Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum....

Thank God for making me land up in the bay area.... for a person like me, making new friends in a new place would have been a challenge alright... but like all rivulets meeting up in the sea, I've been reunited with long-lost friends, from school and junior college and engineering... but at a time when I have good friends all around me in person and a couple of real good ones on the phone and in the same country, today I missed a few friends of mine a lot... I must admit I am not great at staying in touch with people. Barring a couple whom I would carry with me through life, most of my really good friends have also come and gone in phases... some present ones will go their way too soon... the thought of those moments and memories I have shared with them are like treasures beyond value.... It does make my eyes moist... kaash woh din waapas aa jaate.. yeh kahaan aa gaye hum... I'd like to open my heart's window a wee bit and let you a glimpse into each one of them... I am not going to take names... most of you would know who each one is... for the others.. these are the jewels that adorned my life.. and still do so through memories...

In no specific order...

SP:

I guess he was the my first instance in life of a "First impression" friend. I mean, the moment I walked into class in std. 7 and saw him, I knew we would hit it off... basketball brought us further closer and those remaining four years till the end of school were a bliss... at a time when adolescence reared its head for the first time, we spent many an hour discussing the girls we secretly were developing crushes on. We went on different paths of education but you know how it is with some people, you meet after a year and you can still make them relate to all of your stories. A successful MBA now.. I guess he dreams and accomplishes it only as he can...

RV:

This one's tough because he is in US... but with him, its a pure visual friendship.. we just cant speak things to each other on the phone... the moment we set sights on one another, we can let out our deepest thoughts and secrets. Undoubtedly, the brightest mind amongst the 4 from KJSCE tronix who came to these shores, the latest whiff I have is of him still pondering over the decision to pursue PhD or get into the industry.. I dont know what decision he will take, I dont know how he will convey his decision to me... maybe my prayers will be answered, he will find a job in the Bay area and we will catch up on two years.. in person!! And once he lands up here, let us see who can beat India in a cricket match!!

SB:

The one person, the one girl, the one soul I love... as pure as that emotion can get despite all the cart-load of crap it brings along... I have felt it only for her.. and what made that feeling special was she understood and reciprocated in the same way.. it wasnt one bit romantic, it was never meant to be... we were just too perfect together to be that way throughout life... I last spoke to her breaking and choking voice the day I left India...11 months... I moved on, she's moved on... but as I weep on some nights thinking about how much I love her, I am but only sure that she does too...

AK:

I had heard a lot about him when i walked into that SE class... brilliant student, awesome orator, so down to earth that he almost gets buried in it... not the quintessential topper who is the apple of peoples's eyes and an eyesore to the rest. He comes, he jokes, he laughs, he discusses ARR, music, football and cricket like a madman, loves and drags you to his favourite movies.. and comes on top with honours after all of this. As aggressive as I get about things, I wanted someone with a better vision for the team when I was seeking a project partner in BE....I just went and told him that the two of us will do the projects.. he's handled me and my moods with aplomb.. we always enjoyed the fun side of life together, because he ensured I did not let myself stay aloof when he had fun.. doing a swinging MBA on either side of India, I am confident that as wide as life's paths would take us, we will always be the guys who made a Pentium 3 processor, a few professors and a whole lot of others, recognize the word "SUCCESSSSSS!!!!"

Raising a toast to each one of you and to what we share... as flippant as it was, it is something I will take with me to my grave...

Song Currently listening to: Jabse Tere Naina from Saawatiya

Random thought: Have I ever longed to see Neil this much in life?? just cant wait.... damnit!!

We.. the nation!!

"Indians, they love most of all. They are not perfect, of course. They know how to fight and lie and cheat each other, and all the things that all of us do. But more than any other people in the world, the Indians know how to love one another. That is how they manage to live together, a billion of them, in reasonable peace."

This is a short dialogue from a book I am reading currently. And its not the first time I have read something like this about my country. There is an ABC documentary on either outsourcing or India in the new age where Thomas Friedman says, " Had a place like Iraq had so may sects and sub-sects, let alone different religions, people would have beheaded one another on the street in broad daylight." I am not trying to harp home the fact that we are tolerant, that we are no doubt. But there is this innate quality that binds a billion of us that requires terrorists from outside to come and blow us apart. Yes, riots happened in 93 and 2003 when they should not have. Whats happening in Nandigram is disturbing, but as a nation, for the past 60 years, we've shown amazing maturity in caring and living with one another. I must admit I do not socialize too much in the local circles but my vision of a nation in some ways is driven by the events that get media coverage. It is altogether a different debate on the current media situation in India and how the hindi media is looking to give sicy news to a large audience that they enjoy... but the story of Lakshmi, the 2 year old from Bihar with a parasitic conjoined twin, who was operated upon by a team of doctors in bangalore, made me stand up and take notice of the power of media in a nation like India. Maybe it is the universal appeal of kids or the sense of pride that such a delicate procedure was being performed in the country, the media coverage was quite excellent. There was good management ensuring that no one gave breaking news of a shot of the poor kid recuperating in the ICU post-surgery. The doctoral team gave the media an update every single day and the prayers and wishes of lacs and lacs of people were conveyed through the right medium.. Our ex-president Dr. Abdul Kalam had some very interesting roles for the media in the country. He said they should be the torch-bearers of the moral and social society in the country. dont make news from an economic stand point of how many newspaper will you sell that day, make it from the point of view of news reaching the right people in the right manner to ensure appropriate public response... because in a country like India, if 1 billion people wish for cheaper travel, neither the railways nor the airlines can increase the fare by too much ...

All said and done, I was personally impressed by the way this event was handled by the media and I hope we can filter this through to many more such relevant news events that will undoubtedly keep occuring in that great nation of ours.. Jai Hind.

Random thought: I think I posted this more because tonight its biting me a bit that I am not going home in December.. I don't know when next... i hope soon...

Not listening to a song currently.. going to go back to my book.. Shantaram by Gregory Roberts.

Children...

Its probably a fact that not many of my closest friends know about me either... I love children... yes, maybe more so in the age group of 2 -4, that cute bubbly time when they are innocent, want to be naughty but are so helplessly overcome by the emotion they express when they like someone and smile... They say there is no sight as peaceful as watching a child sleep.. devoid of thoughts and worries which as adults, we tend to mount on ourselves more than anything.. Their reaction to good and not-so-good things around them is just so natural. Not just the lips but it feels like the entire face breaks out into a smile and sometimes by trick, sometimes as genuinely as they get, those tears that well up their eyes choke your throat as well..

And then they grow, being absolutely hammered and pounded by information and instruction...from which side the letter C should curve to the different colours of the rainbow..from how to use the right hand to eat and receive things from people to how to use the toilet without the fear that its a black hole thats going to flush you out of this world...

And yet, as life would play its symphony with different notes, not every child gets brought up the same way... I do not know how we could touch the lives of those who arent as fortunate. I have visited an orphanage and I seriously doubt my heart to withstand the sight of so many young faces yearning for love... we have a young girl in our family now, though not through blood, we are all going to pour our love and affection on her to the extent she is the family's daughter... human emotions are such and children have the right to demand the most affectionate and caring side of us... As the trailer on top says, 'Every child is special' and so is a person's feeling for every child... they light up out worlds and we owe it to them...

Random thought: This is a very incomplete blog isnt it? does it convey what i felt I wanted to? I just started typing and stopped suddenly....

Song I'm listening to: (Just in case you doubted..) Title Track - Taare Zameen Par

Let the dreamz begin....

Its that time of the year again... Diwali!! the festival of lights, when things look brighter and better than at anytime during the year. Undoubtedly my favourite festival of the year... and also a time when the Indian dream factory tolls out its creme de la creme. Yes.. being a hard and true-to-heart Mumbaikar, I have grown, been fed and led to believe that Indian dreams are sold not by MNCs having their design and R&D centres in my country.. but by the one and only.. BOLLYWOOD.. As I find myself in what can best be described as India outside of herself here in the bay area, I can only feel the excitement of going and watching a couple of the high profile releases this weekend. I may sound like your local Mid-day reporter but the way I have followed and been sucked into this filmy festivity is because of the sheer magnitude of marketing effort that has gone on into the movies releasing this Diwali.. Mid-day, Ibnlive and Indiafm, my three most favoured sites have been agog with article after article of Ranbir, Sonam, Deepika.. and KING KHAN!!! Yes... I love Shah Rukh.. I do not go to a movie theatre for acting skills, I go for entertainment..especially in an Indian movie, I go for the cheers, the laughters, the comments sitting besides friends, the depth of emotion which chokes me at times, the dhols, the tak-dhina-dhin beats of a song.... complete entertainment... for me, no one does it better than SRK himself.

Bollywood has been such an integral part of my life that I can't imagine my liking or understanding of movies without it. Yes, I love my Pirates of Carribean, the Bourne Ultimatum and Apollo 13, but if I want to relax, smile, understand and most importantly , enjoy... I will turn to Andaz Apna Apna, Jo Jeeta wohi Sikander and DDLJ.... we at times mock at the films made in our country, saying that we need to keep the brain aside and watch them... but isn't that what commercial cinema is meant for?



All in all, I am just looking forward to this weekend... Om Shanti Om for sure.. maybe Saawariya too.. this diwali season, let the cameras roll and the action begin...

HAPPY DIWALI!!

Been a long time.. saw Basu's site and remembered... so here it is.. and hope I remember again.

Random thought: Why do I linger on to things, memories, places and people long after I have passed through them?

Currently listening to: Masha-Allah from Saawariya