The Proposal

It is just another day,normal people going about their normal lives,rushing to their mundane tasks at everyday workplaces.I am just another passenger in this sea of humanity,milling around in the town square,going someplace I dont even remember now,blissfully unaware of the rollercoaster ride I am about to be thrown on!
  "I am telling the world..that I found a girl,...." Taio cruz's soft voice filled the area."Telling the world" is playing on the speakers!The crowd takes a moments reprieve,looking around,before dismissing it as another petty act of romanticism,the likes of which are the "it"-thing this summer,as they went towards important and mundane tasks.But not me!I am rooted to the spot,as joy and anticipation and surprise and a million other feelings course through my veins,intoxicating me!This could'nt be happening,right?Only yesterday I had told him about how I absolutely love this song!Has he finally come around?Will he finally accept and tell the world,has he finally fallen for me?!God!My heart can't believe it,my eyes are searching for him-my boy,my love,as my inner conscience does a complex series of backflips and somersaults,all the while hooting with joy!
 We grew up together-and it's been ages since I asked him for a pencil,in primary school!It's been amazing ,all these years-He means the world to me,He is everything to me:best friend,philosopher,2-am-listener to all my rants,my plus-one when the jock who was supposed to be my date suddenly cancels,my soul-buddy:the only one who understands,and to some extent,shares my eclectic tastes in any and everything!He has always been the shy smarty,and I have always been the vivacious queen bee socialista;I dont know how we managed to find each other in our crazy different worlds;but we did,and we held on tight,despite all ups-and-downs,I am always going to be oh so glad about it!
 My reverie is broken by a collective sigh and a soft murmur of "awwh" as as people look at the man on his knee,taking out a ring.A brick drops down my stomach as I see the petite blonde he is wooing,and I am numb for a few moments.In that moment,I realize that it is some other couple,some other lucky lady getting her dream proposal!A bitter aftertaste of dead hopes,burst bubbles and sheer disappointment is what propels me into auto-pilot as I hurry away,fighting tears threatening to spill over,any moment now!
 "hey hey hey" that all-too-familiar voice calls me from the crowd,and I am forced to stop in my tracks.I knew he was supposed to meet me today,which got my hopes up all the more,I muse as he makes his way through the crowd towards me.Wait.I can't see him like this:all teary eyed and disappointed!I can't even run away,now that he has seen me!Should I try and use up my 60 seconds of courage?My heart thumps frantically,threatening to fall out of my ribcage!Should I just tell him that I love him?That I have always loved HIM and not the jocks I dated?Or is it too late?With all the apprehensions and negativity and a teeny tiny piece of hope,I turn around and fake a smile.
"Don't fake that smile.Whats wrong?"
"Nothing.Look at you,you look like you swallowed something nasty,whats the matter?"I scowl at him.It's funny to watch him like that:gone is the usual calm,the cool demeanor!God!He looks adorable even when he is all nervous and weird and confusing!I start to say something but am rudely interrupted-Wait shoosh..whatever you were saying,just hold it for a minute.This is my 6 seconds of courage:let me get this done before I run outta em,okay?
*deep breath*
*A deeper breath from my end as I say:"yes...?"*
"Iloveyou.I love you and I have always loved you,and you are the only one who completes me,and I wanted to say a million other things to you about it but I can't think of anything right now and will you be mine please?"
In one single huff of breath,he blurts out these words which will change my life forever,the ones I was desperate to hear,and I am lost in sweet ecstacy!I nod,not even having the patience to say YES,as we kiss,all passion and teary eyes and crazy love!OH what a heady feeling:our forever has just begun!
After what seems like an eternity,we finally break apart,out of breath,the happiest people on planet earth!"Well,where's my ring eh?"I tease,with tears of joy."I dunno how I even got this sudden crazy courage!I saw that guy bending down there,and I felt I couldn't wait any longer.Don't worry I'll get you any ring you want!"He exclaims!
I know it was not the proposal I had dreamed of,nor the uber-romantic gesture one normally associates with the act!But for me,it was the prologue to my very own fantasy,a dream-come-alive,and when he said it,anything would've sufficed,and even shakespeare would've sounded dull infront of those words!Those 60 seconds of courage gave me the happiest days of my life!
I dont know who that couple was,but i will always thank them for if it wasn't for them,I dont know whether he wouldve ever summoned up the courage to take the first step!That is how my stupid smart boy became my paramour,my forever and always!
Tried my hand at a short story,hope you peepz like it!Comments and criticisms welcome,as always,and this is my first attempt in this genre,so don't laugh at the silly nature of it all!
All character here are fictional,and any resemblance is purely coincidential;)
P.S:Its Ganeshotsav time here,in Mumbai, may my bappa bless us all.
      Ganpati bappa morya! 
 

Date A Girl Who Reads!

This is the first,(and probably last,unless I find something of that rapture) time,that I am posting something that is not written by me!Read on,this one article meant Oh-So-Much to me!This is from goodreads.com..

 

 Rosemarie Urquico
“You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.” 
 Amazingly true right?!I felt as if she was describing me through her lovely words!This one seriously calls for an AWWWH:")!(awwww)This is not copyright infringement of any sorts,full credit to  Rosemarie Urquico,Thanks,for this piece!
P.S:Thanks ya'll for reading,I cant really ask for comments and criticism here,but do drop in your comments about how you loved this piece!
P.P.S:I realllly want some people to read this and read it carefully,hope they get the message!(wink wink)

The Univercell Experience

There was this Indiblogger event called UniverCell Sync,my first,and let me tell you how amazing that experience was!(I should've begun with something a bit more dramatic;but,yeah,now that I've begun,let's continue with it!)

From beyond those glass doors,this one looks like just another mobile store.Well,let me tell you,it's not just a mobile store,nay sir,it's a lot more than that!I pushed in the door which said "PULL",and entered this pretty store.(Thats typical of me now:pushing doors that tell us to do otherwise!)

The first thing that comes up,is this "new and noteworthy" section,where they have a pretty cool collection of all thats new and noteworthy,with their special touch in the form of a concise writeup about the product.Next up,was the "popular" section,where all the handsets we technosiasts drool over,were arranged in a majestic array,enough to give techgasms to any tech-lover!
 When I entered the store,the first thing that attracted my eye was their love for detail;and how pretty and organized it all looked:No jhanjhats,no confusions,and no dead dummy pieces!Even the staff were so dapper,I could buy all of those beautiful gadgets out there(Mum,Dad,look at this,Christmas and Diwali are coming>-<)!Another great thing about this place,they have the gadgets arranged into neat little sections,for the camera-crazy,the gamers,the workaholics,and the music junkies!

Plus,they have these checklists where we can compare the gadgets on display,and shop for the best!I managed to snap one,just for you peepz:

Creative head Soumya,a very amiable personality,says,"It took us almost 2 years to get the blueprint of this store finalized,for the personalized touch we wanted to give!"Indeed,their efforts have paid off,because I say this is one of the best stores I have been to,when it comes to Mobiles and tabs!Best part:you can try out ALL the gadgets that are on display here,all of them.Even the speakers,the Bluetooth headsets(who lets us try BLUETOOTH headsets,let alone in mumbai,but in the whole country?WOAH);you can even stream music from your own phones to check the soundbars!Pretty cool right?
When you have finally chosen a gadget from this wonderland,you head to the billing section,through this cute smiley wall(Omg,how cute is that?)

In here,you get personalized assistance for setting up your phone,and competetive prices to die for!

 There are loads of schemes and other cool stuff for your phones,which ensures you get the complete univercell experience,for a long long time(Not so long,an year;)

The image below shows their unique approach to each and every customer!And how can I forget this cool kids area where parents can keep their kids intrigued and occupied while they search for their dream phones!The kids get to play educative games on tablets provided for them,and the people here were sweet enough to declare that they dont have a "You break it-You buy it" policy!

Plus they have these frames where people can take photographs and create beautiful memories;thus reducing all the confusion and making buying phones a hassle free experience!
 All in all,the cool offers,the pretty facade,the amazing layout,the guarantees and the personalization,ensure that if you buy a phone from UnivercellSync,you wont go anywhere else for your next!
It has a number of branches in and around mumbai,and in pune as well,and all across the country.Check it out once,and rest assured,for you will fall in love with this pretty and compact place!
So,next time you break that big old phone of yours,or break it or lose ,or forget it in a taxi,or give it away as daan,you know where to go for your next one!And if you are extra lucky,you might even walk in on an ongoing contests(yes,they have loads of exciting ones),and get all kinds of awesome stuff!
 Thanks for reading,And thanks Indiblogger for this amazing experience,where I got to meet other like-minded creatures;bloggers,per se;(cheers you awesome people,cheers)and especially this li'l munchkin Manvi here,who had dropped in with her mommy,Oh,Cuteness overloaded!

P.S:I really went all crazy over that smiley wall,and I might even have one installed at my place!

Random Gratitude

Firstly,this is not a full-fledged article,all of you have to wait another few days for it;this is just a fledgling of an idea!Interested?read on...
 Isn't it the best feeling in the world for a few seconds when someone expresses gratitude to you about some random and seemingly inconsequential act you did ages ago?We all would love to feel like that.Going one step further,why don't we keep the circle going,and make other people feel the same way?
 It all began like this:I was busy on the internet,(scrolling up and down in my facebook newsfeed and checking out profiles,with my favorite westlife playlist in the background:these tasks fit my description of busy),when all of a sudden,i realize that all these people in my newsfeed,have done me a good turn someday,somewhere down the line.May it be from the smallest of things,like helping out with directions,to being the cornerstones of my life,every act needs a display of gratitude,I feel.So,the next thing I do,is try and remember one thing I could say ThankYou for,and yes,it wasn't just ONE thing that came to mind,there were loads.I typed out a status update,thanking the person,hashtagged it #RandomGratitude,and urged them to send it on ahead.
 It's wonderful how a li'l ThankYou note can spread smiles all across,how just a few taps on the keyboard,a few kb's of internet usage,can be a rainbow to someone's cloud!Bonus:It feels good too,you know.So,now I urge you,beloved reader,to carry it forward:Just thank someone for the smallest thing they have done,and hashtag it #RandomGratitude,see how good it feels!
P.S:A big thank you,ofcourse to all my readers,because these words are but dead computer memory without you people!

Apprehensions!

We Engineers are not a studious lot.(Statement proven to be true,exceptions do exist.)So,let me tell you how it goes for us:in a particular semester,the first three months are almost always gainfully invested in various preoccupations,and in roaming the city,bunking college,and all those hip things we do!(wink wink)Then come the college festivals.That takes a month or two,including the preparations,organizing the fests,enjoying them,and then finally basking in the aftermath(this takes more time,because lazying around is a lengthy process,we all know!)Now,its four months up in a six month semester,without any serious relationship with studies.Minor adversities like term tests and assignments are overcome with the help of the aforementioned exceptions,May the Lord bless their souls!
        In short,until the preparatory leave arrives,which is roughly a month before the dreaded exams,we engineers dont know anything about the subjects we have proudly managed to learn the fullforms of,in the past four months!(ED is engineering drawing,SPA is structured programming approach,I guess!)We have now managed to reach that important phase in each engineers lives,the PLs!This is the time when we study the subjects we have managed to ignore the entire semester,statistically.But,statistics dont work in real life(well,not much,do they?),and the PLs are mostly about worrying about vivas and then obsessing about the silly questions you couldnt answer when the khadoos external examiner put 'em forth!Then we pester our friends with that cliche question,"How much did you study?"This is usually a conversation starter in those days,and the conversations normally last for hours,beginning with the little amount of studying your friends have done,then comparing what you have done with em,exchanging your respective arsenals of expletives(in a very imaginative way,swear words are literally BORN during these times!)
       Before the average engineer even knows it,that dreaded day of exams arrives,most of the times with the most dreadful of subjects:MATHS,as the first paper.Trust me when I say this,we haven't accomplished much in the PLs,and everyone actually starts seriously studying just a couple of days before the exam,so with our fragile hearts in our dry mouths,we enter the examination halls!The next three hours is a horror story I don't intend to enter into,right now,as I've had enough of these "experiences",and will be having loads more!The only time we actually "study" is the five day leave between papers!That golden time period is what makes us engineers!Hail Mumbai University!
      So,after reading all this,you might've got a fair idea of how tensed the atmosphere is when the results are around!Everyone is quiet;most days there's a hue and cry that the results are out,but it turns out to be hue and cry over false alarms,and hearts all over skip a beat.People start calculating passing combinations,and grace mark possibilities,and you will always find some people hovering near the board where they display results.This is when the senior year results arrive,and we sit in dreadful anticipation,awaiting the results,praying,hoping,promising to ourselves that we won't repeat our mistakes next semester(we always do!).This was my state of mind this weekend,always expecting the results at the worst moments imaginable!

    Friday passed with no bad news.Saturday was as uneventful as well.

    Then comes sunday,and we all breath a sigh of relief,saying sundays aren't working days,they wont unleash them on us today!I was just up from my afternoon nap,it must have been a half past six,and when I check my phone,its an avalanche of messages and missed calls,all screaming to me:

   THE RESULTS ARE OUT!!!!!

   THE RESULTS ARE OUT!!!!!
  From the sluggish haze of sleep,i was jolted into consciousness in an instant shell-shocking moment.The apprehension of that moment,a thousand things running through my mind,sending pleas of "Bappa,pass kara do" to all Gods,known and unknown,sneaking in your parent's room to get the hallticket without catching there eye,finally culminated in this:

That precious feeling is indescribable.All I could do was go ballistic with joy and the immense relief of it all!All's well that end's well,so,even though I was inches close to a heart attack,it's all good now.Now as the messages flood in,enquiries,consolations,congratulations,I just congratulate all those who went through a similar ordeal today,congrats peepz,we are "one quarter" ENGINEER now!To all those who saw that dreaded F word on their screens,hope it all evens out in reval,hang in there!Also,thou art insensitive in thy grief and glory,so no offence intended!If feelings are hurt,unintentionally,please forgive me.
   Right now,as I bask in the glory of it all,there are a million things I need to do,loads of regrets from the shitty weekend I had,lots of apologies to be handed out,loads of stuff to be read,written,assimilated.But inspite of being literally bee-busy,the feeling that overrides them all is an overwhelming sense of immense Gratitude!
P.S:I drew blood for the second time this week,and this time,I am proud to tell you I did not scream;just cried:a LOT.Anyways,thats another story,and in the end,the reports are normal,so yours truly is all hale and hearty now,Thanks for all the "takkays" and "get-well-soons",Much love!

Sick Leave

        Thanks to my superb metabolism,amazing mom and laziness,I have always been a healthy child!(Laziness because lazy kids don't go out to play in the rain,and hence don't catch horrible colds!)I hadn't been to a doctor's in like ages.In a perfect world,i wouldn't have had to,ever(nothing against my doctor buds,you guys earn an honest living,it's just my chronic fear of syringes needles and well,hospital smells);but this world is far from perfect,and thats how my "sick leave" began!
        It was the worst possible start i could imagine,to the new semester!Or maybe it wasn't so bad after all,considering i got free attendance for over a week,so,can't really complain acads-wise!THe symptoms are all the same;so much are the similarities that now I've started prescribing my meds to people when I see an "unwell" status on whatsapp!It's a viral fever they say,just another passing thing,all because of the mousam!It's the whole package actually,if you ask me,not just the fever..there's cough and cold,and then there's pounding hangover-y headaches(only ten times worse) and weakness!You catch this,book a bed and your favorite blankey for a week atleast,because you wont be able to,and wouldn't want to,move around!God forbid,but I have an uncanny feeling that a substantial number of eyeballs scanning this are connected to feverish,aching heads(minds)!
       So,that's what I caught a week ago.It was pretty normal stuff after that:Go to your GP..him prescribing stuff,you skipping a dose or two!Mind you,if you ever get viral fever,DO NOT SKIP MEDS!(shouty capitals;because I did it,and it landed me into an even bigger mess!)So,there I was,unwell again,even after my course was all done(albeit a day late),and the doc told me to get a bloodtest!Just like that,I go from meek-sickly-kid mode to panic mode in a second!Well,the thing is,I am not usually a scared cat..but one cannot be blamed for fearing inevitable pain.(I know,I know,all you tough people out there scoffing and raising eyebrows,citing ant bites and bravery:boo yaah)Only those who are afraid of the needle will understand my trauma!Unluckily,mum's not one of them,and it was a really messy trip to the hospital,when it was time to get my tests done!
      Thats how I went in,in mortal peril,with half a mind to just turn tail and run to the safety of home sweet home,but to no avail!My way of reassuring myself-"Shhhh!They say its just an antbite..don't make a fool of yourself".The moment of fleeting reassurance however turned into horror when the nurse strapped that belt-y thing to my arm and readied the needle(God!Im getting goosebumps while writing this!#scaryshit).This is how it went:
Nurse:Hold still,stop acting like a kid!
Me:OHH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT NEEDLE DONT STICK ME WITH THE POINTY END THIS IS GONNA HURT OWWWWHHHH
Enter three more hands to grab me.

      Needless to say,it was a very painful affair!two agonizing minutes later,it was all done.And trust me when I say this:It does NOT feel like an ant bite,unless you were talking about scary alien ants in the first place!*scowls*Also,no exaggerations with the time as well,it was a full two minutes!(felt like an eternity);but I DID NOT cry'!I am not making it sound like a major accomplishment or something,but I did not!Neither did I howl in pain all the way back home *pat on the back*It will sound all goody-two-shoes now,but I did actually feel this:While waiting for the bloodshed,I glanced through an issue of the Mirror-Gory images of four-year olds,all covered in blood,innocently staring at the camera,all the way from gaza!In a very selfish way,I say that they gave me strength,The episode during the act was inevitable,I am only human;but I could avoid all the (unnecessary) drama that would've usually followed!It just did not feel right,to howl in misery over something so trivial,when they were dying out there,for no particular fault of theirs!Its not my place,nor my interest,to go into the politics of it all,but in a purely humanitarian way,all I ask is:How much more?!!!!Stop the carnage,for theres always a peaceful,no-lives-lost way,if we look hard enough!
    Closer home,yours truly is writing this because she has no other gainful employment at present.An entire week of rest,being wrapped in blankets and poked and pierced finally came to this:I have a low WBC count,and that spells doom,not because of the low WBCs;but because I will have to go through the entire "bloodsucking" episode again!(Vampires have lost a bit of my love;newfound respect for bella(she is still dumb,though!),elena and all the other vampire-ladies).I hope I miraculously mature up or something by the time:dar ke aagey jeet hain>_< !I am finally going back to college tomorrow,to catch hold of new topics for you lot,till then,please refer puppy face above;),and stay fit!Sick people,take care.Thanks for reading,comments and criticisms are always welcome(Go easy on me this time around,though),may peace prevail!
P.s:Its international friendship day today,So..Thanks for being my amigo,much love!Cheers:)