ANNUAL DAY TIME [2003-2008]

from the left: esha, khusnum, me, aishwarya, utsav, binoy, parth [2005 annual day]: my bus stop buddies

















from the left: utsav, me, aishwarya, aayush [2005 annual day]: my bus stop buddies






time....you can never capture it [only in your memories], you can never be its master, or even understand it or fanthom how it creeps up on you. yes, this is how anyone would feel at the end of a long christmas break.....mock exams *groan* and board exams *double groan* are not exactly what normal people look foward to. here i am....looking like Phulan Devi, clutching a weapon which freezes unsuspecting people....the weapon called 'Mumbai weather', something as ambigious as time, cahoots with it.....but not even this can freeze time! so i'm using my blog to freeze time, freeze my best memories because time while bribe my mind to give way ......muhahahaahhaa! fiend! caught you at last! you're trapped here!















Annual day rehersals, [ie, night school, ie, no classes or school in the morning for a whole WEEK!] top my chart of 'top ten best memories' [because i have to think what the other nine are :P]. we've had an annual day from when the school first opened in 2003....i was in grade 5 then and I remember those horrendous sadhu-orange costumes with giant slits all over [i'm not exaggerating, yes, they were way bigger than your piggy bank slits]. they had constructed this stadium like ambience and we'd sit really high up, watching the show, gossiping, cheering, clapping. after being a part of the suns rays for the 'surya namskar +sun dance', i was also in the taekwando item. i looked absolutely asinine fighting with an imaginary partner [my partner was absent in the last minute], but Shah Rukh Khan- who was the chief guest then- flashed me a smile and gave me a thumbs-up signal making me feel all better [people still insist it was a figment of my imagination and that he must have just smiled looking at the item in general.]


















next year, we had our show called 'Jivtara' at Sharmukananda hall. when the other scenes were being rehearsed, we would sit in the dark upper stalls exchanging ghost stories [courtesy Alric, Ishita, Rishabh]. we'd have food on the stairs where the younger kids could come running out, point out at us and shout, 'Joker, Joker', giggle and run helter-skelter [no, this wasn't because of my mango nose, we were supposed to be jolly jokers from the 'land of colour']. since it was so dark in the stalls we were seated, we'd also use the opportunity to stare at the cute guys from the higher classes. the older 'prince of perfection' and the 'shadow weaver' were the top favourites of girls from all classes that year! ;)














ohhhhhhhh! 2005 was the year night school actually started. all these years, we had rehearsed during the day [or sometimes during weekends]. this year, we seventh-grade girls had to wear 'navarri saris', the ones which traditional maharastrians wear, which are pulled from between your legs making you look like an insect [if you aren't used to wearing it]. i remember feeling all pretty inspite of my nerdy glasses and fake mangalsutra, but amongst all the fuss and chagrin and dismay and moaning and groaning and hiding by the other navarri ladies......no one paid much attention to me......and now when i look back at the picutres, i did look like a house-maid ;) [check the pictures attached with this entry].














when i was in the eighth we had this mini-olympics in our school ground. schools from different countries visited our school and took part in sporting events. grade eight was also made to go for a movie with some of our guests [optional]. we were shown 'lage raho munnabhai' with english subtitles and we were to sit in another block in the theatre, away from our guests, so there was no interaction. the atheletes of our school did get to interact with them during work-outs and given got to where a decent looking sari and dance to vande mataram with the indian flag. the rest of our class were the 'evil elements' who wanted to snuff out the olympics flame but were defeated by the peace dove. so we were involved in this very complicated dance+ making evil faces. our make up was a lightning scar and braided hair [decent], but....uh-oh! since i was also singing the school prayer with the indian music group in a chikan salwar [oishika: "its made of chicken! i'm not wearing it!" haha] much before our dance.....our music teacher insisted on taking off my braids and make up [which i didn't allow her to do, i spent so much time and money getting it braided].
so for the pooja, i was in a chikan salwar kameez with braided hair and evil make-up [no, i don't have pictures for you to laugh at]. during the dance, we had to move in circles of three, and since i was bigger than the other too and we had to be fast, i found my partners almost flying. on stage we collided into another circle, got hit on the head by one of those wooden lightining bolts and almost got skated on [thats how crowded the stage was]. no one knew of this though, even though there were huge screens, they only showed our formation from a top view.....so we were saved.
being a secretive black sheep, i also gave my teachers a slip [they didn't think I could do such a thing] and ran off with my friends to sit in an empty lab and sip coffee [strictly for teachers], almost getting caught by our head teacher [no comments].















every year, at least one class has to do the vande mataram dance [from what i've observed].....last year, grade nine [that's us] had to do the honour. initially there was a strange group who tried to teach us puppetery, walloped us, attacked a few boys, bragged a lot about the break up of every single theatrical action and expression in each minute of theatre and how they had mastered it and we couldn't but had too [?]. they finally left defeated [or were kicked out] and replaced by another group, an extreme who knew little about these 'expressions of theatre' and tried to make us dance to 'mumbai meri jaan'. then finally we were given 'vande-mataram', transparent white salwars with blue duppattas deceptively pinned up so they wouldn't slip off and electric diyas.
during the rehearsals some of us even sang and danced to 'silsila yeh chahat ka' [from devdas] with these diyas. this was the year of pagal-panti. we weren't small now and didn't get dinner bags to eat quitely in class, but instead were allowed to use the dining hall like we do during the day. we were also allowed to romp about the school......so we raced off to the 'social area' in the girls toilet [a huge dry area+ a comfortable marble bench] where we acted scenes from om shanti om and saas-bahu serials on camera.....NAHIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!



















this year, grade 10 did a broadway dance, armed with golden hats, golden tailcoats, golden pants [ringmasters from fairyland according to me]. my cheeks were flushed from the excitement of night school and all the make up made me look rosier [like Kareena Kapoor in chup chup ke]. initially, we had to all remain in class where we started playing poker [no, not strip poker!]. i didn't [and don't] know how to play this game, so i watched politely, commented, cheered. then the cards were confisticated and we weren't allowed to bring our ipods and cells [we did anyway for after the heads were gone]. our practise didn't take quite long, but the whole school had to remain in school till 9:30 so we crept out of class to watch the grandeur from a top view. of course we had our moments, i had got my binos [to spy on.....well.....you don't need to know] and we stood on the fifth floor, screamed out [name held for security reasons] and ran and hid and laughed when they looked up. we also made prank calls from our cells in the bathroom [heellllloooo, chunnu ji hai?], gossiped, gaped at the Michael Jackson dance and dodged footballs the boys of our class nearly hit us with. this year, we seriously felt grown-up, from having dinner in packets up in class, to dining in the hall, this time were dining in the front lawn! beneath the stars, in the open air out of close scrutiny! how romantic!













after both our shows got over of november 15th, i was feeling so low...both me and my friend were crying over the phone because annual day was over again......like a major festival was over......like time was speeding by while i'm standing and shouting at it to wait for me. during the night rehersals, we'd stand and watch the view from class.....the large football field glistening of night dew, the calm, calm hills, the starry Mithhi river, buildings glistening further away......i could even see this flame [HP colony flame, i used to live there years ago].....small, twitching in the dark......far, far away.......like something wonderful in the past.....glowing.....glimmering......always there......you're watching it but you've passed it and will never be back......the journey of no return.....YOU'LL NEVER BE BACK!

GAY: the stamp.....the scar?

i wrote this article as part of the DAIMUN press application around four months ago..... i didn't get selected in press, but oh well! atleast i was in the SC! i decided to put this up because there was a comment on my blog which called both the films RNBDJ and Ghanjini 'gay' [meaning stupid and asinine] which another blog-reader didn't much fancy!

The word ‘gay’ has become a terribly ‘frivolous’ one in our daily speech. It’s often used as a derogatory term, almost a synonym for a blend of the words asinine and effeminate. We, as the youth, highlight human rights, like the right to freedom, life, work, education, expression, food, and life; make resolutions at prestigious MUN conferences against breaching human rights. But more often than not, we are the ones you use this word derogatorily or perhaps too carelessly, thus snatching the right of gays, the right to be accepted as a regular part of the society.

The Indian media dragged on the alleged gay relationship between Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan till it sickened the public and a section of people still abhor them because they’re allegedly ‘gay’. The word ‘gay’ has topped the charts as a reason to dislike and demean people; it has grown to be a ‘fault’ or ‘short-coming’ amongst us. People have even started being vary of friendship between people of the same sex, intimacy between friends is looked upon with suspicion.
Being gay has become tabooed, and sticks to a person like a tag, often growing into a cult and is not looked upon as a state of mind or a preference. How come straight relationships don’t form cults then? naturally, because they’re accepted by the society. This shows our society’s obstinate denial to make room for those in between. However, this is gradually changing, and acceptance of gay relationships and legality of gay marriages have become more common. Nations like Canada, Belgium, Norway, Netherlands, South Africa, and Spain amongst others have recognized gay marriages, and so have several American states. So, in this case, its not one but several countries that are fighting against discrimination of gays. On the other hand, it is strange that South Africa has recognized gay marriages, as the gay HIV rates have skyrocketed most in this country!

Still, in my opinion, gay marriages and relationships should be legalized all over the world, simply because being gay can’t be helped, it’s a subconscious state of mind for most, just like how liking a particular colour or a particular song is, you have no control over it.
However, I wonder if I’d be the same breezy, open-minded girl if my close friends or relatives turn out to be gay; would I be cautious, pretentious of what I say and do in their presence? Would I be more sensitive to gays, or would I be revolted? Would I be careful as to how close I am to them and intentionally or involuntarily distance myself from them? Would I subconsciously harp on the fact that they’re gay? These questions cross my mind, as our family friend, whose daughter is friendly with a gay keeps saying, “She has a friend…..and he’s GAY!” She personally has no qualms regarding gays, but it’s just engraved in her mind that it’s something different from what she is used to, from the regular norms.
The reaction is involuntary, just like being gay is, so we can’t actually blame the society for being intolerable and insensitive about this issue. It entirely depends on the psychological make-up of each individual....both being gay and accepting gays.

BOLLYWOOD-GLUTTON'S DAY OUT!

chinki doll and porcelain doll!

mummy and urmila

yesterday was the ultimate bollywood-glutton's [that's me] day out! perhaps i'm the only girl who doesn't fancy shopping much.....trying out millions of clothes ruffles my hair and mood [especially if i like stuff made for the super-anorexic which naturally don't fit me], actually i only tag along because shopping expeditions spell eating out *yay*. you wouldn't believe that i actually fell asleep in a shoe shop a year back! i even heard the music playing in the mall as 'i walked in closed shoes' after a weary day of a long unsuccessful quest for the 'perfect closed shoes' [ courtesy Urmila].

so yesterday I was out with my regular jing-bang, my 'fairy god' mother [well almost, because she's wherever i am, or vice versa] and my 1/4 Deepika Padukone, 3/4 live porcelain doll Urmila [we'll decide the ratio later]. we initially wanted this dress code for the three of us, 'a vest' suggested mom, but she dropped the idea after I said, 'if we all wear a vest, everyone will be forced to look east' [sorry lame!]. so we visited fabindia where i politely said, "wow! this is really nice" to every second thing i saw so that both of them would hurry up and buy something. then we visited moshe's and picked up a dessert each. i had this thing called Gooey Chocolate which was chocolate crusted and oozed out more chocolate which was div-ine!!!! everyone eyed it and dug their spoons into it slyly [and actually got away with it!]

then we whizzed away to colaba causeway.....its a good place to learn to dance because you have to constantly step back, front, sideways, bend, slide through [only a 'shimmy' was missing] so as to avoid colliding into other lonely orbits. i was feeling all tall when some foreigners double my height passed me [errrr......]. then there was this trinket seller who was digusted with my bargaining skills [and made no effort to hide this], probably because i laughed like a hiccupping hyena every time a quoted a low price [its very easy to start me off]. so finally, after buying nothing ,we rested our weary backsides at theobrama where we shared a sandwich and had a chocolate brownie each [different ones though]......chocolate surprisingly corrects my mood and makes me fresh, chirpy and energetic again [much better than that red bull anyway, it tastes like my Dr. Desai's worst syrup medicine which washed away the taste of everything good for sometime]

anyway, then we went to Nariman point, clicked pictures and flashed those tourist-y smiles. we hitched a horse called Krish [and you thought only I was filmy] for a huge round around Nariman point. while we were on a ride, we sang all our favourite Hindi numbers [i started this naturally] as loudly as possible [Krish's master must have thought we were tipsy] and I continued to sing them while we were walking.......the breeze was cool and refreshing and made my hair fly in a filmy way [i felt no less than Priyanka Chopra in Dostana in that song, Khabar Nahi].......

after touring our ancient family hotel we sat down for....yes.....yet another meal! [this was our final, final dinner ok!]. Badshah is the best place EVER for pau-bhaji and falooda......since we were so full, we shared the pau bhaji but obviously things like underwears and desserts can never be shared! my Badshahi falooda had a bit of the best of everything in the world in it, so i didn't bother to even glance at what the other two ordered. there are two things that keep me absorbed.....i won't flinch till its done......one: writing exams.....two: eating desserts.......

ok......now i think i've scared my readers! i appear as some sort of female bakasur! someone you can never trust with your [abbe.....not izzat] food...... relax! relax! i only do that once in a while.....otherwise i'm pretty much under control..... no really! ek thopdyat deil, don't snigger!

CAFE BASILCO

now that i'm this self-proclaimed food and bollywood critic.....let me get started on my adventures and mis-adventures with food <3

one place i'll never forget [or forgive] is Cafe Basilco. i had been there around three years ago for an 'elegant' breakfast with my mom after reading those million reviews about this place which gave it the thumbs-up sign. okay, so we travelled all the way to town on a Sunday for a breakfast more exciting than our regular idli-dosa-cornflakes and guess what we got? ............

not so fast, i have to build up the drama for our brilliant [anti] climax! so i sat there fingering the menu with my crooked finger, reading those mouth-watering descriptions that cheat customers into buying the same old regular dish....rehashed! we placed our order.....mom ordered something that sounded fairly normal [read not more exciting, innovative than what we usually have at home] and i ordered something that sounded exotic.....i can't remember the name, or the description, but i remember the waitress lighting up and saying that i must try it.....what was the description....fluffy something something with delicious blank blank accompanied with blank blank of your choice....bah! no use, i can't remember the exact description.....but oh! how it sounded! so after waiting, peering, flashing polite smiles at the staff around us, i was presented my dish...the ultimate dish which was meant to bait me, make me a regular customer......cafe basilco's 'agni pariksha' and it turned out to be......gasp! gasp! gasp!................UPMA!!!!!!!

WHAAAAAAAT!!!!!! i travelled this far for UPMA! i mean.....UPMA.....are you serious! *sob sob* MA......UPMA??? *sniff*..... i could have had the same UPMA, 100 percent original, 1000 times more delicious, 10000 times cheaper at home......of course, the one at home may have a few stray strands of dog hair but its better than eating my own hair in frustration!!!!!

[i got dessert as a consolation, but it wasn't brilliant enough to lift up my dampened spirit......]