Janaki's Blog

Updated my second short story on Wattpad ! Whee ! This new story is called “Subway” and describes an encounter between two peers on, well, the subway. I’m so proud of it, and I hope you guys give it a read. My character, Cleo, is shy and introverted, and hopefully, she’s someone we can all relate to. Read the story here ...

We’ve reached 100,000 pageviews folks! Woohoo! I started this blog when I was nine, and since then it's been an incredible journey for me. “My Diary” has been featured on an American school website as an example of blog writing, is a member of Best Indian Blogs and has been converted into a book by Uncle Gopichan, twice. A renowned artist, Uncle Venki , did fabulous illustrations just for me. My friends and family are an integral part of this blog, and I’ve received a lot of support and encouragement from the people around me. I feel it is time to revamp the blog. I’ve been thinking about changing the name to something a little more mature. For the past two years, school has been eating up my time, and my pace of blogging has really slowed down. I hope I can catch up soon with the updates. For now, this is Janaki, signing off.

Hey readers! I joined Wattpad last week, and just recently uploaded my first story ' Bruises '. A short, one page story about a mentally challenged girl defending her brother . When a bully assaults Christopher, things spiral out of control as Madison takes things into her own hands while her past comes back to her. I would love if you gave it a read.

Eleventh grade has taken off like a bullet from a gun. The days have been flying so fast, especially the weekends, and I’ve hardly been able to keep track of what’s going on. I think I have mentioned my love for music in some of my earlier posts, and if you’re someone like me, who loves singing (despite the fact that I’m not very gifted and can make a dog’s ears bleed), then Smule is definitely the app for you. Smule offers a million songs to sing to, AND, you can join other aspiring singers with collaborations. Plus, if you take an All Access Pass (like I did), then you can access every song, which is totally awesome. I think the best feature of Smule is Sing With The Artist, where you can jam out to pre-recorded video versions of some of your favourite singers, like Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth. I haven’t tried it out yet, but it looks pretty cool. You can find me, as JanakiSajan , on Smule ;) Lately, I’ve been into reading fanfiction, on fanfiction.net . I’ve neve

“Look at them.” Vaishnavi scowled at some little kids running nearby, with their laughs ringing through the atmosphere. “All so happy and cheerful; they’ll be suffering like us when they grow older and have a heap of work piled on them.” That’s the same reaction I had when I heard one of Mom’s friend’s daughter had just started going to school. I had said “Oh, poor thing.” Now in eleventh grade, I can hardly believe that only twelfth is left. Somehow, it feels like the years just flew by. These last few weeks have been busy. Chandana, Nanditha and I met up at Pizza Hut for dinner together during the first week of school, and recently, I got a Daydream VR headset. Dad received a Google Pixel as a gift, and when we found out it had this feature called Daydream VR on it, we were obsessed. Mom and I were in India at that time, and I thought Dad had received the headset along with the phone, but apparently, it was something to be bought separately. Kunjunni was pretty thri

Diwali was coming up, and everyone at GPS was excited because the school had allowed its students to open food stalls to honour the occasion. Each team setting up a food stall needed at least five members. My friends and I weren’t really interested because then we wouldn’t be able to focus on the real issue- eating. On the grand day, we watched as the group of boys from our class brought in their stuff. They took up a lot of space because the container in which they brought cold drinks were huge. Plus, they brought a large tub of ice-cream, bottles of some sort of blue syrup, cupcakes and a whole lot of other things. It was amusing to see them stagger down the stairs. But the joke was on us later, because they got to miss the first few periods to set up their stalls. They grinned at everyone stuck in class before scampering away. The groups were allowed to advertise what they would be selling, which meant the prefects took it as a perfect opportunity while herding us like sh

At GPS, one of the many memorable moments happened on the day the class photo was to be taken. We were all required to be in our formal uniforms, brush our hair, shine our shoes, wear our ID cards and in other words, look as presentable as possible on the specified day. Us girls managed to clean ourselves up quite nicely. But to say the same about the boys would be very, very wrong. We could see the smoke coming out of our class teacher’s ears as she frantically flapped her arms in order to get the point across. “Rohit, you caveman, get a comb, right now! And you, where’s your ID card? And why do YOU still look asleep?” Questions were shot at each boy rapidly as they made a mad dash to the restrooms. When they finally got back, patting their hair down, they each got a death glare before we were herded downstairs. While we were waiting, we got the news that the photo was candid, meaning, the photo was going to be in contrast to regular class photos where we were m

It was a long time ago, but I vaguely remember Mom pulling up Google Maps on her laptop and typing frantically to check if there was any branch of Nando's in our city, or the next. But now, a Nando's has come up just five minutes away from our home, which means Mom’s prayers have finally been answered. It was very unexpected, and Mom and I got this bit of news from Dad while we were still in India, which only proceeded to me requesting Dad if he could book tickets at the earliest date possible, so that we could fly over immediately after the exams. We had lunch yesterday from the aforementioned restaurant, and the wait was definitely worth it. The restaurant also had a really cheerful atmosphere and was pretty lively. My parents and I love peri-peri chicken more than fried chicken because it is more healthy and juicy, plus you don’t get tired of it easily. There are other restaurants, though, which also serve peri-peri chicken. I had mentioned in one of my ear

Well, folks! I’m back in Riyadh! Tenth grade flew by very fast. I can hardly believe that another year is over. I just have two more years of school left. The one year I spent at Global Public School was fantastic. It was a complete change, which was something I hadn’t got a taste of in a long time. I made a lot of new friends, and went through new experiences. Initially, I was plenty nervous about the idea. It was one thing to change school in the same country, so moving to a new school in another country was, well, nerve-racking. Never mind the fact that I went to India for at least a vacation of two months every year; the only year I had actually studied there was second grade. The day before the beginning of the academic year, students were required to come to the school auditorium with their family, where there would be a welcoming session, and then proceed to their classrooms where instructions on dress code, behaviour and other concerns would be given. My grandp

Well folks! 2016 is nearly over! Now’s the time everyone has started making their resolutions. I’ve never made a resolution in my life, probably because I know I’ll never keep it.  Besides, James Corden and Meghan Trainor sang pretty accurately- ‘’Resolutions are worthless, we all know that’s why we’re here/ I’ll be the same disappointment I’ve been for the past three years.’’  ‘’My resolutions for 2017, are to complete the resolutions of 2016, which I should have done in 2015 because I made a promise in 2014 and planned them in 2013’’ explains everyone who makes them in a jiffy. I haven’t been able to post much this year, since school kept me busy. I’m going to try to catch up next year. 2016 has already been labeled as a depressing year by the world. Hopefully, 2017 will be better. DPS published its magazine, and all three of the articles I had given made it! Ironically, one of the articles is on blogging where I made a reference to be regular. It’s so hard to

Trying out new restaurants is a happiness my parents and I share together, and we found that there was a great one right under our noses. (There is absolutely nothing better than feeling the weight of a fork and a knife in my hands and thinking of all the good things to come). Herfy Café and Grill had its name written in Arabic, so it wasn’t something very noticeable. We’d drive right past without realizing how we had just missed something that was built for the growth of mankind. It’s a cozy little restaurant, more different from the rest in terms of seating because the chairs are more like couches and a lot more comfier.­­ ­­ I ordered a Herfy chicken cordon bleu (absolutely delicious) with pasta as a side dish. The breakfast menu also seems interesting, which means I’M COMING BACK! It’s something we would definitely like to come back to and try again, and I would recommend it to food lovers like me (Welcome to the club, y’all). After a food-filled week in Riy

Just two more months and then we can say ‘adieu’ to 2016! It’s crazy how fast the year went. I can’t believe how so much happened in 2016. School kept me busy most part of the year. Finally it was time for SA-1 exams, which marked the ending of the first semester. The minute I reached home after the last exam, I took my laptop and crawled into bed and spent hours on the Internet, before catching up on much-needed sleep. I’m currently spending the Pooja holidays, which began on the next day after the exam and continue till Thursday, in Riyadh. It feels great to be back. I’ve already decided all the restaurants I need to go to because I miss most of my favorite ones like TGI Friday’s, Buffaloes, and Portuguese Grill. Plus the one at IKEA, they have amazing meatballs. Mom and I went to  Barbecue Nation along with Kunjunni, Kunjichechi, Valyamma and Valyachan. The food really was incredible.   

Dad, Kunjunni, Kunji chechi and I held hands as the waves crashed on the shore. We could hear the roaring sound of the sea and feel the sand beneath our feet. The cold water pooled around us until we were hip-deep, before rushing back. The private beach was a beautiful one. The horizon stretched on with nothing interrupting its flow. No other people, not a single footprint. There was a breeze and everything was serene. Turtle Beach resort had plenty in store for us. But we were going back home in the evening so we couldn’t try out everything. My parents had arranged for a taxi to drive us in the morning, along with Kunjunni and Kunji chechi, to the resort. Valyamma and Valyachan would join us later. At the resort, we could hear the faint sound of roaring waves at the beach, which proved to be just too good to resist. Mom chose to stay out of the fun and watched us instead because a) she didn’t want to get wet and b) the waves were so huge anyway. “You won’t get wa

These last few days have been so busy! The days are practically flying by. Global Public School opens its gates to everyone on the 23rd. We came to India because of my parents’ decision to transfer me to a better school. I agreed with them and it was all set. May 11th was the initial opening day. But the lack of rains and the rising heat made everyone change their minds. The District Collector finally announced that no school in Ernakulam was to open before 22nd, or the school would be fined. The next day, after the final confirmation of the announcement by the school, it began to rain heavily, and it’s been like that for a few days. Drizzle, rain, pause. Drizzle, rain, pause. The temperature has finally lowered and we don’t need to switch on the air conditioning when we  sleep. Mom went to Riyadh for a few days and she’s coming back on 25th.

It’s finally here! “ The Crown ” by Kiera Cass was released on 3rd May ! It’s the ending we’ve all been waiting for. Will America survive her heart attack? What is the future for Illéa? And most importantly, who will become Eadlyn’s husband? I finished the novel today. It was pretty good, but I felt it was rushed in a few areas, especially during the ending. Since there are people who are looking forward to reading “The Crown”, I’m not going to tell you much about the plot. And don’t worry, I’m definitely not going to tell you who wins Eadlyn’s heart at last. Right before the Report, on which Eadlyn is to reveal her fiance, she talks to her father, Maxon. We get to learn some information which had never been shared previously about his father, Clarkson. There are several changes in Eadlyn’s personality during the course of events in ‘The Crown”. She becomes less snobby and proud, and becomes more aware of the fact that in order to become a better ruler, she needs

We’re currently in Kerala, where we arrived two days after the ending of our Swiss/German vacation. Either we’re seeing new impacts of global warming, or the world has lost its marbles. Somehow, Kerala is begging for rain, while simultaneously Saudi Arabia has received unexpected showers, heavy enough to make all schools give the students a day off. Due to no rain, the temperature in Kerala is sweltering. You can stand around and do nothing and you’ll still be drenched in sweat in twenty minutes. Three if you’re hard at work. On the other hand, I noticed all my friends in Riyadh changing their profile photos to pictures of the rain and their status to profoundly blessing it. Chalk one up for them. But let’s not forget the cinema theatres of Kerala. I watched “ Jungle Book ” at Nucleus mall, “ Kung fu panda 3 ” at Gold Souk, and “ Fan ” at Oberon. “Jungle book” was awe-some! Brilliant! We had our eyes glued to the screen the entire time. “Kung fu panda 3” was great t

When the captain announced that the plane had started to descend, at first Mom and I could see nothing but clouds. Then eventually, when we felt the popping sensation in our ears, Switzerland came into view. The aerial view of Switzerland was like one of those pictures you get on postcards. I dont know why I felt so, but it was the first thing that popped into my head. Everything being so proper and perfect. But the real beauty was when the Alps came into view. Even from far away, the sight  was breathtaking. We could see the snow on the peaks of the mountains. We’d never seen snow before in our lives, so it was exciting. Snow was something we had only seen in photos and on TV. The closest chance I had got to see real snow was in Ski Dubai and in Disneyland in France, even though Ski Dubai had technically ice and Disneyland could offer only fake snow, as France had decided not to snow while we were there, but if that was a blessing or a curse, I could not tell, as in referen

I was standing right in the middle of the swinging bridge, with my hands tightly holding onto the railing. The wind was whispering and moaning while carrying snow particles. It was the kind of strong winds I had never experienced before in my entire life. Not only were they freezing cold, they were also strong enough to push me to the other railing of the bridge if I was stupid enough to let go for a second. Every time I turned my face towards them, it was like receiving a cold, tight slap from nature. My parents were far behind. I could see them struggling against the force too. I was nearly at the end so I spread my arms and ran along its remaining length. This had definitely been scary. My face felt frozen, like my legs and arms. The wind was still howling in our ears. When Mom and Dad caught up with me they had what-were-you-crazy-enough-to-run look on their faces. The two other people behind us came and asked “How do we get down?’ We said “What?” They raised