When the clock struck 2.....

I am a sound sleeper. I can sleep through any sound , of any nature. Have slept through earthquakes, floods, gales, telephone calls, alarm clocks, kicks, tickles and of course, lectures. But when I dont sleep like I usually do, I know something is terribly wrong. Tonight was one such night. Despite the fact that I had woken up on time (11.00 am :D) and had had a considerably productive day, at 12.00 AM, I was so awake, I thought I had never slept.

12.00 am turned to 12.40 am, which later turned to 1.27 am to 1.50 am. I tried listening to gospel music to Enya to New York nagaram (a personal favorite for all the situational reasons, though it is a bit off the mark considering that New York is nowhere near Fresno and that I am warming my seat in Edinburgh!) but nothing helped. And then, when the clock struck 2....all enlightenment dawned on me...I WAS HUNGRY!!! (Ok, dont ask me what took me two hours to realise that I was hungry! I wont answer you.)

Making a mental meal, I picked up my kitchen keys and walked towards the kitchen, already seeing the spaghetti I had decided to make in all hues and shades of orange and red ( all my dishes are Indianised, be it spaghetti or pasta!) and thinking,"Ash, you must be the craziest girl in the whole world to....well, you must be the craziest girl in the world." Period!

Key in the lock, a twist to the right, a creak and Leonard Horner Hall wouldnt have ever heard nor will.. a scream so loud and in harmony and in two accents, mine and chinese!! lol!! Xi Zhen my cute chinese friend was sitting on the table sorrounded by bread, pasties, soups, chocolate spreads and juice!

"Asshiikha, uu skhaaa meee, I skhaa u" was all she could manage before we both started giggling at the banshee screams we had not known we were capable of! She hadnt been able to sleep and had come to feed the tummy monster as well!! It must have been a funny sight, Ashika, her hair askew, with red spaghetti and a fork along with Xi Zhen again hair askew, with an assortment of dishes and chopsticks! Two girls, in the middle of the night, discussing chinese food and Indian movies, and short concentration spans and sleeping during lectures, while faithfully stuffing our faces!!

We both finished eating some 15 minutes ago! Bade each other good night and I came back to my room secure in the knowledge that I am not as crazy as I had thought I was! Misery and midnight hunger crave company!!

My eyes are starting to droop now, I'll go back to the world of sweet sleep!


Ciao!!
Ash

Boxing Day...literally!!

IT HAPPENED!!

Took longer than usual, 3 days to be precise, but Abi and I had our first punch fight!!! He wanted to be on the internet, I wanted to blog, there is only one ethernet cable and two laptops. hehehe!! Hence ensued a "Why do u even bother to come to see me" and " I dont know why I even bother to come and see u"!! Which later developed into a "Abi, I think I will punch you" followed by, "There, you just thought and I did it"!!! Sigh! Finally I threw the cable at him! He won the battle and the cable...ONLY TODAY!! One day when I am rich and famous.....!!!!

The reason I wanted to blog today was, that even though I have rediscovered my childhood (ref: previous post!) I have forgotten how to fit laces in a sneaker!!! I bought a long coveted pair of sneakers yesterday and thanks to my brother ( dont even ask, how!) each shoe now has the laces done differently and I have no clue how either is done, and the sibling of mine doesnt either!!


So, if anyone remembers, please do remind me how to get those laces back into my shoe, the right way!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

God bless!
me!

Musings!

Its again that time of the year when I look back and say,"Hmm...not bad, considering what all happened, I have managed to keep my senses about myself" and of course, hope that the new year brings more joy and more strength to face the trials that will most definitely come!
2006 has been a very oxymoronish year for me! But in every sway to the downside, I manage to find a positive note and turn the balances!

Personally, I think Abi's accident and his subsequent (miraculous!) recuperation was one of the most important events of this year. Even now when I think back to those days spent in the hospital outside the ICU, I shudder and whisper a word of thanks to God.

Another most important event of the year was that I met K !! Entwined with the hospital scene remains my most joyful and favourite story ever- 'my first meeting with K'! Thank you for your love and support Mads, and for being more patient than you've probably ever been.

Dad's getting back to work is as important to me as it is to him and mom's surgery - wheee! Thank God its over and done with!

The fact that I got to travel abroad (on company expense :D) and then resettle to live in Edinburgh to do my MBA is three things I have always wanted to do ;fulfilled at the same time! The ordeal for the bank loan, the wait for the visa, getting things in order to leave for the UK...phew! Its been a long 2006!

I learnt so many things about myself, was surprised by some and absolutely shocked by the rest! Accepted them, moved on. Learnt more to accept people as they are and stop making judgements.

In a lot of ways and experiences, I found my childhood again. I dusted the cobwebs from the many cares and concerns of the world and found that curiosity, pure joy, love, excitement and enthusiasm never end! They are right here, except that the dust gathered over the years needs to be removed.

Overall, I think I have become a better person this year, at least better than what I was last year! Its good to have more focus, more freedom and the discipline that must accompany it. Oh yes, I have fought, loads with everyone from my parents, to K to Abi to Gaayu to Mayu, to Nami, to even my friends in Edinburgh (..and I barely know them!) But I have made up with most of them (will reconcile with Abi today evening..am going to cook some nice chicken curry for him...hehehe!)

I know I will change next year as I have changed this year, my only prayer is that my change be for the better and that I never lose the child in me! That I love more and judge less, give more and expect less. And never ever forget to be myself!

Wishing each one of you the best of everything during this Christmas and the year to come!

God bless!
Ashika

Being me

I feel like three people at the same time;

Harry Potter - remember how he Hermoine and Ron would always stay back during the Christmas hols and how the halls would be so empty and spooky? Even the slightest sound wakes me up and it takes me MINUTES to get back to sleep! And the wind! Oh the Scottish winds! They go ooooooooooooo..aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...ooooooooooooooooooooo!! SPOOKY!

Dobby the House Elf - Another Harry Potter character who bangs his head on anything and everything that would hurt the moment he realises that he spoke something wrong (in my case PURE SILLY) I feel like him too...want to bang my head on these stone walls. Me and my big mouth.

Ashika - This is a little tough. Its weird, its crazy and it says the wrong things at the wrong time. Sigh.


Bored to silliness!

Me!

Grumpy Granny!

Exams over, yuletide in, holidays and loads of vetti time, most of the time!

I am back to blogging and boy! Does it feel good! Today was a busy day. The Job Centre misplaced some of my papers and the job that I had for Christmas just got blown away! So I am hot on the heels of a new job! I seriously believe that the fruit of patience is sweet, I'll wait!

Anyways, what spurred me to blog today, even though I finished my exams a couple of days ago was a 'I've GOT to blog this' incident! I was on my way to Princes Street where most of the big brand shops are located and also where the Job Centre is and I got into Lothian Bus 25. As we were on our way to the High Street, on Shandon Place or somewhere before that, an old lady got into the bus. She was quite old, must be around 75 at least. Anyways, here she was white hair, raincoat and a big bag, grumbling about something. She kept mumbling and went past the driver and sat down. The driver, who is worthy of a separate blog himself, with all his piercings and tattoos, suddenly stopped the bus and snapped his fingers at the old lady. Thus began a verbal fight between the old lady and the driver! The reason- the old lady told him that he was late and he was enraged!! He was so angry that someone would say that he was late! Wow! I was imagining our PTC buses and their pledge to never follow a time table!!

All this is fine! What got me gaping and later stuffing my mouth with my cap so I wont start giggling like a maniac was that while the driver was still defending himself and waving his timetable and daring the old lady to come check it, this white haired, 70 something, angry senior citizen suddenly said, "HEY!!!!!" and with great difficulty disengaged her hand from the bag she was holding and showed the driver 'the finger'!

The bus started and the driver got us back on the road.

Everyone was so quiet. I was shocked. Never ever in my life had I seen an old lady show the finger to anyone! Once the shock ebbed out, I couldnt stop grinning! And I was stiffling giggles! Phew! Am sure, had she seen me laughing, I would have met the same fate as the driver!


Ha! Its good to be back!!!

Laters then!

me

Midnight lamp (!!)

They are here!! I was wishing that they might forget, lose their way or simply sleep in!! But no, as usual, they came and are here to stay.


EXAMS

So, if you dont see enough blog updates of how I embarassed myself X number of times in a week, or if I dont reply to your emails or I dont scrap you back, just know that Mr. Organisational Behaviour and Mr. Economics are taking me for scenic spins!


Laterz!!
me

p.s: doesnt apply to Chinaman Coaster and the rhythmic technoes (!!!).

Was I born like this?

What do you call a person who is silly? -- "silly"

What do you call a person who is stupid? --"stupid"

What do you call a person who is supposed to go to Leeds in the middle of England to visit her brother and instead finds herself in Bristol, in the South of England?--"Ashika"

Yes, yes, my sad story begins something like this....

...armed with all the necessary fizzy drinks, still water and some healthy and some not so healthy theenis, I boarded the National Express, very snugly found a window seat and got ready to do what I always do in a bus----- sleep! The bus was scheduled to arrive in Leeds at 8.45 am and it was just 9.30 pm the previous night!

So I slept. Slept through every single stop. Note that I wasnt being lazy or careless - I had kept an alarm for 7.30 so I could wake up in time to meet my lil bro! And first it was 7.30, then 8.00, then 8.30, then 9.00. But when at 9.30, the bus started slowing down for a coach station that read 'Bristol', I realized that, maybe,just MAYBE, something was not right here!

I guess the driver was a little stressed from the long journey , because when I asked him if Bristol were just another name for Leeds (hehehe), the look he gave me could have left scars (Thank God for four years in Sathyabama!) Quite understandable! He just dragged me to the Coach station inspector and left me to languish there under her withering stare!

Nah, that was only writer's liscence! Actually, she was a sweetheart! Resembled one of my old English teachers, Mrs. Birch. Must have been about 60 years old, impeccably dressed, every strand of hair in place, smelling like the spring and tch tch - ing me at every possible gap of conversation(ending every sentence with a "love" thrown in for good measure!). I was supposed to have gotten down at Manchester and change buses, but (as usual) just assumed that I had to keep warming my seat untill I reached Leeds. I was way below my original destination. I only hoped they wouldnt arrest for traveling 'without la'!!

Anyways, after parting with some more considerable sum of money (boohooo!!) I booked my tickets for Leeds from Bristol. But I was a little doubtful about why it took 6 hours from Bristol to Leeds ( I couldnt have missed too many places in between..or could I, I was beginning to doubt my very existence by now!) So, the ticket lady, another sweetheart, held me by my hand ( I wonder whether that was out of love or for support though!) and led me to a map.... and I literally swooned! I was way too down below England.

I had to make the best of what I had (that seems to be my punchline for a lot of things nowadays!) so I just roamed around Bristol, snapped a few pics and finally came back to the coach station, an hour in advance (once bitten, forever shy!) and travelled back to Leeds.

In all, I had been traveling for 18 hours straight yesterday! And if it had been on a plane, I could have visited home and come back!

Thankfully, my brother decided not to shower any sarcastic comments or his opinions about "how did they ever accept me in a business school"!! And after some delicious chicken fry and sambar soru (everyday food is now delicacy!) I slept a peaceful sleep!

Leeds at last! Thank God!



- still speechless
me!