Ayodhya: United in Pieces?

They divided Ayodhya yesterday. Pieces for peace.

For sixty years we have fought – for the right to 2.7 hectares of land. We have waged war on fellow countrymen in the name of a God who probably doesn’t even care if the prayers are coming via a mosque or a temple.

“Unity in diversity” we proudly proclaim, but never united we stand. Everybody’s happy with the verdict they told us but really, is anyone happy? If Hindus and Muslims are both winners – what is the prize? The right to construct a temple and a mosque? Pardon me, but that doesn’t seem fair compensation for the thousands of people who died as a result of this mindless tussle.

Media Watch - me style

Once again a blog challenge has beaten me and I'm giving up on #30daysofme. To be honest, I'd rather not complete it haha ;-) Anyway, the reason I took up the challenge was to get me to write again. I know I've said this a million times before, but writing for work really takes the joy out of writing sometimes. I'm too mentally exhausted to critique anything or feel passionately enough for any issue - which is quite sad, I must admit. *end whinge* But I read this article and it annoyed me a fair bit…well, enough to make me want to write about it.

‘Adopted girl banned from entering Australia because she's classified an immigration threat’

Makes you want to click on it, doesn’t it? Do It! But come back…I have more to say.

Day 13: #30daysofme

The Task: A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

I've thought long and hard about this one but there's no way I can write this without giving away more than I am comfortable with. So, I'm sorry but let's just jump to Day 14 okay?

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 11: #30daysofme

The Task: Another picture of you and your friends

Getting demanding about the photos aren't we? Struggled to find another photo that didn't show any faces etc. But anyway, here we go:

Yes, that's me in the middle with two of my friends. We did a bit of Japanese traditional dancing for a while. :)

P.S. This should have been posted before but internet troubles - sorry!




This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 12: #30daysofme

The Task: How you found out about Blogger and why you made one

I'm assuming this means "how you found out about blogging in general" because my first blog wasn't on Blogger. I was in Year 12 and used to waste a lot of time on MSN Messnger & MSN had this new feature - it was called Spaces or something... can't remember. I think it was the first stages of MySpace. Anyway, I had a random blog there which I abandoned after some time. I started blogging because finishing school felt like the end of an era. I would be leaving behind friends I had known my whole life and I was worried about the change that college life would bring. To try and make sense of all my emotions - I started blogging.

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 10: #30daysofme

The Task: Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

A post about music. Woo Hoo! So a lot of the music I listen to is "comfort" music and I listen to it irrespective of my mood. So whether I'm happy, sad or bored - I can always listen to Jack Johnson & Coldplay.

Music almost always makes me happy so when I'm happy so when I'm happy, I listen to absolutely everything from dance music to old school rock, Jack Johnson to Muse. Anything goes, really.

My number one 'Sad' song is "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. Emo, I know but whattodo.

When I'm bored, I like listening to anything that is up-tempo. David Guetta helps ;-)

Hmm, when I'm mad I usually like to listen to something that calms me down or puts me in a better mood. Dance music is good. Jazz works well too as does Jack Johnson & Billy Joel.

I don't know what "hyped" means in this context, so I'm just going to ignore it.

On a self-congratulatory note, I've posted for 10 days straight! Very proud of myself :D

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day O9: #30daysofme

The Task: Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Absolutely nothing spectacular has happened in my life in the last few days.. But I guess I could say I'm proud of my gymming efforts in the last few days. I've really pushed myself and I feel really great about it :)

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 08: #30daysofme

The Task: Short term goals for this month and why

The only goal I have this month is to do a complete cleanout of my house - really, really needs it.

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 07: #30daysofme

The Task: A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

Words. They have the biggest impact on me. I identify myself as a writer first, so that makes sense doesn't it?

I've always loved words. There are words I like, words I dislike. Words I use. And abuse. Then there are words I avoid. There are words I use when I write but never use colloquially and vice versa.

As part of my Bachelor's degree, I had to study the History of English Language and while a lot of it bored me to tears, I loved learning how to identify the origin of words in the English language. For a long time even after I finished uni, I would quiz myself trying to figure out if words were French, Latin or even one of Shakespeare's creations ;)

Like I said before, I love and collect quotations. They inspire me, move me, make me think and sometimes just make go "awwww"

I love word games. Especially Scrabble.

I used to read the dictionary for fun. (Try not to judge me :P) and Dictionary.com is the first bookmark on my web browser. I even follow @thewordoftheday on Twitter.

While I have a general interest in understanding different cultures - words, the way they are used and often the differences in connotation in different cultures are particularly fascinating for me.

Words & me...it's something special ;-)

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends

Day 06: #30daysofme

The Task: Favourite super hero and why

So far this challenge has been pretty easygoing but this "favourite super hero" post had me stumped. I don't have a favourite superhero (well, not the comic book type at least) but as I have mentioned before, I'm a total Harry Potter fangirl so for the sake of this post, he is going to be my favourite super hero. I know some of you will argue technicalities but well, Harry can do magic - that is just as super hero-ic as a man who scales buildings arachnid-like or the Last Son of Krypton .

Why do I love Harry so much? Because he's awesome of course. What? That's not reason enough? Okay...

1. Magic, obviously! No matter how old you are, magic is always cool plus wand-swishing and Latin spells only makes it cooler! Who wants to flick the switch when you can say LUMOS; or why would you open a door when ALOHOMORA is so much more fun! ;-)
    
2. Harry is the "Boy who Lived" - he is the Boy Wonder of the Wizarding World but he is still so humble. Humility is underrated but it is so important. It is why I love Roger Federer so much. It's why I respect Rafael Nadal and can't hate him even when he beats Federer. (It's Grand Slam time - the tennis references are inevitable).
    
3. Harry is a very loyal friend (e.g. Ron and Hermione) and very passionate about his close relationships (e.g. Sirius or Dumbledore). I'm a typical Aquarian and have lots of friends however I always keep everyone at a bit of a distance (especially as far as my emotions are concerned) until I can figure out if I want to let them into my "inner circle". I value loyalty in friendships & relationships and once you're part of the inner circle, I will go that extra mile for you without hesitation, so Harry's loyalty and passion are endearing.
    
4. Invisibility! I read The Invisible Man when I was in primary school and if I could have one super power, I would love to be invisible. I would love to steal Harry's invisibility cloak.
    
5. Harry's a good person, he's a hero but he's not a goody-two-shoes and I love that. Sneaking out of Hogwarts with the Marauder's Map or stealing potion supplies from Snape's cupboard - being mischievous makes him more fun and lovable.

There are many more reasons why I love Harry Potter but I'll stick to just 5 for today.

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends.

Day 05: #30daysofme

The Task: A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

 

This is a picture of Wategos beach at Byron Bay from my last trip in April. TO say I love Byron would be an understatement. Yes yes I know, it's become very yuppie, has way too many tourists, is overpriced... and all that. But Byron's inherent hippie-ness appeals to my inner flower child.

This post is part of the #30daysofme blog challenge I'm doing with some friends.

Day 04: #30daysofme

The Task: A habit that you wish you didn’t have

I think I'll just do this later....






...... Get it? Get it? Get it? ;-)

Day 03: #30daysofme

The Task: A picture of you and your friends

This one was tricky because I prefer not to put up personal photos on my blog. But anyway, here we are:
 

I love shoes...so I love this photo. It was taken at Ilaeria's Hen's night.

Day 02 - #30daysofme

The Task: The meaning behind your Blog name

LegallyAlien - hmm, pretty self explanatory, no?

Well, like many other things in my life, my blog name was inspired by song lyrics. The song here is 'Englishman in New York’ by Sting.

"I'm an alien
I am a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York"

Wikipedia explains the meaning of Legal Alien pretty well.

I am a legal alien – in Australia and in India too. I guess moving to another country made me realise that “home” (i.e. India) will always be home because that is where I grew up but at the same time, it will never be the same home again. Does that make sense?

In the same way, while Australia isn’t the “home” I grew up in, after 3.5 years here, despite its alien-ness, it will always be home to me.

I have two homes and no home

I realise that for the rest of my life, I will always be slightly “alien” wherever I go and I like that. I guess as an immigrant, being a bit of permanent misfit comes with the territory. So being “Legally Alien” is now a permanent part of my identity and hence, the blog name.

Day 01 - #30daysofme

The task:  A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

                                              

So this is a badly cropped pic of me. This was taken by Ilaeria at a recent Hot Pot party at a friend's house. I look like quite the expert at Hot Pot-ing but in reality, I'm far from it.. ;-)

So Fifteen interesting facts huh? Wow... this challenge doesn't ask for much does it? Anyway, here goes...

1. I'm a pop culture and news junkie. I love knowing everything about EVERYTHING. I thrive on trivia and random facts.
2. I want to adopt a girl at some point in my life; when *I* grow up that is. 
3. It may come as a surprise to people who've only known me for the last few years but apart from my shoe obsession (that's a birth defect) I used to be very, VERY tomboyish. I had very, very short hair (Rihanna short sometimes) & owned 1 dress, a couple of skirts and 10 pairs of jeans. Not sure what happened there.. ;-)
4. I love technology, tech news, gadgets, and anything tech related. I get this from my Dad. 
5. I love Harry Potter. So. So. Much.
6. I'm very indecisive
7. I'm crazy about dogs & can't wait to get one again 
8. Incorrect grammar drives me insane
9. I can read & speak 3 languages (English, Bengali & Hindi) but can't write in my mother tongue, Bengali *hangs head in shame*
10. I don't believe in astrology or anything but I have fun analysing people based on their zodiac signs. Sometimes the personality traits are spot on.
11. I can't get through a day without music - the genre doesn't matter. Music is all about how it makes you feel and a lot of the time it's about the words too. 
12. I love quotations & "collect" them. Yes, laugh. I have 4 journals full of quotations. 
13. I have a Bachelor's degree in English Lit & sometimes I really wish I'd done my Masters in Lit. Reading & then being critical about what you read - pretty much a dream uni course ;)
14. Sometimes when people talk, certain words or phrases they use trigger off songs in my head. If I know them well enough, I start singing aloud otherwise I sing in my head. 
15. I don't like cricket. Yes, really. I used to, but that was a long time ago. The only sport I really follow is Roger Federer, ah, sorry, I meant tennis.

There! All done :)

Blog Challenge: #30DaysofMe

This #30daysofme blog challenge seems to have become pretty popular on Twitter and I have been convinced by @blauerpunto, @ilaeria @agentK and @jethrocarr to do it too. Considering I've been incommunicado on my blog for quite some time now, I figured it was worth a shot.

Anyway, so this is an outline of what you can expect on the blog for the next 30 days

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song

The challenge starts today so I'm following this up with Day 1's post very soon

challenge has been postponed

So just when I was getting into the swing of things & announced the 30 posts in 30 days challenge to the world, I was deprived of a computer :P So just in case you were wondering, that's why I couldn't live up to my word.

I will try again in August but for now, hopefully I'll still keep writing...lots :)

I haven't finished reading Superfreakonomics yet so don't ask me for a review. I just put it on hold as I'm re-reading The Fountainhead. It's one of those books that I read over and over again and different bits inspire me at different times in my life. Howard Roark speaks to me as I've mentioned before and once again, I'm discovering new things about the book and about the way I look at things.

sand between my fingers

This was inspired by my friend Jen D who recently wrote a Pantoum as well. I don't write poetry much but just thought I'd give it a shot anyway. Not the greatest...but oh well, at least I wrote a poem. ;)

you & me

what we had

and what could have been

questions...

what we had

was it just me?

questions

for the answers that will never be heard

was it just me?

the reminiscences surround me

for, the answers that will never be heard

are haunting

the reminiscences surround me

but were you ever here?

are haunting

memories worth holding on to?

but were you ever here?

i don't see you any more

memories worth holding on to,

slipping like sand beween my fingers

i don't see you anymore

the questions are pointless

slipping like sand between my fingers

you & me

Day 5: Stress

I really thought I would write something good today. An actual post, not just some words for the sake of a post.

But I'm very, very stressed right now. Don't really want to say why so I'll just say Hello All and now I'm going back to watching Good News Week.

Oh, and cheer for Netherlands tomorrow. Do.

Day 4: I have nothing to say

Really. I don't.
I've had a very long day and I'm only posting because I promised I would.
Plus I'm watching Rafa & Berdych fight it out at the Wimbledon finals. I don't want Berdych to win because he beat Federer. Haha, yes I can be like that.

I also hope Spain beats Germany at the semis because I really, really don't like the Germans (the team, not the people) and was so heartbroken last night. Yes, I know Germany played very well and deserved to win yada yada, but I really don't like the team Ha ha.

Okay, so good night all. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more interesting things to write about.

Day 3: Football - it's in my genes

It's almost time for the Argentina-Germany game so let me hear you say it

A.R.G.E.N.T.I.N.A!!!!

I love the World Cup. I don't follow football as much as my sister and don't know too many players or anything but I love watching it during the World Cup. It's one of the few sports I find interesting (and understand!), plus I think it's also a cultural-genetic-hereditary thing. I'll explain in a bit, but first -

- yes, it *is* football. When you kick a ball with your foot, it's called football. It's not football when you run around a field passing the ball to each other, tackling each other to the ground. Yes, I'm looking at you Aussie rules "football" fans and yes, you American "football" fans too. But back to what I was saying....

Calcutta, the city I grew up in has 2 major football clubs - Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and when they play, the fans can get pretty aggressive.  We also love to claim Baichung Bhutia as our own. Anyway, so for this reason, Bengalis (or Bongs, as we are "fondly" known) are pretty passionate about football. What we're also passionate about is Brazil and Argentina. Football is big in West Bengal (the state in which Calcutta is, for the uninitiated) and if India *ever* qualified for the World Cup, I'm willing to bet anything that the most passionate supporters will be from Bengal. Anyway, so every World Cup the city is divided into its Blue and Yellow factions and well, things can get pretty heated.

I'm not sure exactly when this Brazil-Argentina obsession started but it's pretty strong and I can tell you I was being very un-Calcuttan & un-Bengali by supporting Netherlands last night. Haha ;) So I Googled to see if I could find any answers & I found this (read it!). There were clashes in Bangladesh between Argentine & Brazilian football fans. FYI, Bangladesh & West Bengal share the same language, culture, food etc, back from when we used to be the same country...so there's a shared passion for football as well.

The article says the Bengali obsession for Argentina & Brazil has to do with Pele & Maradona but doesn't explain much else. But anyway, it does explain my point - football, is my genes (watching it, not playing it).

India may have a long way to go till they qualify for the World Cup (if you're interested, this article I read on the BBC website explains a few things about the dismal state of Indian football). In the meanwhile, as the article says "Bengalis are passionate people" and I'm going to cheer loud and hard tonight so let me hear it one more time:

A.R.G.E.N.T.I.N.A!!!!

Day 2: Cheat post ;)

Okay so this is a bit of a cheat post but today has been a very, very long day and it's the Netherlands vs. Brazil quarterfinals so I don't really have the time to frame coherent sentences right now. It's a cheat post because I'm posting something I wrote when I was 17 and some of you have read it before I'm sure.

It's my attempt at poetry...(I really struggle with poetry btw). I wrote it while I was meant to be studying, the night before an English exam. Though I know it's no fantastic piece of poetry, it's still one of my favourites! :-)

I want to sit and read on top of a tree

I want to run like an animal who’s just been set free

I want to learn how to cook a French meal

I want to learn how to train a seal

I want to listen to Mozart and Pink Floyd at the same time

I want to write a good poem without a rhyme

I want to jump off a building to see if I can fly

I want to laugh so hard I begin to cry

I want to read every book ever written

I want to understand the working of the minds of men

I want to never have to apologise

I want to know the true meaning of ‘wise’

I want to write like William Shakespeare – The Bard

I want to write the invitation on my own funeral card

I want to learn to drive a bulldozing machine

I want to never step out of my teens

I want to be interviewed by a famous journalist

I want to be able to tell my life story in a gist

I want to adopt a dog, a monkey, a lion cub

I want to remember an itching nose becomes worse when you rub

I want to love like I’ve never loved before

I want to keep loving more and more

I want to travel to the north and south poles

I want to believe in the existence of souls

I want to travel abroad without a passport

I want to be old enough to vote

I want to be able to laugh at myself

I want to know what Enid Blyton meant by ‘elf’

I want to scuba dive from Kanyakumari

I want to know what its like to break your knee

I want to be brave enough to say I don’t know

I want to know what its like to be a crow

I want...

I want... 

I want, more and more

But most of all…

I want to be me.

LIFE, question mark

Sometimes I tend to abandon this blog because it gets too personal. It orders me around and demands I reveal more of myself than I'm comfortable with. I don't like being told what to do so I do what I do what I do - I run away. Sometimes we run into each other on the interwebz but I can be cold-hearted. Blog looks at me with the fond smile of an old friend & I just ignore it, pretending we've never met. But then, on days like today I come back, arrogant in my certainty that Blog has no choice but to take me back. I have things to say and Blog always wants to listen and thus begins another "On" chapter of our tumultous, sometimes toxic, sometimes comforting on again/off again relationship.

Also, on the spur of the moment, I have decided to challenge myself to the 30 posts in 30 days thing that a lot of bloggers do. (well 31, as it is July). Starting today, I'm going to post here (however big or small) every day until the 31st of July. Forcing myself into being a writer by leisure, not just by profession so I can remember why I used to love it so much.

So anyway, yesterday my dear friend S wrote a note on Facebook "When I grow older..", which is now on her blog. Please read it and then come back and tell me she's an amazing writer. She's smart, she decided not to make a career out of writing. That's where things start going downhill. But I digress. S's post is a series of questions and realisations about the crisis of growing up. (Yes, it is a crisis, an unfortunate unavoidable one at that.) She inspired me to write this so at the end of it, if you think reading it was the biggest waste of your time, feel free to blame S. haha. :)

I'm curious by nature and I ask people (or Google, as the case may be) a lot of questions but this time around, I've been asking myself a lot of questions. Ever wish you had an internal Google that would just give you all the answers? Do you think if it were possible to measure the speed of thought, we would measure distances in space in "thought years"? (seeee - so many questions and I haven't even started the "actual" post.)

Do you ever reach a point in your life where you look at all your dreams, goals,achievements, ambitions and even materialistic pursuits - and wonder - "Why do I want this?"

The things you thought you wanted from life - do you really want them or have you just been conditioned into wanting them? By people? By society? By advertisements? ;)

Can anyone ever really be beyond cultural influence? So why do you think you are so special?

For all your independence and pride, did you really make all your decisions "independently" or have you surreptitiously been conned into them?

If I asked you "Who are you?", could you really tell me? Not your name, not your job, not your skills, not your hobbies, not your relationships - but who YOU are?

Can you evolve overnight and become a different version of yourself or are you just trying on a new skin for shock value?

Is it normal to regress to your teenage years as a form of liberation from your adulthood? Can you be living your life in reverse?

Do you feel passionate and blase about the same things in alternating bursts of dizzying euphoria and mindnumbing dullness?

Can home bring you comfort while also frighten you into depression? Can home be home without the people? Can you be home and still be a nomad?

When you don't cry - is it because you are really happy or are you too scared to feel...anything. If the happiness is bittersweet, is it really happiness?

If you are asked "What did you want to be as a child?" and you cannot remember, is it because it was that trivial or have you lost a part of yourself?

Do you find yourself wishing you had some psycho babble analysis to blame things on but you can't because you had such a perfectly normal and happy childhood?

When you meet someone new who knows nothing about you or where you come from, can it be a relief to hide behind the lack of identity? Or is it simply a chance to create an identity without pre-conceived notions?

Remember when your naivete and innocence was lovable? When did it become laughable?

"Good things happen to good people" they say and you believed it because you are an optimist. But are you sure? Are you really, really sure? No, really?

Can you be a cynical optimist? Why not? It's like believing Evolution was followed by Creation. Or being Agnostic. No?

Is faith (in anything) good or are you just kidding yourself? But you're a daydreamer - do you really want to let go of that just yet?

Are you being impulsive and "listening to your gut" or is it just the devil-may-care attitude frothing up to the surface?

Why is it when men are nice, you think "he's a nice guy" but when a girl is nice, she's flirting?

If being nice was cool, would more people be nicer or is bitchy always going to be in?

If you put yourself before anyone else, is it okay not to feel guilty about it?

Do we put too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect?

Do you feel like you're constantly falling short of expectations that no one has of you but yourself?Once you start falling short, do you stop trying or do you just go harder? Are you running around in circles then or is it a marathon with an eventual finish line? Do you stop if you run out of breath?

When your heart tells you you want to do something that will "make a difference", why does your mind shut it up with "wise" words spouting "impracticality" "no future" "what will you do for money?" and even "rubbish, what difference could you possibly make"? Is this part of societal conditioning or are you too afraid to take the leap? Will you do it anyway?

Can we really have it all? What is this "all" you speak of?

P.S. Don't ask me "What brought this on?" or anything to that effect. They're just questions...at some point you've probably asked yourself some of these too.

An Ode

Mornings are so much better because I know I have you.
A day that doesn't start off with you always ends up going really badly.
Sometimes I don't have the time for you first thing in the morning but then as the day goes on, just the thought of you makes me smile.
As the day draws to a close, once again you cheer me up and bring me back to life.

People often ask me why I love you so much but I'm sure other lovers will agree, it's not something that can be easily explained. I was first introduced to you when I was sooo young and our relationship has evolved so much over the years... and I know deep down that our bond is only going to get stronger over the years. There is no other way. The thought of you, your smell and simply even looking at you always gives me a high like no other. And after all these years, I can confidently say its not infatuation.. what I feel for you is a pure 100% love.. bordering even on obsession and addiction.

I love you Coffee... what would I ever do without you. ;-)

Three years ago

... on the 27th of February I arrived in Australia. As cliche as it sounds.. wow, I have grown up so much in these last three years and for various reasons:

1. I have never lived away from home before my move to Australia.
2. I have never had a real job until I moved to Australia.
3. V and I started living together 3 years ago and only now do I know how much that has helped our relationship grow.
4. For the first time in my life, I had to worry about responsibilities such as bills, groceries, cooking for myself, cleaning up the house etc.
5. I've met hundreds of new people from different walks of life, different cultures, different backgrounds and meeting these people in itself has been an experience.
6.V & I bought our first car AND had our first serious accident.
7. I have learned that being assertive is not a bad thing and even though it takes me a while to mentally prepare myself.. I am much better than what I used to be.
8. I am no longer afraid to voice my opinion
9. I now drink wine. ;-)
10. I'm 25 now.. that's a hell of a lot older than 22 ;)

There are probably many more reasons but these are the only ones that come to mind. I miss India for the fact that it is home, it's where I grew up... for the familiarity. But I love Australia and I'm so glad we moved here... this is home to me now.

wedding season anyone?

So yesterday I went to my first ever "Hen's Night". Funnily enough, I organised the whole thing even though I've never been to one before! My friend J is getting married on the 6th of March. She moved to Australia to be with her boyfriend (now, almost husband) and so, like me, has no family here. So when she invited me to her wedding, I knew I had to organise a Hen's Night for her. So yes, we did have a very good night.


Anyway, so J's is the first of many weddings that I know is going to happen this year. Thanks to Facebook, in the last few months, I have literally watched my friends go from "in a relationship" to "engaged" and some have already evolved to the "married" status as well. The arranged marriages of course did not even have the "in a relationship" status! Most of these are my friends from school and uni in India, so they are people I have known for many years and most importantly, they are girls my age! No, I am not headed where you think I am! Watching the constant coupling around me is not "inspiring" me into "Settling down". Yes, I get asked "when are you settling down?" to which I now reply, "Why? Am I out of control right now?".

So lots of marriages this year. Lots of weddings I will be missing (that is the part that makes me sad!) but no, I am not getting married. Not yet. I want to get married and we will... V & I have a plan of action and need to work at our plans one step at a time so marriage will happen once the steps before it have been completed. What's funny is, V & I are one of those couples who have been together since school so everyone assumed we would be the first to get married. (I have never quite understood the logic behind that assumption!), but at the rate my friends are going.. it looks like we will be one of the last! ;)

I'm wondering... this sudden urgency to get married.. does it have anything to do with that quarter life crisis I was talking about? Most of these girls are turning 25 this year or did in 2009 so does this milestone suddenly make them believe they should be married? I am not being mean.. I am very happy for all my friends who are getting married. I'm just trying to figure out why, all of a sudden at least 20 of my friends (at the very least and I am NOT exaggerating!) are getting married this year! Weddings are in this year so by the time I actually get married, it will be "so last season" ;) Haha!

I've been away...

... a while for various reasons and while at work today, I realised that to help me get over some of my issues, I need to start blogging again. It has, in the past, been very cathartic so here we go again...

Uni is over. O-V-E-R. I am very well aware of the finality of it but as with all my reactions to change, I don't think it has really hit me yet. It's still February and Semester 1 doesn't usually start until early March so I could very well still be on uni holidays. Yes, I am working full time now but I do that every time i have uni holidays so no real difference...yet.

I did realise though that 2010 will be the first year (since pre school) that I will not be studying. That's a pretty big deal to me. I don't enjoy exams etc but yes I definitely do enjoy studying and learning. Maybe by end 2010 I will have started learning a language so then maybe 2010 will not really end up being a non-studying year. Ha ha! :)

In other news, I turned 25 last week.
TWENTY FIVE.
Wow, when I was 18, 25 seemed so very old. Many of my friends have asked me if I'm having a "quarter life crisis" but I'm actually ok. I've never had any "...by 25" goals so crisis has been averted (I hope!). I do however have "...by 30" goals so if by 30 I haven't achieved the things I set out do and my plan hasn't fallen into place I might have a crisi then. Might.

That apart, it's just been work and not much more. Life is routine but life is good. :)