Hindi hain hum,vatan hain...

Happy Republic Day everyone! I attended the Republic Day celebrations in campus. It was just a bunch of students, with samosas and chai, singing songs and the national anthem. Enough to transport me back to my childhood days of sitting on the durries on the side of the road, watching the endless procession of troops, arms and the state floats. The best part of the whole event was the helicopters who distributed flower petals and the shiny tricolor bits of paper, which we all used to scramble to collect.

I am hoping that Delhi residents would have seen the parade in person . It is a spectacle worth watching atleast once. But I am not sure how many people know about "Beating Retreat"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beating_Retreat) This event, held in the Rashtrapati grounds, signifies the official end to the celebrations. It consists of the bands of the Army, Navy and Airforce playing the old army favorites like Colonel Bogey March and also songs like Vande Mataram. Sitting there, in the magnificent Raisina Hill pavilion, watching these guardians of our nation impeccably march and play these songs fills you with the absolute joy and pride of being an Indian.

This year, the event will be held on January 29th. Do ask that neighbourhood uncle or aunty for the passes and try to watch it...

Just want to end with a quote from President Kalam's speech,his message of courage

COURAGE TO GIVE

• Courage to think different,
• Courage to invent,
• Courage to discover the impossible,
• Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
• Courage to share the knowledge
• Courage to remove the pain
• Courage to reach the unreached
• Courage to combat the problem And Succeed

Are the unique qualities of the youth.

Home...*

where my thoughts escaping,

where my music’s playing,

where my love lies waiting, silently for me…

Where

• I can put my feet up on the table and sink into the sofa with the remote in my hand
• I don’t have to worry about who’s going to buy vegetables next
• tea appears, unasked,at the exact moment when I want it
• I can wear old rags that would not even make the cut as dishwashers…
• I can take a book and be lost in it endlessly,without giving it a single thought
• I am queen!
• My favorite snack is always available at any time of day or night
• All my precious photos are
• I keep my 8^th class slam book
• I can browse through the book collection and have a flashback of the book’s contents even before I have opened it
• I can go through the “Best of…” issues of mags as back as 1993
• everyone calls me Hita
• I want to be whenever I am ill
• My computer is
• I know where EVERYTHING is
• My family is
• I am most comfortable
• I don’t give a second thought to what I am saying (I am not saying that is necessarily a good thing)
• I argue the most
• The only place where I could have written this piece
• I am never lost
• I have every possible resource available to me
• I am safest
• Most loved
• I wish I could stay forever but know I never can
• All the pajama parties are held
• 2 AM philosophical discussions happen
• I sing at the top of my voice
• I am not embarrassed to sing out of tune
• Where a guitar picks up the song in my head even before I start singing
• I join in an impromptu duet after ten seconds into the first chord
• Anything I cook is complimented and appreciated
• I am myself, always…

* I wrote this on my long 3 month vacation before leaving for Stanford

Food for thought

Today, I truly understood what intellectual stimulation is all about. I sat in a room full of people and heard them discuss everything from how people think,how emotions and feelings are interlinked to how wilderness changes the way people react to situations. The cerebrations were coherent, incisive and most of all thought provoking.

I sat there rendered speechless by the workout my brain was getting by simply listening to great minds at work. I did not notice how time flew and head was buzzing with ideas as I cycled back, thinking how lucky I am to be in a place where you can be humbled and inspired everyday by people around you...

The name...

Anyone who knows me knows about my music. This is a line from one of my all time favourites pieces of music: Little wing by Jimi Hendrix(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wing). It has everything I wanted to look for in a title, most of all randomness- which is how I categorize most of my thoughts. So, here's hoping the posts keep on rolling.

Cheers