Free

The heat in New Delhi in July is oppressive. It traps you, it suffocates you.  Just walking down a sidewalk tests your mettle.  You’re surrounded by people, by noise, by smells, and muggy, smoggy air.  The world is chaotic, unorganized, and making your way through this strange land seems a daunting task.  

You can hide from the heat in a hotel, escape the crowds, and find shelter in the air conditioned lobby. But you can’t leave the noise behind you. There is a perpetual racket being made by car horns and the tuk-tuks that run on C.N.G that ceases only late at night.  But there is no quiet then either. There is the sound of the wild dogs howling and prowling the city at night.  And by the time this stops, it’s time for the sound of engines again. 

The Birla House, on Tees January Marg, is where Mohandas Gandhi, the father of India spent the last 144 days of his life.  This is the spot where the great man, who fought with his words, not his fists, and led India out of British control, was martyred. 

Beyond the white house, you follow Gandhi’s footsteps, the last he would take. You find yourself on a lawn, a large, vibrantly green lawn.  You realize that it’s different here. The heat has abated, and you can feel an almost breeze on your skin.  And the silence.  You’re suddenly miles away from the blaring horns of cars on the other side of house.  You’re in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world, and it’s quiet.  You’re distant.  You’re separate from the rest of the world, which goes on rushing by.  You feel free from it all, free from the heat, the noise.  

And then you feel sad.  Unexpectedly sad.  A life is such a beautiful thing, such a terrible thing to take.  But what can you do, against such hate and anger? You stop for a moment, and think.  This place, really, it is beautiful.  Its beauty isn’t just soft edges and strong colors.  Its beauty is in its freedom, it’s the release of a soul. It’s the ability to find beauty in an ugly thing.  It’s the capacity to shake the world, to make things better.  It’s the power of one life. 

You’ve answered your question.  Against the anger and the hate you can be strong.  You can keep on going, though your feet may hurt and bleed.

And then you’re back to the world, roused from the thoughts you were absorbed in.  A bird is perched on the spot of Gandhi’s martyrdom.  It chirps prettily, and takes flight.  You smile as it spreads its wings and heads into the warm, Indian sky, free. 

~molly

i need a puppy

I love dogs. I love them so much.  Sometimes, they are better than people, because they just listen. And then you can get the best hugs and cuddles from them. And they can at least pretend to look like they care, unlike cats...I want a dog so so so so so badly, but chances are I won't get one for a looooooong time.
But when I do, I am so getting two, and naming them:
Tybalt (pronounced tibalt).  Not that it's an especially great name, or that he is the best character in Romeo & Juliet, (that would be Mercutio) or that he has any really great lines, because he doesn't. No, it's the fact that its Tybalt, said tibalt.
How do you spell that? T-Y-B-A-L-T. Tie-balt? NO. Tib-alt.
Here Tybalt.. good Tybalt.

And doggie number two: Ganesh.
In India, somewhere between Agra and Jaipur, at a rest stop with giftshop selling overpriced merchandise, I found a comic book. It was called The Adventures of Ganesh: That Wacky Little Trickster.  How much I wish I had overpaid for it, you will never know.  The consolation I found was that hey wait! That would be a great name for a dog! So, doggie #2 will answer to Ganesh, and that wacky little trickster.



Shutter Island was great! I highly recommend seeing it. Actually, I recommend seeing it twice! I saw it with my dad and one of my best friends, and through the varying tastes in movies, we all came out impressed, yet slightly puzzled.  Hence the see it twice part! Hope your weekend is going good, and you have a good week!  Wish us luck in our first game this year in Valencia!

Sonnet

Sonnet for English Class

High above our heads dost thou swiftly rise.

Thou art a shimmer in the heavens blue,

But thy woe shows when tears rain from thy eyes.

We can’t fix thy problems, nor pay thy dues.

Far from grace did thee tumble to end here,

Stuck to spend this morrow edging the shade.

So thou climb’st up, and the light dost near.

The dark consumes all, but thou will not fade.

Thy foes pull thee down, but thou won’t concede,

Ne’r wilt thou follow them; bid them adieu.

Thou hast struggled, but won’t succumb to greed.

Thou journey’st hence, not so high as thee flew.

As night approaches, and dark surrounds thee,

Thy feet art grounded, but thy mind is free.

Notice the Shakespearian language ;D

~molly (:

movie star hair

smiling face, train to jaisalmer

Originally uploaded by NiklasPlutte

Movie Star Hair

Picture! Picture! Can I take picture? The little girl asks me with round, chestnut eyes.
Picture? Sure, of what? I reply, bending down to the girl, who comes up only to around my belly button.
Of you! She exclaims excitedly.
Me?
Yes! You! Picture! Please?
Ok, I say wonderingly.
The little girl runs to her mother who is wearing a green punjabi suit, and tugs at her elbow, points at me, and hands her the camera. She runs back to me, towing her mother behind her. She smiles at me apologetically, and I smile back, no problem.
The little girl takes my hand in her tiny one and smiles big at the camera. I look at her and her toothy smile (the second grade, I just lost half my teeth kind) and can’t help but smile in return. The camera clicks, winds, clicks again, and we’re done.
The little girl bounds to her mother who hands her back the camera. Her mother tells her something, and the little girl scampers back over to me.
Thank you! She says, beaming.
You’re very welcome, I say. But why do you want my picture?
You have movie star hair!
I can’t help but laugh at that, and she laughs too. I’m not a movie star, I say to her.
But you have movie star hair, she says again.
Come back, calls her mother.
She smiles endearingly again, and skips back to the picnic blanket where the rest of her family sits.
When we leave the Mother India Temple, and pass their family again, the little girl waves at me, with the most radiant smile in the world. 

~molly (:

to sum up a year, and a holiday

This holiday season was... interesting.
Boats, I still do not like them. Nope. I almost threw up the first night, but then the rest of the trip was good fun! My dad didn't have a good time, but my parade was not rained on, because I barely saw him for the next 3 nights. I made some new friends, had a jolly good time, and had a Titanic-like moment on the front of the boat. I also rode up and down in the glass elevator with said friends at 2 in the morning, and ate a couple gallons worth of soft serve.
I also realized how many flippin stars there are. When you are out in the ocean at 3 a.m, you can really, really see all the stars.  I had a very deep conversation with one of my newfound friends on the time it takes light to travel, and how we aren't seeing the present. It was beautiful beyond belief. It was endless.
It was also very cold. So cold in fact, that my Titanic-like moment was cut short, and back in side we went.  There was kareoke, and I don't know whose DUMB idea it was to put the Titanic song on the list of songs to sing, but yep, it was there, and that stupid little child was singing it.  Singing us to our doom.
But thankfully, we didn't sink, and Leonardo DiCaprio didn't freeze to death. So that was good.
I enjoyed Ensenada, mostly for the harborside park it had.  It was quite lovely on Christmas day, to see all the families there with their kids playing with their new RC trucks.  Good stuff.
Once back, I was herded off to my mom's, where I suffered for around 4 days.  I lacked internet there, as well as on the boat... That was sufficiently depressing.
And back I came, to have a relatively uneventful New Year's Eve, and to ponder the past year/decade.

2009:
Not to sound cliche, but this is really a year I think I will never forget.  It was a year of triumph and new experiences.  I travelled to the other side of the world.  I watched history go down as Barack Obama was sworn in. I made friends who I've become as close as can be with.  I got in a few fights, I did great on state testing, I discovered music that I love, and I made money.  I was introduced to my favorite movie, and discovered two T.V shows that I am now obsessed with.  I cried a couple times, and lost a couple friends.  I hurt when my Dodgers lost, and was euphoric when they won.  I made the school team, and my teams won championships.  I discovered my favorite songs, and tried out a few new talents. I even ate new foods.  All in all, it was a good year. (:

~molly

Winter Break!!

It's winter break!! WOOHOO! I was in much need of a break, and mine got sort of extended a week, since I was sick most of the last week of school. I swear, I've been sick more in the last three months than  in the last three years! I'm still sick, with what I don't know (my friends are all set on me having bronchitis) but now I've got these two weeks to rest!!! MWHAHAHAHHAH.
Our family decided that for Christmas, they wanted to do a cruise. On a boat. joy... I have a slight aversion to watercraft, no matter what the size really.  So this Christmas should be... interesting? Today, I must finish my Christmas shopping, and then REST.
Two weeks is a long time, and I think I'll get down to some writing in this period because I have barely written anything at all in the last like 3 months. Maybe I can post some of the creative pieces or something from my English journal. =D
Anyways, we have our Christmas tree, and according to tradition, we have named it. Last year it was Colonel Blimp, after the main character in one of my dad's favorite movies, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. I can't really remember what the year before was, but usually, they are after characters in movies or books or something like that.  This year, our beautiful tree (really, it is quite lovely) is named Mel a.k.a D.S Amelia Silver, one of the characters from the AMAZING, SENSATIONAL, SPECTACULAR, WONDERFUL, EXTRAORDINARY series from BBC, Waking the Dead. I love that show and I have wasted over 30 hours of my life watching it. What can I say, it's an obsession...
We only added one new ornament to our tree this year, a surfing Santa from Hotel Del Coronado.  None from India.
OH speaking of India, we are trying to figure out where to go with all the miles we earned from going to India. My vote goes to Spain, and then going to Morocco for a bit, to add two countries, and a continent.  But, like the little caption on our Christmas card (made by me, AHEM) who knows where we'll end up?

~molly (:

time flies..

I guess it's true to say that time flies.  It doesn't seem at all like I've had this blog a whole year plus like a week!

Around this time last year, I think I was complaining about my English teacher, and the dumb assignments we had in her class. Well, this time around in December, I'm loving my English teacher/class/assignments! We've actually read some good books, I found an author I liked, and because of the assignments, I was forced to find a book of my own, and I am ending up to love it!!

I'm kinda reading a lot of books right now, but that's ok, because I'm almost done with one, another is really easy, and I am enjoying the other two quite a bit.  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  is interesting, and I enjoy our in-class discussions/debates/tangents that we get on from one little question about the book.  Mary Reilly  is an easy read little companion to Jekyll and Hyde.  On my own, I picked up  The Reader at a little bookshop in Coronado (we had Thanksgiving at the Del Coronado), and am speeding right through it.  About a Boy, though, by far, is my favorite.  I find it poignant and funny, and sweet.  And true.  (also the movie is one of my favorites).

We just made cookies, 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies, and 3 dozen molasses cookies.  We're sending two dozen of each to my friends dad who is stationed in Afghanistan.  So I feel like I did my good deed this holiday season.  I donated 2 dollars to livestrong, and a lot of pennies to Pennies for Peace.

Rat dissection on Thursday!!

~molly (: