They can actually be Fun!!

A Month Before:

Cryptic Crosswords!!! I swear,they are the worst kinds of puzzles that man has ever come up with!! I mean some of the clues don't even make sense!! Have a look at this clue in a puzzle: 

The llama went back to the shopping complex(1,4)

The moment I see this, the immediate thoughts that run though my mind were:
what?? who cares if the llama went to the shopping complex! does the English dictionary actually have a word for this? Oh, my God!! 

Little did I know that this sentence actually made sense to millions of crossword fans! That they would actually appreciate it! What more?? This one is probably the easiest thing that they would ever come across in their life!

Now:

Then I realized, the only thing making it look ridiculous was that I din't know how to solve them!! 

Cryptic Crosswords are in fact the 'Awsomest' puzzles on earth!! They require the utmost concentration and analytical skills!! Once you start to know the intricacies of the game, Your appreciation for it multiplies!!

So let us look at what the llama is actually trying to do:

The llama went back to the shopping complex(1,4)

In any crossword puzzle there are two major things that you look for(in most cases):

1. An indicator 
2. The actual meaning of the word

An Indicator is something that tells you the kind of word play that has been used in the clue.It could be an anagram, a reversal or any of the other generally used plays.

So, in the above example, the indicator is' went back'. This indicates that it is a reversal. Words like 'went back','reverse' etc indicate this kind of word play. So now once I know this, all I have to do now is to identify where the word play is.  Here when we reverse 'llama' we have 'amall' or 'A mall' as per the numbers given in the bracket. 'A mall' means nothing but a shopping complex!! Isn't this great??

And trust me, this is the easiest clue that anyone can solve!! For the actual difficult ones I have to put my thinking cap on and sit for hours (though in most case I only end up reading the solutions).

So, from the bottom of my heart I say this- "Cryptic Crosswords can  actually be fun"

Eye Opener!!

Recently, one of my friends uploaded a certain poem he wrote, onto his facebook profile. the poem goes this way:

Sometimes in life we feel so blue,
but someone somewhere is not happy as you.

Somewhere far at a border when a soldier sleeps,
missing his loved ones he silently weeps.

Somewhere a mother painfully sighs
coz her new born baby dint open her eyes.

Somewhere a poor dad silently cries,
when he sees his son begging for a bowl of rice.

Somewhere in an orphanage a little girl is sad,
when she misses her mom & dad.

So at times a reason to smile you may not have any,
say to yourself that you are happier than many!

'coz life is beautiful & its always not blue,
and someone somewhere is not happy as you!

True.Very true. All of us know that it's true. But do we really understand how true it is?? at least, I didn't .

The truth behind this echoed only when 'She' came.
I don't know, but probably God wanted me to see her !! It was probably meant to happen. If I hadn't seen her I would have been very happy living my own selfish life.

Question- Who was she?? what really happened?? why did it have such a huge effect as to prompt me to write this??
Answer- The answer is in this incident that happened just a few days back-

 "I am gonna go to Chennai!!"  was all that was going through my mind as I reached the bus stop in Trichy and was walking to the railway station. I was along with my Gumbal(A name for my group of friends in college) "It's gonna be legendary!!"  said my mind again and made a smile flash across my face.
But,then came She. She wiped the smile right off my face.
'She' was a feeble old lady. An old lady who could barely walk or talk. 'She' stopped me. And managed to get a few tamil words out from her mouth- "Aiyya, vayasaana kezhavi. Saapda onnum illa" (Sir, I am an old Lady, I don't have anything to eat) and she could say no more....she held her hand out. I almost let out a tear seeing her state. The picture of that elderly women....bowing down to me, begging for help, froze in my mind. I couldn't come out of that. It was as though I had entered into a state of shock. I kept pausing, rewinding and playing the entire episode in my mind while on my way through rest of the journey. The gaze, the gaze she gave of helplessness, mixed  with shame haunted me.
No one fancies showing helplessness. It's basic human nature. When human nature can stop people from seeking help from friends and family, Well what adverse conditions would have driven this woman to bow down to complete strangers most of whom are half her age and ask for help?? the more I  thought about this the worse it became.
I had shut down. I couldn't think about anything else.
I was overflowing with so many thoughts. But it was one thought that struck a chord. Shock and grief turned to Horror and Anger within seconds!!!

"I was the first one to heed to her cry!! The first one to help her!!! " . Atleast a hundered people would have walked right past this woman. And no one heard and saw the things that I did!! None had the heart to help her. She was crying for help into emptiness. What was she thinking??  Was she looking for Real people?? real hearts beating?? did she think that people help people??? 
No. Not anymore!!!
We are consumed in our own selfish life so much so that we ignore millions of others who are crying out loud!! 

Well, I have woken up. The distressed old lady has shaken me up and opened my eyes to the people around me!!

 And just when I think that things in my life are down and cant get worse, I recollect the poem that my beloved friend has written.

We are the lucky ones!!!
Let's help those who are not.

Loss of a Dear Friend

Life ain't fair.It never is. My friends and I realised this very thing quite recently. This was one of those tragedies that awaken you  to the horrors of life. Shock!!
 
The day was like any other day when a call changed everything. I receive the call, I say, "Hello" and the voice from the other side lets me in on a news which stirred the utmost disbelief in me. In fact, I refused to believe it!!My friend was no more. He had become God's own.
How??? How could this have happened??? He was completely fine!! How then??
This is when I Understood how frail life could be.A road accident!!! A freak accident in fact!! This was the reason for receiving that particular call!!
When my mind started accepting the fact,when it knew that there is no running away from what had happened, the Hows turned into Whys. Why?? Why did this happen??He was completely fine!! Why then??
Well, Life ain't fair.It never is.
But, knowing this couldn't make me get a grip on my emotions. You see, you can easily close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you cant close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.
But What could I do???
There was nothing that I could do to bring him back!!!
And the only answer was- LET GO!! No matter how hard it was to digest what happened, just LET GO.
I have learnt from the many experiences in  life that letting go doesn't really mean giving up or being insensitive. It simply means accepting that things weren't meant to be.
And now I have learnt how Important Human life could be. This minute, you know someone, who you talk to,and he could be gone for ever!! And no amount of you trying to think of the 'what may haves' and 'If i could haves' would change the 'Has happened'. After what has happened I am valuing each and every person I know just a little more,Appreciating their time amongst us.

With the consolation that My friend had lived his last month to the fullest, I Let Go. I look to keep in mind the little things that I have learnt from him and in that, look to keep his Spirit Alive!! May his soul Rest in Peace.

Weather- The Spoiler!!!

Its not even a week left for the mid-sems to start and all this while I have been finding one reason or the other to postpone what I rightfully should have started long back- Studying!!!
But you know what??? why the worry??? I have got a whole Sunday!! So, I decide upon the schedule for this day and relax. Now, it was very simple-  Get up at 5 in the morning ,Study. Say about an hour or two and well go back to sleep and study again later. This way I was positive I'd be better placed for facing the mammoth task of writing the mid-sem.
Here comes the Cliche - yeah!!!  You see 5'o clocks never really work out!! I should have learnt this by now. But there is always this thing you know,that somethings different this time.I'll certainly do it!! 5 it will be . And there goes.........The  time when I get up is 8:30. My roommate asks me -" Will breakfast be available now?"
I say- " Yes Buddy. Its Just 8:30!!" Well, now the answer that he gave me, simply got the swear  "Oh F**K" coming right through my mouth. He says," It's 9:30!!!"
No problem I Say, "It's Sunday. I still have a whole lot of time".
But the gods just don't want me studying!! Especially the weather gods!! They bless the day with a Beautiful Weather!! Overcast conditions, nice cool breeze....aha!! No way can I study in this weather.Not a chance!!
So, all I do is pick up my blanket and go back to sleep!!!  Good Night Folks!!!