Twenty things about me..(Dedicated to Gi..:D)

Now that i have written the title of the blog..i dont know where to start..hmmmm
20. I was born under the water sign of scorpio and for some absurd reason i feel proud about the fact. :)
19. I love to work out and iam a regular at the university gym..being in a good shape(mentally as well as physically) is very important for me.
18. I love reading science fiction and fantasy books i sometimes imagine myself as a character in to one of those worlds and have a great time day dreaming..i have been known to zone out like quite often during seminars in our department ;)
17. I feel a sense of loss as if a good friend has left me when i complete a good book...
16. i like to sing and dance when iam in a good mood..my living room floor is a witness to that...
15. MY favourite movie right now is the green mile...
14. I was the only girl in my group who did not cry at the end of "titanic"..towards the end i actually rooted for the jack character to die soon..so i can go home..
13. The first time i heard the song " be with you" by enrique..i just fell in love with him ..
12. my favourite colours are black, pink and red..
11. i love to shop especially shoes and sandals...i have a small collection of them with me..
10. I was the captain of my school's Kho Kho team .
9. i love maniratnam movies..Anjali is my favourite..followed by "mouna ragam"
8. i got my first barbie doll when i was 8 and i still have her with me...
7. i love hiking, canoing and kayaking and do that whenever i have time .
6. the best concert i have attended was "euphoria" in IIT-Sarang 2001
5.I believe i can fly is my favourite song...
4. After comming to US tea has become my most fav beverage..( yes i come from a family of coffee drinkers but cant stand it myself).
3. The person who i look up to most is my dad..if i can do half of what he has done i would consider myself to be successful.
2. i can talk for a long time..my longest conservation on the phone was for 9hrs and 32 mins ( thanks to free PCS to PCS from sprint..i did not go bankrupt) and i have made many successful attempts to equal that record..:D
1.I firmly believe that" future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"
now iam on a roll and dont want to stop..but Gi did say only 20 things about me...:D
cheers
jeenu

jeenu says...:)

It has been a very hectic month so far for me...with couple of dead lines to meet and collaboraters always behind me to get stuff done yesterday...i hardly had time to do any of the stuff i enjoyed doing..like blogging to name one of the few..but starting today i hope things have settled down a bit and i can get to back to my normal schedule..hehehehe ( surfing and blogging for 12-14 hrs a day...)
so hopefully i will be back here with no stop blogging soon.....
cheers
jeenu

Nilay days- the end

“ May be that is Nilay..” said Abhay and subha went to open the door and Raja was there at the door with a girl..subha vaguely recognized her as Sindhu…Nilay’s friend from undergrad days ..but she had not seen her around for almost an year..
“hey” said Subha hesitantly..
“can we come in” Sindhu asked her curtly…
Subha moved over and let them both in to the apartment.
“what the hell do u think you are doing..??” sindhu yelled at janvi as soon as she entered the room..
Janvi was so surprised by the outburst from this strange girl she had never met before…
“ hey sindhu ..calm down. will you..” raja said from behind her
“this is sindhu..Nilay’s girlfriend..” raja trailed off…
“ what..” Abhay said gawking at raja ” this time u have stepped way too far..raja”
“no it is not him who has stepped too far..it is this bitch here who has …for the last 10 months my life had been absolute misery because of her..” Sindhu exploded “ things were fine between me and nilay …even though I was not here in school..we were ok..but since the day we walked in..nilay has no time for me.. initially all he could talk to me was janvi this and janvi that and how much compatible he is with her…”
“hey mind your language sindhu” subha responded “ u have something to say ..dont use any profanity..”
“ I don’t understand..” janvi said in a small voice. A small part of her mind was thinking may be this was a prank Nilay was pulling on her..she remembered wat a prankster he is…and she looked up at subha to ask if she knew any of this…
Subha appeared as flabbergasted as her..abhay also had shocked expression on his face…
“ Nilay had not told of her to you has he.”.raja asked“ I did warn u girls to be careful with him..but u girls did not listen to me especially u janvi…I tried my best to keep him away from you..but u will not listen..”
“ hey ..this is none of your business..raja” Abhay said
“well I think sindhu deserved to know the truth and so does janvi..” raja said
“ is it because of your fight with nilay yesterday…u are making a big mistake..” abhay said angrily
“ Who are you..” janvi asked in a very commanding voice..
“let me explain…” raja started..but stopped when janvi stared at him with her cool..angry gaze..
“she is sindhu” subha replied quietly” she was nilay’s friend in undergrad..but she moved out of here after her graduation ..I met her in last year’s garba..before u met nilay…”
“oh” said janvi..remembering Nilay saying something about a good friend he had in undergrad days..”wat the hell is happening here..why did raja say she was nilay’s girl friend..?? is she really..??? “ questions flooded her mind..but janvi tried to maintain an outward calm….” Anger does not solve anything…” she told herself…
she looked at sindhu and asked “ what is your problem with me..???”
“ you are asking me wat is my problem with you..you are the problem…u just barged in between me and nilay …u are the problem and today I want to resolve the problem…everyone her seems to think that you guys are dating now..how dare you..acting like you are his girl friend..” sindhu lunged for janvi and raja caught her hands and controlled her
“ u promised me u will not do that..” raja said in a rough tone “ u said u will control yourself..”
janvi felt very faint..she could not believe wat is happening and part of her did not want to believe what she is hearing..Nilay has never talked about her at all..except mentioning in passing about his friends in undergrad years…but he had not exactly proposed to her either…they were good friends that is wat they told everyone…..but she knew in her heart atleast she considered him to be more than a good friend…she did not want to say it out..but she thought that he also felt the same for her….but now everything is lost everything is changed…
she always felt safe with nilay she trusted him…may be there is some explanation to this….nilay will explain this….thoughts were tumbling through her head at great speed..
she was not aware of wat was happening around her and then suddenly she felt her head snap back and a good deal of stinging on her cheeks..
she looked around dazed to see raja and abhay holding down sindhu and subha holding her..
sindhu had slapped her and that brought her back to the reality..”get out” janvi said in a calm voice” get out of my apartment you too raja and don’t u dare to step in to it again..”
“I think it is better if you leave” abhay said
He showed them both the door..sindhu was sobbing quietly on raja’s shoulder by then and they left the apartment
Janvi sat down hard on the couch as abhay came in to the living room…”hey are u all right..” he asked
Subha gave her a glass of water to drink..
“what is the meaning of this abhay..???” subha blurted out “ did u see the way that girl was behaving..iam sure nilay definitely would not have liked a girl like her…”
“ I don’t know…” Abhay said “ I think I will go and find nilay….and subha don’t open the door If u see that fool raja…”
“ ok…” said subha
“hey janvi..iam sure everything will be fine…don’t worry ok..i will be back with nilay..” Abhay said
“ J I don’t think nilay likes that girl..iam sure..” subha trailed…
“its ok..i think I need to talk to nilay..” janvi said
“ Abhay will get him..” subha said
“I think then I will be in my room for a while..” janvi said
“ ..ok..” subha said…she was wringing her hand not knowing wat to say…
Janvi walked in to her room and lay down on her bed…she the started sobbing.. even though the incident had shaken her..she somewhere deep felt that nilay will make it all right..and she went to sleep…

Someone was knocking on her room’s door..janvi woke up groggily and looked at her bedside clock. she has slept for almost 2 hours she realized and went to open her room’s door..
Abhay and subha were standing outside..
“nilay wont be coming today…” abhay said hesitantly
“why..???” janvi asked.
“ When I went to my apartment. I saw nilay and sindhu having a big fight rite in our lobby…it was mostly sindhu yelling with nilay hanging his head down…that girl has a temper ..grrr ..” Abhay grimaced
“oh” janvi said “ tell me abhay did u know…???”
“ No..i did not know..” abhay said
“I think I like to be alone..now”janvi said and closed her room’s door..
then she started crying..she had not cried that much in her life. she tried telling herself that he never said anything about them being more than friends..but still she felt betrayed...she felt alone..she felt her world falling apart…but she needed to hear it from him…a crazy part of her hoped that he will say it is all a lie…she needed to talk to nilay

She could not talk to nilay that day but the next day he called her and they met in the coffee shop….janvi felt more betrayed after their conversation…and she wanted to walk away from it all..
“Still here iam a week later still brooding about him …”janvi sighed
“It was all because of the stupid email.” She muttered but in her heart she knew whether he had sent that email or not she would have been thinking about him…
She wanted to reread the email again ..so she opened her laptop and logged in to her yahoo account…the account was so full of emails and forwards from Nilay…and ecards…
She opened his email and started reading it
“ hi Janvi
I have been trying to talk to you for last one week but u were not answering your calls..and I tried to come and meet you in person but subha told me you did want to meet me. I wanted to talk to you in person but I guess now I have to send u an email….
I would like to apologize to you in this letter but I also want to explain about things that have happened. You know me and how difficult it is for me to say sorry.. but believe me iam apologizing with all my heart here. I know what I did was very wrong but I did it because I thought I might lose you ..I guess in a way I have lost you now. I think you deserve an explanation
When I came here for undergraduate study from India, I never fitted in to any of the groups here, ABCD’s were not friendly to FOB’ s and most of the FOB’s here were grad students and they were not very friendly with an undergrad…that is how became friendly with sindhu even though she was an ABCD she did her schooling in India and then came over here for undergrad like me..i was alone and I guess she seemed perfect at that time..so when she proposed to me in the second year of undergrad..i said ok..
Her parents lived near the school and they were very conservative..they would not have accepted a north Indian as their son-in-law and so we both decided to keep it under wraps until we were in a financially stable position..
With time I became friends with people here and things started looking up..towards the end of my undergrad I started realizing the there were lot of differences between me and sindhu..she was an introvert and was very possessive of me..she could not even bear the thought of me talking to other girls..and finally after graduation she got a job and moved back in with her parents..but I stayed here to do my masters and things started getting worse between us because now she was not here in person and she wanted to make sure I was not being friendly with any girl…initially I was ok with the possessiveness. but slowly it started getting on my nerves and I started wondering if we are right for each other… she herself broke our agreement and told about me and her to raja and asked him to keep an eye on me..any sane person would have told her that they will not do such a things..but I don’t know wat compelled raja but he decided to help her as he puts it and started telling her everything I did…initially I was not aware of it but slowly as I got friendly with subha and then with you raja started telling her things..most of the times fabricated…in this process there was huge fight between me and sindhu..as I started getting to know you..i realized how compatible we are but I always kept a check on myself because there was sindhu..but more I became friendly with you more I realized how incompatible I was with sindhu…so about couple of weeks back I decided to break off with sindhu .
So I went to Nova last week and talked to her and explained to her my reasons for breaking up..i did not break up with her because of you janvi , I did it because I realized that we both were making each other so unhappy and that is not how anyone is supposed to live..
All hell broke loose after that Raja came to know about it and he started asking me questions. I got furious and threw him out of the apartment..his last words were that he will make sure that you would not even look at me..
So I guess he went and convinced sindhu that you convinced me to break up with her and the unfortunate incident happened..
You have every right to be angry at me..god If I was in you position I would have behaved the same way too..or even worse than that…
I should have told you everything ..initially I did not because I wanted to keep it a secret..but as time went by I did not want to say it because I was afraid to lose you..i just could not take that chance…
Iam sorry about it all..i lost your trust here and I will do anything to regain it back…
I know I have never said it out that I love you..but I know you that I do and I also know that you love me..
You always use to tell me that if you love someone set them free , if they love you then will come back to you..
So iam guilty of betraying your trust..and I know I don’t deserve it but all I need is one more chance to set it all right…but if you decide I don’t deserve it then I will respect you decision. It will break my heart ..but I will respect it. So the decision is yours janvi..and no matter what you decide I will always love you..
Yours
Nilay.”

“I know how difficult it must have been for Nilay to write this email…”janvi thought”..atleast now I know the whole truth of it all from him..he broke my trust in him..but more than that I feel like he did not trust me enough to tell me..he does not deserve to be in my life..i hope he is hurting as iam.. After it has all come out in the open he tell me about it..if only he had told me earlier about this ..may be things would have been different.. he does not deserve to be with me..”
But a part of janvi said “ he made a mistake and he is willing to admit it..should I leave him just because of that..i know he loves me and cares about me…is that not what is important..”
“I got slapped by a girl I did not even know..called all sorts names by her..all because he of him and that raja too….” an angry voice hissed in janvi’s head..
“don’t we all make mistakes..u have your share of mistakes too …may be u might regret breaking up with him…on how many occasions have you yourself thought of him as u r soul mate…even though u thought that there was no one like that..” a voice in her head laughed at that..
“god life is so unfair..” janvi thought..” why cant I just leave all of this and walk away…in TV seriels..people seem to be able to do that and be happy about it too..”
“ am I letting my injured ego decide for me…” thoughts tumbled through her head .
“I do love him…” janvi whispered
A tear trickled down her cheeks and she closed her eyes thinking about the first time she met nilay…...

***********************************************************************

Nilay days-5

Janvi smiled to herself as she sipped her chai..Thinking about the first time they went to downtown together always made her smile. As Nilay had said they became great friends. janvi smiled as memories of different things that they did together flashed in her mind..hiking, canoeing, playing badminton.. and now she has to decide...tears started trickling down janvi's eyes ..she wiped them away defiantly and thought to herself " i seem to be crying a lot these days..i cant even believe iam crying sitting in the coffee shop...wat is wrong with me.."
Anger seemed to resurface in her as she ground her teeth and said to herself" no one who will make you cry is worth it.." but again she started thinking” but wat about the person who made u smile...wat about all the good times u had with them..dont they amount to anything.?"
The memory of her dancing with nilay for the india day program came to her mind..with it all the fun they had together putting the dance together also floated in to her mind .....
"did he really care about me..??" the question popped in her mind suddenly and as soon as it did, memories of nilay cooking kitchadi for her when she was sick came in to mind..of him walking in cold for 20 mins to get her medicine , of him just pampering her like a baby when she had fever...of how he met even some of her unreasonable demands...came to her mind.."yes he cared for me.. why am i talking in past tense..i know he cares about me even now..." janvi said to herself.
"God why is life so full of difficult choices...."
"well i dont know dearie..but i can def give u a refill on your chai.." Gail said..janvi jumped as gail started talking she had not realized that she had said the last sentence aloud...
"thanks...appreciate that" janvi tried to smile ..but the cheerfulness she usually exuded was not there today.
"are u feeling well ???" gail asked" never seen u this quiet or alone for that matter.. your friend not joining you today??"
Times she and Nilay had spent talking in the same coffee shop flooded her mind..
"no ...he is busy..i think" janvi replied….
"ok girlie...let me get u another cup of chai.." gail replied
"thanks..gail"
Janvi thought about the last time they met at the coffee shop....

"hey" Nilay said..he looked like he had not slept for days and he had a week’s worth of stubble on his face
"hey" janvi replied..waiting for him say more..she was all composed outside but inside a war was raging inside. a part of her wanted to just let go of all this facade and cry to him..ask him to explain all that stuff that had happened...but a part of her wanted to tear him apart and hurt him as much as he had hurt her..
"how are you..?'' nilay asked
"wat do u think..after all that has happened..wat do u expect me to say..." janvi replied..it came out so coldly....i need to be calm..i need for him to explain it to me...i need to give him a fair chance to explain himself..she told herself.
"wat is happening Nilay..is that all true??..i thought we were good friends....." janvi trailed off
" we are good friends..more than good friends......." nilay said" i did not want any of this to happen...i did not mean it to happen.. u mean a lot to me...iam sorry.."
"where does this leave us..." janvi asked him..she was feeling so numb..
"i dont know....i dont want to lose you..." nilay whispered..
"i guess then the decision is in my hands..then..." janvi said " u have to tell me..is it all true..watever she and raja said???"
"yes...but believe me i did not want to hurt you..u have to understand that...i never wanted to hurt you..and i did not want to lose you either....i know i should have been the one to tell you" Nilay could not bear to look at janvi
Tears trickled down janvi's eyes.." then i guess ..there is nothing left to say anymore....i have to go now...bye" janvi got up and left...

"It has been almost a week since that day" janvi thought sipping from her fresh cup of chai..." we were so happy together...why did things have to change now...i know he cares.."
Her mind turned to the day when things changed...

She and subha were sitting in her apartment watching "finding Nemo" it was their favorite movie ..
"i just love Dory's character.." subha giggled..
"i just adore this whole concept.." janvi also smiled with her " may be coming Halloween u can dress as dory the fish...."
Subha sticked out her tongue and said " Fat chance.."
There was knock on the door and subha jumped up " that must be Abhay..i told him i was watching " finding nemo" and he said he wanted to watch too....so i invited him is that ok..."
"its ok yaar..anyways he is after all my extended roomie.." janvi smiled mischeviously...
Subha Blushed and went to open the door and let abhay in
" hey extended roomie.." said janvi
Subha made a face from behind abhay's back
"hey J" abhay said " thought Nilay janaab will be here...now iam all alone..."
"well we dont eat guys.." janvi replied " especially ones who wears glasses. bad for our health.." and both the girls burst out giggling..
Abhay rolled his eyes and flopped on the couch.
" so wat do u girls have for snack.." abhay asked
" well we just finished chips and salsa...." subha replied " but we have some salted peanuts..do u want some.."
"okie" abhay visibly perked up ...
" so have you girls seen raja.." abhay asked
"wat do u think.." janvi replied
" i know you girls can’t tolerate that guy and sometimes i can’t too..anyways yesterday there was a big fight between raja and nilay and we have not seen that guy since then…. " Abhay said
" wat" both subha and janvi said simultaneously..
" yeah..i dont know wat was that about but i have never seen Nilay this furious... he just threw Raja out of our apartment and in choicest words told him to stay out of his personal life..." Abhay said
" well it is about time" said subha.." did u know that guy came over to our place once and was staying stuff like U girls should be careful of nilay.."
" Nilay did not tell me anything about the fight..." janvi mused to herself…
Right then there was a knock on their apartment door ......

Nilay days-4

Walking along the streets of downtown always made Janvi very happy. The west main road that forms the crux of the downtown is a broad cobbled street with shops and restaurants on either side .The road was closed to the traffic and the middle of the walk way had hawkers selling stuff from Nepal to Mexico. Janvi and Subha started looking in at some nice earrings that a hawker from Nepal was displaying. Subha was so taken by it and was haggling with the hawker to lower the price.
“So you come to downtown often??” Nilay asked janvi
“Huh..oh ..well once in a while ..people in my lab like to eat pizzas at Christian’s pizza..so I come whenever we all come here..” janvi replied “ what about you.??”
“ I come here once in a while too…with friends ..but sometimes I just like walk along the street..u know just look at the shops and people it makes me happy…”
Janvi looked at him and smiled “I do that too sometimes..in summer only ofcourse..So which department are u in nilay.???”
“ Computer science..and before u think iam one of those ppl..let me tell u iam interested in lot of other things too..i was a premed student in my undergrad days here..but when I declared my major I decided to go where I saw the money was…it was then..” he laughed.
“I did not say anything at all..do u feel the need to justify what you do..??” janvi asked
“not to everyone..” nilay said “with you I feel very much that you are watching my every move like a hawk and also judging me based on that…” he trailed it off…
“sorry did not mean too..i guess it is my inborn scorpion trait..”
“ iam a scorpion too..” nilay said “ when is your birthday..that is if u don’t mind telling me..i don’t need to know the year too..”
“November 19th “ janvi said “ now its only fair that you tell me yours..”
“November 18th..can u believe it..it is so much of a coincidence..” nilay said
“ wat coincidence are you two talking about???” subha asked when she joined them both.
“well me and janvi are born in the November and are just a day apart..” nilay announced.
“Hmmm..interesting..so u are elder to her hena…??” Subha asked..
she is definitely up to some mischief janvi thought and before nilay could say something his cell phone rang..nilay excused himself and went a little distance away to pick up the call.
Subha turned to janvi and asked her “ so madam u both are born in the same month..interesting..”
“wat is so interesting about that ma’am ..iam sure there are many people who are born in and around my birthday.” janvi replied
“bummer..” subha replied
Nilay joined them and all three of them started walking to the open air theatre where the fancy dress party is held.
“so wat are u r interests janvi??” nilay asked
“well it all depends on my mood..” janvi replied
“oh she has a huge collection of novels ..and she is so much in to all this science fiction stuff..” subha quipped in
“and wat about you subha??” Nilay asked
“ well as I have already told u iam not in to those things..” subha replied
“hey is that abhay..” subha asked and before either of them could reply Subha called out to Abhay.
Abhay saw subha and waved back to her..” subha will forget that we both exist “ nilay quipped “ Now that Abhay is here” and batted his eyelids. looking at him janvi giggled.
Subha scowled at him..
“ Nilay you did are not tell us that you are coming to downtown” raja said..as he clapped nilay’s back.
“bas aise hi aagaya..” Nilay mumbled.
“hey janvi..” Abhay said
“hey Abhay”
“let me introduce you to these guys they are staying in the same building as me..” said abhay
“this is raja” he said pointing to a slender guy with a moustache who was talking to nilay “this is Anil..” referring to a guy who was overweight “both of them are in computer science department”
“ nice to meet you both “janvi said politely..
“well there is no need to introduce you..they all know about you becos subha always has something to say about you..” said abhay
“all nice things I hope..” janvi smiled.
“ So wat were you people planning on doing in downtown??” raja asked
“we came to see people’s constumes..”subha replied enthusiastically..
“well we were about to leave “ said abhay
“I would like to see costumes..” raja replied “ if subha and janvi don’t mind me tagging along with them “
“ok…then let me and anil bid you people ..Bye” said abhay
nilay who had been quiet so far said “ hey do u guys want to join us for dinner ..may be later say after another hour or so..we can meet at that new mexican place they have opened in the corner..also If the girls don’t mind joining us too..”
“sounds ok to us “ said Abhay and Anil nodded
“well iam sure I will be hungry by then” said subha “if Janvi will come then I will also join” she said “ chalo na janvi..it will be nice to eat out today..”
“ok” said janvi
“so Mexican ok with all “ asked nilay
“yes so far I think..” said Abhay “ see you people in an hour or so ..at baja beans..bye”
Abhay and anil walked off to the trolley bus stop.
Raja turned to nilay and said “ well u need not have invited those two..they are just trouble makers..”
“well they don’t make any trouble raja..they just like to play pranks..thats all “ said nilay “anyways u need to stand up for urself sometimes …but lets not talk about this now..ok”
“ok..” raja trailed
Both Subha and Janvi did not want to intrude on the conversation so they walked a little farther away..
“hey u girls iam sure raja does not carry any plague..inspite of his appearance he is nice a guy..u girls can come closer..” nilay joked.
“well how do we know that ..Huh??” Subha asked mock seriously..
“well subha u know me …I don’t eat girls..” said raja “ by the way I have “main hoon na” burnt in a CD for you”
“oh great..SRK is so such a cute guy he is my favourite actor and such a good one too…don’t u agree janvi “ subha squealed.
“I guess it depends..” replied janvi non commitally” I don’t have any favourites..i just go by the performances in the movies”
“ same here..and may I say it is good to meet a girl who finally does not swoon at the name of SRK..most of my good friends in opposite sex do..”replied Nilay
“well I like SRK a lot too..” said raja.
“great I have someone who is on my side..heheheh” laughed subha
“ so wat kinda movies do u watch nilay??” janvi asked
“well I think it depends on the company of people I watch the movie with “ replied Nilay
“hey there is an ice cream shop..” subha pointed out” want to eat a small scoop before we go down to the costume party.”
“sure..wat about u janvi??”
“iam up for icecream anytime..”janvi replied
“me too “said raja and smiled
They went in to the shop
“can I have vanilla icecream with strawberry on top please” janvi ordered at the counter
“make that two..” said Nilay..”so we share the same taste in icecreams too”
“ I guess we do..” replied janvi and when she turned around to find a seat she saw raja looking at her very peculiarly.
Janvi shrugged that off and then took a corner booth and pretty soon subha and the guys joined her there.
“ I was just telling raja how much you liked reading books…” said Subha
“yeah..what kind of books you read..” raja asked
“this and that..”janvi replied “ depends on what catches my fancy at that time..right now iam reading this fantasy series called “ the wheel of time” by robber Jordan” she said
“ now that is very interesting “ replied raja “ nilay is also reading that series..”
“is it so..?” janvi asked..
“yeah..” nilay said “ we have a lot in common. I think we are gonna be great friends..”
Something made janvi look at raja at that moment and he did not seem to be happy...not happy at all.

Nilay days-3

“So what do u think of Abhay??” Subha asked Janvi as they were cleaning the dining table. Abhay had just left, the tea party had lasted for more than 2 hours
“ he seems to be a nice guy” janvi said and looked up at subha
“wat do u think of him “
Subha said “he is very charming and he is very smart..”
“oh I see” Janvi smiled mischievously “ may be I need to call someone’s parents in madras and let them know that their daughter has found a right guy” Subha blushed “there is nothing like that and I met him only three months back “
“So may be couple of more months and then u will know for sure hena??” janvi asked with mock seriousness and both the girls started laughing.
“His roommate Nilay is also a great guy. He has been in US for more than 10 years now..” subha said
“ oh I see “ janvi replied
“yet he has retained his core Indian culture values and beliefs..he does not drink or smoke and he is very religious too. He is part of the Hindu students association here “ subha said.
“well not drinking and smoking does not mean that he is all Indian values” janvi replied
“I have seen some of the desi guys here, they act all goody goody in front of girls just to impress them but reality is something else..But that does not mean Nilay is also like that” janvi said “ anyways I don’t know him so I can’t say anything about him..But being cautious is not gonna hurt anyone right??”
“yeah. But after talking to Nilay I don’t think he is like that” subha said earnestly.
Janvi placed the tea cups in the cupboard and turned around and asked“hey tomorrow is Halloween there is this kid’s costume party in the lawn in the evening want to go ??” “sure” said Subha.

“Madam you are late and now we are late for the party at the lawn “ subha sounded upset
“sorry yaar advisor wanted to have an update on experiments and u know how he is ..Once he starts he does not stop..Anyways if we hurry up we can catch the costume party in downtown”
“Ok” subha brightened up visibly
“let me just freshen up ok “ janvi said and as janvi was getting ready subha kept on chatting about how she saw some people dressed in costumes all day
“ ..and there was this guy in my department who was dressed as tomato and it was so funny…may be we can dress up in some costume too..”
“well madam I think it is too late..anyways I think u look cute in these gray jeans “janvi said smilingly.
”u know I met abhay today and he told me that tumhari roommate mast cheez hai yaar” and subha started giggling
“that proves one thing” janvi said “he is a pucca flirt ..anyways madam lets get moving..” “ so how are we going to the downtown??” subha asked.
”we can take the trolley to downtown..”janvi said
“hey J is it ok if we ask Nilay to come along with us ..??” subha asked .
.”well may be he has other plans u know subha..??”
“ I know he does not when I was waiting for you to come I was talking to him ..”
“Ok ..u can call and ask him if he wants to join us ..” janvi said..
subha started dialing Nilay’s number and then she hung up.
.”wat happened ??” Janvi asked.
“well u know Nilay he is always pulling my leg and playing a prank on me all the time..now I think I want to play one on him” subha said “ well what do u want to do ?” janvi asked.
” well if u don’t mind can u talk to him he does not know your voice..u can tell him that you are a very old friend of his and that u are in town ..and then proceed from there on….go with the flow sister..hehehehe” subha was so excited that she was talking really fast..
“whoa. madam slow down ..first of all I don’t know him that well wat if he gets serious and also..i don’t know him well enough to play a prank on him..” janvi said..” “please..please for me yaar..he has been putting one over me for a long time..please only one time and if he starts getting serious u can hang up and he will never know who called ..” subha started pleading janvi.
“ok but if he gets mad u are gonna talk to him and explain it to him..is that a deal??” janvi asked
“anything you say may dear roomie..” subha jumped and hugged janvi and then started dialing nilay’s number..when the phone started ringing ..she handed the phone over to janvi
“hello”
“hi can I talk to Nilay???”
“ this is Nilay”
“ hey Nilay how are u yaar??? Long time yaar really long time..how are u ?? how is life?? Pehachana muje??” subha was giggling so badly in that janvi had to sush her.
“..I am..fine..sorry I don’t recognize you..”
“well now this is bad..after all the allo paratha u ate at our place..i cant believe that u cant remember me…Hmm…this is bad and here I was excited to meet u ..this is bad..really bad..i feel so bad now..” janvi sounded a little upset..all the while subha was grinning so badly that she looked like an ad for close up tooth paste..
“hey are u sanju’s sister neha…” nilay said hesistatingly
“well u should be more than sorry..after all the things that we have been through …anyways if I was a pretty girl iam sure u would have remembered me..so typical like a guy ..paying attention only to pretty girls..”
“ it is nothing like that…” nilay sounded so confused and also apologetic…” can u now please tell me who you are..”
“look at the tone u are talking to me in…I really cant believe that I thought u will remember me..” janvi sniffled a bit..
“hey iam really sorry..” nilay said in a low voice..
Subha then started laughing hysterically and immediately nilay picked it on the phone” well if it is not Ms Subha trying to play a prank on me..”
Subha got the phone and said “ well tit for tat I got you this time..hehehehe..”
“ no u did not I knew all along it was you..” nilay said
“well it was not me but my roommate janvi that u were talking to.” Subha said
“ Oh I see.” Nilay sounded surprised.
“anyways me and J are thinking of going to downtown wanna come with us to see the costume party there..???”
“oh ..well I don’t want to be kabab main haddi between 2 roomies down time “ nilay said
“hey it is ok ..we will definitely appreciate your company..wont we janvi” subha said thrusting the phone in janvi’s hand.
“hey” janvi said “ sorry about that stuff I said earlier..it was all subha’s idea..”
“ No way I just gave the initial suggestion then she took it all the way “ subha quipped in
“yeah it will be nice if u can join us ..but if u have other plans then it is ok..” janvi said
“well if it no problem to you girls then I will definitely join “ nilay replied enthusiastically..
“ ok see u soon . bye..here subha wants to talk to you “ said janvi
“okie Nilay ji kripaya please come here on time atleast this once..ok” subha giggled
“well iam always on time..” nilay said indignantly
“remember the lunch plan the other day..when me and abhay said take your time to get to amigo’s we meant 15-20 mins not an whole hour..” subha said
“well it was you guys fault..never mentioned anytime limits..” nilay said
“well dumbo get here in another 20 mins ok ..” subha said
“well takes one to know one..hehehe..chalo see u girls in 15 mins..bye”

Nilay days-2

“Hey Subha wait up” Subha turned around and saw abhay and raja walking towards her. She stopped and smiled at them “Watcha doing??” Raja asked her.. Abhay guffawed “look at this guy he has been in USA for just three months and his vocabulary is all changed. Raja remember the small place in India that u came from called Hyderabad” Subha laughed along with Abhay. Raja looked indignant but before he could retort Subha said “Just finished the thermo class yaar and iam heading home” “So when are u gonna invite me to your place??” Abhay asked her. Subha smiled “ you are welcome to come now “. As they were walking to subha’s offcampus apartment Raja said “ can u guys believe it three months have been passed since we joined UVA and left India” abhay quipped “ and someone already talks with amru accent” Subha giggled and Raja turned red and said “ u are irritating me abhay , I really miss home and u are poking fun at everything I say and do ..” “hey sorry yaar.. now don’t go and get senti on me ok ..i was just lightening up the situation.” Abhay said trying hard to control his laughter. Raja still looked irritated and said “ hey guys iam gonna go and see wat Nilay is up to..ok..bye” Abhay could not hide his laughter any longer and burst out laughing..subha looked puzzled and Raja looked like he is gonna have an apoplexy. he just turned and went to the computer science department without even looking back..
“so wat was that all about??” Subha asked him and Abhay who was still laughing said “Raja seems to have become Nilay’s shadow these days. that guy is basically stalking him. he is like Nilay’s GF…hehehehe…..the other day Nilay was busy so he did not come to potluck we guys had at our place.. and raja called him like 20 times on the cell to ask him where he was and that he should come. he told nilay that he will not eat dinner till nilay comes…bechara Nilay is trying so hard not to offend the guy and so he is putting up with him …dunno when that is gonna change..”
“that is so weird yaar..Even his Girl friend if he had one will not call him that much..hey janvi is also walking home I think..” “is that your roommate..” abhay asked.”yeah” well wat are u waiting for ..Introduce me to her yaar..and when u do say some really nice things about me .” Abhay said adjusting his hair.
“No matter how much nice things I say about u..one look at you and she will know what a duffer you are…..hey Janvi wait up yaar..” Subha called out.
Janvi turned around and saw Subha with a tall guy in glasses with beard and thought “ who is this devdas with her….so many desi students this year” Subha and Abhay caught up with her by then and subha introduced them “ hey J this is Abhay Mittal and he is in material science dept and this is my roommate Janvi she is in biomedical engg” “hey nice to meet you” “ Nice to meet you too janvi..that is an interesting name..so which part of India are u from..”abhay asked “ iam from banglore and you “ Abhay laughed and said “ Right now my parents are in Bombay but our native place is in UP “ “ oh I have never been to anywhere in northern part of India” janvi said ”geographically speaking Bombay or Mumbai whichever one pleases u is not in north India” abhay laughed “ well it is to for a person from banglore..”janvi quipped and smiled.”u have a very nice smile.” Abhay said “and are very smart too..” all three of them laughed and by then they had reached the apartment..” So abhay where are u staying??” “Oh i live in bedford apartments with 2 other guys..u must have met Nilay he is one of my roommates “ “ oh” janvi said “that’s nice” “so how do u like the school so far??” “It is nice and since Nilay did his bachelors also from UVA he knows a lot about this place..so in his grace we survive..” Abhay bowed dramatically. Subha giggled and janvi smiled…

Nilay days ( having a title block..hehehe..any suggestions Junta)

Hey junta here is my attempt at writing some stories..i took a lot of inspiration from things that happened to ppl i know here..so here it goes..
cheers
jeenu

Janvi started thinking about the first time she met Nilay. It was through Subha her roommate. Subha had joined the Graduate program at UVA that fall and Nilay was her mentor. She can still remember to the exact detail how it happened..It was in the evening Janvi was lying down on her couch with the quilt over her. She realised she had the seasonal flu and was cursing herself for not taking the Flu shot..when there was knock on the door. Janvi was not expecting anyone so she was wondering who it was and she went to open the door and Subha bustled in "hey sorry i forgot to take my keys with me " janvi sighed well Subha always seems to lose the key ya forget to take it ..anyways that was when she noticed this desi guy still standing outside the apartment holding the door and janvi got annoyed she was wearing her sick jammies and she was not dressed to meet company..Subha did not seem to notice her discomfort and annoyance and said "hey J this is nilay , he is my mentor" janvi mumbled a Hi and then started walking to her room..when He asked her " hey are u a new student too ??" Janvi was not in any mood to talk so she said " No" and walked in to her and closed the door.
"hey Nilay do come in to the house yaar..let me make u some chai" and Subha walked in to the kitchen "never said no to free chai..thanks" Nilay walked in to the living room and started looking around..and he whistled "nice pad yaar"Subha beamed and then said " its all janvi's..she had been here for an year u know"
Nilay "no way..i know almost of all the desis in this place and i have never seen her around.." " so who did she room in with last year..""Divya..i think from comp science..she graduated this fall.."
"oh i know her.." Subha looked at him and asked " so Mr know all the desis here..how did u miss knowing my roomie then..Huh..??" Nilay laughed " may be becos she is so kadoos "..Subha giggled but then said in a sober tone " she is not all that bad..just anal about things.."
Nilay then walked up to DVD's lying on tea table and whistled and said " If i were u i will lock my room at night before i sleep.." Subha looked at him seriously and asked "why??"..well look at her DVD collection he showed her " the hannibal " and "blair witch -2" " i dont think these are urs??"
Subha replied earnestly " well iam not in to these hollywood flicks.." Nilay laughed and said " seems like u r roommate is and u know wat they say people who watch violent movies will soon develope a taste for violence themselves..."
" Nilay u are now making me nervous yaar.." Subha whined..Nilay then laughed and said " silly i was just teasing u..anyways do u wanna go and watch a movie..i promise u it is not violent.. Abhay will be there..."
"well what do i care if abhay was there or not. ..and if u keep teasing me like this tea is gonna be on ur head and not on the cup..."
"bapp re aaj kal ki ladikiyan itne violent kyun hai..??? ok ma'am i will not tease u anymore for the day ok.." Nilay smiled .

In the end....

It has been such hectic week and half for me in terms of work ..i barely had time to check and comment in junta's blogs..:)
so here i decided to post one of my favourite song that i usually listen to when a week of research work goes down the drain and strangely listening to this song actually puts me in good mood :D
so here it is ppl

In the End
-Linkin Park

It starts with one thing
I don't know why It doesn't even matter how hard you try
keep that in mind I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time
All I know Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal
Didn't look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on,
but didn't even know
Wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside and even though I tried,
it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time
when I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end It doesn't even matter
I had to fall To lose it all
But in the end It doesn't even matter
One thing, I don't know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try,
keep that in mind I designed this rhyme,
to explain in due time I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised it got so (far)
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me (in the end)
You kept everything inside and even though I tried,
it all fell apart What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time
when I (Chorus)
I’ve put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know (2x) (Chorus)

Flirting ..???

Today started as any other monday for me..u know feeling the hangover from the weekend ( before u all jump to any conclusion..when i said hangover i meant from excessive sleeping:D)and i dragged myself to lab today morning and as i was getting ready to do somework that might get me Noble prize one day ( mostly have to work so they dont kick me out of the lab) my cowrker in the lab starts his usual thing ..now this french dude here in my lab is a charmer and is always flirting with every single female in the lab and the fact that he is married and has a cute baby girl does not stop him ..most of the times it is pretty harmless like.."hey sweetie..did not feel like working yesterday as u were not here in the lab..and now that u are here..i dont feel like working either.." "wink"
But sometimes it can really get on my nerves like "so how many times did u have sex this weekend??" and stuff like that...and when i ask him to stop he usually says hey its all in fun....
so it got me thinking..wat exactly is flirting??? where is the boundary for tht???can ppl flirt and still be friends??
do we flirt becos we want to express our interest in the other person and gauge their reaction in a subtle way???
can flirting be harmful for ones health ??;)
Hmmmm..
heavy stuff for monday morning i guess
cheers
jeenu

So like my dad :D

I was talking to my mama( a very distant relation of ours iam not even sure how he is related but for convenience sake i call him mama..makes him happy and i dont have to rack my brain to figure out how he is related...:D) yesterday to wish him on diwali and his mom has come to visit him and since me being a very nice girl wanted to talk to patti ( grandma) and i talked to her for about 15 mins and after which she exclaimed that u are so like jambu( my dad)..at that moment i dont know for some reason i felt so happy that someone thought i was like my dad..:)
My dad has always been a source of inspiration for me since i was a kid ..i know we all must have had " my dad is the greatest in the world " feeling when we were kids..but i still feel like that even now...he is a very hard working, diligent and pretty smart in wat he did....there were times when i was growing up i will ask him something and if he knew wat it was he will always explain it to me in a way i understand and if he did not know that he told me he will look it up and he always found an answer for me ...i remember the time when he woke me up at 3 in the morning to show me jupiter that was visible in the night sky i must have been about 10 years at that time ...... as i was standing in our back yard that october morning as dad went on talking about jupiter and how it is the biggest planet in the solar system and all its moons ...i felt so lucky to have him in my life..that feeling is so fresh in my mind..it was a very magical moment for me..after that we both had a glass of bournvita and we were talking about stars and space crafts and aliens...it was so perfect..
He was the one who taught me how to play badmiton and in summers always used to play a game with me in the evenings..at night we used to go for walks after dinner (i think we used to do that since i was about 10 years to till the last night i was in india) and he will talk to me about his youth ..ya tell me about things that happened that day at his work and i will talk to him about my things..sometimes we talk about religion, philisophy,politics..but i loved talking to him about science..as i grew up and went to college our discussions were sometimes my monologue on research and experiments and he used to tell me iam talking about stuff that he cant understand but still i will keep rambling on and on becos it felt good....i still do that whenever i call india...
He is not without faults..but he has been a good dad and a greats friend to me..so when someone told me that i was like him ..i felt like i have the noble prize bestowed to me :)
cheers
jeenu

I believe i can fly...

I was listening to this song by R.Kelly today after a long time , as i was listening to the song i realised how meaningul the lyrics were..it almost sounded to me like it is celebrating all the beautiful things in life and above all the power of regeneration of an induvidual.. and i knew definitely have to share it with the junta here. the song always gives me an image of Phoenix rising majestically rising from ashes..:D
so here it goes..:)

I believe i can fly

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it
if I just believe it, there's nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence, it can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me

If I can see it, then I can do it
if I just believe it, there's nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly.........

cheers
jeenu

It is Diwali :)

i woke up pretty excited today morning becos it is diwali..as i got i started thinking about all the things that has happened since last diwali and i realized there are so many things that i have to be thankful about..well for starters same time last year was not a a very nice time for me ..it was a very emotionally taxing time and sometimes i used to feel like i will never get out of that quagmire..but now here iam all happy and excited...it almost seems like watever happened last year was just a nightmare .....i got to be with my parents after an year, may be the best thing tht happened to me this year.. ( when u get garam garam home cooked meal for both lunch and dinner..it is heaven :D )..Professionally things are working out..moving a little slower than wat i would like but still moving.. i have some good friends in my life...come to think of it..life could not be better..
i have my share of troubles and issues but today morning as i was getting ready to go to work i realized that i have been blessed in every sense i have a loving family with friends who care about me and support me through my whims and fancies :D ..all my basic needs are taken care of ( food, shelter..) there are so many people who dont even have those basic things in life..so this Diwali..iam thankful for all the good things that god has blessed me with :)
happy diwali to everyone :D
cheers
jeenu

Seems like yesterday :D

Can't believe that an year has passed by...it just seems like yesterday ..i remember my excitement when i feasted my eyes on it...that instant i decided it has to be mine...i spent days patiently waiting to make my move and exactly the same day last year at 5.30Am much to my delight i discovered that inspiron 700m was at 50% off and i ordered it ..:D
sleek, slim and most important of all only 4 pounds so i can carry it whereever i want to go...Hmmm it was like a match made in heaven -a perfect laptop well within a grad students pay..wat more can i say other than i really love my cutie pie laptop :)
cheers
jeenu

Innocent years..:)

In any grad students life there are days when we weep for the fact that there are only 24 hrs becos the amount of work that u have to do just could not completed in that time and still u are expected to..( iam sure it is much more hectic in work place..but since i have never been anywhere near there..ppl need to humour me here :D) and days which come at the other end of the spectrum where the damn clock will not move at all ...well today for me was one of the latter days...i came in with all the work i have to accomplish..and the mass spec broke down and along with it all my work plans for the day..i was forced to "chill" today which i did..sending emails to ppl, chatting with friends , reading literatures..and all that jazz and still the time will not run...it almost seems like it has come to an stand still and since i cant leave my lab before 5 Pm- mandatory attendance here folks..clocking 9am-5pm is essential...but my work should not be limited to that time but designed around my experiments for the day..in my budda's memorable words..as a grad student u r expected to work a minmum of 60 hours a week....the stress being on the word "minimum"......anyways here i go digressing...So basically being jobless and chatting with our own ROS brought some funny chilhood incidents to my memory ..
one such incident happened when i was in 10 the standard i think ..may be in 9 the standard..i loved to read books and my cousin decided that iam grownup enough to read one of sidney sheldon books..if i remember correctly.."if tomorrow comes " was the book....to be honest after reading nancy drew and hardy boys ..that book was racy for me and some of concepts just went way over head..( but i guess my cousin wanted to educate me ..hehehehehe)...anyways i came across this word "virgin" i did not know what it meant at that time ..usually when i dont understand something ya something is bothering me i usually talk/ask my dad about it...So i went up and asked my dad "wat does a virgin mean??"
well i come from a very conservative south indian Brahmin family..and i could tell even at that time my dad was shocked..but he managed to say that any unmarried woman is called a virgin..and i was pretty satisfied with that explanation for a long time..:)
As i said the person i narrated this incident today thought it was funny and that i should blog about it..So here is one to days of innocence... :D

To all the fellow scorpions...

It is that time of the year when the zodiac sign scorpio is at the helm....so i decided to copy and paste some interesting facts that i found about this zodiac sign..:)
Even though i believe we make our own destiny..some of the traits commonly associated with a zodiac sign makes sense to me..as i can see some of them in me ( only the good ones..hehehehehe..)
cheers
jeenu
SCORPIO

TraditionalScorpio Traits

• Determined and forceful
• Emotional and intuitive
• Powerful and passionate
• Exciting and magnetic

On the dark side....

• Jealous and resentful
• Compulsive and obsessive
• Secretive and obstinate

Scorpio is the eighth Sign of the Zodiac, and you shouldn't take that lightly. You shouldn't take Scorpios lightly, either. Those born under this Sign are dead serious in their mission to learn about others. There's no fluff or chatter for Scorpios, either: these folks will zero in on the essential questions, gleaning the secrets that lie within. Scorpios concern themselves with beginnings and endings, and are unafraid of either; they also travel in a world which is black and white and has little use for gray. The curiosity of Scorpios is immeasurable, which may be why they are such adept investigators. These folks love to probe and know how to get to the bottom of things. The fact that they have a keen sense of intuition certainly helps.
It's the Scorpion which symbolizes Scorpios, and it's no accident. Much like the Scorpion would rather kill itself than be killed, those born under this Sign are the ones who are in ultimate control of their destiny. It is life on the Scorpion's terms, too, since these folks promote their agenda (they are quite the executives) and see to it that things go forward. Others may find this overbearing (it can be) and even self-destructive, but that's the beauty of the Scorpion: these folks have tremendous regenerative powers, much like the literal Scorpion can lose its tail and promptly grow a new one. Fearless Scorpions rarely lose, per se, they just keep on going, since they are stubborn and determined to succeed (this Scorpio trait is in keeping with the Fixed Quality assigned to this Sign). Scorpios work as hard as they do so they can someday sit back and feel satisfied with themselves. These folks are intense, passionate and filled with desire. They're also complex and secretive, so don't expect to get much out of them, lest they become suspicious and exit stage left. It's best not to bet against Scorpios, either, since these folks are surprisingly resourceful.

Scorpio is ruled by the Planets Mars and Pluto. Mars was the God of War in ancient Roman mythology and is the first (and most ancient) ruler of Scorpio. When Pluto was discovered in the 20th century, it was also assigned to this Sign. Pluto was known as the God of the Underworld in ancient Roman times, so when coupled with Mars, expect some intense energy to head toward Scorpions here on Earth. This planetary combo makes for people who are motivated, penetrating and aware. Scorpions don't miss much, since they are highly attuned to the vibrations of others. They are intuitive, probing and very focused on knowing who's who and what's what. Scorpions can lose their temper (and even become vengeful) when someone gets in their way, so it's best to give them plenty of room. Remember, they're unafraid, and a loss today simply means an opportunity for victory tomorrow.
The Element associated with Scorpio is Water. As opposed to the 'roiling seas' seen in other Water Signs, a better motto for Scorpions would be 'still waters run deep.' Those born under this Sign are as emotional as their waterborne brethren, it's just that they're not as likely to show it. The Scorpio's emotions are repressed, kept under cover. Again, secrets to be used another day. That said, be aware that these folks are clever, perceptive and always in the mix. Their ability to see into things can sometimes be a curse for Scorpions, however, since they can take an insignificant matter and turn it into a huge slight. Beware the Scorpion who feels crossed! These folks can turn vindictive in no time flat. Luckily, once Scorpions catch their breath, they will return to their usual determined and loyal (albeit strong-willed) ways. Finally, while Scorpions aren't above some subtle manipulation to get what they want, they'd much rather take a scientific, even mystical path. The Scorpio-born are powerful and passionate, qualities which serve them well, as long as they don't let them deteriorate into self-indulgence or compulsion.

Scorpios love competition in both work and play, which is why they'll air it out in sports and games. Extreme sports are right up the Scorpion's alley, as is most anything which will test their mettle. They've got to have an adversary, since it makes the game that much more fun. The Scorpion's colors? Powerful red and serious black. When it comes to love, though, Scorpions soften up a bit and are caring and devoted with their lovers, even if they do hold on a bit tight. Scorpions are also lusty in the extreme (how else?), so they need to be mindful of their reproductive organs.
The great strength of the Scorpio-born is in their determination, passion and motivation. Scorpions don't know the word quit, which is why they usually get the job done. A powerhouse? Like no other

Compatible Zodiac Signs for Scorpio
Capricorn
Pisces
Cancer
Virgo

Incompatible Zodiac Signs for Scorpio
Sagittarius
Aquarius
Aries
Gemini
Leo
Libra

Variable Zodiac Signs for Scoria
Scorpio
Taurus

On radio today morning...

As I was getting ready today morning I was listening to this radio show" valentine in the morning" on Hot 101.9 FM..It usually plays some new hit peppy songs in the morning with some good natured fun going on between the presenters of the show :)... But today a girl Jaime( I think that was her name ) calls up and tells these guys on the show that she has been dating some guy for 6 months and he has asked her to move in with him..But she has a feeling that he is hiding something from her and she wants to check on him..
so Valentine pretends to be this guy calling from a Florist shop and tells this girls boyfriend(BF from now on..too lazy to type ..:D) that they are doing a promotion and his name got picked off some database and now he can send free 2 dozen red roses any person of his choice..and this dude names some other girl and asks them to send the flowers there...The girl Jaime was listening to this conversation all along.... and the minute the dude says the name and address of this other girl..Valentine steps in and says that he is on a radio show and that he has been busted and all..
The girl as u can imagine was very upset and she yelled at this guy for being unfaithful and this guy actually has the audacity to say that u have guys working with u and u are close to this Gay friend of yours..( which makes no sense to me why this guys should be jealous of a gay guy ...)...
The guy then hangs up the phone ..and this girl is crying on the phone...It seems to me like as much as she wanted to check on this guy she could not accept the fact that this guy was cheating on her..( even though in all fairness I think a guy sending some girl flowers do not qualify as absolute proof of cheating..still I think the girl needs to talk to his guy before making any major decisions...just my opinion)
After listening to this show..I started thinking about the concept of "washing your dirty linen in public"...I feel that the girl should have confronted the guy directly instead of comming on to a radio show ..for that matter there are lot of television"reality shows" that do this kind of thing too....I wonder wat motivates people to open their lives for everyone to see and comment on....
Also, once u have decided to check on your patner or someone..u need to be prepared for any consequences..becos there is a good probability that answer can be either one.....
so wat does the Junta here think about this...???
jeenu.

Don't quit

My sister gave me this poster about 2 years back when things were not working out so great for me personally as well as professionally..i dont know who wrote this poem ..but whenever i have been down reading it has always made me look on the positive side of things..:)
so here's the poem
Don't quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you are travelling seems all uphill,
when you are feeling low and the stress is high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when worries are getting you down a bit,
rest if you must but dont ever quit.

Success if failure turned inside out,
a silver lining in the clouds of doubt,
you never can tell how close you are-
it may be near when it seems so far,
so trust in you when you are hardest hit...
its when things go wrong that you must not quit..:)
-anonymous

iam just quoting this poem from my memory so i might have missed something or have rephrased a bit..but throughout the poem i see the beauty of not giving up on your dreams...
and working hard for it..

cheers
jeenu

Of crying collegues...

I usually have no reason to like monday mornings..for one it means that i have to wait 5 more days for the weekend..which actually for me means only 6-8 hours of lab work that day and may be a couple of delicious hours in the morning to sleep.Hmmmmmmm.....that is perhaps the best part able to sleep in till 9 in the morning...well here i go digressing..so back to the topic..the other reason i hate mondays is becos of the Group meetings that are only for 2 hours but after it gets over i feel so tired and drained..mainly becos of the petty politics in the lab..:(
it was not always like this in our group but these days everyone seems to get on everyones nerves and my collegues all seem like a 5 year petulant kids who want everything their way...
so i got a new sonicator and some nice lab toys for myself after 3 years of struggling on things that are hopelessly beyond redemption..i decided that is it ..marched myself in to my budda's office ( My Boss :D ) and told him i need to buy pipette sets and a new sonicator..if u think i got in trouble with my budda u guys were wrong..he did not even say a peep he just nodded and said order them....:)
I did and all my new toys came in ..i was so happy and that is when it started...my lab is a good international mix.. we have a dilligent , smart desi..that is me..a chinki collegue, a french post doc, a kiwi, a jamaican and not to mention my budda is an australian....and some american collegues and most of the graduate students are girls and their lies the problem... my american collegue C is an year senior to me and she is like this spoiled brat who has to have watever she wants...
well she wanted to use my sonicator ...just for the heck of it and for no particular reason...but i ordered it for a specfic purpose and someone else using it might contaminate it....she literally threw a hissy fit...all this happened last week..
today i was supposed to present in the group meeting and after my presentations ppl were allowed to ask questions and she was really making some irritating remarks saying this assumption of mine is faulty and presentation was long..and blah..blah...blah...
so my budda finally asked her wat her problem was and then she burst in to tears right there in the group meeting and said that she needs the sonicator to dissolve her compound and that iam not allowing her to do so....
my boss looked at me and i told him iam using it for a specific thing and the reason i said she cant use it is becos watever i have in their might kill her stuff..well she was crying and so my boss was like let her use it...
i felt so mad....may be i need to throw a hissy fit to get things done too and may be cry...:(
but i can never do that in front of others.. may be its about time i learnt that too becos this collegue of mine seems to get watever she wants this way...
it is so depressing...:(
jeenu

Garba sans saree experience ..:)

As the title suggests i decided to go in a nice sime salwar suit becos i wanted to dance a lot..being from south india the only garbas i have been are here in US...:) this is probably the 4th garba iam attending and for the last three i have never even considered the option of wearing a saree...even though i would love to flaunt it..(Aria i do that all the time in front of my mirror:D..my roomie says that iam still not out of that kintergarden phase..)..N was the one who started this idea and finally N and S dressed up in saree ..they looked very pretty too :)
But the actual garba was a real bummer..becos we were all so engrossed in getting dressed..we were very late and we missed the Garba raas..made it just in time for dandiya lessons..since i had been to 3 Garbas before this it was no problem for me to master it and actually N and S danced pretty well too without their saree falling apart..iam so gonna go in saree for next garba..anyways back to the anticlimatic evening the beat for dandiya was so slow that i almost fell asleep..at one point i expected the next dandiya song to be "waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam.."..lol
but it was fun with N, S and ofcourse Mr.A was there :)
i danced a lot with uncles and aunties this time actually something that i have never done in the last three and it was fun..other than one uncle repeatedly hitting my fingers with the dandiya stick every single time i got to dance with him.....:D
but all in all i missed the fun i had in last 3 garbas where i would dance with abandon ..iam usually so tired and hungry at the end of it that we all go out eat something at like 1 am and then sleep for like 12 hours after that :)...the garba event got over at 11 with aarti and here also i was surprised when instead of " jai jagadish hare.." they started some other song..everyone was so quite during aarti as no one knew how to sing that song....
i dont know why i felt so cheated yesterday....hopefully next garba can recreate the magic of first garba for me ..
cheers
jeenu

Garba tonite :D

i just cant wait for the last couple of hours of the work day to roll out so i can go to garba..i still have not decided whether i should wear a salwar ya saree...me and N spent all yesterday night getting ready for garba.:) she wanted to wear saree i cant just imagine playing dandiya in saree..always had this morbid fear of me stepping on my saree pleats and it comming undone ..:)
well 6 more hours to go before garba starts....:)
jeenu:)

Last weekend..:)

i had a good surprise last weekend when D a good friend of mine just dropped in at 3 am saturday morning..:)
i was surprised as well as touched he drove all the way from rochester NY to Virginia non stop for 11 hours..all becos when i talked to him on wednesday i was pretty upset about things at work....i was touched and it turned out to be a great weekend.... we went to mandir on sunday and i attended my first durga pooja..it was a really nice experienceand going to mandir always calms me down and helps me to focus which is precisely what it did :)....he left early monday morning..
but the fact that he came to just cheer me up made me feel good ...i am just grateful to have such a good friend and i wish in future i can do the same for him :)
cheers
jeenu

Navaratri days :)

Navaratri the word brings to my memory probably the best season of the year ..not only becos it is a usually the time of my quaterly holidays in school..becos after that i know diwali will be right around the corner and "karthigai" on which my birthday falls comes next...During navaratri my aunts and my cousins also come over to our place to be with us and that turns our quiet home in to some nice "chatram"( big halls ) as my thatha ( Grand pa) used to call it and not very fondly either becos he is always given the responsibility of taking care of the kids..there was me , my sister, cousins S and B from our first aunt and cousin V from the second aunt..myself, B and V were in same age group and were known to drive any sane person insane with out antics...During navaratri we three usually got dressed up in the evenings to go and see" gollu bommai" (display of mud dolls for the duration of navaratri) in everyones house in our area and to invite others to see our "gollu" in our house .Main purpose of these visits however is to get some delicious "sundals" ..we sometimes never even waited till we came home to eat sundals..we just finished it all on the way and by the end of navaratri season all there of us visited Dr. ranjit for aliments ranging from Stomach aches to food poisoining ..lolOne such memorable Gollu visit happened when i was in standard 7 th..cricket set was the new mud doll set introduced in the market and only Rani aunty's son had gone to city and gotten it..so we all went to her place to see the set and B was the most eager beaver among us three and when we went there B went straight to look at the set and aunty then went to get us some snacks... then B told me that the bowlers action is not right and decided to set it right...and he broke the doll...me ,V and B were so scared becos ppl consider it very inauspicious to break mud dolls especially one on display..so we did that one logical thing that kids do after breaking things..we all just ran away from that house..hehehehehe...on the way home we three decided to keep it quiet and no to tell anyone..but my mom could clearly see that something was wrong..so by the end of that night she knew wat was wrong and next day she made us go to rani auntys house next day and apologise..but aunty was very nice and she said that we were kids so it is ok...anyways after that incident the cricket set lost its charm and we tried to avoid rani auntys house as much as we can... :)
cheers
jeenu

PS one more to the soppy blog :D

E and me :)

I woke up in the middle of night yesterday to the "Hungarian dance tune"( my cell phone ring tone) I was in my dream land and was pulled rudely from there ..."sigh"..It was E calling and I was not in a great mood to be woken up in the middle of the night..and I said "Hello"
then E said " Hello" we played the back and forth hello couple of more times and then I was at my wits end and as nicely as possible I asked him if that is all our conversation for night is gonna be ...becos like any sane person who has to get to work in the morning by 8 I need my 7 hours of beauty sleep... He then realized that he is three hours behind me and apologized and I felt bad for talking to him like that so I said it is ok( I always try to accommodate for E ) and we just started talking about the first time he called me in US ..That was also in the middle of night for me ...So on and so forth...Needless to say I did not come in to work at 8 today morning :)
Anyways E is the third guy in the group of eight ..and he is in Seattle ...I dont actually remember the first time I met E but he says that I came to his college during undergrad for some cultural festival and that he and another guy were our guide there ....I don't have a clue to that incident ever..
Anyways the time I met E in the masters was in our class room...After the college had started out for couple of days..We had that really boring quantum chemistry class and it usually was after lunch and the prof teaches the class using a projector so the windows were shut and no light...iam sure half the junta here can imagine the consequence of such sequence of events...most of us doze off...other then than weird few who actually seem to understand the class...E was sitting in the first row I think and suddenly in the middle of the class Prof M looks at him and asks E are u feeling sleepy and that guy actually says yes and the prof asked him if he wants to wash his face and come and E actually sat there thinking about it and after a min said ok and left the class and he came back 20 mins later just in time for the class to get over...I found that incident to be funny..
anyways E and V ( the guy) were great friends so whenever V used to come and talk to me ya visit me in the hostel E used to tag along...He was very shy person and was not that communicative at all...when V is around he can tolerate the company of gals but in absence of V he gets pretty uneasy...So he just runs away from there ..and I mean it literally...there were discussions in the hostel between the girls in our class as to what this guy will do if we all corner him in the third floor and A always said he probably will jump off from the building if he cant reach the stairs...
anyways that was how he was in first two semesters..and then one day V asked me to come to canteen with him for tea and along with V and E also tagged along....We started talking about movies and books and stuff and I was amazed at how much E knew all about it..He just could not stop talking and after 3 hours ..I knew that we will great friends......That was the day he started talking and I just could not get him to stop till now ...hehehehehehe...
I learnt about lot of things that have happened to him and the reason why he is so painful shy and such an introvert...more l learnt more I respected the guy....I could sometimes see in the way he talks all the emotional scars there...and how he tries to make the best of what he has....all in all he is a great friend of mine and I hope that his future will make up for all his losses in the past ....
cheers
jeenu

Jeenu's Friends-2

Now that I have started off with V the guy..I think I should talk about V the girl :)
I still remember the night I met V and A...It was the night my parents have dropped me off in the hostel ( this is in Masters) and after the initial setting up of things..I had nothing to do and was feeling kinda of home sick that was probably the first night that I had spent outside the house without either of my parents...anyways there I was walking in to Mess hall for dinner and A looked up at me from her table and smiled..since I did not know anyone I walk up to A and sat there with my plate and she asked me if I was J ..I was so surprised ( also for an instant thought I was popular ..hehehehehe) that she knew my name but I found out later that she just looked up at the ppl who have joined chem and are going to stay in the hostel...So she kinda figured since I was in the old wing of the hostel at that time that I must be so and so......:))
As I was chitchatting with A we saw a girl run in to the mess hall and she looked pretty scared and to our amusement we saw her being chased by our mess cat with its family of kittens..It was so funny the way they kept chasing her from table to table and finally she landed up in ours..A vaguely knew V and she introduced us but I think V was trying her level best to avoid the cute kitties :))
I then became her" knight in shining armour" when I shooed away the cats..She still some times calls me that when ever we talk about her cat rescue...
the cats always chased V whenever she entered the mess hall and it had led to some hilarious moments for us over the time we stayed in our hostel.
that night A. V and me we talked about everything and anything under sun till 2 am in my hostel room and I think that was the trend through out our hostel stay :)
ofcourse we were later joined by N and four of us were inseparable since then.. even though we go to different schools all over the US we still are as close to each other as we were in hostel :)
V and N are gonna get married this feb iam hoping to go to India to visit them....
so here is to the awesome four of 211( that was how ppl called us in the hostel and the No is my room number in hostel )
cheers
jeenu :)

Jeenu's Friends

Since yesterday night i have been thinking about my friends from india..i was looking through some of the old photos from "singhara chennai" ..:)
so decided to blog about some of my good buddies... we were a gang of 8 and the first one iam gonna blog abt is V
i have known V for almost 9 years now..we did our undergrad together in MCC and the first time i met him in the college i got a feeling that he is a" Rowdy" and i was also opinionated enough to voice that out to ppl in my class and eventually V to came know about it ..after that he always made sure he acted like one in front of me even now he kids me about it all the time:)...one thing that really caught my attention was his sense of humour..he can make any one laugh..even our Grumpy maths ma'am found him very funny and was always partial to him...
The first that we had a good arguement and probably the first time i talked to him for more than 5 mins :) was after a maths class where he got me in to trouble ..he as usual was making some really funny comments in the back rows and i unfortunately was sitting right before him..his sense of timing was so good i could not help but laugh at his antics in the back seat and our Ma'am saw me giggling away and in front of entire class chastened me for not paying attention and to my amazement pointed to V right behind me as said that i must pay more attention to class like him.. i was so mad that at the end of the class i just screamed bloody murder at him...probably the first time i has seen him speechless too...
he came and apologized next day but i was still mad and continued to ignore that dude..until we got in to the same college for our Masters program..i had to move in to hostel for that and i was pretty home sick most of the times..( sometimes just plainly sick from the hostel food :D )
i guess he was feeling that too and we just kinda become buddies.. he was the best friend that i could have asked for..there were times when i was very upset he always found a way to make me laugh...always there for me when i needed a friend...i still remember the times when i will be busy working late and night and dying of hunger and he will just come over to my lab with hot samosa's...or just the times i used to make fun of rajnikant becos it plainly irked him:)
the impromptu trips to besant nagar beach..."Sigh" pattani sundal on the beach....:)
V also got in to an university in the east coast and we are in constant touch with each other...he also came and visited me this may..and it was fun..with him as with couple of my old friends whenever we all talk or together it seems like we are in a time capsule ..not matter how long it has been we have not called each other..just a Hi seems to be enough to realise how close we are all together..:)
to my buddies
cheers
jeenu

Enlightened soul.....???

N was in town for this weekend and as usual we all went to our favourite mexican place for lunch...and we were talking about religion , philosophy and spirituality..one of those days when u r in mood for the deep stuff and after the last week..i was in a very deep, dark mood..
we started talking about what is the significance of religion..the topic shifted to the fundamental principles of "sanadhana dharma" and what makes u a "Enlightened soul"...My roomie S feels that discipline and strict following of her religious scriptures will ultimately lead u to become a realised soul..or the least a spiritual person..
somehow i feel that religion is not all about discipline and scriptures..they are like guiding light and more "enlightened" a person is less will they be bound to the scriptures and more free will be their thoughts...and best way is to experience life and to understand it in all its vibrant colours, smell, taste and texture....
so wat do u guys out there think.....how would u define an enlightened soul???

Yesterday nite...

It was one of the fun nights that i have had in a long time ...one of my friends S decided to surprise us all with a visit and she came to town for a day.
she called me at about 7 yesterday evening and asked me if i want to go out for dinner with her and N.
Never a one to say no to free food i said yes before she even completed the sentence :D
She came to my place at 9 PM and after the initial guppe shuppe( read Gossip on who is going out with who in town and who is getting hitched to who ...;) ) we three set out to have dinner ... on the way we realised that we have not actually decided on the place to eat....so then began an half hour discussion of where to eat i was not in for italian... S did not want mexican and N was like i only want some salad and juice ( she finally ate 2 burgers :P) finally we decided on Thai food and set out the decent Thai establishment in Town decent being a pretty subjective word here :)
By the time we started driving again it was almost 9.50 am and to our misfortune i actually could not remember the exact place of the restaurant and we went to all the nook and corner and by the time we reached there they had closed for the day :(
S was so hungry we could hear her tummy grumbling...so we went from there to italian , mexican and Desi restaurants in town ...everything was closed and finally we all settled for a burger in burger king ...lol...the entire situation looked so funny and inspite of out grumbling tummy we had a blast driving from this end of town to that end ...talking about all the fun things we all did together there :)
we had a great time and to top it all we started singing the song " girls just wanna have fun.." in burger king and guys there joined in the song..it was a blast...after burger king we all went to N's place and were talking before we all realised it was 7 am today morning and i just took shower and came to work...somehow i dont feel tired at all today :) just have this feeling of happy content ...everything seems to be so bright and alive for me today and all it took was some bad sense of direction and a out of key song sung with some great friends...:)
oh here comes my Boss gtg
cheers
jeenu

Hello

hi
decided to post my blogs here :)
seems like sulls is gonna be down for long ...:(
jeenu