The daily happenings that make up life

I'd originally started this post with a lot of philosophical statements. But I've changed my mind. Once I can write it out better, I'll come back to it. But to come back to earth, here's an update on the rest of my life:

I'm now a 12th class student. Yes, I know I'll have boards next year and I know how important they are. I also know that 12th is not meant to be easy. And I'm not supposed to take it lightly either, even if it's the last year of school. Especially because it's the last year of school.

I was originally kind of hopeful because I'd really enjoyed 10th. The course was some of the most interesting I'd ever done, to the extent that it made my choice of stream difficult. (I can hear my fellow students booing me right now;)
But 12th didn't start off well. Just a week of extra classes had me nervous. Would I really be able to prepare a year's worth of course material? And actually mug up or memorise large parts of it? But after a while, I'm glad to say that the situation's improved. I can finally grasp some of the "stuff" and more importantly, it's actually seeming a little interesting now. Guess you shouldn't trust to first impressions. Or judge a 12th class book by its cover either :P

And now finally, full day sessions start on the 4th. Till now, school during our extra classes was pretty quiet. Half days felt awkward since I had a lot more free time than usual. But it was worth it. I can't wait to get back into the regular school rhythm when the corridors will be full again and we'll have a little more to complain about :D Like the possibility that all our activity periods - PT, music and the like - will be only on saturdays i.e. only twice a month! (we have two saturdays off in a month) Feels like a punishment for having only one year left in school :(

Oh, and I surfed a lot in my spare time. I enjoyed the India-Pakistan match. I went out a few times.

But from Monday, real 12th begins. And I'm sure that, soon, the serials I watch on Star Plus will make more sense than my life :D



B'bye for now people. Here's to high hopes and a wonderful new session :)

A new poem called Blank

I haven't written much lately. So when I came up with this, I thought I'd put it up here!

Blank

A blank white page or a clean slate
Is an endless void, but a certain fate
No matter how long it lies unseen
It will be used someday
Whether chewed by mice or thrown in trash
Whether to face a firm, strong hand
That page has a destiny to fulfil like everything else
They why, oh why, should it capture our thoughts
And force us to dwell on it in some form ?
Whether we consider a real page or the vague future
We consider a simple, large void of nature
A plain mystery like any other
Open to a million dazzling avenues of thought
But equally open the the unpleasant, the avoided, the unthought
It has a potential not open to debate
For it simply, uncompromisingly exists
We are powerless to its power
And ignorant to our own
For our hands have the power to give shape and meaning to the void
To light our path in the darkness until we're not scared of it anymore
We don't have to fear the darkness or our own weaknesses
For while the path of learning is never easy
When the student is ready, the teacher is there

               --Charu

Hoping for your feedbacks :)

Image from: http://stranglingmymuse.wordpress.com/category/writing-tools/

Life is..so not fun

I'm not sure how to start, so I'll go with this:

Packing and then unpacking 5 days worth of student trip material is NOT fun

Because it means that the trip you've been anticipating for months has been postponed. Again.

Or at least, that's what it meant for me. And my hapless friends and classmates.

Oh wait, I just swatted a poor fly in my annoyance. Sorry fly :(

Instead of being with a busload of excited kids en route to Udaipur, I had to sit in Maths tuition, studying Matrices. Boo!

And add to all that, 12th starts day after tomorrow.

And of course, the universal outpouring of advice had already started. I'm not even going to get into it.

Sheesh. I'm pretty sure I didn't deserve this right after exams finished.

And I've been trying to psyche myself lately into a "be positive" attitude. As if it wasn't already under enough strain after my marksheets came out, now my trip's been cancelled. 

Sorry, I'm totally whining too much, aren't I? Let me try changing the topic.

-----------------

Nada. With that big pile of books on my desk, all I can think about is twelfth grade. 15 books for about 6 months. After studying this, I think anyone, no matter how much he scores, should be called a genius. I've never admired my ex-seniors more. And I've never felt worse for myself either. Gulp. It's going to be a looooonnnggg year. And it'll be my last one in school too. Boards, again! Why, oh why??????? 

Something random I came across: Dost, Dost na raha. Kyonki ab kitabein hi dost ban jayenge.

I hope my mind doesn't cage itself while I'm trying to free it. ugh.

Wish me luck people...

Oh and yes, to leave my readers feeling better, 

 Happy Holi Everyone!

May this truly be a good year for all of us :)

Image from: http://ucdavismagazine.ucdavis.edu/issues/su07/future_power.html

And I'm back! After exams...

Yes, I really am *gasp*. Now that the finals are over. Seriously, to learn the value of normal life, live a day through the exams.

And the funny thing is, now I have a strong urge to study. Probably because it doesn't matter any more :D

12th starting early (no one warned us about this), the postponed school trip to Udaipur being decided all in a hurry, tuitions starting day after tomorrow (cruelty I think) and many more unknowns. The future sounds...exciting. Let's hope it is while we check out the recent past: 5 papers, spread out over 15 days.

In fact, the common exam story ran something like this for most of us:

a) Complaining about how much time had been given to prepare; either it was too much or it was too little

b) Joking about every random thing just to avoid studying

c) Trying to trick ourselves into studying with motivation, threats, incentives or even "external forces"

d) Depending on which method worked, grudgingly sitting down at a desk, bed, sofa or cushion with a book.

e) Putting all available resources of student will power into not drifting off into sleep or other, more entertaining things (which would include just about anything else at the moment)

f) Arriving at the exam hall on the morning feeling unprepared (hats off to the ones who didn't feel such) and now exerting all student willpower not to think about how badly we're going to flunk. With fear, prayers and unfounded optimism we enter the exam hall.

g) And here we transform. Most students go from being happy, carefree people to furious writing machines. Students become professional exam writers under the actual influence of the exam room and invigilator. The otherwise-very-normal desks and chairs themselves change in our eyes. Once again, the time allotted is usually either too much or too little. And this time is punctuated with random interruptions from invigilation teacher replacements, arrival of subject teachers to answer doubts, student-teacher battles over the time left, random requests for pens and paraphernalia etc.(it could be anything really)

h) Out of the examination room, it's a new feeling. It could be euphoria at that "dumb easy paper" or irritation at the "dumb difficult paper". Students, divided by class, are united by subject to critically examine every aspect of their paper. And this big group, resigned, happy, tired or however they're feeling, head home to prepare for the next one.

As for me, exams were OK I guess. Not my best work, but hey, it's not 12th yet. Besides, I was suddenly bored of studying, so I didn't revise before as well as I should have. So, not excusing myself here, but just hoping it didn't go too badly. Papers are out on the 18th and results on the 22nd.

Papers were good otherwise, especially Economics today which seemed like a gift. No bets on how well I've done, but it was fun seeing the questions. Other papers were fine and I'm sure that despite their dark predictions, most children will pass.

I neglected a lot though: living and learning about life rather than just focusing on a part of it, actually relaxing instead of being lazy, reading, writing, writing blog posts and me

Will report my ongoing successes on these and any new stories. In the meantime, thanks again for being the most awesome readers ever!

Forget development experiences of China and conic sections, they're only a PART  of life.

Though I admit, life does seem to become a particular subject around exam time ;)


Best of luck to anyone having exams in the near future :)




Image from: http://msumusichistory.pbworks.com/f/1267284271/1267284271/1267284271/1267284271/1267284271/image%20of%20book%20for%20grad%20exams.jpg