As we grow :)

Well, am back into writing after a month's gap. Not intended, I did write quite a few but failed to post them, thanks to my laziness :D Lots of changes and loads of work to be done. But as days progress so fast, am overwhelmed with sadness probably because I'll be leaving home and a lot of people behind. Just when I was thinking about all these a message popped into my facebook inbox by one of my childhood friend asking if all of us could have a meet.  Subsequently all plans were made and the meet was so good. Childhood friends, yeah, same school till 5th std until the whole group disintegrated to various cities. So after this get together I happened to think of all my friends right from school to college and well, I couldn't stop myself from drawing comparisons between them. So here I am penning down those thoughts :)

School, aah !! A place where u were nurtured, grew up to be the individual you are now.  Those days form the best part of your life because it was pure fun clubbed with innocence, pranks, love, friendship, studies, games and what not. All we ever wished for was the teacher to be absent, have lots of PT periods, no exams, lunch time and not to forget the little recess breaks. Sharing of snack and lunch boxes, the big circle formed during lunch where everyone would gather to sit and eat, games played during then like whispering into ears, statues, passing boxes, awww !! miss them all so badly :( The beatings that we would get from those wooden rulers, homeworks, activity books, science exhibitions, inter-school events, annual days and sports days. Everything seems to be etched into our brains. Those funny sanskrit plays where the audience wouldnt understand a thing of whats spoken :D, zero periods for practice, sports day drills which even after hours of practice would never turn up as they have to. Ha ha, I still remember when we had to form VIBGYOR after aerobics during class 6 and all we formed was VIBYGOR- thanks to my class as we followed the wrong teacher during the formation :D

Best part is when we meet our school friends after a very long time. Each one as a grown up individual, very different from what and how they were during school. Some become serious, some talkative, some wiser, some matured,  the short and fat kid is now tall, well built and the tallest one during school is now the shortest amongst all, cry babies no more cry, a lot of things change. Happiness looms over us when we think of those good old days and do nothing but laugh and cherish at them.  Feels really good when in constant touch with our friends, knowing what they are upto and if in the same city, getting to meet whenever we can ( something that's so rare coz we are never in the same place ) This journey of being friends since we were 6-7 years old till date, expanding to nearly 2 decades is by itself a towering task.

Though we love our school life we can't always just cling to it. Move on to the next stage, college- a place all so new. New people, new environment, new teachers, almost everything new unless you are that lucky kid when you have your buddy from school right in college as well. People in college are all more different than in school. Each one of them are already individuals on their own but in school, all of us grow up together right from the beginning. Initial days are so difficult when you don't know whom to speak with, whom to trust, ask help from. But gradually things fall into place. It takes at least the whole of first year to get to know people and later we become friends. One leads to the other and there, bang !! You get to know a whole lot of people, become a group, hang out together, watch movies, share things, crack jokes, study, discuss and gossip together, 12 o'clock birthday wishes, surprise birthday parties with funny ideas,small crushes, semester exams, waiting for results, canteen gossips, unlimited teasing and pulling each others legs and ergo, a bond is formed.

We get to know people as who and what they are. But as grown ups, there exists issues of trust, ego, attitude, betrayal, jealousy, envy and what not. What matters most in college is finding people who you can confide in, accept you as who you are, bail you out during problems and most importantly stick with you. In that case, I can say am really happy for having got a great bunch of friends. They have been right there with me, during all my ups and downs, bolstering throughout, making me laugh, and everything that true friends do. But yeah, I got my own share of regrets for having trusted a few wrong people. Its only here that we first learn how certain so-called friends turn their back towards you when it comes to mutual friends, you get introduced to the big bad world out there. Not all people you consider friends in college really care about you, its just that they are curious to what you are doing. Most of them primarily cling to you possibly because they need some help or favor of you. Its the best when midst of these you find that group whom you call the best of friends. Such people are hard to find in a college and if you do, never let them go.

A lot can be written but somewhere I got to stop because not every emotion can be expressed in words. Some need to be felt and not printed- friendship is one such thing. For school friends, may be I have changed a lot and for college friends, may be I might change further as I grow up but one thing that's always certain is the value I hold for you people. No matter what, I love you all and will always do where ever I go and what ever I become as these bonds can never be broken but can just be imbibed within oneself deepening its roots as days progress. Keep in touch. Miss you all.

With lots of love
Vaish :)

P.S: I know the sentences phrased are so damn lose but I was deep within my thoughts that I failed to give them the attention they deserved. Next time I'll proof read before posting any of them. Hope you didn't mind while reading it this once. Thanks.

A journey of 20 miles

It was a pleasant evening on a  Saturday in the early days of 2011, back from college, tired after a grueling session of Artificial Intelligence when I started my journey of 20 miles. At first, it was nothing different to me for every weekend I used to go there, travel 20 miles for the GRE classes which lasted hardly for 2 months. But that particular day, I was into the thinking mode, some serious thinking I must say. I had to take a bus to reach the venue. So, I boarded one at my stop and it was totally free for you could count the number of people sitting. With all happiness of securing a window seat (yep, crazy thing, i know :D) I began staring out the window still deep into my thoughts.

Bus stop 1:  There was traffic as it was the office-leaving-time. So i realized that the bus had come to a halt few meters before the regular stop. A lady came running to board the bus with a baby, must have been 1 yr old. She sat in the front with the baby facing me. Me, still in the thinking mode thought how good would it be if i was still like her (yes, a baby girl :) ). She was giggling and chuckling when people waved at her. In all smiles, I could see she was enjoying the ride though the bus moved as fast as a snail. Unaware of the big world that would ambush her later, she was now happy,  just happy for no reason at all.

Bus stop 2: I heard school kids board the bus who were yammering at the top of their voice. Interrupting my thoughts, a girl politely asked me " Can I sit here? ". With a wide smile I replied " Sure do. " They were around 15 in all, say std 8, discussing about their upcoming monthly tests. I thought, well yeah, these guys  better than us but later on, uff !! they were deciding on who-should-read-what so that the answer scripts could be passed during the exams :D Nevertheless, even after a whole day at school these kids were full of life, no tension, no pressure something which I couldn't afford to be that instant.

Bus stop 3:  Few of the kids got down with others shouting " Bye da, andha question padichidu..bye bye..! " thus leaving way for a few college goers to board. They stood beside me and I heard them discussing about Kiran Rao's directorial debut- Dhobi Ghat.  That seemed a little interesting to me. Their conversations drifted from Kiran Rao to Aamir Khan and finally landed up with some college gossip of theirs. Here I could sense a bit of jealousy they shared over some mutual friend but then it was not very convivial to be heard so I went back to my thinking mode.

Bus stop 4: I noticed the lady with the baby get down. So just waved my hand and the baby smiled in return (felt so good). The seat was occupied by some woman, in her late 20'sIi suppose. She was talking over phone " Andha noodles packet vechirkaen, cook and eat. I'll be back in another 30 mins blah.. blah.. blah.". So I thought, a working woman and her responsibilities, indeed a tough job to balance both her personal and professional lives. She was in some hurry, could sense her restlessness. At last, somebody who seemed to be pre-occupied.

Bus stop 5: The college goers got down and I remember 2 middle-aged women boarding. They gave me a bag to hold and I stared at them as if they were aliens, dont know why, but yea, I did. I got to hear one more conversation, it was about the shooting gold prices. Hmm, sovereigns, making charges, wastage, designs, GRT, Prince jewellery was all that I heard. One lady pointed to the rings of the girl sitting beside  me and said " Idhae dhaan, 6000 romba costly" for which the other lady replied " Yes, yes, adhu  too costly" ha ha, for a second I thought, typical chennai tanglish aunties :D.

Bus stop 6: Realized I had to get down in the next stop and so I got up leaving the place to an old lady who had just then boarded. For the next 2 mins I kept looking at her. Old but some kind of satisfaction on her face probably bacause she had kids who were all happily settled. Serene, peaceful, calm or whatever you call it to be. I had to get down so waded through the manageable crowd (the bus had filled up) and stood near the exit doorway.

Bus stop 7: Got down. A 5 minute walk to my class. Went back to the thinking mode but this time not about me, it was about the bus journey I had. So peculiar, right from the start till I got down, happened to meet people who were at various stages of life in the ascending order.

Each person wanted something and all I found was that it was only during the initial stages and far later that people seem to be contended ( The baby and the old lady). Till then life is indeed a struggle, a test that has to be passed no matter how much you try to evade.  The way you carry yourself during the phase of hardships will ascertain how your life will turn out to be. Yes, I was in the thinking mode, thinking about my future, what next ? Higher education or employment.. GATE or GRE or work experience+MBA..all the hullabo of a regular student who enters into the final year of college life. This journey made me ponder on what exactly I wanted in life as I'd just witnessed different people were after different things in life.

With all these thoughts, I entered the class, greeting all my pals and settling down with a thought, yes, it is GRE. No more confusion and today am writing this with admission letters of various universities in my shelf.  No more befuddling, CMU is my destination. I shall work whatever it takes and do justice to this wonderful opportunity that's given to me. God has been grateful !! Thank you :)

My first post - A welcome message

Hello everyone !! Welcome to The Spherical Daemon. This blog is where I put down my thoughts, scribblings, to be more precise. Now, before someone asks me " What does Spherical Daemon mean? ", here is the answer- NOTHING !! Well yeah, I had no specific thoughts while naming it but on reading and re-reading it, I thought it symbolizes earth. Before u get all more confused let me explain how. Daemon is typically a computer term for programs that run continuously and performs some action based on the occurrence of some event (Duh !! sorry for bringing in some technical stuff but that's how I  first came across this word :D ) On googling its exact meaning, I found its a Greek word representing inner or attendant spirit. So clubbing them together, that makes a perennial spirit. And a spherical perennial spirit  ??  What better than "Planet Earth - Gaia " ?? Yes yes, I know u remember Captain Planet :D So there you go !! The blog is named.