So today I got to attend “Renaissance 2007″, a program hosted by the Rotary International District 3190 to

“to inspire the younger generation to contribute for the development of India”

(as quoted from here). The highlight of the event of course was the address by Dr. Abdul Kalam, our ex (sigh) President. The event was attended by around 5,500 students from a 125 schools from and around Bangalore. We arrived at the KSTLA (Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association) at 8:30 am, and I expected rigourous security procedures, but we weren’t even checked once! They didn’t even ask for ID, even though we were specifically asked to carry our ID cards!

Anyway. once we were settled in, Dr.Kalam arrived promptly at 10 am and was greeted with a thunderous round of applause from all around the stadium. He talked about the key role of the youth ( to excel in studies) and recounted his own past experiences as a youngster. Hesaid that the three key people who affect the youth today are the father, mother and primary school teacher. His talked animatedly, and asked the audience to “repeat after him” several times He also talked about the role of knowledge and courage in the youth and the need to start with keeping our own places clean as it would keep our homes clean and therefore our state clean and therefore our nation clean!

Dr.Kalam asked the audience to raise the hands if people wanted to become engineers, and several people did. He then asked about doctors and administrators, and again a large number of students raised their hands. When he asked about political leaders, however, only a few ( yours truly included) raised their hands which led him to stress on the need for more smart and intelligent young people to get into politics!

All in all was a once in a lifetime experience and I’m glad I got to go

Came across this while researching the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis :

Some Italians born in this time were named Roberto, which briefly acquired a new meaning from “Roma-Berlino-Tokio”.

From here

Very interesting although I don’t know how far true that statement is!

The last two weeks have been busy and exciting, what with me turning 17 and the ending of 11th grade. Which is why I titled this post as “Hello, Goodbye”, because I’ve had to welcome new things, and bid farewell as well..

This has to have been one of the best birthdays of my life. It started of with me juggling three different cell phones at 12 am on the 30th : my mom’s, my dad’s and MINE! Yep, I finally got my own phone (all the people who I regularly complained to be about how unfair it was that I didn’t have my own phone – you can heave a sigh of relief now !) ! When I got to school, most people remembered which was nice. What was especially nice was that my Lit teacher read out a Sylvia Plath poem especially for me

The fun began on Saturday, when around 16 of my friends came over for lunch. It was amazing fun just to be around most of the people that I enjoy being with on my special day, and to add to it, there was some yummy biryani too ! After lunch, we all changed out of our “nice” clothes into clothes that we could get wet in because..

WE HAD A WATER FIGHT!

And boy oh boy was it some water fight! Armed with some incredible water guns that my friend brought along, plus the garden hose, we got completely drenched ! I felt 7, and not 17 , and it really didn’t matter at all! Everyone was soaked to the bone by the time we were done, and we enjoyed every bit of it. After that, we sat on the porch to dry up, with some of my mom’s amazing chocolate mousse to keep us company.
The best part of a party (after the company and food ofcourse) are PRESENTS , and I got such really lovely stuff !

The fun didn’t end on Saturday, but carried over to Sunday, when a bunch of my “non-teenager” friends came over for lunch. The highlight of the afternoon was the unwrapping of some curiously familiar presents (hehe) and one completely unexpected one -

A fantastic , black, and insanely beautiful 30 GB video iPod! (A big thank you to everyone who gave me the one thing I wanted the most after the phone !)

School, meanwhile, was really hectic as we drew near the ending of 11th. We 11th graders had to prepare for the Graduation of the 12th graders, and so most of time was consumed in that . While sitting through the Graduation ceremony this evening, it finally sunk in that the time had finally come to say goodbye to some people who have always been around in school, and that I was probably never going to see some of these people again. On a more selfish note, I realized that next year, I would be part of the Graduating class and would have to *gulp* leave school, and that I was now a Senior. I wish my seniors who graduated today all the very best in life , and school’s not going to be quite the same without you guys around !

So all in all, 17 started off on a high, and hopefully it will remain that way for a long while..