Tagged: Seven Wierd Things About Me

It was raining tags and awards on the other blogs that I keep visiting, still the weather was warm and sunny during the day and cold in the night at my blog. I was caught unawares when Shewtz decided to send some tag clouds over to my blog. I could do nothing but let the tag rain.

Here are the seven weird things about me that you don't know:

Collection of Chocolate Wrappers: I have a large collection of chocolate wrappers. I am not chocolate lover but I do collect the wrappers. I also have collection of key chains and calendar cards. The only one active is the chocolate one. Read this post to know more.

Junkie: I am already preparing myself to keep busy with junk that I collect and hope to put some good use after my retirement (which has a very long way to go). Here is a snap of some of the junk I have. The only thing that I have created something is a fighter plane that was made from the wood chunks that I found on the terrace as a kid.

Gory Stuff Make Me Laugh: I find gory stuff funny something that others don’t.. I loved the scene in the movie ring (the Japanese version) where the girl comes out of the TV set. For that matter the scene in the movie Saathiya where Rani Mukherjee accident takes place, I found myself laughing amused by the way the accident takes place and so fast.

Adding Numbers: I picked up the habit of adding numbers on the number plates of the vehicles plying on the road when I used to walk to home from classes, due to boredom. The result of that act resulted in that I can add up numbers really fast and other things too.

Reading Newspaper Twice a Day: I read newspaper twice a day. Sometimes when I have nothing to do, I just go through it once again. On Sundays, I do it anyways as I keep some articles for later reading.

Watching Movies: I can sit and watch movies all day thanks to Star, HBO, Pix, Zee Studio and now WB channels. Sometimes I even watch them from in between or watch two movies simultaneously. Till now, I have watched three movies at one go.

Perfectionist: Yup I have the perfectionist keeda in me. If something is not done the way it should have been, it causes stress to me unless set right!!

I am sending this tag cloud to Rashmi, Deepali, Adisha & Chriz

Gals & Mate, Have Fun :))

Tales of A Tall Guy

 



Everyone has high expectations from the tall guy as he walks on the streets people keep looking up to him, which makes him happy from inside.

He is always susceptible to head injuries especially when he is getting down from the BEST buses (of which he got hit many times) and also while entering & exiting his building premises. The tall guy can also hurt himself when he enters houses with lower ceilings and the fan is going in circles and has to make sure that he does not raise his hands.

The tall guy is very easy to find when the meeting point is in crowded places. All one has to do is look up and there he is standing tall. He also has no difficulty in finding people in such crowds. The tall guy is smiling now.

The world is not kind to him as he has to struggle with his day to day routines be it with chairs which are shorter than his knee length, has to cramp his legs when in the backseat of cars and also been used as a height measuring scale for others.

Come rain or shine, the weather always plays tyrant with him. The sun rays often find its way to fall on him making him sweat, while others stand behind as if he is a big tree providing shade. During the rains, no matter what the tall guy carries to protect himself from the rains, he always finds his pants wet. Being tall helped him during the day when Bombay was flooded; the water was up to his waist height!!

The tall guy struggles to find a girl who is taller as he is. All he could see is pretty faces in small sizes :( Finds hard to maintain relationships with them as they keep looking up to him and he keeps looking down causing a sprain in his neck. Should he carry a small stool with him when he goes on the date next time? He is wondering what couple would they resemble when he gets married, the Amitabh-Jaya or Abhishek-Aishwarya?

People keep asking the tall guy about his secrets of him being so tall. All he would say is that it is in his genes :)

He would always find people trying to bring him down to their levels when he visits the hair saloon and has to lower himself in the chair. He even finds people trying to reach his level when they try to keep their arm on his shoulders.

He has a hard time finding variety for his shoes as getting shoes of his size are not available everywhere.

The tall guy always stands out, be it a group photo, meeting or get together. Even his attempts to hide himself to take a small nap or work on the small drawing etched on his notepad fails miserably. At times he finds others trying to hide behind his back but he has nowhere to go :(

Even the bed in which he sleeps is small, his feet keeps dangling out.....
 

Unwanted

Bharat never thought he would be seeing this day in his life. He was lying on one of the beds of the old age homes. He lay awake in the endless night wondering how he ended up here.

His own daughter Veena had thrown him out of his house saying that she could not afford to take care of him anymore and that she had her own children to take care off. Her husband had left her and it was him who brought back her to his place and encouraged to work.

Finding himself on the streets he called up his only son Vijay who had settled abroad who suggested that he better take shelter in the old age homes. Not once did he say that he would try to resolve the issue or that he could stay with him.

With the help of his friends, he found himself a place to sleep at night in one of the old age homes. Though retired, the 63 year old decided to take up an accountant’s job to fend for himself.

As he closed his eyes, tears kept flowing down through his face as he tried to sleep with troubled thoughts haunting him…

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This story is actually based on a news piece that I came across. This is just one of the realities of our lives where when people get old they are thrown out on the streets by their children or left at old age homes as they cannot or don’t want to take care of them. No section of the society is untouched by this phenomenon.

What I fail to understand is what prompts this decision even when they are aware that it’s wrong and how they go on to justify it. Parents go on to make sure that their child gets the best of everything they could provide, so what changes the relationship between the children and parents when they grow up?

My best guess is that as children get more involved into their lives they tend to become detached to parents who are less involved. Then they just start treating them like any individual they come across without giving a thought what they had done for them (Their normal justification would be, they are suppose to do that).

My question is what should a parent do to make sure that they are taken care of in their old age? The problem is that at most times one can not do anything about it. Coz when one is raising a child that is not the question that haunts them, its only when they reach a stage in their life where the tables are turned and the children need to take care of the parents, that they come to know how successful they were as parents.

At the most, parents can make sure that they make a will and do not disclose about it any other member of the family and avoid transferring properties in the names of their child if the children don’t treat their parents properly.

What such adults do forget is one day they are going to finding themselves in the same situation and who knows they could find themselves at the mercy of their own children…

The Review

I saw the TV premier of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. There has been a lot of controversy involved around this movie especially the way India has been depicted and the debate brought on by an actor’s blog. Also wanted to watch Frieda Pinto’s acting whether she is good enough to share the limelight with Hollywood stars.

When the movie first released, I hardly felt the need to watch it somehow I had the feeling that the movie was not that good. So ever after winning 8 Oscar awards, I still did not change my mind on watching this movie. When I saw the promos of it being aired on the television, I made sure I watch it to find out the truth whether it deserves the hype or not.

Here is my verdict. The movie failed to make an impression on me and I am glad that I did not go to the theatre. The story of an underdog who goes on to become a millionaire, if one has watched closely enough it is a typical Bollywood dished out movie with a Hollywood style of finishing to add to the overall taste (just like a pinch of salt perhaps).

I am thinking of catching up with the other nominated movies to know how this movie went to win the Oscars. There were heavy contenders as far as I know from the story plot. I am wondering how a movie goes on to win a Best Picture or Best Director award without any members of the cast being nominated for their roles while this was not the case for the other movies nominated under the same categories.

There is no denying in one fact though, the word “Slumdog” will be used as a racial slur against Indians. Regarding the debate that has been brought by the actor’s blog if one has watched enough Bollywood movies; they would realize that the common man is no more part of the Indian society. Most of the movies would show the actor hailing from a rich family and they live in palatial houses, which most of the Indians can only dream of buying. Where is the Amol Palekar who represented the common man? Somehow I have this feeling of him getting replaced by Abhay Deol (with the exception of certain movies). Something that is close to reality and people could relate to. Why is that Hollywood movies tend to be closer to reality whereas ours far away from it?

The movie showed the life of the people who we choose to remain ignorant about. I liked the Taj Mahal scene the most where Mumtaz was said to have died in a road accident. I don’t believe the movie is good enough to win the Oscars; somehow my interpretation of a movie winning an Oscar would be based on how the movie moved one in a certain way and the feeling remaining in the end or making one think even after it had ended. This movie fails to do so.

Frieda Pinto is hardly there on the screen. A 5-10 min role which makes it hard to tell about her acting abilities. I hope she is good enough to get signed by Hollywood. I also hope that she is aware that this won’t last long that coz not many Indians or for that matter Asians do not have things going for them. One’s looks matter a lot. No doubt Ben Kingsley (real name Krishna Pandit Bhanji) who played Gandhi had a longer stint coz no one could not make out, that he was of Indian origin and not white as he is mistaken. Bend It Like Beckham is a good example, the lead star Parminder Nagda got overshadowed by Kiera Knightly who had a small role and went to working in big budget movies. As for Dev Patel, he seemed to carry just one expression through out the movie.

In the end, the real winners were the slum children who played the main characters childhood coz there lives have been transformed in a big way and hope that they are able to make the best out of it and stay on top of whatever comes their way.

I am proud of A.R. Rehman and Resul Pookutty for making India proud :D

Hard To Believe

I reached her place, and was sitting in the hall with others. After sometime she came out draped in a saree looking beautiful, flowers on her hair and most importantly wearing that beautiful smile that one can hardly forget. I made sure that I capture it with camera.

Somehow I found it hard to sink in the feeling that she was going to get engaged today. Time flies so fast. She belongs to the Sisterhood Clan (I’ll write about that later). She is one with whom I have grown up. I have already started wondering about how life would change with her getting married. I am already feeling that I have got old to write like this :D

We both are of the same age in fact she is just five days older than me and I am the one who has to live with the tag of being the youngest. Whenever such family functions takes place I find myself capable with multiple abilities that I don the role of a photographer, a task master and sometimes carrying out the errands.

I always have a role to play which makes me share the limelight. The first time it happened on Sister II marriage where I had an important role to play. It was captured on video and I was there on the screen for more than a minute with a Mundus (Pagdi/Turban) on my head. The result of this fame was that I got my first marriage proposal. The second time with Sister III was just hilarious; I thought soon we (there were others with me) are going to play rail gaddi around the couple.

This time round I was going to gift clothes to my would-be brother-in-law. As I presented him and we both posed for the cameras, I found it hard to stop smiling as after presenting him the clothes, we again posed with a handshake, kind of make me feel like I was attending a summit. I also had a photo session later with the would-be bride and the sisterhood clan joining, with one missing.

As everyone came on the stage to give their blessing to the couple, in the end I also went up in the end and stood next to my would-be brother-in-law. There was a lot of speculation going on who is taller, him or me. I won hands down :))

As I got down from the stage and stood nearby, one of my brother-in-law’s mother got hold of me. Somehow she seemed to be in awe of me. Every time she sees me and the only thought that comes to her mind is of getting me married. There was also a debate on what height should be my would-be wife, with others pitching in.

We went back to her home later. As I said the feeling was yet to sink in, so I was leaving I kept my hand on her head like an older brother. I am protective about her and am hoping/praying that she is blessed with a happy married life.

I am already wondering whom I should call when I am bored. I always felt better talking to her coz I can talk any nonsense and still not feel foolish. She was my partner in crime. Marriage would change all of that.

I would miss her, or am I already missing her :P

Human Psyche

I am starting a new series (a first for me) on Human Psyche. It would be about situations and how people react to it. It would be about people who react differently to a situation than logic permits. Giving my take of the situation and you could yours. It’s not about passing judgments but to understand the human nature.

The human mind intrigues me, I would be doing good as a shrink or as a counselor but I realized it late and by that time I was already out of college :(

Being an observer, I have often seen how people would not follow the logical route and would do something different to come out as a winner or end up losing to the situation badly.

Its about analyzing what made individuals take the decisions they did and kind of help us deal better with our situations in the present or the future.

P.S.: I don’t have any clue how I am going to pull this off, but I will and do let me know if the effort was good enough. It might take time for the first of the series to hit the blog, so be patient :)

Anne Frank

I happened to have finished reading the book “The Dairy of A Young Girl” by Anne Frank a week back. What fascinated me about the book was how remarkably well and wittily she has put her thoughts into her dairy which gives us an insight into her transition from a girl to women and life in the “Secret Annexe”.

Her thought clarity at such a young age (she was thirteen when she started writing in her dairy) astounds me. One could only imagine how successful she would have been had she been alive. She wanted to become a writer after war and there is no doubt that she would have been a successful one!!

She expresses herself so beautifully about what she was going through herself and the constant fear they lived in. I loved the way she indulges on the self criticism and writing about herself like an outsider.

It is real sad that the way her life ended in a Nazi concentration camp. In an ironical twist of fate, her wish came true which she had penned in her dairy: “I want to go on living even after my death”.

Here is YouTube video of Otto Frank (her father) talking about the book:

Do read it, in case you haven’t.

P.S.: In case you don’t know, Anne Frank was the daughter of Otto Frank whose family went into hiding with another family during the World War to protect them from the Holocaust that was taking place against the Jews. The only survivor was Otto Frank who then decided to publish her dairy which went on to sell in many countries and translated for the same

An Ironic Tale

Shot in the back waters of Kerala, one of the most picturesque video and a great romantic song I have come across.

Sung by singer Aslam & Shibani (she features in the video), the song went on to become one of the greatest hits. I find it very amusing that the singer Aslam who sings the whole song was never heard or seen later and on the contrary Shibani who just sings two lines at the end of the song got all the popularity, went on to cut an album and sing in movies too.

I am not sure what exactly happen to the singer but cannot stop wondering about it. Find it very ironical that the person who should have made the most out of it went missing and the one who should not have (considering she sung only two lines) ended up making the most out of it.

Note: I guess some of the you have mistaken that the singer and the model in the album are the same, well they are not. The model in the album is Nakul Kapur while the singer name is Aslam who was never heard again as far as I know...

The Thought

I was walking back home with my mother from the school. I was wondering what my friend would be doing now who was absent today, then came the thought of watching him through television (I don’t think CC cameras had made its way into the market then) his every movements and the same for other around me too.

Years have passed by, but somehow or the other this thought kept coming back to me. I never knew what to make of it, but it captivated me. It made me think.

The only conclusion that I could draw was about being aware of life revolving around me and maybe I am playing one of the lead characters. It should make me feel good right?, well it did but the effect does not last long and am back to myself again :)

I am not sure if I read that right, if you think you can crack the code, go ahead. It keeps coming back to me. Not doing what I suppose to? or maybe it’s just a thought in the end…

Argument

When both sides think they are right
oblivious to the fact that the issue
that spark the debate no longer matters

What matters is to prove themselves right
with no one on the wrong side

A Secret Date

Not exactly a "date" but on the lines. Yesterday. I got a call from my Sister I asking me to come to her house when she will call me again in a few days.

The reason: she wants me to have a look at a girl (who will come to stay at her house for a few days) from her side whom she likes a lot and thinks she would be a perfect choice for me. This happens to be her first choice among the list that she has created for me (Finally, I get to see someone from her list!!). Read the following post to know about the list.

She very well knows my take on girls from native place, not that they are lesser in any ways to girls from city but I don't think they will be able to cope up to the living in a city like Bombay. Sister I wants me to see that they can. The girl also lives in a city (Mangalore to be precise).

I kept listening what she had to say and found it quite amusing. I did not commit on anything. On the other hand she also told me that Sister II also has a proposal ready for me again from the native place that she thinks would be "perfect" for me.

I have not made up my mind, but can't help it to think as you get moving up the age ladder everyone is eager to get you married.

Guess, they cannot see my happiness in living a Happy Single Life.

but then Happiness is not Everything in Life, right?? :D

P.S.: I feel like I have few days (may be a year or two) left of my bachelor hood to live, after marriage everything will come to an end... :))

Dev D in Everyone of US

I watched the movie a month back, the Anurag Kashyap’s version of Devdas and it kind of intrigued me in many ways. This also happens to be the first time that I liked a movie based on the famous Devdas character on whom numerous movies have been made.

I could never understand the fascination of the movie industry with Devdas who only annoyed me as he was the only one who was responsible for pushing away his love and then making himself suffer in pain and still when love came in the form of Chanda he choose to make himself suffer over love.

Watching Dev D, I observed something in Devdas that we would often find in ourselves but we may not realize. Though the suffering here was of his own making but there are times when we find ourselves in pain when life’s plan does not goes accordingly with our plan.

How does one react if the love of their life with whom they planned to spend rest of the life left them for someone else, an unexpected twist of fate that leaves you scarred mentally/emotionally and times when things did not went your way when you were expecting it highly?

It’s hard to hold back emotions during these times and act sensibly. How should one overcome the trauma that one is going through inside while on the surface everything seems fine?

As Dev D goes into his drinking binge and drugs, one could see how he shows no signs of overcoming his heart ache. Pain can give one such a high that soon one finds comfort in them and one does not want it to be over with.

I guess we all have our such moments (may be not to such an extent) where we wont let the pain go away and choose to move on. Dev D represents that.

P.S: I liked the way the movie ended with Dev D moving on with Chanda...

I happened to have mention Paro by mistake, Thanks Adisha for clearing it out :)

My Interpretation of GOD

“People break down into two groups:

When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them.

Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance, I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear.

Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope.

See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?”

— Mel Gibson in the movie Signs

When somebody shows blind faith in GOD, it really makes me wonder from where he/she had so much belief when they have not even see him.

Growing up, I was one of the early ones who found himself praying and doing “aarti” every morning before going to school. I guess for me it was a kind of a friendship where I talked to GOD and he listened and I hoped that he will be there when I need him.

Life changed and I wondered why GOD whom I considered my friend choose to do nothing. I stopped talking to him but that did not mean that I did not visited his place, my family did not know about our fight.

I would find myself intrigued looking at the faces of people around me who seemed so lost in his devotion during aarti in temple. I wondered what makes them different when we were listening to the same aarti.

I was done with my days of doing the “aarti” and was of the opinion that one does not need GOD if they are going after what they needed and work for it. After all the only reason we pray to him so that he could take care of us. If we are able to take care of ourselves then do we need him?

During this “phase” I tried to understand the origin of GOD. I came to the conclusion of one possibility that GOD could be man-made so that we could believe in a higher form of life that would take care of us and protect us when we need him. The books of GOD written by ancient men who were great novel writers and knew how to keep their readers interested for ages.

I believe GOD represents the “hope” that we look for when we lose ourselves to the circumstances/situations of our lives.

Believing in him gives us the courage that we can overcome this “difficult phase”. The truth is when we believe in GOD, we actually believe in ourselves which gives us the strength to face the “difficult situation” before us.

In a way GOD is inside every one of us waiting to be discovered when our trials put us to test.

P.S.: This post was on my mind for a very long time, the right words never came in and just a few days back, I found myself flowing with everything right that I needed to complete this.

The Old Man

As I was growing up and was surrounded by problems, I wished there was someone who would listen and make me understand what I don’t.

I always had a picture in my mind of an old man in a park giving me advice on how to deal with one’s problems and teach me how to deal with it. Sadly it just remained a picture in my mind. The old man whom I was looking for never came.

The irony of asking someone to give you advice is that they will give you their take on the situation instead of telling how to deal with it.

I think the picture is a vision from the future where the old man is none other than me who is listening and making others understand about their situations while he has no one to listen to him as he sits alone on one of the benches in the park…

I Don't Know

Has it ever happen to you that people who were academically backwards then you are doing much better than you are. People whom you thought never deserved to be promoted actually got promoted, while you are waiting to be promoted. People who get into the limelight by doing something little, while you have been slogging hard to get rewarded.

Comparisons are never a good thing and there is no way one can compare individuals coming from different backgrounds and environment. Still, one cannot resist them when we see people who move a long way ahead and you find yourself still struggling to make a place for yourself.

I often found myself stump when I tried to understand how they happen. Was luck a big factor for their success or they did something that you did not. If you have any answers do let me know...

Change Please

I was sitting on the sofa when I realized that I did not have enough change to pay for the auto by which I will be travelling. I asked my aunt if she had a change of a 100 rupee note, she told me point blank that she did not, did not even bother to check if there was one. Thankfully my cousin came to the rescue, who had enough of them.

This is one of the quirks you will often find in people who would never let go of their change even if they have enough of it. They might not have a valid reason but still they wont budge in giving to someone else, holding on to it tightly as if someone has asked to give them everything they had.

It kind of reminds me of the paradigm slideshow (click on the link for the slideshow) where the monkeys would not climb the ladder even when they don’t get the water treatment. Guess we, humans have a long way to go!!

The Non-Veg Factor

It really struck me odd that a girl prefers to stop eating non-vegetarian food just because her lover belongs to a vegetarian family. While the same is not true for the male who eats non-veg and marries one who does not.

He is either expected to eat outside or order them instead of giving the trouble to his wife who does not eat them. So why is a girl, who eats non-veg prefers to stop eating them when the male does not do so?

I know two such people who gave up eating non-veg as they were getting married into a family which considers eating non-veg unholy. One of them simply loved non-veg, she used to tell how they tasted and how her Mom makes the best prawns dish.

I was surprised when I saw her skipping the non-veg dish and taking everything vegetarian. Later I came to know that she is trying to give up non-veg for the sake of her boyfriend whom she plans to get married.

My contention is why does a girl thinks that just because she is getting married into a family which is vegetarian she should give up her habit of eating non-veg? Would the guy had done the same? The answer is a 99 percent “NO”.

Instead of giving up completely on Non-veg, she could have just avoided eating non-veg at her in-laws house and could have them outside or whenever she visits her mother’s place. If her partner understands, I am sure he would allow that after all she has grown up eating them and such habits die a very painful death!!

It amazes me the kind of “small” sacrifices a girl makes just to keep her boyfriend appease. No wonder people end up doing silly things when they are in love.

I had a small encounter on the same issue with her boyfriend when we were on a picnic and before all this took place. He was standing behind me in our self-service style dinner. As I carried the plate with two empty bowls and filled with a few of every dish that was being kept there. I happened to have put the non-veg dish into one of the bowls and as I moved forward to take the vegetarian dish in the other bowl, her boyfriend standing behind me made sure to tell me that I take care that I do not touch the spoon to the bowl.

At that very moment, I realized what he meant and the only thought that came to my mind was how can an educated man speak like an illiterate!!

So, Gals (who love their non-veg food), beware if you are looking for a relationship or are into one with a veggie boyfriend, take care of the “Non-Veg” factor or else you might end up losing your taste buds for the non-veg food you loved so badly :)))

That Sheepish Smile :)

I had a bite of the sweet, which was too sweet brought by my sister from Rajkot. I turned towards her and said that don’t eat too much as it is too sweet and not good for her health.

I asked her if she had any and slowly the fingers went up like a victory sign with a sheepish smile on her face.

Tagged: What are You Emotional About

Got tagged by IHM, a few weeks back on what are you emotional about.

Usually, I am a cool headed person, don't lose my cool easily. Here is my list which I consider my emotional atyachar :)))

I. Been in situations where you are completely dependant on others and they don’t really care about how you end up

II. When deserving people have to struggle hard to get the success, while the undeserving ones have it easy.

III. When people try to influence their religious beliefs on others in the name of HELP. If you are religious no problem, but why do you want to influence others in the name of the “God”? If you want to help, help!!!

IV. People who keep talking their life sucks and want their lives to be transformed without any efforts. They need to understand that only they have the power to do so. Cribbing about it does not help.

V. At God, sometimes I even wonder if there is one. There are more complaints than prayers.

VI. Being educated does not guarantee that people will have a higher conscience and be an asset to the society. They are no better than illiterates if they don’t have any moral beliefs. Look at some of the educated political leaders who talk nonsense if you want examples.

VII. At Bosses who show their dumbness by asking for explanation for everything. Sometimes they are even aware of the situation and still act silly!! I have long list here :)))

VIII. With people who speak nonsense even after umpteen attempts fail to make them understand that what they are doing is not right...

IX. People who acts as saviors of the Indian culture, really don't know anything about the "Indian" culture. They keep forgetting this is where the Kama Sutra originated and in the name of protecting Indian culture, they are actually enforcing their own interpretation of the Indian culture on the people. People are smart enough and aware about the culture, so leave them alone!!

X. Government. They really suck. No matter which parties comes in power they make sure that the cases against their politicians gets trashed or make sure the truth never comes out. No one is really interested in looking after the welfare of people, if it was not for the voting which gets them in power. They seem too busy to fill their own pockets than to look after the needs of the people.

Opportunities in Life

I don’t remember the last time, I let go an opportunity which would either mean additional responsibilities or doing something I never did before and that it would help me move forward…

These opportunities have been an important part of my life as I kept gaining knowledge on a lot of issues, with a mind like mine I came pretty close to understand how things work and what acts as a barrier to implement a simple solution.

Though I do admit that even after capitalizing on my opportunities, I hardly found myself moving the direction that I wanted to, but I do believe that every thing has a timing and things don't happen before that. So I am waiting and preparing myself for my time to come.

Just a few weeks back, I found myself in a situation which looked liked a big task ahead but I think it was the right opportunity for me to learn something that I should have long back. Had no choice to say “No” as everything depended on me, so went ahead with worry reflecting on my forehead :))

As the work progressed, I got the hang of it and finally when the major work was carried out, I was there praying to God that everything goes fine and it did. I was on a high that night.

It felt just GREAT!!!

Parents: The Guilty Ones

I often put myself into their shoes and think whether I will do the same what they are doing. When it’s proved that their children were responsible for the crimes they have committed, still they choose to protect them and say their children are innocent and are been framed.

It’s hard to imagine on how they would have reacted if there kids were not the accused but the victims of such tragedies.

To come, think of it, are the parents doing the right thing in protecting their child when they are guilty and what kind of a message are they sending across?

It is such an irony that when a child growing up make mistakes, the parents reprimand them but when they commit bigger mistakes, they are shielded by the same parents who make sure that their child escape the punishment.

It makes me wonder on what goes through their minds when they are aware of their children’s misdeeds and still let them go scot-free. What compels them to take such a decision when they have all the evidence in front of them?

Guess, the parents too needs to be educated on how helping there children go scot-free of the crimes they committed make them the part of the crime too!!

Rahul's Resilience

I really admired the way he hit back at his detractors not with words but with his bat, who thought he is not good enough for the shorter version of the game.

The way Rahul's have been playing in the ongoing IPL league must have silenced his critics who keep writing him off as a "Test" player.

I was annoyed with Vijay Mallya for removing Dravid from the captaincy because his team fail to performed and was dubbed as a “Test Team” in the IPL I. I think Mallya should stick to only doing business and understand that sport is different from running a company.

One cannot expect to win even if it has the best players in the side. There are a lot of other factors that go into winning a match. No wonder Vijay Mallya is doing so poorly in his sporting adventure, his formula one team is yet to make a serious dent, his cricket team has again resided to be on the losing side (though I would like to see Dravid score no matter his team wins or losses).

Rahul Dravid truly is a class player who can play in all forms of the game. His statistics speaks for the same still he is been stereotyped as a test player. I liked the way he said during his MOM (Man of the Match) speeches that players like “me” are given a fair chance to perform in these conditions.

I thought that was an indirect hit on his critics who keep cribbing about his performance in the ODI and 20:20 matches.

I am happy to see Dravid perform and hope that he continues to do so…

Money: The Problem Without a Solution

“It's good to have money
and the things that money can buy,
but it's good, too, to check up once in a while
and make sure that
you haven't lost the things that money can't buy.”

— George Lorimer

One of the ironies of life is some people who have enough of it are still not satisfied, while there are a bunch of people who are praying to God so that they could be blessed with a windfall and get rid of their misery.

One cannot have less of it and more of it too. Money is something that we chase all our lives becomes the motto of some and causes sadness to some.

There are no answers why the rich people keep getting richer, while the poor getting poorer. When I meet people who have enough money and still show their hunger instead of helping others, I wonder if they are planning to take the money with them on their way to heaven/hell.

People keep hopping their jobs because the other company is offering two to five grand more than the company that they have recently joined. Having lots of money can bring a lot of people closer to you. Finding people with real feelings is a tough one. While those who don’t have too much of money often find themselves alone, with little help coming on their way.

The ones you played with grew up and fought, shared everything are turned into sworn enemies because they could not get enough of the money that was divided among them.

One wonders how people in miserable conditions still find happiness while loneliness looms in the corners of the palatial homes where they have no one to talk to.

Many are fooled into thinking that all that has happened was because of money. The truth is that it brings out the real colors of an individual and the importance they give to money and relationships.

Temple, Mosque & Church

One of my friends asked me, about places where one can go for sightseeing in Bombay. I told him about Gateway of India and then I moved on Siddhivinayak temple, Mahalaxmi temple, Haji Ali, Mount Mary, etc.

As I said that, I realized my friend is a Protestant and he would not visit the temple, mosque and the church I mentioned. Out of the blue I asked him a question, would he ever visit a temple or a mosque?

He said he would but he would not pray. I found it surprising considering the fact that we are taught that God is one, so why do we forget them when we grow up?

I am glad that at least he agreed that he won’t mind visiting one, unlike one of my colleagues who years back decided to stand outside a temple as he belonged to a different religion.

I think I am among the few lucky ones to be born in a family where there were no issues on religions. Our temple journey started with Siddhivinayak temple would be followed by Mahalaxmi and ended with Haji Ali. We even visited the Mount Mary Church during the novenas. I prayed in every one of them considered to be the holy places where God resides.

I am not sure what thoughts compelled them to think the way they do, but I guess it has a lot to do the way one has been brought up and how you accept certain things without questioning them. This happens to be one of them.

Waiting For An Invite

I wondered whether I was wrong in telling my friend that we will go only after he sends an invite. My friend said to me that friendship is above all that and does not need an invite. It made sense but still it did not.

Today the society has changed so much that without an invitation we hardly go anywhere even if the person is closer to us. If the person does not send out the invites to you, you hold it against them and make sure that even you do the same when you organize any events.

One of my friends was getting married and we were awaiting his invite which he said he will send or mail it. The day to his marriage was getting closer and there was no sign of the invitation.

My friend said that we need to gift him too; I agreed but said we will do that only after we received the invite. It was not like I wanted a formal invitation but he should communicate to us if he wants us to be there.

Let’s call him up and ask him when he is sending the invite (after all one cannot attend a wedding without the address of the venue) he said. I told him not to do such a foolish thing as we will be looking desperate. To come, think of it, I still did not know why my friends thought he won’t or how we got into this discussion.

My friend came out defending him saying he might be busy, there are so many things that one has to look after all, he was the only child and he was organizing everything. I agreed but if he can find time to invite his relatives, he will find time too invite us too I reasoned.

Surprisingly, that friend of mine called up and asked for certain details and then disconnected the line. I could understand his situation and still I was waiting to hear from him again.

My friends went ahead and called him up and even asked him when he was sending the invite. He said he will do it the next day (my guess). Two days passed and there was no sign of that invitation.

On an early Sunday morning, I (and others too) got an SMS which had the wedding venue address and he also said that he had mailed us the invite which was a relief. There were hardly a few days left and still we were undecided on the gift.

I downloaded the invite and opened it which brought a smile to my face. It read PRESENTS IN BLESSINGS ONLY :DD

Everything ended in a good note, but still I found myself thinking about it…

P.S.: We are still planning to gift him when we meet the next time. If you have any ideas what could be gifted, do let me know :)

I Hate

I hate when other people force you to take decisions which is against your will and when things go wrong, they blame it on your destiny.

Can Money Buy Love?

A girl who got a marriage proposal wherein the boy said “yes” to her even though he was aware of her not being normal like us.

She had developed a disability which could have been rectified but her family did very little to do anything about it even though they had the resources to fix it.

Today she has come of a marriageable age and her family is desperately trying to settle her. They won’t mind if the “groom” does not even belong to their status and are willing to settle down the boy if he agrees.

When the guy said yes, her family was happy but there was a question about his intentions. Did he agree because she was rich and he was not or that he will get a better place to live instead of the small chawl that he lives in with his family? What is the guarantee that the boy will look after her and not be ashamed of her disability? Will the girl be able to adjust as she has always been pampered and got everything what she wants?

Should the girl pay with her life for her family’s ignorance if things don’t work they should have? Should she succumb to the family pressure and say yes as it is difficult to find grooms for her? Will money buy the love that she was looking for…

Hangover

I tried getting up, but could not as the effect of it was still there. Lost in my own world, I found myself in my dreams and heard a voice that spoke in between.

In between I lost my conscious again. Again went through the same ordeal where the mind was awake but the body immovable. I tried again to get over its effect.

Finally I did got up; I knew that I should not have drunk too much. I was warned but when I sipped it a little, it brought the desire to have more of it. I ended up drinking too much, during the day and sometime in the middle of the night.

The summer is getting hotter, and drinking water is the only way to keep one healthy and hydrated :))