State Of My Year So Far

Today’s prompt is  : Write up a mid-year “State of My Year” post.

I can’t believe that seven months are already over! It seems like its only been a week or two since I celebrated New Year. I have some good days and some bad days mixed with that where some great days and some terrible ones.

I’ll write down month by month the things that happened( Only those worth mentioning, so you wont get bored).

January : Got news that I passed a national level exam(Lets call this Exam No.1) and got selected for the interview round. That was the best news of the month as far as I can remember because this was the first time I gave such an exam and to pass it with good marks felt really great.

February : Most of this month went in studies for another exam. This one was to get selected to a University to get my Master’s Degree.

March : Gave the interview, which went okay. I was able to answer most of the things properly. This was only the second interview I’ve given in my whole life and it was way better than the first one.

April : Celebrated my birthday with family and then again with friends, got news that I cleared the interview and the selection exam of the university. This was probably the best month this year because  I kept getting something  to be happy for, almost every week.

May : Nothing worth mentioning happened. Just roamed around, studied,had a good time and gave another exam(lets call it Exam No.2).

June : Started this blog!! That was the best part of the month. The worst part – Got two real nasty news that even though I cleared my interview my marks where two points lower than the limit set by them to select who gets a job and I didn’t even clear Exam no.2.

July : Another good month. Blogging, going out with friends, spending time with family, reading, watching movies and eating good food – that sums this month.

That’s my year so far. I’ll probably spent most of August reading. My uncle came over for a visit last week and knowing how much of a bookworm I am brought lots of books for me to read. Will have to wait and see what the next five months hold for me.

My First Short Story

I mentioned in an earlier post that I wrote a couple of short stories in another site. I closed it after just five posts and forgot the email id and my password so there is no way of getting it back.

I found a copy of the first short story that I wrote while going through some files in the computer and thought I’ll share it here. So, here it is.

Reality.

There seems to be an odd shine to everything around me, but at the same time it feels like I’m in the middle of a fog. The forest had an ethereal quality to it. The forest! I have no recollection of how I got here or what  I’m doing here.

I remember closing my eyes. Was that yesterday or a minute before? How did I get here? I seem to be in some sort of clearing. Surrounded by tall trees that cast weird shadows onto a leaf covered floor.  There is a soft light falling on everything which seems to make it more beautiful yet it still leaves behind a feeling in you that you shouldn’t believe what you see. There is definitely something odd about this place though it’s hard to put my finger on it. The haze that surrounds me seems to be effecting my mind too! Only way I react to that thought is, “Ha, Now that sounds stupid”. But I accept that there is something odd about this place.  I can’t find where the light is coming from. There is no sun, or at least none that I can see. It’s not even possible to decide on a time of a day.

I realize that everything is too still and silent. Through all this time, when I stood there watching my surroundings, not even a leaf has moved from it place, there are no scattering or rustling sounds people usually associate with forests. All that’s there is a profound silence. No sooner had this thought entered my mind and a wind started to blow. Not a light summer breeze but strong gusts like a storm is about to start.

One minute I’m going through all these thoughts and next I’m scared. I get this feeling in my gut that I should run. Run hard and fast and get away from here. But why?  Why am I here and what am I running from? The haze makes it hard to think properly. All of a sudden there’s a movement in the trees behind me. Something is coming. I don’t know how I know it but I know its going to harm me. I run into the forest. Everything is darker here and I try my best to keep a good pace without tripping on the vines or slipping on the damp patches.

It feels like I’ve been running for a long time but the trees all look the same. I fear that I’m just running in circles! Whatever is behind me seems to be gaining on me. I speed up again.  There seems to an opening up ahead and i decide to take my chances running towards it rather than scampering around the forest.

I’m almost at the end of the tree line when a shrill ringing starts. It’s all round me. There is no source, no tune just a continuous ringing that makes my head rattle. And suddenly its the end of the tree line but what I thought to be a clearing turns out to be a wide chasm. There is no way to stop before I hit the edge. And I start falling. I try desperately to cling on to something, anything that will save me from rocks that I can see below. But there is nothing. I keep falling. My ears are still full with ringing that seems to have gained volume and my eyes are filled with the view of the rocks below.  The rocks seem to be rushing up at me and…

I open my eyes. The soft light from the rising sun fills my room I’m back in bed with the alarm still ringing next to me. The first thought of the day: “No more late night horror flicks!”.

©Suni M, 2012.

Being Indecisive

Things work better for me when there is a plan. There are only a few situations in which I don’t have a problem with short notices, all other cases freak me out. Having a plan is one thing, making one is even more work for me. I think too much before deciding on one thing.

When I see the topics in daily post I immediately go into thinking mode. My thought process is similar for whenever I use prompts. First question : Should it be a written post or a photo? If I decide to write then the next question pops up; should I write about this or is it better to write about that?

After going through the same thing for today’s post, I thought of a couple of topics that I could write about then decided why not just do a post on me and my crazy decision-making issues.

It’s easier for me to write when I decide on the topic before hand but using prompts means I need to come up with something in a short time. I mentioned before, its a bit of a problem for me to decide in such situations. Which is the reason I joined the daily post on WordPress. I really need to get out of the comfort zone so I’m hoping having to post fast on some topic will help me get better at-least when it comes to writing.

Picking which dress to wear, what book to read ,which movie to watch are the easy stuff that I don’t need time to think about. But if someone(usually my mom) tells me you have to go out and do these things today I start panicking because there isn’t a plan. I need a plan or I need to know before I that I may have to go out and do things.Yeah, I’m weird!! I like going out and just roaming around but if there are things that need to be done then the planning starts and  more often than not there will be a list in my pocket or at-least it my head when I go out after all the planning.

There is no way I can be  leader of any sort. I will take up to much time to come up with things. I don’t think I make bad decisions, at least that’s what I can say from things till now, but I take too much time.

Does anyone have similar problems when it comes to making decisions?
P.S This post is not exactly what the prompt tells to write about but it is what made  me come up with the post.

 

Characterization

I had an exam yesterday, another attempt at finding a job. I’m not a fan of exams but there is one thing that I find interesting about these situations. It’s the people there. I might not mix up that well but I always end up finding one or two people and end up having a good time(exam not counted as good time).
It’s funny to see people behaving different ways. From what I’ve seen the people there tend to behave in one of four ways. Lets just separate them into characters.

Character 1  : I’m nervous & I’ll make sure you are nervous too!

Every exam has these kind. Some are so nervous that they’ll be sweating like crazy, as if they came just after a marathon.  These kind just come up to you and start discussing their fears.  Two guesses as to why they do it A) They believe sharing will make them less scared or B) They hate people who are happy and believe people are better off being nervous wrecks.

Character 2 :The ” I know everything ” type.

These kind of people tend to behave in two different ways.
A) They see exams as life or death battles and strongly believe that standing alone and reading and rereading points till the moment the exam starts is the right thing to do. You usually find them in corners of the corridor or exam room as far away from others as possible so that they don’t get disturbed.
B) They move around and try to intimidate people and tell them how much they have studied- the different books, the number of hours and every other bring detail. Do they really think others care?

Character 3 : Whatever happens, happens

These people know it’s an exam and where smart enough to at-least study a little bit.They have done their part and will just give the exam and go back home. They don’t bother you with worries or show off that they have swallowed five different text books. I prefer to stay with people of this group. I get to meet some nice people and have good time no matter how the exams goes.

Character 4 : I’m screwed anyway so why not have a good time.

The ones that apply for the exam, forget about until the day before and show up just for fun to meet people, talk, make friends, roam around the campus and sit and smile in the exam hall.

I usually belong to Character 3 but have played the part of 4 in a couple of exams.

That’s all for know. See you tomorrow!

The One Taking The Photograph

 Daily Prompt : Tables Turned

Are you as comfortable in front of a camera as behind one? Being written about, as well as writing?

The answer for the first is a definite no! I love taking photographs but not being  the subject of a photograph.

I take hundreds of photos at parties, get-togethers or when on holiday but I’ll only be there in five or six of them.  I take photos because I like to capture a moment, in a way I’m freezing it forever. This probably started because I had to move around so much and everything in life kept changing so photographs became the means to remember.

I probably should also mention the fact the I was always a little crazy when it came to photographs(emphasis on crazy). My parents tell me that when I was a toddler I had a habit of waking up at three in the morning. I would then wake my parents up and ask them to bring all the albums and will go through the photographs and ask what was going on when each photograph was taken. My parents lost a lot of sleep that way. This went on for almost a year till they had enough of it and made me get rid of that habit.

As for writing, I’ve mentioned it a lot of times already but once again – I like to write .
No one has ever written about me and I don’t think anyone will find much to write anyway. Though if someone does write I wouldn’t have a problem with that(as long as whatever is written doesn’t have a photograph of me attached to it).

Daily Prompt: Great or Greatest?

Prompt for the day: Great or Greatest?

What makes a blog great? What makes you follow a blog or “Like” a post?

Since my blog is only one month old I’m still learning about what makes a blog great. So I can’t really answer that question. Though in my opinion writing about  things that makes you feel good will be enjoyed by others too.

I can give a much better answer  for the second part of the prompt. Whether I like a post or a blog depends entirely on the content of the posts. Sometimes reading one post is enough to make up my mind for others it might take couple more posts.

I love seeing the photos taken by fellow bloggers and like reading about books, music, movies,poems,short stories and random musings. This means I have a wide variety of blogs and posts to read and I do read so many of them and have found a lot of great blogs and I’m sure I’ll continue to find more in the future.

 

 

A Hundred And A Thousand

Hi everyone, This post is to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for reading my blog.

When I started this blog,I didn’t expect to get much followers or views. I  thought it will be a slow process and expected to get no more than 100-200 views in one month. After the first two weeks I realized it had already crossed my expected range.

Another thing troubling me was if anybody will actually read my posts. I’m still learning how to write and I know I’m way behind most of you. That is evident because I read so many great posts everyday. Photography is the other area that I’m still learning about. Seeing so many beautiful shots by such good photographers are helping me learn new things everyday, another big thank you for that.

Now one month later I have crossed the  100 followers mark and received  over 1000 views. I can’t begin to express how happy that makes me.

One month ago I was bored and woke up everyday with nothing to look forward to. Now I’m no longer bored and my highlight of almost everyday is blogging- both being able to post and reading your posts.

 

Nightmares

Ever had a dream that scares the bejeezus out of you ? I had one last night and the creepier thing is it’s the third time I’m having the same dream, as far as I remember. There are a few dreams you remember even after waking up, this is one of those for me. That’s why I know I have seen it before even though it’s been some time since I saw it last.

There isn’t much that happens in the dream. It’s middle of the night or early morning or something,anyway it’s really dark. I feel like there is something outside the house so I look out the bedroom window. My bedroom is on the first floor overlooking the road. It’s dark enough that I can’t see much, other than that a man is standing just outside the house. I can’t see his face or any other features, just a silhouette in the small amount of light coming from the street light. I’m scared in the dream and somehow I know that he’s upto no good and that he’s NOT really human. At this point in the dream I’m feeling terrified.I just keep peeking out the window again and again. The guy doesn’t move, just stands there. The last time I peek I see the guy right outside my window and he jumps at me(the window has disappeared by this time). This is the point where I wake up! I don’t see a face, even at close range, just blackness. That’s enough to terrify anyone in a dream right? Try having it trice!

I know people interpret dreams and all that but I don’t think any such thing is worth wasting my time. If you choose to believe in all that then whatever, it’s your decision. No one is ever going to make me believe in psychics and palm readers. I don’t have a problem with nightmares but I  really hate it when they wake me up because most of the time I can’t go back to sleep. Once I wake up I know there is nothing to be scared of but in the dream my mind the whole thing is ten times more terrifying.

I racked my brains trying to come up with some other topic for the day but nothing else surfaced and the headache I’ve got is not helping. So I think I’m going to get into bed and sleep early. Hopefully, no more nightmares tonight.

Down In The Dumps

There are bad days then there are days that make you feel like even hell is better than this. Today definitely of the second kind. I had given a couple of entrance level exams for public sector banks(kinda popular job here). Both of these were given after I slaved for months, well two months which is way more than most people,  studying whatever could come in the exams. Both the exams went good so I thought finally I’ll at least get a chance in one or probably both.

I’m not exactly this bad but seemed like a good photo

The first one:  I cleared first round of  written exam, cleared the second round of interviews and they said I can select the banks I would like to work in. SO everybody got happy. Then the board that decides who gets a job and who gets dumped posted a notice saying the final list people have to have so and so marks. You figured it out right? I didn’t get in. I lost by two marks!! Ohh they say I might still get the job IF the geniuses they selected in the first place decided to drop the job and run.The second job ? I didn’t even make the final list.

In the end I’m still jobless and frustrated but thanks to my blog and being able to read your blogs I’m no longer bored. Feeling better after this short rant. Actually the first version was a lot longer but did a little editing. Will take me a couple of days to get back into a good mood but will keep posting no matter what.

Not Much Going On

Pretty ordinary day. Nothing happened except we had another small thunderstorm. It only lasted about half an hour but it blew out some power lines or something. That meant no TV or computer and with a knack of perfect timing my mobile ran out of charge too. I don’t have a laptop right now so all in all it was four gadget free hours gifted to me by the storm. It was just four hours but felt more like forty! Couldn’t go out either because of the rain.The lightning show stopped too soon so was left with nothing to do.

My gran tells me about her childhood .People preferred to use lanterns and entertainment was in the form of a transistor radio. Movies were held once or twice a year. Kinda hard to imagine what living like that would be like. I mean they were used to it but if someone sent me back in time to live like that I’ll go mad pretty soon.TV, mp3 player, mobile  and computer, most of my day is spent with one of these things.

Thankfully they repaired the power lines. Now back to life of 21st Century.