And then I turned 19

Warm fuzzy feeling. Good feeling. Heartfelt love radiating out towards everyone who wished me.

have to mention

Suki's gift/wish- http://the-light-of-happiness.blogspot.com/2009/05/friends-are-many.html#comment-form

Vineet's message, after a friendship based on insults and football rivalry, suddenly telling me to have a great day.

Sattwick's gloomy wish which almost alarmed me, 'Soon you will be in your twenties and people will expect you to act all mature and grown-up', till I realized he was talking about himself more than wishing me.

Trisha, 'damn u'r getting old'. 

Happy Birthday to me. 

Happy Birthday to me. Tune impaired as always, I finally sing to myself on the blog.

And for everyone who's asking what I did...We went to my grandfather's flat and it was cleaned. Yes, that is what me and my family did. Then we ate.

I also discovered what is now my latest favourite quote in a bookstore: "Some people think football is a matter of life and death- i can assure u, it's much more serious than that." - Bill Shankly.

Spiritual Manners

My favourite real life ghost story, even though as I had to explain to someone, the ghost isnt a ghost.

My brother and his friend A went to the Scary House. A shrieking ghost jumped at them from the left. Shut up! responds A. "Mind your language" said the ghost. 

And I think that that was the strangest thing that has ever happened to him or anyone in a scary house or house of horrors or whatever

a little bittle shop

Yesterday I saw a 'bittle' shop. That's exactly what the signboard said, 'bittle shop'. It was little and I kept staring at it with I think my mouth hanging open a little bit and thinking what the hell is a bittle shop, it looks like a paan shop. Then it hit me.... it was a betel shop.... :D ... translated into bengali that is a paan shop.

Last year suki showed me a something thong church.

There are shops in bombay which sold shirts and paints only they are pants as pronounced by them marathis. Sometimes they sell surts and pents too.

Also..in response to the comments my last post got..

Hi Deboleena. Thanks. And my aunt is awesome, she gives me crossword book coupons for my birthdays and doesn't insist on buying clothes. Last year she also shot me in the backside with tetanus on the first day of the pujas after I came home with my foot slashed open. That was not fun...

Suki, I'm jumping in the happiness of you getting the point of the new blog being the anecdotes and ...um sentence getting too stupid to complete.

The Thief

A year ago, my grandfather died. A month or so after that when the fuss about the funeral etc had died down, the house more or less lay quiet. Taking advantage of this, some local thief decided to raid the house. In the dead of night he crept up the water pipe and into the house. That's around when the plan went wrong. 

That weekend my aunt and uncle were staying there. A light sleeper, my aunt (a 50 year old woman) woke up when she heard the thief's footsteps and hit him with a walking stick lying around. Then she and my uncle tied him to a chair and called the police. 

After this, while waiting for the police, she felt bad. She offered him a chocolate chip cookie! He refused. Then she offered him water, he drank some then spat some out. After that, thankfully, the police arrived before she could make any more hospitable overtures.

This happened when I was around 10 years old. I couldn't fall asleep and around midnight after struggling for three hours I woke my mom up and said I couldn't sleep. She told me to count sheep. I asked her how this process worked. She explained that I imagine sheep jumping over a fence and keep counting them. I counted till ONE THOUSAND THIRTY SOMETHING. Then I stopped.I concluded that this process does not work, atleast not for me. How could anyone busy with numbers fall asleep? I fell asleep after that.

Mum started unpacking. One look at my t-shirts- decision- they need to go. She throws them on the floor one by one and I rescue them yelling about 'u gotta buy me new ones before u can throw away the old'. Fine, she said, let's go now. Now? How about tomorrow? OK. Tomorrow.
As she digs into the suitcase and discards half my wardrobe she reaches the underwear. (Ancient and comfortable.) Got to go. Blank expression I deliver my line again- ' these u really got to buy me new ones before u can throw away the old. "
She doesn't dignify me with an answer.

What's New?

Mom knows how to make black forest cake now. (It has rum in it and bro pretends to be drunk after a slice.)

Bro is 6 feet tall. That's 1 foot in one year or something. Apparently the fact whether he's taller than dad can be determined based only on the variable factor of who shampooed recently. (That's what they told me)

The clock got a new pair of hands.

Also they got a new clock. Without hands. Digital. Love it. Saves me a lot of trouble.

Point being...I'm home!!

Overheard a little bit of a conversation. Two bio students after lab class, dissections-

A: My rat was so dirty

B: My rat was a virgin

(I just blinked and walked away)

I am a self-confessed sportshead. Its the the only thing I watch regularly on tv. Its the only part of the newspaper I have ever read. Here are two of the more tragic conversations that have happened to me in recent times.

with a little boy........

how long is a tennis match? how many minutes?

a tennis match isnt played in minutes!

oh. ok. how many hours then?

(groaaaan)

with warden at 3.00 pm

please leave the common room, tv isnt allowed now.

ma'am we are watching a match.

ok, how much is left? how many overs?

ma'am its tennis.

ok. how many balls?  

(hunh?? its not cricket. we measure it differently. aaaaah)

Episode 4: A New Hope

First post. New blog. Life has changed a lot since a bored teenager living at home started a blog to fight studies induced boredom. Here I am, in a new city, in college. I haven't changed, but I have grown.

Here's to an attempt to channel some creativity into this blog.  Sharing conversations, pictures and incidents. Whatever inspires me, moves me or just plain makes me laugh.

Sorry about the post's title. It's probably the result of having no internet connection in hostel which is what had led me to stop blogging and a childhood fascination with the star wars.