how hard is it to say goodBye....?

Its only natural in the revolving life cycle nothing stays still, be it love or time. Given that understanding and wisdom, why does it make us sad when we break-up, or a friend turns foe or someone you like/adore decides to move on?

Is it possible to say goodbye with no pretense? I mean can we ever say bye and move-on like nothing happened? or nothing valuable has gone missing? May be its possible, yet we don't want to learn that art. Because its the 'heart of the matter'.

Should I then ask 'Why do i need to forget?'. Can someone not fill in that space? Can someone not give that special emotion/attention? Can someone not love the way he/she did? I am sure those special moments can be re-lived yet never recreated. Those special spaces can be filled not filled within. May be we don't want to be hit by guilt, by embracing the new love while there is a special memory of earlier moments are clinging refusing to die within. May be I want to be loyal and guilt free.....may be I don't stray deep within...may be I don't want to be guilty of infidelity....and that is why I want to forget.

I know its difficult...but at least I can try. For its the 'heart of the matter'

Whose India is it?

India....the land where billion people live, hundreds of languages spoken, thousands of deities are worshiped,with landscapes to measure, culture to treasure.

So the India I have known or the India known to the world is the land which is secular. Land that respects every individual for his culture (baring the gay culture), his choice to follow his own religion, language he speaks is now a land of the past.

Where is the India I witnessed while growing?

They say North Indians are not welcome in Mumbai. Reason - they take away the job opportunities from the Maharashtrians.

Is it a syndrome of 'selective opponents'. I dont follow politics, so here is my view as a lay man. If the outsiders shouldn't be allowed in Mumbai for reasons mentioned, why would they need outsiders who create those jobs.

Aren't we being hypocrites?

I am told by one of friends that Mumbai's major revenue churning business houses are owned by 'Outsiders', should we then ask these outsiders to move out.

Aren't we conveniently choosing the targets, people who are vulnerable, people who are not informed about their rights, people who can't speak for themselves.

Why are we choosers when it comes to hating a community? Shouldn't there be an equal opportunity across the board?

Even it comes to hating a community?

Lets drive out every body from Mumbai...and let the localites or the so called insiders build the city from stone-age.

Would the 'violent drivers' dare to that? No I guess.

So whose city is it anyway? Whose India is it?

Does it belong to the 'insiders' of the state?

The last time I checked I was told India belongs everyone....
does it still hold good?

Yuvvraaj - Soundtrack

Last night I was listening to the sound track of the movie Yuvvraaj. I guess you know the movie is directed by Showman Subash Ghai...lyrics by legendary Gulzar...Music composed by Southern Maestro A.R.Rahman.

I am sure you wouldn't have forgotten the magic created the last time AR & Mr.Ghai came together....it was the musical magic Taal

Looks like the magic is created yet again and with Gulzar saab teaming up to create something that is SIMPLY MESMERIZING...refreshing...traditional....yet modern.

The music master from down south is at his best (not that it is new)...but this time the mood, the flavour is unique and absorbing.

I am not a trained musician....but i can certainly appreciate good filmi music....tell you good from bad...

Given that this is a musical film...looks like AR&Team has gone to good length to create Magic...clear voices,classical music pieces, (alaaps & jathis - i am not sure if iam calling it correctly)...have been used in a way that can be appreciated by ardent film music buffs like me....


My favorites: Dil Ka Rishta, Manmohini Morey, Tu Muskura (in that order)

Can't wait to see the visual treatment of these compositions.

Verdict: Grab your copy with no second thoughts. Have a nice musical weekend

Atonement

Atonement…a doctrine describing how sin can be forgiven (by God)

As a movie buff, I thought I will write about the movie I watched recently. It was Atonement.

There are two reasons why I picked that DVD.
1. Keira Knightley
2. It’s an English movie ( I meant British – not American)

The story in a nutshell about ….

‘How a lie/ hiding a truth devastate the future of two young adults?’

I don’t want to write about the story line… that is something I would suggest you read from one of the internet portals. So what am I trying to write here? I am going to write what liked about the movie…

Amazing clarity in the screenplay – there is no place in the movie where you would like to pause and forward, or you get confused with the happenings
The story flows smoothly
The culmination of the viewers’ intelligence and the director’s brilliance – example the climax. Just when you start questioning ‘how on earth did Briony (younger sister – source of lie that carries the story forward) manage to meet Cecilia and Robbie? The director speaks through Vanessa Redgraves that it did not happen.

Another example, Robbie is dead (at least that is what the viewer thinks in his head). The flashback as told by Briony puts both Cecilia & Robbie in the same frame (post evacuation), followed by the movie ending that answers the question to truth that was with held by Briony.

Briony’ anger, jealousy, crush devastates the life of the young couple. Her penance not withstanding, she seeks forgiveness with Atonement her final book as an author.

Performance: Keira was brilliant as Cecilia ---playing an English girl is a cake walk to her…that is what I believe (I love her accent)
James: His act as the angered soldier with a humiliating past moves you. As a viewer you feel sorry for Robbie.
Saoirse playing Briony is the Top act of the movie….watch out for her
Romola Garai also plays Briony (now an eighteen year old): If Saoirse displayed a one-dimensional viewpoint backed by anger. Romola plays the guild ridden Briony with much conviction and calmed innocence, wanting to be forgiven by her sister & Robbie.

Fashion front: check out Keira in the Green dress during the dinner on that fateful night…wow…..she was AWESOME….she has done total justice to that dress.

a stranger, a smile, a face to remember.....a note of thanks

How often do we remember a face but not the name?
How often do we remember someone but not their face/name?

Maybe because we did not ask for their name? or maybe they were not as important as others in our life? or are they?

If they were not important.....if they have not made a mark in our life in a small way....if they have not crossed our life for no reason.....WHY DO WE REMEMBER THEM YEARS LATER? and yet the moment BRINGS A SMILE TO OUR FACE?

yes...they are strangers we never forget

Now ask me why on earth am I writing about them?

I remember the day I was stranded in Blackpool on a cold, windy afternoon.....i guess that was the worst day to be left alone with no one except money on you(thank heavens for that). As much as i would like to be proud of the fact, that i had the courage to take a train from Leeds to Blackpool to meet a friend, i should admit i was totally out of my mind to have gone there with no address of my friend.

So, it was windy, COLD...super COLD there i was with no address, no jacket/jumper/sweater(i had some balls to do that)....in a crowded Blackpool. Once i realized i was not meant to be there, i decided to head back to the train station...guess what, i did not know the way there....

Men don't cry or do they?.....okay i did not break yet. Have you experienced days when you stroll & there will be someone you can point out and say for sure that the person is lost.

Maybe it was my day...not to point out but to be pointed at....yes, i guess it was evident with shopping bags, shivering in the middle of the road...with almost 'i am lost HELP ME PLEASE' kind of an expression on a thin frame. So there i see two pretty ladies, one of them pushing a pram walking past me....i guess its instincts that worked. They came back and asked if i was lost.....i said yes, i had to go to the train station. They stopped a Taxi....put me in and said BYE.

That was a relief...i thanked them...may be i was so stressed i forgot i had a camera on me....i missed to capture their images....but i did not forget to click a picture of the driver who dropped me at the station......on my return people asked me who was it in the pic....i proudly said its the driver who saved my day.....with a smile on my face. I regret not taking a picture of those 2 Angels who helped me.....i call them my Angels in Blackpool.

Every time I flip through the photo album, there is a smile on my face whenever i see the image of that stranger behind the wheel.

There are so many strangers i have come across....i don't remember all their faces, i don't have a picture of all of them....yet i know i met them.....

Its time to acknowledge strangers who walked in & quickly out of my life.....yet brought a smile....a smile to remember....

a stranger who gave a drive for me on the day i had my entrance exam (no buses/ taxis- shutdown)
a stranger who helped us in Kanchi...but never forgot to recognize me after hours
a stranger in a Leeds restaurant who shared a conversation

and many more....THANKS to you strangers for saving my day.

Glad you decided to walk out the streets on that day....the day you smiled at me and the smile stays with me forever.

Compromises.....

How important is this word in our life? Some might say ' i never compromise' ... some might say 'life is full of compromises'....but do we really know the moment we actually compromise. Or has it become so much 'a part and parcel' of our daily life that we choose to 'compromise' the word compromise.....

It was another regular Thursday at work, until it came to a point where it was not going to end as normal. Out of nowhere it was decided to end the day with some drinks at a friends place.

Do colleagues equate to friends? My answer to that will be a BIG NO. (Any rule has an exception..you know what i mean). By now you must have guessed it. Yes i was not keen to go to the hen's den that evening for a drink. Make no mistake it wasn't a case of 'can I buy you a drink' kinda evening. It was a get together.

So why wasn't I feeling right' to join them.

Its time to be honest, initially i did agree to join them....i did go to the place only to realize, i was at the wrong place. I ended up at my friend's place....to be told to meet at my colleague's. That is when i changed my mind, my agreement to join them for a drink was in disagreement with the choice of place.

I tracked back my way to work...yes i drove back to work and started working again. I wish Mobile phones did not exist in the real world. Yes, i had the choice of switching off the phone. But when was the last time i did that? Not in this life......so yes i had to answer that call from my friend.

The questions were 'what are you doing? where are you? why aren't you here? ....I said 'I am at work'. Is that the reason why I drove back to work? Think about it I had already wrapped up for the day. So why did i go back to work? Did i really have something at work to deal with? or Was it to give an excuse for not being at this 'place of meeting'? or Did I force myself to compromise?

Would it have been easier to admit i was not comfortable to be at Hen's place?

How comfortable are we to admit we are uncomfortable? I guess many a times we are not.
I said I was at work, had to return for some last minute meeting updates. Did i lie to him? or did I compromise. Guess i did compromise.

I compromised my will n wish to go home, I compromised the thought of having an early day, compromised the choice of admitting i was not comfortable.

When was the last time you asked someone to turn the volume down? (mobiles or music at work)

When was the last time you told someone to speak softly? (some beings can't manage their decibels while speaking on the mobile)

When was the last time you refused to go for a movie(you didn't like) which your 'dear' insisted?

When was the last time you asked someone to turn off their phones at the cinemas, theater or churches?

You did not say it; was it because you did not want to say it? or you said let be it.....i can't be bothered. Don't you think it was your place to tell them they were bothering you? or did you agree to compromise???

Think again...Is it significant in our life? I know it is.....how about you?

C u soon.... happy weekend

New kid in the block

It is time for me to step into a new life, a new journey, a new world which I am not familiar with.....pause. I am not getting married yet. Its the world of bloggers.

The place where every word matters <-> to the person writing
The world where thoughts makes sense<-> for some one if not everyone
The world where you care to dare n bare (in words)
The zone to contemplate and be contemporary....yet conservative but comforting

So, what is the fuss about writing more about me, my life, my world around. If AB, and the Khan clan can write and fill the web world, why cant I?

After all it is my world too....I am sure there is a space for me.....my private space to speak my words, my way in this vast n widespread....Web world of ours.

C u all soon