A page about to turn...

I treated the first of my "juniors-to-be-treated" today. It reminded me of some happy moments in law school...of poetry and concerts, and first year perm time (oh yes, excitement associated with that too!), of friends made and kept over 4/5 years, of dreams fulfilled, of hours spent in bookshops (and yes, I was right, the high piles of books did have to fall!!)...and so many other things. Nice things. This is what treats are about....this, and of course, pleasant company and conversation.

I know everybody's been doing this, and I guess I'm ready to do this now. So here are some of my favourite moments from law school...there have been others, but these are the ones which spring to mind....

1. The singing auditions, first year, and singing Masquerade. Sallie and Thomas judging and being very serious.
2. My first few LSC trips.
3. Talking until the wee hours of the morning in the Training Centre with JTP and AM.
4. CR election results, second trimester. 
5. Long walk in the very early hours of the morning with JTP in the Nags forests (is it a forest?).
6. Motorbiking to Magadi and back with Dev M..taking every detour possible on the way and swinging from trees.
7. The singing auditions, second year...and finding and releasing my voice's power with "Rainbow High".
8. History being taught by Rohit De....and my very first "O" Grade!
9. Poetry-sharing with Don in second year.
10. Poetry-sharing with Gautam Bhatia on the training centre steps. (This looks like the start of a beautiful friendship!)
11. Family Law.
12. Walks and talks with Sasch.
13. Univ Week.
14. Exploring the Amazon River virtually with Vikram. 
15. Long walks and talks with Vikram/Gow/Madhav/permutations of them in BU campus.
16. Terrace chats with Sallie.
17. Walks and talks with Tuhina.
18. Singing "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" and finally winning WMD vocal solo!! 
19. "Paper Rain" duet with Sanj and being a mentor.
20. Most DISCO room-checking duty times, long chats, and the friends I've made in that bunch of first year girls.
21. The Mid-Law school party....even all the running to cunningham road for medicines and the mad ride back to college in the car (that was the most fun actually!)
22. Buying wine with Shore as a Christmas present for my parents and most of that evening actually. 
23. Massage sessions with Kush.
24. Watching NWD's skydiving video in the common room. Nandhivarman being so helpful. More helpful than he could have ever realized then.
25. The night before leaving for the Worlds in fourth year....wrongly believing I had click-locked my keys inside the suitcase, and all the associated tamasha.
26. Heart to heart convos with Annie.
27. At Heera Panna with Roh, Annie, Krish and Kush.
28. The "infamous" girls' night out with Sushila and Sonam...(and yes, Sonam, I know there was nothing infamous about it....but let's just say there was... ;-) )
29. Walks around campus with Gow.
30. Walks around campus with NWD.
31. Strawberry Fields in my fourth year and NWD.
32. Deewar lunches with Nandhivarman.
33. Dinner at Rohini with some of my favourite people, Annie, Gow and NWD....and ordering more garlic in the egg burji and debating less.
34. Culcomm meetings.
35. Getting "The Call" from CC.
36. The first LPD class for the third years...experiencing the other side of the podium.
37. "Tainted Blood" - the performance and all the practices and people. Meghna, you fulfilled my last unfulfilled fulfillable wish in law school. 
38. Writing this post and feeling grateful for all the good times.

Home

I love home. I love it when my family is all around me, and I love it when I am all alone. The past few months have taught me to embrace solitude. The peace around me. Being able to think, being able to read, to exercise creaky finger muscles over the piano keys. The silence of the night is beautiful, broken only by the rustle of a page turning.

I can't wait for my family to return. But until then, I'm in love with the solitude. It's something to look forward to throughout the day. The moment I enter in the door, all the vibes soaked up during my day in law school dissipate, and I am at peace again with my thoughts clear in my head.

St. Augustine's Pears

This song has been my favourite one for almost the last ten years now. Every time I listen to it, it reveals some other aspect of my life/thought process/itself to me. So absolutely love it!

St. Augustine's Pears
- PETRA

Words and music by Bob Hartman


Late one night I heard a knock at the door
The boys were really painting the town
I was just another bored teenage boy
Kickin' up and actin' the clown... Yeah

One dare led to another dare
Then things were getting out of control
We hopped the fence and we stole the pears
And I threw away a part of my soul
Yes, I threw away a part of my soul (now it's)

(Chorus)
Haunting me how I stole those pears
'Cause I loved the wrong
Even though I knew a better way
Not for hunger or poverty
It was more than pears that I ended up
throwin' away... Yeah

Time goes by - now I'm old and grey
Those pears are just a memory
I would gladly pay all I have today
But that's just not the problem you
see... ('cause it's)

(Chorus)

Bridge:
Why do we love all the things that are wrong
Forbidden fruit has a strange siren song
Why do we do what we don't want to do
When we live with regrets our whole lifethrough

Repeat Chorus

And I don't even like pears that well...

All's well that...

At the close of the day, everybody gets what they want and all ends well.

:-D

I'm at peace.

In a couple of hours it will all be over, and then we begin over again.

I'm not in the mood for words.

So here are a bunch of pictures, each of which symbolize important times this past year. Moments of change, of happiness, of discovery, of living dreams. Moments I hope to take away with me....separating the grain from the chaff.

Happy New Year!

PS: Some of the dates are a bit wonky because the camera wasn't set right, but they were all from this year.

Au Revoir

I have never liked to say goodbye. There is always such a finality to it. And something dies somewhere in the soul. Instead, I'd far rather see it as something very temporary. I'll see you later. Au Revoir. We shall meet again. That instills hope.

The past four months have proved to be simply wonderful! There have been so many adventures and I've done things I've never even considered doing before!! What stands out though are the people I have met here. Liz, Brat, SS, Cowboy being right on top of that list!! Not to forget Gautam, Shibin, Aaranya, Cathy, Adithya, Sheena, Naomi, Toju, the Toucan and the entire Derivatives presentation bunch, the contingent of Indian LLMs, my clustermates, Shobhit, the TF squad and so many many others I have spent special moments and forged bonds with. It's been a beautiful time. I will always maintain that Singapore is a lovely place to be in when you have got the right bunch of friends! And I have been blessed abundantly!

So here's to memories of spending the night on a bench under the stars in a foreign land, parasailing and weightlessnes, camping in a hotel lobby in the wee hours of the morning until we could finally check in at 6 am, Bailey's Comet, the Lube, almost getting peed on by a bat, the fountain of wealth, spontaneous river cruises, conjunctivitis, tears, Hard Rock Cafe, green tea cake, Scruffy, long walks around campus and furtive oreo cookie mcflurries, the ten courts of hell, the crunch times before derivatives presentations each week, roti prata and teh tarik around midnight, Sheares suppers, IMH sessions, black and red nail polish, falling in love with the oh-so-expensive dress, camping, patai!!!!, chopsticks, kayaking, failed attempts at ice skating, trying to catch the baby monkeys on camera, lying at the base of the merlion and talking on and on...All of these memories so special because of the people associated with them.

I am glad to have known you and will miss you! Until we meet again then...!!

Coming to Life

The last few days have proved to be some of the most fun days I've had here so far! From frantic group discussion in the 20/30 minutes prep time for my derivatives class presentation, to sitting by the water at Clark Quay and talking about everything, to running up and down the green slopes of a reservoir, to watching (finally!!) UP, to finally experiencing the local phenomenon that is milo dinosaur. I can feel the blood pumping through my body, and my brain cells stirring somewhere up there. It feels just wonderful!!

Before I sign off though, I must tell you about the extra inmate of my cluster (group of single rooms sharing common bathing and kitchen facilities). I wasn't living long in the residences before I discovered him. He was the culprit behind the dustbin's contents found strewn all over the kitchen, the mischief-maker of tiny brown dots on the table and floor, the thief behind cereal stolen from a bowl left unattended on the kitchen table for just a few moments....what marks him out is his hairdo...feathers always awry, and somehow contrived into a messy mohican on the top of his head! I affectionately named him "Scruffy" on the spot, and even though he flies away every time I enter the kitchen and watches me from the opposite building, I have developed quite an attachment to him.

Picture 3 = A blurry bit of Clark Quay...the bridge where drinking in public seems quite acceptable, unlike elsewhere over here.
Picture 2 = A view of the lower reservoir.
Picture 1 = Scruffy in a post modernist picture after he flew away just as I clicked down the shutter.