Well that's it.

All my humble possessions are packed up and ready to go.

My last day of living at home is almost over.
This was the last day that all four of us will ever live in the same house together again, probably.

I can't believe that tomorrow I am moving house - I'm so grown up!

After 18 years of walking down this "street" that I call home, tomorrow I will have to turn a corner onto a new path in the journey we call life.

Hopefully it will bring exciting opportunities, new friends and relationships, fun and success along the way.

And I wonder where it will take me.

One thing I do know for sure though, is that things will never be the same again...

Does anyone know where I can get a Pirate costume and some Surgeons Scrubs ASAP?

Wow.

Only 3 days left at home.
It's so strange.

My room looks like my wardrobe exploded all over it.

Aaargghh!

Frankie goes to Bollywood

This is too cool!

I've always loved Bollywood, and now, after only a few months since I declared my half-hearted love of Chelsea FC, I learn that Yash Raj Films (Bollywoods biggest and best production-house) is making a film with Chelsea!

The film, out next year, stars three of Bollywood's most famous actors/actresses and on top of that, Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Jose Morhiniowdoyouspellthis will all have parts!

Chelsea’s Business Affairs Director Paul Smith said: “Naturally we are delighted to be involved in a Bollywood movie and we take it as a big compliment to be approached with this story line and to be associated with this calibre of actors and actresses.

“Bollywood is not just one of the most successful movie genres in the world, it is also one of the most successful art forms as it has a unique character and popularity.

“From a Chelsea perspective, we have been looking at ways to reach out to the Brit-Asian community and play a leading role by involving them more in football.”


Filming apparently started in the second half of 2006 (and hopefully is still going on).

I have to get a part!
It's always been one of my ambitions to be an extra in a Bollywood movie.

One Year

Yes, it was exactly a year ago today that I started this blog.

I can't believe it's been that long.

This past year has pretty much narrated my quest to get into Med School, I started the week I applied to UCAS, and 12 months later here I am packing and getting ready to go.
How very quite strange.

I can remember last year, on a sunday, I discovered Globe of Blogs through both boredom and curiousity after my sister mentioned "blogging" and "bloggers" to me.

After a wander through the site I stumbled across this blog, and it inspired me to start my own.
It was hard to start (as you can see from the cringefully crap posts in the first few weeks) but "persistence does pay" and I'm quite happy with it now.

I wonder what adventures this next year will bring, and what I'll be doing next September 25th...

Rangoli

My attempt - Click for more on Flickr

Svastika - Good Fortune - Click for more on Flickr

My sister's attempt - Click for more on Flickr

Navaratri Mubarak!

Today is the first day of Navaratri - the nine night festival of dance in worship of the Mother Goddess.

Navaratri is normally in October but is early this year (as it's set upon the Hindu lunar calendar) which is quite strange because it doesn't get dark that early yet and I'm used to it being more wintery.
I love this time of year though, as the nights get longer, and all the festivals begin.

What's cool is that next year it should be back in October which means I'll be at Uni then. I'd love to see what it's like in London, and what the Indian soc at ICU put on for it.

Hindus celebrate Navaratri with nine nights of dancing, Gujarati people especially perform Raas Garba - a dance with sticks, and it's a great time for socialising and meeting people - especially for the younger generation anyway.
There's one song from a Bollywood movie that has become the Garba Anthem - everytime it's played people go crazy.
And thanks to youtube here it is:



Dholi taro dhol baaje (Drummer bang your drum) - I just love this clip.
How it's really slow at the start, and then builds up at about 30 seconds in, and then really kicks in at about 1:40 seconds in.
The beats, the beauty, the dance and the excitement - so great!
I think this is more Punjabi style than Gujarati, but the style is similar - colourful dress and dancing in a circle.

We also celebrate by creating powedered artwork (Rangoli) like the one above on our doorsteps, to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi into our homes.

The Stories of Navaratri:

Victory over Mahishasura the demon
Mahishasura, a mighty demon obtained a boon of immortality from Lord Brahma after years of devoted worship.
However, believing himself to be now all powerful, he set out to conquer the three worlds of heaven, earth and hell, and began murdering and destroying the people of earth.
The gods in heaven decided to create an all-powerful being to kill the demon king who was ready to attack them too.
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 was engaged in a fierce battle with the demon king.
On the tenth day - Dassera, Durga finally managed to defeat Mahishasura by beheading him, and thus brought victory over evil.

Rama's Victory over Ravana
Many years later Lord Rama was about to wage war on the evil demon Ravana who had kidnapped the princess Sita and taken her to his capital city of Lanka.
The night before the battle was to begin, Lord Rama performed "Chandi-Puja" to invoke the blessings of Durga.
For nine days and nights a fierce battle raged between the army of Rama, Laxman and the Monkey Warrior Hanuman and Ravana's evil army.
On the tenth day of Dassera, Rama finally defeated Ravana and rescued princess Sita as the city of Lanka burned to the ground.
After vanquishing him, Lord Rama with Sita and Laxman returned victorious to his kingdom of Ayodhya, arriving on Diwali day.

To this day effergies of the 10 headed demon Ravana are burned in celebration of Rama's victory.

Oh gawd. Only eight days left at home.

Eight!

The hallway is full of my crap. Boxes and bags of stuff.
I've spent so much time (and money) recently buying stuff for uni.
Like a wok.

I own a wok.

I met N today in town for a good-bye lunch as she leaves tomorrow.
She seemed really quiet and out-of-it, which is so not her.
The thought of leaving home and going was clearly having an effect on her.
It's not set in for me yet, and I'm wondering when it will.

We mostly talked about how great it's going to be once she gets there and settles in, and I'm a little envious that I'm one of the last people I know to go.
Most people are already there, living it up and meeting people, having fun, and (a certain one of them) blogging it all.
And the rest go this weekend.

As we were saying our good-byes she gave me a card which was so sweet. She told me that she'd almost cried when writing it. (awwww!)
I asked her if it was okay if I opened it later or whether she wanted me to open it now but she said that I could open it whenever I wanted so I waited till I got home.

Before lunch I met M, G, NT, and J and a few other friends for a good-bye coffee in Starbucks which was worth going for.

Anyway I'm really tired and this post is already all over the place so excuse me...

Three Random Things

One
I think I should start listening to my dad.
He always moans at me for wearing my jeans low as I "walk in all the dirt and then bring it inside".
He can't see how it's fashionable in any way, but it's not like I do it on purpose.
I can't help it if they slip down my waist a little. I'm an in-between size.
Anyway, the other day, I was at the checkout at ASDA when I noticed a brown mushy substance which I can only hope was mud on the bottom of my jeans.

Two
I'm going to be on an Asian London Radio breakfast show on Thursday. How not really very exciting.

Three
Err. I did have a Three when I started this.
As I can't remember what it was, I'll replace it with how exciting it's getting. I have about 10 days left till I move, and it's getting crazy.
On a related note, mum took me to Tesco's for student shopping and I got some quite funky stuff. And there were some students who I kept crossing paths with.
One of which who was quite cute.
But they've come, and I'm going (hey hey, there's an inuendo for you!).
Oh, funnily enough I've remebered the original Three - I went to GAP the other day, and the sales asistant girl was really good looking.
Well that's the jist of it.

Yay!

I can finally blog again. After a weekend of attempting to latch on to one of my grans neighbours Wi-Fi and only just succeeding and then coming home to a desktop PC who's wireless mouse had decided to just be -less, it feels so good.

Anyway, lets get down to it shall we...

Thursday

I had a great night out with all my school friends for my birthday.
We all met at Maiyango at about half eight, sat around for about 2 hours and then moved on to other bars and clubs.
I was really happy with the turn-out and I think it was a great mini-reuion before we all go our seperate ways.

What is cool is that my birthday will always be before everyone goes to uni and thus can always be the reunion excuse.

I love Maiyango.
It was jazz night that night so along with great music such as Gotan Project there were two live jazz musicians entertaining everyone.
The twenty-plus of us took over the seating area infront of the bar and caught-up over cocktails, including my flaming 'Zombie' birthday surprise.

Friday

Remember that thing I really wanted?

Well I was up at 7.30am on the morning of my birthday waiting, preparing, hoping, and mostly out of pure excitement.

At 8.45amI was ready at the computer, clutching my sisters credit card, my sister drowsily loading up my laptop, and my cousin, CA, on the phone also poised.

At 8.55am I began refreshing my browser religiously, and at exactly 9am got the page I was searching for...

...Ticketmaster.co.uk - order tickets for THE KILLERS - BRIXTON ACADEMY

Unfortunately, after one hour and seventeen minutes of constantly trying I still hadn't got any, and they'd all sold out.
My sister and cousin had already given up but I was still trying and trying until my sister told me off, and told me to "get over it, you're not going!"

I was so pissed off, 20 minutes after they'd gone on sale they were up on eBay for over £200 and still climbing. Bastards.

Apparently some of the venues had sold out in 5 minutes. Just 5 minutes!
Grrr!
The Killers always underestimate their UK fans.
These venues are all so small.
I mean, the Wolverhampton Civic Hall? Come on!

Eugh, they are like my favourite band of all time ever.
Hot Fuss was like the soundtrack to my 6th Form life.

And my sister was so harsh about it, "God, they'll tour again. It's not the end of the world".
Yeah, and maybe I'll get tickets then.
And maybe the Fratellis will be supporting.
And maybe there'll be a rainbow over the stage, with a pot of gold at the end of it.

Mum rang about 40 mins in to ask how it was going, and when I told her she said that if she won the lottery the next day, she'd buy me some off eBay.
See - thats what I'd like to hear.

And there's something so 'slap you round the face, kick you in the crotch' annyoing about you not getting any tickets, but the friend who you told about them getting some.

At least someone got to go because of me. I can feel happy about that.
But what I can't do is listen to any Killers stuff with out imagining it live and getting upset.
Never have song lyrics been so painfully fitting...

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (damn right)...

...Destiny is calling me (yeah, away!)
Open up my eager eyes (and deal with it)
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside

Okay, finally moving on...
The rest of my day was good.
In the evening my parents and sister took me out to this really nice new Indian restaurant which I quite liked though I dont think my dad did.
The food was a bit too catered to western tastes for him I think.
The aesthetics of the place were amazing though, it was like an Indian palace with loads of statues, nice lighting, Hindu astrological signs on the ceilings and you get the idea...

Right, I'm really tired (as you can probably tell), so I'm going to bed.

Seesya later.

Dear God(s),

I know I've been really lucky recently with all the amazingly good things that have happened, and I am really, really appreciative of it.
Honestly.

But, there is just one more thing that I'm asking for.

And I know I shouldn't be so selfish and should probably ask for world peace or something a lot less amazingly self-indulgent.

But I really, really want it.
You know what it is.

And it's my birthday on Friday.
Please oh please with a cherry on top would you give me this thing.

Thankyou X a million,

Azuric.

X X X

And so start the pre-going-to-university worries.

I got my freshers pack last week from the Medics Union (we have a seperate one to the regular Union), and it was full of events to go to and bits and bobs about Med School life - including the Freshers passport and Freshers handbook.

The events are every day for the first two weeks (Freshers fortnight), and include the Freshers ball at Pacha (Wow!).

However, all the information mentioned heavy drinking and rugby a lot (neither of which I do...well, maybe the drinking).
So I began to hope that it wasn't going to be full of jocks, and that there were going to be people like me there.

The "am I going to fit in?" worry.

I surprised myself with the next one.

The "will there be other Indians there?" worry.

I never thought I'd think about something like that, and I guess where I live, you take it for granted.
My friends come from all sorts of races, religions and backrounds, but I was actually hoping that there were going to be other Indian people there.
It's understandable really, I mean it's who you are - the culture, religion, and language, so you would like other people there like you to share it with.

Next came the "oh my god I have to cook for myself!" worry.

This took a long time to set in.

I think it started last week when I sat down to eat dinner early before everyone else, and mum goes, "in three weeks you'll be eating alone like this".

Then she immediately came over and hugged me, because apparently my face looked just like the time when I got lost in Children's World when I was little.
Really, I think it was because she realised what she said was so bad, but we were both laughing about it.

I got her back later in the week though when setting the table, "in a few weeks you'll only need to set three places".
To which she goes, "oh [Azuric]! Don't say things like that!".

When I got my Freshers pack I was really excited (understandably), but whenever I talked to my mum about it she would moan about spending too much money, and lecture me about going out too much and not keeping up with all the work I will have. Basically be negative.

I was telling my sister this later and she said that it hadn't sunk in for mum yet that I was going to go.
Then at the dinner table my sister blabs everything I'd said in front of mum and dad so that me and mum would talk about it.
After dinner when it was just my mum and I cleaning up, we started talking about stuff I'd take and then she goes, "that's it I've lost my son".
To which I replied, "what? Don't be so silly".
"Yeah, once you go you won't come back".
"Yes I will, I'll be back every few weekends, at Christmas, and for ages during Summer".
"Hmmmm".
I couldn't tell because she was hiding her face in the dishwasher but I think she was almost crying.

Yesterday, one of my parents friends was congratulating me and then talking about me going to mum when she goes, "it's like losing your best friend".
She's probably really worried, about me going there, and about me not being here.

And I am too.
Last night just before dinner I walked into the kitchen to find my mum on the phone to my uncle talking about my gran.
My sister was comforting her and dad was standing next to her.
Just as I walked in she burst out crying.
I gave her a big hug as she sobbed and my uncle told her to stop crying and to be strong. After she put the phone down she continued for a bit and then was okay.
But it's so horrible seeing that.
And it must be really horrible for her - my gran has been in hospital for 2 weeks now and they still don't fully know what's wrong with her.

To top it all off, everyone in the family has problems with everyone else. Like my dad said after, "I've never seen so much politics at such a time".

Oh well, we're here for each other and that's what matters.

School people are so bloody pathetic sometimes.

Everyone just seems to be splitting up and falling out.

It just goes to show how forced and fickle school-friendships are.
One summer holiday and the knowledge that we won't all be going back to the same place for another year really does show who actually means well and how some people are just full of on-the-face crap.

Luckily almost none of this has happened to me with my friends...although this summer has shown who actually can be bothered to keep in touch, and who obviously can't be bothered to even send a text.

I texted AO like I did everyone else, inviting her to my birthday gathering, suspecting that she and TL can't come because they are on holiday in Paris (but texting nonetheless out of politeness/friendshiply-keeping-in-touchness) and this is the reply I get:

Oh that i bad organisation! Well me and [TL] cant go :-( we are on hol. That is quite annoying! How are you anyway? x x

Bad organisation? Oh I'm sorry, I'll just change the date of my birthday for you.

Okay okay, maybe I'm being a tad sensitive, but I'm just pissed off with people...

...I get an email from A the other day, subject: hey!!

He tells me that he's arrived in Hong Kong safely and how it's "amazing to be back", how his new house there is "awesome" and tells me that he's only got internet at the airport at the moment but that I should email him to let him know whats going on here as he can check them when holidaying in China, and then ends with:

Also sad I didnt get to speak to you b4 i left but left a message plus you seemed totally unphased by the card but anyway

Oh my god.

What do you want me to do? Hold a candlelight vigil?

I said thanks when he gave it and gave him a hug and we said goodbye and stuff when he came round the day before I went to London (see in last post).
I didn't open it then because I didn't want to.
What's wrong with that?

And the reason why we didn't get to speak before he left:

He rang when I was in the car with my uncle, CK, and CS on the way to see my gran but hung up before I could answer so I rang him back:

Me: Hey
A: Oh hey. Sorry, I was going to ring you, but er, I'm er sort of moving at the moment, I'll call you later
Me: Okay, bye

And then when he did ring back, I was asleep.
I woke up when we got to the hospital to find his message telling me he'd checked in and was about to go. And that was an hour before so it was too late.

God, some people are so sensitive.

It's not like we're never going to see each other anymore.
I'm going there at Christmas, he's coming back in 8 months, and then he's coming to the same university as me!
And it's not like Hong Kong is some far unknown universe for him.
Okay so it must be daunting moving there for 8 months and living there and stuff, but he's been at least once every year, and he has family there, and he was complaining that his parents will be visiting too much.

totally unphased by the card

God's sake.

The Funky Great Big Pre-Moving to London Weekender Post

Last thursday I was faced with a predicament: to stay here for the weekend and get extremely bored, or to go to Kent with my mum to see my gran for a bit and then get extremely bored.

If I stayed I'd be stuck at home as my dad would be working, and my sister helping him, and then going out with her friends.
If I went with my mum, I could see my gran for a bit, but then would be bored as no one else was going to be there, and I couldn't stay at the hospital because of other people visiting.

So instead, I asked my cousin, CD, who'd just moved to London and lives near Old Street what she was up to at the weekend. As it turned out she was free on Saturday and Sunday and had planned just to explore London, so asked me to come down as well.

I had been wanting to check out the area I'm going to be living in before I moved in and also the rest of London, so was looking at transport before I'd even put the phone down.

A £39 train price meant I had to settle for a much cheaper but longer coach journey leaving at 7am on Saturday morning, but I really didn't care.

On Friday, mum left for Kent, and in the evening A came over to say bye to my sister and I as he was leaving for Hong Kong on Sunday.
I think he was sad even though we'll see him in 3 months and he's going to have an amazing time living there and travelling for a year.
I packed while he and my sister decided to unleash their Karaoke skills and murdered several Disney songs, and at about half past midnight, he left.

I got to bed at about 1am but couldn't sleep till about 2am. Just when I needed it the most.

I got up again at about 6am having had a really bad nights sleep but managed to get to the station and on the coach comfortably.

My cousin and I had arranged to meet at Kings Cross at 10am 10.30am 11am 10.30am and despite there being an evacuation at Elephant & Castle just as she was about to catch the tube, she was there first, waiting for me at the top of the escalators.

It was probably because I took so long at Victoria (being stuck behind two women chirping away about a weekend with 'their fella' in Bognor Regis in a queue waiting to get my shiny blue brand new Oyster card whilst being sleep deprived and starving is a testing experience).

We went back to her place in order to dump my stuff and after a few minutes of lounging and a drink we set off again for the rest of the day, first towards South Kensington.
Upon arriving at SK and then attempting to find the University we discovered that we'd left the A-Z at home but I comforted my cousin with the oppinion that that "was probably a good thing because by getting lost, we'll get to know the areas much better if you know what I mean".
She kind of agreed and then we decided just to set off down the main road in search of somewhere to eat as we were both starving.

We found a really nice pub but foolishly didn't check the name of it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find it again. After a really nice lunch and chatting about family politics, our gran and other stuff we asked directions for the uni and were off again.

The SK campus is so so amazingly nice.
We walked around it for a while, taking some photos and exploring. I was telling my cousin how I'd be finding out where I lived annoyingly late in September as we were walking throught the cube to leave, when I got a call from my sister:

Sister: What is the name of the halls at Imperial you wanted?
Me: Why?
Sister: Just, what was the name of the halls you wanted?
Me: Why? You can't choose halls, just room types?
Sister: What's the name of the best halls at Imperial then?!
Me: [Hall name]! Why?!
Sister: [Dramatic Pause]...Because thats where you're staying, single room with En-suit!

I could not believe it.
What a coincidence, just after I'd told my cousin that annoyingly I wouldn't hear for ages, and while we are there in the campus itself.

And they are the top halls, the ones that everyone want! Across the road from the Uni, and 5 minutes from the sports centre and N10 bus to Oxford Circus.

After the call we went to see the halls. Unfortunately we couldn't see a room as there was some sort of conference on but we saw the courtyard and the general area.

From there we took the bus to Oxford Circus and then made our way to Hamleys so I could drop in my application form.

From there, and with no A-Z map we decided just to walk around and followed the signs for Soho. We accidently stumbled across Carnaby Street and so strolled around there for a while before moving on to Soho, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, back to Leicester Square and then to Covent Garden.

By this time we were really tired of walking and so popped into Costa for a drink.
When we sat down it was half three.
When we left it was half six.
Neither of us could believe where the time had gone. We just got lost in conversation about her work, uni life, London, family, our gran, her sister (CA), religion, culture and more.

After coffee came more walking around that whole area of London. As we turned a corner near by Golden Square, I noticed a familiar looking cap in a windon of a shop, took a step back to see the shop name, and confirmed my suspicion, "gasp, this is the BAPE store!"

My cousin, like most people, had never heard of it, and couldn't understand my excitement, and I think was a little embarrassed when I took photos of it but it's the BAPE store!
The only one in the UK.
And I found it!
Those who know about BAPE will know that you can only find the stores by accident, or by word of mouth.

Anyway, by 8pm we were hungry again and so decided to look for a place to eat. There was nothing near Tottenham Court Road but un-asked-for directions from a nice "yoof" sent us back in the direction of Soho where we found an amazingly nice restaurant on Old Compton Street.

After dinner we stepped back outside to see that the atmosphere was buzzing, there were people and bars and music everywhere.
That whole area is so nice.
A quick tube ride back to Old Street was followed by a walk back to hers whilst planning what we were going to do on Sunday. We had decided to visit Old Spitalfields Market and then to go to the river.

I think both of us were glad to get home and relax, we'd done so much walking that our legs ached. But we were pleased with ourselves seeing as we'd both had so little sleep the night before, and both agreed that leaving the A-Z behind turned out to be a good thing.

On Sunday morning we got up and ready, had a quick breakfast of Cheerios, and then walked towards Spitalfields Market. It turned out to be only 15 minutes away from her place which is cool.

Spitalfields Market is amazing.
I'm taking everyone there.
Unless Camden is better.
I've heard it's bigger.
But still, Spitalfields is so so cool.
Tres funky, as I would say.

We spent quite a while there meandering between stalls, looking for a present for CA (CA's birthday is the same day as mine [15th September] but she is one year older), trying out exotic food, admiring the trendyness of it all, and looking at funky art like canvas blocks of Banksy's work that was unfortunately too expensive for a student.
I also met Jules Mann who sketches BeatBug (his stuff is so cool), and saw a stall selling Converses for only £25! Must remember.

Upon leaving Spitalfields, I checked my phone for the time to discover 6 missed calls and a text.
Unfortunately I'm not popular enough for that to be the norm and I knew something was up. The calls and text were from my mum and aunty (CK and CS's mum) who were with my gran in Kent.
My gran wasn't very well at all and CK, CS were leaving Hertfordshire with my uncle at 3pm to go to Kent to see her.
The original plan was for me to meet my mum at CK's house at 7pm and then accompany her back home but because of this I arranged to meet CK at the trainstation near him at 3pm so I could go with them down to Kent.

Although the trip would be cut short, we still had some time and so took a tube from Liverpool Street to London Bridge where we walked along the South bank towards Tower Bridge.

During the whole time there, and especially after I'd found out where I'd be living it was slowly sinking in that I'd be living in London. It still hasn't completely, but there was just something so final about it when my cousin said, "wow imagine living here" as we were by the river, and I replied with, "we do!"

At about half one, we left again back for her house, I picked up my stuff, and we moved on to Euston. I said bye and thanks, got on a train and about half an hour later met CK who'd come to pick me up.
I was starving and so ate a late lunch with CK and CS, then watched the begining of Brasil Vs Argentina (though I fell asleep and missed the first goal!) whilst waiting to leave for Kent.

We went straight to the hospital where we saw our gran and mums and CD/CA's dad (my other uncle) who all looked shattered.

It was in the hospital when I recieved this text from CD:

According 2 Heat Mag last week, James Nesbitt was spottd dwn Old Compton Street and Pete Doherty was at Spitalfields Market! C, we went 2 trendy places!!x

After the hospital we all went back to CAs house to eat and then left for the long journey back home. Mum was so tired but we had a long and deep conversation about family, and me moving to London, her worries about me, certain "dangerous places", and "dangerous people" on the way so kept each other awake.
Well, that and the whole roasted coffee beans that she was eating!

I got home at about half past midnight, very tired, but very excited about my future second home.