Chennai 600086

Madras week celebrations are on in full swing at the home town. It is in times like this that I miss being there the most. To mark the occasion I am going to name the things I love about the city of my heart!

1. 600086- For home, school, Gangotree, Joy Shop,”sighting”, Eashwari library, playing hide and seek in the streets, Krishnar Kovil pongal in Margazhi, for being the center of “my” city and and my world! However much Madras is expanding, I always think I live in the center of the city! Mylapore and T.Nagar are a short ride away, the beach is a 15 minute drive, Nungambakkam is almost next door and ofcourse Sathyam Cinemas is a stone’s throw away!

2. My black and yellow chauffeur driven limos! With those wonderful creations of mankind, anything was only a drive away Haggling with them, walking away from one, only for them to come rushing behind you to catch up with you, walking away from the really arrogant ones, looking for “swami padams” in the autos before getting into one late in the night- ah those cheap (well not really) thrills of life!

3. Marina Beach - For the awesome memories : of 15 kids catching a bus at 6:30 in the morning to go play catch at the beach, of thenga manga sundal and pineapple with masala podi, of shooting balloons, of driving there late in the night in the middle of a cyclone, of enthu girls who drove there early in the morning to watch the fishermen after a night full of sleepover confessions, of going there every single day in the eight semester for apparently getting over my tsunami fear (that is what I told my mom!), of a plan made in the middle of the night on a conference call to meet there early the next morning, of meeting friends after two years to realize that somethings stay the same forever!

4. ECR : The beachhouses, the drives, the memories, the plans, the schemes and the promises of staying together forever!

5. For the food.

6. For the kutcheris with perimma, dance programs with D and Uthu, for the canteen food at the Academy and for Margazhi!

7. For the wonderful Chennai tamizh and engineering college lingo. If you don’t get it : Free a vidu!

8. For Kollywood, Super Star and other geniuses like Mani Ratnam, Rahman, Kamal, IR, Shankar..

9. For being THE home where the heart lies!

I could go on forever! But I like the number 9…So!

1k and raga of the week!

Blog stats tells me there have been 1001(my paati will be happy) visitors to my blog so far! It might not be a big number for a blog that is about 4 months old now. But frankly I wasn’t expecting to get that many eyeballs, as I rarely leave comments in blogs and almost never as Dandilsa. And it’s not like I write brilliant stuff for the url to spread by word of mouth. So thanks Subbu and Sid. Glad you guys kept the promise and opened my webpage 10 times a day…Lol! Kidding..People, even if you came here looking for “puliotharai dishes” and went back disappointed: thanks! If not anything else, it is but motivation for me to write more sensibly and frequently! I have only 30-odd comments but I won’t be a hypocrite and ask people to de-lurk (hint hint)

My friend Uts and I are doing a raga a week exercise where we listen to one raga all week-RTPs, all possible krithis and almost everything that pops up on searching for the raga on sangeethapriya. This will hopefully make me “the maami with the discerning ear” I soooo long to be! I have been maintaining a notebook to record the songs and ragas I’m covering. But I realised might as well put it down here-good for the environment and the blog :P. I did a whole week of Kalyani last week. By the end of the week I could recognise a Kalyani from miles away (Wishful thinking!). This week’s Bhairavi- a raga that both my favorite singers - Sanjay and TMK, sing with superb elan! Will keep you posted (pun intended)!

100 years of Anne!

A discussion with a cousin about her daughter’s literary pursuits, led me into discovering that we are celebrating 100 years of Anne this year! I don’t know about you, but Anne of Green Gables was one of the most defining books in my reading. Till a lovely friend of my mother’s gifted me the book, my reading was mostly restricted to Enid Blyton and her lovely school and detective series. The love for books, and the passion for reading that I enjoy now- I will attribute it all to this book! The story isn’t all that unique or brilliant. But Montgomery’s lovely  poetic prose and the wonderful window that she opened into the enchanting Prince Edward Island, weaved magic into the lives of millions of tweens around the world like me! Anne is one of the most lovable heroines of all time classic literature. She was scatterbrained, wasn’t considered pretty (of course she had her nose for consolation!) and had a childhood devoid of any real love or luxury. Girls all over, I am sure, could relate to her. The fantasy and imagination she weaves into her life was inspiring. The books proves the power of imagination and friendship. PE island as Montgomery describes it, was my favorite retreat as a kid. The lake of shining waters, Cordelia, Mrs.Rachel Lynde, puff sleeves, Matthew, Gilbert (I had a huge kid crush on him), sensible Diana and Anne of course! You can’t help but fall in love with the characters and Avonlea. I made my parents and thatha ,between them, buy me every sequel to the book at the annual book fair in St.Ebbas school. The sequels were just as brilliant and Anne of Ingleside is a personal favorite. I also enjoyed the set of “Chronicles of Avonlea” books ,which are of course meant for older kids, with some very moving tales along with a few other hilarious stories. The Anne books continue to be a favorite retreat. Even during my engineering days I would re-read the entire series during every single semester exam- reading them during meals and breaks. I had to leave my collection at home when I came to the US. But thanks to Gutenberg, I continue to visit my favorite hideout ever! L M Montgomery and Jayanthi Aunty thanks for Anne! All you “kindred” spirits from the race that knows Joseph, please check this out.

Presentations, Planes and Plantations!

I haven’t written in a while. I almost had to re-acquaint myself with my blog. What with WordPress completely changing the look of my dashboard! Somehow the post is not writing itself like it usually does. It’s not even a lack of things to talk about! I had been away at New Orleans for a conference. One hell of a trip I say! Being my first time at a national conference, the nerves and fear of ignominy almost suffocated me. But I am proud to say I did a decent job and again received some very rare and precious praise from the Big Boss But by the end of the week, that wasn’t what the trip was about at all. The presentations and the grilling that followed were long forgotten. What remained were the memories of the scandalous Bourbon street, the enchanting French Quarter, the haunting St.Louis Cathedral, mouth wateringly delicious Beignet aka “ben yays!” and of course our 200 m speed dash on the tarmac in Reagan, D.C. Blessed American Airlines canceled and rescheduled our itinerary three times giving us a gladly welcomed extra day at New Orleans. We obviously took full advantage of it and visited a lovely oak lined Plantation with all the 18th and 19th century remnants still wonderfully preserved. This trip was almost a pilgrimage for a Gone with the wind devout like me. Well it was a sugar plantation instead of cotton but I’m not complaining. The creole stuff described in the book, I definitely saw! So after several “aviatory” adventures I came back home with a load of delicious Praline, an enchanting Mardi Gras mask and a satisfied heart. And since pictures will say it a thousand times better than I ever could, I will stop here and let them do the talking.

Life in bullet points

These are random jottings from my life that breezed past while I was busy writing proposals!

• Watched Djokovic beat Nadal and Fedrer lose on the same day in the Pacific Life Open - my kinda day!
• Saw Hrithik Roshan in a Sony Ericsson commercial on TV here. Yay to that!
• I am making progress in my resolution to be “greener”. Refused plastic bags in stores and did laundry in cold water. Now if only I can get into recycling at home! ( I do it diligently with my stuff in school. But somehow with no recycling centers close by at home the resolve gives into laziness.)
• I have been ODing on Khamas the past 3 days. Fell in love with Dr. S. Ramanathan’s voice watching this youtube video. My first encounter with his voice and I simply love the “twang” in his voice! I of course then hunted for more of him and found a mine in good old sangeethapriya. (And also found fodder for the trivia hunting me. I knew he was Sowmya and Unni’s guru. But he also happens to be Geetha Bennet’s father and can be linked as a fifth generation descendant to all three of holy trinity of carnatic music!) I found more Khamas in the form of a melting RTP by TN Seshagopalan. And to keep pace with the mood Mathey from Morning Raaga (I can’t find any other version of this varnam) and M.S’s Dholayam have been added to the listening loop. And this has led to a non-stop humming of saamba sivayanavera .
• I am currently reading Sophie’s World and am thoroughly enjoying.
• And the absolute best thing that happened to me was a word of praise from my advisor (on reading my proposals) when she told me she was “very pleased with the quality” of my writing

The particle nature of love!

Friday was a day of adrenalin rushes for me. The whole day at school was spent in a frenzy of anticipation and impatience. By 3 I had given up on attempting to get any work done. Why you ask me..There was a Sikkil Gurucharan concert in town that evening and being an arrrrrdent fan , I had bulldozed S into driving me some 30 mins away from campus for it. To be fair to him he also showed some mild interest in wanting to attend My friend U and I had fervently “sited” SGC all through our college years. I love his voice and from what little I know of Carnatic music I think he is very good! So back to story..It had been almost 10 months since I heard a kutcheri of the live variety and not something off a CD or Youtube. So obviously I was thrilled to bits about sinking myself in the bliss that is SGC’s music. By 5:30 I completely gave up on work and left to spruce up for the concert. On reaching home I found a box from USPS outside my house.

The moment I registered what it was I immediately made the correlation to the stuff my mom had sent me through Kindu. I definitely wasn’t expecting it that evening considering Kindu’s promptness in mailing stuff. To be fair to her, I broke her record mailing things out the last time I came back from India. The thrill that I felt with the realisation of what was inside made me behave like a five year old. I rushed inside and immediately grabbed a pair of scissors and started ripping the box apart. I was like a kid let loose in candy land. Inside were several thoughtful, wonderful and I must say tatseful gifts. I got a lovely puff sleeved cotton blouse in skyblue from Cotton World. Thanks Perima and Kindu! My mom had also sent me four very simple yet chic tops/shirts for summer use. But the best of the loot was a pretty pretty handbag in jute with ethnic prints in brick red. Thanks Amma! I spent the rest of the evening declaring “my mom is so cool” to S and R who accompanied me to the concert. The love with which my family thoughtfully sent me gifts sent me to euphoria. Sure I bugged my mom to send me a “surprise”. But the willingness with which she complied is sweet. I went to the concert that day in my nice moss green silk kurti (a gift from my athai in a previous package!), my funky target chappals and carrying my new jute bag. I don’t consider myself too much of a materialistic person. In fact my mother claims it is very easy to please me. More than the gifts, The thought behind it was more important for me. I spent the rest of the evening floating a few inches above ground level buoyed by all the love and wonderful music that god has directed towards me!

P.S The concert was wonderful and I hope to make a separate post of it soon. I’m currently drowned with work in preparation for a conference presentation next month and a couple of proposal deadlines next week. (Yes I clearly must be writing them now instead of blogging but escapism is my biggest sin !).

P.P.S The title needs explaining. The particle nature of love - It comes in packets from home

Kindly excuse if you find the mokkai unbearable

Shuffle

This is a Tag that I saw in this nice blog I read. It looked very interesting and since I had said player, an infrequently updated blog and a grad student’s “spare” time at hand I decide to tag myself.(No one tags me. So I am shameless like that!)

Rules:

1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Inni Naanum Naan Illai– Hey nee romba azhaga irukka

In an obscure way I think it makes sense..illa?

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
azhage azhagu - Rajapaarvai

Perfectly fit the bill!!!!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Kajra re - Bunty aur babli

Huh???

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Socho ki Jheelon ka sheher - Mission Kashmir

Very apt I must say!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Ek lo ek muft - Guru

LOL

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Sri saraswathi - Maharajapuram Santhanam

Again, Huh???

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Thoongadha vizhigal - Agni Nakshatram

WTF!
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Madurai Veeran - Dhool

ROTFL..and what the hell is that doing in my Ipod!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Edhaya Gathi yenakku - Chalanattai - Bombay Jayashri

Spookily Perfect!

WHAT IS 2+2?
Paartha mudhal naale – Vettaiyadu Vilayadu

Nonsense!!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Mangalyam - Alaipayuthe

Very very spooky! We used to sing this song together all the time on our way to Chemistry class!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Theepidikka - Arinthum Ariyamalum
hmmmm

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
September Maadham - Alaipayuthe

Now that I think about it mmmm…….
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Muruganin Maru peyar azhagu - Bombay Jayashri

Murugan devotee??
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Kuchi kuchi rakkama - Bombay

Okay!

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Hari bhajan bina sukha shanti nahi - Sundaram Bhajan group

I am an enlightened soul!

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Kannamoochi yenada - Kandukonden-2-Yesudas version

I have to dance at my wedding?

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Pirava Varam tharai - Latangi - Madirakshi

mmmm…Poignant!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Selai Kattum pennukoru vasam - Kodi Parakkuthu

Tying Sarees?? Smelling things?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Minsara Poove - Padayappa

Really?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Rang de Basanti - Rang de Basanti

Yes! They bring colour in to my life!

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Dastan-e-Om shanti Om - OSO

Dastan-e-Nandita Fits!

I landed with either spookily right answers or gibberish! But this tag was a blast!

 Edited to add : I Tag Mahathi!

The stomach’s nostalgia

I have a lot of passions. But food, friends and Madras are definitely up there in the list. Living away from home has made me realize how much these mean to me. I’m a complete foodie. I love to eat and experiment all kinds of food. I am also a glutton and so don’t have too much of a connoisseur’s discerning palate. But I love my food, my friends and “namma madras” and here is how they all come together. From my stomach and heart, onto this blog!

Gangotree : This is THE place. Numero Uno on my list definitely. A small bite of their pani puri and I have arrived home! I kind of grew up with this place. From late night ice creams with perippa, to trips with the “third street gang!”(after a lot of begging and pleading to convince parents), to the coke cards and “New Gangotree”, saturday stops with school friends, the 35 college bus gang, the chemie gang-I have memories at this place at every phase of my life. All visiting relatives get taken there; take them once and they demand to go there everytime! It of course helps that I live 2 streets away from G3.Whenever amma sensed an about to explode tantrum on upma days,G3 always came to the rescue. They make the world’s best pani puri. The bhel puri and Tawa tikki are other personal favorites. And ofcourse the mouth watering Dhokla and the yummmmmmm kalakhand and other drool worthy bengali sweets. To me Gangotree is gastronomical heaven! I’ve tasted the “oh so famous” chaat in bombay and also the gol guppas in Delhi. But IMO Gangotree kicks butt!

College “family” hangouts: The golden era of my life so far definitely began somewhere late 6th semester of Engineering. That was when THE GANG evolved. From a bunch of friend’s friends who hung out together we became a wonderfully knit group of people who knew everything (i mean EVERYTHING!) about the others and then CHOSE to be friends and practically lived like a family. Every moment away from home and classes was spent together or scheming and “making the plan!”. I will never make friends like that again and the carefree and fantastic times together will be some of my most cherished memories. There are a lot of food “spots” that we frequented and those are extra special to me. Kai yendhi bhavan outside Brilliant Tutorials- for the uninitiated, it is a road side van type place serving the most scrumptious dosas, idlis and biryani. You will see Sonatas and Astras and Accords vying for parking space aroung this eatery. The food is cheap yet delicious. Healthy? I don’t know..They do sell Aquafina though :P. As college students we were always short for money especially to finance our rather extravagant outings. So kaiyendhi was the pit stop for stomach fill up before we went on elsewhere.The nei podi dosa there is to kill for. Close to kaiyendhi is RADO (right across the road from Holy Angels school) a juice bar that serves the best apple milkshake ever! There is also Buharis on East coast road which has amazing dhaba type food. A superb Panner Butter masala. Ambur Biryani (in T.Nagar? I donno. Amber always called to get it delivered) home delivered amazing biryani and curd rice. Of course there was also Galloping Gooseberries on Greams road for amazing Lasagna and sandwiches, Cascade in Nungambakkam for great Chinese, the delicious Tapas at Zaras…..

Great Kabab Factory: This is my Favorite restaurant in Madras! It is in the Radisson on Airport road. Preset menus. A superb variety of delicious kababs, mouth watering dal and salt lassi. They have a wonderful cake too. We always announced someone’s birthday when we went there to get a on the house cake!

Mainland China : Delicious chinese food. Their crackling spinach and pickled cucumbers are my favorite. Love the fried ice cream and they make delicious juice too. I think of D and her parents who introduced me to this restaurant along with several other awesome places.( including Little Italy which makes the best thin crust Pizza!) D’s dad and family in general are my “foodie” gurus. They are a wonderful family who take such pleasure in hosting people and also exploring all kinds of food. They always made me feel like one of them and I love them!

Eden : The one in Besant Nagar used to be a family favorite. Birthday and anniversary dinners. I remember going there on getting my 12th board results and my 20th birthday (the last one in India). The baked corn and cottage cheese is the one I always go for. They also have a heavenly aloo dish called aloo chutneywala or something. And of course their “Last time I saw my waist” dessert.

Karpagambal Mess : Mylapore and Vallishwarar koil always brings memories of my maternal side of the family. The adai avial and badam halwa in Karpagambal mess are beyond description. The place doesn’t have much of an ambience but makes up for it twice over with its amazing Tam Bram culinary delights.

McRennet : I love their Black forest cakes and Veg puffs. And who can forget the yumm Japanese cakes. M (the bestest bus partner :D)and other people on the bus always bugged Nedu sir to make the stop. Getting the bus driver to stop at the Poonamalee McRennet and scrounging enough money to buy the goodies; sometimes even trying to get Nedu to treat us. The joy of biting into a delicious cake after a long day at college and half of the journey back home, with the stomach juices getting ready to devour amma’s tiffin , is closest to edible bliss.

Desi Remixes : Heavily Indian influenced Mexican food at Don Pepe and of course the splendid Tandoori Pizza at Pizza Hut are also very badly missed

Murugan Idli shop : This elitist idli kadai serves the world’s best chakkarai pongal! Period!

Red-E -Food Court : I don’t know if this place still exists. It was this international Food place at the Harrington Road signal which was the place to go to when I was in school. A lot of birthday treats and friendship day celebrations happened there. I love the Lasagna there and their chocolate Mousse.

Saravana Bhavan : Nobody ma(r)ke(t)s and serves South Indian food better. Surprisingly I love their Pav Bhaji. And the Saravana’s Bakery and ice creams are actually world class.

Woodlands/Palmgrove/Maris/Mathura : These are grouped together cos they are all family hangouts. Playing in the Woodlands park on the swings and slides followed by amazing Channa Batura and Dasapraksh ice cream. “Driving in” and catching a glimpse of P.B.Srinivas with his funny headgear. Stops at Palmgrove for sambhar vadai in between Diwali shopping, idli from Maris on sick days and Gumbal dinners at Mathura . All great memories.

And of course there are the other “bit” memories. Amma’s dosas and Mor kuzhambu, Perimma’s Kozhukattai and dangar pachidi, M’s mom’s beetroot paratha’s and peanut chutney (not together of course!), Maddy’s manchurian, Suze’s sambhar rice, D’s house manga thokku, (all eaten from respective dabba’s in college), sundal,manga and corn at the beach, rosemilk at Kalathi in Mylapore, Mint cooler and Jughead’s special at Fruit Shop, Krishnar Kovil pongal, Puliotharai from Parthasarathy Koil, Boondi Ladoo in school functions, Flavored corn at Sathyam/Spencers, Joy Shop 50p samosas, Biryani from wherever in Kancheepuram that the boys used to bring, cream bun and Masala Sandwich from Iyengar Bakery near Mandaveli bus stop….Okie that’s it. Time for snack break

P.S: D chides me for forgetting Anokhi! How could I? I spent every evening there literally final semester of college. Buying the cheapest coffees,  the yumm quesidillas and ofcourse avoiding “The Card!”. She also reminds me that the Biryani place in Kancheepuram was Pandian- “How can you forget after hogging all the food?”, she says! :O

Lazy Tuesdays

Art wants me to write cos he is bored! So write I will! It has been a lazy lazy morning so far. Didn’t get out of bed till 10:00!!! Blame Tennis Mondays for that And then sashayed my way into lab and then went straight to the microwave with my lunch! Some general cylinder moving, plumbing, Group photographer related tasks were accomplished. And now the posterior is wonderfully rested staring at the computer screen. My reader is all cleared of unread posts. Google news has been alasified. The Hindu covered! S sends me random news from rediff. I still wonder how he manages to scavenge rediff like this. I have a poster (3 actually- when we show off we throw away all shreds of decency!) presentation at 5:00 and so have 2 random hours to kill. Will keep updating this post by typing up stuff that comes up in my head. The window remains open so u can catch a glimpse into my demented head!

3:30 pm : Ooh Turkish Delight! Then evil voice in my head clears throat as if to suggest that the 2 pieces I’ve eaten so far have already found their way to my handles! HMMPF!!!! What a coincidence it is that I’m currently reading Narnia and there is a box of turkish delight handy in the lab! So does that mean I can bring my book to lab and read while I eat ?? (that was deliberate and not a Freudian slip..You have to see me and you will believe I am a “voracious” reader :P).

3:45 pm : He he! I like doing these update thingies.. Isn’t that a cool bag?? But I have too many bags already and I usually just slip my cards in my jeans pocket anyway! But only 8$…Bag added to cart! Oh n I’m buying awesome sandals too.  I promise to declutter shoe and bag collection.

3:58 pm : Madhushree just hummed her way into In lamhon (Jodhaa akbar soundtrack for the uninitiated). This is definitely my favorite part of the song. Rahman is such a genius! I am a certified agmark Rahmaniac

4:15 pm: Is it just me or does “SRK wooes Shoaib Akthar” put funny images in the head!!!( don’t say it! I’m going to be pricked with needles in hell for being such a pervert..I know!!!) That apart, IPL promises to be exciting what with the “Icon” players and “foreign players” being roped in..

Speaking of cricket have you checked the Chennai super stars ad out?? Please search the same on youtube and enjoy. That is quintessential Madras!

4:26 pm : 2 hours is a reallllllllllllllly long time!!!

4:29 pm: Theekuruvi  from Kanngalal Kaidhi Sei on Itunes now! It has to be one of my favoritest songs! Again salute to Rahman and Harini! Oh and the fact that my name “features”  in the song isn’t the only reason I like the song. (I AM anonymous..but hoping no one will make the connection!Even otherwise I care two hoots!) It truly is a brilliant composition. A must hear!

4:35 pm : Wondering what they will have for snacks at the poster session! Again evil throat clearing voice telling me I have no redemption!

4:45 pm : Time to spruce up and leave.

P.S :I am starting to sound more and more like a personal Dear Diary blogger. This trend will have to change not cos it is a bad thing to be but because it’s not something I intended to be!

The List

I have the urge to post but no big inspiration. So posting this..

I have close to 1.5 yrs before I turn 25. Putting this down for posterity.

25 Things to do before the silver jubilee

1. Run a marathon.

2. Turn Vegan.

3. Learn Telugu.

4. Meet Rahman - Have seen the great man and even attended 2 of his concerts. So when I say meet you know what I mean.

5. Learn to swim.

6. Learn to drive.

7. Read all the books currently on my bookshelf.

8. Learn and understand Sri Rudram.

9. Visit Turkey.(I have a fascination for the place. Ever since I had to turn down an offer of a holiday there. Also has a lot to do with Pamuk and Turkish Delight )

10. Resume music lessons.

11. Watch Alarmel Valli dance live. (watched a few recorded videos but nothing like the real thing right?)

12. Beat S at tennis. (its do-able right? If Pack can, so can I! With lots of training of course.). Improve my tennis is more like it!

13. Go to Chidambaram. (Been there before. Have also crossed Chidambaram en-route to other temple towns. But I am currently inspired by all the Krithis on Thillai to visit again.)

14. Become a 50kg Taj Mahal! Well we’re talking realistic goals here. Will change it to lose enough weight to look good in short shorts .

15. Go to a sit down dinner in an LBD. (hint hint!)

16. Get involved in serious volunteer work with proper commitment. Not just Shramdaan!

17. Go Camping. (Haven’t done that since good old Girl Guides days!)

18. Get my nose pierced. (Been wanting this for a while. Some issues with the bullet biting )

19. Get a paper published as first author. (As I was re-reading the list, to come up with things to add, it scared me that I had no research related goals ) But then again this list is meant to be flippant! No?

20. Meet Vikram Seth. I heart him! (and yeah I know he’s gay. Bi actually, last time I heard. And I get the feeling this will remain on my milestone lists for a while.)

21. Watch Djokovic play live. (Easy one! Cincinnati Masters here I come! Only he should make it to the finals this time.)

22. Take up a “cool” course .

23. “Do” some adventure sport type activity. (I can’t find the right words. But you know what I mean! Para sailing, snorkeling and the likes…)

24. Get back in touch with the people I want to and have been meaning to for a while now!

25. Keep this blog running till then so I can re-post this with all the HTML striking off!

P.S : The items are in no particular order. It’s the order in which they popped up in my head.
P.S 2 : I tried to keep this list as do-able as possible. So I did away with things like see the Ankhor Wat or visit Greece which are clearly not possible with my student income and schedules. Those will be in future lists for sure though!