Once upon a time....

I think I am going to play Intramural Dodgeball tonight with my hostel kids. But before that, I need to finish 1 homework, study a chapter for my Economics quiz tomorrow and go work out for at least an hour to save my recent routine. So far, school has been tolerable because I have finished all my assignments before time, and my research assignment on Atrial Fibrillation has not been handed out yet. I have got more interesting things to talk about, but have no spare time to articulate those thoughts for a sensible post. My To-do list is long enough to devour all of my time! Oh well, so be it....

There is a centipede invasion on my floor! My room-mate killed one on my bed last night when I was half-asleep! Gawd, now I am scared of sleeping in my room :-s

Wow! Things are going a little haywire for me these days. I am being this rebellious kid who does not want to do what she needs to do, but instead lives in the moment and follows her whim to guide her actions. Examples would be not being serious about making and marketing my resume like my other friends; not having the mood to finish up whatever task I took to hand; not finishing my grad school apps; not calling home regularly to keep in touch with family, etc etc....

So my apologies for not finishing the GRE post. I think I will not have the motivation to write it until and unless I make significant progress on my pending work.

I took my GREs two days back. I walked into the center at 3 pm even though my exam was scheduled for 4:30 pm. This would be the first time in my life that I was so early for a appointment. But anyhow, the exam center happened to have open computers and the proxies offered me the option of starting early. It would have been nice to get it over with early, but I still wanted to look over my word-list for one last time and maybe prep myself for issue writing task by reading one of those samples essays or a magazine article. So I sat there for another hour doing last-minute preparations. I wasn't nervous or anxious at that time; I was confident, but just needed some brushing up of my acquired knowledge.

So I finally closed my books at 4:00 pm and secured my stuff in a locker after eating two 'Tiger' glucose biscuits. The proxy was very affable and he quickly signed me in and gave me general instructions about the test. I walked into the room with sound-proof glass windows and sat down at the table pointed to me at by the proxy.

The first five minutes were all general instructions on how to use the mouse and scroll-bar and how to select the answers. Next was choosing any undergrad institutions that I wished to send my GRE scores to. That made no sense whatsoever to me! I thought GRE was for grad schools only, but whatever.... I rolled my eyes and moved on...

So I came to the essay writing part 15 mins after I had sat down at the computer. I took a long breath, released it and clicked the 'Proceed' button. The essay I chose to write about was: "People who are most committed to a policy or an idea are usually the ones most critical of it'" I refuted the statement and finished writing and proof-reading the essay just in time. *phew*

Oh time for class now... will blog later if I find time!

Threats to music sharing... An email I received earlier this month from my university read:

The Recording Industry Association of America (the “RIAA”) continues its efforts to curtail unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing of music over the Internet. Earlier this year, approximately 16 students were contacted by the RIAA and requested to resolve claims of copyright violations through out-of-court settlements. According to the RIAA, the vast majority agreed to settle. Based on information received from those individuals who agreed to settle, the average settlement amount has been approximately $3,000.

Using its own process of monitoring peer-to-peer traffic, the RIAA identified IP addresses for members of the University student body alleged to have violated copyright laws. The RIAA then notifies the University that it intends to issue pre-litigation settlement letters for these students, outlining the details of the settlement process and threatening to initiate legal proceedings against these students, should they elect not to participate in the settlement process. Upon receiving such settlement letters, the University promptly takes steps to identify and notify the students at issue. The University does not share information about the identities of individuals with the RIAA unless required to do so by law (e.g., in response to a lawful subpoena).

One day and 16 hours remaining to the start of exam...

One day and 21 hours remaining to the celebrations afterwards...

I have got a lot of things on my schedule for tomorrow - incl. moving back to the dorm, exam review, getting directions and general prepping for the exam - Just wish me luck: I will need all that I can get!

With due credit to.... http://asma.eomag.com/category/lifes-funny/ whom I stumbled upon for some GRE entertainment :P

A NORMAL PERSON : People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
GRE STUDENT : Individuals who make their abodes in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting perilous projectiles.

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NORMAL PERSON : Twinkle, twinkle, little star
GRE STUDENT : Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minim.

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NORMAL PERSON : All that glitters is not gold.
GRE STUDENT: All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.

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NORMAL PERSON : Beggars are not choosers
GRE STUDENT : Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted.

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NORMAL PERSON : Dead men tell no tales
GRE STUDENT : Male cadavers are incapable of rendering any testimony.

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NORMAL PERSON : Beginner’s luck
GRE STUDENT : Neophyte’s serendipity.

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NORMAL PERSON : A rolling stone gathers no moss
GRE STUDENT : A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of small, green, biophytic plant.

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NORMAL PERSON : Birds of a feather flock together
GRE STUDENT: Members of an avian species of identical plumage tend to congregate.

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NORMAL PERSON : Beauty is only skin deep
GRE STUDENT : Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.

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NORMAL PERSON : Cleanliness is godliness
GRE STUDENT : Freedom from incrustations of grime is contiguous to rectitude.

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NORMAL PERSON : There’s no use crying over spilt milk
GRE STUDENT : It is fruitless to become lachrymose of precipitately departed lactile fluid.

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NORMAL PERSON : You can’t try to teach an old dog new tricks
GRE STUDENT : It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.

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NORMAL PERSON : Look before you leap
GRE STUDENT : Surveillance should precede saltation.

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NORMAL PERSON : He who laughs last, laughs best
GRE STUDENT : The person presenting the ultimate cachinnation possesses thereby the optimal cachinnation.

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NORMAL PERSON : All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
GRE STUDENT : Exclusive dedication to necessitous chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders Jack a hebetudinous fellow.

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NORMAL PERSON : Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!
GRE STUDENT : Where there are visible vapours having their provenance in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration.

My co-op assignment culminated last friday and I finally bid adios to all my co-workers and the cat-house for good. I was in a state of baffled ambivalence- torn between the grief of not seeing those friendly co-workers regularly and the excitement of finally graduating and entering into a new phase of life. I was amazed at the comments and compliments I received over my last week of work; I could not bring myself to believe that my colleagues had actually confessed to me that they found me so transparently pristine and morally strong! On a funny note though, one Mr. Patel who happens to be from the same district in Gujarat as me sent me the following email:

"You are a good girl, so here are some tips that may help you for your bright future.

1.Work hard.
2.Be honest.
3.Learn new things.
4.Take more responsibility.
5.Never get married until you are 100 % sure with your partner. Trust your partner.
6.Manage/control your weight.
7.Nothing is too late to do something new in the life. Never say “It is too late”.
8.Think everyday is new day of the life. Keep your mind fresh.
9.Never say “I am old now”. Be active. Be open minded, and talk with others.
10.Have a good night sleep. Never sleep with sleep with family issue. Trust god.

I wish you all the best for your school and bright future.
God bless you…."

I did not know how to react to this one either - laugh it off because I already knew all the above, or respect the advice because it was given by an elderly person. My ultimate reaction was an amalgamation of these two ambivalent feelings.

Anyway, work is done, and so is everything else except for some formalities for the 'co-op of the year' award that my supervisor nominated me for. Ok well, back to GRE marathons for now; I will get the paperwork done later.

Never did I imagine even in my wildest dreams that I would be inundated by such self-created eccentricities and outlandish incidents! These past few weeks have seen me go from morose in worries to exhilarated in ebullience, and from debilitating in mettle to glowing with ambitions. It has been a roller-coaster ride that I have thoroughly lived and remembered. Despite of everything, I feel bubblier; more effervescent than ever and satiated with optimism! And as you can tell, the GRE study is on, albeit not as efficiently as I would like it to be, but also not bad enough for anyone to disparage.

And lastly, I am beaming with joy for coercing myself into watching 'Chak De India'! I loved the fact that YRF were thoughtful enough to represent the eastern states of Mizoram and Manipur. No wonder the populace of those states have lacked patriotism so far! We have ostracized them for being Chinese or Nepalis indeed!! And SRK has perfected the role of 'the' coach - he is middle-aged, charismatic and diligent- qualities felicitous for an experienced captain who was extradited for seven years! Despite of all the current ardor surrounding the film, I wonder if it will have any impact beyond an ephemeral celebration as witnessed by other reformatory films such as Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai?

I finally registered to take the GRE on 24th of Sept, right before school starts! Wish me luck and let me know if you have any suitable practice tests.

Alright, here is a GRE question for you. I answered it incorrectly but I do not understand the thought process behind the given answer choice. So leave me your answers if you will so that I can justify my opinions::

Recent advances in research methodologies in neuroscience have created excitement in academic circles and have __________ greater interest in funding new research projects in the field.

a) stymied
b) intensified
c) magnified
d) engendered
e) multiplied

So? What's your choice?

Have you ever been swamped by offers so wrong that you wonder what you have been doing to attract them? I have! I used to be nice and easy-going with people who I suspected to be jerks just to give them, you know, the benefit of doubt in case I was mis-interpreting them. But not anymore. I have stopped being super-nice because I do not have the time or energy to deal with the actions of berserk people. Sure I feel guilty for being so rude and cocky to someone, but my antipathy overrides my guilt a lot of the times. And yet, despite of all my efforts to beguile and shove away these irritating individuals, these annoying characters (who are probably devoid of self-respect I wonder) try to strike a punning, perversive conversation with me! What did I do to deserve this I ask? Being affable isn't a coveted virtue for me anymore...

Holy cow! there are so many international Indians in all the masters programs that I have been applying to that it scares the crap out of me to have to compete with these guys for getting admission. And even if admitted, I would love being around Indians, but a part of me is also scared that I will not get an all-rounded cultural experience if I am surrounded by desis all the time.

I do not know what this says about me :-P

Before I get comments saying that I need to update my blog :P, here is what has been going on in life lately:

1. Chasing deadlines at work to meet an important milestone. Work-week is therefore stressful these days, but I enjoy doing it since each piece of work is a new challenge that needs to be tested and corrected for.

2. Going for a walk/jog in the evening. I usually escape to the downtown area which is very cute with shiny buildings with old-school architecture; it feels like you are walking in a town from 80's. :)

3. The walk/jog always ends at the library, where I spent an hour or two ruffling through the pages of different GRE books, trying to solve exercises and cramming vocabulary. Honestly, I am too tired to retain more than half of the words that I read. Afterall, there is a myriad of words that need to be fit in my coconut-sized skull, but I shall write a more interesting entry on my GRE study experience next :P....

4. Weekends are usually spent at home - helping mom with groceries, general cleaning around the house, laundry :P, finishing chores, playing tennis, working-out in the gym, catching up with new developments in the family (which there always are, given how big both my parents' families are!), relaxing and watching Indian song videos on TV.

5. Now I am also in charge of finding a place to visit over the Labor Day weekend. I do not want to go to a beach (have been to too many in this area), and the selected place has to be within 5 hours of driving distance from Chicago. So, any ideas? So far I have only come up with Rock Island in WI, which is an island without any luxuries (not even cars and bikes are allowed, so you have to walk where-ever you need to go, and cook using firewood :D), but all the tents have been booked already for that weekend :( ... Let me know if you have any suggestions for places that would match the above description !! :)

6. Went to Six Flags Great America yesterday for the co-op outing from work!! It was amazing!! My boss ended up spending over $600 on the 8 of us. He brought us flash-passes so that we did not have to wait for hours in lines at any of the rides!! I liked Raging Bull the best and hated BATMAN ride the most. BATMAN ride gave me a neck-ache, and made me nauseous because it spins and loops around so fast that your head bangs from side to side or hangs loose downwards during the steep drops. Ahh... don't remind me! Its deja-vu all over again even though I am sitting in a perfectly still chair *yuck*

Alright, so with that I am going to wind up this entry and get ready to leave for home. Happy weekending to ya all! :)

aye mere vatan ke logon
zara aankh mein bhar lo paani
jo shaheed hue hain unki
zara yaad karo qurbaani

jab ghayal hua himaalay
khatre mein padi aazadi
jab tak thi saans lade vo
phir apni laash bichha di
sangeen pe dhar kar maatha
so gaye amar balidaani
jo shaheed...

jab desh mein thi diwali
vo khel rahe the holi
jab ham baithe the gharon mein
vo jhel rahe the goli
the dhanya javaan vo aapane
thi dhanya vo unaki javaani
jo shaheed ...

koi sikh koi jaat maraatha
koi gurakha koi madaraasi
sarahad pe maranevaala
har veer tha bhaaratavaasi
jo khoon gira parvat par
vo khoon tha hindustaani
jo shaheed...

thi khoon se lath-path kaaya
phir bhi bandook uthaake
das-das ko ek ne maara
phir gir gaye hosh ganva ke
jab ant-samay aaya to
kah gaye ke ab marate hain
khush rahana desh ke pyaaron
ab ham to safar karate hain
kya log the vo deewane
kya log the vo abhimaani
jo shaheed...

tum bhool na jaao unko
is liye kahi ye kahaani
jo shaheed...
jay hind jay hind ki sena -2
jay hind, jay hind, jay hind 

Bharat humko jaan se bhi pyaara hai, sabse pyaara gulistan hamara hain- I miss the smell of wet sand before and after rains, the warmth of people, the simple lives, the pious relations and the strong bond towards our motherland. On days like these, I wish I could be standing on that blessed soil where I grew up and learnt how to and what to live for. Wishful thinking, wishful thinking....

Anyways, heres wishing you all A very Happy Independence day!!

I just finished watching Life In a Metro, and I am pretty aggravated by what is being preached through the movie. Konkana Sen is taught to accept the fact that Irfan Khan can have the nastiest habits, but she should still be acceptive of them and learn to love him for his other qualities (which I did not even think existed- afterall, the man lied to her about not drinking, was ready to leave his wife on the day of his wedding and acted like a total villager).

Also, does Shilpa Shetty or Shiksha have to put up with her husband for the rest of her life, despite of how she was treated?! Do these men ever learn? Are they ever ashamed of themselves??

Well, I guess I was okay with Dharmendra pair and Sharman Joshi and Shiney Ahuja couples. But I really wonder if life in Indian metros is really like what they have shown in this movie? Are they really that needy and superficial???

The neighbor on my right is my friendly Post-It neighbor, but the one on the left is a little cold and unfriendly. My boss once described him as the most irrational person working in the Systems Validation department, which I found quite ironic since using logic and rationality to test the system and software are the foundations of his work. Anyways, we always hear him arguing on the phone with a new person each time, and he mutters under his breath as he fumes out after putting down the receiver. His favorite abuse word is not BS, but horse-s***, and his usage of that word cracks up my Post-It neighbor. This validation guy also seems to have a loud, feigned laugh that sounds like a grand-father laughing at his silly little idiotic grand-children. (I am not doing justice to his laughter; do you remember Amrish Puri (Mogambo)'s laugh in the movie 'Mr. India'? yeahhh, thats how he sounds!!)


Next down the aisle in the direction of this disgruntled neighbor of mine is the cube of my ex-boss. She is currently part-time, but there has never been a time when people are not excited to have her around! An alumni from my university, she is very perky, inevitably smart, an extrovert and a party-lover. I think I enjoy working with her more than anybody else, and am glad that I have had that opportunity this whole term! Did I mention that she is very generous and has often treated us college students to delicious delicacies?! :)


Across from my ex-boss is my current boss. A young guy with a good personality and pleasant nature. But he has too many responsibilities on hand and thus, cannot fulfill the mentoring needs of five amateur minds. He holds up well against the childish teasing by his seniors, whether it be for his unintentional charm of attracting girls or for wearing matching clothes (same-colored pants and T-shirts) or for taking numerous vacations to Vegas. But he is pretty nice as a boss, and has promised the co-ops an outing of our choice, all on the corporate credit card... classy na? :)

.... I need to close my post here and call it a day. But watch out for *maybe* yet another sequel about my other work-related acquaintaces. So long, then! :D