The Maldivian way of clutching at straws

I'll begin this post with a little incident that took place at Majeedhee Magu one night, coz none of you may bother reading this post if I get straight to the point. Right, so there I was in the middle of heavy traffic at around 8.30pm when there was a sudden downpour. Everyone ran off in random directions to take refuge against the elements, and a few seconds later I found myself jam-packed in a shop. And by jam-packed, I really mean it. There wasn't room to swing a cat, and everyone inside that place were doing their best to avoid looking at each other. Standing next to me was a big, burley man who was feeling extremely grumpy as evidenced by the comment he made;

"Sarukaaru vejje ennu maguthah hiyaakuran!"

If it wasn't for his size, I would have probably laughed myself silly. I mean, just think about it. If his wish were to come true, we will be living in something like an artificial cave someday. This sort of attitude is, I'm afraid, very common amongst many of my fellow Maldivians today.
The thing is, many of us depend on the blasted government to ensure that we don't commit any sort of crime, that we abide our religion etc. It comes as no surprise that those certain "some people" fail to control their insane desires with alarming frequency, and of course, every time this happens, they take the easiest course of action; blaming the police force or the government or something which is even easier..just putting it all down to the president. How many times have you heard someone yelling "Maumoon ge kanthakey!" I'm not defending the government in any way, though they have done us a few favours like opting to pay for our exam fees (there is talk that this is merely part of our president's campaigning program for the next election, but this is not the place to discuss conspiracy theories about political stuff). But if we continue going at this rate, someday we'll be expecting those little men in suits to spoonfeed us & to change our kids' diapers...
My advice to all those moaners is to grow up & take some responsibility.
So what do you think?

Greetings....again

Eid Mubarik to anyone who might bother reading this. This is my first post in over a month...disgraceful, I know.. Unfortunately, you'll probably not see much improvement during the next 3 weeks or so, coz the semister exams will rear their ugly heads very soon. And of course, the Fookolhuga Roavun Syndrome is rampaging through CHSE again. Three cheers for the exams!! (I'm just tryin to adopt positive thinking in the hope that I'll be able to do the exams better this time around. Who knows, I might actually spend more time concentrating on actually writing the tests instead of checking my watch every 5 mins wondering when the darn thing will end). So wish me luck, & good luck to anyone from CHSE who may be reading this.

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!

After so many months of anticipation, we're only a few hours away from getting to lay our hands on what will surely be one of the greatest masterpieces of the 21st century; Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Like me, HP maniacs all over the world are counting down the hours, which seem to be dragging on for months.

I actually suffered a scare about a week ago when I realised that I didn't have enough money to buy the book, and had actually resorted to buying it next month! (oh, the horror!!). But thanks to my dear cousin, who has been borrowing my HP books for the past few years, decided to do me a favour by buying the book herself. God bless her.

Now, all you fans must be aware of the reported leaks about the story. There was the friggin New York Times for one, who decided to post a "review" on their website and gave Ms Rowling a nasty surprise. I dunno whether it was a true review or not, but I didn't read it anyway. After all, we didn't wait all these years for nothing. (there was also some idiotic guy who confidently claimed on his talkshow that Harry would be starting a muggle business at the end of the book. Git.)

So, while we're all feeling giddy with excitement, let's look back at the past books & how they've affected us (I can't believe its all going to end!!).

Book 1: I had actually seen a trailer of the Sorcerer's Stone movie (I hate it when they change the names, why couldn't it be friggin Philosopher's Stone, there's a distinct difference in the meaning of the two words) before I even learnt of this book. I saw a young Daniel Radcliffe jumping up & trying to clutch at some letters that were flying about everywhere. Then I saw Hermione teaching Ron 'Wingardium Leviosa' & everyone swishing their wands, and also the goblins at Gringotts. I thought they were conducting some wierd orchestra then, and had no idea as to what it really was. Anyway, I first read this book when I was 11 years old. A cousin of mine went abroad to India & brought the first 4 books, and recommended them to me. He claimed that they were very "funny". It was a book, plus it was funny and these were two things I just couldn't resist. It took me 3 days to read the first page, but after that, I was just glued right till the end. It was fascinating...

Book 2: I called my cousin a few days after Book 1 and managed to borrow Book 2. Spent virtually all my free time slumped on a chair and reading it. It was fantastic...

Book 3: Managed to get hold of it, but unfortunately my mom prevented me from readin coz it was during the exams after all. It was a long & agonizing wait, but I eventually got through it and spent the holidays once again slumped on a chair. I found this book a little strange though. Not in a bad way, mind but maybe coz Harry was showing signs of growing up, while I was still only 11.

Book 4: By this time, I had introduced Harry Potter to a couple of people. Both of them loved it and have remained avid fans since. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and after reading it, I was delighted to find out that the first movie was going to be released soon. Then there was that long wait till the 5th book was released.

Book 5: I remember the hype that was caused even here in Male'. They released the book at 4.00 in the morning, though I didn't go there. I only got it that evening just before I went to bed. This book was very different from the previous ones. All that time I thought I was going to read about the adventures Harry & co would be facing while they were at Hogwarts. But this book was a lot darker, more emotional & to my intense delight, looooong. A sinister plot was shaping up. Admittedly, I didn't understand some of the emotional aspects of the book, like I felt irritated at times when Harry lost his temper. I re-read this book an year or so afterwards, & understood some things that I would not have even thought of before. You know, its part of growing up. Anyway, I devoured this one in 8 days (I had to go through a tough, tight schedule...thats my excuse. I like to take my time while reading too, feeling everything thats written in it. I just don't understand these so-called "speed readers") & was already anticipating the next one.

Book 6: I just loved this one. The first few chapters where Harry spent at The Burrow & the Hogwarts Express were a little disappointing, coz I thought they were very rushed and didn't have the same emotional qualities seen in the previous books. But it was just brilliant afterwards. It was dark, it was sinister, and of course there was all the fluff and funny moments. But Ms Rowling showed her brutality by killing off one of my favourite characters at the end. I actually could not believe it at first, and reread that part. But overall I enjoyed it immensely. The plot was just brilliant.

Book 7: Here we're at last. Its been a long, wonderful journey, a journey that began when both Harry & I were 11, and its going to end with both of us as 17 year olds. Its ironic that I read the first book 7 years ago! Its goin to be a busy week for all of us (my unit tests begin next Sunday...gah!!) and I would like to wish you all the best on the final outcome of the book. I'm feeling all giddy at the moment; I can smell the book now...(and I don't care what my English teacher says; I'm NOT going to spend all week reading Newsweek instead of, according to her words, "Stupid, childish stuff like Harry Potter")

Let's all thank Jo for providing us with this miraculous feat of ingenuity. This may be the last book, but the legacy of the whole series will never die. For evidence, see Star Wars. It ended 30 years ago and still remains strong. And now I'm off.

-Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

Apologies & promises

I know I know, its been over a month since I've posted anything. I'm extremely sorry for those of you who've come here, expecting somethin nice & interesting, but in the end leave disgruntled at the lack of activity, wondering whether this is one of those blogs that dry out after a month or two. I have an excuse for this, and I assure you that its a bloody reasonable one. See, I've been making my backside sore over the past month while working my brain to its limits. Thats exams for you. They ended today & I'm trying to make the best use of it (school resumes tomorrow.... aaaaaaarrgh!!!).

I should have let all of ya know about this, and I'm pretty sure that I've lost a lot of readers over the past month. So I'm going to make this blog a little...interesting lets say. My head is currently spinning with ideas & I'm trying to figure out what I should treat you all with first. How about you givin me an idea? Alright alright I've actually run outta ideas, the bloody exams have taken their toll on me. But fear not, I'm looking forward to hearing from all of ya!

Here's a little treat for today:

*scratches head, shrugs & signs out