tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371278342024-03-13T13:08:03.768+05:30RoshandaanFor some fresh airUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-30885119991372931782009-08-30T18:26:00.000+05:302009-08-30T18:26:29.917+05:30Home hunt in NCRHouse hunting can sure take u places. Our house hunt began with excitement, sputtered through at the realization that the damn recession has affected nothing but our salaries, figured that one must add at least Rs 8 lakh to any apartment's advertised price and finally concluded that even with our Double Income No Kids (DINK) status, all we could afford was an apartment in the NCR region, esconsced some 25 kms off the centre of Delhi. These 25 kms make a world of a difference, most importanly coz it means there will be 7-8 hours of power cuts- for which ur builder will give u power back that will come at a hefty price. Anyways after researching Indirapuram (Rs 3,000/sq/ft), Noida (Rs3500/sq ft) and Faridabad (Rs 2,000 sq ft)-the last I ventured into hoping for a huge lawn for my floor. However, one look at the Neharpar area- the cattle grazing there and the sheer distance from Delhi through a convoluted busy road made me give up all lawn plans. Finally, it was a tussle between Olive County in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad which I like much and Crossings Republic for which hubby dear was rooting. The balance tilted in favour of Crossing Republic- to get to which one has to just drive straight through Nizamuddin bridge down 20 kms on NH 24- purely owing to economics.<br />
Even a 2 bedroom was costing me some 7 lakh over the price I was getting a huge-ish 3 bedroom at Crossings. There is a huge price to pay for this big house though. One has to cross some 3 kms long Dhanduhera village on NH24 before getting to Crossings and believe me it's hardly the right rustic feel. It just makes me feel so like I am in UP badlands and so so so far from saddi Dilli, that it again and again gives me second and third thoughts.Anyways, the deal is sealed now and we are feverishly and gingerly managing the damn funds and home loans that u need to even buy a house 20 kms from Delhi!!! A House for Mr.Biswas--- over and over again. All for a roof of my own over my head!!!!<br />
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P.S.- a word on Crossings Republic- nicely coming up township with malls, markets, cineplexes, Max/Fortis hospitals, DPS/Amity school etc as claimed. Nice apartments at Supertech, Wellington Panchsheel, Arihant. Ajnara and Mahagun could give you a good deal too, just ensure u don't have an apartment with balconies opening into Dhanduhera village for a view.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-46006532069858103992009-08-30T18:02:00.002+05:302009-08-30T18:02:53.871+05:30Yum salad dressing<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #632035; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Here is a mantra for a low fat and absloutely yum salad dressing. Whip up a tablespoon of low fat yoghurt, sprinkle pudina masala (avlbl at FabIndia/Khadi), amchoor 1/2 teaspoon, black pepper 1/4 teaspoon,salt to taste and optionallly cinnamon powder(dalchini) and mix. Add diced cucumber, kakri (the long wiry cucumber), steamed sprouts (microwave for 1 min or so), onion if you like, for a green salad. Or skip the onion and instead add fruits of your choice for a filling salad especially if you want to skip a meal and still relieve hunger pangs. Shake it up and there is your quick fix salad. Also a very easy, healthy carry to office instead of a fried evening snack. Basically the dressing is a tested and tried one and have always had the plates polished off with this one. Try it with practically any salad ingredients.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-13732374830440634832009-02-07T19:13:00.005+05:302009-02-07T19:29:58.937+05:30Dev D is super!Dev D is super! Irreverent, dark, quirky, sexual, tinged with a strange senselessness, pity, longing and empathy, the movie is quite a watch. I am an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Abhay</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Deol</span> fan and he doesn't disappoint. But the ones who really take you by surprise are the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">debutants</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Mahie</span> Gill as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Paro</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Kalki</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Koechlin</span> as Chanda. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Paro</span> is THE <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Punjaban</span>, true to her element, and the woman so many of us have met so often. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Kalki</span> is the one to whom your heart really goes out to, some great acting skills by her, she is the vulnerable looking '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">CSW</span>' who comes up with some lines that stay with you. Awesome music, great lyrics, the oh so Delhi <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Paharganj</span> feel, the careful rendition of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">MMS</span> scandal, a great job on dialogues and the interesting denouement I felt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">particulary</span> thankful for- Dev D is a must watch- a contemporary classic with some must have music. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Bhansali's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Devdas</span> in contrast is opulent, dramatic, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">reminiscent</span> of a bygone era.- my mom loved it. I would pick up this gritty, real version instead especially for the Paro character fleshed out in Dev D and the same goes for Chanda. Music, as I said, is a must have on your playlist-I particularly like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Payalia</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Pardesi</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Nayan</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">emosional</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">atayachaar</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ofcourse</span>. Don't miss this one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-30439900729075167632009-02-06T17:52:00.004+05:302009-02-06T18:06:26.837+05:30Maruti A Star booted outMaruti A Star comes with the biggest oomph factor from amongst her other siblings in the Maruti stables. With a sexy front, dazzling headlights, all four power windows, power steering, tubeless tyres, toggle mirrors, a neatly mounted music system, clubby spaces for bottles etc a good mileage (19.1 in test conditions), the mid version of the car is a piece of work that so makes you want to buy it at Rs 3.8 lakh . But, wait until you have a look at the rear. While the rear seats are about as scramped or worse than an Alto, the boot is the hugest of disappointments. It can at best accomodate your laptop and may be a small carry bag. That was THE factor for me to decide against the new Maruti car. While I know I am not going holidaying or picking up relatives from railway stations every day, what happens the day I do have to- C'mon I will need to do that every two months or so. So thumbs down for the lovely A star solely due to the boot. i10 Era minus the music system may be a better bet. Or just hold on and wait for Maruti Ritz/Splash to launch in either March or June this year if you are hung up on a Maruti, else there is the super Honda Jazz and i20 you can pick from. What I have seen of the i20 looks cool, but I bet Jazz which launches in June will be a league apart.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-20525803563990114272009-02-05T12:58:00.002+05:302009-02-06T17:47:57.148+05:30$10 laptopIndia's $10 non-laptop has generated curiosity, followed by global jeers. Check out what arstechnica has to say at <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/02/india-announces-10-laptop-or-maybe-not.ars">http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/02/india-announces-10-laptop-or-maybe-not.ars</a>. Boy, how the HRD ministry's brave attempt has been trashed by the world media. Best they did more homeowrk on it before unveiling the minimal 'prototype' in Tirupati. Hope they are working on a better version, for their sake.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-57142204579391471782009-02-05T12:51:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:46:36.064+05:30Chance encounterLuck By Chance is a queer one. While every actor is reasonably good, I quite like Rishi Kapoor and Dimple in it- as good as ever, Konkona seems to be doing what she has been doing for a while now. No freshness in her character, I thought. Farhan is ok, Isha Sharvani is just so funny and made up- meant to be I guess. My problem is with the way it ends, it's not a closure, I don't quite get what Zoya Akhtar is trying to say. But I suppose that is it- the open endedness, the lack of closure, the fuzzyish ending is the best way to leave it- a quality very few movies have. So its a a strange feeling it leaves, a closure and non-closure and individuals and their constraints and failings and fallings and rises and luck by chance.<br />P.S- I think that's enough bumbling about for this flick.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-56347452470765844062009-02-05T12:31:00.003+05:302009-02-06T17:46:36.065+05:30Don't C CCTC EVER!Chandni Chowk to China is the worst ever movie. While I have to plead guilty for even having gone to watch this complete disaster, this is a serious no-no. I wonder what made Warner Bros invest in this crazy flick! Akshay Kumar seems to have lost it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-83746725100488637652009-02-05T12:16:00.002+05:302009-02-06T17:46:36.065+05:30Slumdog MillionaireFor anyone who hasn't watched the Danny Boyle movie, the amount of debate it is generating should be reason enough to go get a look. The movie is positively worth a watch and for all the hue and cry on its focus on the ugly side of India by a firangi, all of us know that the underbelly exists, very much so. The music is good too, Jai Ho is nice on the ears and so is Saaya and Dreams on Fire or something besides the Latika theme. Rahman has given us still better music but it's great if this gets him an Oscar. All in all, I like the movie, Dev Patel, the little Jamal and the defining moment of the movie that pops up in my head when I think of the movie- poop-covered little Jamal victoriously holding up a dog-eared photograph of Amitabh Bachchan autographed by the man himself. For that alone I could watch the movie again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-65266651046358866102008-09-13T23:25:00.004+05:302008-09-14T00:05:35.439+05:30Letter to Indian Mujahideen and CoIM & Co,<br />I am angry and tearful and helpless, cannot make sense of this. I have lost no one I know so far in the second series of bomb blasts that I have lived to see in this city of Delhi- my home of ten years. Yet today I feel I have lost something. Tears well up in my eyes and my heart when I thing of the 20 minutes I spent in my car on a jam packed road between Lajpat Nagar and Dilli Haat desperately trying to hear my brother's voice at my phone's end. My brother's exams ended Saturday and he had told me he would go out in the evening and as news poured of the six bomb blasts in Delhi I was nervous, calling him up continously but with no luck as millions of Delhiites did the same for their loved ones and phone lines jammed. While I heard my brother's voice after the 20 minute ordeal, there were many others who did not and no one can imagine the hell they have been through.<br /><br />I am sick of all this. I look at dustbins suspiciously, skull capped youngsters watching while I get into my car at the office parking lot at night make me nervous and I hate myself for this and I am angry with all those who are making me feel and think like this. Why, why why and how will anything be achieved by killing college students, weekend shoppers, parents, random people...what is this mission. I have read those crazed Indian Mujahideen mails and the irony of it. All I have to say to them from among the lines with which they open their vengeful mails- Whomever Allah has Guided will not be misled and whomever he misled will not be guided. There is a far deeper meaning in these lines than they seem to have figured.<br /><br />Meanwhile Indian authorities will keep holding rounds of meetings while the likes of IM plans bombings in other cities and towns targeting innocent people of all hues. While we need tougher laws, strong deterrence effects and a pressing need to keep building bridges between communities, terrorism has to be renounced in one voice and louder than any blasts. There is no place for terrorism and for hidden wars. Nothing ever will be achieved with it except creating distrust, suspicion, communalism, riots and more mails ad blast- its a vicious circle IM, grow up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-40812144901916435122008-08-02T19:13:00.002+05:302009-02-06T17:50:08.680+05:30Its JodhpurJodhpur's Mehrangarh fort is maginificent and so alive. The shenai and tablas played by locals at the entry, the grand museum, the Sheesh Mahal like dancing rooms, winding stair cases and the intriguing 'jharokhas' for the women of the Rajputana to view the happenings in their mahal- its just so waiting to spring to life. Imagine being a woman within such forts with jharokhas, sheesh mahals, watching the King watch women dancing. Strange. And the hand prints of all those countless women who dived into the fire filled 'jauhars' to salvage their honour. Phew.<br />Outside you can see the stamp of the new age royalty. The Umaid Bhawan royal residence cum museum cum five star hotel is modern, real, tangible. I prefer Mehrangarh though- its so damn riven with character.<br />80 kms off is Osian- great place to catch some fun in a sms version of sorts of the great Thar desert. A couple of sand dunes to get the desert feel, the touch of smooth sand slipping under naked feet as one climbs up and then slides down the golden flowy mountains of the desert. Next time, I will see the real thing at Jaisalmer. Goodbye to a vacation I shall always remember fondly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-75717872252901191672008-08-02T18:42:00.003+05:302009-02-06T17:50:08.680+05:30Pushkar TalesWe reached Pushkar at 10 pm and the small town was like under curfew. But then there was some bhajan and shayari that wafted with the breeze along the mellowed Aravallis. The only place we found open at that hour was the Sunset Point and it was love at first sight. So boho with its colour heavy decor, cane furniture, arty lamps and an enviable menu. Whatta line up right from a chocolate pan cake, pastas to desi paranthas. Sitting pretty with its translucent drapes and oh-so-bohemian feel, Sunset Point is right on one of the ghats across the holy Pushkar lake. After a great dinner and some stretching out of sore limbs, the best thing to do is to just sit quietly near the lake side and let the pleasant and breezy silence of the welcome darkness wash you over and over till you feel there is something that's just so peaceful about the place. During off-seasons ofcourse.<br />The Panditji at Pushkar lake next morning related a mythological tale I had never heard before. Here goes the story of Pushkar and the genesis of Ved Mata Gayatri who gave the power packed gayatri mantra to scores of Indians. Lord Brahma was to perform a major yagya and when he was all set, the priests reminded that he must be accompanied by hsi wife for the ritual. His son Narad was asked to get his mother Mata Savitri to the spot as soon as possible. However, Narad being Narad decided that it would be against his true nature to not cause a tiff between his parents now as he did with everyone he meane. Accordingly as he told his mother of the yagya, in teh same breath he suggested that the occasion demanded she dress well and arrive with due pomp and show. Savitriji concurs and takes her time while the priests are ruing that the 'muhurt' will pass with further delay. So they come up with a bright one- a local Gurjar girl is 'purified' and wedded to Lord Brahma as Gayatri devi and the yagya is completed. Savitri arrives just to see the end of the story and flying into a rage diminishes Brahma's holy status casting a curse that he would never be worshipped anywhere else except here where the flowers from his palms fell- at Pushkar where the flowers fell to form a lake. The holy lake by the way is not as inviting to take a dip in. Really big fish can be seen swimming at the shores, gulping down every flower in sight- that, say the pandits here, keeps the lake clean and rather green. BTW the lake is said to change colours according to seasons. In mid July it looked a bright mossy green. Nice place.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-80085521975208039282008-07-18T19:28:00.003+05:302009-02-06T17:50:08.680+05:30Delhi to Jaipur in an Innova packed with 8The road's alright and the toll is high. But the destination can bowl you over. And I am not talking about the oft visited Jaipur. There is so much more to Rajasthan. Jaipur is just the gateway and does not prepare you for the countless havelis and forts you will find staring at you out of nowhere. Once again I hit the road to one of my ever favourite destination- Rajasthan- a place I ancestrally hail from and a land I feel a soul-strong connection with. Here starts the whirlwind journey I plan to stretch out longer over the years.<br /><br /><br />Jaipur has never been my favourite Rajasthani city but since it fell on our way to the picturesque Jodhpur, we decided we might as well troop our way through the Amber Fort. Everything at the Pink City’s fort is under renovation and appears quite in disarray as of now. Though no heritage conservation expert myself I quite did not like the paint shades being brushed up on the entry areas of the fort and it just did not look authentic enough. The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ is decidedly looking better though and they plan to charge people exorbitantly for a peek into the mirrored walls of the famed royal boudoir after the renovation is completed, the informed guide at Amber told us.<br />Highly recommended a look into the Rajput style air conditioning system of those days and the existence of a palace for every season- winter palace which got enough sun, the summer palace with smartly crafted stone tunnel based air cooling systems and ‘jaalidaar; windows drawing in the saffron laced cooling aroma wafting from the Kesar Garden beneath and a monsoon palace with ‘Sawan ka jhoolas’ and a mirror on top so the queen could catch herself in the mirror as she enjoyed the swings. Do take a photograph of the woman’s only section with small ‘jharokhas’ for the ladies to watch their husbands got to war. And then there are the queen size bed like ‘Kadhais’/vessels to cook for the army. Don’t miss the huge canon visible near the fort walls- reminds me of W B Yeats poetic fascination with the Tower.<br /><br />I quite like Jal Mahal just along the road down from Amber. The romantic sunken palace. Untouchably scenic.<br /><br />Then there is Chowki Dhani- an ethnic Rajasthani village created by artifice some 15 kms off Jaipur. Verdict- great for NRIs and not bad for Indians also. With Jaadugar and Kathputli shows its back to childhood capers along the streets. Then there are some good folk dancers as well who have a keen eye for foreign visitors and. Camel rides, elephant rides are all there besides the beloved Jyotishi ji (Astrologer). But what’s the best is the food. The Rajasthani thali served in just the right ambience, seating on mats, pattals or dried leaf plates, bajre ki khichdi, daal, besan ki sabzi and pyaz ki subzi, makke/jau/wheat rotis and jalebis- quite a mouthful. I missed bajre ki rotis thoughL. Overall quite a likeable experience.<br /><br /><br />P.S.- Nice stop over on the Delhi-Jaipur route- Moti Mahal somewhere along NH 8. Fresh food. Great pakorasUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-86380331438071433222007-08-04T16:22:00.001+05:302009-02-06T17:49:02.436+05:30Private ghosts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOxuDae-4YpxUrzOrLDsDgAx6bdVmglbj7oUitMzpBJY6L-dLLU6Ji_xBtmw0yhyNuz6baw2rHqLari3kqLxLUj28n6-wl2nUpnZLn0lWd2ftUkerqSWv7_NG4E5WDXl-p9N_/s1600-h/seasonpast_20051119.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094796956507799426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOxuDae-4YpxUrzOrLDsDgAx6bdVmglbj7oUitMzpBJY6L-dLLU6Ji_xBtmw0yhyNuz6baw2rHqLari3kqLxLUj28n6-wl2nUpnZLn0lWd2ftUkerqSWv7_NG4E5WDXl-p9N_/s200/seasonpast_20051119.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2BGjbWjQkZgvtSzM3bw8ZaHsdjEkA7tN7q3TmuzN0sQy674d_1cykp_KFLr2glNZDHf6jGud6SyiNusrHQ5XVt_0goUvEfGcpiUCPHDWYrtALhnqx5kx_u_uB_w9wlbFvJgG5/s1600-h/seasonpast_20051119.jpg"></a><br />Hidden, cloistered, barred, interred<br />within and without they strike roots.<br />Sometimes whispering, weeping, angry<br />accusing, pointing fingers, betrayed.<br />Screaming inside<br />when there's silence out there<br />like a mad screeching, shrieking echo<br />it resounds within,<br />clawing bit by bit,<br />scraping, bleeding,<br />stinging hot tears in pain, anger<br />and no understanding.<br />Of the mind<br />and its tentacles stretching out<br />going deep into things unseen,<br />unheard, unbelievable and unknown,<br />impossible.<br />Walls all around<br />yet clanging beneath<br />the iron grills of time and actions.<br />Wheels grind past mercilessly<br />as private ghosts hold reign.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-22569188937036376292007-07-24T12:37:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:50:08.681+05:30Nainital in the Rain<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXB94uw-36gLTrk0m7ftIFKo_pPeoCpLy936cYcCTTQNuWYfyBx4NH6pe92U_qy5_ldEFwyVDrsvFgIj04thb8GsfdGcF9yNkC5v8pVAf1rmX1np2VOkwBehrAIvn-hsWo7qU/s1600-h/21072007043.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090668410604584754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXB94uw-36gLTrk0m7ftIFKo_pPeoCpLy936cYcCTTQNuWYfyBx4NH6pe92U_qy5_ldEFwyVDrsvFgIj04thb8GsfdGcF9yNkC5v8pVAf1rmX1np2VOkwBehrAIvn-hsWo7qU/s200/21072007043.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>After years I slept under a beautiful tin roof atop tall white varnished walls and the sound of the rain brought me such a warm deep sleep and a night alike so many thousands I spent in my school dormitory in Nainital. The rain drops, as big as they are in this beautiful lake city, lashed against the tin roof making their own merry music, scaring some with the whistling sound of the wind crashing the rain against the windows and putting others to sleep. All the mists, fogs playing hide and seek over the moss green lake and now and then offering a peek into Ramnee-my school- its old buildings, the creamy white and red roofed church, the Mary Ward hall, classrooms...oh the good old school days. The flats near the lake, the tibetan market where we bought woollens for Rs 100 each to battle the chill that came with the endless rain. Then there is Nanak's where I once had mushroom soup with my dad when I cried all the way to my boarding school, the ram laddoo, floss candy and popcorn vendors, an odd Koutons and Provogue outlet newly sprouted on the Mall road, a small games gallery where I managed to defeat my brother at one of 'his' games, the shooting spots where I am taken aback by my own good shots! The Modern book store where I bought all my course books and today pick up White Rabbit sweets and noodles while we chat with the store owner as he goes through the familiar ritual of meeting nainital alumunus. Prince's is holding a garment sale! I try to find the stone pendants I once bought from here. Narain's book store still has a book that catches my eye, the water paintings book I once bought for my younger brother are still neatly stacked. The Good Luck saloon next to it still attracts crowds.<br />Nainital seems just the same, may be even a little cleaner. Only now I have been able to put behind the tears that came everytime my parents left me at school. Also the boredom that had come in after a decade at the town. But deep in my heart, I so strongly feel so much in love with this place, its rains washing down the town, the churches, the lake and the air of the town and the school that gave me so much that I will keep with me for life. Nainital will always be the most beautiful hill town for me and so many others I know.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-13431414677163565912007-07-18T19:04:00.000+05:302007-07-18T19:07:38.233+05:30Between cigarettes and Godot and E & TE:- Hey u look very chirpy today!<br />A: No, not at all actually. I am quite depressed.<br />E:- Why the hell? What's with u? U have no reason to be depressed.<br />A: Precisely that's why. There seems to be no reason at all. Why do u think we live E?<br />E:- Just!<br />A: So, we r vegetating.<br />E:-Yeah. Quite. But depends. Some people are genuinely happy in whatever, at home, marriage, family, work. One has to find one's mission, one's meaning for life.<br />A: What if there is suddenly no meaning? No reason or mission.<br />E:- That is the scariest thing. No meaning.<br />A: What if we just like to think there is meaning when there is actually nothing. Like Waiting for Godot.<br />E:- That's an existentialist phase. We all go thro it. I did. May be u shud join this community I know, might help.<br />A: What if it doesn't? What if there really is no meaning.Just blind senseless hope?<br />T:-Gawd! U guys are just plain crazy! What an inane, insane conversation! Why don't u guys just renounce the world or something. Mad women.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-289688583503420902007-06-27T17:23:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:50:08.682+05:30A lesson in history at the Red Fort<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Q_6fZJdquVZitvjXxTyxRXl5zi1yMqWjjNDsTJTbuL-mp63vlqXsRGw94BeCjhWK5v1x_BYjoA3ZRT0xQvd7Fb7cO_kzq8K-t8MefnrqW9DZ1SgHt78i2YtSV7-Otq3MfHXp/s1600-h/RF57[1].jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090670162951241538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Q_6fZJdquVZitvjXxTyxRXl5zi1yMqWjjNDsTJTbuL-mp63vlqXsRGw94BeCjhWK5v1x_BYjoA3ZRT0xQvd7Fb7cO_kzq8K-t8MefnrqW9DZ1SgHt78i2YtSV7-Otq3MfHXp/s200/RF57%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>After years I entered the Red Fort the other day. I watched it and admired it's lit up form in the nights when I drove past so often and kept saying to myself that I had to attend the sound and light show some day but never did. Somehow things worked out and I convinced my husband and dragged him to the show. Passing by the majestic Lahore gate, the Meena Bazar shutting down at 8:30 pm with all its wares targeting firang tourists, the Diwan-i-aam facing the lawns and finally the Diwan-i-Khas area where several Mughal emperors held reign. The show was damn good, recreating the history of the Red Fort passing down the hands of Shahjahan, Aurangzeb, Mhd Shah Rangeela and finally Bahadur Shah Zafar after which the British troops marched in.<br />Was quite an interesting history lesson and I loved the lighting that made the fort look so witheringly beautiful. Wish though that they'd do something about the mosquitoes that seem to hold fort at the lawns where one has to sit thro for the hour long show. Also what about creating a parking space closer to the fort and what about people who cannot walk thro the whole long distance from Lahore Gate to Diwan-I-khas. Hello, this is the Red Fort ASI and all other authorities! What about making its slightly more tourist friendly? Or do you want everyone to just give the wonderful show a miss. Barely ten people attended the show with me last week. I am sure it would be a packed house only if the guys in charge get their act together.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-75222692186596672182007-06-27T17:14:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:48:48.532+05:30from tuesdays with MorrieSomething interesting I came across from Mitch Albot's <strong>'Tuesdays with Morrie'. </strong>It's a great read.<br /><br /><em>How can you ever be prepared to die?<br />"Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks,"Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?"<br />He turned his head to his shoulder as if the bird were there now.<br />"Is today the day to die?" he said.<br />...."The truth is Mitch,"he said "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live".</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-11961761308543061062007-06-19T17:01:00.000+05:302007-06-19T17:27:09.101+05:30BookwormI had almost stopped reading for over a year now and what's more done the unthinkable- left the most amazing books midway! Something I wouldn't have done even a decade back in school at the peril of failing a test. But the last one year or so, I had bought books and never leafed thro them. Books got added to my study but not to my memory and to think my best fren n I devoured books thro school, graduating from MBs to Georgette Heyers, classics when I studied English Literature in college and got completely addicted to book reading every night till 12, 1, 2...whatever time it would take to finish just one more chapter. The first affair that began with comics and then found its way into the richly stacked libraries in Ramnee at Nainital, later at college libraries and finally at a small second hand book store hidden in a busy local market in Delhi. The pity is that the man who runs this small store packed with all the books in the world, can't read at all. Wish I had a collection as awesome as that. The bigger pity is that I had stopped reading and I have no idea why.<br />After an eternity and lots of determination I picked up Friedman's World is Flat sometime back this year and struggled thro the first few chapters, keeping the fires of a dormant interest burning somehow. Only towards the last 200 pages of the brilliant book did the love surface again and it's such a massive gift.<br />Took me 4 days to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's <em>Love in the time of cholera.</em> The beautiful last chapter stays with one so like the smell of the first rain on settled dust. What an epic on love in its myriad forms and the one love that takes over all else but takes patience and a will to move mountains. The protagonist lives thro' decades for a love unyielding,unreturned but all-encompassing. Must read all u lovers. I wish I could have recommended it to some people I can never now. Just to read books like these, I wish I have years and years left in me. I am a fan Mr.Marquez.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-85317849743429572982007-06-12T10:45:00.000+05:302007-06-12T10:58:21.241+05:30Face ReadingI attended a conference the other day which had delegates from several countries participating. It was an interesting melting pot of sorts and I was trying to get to know people from various nationalities and we all communicated through the universal language of smiling. One delegate returned the smile and came to talk to me and asked me where I was working. I returned the question and he said-" Cant' u see from my face? I am from China". But the whole thing is I was never quite sure despite his features. For all I knew, he could be an American born Chinese representing god knows which country? Or he could be fromHong Kong? Or he could be Indian, actually, pointed out a colleague who had a similar experience where a person she thought south east asian turned out to be an Indian from north-eastern states brought up in Russia! In a world where cultural and political boundaries are blurring in the minds even when they are firmly etched in red lines in world maps, is there any scope or relevance of face reading? Phew, we are becoming world citizens:)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-45988389318809193402007-06-07T14:43:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:51:14.824+05:30Shootout at LokhandwalaThe last movie I watched. I know its gory, violent, a constant series of gun shots pumping out blood. Also there was no TV journalism happening then. But what I like is that the movie is open-ended. I watched Rajiv Masand review on CNN IBN where he said the movie failed because it was not clear which side the director was on- the cops or goons. That is exactly what I like. The movie is grey and that's more like real life. Ofcourse, the slick shots and un-chawl like chawl shots are far from real life like! Viveik Oberoi though seems so in character of Maya Dolas-makes a good villain.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-69315037366743300012007-06-07T14:24:00.000+05:302007-06-07T14:36:53.061+05:30Flat worldJust about to finish reading Thomas Friedman's <em>The World is Flat. </em>Started reading it on recommendations from one of my bosses and tho' I am not a non-fiction person, this one really got me hooked. We really are living in interesting times, blogging, orkut, e-banking- all this was unheard of when I was in school. So when we left school, we could not even give out e-mail addresses! But here we are- all my school's on orkut and I have found them a good ten years or so after I passed out. But what happens to all those who get left out of this 'flattening' process- the accessibility to technology changing by the minute- Friedman says the built up frustration fires up these deprived sections, sometimes driving them to terrorist acts. Scary but true. We have no right to leave the others behind, no one must miss the 'flattening' effect, the google, orkut, blog and e-mails of the world. But what worries me is that the personal touch, the intimate signature on postal letters that travel through days via red letter boxes and mail vans, the pleasure of meeting your classmate 'unvirtually'- it is all just fading off and that's painful somewhere, somehow-despite orkut.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127834.post-60548235486515381552007-04-30T21:16:00.000+05:302009-02-06T17:51:46.614+05:30Opening linesSo why become a journalist? Do u actually think you can write well or do u have pretensions to changing the world or something? Or is it just the 'byline' as journos say- ur name printed in fine little black letters on he left upper corner below the bold headline- ur name visible to largely u and to some other morons like u in other papers worried about 'missing' a story.<br /><em>How mean can u get? I am a journo mainly bcoz I like writing. I enjoy writing</em>.<br />Ha. U mean u want to become world famous writer one day. High hopes huh!<br /><em>May be. Why not. What's wrong with it. It's better than wasting time with a piss off deflator like u. So while I wait for my book to come to me, I am going to blog and will call it Roshandaan so there's some relief, some breath of the sea breeze from Goa down there or the hills up north to keep me going in this city of traffic jams, smoke and honking horns. Delhi can be so irritating but it's work and it's also fun thrown in between. Here goes Roshandaan:)</em><br /><em></em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0