Trial by fire
I came though
scarred, burnt
Lessons never to be forgotten learnt

Background:
This place is filled with Andhrites and Begalis. Every second person is one and third person is the other. And somehow, south Indians any place to the north of south are a novelty. They end up attracting a lot of curiosity and attention.

Excerpts from an actual conversation with Someone (very definitely an Indian):

Someone: All these poeple, they all speak Telugu ?
Me: Yes
S: So many of them ! Hey, you are a South Indian too right? So, you must speak Telugu too
Me: No, i speak Tamil
(that i'm supposed to is closer to the truth, but i didn't elaborate)
S: Tamil? Not Telugu ??
(takes some time to digest this fact)
S: So, there are two South Indian languages.
Me: No, actually there are four .... Kannada and Malayalam
S: Malayalam ? Malayalam ??
(I didn't ask. By this time i was so filled with disbelief, i could believe anything. Maybe she thought Malayalam was just a silly palindrome)

Almost justifies all that "We won't learn Hindi" yelling you hear down South, don't you think?

Introducing - my roomies !

Apart from one insignificant two legged creature, i share my home-away-from-home with the creepies, the crawlies, the wigglies, the jigglies, the fliers, the biters, the fighters, the shouters ....

We're all one big happy family !

(Having to look at them every night makes me wonder - are they really a symbol of the maker's infinitie creativity or of his collosal disregard for his time)

She was really exited about the trek. The breathtaking scenery apart, she would actually be able to walk on snow !! She couldn't even remember how long she'd been dreaming of seeing and touching and playing with it. But when she heard that there was to be a separate trek for girls, she told everyone and anyone who'd listen, with her nose high up in the air, that she would not go for it. Girl-treks would be simpler, shorter, infinitely less exiting....
And then she heard that the boys trek would start from 2000 ft and go up to 5000 ft. And each person would carry 20 kg on their back.
Nose firmly back in position, she practices carrying around 7 kg loads.

Have you ever wished there were 4 of you? Scary thought, more so for me because, no one knows me better than myself :)
Putting it another way, have you even been pulled in 4 different direction? Every direction equally attractive, each pull equally strong, until you actually hope you rip apart, just so the pulling would stop?

A trek on the Himalayas
Rock climbing
River water rafting
Home

All stuff that my dreams are made of (the last one being a recent addition). All to be done at the same time.
No one was more in need of J.K.Rowlings time turner :(