteful
Hidden in the darkness - usually content to be there
But once in a while breaking out
Shocking me
Scaring me
Some thing I need to work on
To remove the anger and the hatred
To remove those thoughts that run through my head
The ones which make me says things which I wish I never did
Words which shatter relationships
I also encountered one of my weaknesses
Some thing which had held on to me for over two months
Not willing to admit it and not willing to ask for help
It was easy to zone out that to actually deal with the situations
But I also learnt that I have friends who look out for me
Who look past the smile plastered on my face
And tell me “We need to talk”
I’ve learnt you need to put aside pride and ask for help
I’ve been happy
Sad
Frustrated
Hurt
Lonely
Homesick
Loved

Canoeing in the backwaters of Kerela

So am back from a week in Kerela, which was absolutely fantastic!
We left Kodai on 14th morning by bus and drove down to Alleppy. We stopped at Thekadi for lunch and started our first of many Kerela meals. Kerela rice, spicy fish curry, fried beef and chicken curry. Delicious!

We got into Alleppy at 7 and went straight to the orphanage where we were doing some SoEx work. It was an all boys orphanage and we had planned different activities for them – art, games, story telling / skit and dance. It was really nice hanging out with the kids and they were so appreciative of the things we did for them. We had dinner with them and then went back to the hotel. Hotel Raiban was not the greatest hotel but we were so tired every one just crashed.

An early start the next day, we went to the canal, unloaded all the canoes. There were 6 ‘mad river’ canoes – fibre glass canoes and three country canoes which is the local canoes and can take up to 6 people.

Day one I was in a country canoe with three other students and the gang was off. We rowed 12 kms in the morning, starting from Alleppy and going across Vembanad lake. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on the backwaters itself. Fresh prawns and fish. We got to swim before lunch. Back onto the canoes after lunch and rowed 10 more kms to Kavalam where we stayed the night.

At Kavalam we had a home stay and some kids stayed in the house while a group of us spent the night on the boat. It was so much fun, sleeping under the stars and the bright moon. The mosquito’s weren’t too bad and I guess we all were so tired that sleep came pretty quick. Around 5 it started to drizzle a bit but we decided to sleep through it and were up at 6am to get ready for another day of canoeing.

Day 2 I was in the mad river canoe with uncle Dan and it was a blast, though it did take us some time to figure out how to go straight J
Another 12 kms later we arrived for lunch, tired, sun burnt and extremely hungry.
After lunch the boat took us to a nice swimming spot and we spend the afternoon swimming in the backwaters not trying to think about the gunk which goes into the water. Jumping of the roof of the boat into the water – lots of fun.

We then had another 8 kms to row and Azra and I were on a canoe together and we kicked ass and reached our destination first! I know I know I am competitive!

The tourist lodge in Neerettupuram we stayed in was not that great but one has got to rough it out. We finally got a break from rice (which we had had for the past 5 meals!) and had some Kerela parottas and chicken curry. Yummy. There is a temple right next to the hotel so wiggles and I got a chance to go and check it out. Fantastic thing – multiculturalism is, I learnt about Hindu rituals from an American, along with some tamil phrases and how to tie a lungi! Who would have thunk it!

The next morning we got off to a late start, due to some missing oars and by the time we got going it was so hot. Got some more color on me J Day 3 – back in the country canoe with 5 students. We kept pretty good pace and some good team work was the reason.

We stopped for lunch at Edathua and then there was no rowing that afternoon. Since the roof of the boat had been removed (we were going under some low bridges) us girls were innovative measured the speed and direction of wind and tied up some lungis and had a made shift cover which stayed up thanks to the wind.

Our destination for the night - Chambakulam was this really nice resort, which had a proper bathroom. Oh what a relief. A long shower – washing my hair, bliss!
We then walked around town for a bit and did a bit of shopping. My first trip where I dint buy any shoes!

Dinner was fantastic and included prawns and squid. I am really glad I am getting over my issues of eating sea food. This trip made me appreciate well cooked fish / prawns and squid. Yummy.

After dinner our guides said they had a surprise for us and we went out into the patio and they gave us fire crackers to burn. It was really thoughtful of them to do that for us.
Wiggles then found some tamil music CDs and we had a dance off with all the students.

Last day of canoeing and it was a mad dash towards the finish line and kudos to the country canoe super team who beat out all the mad river canoes.

We stopped for lunch at this house which overlooked the backwaters and the backyard was a huge paddy field. It was such a serene place. While we waited for lunch, Benny our guide climbed up a coconut tree to get us tender coconut. This meal was the best of the trip. Typical Kerela food and absolutely delicious.

After lunch we got onto the boat and headed back to Alleppy. The last 5 kms we got back into the canoes for the victory lap. As we came to our finish point we saw a whole load of people waiting for us including a bunch of reporters and TV crew. KP our translator gave the interview and the next day there was an article in the Malyalam Manorama along with a picture.

Our last night we stayed in a 3 star hotel which was really nice. The hotel must have been shocked when they saw us walk in. 28 people – haggared and in lungis. We checked in and then went to the beach. I must say the beach in alleppy is the cleanest beach I have seen in India – apart from Lakshwadeep that is.
We got back to the hotel and jumped into the pool. The pool was tiny and by the time we all got in we barely had space to swim. But I was fun.

The next day we headed back to Kodai – tired, burnt but immensely happy about the fantastic trip.

Extra extra read all about it...

Students of Kodaikanal International School in the Backwaters of Alleppy
The locals watched with great delight as the group of international students who rowed their canoes through the backwaters of Alleppy. The beauty of the place and the activities gave the students a memorable experience which they would cherish.

A group of 28, comprising of grade 11 and 12 students from Kodaikanal International School came to Alleppy for canoeing as part of their social experience, which is an essential part of their curriculum. There were 18 boys and 6 girls. The group was led by the Vice Principal of the school, Mr Faddeggon and three other staff members.

The group went through R Block, Kavaalam, Kidangara, Neerettupuram, Edathva, Chembakulam, Nedumudi and Chendangani to cover a total distance of 80 kms. They also visited St Anthony’s Orphanage in Alleppy and spent time with the children singing and dancing. The staff Neil Hutton, Dan Winfred and Shreya DeMonte said that the interaction with the children was an enjoyable experience.

They chose this place for the field trip as they had heard about the scenice beauty of the backwaters. In the group was a Keralite from Calicut, US, Japan and New Zealand in the group. The tour was organized by ‘Alleppy Backwaters’

*The post on the trip will be up soon, but this article came out in the Malyalam Manaroma on 19 Sept 2008. And yes the trip was fantastic!

Inspiration or plagarism

India churns out highest number of movies every year in the whole world. However most of them are blatantly copied from other movies. Some of them just take some inspiration and some of them are simply a remake and some even go to the extent of copying the original movie scene-by-scene.

Is being a director in India a tough job, hell no - just watch an english movie, convert it into hindi, add some music and you have got yourself a movie.

These people need to be sued. A couple of cases have been taken up but to my knowledge nothing really has happen. Sony is currently in the process of sueing Ero's for plagarizing the movie hitch (the hindi remake was - Partner)

So next time you are watching a hindi flick, you probably have paid to watch a film you have already seen.
Hindi movie ...........English movie it is based on
Naksha.......... The Rundown
The Killer....... Collateral
Krrish.......... Paycheck
Mr Ya Miss ............Hot Chick
Sauda - The Deal............. Indecent Proposal
Salaam Namaste............... Nine Months
Koi... Mil Gaya.............. E.T. & Forrest Gump
Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai........... My Best Friends Wedding
Hari Puttar ......................Home alone (you thought Harry Potter dint you!)

I raise my glass

To the people I treasure
To the people I love
For all the times you stood by me
For all the times you fought for me
To the times we laughed
To the times we cried
And to the times you consoled
Through the good times and the bad
I thank you for being there
For the hugs
The pats on the back
The jokes
The love
I thank you for being special
I thank you for being my friend
To you my friend I raise my glass
To you my friends - a toast
For the time shared
For the memories created
To YOU
Cheers!

Kerela – Gods own country

The tag line for Kerela could not be more true. Kerela is absolutely beautiful. We left this morning from Kodai and drove down to Kottayam via Thekadi.
This is a work related trip am here to meet with the people from Malyalam Manorama regarding PR for the school.

Am staying at the backwater ripples resort, which is gorgeous. I have a deluxe room overlooking the backwaters and 100 yards away from the pool. I checked in and went straight for an Aryuvedic massage. Bloody fantastic.

The room is really nice, it has a loft which has a double bed and a TV while the downstairs room has two single beds and another TV. The bathroom area is open (the shower area has no ceiling but just a skylight and it feels like your having a shower in the great outdoors. I am not doing justice in describing the room, hopefully the pictures give you a better idea.

So day two in Kerela started off with a boat ride on the backwaters of Kerela and not any boat I am talking 250 horse power speed boat baby. A private boat owned by Jacob Mathews came to the resort to pick us up and take us around. Totally amazing. This week speed boat next week canoes. Life is all about the ups and downs.

After that we went back to JM house for lunch, fantastic Kerela food – the only downside was getting my mind ready for the meeting which was in the afternoon.

We met with a couple of editors at MM and went around and saw the factory etc. Made me realize how much work goes into every single publication. Came back to JM house around 7, sat in the patio with a Lagavulin, dinner was jumbo prawns and desert was Godiva chocolates. Now that’s the life eh!

I left their house around half past 9 and drove in to Cochin – stayed at the MM guest house, again another fantastic place. Had to be at the airport at half past six for my flight only to arrive here and find out the flight has been delayed for a couple of hours. So here I sit writing my blog, drinking some coffee and anticipating the next 4 days in Delhi. See you guys soon

İyiyim, teşekkür ederim.

So life has been pretty hectic over here, with hot pink birthday parties a girl barely has time to blog.

It’s Monday evening and I am sitting in front of my fire place while the rain begins and the wind howls and I am glad to be in my pajamas and pretty much done for the day.
This weekend has been pretty hectic – the film crew were up here to make the alumni film and moi was the creative director / assistant / task master / person who makes puppy dog eyes to students so that they will do what we ask. What can I say I am multi talented!

So it was on the go since Friday and my body and mind have been begging for a weekend but that’s not going to have for a couple more weeks now.
Am looking forward to seeing how the films turns out and yeah they have asked me to do the voice over. 15 minutes of fame here I come.

The last week has been a whirlwind. Friday – dreads left for the states, well technically left for Chennai and will be flying out for the states this Wednesday. We had his farewell party at my place and showed the video I made. FYI I love windows movie maker. I can spend hours playing around with it.

Independence day weekend had lots of people up and a whole lot of partying. Sailor (who shall now be renamed semen .. thanks dreads) finally came back to kodai after giving his exams, which he passed. Wohoo

A couple of alumni were up as well. We started the weekend festivities with lunch at Margaret’s house. Good food, great company, awesome weather – just a perfect afternoon.
We then went on the hunt for coffee, we decided on pastry corner, we reached there only to find out that it was closed. We then headed to wiggles house and I proceeded to make coffee and half way through the boys decided my house was more conducive to chilling out and away we went to drive to my place. Now lets review the distance from wiggles house to my house – a 4 minute walk tops. We left his house, but due to the parade going on with independence days we had to take a million detours and landed at my house 45 minutes later. Back in my house and after some coffee, fried eggs, wai wai noodles we were out again. We went to raj’s place for the night. Relaxed company and some games. The night ended pretty early and I was tucked into bed at 12:30pm.

The next day I helped wiggles with his advisee dinner. 3 hours with middle schoolers man was I pooped. We headed back to raj’s house. Learnt a new game – the paper bag game. The idea behind the game is to pick up a paper bag with your mouth only while balancing on one foot. Each round involves tearing off a part of the bag until there is a sliver of the bag left. As you can imagine we dint get very far. We then headed out, the lake and the 10 mile round. Ended up coming home at 4:30 am!

Sunday was pretty relaxed, we chilled at my place and tried watching a couple of movies but they all were so pathetic we gave up and listened to music and had a couple of interesting conversations.

So that’s what’s been happening on this side of the mountain. Have been for a couple of hikes but don’t foresee that happening now since the next couple of weekends are taken.

This weekend I go for camp, with grade 11. If the weather is good camp is an awesome place, with a rock climbing wall, zip line, a raft and volleyball. Looking forward to it.
I get back Sunday afternoon and on Tuesday I am off to Kerela for some work. Will be there for three days and then flying out to Delhi. It’s the schools 50th anniversary and the whole gang will be there. Bhaiya, cousins, family friends and Ala-bama. SO excited. She is coming back to India for a month and is flying into Delhi and we will come back to Kodai and on the way we spend a day in Coimbatore chilling with raj etc.

I am barely in Kodai for three working days and then that Sunday I am off for a 6 days canoeing trip on the back waters of Kerela. Its going to be a blast.
So yeah that’s my travel schedule for the month ahead. Lots of work, lots of partying, lots of fun. What more could a girl ask for!

Till the next post adios

Listening to: No ordinary love
Eating: pasta
Drinking: wine
Accidents: none apart from a light bulb exploding in front of my face thanks to wiggles

*have you figured out what the title means?

volleyball in the rain and swimming in the lake = fun weekend!

So this week has been crazy busy. The film crew left on Monday, the rest of the week went in a blur with my body begging for a weekend. But that just was not going to happen. This weekend I went camping with grade 11 to Poondi. This was the first time I was spending the night at Poondi and it was a blast.

We left campus on Friday afternoon, wiggles and I went in the jeep with Vasant and Kenny. The journey was laced with a whole lot of laughter and on the way there we even got to see the elusive Malabar squirrel.
We got into camp at 6 and after settling into our tents we has tea while the rain poured on. It rain for a couple of hours and the kids and chaperones were confined to the covered courts, with hot tea and snacks, so no one really complained. The weather cleared up by 9pm and we then got the camp fire going.
Camp desert was banana boats. You take a banana (with the skin) split it in half and stuff in a marshmallow, a chocolate bar and a biscuit. You then wrap it up in foil and toss it into the fire for 10 minutes. Take it out and enjoy. Absolutely yummy.

The kids went to bed around 12pm and V, wiggles and I sat out and chatted. Tried looking for shooting stars. No such luck!
Went to bed at 1 and was up bright and early at 6. With a cup of tea I sat and wrote in my journal enjoying the fantastic view.
The kids were then woken up at 8 with W and me singing out loud and acting crazy. And I wonder why the kids think I am a wacko

The day was spent playing volleyball with the kids, we then went on the raft and jumped into the lake. Best not to think how dirty that lake was (with all the water buffalos swimming in it as well)

After the lake we played another game of volleyball in the rain, then lunch. Never before has a meal looked so good. Wiggles then played soccer in the rain and by the end of the game the field was waterlogged and the ball was actually floating in certain sections of the field. Tea and relaxing in front of the fire.

Some issue came up on main campus and I ended up going with vasant half way to Kodai. Came back at 10 and could barely keep my eyes open, was in bed by 11 and slept soundly till 6 am the next day.

The morning was spent cleaning up camp and then being chaperone for the zip line and even played American football. I scored a touchdown.
Left camp at 1 and every one was knocked out in the bus, though we did get to see some bison on our way back to Kodai.
All in all a great weekend!

Battered bruised and burnt

Quite the title for a blog post what say you?
But the contents of this post are completely true and explain why I am called Calamity Jane / Accident Prone etc etc

Lets break it down (maybe I should be careful with my words. All I need is to break down now!)

Battered:
So I am doing my usual Sunday activity – Ultimate Frisbee. It’s going pretty well. I have caught a few, done a few decent throws and I even think my team is up. So why battered? Well Shreez decided to run across the end zone to try and catch a Frisbee which just seems to be floating in the air waiting for some one to grab it. I tell you it was screaming into the wind “catch me Shreez, catch me and get a point for your team, catch me and be the star!” Well self obsessed me starts to run. Faster and faster I go, the Frisbee (lets name him mike) while mike just stays mid air. Me being the bright spark that I am thought if I slide I will be able to catch mike before he touches the ground, which he is now precariously close to. Mistake number one – the ground is not wet which makes sliding difficult – the whole friction concept. Shreez trips – slam on her knees – bam on to her shoulder and stop the whole thing with the side of her head!
Wham bam kapooie.
I see stars mummy, they are bright and sparkly
Well the usual Frisbee crowd are not fazed. They stay where they are waiting for me to get up and throw mike back up.
A couple of wobbles and I am ready to go again. Battered but ready to go!

Bruised:
So back tracking to Thursday, I had my go at indoor soccer. Now yeah I know what you are thinking, are you serious, shreez with your clumsiness you want to run around with a ball between your feet. Jeez talk about being an idiot. Well I realized that my skills do not lie in that area but I did do quite a good job being goalie. 45 minutes passed with no one being able to score against me. Well don’t pat my back just as yet, I was playing against dreads, hoops, dan and wiggles. But they were kicking pretty hard and I had solid bruises over my knees, arms and legs. So thus my story of being bruised.

Burnt:
And the crème da la crème, my story of being burnt. So apart from being self obsessed I am quite vain as well and obviously I cant walk out of the house with my hair looking like a mess. So early Monday morning I decided to straighten my hair with my normal iron since I dint have my straightening iron with me and in the midst of it I nicked my forehead with the side of the iron leading to a Harry Potter scar. Talk about being clumsy!

So with my new look – black hair, scar across my forehead and bloodshot eyes I look well I don’t look like me and don’t feel like me either.

Happy birthday to you!!

You know its surprising how much there is to do in Kodai. Insert *gasp*.

But honestly the past three weeks here have flown so quickly. Starting from the most recent happenings yesterday was dread's birthday.

He turned the big two five! Quarter of century – happy birthday to you

Now turning 25 is a big deal. People do crazy things on their 25th birthdays. Unfortunately he was not into the whole thing and wanted a quiet affair.

Isn't happening yo! (As hoops would say)

The birthday celebration began at 11:50 pm on the 4th of August with H and I walking to main gate to get the keys from the watchman for the other gate. He looked at us as if we were bananas to be roaming around in Kodai nearing midnight when every thing closes at 8pm.

So we get the keys and drive over to BW, where we quietly sneak up the stairs as I keep my camera ready and burst into his room screeching happy birthday. Only to find a sleeping dreads. Who even upon having people scream in his ear, pull off his blankets and take non stop pictures (with flash) continued to sleep.

Well we trudged down the stairs and had a muffin (which were warm from the oven, needed some thing to keep me awake till 12) and H and I drove back home.

Now we all know how much dreads absolutely loves hot pink (sarcasm detected) we all decided to wear pink on his special day. We tried spreading the word among staff but dint follow through however there were an unusually large number of students and staff wearing hot pink that day. Go figure!

The idiot however dint show up for lunch and when we finally saw him on the basketball court H&I wished him on the top of our lungs and had students go up and say "happy birthday and pink is hot!" That should pretty much have been the warning for what was to lie ahead.

The evening was full of laughter and lots and lots of hot pink! Every one got into the swing of things and I managed to get D a hot pink shirt (and I mean hot pink!) from Spencer's. Kudos for him for putting it on and wearing it the whole evening! Along with allowing me to take a number of pictures. I see age is making him more cooperative

There was fantastic food (chicken fajitas and biryani)

Great company

Lots of reminiscing – monkeys, bandicoots and charades…

A whole lot of teasing – M and me being the main targets… (I need to get my hands on that video!)

All in all a fantastic evening

And to top it off it was all in pink!

Zee puurrfect!

Muah

Quotable Quotes!

I am known for saying hilarious / stupid things but I am also surrounded by friends who do the same, so here is a couple of classics.
More to be added as they occur :)

Scene: Curls meeting some people from florida and she is from ohio
X: "Ah so your from ohio, you dam yankees!"
Curls: "who the hell is talking about sports!"

Curls again with dreads
D: "So you were in Africa for a bit, do you speak pidgin english"
C: "uumm, I speak english, but pigeons dont speak english!"
We all burst into laughter

Shreez: "21 is a fantastic movie"
Aussie girl: "oh I love that series, I am so addicted to it, cant wait for the new season"
S: "uumm I think your talking about 24!!!!"

Sailor: "dam, my computer just died.. $%&&%^%"
Shreez: "did it not give you a warning and why dint you plug it it"
Sailor: "I did plug it in.. oh wait I dint plug it into the computer, I just did a shreez!!"

X: "Ok dreads, so now you can only answer in yes or no form and think quick ok?"
Dreads: "Got it"
X: "Is there a number bigger than one?"
D: "2"
*every one rolling on the floor laughing*

Hiccups: "I have crumbs in my boobs, I am now going to go remove them!"

Hiccups (reading the newspaper) : "did you know that 37% of primates are endangered"
Hoops: Well we are lucky to have you around then dont we!

Now I've seen every thing

So I just have to blog about this. I am sitting in my office when some one from maintenance brings three godrej guys in. I am adamant that we dont have any godrej lockers and did not requite thier servicing facilities.

I was then told that godrej even makes computer chairs. (who would have thunk it!) and they were here to make sure the chairs were in running order.
So in come the three men (well its not a one man job as you can see), while one opens his notebook to note down the condition of the chair, the other is lookout to make sure no danger comes to the guy who is testing out the chair and then finally the man of the hour, the one with the delicate tooshie (you need one of those to test all the chairs out)

So he lowers his bum on my chair, leans back, wiggles a bit to make sure it all in working order and raises the chair and lowers it a number of times and then proclaims that the chair is in great working condition.

They then proceed to do this to the other 7 chairs in my office.

Now I've seen every thing!

The day I held a snake!

Ok, so every one pretty much knows how scared I am of snakes! I dont mind watching them on TV or even seeing them in a zoo. But the moment it is just roaming around in front of me I absolutely freak out.
I hyper ventilate, my heart races and tears instantly appear.
Yesterday Little One (LO) and wiggles went on a major lizard / snake hunt and they found a Bombay earth snake. Who ever said you dont have snakes in Kodai was obviously lying.

So when the found it and kept it in a box I was on pins and needles and if any one got it near me I jumped onto a chair. Dreads, Hoops, Wiggles and even LO were like its a harmless snake and almost like a big earth worm and I should hold it and get over my fear.

Today after dinner, the kids from Hoops dorm came into to see the snake and I decided it was time to get over this fear. I stuck my hand out and held on to hoops shoulder while wiggles gently lowered the snake (named bob) onto my hand. (note: the picture is not of me holding the snake but it is Bob)

I kept my eyes averted and tried slowing down my intense breathing (with no avail) while bob laid camly on my hand. He remained there for a few seconds.

But I DID IT!
I touched a snake.
Maybe I will get over this fear.
I am so proud :)

Mosaic tag game

Here are the rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into any mosaic maker.

Questions:

1. What is your first name? (no first names on the blog) (haahh!)
2. What is your favorite food? Pasta
3. What high school did you go to? Loreto Convent
4. What is your favorite color? Hot Pink
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Collin Farrell
6. Favorite drink? Long Island Ice Teas
7. Dream vacation? Bangaram
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate mousse
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A Traveller
10. What do you love most in life? Diving
11. One Word to describe you. Intense (flickr searches are quite random, but this was the picutre for intense and I think it describes me quite well, what word should I have used?)
12. Your flickr name. shreez21 (no pictures found for shreez21 so used shreez... pic choice is interesting)

Just trust, give it time, no matter how long it takes

Have not blogged for ages, tho I have been lugging my laptop with me every where I go. So what is happening 7000 feet above sea level you ask?
Quick update:
* Back in Kodai, last year here now (or atleast I hope) Not to seem negative but its time to move on. Move on to bigger and better things - where shall I be next year this time and like the title suggests - just trust, give it time, no matter how long it takes (in every aspect of life!)
*Back in Kodai, getting back to the usual grind of things, been pretty busy and am enjoying the feeling of having a constant stream of things to do. Work hard and party harder.
Talking about partying harder - Kodai saw its first ever lungi party and I must say it was quite a success! Every one came in a lungi and the boys took to the whole folded in half lungi quite well. American style barbeque with an indian flavor of fashion. Being multi cultural is quite nice.
*New semester mean new people. The good and bad of Kodai - people come and people leave. Like I was telling hoops one afternoon while we had coffee in my house - the situation is the same but the faces keep changing.
*Hoops now has an even bigger pair of hoops (found them in turkey in the summer)
*Alabama might be coming to India in Sept. Cant wait to see her! Its amazing how even just 6 months can make you so close to some one.
*Beavis sent me a link to his post - to the women he loved. Miss him like crazy! Constant texting to meeting up at cup of tea for the first time. A great friend.
* Back to frisbee and volleyball. Good fun as usual! No major injuries till date - well apart from Aaron running into me.
*Talking about injuries I managed to fall in the office. Was walking in J's office and managed to slip on absolutely nothing (like i said shreez does not need any external forces to injure her self) while I lose my footing I twist my body to grab on to some thing to stop my fall, only to end up bumping into a table of pottery - breaking quite a few items in the botique. In this process I bruise the bone on my left foot and then fall into J's office on my bum and knock on my head on the edge of the chair. Solid bump on the head and a swollen foot is what I end up with. (lovely to have friends around, they will always be there to help you up but also be there to laugh at your clumsiness)
While I sat in the doctors office I have hoops laughing at me, while my foot has an ice pack around it and I hold another ice pack to my head. Talk about being injured from head to toe.
*My TV has not been working for 2 weeks now. IG you will be happy to know I have not watched TV for 14 days now and instead spend my time reading.
*JP leaves this monday for Kolkatta. Every one seems to be leaving.
*Lynea and her hubbie have now joined the ranks in Kodai. It is absolutely great to have her back. And K seems to be absorbed in to the group quite seamlessly.
*Wiggles is absolutely hilarious. And hoops and I now have some one to tease relentlessly. Check out his blog. A good read.
*Had a relaxful saturday. Woke up at 9 completely refreshed. Chatted with wiggles over a cup of coffee, lunch, coffee with the gang in my place and then pedicures for hoops and dreads (I find it so relaxing to give pedicures) and then dinner with some people. Found a place for great tandoori chicken in Kodai. And I even ate chicken on the bone!
*Sat in the same room with a Bombay earth snake. Freaked out every time small chap brought it near me. Yeah I am petrified of snakes. My heart races and tears instantly form. I will get over this fear. some time...
Well thats pretty much the end of the random post. Will update you more on the turkey trip and the turkish bath in my next post.

Listening to: You can call me Al by Simon and Garfunkel
Last movie watched: Chicken run (right after Runaway Bride..two movies in one day!)
Laughed pretty much thru out dinner
Baked whole wheat raspberry oatmeal muffins
and to end it off, wishing Blondie a very happy birthday (love you sweetheart!)

A turkish bath

The Turkish bath is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the sauna. They have played an important role in cultures of the Middle-East, serving as places of social gathering, ritual cleansing, and as architectural structures, institutions, and (later) elements with special customs attached to them.


The Turkish bath as a method of cleansing the body and relaxation was particularly popular during the Victorian era.


A person taking a Turkish bath first relaxes in a room (known as the warm room) that is heated by a continuous flow of hot, dry air allowing the bather to perspire freely. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room (known as the hot room) before splashing themselves with cold water. After performing a full body wash and receiving a massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation.


Seems pretty harmless when one reads it on wikipedia, well its not! When I first heard I was going to Turkey and for a turkish bath I was pretty excited, until Hoops and Aussie girl said that it would be in front of other woman I dint belive them. Uuummm big mistake.



So we land in Turkey, after not sleeping for 48 hours Mum and I walked into the Turkish bath ready for some R and R. We enter the cool room and are directed to our cubicles. The lady incharge goes "Here is your towel, you can change in there. Take of every thing and then follow me"

Shreez: "Every thing???"

Lady: "Yes! every thing" (quite impatiently)

I look at mom quite lost and then quietly goes to her cubicle to change.

We come out with all wrapped up and follow the lady to the cool room. As I turn the corner a biggish lady just drops her towel and walks out. Totally naked!


I at this point of time am flabbergasted and am getting quite uncomfortable as the minutes pass by. I whisper to my mom - "ma... why are people naked" Mom: " well obviously how else are you going to go have the bath"


uuuummmm.... ok


We walk into the steam room, and there are about 20 women all naked and getting thier massage etc. We sit in the steam room for about 20 minutes while our pores open. As we are waiting a big turkish lady rumbles in and begins to scream at the other ladies in turkish. The thought which instantly runs thru my mind is I really hope that she isnt the one who does my massage etc.


5 minutes later she walks in and smiles at me and goes "ready for your massage" Shreez gives a weak smile and once again thinks what in the world am I doing here.
While my mind is still trying to grasp the thought of this woman giving me a massage, she proceeds to remove her swimming costume (the ladies who work there, wear bathing suits) and throws some water on her self (they do that between every client, at least they are hygenic *shrug*) This by the way is done right in front of me.. shudder shudder

I am then taken to the centre bit of the room where the massages are given and am asked to lie down and she proceeds to give me a massage (which was quite relaxing, though it did not take away from the akwardness of the situation) and then scrub me down and remove all dead skin cells and dirt (which was quite a lot even after having a shower upon arriving in Turkey)

I then get a bath, a lot of water poured over me, while I try to grab some quick breaths between mugs of water.

You are then expected to walk from this room to the other room, where the fresh towels are kept (again naked!) and wrap your self up nice and snug and head back to the cool room, where you can order some fresh juice, turkish coffee (which is fantastic) or turkish tea (which is also fantastic)

When you go back to your cubicle, you are given a little bag, with a fresh pair of undies and a comb. (how thoughful ;) )

The experience was quite unnerving, but you skin feels great after it. And I can now cross of one thing of the 1000 things to do / places to see before you die

Oh yeah, in olden times, the hamam was a place where women gathered to gossip and mothes looked out for potential brides for thier sons. To make sure the woman in question had no unsightly scars or disfigurements. And they say people dont look. Bah!

And that ladies and gentlemen was my experience at the turkish bath!

10 things to consider before marrying an Indian man

Note: this post is not accurate, highly generalized and just what happens when alabama and I chat till 5am. No offence intended.

1. Your babies will be brown and quite possibly with blue eyes and blonde hair depending on your genealogy
2. You will be a constant point of amusement / frustration / astonishment to his complete family
3. You will be the topic of discussion at every family gossip session “You know Ram's wife no, the white one yes yes I am telling you, these white girls, arre baba” says inquisitive over bearing, over weight aunt from the fathers side while munching on some pakodas
4. All men fart, that we know, but when marrying an Indian man – one needs to deal with Indian farts. Don’t like the smell of curry when its served on the table, imagine it being farted out over the course of the night and not silently I might add!
5. You not only marry him but his whole family (father, mother, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grand nieces, grand nephews, first cousins, second cousins, third cousins and random people who are adamant that they are related to you.. even though you are white)
6. Indianisms – “you know only, yes yes”
7. Talking about passionate love making – the Indian man is not into any experimentation. It’s all about the wham bam thank you mam. Ladies self pleasure is some thing you master while being married to an Indian man.
8. He is and always will be a mama’s boy
9. You will be expected to pop out grand children by the dozen and boys will be favoured

and the final point to consider when marrying an Indian man

10. Head wiggle – just imagine after a night of passionate love making, the Indian man looks up at you and goes “ah! Very good, very good” wiggle wiggle (the head I mean, you dirty minded people!)

Ah! the good days and the bad days

The good days and the bad days

There are days when I bask in your glory

Live for your love

Astounded by your greatness

Hear your word

Walk in complete faith

Complete peace

And then come the other days

When I dont listen

When I attempt to do all by myself

When life is to busy for some time with you

When life seems perfect and I really need nothing more

Yeah those are the bad days

And they go on and on

Days turn to weeks and some times months

I turn around and start from step one again

Each step again

Frustrated at my stupidity

And slightly amused at the fact that I thought I could do it my self

In the summer time... when the weather is fine...

So have not written for ages and I think its time to do a post on the happenings in my life. Pretty random post with out any major insights. Well that’s not true, while I was in Madurai giving my exams I did learn a few things apart from the reliability and validity of a test.

*I can be stubborn and stupid some times and usually end up doing what people told me to do in the first place. Yes non AC room in Madurai is not the best option
*I am a wuss, I hated it there and it was just for a few days but I wanted to leave every chance I got
*I am loved. I had people cheering me on, telling me I could do it and just making sure I did what I went there to do
*That people are comfortable enough to chill in my house when I am not there. Mi casa es tu casa
*Cell phones - an amazing invention. If I dint have text messaging - Madurai would have been unbearable
*I love buying shoes and can even find a pair I like in Madurai
*Really love being in Kodai - in my community - with my friends aaawww
(yeah yeah this isn’t a literary masterpiece!)

The interesting happenings in Maduari:
*The auto driver on day one offering me his comb when I asked him if he could take me to a place where I can buy a brush from.
*People thinking I am a foreigner - really me?? have you seen me... I am Indian and dam proud of it
*The examiner for my one exam
I enter the hall and he breaks into a stream of Tamil I look dumbfounded. He then ushers me to my seat and gives me the question paper. Once the exam starts he sits down next to me and proceeds to read my answer sheet for the whole exam. Bad enough he sits and reads my paper but he reads it under his breath and I can hear him.
Half way through the paper he asks for my id. Now the picture on the id is from over two years ago and I have really short hair. He then gets on to my case and says that I am not the same person. We spend 10 minutes arguing and then I go out to get my id card, which is not up to his satisfaction so I pull out my licence. He finally admits that I am the same person and I get down to my exam. He then sees me writing on attitudes, he exclaims "ah! attitudes, you know I did my thesis on attitudes!" I smile sweetly and get back to writing, he continues on asking why my hand writing was so bad and why I was not underlining the important points. Honestly man will you let me write my exams! He continues to read my paper and then asks me where I was from. Told him I was from Delhi - "arre no no, you are Sri Lankan" .. uumm no I am not "are you sure, you look Sri Lankan, are your parents Sri Lankan, you sound like a foreigner"
Any way he bugged me through out the exam and when I got up to leave he asked whether I would help him with some English work the next day! (only I get to meet random people like this!)

The interesting happenings in Kodai:
*Chilling to wee hours of the morning for 5 days straight after my stint in Madurai
*Sneaking out a paddle boast at 4am with C and paddling around the lake (and the others said it was too dangerous pah!)
*Taking care of intoxicated people haha
*Random stalker pestering me - Romio go get a life

That’s pretty much it, told you nothing really great was happening.
Vacation starts for me in a week’s time. Off to Delhi for a couple of hours and then off to Turkey for a week or so. Looking forward it. Hot air balloon ride over turkey - the highlight of the trip. And then I am back in Delhi - oh sweet Delhi how I miss thee. So who ever is in Delhi from the 21 of June till the 13 of July - give me a buzz.
Thats all folks!

A page from her diary

I told you what happened because you needed to know
I told you what happened because I needed to let it go
Over zealous attempts to protect me
Will not erase the past; these scars will not disappear
I’m still the person you knew
Yet you treat me like another
Don’t look at me differently
Don’t tread with trepidation
Don’t bristle at the words which sound crude and harsh
Because these are the words, these are the words of my past
But the question remains – as painful as it seems
Have my scars marred your view of me?
I told you what happened, because I thought you needed to know
I told you what happened, but I shouldn’t have done so

From 7200ft above sea level to 300ft above sea level and back for biryani!

We all do crazy / random things once in a while.
Wearing blonde extensions and walking around town
6 girls dressed exactly alike and going for a movie
Lying on top of a car and driving around the lake

But Kodai seems to be where random things happen on a daily basis. Like yesterday we drove down the ghats to a dhaba to eat biryani.

A two hour drive down
A 40 minute meal
A two hour drive back up!

Talk about desperation, to get off the mountain top.
12 people
3 cars
Good music
Great company
Happy birthday Billy Day!

I just realized how much I love road trips. Wish I could do more, but after yesterdays antics I wonder if dreads and hoops will ever allow me in a car with them.
It is dreads fault actually, as soon as he said Shreez dont sing, I just had too!

So just to end of with song and count your lucky stars you are reading the lyrics and not listening to my rendition of them..

Follow me Everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

Hidden within the shadows of night

Walking back home, late at night, it gives me time to think, contemplate the situation around me. Makes me observe what one usually gives no second thought.

I watched my shadow tonight

I know its mine

Looks like me, imitates my every move

But not my emotions

I walk with tears streaming down my face

But my shadow just goes on its normal way

I stare at the dark image of my head

Staring into the ground with such intensity

Hoping to peer in the darkness and see what I feel

But my shadow - says nothing, does nothing, feels nothing

This post does not make any sense, I am not making any sense, good night!

Save tonight and fight the break of dawn

I love entertaining
I love taking care of people, making sure they eat enough, always have a drink in hand.. just being hostess.. what to say i am a mum...
after ages had people over for dinner... apart from the fact that my maid ditched me and i was super stressed till all the food was ready i had a blast...
good company
great food
decent conversation
and some singing
what more could a girl want...
me a happy chiquita

Uh uh uh uh oh ooh --- Why'd you have to go-oh --- Away from home -- Me love

Things that make me smile:

Staying up till 4, because I want too
Waking up at 6, to get ready for work, because I have too
Going for late night drives
Playing random games in my house
Random arguments, which lead to google'ing questions to prove who is right
Blogging
Singing off tune and having no one care
People letting me sing off tune, cos they know it makes me happy
Dressing up and feeling great
Honest compliments
Talking to old friends
Making new friends
Cooking / baking
Inside jokes
Funny moments
Random notes on facebook
Pictures
Having people chill in my house
People being completely at ease in my house
Making fried eggs
Having a productive day at work
Superlatives on facebook
Laughing at my self and the stupid things I do (which I do many!)
and so many more.. to the people in my life, thank you... cos with out you, the memories I have would not exist!

flowing emotions

Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much

Words from unchained melody (really nice song I must add) Not that the lyrics have much to do with the post today. I was thinking about how fast time flies. We are in March already – it seems like yesterday that I was sitting with IG, Papa Ramero, P Diddy and Blondie at TGIF. But now we are all back into our corners of the world and reality is back in my face.

Last Thursday this time I was pretty depressed. Actually bawling my eyes out and gasping for breath would be a more apt description. The week has gone by. Gone by quickly and slowly at the same time. Does that make sense?

The days have gone by quick, I guess that’s thanks to the running around and organizing I’ve been doing for the event on Saturday but the thinking / pondering / analyzing / contemplating I have been doing has made the week seem like a month.

Talking to P Diddy this morning I came up with another insight. Been doing a lot of that lately.
I don’t care a DAM what you think
I don’t care whether you like or hate me
I don’t care if you think I am the cause for every single thing going wrong
I don’t care if you think I am not good enough

You know why?
Because it’s your thoughts! Your view, your ideas, your issue!!

And I’ve stopped caring. I have stopped being scared. Stopped fearing some thing which is not true. You tried – you tried to break me, you convinced me I was no good.
Hell you convinced me that if any thing happened to ‘A’ it would be my fault.
That if death were to come knocking on the door – he would be thanking me for the referral!

You know what you almost got away with it. You pushed me, criticized me, belittled me till I looked at my self and felt disgusted. I was never good enough for any thing – never strong enough for any thing!

But today I stand up, because honestly you’re full of shit and you know it!

So you can push me all you like
Try to do what ever makes you feel happy
But I am going to stand my ground
I might have tears running down my face, my voice might me trembling but I am NOT standing down

Blast from the past with a dash of psychological input!

At the end of grade 11 my ‘friends’ suddenly decided they dint want to be friends with me any more. It would have been nice if they had told me. Instead they completely ignored me, whispered behind my back and basically were bitchy (like high school girls are!)

This treatment lasted for about 5 – 6 months. Can you imagine going to school, having people totally ignore you. And those who did speak to you – spoke like you were a condemned person. And the one person who I thought would tell me what was going on, looked right through me when I asked her a question.

Yeah high school girls can be a bitches.
Trust me I know.
I was one and have been on the receiving end as well.

I finally did find out what really happened. Some rumors were spread and instead of confronting me – my ‘friends’ just decided to ostracize me.

Things actually worked out for the best. I made new friends. People who thought I was a stuck up little twit got to know the real me and Blondie and I became best friends.

FYI – she was one of the people who totally ignored me as well

But the point of this post is not to crib about it. It all happened for a reason and I am glad it did. But it did have an effect on me psychologically.

I now have insecurities about friends. Especially close friends. The fear of them suddenly turning their backs on me is high. The fear that some one new who joins will spread rumors about me, or twist my words around leaving me alone constantly plays in my mind.

Why I write about this now I have no idea. I have had an extremely emotional afternoon and rather than facing the issue in front of me I digress into a problem which is mine alone.

Therapy session 1

You know what the best thing about being a psychology major is? The fact that you have other friends who are psych majors as well. And thanks to this fact I have saved my self a whole lot of cash on a therapist and instead use IG’s services free of charge!

Anyhoo had an extremely weird dream last night and have had various interoperations. Any comments are more than welcomed.

The dream started off with me and some one (can’t remember who – though it was not a family member) walking into the cemetery where my grand ma is buried. (The place was exactly what it looks like in real life)
I walk in, go pay my respects at my grandmother’s grave and start to look for another grave. At this point of time I realize that some of the graves have been moved around and the grave I am looking for is not in its original position.

Slightly frantic I begin to search until some one point’s out one grave. Its black granite and very well decorated but there is no name on it. Yet I know this is the one I am searching for. The people next to be say they need to open the grave to confirm the person’s identity.
They open the grave and inside is my grandfather – perfectly preserved.

I see this and sit down next to the open casket and bawl hysterically.

That was pretty much the dream. I have never met my grandfather – well I probably was just a couple of months old when he passed away.
When I was telling my dad my dream I described what my grand dad was wearing. Although hazy I knew he was wearing a suit, and the colors black, grey and red were present. According to my dad that is exactly what he was buried in.

My interpretation: an unconscious desire for me to know more about the family history and learn about my grandparents.

My dad’s view was that my grandfather was reaching out to me and he needs prayers.

IG’s view: (in her words)
Well, first thoughts (and this is largely guess work and likely to not be entirely accurate)
Your hysteria at the grave not being there suggests some anxiety about something being lost- perhaps at your current insecurity about a certain friendship?? And something changing suggested by renovation (in your dream) you obviously don’t want it to change
Black granite- my associations are of something strong and solid
What’s the association to there being "no name"? What is YOUR association to namelessness?

Shreez: well some times I feel like I am a nameless person, like people just kind off forget about me.

IG: hhmmm, back to the dream, did you not want them to open the coffin

Shreez: I don’t remember exactly. I think I was not opposed to it - it was more for their satisfaction that they needed to now if it was the right grave but I knew it was the right one

IG: Okay. Listen. Some strong association and meaning just struck me. The body in the grave is a split part of you. As a result of this change, while one part is convinced of its own strength and stability, confident (body in grave) the other part; outside is hysterical and wants to cry
You don’t need them to open it up, yet for THEIR satisfaction they do. It’s like a test of your character strength perhaps
Nothing comes to me with respect to the no name thing. Something to do perhaps wit losing yourself as a result of all this splitting
Plus, the fact that you chose your grand father (a Lieutenant General) as a symbol suggests a desire to have that strength. Generals are strong and commanding figures

Shreez: well its weird u say that - because my thoughts lately have been that I show case my self to be a strong person - but with my insecurities with this certain friendship I have my self realized what an insecure, over analyzing, blowing things out of proportion in my mind person I can be

IG: Dream interpretation is like peeling an onion. Multilayered meanings as one uncovers the latent content from the manifest content, while the religious one doesn’t enter the picture for you or me. The other two- mine and your family interpretation are both making sense to you and therefore likely to be correct but, I think the family one is less deeper than the one that related to your own psychic processes

See that’s why it’s great having friends who are psychologists!

PS – any other views??

Family and friends!

For those who have been with me over the last 6 months of the year 2007 knew a small percentage of the shit I was going through. And as much as each of my best friends thought they knew what was going on, that was a minute part of it.

So when I went back home in December I cried.
Tears of happiness
Tears of sadness
The emotions that flooded me when I landed at the Indira Gandhi domestic airport, just left me as a blubbering mess but you know what I dint care what the other passengers thought of me. I was HOME!!
(Although my flight was four hours delayed and it took an hour 15 minutes to get my luggage – that’s what you get for traveling on Air Deccan)

Unconditional love: so good to be with people who love me, people who would do any thing for me, who with one look know how I am doing. To those even with the simplest caring tap on the shoulder show me they care.

To being with your own flesh and blood. Who no matter how you mess up will always be with you. My appreciation for my family grows day by day. I love you guys!!

P Diddy, Papa Romero, Blondie and Intellectual Goddess. The 4 people I am blessed enough to call as friends.

To my little brother, I love you so much and in the past one year you have changed so much, yet are still the same 7 year old I meet 12 years ago. It was so good hanging out with you.

Yes, I am extremely sentimental and highly emotional.

Hello?

Shreez: Good morning, KIS Community Office
H: Woah!
S: Hello ?
H: Shreez?
S: Yes, who is this?
H: Its H… uumm what’s with the voice?
S: Huh, what voice?
H: You just did this whole, sexy husky hello on the phone?

That’s pretty much the conversation. I have had my friends tease me about it. But that was my boss! And obviously it spread so now I have every one teasing me about my ‘sexy’ hello. You know just remembered that once some guy actually said I sounded like one of those girls on a girls gone wild hotline.

I really don’t know what the deal is. It’s not like I am trying to do any husky voice, nor do I have a cold. And honestly when I hear my voice recorded I think it sounds horrible and annoying. Very childlike. Yet people seem to disagree. Well it’s a compliment and who cares if my co workers tease me about my sultry voice.

Till next time
Good bye dhaarling!

Catharsis

I write this, not just as a post, but more as a personal catharsis. This form of writing is very different for me and may be by splitting up what I am going through makes accepting it a little easier. It’s not my best work, but it’s a release for me. It was written some time back, so dont think I am out of sync right now!

Does the heart rule the mind? Or does the mind rule the heart?

Mind
The heart convinced me (the mind) that the relationship was worth it. That no matter how many clues stood right in front of me I choose to ignore them. Until I had had enough and told the heart in pretty simple terms to bugger off.
But the heart once in a while gets center stage and floods me with emotions; making me ponder on the past that was never meant to be the future.

I decided that today I would be the controlling figure.

Taking center stage I announce to the rest of the body “Listen up and listen good! The feelings are some thing of the past; they no longer play a part in today’s situation. That is the stand we are taking and every one will help in projecting that.
Feet: you shall no longer walk for miles just to make sure he gets some thing to put a smile on his face
Arms: you shall no longer be there to hold his tired body
Eyes: you shall no longer scan his face to make sure he is ok
We will not watch him walk away.
We will not let even the slightest touch have any physiological effect on us
Are we clear?”

Heart
“I can’t deal with it. I can’t be expected to just shut down and ignore him. I am expected to look right through him. Always living on others expectations. I don’t think I can do this any more. I crushed what ever I felt, what ever I had so that he would not be hurt. But there is only that much you can crush down. And now he is with some one and I should be happy, but I am sad, not that he not with me, but the fact that he cannot look into my face. He can’t even bare being alone with me. We don’t talk and now even the simple hello is so strained!”

Body
“The emptiness is enveloping me. I feel hollow; this vacuum has been created within. Breathing is difficult and controlling the tears even more.”

Wax and more!

Before anonymous, told me her story she knew I would love to blog about it. Oh how right she was!
I warn the male specimens who are reading this, you probably want to stop now, since I can guarantee you will be grossed out by the explicit details of a
Wait for it!

A Bikini Wax!

Trust me boys not the sexiest thing to have done to your self, but the after effects, well are so desirable aren’t they J

Its amazing the amount of pain which a woman puts her self through!
Pouring hot wax on ones ‘delicates’ (as A puts it) and then ripping out the hair, seriously girls what are we thinking!

The pain is excruciating, the situation is medley put quite odd and the fact that wax is dripping all around – uumm yeah not really the best thing to be discussing on a public forum!

I asked A how bad the pain was – she said well now I know what you went thru when you got a tattoo – ouch!
The funny part was that half way thrugh this painful and very weird experience she busrt out laughting.
“Shreez I was in so much pain that’s the only dam thing I could do” says A

Any way I guess its some thing every girl needs to go thru. I hope the men appreciate it!

Just too end off, I was reading an article in the Cosmo some time back about bikini waxes and the ladies who do it were dishing out all the dirt and one beautician said that a chick got turned on while getting one done and she (the beautician) had to hand her a couple of tissues and leave the room for a bit!

Talk about embarrassing. See now that’s one job I do not want ~ ever!

Talking about things one reads in the Cosmo – one issue had an article on sex related ER antidotes.
For example – a woman thought it would be funny to stuff a tennis ball up her man’s rear end. Long story cut short, it got stuck and needed to be removed surgically. While waiting in the ER for the surgeon, the guy started coughing real bad and out popped the ball, bouncing off the wall and hit the surgeon in the face.
You know one should feel sorry for the poor guy, but that is hilarious!

Yesh this is quite a random blog post, but have been pestered by many to get back to writing, so hopefully this shall be the start of many more to come!