of chennai

strange that some news articles address the new French PM Dominique de Villepin as de Villepin..it is like Amrutha from chennai being addressed as Ms.from chennai :)

what I definitely wouldn't wear for an evening!

A 'non' to Liberte?

The French's reply to the EU constitution has been very disturbing. While the ROW cries out against the French, I really wonder why the French chose to behave the way they did. I am not sure if we can shake our fist against them as the NON was about 50 odd % which means the scales could have tilted the other way too, if more OUI people had turned up for voting. The response came as a pretty big surprise to me as when I was in France, I noticed how much interest an average French shows in politics. Last summer there were elections for EU heads, and the French showed good amount of enthusiasm for the same. I always felt France and Germany played very important roles in keeping the EU together and working towards a new super power. (Of course, Germany had trouble with keeping its inflation under control in the past and holding on to the Euro as their currency). What worries me now is the performance of the Euro, although reports say that the EMU (European Monetary Union) would function independent of EU. As we wait for the Dutch to reply to the EU constitution, I just hope that they too do not turn it down. I know that the French are not great propounders of globalization. While talking to them, it felt as though they were more anti-gross US brands, rather than globalization. EU would have been a brilliant reply to the otherwise super power. The recent performance of Euro against the Dollar was a good indication that the idea of EU was finally picking up momentum.

I was hoping that the EU idea would succeed(I am not saying that it has already failed, something that I personally dread) and tickle leaders of Asian countries to think of a coalition comme ca. The recent performance of China and India in the global market is one big reason for such a thought.
more on this soon..

Ooh la la Atlanta

A city of its own rules (esp. when it comes to driving), a city of small lights, even smaller lanes and the tiniest of all sign boards for driving (I notice the speed limits on roads are always hidden behind some branch of some peach tree).. a city of peachtree street, peachtree road, west peachtree street, west peachtree road, peachtree boulevard..and all being different! What have I been doing all these days? I am living this life of a virtual home maker or should I say, I have been living a virtual life of a home maker. A truly independent life is imminent (if I can use that word here). I start work in another 2 weeks and greatly looking forward to it. My cozy room houses a parapernalia of things now. Discovering more of myself and of the people around me, noticing the delicate details in lifestyles, not many smiles like in Texas, many more "How are you doing lady?" for which I return a petrubed stare or a fake, weak smile..at times I have gotten "Don't worry, I am not going to harm you(!!!!)" in return (yeah, right, that is reassuring). Been struggling with this wireless network at home, thinking about interesting things to do, getting back with my french classes (yippeee!I have a french as my prof), planning to shake a leg (or both) with salsa, merengue, bright clothes, hot summer. I never knew I was scared of living in a big city (ok, a big small city). An innocent soul landed in Atlanta on saturday, and yours truly tried playing host. One thing for sure, I definitely managed to scare him with my driving. In my defense, it is just a week since I moved to this city, just about four weeks since I am driving and when you land from SF, Cal..you sure do find my driving, half as exciting..as you guessed it right, most of the usual things with a woman driver did sure happen, confused signs, wrong turns, hestitated signals, completely lost, driving in circles! But again, like any woman driver, we managed to get to where we had to, and sure, here I am, at home..all fine :). will be back soon..with more slice of life a l' Atlanta..

et bon..

I finally managed to catch Alliance francaise d'atlanta. Going in a few mins for a test. Really kicked abt this french class, lets see how it works.
ps:was abt to write abt life here, but sorry, this excitment is on my head now! a+

weight and wine

no..not wine, I am not taking to it. But I decided to try and live the next 15 days like the French Women. No restrictions in eating, just cut the size of a serving and have only ONE serving. This way, I wouldn't be left with a heavy heart having to cross a chocolaterie without shelling a dollar, closing my eyes and running across an icecream shop, counting from 2000 on seeing a delicious pastry(duh! thatz the calories I am counting) and other pieces of encouraging acts to stay in line with the BMI of an athlete!

new found interest

in arabic music. sounds close to hindi music with stringed instruments dominating and voices very similar to a r rahman's.

in the 29th minute

of My Best Friend's Wedding, Julia Robert's mention. Gig'em!

new

city, car,room,roomates,curtains,scented candles,apron..tons to write..will be back after setting everything in place!

copy cats!

Can MS ever think of anything original?
check this out pah!

countdown begins

I leave this campus on saturday. My last few days and I suddenly see so much of world around me. I had to move out of my room and I am living out of a box now (well, almost). Absolutely no inclination to pack and get moving. It feels very strange..I had landed here in the US two years ago, confused about the amount of formalities involved (hadn't faced any of these in Europe), shocked at the attitude of a few at Indians (again, did not get to see that in Europe). At some level, I was afraid of surviving here. I still remember how boring and dull Houston Airport looked the day I landed. I had every vein in me screaming to turn around and fly back to India. I am glad in a small way that I did not listen to them. People have walked in and some have walked out of my life. And when our lives crossed, I saw something different in each one, a different shade of life, a new tune to hum..and not all tunes are sung to a good mood. This small town that protected me from the so called harsh world outside, let me be the princess of a small home, is suddenly letting go of me. Let's see here, I have five days and I want to make a difference in the way I live each of this five days..
will come back and show you a slice of my last days as a student..

rock paper and..

scissors! I am not sure if everyone enjoys the game so much as I do. Interestingly, there is a sure shot strategy to win that game. While rock feels the strongest, there are ways to get around it by using paper and thereby opting for scissors (in the sense move expecting your opponent to move in a particular direction). While three variables makes a simple equation, I wonder how the dynamics would change if we include fire and water balloon in this game (for the ignorant souls, watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S season 10). This theory could extend itself to nots and crosses, I guess. More of this is here:

last mile

turning in my last few exams, winding up courses.Running the last mile seems to be arduous and tiring.

clarity of thought

Mebbe I am being biased here or prejudiced. But I find an amazing level of clarity in the work of Germans. Their ideas are presented in an extremely lucid manner and their ideas flow seamlessly thorough their presentations. There is so much I have to learn from these guys!

does it ever happen?

that you laugh out (like that y! icon =)) ) on reading something as romantic as a vivid description of a kiss..a passionate one? I just did :S
ps:I am still laughing that I laughed... what did I have for dinner last night?!

you have passed

and the world believes that yours truly can drive. Well, don't laugh. I now have a document that confirms so.
I need to write about my friday's experience. coming up soon!

and I wish

Met someone else, took someother road, said someother words, hummed another tune..
[in mood for writing songs, I guess :) ]

outcast

I was looking at the pictures of my college posted by someone who visited the campus last month. Every picture had a memory. I could hear a million voices in my head, friends calling out to me, gatecalls, laccha sessions, papadi chat, peacocks crying(and trust me, they don't sound good in the least!)..memories, the word by itself feels small and incapable of describing these emotions.
I noticed changes..on campus. I feel jealous that I am not a part of it. It seems like my college has forgotten me. It has moved on and doesn't tell me how it is changing. It has new members in its family and is so much enjoying the relationship with them. I strangely felt hurt that I am not longer a part of it..those sky lawns no longer belong to me, the ic chai is no longer mine to make fun of(I used to ask for "garam pani" and still get it from the ic bhaiya with a smile!). A whiff of anger that I cannot walk down FDII corridors and jump off without using the stairs, can't use the qt to laze in the sun and get startled by the buffalo that lazily walks by to mow the lawns, can't complain abt the heat(in summer) and cold(in winter). I don't even seem to know that there is cappucino(!) in ANC, how the BITSConnect works, how the new library feels like to study in..It sure does anger me, how can I not know all this when even I belong to the family!
Well, yes I was there, but the WAS word seems so heavy now that I feel left out, like an outcast.