I attended a writers club where we were told to write ten sentences starting with “I’ve learnt”. So here, twenty most interesting lessons I’ve learnt in the twenty short years of my not so long life.
1. I’ve learnt to stop worrying about who people think I am. Because it’s me, I own myself!
2. I’ve learnt that whatever I do doesn’t have to be sophisticated all the time, let’s go dumb!
3. I’ve learnt that weird is the new different.
4. I’ve learnt that trust is the first step to any relationship.
5. I’ve learnt to not take things at face value, it is necessary to differentiate between sweet nothings and genuine complements.
6. I’ve learnt to take it slow, because if you hurry, you flurry!
7. I’ve learnt that the cool “I don’t care” attitude is not cool any longer. I care because it’s about me!
8. I’ve learnt that the only debt one can’t repay is the gift of an understanding mother.
9. I’ve learnt to hold on to people despite misunderstandings. Because some relationships come a full circle.
10. I’ve learnt that important life lessons can only be learned through experience. Good luck, bad luck… who knows?
11. I’ve learnt that victory is sweet and easy to share. Defeat is an individual experience.
12. I’ve learnt to watch good movies. The small budget big win sorts. The true Indi win sorts.
13. I’ve learnt that love is a beautiful two way street.
14. I’ve learnt that one should drink to celebrate, not to get drunk. Barring the random kiss or drunk dialling the long gone ex is not cool.
15. I’ve learnt to raise a smile, not a fist, because I know the world expects the fist.
16. I’ve learnt to not be jealous of someone else’s beauty or covetous for someone else’s talents. I will bask in the beauty that I am and embrace the talent that I have.
17. I’ve learned that it’s mandatory to pick the cue; else the blame is on you.
18. I’ve learned that people change much like leaves. From tender green to bottle green and darker and darker. Some turn yellow in between, and then brown, then they catch fire to look dead gray.
19. I’ve learnt to hold on to my self-respect at all times. It’s wonderful to be nice, and I will. But no, not at the cost of people taking me for granted.
20. I’ve learned that what I will learn is more important than what I have learnt.
P.S. these are not just mere clichés.
Monday 20 January 2014
Sunday 5 January 2014
Me bad bad blogger dish, why did I post a post empty of New Year wish?
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Friday 3 January 2014
Treasure trove
The story dates back to the time I was in third year of under graduation, the last year of college. Who back then would have thought I’d have to brave another two years of attendance threats, strictly-no-plagiarizing warnings and growing up? So, the super seniority stormed into my head, got under my skin and ran deep in the veins. I lived life like there’s no tomorrow. If you didn’t believe I’m crazy, here’s the proof.
While people sat to discuss career prospects and went between their exams to give a million entrances, I laid in bed, quilled cards, shopped, got told off, occasionally felt guilty, studied now and then, wrote, gave just 2 entrances (TISS and DU for social work. I didn’t give JNU. And I got looks) and ordered tons of food and bloated into a ball. I even distracted juniors by talking about dream men and engagement rings the night before an exam. I reminded myself of my high cool quotient, because I was interning with BASIX and was earning 6000RS per month, I had a super cool boyfriend, I am pretty and I was the super senior, thanks to previous years of borderline cleared attendance!
I passed third year unscathed with 35% attendance while 66.6% was compulsory. Hey, trust me, even I didn’t think that would happen. For some time, I thought I’d have to repeat that year and it didn’t seem too bad back then. Well, why would it seem bad to a carefree, pampered brat bestowed with parental riches? I don’t know where that confidence came from, because had I been detained, I’d be writing this post from my grave. All I understood back then was kinship, friendship, internship and… uhm… courtship!
I guess because there are no reasons for absolute madness!
Ahh-ohh! Confessed too much!
*
One humid day, sometime during the beginning of the session in July, while walking into the mess for lunch,
“Hi, do you need help?”
“Please” I said and caught onto her hand. “First year?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Third year” I paraded, surely she didn’t notice.
After a brief introduction and a hurried chat in Tamil over quick spoonfuls of kaddi chawal, before the afternoon classes, I invited her to my room that evening. And she turned up. I thought she was homesick and was looking for an elder sister in me. What all seniority can do to you!
But how can you blame me? That’s how I was when I was in my first year. I asked whether she was missing home and she said yes. See?
After a few crazy, intelligent conversations and my birthday dinner when my friends with much super seniority made her wash a dirty saucepan, we became buddies. We poked fun and cracked too many inside jokes. We became buddies, sisters, well; we had other plans as well.
So now, drums roll…
Introducing my sweetie sponsor… put your hands together for Anuradha Rao!
Because she has a lot to say about me!
*
The moments you can't put into words.
There are some moments that are terribly hard to describe. The amazement at a finished piece of quilling, the excitement on knowing you'll have south Indian food from Saravana Bhavan for dinner, the high feeling when you've laughed so much with a friend that you just can't laugh any more or the honour on being asked to write a guest post in the world's most entertaining blog.
It's difficult to explicitly explain these brilliant moments in words- they need to be lived. And I have lived them all. Lucky me right? I know you're probably thinking- what's in a few good moments? They come, they go, so what's the big deal? You couldn't have been more off the mark. It's this sequence of crazy, weird, mental, beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime moments that build unforgettable memories. And it helps if you have a crazy, weird, mental, beautiful, one-of-a-kind friend to share them with.
I can't even begin to describe how sad it is when a whole year of fun-filled happiness with a special person like this comes to an end. I've had to live with it every day of the past four months, and trust me, it's not easy. I don't speak of it often, because not many understand. Nobody else can appreciate the depth of that void without experiencing something like it.
So when I was asked to write this post, I jumped at the opportunity. But for a long time, I wondered. What do I write about? The topics suggested to me included Federer (oh, but that post would never end then) and the Beatles (there's nothing to write really- they need to be heard, not read about!). So then I decided I'd write about the time I spent with the person who suggested these topics in the first place. Who also happens to be the person who runs this blog, just by the way. It's not possible to put it all down in one post (not even a thousand page tome would suffice)- oh no, don't get me wrong.
It's not a problem to do with a space constraint at all. It's to do with not being able to express those intangibly amazing emotions in writing. Sometimes, words are just not enough.
By Anuradha Rao
*
Old gems digged!
While people sat to discuss career prospects and went between their exams to give a million entrances, I laid in bed, quilled cards, shopped, got told off, occasionally felt guilty, studied now and then, wrote, gave just 2 entrances (TISS and DU for social work. I didn’t give JNU. And I got looks) and ordered tons of food and bloated into a ball. I even distracted juniors by talking about dream men and engagement rings the night before an exam. I reminded myself of my high cool quotient, because I was interning with BASIX and was earning 6000RS per month, I had a super cool boyfriend, I am pretty and I was the super senior, thanks to previous years of borderline cleared attendance!
I passed third year unscathed with 35% attendance while 66.6% was compulsory. Hey, trust me, even I didn’t think that would happen. For some time, I thought I’d have to repeat that year and it didn’t seem too bad back then. Well, why would it seem bad to a carefree, pampered brat bestowed with parental riches? I don’t know where that confidence came from, because had I been detained, I’d be writing this post from my grave. All I understood back then was kinship, friendship, internship and… uhm… courtship!
I guess because there are no reasons for absolute madness!
Ahh-ohh! Confessed too much!
*
One humid day, sometime during the beginning of the session in July, while walking into the mess for lunch,
“Hi, do you need help?”
“Please” I said and caught onto her hand. “First year?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Third year” I paraded, surely she didn’t notice.
After a brief introduction and a hurried chat in Tamil over quick spoonfuls of kaddi chawal, before the afternoon classes, I invited her to my room that evening. And she turned up. I thought she was homesick and was looking for an elder sister in me. What all seniority can do to you!
But how can you blame me? That’s how I was when I was in my first year. I asked whether she was missing home and she said yes. See?
After a few crazy, intelligent conversations and my birthday dinner when my friends with much super seniority made her wash a dirty saucepan, we became buddies. We poked fun and cracked too many inside jokes. We became buddies, sisters, well; we had other plans as well.
So now, drums roll…
Introducing my sweetie sponsor… put your hands together for Anuradha Rao!
Because she has a lot to say about me!
*
The moments you can't put into words.
There are some moments that are terribly hard to describe. The amazement at a finished piece of quilling, the excitement on knowing you'll have south Indian food from Saravana Bhavan for dinner, the high feeling when you've laughed so much with a friend that you just can't laugh any more or the honour on being asked to write a guest post in the world's most entertaining blog.
It's difficult to explicitly explain these brilliant moments in words- they need to be lived. And I have lived them all. Lucky me right? I know you're probably thinking- what's in a few good moments? They come, they go, so what's the big deal? You couldn't have been more off the mark. It's this sequence of crazy, weird, mental, beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime moments that build unforgettable memories. And it helps if you have a crazy, weird, mental, beautiful, one-of-a-kind friend to share them with.
I can't even begin to describe how sad it is when a whole year of fun-filled happiness with a special person like this comes to an end. I've had to live with it every day of the past four months, and trust me, it's not easy. I don't speak of it often, because not many understand. Nobody else can appreciate the depth of that void without experiencing something like it.
So when I was asked to write this post, I jumped at the opportunity. But for a long time, I wondered. What do I write about? The topics suggested to me included Federer (oh, but that post would never end then) and the Beatles (there's nothing to write really- they need to be heard, not read about!). So then I decided I'd write about the time I spent with the person who suggested these topics in the first place. Who also happens to be the person who runs this blog, just by the way. It's not possible to put it all down in one post (not even a thousand page tome would suffice)- oh no, don't get me wrong.
It's not a problem to do with a space constraint at all. It's to do with not being able to express those intangibly amazing emotions in writing. Sometimes, words are just not enough.
By Anuradha Rao
*
Old gems digged!
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