June 2011 to August 2011

June 2011 was one of the months where I have worked the hardest.The protocol was ready and the time had come to use it on actual samples. But that meant 30 days of getting to the lab at 7am and staying there until almost midnight with a couple hours for lunch break. I didnt mind it a bit though. When my samples appeared on the microscope in glowing red, green and orange it was the most beautiful sight ever. So, I got my results after a month of living in the lab and it was a pretty good amount of data for my undergrad honors thesis :-)

I will never forget 30th June, the last day in Canada. It was a mixture of happy and sad. I was happy because I was going back home and I was also sad because in 6 months I had built a life of my own in Calgary. I didn't have to be so sad because I knew I would be returning in September but I still did. So, the night before I spent it packing and cleaning up the UofC rez room. At 9am sharp my supervisor arrived to pick me up. We went to the lab, sorted out the data, transferred it to the lab computer and by 2pm I was on my way to the airport. Oh, I forget to mention the "liquid nitrogen vanilla ice-cream party" we had in honor of my last day at the lab =D It was fun and the icecream was delicious, I just wish I was more awake to enjoy it better !

And I arrived home 2 days later. My first step out of the Mumbai Airport and the first thing I do is take off my jacket (+36C temp) and notice that my lungs are laboring to breathe (>80% humidity). But I got used to it soon, after all I have been born and brought up there !

The next 2 months went in doing all the typical Indian things: street-side food fest, all the festivals, rain-lots of it, visiting relatives elsewhere in the country (who knew when I would see them again) etc. And the day to leave arrived and this time I was really sad... =(

February 2011 to May 2011 - The Big Transition Part II

Still coping with the cold. What was not helping were the comments from locals telling me that this was the worst winter ever in Calgary after many years and that its not always like this.

Along with the cold, the other challenge was the project I was entrusted with. It involved developing an entirely new protocol based on a technology I had heard about only by reading books. If you asked me, it sounded like fairy tales when I had read the theory & principle of it back in India. The feeling of developing something new based on what you thought of as fairy tales was entirely something else and needless to say an amazing learning experience !

On the social front, I made friends, not as many as I'd liked to, but atleast I had one friend, Taruna, who I know I will always have no matter what :-) She is now in the same department as me and I see her at work everyday !

We went to trips organized by CISSA - West Edmonton Mall, Drumheller and a tour of the city of Calgary. I will never forget the Calgary tour. Specifically, I will never forget that walk from Peter's Drive-In to the CISSA bus in -25C. Me & my friend partially lost our way from Peter's and it took us half an hour to locate our bus. What my palms & fingers went through during that half an hour cannot be forgotten and whats even more unforgettable is the thawing experience. I have been kinder to my "baby cells" in the lab ever since!

I had a good time and my first glass of red & white wine at the end of April in the Biochemistry Department Advance in Banff. Had my first glimpse of the Canadian Rockies. They were so majestic and beautiful :-)

And then it was spring time in May. The temperatures were soaring and this encouraged me & Taruna to venture out into the city by ourselves. In this way, we went to Prince's Island Park (I kept thinking the name was Prince Edward Island Park...too much Twilight influence?), watched many movies together in the cinema as well as at our rooms (Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 being the notable ones :-D ), went to Kensington by the riverside and visiting many more little parks around campus reveling in the beauty of spring flowers.

January 2011 - The Big Transition Part I

On New Years', I was single. And completely engaged with innumerable shopping trips with a heavy heart. And my sleepy brain was trying to comprehend the magnitude of coldness at -20/-30/-40 degree Celsius. January is Canada's coldest and snowiest month.

Finally the big day arrived. I felt uncharacteristically calm with little flutters of panic that had something to do with going through innumerable checks at the airport...and handling 3 huge bags. Surprisingly it was no big deal. My parents were dewy eyed and I was impatient to leave. And before I knew, I had passed through many many lines and desks and was waiting near the boarding gate to board my flight. There I was dutifully messaging both my father and ex-boyfriend-turned-best friend about my whereabouts. After about half an hour, there was a call for passengers to board the flight. Since my seat was right at the back I got to go first. I sat in the plane and again gave the status update to both my contacts outside the airport. Then I switched the phone off.

The plane started to roll slowly...took many turns and finally barelled forward and took off into the skies. I enjoyed watching Two and a Half Men on flight and eating food which was pretty edible. I arrived at London and started the wait for 6 hours to get my next flight to Calgary. I roamed around many shops in the meanwhile but didn't touch any food apprehensive of the names of the food items since they did not make it clear if it was veg or non-veg! And of course the pound value scared me off. The flight from London to Calgary got delayed since the aircraft had some mechanical problems. This took a while for me to come to know since the announcement was in a very strong British accent and absolutely incomprehensible to me. Finally, the kind lady who checked our boarding passes told me.

I was overjoyed to see I had a window seat in this flight. As we flew up, I got a glimpse of entire London. I saw the Thames river and the bridge built over it and also the London Eye or Big Eye whatever they call that big jhoola. I must say that London is as cramped as Mumbai. I had a good time watching the view of the clouds as we were flying above them. Total paisa vasool. :-D Then I made the mistake of deciding to watch a romantic movie and cried most of the time till dinner came. I was so full with food and exhausted, both mentally & physically that I fell into deep sleep when we were flying somewhere over Iceland, probably Reykjavik. When I woke up, my half eaten dinner had been cleared up by the air hostess and the pilot was circling over Calgary waiting for clearance to land. I glanced out of the window and it was dark. The city was lit up and it looked beautiful.

After landing, I went through Immigration (the officer was gorgeous !!!!!) and got my permit. Then cleared Declaration. Found my bags on the carousel and headed out to meet my professor. She was pleasantly surprised to see that I did not look like a zombie ready to drop into bed!

Semester 7 - July-December 2010

Semester 7. The last semester of taught courses. The last semester of assignments. And...the last semester of written exams. What an epic semester! The arrival of this semester impressed upon all of us the end of four long college years (which I did not enjoy at all). And also impressed upon us the fact that it was time to start looking for off-campus project opportunities. July went in timepass with boyfriend and common friends. August went by the same way. September came and I started to feel panicky. About project and about mid-terms!

My father pressed me to apply to Universities and institutes abroad after the lukewarm response (well...rather cold actually) I got from places in India. So the barrage of emails to professors all around the world started followed by a barrage of denials sent in reply to me. But in October something positive did happen...right after mid-terms were done. I got a yes from a professor in the University of Calgary, Canada. I have no idea how to describe the ensuing relief, happiness and also the bedlam that followed. There were 6 tougher-than-life subjects to be studied. There were a 100 documents to be collected to apply for visa and many many forms to be filled up too. And all of this was happening during my semester examinations.

And my father was not satisfied at this. In November, when I was supposed to be studying (actually trying to use whatever little time was left), he wanted me to apply to some places in Mumbai too. I think he had confused this project for my life's first job appointment or something of equal importance since he was making me give up studying for semester exams and seemed pretty oblivious and unconcerned about it. I like to think it was God's good grace that I cleared. In India, nothing good comes easy. So at Haffkine's, where my father desired that I apply (even after my vehement denials), candidates were selected by an entrance test. I wondered if I should study for semester exams which were really important or for this entrance exam which I didn't give a damn about. So, I just read through Kuby once quickly for the entrance test and continued preparing for sem exams.

Now, Kuby rocks. Because I got selected in Haffkine's entrance test. And later I happily rejected the offer since by then the visa had arrived. I was to go to Calgary, Canada in a month. I couldn't believe it was happening...yet it was...

While all this was happening, my patience was always short-circuited most of the time. That was inevitable since there were so many people eating different parts of the brain that I lashed out quite unpredictably. I am not proud of that but it was something I couldn't control at that time. This coupled with the fact that I was moving to another country for the better part of 2011 took a toll on my already unstable relationship. I couldn't stand my heart being pulled in various directions along with my brain and I snapped and broke the relationship. I felt terrible later, of course. But looking at it from a long-term point of view it was one of the few wise, pro-active things that I have done.

Some other things took place too like the class trip to Alibaug which I guess I would have enjoyed better had I been single and with my school gang...

Semester 6 - Jan-June 2010

Since my last post in 2009, I was superbly busy with all the mundane things a professional BTech Biotechnology course demands and also with the not-so-mundane things a relationship demands. Come 2010 and the college life got even more demanding with tougher subjects and don't-give-a-damn teachers teaching them (though I must clarify not all were like that). At that point, even the relationship got rocky and since then it was never stable. So, Semester 6 was not good at all. I felt lucky enough to barely scrape through (read escape) one subject in whose subject I had not managed to get the required grades in mid-terms. I still remember the Herculean efforts I took to study that subject thoroughly! Some of the others were not so lucky and they had KTs thrust upon them.

Funnily enough I dont seem to remember what I did in vacations after 6th Sem. Probably just lazed around..!

Moving on in life...

I realize I have not written my blog for a long long time. I was so caught up with college work and watchful parents that I had forgotten I had a blog! Well lots and lots of things have happened between the last post and my life now. I got committed not long after my last post and broke up two years later. I am still wondering if I will ever cross the 2-year mark or if this just shows the extent of my patience (which I am afraid is not too much).

Something much more important and highly interesting has happened in my life which I will elaborate in my next post :)

College Life....

Just recently we had d BE Farewell at our colg for Kalaraag...i'm really gonna miss some of my friends who r about to graduate...



KUCHH BAATEN BHOOLI HUYI,
KUCHH PAL BEETE HUYE.

HAR GALTI KA EK BAHANA,
AUR PHIR SABKI NAZAR ME AANA,

EXAM KI POORI RAAT JAGNA,
PHIR BHI QUESTION DEKH KAR SAR KHUJLANA.

MAUKA MILE TO CLASS BUNK KARNA ,
PHIR DOSTO KE SATH CHAI PINE JANA.

USKI EK JHALAK DEKHNE ROJ COLLEGE JANA,
AUR DEKHTE DEKHTE ATTENDANCE BHOOL JANA.

HAR PAL EK NAYA SAPNA,
AAJ TO TUTE PHIR BHI HAI APNA.

YE COLLEGE KE DIN ,
IN LAMHO KO ZINDGI MEIN JEE BHAR KAR JEEYE,
PHIR YAAD KARKE MUSKURATE HAIN HUM ...........

DARE TO DREAM...

Nothing in the world it seems,
Shatters like a broken dream,
It is the ache behind the mean,
Of shadows silent and unseen,
And in this fortress dream of sorrow,
Exist no dawn and no tomorrow,
Just hours that cut you as they pass,
Like little shards of broken glass,
And yet another and another,
Sometimes the night is meant to suffer,
But look up now and see how far,
They light your way like little stars,
Oh, if I had a star to shine,
For every broken dream of mine,
The whole night sky would turn to day,
And all my troubles melt away.

HERE IS WHY RUCHELLE WISHED TO KILL MICHELLE...!

Loler ppl!!!! Finally i found time for this blog....
N of course u can guess y Ru wanted to kill mi...!!!

Heh heh!!!

Coz havent yet contributed efforts to this adventure;
So here i am...
I'll tell u y i've been so busy-
Ru had started this post back in july when I was drowning in flood of entrance exams. I had come back from kota in march & still hadnt even unpacked & settled at home when the exams announced their attack on me... so been studying for whole of 3-4 months.. { with a little vacation set in leh, ladakh in kashmir for a week in May ;) } finally all the entrance exams left for heavenly abode at about end of July... and thats when i finally unpacked & started to chillax a bit! But then again- peace isn't permanent!! Results started coming all over & out & around me... & then of course the lengthy process of admissions... During all this mess I finally got admission & all of a sudden, even before i came to know, college had begun & i got busy all over again!!! For the record I have now happily joined engineering college RAIT n it well... ROXXX!!!! It damn well keeps me hellot busy but it also keeps me pleased!! Busy coz as we say- this is engg.!! i'm loaded with assignments all time n running around to face all deadlines with good grades that too.. plus the daily commute for bout 3 hrs to & fro!! No, no.. dont get me wrong I'm not complaining about anything!! This is the first time I'm travelling by local trains in mumbai & though its crowded n bursting at seams(!) its still fun!! specially if my iPod gives me company ;) N in colg i've got a rocking gang which keeps me in splits all day long! n of course there are these events which keep cropping up now n then. One day there was RJ Rishi from 92.7 Big FM in our corridors, taking few of us on-air n kidding around with us... we kept out of the lecture halls for most of the day!! last week we celebrated teachers day with a bang!! Then rite now this weekend itself theres a technical fest going on in there with all kinda robo stuff- robo race tracks, aquabots, robo fights, lan wars, seminars, exhibitions n good amount of prize money!! Then theres a cultural fest scheduled for next week... we are volunteering for it this time.. gonna be fun!! Its a national level thing n there will be celebrities attending this, likes of madhur bhandarkar, mahesh manjerekar, atul kasbekar n shreyas talpade!!! n i forgot theres still our freshers party to be scheduled!! with tonnes of ragging.. which already has been on in full force in our colg.. but me being lucky enuf- no one's caught me n asked to dance or sing!! there u see how busy my colg keeps me... n the mid sems are approaching at the end of this month... so, i guess i better get down to studying now.. bbye!!
N i hope this has satisfied u dear Ruchelle... i promise there will be more of me soon enuf!!

SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA...

Well, this is a blog about the life of two teenage gals and I think its a shame not to include atleast one post that rants about our mothers!

So, in this post I am ranting about mine.

Well, to start with, my mom is an accountant by profession. And that is the worst part of being with her. Because, by default, accountants are all about money. Sometimes I feel that they are almost akin to misers!

So, it is this property of her's that always comes into conflict. For instance, I want to buy a pair of Harem pants since,say, the last 2 months. And that too, with the money my grandma & aunt gave me for a good performance in 12th & the 1st Sem. So, practically, shouldnt I be allowed to spend it as I like it? After all, I have earned it by studying hard by myself! But no! The money lies with my mom, for some reason which is a mystery to me. And finally, the result is that after begging to my mom for months, I still dream of owning a pair of Harem pants in the far future.


You might feel I am being materialistic. But actually, it isnt about materialism. It is about having to struggle for your own most basic rights, at home. Now, doesnt this sound like a High Court scenario? Well, for me this is an everyday story.

And it is not only about buying clothes or some other things.

It is also about not getting approval for most of the things that are dear to any teenager. No, I am not talking about getting to go to movies or pubs or discos with friends. That is a completely far-fetched idea, when it comes to my mom.



Teenage is a time when people our age are half-kids & half-adults. One could say they are on the brink of adulthood. At such a crucial stage in life, our minds are brimming with new ideas & thoughts. These thoughts & ideas are almost always very optimistic & we are extremely enthusiastic about putting it into action. They may be about any thing. For example, they maybe about a new pattern of studying you just invented or your own opinion about the on going nuke deal or whatever a teenager encounters in daily life and thinks it is worthy of a thought.



These thoughts & ideas may not always be correct or smart. Remember, we are teenagers, not adults and are still learning the ways of the world. But, I think, instead of demeaning us & our thoughts by saying they are kiddish & impractical...dont you think it is better to point out the flaws gently in our way of thinking, by giving us the pros and cons of it? Dont you think this is better than dismissing them out right as kiddish prattle, without giving it a single thought?



Doing this diminishes our self-esteem a lot, you know. Parents some how dont seem to realise this. Well, my mom certainly doesnt. For her, I am still this 5 yr old kid who knows nothing.

Everytime I think about doing something new or ambitious and tell my mom about it, the next moment I have lost all enthusiasm about it. And by the next hour I have completely forgotten about it, thanks to the long argument presented by my mother against whatever I propose.



For example, our immunology sir gave us an assignment of getting a lab blood test report showing abnormal count of RBCs & WBCs. I obviously got extremely excited about it, looking at it as an opportunity to interact with the lab staff about different topics related to the report.

I came home from college that day & unfortunately & unknowingly, I committed the heinous crime of telling my mother about it.



As I should have expected, she immediately shot down my suggestion that labs would not reveal any personal reports & info about patients and that I should not waste my time doing such "nonsense" timepass jobs & must keep studying as hard as possible.

Well, I do agree that labs have privacy protection rules, but like all rules even they have a time period. It means that say after 20 yrs, the lab is not responsible for keeping info about an old report private, just like copyright laws. Well, my mom thought of this as ridiculous. Maybe because she couldnt digest the idea that some person could access her lab reports after 20 yrs, I think!

The point is, she again discouraged me from doing something completely harmless & extermely informative.

So, I have decided that from next time onwards, I will make sure that my mom knows nothing about my ideas. They will always remain to myself because they are too precious to get trampled on continuously.

This is all. I could have said something more, but I think the above will suffice to explain my point.

ONE YEAR LATER...SIGHTS, SOUNDS & SMELLS OF KURLA .

One year later...
I again found myself on platform no. 4, trying to catch the 9.49 am fast local for CST to reach Kurla. And to my utter surprise, the train arrived at 9.47 am itself and dutifully stopped till it was time to leave!!! I wondered how much Central Railway had changed in one year...or wondered whether this was one of those 'once-in-a-blue-moon' incidents that I was being privvy to.
There was one more thing to be happy about. The train was one of the new ones introduced last year. Those trains havent yet been introduced to Harbor Railway, hence today was the first time I travelled in one. And I really cant stop raving about it to any one who would listen ;-) !
The most prominent features I loved about this train are:
1. Firstly, the outer appearance of this train is very cute! It is a combination of pristine white & royal purple with beautiful headlights!!!
2. The large windows that go up & down smoothly without much ado & catches that can be really locked(!).
3. Air vents inside the train. First time in my life I wasnt sweating inside a train even while standing for the entire time.
4. Electronic indicators inside the train which indicate the names of the next station & the final destination in 3 languages-English, Hindi & Marathi. Status: Working (!).
5. Speakers...no not for music entertainment (Indian Rly hasnt yet progressed to this level where it will think about passengers getting bored...right now focus is on making them 'comfortable' inside the train)...they are there to inform passengers about the name of the station at which the train is going to halt.
All these features really made by journey a lot easier. For one thing, I didnt have to bend my body at unrealistic angles to get a glimpse out of the window to check which station had arrived. Secondly, I could mentally fall asleep till the sweet lady with a sweet voice said in completely vernacular accent-free English that the next station would be Kurla.
I got down at Kurla Station without much hassle and proceeded to platform no. 1, where my friend would be waiting for me to take me to her house. As I later found out, I was early and my friend wasnt there. But no trouble, I could have the time to observe & ponder over certain new acquisitions of Kurla station.
The first objects were the two ominously visible grey colored metal detectors. At the first glance at them made me feel a little discomfitted instead of reassuring me. You will wonder why but it was because I quickly discovered that no one was taking the trouble to walk through them!
Secondly, there were the people of Kurla themselves! You can find a myriad variety of people traversing through the station. Ladies clad in colorful burkhas...yes burkhas can be of different colors other than black...then all the usual casual wear, sarees, salwars and the occassional but omnipresent babe. The men...sometimes elegant, classy young & middle-aged office goers...sometimes the round-bellied, safari-clad Marathi babus...and sometimes the scrawny, oily-faced, shabbily dressed, pan-eating, spit swilling workers who look at you as if you are the only woman worthy of attention...which isnt flattering at all.
Well, after waiting for at least 20 mins at the station, my friend arrived. Later on what I did is not under the scope of this post (check out the title)...however I'll just mention that I was there in Kurla to go to my friends house who lives there, for a college assignment.
But the fun I had at her house will definitely be a part of the next post!

MY TRYST WITH PANI PURI !!!

HEYLO PPL!!!
I know its been a long time since i posted something. Thing is my college started this week and I have been completely busy with meeting friends and such activities...lolz!
So you maybe wondering where the tryst with Pani Puri comes from??? Ummm..most likely at a stall??? NOOO...! Right at my house! You may ask how come, but its true, I had a tryst with Pani Puri right at home because I actually learnt how to make it!!! Now that is something different isnt it??? Well let me tell you, its damn easy to make it. I will share the recipe with you in one of my future posts...because I cant recall it at this unearthly hour of the night!!!
I got lots of things to write about...right from crazy guys on Orkut to assignments and making Upma too! So stay right there, and hang on for my new posts!!!
Bbye!
And please dont mind Michelle not posting anything, she is pretty busy with her admissions and all you see...so pretty difficult for me to convince her to write something here! Lolzzz..!

AM I A NEW AGE PUNKIE...OR AN OLD AGE CLUNKIE ???

Hey friends! You surely must have been intrigued by the clashing title...let me explain it.
I am supposed to be a "complete teenager" according to Michelle...she wont say why but I assume it has to do something with my punkie behaviour. Like, a bizarre fashion sense, patronizing English music & movies only, my general outlook towards life which can be aptly described by the word "bindaas"(courtesy Michelle!), a desire to bend rules & use them as I like it and finally a skill of never getting caught!!! [;)] So, I guess this explains the Punkie part.

But from where does the Clunkie part emerge from??? Well...there have been days when I think about things which certainly would put my Punkie part to shame. There are days when I reflect about myself when I was in school. I can feel my own naiveness, which certainly is not there in me after all these years. Guess the street smartness that one gathers during years destroys all naiveness. I think that is good because naiveness does not serve any purpose in today's world of intense and cut-throat competition. I realised this first when I was in 12th Std. I realised, that unknowing to me, I was possessed by a hunger to succeed which kept me awake till 2.00 in the morning and gave me strength to keep solving calculus...as well as run to a myriad variety of classes the next day. This was the tale of my life till 1 1/2 years which thankfully & finally ended with a fruitful result. But during this quest for success, I had ingrained in myself a raw longing of attaining success at any cost. It exists in me even today. It has helped me immensely in pursuing anything with zest. Whether it is studying for the exams, writing assignments, doing lab work, researching topics on my own on the net or even dreaming about making an important discovery which will help mankind eradicate disease. When I study, I make it sure that I have read all the reference books pertaining to a particular subject. When I write an assignment, it inevitably becomes a research project in which I strive to find all information under that topic & include it in my assignment. If I am writing an assignment on Capacitation(the process of sperm maturation)...which is the most current topic being researched aggressively the world over(hence information is scanty & mostly vague)...I will not be able to rest if I cannot find information regarding the path followed by the sperm inside the female reproductive tract. I take pride in believing that I score well in practicals because this is the area which will help me the most when I apply for a job in the industry.

But don't you think that these kind of thoughts normally occur in geeks whose minds resemble those of more aged, experienced people?

So friends, in the quest of identifying myself, the question stands before me like a mountain...

"AM I A NEW AGE PUNKIE...OR AN OLD AGE CLUNKIE ???"

MY VERY FIRST POST!!!

Hey everyone..this is Ruchelle here!!!
Ok...the heading looks kinda boring but this is my very first post on a blog! I am very sorry that Michelle couldnt be a part of this extraordinarily historic event because she is sleeping! But thats the way she is, prefers to sleep through historic events!!!
Ok...let me introduce you to the friendship between us...no wonder we are on the blog together! Michelle and me have been friends since Std. 6 and have remained friends throughout life till now. We have been through thick and thin together, always bailing out each other out of trouble of all kinds!
There's a joke about friendship which actually rings true...it goes like this...
'A friend is not someone who gives your bail if you are in jail for some mistake. A friend is a person who sits with you in jail and says,
"Bola tha na fas jaayenge!!!"'