Ode to My Tainted Dreams

First post of 2010. Well, Happy New Year… and 5 days. I still am allowed to say it because my christmas tree hasn’t been dismantled yet, but don’t worry, I won’t go as far as wishing everyone a merry christmas. I just hope you all enjoyed the festivities as much as I have. What I did? Most of the times, nothing. We went up to Wales for Christmas, had people over the house most of the times during December and yes, I cooked.

I have been cooking a lot these days, I even made dinner for the 31st of December, which included the roast chicken, baked potato croquettes, boiled carrots, stir-fried mushrooms and finally, salad. And, it wasn’t bad, even if I was stressed as hell because I was alone at home with the kids and I had to babysit them as well as take care of the whole house for the day and do all the stuffs and I’m stressing again. Continue reading →

There are some moments in life that seem so far away, you doubt that they will ever arrive. As a young child in primary school, I can remember watching the older kids all going to various upper schools across town and thinking that I would never ever be that old, and would never ever leave my school behind. But life has a habit of creeping up on you; in what seems in retrospect to be a very short few years, I’ve completely finished school and am now looking into different universities. I mention this because the amazing meeting of last week, when I finally met the amazing Nussaïbah, was one of those events that initially seemed so far away that the notion of it actually happening became something of a fantastical concept.

Many, many moons ago, I was in the middle of tearing my hair out before a major geography exam. Despite desperately seeking to gain the best grade possible, I was spending way too much time online; on that night, anything could distract me away from conservation strategies in the Galapagos Islands, which despite being a fascinating subject, loses its appeal very quickly when you have to write about it under exam conditions. One of the messages posted on the Internet that night was a wish of good luck from a friend to a classmate and me ahead of the test the next day; a message that would lead to a new friendship being built with someone from across the globe.

After several hours of writing my heart out in a series of unending essays, I was feeling over the Moon, enjoying that feeling of raw happiness one gets after finishing a complex piece of work. Checking back over the Internet that evening, I was charmed to discover that someone else had also joined my friend on the topic of wishing us well, and upon investigating this person’s profile, was amazed to discover that they were from Mauritius, just over six thousand miles away. The sheer scale and size of the Internet is revealed through such moments, and I can remember taking a few minutes just to visualise that extent of that distance. Continue reading →

Climate Change: The theme for this year’s Blog Action Day, barely a surprise since this issue has been gracing the headlines for, god knows, how much time now, hooting warnings about the ‘mere’ two degrees that can change our lives forever and that most of us don’t even care about. To tell you the truth, it is hard to care, with the recession hitting and your money being more important that your planet. Humans have this tendency to care more about materialistic matters rather than devoting themselves to a cause they can barely understand.

Climate Change, the hot topic selling the newspapers, the main focus of scientists and one of the issues we manage to hide deep in the back of our mind. True enough, who can say that he thinks about climate change or any other environmental issue everyday, trying to find a solution to this global problem. Even I can’t say that, though sometimes I do feel like an environmental freak. Why, though? It’s because we feel that we, by ourselves, do not have the power to change the whole world. Of course, we don’t. What can one single person, among the 6.791 billion ones forming the world’s whole population, do. Continue reading →

‘Geography is a flavour’ says Starbucks and I cannot help but agree. There’s nothing better than tasting another part of the world, exploring a new city and meeting new people. These last two weeks sure have been hectic, with me going around everywhere, trying to understand most of the stuff and more importantly, trying not to get lost. But I have to say, London is a beautiful city, at the heart of which I discovered different cultures, blandly seen as one from afar.

Okay, I have to admit it though, I have met so many people whose faces or names are just a blur in my mind. And some who surely I do remember but just feel weird about going to talk to them. And of course there are others who I want to meet again and meeting we are. But it doesn’t that if I’m loving everything about ‘my new home’ that I’ve already forgotten about home. Because the truth is, I’m somehow missing it, its familiarity and warmth for swimming in unknown waters can be quite scary sometimes. Continue reading →

It’s finally time to say goodbye, I didn’t think it would be so soon. Yet, yesterday I wasn’t feeling anything. I was still as happy and as excited t be going, but it finally sank in as the first of my cousins, as close as a brother to me said goodbye. It was then that I realised he wouldn’t be texting me anymore to say he was coming over in 5 minutes, leaving me barely the time to wear something decent.

Or that I wouldn’t be tutoring my little cousin anymore, I wouldn’t be yelling at the older ones because they left everything for the last minute (as I usually did) and we’d have to stay up late to complete everything. I wouldn’t have my aunt check on me when I would be alone at home, or I wouldn’t have my mother call me on my cellphone because I couldn’t hear her from downstairs. Continue reading →

I have been struggling to write this post for more a day now; since a few days now, the blogosphere counts a new blog among its vast directory of blogs and I had given myself this huge task of introducing it… to the world. I kept wondering whether to go with the informative tone or the poetic one, filled with the literary passion that brought us friends together to create Arcadia.

The Arcadian Blog is a blog dedicated to fictitious writing, a secret haven for all these dormant writers to come and unleash their creativity. It seems to be a crazy project, but with a bunch of crazy young kids, nothing is impossible, or so, we would like to think. While we have many ideas for this little creation of ours, we have decided to start with the one which brought this whole project alive: The Fictitious Writing Activity (FWA). Basically, it’s an activity where write the opening of a story and someone else will take over to continue and complete it. Both writers have complete freedom as to what do write, as long as it’s coherent.

I’d suggest heading over to the blog for more information, it would certainly be better than the pitiful explanation I’m trying to write. The guidelines can be found here, and you can send us an email if you want to sign up. The FWA is in no means a contest, there is no winner or loser. It’s just a fun activity to bring Fiction Lovers together.

Come unleash your creativity at Arcadia. We’ll be waiting…

I woke up to the feeling that everything was moving beneath me. My first thoughts were of panic and horror as I went through the worst possible scenarios as to why my home was shaking as it was. An earthquake was out of question, though back in a corner on my mind, my little brain was working hard to try and remember my earthquake survival lessons my father gave me when I was little. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head, telling myself that this was just a nightmare, but even that seemed impossible; seconds ago, I had been dreaming of that beautiful girl again, the one I saw long ago in my old home and from who I was cruelly separated by those heartless humans who are now supposed to be my masters.

As I lamented silently in my corner, I felt three pairs of eyes on me, watching my every movement. I smelled the sweet scent of my unexpected visitors, and suddenly, life wasn’t so bad after all; females were all around me AND at the same time, interested in me. I rarely had female company and the change was welcome. Of course, there is my ‘master’, but I doubt I’ll ever be able to see her in any other way than that of the person because of whom I was separated from loved ones. Anyway, the two other faces were new to me and they didn’t really seem that mean.
But little did I know of the whimsical nature of the fair sex for my experience was only limited to my sisters and their friends who had never been that interested in me. Some experience wouldn’t hurt, I thought to myself as I tried to remember the tips my older brothers gave me. Continue reading →

Back to reality, Sayuka and I should probably go to, but the past two days were so dream-like that one feels that real life is in fact dull sometimes.”Let’s have a sleep over,” we decided back in February when we received our results. Among all the things we wanted to do, this had been top on our lists for some one or two years now, without ever receiving permission for it. Thing’s weren’t that easy, with our overprotective mothers who weren’t not that willing to let their girls go somewhere else to spend the night, not that we haven’t done it before… But I think going to someone’s home rather than a bungalow near the beach or a seminar organized by the school is way different.

Knowing that a full-proof plan was needed, for, of course, we were going to be bombarded with questions about the why and stuff. The best strategy needed to be adapted to get past the barriers our supermoms created, and after dropping clever hints for months and crafting the perfect reasons, we decided to present our cases to our mothers. We almost jumped in joy when we heard the oh-so-awaited “yes” uttered by our mothers! We had wanted this for a long time, but somehow everything was rushed. The previous week, I told the girls that they could come whenever they want, and suddenly, Wednesday arrived, with me hurrying to go meet them. Continue reading →

A woman is said to be born three times: the first being her real birth, the second is when she gets married and the third when she gives birth herself. Each time, she is given a new life, in which her role changes and to which she has to adapt. Most would agree that the best ‘life’ ever would be the time between her birth and her wedding. She is pampered, mostly by her parents, taken care of very carefully, for she is the flower that they have to look after until she blooms into a beautiful bride.

This particular moment brings out the most contradictory feelings, for a daughter’s wedding is the time when happiness hand in hand with sorrow sees the bride off to her new home. Which is why weddings are usually celebrated with lots of celebrations because it usually means a new stage of life for the couple, and here in Mauritius, it’s certainly no different. Being quite influenced by both the western and eastern culture, our weddings tend to have a touch of both.

In my family, we have tried to keep most of the rituals, if not all, that one has to go through when getting married, especially for the bride. From what I have experienced, the parents and the relatives all manage to turn the already-not-so-simple wedding into a long one, but one which prepares the bride both mentally… and physically. Continue reading →

I wish I had a time machine

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