Bizarre Dreams

I am a person infamous among my friends for having craziest of the dreams and nightmares. And the funny part is I remember most of them. I have read somewhere that usually all people have dreams in sleep. Its just that all of us won’t recollect it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream

One of my classmates even suggested me to keep a diary of dream so that we can all read it together later and have a fun time. Earlier, I used to have 4-5 dreams in a single sleep. But these days, dreams are less.. Thank God! Some dreams really drive me crazy.

Today I woke up in a pretty confused state.

I was heading through a street to some famous temple in Japan. Suddenly the street becomes all crowded with people speaking Tamil and all are dressed in silk clothes. They were all in a festive mood. Somebody told me that a stage is being inaugurated in the temple and some traditional dance will be held onstage. I also moved on with the crowd. Suddenly, I saw lots of people weeping. When I looked into the compound of a house, I saw a beautiful middle-aged woman dressed in 9 yards saree(Tamil Pudavai). She was sitting on a chair and people were pouring water over head. Lots of others were sitting and crying. I did not stop there. Then somebody told that this lady has two kids.. a 3 year old and a newborn and that her husband was one of the victims of today morning's Mumbai tragedy. I didn’t get answer when I asked what tragedy happened in Mumbai. That faceless person had disappeared.Then3 ambulances drove in and they laid 3 dead-bodies on the ground. Somebody told them to move it up to the new stage. I didn’t see the faces of the dead. I could hear the cries of loss and I was feeling some sort of ache in my heart …A chill of death. I could feel the air filled with agony. I desperately wanted to get out of that whole place. I looked at the time and it showed 6.301,whatever it meant!! I saw a wooden door and ran to it. It was difficult running against the crowd. I somehow got out and then I was on my way to my apartment.I met my classmates on they said they were on the way to my place. They had motor-bikes and rushed past me. I was pushing my bicycle upon a stone-laid uphill… why ??

My alarm beeped before I reached anywhere ...and was relieved of more troubles.

The day in office was going pretty fine. In the afternoon, my colleague had a phone call and I saw him leaving the office with a tearful face. Later, another person told me that my colleague’s father passed away. The same dreadful feeling as in the dream was cast upon me.

Oh God, Let the soul rest in peace !!

Sandheeshein aathee hain ..

Yesterday, I got a letter from one of my dearest friends in India. Not an e-mail or a print-out! It was a simple hand-written letter, just like old times.
When I read it, I felt like she was talking to me. The fact that she had written it out gave a very personal feeling. I felt so happy and elated reading it ..
It was a very simple act by her, but really touched me a lot.
We usually chat and call up each other. So, the letter was really a surprise to me. She had written some of the daily life stuff like office matters and shopping and movies and some chalus(silly jokes) ..
The very fact that she thought of writing down the stuff really made me feel good :)

When I think about it again, these lines come to my mind ...

Sandese aate hain
Humein tadpaate hain
Tho chitthi aati hai
Tho poochhe jaati hai
Ke ghar kab aaoge
Ke ghar kab aaoge
Likho kab aaoge
Ki tum bin ye ghar soona soona hai

Kyoto - A dream place !!

The weekend before JLPT exams, we went to Kyoto. I wanted to write about this earlier. But cdn’t manage to extract some time for blogging.
Kyoto is the old capital of Japan and a city of immense historic significance. We set off from Sanda at 8.30 AM. Our first destination was Arashiyama - a district in the outskirts of Kyoto. We went to a park which is a borrowed scenery with mountains in the backdrop. They charge us an entry fee of 500 yen. We were a bit hesitant at first. Is it worth spending 500 yen for a walk around the park? But as soon as we entered the compound, we realized that the place was worth the price we paid. We witnessed autumn at its best !!
Next was TenRyu-Ji - Temple of the heavenly dragon. This zen temple is listed in the World heritage list as a historic monument of ancient Kyoto. The rock garden is pretty famous though we failed to decipher the meanings which the beautifully shaped/piled stones were conveying ;)
Autumn was in full swing. The trees had put on a beautiful show dressed in the wonderful display of colors. You tell any color and there were leaves with colors of that shade. Yellow, light red, bright red, dark red, orange, maroon, dark magenta, different shades of green and even there was a tree with purple leaves. The flushy green bamboo forest was strangely beautiful after the walk through the red garden.

From there we took the Sagano Romantic train to Kyoto. Our next point of interest was Golden Temple (Kinka Ku-ji).

If the sights in the daytime could be described as wonderful, the night view would make us go crazy. We visited Clear water temple (kiyomisudera) at night. It looked as if the trees were flaming. The leaves were the colors of burning amber. There was forest on one side. With the lighting on the yellow leaves, they were gleaming like gold. The night view of Kyoto from this height was really amazing.


In my childhood days, I have heard of and seen snaps of places where leaves are not only green. But since we don’t have autumn and this kind of beauty in India, honesty I never fully believed that such places existed. It was like a dream to me. I was just thrilled with the mere sight of the multi colored trees and the amazing temples. It was one of the most vibrant and memorable days in my life.

Shiken O Owattaa !! (Exam finished !!!)

Finally .. my Japanese exam is over!! As expected,it was tough. But no disappointments coz never expected more than this ;)
I would like to write a bit about this exam. Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is a test conducted every year in Japan and outside Japan to evaluate and certify the language skills of non-native Japanese speakers. There are four different levels for the exams - 4,3,2,1. Level 4 is for beginners(the one I attempted) and Level 1 is the toughest, the one for experts.
Each test has three different sections.
Section One (Kanji and Vocabulary): This section requires the knowledge of Kanji characters, Hiragana and Katakana(Japanese letters) and Japanese words and meanings.
Section Two(Listening/Kikithori): This involves some conversations which will be played over the tape and questions will be asked related to thedialogues. We need to choose from the four answers which will be given orally.
Section Three(Reading &Grammar): The questions will be based on different particles and gramatical aspects and correct formation of the sentences.
This is a very helpful website for those who are preparing for JLPT. http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/Download.htm
For Level 4 exam, we need to study hiragana, katagana, 100 Kanji characters, 800 Japanese words and basic grammar. According to the examiners, we can pass the exam if we study Japanese for 150 hours. I started the studies just 1 month back and never managed to study for more than 1 - 1.5 hours a day. My main aim was not in passing the exam but getting familiarized with the language and for basically understanding the simple and common conversations/situation we come across in daily life. The general 80-20 rule suits here also. By studying for level 4 exam we will only be mastering 20% of this language. But we can understand almost 80% of the common usages and conversations.
One thing I appreciate is the Japanese accuracy, punctuality and perfection. I had a very casual approach to the exam. But read the instruction pamphlet yesterday. These people have such a professional approach and planning. Suddenly things seemed so serious and important!

Anyways, it was a good experience writing an exam after so long. The combine studies, feeling of flunking on the exam eve, exam tension, and finally facing the vilian question paper … all reminded me of good ol’ college days :)

A perfect Autumn nite !!

Here I come into the new world. Till date, I had plenty of time to start blogging. But I ddn’t get the needed trigger to start. And now, I have one solid reason . I have my Japanese exam next Sunday. And since it is exam time, I feel like I want to do many many things .. like painting, watch movies, cycling, shopping, browsing and everything except studies!! That is how I stumbled upon the blogs of some of my friends and the idea stikes me !! I need to start blogging .. That will be the ultimate thing I can do when exams are near ;)
So friends … let me also make a small space for me in the blogosphere.
As I said, I am having japanese exam on december 2nd. Today, being a holiday, I went to my friend’s place for combine study. As usual, we all talked a lot about movies, songs and the common topics .. well… did some studies in between. I stay at Sanda,Japan.[ Have a lot to write about this beautiful place. Expect a blog soon about Sanda.] And my friends stay at Yurinokidai. Its some 15 mins away from Sanda by train.
First thing I saw when I stepped out of their house was the bright full moon in the dark night. Today it was a perfect Autumn night, with clear sky and full moon and obviously lots of stars .The temperature was -1 degree, a bit too cold for Autum… rite ? Time seemed so perfect and felt that world is really beautiful . I feel that tonight was the most beautiful nite I have ever seen.
I realised that I need to buy a cam soon.