N.U.M.B

Over the past 2 weeks, I think I've completely lost it...
I've had this feeling before, but never did it last this long
I'm so numb, I can hardly feel a thing
One disappointment, another yet again, there... one more to the count
Wow this seems to be a hell of a year end!
People around, say things that they say - I've stopped reacting
Words just don't reach my mouth - I've even stopped expressing
When things start to go downhill - I take my seat for the deep, steep ride
Now - twist it may, turn it might - its all one and the same to me!

Hi-Fi Living

An ad for an upcoming apartment in Hyderabad... chk out the features!

News Vs. Entertainment

Just over the past 2 days I've come across various news articles, mails and TV clippings which question what is shown on News Channels. Are we being shown only stories that sell or are we actually seeing 'the truth and nothing but the truth' as it is so often called.

Got a forward from a friend on how the news about Major Manish H Pitambare was completely skipped and all that TV news channels were showing at that time were the Sanjay Dutt story. This link has the details and also other interesting articles - the link

Next is the link to the interview with George Galloway in which he ripped apart Sky News for their inaccurate report on the Israel-Lebanon crisis. It is people like him who make people like us to stop and think again - the link

The number of News Channels has just been increasing.
So who is telling us the True Story?

Watched Kabul Express y'day and there too, the theme was very similar. Each character beautifully portrays the characteristics of the country he/she is from. After watching the movie I've been interested in knowing more about what Taliban is, what Al Qaeda stands for and where it all began. This is one of the very interesting links that I came across. Do check out the training manual given here.
Also found this report from the BBC site.

Now its got me thinking....

Waiting for ....GURU!

Watched Dhoom 2 today. Maybe I should say I watched Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2 today. His character completely overshadows everybody else's in the movie. Aishwarya is annoying, Abhishek is irritating... nothing more to say!


Mani Ratnam's movies are always a delight to watch. With themes so different, they present a whole new experience.
Not to forget another highlight of GURU, music by A.R.Rahman - the God of music!
Ths album is a master-piece. Each and every song, the way the singers' voices have been used, the fine blend of the numerous instruments...simply divine.
Favourite songs - Barso re, Tere bina, Jaage Hain and Ey Hairathe.
some tidbits on the movie...

naa na re naa na re naa na na nanare :)

Year End – @ a Dead End ?

After a lot of heaving, sighing and tugging along, I crawl past year-end mark. The ribbon at the finish line has finally been snapped in two. The past 3-4 months whizzed past me and I didn'’t even have time to measure the Speed of the Flight of Time!

Its December 2006. Today I sit down to think, what it is that I have achieved this year. What are the deeds that stand out from the rest, what makes me feel proud of myself (if at all there are any).
One-two.....five ok I confess its just a handful of things worth mentioning.
I look in the other direction, what all have I missed out on, with how many friends have I lost contact, how many times did I say "Sorry, I have no time - please try to understand"”. My God! this number is just too much, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count them all in one go!

Weighing things out - I have to do the balancing act. Its NOW or NEVER.
I have to decide where to draw the line and how dark and thick this line should be.
Did I have a good work-life balance? Life? What is that? Its just been work, more work and even more work! How do I feel about it? Not too good!… Of late, I wonder more often than not -Is it all worth it!

Am I at a dead end? Do I see no further path or do I see what I want to do?… I can'’t wait for time to tell me these things, it is for me to make the decision and the time is NOW!

Its so funny how I can totally relate to Dilbert :)

Perfect Timing!

It is appraisal time ... & this is so brilliantly appropriate :)

The thought process this Diwali!

The city is rejoicing in the Festive Spirit. The noisy crackers, the fireworks in the sky, children screaming out in delight…. (and also a lot of smoke in the air ugh!)
Standing outside, watching the dazzling display of colours, I realise that my family is one of the only two in this street, who are outside the house - having fun.

Where is every one else? No – I’m not saying that everyone should buy crackers and light them, but at least they can participate in the celebration.
Ok, so if u believe in not polluting the air, I bow down to your noble thought. In this case, the least you can do is - Wish others on the joyous occasion.

I’ve been staying in this very place for over 15 years now and I hardly know who stays next door.
Why are we isolating ourselves in this manner? God forbid, in case of an emergency or when in need, who will we go to?
May be its time for me to go around with sweets - wishing people for Diwali…
hm.... that should be a good start :)

Have a lovely Diwali!

May people realise the value of togetherness & assert their sense of belonging!

There's So Much to See

The title of this post has been inspired by Rahman's line in the worldspace ad :)

After a very long wait ( of 8 months) I finally took a week's vacation. Planned to visit Delhi and
Ranchi (where appa is working), go around, see a few places, rest, enjoy and get back...

Saturday morning 2nd Sep we left for Delhi, the flight was delayed by an hour and a half...(what's new about that)
First impression about Delhi - Clean, Green, Spacious!
It is a good 45 minute drive from the airport to the guesthouse - we were hungry and tired... Once in the guesthouse, we hogged on everything they served, the people there must have thought that we hadn't eaten for days...
Anyway that particular day it was raining cats n dogs in Delhi. The drainage system doesn't seem to be very good, all the roads were flooded, cars had stopped in the middle of the road - a few more hours of rain and I guess we'd have seen people swimming back home...
Thanks to the rain, we could not do much sight-seeing that day. Only drove to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the India gate.
Next day, we left for Agra at 6:30 AM. Wanted to beat the traffic. On the way we stopped at Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna.
The temple premises also has a mosque in it. There is a debate going on whether both these structures should co-exist.
From there we drove to Fatehpur Sikri. The architecture here is just amazing. Though you have walk through graves (hm... I actually refused to walk into any closed spaces), this place is not to be missed!
The Darga is a holy spot where people pray and tie red threads with a belief that their prayers will be answered.
From there we drove on to the Agra fort.
Here you get the first view of the Taj Mahal (though at a distance)
The Deewan-E-Khaas and Deewan-E-Aam (remember having studied about this in history) are marvelous structures.
We then headed to the Taj
People from all over the world visit the Taj - the epitome of Love. But the guards there give you such a tough time that all u can think of is "hatred". Their uncivilized behavior, the language they use...My God! People will just stop coming here...
But once you enter the premises, you will be left speechless...
Pictures in the paper, photographs on the net, you may have seen - but to see it in front of your eyes is an experience!
Monday, we set out on a journey around Delhi... Went to the Akshardham temple - closed for the day!
Went to the Bahai (lotus) temple - closed for the day!
Then went to Qutub Minar - finally something was open to visitors :)
Tuesday went around Karol Bagh and Connaught Place.. did some shopping.

Wednesday morning left for Ranchi. This is a very small town, just one main road with shops. You can pass time watching TV or if lucky have access to the internet... its a place for complete relaxation!
Had a great vacation - already have a list of places I want to visit next... don't know when ... but already looking forward to it :)

These are my favourite pictures from the trip

Music = BLISS

Finally listened to "Colours Of India" the fusion album by the violin duo Ganesh and Kumaresh.
They've done a wonderful job with the various raagas. To me, the effect that the album creates is close in comparison to Yanni's music. If you know the awesome energy Yanni's music creates... you would understand what I mean!
Searched the web to find out more about their music and found another album that I immediately went and purchased. "SPARK" along with Taufiq Qureshi. This link has snippets you can listen to (too bad they only have really short pieces). Liked the song "Veer" right at the first go, yet to listen to the others.
Now ..... back to some more research on this genre of music :)

weekend theme - "C O M E D Y"

Had a sooper-dooper weekend... (which I realise, is ending ... right now...)
Imsai Arasan 23am Pulakesi , the Tamil movie has been banned in Bangalore. God knows for what reason. Heard from a few friends that the movie is really funny and a must watch. My cousin's friends had gone to Hosur to watch the movie. So what did we do...yeah we too decided to go to Hosur. "Balaji talkies" was the place to be and 1 PM was the show timing. We left home at 11:30 AM on Saturday, to reach Hosur at 12:30 PM. Thanks to the weekend, the roads were absolutely empty. Can you imagine Hosur road to be empty :)
Reached Hosur and asked an auto guy "pulakesi padam odara Balaji talkies enga irukku" (where is Balaji Talkies which is showing the movie Pulakesi" to which he replied "andha padaththa thaan thookitaangale. pakathla Raghavendra talkies la odardhu" (that movie has been removed from the theatre, its showing in the next theatre called Raghavendra Talkies"
So, round and round we went, through the streets of Hosur, in search of Raghavendra Talkies,

On the way we found the poster of "Mosquito Man - kosu manidhan". Can you imagine a movie by that name....
Well, we finally found Raghavendra 'theatre' DTS in the 'down road'. The show was only at 2:30 PM and the gates were locked, so went spent the time listening to music in the car.
At 2:20 when we walked up to the theatre, there was such a huge crowd that we had to stand in the ladies queue to buy the tickets.
"Dont damage seats, it is for your CONTINENT" (...... read CONVENIENCE)

The movie was hilarious, not the usual Vadivelu jokes.... we were seated amongst a huge college gang, so it was good fun!

Sriram had forwaded details of a play by EVAM showing at Rangashankara. Got tickets to watch it Sunday evening.
Once we were at the auditorium, we could see hoardings which read "Karthik Marry Me" Karthik Kumar of "Alai Payuthey" and "Kanda Naal Mudhal" fame is a part of the Evam group.
My cousin was heart broken that she could not get his autograph :)
The show was HILARIOUS! Just too much! These guys rock! Just don't know how 2 hours went by. They got the whole crowd involved in the show, at one point the everyone in the theatre was screaming out dialogues from Hamlet (or.. Evam's version of it) We kept laughing non-stop... it was just too good!

There... its now past 10:30 PM Sunday.... hm.... life goes on....

Keep Smiling :)

New Words for 2006

Got this from a friend... liked it a lot :)

NEW WORDS FOR 2006 :
Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace (and elsewhere)!!!

1. BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2 . SEAGULL MANAGER : A manager, who flies in makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3 . ASSMOSIS : The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4 . SALMON DAY : The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5 . CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles

6 . PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7 . MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8 . SITCOMs : Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9 . STRESS PUPPY : A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10 . SWIPEOUT : An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11 . XEROX SUBSIDY : Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12 . IRRITAINMENT : Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them.The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example - Michael Jackson, another...

13 . PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE : The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

14 . ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15 . 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message
"404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16 . GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17 . OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake)

18. WOOFS : Well-Off Older Folks.

Lightening fingers

Was watching this video on YouTube. This guys rocks! The co-ordnation between the left and right hand is just superb...

Final Fantasy

Wohooo I’m back

After a lot of thought and reasoning, I resumed my piano classes today. I did not have to think twice about wanting to learn, it was only the “Are you willing to get up early even on weekends” that had to be answered!
As soon as I entered the class today, I looked at the master I said “Hello Sir”.
Wonder of all wonders, the man remembers my name :)
He said “Vidya no?”
I said “yes Sir, I want to start classes from today”.
To this he said “yes yes, u have good knowledge, but why did you stop coming? Not well aa?”
(not well for a year???)... “No Sir... training, project work... busy...” I mumbled.
“ok ok, be regular from now on OK?”
OKAY!

I still remember the day I went to sign up for the class... funny story stored in my April 2005 archives : )

A day of Fun, Frolic (and complete exhaustion)

June 20th, the date was marked on my calendar. It was the day of our community work. Our project this time was to take under privileged children to the Parle biscuit factory and the planetarium. The children were from “Acts of Hope”, a school run by an NGO for children whose parents cannot afford to educate them, though they are eager to.

As per our schedule, we reached office at 7:15, only to find that they would not serve breakfast until 8:00. (Hm… could have woken up half an hour later… I thought to myself. I’m sure everyone else also had similar thoughts)
After breakfast we left office in 2 buses. The school is near Sarjapur. Thanks to the peak hour traffic, it took us an hour to reach there. The children were very excited to see us.
The 50 children we were supposed to take out, were from classes 2 and 3. Not too small that we had to baby sit them, and not too old that we had to discipline them – just the right age  We also had 8 teachers coming with us. They were only coming along because it was a fun trip for them.

Once on the bus, the kids were asked to introduce themselves while we distributed sandwiches, then started the singing session. Initially no one volunteered to sing, but once someone started singing, the whole gang would join in and scream at the top of their voice.
The Parle Factory is near Peenya, so it took us a good 2 hours to reach. We walked up and down hundres of stairs in the viewing gallery to watch how biscuits were made. In the end, they played a short animation summarising the manufacture process. I personally thought the trip to the factory was a waste of time. All that it did was make us tired and hungry.
We now had to go to Cubbon Park, the caterers would get there with hot lunch. As soon as we reached the park, the children forgot how tired and hungry they were and ran to play. We literally had to drag them, make them stand in a queue to get lunch. As soon as they finished lunch they went back to their games.

At around 3:45 we set off to the planetarium. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. But since it was in English, I’m not to sure how much the kids could follow. I especially loved the part where everything goes pitch black… all you can see is the twinkling stars… fantastic!
After the show, we distributed snacks and juice to the kids and then headed back to the school.
We reached the school only after 7. We then gave rain coats to all the kids.
When we were all set to leave, the kids in one voice screamed out “thank you aunty, thank you uncle” . Then they came to shake each one of our hands and say thank you. That was really touching.
By the time we got on to the bus, we were completely exhausted. All we wanted to do was get back home. We reached office at around 8 and then went our own ways.
That was a very nice experience!

A farewell to remember

Yesterday, we had the farewell party for our CEO. David is such a super guy. He is totally down to earth, so full of energy, enthusiatic and always receptive to new ideas and suggestions. He makes it a point to speak to each and every person - be it a VP or a security guard. His message to us is that no matter how large the organisation becomes, we should not lose our closeness. He always encouraged us to get together with people from other departments during lunchtime and get to know what they do. Over the past one year I've seen him lunch with a new group of people everyday. When he's at your table, it won't feel like you are lunching with the CEO. He'll talk about sports, movies and will converse about common interests.

The party started at 7 PM. There was a video played with our farewell message to him, then his touching speech where he said he was glad he'd made so many friends and would take every possible opportunity to come back here. After this the music started. Thanks to DJ Chico, the party was a blast :)

Things about David that I cannot forget:
1) He loves to stand on a table when he addresses a crowd - no mike required
2) The funny faces he made during the role play as a part of the orientation programme
3) His "bike" - the scooter, his preferred means of transport
4) Watching him jog on the ring road at 10 AM on many a days
5) When he first came to Bangalore, he was so fascinated by the autorickshaw that he bought one

He's such a great guy with a cool attitude and forever smiling .... Will miss him!

(Shall upload pictures once I get them)

Interesting news tidbits

• Ever wished you had an invisibility cloak that you could drape around urself whenever you wanted to....

According to this news article, this could be possible in the not so distant future.
Do we now say abracadabra!

• Munnabhai MBBS to be made in Hollywood ishtyle! Wow .. a hindi movie being an inspiration for a hollywood movie... that's something! read here...

2 good movies this weekend

Its just Saturday and I've already watched 2 movies this weekend :) Crazy... yeah.. that's the word!
Watched Fanaa. Very nice movie. Kajol looks and is awesome in the movie and Aamir is his usual self! The locations and picturisation are just amazing. I remember reading in the papers that Kajol was too afraid to shoot in Kashmir so they shot the movie in Poland...
The first half of the movie is just superb. The second half's ok. But on the whole - a nice movie after a long time :)
Ok... I watched the movie from the perspective of it being a story about two individuals (not considering their background, terrorism, the Indian army or anything else). Some others may hate this movie if they viewd it to be based on terrorism. As it is often said... "ITs all in the mind" !

Next on the list is The Da Vinci Code.
The 1st half of the movie goes really fast. If you don't know the book page by page, dialogue by dialogue, you may probably not get what's happening in the movie.... But then, an awesome effort by Ron Howard... just like his other movies :)
The intro of Robert Langdon by way of the seminar on symbology has been depicted really well. I also liked the bits where Teabing explains to Sophie the real meaning of the Holy Grail, the sequenes involving the breaking of the codes and the part where the "teacher" is finally revealed.

I heard they are planning to picturise Angels and Demons next... shall wait for that!

The weekend that was

Had a pretty hectic weekend. Did a lot of things :

1. Went to the book-fair @ Honeywell and picked up Wuthering Heights, Mein Kampf, Wings of Fire and The truth about getting your point across.

2. Was desperate to watch a movie – but what do you know… no tickets available for any movie in PVR. Next best option decide on a movie and find the nearest theatre showing it. Poseidon at Urvashi was the answer.
About the movie –5 minutes into the movie the ship is under water and the remainder of the movie revolves around how 8 people try to make their way out. Nicely made movie. If you have nothing else to do, watch this movie – but bear in mind “do not compare it to the Titanic”

3. Watched Gangster. No one in the movie has any role at all…. except the female lead…
About the movie – Don’t even bother!

4. Watched the play “The Last Leaf – by O’ Henry” at Rangashakara. This was the first play that I watched and was pretty excited about it.
The story - Johnsy is suffering from pneumonia and thinks she is going to die when the last leaf from the vine outside her window falls. Her friend Sue tries to make her change her attitude but in vain. Mr Behrman the artist downstairs is old and drunk and refuses to help, his only interest is to paint a masterpiece. It’s a stormy night and everyone is sure that the last leaf from the vine would fall off. But the next morning, to Johnsy’s surprise the leaf’s still there. She starts to think - If the leaf survived the storm, then it must definitely be a sign that she would get better. With the change in attitude, Johnsy slowly gets better and recovers from her condition. But Mr. Behrman dies. Only in the end everyone comes to know that – in the storm, Mr Behrman had actually climbed up to Johnsy’s window and had painted a leaf on the wall…it looked so real that it saved Johnsy’s life. This was his masterpiece!

Rangashankara is a really nicely built auditorium. The play went on ok… could have been a bit better.

That was a really busy weekend… but I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

the "Legacy of Punjab" experience

Last weekend we'd gone out for dinner. "Banjara" of Ramanashree has now become....

They've converted the entire place to look like a Punjabi Dhaba.




The interiors look so authentic - colourful kites, bunches of glass
bangles, mud pots, charkas adorn the walls and the ceiling...
the seats are cemented...with cushions of course :)


If you are lucky you can catch some bhangra action too!
The food is delicious... all served in the typical dhaba cutlery!
I've got just one word to say....YUMMY :D

Any way out of this mess???

Something has to be done about the traffic in Bangalore. Getting stuck for hours, that most of us have got used to.
Yesterday on my way back I was stuck in traffic, as usual, it was near BTM this time - where an ambulance was also stuck. Its siren was howling, but it had no way out. No vehicle could move.
I only hope everything's ok with the patient.
What will happen in case of an emergency? Would we have to sacrifice our lives because of some stupid traffic jam?
I was just thinking that may be major hospitals could have helicopter services only for emergencies and patients could be picked up from various pre-determined locations in the city. But then even in this case, to reach the pick up point, one would have to steer through the traffic....
Hope the situation improves soon!

Pride & Prejudice

Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with, is the one person you can't be withoutWanted to watch "Walk the line" but picked up "Pride & Prejudice" instead, I'm glad I did.
Its such a lovely movie. Each of the actors fit their roles so perfectly. Keira Knightley's acting is just amazing and that was a very well deserved Best Actress Award this year.
How can I not mention the brilliant OST. The piano pieces keep playing in the back of my mind even now.... you can watch the trailer and listen to the soundtrack here

To Watch or not to Watch.... this is the verdict!

Even if someone pays you to go watch Shaadi Se Pehle ... trust me you don't want to watch it!
The first 1/2 an hour you can laugh at the jokes (though they are borrowed ones and you may have heard them several times)...
Enter Mallika Sherawat - More Sleaze...Lesser clothes.... Poor dialogues.... No story connection...

Songs - My God No
Costumes - They'd look better in a circus
Unwanted Cast - Aftab, Bomman Irani, Suneil Shetty, Gulshan Grover, Anupam Kher

Watching the movie - a BIG mistake!

on the other hand....
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara is a must watch.
Both Anupam Kher and Urmila's acting is brilliant. The portrayal of the delicate relationship between a sick man and his daughter is brought out beautifully. A very nice movie in all.

CRASH

Watched CRASH yesterday.

Such an intense movie depicting the racial discrimination prevalent in the US of A. Scenes from everyday life have been portrayed in a very realistic manner.
Its so scary that no one is willing to trust the other just because of their skin colour.

"MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE, WE ARE BOUND TO COLLIDE WITH EACH OTHER"

Experience the movie here

Latest activity

Medical camp held in a government school - twice a month.

Amma & Sandhya been a part of this for sometime now, I joined her today.

The school building (if you can call it one) is a very small old one with walls which lack paint, dark and dingy.
The students had lined up in long queues awaiting their turn with the doctor. Once the Doc examined a student he prescribed the required medicines. Then the students walk into the next room where we stood all set with the medicines. Our task was to read the prescription, put the medicines in a cover and tell the kid what to take, when and how much.
Usually there are about 3-4 volunteers who help with the dispensing of the medicines, but today no one turned up. So we’d asked a few of the kids to help us out. One held out the cover for us to fill the medicines, and another to write the number of pills on the cover.
The medicines ranged from cough syrups, anti-fungal creams, vitamin tablets to eye/ear drops.
There was a sudden commotion when one lady came in all dressed up commanding the children in a stern voice. When I asked one kid who the lady they were referring to as “aunty” was, if it was a teacher , they only giggled and said… she was the aayah… One kid smirked and said she applied so much make up and came only for people to think she was a big shot, but she was actually the aayah who swept and cleaned the school floor. We started laughing uncontrollably at this.
The whole process wen on till 5:30PM after which we stacked up all the medicines, locked up the school and left, telling the children we’d be back after weeks.
Being with children is so much fun…. Whatever the age group or activity may be : )

Aurora - Natural Wonder

I've always been fascinated by the aurora... such a pity we can't view them in this prt of the world!

The Offsite

The offsite was meant to be a team building session – it was that and a lot more….

Friday 10th Feb 06 : Soon after lunch we all packed off into a bus and headed off.. no one except the organizers actually knew where we were going. It was all a big surprise. We had only been told that this was no luxury trip but was one close to nature (whatever that meant) !
It took us a good 2.5 hours to reach Wood Rich resorts. We were welcomed there by Sunny – our guide for the weekend and lots of pakodas and hot tea.

Immediately after that we went into a conference room where we had introductory sessions, where people were paired together and one had to introduce their friend to the rest. The intro had to be about details which the others did not know of. This was good fun – how else would you get to know that the CFO – if he had not been here, would have been a fashion designer…..
After the intro session, we started out with our first activity. We were divided in 4 teams. Each team’s task was to build an “A” frame with 3 pieces of bamboo & pieces of rope – the structure had to be vertical…. One member had to be moved from one end of the field to the other using this structure, the catch being no other team member could touch the bamboo frame. The “A” structure, we could make…. Make it stand vertically… that we could do… but put a person on it and move it without touching it???
After a lot of thinking, doing and re-doing we figured out how to do itÂ…. Though it was not the best of ways to do itÂ… in the process two guys got hurt. One had a real bad fall from the structure and the other one was all bruised from the whole eventÂ….. Were the rest of the activities going to be as dangerous as this.. we could only wait and seeÂ….
We had all been assigned rooms and our room partners had been pre-chosen by the organizers. Got to our rooms, freshened up and went to the bonfire hoping to get something to eat soon..
They had the drinks and the barbecue all set up. It took so long for someone to actually cook something for us Â…everyone was starving by then and wondering when they would serve dinnerÂ… It was a real long wait before dinner was served, but it was really goodÂ… hot parathas made on demand was really yummyÂ…or maybe it was the hunger that made us fell it was goodÂ…
After dinner back some people got back to the bonfire while some others went back to there rooms to sit down and chat awayÂ…
Around 11PM they started playing really loud music and everyone was at the dance floor dancing away like there was no tomorrow.

Saturday 11th Feb 06 : We were supposed to wake up at 5:30AM and go attend the meditation classÂ… I guess only two people actually went for itÂ…
8 AM after breakfast we again got on to the busÂ… we were going to an outside location for a trek-cum-treasure hunt.
After this happened the rappling session. Never in my life did I ever imagine that I would do rappling. Once you are at the rappelf the rocks all set to rapple down – a scary thought crosses your mind. You have to put all your trust in the person holding the safety ropes. You have to fall back and put all your weight in such a way that you are perpendicular to the ground. To take that one first step…. It seems like eternity. Once you get the hang of loosening the rope and making your way down.. its all over even before you realize it. Now, given a chance – I’d love to do it again : )
After this we were again divided into 3 groups. We were given tractor tyre tubes and bamboo and ropes. We had to make a raft, get to the other side of the lake pick up a flag from there and get back to the start point. Our team’s raft structure was really good, we got to the other side of the lake – however we had not planned how we would get back. People could not get up, sit facing the other direction and row back… it was impossible to turn the raft the other way… in the meanwhile because of the strong winds the raft started to drift away.. it went very far off from where the others were and after a lot of effort, got back to the other side…
All tired and hungry we returned to the resort.. thankfully lunch was ready when we got thereÂ…we hogged.
We had about 45 minutes before the next activity that we spent at the poolside.

For the final activity we were again divided into 4 teams, each team had 3 barrels, 2 planks of wood. The task was that all the team members had to move from one end of the badminton court to the other using the barrels and the wooden planks without their feet touching the ground… For the first 20 minutes no one knew how this had to be done, connecting the barrels with the planks – people standing on the planks – the planks would break for sure. Even if you stood on the planks- how would you move forward?
After a lot of thinking and a little hint from Sunny, we realized how it had to be done. Reaching the finishing point was exhilarating!
Back at the conference room we discussed all that we had learnt over the last 2 days… there were lessons for life.. lessons to be applied by us in any given situation. We had learnt the strength of a team as opposed to an individual. Being a team, we could achieve anything – given the fact that we thought in the correct way, planned in the proper manner and put our hearts into it!
We were back on the bus- on our way back home with lots of good memories to treasure for life :)

Rang De - Makes you think

Heard so many views about the movie before watching it. I guess this is the first time that I have heard such varied views about a single movie. Some people loved it while others thought it was a total waste of time. I bought the album as soon as it was released, loved the songs and was waiting to watch it.
Rang De is a mixture of many light moments and serious emotions. Aamir his chirpy, mischievous self. The youngsters in the movie are no different from you and me. All we think about is our studies, our work, our lives. Are we bothered about anything else?
The scenes from the past especially about the Jallianwala Bagh were very moving.
I've studied about the freedom struggle during my school days. At that time it was just something which I had to mug up. Meant nothing to me. But today while watching the movie it shook me up a bit.
Now, I want to know more about the freedom fighters, their lives, the sacrifices they made.

I'm sure Monday I'll get back to work and get immersed in my mundane meaningless life. But I'm glad I am at least thinking .....

My Verdict : Rang De Basanti - it makes you think!

Narnia - wow what a movie

Watched "The Chronicles of Narnia - The lion, the witch and the wardrobe". Such an amazing movie. The cinematography & special effects... just fantastic, New Zealand in all its glory. Do I even have to mention about the OST.... just superb! A must watch for Fantasy Movie lovers :)

Which colour is your heart ??

Blue 96% Yellow 61% Pink 61% Green 54% White 54% Purple 46% Red 43% Black 29% Orange 29% ~What colour is your heart?~ created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Blue. Your heart is blue. You are a very calm and relaxed person. You are very caring and like helping others. You're grateful for what you have in life, even if it's not perfect. People love you for who you are, don\'t ever change that- it's what makes you the great person that you are.

what i am reading right now

This is a hilarious write up by Ajit Saldanha.
In every chapter he describes some amusing incident in his life. About his relatives, the way they think, their food fights, his friends.....
Flipped through the first few pages and found it interesting...so borrowed it
Lets see how it goes!

Feb 3rd- still reading it.
Loved this part about being Politically Correct - "PC"

Both the very young and th old are referred to as "Chronologically challenged". Which leads to arguments such as "No Bud, you are not allowed to watch the Playboy channel on cable" "Why not mom?" "Because you are chronologically challenged, young man and that's final"
"Mom but how come grandpa watches it and he's chrono-chrono...."

Bald people are described as "follicularly challenged", fat people are "dimensionally challeged" crackheads are...er, lets see, "narcotically challenged?"And the poor are simply known as the segment unlikely to be challenged by the latest round of tax cuts... so the list goes on....

SHOT - worth what ??

Chapter 1:

“Must be at least 1:30” he thought. This was the fourth time Ray was checking his watch. Still 12.17 “Oh no, another 9 hours to go. Why can’t everything be over right now?”. It had been sleepless nights for Ray ever since Max’s phone call last week.
Max... Ray thought... his mind now was flooded with thoughts of how they had met.

It was about 2 months back. Ray was in need of money. As he walked past the bank one morning, he saw a middle aged man walk past him, clutching on to his bag tightly. This is it, decided Ray.
He walked a few feet away from the bank gate and stood there watching people who walked out. After about 5 minutes, a lady who must have been in her early 30s walked out. “No, not a lady...next one...” he thought. Soon after, an old man walked out, looking around cautiously. He had a bag in his hand.
This was going to be easy. Ray stood still... holding his breath. As the old man approached him, Ray suddenly stretched forward his right leg. Little did expect to see a walking stick whack him. Before Ray could even realize what hit him, the old man was screaming out loud as he held on tightly to Ray’s shirt. People started running towards them.

Out of the crowd, quickly emerged a man dressed in black wearing back shades “Let go of the poor man” he said in a dominating voice. “Look at him, he must be starving”. He quickly took out his wallet, drew a hundred note from it, shoved it into Ray’s hand and pulled him away from the crowd.
As the crowd slowly dispersed, Ray stood still in front of the stranger. He was so ashamed of what he had done, he could not look the man in his face.
“I’m Max” the stranger said stretching out his hand. “Any help you need, just give me a call” he said as he handed Ray his card.

Chapter 2:

The rally was to start at 10:00. “Should be sufficient if I get to the old abandoned building close to the venue by 9” Ray mused.
The abandoned building, once upon a time used to house a restaurant. No one really knew why they closed down but it served as a very convenient meeting place. This was where Ray had been given detailed instructions.
Also, this was where he had to pick up the package.

3AM: Time just didn’t seem to pass at all. Ray walked up to the table and gulped down some water from the bottle. Next to the table were his suitcases all packed and ready.
Suitcase... This reminded him of how he had met Max the second time...

Ray was waiting outside the airport’s international terminal. He was going to pick on a foreigner’s pocket. A sure visit to the forex counter would mean a fully loaded wallet, he figured. 1 hour, still waiting. Then he saw a potential scapegoat. A rather large man, carry a bag and pushing a trolley full of luggage.

“This is my chance” Ray thought. He made his way to his target and walked quietly next to him, moving as close to his body as possible. In a fraction of a second he seized the man’s wallet and was running. Faster, faster he was saying to himself. The parking lot was just round the corner.
As he turned, he tripped over a huge red suitcase and fell on his face, the wallet fell out of his hands. He had no time to grab it, he just got up and ran. He weaved his way through the parked cars and ran for the exit.

Suddenly a car stopped in front of him, the front door jerked opened and the driver beckoned him to get in. Without thinking further, Ray jumped into the car and shut the door.
He turned around to see who his saviour was. Max! he exclaimed.
“Hi Ray. How have you been? In a tough spot eh?” Max asked grinning. Ray didn’t know how to respond. He only looked at Max sheepishly. About 2 minutes passed before either of them uttered a word.
“So! That makes it twice that I’ve saved you. Isn’t it time you did something for me in return?”
“Anything for you Max” said Ray.

That was when Max told Ray about a certain politician who was so bad for society that she needed to be removed.
“Removed?”
“Yeah, like removed from the face of the earth” Max replied.
At this, Ray shuddered. He.. kill? He.. an assailant??
No. Max could not make him do it. No.

Max knew what was running through Ray’s mind. “You owe it to our country. Politicians like these are so selfish. All they think about is themselves. They eat up our money. We get poorer and they get richer. You would be performing a great deed for the nation. You do realise that don’t you?” Max reeled on.

“Ok ok just give me your contact number, I will speak to you some time” Max said as he signaled to the driver to stop the car. Ray gave him his number and got out of the car. As he stood there still hazy from all that he had heard, Max’s car whizzed past him. “I need to get back home before someone else comes looking for me” he told himself as he quickly headed back home.

Chapter 3:

A week later the dreaded call came through. Ray’s could just not forget Max’s icy tone. Max explained that Ray had nothing to worry about. Before anyone realised who the killer was, he would be out of the country, far away from anyone’s reach. Over a period of time the police would lose hope of finding the killer and after that it would all be history. Ray was still not convinced but when Max mentioned the dough he would receive for this act, Ray just could not resist the offer. Thus he agreed.

Ray was then told the day, the time, the place, the name. He would be receiving the photograph the next day.

“All you have to do” Max said “is go unobserved, pull out his gun, shoot Mrs X and get away from there”.
That isn’t as simple as it sounds.. thought Ray.
Everything else would be taken care of Max promised. He would be handed over the flight tickets. He would fly to Dubai by the late evening flight and spend the rest of his life peacefully and… luxuriously.
Fly..Dubai..Money.. all this was heaven for a small time thief like Ray.

“Am I doing the right thing? Is the money going to be worth all this”
“Now is not the time to think... It’s the time to act... Once I get to Dubai I will find myself a job and then all of this will be in my past” Ray assured himself.

Chapter 4:

6:30 AM: Ray could no longer stay in bed. He got up and walked to the window. It was a bright and beautiful morning, but all that Ray could think of was if he would get away with what he was going to do. The morning went by slowly.
8:25 AM: Ray did a final check to see that he was dressed inconspicuously and that his weapon was well hidden.
He made it to the old abandoned building by 8:50. He waited for 10 minutes before he started walking towards the venue of the rally. The roads were all jam packed. People seemed to be coming for the rally from all over the place.
As Ray reached the venue, he tried to make his way through the crowd gathered there. He had to position himself so that he had a clear view of his target.

It was almost 10:15 when the car sirens were heard. Ray’s heart started racing. Any faster, he knew his heart would pop out his chest. It was very difficult to spot his target. She was surrounded by bodyguards on all sides. As she reached the podium, there was a huge applause and then she began her speech.

Slowly, Ray reached below his shirt and pulled out the pistol. The lady was nearing the end of her speech. Little did she know these would be the last few words that she would utter.
“You, the people are my strength. Together we can make a better nation” she said. And the crowd just went wild with hoots and shouts of approval.

It was time... Ray aimed the pistol at her chest. It had to be just one shot, he had to be very careful with his aim. His hands were shivering, his legs were shaking, he tried to stay still as he took his aim. Bang - went the bullet. He had shot her in the stomach. “Oh no, not good enough.. shoot again..” He aimed again and shot her, this time in the chest…

Bang! He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He went numb for a moment. Run, run you fool.. his mind ordered. Ray he ran like the wind, he ran for his life..

Old abandoned building...run run..he was breathless...run..run..
He made it to the spot, but where was Max? where were his men? Where was the money? His tickets? Ray stood there wondering Where????

He heard the police siren in close vicinity.. It was too late..Do something…his mind urged him..
The police now were running towards him..
BANG!
Ray fell down.. He had shot himself.
Everything was a blur to him now.. he could hear voices, people screaming to him, nothing of which he understood..

His mind went back to when he was seven, the day he had robbed from his dad’s purse. He had been beaten for this. It was then that he then started to steal from his own house. He was 14 when his father caught him in the act..and that night he had run away...
Dad...Ma...
He saw his mom’s loving face...his stare froze!
He was dead!

**************************************************************

My thoughts:
- When Ray stole the first time, instead of beating him up, if his father had explained to him why it was wrong, it would have made a great impact.
- @ Max: People like him are the ones that need to be removed from the face of the earth.
- @ Mrs. Politician: Every other person is like this, shooting them all is not a solution, it only reduces population.
- @ people like Ray: Don’t be lured away by money. If your heart tells you something is wrong – stay away from it!
Be a person others can look up. Be yourself!