The Year that was 2009

Start of a new year and of the last semester in SMU. In the spirit of the New Year she joined belly dancing classes. Loving every moment of it she shimmied and andulated her body to the funky beat. On the other hand the economic slump stayed like a black cloud on her head. Despite the despair she kept trying and reached the final stage for 2-3 jobs but all in vain as she got rejected again and again. In midst of this gloom came her 23^rd birthday. It was on the day of her club's play and she knew it wasn't going to be her way. It was an understated affair but for the single long stemmed red rose that came her way. The kid in her was disappointed alas it was time to move on. The winds of change were blowing and she could feel it.

Not one to sit around and wonder, but one to make her own destiny she applied for her Masters studies. The winds carried some good news for her in the form of her conditional acceptance to Cardiff University. She was overjoyed and waited for her final results to seal her faith from the university. Till then it was all about enjoying her last months in SMU. She performed, partied, studied, had lots of fun and made lasting memories.

However her life was never a smooth sailing one. A trip to India led to revelations that shook her to the core. Her faith in friendship was shaken and she was thrown into a bottomless pit of self-doubt. Was she that evil, that horrible? She returned to Singapore but she was not the same and neither was life. Life felt bare like someone had passed. Then again that friendship was now only in the past. Yet life was moving and she was not one to be left behind. She pulled herself together and strived together with life. The months flew and soon she was done with SMU. 4 years had passed and soon would be time to bid goodbye to life she had known till then.

Wanting to celebrate her survival of her Bachelors she flew down under to her baby sister from where they embarked on an adventure to New Zealand and all over Australia. They spent an amazing 4 weeks together and returning home was hard for her. The results came and she a graduate officially. With that she sealed her fate; deciding to fly across the seas to pursue her Masters. Now all she had was time and more time. Never one to sit idle she sprung into action. An ex-professor asked her to be his research assistant and assist him on a case study he was writing. She also became his teaching assistant for an MBA class. It was awesome, it was a blast. All this while she kept progressing in her belly dancing class. She completed beginner's level and was onto intermediate. Then she decided it was time she drove and to get the licence to drive. Driving classes experience was amazing and she fell in love with driving. Time was tight but she was determined.

As the days passed her days at home were dwindling. She was excited and was waiting. Her sister came home and it was time for family. It was fun and it was heart warming. Her ticket was booked and she started to wrap up her life. Ended the roles of research and teaching assistant, completed her driving and her belly dancing. It was then time for the driving test which she aced in her first try; a triumphant act in Singapore that was. Next thing she knew she was at the airport saying goodbye to family and friends. The excitement of the unknown was tinged with anxiety of the same. It was a long flight to her destination and it had been a long life journey to it too.

Arriving in Cardiff, she settled in her new home. It was an 18^th century girls hostels far removed from her comfy room back home. However she made her peace and soon was busy as a bee. The classes had begun and there was a city to conquer, friends to make and a new life to build. She was lucky to find the friends she did and she was aware. The hostel life was different and it was new. She embraced it all making it her own. The weeks flew and the distances shrank. Her soul was near and her heart knew. It sang songs of happiness and jumped for joy too. The meeting was beautiful though short and bittersweet. Yet there was hope with the new distances between. Soon the semester flew by. She strived to do her best and worked hard. After a long hiatus she was rewarded as she was. She was given opportunities too, research on celebrities in India and an internship! Life seemed to be telling her aal izz well. Indeed it was as he was also there. Then came the holidays, bringing the snow, sleet and hail. It was a new experience and she enjoyed. She also enjoyed the daily cooking that was her safe heaven. As the end of the year dawned she looked back behind her at the year gone. The year that was 2009 had been a beautiful, bittersweet journey of life. Then again that is the nature of life as we know, one day up and the next day low. Back home for the holidays she sat looking 2010 into the face. What did this year have in store for the girl who was never going to let go?

Featured in the newspaper

Click on the picture to read the article!

Lamhe- SMU Arts Festival 2009

This article appeared in the SMU magazine..
Click on the photo to read the article!

As the end draws closer

4 years, 8 semesters, 39 subjects, uncountable projects and presentations, late nights in the library, rushing to meet deadlines, rehearsing in the concourse and SESS seminar 5.2.. As foreign as these may seem to you, to me they are reminders of the 4 years I have spent in SMU.

My experience at SMU is coming to an end and as much as I am thrilled to be finally over with my Bachelors, there is a sadness in leaving the university where I amassed a lot of memories. I was filling out my profile page for the yearbook when I came across the question "What is your fondest memory in SMU?". Needless to say I had a hard time pinpointing a single memory, there are too many for me to treasure for the rest of my life.

The times spent with friends simply chatting, having fun, drinking chai, laughing uncontrollably or the times spent frazzled in the library working till wee hours to meet an impossibly close deadline. I remember the 1^st day of FA class when I 1^st met Liz. Both of us were so out of place in an accounting class and were so relieved to find a friendly face in class. I remember we found each other during the class break and stuck together ever since. We literally slaved together for FA and MA, supporting each other through the horrors of the subjects.

I am going to miss each of these memories and much much more. More importantly I will miss all the people who have enriched my time in SMU, It is impossible to think about my university days without my friends and professors. I thank God for blessing me with such wonderful friends who have stood by me the past 4 years. I just hope we can continue to stay in touch and maintain our beautiful friendship.

I had always heard that university is the best time of your life and I totally agree. I loved my university days and am going to miss it a lot!

I think that what makes this rite of passage more bittersweet for me is the fact that I am as yet still unemployed. That means that once my exams end on the 18^th of April, I have an indefinite period of nothingness. I have been working hard on filling this black hole of a period in my life with some meaningful activities. The obvious thing is trying to land a job for which the process is still in process. As would be expected this is no easy feat in the economic times of today. Keeping that in mind I have also applied for Master's studies in the UK. Other than that I have been applying for various short activities like volunteering with the Asian Youth Games and being a Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant for the holidays.

As the end draws closer I look forward to a new beginning while cherishing the many treasured memories I have of university days.

Karna- The Eternal Warrior

Tickets are now available at $15 each.
To purchase, email icskarna@gmail.com or SMS 91998369 or 91810614

**Production is performed in English**

Singapore Management University Indian Cultural Society (SMU ICS) will stage its 3rd annual drama production Karna - The Eternal Warrior on 14 February this year. The production emulates the traditional theatre style prevalent in Ancient India. The drama boasts a SMU student based cast and crew including live vocalists, musicians, actors, creative and technical directors and production manager.

Karna - The Eternal Warrior is an English adaptation of one of the chapters from the Indian epic, The Mahabharata, focusing on the character of Karna. The protagonist, Karna, was the son of the Sun god and due to circumstances was disowned at birth. He faced humiliation at every step in life despite his revered lineage. He was never given the respect he deserved. However despite all odds he rose high and knowingly chose to be on the side of the wrong, but for all the right reasons– gratitude, loyalty, and friendship. Karna went on to use the strength and knowledge he amassed to conquer all who had mocked him in life.

Karna went on to become one of the biggest, most loved and most memorable heroes of the Mahabharata. He encapsulated in himself the angst of living a wronged life, which he lived by the motto of making the best of the worst.

The script of the production is adapted from the original “Karnabharam”, a Sanskrit play written in 500 B.C by Bhasa, who is referred to as the father of Indian drama. Karna comes in the wake of previous 2 highly successful productions by SMU ICS, Ek Pyaar Ki Kahaani and Heer Ranjha. SMU ICS hopes to continue entertaining audiences from across the spectrum while spreading awareness about Indian culture and the diverse talents of its members.

Vision for Karna - The Eternal Warrior
With Karna, SMU ICS aims to expand their audience to include the wider Singapore community. The club seeks to enrich the Singapore community with Indian culture and Indian theatre style. Karna will entertain and educate audiences with its unique blend of traditional Indian theatre (founded in 500BC) and modern theatrical technologies of today.

The drama delivers the message of being successful in all situations and standing loyal to your values and what you do in life. Overall the production gives the audience an opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the multiple talents of SMU students in the showcase.

Production Crew and Cast for Karna - The Eternal Warrior

Production Crew
Niharica Sand- Production Manager
Unnikrishna Menon Sreekanth- Director
Parampreet Kaur- Finance Director
Shaffalika Gandhi- Marketing & Sponsorship Director
Ramesh Chandraseharan- Technical Director
Saroopa Das Choreography – Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society

Cast
Zameer Vaswani- Karna
Gayatri Gopal- Kunthi
Sri Saravanan Sithiasagaran- Salya
Akram Yacob- Suthradhar
Unnikrishna Menon Sreekanth- Brahmin
Roger Cherian Payyappilly- Parasurama

I did learn something in SMU

For the 1st time I am only doing 3 modules. Keeping this in mind I had forecasted ample free time and a chilled out semester. It has been 4 weeks into my last semester in SMU and boy have I been proven wrong.

For each of my 3 subjects I have weekly readings and for strategy I have weekly case homework. I know it doesn't sound so bad. But trust me in the last semester I just don't have the motivation to even pick up the textbook, forget doing case studies. Frankly it is not so bad. I agree. What makes it so irritating are the overly zealous juniors in my classes.

All 3 of my classes have an ample of year 2 and year 3 students. Maybe its generation gap (yikes) or the lack of experience dealing with the SMU style of education. Whatever the reason they are the epitome of kiasu. They highlight their slides a week before the lesson. They complete assignments a week before submission. They want to meet 3-4 times to work on a 10% project. They are eager beavers and it irritates me to no end.

After spending 7 semesters in SMU I guess I have gotten used to completing assignments and projects in minimum time and with minimum meetings. I have also gotten used to prioritising deadlines with their respective grade weightage. I must admit that I too have gone though the period of 3 hour sleeping time and pulling out my hair.

In short I guess I did learn something from my time in SMU. I learnt to be an efficient worker, managing my time well and multi-tasking effectively. Now if only I could land a job based on these practical leanings....

Lamhe at Re:Present, SMU Arts Festival 2009

This coming Monday I will be dancing with 5 other dancers from the SMU Indian Cultural Society. Our performance will be part of the ongoing SMU Arts Festival, Re:Present. In line with the theme of time our performance, Lamhe, will showcase the transition Indian art has made over the years. Using a song from a 1958 Hindi movie and its 21st centuary remix, our dance showcases the difference in music, costumes, dance steps and socital attitude. Come down and watch us dance to the beats of Ek Pardesi, old and new, at Singapore Mangement University T-Junction at 12.30pm on 19th Jan totally free of cost!!

Advanced Financial Accounting

Today I sat for the 1 exam every accounting student in SMU dreads, Advanced Financial Accounting. It has been proven year after year to be the toughest, most challenging and demanding course in the accounting faculty. Being an accountancy student I too had to come face to face with AFA one day. After postponing it for as long as I could I finally subjected myself to the experience of AFA.

Unfortunately for me as I studied more and more accountancy subjects I realized that accounting is not my cup of tea. By year 3 I was 200% sure I didn't want to do anything with the field of accountancy, be it as a degree or as a career. However I stuck to my degree, Bachelors of Accountancy, and forced myself through the accountancy courses. Though I stuck on and went through the courses, I lost all motivation to study. Just getting myself to pay attention during the seminars was a fight of mind over body. Not surprisingly the grades I have been getting for accounting subjects are nothing great. I made peace with this and my motivation fell even more.

With such a mental state regarding accounting and its subjects I can safely say I was not at all looking forward to doing AFA. Alas I had to face my fear and take the class this semester. How I sat through the seminars and the 2 class tests and the final exam I cannot explain. I am just praying I clear the module so I can graduate with my Bachelors of Accountancy degree. The job market is bad as it is, without a degree I can just forget it.

Coming back to AFA, I have to admit it is not all that bad. I enjoyed the finance part of it. I just hated the accounting part. Writing journal entries, making consolidated statements, etc.. just not my cup of tea. I had my final exam today. It was the longest and haziest 3 hours of my life. I have no idea what I did or what I didn't or how I did or how I didn't. I just know I am done with the exam. Now I just pray what I did was enough for me to pass the module and add AFA into my chest of past experiences.

Illuminate Beats- Dance medley

Dance to the medley of 3 songs by Roger, Ritin, Urmila, Talisa, Nirali and me for the SMU Indian Cultural Society's Diwali celebration 2008..

Poverty

The rich are happy, the poor are sad
The rich party as the poor stare
The rich waste but the poor starve
The poor slave as the rich laugh

Why this divide of rich and poor?
The world is all's to share and love
Love thy neighbour, love thy friends,
Love the poor.... give them a hand

They deserve a chance from you and me.
Don't turn your back to their pleas

Illuminate- Diwali celebrations in SMU

For the 1st time in the 8 years of SMU history Diwali will be celebrated. SMU Indian Cultural Society (ICS) is organizing "Illuminate". Illuminate will be held from 22nd to 24th October at the Big Steps at the School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University. I will be dancing for the "Beats" events on Friday at 3.30pm. So come down and check out the dance!!

My Rose

http://wiphotographers.multiply.com/photos/album/4/Rain#12

Red as blood is my rose
Its fragrance filling this prose
Its beauty shining like a torch
Lighting up what I see not

My rose delights with beauty
Yet thorns too bite with cruelty
Kiss of my rose is purer then dew
Its touch is soft as silk

Captivating, seducing
Passionate and loving
My rose is what it is,
Simply a beauty

My Body, Your Body

Creative Writing Poem 1.
Background on poem: Titled 'My Body, Your Body', the poem is about my body and your body. My body is my body but your body is the Singapore History Museum. That was all the brief we got. We were told to go to museum and use that as inspiration for the poem. So on Saturday I spent 2 amazing hours at the museum. The result of all this is the poem below. I hope you enjoy reading it.

My Body, Your Body

What is a body,
an object occupying space?
My body, your body both the same
Yet we differ in what we hold inside us
Me, I hold emotions and a life living
You, tales and stories of lives past

Bodies, yours and mine, are nothing without our souls
Just empty spaces waiting as moulds
My body, your body await the unknown
To give our existence a reason for being

Each day passing adds something to my body, your body
My body lives for the now as with time
Your body lives for the past as gone with time

Still I ask what is your body, my body?
An enigma with treasures hidden?
Or
Just an empty shell?

Creative Writing Class

So one of the 4 classes I am taking this semester is Creative Writing. It is quite a contrast to my accounting modules. But hey I am not complaining. The class is relaxed with the professor super chilled out. He is the some what famous Singapore author Kirpal Singh. He is kinda witty and wacky and very liberal.

Anyways for this class I will have to write a collection of 10 poems. Each week Kirpal Singh would give us the title and basic background to the poem. We are then required to pull out a poem from the air (or where ever else we do)..

I will be posting these poems here.. Do leave your comments and critics. I am not a professional and I am certainly not a technical poet. I just write from the heart.

I survived the exams and my BSM

Like promised, having survived my exams I am back to blog. The exam week was.... very unlike the other 5 exam weeks I have had at SMU. It felt doable, survivable and conquerable.

There was no last minute dash to complete syllabus (for at least for 3 of my 4 exams). I wasn't feeling as stressed as I always do. I had more than my exam usual 3-4 hours of sleep each night. I didn't break out into cold sweat sitting in the exam hall and I managed to complete the exam papers (all except for 1). All in all it felt good completing the last paper. I knew I had put in my best and just prayed that my hardwork would be rewarded.

On the last day of my exam I was woken up by mom. She was really cute as she woke me up saying "Wake up beta, end of year 3!". Isn't my mother the best?! I seriously love her. She puts no pressure on me for my studies. She accepts my results without a question. She tolerates my mood swings, my messy room and my erratic behavior around the exam time. Best of all she supports me through everything. She is the best mom I could ever want!

My messy study table that only unfolds during exams

It is an utter mess..

Anyways my results are out and I cleared all my exams. *woohooo* I'm officially done with year 3. It proved to be the longest year in SMU with the normal term, modified term and term 3A. Now I am getting geared for summer school at LSE and the final forth year at SMU.

Exams Frenzy

Yikes where does the time fly..

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was enjoying my Chritmas holiday weekend with my girls in Genting? Or wasn't it just yesterday I had started with my Investor Relation classes? Or wasn't it just yesterday that I had my first Tax Planning class and hated it?

All the slogging, all the tears, all the hardwork and all the torture culminate in the 4 exams I will soon be sitting for. I have never hated exams as much in my 12 years of schooling as I hate them in university. The time never seems enough, I never feel prepared enough and the atmosphere doesn’t seem conducive enough!

A semester in SMU lasts for 15 weeks. 13 weeks are for lessons with a one week break in week 8 and week 14. Week 15 is exams week. The 1 week break in week 14 is coined the study break as it is before the exams. It is supposed to give students time to concentrate fully on exams. However I think 1 week is just tooo little, especially with professors stubbornly holding tutorial and revision classes in the same week. Where is the time to sit and down and burry myself in books if I am going to be running back and forth SMU and home?! That is the normal state of things during the weeks of classes anyways. That leaves nothing special about week 14 break week.

Also no matter how much earlier I want to start studying for exams, I can’t.

1. The syllabus doesn’t get completed before week 13, or week 12 at the earliest.
2. There is a rush of project, report and presentation deadlines in week 11, 12 and 13; sometimes even in week 14!

I usually end up staying in SMU till crazy hours in my bid to meet these deadlines

Making the library my 2nd home, I have stayed in the library latest till 3.30am!

So it all boils down to the week 14 where I have to manage/ attempt to cover my studying for all my exams; 4 for this term.

My exams are as such,
2^nd June, 9am: Advanced Audit
3^rd June, 2pm: Ethics
5^th June, 9am: Tax Planning
6^th June, 9am: Advanced Management Accounting

My carrot to survive through the exams is my flight to Sweden on 7^th June!! :D

Taxed by Tax

OMG Singapore tax laws is making me go bonkers! Nothing to do with the country, just the fact that I am unfortunately studying the Singapore tax laws..

It might seem interesting and I might just be. But when it comes to understanding it, remembering it and applying it, there is nothing remotely interesting left.

I thought my Income Tax and GST module was bad. Boy was I in for a surprise when I started the Tax Planning module! Now I am required to know the tax laws and concepts so well that I should be able to plan tax for companies and individuals to pay minimum taxes..

I have Tax Planning class every Thursday morning and there is a quiz each week. I spend each Wednesday frozen in fear trying my best to prepared for the quiz. The irony? Each quiz is only 2%! I am praying hard to survive the final exam. The professor very kindly informed us that the maximum marks a student can get in the exam in 65%. Now if the smartest of the accountancy mugger can only get 65%, I know I should be terrified.

All I know is that I am going to celebrate once I survive this module.

The accounting 'hell' I got myself into

I am a student of Accounting. But the fact remains that I do not enjoy this field of study. This is the very reason why I choose my 2^nd major of Corporate Communication. Corporate Communication is as far removed from Accounting as ever. It is also a field of study I thoroughly enjoy.

As if being forced to study Accountancy is not torture enough, someone brilliantly decided to have all the Accountancy classes at 8.30am in the morning. Each class also has a minimum 50% weightage exam together with disastrous project requirements. Most of the times the projects aren’t even useful and demand insane amounts of time and resources.

The professors too have sworn to be the most boring, monotonous, cynical, evil and vindictive of the lot. The students are no better. They are vicious with their excessive competitiveness and fire to excel regardless of whom they have to remove from their path of success. This deadly combination makes the faculty most unfriendly in general. It also brings about an atmosphere of hostility and Darwinian style fight of survival.

It’s quite obvious I do not have the most raving of views of my faculty peers. As expected of all my friends a bare minimum are from the Accountancy faculty.

It is then a pity that I am expected to sit through 3, 3 hours advanced accounting classes at 8.30am on each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Most times I have no interest or initiative to follow the lesson. It is at these times that I wonder if I could use this time instead for something more worthy. Especially since I can survive the course without listening to a single word during the class and studying on my own.

It is then depressing to think I have 3 more accounting modules left before graduation. I sincerely wish I had not chosen Bachelor of Accountancy for my degree and gotten myself into this hell.

SMU BOLLYWOOD AND BHANGRA BASH

After the successful SMU Bollywood and Bhangra Bash '06, Club Masti is proud to bring back SMU Bollywood and Bhangra Bash '07

Featuring Singapore's top DJs, DJ G2, DJ Haresh and DJ Ravs with guest top Malaysian DJ, DJ Simran

Special performance by Asia's Finest Bhangra Troupe, Kohinoor Bhangra

So what are you waiting for? Mark your calenders and get your tickets!

Date: 1st September 2007
Venue: Harry's @ Millenia Walk
9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-75A,
Millenia Walk
Time: 9pm till late
Tickets: $18 for SMU students (with 1 drink inclusive)
$20 for everyone else (with 1 drink inclusive)

The most happening Bhangra Bash awaits you!! Join in the fun & party all night long!!

Bus service provided from SMU to Harry's from 9.30pm to 10.30pm

For ticket enquiries contact,
Charu 91810614
Ravi 90888942
G2 93872837
or drop an email at clubmasti@gmail.com

the best birthday ever!

On the 14th of February 2007 I turned 21. A huge milestone as i have heard. As such i had naturally been excited about it for a long time.

However as fate would have it i have been unbelievably busy this whole semester. Hence as the days passed, my dream of the 'perfect' 21st birthday seemed to be just a dream. However being the determined person I am, i snapped myself out of my dreams and started working to make my birthday a reality.

14th of February 2007 fell on a Wednesday, smack in the middle of the working week. There was no way i could have had my party on the 14th. Choosing another date was tricky, with the occurrence of the lunar New Year. Finally i settled on the 16th of February 2007.

I was lucky my parents were very supportive of my party idea. I got substantial funding from them. The most important and yet difficult task was making my guest list. My initial guest list ran into 100 plus people. Painfully i cut it down to 80 odd. I also got the venue, DJ, food and drinks settled. The venue of my party was perfect. I held it in frujch, a bar in SMU.

Yes you read that right; it is a bar in my university. It is an amazing place with the perfect ambiance and a full working bar. I didn’t need much persuading to choice that as my venue.

I have the best bunch of friends! I really do and they proved their friendship when they banished me from doing any preparations for the party other than what I had already done. They took upon themselves to decorate the place, get my cake, and welcome the guests while I was ordered to make a 'grand entrance' at the party. Such sweethearts.

Unknown to me they were also planning numerous surprises for the party. Boy what surprises they turned out to be!!!!

Here are the surprises-

1. The BEST surprise! Kanu sent an audio message which was played as I cut my cake. I was in utter shock. After the message ended out came out my lovely teddy bear sent by Kanu. What a surprise.... I was crying as I cut the cake. Thanks to my friends and of course Kanu.


2. Paru presented me a collage of our photos together from the time she was 2 years old to now... such memories on that one board. I can't believe my little sister is going to leave home for her studies. I am going to miss her so much. Once again my darling's surprise left me in tears.

3. Aarti and Param got me green and silver helium balloons! =D

4. Liz sang 'chura liya hai tumne' for me. Unknowingly she picked my absolute favourite song. =D

The party was just amazing, too much fun. I really want to thank everyone; you guys made it the most special day in my life. This has been the best party ever. I can never ever forget that day. Thank you all for your love, best wishes, blessings and gifts. I want to thank all those who came.