And here it comes :)

"Alright so where on earth is she going to sleep?? How are we going to keep her entertained? Will she feel lonely when i am off
to school?" my sister seemed to be over flowing with infinite questions. Mom and dad were pretty amused and equally
curious as all of us awaited the arrival of the newest member into our family. As far as i was concerned i just had a distant curiosity
towards this new member though i had my doubts about how we were going to include "her" with us.

It did seem like a really long wait. We were waiting since morning; it was already 12 pm and there was no sign of her at all.
My sister was on the verge of losing her patience and i on the verge of losing my interest. My grandma was dead against this new addition. She somehow
felt that this "extended" family would be more of a nuisance than anything else. But, its common knowledge that when my sister's
determination is combined with my mom's support it forms a deadly combination and something that people usually dont dare to oppose.

And all of a sudden we hear a very familiar yet a new voice.. My sister jumps out of her chair and screams "Mom, akka i think she is here!!".
I could almost taste the excitement in the air as my sister opened the door and let out a scream of joy.. All of us rushed
to the door to find out what exactly had caused such a reaction. Grandma resolutely stayed inside the room. There was this kind aunty
who accompanied her to our house to see that she would not have any trouble during the journey. Mom and sis welcomed them both with open arms.

Mom immediately took her in her arms as if it was her long lost daughter, my sis was just not in this world. Dad was laughing
at all the frenzy being caused and i felt it was pretty silly to be so exited about this new arrival though i did not dare to
voice out what i felt. I mean, just imagine being so exited about some furry creature running around all over your house, licking and smelling
everything on the way barking uncontrollably and making a nuisance of itself.. and for all you smart people who still have not guessed
lemme take the opportunity and tell you that this new addition was none other than our dog priya :P

This was about 8 years back :) Now Priya is a full fledged, most loved, most accommodating, most attractive (ahem),
and the sweetest member of our family. She is the darling of the entire family and the neighbors :) Its been 8 years and not once
have i felt or even bother to realize that she is not a human. She is much more than just a dog. She actually likes it if people
come to our house. She only barks if they park their vehicles outside our house and end up going to our neighbour's house :P

Well there have been one or two stray cases where she has really been a source of tension(for others :P) Priya in her childhood days
used to get this weird pleasure out of destroying our maids' slippers :P and of entering into any house where the door was innocently kept open.
But then all of us have had our bad days isnt it? Coming to the achievements our priya has managed, my grandma happens to be the one
who loves her the most now !!!( apart from sis that is.. ;) ) Anybody who happens to visit our house seems to find priya most engaging :)
Nobody leaves our house without actually speaking to it( including my uncle who is considered to be most stubborn and who at one point used to hate dogs :) )
My cousins whenevr they happen to meet me ask me " Hey gargi, soo how s priya ?? ", well i guess i will have to be satisfied
in describing priya's latest gimmicks rather than my boring, routine stuff :P .

I know it would be hard for people who never have had a pet to relate to this blog, but believe it or not once you have had a dog as
wonderful and as interesting as priya, you would never find another doggy related conversation boring :) Having pets is a pleasure
and having a pet as gloriously superb as priya is.. well.. just out of this world.

So here s hoping that out "priya" priya is always as happy, as wonderful and as cute as ever :)

Sister genius :)

The campus looks like a dream. Assam known for its beauty and its monsoons is a photographer's dream come true. Look around and you either see some breathtaking instances of mother nature's aesthetic sense or pouring rains, the former as lovely as the latter. In the lap of the mountains and on the banks of the river Brahmaputra resides the lovely IIT Guwahati. The campus spans around 700 acres of endless beauty and sheer intelligence in design. You see loads of IITians rushing around on their 2 wheelers (bicycles i mean.. one ingenius rule inside the campus -> no motor bikes. One of the reasons why the campus air is so pure and unpolluted).
The guest house meant for the parents and ahem sisters(and oh yea brothers too) of the chosen few is located close to the entrance and offers some wonderful rooms(ac, tv, balcony and the like ;) ) along with some incredibly finger licking oh-i-ll-never-forget-this-dish sorta food. You get to see the most beautiful, really big cricket ground right from your room balcony making you marvel at those genius IITians who are great even at sports.
I always had thought that a place like IIT would be full of geeks with only libraries all around and people who have forgotten how to be normal. I was in for a huge shock. Once you see the campus and interact with a few IITians, you realize IITians are as normal as u or i, albeit smarter :).
I had an easier time interacting with an IITian coz coincidentally this particular IITian happens to be my kid sister. I used to wonder why in the world she needed to study so hard, slog for two years just to get into this place called IIT. Now, i realize how stupid my thoughts were, because now, i am the proud sister of a lovely IITian :). The kind of reactions and expressions you get when u say u r the sister of an IITian is something you should experience yourself ;).
Once i saw the campus, i suddenly felt that if anyone deserved to study here its these guys who have slogged and dared and finally achieved their goal.
So to all you unfortunate people out there who have not had the chance to visit any of the IITs my only advice to you is -- please get your kid sisters or brothers to start slogging for the next two years :P.
I dedicate this blog to all those dedicated, smart, perfectly normal IITians who have achieved their goal, and especially to my special IITian for making me so proud :)

She suddenly remembered the butterfly. She remembered the beautiful color and the intricate pattern on its wings. She thought with a smile how she and her friend ran all day behind it, just to catch it, and once they did it made them so happy that they just left it free.
She remembered the city fair, how she and all her friends used to wait for the school bell to ring and dash away to the fair. They used to play on all possible merry go rounds, even the one which just turns you upside down. She could still feel the adrenaline rush in her at the mere thought of it.
She could still feel the taste of the brinjal chutney her mother made that day. Mmm. tht was so awesome, her mom was the best cook. She had her maths exam that day and her mom had this weird superstition about brinjals being auspicious. She loved her mother. She wanted to get a gift for her this new year, which also happened to be her mother's birthday. She had even thought of arranging a small party, and inviting all her friends over.
She remembered her first cycle driving lessons, her dad being her instructor. She smiled slightly when she thought of how she fell down and her dad helped her up and consoled her, gave her confidence. She had always admired him, he was the world's best dad.
She wanted to go back home to all this. She wanted to lie on her mother's lap. She wanted to be warm in her dad's arms. She wanted to live and enjoy her life. She had prepared so well to win the painting competition at school. This wasn't fair. She was just 10 years old. She did not even know wht dying was, but there she was, lying on the road in a pool of blood. She saw her leg. It was bearly hanging on to her torso. She wondered how mom and dad would react if they saw this. She wondered which antiseptic from her mother's first aid kit would cure this.
She turned her head. She stopped wondering. Her mom with her eyes wide open lay dead. Her dad struggling with his crumpled hand, whining away in pain. She was helpless. She heard a couple of men speaking about how her dad was a negligent driver. She knew he wasn't. Nobody knew the truth. The actual culprits had fled, harmless. She wanted to go and hold her dad and take him home. She wanted to scream ...
She saw a van approaching. She saw them get 2 white clothes, one covered her mother, the other her "just dead" father. The 2 men lifted her and put her in the van. Her - "her leg". She wondered what would happen now. She wondered about the future. She could not handle the pain. She heard the men laugh over something. She suddenly seemed to have forgotten laughter.
The 3 rd white cloth was out. "It s too big for her body" laughed the men. She had always wanted to "die" on her mother's lap. The men would never know.

There are somethings in life which you cannot understand, which you cannot change(though you would badly want to).. I dont have to tell you about the feeling when you are forced to leave someone you don't want to.. When you are forced to go away from someone you suddenly started liking and are having a desire to know them better. Its unfair i know. Its frustrating to me when some such thing happens. I want to tell so much to that person.. but there is no time, i want to share so many things with that person .. but i have to go away.. I feel helpless.. I feel hurt..
I feel like staying back.. but this journey is something that you cannot cancel, cannot postpone. Its the journey i have to take. I know i sound confused.. That's because i am confused.
I feel so helpless.. I always felt i could do anything i wanted, i could achieve anything i wanted.. but i was wrong. Life is powerful.. very very powerful I t can make you rather force you to things you would never otherwise have done. "That's life". I usually love life and living but today there is a certain something against this life.... I just hope it does not last

Love,
Gargi

Hi,
Ever felt the need for someone who understands everything about you? Who knows you layer by layer, to whom your heart and your eyes would be sufficient to read your mind.. With whom words would look artificial, expressions would seem redundant??
Someone who accepts you as you are, loves you unconditionally, respects every thought, every emotion, converses with you only thro' eyes. Well, i definitely do.. Maybe that s what they call "Love".. the most basic, the most essential and the purest feeling mankind can ever experience. People may call love a waste of time, a useless pursuit.. but, frankly speaking can we exist at all without this feeling?
I am not speaking only about the love between 2 people.. love is boundary less.. it is beyond people beyond boundaries.. sometimes even beyond imagination. Love can be towards anything.. your wife, husband, girl frnd, dog, poetry, dance, nature just anything.. If you feel this is the thing which understands me fully, which allows me to express fully, which gives me complete undisputed freedom, then congratulations you have found that special something or someone that i was talking about..

For those of you who have found it .. congratulations.. and for those of you who did not.. i hope you do soon, coz life without love is like a lamp without oil. it just cant give out light.. just cant survive..

Lost in thoughts..
yours
gargi:)

Golden words

hi there....

these quotes and sayings below are the ones i have long admired and
appreciated .....just read them...give them a little thought and tell
me what you feel...and please do send me some of your fav sayings...!!


-- Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it.
Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe
nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just
because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just
because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test
and judge to be true.


-- It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By
definition, there are already enough people to do that.

-- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy

-- To repeat what others have said, requires education, to challenge it,
requires brains.

-- silence is the highest form of grace!!

-- Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

-- The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to
listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give
each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more
power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.


-- The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think,
than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us
to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other
men.

-- Real knowledge and wisdom din't come thro' books or teachers..They
come thro' struggle , effort, and thought!!

Its sometimes strange how people (including me sometimes) are so much interested in others lives than they are about themselves. We are bothered about everything that has got not even a remote connection with our life or work. It sometimes amazes me how much satisfaction we get in proving others are wrong, we are perfect, others are irritating, immoral, dishonest etc etc etc ad infinitum.
Whereas, if we really set out to think about it, such things dont really do us any good other than take away some precious mental energy and time :(. But it s also so true that its kinda difficult to avoid it, especially considering the environment we live in, the kind of people we are surrounded by. They say curiosity is not a crime.. But is it worth our time and concentration to be curious about other s lives, love stories, personal affairs, shortcomings?? Why do we have to be so judgemental about everyone? Cant we just let them be as they are as long as it does not make any difference to us?? Well i dont know. Some things are just so confusing.
But maybe given a chance i would prefer to leave others alone and concentrate more upon improving my quality of life and work. Ultimately i value myself with how true i have been to myself all day and what i have accomplished at the end of the day. Maybe its time we started proving ourselves through our work rather than proving others wrong thro our words and expressions..

lots of love,
yours truely :)

friend

I can't give solutions to all of life's problems, doubts,
or fears. But I can listen to you, and together we will
search for answers.

I can't change your past with all it's heartache and pain,
nor the future with its untold stories.
But I can be there now when you need me to care.

I can't keep your feet from stumbling.
I can only offer my hand that you may grasp it and not fall.

Your joys, triumphs, successes, and happiness are not mine;
Yet I can share in your laughter.

Your decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only support you, encourage you,
and help you when you ask.

I can't prevent you from falling away from friendship,
from your values, from me.
I can only pray for you, talk to you and wait for you.

I can't give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow,
room to be yourself.

I can't keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces
and put them back in place.

I can't tell you who you are.
I can only love you and be your friend.


another grt one written by some anonymous entity

awesome...

This one is not my own.. found it on the net and loved it to the core..

I miss you since God called you
To his radiant realms above;
I miss just being with you
And the sharing of our love

I miss you in the morning
When the sunrise gilds the skies,
I miss your tender greeting
And the love light in your eyes.

I miss you in the daytime
As I walk my lonely way,
Knowing how much more I'll miss you
At the closing of the day

And yet, deep down within me
Far beyond the grief and pain,
I know that sometime, somewhere
We shall surely meet again.

That in the shining realms above,
Beyond life's little day
Will come the flowering of our love
Along God's chosen way.

I searched the wonders of nature
For visions as lovely as you,
Found snow-covered peaks and waterfalls
And roses with sequins of dew.

Then taking my palette and brushes
I captured the joys that I saw
And hung all the canvases on my walls
Till the walls couldn't hold any more.

Surrounded by these many splendours
My dazzled mind held in their thrall,
I spent several hours and didn't feel
The pain of your absence at all.

But alas all my beautiful pictures
Began to dissolve in the night,
And walls once again stark and empty
Greeted the cold morning light.

I thought of you then and remembered
All the treasures beyond your sweet face.
And I knew you were one of the wonders
That nature could never replace.

I desperately crave for the day when i ll be writing things as beautiful as this.

Me calling....

Why are you always so near to me...
in my thoughts........
Yet in reality....
I am unaware of your whereabouts..

Why did you give me
all the love,the warmth,the laughter....
was it just to take
everything away from me soonafter........

I depended on your words, your love,yourself...
you gave me all this and much much more..
but suddenly one day ...
you were there for me no more..

Was it my behaviour,
my words that hurt you??
Or was it just..
a game played on me by you??

Why does this happen to me
each time i like someone...??
Is it the destiny that has decided..
that for me there should be no one??

A simple thought

hey friends....


Have you people ever wondered what life and happiness is all about??...... i am sure you have.... and i am also sure none of us have ever found any convincing answers....... well thats why life is the most mysterious thing ever created....

we see loads of people in our lives...experience a contrariety of emotions... undergo huge number of different experiences.... but at the end of the day what is it that seems to be most important for us?? what makes us feel most satisfied and happy??

Do you feel happy just because your english teacher praised your excellent expression or is it because you won the gold medal in table tennis ...or because nobody could beat you in that tough programming contest...or is it because that someone special said you looked great in blue??? well i do agree all these things make us feel great... but believe me friends none of them last..all these happiness are just momentary....


So what is it that gives us actual pleasure??? let me tell you what it is... All the real happiness and satisfaction depends on how true you have been to yourself all day... what is that small thing you have done to lighten up somebody else s pain..... to make a grieved soul laugh....

The happiness is not because your english teacher praised you.... its because you helped a friend who is poor in grammer and he got the highest marks in class..... it s not because you won a gold medal in the game...its because you had the character to step down from the game to take a sick freind to the doctor..... its not because you won or didnt win the programming contest.. its because you gave it your best shot.... its not because that someone special complimented you its because you complimented someone who is usually ridiculed.....


So dear friends .... you see what makes you actually happy???? Its not about what the world gives to us... its about what you give to the world without any desire for returns..

please give this email a thought and let me know what you feel....

A bit of me

I have often wondered about what kind of a person i really am beneath all the fake smiles and stupid expressions i sometimes have to give... I realized there s nothing as difficult in the world as figuring out yourself.
I am someone who wants a lot of freedom.. complete undisputed freedom about everything. I want to live the way i want without anyone questioning. I want to life my life , every moment to the fullest. I hate it when i have to give explanations, though i realize that we need to be in the good books of others at least to some extent in order to survive.
Of course that doesnt mean i hate people, or i am an introvert or something. I love quite a many people. I like people who are capable, mature and sensible. The more emotional the person is the more he/she appeals to me. I have never really bothered to find out what others feel about me. I have never felt the need for it. There are some people who have accepted me( or maybe are tolerating me) as i am and i will not ask for more.
But yes, there was a time when i was slightly younger when i felt a desperate need for friends and friendship. That was the time when i was not very successful, (not tht i am now :P) , not very out-going or good looking or any of such things. But i never got anyone at that time, I dont feel the need for them now. Maybe i have just outgrown them. I sometimes wonder if such people really do get any friends at all?? Maybe somethings are better left unanswered.
But i have 2 to 3 friends whom i respect and love, who have stood by me like a rock and i can do anything for them I want people to appreciate me for wht i am and wht i do, not because i look the way i do or some such crap. Of course the circle would be much smaller but does tht matter? as long as they are true?

hello all

still building....