Better Late Than Never...

Okie..I agree that I avoided seeing movies with wierd looking ppl, ppl from far away galaxies, ppl who just have "dhasu" gagets, and movies which are all about mere display of the latest technology. I literally avoid seeing such movies even now. But when I used to talk to ppl, that I haven't seen any of the STAR WARS movie series, they gave me a "Arey Yeh PSPO nahi jaanti !!" or "U have wasted ur life till now !!" look. It din't bother me. But dunno, downloaded STAR WARS III: Revenge of the Sith yesterday and had a strong urge to see. Waise bhi Guds was watching swordfish. Again a nice movie, but already seen it thrice. So took my lappie in the bedroom and had my first tryst with Star Wars.

Really, the movie was spell binding. Not that weird as I thought. And guess what surpised me...the movie had some meaningful emotions and teaching. Yes, all attributed to Master Yoda.

Fell in love with his dialogues when Anakin Skywalker confronts him about his fears to lose Padme' when he had premonitions about her death. The dialogues are:

"Careful you must be Anakin when sensing the future. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side !! Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is. Train yourself to let go of everything that you fear to lose. The fear of loss clouds our judgement !!"

The way it has been said is simply amazing and so very true. Attachment to petty things can even change our behavior, actions, thoughts. Its dangerous. Its very important and equally difficult to train ourselves to let go of attachments.

I mean what became of Anakin is a pathetic thing and all because of his premotions and attachment. The Jedi knight turned into a Sith lord..Darth Vader. Anakin had so much to lose..not only he lost his wife and kids, but his honor, and the very goodness in him. What made me think is...what had Darth Vader to lose...Nothing really, right? Also, what motivation did Anakin have, to stay away from the dark side .. ??? Just the responsibility of being a "morally good perosn" ?? Yes, that why emotional attachements are bad..they are just too much to handle in the materialistic world. Attachments for that matter..consider to any thing...Even giving up one's way of life..a particular behavior is by far difficult than people think. It truely clouds our judgements.

Anyways, I just enjoyed the movie..and now I am eager to see the remaining ones.

Atleast now I can say..."I am not different than you.." :P:P..Juz..kidding.

Err...no I am yet to see, my first Matrix movie..so I guess I am back on the trail. =))

Cheerios

Tagged IT !!!!!

Shiva passed on the torch to me. Exciting !! Bollywood has always been my forte, ppl call me a database. No brownie points for guessing it, I watch even the most pathetic movies, and also r'ber them. Started admiring Hollywood really seriously after touching the US grounds. This tagging thing, is a good timepass, no no I am not "Vella"...its a good tp amidst Thesis overload. So here follows my "over-excitedly-written" list.

The last movie I borrowed or rather Downloaded:
Kya Kool Hain Hum: Downloaded the movie, but haven't seen it. Heard mixed reviews.

Parineeta: This is the movie that I downloaded and enjoyed it too. Vidhu vinod chopra's depiction of the unsaid-understood-mistaken histrionics is worthy of applause. Vidya balan, the new face on the block carries the film all the way through. Indeed a nice bollyflick. But, also found it similar to Devdas. The emotions and male ego stuff did remind me of Devdas. So, Parineeta is Devdas with out glamor and with happy ending. Ofc, the author of the novels on which the movies are based is the same.

The last movie I saw in theatre:
Hitch: Couldn't resist the temptation of watching Will Smitch with the Revlon model Eva Mendes. A total timepass - romantic comedy. Yeah, Willy, is good at comedy. Used to like him since 'Fresh Prince of Bell-Air".

Five fictional characters in Bollywood/Hollywood that I have a crush on:
1. Raj (SRK) - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Adore that character for its effervescence and commitment.
2. Rohit (HR aka Duggu) - Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. Never seen such an innnocence in a character. Yeah, I sob everytime he dies...:((
3. Raj (Aamir Khan) - QSQT..Zimbly Adorable and Cute.
4. O'Connel (Brendan Fraser) - Mummy. A handsome hunk....drooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllll. No other explanations.
5. Duke of Albany, Leopold (Hugh Jackman) - Kate and Leopold. Wow..i mean....wow.....what a chivalrous knight. .....i've already blabbered about it in my earlier post.

Five Bollywood/Hollywood films that I can see a lot (n times):
1. Kaho Na Pyaar Hai - For Hrithik....already done it 52 times
2. Andaaz Apna Apna - For one of the best comedies of Bollywood filmograpy.
3. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron - One of the very rare thought-provoking comedies with a hillarious "Mahabharat" climax.
4.George of the Jungle - For Brendan Fraser. Cutely funny. Need more explanations ?
5. Dirty Dancing - For my passion - Dancing. And AWESOME soundtrack. A muscial dance filled romantic flick.

Five Bollywood/Hollywood types that I can't stop slurping over (sexy they are):
1. Hrithik Roshan - The Husky voice....
2. Hugh Grant - The silky locks...and british accent...
3. Richard Gere - The sexiest smile..ever.....
4. Hugh Jackman - The attitude...
5. Geoorge Clooney - The jawline..the looks...

Dudes who have no right to be so cool:
1. Hrithik Roshan - The additional "lucky" sixth finger..makes it even cooler..
2. Brendan Fraser - The cutely cool
3. Hugh Jackman - The Australian Coolness...
4. Hugh Grant - The British Ice...
5. Abhishek Bachchan - AB's baby is really rocking these days..that smile kills

Bollywood/Hollywood people whom I am supposed to be impressed by but I am not: (This section does not require comments from the author ...)
1. SRK
2. Vivek Oberoi
3. Julia Roberts
4. Tom Cruise
5. Leonardo-di-Caprio

People I would like to pass the torch on:
This list is for anyone and everyone. If you like doing it, as I loved it, then enjoy !!

Cheerios vv

Does it Happen to You ???

Ever been inquisitve about petty things? Ughh..this "inquisitiveness" kills me. Once I am curious about something, I leave all my work, and keep podering, finding, searching...add all the verbs + ing. I just can't keep my hands off getting to the core of the matter. Its like satiating my inquisitveness. I become hell bent on knowing what I don't know. Today also, for a minor reason, I spent the whole morning....doing nothing. Trying to modify the HTML code. No no...guys..I am a Pharmacist not a s/w person. But, I have done a crash course in few languages. HTML too. Wayyyy back though. Thats why, more inquisitivenes. Not my fault..Internet is there to help us. Searched and searched and more search till I realized that my thesis needs my utmost priority. Lolz. :D Does it happen to you or is it just me?

I say, the phrase as of today is, "Google It!!". No kidding. A helluva chunk of money these days is spent in "search-engine" research. Archie had briefed me once on that and also told that Amazon has a search engine too. Another friend had told that there are search engines to search blogging sites, can u beat that?

Btw, here is one more "Haiku" - a short Japanese verse, expressing feelings.
"Large Round Persona
Is A Masquerading Shadow
Smothering The Self"

Interesting, ain't it ?!!

Cheerios

THE Taj Mahal of India

Indeed a beautiful wonder !! Ever seen this view ?? Am speechlees............


Phantasmagoric !!!!!!!!!!!

Take a panoramic 360 degree virtual tour of TAJ MAHAL.

Enjoy,
Cheerios

Rules Of The Road, Indian Style

Traveling on Indian Roads is an almost hallucinatory potion of sound, spectacle and experience. It is frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable -- and, when you are on the roads, extremely dangerous.

The 11 golden rules of the Indian road are:

Rule I: The assumption of immortality is required of all road users.

Rule II: Indian traffic, like Indian society,is structured on a strict caste system. The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to:
Cows, elephants, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, camels, light trucks, buffalo, jeeps, ox-carts, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, pigs, pedal rickshaws, goats, bicycles (goods-carrying), handcarts, bicycles (passenger-carrying), dogs, pedestrians.

Rule III: All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Indian drivers' mantra.

Rule IV: Use of horn (also known as the sonic fender or aural amulet):
Cars :Short blasts (urgent) indicate supremacy, in clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path. Long blasts (desperate) denote supplication, to oncoming truck: "I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die".
In extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights (frantic). Single blast (casual) means: "I have seen someone out of India's 870 million whom I recognise", "There is a bird in the road (which at this speed could go through my windscreen)" or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes."

Trucks and buses: All horn signals have the same meaning, viz: "I have an all-up weight of approximately 12.5 tons and have no intention of stopping, even if I could." This signal may be emphasised by the use of headlamps.

Rule IV remains subject to the provision of Order of Precedence in Rule II above.

Rule V: All manoeuvres, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment.

Rule VI: In the absence of seat belts (which there is), car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These should be kept fastened at all times.

Rule VII: Rights of way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So has traffic from the right, and also traffic in the middle.
Lane discipline: All Indian traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road.

Rule VIII: Roundabouts: India has no roundabouts. Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression should be ignored.

Rule IX: Overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake every other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken you. Overtaking should only be undertaken in suitable conditions, such as in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in the middle of villages/city centres. No more than two inches should be allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing -- and one inch in the case of bicycles or pedestrians.

Rule X: Nirvana may be obtained through the head-on crash.

Rule XI:Reversing: no longer applicable since no vehicle in India has reverse gear.

Picture This

Like browsing travel pictures of different countries ?? Click: HERE
Really nice ones. If we can't go there.....enjoying the pictures is sure the second best thing to do !!

Saw a movie "Whale Rider". An Indie documentary. A different movie for a change. How a girl was despised to be a girl, coz her brother who was destined to be the leader of a tribe, died at birth, takes on the challenge to go against the odds to be become the whale rider (tribe leader) !!!

Latest food craze: Pancake with mapel and straberry syrup..umm..yummy !!! Time to savor it. :D

Cheerios Amigos

The Quest Continues.................

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios says, "You've got to find what you Love !!"

A true-to-life, didactic, inspiring, extremely helpful, and a wonderful experience shared by Steve, takes you on a roller coaster ride through all the phases of his life and narrates how he went on to become such a successful person despite all hurdles the most important one being 'dropping out of the school". I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The article can be found : HERE

Amazing but true. We like to do what we love. And it is worth giving a thought, what we like to do...rather what we love !! Its like an undending quest. Our passion for certain thing(s) remains unveiled most of the times or keeps changing. And sometimes we are scared to venture out to pursue that. Be it your work, daily chores, or relationships, or for that matter consider anything that you do. We are so very stuck in our routine lives, that we almost forget that we have likes and dislikes. Right from our birth, people make us stroll through the path which has been since long paved for everyone of us - the general-for-all path. What if we do not wish to tread on that? Are we allowed? Or do we like the general path? Worth a question. To exemplify, I can relate an incidence from my own life. I took a very serious decision of pursuing Pharmacy as a career without being really aware of its prospects. In that pursuit of mine, I supported ME, and that was exteremely vital. Despite many hurdles, despite scorns, despite letting down the expectations of the kiths and kins, I ventured out in the darkness of a path called Pharmacy. I had a belief and a conviction, but what I had most was my love for it. So far..so good. Or I can almost sing the McDonald's jingle here - "I'm loving it !!".

It is a trivial but an important aspect of our life. Our love for something. Our passion for something. It keeps our flames of Life ablazed. For stagnation, my friend, causes vexation. Keep moving. Passion can be for anything. YOU have to decide or unveil it. Small things in life can give you pleasure. You just have to embark upon this journey. They say "You cannot discover new lands, unless you lose the sight of the shore". This is the very "general-lead-to-be-tread" shore. Our life is in our hands after all, how we live it makes a difference !!

"You've got to find what you love !!"

Cheerios

Movie Sunday !!

A fantastic lunch coupled by a bollywood movie seen on a huge flat screen TV with surround sound system. Sounds fun, eh? Although the movie was quite boring and instead of a suspense-thriller it seemed a comedy. "Kaal" is the movie I am talking about. Arghh...a total waste of time as such but pretty cool to enjoy it on a crisp surround sound audio. No songs ?? Umm...kinda good for the theme of this movie. The only two songs that appeared were in the beginning and at the end. Shahrukh Khan...err..the clothes and the dance don't suit him. Vivek oberoi was irritating. John Abrahm was monotonous. The leading ladies were wearing short tight skirts in Jungle. That makes their purpose clear. Ajay devgan was strictly okay. The reason and ending were crappy and hence, the movie was not that good. But a delicious 'Fruit Custard' desert made up for the boredom. Then chitter chatter with pals.

Come home and another movie is awaits me. "Notting Hill". Wow, Hugh Grant. The name itself is enough a reason for me to see it. A light sweet romantic comedy. Amazing. Enjoyed it with dinner.

Whats with the name Hugh, huh? Am I stuck with it ?? :D

Anyways, I did absolutely nothing today but eating delicacies and seeing movies. How lazy !!! And its already getting on my nerves as monday morning early rising thingy is reminded of. Time to bid adieu to Sunday and get ready to take on the week.

Cheerios

Weekend is half gone...

I was wondering what to write here today. I thought about a lot of stuff but then it always doesn't happen the way you want it to be. Yes, that my line of thought for today. Sometimes you expect a lot out of Life as such. Feeling and Desires give rise to expectations. And many a times reality lets you down. Sometimes things are not in our control. All we need is some courage to cruise through, a little control over our mind, and the strength to relinquish the expectations. No sob..No Argh. C'est la vie.

Had planned to read a book, but got a call from DSS in the morning. He has asked me to work on some details in the paper. Got stuck with the last two tasks. Damn the code. Still stuck with it. I guess, I will have to nail it tomorrow.

Called maternal and paternal relatives today and contented their expectations...Now whose gonna content my vacant pocket. :D. Amu felt nice when I discussed with him as to what he should do after his CET results. Good to hear that. Hez a sweetheart brother. :)

Talked with Pa for quite some time today and we both got lost in our oldie goldie days. Our talks revived a lot of memories. Memories of all hue and color. I miss you Pa...I will miss you everyday. Ma was at her cutie innocent best trying out "Guava Frootie". lolz. Tej was preparing for the Viva. Later, shared some pictures with him. :)

Evening went fine with work and Urchin gave us a wonderful treat at Mayuri. Hez gonna bid farewell to us this week. Had Mango Lassi and many other nice dishes. But I guess, I just loved the Mango Lassi. It was wonderful talking with Yogi bear and Bri. We all had a nice little time chatting. :) Quality moments I say !!

And I guess, I am done for the day. Looking forward to a bright Sunday.

Cheerios.

No more Procrastination -Here I Am !!

Well, well, well....folks ! The disappearance of 'my process of metamorphosis of thoughts and ideas and daily chores into words' from the blogging scenario can be attributed to my almost-a-habit "Procrastination". Yes, I know its not good, but I am addicted to it. Procrastinating everything..especially that which needs primal attention. Getting back to normalcy is a slow process. And for me..its procratinately-ridden-process. See, I can procrastinate everything as of coupla weeks. I guess the data collection has taken a toll on me. Naah...Despite that I still continue to exist in harmony with my own "utterly impatient frustated self". How contradictory can I be at times ! Impatience and Procrastination at the same time are strikingly contrasting and humongously dangerous.

I have found out a way to kill time while I wait for my samples to fill out the survey and 'oblige me'. These days I am reading a self-improvement, motivational, and bring-a -change book "Warriors of the Heart" by Danaan Perry. Very inspiring. But not everything can be put into practice. Pursuing pragmatism is not everyone's job. I try my best to get the gist of it and learn. Afterall learning never stops. Life is a full-time never ending school of reality. In this book, we find many short verses that expresses something that the author feels. Its called "Haiku" a 3-5-3 or 5-7-5 lines of verses. I too found a very intersting verse, which I think encompasses whatever I could comprehned from the book and ofc from my Life.

"The Waves of my Life
Wash upon the shore and Die
My Ocean still Lives on !! "

This haiku may give a "depressing or sadistic" feeling to people who would not want to think beyond the boundaries. I can think on these lines for a long span of time. It really tells me something. Something and many more things that cannot be put in this small space. After all "Perception" is the key factor and the principium of how we take a view of reality. Reality is like a secret thing, hidden in a big box with many holes. Different people see it from different holes and hence, their perception of reality can be different. It negates the question of whether true or false. Its an individual's own view...his perception.

The best thing about this book is that I got it for free. The librarian of UTSPH asked me and one of my friends to have look at some old books and get one if we want to. I searched the whole stack. Dunno why this book got to be my chosen one. And it lay untouched unread for about a year until I had a strong intuition to read this book. Still figuring it out the reason behind the intuition.

Warriors of the Heart. What does that mean to you? "Warrior" here means one who has the courage to face onself. If we inspect ourselves, we obivously want to see all the virtues and the brighter side of ourself. Do we have the courage to delve to the dark part of the heart, where all our worst apprehensions and characteristics await to be revealed. Yes, its difficult. But change is inevitable. We need to make an effort. An effort to know ourselves better so that we can live in harmony with ourselves. So now I am back to the square one. Yes, I delved into the fathoms of this bottomless deep dark chasm and found out my "vices" or rather characteristics that I have been ignoring. They say, Ignorance is Bliss. But dear friend, not everytime. And I have imbibed it as well. Try it!!

I wanted to read the "SF12-v2 Calibration" book. But then the aforementioned 'my intuitively chosen' book got lucky. lolz. Now, I have to learn to procrastinate the procrastination. So, I will start the other book also from today. Why? Huh..I need to comprehend it to help me formulate a code program in SAS for my data analysis. Caroline also has asked me for help. Hence, the time has come to seriously give it a shot. :)

As for Friday night, grocery shopping is always on the list, that too at night ! How very exciting..u ppl are indeed jealous, ain't u? lolz.

For the dinner, Deepti had a sudden craving of maharashtrian food. So, we made "Pithla and Thalipeeth" Yummmmmmyyyy. And I am having a craving for sweet..especially cheese cake, as I saw the episode of 'Friends' (seventh season) where Rachel and Chandler get hooked on to stealing and eating their neighbor's cheese cake. Ahh...my mouth is already READY..:D Yeah, I have a sweet Jaw. :D

As for you folks......have a roller coaster Friday evening.
Cheerios

Amazing

Dulcet is the feeling of hearing people talk about their experiences in life that eventually instigated them to get involved with some volunteering work. Work that they are proud to do. Work that they want to do. Yes, thats what volunteering means. It cannot be forced. Yesterday at the Pratham volunteer appreciation dinner, I listened to quite a few such people. It felt amazing to know how a girl who is just in her 9th grade and who got interested in working for Pratham from her visit to a slum area in India. She is now collecting books for the kids in that very slum area. Chandra, an IT engineer from chennai was also there to join us for the dinner. She gave an entrancing speech as to what the people went through after the Tsunami hit Souther India. Heartfelt it was hearing her speak about the work that she does now to help the poor kids to get back to school.

As for me, volunteering comes naturally to me as my mind is overruled by my heart most of the times. Emotions reign. I know thats bad mostly but I still cannot help it. Inpart the voluteerism has been inherited to me from my Pa, the urge to gratify my ownself and get associated with some fruitful noble cause that might help make a difference in some human life. I believe education is a need in India. People lack the desire and the fundamentals to think. Think to make a better future and ofcourse a better Indian society, which would start accepting views openly and respect every individual's identity as it is. India is fighting Illiteracy. And once I thought that, I was involved with Pratham, the organization that raises money to teach poor kids in India. Thanks to Deepti, who already was a volunteer, I also got my chance to do some work that I always wanted to.

Saturday was lazy and hectic at the same time. Sunday was actually funday. Made pav bhaji. I don't know why I had this sudden craving for it since long. Gave it a shot today. Invited Pu and Bri. The best part was the German Chocolate cake that Puneet got. Chatted a lot while enjoying it. Wonderful is the word. And I still could not hold on to my sweet teeth-aches. Savoured cheese cake too. Wow...awesome end to a pleasant week. God bless me the next week.

And ppl..my newly configured plus customized plus organized lappie looks amazing..can't stop playing with it. Pu..u have made it a toy for me..:D:P

No water here tomorrow...whole day. Sob Sob :(( Also, have to give a SAS demo and lecture to the FYgrads. Thats how my Mondayz gonna be. Thankfully ...no data collection tomorrow. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Cheerios

Hmm...

Reality Bites........and it does.

Remember,
Mental Floss prevents Moral Decay.

Cheerios

Batman and ME??

Fortune Says: "You feel like Batman, and the world is playing the Riddler. The answer will come."

Me: How do u know ???....Err..yeah U were supposed to. :P

Whoa....Batmannnnnnnn.....zuzuzuzuzuzu....Batmannnnnnnn...

Robin....where are you? What...he took away my BatMobile ?? ......=))

Cheerios

I think; therefore I am !!

Verily truely said! And Bingo, I believe and put it in pursuit!

How about this thought - "I am barreling down the slippery slope of moral ambiguity"? Heavy dose for today, ain't it?

"Happy Birthday Such". Yeah, wished her today. Jeez...got a long distance wrong number thrice. Shucks...Finally made it to the destination.

Lost my cutie watch.......... :(( :((. What a beginning to a depressing day! Strange but true. The watch had kept falling off since past week as if giving me the signs that its gonna disappear. And I kept finding it. Sadly, I could not find it today. Lost it. An Omen, I took it as. "We cannot hold on to the things (or may be people, for that matter substitute "anything") for ever." Move On. And I do have another one that was gifted to me by my maternal grandparents on a special occasion. I rarely use it to preserve the precious gift, like a memory. I have to use it now. We cannot control everything, especially such trivial things. Move on ...life says. Donot hold on to anything, for my friend, it just bears suffering and pain.

Data collection was strictly okay. Met some real cranky people on such a gloomy day. Seeing the weather now, I feeling like singing the Beatles song 'Its getting better..its getting better all the time".

Burnt a CD too. Ofc, bollywood songs!!!! Yeah, I like to play music loud on the hefty player rather than on the puny PC.

Heading back to home sweet home.

Adios Amigos and Cheerios for the day :)