initialising

so i was thinking about this earlier, and had even written a post on it, but for some reason it didnt show up completely. anyway, im writing it again.

i dont know if you guys noticed it, but the previous post was the first one ive written about my ex-boyfriend (except for one small post at the beginning). its not that i was concerned about keeping that part of my life a secret. its just that once i found out that he reads my blog and even commented on it, i just felt squeamish about even mentioning him. in fact, there were so many times that i started a post relating some story in which he featured, even in passing, but stopped myself because i wasnt sure what he would make of it.

anyway, so now that i have comment moderation (yay!), and have sorted things out in real life too, i dont need to worry about that anymore. but theres also the question of how to refer to him on the blog. i cant use his real name. thats when i noticed that most women bloggers refer to the men in their past and present by a single letter. em and tablemannered have their respective K's, and mint chutney has her D, for example. so, i decided who am i to break tradition and so have decided to reduce the men in my life to initials.

now all thats left is what letters to choose. the ex is obvious. he will from now on be X. not only does that stand for ex, but its also a very prominent cross mark that signifies "wrong answer". its also a cancellation mark, and putting the X mark on any road sign is like adding the word "no" (like "no parking", "no overtaking"). so thats it then. he will be X.

but what about the current man? he has requested that i dont do any posts about him, so im not going to, but what about all the posts where he appears as a supporting character. if an interesting thing happened while we were on our way to a restaurant, then i cant possibly pretend that he wasnt there. this he has accepted on the condition that he pick his own letter. and he will now be referred to as A. why A? no, its not the first letter of its name (or maybe it is ;)). his reason is the geekiest thing ive ever heard. so, in physics, A is the letter that represents electric current. get it? get it? CURRENT! you know, like the opposite of EX!! gawd, these engineering types. oooof!

big brother

so, i just saw teleute's post on how she was caught by the police while making out in public. i was quite amused, and at the same time amazed at how on one hand things have changed so much and on the other, things have not changed at all.

so the incident i was reminded of was waaaaay back, when i was in college. so it happened like this. i was fresh into college, and was with my then boyfriend (in fact the previous post was about this selfsame character, but sadly i managed to lose it. ill write it again). anyway, so i was with X and we were sitting side by side near the main gate. no snogging was happening (hey, this was the early nineties and we didnt know what that word meant), but we were sitting almost side by side (this sounds very juvenile and silly, but you must remember to put it into context). so, i was being very coy (again, this was the first blush of puppy love, so forgive me for coming across as a complete airhead) and choosing not to talk to the boy. X would have none of this though, and he decided to put his arm around me.

now what i forgot to mention was that there had been some recent trouble in college (election related, as usual), and so a couple of cops were just wandering around. i think they were waiting for their superior to emerge from some important meeting or something. anyway, they had been casting disapproving glances at all the twitterpated couples right through te day. giggly children annoyed them for some reason. now it so happened that when my strong manly boyfriend decided to cuddle a little, one cop was staring right at us. so, full of indignation and boredom, he marched right up and asked us what we were up to.

this was when i began behaving like a total bitch. for one thing i gently removed X's hand from my shoulder and proceeded to look the other way, completely ignoring both boys. this made the cop angrier and he started telling us how this was most inappropriate behaviour and if it had been his beat he would have arrested us and really, what were children up to these days? i very sweetly continued ignoring him, and this just got him worked up. around this time, the boyfriend jumped up and demanded what right the cop had to boss us around. this was our campus after all, and he could just go to hell. by now it was quite a screaming match.

finally the cop moves so he is standing right in front of me and threatens to tell all my teachers and have me expelled. without looking up, i told him that he could go right ahead. but he should know that i wasnt a student of the college. this caused the fight to break up. the cop immediately demanded what i was doing here then. i pointed to the boyfriend and said that i had come to visit him. by now i was on something of a roll, so i finished by saying that i would have stayed in my own college, except for the fact that the cops threatened to have me expelled.

after an uncomfortable silence, the other cop walked up and told me that i really shouldnt be hanging out in other peoples colleges and that i should go. so i quietly picked up my bag and walked out. the boyfriend followed, screaming at the cops as he left. yes, he was a bit of a windbag, but i thought he was quite sweet.

so anyway, i am pleased to see that everyones tolerance levels have been raised. now its not handholding, but snogging that gets the cops all hot and bothered. but why oh why cant they just leave the poor kids alone. the city still cant stand young love it seems. how sad.

2005

yes, its another one of those year ending posts. only, its a bit late. please to be forgiving. we have been incredibly busy on all fronts (yes, all fronts ;).

so what do i have to say about 2005. it wasnt really the best of years for me. in fact, it was one of the worse ones. it was a year of prolonged bouts of depression, but it was also a year of deep soulsearching. it was a year of loneliness, but also a year that forced me to be self-reliant. it was a year where i learnt what pressure truly is, but it is also the year when i learnt that i can deal with that and more. it was a year that began on a blundering note, but ended with purpose. decisions were taken for me. some by family and friends, some just by circumstances. but ultimately, i learnt to take my own decisions. friends were lost, but better friends were discovered. former lovers turned into stalkers and friends became lovers. annoying younger siblings became great buddies and girlfriends became sworn enemies. i moved away from family, but ended up being closer to them than ever before.

many things happened that were entirely positive. i learned to drive. i learned that i can actually eat my own cooking. i ate other peoples' cooking too, and indulged my palate. i discovered boston. i kick myself for not realisinig what an amazing city i live in. i spent plenty of time on my own wandering the streets of boston. i think i may even be developing an eye for architecture. oh, and how could i forget. i started a blog. there were fits and starts there too. there were rude commenters and blog stalkers, but more importantly there were wonderful people i met (virtually and in real life) through the blog. i will make it a point in 2006 to maintain all the friendships with these people.

if i was to talk abou this year, i will call it the year of the lost and found. in which vishnupriya was at a loss for mosty of the year, but found herself by the end of it.

hello 2006.

im alive!!

yes i am. and not only alive, but very happy, and having warm fuzzies. reasons for happiness will be detailed. but in short, a combination of work, fun and hectic travelling meant no blogging. S called from india. after hearing me gush, she says "aha! that confirms my theory that only sad losers blog, and now that youre not a loser anymore, you too have stopped". i was terribly annoyed. losers indeed! hmph! in fact, its only people with NO writing talent whatsoever that dont blog. so this is me sticking up for fellow bloggers (we are NOT losers. NOT NOT NOT) and sticking tongue out at S (who's the loser now?). no no just kidding. we are all winners here. no losers (gawd! i sound like a filmfare award winner).

oh, and somewhere along the line, the blog turned one. what a roller coaster year its been. happy birthday blog.