The last day of 2007 has finally arrived, like almost every year this year too slipped by at an amazing speed. We had kicked off 2007 at a lake house in Tennessee, this year we would be welcoming 2008 at home.
Year 2007 was great, it started with Silver Jubilee celebrations of Art of living foundation in Atlanta, a short trip to India (it was the shortest trip I had to India - 5 days), met Guruji just before starting my new job in July, and the best of all is the blessing of a new soul in our life that will soon be born in early 2008 and we both are excited, ready and a bit anxious to hold our bundle of joy. Also, this year our family has been scattered in 3 different continents at the same time, Asia, Europe and America. Thanks to internet and Skype that helped us to stay connected. Skype has been a blessing, really!!
Today is just like any other day, just that it happens to be the last day of a year and that tomorrow is the first day of a new year fills me up with hope, excitement and renewed enthusiasm to bring out my to-do list for the year...for 2008, I hope to loose a few pounds, go to Yes+ TTC 2, and enjoy being a parent - the job description includes but is not limited to changing diapers, staying up at nights, keeping all senses awake 24/7/365 to ensure safety of the little one, in return one is promised to feel blissful just watching the baby grow and observing seemingly simple yet precious acts. Hope to post more about the experience in the new year.
Wish you all a Happy, healthy and prosperous new year!!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 1, 2007
A Thousand Splendid Suns
It has been a long while I posted anything on my blog. For most part of it, it has been a total lack of inspiration and the remaining would be laziness. But today, after spending almost an entire day reading Khaled Hosseini's - A Thousand Splendid Suns, I have finally found something to write about.
I am not an avid reader of any kind of book, my enthusiasm to read books wanes as fast as it surges up and I have left quite a few books half read, but I must say that Khaled Hosseini might have changed that. I have read both of his published books - The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns within a day from the time I picked each of them up to read.
Both the books are fictional stories about people in Afghanistan with a backdrop of non-fictional political and social turmoil that the country has been seeing for the last several decades.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is about two women Mariam and Laila from two different generations who are raised in completely different circumstances and how their lives get intertwined due to various circumstances. The way Khaled Hosseini tells the story is really touching, gut wrenching at times. The characters come to life with every chapter and after reading a few pages your mind gets transported to the villages and cities in Afghanistan, sometimes to the lush green fields of Herat, and at other times to the busy streets of Kabul One can almost feel and smell the war torn, bomb shelled streets and hear the whistling of rockets as you read through the story. It is the connection that you develop with the characters is what keeps you from keeping the book down. What happens to Mariam as she waits at the door steps of her father home, does he let her in or does he not, what happens to Laila as she gets hit by a rocket, or do Mariam and Laila escape out of Kabul without getting caught by the Taliban soldiers...every time I thought I could keep it down, there were always some questions like these that kept me from doing so...
After finishing the book, there was a spontaneous sense of gratitude for all that I have and felt so lucky to born in a country like India, free and democratic. Also, one cannot but feel empathy towards all the Afghani people for what they have been enduring for last few generations.
I am not an avid reader of any kind of book, my enthusiasm to read books wanes as fast as it surges up and I have left quite a few books half read, but I must say that Khaled Hosseini might have changed that. I have read both of his published books - The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns within a day from the time I picked each of them up to read.
Both the books are fictional stories about people in Afghanistan with a backdrop of non-fictional political and social turmoil that the country has been seeing for the last several decades.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is about two women Mariam and Laila from two different generations who are raised in completely different circumstances and how their lives get intertwined due to various circumstances. The way Khaled Hosseini tells the story is really touching, gut wrenching at times. The characters come to life with every chapter and after reading a few pages your mind gets transported to the villages and cities in Afghanistan, sometimes to the lush green fields of Herat, and at other times to the busy streets of Kabul One can almost feel and smell the war torn, bomb shelled streets and hear the whistling of rockets as you read through the story. It is the connection that you develop with the characters is what keeps you from keeping the book down. What happens to Mariam as she waits at the door steps of her father home, does he let her in or does he not, what happens to Laila as she gets hit by a rocket, or do Mariam and Laila escape out of Kabul without getting caught by the Taliban soldiers...every time I thought I could keep it down, there were always some questions like these that kept me from doing so...
After finishing the book, there was a spontaneous sense of gratitude for all that I have and felt so lucky to born in a country like India, free and democratic. Also, one cannot but feel empathy towards all the Afghani people for what they have been enduring for last few generations.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Yankees yanked out by Indians
Yankees lost their third game in the division series by 2 runs. Final score 6-4.Yankees never looked in control of the game, inspite of a few home runs. The Indians deserved to win.
Indians will meet the Red Sox on Thursday 10/11.
Indians will meet the Red Sox on Thursday 10/11.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Yankees survive
Now, I am not a great Yankees fan. For that matter, I am not even an ardent baseball follower.But, I have got a co-worker who will die for Yankees, if it comes to that..so his passion for Yankees inspired me to follow what's happening with them this year in the playoffs.
Today's game (not a 'match' as in the cricket world) was good...the Cleveland Indians were up 2-0 in this 5 game series and they were up 3 runs till the 5th inning of the game tonight. Then Matsui and Johnny Damon changed the game by scoring 5 runs in the 5th inning and Yankees kept the score bored ticking by adding 3 more in the next inning. Final score Yankees 8 - Indians - 4
As I was listening to the commentators,I came to know that the stakes were pretty high for Yankee team manager Joe Torre (Yankees' manager of past 12 years). It would have been his last game if they would have lost tonight..so Joe keeps his job for a day and tomorrow is do-or-die for the Yankees. I will keep watching the series ..atleast till the Yankees stay in the game
Today's game (not a 'match' as in the cricket world) was good...the Cleveland Indians were up 2-0 in this 5 game series and they were up 3 runs till the 5th inning of the game tonight. Then Matsui and Johnny Damon changed the game by scoring 5 runs in the 5th inning and Yankees kept the score bored ticking by adding 3 more in the next inning. Final score Yankees 8 - Indians - 4
As I was listening to the commentators,I came to know that the stakes were pretty high for Yankee team manager Joe Torre (Yankees' manager of past 12 years). It would have been his last game if they would have lost tonight..so Joe keeps his job for a day and tomorrow is do-or-die for the Yankees. I will keep watching the series ..atleast till the Yankees stay in the game
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Eklavya - The Royal Guard
The brilliance of this film lies in the simplicity with which the director, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has conveyed the story. A lot is said without using words. It takes a while to realize how simply the story has been told and how small things like the letters Eklavya (Amitabh Bacchan) writes to his son (Saif Ali Khan) (whom he cannot openly communicate with) are used to twist the story. Surely there are times in the movie when you can get impatient if you are expecting the regular hindi masala movie speed and comedy bursts in between. The movie is very subtle and every character has a role to play. Inspector Pannalal (Sanjay Dutt) does provide some comic relief to the overall dramatic and serious story. Also the royal behaviours might seem to be a bit irritable to the logical mind, but one has to go along with the flow on this one.
On the visual side, the locations, set and clothes of all the characters are truly royal and authentically Rajasthani. Overall, worth a watch if someone likes serious movies, it has to be watched with an artsy eye.
Friday, February 16, 2007
In Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness - Isn't it what drives everything, we work for happiness, we eat to be happy, sleep to be happy, do whatever we do to be happy and yet it eludes us. It is impossible to be happy forever, as Sri Sri says, forget the "forever" and you are happy.
The other day,I saw a passenger read a book and there was a chapter with title - "Your happiness is not selfish" (or something like that). So, there are books to make you feel happy and there are books to tell you that it is OK to feel happy. What is with it?
The question is - What do you really need to be happy? I would rather ask myself what is that makes me unhappy? This is annual review time at work and a few friends of mine called me up to tell me that they got promoted or got a raise and I am really happy for them. But, at the same time my mind goes for a ride thinking what I need to do get the same and that I deserve it as much as anyone else since I too work as hard. But then, what changed here, it is not that anything happened to me, just that my mind devised a new reason to be unhappy. I think that by nature nothing is sad or wrong, but the mind comes up with it's own ways to cause pain.
The other day,I saw a passenger read a book and there was a chapter with title - "Your happiness is not selfish" (or something like that). So, there are books to make you feel happy and there are books to tell you that it is OK to feel happy. What is with it?
The question is - What do you really need to be happy? I would rather ask myself what is that makes me unhappy? This is annual review time at work and a few friends of mine called me up to tell me that they got promoted or got a raise and I am really happy for them. But, at the same time my mind goes for a ride thinking what I need to do get the same and that I deserve it as much as anyone else since I too work as hard. But then, what changed here, it is not that anything happened to me, just that my mind devised a new reason to be unhappy. I think that by nature nothing is sad or wrong, but the mind comes up with it's own ways to cause pain.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Holy Cow - Really?
A shocking video of how cows are slaughtered in India, of all places, where cow is deemed sacred and legally protected.
Please think twice before you buy that cool leather jacket, belt or any other accessory.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Off the Books
Interesting interview with Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh. I have lived in Atlanta downtown for 4 years which has a predominant African American population. I have wondered once in a while how they really sustain their livelyhood, but never delved deeper into that.
However, my other Indian friends living in the suburbs have always had a perception that it is better to avoid downtown. I have seen that these inner city residents are relatively more social and friendly than they are believed to be.
The book by Sudhir Venkatesh, based on his observations spanning more than a decade of parts of Chicago, which are deemed dangerous even during the day - Off the Books - The underground economy of the urban poor should be definitely worth checking out.
However, my other Indian friends living in the suburbs have always had a perception that it is better to avoid downtown. I have seen that these inner city residents are relatively more social and friendly than they are believed to be.
The book by Sudhir Venkatesh, based on his observations spanning more than a decade of parts of Chicago, which are deemed dangerous even during the day - Off the Books - The underground economy of the urban poor should be definitely worth checking out.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Circuit - What a character!!
Lage Raho Munnabhai has become one of my most favourite movies - ever. I have watched it numerous times so far. The character that I like the most is Circuit. Both Munna and Circuit are divine fools as the writer rightly puts it. However to me Circuit comes across as the perfect role model of a devotee. He lives by the simple rule - Bhai ne bola na - to karne ka, simple hain re (Bhai told so - so just do it, it is that simple). For him all that Bhai says is golden. Be it getting a corpse for anatomy practicals,getting professors to answer the quiz about Mahatma Gandhi,getting Chinese Hakka noodles at 3 AM or be it anything else. Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE
A scene that reminds us of the principle of sharing/giving in a humorous but profound way is his conversation with Professor Vattikutti, who is a character that follows rules or lives by the law (But without understanding the purpose). Vattikutti is against Munna's method of winning the quiz - because it's cheating - of course. But Circuit tells him - Dekh apne ko Gandhiji ke bare mein kuch pata nahin hain is liye tere se pooch raha hun, agar kal tujhe bhai log ke bare main information chahiye tu pooch na - main tereko sab ka information dunga. Gyan share karne ke liye rehta hain, kya tu sada raha hain apne paas rakh ke. (Dude - Since we don't know about Gandhiji we are requesting you, if you need any information about underworld, just ask and I will tell everything to you. Knowledge is to be shared, why are you wasting it by keeping it to yourselves?). Such a simple principle, but isn't that what happens a lot of times. We think all that we know should benefit "us" only. But wouldn't it grow if we share it freely?
Circuit exhibits complete surrender to Munna, no matter what, Bhai cannot be wrong. Focused mind and living life with principles he truly believes in. What a character!
A scene that reminds us of the principle of sharing/giving in a humorous but profound way is his conversation with Professor Vattikutti, who is a character that follows rules or lives by the law (But without understanding the purpose). Vattikutti is against Munna's method of winning the quiz - because it's cheating - of course. But Circuit tells him - Dekh apne ko Gandhiji ke bare mein kuch pata nahin hain is liye tere se pooch raha hun, agar kal tujhe bhai log ke bare main information chahiye tu pooch na - main tereko sab ka information dunga. Gyan share karne ke liye rehta hain, kya tu sada raha hain apne paas rakh ke. (Dude - Since we don't know about Gandhiji we are requesting you, if you need any information about underworld, just ask and I will tell everything to you. Knowledge is to be shared, why are you wasting it by keeping it to yourselves?). Such a simple principle, but isn't that what happens a lot of times. We think all that we know should benefit "us" only. But wouldn't it grow if we share it freely?
Circuit exhibits complete surrender to Munna, no matter what, Bhai cannot be wrong. Focused mind and living life with principles he truly believes in. What a character!
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