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....