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November 23 How low can a blogger stoop?I for one would never have
been interested in Zapak games. But with all the stars doing their ads, one
wonders how good can it be. They have Malaika Arora who models for Zapak's ads.
Malaika's sister's name is Amrita Arora. Another Amrita in Bollywood is Amrita
Rao. Some say she has no spice.
Hey! Did you see that Spice
Mobile product that has GSM and CDMA in one phone? I mean, aren't we already
pained by the one technology we use...do we need two ..that too on ONE phone? I
shall not say more about how Vodafone has been paining me because if you have
ever spoke to me after July 2007, you would know. You don't get network
anywhere...Orange was better somehow. I remember going to a hillstation in
Matheran and getting signal there where no other provider could reach their
network. Ofcourse, I had to go a stick myself to one particular pole to get that
signal. Maybe it was placed there after a serious Vastu consultation.
Now a days, houses are being
selected on the basis of Vastu. For instance: while checking out our house, one
prospect asked me which direction the kitchen faced. I said, "In the direction
of the golf course!" Seriously with my window view, thank goodness, we are
leaving this place. Or else, even for paying the rent, we would have to take
home loans.
I think I detest taking
loans because then I would have to take pains filing my income tax papers
(incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in). Its simpler without them. As simple as origami
;) Complicated, but simple looking. Like these actresses who look stunning on
screen: sometimes they looks so simple, but to create that simplicity a lot of
makeup must have been used. Eg: Aishwarya Rai, Kangana Ranaut. They don't look
too made up, but they sure are. Example of a person who looks bad either ways:
Reema Sen. I am sure she thought she can star in movies like Kuch kuch hota
hai...she acts in Tamil movies and is a flop I guess. Because you need to have
some acting skills afterall. I think she should take up Buddhism and retire to
Italy.
Did anyone understand
any thing of this meaningless mix of words? This is just a small insider view of
the blogging world :) Some of us sell our blogger souls to SEO keywords....words
that will get you good number fo hits through search engines. Thus the most
viewed blogs aren't surprisingly those which deal with news about famous people.
What I have compiled above is based on Google's top 15 popular search
phrases used (http://www.google.com/press/intl-zeitgeist.html#in). Just a small experiment before I sell my soul
;)
November 15 Beauty is skinI am the kind of person that doesn't get
overwhelmed very easily. Most women I know are as stuck up as I am and we are a
lot that cannot be easily overwhelmed, unless of course we wish to! Talk about
being a snob :) Overwhelmed, hardly; Awed, NEVER! It is really difficult to be
awed by anything now a days...I mean the days of computers smelling, sensing and
seeing are in the past! What can you get awed by now a days anyways? Everything
we see now is only an incremental development and nothing is so awe inspiring
because it can be broken down into processes and methods and torn into bits that
aren't so great in the end. So, in such a state of mind was I when I went to see
Om Shanti Om. I had no idea that I would be overwhelmed. Well, I didn't know
about it till my sister pointed out that I was dancing during the songs. Ahem!
But what shook my core was that I was awed...awed
by the (hopefully) God-made beauty called Deepika Padukone. Now you must
understand that praising another woman on her looks is probably the second last
thing a woman would do, next to wanting to look her age. But here she was, Sia
jewelry reflecting off her glacier smooth skin with those manly palms and the
weirdest smile I have seen in Bollywood! Yet, inspite of her obvious flaws, she
looked like the most beautiful vision. What is even better about her beauty is
that she looks familiar. To quote an old Salman Khan song - "Kabhi Beyonce lagti
hai, kabhi Priyanka lagti hai, Kabhi Varsha Usgaonkar bhi, kabhi Maduri lagti
hai!"
In the entire movie, she looks breathtaking. But
what takes the cake, is her last scene in which she looks back at the younger
SRK and smiles through her tears. Aaah, the beauty.
 Ok thats enough...if I praise her anymore, I think
Ill be crossing over to the gay side.
November 07 Happy DiwaliHi, This Diwali, I wanted to send you a greeting that was made by hand (like in the past). I wanted to draw unique designs, colour them with lots of colours and send it to you. So I did. It's a Rangoli and if you could make it out...it's a peacock. It is a very unique peacock because no one can recreate it in the same way (me included). It's a small reminder to all of us to let ourselves be unique. We may not be perfect, but we may be perfect for someone. So, have a Happy unique Diwali by saying 'No' to crackers and pollutants. And, if you must burst a few crackers, be safe! Happily, Lavanya August 21 Get married, my friend!This blog entry is in commemoration of completing one year of knowing my wonderful husband. Being a
married friend to many unmarried single people, I find it rather
compelling to ask them about whether they are seeing anyone. This,
according to them, seems o be a gloating exercise because I got my man
and they haven't even had a date as yet. But truth be told, I feel as
compelled to tell them to find someone as my married friends. That was
at a time when I felt that marriage is the worst thing that can happen
to a happy person. And yet I have single friends who I wish would stay
that way rather than ruin some poor chap's life For many of us, the best times in our lives have been times spent hanging out with our friends. Though that kind of fun could be generic and attributed to say a year or three, plain vanilla friendship can never invoke the feeling of it-was-the-biggest-day-of-my-life feeling. That feeling can be brought on by a special someone, it could be your partner, child or some other object of one's pointed affection. It is this affection and focused love that we search for through our lives. It is to this specific feeling that this entry is aimed at. Here is a typical situation. A 25 something girl is bored of being single. Her parents are threatening to 'start seeing'. She hates the idea of an arranged marriage. But she cannot see how she can have a love marriage without anyone in the horizon or any means of meeting anyone new with a busy work life. What do you think happens? Someone in office says he likes her and irrespective of the fact that she despised him till then, she starts considering. Or else, nothing like that happens and she finally gives in to the idea of inserting an ad in the newspaper or bharatmatrimony.com. So far so good! No harm done. After the proposals start coming in, there is a problem. A meeting is fixed. She meets the guy. She has no reason to say No. He is decent, but nothing that she would go head over heels for. The painful part is that there is nothing to consider either. Unless you can keep meetingthe guy and there is no pressure whatsoever from any party, you can make the decision like you would, if he were some friend of your best friend's brother. But the situation here is different; itis like the placement day at a good MBA college. Spot offers are used to lock-in the candidate. Now if you think all this sounds scary, let us see this from the guy's perspective. He is a 26
something wondering how all the good girls are taken by ugly excuses
for human beings. He is not the type who believes in
modern-looking-internet-marriage-brokers. He wants to meet someone,
check her out, see if she would mix well with his friends, his mom and
if she looks good in different outfits. But the only outfit he gets to
see her in is a traditional one lest the girl is judged as 'modern'.
Now again, he has no reason to say No or a Yes. He is silently
wondering how she will white water rafting with him. But some wiser
person tells him that all women change after marriage and he says Yes.
Of course, they both realize that it is a great decision they took and
live happily ever after Either of these scenarios is possible. The problem is that there is no solution for this age of single men and women. Dating services are looked down upon as desperate measures and women will never get their image tarnished by such things. The solution to their situation happens to be the age old practice of matchmaking. If only, the old uncles and aunties could be replaced by young friends who actually knew the two of them. But that is an impossible thing as very few people know so many people and they are always busy getting to know (other) more people. So I have given up trying to persuade my friends to register their profiles on the various marriage websites as they will be interacting with the parentsinstead of the to-be spouse. Instead I feel that I should use my small circle of influence to get my friends to know each other and see if any sparks fly. Now with
all the men feeling that there are no good women around, we shall give
them the first mover advantage (because they are so much more
desperate). August 20 Get married, my friend!This blog entry is in commemoration of completing one year of knowing my wonderful husband. Being a married friend to many unmarried single people, I find it rather compelling to ask them about whether they are seeing anyone. This, according to them, seems o be a gloating exercise because I got my man and they haven't even had a date as yet. But truth be told, I feel as compelled to tell them to find someone as my married friends. That was at a time when I felt that marriage is the worst thing that can happen to a happy person. And yet I have single friends who I wish would stay that way rather than ruin some poor chap's life
For many of us, the best times in our lives have been times spent hanging out with our friends. Though that kind of fun could be generic and attributed to say a year or three, plain vanilla friendship can never invoke the feeling of it-was-the-biggest-day-of-my-life feeling. That feeling can be brought on by a special someone, it could be your partner, child or some other object of one's pointed affection. It is this affection and focused love that we search for through our lives. It is to this specific feeling that this entry is aimed at. Here is a typical situation. A 25 something girl is bored of being single. Her parents are threatening to 'start seeing'. She hates the idea of an arranged marriage. But she cannot see how she can have a love marriage without anyone in the horizon or any means of meeting anyone new with a busy work life. What do you think happens? Someone in office says he likes her and irrespective of the fact that she despised him till then, she starts considering. Or else, nothing like that happens and she finally gives in to the idea of inserting an ad in the newspaper or bharatmatrimony.com. So far so good! No harm done. After the proposals start coming in, there is a problem. A meeting is fixed. She meets the guy. She has no reason to say No. He is decent, but nothing that she would go head over heels for. The painful part is that there is nothing to consider either. Unless you can keep meetingthe guy and there is no pressure whatsoever from any party, you can make the decision like you would, if he were some friend of your best friend's brother. But the situation here is different; itis like the placement day at a good MBA college. Spot offers are used to lock-in the candidate. Now if you think all this sounds scary, let us see this from the guy's perspective. He is a 26 something wondering how all the good girls are taken by ugly excuses for human beings. He is not the type who believes in modern-looking-internet-marriage-brokers. He wants to meet someone, check her out, see if she would mix well with his friends, his mom and if she looks good in different outfits. But the only outfit he gets to see her in is a traditional one lest the girl is judged as 'modern'. Now again, he has no reason to say No or a Yes. He is silently wondering how she will white water rafting with him. But some wiser person tells him that all women change after marriage and he says Yes. Of course, they both realize that it is a great decision they took and live happily ever after
Either of these scenarios is possible. The problem is that there is no solution for this age of single men and women. Dating services are looked down upon as desperate measures and women will never get their image tarnished by such things. The solution to their situation happens to be the age old practice of matchmaking. If only, the old uncles and aunties could be replaced by young friends who actually knew the two of them. But that is an impossible thing as very few people know so many people and they are always busy getting to know (other) more people. So I have given up trying to persuade my friends to register their profiles on the various marriage websites as they will be interacting with the parentsinstead of the to-be spouse. Instead I feel that I should use my small circle of influence to get my friends to know each other and see if any sparks fly. Now with all the men feeling that there are no good women around, we shall give them the first mover advantage (because they are so much more desperate). August 17 In Nokia we trust!So after all the discussion (www.thevoiceinmyhead.com & www.nandanblogged.com) on the blog circuit, Nokia decided to finally say something about its Product Advisory that is being interpreted in all possible ways by the media. This is the ad from Nokia (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TU1JUi8yMDA3LzA4LzE3I0FkMDA3MDA=&Mode=G&Locale=english-skin-custom) It gives us one more reason to believe in the brand we so love! In all its Nokia type font and few words, they conveyed to a hysterical mass that they were always the best. Yes, we can explode if a neutron gun is directed at us while talking, but I don't really think that is a good strategy to blow off your next extortion target. You see if he is a rich businessman or CEO, you will be blowing off his secretary. For all of my readers who are none of the above and do have a fear of being on the receiving end of a neutron gun, I would suggest a good bluetooth headset (www.jabra.com) In the end of the ad by Nokia though, they say we ranked them the 4th most trusted brand ad they will always live up to our expectations. This is my answer to that - We believe in Nokia....now I did not rank them, but I know one thing: if there is a person who wants only a phone that makes and receives calls, it has to be a Nokia & if a person wants everything in a phone, it has to be a Nokia. Of course, there are some of us who did not climb on to the bandwagon early on. But most of you who have always used a Nokia would probably never understand how reliable and smart the phones are. Believe me, I have had my share of phones. I have a BL 5C battery and it may get a little warm, but it does not scorch my face like my LG flip phone did....and the batt... Ow! What's that burning smell? August 13 Campaign for beautyThis whole thing about beauty is at a confused state in India. While few have finally given up the pursuit of fairer skin and accepted to be looked upon as dusky beauties, large chunks of society still struggle with the unattainable colour. While we are trying to cough up some self pride in the midst of Unilever Fair and Lovely ads, the other players seem to be tugging at our heart strings for an all over make over. With Sushmita Sen explaining the benefits of the 7 power Olay cream and all the ladies in the ad looking like they have never been on a field job, I suddenly start wondering how come I do not look like them? To clear the doubts your gaping mouths are symbolising, let me tell you that in my entire teenage and youth (now I am an old hag), I used Olay religiously. My skin was good, but the Olay then did not have sun screen and the sun screen available was an Oh-my-god-don't-let-this-thing-touch-my-skin-HLL product. Obviously, Sen must have been using the sun screen wala Olay even back then because for as far as I can remember she always looked fabulous. Seriously, show some truth ad people. On the other hand, P&G has assumed India is too nascent in its quest for understanding beauty and completely omitted us from the Dove Campaign for beauty (www.campaignforrealbeauty.com). It is by far the only beauty campaign that makes sense. Its a campaign that makes you feel good and tells you that you need to feel beautiful, that's all! Of course, the marketing thought behind that is very clever and has as a proof increased sales. I would buy Dove (which by the way I swear by) after seeing the campaign because unlike other creams, this one feels like a close friend. That's your brand personality mapping for you. If only all women realise what they are doing wrong! Here is a question: how many times do you run your fingers down your face slowly feeling whether your face skin is soft or rough? Do you really have the time to do anything other than hurriedly dabbing on some sun screen and compact and glossing your lips? Chances are the answer is No. I may do it after returning from the beauty parlour to see if I got my money's worth, but that's all. And yes when we do get the time to do it, I am sure it feels great. The catch here is we do it so that we can impress the men folk....that would have been a good strategy until one realises that they would find our skin smooth and soft anyways. I mean, what I their point of reference? Their own stubble-poked chins! That's what I mean by saying 'No matter how rough your skin is, it is always gonna fell smooth to them'. 'Nivea for Men' anyone? August 11 Ten things you wanted to know about Harry PotterIrritated that everyone around you talks about Harry Potter and you don't have a clue? Here are some amazing thought provoking facts that will help you strike up a conversation: 1. Harry Potter, is a boy wizard, because his parents gave him the gift of love! My parents did alright then, why am I just a consultant? 2. Hogwarts sounds more like a curse (unfriendly spell) that can make your face like a hog's with warts 3. Serious Black sounds like the unforgiving lord of dark (black) magic 5. Ron Weasley practically does nothing through the whole series and yet gets the girl...this is why it is called fiction. 6. Severus Snape loved Lily so much but no one else in the world knew 7. Snape remained unfaithful to all order members and even got some killed in a faint hope that Harry would fulfil a task that Dumbledore told him nothing about...must say the guy was nuts. 8. McGonnagal who is the most trusted one after Dumbledore is not even ware of the plan...ah, sexual discrimination! 9. Magic cannot be used to do homework...what's that now! 10. And finally, Avada Kedavra sounds more like it is derived from Abda cadabra..which means 'Here you go' August 09 My dil goes 'Aargh'Saturn 'Shani has entered the constellation of my husband...sorry for the transliteration...but if it had been money instead of Shani, I would have put in some effort into sentence creation. Just finished the real version of Harry Potter (Yes, I bought it! And yes! I have it on pdf too). I must admit the fake was better excepting the snogging scenes. So did not feel that immense satisfaction as I had felt after the fake which I know Rowling has written. Clients who do not pay me in time should have a curse put on them! I think I would go with the Imperious curse...make them go into their accounts section and say my payment is priority no. 1 even if filing returns is a day away :) and I know how to make it work: I need to Mean it...guess that little problem is solved then. Actually it is just one client so far but I guess such news will spread fast and I will start getting advance payments. I do not understand why I should keep following up for my payments. It is a solid systematic process..makes no sense to have human intervention there! I am going to start putting late payment fees now :) Unprofessional people with no value for their or my time put me off like Karan Johar gets put off by Himmesh Reshammiya....he hates him, still has to work with him. That is where the whole problem is. Right now, only so much bothers me. The list was huge, but I just had some home (mom) made sweets....guess there are somethings that can make everything get right! July 29 Summa summa soukIt is my half year anniversary and we are returning from our lunch date at Souk. For the ones who don't know, it is a restaurant at the Taj. They serve Lebanese food and being vegetarians also, we were not disappointed. We got a sea facing table and sat there drinking (juice) and as they would put it...kabhi hum unko, kabhi sea ko dekhte hai :) Anyways, it was beautiful and more as it was a surprise... It also happens to be the place we went to on our first date - when I had kinda made up my mind afterall :) on that day, I had decided that there is no man in the world like him. Today as we go back home, with him driving and singing 'didi tera dewar deewana' in a nasal twang, I am quite sure. Now he is crooning, 'Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match, find me a find, catch me a .....' July 26 I am going 'environ' mentalI guessed right! Most of us suffer from a lack of a bigger goal. So, just when the aunties are thinking that my next big goal after marriage will be to have a nice chubby baby, I start learning Spanish. It is sexy language. It rolls on your tongue and my south indian drawl don't seem to be a disadvantage at all :)
Well, I have been at that for some time now and I can easily ask for my favourite food, the bathroom and the direction if I ever land up in the Andalusian desserts. But you know how it is, when one goal gets accomplished so easily, you start setting higher goals. So, as I am toiling away on an Excel sheet for a Welingkar project, I start thinking about some environmental aspects of the projects and factor in the environmental cost of the project. That is when my next big inspiration hit me. It is called the 'Environmental Index'. If you google this word, you will get book indices, how o preserve jams and fruits, the Tasmanian devil and history books in the library. None of it is what I am talking about. What I am talking about is nothing short of a revolution if done right. The EI is an index that tells the layman how much of the environment he is affecting. It is a figure, that ranges from 1 to 10. 1 means it is safe for the environment and 10 means you are causing the earth to shut down. Let me explain it with an example. You go to a grocery store to buy a carton of milk. There are 2 brands. One company has environment friendly processes (good waste management practices, recycled paper, etc.). The other does not. Now both have been audited by the EI body (which is more objective than the ISO 14000) and they have been given the EI of 1 and 10 respectively. So as a environment-friendly consumer, you will choose Brand 1. This is in the very near future and can be done by tweaking the ISO 14000 also. But here is my dream: An EI meter installed in everything. You take a cab to work instead of the train and you know exactly "how much" damage you have caused (instead of just a vague remorseful pit in your stomach). You listen to music in your desk from your phone instead of a walkman, and you know how much of the environment you have saved by not using the disposable batteries. You wipe your hand on a tissue instead of showing it under the hot air jet and find out whether you did wrong to the environment. The funny thing is, all these things are not at all far fetched. It is very easy to find out how many units of electricity are consumed, how many trees are cut down and weigh the two. It can even be monetised and paid back to the consumer with minimum EI as incentive. If there can be a monetary value for 'carbon credits', I am sure, this is not far behind. So I am scoring the planet for people and organizations that have researched the above. I find it very hard to believe that no one has thought of this by now. You read about global warming and its ill effects. The UN is setting down norms for pollution, hazardous waste management and also is extending information to those interested in slowing down the march of global warming. The threat of global warming existed 10 years back when I was in school and it still does today. Then we were allowed only till 2060 to live. Now they have given us more time. Sadly, the awareness has not gone up as much as the water level in the Arctic zone. It is very very sad, but it is also very true that today the only reason one would talk about conservation of power and anti-pollution campaigns is to gain popularity and be seen as the cool one. Yet, having cried myself hoarse for more than 15 years telling people to switch off the power, not litter and recycle, atleast now, I know that it is not something like the UFOs and little green men. It is a real issue that needs to be tackled. I am looking forward to working with my types on advanced Excel sheets putting indices and calculation matrices for each and every item known to man. If the environmental index does not work out, be sure to find my name atleast in the 'Mental Index'. July 24 SD 1Sexual discrimination….Aah! my favourite topic. Well, being a true Gemini, I have exactly opposite views on the same. This is why I do not enter into debates. I may just change sides anytime. Anyways, just as I am fighting my own demons on this topic, I come across this article in the Times about Harry Potter fans. Check this out – A family with a copy of the new book. The caption says - Pallavi Phatak, told her husband to take care of the children for the day, as she picked up a book from Strand This caption is all wrong. This is what it says (actually this is what feminists like me would like to read in it;): A woman's job is to take care of the children She should not indulge in things that are categorized as personal entertainment media If she does, she should be guilty She should probably read it to her daughter. How can she, a grown woman, neglect her daily WORK and read a children's novel? Oh, her husband is so supportive because he is seen smiling in the picture…He is giving her a chance at being herself…a chance she gets only when she is in the shower J
Well, if the caption captures the woman's emotion, then it is really sad. It is great that she TOLD her husband to take care of the kids, but is it really something that needs to be told. I would like to see a picture of a woman telling her husband that she will take care of his office while he reads the book.
Yes, I don't have much responsibilities and I "shall know" only once I start having them. All the women who do not really know me well like my family does, publicly hope that I would wizen up to the real world problems that are there for women. I say they are a problem only if you let it be. But they shake their head in sadness seeing my future in their tired eyes and thinking how they said the same thing when they were my age (or much younger).
Yes, there are ONLY two sects of people. Not Hindu, Muslim, black, white, upper-class, lower-class, haves, have-nots, tech-savvy, tech-illiterate or HP lovers and haters. No, there are only two sects of people and only on the basis of these two can there be any differences in two human beings. Otherwise, God created everyone alike. These two sects are: Man and Woman. A very wise lady in Tamil literature said this. And I agree completely.
Yet, would you say that the post of Prime Minister of a country as head of country and the President of some other country again as head of country would be different. NO. They are equal, but different. They are equal in rights and privileges, but different in the ways they do things. Just because I happen to be CEO of a company, can I life my own laptop like the next male CEO does. No! Just because I am an equal, does it mean I can drive a car? No! Yet, I am as special and a man is. I am as important and I would like to read Harry Potter with just as much peace of mind as my man would.
Also I must tell you, the book we bought has been successfully torn into two parts because of our pulling for equality. So I am reading the first part, while he gets the ending, Can you believe that? He gets the ending. Aw…sexual discrimination!
Disclaimer – My husband is not like that described above and that is probably the reason I fail to understand how other women put up with sexist men. If he was like that, maybe I would have given up and adopted the 'Life's like that (huge sigh)' attitude. I am telling you, that would have been easier ;) July 23 House ShoppingSo,we finally decided that it is not fair for Deepak to travel so far for work everyday! I mean, the guy is never in time to cook for the night. Because of this,we nave been ordering food everyday. And as a rule, I do not like outside food.
We set out to look for houses in Kalina on the suggestion of a good friend. Unlike Chembur, Kalina does not have many houses on lease. So, of the small choice of 5 houses that we were shown, we really liked one. But what is funny is that no matter how the house is- bad, sad, stinking locality, wierd neighbours, leaking roofs and seeping walls- there is no difference in the rent of a great house and an excuse of a shanty Moreover, the brokers have little role to play as the owner of the house demands high rent and a higher deposit. It all started when the Mncs came and started taking these houses on rent. The deposit they are willing to pay is ranging around 5-10 lakhs. That Bombay's real estate rates are ridiculous, I have been hearing since I had ears. Imagine what would happen if -there is a regulation that brings down all the rates and brings tl - at par with the other metros? That would be murder. The only reason many people do not come to Mumbai is the exhorbitant property prices. The city has to have ONLY one disadvantage and this is it . It is a premium I am willing to pay for this great city. Ok, I shall hold on to that Cheerful patriotism till my new house in Kalina is floating in the rain water that our great city does not want to let go of. July 15 Harry Potter and TOOTPYes, TOOTP! Sounds weird, but is cool! The director has done a very good job of focussing on one line of the story instead of talking about Hermione being a union leader for the dobbies of their wizarding world. So the movie finishes in 2 hours and THAT is the only disappointing part. Dumbledore, Minerva and Trelawney have small parts to play. The one who has a big role to play is the giggling, bright-eyed, perfect pinky, Dolores Umbridge. You know when I read the last book, I really felt bad for Umbridge being killed by the death eaters, but now I don't. She is so evil and pink at the same time. Yes, she is a pink pain. And one feels so much hatred for her that each and every single paisa you spent on the movie becomes worth it when the Weasley twins give her OWL supervision a little friendly visit. I know I am talking as if the story itself was released yesterday. No, I have read the book twice, but never managed to see beyond the disciplinarian and scheming methods of Umbridge. But when you see her in person, God, the woman is MAD. And by the way, kudos to the actor who played her. Good casting. Bravo! As they would say it. But like I said, the movie concentrates on the main story line and only the elements required for it to serve as a prequel to the next in the series is retained. The execution is dark till the time that the Weasleys have fireworks and the music and tempo of that scene is so brilliant, you feel you are standing there on the holy grounds of Hogwarts and cheering them on. The scene leaves you with such a broad grin and mirth that it does not at all feel weird when the people in the theatre start applauding. I guess anyone could get blown away by that. Another gem of a scene, is when Sirius Black just dies abruptly and passes into the veil. The music and silent screaming of a shocked Harry is rendered very well. The visual effects are mind blowing as usual. Tonks is very pretty and unexpectedly so. The locations are breathtaking, especially their flying in an out of London. The very fact that I saw it twice in one day says it all July 11 Till death do us apartIt is not such a nice thing to do when you are halfway through your lunch, but I did it anyways. I took the death test. It claims to be Harvard tested and all that. And what do I get : a big red box that says this - According to our research, you'll be dead by
According to the website, I have already spent 32% of my life. I would NOT have calculated that. This means almost one-third of my life is over. Well, thats a sad thought! Also I am going to die due to cancer........I don't mind dying at 84, but not with cancer. Ramdev baba, here I come! I have 20000 days more to live and can you imagine that when I die I would be gearing up for my 57th wedding anniversary celebrations??? God, why did I not get married a little earlier in January, why the 29th? Take it...make your day! http://www.okcupid.com/death July 10 Urbridled JoyAs I was working on a project from home, I hapenned to get a bit lonely. My house is in the middle of all activity, but becasue of the proximity of a jungle-like private golf course, it is so quiet that I need the TV to drown out the silence. I hear the fridge all the time roaring away, the washing machine deafens me and the fan drones on and on and makes me go to sleep. So I usually need some intermittent noise which I would not want to particularly listen to but still which will keep my eyes open when I am dying on a report. It is but natural that I would choose to switch on Doordarshan on TV for this very purpose. Only today my timing was all wrong. I swithced on the TV not even looking at it, prepared for some horrendous low volume dialogue delivery on an afternoon soap and what did I see? There was a black and white drawing of a railway station and the tracks were leading out of the drawing. Yes, anyone who is old enough to read this knows what I am talking about...the classic Malgudi Days. Now, it may not be as dreamy as 'The Wonder Years' or as hillarious as 'Friends', but R K Narayan sure knew what could make one glued to this writing. Here it is: my assignment that I am trying to make good time on and there on TV is Malgudi Days which may not be on when I do have the time. So I guiltily shut the lid of my computer and look side ways at the TV. It is the episode about this cricket team formation. Just as I begin to draw similarities between the houses portrayed there and those in the villages in South India I visited recently, Swami gets all thrilled about the first official match that they are going to play and he takes off his shirt. I have just enough time to think 'Oh boy! This guy is really excited isn't he? I mean, who would take off their shirt for something like that. I am sure times have changed now!'. I havent had time to finish this thought, when the scene merges into one with the entire group of 11 boys running down into a river. The bank slopes into the water and the boys all completely bare bodied are running into it like it is their natural calling. The roll and tumble into the river with such exuberance and happiness. The episode ends with that, the loud train hoot and a boy's voice calling 'Swamiiiiiii.....'. And I am caught off guard by this absolutely shameless display of pure joy. It has no boundaries, no thoughts attached, no social overtures, just a plain group activity that brings unbridled joy to all concerned. I do not know if the boys in the serial were such good actors to fake the look of pleasure or they were really just told to go have a blast, but I do know one thing: After all these years of runs and re-runs of this TV show, just seeing the last most unimportant part of that episode which may have been included as an after thought really gave me a jolt of merriment. I can now continue my work, with the feeling that life after all, is not that bad. June 26 Arial ViewSometimes it so happens that you are so removed from the surroundings and yet the place has a tremendous effect on you. Today I stepped into a magical place...I say magical because it looked like magic to me, a lay person, who does not have too much to contribute to this mighty world. I went to a place in Satara district where Koyna and Krishna river meet. As the care got parked outside the tourist spot, I got a phone call from a family friend who had a career choice to make and wanted my advice. We talked about it and it was going nowhere. Most of what I said she agreed on and vice versa and yet we were unable to decide whether she should go in for journalism or economics! And as I absent mindedly stepped into the beautiful breeze, it was like a mentos ad 'dimaag ki batti jalade'. I got an answer for her problem and she agreed to it :) As I slid the phone into my bag, I looked up to see a beautiful scenery. The confluence of the two rivers was so beautiful I could not believe it could be in this place I was standing in after a hard day at work interviewing rural people. A shallow stony beach led to the plain water. On the other side, an uncultivated and virgin land spread across the horizon. A small tomb marked the place with serenity. As I shifted my gaze to this side of the river, I saw tall trees all over and it looked like different landscapes from different lands had been grafted on this one small hillock. Tall, short and dense trees dotted the whole place. Big birds circled over the trees continuously waiting for something. I heard a man shouting at the skies. He started throwing food on the ground. Soon all the birds circling the nearby hillock came flying into the clearing where break crumbs and chapati pieces lay. As they came closer I saw they were eagles. They came flying, picked up the round bread pieces in their clutches with lightning speed and flew so low that I felt they would fly right into all of us gathered. They flew with a steady flight gliding over us. I looked up to see an eagle floating effortlessly over me blocking out the dying sunlight. It bent its neck all the way to its feet to peck on the bread. In this pattern around 100 hundred birds flew all over the place forming myriad patterns on the blue sky. Then they took their flight to the water and while the eagles just flew at one orbit over the brown water, other water birds joined them and like an orchestrated dance, dipped into the water to pick on the fish that watched stunned from the water surface as the dance took form of its death ceremony. After some times, all birds joined in and the noise and the twitter was enough to make me move to he garden area. The trees in the garden were even more noisy. Looking up I could not see any birds at all. But on careful inspection I saw small birds teasing sleeping bats that hung carelessly from the highest branches of the trees. They were yawning and stretching out their wings as the birds tickled their bellies. They were getting ready for the evening ride. As the sun set slowly, I drank in the small setting that seemed like a time away from time and a land away from the ground on which my feet stood. June 23 The sweetest thingSee I cannot blog too much about my brand new niece without getting full permission to put up her photos. Well, she is a geminian girl like me). So all comparisons will start now and I really wish it did not happen. Anyways, thats the reason I feel sooooo faaaar away right now. It is worse when it is coupled with being away from your husband too. But she was born and I had to leave for work. And I know that for as long as I live I will miss not being able to look at her long enough on the first day that she was born. That initial yearning cannot be filled by the years of cuddling her that I have ahead of me. It is a special relationship and I know it will always be. I just do not want to be all teary eyed everytime I talk about how anxious we were when she was born and how our hearts missed many collective beats if something wasn't alright. I just hope I can be a cool aunt ;) How can you love someone who you do not even know? When you do not even know if she likes your kinda music, if she will be politically opinionated, if she will sweat too much, if she will share your likes and dislikes, if she will tell you all her secrets and come to you for help, if she will trust you and have faith in you, if she will be a spoiled brat or she will just be one dull boring relative :) How can I already love her without having all these answered? This is what they call impossible love....finally I know what it is! June 17 A New Day Has ComeThe Sunday BrunchIt is very difficult to write on such a full stomach! But I shall oblige. Do you know these big lavish sunday brunches at good hotels! Well, they kinda close the kitchen by 12. So when we woke up at 11 today morning (what? I had late nights all week!), we was quite hungry and late for everywhere. So I arranged this lavish spread and this is what it included: (Most of these not prepared by me) Sweetened Yogurt Assorted Dryfruits Nachos and Dip Cornflakes Chocos Masala Omelette Toast Amul Butter Fruit Yogurt Low fat Milk Khara Biscuit and chips with Tea Fruit Juice Jam and Peanut Butter And it looked like this, all tagged and arranged June 15 Dragging myself out!It is Friday and I have just about repaired my neck from Wednesday's journey! But it is time to go again. Deep in my sleep I dreamt about times to come. I am not being poetic, but you know you are dreaming of future Bombay when you see your future house in a loft of a small room. Anyways, the alarm went off and through one ultra-strained eye I saw the time. It was 5:30 am. Now for many this would be a normal waking time, but for me, it is a time when my insides are completely at rest. The shrieking alarm coupled with the Nokia torchlight shook me out of my hibernation with a cruelty that only a bus conductor can don when your stop comes. I bravely hit the snooze button (God save the Snooze button) and sank back with my mind vaguely calculating whether a snooze is of 5 minutes or 10 minutes. When it rang after ten minutes, a wave of foreboding washed over me and I sat up cursing the fact that I did not have my own private jet to take me to Baramati. I remember seeing myself in the mirror ad thinking dramatically, 'Foreboding washes over me!' That word, 'foreboding' was so apt for me at that time I thought. Then realising that I was not waking up so early to start framing my blog entry I got ready and packed a school bag full of my travel essentials. Raj National Express has an office just a jump away from my house. So I hopped in there and thought, 'What do you know. May be I can stretch and catch up some of my sleep in the Volvo'. I must admit I was a little surprised when the ticket to Pune cost me only 200 bucks. The photo outside their office looked like king fisher seats. A bus pulled in and I hoped this would not be it. It looked like an ST bus all painted ad air conditioned. And as I still am under the influence of Shani planet, this was my bus. And those seats in the photos were really those of Kingfisher. So, as one may guess, instead of stretching and sleeping, I am writing this post. Not that I am very particular about the comfort of a sleeping place, but I have to keep awake to watch the ceiling fixtures of the bus which clatters with a promise to land on me. June 14 DapoliAfter three months of being a total 'anti-lavanya', traveling by cabs and soaking myself in air conditioning, I let myself fal back to my old self. I took a state transport bus to Dapoli and travelled for 6 hours on a breath taking road. Did you know that simple seats are better than semi-luxury coaches that have pathetic dirty cushions which are excuses to shield painful steel rods. Dapoli is a place in Ratnagiri district of the Konkan belt that boasts of a beautiful agricultural universities. For being Ratnagiri, I did not see the sea or ship building yards or mango trees...or thats what I thought was there at Ratnagiri. Well sea or no sea, it was breath-taking - because there were these beautiful clearings every once in a while that looked like they were copy pasted from some place else. From the ghat roads, I could see a small patch of water. The bus made its way right to the water body. It was a place hidden from everywhere else - bordered with palm and plaintain trees (???). There was nothing nearby other than a boat on one end and dam-like structure on the other. The water was calm and it mirrored the hills of the other side. A little while later, we came to this patch of land that just stands out of its place. I never saw that tree in that area before. There were these shirt trees with flame of the forest type of leaves. The trees were almost bald and the brown orange leaves were evenly spread all across the ground. In the dying sun light it looked even more beautiful. It looked like fall had just kissed this place good bye while it was monsoon everywhere else. Traveling has become so natural for me that this year's first mangoes I had when I was in Nairobi (in the middle of winter) and the first rain this year was in Malaysia...and then at Ratnagiri...well, however great these places may be, home is where the heart is ;) June 11 Blogger's MeetFor months my good friend Nandan has been trying to get me to go to the bloggers meet and I always had only one problem - I was always out of town. Last Saturday when I was informed about the meet I actually toyed with the idea of going. I do not know if this happens to others - but there is anxiety laced with foreboding when I know I am going out to meet people out of the web world. Which is another reason that I was one of the first people to have a homepage (it is easier to be yourself behind a computer screen). Thus I had two lives as every nerd does: one offline and one online - and the two never met. Well, this Saturday they were forced to meet. The marketing consultant who was a very people's person was made to merge with a shy blogger who would never have gone to a pub int he first place. I got my husband along to help me in this metamorphosis. It was easy to woo him once I told him the venue :) As I entered, I saw this small huddled group of what looked like writers, journalists and serious bloggers. I was reminded of a Ryze Mixer and boldly went up to them and introduced myself. Through the darkness, I could see smiling faces. These were the faces of the people who in the next two hours would enter my world and make me feel as if I knew them all along. Very friendly, very warm and at the same time interesting to talk to. The pressure to socialize is just right - you need not speak to anyone, no one knows you, you can talk about who you are in the context of something other than what you do and you can leave having made friends....its a win win all along. Obviously when I told this to my non-blogger friends, they were aghast that we meet outside the wired world. But for all those who thought bloggers' meets were just a bunch of journalists discussing the future of India, this was an eye opener. Also, my husband promises he will come to all the future meets even though he does not blog - because that is what it is: it is a forum of the coolest writers who do not write about anything in particular but just love to write and be read and who love to meet people offline too. Long live the bloggers! June 09 Nostalgia revisited...well duh!You now how nostalgia is! When I see an older relative switching channels to watch old actors and actresses dressed in pink PVC pants and prancing around disco lights, I am thinking 'Yeesh, who would want to see this?' And then I go ahead and change channels to see Rani Mukherjee and Bobby Deol dancing in Mauritius. My inner voice says 'Yeesh, who would want to watch his girl in a miniature version of a dress dancing to a badly sung song?' I know - me. Its just that the song was a hit when I was in college. In college, I wanted to fall in love, dance in short skirts and lay on a raft in the middle of a white-sand sea. So when I see it now, I am taken back to those days and so even if it is totally out of style, the nostalgia widget embedded in my mind comes on alive and makes me feel good. And in other news, I have kinda realised those college dreams...i fell in love, went to Mauritius, (ok I did not dance cos there were too many people around) and lay on a raft in the middle of the sea (in a shirt skirt ;) I was listening to Shakira's first album some time back and I remembered listening to it in college. I thought she was ok, but she wasn't doing it right, she was not stretching herself to the limit. For instance - if the melody could be 100%, she would go to 98% and stop short and return to mediocrity. She should really have gone that extra 2% and burst out of her comfort zone, I remember thinking. And every time that happened, I would yearn for more, I would want to listen again and again to just get to that tipping point and imagine it going beyond the ordinary. And I would imagine how it could go and whether it could have been better. And after all this analysis and imagination, I finally get it. It is a tease....that what it is. It is like every ad, trailer or demo you have seen. You see it and you want more. And it worked beautifully. Now I think her music rocks and she did the woman-staring-at-you-sensuously-from-the-front-page-of-a-magazine thing quite well (if you know what I mean ;) ) You cannot afford to have even one negative thoughtHey, Long time readers! I mean..its been a long time, my dear readers...not that I am referring to you as my long term readers! I was reading some old blog posts of mine and I am thinking that if spaces is still around when my grand children are around, I can show them what I was like when I were little ... little younger! Oh there I go again, I promised not to write about me getting older by a year last week. Ok, I am depressed about that and thats all I shall divulge. What i am happy about is the wonderful weekends I am having! Did you know you can travel anywhere as long as a camera has been there. For example: In the last month, I have been to South East Asia, interiors of Dabhol, the zoo in California, the boys loo in MDI, etc etc. Yes it is like the times when TV became popular....I wasnt around then, I am now...and I am experiencing the most powerful and dynamic revolutions of all times. So all through my low times, i think about the good technology surrounding us and then I dont feel so bad.... (sung in 'These are a few of my favourite things' metre) So when Robin Sharma said in the voice of Julian, 'You cannot afford to have even one negative thought' - he knew what he was saying. So, when I go to the Himalayas, I am going to be sure to take my O2 with me :) But I digress. Have you ever flown over grass, ever floated over sea weeds without knowing how to fly or swim...well, technology makes it all possible. See this.... …..We left for Genting Highlands which calls itself an
‘Entertainment city’. From afar, you can see, looming above the road trail, a
city of giant wheels, space propellers and roller-coasters blending in with the
mist. It is like a fairy tale and the evening fog helps it remain that way. But
though you can go by road, we chose the cable car (the fastest in the world)
and kept climbing the steep ascent to Genting. Once there we got a wrist band
that allowed us into all rides. We sat on seats that roamed over the whole landscape with just a chain attached to a canopy, we raced over small coffee and corn shops, we scraped the rain sprayed ground only to be tossed up again by an unseen hand, we shot ourselves up into space and stayed there for an endless time and then came down with zero gravity only to be plummeted again into nothingness. We sat on an ancient roller coaster that clanged with all its old steel rods holding it in place till your heart screamed out in the thrill that the sounds gave. We rowed a slow boat into a conveyor belt that took us 20 feet high only to drop us real fast into a pool of water. We tried to scare ourselves with the pirates and other creatures that leaped out at us in a dark room. We sat mortified by the dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures spewing water, fire and short blasts of air at our faces in the 4 dimensional movie. It was one of the days when it did not matter who we were or what we did for a living back home. We were just like the kid in front of us or the old guy behind us, all just waiting to be thrilled and chilled.
Shivering due to the cold, we retired to dine at the indoor theme park which is
filled with replicas, cafes, shops, rides and pathways. It was like eating on a
busy road with the best brands from around the world. No sooner than had we
eaten we went to see the play 'Fly' which was a magic show combined with great
acrobats. We saw with gaping mouths, people disappearing, reappearing, being
cut and joined and flying away to oblivion. The acrobats glided in an out of
the stage on ropes, roller skates and giant trampolines. As we sat in that huge
auditorium filled with blue light, our bodies sank into the seats, our minds
relaxed after all the thrill and our eyes unable to take anymore of the
incredible sights slowly shut close. The last thing we remember seeing was this
sight as we sat in a cab and drove to the hotel – the city of Kuala
Lumpur and the Patronas
Towers in the distance as
they lit the stone grey sky with a brilliant unearthly white. |
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Shrieking Shack |
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The single status, I believe is the best, but for most of us, it is not
the happiest. If we are string enough, I am sure we will be able to
manage just fine without a steady partner or any partnership at all if
we were strong and quite anti-social. But man being a social animal and
woman being the parasite, it is difficult to wash off centuries of
ingrained mentality and shrug off the pleasant feeling of companionship
that a spouse/partner can bring. And ah! what a pleasant feeling it is
indeed.
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