happiness an internal pursuit ..

make shift world

2011-12-05T00:19:00.000+09:00

A few days back I was waiting for the lights to go green at an signal and then I saw an old man with a hug bag on his head and bow legs crossing the street with lots of difficulty. I wanted to give the man a lift to his destination but was scared what if the destination was not safe for me. My inward battle continued but the lights turned green and unfortunately I had to drive ahead but I went back to him and gave him money for his destination ride. He looked at me trying to figure out whether I had a catch to it. The simplest thing to do was just move on. So I dont know whether he took the ride in the rickshaw or not but my conscience weighed a little less even though what I did was a peace meal approach.

Great people are selfless and make this world a better place and for the lesser people like me, we create our little make shift world which we try to better.

the truth about cats & dogs 2

2011-12-05T00:07:00.001+09:00

I am not a cat lover like any other cliche dog loyalist and I never give cats a thought even when I see a real cute one. Having said that I do not encourage Dexter to growl or frighten them away either. That's against my "live and let live" principle and always want to inculcate good habits in dexter which I mostly fail in. But off late dexter too has stopped bothering with cats and am kinda proud about it as I like to believe because he has been reprimanded by me often ;)

But off late a cat has been coming to our house past a month and once she even hit dexter with her paw and poor dexter sat like a big dodo get whacked by her who happens to be 1/20th his size! Not only that this cat would also growl (yes not meow like a cat but growl like a tiger) at my ma for milk. It was really funny as ma too would growl back to annoy her and she would growl with added lung power till my ma would admit defeat. At home we have been teasing dexter a lot about how a cat hit him and of course we never thought he would take things to heart.

Whether it was our constant teasing or the annoyance of sharing our affection with a third person (second being fluffy our part time street dog pet) but day before when the cat came home and started her usual banter for food Dexter scared the living hell out of her by barking at her till she ran off. What was funny was initially she did not budge till dexter started hopping mad at her.

Ha Ha. Dogs and Cats ... the story continues..

gone From the dogs

2011-12-04T23:51:00.000+09:00

Had to take dexter for his vaccinations. I love going to the vet only for yearly vaccinations as that time I am not tensed about his well being and can enjoy the company of so many canines and let dexter also play with the fits ones.

I and Dexter both were having a good time with a pug and cocker spaniel when a huge Rottweiler came in without a leash. I had never seen one up and so close and was not regretting the same then. As you know Dexter is not so brave to put it very mildly :) he dug inside me for protection and I too was seeking protection from the side wall as the Rottweiler's growls were bursting my ear drums. Not being judgmental but keeping us a ferocious dog at home like we have in bombay is kind of not at all normal to say the least.

There is another thing about vet waiting zone, you meet a lot of like minded people who alone can empathize about your crazy affection for animals and treating them as equals or more loved than humans. Its where you share eating habits, discuss dog food (sigh .. Bombay does not have great variety of doggie treat ) and share funny incidents about your pets. So during one such stories, an uncle told us that dogs too have a very strong code of conduct and do not attack their bitches (no pun intended here ) and I was like yes that we cant say about humans, no wonder dogs are better.

The owner of the rottweiler interjected us and said women need to be shown their place some times and there is no better way than hitting them and then he started off with his story of why he hit his wife twice!

I wanted to argue but the rottweiler without a leash instantly helped good sense to prevail and I let go of the topic and felt a bit a coward for not standing for my fellow women clan.

But on my drive home I realized just putting in my point of view to him would not have changed him so no point sulking about it. What is unsettling is these are not people who are living in slums with no education or are deprived or mentally challenged but people who had the fortune of good education, upbringing and exposure. I say people because there are women too who believe husbands should hit their wives to teach them who wears the pants in the house.

But I guess change of human behavior is rarely instant which is both a boon and a curse but today women and men both are much more assertive and hopefully people with such barbaric thinking will meet their matches who will make them eat their words with humility.

Until then online lashing continues at them :)

Jaane bhi dou yaaroan

2011-08-04T02:02:00.000+09:00

Many times letting go has been the cause of my trouble.

As a kid, giving away my chocolate to my friend was the cause of major turmoil, but today I thank my parents who man handled me then so as to ensure I learn to let go of the chocolate.

Later in life, the object of letting go just changed but the turmoil I guess was the same.

My learning from life has been that we make the actual process “letting go” a major event. The time we give away what we treasured physically or mentally, it is just the fag end of process.

Life would be lot simpler if we could realize when we decide that it is time to let go, the very object has gone long back and now handing it over or leaving is merely part of the protocol.

Have you noticed that when you let go, sometimes you feel light, as though you are free from a physical pain, mostly very empty, sole purpose of existing has been snatched away and yet other times too numb to feel anything, then you go to stage of empty.

Nothing better could come of letting go if the feeling the pressure go off. But when there is pain, uncertainty and loss, that is when we need to apply this theory of mine.

Always tell yourself, it was yours then but now no longer and hence there is something else which is now yours. Search for it !

No guarantee that the new thing will be as good as the old, it could be better and if it is worse, we need to try and make it better. If not, let go again and find the new.
I have seen by mentoring myself, I have always looked ahead to change, freedom from stagnancy, flow of new ideas, new avenues, newer opportunity leading to new highs.

Not always will we be successful and not always will we be a failure but not letting go is holding back, stagnating, regressing and acting like a petulant child who refuses to accept world as is.

But my experience with letting go has been always positive. So thats why I am all for letting go.

Jaane bhi dou yaaroan !

Golden People in Golden City

2011-07-29T01:43:00.000+09:00

I was in Amritsar recently because of work and was really looking forward to visiting the Golden Temple. Usually with expectations it is inverse ratio, I mean if you have huge expectations, what you really get or experience is never up to the mark. But in this case I went with a huge expectation, the feel there was supposed to calm a restless soul like me and it sure did.

The tranquility there is divine and is a starck contrast to the pandomonium there due to devotees doing their various types of pooja (prayers), the saints reciting from the holy book, other saint doing the rituals, throngs of tourists waiting in queue to get in, to get out, to explore, to have the langar (term used in the Sikh religion for free food at the Sikh temple).

I met this very nice elderly couple who very kindly showed me around the Golden Temple and narrated the glorious history behind it with many interesting anecdotes of the city and its people. They were kind and hospitable and invited me for breakfast at their place which I just could not refuse.

Being impersonal comes with staying in Bombay. This is not in a negative sense of the word. In Bombay, you learn to keep your distance with people, neither to get personal nor be brusque. I love this city and things it has taught me.

So I went to their house for tea and on my way back was really touched by their hospitality and had requested them to come home when they visit their daughter in Bombay.

When I told my parents about this, my father was very upset in the wake of things happening now adays.

That really brought me back with a jolt to reality, how true is it, we off late do not trust even people we know and yet I (a very "better be cautious than sorry" kind of person) went to an unknown house to an unknown family in an unknown city and yet felt completely safe as these thoughts not even once bothered me when I was with them.

On my way home bound, I left a city not that unknown, left people I knew a bit and carried with me the little peace I gathered at the Temple.

All is not lost thank god. Good people still are around, heart still can identify them and spirit that all will be well is not lost.

why o why should you cry ?

2011-04-12T01:32:00.000+09:00

Off late I hear a lot of " Our country has gone to the dogs", "Life is bitch", "Trust not even your blood", "Good old times" Everybody is today talking a lot about the stress they are going through and how much worse today the state of affairs are, be it personal or professional or cultural or system related.

But is n't the good old times the best example of things being worse are, our mythology talks about blood being poisonous (Mahabharat and Ramayan), epidemics would swipe out a nation, concept of democracy and equality was alien, barbaric deaths was based on the whims of the ruler and fate was a lot more in the hands of mother nature. People would die before they hear from someone who was two state away and seeing the world was like seeing God. Education was a treasure of few and women were treated as cattle.

I for one am thankful to God for letting me enjoy the world that exists today. We live in an era where luxuries very easily get converted to basic necessity. Its no longer "water, food and shelter" its "spring" water, "diet" food, "series" of shelter.

Most of us lead the life we dreamt of and if we aint being able to do so its mostly because we have not put in enough efforts. Off course there are stray cases of sheer bad luck but then exceptions cant make the rule.

Maybe its time we stop cribbing about what went wrong and look at what more we have and what best we can do with what we have.

Positive vibes attract more positive vibes and end of the day, a normal day looks fulfilling because we attracted positive feelings and let our mind feel oxygenated with good thoughts.

So what if the country has gone to the dogs, dogs are man's faithful friend, what if life is a bitch, she gives the puppies so much love, trust not your blood, trust yourself as in the end that is what you are left with !

Yes we all are alone at the end of the day, but who is stopping you from not being lonely, enjoy your own company, if you cannot bear yourself, no one else will :)

cynical or realistic ?

2011-04-11T01:16:00.000+09:00

The wind that Anna Hazare blew, did make some waves, but did it lead to winds of change ? Time alone will tell.

I did not have my hopes too high and still don't. But was pleasantly surprised to see the decibel rise by youth on various social networking sites.

Changing the system is not a project or operation that can have a time frame, its a process which is dependent on so many parameters and the most critical is persistent effort of like minded people without hidden agenda.

The last part is virtually impossible according to me. Today most have a hidden agenda behind every action and if you dont have one, you are labelled naive.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end of corruption and dichotomy in the system or just another drop in the sea of efforts which may not raise a tsunami of change, but an effort never the less.

I some how don't have my hopes to high. So does that make me a cynic ?

Cynics, how does one be one, is it a 3 step process or 1 ? Can you be cynical with respect to few things in life or most ? In that case do you become a partial cynic or veteran ?

Or am I being realistic in my approach ? Now isn't being realistic being border line cynical ?

Keeping my fingers crossed for a Incredible India dream and is still keeping the faith, albeit a little dimmer by the day, never the less its there.

Jai Ho

truth about cats and dogs

2011-01-17T00:42:00.003+09:00

I never liked cats and i was petrified of dogs.

Story has changed 50% today; yes i still dont like cats!

But I strongly believe in "live and let live".

So initially when Dexter would chase a cat, I would always teach him to let cats be. Honestly I was surprised initially very surprised by this behavior of his as he is a very non violent dog (only creature he ever chases is mosquito; that too very unsuccessfully !) I thought it would be some genetic coding that makes dogs and cats not like each other.

So whenever I and he would go on walks I would always reprimand him for chasing cats.

Yesterday on our walk I saw a real sweet cat and I became alert, just about to put a leash on Dexy anticipating him to start his chase. But to my pleasant surprise my boy did not bother!

He just gave the cat, "could not care less" look of his and moved on. Just as we moved ahead, I can swear he looked at me smugly; like he was saying " gotcha !".

I really felt like a proud momma and floated a bit on the air for a as long as my humble weight allowed me (read as nanosecond).

I guess this boy would not stop to make my life full of fun.

But honestly till date I never understood why cats and dogs dont like each other and not only that it also gets transferred to cat people and dog people !

Some answers in life are best not pursued too much as the essence lies in guessing the answer, the answer itself may be mundane as the thrill is in the chase and not the catch!
but then what is life without a bit of craziness !

art of making friends !

2011-01-17T00:34:00.001+09:00

We have relatives from kolkatta.

Before coming here they were very anxious and petrified if i may add, not knowing what to expect when you hear that there is a dog who stays in the same house as the family, shares their bed, is spoilt and pampered silly.(Ha ha I can imagine their dilemma !)

Their first encounter with Dexter was really funny. I and bro had gone to pick them up and my baba got this brainer that he should take dexter out for a walk at 4:30 am so that he is not home when they come and they get some time to get used to the fact called dexter.

Unfortunately and as usual baba goofed up with the timings so low and behold ,Dexter was down when they arrived and Dexter being Dexter was on red alert as his mom had strangers in her car and came running up to me rescue me from the tangles of strange people he absolutely knew nothing about.

They were devastated not only by his size but also his volume and energy, more so after a long and tiresome journey, the jumping and barking was the most unwelcome welcome anyone would look forward to.

But again Dexter being Dexter..... soon became friends with my relatives. Within the first day they had graduated from being petrified to patting his head with one finger. (But no means a small achievement !)

But then came the next problem, he refused to allow them to sleep on my parents bed as that is the one he shares with them..

So yes guys my guests are sleeping on mattresses on the floor and dexter is ruling the bed !

But thank god for peace returning to our paradise... guests seem to have overcome their fear and now a days dexter wakes up his new play mate with a lick (which is again unwelcome), hey I never claimed paradise to be perfect !

thank god !!

2010-12-22T01:31:00.000+09:00

lot of minor things going wrong with me off late and i have been asking god "why me ?"

and yet today i got saved from a real crazy situation... i completely forgot to fill petrol and the car showed 0 petrol and yet i could reach the petrol pump before i got stranded......

all the way i was praying "god please" & god sure seemed pleased and i got saved from getting stranded.....

i came home and then remembered to thank god....

its so easy to remember to curse god when things go wrong and equally easy to forget to thank him when all is well....

will try next time onwards to thank god faster and curse him slower !!

music of silence !!

2010-11-19T02:31:00.002+09:00

everybody has something to say, something to sing, something yell.......sound... high decibel... noise... cacophony ... pandemonium.. misery...

ironic ... the voices you die to hear one day become noise... the sound of music gives you attacks of panic ... the sound of laughter .. which would lighten up your heart .. today leaves you cold ...

such is the power of sound....

i get migraine attacks due to bright light, shrill sound, stress situations... basically i have trigger happy migraine ... and today was migraine's happy hour the whole day !!!!!!

my way to play peeka boo with migraine like most of my migraine buddies is hide in a dark room ....

no one with me .. but me and the darkness around me and the silence with me....

lying on my bed i was engulfed by the ghost of the noises of the day ... tearing my head, my heart, my soul.... i lay limp.. waiting for them to leave me....

with silence.....

i slowly opened my eyes to silence... even though my eyes were closed i could see silence lurking one corner.. smiling shyly at me.. holding out a hand..... i felt my rigid body slowly relax.. felt a gentle gush of wind go in and charge my senses and leave me welcoming the next gush of wind.....and slowly i started searching for silence... she sang to me a song with no words, a melody with no tune, intoxicating with no spirit ... and a smile left my lips to reach my heart ... and my eyes lids finally made way for sleep to take me away from me......

loved this feeling.. ....

silence i love your music...

no storm in this coffee cup :P

2010-11-16T01:54:00.000+09:00

I was an ardent fan of coffee with karan.. even watched some of the re runs when I have nothing better to do. What I admired most was karan quirky humor which obviously is very wickedly crafted to sound “on the spot” and same goes to most of the participants, it was more about spunk and attitude.. on your face .. gen X rather than “oh so saccharine sweet and oh so wunna be french” rendezvous with Simi garewal..

But after watching some 20 mins each of the two episodes of season latest ( dat too coz of old time sake.. 10 mins were unbearable !!!) has left me cold... the coffee is cheap and tepid …. nothing to talk bout.. the hamper looks too french, the guests too pretentious and cocky and karan tooo boring !! questions too cliché and the rapid fire round had no fire and too predictable .. in fact the proto type of questions were so over used in prev seasons...

Karan darling (note the sarcasm :P) give us more meat, dress it more fab, but please dont over do the saccharine infested smiles and those plastic giggles and mindless banters .. its called noise pollution and in India we have enough of it.. and please get the some feisty questions for rapid fire.. if you are low on the spunk.. ask me …. will provide ;)

Wish nescafe could associate with this brand when the coffee was strong .......

Time god / goddess !!

2010-11-16T01:50:00.000+09:00

I find it kinda freaky when philosophers , poets and other arty people glorify death and when I read such ideologies, I always hope this does not inspire a depressed person who reads this to attempt suicide !!

And why glorify something you know nothing about and when you know about it .. you cannot tell .. ha ha .. ya I know sad joke .. but come on tell aint it true ?

I mean I love similes and I love metaphors but come on telling death will set you free from this world is kinda corny..

Of course I do think how death will be and more than death I think of those alive how their lives would be.. But I realized what is eternal is time. With time death is forgotten, with time peace is restored, with time wounds are healed.. so why not glorify time ?

In hinduism there as so many lakh gods and goddesses, wonder if the brilliant idea of having a time god or goddess occurred to them.. guess will have to google it .. and if it exists the person must have been me in my previous birth …...

hmmm the god or goddess would have twenty four arms, twelve on each side, would weigh 60 kg and would be worshiped at 0:00 am. I for sure would want this one to be a goddess as men are always late … he he...

DND a hash !!!

2010-11-16T01:48:00.002+09:00

monday mornings !!!

need I say more ?

And I received like some 7 sms promising me the sun and the moon gift wrapped along with the stars as special offer !!!!

it is frustrating as I always check smses due to work ethics and when I cut my attention from work to check such silly sms, not only is my attention lost, my temper flares up !

Are you thinking am crazy as usual .. well hold coz I have already activated DND (do not disturb) for marketing calls and smses and complained when I initially received such calls and got tired of follow ups !!

And today when I got really frustrated I again called up to follow up the same and to my horror was told that the DND was deactivated !! Finding the culprit is not a task Sherlock Holmes would appreciate to take as this would flaw his near perfect record of solving unsolvable mysteries !!

Am I the chosen one or you too suffer from this problem ?

I guess our “chalta hain” attitude has been abused way beyond limit !!!

But of course I do see a change, today when I am harassed, if I threaten going to media, my work sure gets done (only good use of mindless media channel hungry for gossip and having a tacky knack for sensationalizing the most non significant of happenings !!)

But what about the docile in-educated part of society ? They still heavily bear the price of all things wrong in the society ! Wish equality, fair play, justice were not words on paper and on the lips of government but becomes a part of every life in India

bring in the lights

2010-11-06T11:59:00.001+09:00

as a kid and still holi remains my fav festival as compared to diwali.. reason is simple.. NO NOISE ...

i have stopped celebrating with fire crackers as a kid itself.. never liked the loud noise and the smell of burnt crackers .... but what put me off them was a gory television message during the good ol doordarshan days, requesting kids not to play with fire cracker as there are thousands of innocent kids loosing their eyes and even life while making them...

i tried googling it ... dang could not find it ... it was a beautiful peace of work which had stirred my heart as a lil girl...

today in the morning when i went with dexter for his morning walk, it was a pleasant surprise to see the amount of leftovers from the crackers was atleast 40 - 50 % less. Earlier when i would go down with dexter it would be like the roads have a carpet of white, red, silver and golden paper to welcome us and today we just had small shredded rugs here and there...

i wish for a diwali only full of lights and sweets.. what it originally meant to be... the celebration of victory of good over evil... hope we too gain victory over our evil practice of bursting fire crackers at the cost of risking lives of innocent children, supporting child labor and increasing pollution.....

i wish though i find that doordarshan video online.......

Happy pollution free & happiness filled Diwali to all

being we or being me ??

2010-11-06T02:34:00.002+09:00

i always had this internal anguish ... should i try to fit in or be just me ...

boundaries sometimes define who we are and other times defy who we are ...

creating them or not is i guess not the question as most of us do that first, consciously or unconsciously ....

following them is the question.. we all grapple with later on ...

society is out there to label your failure or success in staying within the boundaries ..

and how you feel about letting this effect your being is how your life revolves

it may not be such a bad thing as i feel society if too oppressing will not survive if its boundaries are not based on respect for all those within its boundary and is just to all ...

else it will be time to make newer boundaries....

borrowing from history though, the bar is heavier towards those who broke boundaries and followed their heart.. to help or destroy others...

maybe that is what is the gist.. fit in or stand out.. choice is mine... as long as it does not harm others....

dexter at it again !!!!!!!

2010-11-05T13:25:00.000+09:00

well i have this one life time member dexter fan club and you can guess that member !!!!!

no really, who ever meets dexter does always asks me about his new antics.... and that always make my day, usually i hate narrating stuff but when its dexter am all game as many times.....

ya i know i sound so lame .... but then am honest .... cheeky right !!

well dexter off late has been obsessed with sleeping in the balcony coz cool wind blows there and there is a fan which is angled at his ass... so he loves the feel of artifical air on his ass and natural air all over :P

one night my parents decided to swap rooms and in the process dexter had to sleep in the balcony as i had closed the door by mistake and he is particular about sleeping at night in my parents room...

in the morning i wake up with a rude shock ... dexter puts his paw on my stomach and gives me two whacks with his paw............

and my ma is rolling on the floor laughing and i wonder what did i do to deserve this wake up love... ma then enlightened me....

the whole day was spent in laughing at this incident.....

ya i know u might not find it funny... guess coz ur sense of humour is not developed :P

impressions

2010-11-05T13:13:00.000+09:00

not been able to grab hold of comp to key in my thoughts...

too many drifting memories... too many random thoughts....

but i realised writing helps to get over the pain the anguish the doubt and bring in more clarity .......

starting with disheartening stuff...

snuggles and his lady had given birth to a white fur ball three months back and he did fill the lives of all the animal lovers in our building with love and fun

our watchmen would lift this cutey on the table and play with him, our laundry guy would hug him and feed him biscuits everyday, my bro would play with him... even brought him up to get introduced to dexter, ok the lil boi freaked out to put it very mildly.. mom would watch his antics from the window ... in short... we all loved him... i really dint get much time with him and yet i grew fond of him

and one fine day i stopped seeing him around............................

you must have guessed it...

we all were upset for a few days... right now thinking about him is moistening my eyes...

life.. i guess is all about living happy, more about bringing happiness to others... mortality is alll about living after leaving in the hearts of people who have known you and love you still

this lil boi taught a wonderful lesson to me... i too hope after i die i live in the hearts of few (greedy make it many !!!) in a happy way....

wut an idea sir ji !!

2010-09-11T23:06:00.000+09:00

i just loved the idea mobile advt on "batien karne ke liyeh basha ki jaroorat nahi hoti" ( loosely translated : you dont need to understand the launguage to communicate with eachother)

this reminds me of the incident my mother narrated to me long back, since my parents are bengali when they came to bombay 35 years back, ma did not know a single word of hindi and baba's vocab was bare minimum but ma and her two neighbours one maharashtrian and other south indian too dint have a common language but would have animated discussions whenever the ladies had time....

its amazing that we can communicate not just with other humans but also animals and plants without knowing their language and yet we refuse to communicate at times with our loved ones...

at home too we celebrate ganapati durga puja christmas with the same zeal and freak out on da biryani we get at friends over eid......

so in this case food knows no language ... ha ha

our ganapati this year

tick tock ...big talk !!!

2010-09-04T03:34:00.000+09:00

i love to read quotes everyday.. and each time i read a beautiful line, i am amazed at the wit .. sometimes the wisdom and yet other times the pain behind a sentence that either tells a story and yet makes you laugh .. some make you sit back and think and realize the thought could not be better communicated and yet others awaken you to a new world of thoughts ..... ya quotes really make me want to be one the people who would be made alive through the smiles. the thoughts. the tears, the empathy of others from time to time.....

but honestly i hate the preachy kind of quotes teaching the value of time... of course time is ticking away and we need to make good use of it but talking about accounting for seconds even with the poetic or quotic license is like going tooo far .... come on..

thank god then the people dint know bout nano second else in the quotes they would ask us to keep track of that too....

and how much time is wasted in keeping track...... so how do i make use of the time ?

simple.. sit back .. relax .. do what your heart tells mostly and other times listen to your head.... even if odds r against you... u become more odd and beat it in its game.....

i think life is not how you make it or what you do with it... its more about what you discover and what you learn and know what to unlearn... you waste time but gain wisdom... you make little more but gain peace..

i think a person is successful and accomplished in life only when you give more than you recieve and yet know you have more to give ...

some day i sure will get there... am not in a rush to climb up the ladder ..i know i will stay up long ... am not scared to fall .. as i know the path up again.... while i go ... i learn to learn more ... while i go i learn to give more .... while i go i enjoy the while i am here ... while i go i smell the road... while i go i know you are there by my side ......

hafta wasuli !!!

2010-09-01T00:57:00.000+09:00

dexy has a fixed quota when it comes to food. meaning his breakfast consists of 4 breads and 1 cup milk and 4 marei biscuits followed by lunch of chicken and rice and he repeats the same for evening snack and dinner.

but the moment he sees any of us eating his favourite food (2 blog post or mayb more could b dedicated to that list !!!) he would not leave us unless we offer him his share.....

the way he does his hafta wasulii with those lovely eyes and "o am so cute" pose is so heart warming that i am the first to give into this emotional atyachaar and my bro would yell at me for spoiling him.

well if devil had a cute face it would be dexter and if munna bhai could learn something more about "emotional hafta wasuli" again dexter would be his mentor .....

coz its cold in bombay coz of the rains, his new fav snoozing adda is our couch .... hail dexter !!

raju ban gaya gentle man ?? !!

2010-08-26T03:05:00.000+09:00

its ironic that we celebrate 63 years of freedom and yet we are bound to corruption,red tapism, bigotry and many others such evils, faces would have changed but the devil lives and trives !!

i was surprised to see on 16th august on papers just a news article on raju of satyam being released on bail. I was surprised that not much news coverage by news channels was done on the same who otherwise sensationalize something as gory as pedophilia !!

we have made a mockery of " of the people, for the people and by the people"

& media that is getting powerfull by the day is dominated by the money pundits

nothing looks real and no one there to trust ..

I dream of an India that is stands for its rights
I dream of an India that is united by its belief and divided by only geography
I dream of an India where knowledge is transparent & reward is directly proportional only to effort
I dream of an India where smile is real and tear evaporates into hope
I dream of an India where each Indian is proud to be an Indian ...

hiding from me !!

2010-08-17T03:37:00.001+09:00

i was off on work tour and dexter gets real mad at me when i go, i have to wait for him to go off to sleep before i start packing else he gets upset the moment he sees my travel bag down.

this time too i did the same thing and as usual when i was back i was wrapped in my dexters arms and down on the floor with him petting me :)

but what really touched me was usually in the evening i take him for his evening walks and when am on tour my bro takes him out but the next day i was held up at work so my bro took dexter out for walk and this boy refused to budge !!

he waited till i came ie almost 2 hours after his due time to answer nature's call. he welcomed me and then ma told me the story. i was very touched with this unconditional love he showed !

we had one of the longest walks, he is an ace at emotional atyachaar !! but i so enjoyed it though by the end of it we both were tired, our hearts were warm with love and camaraderie

that's when it struck me, we always hide behind our invisible walls,hiding our feelings, sometimes from our loved ones, sometimes from people we cannot stand and sometimes even from our ownselves !!

the false pride, the fear of taken advantage of, the image to maintain, the aftermath of our action.. the bitter feeling at the bottom of stomach, the wanting to let go ..all are justified and yet the feeling of flying by doing what you feel like cannot be second by any feeling in the world !!

and still we are so good at convincing our own selves that what we are doing is good that after some time we loose touch with reality, feelings are to be shown towards ones we love and sometimes even towards ones we dont...

what is life without a touch of madness.. without a touch of pain.. without a touch of wickedness , without a touch of sin, without a touch of silly pride, without a touch of greed for more, yes life is all about this and more .......

so i did grab my little bit of the moon, smiled at a stranger, hugged my mother, ragged my brother (ok that one is routine), waved at someone i usually ignore ......

changes... life is full of them ...

Sholay the finest definition of a Legend !!

2010-08-17T03:33:00.001+09:00

Its been 35 years since sholay was released and still its fresh in every indian mind,

the gaonwaloan,
the angresh ke jamaane ke jailer,
the dhannou,
the kyun ki yeh kaoun bola,
the ramgard,
the chakki peesing,
the bachhoun ko kahani pad kar sunana,
the tera naam kya hain,
the mujhe gabbar jinda chahiye,
the soorma bhopali,
the kuttoan ke saame mut nachana,
the dosti,
the kitnein aadmi thein,
the yeh haat mujhe de de thakur,
the itna sannata kyun hain,
the toss,
the mouth organ,
the latein bujhana,
the chakki ka aata,
the kitne aadmi thein,
the tera kya hoga kalia,
the aree ou sambha,
the bhaag dhannou,
the suicide kya hota hain bhai,
the romance, the betrayal, the love, the passion, the horror, the pathos, the anger, the depth, the lust, the rage....

i could just go on and on.. salute to you sholay the finest definition of a Legend !!

i have so many memories of my past life attached to sholay..

as a kid i would cry every time i would see amitabh been beaten up and my parents would have to take me out of the theater before the last scene as they were scared i would bring the house down with my howling

as i grew and understood this is just a movie, my throat would always have a hard lump which was very difficult to swallow watching amitabh die but i started enjoying the jai veeru dosti and hoped i had that scooter with a side seater and a friend who would do all these cray things with me...

then during my adolescence, always hoped i meet someone who is crazy bout me as jai and veeru were about their lady love ...

as i grew older and wiser realised this really is a movie , men are crazy anyways ... ha ha kidding, then i started relishing every scene for what it was...

tx all those who dreamt and made sholay....... never another movie can touch so many hearts of generations to come ....

sunshine here i come !

2010-08-17T01:54:00.000+09:00

A promise to keep,
a road to travel,
a smile to dazzle,
a song to make,
an answer to find,
a surprise to give,
a mystery to unravel,
a hug to receive,
love to give,
a wing to find,
a truth to learn,
a rule to make,
few to break,
an old friend to find,
many new to make,
a gift to make,
many more to spread,
a bitter pill to swallow,
an old habit to break,
a new me to discover,
some old secrets to uncover,
to unlearn,
to relearn,
to return,
to break free,
to be and yet let go,
to remember to forget,
to cry out loud so that i can hear,
to hide and find,
to return to a new beginning,
yes life sure is more than hand full,
but then you never get it fully!
Learning to live than just living,
sunshine here I come !!

random thoughts

2010-08-04T22:26:00.003+09:00

have got into this habit of status updates on fb everday past few months... have some picked quotes.. have twisted many others... and written quite a few .... will be updating this one henceforth....

corporate maze unplugged !! ... how much you earn is inversely
proportional to work you do & is a function of asses licked, backs
stabbed, credits snatched !

Man is a wonderful creature limited by his imagination, a Woman takes
off from where his imagination ends !

The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the
stupidity of your act

To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management policy !

Is "God made me this way" your excuse ?

For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism !

Beauty lies in the eye of the BEER holder

Men-tal Anxiety. . . Men-opause. . . Men-tal Breakdown Ever noticed
that all problems start with MEN?

I know when everyone agrees with me, I must be doing something very wrong!

some people look great from a distance & that's how far they should
remain to look good !

aint looks like honesty and satire will ever go out of fashion

Making a carrier of hobby makes one successful, how come I am not when
I have snoozing for hobby, maybe I happen to be the exception

men have regard for age only when its bottled but women ........

Wonder why shallow words have the strength to pierce a soul and deep
thoughts are crushed again by shallow words ?

Money the wicked seductress plays her tricks, she can be the elixir &
the poison, she can also be the peacemaker & the pimp, the tryst lies
between possession & possessed !

Softwares r like men, always come up with silly errors, eat up memory
space, have limited functions, so one is not enough, throw in an out
of box qs and they hang up & u need to upgrade then regularly ! darn
s/w ! but can't imagine life w/o either of them

funny world we live in,we love things and we use people, we go to
virtual world to hunt for real friends, we are lonely in a group and
have gadgets for company when alone, smile today has become a smiley
:) (here we go again !!) but still I love this world coz I dunno ne
other !

I don't worry too much bout doing the right thing coz I will
eventually get there once all possible wrong options r exhausted with
but I dun give up easy

b4 criticizing any1 walk a mile in his shoes, then call him up and
criticize : u r the winner: u said what u had to + u have his shoes +
u exercised

coffee, chocolate and men .... richer the better

thandi barish + garam (chai + samosa) + mushy hindi phillum + kamball
= ecstacy ! did I miss out nethg ?

Wish questions became independent and found ans on their own

I believe in all the gods in the world .. now bring in the miracles !

since living is ancient practise.. how come it has no SOP ?

Those who can't do, teach. Then what do those who can't do nor teach do ?

how short a minute is depends on which side of the wash room door u r

If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done,
aska woman. - Margaret Thatcher

its no longer bout wining, its all about Out racing ur opponent !

If man evolved from apes why does HE behaves like One (ape) still ??

was awakened by the pitter patter of the rains.. in the days of
inflation.. mother nature still bestows beauty & joy for free

Loud is NOT a synonym for Deep

I don't get even .... I get odder !

alive most when pain is excruciating .. spirits soar when all you give
is all you have.. paradox thy name is life

Idiot (id-ee-it) n.- One who disagrees wit Me

Behind every great woman is a man telling her she's ignoring him.

games r so over rated wish we took even 1/4th of this interest,
effort, time n if possible in social causes

Not all men are annoying .. Some are Dead !!

I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a
hell of a lot more if I had been understood

I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those
with the most opinions often have the fewest facts!

just becoz u can't understand me dun b too harsh while judging urself

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting
something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong

I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was going to blame you !!

"Life is like this : Just when we get all the answers of
life.......Life changes the Question!!".....

‎"It's not where you're from; it's where you're going. It's not what
you drive; it's what drives you. It's not what's on you; it's what's
in you. It's not what you think; it's what you know." unknown author

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,
for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me
alone !!

Don't take Life too Seriously, you Won't get out Alive

Its not what u have but what u give that defines u

A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer !

What we see depends mainly on what we look for !! wondering why i
haven't met george clooney yet

Just when I thought this was it, the wind came by...

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side With a
good detergant

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong !

life is short .. eat desert first! after that if life remains exercise !!

‎"If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of
themselves."Maria Edgeworth .... then we would need someone to take
care of us.. coz we wld have lost it by taking care of every moment
!!!

One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat
them at politeness .. but will they notice ?

Morality is simply the attitude I adopt towards people whom I
personally dislike !!

When I was a little girl I was told that anybody could become Prime
Minister; I'm beginning to believe it.

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a
smart woman with a dumb guy.

You don't have to blow out anybody else's candle to make yours shine brighter

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought
half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult !!

I may not return the affection of those who like me, but will always
respect their good judgment !

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm
happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?

taking care while i wait .....

2010-08-04T22:25:00.001+09:00

just another rambling ........................

yesterday blew up in smoke,

tomorrow a distant dream,

today is all i am left with

they tell me loneliness kills,

I find a friend in him,

as he is here when the world ignored me

I know you have been here too...

stumbled and found a hand to hold..

I wait for my angel hand to appear

but have to take care till then of my today..

yes lots to do.....

its a gurl thing !

2010-08-04T22:23:00.000+09:00

have you guys seem the new sony vaio “go vivid” advt ?

To tell you briefly, it shows kareena kapoor changing clothes to match the color of her new sony vaio.

The take home msg here is “ a lappy with vibrant colors to match your colorful personality and its a simple to handle pc”

well I initially felt that the woman's intelligence was getting insulted here, we have come a long way from the barbie doll era !! but back of my mind I grudgingly had to admit to myself that a marketing driven company like sony knew what they were talking about.

I decided to do my little primary data collection process by asking a few girls around and found yes women did like lappy's to match their dress and an pc which talked about simplicity was good....

wow and here I thought I being a woman understood women !

God had to make us different in a better way than men ;) so no apologies what so ever for being the way we are :D

live another day... or ?

2010-08-04T01:32:00.000+09:00

yesterday i came to know about a spine chilling tragic death of a 30 year old guy from work who is survived by a wife and child.

was very low thinking about how his and his family's hope and dream have been brutally crashed and how the hope of another day has been snatched not only from him, his family too !!

that's when i thought to myself, a double income family is vital for we middle class people.

person's presence can never be replaced but his responsibility can be if the woman is financially independent.

it brought back my childhood memories, when i would act like a monkey when ma would make me sit to study, jumping from the sofa to the chair to the table to the bed and ma would sometimes run behind me rarely cajoling, mostly yelling and sometimes hysterically telling me to study so that tomorrow i stand on my two feet and i would just not understand that why cant ma see the brilliant display of my antiques with two feet !!

but today i thank her for ensuring i stand on my two feet ! of course now i want to fly now that i know how to stand..

guess leaving things for tomorrow after all is not such a bright idea...

will try to laugh out loud, get drenched in rains, whistle at a himbo (thats a new term i learned ), smile at a stranger, buy the watch i have been dreaming .. hey gotta remove that from the list already did it !!!

but yes am living for today.... tomorrow is a distant dream and yesterday is in smoke..... gone..... today ... how good do i make you ?

knowing to Noing

2010-07-31T00:59:00.002+09:00

I have always been a believer of self. Don't take or give unsolicited advice. Always thought that you wont know what the other person feels unless you go through the same and no two people are same.

In short Stupid :)

I of course have committed “n +1” number of mistakes, some I magnanimously, some I grudgingly, some I sheepishly and for some I was brutally cornered to accept !! and of course there are others I still refuse to accept.

In short still stupid :)

Anyways today I learned something beautiful from my kid bro.

I had a friend whom the rest of my friends and family just did not approve of and I really could not care less because I thought I knew better and would always get upset with my family when they voiced their opinion on my choice of friends.

But an incident proved to me how right they all were. Of course accepting that the world was right and I was wrong is such a humbling experience I can do without as I love my cocky self or so I thought.

Hence I had decided not to tell anyone about this but then you can run but not hide from your own self and I disclosed it to my bro and that is when he said something beautiful.

Essence of what he said was : sometimes from very close quarter, everything looks so big that you do not see the bad and sometimes a bird eye view gives you a better perspective to life and people in it.

Which I think was very true in my case.

So I learned my lesson the harder way, hope you have a better experience than me but thank god its not a bitter lesson for me either :)

I guess I have to learn to be more of a sponge, absorb all that is around and then squeeze out all I don't need but absorbing everything unconditionally is vital and very difficult because of the year of self conditioning. But then improving self is an exhaustive but liberating feeling ... so here I go again with life, this time trying to be a bit more open to start with ..

Dexter .. attitude galore

2010-07-28T02:35:00.002+09:00

whenever anything new comes home, dexter has to smell it. Its like one of his fundamental rights as a responsible member of the family. Once he approves the smell, we all are allowed to proceed with the new stuff.

Yesterday I bought a new dress and forgot to get dexter's approval and we proceeded with life as usual..

at night when we all were calling him aloud to sleep, he just refused to budge from the living room carpet and that's when we realized he is mad at us for some reason and quickly all fingers pointed to me :).. I quickly got about making amendment by getting my dress for dexter to smell.

And yes indeed that was the reason of his anger !!!

once again dexter made us laugh and feel proud of his antics in a weird way.. we know that a non dog lover would think of us to be insane and we could not care less !!

and at the same time we are proud of dexter and his attitudes because he is not like some robo dog trained to listen to his or her master. In fact I hate the term master or mistress used .. makes hitler alive in my mind ... very creepy thought.....

when the movers and shakers moved with meaning and shaked some evil

2010-07-28T02:35:00.000+09:00

read about the bickering between a media person and AB at a networking or tweeting site.. dun remember... it was in newspaper main column and in one corner was the news on a girl in an Iranian jail awaiting puberty to be stoned to death.

Its hilarious what the movers and shakers do in the name of Public Relation without any relation with the public !!

wish the media and media movers and shakers add a bit more substance to their actions.. please tweet.. blog.. fbing.. and whatever you do in the name of Public Relation, if a slice of social cause with concern is added, you guys could become heroes in every screen..

Ka boom !!

2010-07-28T02:34:00.001+09:00

Been a while since I had something to say, not that things have not been happening, but nothing substantial worth a mention.

Feel like the under dog of the fairy tale like movies (both hollywood and bolywood) where am living a non existent life and boom there comes the magic in my life and I become a super hero !!!

Well I had gone to Bangalore ashram of art of living to loose some weight and gain some sense, luckily or unluckily either things did not happen. (of course it could have been worse if the opposite happened in-spite of the fact that my resources in terms of sense is restricted to non sense !!)

had to get back to work with a lot of pending things to cover up so ya life have been mundane, boring and uneventful to be crisp !!

still waiting for my “ka boom” moment !!

this is me and my fav aol gurl

aaah se aha tak !!!

2010-04-18T01:25:00.000+09:00

went to a restaurant in agra for lunch, the heat out there was a killer and wanted nothing more than a good desi lunch with lots of ice tea and super chilled ac !!!

unfortunately power supply was badly hit so the ac in da restaurant was not working for starters, food was super spicy blistering my tongue (usually the threshold of mine for spices is pretty above average !!). so basically murphy's law was acting at its prime !!

like most experiences in life this too had a silver lining ...

the waiter saw that we had hardly eaten anything and had asked for the finger bowl, he said he was sorry and wanted to serve us fresh food done to our taste. i was really touched.

i for sure will again visit this restaurant again as i know this waiter will ensure that i eat my food this time :)

a guy who would know not much about the word not know about the word management fundas converted a customer grievance to a customer delight moment.

i hope the big wigs of so called sophisticated service industry learn a trick or two from this guy.

doing beautiful !!

2010-04-18T01:10:00.000+09:00

I have been travelling to the mini metros like bhopal, indore, lucknow, agra and feel proud to see economy thriving, best index are the number of malls, beauty centers mushrooming and thriving.

Yes these sights do make my heart swell with pride but somethg other than disparity that saddens me is cruelty towards animals common in all these cities.

I always remember the words of mahatma which I think are the wisest words spoken against cruelty towards animals “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated”

What amazes me always about we humans, we always want to look good, so that we feel good but why don't we do good to be good?

All our energies, time and money spend on acquiring the world to say hey beautiful when being beautiful is all about doing beautiful.

this moment !!

2010-04-11T23:12:00.000+09:00

offlate hearing too many bad news.. a very dear friends father died, bobby am real sorry this happened. then couple of days back heard a couple of other friends friend's father died and i was really very upset.

I always pray to god for a longer life of my loved ones the moment these things happens to other and try treasuring every moment i am with them.

I was touring and so was baba so called him up and was so happy to hear his voice and once i was back i was just treasuring the moments with my family.

but once i get over being upset i will get back to taking them for granted...

but this time round i have decided no more taking people who love me for granted and always showing how much i too care.. true life is too short.. live for this moment.. and treasure it !!!!!!!

its not what you have, but what you give that defines you !

2010-04-11T22:45:00.000+09:00

was in bhopal recently, the heat there was draining off my spirit but the large heart of a little boy just made my heart and spirit soar up again

i was outside an hospital, and really loosing whatever little cool i was left with as i could not trace the car driver then i see this little boy who did not look from a well to do family was relishing on glucose biscuits, i was watching him to distract my mind off the heat and the agony of the wait, this little boy eats a couple of biscuits and then offers the other two to the hungry street dog, i was touched but the generosity of a four - five year old kid.

Not only that, he also gave the dog a share of his water, his thoughtfulness just touched me.

its not what you have, but what you give that defines you !

wish we all too could be like the little boy, luckily i did have a bar of chocolate in my bag and this was probably my only bar of chocolate i was happy to give it off to someone with 100 % of joy in my heart.

i dont think i will ever meet him again but am sure this little boy will grow up to be a wonderful human being ..

thanks for reminding me the joy of giving :)

lotus in the muck ...

2010-02-23T03:13:00.001+09:00

i am a short circuit and what fuses me quickest is the crab mentality prevailing here in our country.. so socializing is really not my cuppa..

my bro always tells me am over critical and i conveniently blame it on my perfection.

like i said yday i am bitten by the "bring in a change in me" bug so am off on to prove to myself the already proven theory that " world is how you look at it" i have started being a bit more open to others, i have never been the judgmental but now i am trying to be find the lotus in every muck i meet !!

very cheeky of me i agree but trust me its really mucky around here .....

Anyways i was discussing my new change in attitude with my brother who also happens to be an AOL (art of living) teacher..

during the conversation i was telling him about my admiration for the Chinese, I have no love for communism but the way they are growing by supporting each other always awes me more so when we have a similar socio - economic constraints and yet they are way ahead of each other..

then we moved on to discussing how much we both admire the Japanese. I have worked with them and their attitude towards profession and family has always been in sync with what i had read.

My bro told me something real interesting about them ..

in japan, children are taught about teamwork right from childhood as the toys there are made heavy so that no child can lift it alone and would require a group to ensure that they can play with the toy. so they learn the nuances of teamwork right before they learn to speak a complete sentence !!

aol school is replicating the same philosophy in their school in bangalore called shri shri ravi shankar vidyalaya

i hope more kindergardens take this up and the gen next learns to grow out of crab mentality and set example in team work to make India shining a dream come true sooner !!

dare !!

2010-02-22T03:34:00.000+09:00

essence of life lies in simple philosophies and yet we so complicate it by running in circles around the pillar of our worries / insecurities

i was just doing a self analysis and came to the sad conclusion that for a long time i have not done anything new or different ... i have just been living without learning any thing new personally or taking up any new challenges off late ...

then thanks to the annual health check up courtesy office i realized i am good kilos overweight (keep guessing how many .. real mind boggling number !!!) and thats when i got a real hard knock on my head and realized time to change or be changed !!!

i have been meaning to take dance lesson for about a year now .. i am supposedly passionate about dance and yet the right moment still beats me.... again a self revelation... i have a passion for doing nothing.. never the less i have passion.. its all about channelizing this passion...

it always helps to have a family which believes that their dedication and love towards you and source of motivation can be only demonstrated by consistently ruthlessly pulling your leg.. so now with the backing and blessing of my family i now travel a bumpy , narrow uphill road to weight loss..

just got this quote in my mail box courtesy arina quote of the day and it got me thinking ..what timing in my case :)

"Dare to dream, dare to try, dare to fail - dare to succeed."

G Kinsley Wood

living after leaving ...

2010-02-20T02:25:00.003+09:00

the lady who lived two floors above us would always keep water for birds to drink on the window of her kitchen.. I had mentioned about her earlier.. ma and me were pretty inspired by her and started keeping water for the days she had gone out of town.. (of course ma did the work .. I was just inspired !!)

unfortunately she is now no more..

she was related to few by blood and related to others by her deeds.

Yesterday ma observed that few pigeons have been coming to our window a lot and then it struck her that these birds must be looking for the lady for water and then she kept a bowl of water there.

In the evening ma observed that half the water was gone and then even a few crows came over to drink water

ma hates crows as they are supposed to be bearers of bad news but of course she has not much of a choice here as her humanity is at stake !!

so now we have decided to follow what the noble lady had started.. keeping a bowl of water for the birds everyday henceforth..

life sure goes on and yet we take a moment to remember the people who made it worth living in their little way and touched so many lives ....

dexy 1.3

2010-02-15T22:47:00.000+09:00

Dexy nudges ma when he needs food and nudges me or broi for his doggy treat which is kept on particular rack in the fridge. Once when dexy felt an urge for the treat and not finding me or broi he started nudging ma to the fridge. Ma did not know why was he doing so and opened the fridge and gave him some green peas which he loves. But he again nudged her and she again opened the fridge to figure out what he wanted from there. When she could not figure it out, dexy himself removed the treat packed and left ma rolling in laughter.

Guess dexy was sent by god to bring in laughter in our lives which the more there is, the more enriched our lives become..

I was on a trip and got lot of doggie food for my dexy and boy is he thrilled. Now he chooses the treat he wants to have.... life should be all about choices you make :)

btw snuggles too gets lucky now.. he gets a share of the doggie treat :) and dexter is learning to behave and realizing he has no choice here but share grudgingly !!

broi

2010-02-15T22:45:00.000+09:00

I always encouraged my bro to communicate as I have seen most men don't communicate unless its death and death situation and then its too late. Lately he has taken up my continuous nudging to write a blog and he finally did it.

I have known him pretty close all his life but yet when I started reading his thoughts I felt I really did know quite little bout him. His thoughts were fresh and different and he could finally put them to words was something that thrilled me. If you get a scope do visit his blog posts at ....

but I loved was he finally listened to me. Well whom am I flattering.. I guess it was his time.. loved the line he wrote.... god wears a different watch than us... true he does as he alone knows the right time..

do check his blog and put in your comments

http://cbodhayan.wordpress.com/

tashan !!!

2010-02-15T22:44:00.000+09:00

was in ludhiana last week.. it was a riot.. in punjab I guess there truly is no dull moment. I saw three youngsters driving a huge tractor in the middle of a main road, delaying the other cars, carrying a single barrel gun and savoring every moment of their drive in their kingdom of vanity. I asked the driver why no one was telling them to budge.. the driver proudly replied.. its the tashan.. I guess it happens only down here and ya what the heck why not. Am sure they had fun.. what if 20 cars got delayed to their destination.. and seeing them enjoy I felt like taking a pic but chickened out .. dunno what tashan they have towards visitors clicking pics !!

I guess its not just punjab.. its the whole of india, there seems to be something thrilling and so radically different happening in every corner and if you are a spectator, you sure are gonna have a roller coaster time going from one state to another which will either touch your stomach with mouthwatering cuisine, your sense of style with every state having a unique type of sari or kurta .. touch you eyes with natural beauty .. and steal you soul... making you want to give into these places for the time you are there atleast ..

Loved the tourism ministry advt on “atithi devo bhavo” guess its for the common wealth games in delhi. Sure it does strike a chord and sure it has a real strong brand ambassador but its very easy to preach than followed.. In a country where disparity is glaring naked on the eyes, sentimental advertisement wont help much as many towns dont still have the electricity to run a fan forget watch television. wish government put in money, brain and time on removing the disparity than putting the same down the drain with high celebrity power campaign..

hero in every corner !!

2010-02-15T22:21:00.000+09:00

some days back I met this awesome lady with two dogs and when I went to pet the dogs she told me her story of how she found one of her dogs when she was travelling in another country. She rescued this awesome German shepherd who was being brutally maimed by the original owner. She took him to the hospital and has been caring for him past 10 years. She is young and single and I know how much time consuming is having one dog and she has the dedication to manage single handedly two dogs !!

just couple of days back I met another awesome person. He was with the army and now he is in the industry. Always admired people from the forces as their perception of life is so much more full than the civilian's as they call it. They give accomplishment another meaning and yet can be so refreshingly humble about it.

Truly there is a hero around every corner.. its just how deep you look to find one !! And each of them leave a n impression in your perception of things ...

its a culture thing

2010-01-26T16:32:00.000+09:00

very proud to put in dis post...

my colleague and friend at work, niraja made me and indians real proud a couple of days back...

she was at the goa airport and the luggage trolley of a white woman which was been carried by a porter wobbled and she abused the guy calling him "bloody indian".

my friend politely told her that she was still on Indian soil and told the porter that he did not have to take shit from the lady and would pay the money which she was offering. the porter left the luggage and went and the lady pretended this scene did not happen.

if this would have happened in an other country the lady would not have been so lucky to get away so easy....

well i guess its a culture thing...

we have such inherent good qualities in us.. lets develop those better and keep our negative qualities away and build a better, brighter, stronger and more harmonious india !!

mile sur mera tumhara.. aman ki aasha

2010-01-26T16:23:00.000+09:00

two beautiful attempts at peace..

yes both do steer my heart and swell up my throat, but how about bringing in fore front the true heros who are giving up everything dear to them in this aasha and to ensure that sur remains......

other than salman khan none of the bollywood stars featured in the video have made any significant contribution other than the PR activities they do, few sports stars were taken but given very little significance,,come on guys give us a break ... all this for TRP.... stop selling up for money.....n stop abusing our intelligence .. yes we can c through u ....

loved the advt on tv on aman ki aasha...

mental rambling

2010-01-12T22:48:00.000+09:00

Save the trees

I loved the latest commercial of Idea cellular for save the trees. Just recently I was reprimanded by my friend for taking unnecessary print out and the advt made me feel a bit more guilty. True one small step in right direction can make a world of difference.

I have now become more judicious than before in terms of paper usage.

Freedom

some days back during our evening walk, dexter found a dead puppy. He went on licking it to bring it back to life and I had to pull him away and then wash his mouth so that he would not catch germs. The body of the little puppy often invades my mind and makes me sad. But then they say when a dog dies his soul becomes free. Hope this little soul finds his freedom

bhai

today is my brother's birthday. We were talking yesterday night till 3 am. Not to celebrate his birthday but because he was not sleepy. We have been sharing our lives ever since he can remember and our bond thank god grows stronger over the years , so does our differences and in many cases our beliefs but yet at the end of the day, we will be there for each other, guess thats what counts...

m for ma.. m for mobile

my bro bought ma a new mobile and ever since its been her toy. Of course she knows not much than to receive calls. Since not many know her mobile number, family happens to be her only callers and whenever she goes out she would remind me to give her a call. Just like a little girl with her new doll would do. Baba too is excited that his new mobile has an fm radio. How little joys still rock our world warms the heart in the chill of winter

3 idiots

2010-01-12T00:20:00.001+09:00

i guess now its in vogue to blatantly snatch credit where it is due.. lobby of cinema movers and shakers who are not only doing shallow deed but also ensuring things are written about it in a neutral manner, i was surprised when i read an article some how justifying this shallow deed.

its as obvious as day and night that 3 idiots has been inspired / copied / stolen from 5 point someone.

funnily the beautiful message in the movie about going all out for excellence instead of success seems to have been taken a total pass off by the movie maker and his team....

miracle

2010-01-10T14:10:00.005+09:00

yesterday i was at my regular salon, and the girl next to me had a list of requirement from a single hair style which took her almost 10 minutes to explain. yes i am being lenient as i was under the hair steam for 15 minutes and she came in b4 i started the steam.. :p

i and my hair dresser were exchanging exasperated looks and mischievous and also bitchy smiles.. -and i told him .. da lady needs a miracle and not a hair cut... and was feeling proud of my supposedly very funny comment !!

later on my way back .. feeling at peace with the world and the bounce on my hair adding to my happiness, i started thinking.. does this analogy not hold true for all of us too.. are we all not like this girl ??

we too make a lot of demands from life, from god, from family. from friends, from strangers, from hair dressers !! and we feel all of it is justified and we deserve more and then when these expectations or demands are not met, inspite or without our efforts .. we feel upset, then we want more attention.. and since no one takes us as seriously as we take our self .. we are further hurt.. and there starts the vicious cycle.. some find a way out, others bury it deep and others themselves go deep into it which unfortunately ends in ending the life that was once full of hope..

with suicide rate.. road rage.. sexual harassment ..racial discrimination on an all time high and self esteem, selfless deeds, humility, humanity on an all time low, i wish this year we all take small steps to make this world a little better place to live in..

am i now being unrealistic.. time alone will tell .. oh happy new year by the way to all, sorry its belated.....

order in chaos

2009-12-19T12:35:00.000+09:00

couple of days back i had to go to lower parel. even though others trust my driving skills, i trust my impatience more. so i dont venture there. i always preferred travelling by bus rather than train, yes the chaos of western and central line train always remember to send a shudder down my spine and yet so many millions of bombayites travel in time, day after day, and it does not matter how many new commuters join in this chaos, yet there is place for all. the trains mostly make it on time.

well that day i while coming home took an ST (state transport) bus, she is always known as the older, uncool country cousin of the more urban BEST, though she is still more faster, but in todays world, looks matter too much so she stands a dismal third in bombay.

you know how the tickets look out here, tickets with different denominations printed and conductor has to punch in the boarding and the destination place which is coded in numbers. but this time i saw a ST conductor having a machine similar to the credit card amount punching machine.

i told the conductor that this time you guys have left BEST far behind with this new baby. he at first just smiled
later he came back to me with lots of pride and said, yes we are progressing, and started explaining to me how he had found it initially difficult to learn this new machine as he is 50 year old and had worked already on the old machine for 27 years, but then he believes in being modern helps life.

i guess that is what i admire most about we indians. we learn very fast and even though many are resistant to change, once they see how beneficial it is. we really pick things up fast.

on my way i also say a 60 + man driving a rustic lamby scooter with a tire rubber tied around the body to ensure the scooter from crumbling apart. where else will you see such enterprising people who never believe in giving up and are passionate.....

yes this country is full of chaos, yes each state is radially different from its neighbor, yes there are very few SOPs followed and yet we are rising and shining... so there must be an order somewhere which is allowing all this to happen...

its just that others need more time to figure us out !!

Paa paa dont preach !

2009-12-12T16:59:00.001+09:00

saw the movie last week. one more movie which proved ab is a legend !! and the srks and aks (amir in dis case) have light years to catch up wit movies and those seen on big screen move me faster to tears.. this one dint do that .. of course it did make my throat go parched and my heart move a bit too fast but nothing more than that..

long back i had seen a movie named "anjali" where a little girl with a heart warming smile, chubby body and most gorgeous curls which would give even dimple kapadia a complex; made even the guys watching the movie, cry even though she did not have any dialogues..

mass media as we all know is most influential and if movies make non usage of condom sound cool, polygamy as hep, glorifying murderers and goons, making being evil the new "it" thing , drinking and rash driving as macho, smoking a cigar uber cool.

we really are giving wrong signals out to the younger generation.

its not about moral policing but it is about using the power in hand with responsibility and keeping the hidden agendas as hidden !

lastest gossip which is making the media go crazy is of tiger woods. read his press release. it seemed heart felt and i really liked the way he asked forgiveness from his fans. maybe its an pr thing but at the same time he is not endorsing being a polygamist as cool.

i wish movie makers got more conscious of their social responsibility and of course it is for mullah the world goes round but when they get a taste of the bitter fruits they planted, maybe money wont be able to act as life line to them !

Tiger gives a (mouse) flash

2009-12-05T00:34:00.000+09:00

Since I am back in the business of being boring let me use this opportunity to say something to justify my credibility.

Well I was driving to work in the morning and like I said earlier I fear all vehicles.. no exception.. no favorites.. so this driver in honda city all of a sudden got out of his lane and entered mine without signaling. We could have rammed !! I obviously got mad because I am superstitious about a good start and it was an important day work wise for me. Luckily for me the signal went red. I walked up to him and gave him a piece of my mind with lot of love. Seeing that he is an south indian uncle ( read as 40 + , fat and goon looking) I expected him to add on words to my vocabulary but something really hilarious happened. He in a real squeaky voice said “Sorry”. Of course it did burst my bubble to spoil up for a fight so I just said the typical monologue that proceeds sorry “ what do you mean by sorry ?” and huffed and puffed back to my car. But later I just could not stop laughing at this incident. Sure the tiger did give a mouse flash.

Pointing fingers to others .. 3 pointing to You !!

2009-12-05T00:31:00.000+09:00

Well as an after thought I have put these lines which I so conveniently had forgotten to mention

I was commenting honestly again on my brother's drawings when he started painting after years of break. More so I gave honest hard hitting comments as I saw his friends were flattering him for reasons unknown to me but definitely not because of his drawing skills. So I did not want bro to get carried away by those comments. I missed out one little point here, my bro is generally too level headed and knows his worth. When we were kids, the exam for which I would brag home I would score full marks, I would not fare well and for the ones I thought I would do bad, I did well .. Each time.. Every time without exceptions. On the other hand my bro could almost predict with only 5 % variation his marks for every paper and he too was right .. Each time.. Every time without exceptions.

Some times in relation we just forget to give space to the other person, trust the other person's judgment, respect the other persons feeling. All in our zeal to protect the other person from harm, not realizing maximum harm is done by our this attitude. After burning my fingers I did learn my lesson, hope I dont have to revise this lesson soon and follow what I believe in.

broi n me :D

Criticism.. constructs ?? !!

2009-12-05T00:30:00.003+09:00

Not been blogging for long. Not only that I have not even been visiting my blog site for about 20 days now. Thats something because I am my only loyal reader. So dear blog am sorry.

I just realized the reason I have not been blogging. Nothing really interesting is happening in my life, not that this is something new, my life is as mundane as it can be but earlier I would atleast find something humorous or annoying or silly to share. Then one day my bro told me that he thinks my blog post have become very boring and monotonous.

I decided, I will take his constructive criticism in the right spirit, I for days stared into blank word documents, jabbing words and deleting words with equal ferocity. Thought it was time to write that big bang novel I claim I will always write. I did that for days together every night before sleeping and then that pursuit lost its charm as nothing magical happened. Then started the even more boring one way sparring with god for making me so little talented which quickly lost its charm as god did not respond with acid dipped one liners to spice up the war !! so I got back to my blog, will pen in words that come in my heart and continue my lone journey towards creative writing with my goal clear in my heart, my soul still ready to give company to my heart and my mind being pulled along as else it would wonder lonely.

beautiful people all around

2009-11-18T18:48:00.002+09:00

been away for long.. had a few things to pen down bout .. but needed stimulation, which interpreted means, the familiar jab of my 8 year old desktop, dexter nudging me for being friendly with the desktop instead of playing with him, my bros regular gags on me dreaming of becoming a writer someday like all my other silly fantasies which meet their timely or untimely but certain death, ma keeping me updated with information which is useless for me and does not even mean much to her but sharing it is important and baba wanting to be updated on whats happening generally... ya i did miss my stimulations :)

----
was travelling by train a couple of weeks back.there was a blind man and an eunuch begging .. i gave money to both. while taking the money the eunuch bumped into the blind man. the blind man went ballistic. he asked the eunuch to stay away as he was impure.

the eunuch was beautiful. he told him every calmly that it is not good to be rude to people and all were made by the same god.

----

i always am in real foul mood when am in delhi as i always experience either crass or rude behavior from majority of the people generally , if not direct.. indirect would be definite.. i was just coming back home and went to the washroom of the airport. there i saw an middle aged lady really worried, the janitor asked her what her problem was. she said she wanted an indian style washroom.

the janitor was beautiful too. she told her that with time the lady too should become modern n learn new things. she showed her how to use the wc. the women felt lot more relaxed when both of us encouraged her to try it instead of bursting her bladder and she was a much relieved women.. funny thing is she started thanking us once she was out..

----
there are so many beautiful people who may not even enter our lives but leave impressions.. like the roses we preserve inside the folds of paper of our books, the fragrance always stays there.. even if the flower withers off.....

this is one of my bros painting i liked.. its bout beautiful love ....

paradox called life !

2009-10-28T01:44:00.000+09:00

today i had called up a printer for some urgent work and she told me she was busy in the hospital, the word hospital always makes me go a bit cold, bringing back not so old memories of iccu.. and i shuddered and asked if i could help .. well she informed me that its the brother of a laborer who is in last stage of tb..she thinks poverty leaves very little choices... and i was sad listening to her for a bit .. but as i got busy wit work i forgot all about it

in the evening a friend called up to tell me his father aint feeling too good and he does not much trust the docs coz they are after money..

well life is full of paradox ...

money is strength and money is weakness too..

so how do we survive ??

my dear friend anita always says, its all in the hands of destiny .. so why worry .. whatever has to happen will happen ..

well leaving things to destiny makes me feel real weak.. not in control.. and that makes me uncomfortable..
but then worrying about future too wont help and neither will i be able to know what destiny holds for me unless i go out and find out what it does not hold for me . .

so here i am .. doing what i want to.. loving all i have .. longing for more.. looking out .. and going all out at life !! :)

orange and apple !

2009-10-27T01:51:00.001+09:00

well like i said i was off on a shoot, on the last day of shoot, which was a studio shoot, i requested the make up artist to also do the smoky eye he had done to the female model. he very kindly obliged. the female model was looking ravishing in all the make up and dresses she was wearing but she looked especially ravishing with the smoky eye make up.. i too became vain and wanted to look good.. so i got the same done.. i thought i would look like a show stopper with that smoky eye.....

well you must have guessed my story.............

i did look like a show stopper.........
....................but from some freak show
:)

not only that next day morning i suffered from under eye infection because i have a very sensitive skin...

i just could not stop laughing at myself...

after knowing the futility of vanity i still ventured on that road and expected some miracle to happen !!

thanks god for once again reminding me oranges and apples cant be the same ...

both are great but cant be compared !! .. lol ya i know i am still being vain ... ;)

Copycat !!

2009-10-23T18:22:00.000+09:00

its a honor when people copy what others do, as they say coping is the best form of flattery. but some times it gets pretty annoying when people improvise on what someone has originally worked on and never give due regards or acknowledge the originator of the idea!

of course it is cool to improvise and come up with some thing different from the original but when due credits are not given.. it shouts of character or lack of it !

well hope those who are not gifted enough to come up with original thoughts, work hard and learn to improvise and those good at improvising learn to come up with originals..

ya hope is all we have .. and until then happy copying to you, well i do not support you but can only feel a bit for you. And miracles do happen !

branded forever !

2009-10-23T14:34:00.006+09:00

my brother and me share a real special bond i guess like most brothers and sisters do but yet we love to believe we have that extra bit unlike the rest.

well very vain i know but hey we cant be perfect always :)

this bhai dujh, in bengali we call it bhai phota .. which is the most important festival for us bro sis in bengalis, we do celebrate rakhi but thats an adapted thing .. by tradition bhai phota is the mother..

anyways this bhai phota nothing really special happened .. we celebrated it with adapted grandeur .. earlier ma would make a 2 course grande bengali meal ie main course and awesome deserts, this year since both of us (bro and me) need to loose weight we told ma not to bother !

later in the evening when i realized we did not do all the traditional things we usually do, i felt a bit sad, and started thinking about our relation.

has it changed over the years ? yes it has

is it good that it has changed ? yes

why is it good that it has changed ? we give each other more space and i guess we trust each other more

but did we not promise that we would never change ? yes we did and to keep that promise we never changed our fighting pattern, i still complain to ma and baba when we fight and he still whacks me when i do that !

how does change matter ? well it does matter if this change makes us happy its good else time for a change again !!

am i happy ? the heck i am ... cant imagine a more crazy, pain in the ass bro am so impossibly in love with .. and the family too .. however nutty, they rock my little world !

smiling to myself and on seeing my brother frowning at me, i gave him a friendly whack which he reciprocated with vengeance .. i realized yes we did have our own traditional bhai phota after all :)

the phota.. that is the tikka

the arti.. wading off the evil

thats me bhai n ma ... kodak moment

smell my soul .....

2009-10-23T13:57:00.004+09:00

i just got back from a photo shoot. we had non indian models, a male and female.

their attitude just made me realize that how we physically appear is just a clothing to our soul and the attitude we carry is the perfume of our soul. so even if we wear fantastic clothes, but the odor we give out is stale, no one will be attracted to us. of course if the dress and the perfume are awesome .. we get to do the double tango !!

clothes will change.. but the perfume remains imprinted in the mind for ever !

i am sometimes amazed that most of the western countries beam in the glory of being progressive with modern man made gadgets, with superior standards of hygiene, with lots more oomph but i fail to understand how come then their modern thoughts do not include equality to all, how come the hygiene is restricted to washrooms and not to their soul, how come oomph is so brittle that it does not charm all ?

of course it is not the mass but a few who are like that, and it is sad as the foul smell of negative attitude leaves more of an impression on us than the faint but beautiful smell of positive attitude !

so all is in our hand.. to remain remain surrounded by stale odor or go find our jasmine flowers :)

not to mention it is easier said than done but it is done because we wanted to do.. and not because it is difficult...

so faint smell of jasmine i will find you and make you mine :)

diwali da festival of happiness

2009-10-19T04:43:00.003+09:00

i was coming back home on friday on diwali eve .. was surprised when the security guard at the hyderabad airport wished me happy diwali.. that one smile and wish made me feel special and happy.. we landed on time at bombay.. again added to my smile... the road had less traffic .. smile broadened.. and i saw an ac bus going my home.. well those who are not familiar.. earlier there were no ac bus services available between bombay and new bombay but now the state transport has made this new initiative.. seeing that bus i left the cab and took the bus.. the seats flush and the ac keeping me cool away from the dust and humidity further broadened my smile..i met an old uncle in there who again was a complete stranger and we got talking a bit.. my smile broadened .. while getting off the bus he too wished me...

ya diwali does bring in a feel good factor.. a spirit of festivity .. while walking down to my home from the bus stop i saw a little girl and her mother walking down the street, the little girl seemed so happy i patted her head and she turned around to show me her new bata chappal her mom got her this diwali and i smiled and gave her a chocolate i had bought.. and wished her happy diwali...

with joy in my heart and smile on my lips i moved forward to my home sweet home.. there i see dexter and broi on their evening walk.. and i could not be more happy ...

thank god this year the noise crackers were less so dexter too did not freak out as much

diwali truly brings in the good spirit out and warmth in our heart...

city through my eyes

2009-10-19T04:12:00.004+09:00

i have been away from home lately a lot due to work.

every time when the plane lands at bombay airport my heart is filled with the same joy of being home like the first time when i was back after a trip !

its the same city .. same family .. same bed .. same food .. same pollution .. same chaos .. same gloom.. same everything but yet it all seems so novel since i dint see it for a few days !

does this mean.. we take those things for granted which we should ideally be valuing ? Or do we miss our familiar surrounding as it makes us feel more secure.. more in control ? .. Or is it that when we are away we want all the old things just because we are use to being without it.. its got into our system so hard that it is part of our anatomy.. changing it is like cutting a part of us ??

but its funny when on my way back home from airport, the traffic jams seem like reckless children standing in a haphazard queue.. pollution seems like dragon flames .. color changed.. but never the less has fairy like quality.. the humidity like spirit of anticipation .. and family like the best thing that happened to me and home is like heaven on earth !!

life is like dat only part 2

2009-10-09T23:24:00.003+09:00

i am in iim kolkata for a short course, in the evenings i and my colleague go every evening for a snack cum dinner at a campus canteen, its about 5 mins walk, the campus is beautiful with huge trees and landscaped gardens and ponds, so admire the scene everyday during our walks

the 1st day we noticed that many students are carrying umbrellas, we dint pay much attention to this fact, only casually wondered why, since there were no drizzles and in kolkatta by 5:30 pm it becomes quite dark, we just walked a few steps under the trees and my friend got lucky, bird shit fell on his hands and after that we were dodging the bird shit like bullets fired by enemy line and we are hapless, weapon less soldiers ducking them !!

this has become our ritual and fun game every evening and gives us scope for our little jog and now we know why the smart students of iim do not jog but carry umbrella as bullet proofs :)

another use of our good old umbrella, protection from bird shit !!

beautiful banyan tree in the campus

frog house

living a nightmare !!

2009-09-30T23:21:00.002+09:00

i and my buddy were discussing about women drivers a couple of days back and he narrated an incident to me saying how men and women drivers are different.

Once his lady co worker was driving on highway at 100+ speed and all of a sudden she sees a dead dog on the highway and fumbles with the steering wheel loosing control, so drivers behind had a tough time to avoid an accident.

when i heard that i really rolled inward thinking how horrendous the scene would be and totally empathizing with the lady.

today the same thing happened to me !! luckily the speed was not much and i further slowed from a distance but could not believe that something i heard and dreaded just happened to me.

of course guys hooted at me and found another crazy lady driver tale to narrate to friends but i am still livid thinking of the gory scene !

i guess i was better prepared to handle the situation because i had heard of it earlier, but at the same time, the goose bumps she and i shared would have been the same !!

good the day has come to an end and good that tomorrow is another day !!

Baba now I will get the toy watch for you !

2009-09-20T19:45:00.003+09:00

With durga puja around the corner, all bengali households are abuzz with lot of activities, its the Diwali for we bengalis! Some are busy with spring cleaning.. some with last minute shopping.. some deciding with friends the agenda for this puja and yet others doing a bit of all above mentioned..

my house is a buzz with puja shopping, we girls (ma and me) had completed our shopping long back as we are very organized individuals :P.. but baba and baban as usual relied on me to ensure I literally pull my bro out of the house and to the mall to ensure the needful is done.

Two days back I went with baban to get his and baba's shopping done.Since we got exhausted doing baban's shopping I din get any of baba's done and came home with goodies for baban alone.

Baba was sitting on the couch waiting for his goodie bag and when all the bags only unwrapped clothes for baban his face fell like that of a sulking baby's. And that is when I realized he was really looking forward to his new clothes just liked a child and was heart broken when he dint find them. Of course he quickly masked the feeling and went to bed but I started feeling real bad.

Just then an incident from my childhood flashed back in my mind, once I wanted a specific toy wrist watch and realized I would not be able to live long without it after I came home, usually my baba would never give into my tantrums as a kid but that day since i was very sick and crying for the watch was making my health deteriorate, so baba went back and bought the watch from the market far from home, late at night.

The whole morning at work I was feeling restless as I felt I did let down baba in a albeit very small way, and baba would never blame me for it which I as a kid would if did he not get me the watch that night.

Our parents go through so much willingly and selflessly to ensure that we lead a comfortable hassle free life. And as they grow old, still they alone go on giving so much more. But now is the role reversal time.

Today it is my responsibility that I ensure that he gets all that he needs and wants just like as a child he did this and more for me. Of course we can never measure any where close to what our parents have done and are still doing for us but in our own small way we all try to show we understand and respect all they have done.

Baba now I will get the toy watch for you. I ensured I completed his shopping before he came home the next day and he was so thrilled to see the goody bags awaiting him and his joy made my day and relieved my soul.

Fire in the mountain, run run run !!

2009-09-17T02:14:00.000+09:00

At work our only constant companion is the need to be churn something different something unique all the time. Being unique today is truck load more difficult that what it was even half a decade ago ! The probability that what I think is a novel thought would have been used maybe minutes back by someone and my big idea would just remain a good idea already used.

When my friends in brand management talk over the phone as meeting is more rare than solar eclipse we always allocate time to discuss this problem! And yet have not come up with solution !

Thinking out of the box is easy to talk about than follow and some methodologies available makes life much more simpler but innovating all the time does take a toll on our mental health. Out performing each time, every time is no longer an option to most of us, its become a way of life. You do have option, either you are in the race or you are out. So actually speaking thinking you have an option is a mirage that some how makes you feel powerful and in control.

I started thinking why are we getting competitive at neurotic pace, why are needs so high and satisfaction levels so low ? Why does our hunger for variety never cease and stability only means stagnancy ? Why is polygamy in and monogamy boring ? Why is danger sexy and right seem so stupid ?

Well this is what I think is the cause of our plight today. Today we have 1000 things which we do not really need and have gone ahead and labeled them as necessity. We want to satisfy others, we are more tuned to strangers and yet we turn deaf ear to the call from with in. Further more we today look around us for strength, for inspiration, for thoughts, for ideas and have forgotten to look inside us. We have forgotten US .. the unique person that each one is, with a set of goods, bads, madness, thoughts, values, preferences etc. Maybe if we spend more time with ourselves, making it a conscious choice we will be able to understand the most basic human relation, the one we share with our own selves, once we reach a stage when this relationship with self turns harmonious, we will be able to transfer this uniqueness from us as a being to our job, to our way of handling problems, to evolve as better people both on and off job.

An acquaintance would always comment saying “you marketing professionals are this” and “you marketing professionals are that”. I always told him “my profession does not define my individuality.” and now to add to it, lets add individuality to our profession only if we understand ourselves better and then bring this understanding to our work. Uniqueness will follow !

small is big

2009-09-12T02:53:00.005+09:00

yesterday when i and dexter were off on our evening walk i noticed that a housing society had put barbed wire railing at the lower end of the gate, to keep away stray cats / dogs from entering their compound.

Dexter was going near the gate and i ensured he dint get himself hurt, just then i thought what about the poor creature who would not have someone to guide him, would definitely get hurt!

Furthermore the objective here is to keep away stray animals, that can be easily achieved by using a thickly knitted mesh stuck to the gate which would keep away the stray without hurting it.

Humans who are supposed to be the most evolved of all animals mostly acts in a manner inversely proportional to his intellect ! Or is it inflicting pain to others without a reason is one of the carnal sins that gives us some sadistic pleasure.

Some would feel that the nail incident is too minor to warrant this reaction but some times small things speak lot more that huge incidents!

trick in treat

2009-09-12T00:04:00.007+09:00

i am the one who is responsible for dexter's daily dose of medicine.

the moment he hears the word medicine in any language (read as english and bengali) he runs to his haven ie below the dining table and we use this trick word when he is being too naughty so that he stays put for sometime.

i have discovered a novel way of ensuring he gets his daily dose of vitamins and supplements.. i now hide it in his breakfast and feed it to him literally so he never realizes he is taking his pills regularly past two weeks in disguise of his yummy food and i am now minus the heart burns of running around pleading to him sometimes.. sometimes yelling at him to eat his medicines.

So guys try this trick or treat with your pet.. its a god send boon and you can thank me in kind for this amazing trick with is a treat !! rambling... he he he

whoever said you cant have your cake and eat it too !

trip to moon ..

2009-09-11T23:31:00.003+09:00

Have you noticed you are a pro when it comes to solving problems of others or pro when it comes to solving your either professional or personal problem and totally clueless while solving the other one !

Well this happens with me often and one day it really got me thinking why does this really happen ?

I discovered that when the problem is what I am facing, I would look at it with all baggages attached.. depending upon the situation the baggage could be either emotional, operational, background, attitudinal (din rake my brain for a few more) or may be a mix of these baggages and so the problem takes the size of a huge bully and we run for a corner to hide in or mourn or bail in time to think of a way to out smart the problem.

But someone else comes around asks you why you so upset and you open flood gates to your anguish, and the guy just walks casually smacks the bully and there boom the bully ie problem just disappears !! just like an angel.

That I think is mainly because the angel looked at the problem from heaven, as it is, minus the baggages and hence could come up with a solution. So he / she could give a solution so easily where we are lost.

So things in life are so simple that we fail to notice them maybe because we are use to such complex situations or we complicate things as we know no other way of doing things.

Maybe thats why many distress book talk about “take a break.. go for a walk .. smell the flowers ..”

So now I try solving my problems by first going to moon I.e. looking at the problem for what it actually is minus my baggages and then solution finding becomes easy and not only that I also manage to find alternate solutions.

So next time you have a problem... just hop and move to moon.. solution will be there once your back from your trip :)

found this interesting quote by Albert Einstein which very much says it all

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

thanks nishant !

2009-09-10T23:13:00.002+09:00

ever since I have started blogging, I have always erged people dear to me to read them. Of course some had to comply because of the under hand techniques I used, some are tough nuts whom I yet have not cracked (to be read as family members !!) but I was really touched by my friend Nishant's gesture.

Well he I guess is the only person I know read all my blog posts till date as he had promised me he would do so. Thanks a lot buddy.

We may not talk to each other everyday, we may not always share our worries, we may not agree on most things yet we would be there in times of need.

Guess thats what human relations are all about. Connecting without connections !

look out for the jasmine

2009-09-09T23:26:00.006+09:00

today i and dexter were off on our evening walk,two middle aged house wives were walking behind us, seeing dexter relieve himself they started expressing loudly how much they hated pets as they dirtied the surroundings.

Well I was pretty miffed at their attitude, not because they said they did not like my precious Dexter but because they were using a very uncool tactic of expressing their distaste or distress if it amounts to that.

I thought to myself, these would be the same people who would throw waste outside their house to keep their interiors clean (I am taking the liberty to assume this :)) but come on its a fact.. many do that.. then i thought atleast waste Dexter throws is bio degradable. Just that moment i thought i had a brilliant case here and would love to hear them respond to it..

But Dexter all of a sudden started running and i gave up all thoughts of confronting the ladies (honestly speaking i would not if i had a chance!) but at that time i mentally told those ladies that they can thank their lucky stars and dexter even more now ;)

All of a sudden Dexter ran towards a bush of jasmine flowers and then pow ...the smell of it totally changed my state of mind.. Itl was so heavenly i felt i was in a different world and at peace.Me and Dexter just stood there soaking in the heady fragrance..

Then i thought to myself, in life we will get triggers and balms which diffuse situations, i guess its up to us whom to welcome in our lives to make it more beautiful. Simple decisions like holding on to the balm and letting go of the trigger points would bring about quantum changes in our lives and yet we get so perplexed with the little rough waves that we miss out the bigger picture and fail to see the obvious path ahead.

With this enlightenment off we went Dexter and me hopping .. running... walking... staring and leaking (the last two applies to dexter alone :)...

jack of all trade .. master of ONE

2009-09-06T18:36:00.003+09:00

a friend of mine forwarded me a piece of "Gyan" as he calls it ..

edited version is as follows

an eagle, rabbit and fish go to a school. each had to excel in 2/3 courses taken, 3 courses were flying, running and swimming. Obviously each could excel in only one and got demotivated.

moral of the story: focus only in what you excel

well in today's scenario we need master one skill for sure but we also need to have a working knowledge of many other things. Its just not that competition is getting tougher but also we as humans are evolving, kids are smarter than their parents, so really cannot stick to old analogies any longer and i feel analogies just restrict your flight, who knows what is the limit for each individual ? Definitions always tend to restrict the wonderer, boundaries tend to curb the possibilities, we need to always stretch the horizon, be thirsty for more and look beyond the obvious.

More people are creating a niche for themselves and that is because they know where their skill lies and second they have ensured they create a demand for the same !

so today according to me the mantra for success is by all means be jack of all trade as it will get you places only after you have mastered ONE..

learning to unlearn !

2009-09-06T18:14:00.004+09:00

today i had gone to a Bengali singing competition, where i had to announce the names.. i pride myself that my Bengali pronunciation is not tampered but the moment i started trying to speak 100 % Bengali, it was difficult and that is when i realized i gotta improve. My Bengali vocabulary was rather limited and fluency was restricted.

When i was analyzing my flaws i was amazed to hear non Bengali kids with fantastic Bengali pronunciation singing Bengali Nazrul Geeti. The ease with which they were singing a whole 3 minute song really was commendable. I have always ensured that my spoken English does not have any Bengali swing to it and now here when i had to speak out names written in English with Bengali pronunciation i was lost !

So here started my voyage to unlearn the English was of pronouncing Bengali words when speaking in Bengali. All of a sudden my sweetest language in the world Bangla became a tongue twister. But i guess i will survive through this predicament and do some more comparing in Bengali.

Friendship – the titanic

2009-09-01T22:51:00.003+09:00

Friendship is a relation which is always a subset of some other relation. For example if a parent and off spring relationship has to be successful, they need to be good friends. Like wise take up any relation and it requires the steady foundation of friendship, be it a couple, mentor- pupil, boss- subordinate, two colleagues, siblings and the list is every increasing.

Well I find it mind boggling. Friendship in one hand can be the foundation and the cement to any relationship and yet it alone very vulnerable.
Many a times this gigantic ship just sinks. People change, circumstances change and our approach to them change.

So is friendship without a relationship a vulnerable ship ?
Today when we look with jaundiced eye at any relationship and say every single one of them has lost its charm, does friendship stand a chance ?

According to me, there is too much randomness in the world since time immemorial and if you average them out, then things are on a larger canvas the same.

Earlier there were war, now just add nuclear to it, earlier we had romances, just add multiple to it, earlier there was bigotry, thank god that remains the same, earlier there was hunger for power, now just add super power, earlier there was cholera, now we have aids, I could add in more egs, but I believe in brevity !

So I guess friendship too as a relationship has not changed much, now too we form alliances to meet our mutual objective and once the goal is reached, we break away if that was the only thing binding us. But during the phase of friendship, if we develop another relationship then alone does it lasts.

Have you noticed how work colleagues when they are in the same organization are great buddies but once, either of them change work place, the friendship takes a back seat, that happens with your school or college friends too.

So if a friend has to last it has to be a foundation of a new relationship or bound by a mutual need or complementary need.

dexter my rescue ranger again !

2009-09-01T22:46:00.004+09:00

During the 5 days of Ganapati puja, my entire family is vegetarian, including me and dexter. These are the most difficult days for dexter as he believes in non veg protein diet only. So we really have to cajole him to eat the paneers, kheers made with sugar free and the doggie treats but the sweetheart that he is, he would go through his plight with dignity. In case you are wondering who dexter is, he is my almost 5 year old Labrador.

So once we came back after the immersion of our lord, we were sad seeing our little temple still full of lights and beautiful orchids empty. But then dexter as usual came to our rescue.

The moment he smelled the egg ma made for him as we could not buy chicken at night, Dexter started dancing. He finished his dinner in a nanosecond and was hankering for more. When he had his heart's full of the eggs he started clowning around as though he had won mr universe crown. Doing his parades, showing off his victory as once again he ruled our lives as the non veg god ! And we all forgot our sadness and started narrating our favorite dexter story !

I guess he is one of the most wise and endearing personalities I have encountered in my life. Long back I had read this article on stories about pets uncanny nature of knowing the problems of the family which then sounded bizarre. At that time I was totally terrified of dogs as I could not get over the fright poor stray dog had given me. But today I know that poor guy was more terrified than I was.

Today I stand testimony to the fact that pets really make your world rock, either ways, make us sick with worry and apprehension when they are unwell and bring happiness with their antics and give our life a new meaning. Their total helplessness and complete faith in us makes me really go all sentimental as I know this kind of complete trust we humans as babies show only have it for our mother.

my baby's got a secret !!

2009-08-31T22:19:00.002+09:00

Some days sure are bummers. I woke up to the chantings of some kirtan on tv which sounded more like hooting and there starts the perfect day with a migraine. So was in real foul mood. (generally my not-so-serious foul mood is a killer !) To add to my woes a kid bumped my humble spark with his grand ennova and had the cheek to abuse me in actions and I of course returned the complement in words. in this one manship i could not note his car's registration number!

The whole way to the office went in first giving myself mental kicks and then calming my nerves and then I realized as usual in a signature after sight manner that this is exactly what secrets is all about ! One negative event leading to another! So I had to stop the moment the migraine started to cool myself and be more positive.

But today I have decided I definitely wont let this happen again. The concerned party who love to listen to loud chantings have received due notice for their acts and warnings of the predicaments that awaits them in case of repetition of the cause of my concern. Second no more driving on crowded roads being preoccupied and further work on my driving skills and reflexes so that I do not get effected by the morons behind the wheels and anticipate better than react.

I really believe in the philosophy behind the secret which states that we attract every good or bad thing that happens in our lives. Each thought in our mind sends out a signal to the universe attracting similar thoughts. Today was a text book example of this fact.

I practice it in a real simple manner and I have even showed it to some of my friends. Some found it useful and others told me to take a hike. But here is it for whoever is interested.

First be conscious about what you are thinking, if its a negative thought. Replace it with a positive one.

Eg if you are worried about ur increments.. let this be the dominant thought in your mind: “I will get a good increment”

Believe that what you think is possible and make a visual collage of the positive outcomes of your thoughts.

Eg: pin up the sexy jaguar's pic on your desk that you want to buy from the increment money

Start living what you believe in

eg: check out where you would like to park your jaguar once you buy it, who would you ask to wash it and with which detergent.

It all might sound funny initially and if it sounds funny then you should try it more as for the sake of humoring yourself and slowly you will see this working out.. try using it as a game initially : think of a friend you have not met in a while and tell yourself, you will receive a phone call or mail from that friend and bring this thought in fore front whenever you are conscious that you want to follow the secrets.. wolla.. it sure will happen and then try the game with another thought!

for more information refer to book: the secrets by rhonda bryne and the dvd too is available at most of the m world stores or any dvd store worth its mettle. I suggest you see the dvd first and then read the book. Helps grasping and referring things lots easier.

the link to the site is http://www.thesecret.tv/

Peace .. my butterfly white

2009-08-31T18:32:00.005+09:00

the moment I think of this word, a white lotus smiling brightly in a green pond is what comes first to my mind. On the surface there is tranquility but to attain that a lot of ripples have lived and died.

You too must have heard these lines..

"i have no peace", "there is no peace", "where is peace?", "its so peaceful that I am scared it will go.", "oh she / he rests so peacefully ", "she / he looks so peaceful."

and lot many lines where peace is the hero!

What is peace ? Is it the absence of worries and troubles ? Is it remaining in current state and finding tranquility there in isolation or finding a harmonious co existence ? Is it a feeling of power or is it the absence of it ?

To me peace is an illusion. It mostly consists of a laundry list of goals we have set for ourselves in particular and for the world at large. Once the listed articles are ticked we feel we would have attained peace and we are about to jubilate, then all of a sudden here goes the ever illusive butterfly on another branch and we are set off on a new search of peace. Life is full of paradox and peace definitely fits the bill to the t. One goes through rain and hell water to find it and yet the moment you achieve it, you realize it is a mirage.

I enjoy my chase to find peace, as it is full of motion, some motions set me ahead, some of them set me back to where I started, further some more make me loose track of what I first was thinking was the trail in my search of peace was and allows me discover a whole new world and with it a new road map to peace. Or maybe I find peace in my chase to find it. Who knows ? And is what I love about life, hindsight does not get you anywhere, foresight does not come so easy, being in the moment makes you feel powerful as you really have nothing to loose if you live for the moment and then there is hope to find peace some day.

By the way who ever attains peace dies. So better get that shoe from reebok as its on sale and run in your chase for peace and take good time to find it !!

once when I was in a queue to get my toll pass for using the vashi bridge, I encountered mr cool dude, he was enjoying the breeze and the scenic beauty of the vashi creek. Really found his in peace so captured him on my mobile and next is the view he and I both found enchanting.

Funny I never notice this when I drive over this bridge twice daily !! so much for the chase eh !

blue blood journalism

2009-08-30T13:16:00.004+09:00

i have almost stopped reading daily newspaper as they are more full of masala so i really have to strain my eyes to scan through the real happenings and further tax my brain to interpret the effect on human lives from that news.

so i stick to business newspapers and journals but scan the paper for interesting advertisements and promotions.

but i still enjoy my sundays dose of desi masala as it is the day for nonsense so why not start the morning perfect with my sunday news supplement.

today i was pleasantly surprised by an article on mumbai mirror which spoke about media personalities without sensationalizing the whole thing and bringing out the so called "real picture". of course not all fingers are alike but this one is a must read for those who have fantasies about celebrity lives.

i wish Indian media get out of the crutches of bureaucrats and start spilling out the real picture in true sense and did follow up on any news piece as a news is incomplete untill it yields the desired result to the community. Since we love to ape the west why dont we now ape them and got their hands dirty with substantial muck!

its da time to disco

2009-08-27T22:27:00.005+09:00

i was attending a two day workshop on medical copy writing. my job demands that i ace on that one and this was fortunately or unfortunately the first formal training i received in medical copy writing.

but i just love workshops where in there are case presentation. it really encourages "out of the box" thinking and lets out the "creative juices". but something more important it does is makes us challenge each others thought processes, discover the strengths we did not know existed in our team mates and in ourselves and ensure we gain maximum as a group.

that is what is most required in today's corporate set up. output needs to be better than the best and everything needs to be ready tomorrow. in such a high stress scenario group dynamics needs to be encouraged to ensure we surpass our goals.

each time i attend such workshops i am amazed by the power of group dynamics. of course you need a good leader or facilitator to identify the strengths and ensure that the best of each team member is brought out.

another reason why i love group presentations is it reminds me of my mba days. the discussions.. the debates.. fundas marooing in typical bumbaiya language ( throwing fundas at each other), the gyan session..the jabs.. the kick backs.. boy i miss all that and here you are back to college.. :)

today is our ganapati visarjan and i am gonna miss my god... every day the family would get together and friends would come in .. hmm all good things have to come to an end ... sigh... but then dat makes all bad things also come to an end...

for the last time this year .. deva o deva ganapati deva tumse bhadkar kaun... deva tum se badhkar kaun .....

deva o deva ganapati deva

2009-08-23T19:40:00.002+09:00

we welcome lord ganesha to our home every year. this time we got a red idol. yesterday i and ma had gone to do the puja grocery shopping, there i had seen this lil boi who stole my heart away and today when i went to bring the lord home i was surprised to c the idol looked so much like dat baby... the saying that god resides in little children could not be more true !!

so welcome home to ganesh puja for the next 5 days, its aartis, modaks, lights, hindi gana : deva o deva ganapati deva tumse badkar kaun and lot more sweet hogging.....

bombay meri jaan !!

2009-08-21T03:42:00.003+09:00

I had gone a couple of weeks back to wasabi for an official lunch. This was my first time after the terror attack. I was too busy with work to give it a thought earlier in terms of this place was where it all had happened not many months ago.

But the moment I reached there, there was a part of me which was anxious and another which just wanted to go away from there as all the images on the tv started flashing back in my mind and when we went to the restaurant for lunch though its now located else where, I was not at ease. Of course to the world I was enjoying good company, interesting conversation and fine cuisine, inward I could not feel more restless wanting time to fast forward to the out of the hotel part.

Amidst all these silly pandemonium of thoughts running riot I noticed the captain, he was taking such good care of us as though nothing really had happened here after realizing this I started looking around at the other employees there and I was really amazed. Of course its been long so they would have got over the initial nerves but still the memories would not be that far,they have lived through the terror, they bared the brunt of it and yet they were there the moment it opened back. And here I am acting like a coward getting all panicky and silly.

The thought really humbled me and on my way out I silently saluted the spirit of taj and bombay.

love knows no age

2009-08-15T00:03:00.003+09:00

today at the airport i saw something so touching and was so refreshing as i was so depressed seeing the scare of swine flu amongst all.. of course we all need to take precaution.. but anyways so heres what happened..

there was this elderly couple using the escalator. since the old man had an hand baggage he could not assist his wife and she fell on the escalator and was too frightened to get up, luckily i was using the stairs and seeing her fall i went on to bottom of the escalator to help her get up but she refused to as she was too scared so i had to brutally pull her.. well for one moment all of us seeing this scene were really freaked out

anyways she was safe but the way the old couple hugged each other after the escapade was soooooooo heart warming.. am sure they would have not even held hands in public (well am guessing from the conservative dress code they followed) and just then when they thought either one was hurt the spurt of emotions was very endearing...

i was so touched by their display of emotions.. i too came home and hugged everyone... baba hates it when i do it .. but what the heck ... life is too short to not show love for ur dear ones...

pleasant surprise

2009-08-14T23:53:00.002+09:00

life is the best bundle of contradictions !! u can feel totally devastated one moment and next moment experience ecstasy.

i and my buddy were looking out for a decent dig to have dinner in Hyderabad and we were unsuccessful in finding any. asking locals we landed up in a food court of a mall which really had no real food so the hunt for another joint started, i some how remembered the name of another mall, but in hyderabad finding a rick to go places without being totally rigged seems impossible so i thought of asking someone about it.. there i see this very pretty lady and go out asking her for directions.. to my surprise she said she knew where it is and would drop us.

i thought i either heard her wrong or mis interpreted what she said !!.. but she repeated her offer and i was so pleasantly surprised and both me and my buddy could not believe our lucky stars... she was very kind and dropped us off at our destination and the food that we had really din matter as we were so content with the goodness of this lady who helped us out unconditional without even knowing us

who ever said the world is a bad place.. incidents like these make life worth looking forward to

days of our lives !!

2009-08-03T22:25:00.004+09:00

today my alarm clock turned out to be a night mare buzzing way ahead of time.. i saw this absolutely illogical and freaky dream at 4 am and have been awake ever since so you can imagine my mood today and the events that proceeded this were in climaxing order of annoyance and out of turn that it wins the award for worst day so far this year..

now that am back home and have the luxury of retrospecting i realized i knew i should not have let things affect me and more i let them affect me.. more i alone get affected.. ya am rambling.. c how affected i am !!

basically its a vicious cycle and whats annoying and hilarious am enlightened about this fact and yet i let situations and people effect me !!

when things are not in our control, letting go seems so difficult when actually there is nothing to let go as it was not under your control anyways. its just a mirage, we love to believe that we can rule situations. We can only make best use of situations to ensure what we want is met. changing situations is just a myth. you use them to ensure that the end is in sync with your needs.

further more we would blame ourselves / our ancestors / god /cat / aliens .. just about anybody when the end is not the end we wanted !!

but then since nothing is really under our control and if whatever has to happen will happen then what is our role in this gamut of things ?
finding out what is our role is our eternal strive that keeps us kicking and alive, we in ways unknown to us right away fit perfectly in the big sphere of living, do our bit ... even if it is doing nothing and then wither away to unknown existence we call death to make things structured and logical for us

we love order, moment we do not know something, we transform the unknown to known form not trying to verify its existence but remain smug with the feeling we have typecasted it out..

yes this is how are the days of our lives.. living,,, feeling.. hurting.. healing.. fooling... getting fooled.. happy.. miserable.. disillusioned ..deluded...

but how we live does not matter as long as we bring in happiness to ourselves and others depended on us !!

my prince charming

2009-08-02T12:22:00.005+09:00

whenever we see the hutch oh now vodafone advt of the pug, ma complains, dexter never learned to do anything and look at that pug earning his stay. but of course that was on a lighter side..

well many of my friends too have said the same to me of course not on lighter sight that dexter is an absolute no gooder. on hind side it was always the guy friends who said that.. but if i look at the species male they are mostly no gooders!! and dexter is following the rule if i go by their perception of dexter !!
(ha ha... ya call me fcp... but deep down u no am right !!)

anyway dexter may not help us with our daily chores like the pug but he is our bundle of joy, unconditional love and laughter.. with him all of us in the family become a kid.. he brings back the smile we had lost some place.. he makes us believe that we are indispensable for him & that we rock his world..

he wont hide his feelings and will be there to welcome us after a any kind of day..

well for this if i spoil him silly am i being wrong ??

yesterday i and dexy were on our evening walk.. on the road there were berry with thorns and i started clearing the path by removing them so that my Prince can walk safe..

he does mean the world to us.. gooder or no gooder aint matters !! as its only a perception..

who am I to judge

2009-08-01T23:29:00.006+09:00

i was in the ladies second class compartment in the morning one day.. if you know bombay local trains .. u would know when i say it was jam packed even by harbour line standards.. anyways i was standing near the exit door as i could not manage to go in ..

a 30 something lady standing beside me started to cry, i found it weird but did not bother to ask her the reason.. my defense i was minding my business..

some other lady was kind enough to ask her why was she crying ... the protagonist replied she wanted to get down at the next station but could not due to the crowd and had an operation done which was hurting...

i that time too had no empathy for her as i thought she was faking the whole thing so that we made way for her...

later i thought.. who gave me the right to judge her !! especially when i get so miffed when others do that to me !!!

i felt embarrassed and started arguing with my conscience with real silly excuses.. but inside i knew i was wrong and resolved to not make this mistake again !

take a right then left, then again left... at the cross section ask some one for further direction !!

2009-08-01T22:39:00.003+09:00

all our lives we look for direction.. as kids .. for the candy bar store .. as adolescence for the way to the heart of our crush.. as young professional.. quickest way to successful carrier .. as parents... way to make children's life more richer.. as sr citizen direction to get spiritually more evolved

and what if you do not look for directions ? then you are out of the race.. you are alone ..

why do we have to always fit into stereotype ? why is there no stereotype for people who are different ? why if you do not understand me .. it automatically makes me a mad person ? why do we follow directions given by others to find happiness for ourselves? why do we think we have all the coordinates mapped out and fit any body in the matrix?

when i get too bobbled thinking am i doing the right direction in life .. gabbar (anita my dear buddy) always tells me .. why do u worry .. v cannot fight destiny so whatever has to happen .. will happen.. so why worry..

ya baby why worry... if i dont find my direction.. destiny will...

i am VIP for myself !!

2009-07-15T16:33:00.002+09:00

yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by the lady guard at a mall I visited. Usually they are cut and dried kinds, on the verge of being rude and this one was smiling. I was really touched by the warm smile and I told her that she is the first guard I met who smiled at me. Her reaction was something that surprised me. She at first did not get what I said so I repeated myself and then her smile broadened and she said to me,”you are the only one who noticed my smile today.”

I guess we get so busy with our hectic lives that if it were not a pre requisite to breathe to be alive we would even forget to do that !! (My bro always tells me when I am driving on a very crowded lane “didi breadth breadth!!” no kidding !!)

Why do we have to be so brusque to downright rude to strangers ? Of course with terrorist activities on a all time high we hold reservations in befriending a stranger but what about being good old polite to people ? Why is that so difficult ? A smile while interacting with people cant kill any one !!

Then I realized that forget others, we dont even treat ourselves well !! we love to criticize ourselves, forget to praise ourselves when we do something good, actually we might just go ahead and think its fluke that we did something good!! We never have time for ourselves, to reflect, to just be with ourselves and not think at all (now am going crazy u would say !!). But come on you know what am saying is true !

All this madness in our lives is to lead a better life.. to ensure that our beloved ones are taken care of. Dont we fall in our beloved ones for ourselves? Once I had overheard a mom telling her daughter, “ we are VIPs for ourselves”. How true!! And it also holds true for how we treat others.

I was planning to go to Dharamshala to be away from this mad mad world and give a shot at meditation for internal peace and check out if I have any spiritual craving and do I have any connection with my inner self. But now I think will a few days of change really change my attitude towards myself ? I guess not.

So now I am trying to feel good about my self on this gloomy rainy day but writing this post and patting my back and smiling at receiving a pat. Ya I have lost it !! laugh on !!

she watches wwf for a reason !!

2009-07-14T15:12:00.001+09:00

I and ma love to go window shopping once a while together. Its fun to see ma's expression when she hears the cost of coffee at a snooty cafe or a real revealing dress at a store and I always make best use of such situations reminding her how lucky she is as she does not have to loose her sleep over her daughter wearing stuff she does not approve of.

At home I have this dubious distinction of being the one with shortest of temper and ready to mess people up bad if they mess with me. Trust me my folks have a penchant for overdoing their praises when I am the subject.

Yesterday ma and I went shopping and we had a good time.. retail therapy again worked its charm. As I picked my bag from the baggage counter, I saw a diamond earring that took my fancy and off I ran after it asking ma to pick my umbrella from the b counter. The security lady for some reason refused to give ma my umbrella, my ma tried explaining her but the lady cut her out seeing I guess she is the docile types. My ma went”wait till my daughter comes” and of course I came and ensured that I got my umbrella back.

Ma was like “i knew you would set her straight” and we busted off laughing. Some times you have to assertive (wont use the word bully my ma was using) to ensure work gets done. You know right its a bad bad world out there and if you are meek and docile they take you for a ride royally. When ma narrated home what happened there to tease me further, baba goes” of course she sees wwf with a reason.”

well laugh you guys all you want but the bottom line is that is one of the fastest way to get work done when you are right.

couch potato at work !!

2009-07-14T15:09:00.002+09:00

off late I have been hooked to tv on week day evenings, earlier I would scorn at people who would do the same and label them dim wits but off late I lead their gang.
But I realized something real funny. I and ma now watch the same soaps, all mushy collage lub story ones and now find a lot of time to catch up on each other during the breaks, I do my routine free hand work outs as it no longer is boring due to ma's company and the soaps happening.

Now baba too joins for sarabhai vs sarabhai and bro whenever is home gives company which is rare due to his evening schedule. Our dexy always snoozes during these soaps and at stipulated intervals pines for attention which is taken care of by me and then dexter after being assured he still rocks our world go back to his smug trance.

Bro and I always had deep discussions over wwe raw, smackdown and main events so he is not much missed during the daily tv jig.

So who ever said being a couch potato was dump or dim or whatever expression you have for lack of grey cells, it is the coolest thing to be. It has medicinal, emotional and now even physical benefits. Medicinal: you get your daily dose of non sense to laugh at, emotional: great time to bond with family, physical: club it with your exercise schedule so you dont need to put in extra hours and dont need to do it alone!!
so happy couching you dim couch potato :)

rain drops keep falling on my head

2009-07-14T15:01:00.005+09:00

it happened a few days back but I was unable to pen it down earlier.
As I had mentioned earlier, am new to driving and this was my first rains. I had heard many legends about driving in the rains from my buddies who are pros and would mentally hug myself assuring myself that I too shall survive. But when it happened I was least prepared.

At home the first thing I hear when I wake up is sai baba bhajans on tv, thanks to baba, so we dont bother checking latest news before leaving for work. I thought it was just drizzling and that would not really require me to do a mental revision of things my buddies had asked me to do during such times.

But the moment I reached the main road, the thin drizzles botoxed into swollen rain balloons, initially I started humming to myself,”rain drops keep falling on my head” but soon realized the clear sky had transformed into my grandfather's old black coat and visibility was very low.(according to my personal unit of measure, it was 40 %) And I was shit scared at first, mentally kicking myself for not checking on weather and then not taking bombay rains seriously. I just wanted to run into my ma's arm for comfort.

Good sense prevailed I prayed to sai baba and looked out to see what others are doing. Every body was driving at not more than 20km/hr. I saw my speedometer, ha ha I was at 15, good. Then I saw all had put on their blinkers on, I quickly did the same.Whippers I had turned-on, on my own (smart me !!). I realized all of a sudden everybody on the road were driving on the same pace, no overtaking, no honking, no sneering. It felt like a choreographed drive, each dancing at the same pace, each turn orchestrated in synchronization. I felt that the bombay highway had got transformed into a ballet stage and all we guys driving were like dancing to an unknown tune in total co-ordination and sync.

Once the ordeal was over and I reached work safe, I started thinking about the unknown tune, guess the unknown tune was that of survival, each one of us knew that one wrong move and many lives would be at stake here. The urge to be alive bound us all together in harmony and I guess the fear of the unknown as later I learned the first rains are most dangerous as the mud on the road makes it more slippery and hence more accident prone. Wonder why this kind of prudence is not shown during normal days, our accident rates could do with a hit.

I once again learned that experience alone is the best teacher and how much every you are prepared for the test, the answers will always elude you. But once its over, you are a changed person. After that day I no longer freak thinking of rain but of course I am extremely cautious though. When ma tells me drive carefully in the rain, I smile to my self and say a little prayer.

pictures taken from my mobile of bombay rains

lub is blind and painful

2009-07-05T13:33:00.003+09:00

Dexter hates it when am off on tours and if my bro’s study trip coincide with mine then we are in for double whammy .. dexter stops talking and eating.

During my twice a day calls back home during these trips, I would take a status check on dexter and ma would go he is mad and sleeping. Day before ma said he had no dinner and refused to go for his walks . so we had hit rock bottom !!

I came home yesterday evening with a real bad back injury so dexter after his welcome dance number wanted to go out on a walk with me. I could not do the honors because of my back problem and he refused to go out and eat.

Today at six I wake up all guilty for not taking him for his walk as all night he slept on my bed moving restless, I knew he wanted to pee. I woke up baba and requested him to take dexy out but dexter being the stubborn refused to go out with anyone but me. I inspite of severe back ache had to go grudgingly with him and there was snuggles waiting out for us.. so off went out brigade of dexter, me, baba and snuggles on a real early morning walk. I still full of sleep looking a scare crow in my night tee and hair which seemed like had a hell raising battle.

During my walk when dexter was doing his silly dances I could laugh through my pain just seeing him happy and then I realized how pain and joy together can be an out come of love; no wonder they say life aint easy!!

Snuggles is back at it.. again he just suavely greases in the moment he sees our door open and does his merry dances in all our rooms and then runs to ma for his daily quota of milk and bread.

Today too he came home and woke ma up by going to her room and boy was she surprised. But what dexter did kind of made me again wonder is this love… when ma gave snuggles his milk , dexter purposely tripped it..

Baba is the second in line to pamper and spoil dexter after me whacked him,, god and did he deserve it. In spite of all the love, attention and goodies he gets he gets jealous of snuggles.

Love is such a complex thing.. it brings out the best and worst in us and yet we cant survive without it..it can make us secure and happy at one time and totally insecure and unsure of our selves the very next more. it rocks our world and our gets our life rocked out coz of it. we are loved because of who we are or inspite of who we are and then we get scared that if he / she did not like or love us after knowing who we are!!

Again I go out to make sense to dexter that we will love him crazy inspite of as many snuggles come in our lives…. And I go back to my pain killer but relieved dexter went for his walk and get my self together for his evening walk which I inwardly dread for my sake.. need to c a doc

new generation .. not that new

2009-07-05T12:37:00.004+09:00

i was in goa for the quater two sales review meet and to disclose our qtr ii strategy to our sales team, with A+ on our report cards, as we had not only hit our figures (sales one !!) but had surpassed the same. so after two days of number crunching our next qtr targets sets and strategies unfolded to ensure we again surpass them we were in for fun and frolic.

like bombay goa too is raining cats and dog and my sales team is a bunch of 20 something and all in high spirits that evening so we went off to enjoy ourselves and do a micro goa tour.. so off we went singing old hindi numbers and trying real hard to remember a new number to put in during the anatakshari sessions.. we really had a good evening...

on our way back we were tired but our spirits were still warm and now we got into candid discussions and light hearted teasing.. some how the topic shifted to the gay movement and then a otherwise real cool dude said he felt the westerners are rotting our country in the same breadth he was speaking about the best pub and disc in town.

I was surprised to hear that not only he but some of his buddies too shared this opinion.

Being gay or straight is a very personal choice and no one other than the individual itself has a right to have a say in this matter. The cornerstone has be layed but the road ahead will be for sure really bumpy. But am sure they are aware of it and are standing up for their rights.

In India we have this penchant of associating everything with religion which really is the root cause of all problems. It’s a paradoxical situation we are holding on to religious believes and cultural boundaries set some thousands of years back when we talk about India being the youngest nation sprinting forward towards globalization, liberalization, modernization and what not…beliefs then made were made with the then current situation taken in mind. We all have to change with time and so do our beliefs. If we really want to be liberated, we need to liberate our thoughts. Personal choices are personal and why not concentrate on issues that are affecting the entire country like poverty, illiteracy, corruption, female foeticide. If fanatics gang up against these social demons we would truly be liberated.

And blaming western influences when we love apeing them is best example of our hypocrisy. Wish we could learn to value time the way these westerners do then we would be singing a different tune. well of course there is lot more good things we could learn from them as well..

Am really happy that India has taken this step and I wish all the homosexuals all the best in their crusade. God bless!

this is a pic taken during a cruise in goa from my mobile

randomness of life : MJ

2009-06-28T15:54:00.001+09:00

the going is smooth and all of a sudden the earth below you no longer exists. darkness darkness around makes you forget the existence of light
when life could not be better.. it ceases to exist !!

mj what i learned from u

# no dream is too big or too difficult

# obstacles is twin of success ; you will find them both in life

# never let success reach your head

# the higher u go .. more detractors you meet

# vanity is skin deep but can be a killer

rest in peace king of pop..
your rein is forever in our hearts
despite the muck around u..
let ur soul keep ur story secure

Ma now I know

2009-06-26T03:26:00.003+09:00

Now a days Dexter is very angry with me.

I dont give him chocolates or sweets. I have told ma to reduce the carbohydrate from his diet, he has to eat multivitamins, calcium & cod liver oil gels every single day and I take him for longer walks. All this in my attempt to make him lean. I was told by my vet that he is overweight by 2-3 kg and has to quickly reduce it.

Earlier I would brag bout how I spoil him but now I just realized by doing so I was doing him more harm than good. So took a 360 deg change in approach and that has baffled Dexter. He always did not like me for being the one who would give him the medications and I would try to pacify him by giving chocolate goodies but now I dont even share my goodies with him is something he cannot take.

Enough injustice he has beard so he is on revolt.

Yesterday when I came home after a tour of 3 days he did do the song and dance number to welcome me but when I did not give him a share of goody I brought he stopped talking to me and was fuming. No I am not exaggerating here.. ask my ma.

Then I realized I too would do the same thing with my parents when they would not allow me to do something which they thought was not right and similarly even when I get angry with God when he does not make things happen my way.

In a way we all act like Dexter. We fret and get mad at people who love us the most and would do anything to make our life a little better like our parents or siblings or spouse or friend. We take their love for granted and instead of trying to understand why they behave in a particular manner we go on our little trip with the “no one cares for me” number.

Ma was grinning when I told her am sorry for being a pain. She said I have more in store as I have yet to get human children who make a new definition each generation of “being a pain”.

GIGO

2009-06-26T03:25:00.002+09:00

Breakfast bar is a great place to observe the corporate species at their best. I get to meet the middle management across the country staying in my hotel during breakfast.

Some are the quiet types, have a quick power breakfast while browsing the paper and off they go. Some gorge on the assortment and keep asking loudly for more helping. Some are real loud on the phone, which is annoying since the breakfast place is usually closed area and voice resonates. Some have a relaxed breakfast, enjoying the landscaped view outside. I fall in this category.

In Bombay my house offers me the view of my neighbor so my breakfast are hurried affair, no early morning dew to see, no chirping of the birds,only chirping I get to hear is that of the neighbor's kid. So I wake up early to enjoy my breakfast.

This time in Hyderabad (yep I went there again) I was having breakfast, albeit a hurried one this time, I heard two loud men talking, one Indian and other is white man. The conversation bit I caught was the Indian cribbing about Hyderabad being too hot and Charminar being a real dirty, crowded place and nothing in Hyderabad was worth a look. Taking a cue from there, the white man went gung ho on saying a few derogatory things about India which I am not quoting.

Later the Indian got talking to me and on finding he has not gone to Charminar and was airing his views on comments he had heard, I enlightened him about Charminar and the other beautiful places to see in Hyderabad.

You must be wondering what am I getting at.

Well if we Indians do not take pride in our country and voice our opinion on what is wrong in here then how do we expect others to take us seriously?

By the way the guy told me that he was a pilot and the white man was an American pilot. Being in a profession where you interact with people of other nationality, makes them brand ambassadors of their country and if here they portray a sad figure, word of mouth does the rest and India gets branded.

A country is what her people are. So its not our country that is wrong, its we people that are. If educated people with exposure are making us more vulnerable to being branded as a third world country with poverty and people, can we blame the rest of the world calling us that!!

We know what are the problems our country is facing but how many of us are doing something about it ? Or for that matter, how many of us follow simple rules to help our country grow? We make a mockery of traffic signals, sign boards like “no parking” or “no smoking”, we throw garbage on the street, we steal garbage bins, we jump queues, we bribe as we are too lazy to do our own work, we pull down people who want to bring in a positive change, etc. I really could put in a long list.

So next time you want to bitch about your country, start by bitching about yourself. Coz you made your country the way it is !

Have my cake and eat it too !

2009-06-20T18:35:00.001+09:00

As a child when I had to mug up the proverbs for my grammar exams I would really hate it coz most of them dint make sense to me

Here are some of the some real no brainer proverbs that I have twisted to make sense to me..

# A good beginning makes a good ending

Well ask the Dot.com guys.. they are still bearing the brunt of their fabulous beginning !!

So A good beginning makes a good beginning.. period
A good end depends on the amount of connections you have !!

good ending depends upon how well connected you are to the goons, politicians, how loaded you are and what are the other connections you can pull out

# A good man is hard to find

A good man is impossible ... question of finding thus does not arise !!

#A woman's place is in the home
Am sure the feminist groups would have taken strong objection to this one

A woman's place is where her heart is.. man's place is where most women are !!

# All good things come to he who waits
No wonder all important bills are waiting for clearance by the government, year after year

All good things come to he who waits but good things don't happen

#All's fair in love and war
then why do we complain ??????

# The world loves the lover
really then why so many love stories don't flourish ?

# You can't have your cake and eat it too
then why in the first place would I want my cake ???

# some mathematical quakers that have boggled Mathematicians and Scientists

-A stitch in time saves nine
- A miss is as good as a mile
- A picture paints a thousand words
- A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men

Am sure you to have your list, so please go ahead and add on !!

monday blues

2009-06-20T18:13:00.003+09:00

off late the monday blues have slipped down from its reverend position of sunday evening to saturday night...

i get these horrid monday blues and i think when people say"work is worship" "my job is my hobby", they LIE.....

well in 99.99% of the cases they do !!!

come on if work is so much fun then it would be called fun and not work .. right? and of course its fun at times when u r not working at work...

i had a super way of getting over this horrid monday blues.. it was watching wwe raw on monday night 10:30 pm and smack down on tuesday night same time.. but now its shifted to thursday and friday.. grrr so i really have no motivation to get through monday ordeal ...

how do u tackle ur monday blues ??

update on snuggle

2009-06-20T15:26:00.002+09:00

guys you will be happy to know snuggles is as fit as a fiddle and back to his goofy ways and now even does the sambha when he sees my family..

at last we have made our peace.. he is ok with staying out and not with us and i dont feel guilty about not able to keep him home...

life teaches us so many things.. i learned emotions are good but if not supported with logic .. it really goes a hell out bit out of hand...

Lost or loss ?

2009-06-10T22:31:00.003+09:00

My attempt at writing a fictional dark short story. its not as dark as i would have aspired to write.. my laim excuse for not making it - its my 1st attempt !!

The last time I met him, we had a bitter fight. I told him to go and finally he understood I meant not just to go then but out of my life for ever. All he went on saying is he wanted a hug. I dint feel like it so I dint. He called me names and left. I dint feel bitter or sad. I dint feel. He dint exist in my world anymore.

But now he just dint exist in any world. The news reached me a couple of years late. I really don't know if I feel any pain, I think I don't. Too much happened in my life since I last saw him. Well that sounds like a shallow excuse in my ears too. Well I think the real reason was I dint love him ever. We were attracted to each other. I ran out of fire soon, he was still there.

I have an all important board meeting in an hour, so I cant afford to go down the memory lanes. May be some other day I will think of him and pay my last regards.

The day never comes..