Let me be verbose today...

I usually keep my posts short and crisp; not because I talk less but because I want people to actually READ my blog rather than just 'skim' through it. Hehe. I have heard tons and tons about the oh-so-short attention span of a web-surfer and how on the net being prolific does not translate into profit. But today I thought I would make an exception. Today, I want to talk. it isn't about any earth-shattering experience that has changed my all perspectives so much that it compels me to share it with the world in its absolute totality. (Phew!) Just a mood. A self indulgent desire to speak...
College re-opened (officially) today and it was wonderful. Wonderful to be back to my musty-dusty department; to breathe in the pristine monsoon air of Azam campus.; to feast my eyes on the vast open expanse in the form of the sports complex and wonderful to take in the luscious green trees. (Which by the way get even lusher in the rains). Oh, to speak of the misty cloudy skies. And the soft, silent zephyr. And then of course, old friends. Friends who have been there by me for years. And some friends who till a year ago were my teachers, and now my colleagues. What do I say...Allah has been kind.
The expansive Azam Campus, nestled cozily in the heart of Pune has become a part of me now. Five years as a student and a year as a lecturer has made it more than just an address for me. I fall in love with it every monsoon, because that's when it's at its brightest best. Not a single start of term since 2000 that I haven't felt so happy about being in it. It's like a tiny world in itself. You step out and the contrast hits you. Traffic, garbage and all that yuck. But once inside, it's a different stage.
You may argue it is not all 'heavenly' as I make it out to be. Of course I am biased. But what the heck. Sometimes you just get a feel of belonging to somethings. Even if you hate a lot of things about it.
I like it here. I like working here. I like to be contributing in some way in its progress. And there are nice people around too. People who have been a part of my growing up and people who I connect with. Plus, there won't be another job in the world where I can be so 'me'. Like in another set up, I would think a zillion times before I can picture myself scaling a wall as a lec. Not here. Here I can sit on the college 'kattas' with my pals, fool around in the canteens, race my friends to the exit, play about without a care and just be. Because I have been a student here, because I have my closest friends here, I can care minimally about what people will think.

Okay. Time to break the reverie. Ideally I should have ended this piece with a very dramatic close. But I wouldn't force that kinda thing. Perhaps posting some pictures of it would have been 'befitting'. Oh well, I said what I wanted to say. Maybe not as well as I meant to. But it's done. And thank God for that. I am blessed. Period.

Anonymous Comments Again!

Now tell me; Why can't people STAND UP for their comments? Anonymous comments (and their respective commenters) really pique me 'coz there's no way you can get back at them! Check out this comment on my previous post: "Does begging on your blog really fetch you things?" Grrrrrrrr. Well in my case, it fetches me comments!
If I only knew who wrote that! Well, to the 'commenter's' credit, I did laugh out loud when I first read it. But still...WHO WAS THIS? (With the audacious piece of devilry.)
At the risk of repeating myself, here's my humble request: Will the 'The Anonymous' please stand up and take responsibility? I solemnly promise I will not throw anything at you. Even if I wanted to. It's cyberspace remember?

I want a new cellphone!!!

Yeah. Sure want a new one! Sob. Sob. When I had gotten my Nokia 3100, it was a pretty neat thing to flaunt. But now I need more!
I would have set up my wishlist, of course, but the technologically challenged person that I am, I don't know how to do it! (WAIL!) Of course, while I am dreaming I could have well shot for the N-Series. But no. I am going to keep it simple 'coz I have a slick plan up my sleeve. (Wink! Wink!)
Ahhhhem!
I am ("sincerely"?) hoping that some good friend reads this and buys me this pink 3250. Awesome machine. Of course, keeping my sense of style in mind, he or she could also get me a Motorazr V3 in hot pink (this thing reeks of style, man!) or better still, the Motorazr V3x-more features even if it doesn't come...well you guessed it... in Pink. Hmmm...so err, WHERE are all the good samaritans, again???

My desk..definitely one of my tidier days...hehehe...the quintessential me! And ahhh! The books! Right now I am simultaneously reading Robin Sharma's 'The monk who sold his Ferrari', Daphne Du Maurier's 'The French Creek' and Robert Ludlum's 'Acopalypse now'. None of them particularly rivetting so I am going to take my own time..might just dump a couple of 'em midway if they don't start getting interesting soon!

Vague comments from Anonymous readers

Ok. So I open my inbox and see that my dear 'ol blog has gotten a comment. Now just ANY blogger will tell you that getting comments is the prime reason why we write blogs in the first place. So it was quite an anti-climax when all I saw was errr a very vague comment by an even vaguer person. Ahem. And the 'commenter' was smart. Signed 'Anonymous', this one really knew how to cover his (or her?) tracks. Grr.
The comment on my post 'Readathon' says (I quote) "ewrewtt". Hmmm..now is this some new lingo that I am not in the know of? (God, I am not that old yet to be obsolete!) If someone can offer some translation, please come forward in the noble mission of enlightening a fellow blogger. Or can the 'The Anonymous' please stand up and clarify?

Read-A-Thon

Ahem. So now that I have semi-vacations (still have to work thrice a week despite the hols-not that I mind it though), I thought I might as well invest some time in reading. I try in vain to keep up with the newspaper but it always ages faster than I expect it to! Well. I started reading a book on fundamentals on banking. Boring, I know. But I thought that by the end of it I would be a banking pro. Left the book midway even when it was getting interesting! It was just too long. Another interesting book? Essentials of English Language Teaching (a MUST-READ), alas, I left that midway too (why do I have such a short attention span???). I finally got to read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, some famous short stories (Raold Dahl, Evelyn Waugh and the likes) from Present Laughter (ed. Malcolm Bradbury), a few from Muriel Spark's collection, I began reading 'Preparing for the 21st century' (Paul Kennedy-whatever I read of it was pretty impressive) and some sparkling essays from R. K. Narayan's 'Writerly Life'. Phew. Needless to say, I was able to FINISH only one book from this catalog!
They say that there is a sect of readers who read only to be able to flaunt about it later. Now that I am done with the flaunting, I leave the categorization to you. Ahem, ahem.

Food for thought

"The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them."
-Robert Frost

Which one are you? Hehe.

Shuuu-myyyy-laah!

Yep! That's the name of my dear darling friend-Shumyla. Apparantly she was miffed because my blog mentioned my three other friends and there was no sign of her. Oh oh. Hell hath no fury as Shumyla in rage! Ahem. Okay she was not really angry, but felt a bit 'left out'. Soooooo, this ENTIRE post is dedicated to HER! If that doesn't make her feel good, I don't know what will! Hehehe. So what's this Shumyla like? Imagine a theatrical laughathon. Well there! You have imagined her! She would put any cartoon character to shame. She can conjure the most dramatic facial expressions and can make me laugh till tears roll down my face! (Actually that happens EVERYTIME I laugh, so maybe it's not that big a deal anyway!). LOL. Well! Someone's gonna get a surprise next time she checks out my blog! Hehehe! Seeya Shu!

Another Best Friend's Wedding!

Well, well, well! One down, two more to go! LOL. Ateeya's wedding was an absolutely amazing affair (pretty elagant and stylish I must say!). Now it's the turn of best friend no. 2! (numbering in purely random order-lest I am found killed!)
So last minute packing and shopping again! But I think this time the idea is going to sink in easily. In the begining it was like, "I can't believe one of us is ACTUALLY getting married!!!" LOL. Now it's like, you have seen one wedding, you have seen 'em all! Hehehe. Number 3 gets married in November. Plenty of time to start discussing that!

Pink makin' me feel real Blue...

I can't believe this is happening to me. It seemed so easy in the begining. We are moving into a new house and we wanted everything 'special' and individualized. My brother chose yellow as the theme of his room, my mum and dad chose blue, the living room's a beige-green and mine was supposed to epitomize girl power-all PINK. Seemed easy. All you had to do was choose cooridnated bathroom ware, paint color and well, the color of the furnishing's formica. Easy. Until it came to my room. Somehow someone chose peach wall tiles for my pink floored bathroom. Okay so that was a major blow, especially when everyone's else's room turned out just as planned. I was just severely heartbroken for six months. Then it came to the room paint. I chose one magenta colored feature wall and light strawberry pink for the rest of the walls. 'Never mind the bathroom', I finally said, after half a year of sulking and lamenting. Maybe the theme of the room would undo the wrong. It seemed simple. Till I saw what the painter did today. The strawberry pink is fine Alhamdulilah. It's just that the magenta feature wall is not magenta at all. It's flourescent GULAL pink!!! Actual GULAL pink! I can't believe this is happening. For a while the severity of it all hadn't sunk in I think. That's why I was able to go shopping after seeing it. But five hours later, I feel decidedly depressed. Very sad. In fact, I think I feel nothing. Just feel numb. Sob.

Thought for the Day

"If we could sell our experieinces for what they cost us, we would all be millionaires."

-Abigail Van Buren

15 things I should have done

Well there are procastrinators and there are procrastinators. And then there are some weak willed persons. Have you ever felt that you have so much time on your hands and yet you do nothing about it? And there are so many things you would rather do but just don't do them for... umm..no particular reason at all! (Laziness not counting). Well, here are some things that I have always wanted to do, have planned to do but never got down to doing: (In random order)


1. Join Yoga classes
2. Watch my diet (Ahem)
3. Do a post graduate course in Enlish Language Teaching from Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad
4. Learn to drive a car
5. Learn to drive a geared scooter
6. Go for daily walks
7. Do a Ph.D.?
8. Be more attentive in my prayers
9. Behave better with my parents
10. Read! There is soooo much that I need to read but just keep putting it off
11. Learn how to use a bank! Manage my finances! I can't even differentiate between a withdrawal slip and a deposit one. Sigh. Always ask mum or dad to do the 'dirty' work. Don't know if you have read the short story 'My Financial Career' by Stephen Leacock, but I feel embarassingly like the hapless protagonist in the bank.
12. Become a fashion designer. Wonder why I am still stalling my childhood dream
13. Be more tuned in to my loved one's needs (I ain't getting nowhere there-that' the price for being a self absorbed narcissist-a price that others pay!)
14. Become PUNCTUAL!
15. Become a good housekeeper! I am aweful at managing anything, specially at home


Phew! So much to do! There's more...I just chalked out some fifteen points out of my idealistic 'to-do' lists. But that does not mean such lists are absolutely useless; atleast they remind you that you needn't be all smug and complacent. And atleast they tell you WHAT you want out of life. No?


Of course there are SOME things that I HAVE begun working on; like I want to be a GRRRREAT ELT teacher and I am working on it-not as much as I would have liked, but atleast a tiny bit. And then I am trying to read more...the restless creature that I am, I actually lose patience halfway through because of my very short attention span..hehehe..but I am trying! Reading makes you feel empowered really and I kinda like that feeling! Hehe.

I leave tomorrow

These last few days have been busy with last minute shopping and trips to my designer (best friend's wedding no?). In all this excitement, however came some bad news. She called today and said that one of her uncles suffered a stroke last night. So paradoxical really. And so sad. May Allah help him recover soon and may Allah help the family to have patience. Ameen.
I am sure (and hope that) he will be fine soon, Inshallah.

My Best Friend's Wedding!

Yoohoo! Got an off for a whole week! Reason? One of my BEST friend is getting married next week! Inshallah. Have been waiting for this like since ages! (Two years atleast). Well, I am off to Mumbai. Have known my friend since we have been in sixth grade and Alhamdullilah, 13 years later, we are still going strong. Thankfully, my shifting to another town 8 years ago didn't affect our friendship. Actually, back in sixth standard, I kinda hated her...hehehe. Well, that was eons ago and now I pray that she has a verrrry happy life ahead of her. Ameen.
Well, that's all three of my best friends getting committed in a month's time! LOL. Does that escalate the social pressure on me? YOU BET! LOL.

Can money buy happiness?

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop!"

This was the theme for my lesson in class today. Would love to elaborate, but the four thirty power cut slot strikes any moment now...so will update later!

Hehehe...that was when the power went off...Well, learnt to live with that now. As I was saying, this new batch wanted me to do conversation practice in class. Many of them come from English medium schools and so they talk more. Well, I saw this article in the paper which said that Bill Gates DIDN'T want to be the richest man on the planet (Can you believe that?). So as starters I posed this question before the class: "Would it be really such a nice thing to be the richest person?" and "Can money buy happiness?" I told them to discuss that in groups and come forward one by one with their opinions. Hmm, I had expected a more animated discussion, but atleast they were all coming forward to speak. I should have had some controlled discussions first, but nevertheless. Next, I gave them the newspaper clipping (Asian Age, May 6, 2006). I had an urgent call and so I had to leave midway but I did tell them to read the thing and form atleast TEN sentences about what they feel about being the richest person. Next I plan to go over DIRECT/INDIRECT speech forms that are so ubiquitous in a report. It will help them nararate things they have read too. Lastly, I want them to underline the sentences in the report that have Past tense and Present tense and compare them. I know that grammar bit should have come before the writing task, but I didn't have the time.
Anyways, I have told them to carry a newspaper with them daily, along with a notebook only for my class, with a section devoted only as a personal glossary. Let's see.

As for my views on the topic? I sure DO think that money can buy happiness. Not ALL happiness, I agree, but a great deal of it! And I sure do know where to "SHOP"! I mean, who doesn't feel happy when he gets a brand new stylish car? Or a set of diamonds? Well, of course, none of these can actually GUARANTEE happiness...happiness is a state of mind; the richest can be the saddest and the poorest, well, the most content. Peace of mind, a loving family, friends, faith in God, these things bring ACTUAL happiness; however, once those are in place, money doesn't fail MISERABLY either. Now, don't get me wrong, I am no materialistic bitch; I know my priorities and God forbid that money becomes the top most one; it's just that it makes me happy to be able to buy my kid brother a cute piggy bank, or fund his summer camp too! (Not to mention, to be able to buy my own scooter and other little luxuries!)

Naive freshmen

Hehehe. Don't you just love the naivette of freshman students? You hold absolute power in class! Hehe. Okay so that won't last very long. Sooner or later they will discover the power that college life bestows upon them. But by that time, I will have created a rapport with them too. It's horrible to step in a class of teens who already have preconceived ideas about how they are gonna take their teachers! The new batch is an eclectic mix. Some from really humble backgrounds and sooooo eager to learn, some (the female kind) who will hang on to every word you say, some who want to really talk to you and some who think they are God's gift to mankind and have the perpetual "So what?" scowl plastered on their faces! LOL. Have a kid from St. Vincent's School, Pune in the class and it seems he has already set ideas about how he's going to respond to everything in Azam Campus. Well, we'll see to that! ;)

Bakin' Hot and not liking it

You step out into the sun and it's like a blazing furnace. Pune is burning and how! The midday sun is at its scorching best and the worst part is, that's exactly the time I have to go to college. Today was horrible. The amount of time I spent in the merciless sun, someone would think I was looking for a fashionable tan! Ugh! May Allah have mercy...the heat's getting unbearable. Add to it the idiotic power cuts and you have the perfect recipe for freshly baked humans. "Eww" I know, but that's just the way it is.

It's Official! No Holidays!

LOL. Yeah. No holidays for poor me! I begin with another course of remedial English with the next batch of 'scholar' students tomorrow. Should I be complaining? Wellllll....it could be a learning experience; I am still fresh from the last batch and I think this could be a good oppurtunity to improvize. I kinda like the job, plus it will keep me occupied through the hols (only an hour a day) but I don't think I am going sacrifice my next holiday for anything! And that's gonna be sometime in October I think. Oh well! C'est La Vie! Atleast I enjoy my job! Alhamdullilah! I am sure it's going to be fun. Let's see what this next batch of kids have to offer. Wish me luck!

Tell students to SPEAK to their books!

I had a discussion with one of my colleagues today. While I dealt with the elementary level students, she took the more advanced ones. We were discussing teaching strategies when she told me that the best way to teach students to TALK is to make them WRITE. She asks her students to write atleast something at regular intervals and makes it a point to check it and assign marks or grades to their writing because as she says, "Boys LOVE competition". She asked them to TALK to their books if they weren't comfortable to talk to the class at first. And the best way to talk to your book? With your pen! Just WRITE!
She emphasized that only making them write will do little good if they are not told where they are going right and where wrong. We have EVALUATE them every WEEK (preferably by an 'outside' teacher). For Basic students she suggested that we give them not whole essays but just sentences, say ten having the simple present tense, ten with present progressive, and so on.

When it came to speaking before an audience, she suggested making them talk in their OWN language first. That helps losen up stage fright. Stage fright kinda doubles when there's the added pressure of speaking in an alien language. Later we could give them ready lists of topic related vocab which they could refer whenever the uncomfortable 'umms' and 'uhhs' set in.
Plus, she selects a few really good students, makes them group leaders and makes them responsible forALL the students in their group. She then gives them topics for group discussion, which each group discusses amongst themselves, and then presents their views ONE BY ONE infront of the whole class. If ALL the group memebers don't speak, well then the group does not get any marks. And I guess I can add to that, "Boys HATE to lose in competitions!"
I think contests can always been used to our advantage. They give the students something to look forward to. Keeps them on their toes and gives you a feedback too.
She said something about getting the student to become better, the better ones to become the best and the best to become simply excellent. If that doesn't happen, well we are lagging somewhere then. Thanks Zenab!

A Saudi Princess and her Art

I read this article that appeared in the Asian Age written by Siraj Wahab a couple of days ago (April 23, Culture Plus). It was about the grand daughter of Late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. She practices photography as a hobby and is quite a pro at it, hosting several exhibitions to display her photos, all essentially black and white. She's been covering the mammoth pilgrimage of hajj, where she had been received with overt hostility because many Muslims consider photography as forbidden. Here's what I liked about her views on artistic expression:
"One of the basic ills in Muslim society is that we think that art is luxury. I say art is not a luxury, it is a necessity...Go to a mosque (in a village in Pakistan) and you will find there was someone there who painteed the mosque-who drew flowers on the walls. There is beautiful calligraphy. it doesn't mean that the person had been through art school. It was a part of society. It was a natural expression...The probles is we have separated art from utility. There is this mistaken belief that what is useful cannot be beautiful. As a result, it is almost as if Muslim society no longer appreciates beauty...the Quran in itself says you have to appreciate beauty. Part of the Prophet's miracle is that he fascinated the Qureish of Mecca more than 1400 years ago with the language of the Quran. They were genuinely impressed with the beauty of the Quran language. That is also an art."
Hmmm...I say, as long as there is nothing anti-Islamic about a piece of art, I agree.