Zzzzz

I can't wait to go to Bangalore to get some decent sleep. Let me explain the reasoning behind this. I have proudly proclaimed before that I can only sleep with the lights on, I'm scared, blah, blah. But, the truth is, I really don't sleep well with the lights on. I wake up almost every two hours and can never bring myself to switch the lights off unless it's past five in the morning. So, all this interrupted sleep makes me really haggard and tired in the mornings. Bangalore, my mom and my sister are there, so I can safely sleep with the lights off and get a really good night's sleep. I should really start living with someone soon.

and the hunter calls...

This job hunting business gets really disheartening at times. It's so hard to not take the rejection personally. Here you are, just out of graduate school, confident that your resume is stellar if not perfect, and then you don't get one positive response. I must have applied for at least twenty jobs in the last three weeks. Some of the profiles, I was really excited about, and no one has responded. Well, one company did respond with a rejection. The others have maintained this suffocating silence that's threatening to envelop me. What can you do? When the skills you think you have are not valued by the corporate world (or at least they don't respond to it), and the only thing that will make you happy is such a distant dream.
Whew. This self-pity bout will not last long.

What's in a name, you say...

I want to vomit when I hear someone use the word 'chinky' to describe someone from the north east or someone with oriental features. It really makes me sick to the stomach. What I hate even more is their justification of it, 'Oh, but I don't mean it racially or derogatory' or 'Oh, but some of my best friends are north eastern, and they don't have a problem with it.' So what? They don't speak for the entire population. As a race in India, they have been subjected to years and years of public ridicule and discrimination just based on the way they look. And here we are, young, liberal-minded, college educated people throwing about a term as casually as that. Vomit.

Of cozy fireplaces and favorite drinks

I've never thought of Haruki Murakami as gripping. He doesn't write page-turning books that can be read on a flight or on the beach. If I was a whiskey drinker, I'd say that Murakami is a 20 year old single malt scotch to be enjoyed by a cozy fireplace in winter where you savor every sip and marvel at its sheer brilliance.

I have to admit though, 'Wind Up Bird Chronicle' is gripping. There is no other word for it. He's just turned into a cosmopolitan.

Thank you 2009

2009 is over. Just like that. I'd like to say it went by really quickly, but I'm sure there were times when I didn't think so. A friend of mine had posted her top ten moments of 2009 on her Facebook page. I decided to do the same here. It's much easier than recapping the whole year. This is not in any sort of ranking, just listed chronologically.

1. My first solo trip to Bali.
2. Meeting Yaki and spending time with her in Bangkok.
3. Traveling with Amanda in Koh Pagnan and Koh Samui. Going for the half moon party.
4. Traveling around New Zealand. Meeting Art.
5. Fiji and the beautiful Irish boys.
6. Staying with Seetha and Chitra for ten days.
7. Coming back to India and meeting family and friends.
8. Two weeks with Sonam and Frodo in Gurgaon.
9. Shobhana's visit to Hyderabad.
10. Volunteering at the Blue Cross.

I like how I've filled most of my top ten with travel. I suppose this means that I should be traveling more. I can't wait to get a job and save up on money.

And so it begins

I started my first New Year resolution with no fanfare and with surprising ease. If there is any place in the world where you can be vegetarian, it's India. I'm confident. I hope it lasts.

Urggh

Crowded nightclubs with pubescent boys and girls and lecherous men are really not my scene anymore.