A free ticket

It has been a while since I blogged on this blog. I seem to giving my other project more attention, but don’t worry, Mommy is back.

Today was the second last of my mid semester exams, and Sam and I left the hall 50 minutes of the 90 minutes after the test began. It was that kind of a paper. She and I left college and started walking the long, monotonous route towards the bus stop.

Yesterday, I decided to go to the GPO (General Post Office) on Saturday as Akka I was running out of postcards (Well, they just got a little boring). But Amma made a suggestion: why not try the Cauvery Emporium? After all, the postcards we bought from Park Lane in Mysore were pretty brilliant…

So, I caught the first available bus to Jayanagar 4th block, and to think it was a “13”, a bus which stops a kilometer away from home. It was 10 in the morning; half the showrooms were not even open yet, so obviously, the bus was sparsely populated. The nearest seat was in the second row and I sat down, rummaging for my wallet to buy a ticket.

As we were entering the Shantinagar TTMC (fancy abbreviation for a bus stand) when I hand him the money and tell my destination.I realize I gave him one rupee less, so I take out my wallet and hand him the last one rupee. He asks me, “For whom?”

I reply. “Me only.”

“Don’t you have your pass?”

“I should get it done for this year.”

With that, he hands me back my money, prints a ticket, gives it to me and walks away. I try forcing the money to him, but he doesn’t budge.

He bows to me as I was stepping of the bus; I give him my biggest smile possible.

Not sure what just happened, but it was nice.

 

Weekend Coffee Share #13

First Weekend Coffee Share of the year!

Even though it is a Monday, I’d still like to put things down here. They make it seem very believable.

This week was spectacularly hectic. After the weak New Year’s day, I dreaded to go back to college because I had loads of unfinished assignments. And at one point, I didn’t know where I should start, so I sat and painted buttons, made a few postcards, to send and for our bookmarks/postcards stall at Nirvaan.

Nirvaan is St. Joseph’s annual fest, and guess what the theme is time?

NAMMA OORU BENGALURU!!

(My city, Bengaluru).

I could not have been more thrilled. Here’s the poster for it.

Samudyatha, I and Shravan, with the help of DJ and Archana, thought of having a stall during the fest. But with the fest happening this Thursday and Friday, our products are no where near ready. So, we’re ditching the idea. Instead, I’m heading Funk From Junk and Creative Writing. Also, we’re getting t-shirts!!

On 5th Jan, Thursday, we all went to Truffles. After hearing “Truffles this”, “Truffles that,” the restaurant really kept up its name. I had Mexican Chicken with Rice. And I tasted shit loads of stuff, and practically had to lumber along the footpath to catch my bus. Every single thing that I ate was so, so delicious.

Picture credits: Smriti

Then, 6th Jan was Hayao Miyazaki’s birthday. In that honor, I wanted to watch one Ghibli movie, but unfortunately, I kept pushing it to the next day and the next, and ended up not watching it at all.

Saturday, I had plans.

I had two things in my list: Conference. And Kirik Party.

And one hell of an adventure it was.

The conference was held by Bangalore University, at the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, the place where Japan Habba happened last year. I was so thrilled to go back because of all the memories that happened there.

But the conference ended so chaotically. The movie, Kirik Party, started at 6:45 PM. I thought, the conference would end at 5 PM, I would catch a bus to Majestic, then home, then go to the movie with Amma, Akka and Yoggy. But I left the auditorium at 6:30. Ran outside to catch an auto, and made it to the movie by 7:10 PM.

Thankfully, i didn’t decide to ditch the movie.

It. Was. Phenomenal.

I will be writing a post soon about the movie. Hopefully.

Sunday was even more hectic, and fun. I had a meeting with the Japan Habba committee, so Anita and I went. We had some Graphi.Inc business to with them 😀 and it was a pretty successful meeting.

After the meeting, I had a play to watch at Rangashankara, with Smriti and Arun. And it got late. Heartbroken, I sat down at the bookshop and read a whole Grapgic novel, The Tragical Comedy or the Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch. It is safe to say that this is one of the darkest and downright disturbing books that I’ve ever read, right alongside The Story of An eye. 

The lucky side of my day is, that I got to watch the last one-third of the play! It was called, Swaraajyadaata, based on the book by Gandhi, Hind Swaraj. More on this in another post too!

Then today, I only went to college to attend two meetings at the end of the day. Otherwise, I would’ve taken refuge in the warmth of bed.

Weekend Coffee Share #7

The last post I put up was 16 days ago.

This is one of the longest hiatus that I’ve ever taken during college and to say that I was miserable throughout it will be a little bit of an understatement.

I wouldn’t have blogged today if I wasn’t blessed with a holiday tomorrow as there is a public bus strike.

No buses+poor students= no travelling to college.

Third year is so hectic that all of just want to drop everything for a whole day and do all that makes us happy.

But noooo.

We have assignments, we have tests, we have a term paper due at the end of August, we have records to complete, and we have the biggest headache of all: Dissertation.

*shudder*

Enough of rants.

The next two weeks are going to be so much fun! It’s my last year at college, which means last year as a student for Pratibha (Joseph’s inter-class cultural fest) and Metonym (Inter-class literary fest, small scale Meta). I’m taking pat in every possible event and I shall make the best use of this year and live every moment of it.

I’ve been squeezing in time to make postcards for a few friends last week and I sent them all on Tuesday! They’ve all received it and they’re so happy 🙂 I makes me so happy!

I haven’t been reading much but I am reading J R Rogue’s Tell Me Where It Hurts that I got for an ARC. And my, my, that woman can write. I am very excited to write a review for her.

My book blog is just so devoid of posts since June. No wonder I haven’t been accepted by publishers from NetGalley.

And this post is written by your truly, also the Assistant Secretary of Graphic.Inc! Very excited to be a part this year again!

 

Weekend Coffee Share #6

This should technically be #7 but since I was busy last Sunday, I will do two weeks’ worth today.

College only started two weeks ago and already I’m piled up with work. In addition to that, I feel a little out of lace in my own college! For the last two years, I’ve walked through a corridor and waved to at least two people and smiled at many others. But this year, it seems as if I can’t recognize a single person other than my classmates. The people seem meaner and with loads more unnecessary attitude and cruel glint in their eyes.

I must be paranoid.

Last Sunday, I went to the most awaited event ever: The Under-25 Lit Fest! It happened at the Humming Tree in Indiranagar and it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out the place. In my defence, it was on the third floor. It was not my first idea to look up. It was really fun! It was better than I expected it to be, although the venue could’ve been bigger. The best parts were the story telling sessions. I can’t wait to try joining them!

Later that evening, I travelled from Indiranagar to MG Road via the Metro! It was such an exhilarating moment. The Bangalore that I saw in the station was beyond my imagination.

Then, as you’ve read here, the first month syndrome hit me a little. Ignitors was happening all of three days and I bunked the last day. My cold still hasn’t gone.

Meanwhile, the two weeks, Bangalore’s weather has changed drastically. It’s sweater and umbrella weather everyday, all day! It’s kind of nice, but also gets a little dull.

DEADLINE IS APPROACHING. The last day of submission of my term paper has moved to August 26. 2016. Last year, all my seniors submitted them in January 2016. This is just too unfair and cruel.

I lost my bus pass. In all the three years of my travelling in a bus, I’ve never been so careless. Now i have that additional headache.

To top it off, I just read the saddest ending to a trilogy.

These two weeks have not been good at all.

Terribly sorry for the rant.

 

I love it!

You have exactly 300 words to justify why your favourite person, place or thing need to exist.

Bangalore needs to exist. Without it, there would be no happiness in the world. The IT capital of India (unfortunately), second in the world, Bangalore has more variety of people than in the whole country. TRUE Bangaloreans are the friendliest people on the planet, who welcome anyone into their land and go out of their way to help them. There is NO way you can’t survive in Bangalore and you find absolutely anything here, if you just know where to look and whom to ask. Bangalore is magic. It is perfect blend of heritage and modernism. Art and literature. Science and social activities. It is beautiful, day and night. She has a peaceful smile on her face. The beautiful gardens all over the city adds to its beauty and peacefulness. The food here is unmistakable. even though traffic is unbearable, and even though people don’t realize the root causes, the bus rides are always fun and exciting. The farther you travel in a bus, the more of Bangalore you see. It might not have clean air, but it has parks and forests to compensate. It may have a lot of people, a lot of garbage, but nobody’s saying that they’re not doing anything about it. I know I am. I’d do anything for Bangalore.

I love Bangalore.

And it just gets worse every day, little by little.

That one bus conductor

One morning, a couple of weeks ago, I was unusually early to the Jayanagar Bus stand. As I stood waiting, a bus of the number 13S came rumbling into the bus stand. It was a middle aged looking bus, probably a little older, and when I climbed on it, it was thankfully empty. I went and grabbed a seat near the back door, allowing me easy access to the door. I kept my bus pass in hand, waiting for the conductor. And then he came.

He was a man with the most gorgeous, the most beautiful that I’d ever seen. I never knew eyes like that existed.

Whenever I read people talking about beautiful eyes, or expressive eyes, I had no idea that it was so true! For the next few days, I kept hoping to reach on time for that bus just so I could to look at those eyes and actually feel. 

(I’m not weird, okay?)