Sunday Tragedies Part two

Next stop was wal-mart. I didn't really need to buy anything from there. But Sachin and Rajat wanted to get some clothes. There were some winter jackets right in front of the clothes section. I might need to buy a new one this year, but I', just gonna put it off for as long as I can. Rajat piked one up or about 40 dollars and started looking for a pair of trousers. Eventually, I lost track of abhishek and Sachin. After we were all checked out, it was time to head on home. We were gonna go to the Indian grocery store, but cancelled.

After putting away the groceries, we started bringing down my stuff to move to my new apartment. Deciding what to keep and what to take today, was a tough task. I wasn't going to be able to live there as of now, but I would like to move as much of my bigger stuff as possible. I ended up only leaving my bedsheet and blanket and my expensive electronic equipment here. Sachin had a lot of school work to do still helped me move. We loaded up all the stuff in the van and set off.

At 'the Villas' Me and Sachin took the stuff upstairs while Atif waited in the van. The life was so packed with my stuff and Sachin and Nicole it was a sight to remember. And instead of going up, the life first went down! we apologized to the people who were waiting and went upstairs. We quickly unloaded the lift and started running the suitcases to the appartment. The suitcase that I had painted had by now, fully given up. The zipper broke so that it wouldn't close at all from one side. I love all the complements I get from people who say they love the suitcase, but I must throw it away now. So, I was running that suitcase to the apartment, and I stumbled and almost fell.

While running back home, we picked up cans of energy drink because we were going to have a blast tonight. Actually, Sachin wanted to do some research on different energy drinks in the market for his assignment. (Did I mention he's studying marketting?) Back home, we found out that the internet had stopped working. Abhishek had assignments to finish and submit. Rajat ws trying to connect as well but nothing worked. I suggested to try the other open networks that are in range. But Atif would have to get our internet fixed in time. Turns out we had exceeded our monthly bandwidth limit.

For dinner, at first, nobody was feeling like making anything. I said I'd bake my garlic bread and chicken wings. Abhishek said he'd have bagels or something and it all sounded ok. Lazy bums! But I was really feeling like making bhurji. So I told them, I'd do everything, just get me the ingredients! I first put in my garlic bread and chicken fingers in the oven. Started chopping up the tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. in 10 minutes, it was time to take the garlic bread out. I removed the baking tray and couldn't find room on the kitchen counter. So I put it on the table. And suddenly, I realized, there was a plastic table cloth on the table which was getting burned. I quickly lifted it off, but it left a scorched hole in the table cloth!

That was tragedy number... umm.. I lost count. Sachin and I looked at each other and assured there were many more to come. LOL. I, no, WE finished cooking the bhurji, with everyone adding their little contribution to the recipe. (Except Abhishek who was busy studying.. or something) We had a nice hearty dinner together. Then, it was time for the energy drinks and the 'comprehensive' review. We picked a can each. Mine was called rockstar. (pictures coming real soon guys!) And we all went outside the house so that our noise doesn't disturb other people. (well, actually because Rajat wanted a smoke)

It was pretty chilly outside. I started getting really really cold. So we came back in the kitchen after a few minutes and Sachin continued jotting down our opinions. Abhishek was kicking around the football. Another tragedy waiting to happen. He did acidentally kick it on the table or kitchen counter a couple times. But thankfully, nothing broke. Lastly, we all sat down to watch the movie 'wanted.' Sachin decided to make popcorn. He put the packet in the busted microwave in the basement that doesn't rotate the food. We told him to keep it in there until the popping sound stopped. And a few minutes later, we smelt something burning. The popcorn in the center had overcooked and were completely charred! How can anyone burn popcorn?!! LOL.

Ah.. That's about it for this sunday. As the clock struck 12.am it was monday. I hate mondays!

The Sunday Tragedies Part one.

Yesterday was one of the most eventful days I've had in a while! First thing I had scheduled for today was to meet the landlord of my new apartment at 12 pm. I went downstairs and woke Sachin up to ask him to come with me. Sachin told me he was awake till 3 am last night! It was going to be a long walk to the bank and back so I just wanted some company, and he readily agreed. We got ready in a few minutes and were out of the house by 10:45 am. We were talking about all kinds of things just like Thursday night. And I was completely oblivious to the disastrous day I had lurking ahead of me.

At the bank, I first used my international traveller's debit card to withdraw money. Then after counting everything, and putting aside enough for the deposit of the new place, I was about to deposit the rest in my checking account. I had inserted the card in the ATM and while I was still counting the money, the machine started beeping and displayed a message, "do you want to continue with the transaction?" (a) Yes or (b) No, eject the card. I pressed yes, and the machine tells me it has retained the card for security reasons. Fuck! I tried calling up customer support but nobody answered for a long time. Eventually, I gave up.

Sachin and I were both confused and bewildered as to how it happened. But I wasn't really worried. Probably because since I didn't have any money to loose even if someone, somehow did get hold of my card and could find out my pin. Yeah, long shot. I'm just going to call up the bank later and tell them to cancel/block my old card and give me a new one. Right now, though, I had my mind on the one other thing- The crazy landlord Teresa. I also met Nicole for the first time, and as I had heard, she's the bossy intimidating type. The second tragedy, which I overlooked at first, was the fact that Marta hadn't moved out yet. All her stuff was still in the room and I wouldn't be able to completely move in today. I signed the lease and took my copy, carelessly put it in my back pocket, half hanging out and walked back home.

On the way back, after we had crossed the sheridan parking lot, I suddenly stopped as I realized that the lease paper wasn't in my pocket anymore. I started backtracking my steps. I noticed something on the ground a little further and I asked Sachin to go check it out while I ran ahead to scout for it. Luckily, I found the paper in the parking lot in a puddle of water. It was all wet, but had it not been for the water, it would have kept on blowing who knows how far away. Relieved to finally have it in my hands, I walked back to Sachin to tell him to stop looking. But he was already sitting on the side laughing at me. He went, "If you had actually lost it, I would be swearing my head off at you right now."

And just to be safe, he decided to carry the paper back home with him. LOL. Back home, Abhishek and Rajat were awake and we decided to make omlette for...uh, Lunch. Well, Sachin was the one who did most of the cooking. After a yummy lunch, I went upstairs to pack my bags up. The guys were going to go to the superstore and walmart for shopping and asked me to come along. I figured, I might as well. We went to the superstore and I picked up some stuff. At the checkout, my credit card got denied! Now how did this happen? Luckily I had some cash on me so I paid for it. But still bewildered about how this could happen, I walked out to the parking lot.

Continued here, in Sunday Tragedies Part two.

Monaghan's Bar

On thursday, I had just finished life drawing at around 8:15 pm. I went to Tim Hortons to see if Sachin was still there. I wasn't feeling like walking home alone and hoped if he was going to be done in a few minutes anyways, I'll just wait for him. I sat down on the side of Tim Hortons and started to sketch on the 'Sheridan Sun' (college newspaper) lying around. The quality of paper wasn't the best but it was fun doing quick rough sketches that noone will ever see. Eventually it even boosted my confidence.

About an hour later, Sachin was done, and he told me he was planning to go to Monaghan's bar. I don't remember whether he asked me or I just invited myself. But since I had nothing better to do, and like I said, I didn't want to walk home alone, I decided I'd go to the bar, hang out, and go back home later, with Sachin. We also called up Abhishek but he refused to come. Sachin kinda had second thoughts about going because he didn't have 'good' clothes. And his whole class was going to be there. But I kept telling him to not worry about it too much.

At last, we ended up at Monaghans and met up with his classmates. I was introduced to people and I sat down at one end of the table. Soon, Sachin and I went to go get ourselves something to drink. We returned with two bottles of Corona. The canadian guys told us we were supposed to put the piece of lemon inside the bottle and let the flavour mix with the beer. I was kinda hungry, I had hoped we'd eat maggi noodles at home.

Singing and dancing on the streets

Lets go back to thursday, 18th september. After the stupid elective class, I was supposed to meet katie at the connexion. I had my cellphone working by now, and I called her up when She didn't show up even after a really long time! She said she was almost there. But even after she got to the college, we couldn't go in because the idiot security guy at the gate wouldn't let her into the pub without an updated sticker on her ID card.

So we decided to hang outside the cafeteria. We weren't terribly hungry and the food at the caf wasn't very interesting either. So we just sat watching 'Rain of madness' on my ipod touch. Its a mocumentary on the making of the film Tropic Thunder. Its pretty hilarious. Then it was time for her class. So we walked towards the E wing. Met another one of her friends outside and talked for a bit. It was fun while it lasted. Now I needed to kill the time before life drawing.

At life drawing, I met Evee and Lauren who I know from Visual and creative arts 2nd year and are in the animation program now. Lauren told me she visits my blog which was kind of a surprise for me. I have a stalker! LOL. But she's really nice. I spent most of last year without talking to her much and I kinda regret that. I was a little put off by all her piercings and just made up my mind that I cannot stand her. That was stupid of me.

After a successful life drawing session, I was walking home very enthusiastically. I was listening to some song from Om Shanti Om and I lifted both my arms and pretended I was holding a partner and swayed like I was doing ballet dance like Shah Rukh Khan. Walking further, I started singing along with 'Jhankaar' imitating sudesh bhosale as best I could. Damn that hurts your throat! I didn't care about what other people were thinking I felt like a little kid. I figured if I could make walking back home a game like this, I wouldn't even realize I've been walking for over 25 minutes!

I was pretty tired that day so I didn't bother typing the blog. But today was monday. And I'm.. not doing so well. What could be the reason? The realization that the webdesign class is pure crap and that I'd put this right between typography and 2d design of 2nd year visual and creative arts. Or was it the feeling that I can't go on spending 4 more years of my life here like this. I want to be back home. But its not an option anymore. The other day I asked my parents if I can come to India for christmas break. And while dad immediately said "no, its too much money", they kept asking me how many days holidays do I have and why did I want to come there. I realized I shouldn't have brought that topic up at all! I hope they're not worrying that I haven't been able to adjust to being here. Worrying them was not my intention. I hope they just think I only want to spend some more fun time with Pranav,Abhinav and Sujata.

Pranav has been online all the time last couple of days. But I didn't bother talking. I don't have anything to say to him. I pretty much said all I had to, in the last email I sent him. Plus, he is so unreliable, I can't let myself get used to talking to him again only to find out he's never online a few days later. You know what I mean? I downloaded the new episode of how I met your Mother. Pranav and I used to watch it together. We watched the whole series together in India...

The Nightmare

Thursday morning, around 7:15 am. I woke up all sweaty and kind of shaken but still relieved that it was all just a dream. I had a really scary and disturbing dream. Actually, it started out pretty happy and unsuspecting.

I was sitting at a place that looked like a huge mall, or an airport terminal. I was alone, and started talking to another woman sitting next to me. She asked me for a particular number.. of shop or 'gate'. I looked at my map and told her where she'd need to go. After a while, I stood up and started walking to one of the gates too.

I think I WAS at an airport because next thing I remember is that I'm on a plane. The man sitting next to me looks very rich and suave. He started flirting with the chicks on the seats to our right. I got involved too. It was really fun. The girls were in kind of uniform. I think they were stewardesses too. But suddenly, something went wrong. The plane hit some kind of turbulence or something.. We all were in a state of shock. Everyone was silent.

Next thing I know, I am walking out...of the plane (I think).. through the narrow endless walkways..

The scary part's not yet begun. The part in the plane was actually kind of fun. I don't think I've ever dreamt of being in a plane ever before! So I brace myself as I recall that horrible incident and try to put it down in words as best as I can.

I was at the orientation ceremony for animation. It seemed like an open for all event so I went there just to see what its like. Don't forget the free food and refreshments. But then they asked all the parents and friends to leave. I figured I'd stay anyway. They closed off the part of the assembly ground we were in. I started getting more nervous.. What if I get busted! The place was starting to seem more and more like my school in Akola.

One of the staff members stood up and started talking. There was something about India and suddenly someone behind me cheered for India. And I turned around and it was some really geeky looking Indian guy. I gave him a smile and turned back.. My heart was beating faster and faster. What if they do a head count or roll call? They started handing out a little token/memento to all the students there. It was a like a multi colored 3d puzzle or something. There were these sticks in different thickness and lengths. They were all arranged in a way so as to make a bigger 3D cylinder. People started unwrapping it and the pieces fell apart.. Some of them got busy trying to put it back together..

But I was still thinking I don't belong here. Not right now. I must leave, I must run away!

Typing on iPod touch.

This is my first time trying to use the application writing pad. Itunes Link. And
even though I stumble and miss letters it works pretty well. I don't
even need to type space bar. It enters spaces automatically for me.
Tuaw covers it here.

Sent from my iPod

Part in italics has been added when I was editing it in the browser on my mac.

Screw it all!

When I was in India, I had a particular way of living. I also had plans of what I'd do when I came back to Canada. But after I came to Canada, my lifestyle changed, and so did my plans. I didn't talk about my plans with anyone because I wasn't sure how much of it would actually materialize. And now that I see it all failing, I sadly admit that that I am abandoning the mission.

To do this post, I tried to make two columns where I post my plans, and my changed plan. I'm not sure how many browsers or display resolutions will be able to support it properly. But it all failed. I can't do it, so Lets just go paragraph by paragraph.

In India, I had very ambitiously hoped, when I came to Canada, I would start using the college gym facilities. A little workout to keep my body active. I also wanted to learn squash. And since there are a couple squash courts in the athletic center, I figured it shouldn't be much of a problem. I really wanted to do more than just sit around all day.

However, it has been almost two weeks now, and I haven't once gone into the college Athletic center. I picked up a notice of someone selling his squash racket but never ended up calling the person. I have, however, been doing some basic shoulder and bisceps exercises with the weights in the gym in the house I live in.

But it's all useless unless I eat properly. And I had something planned on that front as well. I had a really good strategy mapped out to buy and eat more food. Healthy food. I need enough fibre in my diet so that what goes in, goes out faster. I would do things like space out the shopping periods right. Consume the food before it expires. Also, get Protein supplements. With regular food costing anywhere between 5-10 dollars per meal, suddenly, buying supplements doesn't seem so expensive.

But I am loosing weight. I can't cook in this god awful kitchen. My timings are totally haphazard. Somedays, I leave early just to get a ride from Atif. Other days, I get up late because I don't have an alarm. (My cellphone was my only alarm for a long time, and now its battery is dead and the charger won't work.) I don't come back home in the middle of the day because its so far away from the college. And just to sit downstairs with the food while stupid hindi movies and serials are playing on the TV is torture!

In general, I had planned to be happy. But how or why would I be happy? Most people I know here, from last year are in Animation or Illustration programs. So I wouldn't have those friends. Half a world away from Friends and family in India. So I failed my plan again. I am too proud (or scared?) to admit I am sad here.

I had planned to work hard, do well in college, and get into animation. Make them proud. Now I go, who they hell is 'they'? Who really cares? Who really believes in me? I can't continue telling myself that either my 'physical well being' or 'Ambition' is my top priority. Right now, what matters more is for me to be is my mental health. I am on the verge of breaking down. Or maybe I already have. Things my friends say helps.. only holds up the pieces for a short period and then I shatter again.

So, the new plan: Live my life like the 'rich SOB' that I am. Just have fun, enjoy my time here in Canada to the fullest. Screw Ambition, screw animation. I've got to make the most of my time here, live it up! Spend my dad's hard earned money and not give a damn. Not worry a bit. And life will go on.

Naina Gupta in my dream last night

I googled Naina on my blog and found out that I only have her name in one of the posts as 'people I would like to tag'. Naina is one of my good friends from Mount Carmel School, Akola. I studied all the way upto 10th grade with her. Even both our moms became good friends. She's got a younger brother called Varun who's about 4-5 years younger than me..(And Naina.) I remember we used to taunt each other a lot, we were really informal with each other. Even though her mom wanted her to be really polite and respectful. She's ask her to refer to me as 'aap' or 'tum' instead of 'tu'. (aap and tum is a hindi word for 'you' that is generally used to refer to older or more respected people. English doesn't have such a term so people who don't speak hindi wouldn't understand.) I, found that kinda hilarious and would tease her for that.

Well, it has been really long since I last spoke to her. Even when I was back in India, I didn't get around to meeting her. But last night, out of nowhere, I saw her. (yeah, in my dream of course!) It was a railway station in India. I don't know why, but I want to say Nagpur. I was walking towards the platform, and there was this dark hallway. It was pretty crowded, and I could barely make out a few faces. But suddenly, as I saw her, I called out loud, "Naina!" almost as if I was expecting to meet her there. And a few seconds later, she notices me, and even on her side, its not like we've met after long time. Imagine a situation where this kind of commute and running into each other is usual. We both walk out together to the platform talking.

Lying down on one of the sitting platforms there, is Pranav. I tell him to move out of the way, and both of us sit down. Me and Naina. We are talking, laughing and having fun just like the old days. I can't remember any specific topics. But now, I remember a lot of incidents from my school days. there was this one time she walked right into our house during lunch time when I was eating rice with dad. uh.. actually, he was spoon feeding ME rice. And I was pretty young at the time.. I was in the 10th grade. about 15. LOL. I notice her looking and is about to make a comment, I say, "there was only one spoon in the house!" I still turn pink thinking about that. Embarrassing. In school, a lot of kids would ask us both whether we were siblings because our last names are the same- Gupta. (I hated my last name just because it was so common.)

Anyways, after a really long time, long and fun time spent with her, a train arrived and she got on. We bid each other goodbye as if we were so certain we will meet each other again soon. A while later, I got onto a different train. And things started going wrong for me. I am not completely sure, maybe I was just traveling without a ticket... I hope it wasn't anything serious that the police wanted me for. I was sitting there, using my laptop, when suddenly, they came after me. I grabbed my stuff and ran to the door. The train was moving slowly, I was going to jump.. I paused for just a moment to think it over twice, and the train had picked up speed. I dropped the black 'incase' sleeve I put my laptop in. I wanted to jump after it but the train wasn't slowing down and had left the platform way behind by now. But as the cops got closer, in my panicking and sweating, I realize the train's slowing down again for just a second and I jumped.

Upon waking up just the next instant, I realize that its already 8 am and I'm late for my class! fuck!

North trip tweet digest

24th June

• First day at manavli is going awesome. Climbed the highest i've ever been on a tree! 06:09 PM June 24, 2008

25th June

• Arrived in mumbai. Day two of vacation. Need new 4gig SD card for camera 06:04 PM June 25, 2008
• Getting a tour of suju's house 06:09 PM June 25, 2008
• @having papdi samosa and lassi 07:36 PM June 25, 2008
• Pranav has been picking on me for the last two days and it really hurts. 08:47 PM June 25, 2008

26th June

• @having dosa and chutney 08:22 AM June 26, 2008
• Got a Booboo on my middle finger.. 11:58 AM June 26, 2008
• Going to shop at alfa, irla road 12:10 PM June 26, 2008
• Finding a parking space for a car is major problem on irla road. 12:17 PM June 26, 2008
• First stop alfa1 for mini dv for camcorder. 12:25 PM June 26, 2008
• 1100rs for a nikon d40 battery! 12:40 PM June 26, 2008
• Calling my contacts to know if that's a good price for a battery 12:52 PM June 26, 2008
• Just got busted for travelling vile parle to andheri with ticket to cst 08:01 PM June 26, 2008
• My streak of never being busted on mumbai local has been broken! 08:04 PM June 26, 2008
• Pranav got into first class compartment with a second class ticket, he's new.. 08:11 PM June 26, 2008
• Checking waiting list pnr status for golden temple mail. 08:37 PM June 26, 2008
• E tickets not confirmed are automatically cancelled?!! 09:26 PM June 26, 2008
• Yes, we are officially WITHOUT TICKET! 09:47 PM June 26, 2008

27th June

• My eyes burn like hell! 12:46 AM June 27, 2008
• Somewhere in gujrat. Updated my blog now trying to sleep. 03:04 AM June 27, 2008
• Leaving ratlam junction. Reading better photography. 07:55 AM June 27, 2008
• Somewhere in rajasthan..suju sketching.. I want to draw too! 12:51 PM June 27, 2008
• Ooh, she's sketching ME! 12:53 PM June 27, 2008
• Wah! That one was a disaster.. Ok, second try. 01:04 PM June 27, 2008
• Arrived and checked into a hotel at bharatpur. Now to get a haircut under the tree. 04:21 PM June 27, 2008
• Really hungry but the food rates at 'the park' are prohibitively high. 05:33 PM June 27, 2008
• @abhi2k1 sounds like you're having fun. I'm stuck in this hotel room watching some stupid south indian movie in hindi dub 07:06 PM June 27, 2008
• Finally off to have dinner 08:14 PM June 27, 2008

28th June

• Hmm showered really early today. Now for breakfast. 06:35 AM June 28, 2008
• Damn! Turns out bharatpur bird sanctuary is closed till the 1st july. This is bird mating season. 06:54 AM June 28, 2008
• We could have entered the bird sanctuary if we went at 4:30 in the morning. 07:47 AM June 28, 2008
• The water in rajasthan is so hard (salty). 08:07 AM June 28, 2008
• Raining in bharatpur. Decided to stay in the hotel till evening. Not going to see bharatpur fort. 11:19 AM June 28, 2008
• Lunch was awesome. 03:20 PM June 28, 2008
• Watching tv in the hotel room. 04:47 PM June 28, 2008
• Getting ready to leave the hotel room in an hour. 05:15 PM June 28, 2008
• Calling pranav so he comes out of the bathroom. He's probably playing pocket pool in there. 06:54 PM June 28, 2008
• Dun express down departs from platform number 3 in 5 hours.destination delhi. 08:07 PM June 28, 2008
• Damn mosquitoes at the station 09:51 PM June 28, 2008
• Just wished my cousin happy belated birthday for her birthday next month. Embarrassing! 11:25 PM June 28, 2008

29th June

• This has got to be by far, the Worst fucking train i've ever been on. 01:21 AM June 29, 2008
• Pranav's being a jerk again. Don't want to start something at this time of the night in the train. 01:22 AM June 29, 2008
• Twitter get ready to be spamed as i'm not feeling sleepy anymore. 01:28 AM June 29, 2008
• I can't lie. Told dad upfront that bharatpur leg of our journey was just a day spent in a hotel. 01:30 AM June 29, 2008
• Rational thinking tells me I should sleep now because tickets for the next train are not confirmed yet. 01:32 AM June 29, 2008
• The top birth is kinda hot as there is little air circulation 01:36 AM June 29, 2008
• Reading sunday times of india,new delhi 06:26 AM June 29, 2008
• Why are there no toilets on a platform? 07:08 AM June 29, 2008
• Can't find one damn vendor selling a toothbrush on delhi station. 07:49 AM June 29, 2008
• Just found out mom and dad are vacationing in hyderabad. 09:02 AM June 29, 2008
• And mom, being technologically challenged, didn't pack the charger for the camera as usual. 09:03 AM June 29, 2008
• The name of the last station was ..Murad nagar. 'Murad' is prayer in hindi. 09:22 AM June 29, 2008
• Drifted off to reminisce about my camping trip in canada. 09:39 AM June 29, 2008
• Reaching a critical hunger point.. Now I Want food! 10:15 AM June 29, 2008
• @having khopra (coconut) in the train 10:55 AM June 29, 2008
• Suju is sick..:( 11:02 AM June 29, 2008
• Took some really daring photos while hanging out of the train door. It was too much fun 12:02 PM June 29, 2008
• So hot in here! When will i get to take off my jeans? 01:41 PM June 29, 2008
• Wow! Got gprs in raiwala canttonment! Awesome. @Cyberoidx just vacationing with friends in north. 04:36 PM June 29, 2008
• Just showered. Feeling refreshed. But dinner's not till 8:30 pm 06:39 PM June 29, 2008
• Got to wash my clothes, including my jeans but I can't help but procrastinate 07:00 PM June 29, 2008
• The guy told suju to dress up for dinner. "night dress mein khana nahi milega" 08:59 PM June 29, 2008
• The army guest house and all the rules do get a little uncomfortable for civilians 09:01 PM June 29, 2008
• Watching bend it like beckham on star movies while waiting for pranav to return 10:09 PM June 29, 2008
• Bed time for me. Good night all. 10:45 PM June 29, 2008

30th June

• It was nice of suju to join me for breakfast. While Pranav is still sleeping. 08:35 AM June 30, 2008
• Pranav sounds really pissed. I think I know what happened. 11:26 AM June 30, 2008
• Cadbury temptations rum raisins after such a long time! Feels like an orgasm in my mouth. 11:28 AM June 30, 2008
• Damn there's so much smoke around. My lungs long for the air that I breathe while riding my bike down at 80 km/h 11:31 AM June 30, 2008
• Raiwala station, a clean, quiet place to hang. 11:40 AM June 30, 2008
• What the hell is taking pranav so long with his principal? 12:23 PM June 30, 2008
• Finally the rainfall slowed down. 12:29 PM June 30, 2008
• Raincoat is off! Looks like sky is going to get clearer. 01:17 PM June 30, 2008
• Waiting for the arti to start at haridwar. Heard its spectacular. Got my camera ready. 07:32 PM June 30, 2008
• Pranav's got his camera and the camcorder. Suju's tired and sitting down. 07:33 PM June 30, 2008
• Arti over. The crowd is walking me out now. 07:48 PM June 30, 2008
• Stuck in traffic. Looks like we might be spending the night on the road. 09:46 PM June 30, 2008
• So tired that I'm not even gonna bother about dinner tonight 10:15 PM June 30, 2008
• However, some cold water would be lovely. 10:19 PM June 30, 2008
• One thing worse than girls is sick, picky, needy girls 10:25 PM June 30, 2008
• Awesome place to take some star trails photos. 10:39 PM June 30, 2008
• But stupid military rules don't allow photography 10:42 PM June 30, 2008
• Never seen so many glo worms before.These things are like natural LEds 10:50 PM June 30, 2008

1st July

• No water in the bathroom again this morning. 07:34 AM July 01, 2008
• Thanks twitter contacts for update on mumbai weather. My turn To return the favor: weather in raiwala is cloudy but dry. 11:16 AM July 01, 2008
• @having Thanda garam in the on-site office. 01:10 PM July 01, 2008
• Watching modern marvels on history channel 08:52 PM July 01, 2008
• Now, Kamikazee on history channel. 09:04 PM July 01, 2008
• pranav really screwed us over tonight. I'll have to sleep in my jeans in this hot weather. 10:57 PM July 01, 2008
• He says: boxers are 'like' shorts but they're NOT SHORTS. 11:01 PM July 01, 2008

2nd July

• Awake.. And not liking it one bit! 05:53 AM July 02, 2008
• Rang up dad to wish him happy birthday. I was the first caller today.happy birthday papa. 06:14 AM July 02, 2008
• I'll have a day alone with sujata while pranav goes to visit his old friends. 07:58 AM July 02, 2008
• Got to catch a 6 seater auto(tam tam) to Shampur phatak. 10:33 AM July 02, 2008
• Off the bus. Now Walking to dehradun railway station. Hopefully catch a bus to musoorie from there 12:06 PM July 02, 2008
• Suju responds to me in coughs. "Uhoo uhoo." 12:29 PM July 02, 2008
• The cork on my 3200 rupees 'nike sidewinder slippers' is shedding in just 28 days! 12:42 PM July 02, 2008
• On a bus to mussoorie. Just 30 rupees as against 90rs the cabbies ask for. 01:06 PM July 02, 2008
• Mussoorie is awesome. Among The best parts of the trip! 03:31 PM July 02, 2008
• @having onion paratha, dahi and coke. 03:52 PM July 02, 2008
• Sardar uncle on the seat in front of us constantly keeps turning around to stare at suju. 04:46 PM July 02, 2008
• Just realized I had fallen asleep and was drooling on my bag. 05:48 PM July 02, 2008
• Stupid train stopped at some god forsaken station. Wonder when we'll get to raiwala 06:44 PM July 02, 2008
• Finally dinner is served! 09:48 PM July 02, 2008

3rd July

• Woke up to heavy rains outside. 07:30 AM July 03, 2008
• Thinking I should shave. 07:31 AM July 03, 2008
• Playing some stupid game with sujata 07:54 AM July 03, 2008
• Breakfast is served.but i'm not terribly hungry. 08:27 AM July 03, 2008
• Was playing the dot game when suju got a call.. 09:24 AM July 03, 2008
• She's still coughing non stop. 10:27 AM July 03, 2008
• Off to buy more cough syrup. 10:59 AM July 03, 2008
• Aaaah! Monkeys! 11:47 AM July 03, 2008
• Learned about the water cube on nat geo. Really awesome architecture. 04:00 PM July 03, 2008
• Dinner was awesome.kheer for dessert. 09:42 PM July 03, 2008
• Sitting in the super hot waiting room at hardwar station. 09:57 PM July 03, 2008
• Listening to music on my bluetooth headset 10:52 PM July 03, 2008

4th July

• First time seeing three births on the two-seat side of an indian train coach. 12:13 AM July 04, 2008
• And because of the extra birth, our seat nos, which were supposed to be together, were split up. 12:14 AM July 04, 2008
• Was my first time travelling in the delhi metro. Not bad guys! Not bad at all! 08:50 AM July 04, 2008
• Was pranav's first time Ever in ANY subway transit system. He didn't know there are only two platforms one going up, other going down. 08:55 AM July 04, 2008
• Reservation still not confirmed.. Damn! 09:54 AM July 04, 2008
• I want to get on the wrong train and go wherever it takes me. 10:28 AM July 04, 2008
• Reading 'blink- the power of thinking without thinking'. Mind blowing first 11pages! 10:51 AM July 04, 2008
• Sleeping beauty(beast) is finally up. eating aloo wada. I think i'll eat something too. 03:52 PM July 04, 2008
• How much battery does gprs or edge consume?Got2 make the charge last till tomorrow.wondering if I should pause twittering 04:14 PM July 04, 2008
• Finally got some reception. Wonder what god foresaken land we were in for the last half hour. 08:17 PM July 04, 2008
• My back aches but cops are occupying the reserved seats. So I can't lie down. 08:21 PM July 04, 2008
• And again, I am more sacred and horrified when theres police around. 08:23 PM July 04, 2008
• Fucking tt gave me a seat number that was already occupied! 08:42 PM July 04, 2008
• Apparently the guy who's seat I was given didn't board from delhi because the chart showed 'not turned up' 09:23 PM July 04, 2008
• Really want to talk to pranav before I go to bed tonight. 09:41 PM July 04, 2008
• Looks like a big debate is on among the passengers and the ticket checker. 09:51 PM July 04, 2008

And that's the last tweet before my battery went down. I couldn't tweet about when we got down, there was someone there to receive Pranav and Suju and I had to take an auto back home.

I visited Square Foot 2008

This morning, I set out to go to Toronto to see the Square Foot 2008 exhibition. Every piece has to be 12x12 and all submissions accepted, no jury. At about 9 am, it was raining and really cold. I hoped it didn't keep raining all day in Toronto. Atif gave me a ride to the TD bank on Trafalgar road in his van. I told him I wanted to move out. He said we'll talk more about it tonight as he was getting late for work.

I arrived in Toronto early enough. I took the subway from Union to Spadina. There, I changed to the east-west track and went to Ossington. That was a mistake. Because now, I had to walk down to 100 Ossington Avenue. Even though it took me a lot of time, I figured it was for the best. Because the ehibiton only opens at 12 pm and I had some more time to kill. So I called up Aniruddh bhaiya and got some food. But I later realized that a better option to get there, is to take a streetcar or bus on queen street going westwards. If I just get down at the Ossington Avenue intersection, its a much shorter walk.

Talking to Anirddh bhaiya was fun for a bit. He was joking about where I was staying, and that there will be a 'kargil' at home.. Lifted up my spirits. I told him I was in Toronto to check out an art gallery and he says 'You start wearing a pink shirt.' LOL. But then he took it a little too far. I am not even sorry to say, my brother's a dick. After I hung up, the jokes left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Even the thing about Pakistanis, 'at the end of they day, they are who they are' didn't sit well with me. I like to think that there are good people in this world.... But maybe I'm just a retard.

I wanted to call someone else and talk but most of the numbers are stored in my cellphone. And I couldn't even be sure about the numbers that I thought I remembered. Arjun bhaiya's or Abhinav's for instance. I didn't want to call Sujata because I wanted to tell her what the experience of the ar gallery was, after I'd been there. So I just sat outside the entrance and watched a guy come in, open the door and go upstairs. I figured now people may enter so I went in after him.

The exhibition was just amazing! Did I mention our teacher David told us about it yesterday? He has some paintings in there too. Even Sybil Goldstein who was my teacher in art fundamentals and VCA2nd year 1st sem. Today was the last day of the exhibiton. I went in and asked if it was ok if I took pictures. They said long shots of the installation are ok but no close ups. So I'll put all of those up on flickr. Each artist could submit upto 3 pieces. And David had told us that for people who buy art regularly, it's really easy to tell which piece was done by which artist. Yeah, I forgot to mention, they're placed on the walls randomly. Check out the video.



As I was saying, some pieces were just so connected, I could easily tell that they were from the same person. This post has gotten longer than I wish it to be so I will stop. But lets discuss it more in comments and/or the flickr page.

Happy birthday Divya

First class today was Painting Ideas and Images. Most of the students had expected it to be kinda like a lecture that we had in the first semester of art fundamentals. (since that was called ideas and images) But this turned out to be a more painting oriented course. And I represent most of my class when I say that we were pretty happy with it. The teacher explained that this class is geared towards getting us to paint outside the studio, and find what we are comfortable with. That will help us do more independent pieces. The paintings in turn will end up being something that mean something to us, something that we can defend rather than just a 'class work' or student piece.

He had expected most of the class to be interested in pursuing painting as a career. To his disappointment, there were only 2 people out of the ~24 students who were considering that. In making his point about painting as a career, he mentioned his wife, who is a 'full time painter'. While he paints and teaches. Same with my previous teacher, Sybil Goldstein. One of his friends, who lives in New York, he said, just lies flat on his bed, with his canvas and paints to his side, and with his arm dangling off the bed, paints all day long. He falls asleep like that, painting, and wakes up and starts painting again. Reminded me of Pranav. He would totally do that. LOL

We were let go early, so I went and got a BLT sandwich from Tim Horton's. Yummmm.. after SO LONG! Then I went to the bank with Lauren and also currys. Got 10 small canvases that I'm going to need for the first homework project for painting class. Next was photography at 1 pm. The new macs in the lab were awesome! beautiful 1920x1200 20 inch screens! and mac 10.5.4 operating system. The slim keyboards! It was all awesome! This day just keeps getting better and better. We got our own 2 gig kingston flash drives for free! We also found out that we will get canon digital rebel Xti from the college to shoot with.

We went down to the photo studio to pick up out cameras. We got a Lowerpro bag with the silver body Xti and kit lens, with a filter attached to it. The cameras are brand new, never been used before! We were going to have to charge the camera battery before we'll be able to use it. Another bummer was that this camera takes compact flash cards. And I don't have any compact flash card. So I would have to buy one before I can go trigger happy with this thing. I thought I'd look online for something really cheap. Maybe old 512 mb cards that nobody uses anymore.. I don't want to spend too much for a format that I'll never use.

From there, we could have gone back to the mac lab. Tony was going to give a little demo to students who had never used a digital slr before, but I didn't stick around for that. I had to talk to international center and finance office about my fees. After that, I thought I'd scan some drawings that I did yesterday but I couldn't log into the stupid windows machines. So I went to the library, read animation magazine till it was almost time for them to close. And I have some plans that I can't disclose yet.

Don't want to live in that house!

I finally moved in with Atif, the pakistani guy three days ago. I was going to take the appartment room but somebody else moved in first. I absolutely had to move out of Vironica's place that day, so I called up my next best option. He came with his van and even helped me move my stuff. That night, Atif's mom served me lamb and paratha. The size of the Paratha was about the same size as the roti at Pranav's house. I couldn't eat more than one. This could be great I thought. But I didn't foresee the things to come.

This might seem a little silly.. Has anyone who's ever lived away from home had a place that was too much like home? Yeah. In some aspects, this place is like home. The food, Indian channels on the television and worst of all, Parents! But it was someone else's home. That made it even worse. I felt like I didn't belong here. Maybe that was just me missing home. I think I need to find something very non-Indian to connect to so that I don't miss home. Do you get me or am I just making your head hurt?

The next day, I took the bus to school and spent a good part of my day there. In the night, I didn't have any food of my own and I was getting really hungry. So I was fed by aunty again. obviously, there was no hospitality. I was sensing hostility. She doesn't want me eating their food. And that's totally fine, I understand that. That's why, Immediately when Atif came home, I asked him to take me grocery shopping. And as we were about to leave, I saw a cop car outside. I heard Atif talk to his mom in punjabi that they always come and stand outside their house. 'This is not a good sign.' In all the time I have spent in canada, I'd never seen a cop car stand outside a house in Oakville. (Not counting the time they were patroling on halloween night.)

After we came back from shopping, aunty arranged some space in their terribly crowded refrigerator and freezer for my food. I said I'll head upstairs to my room. There, I turned on the stupid table lamp and started to watch movies. Kids, before you move in, always check whether there's going to be sufficient light in the room after sun-down. I felt so stupid for not noticing that there weren't any light fixtures on the walls. Also, they didn't have the air conditioning running and it was really hot in the room all the time! This is like the room in Kevin's house all over again!

Then in some cases, its NOT like Kevin's house. This place is crowded, busy, smelly and messy. The dining table has stuff all over it. The kitchen counter hardly has any space. At kevin's I could actually use the dishwasher. Kevin was a quiet guy. Last night, aunty was yelling out loud till way past 12 am! I could hear her all the way upstairs in my room! Even this morning, she was screaming in punjabi, probably over the phone. All around the house you can smell that 'muslim family' stench. The toilet upstairs doesn't work. At kevin's place, everything worked, and I was the only one who used the facilities.

Then there was the part about not telling the neighbours that I am renting here. Atif said, "If anyone asks, tell them you're my cousin. Tell them you're just here on vacation. Or you're just here to go to sheridan. You know me from back home." Fuck no I'm not telling anyone I'm your cousin! I still remember the police car. And if anything were to go down, I don't want them taking me in because they think I'm related to you. Regardless of whatever the probability of that actually happening is, I would just like to play it safe.

And finally, I'm the only animation student there. They won't take white guys there, so I can't even ask any of my friends or cantacts in my field to come stay with me. There is no desi person in this field who is looking to share a basement or get a room. Atleast not to my knowledge. And since this is my last time to try for animation, I want to take every step possible to make sure I get in. Which includes rooming with another person in the same field. We can work together, leech off of each other and I'm sure will get along better than someone from business or engineering background.

First day of the new semester

I am terribly sorry I forgot o change the time zone before publishing my last two blog entries from Canada. But today is finally Tuesday morning here, and I am in the college B wing hallway.

First person I met today was Atif. The guy who's place I looked at yesterday. He picked me up on upper middle road and dropped me to school. That was nice of him. Or maybe its just a plot to get me to go live with him. I dunno. Next, in college, I think I saw oliver, but I couldn't be sure. I met Jeremy and talked to him for a bit. Then I had to go to andrew bodor so I headed off. But sure enough, I saw him again. We also ran into mike and lauren. we talked about the course and the classes we'll have in 3rd year. Sadly, it turns out, we don't have any drawing studio classes. WTF! this is bullshit!

Anyways, Jeremy's class was about to start, so he left. I need to meet with Tracy to get my re-admission done. But they insist I must stand in a long queue to wait to get an appointment. Only after I am officially enrolled, will I get my schedule. But since I have already talked to mike and know what time my next class is, I am not worrying about it too much. I have 6 more days to get it all done and I am sure I will.

The more important thing on my mind right now is finding a place to stay. I have looked at 3 places, but none of them are GREAT! I am not even sure if I am leaning more towards any particular one. But I must make my decision today. So right after I talk to Craig, I will make arrangements and move all my stuff out from vironica's place.

Still don't have a room to live in

Its been two complete days in canada. I would rather not talk about the miserable state I was in on saturday morning. I am actually glad I didn't end up talking to Pranav. The looking for houses didn't really go that well. None of the phones were answered, I figured everyone was out for the weekend.

On sunday, I ended up talking to a couple people. Most of them saying the place is already taken. It was really disheartening. I was pretty disappointed till I found address of one place I can go look at on monday. I kept myself busy watching movies. For dinner, I ordered wings from a place called the wingery. Their chicken is one food that I missed in India. The other guy wesley's parents moved his stuff in so I had to sleep on the couch on sunday. I would HAVE to move out by tomorrow I thought!

Today is monday. I went and checked out the place at sewel street. At first I thought it would be pretty far away, but Its actually a short walk away from college if you take the trail that ends near the atheletic center. However, 550 per month doesn't seem like a good price for what I get. The next place I was gonna look at, which I had really set my hopes on, was Taruna's old basement. I talked to Shamil and he said there are already two other guys who came there with their bags and everything. So he gave me the number of another guy, Atif. Its a room with a pakistani family on 6th line.

I went and checked it out. Looked ok, but it is just too far away from college. The guy works in TD canada trust bank near Oakville Place so he said he could drop me to school every morning. That's cool, but I don't want to be dependent on someone else all the time. Bus stop right outside house, but oakville transit sucks! I will keep it at the back of my head for now, but looking at another place. Its a room in an appartment across from college.

The guy is an international student from hong-kong. He rented the appartment on his own and rented out the rooms. The last room that's empty, is actually really really small. Not a lot of room for my stuff or computer table+drafting table. I haven't made up my mind yet. I asked vironica to let me stay another night, and I will definitely move out tomorrow. Lets hope everything works out. That's all the updates for now. Bye visitors.