AFS - Another Fat Student

I'm kidding.. AFS isn't Another Fat Student.. It is just AFS. Another Fat Student is the effect of AFS on it exchange students :P

For me, AFS has not just been an organization, but a constantly encouraging family that I love the most in this world! AFS has played a major role in most of the memorable experiences of my life. This year, as we celebrate 100 years of AFS.. I wish for it to change many more lives and make many more families and students happy. This world is indeed a huge family, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!

Here are some memories I have with AFS...

Wondering what AFS is? And how I became a part of it? Watch this video :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g1kfeQZwEg

Now, my Kizuna (Japanese Short Term Exchange Program) experience has already been shared.. But, I have few more words to how it still keeps changing my life for better good.. Keep looking for that update ;)

The most recent and one of the best experiences I have had with AFS India is YASC-AFS program organized in Kakelao, Jodhpur in the month of August. YASC stands for Yale Alumni Service Corps, an organization that serves the community and AFS, is just AFS! The details of the program have been covered by Isadora Italia in her article.. http://world.yale.edu/news/yale-alumni-service-corps-engages-india.

And my personal feelings about it couldn't be more precise than what is mentioned below..

In the words of Puneet Batra, “The first week back was life as usual physically, but mentally, I wasn’t back yet”. These simple words probably sum it all. Life changed for each person involved, after the Community Service Project in Kakelao. What began as a bunch of people wanting to help and give back to the society ended up as one big family, working tirelessly for bringing the smallest change they could in the village of Kakelao. “Community Service Project”, the words itself bring an enormous responsibility with it. But what we don’t realize is that it’s not a one-way road where only we do something for the less privileged but it’s a process by which we earn more knowledge about the world; both around and within us. It is a spiritual drive that travels into the innermost parts of our conscious, leaving us with a sense of satisfaction. Well, Kakelao not only gifted us with such satisfaction but also a huge bag of memories that is capable of bringing a smile on our faces at any point of time.

Thank you for reading this post.. Keep checking the blog for more updates about the same! :)

It's a small small world :)

I kept pondering about what to write here for the last few weeks.. Unlike in everything else I do, I prefer being a perfectionist when it comes to writing for my blog. I kept thinking about what should I put down here that people would like and I struggled to reach NOTHING but this, towards the end of my rigorous thinking exercise. I have thus decided to write a recent incident that happened in my life, without bothering about the size, content, language and other atrocities that it might give birth to. 

Well, this happened to me recently, on my way back from a trip... Being a forgetful person, I was sure I would've left behind something for strangers to discover this time as well. But what I, and for  that instance, my parents had also not expected was that I would forget my passport! :O

But I did, I forgot my passport on my flight.. Probably one of the worst mistakes of my life! (Well, people did make me believe so). After trying to show off my wonderful Japanese visa to my boring companions, I must've dropped the passport while trying to entertain them with other things that my handbag carried! How foolish.. you all must be thinking? Well, think all you can. I expect and have been bearing all the taunts people toss at me following the narration of this incident! The worst part, I did not realize the mistake I had committed and would have been ignorant of it, hadn't been for my father who asked me to produce my passport as soon as I entered my home.

Lucky am I,  to have wonderful parents and yet more wonderful luck! The former, for not showering me with scoldings right away and the latter because I was informed I am getting my passport back the very next day. Yes, I am a lucky bitch! (As people would call it). You might be wondering how all of this is related to the heading I gave this post, right? It so happened that the cleaner who found my passport handed it to an Air hostess. The gracious lady happened to belong to Rajkot, which happens to be my dwelling place. And what could be termed as "being lucky" just got luckier! Her cousin was a teacher at my school! Not going into the details of my telephonic conversation with her, I'll take a leap to the end of our conversation. She asked me to mail three documents to the airline's official mail ID and no sooner did I do that, she dispatched my passport. In the next 24 hours, my passport traveled from her to her brother and then to me! And now, I am able to show off my wonderful Japanese visa to people again! :P

An unexpected, memorable and positive punishment for a stupid, silly and never-to-be-forgiven mistake, isn't it? Now then, don't you agree as well that it's a small world after all? ;) 

Broken Strings

The moment he rested his head on my shoulders, it occurred to me that it was the first physical contact we actually made in two years..The feeling on my skin transported itself to the rapidly beating box in my bosom and resulted into a smile! We had always been close.. He was my superhero and best friend. I grieved about how things had changed between us. The guy who had loved me since the day his eyes rested on me, had barely exchanged a couple of words with me, in the last two years. It is a lot more than just two years actually.. Ask me and it is 730 days without him. 730 days of being abnormal. 730 days of seeing him daily and turning away, pretending I haven't noticed. 730 days of being sure he realized it and yet, I couldn't help but notice how badly he tried to ignore me. How badly the valley between us gradually kept expanding! And it hurts; emotionally. And it aches, far more than any bruise on my body!

Time heals all the wounds.. But can a broken glass ever be mended? Can it be put together again to it's original form? No. It cannot be. And even if it is mended, the cracks remain forever! And that is what has happened to you and me. People kept filling our glass with so much fog, that it was impossible for us to see each other! And then one day like the fragile glass, our relation broke into pieces. And all because of one reason, which you are well aware of. The same waters you had scolded me for swimming into, were now the one your boat was sailing on! But what made you forget me? All those times? All those memories? And promises? Did I not matter to you any more? Didn't you even think once about us? Our relation? Was it so important for you to sail? That you never came back to land? 

I waited for you.. To come back, and for once ask me to forget everything and come back to normal. But you didn't try.. All you did was make one half hearted attempt to make me accept you, with all the transformations. But you didn't realize, I had accepted you from the very beginning. Exactly the way you had become. But it was impossible to nurture our plant without your sunlight. Did everything else matter to you more than us? The ones who had been with you in your victories and downfalls were now nothing! How did you forget all those days when we promised to save each other from every threat and problem?  

Don't forget all that, dear. Don't forget us. Don't forget me! Our bond cannot be so weak. Our promises cannot be so fake. And your absence cannot make things better. But alas! I can no more ask you for anything, because the right to be your priority has been taken over and I am sorry for not winning the battle.. I could have, but for you, I choose to lose and I am grieved at how you missed to notice that too?  

My dear brother, I only want to tell you that I have never had any problems with your decision. But it only broke my heart to see you walk out on your sister for someone else's. But let's stop the blame game right here. To you, I only want to say that I was, I am and will always be there for you. Because no matter what happens, a sister is always a  sister and her prayers would always protect her brother!

But remember Bhai,

 "You can't play our broken strings, 

you can't feel anything,

that your heart don't want to feel,

I can't tell you something that ain't real.

Oh, the truth hurts and lies worse,

How can I give any more,

When I love you a little less than before!"

Being Kidult! ;)

                        Sometimes you need to be so much at the same time -- a good daughter, an understanding sister, an obedient student, a supportive friend, a perfect girl friend and a lot more... and then there are times when you become a bad daughter, an irritating sister, a naughty student, a boring friend and an over possessive girl friend! But no matter what, a girl is and will always be one of the best creations of God..

                       Today I am going to talk about the girl nobody knows better than me.. A girl who would soon turn 18 and is expected to learn the norms of being a perfect lady! I am going to talk about me.. The soon-to-be adult who wants to still be a child. I can't believe I would no more be considered a child... The tag of an "adult" would soon be put on me.. And no more would my mistakes be considered innocent, no more can I blame someone for taking my decisions.. Freedom would come with it's own teachers to teach me new lessons! I feel like a glass of cocktail, with various emotions running a marathon inside me.. "Grow up, be serious about life!","No, no.. There's no fun in being all grown-up types!!","You have to face this world on your own now","Oh.. Stop being so philosophical!","This is not going to lead you anywhere","You're gonna be someone boring if you take it so seriously!!","You're wrong..","No! You are..."
"Hush! Calm down, dear mind", I hear myself soliloquizing! And then again, I go down the lane of confusion... I realize that it is not just one year added to your age, it is a lot more than that. It is that point when you learn to walk on your own.. Your parents no longer hold your finger everywhere you go. It is that point when you have to accept the totally ridiculous outcomes, because it is was your own decision! It is when you feel closest to your friends and parents, yet far away!

                      Today, I played with my old toys.. The same way I did before 10 years. My mom wanted me to discard these old possessions and make room for new things.. But I did not have the heart to give away any of my old things! I felt like a different happiness when I was playing with the toys and enjoyed it sooo much.. My parents wanted me to give it away but I was not ready to part with my rediscovered treasure! My grandmother laughed and asked my parents to let me have them for she thought I was saving the toys for my children! I was shocked for a moment.. How my sweet old lady was already seeing the dreams of my marriage and her great-grandchildren, when her grand daughter had not even finished school! She would no longer ask me which chocolate I want or which story would drive me to sweet dreams.. I was now expected to act like a mature, grown-up girl! You can't blame her, in her times girls got married at 18 and look at her grand daughter, still sits in her father's lap, plays with teddy bears, demands for a chocolate after her results, fights to see Tom & Jerry and you know what's the worst part... She can't even cook!! :P
I laugh and tell her I'm gonna marry a chef so that I don't have to cook but she turns her head away and starts mumbling indistinctively... I give her a tight hug and announce that I am always going to be childlike! I love being crazy and if no one marries me, I'll stay with her all my life and eat her head! She tries to get angry but can't help smiling and the drama ends! But the very next moment, my mind goes back to her talks and I blush at the thought of getting married.. I am sure every girl gets this feeling at some or the other time! It is not like the only aim of a girl, to get married.. No, definitely not! But it is one of the dreams she sees since early womanhood. To be married to Mr.Right and have a family of her own.. And trust me, every girl reading this would be smiling right now! :) 

                             So, this is the confusing account of the confusing state of my confused mind at this confusing moment! I would be turning 18 in two days.. And I am so excited to be an adult and legally do stuff I was not allowed to do till now... (Mind you, I am only talking about driving and voting!) I want to be able to take my own decisions, I want to be the ripe fruit who is independent! But I don't want to leave behind my craziness, my stupid dreams, my childish talks, my toys and my teddy bears! Somehow I want to be both, a child and an adult at the same time!

But is it possible....to be a kidult?

A never dreamt of dream, come true!!

I know this is quite a weird title, but this thing that happened to me was too good to be true! I never dreamt that I would be lucky enough to experience it and it was indeed as good as a dream and as awesome as a dream come true!


Ever waited desperately for your results to come? Probably not. Coz you might think I'm talking about the school ones! But no, I'm not talking about that! Neither am I talking about the results of a job interview, nor about a college entrance exam! May be I should just come to the point..XD


Okay, so I applied for this student exchange program sometime around October and I was cent percent sure of not getting through.. It's tough now, I live in a country with the largest population of adolescents! All of them trying to get through and only 28 of them would be selected! And who was I competing with anyway? The intelligent South Indians! The ambitious Mumbaikars! The smart Delhiites! And the toppers of Ahmedabad! I didn't hope to get through but I still finished my form with honest answers and sent it!


After that, it all happened so quick I didn't realize till I reached Delhi for my national orientation.. The mail with "Congratulations, You have been selected..", the local interview, the tele interview, the round of medical certificates, reading mails on time, replying and booking tickets and knowing others who were equally lucky... OMG! There I was sitting with my Chapter Head, wondering if I should apply or not and the next moment, I land in Hotel Mapple Emerald, Delhi with 27 other students from all over India..


Then started the round of orientations and lectures and dos and don'ts! We had a wonderful time in Delhi, getting to know each other and sharing our happiness on being selected! It was great! All of us had talked to each other on Internet, but when we finally met, it was even better!


It wasn't long before we landed in our host country. And the first thing I felt was.... Cold! Yes, cold! After all, it was December and I was not in India, but all the way across the globe, in the island country; JAPAN!


Japan, the land of the rising sun, the land of bullet trains, the land of Tokyo drift, the land of chopsticks, the land of Sushi, the land of earthquakes... And for me, a land where a I had landed with 686 teenagers from Planet Earth! It was a totally new world, that had new friends, new experiences, new lessons, new learning, new family, new climate and new food! We were on a roller coaster ride called Kizuna*, that went up and down but all in all gave us happy memories for a lifetime! I would skip going into the details of my 10 days in Japan for now.. That would be described in my next post!


For now, Akshi Shah has checked in Hotel Narita View with students from India, Myanmar, New Zealand and is unsuccessfully trying to eat her Obento** with chopsticks! ;)




*Kizuna : Japanese word, meaning bond. Also the name of the exchange program.

**Obento :   Japanese meal, is served in a box.

That wonderful thing called LOVE!

There are 4 important things a man's life revolves around; Oxygen, Food, Water and Love!

Yes, love! What do I say about that wonderful thing called love? All the great poets and writers and directors and teachers and philosophers have at some or the other time talked about this wonderful feeling of love! In fact, what do I write that has not yet been discovered about love? In my experience of 17 years, 7 months and 8 days, I've encountered love at almost all stages of life. Be it my parents, family, friends, teachers, critics or admirers! Love has been present since day one of my life! But describing it is a tough job.

It started when my mother gave birth to me, when my father lifted me in his arms, when my grand parents cried with joy, when my family talked only about me. Although, the last part lasted only till my cousin was born (which was just a few months later)!! But, that was my first encounter with love! And I saw the purest form of Love!

Next, I met love when I entered school, when my teacher drew a happy face on my hand, when my best friend shared her last bite of chocolate with me, when my principal gave me a sweet smile in the corridor, when the peons and ayabens of my school shared their lunch with me! My second meeting with love left me with a sense that love had many different forms and could come from many different people!

The third time I encountered love (although I now believe that it was only a lack of knowledge about love), was when I went to watch a movie in the theatre! When a handsome guy with glistening skin and shining eyes and dark hair and magical words entered the screen! But my dreams were shattered the moment he kissed the girl in the movie!

When I was an adolescent, my mom would try to teach me what love was, or rather what love was not! She tried telling me that a classmate flirting with you, dreaming about your crush, collecting pictures of your favourite actor, writing pages and pages describing the captain of your school's football team, fantasizing your crush, was NOT love. It was mere attraction, which was normal and should not be taken seriously. But, believing things only after I've experienced them, I fell in so-called love.
After all, it was the time when girls of my age were dreaming about their Prince Charming (of course not knowing that it was no time for that). I was the same, reading a lott of love stories and watching only romantic movies. I used to dream about Robert Pattinson, Ruzlaan Mumtaz, Hrithik Roshan, Tom Cruise! I used to wait for the Romeo of Taylor Swift's Love Story to come and take me with him, I imagined the Gerry of Cecelia Ahern's PS I love you, writing love letters to me. I used to dream of being the Kareena Kapoor of Jab We Met, the Avantika of Durjoy Dutta's books! My life then, revolved around romantic books and movies and all my girlfriends and I talked about was, how hot xyz guy was! 
It took me almost 2 years to realize that this is what love definately was not! And I understood my mom's preachings only after my first heart break! But as it is said, the worst experiences of life teach you the best lessons!

I understood that love was all about sacrifice, about honesty, respect, understanding. Love was about being together, no matter how many miles or problems or oceans separate you. I understood that love is not merely a feeling, it is something that goes beyond words. "Don't go searching for love, when the right time comes, love would itself come to you!" I had read this somewhere and my definations of love started changing!

And that is what my fourth and most important encounter with love taught me! It left a long lasting impression on my mind, which would help me understand my future experiences with love! My other encounters with love had also been pleasant. My grand mother sharing her Chocobar with me, tears in my sister's eyes before she went to her in-laws, my li'l brother buying me a Birthday gift after saving his pocket money, my Best Friend giving me an unexpected visit, a smile on a strangers face(this happens only in India), a help from someone I used to hate and many other instances.

But, what all the above experiences made me feel was blessed! Blessed to have the presence of this wonderful thing called LOVE in my life! Something I learnt from different people and experiences in my life! I've solved most of my doubts on the way, but the journey towards discovering other forms of love; is still on.....