Write Over the Weekend (WOW) – Dec 28, 2012

Edited to add: This post has been selected as one of the really really good posts by Blogadda!

I once dreamed about...

An India where I would notice the following:

•  Parents rejoicing as much about the birth of a daughter as they rejoice over the birth of a son.
• Daughters getting equal opportunity both to study and to work as sons get.
• Women getting the respect they deserve.
• People following rules at all walks of life including stopping at traffic signals, not spitting/littering, etc.
• Our Govt. being concerned about our welfare than just filling up their pockets.
• Not criticizing our country in front of others - "This is how it always happens in India."
• Caste and religion not playing such an important role in our day-to-day living.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

The one thing that I wish everyone would learn is.................

This is in response to the writing prompt for Wishlist Wednesday number 3. For details, visit this link: http://justamotheroftwo.blogspot.in/2012/12/wishlist-wednesday-number-3.html

The one thing that I wish everyone would learn is to appreciate each and every moment of each and every day. We all know life is so uncertain and could be snatched away from us at any point in time. However, how many of us actually act in our day-to-day lives based on that thought? Sadly, very few.

We crib about our jobs, income (or the lack of it), spouses, friends, neighbours, colleagues, health, roads, politicians, vacations, etc. (you get the picture). However, we wouldn't crib so much if we knew we had only a certain amount of time to live, say 6 months. We would then appreciate all the moments we had with all the people in our life.

Why, then, can't we do the same knowing fully well that we are going to die one day? Isn't that a certain amount of time to live as well?

Let us try and appreciate the life we have been given and the people in it. If we don't like something, let us work towards changing it. If we don't like someone, let us work towards eliminating that person from our life. But, let us not forget, even for a moment, to be grateful for this wonderful gift called life.

Sure, there shall be problems along the way. But, that's no reason to stop living, is it? Sydney J. Harris said, When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard", I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?". So, shrug off your problems and concentrate on living your life each day at a time. Practise gratitude and you will be amazed at the abundance that flows into your life!

Numb

The news when it came hit me like a storm. Though, going by the recent reports, it was evident that she may not live, when reality sunk in, numbness hit me. A 23-year-old snuffed out by some men out to make merry. Who has failed her really? The men? The police? The politicians? The media? There will be many debates now and many questions shall be raised. But her life will never come back.

Can such incidents be prevented? I sure hope so. But how? Questions for which there are no easy answers. Sure, we can increase policing. But how do we change men's attitudes?

Let's start with ourselves. Each time someone cracks a crude joke on women, let's stop them. Each time someone doesn't respect a woman, let's stop them.

Indian Quills Reading Challenge 2013

Stumbled onto this while surfing and sounded pretty interesting to me. The difficult part is finding enough good Indian authors whom I can read. However, I am willing to take up this challenge and intend reading at least 24 books (2 for each month :)) Wish me luck!!!

http://thetalespensieve.com/indian-quills-reading-challenge-2013/

Letter to a 10 year old

Edited to add: This post has been selected as one of the really really good posts. Yippee!!!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

The following is a letter to a 10 year old girl.

Dear Little Girl,

I would like you to remember the following as you live your life and march towards your dreams:

• The friendships you forge now shall stay with you for life. So make them wisely.
• Respect your parents even though they may not always be worthy of it.
• Be as involved in extra-curriculars in school as with studies. You will not regret it later.
• Let nobody undermine your confidence if you fail in a certain activity.
• Be close to your siblings even if you might want to rip their arms apart. They will be among your best friends later on.
• You will have plenty of time to be fashionable once you are an adult. Don't waste your childhood putting on make-up and branded clothes.
• Fall in love with books. They will never let you be alone. They will never let you down.
• Respect your teachers. They are doing the best job they possibly can with limited resources.
• Learn to respect your body. Let no stranger touch it.
• Develop a hobby be it painting, dancing, whatever.
• Have plenty of friends both male and female. The interactions would help both of you later.
• Do not ever lie to your parents.
• Avoid foul language. Do not associate with people who use foul language.
• Last, but not the least, enjoy your childhood. It is the only carefree time you have. Do not be in a hurry to grow up too fast, too soon. You will repent later.

Shave or Crave

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

Shaving is a sensitive topic for most men because it includes a lot of effort (according to them). However, for me, personally, an unshaved man indicates uncleanliness, lack of professionalism and a total lack of respect for the other person.

For men to get rid of their evening stubble, I would try two routes:
1. Appeal to their rational side 2. Appeal to their emotional side

Appeal to their rational side:

As already indicated above, being unshaved indicates disrespect and disregard for others. If a man wishes to show respect and be professional, he needs to be clean shaven, no matter what the efforts involved.

Appeal to their emotional side:

Just as women take so much pain and efforts in being presentable and attractive (read: waxing, threading, facials, etc.) to their male partners, why can't men reciprocate on same lines? Can they not shave and be clean shaven for their partners? It would give them so much joy and the men would look handsome - a win-win situation for all.

Hum Aapke Hain Kaun - Memorable Dialogues

Continuing with my series of being heavily inspired by Bollywood movies and specially the dialogues, here's presenting some from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun or as we popularly call it - HAHK :) When the movie was released, it touched a chord across the nation, specially its innumerable songs at various functions spread across engagement, wedding, childbirth, etc. Of course, Salman and Madhuri's chemistry only added to its charm.

• Tumhe bajaana vajaana bhi aata hain ya...(Can be used when someone is posing with a musical instrument which they may not know how to play or if you want to simply irritate them:))
• Inko discussion kar lene do. Hum toh annt main aayenge (Thought of this when, at work, I decided to let my juniors do the initial bit of the assignment and I would step in later!)
• Tumhari aur meri manzil ek hi hain (multiple uses :))
• Bhabhi sabse jyaada sneh apne devar se rakhti hain. Dyaan rahe uski aankhon main kabhi aansoon na aaye

Jab We Met - Dialogues to use in daily life!

Jab We Met is one of my favourite movies. It had one of Mohit Chauhan's earliest hits - Tum Se Hi - ably supported by Kareena and Shahid. Imtiaz Ali gave the film an overall feel-good feel. Since I have watched the movie innumerable times, some dialogues have stuck with me. And, some of them can be used in our day-to-day life. Sample the following:

• Tum convince ho gaye ya main aur bolu?
• Kaisi lagi? Ekdum kadak!
• Ratlam ki galiyaan (can be replaced by any other location :))
• Is raat ko ab thodasa boring bana do babajee!
• Main tumhe bataana chahata tha par tum toh tum ho
• Main apni favourite hoon
• Kitni gadhi thi main. Tabhi toh yeh sab ho raha hain mere saath
• Jab bhi koi situation main hota hoon toh sochta hoon ke Geet kya karti? Bas wohi karta hoon
• Kyunki mujhe pata hain mere saath jo bhi hoga woh meri wajah se hoga.
• Shaadi ke baad tumhara pehla affair tum mere saath karna. Toh main bhi khush ho jaunga

Kuch Kuch Hota Hain - Dialogues to use in daily life!

This blog post is the result of a conversation with my friends about going to a literary carnival. An innocuous question, followed by, "Tumhe toh pata hain mujhe reading aur writing ka kitna shauk hain" :) set in motion some dialogues from Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hain (inspired by Archie Comics, no less!)

Here are some of the dialogues from the movie which can be used in our day-to-day life :) After all, Bollywood rules our life like nothing else!!!

• Pyaar dosti hain. Agar woh meri sabse acchi dost nahi ban sakti, toh main usse pyaar kar hi nahi sakta.
• Bechaari abhi abhi London se aayi hain, theek se unpack karne ka samay nahi mila (to be used when you see a girl in really short clothes :))
• Tumhara naam Anjali kyun hain? Shayad mere mummy-pappa ko aap pasand aa gayi ho isiliye
• I don't like your jokes. I don't like you.
• Tumhe phool jyaada pasand hain ya chocolate?
• Insaan ka sar teen auraton ke saamne jhukta hain - ek devi maa ke saamne, ek apni maa ke saamne, aur...
• The Neelam Show (when you want to know a person's innermost thoughts :))
• Meri Anjali tumhari Anjali se sundar hain.
• Rahul ladkiyon ke peeche nahi bhagata, ladkiyan Rahul ke peeche bhagati hain.

Talaash - The Answer Lies Within

I finally saw Talaash today morning and considering the delay had already read a lot of stuff about the movie - some truths and some untruths.

***SPOILERS MIGHT APPEAR IN THE REVIEW***

For me, the movie was a journey with a couple who have lost their only child in an accident and how they grow apart because of this tragedy. As often happens, they completely stop talking about the child as if he never existed. Also, and this is the part I identified with a lot, is the fact that the hero kept on retracing the event as it happened and wondered if he could have done anything to change it. Don't we all do that with certain tragic events of our life? Considering the hero is Aamir, his portrayal of the scenes was absolutely bang-on. He dealt with the situation by trying to erase it from his life.

The murder of an actor obviously forms the main storyline around which each of the characters are inter-linked including the inspector (Aamir), Rosie (Kareena), the actor's close friends and family and a host of people connected with the red-light district. The build-up to the suspense was great and a couple of times I was on the edge of my seat. The climax, though, a let-down was, I felt, an effort to do something different and unusual.

Several themes ran through the movie - Mumbai's red-light district, the uncertain lives of the brokers there, communicating with the supernatural, existence of ghosts (the fact that there are some things we can never explain), the effect a tragedy has on a husband-wife relationship, etc.

The music by Ram Sampath and the lyrics by Javed Akhtar add a certain je ne sais quoi to the entire movie and are interspersed quite well within the scenes. I loved the song that plays at the end when the credits start rolling; it's a surprise they aren't publicizing it at all.

I guess the audience went with a whole lot of expectations from an Aamir Khan movie and expected to be bedazzled. I went to enjoy a good thriller and got my money's worth!!!

Starbucks - Welcome to Mumbai!

I had the opportunity of visiting the Starbucks outlet at Fort, Mumbai today evening. It is set in a historic building a little before The Asiatic Society. It is spread across the ground and first floors and has a great ambience with nice wooden chairs/stools, huge ceilings, big pictures depicting Indian colours, old trunks perched on top of each other.

I tried their Caramel Frappe and Blueberry Muffin both of which I loved. Also, their pricing is not as exorbitant as was expected. They may, of course, increase the prices once the customer base is built. On an early Saturday evening, I was probably 10th in queue to place my order. The entire outlet seemed packed with people quietly chatting away with each other and having a wonderful time. The staff was polite and the service prompt.

It's been a month since the launch and I guess the novelty factor might die down soon. It would then be the real test of how the brand survives here! As of now, it seems to be going pretty strong and they should have nothing to worry.