There are so many regrets I have in life, including not learning swimming or to play any sport. Looks like my parents were too bent on just getting me to learn to sing carnatic music professionally, which though I was good at, disliked many a time.

But yeah, blame me too. I was never even remotely interested in sports, except for those yearly-once sessions when I had to recruit athletes for my house for the inter-house sports meet every year. Funny that I had to head a team which had some of the brilliant sportspersons in the girls’ wing. The only thing that consoled me was that I was good with marching ;), and could carry off the house banner or flag pretty well.

It so happens that my school actually conducts exams for giving us PT grades for the board exam. Religiously, during our class X and XII, our PT teachers would make all forty of us line up, and watch most of us crazily running through our long jump, and dropping the shot-put ball right near our feet with a yelp of pain.

Class XII board exam PT ‘exam’ is the craziest and funniest PT exam I’ve ever taken. We were asked to do everything from long jump, high jump, throw the ball into the basketball ring, of which I could do only the last thing (anything-close-to) well. The other things were an absolute fiasco, and I searched for consolation in the fact that I wasn’t alone.

Then was the running race ‘test’. The teacher divided us into groups according to our attendance list, and as usual, I was the last but one. My group had just three of us. As did all the other groups, the three of us planned that we would run in the same speed so nobody would finish first and nobody, the last.
And the races began.

In every group, some girl managed to come first, while the rest more or less finished at the same speed. Smart.
When it was our turn, the three of us decided to stick to our resolution. Well, my faint idea was that someone among the three would go first so that the teacher wouldn’t recognise our plan. I mean, just slightly overtake the other two.
We positioned ourselves on one end of the ground.
The teacher blew her whistle.

The three of us ran, and within seconds, we all managed to adjust our speeds to the same. We were running at the same speed, and being in the centre, I could see that we were all running in the same line.
Well, I really wished someone would shoot ahead and go first.
But no, apparently we would resolutely stick to our plan.
All the three of us were still running at the same speed.

And lo, we had finished the race to great cheers from our classmates. As we finished, all three of us doubled up in laughter, for we had run at the speed in which people usually perform victory laps. I fell on the ground, clutching my stomach hard, unable to control my laughter, as the teacher came to us.
‘You think I didn’t know your plan?’ she asked.
Hitler, Hitler.
‘I’m going to fail you.’
Feeling-less me, I smiled back at her. I tried to stop, for my mind was warning me – ‘Thimuru unakku, stop smiling’. But no, I wouldn’t, and continued grinning at her, panting.
She glared at me like she had innumerable number of times before. The house captain she hated the most.

Of course, I didn’t fail the PT exam, like she had threatened (I mean, of course, she can’t do that!!!).
But she did get her revenge. While everyone else got an A1 in PT, I got an A2. But yeah, I won :)

PS: Do read the post below as well. Your help really counts!!!

Ever felt extremely happy doing something extremely simple, something we really didn’t think would actually matter? The happiness we get from this is the best – anytime we think back to it, we will feel ourselves brimming with joy. This happiness is exalted when we give someone else a reason to smile. We get so many chances to do this, to give someone a chance and reason to smile, but how many of us take the chance?

Take the children affected by Down Syndrome (DS), for instance. I had the opportunity to meet eight of them during December last year. Simple and delightful people to be around with, they really make you think hard about how easy it is to gain happiness. These eight children work and make simple things people can use, like floor swabs, incense sticks, yoga mats, little carpets, greeting cards, paper bags and so on. Managed and run by their parents, “DS Special Children Welfare Association” is the organization in Chennai that brings together these eight children and puts into use the vocational training they have been given by their parents.

The organization sells its products in various little sales organised around the city. The best part about this organisation is that it makes these children believe (rightly, at that!) that they can support themselves with the work they do. And this, is the best gift they can give these children, who normally only attract attention or sympathy anywhere for how they are different from others. Each child does his or her work with absolute dedication, and being a personal witness, I can only say that their resolute attention to what they do stuns me.

This organization has now moved to a building in Virugambakkam donated by a well wisher. As they are moving, they are in need of some things like a van to bring and drop the children in their homes, tools, machinery, raw materials and fans. The parents of these children have so far been supporting this cause whole-heartedly, by providing the capital needed for all their work. Now that they are moving to a new place, they need more funds for the things I just mentioned.

Many of us here earn, most of us are well enough to provide for these children. A tiny contribution we make could really make a big difference in the lives of these eight people who are able to support themselves to a big extent. As I already said, giving them the confidence that they can also make a contribution is the biggest help anyone could do to them. And when we have the means to do it, let’s not miss the chance.

I put forth my appeal on behalf of the organization to you. Please give in what you can. Cheques or DDs can be made in favour of “DS Special Children Welfare Association, Virugambakkam”. Even if you won’t be able to be of help financially at the moment, encourage anyone to do so. They have their regular sales where they sell the products made by the children, and if you come across one, do buy something. For, unknown to you, one of these children glows with pride and happiness every time you help them.

Click here for details of the organization and its appeal.

After years of wondering, I finally realised that I'm not weird, after all.... many people do sneeze when they go out into the sun or at bright light. And guess what it's called? ADCHOO!
How I got to know this is silly, too. Long, long ago, I had written something about sneezing, and some random blog had a link to it that I saw in my statcounter recently. I visited that site to see that many people suffered from ADCHOO. Oh by the way, ADCHOO stands for Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst.

I also learnt that some guys in my batch are such good cooks! We had an awesome dinner complete with dessert, entirely cooked by us. Well, yeah, there were moments when I couldn't control those pangs of guilt tugging at me because I had no idea what they were up to. But of course, the tasty sabzi and hot biryani, and the oh-I-could-faint-kind-awesome bread halwa just managed to keep other guilty feelings down.

But most importantly, I came across the revelation that anything, anything, could suddenly come to an end. And when it's time for that, nothing can stop it. I lost a dearest aunt, uncle, cousin and a delightful 4-year-old nephew to a road accident, news that came as a bolt out of the blue. I love you all, I'll miss you, my darling Siddhu kutti. Who'll scream "V-A-N-I Vani Vani" now, or tell me the name of every car that passes by? I'll miss you Sugi, who will silently wear my black watch now? And atthai, how will you make fun of my nose?

May they rest in peace. I thank God so much for making us strong enough to bear this calamity. Thank you so much God, that I'm such a stone-hearted, unfeeling girl.

Updated within 2 minutes of publishing: Just came to know I got the division of my choice that I will pursue in my third year. Thank you, dear God, very very much!!!

Accounting class for two days a week at 8 30 A.M.
Before:
Yours truly wakes up at 7.50 and rushes about. Manages to get ready by 8.10, and sees through her window that the shuttle bus has gone. Another one will take at least 20 minutes to come, and so waiting in the room is the best option.
Alas! Another one comes along in just ten minutes…and there, she is late. By the time she reaches class, she is around 25 minutes late and doesn’t have a place to sit.

Today:
Gets up at 7 30 at the first ring of the alarm. Smiles (she has a conviction that if smiling is the first thing you do as soon as you wake up, your day’s going to be great), gets ready by 7.50 too. As is the procedure, sees a shuttle bus leave at 8. She thinks quick and decides to leave in five minutes to take the next one. All ready.
Goes out of the room. Picks up her sandals and is about to wear them. Realises floaters will be much better than the stupid sandals.

Alas, again, the bus is there. The devil of the bus is already there. She runs across the road, bag, baggage, jacket et al., exhibiting her clumsiness that she has struggled to hide in vain in front of a hundred eyes she feels are staring at her. The pure white jacket trails the road and develops a black patch in the sleeve before she notices what is happening.
For all the running, thankfully, while people from the bus stare at her too, the bus driver is kind enough to wait. She runs into the bus and murmurs thanks and gets an approving nod from the driver. She sits, the many pair of eyes still staring at the unique creature which had been running for a long time.
Looks at the clock in the bus when she is still 2 stops away from her destination. 8.29. Damn, she thinks. Late again. It would be atleast 8.40 by the time she reaches class considering the walking she has to do from the stop.
Gets down dejectedly, thinking of all the effort she had wasted in running. Walks gloomily along the lonely corridors of the building till she reaches the level where her classes go on.

Voila! The digital clock in the corridor flashed 8.29. The stupid clock in the bus was ten minutes fast. She walks briskly, to reach class at the magical stroke of 8.30. She reaches the handle of the door of the classroom and peeps out to see the time.
8.30.
She grins, and opens the door.
She goes in, and raises both her hands in a flourish typical of an athlete who’d just won a race.
Sleepy heads looked up. Of course, there is no one who would acknowledge her victory. Her race. Her race against time and clocks.

The endless sky, the innumerable stars, the moon, and the clouds remain…that life could go on forever, that time comes to a standstill, that the only movement in time is for the moon to set and the sun to rise…that everything is calm, with no worries….
Is that asking for too much? :P

Whoa, what a week it has been! Classes have begun, they’re terrible, and I’ve gone out with such a frequency I’m surprised. And found a little funny job for myself too.
This prof is crazy. I mean, really crazy. Crazier than the ones who’ve taught me before, that he keeps laughing in class while others yawn and doze off so obviously, that he must either be blind, or so strong at heart that he continues to teach when every student is nodding off in sleep.
‘4 principles in accounting’ (or something else, I do not know) and he laughs. Now which sane person on earth finds ‘4 principles’ funny?? And the ‘4’ seems to be giving him some thrills that he breaks into spells of laughter till we glare at him asking him to continue.

An early morning class that it is, yours truly has no incentive to stay awake. I doze off in class, wake up startled when something vaguely similar to my name in said in class : ‘morning’, ‘warning’, ‘money’ or ‘funny’ (don’t get me started on how funny could be vani, in Singapore, it can). Or when my pen tore a line across my neat (and empty) printed lecture slides (never doze off with a pen in your hand). Better still, a prod from my neighbour. We do this as a mutual help, you see. So much for accounting. If not for all the fun I’ve been having here, I’d have wanted to slap myself for choosing to stay back.

After having survived 3 ½ hours of accounting yesterday, I went to try for this research data collection job. Basically, calling up people and asking them questions, if at all they were willing to answer. My luck, every person I called wouldn’t answer, despite my pleas. At least four people couldn’t speak English, they were grandmothers. Two people refused to answer because they would miss their show they were watching on TV. ‘No, I can’t spend 3 minutes, my show will be gone,’ he said. The only one yesterday who was kind enough to answer me was a housewife, which again, gave me a great deal of embarrassment. She said ‘no’ for every answer related to the research. As I mindlessly read out the questions the computer flashed, I saw ‘Gender: male/female?’ I stopped right on time from asking her that question. The funniest part was whether she was married. She had a bewildered tone as she said ‘Yeah lor!’

Wondering if I should even continue this. It’s fun, and I have the time at my disposal, and it’s flexible. Giving it a second try today. If it’s boring, it’s out, and I’ll get back to lazing around.
Life seems adventurous.

And now for the big P.S.: The previous post was made up, a story; I didn’t put up a disclaimer because I had a bet with my friend. And we both won the bet. :D If that seemed to be deceiving, I’m sorry!!

I have never considered myself an attractive girl; I am no head-turner….but yes, things changed when I met him.
It was no love at first sight – in fact, it wasn’t even love! He was not drop-dead gorgeous or anything, but everything about him makes me wonder how God actually made for me the perfect person…and snatched him right away.

I had met him at my University Cultural – he was one of the two in the quiz show, the show whose committee I was heading. I am a great quizzer, but this guy just stunned me – not only for his brilliance – but his subtlety, humility and oh, that slight smile that sends shivers down my spine even now, as I think of it.

I watched spellbound for the entire one hour of the quiz show, as he silently discussed every question with his friend, who was obviously not as smart. I watched as he let his friend answer, and gently smiled and noted down the points their team had scored for every correct answer – so different from his friend who made a ‘Whooo!’ for every correct answer. I was full of admiration for him.

It turned into the pleasantest thing in the world when he looked up and looked me in the eye, the beginnings of a smile evident on his lips. One look, and he made me feel like a princess. I was a princess. His princess. We both knew it. Though it’s more than a year since I met him, I am his princess. I will be, even if I never meet him again.