RI Prejudice!

RI Boys (and Girls now, too) are seen by the public as the elite (Raffelitists, lol), the goody-two-shoes and the best of the best. So everyone has this image of RI students being nerds and academicky people. So if we make a mistake, everyone is shocked as though Rafflesians aren’t allowed to make mistakes. I remember Deep told me that during a Skatezone reunion, a security guard came after them while they were playing DC and told them something about them being Express students, being from good schools, yadayadayada. So now it’s a crime for Express students to play, is it? Seriously, to all the non-Express students out there, place yourselves in our shoes and think how you would have felt.

Happy Birthday to Me…

So, today, I’m 14 years old! After more than 1 decade of being alive, this, as always, leads me to appreciate the miracle of life. But what happens when I’ve passed? Will I be remembered by mankind? Will I have contributed what I should have contributed to the society? Or will I just be one of the 7 billion? What will I make of my life?

Arr, forget that. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated! So  today, I’m going to Rach’s house. Lol my mum got be 2 books, turned out I’d read them already!

Blog, or not to blog?

After about 2 months of not blogging, I was forced have decided to blog again after repeated nagging from my mum and Aru. Well, first of all there’s like so much to say! For starters, I’m not in India anymore, cos I totally hated it there, you know, everyone is so… dumb-ish and beating everyone at every test is so easy! So you know, there wasn’t much of a challenge. So I told my parents. Then they got  ticket back to Singapore. And they did all this without me knowing. My mum contacted my Mr Pang, who told the whole class. Then Rav told Skatezone, and HF asked me on Facebook if I really was coming back. As I didn’t know at that time, I told her something to the effect of my Leave of Absence ending, yadayadayada, you get the point. So I came back here, and now my mum is working again and Tanya is going to school again. My dad, however, will still be in India. He says that his project will be over in 6 months. So, right now, I’m really busy, but I expect the workload to get heavier as the year progresses. What do I mean by “really busy”? Well, in the 4 weeks that I’ve been in RI, I’ve been working on 2 projects, written 4 tests, and going for 01!

But still, all of the above is part of being a Rafflesian. Note that I say “Rafflesian”, not RI-er. From what I’ve heard, RGS is a lot harder. Can you believe they actually have to learn cooking!? *scoff* But anyway, back to what I was saying. Being in Raffles isn’t easy. We don’t have free time for ourselves cos we’re like so darn busy. What do I mean? Skatezone had arranged for a reunion a few weeks ago, but we couldn’t cos like EVERYONE (except Rach and Rav) was busy on every suggested date. So, to all the Primary School kids thinking about going to a Raffles School, think twice. It’s not that you’re going to regret joining a Raffles School. Contraire! You’re gonna have a hell of a time!

Medal!

On Thursday, the Academic Coordinator called me up on stage and said some stuff which was totally not true (like bringing laurels to the school, etc, etc). Then I got the medal and she made me show it to the school and all... Then they pinned another medal onto me. My teacher told me to keep it on, but I took it off anyway. Here are the medals:

Topper! again

If you look through previous posts, you will see that there is a post entitled "Topper!" Well, good news again! I just found out that I'm not just the topper for India, I'm the topper for South Asia, and most of the Arabian Peninsula!

But then again, everyone's calling me a nerd (I look nothing like that. My glasses aren't that big, my skin ain't yellow, and I don't have buckteeth that stick out) because of this. One of my teachers came to class and made an announcement. She also said that I'd be receiving a GOLD medal tomorrow, but I don't believe her. The last time I got a medal for UNSW, it was just plated gold (ask around).

Survey!

OK. I know some of you may have heard of ThinkQuest, a kind of thingy which is a competition thingy which lets you make project thingies. My group decided to do one on homemade weapons. So we wanted a survey and here's the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pRX5Th3CCm9pACAu8OqXlg_3d_3d

For those of you people out there who are related to me, fergeddaboutit.

Chikkamagalur

First of all, apologies.

Recently, I had gone on a trip to this place called Chikkamagalur which is about 7 hours away from Bangalore on a school field trip. We stayed at this place called Woodway Homestay owned by someone who owned a coffee estate of about 300 acres (about 1.2 km²). We didn't do much on the first day except that I was assigned to a dormitory and not a bedroom, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We all got double-decker beds and I got to sleep on the top, so one afternoon I was bored, so I called over a few friends and jumped from bed to bed as "The Human Mario" with one of my friends singing the theme song. We went on a tour around the owner's coffee estate the next day and guess what? You have to wait for 9 years before the coffee plant actually gives you something! And it has to be between 18 to 30 years old so that its harvest is somewhat stable. That morning, I tried a whole cup of coffee for the first time. One of my friends was like UGH but frankly, I liked it. So helped myself to bit more... and had quite a lot more at night, and then I couldn't sleep. Stupid coffee. That was it really. On the bus trip I watched movies on Saif's iPod like Blades of Glory and such. I got some coffee back from Chikkamagalur and I get a cup a week if I keep begging.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Haha I think some of you guys may be getting, your hopes up, but this is by Onion News Network, which makes fake but hilarious news reports. Here goes:

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With NO Keyboard

Hilarious.

Pointless!

I don't know if you guys do, but go visit if you haven't.

http://tharun.firstaspect.net/gallery.html

Biased!

Recently, a few events have started me thinking. I've forgotten all but one. Today, I forgot to bring my Math project to school (yes, I had finished it). My Math period was taken over my mistake by my History teacher. By the time she realised, it was time for the photo-shoot session for the yearbook (I think). Then during the actual History period the History teacher came in again. So I didn't have to submit my Math project today. This has happened quite a number of times. Once, when I was one of the guys with long hair, I wasn't called up. It's happened with many other stuff as well.

Why?!

I have thought of 3 possibilities:

1. I'm small and cute and no one has the heart to scold me (I swear, some boys have said this to me).
2. The principal has given each of my teachers a briefing not to scold me.
3. I am a future saviour of the world. Everyone knows about this except me. People have been instructed by the Oracle who saw this in the future not to scold me (Godzilla, perhaps?)
   

What do you think?

Maldives planning to buy a new homeland

Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed, says that the gradual rise in sea levels caused by global warming means the Maldives islanders may eventually be forced to resettle elsewhere.

The Maldives is the lowest nation in the world. Its highest land is little more than two metres above sea level.

The United Nations estimates that sea levels may rise globally by nearly 60 centimetres this century.

Devastation fears

The Maldives comprise more than 1,000 islands and coral atolls surrounded by the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

The white sandy beaches are a major tourist attraction bringing in billions of dollars every year.

Now Mohamed Nasheed, who will be sworn in as the country's first democratically elected president on Tuesday, has said that he will set up a fund to acquire land in other parts of the region.

Mr Nasheed's spokesman, Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, told the BBC's World Today programme that the new government had to take action.

"Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people. We are just about three feet (0.91 metre) above sea level," Mr Zaki said, speaking from the capital, Male.

"So any sea level rise could have a devastating effect on the people of the Maldives and their very survival".

Similar culture

Over the last century, sea levels around parts of the archipelago rose by nearly 20cm. Mr Nasheed fears that even a small rise could leave some islands inundated.

Mr Nasheed's plan is to create a "sovereign wealth fund" using tourism revenues to buy land so that future generations will have somewhere to rebuild their lives if they have to leave.

He wants somewhere within the region, where the culture is similar - possibly India or Sri Lanka.

His fears is that if he does not take action, the future descendents of the 300,000 islanders could become environmental refugees.

Source: Somewhere in BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7719501.stm, me thinks.

Me Talks:

I think this is... funny. Everyone knows that Maldives is a group of islands, so imagine if they bought a place in Bangalore. Your GPS would say stuff like "The Republic of Maldives is approaching. Please keep your passports ready." But what I find put-downing is that Nasheed speaks as though nothing can be done about global warming. It's almost as though he's already given up. Nasheed, if you're reading this (which is most unlikely to happen), please leave your reply in comments or in the tagbox. I hope you're tech-savvy.

Topper!

I can't believe it. I just went online to check the scores for the UNSW Examination results, and guess what! I was the Indian Topper for the Computer Skills exam! And no one else had as a score as I did (which itself wasn't very high either (37/40)), so I was the only topper for Grade 8. Not only that, I got High Distinctions in every subject (English, Mathematics, Science, Computer Skills (obviously lah)). So when I told my teachers, turned out that they knew about this weeks back and they just wanted to keep it as a surprise for me. But too late. The Great *coffcoff* Tharun outwitted them! Oh I can see you all ing at me. Thank you very much, you may arise.

My Site!

Yay got my own site! I haven't really done up much yet, seeing as I started it sometime yesterday. I haven't got any ideas on what to put up on the "Home" page, so I'm all open for suggestions from you guys. The blog tag redirects us to this page, the gallery has a few (2, to be exact) Flash™ animations. On the "About" page you will find a very biased so called "biography" about myself. On the "Contact" page, you will find links to the other pages plus the time plus some stuff about me EXCEPT my contact details. Must protect my privacy mah! As I said earlier, I'm open to suggestions!

Oops, forgot to tell you the URL. http://tharun.firstaspect.net/

Monkeys!

Recently, I was doing a project on my laptop when Tanya came up and told me to come up to the balcony 'cause my dad was calling me. So I just went over to the balcony and whaddya know?! There were monkeys on the nearby brick (I think) factory! Right in smack in the middle of  commercial Bangalore! So we watched them for about half an hour through my dad's Bushnell binoculars and we found that 1 of the monkeys was missing an arm, 1 was pregnant (or maybe just ate too much) and 1 was... well... small (very mischievous though). Then they made their way down the fence into the lawn near the beach volleyball court and started pointlessly roaming around. So for the past week, these monkeys have been the stars of the apartments. Though it was only today that a security guard finally noticed them and then a few guys came with cameras and started snapping. The monkeys then made one of them screeching sounds, but the dumbos still didn't move away! And the monkeys didn't do anything either back, so I guess it was OK...

Well the monkeys looked scared out of their wits though. Looks like I won't be seeing them for a while...

Bird strike confirmed in US crash

It has been confirmed that a collision with a flock of birds caused a US airliner to lose power and ditch in a New York river just after take-off.

Flight data recorders show the engines of the US Airways Airbus A320 cut out simultaneously, National Transport Safety Board investigators say.

The plane had only managed to reach a top altitude of 3,200ft (975m).

All 155 passengers and crew of Flight Flight 1549 survived the landing on the Hudson, which made headlines worldwide.

They were rescued by boats from the sinking aircraft - the captain was the last to leave.

The wreckage of the plane was lifted by crane from the icy waters on to a barge moored to a lower Manhattan seawall late on Saturday and is now being moved to a marina for closer inspection.

'Sound of thumps'

Kitty Higgins of the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Sunday that ice floes in the river were slowing the search for an engine thought to have separated from the plane when it ditched on Thursday afternoon.

But she said the "black box" data confirmed pilot testimony that the plane had collided with a flock of birds.

"About 90 seconds after take-off, the captain remarks about birds," she said, quoting the data recorder.

"One second later the cockpit voice recorder recorded the sound of thumps and rapid decrease of engine sounds. The captain acknowledges that both engines have lost power and he takes control of the aircraft."

Earlier, the plane's pilot, Capt Chesley B "Sully" Sullenberger, and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, described for the Board how they had suddenly seen "big, dark-brown birds" approaching, then registered them hitting the plane.

Capt Sullenberger took the decision to ditch the plane in the river dividing Manhattan from New Jersey.

Apart from one person whose legs were both broken, none of those aboard are reported to have sustained serious injuries.

The pilot was due to give his first TV interview about the crash on Monday but that has been cancelled at the request of the US airline pilots association.

1 1526 local time (2026 GMT): Flight 1549 takes off from LaGuardia airport 2 1527 (2027 GMT): Pilot Chesley Sullenberger reports birds hitting engines 3 1528 (2028 GMT): Pilot told to land at Teterboro airfield 4 1531 (2031 GMT): Pilot ditches plane in Hudson River

First of all, Wow.


This reminds me of a Hindi movie, Rang De Basanti, where the whole conflict arises because a fighter pilot dies. I forgot exactly what happened, but something happened to the plane and it was about to explode. The plane was right on top of a city. If he had ejected there, the plane would have crashed in the city. So, he steers the plane away from the city, and when he is a safe distance away from it, the plane explodes. With him in it.


I'd like to congratulate Pilot Chesley Sulenberger for his heroic act (yes, these are my own words, no plagiarizing) by saving all those... *checking article* ...ah... 155 passengers on board.

Trusting shopkeeper leaves store unattended

My mom pointed this out to me a few days back. My first reaction was WOW! Here goes:

A North Yorkshire shopkeeper left his hardware store open on Boxing Day - with an honesty box instead of staff.
Tom Algie wanted to give himself and his three staff the day off but without letting down his customers, reports the Daily Mail.
So he left a note telling shoppers to serve themselves and then leave their payment in the box he had left behind the counter.
When Mr Algie, 47, returned at 4.15pm to close up, he was delighted to find the shop in Settle, had taken £187.66 - and two euros.
The father of two said: "I didn't think twice about leaving the shop open. Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there's never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn't disappointed.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just wanted to spend the holidays with my family but thought it would be quite nice to open up the shop."
The honesty box - which he dubbed his newest member of staff - was made out of a funnel and plastic cereal box, and put behind the counter at his shop Practically Everything.
His note read: "Yes, I have given everyone the day off, including me, so please choose the items you want and place the right money inside, Merry Christmas."
Customers also left notes saying what goods they had bought and this, combined with a quick check of his stock, confirmed that his trust was not abused.

Goes to show the honesty of the British!

Back to Bangalore...

Now that I've returned to Bangalore from vacation, allow me to share some of my pix with you guys:

First of all, where Mysore is in India:

Different views of the Mysore Palace


Look closely and you'll see ENORMOUS beehives!


The 'amazing' view includes a power generator, a solar heater, a coconut tree, and an apartment...



 


The garbage lady shouting at a person from another house for dumping garbage outside the house...

P.S. Apologies if the captions aren't very visible.

December

As you may know, my mother reads my blog regularly to see how things are going on it. After her routine check, she pointed out that I had 26 posts in November but only 5 in December. Oh, I know... I can even hear all you guys shouting "Booooo!" at me! My excuses? Well, I have a number of them! 2, to be exact.

The first one - The dreaded word. Something all most of us hate. Doomsday. It is: EXAMS!!! Da-dah-daahhh! If you guys think "So what?!", you're wrong! I had 11 exams and only a week to prepare for them (OK, the procrastination bit was my fault). So, in my fervour to do well in the exams, I totally forgot about R&B.

The second one - The holy word. Something all most of us worship. The day(s) of our lives. It is: HOLIDAYS!!! Ta-da! If you guys thought that that gave me an opportunity to blog, you're wrong! The first few days, I was in Mysore, without using a computer (despite my dad having his laptop, the hotel being a Wi-fi zone, and there being a computer room downstairs XD). I was too caught up in um... having fun and didn't blog until New Year's Day.

P.S. As I write, there are 3 dead mosquitoes on the table.
P.P.S. I'm using my grandma's laptop
P.P.P.S. I'm taller than my mom (lol)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Looking back on 2008, I see how things have flown by so fast. My first day at RI, my new friends, how Skatezone still kept in touch despite being in different schools, me leaving Singapore for India, my first day at EISB, topping the class (twice!), Obama's victory (and more importantly McCain's loss), me making new friends, and most importantly, growing taller than my mom.

It's usually at this point in time, after reminiscing about the past year, people make New Year's resolutions. Mine are the following:

• Grow taller
• Eat more
• Grow taller
• Gain weight
• Grow taller
• Do well in the final exams
• Grow taller
• Take life more easily
• Grow taller

Award

Sorry for not posting till Saturday, but anyway, last Monday I'd gone to school to get that award for Literary Activities and not many people came. Just a handful of parents, most of the students and the awardees. Then they call up the awardees, say a few lies about us, then give us a certificate, a trophy and a cash prize. It wasn't anything flashy, but it was good anyway. Everyone was like "omg it's glass!" If I'd told them it was acrylic, they'd have given a blank stare. So I didn't bother. So for getting that thing, my mum gave me a watch. Turns out that she'd already bought it ages ago in Singapore, and was gonna give it to me when I'd done something worthy of getting that watch. It's solar-powered and it has a database to store 30 contacts. She gave my sister a watch too, but that's another story...