It was a Happy Happy Birthday! :)

I so love surprises !
This Birthday,I happened to get a real one.Real,because all the other times,I've managed to guess my friends' surprises!It was my sissy,the mastermind behind this 'surprise-karo' mission. Partnering her was my school time bestie,Pranjali.After almost half a day spent at my dear college(Dear blog,My readers pretty well understand sarcasm! ),I returned home to enjoy 'my day'.Saw a pair of sandals outside my home.Thought,it wouldn't be Pranjali,for she seldom wears heels.Knocked the door just to see my pretty sissy,loosing up her energy blowing up the different colored balloons . Balloons for my birthday!And then,the beautiful 'H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y ' hung on the wall with a special crown for the princess! :P
By that time,Pranjali had  managed to hide herself behind the refrigerator kept at the dining room,but failed to realize the power of my sharp eyesight !It was her 'Chopsi' moment when she came to terrify me with her 'Bhowk :P'  as I was already standing there with a big smile.
Next was the time for the photographs ! Ah ! So much I love getting clicked !Just 50-60 photos ! Thats it !Some with the crown ,some without!And then the yum moment. My favorite Dutch-Truffle cake with some beautiful candles on it! A piece went into my mouth,and the rest got rubbed on my face!And then ,again,the photo session with an awesome dinner and a delicious dessert! :P
A sweety sweety day !
PS:Not to mention the joy of receiving innumerable calls,replying to texts and the Facebook comments! :D
PPS: This birthday post  reminds me of March,last year,when I posted the Creepy! ,a post describing my pre-birthday shopping woes.And how Kajal from Purple Chronicles was the first one to wish me on my birthday !Wonder where she's lost these days !

Sissy,me and Pranjali!

Jack and Jill went up the hill...

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown And Jill came tumbling after….

Nostalgia sweeps in, isn't it?

So beautiful were those days, when we used to climb the staircases of our flats singing this, proudly, letting our parents and neighbors know what we were taught in the Nursery class that day!

While, for some like us, if this was a sheer fun, there are a million poor hands even today, in India, actually living the ‘Jack and Jill’s ‘ life! A life which begins on the roads, a life where lullabies are seldom sung ,a life which teaches them crawl in the mud, a life which makes them walk on the hot tar of the roads! A life where the used tiers substitute the ‘Temple Run’!  A tiny-life which dreams of dreaming high!

I’m hereby referring to the kids of those 13 million laborers who struggle for survival. I am,here,not talking about Child-labor , but the children of the laborers! This issue is about those children who grow up watching their parents work on roads-an initial phase which would then lead to child-labor. A phase, where they aren't any benefit to their family, but just an extra consumer of their daily wage. I sound rude, but this is the bitter known fact.

Just yesterday, when I was returning from my college, walking under the burning sun ,on the deserted roads, I saw a little kid, about 2-3 year old, crawling on the freshly created road to reach his mother. She was taking a nap on the other side of the road, after a tiring job. The age, when we don’t even let our kids step out on the roads, this one had to creep all the way long to spend a little time with his mom!The problem for these kids is, their parents are uneducated. And it’s lack of education that led them work on daily basis, and hence the result is poverty. Poverty implies they won’t be able to send their kids to schools, thus leading to chain of never ending problems. My question here is simple, what’s the fault of those kids? That they were born into a poor family, to uneducated parents? Why don’t we try changing the situation?

I am an engineering undergrad, studying in a 111 acre campus, with around 100+ classrooms. What’s the use? Is such a huge campus just for luring the HSc pass students? Because, once you enter, you seriously realize that you don’t need so many classrooms! After 4:00, the time when the college sessions end, the entire campus is just like a beautiful park, but, with nobody allowed to enter and admire its beauty.And,we have some or the other construction work going on every other day at our campus. We are always made to observe ‘the difficult life’. And with it, we see a few kids, watching us with eager eyes, as we walk with our bags at our back! Why don’t we utilize such campuses for teaching the kids after our college hours? Why doesn't the college take the initiative to work for the betterment of our society? The problem is not the lack of teaching facility. I’m sure,a lot many professional teachers would love to do this job, more than their regular paid job. If not the teachers, then at least we would! I have many a friends who go to teach the slum kids after the college hours or on weekends. It’s not the lack of interest, but the lack of facilities. I know it’s difficult, for the laborers are migrants, migrating in search of jobs.But,what if every university,every school, every construction firm decides to do their bit. We've already got the ‘Bakeri’ doing that.They teach the laborers’  kids when their parents are busy working for the daily bread. Aren't we ensuring,for ourselves as well as the nation,a better,prosperous future by sending them to the schools?

I would also like to acknowledge St.Xavier’s Loyola Hall, Ahmadabad for their goodwill.This is the school,from where I passed my HSc .Other than the beautiful campus that they have,whats more regarding is that they provide this campus to the Loyola Evening School(LES) ,a part of the St.Xavier's Social Service Society, to teach the kids residing in a nearby slum area. All the facilities which are enjoyed by a ordinary day-student, are provided to them. From the football grounds  to the library, in every aspect they are treated equally, with equal respect and dignity.

In case, if I win this contest, organized by ISB iDiya in association with Indiblogger,I would like to donate the prize money to Loyola evening School,a wonderful iniative by my alma mater,St.Xaviers High School,Loyola Hall.

PS: To know more about ISB's iDiya,visit : http://www.isb.edu/idiya/

Title-less Post! :P

Ah!
Finally the season of marriages comes to a halt. So much weight I’ve gained in these months!But can't help resisting the menu of "The Big Fat Gujarati Weddings". I simply eat, eat and eat these days and the Gujarati wedding foods!? The people here are so fond of celebrations because it involves eating (and fun of course!). Recall ‘Jethalal’ of the popular TV show ‘Taarak Mehta ka ulta Chashma’-the fafdas, jalebis, puri and the undhiyu!Yummm!

But the best thing was one of our faculties taking almost a month’s leave for her wedding. The free lectures in the engineering college-Indescribable bliss it is! All those days, we spent her lecture, talking, playing, exploring our creativity by drawing random weird things on the benches etc.

And imagine when she finally returns! The awesome bridal mehendi on her hands, the brand new dresses, totally changed hairstyle-completely straightened hair...!

All these days, we people have been observing her like some aspiring detectives. Looking at her shining new gold bracelet, her ‘mangalsootra ’ and her platinum ring! So keen observers we have become! All thanks to our engineering course...All round development it teaches you! :D

Dedicated to the group of intense observers: Charu, Kinara and Jinal .

I’m sure we gonna miss this in our later life! :( :(

Sorry Jinal! Couldn't find you in any of the group pics!
All time busy she is,clicking her insane friends! :P

TP!

BEING A PART OF THE SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE

15th to 18th Feb,our college will be organizing its Annual Techno-cultural fest-Nu-Tech.Being a second year undergraduate,I thought should at least put in a bit of my effort in the management of the event before the entire responsibility comes upon us, the next year. Last year after experiencing how tough the publicity committee member's job is, I thought to join the sponsorship and the creative committee this year.Obviously, being a piscean,I love getting engrossed  in the latter job but the toughest part was undoubtedly getting the sponsors for the Mega Kailash Kher concert.

The job began some 2-3 weeks ago when the concert was finalized along with its lead singer. Initially we were like,'Okay,not a tough job.After all,”Kailash Kher” is coming to our college!.Who would not like to get their company's advertisement done in such a mega event.Easy!' But who knew,the same thing would teach us some life learning lessons! What initially began as just a fun event (We were granted attendance! :D  A big thing in engineering colleges!! ) started frustrating us. Morning to evening, we used to search for sponsors. All the city malls, famous indulging sites, hotels,car showrooms...everything!Helped me reduce my direction dyslexia by 0.001% at least! :P

Some situations used to be so annoying. They’ll ask everything about your event-the dates, the estimate cost of the event, the place etc. and what ends up is 'Sorry,we don't have the budget to fund you!' and we were like 'Wow!Happy Realization!'.Yet another category of people,on the phone,'Yea..Tell us about your event.' and when the phone balance dips like anything in explaining to them everything, they end up saying 'Call me after half an hour' and when you call back,'I'm driving right now!Call you back after an hour?'You wait and wait and wait!The next day you call back again 'Sir,wanted to know your response!' and they reply 'Oh!Very few days left for the event!We won’t be able to arrange for the models and their designer dresses' and we again end up saying 'Wow!One day delay becomes "So late" '!

This makes me think about the salesmen who knocks our door at the mid afternoon and we bang the door on his face saying 'Nahi chahiye!' without realizing he is working under someone,he too has a master and the fear of  getting fired from his job!

Very less sponsorships we may have brought but I've seen a change in many who now say 'Paise kamana kitna mushkil hai.Aur ham faltu mai waste kartey retey hai!'

Let the Country awake!

26 days it has been since India lost her daughter!
Everybody's life seems to have become pretty much normal na?!Except a few friend's of hers,her shocked family,the troubled,suspended policemen for not performing their 'duties' well,the family of the accused,a few publicity-demanding-politicians ?
Just a little change for common man: Daughters of India praying to return back 'SAFE','UNMOLESTED','UNTEASED' from their offices,schools,colleges or "Kindergartens"?

TOI-30th December,2012

Much, more than I ever thought,has been said and written about this issue.Wonder what I was doing till these horrific 26 days?'SHOCK' held me tight,for maybe,this was the first time I heard something so ghastly as this one..I dont know,what relation I had with this brave girl,nobody knows ,yet the country united in grief and anger,surviving the cold water canons in the chilly month of December,the tear-gas & the human-less lathis!

Each time her news is being shown or printed,it drags me closer to the cheap mentality of some men.Today's edition of TOI reads "Nirbhaya's mother speaks up!"..Imagining the plight of the woman who gave birth to such a brave girl leaves me in tears .What her fault was?That her daughter was a bright student,that she got an opportunity in the Indian capital to complete her internships?That she loved wearing western clothes?That she went for a movie with a male friend ?Or that she boarded that White bus?

Today,marks the end of her last rites..The villagers say,its time to officially forget her.Forget her?Forget the ambitious girl who wanted to support her family financially,whose dreams of being a medical student were shattered just because of those shameless,inhumane six men ?Forget the girl who was the another victim of irresponsible government?

In these situations of distress,what does the so-much-adored by the 'superstitious'-Indians priest-'Asaram' has to say?
She should have pleaded those guys to leave her,fallen to their feet,addressed them as 'Bhaiya'! Shit!
Seems he is yet to know the real meaning of Bhaiya!Making those 'rapists' your bhaiya's is the cheapest statement I could have ever come across.It seems that everybody just wanted to be a media's attention seeker in this big-youth-issue,then be it by making 'dented-and-painted' comments or something as narrow-minded as the above one.

My heart goes out for her family who, today, received her bag of clothes.How her brothers now have just a lock of her hair as her remembrance and what her parents might be going through right now!Those parents who taught her to walk,eat and live a life of her own terms.Those brothers for whom Raksha Bandhan would forever freshen up this ghastly reality of their life..Never before,had I cried so much,on anybody's death,as her's!Never before was I so soul-drenched as now!Never before I have prayed so much as I now...

Let those accused experience a HELL here on this Earth so that no man ever dares of doing this again!
Let the brave-heart's soul rest in peace.
Let the Country awake!

Tuney Meli choti khichi? :O

4:15 p.m. it was, when I, following a routine, was returning from the college. The bus drops me about half-a-kilometer away from my home. So I get a chance to lose at least a few pounds each day as I silently walk on the cold roads with giant trees on both sides accompanying  me ,watching the idle men at the cigar shops, women back from the grocery shopping or the teen-aged "future of India” returning from their tuition! But today was something different!

Just as I stepped out of my school-like-looking bus, I heard something that drifted my interest & forced me to gaze there for the next few minutes. What I saw?

Little kids, aged between five and eight  sitting in a yellow mini bus, which was at halt to drop one among them, shouting notoriously, crying

 "Mamma.. Mamma...!",

"Mujhe apni bottle wapus kar!" ,

 "Mummy ko keh doongi!" ,

"Tuney meli choti khichi?!" ,

"Kal tiffin mai bread butter lana!" ...

Such beautiful were those days,when we knew not ,what competition was,what jealousy meant.Days when  “Daud Pakad” used to be just a game and not the race of/for life!

Nirbhaya

The Sunset at Raja Seat,Coorg
   © Pooja Karadgi, itsmylife13393.blogspot.in

Amidst the din and madness

Of protests and lathi charges

I sit in silent contemplation

Seeking to unravel

The greater purpose

Behind Nirbhaya’s plunder

Was there a deeper soul purpose

To her boarding a barren bus

And offering her human sacrifice?

Did her soul choose to suffer

The gravest insanity

In order to awaken

A slumbering humanity?

This outrage that pours into the streets

Is it a calling from each soul?

To fight the darkness

To awaken;

To ascend;

To transition;

Into a new era of consciousness?

Where love wins over fear

And compassion and oneness

Guide our minds?

Will punishing the criminals kill the crime?

Will lighting candles overcome the darkness within?

Each one must allow Nirbhaya’s sacrifice

To touch and transform their lives

Each one must choose

Their own inner light

And forsake their darkness

Each one must remember

All forgotten sacrifices

And take personal responsibility

Delhi, your parched land

Is burning with the pyres of unsung, forgotten heroes

Who have been raped, shot, murdered and plundered

Earth heaves under your karmic weight

Wake up! You sleeping sons and daughters of power

Lead us no more into darkness

Rule us not through fear and indifference

Let the waters of the holy Ganges

Purify your hearts, minds and souls

Enough to allow compassion, love and concern

Into your hearts

So you may feel driven to restore

Justice, peace and order.

-http://www.suzyheals.com


Time to raise your voice!

We love shopping !

“Crying is for plain women. Pretty women go shopping.” 

― Oscar Wilde

"Lets Go Shopping!" 
These are the three little words from mom which swings your mood in seconds!Walk straight into a shopping mall, and flaunt the latest styles.

I've had shared endless experiences rather creepy experiences on this site,whenever I've stepped out  for an 'intensional shopping'.So much so,that my dad was once so much fed up with this choosy nature of mine,that he suggested me to get a pair of 'JEans' stitched Imagine!Now,the usual scene is that,whenever we step out for 'my' shopping,my parents successfully manage to get a seat somewhere and its me,who go on to buy something for myself.

Shoppers Stop has always been the hot favorite shopping stop for both me and my sissy,for the wide variety it offers to choose from.This time,we chose to go for online shopping from SS!
Here are some things which have been bought by me or have been added to my wish list...After all,birthday and christmas on their way! :D

          WHEN IN DOUBT,WEAR BRIGHT!

     Something I can always hunt for in my wardrobe!

For an addictive handbag that you'll crave just like 

candy!

    Add some hardware to your wrist !

         “ I don't know who invented high heels, but all

 women owe him a lot!”

  -Marilyn Monroe

          

Mascaras and Lipsticks! <3

                                                                         

Whether,its just a get-together or a party or the most special day of your life-Wedding, these make you look glamorous and beautiful!

W :  Way Out West!

Holidays means Partying! :D D:

Yayyy! :D

Winter is back in action...can actually feel it :)

The season of hot muffins and natural blush!The season of wearing extra long sleeved sweaters and flaunting a pair of sexy jackets! Winter jackets are absolutely a craze! They classify the category of chic and trendy that you fit into.  So, go indulge!

So,if you are one of my tribes,who loves shopping but half of the times return with empty hand bags simply wasting the Earth's natural resources,I suggest you to visit the Shoppers Stop online shopping site,

http://www.shoppersstop.com/index.jsp.vr !From offering a wide range of products like apparels to watches,from jewelley to perfumes,it promises you free shipping,cash on delivery and easy exchange and returns!I'm sure you wont be able to put a hold on your temptations!

This is an official entry to  SHOPPERS STOP PERFECT LOOK contest..

SO, THIS FESTIVE SEASON,WITH CHRISTMAS ON ITS WAY,  

                                                                

                                                                            WITH      

                                     

CLicK MaNiaC

The Story behind lighting these 365 wicks: King Hima’s sixteen-year-old son was destined to die by snakebite on the fourth day of his marriage. On the fourth day, his wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid out ornaments & heaps of gold at the entrance of her husband’s chamber & lighted lamps all over the place. She spent the night telling stories & singing songs.When Yam, the God of Death arrived in the disguise of a serpent, his eyes were blinded by the sparkle of the lights & he could not enter the prince’s chamber. Instead, he climbed on top of the heap & sat there the whole night listening to the songs. In the morning, he went away & it was on that night that her husband was saved from death. This day is also known as Yamadeepdan & lamps are kept burning throughout the night, in commemoration of Yamraj. 

Source:http://www.lohana.info/Culture%20Corner/Diwali.pdf

Three Little Words

Beep Beep...SMS!

You open your inbox once again to read a "Happy New Year" message, rather just a formal reply by a person whom you forwarded one in the morning. The entire day, your mobile has beeped, hasn't it? Some people do bother of wishing back, either again by a text message or a call, Some simply mark it read.Truly, virtual world has reduced distances, but, I fear one day, personal human relations would end. While there are some like these I mentioned, there on the other side, are  people who are desperately waiting to meet their family and relatives, to invite Goddess Lakshmi to their place, but alas!,they are forced to guard other’s wealth and assets!

Yes! This one's for our Security Guards!

As a family tradition, we headed on to worship Lord Ram. Standing there at the temple gates, looking at the lightings of the nearby lofty buildings was a man dressed in grey .His Job: To guarantee security and to manage the mass. I never before bothered to notice the security guards, the sole people , because of whom we are able to enjoy a serene sleep every night. Silently imagining himself with his family in other’s was his job on this auspicious day of Deepavali.I could see his eyes turning to every kid whose eyes revealed the happiness of holding his favorite chocolate, every wife walking with her husband clad in gold and a beautiful saree.A man, desperate to return a "Happy New Year" wish to someone!

There I saw, a little girl, aged not more than 7,in a cute pink frock playing with an Orange balloon. The balloon flew towards the guard, as if it was intended to. She ran behind it as fast as possible to get hold of it .The Guard picked it up and handed it to its 7 year old owner.

"Thank you Uncle" said an innocent voice.

And

"Happy New Year, Uncle"

"Happy New Year Beta!"

The three little words!

It makes such a difference to someone!

A very Happy New Year to all the people who  protect us,our houses and our nation.

I am working on a project on Online Banking.It would be a great help if you take a few moments and fill in the survey form,the link for which is given below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FLSQH3Z