It was 4 years back that I started this blog when in the last World Cup, England crashed out in the quarter finals. And today, after their opening match last night, as the last words of my first post said, we’re back...even stronger. A much better manager, more matured players and a good qualifying campaign will instill that faith in all the English supporters. Last night's result would have been sweeter had Robert Green washed his hands after the fish 'n' chips he munched for dinner before the game. Nevertheless, it wasn't a losing start and the other two group matches are seemingly easy. A lot of improvement is needed if we are to better the last time’s performance though.
It’s always an amazing feeling when the World Cup begins; the prospect of watching the 32 best teams compete for the coveted title of 'World Champions', the hysteria that surrounds the world, the fervour, the madness, the rivalries, and in all this, the world coming together to cheer for the beautiful game! This year’s official anthem is arguably the best in the history of the competition and brilliantly captures the spirit of the tournament and essence of Africa. I’ve been tripping on the song since I heard it, nearing the level of addiction, so much so that it is my caller tune for this month! :)
Personally, a lot has changed for me in these 4 years. From bidding adieu to the life of a software engineer to realising my age long desire of pursuing a MBA, from living the best year of my life to surviving the worst, from parting with my beloved Delhi to embracing the 'wonder-weather' Bangalore as my new home for some time. It’s funny how we don’t realise how much happened in our 'believed-to-be' mundane lives, unless we look back at the time that went by. I believe it’s human nature to base our lives’ assessments on our present and the very recent past. I am no different, but I’m glad that with the regular urge of writing something, I’m prompted to think otherwise.
Bangalore welcomed me with open arms, a light drizzle and a lovely breeze. And then it wasn’t difficult to start liking the city. I’ve always wondered how good weather plays such a huge role in inducing happiness in people. It always has an enormous effect on my mood and the weather here is just the kinds to keep my spirits high. It is the first time I’m staying away from home, all by myself, and I was really looking forward to it. Always wanted to test myself and challenge my limits. The time during the MBA did that to an extent and I’m sure this phase too shall contribute to that cause. It’s been good so far, and with every passing day I realise that it is going to be one helluva learning phase in my life. Honestly, I am upbeat and quite kicked about it, and I hope that it marks the beginning of an awesome life ahead. As of now, I do believe:
When I get older,
I will be stronger.
They’ll call me freedom...
Just like a wavin’ flag!
I knew where I wanted to go
I knew where I had to be
So I walked
It was a path new to many
Daunting, yet the only one left for me
And I walked
Crossed ways with a few who mocked at me
And others who parried me
But I walked
Some walked a few steps with me
And some others prayed for me
And I walked
I stopped at times when I felt lost
And at times I’d cry for me
Yet I walked
Now I’ve been on this road for long
Never thought so long it’d be
A lot it has already shown
Some more, it seems, I'm yet to see
Long or short, whatever is left
Tough or tender, however it will be
I will walk.
In the past few months of joblessness, if there’s one thing that I’ve been regular with, other than sleeping for long hours, it is giving Facebook quality time from my limited remaining hours of the day, managing to login there about 10 times daily! Whenever I’d open my Internet browser thinking of something interesting to do, after a few vague and unsuccessful attempts to reach an engaging website, I’d inevitably start typing facebook.com. I actually realised today that even if I had nothing to do there, I’d just go because I feel I have to. It’d satiate some unknown urge within me and even if I have to torture my eyes to go through countless Farmville or Mafia Wars activity feeds on my homepage, I’d do it, cursing their hundreds of users as I scroll down to look for ‘meaningful’ activity.
But while I religiously keep doing this every single day, occasionally a modest 3-letter word rings in my head: WHY? Just why am I doing this? Is it just me? And the earnest response from within is: NO! Backed by figures, there are millions of users around the world doing the same thing. Then follows a string of questions: Why is everyone doing this? Why is there this need to spend hours of our day staying logged on to a social networking website when clearly we could be doing something more meaningful with our lives? Why is it important to comment on somebody’s pictures? Why is it that we even end up commenting on certain status messages that talk about how some acquaintance is feeling? Why is it that we want to check out what groups the others are a part of or what/who they become a fan of?
To all this, I could just think of one rationale: we have a need to ‘connect’. An unsaid desire to know what the others are doing and making them know how our life is treating us. I’ve always believed that every human in this world is connected in some unknown way. A heart speaks to another, even without words or gestures. And a way to acknowledge this connection is to communicate. And that’s what we try to do, directly or indirectly, by writing status messages and waiting to receive comments from all those who get to read it, by playing random games with or against others, by posting our pictures and checking others’, by sending birthday or anniversary greetings, by joining interest groups, by sharing reviews about a movie that we watched or a restaurant that we ate at or a place that we visited or an experience that we were a part of! All this, just to ‘communicate’! To reach out and keep that unknown connection alive and to nurture it by feeding it with little doses of ‘Facebook Indulgence’ to replete its hunger.
P.S. By the time I finished writing this post, I’d checked my e-mail thrice to see if there were any new mails from Facebook! Good job, Mark Zuckerberg! :)
Words were few but the feelings grew And I wanted the night to get longer The time would oppose, but a connection arose And it only became stronger
But she had to go back to where she belonged Too much at stake, she didn’t wanna be wrong “Whenever I sing, she’ll listen”, she said Her words etched in my heart, never will I forget!
Come 19th May, and I'll set out on a journey which takes me to a life which was long awaited, had been dreamt of in the past, then forgotten, virtually given up on at a point in time, but one fine day emerged from nowhere and presented a sweet surprise! The journey which takes me back to a life where I won't need to wait for the third day of the month to receive my salary slip, where I won't need to worry about the income tax returns, where I won't need to invest a huge amount of money in investment plans to save on some of my hard earned money which would have otherwise helped pump the government's treasures! For the next year, I'd officially be a student again.
The last day at work this Friday, launched the countdown to the big day, when for the first time I'll leave the luxuries that come with being at home with family, to search for a space for my head, not only outside the bounds of this city I'm so in love with, but also this country that I feel strongly rooted to. Going away from the friends who were always around in the good and the bad times and some relatives who have always been special, the restaurants that have given me reasons to honour their tables time and time again and the coffee shops that have been the homes for some of the best conversations I've had, the occasional photowalks that kept my Sunday mornings busy and the more regular, beloved post-dinner walks in my own company!
!!SNAP!!
Putting the sadness to rest, there's a new world to look forward to, and my word am I excited! I feel like a kid inside, who's promoted to the next grade in school and is waiting for the new session to start. Awaiting a new set of people that I'd call batchmates, some of them who'd become good friends, some who'd add their names to the ever overflowing list of acquaintances, and some who I might never see again after a year, but all adding to the experience of learning from each other, of togetherness, and contributing to each other's personal growth. It'll be the year that will finally give my career the direction that I had been longing for. And hopefully, at the end of it, I'd finally be having a good time at my workplace for all the right reasons. And for someone who loves travelling, spending quality time in two new cities, meeting their natives, getting an opportunity to immerse into two new cultures and maybe managing to pick up snatches of their local languages, it all suits me perfectly fine!
As promising as it sounds, I can expect this year to be highly taxing, as is characteristic of B-schools. But as the saying goes and I do believe, "Once you're in it, you'll get through it!" I hope that this will turn out to be one of the most memorable years of my life. Insha-Allah!
Tag time again! This one's a questionnaire given by Sherry. I don't know if anybody would be interested in reading this, but I need to honour the tag! Here it goes:
Name three most valuable assets? Never really got down to thinking about it, and I'm still not able to zero in on just three. I think everything that forms a part of our lives is important, however small or seemingly insignificant it might be.
One truth in your life that haunts you every day? None.
If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the four blog buddies you would take alongside with you? And the Oscar goes to...
Skeeter: She'd do all the cooking! And we can have long conversations about food all day! :D
Sherry: She'd be the best one to write about the experiences there, most beautifully!
Elusive: We're planning to get married, so we'd get to know each other more! ;)
Crasiezt: With all the order in life, one needs some randomness too! :)
Where is the place that you want to go the most? Take me higher, to a place where blind men see. Take me higher, to a place with golden streets.
If you can have one dream to come true, what would it be? Everyone lives without fear! Everyone breathes fresh air! Love for all...Hope inside us all...And no despair!
Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most? Can't write about it here.
What are you afraid to lose the most? Passion in life.
What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money? Will keep it back.
If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her? I would. Time runs out fast and then you are left to wonder if there ever was a "right" time to say what you wanted to say!
List out 3 good things about the person who tagged you. - A superb writer; at times I can't even understand what she writes! :D - Comes across as a pure person; hope that's true. - Has started to like my favourite band! :)
What are the requirements that you wish from your other half? I'd search for a SSS girl: Single.Sunder.Susheel!
Which type of person do you hate the most? It's hard to hate humans. Inside we are all the same!
What is your ambition? As clueless as ever!
If you were given the chance to have one super power, what would it be and why? It'd be of Peter Petrelli's from the TV series Heroes. He has the ability to imbibe the super powers of everyone he comes in contact with! :) I'm very similar to that character too.
For you life is? ...to keep learning!
If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be? I would be nicer to my mother and I'd want my dad to be nicer to me! :D
Are you a shopaholic? No. I'm a miser!
Which actor/actress would you like to be? One actress I'd like to be with is Minissha Lamba! (Yeah I know that wasn't the question :D)
One song that gives you goosebumps? [My Question] Faceless Man, by Creed.
Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Did you mean to ask me out for a date? ;) It's the weekend; I pity anyone who doesn't have plans for tomorrow!
Now, as the rules say, I have to pass it on, so I tag Skeeter, Elusive and Amoeba!
Instructions: Remove 1 question from the set, and add in your personal question to keep the count to 20, and then tag a few people in your blogroll. List them out at the end of this post and notify them in their shoutbox about the same.
It was a long wait before today, when I finally got to watch the movie. I have been listening to its soundtrack almost daily since I got hold of it and each day I have a new favourite from it. Such is the quality that A.R. Rahman can offer, and this one surely will go down as one of his best works ever; the best in my opinion!
Coming to the movie, I'd say it's 200 minutes of living the history in its grandeur. The daunting duration never poses a problem as the screenplay takes care of it and there isn't a dull moment to mention. Lavish costumes, magnificent sets, the imperial canvas...they all take you back in time and I won't be surprised if you wish to be a part of that era to have a taste of the royal treatment!
The movie had some magical instances which will be talked of, over and over again. Akbar's moment in trance and swaying to the enchanting Khwaja Mere Khwaja stands out! The cinematographer has done an amazing job at capturing the war scenes, and more or less throughout the movie. The sword fight between Jodhaa and Akbar is beautifully worked out. And the spectacular rendering of Azeem O Shaan Shahenshah is a treat to the eyes!
There is nobody in our film industry who could have played the character of Akbar better than Hrithik Roshan. He epitomizes perfection and brings out the best in him to stand up to the mountainous task of portrayal of the great emperor. Aishwarya Rai fits the bill perfectly as Jodhaa. The director, Ashutosh Gowariker has to be applauded to have executed the project with such brilliance to dish out a masterpiece!
This one's definitely from the top drawer, not to be missed or ignored, and might just finally get us an Oscar, hopefully! One of the movies which you walk out of feeling all good inside.
...a day to feel overjoyed. ...a day to forget about the recent tough times. ...a day to look forward to better days. ...a day to feel happy for making my dear ones happy. ...a day to feel reassured that I ain't useless after all. ...a day to thank everyone who stood by me and prayed for this day to come. ...a day to thank God for blessing his child, yet again.
Apprehensions and worries galore, Uncertainties fill the air. Self doubts starting to creep in, He moans in despair.
Till some time back, all was well. All planned out, and seemed to be the best. Then one fine day, a light from an unexpected source Shone dimly but unsettled everything that looked on course.
A new glimmer of hope arose Old dreams returned on a new night He thought this was his chance to make it, And was ready to fight the fight.
So he played his part And stuck to his task Then all he could do was to wait, With the deepest desire, that luck becomes his mate.
But in a few days, he got the first blow One dream squashed before it could grow The light turned out to be somewhat low Were the signs of things to come beginning to show?
It has hit him hard A reality check of sorts Is there anything to look forward to? Or is he headed to another dark?
He thought he could lay his hands, on what now looks like slipping away As much as he wants to be in control, there isn’t any way The storm of thoughts inside his head, has taken his peace away Leaving him vexed and troubled, yearning to find the right way.
Another tag, and it's by Skeeter again. I gotta post a picture that I think is my best shot till date or something very close to my heart. I choose the former and it is this shot of the London Eye, which I took in April 2006.
Winters are here, and I love it! The time to eat the best food; sip on a variety of chai 'n' coffee; feast on ice creams & desserts. And to top it all, that walk to remember!
15 August, 2007 : India’s 60th Independence Day. A mid-week holiday, a day to fly kites, a day to feel good about our country, just to forget about it the next day, till we have another national holiday to do many such things again! It’s good to be a nationalist and rave about one’s country, but is it an easy way to comfortably adorn this attitude, when convenient, and be ignorant about all the areas where we lack and where we need to improve?
I agree, “koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, use perfect banana padta hai!”, but then, are we doing enough to make our nation one of the greats in the world? A month back, millions of people of our country voted for the Taj Mahal to seal its place in the Seven Wonders of the World, but when I visited the monument this Monday, it just did not seem as if we really care about it as much as we showed through that poll!
These pictures speak louder than words:
Mangal Sen thinks he's written his name in the golden pages of Indian history!
I never thought we were so bad at both these languages to have such a hard time reading that!
I am an Indian, this is my country I have the right to be free, the right to be me But with that, I have a moral responsibility To respect the fundamental duties, that the constitution expects of me You may ask me, “Is it a price to be free?” I’d say, “No it’s the love for my country, just as my country loves me!”
It started last Sunday, when I went to watch Strangers at PVR Plaza. I was way too excited, as it’d mark the start of this year’s Osians Cine Fan for me, so much so that I reached there half an hour before the show timing to get the ticket. But talk about bad luck and I’ll top the list! They had changed the movie and postponed the timing as well, so now it was to be Shoonya at 7.15 p.m. Now that I was there, I wouldn’t have gone back without watching the movie, so I bought the ticket and went to Barista to have a quick bite; came back well in time and settled comfortably in the waiting lounge in the theatre premises. Across the room, around another table, were 3 gals, out of which 2 looked good, and that’s all to this story! Well, not really. ;-)
A nice movie, on the match fixing scandal in cricket; KK Menon was good, as usual, Naseeruddin Shah as classy as ever, and Tulip Joshi, the pretty woman.
After working for over 2 years, one always wishes that there were no Mondays in the week, I’m no different. I reached office, hoping that it wouldn’t be a heavy day to cope with. I didn’t receive any email from my team lead in the first couple of hours of the day, and I knew it was one of those lucky days!
I was browsing through some random videos when I happened to watch the trailer of the Goal-2: Living the Dream! The first part of the series was an absolute treat for the lovers of the beautiful game and I was desperately waiting for the second part’s release; found out that it released a long time back in many countries. I could not wait any longer, and the search was on! Managed to find the full movie on YouTube, and the Monday was just not the same!
Loved it as much as the first one, and just can’t seem to get enough of the track “Feeling a Moment” by Feeder, which features in the OST of the movie; someday I wanna feature in a video with this song in the background…Amen!
Having watched Goal-2 the previous day, I felt like re-living the Goal-1 experience; so I did and Tuesday’s gone, gone with the wind! The sounds of Feeling a Moment continue to fill the air around me...
Wednesday was just a regular day at work, but I was happy in anticipation of a fun-filled extended weekend!
I got up early on Thursday to catch the first movie of the day, Mithya, but thanks to the Delhi traffic, I could not make it in time for the show... just not the start I expected, nevertheless I bought a ticket for The Woven Stories Of The Other, a Philippines’ movie, based on a tribal war in some forest village of the country. I didn’t understand much of the movie and almost slept in between. I was hoping the other movies that followed would make up for these 97 minutes!
The next one was Resonance, a Bengali movie, with a solid star cast, primarily 'coz of Rahul Bose, with Rajat Kapoor, Raima Sen & Rituparna Sengupta. I took a seat in the third row from the back, about 15 minutes before the start. I began browsing through the daily bulletin, and just then 2 pretty looking gals came and sat beside me on my right, leaving a seat in between, where I had kept my glasses and the film schedule, how I wish I hadn’t!
After a while, a guy enquired if that seat was vacant, and as it was, I picked up my stuff from there to allow him to sit. Instead he asked me to shift there, and I readily did! :) The movie started well, but became much of a drag after about half an hour of its running. I was getting restless, so I initiated a conversation with the pretty gal A, sitting next to me. Apparently, she was getting bored too. And we talked about boredom! :D When the movie ended, more talk followed. We talked about a few movies of this year’s Osians, and when we discussed Shoonya, she told me that she saw me at the theatre that day…
Ting Tong! Dance to the song… God made a plan, for me to just play along! :)
These were the same 2 gals I saw at PVR Plaza the other day. And the story continues…
The next movie, “we” watched was Footsteps, debut venture for the director Suman Ghosh, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Nandita Das in lead. A brilliant movie about an old man in his twilight years, his relationship with his daughter and his bonding with the neighbors’ 5-year old kid. The cinematography was superb too. I met the director at the end of the movie to thank him for giving us 90 minutes to cherish.
It was time to head back home now, time to offer a lift, time to exchange numbers to seek to keep in touch!
Come Friday and I was up earlier than the previous day, to avoid missing out on the first movie of the day, which I so wanted to watch. The roads looked clearer and it was a comfortable drive at an average speed of 60 kmph, until I was faced with a traffic jam again! Stuck in there, the hope of reaching Siri Fort in time was fading. Even when it cleared out, it was near to impossible to cover the remaining distance in the little time left. I had made peace in my head with the sorry possibility of not being able to watch the movie. I reached at 9.55 a.m., just in time for the show, but I doubted if I’d be able to get the ticket. But as it was destined to be a good week for me, I was lucky to get the ticket and watch the movie, Crossroads. And the next 90 minutes that followed couldn’t be better.
“The film resembles snippets of collected photographs of everyday life. It brings together similar yet unconnected people in search of something to overcome their mundane routine - a mixture of games of perception and reality, the absurdly comic and the absolutely accurate, a mystery and a family drama. It traces patterns and drops hints that for these individuals there lies a far greater drama in the ordinariness of ordinary stories than in the melodrama of spectacles.” – synopsis from the website.
Aptly named, the movie showed different people, standing at some crossroad in their lives, knowing not where to go, which path to tread. Undoubtedly, my pick of this Osians!
The next was Shame, a documentary about the life of a 30-year old woman, Mukhtaran Mai, in a remote village in Pakistan, after she was gang-raped by the members of an influential family in the village. An outstanding film, the director has done a great job. The last one for me that day was Moonlit Forest. No offences meant to anybody related to this film, even remotely and to all those who liked it, I just couldn’t understand why was this film even thought of to be made! I was intrigued by the title, but what I got was nowhere close to what I expected it to be. So I headed back home; it was my mum’s birthday, spent the evening with her, hogged on Domino’s Cheese Burst pizzas and the ever so yummy Chocolate Marble Cake that my masi had baked.
After 2 activity-full days, I decided to take it easy on Saturday. I had a plan to go for Strangers at 4.30 p.m., so had a lot of time before that to laze around. I had my brunch, watched TV for a while, caught on a short nap, got up and set off for Siri Fort. It was to be a “Meeting Old Friends” Day; just at the entrance, I met this friend of mine, with who the last form of any communication that I had was about 1.5 years back. It was good to meet her after so long. While I was talking to her, I saw another familiar face approaching me, a friend from college. And in no time, a colleague from office as well!
Now I was waiting, looking for someone who was expected to turn up, when the pretty gal A, dressed in white, came and stood right beside me! (Yeah, it was planned this time :D)
As we approached the auditorium, it started raining out of nowhere. It was fun getting drenched, I don’t even remember when was it the last time that I had allowed myself to do that, in college days I guess. All soaked up, we went in to watch the movie, fought with the people in-charge to finally grab the reserved seats for jury! It was an awesome opening half an hour, with Jimmy Shergill at his personal best. But then as it progressed, it became predictable by the minute, and 2 crappy songs one after the other, made it worse enough for us to decide to move out. We went to CP to have a cup of coffee, I had an Assam tea, and then we walked to the Central Park; beautifully lit up, it’s one of the most amazing places to visit in the evening. Another good day draws to a close; in a few hours, it will be a Sunday morning.
As late as it could be, I woke up after-noon. I had to meet a couple of friends over lunch. We went to Market Café, ordered 2 different pastas, both were good to my taste buds, and then a Mexican Pizza, which wasn’t much appreciated by anyone, but me. :) Then we moved to The Big Chill Café for desserts, they are worth dying for!
We ordered an Irish Cream Cheese Cake and a scoop each of Belgian Chocolate and Midnight Mint ice creams. Who needs anything else to get high on, when you have all this, and cheaper...
I hadn’t had “good food” for so long, thanks to a wretched stomach infection; this meal was one to savour.
Now back home, I was in my bed, remembering the week gone by, where every day was as good as the previous one, and it just got better...
Life is about this and that Today is good, tomorrow may be bad In this moment, I’m just glad For those seven days, were only fun-clad!
Shantaram, a blatantly autobiographical first novel by Gregory David Roberts, an Australian author who himself fled to India after escaping from prison, sets out to tell the story of Lindsay's transformation from desperate, bitter man on the run, to, if not a man of peace, then a man of understanding, a man at peace with his life and the mistakes he has made.
