Saturday, February 24, 2007

A New Taggie!

Tagged from Anks

Here's a list of activities - classify them as have done, have not done and want to do.... its fun!

Have
1.Climbed a mountain! – Till class 12th I was at Shimla, so you can guess – climbed countless mountains & mountains….
2. Said 'I love you' and meant it…No comments…
3. Hugged a tree…You can guess from the first answer
4. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise… Oh yes, many times…& once probably 3-4 days at a stretch….those crazy days…
5. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment…oh yes! Quite a few times
6. Ridden a roller coaster…Yes, maybe at Appu Ghar, don’t remember much of it though
7. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
8. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
9. Had two hard drives for your computer – I am a computer engg. so that seems a childish question
10. Had amazing friends – Of course, not ‘had’ but ‘have’…childhood friends still there
11. Midnight walk on the beach – Oh yes, at Goa. It can’t be explained in words, you have to experience it yourself.
12. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them – In crowdy places that’s pretty common.
13. Played in the rain – Many many times. Although havn’t don’t it quite for a while now.
14. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
15. Spoken more than one language fluently – Hindi, English, Punjabi, Urdu – to an extent, Sanskrit to an extent (forgotten now)
16. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
17. Ridden a horse
18. Had your picture in the newspaper – 10th CBSE board results one.
19. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about – Must have done it many times with my friends but don’t remember any specific instance at present.
20. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
21. Changed a baby's diaper – my nephew’s – pretty easy
22. Had a food fight – In college hostel I think
23. Adopted an accent for an entire day – Must have, in my school days
24. Taken care of someone who was drunk – quite a few times, because I never get drunk myself so the whole damm responsibility ends up on me.
25 Pretended to be a superhero – Must have but don’t remember the exact instance.
26. Played in the mud – Many times.
27. Grown and eaten your own vegetables – Feels very nice plucking the home grown tomatoes etc.
28. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over.
29. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived.
30. Had major surgery.
31. Gone back to school. – To see how it looks like now & to refresh those fond memories of years spent there.
32. Slept under the stars – A few years back – not lately though.
33. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope – At Bangalore I think, not much remembering though
34. Had a snowball fight – Many times at Shimla.
35. Taken a road-trip
36. Lounged around in bed all day
37. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours – I am Kumbhkaran the great.
38. Visited more foreign countries than India.


Have not

1. Gotten drunk on champagne – I don’t like alcohol. Have never drunk more then 1-2 pegs.
2. Bought everyone in the bar a drink – If I don’t drink myself, I couldn’t have done that either.
3. Swam with wild dolphins – No desire of that. First I have to learn swimming I suppose.
4. Alphabetized your cds – I don’t have many cds.
5. Toured ancient sites – No interest in history.
6. Won first prize in a costume contest – No desire for that either.
7. Gotten a tattoo – I don’t like them.
8. Performed on stage – I have stage fright I suppose.
9. Broken someone's heart.
10. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol – I don’t like rifles, pistols as such…
11. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive – Arre yaar, kaha Ferrari aur kaha hum! Space shuttle hi lekar jaeygey test drive pey…
12. Held a tarantula – No, and don’t have any desire either
13. Had a booth at a street fair
14. Watched a lightning storm at sea – Havn’t been close to sea for long
15. Gone to a huge sports game – I prefer seeing them on TV
16. Given more than you can afford to charity – I don’t believe in charity as such
17. Bet on a winning horse – I don’t like gambling of any sort
18. Asked out a stranger
19. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
20. Held a lamb
21. Seen a total eclipse
22. Hit a home run – In India we play cricket
23. Watched wild whales
24. Stolen a sign
25. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
26. Milked a cow
27. Gone scuba diving
28. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight – What is D&D???
29. Crashed a party – I don’t like parties as such – with close friends it good.
30. Gotten divorced – Shubh shubh bolo – pehley shadi to ho jaey bhiya!!!
31. Gone without food for 5 days – I don’t even believe in fasting for a day, forget 5 days at a stretch
32. Rafted the Snake River – Where is this river?
33. Recorded music
34. Eaten shark - :-( I prefer to eat veg food only – rarely chicken – nothing more then that.
35. Been in a combat zone – I hate wars
36. Buried one of your parents
37. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
38. Created and named your own constellation of stars
39. Had plastic surgery
40. Lost over 100 pounds – Mereko mota hona hai, 100 pounds loose kar gya to skeleton bhi nehi bacheyga.
41. Held someone while they were having a flashback- WHAT????
42. Petted a stingray
43. Helped an animal give birth
44. Broken a bone – Thank God! Not till now
45. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced – Don’t like these sort of things.
46. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
47. Had a snake as a pet – ewwwww
48. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
49. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
50. Eaten kangaroo meat
51. Parasailed ????
52. Petted a cockroach
53. Eaten fried green tomatoes
54. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
55. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
56. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
57. Skipped all your school reunions – There havn’t been any reunions.
58. Been elected to public office
59. Written your own computer language – What for?
60. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
61. Built your own PC from parts
62. Dyed your hair – They are good as they are.
63. Been a DJ
64. Shaved your head – Havn’t gone crazy till now.
65. Caused a car accident
66. Saved someone's life
67. Sung karaoke
68. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
69. Got flowers for no reason
70. Won money on a T.V. game show
71. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you – almost did that once!


Want to

1. Eaten sushi – I might like it, might not even be able to eat it, but could give a try once.
2. Watched a meteor shower – Would like to see it.
3. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
4. Gone rock climbing
5. Gone sky diving
6. Visited Ireland – Ireland is known for what? Flowers I think. I’ll like to visit every country in the world provided I have the time and money.
7. Been inside the Great Pyramid
8. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
9. Visited Japan
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited the Great Wall of China
12. Visited Paris
13. Seen the Northern Lights
14. Started a business
15. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
16. Been to Las Vegas
17. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
18. Piloted an airplane
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Gone on an African photo safari
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Backpacked in Europe
23. Kissed in the rain
24. Gone to a drive-in theater
25.Taken a martial arts class
26. Gotten married
27. Been in a movie
28. Made cookies from scratch
29. Ridden a gondola in Venice
30. Gone to Thailand
31. Bought a house
32. Been on a cruise ship
33. Raised children
34. Wrote article for a large publication
35. Visited all 7 continents
36. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream

Sunday, February 18, 2007

"that thing called LOVE" by Tuhin A Sinha

A good successful story, be it in the form of a book, movie or any other form, is a one that engages you, transports you in its world of characters and instances. You get so involved in it that you forget everything else and feel that everything is happening in reality, in front of your eyes.
'that thing called Love' does all that and probably even more. A thought provoking, page turner, its more like a bollywood movie rather then a book.
Rather I should say its a peculiar DJish sort of story.
the back of the book says -
"Mayank thus lives in disillusionment hope, to fall in love in all Utopian earnestness and with his 'perfect woman'. the irony eventually arises when he identifies the image of his 'perfect woman' in an older happily married woman. The dreamer in him sets aside ground realities to flow with natural impulses, leading to a dangerously complicated relationship between the woman and him.

Thus Mayank's relationship with Revathi unfolds during the course of one Mumbai monsoon, the first that an anticipating Mayank, experiences of the city, only makes this Utopia an even more surreal experience.

Will Mayank's romance ever strike a balance between Chimera and Actuality?"

Read it to know for yourself...
Some lines from the book...

"Woh shakal pighli to har shay me dhal gayee jaise....
ajeb baat hui hai use bhulane me." - Javed Akhtar in Tarkash

"Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nehi milta
Kabhi zameen to kabhi aasman nehi milta
Tere jaha mey asa nehi ki pyar na ho
Jaha umeed ho ootana wahan nehi milta..." Nida Fasli...

"Hazaron khawaaishein ki har khawaaish pe dum nikle...
Bahut nikle mere armaan, lekin fir bhi kamnikle." - ghalib

One day love and friendship met. Love asked, "Why do you exist if I already exist?". Friendship replied, "To put a smile when you leave tears".

"Tumhe bhi yaad nehi aur main bhi bhul gaya,
Woh lamha kitna haseen tha magar fazool gaya." - Javed Akhtar in Tarkash

Best one is...

"Taruf rog ho jaey to usko bhulana behtar,
Talluk bojh ban jaey to usko todana acha,
Woh afasana jisey anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin,
Use ek khoobsurat mod dekar chhodana acha"

All these lines are not authors' original but certainly have relevance and written at appropriate places.
Need I say more? Read the book.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne.......

This blog seriously requires a update, so here it is...
I have been very busy with office work for quite a while now. I did think about updating the blog quite a few times but the lazy fellow I am - I kept postponing it on one pretext or the other.
Lately, I have started having strange sort of thoughts....
Wouldn't it be nice if we could be in other professions also - for e.g. a Doctor for one year, a businessman for another, an architect for another... a cricketer for another... a singer for another...a Bollywood actor for another...
Being a Doctor - How would it feel to cure someone and seeing his smiling face as a reward...or for that matter making a 100 for India in one day match and seeing all that millions of fans going crazy for you....or maybe the pride you will feel by standing near a big skyrise or maybe a flyover which you had designed or maybe seeing your own Bollywood movie sitting in a multiplex....
Or for that matter - What would you do, if you had enough bank balance so that you could easily spend your life doing whatever you felt like doing?
Well, enough of dreaming I suppose... No.. no.. I am not drunk or anything like that....Sometimes the amount of work also gets you...you start having strange and weird thoughts....enough...let me go back to solving that damm bugs(in computer code).....I tell you.. Life itself is a big bug which I am trying to solve...
Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne.......