Perspectives and perceptions

My friend said, it doesn't make sense to write and "crib" about the problems that festivals create without offering solutions in return. Justified. So here goes, Festivals in Bombay are definitely many, being a secular city we're bound to celebrate all the festivals associated with the various religions in our city, we'll have Ganesh Utsav, Diwali, Durga Puja, Id, Christmas, and so on... Political parties aiming to be projected as the party for everyone will support these festivals to gain a double whammy, political mileage and votes. People will accept their support because they too have a justifiable desire to celebrate! How do we, ensure that amidst this chaos, we prevent damage to our environment? Let's start with the resources used to erect these festivals, Mandals are created, Idols are sculpted, Flower Garlands are utilised, Colours (or rang /gulal), Crackers, Diyas, Lanterns and now so often used the electric versions of lights and the likes. What does...

have you ever had a pet? I do... I lost my dog today in an accident in the elevator, by the time we rescued her, she had already died... it made me stop and think, about the multitude of things that we do, and the pace at which we work. made me realise the importance of slowing down the pace, because these moments that we live are precious. a beautiful dog she was.. when she was a pup, we'd brought her home from the streets, she was a tiny little thing, only 6 inches long and could barely walk straight.. her eyes hadn't opened yet, obviously the gardener had snatched her away from her mother while she was still weening. when she grew, she loved to sit at our window sill and bark away to glory.. thinking about it, makes me smile now... she was so tiny, she would slip under my divan which was barely 6 inches high, and she'd curl up there and sleep.. the first time she did that, we had no idea where she was, and it was crazy trying to search for her, the small thing that she w...

the ups and downs, the lull after the storm, the wave tha recalcitrates, only to unleash again... the building up tension, and the mounting desire, the subsided understanding, the silent wait... the knowing of the present, the acceptance of the time, the wait to steer the sail, in sight of the wind's tail.. each moment, each day, brings back every second, all those times that went by, and all the times that we will...

Stepping into a new place, be it an institution, a workplace, or just another group of people, we all are very receptive about the perceptions that we create in the minds of people. Most often, the perceptions that people have about us are based on what they feel when they’re around us. Through my school life, I never noticed anything awkward or different about people’s perception towards me. In college, things were different. I still remember the moments when I walked into a class, and introduced myself to everyone, and then slowly got around to knowing people and then becoming close friends with a group of them. After the initial months had passed, when we embarked on a casual conversation about what we all had thought of each other at first, I was surprised to hear, that everyone had perceived that I had lots of “attitude.” Back then, having “attitude” was misconstrued by me as being “bad”. I’m sure many still make that mistake. Let’s define what we mean by attitude ...

[A journey of words through the times that I’ve spent in this institution, from AMAG and then BMS, making many friends, to finding a person that I am, an individual, proud to be.] Five years, it’s been five years since a curious, shy girl that was me entered the premises of this building for the first time. Everything was for a first time, each step an achievement. The moments move past me in a blur, a rapid sequence of still shots, moments of, jumping into the train for the first time, running down the corridors, voicing those opinions, etching those first words, growing up within these walls, only to learn how to fly, how to rise beyond the limits and blossom in the blue sky. A period of time enmeshed with emotions and filled with events, from friendships to crushes, from authority to responsibility, from the unknown to the widely known, from J.C. to T.Y., a journey in which I have grown. A quest for realization, a journey of knowledge, experiencing everything, the emotions, and ...

As I stand before you today, Birds of a kind; together, Ruffling our wings, In anticipation of flight, The moments that we’ve shared, The times that we’ve spent, All making us, who we are, To realize the finality of it all, To stand alone, To stand tall, We take our first step, Into the horizons beyond, And face the world that is, Beckoning for us to belong, We wait, we think, we decide, And raise our hands up in the sky, And take off into the wind, Only to rise, only to win, Struggles and hardships we will face, But what’s success without that pain, We will win, we will fly, Our dreams and aspirations in the sky

Gay exuberance, joie de vivre, and lots of fresh energy! :) A fun romantic comedy, with a lot of natural acting and chemistry between the two actors on screen.. Simple enough storyline, well depicted mostly.. the only negative aspect were the songs.. Only two of them were slightly acceptable, hummable.. but the rest were a complete misfit. The voice of the singer was utterly unsuitable for Shahid and the beats were complete disco beats which just didn't gel with the ambience and context of the scene, I mean imagine, Shahid's been asked to sing a song in front of her entire (huge) family and he starts singing a song (the name of which i've already forgotten and had to google to find, and the name's hilarious! nagada nagada!! :) ) and this song is bhangra mix with disco beats.. i'm sure it's popular in the discos already, who knows! nevertheless, the characters were pretty well etched, dialogues were easy flowing and quite casual, scenes and picturisations were fa...

the mere thought of it makes me smile, the transition of my fears now nowhere in sight, what makes people fear a test, that you don't have what it takes to clear the rest? or is it the same like being asked a question, being shaken out of the world of fiction, being asked to reason out your feelings, being asked to have justifications, the numbers that seemed so incongrous, the words that seemed to escape my conscious, are now like drops in the ocean, the one i steer with my emotions, the intent and passion that i previously felt, is now more of compulsion for myself, the excitement of wanting to state my point of view, is merging into the seas of views, trying to mould an answer like it should be, is like asking your mind to think differently, not innovative or even creative, but restricted and unnecessarily extended, it's a game that i used to play very well, but this time i don't think i will gel, i've had my way, i've taken my time, i've done what i wanted a...

What is a festival? A celebration of what? Of what has happened in the past, for the reasons that our ancestors established rituals, and followed traditions... Lokmanya Tilak started the Sarvajanik Mandals for Ganesh Utsav with a primary motto for bringing people together as a community to celebrate a festival and to be able to spread the message to a wider base at a particular time. Is that relevant today? What has Ganesh Utsav turned into now? More and more humungous sized idols, more chemicals, huge crowds, political powerplays, and huge environmental hazards! Take another example of Durga Puja, a primarily Bengali Festival which celebrates Maa Durga and her avataars, normally we'd expect it to be hugely popular in Bengal, accepted that Bombay is very secular and so on, but surprise suprise, the political parties in Bombay decide to give this festival a huge boost and we see Durga Pandals all across the city! I for one, spotted not less than 30 processions (for immersions) near ...

One of the most powerful emotions that I have ever felt, There's nothing so obvious and so pure as this emotion. It is also one of the most over-used words in the world, for reasons that I now understand. People try to typecast love, they generalise it, they try to "simplify" it. In other words, they tell you what love "should" be like, not what it is. They associate it with words like compromise, waiting, adjusting, sacrifice, compassion, support, which is anything but that. They take vows where they agree to sacrifice their happiness for that of the other, they vow never to leave, to stay together through thick and thin. By binding people into this emotion, you're killing any chance for that emotion to flourish. You can't love someone without wanting it in the first place. It is as lucid as that, you can't force/pretend a love that doesn't exist. There are no two ways about it. Love is happiness in the fullest sense of the term! It's being ...

Talking about responsibilities, Civic Responsibilities are the responsibilities that we have for being a citizen of the country. Yes we get a raw deal, I see my parents putting in more than they can, each day and receiving much lesser than what they actually deserve, yet they will make all attempts to be responsible citizens. What is it that defines this spirit? The feeling that when you call it yours, you want to change the way things are, you want to make a difference to the place around you, you want to live in a better environment. In an argument in the local trains, when a woman was stopped from throwing some litter into the creek by a college girl, the woman quite embarassed and miffed, snapped at her, saying, "What's your problem?" The smart girl that she was, replied, "26th July, that's my problem" (26th July 2005 was the year in which Bombay Suburbs received 944 mm of rain in a span of 3 odd hours, it caused absolute havoc to the entire system, and ...

I'm going to print this on a t-shirt which I shall wear, it is aimed at all those people who do not realise the implications of their actions. This should serve as the ice-breaker for conversations between me and them.

Jusqu’à maintenant, j’ai pensé que c’est un mot qu’on utilise pour “why” mais c’est pas ça! C’est plutot pour “what for” :) Pour c’est for et quoi c’est what, et si on utilise les deux dans un mot, c’est logique que cet mot être a le sense de “what for” Je ne sais pas beaucoup d’abord l’attitude de les française, mais qu’on ma professeur a me enseigne, elle a toujours dit que ils pose la question pourquoi pour tous les choses! Et je pense que “what for” justifie cet attitude plus mieux que “why” :) C’est un nuance d’aprés moi, je ne sais pas si ça sera correcte ou non! ___________________________________________________________________ Until now I always thought that “pourquoi” is a word that we use in place of or synonymous to “why” but it isn’t so I think. “what for” seems more appropriate. “Pour” is for, and “quoi” is what, so if we use these two words in one, it’s logical to think that the word means “what for” I don’t know much about the attitude of the Frenc...

The very word suggests the sort of emotion that the place is expected to arouse within you. I don't agree. I went to Esselworld and I was not amused. What I was is bruised, tired and dizzy! The entire concept is to give you a thrill of your lifetime they say! and they catapulate you into the air with nothing but the inertia and gravity and your fear which compels your body to be tense and hold onto to anything that you, and the entire torture takes about a minute and a half and your throat is hoarse from all the screaming, which is the only way for your body to complain in protest of the "forced adrenaline rush" as my friend calls it.. !! It's a known fact that these sort of thrills are enjoyed by many people, and I would prefer a softer, gradual sort of an exciting experience instead of the sudden, jerky, terrifying experience that it is. :) maybe I'll prefer bungee jumping or para gliding... para sailing was boring... :) hehe... so till the time I experience tho...

Lying cooped up inside the house, Thoughts running in my head, With arguments and words being thrown about, All they want to do is scream and shout, It’s not about what they say per se, It’s about the way they say it, The anger, the frustration, targeted more at themselves, And vented at the other, What makes it so bad, I wonder, The connections, the reasons, the love, How do they all disappear? Or were they never there? It’s more to do with the state of minds, A word-play that no one understands, The contexts that give meaning to the word, Left unsaid in the hope of being understood, False is that hope, For rarely is the unsaid heard, The frustration only mounts, Until it all bursts, Amidst this routine, Stark realizations are found, For it is the things that are not, Which we wish were abound, Each night passes, and a new day begins, They’ve forgotten what happened, And anew they live, The memories that haunt me now, They’ve already moved on, And now I realize, that I too should go o...

Much has been said about the necessity to ban smoking been shown onscreen, the directors are asking for creative liberty and the censor is citing social responsibility as their flag! While i watched LCMD, there was a scene where Rani is having a paan and she spits on the edge of the pond (there are these steps leading to Ganga) and that struck me, was that really necessary? I mean, wouldn't it have been also better to show Konkana chiding or stoping Rani from doing that? Or rather, show another character doing it and have both of them, chastise, get disgusted and ridicule that person! I'm just amazed that people just have no respect for their surroundings, every day goes by and women continue to throw plastic bags of nirmalya into the mahim creek, and every day, it's a war with them... Trying to explain to them to throw it in their backyards, to dispose it off in their gardens instead of the creeks! There is blatant political powerplay involved in the arrangement of festiva...

Just yesterday, on my way back from a day trip to a resort, I was playing Antakshari with my mum and i realised that i was still singing the same songs that i sung when i played with her years ago! Is it because i haven't played antakshari lately that i'm unable to sing any of the new songs, or that the songs aren't singable in the first place! It was agonizing to try and recall songs from new movies, music albums that would match my requirements and i was literally able to only remember "Barso Re" from Guru, and "Piyu Bolo" from Parineeta and "Ankhon ke Sagar" by Fuzon! All the other songs were from DDLJ, and assorted movies way back! This complete lack of singability of new songs is quite unnerving, maybe i should see one of these Antakshari programs to see what they are singing, :) hehe.. i'm sure they too must be stuck on the oldies... They have a beautiful charm to their songs, it's foolish to even compare, "Haal kaisa hai jan...

It's time for another movie review! Just recently I happened to see this movie with my family, and i wasn't disappointed! :) While most of the people are cribbing and being very critical about how the movie is so unreal, and ultra-glamourous, I feel it's a decently made movie. Yes it is glamorous and exaggerated, but then, the film-maker has to make his buck too! :) The plot was simple, a poor family in dire need of money, having no resources, Rani being the elder sister, decides to take things into her hands, she comes to Bombay in search of a job, but owing to no qualifications per se (has done only her 10th) she is shunned away from everywhere. She does a few odd jobs but nothing that would sustain her. In the process encounters this Boss who offers her a job with a condition that she sleep with him for a night, in hope of a better future, she foregoes her present. An interesting scene, when she calls up her mother to inform her about the horrendous truth that she would ...

Under the Deep blue sky, I wondered why is it so high? The acme, the pinnacle, the horizon, the hope, Of something beyond me, making me rise Rise as high as the bird which chirps, I wonder what it sees, feels and if it can smile like me! Flapping its wings, away it flies unto new territories, Growing, moving, freely it transcends all my boundaries Mystical is this nature, Gave me a mind but nevertheless I wish, I had wings or just fins, The mind that imitates and attempts to recreate, the fins by ships and wings by flights, Yet never seems to touch the true heights! In the game of imitation and changing perspectives, It seems like humanity has lost its essence..... A struggle not to be who you are, but what someone else is, An eternal battle that will only lead to self destruction, What is the eternal truth, What is the real meaning of life, What is humanity all about Is this all what the mortals think about? Searching for the light, that brightens up every day, That belief that gets y...

lying in bed thinking of you, silence came up and said "hello, I want peace", said he, and asked me if that's who he could be, I said nothing, just gave him a smile, acknowledging his desire as mine, the power to be, to live, to stay, to love while doing just that; to be, he spent a while and thought aloud, "why isn't there an awkward sound, when does someone feel uneasy, all this while I thought the reason was me, but now I see that it isn't true, for you are who you choose to be, I ain't pushing anyone around, so why should I worry about the crowd?" "merci", said he as he got around, lifted his chin and made no sound, out of his past, he arose, and embraced the now for all it was, and softly hummed the sounds of silence...

The four walls that create a space, engulfing, embracing the souls within, the emotion it takes to personalize, to create lovingly, aesthetically with grace, it is but a reflection of the deepest desires, of the personalities of the lives living within, the colours, textures, joy all emerging because of one singular belief; to live; to be, the light that plays with the cloths, the water that sparkles on the contours, the reflections that just tease you, the echos that the walls throw at you, a game, a spirit, a life, a mood, that space does it all, a personification, a manifestation, it's an expression of your life!

The beauty of a language or of an art or the sounds of voices is fully appreciated and known only by those who know its purpose, to express the fullest possible extent of all emotion. Right from birth, we speak the same language, slowly we learn more expressions, more clarity in terms of our thoughts and their usages. What hits us then is the realization when it comes to actual application of our learnings! Learning new words everyday and using them for the purpose of explaining your thoughts in fuller detail is just another high! When I mean simply clear, flowing, I can now call it lucid! When I mean extremely painful, I can call it excruciating! and when I reach a point, I needn't explain, I can hear the sound of silence which speaks a thousand words... The glances that convey much, more than expressions sometimes, those thoughts which are reflected on the face as though they're etched or carved for this particular purpose... The experiences that are the stimuli for the expre...

thoughts, emotions, expressions, ideas, concepts, questions, answers, undulations, waves, surges, gushes, ravines, flow, smooth, clear, perennial, time, timelessness, constant, captivated, united, one, complete, full, whole, me. the other side, dreary, facades, disparities, voids, pretenses, shuffling gaze, uncertainty, unsure, unhappy, fake, altruistic, grey, searching, lost, not wants but have to's...

"Did you," so he asked him at one time, "did you too learn that secret from the river: that there is no time?" Vasudeva's dace was filled with a bright smile. "Yes, Siddhartha," he spoke. "it is this that you mean, isn't it: That the river is everywhere at one, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the rapids, in the sea, in the mountains, everywhere at once, and that there is only the present time for it, not the shadow of the past, not the shadow of the future?" "This it is," said Siddhartha. "And when I had learned it, I looked at my life, and it was also a river, and the boy Siddhartha was only separated from the man Siddhartha and from the old man Siddhartha by a shadow, not by something real. Also, Siddhartha's previous births were not in the past, and his death and his return to Brahman was not in the future. Nothing was, nothing will be; everything is, everything has existence and is...

Having heard rave reviews about this movie from a wide spectrum of people, I finally managed to get myself to go and watch this movie! Oft late, I had been completely avoiding Hindi movies, simply because they never did justice to the issue, the actors and most importantly to the Hollywood movie that they were “inspired” from… But Chak De was refreshingly good! I’ll explain the plot in brief, though it is a commonly known to all by now. Shahrukh Khan, who had been ostracized by the public, after his role as the Captain of the Indian Men’s National Hockey Team which lost the World Cup, comes back after a gap of 7 months to coach the Indian Women’s National Hockey Team. This team has 16 players, from all over the country, A.P., Maharashtra, Chandigarh , Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Punjab and so on. Each of these girls has a definition to her character which is a mélange of cultures, languages, references and attitudes. The journey from being raw individual players to ...

When it's time for bed, I'm feeling blue, the sombre sky just no clue, a lonely heart and a lonelier pain fills me through and through, In spite of my thoughts, that fill my day, when the clock chimes nine, nothing seems to rhyme, The rhythm's gone and so has the mood, the zest that I had just caught a flu! It seems unnatural and very weird, like thinking about a shepherd's beard, There's got to be something, a link that I'm missing, maybe it's love, or simply just a hug, The truth however, remains just the same, when it's time for bed, I get the bedtime blues! (Had written this way back in January, so it's not a reflection on what I'm feeling now, but more of retrospection of what I felt then!)

I am feeling on the top of world, not that generally I don't feel special, but today was a different high! :) After ages, I was up against the P.C. with all my brawn, it was later when i began to use my brain, did things really work! For the ones in the dark, I was trying to install a web cam and get my headphones with the mic in it to work! Right from fiddling with the speakers, the volume control options, the bloody control panel, to making a thousand (5) test calls, and asking friends to become guinea pigs to help me in the effort, to finally hearing my own voice! Then to search for the product id (webcam), didn't have the installation cd, so had to google for the driver online, then to download and set up, and then find the right controls on programme to see image clearly, to finally being able to see me! :) what a high, what a beautiful feeling, not because i can see me or hear me, but because i know someone else will be! I feel like i'm on the top of the world right n...

J’écrit avec un autre sentiment, Parce que j’écrit en français! Aprés un long temps, Je pensait dans cette langue, Quand j’ai retourné chez moi ce soir, J’ai vu la mÊme choses que je vois toujours, Mais, aujourd’hui c’était different! J’ai voulu ecrire mes sentiments, mes penses, Seulement parce que ça me fait trés heureux! La couleur de le ciel avec les arbes, La bleu avec la verte, Les expressions sur les visages de les gens en générale, Et je les vois, je pense, je réflechir and maintenant j’écrire! Le temps passe lentement, Comme il sait ce qu’il passe dans nous, Pendant la commute j’ai un sourire, Ma coeur était calme, Et j’ai retourné chez moi, Les 30 minutes ont passé comme un moment! Un moment de passion, amour, action, refléction..... (C’est plus façile d’écrire dans cette langue avec les mains! Il est trés difficile d’écrire français sur l’ordinateur!) Translation (it's hard to get the texture of t...

To feel what you feel, and to be able to express what you feel, the way you are feeling it, is a joy that I have just discovered... Conversations have taken a different meaning altogether now, simply because each word is so accentuated because of the meaning and depth behind it. Communication where we learn that the best is to say something and be understood exactly in those terms knowing why you've used those terms is what should be the best scenario but it doesn't happen they say, it's impractical, like perfect competition! :) I know it isn't. There are so many perspectives, thoughts, ideas, emotions and passions, that more often than not, we're dwindling about what to do, until we begin to feel everything entirely, we accept all emotions, we open our eyes to set our eyes beyond anything we've ever imagined possible, and suddenly new vistas open up, things become so much more lucid, confidence mounts, and our body copes, pushing ourselves to strive to achieve,...

I was sitting at Chowpatty today, and the filth around that place just completely turned me off! What kind of a place are we living in? The apathy of the BMC and the irresponsibility and laissez-faire attitude of the people in general just makes my blood boil! i'm wishing knowing it's wishful thinking that there were a giant sieve that two huge ships could pull through and gather all the rubbish, filth, bags, and flowers and all the trash that people dump into the ocean and this all dirt would be accumulated and treated, and recycled and then disposed off! why are we letting our public spaces go to the dogs? why do private beaches only remain clean!! where does the money for which we pay taxes go!! I'm infuriated, and completely upset by the repulsive attitude of our establishment and the people around! i want to break free from this cycle and my small efforts of ensuring that I and my friends don't litter, dont seem to make much of a difference.. i will strive nonethel...

You step into a space lush in greenery, at once you sense the calm, the noise fades out and so does the crowd, and you're left with you and your heart... the fluttering wings of the little flies, that fly in spirals rhythmically, the rustling leaves in tandem with the wind, almost flirtatious and teasing around, the soft gait of people's footsteps, and silence becomes a pleasant sound, unlike the pregnant tense atmosphere, here it's more like a soothing sound, you're thinking, feeling and expressing, when you realise that's all you ever needed, an assurance that you are you, and things are just meant to be...

Like millions of people, i had ordered my copy of the latest Harry Potter Book in advance and like most expectations i was disappointed! Those 600 pages seemed so dry and devoid of passion that i literally blazed through the first 300 at least.. it was only when i'd finished half the book, did i find something interesting.. The speed at which i was reading reminded me of the time i read, One Night at a Call Centre.. Point being, books have to have to ability to make you want to go slow, they should compel you to think, feel, assimilate and then read... This book however, goes on and on without any pause and by the time you know it, you're done with it!! It's literally been around 4 - 5 hours of reading and i'm through with the book. Makes me wonder, whether killing off so many characters left Rowling with nothing interesting to build her story upon, or did she simply run out of ideas! There were no new spells, Harry's quest was more like last minute luck and chance ...

A feeling of bliss evokes inside me, a sort of shifting, restless, nervous energy, much like a bird who flaps its wings, with a pounding heart in it to comfort... all this to prepare for a new flight, reborn and free from doubt and fear, exciting prospects all around, moving so fast it's all a blur, for once when you are in the air, it's you in your actual elements, and then all you've got to take you through, is the knowledge that you are finally you...

Through the reticulate grill, a world of sorrow, pain and grief we can see, full of decaying waste and unclean waters, that feed the spurts of vegetation around, in spite of this repugnating sight, i see a child prancing about, in the barest of clothes, he's happy and gay, and you learn about the simple world out there that is there to see, a commute of thirty minutes, can transform your perceptions, teach you in a way no one ever could, for all through the lives of the million that you may see, you see the hurt, the denial and the disdain in them, but amidst all that are the more pleasing sounds, like those of laughter, cheer and soulful memories, which is why you can't move around, simply thinking that, that is all to thee...

For the past 2 months, I've been religiously going for my dance classes twice a week and I've never felt any better than this, and to what can i attribute this feeling to? Is is the effort that makes me dance better, is it my passion that culminates into a graceful art form or is it just an expression of my emotions through my body? Most of the times, when i'm sitting still i begin to rhythmically move my feet in tandem with the beats and not surprisingly after weeks of training they're all in sync! the beauty of dance is in fact in the way it makes you feel, once you get past the preliminary stage where you're forever staring at either your or your instructor's feet and you begin to feel the flow of your body like that of a river flowing inside you, all those beats then sound like rhythms and all those words become a symphony...

There's a soft breeze blowing in the air, the leaves are rustling in answer to her call, the birds are chirping in an harmonious form, the serenity that you feel rising inside, the way your heart wants to reach up to the sky, is just the way we answer the call from nature, No matter the pent up fury of her wrath, which we have to face up and accept, the propensity of her winds, waters and sand, amaze, frighten and show us all, in the only way that she can, how much we are hurting her! for all the waste that we've left to breed, and the spoils of the sea left afloat, the corals and the reefs that are nowhere, the stumps of the cut trees, bearing the stamp of our cruelties, So, my dear frieds, let's listen to Gaia, Mother Earth and let us give her respite from all our acts, and let us together build a wonderful green earth once again!

I happened to see Cheeni Kum movie recently and i certainly enjoyed it better than Pirates of the Carribean - something something... It's a sarcastic love story of this 64 yr old arrogant chef/owner of the top Indian restaurant in London (Amitabh) who meets a 30 something visitor from India (Tabu) and then falls into love with her and so on. Amitabh and Tabu were amazing, crispy dialogues filled with sarcasm and dark humour, it was enjoyable to see their flirtatious romance! The few elements in the movie that could've been done away with : - Character of "Sexy" played by a 9 yr old Sweeni, who's character is shown to be that of a young girl plagued with cancer, and who happens to be the chef's best friend and neighbour. She just didn't fit anywhere, there was no need for her character. - Paresh Rawal, i felt was wasted in the movie, having had to play the role of the gandhian father-in-law who refuses to accept a person elder to him as his son-in-law and ...

I've read this book fairly recently and ever since I've been thinking of writing a review, but the truth is you don't just write a review on a book such as the Atlas Shrugged. Nevertheless, i will make an attempt. This book has more or less the same theme that was explored in the Fountainhead, however, there the book revolved around the heroic in one man and his triumph over the society, where as, in this book, they've again explored the heroic in the man although there are many in number all across the country and how their strike against the establishment and society changed economic, social perceptions and how it literally brought the world to a dead-end. The book, exceeded expectations and was far more clean, strong and tall in comparison to the Fountainhead. There were no frivolous characters, and each of the characters was as well etched as Roark had been, simply because even though there was a central protagonist in this book as well, the others had equal depth. ...

My first poem! (a cross-post from my older blog) Scrounging for topics high and low, At times I sit and stare out of my window, The nature is at its beautiful best, Making life like one big fest, A thousand thoughts flood my mind, So much so I become momentarily blind, It is amidst this chaos that I hear a calling, A calling from an inner voice who wants some reckoning, ‘I’ve been mute for far too long’ she says, It’s time for my constitutional right to be let, So I decided hearing my inner self wouldn’t be that bad, After all I can stand the pain even if it is just a tad, Although she started with stories happy and gay, I realized that the path is becoming grey, The world isn’t just black and white you know, Even through my gladness I could feel the sorrow blow, I don’t know when and I don’t know why, Staring at the clear blue sky, Listening to my inner voice’s cry, Made my eyes moisten and glow, For there was a tear glistening to show….

(This is one of my posts from my first blog, I think it's very apt for the title of this blog..) For those of you who aren't familar with the french language, this story or fable rather is in english known as the cricket and the ant. This was a fable that was told to us when we were young and in school when our connaissance de la vie (the knowledge of life) was very little. I've been learning french at alliance francaise and i have had the best professor, she's an amazing person who has got a lot of knowledge about literature, paintings and culture, and she's also got a very different point of view about things. So, talking about the cricket and the ant, what do you remember? probably the same image that came to my mind when we started with this story.. What we learnt was the while the cricket was busy singing away and whiling away his time in summer, the ant was working hard to collect food for the winter. and then winter comes and the cricket goes to the ant for h...

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes." "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else...

For so many days, I've been debating about which 5 restaurants deserve to be the best in the city according to me, so for now, this is the list, (i might update it later though!!) 1) Red Box Cafe It's a restaurant in Bandra, near Turner Rd. and it's one of my best places to eat. The ambience is fun, music is loud and peppy (like a disc, but not rock or anything, it's hip-hop, indian mix, country, and lots of things, they've actually got a d.j. who keeps changing songs and all..) The food is delicious!! Right from Sizzlers, to Pasta, to Main Courses, Burgers, Starters, Pizzas, they've got it all.. and it's all very reasonably priced.. As far as the desserts are concerned, they've got a good collection of pastries, My personal fav is the chocolate pyramid.. (just too yummy!!) The whole feel of going there, makes me want to go there again and again.. It's meant for a young crowd who don't mind the smoke or the loud music... ;) 2) Urban Tadka This is...

What image does our mind conjure, the moment we hear these three words? Either it's that of a man asking for our hand to dance with him? Or it's that of Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez (that is if you're not aware of the original pair in the first movie) Dancing for me, is like a necessity similar to reading or writing.. These three being my passions for life... Having recently joined Latin American Ballroom Dancing, I'm on the ninth cloud just because I'm dancing.. Of course its not all that easy as it looks and it requires immense amount of efforts just to perfect that poise and look that graceful, but it's a start.. At the end of the day, what matters is that you are trying to do something and that you are making an attempt to be what you want to be, and that's what counts. So for now, I'll leave you with these thoughts in mind and of course with the counts... one, two, three, four a, one, two, three (hold), four a....

For the NRI i would say this movie would bring out a few similarities and perspectives, but for an indian, this movie is a welcome change from the various cliches of indians going abroad and about their perceptions of the country.. The script of the movie is very much based on the book with almost no obvious changes, in fact the movie is so well made that it literally makes the book come alive in the true sense of the word without compromising on our imagination, usually movies tend to be below the expectation but this one has definitely lived up and more to the expectations.. the same plot, filled with vivid characters and sharp language, the easy flow of the language, from english to bengali and back, brings the characters to life, you'd wonder whether it is acting or is it natural, it's really that beautiful.. Tabu's make-up though could have been done better, even when she's supposed to look young, her skin looks terribly patchy, like a compact that simply went wron...

Who Moved My Cheese - A simple enough book with a simple message, you need to change with change... In spite of all the maxims being in place, why is it still so hard to change with change, why are we so hung up about "changing", why do we tend to criticize our close ones for having changed? sometimes these issues really need a closer look, we might tell someone that you're changing, while actually meaning to say, you're changing and I'm not, so we might not be able to stay together anymore.. the bottom line is, that while others undergo change, we do too.. be it an organization, your peer group or your loved ones, insecurity of not being a part of the others lives, makes us look at change in a very negative manner which leads to arguments, and what's worse it leads to fall-outs, the only way to resolve it is by opening the channels of communication. someone said, when you have hurt someone unknowingly or knowingly apologize right away because the longer you w...

It's been quite a few days since this blog was started and what better to start with than with my recent short vacation to Goa!! A sudden trip to a beautiful destination, simply excited my senses to no limit, a peaceful journey and lots of lazy times, coupled with lots of water and red wine, from one coast to another, we went from Bagha to Calangute and then, to Aquada!, if this wasn't enough for the day we had a midnight drive to Anjuna, there we sipped on some limon and ate "rolled" up pancakes, On the next day we rode to Arambol and then to Morjhim and finally reached the clean waters of Vagatur, while we were fascinated and "captured" by the waters themselves, the famous "starry" fort added the Bollywood Masala to the Beach! (the fort at Vagatur was the one in the movie - Dil Chahta Hai, a popular Hindi Movie about people in the city folk) With an Avenger, a Karizma and a Pulsar between us we took the city by speed, style and storm! On the last...