Wow i had such a great day today! (aside from hearing about the tragic Dehli bombings) Today is Dhunteras, the begining of Diwali, when Hindus welcome Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth into their homes. Having cleaned the house yesterday, in preperation, i came down into the kitchen this morning to be met with the smells of yummy Seero (an Indian sweet semolina-ish dish with spices and saffron), and Mum and sister preparing for the Lakshmi Pujan - Lakshmi worship ceremony. My sister had been collecting flowers from the garden and was showing them to mum, "this one is beautiful! And this one isnt perfect...but neither are we and God still loves us" She is quite philosphical, often coming out with things like that.

"Are you ready?" mum asked me, "because today i want to perform all the puja ceremonies by your hands" - what an honour. The first puja was Surya-narayan Puja - worshiping the Sun God (Surya). This was performed in the garden where basically water was offered whilst chanting. There is so much that i dont know about our culture and religion, why we do the things we do, and this was such a great day for finding out. Mum taught me that we offer water up to the Sun God because "from dawn till dusk he is working to illuminate our path, so this is for thanks and praying to him brings wisdom because he illuminates our minds".

The next puja was Lakshmi puja, where murtis (statues) of the Goddess Lakshmi and Ganesh (her father, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles and God of luck) were bathed with milk and water and annointed with red and white powder, rice, and flowers. Here Hindus pray to Lakshmi to come and stay in their homes and bring with her wealth, both financially and of good health, and to Ganesh and his 2 consorts Ridhi (wisdom) and Sidhi (achievment) to remove all obstacles that may block the path to success.

Then after a brunch of beans on toast, some left over pizza and Indian snacks (what a fatty combo!) we went to Leciester's infamous "Golden Mile" - Melton Road. The road got this name because apparently, more gold is sold here than anywhere else in europe. This is the centre of the Asian community and displays of Indian culture are abound in almost every shop window. Gold jewellery, fabulous silks, delicious sweets and savouries are everywhere, and the shops like Saree Mandir (litterally: temple of Sarees) and Daminis, have a national reputation. Every year Leicester boasts the biggest celebrations of Diwali outside of India and Melton Road is lit up with thousands of colourful lights and decorations to mark the arrival of the festival.

The switching on of the Diwali lights has in the past attracted up to 60,000 people from all over the region, who come to join in with the unique celebrations. It was great to see this year that Leicester city council hadnt decided to put up the generic "Seasons Greetings/Christmas/Diwali/Eid/Vaisakhi" lights and had instead specially designed yellow lights with Indian oil lamp designs...as well as "Happy Diwali" messages.

Delhi mourns at Diwali

BBC News: Delhi on high alert after blasts
The Indian capital Delhi has been put on high alert after three explosions rocked the city, killing at least 61 people and injuring nearly 200 others.

So tragic. The bombings themselves were horrific, but to come just a day before the Hindu new year celebration of Diwali. 2 bombs struck at the crowded Sarojini Nagar and Paharganj markets, full of shoppers buying last minute gifts and sweets for Diwali, and another on a bus at Govindpuri.

"All leave has been cancelled for medical staff as hospitals struggle to deal with the injured. More than 100 people are being treated in hospital, and some of them are in a critical condition." - BBC News

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: "These terrorists wish to spread a sense of fear and suspicion among our peace-loving people,". He said, "These blasts have been timed to create disaffection during the festive season when people of all communities are celebrating our national festivals. We shall defeat their nefarious designs.

It is believed that the bombings were by terrorists trying to hamper improving relations between Pakistan and India, who soon after the attacks agreed to open the Kashmir Line of Control to help victims of the devastating October 8th earthquake. The decision is another welcomed step to peace between the nations.
Pakistan condemned the explosions, describing them as a "criminal act of terrorism".

Its so sad to think of the families of the victims and injured, who will be spending their Diwali by hospital bedsides or planning funerals. My thoughts are with them at this time.

Boo!

Hello, ola, willkommen, namaste, konichiwa...you get the idea...

Went to yet another friends 18th birthday thing tonight, a meal at La Tasca, followed by a few drinks at The Glass House and then (again) to Revolution. I cant be bothered to do the whole review thing for google searchers (yes you Maiyango addicts - im talking to you!) but from what i can remember, the food was really good, apart from the 'Chicken with White Wine Sauce' which tasted more like chunks of Quorn in Hummus. And our waitress was excellent.

I also learned this night that a friend of mine fancies me. Which, is flattering, but i really dont feel the same way (I only see said friend as exactly that)...and as happens when drunken, teenage, tactless and/or immature other friends play chinese whispers, things were made more awkward and fancying friend now knows that i know. I dont even know fancying friend that well. And now fancying friend wants to 'talk'. Crap.

Also, sorry for the more of the less and less of the more on ObscureAzure (ooh that rhymes!) recently, but i have been busy. Stressing. And with work. And with the BMAT. And stress. And I've just noticed that Lynx cans are taller than they used to be, or maybe its just from this angle.

Grrr! Why do things have to get so complicated...its going to be so awkward now, im just pretending that i think nothing of it and dont really know, but FF will make things awkward. And make a big thing out of it.
Theres not even any point in getting into a relationship now. Who needs all that extra shit* to cope with. (Of course the real reason im being bitter is because nearly everyone of my friends is coupled up and im single, but im happy being that way, and there is no one i actually like any more at the moment, so its ok. But there was and that ended...badly, and then there was another, but that didnt even start, despite and as a result of all the mixed signals, and...where was I?)
Yeah, in 12 months we will be all over the place at different universities and i know thats ages but i dont like said person in that way, and in general i dont think i want a relationship right now.
Im one of those people who only really go for relationships, i dont see the whole thing about going out on the pull and would never fuck some random person i met on a night out. Dont do 1 night stands. Because sex is special, and unlike some of the people in my year, i know of better, more meaningful and romantic ways to lose my virginity than in a bush with someone i've known for 15 minutes. (True story)

*In actual fact the 'shit' is always outweighed by the love and feeling of having someone, and talking to them, and getting butterflies when they ring or text and thinking what they are doing right at a particular moment, and talking about the most mundane things but it not mattering because its with them and random chats in the night...and the physical.

Eww, the remainants of a sambuca that only just survived the journey from the bar to the table are sticky over my hands. Smells like cough syrup. My head is going to really hurt in 8 hours.

Good night, ola, bon nuit, komban wa, Guten Abend...

Japanese Childrens Books

..."Going to the toilet" in Japanese

My sister bought me this book from Japan for my birthday because apparently....the lil' boy reminded her of me! :-|



Step 1 - realise the need... how cute.

apparently Elephants never forget

A potty balancing tail act!

Oink oink

Grrr!
21/35.
Not exactly the result i'd hoped for.
Doing the specimen paper hasnt really filled me with confidence like i hoped it would. Only answered 29 questions as well, ran out of time for the other 6. I dont see why exams are timed, honestly, are they examaning our skills or how fast we can write? This BMAT test is driving me crazy, almost had another ice-smashing session today. (Feeling stressed? Try it) I'd spent not nearly enough, but as much as i could force myself to, of this past week working through the "Preparing For" book. Growing closer to mental exasparation and emotional breakdown with every answer i checked and found to be wrong. All the while putting down my ill performance to having to work out of a book and not on an actual paper, thus meaning i had to faff around covering up the opposite page with the answers on and couldnt write in it all over the questions - highlighting and underlining bits - which i normally do when working with a text. (can imagine a certain someone horrified at that thought) I had been/am hoping that the book is harder than the actual paper - certainly got that impression from the specimen.

Frustration growing as i conjure this post because: 1 - im writing it on my sisters babytop which has miniscule buttins (exaple of what im just about to say) and freezes every 5 seconds so when i type anything - it comes out spelt wrong. And 2 - im listening to this awful mix that she found somewhere (im in her room) of "dance" music that sounds like 2 robots making love on a synthesizer.

Today was otherwise tres uneventful, sleeping in late, recovering from the night before. That being a friends 18th b'day night out, which saw us all at 'The Lounge' bar, Leicester, followed by a 5-lap trail around the city centre in said friend's cousin's gorgeous black Celica on a hunt for parking before our final destination - 'Revolution'. Lounge was quite quiet in terms of being a venue, not anywhere near the city centre and by the looks of the upstairs crowd appealing only to 30+, however, friend had booked downstairs for us, so it was essantially a lil party. Finger food, bar and DIY DJ centre. The positive side of this being it was people we knew and liked (mostly) only. The Negative side being friends/aquaintances with really bad music taste hi-jacking the DIY DJ thingybob. (-ve side squared when they played the same songs again.)

So circa 23:00 we were outside the latter, saying byes to those who werent coming out, and getting into various cars (that sounds wrong - i mean other friends cars) to go to 'Revo'. (one of my fave places in Leics)
The drive was good, nice smooth drive, good music, and setting for interesting mature conversation avec 28 year old cousin de la friend. Im quite used to and like conversing with people as older as they like to feel than me, most probably because of the 7 year age gap between my sister and i, and we are quite close so i meet her friends often too.

Music mix has now evolved into latin-ish avec beats - better

So any way, car park and short walk to New Walk walked, finding ourselves in queue...until the rest buy privallage cards and i use mine which was gift from manageress on my bday night to jump...inside. (Did that sentence even make sense?) And as usual for a Sat night, downstairs is packed, like battery humans in a factory club. Upstairs bar tended by one barman faced with 50-odd customers, so downstairs i go, where i (luckily) spot old friend now at uni back in Leic to see Bloc-Party* at front of bar about to be served anytime soon. Over i go (because it would just be plain rude not to), get chatting, and combine orders. (because its just convenient isnt it) The rest of the night was really good, music was a mix of old garage, old-school, and with a few great current hip-hop/RnB/dance tracks including my fave of the moment - Mylo & Miami Sound Machine - Dr Pressure. A cat-fight broken up by security guards provided amusement for the night, - not sure exactly what happened but something along the lines of Vicky Pollard-meets-that-chav-girl-from-The Lenny Henry Show (the one who's catchphrase is "I don' fink so!") says something to someone and another attitudy girl fires back thinking she was talking to her, to which the first barks "Woz ah' talkin' to yu?!" Hilarious to watch this going on, especially as security pulls them away, almost as funny as a Brummie chav i met who said "Safe mate" in the strongest Brum accent - "Say-fe May-te"

*Before i forget is to express my annoyance at myself as just like the Coldplay concert in London in July, i had the opportunity to go to this concert but didnt! Grr!

Attention turns now to X-factor on in the background. Aww diddums, 4Tune (more appropriate name being UN4Tune methinks) have been sent home - face it they were cringe-causing, dressed like every other boy-band act before you, the music market is saturated with bad acts like that - heres a tip boys - look up 'Originality' in the dictionary. And Simon and Lou are hilarious - bitching at each other like 2 little school girls: "-shut up" "-no you shut up!" "-no you!" "-no you!"

Who do i think are great...
Brenda - so much energy and nothing on the market like that - and she really got the crowd going
Journey South - nice sounds and again nothing on the market like them
Shayne - amazing voice and amazingly excellent performance with "If your not the one"

Who need to be pushed inro a big hole...
The Conway Sisters - Girls, havent you learnt anything from pop history? (After all, you're soon to be...) Remember "Bewitched"? Yes...exactly, c'est la vie...
Chico - cringe! Sorry was it "Chico" or "Cheese"?!

I never norm watch these music-related reality tv shows but X-factor is actually alright...think im going to tune in next week to see if my favourites are successful.

And now im going to say night night...

Azuric

Fresh.Nu.Look

"Slick, smooth and sexy...and the blog looks great also" - blogfan.com

A fresh look, and not even 2 months old, what do you think of the all new ObscureAzure?

Roots

Name: Azuric

Sex: Male

Age: 18

Nationality: British

Ethnicity: Er...how long have you got?

Wiki basically defines 'Ethnicity' as membership to a group that shares cultural practices, religion, language, cuisine and/or traditions.

Hmmm should be easy enough to identify mine...

First ideas point to 'British Asian', (ideas can point?!) but that's just a term used to denote 'a person of South Asian ancestry or origin, who was born in or is an immigrant to the United Kingdom'. Not an ethnicity.

So maybe 'Indian'?

I 'am' Gujarati (as in of origin of the state of Gujarat in northern India) and speak Gujarati (one of the 82-ish languages of India).

But hang-on, what connection do i actually have to India?

Wasn't born there, never even been there, (though I'd love to!) Parents weren't born there either. Infact only one set of grandparents and ancestors were. So of origin yes, but ethnicity, not fully.

Parents were both 'East-African Asian', born in Uganda. A land of paradise according to their tales of child/teen-hood that often become the subject of conversation over Sunday lunches - Mum used to have a pet chimpanzee called Juley! Rescued from someone dragging him down the road by rope round his neck.

Dad once told me, "When Asians first came here, people thought we grew up in mud huts", the actual truth being that Asians were forced to flee Uganda as a result of the dictator Idi Amin, leaving their opulent bungalows, servants and upper-class lifestyles behind. Mum and Dad were already in the UK when Amin ordered the exile of Asians on August 4, 1972. The rest of their families came here as refugees, with nothing but the clothes in their suitcases, Amin's guards stripped the refugees of all valuables at Entebbe airport. However they did bring with them something far more important, that no one could take from them - their culture.

When i say i speak Gujarati, it is not at all like the Gujarati spoken in India. Into the language that we speak today, have crept numerous Swahili words and phrases (Swahili is the language spoken in Uganda), as well as English - this being the product of an Indo-Anglo-African ethnic blend.

And its not just the language, but cuisine too, Cassava and Matoke dishes are just some of mums specialties, both Ugandan staple foods.

Ancestors, grandparents, and parents done, that leaves me...

British born and lived in England all my life, no stranger to the various cultures of the UK.

Thats one of the things i love most about the UK - the ethnic mix. People of such diverse backgrounds, a truly multicultural society, and its capital, lovely London - possibly the most cosmo city in the world.

Migration throughout history from India, to the 3rd shore (the UK), has been a long journey, full of interesting, exciting, and even dangerous experiences. One on which the previous generations have obtained and passed down many cultural riches along the way.

And its those experiences and riches that make me who i am...

All British, all Asian,

fully Gujarati, fully Hindu,

Indo-Aryan,

of East African Parentage

Sometimes theres nothing better...

...in the world than a nice long hot shower. :-)

Taste the filth!

Oh. My. God!

It came on again.

Why the hell has this not been banned?

I cant understand the ASA (and no, i dont mean the Amateur Swimming Association). How they can ban a hilarious piece of marketing, which is actually entertaining, unlike most of the absolutely crap,

"making you want to throw your TV out of the window or smack yourself over the
head with your remote till you pass out",

ads on telly* (yes Esure and Ocean Finance - im talking to you!) is just stupid! That KFC call-centre ad was brilliant! Had me laughing every time.

But they fail to strike against this disgusting ad Skittles has subjected us to. Now, not wanting to sound like Prudence McPrude or anything, but seeing an old granny flash to her grand-son is revolting! What the hell has that got to do with those deliciously moreish fluorescent little gems?


...And im still having night-mares of that annoying green and yellow bimbo trying to sell me a car!

Dear me, what is this world coming to...

*("telly" - ooh i sound like someone from Coronation Street)

RadioRant

So, having to run a few errands, including collecting a book i'd ordered from Waterstones, [who hadn't bothered to tell me it had arrived and had i not rung up myself to enquire i wouldn't even have known it had arrived - what a great service] i found myself in town early this morning.

On the way back to the car i walk by Topman, and see the "SALE" sign.
Hmmmm, should i really? Meh, okay...
Didn't take much persuasion, in i went. I bagged a few bargains too, 2 plain basic Tees [one salmon pink and one turquoise] and a shirt [black avec blue et white stripes] for £14 - avec NUS, i was tres impressed.
And it wasn't only the clothes that were pleasing, eye-candy sales assistant a la counter gave good service. ;-)

In the car on the way home, radio debate breaks out...
A crap song came on radio1 and so my sister changed to radio4.She's been trying to convert me to listening to that in the mornings instead of Chris Moyles, even going as far as to break into my room and secretly change my hi-fi alarm settings.

And so this spawned debate about the quality of radio.
Radio1 as she put it is "bimbo radio" and i guess she has a point in that it provides entertainment but doesn't teach you anything. NewsBeat is shameful, more of a "pathetic pulse" compared to the quality of news and journalism delivered on 4, they think its funny to get the news details wrong and report such trivial crap without any detail, what's the point?

I regularly listen to Chris and Scott on radio uno, because i know im going to be entertained. Moyles is funny with his arrogant and 'tell it how it is' attitude which can sometimes be controversial. And Mills has hilarious features which serve the purpose of keeping you entertained on the way home.

However, JK and Joel - what are they about? Radio1s resident buffoons. Not big. Not clever. Not funny.
And im still warming up to Vernon also, his "Lie-in" on Sunday morns is great, but otherwise he's quite bland. Oh and i detest the thing he does with Brian Dowling. I cant stand him, he idiotically plays up to his stereotype, its just embarrassing. And the things he says...
He was on one time talking with Vernon about the possible candidates for the host of something or another and Vernon says how someone has 'put their line in the ring' (ie nominated themselves for it) to which, Brian replies 'oooh, i wish he'd put his line in my ring!'
How disgusting, that going out on national radio1 at lunchtime on an apparently 'family' show. Gay or straight, graphic sexual comments like that shouldn't be made then or there. Hes not doing himself any favours, prat.

After i got home and had lunch, most of the afternoon was spent cleaning the whole house - there's a cardio work out and a half! At about 6 my sister and i drove over to my cousins house as it was my nephews birthday [In Indian culture cousins are the same as siblings so your cousins children are referred to as your nephews/nieces].

Upon seeing me my youngest nephew cries out "Hey!" and gives me a running jumping rugby tackle hug. They are both so cute, and the youngest is so funny and cheeky, like a little monkey. Its nice being "looked up to", having grown up looking up to others, and now being the "older trendy" uncle. Actually, scratch that last bit, im to young to be called "uncle" - eww!
The boys had friends over which meant they were upstairs worshiping their mini PS2s, and so my sister and i spent the evening with my cousin and her husband [ our brother-in-law by Indian definition], which was really nice seeing as we haven't done anything like that before.

We left at about 11.30 and now im here, blogging and lulling off to sleep, so im going to sign off,
Nighty night.

Whilst writing this post, i was flicking between:
Buddha Bar 5
Motown Soul!
Kanye West - Late Registration
(oh i didn't know Kanye did a song with Adam Levine of Maroon5 - je l'aime. When is their next album coming out?)

Kamakura

Right, my sets are now available to view on Flickr!

(click the pic above)

1 new SMS

click

02callalert

click

"02 call alert - you have missed a call from the following number"

Really?! Wow, thanks for that 'helpful' text. Its not as if my phone already tells me when i have missed calls. Who's ingenious idea at 02 was that i wonder, because they need a raise!

Seriously 02, if you would like to help me, you could give me a few more free texts a month rather than using them to clog up my inbox with annoying alerts.

So...faster and with much less anticipation than i had expected, Thursday afternoon came. The nerves didn't even kick-in as i climbed the staircase up to the Headmasters office.

Im not going to bore you with the ins and outs of the mock int, but it went okay actually. Apparently i was a bit nervous at first, but settled into it quickly, and body language was attentive and positive. I felt i could have done much better and hopefully this will come with practice, but he reckons i will do well which is pleasing. Apparently i also did well to keep him away when he tried to be a bit more aggressive and 'rip me to pieces'.

So overall i was quite pleased with that result for a first attempt.

^_^

It looks like im getting a lot of visitors from Google searches of "Maiyango" and "Navratri", according to StatCounter...maybe i should do reviews for Leciester entertainment venues.

:-( I've already uploaded my limit on Flickr this month. More photos will be coming soon, including more of Tokyo, Kyoto, and the amazing views from the top of Mount Fuji. If you can't wait till then, you are more than welcome to sponsor me for a Pro Account, go on! You know you want to.

Ivor is going to hate me, but...i want a Nano! Small, sexy, slim, slick, in black...perfect for on-the-go, work, and play. Ivor is as big as the old-skool iPods and a mm thicker, and hes 40gig, storing ALL my music, as well as a PC docs, so i dont like to take him every where with me. The Video generation Pod has just been released today i know, but Ivor's been showing me media since i bought him so not interested in that. Maybe he'd like a lil bro, who knows...

Oh my god, im talking about my gadgets like they're people...Imagine what the fridge would say!

This post has no title, poor thing.

Yes!
A white envelope marked UCAS was waiting for me yesterday when i got home. Relief spread through me as a saw it, followed by excitement as i read the contents - its official - i have applied to uni! Woo!

Finally, something i have been looking forward to for so long is happening, now i just have to get in! I've booked an appointment with the Headmaster for Thurs for a mock med school interview, should be riveting! Dont worry, i will blog you how it goes.

In other news, Blogger seems to be playing up, on the text tools bar above where you write posts, there is no font style/size/colour option, so i have no idea of how this post will look.

Also, i finished "The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night" this evening. Such a good book! Its about a boy who has Aspergers syndrome and the adventure he has after discovering his neighbours dog dead. An amazing feat, i reckon, in how Mark Haddon has captured and expressed the mentality of a young boy with Aspergers. The story is both funny and sad, and informative as well absorbing.

Ok enough of book raving, but more on books...

So today i was on the hunt for another 2 books, "White Coat" - Ellen Lerner Rothman, and "The Selfish Gene" - Richard Dawkins. Both apparently really good. Especially for potential Medics.

Q: Where do you go to borrow books?
A: The Library

...but apparently not, I go to the central lending library and the man behind the counter tells me that the database has no records of any books by Ellen Lerner Rothman. He has however heard of The "Selfish Gene", but after a few clicks, the almighty database tells him that its out. Not a good start.
So then im off to Waterstones...

Wow - i felt like a kid in a candy store, i dont know why but i recently have had some intellectual revolution, feeling i need and want to read more. There were so many books screaming out to be read, both recommendations and those which just had funky covers. Here i had a little more luck, it turns out that Rothman's book is published in the US and seeing as its about US Med schools probably wouldnt be all that beneficial to me anyway.

In the end i managed to get a copy (albeit a rather tatty one) of "Selfish Gene" from the county library. I dont like borrowing books, i know it sounds silly and snobby, but i like to own them, because then you can highlight bits and fold over the covers..and really get into them, and their yours...and its all that more personal, the adventure you have as you and your mind read on...

Reading List - Books that have caught my eye and that im going to read soon
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code - Yes! I know! Im so slow to getting round to it after the hype, but still
Alex Garland - The Coma - Spotted this in Waterstones today, new book from author of the fantastic "The Beach"
Bill Bryson - A Short History
Richard Dawkins - Selfish Gene
The 2 copies of the New Scientist that im behind on

So, what else?
Nothing comes to mind ATM, prob because im so tired, had a really good work out at the gym today, so i will no doubt be aching tomorrow. (Although i like that ache, its strangely satisfying)

Ooh yes, i Flickrised lots of photos pour vouz, so they will be up and linked soon.
Also - i never realilsed how hard blogging can be, Any-hoo was right, persistence does pay. This blog is quite new, but im quite pleased with it...i lie...i love it! And im addicted to blogging! Ahh!

Ok, well, nite nite,
im off to bed

Whilst writing this post, i was listening to:
Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin
Chicane - Dont give up
City Lounge - New York

Le Weekend - Cartoon Nostalgia et Indian Adventures

My sister unearthed a childhood treasure yesterday, from one of the many boxes of 'either unfiled goodies or stuff thats too useless for the house but that cant possibly be thrown away because in a couple of thousand light-years it may come in handy' in the garage.
A tape of "The Flintstones" that my Grandad had made for her when we were little.

And so, inevitably, Saturday was spent in the lounge watching episode after episode of the Hannah-Barbera classic, with the fire going, as outside it drizzled away. Hannah-Barbera cartoons are so great! The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Topcat...and those are just some of the best. Its really creative how they can entertain adults and children alike, especially The Flintstones, having mature plot-lines sublty wrapped up in hilarious cartoonery.

My favourite cartoon of all time however, is Tom & Jerry, its a classic, no explanation needed. I watched it when i was 5, and i'll watch it when im 50.


So anyway, that was Saturday...
Today im in Watford at my cousins house. We've come here for the Navratri festival, will be going tonight.
Most of the morning flew by with mundane stuff like:
- getting up and ready
- eating
- getting here

After a gorgeous lunch of my mum and aunt's finest Indian cuisine (a variety of curries, basmati rice, hot buttery chappatis, lentil soup and home-made yoghurt), we went to a religious/social thing held by relatives from my mums, mums side of the family (as a pose to mums dads, or dads mums or dads dads side - Indian families are generally very large and close-knit. p.s. i stress 'generally').

Im always up for meeting people and sociallising but this event was a little testing:

- arrive and at first see no one your generation there

- greet various uncles and aunties (both actual and the people you just call uncles and aunties even though you hardly know them, just because your parents know them and thats just what we Indians do)

- go around the room doing this in a robotic fashion until you spot a cousin (and by cousin i mean cousin or cousin of cousin or parents cousins children - like i said, large families)

- spend 5 mins 'catching-up' until you run out of things to say

- move on to next cousin and repeat

- spot cousin that is generally interested in you and vice versa, talk, exchange numbers, vow to keep in contact from now on

- take up position in a corner or side of room

- sit and wait for boredom to set in

I always try my best to start conversations and keep them going but when people lack the ability to say anything more then "Hi, how are you? / Long time no see. / So what are you doing?" its just pointless.

So then there i am sitting on the side and i over-hear distant cousin X taunt distant cousin Y with "Haha! your wearing a bindi *stick tongue out* I havent got one"

How immature is that, ok fair enough if they were 5, but they are both in their 20s. I think people who are ashamed of their culture are really pathetic. And plus, bindis are really beautiful.

Okay, rant over. So, apres-ca, come back home (well, my cousins house, aka home number 2 - again, like i said, close-knit) and am forced to watch the Eastenders omnibus.

However, i actually enjoyed watching it. I stopped tuning in to the lives of the Albert Squarians slowly as the plot lines fizzled away into utter crap (NB - some may argue they still are) after Phil and Grant left but thought the cross fire with Chrissy, Peggy and Jonnny that ended Friday nights episode was hilarious. And im so glad the Mitchells are coming back. (Oops - sorry if you didnt know). So im going to start watching again. Maybe.

Anyway, i've gotta get ready for tonight,

Au revoir et merci,

Azuric

ByeByeBass

Today is a day of mourning in the realms of my bedroom...

The four walls of my room and everything in between will no longer be graced with bass.

The wooX bass generators on my speakers seem to have blown.
And of course it had to happen after the warranty has expired.

I can hear my mum's celebrations erupting from the kitchen below as i sit hear listening to Mylo - without the pressure.
:-(

Chapters

Whoah - what a week!
So glad its Friday. I've been so tired all week. I think im going through one of those 'fed up with everything' phases. Maybe a case of early Andropause? Hehe lets hope not.
Don't you just hate it though, when your really stressed and tired and depressed and you don't know why? Grr!

Im bored with all the songs on ivor as well. (ivor is my iRiver - the cousin/rival/successor to the iPod) There aren't any good new songs out at the moment either. I guess i like the new one by Pharrell with Gwen Stefani. But Radio1 has a tendency to murder great songs by over-playing them.
R.I.P. Bedouin Soundclash - When the night feels my song.

Went ticket hunting this evening, for Navratri at DMH and Athena - both sold out though! So instead im here blogging, listening to Frasier which is on in the background and sipping Indian coffee. (Latte style coffee with added Masala - a smooth blend of nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and some others that I can't remember) C'set tres yummy. Definately going to miss this when i leave home.

I really can't wait to go to uni, have been looking forward to it for so long. Its going to be so much fun. The independence, meeting loads of different new people.

"Its like a new chapter of life, not that im not
enjoying the current one or anything, but i just know the next one will be so much more exciting."

After being at school with the same people for 7 years, you are kind of just known as one person and i dont think you can really be yourself, plus im sure there's more self-discovery to happen in the student years.
And i love Leicester but having been here for 18 years i am kind of bored of it now, it would be nice to have a change of scenery, atmosphere, and shops - there isnt even a men's H&M! Hehe.

I've decided not to go to California anymore - it was wishful thinking really. I was hoping to go to Anaheim, Hollywood and Newport Beach for 12 days next summer but it would have cost a bomb, and i really should save for a laptop or car and general student life. Oh well, guess i'll have to settle for watching The OC instead of living it. Maybe in a few years...

Anywhy,
im off,
Night.

Zzz Zzz

Mmmm food!
Finished for the day, i went to the supermarket and loaded up the trolley with stuff i dont normally indulge in...all so tasty! Avacados, different cheeses, soups, a selection of funky looking bread and dips for dunking. Just couldnt wait to get it home. Yum yum yum!

Speaking of which, i seem to have developed a habit of crawling into bed as soon as i get home and re-emerging just in time for dinner. Not good for all the work that im going to get as the year goes on, but im justifying my snoozing addiction by telling myself that when i wake up i can concentrate better.

So anyway, after i got up, had dinner, and then tackled some Mechanics problems that had been hanging over my head. I like the logic behind Mechanics, really have to use your brain to solve the problems. And its so much better than that Su Do Ku stuff which everyone seems to be obsessed with.

I went for another walk today, the same route as last time, past my future house.

*Looks around*
Oh crap, my Keira Knightley montage has fallen off the ceiling. *Smiles* She was a funky b'day present from a friend. Heeheehee.

UCAS have still not processed my application which is really annoying. The website assures me that it will be processed within 24 hours. I sent it off 2 weeks ago.
Got the BMAT coming up in November also.
Yippee!

Anywho, im off,
Night.

Navratri

Yay! Im so excited, Navratri starts tomorrow!

Im going to try and make an effort to go out and celebrate this year.

Navratri is a nine day Hindu festival when Hindus thank and pray to the Mother Goddess.
There are two stories about the origin of Navratri...

Victory over Mahishasura the demon
Mahishasura, a mighty demon obtained a boon from Lord Brahma that he could not be killed by any man in the world.
However, believing himself to be now all powerful, he set out to conquer the three worlds of heaven, earth and hell.
The gods in heaven decided to create an all-powerful being to kill the demon king who was ready to attack them. The trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva united their powers to create to a female warrior-goddess Durga.
Dazzled by the divine beauty, Mahishasura proposed the Goddess for marriage but was instead challenged to a duel.
For nine days and nights, the Goddess battled the demon king. After these nine days and nights, the demon king was exhausted and Durga won victory on this tenth day by beheading him. The nine nights came to be known as Navratri, while the tenth day was called Dassera, the tenth day that brought the triumph of good over the evil.

Rama's Victory over Ravana
A second story tells of in the Ramayana when Lord Rama performed "Chandi-Puja" to invoke the blessings of Durga to kill Ravana.
Ravana the 10 headed demon had abducted Lord Rama's wife, Sita, to his capital city of Lanka. Lord Rama with the help of his brother Laxman and the monkey warrior Hanuman, rescued Sita from Lanka.
Dassera marks the triumph of Lord Ram's victory. After vanquishing him, Lord Rama with Sita and Laxman returned victorious to his kingdom of Ayodhya on Dassera day.

Leicester always delivers when it comes to Navratri, lets hope this year's no exception.

Sun-day

Wow im so tired. And its only 8pm. Might just hop into bed after this and not even stay up to watch Lost!
Went to sleep late last night/this morning (1.30ish am) and got up really early...this morning (7.50 am)

Last night i went out to Leicester's latest 'cafe meets bar meets restaurant' - Maiyango.
Was very impressed with the great service from the overly attentive and albeit somewhat nervous waiters/waitresses (bless, it was their first big night) and the atmosphere was electic.

So this morning silly body-clock and cold wake me up at the crack of dawn...

After a desperate but failed attempt to try and fall asleep again i got up and ready. Had no plans for the day, other than to avoid some work that i have been oh so successfully putting off.

It turned out to be such a sunny day so i ended up going to Beacon Hill - part of the National Forrest, in Leicestershire for a walk through the Brit countryside and woods, avec mes parents et ma soeur.
It was so nice to finally be back in the countryside - invoked childhood memories. Had a nice long peaceful walk...well, apart from the part where i was chased by a cow!
Took some beautiful photos also, i will Flickr-ise them sometime soon for you.

We got back from Beacon Hill at about 5pm and were absolutely starving, seeing as we had been on such a health drive, we decided to have a nice balanced dinner to end things - good old chippy style fish n chips!
(Well, theres protein, carbs, and fats - balanced enough for me)

Anyway, im off, before i collapse onto the keyboard right here,

Night