Such is life..

Everything is momentary.. joy or sorrow.. happiness or misery..
one moment ur on the top of the world..
the next u'v heard a real bad news...
and in the next ur doing something which distracts u and makes u forget what made u feel so bad...
It all just keeps coming and going doesn't it.. nothing stays..good times, bad times, tough times,great times..
Is there anything which is permanent in life?

Book Meme Virus :P

I think I finally hv to do it ..much as I'd thought I'd be able to
escape..sigh ;)
Well geetu n saikat.. here i am :)
Even though it's not linked yet somehow it reminds me of those silly
chain mails n sms's which keep coming all the time.. U'll lose ur job ( I don't hv one :P ), heavens will fall.. blah blah.u'll I don't even read them now! The moment I realize its a chain mail I just delete it without going further to know what devastating things
could follow if i don't forward it.. n then there r those which claim tht the mail is being tracked n u will win a nokia phone or something if u forward it!! Come on people.. u really think tht wud happen!!

Atleast mailing is free.. but sms!! how can u waste money or sending such silly sms's!! Lol.. actually i gotta confess here..once someone told me u wud get talktime from airtel because it's their anniversary or something n u had to forward this one msg to 10 people.. well i did it too :( but only because my sms was 1 paisa at tht time..so it only cost me 10 paisa.. needless to say i didnt get anything but i'm sorry i fell into the same trap !! :)

But well this is something different.. infact this is something I loved to do when i was a kid... something like filling up scrap books.. write ur fav this that.. I still have those scrap books saved with me.. It's fun reading them now..I once made one myself.. in which I asked people questions like what would u do if u became the prime minister for a day... lol.. well atlst it was innovative..thing is i'v just become too lazy now.. plus I'm not so proud of my reading habits at the moment.. so I'm not gonna enjoy this..lol..I think It's jus tht my attention span has bcom too short now.. I wanna do things quickly.. There was a time when I could just sit all day with a book n jus go on an on till the time I finished it.. It rarely happens tht way now.. I read books in bits and pieces and it's not that much fun that way u know..Plus there are so many distractions.. the comp of course ;) I can read ont he comp.. I can read articles, news,blogs :).. short stories..

neways after taking so much footage.. or wasting somuch print.. or whatever u might call it I finally get down to the virus :)

Total number of books I own : I think they'r too few.. I would like to buy loads and loads of books and keep them in my own library :) Never really counted.. Well I hv been buying books ever since I was a kid.. so I do have quite a few of them.. but like I said.. they'r just not enuf !!

The Last Book I Bought : a number of law related books :P U know I have to read books all my life in this profession..lol..well actually I bought .. I'm confused here.. I bought a few books like A brief history of time, To Kill a Movkingbird.. but then I didnt really buy them ;) And before that I bought The Alchemist and Inscrutable Americans.. but I gifted them though I have one of them with me right now.. well u can take ur pic out of all of the above.. :P-

The Last Book I Read : I know this one :D Mr. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.. was waiting for this one.. n now I'v got another long wait for th 7th book.. sigh.. Well I'v already talked abt this one on the blog.. Didnt like the ending :( Seems to me like there are 2 kinds of ppl.. one who love readign HP.. n the other who just hate him,even though usually they hvnt read any of the books.. I know the marketing blitz is too much.. but hey the books are still v much readable!

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me : I hate to choose :( Wat if i miss out on some book.. :)

Anyways here goes.. lemme remember..

The oldest books I own . It 's a collection.. of a number of short stories.. fairy tales.. those dreamy lands.. they mean a lot to me cause they'r the ones which got me into this reading habit in the first place.nn and maybe they'r also responsible for creating this dreamworld up in my head..lol The School series ..by Enid Blyton.St. Clare's and Malory Towers.. I used to read them over and over again.Still have a few of them.They were like a whole new world to me..

Graduated to Agatha Christies.. famous Five, Nancy drew.. sherlock holmes.. They were the first mystery books I read.. N i was hooked!

A number of John Grisham books I read.. especially The Client, The Firm.. Rainmaker.. A time to Kill.. there's something inspiring in those books.It creates a very idealistic legal world where somehow the good always wins.. Though unfortunately,that doesnt always happen in real life, i like to believe that it can happen..

Gone with the Wind .. must be the fattest book I'v read till date :) The characters jus left such a deep impression..

Potter again! I hate to repeat but I love the books..:) She's got an amazing writing style I think, just weaves the story together leaving enough clues to keep u guessing n to keep u hooked!

To Kill a MockingBird.. I had read it when I was just out of 12th I think, n then I read it some time back again... Read it if u havent till now.. It's a must read.

Kane and Abel.. Another book I really loved when I was reading it.. The ending is just superb..

Chicken Soup for the Soul.. Really :) I'v read just one.. long time back but I think it was really nice.. very nice real stories..

Dilbert books- The Dilbert principle and dilbert future.. they'r absolutely hilarious.. anyone who's working would just love them!! and even if ur not working ( like me ;) ) there's a big chance u'll still love them!

All those Archies... Asterix.. Dennis..Calvin n Hobbes that I'v read.. though strictly speaking they'r not books.. yet :)

Data Structures by Tanenbaum...!! lol.. don't take that seriously :P that was just for shock value :D:D i don't like this book at all!!

I know these are more than 5, but hey I hate to pick favourites :)

And then there are books.. which I'm stuck on since ages.. Have to finish them
Right now i'v read a bit of Catch 22, Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, Freedom at midnight, The Alchemist, Catcher in the Rye !! In case they leave a deep impact on me I'll add them to the list ;)

Allright, so who's gonna be the lucky one.. :D I'm gonna tag everyone who hasnt done this till

now.. lol.. do it if u want to :)

Rajat,Apurv,Manish,SuperVish,Prasunc,Vaibhav,Mike,Bhaskar,Ashish,The Hawk,Chandoo,Naveen,Ranjitha

ur turn :P

pICS

I mentioned the link somewhere.. neways thought I'll just put it up here..

photos.yahoo.com/neha_chhabra

Whole lotta things..

I finished reading Harry Potter yesterday night, or rather today morning.Had been dying to finish it off, before someone could tell me who dies ;) Kinda disappointed, cause I felt the book is somewhat incomplete.. it raises too many questions.. n I absolutely didnt want this person to die!! Don't wanna give away more but really.. I still wonder how X could still turn out to be good inspite of killing Y!! You really hv to stretch your imagination far and wide for tht..

Have been doing an internship.. well havent really been 'doing' anything much, so its kinda boring.. I'll talk abt it some other time.:)

Took an off today, was very tired, n not feeling too well ( I didn't noe u cud hv office fever too ;) It's good to jus stay at home for a day, laze around.. get up at 12 :D .. well i was reading HP till 4 in the morn so u cant blame me for tht!!

wanna carry on with my UK trip.. it just seem so distant now.lol.like i went there ages ago.

Anyways lemme jus refresh my memory and carry on.the next day, after coming back from Cambridge, went to London.Got up real early in the morning n took the 9 o'clock train. The train was nice, but didnt know that trains here are as unreliable, well atleast they apologise for delays :) Around a plc called ely there was some announcement,which was really not audible.A lot of people started getting off.. we were wonderin what was going on when this guy came up n said u hv to get of n go in a bus to cambridge n take a train from there. oh god.. it was funny kuch pata nahin tha..didnt know where to go, what to do.There was some problem with the train or the line.. got to know later they had started some work on the line that day itself.neways took the bus to cambrige n the train to london from there. The moment u get off the train in london u get to see so many ppl.. i mean its just full of ppl!! went to this station called king's cross.i even saw platform 9 3/4 there( strictly for HP readers :) they' specially made it there.. i mean its not a platform of ocurse.. just painted it on a wall.

neways then from there took the tube.There u get a whole day travel card for about 5 pounds per person by which u can travel on the tube n the bus all day in any direction.. for a certain area. then we took the tube close to buckingham palace.. a place called green park. they hv a lot of parks here. ppl just sit around.. som there to get tanned.. i cant understand their obsession with tannin.. i mean they'll wear as less as possible to get tanned.lol.n noone pays any attention i mean peoople dont stare at others.They dont bother which is so nice, they just let eveyrone do wat they want to.That's y i guess ppl r hardly self conscious here.They'll wear wat they want, do what they want..

Got to bukhingham palace, missed the changing of gaurds cause we were late.Took some pics there. victoria memorial ouside is huge n nice.The palace doesnt look all that gr8 from outside, but the number of ppl there.. oh god.. its filled to th brim with ppl.lol. seriously.. london is crowded!! but ppl of all shapes n sizes n colors.. its quite coloful actually.. vibrant, alive.. its an experiance just being with the ppl.. lookin at them..

well map in hand we went navigating our way from there.. on to a park called st james, then from there towards the cabinet war rooms, foreign office, towards downing street.Then from there towards big ben n parliament house, had a look around.. the thames,and then to trafalgar square.there's a fountain there in the centre.. huge one n ppl just sit with their feet inside to cool off.. nice cold water.susrprisingly didnt see any pigeons there..There was a dilli haat goin on there,quite crappy actually..A chat counter with chat for 3 £ !!

Met a few friends there who took us to a place to eat, which was right opposite london school of economics.One of them had so he took us inside lse.Saw the cafetaria.. n had a look around..its quite big.. all the builings r interconnected. not many students cause term was over here. went to the libraray.. god it was lik 7 floors o somthin.. cudnt go deep inside but was cool.

from there on to st paul' cathedral.. gosh iv ner seen such a beautiful building. it is so so beautiful, from inside as well as outside.. the carvings, the paintings on the ceiling, the pillars.. it was so majestic. the ceilin was the tallest iv ever seen.Attended a bit of church service, I had never seen it before so was quite curious.They just sing and hum.. but sounds v peaceful..
ok from there on to a place called covent garden which is not a garden even though its calld one.its upposed to be the cultural hub of london.. lots of restaurants.. ppl painted all over..lol. n wierdly drssed .. there were rickshaws too which the europeans love to ride on.more sophiticated than ours, with seat belts.lol.here at the centre was a guy perfoming.. they hv ppl from all over performing.. any sorta things.. this one was like balancin on chairs.. crackin jokes, dancin. its just anyone who wants to perform i guess.. collects money.. sorta like old time bollywood movies mein nahin hota tha.. ppl performing on roads with crowds around.

then to leicester square, which's got all the theatres, musicals goin on n stuff.. again very alive n kicking sorta place.. full of crowds.. i wanted to see a musical but they r soo expensive, unless u plan n book tickets in advance..

all these places were not v huge but they were so lovely..just walked around a bit..lotsa pubs here .. people close down shops n offices at 5 or 6, in most places. Though in london shops were still open till arnd 8..then their fav pastim is to drink at a pub or go watch theatre o movies or watever

This was just one day in london..

Down

Why are there so many lows in life.. n y do we keep falling in them..
Why do things go as low as they can...
Why do things go bad without any real reason..
N why am i feeling so bad right now...
"All I can do is cry..." maybe it's true.. all i can do is cry.. maybe I just don't know how to deal with things.. I really feel quite stupid n useless right now.. I can't deal with life, feel like a failure.. n all I can do is cry..

I say I hv a headache n i'm feeling lonely.. i'v been alone all day n wat do I get to hear.. y dont u hv a medicine then? No consideration for me..all ur concerned abt is urself..

I wonder wat had happened if roles were reversed.. I would'v probably heard that I'm being so insensitive..
One day it's like You care too much n the next day it is.. all u care abt is ur own self..

U.K. Part II

Ok, I've been real lazy :) Been planning to write for the past 2-3 days.. Neways lemme finally get on with it !!

So lemme pick up from where I left last time. Day 5 of my trip, I went to Cambridge.Really wanted to see what it was like.. was really tiring cause we were walking all day long! but it was worth it :) saw a few colleges. a few of them were closed for visitors.We saw jesus college, king's college n a few lik trinity, st john's , emmanuel from outside cause they were closed to visitors.The buildings looked beautiful!! The architecture everywhere was just so amazing.. all over the country infact.very rarely would u see an ugly old structure.Houses too are so well kept.

Outside one college, I think it was Trinity.. they had a no visitors sign.This lady came up to us on her own while we were just looking n said, my daughter studies here.If u want I can try n take u inside.I was so surprised.Strangers comin up to u n just offerin to help without you even asking is something which I havent really experianced here.

When I had reached there, the first place I wanted to see was London.But after travelling all over for so many days, I wasnt in any hurry to get there.Seeing the countryside, seeing all these places was just so nice! Driving through is just so amazing.Everywhere u go its all so beautiful,a wonderful shade of green.I think its the persistent rain which makes it so green,which is sometimes not so nice cause ur plans can get spoilt n it makes English ppl really quite obsessed with the weather!! Everyone checks whether forecasts, n believe it or not their forecasts actually turn out to be true!!lol, unlike here ;)

You don't get to see too many people in the towns, especially in the evenings.Most people hv an early dinner n go to sleep or they'r out in pubs n night clubs n streets r quite empty.Kinda nice for sometime atleast,the lack of people..the peace :) Of course when u get to the cities there's loads of ppl :)

One thing which I felt in Cambridge was the community thing..Indians with Indians,asians with asians.. n so on.. I wonder how it would be like to live there.Somehow made me think, can u ever really become like them..U look diff,talk diff..can u ever be a part of them?

People really take a lot of pains to dress up there, college students looked like fashion models,lol, not all of them..but some of them did.With makeup,tattoos,piercings hair styled,, wierdly colored most of the times.. i even saw a pink n black :D

After coming back we went to the local pizza hut,good place.. with unlimited pepsi refills :) though I cudnt finish even 1 :D and then had my first encounter with the Police,hehe.They'r pretty strict about everything there.We were one person extra in the car.6 instead of the 5 allowed.. they stopped the car but thankfully didnt fine anyone.Kinda nice he was, cause he went on giving a lecture on safety n saying I'm concerned about the person without the seat belt.Fines r real heavy there..50 punds for jumping a red light!! 300 £ fine for overloading..phew

Just one day that was :) I dont know how many parts I'll take to finish off the whole series..lol

U.K. Part I

I'm back !!

It's good to be back, even though I had an awesome time there :)
But before I start writing,I'v got a sob story to share.I wrote this post yesterday n the moment I posted it it told me page not found or something n my entire post vanished.boohoo

Neways now lemme start right from the beginning.

12th June I took the flight from here to Bombay n then from Bombay( or Mumbai if u prefer that ;) ) to London.Flying was fun, the flight was smooth, can't say the same about the return journey though which was quite shaky due to bad weather.Neways didnt sleep a wink on the plane,kept watching movies, eating..The part I loved about the flight was when ur just about to take off.The speed with which the plane races ahead is so exhilarating!n of course when ur flying above the clouds it feels heavenly ! :)

Reached there around 12.30 Indian time, which was around 8.30 PM there n it still wasnt dark! Infact it seemed to me that it never really got dark there.Days were really really long so you could roam around freely.Only it felt funny having dinner when it was still so bright outside.lol.

I finally went to sleep after staying awake for almost 24 hours, n I hadnt slept more than 3 hours the previous night too.So the next day went in catching up with sleep, n just looking around.I was staying at a town called King's Lynn.Beautiful,quiet,pretty town it was,about 2 hours drive from London.

The first thing which struck me was how is this place so clean n so green!Everywhere u look, u just dont see anything dirty!N i just loved that!

Went and had a look at the nearby store,which seemed pretty huge to me then.Though later i saw stores sometimes 10 time its size!Wherever u might be, a village,town or city u'll always find big stores.And villages there didnt seem to me like villages.I mean the houses were huge,people had mercs parked outside their homes n they called it a village!! lol.

Another thing, wat amazing cars I saw there!There were just fabulous.Seemed to me at first that every person has a different model, cause there are just so many of them out there!

Next day went to a place called Peterborough, which they kinda pronounce as peterbro'.The English have some real wierd pronunciations I must say!They'll pronounce Edinburgh as Edinbr'.Berwick as Berick n so on!!

This place had a huge shopping centre, just going n looking at all the shops can tire u out!The only problem is everything is so expensive there!Clothes,food.. everything.. n most of the clothes have a Made in India,China... etc. tag.

Went to the McD's there.It's really tough for a vegetarian to survive outside I must say, they have to do it on salads n maybe sandwiches,lol.We still got to eat a lot of Indian food cause we stayed at my masi's place for quite sometime.

From there went to a beach at a place called Hunstanton.By the time we reached there it was around 6 so the beach was almost empty..again so clean !! very windy it was there. Went to the beach again 2 days later.There was some World water ski competetion going on,was good fun to watch.So was watching the kids there make sand castles with their little buckets n spades..:)

Felt a little alien initially, somehow u cant really fit in with those people.But gradually everything becomes more comfortable..

That was the first 4 days or so n i'm already tired typing about it.Next 2 days went to cambridge n london .. Am gonna write about that in my next post :D