Janaki's Blog

Over the past few months, Kunjunni and his friends have been shooting a music video! It was a long process of sweat, hard work and tears, but it’s finally here, and was launched by the esteemed actor Vinary Forrt through his Facebook and Instagram pages.  You can find the video here .. If you want to know more about the lead singer, just follow these links :) The mystery of the missing bicycle Rockstar Nara! 'Atomics' by Rock Star Nara His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Dubai 1

  ….congratulations! You made it! 2020 has felt like a test of patience, and although the upcoming year doesn’t look like it’s going to be sunshine and daisies right away, at least we’re moving on from the one that started it all. The coronavirus ended up being a dark horse of sorts, pushing past every other catastrophe to emerge as the victor. So many protests, marches and fires around the world and at home, but with the virus always looming in the background. During January, I was back in Riyadh, mourning a vacation I had made the most out of. The weeks had flown by too far for my liking, but the fun had to end at some point. And as I waved my parents goodbye and rolled my suitcase away past the gates at the airport, I’d consoled myself with the thought that I’d be back when the semester ended. A couple of months later, after we had our college fests and wrote a couple of exams, everything abruptly shut down. At the time, an unexpected break from college life was a small blessing, an

This is probably the first time that everyone (and I really do mean everyone) can unanimously agree on how bad the year’s been. Unwelcome surprises, roller coasters that have gone more down than up, classes on Teams everyday while trying not to fall asleep. This New Year’s, instead of making a resolution I’ll never keep, I would like to give some shout-outs. For years, my blog has helped me record every detail I’ve wanted to be able to revisit, and this post will be dedicated for this very purpose. First of all, I would like to Taylor Swift for the Miss Americana documentary, the City of Lover concert, the music video for The Man, two new surprise albums, the Long Pond sessions. My ears have remained blessed throughout the year.  I would also like to thank my school friends for always being ready to trade gossip and nostalgia (also Sauda is an aunt now! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!) Now, moving on to college: Sreya and Sesha taught me a lot about K-pop musicians. They also adopted a cat (and nam

  We’ve finally hit 200,000 pageviews! This is so incredibly exciting.  What’s really interesting is that it took seven years to reach 100,000, but only three to reach this new milestone. I don’t know how that happened, but I do know that I’m extremely grateful. It’s been ten years since we embarked on this journey, and everyone still keeping up with the posts has seen my writing grow with me. When I was little, I hated the fact that my talent was penning things on paper while everyone else could sing and dance on stage. Or that they could run and cross a finish line. That insecurity stuck for a long time, and I could never be proud or confident of anything I wrote. But now I have it in me a little bit of confidence to try and see what my words are worth. Even if it means that not everyone is going to like or appreciate them. Thank you once again.

“I just got added to a WhatsApp group,” Dad said during our video chat, “that has all my classmates from tenth grade.” Said group was blowing up with hundreds of messages and Dad spent hours on it, trying to identify the faces of the members. But attempting something like that thirty five years after he’d last seen them was challenging. Still, the fact that he’s not very great at identifying faces in general can’t be overlooked. But his experience still highlighted a major difference between the generations we belonged in. I haven’t been in his shoes yet because of one major factor- social media. When I joined Instagram in 2017, it was purely to reconnect with ex-classmates from school. My friends who were already on the app told me all about how easy it was to stay in touch and it piqued my interest.  Instagram opened a whole world for me. I got to text people I hadn’t seen in ten years. It led to new experiences and reviving old connections.  For Dad, the Wh

Today marks ten years of blog writing . It’s so crazy to think that this journey started when I was nine, but I can still remember penning my thoughts down into a little pink diary, and then reading it out for Dad as he typed into Microsoft Word. Eventually that diary got filled, and so did the next one. I still have both of them in my possession. We’ve moved houses several times, and a lot of belongings have gotten lost or misplaced, but these books are my own odd little pensieves that I can never let go of.  People say that it’s the little decisions we make that can alter our lives forever, and maybe that’s what happened when I stumbled across that book. Ten years of my life have been documented on this little corner of the internet, and there is a feeling of comfort knowing that these memories will stay safe and treasured for me to look back on. Whenever I go through the posts, I’m hit by nostalgia in the most magical, emotional way possible. The best part is when I reconnect with o

So now online classes have been eating up a lot of my time, but I am well aware of the fact that the number of posts I upload every year has dwindled. This blog was one of my biggest priorities when I first started it. But life and its exams took over and now the green display behind my posts looks like it has more weeds than grass. Yet, I find myself reaching back and digging deep, sifting through older memories and finding bits of myself abandoned and forgotten. Every time I read back, and land in Christmas of 2010, or the Bahrain trip of 2013, I’m reminded of the tiny details I had otherwise forgotten.  So it’s important to me that I document this period of my life, just like I’ve done for every other important event. Lockdown is currently ending on May 17th, and the future remains uncertain. We don’t know when we’ll return to college or write our exams. The number of cases in India are on the rise, but Kerala has managed to demolish the curve skillfully.  Catching up with the news,

When news of a disease rapidly making its way through China first spread, we tapped the headlines on our phones, made a clicking noise with our tongues to express our dissatisfaction and forgot all about it. As usual, our thoughts said it’s a problem they’ll find a solution to. It doesn’t concern us. The virus, however, was determined to prove us wrong. Soon enough, there was a case reported in Saudi Arabia. And other countries I can’t recall right now because I hadn’t lived in them, and what transpired there was none of my concern. But things in India were quiet. And later, the patient in KSA tested negative for corona. We went on with our lives. Then we blinked and it was everywhere .  Whole sections of China were going into lockdown mode. People living there couldn’t leave, citizens abroad couldn’t go back home, and some were stuck in limbo, having to fly to countries they had never stepped foot in their entire lives because they weren’t allowed back in China. More an

“Pass it through the window.” Lina’s outstretched hand was trying to grab the pencil pouch bag Akshara was extending to her. Our classroom was visible through the window on the wall perpendicular to the balcony we were standing upon. If you reached out, you could just barely high-five someone in class. But right now, we were on a different mission. Lina grabbed the pouch, but it was only when its contents fell out that that we realized it hadn’t been zipped close. We screamed for no reason from the first floor, watching the pens that had fallen out bounce onto the ground.  Eva’s face was the physical definition of oh no, especially since it had been her bag passed through the window. It was safe, but half empty.  “I can’t find my ID!” Eva rummaged through it, and came up empty-handed. She took off back to class to check if she’d left her ID there. The rest of us peered down below, and watched a couple of boys walk briskly into the building. We hissed to get their a

Let’s face it- concern about global warming was laughable until a few years ago. It was an obligatory subject in textbooks, and appeared occasionally in newspapers. The general assumption was humanity still had several years to implement measures before it was too late.  The time is ticking, and somehow, the needles have picked up pace. The consequences of our actions are now catching up with us, and taking their toll on other inhabitants of the Earth as well.  The most fascinating part of our thinking is the one that allows us to believe that we have authority over every other species on Earth. It is the one that will subsequently lead to our downfall, lest we start being more pragmatic than selfish.  It is unfortunate that millennials and Generation X will have to start taking global warming into account while thinking about building families. Overpopulation is a grave issue with far-reaching effects. Eventually, our descendents will face a despondent future alone- that

Vienna is popular for many reasons: it's been ranked as the world’s most liveable city several times, it’s home to the oldest zoo (Schönbrunn) and ferris wheel, plus it’s Austria’s capital. But what really got me enthused was that it’s also known for its cafes. Coffee in Vienna definitely lived up to its reputation, and it ticked another box from my invisible list.  The train station was five minutes on foot from Haus Wasserzeile. Our landlady had two adorable dogs, and I got to meet both, which made my stay all the more wonderful.  A specialty of Haus Wasserzeile was that residents had their breakfast together at a large table. Chatting with fellow guests, who also happened to be from outside Austria, made mornings more animated.  Vienna was more lively compared to Salzburg and Innsbruck, with restaurant hunting becoming a lot easier, and street performers adorning pathways. The four days we spent there went by quickly, and soon enough we were back in Riyadh.

After our Salzburg tour, it was time for our next journey, The dazzling photos I had seen online of the picturesque little city made me eager to visit Innsbruck. Snow capped mountains were prominent in every snap, and towered above. Our ride from Salzburg to our destination was heavenly. Views of meadows, farmhouses and towns outside the train windows made the time fly by. Soon enough, we were at our stop. From the Innsbruck railway station, we caught our bus. Like in Salzburg, our hotel here was also away from the city. What made it more interesting was that it was located 2000 metres above sea level. We were to get off at Kühtai, and the bus ride there gave us a glimpse of dreamy, serene Innsbruck. My feet were itching to get off and take in the riveting scenery myself, instead of how I had been doing for too long- through a computer screen. Bus travel between Kühtai and Innsbruck had a benefit-  guests had free access to the bus pass. The next morning, we

After a five hour train journey with a train change in Munich, we arrived in Salzburg. We had our eyes glued to the window through the entire bus ride, taking in the sights of the quaint city and the tall, rocky Alps. Mom was especially ecstatic about the the tiny shops selling a variety of things. Our lodging was a little far from the hubbub of Salzburg. We got off at our stop, and then it was a short walk to the Boutique-Hotel, Essigmanngut. The view that met our eyes was incredible. It was the kind of thing I had only gotten to see in movies; large green, rolling meadows framed by the ranges, old-fashioned houses with sloping roofs, and no one around for miles. It was a windy day, and the trees were swaying with sunlight filtering through their branches. We had never seen a place so serene. We did face one issue however- it was difficult to locate restaurants nearby. It took us a while before we finally identified a group of them, hidden away from the main street.

Phew! Class 12 exams are finally over, and I'm done with my schooling. The past few months have been nothing but hectic. Now, I can release that breath I've been holding. The day after the last exam, we arrived in Heidelberg, Germany. We had lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant we’re extremely fond of, but discovered that the previous chef had left, so the food wasn't as tasteful as it used to be. Later, Dad left to attend an SAP event where he was to receive an award, while Mom and I went for a walk and made sure to visit the bridge monkey. We aren't the superstitious type, but that doesn't mean we're ready to take a risk. It was a cold, windy day and we ended up shuffling back to our hotel after a while, thinking about going out later. Despite the weather, I bought a gelato because nothing was going to stop me from getting one. The rest of the day was rainy, which left us disappointed. We watched raindrops hit the wet cobblestones mournfully from our