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:
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 
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
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 
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...
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:
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 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:
So I had gone to Coimbatore over the weekend, to do a medical check-up. After the check-up, I went over to mom's house to spend the night (and the next 2 days). And guess what? They'd bought a puppy! Her name is Betsy, she's an Alsatian and she's exactly 70 days old today. Betsy's named after another dog that was in one of my mom's cousin's farm. She has these mood swings, which is kinda unusual for a puppy... She will suddenly open her mouth wide and try to bite you while you're stroking her. Or she could just chase after you and bite you. She bit me twice on the calf, but it didn't hurt, so I guess she was just playing.
She has her own area on the second level of the house (the terrace). It's where she has her meals and plays with us. Talking about meals, she has this weird habit of toppling over her water bowl when she's not thirsty and then lie down in the spilt water. Whenever we bring her downstairs she goes and lies down underneath a car. So we start running away from her and she automatically gets up and starts chasing us. When we set her down in the lawn after a meal or after when she's been eating bugs, or cement (yeah, she did that once) she starts eating grass. My dad says it makes her automatically throw up and get out all those bugs and cement. Then she runs like a madog (mad + dog = madog) all over the lawn. In the sandpit, she starts digging like h-ll. I think that's all I can say about her, so here's a photo of her:
As the pic shows, her fav place is under the swing.
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I was saving this for something special, but here goes:
There are many things that India has to be proud of, such as our heritage, culture, and cuisine. But, I can guarantee you that the state of our traffic is not on the list. While driving, the only thought Indians have on their mind is to go from Point A to Point B and back in the quickest time possible. The safety of others is not important to them. Talking on the phone while driving and blowing the horn to break up traffic jams (sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?) are just some items on the list of characteristics of Indian driving.
If you go to other countries such as the USA, UK, and Australia, people obey the traffic rules, which in turn results in minimal traffic jams. In India, obeying the traffic rules is dangerous! Drivers drive wherever they want, left or right, it doesn’t matter.
Another thing on Indian roads is the corruption. “Corruption?” you may ask. Yes, corruption. The traffic police will stop anyone for anything, just to make some extra money. They will ‘fine’ you for speeding, and then pocket the money for themselves. In other words, the drivers bribe the police not to book them.
When an ambulance is seen making a turn, a vehicle will definitely go on the other side of the ambulance because in that way, that vehicle can reach its destination much faster. Next is the condition of the roads. Indian roads are FULL of potholes, ranging from the size of a tyre to about 3 feet wide. The roads, apparently, are not only for vehicles, but for animals such as goats and cows as well. While driving on village roads, you may see a huge flock of goats moving at a speed of half a kilometre an hour, with a small boy carrying a stick behind them. Blow your horn once, and the boy will turn around, see you, then raise his stick and wave it in the direction of the goats. Like a magic wand, the goats miraculously move away from the road. Even on the city roads, you may see a cow taking an afternoon nap in the middle of the road, which is, many times, one of the causes for traffic jams.
Now, let us take a break from finding fault with the drivers and see how we can improve Indian traffic.
1. Why are Indian drivers in such a hurry all the time? They leave home late, and so they have to get there in the shortest time possible.
Solution: Leave home well in advance.
2. Why do Indian traffic police accept bribes? So that they can make money for themselves.
Solution: When you are caught for something, pay the fine and ask for a receipt.
3. Why are Indian roads full of potholes? Because of the poor quality of the materials used to make the roads.
Solution: The government should take more care while giving tenders.
4. Why are cows seen in the middle of the road? Because of their owners leaving them there.
Solution: A fine for the owners of the animals. They should leave the animals to graze in considerably safer areas, far, far away from the roads.
Looking at the recent events, I see how that everything, and I mean everything, is somehow related to politics. Politicians are obviously the root cause for all these attacks. They live in bungalows and terrace houses, while there are police officers and soldiers giving their lives up just so that we can sleep peacefully at night. And another thing. When there were the train bomb blasts in Mumbai 2 years back, all the commotion died down within 8 hours. When there were bomb blasts in Bangalore a couple of months back, all the hubbub subsided within a day or two. People just forget about things that they must remember and make sure it doesn't happen again! Instead, what happens? They do not carry out any preventive measures so that they are prepared the next time, but instead let it happen over and over and over again!
During an encounter last month or something in Delhi, a police officer by the name of MC Sharma gave his life by taking bullets in the chest. Have you heard anything about his wife now? Today, 3 brilliant officers have given their lives.
Hemant Karkare, the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, died last night by taking 3 bullets in the chest. Unlike other corrupt officials, he was leading his men (only about 2 were wearing bullet-proof vests) and not huddling behind the last man for protection. What will happen to his family? Over the next few days, there will be few photos of his crying family members (just as what happened to MC Sharma's wife), and after that, nothing.
Ashok Kamte, the Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police, was killed while fighting terrorists in the Mumbai Attacks. He, along with Hemant Karkare, will be forgotten. Like them, I am sure there are many others to come.
As for the Mumbai attacks being India's 9/11, I do see many similarities. Both Manhattan Island and Mumbai are major financial centres of their respective countries. But I don't care about the similarities of the attacks. I want to see a similarity in how the Indian government responds to these attacks, just as the USA did. They should see that they are ready for another attack. Yes, you may be wondering why I don't want India to eradicate terrorism and just prevent an attack. It's not that I don't want it, it's just that it's not possible at this point in time! That's the nature of terrorism, ladies and gentlemen! It just can be eradicated. The most we can do at this point in time is to make sure another attack doesn't happen!
There is no use blaming Pakistanis for what has taken place today. We cannot use the small percentage of them as a stereotype for all Pakistanis.
The politicians are currently making all the decisions. They did not give the Army and NSG the go ahead for them to go in. If emergency rule had been brought in, this whole affair would have ended much earlier.
My dad sometimes, in the morning, turns on the TV to watch CNN. And guess what? There were like 4 bomb blasts (as I'm writing this, there have been 10) in Mumbai!
Turns out that these terrorists, from a group called Deccan Mujahideen (sounds new), a branch of another terrorist group called Indian Mujahideen (another new one). 6 places were/are under terrorist attacks. The Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident (another hotel), CST Railway station, Café Leopold, Cama Hospital and Nariman Point. My mum says that these guys (aged only like 20-25) barged into the Café and just started firing (btw, they have AK-47s, hand grenades, etc.). Then they rounded up ppl with American or British passports.
As for the hotels, there are still hostages (about 80 in just one of them) in them, with terrorists. There is smoke billowing out the windows, fires, and gunshots are being heard every 10 mins. The NSG (National Security Guard) is moving up the hotel and they directly under the room where the terrorists and hostages are. On a news channel, they had this guy, called Deepak (no offence, Deep) who was trapped in the Taj Hotel, was on the phone with these news people and is saying stuff like "I'm below the 18th floor, above the 10th, not too high, not too low"! What if the terrorists found out?
My mum also says that there are officials from the Singapore Embassy standing under one of the hotels. Diplomats trapped inside, maybe?
To look at pics, visit this URL: Don't tell them you're a Brit
Today Deepak came to visit (along with Devika, his cousin Nithya, his mum, and his dad)! Yay! I hadn't seen the Skatezoners for almost half a year now, and then Deepak came. Differences:
So we kinda mostly played on the com, which I feel bad about even now, and then we went and played in the 'huge area', as Deepak's mom put it, downstairs. Deepak's as good at swinging as ever, I did a chin-up with great difficulty, and I raced with him. Guess who won? *Answer in the tagbox* Then we came back up to take the table-tennis bats and on the way, we talked about Singapore, India, and stalagmites (sounds real random, eh?). But we got to the clubhouse, and the table was already occupied. So we went back home to play more on the com. Then his dad came, we talked for a while, went to the basement, talked about car, and sent them off. He's going to Thrissur on Monday, and is coming back here on the 13th of Dec, and his mom said we can have sleepover (that's a girl term. I dunno what boys call it).
You see them everywhere. Malls. Apartments. Libraries. Shops. Who are they? Yes, you may have guessed. They are: SECURITY GUARDS! (dah-dah-dahhh!) Who, or what, are these creatures? Some say they are near human, but I doubt it. Having had some personal experience with them (does the term 'Ridgewood' ring a bell?), I think I would be able able to give a first-hand account about them, even though there is a chance that this would be my last post if the King of the Security Guards found out.
The Security Guards' sole purpose is to guard places from thieves and such. So, they do have their advantages. But, they have a Dark Side as well. It all started one day, I don't really remember when, but it must have been somewhere in 2005, when Skatezone was a newly-formed group. We were at one of our first few parties, and having quite a helluva time, and making quite a bit of noise, when we saw it. It was him. The Security Guard.
In India, the security guards are exceptionally funny (not to mention that they might have a screw or two loose in the head). They will blow their whistle for practically everything. And now we shall have a special show by the TBC (Tharun Broadcasting Company): Inside the Mind of a Security Guard.
Brain to lungs: Eyes report that they see a car about to enter the apartment. Blow.
"Wheeeeeeet!"
Brain to lungs: Eyes report that they see car having gone over a hump. Blow.
"Wheeeeeeet!"
Brain to lungs: Eyes report that they see car having entered the basement. Blow.
"Wheeeeeeet!"
Brain to lungs: Eyes report that they see a car parking. Blow.
"Wheeeeeeet!"
Brain to rest of body: Eyes report that they see kids having fun. Interrupt them in any way possible.
"Wheeeeeeet!"
Brain to rest of body: Eyes report that they see 30-year-olds climbing a flagpole. Don't do anything. I repeat: DO NOT DO ANYTHING.
And that brings us to an end of our special programme from TBC. Thank you very much and good night.
'Center Fresh'
Dialogue:
Boy: Daddy! For you.
(Dad takes and eats)
Boy: Daddy, my report card. I failed again.
(Then the dad, smiles, slaps, etc)
'Center Fruit'
'Center Fresh' (2)
Today, we went out from morning till evening. It wasn't that bad, actually. First we went to a place called Cubbon Park (must be named after some ang mor). Well, basically it was a park, so was quite boring, lah! Then we went to an art gallery. It wasn't as boring as I expected, though. They had paintings of animals and stuff. You see, when we entered, there was a power failure (as usual), and guess what? One of the pictures looked better in the dark than it did when the lights were on! Then we went to have lunch and Tanya and me played in an arcade in India for the very first time! Wasn't that bad. There a racing one called 'Fast and Furious', which was better than the ones in S' pore. But the biking one was the same.
Coming up next... Indian ads.
Yay me! I got selected by my school to represent the school for a science quiz! It's a nationwide quiz, called Aqua Regia. Translated, it means 'royal water' in Latin. Aqua Regia is supposed to be able to dissolve GOLD! It's a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, in the ratio of 1:3.
OK, now that we've had a very enriching chemistry lesson, let's get back to to the quiz. Me and my teammate, Rohit (he's from the US), wrote a prelim round and now we have to go to the City Finals at this place call ed Ambedkar Bhavan. The only thing I know about Ambedkar is that he wore specs. I'm excited! And nervous. And scared. Wish me luck.