Death is Inevitable

It is sad to announce the demise of my camera which has served me faithfully for the past 4 years. The following is a short description of how it's death was diagnosed by no other than me. On Sunday, 4th March, myself, Pavithra, Kshama and Kshama's friend, Rebecca were going for the Chinese New Year Celebration in Uni of Leeds Great Hall. I promptly took my camera with not one, but two sets of rechargeable batteries. I go to the Great Hall and look at how beautiful everything is out there, and decide to take my camera out and take a couple of shots randomly for memories sake. I try to focus the camera, but the camera refuses to focus. So, I give it a few seconds rest and try again. Again, refuses to work. Then, I realise this is after all, technology. So, i switch the camera off and switch it on again after a few minutes. Still refuses to work. Then, I thank the stars that I brought another pair of batteries and decide to change it, figuring it may have something to do with batteries. It still refused to focus! So, by now, I have realised that the camera's refusal to focus has NOTHING to do with either the batteries or stupidity of technology. I try shaking the camera a bit to see if that helps, try ensuring the settings are the same as always. Everything is okay with the camera, but it REFUSES to focus, therefore giving me extremely blurry pictures. This leaves me no option but to say that this camera has died of old age and lens failure. It has been buried in my top most drawer of my desk underneath the endless pile of papers and stationery. During this sad moment in life, I must mention some of this camera's achievements. It was born in Japan, after which it was stacked in a shop in Bombay. When my parents went to see the camera adoption centre, they saw this camera sitting on the shelf all alone and decided to keep it as though it was their own child (clearly they were missing the presence of their daughter who was currently in a boarding school in Bangalore). This is when the camera started to face many new adventures almost everyday. Not only has it travelled around the world (places include: Sri Lanka, UK, Hong Kong and in and around India), it has also faced many random moments with me. During its last few months in university, it took many pictures that would be cherished as memories by me forever. *starts to cry* I really don't know how I would live without this camera anymore *sniff* All I can say is: May its buttons rest in peace.

The Evilness of Randomness

This was done by Shreya during the 1/2 hour or so conversation we had on skype... Now the reason for the towel on my head is because i had just come out of my shower and was letting my hair dry. Though to be honest, I quite liked the result which is seen above. I had no clue she was doing this! anyway, thats all for now.. Longer update in a while... too busy for that now!

Fie on Arriva Buses

Well, i know this is something i tend to complain about constantly. But if arriva buses are so incompetent and so unreliable, then i am left with no alternative choices.So myself, lizzy and isa leave the Lodge at 8:40am, as the bus is supposed to arrive at 8:45am. The reason we get out so late is because we are absolutely sure the bus will not turn up before scheduled time, and if it manages to (this is the point where we should all party, cos it never happens), it should wait until the scheduled time. So, we set out to the bus stop and see there are a few more people waiting for the same bus. So its clear that the bus still has not turned up. So, we wait in the freezing cold in the bus stop for our 'favourite' bus, X44. It's now 8:50am, and the bus has still not turned up. 8:55am... oh no! the lecture starts in 5 minutes! We refuse to take a taxi, because we have paid £55 for a stupid bus pass. So we continue to wait. 9am.. What do we do now?? We decide to give up on this lecture, walk back to the room and snuggle under the warm duvet. Oh! but what do we see approaching us?? is it a car? is it a 110?? NO! its the X44!!! We were 15 minutes late for the lecture. To top it all, another incident with the X44 occurred on my way back from bretton. The X44 skipped my stop. Yes.. it stopped a couple of meters away, but still. I pressed the button a few seconds before it was supposed to stop. I stood in front of the bus and yet the bus continued. Had i not asked him why he didn't stop, he would have carried on !! Conclusion and Moral of the story: DO NOT TRUST ARRIVA BUSES.

Bretton Hall and all the snowness!!!

Well... this friday, Kshama and Pavithra, my two friends from the main campus came up to meet me and also to see Bretton Hall before we finally close down at the end of the year. It was perfect, because that day, Bretton was quite white.. i.e, it had some snow.. Not much, but atleast enough to have some fun..!! I have put the pictures below... anyways, other than that, we came back and planned on having a movie marathon, but failed due to this thing called sleepiness. But we did manage to watch 2 films.. anyway.. thats all for now.. enjoy the pics!!

Apta Shirali and me in complete randomness and boredom

Fruitoholism

yes, thats too many to take in less than an hour, I am aware. It was 15 of them. I had finished a whole bag of them! The level of citric acid would have probably exceeded the desired amount for three weeks even, but I did not have any problems whatsoever! Does that mean I have now officially become a fruitoholic? meh. who cares? as long as what goes in me is not junk food, I am fine.

A devilish night

As usual, awoke at 2pm and played Funeral Quest. Thou who made me an addict to this game shall repent. And thou shall not be named for she knows who she is. Anyway, then i had to get ready for a birthday party. We suddenly decided that we would dress up as something completely different. Not surprisingly, I was the DEVIL. So, I decided to wear a black t-shirt and black trousers. But then, was forced to wear a black skirt instead. Then, my lovely friends decided to straighten my hair much against my wishes. This was the result: Then, I had to get ready... after which, i looked like this: scary, yes i know. Overall, party was good, though i wish more people had turned up. Laters! xx

ULTIMATE DREAM HOUSE

Well, I am glad to say that we have finally found a house that all three of us really like in Argie Road. We will be signing it tomorrow!! Should be good, am looking forward to it!! Been drinking a whole carton of orange, peach and passionfruit juice in one day!!! not good! but nevertheless, healthier than coke and the same. Anyway, thats all for now. more later! honest!!

Trip to London

I haven't updated in a week. Yes, i know i had my extended holidays, but i was in London. The weather in London was MUCH better than it was is up here in Wakefield. Its less windier, but just as cloudy. I hate current weather in UK. It is very very very very depressing... in London.. people have been killed due to the storms, tube lines have been delayed or even suspended, rail lines have been delayed... so transportation was a big issue for me. So... until friday, i did not stir out. However, i could not take it any more on friday, so i met up with Sakhee, Manu and Nisarg. Met sakhee at Old Street. Now, she did tell me that she will wait for me on the platform, so i don'g get lost! So i waited for approximately half an hour, praying and hoping to god that she would turn up. Sadly, unlike the MTR, we do not get signals for mobiles in the underground. So, since i had a Day Travelcard, I decided to go out and make a call. So, I went out and called her. My beloved friend had decided to ditch me and remain in her room. So, I immediately ordered her to come and pick me up. She did. Then, we had a chinese take-away.. sitting on the street.. was an interesting experience. If you are seen doing that in India, either you will get highly contaminated, and/or you would be considered a beggar by fellow passers-by and would be given atleast a ruppee by them! Anyway. Then, myself and Sakhee went to, or atleast tried to go to the Indian Embassy to meet Nisarg and Manu. Obviously Sakhee's geography is terrible so we didnt know how to go there. So, we got the guys to come meet us where we were. When they finally came, we just hung around randomly, talked for a while and then we split up at around 5:45pm. Sakhee dropped me off at Old Street tube station. I then had my long journey back to croydon... London Victoria to Croydon. I hate all these long trips late in the evening (well, to be fair, it gets very very dark out here very early!)Then, as I left the East Croydon Station, I thought I'd call up Niraj, a friend from Jain International School, since he finishes work at around 7pm. I had reached the station at around 7:15. So I called him and we met up near the station for a short while and then we went our own ways. It was nice meeting him after a long time! Anyway, and then, comes my Mobile Saga. Thursday night, I was setting my alarm and accidentally switched my mobile off. I switched it back on and it asked for my password. I forgot my password as I never switch the phone off. So I tried several combinations, after which my sim card got rejected. So, on friday before I met up with the guys, I went to Mobile World and they said that the person who bought the card had to be present. It was in my father's name, so I had no choice but to buy a new card. My phone should have been activated by 1pm, but did not get activated till 2:30pm. This was quite pissing off, as I was to be meeting Sakhee then, and did not have any way of communicating. But Thankfully, my phone got activated by the time i reached London Victoria from East Croydon. Basically, I was able to meet up with the guys and have fun. I feel that since i have been having a mobile phone for years, If i didnt have one that worked, it would make me literally handicapped. I just cannot survive without a mobile that works! I feel really unsafe (especially in a place like the UK where it gets dark at very early hours). Atleast at home, I have the car and so without the mobile I COULD survive... but here I find it impossible. Anyway. Now I must lay on thee bed and shut my eyes to rest for it is 2:40am!.. so goodnight!

Dream House 3

Today we had to go view three houses in Leeds. Out of which, one of them was clearly out of question as the rooms were as good as cardboard boxes and the kitchen was smaller. The second one in Woodside Terrace was alright. We have now considered it Dream House 3. The rooms were of good size and it seemed alright. Still however, does not match the loveliness of Armley (A.K.A Dream House 2) Pictures of this are below.

The 3rd house in Hessle view was really nice, except the bathroom was a major disappointment. It had mould growing everywhere and we could not see ourselves getting any cleaner than we were before, by going in there. Am off to London tomorrow, so should be packing up!! bye for now!

My Birthday

First off, I would like to thank all those who remembered my birthday and wished me. You all made my day the best possible. Today has been a rather tiresome, yet fun day. I was awoken at 6am in the morning (have i ever mentioned that till date i have NEVER seen the sunrise?) by my parents who called me from home to wish me. Nice of them, but not at 6am!!! After speaking to them for a few minutes, I fell asleep again, hoping that the next thing to wake me up would be the alarm. I was wrong. It was another call at about 9am. This time, from my mum's friend in London. This time however, I got some good news: my ticket for coming back home in march has finally arrived and i can see it on tuesday when i go down to london!!! After this very promising call, I decided to shut my eyes for a bit more. An hour later at 10am, another of my mum's friends in London called me. By now, i figured it was pointless to sleep again, as i was destined to wake up no later that 10am on my birthday. Well, anyway... So then, later in the evening, we went to ASDA for some popcorn, sweeties and drinks to take with us for a 6:20pm show of Pursuit of Happyness (i have not spelled it wrong. Its how its spelled even in the movie) in Cineworld Wakefield. Unfortunately poor students like us cant afford more than ASDA price, im afraid.. The movie was good! Then, we got back home and thats about it! It was overall, a very good day.. I enjoyed it thoroughly!!! Only, I wish isa was there with us. It would have been more fun... But she is having fun back home, so no more grumbling about that. Anyway, thats about it!

stupid arriva buses and the exams.

For the past few days feeling a bit down... Feeling quite headachy and really couldnt be bothered to eat... sigh*.. i know my appetite isnt so great, but lack of appetite?? i wonder why... feeling so bored after the exams... although there was no way i could study for the exams, i was busy panicking for it, so wasnt so bored.. now i have nothingness for the next 2 weeks... which is what is really bugging me as well. If classes are going to start only on 29th, then why did we not have an exam at the end of next week, so that I could have stayed home a little while longer? Anyway, besides the point. Now to Arriva buses... The most unreliable bus service one can find. Our exam is at 9:30am at the Leeds campus. Now in order to get to the uni on time, we only had one choice: the X44. The bus was scheduled to come to the Lodge at 7:45am. So, in order to catch the bus, we all awoke at 7am and went to the bus stop at 7:35am. 7:35am - We get out of the Lodge and wait for the bus to arrive 7:45am - ...Waiting... The bus should have arrived by now 7:50am - ...the bus is slightly late now... 7:55am - ...10 minutes late 8:00am - ...15 minutes late... 8:05am - a bus appears to be comi-oh.. its the blimmin 110.. (damn those 110s) 8:10am - its already 25 minutes late. We decide to call for the taxi. an expensive option, but its either the £7 each or its missing the exam 8:20am - the taxi arrives at the Lodge. Myself, Lizzy and isa get on. 9:15am - We arrive at the Parkinson's building steps. Now to look for the sports centre!! (this is the result of not ever coming to Leeds for anything) 9:25am - After manipulating our way around, we finally reach the sports centre. We enter, but are told that we can enter our exam room only from outside. 9:26am - We make our way to the other side where we see sports hall 2 (ours is 3) 9:28am - We manipulate our way into the crowd to see if our names were on the list. It wasnt. (why am i not surprised? People in the main campus dont even know of the existence of Bretton Hal!!) 9:30am - We go into sports hall 2 and ask the invigilators. They direct us to sports hall 3 9:35am - We arrive at sports hall 3. No one is here yet. 9:37am - remove coat, take stationary and student ID out of bag. Settle down in assigned seat 9:45am - Exam begins DAMN ARRIVA BUSES.. DAMN THEM... After the exam, we found out that the X44 skipped our stop (yet again..) and went straight to Bretton Hall!!! It feels good to know we are wanted. Thanks. Otherwise, the exam was alright. It was not amazingly good, but wasnt terrible either. We got 4 quotes, each with a question attached. we had to answer 2 of them. That makes it 2 essays in 1 and a half hours. I answered these two: Question 1 'It's to performance we go and when we want the borders between our daily lives and our imaginative lives to bend and blur a little, when we want to play out and challenge the orthodoxies, the rules and separations through which and in which we live in.' Tim Etchells (1998) in Nicky Childs and Jeni Walwin Ed (1998) A Split Second of Paradise: Live Art, Installation and Performance, London: River Orams Press, p. 31 Consider how far Etchells' expectations of performance fit with your own, and explore ways in which performance-makers blur the boundaries between our daily and imaginative lives, wit reference to the work of contemporary practitioners. Question 2 'All the world's a stage And all the men and women merely players' William Shakespeare As You Like It How far is it useful to apply Shakespeare's view of the world as performance to contemporary attitudes and approaches to performance that reach beyond the traditional theatre? I managed to finish just on time, writing 2 and a half sides for each question. I just couldn't get in more in such short time! Anyway, now that exams are finally over, I can enjoy my birthday in peace on Saturday... woo! its tomorrow!! eugh... feel old... bleh. Anyway, i have to go and eat my dinner now! more like force it down my throat. so... adios!

Cubbon Park Video

Here is the video of Ms tracy's group.

A MIND-OPENING EXPERIENCE IN CUBBON PARK

I dont know where to start... it was an excellent, mind-opening experience for me. Never have I seen so many children who, without any convenience, luxuries and even a proper roof over their heads smile a genuine smile, and fill your heart with happiness too. A few days back, when I spoke to Ms. Tracy, she told me about this performance performed by orphans or all ages. It was a joyful experience. More than their performances, the fact that even though they go through a lot of hardships in their lives, they still smile at you, making you a happier person. The saying "smile and the whole world smiles with you" holds true with these children. We have everything in life, yet we crave for more. They have nothing to look forward to, yet they are so contended. Is there no end to this materialistic war we fight in everyday? All we have time for is think of all that we want. We hardly ever think about how fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads, nice warm clothing and good food. Is'nt it time we think of all that and help someone who is really in need rather than buying things we already have for ourselves? Just a thought. Here are some pictures from the event.