What's going abroad for education like

So now that summer is here, and I don't have much to do, why not use this vacay time to write a post on this neglected blog! I just completed 6 (now 9; now 10; now 11) months of surviving in an entirely new country without my family. Having said that, I do miss home dearly, and I'd take up any chance to go back even if it was for a day, but no, I'd like to explore Boston for now (Now don't you laugh at that). I do plan to go around sometime *sigh* But for now, I'll spare you my sad story and write this post which I hope will be a good read!

So here we go.

Going abroad for education has its own set of highs and downfalls. And staying away from family during a sad period can be a tad depressing at times. But soon, when you find a good set of people, you don't really need to worry. You start seeing your sister, mother, father, grandma, etc in all the new people you meet. You miss all the yummy delicious dishes mom made for you, you miss how the only thing you were expected to do back then was concentrate on your studies. And now suddenly, you have a heavy coursework with numerous other adult-ish responsibilities like bills to be paid, grocery-shopping, working on-campus and what not! Juggling all those things can be stressful at times especially if you're good at procrastinating. But soon enough, you'll learn how to "adult" (I hope the day is close. Wait, don't adults procrastinate too?).

So below, I'm gonna list a few things which I feel encompass the whole "living abroad all by yourself" experience. Okay, it may not encompass it in entirety, I just wanted to use the word (Also, entirety).



To study? Or not to study? But how? 

Coursework. The biggest difference you'll have to deal with, once you're abroad. Everything is different. The way we were taught, the way we gave our exams, the way we studied for them. Everything. You actually need to devote time for studying, and follow your timetable. Just kidding. But you could. With all the new responsibilities that are accompanied with living on your own, you tend to be busy. So it's important to keep reminding yourself that you're here to study, and not on a vacation. Though you definitely need to do more than just studying. Like traveling, going out, etc. Because doing these will make life so much fun and less stressful. 

Cooking

 So remember how your mother used to give you garma garam chai with breakfast before you left for school? Say bye-bye to that. I mean, you can still have your garam chai, but who's gonna make that for you? Yes, you. You have to get up extra early to cook food for the day. It's only when you start cooking for yourself, you'll know how much planning goes into cooking! You need to be up-to-date with your groceries. You sometimes need to forgo sleep and wake up a little more early to cook (Cruel, I know). Cooking requires a lot of patience, you know like they say good things come to those who wait. Also, once you start cooking for a while, you'll start finding it easier. Citing from my experience, cooking is so much more enjoyable when you have someone to cook with! (Shoutout to Ross!)
If you're staying along with your friends, you can set up cooking turns amongst each other, which makes cooking less of a routine.


Waking up scenes

If you're the kind of person who can wake up early in the morning on your own by setting up an alarm, you're good. But, if you're a deep sleeper and often need annoying harsh alarm tones or need somebody to call you a million times just to wake you up, you're doomed! Just kidding, you'd be good too. Except for the fact that your roommates won't really approve the harsh alarm tones if they have to sleep in late. You need to get enough sleep and get that circadian rhythm kicking, or else you'd find yourself running late for work, classes, whatever.





Handling finances

Back at your parents' home, you don't really have to worry about money related matters. When you're living in a different continent far away from them, you gotta look after your own finances. You set up your own limits based on how much you earn, spend, etc. IMO, handling my finances is tough initially if you have zero experience with it, but you'll eventually get the hang of it. You will realize that you gotta take up the responsibility and keep up with it, because if you don't, you'd be in deep trouble!





Paying bills

Closely linked to the above point. You have this new addition to your life. Suddenly, you have to pay to live. Food, water, rent, electricity, WiFi, basically every single thing!
If you work, all your hard earned money goes into paying all sorts of bills, and you at the end of the month, you just have enough quarters for laundry. Why should it be so expensive to live? Thank God, we aren't charged for O2 consumption. Man, can you imagine a world like that? Plant more trees, guys.





Work, work, work

So where do you get money to pay bills? You work for it. Though it's tough to get a decent on-campus job. You eventually get one. Since most of us did not really have to work for pocket-money back in India, it's a completely new experience. A good one for sure. A job is a job. Whether it's working at a fast-food shop or working as a TA. You work for it, it pays. I believe it makes you more independent. Since you know how much you work, you spend accordingly. All in all, it's a good experience.









Phew. That was the longest I've taken to complete a post. I wasn't even that busy. Anyway, it's done now. I'm going to be completing one complete year of staying abroad exactly 30 days from now. 
Time flies :)

I'm off. Have a good one peeps!

Inspiration

If you needed some inspiration..got you covered!

Have a good day! :)

Summer callin'

Snow!

Have a great day! :)

Boston v/s (Bombay) Mumbai (Part II)

Yay! So, I'm back.
Finals [check]
Plans for winter break [ ]

Yes, none. I'm just gonna stay at home, eat and sleep (so basically, get fat). And since I promised a part two, here it is.




People:

Boston: People here don't judge you. You can be yourself at all times. You can do anything you want, unless it's illegal of course. Nobody tells you to be this way or that (Other than people back home maybe) It could also be called as indifference. Like nobody would bother if you laugh/shout/fall down.
One plus point is that you can step out in your Pjs and not worry about what people will think.


Mumbai: Nosy people everywhere. People here are more interested in what you do rather than minding their own business. Which brings us to the next point, staring.

Staring:

Boston: It is considered RUDE to stare. Thank you humans, thank you. Goodbye to all those years of feeling conscious because you're being watched. (Am I exaggerating? Maybe)


Mumbai: Staring at random people is just as important as breathing. You cannot survive with it! Just ask the ladies in the train. Man! All they do is stare at you. And not just stare, they look you up and down. That's just plain irritating at times. And let me tell you, giving them a look back doesn't make them stop. It's as if you've participated in a staring competition, and you have no idea about it until you see a pair of eyes staring right at you.






Greeting people:

Boston: You might find strangers coming up to you and talking. If you're walking on the road, a passerby may give you a smile, nod or even ask you how you doing! (not the Joey style though). Greeting people is a big thing here. And it feels good when a random stranger wishes you good morning :)

This creeped me out big time initially. It still might! Also, questions like how you doing/how's it going, just mean Hi/Hello, and they don't actually want to know the story. That's actually very funny. I've had many instances when I've said good, how about you, and this person had already walked past!!

Mumbai: Well, random strangers might give you a smile once in a while. But that's not the same. And if you randomly smile at passersby, they might think you're a crazy person, and grimace instead. Though, sometimes the train ladies might strike up a conversation with you, and you could've a good talk. (I have no idea why I keep talking about train ladies)

Holding doors:

Boston: If you're passing through a door, and if you see someone walking right behind you, you keep the door open for them.


Mumbai: Bang it right on their face if you must. I've hardly seen people hold doors for strangers.








Weekends and Parties:



*I'm not a party person. But I guess, parties are so much more similar in both these countries*


Boston: Weekends are a big thing here. Especially if it's a long weekend. It's a big relief. And everyone usually has some plans for the weekends! I sleep. (Well, that's the best plan)


Mumbai: Free time? That's like a dream. We had college on weekends too. So, you know how we spent the weekends.















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That's all I got for this post. Time to sleep. (Just kidding, NOT)

Have a good day :)

Twilight!

Boston v/s (Bombay) Mumbai (Part I)

So I decided that I'll write this post in parts because I'm taking too long to write just one. I started writing this one long back, and it had been lying stale in my drafts folder for over a month now. Procrastination. Anyway, so here's the first part. Enjoy. Hope you like it!

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Aha! Hello everybody! Yay this is my first (now second) ever post since coming here! For people who don't know what I'm up-to, I'm at Boston, MA for pursuing further education! I arrived here just a fortnight ago, and I guess it'll be a month (Two months hah!) by the time I actually post the blog. Boston's being good so far. Soon I might not describe it using the same adjective! I do love winters though. Snow, Christmas, so much to look forward to.
So as you can make out from the title, I'm gonna compare Boston and Mumbai based on what I've noticed in the past 14 days. (soon 30 days or a year? Procrastination) I haven't seen much of Boston, but I noticed so many differences, some of them might be too random or useless to even give a thought to. That's just another way of saying I'm gonna talk about pigeons and other random things (Sorry about that :P). Bear with me. Okay, so here we go!

I. Commuting/ Transportation:


A. The cheapest and the most common way of transportation:

Irrelevant, but funny!

Boston: WALKING. Yes. People here, literally walk to every place. Since the day I arrived here, I've been walking to places. I spent all my jet-lag recovery time walking, though I did sleep for 12 hrs straight on the second day! Once you get on the road, you see people walk walk and walk. There are cars, buses, etc. on the roads, but maximum people walk or skateboard!

Mumbai (or in India basically): You got them Rickshaws! In India, you can just catch an auto rickshaw and travel! We also have tons of 2 wheelers zooming on the roads, which is so not the case at Boston. There are hardly any two wheelers here.









B. Traveling by the bus

People should start using the bus more often!

Boston: The buses in Boston have very few seats, and there's no conductor! You collect your ticket when you get on the bus from the driver!!!! And you aren't returned back the money just because they don't have a change. You can also purchase a ticket with your card (How cool is that?). The kind bus drivers wish you a good day, and ask you where you have to get down. All buses are air-conditioned. I travelled by the bus here just once, but it was the best bus experience I've ever had. Also, the buses here are always on time.

Mumbai: You have to be a wrestler to get on the bus, because they're always overflowing with people. The frequency of buses is less and they're almost never on time. You have to wait for hours and hours at the bus-stop to catch a bus. And when you actually get on the bus, you have to wait for a very long time to get your ticket. Buses have conductors who are responsible to sell tickets. Some conductors are sweet, some are not. And when I say not sweet, I mean evil. Before you even hand over money to the conductor, they bark out "sutte kadha!" (That's Marathi for 'tender exact change'). And if you don't do so, they give you the most frustrated expressions they can manage. Bus transport needs improvisations like increasing the frequency, punctuality so as to decrease the rush. Other than these few things, bus travel is quite cheap. And I used to quite love it, especially when I got window seats!



C. Cabs/ Taxis

Boston: You have so many options here. There's the traditional public cab, and private cab services like Lyft, Uber, etc. Most of them accept cards, so you don't have to worry about carrying money. Plus, cab drivers are so polite. My very first ride (from the airport) was in a Lyft cab. The cab driver greeted us, and talked to us on our entire ride to home. It felt so unlike the cab experiences I've had in Mumbai.

Mumbai: In this aspect, Mumbai is just at par with Boston. Though it's a bit more advanced in Boston, but pretty much the same.




D. Trains

Waiting for the train

Boston: (While I write this, I've already completed over 2 months here, so you know how good I'm at procrastination!) The trains here are way too awesome. They refer to the train as the "T". MBTA, the transport authority here, controls everything. Buses, trains, etc! Owning a Charlie card makes travel smooth. You just have to tap it and off you can go! I haven't had much of train traveling, but I did experience Khopoli-like crowd during one of my journeys! (Khopoli is a train station back in Maharashtra, India. The trains which travel to and fro from Khopoli are always overflowing with people) The only difference I would say is that you won't find people hanging outside train doors here! Train drivers wait to see if everybody has boarded, and the doors close, so people who like to swing outside doors stand no chance here. People don't walk on train tracks, and have to pay a heavy fine if they are caught crossing tracks.

Mumbai: Nothing could really beat traveling by trains in Mumbai! Though train travel isn't all that developed like it is here. Mumbai trains have the Smart cards, ATVM machines. Train travel is on it's way to becoming better. I have an entire post dedicated to train travel in Mumbai! Go check it out > Traveling by Local Trains. A really positive thing about Mumbai trains is that.. Oh chuck it, I can't think of anything. Just kidding. Traveling by trains is way too much fun, unless you're in a Khopoli train at the peak office hour time, of course.




E. Roads 

Boston: Boston has beautiful roads, which are regularly cleaned and well maintained. All roads have sidewalks and guess what! People actually use them! Pedestrians are given first priority, and cars wait for pedestrians to cross the road even if they have a green signal. How kind is that! Also, the funniest thing I've encountered after coming here is that while crossing a road, we have a habit of looking to the left. While here, it's completely opposite. Cars drive on the right side of the road. The vehicles have a left hand drive, unlike in India. All roads have signals, road signs which are visible and not faded.

Mumbai: Aah. The roads in Mumbai. Walking/ Driving on roads is nothing short of a hiking experience. The roads have such huge potholes like tortuous hilly routes! Okay, I'm exaggerating. But roads do need improvement because every monsoon, roads end up getting damaged.
Pedestrians walk on the road even when the roads have sidewalks. Crossing the road earns you a free Adrenaline rush! Because no vehicle wants to wait and let people cross. Vehicles hardly wait at red signals, why even expect them to wait at green? (unless they've run out of petrol) Who cares about the left side, right side? The road is all ours, and we can drive on any side we want. Not exaggerating here.



F. Google Maps*

Boston, Mumbai and anywhere else in the world :
The Google maps lady is insane! Sorry about that Google. She makes me take the longest route almost always. And keeps re-navigating the route. Maybe it's Google's conspiracy to keep people in good health, because it sure does make me walk a lot. Let me explain some more. I and a bunch of friends wanted to visit the Reflection pool. So, one fine evening, we all decided to go and finally have a look at it. Opened Google maps, searched for the location. The app said 30 minutes walk, off we went. Saw the reflection pool, clicked tons of photos. Now we decided we'll walk back home via a different route. Guess what! We just walked for about 5 minutes around the area, and saw our apartment street. Now just tell me Google maps, why do you do this!! Why would you make us walk for 30 odd minutes to get to a place which was just a 5 minutes walk from our place.

 *Okay, I admit that there's a possibility that Google maps doesn't work too well for me might be because of my inability to use it properly. But, it has fooled us into walking for hours for a 15 minutes route not just once, but trillions of times. And my friends would agree to that.


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Number of times I've used the word Procrastination: You tell me!
Second part coming up soon!


Have a great day!

Halloween!

 So, last week I had my first ever Halloween at Boston! Sadly, I was too busy with my Organic synthesis assignment that I couldn't do much on the day. The pictures below are fruits of my procrastination! See, I always knew procrastination always led to something good. Kidding, of course. I participated in a pumpkin painting session held at my university, and I spent around an hour there instead of studying for my test. Guilty. But at least now I have a showpiece for my cupboard?

:P Face in the making!

The :O face

The :P Face

I seriously need to start writing here more often! I have a post on Boston v/s Mumbai coming up and I've been saying that since last month. Procrastination again. I guess that's the most used word in my blog. Anyway, I'll get back to writing soon! Till then, take care guys! :)

Have a good day! :)

Shoppity Shop Shop

   "Because when I shop, the world gets better" - Rebecca Bloomwood, Confessions of a Shopaholic Series.

 

 SHOPPING. 

 There was a time when I used to dread this very word. Shopping can literally be a pain sometimes. Walking into shops, searching for clothes you want to buy, finally ending up with clothes you didn't plan on buying, followed by trying them on, making the final choice, running towards the cash counters so that you don't end up waiting for a long time in the queues, doing all this in one day can get you tired enough. (even writing this huge long sentence got me tired) So yeah, shopping is a task. And yet, so many shops are brimming with customers at any time of the day. I always wonder how and why.

I used to run away at the thought of shopping. My apathy towards shopping made me quite the wrong person to go shopping with.
Until now. 

Naah, just kidding. I'm still quite the same. Maybe a little better.
Anyway, enough about me. Let's get straight to the topic, types of shoppers. Here we go.

1. Shopaholics? Shopaphilics?  

These are real life Rebecca Bloomwoods [quoted above] of the Confessions of Shopaholic series. They can shop for anything, anywhere and anytime. When it comes to shopping at thrift stores, they can bargain and make the seller reach any price they want. They know the timings and locations of all shopping stores. They are basically the know-it-alls of the shopping world. These are one of people you'd want to go shopping with. They don't even need an invitation. They're ever ready to shop. They'll even forgo their dear sleep to assist you.
Also beware, if you're like me (you take nothing less than a century for selection of clothes) and you happen to take them along for your shopping, they will end up buying the whole store if you take too long. It's in their very nature to shop for stuff even when they don't need it. They can end up buying absolutely anything, and have no regrets. Going to a shop and returning back home empty handed is a sin for them. God help these people.

2. The Smarties

These are serious and practical shoppers. Shop owners might harbour a slight dislike for these people. Simply because their marketing strategies don't seem to work on them. When these people go for shopping, they take along a concise list of items to buy, and will not budge from the list. Strong headed people, they know what they want and will not pay any heed to the efforts taken by the ever so struggling sales people. I kinda admire these people. It must take so much effort to ignore items on a discount/sale, but then again we all know how discounts really work (and yet, the smartest ones of us too fall for such tricks)

3. The misfits 

Misfits of the shopping world. I consider myself as one of them. These people never get what they want in their size or preferred colour. I've had so many such experiences, especially while shopping for shoes. I had almost given up shopping for shoes some time back. I never ever get a perfect size. I'm somewhere between a UK shoe size 3 and 4. Yeah I know I have small feet. Size 3 shoes are too tight, size 4 too loose. I've tried 3.5, they didn't fit me either. 3.75? No, they don't make that size. There should be sizes in all sorts of fractions, that would solve my problem maybe? Moving on to clothes now, what if a person is not a perfect size 10, but a size 10.7252728? (Hypothetical) Now, there is no size 11, so this person has to go for a size 12 which might be too loose and dangly. Why why why! 

Getting something of proper size and colour is nothing less than a miracle. Rarely ever happens to us. So basically, now you know what the people of this category do. Yes, we blame our bad luck, and keep cribbing about not getting clothes of our size (like I just did above. Sigh.)

4. Ninja shoppers

(Unexplained obsession for ninjas: check. Reader thinks I'm crazy: check.)

Ignore the nonsense in the parenthesis, if you can. 

Okay, so ninja shoppers are basically super quick shoppers. They're so quick with selecting clothes. They go to a shop, try on the selected clothes, make the decision super quick and are out of the store in no time. How do they do that? Like I mentioned before, I take a century long time to decide on clothes. I can never imagine getting out of a shop with bags within 30 minutes ( unless it's not a clothing store, of course) 

5. People who say stuff like: "That dress I saw the other day at the store. I should've bought it. It's haunting me now. I think about it all the time. Please take me there! I want it!!!"

Does the title sound a tad crazy to you? I know so many people who are supposedly haunted. Yes, haunted, that too by clothes they wanted to buy but couldn't due to whatever reasons. They are so determined to buy those clothes that they end up dreaming about them. They usually end up buying them too. Imagine a ghost movie with clothes haunting people instead of ghosts, saying "BUY ME BUY ME!" at the background. Yeah, that's how it must be for them.

6. The "Try and Never Buy" Shoppers
  
  Window shoppers. Basically, all of us at some 
point in our lives. Window shopping works well mostly for the strong heads, or shopaholics when they run out of funds. There are people who actually enjoy window shopping. I know people who go to a shopping store and just try out clothes with no intention of buying them. They just enjoy the prospect of going to shops, regardless of whether they're going to make any purchases or not! It's so tough to not buy something when you like it.

Aaand we're done! So which one are you? :D
 

Travelling by the bus

Since my post about travelling by local trains was a total hit with my friends. Totally boasting :P 

Now hoping for a similar response, I'd like to rant about all sorts of annoying people you'd meet if you happen to take the bus! I take the bus everyday , so I'm quite used to seeing these people. You'll come across quite similar kind of people on the bus and the trains. Because flying ninjas can't always fly to the station , they gotta take the bus sometimes :P (you'll have to read my previous blog to understand the joke! So go read it first! :P).

I promise to write well this time. OK, just kidding! This is just going to be another awkward, badly written post. No, I'm not fishing for compliments. But if that's making you roll out a few compliments, you could comment below :P Okay, now that I'm done begging for comments, here we go!

1. The latecomers:
These are an annoying lot. They are late almost every single time. No, it isn't that they don't know the bus timings, they simply don't get enough time for their morning jogs, so they compensate that by jogging behind the bus. That doesn't seem like a bad thing now, does it? Exercise is good, but find your own time for it. Don't waste our time! Some people really need to reach someplace by a certain time. Why do they have to suffer? Argh! I've experienced this so many times, I get so pissed off at the bus drivers -.- why stop for the late comers?! Late comers never got a chance back in school, why should they get any now? What about all those "always be punctual" lessons we were taught in value education class? School education is a waste, hence proved xP
I can understand getting late once or twice. Even I've been late at times. But everyday? That's a bit too much people. I wish they would start giving late remarks to these latecomers too just like in school. And then maybe fine them after they get a certain number of remarks :P

2. The door clingers:

 Obvious from the title, these are the ones who you'll find clinging to the door. Yes, even when there are plenty of empty seats. Maybe they think that being half outside the door would entitle them for just half the ticket price? Mostly men, they cling to the doors regardless of the stop on which they want to get down. And yeah, if you need to get down at your stop and you ask them if they are getting down too, they'll just look back, give you a blank are-you-talking-to-me?- look and look back to where they were looking. And that's it, they won't even budge unless the stop comes up. So finally when your stop comes up, this person will like a monkey swing himself to make way for you. Sorry for the monkey reference, but that's what monkeys do! :P
Jokes apart, if you're a door clinger, please stop being one! Unless, of course if the bus is really full and there's no place to stand! You need to be careful, you could seriously get hurt if you fall off a moving bus.

3. The window seat hoggers :

Happiness indeed :P

Okay I won't lie, I am one of these people. I just love sitting by the window and looking out (and pretending I'm in some movie, you know with all the wind, hair flying and all that :P Just kidding). I just like having the window seat! But that doesn't mean I won't take a seat unless it's beside the window. I've seen people run, like they really run to get the window seat. And if suppose, they don't manage to reach there in time, they don't sit at all. They go standing all the way, or ask someone to give their window seat to them. Wanting the window seat is completely fine, but going all lengths to get it, not so much. I know some people get claustrophobic, so they really do need windows. I sometimes wonder if using claustrophobia as an excuse would help me get a window seat *evil laugh* Naah I guess I'd just get a I-don't-know-what-you-talking-about stare. Oops am I being too repetitive? Am I being too repetitive? (Geddit? :P #stolenfromiisuperwomenii)


 
4. The standing lot :
There are few people who travel standing because they have no choice, and then there are few people who choose to travel standing. Yes, you read it right.

When the bus driver slams on the breaks

Some people actually like to travel standing. I don't understand these people. They simply love to stand I guess. There have been times when I've got on the bus and got no seat, I've had to travel standing and to be honest, I never liked it. It's almost like a roller coaster ride with no seat belts, and of course no seats xP I just googled -when the bus driver slams on the brakes- and this is what I found! xD





5. The kind people:
These people rule! Everyone should try becoming like them. These people offer seats to the elderly people, it makes me restore my almost lost faith in humanity xP People can be kind! There have been days when my bag has been too heavy, filled with books, and people have offered to carry my bag. If this doesn't make you go aww, I don't know what will! :)


So, this sums up my list of people you'd meet on the bus. I know this list is too short, I've given few categories a miss since they've already featured in the local trains blog :P Refer the categories numbered 2,3,4,5 here > Travelling by local trains
 Alright, I hope you had a good read! 
Have a good day! :)

Travelling by local trains

This blog seems deserted! Neither does the very busy blogger have time to write here, nor do the many,many followers have time to pay a visit! :P I hope none of you missed reading my posts. Okay, who am I kidding!? :D I merely have 2-3 followers, and they happen to be my family members, so I guess its kinda obvious why they follow me, considering my blackmailing abilities :P Anyway I could go on and on with my embarrassing poor jokes, so I should probably start with the topic. If it isn't obvious enough, I'm going to be talking about the (very)^infinity (in)famous Mumbai locals! :P hell yeah, I just used maths to describe, so maths is helpful, stop complaining kids :P Sheeesh. I must stop typing out whatever comes to my mind.

Okay, back to the topic. Mumbai locals! You can't survive without them and more so, you can hardly survive if you're travelling by one of them :P such is the speciality and uniqueness of our local trains. I consider myself highly lucky that my college is towards Kalyan side and not towards CST! I probably wouldn't have been here writing all of this had my college been towards the CST side :P (by the previous sentence I mean I probably would've been busy discovering some way to apparate like in Harry Potter!) So yeah, all of you people who have to travel towards CST and you travel via the railways, hats off to you. No seriously you're a God , you deserve a Nobel prize for every time you travel. If you happen to be a person who doesn't travel via the local trains which function towards CST, consider yourself lucky. The reason? The rush, it seems like all of the people need to get on the train like there's no other train after it, they even go as far as to sit on the roof! I seriously don't understand the desperation. Everybody has to go for work, I understand, but is it worth risking your life? Haha, it sounded as if I'm asking you to stop working because its dangerous xD anyway you get what I mean right? People try getting on running trains, they suddenly turn into superquick ninjas and quickly get on through the next door.
You'll get to meet some peculiar people(who will make you go facepalming yourself throughout the day :P) when you travel by the Mumbai local trains, I've just made it easy for you by making a list :P Here it goes.

1. The standing people: These people absolutely louvve to stand near the door, with their faces facing outside(does that remind you of some animal who does the exact same thing? Gdo? Odg?). These are the same people who will stand near the door even when they don't have to get down! And its not even that there are no seats available, there are plenty. When your station comes up and you go towards the door, they'll block your way , and go blech-ing all the time as if you're the one who's creating a mess.

2. The fighters: The army/police could use these. These ladies are an extremely frustated lot. They could get angry over anything, and start a fight. I've seen ladies fighting over the most trivial stuff, like someone accidently stepped on them and also sorry, they'll start their filibuster. And what when the person who stepped one them is one of their kind? Woah! You'll get to see a realtime WWE fight! Ladies pulling eachother's hair, hurling abuses and stuff :( These ladies just need a chance to start fighting. Also, these are the very people who will shout at the standing people :P

3. The creepy staring game contestants: These are the funniest lot but quite creepy too. These people start a staring game with you, the only thing is that you won't know it until later! They'll look at you constantly. If you think giving them a questioning look or giving them a cursory smile will stop them, then you're wrong, you'll just end up looking like a smiling-for- no-reason idiot!  They won't stop unless you miraculously see another empty seat at the other end. I don't know if all of them do this on purpose or they're just in a trance! But I've experienced that when we sit in a group and talk, these people not only stare at us but also eavesdrop into our conversations and smile occasionally at our jokes. Like why? Why makes us so uncomfortable? :P

4. The talkative talkers: from the name I guess its kinda obvious. These people suffer from an undiagnosed verbosity, they go blabbering on and on for the entire journey. It doesn't matter if the person beside them is a stranger, they still will want to start a conversation. And most of these ladies have such loud voices, if you're studying for a test, you won't be able to because the constant chattering will make you go nuts. They'll go on and on without sensing the glares that people direct at them or without noticing the reluctance to talk or disinterest shown by the copassengers.

5. The deaf and dumb: These people irritate me the most, and you'll not only find them in trains, they're everywhere. Trains,buses, roads everywhere! These people cannot function properly without putting cords in their ears. When you ask them to shift, they'll look at you as if you're the one who's dumb. They'll make you repeat it twice and then realize that they have cords in their ears. Don't they realize that having cords in their ears deafens the outside noises, which could be dangerous! I've seen people crossing roads and leaving vehicles honking and jerking their breaks because these idiots couldn't hear them coming! I'm sorry if you're one of them, but you're supposed to be ALERT. There are so many cases of thefts, kidnappings, now obviously tell me who will they target? Someone who's alert enough to put up a fight or someone who's in his own world and deaf to the outside noises? If you're one of these, please please please refrain from using cords to listen to music while in public places! Okay, this is getting serious, but I seriously felt like mentioning this :)

6. The (deadly) super quick ninjas: All of us, at some point, become one of these. But the ones I'm going to talk about are deadly dangerous! These are ones youll see when you're about to get down at your destination. The very deadly ones get on the train when it's still running. The relatively less deadly ones will try getting on the train just as you try getting down. Usually if there are many people getting down at the same station as you, and if you're amidst the crowd, the people at the back will make sure you are pushed outside the train. But if, just if you're somehow at the end of the crowd which is getting down, you're doomed. Just as the majority of crowd gets down, the overwhelming crowd of people who want to get on start barging in and in no time, you're pushed right back into the train. This is experience talking BTW :P I've experienced this and I had to travel upto the last station and back towards my station. Fortunately the next station was the last one, so I didn't travel too far. But the approaching nightmare I was about to face was that after the last station, the train would now run towards CST!! Some helpful ladies helped me get down and asked ne to get on the adjacent handicapped compartment so that I could get down at the next station(my destination) without any problem. Had I stayed in the same compartment, I could've gone back and forth from CST to the last station for the whole day :P

7. The flying ninjas: I briefly mentioned these in the above category, these are the scariest and deadliest lot! They jump.. No they fly into the train even when its still speeding. The people who travel towards CST know these kind and make the area near the door sparse so that these flying ninjas don't bang into the someone! They could audition for George of the jungle franchise :P or at least get a job as stuntswomen xD I'm seriously scared for this lot, its really dangerous getting on the running train!

8. The sitters? : Hehe, I'm sorry I couldn't come with an innovative name for this kind. These are those ladies who SIT, yes they SIT. But not on the seats, on the floor!! They sit on the floor adjacent to the door and have so much of luggage(most of the times!), they conveniently put their luggage near your feet when you're about to get down , so instead of getting down on your feet, you go flying and end up on your head! And all this, while there are many empty seats! I've once asked them to sit on the empty seats, but just got a blank stare in return.

9. The litterers: these people think that the train is a litter box. They throw banana peels, plastic wrappers, papers, and what not on the train floors. Though you may get fined for littering, that's what the instructions( in all languages) on the walls suggest, I have never seen anyone getting fined. People simply don't stop. Also, I'm against people who throw stuff outside the train :| Whenever I've stopped my friends(sorry P,P) from doing that, I've got answers like it's biodegradable. Okay, on my next visit to your place, I'm gonna throw a banana peal on the floor and justify giving the same reason :P Littering is littering, no excuses.

10. The (sometimes)rowdy gangs: We, college going girls, are one of these. The rowdy doesn't apply here though, we're nowhere near the rowdy ones :P We sit together and crack jokes and laugh hysterically during the journey, and maybe sometimes irritate the other passengers :P But the rowdy ones, they are a usually in a group . They think they're the boss. They reserve seats, and won't let you sit on their seat. They basically think they own the rights to that particular seat because they happen to sit on it everyday. Huh.

Okay. I hadn't planned on writing so much. I actually came up with 10 types! I actually forgot to mention one more type. You'll obviously not only meet the above 10 types, but also some nicer and sane people (Yaye! I'm one of them! :P) All in all, train journeys are an adventure, and I'm glad I'm a part of it! I always have awesome stories to tell everyday!

P.S. Phew! It felt good getting back to writing though this is the first time I took about a week to write a post while usually I take just a day :P
Have a good day! :)

Sigh! Another boring post :P

It's been quite a long time since I've written anything. And the reason is procrastination (too obvious I know :P) Anyway I've been thinking of many things to write about. But I'll settle for just updates. Look at me explaining and stuff, as if anybody actually reads this xD I do get a few views here and there, but it's mostly just family and friends who I spam with my blog address xP (sorry for that!)
      So updates! We started with our semester VI just last week, though it feels like its been a month. We have 3 practical subjects, all of which are awesome! In pharmacology, we tested the action of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, on cock ileum! We did face a few problems since the procedure was relatively new. I almost had a feeling that my tissue would have died, since I took such a long time to tie it :( I felt pure happiness when the I got an appropriate response :D

^ My DRC! I know its messy, but its better than no response:) :P

 Next, we have cosmeticology, which basically deals with various cosmetic preparations. We prepared medicated and non medicated toothpaste, cleansing milk and cleansing gel. It's a fun practical, its like pharmaceutics but with colours :D
Last but not the least, we have Pharmacognosy. For the first practical, we observed the different types of stomata present in different leaves. We then used camera lucida to trace them out. It was great :D

Don't they look awesome? :D

That's all for now:)
Wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year in advance! :D
Have fun! :)
    

Procrastinati..Nevermind.



^^That's my motto! :P

So you've been assigned a task with a deadline. And you while away all your precious time doing random unimportant stuff, and get back to the task completion a day before the deadline. Does that seem like a familiar situation to you? Well, if it does , you're one of my kind :D We're the procrastinators :P
  
         We don't really comprehend the difference between the concepts of now and later. We tend to postpone every single job to the next day. It's not that we find the job boring( unless it's studying , of course :P), its just that trivial random stuff starts to seem much more interesting than the job. And so, we end up wasting our time, don't get the work done on time. In school, when we were given projects which were to be completed during the holidays, I used to start a day or two prior to the school reopening. Sitting through the day (and night, sometimes :D) with all the papers,sketch pens around me (and sadly with no time left for some more procrastination), I used to think to myself and decide that next time I'll start with the project on the very next day the holidays start. Yeah, that never happened :P, though I did always end up getting them done on time. I'm such a pro at procrastination that instead of studying for my semester exams, here I am, procrastinating and writing about procrastination xD
         I should probably stop now. My biotech books seem to be calling out to me (or maybe, they can wait? :P )
Have a nice day! :)
 

Diwali !

 

Diwali!! The festival of lights! I had been to my grandparents' place for Diwali like every year! Met everyone after such a long time, ate the awesomely delicious stuff that was prepared. And I drew this rangoli outside our house. I know. Nerdy much! Pharm.chem overdose :P

P.S. Its Fluconazole :D a triazole antifungal agent :P

Have a nice day! :)

Expression

I've been away from here for too long now! Blame the exams and the endless task of completing journals :( Now that all of that is done, I've finally got the chance to write a blog and bore you some more :P
     So, expression! Out of the many expressions: facial,mathematical,etc , Gene expression is what I'm going to blog about ( sorry if that disappoints you :P). We've been studying a lot about genes, DNA, RNA , biotechnology this semester. The concept of genes and ability to manipulate them intrigues me. We had the first exposure to this subject back in our 12th grade, I remember the anticipation I felt before our classes. Now in college, we've been doing quite a detailed study on this subject! So gene expression is basically a process in which a gene transcribes into a RNA, which further undergoes translation to produce proteins. Genes are specific nucleotide sequences which code for certain proteins. The processes of transcription and translation are a part of the central dogma of life. Transcription is the process which involves synthesis of a RNA molecule from a DNA molecule, while translation is the process in which the RNA binds to a ribosome to produce proteins. So basically, we are what we're only because of gene expression. Our skin colour, hair colour, height, eye colour and just about everything are all a result of gene expression. The enzymes responsible for various physiological processes are products of gene expression.The genetic codes responsible for various traits are present on our DNA. The very well known scientist Mendel had been the one to suggest the existence of gene. He experimented with pea plants and discovered inheritance. Later on, it was proved that DNA consisted of genetic material, followed by the Watson and Crick model of DNA structure. Since then on, there have been many other discoveries, so much so that an entire new field of study has been developed.
      Studies about gene expression has also helped in the medicinal field. Earlier the mechanism of action, metabolism of drugs was not much known. But now, we know that a certain drug, suppose Erythromycin [a macrolide antibiotic :D] inhibits protein synthesis at a certain step. Metabolism of drugs involves enzymatic action on drug molecules, therefore by inhibiting that specific enzyme biosynthesis we can retard the metabolism of that drug and hence, increase the duration of action.
    Ok, so I could go on and on about this topic, but I think I've bored you enough :P So I must stop now :P Bye, have a nice day! :D

Worry much?

Worrying takes up a major part of our daily lives. Whether its worrying about what to wear for the day , worrying about some college work or just about any irrelevant stuff. Speaking personally, I'm a big worrier ( a worrywart!). I can worry about just anything. If there was a Nobel prize for worriers, I'd probably win it. I have been a worrywart for so long, that not worrying about something makes me worried :P Just yesterday while I was preparing for a presentation that I was supposed to present in the class today ( which went quite well btw :) ), I found myself getting worried about the most trivial stuff ( trust me it is quite frustrating to be me sometimes :/ ). It was as if I was constantly mulling over insignificant stuff without reaching to a proper conclusion. After I was done with my presentation today, I realised how futile my worrying was. I wasted my time worrying about trivial stuff, when I could have probably done some useful stuff.
         And what's more, worrying is contagious! Once you're worried about something, you get the people around you worried as well ( sometimes! ). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying worrying is entirely wrong. Worrying has it's own share of positive outcomes. It has been found out that a certain amount of worrying will prepare you for your worst. Though the amount of worrying people mostly do, exceeds the required amount leading to anxiety and various other physiological symptoms like shivering ,sweating ,increased blood pressure! To stop worrying, one must get to the root cause of the problem. Worry is , more or less, caused by anticipation of failure. We tend to associate our past failures with current circumstances which leads to worrying. And we don't know when to stop, I could go on worrying about any insignificant matter for as long as possible. Moreover, a worrier is seldom viewed as a person to hang around. It's so obvious, why would anyone want to be near a person who's always enveloped by worries and fears about situations which are yet to even occur? The sweet and simple solution to this is to stop worrying, and start living in the moment ( I know it's funny coming from me!:D ) . Enough for now, gotta get back to my daily quota of worrying :P

PS: I've played out the thoughts in my head , here you go!
( on the day before the presentation)
Me: How should I start my presentation, with a good afternoon or without? What should I wear? Should I carry some notes to refer while presenting? Will my voice be audible enough to the whole classroom ? I must complete preparing within 2 hrs at the most! I have a pharmacology test due tomorrow as well! I have no idea what those Anticancer drugs do! Taxanes,alylating agents,..OMG! Maybe I should stop worrying about this right now, and worry about the presentation instead, there's still time for worrying about the test!

As you can see, the presentation went well, but the pharmacology test? Yeah, not so well!
Inference: Stop worrying! :P Prepare for the best! Good day :D

Keep those mobile phones away!

*Rant Alert*
 So if you can't make out from the topic already, I'm going to be writing ( ranting , rather :P) about the excessive use of mobile phones. Almost everyday, I see people wearing headphones staring away aimlessly with bored blank faces, people crossing roads with their eyes glued to their mobile phones. I mean seriously, what is wrong with people ? That text message you just received can wait till you're done crossing the road, it's not going to self-destruct like those Ministery of Magic letters in Harry Potter :P and even if it would be getting self-destructed, your life is much more important than some random text. My younger sister ( Voldy :P I so love to call her that! ), after getting back home from meeting friends, gets glued to her mobile phone to continue chatting . This incessant chatting makes her almost deaf and blind ( yes, blind :P). She literally walks around the house, holding her mobile phone in front of her face. I'm waiting for the day she accidentally bumps into a wall :P ( That sounds mean, sorry :P ) Getting back to the point, mobile phones have become an easily available commodity nowadays. It's a treat for all those mobile phone companies and mobile network providers, they're making huge profits. Though mobile phones have eased communication, they are excessively used. From oldies to kids, almost everyone owns a mobile phone these days. I think in no time, li'l babies will start owning their own mobile phones :D Gone are those days, when one used to be able to communicate through spoken words, now the communication is mostly via typed words on smartphone screens. And by Jove, the screen dimensions in the newer mobile phones! The basic idea behind invention of mobile phones is easy portability , that idea seems to be lost considering the sizes of the mobile phones these days. It's almost as if people walk around with mini computer screens. It would be almost difficult to differentiate between a tablet and a mobile phone :P The worst part is that people can't go a day without their mobile phones, they start feeling lonesome. Humans are becoming too much technology dependent. Furthermore the use of mobile phones has also been studied to have some harmful effects on the human body. Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiations which could have possible adverse biological effects. Aside from these possible ways to die, people come up with easier ones. Using mobile phones while driving ! Endless number of people have lost lives because of using mobile phones while driving. Please people! Stop being constantly glued to your mobile phones. I'm not saying stop using them completely, just use them less frequently. Instead of chatting with friends on mobile phones , go and actually meet them and chat ( if possible ). And lastly, please don't use mobile phones while driving or crossing roads, at least for the people who actually care about you. Enough ranting for now. Have a nice day :) 

Resistance

Pharmacology. Yikes! We continue to have the much dreaded (but interesting!) subject in this semester too. And guess what, we have more of those dreaded subjects like Pharm.Chem, Pharmacognosy (which are quite interesting too, but need quite a lot of work to put in ). I remember trying to cram all those GIT drugs last semester. Histamine receptor inhibitors, proton pump inhibitors, antidiarrhoeals and so on. I remember making dumb sounding mnemonics to remember them, but in the end, it was all worthwhile. Pharmacology, as a subject is quite intriguing. So this semester, we will be studying the Anticancer agents, antimalarials, and last but not the least, the AMAs! We have started with the AMAs ( Antimicrobial agents! ) and though there are too many drugs (-_-') , they are quite fascinating to study about. From what we have been taught up till now, I can just say that- If you've been prescribed an antibiotic course, please make sure to not miss any dose, and please see to it that you complete the course! Once you start the course, the symptoms may disappear, but that does not imply that you've been cured! It just means that those nasty microbes are building up resistance, and missing the next dose would mean giving them a chance to multiply. Now of course, you don't want that, do you? Many people leave their courses midway, thinking that they have no symptoms and have nothing to worry about, but end up at the doctor's after few days. And now, treating this infection is difficult since the course given previously is ineffective. Resistance, the defence mechanism exhibited by microbes serves as an evidence to the theory of Natural Selection put forth by Darwin. The microbes are much better at evolution than us humans ( Sigh! ). Resistance shown by microbes is basically of two types: Natural and Acquired. Natural resistance, as the name suggests, is naturally present. The microbes are insensitive to a particular drug maybe because they lack a certain target site to which the drug selectively binds, or maybe because they lack some metabolic processes which the drug has the ability to inhibit. Acquired resistance, on the other hand, is developed by the microbe on exposure to antibiotics. There are certain mechanisms like conjugation, transformation, transduction and so on. The much prevalent Multiple drug resistance tuberculosis ( MDR-TB) infection is a glimpse of how acquired resistance works. The reason for this is of course, overuse or misuse of antimicrobials. People consume antibiotics like I consume chocolates ( which would mean 20 a day, JK :P) . So anyway, the purpose of writing this blog was just to spread the awareness that one must complete an antibiotic therapy and not miss any doses or leave it halfway, because the consequences maybe life threatening as seen in people suffering from  MDR-TB. Bye for now, gotta catch up on my chocolate doses. Missing them would be life threatening for me :P

Friendships Day

Today as I was walking towards the station for catching a train after returning from college, I busied myself with watching the surroundings, and could see colourful ribbons displayed in just about every shop on the lane. The shopkeepers were having quite a successful day since their shops were literally bursting with customers who were buying those colourful strips which had cliche lines written all over them like Best friends forever and blah blah stuff. So tomorrow is the so called Friendships Day. The day on which people get ribbons tied on their wrists, readily allow to get scribbled on their hands,T-shirts and even faces (ugh!). I returned home after an hour or so to see a bunch of those colourful ribbons lying on the table. Now obviously I wouldn't buy those sickly ribbons which had the power to mend or break friendships( I have seen and had quite a few of those experiences in the past -_-' ). So the person responsible for buying those was of course, my younger sister ( or as I'd like to put it, one of the many Voldemorts in my life, JK, NOT ). After learning that it was she who had bought them, I wouldn't want to leave a chance to argue and exhibit my big sister prowess, so our argument ensued! Don't get me wrong, I'm not against friendships or anything . It's just that I feel that to express our friendships, we don't necessarily need to tie flimsy ribbons on each others hands. Although I was no different a few years back. I remember thinking that mere tying of these bands would guarantee a lifetime friendship. But as I grew up, I understood the essence of true friendship, its hard to find ( if you happen to find true friends, make sure to not let them go :) they're too precious to let go off) and there's no guarantee as far as longevity is concerned. Friendships get broken quite easily. Anyway, I'm deviating from the topic! So what I was trying to get at was that instead of putting money into buying those ribbons,bracelets,etc, one can come together and donate that money to some charities or to people who need it the most. Once the friendships day is done with, those bands are either reused,stored as a keepsakes (I used to do that :P until my cupboard was raided by a certain Voldy) or thrown away! So if ultimately thrash is where they are going to land in, it's better to  put that money into something much more effective and long lasting. One can use that money to gift candies to li'l kids, or do just about anything to get a smile on someone's face. It could be anything, visiting the old age homes and making those oldies feel wanted :) One can collect friends and get support for the orphanages. So that's about it for now. Please forgive my bad English :P Bye for now! ^_^