The Stranger who cares!!

Each small act of kindness reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of the good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it is passed, until simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.

~ Unknown Author (Copied from Rachit's email sign off)

There are so many people who we don't know, have never met and may not even be aware of their existence who make a difference in our lives - sometimes big, sometimes small. One such person who every graduating student from Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department would know of is Ms. Susan A. Silva - Undergraduate Final year and project matters responsible in the ECE department.

Susan has been taking care of our final year project (FYP) details, making sure that we all file for graduation, everyone is able to graduate and millions of other graduating matters. Even though that might be her job description, she has a special touch of care in all the matters. Where a lot of times we face bureaucracy issues, Susan makes sure that the final year students are free from handling all these issues. From sending emails to make sure that we go collect keys before our FYP presentation, that we submit the FYP thesis on time to making sure that we don't fail the degree requirements and fail to graduate, Susan handles it all.

I actually have to thank her personally. The online degree requirement check was showing some problems with my iLEAD modules, thus failing me to graduate on time and that too without the minor. However, with Susan's help that problem is now solved. Unlike most other people, Susan didn't ask me even once to come down to the office. Her email conversations were clear, facilitating easy communication because of which the problem was solved easily and in a very short time.

I would like to thank her on behalf of all graduating ECE students for taking so much pain for us and solving our matters and to let her know that her help is highly appreciated. 

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In Love with 'Macha'!!

Well.. If you have met me in the past 3-4 days then you will know what I am referring to.. 'Macha', 'Da', 'Chumma' have been added to my vocabulary and have been placed in a special function which is run every time I communicate.. Now its not that I had never heard these words, but one of my colleagues does complete justice to these words when he uses them and since then I have started liking them.. Specially Macha.. I think it is a very very cute word :P

Now I think that its such a cute word that I should not waste it on everyone, specially the people who get irritated when I use it.. So I have finally shortlisted 3 machas :)

• Preeti Macha: Apart from the fact that she has to be a part of everything I do, I think the way I use Macha for her is different from how I use it with everyone else.. I don't remember now whether I caught the habit of Macha by her over-using it or was it the other way round, but now we both use it a lot.. Our SMSes are Awesome Macha, tell me when you are back da.. Macha, I am hungry.. and even one of our emails was titled Macha!!!! So, my top Macha is Preeti :)
• Shankar Macha: Well, being a South Indian himself, Shankar understands the importance of the word.. And also, I like the way he laughs when we use Macha coz a lot of times we use it in a wrong way or are over-using it..
  
• Bharat Macha: I think Macha suits him more than his name (The name is very good but he is such a Macha :) ).. And I just realized that I have never called him Bharat, I have been calling him Macha only..
  

But being a Google Era girl, I googled Macha, which gave me weird results. Then I googled, Macha South India and my favourite favourite Urban Dictionary enlightened me..
Here are some of the meanings:

• Literally is term for brother-in-law (wife's brother). Used more commonly as an addressal to friends - So its more like Saala in North India.. I don't like using Abusive words for addressing friends so I will neglect my knowledge of this meaning. Just like how I call Ker Ying a Chikopeck coz both Ker Ying and the word Chikopeck are cute.. Although Chikopeck means a lecher and he is always conscious of where I use that word :P
• Slang for a friend, basically means cousin
  
• A term of endearment used by homosexual and bisexual males hailing from South India - hahahhahahahahhahhahha.. Is this the reason why some people get irritated when I call them Macha?

I don't think I care much about the meaning of the word.. For me its a word I use with people I think deserve the word.. So if I have called you 'Macha', its just coz I think you deserve that..

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APGN Pre-meeting

Last year pre-meeting played a big role in deciding the direction of my IC XP, in instilling me with the high spirits that lasted through IC and in making some wonderful friends, so this year I was really looking forward to it. I just love the energy AP creates as a GN and makes sure that every member of the AP family gets immersed into this energy. The roll calls it showcases, the warmth it emits and the diversity it unites inspires me (and I am sure a lot of other people as well) and motivates me for giving my 100% to this GN and whatever I do in life. Another important aspect of Pre-meet which I simply love is the opportunity to talk about the hard-core AIESEC stuff with AIESECers from all the countries (at least most of them turn up for the pre-meet).

The most inspiring part of this year’s pre-meeting was the session on Talent Management run by Daz, the Talent Management Unit (TMU) Chair, exclusively for the VP Talent Management and Local Committee Presidents of the AP region. Those who know about my work life will definitely know that my topmost priority for this year’s IC was to develop a comprehensive Tracking template with quantitative and qualitative tracking. This session gave me very cool ideas about the tracking template and a lot of other things to motivate me to work harder. But the way the session was run by Daz really inspired and touched me through and through. I reached a new level of passion which I have never experienced before. I always thought that my passion for AIESEC is already at the maximum level possible, but I would say that this session proved me wrong.

Last year, I was thinking of heading for the future after my LCP term and go for the NOC programme of NUS. I remember very clearly that during Pre-meeting, something struck me and I decided that I will run for Vice President Talent Management. And here I am, Vice President Talent Management AIESEC Singapore 08/09. A similar thing happened to me this year during the pre-meeting. I thought that I will not be going to the exchange part of the AIESEC XP. The pre-meeting was very much focused on exchange and they presented Vijit Bhaiya’s case study. There I saw how my brother is not only impacting his life but also the lives of so many different people in both his internships in Poland and Austria. How people from all the countries come and ask me if I am Vijit’s sister! And ask if I am going to have the same kind of wholesome AIESEC XP. And this inspired me to finally decide that I will be going for an internship, even if its only DT for a couple of months. I will complete my AIESEC XP because that not only impacts my life but the lives of so many different people.

So with renewed energy and passion, I thought that I was prepared to experience AIESEC International Congress 2008 (Responsible Youth. Sustainable Future)

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Rio De Janeiro!

If Sao Paulo was about being introduced to the Brazilian culture, then Rio was about being awed and shocked by the culture, beauty and reality of Brazil all at the same time. The loud music, the most exotic beaches, a warmer weather, bus breakdowns a number of times and one of the seven wonders of the world present a striking contrast between the 2 cities.

Journey to Rio: So we joined the Study Tour to Rio on 15^th (which is also the independence day of India) and reached Rio at 10 pm. However, it being a Friday night we all went to a club. It was great to see the live culture of Brazil. One striking difference between the clubs in Singapore and in Brazil is the music. While in Singapore we dance on world popular songs, the Brazilians enjoy dancing to Samba music. Samba is a very close couple dance. I was introduced to the open and fun culture of Brazil. I am not sure if its true but from my observation, I think that if a guy wants to approach a girl here, he passes her a flying kiss. If the girl shows welcoming signs then they start dancing together. Another thing which I observed about Samba is that it usually ends in people kissing each other and many times being more physically intimate. It is also not uncommon to have more than 1 Samba partner on the same night. I could also see some budding AIESEC couples in all the festive mood J

The next day (Happy Raksha Bandhan to all the brothers and sisters of the world) started with a bang (no perversion intended) at the Copacabana Beach. Copacabana is one of the Best and most famous beaches in the world, and I would definitely give my vote to it. The sand was super cozy. I could just sleep on it (if the sunshine wasn’t so staunching). The water was crystal clear and to my great relief was quite cold. The waves were also quite high and I enjoyed watching some people water surfing. There were a lot of people wearing too scantily-covering bikinis on the beach which as an Asian is a rare sight for me. I also savoured the Best Coconut milk I have drunk till now on the beach.

Our next destination was the Maracana Stadium which is the largest Football stadium in the world and will be hosting the finals of FIFA world cup 2014. The finals were held in 1958 in which Brazil was defeated by Uruguay and they are now all looking forward to win the world cup in 2014 to get back their pride. We also went to the changing rooms of the players (my first time in a football team’s changing room). I had certain shots from the movie ‘Remember the Titans’ running in my mind. And when I was entering the field from the changing room, I had goose bumps.

Our next destination was Sugar Loaf. For this we could either go by cable car or hike up the mountain. Esvi and I decided to hike up (very tiring but a cool experience). The hiking was all worth it. The sight from the sugar loaf was mesmerizing. We could see the entire city of Rio De Janeiro from the top.

The next day started by going to Ipanema Hippie Fair where I did a lot of shopping. And then boom - We saw the most inspiring sight of our tour – the Christ Redeemer. I don’t think I can describe the experience in words, but it truly is one of the seven wonders of the world. (So, now I have seen 2 wonders of the modern world).

Another key highlight of the tour was striking a lot of friendships, 2 of which are quite close – with Joey (LCP, New Zealand) and Pedro (LC VP Finance, Brazil). Also, I came to know the weird Mathematics practice in Brazil. They interchange the use of decimal point and comma in numerals. Example, 1.230 is one thousand two hundred and thirty while 1,230 is one point two three.

The OC had done a great job and they were all very warm people. But now was time to move on for the Asia Pacific Growth Network Pre-Meeting (APGN Pre-meeting) which was to be held in Hotel Del Verde, Sao Paulo.

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Just Like That!

Hmm... I have been super lazy to update blog :P I was back in Singapore on 1st August and am a bit more learned than when I went to India.. I have learnt driving and microwave cooking... hee hee..

Birthday Bloopers


From a Different angle (My paternal side)
Vijit Bhaiya, you were missed a lot :D

India was fun as always, I didn't want to come back at all *hiks hiks* There was full masti and I went to Jaipur also... Amazing trip with my maternal family.. otherwise just chilling at home, meeting people and eating eating eating... gained a lot of weight :P

Mausi and Me (City Palace)

Most of us (Hawa Mahal)



Elephant ride with Anu (Chowki Dhaani)

The best part of the trip was the fact that my Best Friend, Rashika, was also in Agra at that time :D Which made it the most relaxed time of my life after so long... Those cooking classes where we made fun of everyone, going to eat random stuff, playing with aadi-diaa, going to school in a big gang, or just doing nothing at all :P Most cherishable memories!! :D The day when we all went out for Kismat Konnection.. Amazing and unexpected... Me having accidents :P... hahahaha..

Rashika and me (My place)

Aadi-Diaa (Rakhi at Rashika's)

And now, I am just a day away from leaving for Brazil! More fun awaits for sure~

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Woo Hoo!!!

Hola!! I just can't resist myself from sharing all the good news I got today from my Indian peeps *muah...

My bro, Atin (I stayed in a joint family with his family), is getting married on 4th March.... I wanna go, wanna go, wanna go... It is an Inter-religion Love Marriage *The third marriage in my generation and till now all have been inter-caste/religion love marriages...hiks hiks! But I won't be able to go there... buhuhuhu! Anyways, I am sooooooooo happy for him!

My another bro, Vijit, might be coming to Malaysia for work! *But there is a biiiiiiiiiiiig might in between :( If he comes, I'll be in Malaysia every second week and he will be in Singapore when I am not there... I just can't imagine how cool it will be! No more home-sickness *ok lor, atleast to a bit less extent...

I talked to Rashika, my best friend, after a long time for a long time... Hehe! And got very interesting updates from her... *Muah, love ya honey!

For all you peeps, stay happy and safe! Live life, love life!

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Pojjiee!!!!

I remember one of my Value Education lessons in Std 12 (JC 2) very vividly when my Principal, Sr. Aloysius, asked us which is our favourite word.... There was a huge variety of answers ranging from Mom, God, Studies, Love and laughter and so on.... And then Rashika said that she likes Uji because Adi-Dia (Her newly born twin siblings) call her by that name.. Quite true, isn't it??

The names by which different people call us are perhaps the most important words for us.. Imagine you are in a huge gathering (doing whatever) and somebody calls out your name(may be somebody else with your name) but you definitely respond to that, don't you? By name I don't just mean the registered English or Chinese names but your nick names as well...

I consider myself very very lucky to have a large number of nick names...And mind you, the inventors have the copyrights for each name.. I try my best that these rights are not violated.. ;)

Shubhangi - The World
Shubhi - Family
Sia - Ma
Shubbie - Pam and (Sometimes) Imran
Shube - Daddu (Now nobody after he died, and I won't allow anybody to call me this)
Shubbie Doobie Doo - Vijit Bhaiya (Inspired by Scooby Dooby Doo)
Subi - Jain Uncle
Shub - Originally Imran, now the whole AIESEC world and my non-Indian friends..
Shub Bangs, Shub Bangs - Dei
Shub-bung-bung - Ker Ying
Shub Shub - Nabeel, Henri
Shu - Cecilia
Didichu - Saloni
Daughter - Imran
Mentee - Dei
Sis - Udit Bhaiya, Devika
Boss - Paul
Buddy - Alvin
Partner - Pam
Mate - Alvin
Moti - Rashika
Saawariya - Snigdha (with dance) and Komal
Circuit (pronounced as cir cute) - Snigdha, Komal and Manavi
Fauji - Siddharth Bhaiya

Recently, one more name has been added to this list :

Pojjiee (pronounced as Pauji) by Snigdha...

I think this is one of the cutest names I have been given.... And the way she says it.. Just like a small kid calling her loved ones... So many feelings take hold of me when she calls me by this name!!

Each of these names is so very special to me... I love each of them... :)

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