From all my heart.. :)

To all that's Apple...

2011-10-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

As a teenager, I had a strong fancy for Ipods and my heart always skipped a beat at the sight of one. Owning my first was synonymous to a style statement for me. As I look back today, Ipod has been my first acquaintance with the legendary Apple and the beginning of an era of love.

My Ipod love seems long long back as I pen this down on my MACBook but what has always always grown is my love with everything that’s Apple.

I loved the Ipod for bringing a difference in the way people listened to their music and loved it more when the nano came in all bright and sassy colors. I loved the glowing backlit Apple sign and the sleek design of MacBook. I was floored when Apple launched its first tablet, the Ipad, for not only its design but at the marvel of sheer simplicity Apple brings into its products. But more than anything, I have loved Apple computers and devices for a simple and strong reason-They work, always!!

Over the past two years, I have had the satisfaction of working on a machine which relentlessly works and does what I want it to do. Apple has been criticized for being too close, overpriced, changing and deprecating it’s own technology but there’s one thing Apple always delivered- A machine that never fails !!

Thank you Mr Jobs for giving me the pleasure of computing. Thank you for all the satisfaction and Thank You for everything that is suave and simple. As an engineer and a heartfelt connoisseur of the aesthetics you brought into Apple, I salute you.

R.I.P Mr Jobs. You will be missed !!

And my heart speaks….

2009-11-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

Right from the conception of this post, my mind or rather heart is teeming with thoughts. So, let’s see what comes out. A prelude from the classic ‘Notting Hills’ to what follows…

A leading American actress Anna Scott accidentally meets an attractive, but unassuming British travel book seller William Thacker .Against all odds, they fall in love. Fame however gets in the way and they’re drawn apart. My heart breaks. I don’t just love these candyfloss romances, I believe in them. It’s always dismal to see people in love get apart. Anyhow, William, just as is expected from a *man* wins his love by a candid outright proposal in a huge Press conference. Here’s an excerpt from movie….

P.R. Chief: Next question? Yes. You in the pink shirt. (pointing to William)

William: Uh, right. Miss Scott, are there any circumstances that you and he might be more than just friends.

Anna Scott: I hoped that there would be but I've been assured that there's not.

William: Yes, but what if...

P.R. Chief: I'm sorry. Just the one question.

Anna Scott: No. It's alright. You were saying?

William: I was just wondering what if this person...

Journalist: Thacker. His name is Thacker.

William: Right. Thanks. What if, uh, Mr. Thacker realized that he had been a daft prick and got down on his knees and begged you to reconsider if you would... indeed... reconsider.

Anna Scott: [pause] Yes. I believe I would.

William: That's wonderful news. The readers of Horse and Hound will be relieved.

As timid as I am towards public displays of affection, I as much long public admission of love. Nothing’s more ideal than being with a guy who could candidly open his heart out in a congregation, right in front of everyone. I remember when I was young; I used to loooove the tales of Cinderella, Snowwhite, and sleeping beauty. All these tales have a female protagonist, all passive characters, who are rescued by their prince charming. To think of it now, it’s a little weird. I don’t happen to remember any fairy tale apart from Hansel and Gretel where the female character is strong and independent. Yet, I have always adored these fairy tales!!
I am an educated independent girl, well capable of handling things on my own. Ever since I was little, I’ve been high on my self esteem and generally prefer to take care of myself..all by myself. I don’t feel the need of some Prince Charming to speak for me or rescue me. When it comes to emancipating women, I surely want to be in the vanguard. As an individual, I might be least rigid but when it comes to my ideals, ethics & respect, no compromises ever.
Nevertheless, when it comes to love, I’m particularly fine with men taking the lead. I’m as much a woman, who loves to be loved. I particularly, am a hopeless romantic. My heart melts when Raj gets hold of Simran’s hand and helps her get on the train in my all time favorite DDLJ.
This ironically, is nature’s oxymoron. Men might be from mars and women from venus; still they as much need each other. In the war between sexes, there can never be absolute winners, only a collusion between the enemies ;)
Hence, I tend to believe in these fairy tales and candyfloss romances, hoping against hope that a happily ever after do exists. It’s indeed possible if you base your relationship on mutual respect and realise that there’s no victory or defeat in love. And there should be no ego at all. Our male counterparts have got fragile egos and as women, we’ve got the heart and the will to protect it. So, rather than trying to seek equality with men, we should seek the power within us, the power of giving , nurturing and preserving. So, go on guys, I concur. Conquer the world, only to lay it down at our feet. :)

Life…by contrast

2009-11-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

It’s quite late at night, the air smells of onsetting winters and there’s an alluring chill in the air . I’m relinquishing the slow relaxing drive at this hour after having some gala time in TC. The silence is giving a delusion of stillness and I’m deeply immersed in my thoughts thinking how time flies, how fluid life is, out with the old, in with the new. My friend next to me has quietly dozed off and is in his own reverie as we reach the gate of our housing complex.

RWA of our area has kept a watchman at the gate for security reasons. He’s supposed to pen down the number of every vehicle which enters the complex after 10 o clock and then let it in. The watchman, wearing a light sweater to beat the slight wintery chill, too has reclined on his chair when the glare of my car’s headlights seize his attention. He stands up to note my car’s number, and then opens the gate to let me in. A street dog in his deep slumber , lying on the road, does not even bothers to look up.

I reach my home & my friend leaves for his. I climb on my bed, curl up in my quilt and doze off to sweet dreams. The watchman too would have reclined back on his chair only to be woken up by another glare or horn….

IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT

2009-10-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Sibbal has always been apprehensive about distressing students. The recent proposal by our HRD minister to introduce 85% cut off for IITs seems to disparage his own preachings.

Mr. Sibbal surely is more concerned about the whooping money that the coaching centers reap out of the whole education business. However, what we need to understand here is, students who are preparing for examinations like IIT JEE resort to coaching centers only because our education system itself lacks the ground infrastructure to reap in the basic concepts. The course content has not been revised/reshaped for years. Practicals are mostly namesake. Not even students, even the schools don’t take the boards seriously; assuming that students have their respective coachings for their guidance. What needs a reform here is the education system and not JEE examination system.

And well, every one seemingly wishes to blow their own trumpet. This proposal definitely doesn’t runs down so well with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who is more concerned about the incompetent class of students who manage to secure an admission in IIT, simply because they are blessed to born with some quota.

Five things which I love about diwali:

2009-10-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Meetha

I’m a self-confessed sweet-oholic. Undoubtedly best part about diwali is all the mouth watering sweets and delicacies; soft supple gulabjamuns, rich gujiya, my all time favorite kaju katli and the crispy moong dal halwa loaded with dryfruits. Lack of mom made delicacies this diwali was ofcourse disappointing but then it gave me a chance to do all that for her..things that shes been doing for me all these years. For you mom, A thousand times over J

Rangoli

I’ve been making rangolis on diwali since past 9-10 years now and the passion grows everytime I see a finished beautiful rangoli beaming in bright colors.

Diyas

Every nook and corner is illuminated on the eve of diwali, rightly referred to as the festival of lights. Adorning every corner of the house with beautifully carved earthern diyas is something that I looooooove.

The pooja together

I’m not someone whos piously religious but then I love the Pooja part because it brings us all together, and together we pray for all we aspire. A strange kind of tranquility dawns as it infuses a fresh tinge of optimism. Hope,indeed is a strange and powerful thing.

And last but not the least,

I love the proud look in papas eyes, on seeing my rangoli, the decorations, and all the hard work that goes for a sparkling diwali J

Chokhi Dhani- A mere deception?

2009-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

It’s Thursday morning, 9 A.M. and thanks to shutdown, I have the luxury of lazing around right now, curling my feet on my cosy bed. Life’s good (mostly) these days with lots of time to do the lot that I usually want to. I went on a short trip to Jaipur with my friends last weekend. Though, I did manage to enjoy owing to the company I had, the trip offered few major disappointments. A big spoilsport being Jaipur’s scorching heat, there was another bigger let down. The main item on our Jaipur itinerary was Chokhi Dhani- a much heard about place in Jaipur. Almost every now and then, I hear Delhi’s much of the elite heading towards this place and I well, was quite tempted to check this out. All that I feel about it now is that it’s evidently more of a fad than anything else.

Chokhi Dhani is a resort in Jaipur which tries to capture the cultural heritage and charm of Rajasthan and its village life. The question here is, why do we even need this? Ain’t places like Chokhi Dhani a dime a dozen in a country like ours which inherently is the “land of villages”. Even today, the Gandhian belief that villages should remain the main building block of Indian society stands so true. When roughly 750 million of India’s 1.1 billion population still continues to live in it’s 680,000 villages, Do we actually need these village kind setups?

I guess the only people who get actually benefitted by these places are it’s owners. The place is way overpriced and considering the crazy hordes of people who rush there every weekend, I bet, the owners have their hands, all in black. But what does it actually offers to an average middle class Indian like me?

Imagine the plight, a place jam-packed with minimum 1000 people, scorching heat, dust all around, and after literally an hour of waiting in a queue, I get to have the so called traditional Rajasthani food, which again was just average considering the other places that I tried in Jaipur.(Here’s a tip: We tried a place called LMD in Johri Bazaar. It did assuage the disappointment that Chokhi Dhani offered. ) By the time our turn came, half of the dishes were simply not available. It was evident that they were just not able to manage the large number of people who have turned up but still we had to pay a whooping 350 bucks per plate for a disappointing meal.

India is a land of diversities. With more than 29 languages spoken by more than a million native speakers, and radical cultural shifts every thousands of kilometers, India sure has lots to offer. I would like to see and experience every bit of it in it’s actual manifestation rather than by paying thousands of bucks to some rich businessman. The owners of Chokhi Dhani have surely done a great job in bringing multiple facets of Rajasthani culture at a single place. Such places do nicely mimic the whole village set ups but they can never capture the essence of India’s ethnicity.

A tale of two days.....

2009-04-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

A silhouette of mountains standing splendidly with all its grandiose, the majestic ganges flowing quietly amidst the rustic surroundings, a white sand beach next to the river, startling pebbles scattered meticulously all over the sand, and there I’m standing, a trifle entity, watching it all totally mesmerized. The serenity of the surroundings are seemingly bringing me closer to where I belong. It’s so quiet that I can actually hear the musical sound of ganges gushing through the rocks. I’m not dreaming!! This is nostalgia. It’s a consequence of my recent trip to Rishikesh for river rafting. The two days have perhaps been the most adventurous days of my life and I’m wondering where to start. Few excerpts from my unbelievingly intense encounter with nature.

We stayed on a beach camp in Byasi. There were small little tents lined up on a majestic sand beach. As I headed towards mine, a strange kind of serenity was settling somewhere inside me. The very thought of living in a tent was so enticing that I felt ecstatic, yet so much in control of myself. A little downside were the tent washrooms but as they say, “No pain No gain”. Living in a tent, by the river side was actually an amazing experience.

After having our breakfast, we embarked for rafting. Just to add few pieces of information here, Rafting is mainly done on WhiteWaters where the currently is bubbly, or aerated and unstable; and the frothy water thus appears white. Coming back to the buzz, 4-5 hours of Rafting were amazing thrill. As we maneuvered our way through the emerald green water and entered the rapids, the seemingly quiet river gradually manifested into brisk turbulent spurts. In a gist of moment, our raft was potently hit by the waves, leaving us all drenched and euphoric. I practically got my first glimpse of real thrill and was craving for more. Whenever, the flow was regular, all of us actually jumped into the cold river water and simply swam, floated. It was amazing. Floating in a vast river which has been flowing continuously for years as if I’m a part of this vastness. Made me feel kinda majestic. Anyhow, the most awe-inspiring part was cliff jumping towards the end of rafting. This was to jump from some 25-30 feet cliff straight into the water. Sounds remarkable ?Yeh! I did it :), though after minutes of mustering courage, but I actually did it…… !!

By the end of rafting I was so damn tired; I had my lunch and quietly dozed off to sleep. When I woke up, it was dark. I went outside and gosh!, I was completely spellbound by the starlit sky, silhouette of the mountains, moon gleaming on the river, rippling sound of water, lanterns shimmering in the dark and a camp fire right outside my tent. It was totally spectacular and romantic. I enjoyed the bonfire for some time and then along with some friends, went for a walk towards a rapid named ‘The wall’. Walking on the beach amidst the rocks in a starlit night had its own mystic charm.
Next day wasn’t as adventurous but was equally fun & enjoyable. I did rock climbing & rappelling. We did lots of water splashing, got ourselves drenched, clicked some amazing photographs, enjoyed a nice meal at Rishikesh , made a mess during the return train journey and reached Delhi around 12 o clock.
My two days filled with thrill and excitement were thus over leaving me with many wonderful memories to cherish….. all kudos to the unmatched thrill, serene and rustic surroundings, and most importantly, the spirits which each one of us had :)

A flash of epiphany………

2009-02-04T23:53:00.000-08:00

Another dry spell and here I’m, back again. I have again been ignoring my blog for some time. That’s because there are literally many things that are keeping me busy…I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking lately, a little paranoid at times and few epiphanies have dawned upon me. You might have an apprehension that this post is going to get too philosophical but relax, we’ll be reflecting on the mundane only. By the way, talking about philosophy, here’s an FYI….

We already have an answer to the ‘Ultimate Question’ of life, universe & everything. The answer is “42”. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Question itself is unknown ;)

Coming back to the point, 2008 has been a chaotic year. A wave of turbulence has steered the course of my life from being ecstatic to heavily tumultuous over the past one year. Life changed too fast. I embraced it. There, I had barely started feeling like a woman, enjoying the sudden shower of responsibilities and looking forward to a bright future. Suddenly, all the ‘single’ things were getting lost in oblivion. I had matured from the ‘Do you mind if I have your no.’ type conversations (and the numerous speculations which came with them),the spicy gossips to a laidback, a little aloof and a little more content life. And suddenly, life took a blizzard turn leaving me almost shattered. Looking back over the last one year in retrospection, there are few things primarily that I would like to mention.

Life is not fair(and I’m getting used to it)
What you see is what you get. We should accept people in our life as they are.
We all are used to living in our shells. We have our comfort zones comprising of family, friends, GFs, BFs etc. Relationships gradually become so crucial in our life that we start living for them. However, amidst everything, there’s one thing that we should never forget, to love ourselves, to live for ourselves.

Warning: Be careful to keep the ‘self’ away from the devil named ego.

We all aspire big things in life. Dreams like a promotion, a big car, a house by the age of 30, a perfect relationship seem to become the very purpose of our existence. However, these big things can and usually do go wrong. It’s very important then to find joys in small little things in life. Your job and your loved ones undoubtedly remain your prime focus but it’s equally important to find out and do things that you love. Look for things that make you passionate and fill your heart with a child like contentment. For once, do things without being concerned about their outcomes. It could be reading a nice book, tuning in to your favorite rhythm, to probably getting a spa at your favorite parlor. But Do, Love and pamper yourself :)

I have been doing a lot of ‘pampering myself’ lately and plan to continue with it. 2009 has few exciting things in basket. I generally don’t keep resolutions, but there are certain things that I’ve always wanted to do. This is the time to embark. I gradually plan to take things, one by one.

Dancing tops the list. I had always wanted to learn it formally and I’m totally on it. My jazz classes are going in full swing & I’m loooooving it.
Sketching is next. I hope to start soon
There’s one new thing that I’ve included in my wish list-Travel. The plan is to visit a new place every year. Let’s hope, this year, I do it soon.

One more thing which is getting the most of me lately is a television series ‘How I met your mother’- a light, humorous and totally engrossing take on relationships. For anyone & everyone reading this, do watch it. You’ll find it LEGEN-wait for it-DARY;)

I have my fingers crossed and I’m really looking forward to 2009. I hope not many things go wrong this year. Anyhow, I’m quite optimistic that even if they do, I’ll have strength to handle….ahhhh…still…how I wish God would be a little more kind:)

A lot can happen over coffee :)

2008-12-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

Here’s putting an end to a long dry spell of blog-rastination, I’m putting together few anecdotes on my little space, all sharing a common element, a facet which stands as a beaming witness to few intensely tender moments of my life, an entity which has been my companion in tough-trying times and a bystander to numerous fun-filled gatherings rumbling with giggles & laughter.
As you can very well judge from the title, it’s none other than Coffee-a widely-consumed stimulant beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Before I commence, three cheers for the same. Those who have been part of my ‘Coffee moments’ of course understand that it truly deserves the weightage that I’m giving to it, for those of you who feel its too much of a cliché, skim through the end & hopefully you’ll be able to empathize.

I recently read somewhere-Nothing inspires music much like the beauty of…er…a coffee bean. This has filled me with a fresh anticipation & I hope coffee beans are able to inspire me and someday I’ll be singing melodious symphonies at the top of my voice. The beauty & aroma of coffee beans might not have been able to elicit my musical chords yet but it do triggers a nostalgia in me & takes me back to some wonderful days at Grape City.
Coffee time, back in Grape City used to mean so much. For one, it gave us an excuse to take a break from the routine office work…..It also meant a congregation where we laughed our hearts out at mostly silly (but interesting) & occasionally intelligent conversations. The topics ranged from the most senseless PJs to some truly pioneering dreams & ahem….some intelligent talks…. I share the credits..!!;-) and How can I forget, Neeti’s diving adventures, the tales of our PG & the cruelty inflicted on us.
A series of IP messages used to propagate around 4 o clock. All of us gathered at GC coffee bar and there began a succession of chats & giggles amidst the aroma of freshly brewed coffee beans. The conversations used to last for as long as an hour at times & we all looked so forward to it each day….to catch on latest GC gossip, discuss movies, music, put across PJs and enjoy some witty remarks by the cuddly san..I guess I’m blabbering too much now. I shouldn’t be divulging more of our coffee table secrets….So…I’ll move on from here, saying Adios to good old GC days… :)

Diving deep down in the pages of history, let me quote an interesting folklore. The use of Coffee can be traced to as early as the 9th century, when it appeared in the highlands of Ethiopia. According to a legend, Ethiopian shepherds were the first to observe the influence of the caffeine in coffee beans when the goats appeared to "dance" and to have an increased level of energy after consuming wild coffee berries. I can’t testify the truth in it but coffee can be a great companion for people falling in love. To ask someone out for coffee can be classified as the most convenient excuse to meet. The kind of ambience that coffee shops usually offer, especially when devoid of usual hustle bustle, do mange to cast a trance on me. The deep, crispy aroma of Coffee that fills the air inspires romance….and I feel, accentuates the adrenaline rush, making the reverie more effective.

This is not all…..Coffee also means late night (or evenings to be more accurate) visits to Barista and all of us plunging headlong into a single Dark Temptation. It also means sitting conveniently on snug & cozy couches in Costa & discussing everything from shopping to boyfriends, laughing uncontrollably, sharing memories, thoughts, all of this made so much easy by the free and inspiring ambience, the effect of caffeine and the assorted music playing in the background.

Sigh….I can go on & on with my coffee time memories. So, for now, I’ll savor my coffee. Photograph by NickelBack is playing and I’m once more thinking of the memories that once were and many more that will be…

I'm flattered :-)

2008-11-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

It has been a long silent pause and I'm actually scared as hell to break it. So, while I gather the balls to hit 'Publish' for my next post...sometime soon....you can enjoy this nice piece of poetry that my friend Shelley wrote for me.....

It all begun long time back,
When growing with innocence, in us craftiness lack,
The day was special and so was my mood,
Obviously I was thrilled for first day of school.

Settled with the days formality chore,
Was silent observing life’ this new shore.
Among the crowd I found a warm heart,
Who came to me and become my pal,
A petite framed, shy and humble gal..

With passing time together we grew in life,
Together we took all good and bad strides.
May our friendship may not have been the best,
But for sure it was different from rest.
We met, we fought and separated with pain,
But destiny dont know y brought us together again.

May be God wanted us to hold together in life’ pace,
Today in my world she has a special place,
More than a friend today she means to me,
Facing life so strongly she is an inspiration for me,
A cheerful smile and strength to endure,
She is a tough girl for sure.

May god bless you Yachna dear,
Blessing our friendship year by year

Hey Shelley, thank you so much for this sweet & humble gesture. You rock :-)

The Razor’s edge- W. Somerset Maugham

2008-09-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

This book cannot be characterized as a must read but surely accounts for a pleasant reading. The most alluring aspect of this novel is a truly simplistic yet sophisticated narration by Maugham. His ability to put thoughts into words is quite crude keeping the reader naturally involved right through the end. It’s not some intrigued plot that keeps you hooked but it’s a strange resemblance with ‘life’ that you want to go on reading. This book is primarily about a young man named ‘Larry’ & his quest for god. His spiritual odyssey takes him all over the world. His experience & encounters present the reader with poignant views on the very existence of being & soul, the aatma and it’s oneness with the Absolute. In the course of narrating Larry’s journey, Maugham gives a fascinating glimpse of love & passion via Isabel’s eternal longing for Larry and his love. I have picked up some phrases/quotations from the book that I’ve really liked. So, I’ll put an end to my blabbering here while you get a clear picture of the book as I quote Mr. Maugham…..

(Isabel’s last meeting with Larry before she got married & Larry started his quest)
“Larry had reserved a table at Maxim’s. We had lovely things to eat, and we had champagne. We talked our heads off, atleast I did, and I made Larry laugh. One of the things I’ve liked about him is that I can always amuse him. We danced. The heat & the music & the wine-I was getting a bit light headed. I felt absolutely reckless. I danced with my face against Larry’s and I knew he wanted me. God knows I wanted him. I had an idea.”

“World isn’t a creation, for out of nothing nothing comes; but a manifestation of the eternal nature”

“I think its all stuff and nonsense to say that there can be love without passion; when people say love can endure after passion is dead they’re talking of something else, affection, and kindliness, community of taste & interest, and habit. Especially habit. Two people can go on having sexual intercourse from habit in just the same way as they grow hungry at the hour they’re accustomed to have their meals. Ofcourse there can be desire without love. Desire isn’t passion. Desire is a natural consequence of sexual instinct & isn’t of any more importance than any other function of the human animal. Unless love is passion, it’s not love, but something else and passion thrives not on satisfaction, but on impediment.”

"Passion doesn’t count the cost. Pascal said that the heart has its reasons that reason takes no account of."

"I saw that he’d fallen into the trance which the Indians call Samadhi and in which they hold ,the duality of subject & object vanishes and you become knowledge absolute."

"It is not essential to salvation to retire from the world, but only to renounce the self”

"Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it."

“If in those moments of ecstasy I had indeed been one with the absolute, then, if what they sad was true, nothing could touch me and when I had worked out the karma of my present life I should return no more. The thought filled me with dismay. I wanted to live again & again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I felt that only life after life, life after life could satisfy my eagerness, my vigor, and my curiosity.”

This is something that I can so much relate to. I’m not a piously religious person. This doesn’t mean I don’t believe in god. I do believe in God with all that I have… I am just too naive to understand the philosophy that goes behind the religions.
Whenever I pray, it’s complete with all the rituals. I have a little temple at my place where I’ve neatly placed God’s idols. I’ll get fresh water in a lota, light an agarbatti, put roli on the idols, place prasad and pray in a completely self-righteous manner. However, the reason I do this is not a devout belief in the rituals, it’s primarily because this is how I’ve been brought up. My rational mind is utterly oblivious to the rituals that our religions preach but my heart tells me to avidly believe in ‘God’. However, I’m just an average person who’s too raw and incapable to go into the details, quite unlike Larry. My logical mind that questions the rituals can obviously not look out for the right answers. So, it chooses an easy way out & I follow what I’ve been taught, a standard way to pray.
Coming back to the point, I’m thankful to God for giving me all that I have & most vital of all-wisdom to retain what I have. I have no idea what’s gonna happen when I die. I might become a ghost;), or might be born again, or salvation…this one not possible I guess. This I can surely say because I’m still too attached to this materialistic world. Given a choice, mine would be to born again and face the joys & sorrows that the world is going to offer. I still have lots of dreams and aspirations….this life is just not going to be enough!!

Rock-On

2008-08-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

As I sit thoroughly engrossed watching the much-awaited movie ‘Rock On’, I found myself reminicising on my passion for rock & swaying in a stirring communion of four friends. It certainly can be classified as a must- ‘watch once’ flick and undoubtedly deserves a citation in my blog. So, here I am writing about the same.

Rock-On has a nice commonplace storyline but a fairly distinctive treatment. The movie flashes back & forth as the story of four friends drifts the viewer in pangs of emotions amidst the electrifying music and the kickass leads.
The movie indeed rocks owing to fine performances by Joe aka Arjun Rampal, Aadi aka Farhan Akhtar aka THE DUDE (as I would like to address himJ), KD aka Poorab and Rob aka Luke Kenny. Prachi Desai too, has done a fairly good job portraying Adi’s chick & elegant better half.
The storyline revolves around four friends in prime of their youths and members of a promising rock band-MAGIK who are never able to make it. The band which epitomizes their passion for music disintegrates owing to some differences as so does their friendships. An emotional saga begins when 10 years later, Adi’s wife Sakshi(Prachi Desai) tries to reunites the four friends and fate brings them back to the cross roads where they had left years before.
The movie manages to maintain a fervent tempo throughout with its fine music and colloquial lyrics. The just so apt costumes truly personify the wild passion rooted in the four dudes. Overall, a nice experience that manages to keep the viewer glued.
A story is generally well received if you can find atleast a little bit of yourself in it and in this perspective; ‘Rock On’ scores 10 on 10. Giving a glimpse of youth and its fervent passion, the movie manages to create nostalgia as the four friends reunite.
Personally for me, the movie reminds me of the passion that I had for rock music during my college days. I was introduced to this genre of music by my brother Manish when I was in umm…10th standard…Then…..I hated it….However, coincidentally, I have always found myself in the company of people who love Rock…& so ..I was forced to listen to it initially... But gradually..it just seeps in & then you have to love it. Trust me….the music can be maddening at times but it takes to you to a different self & you feel oh-so carefree & aloof.
Coming back to the movie, Farhan Akhtar has proved his mettle as an actor & singer in his debut & I’m just bowled over by the hot & husky voice of this talented guy. The movie is shot well and the scenes in grayscale towards the end along with the subtitles manage to captivate the viewer right to the end.
That brings me to the end of my rocking oops Rock-On saga & I wish the ‘Magik’ stays :)

2008-08-21T03:44:00.000-07:00

My Creative soul recently got down to work & here is the picture of a fabric painting that i made-beautiful flowers painted on a lemon kurta.

The technique used for giving shades is quite simple.

The watercolor look in the blue flowers is achieved by mixing a little turquoise fabric paint with dollops of medium & spreading it on the cloth with random strokes.

For the bright & beaming yellow flowers, half of the petal is painted yellow & other half is painted white. This is followed by mixing of two colors starting from the white end going towards the mustard.

Phew! easy...right.... & ready to charm.. :)

The Road Not Taken-Robert Frost

2008-07-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

One of my favorite poems, this one beautifuly reflects the inevitability of choice in our lives.
When our lives narrow down to choices, it is not always easy to make one… With every decision there is always a slight indecision & many ‘What-ifs’. We want the best of everything that we could have. Some choices turn out to be just the apt while some fill us with remorse & regret. And, once you’ve taken a decision, you often cannot go back.
A friend of mine once said to me, “If it has happened, it must be the best for you. If it wasn’t, it would not have happened.” This was said on an occasion when I was utterly uncertain about a choice that I had made.. I don’t think I completely understood it then or either believed in it. To me, I left the best behind.
However, it did give me the prudence to understand few things. We should always value what we have. Happiness & contentment can only be found if you look for them in what’s yours. Once you have made a choice, do believe in it with all your instinct & make the best of it.
As suggested in the last stanza of the poem,
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
you’ll never know what a choice means until you have actually lived it.

Here...I embark..... :)

2008-07-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

It’s Saturday, 8:00 P.M. and another sober day of prolonged inactivity is about to end. The day as such holds nothing special that I would like to write about. I’m down with fever & on the bed, whole of this day . However, finally, I’m writing my first blog entry after a prolonged deliberation. There’s too much noise inside me lately & I’m glad to give it a way out.

First things first….Here’s a little bit about myself..
There’s a quote that I heard long back which definitely left a grave impression on me….
“Be yourself..there are enough other people”. That’s how I am precisely…. “myself”.
I live in the spur of the moment..living every split-second as it flashes my way. However, there’s always an effort to bring in a carefulness in all my acts which comes from my set of rules..rules that I have laid for myself..rules that govern my life…bring in the so-called “discipline”, keeps my feet on the ground(always :)) and head high(no room for conscious guilts), rules that have themselves been formulated, somewhere inside me.. over all these years as a consequence of constant guidance from my family, teachers, books and friends (I’m really blessed to have some truly wonderful people in my life)…rules that I always build on learning constantly from the mistakes that I make.

Perfection as they say is god’s business…I just want to give my best. I am a software tester by profession & my work does make me proud, not because it’s something great or unusual to do, but because I put in my considerate efforts to it. There are no qualms in putting any amount of hard work, because nothing contents more than a sense of achievement.

People which matter the most to me include my parents, sisters and my friends ….in the order of occurrence:) & I hope to be there for them..always……

Well..the little bit is getting some longer here… ;) & my restless soul is finally getting some rest. The day seems not so sober now after this slight literary activity. So..that’s all for now…
Happy blogging………… :)