Happy Birthday Aarushi

Today is aarushi's birthday. Happy Birthday my dear Aarushi.Dear Aarushi,you are a bright, sparkly light and I love you more than words can say. My world become a better place with you in it, and I feel honored, blessed and grateful that you chose me. Muah and best wishes always.


We are celebrating her 2nd birthday today,initially we were not planning to do so.However,Last monday we decided to celebrate.Birthday are for celebrating life,togetherness and these small joys are what make life livable.I am happy that we are celebrating it.

muma..mummma.......mummmmmmmmmma

Lovely Aarushi, who is 20months now, says one word "mumma" in many different ways.Sometimes I am "muma", sometimes i m "mummmmma" and sometimes i m "muuuuuuuuuuuuma",sometimes i m "moma" (when angry)

i love all of these words...all of these addressing to me are too lovely...sometimes i wish you should not grow up and be like this always. Your smile,your embrace,your hug,your "mumma",your "Jesheee",your "Jackkssh",your "aaaajtaak" everything is just too lovely and enough to make me happy.

Chillar Party - a innocent movie

I watched "Chillar Party" yesterday night.I must say a nice Hindi movie after a long time.As the name says its children's movie. Plot is simple - group of middle class family kids have their set of problems, adventures and then a boy who cleans cars come to stay in their colony. How their lives changes when they strongly feels about something AND the kids take action about that forms the story of this movie.

The best part of the movie is opening where each character is introduced through their traits and "nicknames" are given to each character. Another good part is when these privileged middle class family kids realize the importance of the love, affection and care provided by their parents.

Though it is children's movie there are quiet number of moments which bring lump in your throat-specially when Fatka brings a birthday gift for his dog but can not find him anywhere. The way he goes mad that he is unable to find his dog , his cries are really touching.

There are plenty of reasons why i liked the movie - first it is children movie with children mind and heart in place. Children can connect to the story immediately. second is the characters/kids of the movie are very real - neither sugary sweet nor brooding with enmity types. They are normal kids with normal kid like feelings and aspirations. Sometimes i wonder that this new indian generation is going to ber very smart. third is the chemistry between the kids is too real. The dialogues are so very natural and good. Casting is too good. All the kids seem perfect in their part.

All in all a very well attempt in direction of children movies.

live fully now

we tend to postpone very simple and basic thing in life - living fully. Humans think we will live when we finish this big project or when so and so thing will happen or some other target. We tell others that we will be more careful,more caring etc etc when we will have more time at hand.We promise ourselves and even pardon our self for not being as good as we expected us to be.Like we promise that we will begin exercising when we have more time in hand or when our kid grows a bit.No one wants to make massive changes to the way they think, feel and behave. Human beings love staying within the comfort zone. Many many years have passed and that "golden" time is yet to arrive when we can "live" and "be happy" ;-)
Deep within us, each one of us knows that there will never be a better time to live our biggest life than now. And if not today, then when?

So we should always strive for what we want while celebrating/adjusting with what we have currently. Be grateful to journey of life and do some things which we always wanted to do.

after 2 years

Today while reading my own blog entries i have realized that i have come long way. When I left my home in July 2009 , there were lots of unknowns. I was bit happy and lot of worried for new life. Now 2 years have gone by. I was excited for new life in usa and at the same time worried for my professional life,my job.

These two years have been mixed in terms of happiness and sorrows.We got AARUSHI who is our hope for future and is our life. Thats the highest part of these years.I am happy.I want to be happy.

I want to finish this blog with note that life is continuous struggle and we do get rewarded,though many factors affect this reward :-).

I hope n wish that every1 gets the rewards of the struggles which life is making them go through and make them happy.

Kalyug Movie

I watched "Kalyug", produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal, today. It is modernization of epic Mahabharat. The whole story is set in contemporary setup with warring business families. It shows that humans are still repeating the same mistakes results of which are told in epic.Thousands of years have passed but humans could not grow above those mistakes and still tread the path of destruction. We all are filled with jealousy and maddening ambition which takes control of us and leads us to wrong path.

The basic premise of the movie is two warring business families (who are related by blood). The relations take nasty turn after some tender-failure which makes it male-movie but the writers of the movie made sure that woman characters are also given importance and it comes across verr well. Though woman are not in the line of the main story but can not be ignored.They are not eye candy but all their gestures say a lot about the situation.

I was intrigued by Rekha's character,named Supriya, her will to control decisions of people around her ,and her fighting spirit. She is as mystic as Draupadi's character of Mahabharat. I found Supriya Pathak's character interesting,she is called Subhadra. She is shown to be very naive to handle her husband in times of his failure. There are enough hints in the movie which shows that Supriya likes her brother-in-law,Anant Nag(named Bharat), but all the hints are very subtle. Rekha asks him to remove his moustaches in middle of some discussion and he simply laughs over that idea. But he is shown without moustaches in remaining part of the movie. Rekha does not have much relation with her husband who is very calm and quiet. Towards the end, she turns to Bharat for all the help instead of her husband. Also,when Bharat is totally devasted by the turn of the events and his wife ,Subhadra,is unable to console him, Supriya enters the room and decides to take care of him.

Supriya,played by Rekha and Dharam,played by Raj Babbar, looks perfect couple to outside world ,both look too mature and composed. But they have little in common. Rekha is totally into worldly affairs and always wants to be in winning side. Her husband looks at life more spiritually and philosophically. What a irony !!


All in all,well made movie. It proves "being inspired" can be good.

I met a hermit on the run

Read the article ,its too inspiring

http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_i-mehttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7976848507131594111t-a-hermit-on-the-run_1008465

Land of dreams,deals and potlucks!!

Its been 5 months that I came to "land of dreams,deals and potlucks".
Everyone knows US of A is dream land but my dreams are still waiting to be fulfilled. Everyone knows US of A is deal land because for every deal you finalize,there is another better deal just around the corner.Every indian knows US of A is land of potlucks-prepare food ,get together,eat food and play games.Sounds interesting...But am i liking it ? Yes and No both for some reasons.
Yes , because it is fun place and it looks like living a dream.
Yes , because hubby says that learning and exposure at office is great.
No , because things seems very frivolous many times.
No , because of very few job opportunities.
No , because I do not like sitting at home whole day and staring at walls.
No , because of its extreme cold weather.
No , because this place demands lots of self motivation.
No , because sometimes i feel outsider

Still struggling to find out whether it is worth living here or going back to homeland !!!

Lovely Woods !!

Excerpt from "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" written by Robert Frost :
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

nightmares and dreams

How a person is supposed to react when he realizes that all his worst nightmares but very few of dreams have always come true.Life is preparing him for always the next battle...Should he feel happy to be chosen one OR go depressed..
But no matter how he feels,he definitely has no choice since his fate is sealed. But he is at positive side since he knows that he has battles to be fought and won all through his life so he can not rest or take things for granted..So he must not be depressed..But can he be happy ?? Not sure about this though.

Why do we compare ourselves with others ?? i think we should never because each one has own destiny and own calamities and happiness.Everyone of us is so different yet so same.

Sometimes i wonder that we lose a lot as we grow up in life though we might grow materialistcally.

All these thoughts are weird and were disturbing me since last few days.

astitva !!

This post comes from Redmond,my current location.

Few days back, I happen to watch a movie "Astitva".

"Astitiva" is the story of Aditi (Tabu), a housewife and a mother to grown-up Son.
She is married to self-centered business man Shrikant Pandit(Sachin Khandekar) for almost 3 decades now.Her life revolves around making meals,reading newspaper, doing normal domestic chores with no other interest in the outer world and she is happy this way.
Well, the movie starts when Aditi receives a huge will from her Music Guru ,Malhar Kamat,with whom she did not have contact for more than two decades. Her husband ,who is in habit of writing dairy,gets curious and does investigation by reading his dairies.He has questions that concerns Tabu's fidelity and he rightly confronts her. She honestly tells him the truth and reasons of infidelity.He could not understand her at all and insults her in front of his friends. So far so good.
A man has spend more than 25 years of his life with woman and the way he disgraces her is totally unfair.He could never ever understand his own wife and her viewpoint.
Aditi explains that starts of the marriage was shaky for both of them with Shri being busy in his work always and on his tours most of the times. She was at home alone and feeling lonely. She asks him if they could get child Or may be she could work to pass her time. He overrules both of the options and throws an option of learning music. Tabu makes relationship with his music teacher who had sensed her lonilness.She begets son from him. Now,he is died after naming her as heir. Still ,Shrikant fails to understand the situation and worried for reaction of whole world.

I liked end of the movie where Aditi answers all the questions of Shrikant , it is totally brillant.

Watch it some time for good quality and no-nonsense movie.

in redmond,seattle

writing this post from archstone redmond hill,redmond near seattle.
My husband wanted to make this part of the world our home for few years and here we are. We put our hyderabad apartment on rent,i left my job,sold our car and many such stuff to make a new life together in Redmond. I was filled with lots of fears and some happiness at that time also and now it has not subsided. Still trying to figure out the future course of action as in things to do to keep me busy throughout the day before my work permit comes !! alien feeling is not leaving me.
Its been only one week that i came here but it feels eternal. Already thinking of back trip :-)

last working day

Today is my last working day in india.We are shifting to USA in July 2009...overwhelmed with lots of mixed emotions- some unknown fear,happiness,excitement,scared..also feeling pressurised..need to start my life (professional) and set up home in new place. Setting up a new home is something i like so that i do not repeat previous mistakes. :-) So that part involves lots of excitement along with work. Looking for new job is making me feel pressurised and i m postponing this thought till i reach new place. But setting up new home also involves leaving previous home in which i had put in work . Getting a new job also involves leaving previous one and parting with friendships made. But i firmly believe that something good must be in store for me and want to tread this path also.
Let me wish myself good luck and happiness in this move.

Let me end it with Gulzar song :

Ek Raah Rukh Gayi Tho Aur Judh Gayi
Main Mura Tho Saath Saath Raha Murgayi

Galti sab se hoti hai...

Even Google Search Engine can failure even for few minutes...Read this link for full story..
If you did a Google search between 6:30 a.m. PST and 7:25 a.m. PST on 31-Jan-2009, you likely saw that the message "This site may harm your computer" accompanied each and every search result.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html

People who fail/fall seldom are noticed more when they fail/fall...

Ghajini-first movie in 2009

Yesterday,i went to see "Ghajini" with my husband and few friends. Already heard that it is loosely based on "momento" and made on theme "short term memory loss". Aamir has acted too well and i liked his performance more than "tara zameen par". I do not want to write a review of this movie but thought which hit me while & after watching this movie.
1.How small incidents change the course of life for people. Kalpana's chance meeting of the small girl (which was being taken to goa) changed life of Sanjay. Sanjay suffered a fatal blow on his head trying to save Kalpana. Is real life also full of such anomalies...
2.Another thought which crossed and empowered my mind is "will" power is supreme of all the disorders and problems which life tosses at us.Sanjay could have got Ghajini killed easily with all the money and affulence and power which he had but he did not. He overcame his inability to fight his own battle. I like to watch people rising above the problems.
I have made a resolution of writing a post on all the movies which i will watch in 2009 (in cinema halls:-)).

softicians

My thinking train started after reading following article on web:

http://www.outlookbusiness.com/print.aspx?articleid=1530&editionid=40&catgid=13&subcatgid=370

My thoughts are that S/W industry will always remain in india and the equilibrium/saturation will be achieved sooner or later - It is still very young in india. So lets not spend too much time & effort into distinguishing between s/w engineers & softicians.

ungrateful

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she's blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He's always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she can see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, "now that you can see the world, will you marry me?" The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend is blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying. "Just take care of my eyes dear..."
This is how human brain changes when the status changed when situation changes... Only few remember what life was before, and who's always been there even in the most painful situations.

Bharat Ratna Controversy

India has not given highest civilian award "BHARAT RATNA" since 2001. A young journalist (TV reporter) started a furore by presenting a report on why india has not been able to find suitable candidate for Bharat Ratna and also suggested name of "Sachin Tendulkar" for the same.

Now the politics of "Bharat Ratna" started.The government of India started receiving messages from various political parties, recommending various politicians, who are either dead or retired or soon to retire or in a state of semi-retirement, for the Bharat Ratna. The Bharatiya Janata Party has recommended Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Bahujan Samaj Party has recommended the late Mr. Kanshi Ram, the communists are supposed to have been peddling the name of Mr. Jyoti Basu, whereas the Akalis are now supposed to have joined the race with Mr. Parkash Singh Badal as their candidate and the Telugu Desam Party is not far behind with their demand for the award to go to the late Mr. N. T. Rama Rao.

Bharat Ratna is india's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order. Holders of the Bharat Ratna do not carry any special title or other honorific, but they get a special place in order of precedence of the country. Till date, Bharat Ratna has been awarded to 40 persons including two non-Indians (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela) and a naturalised Indian citizen (Mother Teresa).

Politicial parties have forgotton that bharat ratna is award for good humanitarian work and not reward for loyality towards any politicial party. It can definitely be not decided by political parties.

New bharat ratna should be one who identifies with the rising india and with whom indian population identifies and is defintely a gem (ratna). It could be N R Murthy for his work in indian software industry,it could be sachin tendulkar for his contribution to cricket.

IF..

I first read this poem in a school textbook. I am not into poetry in a big way but I hold this very close to my heart. Read on to know why ...

[IF]
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

This poem was written by Kipling in 1895 and was first published in the Brother Square Toes chapter of Rewards and Fairies.

Himmat karne walo ki haar nahin hoti

I came across this poem by Suryakant Tripathi Nirala. Check it:

http://www.geeta-kavita.com/article.asp?article=himmat