Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year !!

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. A better resolution would be to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment.

With this resolution in mind, I start this year and wish you all a very safe, happy and peaceful new year!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

RNBDJ

Finally we got the tickets for the much hyped movie. SRK and Aditya Chopra combination after 8 years...SRK's movie after one year...etc had become the cliche' topics of discussion for the month.

'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' was supposed to break the "Raj" mania which had gripped the industry after DDLJ. If we consider this as the sole aim of the movie, then I would say the movie was par excellence. It did not just break the "Raj" mania but it made people loathe Raj and like Suri.Though the second half was a bit repetitive and lacked originality (as most of the sequences and dialogues were from old YRF) , Suri was good enough to keep you glued to the screen for 2 hrs and 45 mins.

Another thing which this movie boasts of is its relevance in real life. The movie was supposed to show what happens with most of us. How many of us would agree that we wont recognize our spouse if he/she changes hair style and dresses..? Not many I guess. But still the movie is said to be very close to real life. It is true that outer appearance does not matter but is it acceptable that even communication does not matter much? Each one of us loves some person very dearly and all of us want to be loved. I am sure almost all of you will agree that expression of this love also matters equally. But Suri believes the other way round. As per him, his wife should understand his love even without him saying anything. That is only possible if there's a very good understanding between them and this is only possible if he communicates this to her.

And even in real life, all of us do want some excitement and colors in life. We cannot live with a strict routine life, dressing exactly the same way everyday, speaking to others only for some work and that too timidly, talking in a few words which do not even qualify as a full sentence, not taking our eyes off the plates even once while having dinner (that too when your spouse is having dinner with you)!!! All such Suris in real life have to change at some point of the time or other and if they don't then, their only companions at the end are their monotonous daily tasks.

The end of the movie shows Suri changing to a more colorful person, a more outgoing person and a more expressive person. The last 5 mins (star cast part) is undoubtedly the best and most enjoyable part of the movie!!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Jag Suna Suna Thera Thera Sa..
Mera Sapna Apna Ghera Ghera Sa..
Sare Sehar Ki Jagmag Ke Bitar Hai Andhera
Har Muskan Ke Peeche Chupa Hua Gum Ka Chehra
Yehi Hai Sach To Harpal Ko Jee Lu Mein Jee Bhar Ke
Aur Has Has Ke Yeh Keh Dun Dukho Ke Pathar Se…..
Alvida…… Alvida……
Koi Waqt Ke Aage Hara Hara Sa..
Koi Pyaar Mein Firta Mara Mara Sa..
Dil Ke Riston Mein Kyon Dard Hamesha Milta Hai
Aur Kyon Kaanton Per Hi Phool Sukho Ka Khilta Hai
Yehi Hai Sach To Mein Iss Sach Ko Hi Apnaunga
Mar Bhi Jaunga To Mein Pyaar Amar Kar Jaunga……

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

What a way to start your day

Not everyone's day starts with bed-tea and newspaper, but I am sure almost everyone's working hours start with http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com or http://www.rediff.com/ and a cup of coffee. The way your day starts is known to have a great influence on your thoughts day long and are also reflected in your actions. But alas! The media seems to be ignorant of this fact.

The moment you pick up any newspaper (or even news channels), your eyebrows are raised and three dark lines appear from no where on your forehead.Be it the headlines, the latest news or the most read section,all you get to read is some accident happening somewhere, some girl being raped somewhere, some robbery, some murder,some suicide, some scams or divorce cases and relationship woes. And these thoughts remain in our minds (conscious or sub conscious) and add to the irritations and frustrations in our already stressed lives.

It is not that only these things are happening around us. Good and motivating things also happens with the same frequency. Every other second some person helps someone, someone achieves something(may be small or big), someone fights his/her problems courageously and becomes a source of inspiration for others.But these stories hardly find any place in the news and even if they are successful, it's some where in 20-22 page of the newspaper.

I am not saying that we should totally be unaware of what is going around us. My only point is we could start with something positive. This would not only increase our efficiency but also better our mood.

The day our newspapers have only positive and motivational articles in the first page, our productivity and satisfaction is bound to increase. Japan is already reaping the fruits of this concept. It's our turn now!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Movie Mania !!

Blogging after quite a long time. May be because something unusual happened after a long time. And all of this because of our great Bollywood..!! Three of my last six meals were popcorn and coke!! I saw four movies in the last two days.

After postponing it for long, I finally got a chance to see the much hyped movie 'Fashion', which reiterates what many of us forget while pursuing our dreams. The end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it. All of us at some point or the other miss to enjoy the success we had dreamt of for years and lose our personality which helped us taste success.After achieving what the protagonist had always dreamt of, she feels somewhere there's a void. With full confidence, she had started her journey to success, made very good friends en route, tasted the success which she was chasing but somehow got trapped in it. She was unable to find her true self, her character was lost in the crowd of people. She realizes that one cannot be happy in spite of all the money and material comforts till one is at peace with one self.

Dasvidaniya was a very simple, sensitive movie which does not boast of good star cast, exotic locales etc but it definitely has awesome performances, soothing music and very apt lyrics. It makes you think how simple a person can be and how all of us are too busy with our daily chores to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of life. There's a scene where Vinay stands in his balcony and says

" I had bought this house because the view from here is very scenic and soothing. But since the first day, I have only come in this balcony to dry my towel and the only thing I could see from here were the stains of my towel."

In this race of time and money, all of us miss the small pleasures of life for which we had started working.


A R Rehman remains the 'Yuvvraaj' of music world. His music is just awesome in that movie. Though the movie did not have anything worth watching except locales, it was a treat for the ears!! And the only thing which one says after the movie ends is "Rehman, Tu hi to humara dost hai..!!"


And the worst of the lot was Dostana. For the directors and producers we just have these words "Inka ka Ladla Bigad Gaya!!"

Friday, August 15, 2008

Happy Independence Day

Since last month, each day I had been waiting for 15th Aug and I am sure almost all of you would have been doing the same. The reason for such a wait is quite obvious and no points for guessing it. ‘Independence Day’ is one of the most awaited days every year as it breaks the no-holiday season of may-jun-jul. And nothing can be better than 15th Aug falling on a Friday. So this day gets its share of recognition but for reasons which are different from what our forefathers had in their mind while declaring it has a national holiday. Anyway, like a ‘true’ Indian, my plans for this day included getting up late, brunch, calling friends and family and wishing them a very happy independence day or rather a happy holiday..!!! Then a not so short siesta, followed by some chatting, playing some deshbhakti geet in the background, dinner and back to the land of dreams. Wow what a day..!!!

But as my luck would have it, when I got up today, it was just 6 AM. Wished myself a happy holiday (though the start was not so happy) and then called up my friends to wish them a happy holiday (why should only I get up early). And the first thing I get to hear on our Independence Day is “Hey…tell me the lyrics of our national anthem. I have to go for a flag hoisting ceremony!!” I couldn’t believe that I was actually hearing these words. My obvious reply was “How is this possible? How can anyone forget the national anthem? It should be in the blood of all Indians. You must be kidding.” That friend of mine actually didn’t know the national anthem and was getting late so without further arguments I recited the national anthem.

Feeling proud of myself, I thought “At the stroke of this hour, when all Indians are sleeping, I have awakened to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely, when I step out of my bed at 6 on a holiday, and when the soul of the nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment I recite the national anthem and take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”

With this pride, I switched on my laptop, logged in gtalk, changed my status message to ‘Vande Mataram’, played some deshbhakti geet in background and at the end of the day did nothing other than criticizing government, its policies, growing terrorism, people’s indifference towards the country and its independence and updating my blog.AAKHIR DIL HAI HINDUSTANI!!!

Friday, May 30, 2008

This ocassion was too good to be missed out for a post

Finally the 120 hour long wait is going to end. It’s just 1 more hour and then the weekend would start. Today was a day with moderate work but still I was bored to the extent that my jaws were aching by afternoon due to innumerable yawns. My dull and idle mind went into a retrospective mood.

What good has happened to me this month? A few good dinners…a few heart warming calls…some deadlines getting postponed at work (for which I was not the reason...!)…and yes my convocation trip.

All of us had waited for this day since last 5 years for sure and people like me had waited for this day since the time I had seen others dressed in black robes receiving degree on television. The importance of convocation increased exponentially during the last days of college. This would also be our first reunion. Two great occasions on a single day!!

While the train was speeding towards Ranchi, the only words which were coming to my mind were “Ghar aa ja pardesi tera desh bulaye le”. It was like returning to homeland after spending so much time in Chennai. Finally reached there and then started the ‘re-living of college days’.

Eating out in ranchi, bargaining with the rickshaw-walas for church complex and auto-walas for BIT…walk along the OC road...samosa at Sharma…running from one corner of institute to other for various forms…long queues for registration…embarrassing bashes from profs for no reasons during the 5 hour registration process…cursing the institute for charging so much for the convo…walking through the woods at night for dinner (this was something which we were doing for the first time…!!! and it was amazing…)…morning walk…and so many more things…




And then it was time when we were dressed up in over-sized black robes with green piped “lapels”!! It was truly the moment of my life time dressed in highly esteemed black robes, walking with my proud parents to the OAT (where the convocation was held). Due to time constraints we were just allowed to stand at the podium with the degree for not more than 2-3 secs but I was predetermined to pose for a good photo while receiving the degree. I still haven’t seen that photo but friends say that my determination has not gone in vain and that the life time moment has been captured beautifully..!!





And finally time had come for rejoicing with the hard earned degrees in our hands.





But our faces were not lit up that brightly. We had in our minds that this also means the end of the best days of life. I had not felt this sad even on the last day of my college as I had the hope of coming back and meeting everyone in convocation. Now there was no such hope. But then all good things also come to an end and this was no exception.

However, the memories will remain fresh deep in our hearts till our last days. These memories are bright enough to light up even our gloomiest days. And the only thing which made 4 years of college and this convocation the best days of my life are my friends. All of you have a very special place in my life and my heart and hope I will be close enough not to miss any of you ever.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

My last post

I have decided not to blog any more due to some reason. But then there are incidents which are too difficult to resist and one such incident is the reason behind this post.

My cell is ringing every now and then today and the last words of every call are “take care…esp today..!!! :P” And the result of so many warnings was this :

One of my friends : hey mujhe call karo na
Me : arey caller tune to same hi hai..!! (She generally asks me to call when she changes her caller tune)
Friend : Ph ki??
Me : haan..chk ur cell
Friend : arey I lost my ph.!!!
Me : ha ha ha… good try…kuch acha idea nahi mila tumko… (people’s warnings had made me immune to such tricks..!!)
Friend : Nahi yaar ..! sach me kho gaya… nahi mil raha.. ring karo na pls
Me : ring to kar rahe…no one is picking up…I know you r a very good story teller…par mujh par kyu try kar rai ho…had u lost ur cell it wud hv been swtchd off by now…
Friend : Can you call airtel and ask them to block my no ?
Me : Mujhe to abhi bhi lag raha you r making up stories
Friend : And call at my home and inform them about this
Me : par mujhe to abhi bhi vishwas nahi ho raha..sach me kho gaya kya..?? :P
Friend : now call my no
Me : it says not in range
Friend : abhi vishwas hua ya nahi…ab mere ghar pe call karo…
Me : Arey tumhare story making n story telling ki history mujhe yaad hai..and on top of it u r telling all this today
Friend : tumlog samajh nahi rahe ho…sach me i hv lost it...!!

And by now her status msg was “Lost my ph...pls send in your nos..”

It’s so difficult to believe things today however genuine they might sound. But the title of this post still holds true. However such incidents as this can/will always be tagged as exceptions!!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Real world Vs Virtual world

Finally my office hours are again normal. Just 10 hours a day, 8 to 6 and the mere thought that I don’t have to slog extra hours in office for the entire next week gives me an immense pleasure. After almost a month, I went out today. And shopped for 8 hours (some things are still left which had to be shifted to tomorrow’s schedule) and that too alone..!! This is my real world...living all alone…slogging for 13 hours daily and wasting the weekends either working or lying like an inanimate object whom no one even bothers to look at.

But then there is some thing which still keeps me going...my virtual world. Half of my salary and three-fourths of my life here is dedicated to this virtual world. My cell has become my best friend here. I spend hours on phone trying to kill my time and find some reason to smile in spite of the fact that all my friends are PJ experts and they make me go crazy!! My source of strength and inspiration also comes from my cell i.e. the ML sessions given on phone by a few CHOSEN ONES!! But there are times when I have to hear “the no you are trying to reach is busy” or “hey I am busy now...will give you a call in 5 mins”. Thanks to chatting and blogging that I can still some how spend whatever free time I have. And in the remaining time, I chase sleep and my dreams chase me.

I want my virtual and real worlds to swap places. There are times when I wish I could feel and enjoy the actual presence of my friends. I wish some one could actually give me water and medicine instead of telling it over phone. I wish some one could stroke my hair with affection and tell me that he/she is there with me always. I wish I could laugh with some one, I could care for some one, and I could help some one in stead of saying it all just over phone or chat. I miss all my friends in my real life even though they are always with me in my virtual life.

“Yaaron dosti badi hi ajeeb hai,yeh na ho to kya phir bolo yeh zindagi hai”





PS : Some of my friends are not there in the pic because I didn't have their pic.. :(

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Things which still keep me going

Without this working 14 hours daily would have been impossible...






My favorite dessert...



My lucky charm...




My only friend who accompanies me in the darkest of nights...



The fragrance of my life...





The sweetness & freshness of a rose remains forever...even when it is broken into pieces...





My soul mates...

Friday, February 22, 2008

A Walk by Moonlight

To take a break from our monotonous “guest house to office and office to guest house” routine, we decided to go out for dinner yesterday. Thus started the search for a suitable place for the evening and what better place than a beach. We found out an Italian Beach restaurant within a few seconds (thanks to google). After the initial ordeal with autowala we finally reached the beach. And what a co-incidence!! It was a full moon night and the shimmering calm water of sea was all we could see.

While we were walking on the soft sand towards the restaurant, I suddenly remembered the poem “A walk by moonlight”. And then I understood the power of moonlight. It actually alleviates us of all our worries and soothes us in a divine manner. That was the moment when I actually experienced the “bliss of solitude”

Yes; there are in the backward past
Soft hours to which we turn --
Hours which, at distance, mildly shine,
Shine on, but never burn.

The cherished memories of college, golden time spent with friends and then best 8 months of my life, all flashed upon my inward eye. I relived my college years and the golden 8 months all over again during that walk. I bunked lectures, spent entire days chatting in canteen, late night gossips in hostel, enjoyed long leg pulling sessions with friends, remembered hours spent on phone during exams, all the fun filled weekends of my Kolkata stay, special visits by special people in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore and the innumerable treats I forced out of my friends in Bangalore.

At the end of that walk I found my heart, mind and soul immersed in moonlight, shining with happiness. This walk by moonlight gave my mind the peace it was craving for since last so many days.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

"But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams beneath your feet;
Tread softly, for you tread on my dreams..."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Discovering myself

Every day when I have to get up at 630 for office I think everything in the world is better than getting up so early. Then when I enter my office at 8, I feel nothing could be worse than this. The same is true for living here all alone, working 10 hrs daily and so many other innumerable small incidents. Each new difficulty and I feel that this affects me the most. But then God has its own ways of teaching us. He puts us into worse and worse situations till we finally say “I can endure anything and everything now”. He makes us more and more tolerant and strong and stops just at the point where we find out for ourselves what actually troubles us the most. Thus He helps us discover ourselves and we then know what fears lie deepest inside our heart.

After a long period of struggle, I finally realized what affects me the most. It’s not getting up early or slogging for hours or living alone which makes me cry. It’s the tears and worries of loved ones which make me feel helpless and lost. I can bear everything but sadness and tears of the people I love. I can do anything for their one smile, anything.

Nothing is forever; even the darkest and longest night is followed by dawn. So all you should do is fight with the darkness foreseeing the dawn, fully assured of the fact that you always have your loved ones with you come whatever may.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Life is a roller coaster

I had always heard “Life is a roller coaster ride” but understood its complete analogy only today. Most of us are thrilled by the mere thought of experiencing a roller coaster ride. We are all eager to enjoy the speed and excitement of the ups and downs of that ride. We get on the ride reassuring ourselves that we are prepared for the excitement. The ride starts, all faces are lit up with broad smiles. But as soon as the ride speeds up with unexpected ups and downs in all directions, we start screaming with fear and uncertainty and yell continuously for the ride to stop. Most of us are terrified and throughout the ride we wish nothing but the ride to stop. And the moment we step out of the ride, we again want to be on the ride for that adventure and keep longing for that.

The same applies to life. We want our lives to be full of excitement and adventure. We start our journey of life, fully prepared (according to our standards) for the thrills and happiness. But as difficulties and uncertainties start jolting us, we wish our adventure to end. We crib and pray for returning back to the point where we started. And amidst all this fear and panic, we miss out all our excitement and fun for which we had set out. We somehow try to find our way out of it. Just as everyone somehow completes the roller coaster ride, we all come out of thrills and uncertainties of life. But the moment we are out of that phase, we realize its worth and want to be a part of it again.

Some of us are lucky enough to come across many roller coaster rides but few don’t get a second chance. That ride becomes their last ride, the ride in which they had chosen to scream with fright and sorrow instead of enjoying whatever comes their way.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Thought of the Day

During a meeting at my office today, suddenly there was an announcement. Like a natural reflex action, everyone in the room stood up after listening to it. By now each one of you must have guessed what the announcement could be. It was “As all of you know, today is Martyr’s Day. Exactly 60 years ago Father of our Nation laid his life for the freedom and development of this country.You are requested to stand up in silence for 2 minutes in memory of those thousands of martyrs who laid their lives in the freedom struggle.” And after 2 minutes we resumed the meeting. But the question is even in those 2 minutes did anyone even think of the freedom struggle and the martyrs? Does this forced silence for 2 minutes serve its purpose? Is standing up in silence for 2 minutes a year enough for remembering their struggle for freedom?

Same is our attitude towards Independence Day and Republic Day. It’s just another holiday for us. As a mark of Republic or Independence Day, the maximum most of us do is listening to a couple of patriotic songs. The so called leaders of our country will be in great demand this day for hoisting our national flag. Leaders like Nehru and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel held positions in government and were respected so much because they were always at the forefront when it came to defending our country from foreign powers. But today people who actually fight for our country are the least known. A common Indian like me (yeah…even though I am writing this post, I am no exception) would know more politicians than soldiers or defense officers.

I know very well that no single person (or even a group of people) can change our thinking overnight but the least we can do is remember and respect the freedom fighters and our soldiers whenever we feel for them. It should not be a forced one and limited to certain predefined time or day.


P.S: The irony of this post is that it was thought upon in those 2 minutes of silence. Only while composing the post, I realized the graveness of this issue. I am not sure if this article will be of any good to any of you but it certainly made me think.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Papa Khete Hain Bada Naam Karegi

New Year came and went by just like yet another day. This is true for majority of us and this used to be true for me too but only till last year. This New Year was a bit different for me, actually too good for me. For the first time in my life I won a lucky draw, took two resolutions and have successfully followed one of them for 10 days. But then as it goes with all good things, my good luck also didn’t last for long. I am having horrible time at work. During these 10 days, not even a single thing I tried out in office worked for me. Things have gone wrong to the extent that I have started having nightmares of my getting fired from this job and not getting one for next 6 months. And today after I did “my first and last blunder as a fresher” (according to my senior), I spent next 2 hours thinking of what I could do so as to have a peaceful life. And after racking my pea sized brain for a couple of hours I could think of only these options:

• Quit the job of a consultant, become an author and write novels. May be I become the next J.K.Rowling!!
• Become the host of some traveling show of Discovery, National Geographic or Travel & Living and “Go Places”!! After all, everyone says I am gonna “Go Places” and time has come to prove them correct.
• If some one is ready to pay a connoisseur (of food and wine), then your search has ended. I would love to appreciate good food & wine!!
• Become a receptionist. At least every one in the office will ‘notice’ me and I would be paid for what I am good at… talking on phone and smiling!!
• Get married to some rich guy (remember Shahid of Jab We Met!!)


P.S: Any sugestion is most welcome.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

KIT KAT break banta hai !!!

I have been racking my brain since last week but still cannot understand why during one transaction a particular account is credited and during another similar transaction the same account is debited. I am still puzzled as to why balance sheet of a simple transaction like bank giving you 100 bucks contains 5 entries of debit n credit. So before its too late I thought I should take a break from clients and taxes and balance sheets. The last time I had put in so much of effort was one n a half years back (for placements). Even at that time I was successful at fooling the interviewers. So I am pretty sure that my efforts will pay and some day I will be able to confuse the clients and help them maintain their balance sheets.

The best way I know of taking a break while working is chatting and reading forwarded mails (Kit Kat was a good option had it been free!!). Consciously or unconsciously I have refrained from chatting these days, the reason being the same usual start with all my friends.

Me : Hiiii
Wassup
Friend : Hii
Tum batao credit debit kahan tak pahucha !! :P
Me : Kya yaar..humare politicians ko to kuch kaam nahi rehta hai..bekar ke complex tax laws formulate karte rehte hain aur yahan humari jaan nikalti hain implement karne me :(
Friend : ha ha :D
Acha hai..aish karo

(aish???!!!???!!!)

And thus starts my mockery. So I thought better to read forwarded mails and be happy in this short break than start chatting and realize my pathetic situation. But you know how good I am, just cannot stop thinking about my friends. So I extended my smile by forwarding one of the mails to my friends. But destiny had something else in store for me. My 5 min break (which was supposed to be relaxing) turned out to be a 50 min break (which was full of struggle). Just within 5 mins FOUR of my friends pinged me and told me that the pictures of that mail were not opening. Ohh !!! I never knew people actually bothered so much for a forward. I tried sending it again but still the pictures were not opening. “Leave it. I will send it some other time. I am a bit busy now” was my obvious reply but to my utter surprise my friends replied “Bhejo na. Even I am busy so I am asking you to send it. I want a break yaar!!”

After half and hour of my continous trial n error I figured out that pictures were not being sent from mozilla and it worked perfectly well with IE (I still don’t know why). And finally I helped my friends take a break but I needed another break. Thus I end up blogging.