If Hala knew I'm writing this post just for her I s'pose she'd expect me (mind you, EXPECT..not merely want, but actually be audacious enough to expect!) to say that the sun's stopped shining down on lums, the birds have ceased their merry chirping, the clouds seem dreary, the trees have lost their swagger and the whole campus is no more bright and cheerful! Tall order, ain't it? But that's exactly what you get when you're dealing with Hala...the whole deal, whether you like it or not. In fact, the more you don't like it, the more likely it is that you're stuck with all of it - the tongue-biting sarcasm, the complete inconsideration of your feelings, the air of superiority that gazes down upon you...and the thick, thick skin which no one (well, almost no one :P) can get under!

Consider all of that and it's quite likely that you'll feel foolish for telling her that she shouldn't go. Or rather, you'll very seriously believe that I must be reasonably insane for telling her that she shouldn't go. Umm, you might actually be right...I'm still working on that one!

But regardless of the wiseness of what I said, I did say it. And mean it.

She left anyway.

About 8 months...that's about all I've known her. And 8 minutes is about all it took for her to make clear that 'twas the genrosity of her regal spirit that permitted her to shine her attention upon us lowly subjects the very first day I was introduced to her. Intimidating...I know!

I'm glad to report that the haalaat improved considerably soon after. Not that the sarcasm ever went away for long enough to make me feel comfortable; rather, the more she got to know, the more she used me as a not-so-loyal subject to sharpen her tongue on.

And it's not even as if I never gathered any ammunition against her. Of course I did. Very soon, in fact. Maybe even more than she had. The afternoon talks in the pdc during the 'juma' break, sitting on the pdc wala footpath, the msn convos, the visits to the e-lab (:P :P :P), the summer-quarter afternoons in the DRs...conversations that often tended to revolve around the same person - again and again. And then a few more times. (For the record, just to prove the unfairness of life when you're in Hala's world...I'm still not allowed to even try to hit on him even though she's gone and will be flirting with every good-looking gora she sees. Also, again for the record, I won't say a lot more that I feel like 'cause you never, never know who just might someday visit my blog and read more into the lines that I'd be safe with...Hala kee tu khair hai, but meri achi bhali izzat khaak mein mil jaye gee..hehe.) The teasing, the matchmaking, the encouragement to look into other options (haha...too many of those to recall, though one in particular I still think is suitable! :P), the half-serious lectures on "hala, ab insaan ban jao..kafi hu gaya hai!", the so-called philosophical discourses on whether 'love at first sight' can truly ever possibly exist, (I'm still not so sure, despite all her theories), trying to convince hala that the light of her life and the love of her life should be the same person, trying to understand why that wasn't/isn't/won't be possible so easily...*sigh* I could rant on and on for quite a while, without making much sense to anyone else. But I do know what I'm talking about :)

Hala, if you read this...two things. First of all, do not dare to leave this page without leaving a comment (and a NICE one, mind you! Yeah surprise surprise, I can be rude too once in a while!). And second of all, I know you're gonna be back ;)

But after all the raving and ranting, after all the jibes and sarcasm, after all the teasing and threatening, there's one thing which, much as I hate to admit, has turned out to be true...

Ever since Hala left, the sun has been shining just that little bit less on lums, the birds' chirping is that little bit less merry, the clouds are that little bit more dreary, the trees have lost that little bit of their swagger...and the whole campus is that little bit less bright and cheerful.

*sigh* I guess you can't have it all in life now...can you?