There was a time...

There was a time when everybody who smiled at you was a "friend".
When the boy who owned the cricket bat was the "boss".
When loosing a "rubber" was reason enough to cry.
When "searching" for a one rupee coin on the TV stand used to give you goosebumps.
When the prettiest girl in the class was just another friend.
When Jimmy Bhaiya's Samosa were the ultimate concept of a "grand treat".
When the Principal was more scary than a zombie.
When vacations were filled with fun, surrounded by cousins and we never thought of them as irritating.
When you used to beg to mom to skip tuition for "Alladin" on Fridays.
When shining the cycle rim was the toughest job of all.

There was a time when our eyes used to brim with playful innocence,
and the job of worrying was left to mom and dad.
I can't explain enough how I miss those times!

Checklist for International Travel- Done by a group of NTU students, who wrote, re-wrote and finally have this up here!

    Its a highly comprehensive list of items that you would like to pack your bags with. Although many things are optional, you can be sure that at least you won't miss out on anything if you follow this.

Clothes

• Three to Five pairs of jeans/Cargoes/Capris/pants
• Five t-shirts
• Three formal shirts ( for guys).
• One or two formal skirts or pants ( for girls)
• Ten sets of inner wear
• Four sets of casual wear - for sports, night wear. Carry tracks, pyjamas etc. If you live on campus, you will practically live on these.
• Hand kerchiefs
• A light weight travel jacket (optional, need not be too thick nor heavy, it is not for cold climate)

Girls - Salwars are fine to wear to college. Kurtas, Jeans, Leggings are mostly preferred. It is really hot here, so carry cottons. A saree can be bought, if you have space. Nice to have. Purely optional.
Guys - Most of them lived on jeans, and t-shirts. Cargoes are great too. Formals only for interviews, in the end of course. If you plan to go to India in between - you can skip it.

New IPL 5 Carnival Ad: Creativity at its best!

Nothing else can describe the IPL better than an equally colorful carnival that carries the spirit of joy and celebration. Indian Premier League, the most exciting and fun filled brand of Cricket is entering its fifth season and the organizers have spent their time to promote the event with all the vigor that it epitomize. The latest TV commercial for the IPL season 5 caught my eye recently and encouraged me write about it.

The commercial starts when two school children are offered to visit a huge carnival by a strange yet intriguing man with a hat. The kids are amazed when they see the IPL carnival inside with wild joy rides inspired by cricketers and their styles. There is the Dhoni Dhamal, Vettori Twirler, Gilly Funda, Dravid Wall, Slinga Mallinga, Pathan Pounder, Sanga Sizzle, Veeru Whammer and Master Blaster: all sorts of wacky rides that would amaze you with their creativity.

Why did God create evil?

One thing that come in often in my thoughts (mostly when i am disturbed or feeling somber) is that ‘why did God create evil?’….

Just imagine a world with no evil (i know thats a tough job,but still..)..how nice it would have been-no fights,no crime,no bullying…the list goes on (i think there are more evil things than good-ah!what a pessimist i am).This particular question always made me feel uneasy,as if it was the most important thing on my list;but i couldn’t find a satisfying answer until last night when i read Paulo Coelho’s ‘The alchemist’.

I got the book from Kaka & its been with me for more than a month now.I read it half way through on the first day itself,but after that i kept it aside for reasons unknown.But something prompted me to have another look at it last night.I was finding it hard to sleep & reading a novel appeared to be a fairly good idea at that time.

Santiago,the protagonist,reached the oasis in search of his destiny.He looked around the caravan & then back to the scenic peace of the oasis and a series of thoughts crossed through his mind.Maybe God created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees,he thought.

“Maybe God created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees.”

This gave me the answer to my ever pertaining dilemma.The answer was simpler than I thought (as in most cases).Yes,God created evil so that we could appreciate the finer things in life.How could you appreciate beauty if u haven’t witnessed the ugly.How could you appreciate the sweetness in ripe mango if you haven’t tasted it when it was sour.You can always observe nature’s sense of balancing in every aspect of life.If there’s bad,then there is good too.Both complement each other.There’s no significance of good without bad,’cause in that case-how would you differentiate what’s good & what’s bad.

Please share your views and suggestions :)