Of changes

     So yeah, I'm back here where I reign or rather, where I HAVE reigned for the past 20 years of my life. Then I realised there's politics everywhere; in the university, among classmates, in distinct societies and even at home. Witnessing politics everywhere is leading me to think there's no where on Earth where people don't judge or at the least, judge based on one's character rather than merely the colour (or in layman's terms, what you see on the outside without really knowing someone).

     I also realised that no matter what happens, people always change and they are not obliged to inform you the reason behind their changes. Leave obligation alone, they are completely not bothered. Then again, who bothers to explain their changes to people anyway? Don't we all just change and HOPE people get the reason behind our abrupt changes? Happens everywhere; all around us every single day. It only seems to affect us when the changes happen to be in people we were once close to.

     Some people realise that the changes in them causes a stain in relationships around them, namely friendship and then they opt to do something about it and usually that something is 'revert' back to their old self. Sometimes, people intend to make those changes and they are happy with its outcome, namely detachment from a particular person, group or society. While it may hurt various people/groups, usually the person who does it (note at intend to detach) deems it necessary to change.

     I have witnessed a lot of changes in people around me. I am more of an absorber than a reactor so I take in their changes and try to remain as unaffected as possible although sometimes it rips me apart inside. What happens around us, we have no control over but how we react to it is entirely our own decision. Until today I have managed to keep things within, showing no reaction to those who have changed. I don't know if it's for the better or for the worse =/

     Even I have changed and it's for the better. It's to savage a friendship that would otherwise go to ruins had I remain close instead of going for detachment. Sometimes, people take a long time to reveal who they really are and when they do, some can't agree with their characteristics. I'm one such person who couldn't agree and moved away. Maybe it has hurt that person and I'm sorry for that, but it's better this way. Detachment is always better.

Venting venting venting! *breathe in breathe out*,

     This semester has been full of ups and downs, and emotional moments. The absence of many has inevitably left a void. Hopefully next semester would be rocking with the return of almost all of them. Missing the noisy house atmosphere. Oh Nithyaaaaaaa.

In the pouring rain.

     It's raining cats and dogs outside. I'm locking myself up in my room fearing I'd run out and jump about in the rain. Rain brings some kind of unspoken joy into my life. The smell of rain. The sound of thundering droplets. The comfort of sitting comfortably, covered by a warm comforter. The feeling of explicable joy. Such pulchritude, the rain itself. A magic in its purest form. The exhilaration the rain brings when you get soaked completely. The chillness when the wind blows. The feeling of being swept off my feet. You don't need to be in love with someone to feel this. You just need to love yourself. Indulge in that love. Self-love. Joy will come by itself.

     I just finished watching Dil To Pagal Hai. What a lovely language. I want to go to India just to learn this wondrous language. Mad, I know. Pagli ho main. Baarish hoti hain, saawan aata hain. Oh saawan raja, kahaan se aye tum? Awesome song. In the pouring rain a love story begun. Today I watched the movie after many years and SRK is just as appealing now as he was before. Madhuri and Karishma, wow. Madhuri ki hasti =) Simply amazing.

     I'm retreating to bed now. I want to fall asleep while it's still pouring. Loving the sound of rain water thundering against my window <3 These little things I will love forever for it is in these little things that we obtain most of our happiness. Sadly, many do not realise this. Cherish those littlest things for they mean big.

Good night and sweet dreams to all you wonderful people out there.

Of hiccups and of course, change.

I find it so upsetting that a girl and a guy can't be close friends without 10 people saying 10 things. Yes I like him. He's my friend, I wouldn't talk to him if I didn't like him. But that's all there is to it, and some people just can't understand such a simple thing. Is it that wrong to befriend a guy? In what way does that make me a bad person/bad lady ? I didn't do anything bad. If friendship is a bad thing, then yeah everyone on Earth does something bad everyday by befriending someone.

Secondly, it is pretty unsettling that in this era with all the hype about 1Malaysia, people still have problems when a person of their race mixes not with their race but with a group of people who are of another race. Can people be any less shallow? When will people start looking at the content of one's heart (and brains too) rather than the colour of one's skin? If a person of your race hangs out with another race, it just goes to show that she's not as shallow as you people are, that she evaluates a person by their character and not their colour. So be it if she chooses to hang out with another race, in what way does that affect your life?

Barack Obama is the first African-American President the United States of America has ever seen. Had be been judged for the colour of his skin, he wouldn't be where he is today.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

That was quoted from his speech in Chicago. That was change right there when he said we are the ones we've been waiting for, we are the change that we seek.

Quoting Sir Bob Geldof during YES2009 (Youth Engagement Summit 2009, held in Putrajaya International Convention Centre) :

We're all living in world that needs change. Conventional thinking got us here today and we need radical, unconventional thinking to get us out. If you can be unconventional and radical, you can be right.

She's unconventional in her thinking. She mixes with everyone regardless of the colour of their skin. So what? She is the change that she seeks. We, the leaders of tomorrow, have got to be unconventional. We have got to be the change that we seek.

Statistics show that almost half of the world (which accounts to about 3 billion people) live on less than $2.50 a day (source = global issues). Every year, people spend 350 billion on cigarettes, 400 billion on barbie dolls and 600 billion on lipsticks — yet here we sit, worrying about who mixes with who when there are so much more to worry about in this world. Only when one finally realises the fact that every single problem in this world is a global problem will one really be concerned and bothered about change.

Another pretty upsetting thing is this : Can't girls go walking at night? Is walking at night strictly reserved for only men? This is the 21st century yet I can't walk to see a friend at 1am inside my campus accommodation without having people pass rude remarks. What's becoming of this world? Women have ventured into space as early as 1963 (Valentina Tereshkova was the first) and yet we have not opened our minds up? Are you people still living in the era where women were supposed to sit at home doing household chores while men went out to work? We're studying in a UNIVERSITY.

It's upsetting to hear your own friends utter such stuff about you. Have you people heard of this saying?

"Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car." — G.K. Chesterton

Well, here's a refined version that explains my stand :

"Staying at home doesn't make you a good girl any more than standing in your garage makes you a car." — Sasi Rekha Ravi

No one gives you the right to judge another individual based on your perception of how an individual should be. Why should I conform to your ideas of how a lady should be? My parents did a successful job in bringing me up. I know what's right and wrong, I have my own set of limitations and boundaries that I live by. These are of my own, and in no way at all do I have to conform to your ideologies.

I ask of you to not pass crude judgements when you barely know a person, for that would only reflect  on who you are as a person. We are all different in our own ways, none too perfect for the other but we're all perfect in God's image. Learn not to criticise and condemn, but to understand and accept others as individuals who are fully aware of rights and wrong, individuals who are capable of making decisions for themselves.

I hope this post offended none — I hope instead that it opened up the eyes of some. Ignorance, indifference, apathy and racism — get rid of them. Let's all be the change that we seek. Let's all be radical, unconventional and RIGHT!

Loves.

Prior to YES2009

    As I was going through The Star Online, I came across R.AGE and found out there was a competition and a chance to win a ticket to Youth Engagement Summit (YES) 2009 which was going to be held at Putrajaya on the 16th & 17th of November 2009. Not knowing what it was about, I visited the YES2009 website and got to know that people from all over South-East Asia would be at the summit. Out of curiosity and excitement, I sent an email to The Star R.AGE with my answers to the 3 questions which were asked. 

Note: I wasn't expecting to win. 

    On Thursday, 12th of November 2009, I received a call from R.AGE informing me I'm one of the 10 winners from R.AGE to attend the summit and that the organisers would call me soon. Friday, 13th of November. Still no wes. I called up R.AGE since I haven't heard anything from the organisers. I spoke to Sharmila. She asked me for my name and number, and called me back to let me know that the organisers would email me by 8pm the same day. 

I was surfing the internet the whole day and then at 8pm.... I received an email from Audra with the details of the summit. Only then did I know that they provide accommodation for the local delegates as well. Nice ;) She called me right after I received the email to inform me that she has sent it. 

I asked her regarding the accommodation and she said she'd send an email regarding that the next day. The following day (Saturday),  I received an email from her informing me that I'll be staying at Ancasa Hotel Kuala Lumpur, next to Puduraya bus station and that I'll have to check in by 7pm on Sunday, 15th November. 

Wohoo! I got my dad to send me to Ancasa Hotel on Sunday evening after going through maps to find out where exactly it was. It was a crazy day, or rather a crazy evening, - it was raining like mad. We picked up my mom and sister from Midvalley on the way and headed for Ancasa Hotel. Dad parked the car and I had the whole family on the lobby with me while I collected my goodie bag, t-shirt, allowance, summit pass and the room key. They also ended up following me to my room to drop off my things and then we went to Brickfields for dinner. 

My sister was acting like she wasn't going to see me for a year, giving me hugs and asking me to text her everyday =.= When I got back to the hotel, I was sort of disappointed. My room-mate wasn't there and the organisers hadn't organised anything for the delegates to get to know each other prior to the summit. What was I going to do alone in my room the entire night? Thank God I didn't end up alone. Initially, I heard voices outside my room. I peeked through the hole twice and I saw 2 girls standing outside my room, talking. After a while, they finally knocked and introduced themselves - Maria and Gloria. They were staying in the next room and decided to scout around for other delegates. We knocked on another door and met 2 other delegates - Shi Huay and Elyantie. All 5 of us won our summit passes through R.AGE :) While we were talking, my room-mate came out of the lift. I didn't know who she was until she was about to enter my room. We then had an introduction session with her. Her name is Joanna and she's from Poland, working at here in KL. My room-mate is a foreigner :D Exciting!

We had to be at the lobby at 6am the following morning as the bus would leave the hotel at sharp 6.30am :/ So all of us retreated back to own our rooms and prepared to go to bed. I chatted for a while with my room-mate while watching this freaky movie about killer dolls. I went to bed around 12.40am and I couldn't really sleep. The bed felt hard. I saw a cockroach in the room earlier. I was excited and nervous for the summit! More updates on the YES2009 coming soon! Good night everyone.