My heartfelt desire...to travel the world

a humble prayer...

Strange, disheartening and scary are the ways of the world....Lord, grant me the wisdom to know right from wrong and grant me the courage to always choose the right path...

have learnt a lot in the past couple of weeks...bout friends, human tendencies and myself...its been a great learning curve...

Let you and I be

And stop measuring love

Let us tell ourselves

That we give each other

The best we can.

End the debate

and to save time

lets us just "know" that we love each other.

Let us make this marriage work;

This marriage of opposites

And the countless "you don't love me enough".

And be grateful to God to have given us

A reason to be with each other.

Let us appreciate the humanity in each

And give ourselves the chance to live.

Let us try and see the goodness in each

And worry about the lack in our own self.

Let us ponder over the ties that bond us

And give rest to issues that drift us apart.

Lets us carry each other

To the unseen shores

And the memories to come.

Let You and I be

and celebrate that which holds us together.

wt happens when u realise that all that you have been doing since the last 6 months was a waste?all ur effort, ur expectations, your hardwork..jst gone down the drain...

am in shock...

an ode to TS Eliot

- Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

- The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

- And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you:
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

- In my end is my beginning

-And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

- Between the idea
And the reality
Between the emotion
And the act
Falls the Shadow.

- This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

- Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn

- The intolerable wrestle
With words and meanings.

- Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.

1) looking forward to see who wins the Nobel prize for literature and the Nobel peace prize this year

2) wud lv 2 c a film based on Alfred Nobel's life..ny suggestions?

my friends, my philosophers, my guides...

have had AWSM teachers/ prof during my academic career...wud jst like to metion the ones that have shown me a way to my soul :

Bhalla sir

Upi sir

Ashok sir

Bhelande mam and

Anjali mam

I am blessed to have your memories :)

15 days of cookin :P

Krele,
Bhindi,
Potato Capsicum,
Macroni,
Jeere vaale allu with bread,
Peas Potato,
Sprouts,
Onion-tomato,
Upma,
Khichdi,
Bread Butter,
Noodles

mom's outta town...gotta take up d charge...

was jst discussin this wid twara....while doin my study on Gandhijis autobiography, i felt this sudden sense of loss and lack. I wondered...have i shared my lifetime with personalities who will be remembered ages after they r dead? i mean the likes of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Gandhi, Tagore, Einstein, Van Gogh, Da vinci etc. etc. ..i can't seem to think of any present day visionary or artist who shall be remembered decades or centuries after his or her death...after thinkin a lot..i cud only come up with Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama, Sachin Tendulkar and Obama...

well its been 24 years of my stay on Earth, i REALLY hope i get to share my stay with some kickass humans!!!

Memoirs of wt simply wsnt meant 2 b...

it was slated to be a disastrous day...i shud hv read d signs...in order to celebrate the painstakingly horrible day at office, Twara and I decided to do something in order to get over our boredom....V had several options...centre square mall, Little Italy, Havmor, Pizza hut blah blah...BUT..v decided to go 2 Dominoes and try the yumilicious pasta (thanks 2 barr)

so...veg pasta, chicken wings and coke...seemed perfect!..it all went blurrrr aftr i opened the barely there sized pasta box...and wt i saw inside had "doom" written all over it!!! wtf!!! these Dominoes ppl..hv they EVER eaten/seen pasta in life!!??? i felt all d more sorry for Twara as she dznt really like non veg...poor thing...actually poor me..i was d one who had 2 "see" Twara eat that stuff that they claimed to be pasta!! I chose to hog on my chicken wings and try to make it as soothing 4 Twara as possible..Ofcourse v HAD to now get over what v had eaten!!and thats when v decided 2 catch a movie!!

* ..i calld Barr and kicked the shit outta him for ever daring to suggest dominoes pasta 2 me!!from now on..no taking his advice in matters related to human food!!!

so..me and twara headed for inox and decided to watch whichever movie was on ..so..these were our options: "Life Partner"..."Quick gun Murugan"..."Race to witch mountain"...and "Kissan"...cummon!!!WTF!!!

well v looked at each other and v knew instantly that "kissan" and "quick gun Murugan" were not even in d race!! it was now down to "Life Partner" and "Race to witch mountain"..Tough one i must say...then i decided to say smthin profound and this is wt i said.."Twara..a badly made English movie will ANYTIME b better than a Hindi "comedy" film"...Twara seemed to agree..so..."Race to witch mountain" it was..

there was half an hour left 4 d screen to open and v decided to do something dt'll help us prepare for the plunge that v wr bout 2 take....v went 2 CCD and had a chocolate fantasy wid extra chocolate sauce (i tld d waiter that d experience was heavenly)..

We enter the theatre and there it was...my worst nightmare!!Me and Twara had the ENTIRE theatre to ourselves!!now...cummon..i am a weak hearted prsn..u bet i ws freaked...it ws d first time i realised how big a theatre actually is!!then there were the inevitable "vicco" ads..Twara was damn excited bout the whole "havin the theatre to ourselves" thingie....then to my relief sm 6 more morons decided to come and watch the film wid us...i heaved a sigh of relief..but soon...the movie started..

OMG!!!!yes...it was actually the worst English movie i hv EVER seen!i totally take my "profound statement" back!!the experience was...how shud i put it...yes..painful....dts wt it was..utterly painful...and v wr at out wits end figuring out how d hell do v get over wt v had jst seen!!!

thankfully, v decided to sleep over the whole thing and not try to experiment further

ps: the highlights of eve : chicken wings... CCD's heavenly treat and the trailer of "Up" jst b4 d trauma began!!!

100% track record

Papa Johns never lets me down.....barbeque chicken pizza...cheese sticks....brownie sundae....and Akon...awsmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

thank u allllllll 4 makin my b'day so surreal and splendid.....i have never felt so special ever in my life.....wud like to gv a special mention to some of my buddies....mom, twara, manik, anish, yash, rishabh, rahul, psycho, preya and clayton....i owe u guys bigtime :)

god bless u all

am soooooooooooooooooo happy....pta nahin chakkar kya hai...aaj kal beech beech mein aise bouts of happiness aate hain ki kya btaaooon!!! smile hi nahin hat ti chehre se....amazin feelin....touchwood :)

Looking awsm....feeling great!!! :)

i often tell people that i am a BIG movie buff bt i never really thought about movies that have ACTUALLY moved me.....thanks to Yash and the exciting chat v had about our OCDs...i really feel like making a list...a list of movies that have touched a part of my soul.....(no matter how hard i try i can never put them in order of preference...so...it is a random list)

Dead Poet's Society

Forrest Gump

Good Will Hunting

Life is beautiful

The boy in stripped pyjamas

Good night and good luck

A beautiful mind

Raincoat

Revolutionary Road

Citizen Kane

Children of heaven

I am Sam

Shawshank Redemption

Colour Purple

To kill a mocking bird

Taare zameen par

Gulaal

Silence of the lambs

Schindlers list

Green Mile

Namesake

am sure am missin out hell lotta names here bt atleast i started thinking bout this...will be adding more movies as and when i see the light ...

ws jst wndrin...we meet zillions of ppl in our lives....how many ppl can u imagine spending a whole day wid...like u kno...u and dt person...in a room or smthin...no tv no nothin....jst u and dt prsn...how many sch ppl do u hv in ur lives...ppl dt u r cm4tabl "being" wid...? i can hardly think of 3-4...strange..isn't it?

congrats Roger for the twins...god bless u and ur family :)

by d way...kal driving test hai..permanent license ke liye....i jst hope kal car start ho jaaye :P

Chopsticks and more :)

kal pehli baar mainland china gyi...decor..pricing..all awsm..food thoda depressing lga :P highlight of the evening : almost ate 6-7 mushrooms and some singapore noodles with chopsticks :)....aawsssmmmmmmm...

by d way...ek khyaal aa raha hai mann mein 2-3 din se....soch rahi hoon ek cycle khareed loon aur office cycle pe hi aaya kroon...around 2-2.5 kms hai mera office....sounds manageable...plus environment friendly..plus good 4 health..no maintenance cost as sch...mujhe bhi sasta padega....wt say?

always wanted 2 do my bit 4 d betterment of the environment :)

finally bought my first levis :)

Bought stuff from fabindia yestrday.... :)

high time now.....gonna start spending on myself now...b'day bhi aa raha hai...soch rahi hoon b'day ki shopping Levis showroom se start kroon :P

lemme c:

Little Italy,

a levis jean

fabindia

hidesign

a good massage

Yup..dts bout it.....countdown begins in July....25Aug takk hv 2 strike most things out :)

Happy b'day 2 meeeeeeeeeeeee

plannin 2 buy anti glares

i have had it till here!

main bahuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut khush hoon iss waqt...all of a sudden..everything seems 2 hv fallen in place....last nite ws a nightmare...bt aaj..since past half an hour..i hv been feelin great! hv awsm frends...listening 2 awsm music....dancin 2 my fav tune.....thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu god for these moments :)

Life is a vicious circle :P

seriously feels like a dream.....mzaaa aagya.. :) kaafi gappein maari....open tempo mein ghoomein :P Pizza hut ka pasta kaafi disappointing tha...guess shud hv gone 2 Dominos....sbse badi baat...i checked my weight in fron of everyone..waaaaah!am proud of me :P

met Bhallaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...after a lonnnnnnnng time....feel real lucky

Barr se pehli baar mili...though d beginnin ws a litl odd (4 sm strange reason)...bt v hit it off real well towards the end..he let me mess his hair...jst goes on 2 show how mch he lvs me :P

Anish toh mera dost hai \o/ ... :P..ussko kuch bhi bol deti hoon main...no worries....a damn cute guy..lv his sense of dressing

Raj Singh se bhi pehli baar mili...apan ne khoob gappein maari on my way back 2 Baroda..thodi jhol vaali yaatra rahi (rite from d beginning :P) ..bt it ws awsm hvain him wid me :) "Pandya" bridge dhoondne ki chakkar mein d bus driver almost yelled at him :P

Noni and Ipshita are sweethearts...unke bina toh possible hi nahin hota kuch bhi..thanks buddies :)

Finally...am REALLY glad sbko gifts pasand aa gye.....jst wntd 2 capture the moments..issliye ye post likhi...pls tc :)

God Bless Roger

If there's one sports man that I would want to meet in person, it would definitely be Roger Fedrer. I can't even begin to tell you all what his French Open victory today means to me... His Wimbeldon final wid Rafa lasted for around 5hrs, making it the longest match in the history of Tennis! i was broken to c him lose last time...but i guess smone up thr believes in justice....to c Roger break down on clay today was a sight that won't forget ever....wnever i c him cry, it makes me realise the humility and goodness that he has...today when Agassi and Fedrer stood shoulder to shoulder during presentation, it was a sight to behold...well he has matched Sampras' record but i really hope he surpasses it and becomes the only tennis player in history to win 15 grand slams..

hey Roger...i wish u are soon blessed wid a lovely child and hope the child brings in immense happiness....God bless u and hope u move from strength to strength..

Day 15

Sm asshole on d road thot it wud b a good idea to scare a heard of cows passing by......

there i was...driving happily wid full on confidence...suddenly this cows head came into picture...as always...as i used to do wid the scooty...pressed the accelerator instead of the break...

saved by an inch....

i walked home from office yestrday.....headphones lga ke songs sun rahi thi saath saath....saw a very old couple....walking...hand in hand....i thought 2 myself..dts d kind of future i want...they had a sense of calmness about them...u kno...d kind of calmness u feel wn u lv "being" wid smone.....god bless them :)

Day 14

Its official!i can drive!!! says who? My mom!

Day 13

second gear to third.....third gear to second.....can do dt without lookin at the gears :P

Day 12

whhhooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.......aaj toh 99% maine khud hi chlaayi car....mom and d instructor decided 2 gang up against me....but maine bhi mooh tod jwaab diya.....awsm!

Day 11

Aaj instructor ws not in a very good mood....kept yellin at me 4 everythin...i hated todays session

AAj main achhe mood mein hoon :P

Barr : Isska real name Rahul Saxena hai...i found him to be a sweetheart and a mighty brave fellow..i hp god blesses him with all the goodness in the world :)

Anish : I thought ye dhhakkan hai :P bt now i realised dt he is very caring....party ki jaan hai ye...he really knows how 2 make burst into laughter....thank u aniiiiiiiiish (the tennis star :P )

Bijin : He thinks he isn't good enff...mere office mein hai...a real sweety pie.....i can never imagine him hurting nyone....mere saath toh this otherwise quiet fellow turns into a chatterbox! i cherish our frendship buddy :)

Twara : Dnt ask me wt her name means :P ..mere office mein hi hai...badi hi pyaari hai..damn talented...isski bhi meri tarhaan zyaada logon se pat ti nahin hai :P bt v two clicked instantly...thank u a ton dahlin 4 being d way u r :) lv sittin nxt 2 u :P

A long overdue post

Lately, I have found some really great buddies..Barr…Anish…Bijin..Twara…awsm bunch…have learnt so mch from all of them..they have guided me through....actually i had concluded that Baroda is a dead place...bt these people have made my stay here worth evrything....am full of gratitude and i thank lord (and Manik :P ) for givin me the opportunity 2 meet sch wndrful ppl....i sincerely hp the friendship grows with time...

Thank u all...u mean a lot 2 me :)

saturday ko maine chhutti maar li aur aaj mere instructor ne...hmmm...a 3 day gap...wndr if i still remember how 2 start the car :P

Day 10

Aaj chhutti maar li....way too mch pressure at office..needed 2 sleep

Day 9

Well those who really know me..they know that i hv this problem..i cant really make out the diff between left and right direction....lgta hai aaj mera instructor ye thhaaan ke aaya tha ki bhavna ko atleast "left" direction toh sikha ke hi rahoonga...itne saare left turn liye maine aaj...made use of the indicator properly...abhi left ka indicator dena aa gya hai...hpfully right ka bhi aa jaayega :P

Day 8

I get off on Wednesdays and Sundays..
Nyway...today d guy took me on a gear changing spree.....hv tried them all...1..2..3..4....i still get lost most of d times..i mean cummon!how can i gv equal attention to the gear thing and to d ppl riding towards me on d road?!!

Day 7

Aaj toh Ram bharose hi tha sab...dunno wt got into d instructor...he decided 2 take me out on a flyover!! moved from second to third gear!! man!thr wr moments during the ride that i still cant remember......i rememebr a truck cmin.....and dts bout it...

Day 6

In case u r all wondering wt happened on Day 5...

Well...that driving school guy ws acting a little cheap so i didnt have a very pleasant experience so...well..i would rather skip it..
As far as Day 6 is concerned...i think i am gettin d hang of it now....lesson i learnt 2day...."drive and let drive"

Day 4

eerrmmm......

Shit happens

Day 3

Turn lena toh baayein haath ka khel hai...haan gaadi straight rakhna...now dts a tough one!

DAY 2

Hp i dnt get all pushed around at the RTO

My experiences in Car driving school

DAY 1
Wish v had push button gears...

i saw two men hitting each other on road the other day....one of them was bleeding ...the sight of human blood sent chills down my spine...i kept wndering of the massive genocides that have occured in history or the violence that happens on streets everyday...

My prayer

God, teach me to laugh again but don't let me forget that I cried....

The curious case of Benjamin Button

Slow first half but by the time the movie came to an end....it had proved why it got the Oscars....the film was extremely complex in terms of emotions...bt kuddos to the director for attempting to put the story on screen....

"we all end up diapers".....brilliant line!!!

wrote this assignment long back

Life is beautiful

Life’s but a walking shadow, a
Poor player
That struts and frets his hour
Upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it
Is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound
And fury,
Signifying nothing.”
-Shakespeare: Macbeth

These words by Shakespeare seem so much apt for what life has become today. There is total sense of chaos. You take up your morning paper & it is as good as reading an obituary column- “Father rapes daughter”, “Nature strikes back: kills thousands”, “Iraq bombed”, “Student commits suicide”, “Mumbai on red alert”. Everything seems to be dying-people, morals, sensitivities, empathy, spirit & of course, love. With everything going upside down, it is almost impossible to think straight. Indeed, something is gravely wrong somewhere. But the deeper questions here are: what & where? It seems as if we know all the questions but no clue as to whom to turn for answers.

Well, to know the answers to all the questions, one needs to be a greater soul. But to live without the answers, to strive in the present for a future unknown, is probably what life is all about. No matter how hard life seems or how severely it hits us, the fact remains that we still want to live. We all fear death & fight actively against it. Have you ever wondered, what is it that keeps life going? What is it that makes us choose life over death? Is it simply because of the survival instinct, which is a natural attribute of our species? If we deeply analyze our responses to these questions, we will realize that there is something more to our will to live than just survival instinct. For some people it could be the impermanence of life that makes them hold on to it while for others it could be the sheer charm of living. For a lot of people, it is the thrill of exploring the unknown that keeps them going. Life’s unpredictability has been aptly expressed in this famous line from the movie Forrest Gump: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get!” The fact that we don’t know where life is going to take us next motivates us to keep unraveling it. But for most of us, it’s the love around us that makes this life worth living. The bonds that we share with the people around us, makes this world a better place for us to live in. As the old saying goes- “love makes the world go round”.

To most of us, life seems partly ugly, partly beautiful, partly wonderful, and partly dull. There is sunshine in it but there are clouds too. It’s not always easy to see that clouds have silver linings too. For example, it’s very difficult for a father who has just lost a son, to see the beauty of life. But, what we need to remind ourselves is the fact that opposite values in life are always complimentary. Psychologist Carl Jung tells us, “There are as many nights as days & the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, & the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness”. Likewise, you can praise the beauty of life only when you have been through all that makes it hideous- poverty, disease, sadness etc .The way spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar puts it, “Diametrically opposite values exist in this world & they are complimentary. Like in a circle two points are opposite-only because they exist, the circle can be complete”. Only when you’ve realized this fact, you will be able to appreciate the beauty of the fine day amid dingy weather, the beauty of unselfish action amid selfishness, the beauty of friendship amidst indifference. You cannot go through life without experiencing all these.

Life does not begin with birth & end with death. It begins when ‘you’ start living it & ends when you begin to merely exist. Existance is not what our life is all about. To live life to the fullest you need to have a purpose. A purpose serves as a principle around which we organize our lives. In our quest to achieve our desired purpose, we fight against the negativities & focus on our goal. This helps in building a strong will power that in turn helps us to overcome various obstacles. As Tennyson reminds us in his long philosophical poem ‘In Memoriam’, “nothing walks with aimless feet”. The determination & perseverance that we acquire by having a purpose in our mina helps us to discover our full potentials.

When we grow older or as our circumstances change, our priorities do too & with it changes our purpose. For example- a poor man’s purpose would be different from a person who is lonely. Likewise, the needs of a two-year-old child cannot be similar to that of a forty-year-old adult. But in the end one realizes that all that we do in life is to gain happiness. Be it an insect walking on six legs or a human being on four, they all want to be happy. All their acts become means to achieve this end. Happiness does not always depend on having the best or the grandest of things. It comes more from having the contentment to be satisfied with what one has. As John Stuart Mills puts it, “I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them”. When even the little things in life fill you up with joy & wonder, you can’t help but notice how beautiful life is.

Alfred Polage in his following quote shows us the beauty of the little miracles in life that we fail to notice. He says, “It would be a miracle, for example, if I dropped a stone & it rose upwards. But is it no miracle that it falls to the ground?” Isn’t it amazing how little things in life can fill you up with wonder and joy? Moments like calling up an old friend, an unknown person returning your smile, looking at a sleeping baby, listening to your favorite song; make us forget how hard life can be. It’s these simple things in life that make the journey of life worth taking again & again. They make us realize that beauty is manifested wherever life is manifested. All you need to do is open your eyes and see!

in a happy place...

things cmin back to normal...slowly and steadily

guess i really needed a shock 2 wake myself up

:)

its amazingly scary how things change in life...how one day can be so drastically different from the other...thr's no choice left bt 2 simply play ur part in d script....nyway...nthin really is in ur hands

moral of d story: kno dt "this too shall pass"

well....i dnt kno....

i thot it ws all over but then smone made me realise..."the script has already been written"...

so..here i am....2 play d part...

wonderful memories of life.....jst seem like a dream..as if they never happened...odd...my prayer for d one who is suffering more than me....bless u and may god give u a friend who listens and the love that you deserve.

Firaaq

It dealt withn an extremely sensitive topic but something fell short....didn't manage to hit the heart....Gulaal was better..

ps: the kid ws the best!

Revolutionary Road

Stirring
Intense...very intense
Humane
Psychological
Gripping
Di caprio as deserving as Kate in terms of winning an Oscar!!

Gulaal

do urself a favour and watch this film....

Had my first real encounter wid the colours green and blue......jst came back from a trip to southern India-Trivendrum, Kanyakumari, Thekaddy, Munnar, Allippey, Cochin, B'lore, Mysore and Tirupathi Balaji. the trip ws loooooooooooooooong and involved a lot of travel....was out for bout 2 weeks....the pics that i hv put up here do no justice 2 d speechless beauty i encountered...

Quest 4 knowledge

1) What's wid mosquitos and their ear fetish???
2) Who sends an sms saying "can't say" in response to a poll?

finally gathered courage to pick a huge Ayn Rand novel....(if u claim to know me, then am sure u know that i am highly intimidated by bulky novels). I read "We the living"...Dad recommended it....i really liked the novel....cudn't put the book down....poori raat read kiya...mza aa gya...i guess i shud give "Crime and Punishment" another turn now....or....may b read some other Rand novel...which one should i go for?any suggestions?