Moving to Wordpress

Hi All,

From the comforts of blogspot which i have now being enjoying for close to two years, i am moving to wordpress. This blog would now be operating from forgottogrowup.wordpress.com

Keep visiting and marking your presence there too...:)

cheers
Deepti

Mafia Queens of Mumbai- A book review

I just finished reading "Mafia Queens of Mumbai" - a book by S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.
S Hussain Zaidi is a crime reporter who has been associated with newspapers like Indian Express, Mid-day and Mumbai Mirror and has also authored the book Black Friday- already made into a movie by Anurag Kashyap. Jane Borges is a senior sub editor with Asian Age-Mumbai.

The book as the name suggests talks about the little known, but highly influential females, who have directly or indirectly ruled the Mumbai underworld over a long a period of time. The men in underworld have been written about and immortalized in movies many a times; however, hardly any light has ever been thrown on the female brigade who have sometimes had an overpowering influence on the activities of the darker world.

The author has chosen 13 such females, from Jenabai -the godmother of the likes of Haji Mastan and Vardarajan Mudaliar; the reigning kings of Mumbai underworld in the 70s and 80s to women like Asha Gawli (w/0 Arun Gawli) and Sujata Nikhalje (w/0 Chota Rajan)..who handled not only the money earned by their husbands but also acted as their proxies at times to extend their empires....
The author has picked up the stories of these females and gone through the highlights and lowlights of their "careers" during their life span. The book has been written in a very methodical manner with a fact based approach. All the stories come across as very well researched, though some of them do not have the adequate amount of masaala one might expect while reading something on women in underworld; the good thing is that nowhere in the book one feels that the authors have added any events/ incidents deliberately to affect the glamor quotient of the book. The authors have done a great job in ensuring that the book does not come across as sensational piece of work on underworld. All the narrations are very simple, straight at the same time ensuring that one does not feel the urge to keep down the book to pick up something else.
The book talks about females like Jenabai Daaruwaala and Mahalakshmi Papamani who resorted to the world of crime as there was no other alternative to fight poverty and feed a family of 6-8. And at the same time it also tells stories of well educated women like Neeta Naik and Mrs Paul who opted for the easier way to power, fame and money.
Among all the stories the one which i found most interesting was the one of Sapna Didi alias Ashraf. Widow of an underworld ally, who is not aware of what her husband works as till the time she sees him being shot by Dawood's men at Mumbai Airport where she has gone to receive him. How she gets in touch with another Dawood enemy in whom she sees a trainer to train her on self defense and shooting, who falls for her madly and hence is unable to explain to her the dire consequences of her revengeful dream of killing Dawood by forming a small army of men from the Mumbai underworld. The story has a sad end when Sapna didi is brutally murdered by Dawood's men outside her home as he comes to know of her plan to kill him in a cricket stadium in Sharjah, where he is VVIP spectator every year during the Sharjah cup.

The book has a foreword by Vishal Bharadwaj, where he says that after reading the book its difficult for him to decide which plot should be picked up for making a movie. I would surely recommend Sapna Didi's story.

The book also has a chapter on Monica Bedi, which reveals some lesser known facts about the saga the bollywood starlet went through during the last decade.

Overall, a nice book, one can read on a Saturday afternoon...

Author: S Hussain Zaidi and Janes Borges
Price: INR 250 (INR 175 on flipkart)
Rating: 3/5

A film and book review!

I watched 7 khoon maaf few days back. I went all the way to the theater to watch this movie. and i didn't like it. I don't know what prompted Vishal Bharadwaj to make this one.
Priyanka Chopra as Sussanne is on a killing spree. She is looking for true love; and she has the knack of attracting the most weird, horrible men in this world. Dissatisfied in a relationship; instead of leaving and moving on, her loyal servants led by her make it a point to keep on killing these husbands as soon as their saheb finds it impossible to continue the relationship.
Sussanne has been shown with a disturbed psychology from childhood; one who lives in extremes.

Anyways, i did not like anything about this movie except the "Darrrlingg...." song!!
Its dark, the story is too predictable, could not understand what is the purpose of the movie...its definitely not entertainment...
Naseeruddin Shah also plays one of the husbands; my face lit up when i saw him on the screen (such is the actor's aura); however, he has been totally wasted...anyone could have done that role. But i guess, saying no to VB is not that easy....
Another wasted actor in the movie is Konkana. A very passe role, anyone could have done.

I haven't read the book; though have heard that the book is much more captivating than the film.
Anyways....this much for the movie.

I read Preeti Shenoy's book "Life is what you make it" few days back.

I finished reading the book in one go, it does not happen to me often.

In one word..the book is Engrossing. It has a great pace, a very very detailed and good description of the events. A good story and has been told very well by Preeti.
This is the snapshot of the book from Flipkart...

"Ankita Sharma has the world at her feet. She is young, good-looking, smart and has tonnes of friends and boys swooning over her. College life is what every youngster dreams of and she also manages to get into a premier management school for her MBA. Six months later, she is a patient in a mental health hospital. How did Ankita get here? What were the events that led to this? Will she ever get back her life again?

Life has cruelly and coldly snatched that which meant the most to her and she must now fight to get it all back."

The author has done complete justice while describing the mental illness the main lead goes through. The transition of the protagonist from a cheerful college going girl with her high ambitions and her interesting love life....to a patient of bi-polar disorder is fantastic.
The description of a small town in Kerala is good enough to transport one back in time.
You feel like gobbling down the whole story in one go.

However, one part where i feel things could have been better, is the last 25% of the book where Ankita Sharma is recovering from her illness. I felt, that the fight of the main lead to get back her normal life could have been depicted in more detail and effectively...the initial 3/4th of the book is so strong in its content that this part where the girl is in hospital trying to recover....feels like falling a bit short of justifying the title of the book. The fight the girl puts to recover does not seem to be as strong as her alight into the illness....

Overall, a good, short book...worth the money..:)

Author: Preeti Shenoy
Price: INR 100 (INR 83 on flipkart)
Rating: 3/5

Ad Mad!

Two ads have caught my eye lately.....
One is this USHA fans ka ad....:)

I had been to USHA corporate office once for placement purposes etc. The office look gave me a feeling that it may shut down any moment!!..Anyway that has nothing to do with this wonderfully written ad...:)



The first part of the ad, till that "One nation no discrimination" line, which brings down the awsumness value of the ad by few notches, is just super!!
Between the abundance of lays ke illogical ads, dar ke aage vishwajeet hai..etc etc..this ones a real well written, effective ad..nice way to welcome summers...:)


The other ad, which i think should be put off the air ASAP is the one for Pidilite steel grip. I am not being able to find its link on youtube. However, the ad shows a woman torturing a guy who has apparently used a non Pidilite steel grip. She is giving him electric shocks and is wearing tortourous expressions on her face when she says..."using a non pidilite..blah blah....Pagalpan Nahi to Aur Kya Hai??.."
The advertisement is simply GROSE. I very strongly feel that using a theme of declaring/ calling people pagal or display of such disturbing human conditions casually for advertising any product is bad work by the creative team. I remember another such objectionable ad..



I somehow do not appreciate this form of creativity where something which can be very serious if happens in reality is mocked at in order to make people buy it.

Hope we have saner ads in future!!

The Baai Tales!

After marriage among many other things the one which i have realized big time during the last one year is...the importance of a house maid!
I have stayed away from home close to 10 years before getting married last year. Most of the time was spent in hostels, where we were hardly bothered who the kaam vaali baai is who comes to clean our room. Anyways, room cleaning at that time was of close to zero importance. Though i still remember that the baaaiis in Jhansi were too good. We had Biniya Ji, Raamkali Ji..and few other Ji's....very loving and caring, and thoroughly genuine people who made life a bit easier in the hostels there, where sometimes we were devoid of the bare minimum requirements of a decent life like electricity...for days altogether in the month of May-June...
Anyway, coming back to the topic...yes, i stayed in a PG for close to 2 years and then also stayed in a rented flat for a year and a half before i finally bid goodbye to the bachelorette pad and got married. We moved to this satellite town of Delhi, and as a welcoming gesture, our 2nd floor neighbor came forward and recommended her own housemaid to us.
More than happily we accepted the offer, and thus started our tryst with Shyaamoli or Saanwari...(not sure what her real name is as she responds to both)!!

So unlike the genuine maids i had seen in college, maid here is a different story altogether.
6:30 in the morning when she rings the bell, it feels that this is the last time our door bell is breathing ting tong...it wont be usable hereafter! After giving her directions on what to make for breakfast...i retire back to bed (to the utter disappointment of husband who thinks that i should stand there and supervise her work...:O) ..Anyway, then starts her favorite game...vessel banging!!....Initially i thought that she is upset with something...or may be with us..and thats the reason she is in all tod doongi phod doongi mode...Alas, we were very sadly and badly mistaken. This is her normal style of working. In her normal course of work she ensures that enough noise is made while washing utensils so that no poor soul around is spared of her/ his sleep....
Now, in the beginning i tokofied her...as my morning need is too dear to me and i would certainly not let any housemaid to ruin it...but then slowly i realized, that telling her to change/ modify her ways of working is of NO use...yes of ABSOLUTELY NO use.....and there are multiple reasons behind it....
The most apparent and one which we thought was most easy to tackle was that she has a hearing problem. Yes, our maid "ooncha sunti hai". So if you say something at 60 dB, decibel level of the normal human speech; its just some distant sound which her ears cannot even detect....
To add to that, since she is hard of hearing, so to compensate that, she speaks at a volume which is a couple of notches higher than the rest of us normal beings.....overall effect, highly impaired communication.
As if this was not enough, maid happens to be one of the most obstinate female i have ever come across in my life. She will just not listen to you. So if i offer my ideas on any particular dish ...ok, when i say ideas...things like..."XYZ sabzi mein tamatar mat daalna"...."tamatam nahi daalna hai????..:O..:O"..."NAHI, nahi daalna hai" (stressing each and every word like i am in some akshar gyaan classes for firang kids)....you sit down to eat and "tamatam" is all over...!!

The beauty of her behaviour is, that while she refuses to take any instructions when it comes to cooking, in every other areas you better give her instructions otherwise you are in a soup!!
Any and every edible thing kept within 1 metre radius of the sink is MEANT to be thrown away in the dustbin. Yes, so if you have kept a bowl full of fresh sabzi by mistake somewhere even close to the sink area, swoooo..sssh..it goes inside the kitchen bin. If you have kept some freshly soaked mehndi (with all your efforts of mixing, grinding and beating an egg into it)...and it happens to lie in the above said high alert area....within a blink, the mehndi vessel will be all clean and shining....."Achcha, vo fenkna nahi tha, aapne bola hi nahi"....hmm...yess..my mishtake truly!!

Her halo is such, that when MIL calls, after normal pleasantries exchange the first thing she inquires of is..."aur tumhari kaamvaali theek kaam kar rahi"...yes, my dear friends, we sometimes spend more time discussing Her Highness than anything else.
Infact, few days ago at a cousin's place i noticed their very well behaved servants. who were responding to normal human voice and there was no noise outside kitchen signaling their presence. I was lost for a few moments...started day dreaming if such a scenario would ever exist in our household!!

Now, after all this many of you must be thinking, why do we not then replace her with a better bai.
We cannot do that, zimple reason being.....this one never maaros any chutti. Yes, Touch Wood. No matter how much we long for sophisticated, smart baiis....we cannot afford to loose one, who is regular...:)
So for now, we choose to live with Shyamoli hoping that some day she will cease to be her abnormal self...and change for better..:)

Filminama!

Yesterday i was watching repeat telecast of Filmfare awards 2010. Apart from other regular thing, the act which caught my fancy was a dance sequence by SRK and Madhuri Dixit almost towards the end of the show. During an ad break husband started browsing through news channels and we ended up finding Blockbusters on CNN-IBN. The star this week was Sridevi. Thankfully, Madhuri's act had ended on Filmfare and i could watch the half an hour documentary on Sridevi guilt free..:D

Watching the two divas in succession took me back in time to my growing up years when these two beauty queens were ruling Bollywood. Those were the times of no cable TV/ no DJ and no theater also (yes, i am talking about the pre 1994 era, when HAHK had not released and parents would never agree to take us to movies like "Lootere", "Dalaal" and "Khalanayak"..:D)
So all we could get of the dazzling dance performance by these actresses was through Chitrahaar and once in a while on VCRs. So each one of us had our favorite. Needless to say that while i loved Madhuri, i had friends who had their loyalties too inclined towards the southern actor. And the interesting part was that the bollywood rivalry (if or if not there was any) had been apparently taken too seriously by us girls and one who adored Mrs Nene, would dare not even praise or show a slightest sign of liking towards Sridevi. While today i find Sridevi a total delight to watch in movies like Lamhe and Chandni, those days i could never stand her accent. (actually i still don't like it) Also, i found her nose job a bit too unnatural. So enough reasons to not like her.,.:)
I simply adored MD for the Goddess she is...for her swift and smooth dance moves, her almost perfect portrayal of all her characters and her beautiful smile.

However, this favoritism never came into play when we were asked to show our dancing skills in any birthday party, sangeet ceremony etc etc. We were totally unbiased towards the wonderful songs these females have danced on. Till date i clearly remember how i replayed the audio cassette of Saajan again and again, just to perfect my steps on "Tu Shayar Hai.....Main teri Shaayari..." . Being able to copy her finger movement was like trophy winning for us...:)
Or, try creating our own steps on "Morni baaga maa bole"....

Yesterday, watching Madhuri Dixit paired with SRK in that medley brought back those wonderful memories, and just could not stop thinking how graceful and poised the two beautiful actors looked.
Have picked up some of the timeless songs of 80s and 90s which look as fresh today as they looked 20 years ago...

This song is one of the most beautiful classical based dance number of the recent times....i simply love the silver white dress adorned by Sridevi, the backdrop and her priceless expressions. Needless to say she looks divine! Every dance move is just perfect....




Another gem from the same movie, Sridevi at her best!!



Madhuri Dixit in the orange outfit looks picture perfect. She can carry any song with the same grace and poise.



Another song which i find equally tantalizing after so many years is this one from the movie HAHK. The sometimes coy, sometimes naughty expressions of MD make this one of the most
delightful songs to watch on screen...



And i do not think, anybody else in the film industry would have been able to carry off this song so gracefully. A scandalous song of its time, which created a thunder back in 93.....The baap of all item numbers...:)



Aah, and this song..sarees had never looked better on the silver screen than this!!....Hats off to the director too for selecting such a timeless collection and more than full marks to Sri for carrying them off sooooo..well.



One more dance sequance which i find mesmerizing is from DTPH.....its truly a wonderful sight watching Madhuri dance....:)



And then, those dhinchak dance numbers from Chalbaaz and Tezaab.....which could make every foot in this world tap








And this list would actually never end.....because every song looks better than the others when such talented actors become part of it....

I guess before i wind up...this one also needs to be put here.....one of the finest and most elegantly performed songs on screen....



and as i wind up..i discover this one from Aaaja nach le...



The more one says, the less it would be .....Hope we have more such actors around in the times to come ...!

Zoya Moya!!

Ok, so this week had been a good one in terms of reading...:)
I had been thinking about ordering from flipkart for a long time now after hearing raving reviews from friends and family about how quick the delivery is and you can get some real good discounts. So one fine day this week, ordered not one, not two but three books in a row online. The books being:

1. Life is what you make it by Preeti Shenoy
2. Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi and last but not the least
3. Urban Shots - a collection of urban tales which also includes a story by a dear friend Prateek..:)

Have already finished reading the first one and Prateek's story in Urban Shots.
Before this book ordering and gobbling them down in a single sitting ....i was reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. It is a THICK book and i had been wanting to read it for quite some time now. Finally when i started reading it, i realized that this is not the kind of book i would want to lay my hands on just before saying goodbye to yet another crazy hectic day...so the other day, i asked husband to take out some light read by any Indian author from our book box, taking advantage of the fact that he sleeps on the side of the bed which has books in its bed box; and hence has to dutifully abide by the rule of "ye tumhari side hai tum karoge..(switching off light, router, latching the room etc before sleeping fall in this category of chores....:D )"..:D

He came up with Advaita Kala's Almost Single, which i had already read and found really funny and interesting...
The next one which his hands collided with turned out to be "The Zoya Factor" by Anuja Chauhan. I quickly grabbed this one as i had read good reviews about it and had lately bought it from the Book Fair at Pragati Maidan.


The Zoya Factor is a WONDERFUL!! book...:)

It is a must read for anyone who enjoys fun, youthful reads by young Indian writers. A rom-com set in the backdrop of cricket world cup; the book is about this 27 years old girl Zoya who is born on 25th June 1983, the very moment India won its first and only world cup...:). The Indian cricket team realizes this as the "boys" win all the matches when this lucky charm breakfasts with them..and hence starts this roller coaster ride of Zoya who is taken along with the Indian cricket team to Australia so that India can bring home their next world cup in the captaincy of the oh so hot!!..Nikhil Khoda.

Yes, so it has cricket, a girl next door romancing the Indian skipper, the over the top and loud cricket crazy Karol Bagh family and not to mention a good peep into the world of advertising to which belongs the lucky lady.

How overnight The Zoya Factor becomes national news with all the Charu Sharmas and Harsh Bhogles dedicating a good part of their debates and commentaries around the lucky Indian factor, the ad agencies, her fraternity “well wishers” uksaoing her to do some Zoya Agarbatti ads..and last but not the least her proposed election tickets for a LS seat..:D

I loved the book for the sheer dosage of humor, crazily funny moments and yes the awsum off-on-off-on romance between Nikhil Khoda and Zoya Solanki..:) (it IS one of the best things in the book..;-))
The story maintains a perfect pace, I loved the character depiction of Zoya, a 27 years old with a heart of 17 years!!...an utterly confused, humble, funny young girl ….(the forgottogrowup types..;-)) The character makes you nod throughout..yeah..yeah..it does happen...it seems the author has actually looked inside the head of some ordinary, not that achiever, love lost girl to come out with the perfectly defined character Zoya..:)

Though I felt that the Indian skipper’s character has been depicted a bit too god to be believed kinds..but then it does it bit to add spice to the reading..:)

It’s a total paisa vasool, fun book, which I would strongly recommend to all the readers looking for something light hearted yet mature…:)

Price: INR 299

Overall Rating: 4/5

(Yes, from now on I will also end my book reviews (if this counts as one) with my rating of the book..;-)..(like those veteran bloggers) YAY!! It feels good..:))

"Healthy" New Year!

hello to everyone...:)
Its been close to three months that i last posted, i have been thinking about making this place live for quite some time now; so what better time to get this blog back to life than the first month of the new year..:)
Like all other years i have made some resolutions this year too.....and needless to ask what is the progress on them..:P...Multiple thoughts and ideas in pieces and parts which are making rounds in my head...lemme start with this book which i read recently.."Dont loose your mind..loose your weight" by Rujuta Diwekar.

I had heard a lot about this book, but have always had my own reservations on books talking gyaan on health etc etc.
However, few days back a bhabhi mentioned about the book in one of our conversations and i laid my hands on the book while digging deep inside our book bed.

This is one of the best books i have read in the recent past. Not only because it tells us some great things about our stomach but more so because it tells you everything in the most direct, interesting and touching manner. Yes, this book touches your mind, in a way that if read with even the slightest of interest can actually make one think about one's eating habits and the most neglected organ of our body..our stomach.
Rujuta tells in her book, how NO..yes no food is bad food and any thing if eaten at the right time and in right quantity can align with your metabolism to do all good to your body.
I simply loved the way how the author has stated all gyaan about our food habits in the most simple terms at the same time ensuring that she touches the right chord with the readers and effectively communicates the crux.
She manages to add the novelty factor in her book, when she says things like: ".. "Heart Attack" is a very wrongly used term...our heart can never attack us, its we who attack our heart by doing all wrong things to it, by not letting go of our bad habits..."
At another place she sayas: "..The stomach is of the size of our two palms joined together to form a close. It can only take that much food at a time. That is why the Jain bhikshuks always asked for palm full of food for their meals. Respect the capacity of your stomach and feed it what it can consume.."
Few things which i simply found very useful and which I am trying to imbibe are:

1. Listen to and understand your stomach. Don't be harsh on it by starving for long hours and neglecting it when you are busy doing long hours in office.
2. EAT something as soon as you get up in the morning. (something can be a good paratha meal also).
3. Try to finish your two largest meals of the day before 11 AM. Our stomach's digesting ability keeps decreasing with the course of the day.
4. Eat small quantities every 2 hours. Don't skip your evening snacks because that would deter you from having a full dinner. Idea is to have a light dinner to keep the stomach fit.
5. Avoid eating cut fruits, and juices are a big NO. Fruits are meant to act as antioxidants in our body. By cutting them we are exposing their surface area, thus letting them oxidize before we can consume them. Hence, making them less healthy. Juices= fruits-fiber; again less healthy.

And yes, the book also emphasizes on working out. At least thrice a week....:)

So this was about the book.

I watched this movie Band Baaja Baaraat few days back. Sis told me its a nice watch, and i spent my new years day watching BBB.
wonderful is the word!
And now that the post has started, i realise that i have many more things to pen down. But as the clock strikes 12, and eyes start drooling, its time to wind up this first post of the year with a promise that post rate would be much more higher this year and the blog would not go into slumber even during the busiest times..:)

With Colors-2

Sunday afternoon with colors....

With Colors!!

Last to last weekend we went to CP, in the CWG mela, there was a stall of colors and canvasses....i bought a set of colors and canvas...:)
After some 15 good years i tried my hands at painting again....:)

"I"-Then and Now

Shilpa of Just Speaking My Mind has done a wonderful post on how she has changed in the last 10 years and good part is she has converted that in to a tag for all of us to take....

So here i jot down the ways in which i have changed in the last 10 years....

1. From a girl who use to take life a bit too seriously, thinking that a good job is the only thing that would decide how successful life can be, i have changed for good ..to appreciate the various dimensions life has to offer and understand that its you and no one else who would describe how successful you life has been....

2. 10 years ago i has this huge misconception about myself...i use to think that i am the most fair, innocent, gracious and and nice person around and no living being on this earth can ever have a problem because of me. I use to think that none of my actions ever hurt anyone, and i always put other's interests ahead of mine.
Today i am thankful that i have slowly gained this maturity to understand that the above is not always true.....:). Today, i know when i am being any of the above, and i guess awareness is the first step towards any sort of rectification!!

3. When 19, i was conscious of even leaving my hair open, which was much much better than it is now..:(. I used to think that those spending time decorating their outer appearance are living in some fake world and would soon realize that they are on some wrong path, and start following my way of just concentrating on the inner beauty which matters the most. True, inner beauty does matter, but today i know that looking good, paying attention to oneself is no crime, rather is a reflection of your love for yourself and nothing else.

PS: I have also developed a weird theory here. I feel by making attempts to look good you are actually doing a kind of social service. People around you would have better groomed individuals to look at, which would be a treat to their eyes and may be a positive effect on their mood. So who knows, by dressing up well....you might be doing some kind of social service...and its actually our "Individual Social Responsibility" (ISR) to look good:D

4. When i joined college, my wardrobe was dominated by colors like gray, black, white and browns....Thanks to the positive souls like Serenity i learnt that wearing bright colors is no crime, and it just adds cheerfulness to our mundane surroundings. Today, my wardrobe reflects VIBGYOR....:D. When i visit shops now, i ask for happy colors...:)

5. Among many other things i was too under confident to voice my opinion on anything even very close to my heart. Not that i was any less opinionated than i am now, but to get across the point to the other party was always a problem. Result was, me filled to brim with my own thoughts which never had the right outlet. Not that i have become some jhnasi ki rani in all these years. But now, communicating my thoughts and opinions comes much more easier. I am much more comfortable now telling and convincing people how i feel and think about something. This one thing has made life much much more easier.

6. 10 years back, i never use to crave for home. When i joined hostel, i don't remember even once that i was counting days for vacations to rush back home. I was always happy in my hostel abode. Today, at 29 and being married, i feel the need to go back and spend time with my parents much more. I look forward to holidays, when i can just pack my bags and visit them.

7. I was never happy with this feature which sits prominently on my face, my nose. I always felt it was too out of shape and at one point in time, the only reason why i wanted to earn money was that i could get a nose job done..:). Any jokes about it were never taken in good spirit....But that was a decade ago....Today, i find its existence perfectly in peace with mine, and have no qualms about it not resembling Madhuri Dixit's in shape...:D.

Basically, a lot of self assurance has creeped in.....i have learnt to laugh on myself, to openly criticize when and where i am wrong, to rationally look for a way out and accept the things they are.

...this is all i can think of as of now...but i am sure there are many other changes which the me has seen over the past 10 years...and more that that there are many more which i envisage in the next 10 years.....

For the festive mood, this song for Navratri...:)

A Blog Post-7

Another month has passed since i last posted something. The month of Librans has started....the month of festivities....of a changing weather...many birthdays....CWG games.....and much more.....just want to pen down the tit-bits of the gone by month and the thoughts hovering my mind these days....

1. After showering its blessings in the form of water for 3 continuous months ...the mansoon Gods have finally shed their load and moved on...leaving us with shorter days and longer evenings....this is the best weather one can experience when in northern part of India...needless to say i am loving it....festival season..and the season of marriages is around.....the sun seems not not so harsh...and its dark by 6:30.....i get nostalgic at times and am reminded of school days..when the month of Oct was marked by halyearly exams....:).....in few days we'll have dussera and then diwali....the much awaited festivals and loads of holidays too.....:).....

2. CWG games started today and Delhi really seems to be in a celebration mood. We went to CP yesterday, the CWG celebrations could be seen in full swing there.....a mela sort of has been organised near state emporiums..where all states are displaying there art and craft...and food stalls from all over India....it was good to see people of all age roaming around with their families ..enjoying the various cuisines...just sitting and relaxing.....and appreciating the various cultural shows of diff states.....we had a great time experiencing the raunak there...:)
I also discovered an interesting fact yesterday while coming back to Ggn. We took the metro and i realised that the familiar voices in which the announcements inside metro have been recorded in Shammi Narang and Rini Khanna's voice...the yesteryear's newsreader's of Doordarshan..:)

3. I finished reading this book called Heartbreaks and Dreams by Parul Agarwal Mittal. This female is from IIT D and the book gives a girl's perspective of studying in a male dominated IIT. Everything about the book is good..as in the flow, narration, humor etc etc....but the one area where it lacks big time is connecting with the audience....reason being, the author makes the female lead sound too boisterous throughout..yes the thing that humans studying in IITs are a notch above us less mortal beings comes out a bit too well in the course of the book, and i guess this is where the author fails to connect to its audience the way her batchmate Mr. Bhagat did..:)
Other than that, its a fun book to read with a good dose of humor and a pretty believable plot....

4. I also read this another book "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". A wonderful book which would be reviewed in another post!

This post was written on 3rd of Oct. Draft kiya, aaj poori kar dete hain.......
We saw Do Dooni Chaar today. A very warm simple story of a middle class family in Delhi trying to graduate from a scooter to a car. The head of the family is a maths teacher in a private school who teaches in an IIT coaching center in the evening to meet the family expenses. The story revolves around how the different circumstances the family goes through in their stint to secure a four wheeler. Apart from the funny situations and the light note on which the film is made what i liked about the movie was its close to real life depiction. The film has actually been shot in some middle class colony of Delhi, and more than suitably captures the middle class mentality which our generation kids have seen in their growing years. The discussions around stagnant DAs and tuition fees of kids, monthly savings and call center jobs....the best part of the movie is Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor as screen couple, who have delivered a wonderful performance as a punjabi family of lajpat nagar....:).
A good time pass for a lazy saturday afternoon....

A very happy Navratri to all...May this festive season be full of happiness for one and all..:)

Wordless Wednesday-1!!

Pictures clicked by a cousin of our hometown!!

अ ब्लॉग पोस्ट -६

कुछ दिन पहले पति के साथ कुछ बात हो रही थी..और बातों बातों में इंजीनियरिंग के दिनों के viva का ज़िक्र आ गया.....इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेज में किये गए फर्जी कामों की लिस्ट में सेमेस्टर एंड में होने वाले vivas की १ अलग ही जगह है......पूरे सेमेस्टर labs में रोज़ अलग अलग लीलाएं होतीं थीं....और उनकी इतिश्री होती थी सेम एंड viva voce में.......हमारे 3rd सेमेस्टर में almost सभी subjects इलेक्ट्रोनिक्स/ इलेक्ट्रिकल के थे...और हमारे कॉलेज की इलेक्ट्रोनिक्स की faculty इस दुनिया के सबसे sadist लोगों को मिला के बनायीं गयी thi...१ से बढ़ कर १.....उनका जीवन में बस १ ही मकसद था...विद्यार्थियों की वाट लगा के रखना...हर दिन...हर क्लास में..हर viva में...और ofcourse ..हर exam में.....प्रक्टिकल क्लास्सेस में अक्सर इनका झुण्ड १ ही lab में आ जाता था....और हर हफ्ते किसी नयी तरह से हमारे तीन घन्टे बर्बाद किये जाते थे...खैर....उन labs में क्या नाटक होते थे..ये कभी और.....अभी ज़िक्र रहेगा इलेक्ट्रिकल measurements एंड measuring इंस्ट्रुमेंट्स....(EMMI) के प्रक्टिकल एक्साम का...theory एक्साम्स ख़तम होने के बाद practicals हुए...generally प्रक्टिकल एक्साम वाले दिन ही उसका viva भी हो जाया करता था....अगर external examiner न हुआ..तो उसके अगले दिन....पर उस बार...examiner की availaability थोड़ी मुश्किल हो गयी...EMMI और Network Analysis एंड Synthesis दो subjects के practicals हो गए और ये बताया गया की दोनों के ही viva २-३ दिन बाद होंगे.........एक्साम्स क्यूंकि ख़त्म हो चुके थे...और viva को हमने कभी इतना important समझा ही नहीं की उसकी चिंता की जाए...तो सभी लोग एक्साम्स ख़तम होने की ख़ुशी मानाने लगे.....हमारा सालाना जलसा.."उत्सव" भी आने वाला था..तो काफी जनता उसकी तैय्यारी में जुट गयी...प्रक्टिकल एक्साम के लगभग ३ दिन बाद खबर आई की भाई आज...EMMI का viva है...viva १ फोर्मलिटी भर हुआ करती थी ५० numbers का हिसाब देने की university को...तो १ साथ ५ छात्रों को कमरे में बुला लिया जाता था....और १५-२० मिनट तक छात्रों का ragging session चलता था...जिसमे external examiner समोसे और चाय पे ध्यान केन्द्रित रखता था.....और हमारी faculty अपने जन्म भर के frustrations का बेपरवाह छात्रों से बदला ले रही होती थी.....खैर.....रोल नंबर के हिसाब से ५-५ करके जनता अंदर जा रही थी......१ झुण्ड के बाहर आते ही सब उनपे लपक लेते थे..की भाई बताओ जो १- आध सवाल दागे गए हों अंदर syllabus से...उन्ही के answers रट लिए जाएँ.....examiner घर से कोई ८-10 सवालों की पोटली लाता था..और सभी १२-१५ batches से वही सवाल पूछे जाते थे.....
खैर इसी सरपट बाजी में...१ batch गया अंदर.....अंदर गए ५ लोगों में हमारे १ मित्र थे..श्री अनुपम जैन....जो की batch के कुछ .हंसमुख...easygoing ..लोगों में से थे...इनके चेहरे पे टेंशन शायद ही ४ साल में किसी ने देखी होगी...ये localite थे...और अपनी शान की सवारी..हीरो puch पे कॉलेज आया करते थे....3rd सेमेस्टर तक इनसे कोई विशेष दोस्ती तो नहीं हुई थी...पर इनके टेंशन फ्री attitude को जनता ने जान लिया था...खैर......पाँचों जन ने examiner और internal faculty के सामने अपनी अपनी सीटें ले लीं...और pseudo राग्गिंग चालू हो गयी....batch में १ और सज्जन गए थे ..जो की क्लास के सबसे हुर्ष्टपुष्ट और विशाल जीवों में से थे...पर स्वभाव से काफी गंभीर थे...उनसे examiner ने १ सवाल पूछा...जिसका उत्तर देने के लिए उन्होंने सोचना शुरू किया....(या शायद सोचने का नाटक शुरू किया)......खैर ...जब वहां से कोई उत्तर नहीं आया तो ..सवाल अगले छात्र पर carry फॉरवर्ड कर दिया गया.....सवाल टालने का ऐसा ही सिलसिला चल रहा था कि जैन साहब को अचानक हंसी आ गयी.....आपको सवाल का जवाब न आये..कोई बात नहीं....आप गर्दन झुका के बैठे रहे..कोई बात नहीं...पर अगर viva के उस concentration कैंप में.. आप हंस गए...किसी हंसी की बात पर भी...तो समझ लीजिये की आज आपका बड़ा दिन है.....जैन साहब को हँसता हुआ देख कर दोनों नरभक्षी जीवों ने उनकी ओर रुख किया...और उनसे जवाबदारी शुरू कर दी...उनकी हंसी पर २-४ लानतें फेंक कर ...उनसे कहा गया कि आप बताइये जवाब क्या होगा...... .अब सवाल जैन साहब के पाले में था...कहने की ज़रुरत नहीं है..उत्तर का तनिक भी आईडिया उन्हें नहीं था...और जितना उन्हें जाना है इतने समय में..उन्होंने शायद सवाल भी नहीं सुना था जब वो पहली बार उनके संगी से पुछा गया था.....जब जैन साहब के मुख से उत्तर का अवतरण नहीं हुआ तो ये तय हो गया कि आज की limelight के हकदार श्री जैन ही हैं....:) बाकी जनता राहत कि सांस ले रही थी कि अब बचे हुए समय में गुरु जन इन्ही की लंका लगायेंगे.....
जैन साहब को १ और मौका देते हुए एक्सामिनेर ने पूछा....कि चलिए कोई बात नहीं... आप ये ही बता दीजिये कि आपने प्रक्टिकल में कौन सा एक्सपेरिमेंट किया था...:)..ठंडी सांस लेते हुए...हमारे प्रिय मित्र ने अपने दिमाग पे जोर डाला...बहुत डाला....पर एक्साम्स ख़तम होने कि ख़ुशी शायद कुछ ज्यादा ही मन चुकी थी...दिमाग ने respond करने से मना कर दिया....और थोडा सकपकाते हुए अनुपम महाराज ने कहा.."सर वो तो अब याद नहीं.."...:D ......माहौल अब गरमा चुका था....दोनों गुरुजन स्तिथि का लुत्फ़ लेने के पूरे मूड में आ चुके थे.... इतने "कूल" छात्रों से सामना रोज़ रोज़ कहाँ हुआ करता है....मस्त हैं अपनी ही दुनिया में....खैर....एक्सामिनेर साहब का दिल थोडा पसीजा और उन्होंने सवाल को थोडा और आसान बनाते हुए और प्रक्टिकल में पूछे जाने वाले सवालों को १ अलग ही ऊँचाई पे ले जाते हुए पूछा....भाई..अच्छा आप ये ही बता दीजिये की आप कौनसे subject का viva देने आये हैं??.....:D ...अब भला ये भी कोई सवाल हुआ....माना प्रक्टिकल किये हुए ज्यादा दिन हो जाने के कारण हमें एक्सपेरिमेंट का नाम न याद हो....पर ये तो पता ही है की प्रक्टिकल किस subject का दिया था.....जैन साहब ने poore आत्मविश्वास के साथ इस सवाल को लपकते हुए झट से जवाब दिया....सर.... नेटवर्क सिंथेसिस एंड analysis ...:O .....इतना सुनना था कि सवाल पूछने वाले विद्वानों ने हार मान ली...और बाइज्ज़त श्री अनुपम जैन और बाकी छात्रों के झुण्ड को बाहर भेज दिया....:)...आज का उनका entertainment dose ज़रुरत से ज्यादा हो चुका था.....इतने की उन्हें आदत नहीं थी....:P ..

खैर..हमारे परम मित्र श्री अनुपम जैन प्रक्टिकल के उन बेमतलब क्लास्सेस से अब तक जीवन के कई milestones पार कर चुके हैं.....पिछले महीने की २१ तारिक को वे १ बेटे के पिता बने...:)...जीवन के इस सर्व्शेष्ठ्र achievement पर उन्हें बहुत बहुत बधाइयाँ....:)...
आज के Friday मूड के लिए ये गाना....

A ब्लॉग पोस्ट -५

जो बरसे सपने बूँद बूँद...नैनो को मूँद मूँद..कैसे मैं चलूँ...देख सकूं......अनजाने रास्ते... गूंजा सा है कोई १ तारा १तारा....गूंजा सा है कोई १ तारा......

शुक्र है शुक्रवार है.....बड़े दिनों बाद आज Fri को relax सा फील हो रहा है....कल राहत फ़तेह अली खान का concert देखने जाना है.....:)...ऐसे अच्छे दिन आते रहें समय समय पर...और मन लगा रहे....:) आज बड़े दिनों बाद ऑफिस से वापस आके चाट खाई..:); किसी ठेले पर तो नहीं, १ काफी ठीक ठाक सी दुकान पर....ठेले पर खाने का मज़ा कुछ और ही होता है वैसे तो, पर आजकल "hygeine" reasons के कारण ऐसा करना ठीक नहीं बताया जाता..... मौसम का रहमो करम जारी है, आज भी पानी बरसा, और शाम तक मौसम सुहाना ही बना रहा.....बचपन में इस मौसम में हम अंगूर के पत्तों के पकोड़े खाया करते थे..:)....भुट्टे पे नींबू और नमक, आलू प्याज के पकोड़े....और चीला....ये बरसात के मौसम के पर्यायी हुआ करते थे, हो तो वैसे अभी भी सकते हैं, अगर कोई बना के दे दे तो..:)..अपने से रोज़ इतनी मेहनत मुश्किल लगती है थोड़ी .... वैसे इस बरसात में मैंने १ बात जानी....ये ही १ ऐसा मौसम है, जिसमे भारत के लघभग सभी मैदानी शहर १ जैसे लगते हैं, अच्छे...:)....बारिश चाहे चेन्नई में हो...या दिल्ली में....या हमारे झांसी में....बारिश के वो ३-४ घंटे हर शहर की हवा को इतना साफ़...ठंडा ..और सुकूनमय बना देते हैं कि शायद १ यही मौसम है जिसमे दिल्ली क्या..हैदराबाद क्या...कहीं भी बस जाने का मन करने लगेगा.. ...बारिश हो जाने पर ये सूखा धूल भरा गुडगाँव शहर भी रहने लायक लगने लगता है..(- traffic ofcourse) ..

ये पोस्ट लिखी थी कुछ १ महीना पहले.....लिखा तो इसके बाद और भी बहुत कुछ था...पर save नहीं किया ....तो ये पोस्ट इतनी ही रह गयी.....
उस दिन कुछ तस्वीरें लीं थीं..अपने कैमरे से.....अब पाईये नीचे.....

कुछ दिन पहले हम जयपुर गए थे ऑफिस की तरफ से.....बारिश के मौसम में ऐसा लग रहा था की हम राजस्थान में नहीं...बल्कि दक्षिण भारत के किसी हिल स्टेशन में हैं....:)॥बड़ा मन था रुक के आमेर फोर्ट घूम के आयें, पर कम समय के कारण बस बाहर से ही देख के मन भर लिया.....

ब्लॉग पोस्ट-४

तेरे आने की जब खबर महके....तेरी खुशबू से सारा घर महके......
ये गाना चल रहा है background में.....
पिछली पोस्ट का डेट देखा तो एहसास हुआ की अगस्त के महीने में अब तक १ पोस्ट भी नहीं लिखी गयी है......इस वीकेंड मैं शादी के बाद पहली बार अपने घर गयी..."अपने"= मेरे mum पापा वाले घर...:)....Bangalore से गुडगाँव शिफ्ट हुए almost ४ महीने हो चुके हैं.....देश के इस हिस्से में बहुत खूबियाँ/ बुराइयां हैं...मैं गिनाने बैठूंगी तो बस बुराइयाँ निकलेंगी और ये पोस्ट कभी भी ख़तम नहीं होगी.....पर॥जैसे की मेरी अक्सर कोशिश रहती है......कम से कम इस जगह पर मैं crib करना avoid करती हूँ.....हाँ, तो अपने और सब traits के अलावा, इस जगह की खास बात ये है...की यहाँ हर समय १ अजीब सी भगदड़ रहती है....ऐसा नहीं है की मेरा ऑफिस घर से कोई दूर है और मुझे बहुत travel करना पड़ता है, या मेरे वोर्किंग hours इतने तकलीफदेह हैं की जीने मरने की नौबत आई रहती है......पर यहाँ कुछ ऐसा है की मानसिक सुकून नाम की चीज़ नदारद है.....इससे पहले भी मैं सो called "metros " में रही हूँ....पर जितनी आफत यहाँ लगती है॥उतनी कभी भी कहीं नहीं लगी......हर समय ऐसे लगता है जैसे कुछ करना बाकी रह गया आज के दिन भी....आने वाले दिन का कोई उत्साह ही नहीं लगता.....
खैर....इस सब के बाद, स्वतंत्र दिवस वाले वीकेंड पे हम निकल गए अपने घर की और....पहली बार ऐसा लगा..की यार बड़े होके कोई विशेष फायदा नहीं हो रहा है....:(
मैं पिछले दस सालों से घर से बाहर रह रही हूँ.....इन दस वर्षों में कॉलेज के दिनों के अलावा घर जाने का मौका बस ऐसे ही साल में १-२ बार मिलता था....हद से हद १० दिन के लिए १ बार में......जब तक वहां मन लगना शुरू होता था, वापस आने का समय पास आ जाता था....अक्सर सुबह ४ बजे की ट्रेन पकड़ के दिल्ली और वहां से अपने ठिकाने..चेन्नई या बंगलोरे......झाँसी जाने के लिए रात १२ बजे की ट्रेन पकड़ते थे.....जो अगले दिन १२ बजे झाँसी पहुंचाती थी...और मेरे अन्दर का आलसी जानवर.....दतिया तक सोता रहता था.....(दतिया झाँसी से ठीक पहला स्टेशन है जिसपे अगर आप नहीं उठे..तो स्टेशन छूटा समझो)...पर वापस हॉस्टल पहुँच कर १ नयी ही दुनिया शुरू हो जाती थी....और वहां ऐसे मन राम जाता था..की फिर जब तक अगली बार हॉस्टल खाली होता न दिखे मैं अपना सामन बांधती ही नहीं थी.....
चेन्नई और बंगलोरे में भी कुछ ऐसा ही हाल था....जब तक स्टुडेंट रहे.....हॉस्टल का कमरा ही घर लगता था, छुट्टियों से वापस आकर कमरा खोलते हुए लगता था...की बस, पहुँच गए अपनी जगह....चैन..राहत.....

पर पता नहीं दिल्ली (NCR) आके ऐसा कभी क्यूँ नहीं लगता......यही १ ऐसी जगह है...जहाँ वापस आके भी लगता है, की नहीं घर ही जाना है.....और ऐसा नहीं है की ये पहली बार है, अपने २००४ के १ साल के प्रवास के दौरान भी मैंने यही पाया, कि यहाँ से घर जाके..वापस आने का सचमुच मन नहीं करता.....और इस बार तो मन में ये तीव्र विचार उठा, कि ज़िन्दगी अगर कहीं है...तो हमारे छोटे शहरों में ही है.....दिन में सो जाओ..तो बस १ आवाज़ होती है background में...पंखे कि....:)....१ दम शान्ति, बचपन के दिन याद आ गए..जब स्कूल से आके मम्मी डांट के सुलाया करतीं थी...और हम तीनो भाई बहेन थोडा लड़ झगड़ के सो जाते थे...बीच में अगर उठे तो पैर भी धीरे धीरे रखने पड़ते थे कि कहीं मम्मी कि आँख न खुल जाए......और गढ़वाली में १- २ तीखे प्रहार न हो जाएँ...:D
घर से १ km के radius पर ज़रुरत की सब चीज़ें....बिना traffic में फंसने कि टेंशन के...तो अगर पापा कह के गए हैं कि "ज़रा यहीं" तक जा रहा हूँ..तो आप निश्चिन्त रहे...कि जगह सचमुच पास होगी....
पडोसी सिर्फ बाजू वाले घर में रहने वाले लोग नहीं, बल्कि ऐसे मित्र हैं जिनके चेहरे पे आपको देख के ऐसे ख़ुशी आ जायेगी..मानो उनके बच्चे ही घर आ गए हों..और आपके आने की खबर सुनकर, वो अपने आप ही मिलने चले आयेंगे......और आपके पति को अपने दामाद जितना ही मान देंगे..:)
डॉ को दिखने जायेंगे, तो उनको बस इतना कहना होगा की आप..ध्यानी जी की बिटिया हैं, बाकी वो अपने आप ही पूछ लेंगे....बेटे आपका भाई कैसा है, आप कहाँ रह रही हो..और दवाई के साथ यहन वहां २-४ बातें भी कर लेंगे.....अपने "कीमती" समय की फिक्र न करते हुए...खैर, बात का सार ये है कि सुकून से बढ़कर इस दुनिया में मुझे कुछ नहीं लगता, और इस जगह मुझे बस सुकून ही नहीं लगता.....

वापस आने का reservation छत्तीसगढ़ में था.....रात १२ बजे चलने वाली गाडी, जिसमे अपने इंजीनियरिंग के ४ साल मैंने बहुत सफ़र किया है....सुबह ४ बजे दिल्ली पहुंचा देती है....चढ़ने से पहले ही पता था..कि नींद तो पूरी होगी नहीं..१ अजीब सी बैचैनी थी मन में..."झुर्याट" कहते हैं जिसे गढ़वाली में...kisi चीज़ का मन न हो..और डर के बुझे मन से वो करना पड़े...वापस दिल्ली आने का १ अंश भी मन नहीं था.......ये झाँसी का सफ़र तो है नहीं..कि आज रात चढ़े..तो कल दिन में ही उठेंगे अब सीधे....आराम से..चैन से....शायद ट्रेन का ये छोटा हो गया सफ़र भी यही इशारा दे रहा था..कि इस सफ़र कि तरह..ज़िन्दगी से सुकून भी कम हो गया है.....manzil आ गयी है..जुट जाओ फिर काम पे.....और भागने लगो इस रेले के साथ.....

A Blog Post-3

Just now discovered that i can compose posts from my office..:).What a great relief...Using mozilla, not only can i open my blog in view mode but can also compose and post new posts....But alas!!..this discovery came a bit too late, all these days i was totally jobless but did not know about this mozilla thing...and the day i discovered this...bang!! came the strart date of a new project...Anyways, this post is solely dedicated to the fact that now during free time i would be able to write a post or 2 from office...:)

Its sunny outside and no traces of clouds...This otherwise boring office gives an awsum view of outside on rainy days. The other day clicked this pic when it was pouring heavily..

And this is how Gurigram looks like from my office window on normal no rain days....


Chalo ji..time to wind up for the day..!! cheers...

+ve Diary: Day 4

Ok..i will not start this post with explanation of why 3 pages of this diary are missing.....Todays good things...

1. Finally after many many days i managed to charge my camera...:)..i got it as a wedding gift frm dear sis, and am very happy that now i would be able to put pics also in my posts..:).... Clicked some pics using the same and felt wonderful, rather super wonderful..:).....(I have mispaced the data chord and hence could not chipkao the pics here...*cribs max*: to be ignored..:)))

2. I am learning classical dance these days; today i realized that all these days i was actually physically present in the dance class but could not avoid idhar udhar ki tensions hovering on my head and actually enjoy dancing...today however, i was too absorbed and involved in dancing and really enjoyed that 1 hour...:)....it was bliss, i have decided that from now i would ensure that none of these trivial or not so trivial things are carried to the dance class..:)
I had learned classical dance for a month long long time ago..when i was in class 3; i had a pair of ghungroo as well. This time again i bought a new set; and needless to say it feels great to own one..:)

3. The weather here is awsssumm today..i mean amazingly good...no need of AC and no humidity, Thank You God for this relieving weather change ..for these beautiful rains...:)...

4. Yess..and a very important thing..i managed to grab breakfast today..:)).....this is one thing which is very high in my to- do list ..but somehow every day passes with.."kal se pakka".......

5. Spoke to a friend whos leaving for UK in a couple of days, asked her to get me a nice handbag from their....post which i started googling away to glory..:)....and here are some lovely handbags which i found...:)

Needless to say i was thrilled after this exercise, the very idea of shopping is enough to lift the mood up from any depths of this universe...:D


Unlike other fellow bloggers who by now must be done with this 7 day positivity experiment; i would take 3 more days to complete it..rather i think it can be adopted as a regular exercise....jot down all the things you feel good, grateful about despite of all the lousy, bad days you have....naaice..:)

+ve Diary: Day 2

Good things that happenend today:
1. An encouraging thing @ office which made me feel quite good.
2. I got my office ID card after a good 2.5 mnths of shifting to Ggn office. Reason i did not have a passport size picture of mine. Though at the face of it did not seem much of a hassle collecting a temp card at the entrance everyday, but today when i got my ID card i realised that making an entry at the temp card register everyday was actually a cumbersome excercise and an unnecessary task every morning which the mind was taking as a burden, totally avoidable. Entering office with my own ID card made life quite simple...:). Now the day at office would not start with a futile exercise.
3. Spoke to few good friends during the day and needless to say it felt really good.
4. Slept after coming from office but still managed to finish some important household chores.
5. And the best thing happens as i write this post...chatting with sis and we end up discussing JWM and Kareena's character in it....lovely movie with super positive energy..perfect to go with the mood of this post...:)

My favourite-est scene is the one in train when she is convincing the TTE explaining him why Shahid is travelling without ticket... and says.."Bhaisahab aap convince ho gaye ki main aur bolun.."...:D....Here is a collection of some funny scenes from JWM...:)

+ve Diary: A tag by PS- Day 1

Preeti from justamotheroftwo did a post today on how its is important and healthy to look at the positive things in life to keep onself sane and happy!!
As she has stated, all of us know this in theory, but have not seen many people following it religiously. I am among those who rarely follow it. So i decided to particpate in this excercise where we have to write a post on five good things that happen in a day for seven continuous days starting today. Considering the usefulness of the excercise and the fact that i have been too irregular in this space for quite some days now, me decided to take it up....so here comes the list of good things that happened today:

1. Sis came home to stay with me. Its always a delight to have siblings around, and her being around means that there would be good rounds of laughter and chitchats..:)..I guess the best part about siblings is that you share the same sense of humor and can easily laugh on the same things...:)...and what better way to spend an evening than with a funny, humorous younger sis....:)

2. I prepared rasam for the first time and it turned out well (my version). I poked sis endlessly and in various ways to admit the same....till she finally agreed and we became version compatible..:D

3. It was not very hot, rather manageable weather.

4. I maroed a night out yesterday, still i did not feel sleepy in office today; which in itself is a miracle...:D

5. I spoke to FIL after like 2 weeks and it felt really nice. (he is recovering from an accident)

Hmm...din bhar mein 5 achchi baatein dhoondna is also not very easy...anyways, time to bid good bye to this day now...:) and jaate jaate..ye gaana....which sis forced me to listen and i found it good..:)