Gin soaked boy

I'm the darkness in the light
I'm the leftness in the right
I'm the rightness in the wrong
I'm the shortness in the long
I'm the goodness in the bad
I'm the saneness in the mad
I'm the sadness in the joy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy

I'm the ghost in the machine
I'm the genius in the gene
I'm the beauty in the beast
I'm the sunset in the east
I'm the ruby in the dust
I'm the trust in the mistrust
I'm the trojan horse in troy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy

I'm the tiger's empty cage
I'm the mystery's final page
I'm the stranger's lonely glance
I'm the hero's only chance
I'm the undiscovered land
I'm the single grain of sand
I'm the christmas morning toy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy


I'm the world you'll never see
I'm the slave you'll never free
I'm the truth you'll never know
I'm the place you'll never go
I'm the sound you'll never hear
I'm the course you'll never steer
I'm the will you'll not destroy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy

I'm the half-truth in the lie
I'm the why not in the why
I'm the last roll of the die
I'm the old school in the tie
I'm the spirit in the sky
I'm the catcher in the rye
I'm the twinkle in her eye
I'm the jeff goldblum in the fly
Who am i?

My fav lines in italics ... what's yours?

Happy new year - oh well!

So there we go - another revolution around the sun - done - ..
So well how are you celebrating?
"..ummm well I am planning to do lots of things"
yeah so what are you gonna do ?
"err... well I am gonna have lots of fun"

---
Last time I felt cornered this way was when one of my uncles were interogating me on what I want to do after 12th standard ( I was in 7th standard then).
I guess every new year I face the same dilemma as to what to do to celebrate the damn new year's eve. Well, since when celebration has become a need ? However, friends celebrate, families celebrate, colleagues celebrate, strangers celebrate - so well me celebrates.

Happy domestication - oops - happy new year folks!


addendum: It rocked!

Haiku

As per dictionary.com -
A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.

Have been trying that for a while - it's fun:

The blithe moonlit stream
And the playful southern breeze
Brings you back to me

---

The drunken lady
Resonates youthful laughter
Flight of fantasy
---
the fun part is adhering to the syllable constraint ...worth a try ...

Being commited ...

what is this commitment drama I am seeing now-a-days?
If there is love then isn't it same as love (what more can you promise) and if there is no love then isn't it same as abstinence (what less can you promise)!

Showerless in Seattle

Well not quite literally though (want to save my rep) - for those of you who have not been really in sync with headlines of cnn.com - seattle was hit by a storm last thu night and since then we had no power in most of the places - well- few of the places - ahem well -very few of the places -ahem well in my apartment complex (and there are always some unfortunate few) - and ahem well in Sam's apartment.

So here are the details in chronological order - from an eye witness (who is me - my news channel is currently a bit understaffed):

Thursday -
Thu Night(sorry we don't track dates - this is all the info you get for free) - I finished Wuthering heights (talks about some ghosts at the end) (this info was for building up the background)
Thu midnight - I hear loud noises of wind whistling. I saw a tree swaying violantly in the wind - I wondered whether it will fall on my car (left) or abhishek ram's( my neighbour's) car (right). Thankfully it didnt fall.
Thu sometime after that - power went off (that was the last time i felt electricity in my apartment till ...)


Friday-
Fri morning - Driving to office. All signals off - traffic packed - cars moving slowly one at a time - One collegue called and said dont come to office. I turned back towards home. Other colleague (read boss) called - said come to office - so turned back to office.
Fri 10 am - In office (total 5 people) wondering what to do (hadnt taken shower) - went to another colleague's place - got a silver suitcase that had poker cards and chips - played poker in the office lounge
Fri - 2 pm - hungry- We started looking for food. Finally found a place at 4 pm which had 45 mins wait - ate and boxed the rest for rainy days (havent eaten that till now though)
Fri night - Went home - My mobile was not working - there was no light - it was deadly cold. There was 1 candle in the house (since it was an expensive candle so didnt want to burn it totally off) - do i have a choice? It was dark and cold ... i remembered wuthering heights - whoaa ghosts!! finally i heard someone on the stairs - ghosts - what - with high heels - that was my chinese neighbour (what my neighbours are chinese!) used her phone to call friends who were looking for food in bellevue.
Fri night after 30 mins - bell rings (nothing works but the door bell works)- rescued by friends. Wow!
Fri night -went to dinner at "king n i" and then to movie (holiday - total chick flick)
Fri - came back and froze to sleep at home


Saturday -
Sat morning -no chai (gas is electric)- ran to neighbor (abhishek ram's apmnt) - had cold coffee - he had a landline - made few calls found microsoft building 50 has power
Sat noon- went to building 50 took shower(for 30 mins) and had tea and biscuits there. Everyone came - we went to Kent Punjabi sweets for food - ate heartily
Sat - eve - yash and narendra rescued - went to movie - kabul express (boo hoo hoo)- and then came back with firewood for some fire - lo there was electircity at Y's and N's apartment (but not mine - how can a low end aparment like parks have and not adagio)- slept there - it was warm finally.


Sunday-
Sun morning - woke up at 9 - went to proclub (gym) for shower (at 2 pm)
Sun eve- went for shopping with Yash, Narendra and Yash's mom and compensated for all the losses i had in life with the only profit I had made so far.
Sun night - Slept again at yash's place

Monday-
Mon morning -came to office - no shower.
Mon night - Dinner at Paramesh - finally took shower and camped at Dami's place with G3 and Sam.

Tuesday-
Tue morning - woke up - made chai - 4 people chit-chating - well its not that bad - felt as if I was holidaying at friend's place.
Tue afternoon - power came in Adagio - was informed by 3 people that they could see lights on inside my apartment (may be i should keep my blinds closed)
Tue night - went to gym and showered there- went home - I had power ...

Wednesday -
Wed morning - my manager kept a 9.30 am meeting - rushed to office
Wed 9.30 - meeting got postponed to 10.30.

This kinda summarizes:
http://nagapuram.blogspot.com/2006/12/blackout.html

Guru ...

After having met a person who is member of a cult and has a Guru to whom he has dedicated most of his life too, and learning about few more such persons (co-incidentally at the same time) I got into this debate - is having a Guru good or not? Are all the Gurus out there to capitalize on human minds or are there some who are there to nurture them?
And then was wondering, what makes a person seek a Guru?
Well we know that human mind is inquisitive, there are questions - that are yet not explained - concept of God, concept of life and concept of death ...it is sometimes good to question - but how correct it is to find some answers and believe in them to an extent that it sabotages your normal life?

I alternate between believing in God and believing in randomness -all the time ...I don't know if that is right or having a consistent belief is better ..it works well for me - I feel it balances me out from drifting on either side (though I must say I am a bit partial to the fact that God exists - there is a certain comfort in that thought - you know like someone is figuring things out for you).
I was told by one of the followers that - you have to give up your mind - if you continue to reason everything then you will never experience the truth - but for me giving up the mind is like giving up me ..and if I give up myself then how can I experience? ...In this living form, are we adequate to realize the truth? Or is it just me who is naive?

What makes a person seek a Guru? Does he get answers of all the questions in that person? And gets a purpose in that devotion? Answers and purpose that he cannot reason but he can believe - belief without reason? Is it realizable? reasonable? And then aren't the most real emotions of life unreasonable - like love ... - Is finding a Guru like falling in love - experiencing the pleasure of getting psychologically seduced - experiencing the comfort of being belonged - or of belonging? ...Or is it just an illusion? A mind game that targeted your vulnerabilty...may be your inquisitiveness too ...I am still confused ?

---
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
- James Thurber

7 innocent secrets of success

A fwd from my dad:

Q: What are the 7 secrets of success?
A: answers in one room.

1. Roof said: Aim should be high.
2. Fan said: Be Cool
3. Clock said: Every min. is precious.
4. Mirror said: Reflect before you act.
5. Window said: See the world
6. Calendar said: Be up-to-date
7. Door said: Push hard to achieve Ur goals.

Illusions ...

"...I felt the sun burning in my eyes and head - knocking me down as if thousand hammers were hitting me - all over. My dried tongue went over my parched lips ...I thought I would die...I needed strength ..I needed hope...
and I fell down and rolled down the sand - half buried - No I wouldn't give up - I stood up slowly - walked ahead towards the direction I thought was right ... walked like a drunk looking for his home...I climbed up again. There at a distance ... I saw - Yes I saw - the broken continuity of the dreary dessert ... I saw a settlement of people. Do I see trees too? Can I have water there? Can I be saved? Is that my hope? I saw colors in women's clothes and men in whites. Are those camels seated there ? Can I make it? Make it to that finishing line ? I know I can...my intuition said so...my intuition ...my desire to live... and then I moved inch by inch ... My will stronger than me ... I wanted to get there - my finishing line. I wished if someone from them saw me they would catch hold of me and save me ...can someone save me...but they are indulged in themselves...aren't they always? I crawled - tried to stand but midway fell on the sand - face in the sand - sand in my mouth - my mouth so dry that the sand couldn't stay - but I could feel the taste - I moved - for my finishing line - inch by inch and then I felt one final surge... of my will - of divine energy from within my soul ... I stood up and ran - my need of survival ... yeah ... I stood up ... I ran ... I ran my gaze steady on my finishing line ... I ran till they could see me and I could see them ... in their eyes ... and there they were ... I felt the relief -the relief made me weak ... and ...then I fell on sand again - straight - like a body without life - a body deserted by its soul ... my hand just touching my finishing line - a few feet away ...my face in the sand ... sand in my mouth - my mouth so dry that the sand couldn't stay ... but I could feel the taste.. the taste now familiar - as if it was my own ...and after a while ... I moved ... my hands moved and then my eyes opened - lifeless eyelids - my head moved out of the sand and I looked .. I looked up and saw..."

Getting the head and "tail" of it!

I remember reading about friction in one of my science classes. And also gravity. Ofcourse I never got that demonstrated to me so well. Wish my life was as lucky as Newton's who saw an apple falling from top of the tree but unfortunately in my story I was the apple.
More old lessons got revised - one was the bio lesson - heard of something called tail bone (coccyx). Well yes it exists! And it is important. Newbee question - "Why do we have a tail bone if we do not have a tail?"
Well as Vids mentioned - Things can never be so bad that it cannot be worse. So here are the top things that I got out of lying flat in my flat:
- Calls from people.
- Didn't have to fill my movemap.
- Best friends cooking food at my place :)
- Getting food delivered from restaurant without lifting a finger
- People dropping in for Chai.
- Me getting down to finally reading wuthering heights, cat's cradle and watching flavors.
- Can potentially afford 24 hours of sleep per day (I could afford it only for 2 days in my life when I was born but after that never got the opportunity).
- Knowledge about what a doughnut pillow is. Sorry it is not edible.
- Eating non-stop and guiltlessly.
- Spending time in my apartment where I pay so much rent.

It is like extended holiday for me. Though I hate to admit - I miss not working for so long now. But well - who cares. So cheers to gravity - bottoms up - ouch!

half baked cookies

Allegedly, we all have souls. something that continues to exist even after we die... death is loss of rest of the things - this body and loss of connections - connections with people that you share your incarnation with ...it means loss of context ...
we are born alone but as we grow parts of other people find their place in our tiny hearts ... and parts of us grow in theirs...and eventually it all ends ...our death signifies not just our end but end of those tiny treasured aspects of people who had become integral part of us ...and when someone we love die - we mourn the loss - of them and of us...as if we are not just contained within this body but are spread all around ...each of us in each of us ...

...how I wish if some connections continue to exist forever...Do they?

vacouver trip photos

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=138614875/a=54889431_54889431/t_=54889431


Coming up next- Indy trip photos

Vacouver Tourism - a trip to remember

This Thanksgiving break I thought of giving myself a big break and planned 2 trips back to back - Vancouver and Indianapolis.

Well came back from Vancouver and it is the most amazing city I have been to (besides Nagpur.) We were staying in Fairmount Waterfront hotel in the downtown (This post is all about show off ).
The trip started with us getting a speeding ticket (and I am pretty sure we were not speeding) on I-5 by a cop who was ambushed with a civilian car and a stupid radar. Once we entered Vacouver - we were amazed by the size of the down town - they had three clusters of downtown and beautiful bridges and mountains.







We reached Vancouver around Sun night. Spent most of the Sun night shopping. g3 got her cool new jacket in the robson street which you will see her waering in rest of the photos(from ESPIRIT).




Woke up Mon morning and admired the great view from the hotel- and pitied all the poor people who had gone to work that monday >:).




We went for some sight seeing - took a long route and accidentally entered the stanley park and got some good shots there.


The high point (both literally and figuratively) was the Grouse mountain - were we took a trolley (sky-ride) upto a snow covered mountain and hiked in the snow. The best comment was from Dami - "I can feel only 1 leg out of my four limbs!". It's funny even up there you can find starbucks equivalent coffee to defreeze yourself. It was fun playing in the snow (we invented and played the game of putting snow in the mouth of an huge open-mouthed grizzely bear's statue) and ofcourse we took our jackets off and freaked out in the snow for a moment.

Later -the suspended bridge - was spooky and amazing - at a point we literally felt that the bridge was swinging up in the mid air. They had a warning sign near their parking - "Warning - Car thiefs work here." but thankfully nobody stole our honda civic.


Later at night - we were back to downtown - our very own Robson street and went around for food and some photography -

We did som desi-pana by clicking photos with Ash and Shahrukh.


We also saw the steam clock in the Gastown.

Later at night we chatted and photographed a lot near the hotel ballroom.


Next morning we woke up and went to Granville island (which is a spread out version of Pike's market). The view of the waterfront from there was awesome.

Later we came back to Robson - to the Pacific Shopping Center where we had our lunch.
Also revisited the Stanley Park to see the totelpoles and the lady in swimsuit.

Finally took off via Surrey (which has 88% sikh and 8% hindu population) - stopped in a sweets shop - had samosas, jalebi and chai - since the owner's response was not very prompt we kinda left without buying any sweets :(.




All in all the trip was awesome - Vacouver simply rocks -The Robson street to me now is as familiar as the 148th Street. The downtown - the food - the varied cuisine - the friendly people (damn canadians as per D)just seemed perfect. However the best part in the trip was company of friends who were equally crazy and enthusiastic, equally unfamiliar with Vancouver and most importantly equally camera-phylic!


Coming up next - Indy pics.

Resume

Was working on my resume - no not looking for jobs but for some other reason (after a certain age you realize that you cannot get a new job or a new guy in your life) - well cribs apart - was thinking about the extra-curricular activities. Some activities like organizing events, being part of various local committees (where we attended lots of useless meetings (and as the legend goes in every meeting we decided what to decide in the next meeting)) seemed fairly useless. But however, in those days they generated max enthu in me - I still remember editing the ACA newsletter with Pathak till 4 in the morning then, judging the softwares and finding bugs with Ankur all night (different Ankur - not you) before the techfest. In VRCE all my extra-cirricular activities were tightly coupled with what Vids did - and I guess that's the reason why inspite of being in different branch (I CS and she MET) we kinda amalagaMETed (sorry Vids I stole this word from you).
And I remember sitting and giving titles to every prof during departmental gatherings, or seniors at the time of farewell, making personality contest forms, deciding what to have as fillers in various events (for some strange reason, I didn't have so much of stage fright then), deciding on a theme while compering etc . I still remember the personality contest in 1st year when I turned up only to find 1000s (or more than that) people in the auditiorium all loud and yelling and my first instinct was to dig a well and jump into it, or the fresher's dance (which was quite a hit;)) and the fashion show (that we eventually converted into a dance). Actually I still remember one of the questions asked during the personality contest by a poker-faced guy("what if you were hillary clinton and bill clinton had cheated on you?" - ohmygosh!)

And yes I learnt a lot in my classes, lots more during the exams (when we really studied) but there are some core skills like -ability to work in a team, ability to act goofy, ability to approach new people (yes I was born and brough up as a shy girl unless VRCE happened), ability to tolerate untolerable people (still working on that) and ability to make new people feel at home (after bullying them to the hilt) - that I learnt only from these extra-cirricular activities.


But as morpheus said - fate has its own irony - none of these activities are part of my resume today!

food for thought - North America versus India

Overheard:
In India and China everything is possible but everything is hard.
In North America there are things that are not possible but everything is easy.
That's the choice you need to make.

A nice song after a long time - incidentally this is number one in India (again overheard):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY_9Lc0v1Gs&mode=related&search=

What's the equation dude?

What the heck - I slog day in a day out - I see the scale going down - 115 - 114.6 - 114 - 113.6 - 113.4 and then it is 113. Wow! 2 pounds in 4 days. And then one temptation - one dinner out (that too vegan and with the skewed respective appetite dividing the bill by 1/2 didnt seemed fair (well it's my hard-earned money and that was a huge bill)) and that's it - its back to 115. What's the deal - how does it work - can't debug it - is there a neural net there (hell'lo!).
Well since the day I was mentally born - I have these two issues - that I am overweight and that I have a bad hairstyle.
For today, let's just talk about issue one. And for it I credit my classmate (MB) in 10th when we were having some height weight ratio determination - for my weight (which at that that time was same as it is now) - he had exclaimed - "Girl's mein highest". At that point it sounded as if it was something like a "aakashvani"(I am sure I saw some lightening also up there...).
Losing weight is not impossible - have done that once - and constantly do that in intervals- but this time just don't feel motivated. I mean the last successful attempt was when I was below 18. Now I am wiser (before saying anything remember that you dont know how wise I was at 18)- Well - if I lose weight - I am not going to change my wardrobe (will continue to wear my oversized jackets and jeans). I think I am fairly active (except for mandatory 9 hours of sleep), my friend's car will still accomodate me as the 5th passenger, my insurance rate, my house rent etc etc will not change, nor will my coding style. I don't have to worry about gaining weight, rather I will save myself from future disappointments incase I later gain weight.
Infact I think there are advantages of being over-weight - one being getting rid of the fear that you will be overweight coz dude (dudette) you already are (its all about having the security of having the best case equal to worst case)! You can poke fun at all those anoeroxic self-weight-obsessed girls (pamper your alter-ego that is). And well the biggest one being- people who really love you will have more of you :).

P.S - Told ya - shouldn't have gotten me drunk.

Friends may come and go ...

But sisters are forever ...

Call from cherry -
"Oh aapke 11 baj gaye hain kya? Arre bahut late ho gaya"

Are we Alone ?

On of my friends in Pune (yes I have friends from Pune too - what do you think) once told me - "we are alone in life in our most heart-felt moments". His words never sounded more true ... though at that time it sounded contrary to the life I had - crowded - I had wondered for a long time - "Are we humans alone?" - aren't we social animals - part of a fabric - don't know whether we are alone may be yes - are we independent - well ...

On a related note - today in office A and L said that they saw a flying saucer (UFO category) outside the cafeteria - "Well again -are we humans alone?"

thought for the day

Everyone is dispensable ... but maybe not replacable...

2nd Nov 2006 in India

One of my very close friends is getting married - how I wish I could be there with her :(

hey wassup

A typical conversation:
"hey dude - Wassup"
"hey - Wassup"
(And no matter how much you are tempted to answer - "the ceiling" - you end the conversation there)
Well not very long ago - actually a year ago when I was new in US - I didnt know the right answer to this question - So used to say what I thought was the right answer. So a typical answer from my end was:
"You know I am looking for an apartment but I am not sure where to look and do you leave in east side and I want an apartment that is close by so that I can go easy on buying a car for myself so soon .."
and by that time the person would have either completely gone bored or disappeared. And then I would wonder - why are they asking me wassup if they really don't wanna know wassup!
And then I was told (by my inner voice) - "You know what - no one really cares about what your problems in life are because that's what they precisely are- your problems" - so next time when people asked "Wassup" I would say - "Its a beautiful day and the sun is bright".
And the other guy would go - "yeah and I went with my wife for fishing and the fish in that pond was x kgs heavy" (awright- he said x pounds)
And I would go "he he he he he he, he he he he he he" (this is called a fake laughter)(Just an unwanted tip - if you dunno what to say - just laugh - no wonder why I laugh so much - what did you say - he he he he he he, he he he he he he- okay got it ;) ).
So anyway as the days passed by - my inner voice had another suggestion for me - "You know what before the person asks wassup and you start wasting your creative juices on how to describe the weekend weather - you ask wassup first". So now the tables were turned:
The first person I saw, I said - "Hey" and he said "hey" and before that completed I said wassup and guess what he replied as - "wassup"! and from there evolved the most efficient protocol of greeting people :
"Wassup"
"Wassup"
God knows what happened to our simple old fashioned "Hi".

socha na tha ...

A movie that came and went but got noticed - at least by me for being so sweet cute and dealing with psychology of a innocent mind in a very fun and cute way ...
I also love all the songs of this movie -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63_xVnMvmpk&mode=related&search=

question

should i move out or should I stay put?

Addendum -
I was doing apartment search when I wrote this found hampton is 1000 (but it is not my fav - to be polite) and parks is 995 (again not my fav) - so was thinking should I stick to my current apartment adagio or move out.

this post

is dedicated to all those who forgot their lunch at home and couldn't find any decent company to have lunch with and are struggling with their slippery pasta on their desk..

happy diwali

Nothing can beat the excitement of getting a call from the relatives and talking to people ranging in age from 5 to 65. Though - conversation with everyone is limited to 4 sentences:
"Happy diwaali"
"Kya kar rahee hai"
"India Kab aa rahee hai"
"Le mausi(badee maami/mama/choti maami/chiku/chutki/...) se baat kar"
The call demonstrates round robin scheduling in its full glory. I also love the fact that everyone talks real loud - coz we have called america - and the excitement is infectious and so I talk back pretty loudly as well (which I do in normal case too but well).
Today the best question came from my 5 year old cousin(girl) who asked in the cutest voice ever - "wahaan raat ho rahee hai kya abhi?"

Has it ever happened that a phone call has taken you to a place where you have been before - and you are reminded about everything - people - the house - the color of the tubelight - the same dining table - the smell of the kitchen - tv playing somewhere -the sound of the cooler ...Calls like these just get me in touch with so much innocence and love - a full family about whom I almost forget about in my day-to-day life...

Feedback on my blog

So the reviews are out ...I scanned through all my mails that talked about my blog. Here are some of the comments that have made long lasting impression either because of the content or because of the commentator him/herself.

Asim - Don't think so much. I am getting worried
JK - Nice blog
Saurabh - You have a blog?
Kamra - tera blog ek dum timepass ho gaya hai aajkal :-) ..
D - Like arati I don't think too much in life.
K - Interesting stuff in your blog.
Asim - Stop writing your blog - stay away from your computer if you have no work.
Saurabh (after reading it) - Isko kaam do re koi.
Kamra - (second thoughts) (am making that out from ur blogs, u sound angry/frustated/cross/unhappy/ or what not over something) - followed by his advice -"you should get married"
V - My life is so hopeless I am reading your blogs
Asim- Ok, atleast stop writing you blog for next 20 days.

Every word mentioned above is true.

Fall colors ...

10th Oct 2006

2 teams
****** LOC
****** emails
****** useless emails
** useful emails
1 * **** *****
1 *********
* night outs
** slacking days
** weekends in office
*** coffees

1 year in MS

simple mantra of happy living

Give you best. Never expect!

people and web pages

Disclaimer 1- Digressing from usual topics
Disclaimer 2 - One of my sunday night (impending monday morning) insanities...

Just was thinking about web pages was wondering if the same equations come into play while assigning authority to a page as they come while we assign authority to a person in our society..Let's think about it:
1) Sphere of influence - People who have larger sphere of influence (a successful social worker (Mother Teresa) or an successful enterpreneur- Ambanis) - are the people who are weigthed higher. You know them because they are the people who matter to a lot of people - Similarly web pages who are being linked to from lots of pages are perceived to be important by page rank algorithm.

2) "Known to be good" - At some point these people had earned name and the brand name is continuing - especially true in India where a well-known family is always a well-known family. It is easy to know who they are as we always knew who they are (example - We always knew Princess Diana). Similarly we have known good web pages - wikipedia, microsoft.com etc

3) Junk - Though every person is useful for atleast one person (dude - himself, dudette - herself) - they are the set of the people whom the remaining other set detest - these could be chors, roberrers or beggars (believe it or not in today's world poverty is sin) - while it is easy to identify the last category, it is difficult to identify the conmens. And yes these category of people map to our junk pages - some of them harmful, some of them them useless. Some easily identifiable - some you will never identify.

4) Middle class - This is my kinda category - these are the people - not exactly junk (they believe so) and definitely not the most influential people in the society (and they know so). They might/might not be important for the small set of people who know them. What elevates them from junk - we don't know - is it the fact that they are good( 2 am friends) or is it a larger sphere of influence (big gangs), or is it some latent attribute we are unaware of. Are they still junk - we don't know that too. And that is the category where most of the web pages fall- middle class.

And there lies the challenge of a good ranking algorithm - how do we order all these middle class pages...tough job if you ask me.

6th Oct 2006 -

1 car - 3 scratches
9 cuisines - 1 takila shot
1 India trip - 2 solo journeys ..
2 teams - 1 big project
4 skirts - 2 tank tops
10 lipsticks - 1 DKNY watch
0 affairs - 0 scandals

1 year in US ..

The pleasure of having a free coffee ...

..and the guilt of it ... jogged for 45 mins in gym today...

Ate in a chinese buffet today in the afternoon (with A-B-Y - 3 diff pple from 3 different countries - Russia, US, China resp)- unlike in Indian buffet they come and serve you on your table and note the dishes you are taking so that you are charged accordingly...messed up with chopsticks - sushi is fine with chopsticks but not these huge stuff.
Right now eating kesar pista icecream that I got from Indian store.

Wow I am sleepy.

line of the day

A(angry mode) to S- I am too good for my own good
S to A- take copyright of that line better still write in your blog

3 golden rules of giving a good presentation

1) The audience should be convinced that you are a good authority on the topic you are presenting. They should believe that you know more than them.
2) The audience should understand what you are talking about.
3) You can sacrifice 2 for the sake of 1.

happy dussera

:).Invitation by bama for dussera dinner tonight - she has made kheer :).
and I have also got pooran poli (http://www.surfindia.com/recipes/pooran-poli.html) for lunch (just co-incidence).
Addemdum - today is gandhi jayanti also...

"types" of friends

Well today I am calling my "married" friends (triple Rs) for dinner. It is a bit more effort than calling normal friends because they can differentiate between good food and bad food (incidentally all my food cooked today is not that good - did too much experimentation:().
Well here is my type-list of friends:
- "Married" friends - they always come in even number unless they have kids. Generally come on time and leave on time. Basic requirements is that you need to get along well with both husband and wife and the kid should not hate you. Their availabilty is highest on Sat nights. If you visit them remember to take a bottle of wine and if they visit you remember to cook at least 3 course meal. Yes and please clean your apartment.
- "Rich" friends - These are the friends who have million dollar mansions overlooking golf course and lake. They are more or less normal people except that be prepared to be awed by their richness. If you go out to eat with them then be prepared to shell out at least 30-40 bucks. They never come to your place.
- "Hep" friends - These are the cool dudes and hot chicks. You have to wear your best - clothes and attitudes - to hang out with them. You should be able to talk about latest fad and best perfumes. You never cook indian food for them - olny exotic stuff. And yeah be prepared to have one wine bottle in your house if you are calling them over.
- "Office" friends - They are the friends whom you meet in the hallway, kitchen or cafeteria. They are your friends as long as you are in the office. They are mostly not in your group but understand what you are working on. They are not married (if they are then they enter the category of married friends). As a thumb rule I do not call these people to my apartment - no specific reason. As another thumb rule - I always tell them "I will call you to my apartment sometime". Incidentally they are the most dependendable group if you want to go out for dinner on a weekday night. They can help you with your RAS certificate renewal or guide you about debugging certain things at your work.
- "long distance" friends - These are the friends in US - you call (phone call) them on and off on weekends. You promise them that you will visit them in the next major holidays and they promise you vice versa :). They are the ones whom you know for long - long before you came to US. And yes you discuss your life's issues with them.
- "India" friends - Friends in India - twice in year phone calls - on respective b'days that is. And if no phone calls then twice in year mails. You be in touch through emails and orkut. The email activity pattern is essentially bursty. You don't mail for long then one of you mails saying that you are too busy in life and then you catch up on everything and then again there is a lull. They were your best friends at some point in your life and you are sure that once you get back to India you can catch up and resume being the best of friends sharing every significant and insignificant things.
- catch "..." friends/core friends - These are your core group of friends. They can come to your apartment without notice and vice versa. You need not clean your apartment for them. They will agree to eat plain dal and rice with papad. Most dependable category if you want to eat at home on a weekday/weekend. These are 2 am friends. You call them when you have an accident or when your doctor is sucking blood out of you. They are not married(else they will be part of married friends). They will drop/pick you up from airport. And yeah they are the ones you reserve your friday nights for ...

Bass bahut ho gaya.

Friday nights ...

They never had a special meaning to me - I have worked before but friday night was no different than any weekday night. In iitk, Friday night monday night sunday night - wat's the difference - we were in lab all the time.
It's only in seattle that friday night has started having a very special meaning to me. Some thumb rules of friday night:
- At 8 pm we have no idea what we are gonna do that night
- We eventually eat out (people count not less than 8)
- We watch a movie that more than half of us (to be conservative) have seen and are highly recommending (people count no less than 10) (unless of course on very rare occasions we goto theatre too).
- We never start the movie before 12 am.

I had lunch outside with few office folks (a full-blown buffet) but decided to succumb to have dinner at Indo-chinese place here and well I don't regret it at all inspite of the long wait and noisy surrounding.
And today we watched "Andaaz apna apna" something which we all had seen - some of us has seen it 10 days ago. I remember watching this movie few months ago in downtown at A's place and today A himself insisted that we watch that movie again.
And though during the movie I, G3, Skyler had our share of naps (skyler even snored) we all woke up for the climax. And well eventually I realize that it is not the food, nor the movie that defines the friday night entertainment. The fact that we all are together and having fun in company of people where we can be whomever we are, say things before thinking, command our whims, laugh at our own silly jokes, just lie on the couch with the legs on the table, be part of the conversation without saying any word, or sabotage the conversation with just our point of view, poke fun at a person without any guilt nor fear, or have their attention and concern when we have a scratch in our car - defines our friday night entertainment ...

scene 2

Don't even want to talk about scene 1

Nurse:"Wow that is lot of blood to take out. Do you pass out generally when you give blood?"
Voice in the head: "Let's find out"
Nurse:Let's try your left hand
Pokes one needle -"oops nothing coming out - let me poke it again" - pokes again - "hmm still not working - you are dehydrated" - pokes again - still no blood comes out - "not your lucky day huh?"
Voice in the head : "Tell me about it"
Nurse : "Let's try your right hand"
Pokes.
Nurse : "wow - finally its coming out - but it is very slow -you are very dehydrated. how many glasses of water did you have today?"
I : "I just had orange juice."
Voice in the head : "with lots of pulp"
Nurse : " Oh you should drink lots of water - especially today when you come for lab test"
Voice in the head : "Sorry didn't see you in my dreams last night so didnt know we were meeting today"
After a long pause -
I : "How much blood are we taking?"
Nurse : "5 testtubes - she is asking a lot out of you."
Voice in the head :oh
Nurse : " Are you feeling like fainting."
Voice in the head :no
Nurse : "Are you feeling okay"
Voice in the head :well..
Nurse : "There we go we are on our last one"
Voice in the head :ok
Nurse : "Once you get home drink lots of water"
Voice in the head :ok
Nurse : " And not just for blood tests but also generally drink lots of water"
Voice in the head :ok
Nurse : "Lots of people have fainted when we take out so much blood - remember always drink lots and lots of water"
Voice in the head : "ok - shutup"

P.S- presentation got postponed by 2 weeks ...

home alone

Am on a self-imposed exile - wanted to prepare for my presentation (at least start preparing for it) and thought if I continue to party my crazy way I will never get down to it. And though I was alone in my apartment on Sat from only 5 pm I realized how difficult it has become for me to stay alone at house (when was the last weekend eve when I was alone at my place?). Next day too, though I went for lunch at d's (watched the football too - I think seahawks are good at passing but their running needs TO improve :P) then to trader joes (got sushi) and mayuri (got pooram puri - ever eaten such a combination) and then P was here for some chai - by night inspite of having some good work to do I got really bored of my own company (and I thought I was an interesting person). Nonetheless I continued to work ..the following lines never sounded more true ...

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

I can't believe I took this task up - inspite of having such a big fear of public speaking - am only fearless at public blogging - that's why I am - a half baked cookie - (finally managed to use my blog title somewhere - will explain it in detail someday - gotto get back to the work my Will is forcing me to get back to.)

Failure to bend the spoon

A community in orkut:
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=8122855

"This is a community for all people who tried to bend a spoon with their minds like the little girl in Matrix but failed to do so. The failure is attributed to lack of being a girl(things bend easily for you when you are a girl),any expertise on the matter,lack of governement funding or the pure ill luck that drives your life."

I know the owner of this community since he was born - seems like the kid has grown up ...

You know you really haven't figured out things in life when ....

- Every morning you struggle to find your car keys. And if it is not your car keys then it is your home keys and if it is not your home keys then it is your office batch.
- You know you have 6 pair of socks but you can spot only 1 because you are wearing them and there is no trace of rest of the pairs anywhere.
- Ditto for the glasses and cups in your house.
- You never find your scissors when you need it but you know you had seen it when you were looking for your car keys.
- Your tea strainer not just blocks the tea leaves but also the tea.
- You go to safeway and buy potatoes thinking that you don't have one and when you come back you see that you have a sack of it and it is onions that you wanted.
- Similar confusion between ginger and green chillies.
- Yet you never use green chillies in your food.
- Your frozen vegetable packets cross the expiry date before you even opened them.
- Ditto for altoids you have in your car...
- You look frantically for your sports shoes all over the house and then you find it in your car trunk.
- You have a presentation to give to entire group this wed and you still haven't figured out what to talk about.
- You decide to have a relaxed early friday one week so decide to cook at home and chill and end up calling 6 friends at your place, watching movie, going to downtown, getting drunk, dancing in the pub, shouting on the streets, raiding your friend's house and taking away all his fav paintings and books (taking advantage of the fact that he is drunk too)and coming back and sleeping at 4.
- You have to go to a house warming party (time 12 pm) and you think it is at night while it is a lunch invitation.
- And the party is now ...

email signatures

What's up with people having email signatures. I mean what's the point dude! You saw a movie or you read a book, probably surfed on the internet and you liked something you read - you are enlightened - congratulations. I couldn't be happier for you. Let's celebrate - let's read it aloud, let's make banners, let's stick it up on the bedroom ceiling and bathroom doors, let's call mamma .. and then let's stop at that. Don't make me read that crap everytime I have to read anything from you.
I have mails from people in my inbox and if I sum the signature sent and sum the useful content (- the term useful is debatable) the size of the signatures would simply supersede the size of the useful content(and let me reiterate the term useful is debatable).

Well I stand guilty here - I myself had a bunch of signatures myself. Now to remember some (may be I should rank them in the order in which they tortured people):
1) "Don't sit at the edge of your seat - get over it" - What if the recipient was my prof.?
2) "If I am doing what I am doing then what am I doing" - what is that - an optical illusion- this is the crappiest and most embarassing of of all - but this was before I was mentally born so I can excuse myself for it.
3) "I was born intellligent but then I got educated" - That explains why you are so dumb. Anyways you lost on both counts if you ask me.
4) "The alchemist inspired-
"What is the world's biggest lie - the boy asked completely surprised"
It is that at some point in our life we lose control of our life ....blah blah ... - that is the worlds's biggest lie" -
If you are making me read this big signature then I guess I have lost control over my life and I don't think that is the world's biggest lie.
5) "Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes - that way you will be a mile away from them and you will have their shoes" - aha that explains your big shoe collection.
6) "It is now proven that the moon is not demonstrably there unless you see it" - Duh? What? Who?
7) My current signature: " Don't let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - so girlie what are you upto ;)?

jeene ke ishare

One of my fav songs (thanks ND for sending me its link in youtube)

Video + audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM4jR36H3Wo
Only audio - http://www.dhingana.com/albums.php?value=MzA3
Only lyrics - http://www.hindilyrix.com/songs/get_song_Jeene%20Ke%20Ishare.html

Beautiful lyrics and good picturization. Do listen to it if you are at home and not working.

Wanderer

Are we all wandering in this world - moving along - understanding something, assuming something, questioning a lot of things? Are we all nomads?

I move from one end to another,
But do I see the ends ...
When did I start, when will it end
Am I the ghost of this body
Or just a body...

Its dark and narrow
But I also feel the light
Its neither the sun nor the moon,
It's color has white
Or the lack of it...

Busy people make the walls of my passage
Have they reached their destination?
Or are they yet to start?
Are they moving?

I am none of them,
Or just like one of them ?
I can hear them all the time,
But I cant listen to them,
And they are there everywhere,
I am glad I am not alone,
But am I on my own ?

I am walking,
I dont know when to stop
Right now, I cannot ...
I want to reach my destination
Have I already reached it ?

I continue to walk
Why don't I feel tired ?
I don't want to look back,
But I can't see too much ahead, I want to see,
My one step leads to another and then to another
Is my every step only for the next step ..
I am moving through this passage
Is this passage made with my movement ?
Are these people making way for me,
Or I am here to walk along their way?
Can I pierce these people ... make my new way?
Will I find a new passage ... or will I lose my only passage ?
I want to reach my destination,
Is my destination I ?


This poem was written a while ago (thanks JK for reminding me abt it - I had lost it somewhere and finally found it in one of my inbox.
...must admit MB's following hindi translation is much better!


Hindi Translation by Milind Bhangar :)

Phirta raha hoon ek sirey sey doosrey,
par kya dikhta hai mujhey ant(end),
Kab shuru kiya, kab khatam hoga!!!
kya mein jism ki rooh hoon,
ya ek jism,jiski bisat nahi....
Kuch andherey aur patley rastey,
Mahsoos karta hoon par roshni,
Na woh chand hai na sooraj,
jiska rang hai shwet...
ya phir, kuch nahi....
har koi banata hai ek deewar mere rastey..
kya mili hai unko apni manzil??
ya, abhi shuruat baki hai...
kya woh kooch kar chukey hai apni manzil ki taraf?
haan, shayad mein unmein sey hoon..
shayad nahi!!!

Sunta hi rahtey hain zamaney walon ko..
magar aawaz nahi padti hai kaanon mein
woh hain, woh wahin hai,
haan, mein akeyla nahi hoon..
magar mein apney mein nahi hoon..

mein chalta jaa raha hoon,
kyonki, mein rukna nahi janta,
kya mein apni manzil par pahunch gaya...
ya, thodi door aur ...
mein chalta chala jaa raha hoon,
shayad thakna meri fitrat nahi,
mein peechey nahi jana chata,
dikh nahi raha kuch bhi ab mujhey, jo dekhna chata hoon..
ek manzil doosri ki taraf ishara karti hai...
us rah par nikal pada hoon,jo shayad mere liye hai,
yam mein uskey liye,
kya mujhey inkey saath jana hai,
ya. ye mere saath chalengey...
maaloom nai!!!

india getting tech savvy

proof - parents got internet at home and I got an email from them.

The mail had the subject:
"WE HAVE GOT THE INTERNET"

And the content:
"Please send all your confedential matter on this ID so that we can read and tell every one."

..and that's how I started my morning. Lotsa folks wonder how I honed my pj cracking skills . Guyz it's in the blood :)

things of the day

In chronological order:

Request of the day - Please do not call me at 6 am. And incase you do please do not call me back at 7.30 am
Early morning Dream/nightmare of the day - I am a king and my fort is attacked and I have to run and I am looking for something called "gupt darwaaza"
Luxury of the day - Snoozing til 8.20 am
Wish of the day - Someone make me my morning cuppa of chai (with lots of ginger please)
Experiment of the day - From a friend V - "Not believing in God gives me more confidence and control in life" - so not believing in God today. "You don't exist - Did you hear that?"
Quote of the day - "Girls are not sexy, clothes ar sexy" - Courtesy Saurabh
Aha moment of the day - "Oh so my clothes are not sexy that's why ..."
Absent mindedness of the day - Forgetting my meticulously packed lunch box at home
Pity of the day - I eating my lunch (of palak dal and rice with tomato pickle- yes I drove back home and got my lunch box) and the person next to me eating bland pasta with too much marinara sauce ..(poor guy :( )
Concern of the day - The new London Fog coat that I bought and am wearing today is too long :(
Charity of the day - Smiled and said hi to someone who did not respond to my email
Surprise of the day - Went for 15 min meeting - came back to see M interviewing someone in my room. I know he was envious of my single office but no interviews please.
Car of the day - G3's cute new car
Becar of the day - AG without a car for a while - chotu thand shuru hone waali hai
Timepass of the day - Writing this particular blog entry
Realization of the day - I think that I think too much.
Line of the day - The simple joys of life, of taking a moment to appreciate the beauty around us, of going beyond our inhibitions and experiencing the unknown, of looking into a stranger's eyes and not shirking away, of meeting familiar faces and connecting with their lives, of living life in that moment to its fullest, is what really makes the days of our lives truly memorable.- courtesy abhi's blog
Blog of the day - Ghar se door
Shayari of the day (taken from sumit's blog - did you delete it? - i liked the smiley at the end of it):
"Bahut khoobsurat hai har baat lekin,
Agar dil bhi hota to kya baat hoti :)"
Song of the day - "She will be loved" Maroon5
Lyrics: "Beauty queen of only 18 she is
had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else..."
Hope of the day - I will go to gym after this.

how long has it been?

Summer is over and fall is round the corner - there is a certain chill in the air - so time to abandon daily walks (till old redmond road - and that is far 35th street to 75th street) and get back to my gymming routine. And whoa - it had been 3 months now almost since I had given up the gym (and wonder how many pounds this equates to).
Things that changed in last 3 months:
1) The carpets are new and shining with more intrinsic design - fairly royal (infact indian royal)
2) The gym clothes are tighter :( - time for a new set.
3) The women's workout room is wiped out! That was surprise for me.
4) Mary, Aram, paramesh were not around
5) The chattering russian(?) gang was not in the Jacuzzi.

Things that didnt change:
1) Meeting atleast one person and having a formal chat.
2) I getting tired and giving up after 30 mins :(
3) Reading People's and O magazine while working out and being updated with latest fashion and yeah gossips
4) Seeing lots of S's friends (me knowing them (as I saw the fotos) but they not knowing me)
5) Seeing the punjabi girl working out diligently but not losing any weight.

Current Song - I had to fall to lose it all,
But in the end it doesn't even matter
(linkin park)
Current State - Remembering as a kid my bro playing this song in infinite loop early morning and I yelling at him to turn it off.. well not a bad song :)

If ... (poem by rudyard kipling)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it

Please vote

No not for microsoft women's committee leader (who else is getting spammed for this) but for this sketch. My ex-manager is planning a house warming and I am thinking of giving this gift to him


This sketch for him beause i see him as a warrior. . Should I give it to him or do you think he will hate it...Please vote - you have till thu eve for this...

(Click on the foto to enlarge it) I will improve the right hand of this guy - became too small due to shortage of space :P

Picture courtesy : dami
Current song - mein hun don - CD courtesy - dami
Curesnt state - sleepy

ocean shores

Long drive, bright sun, cold water, big waves ...
Trip to the pacific ocean shore

bad hair cut

Well this post is dedicated to all the people who have had a bad haircut once in their life AND were affected by it (mentally).

I remember as a kid I always had what lots of people would call a - "boy" cut. My doting mother called it diana cut. She was very particular about the fact that I look prim and proper and took great efforts in making sure that my haircut is done at the best beauty parlour in town. Mind you I never went to any aunty beauty parlour opened by a neighbour who had done some "shehnaz hussain beuaty treatment course". Well also remember that once she was busy and my dad took me and left me at one of those aunty parlours and said he will pick me up after 1 hour(He would prefer to be caught dead rather than being caught at a beauty parlour). Well I remember coming out with a sad face and my dad noticing my hair to be really badly cut. That was probably the first and last time in his life when he entered the beauty parlour to fire her (which he could not - and only shyly remarked "kaise baal kaat diye meri beti ke" (how did you cut my daughter's hair)). And well the beauty parlour lady instantly said "sorry". And that was the end and after that I and my dad came out. I remember for lot of days my cousin making fun of that hairstyle as "sorry cut" and me with all the complexes of a 14 year old girl thought that it was the biggest calamity that could strike any individual.
The next time it happened to me was in "chic beauty parlour". It is the best one in Nagpur and I still go to it. But once out of love she told me that she will give me a hairstyle that urmila matondkar has in the movie "bhoot" (ghost). Well the result was a hairstyle that urmila had in the movie after she was possessed. Funnily enough two of my friends V and K liked it went to the same place and came back looking equally frightening.

Today I realize that half of the people in your life are so self-absorbed that they do not even care how your hair looks. However if I have a bad haircut even today (being a girl (ahem woman) and that too with a reasonable vanity) I think I will just tell my manager that I will work from home till my hair grows back. Seems like the complexes haven't gone as yet!

Current song- app jaisa koi zindagi mein aaye
to baat ban jaye ;)
Current state- exhausted after a long day trip to ocean shores
Special mention - AG who came in the road trip and had a bad hair cut

keeping accounts...

The ego :
"I didnt email you coz you didnt reply to the last email i sent 37 days ago ..."
"I didnt call coz you didnt return mine when i last called you 2 days ago, thought you are too busy..."
"I won't have dinner with you coz you refused to come out the two consecutive times I asked you ..."
"I didnt wish you on your birthday even though I remembered it coz you didnt wish me.."

And the guilt:

"I have to go out with her coz I already refused twice! ..."
"I have to call them for dinner coz I had dinner at their place already once."
"Oh i know that person called me twice I gotto call back"
"Oh no he always reply to my email instantaneously and I keep dragging and dragging"

Don't we all keep accounts sometime or other? I don't know how many instances of these account are active in our tiny minds and with how many people ... And well these are never expressed explicitly..its well-understood by both the concerned parties.

And right now - I can actually list down the people I need to call/email becasue it is "my turn" and get a list of people who are supposed to email me first before I send my next email...

I keep it. I know a lot of my close friends who keep it too. What is it? Is it ego? Is it an excuse to not make extra efforts to get the relationship going? Or is it just punishing the other person in your own cold way for not being accomodating enough. I don't know..

I was once told:
"Life mein kabhi khud se jyada kisiko bhaav mat dena - this is something you owe to yourself" (Never give more weightage to anyone than you give yourself)

Well that is true - however in this scenario - there are certain things you do owe to yourself and well making extra efforts to be in touch with someone you care is probably one of them..right?

Current song : Sadkon mein nikla - tanha akela
saath mere kaun hai" (Lucky ali)

Current state: Cooked beans and Kadhi (burnt the beans) - wondering

mount reinier hike

Location:
http://www.nps.gov/mora/

Movie review - kabhi alvida na kehna

Saw this movie two weeks ago in totemlake theatre from 11 pm to 3.30 am.
The story is essentially about 2 people - 1 shahrukh khan who is married to a "good" friend of his (Preity Zinta) and is a passionate footballer. The other person is Rani Mujherjee who took 3 years of deliberation to marry Abhishek Bachchan (girl what were you thinking!) and gives a half hearted smile eventually when she gets married after being persuaded by Shahrukh(then a stranger to her) on a park bench. One thing they both come out knowing from the conversation is that they both really do not love their spouses but are just moving along with the flow.
Well the conversation distracts shahrukh so much that he ends up meeting with an accident and losing his footballer leg.
Cut to present - Shahrukh (very convincing and entertaining in his annoyed frustrated and sarcastic role which no one except me enjoyed :() feels inferior to his successful wife and Rani as a wife keeps trying all of abhishek's attempt to make out with her (girl what were you thinking!)..
The story is all about Rani and Shahrukh discovering a connection with each other, denying and admitting their love for eachother, feeling guilty for their straying and well eventually getting together. To make the dragging 3.30 min film fun(?)-filled we have shahrukh's kid who looks like calvin of calvin and hobbs (and yeah he is sweet) and a womaniser amitabh bachchan obsessed with kiron kher's butt and I am sure most of us wil not be really interestd in finding more about that.
The movie is watchable once for the performances. Preity looks old and I guess the director realized it and hence sidelined her completely and Abhishek looks gorgeous and yeah acts great too. Rani is good again but her character doesnt seem to be justified in hating abhishek. I agree that when you fall in love you just fall in love and there is no justification for it but what is the justification for hating someone who is so nice and understanding.


Anyways story not-withstanding I am glad that we finally have a main stream movie that shows that it is okay to fall in love at any point/ at any age in your life. Yeah we have a society out there but I think we should use it as a guideline however every individual has needs and desires and sometimes self-gratification can gain precedence over the rules laid down by the society. And it is okay.

Yeah one thing our hindi movies still have to learn is that career minded girls are not vamps. Its also okay to have desire to rise in life. Why are strong career minded guys heroes and strong career minded girls vamps? I think if a guy is not strong career minded and wants to slack in his life even then he can be a hero and similarly if a girl wants to work hard (dude being career minded is a lot of work) for herself she can be a heroine too. I mean lets not have 2-3 prototypes of people and try to fit everyone in it and draw conclusions. That is the thing about strict soceity rules. It tries to prototype you and makes you feel guilty if you are not one of their ideal bahus or ideal daughters.
Its way too judgemental.
At the end of the day a person's happiness is more important than the whole society's whim. What would you prefer - that a person pretends to be happy or that he/she really is ? Having said that, I am not completely discounting the rules laid down by the soceity because sometimes what you think is best for yourself might not actually be the best for you. But again - sometimes it might be and the individual should take the call and not the society.

The pleasure of having an unusal name

After a long sabbatical, writing a blog, converting it into daily diary, making it hidden for privacy, deleting it in knowing the futility of having the concept of "private blog" , writing diary (yup real book with papers), to being completely inert - today is the day when I have decided to restart my blog.


What pleased me is the fact that I got the url http://aratikadav.blogspot.com free and available. I have always heard people say things like:
"You spell your first name wrong"
"You are the only kadav I have seen in my lifetime"
"Our kids will have kadav surname coz they are anyways endangered species"
"A-r-a-t-i is not the right spelling"

Well all those remarks not-with-standing I get to have this name free whenever I want!