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Record of absence

“ The next time you’re absent, phone the new driver, not me. ” Clearly, my old bus driver was making sure he wouldn’t get a single call from me again. I couldn’t blame him, though. I was infamous for taking days off from school, every now and then. Mom didn’t have an issue either because it meant she’d have company at home the whole day. Tenth grade in India was similar, with the only difference being you didn’t need to let the driver know, because the bus would leave on time whether you were on board or not. I stayed at home whenever I fell sick, or had too much to study and too little time. We had exams every week, which meant at one point or another, I felt myself drowning in assignments, homeworks and other school stuff. I’ve never understood how people come to school everyday and have a perfect attendance. For me, that seems utterly impossible. Just trying to wake up early is where the difficulty starts. During the winters, I can’t seem to push my cozy blankets away.

Greens - A Salad Lover's Paradise

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We had dinner from “ Greens ”, a salad bar, a few days ago. Dad is a herbivore. I like salads as well, but I always try to chuck out any tomatoes. Plus, if I don’t like the dressing, there’s a good chance it’ll be left uneaten. An actual salad bar is very rare to find in Riyadh, other than the side salads you can take at restaurants like Pizza Hut and Steakhouse. Naturally, this fueled our curiosity, and we made our way there. The restaurant was bright and cheery. A variety of food like fresh juices, shakes, and a whole lot of other stuff that was organic and healthy were available, plus racks of chips with all different kinds and flavours. I’ve never had a chance to choose the ingredients for my salad before, so it was quite a task, because of the several options.   The place held a calm and peaceful atmosphere, and we really did enjoy dinner.

My first award on Wattpad!

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My story “ Bruises ” was awarded first place in the Athena Awards on Wattpad! I had entered in several competitions, but lost. By the time the Athena Awards announced their result for the Mystery/Thriller category , I had forgotten all about it. So it was a pleasant surprise to wake up one morning and see the notification on my phone, which let me know they had tagged me. I realized even without opening the app that there was no other reason for them to do so, and seeing my username in bold for first place made me immensely happy. Being on Wattpad has been great. I’ve read a variety of books from different genres, and it’s encouraging to see the support my own stories get from my readers. It’s something I would recommend for every aspiring writer, or for people who love to read. I haven’t got a chance to see the second season of Riverdale yet, and the suspense is terrible. I did not want to spoil it by reading the plots of the released episodes online, but a few tidbits d

The Burger Junction - Kochi

“It's black.” I noted. “Yup.” Kunjunni showed a photo of The Samurai. “That's red.” No one in my family had ever seen or eaten a black/red burger, but we caught an Uber and made our way there anyway. Inside The Burger Junction (TBJ) , the menu had several options and for a while, we all just sat there stupefied. Hellboy caught Dad's eye. It claimed to be extremely hot, owing to the fact that it’s contents included the spiciest chilli in India. Dad can handle almost any kind of chilli, and he loves spicy food, so none of us made much of an issue about it. The burger's description also mentioned that it wasn't recommended for children. Even though Dad wasn't a child, the waitress still made a special point of mentioning that it was very hot. “I'll take that challenge.” Dad waited for the rest of us to order. Kunjunni went for The Dark Knight. I decided to have the TBJ special. And then when the food came, Dad's burger was an angry

Wattpad Story | Subway

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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 ...

100,000 Pageviews!

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.

First Wattpad Story - Bruises

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.

Untold Stories

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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

Matriarchy, the Virtual Reality

“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

Global Public School | Diwali Stalls

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

Global Public School | Class Photo 2016-17

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

Great news! Nando's has finally come to Riyadh!

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

One year at GPS

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

New Year Resolutions

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

Herfy Café and Grill

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

Pooja holidays

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.   

Turtle Beach Resort

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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