A very close friend of mine said something startling to me this weekend .
She said that as people ...we say that we are from a country ..but we should also add what childhood we are from ..because thats such a crucial part of what we are ,where we want to go , our aspirations , expectations and is a pivotal part in how our lives are defined ..
You know you spent teenage years in Amchi Mumbai when :
1. You waited all week long to watch the Hindi Movies that aired on Saturday and Marathi movies that aired on Sunday ...at 6 pm sharp ...and dinner was served promptly at 7.30 along with the news ..so the post interval part could be watched aaramse !
..And you remember watching Pinjara , Karz , Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Aradhana ..all on TV
2. You remember vividly the champagne bubbles at the world cup win ..and Kapil Dev in all the pamolive commercials following ..and you know who was called the one day ka baccha
3. TV Serials like Tamas , Buniyaad , Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi ,AA Bail Mujhe Maar , Jaspal Bhatti and Mungerilal are household names
4. You've playe Holi .."Kile Ka Rahaysa " style ..with the red hand prints behind everyones shirts !
5. You owned at least one of the follwoing :
Hig Waist Jeans , Jeans with just one leg embroidered , a Ashiqui Ribbon , A cap that said "Friend" or worse and cap that said " Boy " or "Girl"
6. You drove evryone at home absolutely insane collecting the insides of thumbs up , goldspot and limca caps ..to collect a vivian richard picture flip book ...an invisible pen /marker ..or a pair of fake dracula teeth
7. You tried drawing Fido Dido ..because you were so enthralled by the big seven up launch ! ...and you loved fido dido ! ..drew him on a skateboard ..doodled him ..and wanted a fido dido t shirt too ....and repeated step 6 for fido dido memorablia
8. You've tried to do a "FLAMES" with every member of the opposite sex you know in a 3 mile square radius ..and blushed everytime M showed up ..
9. You knew certain sections of Linda Goodman Sun Signs By Heart
10. You owned a pair of gum boots and a raincoat that was a bright blinding color
11. You thought that Q.S.Q.T is a universally accepted abbreviation
12. Thanks to 11 - you had a sore shoulder for the rest of the semester trying to imitate Aamir's one shouldered book bag stunt .
13. You knew exactly what movie Munna ..Lothia Pathan and Mohini are from ..and learnt to say numbers the Ek Do Teen way ..you also bugged Mom to get a white enamel cup and spent a lot of school picnics banging the mug singing for Jumma
14. Antakshari , Name Place Animal Thing and Trump Cards were your idea of intellectual stimulation ..and even had a list of songs that started from "H"
15. You remember Boris Becker and Stefi Graph winning their first wimbeldons
16. You got scared of Mogambo ..and never looked at red lights the same way again
17. You played badminton all the time in the summer and TT in winter and rented bicyles for 5 rupees for an hour ..ate jeera golis and "pepsi" meant something comepletely different than soda to you ..
18. You asked your parents if you'll could adopt "Giant Robot " and tried to open every watch you had to see if he showed up
19 . Your idea of a good book was Tinkle , Chandamamma ..you thought Uncle Pai was really your uncle and wanted to meet suppandi
20. You knew exactly what was meant when one said " when Sabu gets angry ..volcanos erupt on the surface of mars " " Chacha Chaudhary thinks faster than a calculator " ...Ancient Keelawee sayings like " Phantom travels faster than the speed of light " and Mandrake
21. All you know about suspense is from Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys
22. You tried to enlist your friends to be in a Famous Five or a Secret Seven Group
23. You know what laxmi bomb and rassi bomb are
24. Your favorite actor at one time was Govinda or Mithun da ..or worse both
25. You watched Chota Chetan at least 2 times and each time opened your mouth when they showed the chocolates and got scared of the snake
26. You spent a significant time listening to the story of Basic Instinct or Pretty Woman from a friend whose older sibling had seen the movies because you thought they were super Adult movies!
27. You know how to do "One two ka Four " Ram Lakhan Style
28. Tuperware was considered a revolutionary kitchen product in your house
29. You remember watching Channel 2
30. You used to be excited to go to "Town"
The list goes on . I tried to close my eyes today and think of one unhappy moment I had in my childhood and drew a blank . I remember reading somewhere ..that childhood was like the appetizers in a 7 course meal . You loved them ..but all the way through the hors d' ouevres ..you kept thinking about how good the rest of the meal was going to be ...and after they were done with ..you kept wisihing that you'd stuck with the starters instead!
I remember as a child ..waking up every morning feeling so utterly excited .
Somedays I can still see a shadow of that love ..for life ..and hopefully if I can carry it in my heart ..I wont grow up so quickly :)
About Me
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Choice
Choice
I saw a movie this weekend . Fanaa. I loved it . Amidst all the shero shayaeri that captured most of us in the first half , the protagonists parents told her something very real .
They said " It isnt difficult to choose between good and evil . What is hard ..and what ultimately defines us as a person is the choice we make inorder to choose the greater of two goods and the lesser of two evils " .
I thought about it all weekend long and had a very bittersweet after taste as a result .
In the years when I was growing up - trying to become the person I now am ..the focus ..whether it was in highschool or at home was always surrounding the empowerment that came from being able to choose . Choose - what you wanted to be , who you wanted to be and how to make that happen . Choose ..good friends , good habits , good values ..good careers . I remember being so fraught in the seams trying to decide whether I wanted to become an Accountant , An Editor , A Doctor ..An Engineer ...I still cannot fathom the few seconds here and there when I was 15 ,,making that decision . It seemed so huge .
Am I a good engineer ..or would I have made a better doctor .(I already am a much better artist :) I guess Time will tell as it always does.
Choose - between boyfriends , soulmates , colleges , books and people.
Life is what we choose to make of it .
The biggest paradox to this was when one day -I realised that sometimes what makes or breaks us as people are unfortunately not the choices we make ..but the choices that others around us do .
And though we will always wonder the ifs and buts surrounding our own choices ..walking two steps slowers bearing that cross of doubt ...It is much harder to move on because of the choices others make - that impact our lives so much harder than some of our own .
This thought wasnt something that came to me in the recent years . It came to me in a flash - surrounded by a plethora of brilliant merit list holding students ,under the the beautiful arched corridoors of VJTI . It was a mellow afteroon one hot summer in Bombay , where seems like everyone is waiting for the rains . MRF Rain day . Lives were changing regardless between those 4 walls.
Everyone who had gathered was solemn and at the end of a 3 year long journey - that originated with trying to get into a good science college and culminated in 3
words decididng futures ..yours and that of others . PCM .
I work as a system analsyst and PCM is an abbreviation that we use for Process Control Management . Unfortunately - for me it will always be the PCM :) ..back from that MRF Rain Day. There was no one in that room who had less than 97 percentile ...and we are talking about the entire state here .
Yet - depending on whether the guy in front of you chose UDCT Chemical ..or VJTI Computers ..you would have to settle for being either a civil engineer or a computer engineer.
Life in its twisted way was dealing out a choice that would probably change the course of many years of your life .
I didnt know what that meant half as well as I do now . That was one of the smaller choices .
I've had to make much harder choices in the recent years ..but still ..
the ones that have always left me feeling like i've died a little on the inside are
those that havent been my very own .
So what do we do ? Not too long ago when I was grieving the death of a dream ..my best friend said to me .."Kau .Let it go . Its not something you can control. "And I did .Its not hard to hold on and its not hard to let go . Once again the twist is lies in deciding what to do .
And life goes on ..a little less extraordinary for a while ..but Time always outweighs the moments .
In the interm - we must make a choice . To get up and walk ...with a limp maybe ..
but walk nonetheless. Because until we do .
.no matter how hard and winding the road might be ..we wont know what awaits us at the end of it .
So dont reel under the twist of someone else's choice today .
You've got 24 hours to make your own and the clock is ticking .
One day is all the seperates us between yesterday and tommorrow ..One minute can be the rest of our life and afterall how we spent our minutes is how we spends our days
..and how we spend our days is ulitmately how we spend our lives.
I saw a movie this weekend . Fanaa. I loved it . Amidst all the shero shayaeri that captured most of us in the first half , the protagonists parents told her something very real .
They said " It isnt difficult to choose between good and evil . What is hard ..and what ultimately defines us as a person is the choice we make inorder to choose the greater of two goods and the lesser of two evils " .
I thought about it all weekend long and had a very bittersweet after taste as a result .
In the years when I was growing up - trying to become the person I now am ..the focus ..whether it was in highschool or at home was always surrounding the empowerment that came from being able to choose . Choose - what you wanted to be , who you wanted to be and how to make that happen . Choose ..good friends , good habits , good values ..good careers . I remember being so fraught in the seams trying to decide whether I wanted to become an Accountant , An Editor , A Doctor ..An Engineer ...I still cannot fathom the few seconds here and there when I was 15 ,,making that decision . It seemed so huge .
Am I a good engineer ..or would I have made a better doctor .(I already am a much better artist :) I guess Time will tell as it always does.
Choose - between boyfriends , soulmates , colleges , books and people.
Life is what we choose to make of it .
The biggest paradox to this was when one day -I realised that sometimes what makes or breaks us as people are unfortunately not the choices we make ..but the choices that others around us do .
And though we will always wonder the ifs and buts surrounding our own choices ..walking two steps slowers bearing that cross of doubt ...It is much harder to move on because of the choices others make - that impact our lives so much harder than some of our own .
This thought wasnt something that came to me in the recent years . It came to me in a flash - surrounded by a plethora of brilliant merit list holding students ,under the the beautiful arched corridoors of VJTI . It was a mellow afteroon one hot summer in Bombay , where seems like everyone is waiting for the rains . MRF Rain day . Lives were changing regardless between those 4 walls.
Everyone who had gathered was solemn and at the end of a 3 year long journey - that originated with trying to get into a good science college and culminated in 3
words decididng futures ..yours and that of others . PCM .
I work as a system analsyst and PCM is an abbreviation that we use for Process Control Management . Unfortunately - for me it will always be the PCM :) ..back from that MRF Rain Day. There was no one in that room who had less than 97 percentile ...and we are talking about the entire state here .
Yet - depending on whether the guy in front of you chose UDCT Chemical ..or VJTI Computers ..you would have to settle for being either a civil engineer or a computer engineer.
Life in its twisted way was dealing out a choice that would probably change the course of many years of your life .
I didnt know what that meant half as well as I do now . That was one of the smaller choices .
I've had to make much harder choices in the recent years ..but still ..
the ones that have always left me feeling like i've died a little on the inside are
those that havent been my very own .
So what do we do ? Not too long ago when I was grieving the death of a dream ..my best friend said to me .."Kau .Let it go . Its not something you can control. "And I did .Its not hard to hold on and its not hard to let go . Once again the twist is lies in deciding what to do .
And life goes on ..a little less extraordinary for a while ..but Time always outweighs the moments .
In the interm - we must make a choice . To get up and walk ...with a limp maybe ..
but walk nonetheless. Because until we do .
.no matter how hard and winding the road might be ..we wont know what awaits us at the end of it .
So dont reel under the twist of someone else's choice today .
You've got 24 hours to make your own and the clock is ticking .
One day is all the seperates us between yesterday and tommorrow ..One minute can be the rest of our life and afterall how we spent our minutes is how we spends our days
..and how we spend our days is ulitmately how we spend our lives.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Books Windows and Friends
Today I had dinner with a very dear friend ..and then after chai , borders and some music ..I bought a book ..Shantaram ...and was terribly excited about it .
I love the smell of new books ! ..fresh crayons ..saturday mornings ..anyways ...so here I am ..close to midnight ..nowhere close to being asleep ..looking out of my window ..thinking about Books ..Windows and Friends .
I've always believed that good friends are like books . And Good friendships ..like stories . They stay with you long after you;ve parted ..and are always there ..waiting for you to pick them up and relive the magic.Initially though ..they are blank As friends ..we write our stories ..together ..sometimes in ink ..sometimes in tears or in adrenalin..tear a page or two ..and the books of our frienships have page numbers ..the chapters not organized in order of occurence ..but in the order of relevance .
Books are also our windows to the world . Someone very wise once said that life is too short to learn from your own mistakes . Mistakes aside ..Life is too short anyways .For example - I have a dream . To sit on a bright red wooden bench ..with a paper cup of steaming coffee and an old friend ..on a greay clouded morning in Prague .
Circa Present day - coffee book picture will have to suffice . Windows ..to look out of ..not with our eyes ..but with our minds ..travel to farway places .learn about who we are ..what things may come and what dreams may be and what might never come ...have extraordinary experiences in our ordinary worlds ..learn about life , fate , love itself ...so maybe oneday ..given the right place ,time and company..the actual experience will be that much the richer .
In some ways ..our friends are also our windows to the world . They let us breathe in the open air and sunshinewhen we have dark days ...they guard the rest of the world from coming in when things get too crazy .They are our gate keepers , soul brigades and crusaders ...
May you lead many lives through your Friends and may the clarity of thought through the windows of your friendships ..flood your hearts .
Books , Windows and Friends .
I love the smell of new books ! ..fresh crayons ..saturday mornings ..anyways ...so here I am ..close to midnight ..nowhere close to being asleep ..looking out of my window ..thinking about Books ..Windows and Friends .
I've always believed that good friends are like books . And Good friendships ..like stories . They stay with you long after you;ve parted ..and are always there ..waiting for you to pick them up and relive the magic.Initially though ..they are blank As friends ..we write our stories ..together ..sometimes in ink ..sometimes in tears or in adrenalin..tear a page or two ..and the books of our frienships have page numbers ..the chapters not organized in order of occurence ..but in the order of relevance .
Books are also our windows to the world . Someone very wise once said that life is too short to learn from your own mistakes . Mistakes aside ..Life is too short anyways .For example - I have a dream . To sit on a bright red wooden bench ..with a paper cup of steaming coffee and an old friend ..on a greay clouded morning in Prague .
Circa Present day - coffee book picture will have to suffice . Windows ..to look out of ..not with our eyes ..but with our minds ..travel to farway places .learn about who we are ..what things may come and what dreams may be and what might never come ...have extraordinary experiences in our ordinary worlds ..learn about life , fate , love itself ...so maybe oneday ..given the right place ,time and company..the actual experience will be that much the richer .
In some ways ..our friends are also our windows to the world . They let us breathe in the open air and sunshinewhen we have dark days ...they guard the rest of the world from coming in when things get too crazy .They are our gate keepers , soul brigades and crusaders ...
May you lead many lives through your Friends and may the clarity of thought through the windows of your friendships ..flood your hearts .
Books , Windows and Friends .
Monday, May 22, 2006
Wish you were here
Wish you were here -Pink Floyd .
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Shiny Happy People Crazy Bubble Tea
Saturday came in slowly , The long week had made its presence felt more than the longest of winters ..and on saturday morning ..I was more than happy when my body clock kicked in at 6,30 am ..to smile at the sun ..flip over and sleep till noon .
It was one of those days thats golden ..when you feel like you can extend your hand out of the window and grab a ray of sunlight to make a mordern day light sabre .
Me and 3 friends decided to go shopping to the outlets . The drive up GA 400 is my favorite ..the interstate is lined with tall conifers and yellow daisies and irises mark the medians . Yesterday however - we were greeted with construction boards and miles of honking cars on the freeway of life . After slogging it out for about 45 minutes ..we gave up and took the next exit .
And sometimes ..when like life itself ..an unwanted detour on a long journey leads you to a destination thats been waiting for you for so long .
And so we were lead by some cosmic scramble ..to a small town in Roswell GA ...to a coffee shop with pita bread , armchairs ..fireplaces and scrabble boards .
It had been waiting ..just waiting to be found ..By four friends on a sunny saturday afternoon .
The kicker was that this place actually served Thai Icead Tea with Tapioca pearls !!!!!!!!!!!!....I had had some in chinatown in Frisco last year and had been searching for it in Atlanta in vain for months now ..I'd found Thia Tea ..Tazo Tea ..but no bubbles ...and here I was ..on an unexpected weekend detour ..finding the thing I'd been looking for .
So we sat there ..with creating loafing , stuffed pitas and thai tea with tapioca pearls .
If I had to take a snapshot and paint it and give it a name ..i'd say ..we were shiny happy people drinking crazy bubble tea .
ps : I also stumbled onto a postcard that was an ad to rent a villa in Tuscany for the summer ? I think its a sign ..any takers ?!
Saturday, May 20, 2006
The Parking Spot Theory
Welcome to Kauisms.
One of my co-T.A's from Grad school coined that phrase in the fall of 2001 . Those were strange and difficult times and while some people chose to drink coffee ...or pray to wade through the crisis's of being poor , hungry and unemployed ..market crashes and no thoughts to spare ..Me as usual chose to be philosophical .So here is Kausim -1 : The Parking Spot Theory
I was at the movie theatres in Gainesville with two really close friends about 5 years ago ..and we were ..as the name suggest ..trying to park . So we passed by a spot at the very end of the parking lot - it was open , shady and ..right there . But my friend said ..naah ..lets find one closer ..so we drove around ..and around ..passed by a few cars ..got teased in the usual .."are u just chatting or actually going to pull out situations" ..and then gave up ..an entire 20 minutes later ..came back to the very end of the parking lot ..and parked . Missed the previews and the start of the movie ..and when we actually re emerged from the movie world ..our car was right there ..in the shady parking spot we almost didnt find and amazingly so ..it was easier to leave since we didnt have to navigate through the myriad of honking cars at the front of the lot .
Life is like a Parking Spot .
We all know what we want to do , who we want to be with , who we are , what we want to be and what lies in between , where we want to live , who our real friends and family are ..and what we really mean when we say we dont know .
Our deepest desires , callings are like the faraway parking spot . We pass by and say ..naah ..its to far away ..it'll involve a long walk ..i'll find something closer , better , nearer ...and then at times ..we'll come back ..tired ..after losing maybe not 20 minutes but even 20 years of our life ..to the same place ..different time ..and realise ..this is what we wanted all along . This is where we knew we were meant to be ..before the voices of the world drowned the whispers of our instincts and intutions . This was our parking spot .
There are several counter arguments to this theory - the most common thread is the one that says ..but the journey is more important that the destination . Look at whom you met along the way ..and the wonderful lessons you learnt .
True - only if you still got the parking spot .
And sometimes - when the sails are set and the wind blows ..that doesnt always happen .
So Life my friends - Is like a parking spot .
Carpe Diem ! ...Grab it while you got it .
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Sawaal -Jawaab
If Steven Speilberg or Coppola or Farhan Akthar , Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra approached you one day ..and
said "Hey - lets make a movie on your life " ..and you could pick 20
ppl...who would star in it ?
Would it be a love story , or a comedy ..or a thriller ...would it be in english ..hindi ..some other language ..songs maybe ? ..or would it
be an action film ..a though provoking film ..an action inducing film ..tears ..laughter ..blows ..questions ..predicaments ..maybe all of it ? ..a masala movie ? ...a journey in itself ..or about a journey ..what songs would you choose for the soundtrack .
What stories would you include ..and more importantly which ones would you leave out .
What is it that makes you , breaks you ...aches and shakes you.
More importantly - what is it that moves you ?
What are the last few things on your mind as you go to bed every night ?
What do you think of when you first wake up ...or in the shower after
a long day at work ?
If you could change the outcome of one thing in your life ? what would it be ?
If you had a billion dollars to spend ...what would be the first thing
you'd do ?
If you could walk a day in someones shoes - anyones shoes ..who would it be ?
would you swap lives with them given a chance ?
Watch these questions .
I say grab a pen a paper and lets have your answers .
Next year - repeat the excercise and see which ones change .
Maybe the questions will change too ...
said "Hey - lets make a movie on your life " ..and you could pick 20
ppl...who would star in it ?
Would it be a love story , or a comedy ..or a thriller ...would it be in english ..hindi ..some other language ..songs maybe ? ..or would it
be an action film ..a though provoking film ..an action inducing film ..tears ..laughter ..blows ..questions ..predicaments ..maybe all of it ? ..a masala movie ? ...a journey in itself ..or about a journey ..what songs would you choose for the soundtrack .
What stories would you include ..and more importantly which ones would you leave out .
What is it that makes you , breaks you ...aches and shakes you.
More importantly - what is it that moves you ?
What are the last few things on your mind as you go to bed every night ?
What do you think of when you first wake up ...or in the shower after
a long day at work ?
If you could change the outcome of one thing in your life ? what would it be ?
If you had a billion dollars to spend ...what would be the first thing
you'd do ?
If you could walk a day in someones shoes - anyones shoes ..who would it be ?
would you swap lives with them given a chance ?
Watch these questions .
I say grab a pen a paper and lets have your answers .
Next year - repeat the excercise and see which ones change .
Maybe the questions will change too ...
Saturday, May 13, 2006
A penny for my thoughts ..
I rent next to a railroad track .
It;s so unexpected ...tall townhomes , oaks and landscaped porches . And a month ago when I moved in ..I was in the middle of carrying boxes from the car to the house and I heard this strange runbling underneath the ground ...Half expecting to be swept of my feet I turned around only to see a Train speeding towards me ! ..and as it passed I wondered where its destination was ...and what adventures and people and things lived there ...and that thought has sustained over the past month now . If this was a movie ..one day I would just hop on and see where it took me ...or spies would break into my house and after putting up a brave fight ..I'd be running for my life and jump from a window right onto the train and speed away ...unfortunately thats where friday night ends and I wake up on saturday to smell the coffee . So in the interm ..I wonder ...what awaits me on the journeys I wont take , the choices I wont make and the doors I wont open ....and if I had a choice to find out ..would that make me any happier or sadder ..
I was running in the gym today and the treadmill kept asking me to put my hands on the bars to measure my heart rate . I am almost certain and sure that that was just a gimmick and the treadmill was lonely and just needed someone to talk to ..so I decided to go for a manually programmed workout so that there would atleast be some communication between us ..and I think both of us were happy at the end of it . Sometimes when things are crazyily busy ..like this past week ..I wish ..that Life was like a treadmill ..we could choose a pace and a slope and a difficulty level and adjust it when needed ..
Random Thought - doesnt the house smell amazing after washing dishes ! ..Its the best and its going to make me smile right about after I type this sentence .
Theres a commercial they play every spring for "Miracle Grow" ..I wish we had something like that for our lives ..relationships ..careers ..If you think about it People are a lot like Plants ...whether they like being indoors or outdoors ..they both need a lot of sunshine , water , roots and nourishment .
I'm ready to call it a night now ..but for those of you out there with a few moments to spare ..take a look at the moon tonight and the next few nights . Thats why we were put here ...on terra firma ..for a free trip around the sun every year and to look the full moon in the eye everyone now and then and feel the magic deep inside .
It;s so unexpected ...tall townhomes , oaks and landscaped porches . And a month ago when I moved in ..I was in the middle of carrying boxes from the car to the house and I heard this strange runbling underneath the ground ...Half expecting to be swept of my feet I turned around only to see a Train speeding towards me ! ..and as it passed I wondered where its destination was ...and what adventures and people and things lived there ...and that thought has sustained over the past month now . If this was a movie ..one day I would just hop on and see where it took me ...or spies would break into my house and after putting up a brave fight ..I'd be running for my life and jump from a window right onto the train and speed away ...unfortunately thats where friday night ends and I wake up on saturday to smell the coffee . So in the interm ..I wonder ...what awaits me on the journeys I wont take , the choices I wont make and the doors I wont open ....and if I had a choice to find out ..would that make me any happier or sadder ..
I was running in the gym today and the treadmill kept asking me to put my hands on the bars to measure my heart rate . I am almost certain and sure that that was just a gimmick and the treadmill was lonely and just needed someone to talk to ..so I decided to go for a manually programmed workout so that there would atleast be some communication between us ..and I think both of us were happy at the end of it . Sometimes when things are crazyily busy ..like this past week ..I wish ..that Life was like a treadmill ..we could choose a pace and a slope and a difficulty level and adjust it when needed ..
Random Thought - doesnt the house smell amazing after washing dishes ! ..Its the best and its going to make me smile right about after I type this sentence .
Theres a commercial they play every spring for "Miracle Grow" ..I wish we had something like that for our lives ..relationships ..careers ..If you think about it People are a lot like Plants ...whether they like being indoors or outdoors ..they both need a lot of sunshine , water , roots and nourishment .
I'm ready to call it a night now ..but for those of you out there with a few moments to spare ..take a look at the moon tonight and the next few nights . Thats why we were put here ...on terra firma ..for a free trip around the sun every year and to look the full moon in the eye everyone now and then and feel the magic deep inside .
Monday, May 08, 2006
Filmi Chakkar !
This morning when I woke up - I knew something was different ...
The Movie season has begun !!!!
Full on Full Speed ..all summer long ..Movies ..Masti ..Magic !
Heres a list of movies I cant wait to watch this summer !
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!! ..I love you and I just cant wait for this one !
Releases in July ..so have to keep waiting
2.Da Vinci Code
I'm a little sceptical about Tom Hanks pulling a Robert Langdon ..but if anyone can ..he can ...I wish Harrison Form was 20 years younger ..they'd have definately picked him me thinks
3.Dhoom 2 : Though I will miss John and his bike ..Chotta Bacchan will make up for it I'm sure
4. Water
5.Kabul Express
6.Phir Hera Pheri!!!!! ...man ..paresh rawal and akshay rocked the first one ...my all time fav dialogue from the first one ..." Aree ..Laxmi tumhare mathhe pein tikka lagne ki soch rahi hai ..aur tum ho ..ke moo dhone ki baat kar rahe ho ?!!
7. Darna Zaroori Hai
8.Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna ...cant wait to see SRK ..whats new ?!
9. MunnaBhai MMBS 2
10.Fanaa ..cant wait to see Kajol again
The Movie season has begun !!!!
Full on Full Speed ..all summer long ..Movies ..Masti ..Magic !
Heres a list of movies I cant wait to watch this summer !
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!! ..I love you and I just cant wait for this one !
Releases in July ..so have to keep waiting
2.Da Vinci Code
I'm a little sceptical about Tom Hanks pulling a Robert Langdon ..but if anyone can ..he can ...I wish Harrison Form was 20 years younger ..they'd have definately picked him me thinks
3.Dhoom 2 : Though I will miss John and his bike ..Chotta Bacchan will make up for it I'm sure
4. Water
5.Kabul Express
6.Phir Hera Pheri!!!!! ...man ..paresh rawal and akshay rocked the first one ...my all time fav dialogue from the first one ..." Aree ..Laxmi tumhare mathhe pein tikka lagne ki soch rahi hai ..aur tum ho ..ke moo dhone ki baat kar rahe ho ?!!
7. Darna Zaroori Hai
8.Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna ...cant wait to see SRK ..whats new ?!
9. MunnaBhai MMBS 2
10.Fanaa ..cant wait to see Kajol again
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Sculptures
And so it happened in the summer of 2006 , that a hazel eyed 27 year old was spending a sunnny day that would have made Van Gogh proud ..indoors..in Barnes and Noble studying for a test .
So 2 Mochannios and 20 critical reasoning questions later ..she still hadnt found a critical reason for all her silly mistakes ..and was looking a little frustrated..so she decided to take a break and read her "other" book ..a book on greatest sculptures of our times.
This really old couple was sitting next to her ..she'd noticed because the wife had some really pretty indian looking earings ( dont ask how she'd noticed ..its a girl thing ) ..and the husband leaned over and said
" is that calculus ?" ...so she told him ..naa ..nothing that fancy ..just an aptitude test ..so he asked her "how it was going " ...and she told him the truth she'd not told reecently .."that it was not going well at all ..that she felt like one IQ point less and she'd might as well have been a grasshopper ..that even on her best days ..she was close to reading a book for dummies ..because she was the dummy " ..
anyways ...so he told her " well ..you are here on a beautiful day like today ..giving up all that sunlight ..and thats got to count for somthing right "
..so she said I guess so ..and didnt sound convinced at all .
Then he asked her why she was reading the book on sculptures ..was it to stimulate the right and left side of her brain at the same time .
She said yes ! ..She would try anything now ..to make it work ..
So he told her something that would sustain her through the next life probably ..
He said .." well ..the secret is to keep working at it , Imagine ..if Life didnt have its problems and frustrations ..imagine if life wasnt hard ..if it wasnt like a rock ..we could keep chiseling away ..but we'd never make any sculptures ..One day you are going to make a beautiful sculpture .."
She smiled and thanked the heavens for sending a messenger once again when she was about to wander .
Life I guess is like clay , We can mould it and bend it and shape it into what we want it to look like ...but without passing through fire a few times ...its shape and form is just as fragile as a reflection in the water that we can keep looking at ..but cant touch .
All stories have an end ..and this is where this one does.
So 2 Mochannios and 20 critical reasoning questions later ..she still hadnt found a critical reason for all her silly mistakes ..and was looking a little frustrated..so she decided to take a break and read her "other" book ..a book on greatest sculptures of our times.
This really old couple was sitting next to her ..she'd noticed because the wife had some really pretty indian looking earings ( dont ask how she'd noticed ..its a girl thing ) ..and the husband leaned over and said
" is that calculus ?" ...so she told him ..naa ..nothing that fancy ..just an aptitude test ..so he asked her "how it was going " ...and she told him the truth she'd not told reecently .."that it was not going well at all ..that she felt like one IQ point less and she'd might as well have been a grasshopper ..that even on her best days ..she was close to reading a book for dummies ..because she was the dummy " ..
anyways ...so he told her " well ..you are here on a beautiful day like today ..giving up all that sunlight ..and thats got to count for somthing right "
..so she said I guess so ..and didnt sound convinced at all .
Then he asked her why she was reading the book on sculptures ..was it to stimulate the right and left side of her brain at the same time .
She said yes ! ..She would try anything now ..to make it work ..
So he told her something that would sustain her through the next life probably ..
He said .." well ..the secret is to keep working at it , Imagine ..if Life didnt have its problems and frustrations ..imagine if life wasnt hard ..if it wasnt like a rock ..we could keep chiseling away ..but we'd never make any sculptures ..One day you are going to make a beautiful sculpture .."
She smiled and thanked the heavens for sending a messenger once again when she was about to wander .
Life I guess is like clay , We can mould it and bend it and shape it into what we want it to look like ...but without passing through fire a few times ...its shape and form is just as fragile as a reflection in the water that we can keep looking at ..but cant touch .
All stories have an end ..and this is where this one does.
(M)Ad about you.
My all time favorite TV commercials :
In the US :
1. The Hersheys Kisses Christmas Commercial .
- who can not love the dozens of Hersheys Kisses all dressed up for the holidays
dancing to good old xmasy music . They've aired this commercial every holiday season that I've been here in the US ..and for me personally its symbolic of unchanging things in changing times .
2. The Kaiser Permanente Commercial - I guess I believe in brocolli and blogs :)
3. I saw this one a few years ago and it made me howl ! ..Theres a family thats just bought a new home ..and they walk in to look at it ..empty walls and tall windows .
The kids run out into the yard yelling " my first garden" ...and the mom and dad are watching through a window ..the mom gets this look on her face and says " Its my first garden too "
...man ! ...pass the tissues around !
4. The UPS commercial where they show the solitary UPS van in several different cities ..I have a calender at work with the same and it always makes me wonder "What can Brown do for you ?"
5.The Budweiser commercial where the guy and girl go out on a date - the screen splits into two after they say goodbye. The guy goes home kicks off his sneakers and he and his roomate drink beer on parallel recliners -The girl meanwhile in rolling on her bed ..dreamy eyed on a phoen with her best frined super analysisng everything that happened.
Lol! ...now we know what happened to Mars and Venus
6.The ebay commercial where the guy turns around and is surrounded by zillion ppl holding a million clocks and he likes one of them ..a cute lttle collectors clock and takes it ..and the others sigh and go away ...brilliant ! ..
7.The Dodge commercial where theres a family at a bbq and the mom is with her friends with a one year old son dressed in blue ..and he runs to the dad holding a stuffed animal ..and the fathers like "what is she doing to our son " ..! ..so he takes the kid to the garage and opens up the hood of his dodge and says "HEMI - thats all you need to know son !" ..lol!
8. The Children Healthcare of Atlanta commercial .
They show you the door to an ICCU unit ..and captions that say .." its very quiet in here ...but great battles are being fought on the other side of this door "
9. The Gap commercial ...especially the one from the fall of 2004 - with the "Do you remember ..the leaves of september" playing in the background ! It made me want to wear my long and leans and dance barefoot in a field of flowers
10. The Target " Speedy Motorcycle" add...its awesome ! I couldnt stop singing the tune after I saw it ..I was in my last semester at UF that december and it drove all my friends nuts !
11. The P4 launcg commercial from Intel that showed a chip dancing to the Beegees singing "Staying Alive"
In India
1. Bajaj : Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasweer - Humara Bajaj !
I really think that there are very very few commercials that can match this one ...
2. Bajaj : Jub main chota baccha tha - badi shararat karta tha ..meri chori pakdi jaati ,aur roshan hota bajaj .
Its funny but singing "Que Sera Sera " always reminds me of this commercial ..When I was just a little girl ...
3. Vinod Khanna on a horse ...man ...who can ever evr forget this one ! Cinthol ...:) ..lol..pls dont judge me for putting this ..but I just closed my eyes and thot of 10 ads that came to my mind and this was one of them ..
4. The Pepsi - Nothing Official About it series during the world cup .
5. The new Aamir Khan Coke series
"Sar uththa hai - josh mein
Sar uththa hai samman mein
Sar Uththa hai prarthana mein
...Jiyo Sar Utha kein "
what a inspiring thing to say ..inshah allah !
6.The Lipton Taaza chaha commercial ..where the guy drinks a cuppa and then strolls into the lashing rains to pull a truck out of gruesome mud ...three cheers for caffeine loves!!
7.The Nescafe commercial - its so funny ...the commercial ends with this super curly haired girl looking out of her window with a cup of coffee at the world ..and do we have to even guess what I am thinking right now ?
8.The "One Black Coffee Please" ..nokia commercial ..hilarious !!!!
9. Radio Mirchi - this one is on the radio ..but still counts me thinks ..Hit hai to Bajega and Bajate Raho !!!..Radi ..Radio Mirchi !
If I could have radio mirchi in atlanta - man ..it would make my drive to work amaziinggg ..sigh !...I guess Steve and Vikki and 94.1 will have to do for now :)
10.The Surf Commercials !!!...lalitajeee..and Rahul Beta ...left such an impression ...
11. Santoor - where the kid runs over and says "Mummy " ...(right .
13. I'm a complan boy ...I'm a complan girl ..Kedar and I used to say that all the time ..such wannabes ...when I ahve kids ..i'm going to make them say it just for old times sake
14. The old uncle who has dabur chavanprash and who climbs the stairs to his office while the pudgy pot bellied 30 somthing steps out of the elevator
15. This one is a really old marathi commercial .."Bal radat hota ka "
16. During one India - Pak series several years ago ..they showed individual mockups of the playes from each team walking slowly towards you ..and titled the ad as "Quayamat " ....it was ! ..and gets my blood rushing everything I think about it..
...will keep updating soon . Writing this took me back so many years :)
Like they say .."Products are built in factories ..Strategies in the boardroom ..but Brand ..Brands are made in the Heart "
Sau Jhoot - Ek Sach .
In the US :
1. The Hersheys Kisses Christmas Commercial .
- who can not love the dozens of Hersheys Kisses all dressed up for the holidays
dancing to good old xmasy music . They've aired this commercial every holiday season that I've been here in the US ..and for me personally its symbolic of unchanging things in changing times .
2. The Kaiser Permanente Commercial - I guess I believe in brocolli and blogs :)
3. I saw this one a few years ago and it made me howl ! ..Theres a family thats just bought a new home ..and they walk in to look at it ..empty walls and tall windows .
The kids run out into the yard yelling " my first garden" ...and the mom and dad are watching through a window ..the mom gets this look on her face and says " Its my first garden too "
...man ! ...pass the tissues around !
4. The UPS commercial where they show the solitary UPS van in several different cities ..I have a calender at work with the same and it always makes me wonder "What can Brown do for you ?"
5.The Budweiser commercial where the guy and girl go out on a date - the screen splits into two after they say goodbye. The guy goes home kicks off his sneakers and he and his roomate drink beer on parallel recliners -The girl meanwhile in rolling on her bed ..dreamy eyed on a phoen with her best frined super analysisng everything that happened.
Lol! ...now we know what happened to Mars and Venus
6.The ebay commercial where the guy turns around and is surrounded by zillion ppl holding a million clocks and he likes one of them ..a cute lttle collectors clock and takes it ..and the others sigh and go away ...brilliant ! ..
7.The Dodge commercial where theres a family at a bbq and the mom is with her friends with a one year old son dressed in blue ..and he runs to the dad holding a stuffed animal ..and the fathers like "what is she doing to our son " ..! ..so he takes the kid to the garage and opens up the hood of his dodge and says "HEMI - thats all you need to know son !" ..lol!
8. The Children Healthcare of Atlanta commercial .
They show you the door to an ICCU unit ..and captions that say .." its very quiet in here ...but great battles are being fought on the other side of this door "
9. The Gap commercial ...especially the one from the fall of 2004 - with the "Do you remember ..the leaves of september" playing in the background ! It made me want to wear my long and leans and dance barefoot in a field of flowers
10. The Target " Speedy Motorcycle" add...its awesome ! I couldnt stop singing the tune after I saw it ..I was in my last semester at UF that december and it drove all my friends nuts !
11. The P4 launcg commercial from Intel that showed a chip dancing to the Beegees singing "Staying Alive"
In India
1. Bajaj : Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasweer - Humara Bajaj !
I really think that there are very very few commercials that can match this one ...
2. Bajaj : Jub main chota baccha tha - badi shararat karta tha ..meri chori pakdi jaati ,aur roshan hota bajaj .
Its funny but singing "Que Sera Sera " always reminds me of this commercial ..When I was just a little girl ...
3. Vinod Khanna on a horse ...man ...who can ever evr forget this one ! Cinthol ...:) ..lol..pls dont judge me for putting this ..but I just closed my eyes and thot of 10 ads that came to my mind and this was one of them ..
4. The Pepsi - Nothing Official About it series during the world cup .
5. The new Aamir Khan Coke series
"Sar uththa hai - josh mein
Sar uththa hai samman mein
Sar Uththa hai prarthana mein
...Jiyo Sar Utha kein "
what a inspiring thing to say ..inshah allah !
6.The Lipton Taaza chaha commercial ..where the guy drinks a cuppa and then strolls into the lashing rains to pull a truck out of gruesome mud ...three cheers for caffeine loves!!
7.The Nescafe commercial - its so funny ...the commercial ends with this super curly haired girl looking out of her window with a cup of coffee at the world ..and do we have to even guess what I am thinking right now ?
8.The "One Black Coffee Please" ..nokia commercial ..hilarious !!!!
9. Radio Mirchi - this one is on the radio ..but still counts me thinks ..Hit hai to Bajega and Bajate Raho !!!..Radi ..Radio Mirchi !
If I could have radio mirchi in atlanta - man ..it would make my drive to work amaziinggg ..sigh !...I guess Steve and Vikki and 94.1 will have to do for now :)
10.The Surf Commercials !!!...lalitajeee..and Rahul Beta ...left such an impression ...
11. Santoor - where the kid runs over and says "Mummy " ...(right .
13. I'm a complan boy ...I'm a complan girl ..Kedar and I used to say that all the time ..such wannabes ...when I ahve kids ..i'm going to make them say it just for old times sake
14. The old uncle who has dabur chavanprash and who climbs the stairs to his office while the pudgy pot bellied 30 somthing steps out of the elevator
15. This one is a really old marathi commercial .."Bal radat hota ka "
16. During one India - Pak series several years ago ..they showed individual mockups of the playes from each team walking slowly towards you ..and titled the ad as "Quayamat " ....it was ! ..and gets my blood rushing everything I think about it..
...will keep updating soon . Writing this took me back so many years :)
Like they say .."Products are built in factories ..Strategies in the boardroom ..but Brand ..Brands are made in the Heart "
Sau Jhoot - Ek Sach .
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Musings on a Sunny Saturday
Last night Faiza and I decided to head to eat some Mexican Grub to celebrate Cinco De Mayo . We were told that the wait at the place we'd picked was 45 minutes . Hunger Pangs gave in and we were debating what to do when we both brought up that we'd also noticed a small little "not so big and chain " like mexican place a few blocks down ..on the drive . We suprised ourselves and decided to walk there . It was awesome ..The sun had just set and you could feel the moon creeping behind the corner ...slight buzz and leaves dancing to a ballet in the breeze . All this excutement and drama we'd missed had we decided to drive .
If made me think about Bombay - where I walk everywhere ..from the grocery store ..to shopping ..to school ..college ..and over here I drive .
Its just one of those striking contrasts that by virtue of not being viewable ..one's often prone to miss .
Today has been far less exciting . The sun has been out all day and the weather gods are happy in this northern suburb of Atlanta . Every weekend ..I wake up early on saturdays and head over to a Hatha Yoga class. Yogas become such a mind thing now ..I doubt I can live without it . Now and Zen is a place where I often visit and hopefully in the quest to find my "Thinner" Goddess ..I will find my inner one :) .
I was thinking later this morning about my favorite Yoga pose ..and I think it has to be the suryanamaskar undoubtedly ...I'm a darn good prod warrior too ..but theres something very humbling about the sun salutation thats closer to life itself . Life often brings us down to our knees and we do feel like a downward facing dog ..but if we're stong enough ..we can find the strenght to rise tall and proud yet again . The key to Yoga ..like Life is to learn to bend and not break . ..Makes everything seem possible doesnt it ?!
...I read something in a magazine today ..it was a commercial for debeers ..made me smile and straighten up a bit ..here is what it said ..
"Your Left hand thinks twice
Your right hand doesnt believe in second thoughts
Your left hand follows instructions - your right hand follows intution
Your Left hand knows about boundaries - your right hand knows when to cross lines
Women of the world - Raise your right hand "
On that note - my right hand is raised and is hitting "Publish Post"..have a safe weekend .
If made me think about Bombay - where I walk everywhere ..from the grocery store ..to shopping ..to school ..college ..and over here I drive .
Its just one of those striking contrasts that by virtue of not being viewable ..one's often prone to miss .
Today has been far less exciting . The sun has been out all day and the weather gods are happy in this northern suburb of Atlanta . Every weekend ..I wake up early on saturdays and head over to a Hatha Yoga class. Yogas become such a mind thing now ..I doubt I can live without it . Now and Zen is a place where I often visit and hopefully in the quest to find my "Thinner" Goddess ..I will find my inner one :) .
I was thinking later this morning about my favorite Yoga pose ..and I think it has to be the suryanamaskar undoubtedly ...I'm a darn good prod warrior too ..but theres something very humbling about the sun salutation thats closer to life itself . Life often brings us down to our knees and we do feel like a downward facing dog ..but if we're stong enough ..we can find the strenght to rise tall and proud yet again . The key to Yoga ..like Life is to learn to bend and not break . ..Makes everything seem possible doesnt it ?!
...I read something in a magazine today ..it was a commercial for debeers ..made me smile and straighten up a bit ..here is what it said ..
"Your Left hand thinks twice
Your right hand doesnt believe in second thoughts
Your left hand follows instructions - your right hand follows intution
Your Left hand knows about boundaries - your right hand knows when to cross lines
Women of the world - Raise your right hand "
On that note - my right hand is raised and is hitting "Publish Post"..have a safe weekend .
Thursday, May 04, 2006
A to Zee
A for Another Day ..another mile ..another milestone
B for Blue Skies , cotton puff clouds and not a spec of grey
C for Chai , Coffee Close Friends and Clarity
D for Dogs ,Dalai Lama, Dasies and Doughnuts
E for Energy
F for Flowers ,Famous Five ,Florida and Family
G for Girlfriends ,Golden and GAP
H for Heartbeats, Hummus ,Highfives and Highlights
I for India
J for Josh ,Jigar and Juice
K for ...come on ..you can guess this straight out
L for Life , Love and Lonliness
M for Magic , Memories ,Mangoes ,Mind ,Morocco and Mornings
N for Nights
O for Organic ,Oranges ,Overtures
P for Paris , Pilates ,Peacocks and Persian Rugs
Q for Quest Quality and Qubec
R for Rainbows, Rain and Ripples in a blue lake
S for Smiles ,Salsa ,Sangria , Sunflowers and SouthBeach
T for Tango ,Tapas ,Tolerance
U for my best friend
V for Venice ,Vie and Violins
W for Wide Open Spaces, Wine and Windows
X for Xcitement
Y for Yoga - There is no place like OM
Z for Zest, Zeenias and Zebras
B for Blue Skies , cotton puff clouds and not a spec of grey
C for Chai , Coffee Close Friends and Clarity
D for Dogs ,Dalai Lama, Dasies and Doughnuts
E for Energy
F for Flowers ,Famous Five ,Florida and Family
G for Girlfriends ,Golden and GAP
H for Heartbeats, Hummus ,Highfives and Highlights
I for India
J for Josh ,Jigar and Juice
K for ...come on ..you can guess this straight out
L for Life , Love and Lonliness
M for Magic , Memories ,Mangoes ,Mind ,Morocco and Mornings
N for Nights
O for Organic ,Oranges ,Overtures
P for Paris , Pilates ,Peacocks and Persian Rugs
Q for Quest Quality and Qubec
R for Rainbows, Rain and Ripples in a blue lake
S for Smiles ,Salsa ,Sangria , Sunflowers and SouthBeach
T for Tango ,Tapas ,Tolerance
U for my best friend
V for Venice ,Vie and Violins
W for Wide Open Spaces, Wine and Windows
X for Xcitement
Y for Yoga - There is no place like OM
Z for Zest, Zeenias and Zebras
Aaj
At work - suffering from a bout of EMC - "Early Morning Cynicsm " ..a condition I've developed
in my 20's .
just glanced at the news on cnn and Yahoo ..which might not be the most new-worthy websites ...
"Eight new Frog Specis discovered in Loas"
"Picasso portrait sells for $95.5 million "
"Couple finds lost diamonds under 8 tons of trash "
...I'm so frustrated with it .
Not that I'm denying the possibility that one of the eight frogs might show resistance to a form of cancer leading to some cutting edge research that helps develop a vaccine that will save millions ...or the fact that whoever bought the Picasso will sell it someday for even more and donate a huge chunk of it to the Red Cross ...or that I will start looking at Trash differently from now on ...But ..today ...I dont know what I need ..
Do we see things because we believe in them ..or do we believe in things because we see them in a particular way ?
in my 20's .
just glanced at the news on cnn and Yahoo ..which might not be the most new-worthy websites ...
"Eight new Frog Specis discovered in Loas"
"Picasso portrait sells for $95.5 million "
"Couple finds lost diamonds under 8 tons of trash "
...I'm so frustrated with it .
Not that I'm denying the possibility that one of the eight frogs might show resistance to a form of cancer leading to some cutting edge research that helps develop a vaccine that will save millions ...or the fact that whoever bought the Picasso will sell it someday for even more and donate a huge chunk of it to the Red Cross ...or that I will start looking at Trash differently from now on ...But ..today ...I dont know what I need ..
Do we see things because we believe in them ..or do we believe in things because we see them in a particular way ?
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