café au lait

So the last day of the year is here. Since I'm sitting home and writing this, guess I'm not out partying or anything. Some of my friends were nice enough to call me up or leave death threats: "BLEEP you didn't come, I'm gonna BLEEPing kill you. You BLEEEEEP."

Twenty minutes to 2006. Because I don't want to spend the last few minutes in front of a PC, I've got to get out of here right now. A simple recipe for anyone who haven't tried this before::
Frothy and Creamy Café au lait

Add hot water, 1tsp coffee, 4 tsp powdered milk and sugar in a blender. Serve.

I'm a tea person and out of my loyalty to tea, I hated coffee all my life. But this is too good.

Enjoy and happy new year!

beyond solitude

I'm lazy by nature. But not by blood. In all honesty, my parents are the most active people I've ever met. I know this for a fact, that by the time they were my age, both of them were earning their keep. And my dad actually helped run the rest of his family of seven people. That early on (he was 19 when he got his first job as an airline cabin crew) that's one heck of an achievement. Now at 43+, they still beat us in the health and exercise department. Unnatural though it is, my parents can easily outrun both me and my sister on any ordinary day.

But that's for another entry. Today's one is about the most beautiful place on planet Earth. Whenever Mom and Dad are home, they don't miss going out for hour-long morning walks in the local park. If I get the time and if I'm awake that early in the morning, I manage to slip in my tracksuits and sneakers and tag along with them. That's because I love going for walks. Really, I do. I mean, who wouldn't? It's a quiet unpopulated patch of greenness with its own central pond, a pond which too is green with eutrophication. It's somewhere you can see fish spawns and ducks and rare breeds of birds. Cool fresh air, still-as-mirror water, birds crooning, dry crispy leaves that crunch under your feet, dappled sunlight--- you name it. I'm almost breaking into a song but this place has it all.

Besides enjoying all of that, this 60-70 minutes of walking are the only times I can talk to my Mom for that long a time. All in all, it's a respite from the otherwise mechanical life I lead and I sure am booking this place for after-life vacations.

For the record, though, there's nothing I like doing better than just sitting here, feeling unreasonably lucky. And being alone. :)

man who ate my time

Have you ever been caught between wanting to be a GO-GETTER and a WIMP? I did. Sometimes, like in my case, the heavens send a simple solution in the guise of a PAST-DEADLINE-SO-NO-CAN-DO. Case in point: I called the exam center to sign up for an exam that I wasn't very prepared for and they told me that the deadline has passed. Now I have to sit for it three months later. Isn't that absolutely sweet?

But why be content with one big exam? Make that two! So in March, I'll probably be sitting for my SAT too.. gah!

I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble hadn't it been for that one man.. The one man who's taken away 6 months from my life...

Everybody knows that once you do 'O' levels in French language, you're more than good enough to sit for the CEFP2. So right after my Cambridge ended, I walk through to the square ground-floor office in Alliance Francaise and there, sitting slick-haired and dandy was a man who is carefully arranging everything on his desk so that they're perpendicular to each other.

What category of people does he belong to? Com'on.. make a guess. Yes, that's right. The snooty little knit-pickers. So I sit in front of Mr. Knit Picker and carefully explain my situation, ending with the question that doesn't deserve a denial: Is it possible to give said exam this September? Mr. Knit Picker's watery eyes pause, confused. He then slowly and surely answers "no".

Ofcourse there's a reason why he's so careful. He must not move his head too much, lest it dislocates. He must not smile when he talks because his mouth is home to near-extinct white bats. And God only knows what mystery resides between the fingers of his hands.

Attached to his "no" was a memorised reason, just the way lawyers quote "Section So and So". Though a little fazed, I insist. I ask if I could talk to the Director, or his secretary? Mr. Knit Picker pronounces every word like they're made of glass. The Secretary is out in Paris, but in either ways, it's not possible. And when will he come? Not too soon. And Mr. Knit Picker doesn't know anything else except his memorised reason. He's a lost case. So when he talks, I explore possibilities. Can I check my reflection on his shiny nose? It sure is reflecting the ceiling light perfectly. But my musings end when he finishes. I walk off, leaving Mr. Knit Picker to his happy home on the squeaky-clean table with a white desk-phone to match his white ensemble.

Months later, I go to Alliance Francaise again and make my way straight to the office upstairs. I talk to the so-nice-he's-gay Secretary who instantly agrees to allow me to sit for the exam. I mean, why not? I'll pay for it, right? So it's upto me if I pass or not. I come downstairs to Mr. Knit Pickers's office and ask, "When's the exam? I'm sitting for it this December. Yes, ofcourse I've talked to Mr. Secretary." Just then, Mr Secretary calls on his white desk phone and Mr. Knit Picker knows who's won.

Victory is mine. Take that, sour-face! :p

In other news, last few days I stumbled upon several interesting blog sites which are too good to not be up here from 2006. Also I might add a new section about my friends and family. I've got an interesting bunch of weirdos and stereotypes to write about. But that's later, I mean in 2006. So with that, adios!

people

One of my best friends (Aniqa) is here from Brighton. She'll stay till the 5th of January. The other day we all crammed at her place (as many of us as we could gather). I'll post the pictures soon. She's grown a little chubby around the cheeks, aquired a handy-dandy British accent and says things like "Trust!" and "That's sick" every now and then. And another very good friend (Anik) called a week back, after an era. It's been two years we last talked properly.

The very unexpected is happening. Shahan is leaving for Texas this 29th! I'll miss nagging him. I really will. He is one of those rare awesome people I've met in my life-time and was blessed enough to be friends with. I don't know if we'll ever talk as frequently in future. But we agreed that no matter what, our children will get married so that we get to be in-laws.

On the 23rd, another French exam, ikh. And this time, I'm leaving everything on fate. I haven't studied as much as I should have. I wish I could talk with Farjana now, who has already given her CEFP2, but she's in China. And she's not expected home until the 24th. It isn't imperative I give my exam right now. I'm tempted to postpone it till March. But I should sit for it since it's a win-win situation. If I pass, great. If I don't make it, better luck in March.

Speaking of exams, my AS starts in no less than 5 months. Scary thought.. My parents are psyched. This is just "the deciding factor of my life", nothing much else. Don't unnerve me!

It's late December and winter hasn't dug in as yet. Average temperatures are still hanging around 21 degrees Centigrade. But the weather's sunny and that's all I ask for! So it seems, the fag-end of a not-so-good year has turned out alright. New year's approaching, happily. This calls for a new diary, a new site layout, french exams and spring clean. Ah.. I lead such a hilly-billy life.

goodies!

I adore Doodlez! It's an animated shorts about a small boy, Dood, who's drawn into various "duck-amuck"-esque situations by the creator, the Hand. It can currently be seen on NickToons TV.






So the Mom and the Dad has finally returned from New York to their house back here in Dhaka. We have the rare glory of chocolates and gifts whenever they visit a place thus littered with family members. When Mom was leaving, I'd asked her to bring me just one thing, a thick diary/journal, since the one I'm currently writing is fast approaching its end. But instead, she's aquired this pocket-organiser from my oldest she-cousin (oh why not), and I'm at my wits end trying to find a use for it.. Only people who count their calories, measure every grain they eat, weigh their daily food intake or are just basically obsessed with obesity can carry it around.. Before I knew what it was though, I held my breath, thinking it would be an iPOD, since it looked so gadget-y from the front. But noooo, it had to be a pocket organiser!



I shouldn't be too ungrateful. Many thanks to the she-cousin. It's the thought that counts after all. Oh and here's a pic of my craving: chocolates! I know, you envy me. :D

stories of the underworld

It had been raining fitfully for a few days now. I wish it would stop. For one, it's starting to give my room a feel of the tropical rainforest. For another, everything has started to have a smell. Rain has a strange repurcussion. It allows solid objects to loosen up their surface particles and have a smell of their own. I walk around on a cool floor, with wet hair and soggy thoughts, the air smelling of books, bedsheet, wood, wall, leaves, plastic flip-flops, and the darkness under the bed. Soggy thought number one : Wouldn't it be frightful if air turned into water and everyone became mer-people?

When I was small, I used to take showers in tubs. I learnt that if you stay long enough in water, your fingers wrinkle up. My cousin (who used to look after me and my sister all the while my mom was away) used to say that if I stayed much longer, I would grow a tail and fins and scales and become a fish or a mermaid. I didn't want to tranform into a mermaid, because then I would never be able to touch water. Mermaids, you see, were normal people who lived among us and the only difference was, as soon as they touch water, they become half-fish and their friends and family hate them. And would you blame them? I would never like to have a half-fish as a sister or a daughter myself! But your family would still probably accept you grudgingly, for old time's sakes, but how long do you want to make others pay for your fishy-ness? So then you either have to stay away from water (even rain) and drag a secret as long as you live, or accept ur mer-hood and forget everyone you had on land. Get used to sea-weeds and fishes for friends, yeah. Isn't it far better to have shorter baths and take heed from the time you start having wrinkles?

My hands were still wrinkle-free. It's still not too late then.

The other reason I wanted the raining to go to hell was because if it doesn't stop, my father's flight run a risk of getting cancelled. Outside, the sky was groaning and thunder clapped ceaselessly. Good timing, God.. you couldn't have picked a better time? After an over-worked day, I really wanted to look forward to a Dad-free night, when I could quietly doze off with a book..

-September 25th, 2005