Happy Birthday Rose

My friend Rose is the most amazing friend anybody could ask for. We’re basically like sisters. I met her on the day of our orientation at CSPA. She came with her father and she looked shy, hesitating to introduce herself to anyone on her own in the first place. A brunette beauty with beautiful grey eyes soon became a spotlight.  I went to her and said “Hi, I’m Magan”. She acquainted herself with a smile on her face. The rest of the day, we spent together, meeting new people.  Guys got attracted to her. Being shy, she kept hiding behind me, asking me this question time n again, “Do I look that bad? Why is everyone staring at me? Is there anything wrong with my face?” She became even more nervous. I asked her to calm down. It was the first day at college and every single girl was dressed up and was trying to be the centre of attraction. It was funny.

When the classes started and we became friends with other people, few other girls were always trying to make fool of Rose. I warned her, but instead, she’d go mad at me. But when she realised, she thanked me, and we became best buddies. We used to be together in every group project and by the end of the first semester; every student and professor knew that we were best buds. I would go to her house for the group projects (her father is an architect in Chandigarh so he would help us out in the projects) and we used to have fun like crazy. All nighters were no longer hard. Instead, we enjoyed working all night, taking short breaks and gossiping, and in the morning, went to college looking like sleep deprived Draculas. We did every project diligently and enthusiastically. People at college would envy us and some of them even tried to sabotage our friendship by creating misunderstandings, but we'd sit and talk and clear out the misunderstandings. That made our bond even stronger.  Not only did we have fun together, but we also rocked every project. Our professors would ask us to display our work on the panels as an example for everyone to look at and take inspiration from (Well, that’s what professors used to say! :D).

We stand by each other’s side though every thick n thin and share our most secretive of secrets. She would talk about her boyfriend for hours and I’d keep listening until she would hear me snoring and get mad at me. She laughs at everything and when she does, you see about a hundred white teeth-so bright, you almost need sunglasses. She would call me every day after college and we used to talk about how the day went. Its always fun to have a friend who is always rushing around, trying to get the latest scoop on everybody. It’s like she’s in the FBI. Right before she shares important news, Rose tosses back her hair, takes a deep breath, and quickly looks side to side, to be sure the coast is clear. She never says anything mean about people, she just wants to know what’s going on. At times, I’d get frustrated by her frequent calls but then I’d realise that we both share a very special bond of friendship that no one else does and I certainly don’t want to lose it. Then my frustration goes away.

One thing she so loves to talk about is clothes and footwear. Every other day, she buys a pair of new shoes or new dress, and then takes pictures of it and send them to me to get my approval. If I say I liked them, she would ask me if she could get one for me.

And now, we both are in different sections. She has made new friends, but no matter what, she would come to my class whenever they have a free lecture and would take me to the cafeteria and we would sit there and talk endlessly without realising that we have another lecture to attend. Then suddenly when one of us realises that, we rush to our studios like anything and enter the class huffing. We are irrevocably in love with each other’s company. She’s unpredictable at times. She goes mad at me whenever I don’t attend her phone calls and we fight like crazy. But, in the end, we always stick together. 

Today is her Birthday and I wish her a long happy life. May she continues to shine and reach unprecedented heights. Love you forever buddy! <3 J

What I learned from my sophomore year

My first year at college was very intimidating. Although ours is a ragging free campus, nevertheless some of the jerks were always trying to let us down one way or the other, and above all - The 'college politics' was often counterproductive. So, first year was a bit daunting and I didn’t make much friends, perhaps because they didn't match my taste. I always look out for people who are passionate about what they do and work hard towards accomplishing their goals. But except a handful of people, everyone has a stodgy attitude.

After the first year got over, I went to orissa for a month long fellowship with a bunch of people from different parts of India, and I was able to mix with them and by the end of the fellowship we became very good friends.

Then came my sophomore year. I was able to take on added responsibilities and made some decisions that, I think, will affect the rest of my life (in a good way). I went through the lives of some of the great personalities like  Phillipe Starck, Zaha Hadid, Laurie Baker, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Sheryl Sandberg, Maneet Ahuja, etc. who have worked really hard and have attained a higher rank in society, really inspired me on how to pursue my career passionately and how to keep myself motivated all the time, no matter what. Before all this, I was leading a very hard life, maybe because of the people around me, who didn't allow me much free time and that life sabotaged almost every careful plan I made.

I mustered the courage to focus on my career and surprisingly, I was able to work with much more dedication than ever before. All-nighters gave me happiness and I worked in such a way as if I'm gonna apply for the one of the world's best architecture schools and I’m going to put up that work on my portfolio, so that, when the jury sees my work, they enroll me without giving any second thought. With this thought in mind, I was able to juggle with many different things at the same time easily. I recall that moment when our design professor asked me to display my work on the panels at the time of inspection of college. While I was pinning up my sheets, he asked me if those were print outs from autocad and I told him that they were hand drafted and not printed. He was impressed and appreciated the work. It feels great when hard work pays off.

The entire year, I did things my way. I had a fear of travelling alone in public transport and my dad used to drop me and pick me up from my classes. But things changed and I overcame my fear of travelling alone. We had a lot of free lectures at the end of the day during 3rd and 4th semester and almost every day I would come back home early in local buses. Apparently Punjab roadways buses do not have a decent crowd, but I carried a book along and used to read it which made the commute interesting.

When you are an architecture student, you are told to observe things around you, visit construction sites and see how work is done, etc. At first, I refrained from entering anonymous places but after my uncle took me along to a few sites and seeing him questioning the labourers about the materials used and stuff like that, I wondered how informative that is. No one, not even your professors can give you the knowledge that the people working on a site can.

FAKE RELATIONSHIPS. It’s a trend to have a boyfriend/girlfriend these days. 90% of relationships I have seen are nothing but infatuation. That’s a very immature thing in my opinion. And unfortunately, I'm surrounded by such friends who talk about their so-called lovers ad nauseam and sometimes I have to scream at them to stop! These people won’t work at the time when assignments are given and then when deadlines start approaching, they tend to bug other people around and beg for help. Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not how architectural study and for that matter any study is done! So, staying away from such people and avoiding them as much as possible is the only solution. That’s what I do and perhaps that’s the reason for me not having much friends. In the end, it’s the quality that matters, not quantity. The hard truth about relationships is that you are not aware of anything until you are mature enough and meet new and awesome people out there who tend to leave imprints on your heart forever. But while still in college and high school, you have no idea about where the person you are falling in love with would end up! Is he/she is THE ONE you would want to spend your entire life with? Maybe! May not be! I've heard people saying, "We love each other. And that's sufficient." But the truth is, that is sufficient only till you are in your own little 'dreamworld'. Where this dreamworld ends, reality begins. And that is when people end up having break ups and divorces. So, be wise and choose your life partner only when the right time arrives. Till then, focus on your career and other important things in life.

Next thing that matters, is, to get involved in group activities and play your part well. We were asked to make a group of 4 and were given group assignments. It’s a very good way to get each others' viewpoints and ideas while you share yours with them. It is better than doing the assignment all by yourself. In my case, it not only gave a platform to discuss things, but it also gave me an opportunity to improve my leadership skills. Whenever an assignment was given, I was asked to divide the work amongst 4 of us. It was a challenge in itself because two of them were hostelers and I and my friend were Day scholars. Sometimes, 2 of them used to get in a fight for doing their respective parts and then both of them would call me describing the fight and ask me to resolve it. Sometimes, it was funny watching “two little kiddos” fight like that, but sometimes it was so frustrating that I would switch off my phone when I could not take it anymore. 

Last, but not least, “Quit being busy”. This phrase is used by almost everyone when they miss deadlines or when they have to make an excuse to get over something. The things we spend most of our time on should be the things that are most important to us because we all have a fixed amount of time to get something done. Strip the phrase “I was just too busy” from your vocabulary. If someone asks about the missed deadline or why you weren’t at a specific event, give a real reason. Explain what you were doing that was more important and begin to prioritize your life around getting those important things done. We should not make excuses for our actions when we are choosing to devote our time to something that gives us happiness.

The Vacation Gal

 You must be wondering that by 'Vacation Gal', whom am I referring to or maybe not (:P)! Well, ofcourse that's me!

About a year ago, on the last day of Youth Act fellowship, I was sitting with my friends in Orissa, feeling about how you'd expect to feel after two weeks of stay in those "extreme"conditions, hot climate, no air conditioning, not even proper cooling system, fear of snakes and mongoose and even ghosts (kidding :P), devoid of all comforts. I often recall that moment when five of us got the chance to go to Bhubaneshwar to buy things for the products that we were making. After living in a confined place and without any comfort for 7 days, everyone was so excited to see the hustle and bustle of the big city. Tired of eating bland food everyday (hygienic though), we didn't miss the chance to go to Domino's and enjoy the scrumptious pizzas and garlic bread. It felt like heaven. But after coming back from Orissa, we all miss those moments badly. How we used to charge the laptop during day and save the battery for night to watch a movie; went for long walks into the lush green fields for a change; used to have long story sessions in which everyone used to narrate his/her life story; how we used to laugh to tears while teaching Mary Hindi as she was Tamil; Swati's never ending tales of her world tour and her sex god mountaineer boyfriend; teaching mausiji how to use iPhone and jenaji laptop, listening to ghost stories from jenaji at night and then refrain to go to washroom alone and take others along (haha), Ranjana's "Dolphin isn't an underwater animal, it keeps on coming to the surface of water", Swati's "SOMEBODY SWITCH ON THE LIGHT" when the light was on, are few things which remind us of those beautiful times we all spent together. And now, everybody is busy in his/her own life. Swati is in Thailand, enjoying her life, Ranjana in Delhi, Mary in Kerala, me and Rajbir are dealing with CSPA (:P).

Before I’d even unpacked my bags from Orissa, suddenly out of nowhere, an Idea of visiting and exploring the valleys of Kashmir struck my mind, maybe because I had another couple of weeks left for college to open and I didn't want to miss that opportunity. Convincing my parents was like a piece of cake. They are ever ready to go to Kashmir. We booked our flights the very next day and we along with my uncle and aunt were off to Kashmir. There is nothing like being with your family. It was such a wonderful trip.

As soon as one trip ends, the travel bug starts to bite and my mind begins to turn to when and where my next trip will be. I always feel that my next trip needs to have substance beyond just relaxation and sightseeing and so I plan my trip accordingly.

Life is too short to worry folks! Pack your bags and get going to explore the world! ;)

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves” – Euripides