After All This Time?

When I am 80 years old, I'll be in the library in my rocking chair reading Harry Potter. 
And my grandchildren will ask me "After all this time?"

And I will say, "Always"

I was one of those people... those who claim to not like a book before they ever read it... I can't believe how I managed to keep curiosity at bay. I think I was just disgusted that anybody could be that crazy. I was unbelieving that anything could be that awesome. But now I know. I didn't know then, because of course, there is nothing like the Harry Potter books. I am a bookworm, and boy, was the Hogwarts world cozy. I started reading the books, and I can't even say when I changed my mind. A page into the book, two pages... but before I knew it, I was lugging home the OOTP from my school library(I was in seventh grade). My dad saw the size of it and made me return it, saying it was too advanced. I was miffed, and I did as he said. I don't know how, but I think I read it anyway, on the bus, in breaks, and with breakfast and dinner. 

And the DH book. Oh, where do I begin. Most of you out there must know what I'm talking about- I began counting down the day the release date came out. I dived into the books, nosing page after page for clues. I was so interested in jotting down theories and marking page numbers, and dreaming of the book, I never wondered how big the book would be. The eve of the release I saw a news show on bookstores arranging the books on shelves, and -you gotta believe me- I was shell-shocked to see the size. Only at that moment did it strike me, that within a day or two, I would be holding in my hand 800-odd pages. And 800 pages of pure bliss!

I shall never forget how I felt, when I woke up the next morning. Such a bittersweet emotion I've never felt. The next few days, I tell you, I seriously was depressed because now I had nothing to look forward to... my months of counting down were over, and apart from my book, my life ahead looked boring.

What I'm coming to say is, Harry Potter is not just a series that made the world read again.. it's that kind of series where you don't mind being part of millions who feel the same crazed way about the books as you.. There's place in the wizarding world for all of us. And to all those who say, "Oh, you're one of them too?".. let them keep saying it. We don't care, 'cause we know what we love- Potterworld. This is a story of love, life, loyalty, friendship, trust - everything we live for, and everything that is anything.

Pottermore. (Aah, finally! I beat around the bush to this point)

ARGH! Why don't they send the darned letters already! Why can't we sign in...

For those of you who are potter fans but haven't heard of Pottermore.. go look it up! It's JKR's sweet gift to  us- a chance to relive the series chapter by chapter, scene by scene.

And now the site's free sign up release had been postponed!

I wish my letter would arrive, and I wish it'd be a freaking howler!

I am hungry for information, as I am sure others are. Feed the famine-struck, JKR. <whimpers> We're begging you.

This week I was planning on posting on something else, but the need of the hour was HP.

Dreaming of a four-poster bed,

-- ☼ Sunny ☼

Let This Diwali Be Filled With The Right Light

Happy Diwali!!!!

Deepavali is the time to light 'deepams' in your life. All day long we celebrate our vibrant lives, and seek to connect with friends, relatives, whom we haven't met in a while. In a way, it is a magical time of the year when the whole city is lit up, we thank each other for what we have given to each other, and look forward to giving more. But by a sad twist of fate, Deepavali has come to signify to a a large fraction of the population, nothing more than bursting crackers. Yes, when I was small(er) ( :) ) I looked forward to buying crackers, and bursting them, though like any girl I was not fond of loud noises(leave that to the guys).

Plus, our world is a fragile place. I chose to burst no crackers today, and I was saddened to see birds taking shelter in the thick undergrowth near my house, hiding from the noise and the smoke that surrounded our neighbourhood today. All day long yesterday, I felt a little left out( as I have been feeling for the past three years) that crackers do not thrill me the same way they used to do before. But I have come to realise, that it is a change for the better. I might feel this way, but for the next one week, I shall step out of my house onto the clean road(as opposed to other houses with paper strewn in front of them, with charred withered bits of long-gone atom bombs) and be happy I did not contribute a shred of my time, and a penny of my parent's money, to this destruction.

BANG FIRECRACKERS

Oh, I may seem melodramatic, but listen to your conscience. Are we overshadowing a culture that is meant to share sweets, rejoice in 'oneness' and come together to live better, and see the whole world in a 'new light' or are we supposed to cloud our thoughts(literally) in smoke and choke down our morals for a few minutes pleasure, a few pretty snapshots, and for a few seconds of the beauty of the lit up skies?

Think and decide. And for those of you who are not familiar with Deepavali, this is just one side to the festival and the saddest. The festival is close to the heart of many, and will always remain so, for all the right reasons.

Lighting up my life,

-- ☼ Sunny ☼

Heads Up!

Hey!!
Yesterday I figured out how to add my Shelfari bookshelf to my blog...  
It's right here...                                          →         →         →         →
It's so cool..

I, ofcourse, love to read, and I love to keep track of my reads on Shelfari. Looking through them and reading the summary after months gives you that cozy feeling that you got when you read the book last. I love remembering plots and rethinking my way to the best and most memorable parts of the story. Some books, like Malory Towers, St.Clares, Famous Five... you'll never feel the same way again as you did when you first read them...but you'll never forget how it felt either. We all read to escape into worlds that are different from ours, but we can't escape growing up. You grow out of books too, but you don't forget. Every now and then, I get nostalgic even now, and read Malory Towers, or Pippa Longstocking, and revel in how I used to devour these books, and how much fun I used to have reading them.
I'm ranting off again, ain't I?
So now it'll be easier and more fun for me to review books, and do browse through my shelf and see if you like my taste.
Keep reading my blog,
-- ☼ Sunny ☼

On turning 18

September 30th, Friday, 2011.
I had a great day. It was my birthday, and it was one of those days I missed my friends (whom I haven't seen in long) terribly. And also I got closer to friends who did spend the day with me. If you remember, I'm in school, so that means, when your friends change schools, or leave school, chances are u'll see them very rarely.
It was nice to celebrate my birthday, especially when one of my childhood friends(who's in the same class as me) also celebrates the same birthday as me. It's great to walk into your class and see another person also looking forward to day as much as you. I'm a sucker for hugs...both giving and getting.
Only the other day one of my friends and I were teasingly mimicking the line "Relax, we're just thirty" from the Ponds Age Miracle ad. I love the tone with which the girl says that. Though the ad wasn't very tasteful, I'm hooked on that line. Whenever my friends worry about how it must be to leave school, and go to college( though we're looking forward to it) we just chant "Relaaax.. we're just eighteen"
I was looking for a picture to post along with my post, and I hit this, and it seemed perfect. Isn't it so true? We worry about turning 30 leaving behind the twenties, or that turning 45 means being closer to 50s than to 40s... But we fail to realise how many people leave their families and lives behind, hoping for just one more day to live, one more day to add to their diaries, one more day to make memories with the ones they love.
This week, I'm going to be listening to "Seasons in the sun". It's a song by Westlife, and this song was written by Terry Jacks, as he was dying of cancer. There is so much insightful and so much bitter-sweetness in this song, and I just love to sing it over and over again. My favourite parts here are where he says, "it's hard to die when all the birds are singing in the sky" . Every time i hear that line, I feel a chill at how he must have felt when he first wrote those lines, he was dying, of cancer, and he knew that he had to leave all he ever knew while the sun was shining and the birds were singing. I also love the way at the end of every other stanza, he says something to his friend, father, and daughter, something for them to remember him by- whenever the friend sees pretty girls, or the father sees little children, or the daughter sees flowers in spring, they will remember the man who wrote this song. My friends and I love this song too well to describe it. It's not a passing fancy, like songs that go in and out of fashion when they're released. This is an eternal, evergreen song, from 1974, sung, and sung again over decades, my millions of fans like me. Hope you like it too..

Goodbye to you, my trusted friend.
We've known each other since we were nine or ten.
Together we've climbed hills and trees, 
learned of love and ABC's, 
skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.


Goodbye, my friend, it's hard to die
when all the birds are singing in the sky.
Now that the spring is in the air,
pretty girls are everywhere,
think of me and I'll be there.


We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time.


Goodbye, Papa, please pray for me.
I was the black sheep of the family.
You tried to teach me right from wrong,
too much wine, and too much song,
wonder how I got along.


Goodbye, Papa, it's hard to die,
when all the birds are singing in the sky.
Now that the spring is in the air,
little children everywhere-
When you see them I'll be there.


We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the wine and the song, like the seasons have all gone.


Goodbye, Michelle, my little one.
You gave me love and helped me find the sun.
And every time that I was down,
you would always come around
and get my feet back on the ground.


Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die,
when all the birds are singing in the sky.
Now that the spring is in the air,
with the flowers everywhere,
I wish that we could both be there.


We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the hills that we climbed, were just seasons out of time.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the wine and the song, like the seasons have all gone.


I once read about this nurse who watched a young woman die of cancer in a hospital. The nurse asked her sadly, "How does it feel to wake up every morning, and know that you are dying?"
The girl replied, "How does it feel to you to wake up every morning, and pretend that you aren't?"
We are each dying everyday. But don't worry about that. Live each day also. They say we live only once. But when they live like us, once is enough.


climbing hills and trees,
--Sunny