Its so real now !!

The movements are what makes it all so real !! The intermittent, playful, mischievous movements :)
Its so amazing, and so hard to explain. Its a truly emotional experience. Before, I used to think it was stupid to talk to an unborn child, but these movements automatically makes you talk to him/her. It makes you feel like he/she is a real person, for whom you are responsible. 

Poetic !!

This is a line from a new song from Race 2. As such the whole song is nothing spectacular, pretty mediocre in my opinion. But this particular line is very very interesting poetically. The way the syllables "la" and "ga" are repeated is noticeable.

Mujhe to teri lat lag gayi lag gayi
Zamana kahe lat ye galat lag gayi

Don't Fake it to Make it, Fake it to Become it !!

An interesting ted talk I watched today:

   http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

Amy Cuddy, an Assistant Professor at Harvard business school talks about 'faking power poses' to make yourself believe that you can do it and do it well. For example, before an interview or an important presentation, you should try a few power poses like spreading your arms as if crossing the finish line. You will definitely feel more confident and empowered.

I remember a similar story from a many years ago.

I was ten yrs old and had gone for a picnic with my sister and some family friends. My parents were busy that day and could not make it. We had a lot of fun the whole day, running around, playing in water, eating at road side dhabas. But it was really late by the time we were on our way home. And this was when I remembered that I had a maths test the next day. I was (and am)  panicky by nature. I started crying and got really scared that I did not get a chance to study and there is no time left now.

Thats when Andhare Uncle, my dad's close friend, said to me, "I know you are already well prepared for the test. Don't worry. Just believe in yourself, punch in the air and say 'Yesss!!!' and you will do well".
He punched hard in the air and said 'YESSS!!' loudly. He made me repeat it a few times. I started giggling and forgot my panic.

The next day before the test, I actually hid under the desk, punched in the air and quietly said "YESS!!"

I aced the test !! :D

Thank you, Andhare Uncle, for teaching me power posing, so long before researchers started trying it :)

Change !!

August 15th was the 65th independence day of India, and we could hear most people saying that a  change needs to be brought about make India a cleaner, safer and 'saner' country to live in.

People are of the view that this 'change' can happen only if each one of us change ourselves.

I completely agree with that, but the problem is that this is something that cannot be taught.

I want to list down a few of examples which I recently witnessed which show that if a person does not want to do something about his surroundings, he will never do it. This holds true for a very well educated as well as a sparsely educated individual 

Swachcha Bangalore
I saw a small autorikshaw type vehicle, which is used to transport garbage and has "Swachcha Bangalore" written on it. The driver was drinking tea in a paper cup.
 When he finished, he threw the cup on the street, when he had a truck full of garbage being transported to the right place!! Now, you don't have to be a educated even one bit, to understand this.

Me first, Me first !!
In a very posh apartment complex, which houses about 1000 of the most well to do and well educated families of Bangalore, had a Independence day celebration going on. Parents were in a queue to get tricolour tatoos made for their children. At least 4 out of the 10 people there, were shameless enough to break the queue and push ahead of their turn. If this what they teach their children here, in such a trivial scenario, what would their children do in the train reservation queue, RTO queue and even a hospital queue??

No time for manners!!
In the same apartment complex, the aerobics room had chocolate wrappers strewn all over the floor. Maybe the parents had enough time and money to buy chocolates for their children, but did not have enough time to teach them not to litter !!

On the other hand, world is made up of some amazing people who go out of their way to make a 'positive change'. 

What do you expect at a traffic signal in Bangalore, where the traffic lights are not working? Chaos?
But today morning, I was surprised to come by such a junction where the traffic was very disciplined.
He was not in a traffic cop's uniform, he was just a regular guy like you and me, who had taken some time out of his busy schedule to direct the traffic and make everyone's life easier.

O saiyaan

After a long time I've listened to a song which touched my soul.
The music as well as lyrics are so beautiful, its magical  !!

A few lines from the song:

Zindagi ne Pehni hai Muskan, Karne lagi hai Itna karam Kyun na jaane
Karvat lene lage hain Armaan phir bhi, Hai aankh num Kyun na jaane
O saiyan…..

Reality Check

You know how in some Bollywood movies, the hero or the heroine run towards the airport gate (bypassing security, of course) and manage to either get the gate open, or have the aircraft stop midway on the runway and make it come back. Reality Check, that doesn't really happen !! :D

I reached 2 mins late and they closed the gate.
First Shock : The aircraft was standing right there, I could see it from the glass window, but amazingly no one sees me waving from the glass window :-O How do they ALWAYS notice them in the movies?? I NEED to start wearing make up and stylish clothes all the time, who knows when I need to attract attention at an airport gate :D

Second Shock: Sadly enough, drama does not work :-( I screamed and jumped around but they did not open the gate again. Next time I should sing a song or make a up a "lovely" story. That's what they do in the films right?? :D

But well, I am not too sad. Because of the mess up, and my urgent need to re-book a flight next day, I got booked on business class :)

Now, THAT does not happen to people like me in the movies  !! Cheers to that :)
  

One year gone by !!

Its 2nd Dec 2011....
:-O
Has it already been a year?? It was only yesterday that I was moving my stuff into my new home, wasn't it??
But yes really, no exaggeration, that's exactly how it feels. It feels like one year went by in a moment: a beautiful, memorable moment :)

Feels good to be married. Feels good to belong to someone and own him at the same time. I feel trusted, protected and loved !!

Thanks for everything, hubby dearest. Looking forward to spending many many more happy years with you :)

Velvet Voice

Mohit Chauhan : My new favorite.

Just love his voice. It as smooth as butter. And it just so happens that a movie with the most useless songs, has the only one good song in his voice.
 

Fog or Smoke

Place: Bangalore
Time: About 6.15pm


Few days back, as I was driving back home on the outer ring road, about a 100 meters ahead I saw a cloud of smoke. This visual took me down memory lane, to NOIDA, for a split second, (and no, I did not lose balance) . 


In NOIDA, when I used to go to school during the cold and foggy months of December and January,  everything used to be hidden behind a curtain of fog a few feet ahead of me. It used to be an exciting walk to the bus stop and an even more exciting drive to school where the road ahead seemed so misty and mysterious.

Now, smoke has replaced the fog, and a terror has replaced the excitement. 

I sincerely hope that this does not remain the way of life. I prefer roads with a mysterious fog rather than than roads with a blanket of forbidding smoke.

Ending the year on a good note :)

Writing after a long time.. Its time to get back into the game, feel like I'll have a lot to share in the coming year :)

"Life partner" and "jeevansaathi" are the most perfectly coined words/phrases I've learnt to understand in the past few days, kudos to the guys who came up with these. They just make sense !! 

Its amazing how a new person walks in your life and becomes one of the most special people in your life. 

Marriage is a good thing :) I'm lovin it !! :D

The next year is dedicated to hubby dearest ... I'm sure me and Vaibhav will have a great 2011 :)

 

Wishing everyone else the same!!

Queen of the world

I don't walk like I rule the world,
I walk like I don't care who rules the world !!

[Courtesy: A colleague's t-shirt :D]

To University and Back !!

Just finished my 6 weeks of Thoughtworks University.

I couldn't have imagined how much fun it would be when I was starting off. In fact I was not very happy being there in the first place !!
But as it turned out, it was one of the most enriching experiences I've ever had. Everyday I would go there and forget about everything else, and just enjoy learning something new, in the company of some amazing people (The "close your laptops" chant might have to do something with that too :D ) The activities, role-plays, coding sessions, parties, Wonderla [ Yay!! :D] added to the experience.

What did I get out of it?? A bunch of sweet memories and some great friends, both national and international :)

Kudos to the TWU trainers for creating such a fun course !! Thinking of being involved in it as a trainer in the future.. 

All in all, had a great time.. Looking forward to meeting the "gang" some time soon :)

Cheers

Jai Hind !!

Classic Review Of IPad

Courtesy : Girish H V

Tak dhina dhin !!

Life is like a dance performance..........
Sometimes you take a few steps ahead, then few steps behind.

And then get back to square one !!

Something I learnt in my training today :D

WELCOME 2010

Welcoming 2010 with open arms.. Wish everyone has a great year with lots of success, happiness and fulfillment. Wishing the same for myself :D

All the best !!

A Mail I want to remember !!

This is an email I wrote to a bunch of my friends who had formed the Band at UTA with me. I want to preserve it here :)

Sent to: Shrikanth, Rena, Kashyap, Sukanya, Ashwin, Supriya, Murugan

Date: 28th December 2009

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys,

I attended a music show a couple of days back. It was a tribute to Mohd. Rafi on occasion of his 85th birth anniversary..

The Band was reaally good.. If i wanna use shrikanth's term " it was very tight" :D . There was loads of percussion, just the way WE all like it ;)

- two tablas

- 3 bongos

- 1 dholak-

- drums and octapad ( played by a single guy who used both simultaneously in some songs :-O )

- lots of other diff percussion instruments like tamborine, ghunghroo, those egg shaped ones n all

- 3 violinists( who were very good)

- a lady played sitar, and that other instrument that shahrukh khan plays in DDLJ (:P i dunno the name) .

- 2 guitarist

- 1 flutist, who was playing flutes of all shapes and sizes.

- 1 guy playing 2 keyboards.

They used all instruments well and there communication was good too ( i kept observing them :D )

The singers were also good ( except one, who sucked big time) .. And they didnt mess up hindi pronunciations.. so i was happy about that too :-P

There was especially this one guy who sang "o duniya ke rakhwale" It was simply outstanding..  His range was so amazing. the whole audience unanimously gave him a standing ovation.

For ppl who dont know the song and are interested in knowing about it, here's the link.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX8a2v2o74Y&feature=related

I reached there when the sound check was going on, and thats when so many memories came back :)

It Was really great listening to them.

I could virtually SEE 4 KDs, 2 Shrikanths, 2 Renas, 1 murugan, 2 Supriyas ( there were only 2 female singers, both with a sweet voice :D ), 1 ashwin and 1 prasad on stage..

And I swear I had a tear in my eye !!

Miss you all !!

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Heal the World!!

I feel that NOW is the time to our bit for the betterment of our India and the world.
NOW, when we are young, energetic and strong..
I want to join some organization which is helping improve the India/world in a significant manner. Like education, environment improvement projects etc.
I hope I keep the spirit up and encourage others to do so too..

Lessons of life !!

The song "O Rahi re" from the movie Luck By Chance
Highlighting the lines which I feel are important in everyone's life.. 

jaag uthe hain raaste , o rahi tere vaaste
teri zindagi…tujhse har ghadi… aur har kadam… hai yeh poochti…
rahi dekh raha hai tu kya
har har disha… hai rastaa…
bol tera hai kaunsa rastaa
rahi re o rahi re
kisi ko nahi hai pata
rahi re o rahi re
kahaan ja raha hai bata

ik raasta kaanton ka hai
ik raasta phool ka
tujhpe hai kaun se tu raaste ko chune

ik raasta hai soch ka
ik raasta bhool ka
tujhpe hai tera dil ab kya kahe kya sune

hoga tera hi yeh faisla
hai sochna ya bhoolna
bol tera hai kaunsa rastaa

rahi re o rahi re
kisi ko nahi hai pata
o rahi re o rahi re
kahaan ja raha hai bata

aasaaniyaan mil sakti hain tujhko zamaane se
par zara yeh bata
jeena hai kya yun tujhe
aazaadiyaan tu paayega
khud ko hi paane se
phir bata koi dar
mehsoos ho kyun tujhe

hoga tera hi yeh faisla
aasaaniyaan …
aazaadiyaan …
bol tera hai kaunsa rastaa
rahi re o rahi re
kisi ko nahi hai pata
rahi re o rahi re
kahaan ja raha hai bata
rahi re o rahi re
kisi ko nahi hai pata
rahi re o rahi re
kahaan ja raha hai bata