The Kite Runner

That was one of the first books I read after the A-levels. Do go and read it if you haven't already, it was fascinatingly genuine, and realistic in it's portrayal of harsh Afghanistan, a country ripped apart by internal strife, set on the fringes of the 21st century. Made me grow up a little too. The end is far from a happy ending, but it's a hopeful ending. And that beats a bleak ending any day.

I borrowed the book from the National Library, and it was in quite a bad condition. What irritated me further was that one of the previous borrowers had left pencil marks all over the book. I was about to erase them, but I realised that most of the marks were indications of words that reader didn't understand. He or she had underlined and/or circled words unknown to him or her. I was curious to determine the age of the reader, but it was puzzling.

How old could the reader be, who borrowed a book meant for teenagers and adults, who didn't know the meanings of "retaliate", "blemished" and "hippie", but knew the meaning of a certain ugly little word which sounds like the first syllable of the word "country"? *

(That reader stopped reading the book after the first few chapters, or gave up marking words; the pencil marks disappear completely and I doubt it was because there was no other difficult word.)

Perhaps swear words are common even in primary schools. Or, perhaps the reader was familiar with swear words rather than other words (then why borrow such a book?).

I definitely wasn't the second person to read that copy of the book, judging by its condition, so I was surprised to find a spelling mistake no one else had noticed, even though the same word appears twice in that paragraph, once spelt correctly, once incorrectly. The word that was meant is "aisle", and it appears right the first time, but a few lines later, it's spelt "isle". I triple-checked, but "isle" made no sense in that sentence.** This surprised me, surely discerning readers would have read this copy before? I hate vandalising books, but this disturbed me.

I added in the "a".



* I didn't think of this myself, it's all thanks to a certain Literature teacher from England, who told us that in some contexts, a description of a girl as a "country girl" has sexual references.

** This really is true. I returned the book quite a while back so I am unfortunately unable to quote the page number and paragraph. The other single-word quotes are accurate, though. I remembered those.

Simmer!

Special mention for SIMRAAAAAAAN!

Cos I couldn't find a picture of her earlier, except the anteater picture hahaha.

The Past Few Days and Recollections

Walking along the beach at night is as great as always. If only we could get to the rocks! India won the match, an opportunity for the Heroes of India to uplift the mood of the entire nation. Orchard Road isn't as spectacular as usual, a pity, I've always enjoyed walking down to see the different Christmas light-ups. The Day The Earth Stood Still was okay. Reminded me a lot of The War of the Worlds, and it was pretty short. But meeting the senior was great =] And Vaaranam Aayiram is an amazing movie. It manages to be sensitive, but with realistic depictions. Perhaps the love at first sight part might be unreal to critics, but the rest of the movie is great. It almost made me cry in the theatre. A lot more English in this movie than is usual for Tamil movies, though. Watching this movie with Shal was fantastic, and it touched her loads even though she wasn't watching it for the first time. There was a fire in one of the houses in Block 4 of Neptune Court. The whole flat was ablaze. I asked around but no one knew what caused it or whether everyone was safe.

I miss VJ:

07S43

05V14

Beyond Borders: Japan

Beyond Borders: Silicon Valley

The Indian Gang

And loads more, but I don't have the pictures. Yet.

This has been a disorganised post but I like it that way =]





"I will come and find you, and I will blow you off your feet."

Cold Days and Warm Hearts

The temperature in my house was 25 degrees Celsius yesterday. I love cold days like that, when the whole house seems air-conditioned and we wear jackets and watch movies or read books and munch on apples. Perfectly dreamy weather. Today is a great day too, 26 degrees Celsius.

Prom was great. Everyone looked wonderful! I'll admit it was mostly a costly photo-taking session, but I liked it. And Prom King and Queen were awesome too! Our table (Some of the Indians + Wilbur) was pretty fun! Simran sitting on my right and Dhevy on my left- much fun =] I don't have any of the group photos with me now, so another time! I love the shot glass souvenirs. "Viva la Victoria" and "sweet like a chic a cherry cola" - they couldn't have chosen better phrases!

(That's a bit of nail polish left on my finger. )

I like the Macro function on the camera, it makes details unbelievably clear.

Finally met Reema on Thursday for ice cream, it was ages since we'd talked, and we talked for hours. Then Sunday was bowling with the gang. We'd planned on ice-skating but it ended up being too expensive, so we went bowling instead. It was my first time, and I slipped and fell the first try =D cos I overstepped into the (i'm not sure what it's called) slippery part of the aisle. Besides, I was wearing a size 7 shoe on my left foot and size 6 on the right. That was pretty embarrassing, but after that, it was fun! I really want to go ice-skating some day though. Dhevy! Haha let's go!

I found this in my all-purpose notebook. It was written sometime during the A-level period, so hopefully that explains the dull tone-

I Love:

The sound of a cricket bat against a cricket ball.
The smell when you strike a match.
The feel of a firm handshake.
The taste of a salty seashore breeze.
The sight of thunderclouds rolling ahead.

I think that was written to momentarily distract myself.

I hope everyone's enjoying their holidays!

Birthdays, Surprises and (Mostly) a Whole Lot of Fun.

That's what my holidays were made of.

Then there were the bomb blasts. =( I hate terrorists.

Holidays also involve a whole lot of cooking and cleaning and clearing cockroaches. (Alliteration!) My sis and I just sprayed and swept away one. But that's besides the point.

It hardly seems like just two weeks since my last paper on the 19th. Went to my sister's hostel at NUS the next day to look around and help her pack. Stayed over one night, and made the disastrous trip back home. Disastrous because all her luggage and many many pairs of shoes and business suits (she's a business student and needs different kinds for different occasions) weighed a TON. It looked as if we were going on a trip to the ends of the world. When we finished hauling everything into the taxi, there was about 1/3 of the passenger seat left for both of us to squeeze in. =D

Dad was already overseas, and Mum was going on Saturday so sis and I helped her pack, and sent her off at the airport after music class.

Watched Body of Lies on Sunday, it was pretty interesting. About how you never know who to trust when you're an American spy working in the Middle East.

Went to Escape on Tuesday- the most interesting thing was the group of friends I went with =D

Finally managed to get my hands on The Kite Runner! Can't wait to start it once i finish the book i'm on now.

Then the party on Friday at simran's beautiful house! SIMMERRRRR was going crazy planning the thing. But we're the Greats, remember sim? haha. It was great fun, the birthday babies were truly surprised, i think (which is great, considering how news generally spreads so fast). And it was wonderful meeting everyone again after so long. We had ICS Farewell on the same day too, wow I can't believe it's really over. Thanks for the gift, juniors! ICS 07 -08 was awesome =]

I've bought contact lenses again, finally, after six months of wearing specs. Just in time for Prom. Tomorrow night! =D I just get irritated by the getting-ready part. Like the whole art of putting on make-up. Which I doubt i'll ever master, not that I want to anyway. It's all quite irritating and like a mask. Literally.

Gonna meet D and RnB this week too, hopefully =] This should be fun. And reema! I haven't forgotten the treat I owe you!

Now that there's no need to feel guilty for not doing work, I've finally had the chance to talk to more people- people I hadn't talked to in a while or people I'd hardly talked to before, like Likai. He's a very interesting person to talk to. I was talking to him about death in an email conversation, and one of the lines from his reply is this:

Live life as if you believe you will die, not just aware that you will die, but with the conviction and interest that you will die. From this, decide.


There's still a lot of catching-up with a lot of friends to do though =] Not to mention many belated/upcoming birthday cards that need sending out. I haven't even given Dhevy her letter yet, and her birthday is in July =S sorry girl.

Ok, more interesting updates next time. I've gotta go practise walking in heels for tomorrow so I don't end up twisting an ankle. (Sigh.)

Express Yourself

I like these advertisements.







Airtel is a cellphone service provider in India. The music is by A.R.Rahman, often called the Mozart of India.

"So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star."

"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."

"...trees that had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams."

"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

"Her grey eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her."

"He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the light was upon the barely-formed grass."

(Do pardon me if they aren't perfect quotes, I didn't check the book.)

I love The Great Gatsby! My favourite of the three H2 texts. Gatsby, and that unquenchable optimism of his that borders on naivity, are so memorable and endearing. The H1 paper wasn't too good, halfway during the unseen question, when I was stuck, I had the irresistable urge to go and read the other extracts, from the books that other schools did. Luckily, the urge wasn't as irresistable as I'd feared.

The unseen question was answered so-so, there wasn't anything special about it =( the Great Expectations essay was satisfactorily done. The Duchess essay, horror of horrors, was unfinished! Managed to squeeze out 2 sides in 30 mins, thankfully it's the last essay so the examiner won't have a bad impression when he/she starts marking.

I'm looking forward to the H2 paper! It should be quite enjoyable.



"It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out further... And one fine morning -
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."





[Someone posted a comment on an entry I'd written last year, thanking me for it. That made me happy.]

Hands in my pocket and my head in the clouds.

KI and Maths are over. Completely.


You know you didn't do them well when you feel like studying and taking them again. Oh well, can't do anything about it now.

Physics and Chem and Lit left, hope they turn out better!

And happy 1st end-of-pw anniversary, people! (actually it was on the 6th.)
_________________________________________________

I was looking for something in a cupboard I hadn't opened in a long time, and I found a sketchbook of mine my mother made me when I was in K1! I'd spelt it "Scech Book" though. Reading all those stories I'd written was hilarious. I wonder if I can find the book where I used to write nonsensical poems. (I made up words if I couldn't find a word that rhymed.)

_________________________________________________

Can't wait for the 19th!


Just remembered a joke of Reuben's.

Jagraj or someone was saying he's only a H1-er. For chem. And reuben said, "According to Hess' Law, H1 = H2 + H3. Haha!

4 more days.

It's that time of the year when all of us Arts-at-Heart people who went into science for the Practical Reason that we can't do science later (but can do arts) start to wonder what the heck we've gotten ourselves into.

We can do this, though!

Do I sound like I'm taking the As in a month.

You hardly see the familiar faces you're used to seeing around school anymore. They're either all concentrated in the library, or nowhere to be found. Exactly 4 weeks left for the beginning.

On Yhursday, I met Du Chen on the bus- she remembers my sister and says we walk alike! hahaha.

Farewell on Friday was really good- the best I've seen in four years. The teachers' version of Boom De Ah Da was hilarious, and so were their performances. (Mr Yong! and Mr Chow!) All the videos were good, and the house comm skit was amazingly amusing. The teachers' band was good as usual, except for the mic problems, and Ms Wong's (oops is that her name?) song was so touching. I need to go get that book Mr Chan talked to us about. Congratulations to Pegasus for coming in first! And of course we had to have the songs, no matter how overrated- Graduation and the other one that I suddenly can't remember. And nothing Victorian is complete without the mass dances =] (ARGH missed I Want You, my favourite, 'cos they played it after friendship dance and we couldn't stay cos we had to rush to amend our personal qualities thing and go for the KI meeting.) Which is what we did, rushing to class to get our PQ run through for spelling and grammar, then rushing back down to check that our IS documents are complete and signed. (THANKS laura and dhevy!) Not to forget chasing after Mr Harris to ask about lit make-up lesson. And eating the ice cream the school bought for us somewhere in between. =)

Then we rushed off for class lunch, after taking photos with Mr Chang and Mr Chow and our pw group photo! Woot might have been the only group in class where everyone was around for lunch. Many phone calls and collection of worksheets later, we made our way to parkway, unable to decide where to eat. I left the class when it was around 1.45 or 2 and almost forgot to pay =D

Finally met the dudette (!) who's nothing like what i'd imagined. =P After many narrow escapes, we finally managed to get the birthday present without being spotted.

Saturday was VJ's Open House. It was good as far as I could see- from my balcony window. The first Open House I hadn't been able to go to in four years =(

Then Sunday! Great fun planning stuff with the hilarious Officer. Went over to Archana's house in the evening and missed the Officer's signal, haha. Happy Belated Birthday, Raghav! Hope you were pleasantly surprised =]



WOOHOO for RnB! =D

The Revival of Language

[So prelims are over. Just a month or so left now. Much thanks to all who wished luck or helped, especially Dhevy for proposing studying for fun, Ganesh and Subra who remembered my lit exam, May for the pre-prelim luck, the Indian girls for the mass math studying, Raghav for remembering Thursday and for the thanks, Sudarshan for the luck, the senior for your GC, the senior who's been talking to me for the past 6 weeks, Sowmya for the luck, Henry for the 4am studying plans, Laura for the 'gorgeous morning' messages, all other friends and classmates for luck. Met Gerald (from the 05 batch) in school on the day of math paper 1. He's just finished NS and is applying for Cambridge! whoa.]


Now the main point of the post. (Not that the thanks weren't important.)



I find it disturbing that language isn't what it used to be. People have smaller vocabularies and some have lots of bad grammar to go with that. At least, institutions should ensure they use good English. I hate seeing language mistakes in notes, whether they be science or maths and in the very rare case, literature (which i will give the benefit of the doubt to and blame typing, because literature teachers speak well and have never given reason to doubt their language abilities). Sentences become shorter, because research shows that humans lose their attention span if faced with a block of words. And so, many keeps their sentences short and their syntax simple, so that the poor reader will not feel discouraged. All this is fine, but it should not be forgotten that there still are people who revel in classics by the Romantics, like works of Austen and Dickens, and that there is a beauty in the way paragraph-long sentences fall into place perfectly. Perhaps long sentences and difficult words don't go well with the masses, but a complete rejection of this style is uncalled for.


Another disappointing situation I find myself in very often is that of using modern connotations on classic novels or poems.


Remember this rhyme?-



Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.



Due to alterations in the meaning of certain words, which is inevitable, no child born on Wednesday or Sunday, for example, would like this poem very much. However, instead of changing the verses, to suit modern times, which has been done, the rhyme should be appreciated for it's original meaning. "Wednesday's child is full of woe" intended to say that a child born on Wednesday is serious, not sad, and Sunday's child is, as you know, happy. To change the verses of the rhyme will result in original meanings being lost forever.


Also, people should definitely be aware of modern connotations, but these should not be used in every situation. I dare not use the word"gay" in anything I write to signify happiness, because of immediate misunderstandings. And while certain authors purposely intend for modern connotations to be used on their works, a reader should be discerning enough to pick out the most appropriate meaning in each situation, and not, for example, give sexual connotations to everything they read. Though I almost have to agree with Mr Harris (literature teacher) when he says "If you see it (a sexual connotation), it's there," while we analyse The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. Webster and Shakespeare were contemporaries, by the way. But that's different. Those authors WANT readers to pick up on the connotations to contrast different characters' values and feelings.


Perhaps this is just the playfulness of adolescent readers.


It's sad to see people dismiss classics as not being an accurate representation of the lives we lead. Fairytale endings are rejected as being improbable. [Interestingly, did you know that fairytales were originally written for adults? When children started reading them, they had to change the stories so that they were more suitable. (Which is fine because their innocence had to be protected.) I remember reading that Rapunzel gave her secret away not because she compared the witch's weight on her hair to the prince's, but because she asked the witch why her stomach was growing bigger. And the twins she gives birth to just disappear. In fact, I didn't even know she gave birth until I read that article. Which I came across while researching for KI.] Perhaps life isn't as ideal as fairytales say it is, but a deconstruction leaves us with a bleak landscape. Are we now better off than when we started?


This is an interesting piece of prose by Margaret Atwood, There Was Once.

"There was once a poor girl, as beautiful as she was good, who lived with her wicked stepmother in a house in the forest."

"Forest? Forest is passé, I mean, I've had it with all this wilderness stuff. It's not a right image of our society, today. Let's have some urban for a change."

"There was once a poor girl, as beautiful as she was good, who lived with her wicked stepmother in a house in the suburbs."

"That's better. But I have to seriously query this word poor."

"But she was poor!"

"Poor is relative. She lived in a house, didn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then socio-economically speaking, she was not poor."

"But none of the money was hers! The whole point of the story is that the wicked stepmother makes her wear old clothes and sleep in the fireplace-"

"Aha! They had a fireplace! With poor, let me tell you, there's no fireplace. Come down to the park, come to the subway stations after dark, come down to where they sleep in cardboard boxes, and I'll show you poor!"

"There was once a middle-class girl, as beautiful as she was good-"

"Stop right there. I think we can cut the beautiful, don't you? Women these days have to deal with too many intimidating physical role models as it is, what with those bimbos in the ads. Can't you make her, well, more average?"

"There was once a girl who was a little overweight and whose front teeth stuck out, who-"

"I don't think it's nice to make fun of people's appearances. Plus, you're encouraging anorexia."

"I wasn't making fun! I was just describing-"

"Skip the description. Description oppresses. But you can say what colour she was."

"What colour?"

"You know. Black, white, red, brown, yellow. Those are the choices. And I'm telling you right now, I've had enough of white. Dominant culture this, dominant culture that-"

"I don't know what colour."

"Well, it would probably be your colour, wouldn't it?"

"But this isn't about me! It's about this girl-"

"Everything is about you."

"Sounds to me like you don't want to hear this story at all."

"Oh well, go on. You could make her ethnic. That might help."

"There was once a girl of indeterminate descent, as average-looking as she was good, who lived with her wicked-"

"Another thing. Good and wicked. Don't you think you should transcend those puritanical judgmental moralistic epithets? I mean, so much of that is conditioning, isn't it?"

"There was once a girl, as average-looking as she was well-adjusted, who lived with her stepmother, who was not a very open and loving person because she herself had been abused in childhood."

"Better. But I am so tired of negative female images! And stepmothers-they always get it in the neck! Change it to stepfather, why don't you? That would make more sense anyway, considering the bad behaviour you're about to describe. And throw in some whips and chains. We all know what those twisted, repressed, middle-aged men are like-"

"Hey, just a minute! I'm a middle-aged-"

"Stuff it, Mister Nosy Parker. Nobody asked you to stick in your oar, or whatever you want to call that thing. This is between the two of us. Go on."

"There was once a girl-"

"How old was she?"

"I don't know. She was young."

"This ends with a marriage, right?"

"Well, not to blow the plot, but-yes."

"Then you can scratch the condescending paternalistic terminology. It's woman, pal. Woman."

"There was once-"

"What's this was, once? Enough of the dead past. Tell me about now."

"There-"

"So?"

"So, what?"

"So, why not here?"

Interesting, no?

Perhaps classical writers were under the illusion that all's well. But aren't we sometimes under the illusion that nothing's well?

Swimming with a raincoat.

I hope Mr Ixer and Ms Wu are ok with my IS cos that means i'll almost be done with it. Finally.
[I did enjoy it though.]

Close to no one's updating anymore. I'm surprised i'm not part of them. I don't even blog properly when it's not exam time.

Not much news, except that Sundar's settling down in BEAUTIFUL Illinois! the campus is really really nice.
I'll put up some of his pictures another time, there's something wrong with the server now.

And Sowmya's settling in at Prince George's Park at NUS. I don't think it's as grand as it sounds. At least it saves travelling time. =]


I found this scribble of mine in my notebook:

Did you ever know?
I love the length of your hair,
Just before it's cut.

I think that was during the phase I kept scribbling haikus everywhere. I particularly like that one.







"Don't wanna reach for me do you?
I mean nothing to you.
The little things give you away."

Another ditch in the road, you keep moving.

Hello all. Laura i'm updating cos you told me to! =] (and girl you haven't sent me your IS =] )

In other words, things are as hectic as always. Though i still don't think the real pressure's sunk in completely yet.

The workload's getting heavier though. Everything's piling up and sometimes i don't know which to do first. All those incomplete lit essays or maths and physics tutorials or studying for chem and math tests or IS or general revision. Just 2 weeks left! Man.

Raghav, thanks for the study tip =] And if you're reading this, i commented on yours! Didja see?

The J1s' Feeling Fab was so much more fab than ours! They had choices like windsurfing and scuba diving and archery and go-karting and lots more. Oh well. Hope they had fun.

14-ers and 43-ers, we should go ice-skating as a class after the As! It'll be really really fun! (Thanks vy for teaching me how!)

If my KI and lit essays are gonna be as unconnected and disorganised as this post (and most of my other posts, in fact) i'm doomed.

Savage Garden is just as great as ever, even in the light of the ever-popular LP and FOB and MCR and all the new bands that pop up everyday. Not just for the music, but the lyrics as well. And darren's stage presence. Bernadette, an online friend from the US, and I created the Savage Gardeners, a group for Savage Garden fans =D And though she'll probably never read this, thanks so much for the HD video for I Want You, Bern! Savage Gardens songs address different issues and the lyrics are so deep.

Guess i should go study for the chem test.

Gosh i miss cricket like crazy.

Smile, l-aura! Things are probably much simpler than they seem =]



These lyrics are stuck in my head.

"Another ditch in the road
Keep moving
Another stop sign
You keep moving on."

-Two Beds and a Coffee Machine



"Hey
More than angry words I hate this silence
It's getting so loud.
Well I want to scream
But bitterness has silenced these emotions
It's getting hard to breathe.
So tell me isn't happiness
Worth more than a golden diamond ring?
I'm willing to do anything
To calm the storm in my heart.
I've never been the praying kind
But lately I've been down upon my knees.
Not looking for a miracle
Just a reason to believe."

-Hold Me

My sister's holidaying in California where my aunt and cousin live and yesterday she went hiking and saw HORSES. She's so lucky.

Oh she saw deer and rattlesnakes and rabbits and vultures too.

Happy 18th birthday, dhevy and dev. =]
Dhevy- Sowmya asks me to wish you on her behalf. Ok it's time i sent you another of your birthday message series. See, sms and technology in general doesn't always make greetings seem boring compared to letters and notes. I just looked at a calendar from 1990 and you were born on a Friday! "Friday's child is loving and giving."
I can't think of a title for the post. But you never needed things to be so proper anyway.



"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,... "
- Robert Browning

Auld Lang Syne

Finally visited shylu and shal at the their new house (3 storeys plus a jacuzzi on top WHOA like a hotel plus they're gonna set up an intercom) to wish shylu belated happy birthday before she flies off back to australia. Shylu, shalini, my sister and I have been really close friends since i was in P1 and it was great to meet up again after ages and catch up on our various stories. We were scaring each other with ghost stories. Pity we couldnt stay over like the old times, but it's a school day today.

Racial Harmony Day today was a bit of a let-down. Many people forgot all about it cos we were only told last friday and most of the school was in uniform. Except the majority of ICS =D

I've got to go off now and finish stats 5 tutorial and radioactivity tutorial and read The Plough and the Stars again and get more work done for IS. Can't wait for december. And i must finish raymay's letter and sms a couple of people and lots of other stuff. Have a good week ahead! =]

Sisterhood

Mia this is for you. =]

What does it mean to have a sister?

Bursting out into hearty laughter at the smallest things.

Saying the same things at the same time, and pretending to be irritated by it though we secretly love it.

Secret smiles and glances for things no one else notices or understands.

Speaking using secret codenames.

Telepathy.

Buying matching things. I can never understand why people don't like wearing the same kinda thing as another person. My sister and I have worn things in pairs often, since we were young, often coincidentally.

Reading each others' minds.

Just "knowing".

SMSing/MSNing each other cos we have to keep talking even when we're not together.

Hilarious conversations.

Serious conversations.

Normal conversations.

Weird conversations.

Fights that have record times. And by that i mean extremely short fights. 3 seconds is our record. And 10 minutes is probably the longest time we can resist not talking to each other.

Forgetting all arguments in a second if something funny happens. Like a song we both laugh at being played. [remember that one mia? that was gonna be a hard one to ignore =P ]

Teaching me the ways of life. My sister taught me that all living things have to die someday. And she was only 6 or 7 at the time.

Pulling me back to ground when my head's in the clouds. She says i'm an idealist.

Running across roads, she grabs hold of my hand. Cos she doesnt want me to hesitate.

Giving me a million nicknames, none of which are suitable to mention here. I never gave her a nickname of my own accord. Nothing sums up who she is more than her own name.

Surprise gifts. Especially when one of us goes overseas- we spend a lot on the other.

The perfect running partner, cos we have the same stride and stamina.

Being similar in thought but so so different in the way we look.

Singing together. Our voices match, and we always know what phrase the other is gonna sing. And we always forget the same lines of a song, and remember them at the same time too.

Playing badminton at the rear void deck. Or goodminton, as we used to joke when we were young. We have our own terminologies for different speeds, etc, and we always try to keep the shuttlecock airborne for as long as possible, which is why we enjoy it so much. We play FOR each other, not against.

Soulmates. =]

I'm not done with this yet. But then again, it's never possible to finish. Language is limited. The essence of sisterhood can't be put down into words.

sowmya:
how come you're online?
shreya:
cos i'm home. i have research work
sowmya:
oh ok..
sowmya:
MUNCHIE
sowmya:
oops sorry for caps
shreya:
donut?
shreya:
isnt that munchy
sowmya:
how do u read my mind man
sowmya:
i mean, how do you know i feel like eating sth
sowmya:
someone else might have said 'what munchie'
shreya:
i'm your sister, you idiot
sowmya:
ya but still
sowmya:
gosh my future husband should be like this man
shreya:
sth's wrong with you. i think you're on a high
shreya:
but anw yea mine too
.
.
.



for those of you who understand tamil:



shreya:
at the end of the post
sowmya:
o ok...
sowmya:
haha OOPS
shreya:
caught? =P
sowmya:
well some of them have already seen me msning anw
shreya:
tsk
shreya:
and an intern at that
sowmya:
lolo
shreya:
lolo-nnu alaiyama ozhunga velaiye paaru
sowmya:
................
shreya:
actually you came up with that. when we were talking to goki online
sowmya:
IS IT???
sowmya:
haha stop it man... i was grinning away as one of the senior auditors walked past
shreya:
HAHAHA

Why I can't blog.

Blogging was never meant for people like me. I never was a very public person. Most of the time, I forget that I'm blogging for someone to read. Once in a while I keep it in mind, and end up with a post that doesn't sound like it was written by me. Or since I'm aware someone's reading, it sounds too covered up, too secretive. And makes me feel slightly embarrassed when I read it. Or sounds extremely forced. With short sentences. And lots of stops. Like this one.

I'm not surprised when people say they don't understand my posts. They probably aren't meant to be easily understood anyway. Sometimes I myself don't understand what I mean. But I like the way I post and I don't think it'll change.

I love poetry. Out of all I've written, I personally feel 'Lovers and Leaves' is the nicest.

Oh well I really don't know what else to talk about here. I can't even think of something to put as my personal message on msn. It's been blank for ages cos I just can't think of anything.

SPAIN!! =]

Finally free to study.

It's been a long time eh. This is gonna be a pretty long post with a lot of thank you-s.

Okay, first the girls' cricket tournament. Not many people know about us, which is why i'm extra glad that we still made it through, despite so many disadvantages and things working against us. We were the only completely inexperienced team (cos other teams used all their senior players but we don't have that many people so everyone plays, and besides the year 2s haven't played before either), we didn't have a coach, we didn't manage to train properly with the light bats since we got them so late (in fact, we wouldn't have gotten them at all if vaishu hadn't done it herself- teacher IC was kinda unreliable.), we had just about enough people so we didn't manage to play games among ourselves (unlike other teams with dozens of people), some of the teams had national players, or adults who have been playing for years, and we didn't even have a proper place to train, since we needed enough space to work on the basics and get them right, and the tennis coach didn't like it when we trained at the basketball court. But we still did anyway.

BUT we still played really well! The whole team improved over the 5 games, and our bowling was superb. There's real talent on the team. Such a pity it's not recognised and developed. But we were invited to join the team that trains at SCA and to train with them! And people didn't realise we don't have a coach until we told them so. I'm so proud of the girls for sticking by me even in the most unsure and bleak situations and for never giving up. I'll bet we had the most interesting and fun and dedicated trainings!

A BIG BIG thank you to our senior sundar, who came down when we were training and was our temporary coach! And we REALLY appreciate that you bought us cricket balls from india and refused to let us pay. We couldn't have done it without your guidance and help and will to see us play. Also, a big thank you to lincon and ganesh, who took initiative and bothered to help us out whenever they could! We really appreciate it, guys. Thanks loads. Another thank you to raghav, who gave us four synthetic balls to train with after we were told we couldnt use cricket balls. And of course, thank you to everyone else who supported us- you people were real morale boosters!- dhevy, simran, amu, sneha, thiru, the cricket guys, everyone else!

Now it's time for me to pass the beacon on, and i'm sure the year 1s will continue to bring girls' cricket to greater achievements. =] It's gonna be really weird not being in the team anymore, i'm sure all the year 2s feel the same. Girls- we'll train with the year 1s again after the As!


Then there were the various sports finals. Congratulations to both soccer teams- you people are champions always =] Congratulations to all other sports teams, as well as the cheerleading team, drama syf, and everyone who brought the school glory in any way.

Then was Majestia, the band's concert. It was the first one i'd been to in four years, and i really enjoyed it! The music carried me away =) Good job, band!


THEN was ICS night. Much less manpower compared to last year, but we still pulled off the show despite the usual setbacks and last-minute changes and modifications and improvisations. I find it really hard to describe the whole experience in words, so do forgive me if i sound mechanical. There were so many failed plans, but so many successful changes too. So much tension, but so much determination and hardwork and fun too. I'm really proud of the exco and every single member, for putting in so much effort and sacrificing precious study time. It was kinda scary- seeing the way everyone was so energetic even if they hadn't eaten the whole day, especially ganesh and lincon and amu. Not forgetting all the girls who were in numerous dances, like thiru and pushpa, and had to rush like mad during the full dress rehearsals and the real day. I need to thank so many people-

Dhevy- For pushing us till the very end and not giving up hope, ICS night would have been a goner if not for your wonderful job as president. Thank you for doing so much and sacrificing so much for ICS. And your parents too. And bro. And your cousins. In fact, your whole family. =D

Amu- For being an extremely wonderful, patient and efficient vice-pres and for doing a lot of the liaising and choreography and for all the sms-es and encouragement. And much thanks to your mum as well!

Simran- For making our practices so much fun and so full of laughter, and for holding out till the very end =] and much thanks to your mum too, for helping out!

Rama- For bearing with all the nonsense that was directed at you and for helping out with so much stuff and for dancing! Thanks to dev for dancing too! =D

Lincon- For all your hard work and perseverance and energy and patience and choreography. Thanks loads man! Couldn't have managed it without you! Really appreciate that you and ganesh were there at every practice from beginning to end.

Ganesh- For your invaluable help with the mixing and cutting and your enthusiasm even though you were really really sick and tired. Can't thank you enough! And haha i kept forgetting that you couldn't eat, which was why i kept asking you to. =P

Thiru- For being in so many dances and for infecting us with your lovely humour and enthusiasm! Your freestyling to random songs was very enjoyable =D Also, for staying calm and not losing your cool even when things were unpleasant.

Pushpa, Vaishu and Saranya- For being so busy yet having so much fun and making the whole atmosphere lighten =)

Sneha- For being so understanding and always offering to help.

Michelle and Saravanan- For being wonderful emcees and helping us stall for time!

Ranjan- For cooperating and for bringing your bike to school!

All the Year 1s- For working sooo hard and being so cooperative and self-initiated!

Sakthish and Gautam and Manraj and Ranjan and Koganti- For the music video! =D And sakthish for agreeing to dance, thanks again =)

Our seniors- Shiva and Sharrvesh and Lalit and Shilpa and Akanksha and Nivedh and Sasi and Priya and Brian and Dinesh and Kumar and Sowmya and Nadia Ayesha and Nadia Begum and i hope i didn't miss out anyone- For coming down and supporting us =]

All friends and supporters- whether or not you could make it in the end. Thanks a lot!

Sai Subra- For helping us record the whole thing.

Shamir and the other CT Councillers- For helping with ushering and at the ticket booth.

And Mr Veera of course, for agreeing to let us have ICS Night in the first place, and for all the help and support and tolerance.

I sincerely hope i didn't miss out anyone, i'm sorry if i did!


My 7th year violin exam was yesterday. Hope it sounded ok. I was told that my eyes looked sunken and scary when i was on stage. I suppose that was just the general tiredness and the fever. Haha more thank yous i can't leave out:

Sowmya for drilling me with theory for 2 and a half hours instead of half an hour, and for trying to calm me down, and for standing outside the classroom for one and a half hours during the second half of the exam to hear me play.

Raghav for coming down and for giving me tips, as well as for all the encouragement earlier, like those smile messages =] And thanks to your mum too!

Reema for coming down on sunday not knowing that it was postponed, i'm really sorry about that! Also for wishing me for the real thing! I owe you a treat!

Nandita- for your encouragement and luck! I tell you, i probably scraped through only by luck. Hehe.


Chem and Physics and Maths demand attention now. Have a fruitful holiday, people! (If there's anyone still reading.) =]

'Long Live the car crash hearts.'

If i see any of you around, and I don't acknowledge you, please don't take it personally! I was probably deep in thought about something else. I only realise you were smiling or waving after you've gone. I promise it won't happen often.

Dance concert was really really good. Laura's first-time choreography was fantastic! I liked the whole butterfly concept. I remember the many times you would take out your dance notebook and borrowed 10cents/20cents coins and start arranging them =) Congratulations to all dancers, laura shakura and amoudtha in particular!

To everyone to wants me to go for strings concert/band concert/harmonica concert/choir concert - I'm sorry but I really don't think i can! I'd dearly love to go for all but I'm afraid I can't.


3 weeks to ICS Night. (!!)



Hero/Heroine by Boys Like Girls is my current favourite song.

"And I don't know why you'd even try,
But I won't lie.
You caught me off guard..."

Lovers and Leaves

Like two fresh leaves we are,
Peeping through the branches.
Too shy to stare too hard,
One waiting as one approaches.

The wind brings your scent to me,
Strong and clear in the forest.
We will soon break free,
And dance with the wind around us.

Like two green leaves we are,
Going where life blows us.
No matter if we wander far,
No wind separates us.

The rain, though it pours,
Is to our skins mere drizzle.
No season, wet or coarse,
Can ever bear to chisel.

Such is the beauty of our love,
That nature itself is awed.
We have no means of flower or dove
Yet our love is never flawed.

Like two brown leaves are we,
Wrinkled, yet floating along.
Our lives may be ending, but you see,
Our natural love will live long.

Once we are dead, the wind in the sky
Will rock us to sleep with a last lullaby.
The sun will warm our tomb of earth
And the rain will wash our pillows of dirt.

When we are one with the soil, we will then feed
With our strong love's nutrients, a little seed.
This little seed will grow and grow,
And very soon, time will show,

Our life-giving love's fruitful produce,
A strong tree, our strength is reused.
People will wonder at this tree,
And our love, on paper they'll see.

And so my love, no sonnets for you,
Only my heart, which is yours through and through.
We'll be like leaves, enjoying the ride,
Even if it's over, it's no rule we have to abide.

Our love will continue, on and on,
Through oak and fir and teak,
Our love will continue, on and on,
Though never a word do we speak.


I'm not lovestruck, i was just watching the rain in the trees yesterday morning, and got inspired. =)

I can't keep my eyes off of you.

Really really really busy. Liasing for cricket friendly, training for cricket tournament + admin issues for tournament, ICS Night practices and money matters, chem review test, KI independent study, violin exam concert, keeping up with school work, training for standing broad jump, writing letters, remembering birthdays. =)

Won't be here for a while.





The laughter on your face is the smile in my heart.

Until the stars are all alight.

Arts Day was pretty interesting. We had fun at salsa, then baked in the sun for a while at the parade square. The magician/contortionist/fire-eater guy was fantastic, but it was irritating the way he kept addressing everyone as though we were primary school kids. Personally, i think all the bands were really cool, but a junior college isn't the best place for them to perform.

We went for lunch after that, and then back to school for training, sharing 2 umbrellas between 5 of us and getting completely drenched. Met the rest of the girls at school, and man i'm glad it stopped raining soon after that. Training was hard work and fun as usual, and we left school at around 8.15 after a little bit of salsa on our own (amu's a great teacher!) and after watching the guys practise their dance for a little while.

Training is gonna get more intensive from next week, girls! I'm so glad we're all so cooperative and hardworking and bonded!

A Whole New World

I'm in love with this. Their voices can convey so much more than just words. And this is just their very first recording!

Oh, CTs are over. Forgot to mention that in the post.

Yesterday (friday) was supposed to be a half day. We ended at 12.45. My usual day ends at 1.20 anyway.

So after sitting with the debators for a while and listening to them run through once more, i left the debate room and went to the hall with Simran to see the release of results.

Sowmya was in VJ for her NUS booth and Simran can't stop talking about how pretty she is =)

Congratulations to all my lovely seniors! Especially the wonderful people who didnt do well for prelims, but jumped from E to A in more than one subject for the As! It was so nice meeting them again. And to those who didn't do as well as they'd wanted to, i believe it's in your capacity to do better in anything that follows. And congratulations to Dhevy, Pushpa, Saranya and Sakthish for getting your A1s! After talking to all the seniors for a while, the whole lot of us J2 debators and supporters went back to the debate room. The debators left in a taxi and we were to follow in the chartered bus.

Well, it was a hard day, with anger and disappointment, but with encouragement and support too. I won't mention the bad parts here. Thanks to everyone who came down to support, Thiru, Simran (even though you didnt understand), Rachna, Lavan, Lois, Varshini (who came down by herself 'cos the bus left her behind, shucks) Sundar (thanks for all the pre-debate help man), Aparajith, The TJ supporters- Preeti, Arathi, Gunalan and Ilakiya (oops i'm not sure how her name is spelt, thanks so much you guys), Sai (even though you didn't understand either), Rama, Thilanga, Dev Reema, Joel who came to watch and Joel's cousin Sam.

And especially Dhevy, who bore the brunt of 15 minutes of shouting-at-the-top-of-his-voice and scolding from the bus driver, on top of all the stress.

And of course, our lovely debators, Vaishu, Hasinah, Pushpa and Saravanan. We didn't make it but you guys were still awesome! And congratulations to Pushpa for getting talent-spotted by the judge!

Went to eat with the gang after that, which was pretty fun.

And when talking online that night, I was so tired from 4 consecutive days of 3 hours' sleep each that i told a senior to sleep well before NS, by mistake, instead of telling him to have fun before going in. =P




Simran: You're so useless (followed by a string of different words, all with the same meaning.)
Me: Are you a thesaurus?
Simran: What's that?

"When twilight drops her curtain down
And pins it with a star,
Remember that you have a friend
Though she may wander far."

-L.M.Montgomery, in Anne of Green Gables

3 things on my mind.

1. I wonder if sometimes, it's ok to stop talking because language is limited in it's ability to express what we really feel. And it's insincere to say what I feel in an inadequate way.

2. Whenever I see you, I wonder why you think I can't be your friend.

3. It's nice to talk to an old friend after a long time. =] It refreshes your mind. And later, we'll give each other knowing smiles around school and in lecture theatres, like we share a nice secret.

Help.

A friend of mine forwarded a link to a video to me. It's about how cruelly animals are treated at fur farms- their skin is ripped off when they're alive. It's a very very strong video, i cried while watching it and i hardly ever cry. The message is simple- Please don't buy products made from real animal fur. Sure, maybe not all fur farms are this cruel, but you never know where the fur came from and how it was taken off the animal. I'm copying the text from the website, but i'm not gonna put the link here. Tell me if you think you can handle it, i'll send you the link. Otherwise, just help to raise awareness.

From the website:

(The following text is very strong as well.)

"When undercover investigators made their way onto Chinese fur farms recently, they found that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut. When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Some of the animals' hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera.

Before they are skinned alive, animals are pulled from their cages and thrown to the ground; workers bludgeon them with metal rods or slam them on hard surfaces, causing broken bones and convulsions but not always immediate death. Animals watch helplessly as workers make their way down the row.

Undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International recently toured fur farms in China's Hebei Province, and it quickly became clear why outsiders are banned from visiting. There are no regulations governing fur farms in China—farmers can house and slaughter animals however they see fit—meaning miserable lives and excruciating deaths. The investigators found horrors beyond their worst imaginings and concluded, "Conditions on Chinese fur farms make a mockery of the most elementary animal welfare standards. In their lives and their unspeakable deaths, these animals have been denied even the simplest acts of kindness."

On these farms, foxes, minks, rabbits, and other animals pace and shiver in outdoor wire cages, exposed to driving rain, freezing nights, and, at other times, scorching sun. Mother animals, who are driven crazy from rough handling and intense confinement and have nowhere to hide while giving birth, often kill their babies after delivering litters. Disease and injuries are widespread, and animals suffering from anxiety-induced psychosis chew on their own limbs and throw themselves repeatedly against the cage bars.

The globalization of the fur trade has made it impossible to know where fur products come from. Skins move through international auction houses and are purchased and distributed to manufacturers around the world, and finished goods are often exported. China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States. Even if a fur garment's label says it was made in a European country, the animals were likely raised and slaughtered elsewhere—possibly on an unregulated Chinese fur farm. Because a fur's origin can't be traced, anyone who wears any fur at all shares the blame for the horrific conditions on Chinese fur farms. The only way to prevent such unimaginable cruelty is never to wear any fur."


Note: This is only posted here to raise awareness and to hope that maybe this will stop someday, this is not an act of discrimination. I'm only pushing for the cruelty to stop.

=)

Dearest

Mia, Mum&Dad, Dhevy, Karthick, Sneha, Subra, Raghav, Shalini, Amoudtha, Shanti, Simran, Michelle, Vaishali, Saranya, Pushpa, Thiru, Jia Xin, May, Anushiya, Lincon, Sakthish, Jagraj, Abhishek, Gautam, Shakura, Diane, Ser En, Pearlyn, Beatrice, Olivia, Aditya, Akanksha, Eirene, Jia Yi, Aruna, Eugene, Margaret, Michelle Zhuang, Nazri, Wan Sing, Yee Ling, Reema, Laura, Jared, Anthony, Zong He, Hian Huat, Daniel, Pin Rui, Cleaven, Sharadha Aunty, Fresh-juice-stall-Uncle, Auntie Daphne and 07S43 again for today at the beach,

Thank you so much! Your wishes and everything else mean the world to me! =]

Quality.

Wilbur says it's impossible for someone not to have hated a person, and that everyone's guilty of it.

That sounds like an over-generalisation.

I think it's impossible to completely hate a person, if you think rationally and aren't biased or prejudiced. Even if you hate something [like a particular quality] in someone, I think it's impossible to hate that person completely, by which I mean that there always is something to like in any given person. Also, I believe it is possible not to hate anyone at all, not even a certain quality. It may be possible not to be affected by others at all, in which case, it is possible not to have hated at all. Don't scoff, just think about it.

In fact, I think that it is impossible for a person not to have a likeable or admirable quality. I'm undecided as to whether everyone has a quality that others dislike, though.

These of course, are personal opinions. =]

Friend for life.

(This is about an entirely fictitious character.)

There you go, dancing into the distance,
You've fenced yourself away from me.
Your badge of honour puts me down,
Your eyes, they do not see.

Don't the ropes of friendship that bind me to you
Bind you to me as well?
Why is it that I struggle behind,
Though you didn't look around when I fell?

You might be dancing into the distance now,
But I would not now know.
I'm turning my back, walking away,
You're still as cold as snow.

Maybe someday, you'll turn around
And find that no one's there.
Maybe someday you'll call to me,
And assume that I will care.

I'm still your friend, a true friend,
So don't you ever fret.
I'll forgive, if that power rests with me,
But I'll never ever forget.

First week back.

Okay, first half-week back, if you're particular. =)



It was great seeing you people again after so long.. And it's gonna be tough getting back into school mode, what with people shoving deadlines in your face and all already, but being with this bunch of people just makes up for it all. And while we miss our seniors terribly, the juniors seem pretty interesting. It feels strange being a senior for the first time in six years. It's a bit daunting, having people told to look up at you, and not having seniors to back you up. I guess we'll get used to it soon enough.



I finally got the high-definition video for my all-time favourite song! No, not just because it's one of our mass dance songs. I loved it the moment i first heard it, before joining VJ. A big thank you to Bern, for giving it to me!