Greek, Greek and more Greek!

Hi again! Last time I told you about my love for mythology but couldn't expand on it because I was absolutely starving and I wanted to eat my lunch! Doesn't it sound cool to be a professor of English Literature or Mythology? If I get a PhD, I'd be called Dr. Pallavi Kumar! As you know, my interest in mythology started because of Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson series, The Heroes of Olympus series and last but not least, The Kane Chronicles! The first deals with purely Greek mythology , the second is about Greek meeting Roman and the last is about Egyptian mythology! If I were to be a demigod (half human, half god), I'd fancy myself to be the daughter of Apollo because, I happen to think he is the least complicated of all the gods! I mean, Zeus, king of the gods and god of thunder and the sky, has to put up with his henpecking wife Hera and the insecurity that his brother Poseidon might try to usurp his throne, even though he has no such intention!.Hera, goddess of marriage and family, on the other hand has to deal with her cheating husband and obsess over having the Perfect Family, so much, that she actually threw her own son Hephaestus down a mountain because he was ugly, and then blamed it on Zeus! Poseidon, god of the sea, earthquakes and horses, has to deal with his brother and and manage his realm, that is the sea and deal with HIS jealous wife Amphitrite because of his affairs with mortals! Hades constantly feels that he is not truly an Olympian because he is never included in any of their gatherings on the solstice! Dionysus, god of wine and celebration, is too busy being punished by his father for chasing nymphs and then missing his wife Ariadne! Artemis, the huntress and goddess of the moon, is too busy recruiting young maidens who have been deceived in love and want to swear off men (which, frankly, I'm not that interested in! Although immortality is a tempting offer!). Demeter, goddess of agriculture, is just plain annoying, with her obsession about working in the fields and eating cereal! Hephaestus, master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods, god of fire and the forge, has way too many hang-ups about his mother and his adulterous wife and frankly, I don't find someone who only wants to work in his own garage all the time very appealing! And then he keeps trapping Aphrodite, his wife, and Ares, her lover whenever the meet for a rendezvous! Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and desire, although indescribably beautiful, is not my type because I highly doubt I'm anything like her. I have no fashion sense, I can't charm speak, so I have virtually no chance of being her daughter! And also, the fact that she has an affair with Ares when she is married to Hephaestus is not a very nice thing to do! Ares, the god of war, I just do not like! He is so violent and nasty and there isn't a single attractive quality about him! At least, according to me! Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy is cool. I wouldn't mind being her daughter either! And lastly, Hermes, messenger of the gods and the god of thieves. I'm not cunning enough to be his daughter! Whereas, Apollo, twin brother of Artemis, god of light, music, knowledge, poetry, prophecy and archery is soooo... amazing! He makes the sun rise and I'd really like to use one of his sonic arrows! He is protective of his sister Artemis and he brings sunlight in our lives. How cool is that? I know it's all not true, but it feels so good just to close my eyes and imagine that it is! In my dream world I've been to the Garden of the Hesperides, I've fought the Nemean lion and escaped Medusa! I know what you must be thinking. I spend half my time in another world! Well, it's true! That's just me! Anyway gotta go, bye!

I Don't Know What I'm Talking About!

It's not very easy to write, you know. It's not easy to express yourself and be completely honest. For me, it's practically the only thing I can do. Otherwise, everyone else considers me to be naive, or more aptly put, stupid! Writing, to me, is like a solace. An escape. It's the one place I get to express myself wholly and completely. Although I'm afraid of showing it to anyone, because criticism puts me into a bad mood, I know I have to, if I ever dream of being a serious writer. I don't have the talent of Khaled Hosseini or Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, all I have is passion and a desire for success and recognition! I started this blog as a rant towards my mother and sister, who still annoy me to a great extent. I started it, because I had something to say and no one to say it to without sounding whiny and self absorbed! I've never been a vocal person. I'm much better on paper than I am in expressing myself verbally. Writing comes easier to me, than speaking. Talking about something makes me nervous, and as soon as I am nervous, I stammer. I have never been able to look at a crowd during a speech, or a presentation and speak smoothly. And even if I do, my heart beats so hard in my ribcage that it feels like it's going to fall out. Writing makes me forget everything. All my troubles, my worries, ( I know what you're thinking, what should a 16 year old have to worry about? Sometimes I ask myself that!) everything disappears, and for a while it feels like the world is perfect. There's nothing to worry about. Writing makes me feel free like a bird! I love writing! My mom tells me that I should start writing about other things that I love. So that, I can make my blog about something. Up until now, the only things that interest me are literature and mythology. I absolutely adore mythology. And the thing that fascinates me about it is the fact that it is so intricately woven, that it's hard to believe it's not true. I got started on Greek mythology when I read Percy Jackson, Roman, when I read Heroes of Olympus, Egyptian, when I read The Kane Chronicles and of course Hindu after reading Ramayana and the Mahabharata and listening to stories from my grandparents! I'll talk about that later, because right now I'm starving, so I'm gonna go eat lunch! Bye!

Who Will I Be?

I'm back!!!!!!!!! My board exams are over!! And I'm bored! My mom says I need to decide what I want to become when I grow up! For the longest time I've wanted to be a writer but Mamma says you don't need a degree to become a writer but I can't imagine myself being anything else! I don't see myself as a lawyer, or a doctor, or anything as a matter of fact! I just see myself writing! Suddenly, I have to make a choice about my entire future! It's so much harder than it seems! Life is moving so fast, that I don't even have time to stop and smell the flowers! It's barely sunk in that I am no longer a part of Gitanjali Devshala, I no longer go to the same school with my friends, I may never see some of them again. And what frightens me the most is what if they don't like me at my new school? What if they think I'm odd? While most people want to find themself, I have a pathological desire to escape! Questions constantly come into my mind- what if I'm not able to adjust, what if no one likes me, what if, what if, what if? So many questions and I don't know who can answer them. What if? That's such a common question that we ask ourselves, right? What if I had not lied, what if I hadn't given up, what if I hadn't yelled...... So many questions, so little time!
How does one expect to find themselves in the midst of such chaos? Forget about anyone, what about me? I'm 16 years old and I don't even know how to plait my own hair! Shameful, right? And to top it all off, my sister is leaving for IIFT in July, what am i going to do without her? Who is going to tell me what to wear? Who is going to call me the odd names she has reserved for me? Who is going to bug the hell out of me? Who am I going to be without her? Maybe it's time for a little introspection. And I've got nothing but time! See you soon!

Sorry I Went Missing!

I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger! But you can't blame me, my board exams were going on! I still have one left - economic applications! But the best part is I'm done with science! I no longer have to care about the principle of a generator nor do I have to know what the characteristics of various acids are, and last but not the least I need not remember what happens during photosynthesis! I know without plants we won't survive but do we have to study it in detail? I know that the very definition of science is the way the world works but I don't want to understand the way the world works! Why can't some things just remain a mystery? Doesn't it make them all the more beautiful? Why do we human beings have to break everything apart to figure out how it works? And then ruin it! The world is not a cuckoo clock! I almost broke into a jig the day I got done with physics! I come from a family of science lovers! My grandma loves telling the story of my sister on the swing asking how she came back to her original position! Mamma says I don't like science because I don't understand it and to an extent it's probably true but I've never thought I was worse off not understanding it. In many ways I'm extremely different from the rest of my family, at least when it comes to favourite subjects! I love History and literature! And my sister, even though she didn't continue with science still loves the subject. Same is the case with my grandparents! My mom, to some extent, is more normal than the rest but she believes if she tried to understand the subject again, she will definitely love it! ( by that, I mean physics!) So, here I am this little oddball, in the midst of my science loving family! Sorry my post was kind of random, nothing's really on my mind at the moment! So, I hope I write again soon! Maybe you'll see me on the 26th! So, till then, BYE!

Best Sweet Sixteen Ever!

I'm finally sixteen!!!!!!!!!!! This day was amazing! It was the best party ever!!!!! I don't think I've ever had more fun at a party! I cannot believe I wasn't looking forward to it!! I can't remember laughing as much as I did today! I take back my previous opinion! Sweet sixteens rock! I got the most amazing presents from my friends as well as my parents. This was possibly the best birthday of my life! Well, now I have to think of return presents to give to my mom and sister. I hope they tell me what they want. Knowing them, I have a pretty good idea of what they are going to ask me. My sister will ask for eternal slavery and my mom will ask for a foot massage everyday and a zillion hugs and kisses. The day just flew by and I didn't even realize it. I've been in a fantastic mood all day. Not a single tantrum from my side, although I did get angry when my mom told me I looked fat in the dress I was wearing. But then, who doesn't, right? Mamma says that it's my only vanity. Maybe becoming sixteen has changed me. Stranger things have happened! Who knows, maybe that can be one of my return presents, not making them deaf, I mean! I hope I'm still like this tomorrow! Even I don't enjoy the screaming much! It doesn't get me anything anyway! Anyway, I'll try to write tomorrow too!

I'm bored...

Sooo... I turn sixteen tomorrow. Old news, I know! But that's the only thing on my mind at the moment. God, I'm writing this while my sister is whining to my mom about something. They are telling me that as soon as I turn sixteen I should stop throwing tantrums and screaming at the top of my voice. Like it's that easy! Didn't I say in my last post that we don't undergo a rapid personality change as soon as we turn sixteen! Unless, of course, tragedy strikes or something like that! And anyway,I don't throw that many tantrums anymore. They just know which buttons to press to get my blood boiling. I know when my mom reads this she's gonna say there's very little that doesn't get my blood boiling and then follows the'no one can make you lose your temper, only you can'! It's not that easy! I admit I'm hot headed and lose my temper a lot but they can't keep egging me on like that. They totally drive me crazy. I mean, they tell me something that's meant to make me start yelling and I know they're trying to test me and I want to prove them wrong so badly, just for once in my life! It's almost eerie(and a little exagerrated)when my sister imitates me and it's creepy when they tell me what's going on in my head. Am I really that easy to read? I wish I wasn't. Oh! According to them I'm a very intrusive person. My sister calls me nosy Parker for God's sake! That's the limit! If anything they are hosier than I am. Anyway I'm signing off for now! See you later!

Why Sweet Sixteen?

Sorry I haven't posted anything in the longest time! I've had my pre-boards going on so I went on stand by. Wow! It's been a month since I've written anything. I've missed writing so much. Sooo..... I turn 16 this Saturday! I wonder why becoming 16 is so important for a girl. It's not like we can vote or get married or drink alcohol. So what's so special about being 16? And it's only special for a girl! Why aren't the other birthdays special??? and why does only 16 get an adjective! You know, sweet sixteen!! Why can't it be Outstanding One, Toothless Two, Talkative Three, Friendly Four, Fearsome Five, Sassy Six, Sunny Seven, Enthusiastic Eight, Troublesome Ten, Easy-Going Eleven, Tender Twelve, Trendy Thirteen, and so on and so forth? Why only Sweet Sixteen? It's not like the day a girl turns 16, her nature changes! It's not like her personality gets a makeover or something, right? According to Wikipedia sweet sixteens are a coming of age. Maybe abroad, yes. I mean, You can drive at 16 but in India? You can't drive until 18! And abroad you have ceremonies on sweet sixteen like the candle ceremony, the shoe ceremony, the tiara ceremony and the father-daughter dance. That's not something we do here. I mean, I know we could but I for one think it's kind of silly. Sweet but silly! Hey , maybe that's why they call it sweet sixteen! What do you think?