Inspirational..

Kedar has something very interesting to say about my previous post "Poetry" and 2 other posts..
Read up at : http://moralredundancy.blogspot.com/2009/10/museum-of-memories.html

Poetry..

Today I danced.. I danced my heart out.. To the silence of the real world.. To the melody in my favorite song.. Playing soulfully in my head.. I invented my own steps.. I imagined myself to be the on the world's brightest stage...

Today I could write lines and lines.. On the movement of a blade of grass.. Today I appreciated a seemingly trivial ad.. About a dog's wagging tail denoting a happy laugh.. Today I had one of the worst days of my life at work.. Today I still found a reason to laugh...

Today I feel that I can fly.. Away from all sadness.. From the entrapments of my own mind.. Today I feel happy.. Today I feel free.. Today, I live..

Blinds...

"Coming from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad. We have been where no one else is, been awake when the entire world is sleeping. Its a world we feel that only we've seen.."

Driving alone at night, waking up at 3 am, sitting alone on the beach, walking a bit away from the group during a trek.. Moments of silence, of peace, of aloneness. I wont say loneliness. Aloneness. And when you come back, come back to your parents, come back to your spouse or boyfriend, come back to your friends, you aren't the same person anymore. It might last for a split second or for a week or two, but that change is hard to miss. Do we go a little mad? Do we become a bit isolated? Do we purposely isolate ourselves from the people we know, people we idolize, people we care about, people we hate? It's like a sudden awakening. Like saying a word over and over again till it loses its meaning. Something changes, irrevocably.

I feel, we don't go mad. I would say, that is the real awakening. From real meditation comes real awakening. Just being by yourself for an hour. In an isolated place. Where you know no one is watching you, waiting for your return. Just you and the world. You'll question so many of your own perceptions. You will see that they are built on other people's judgements. Its like facing a mirror. Do you dare to face the mirror? Most of us cant, we're too scared that it will reflect something other than our perception of the world. Like I said in a previous post, it is better to remain sleeping for most people. Not wake up, not see themselves for who they are. Life is easier this way and I don't begrudge them. However, I would say that is like spending life in a coma. You are blissfully unaware. Wake up, live. It hurts, it sucks, but if you succeed, it is the most amazing narcisstic pleasure you can give yourself. And if not, well who cares? You've just got 1 life..

Graphology

Graphology is the study of hand-writing.

I am currently doing advanced level courses of Graphology. The first thing we were taught on the first day of class is that "handwriting is not HAND Writing, its actually BRAIN Writing". This means that, ideally, if you try to write with your leg or mouth, you will try to write in the same way as you write with your hand, because the brain is actually giving the signal to write. I wonder if this is really true? Do we have any truly ambidextrous people out there? Please get back to me on this :)

Most people, when told about Graphology, think its hogwash. They think its a party gimmick or something similar to palmistry. Graphology is actually a science. Yes, it is a SCIENCE. Data has been collected from millions of people, carefully analyzed and then documented as xyz trait means abc. It is an extremely interesting subject to study and sometimes I am still amazed at how a small trait in handwriting can accurately describe a significant trait in your personality.

At the beginning of every lecture we take a small oath where we declare that we will not condemn or judge anybody based on their handwriting. I think this is really significant, because the power that Graphology gives you, especially as you start becoming good at it, is unimaginable. You can see the person's childhood, his parents, any health problems, past affairs.. I think much  more than you would actually like to see. Of course, I am nowhere close to that stage (got one analysis totally wrong today), but the learning curve is fun and the class is delightful. Plus, free food is always the best thing to happen to me. Well, technically not free, but I work much better on a slightly filled stomach. So, handwriting analysis anyone? Oh, better get it done while I'm still learning, coz I'm going to start charging real high real soon ;)

All the Best - movie review

After seeing Ajay Devgan trying to dance in Golmaal, frankly speaking, I had no expectations from this movie. He seems better suited to the serious brooding type of roles like in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam..

However, kudos to Rohit Shetty for the excellent comic timing and brilliant character development. I remember laughing so hard in one of the scenes that I banged my head against the seat. This movie came dangerously close to Bheja Fry for me, but just missed by a small mark because of its inanity (In bheja fry I was laughing with my hands and legs up in the air.. My brother was about to disown me out of sheer embarassment)

Since there is no story whatsoever and most of the times I was wondering "What the hell is going on!", I would just like to point out some interesting observations. The story starts picking up speed when Sanjay Dutt comes in. Poor Ajay Devgan tries to hold the show with stupid Fardeen Khan till then. Dont get me wrong, I think Fardeen Khan is extremely charming, but only off the camera. In front of it, he is a bumbling fool. Mughdha Godse, please get some acting lessons before you become a live example of "came with a bang, left without a whimper.. " The cameraderie seems mostly artificial till Sanjay Dutt steps in so just hold on till then. The side characters have peculiar traits which have you in splits towards the end of the movie. The litmus test of a comedy is if you come out laughing and keep laughing the next day remembering some of the jokes.

All the best has passed the litmus test! Just keep your gray cells at home and you'll have a ball of a time!

The magic of yellow roses

In a hypothetical scenario

Romeo: Here my darling, beautiful red roses for my beautiful love..

Juliet (if it was me): Red Roses? Should I make a pickle of the red roses? (Iska kya main aachaar dalu?) Consider yourself dumped!

Yes I know you must have laughed at Romeo's dialogue and of course said "wtf!" at Juliet's.

But fact is, I hate red roses! Well I dont really hate them..

Here's the thing.. Yellow Roses bloom much more than red roses. Given the same amount of TLC, yellow roses blossom like a  woman surrendering to her passionate lover whereas red roses bloom like a philandering lover hiding an affair. Yellow Roses talk about an affair about to blossom, of the innocence of courtship, of the excitement of an impending proposal, of the hesitation of confessing your crush..

They signify the journey from friendship to something more... Red roses are just the end of the journey, there is nothing to look forward to after that :P

So my dear readers, if you are ever struck by the crazy idea of getting me a bouquet, please please get me loads of ... :)

Clay pot

An earthen clay pot,
Slightly misshapen,
A few cracks here and there,
An inner glow of innocence,

A hand roughly moulds into desired shape,
Another bribes with the highest sale,
A third paints with colors unimaginable,
A fourth threatens with consequences dire,

Not one peeped in to see what's inside,
Not one checked the hole underneath,
With each moulding, the hole widened,
With each threat, the glow lessened,

At last a hand, to catch the escaping glow,
To wipe off the layers of paint,
To soothe with kind words,
To cherish what's inside..


This post is dedicated to all the people who peeped inside... I don't know where I would have been without you.

The Ugly Truth - movie review

Before I say anything else, I just want to say, Gerard Butler, I love you! And the jerk that you've played in this movie has not changed your place in my heart..

Either ways, Mike Chadway is a blunt guy who tells the "truth" about guys, girls and relationships in order to help couples. All I could hear was how you should always treat the guy like he's God. A seriously misogynistic movie that sometimes makes you wonder how GB didnt fear losing his female fan following by agreeing to such a crude and crass role.

Of course, Hollywood movies never have "bad" guys, they only have misunderstood guys and in the end, obviously we come to know why Mike Chadway is so against love. There is also the pretty producer of the TV show, Katherine Heigl, Abbie in the movie, who hates him at first sight but soon starts taking his advice for her dating life. Why such a successful producer would take relationship advice from a crude anchor of some dumb show is beyond me but obviously there has to be some way to start the romance and taking care of the heroine apparently seems to be the only way the director could think of a romantic angle between the two of them.

Much as I'd hate to admit it, the crude behavior did elicit a few laughs from me. Maybe this is the reason this movie is remotely watchable. This movie raises some pretty interesting questions. First and foremost, are all guys interested in only one thing? Secondly, should you let the guy be "THE MAN" whatever that means, in order to have a successful relationship? By this, I can only assume letting the guy always take the lead, no matter what you're thinking or feeling. Being a control freak, that seems beyond me. Sometimes is ok, not always! And thirdly, to roughly quote GB, given a choice between two men, would a woman always choose a man with a better resume?

It is on this third question that I'd like to ponder on in this post. Would I do that? Do I do that? Does a person more wealthy, with a better job look more attractive to me than say a middle class person? There are 2 things to think about here. First and foremost, is love in itself a totally inherent thing independent of any external factors? And secondly, if it isn't, can it really be called love? My graphology Sir once said, "In love, there is no because.. ". And I so agree. If you love someone, it cant be "because he is sooo cute" or "because he takes care of me so well.." There should be no "because"..  Because things change, people change. If your love is dependent on external factors, it is bound to die someday.

Coming back to the movie, I would recommend watching it since some of the jokes are hilarious. However women, please dont take the advice given to heart. It has been sent out by a person having a 10 year old kid's definition of love and relationships. Watch it to drool over GB who looks scrumptious even in such a ghastly role. Oh and I loved the cat! Miaaow! (that is ciao in cat's language ;))

Progress

As promised by me in this post about my trek to Kothaligadh, here is a discussion on one of the interesting topics that me and my maushi were talking about:

During the long walk from the Peth village (refer to photo) to Ambivali (base village), we saw many locals walking with their children. Mind you, I was crying and begging for the tar road to come every 2 minutes on that walk, and these people crossed that distance everyday to and fro because all their supplies came from the base village. When my maushi got this to my notice I exclaimed loudly "Why dont they just live at the base village like everybody else!"

My maushi asked me "Why? Why should they move to the base village?"

To which I replied "So that they can get lights, electricity.. They'll face less hardships, they'll progress... "

Thus began a long discussion on what is progress. According to my Maushi, having food, electricity, schooling and then some job does not necessarily amount to progress. If you look at it, as long as they have enough to survive on, do they really need "progress" ? What is progress anyway?

My maushi gave me an example that when people from the suburbs came into contact with some tribes in Africa, those natives developed some strange diseases because they had no immunity against some virus to which we are immune. According to her, everyone and everything shouldn't be explored and put out in the open.

This set me thinking. We have always defined progress as getting electricity, water, telephone, education to every nook and cranny of the country. But does that necessarily mean that people in the villages will start leading better lives? With all the amenities that we enjoy, are we necessarily "happier" than our counterparts in the villages?

This a very difficult view to accept when you consider all the luxury that electricity gives you, and not having schooling seems like a big joke. However, is a school the only place where children can get education? How about parents teaching kids at home? Instead of luring people out of their hometowns and villages with promises of "progress", how about if we make them self sufficent in their own home?

Something to think about...

The ultimate wisdom

The previous night.

*gnash gnash* *gnash*

Mom: "Stop doing that.."

Me: (sleepily) "Doing what?"

Next morning.

Mom: "You were gnashing your teeth last night. I think you've got worms in your stomach. Let's buy some worm medicine for you today."

Me: "No I wasn't! No I don't!" (shuddering at the memory of the last encounter with the "worm medicine") "I'm not taking any medicine!"

Cut to the same day's night.
I fearlfully swallow the big worm medicine tablet wondering if I'm going to choke on it.

Few days later.
I start gnashing my teeth while sitting in front of the tv.
Mom: "You should change your toothpaste. Here, use my Amway toothpaste"
(This feels surprisingly like an ad for Amway, which it is not I assure you :P)

I religiously start using the new toothpaste, hoping that I stop gnashing my teeth every time I'm thinking about something.

Few more days later..
And I finally realize the problem. I'm teething! Its been ages now but my wisdom teeth keep popping out slowly and painfully. Earlier they used to just ache. This time I was actually teething like a small baby!
I had to keep my tongue wedged between my teeth to stop myself from eating my teeth.

Finally the painful encounter is behind me. But I'm sure its going to come back as my left top wisdom tooth is just making its presence felt.

Well, to all those people who doubted my intelligence, this should shut you up.
Or maybe not..
Gimme something to bite!

Wake up Sid - movie review

This is my first attempt at reviewing a movie, so if I make any mistakes or give out any surprises about the movie, kindly forgive. It is extremely hard for me to judge a movie after I've just seen it. I watch movies solely to experience and I feel that putting your experience into words somehow always takes away the effect. Nevertheless, I know that if I dont write this now, I won't be able to write it at all. So, here goes..

Siddharth Mehra or Sid (as his friends call him), is a typical rich spoilt brat who pays for all his expenses using his Dad's credit cards. Add to that no sense of cleanliness and no respect for his parents and you have got the perfect hero who needs to be "woken up". After college, Sid's Dad offers to buy him his dream car if he comes to office continuously for a month. Our beloved Ritchie Rich soon tires of the boring office atmosphere and escapes within a week to help pretty Aisha settle down in Mumbai. Thoroughly disappointed at his son failing his final year exams, talking rudely to his mother and unceremoniously quitting his job, Sid's Dad kicks him out of the house with threats of no money. Sid then lands up at Aisha's place and asks to be taken in. Having no doting mother to take care of his every need and no servant to clean up after his mess, he starts understanding the meaning of life.

Will Sid realize his mistake and return home? Will he learn to stand on his own feet and get a good job? Will Sid and Aisha become more than friends? The movie is all about Sid waking up to his love, life and work. Although the first half hour reminded me over and over again of Lakshya, this movie doesn't turn Sid into a sad martyr but keeps him immature, fun and cute. His realization is mostly through introspection and that keeps the happy feeling (for lack of a better phrase) intact in the movie.

Konkana Sen trying to act coy. Not happening. The first 10 minutes of the movie had me grinding my teeth when I saw Konkana try to talk without moving her lips as if too shy to open her mouth and speak. However, with Konkana, I've always noticed that she grows on you and towards the end she started looking positiviely pretty to me. Ranbir looks extremely adorable and he has totally arrived as the new romantic star of our generation. I am glad to say that he is following in his father's footsteps when it comes to making girls go crazy with a look. Ok I'll stop gushing now.

I believe the high point of the movie was that Sid didnt choose to just do what looked right but chose the harder way out and followed his passion. If I say any more on this, I'll be giving out the crux of the movie, so probably more discussion on this once people have seen it.

This movie has beautiful frames and every scene looks like a shot is being readied for a perfect photograph. You could just get lost in the music and the picture perfect shots. Every new opening in Sid's life whether it is related to his work, his newfound respect for his family or his realization about his love, is accompanied by entrancing music and excellent cinematography. Stylish product from Dharma productions no doubt and they haven't left any stone unturned to ensure that you go home feeling highly romantic. However, more than the romance, it is the attitude towards work and goals in life that has influenced me the most and I believe that's why the younger generation could relate to it so well.

All in all, I "enthusiastically recommend" (stole this line from an mba reco ;)), watching Wake Up Sid for its humour, romance and fresh look at life.

Trek to Kothaligadh

Warning: Long post

I. CANT. WALK.

Ok, I can walk. More like I dont want to.

I've just been rechristened "The Penguin" since my walking traits curiously resemble creatures of the said species. Since I'm not much of a physical person, I tend to crib a lot about any activity that I undertake, before I actually admit that I had a great time and that it probably did some good to me :P

Since I find Ratna Pathak the epitome of the modern Indian woman (refer to Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai), I will use her way of describing my trek to Kothaligad yesterday.

HS (High Society): Double breakfast! We were offered pattice during the bus ride. We also stopped over at Kamat in Lonavla for tea and more breakfast. Technically, brunch, since the fast was already broken.

LS(Low society): The ride till the base village (Ambivali) took 3 hours! By the time we reached, I had forgotten that we had come there for a trek and was thoroughly enjoying myself sleeping in the bus and assuming that its a picnic.

HS: Of course I covered up on my sleep in the long ride since I hadn't slept at all the previous night.

LS: I had gone along with a group of doctors, so there were hardly any young kids in the crowd. This is kind of an MS actually.

HS: The weather was perfect for trekking. This was of special significance since I hadnt taken along ANY sort of protection against the sun or the rain. Our loooong and slow bus ride ensured that we just missed the heavy rains and it was cloudy enough to shade us from the sun.

LS: We started climing at 11:30 am! That must be the latest that any group has ever started trekking. Not that it mattered much in terms of the sun but still the rest of the trek and the journey back was that much more late.

HS: Lots of beautiful greenery with pretty pretty butterflies flitting all about. I saw one butterfly which was so white that it was literally shining. This, with no sunlight, so I can only imagine if it was a sunny day (which it thankfully wasnt, again thanking the Almight for it)

LS: There was no wind while we were climbing and the weather was a bit oppressive. The upside was that, even a slight draft of wind was noticeable and welcomed.

HS: A Saurav Ganguly kinda-looking guy (not a doctor) from the group was being, lets say, friendly and giving me company while climbing the really tough last part of the trek.

LS: He was wearing white clothes. I am not kidding. White shirt, white jeans (mercifully not white shoes). Pray, tell me, who wears white clothes to a trek?? That too in the rainy season!

HS: I had carried along Perk chocolate and dates. The brown stains on my t shirt would fool some people into believing that I did some military-style trekking but that was actually chocolate, eaten clumsily while trying to catch up with the heavy-duty-trekkers-who-need-no-stops-n-no-refreshments!

LS: I forgot my dabba and had to share food with my poor-already-under-nutritioned Maushi.

HS: The sight of the last leg of the trek from the Peth village (refer to photo)

LS: It took us 2 hours of walking up slightly upward slopes!

Note: The small tip you can see on the top actually is a bit hollow from inside and it has a circular "staircase" leading to the extreme tip.

HS: One of the Doctor uncles giving me his glucose bottle when I REFUSED to climb up the last 5 mins.

LS: The steps were too high and after walking for 1.5 hours and climbing over big rocks, it was a big pain to climb steps that were barely a foot wide and 2 feet high.

HS: The view from the top was fabulous. It felt awesome to just eat and lie down. Of course I had to lie down, I refused to move an inch till I was granted my beauty sleep.

LS: The "trick" to reach the topmost peak and also come down without getting lost was to follow the small waterfall gushing down. Wet shoes + uncut nails led to an extremely uncomfortable nightmare which I am still getting shivers thinking about.

HS: Maushi walking along with me while coming down the meandering, less steep parts and we had a good talk about interesting topics. Separate post about that coming up.

LS: Again, wet shoes + uncut nails. Awful. I was walking with my knees locked. Picture Bambi learning to walk for the first time.

HS: Finally seeing the pucca tar road which meant that the bus that would take us home was near!

LS: When I enthusiastically told my friend that I completed the Kothaligad trek successfully with no crying (I cry while coming down coz its just too painful) and surprsing agility (thanks, G) while climbing down, he informed me that he did Kothaligad AND Bhimashankar within 24 hours and practically no rest in between. :P to you!

So, to conclude, I learnt the importance of cutting my toenails, carrying glucose and hopefully a cap and some light protection against the rain.  Kothaligad, conquered!

Killing the conscience

Here's a funny incident.
When I was in school in Dubai, our bus driver (ok the SCHOOL's bus driver, not ours, we didnt own a bus!), used to drive so rashly that we used to get thrown about like rag dolls in the bus and most often than not end up getting hurt. So, our most favorite way of taking revenge on the driver was, to throw something out of the window. Some juice container, chips wrapper, notebook paper, anything.

This was the best form of revenge that we could come up with because, in Dubai, littering is a fineable offense. So every time we used to litter, the cameras used to catch the number of the bus and the fine would be deducted from the driver's salary.

Either ways, my point is, why do we need the fear of a fine to not litter? How hard is it to just NOT throw your chocolate wrapper on the road once you've finished eating it? You got it from somewhere right? Give it back there! If not, it is not so hard to just stuff it in your pocket and throw it away once you are home? It is way lighter than when you bought it anyway.

When  you are about to litter, your conscience pricks you a little. You hesitate for a second, but you throw away the wrapper anyway. Why? Because everybody does it? Its not ok, even if your parents say so. Its not ok, even if your spouse or your friends say so. Its not ok, period. How hard is it to find a dustbin and dispose off the waste? Its not the physical world that is making it hard, its just your mind.

You start off when you think nobody is looking. Just threw away an eclairs wrapper. It's so tiny, nobody's going to see it, the sweepers will sweep it away in the morning anyway. I'm sure most people dont even think so far. Then it progresses to throwing juice cartons, chips wrappers, beer bottles on forts, places of natural beauty etc. It really shouldn't be this way. Even animals know how to cover up when they've littered.

It is my sincere request to all of you to please please please not litter. If I catch you doing it, I'll most probably whack you, but seriously, don't do it. Its not so hard and the pleasure you get when you take the efforts to just find a dustbin and dispose off the waste is incomparable. Apart from this, it would be funny to discuss some of the ways in which people disregard the no-littering conscience prick.

Here's my funny incident:
A guy was having tea with teabags in our office while talking on the phone in the gallery. Dustbins have been provided inside the pantry as well as in the gallery. Our hero chose to throw away the teabags in the poor potted plant which was unfortunate enough to be placed near him. Do plants drink tea? I really wonder...

Got a new laptop! :D

I finally finally finally got my own laptop. For those of you who know me, or rather know my brother, you are quite aware that the reason I dont blog regularly or am never available online after 10 pm or am available but disappear within 5 mins saying (bro wants to sit, catch you later) is because my beloved brother loves his Dubai friends a lot and he cant seem to find any other way or time to catch up with them other than the internet and every night :P

Being much scared of his karate skills and his famous temper tantrums, I just turned into "benevolent sister" and allowed him to sit online so long as he doenst break my cupboard or put on football matches on the tv. But finally, the ego did rise and I did the best thing a person in my situation would do.. Got myself a laptop with wireless internet connectivity! :D I cant tell you how liberating it is to sit and type this out in the living room with no wires and no looking over my back wondering does-he-want-it-now-is-he-looking-at-me-ok-he-is-definitely-going-to-chop-off-my-neck!

A dire prediction my well-meaning friends had made was that once I get a laptop, my brother will hog that too. But for some strange reason (brand: Acer), he seems not to think much of my laptop. Must be because he wanted me to buy a Sony or a Toshiba which I definitely could not afford with my meagre income. After days of not being allowed to buy my dark blue baby (DBB from henceforth :D), I just told him "Yeah, when you start earning, you buy a Toshiba. For heaven's sake, let me just buy a laptop before I die of internet starvation!"

So my dear readers, its me and my DBB bringing you much fun stuff about whatever my little brain cooks up. Much joy and cheers to DBB! May we run a long and successful stint!