Let it snow.....!!

Last evening, we, the residents of Nashua, NH, experienced the first snowfall of the season. This is my first winter in this part of the United States....and I loved the view and the feel of this beautiful city after it is covered with the new snow of the season. The sky was overcast for the most part of the day and evening and my prayers to see the full moon shine upon the first snow remained unanswered.....and I missed the glittering evening delight but hope to catch it some other time this season....!!!
The heavy snowfall sometimes becomes difficult and gets in the way of our daily activities here but nevertheless I am excited for a whole new experience.....!!! :)

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart.."

Reader's Digest is one of my favourite reading materials. I love this magazine because of its interesting articles on an extended range of topics..the magazine provides me with doses of humour, famous quotes, lifestyle lessons, real life incidents and experiences....and even good recipes sometimes...!!
All of a sudden, today, I started writing about Reader's Digest because this latest edition carried an article about one gentleman's experience about the effects of two little but very important words in our lives - Thank You.
The piece gave me a renewed insight about the importance of being thankful for what we are blessed with....the persons and possessions of our lives. The thought that moved me the most in the article is, I quote -
"Until you learn to be grateful for the things you have, you will not receive the things you want."
We sometimes forget to thank other people or even just be grateful for what we already have and rather crib about what we don't have or about the things we want even then...
The feeling of being grateful is rewarding and this feeling gives us the hope and persistence to sail through life - to be happy for what we have, to feel for those who don't have even that much, to be patient for what we want to have and to let go of what we were not destined to have... :)

Life is full of moments....some good, some not-so-good, some filled with happiness, some others heartbreaking. But this well-connected moments and their accumulation make this journey more beautiful, enriching...and worth living for.
Some incidents occur and the memories and the associated feelings, the impressions....remain etched in our minds. Other occurrences fade away by the passage of time...much as the sea-waters wash away the foot-prints we leave while walking across the shores.....
Our lives are thus a rendition of remembering and forgetting.......of holding on to some, and letting go of the others...!!!




Image from: ininweb.uprm.edu

Thanksgiving..

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about the festivals celebrated widely in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is one of them. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is originally a harvest festival, where people of the region pay thanks to Almighty for a bountiful harvest and in a larger sense it marks the thanksgiving for everything that matters in our lives, for all the beautiful relationships and for all that we are blessed with in our lives. In USA, the day is awaited throughout the year with pleasant anticipation and is celebrated with joy along with friends and family. The one important aspect of this celebration is the family re-union over dinner and the menu (another important parameter) famously consists of a turkey delicacy. I have observed while living here that the Thanksgiving Day is the only day where most of the offices and businesses remain closed and the later reopens in the wee hours of Friday morning with wonderful and huge deals to the shoppers' delight. Thus the whole weekend starting from the Thursday until the Sunday remains in true festive spirit nation-wide.
I am now revealing the true intent of my story...that this year, after merely observing the pomp of the day for the past two years, we decided to celebrate the day in our own way. One of the two major aspects of the festival was missing (as we are thousand of miles away from our family...so family get together was painfully out of question)....but turkey was not.....!!!! So we decided to have a turkey dinner...:) Observing that a whole turkey would be too much for just the two of us, we bought a Turkey wing and I cooked it in true Indian style ( much in the same way as I would have made chicken tandoori )....!!! and I must say, we loved it....it tasted even better than chicken...( as were said by many of my friends here...) 
For the two of us, (the husband and I), experimenting with food doesn't happen very often....we prefer to stick to our good old Indian foods and delicacies, but we tried this and much to our delight, it came out very good.....We most definitely will always be very much Indian, in every way possible, and..even more especially when it's about the palate....but Thanksgiving with turkey will remain memorable......:)

p.s. For my friends here, I share a photograph of the Turkey I cooked....:)

Sau Gram Zindagi......

Yesterday, we went to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest movie 'Guzaarish'.....Bhansali is known for his larger-than-life portrayal of stories, scenes and the characters. His films transcends the viewers to a different world, to a space which is somewhere beyond reality but falls short of absolute fantasy.....thus leaving a lone cinematic possibility of being and the incidents happening.
'Guzaarish' dishes out the same intrigue and uniqueness and to top that, the film is shot by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee with an excellence which seems less of a lens-work and more like an artiste's stroke on canvas....only it is celluloid...!!!
The story is plain....it just is about a well-known magician (played by Hrithik Roshan) , who, 14 years ago, met with a near fatal accident which leaves him quadriplegic. Being paralyzed physically, his health gradually deteriorates and after living, loving and suffering through his condition, he finally appeals unsuccessfully for Euthanasia (mercy killing). 
The story, as plain and with some constraints in the weaving of its details, acquires a certain level of drama with the maneuvering of the characters, their passion and demeanor, and the associated sequences. The gaps in writing has been somewhat covered by the camera and the director's expertise in the portrayal. The performances by the lead and character artiste's deserves mention. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's (playing the nurse to the ailing magician) mettle has been redefined, giving an impression that only Bhansali can understand, work out and make her come up with the best. Hrithik Roshan reasserts himself with respect to the acting skills as well as his drop-dead charisma, in this piece of cinema. The film expresses itself and flashes back into the incidents happened earlier in a very different and stylish manner ( I won't come out with the details here for keeping the magic intact for those who have not yet watched the movie), the scenes and colors are equally distinctive and used with defined sensibility. The costume and music, because of its unlikeness, went well with the narration.
For me, it was an experience worth having, except for a tad bit of melodrama in bits and pieces throughout and especially in the closing shot. Moreover much of the narration leaves many a things to the perception of the viewers, the expressions not as detailed as in his earlier films.......and this perspective of the movie may do either good or pose as a disadvantage for the movie  depending on the audiences' demand for clarity. 
'Guzaarish' is about the celebration of life and its moments.....the love we feel, but the movie does not blurt out the message, loud and clear..it flows underneath along the length of the film. 
I would have loved it rather more if it ended giving out a brighter sense of optimism as it intended to do, it seemed....but fell short for whatever reasons......
          "Thodi si teekhi hai, thodi meethi hai....
                 sau gram zindagi..........samhaal ke kharchi hai"

Today, November 22, is the birthday of a very dear friend of mine....but I don't write about the birthdays of all my friends in my blog. But she is special. Special because she is one of my friends since the time I came to know what is known by the term 'friend' (literally, I mean.....the greater meaning is still left to be fully understood), because we are friends since we were in class I, because I have neither seen her since 2001, nor spoken to her. But I still say we are friends and she knows that too. We just passed out of high school and she decided to take a certain step in her life which I thought (and still think the same) to be a serious lapse in judgement on her part. I suffered but severed all ties with her because I thought that she deserved much better and I was not ready to hear to her inconveniences (which often elevated to sufferings as well, as I correctly thought it would be like that )....I think I love her too much to bear those circumstantial constraints in such young age. I hear from my parents and common friends sometimes that she is all right, has settled in her life in a good way, got over all the problems but I, till date, choose not to be a part of her life. 

But I think of her often, remember her on her every birthday, and I knew somewhere inside that she knows this fact and she understands. She tried to contact me a few times, the friends who knew both of us thinks that I over reacted....but it's perhaps a confession that I, knowing the fact that each person is destined to live with certain respective terms and conditions in life, still cannot get over the feeling that she deserved much more than she went through. May God bless her with immense happiness, peace and love in her life.....and I want her to understand ( I know she does) that I consider her as one whom I'll always regard as my friend and will always love her.....only I choose not to be a part of her present....

The most enriching read of this year..

Reading is my passion. It is said about me by my near and dear ones that I cannot spent a day without spending sometime with a printed material before my eyes. I happily agree to that notion. It's true that I love to read, be it anything like a newspaper article, writings of fellow bloggers, magazine bits and pieces, novels and non-fiction or even (if nothing's available) the community newsletter and everything with religious interest and attention....!!! 
Last year I read a novel that I loved and will always remember.... 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. It's the story of two friends in Afghanistan. This year, incidentally, another book on Afghanistan stood out of all my readings. This is not a novel though, but a work of non-fiction, named 'Good Morning Afghanistan. 

Waseem Mahmood, and award-winning broadcaster and an ex-BBC producer, writes this brilliant book about the radio programme (named, Good Morning Afghanistan) he, with his team, started in the nation ravaged by the unruly Taliban for over half a decade. After the fall of Taliban at the end of 2001, the radio programme voiced the concerns and the incidents that were taking place in the battered nation, helping the people in a way to get over the nightmare of years of war and irrational policing.

The book starts with the description of one of the heinous acts of terror in modern world, the 9/11 and how it shook the lives of a string of people mentioned in the book along with the thousands who bore the brunt of this destruction first-hand. Written with the lucidity of fiction and details of a document, Good Morning Afghanistan is a compilation of true incidents that happened in the course of one and a half year, beginning from September, 2001 to January, 2003. It reveals what Afghanistan went through during the course of the Taliban regime and what it takes for the people to recover from such huge material and emotional damage. It takes courage and persistence to bear the unnecessary and meaningless acts of cruelty and terror for so many years.

The book is a documentation of a nation starting afresh, after having lost almost every hope of getting back their usual way of life, with the radio programme giving them the first glimpse of hope.

I must say that I will remember this book as well with a heart full of compassion and respect for the brave people of Afghanistan.

The 'Missing Home' Season

I sometimes feel that life here in US is difficult and that is only when I miss home, miss my parents, sister and friends....that remains a very difficult moment or minutes, hours or days...based on the severity of my home-sickness....For the past three years, the last quarter of the year, i.e, from October-December gets very low and depressing for me...and the reason is quite obvious....I miss the festivities back home,  Durga Pujo, Deepavali, etc. I'm still fortunate to live now in such a country where we get to celebrate Indian festivals in small yet special ways...but the grandeur is hard to find nevertheless. Same remains the case for our parents and close ones as they miss us the most during these festivals which also mark the re-union of family members and friends who have not seen each other for a long, long time. The husband has consoled me with the word that we'll be there at home during the Pujas next year....I'm just looking forward to it.....from now only...!!!! :)


Missing our near and dear ones is an everyday affair when it comes to people like us who live miles away from their own land and people.....but if I would ever regard a particular time as the 'Missing Home' season, it's now..


Now I will brighten up myself a bit to get over this sadness.....
I feel this a very wonderful coincidence..that here in USA, the festive season also comes now, in this quarter of the year....It's Halloween today, the festival to ward off the evil during this harvest season (or, the day of the dead, as it is variously explained to describe the significance of the celebration), the Thanksgiving Day, which comes in November, the festival to express gratitude and thankfulness to God and to our friends and relatives for every possessions and relationships that we are blessed with, and finally the Christmas, in December, which we celebrate in India in as joyful way as it is here.....


So, festive season, more or less is in the same time here as in my own country.....celebration is all around...missing only are the persons whom I love so much.....they are staying so, so far away....!!! When we meet once a year...it then becomes no less than a festival....!!! But this wait becomes so long...........






Image from: euro-quest.tripod.com

A letter to a kind reader of my blog...

Dear Reader,


Firstly, thank you for all your comments to date.....they are insightful, and some really helps. But I beg to differ with this last comment of yours. I don't dream to be popular, I just want to be better in whatever I do. Don't misunderstand my dream of getting better as the dream of getting popular. Secondly, I'm too small a writer and don't, even in my dreams, have the audacity to compare to the Tagores...His writings are a very sensitive point to me, and yours too, as I know..so I really don't have the courage to even mention him while talking about my writing. Thank you so much for being kind enough to read my blog regularly as you are the only one, except from my hubby and sister to read me with such particularity.
Till date, I've expressed only what I have felt, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in not so good way....that's why the longing of being a good writer. But of course, I don't want to be popular at the cost of the quality of my writing. I guess I have only wrote and felt about achieving perfection in my writings, never meaningless popularity. Yes, of course, I love it when people read my blog regularly and say good things about it, if I didn't, I could have maintained a personal diary of sorts, rather than blogging in media. Believe it or not, A writer's credibility depends on his/her writing ability as well as on the readership. These are interconnected in very many ways. You can't achieve one without giving proper value to the other, I feel. Wordsworth's poems would not have gained such heights if his sister didn't read and save each one of them and publish them later, because the poet himself is known to throw away all his writings in a careless fashion. We would not have known Wordsworth otherwise and imagine what loss it would have been for English literature. So a writer is partly true for his/her writings and partly for his/her readers. Otherwise it would have been incomplete. It's not about popularity my dear, it's like dewdrops on lotus leaves......it may not be necessary, but it certainly makes it beautiful.....


yours truly,
Suryatapa.


P.S. You want me to write about value of relationships in our lives. I remember that, will certainly write about it...just give me some time. :)

One year of blogging....

This post is all about remembering that what had started as a 'let's see if I can' has come to a position of 'let's see if I can do any better'....Talking about my blogging, of course....Last year in July, I started this blog so as to see if I can even put words to my thoughts and experiences...this one year that has passed had said to me that yes, that's quite possible but also I have a million things to learn about writing......a lot of things, really.....at times, when I read any good article, from a magazine, journal, or newspaper, or a good post in a blog of some other writer, I tend to learn, I try to observe a point or two about the finesse of this art called writing.....and see that I really have "Miles to go before I sleep...." 
But I'm happy that I have been able to start learning, through these small steps of writing on my own, ...and it's been a year now......I look forward to continue writing with much more ease and correctness in days to come...
I quote a line to finish today...
                                       " Flatter me, and I may not believe you....
                                         Criticize me, and I may not like you......
                                         Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.......
                                         Encourage me.....and I will not forget you..."

A Visit to Acadia

A couple of months ago, on a long weekend, we visited the Acadia National Park, Maine. The national park is on the Mt.Desert Island of Maine and covers the Atlantic bays of that region. The two-day tour had been a wonderful experience laced with the scenic beauties of the island and a thrilling experience driving through the Park Loop Road that mostly circles through the park, touching the beautiful lakes and views of the mighty Atlantic.
The town nearest to the National Park is Bar Harbor. Walking through the downtown of Bar Harbor was also a memorable experience, a moment of festivity and joy touched my heart, walking along the winding roads passing garden restaurants, souvenir shops, ice-cream parlors and listening to the hustle-bustle of tourists and residents alike. Somewhere down the road we found a guy singing songs playing a keyboard.....and people sitting around, listening to him.....kids dancing to the rhythm.....:)
The tour was one of the most heart-warming experiences I had in recent times..

Today,thus I share some of the photographs taken on that tour to the Acadia National Park, with my friends here....

This sharing was long overdue, I feel now....:)

                                                               1. Jordan Pond

                                                               2. Walking through the forest trails....

3. A beautiful view from the Seal Harbor

                                                                     4. Driving along the Park Loop Road (The car aerial comes in             between and thus the black line....

disappointed with my photography...but learnt)

5. The majestic Atlantic near the Ottis Cliff

                                                         6. Solitary sailor, as taken from the point overlooking Frenchman's Bay

Blogger's Block

The past couple of weeks had been hectic for me. Long working schedules, weird weather, not-so-good health and tiredness from all of these kept me in toes and I almost forgot that I have had a wonderful hobby.....i.e, to write in my blog and to connect with my favorite fellow bloggers. I did not find the time and willingness out of my overworked self to vacuum my house, leave alone this creative thing of writing. 

We have heard of writers' block......I'll term this as a blogger's block....that too, a competitive block, not a creative one. The reason behind this stagnant phase being other chores which I was busy doing during this time...:)

I was disappointed with myself for the Indiblogger ranking of August and had a resolution that I'll surely spend more time towards my blogging to improve the overall look and quality of my blog.....but what a slow start it had been for the current month.....!!! I don't know if I can make it up....but I'll definitely try. Let's see how it goes..!!

With an eagerness to write some real good stuff in spite of everything, I finish today....see you soon.

The Festival to Love and Care..

'Raksha-bandhan' is a very celebrated occasion of our country. It signifies love and the pledge to protect your near and dear ones. Generally 'Rakhi' is stringed by the sisters on their brother's hand as mark of love and respect and the brother makes a promise to protect her from all odds, come what may... Such a wonderful expression....!!! 


Since childhood, my sister and I celebrated Raksha-Bandhan in our own way. We used to make or buy rakhis for each other and celebrate the day. We felt that if it means love, respect and to stand by each other at all times, then it should not be confined to only brothers and sisters....it can well be between two sisters and two brothers as well...or between friends for that matter. Both of us were, and still are, partners of our good and bad times...that's why this particular expression is important to us, and will remain so forever. Perhaps, that's why Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore initiated Raksha-Bandhan during Swadesi movement and christened it as 'Maitri-Bandhan', emphasising on the affection, oneness and regard one should have for everybody and thus took it beyond the boundaries of any particular relation.


On this auspicious day, today, I observed another wonderful thing. My sis-in-law, yesterday was wondering over phone about not being able to tie rakhi in her brother's hand, because of the very common fact we experience in our lives at present, the physical distance!!!....and upon me came the responsibility of  tying rakhi to her brother (my husband)...:) I initially felt awkward thinking about it as my mind was shrouded with 'filmy' ideas that tying Rakhi is a symbolic way of 'making' brother or attaining a sibling feeling towards that person...:) !!!! Bollywood does have an impact..."Maano ya na maano". But eventually I did tie rakhi on his wrist and felt that if its 'Raksha Bandhan', then it is quite appropriate this way too....as husbands do pledge to protect their wives from all adversities in the best possible way, don't they?......so what's wrong with it? So I acted on behalf of my sis-in-law, true, but the ritual also became my way of giving and getting a promise to stay together through thick and thins......

Mankind is blessed with the idea of fellow feelings.....the respect, love, affection or liking we feel for our parents, siblings, husbands/wives, friends and even for all fellow human beings is the greatest gift we have been bestowed with by nature....and we should, at all cost, try to protect this goodness in us.




Image courtesy : http://www.deepwarriors.com

63

India, as a free nation, 'at the stroke of the midnight', will be 63. Many things, issues, people have changed....much more needs to change. But today as I wish my dear country and all the people and myself a very Happy Independence Day, I would not delve into the meaning and idea of independence, as I did last year this day on my blog. We all know by this time what this word means and what it should imply in our lives.

We, sometimes, are able to do justice to the idea of freedom.....sometimes we are not.


Today, let's do a different thing.....today, let's look back and see what we've got and what we haven't. Let's list down the plus-es and the minus-es. Herein, let's celebrate the assets and keep in mind the issues that gives us joy and inconvenience respectively......Alphabetically, here it is for all of us:


Amitabh Bachchan : The word 'Legend' has a synonym now
Breaking news : without a break.....take it or leave it
CWG : will be big and successful, now 'you may say I'm a dreamer'....
Drama :want it in movies and soaps.but get it more in politics and news channels.
Editorial Pages : more interesting than the rest of the pages anyday
False Promises : we have had enough...time for some real action !!
Green Initiative : way to go.....!!!! :)
Hatred : communal and regional (courtesy 'Raj'niti ) alike
Incredible India : Our tourism needs to see a better day
Journalism (television) : needs an overhaul (not everybody though), less drama, more insight.                                             
Kashmir : belongs to India. Period.
Love : is the word for us ...for everybody...forever....:)
Money over matter : The aim needs a change
(social) Networking : Real work...or nothing ??
Optimism : slogan of the nation....."Hum honge kamyaab"
Premier Leagues : blending occupations
Quantity : has a quality of its own
Religion : eternally overrated and extensively misused
Soniya Gandhi : salute to a survivor....in many more ways than one
Terrorism : STOP IT...!!! 
Unity in diversity : our one big strength
Vendors : in streets, roads and highways.....moving merchandise..!! 
We the people with...
X-tra Large hearts.....to make
You feel loved and welcome
Zorro : each one of us needs to be, in our own right to cleanse our minds and society at large.            
                                     
I'm sure and you'll agree also that our India has too many more assets and specialties.....(and issues,too, for that matter) to record in one alphabetic stretch.To spice it up, I resorted to the alphabets this time and found that many more have been left out. I hope that India, with our effort and love, raises innumerable assets like these in days to come.....our vices along with our virtues makes us complete... but our effort to make minimum possible vices makes us BETTER......!!! With this dream and aspiration, I finish today....."Jai Hind".








Image Courtesy : http://www.buzzytimes.com


                          






                           


                          

'What is this Thing called Love' by Gene Wilder : How did I like it?

"What is this thing called Love" by Gene Wilder is a compilation of 12 stories based on love and the pathos, tragedy, doubts, and many other emotions attached with Love. So they are not exactly love stories but stories about love and its emotional companions. The stories aptly describe the many facades of love and the people in love. The skepticism of the characters, their emotional dilemmas and all their humane rights and wrongs bring liveliness and innocence to the stories. The writing is lucid, unlike the content which are more mature and sometimes complicated in their concept. The complex emotions and states of mind has been described with awesome simplicity. The tragedies and failures are described in a somewhat lighter way giving the pathos a silver lining of getting over. The stories exudes mystery (The Lady with the Red Hat), innocence ('In Love for the First Time' and 'The King of Hearts'), pain ('The Anniversary', 'The Birthday'), hope ('The kiss', 'Passion','Tango without Music'), desperation ('The Hollywood Producer'), heartbreak ('Are you really in Love' and 'My Old Flame') and playful love (The Flirt). The book conveys that every emotion related to love can assume the title of Love itself, and very often it does. Love remained in all the emotions of the stories mentioned above -- subdued, disguised in some and expressed in others. The stories convince the title as in describing the unending joy and peace love can bring.. as well as the sarcasm and pathos it can fill our lives with. 

Fading Virtue

Sometimes it so happens...that a line of a poem, or a dialogue from a film impacts us in a big way and makes us think. Day before yesterday, I was watching Yash Chopra's "Kabhie Kabhie" and had such an experience. The movie, along with a great story and an ensemble superstar cast, had a dialogue by Shashi Kapoor which remained etched in my mind long after I finished the film. His character said to his wife: " Is duniya mein agar aadmi insaan ban jaye, to wohi bahut badi baat hai..."(It's a real great achievement in this world for a man to be able to be humane). The line impacted me big time. How very true it is....really...!!!! We aspire to be many things in this one life we have been blessed with. We try to achieve bigger posts, larger material gains, etc. But how often do we think about becoming a good human being? How often do we appreciate a humane indulgence in this fast paced world where 'we don't have time to stand and stare'? So it really would turn out to be an achievement if we care to value more about humanness. In this modern world where we have everything we need and everything we would ever need, in just moments.... humanity is rather fading out from our lives in a very imperceptible yet threatening way.
The consequences we face in today's world due to lack of these human virtues are taking a toll on our lives, lifestyle and more importantly, on our psyche and conscience. Violence, cruelty, insensitive morales are alarmingly increasing. It's high time we ponder upon ourselves. It would sound like preaching if I start writing about the do's and do not's..I shall not do it in here....we would rather think in ways that suits us.....to give our bit for a better world, for our children, and more importantly to achieve to be humane, from just a mere man/woman.




Image Courtesy: http://www.freepixels.com 

A tribute to Kishore Kumar : In my own way

Today, the 4th of august, is the 81st birth anniversary of the music maestro, Kishore Kumar. I am (my whole family is, for that matter) a huge fan of his songs, like millions of other Indians. I remember, when in school, we just begun to know the beauty of music, our parents, mother especially, introduced my sister and me to the magic of Kishore Kumar. She categorically pointed out the lines of the songs, where the voice of Kishore Kumar touches your heart in such a way that lasts forever. The more we listened, the more addicted we went on to be....to the charm and melody of his voice. So much so, that I remember, when in high school, my sis and I only listened to him in our tape recorder. We were even so expressive about our love for his songs that even our close friends gifted Kishore Kumar audio collections to us on occasions.
     Kishore Kumar is often aptly described as the quintessential dreamer or the eccentric genius. I find myself short of words when listening to his songs. Be it rib tickling “chil chil chillake” or “my name is Anthony Gonsalves”, romantic “tum ho mere dil ki dhadkan” or “bhawre ki gunjan" or “main pyaasa tu saawan”, or sad renditions like “beqarar dil tu gaye jaa” or “badi suni suni hai”.......it touches my senses in an incomparable sort of way.  I am thankful that I get to hear this eternal magician of melody. He is versatility personified. I am amazed to observe the various moods his songs so perfectly exudes. He quenched the best from the brilliant compositions through his golden voice. The greatest thing about Kishore Kumar is that almost all of his songs are chartbusters, each one a masterpiece in its own way....and each of his songs, at the same time, were so earthy that anyone of the masses can relate to it, can sing or hum a line or two on his own.
     Thank you Kishore Kumar for making us more intuitive towards our emotions.




Image Cortesy: http://www.buzzytimes.com

Just Like That..

Life does not turn out to be that fun always.....Sometimes it brings boredom or sadness or something-not-right kind of feelings in us. I, personally go through this many a times, and so thought about sharing it with you all. But of course, when such things happen, we by our natural tendency to get over odd situations, try something different. That way, the crisis tides over in a smooth fashion. The method of bouncing back from an odd situation is different for different individuals, I'm sure. What works for me is creating or making something from scratch. That works wonders for me when I get into a bad mood, I'm upset, or simply sad. 


A few days ago, during this kind of a bad patch in my daily life, I baked a cake, not knowing the fact that the work will upbeat my mood suddenly...but I was excited to observe that I felt much better...Believe me or not, it happens. Because, the joy of creation is one of the greatest joys of the world. Making something or cooking or baking a cake, for that matter, may not be as mighty as the creation of a life, or something like that....but still it works. Thereafter, whenever I find myself in a not-so-good frame of mind...I try to cook a delicacy, or bake a cake, or draw a picture. In general, I make something on my own. Writing may also be an option, but I write/blog whenever I feel an urge to say something. But in sadness, I somehow do not feel the urge to talk...


I leave this post open to your experiences and suggestions...
I hope you also face situations like this sometimes.....
What do you do to get over, my friends?

I Hate Bad Love Stories

For a movie buff like me, to sit through a bad movie can be very very depressing....and after that I'm venting it out by writing. I thought the ideal fun on a lazy Saturday afternoon will be to watch a movie...and going by the recent mass adulation on 'I Hate Luv Storys', I decided to watch that. But what was this?? I can't believe this came out of Karan Johar's production house. Now, for the critics here of KJo, let me tell you, like it or not, I'm a huge fan of his cinema. The sincerity and love with which he makes not-so-real and not-so-possible things believable, touches my heart and gives me immense joy.


But I am disheartened with IHLS. The only consolation is that it is not exactly a KJo's film.....like, as in, he didn't direct it, and I'm sure it would have been far far better if he did. The film is childish to begin with,very immature in both conceiving and conveying, nobody cared about the story, acting was mediocre(the lead actors were not even half-used), the script totally lacked the conviction and focus...oh...!!!! I guess, the director hardly even knew what he's trying to portray...how can it ever come across as believable? The film gets awkwardly predictable with clichéd lines, clumsy sets and very commonplace costumes. It was not even a tenth of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Johar's most naive creation. This film awfully lacked the wit, passion and smartness his banner exudes. I wonder whether he ever was present when the film was shot....!!! 


I am disappointed will be an understatement. For one like me, who takes films personally, this was a terrible experience. But for the songs, nothing in the film stands out. Wake Up Sid, another recent film of the same production house was a way too good.


 I love love stories but this was a bad one..

From my balcony...while it rained outside

I feel wonderful whenever it rains, more so when I don’t have to go out …so that I can just sit and watch the rains. Sometimes again I enjoy going out in the rains and that is a thing of immense fun for me.

Today it’s raining the whole afternoon and it’s good to see and feel this sitting here, in the balcony of our apartment. The balcony faces the rear side of the apartment property, lined with maple trees and conifers. It’s very green and I love this.

I had taken an afternoon nap while it was raining outside (another favorite) and came out here just moments ago. My senses are enjoying the sights and sounds of the downpour amidst the trees. The needle leaves of the conifers holding the raindrops like the dew in the grass, the scent of the wet soil and the sudden freshness in the air upbeats my evening mood.

The squirrels and the little birds, which are very much there when it’s not raining, are not being seen now….off to their homes, I guess. I often see the squirrels here running up and down the stems of the trees. They are slightly bigger in size here and also don’t possess the fabled ‘3-finger mark’ of Lord Rama on their back, like those in India have….just a passing thought, though…which came up.

Anyways, back to the rains, which are pretty much as wonderful as these are back home (India). But somehow, I miss the thrills of going through water-clogged streets with friends, suddenly getting drenched out as a vehicle pass by (I know, it’s distressing, but c’mon it’s fun, too) and the ‘pakoras’ and ‘samosas’ from the shop at the street corner….wow these can be really good sometimes. The change in weather brings so much alteration, good and bad, in the whole ambience of being, which certainly adds to the whole experience. Now come on, what’s a good thing without a dash of distress and upset attached to it? :) :)

Here, rains don’t bring you these add-ons. It is just very beautiful but yes, a bit boring.

Football Frenzy....!!!

It's over....finally. The month long craziness revolving around the Football World Cup is done with now.
I'm not a soccer person at all, but I enjoyed the frenzy...be it the news channel, social networking sites, people everywhere...everybody..was talkin' of only one thing for the past one month. Had the final match been less boring, the whole tournament could have ended at par with the madness of its fans.
The add-on for this year's World Cup was of course, Paul, the octopus. The hard-core non-believers also were not able to ignore the predictions.....and how precise of those, too...!!! 
I really don't know much of the game, so shall not indulge in much details.
I,thus record here the two things that caught my attention during this time.......the Fans and the Fore seeings...!!

Work and Play

The past 6-7 months, in Kolkata, was very hectic for me....I remained much occupied with various activities. First I was preparing for an examination, attending classes, studying and all kept me very busy. Then there was my sister's wedding, and that took almost a month including the pre-wedding preparations and post-wedding hang-overs...:) And then there were some official paperworks that I had to finish up on behalf of my husband, who is in USA......so all these things kept me real busy and half a year of visit to my homeland was up and so imperceptibly the time passed....and I loved it.
Now I'm back to USA and joined my husband here, and suddenly, all the buzz is over, and I have all the time in the world. I am busy only watching movies, reading, surfing the net etc. I am happy getting the time to nurture my hobbies, but somewhere inside I also know that I will not be as happy after a few days. I'll soon feel that I need to have a working schedule again and crave for that 'busy-ness'
So, now I'm sort of enjoying this short leisure, before gearing up for what the life will offer me next.
Every night, before I fall asleep, my mind gets filled up with ideas, the 'to-do' lists, and the how and when of certain things I need to accomplish, and those include some hobbies and some real work, as well. 
So I feel that its time I get over my laid back state and start some good work. Because, it is very truly said, that : "It is only work that truly satisfies".

It's Politics...

...And It is about politics in India.....which is passionate, and equally dirty. Director Prakash Jha, in his latest 'Raajneeti', has captured uncensored, the passion, die-hardness, strategic manipulations and smuttiness (sad, but true) of it.

The story of the film was never a problem....because the premise is based on the most dramatic political saga ever written in human history -- the epic, 'Mahabharata'. The rest of the film's integrity has been assured by the casting director, who brings in an ensemble cast of brilliant actors who gave, quite expectedly (and some, to our pleasant surprise), powerhouse performances. The director's genius lay in creating the sync between the prehistoric epic and contemporary politics.

The movie has never once, been shallowed by what would have been undesired interruptions in this context -- full-length songs or unnecessary sequences involving the female lead (often thought to be the glamour quotient in films which has nothing much to offer otherwise). The glamour of 'Raajneeti' lies in its raw depiction of a religion in our country, called Politics.

The beauty of the film lies in the revelation of the reality. As for the other expertise in the making of the movie, the costume designers need a very special mention. They really made the actors look according to the mood of the film. Actors Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, and Manoj Bajpai proves their mettle once again, and Arjun Rampal showed that he is just getting better and better with each new role. The treat was to watch Ranbir Kapoor as the main strategist, in a never-seen-yet act filled with class, finesse and restraint.

To sum up, 'Raajneeti' successfully manages to show what it intends to, and holds the excitement of the opening sequence till the end of the movie.

Living in Kolkata has always been enriching and interesting for me....I love this city with all my heart and love my day-to-day living in here. And because I have lived mostly alone in this all-accomodating 'City of Joy' right from the start, I still love it like that....nevertheless I feel lonely at times in this buzz. In a movie I watched recently...it was said that the condition of 'living alone' is overrated, it's not that beautiful and sought after thing all the time. Even for me, who believes 'Solitude is Bliss', this rings true sometimes....seated in an almost empty bus speeding through the EM Bypass in the evening, or walking down a crowded street in a busy summer afternoon -- I longed for the presence of a valued friend by my side....sometimes...not always. The feeling of loneliness does not depress me though...nonetheless tears well up from nowhere in my eyes.
Again at times, I become the self-centred woman for whom the company of self becomes the only and most extremely valued thing of life....then I love to go watch a movie all alone on a lazy Sunday morning or in a rainy afternoon....trust me a good movie while it's raining outside is one of the many things to be thankful for in life...whatever....at these moments again, I need no one .
My life thus, like often the most of the world, oscillates between contentments and cravings, wishes and abandonments, desires and fulfillment.

Everyday in our lives....we come across a new realisation....often that goes in our favour, sometimes not so....I, at present, am living in a state where I have the option to not put up with this (as it is difficult sometimes) and flee....but difficult times are again a challenge....to bear something which I could easily have chosen not to and settled for something less but comfortable. I thus realise that everything in this world does not always go by one's choices....or more accurately, our own choices does not always add up to our conveniences, the latter being more true for me at the moment...

Jotting down something I believe..

1. The Kite-Runner and We The Living are the best books I've ever read..till now
2. There is something very wrong about how I pursue my goals, otherwise a dreamer like me would have been an achiever of that might as well.
3. Kolkata is the city where I actually grew up ( factually Durgapur remains, though)
4. Life's profound changes occur, or atleast begin to occur for that matter...within moments
5. I love reading poetry...although most of the time, I cannot understand them in full measure..
6. The most difficult emotion ever faced is to talk 'bout someone who's no more and whom I really really loved....
7. I rate heart more to head, actions to words, dreams to reality, instincts to planning
8. At times people find me as an open book written in some weird, foreign language
9.The best and worst memories of my life are those of my PCGH (Presidency College Girls' Hostel) days.
10. Nobody believed in me except my family and some of my school teachers....and hardly a friend or two....

Welcome 2010

One more year passed…and a decade too….I notice a strange thing in me….whenever at the end of a year I look back to recollect how the year passed….I couldn’t think about not-so-good things that happened…..and thus I conclude that the year’s been wonderful…same is the case with the past year too…..It was, as is life… a mixture of good and not-so-good…..but all over it has been very well spent…
Through 2009…I got to spend some real good time….stay in a new country…see places I once dreamt of visiting…. Meeting new people and all that... I would regard 2009 as a very comfortable one….
This year taught me that it’s really wonderful to have a busy scheduled day…and that multitasking is necessarily good for life …felt again that love is most important…peace with yourself …even more so. I realized that many things in life change with time….much more remains the same, though.

Now…coming to the favourites of the year…
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini has been the best read …Pursuit of Happyness, the best movie watched, The Essential Gandhi being the most inspiring read of the past year.

So, in a way, 2009 was good in more ways than one….
For 2010….I resolve to stay calm, that’s all…
I regret nothing except hurting my near and dear ones unintentionally…may they know that I love them…
I wish to have a life full of love, peace and work…
My mind’s humming…
“Goonja sa hai koi Iktaara… Iktaara..”