Suresh had been married for the last 20 years. His was a small family with his wife, son and an ageing father. All of them were going through a very delicate phase in their lives. Each one facing a different sort of trouble magnified in their own way.
Suresh's father had spent over a month in the hospital after being diagnosed with Cancer. The Chemotherapy making him weaker day by day. But he didn't lose hope. He kept fighting against his illness.
Despite being from the upper middle-class society strata, Suresh was bogged down by debts and he had none to share his burden either. He was working overtime and pushed his last penny to keep his family intact. The once bright and radiant face of Suresh's had baggy eyes, dark circles and lines of tension engraved across the forehead.
Suresh's wife Gayathri was running between 2 worlds. She was the submissive, gullible, soft-spoken, responsible home-maker. Gayathri was a person who struck a terrific balance between work and family.
Suresh's son was the apple of his eye. He would do anything for him. He was attempting his board exams in a month's time. The tense atmosphere at home didn't come to his rescue either.
Suresh was in a state of mental imbalance with so many things on his mind. His brain simply refused to co-operate with him anymore. The pressure was building up.
One fine morning, after visiting his recovering father in the hospital, he came to his cabin in his office and saw this one mail from his friend that just said -

" Hope is all we have when everything falls apart, Use it well ! "

That was the magical phrase. It shed light on a lot of void space in his mind. A whole new vista opened, showing him numerous ways. Energy multiplied. Plans propped up in his mind. Hope gushed its way into him, reaching every cell, every neuron in his body. All because he had forgotten that one word that now added so much meaning to his life now, H O P E !

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All the fun, high spirits, screaming, bunking, and the unusual routine has taken a U-turn and has bid adieu for this year. Lethargy has started to creep in and books seem to alienic. Sitting in class for the whole day seemed so wierd.
Adventure comes in the form of an Electrical Workshop Lab which I've started dreading now. With all those big big instruments and complicated circuits, I sit looking nonplussed with a bunch of bulbs and wires in my hand. If I had more hands, they would be found tugging my hair in all direction. My partner in crime is no better either. So ultimately at the end of the 3rd hour, I somehow figure out what to do and manage to get my observation book signed after several entries in the breakage list.
It seems exams have been advanced this semester due to the elections. Accepted that college days will not return again, but then I feel its time to move on.

Life is just too melancholy and monotonous now.

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The busy days have finally come to an end. When have good things lasted long? Hmph!
I witnessed my first ever college- level cultural show yesterday. It was our college culturals and unlike the other institutions, we compete between our own departments. The competition is on par as the population is pretty large with more than 15 departments. Each department is given 40 mins to showcase their talent. There are the Highlight Performances apart from that, which is supposed to be the best.
We, the freshers perform as a separate team and are always the 1st to perform. That always gives us an advantage to look at the rest of the show uninterrupted.
I must say, the stage was simply mind-blowing, the DJ playing Fanaa in between performances, and the list of the chief guests was exciting as always. Gracing the occassion with their presence were the following stars-
1) Grace Karunas with her Seena thaana had the crowd dancing and screaming for more.
2) Srikanth who said that he didn't even attend his own college's culturals and came to ours.
3) Suchitra, who sang a fusion of all her songs and wrapped up with the cliched "Semma hot machi "
4) Chinni Jayanth who sang Aalavandhan, his 1st musical debut on a stage and of course he mimicked Rajni and Kamal.
5) And finally a bear like Dhanush, who passed on the words of wisdom given to him by Superstar.

The show began at 8.30 in the morning and went non-stop and ended at 10 at night. Atleast for me it worth all the tiring hours through the week as my department won the overall championship and also the Most Creative Performance Title. It sure was a delightful moment when they announced that -
"The Department of Information Technology wins the Overall Championship for the third consecutive year"
Screams, Howls, Whistles, Drumrolls, Claps and the numerous voices that cheered and yet were heard as one.

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When there is a combination like Mani Ratnam, Sabu Cyril, Rajiv Menon and Vasanth, you just can't cook up excuses. As expected, the set was magnificent and majestic at the huge Jeppiar College grounds.
The show was late by an hour, the introduction being a recorded video that had Revathy thanking a long list of people. The black and white stage was graced by a huge projector screen in the background that sported different pictures, sometimes even motion pictures as backdrops for every performance apart from the huge theme prop's like bridges, pillars, swings, trees and so many more. Each theme got better as the show advanced.

The night began with a kathak dance sequence by Banupriya and moved on to 60's and 70's songs performed by Prakash Raj, Vineeth and Shreya(of Mazhai fame). Interjected was a fusion performance by danseuse Shobana. The 80's songs started with Shaam dancing to the tunes of Ilamai Idho Idho... the disco set was a marvel to the eyes. The next performance came as a shock to most of the crowd. A fat Simran and an emaciated Simbu dancing for Rakamma kaiya thattu. The jhatak matak of Simran seems to have lost its charm. But the crowd continued cheering.
The show resumed after a break to hear Blaaze sing his rap going with the theme of the night. When Blaaze sang Adankaka, the crowd went berserk. With his accent and the tongue twisting lyrics, we were more than grateful when he went back to his rap.
I'm really sorry, I attended the show only till this performance and had to get back due to an emergency.

But I must admit, Sabu Cyril had done a brilliant job. Each song had a different look. The costumes were beautiful and looked graceful when teamed with brilliant choreography by Kala and Brinda. The old songs had used minimal colors, the majority being Black, White and Red. But as the era modernised one could spot more of Gold, Pink, Blue, and more jazzy shades as it advanced to the current period.

I missed Kamal Hassan's performance!! sigh sigh.

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The last few days have seen the other side of me, the busy side. With the intra-department culturals round the corner and the sports week going on, I've been engaged in a lot of work. I have registered for so many events, that I even forgot which ones I enrolled for. The lecturers also don't seem to take pity on us and and are breezing through the syllabus in a mad rush just to finish the portions. Yep, my semester gets over by mid-April. It seems like I was cribbing about E.D just yesterday and my 1st year is about to come to an end in almost 2 months. Maybe its because of all these activities.
Today I was on my way back from college and this cute little boy hardly 3 years old comes running to me and pulls my dress down. I bend down to pick up the little fella and he asks me to take him for a walk around the apartment. :o) I agree and soon I find myself surrounded by little angels each one with a request so honest that you just can't deny them! Oh! Kids, they are such pure and wonderful souls.
Ah! But I'm reminded of all the work left in the moribund life. Nothing good ever lasts forever.
This too shall pass......

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He is my love,
He is my friend,
Don't mistake me about what I intend.

Distress, Joy or Anger takes me to him
Emotions about to overflow, they are reaching the brim.
Things galore he has to share,
He is one among the many about whom I care.

Numerous secrets he does hold,
Many more of them are yet to unfold.
You are reading about the one whom I told...

Mr.Bloggie is what I call him
He's my love, my sweetheart, my darling !

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As you people would have noticed, I've made minor changes in the appearance of my blog. I've made it look all monochromatic. Black and White, 2 of my most favorite colors dominate the blog along with a hint of grey here and there.
I tried finding a template that would suit my needs n tastes, but all I have is a day's time and very little patience. So, I kept the basic template and tweaked around with colors.
I also found a picture for my blog title that seemed in sync with the name "Somethings & Nothings"
Doesn't it have a retro feel to it?
Do drop in your comments and suggestions.

P.S : The cliched shoutbox also has been added. So scream away....

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Everything in this world is created twice !

First, in the mind

And then, later before the eyes !

Dream your life

Make dreams a reality

For you deserve every moment that you live !

The best way to make your dreams come true is to

WAKE UP!

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Yaaay! My 1st tag!! Here goes,

6 weird/random facts about me :- (dunno how wierd they are)

1. I'm the only girl in a family of giants.
2. I like talking to dogs.
3. I can't study unless I clean my room inside out.
4. I am not home-sick!
5. I never cross my 100 SMS per day limit.
6. I mix up languages while talking. English+Hindi+Tamil+Malayalam+Telugu+ some more crap which I can't figure out myself.

I'm not the angel of mercy, but anyone who doesn't know what to post can take up this tag!

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She felt the hands slipping away,
She struggled to hold on,
Time was not a friend this way,
She tried it all, but in vain.

He was longing to see her,
Monochromatic was his life, until she came.
The distance was not helping either,
Times can be so unpredictable like water droplets on a window pane.

State of the art technology,
Wireless communication,
Slick gadgets, nothing can ever compensate
For the times spent in recollecting the memories with a loved one.

He was gone,
She was lost and broken,
The search has just begun,
Lots to discover, boundaries to cross, feelings sunken.

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With the results much to my surprise, a 85% aggregate has me grinning for the last 24 hours. So much that, even my cheeks hurt now. Anyways, with that I saw the end of a tortuous E.D. Ugh!! How I hated it. This time I've got 3 electrical lab classes, which is no way related to my department. But I'm sure anything could be better than those diagrams that I couldn't even comprehend.
We began Sem-2 today officially with MGR's birthday celebrations in our campus. Gracing the occasion were "Gabtun Vijaykanth", Director-Actor "Bagyaraj", comedian "Vivek" and a not so popular stunt master.
Guess classes would resume in full swing from tomorrow and that means getting back to a tight 11 hour schedule. Which also means, I need to wake up at an ungodly hour of 5.30 in the morning.

How I wish I could fast-forward my life!!!

Disclaimer: I barely scraped thru E.D. Just Escape!

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I'm being such a paradox. I'm bored of sitting at home and doing nothing, yet I don't want college to reopen on Monday. In the last one month of the so called Semester Holidays, my social life was varying from 2 to 4 on a scale of one to ten. But still I enjoyed every moment of all the nothing I had to do. And yeah, it is quite a task in itself to sit and have nothing to do. Now, I don't want to disgress by explaining how I had nothing to do, despite my sudden realisation a few days back that infact I did have quite a bunch of errands to run. I'm rushing off with those now and also trying to relish every moment.
As I sit before the eerie glow of my monitor in this wee hour, all these vivid thoughts come rushing into my mind. Had to pen them down, so do pardon me.
Hopefully, from next week, I'll be having something better to blog about considering the amount of nothings that I've posted over the last few weeks. And hey! I justified my blog title too !
Also as I delve deeper into engineering, I could do with some luck !!

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Prudent thoughts creep into my mind, now that college reopens in a couple of days. With the books putting on weight as I climb the next rung of engineering, I delve into my shelf for the hall ticket. All unfinished tasks are remembered now, and with a solo performance from mom every morning on the procrastination theme, things don't seem to get better !
Trepidation creeps in as I read those little words printed
"Results will be announced on the reopening day"

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I hail from a tall family. Err.. A family of tall people. Atleast my generation is. I don't know any genetic theories to support this, but here's my go at it.
My grandfather was tall. My grandmother is short. My father and mother are of average height. Now don't ask me what average is... Its a relative term in this context.
All my cousins are over 6 feet. Giants. LOL ! But then I don't know why, I've always had a fancy for tall guys. ;-) Maybe coz my family consists only of tall guys?? If not all, atleast most of them.
After swimming, cycling, walking, jogging, skipping, jumping and stretching, I managed to reach a decent (well I presume so) 165 cm. Of course some credit should go to my family for the genes and DNA and blah blah blah.

But now, the "grow taller" syndrome is getting back to me. So, of lately I've gone back to a few of those above mentioned routines. And the difference?? It seems slow, but definitely was worth a try.

Well, I'm taller by a centimeter now.!!!

P.S : Do I take all ur comments at THE CHANGE to be applicable for this post too?

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The day I received a comment on my blog, I was surprised that someone actually was reading all that I was crapping about. That's when I started becoming conscious of what I started posting.
This guy Sujith was the person who was the lucky one to comment 1st on my blog and the only honored soul who has commented on all my posts.
Sujith you're the best. You rock. (Do you? )
His posts have a personal touch (err maybe coz they are?) and can have u in splits. Guess that's natural for jokers like him. A sensitive soul that he is, he was slightly troubled by the readership of his blog. A really lazy bum that he is... he hates the concept of posting regularly. After much nagging from none other than me, he would get bugged and post something which by the time you finished reading, the rains itself would have stopped in Madras.
Anyways, in case people who are reading this, do visit Sujith here and let him know that we chennaites also visit people of other states.
And for the selfish geek that I am, another post is in queue. Do read that too. And Sujith, keep commenting and do continue posting atleast at a higher frequency. There are a few deprived souls like me who do visit you. ;-)

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Its been a long time since I tried my hand at romantic fiction after THIS. So here goes something out of my attic.

"Love is something that can happen to men and women who know each other" When she read the quote, she found it really amusing. The thought of falling in love with a person she knew all her life, seemed farce to her. Her brain started rolling out names of people who were possible prospects. Just then her mobile beeped.

He was leaving to Kodai with his friends the very same day and had thought of messaging her before he left. So he pulled out his mobile and messaged her 4 little words "leaving now, bye bye". Message delivered. He was too pragmatic to consider the notion of falling in love.
But both of them didn't realize that, this was the starting point to the change their lives were about to undergo. She messaged back.

All his friends were in several stages of sleep. He wasn't able to sleep, thanks to his nocturnal habits. He messaged her again from the bus. She wasn't like before today.
There was a major power-cut in her locality and she couldn't sleep either. Just then her mobile beeped again.

The messages kept pouring in. All the emotions within them started pouring out. Both of them thought they knew each other really well, but everything proved wrong that night. Neither of them were bothered about their phone balances being screwed. The roaming charges for him and the postpaid non-free SMS pack for her.

Topics untouched were being spoken. He found a new person in her. She felt like talking her mind out to him. Thanks to all the communication gap between them which was being bridged now. She was battling against herself whether to ask him or not. But by the time she decided not to, her fingers had already reacted faster than her mind. The message was sent.

"I've always liked u, I tout u didn't like me" He knew no joys like this, when he read that msg from her. He replied... "Ofc not, I've had a crush on you for so long, I tout u didn't like me" She was too shocked to beleive her eyes when she saw his reply.

The 4 hour messaging session that night, had brought in a new dimension to their lives. A change in which both of them are living today. A change that neither thought would ever happen to them.

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2006 has begun well.. Touch wood!!
A caring family
Loving friends
Mouth watering food
Gifts galore
Numerous calls
Uncountable messages
A few mails
A bunch of cards

But still its not the materialistic things that matter to me. It pains me that I'm not able to spend quality time with my dad. My most beloved cousin is oceans away from me. My best friend is leaving the country. My little nephew is learning to crawl.
Here's the bonanza -
College reopens in 14 days and that means I have to face the ramifications of my exams in 2 weeks.
I hope all this is a reverie. I'm going through a myriad of emotions now. I wish I could alter time.

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This post being my last for this year,
I'm bidding 2005 adieu
Without a tear, but with a cheer!!

Thanks 2005, for all that you gave me and put me through. It sure was a nerve-recking year, starting on a nostalgic note with the farewell in school,
Board Exams.. Results followed by a long wait for the admissions.
How can I forget the 5 month long holidays that defined something called FUN !! */Grin/*
Then the fresh start of a new life in a place called college!
The new people.. new friends.. mid-sem exams.. model exams.. and finally the end of semester one with a month long holidays until Jan 16th.

With the new year on its way, A time so fresh, Moments unexplored, Faces unseen, Joy limitless>>

2006, here I come. You better be good! !

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The moment I tell people that I'm the only daughter to my parents,

And the moment I add on that I'm the only girl child in my whole family,

And next I say, I'm the youngest of the lot,

The immediate response is " Oh! A pampered girl !"

But I definitely don't think so.

Family.. Relatives..Cousins.. I've longed for these. Not that I'm orphaned.

I've grown the first 11 years of my life away from relatives, just with my parents and paternal grandparents. I do remember occasional visits by relatives, but still I never got to know anyone of them well. The day we landed in Chennai 7 years back, I was totally new to southern customs, traditions, relatives and even the language.

Nothing helped, I had no friends, for I was new to the city. No siblings to share things or thoughts with. I used to long for a brotherly love and affection.

But then, things changed. The secluded girl grew out of her cocoon. She is now totally different to what she had been.

In case any of my cousins are reading this,

"Thanks a lot for all the warmth you've shown. I love all you guys. You mean the world to me."



P.S : Going with the Tsunami year cliche here's a post written long back

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Dashin thro' the snow on a one horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go laughing all the way
Bells on Bob tail ring making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight

Jingle bells Jingle bells jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh


MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

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