Things one should know about me and some random opinions :

1)  If you are nice to me i will be nice to you.simple. 

2)  I cannot tolerate pansy people.their existence is a waste of good space.although their pansy(ness) does give me a topic to bitch about with my girlfriends. 

3)  I am very suspicious of every man on the road.of every autowallah ,taxi driver and bus conductor.i give them my dont-mess-with-me-or-i-will-shoot-you look to ward them off. 

4)  When men look 'somewhere else' other than my face i feel like gouging out their eyeballs with my bare fingers.I have always wanted to gouge out eyeballs.I have a fascination for it. 

5)  I do not like people who give 'cool' profile pictures of them on social networking sites to attract members of the opposite sex.how artificial.also a bit of unwanted advise for such people-wearing shades and giving a peace sign (for boys)/pouting and posing with side face or three-quarter face (for girls) is not cool.Its funny and is a source of entertainment for 'uncool' people like me.   

6)  People who go to parties and nightclubs so that they can click pics of themselves with members of the opposite sex with drinks in their hand so that they get labelled 'cool' when they upload their pictures on Facebook make me laugh my ass off.This,too,is a great source of my Facebook entertainment. 

7)  I like clicking pictures of anything,anywhere.So please do not stare when i start doing so in front of you. Its rude to stare. 

8)  I love my school.Its made me what I am today.Cant say the same thing about my college.  

9)  I love sports.Specially tennis.Roger Federer is the best.No arguments there. 

10)  I like dressing up and looking good and putting on smudged kajal ( i am constantly told that my eyes are my best feature like any other bengali girl ). I do not do it so that people can go "muah dahling.you look gorgeous" or for boys so that they can do a double-take when they see me (i am not saying that they do but all girls secretly hope they do). I do it because it makes me feel good and I like feeling good.I do not do it for others.I do it for myself. 

11)  People please do not say "oh why do you need to exercise?you are thin toh". I am not thin.Thin is Kate Moss.I am not underfed like her.  

12)  The other some people please do not say "you need to exercise.you are fat". Attention.Fat is Aishwarya Rai at Cannes 2012.I am not bloated like her.I feel quite slim when i look at her.  

13)  Dear college-going boyfriend-girlfriend couples,if you want to cozy up please go to the park,do not stand in front of Shoppers Stop or in malls with a i-love-you and you-are-the-brightest-star-of-my-life look on your face.you can do that and much much more at the southern avenue lake.You will find many of your kindred there.  

14)  Dear people-who-strut-around-in-branded-clothes-trying-to-look-like-a-stud-or-hot-chick,the only reason you get to wear such stuff is cause your 'papa' has a huge bank balance,not because you have done anything substantial to deserve it.tone down the fake 'atti' (Attitude for the lesser educated). Make something of yourself then throw 'atti' around.

15)  Dear college boys,low waist jeans 'casually' exposing the brand of your underwear with gelled hair and geek glasses do not make you a dude and/or stud and/or cool.it makes you look like a boy trying to hard to be a man and/or a boy trying too hard to impress girls.Pull up your pants.there's nothing sexy about seeing which branded underwear your 'ma' got for her 'shona chele'.  

16)  Read books.Stop being available on Facebook 24x7.  

17)  Chetan Bhagat writes crap.Only Five Point Someone is worth reading.And the mickey mouse underwear part in Two States is funny.Else all the characters are same with different names in different books. 

18)  I want to slap Akshay Kumar whenever i see him on TV dancing ridiculous steps to even more ridiculous music wearing hot pink and pop orange pants.i think even the Tollywood heroes (read:Dev and Jeet) do not have such garish wardrobe for their movies.  

19)  I want to go to Egypt,Las Vegas,Paris and London. 

20)  And those tiny,not-mentioned-in-travel-guides places in Europe,with their cobbled streets,houses with windows with lace curtains,the dreamy laid back pace of life. 

21)  I am unhealthily obsessed with Johnny Depp and recently Misha Collins.Yes he is that incredibly sexy angel Castiel from 'supernatural'. 

22)  There was a time when i wanted to marry Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame.I even had a dream that i was marrying him and Queen Elizabeth was a guest at the wedding.We were just going to kiss and seal the vow when my mother woke me up screaming "school e deri hoe jabe",a must morning chore for my mother. 

23)  I love dogs.Correction.I love big dogs.I hate small dogs.A Pomeranian bit my finger once,well scratched is more like it but blood did come out and my mother thought i would get rabies and go insane if I do not take the 7 injections,which,much to my chagrin i had to.Hence i do not like small dogs.They remind me of those 7 injections.  

24)  I get scared when dogs bark at me.Otherwise i find them totally irrestible. 

25)  I still do not get why my mother keeps saying "shokale beshi bhalo pora hoi" ("studying is more effective in the morning",as opposed to staying awake at night and studying) despite knowing that i am a lost cause.

More Than Just a Pen

My first Parker pen.It is an ink pen.I got it on my 11th birthday. 

Father is not very good at hiding birthday presents.I found out what he was going to give me when I opened his drawer.He isnt very good with hiding places. 

There once was a time when people would use pens to write down what they thought.On paper. 

Those days are gone.Its all about technology now.And touch screens and what not. 

There was once a time when mistakes could not be deleted by using backspace but could only be scratched out.When you looked back you could see your the flaws.A time when you had to refill your pen with ink.A pen was not just a pen. 

Everyone had different handwriting.You could tell a lot about the person through his or her handwriting.Now it all Times New Roman or Comic Sans.

Writing with an ink pen was like indulging in your favourite chocolate and savouring every bite.

Everyone wrote with pencils till class 2 or 3.We would have handwriting classes where we practiced writing with ink pens till we were given permission in class 4 to officially use pens.

We used the Chinese ink pens.They came in 2 colours.Red and green,both with silver caps.

The joy we felt.It was our first sacred steps into adulthood,holding the pen.

And then i got my birthday present. 

It is navy blue with pale glitters and it was my most favourite thing in my pencil box.I love it.I still do. 

I grew up. So did my pens.The Chinese ink pens were forgotten.The ink bottle dried up.I graduated to gel pens.Then ball point pens.  

But my first Parker ink pen was like a part of me.Even if I did not use it regularly it was always in my pencil box.I could not take it out from there. 

Until one day I left my pencil box in school. 

The only thing I was worried about was my Parker ink pen.I prayed to Him for its safety.  

When I finally found my pencil box I heaved a sigh of relief.I decided that I cannot play with the life of my pen.So i kept it safe at home. 

But I would still sometimes just take it out and admire it even when i stopped writing with it. 

The ink for this pen was special.Only Parker ink.The bottle still has some ink in it.And it has not dried up,not even after 10 years. 

Its been very long since I wrote something with a pen.Its generally clickety clack on the keyboard. 

Ink pens are like endangered species now.No one uses them. In fact I have not used it for years.

But today for some reason I took out The Pen,filled it with ink and took it to work.I do not have any other pen in my bag.Only the one pen. And it makes my handwriting look just beautiful.

Seems like my pen still has not given up its duty,despite its age,despite the battle worn body,despite the cracks. 

And never will I.