May The Day Be Filled With Generic Wishes From Unknown People on Facebook - Happy Birthday!

Aaaand it's your birthdaaay! 

It's your 20th now! When my brother turned twenty, I called him an uncle. I was only thirteen - you can't blame me. I do deserve great friends but this time, I've been a pretty measly one myself. I hardly call anyone (and you know how much I love to talk) these days so I do not blame you for not trying enough. What do you plan to do today? :D 

I kept thinking of replying to the blog once my exams were over. But post-exam phase is way more stressful than the pre. And I just decided to do it for your birthday. SO HERE I AM. YAAY.
Wow, that's some heavy reading there! And how is Viraj doing? 
My brother's girlfriend, and now my friend, works for a newspaper called Khabar Lahariya. It is produced by the women of the rural area who  report, write, edit, take photographs and design the newspaper, and then distribute it to some seven hundred villages. It's been running for a while now but they need more funds now to expand. I've been very actively promoting it these last few days. I joked with my friend about interning there next year and she said that I should and that it would be a very good experience. So, that's something that will mostly be on my post-12th grade list.

Bonfire songs must include Jason Mraz and James Morisson. I have playlists for my various moods too. Most of them are for when I need to study but depending on how energised or sleepy I feel at the time and some are for when I am gloomy. I'm very organised like that - my e-mail is labelled with 'School' which has sub-labels inside for every subject and Physics and Computer have sub-sub-labels saying 'Question Papers'. 

Oh yes, it's a great feeling to ride down on steep hills with the wind make your hair fly, experimenting with the brakes and staying alive. Really, it was ah-mazing. 
You better with the driving now?

 Oh btw, IT'S STILL YOUR BIRTHDAAAAY! 

I haven't uploaded my status for ages either! I need something that I really want to put out there or something that I really like. And I found something like that about last week, after ages.Otherwise I just upload pictures for people's birthdays (i'm not a fan of virtual wishes but I need to let them - people there- know that I still love them and shiz). 

No. There is nothing on with the 'President' and me. :P We are platonic friends - as simple as that - though it took a loong time for people to come terms with it. But we're each other's .. anchors. I'd have died here if he wasn't there. I mean, I completely dislike this place, a lot of the people and 12th is driving me nuts. So he's about the only one I can vent to. 
But you tell me what is up with you on the love front? Or do you want ME to stalk you and find out? You know I can! But spare me the energy. 
Of course I loved The Dark Knight! It was a great movie and a good finish to the trilogy, no doubt. And Barfi. Have you watched Barfi? It was great too! 

So anyway, my life is pretty dull. 12th grade and the madness comes with though quite amplified in my case, and a few odd things now and then. Oh and btw, I don't know what goes inside a Bombay Roll/ Frankie though you could have different stuffing, but it is GOOD. Come here, let's hang out since we've never done it anyway, and I'll give you some good food. Cool? Cool. :P

Good day, good friend. :D 
(I have a tendency to be weird, if you didn't get that by now.) 

Sleeping In On A Monday Morning

It honestly doesn’t get much better than that. Unless, I woke up and was syncro-walking with these two.

The previous week was my last week with Volvo, concluding a pretty intense last couple weeks actually. I was working on a couple projects, one alone and one with two other interns in the excavator fabrication department. Didn’t have time for much else. It is kinda weird to be abruptly given the freedom you longed for right after being so busy. I find myself thinking, “Yes! I now have time to do everything I wanted…now, if only I could remember what they were”. Luckily, I was making a to-do list. Replying to your blog post was right there between replying to Viraj’s message and reading this book on Hydraulics and Pneumatic Systems.

I probably was…no, not probably….I Am the intern that stayed the longest. I got there before everybody else did and watched several groups of local students come and go. I was quite pally with most of them in the 3-4week duration they were there. The actual employees got so sick of giving tours to interns, the students used to come ask me any questions they had. It was only later I found out that some of them were convinced I worked there :P
I was there so long it is hard to not miss it now. Oh and I am sure they miss me loads too :P

Sounds like you had fun. I am glad. Tell me more about this ‘Bombay Roll’/’Frankie’ you speak off, it sounds fascinating. Also, how does one play the Game of Life? And does anyone get out alive?! DAN DAN DHUNNNN!

Gees, lucky you. I have been dying for a set of portable speakers for ages. I even started saving up for it but then there was a tragic accident with my headphones and it stopped working. After I was done mourning it, I used my savings to by a new pair from Amazon.

I think the ukulele is the coolest of all the gifts though. It reminds me of bonfires and Jack Johnson. Listen to Banana Pancakes by the former. It is in my happy mood playlist. :)

The name Jim Corbett stands out in that paragraph and when I read it some sort of lemony drink came to mind. I now know it isn’t so but I can’t help wonder whether there might be a cocktail with a similar name. Learning to ride – tres important life skill. It is a great feeling isn’t it? Not falling and dying? I remember the first time I rode a bike. I was so jealous that a neighbourhood girl had learnt it before I did that I took her bike and tried till I got the hang of it. The sad part is I think she now has a license and I still can’t drive a stick. There is 1 in 3 chance of the car stalling every time I leave the clutch. I need practice but my sister’s generosity with her car is very limited. But anyway, good for you. The whole bike up the mountain thing….straight out of a chicken soup for the soul book if you ask me.

Yea my cousin uploaded all those pictures when I took too long to. Ever since I left school I think more than twice about updating my status or uploading pictures. More often than not I will type out the entire status into the box, stare at it for a bit, and then go nah that’s stooopid.

So you and the President. That sounds exciting, tell me more. Do I get the details here or do I have to go through your blog with a microscope for that x)

I am done with SYTYCD and The Killing now. Moved on to Suits, Breaking Bad and Weeds. Though my internet data plan doesn’t really let me download all three on a regular bases. I used to get a guy from work to get it for me but now I have to figure out another way. I watched The Dark Knight Rises a week ago! I thought it was pretty spectacular (even if it tried to squeeze in several different arcs to make each of its many characters relevant). Joseph Gordon Levitt is a total boss in it. You should try and catch it ASAP if you haven’t already. It is pretty lengthy but unlike Spiderman you don’t feel like they are dragging it out.

So what are you up to now? Tell me all about it.

Also you know how much I despise talking on the phone. Both my sister and I have some sort of phobia with it. DON’T MAKE MEEE! X| I will post more often to make up for it. Cool? Cool

And Reality Sets In

Well, that certainly was a nice intro to the post!
I'm sure you already are a great friend to many and just have to continue being that with me. And I think remembering my birthday and doing a post give you points for it. Even if it may seem unnecessary at this point, I thank you very much!
Now, on to the birthday description -
Part 1: Had a little party with my cousins (who live in the building next to mine) and uncle since he wasn't around for the actual day about a week early, that was really fun. The cake I cut was very creamy but not very great.
Part 2: The actual day was pretty sober (I mean simple, not that I get wasted on special days or something). Went out in the evening with a friend (who lives in the 'society' next to mine) to get ourselves a 'Bombay Roll' or 'Frankie' so I could buy myself a cake. It was good. :) Though a tensed one, it was still a very nice day.  


Part 3: We'd recently bought the 'Game of Life' game for my parents' anniversary to  play together. The friend has two other really good friends who also I am very chummy with (they've just joined college). The three of them, me and a classmate had been planing to meet up since forever and I thought they could come over to play the game. They refused every time I asked. One afternoon, I opened the door, half asleep, only to find all four of them at my doorstep giggling at how awkward I felt. It was a surprise party that my mother and brother were in on, and the plan for which was initiated by Chitra (or C-Dawg). So we played the game and cut the cakes they made for me. And had fun, duh.

Now, my gifts! I got a set of speakers and the entire Vampire Academy series, both of which I asked for (re-read the entire thing YAYY). And, my brother got me a ukulele! I haven't had much time but I'm just getting a hang of the strumming. One day, I will play beautiful melodies that shall  move you to tears.

Your cousin sister probably grew up in India. I, however, have to pray that I live every time I cross the roads. I did learn to drive a scooty a few years ago; I can't control it without my brother balancing the weight behind me. I did learn to properly ride a cycle this year though. We had an 8-day school trip to Jim Corbett, where four of the days required about 85 km worth of cycling across mountainous and other terrible (and occasionally wonderful) terrain. I learnt to cycle in school a day before the trip and learnt the rest of it while I was ON the friggin' mountains. It had to be the scariest thing ever - I kept imagining losing control, the cycle flying off over the side of mountain and me dead. And even worse, hitting other classmates or something, so we all end up dead or injured. I used to walk the uphill bit the first two days, but soon, I did it all. And i was the face of inspiration and determination and all of that. And hell, I had to be - I was awesome! 

If you remember, I did mention to you once that I had a pretty major crush on you a while back, making stalking you quite normal (and a little creepy?). And you would post nice stuff too, which is why I occasionally, even now, do skim through your profile. Note: NOT stalk - only skim. :P 

Would it now be weird if I say that I saw those pictures? Cz I did. I went to Ferrari World around the time it opened up and even if it must be better now, a night stay at the Burj is waaay more awesome! 

I wouldn't mind a coup except that the President happens to be a really good friend of mine (the one who was pivotal in throwing the party) (and supposedly, my future husband according to schoolmates, yeesh). Khaki shorts are pretty funky but they are not something you want other schools to see you in when you want to be taken seriously. Plus, out winter uniforms have khaki track pants and really comfy navy blue sweatshirts, making it look like a night suit. Doesn't help what with the dreary skies. But even worse, kids ninth and below have NO uniforms and by the time the current 9th graduates, the entire school has NO UNIFORMS. Ugh, how will they represent the school outside?! We did take this issue up as part of the Council but had to set it aside to do more important things.  

I really do want to watch Game of Thrones but no time! I don't even turn on the tv. I know you haven't watched Castle; I haven't either. I think I'm just going to let my list of movies and shows build up so I either watch them over weekends or when I am done with school. (Makes me feel wistful saying that :$)  

Watched Spider-Man this week; it was nice (Emma Stone, duh) but I began to get annoyed towards the end - just never seemed to get over. I knew there was something you told me about Marvel movies that I was supposed to remember. Thankfully, I did. Waited near the exit to watch the scene after the credits. :) Also watched Madagascar 2. Now that was quite nice! I love the Inheritance Cycle too though I haven't read the last one. The most recent stuff I've read is The Hunger Games, the Vampire Academy series (YAYY) and these Camila Lackberg mystery novels that are very gripping. 

Haha the picture! I was up late answering calls and studying. I wouldn't call my summer break great, but it sure was good. School started with the exams but we were given a week of holidays issued by the govt (cz of heat) after they were over. Yay. I hope you have a great one though! How's the interning coming along? You still haven't called, just saying.  : p 

Reply soon! 

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live!

Talk about lame. Eaa…I shouldn’t use that line any more.

Anyways yayyy its YOUR BIRTHDAY! And lets not forget its THIS BLOG's BIRTHDAY TOO! Its that special time of the year again! And this is the part of the blog post where I profusely apologize for being such a terrible friend. You deserve a more consistent and eloquent one. So, yea, I will try harder. Especially now that I spend most of time at a desk with little to do. Why am I at a desk? Why do I have nothing to do? Why am I being so mysterious with my questions rather than giving you answers? I will get there! And I promise I won’t Ted Mosby you for too long.

Firstly, no. Still don’t have my face on any formal documents save my passport. I should really be more proactive about getting a license. I have heard that it might actually be quicker to get one in the USA than in the Emirates. And I once I have it there getting it everywhere else shouldn’t be too hard. What about you? I know my cousin sister used to zoom about in her scooty when she was about your age.

It is funny you say you don’t remember the things that happened over the past year and yet you remember stalking me (and my cousins) :). I am honored.  I will try to lead a more exciting/scandalous lifestyle just in case you ever find the need to stalk my profile again for old times sake.

 So my cousins did visit us in May and were there for about two weeks. It was their first vacation out of India in about 12 years so there were plenty of ooos and aaahs over things we take for granted. We showed them all the usual touristy spots but decided against Ferrari World in the last minute. Why you ask? Because it didn’t compare to what we did instead. We had planned on taking them up to the viewing gallery in Burj Khalifa. However, it turns out that a really close friend of my dads, apartment sits/maintains a one bedroom apartment that his friend owns. When he found out that we were going there anyway he offered to not just take us to his apartment but also spend the night there  :O

It was on the 49^th floor but we had access to the executive lounge on the 123^rd. It was pretty sweet. Watched tv on their huge 3D LED screen all night, went to the lounge and drank iced lattes with our pinkies sticking out. Just cause we are that classy.

MUNs, speeches, FOUNDING MEMBER of the student council – all of that sounds as amazing! Founded the council! Wowie. That’s a resume maker if I have ever seen one. If you find yourself getting bored as the Treasurer stage a coup and take over the entire council. I know right! Awesome plan! Your team looks fun and so do your uniforms. Can’t go wrong with khakis and navy blue polos.

Season 2 of Game of Thrones ended with a brilliant season finale, The Killing ended too but I am yet to catch the last couple episodes. So right now I am watching the new episodes of Suits and old Scrubs re-runs. I only get home at around 6.30-6.45 just in time for So You Think You Can Dance! I love that show and I love Cat Deeley. What a great host! But why I am home so late? More questions…(the answer is terrible ordinary but like a J. J. Abrams  production I will keep the questions coming just to keep things interesting). Apart from HIMYM, I have only seen a few (or as little as one) episode(s) of the shows you listed. With faster internet, I want to check them all out. I wanna see Vicky Donor too!

Avengers was entertaining but I couldn’t take Loki seriously as a villain and that made the movie kind of a let down for me. If Hulk could single handedly thrash him, Loki wasn’t a big enough threat to assemble the avengers over.  But fun and action packed nonetheless. I hope you stayed after the credits. For Marvel movies, ALWAYS stay after the credits! And I did watch the Hunger Games with my cousins. Didn’t have a chance to read the books but I did enjoy the movie. Well made. I am sure you will find that it does the book justice. If not, it must be one helluva book. Talking about books I am currently reading Inheritance, the fourth and last book of the Inheritance Cycle. Read it? I love them.

So in conclusion to my essay- Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great summer break. Tell me about all the movies you got to watch and the books you read. Try not to stay out partying too late tonight. I am sure you will do great in Math either way.

Oh and I nearly forgot. I am currently three weeks into my two month internship with Volvo Bangalore.  I get shuttled from one department to another and learn all I can and help out where I can. My work hours are from 8.30 to 6.00. That should do it. Have a great day! :)

Ice - Creams and Sunglasses

You finally did it! Yay!

It's nice how you always start every post with a random reference. And if I do the same, it just seems lame. You created a blog for me, I did a post for you. We're good now (though my birthday is only a month away. Get thinking.) I think the list is entirely true though I couldn't come up with better things. Sorry.  :P

Try this next time and let me know what happens. Also, you have a license?! 

I can't exactly say if my year has moved by quickly or not. There are somethings that I remember like yesterday, and there are some I don't even remember happening. But it was an alright year. It's soon to be a year since I moved and though I still get miserable on and off, I think there are some things that I would have never gotten to do had I been there. Like MUNs, speeches every so often cz no one else wants to or can do it and a bunch of other things. Also, I and a few classmates founded the school's Student Council (the Senior Programme is only 4 years old) and I am the Treasurer of the Executive Committee. I have barely anything to do. :P 

The Heritage Student Council. Yay for us.
Our uniforms are Khaki shorts/track pants (winter) and they are sickening. 

I lost track of most shows at the end of last year (my school is CRAZY. We have 11th finals in January and start 12th from Feb to have extra time). But my brother was here for a while so I have been catching up on HIMYM, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Happy Endings and New Girl, which I am yet to start. I did watch Vicky Donor yesterday though. And I liked it. 

This is exactly the kind of thing I can't see myself doing even if it makes sense to me and is interesting. Saw the blog - good stuff. (I'm not sure of what else to say except that it was pretty fascinating.)

Avengers was good. It has been a while since I saw any movie, especially one with my brother, 6-7 years I think. Read The Hunger Games though couldn't watch it. Did you?! I've heard of Louis C.K. My brother had downloaded his shows. With that much of money, hard to say what I would do. Donate some, buy things I want, donate/lend some more. How about you?

I'm guessing I would know who these cousins are. I used to stalk you, once upon a time. Yes I've been to Ferrarri World! Teju's (if you remember her) dad had a friend working there who got us two free tickets and two discounted. We went during the Eid holidays and waited in line for 2.5 hours for Formula Rossa. It was ah-mazing. xD Yes, let's hope you have something fun and interesting to blog about then. :)

My summer break is from today to the 18th of June. I have exams from ... the 18th of June.  Maths on 22nd June. -.- So nothing really special to do. I'm am planning to watch a movie everyday though. And read a few books. And write. It's been long since I did that. And I've been reviving my blog. I was planning on coming to Dubai but I have to get my passport renewed and am now being forced to reconsider my plans. I completely dislike being stuck in the place - it sucks. It's better than me staying in a weirder place, but it is terrible. In case you didn't know already, I live in Gurgaon, Haryana, two hours away from Delhi. There are only about 4 people I can bear of which I only really talk to 2. 

Aw. 

You should know, I advertise/publicise U of M when I can, though my friend decided UCLA over it. 

-- 

Dwivedi 

Brace Yourself, Summer is Coming

Yeeeelo!

Game of Thrones reference? Anybody? No? Okay :/

I don't know if I ever thanked you for your previous post. It definitely ranks in the Top 5 in the list of the nicest things people have done for me. This one time I was caught by a cop and almost got a ticket, but he let me slide with a warning. I think that has settled in quite well at #1 on the list. But many thanks! I am glad I could positively influence your life and introduce it to some of my favourite things. Also you flatter me with all those awesome things. One thing...max two...of the list are probably true :)

So how has your year been? Mine seemed to go by a lot quicker than the last. This year saw my social life die a natural death. I mostly hung out with the same few people but I am glad I have them in my life. You chose well past Akshay, you chose well. Apart from Dexter and the Walking Dead I haven't been really been keeping up with "my stories". I think I have more than made up for the lack of tv watching and sleep in the past week and a half that I have spent in UAQ.

I started my first few real hardcore MechEng classes this year and realised I wasn't half bad in them. I also realised how ridiculously bland my resume was. But that wasn't until well into my fourth semester (when I was applying for summer internships). I now know that having a high GPA just isn't going to cut it. I need to find me some good hands on experience. Talking about design and manufacturing experience, last semester I had my first actual MechEng design project based class. We had to make this robot/car thing and compete in this competition. The objective of the game is to collect more balls than your opponents. The balls vary in weight and the heavier they are the harder they are to get to and the more points they are worth. We had to regularly record our progress in the form of blog posts. Of course we forgot about the blog after the first few posts and then went into a frenzy on the last few days and put up a bunch of posts and I coded out the timestamps and inserted fake ones. Yayy for engineering ethics.

(Here is a link to it if you are interested : http://balltowerw12-duderstadtdesigns.blogspot.com/ )

My friends from school are finally coming back into town and I am going meet a few tomorrow. Probably going for Avenger. It grossed a record breaking 207M + in the first few days. Goddayemmm.What would you do with 200M dollars? Have you heard of Louie C. K.? He is a stand up comedian and at this point you should YouTube his bit about what he would do with the amount of money Bill Gates has.

In a couple weeks time my cousins are coming down from Chennai, India. That should be fun. Have you been to Ferrari World? Apparently tickets are 250AED a pop? Gees. I will be heading back to India with them in the first week of June. I will be interning with Volvo for two months. Lets hope the have enough to keep me occupied for that long and preferably something more challenging than making coffee.

Well there you have it. My summer plans. What do you have in store for the next few months?

UAQ is a sad, lonely place.
Ak

Bottoms Up!

Hello blogger 1! 
It has been a while since we have had any sort of communication. No blog post replies, no nothing. I've been pretty busy these few months and will be even more so in the next one, so I can just imagine how busy you must be. I'd been wanting you to reply so I could do this special post. Because ... 

I can't create a blog for you and being in different continents rules out a lot of other things that I probably could have done. So instead, let me tell you certain things that I hope would be a part of making your day. 

Of all the awesome things you know, here are some you've now gotten me to love -  

1) Dexter

2) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

3) The Mentalist

4) Maroon 5  

5) Football

Some awesome things about you -

 You are 

1) Tall

2) Fun

3) Smart

4) Hilarious

5) Super - sweet

Also,

you gave me one hell of a birthday gift and though this isn't in the same league as that I hope it's nice - a whole post dedicated to you! I had initially thought of doing five different topics with  five points pertaining to the title, under them. Twenty points (one for luck), all to make you feel you've done some good in this world. However, I am tired and have hit a mental block to be able to come up with so much right now. Sorry. :|
You are honestly one of the most awesome people I know and probably will ever know. And you have inspired me on and off, in unnoticeable but significant ways. And though we began actual communication years later, I'm glad we did begin. 


Akshay Kini, happy birthday. Have a great one.  :)

--
Your frand,
Blogger 2