My first studio picture with the gang :)

I'm the one in the black halter with the white shell flowers. It's one of my favourite tops :).

I LOVE these pics ^^.

We look AWESOME X) !!!

The photographer HATED us, 'cos we were making so much noise....and NONE of us seemed to be able to sit still. I don't really blame him, though...We were probably REALLY frustrating to deal with :P.

Peace

Maya

I was reading this book called 'Almost Single' by Advaita Kala, and I came across this line that I loved: 'Friends' really are the family you choose.'

It's incredible that such a simple line could hold so much truth AND make me feel so happy :).

The rest of the book was not bad....another Romance chick-lit, not really my thing. But it was interesting in the aspect that it was about a woman in INDIA, and not about foreign people. For all I know, that could be ME in twelve years or so :P.

Peace

Maya

Okay, I KNOW I've blogged WAYYY too much these last two days or so, but I'm just so....RELIEVED, that I can't help it :P. It's like I.. NEED to write. But the only problem is that I have absolutely NOTHING to write about :P. So I will make a list (yes, ANOTHER one...-.-) of random thoughts I've had, and stuff I've done in the last few days or so:-
1. I FINALLY finished this e-book I was reading. Lion's Bride by Iris Johanssen. Kinda cool :). I liked it ^^. It's the first book I've read in a long LONG time :P. I've not read ANY books, except the odd random one for almost a WHOLE YEAR, and it feels weird 'cos books have ALWAYS been a part of my life. And I have this WHOLE folder of e-books, some 220 of them, out of which I have read maybe...... uh....30. Yeah, 30 -.-. I have a LOT of work to do...

I like only certain kind of books. I like funny ones that REALLY make me laugh...and also books which teach you a lot, like Dan Brown. I've also ALWAYS loved Fantasy books ^^". I guess I'm obsessed with Elves for some reason :P.

2. I went SWIMMING ^^. For the FIRST time in maybe 4 YEARS!!! And I LOVED IT^^! The pool in our building is FINALLY complete, aftre like, 3 YEARS of construction -.- :D.

3. I guess that now the whole stress of marks and whatnot are over, I will have a lot more free time to do things I like... I've started alot of things,and I guess I sorta got too enthusiastic about it 'cos now I can't keep track of it all ^^". I've started some (yes, SOME. As in, PLURAL....-.-) language courses on www.livemocha.com, a sign language course on www.lifeprint.com, and account on DeviantArt (www.deviantart.com), I FINALLY got a skype account so I can keep in touch with people when I leave... And more. I can't remember them, BECAUSE I have started wayyy too many things -.-. *facepalm*

4. I cut my hair in the bathroom again :P. Just the front, though. My bangs were getting way too long and fell almost till my chin so I thought I'd trim them a bit. Yeah, but I'm kinda new to the whole hair-cutting thing so....yeah....uh.... Now they're PRETTY short 'cos I KEPT trying to get them right ^^". I managed to get it right before I cut them ALL off (thankfully)... -.- *facepalm*. I've cut them in this diagonal razor kinda cut, like these cute emo bangs. I like emo peoples' hair... It ALWAYS look so cute :P.

5. I cleaned out my clothes cupboard.... *shudder* Yeah. NOT something I want to do again -.-. I found some clothes that I'd never even SEEN before which had to be atleast four years old -.-. The task took a WHOLE morning. A morning which I'd rather have spent doing MUCH more fun stuff >.<.

Note to self: Keep cupboard clean from now on.

6. I STILL haven't gotten to hang out with all my friends yet :/. SO I will make them take me out.... 'cos I've been stuck at home for almost TWO MONTHS now, and I need a break. REALLY.

7. I started writing in my jorunal again. It made me realise how much I missed writing in it. I guess, after I started blogging, I've been neglecting it a bit, so I figured, if I can manage AAALL these things I've started online, I can ALSO keep a journal alongside.

Anyhoo, I gotta go now. Chores calleth (-.-)...

Peace

Maya

*faints with relief*

The results are out.....

And you know what? I didn't do too bad :).

The world has suddenly become a nicer place :D. I was FLIPPIN' OUT the WHOLE of last night. Woke up at three in the morning, because I'd pushed my blanket off and my dad had the house at FREAKING minus eight degrees Celsius...-.-. And the FIRST thing I thought when I woke was "Are my results out?" accompanied by *eyes darting around wildly, frantic panicky breathing*.

Then I realised it was three in the morning, and that the results would not be out for another four hours or so -.-. So I lay there TRYING to fall asleep, but the whole results thing just freaked me out WAYYY too much. So here I sit, happy and sleep-deprived, with MUCH better marks than I had expected :).
And the four hours from three AM to seven AM? Yeah, WORST four hours of my life -.-.
So anyway, I feel a lot lighter now :).
I think I will go and do a couple of pirouettes, to try and get rid of this crazy happy feeling. Not that I don't like it, but it's making me giddy :P. I won't be able to think straight the WHOLE of today :P.
I'm also falling asleep on my feet. Gotta go catch some Zs.Peace
Maya

Ragnarok... Let me make it through alive. Please, please, please....*praying, eyes tightly shut*

I am a dead woman.
No, I'm serious. Well, maybe not dead YET...but I will be in a few hours :/.
My results are coming out. Tomorrow. And I will know exactly HOW badly I've done in my finals.
But it's no big deal. I mean, these were just THE MOST IMPORTANT EXAMS of my LIFE...-.-. And it doesn't matter if I don't do well in them.... All that's gonna happen is that my WHOLE FUTURE will be ruined....
Yeah, no pressure...-.-
This is INSANE!!! I'm soo SCARED!!! This whole situation sucks :/... I FAIL (I HATE that word....It freaks me out) to understand WHY CBSE has to do this to us students. We should just be told if we've passed or failed ( >.< There's that word again). No need for any marks and percentage nonsense. It would make it SO much easier on the condemned student populace that way. The pressure is UNBELIEVABLE.... I hate result release days >.<. Among the top 3 on the worst-days-of-my-life list -.-.

Peace, Pray for me, y'all! :S
Maya

*facepalm*

I have GOT to learn to be more responsible. And less absent-minded. -.-
GOD, I am such a ....BUBBLEHEAD-.-.
I could kick myself, really. I keep LOSING things, and it's so frustrating, ESPECIALLY 'cos i know it's MY fault.... :/. I almost lost my passport.
Yeah.....my PASSPORT!
I. IS. STUPID.-.-
Maya

Home again :)

Aaand I'm back home in Kerala. And happy to be here, might I add :).
It took a whole 12 hours by train and car (inclusive of a few visits we had to pay along the way) to get home. Stuck with a hyperactive, INCREDIBLY talkative 14-year old and a sympathetic, yet unhelpful 17-year old for TWELVE FREAKING HOURS. Yeeeeah... NOT something I want to experience again -.-.
14 decided he had to fill EVERY silent moment with talk, to ward off his boredom. It didn't matter if what he said made sense or not, he'd just say whatever he wanted to anyway -.-. 17 sat quietly, listening to him, occasionally asking him to shut up. Then there were times where they'd put their heads together, whisper a pervy joke and both of them would crack up. I suffered dirty looks from people on the train for ALL eight hours of the journey -.-.

Also, I brought my new guitar here. It felt cool carrying it in its case slung over my shoulders like a backpack :). A big, HEAVY, weirdly-shaped, fragile backpack. Only drawback was AAAAAAAAALL the people in the station giving me weird looks -.-. I had the desperate urge to yell,"FOR GOD'S SAKE,PEOPLE...IT'S JUST A GUITAR!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL OF Y'ALL LOOKING AT?!?!" (or maybe... "NOBODY MOVE,I HAVE A BOMB!!!" :P. It was just this CRAZY urge. It took a LOT of willpower to ignore it :D)

*sigh* Buuut, I didn't. I just wanted a nice, quiet trip with no problems.

And now, I'm back home. And it feels AWESOME to be here. This place, in MY opinion is a quazidillion times better than Chennai, though my brothers think otherwise. I mean, even the AIR here smells different. In Chennai, it was so humid, we could barely smell anything. Here you can smell so many things. It smells like India....and I LOVE it :). I haven't been to this place in two whole years! It feels awesome to see my grammie and grandpa again :).

This place has changed a bit, but not much. The house has had a new paint job, so AAAALL those cricket ball marks on the walls are gone, and with them, a bunch of memories of playing cricket here with my gang of cousins. I feel kinda sad, seeing those clean walls. The house looked better before. ALL those marks had given it personality and this 'lived-in' look... :/.

Oh well, I'm here for around three days more till I go back to Kuwait. There's always time to mess it up a bit :P.

Seeing everything again makes me feel so happy, but at the same time, a little sad. This house holds SO many memories. I went upstairs to where I used to sleep before. I touched my old desk again, and remembered ALL the holiday homework I was forced to do, sitting there. My brothers and I played a short game of cricket (and started the process of memorifying the wall again :P). It felt amazing to stand on the same warm concrete of out courtyard again, and to see the familiar cracks i used to trace with my toes as a child. It felt amazing to sit on the red front steps with my brothers and drink our evening tea, like we'd done countless times before. It felt amazing to see the trees here. Everything here is so...GREEN! It's not like modern Chennai, with all its buildings and lights. It's more in the country... It felt great to go up to the roof again, and just sit up there in the evening breeze and look at Mt.Dhoni of the Western Ghats. I've walked up and down the road in front of the house barefoot, as I've done MANY times before to retrieve wildly-hit cricket balls from other houses or the gutter( yes, the gutter-.-). It felt awesome, 'cos every prick of pain in my feet brought back memories. I went and petted Bruno, the daschund next door, 'cos he's a darling, and I love his eyes. I've tasted my first mangoes and jackfruit in a long time, after I got here, and no other taste can compare to this: the taste of 17 years' worth of memories. I slid down the short wooden staircase banister, with all it's swirls and woody patterns again (when nobody was around) like I'd done MANY times before, just to remember how it felt. I found AAAAAALL my old storybooks, which I've read and re-read every summer I'd spent here, and there are a LOT of them :P. I found Tebby, the teddy bear I used to sleep with when I was maybe 6...and I have NO idea what he's doing here, but I gave him a hug, and promised him that I would sleep with him tonight. You know, for old times' sake :). I've gone into EVERY room in the house and blown a kiss into every one. Because I've missed this place. ALOT. And I'm upset I'm only going to be here for 4 days or so :/.

The nostalgia is so heavy, I can almost taste it. And it tastes like the guavas we grow in the backyard.

Peace

Maya

I miss School (as crazy as it may sound to some people)

By the way, for those of you who don't know, my REAL name is Meghna. Maya is just an alias. One I like ^^. And I've decided, once I'm back in Kuwait, I will find some day when I'm free in the morning. I will wake up at 6, put on my school uniform, like I've done for the last one year, and I will go to school. I will walk into class and sit down, like I have done for the last one year, acting like everything is normal. When asked what the hell I'm doing back there, I will act surprised and confused. The following conversation will take place.
Susan Ma'am: Meghna! What are YOU doing here?!
Me: Huh? Who is this Meghna you speak of? I know no Meghna... I is new foreign exchange student. My name Makenna Zubole. Nice to meet Madam...
Susan Ma'am:.........-.-. Meghna....

Me: Why you keep calling me Meghna Meghna? My name MAKENNA. MA. KEN. NA.

Then Susan Ma'am will stomp off to call security (or whoever teachers call when they want to throw someone outta class :P), and I will grin and wave goodbye to my 11th-grade friends, and hightail it outt there before she comes back.

Just reminding y'all I'm alive, people.
XD
Peace :*
Maya

Music ^_^

I BOUGHT A GUITAR!!! *excited shriek*
I WILL BE A MUSICIAN ^_^....
Okay, maybe that's getting a little too ahead of myself (:P), but I'm just so...EXCITED ^_^. I always wanted to play the guitar. I can play a little piano, and I messed around with the drums for a few months... so I know a little bit of both. But I will take the guitar to college with me and learn to play it awesomely...:D
There's this HUUUUUUUUUUGE list of songs I've always wished I could play.
But I guess I have to first work on getting the chords right and everything.... But I'm not complaining. I like to learn :).
So anyway, my new guitar is a Havana Acoustic. A HUGE one, that I can barely hold on my lap. I can already lay notes on it, but I have to lay it flat and play it like a piano :P.
So anyway, I'm going to go and practice now! The first song I want to learn is Lips of an Angel by Hinder, 'cos it's the most amazing song EVER !!!
Peace!
Maya

Life

I've been having a lot of serious conversations with some of my friends lately. Mentally, we're all adults now (though you'd NEVER guess that if you actually met us :P)...and it's a little scary to admit. For me atleast. It's hard to believe that we're all going our own ways now. We have our own legacies to carve into rock, like our ancestors of old did. We are waiting with our chisels held in inexperienced hands, waiting to be given the go-ahead before we approach our rock walls.
Yeah, and if you hadn't guessed already, I've been reading up on cavemen...-.-. Why? Just because...
College starts soon, and I may never see most of my friends again. It makes me feel a little lonely, and a little scared. I'm kinda sad that I never fully appreciated the time I had with my friends or family. The classes I spent doodling in my notebooks, keeping to myself, the times I locked myself in my room, not talking to anyone, lost in my own little world... I wish I could rewind all those times and change it.... I would mess around with my friends instead, and go to the living room, plonk myself onto the sofa beside my parents, and we would just talk and talk...
But I guess that's life.... It passes you by, and you don't even realise it...
It makes me feel kinda sad... Life's WAYYY too short for my liking :/
Peace
Maya

Randomosity

Totally Random thought-carp that have been swimming around in my Japanese brainpond. The ones that I managed to catch, that is...

1. I want to go surfing. I don't know why, but I just do. I've always LOVED the ocean. I think it's because it's so.....blue. Blue is my absolute favourite colour. Well, teal to be exact, and that's the colour of the ocean most of the time. I've ALWAYS sorta....gravitated towards blue things. The ocean, and the sky , and blue stationary being a few of them.

2. Surprisingly, I'm also attracted to the colour, Pink. Which is weird, 'cos I've never been a pink person. But there's just something about certain shades like Magenta, and Skittle pink... They're so bright and....um...Yummy-looking (^^"). I bought skittle-pink nailpolish once. Yeeeah, that helped ALOT with my whole nail-biting problem -.-. I should have maybe thought it out a little more before choosing THAT particular colour...
But at the same time, there are also shades of pink that I find garish and repulsive, like Fuchsia, for example.

3. I just realised.....I'm making lists again-.-.

4. I'm scared of going to college. I don't know how it will turn out. The reason why I want to go to Manipal so much is because, atleast there I will have a few familiar faces I can look forward to seeing. The whole idea of being alone in an unknown place kinda.....well, it terrifies me, to be honest. But if I have a friend or two with me, I'll be okay, no matter where I am, or what the situation may be.

5. I'm upset about my eyesight, and the fact that I'm almost BLIND without my glasses on. I mean, my power is -8, for cryin' out loud!!! I really should have listened when I was (repeatedly) told to not read in bad light, or moving vehicles, to not spend so much time in front of the computer, and to not watch so much TV. I. Am. An. IDIOT. *banging head on wall*
I even wanted to be a pilot, when i was younger, but I was put off when a friend told me that I'd never make one, because of my HORRIBLE eyesight, or whatever's left of it....-.-

6. I hate carrots (which happen to be good for eyes, by the way -.-). And beetroot. And spinach. Popeye's taste buds had probably all rotted away from all the pickles and eggs he'd eaten during his time at sea, which is why spinach was such a great thing for him. he probably didn't taste it at all. Take it from me, kids...Don't listen to that fraud...He's a bigger idiot than I am, and THAT'S saying something....>.<.

7. I drew my first portrait a few days ago...and it turned out pretty sweet, even if I do say so myself....B)

8. Boys' clothes are awesome to wear. I lived in my brother's spare clothes for a couple of days, when we had to unexpectedly stay the night in their apartment. And I was kinda hoping we could stay there longer JUST 'cos it gave me an excuse to wear his clothes. He's got some REALLY cool stuff. I go for comfort over looks, anyday. I could LIVE in basketball shorts and a loose T-shirt, or maybe jeans and a loose T-shirt, but I doubt my mom would let me...-.-. She's already got an issue with my wardrobe being 70% black, and the other 30% mainly dark blue, red and purple.... But black clothes are CUTE! And no, Amma, I am NOT goth...-.-

Yeah, I have nothing else to say. just felt like writing (again), so I decided to put some random stuff down. I LOVE writing ^^. Nothing makes me happier. Except maybe...drawing, and hanging out with my sis, and my friends,listening to music on my iPod... I'm feeling strangely happy. I think it's 'cos my iPod's not dead anymore. I will now leave to listen to some Pink. Best vocal artist EVER.
Peace
Maya

Come Home

I have been missing my friends SO much these last few days. They're all together in Kuwait (well, maybe not ALL of them, but atleast the ones that are there are all together right?), and going out together and having fun. I CANNOT look at photos of any of them together without being CONSUMED by insane jealousy. Yeah, like I needed ANOTHER issue to worry about...-.-. But it's just...not fair that I'm stuck here in Chennai with no one to hang out with at all :(...

Yeah, I text (ALOT -.-), and facebook, and call....but it's just not the same as BEING there...:/.
So I was listening to this song by One Republic, one of my favouritest bands EVER ^^. Come Home. And I can just RELATE to the lyrics so much, you know? It goes...
Hello world
Hope you're listening
Forgive me if I’m young
For speaking out of turn
There’s someone I’ve been missing
I think that they could be
The better half of me
They’re in the wrong place trying to make it right
But I’m tired of justifying
So i say you’ll..
Come home
Come home
Cause I’ve been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
And right now there's a war between the vanities
But all i see is you and me
The fight for you is all I’ve ever known
So come home ....
I LOVE this song. It is SIMPLY amazing. And I wish someone were singing it to me, because I'm just so tired of being alone....:/
Peace
Maya

Fruitcake? Me? Yeeeah, maybe...-.-

If I were locked in an empty room, all I need to prevent myself from spiraling into insanity is a notebook and a pencil.
AAAND a sharpener and an eraser if we're going to be all practical about it and look at all the tiny little details. Which, I've noticed, I tend to do a LOT. I've been called a 'Bloody Perfectionist' by my best friend, and a 'Neat-freak' by my sister more number of times than I can count.
Things I find myself unconsciously doing:-
1. Setting things straight
2. Aligning things. Mats, furniture, books....everything are all perfectly aligned along the floor tile lines etc.
3. Talking/Humming to myself. The humming is okay, relatively normal...but the talking? Yeeeah...not so much.
4. Doodling eyes. EVERYWHERE. Almost all my notebooks are filled with eyes....
5. Walking into a room, and then wondering what the hell I'd come there for.
6. Going up to the roof and watching the clouds.
7. Making lists...-.-
I sound like a mental patient. I wonder if I have Alzheimer's.... Is it possible for it to occur in 17 year olds? Namini thinks I may also have OCD...-.-
And don't even get me started on my attention span, which could be compared to a sparrow's -.-. I'd started this entry, wanting to write about how I LOVE writing, and went on to discuss my mental issues....
Geez, I'm hopeless....*facepalm*
So anyway, let's change the topic. I love Clouds <3 <3 <3... Random, I know, but I DO....
I love watching them, and my name, (not Maya, my REAL name) even means 'Daughter of the Clouds' as I found out a few years ago. They're cool, being able to float along with the breeze and the way they make the sky SO much more interesting to look at. And they bring RAIN <3 <3 <3.... I LOVE.......^^
I have written NOTHING of interest in this entry but I was bored and I felt like writing. RANDOM thoughts are swimming around in my head. I try to catch them but they slip away too fast. Like orange and white carp in a Japanese pond. I have a splitting headache and I didn't get much sleep last night or the previous night. These REALLY freaky nightmares have been disturbing me for a while, and when I wake up, I'm scared and all I remember is a lot of loud noises and flashing lights. It sounds fake and dramatic, I know...but that's how it is. This just emphasises my theory about me being a mental patient -.- . Maybe I should see a doctor....
So anyway, I'm going to go and catch up on the sleep I missed out on last night. My head's KILLING me....-.-
Jaane!
Maya

Things to do before we turn 30 :D

Okay, a few days after the boards got over, Namini came over to my place for this sleepover. We had AWESOME fun, stayed up the WHOLE night (against my parents' wishes, of course ;) ) doing the regular sleepover stuff like watching movies(accompanied by our own dialogues and commentary ;)...the MOST fun part of the whole movie-watching thing), eating chocolate, talking, taking photos, facebooking, shopping etc.
So anyway, by 3 in the morning, we'd already finished almost all there was to do, and had talked about almost everything under the sun. We'd even picked up this cool (read:weird :P) arabic accent and some arabic phrases from Oded Fehr who plays Ardeth Bay (who is INCREDIBLY cute,btw :D), a member of the Medjai, in The Mummy. It's an ancient film but I hadn't seen it before so we decided to watch it.
So we decided to make a list. Both of us are 'Make-Lists' kinda people. This is what we came up with. It's a completey RETARDED list, but every time I read it, I laugh till I cry. I miss you, NJ... And we WILL do these things ;). No matter HOW crazy they might be >:).
Things to do before we turn 30 :-
1. Steal a car.
2. Go on a few road trips (atleast one Indian road trip MANDATORY. 'Cos India ROCKS :D!)
3. Streak our hair.
4. Flirt shamelessly with a cute waiter/salesman (that was totally random, but it sounds fun :D)
5. Go to Egypt together (again) and do EVERYTHING we did last time, including going on the three day cruise on the Nile Admiral, stay at Basma Hotel and buy LOADS of stuff at Khan Al Khalili market, among others.
6. Take Salsa lessons
7. Get our own place (:D).
8. Go to a concert and FREAK out, inclusive of screaming and getting those cool glowy rod thingies.
9. Go camping beside a lake (again, random, but still...) up a mountain.
10. Join a riot :D.
11. Do volunteer work at an NGO.
12. Get thrown out of a movie theatre. It'll be a cliched, sappy romance flick and we'll be standing up in our seats, throwing popcorn at the screen and yelling things like, " YOU IDIOT! Don't walk away!!! She LOVES you, GODAMMIT!!!" XD
13. Learn to play an instrument PROPERLY. Not just in bits and pieces like we already do :P.
14. Walk on the beach at night with someone we love.
15. Get two lovebirds together.
16. Yell profanities at my boss after I get fired/before quitting a sucky job. You know, for dramatic effect..... :D.
17. Get a tattoo ;)
18. See Paris. In all it's beautiful nighttime splendour.
19. Hijack a gondola in Venice ;). We'll shove the boatman off, close to the edge of the canal (just in case he can't swim or something), and make off with his gondola. Of course we'd have to return it later, but we'd first wander around with it. (Note to self: Learn how to steer a gondola :P)
20. Learn to speak a new language PROPERLY.
21. Go on a long expensive cruise.
22. Visit and donate stuff to an orphanage.
23. Go to a casino and make faces at the bouncers :P.
24. Set off a fire alarm, just for fun.
25. Learn to do the shuffle, and get clothes like the people in the Party Rock Anthem music video by LMFAO. My ABSOLUTE FAVE MV (for the moment, atleast ;) ).
There WERE more, but I've just posted the ones I could remember. I left the real list back home in Kuwait :(. It's nice to remember all the nutty times ^^. I miss you, NJ!!! Love ya, girl!
This is a poster we made. Will keep it for EVER and EVER :).
Peace
Maya

Me?!?! EMO?!?!
I think NOT....-.-
I have been called emo around 5 times in the last four days. And it's worrying me.
As far as I know, I am NOT emo. I like how emo people dress, and they have cute hair and all, but they are just too......morbid inside. And the Emo Blobs are just too ADORABLE ^_^. I'm too.....goofy (-.-) to be called Emo, and my friends should know that. I'm all about the sunshine and daisies, yo!!! :P
Seriously. I'm just too happy to be called emo.
Most of the times, atleast ^^.
There HAVE been some points in my like where I'd considered doing some really extreme things. Thinking back to those times,I feel kinda disturbed at how dark my thoughts used to be. Reading my old journals, I realise I was one CYNICAL 10th grader. Sure, went to school, laughed, and had an awesome time with my friends [who I miss like hell :( ]. But when I read the entries in my journal during those times, I'm kinda surprised at how often I was depressed.
Geez.....-.-
Well, anyhoo....As I said before, now I'm as happy as a bumblebee...Hear how they hum?
^_^ Peace
Maya