The Catch Up Session

It's been forever since I have been away from Blogger. My life's moving faster than I can take it. I still haven't caught up with myself... let alone catching up with my blog... I really have no time to catch up with myself - life's taking me on a zooming rollercoaster ride. And I'm totally loving it! I've never been happier, never been more content. I don't have a spare moment to sit and think - the past and the future isn't there. It's the present, and has really come like a present in my life.

But I do miss writing. There are times when my mind's so full of ideas, there are times when I know I want to write, but, well, I don't have the time...

So anyway, a brief update of my life-at-the-moment follows. In terms of work, have been able to complete two successful semesters, and am starting up with my research. Besides that, my time in the day gets spent in cooking. Evenings are for tea and samosa-and-the-likes-of-it sessions. Weekends are abuzz with friends or partying or with traveling here and there, including home. I go for occasional Shiamak Davar dance classes. I've also got a bike (read bicycle) and go biking in the evenings these days. Ottawa is extremely pretty and scenic, and has a biking route along the Ottawa river. I'm loving the summer in Ottawa, although it rains quite often here. Also included in the plan is to get registered for a Beginner's French course in July-August. There's also been a decent amount of addition to my zoo. I'll post the pictures of my lovey-dovey animals some other day I guess.

That I guess is the extremely brief summary of the current happenings in the life of Chunky. Adieus world, I am off to biking very soon =)

Mood of the moment: Chirpy

Song of the moment: Chalte-chalte hu hi ruk jaata hoon main (Mohabbatein)

Time of the moment: 12:45 p.m.

I'm luvin' it!

I love my life. It cannot be better than now, it was as good ever. It feels like "living a life" - precisely what I asked from The One before I moved here.

It feels like being on top of the world starting a lazy morning, taking my own sweet time to get ready and prepare and/or have meals, walking to the Timmy's close by, watching the falling rain sipping a cup of awesome coffee. It feels equally awesome not knowing when and how my day comes to an end.

I have a family away from a family - people that are very much responsible for giving me everything that I have wanted. There's also another family that I have built in Ottawa, take a look!! It will be the cutest of families you'd look at :-), and proudly yes, it's my family :-)

Janu

Jina and Jojo


Chinu

Chiku


Chiku, Chinu, Jojo are indirectly related to me... I also have Chiki and Daku and Snowy, of which I don't have a picture at the moment... :) My roommate correctly calls my room a zoo, and says she doesn't need to get a ticket to see animals anymore! :p

Longgg time!!

I have been missing for the longest time now! And where have I been? In a world where all that I literally saw was a bunch of assignments, papers, presentations and exams... It sure is a crazy world! CRAZZZZZZZZZY!!
And finally, I am done with my first semester. Can you believe it? It has been a huge change in my life. And positive one at that. Yes, there are days when I go without food :) but I guess it's all good! There are days when I choose between cooking and working, and between sleeping and working. My health hasn't been fine for the longest time either, but I guess it's still all good! And I am luvin' it. I am all set to go home, take a month long break, and hopefully come back revived and refreshed. I really hope my trip home doesn't have any surprises, if you know what I mean! ;)
And the new year is fast approaching as well. 2008 wasn't necessarily a bad year for me. It wasn't. Part of it was, but overall, there have been worst times I can say. I've taken my time to do my part of learning. I am now taking time to do things I want to do, before life starts sucking again :)
A list of stuff is awaiting my attention before I leave for home - from laundry to cleaning to returning library books to filling some crucial number of forms to talking to my supervisor to filing claims to.... urghhh - it is stuff that hasn't been taken care of for more than a month now; I guess I need a to-do-list and start crossing items I need to get done one by one.
I haven't blogged for the longest time either. Call it lack of time, or some contribution of laziness, it will both be true. There were times when I had an urgent need to blog. There were times when I wrote stuff to post it, but haven't done so. My walks, although became infrequent, were still very much not affected by the cold whether (was due to the workload). I feel the need to walk, and Ottawa's cold weather still hasn't come in the way! Oh well, it's not even half as cold as Ottawa gets. It's decent - negative 7 is how far it is as of now and has just snowed two times till now. Ottawa's like my boyfriend - I am always praising it, regardless of the downsides =). Talking about downsides, well there's funnily none! I miss my friends in Toronto, and I miss home. I miss telling my family that my health has not been good and I miss their care, but Ottawa does seem to cover it all up!!
The Mumbai massacre left me in pieces, as it did to a humongous lot of people. And not surprisingly, I got emails about people taking pride in the "spirit of Mumbai" to move on. And about signing some form. Tons of questions I am sure walked around, some answered, some responded to with mugged answers, some, or most, left unanswered in a hope that they will soon drown and die out, as have numerous other questions overtime. It is sadly pathetic. A very bizarre thought comes to my mind - how come the extremely brainless lot of people are ALL being born in the Indian sub-continent? It's disastrous. The everyday humdrum doesn't however, come to a complete hault. Yes, Mumbai has to move on.
That, I guess is it about me! Wasn't that a potpourri? And ppl, I haven't heard from a lot many of you for the longest time as well. Please do tell me how life's been with you all :-).

A peek at the University Campus

OK, that is the most beautiful part of my University!! It's sad that the winter's approaching so soon... How does it look?

I just love the sonance of flowing waters...

Ottawa's given me enormous opportunities to get the most beautiful pictures in the world, and to be able to enjoy these scenic views... I am in love again!!

Wait, don't think too much - I am in love with Ottawa :) :) :)

Colors

One of the many magnanimous shades of the fall. I got this picture from a transit station. Fall presents the prettiest, if not the most liveliest shades.



As the autumn is drawing to an end, I am guessing these are all the "colors" of fall that I could gather :(. I have some more pics, but they aren't really nice. I wanted to have a post full of the different colors I saw in this fall. But anyway, as a bonus :) check these ones out -

Could you possibly count the number of colors these pics have?


Yes, these are very much clicked pictures, and have been taken by a friend of mine.

It's almost time for the winter to step in graciously. And from now on, all you'll get to see are white pictures on my blog :). It's going to white very soon!

Life is beautiful!!

Been a while since I last blogged... Had been busy with first, trying to adjust, second, a short trip back home, third, work, fourth, life!!

And talking about life reminds me of the quiet walk I had yesterday near the Rideau Canal. I am posting some nice pics that I clicked... And do you know what these pics tell me? They tell me - yes, it does get lonely at times, but loneliness has the nicest of colors... Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself!





Does this look like our world at all? My world's all tumultuous, but remains no longer so, when I become a part of this world! Amazing!!


I love the angular view in this pic ... This is such a serene picture ...


Too late for a pic I guess, but nevertheless, worth a try! The lovely Parliament Hill is what you see up here!


Another shot of the Parliament Hill... If you liked them, and want some more, go to my Facebook acct :)

The beginning

I am extremely tired. I know I haven't written anything sensible in the past some days. I haven't really been in the mood yet. Plus everyday I get so tired... I wonder why Toronto wasn't this tiring ever... And I haven't started studying as well... Grad school doesn't give vibes like those of an undergrad school... It seems much harder. There's stuff that I really need to get done ASAP, but I cannot even get to start them.

Anyway, besides the tiredness, there's so much that I want to talk about. I am missing Toronto a lot, specially today. It's one of those days today... I am so glad RA's been talking to me really really frequently, and listening to all the crap that I have to say. I am so thankful for having him around. I wish I made friends fast...

I think people in Ottawa a lot more friendlier and helpful than they are in Toronto. If they are unable to help you with reaching some-building, they feel so sorry, as if not knowing and not being able to help you was all their mistake (I experienced this a couple times...). They talk more, and smoke less... and they are not allowed to smoke in the approximate distance of 10 m from the entrance doors to uni buildings, which I think is absolutely amazing. The roads do not seem as simple and straight as Finch E or Finch W, and Yonge N or Yonge S. It might be a while before I get to understand the curves and turns. And yes, I am not saying Ottawa is better than Toronto - it isn't; it lacks my family and friends yet...

There was this trip to the Art Gallery that was organized by Grad Student Association today, and I went there. This Art Gallery is soooo much better than the Art Gallery of Ontario that they have in Toronto. There's also this bus tour of Ottawa tomorrow, which I may attend.

Coming to studies, well, honestly, I am most likely going to sleep right after posting this. Gawwwd give me some more time... Where is all the time one has as a student??? It will be a while before I adjust to everything...

Good night world!
11:12 p.m.

Mood of the moment: Homesick
Song of the moment: Hum rahein ya na rahein kal ...