The Falls- An Experience

There are some places people (more so, tourists) typically associate with the US- the Grand Canyon, Florida and Universal Studios, New York, Los Angeles and more importantly- the Niagara Falls. Every student wants to visit them the moment they land on American soil. Every parent who comes to the US for their son/daughter's graduation wants to see the Falls. And everyone who has ever been there will agree that it is an experience of a lifetime!

One of the "cool" things about coming to RIT for my MS was that firstly, I was in THE "New York" and people thought that was amazing, not realizing that Rochester is as New York as say, Latur is Mumbai !! And secondly, I was a 90 minute ride away from Niagara Falls, and THAT was most definitely amazing !! :) And sure enough, that was our first tourist destination, thanks to the wonderful $10 trip sponsored by the ISS. I cannot even put into words, the feeling I felt when I saw the first glimpse of the Falls from our bus. Spectacular is an understatement! It's one of those places which leave you mesmerized; you cannot help feel amazed at the wonders of Mother Nature. And then come the rides- the Maid of the Mist and the Caves of the Wind! Any visit to Niagara is incomplete without doing both of these. My roommates' parents had come down last month for their graduation and we took them to the Falls. The look of exhilaration on their faces after the Maid of the Mist ride was priceless! I almost thought they were going to cry! One of the mom's also commented- "I had been wanting to see the beauty of Niagara for months. Now this visit to the US feels complete!". As expected, they also took the blue and yellow raincoats and the slippers back to India with them, as souvenirs! :)

Hmmm...anyway, there was no real point of writing this post except that I was going through the photo album and felt really happy and so felt like blogging about it! :) Oh, and I really like this snap of the Falls that I've taken- looks so beautiful in a picture, imagine what the real thing looks like! I can't wait for my parents to get here... :):)


And here is a glimpse of the Maid of the Mist boat from the Observatory


People say it looks even better from the Canada side- I honestly don't know how that is possible! Hopefully, I'll make that trip soon enough and find out ! :)

Music that binds

It is often, very difficult to describe the connection between two people. More often than not, ties that bind people go through a constant metamorphosis until that stability, a comfort zone, is reached. This is true even for people integral to your life's fabric, people you interact with on a day to day basis. In this case, I am referring to my mother.

There are, of course, a gazillion things that bind us together- we have, after all, spent 24 years in each others' company !! :) But there a few things that I have and always will associate with "us"- things that have defined our relationship over the years. And one of them is Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. And before you shriek out in horror, let me clarify that I am NOT referring to the Himesss and Bappi da version (Aap ne ye jo gayi hai, bahut badhiya gayi hai !! LOL !!) I am talking about the more authentic, real, Marathi version that airs on Alpha TV. And though I do hate the channel for dishing out "creations" like Asambhav and Ya Sukhanno Ya, I do sincerely believe that it has done the Television and the Music industry proud by managing to maintain the sanctity of the show over the past so many years.

So anyway, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has always been this one show we both saw together. We stayed up till late at night to see it, saw the repeat telecasts over and over again, much to the chagrin of my dad and sister, and invariably sang along in our loud, slightly-out-of-tune voices !! Let's just say that it was our two nights of bliss- where music took over studies and work! So as was inevitable, this is the part of our daily routine I miss the most in the US. She does keep giving me updates over the telephone- who is competing, who the judges are, who sang what, who got voted out etc etc. But it's not the real thing!

But today was different. I happened to call her at the same time the episode was being aired and though she usually refuses to talk to me during such "critical" times, today she decided she could speak to me while watching (note the order of importance :P). And that's when one of our favorite all time classics by Asha Bhosale came on. My mom immediately put the phone near the TV's speakers, all conversation came to a halt and for the next three minutes, we simply listened to this wonderful classic. And then out of nowhere, we started singing along too! (Now this was okay for my mom coz she was within the confines of our home, but I was sitting in my Grad Assistant's office- thank God no professor walked in! :P)

It was just like old times !!

Hats off to the maestro whose voice still manages to bind hearts that are 8000 miles away!

45 lessons

Got this forward from my dad this morning. Now this is a little (actually, completely) philosophical, and it is not in the nature of this blog or its owner to sermonize on a routine basis. But in the current difficult times, this little forward did make a lot of sense to me. So, I had to post it here. Read it and give it a thought! :)

PS- I've highlighted the ones I liked best of the lot !!


Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio :

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone.. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind..
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Copy-Pasting a Blogpost

I was reading through the blogs of some of the friends on my blogroll, just to catch up on what they've been up to. Been a while since I spoke to some of them. And I came across this post written by a guy I know in Pune. I was reading his post- which was really small, but brilliant, an analogy of sorts. At that point, I realized that I had read a very similar post on the blog of another senior of mine from COEP. Just to check out, I opened her blog and hunted for that post.

And horror of horrors, it was the exact same post! And by exact, I mean word-for-word...

Now obviously, my COEP senior had posted this about a year before this other guy, so it's obvious who used Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V !! :P And having been a Masters student in the US for more than six months now, I am pretty sensitive to plagiarism issues! (Lol!) No seriously, I didn't like what he'd done. In spite of that, I decided to give him a fair chance- maybe he wasn't aware of blogging rules. So I pointed it out to him in his comments section. Even linked it to the url of the original blog post. I thought he'd accept his mistake and either remove his post or mention the source as an "inspiration". At least that was the gracious thing to do!

When I checked back a day later, he had deleted by comment and the post was still there as it is- without any modifications! Furthermore, he was actually receiving applauding comments from his other friends about how insightful his post was and how clever of him to think up of such an analogy !!!

Now there are two things to this- the guy picks up a post from another source, without changing even a preposition in it (the only thing he did was italicize a few words... :P:P). And to top it off, he doesn't change it even after someone tells him it's not his original work! Well, he's an engineering student, and I know that as a group, we don't think too much of "GT-ing" our sheets or copying journals, but that is for convenience (;-)) This is pure plagiarism only coz he couldn't find something smart to write on his blog!

I know most people who blog do it for pleasure. Our posts are not protected by copyright laws or licenses. But as bloggers, there is an unwritten code of conduct we all follow, and that is to never Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V another person's post without permission!

I hope that guy reads this post and realizes the mistake he's committed !! :P:P

(Interesting cartoon taken from here)

PS: I'm not mentioning either the guy's blog link or the link to the original post because I don't want to embarrass him. But I sincerely do think he should do something about it!

Song and Tag

I've been wanting to get back to blogging since ages. But most of the times, there were either too many things to write about, or absolutely nothing I could think of!

So when I finally couldn't take it any more, I did the next best thing a person who hasn't blogged for more than 5 months does- tagged myself !!! :D Well, I saw this really interesting tag on a blog I frequent quite often and thought it was an interesting idea... So here goes-

Here are the rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle mode.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. Write the song name no matter what it is.
4. After you've answered all of the questions, tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged.

1. If someone says "Is this okay?", you say:
Ae kaash ke hum hosh mein ab
Ane na payein...

2. What would best describe your personality?
Ek Haseena Thi..... (From Karzzzz no less... :D:D)

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
C'mon c'mom c'mon,
We're gonna make it home tonight...

4. How do you feel today?
Don't wanna be an American Idiot,
Don't want a nation under the new media,
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind f*** America
(Dear US Visa people, It's just a tag, I really don't mean this !! Sincerely, Suparna :P)

5. What is your life's purpose?
Ashayein khile dil ki
Ummedein hasein dil ki
Ab mushkil nahin kuch bhi... (Waah waah !!!)

6. What do your friends think of you?
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it all right but not right now
I know you're wondering when

7. What do you think of your parents?
Teri aakhon ke
Chipe dard mein,
Aasoon ki tarah
Mehfuz hoon... (Oh man.... noooooo !!)

8. What do you think about very often?
Mitwaaaa.... Kahein dhadkanein tujh se kya !!!

9. What is 2+2?
Urvashi !!! (Hahahaha... )

10. What do you think of your best friend?
Dil Chahta hai...
Kabhi na beetein chamkile din..
Dil Chahta hai...
Hum na rahein kabhi yaaron ke bin.. (Yayyyy...)

11. What do you think of the person you like?
Forever, we will be
Together, you and me
Oh n when I hold ya, nothing can compare
With all of my heart, you know Ill always be, right there..
(Oh I so mean this !! :))

12. What is your life story?
So don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care,
Coz I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
(Oooo I like this... :))

13. What do you want to be when you grow up?
What's going on?!?! (Seriously, what IS going on!?)

14. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Hey Shona !!!! (Ha! Too much ho raha hai ab !!)

15. What do your parents think of you?
Tanha Dil,
Tanha safar,
Dhunde tujhe,
Phir kyon nazar...

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
Rangeela re !!! (Now this is the best one !!! :D)

17. What will they play at your funeral?
Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break
And you take what you get, and you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never gonna find you fake it
No no no

18. What is your hobby/interest?
Hum jo chal ne lage
Chal ne lage hai yeh raaste
Aahha manzil se behatar
Lagne lage hai yeh raaste

19. What is your biggest secret?
You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen
(Haila!)

20. What do you think of your friends?
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me...
(Senti senti... sob sob... :(()

21. What should you post this as?
O Humdum suniyo re !!! :D

22. What do you think about this tag?
Tak tana tana tandoori nights !!!!
(Ok, now THIS is has got to be the best one !!!)

And I tag all the people who haven't blogged for months like me and need a comeback post !! :) Sing away... :)

All it takes is Visa Power !!

Came across this cartoon strip a few days ago. It's been doing the rounds for quite a while now, but is apt for anybody harboring dreams of studying in a US University and getting the all-so-important ticket to the land of dreams- the US Visa !! (As Jiggy says in Jaane Tu...- Sab ko nahin milta !!)

Well, I'm at Stage 14 currently... Phew! So much for dreams...

Making sense of you

I was watching this film- "In her Shoes", a few days ago. (Yeah yeah, I know, Cameron Diaz looks hot. Can we move on now!? :-P) Anyway, there's this one scene where Rose (Toni Collette) and Simon (Mark Feuerstein) are dining at a sushi joint and Simon asks Rose about the things that make sense of her as a person. Things without which her life wouldn't be complete.

That dialogue set my mind thinking. How often have we thought about the things that help us make sense of our life?! They are such ingrained parts of our lives that actually listing them out requires some thought; it's not something that is spontaneous.

Anyway, when I decided to do it, what was interesting was- the stuff I came up with was not what I'm necessarily the best at. (Of course, this is assuming that there are things I'm the best at, which is well...not quite true! ;-)) Anyway, these are things I just love deeply, regardless of the fact that there are people in the world who're a lot better than me at it. Infact, it is this very fact that drives me to be better at them. Which is why, in essence, they help me make sense of me!

Ok, now even I don't know if I've been able to express what I want to say correctly, so I'm just going to move on to this "list" I've been talking about for way too long...

1) Writing: Which is why I have a blog in the first place, so obviously tops my list. Again, I know I'm not the best writer. I've read blogs of so many random people who're absolutely brilliant at putting thoughts to words, it makes me jealous at times. But at the same time, I know I do possess moderate talent in this area (Oh, the modesty! :-D) And so, I hate it when I don't do a good job of a writing assignment. Like, when I can't complete a blogpost the way I wanted to, or when I can't edit a friend's SOP well enough, or when I write an article for a mag and it doesn't get published. When I was in school, I used to get disappointed if I didn't win an essay writing competition. Or when I got a 5.5 in AWM in my GRE, it was the greatest day of my life coz even though I had friends who'd got better scores than me, I'd topped them in the writing section. (This post was written then.)

2) Photography: Again, I am decently good in this area. But it actually bothers me when someone comments on how silly a photograph clicked by me turned out to be (even if it's true). Or when my roommate is able to capture a better frame than me. Or when I can't do that photography workshop I've been waiting for, just because the stupid photographer relocated his studio !! :-P

3) Films: Not going to say much about this, except that I don't mean "films" in the typical frivolous fashion imagined by most. The connection goes way deep and making it all come together is an ongoing quest.

4) When I was in COEP, it was Fervor- our department's annual techfest. Now while this may seem a stupid choice, my classmates and their friends know how much this event meant to me. It there's one single thing I'm proud of, in my engineering life- it's this. And though this is not a lifelong association, it gives me an amazing sort of happiness knowing that Fervor saw it's best and worst days when I was a part of it.

I guess that's it. That completes my list. It's a good exercise to practice actually; could even work as a blogtag. Question though- wouldn't it be so much better if the work we did found a place in this list!? Or is it stupid to even expect someone to say that operations research helps them make sense of their life?! Or, maybe that's not such a bad idea after all..

PS: If anyone does attempt this, do let me know what you came up with.. Would be interesting to know...

Being held at gunpoint right now..

Firstly, my apologies for not writing for this long. But believe me, the kinda month I've had, it's a wonder I even found time to write right now! But more on that later. I have midterms coming up and my dear friend P chooses this very moment to tag me. And added to that is the fact that the tag is a rather lovey-dovey type. Which is not my favourite topic to write on. Anyway, I have to complete the tag coz I stand to lose quite a bit if I don't. So with a sufficiently large amount of trepidation, I begin-

Q. What would you love the most in your lover?
Ans: His totally arbit sense of humour. His awesome smile. His ability to understand the little things that matter to me (big point)

Q. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Ans: Invest for sure. (I'm my dad's beti bhai !! And he's big on investments!) And build the most amazing farmhouse for my parents. And...donate a part of it.

Q. What is love?
Ans: I honestly don't know.

Q. Would you fall in love with your best friend?
Ans: According to me, that's the best kind of love. I belong to the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai line of thought.

Q. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
And: I guess a bit of both is always good !!

Q. How long should you wait for someone you really love?
Ans: Till someone else comes along.. ;-)

Q. Is it possible to like someone without loving them?
Ans: Yes.

Q. Is it possible to love someone without liking them?
Ans: Yes.

Q. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Ans: Make him feel like the world's worst loser and then move on.

Q. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Ans: Keep safe distance.

Q. What takes you down the fastest?
Ans: Umm...the stairs!? Ok, I'm bored of these questions now.

Q. How would you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Ans: Slimmer hopefully. But that's more like in ten months. I don't believe in ten year plans yaar..

Q. What’s your fear?
Ans: Ummm...losing people I love. And not being able to fulfill my dreams.

Q. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Ans: A lunatic. And I mean this. :-P

Q. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Ans: Depends. Ladka kaun hai!? ;-)

Q. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Ans: Brush my teeth!

Q. Would you give all in a relationship?
Ans: Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

Q: If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, whom would you pick?
Ans: Haha...two people!? Pehle ek to sambhalne do !!

Q. Would you forgive and forget, no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
Ans: Koi guarantee nahi.

Q. If you get to go back in time and fall in love all over again, would it still be with the same person?
Ans: Not applicable.

Q: Describe your ideal man.
Ans: Ok, is this for 3 marks or 5 marks!? :-P
Ummm..lets see. Crazy sense of humour. Awesome killer smile. Sports freak. Music freak. Good English. Film buff. Cook. Eclectic interests. Experimental. Committed to his work and family. Totally mad. Should get on my nerves. Subtly romantic. Should please please exist. :-D

Phew! That wasn't too bad. Anyway P, now that I'm done, give me back what you've taken! :-P

And hopefully, I'll come up with a real post real soon...

Film Review: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

I finally managed to see Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na two days ago and I must say- this is probably the first time my prediction about a movie has gone wrong! When the whole Love Story 2050 vs Jaane Tu battle was on, I'd thought Love Story would do a lot better than Jaane Tu, not because it would be a brilliant film but because it would at least have a great deal of special effects (after all, 50 crores usi pe toh kharch kiye !!) and suitable eye-candy (read: the Baweja boy and his red haired girlfriend!) And from the looks of it (pun totally intended), these things do matter in the success of a film, regardless of the story. (Remember Om Shanti Om!?) And I'd thought Jaane Tu would be a copy of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai with a predictable storyline and weird looking actors (this was before I heard Imran Khan give an interview- smart fella, I must say!)

Anyway, I haven't been able to muster the courage to watch Love Story yet and Jaane Tu is pretty much a predictable flick, but I love the way Abbas Tyrewala has managed to stay away from a lot of the cliches surrounding the "best friends falling in love" stereotype. His background as a scriptwriter definitely show in the dialogues. I specially loved the Bottoms-up-Coke and the whole Rathod from Ranjaur angle. This is probably the only film of Sohail Khan I've found tolerable!

I'm not going to go into a detailed film review coz there are obviously a lot of those doing the rounds. It's the story of a boy and girl who are best friends and are also secretly in love. Only catch- the whole world knows this except them! So basically the whole story revolves around how they find this out. One thing I don't get though- why do all girl-best-friends of guys have to be tomboys?! Is that coz a girly girl would be too attractive for a guy to be just friends with?! Also, why does a tomboy girl have to become a girly girl when she gets a boyfriend!? Like start wearing dresses and straighten the hair and all that jazz! (I take personal offence to the latter! ;-)) C'mon, guys aren't that shallow na!? Or are you!?

I liked the fact that none of the male characters were templates of those typisch stud-boys waiting to bash up the next person! Neither were the gals the crying-at-the-drop-of-a-hat variety! But again- since they've shown Aditi to be the kinda gal who doesn't think twice before slapping or swearing at a guy, then why doesn't she do the same to that dumbass boyfriend of hers when he slaps her!? After all, he's the philandering one! Or is that asking for too much from a pretty lass in a Bollywood film!?

Loved the airport sequence- very very Bollywood, but still manages to make you smile. And thank God they made Jai sing the Jaane Tu.. wala song himself- bad vocals notwithstanding. It's small things like these which make Jaane Tu a lot better than other films of its genre. Also liked the whole Boms-Rotlu thing. It's heartening to see that finally film makers are opening up to the idea of a partly balding, weepy, (albeit sweet) collegian falling in love with a (cute?) gal, without making a joke of it. Love seldom is of the knight-in-shining-armour variety na!

Brilliant supporting cast which actually contributes to the storyline. Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal are mind blowing as expected. Their characters have been etched out beautifully. I loved Meghna's character the best, but I'm going to reserve my thoughts on that for a later post.

And the whole boy-and-girl-can-never-be-just-friends bit?! The less I say on this, the better. Somehow the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I think of this topic is an evergreen dialogue from Maine Pyaar Kiya said by a raging Mohnish Behl to Mr. Khan. It goes thus-

Prem...ek ladka aur ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte! Yeh toh ek natak hai...natak! Dhadakte hue dilon ki bhadakti hui aag ko chupane ka...bujhane ka...!!

Not that I subscribe to the view, of course! Best friends falling in love is probably the most common and convenient of all reel love stories, but it definitely doesn't have to be the case every time in real life!

So what's your aim in life ?!

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how the whole placement scenario works in engineering colleges. It's weird, but the one thing Dale (a COEP professor, I think that's enough said!) was bang-on-target about is that the reason students want to get into a good engineering college is to get a good job! Somehow the moment you come to know you've cleared your third year, the one fear that strikes the mind of every engineering student is- placements! Anyway been there, done that. So I completely understand and sympathize with them! So, I was reliving my interview experience when I suddenly remembered this seemingly simple, but brillianto question this guy from Cognizant asked me- "What is your aim in life?"

Now in interviews and SOPs, you make up your answers. And more often than not, they consist of phrases you pick up from the company/university website spiced with stuff like "cutting edge research", "pioneers in the field of blah blah", "leaders of tomorrow", "perfect opportunity to hone my technical expertise" and what not! Obviously, coz these people decide whether you get the job or the university admit. But while I was telling her all this, I realized that I haven't even bothered to give a thought to its real answer all these years! (And I thought, at 23 I'd know it all!)

I remember when I was in school in Doha, my mom had a teacher friend who's daughter was about 5-6 years elder to me. I must've been around 13 then. So this daughter, all bright and smart, apparently told her mom that one day she'd have a flashy office on like the hundredth floor of a glass building from where it'd seem like the whole world was at her feet! See, that's so Shah Rukh Khan-isque !! Same illuminating moment came in his life when he declared to his friend, standing on Marine Drive (I think) that one day he'd own the city! And he so does! Lol.. Well, I have no idea whether that bright and smarty-pants daughter got her hundredth floor office or not, but the point is- she had the "guts" to make a statement like that, when she was all of 20! And that is what oh-so-impressed my mom, who got all sentimental that day! Made me seem like a fool coz I hadn't made any such promises; I was still battling with World War I statistics!

Then, I remember there was this one time my mom, sister and I were driving home from someplace, I'm guessing a fancy dinner coz that's when we're at out chattiest best! And I told my mom that one day I'd have a production company and I'd name it after her coz I was so proud of the way she'd raised me !! Yeah well, first reaction to that was shudder- why would I launch a production company!? And that was followed by laughter, fortunately not the ROTFLMAO kind coz she was driving! She thought I was drunk on food or something, making crazy statements like that! So there, my first attempt went down the drain! Well what do you know, I'll still have that production company one day; only it won't be named after her! So her loss, not mine !! :-P

Anyway, so ever since that fiasco, I stopped making such claims. 12th Boards happened, engineering happened and now further studying will happen. And I still don't have the answer to that billion dollar question- "Where do you see yourself ten years from now?!" (By the way, shouldn't that question be reserved for film stars; at least they'll have interesting answers!)

So, with a hint of apprehension, I attempt to answer that question today. And since I truly believe that success is a journey, not a destination (taaliyan !!), instead of a definitive target, I shall be listing out things I plan to accomplish before I'm 27. Why 27? Coz I don't think I can plan as far as ten years, a five year plan seems like a good start. (On an entirely different note- in five years I shall be 27!? When is that quarter life crisis supposed to hit!? Does it kill!?)

1. Have a job that will hopefully be related to industrial engineering and will be something I really care about. Now question for all working people- is it possible to have a job you care about or is that just a myth?!
2. Become a professional photographer.
3. Complete Dream Project 1. What the project is about is a secret. You'll anyway know when it's complete.
4. Have a detailed plan ready for the production company. Let's start with the name..
5. I do measure success to some extent with material possessions. So I'd feel really glad if I'd own my own house and car by then. I'm guessing if I accomplish 1 by the time I'm 25, then this wouldn't be an impossible dream.
6. Visit Egypt, Greece, Europe (at least Germany and France), Nepal and Australia. That's one for each year. And implied here, would be doing all the stuff that's typical of each place like scuba diving at the Reefs in Australia. This is in keeping with the "do everything at least once in life" motto! Hopefully one of the above will be one of those budget trips with random strangers, as I mentioned here.
7. Learn to speak German fluently. And manageable French and Spanish.
8. Learn how to play football, ekdam properly!
9. Visit an Indian Air Force base and hopefully co-pilot one of the jets. This is coz I'm crazy about the IAF (and NOT because of the airforce pilots in crew cuts; that's sooo typical... :-P) And if I were two centimeters taller (and a lot fitter), I'd be an IAF officer today!
10. Stay unmarried. Yeah well, you'll know why that's important once you meet my mom !!

Phew! There...that's my list! I don't know how many of these I'm going to be able to accomplish in the stipulated time frame. We'll continue this five years from today..

The Big C

Well, no, I'm not referring to Cancer or Commitment though they are Big C's too! What I'm talking about is COMMUNICATION !!!

You know, I have more than 400 friends on Orkut. (Well if you've lived in two countries, gone to two schools, a junior college and a professional college, you end up knowing those many people! Anyway that's not the point here, so shush! :-P) And if seventy percent of these people have been in relationships (you know, the boy-girl-in-love types) that didn't work out, at least fifty percent of them feel they ended because they "didn't communicate at the right time". (How do I know this? I didn't conduct a survey; there's a section in the profile called "From your past relationships you learnt:". I know from that. See, Orkutting can be useful too! ;-))

There are reports of how the divorce rate in India, especially in metros, is increasing at alarming rates. Most couples blame it on miscommunication.

I was reading this article in India Today on teenage suicides. Apparently 16 teenagers commit suicide every day in India and 82% of them say they're under stress because their parents talk to them only about their marks and career, while they want to talk to parents about themselves.

Until a few years ago, I always thought that it isn't necessary to communicate your feelings to your friends and family. Since they've been such an important part of your life for so long, they'll understand what you feel. But the past few months have made me realize that this is far from true. It is often the people we're closest to, who need to know how much we care about them. And I'm not just including romantic relationships here; even our parents and friends come in this bracket.

All through my school and college, I've had so many friends, some who I thought would last a lifetime. But more often than not, we drifted apart in due course of time. And I often blamed my pals for what happened. It was always something they did or something they said that strained relations. Until I realized that since I was the common factor in all those disagreements, surely something would be wrong with me too!

My sister, though, is very good at this communication thing. Since she stays away from home, all the sms-es she sends my mom and me are laced with "Love you" and "Miss you" and what not. If we don't talk to her for more than 24 hours, she gets restless. And one thing she keeps telling us is that she doesn't want us to get used to living without her, ever! At face value, all this seems a tad too sentimental. I used to always think- What the hell, she's away from home to study. You can't afford to be so emotional about silly issues. But the fact is, she doesn't say this coz she is miserable without us. She's managing fine enough. But these are just ways to tell your people what they mean to you. And going by how much my mom loves those sms-es, I can safely vouch for it's success.

We people get so bogged down by the rigmarole of life that we often give our family last priority. And while I agree with the philosophy that "paisa hai toh jahan hai", we should not forget what we're losing out on, in the process. Which is where the second aspect comes into picture- communication at the right time! You know how these couples claim that one of the golden rules of a successful marriage is never to sleep over a fight. I think this is one practice everyone should follow. In fact, don't even wait for a fight. Prevention is better than cure here. And while I'm not saying that you should scoot off to send balloons/chocolates/gifts/flowers to your loved ones every single day, it always pays to take some time off over the weekend to call up or email your pals. Write crap, but write. Like a few days ago, a friend from the US sent me a silly email about why I should be thankful I got a reject from Georgia Tech as most people in Gatech are gay! Well don't ask me what that means, this guy is a little loony! (Sorry Soumya! :-)) But I was laughing for ten minutes after that! See how simple it was?!

So, all I'm saying is- It's important to not take your family and friends for granted. And while it may seem trivial to some, taking time out to involve your people in the happenings of your life really goes a long way in building trust and love in a relationship. If someone like me can learn to do it, it must be child's play for sure!

And since this has been a rather serious article, here's a joke to lighten the mood -

When God made the first Negro, what did he say?
Oh shit! Yeh toh jal gaya !! :-D:-D
(I don't know why, but I love this joke! Just the idea of God saying it is h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s, no offence to Black people, I love you guys! Go Obama !! :-D)

"Me" defined

If any of you have been pondering over one of the greater questions of life- "Who am I, exactly!?"- then you should read about this interesting concept called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Now, I am generally wary of these multiple-choice personality-assessment questionnaires, having attempted wide varieties of them in Pune Times (!!) and the ever popular Tickle! Tickle, in fact, even has these "Ph.D certified" tests that help you determine how many karma points you accumulated in the past year and how bright your aura is, whatever that means! :-P.. But I must admit, I was amazed at the accuracy of the MBTI test. In fact it was one of those aha! moments for me, coz what the test reveals is stuff that you've known all along, but have never been able to put in words so succinctly. Besides, they put it all so nicely, it makes you think you're the greatest thing on Earth since sliced bread !! I took the test twice, just to see how reliable the results are, and they were 60% similar both the times. So I guess, that speaks for itself.

Excerpts from my report -

"......when it comes to their own areas of expertise - and INTJs can have several - they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know..." (That makes me feel like Socrates, though I think there are miles to go before I reach this stage! ;-))

"....produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake"

"Anyone considered to be "slacking," including superiors, will lose their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without consulting their supervisors or co-workers." (Bull's eye, I admit!)

And this one takes the cake -

"Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations. This happens because many INTJs do not readily grasp social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness. "

"....the strongest INTJ assets in the interpersonal area are their intuitive abilities and their willingness to "work at" a relationship."

Anyway, true or not, apparently I share my personality type with Lance Armstrong and Richard Gere !!! Aur kya chahiye !! *stars in eyes*

Anyone interested can take the test here. And do let me know how bang-on-target your assessment turns out!

My Daddy Coolest !!

Yeah well, as the title suggests, this post is dedicated to my Dad. Not coz today's his birthday or coz he did something great today. Even it were a special occassion, it would be very uncharacteristic of me to write a post about him because as I mentioned earlier, I'm a private person and besides, my dad and I aren't the very vocal-with-our-feelings kinda people.

Infact, my dad and I haven't done any of the things people usually associate with "dads". We haven't ever discussed my career. When I decided to take up engineering, he didn't ask me the quintessential "Why?" question even once, though he was a mechanical engineer himself. Nor have we ever discussed what I plan to do ahead. When I started my MS applications, he had no idea of the universities I was applying to. But the most amazing thing is, I'm glad he's not like that! See, I get enough of those life-shaping discussions from my mom so I am more than thankful about not getting them from dad !! My mom was always in awe of her dad. She's told me a million times that though they had really enlightening talks together, she always considered his words to be the pather ki lakeer. It was never that way with dad and me. I respect him and all obviously, but in the normal way one respects ones' parents. We aren't back-slapping buddies or anything but I definitely don't get intimidated by him !!

Anyway, since this post is for him, and both of us share a weird fondness for list-making and bulleted info, I'm going to list out why I think he's the coolest dad in the world -

• He knows everything about Bollywood. The new movies, the link-ups, gossip, what happened on which film's set...all such kind of crap. Which is rather cool considering not many 51 year old men are really interested in that kind of stuff !! So, being crazy about Bollywood myself, most of the "discussions" we have at home are on the latest B-scoop. And considering the fact that the Mumbai newspapers print a lot more of this info than the Pune editions, I sure get a hell lot of updates from him!
• He gets all the latest flicks a day after their release! A movie releases on a Friday and it's on his pendrive on Saturday! Some guy in their office is heavily into piracy apparently. Ok, so I'm not proud of it, but the advantage is- if there's a particular movie I really want to see, but it's not worth spending even 50 bucks in a theatre, then this works out perfect! I'm really waiting for him to get Tashan..
• Speaking of theatres, he's the only member of my family who doesn't mind watching a movie from the first row. And my years in COEP have made it sort of a tradition to buy only the cheapest seats available.
• We both are cricket crazy people. So if there's a match going on over a weekend, it's like a picnic for us. My mom watches cricket only if it's an India-Pak match or if India is playing the final of a series like the World Cup (which is rarer than a blue moon !! :-P). That's why I see IPL matches only on Saturdays and Sundays! Only problem though is that he supports Mumbai Indians (damn those people for winning yesterday !! :-P) while I support the Knight Riders !!
• He knows all about politics, so he's my one-stop encyclopedia for all the crap that goes on between BJP, Congress, Bush, Obama, Clinton blah blah..
• He's as technology and gadget crazy as I am (though I wouldn't say the same for techno-savvy !! ;-)) So whenever we buy any electronic items, they have to be the absolute latest in the market. He'd rather not buy them than buy a cheaper, older version.
• He's actually proud of my collection of books and so in effect, appreciates my reading habit. My mom also likes "story-books" (yup, that's what she calls my grown-up bhandars of knowledge, how insulting na!) but she considers reading them to be a waste of time and money! Maha-paap !!!
• He's totally cool with us drinking! He doesn't go all "He bhagwan, my daughter's gone haywire, ab mera hya hoga !!" My sister had her first beer with him when she was 18.. Yup, he abhors laws too !! :-) (Please note: This does not mean that we take undue advantage and go on drinking binges. We're good girls and know our limits. Seriously.)
• One thing I've inherited from him apart from my weird hair, is a knack for sarcasm. (Well, it may not show on the blog but when I bring it on, it's really biting crazy!) So we have these spontaneous duels every weekend where we're allowed to say whatever we want to cut each other and no one takes it very seriously. And believe me, it is so amazing to have a parent who doesn't expect you to be too respectful of him every waking moment and can take a joke on him light-heartedly!
• My dad truly understands my need to be in a creative field too, in addition having a "stable job". And it's such a relief to know that!

Anyway, I guess I'm going to stop now, though I can think of a lottt of other reasons. I guess the main reason I wrote this post is coz I was feeling kinda guilty about not having written about him on my blog earlier. I've mentioned my mom a lot of times. So this was to take that guilt away though I know he's never going to read this coz he doesn't have my blog address and well, I don't intend to give it to him in the near future !! Anyway, I'm not going to end with the maha-senti "I love you, Dad", coz as I said, we're not very expressive people. So all I want to say is- "Dad, please don't change ok!" :-)

Cheers! *clink*

Random tag about random things

I've been seeing this tag do rounds of the blogosphere for quite a while now, where you have to list out ten random things about yourself or something like that! Anyway, the few posts I've been working on just aren't turning out right, so I thought I might as well attempt it... (As a side note, somehow all the tags I write are a result of boredom and incomplete posts !!)

Anyway, so here goes -

• I like reading the entire newspaper/magazine in one sitting and hate being disturbed while I'm reading. And we get two newspapers at home and subscribe to 5 magazines (JAM, Readers Digest, India Today, Good Housekeeping and Health!) My ideal sunday morning is sitting with the paper for one hour straight, with no telephone calls and other distractions. Really makes my day! Newspaper reading also is a major stress buster for me. Like if I'm getting nervous before an exam, the best thing to do is read the newspaper. Somehow calms me down.
• I'm very possessive about my books collection. It's not very exhaustive or anything, but I love each of my books to bits. I lend them only to people I totally trust.
• I'm a complete morning person. The only time I really enjoy staying up late is during a party or when I'm chatting with old friends on the Net. On most days, I'm up by 6 am and get very irritated even if I oversleep till 6:30-7. That's "late" for me !!
• I have a thing for registrations numbers of vehicles. The number plate is the first thing I look at when I see a vehicle (unless it's a Merc or an H3; that's when I ogle at the vehicle first and then look at it's number plate! ;-)) and it happens involuntarily. So I know the vehicle numbers of all my friends, relatives, people of my society and some random vehicles I've seen around in Aundh area. About 4 years ago, I saw an unknown guy drive my friend's Matiz- recognized it was his from the number plate obviously. He was studying in the UK then, so I told him about it and it turned out that his parents had sold it to someone else just a day back and hadn't told him about it yet !!
• I also have thing for remembering people's birthdays (without reminders on cellphones!) I even remember the birthdays of most of my schoolmates, though I haven't even spoken to some of them since we left school 7 years ago! Somehow can't get the dates out of my head !! :-)
• I hate clutter. I'm not much of a cleanliness freak a la Monica, though I do have an Annual Room-Cleaning session (I just had this year's session over the weekend, but more on that later) The point is- I don't mind an untidy room, but I don't like things strewn about the place. I'd rather have them stacked up in one corner until I find the time to clean it up.
• I own 3 pairs of shoes- my gym shoes, my floaters for college and a pair of sandals with Indian wear. I'm not too crazy about bags, jewellery, shopping and gossip too. Nor do I freak out at the sight of lizards, cockroaches and other unidentified flying and crawling objects. Therefore, I hate it if people generalize statements about "girls".
• I hate people who are cruel to animals. I'm vegetarian coz I saw a butcher cut meat once and I couldn't sleep for 2 nights after that! I don't mind it if people don't like animals, its a personal choice; but atleast don't hurt them. Infact there have been many occasions when I've lectured random kids on roads who think it's funny to throw stones at stray dogs and laugh about it with their pals!
• I have this weird desire to try everything once. And I mean it literally. This pertains to music, food, languages, skills, places... Like this one time, I saw an advert for coffee painting classes in the newspaper and I wanted to attend them. And I don't even know what coffee painting is !!
• One thing I really really want to do is scoot off on a budget trip to some godforsaken place with complete strangers! I hope that happens in the next two years...

Go Knight Riders !!!

The million dollar question of the year is- Will IPL work?! People are talking about it all over, my dad and I have been discussing it for the past month...it's created a frenzy even before it began! Anyway here's why I think IPL will work this year- Pure beginner's luck! See, the media hype over the event has crossed all boundaries- the auction, the filmstars/industrialists/other party people (That's what you call Vijay Mallya right!? ;-)) bidding for players, which players end up together, the whole speculation about whether the event will even see the light of day etc etc... has definitely managed to grab more than the attention of the Indian audience. The adventurous ones are looking forward to it; the sceptics are waiting for the whole thing to fall on it's face so that their bhavishyavani can be proved right...but either way, people are going to watch the matches!

Some will buy tickets because for them, live cricket is the real thing, hardly matters whether its India vs Pakistan or Chennai vs Mohali !! Added attraction, of course, is the Bollywood quotient! Another section of viewers will be curious to know how many people land up at the stadium, so they'll go to see that. Same goes for the TV audience! And it's a T-20 format, so you blink and it's over...doesn't disrupt the sanity of the house too !!

So basically, the team owners and sponsors earn their money, the cricketers get their money, the viewers get to see innovative cricket...everyone's happy! Whether the trend will continue next year- now that's something that can't be predicted right now !! So enjoy it while it lasts...

Anyway, I'm supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders !! They're easily the best team- Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting, Murali Karthik, Chris Gayle, Ishant Sharma...and of course Shah Rukh Khan...aur kya chahiye !! :-D

We're too hot,

We're too cool,

We are the King's Men,

We rule !!!

Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo reeeee...!!!

Check out this ad too. SRK is like the marketing God !! GO KOLKATA !! I'm lovin' it already !!! :-D:-D

So...which team are you rooting for ?!

Asli swaad zindagi ka !!

This is probably the worst phase of the advertising industry !! Most of the ads we see nowadays are downright stupid (seen the ones for Axe deo, perfume etc? Yuck !!) and somehow today's advertising "gurus" have forgotten have forgotten that an ad sells a product- not a celeb !!

Anyway, this is probably one of my all time favourite ads !! Came across this on a friend's profile and it truly brought back fond memories of some really good (and may I add, simpler!) times !! :-) No jazz, no snazzy shots, no eardrum-bursting music and thankfully no stars! Just a yummy product and an easy concept- Eat Cadbury, enjoy life !! :-)

And the girl's impromptu jig when her guy makes a century...priceless !! :-)

Naam toh suna hoga ?!?!

I read this post today, on Rashmi Bansal's awesome blog. It's this analysis on common Indian names for girls and boys. Very interesting insight, though some of the Sanskrit names are really freaky! Sample this: Mrigankshekhar, Joushura and Arkoprabha! Yikes !!

I, for one, feel very strongly about parents giving their children nice names. I know it may not be a big deal to some, but a name is like your identity for the rest of your life! I don't know how many of you have noticed, but a person with a nice-sounding or unusual name always manages to grab attention of the listener a lot easier than a person with a run-of-the-mill name. And given the importance of "first impressions" these days, a nice name is the work half-done, right ?!

Like this incident that happened when I visited IIT, Bombay last week. I was on the train from Kanjurmarg to Dadar to catch a bus back home. And there was this lady with her newborn kid (his first travel by train it seems, taaliyaan !!) and her mother-in-law. They were playing with him, trying to keep him occupied n all....and all of a sudden, the MIL takes him in her arms and says, "Kaalicharan...arre o Kaalicharan! Train mein baitha hai mera bachcha....!!" Now I know that Kaalicharan is probably the name of a Hindu God and so they've named him that, and I respect their sentiments. But imagine what a complex that kid will grow up with, with a name like that in 21st century India! Realistically speaking, it's not very fair to the kid, right?! Gogol Ganguly type crisis all over again!

I keep telling my parents that one thing I'm glad they gave me (apart from the usual moral studies on respect for elders, honesty blah blah...) is a good name! It may sound vain, but it's true.. (Also, I inherited the weirdest hair in the world from my dad's side, and there's not a week I don't crib about it. So this, kind of, has a mollifying effect! Makes him feel less guilty! ;-)) Suparna is a name that's not very common in Maharashtra and neighbouring areas (more of a Bengali name apparently!) so I get a lot of the "Hey, nice name!" from strangers and that does make me feel uber-cool...!! ;-) Besides, all my friends have like the most boring names in the world (sorry people, but it's true! :-P) so that's like icing on the cake!

So, lesson to all parents: Give your children good names, please. Very important issue.

P.S.1- I'm named after a character on a daily soap that used to run on DD around the time I was born! There was apparently this lawyer lady called Suparna on the show, who had a really strong and powerful persona. My mom loved her so much that she decided to name me after her!
There's something about me I'm sure you don't care about !! :-P

P.S.2- Two names I really love are Aditya and Niret. And though Rashmi says Aditya is the most common name among boys these days, I don't have any friends called Aditya! (Only acquaintances but I can't take the liberty of calling them "Adi" na !! Sob! :-( Lol.. That's such a girly thing to write !!)
I have no idea what Niret means, just love the sound of the name!
That's another bit of useless trivia about me for you !! Enjoy !!

Mush on the net !!

I'm not a very big fan of publicizing my personal (read: love) life- whether in public or on the net! I find it pretty incredible how couples are so upbeat about the idea of putting up little details about their "better"-half or their marriage on their blogs or personal websites. I'm not saying it's wrong or whatever; I guess it's just about me being a kinda private person, that's all.

But I came across this and this on the blog of this girl I know through a common friend. Now, though I don't think I would ever write similar posts on my blog, reading them even made me go awwwww...... :-)

Note to all boyfriends: Girls like having a "proposal story", so even if you'll have been seeing each other for ten years, make it a point to formally "propose" to your girl before taking the big step !! She's obviously going to say yes, so you don't have to get all jittery and anxious about it.. You may call it the western influence or whatever..but it's important to us! Gives us a nice story to tell the children and grandchildren and well...makes you look kinda cool too !! ;-)

Found this cartoon strip on the net - guys would probably be able to identify with this! ;-) Cheers !!

Film Review: U, Me Aur Hum

I have a great deal of respect for first time film directors. So I make it a point to definitely watch their films (in the theatre) in the first week itself. And of course, when the film is made by someone like Ajay Devgan, the anticipation is even more, and justifiably so!

But unfortunately, the film- though strong in its conception- didn't quite live up to my expectations. I expected the film to have a tried and tested template- you know- boy meets girl, something goes wrong, but they get back together, marry, again something terrible happens but they tide over it and well...live happily ever after! This fact in itself was surprising, considering romance isn't exactly what Ajay Devgan is known for, in the film industry. But though the start is pretty typical (especially the title montage with love quotes amidst white clouds!), the story takes on a brilliant turn after the initial mush is done with. Surprisingly, the brilliant Kajol and Ajay Devgan pairing doesn't quite make the mark this time. Their earlier films together- who can forget the frothy Pyaar to hona hi tha and the sensitive Dil kya kare- had a freshness and genuineness to them that made them stand out. But somehow, the whole part where Dr. Ajay, a psychiatrist meeting Piya, a waitress on a cruiseline, falling in love with her "at first sight" (phew!) and trying to charm his way to her heart, comes out a tad too artificial. The sequences are cliched (salsa and liqueur chocolates.....really!?) and Kajol and Ajay look too comfortable with each other to seem like first-time lovers! This is probably why the first half doesn't make an impact!

The story does pick up a lot in the second lot- that's when you actually have a "story" to the film actually! The whole Alzheimer's issue and what each of the characters go through while dealing with it has been brought out brilliantly! That's the sort of stuff you expect from a veteran actor, who's done more than his share of meaningful cinema. There's limited yelling, screaming and depression and the film does progress through all of that to successfully bring out its point- that is to convey the true meaning of togetherness and commitment. But again, one thing I didn't like about this part is the supremely detailed visuals. I distinctly remember this scene where it's raining and Kajol loses her way home and can't remember her address etc. There's this part where the camera focuses on the raindrop falling off her eyelashes as she blinks! And there's this other part where we have orange brain cells trying to transmit some information and slowly turning a dull grey (obviously decaying coz of the disease) I mean, what is that about?! The way I see it- if you have a complicated and layered storyline, keep the visuals simple so that it doesn't get too garish on screen! Remember TZP?! Special effects are used to add charm to otherwise cocky stories- like in Dhoom 2 !!

One thing I really liked about the movie though- are the supporting characters. Brilliant performances by Sumeet Raghavan and Divya Dutta- as expected, of course. Isha Shervani and Karan Khanna don't do much, except add a few laughs here and there! What's different in this film is that the supporting characters don't waltz in every 15 minutes just to sing-n-dance or drink vodkas! They actually "support" the main characters- like extended family. And since there are no sasu-mas and pitajis in this film, these friends provide the love, support and encouragement to the main couple when the need arises. This is the kind of importance not given very often to the supporting star cast. As a director, Ajay Devgan has really scored brownie points here!

Songs are nice, nothing that lingers on in our minds! All in all, it's a film worth a watch- at least for its second half. I think after this film, no one will be questioning Ajay Devgan's competence in handling love stories. But one suggestion- maybe everyone in Bollywood should steer clear of the "love at first sight" concept yaar. It was great when Yash Raj Films did it but it's become a bit too commonplace now and well, everyone knows that doesn't work! ;-)

(Read an awesome review of the film here)

Wondering..

What is the best way to make a decision or choose between two options laid out in front of you, if you don't know which of the two is best for you?!

Like consider a situation where you have two options- O1 and O2 -

O1 is what people term as a "safe bet". It's something that's been done before, will fetch immediate returns and guarentees (instant) success to a large extent. It's also something you know you will be pretty good at and will make you happy.

Whereas O2 is not exactly what is termed conventional, it would bring success- but only in the long run. It is something you think you're good at, but you're not sure coz you've never really given it your best shot yet. But it's something that'll make you happier, much happier !!

So now how do you decide what to go for?! Either you have the gumption to take a decision and stick to it, no matter the consequences- which would be the best way of course, but only in an ideal world! What if you don't have the capacity or the maturity to choose? Another option, in this case, is to leave it to nature/fate/God right.. The whole The Alchemist type mindset.

"When you want something - the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

So you go for O1 and if that works out, you take it as a sign and accept that it was the right option for you. If that doesn't work out, obviously O2 is the way to go! Simple enough. But here's the catch. What if somewhere in the deep, dusty corners of your heart, you want to choose O2 coz you know that's the way to go. (Inner voice and all that...) But you still choose O1, hoping that it won't work out and O2 would automatically fall open for you. But O1 works !! And it works better than you expected it would !!

Then what do you do? Do you take that as a sign and accept that O1 is actually right?!

Don't you owe it to yourself to give O2 a shot too ?!

Guess it takes courage to not just take a decision, but also to decide how to take that decision eh !!