Tag Here!

I really have no clue about this 'tags' business, nevertheless, since Smita has tagged me, here I go!

A – Available/Single? Happily Married :)

B – Best friend? No single Best Friend, couple of very good Friends

C – Cake or Pie? Cake!!!

D – Drink of choice?Tea! Tea! Tea!

E – Essential item you use every day?Vaseline

F – Favorite colour? Fuchsia, Yellow, Red, Black, Blue..............so many of them

G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Eeeeeks! Neither

H – Hometown?Jamshedpur

I – Indulgence?Books. Hands down!

J – January or February? January :) Hubby's Birth month

K – Kids & their names?What Kids? None

L – Life is incomplete without? Love

M – Marriage date? 3rd December

N – Number of siblings? 1 Big Brother

O – Oranges or Apples? I have equal dislike for both

P – Phobias/Fears? All kinds of insects, all kinds of birds and animals...ya, that includes human beings too

Q – Quote for today? My Quote for everyday: ‘I Know but one Freedom, that is Freedom of the Mind.’

R – Reason to smile? Love, Family, Friends….Life!

S – Season? Panchvan mausam pyaar ka………………..

T – Tag 3 People? Well, let’s see

U – Unknown fact about me? That I'm a cleanliness freak, everything has to be in place, picture-perfect all-the time!

V – Vegetable you don't like? Karela, Lauki

W – Worst habit? That I'm a cleanliness freak, everything has to be in place, picture-perfect all-the time!

X – X-rays you've had? I don't have any X-ray

Y – Your favorite food? Indian home-cooked food

Z – Zodiac sign? Taurus: the Bull

And here's the Award for successfully completing this Tag:

So now, you too have a chance to be a Proud Member of the 'International Bloggers Community'. Here are the Rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post.
3. Post this in one or all of your blogs.
4. Answer the four questions following these Rules.
5. Recruit at least seven (7) friends on your Blog Roll by sharing this with them.
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List.
7. Have Fun!

Questions & Your Answers:
1. The person who tagged you: Smita
2. His/her site's title and url: Books, Life and More; URL: http://books-life-n-more.blogspot.com
3. Date when you were tagged: 24th July '09
4. Persons you tagged:

Life...

Writing Unofficially Official

Embellishing my Thought Process

Varun's Digital Diary

Knowin' Life

Candid Talk

Wilson's Blog

Finally, done.... (some formatting has gone for a Toss though)

Sach Ka Samna

OK how many of you have seen “Sach Ka Samna”. Well, although I’ve given up watching anything on TV except say reruns of FRIENDS and movies; when I read that Rajiv is going to ask Kambli as to whether he always knew the names of all the women he has slept with…..I knew I am gonna watch it. ‘Sach Ka Samna’ is Reality TV at its best, another Indian cousin of American original – ‘Sach Ka Samna’ caters to that part of us wherein we always look for a scandal or some spicy news. It is entertainment with shock value. Who knows, whether all those answers are really correct. These days I do not trust Television at all. Everything can be made up, and so many people are game to let themselves be part such controversies.

I think Rajiv is doing a decent job, better than he ever did in his claim to fame “Kahin to Hoga”.

I have been reading that next Urvashi Dholakia of ‘Kasauti Zindagi Ki’ fame is going to brave Rajiv’s questions. Now I hear it has created quite a furore in Rajya Sabha as well, apparently the content is not fit for unrestricted viewing. Read Here.

Image Courtesy: Sify

Mera Kuchh Samaan Tumhare Paas Pada Hai

Yesterday I was again late from office (8 pm in Pune is late by the way). So, after some timepass on net, some in couple of magazines, and the rest in chatting on phone; I finally got on to making dinner at 9.15. The good thing is that I smartly get the veggies cooked in the morning by my maid, so I just make chapattis, which is not a big thing actually.

Well, anyways, my hubby was back from his Table Tennis / Pool game, and was about to put some of his mindless, meaningless, Punjabi foot-tapping kind of music in full blast. I was quick to demand that I want to listen to some soulful music (read slow, luxurious, lazy, ghazal kind of songs). I asked for Ijaazat’s ‘Mera Kuchh Saaman’. In such cases, I either go for Arth, Ijaazat, Saath-Saath or Ghar – my all time favourites.

I have always been a fan of Gulzar’s poetry –ethereal, earthy and poignant. Particularly, in this song, he makes the pain of the lover come alive with his words, as a listener you cannot help but empathize with her. This song has a very nostalgic quality to it; it just transfers you into that 70s era. It is just the kind of song that you would want to listen to in a mushy, rainy day; while sipping tea and thinking about all the things you have lost.

Here are the lyrics to one of the most beautiful renditions of Asha Bhosle, of all times. I can listen to it again and again for n number of times.

Mera kuch saamaan tumhare paas pada hai -2

saavan ke kuch bheege bheege din rakhe hain

aur mere ik khat main lipti raat padi hai

vo raat bhulaa do, mera vo saamaan lauta do - 2

mera kuch saamaan tumhaare paas pada hai - 2

patjhad hai kuch ... hai na ?

o ! patjhar main kuch patton ke girne kee aahat

kaanon main ek baar pahan ke laut aai thee

patajhad kee vo saakh abhi tak kaanp rahi hai

vo saakh gira do, mera vo saamaan lauta do - 2

ek akeli chhataree main jab aadhe aadhe bheeg rahe the - 2

aadhe sookhe aadhe geele, sukha to main le aaye thee

geela man shayad bistar ke paas pada hovo bhijwa do,

mera vo saamaan lauta do

ek so sola chaand ki ratein, ek tumhare kaandhe ka til - 2

geeli mehendi ki khushbu, jhoot mooth ke shikwe kuch

jhooth mooth ke wade sab yaad karaa do

sab bhijwa do, mera vo saamaan lauta do - 2

ek ijaazat de do bas, jab isako dafanaaungee

main bhi vaheen so jaungee

main bhi vaheen so jaungee

When I listen to this song, I think of a crazy, effervescent and young Anuradha Patel, hill station, rains, Rekha’s romantic voice, hot tea, 1970s, waiting room of a station, warmth, cozy evenings, Asha Bhosle’s voice, the depth in the lyrics, pain which is sweet…….and everything romantic and beautiful!

Looking the Part

Yesterday had an argument with my dearest mother. On what? Well, my mother thinks I have really not learnt anything from her. Why this judgement? Simply because despite being married, I do not wear either Mangal sutra or Bindi or Bangles or toe-rings, whatever! Even the sindoor I wear is just not enough. It is hardly visible. My mother is a firm believer of ‘looking’ the part. In fact, I don’t even know why I started putting onSindoor. I like red actually, it brightens up anything. So, I started putting sindoor because it added colour to my face.

She thinks I’m trying to act oh-so modern. But I don’t really believe in ‘wearing’ marriage on my sleeve. To me, marriage is not so superficial.

Mum tries to reason with me saying that wearing all these is an expression on celebration of marriage. But I am definitely not buying it!

Marriage to me is extremely liberating. It means that you acknowledge the presence of someone special in your life and you want to spend the rest of your life with him. It does not mean you are somebody’s property now, it means when you go ahead and realize your dreams, there is someone who would be there behind you to support you, to share your joys and show you the right path.

With due respect to all the people from mum’s generation, I think they are too stuck up on these inconsequential details and lose the real essence. Marriage is really not the devil that it is made out to be, you just need to meet the right person ;)

The Return of Bridget Jones

The buzz is that Bridget Jones – III is in the pipeline. I absolutely loved the first part – both book and the movie. But, the second part was a little drag. In this one, Bridget is supposed to be trying to have a baby. I am sure it will turn out to be something on the lines of Ben Elton’s The Inconceivable. 'The Inconceivable' is a hilarious book on how a couple is desperately trying to have a baby, and in the attempt the situations get funny, even ludicrous. Do check out this book if you like humour.

Coming back to Bridget, I am sure all women connected with her insecurities, despair and self-pity because we have all gone through this sometime or the other. Since ‘weight’ is such an all-pervading and sensitive issue with every single woman in this world; no matter which part of the world you are in, if you are a woman, you surely empathized with Bridget.

I don’t know how this third part would be but the trend has been that sequels generally do not live upto their originals. The basic reason is that the first part is a fresh idea, while the sequels are all something which you are trying (even forcibly) to cash on to your one bright idea! Well, let’s see. I am surely looking forward to it.

Image courtesy: BBC News

Road-ies

While going to office today, I was perplexed by the condition of the roads. It is a 25 minutes ride to my office, and thanks to the Corporation, it is really a challenge to be able to reach office safely. Of course, the daily to and fro trips are slowly taking its toll on my back (with all the jerks) but it is inevitable.

I truly believe if you have driven on Indian roads, you can drive anywhere in the world. It is not only the condition of roads that is to be blamed; actually everything works in perfect harmony.

• The road will be perpetually under construction
• If it has rained for sometime, driving can become adventure sports for you would not know which hole is how much deep and you would have enough exercise dodging the holes, garbage that has over flown on the roads and a lot of actual mud slinging.
• There will be vehicle coming from all sides. As my brother says, in India, when you are crossing road you should not only look in the direction of Traffic, look at the opposite side and the front too. You never know from which side a vehicle would be speeding to your side.
• There will be animals walking leisurely on the road like dogs, cats, cows, buffaloes, etc, etc.
• Right when you would find a vacant stretch of road and you would slightly increase your speed with confidence, from somewhere a kid will cross the road running, causing you a momentary heart-attack and unbalancing you for next couple of seconds.
• State Transport Corporation buses would move on the roads as if they own it, and incompliance to this unwritten diktat can cause anything between major discomforts to accidents.
• People behind you would keep honking horns at you, even if there would not be any space to move ahead.
• If you don’t let people behind you get ahead of you, you will be subjected to all kinds of verbal abuses.
• Most of the secluded, under-construction roads will not have street lights

By the way, our Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Kamal Nath says that next decade will be of Infrastructure. I am all for it!

My Cup of Tea

I am almost obsessed by Tea. When I was a kid, mum would try her best to dissuade me from getting on this habit but somehow it fascinated me even more (yes, people get fascinated by something like Tea also). Sometimes, I would not be satisfied by just one cup, I will go and make another cup all over again.

Thankfully, I never got the habit of Morning Tea. It is bad for health to drink tea in empty stomach, especially first thing in the morning. But yeah, I love having it when my hubby sometimes gets up very early and make his special Tea.

Sometimes I also have lemon Tea or black tea when I had had too much during the day. I plan to slowly move to Green Tea as well, but that can wait for sometime. It tastes so different that it does not feel like Tea at all!

I like Tea in big coffee mugs. I have different kind of coffee mugs - some gifted by me to my hubby, and some by him to me, and some freebies. A coffee mug is special to me too. It is like your identity. Your coffee / tea mug tells a lot about you.

People think I’m crazy. I even ‘cheers’ with my cup of Tea, when everyone else is downing wine, rum or some kind of alcohol. By the way, I really think all types of alcohol is highly over-rated. I cannot stand even the smell!

In my world, I am happy with my cup of Tea.

Image Courtesy: Shutterstock Images

Rain dance

Amidst the sound of hubby kicking the plastic football, keeping my fingers crossed on what he is going to break and the soundtrack of ‘Dhan Ta Nen’ from Kaminey, I’m back for just a quick post.

It looks as if rains are finally here. I am not too fond of rains because I just haaaatttttttteeee getting wet. I like drizzle, so you enjoy rain and not get wet! But since we will be practically handicapped without water, so I will do that much sacrifice for the sake of humankind ;-)

I got wet while going to office and again on my way back. Got wet again when I went to friend’s place close by, and yet again while coming back….Ugghh!

Well, but I do love getting cozy inside a blanket on a rainy day, sipping garama garam tea and reading a good book. It is the ultimate fascination of any book lover. I would also love a drive on a beautiful rainy day (not the heavy rains though).

Rains mean water, greenery, blankets, hot adrak-wali chai, pakode, lush-green fields, rain-coats, and so much more!And I do love looking at water pouring in from my balcony, but not a step outside.

Car-mic connections

Sometimes, unanticipated, little things bring smile on your face.....read this cheeky line at the back of a car (could not stop from smiling):

"Not so close dear, I hardly know you"

Random thoughts at Random

I used to be music freak, you know the usual, collating songs, listening to songs day in and day out, every waking hour tuned in to Radio. I have been a decent singer myself. My mum would diligently watch Indian Idols and Sa Re Ga Mas and keep wishing that I would also go for auditions! Without a Training? No chance, man.

But anyways, I love my piece…err..r..r peace of mind much more than crowding every moment of my waking hour with the ridiculous blabbering of some stupid RJ. While going to office (a good 25 minutes) or cooking, I like to think. And sometimes thoughts are funny, eccentric, ridiculous, emotional or just a wild one.

· I have evolved a lot in the august company of my husband. I have learnt to let go a lot of things. Sometimes it feels amusing how we keep on saying that we will always be same. Nobody can ever be same, that’s the thing about life! Every relationship is continuously evolving –whether with parents, with siblings, with friends and especially with your spouse / loved one. It would be boring to be same forever.

· I am planning to learn driving. Since I have never done it, I won’t admit but I am a little scared. You can manage a 2-wheeler if somebody suddenly takes a wrong turn, or somebody gets in your way or even when you get lost in some thoughts; but it scares me how would I handle a car in such situations! But then I look at people driving on the road – I feel, if this girl or that guy can drive then why can’t I! To come to think of it, kids below 18 also easily drive, and millions of people drive around the world. It can’t be that tough really!

· The season of birthdays and anniversaries have begun. On 3^rd July, we celebrated Birthday of one of our close friends, and we gave him a remote-controlled toy car. By the looks of him, he surely loved it. You cannot go wrong with guys on this one – 99% of the times they love remote-controlled cars, etc, or some Games or some gizmos.

Personally, I love giving gifts and I feel exhilarated when my thoughtful gifts are appreciated. It is a wonderful feeling.

Yesterday it was the same friend’s marriage anniversary and we gifted wine glasses. I think it was a smashing idea by one of our other friends. One of their wine glasses got bumped off recently. Can’t have given anything better than that. Mementos, Show-pieces are really wastage of money. In fact, I had also got a smart Baggit wallet from all of them. It was really thoughtful.

Right now I am planning to send a nice book to one of my friends for her birthday. I’m sure she would love it. It feels so nice to bring that smile on the person’s face whom you love.

· I’m planning for a long, long time now to make hard copies of selected pictures. Since the time Digital cameras have been introduced in the market, we have forgotten the importance of looking at albums on a cozy, rainy day. Soft copies can never match the joy of holding a picture in your hands. So, I will do it pretty soon. In fact, I’m planning to get a place done specially for albums and pictures.

· I have started planning what to gift for our second anniversary. Right now, I’m jus making notes. But one gift will definitely be personalized. Like in our first anniversary, I gifted him pictures of our time together. It is lovely to wake upto these pictures. Priceless! So, second one has to better that.

· Recently, I read a lovely poem. Can’t help putting it here (really want to know who has written such soulful words)

Koi tumse pooche, kaun hoon main,

Tum keh dena "koi khaas nahi".

Hawa ka ek suhana jhonkha hai,

Kabhi nazuk toh kabhi tufaano sa.

Sakal dekh kar jo nazrein jhuka le,

Kabhi apna toh kabhi begaano sa.

Zindgi ka ek aisa humsafar,

Jo samandar hai, par dil ko pyaas nahi.

Koi tumse pooche kaun hoon main,

Tum keh dena "koi khaas nahi".

Ek saathi jo ankahi kuch baatein keh jaata hai,

Yaadon me jiska ek dhundhla chehra reh jaata hai.

Yun toh uske na hone ka kuch gam nahin,

Par kabhi-kabhi aankho se ansu ban ke beh jaata hai.

Yuh rehta woh mere tassavur me hai,

Par in aankho ko uski talaash nahi.

Koi tumse pooche, kaun hoon main,

Tum keh dena koi khaas nahin....!!"

· I used to write poems when I was in school, simple ones, nothing great. I also wrote a little bit in college. But now, totally given up. I especially love, such simple hindi poetry. I had one complete diary of my poems Don’t have it any more. It was not worth saving. I have always written my own lines, whenever I have made personalized cards for my friends. I have none of those with me now, but at that point of time, it used to feel apt.

· It is drizzling outside, hubby is gone for pool or Table Tennis, and although I planned to read a book, but I’m sure once I get up from here, I would be cleaning, re-cleaning, organizing, re-organizing things. But today, I will definitely finish ‘Feast of Roses’. And again I’m dying to buy a few more books.

· By the way, I have completed 5 years of blogging. It is all here. Getting introduced to Blogging, running to computer lab and documenting my life, getting placed, life at my first job and first acquaintance with Mumbai, moving to Pune, getting married – everything is right here. Sometimes I read my old posts and re-live those moments. It feels good to be here. I will again quote one of favourite lines:

‘I tend to live in the Past (read Blog), for most of my life is there.’

Loving your Work

There are a couple of things which I have learnt from my husband and have come to truly appreciate it – being honest with work! For me, responsibility is a big thing. If I’m entrusted with something, I do take it very seriously. Same goes with him. Actually, he is still way ahead of me.

I find so many people cribbing about salaries, about how they are under-paid and so on and so forth. I never really get into all these. It is not that I don’t like bigger pay-checks; for me, it is about peace of mind. I don’t bargain that. When I joined my first job, I did not even paid attention to how much the company was going to pay. It was my dream company during my MBA. Period. I quit Advertising, which I was absolutely crazy about while in college, after 1.3 years. But then, I am content that I can say today – “been there, done that”.

There is no end to a home and a car, then a bigger home and a bigger car and so on. The contentment is inside us, what do we really want from life! 20 years down the line, will I be more satisfied by a mansion and a line up of swanky cars, or by the pride of being able to make a difference in whatever we did!

Hate is surely a strong word; let’s say, I don’t like people who are not sincere to their work. Fine, your work may not be your true calling; but you did take it up, so why not give it your 100%? Why do a half-hearted job? Someone has rightly said:

“Either you do what you love, or love what you do.” There is no other way to "LIVE" life, everything else is just a waste of precius time.

Statue-tory Warning

Recently I read a very funny piece of news - “Court has asked Mayawati government to explain the use of Public money for making statues”.

Some time or the other we have all got the trail mail in which you can see Mayawati’s status with a purse! All this is definitely hilarious but just think about it whenever you pay tax. It will no longer make you laugh. First of all, I have never understood the use of erecting a statue. Let’s say, we do go ahead for a select few, but who decides? It is because of this, every Tom, Dick and Harry is getting his statue done out of my money!

I also remember someone saying how all this is a racket. Here the minister clears money for statues and the order goes to some relative of the minister. So, any guesses who is pocketing the money?

Rakhi ka Swayamvar

Yes, I know I am accused of watching this programme in bits and pieces. I really did not know that it is supposed to be real Swayamvar and not just a programme. Guys have actually come to fight for Rakhi. Somewhere I also read that apparently Rakhi has lost weight for this programme. I really don’t know what’s cooking but I bet Rakhi is not going to marry any of these guys. There are struggling actors cum engineers, some stunt artistes, some interior designer-cum-actor, some police inspector and even a student. Why will Rakhi marry any of these?

OK, what I saw in this programe was guys were interrupting each other and taking Rakhi from one corner to another and asking her over and over again what she is looking in a life-partner. One guy had the nerve of bringing Bacardi for her. I’m sure no guy who intends to marry a girl, will do that in their first meeting. That explains what these guys are thinking really, beyond the façade of “marrying” Rakhi.

One guy from Lucknow says he has fallen in “love” with Rakhi since he saw Mohabbat hai Mirchi!!! Gimme a break.

Aishwarya and the 'Best Actress Award'

I read a hilarious piece of news recently, in fact, heard it first on TV – Ashutosh Gowariker could not understand why Priyanka Chopra walked away with Best Actress Award even though Aishwarya was nominated in the same category! I mean, isn’t the reason quite obvious?

Let us look at the kind of work Aishwarya has done, in Jodha Akbar, or otherwise. There is no denying the fact that she is extremely and exquisitely beautiful and that is the only reason she is the highest paid actor in India and has done some work in Hollywood. Otherwise, please somebody enlighten me with the name of one movie where she has truly acted and let the “Aishwarya” in her go!

Of whatever she has done, I think Raincoat is the only movie where she has been able to let her go to some extent. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or Taal has been highly successful movies but you can easily notice her goofiness in a lot of scenes. Devdaas? Not really! Did you say, Guru? Please…even Vidya Balan shines through in her miniscule role. Good make-up will never replace good acting! C’mon, what else? Don’t even mention Sarkar Raj, she just catwalks in business suits.

I don’t know what is the problem with our heroines, they are never able to get over the fact that they need not look pretty in each and every frame. They need to breathe life into the character! Look at Tabu in Namesake and you would know. Why Namesake, she has been fabulous in Maqbool as well as Cheeni Kum. She is not very beautiful in conventional sort of way, but she is remarkable in all her roles. All actresses, even Madhuri Dixit, in a lot of movies, need to learn that from her.

Rani was good in Bunty aur Babli, but in all her Yash Raj Movies, she also loses focus on the main purpose of the movie – good acting!

Coming back to Aishwarya, even if she wins an Oscar one day, I will not accept that she is a good actress. She is just very, very beautiful. Even in Jodha-Akbar, I would remember her only for the way she looked. In fact, I don’t even think Hrithik acted so well in that movie. Hrithik also appears gauche in a lot of scenes. Good acting? Give me Irrfan Khan any day!

A saas supporting her bahu whole heartedly makes for a good story but it does not mean that we should give it to Aishwarya. Priyanka surely deserved it better. She has improved a lot and she is even looking like a million bucks. Ashutosh Gowariker will surely feel that his heroine has done a better job, because the movie is his baby, but what about his judgment of good acting!

Aishwarya can have all the orchids to her name, wax-statues and perfumes or whatever, but she must act well to deserve an award. Only a famous surname is not enough. I have nothing against her. I think she is extremely pretty. She has replaced Madhubala as the epitome of beauty. Look at any beauty parlor or Tailor shop at any nook or corner of India, you would find her pretty picture. It is a proof enough how people look at her as an embodiment of perfect beauty. But that’s it!

Movie Mania

I saw 2 movies back to back yesterday in a theatre, something which I have not done since college, that too when I had gone for the FTII Film Festival. We saw 'New York' first. Frankly, I was not too keen on this movie because I did not expect much out of (what I felt) 3 non-actors! But I kind of liked the movie. It was not very good, but it was OK.

Although the movie is promoted as John-Katrina starrer but actually it is Neil's movie throughout andhe definitely steals the show. Katrina is reasonably better than all of her movies till date. John somehow felt a little aloof. He was OK, but I don't know whether it was his screen timing or what, his role felt like a guest appearance role. Irfan as usual was very good.

The promos portray it as a college movie, but the real story starts after college. Well, I would not spoil the fun. Let's say it is surely worth a watch.

The seond movie was "X-men Wolverine". We watched its 11.15 show and it was really chilling inside the hall, which also gave me a sore throat. Add to that half the things flew over my head, since I have not seen any of the X-Men movies. So, it was OK. Although my husband and my friends liked it better than New York!

Since this question keeps coming back to me - courtesy yesterday's movies and today also I saw 2 on TV - why is it that heroines have to be pretty, poor little things and why they always have to be a school teacher (nursery grade) or a nurse or a Human Rights activist? By the Way, today I saw "The Longest Penalty Kick of the World" (something like that) a Spanish movie on World Movies and then Goal II on Star Movies. And owing to my sore throat, I have only rested today. So, a good laid back Sunday in all!