Hoi. Now you know how to greet people in Dutch.

I've been away for a while now. Haven't been writing much. But from the last time I posted, things have changed. I have changed. There's so much more to life now, so much independence and responsibility. The joy of knowing that you can survive on your own in a place away from home.  Over the past 6 months that I've been away from home, I've realized how truly grateful I am, to my parents and best friends. They've motivated to be my best at everything I do. And everyday, I am improving. I've embraced art and design and I know, this is where I've always wanted to be. It feels wonderful. I've grown closer to my best friends because of the distance and become a better daughter too. I understand my parents a lot better now.

Sure I've had my set of downs here. Just yesterday, I almost lost a friend I used to very close to. Expectations clash. And sometimes, whatever you do isn't enough to keep a bond intact. So I learned that it's okay to let go. If I was how I used to be, I'd be saying sorry to make things okay somehow. But that's not how it always is or should be. Sometimes, the best you can do for someone and yourself is to part. Maybe sometimes, things ain't meant to be okay and all these instances are just lessons that'll help you grow stronger in life.

Must write frequently.
Love.

PS. Flickr addict. That explains the post title.

I don't want to be anything other then what I've been trying to be lately..

A big hello to all the followers who are reading this line in the post summary on their dashboards!

I've been neglecting my blog like crazy or maybe never found the right things to write! Every time I'd sit up staring at the blank screen and wondering what to write or rant about. A part of me blames twitter for being an immediate outlet for all the things I'd want to throw at the world. 

Guess it's true what they say about mad and tortured artists. I've walking around like a zombie. Design schools can get crazy and suck the life out of you..unless you realize that you life is the life you got after your social life got sucked away..*or something like that*

Honestly, I've started finding happiness in my sketches, paintings, classroom sessions, critiques , being sleepless but kicking off a project well, sleeping around in class etc. I feel a sense of independence here. My art defines me. It helps me be myself and it won't judge me. It helps me enter my own parallel universe. When I'm at work, nothing else matters. Not an ongoing fight with a friend, not a bad hair day, not a stupid comment someone passed, not a dick head friend..just nothing. It's like being drenched in rain and feeling every droplet that's hitting your face. Feels amazingly beautiful! And oh, I've been maintaining a mood book. Whatever mood I am in, whatever I feel, I sketch it out. It's a personal book full of contrasting sketches! Like my personal visual diary. I know I'll be looking at it a few years from now and giggling. 

And yes..friends! New friends. Tons of them! My house mates are from different states so it's like mini India! 

I've learned a lot about friendship in these four months that I've been away from home.

When I left Bombay, I had about thirty different people contacting me and wishing me luck with a promise of keeping in touch,always. Well guess what? DOESN'T HAPPEN. They miss you for a day or two and get busy with their own lives. But then there are a few, who bother to know what's happening every day. In spite of being far away, they help you through a lot of things. If my best friend is reading this, then a big thank you is all I have to say! :) .. Now about the friends I made here.. everyone understands how it is to be away, lose touch and move ahead! I'm making new friends every day! I love how people trust me. I feel happy when someone randomly comes and shares things, trusts me over it and ask for help! I've learned a lot about acceptance too. You have to learn to accept people for who they are! You gotta know that you have flaws too but that shouldn't be the reason for someone else to love you less. Apply that before hating or judging someone!

I'm madly in love with One Tree Hill! *NATHANSCOTTMAKESMEDROOOOOL*

(Hence the post title! It's OTH's title track!!)

OTH makes me feel weirdly connected to it. I feel for the characters and feel like I'm a part of their lives. I cry, laugh, sob, dance with them!! There are so many stories of failure, hope, heartbreaks, friendship..a every point of time there will be at least one character that you can relate to! Throughout. 

Recent addictions: Film making, Photography, Sketching, Oreo Milkshake, OTH.

PS. I miss home food.

PPS. Home in 14 days! Breakkk :D

OkayBye. HaveAGoodDayOrNight *whatever time of the day it is*

This new city.

So staying in a different city, all by yourself, living life on your own terms and living weekends..Sounds so fucking cool right? Well..it only sounds exciting till you really have to live that way. Maybe the thought of independence really does excite you. But it's short-lived when you're really living it.

So I'm living in a city, away from loved ones only because I have my dreams to fulfil. DREAMS.
And if you think that people who get to live this 'independent' life are way too lucky,then let me tell you this..

We do curl up inside our blankets and cry out of homesickness.
We do miss our mom's kisses and dad's hugs when we do really well.
We miss that best friend who used to live down the street and could be met conveniently at any given point of time.
We miss being pampered.
We miss that mother who rums behind us with a plate full of food because we're getting late and have no time for breakfast.
We miss waiting to spend our Sundays with our father.
Those heart to heart conversations with a brother who lived in the same building.
Going down aimlessly for a walk to kill boredom.
Leaving the milk glass on the dining table, clothes being washed by the washing machine, not getting up early because you have someone to get you breakfast as soon as you're up.
We miss being careless.
We miss our parents who did so much for us. We realize it now, all the love and all the lessons. It's not easy to wash your own clothes, manage your own meals, clean your own workspace and wardrobe, run a house.. None of it is easy. We all take life for granted because our parents do all the work for us..but when you have to do it on your own,it's only then that you realize how hard it is. You might not be facing the world now, but someday you will have to. You will have to get out of that comfortable shell of yours. For you, for your future and for many other reasons. Your social life might die. The friends who loved you so much would just be heard over the phone. That too sometimes only. Life won't be a cake walk, you will have to bake the cake. And if you bake it well, you can enjoy eating it for the rest of your life. But obviously, you have to earn the ingredients yourself!

On the positive side of it, you learn how to deal with people and manage your finances. You learn the value of money. You feel the essence of an individual life. But as of now, homesickness is all that I can feel. Although my dreams keep me going.. Maybe I will settle with time. And for the one's who are staying with their parents through degree college, you'll are really lucky! *envy*

Dream out loud!

Dreams.

They're such an important part of life.

They're that one thing in life that have no rules or limits attached to them.

Your dreams are free birds.

You can dream about everything and anything you want to.

They're ever-changing.

They give a deeper meaning to life.

A reason to exist and wait for tomorrow.

They give hope, strength and teach you to have faith.

No one can stop you from dreaming. No one at all!

They take you to your own world. They're your creation.

So you can dream big, you can dream small, you can dream..infinite!

You can be Angeline Jolie or the Carrie Bradshaw of your own life! Or you can feel like charlie's angel. You can be a painter, writer, scientist, musician and what not! If you can dream it, you can be it.

We all dream.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be superman.

Then I grew up a little and wanted to be a doctor.

Then a fairy, an actress and the list goes on and on!

And it kept changing till I was sensible enough to understand what I really really wanted to be.

And then, my dream became constant.

I knew what I wanted from life.

I wanted to be a designer.

I wanted to be in the best design school.

Experience hostel life.

Be independent.

Be the best at everything.

Grow as an individual.

Be a better person.

It was very exciting to dream and work for it.

Two years of hard work. Extreme hard work. 

Boards, entrance exams, tension, failures, losses, ups and downs..and then came success!

I cracked most of my design school entrances and got through the best available one.

Honestly, I feel LikeABoss.
#ThatGreatFeelingYouGetWhenYourHardworkPaysOffAndDreamsComeTrue (Yes!Twitter addict,okaybye)

Here I am at the end of a long road, at the beginning of another.

Here I am, ready to grow, learn and shine.

Suddenly it feels like time is flying.

In a month and a half I'll leave the city I grew up in.

All my friends are going too.

We'll all be in different cities.

Maybe we'll learn to survive on Skype.

Seems like we've all grown up in the blink of an eye.

The journey to success has begun.

Maybe it's time to face the world, to come out of the protective shell we've survived in for so long.

To learn lessons by making your own mistakes.

To know how the world really is.

To fulfill ALL those dreams we've had.

To make sure that our tomorrow is exactly how we imagine it to be.

So now is our time, to shine. :)

Don't stop.

I've learned to expect the unexpected.
Because there will be times when you'll face failure in spite of putting in a lot of hard work.
Your loved ones will disappoint you when you least expect them to.
And things will go wrong. Most of times you'll have "one of those days"..
You will feel like falling flat on your face and giving it all up.Because you've had enough. Of everything.

But in times like these,
You gotta hold your head up high,
Have faith in yourself,
Be strong.
Know that you're a masterpiece.
Just because you're having a dark night, doesn't mean that it won't pass.
The sun will rise.
Life will be good to you.
Believe in God. Believe in his timings.
Because- when you lose a good thing, something better comes!
It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it.
Don't. Stop. Dreaming. You.
..

..

Have unwavering faith in yourself and your dreams. Go,make it happen! There is so much to achieve. :)

.

I feel blank today.
Unusually blank.
And unusually not-so-positive.
And I don't even know what to write down.
But I am going to,anyway. Scribble down whatever comes to my mind.
The past few days have been weird.
I've been perplexed about most of the things.
I've been trying to hold on to happiness.
I've been fighting back my tears.
I've been ignoring my instincts.
I've cut down on people.
I have so many things to do. But I don't feel like doing any.
There's just one crazy dream that I'm clinging on to- National Institute Of Design.
And I've been waiting for something cryptic.
I've been cribbing over stupid things,driving my best friend mad.
I've been thinking about the past.
And I've been over-thinking endlessly.
I've been doing everything that I shouldn't be.
But it's happening anyway.
And this post probably doesn't make much sense.

A crumpled soul.

She now lived in one of the monasteries situated in the remote areas amidst the snow clad mountains.
It was a place not many people knew about.
The placidity and serenity of the place always comforted her soul.
She was convinced that she could stay there till her her breath lasted, unidentified.
No one knew who she was, where she had come from or what had made her come there. And no one bothered to question her about all of that either for she seemed to be a hurt, unaided yet content soul. She smiled. She smiled all the time.
As she stood there amidst the scenic rocks, she experienced a sense of protection.
She had spent all her life in obeying commands, undergoing disrespectful sacrifices and prejudices of hopes which never lasted long. She had been considered ignoble.
Until last fortnight, she had nothing to live for.
She now had a heart devoid of emotions. Her heart which was once fragile was broken into pieces. And the pieces were broken into many more pieces. Only she knew how she had sailed through. Or probably docked her way out.
But none of it mattered now.
She was away from all the pain, slavery, misery and sacrifices.
She loved this mediocre place with a meager population.
It was better than the classy suite she once resided in.
Because here, she got a chance to live for herself.

Art is like love.

Art is like love. It is easier to experience than define.
And even if you do end up defining it, your definition will never match someone else's.
It's something you can identify yourself with.
It's something you can create by thought.
It can never be wrong because it is personalized thought.
Art is a way of living.
We're all artists.
There's some art in the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you arrange your stuff on the table, in the way you unbutton your shirts, in the way you keep food inside a box, in the way a person sells vegetables, in the way you write. There's art in everything.
Look around. Notice.
Art is not limited to paper and paint brushes.
It's something that is much beyond that.

One more heart that was stopped.

Month one:
Mummy.
I am only 3/4th of an inch long.
But I have all my organs.
I LOOVE the sound of your voice :)
Every time I hear it,
I wave my arms and legs ^__^
The sound of your heart beat is my favorite lullaby.

Month two:
Mummy.
Today I learned how to suck my thumb :O
If you could see me,
You could definitely tell that I am a baby.
I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though.
It is so nice and warm in here.

Month three:
You know what Mummy?
I am a GIRL! :D
I hope that makes you happy :)
I always want you to be happy.
I don't like it when you cry :(
You sound so sad.
It makes me sad too :'(
And I cry with you..
Even though you can't hear me.

Month four:
Mummy.
My hair is starting to grow.
It is very short and fine.
But I will have a lot of it.
I spend a lot of time exercising.
I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes..
And stretch my arms and legs ^_^
I'm becoming quite good at it B-)

Month five:
You went to the doctor today.
Mummy, he lied to you.
He said that I'm not a baby :O
I'm a baby mummy, I am your baby.
I think and I feel.
Mummy, what's abortion?

Month six:
I can hear the doctor again.
I don't like him.
He seems cold and heartless.
Something is intruding my home.
The doctor called it a needle.
Mummy what's it?
It burns. :(
Please mummy please, make him stop.
I can't get away from it!
Please mummy please, help me :'(

Month seven:
Mummy.
I am okay.
I am in God's arms. O:)
He is holding me.
He told me about abortion.
Why din't you want me mummy?




Every abortion is just..
One more heart that was stopped.
Two more eyes that will never see.
Two more hands that will never touch.
Two more legs that will never run.
One more mouth that will never speak.

"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" - Mother Teresa.


^PS. This is one of the most touching forwards that I have ever come across.
I just HAD to share it with everyone. :)
So I modified it a little and posted.