Halloween in Austin downtown

This Halloween weekend, I went to Austin and had loads of fun. My friends and I got dressed up and partied on 6th st. I was dressed as a " Gothic Maiden". Out of the five of us, four were dressed in a scary theme; Karuna was a headless person. Raghu was a ghost. Rahool was the ' scream' person. Finally, Rahul was a jailbird. We were on 6th street for almost four hours. The whole street was filled with lots of people and everyone was dressed for halloween. We took lots of pics with other ghosts and loads of other characters. And since all our costumes were kinda similar; we got a lot of attention and many people took pictures with us. It was like a big fancy dress mela.

On 6th st, we did club-hopping. We went to a dance club called Friends and left in a few minutes. We were bored of hip-hop music as we had spent Friday night on 6th st as well. We danced a lot in a European techno club called Barcelona. This club had a cover charge but it was totally worth it. The music just grows on you. The DJ was very good and watching him mix the music was really cool. The Dizzy Rooster had a long queue all the time, thanks to the hype from the Real World Austin.

After dancing for a long time in Barcelona, we just walked on the street and took lots of pics. And then finally we cooled our heels in Logans, where they played some really awesome music. We finally had to leave when the clubs closed. We got to stay an extra hour because of the Daylight Savings. Then we went to a place called Kirby Lane (its open for 24hrs) for breakfast and finally crashed by 5am.

This was the best halloween ever !
And all the fun was because we're dressed in crazy costumes and tried to be our character !

Exams...

I always thought answering an exam was a lot harder than making the questions for an exam. Was I mistaken ! Making up the questions is not an easy job either !! I learnt it the hard way this year when I was asked to be the instructor for a course. Setting the paper means that you need to have knowledge about the subject - so study again ! Now I know why they always used to repeat many questions in the board and B.E exams hehehe. Its a pain to come up with new questions !

Ofcourse, answering an exam is always a greater pain. Its very hard to concentrate on studying before an exam; suddenly the most mundane jobs seem very critical. When I was studying for this week's exam, my mind came up with a lot of time - critical errands like applying a new nail polish ! Movies, talking with friends and drinking tea are one of my favourite things-to-do-before an exam list. Another distraction is sleep; I seem to feel sleepy by 8pm when I have an exam while other days I cannot sleep before midnight !

11th hour....

My mom always told me to do things on time and not procrastinate. I suppose she recognized early in my childhood that I had inherent laziness and delay tactics. Well....11th hour works for me !

I had an exam this Monday; for once I thought that I would start studying early. Guess what happened ? I could not concentrate and got bored easily. Turns out, the 11th hour panic is what triggers all my grey cells and makes them work :-) This is not only true for exams but can be used for other time-critical deadlines as well. Eg: Research meetings; I never do anything useful till the day of the meeting and then it all comes into place somehow. hehehe. Watching a illogical hindi movie can also greatly bump up your IQ and confidence level before a research meeting or an exam.

Countdown.....3 months left

Its Oct 20th today and so there are exactly 3 months left for my wedding. By strange coincidence, I got my wedding cards today. Sushma, who just returned from India last week mailed them to me :-)

I can't believe I am getting married; it has not sunk in yet; I am very excited about it. The cards are very pretty and I have to start mailing them soon. There is a typo in the card though ( the website is spelt wrong).

I don't feel like studying for exams and doing research. All I want to do is shop hehehehe.

Books......

I am a book worm. I have always been one. I love to read and collect books. One of my dreams is to have a big library filled with books and a cosy couch. Ahh...heaven !

My first novel was " Jane Eyre". My mom bought it for me so that she could inculcate good habits in me ( actually she wanted me to stop watching TV). Anyway, this was in 2nd std and I was not too happy to be forced to read a novel which had no pictures. It was a S.Chand abridged version and it took me 2 days to finish it. Then, I was hooked. I read all the classics by the same publisher voraciously. I still have all those books. My favorite classics are Little Women and Rebecca.

Then came the magic of Enid Blyton. I loved all her books right from secret seven, famous five to malory towers. By then I was in 6th std and slowly started reading detective books; Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys ofcourse. Now, I feel the stories were so silly but at that age, it was a whole new world for me. I had a very crazy habit, after reading each Nancy Drew, I would write down the killer's name in my diary. I was also trying to finish all her books. Ofcouse I never did, I think I reached around 125 ordinary novels and a few more case files before losing interest in them.

Then I read randomly and that trend still continues; I find it very hard to put down a book if it is interesting; I don't mind staying awake all night, forgo sleep and food; after all, it is for a good cause. I like books by Sidney Sheldon, Arthur Hailey, Robin Cook, Agatha Christie, PG Wodehouse and lots of others. A special mention ofcouse about the Harry Potter series. Right now, I am reading the 'Lord of the Ring' series.

I also love to read comics especially Asterix & Obelix , Calvin & Hobbes and Tintin. There is so much hidden pun and trivia in Asterix comics that I discover something new everytime I read them. Age is indeed no factor to enjoy them. Loved them when I was 10 yrs and still love them !

I love books !

Loneliness

Defined as "The quality or state of being alone". Well, I hate to admit it but this is my greatest fear.

While most people face this after coming to US and in their mid 20's, I have faced this at a very young age and that is why I shudder to think of being alone. As I was the only child and both my parents were working, I have been exposed to being alone early in my childhood. My grandpa was living with us till I was 10 years old and after that he moved to live with his eldest son. Although, we had a house-keeper (Good old Seetha mami), there have been many occassions when I am just alone in the house with nothing to do. For some strange reason, there were no other kids of my age near my house to play with. So, I began to exercise imagination. I found comfort and refuge in books. And so I read and read and read (novels ofcouse). Ofcouse I had imaginary friends but soon realised that I was imagining ghosts as well ! So, I put an end to imaginary beings after that. It still gives me the creeps :-P

Anyways, to make a long story short; yes I was lonely and as a result I used to love to be in school and do masti. We had a telephone but I had not discovered the art of talking and wasting time on the phone till I was in 9th std.

When I look back now, I think I am able to handle a lot of setbacks and hurdles because of my experiences early in life. Coming back to the point I was trying to make, although I don't like being alone; there are times when I seek solitude and enjoy it. Then again, sometimes all I want to do is be around people. Anyway, all this talk about loneliness came up because of a question that has been on my mind. I don't know when Vikram would be able to come here after we are married and chances are that I may be alone for a few months. So, a part of me wants to take an apt and live alone; while another part of me says I would get depressed and should stay with roomates. I havent come to a decision yet. So, the argument continues in my mind.....

Tall Tales

How important is height for a girl ? Well, if the girl is Indian like me, it is not really that important. An ideal girl (read 'prospective bride') is expected be fair, thin and pretty. Well I guess 'pretty' can be relaxed too ( cos being fair is sometimes mixed up with pretty !! ). Anyways coming back to my point, no one cares about the girl's height. In fact, the shorter she is, the better it is ! I think since most Indian guys are not tall either, they feel intimidated by tall girls.

Ever since I was a kid, I was always tall for my age. I had no complains towering above my peers. But sadly silly relatives had other ideas. I still remember many aunts and other painful people always teasing and making fun of me because I was tall ! I mean...wat is their problem ? I have heard comments like 'she has to be nailed down or we will never find a groom for her !' It was very annoying that time. In fact, thanks to all their curses, I stopped growing lengthwise somewhere in 8th standard. Which is very tragic, cos I started growing breadthwise !! And this growth has not stopped even now :-(

So, one of my biggest regrets is that I wanted to be atleast 5'9" and I never made it to that mark. I am glad that Vikram is tall and so I don't have to hear any comments about how tall I am. And ofcourse, I get to wear heels.

So, do Indian guys like tall girls ? Or do they like short, docile girls ? Well....I guess the height requirement is also relative.