Tuesdays with Morrie - Part 1

Morrie was Mitch's college professor and mentor. After college, Mitch plunged into work and was 'busy' with life. He had forgotten who he was, what he liked doing, had lost contact with his friends and mentor... until one day nearly twenty years hence, he saw an interview of his mentor on TV. Morrie was dying, but he wanted to make the best of the time he had left.

Tuesdays with Morrie is about Mitch and Morrie's last sessions, where Morrie teaches Mitch how to live. A true story, the experience in writing...
Thought I'd read the book completely and then jot down the points that I liked. Going by the amount that I'm jotting down, I'll have to repeat the entire text :) So breaking up the post into two. Here's the first part:

What happened to me:
Back in my university years, when I thought rich people were evil, a shirt and tie were prison clothes, and life without freedom to get up and go - motorcycle beneath you, breeze in your face, down the streets of Paris, into the mountains of Tibet - was not a good life. What happened to me?

Tension of opposites:
Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. you take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull of a rubberband. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.

Find meaning:
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing something they think is important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Self Pity:
"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things in my life... I don't allow myself more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all"
How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.

Belief and trust:
Sometimes, you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.
And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too - even when you're in the dark, even when you're falling.

Interesting videos

From TED:
Shashi Tharoor's 'soft power' talk
Keith Barry's brain magic demo

From youtube: Great short films
Signs
Strangers

Some commercials

Some commericals make lasting impressions. Its sometimes the emotions and at other times the concept. These are my favourites from the latest ones aired.

Tata Indicom for the emotions

Airtel - Despite the celebrity, the emotions play their role here

Saint Juice - Forget the logic, the visuals are superb.

Preparation for SBI exam - Part 2

So much for thinking Science questions were difficult to attempt.
Who invented the elevator - We see Otis written outside the lifts that we use day in and day out, bit difficult for someone who cannot see it.
Who invented pneumatic tyres - We see ads for Dunlop tyres on TV, easy for us to remember. Hm.. not so easy for others

Next came Economics:
2003-04 what was inflation rate? what percentage of land is covered by forest area? 9th five year plan what was the total outlay.. blah blah blah ...
Came to one question, What was the per-capita income of Punjab in the year... and he promptly said 325. I was stunned as it was the correct answer.
"Mohan - how did u answer that, did you know the number or was it a guess?"
"Ah, that was just a guess" he said and both of us burst out laughing :D

Then came the terror of all terrors quantitative reasoning. Question 1) 786 * 64 / 48 = ?
Time for the expert, my mom - to take over.
It took about 5 minutes to get the braille board set. Another 2 to figure out how this equation was to be written. Then was the hardest part, how to solve!
Class seven was the last time that Mohan had studied mathematics. So we had to go back to the basics. Took examples of 2*15/10. Considered multiplication tables, discussed the concept of cancelling common multiples in the numerator and denominator to finally solve the problem.
This week, after work everyday, Mohan will spend revising tables. More mathematics next weekend.
He is such a bright candidate, I want him to do well. Lets see.

Preparation for SBI exam

No, I'm not preparing for the exam, but am helping someone.
Time period - 3 weeks until the exam
To be covered - A 400+ page book with multiple choice questions in topics including Indian politics, Science, Mathematics, Verbal English, Geography, Computers.
Agreement - Due to the time constraint and the vastness of the topics, we (Mohan and I) have agreed to skip all topics that involve anything diagrammatic or require visuals (You will know why soon).

Mohan, currently works in Medical Transcription in one of the local hospitals. Being visually impaired does not deter him from dreaming big. He would like to take the bank exam and hopefully do well. A clerical post at the bank would get him a permanent posting ensuring job security and income flow.

We covered 100 questions in Indian Constitution and 60 questions in Science today.
Of the former 100, I barely knew the answer for about 15 (such a shame) while Mohan got almost 75% right - good for him :D this is why we breezed through this section.
When we switched to Science, I realized how difficult it was for him to grasp the difference between mesosphere/stratosphere/ionosphere or even between electron/proton/neutron - not the concepts but who discovered them. At least here, I guess I was more familiar with the terms. So we spent some time going over the questions, then revised the answers for previously discussed questions and finally chose questions at random from everything that we had gone over. This is the reason for the lesser number of questions covered.

Another thing I realized was, in order to answer, one must first understand the question. I had to explain what words like impeach, encompass and envisage.
In the science section I tried to help him relate answers to questions by explaining concepts of vitamins/sources, tides/gravitation and scientist names with their inventions.

I learnt today that the president gets a salary of Rs.1.5 lakhs per month and the governors of the state Rs. 1.1 lakhs per month per the recent pay revisions (legal salary on paper - I mean)
I also learnt that Streptomycin was discovered by Walkman (the only walkman I knew until now was the Sony kind)
We had discussions on declaration of President's rule in certain states and the dissolution of assemblies, trying to find a rationale/reasoning for it all. In cases where we couldn't, we just took the book answer to be the truth as is. (so much for civics)

We've just scraped through the surface of these 2 topics.... there's long way to go!

Live Mocha

I always believe in learning something new at any point of time. It could be academic or just plain out of interest. My learning experience over the last couple of years includes music, more music, Internet/computer related, finance, photography related and the list thus goes on....

Current focus: New languages.
Tool: livemocha.com
This site helps you choose:
~The language you want to learn
~The level that you want to learn basic/intermediate/advanced
~Learn words, pronunciations and sentence formations
~and learn learn at your own pace.

The best feature according to me is review of submissions. After each lesson, you are given exercises to complete - in both pronunciations and writing skills. This gets reviewed by real people. If I want to learn Spanish and I am fluent in English, I would get my exercise reviewed by someone who knows Spanish... and I may help them learn English. So you learn and you also help others learn.
People reviewing my work have told me my pronunciation is good. I have no complaints :D
So much to learn and remember. For the past one week, I've been spending about 2 hours every night on this... and I realize 24 hours is just not enough for all that I want to do :)

Am so glad my brother told me about this site. People at home have been warned... around midnight, if they hear some blabbering in unknown languages... then know what it is :D

A day well spent

August 12th was the day of my Community Team Work (CTW) this year.
70 Children + Teachers + 20 volunteers = A Big group to handle and a lot responsibility. It took a lot of effort from my co-team captain (my good friend and namesake) and my side to plan, organize and execute the project. It helped us discover that we were brilliant together :D jokes apart it made us aware of our great planning and organization skills.

Our Planets - Was the project. We were to take the children from the slum school to the planetarium. More details here...
2 months before the project we had made calls to enquire show time/ticket price/availability only to be told that the Planetarium would be closed on that particular day. That gave us enough time to reach out to all the parties involved (volunteers, project manager, charity) and re-schedule the project.
The show at the planetarium show was for an hour. Next round planning of revolved around what activities we could have for the children after the show. We wanted to make it fun and also a learning experience. Based on the age groups, we had planned for a quiz, painting and street play activities. Street play - was a request from the charity. The older girls being very talented did not get a chance to perform and be appreciated so this was an opportunity for them.

4 days before the actual project, swine flu panic spread like crazy. Volunteers were now worried. We faced a lot of questions on what precautions we were taking, if the children would be checked for illness before they were sent with us etc. Contacting the internal wellness centre, we understood that it would be best to cut short the project. Having the many children in an enclosed space for a long time would only increase the risk. We spoke to the charity and expressed the concern and told them to ensure that any child with even the slightest sign of cold/cough should not be sent on the trip.
Again, change in plans - meeting held, everyone made aware that the project was being cut short. Not all the volunteers were happy with this. Cutting short the project meant spending lesser time with the children, but we had no choice :(

August 12th: We left from office after breakfast in 2 buses. We had to pick-up points for the children and teachers. We made most use of the time we had in the bus to interact with the children and ensure they had a good time.
T planetarium was a real hit with the children. They had never witnessed anything like that before. When initially the lights went out and the tiny stars started peeping out, they were so thrilled that they started clapping and hooting :) Every new picture displayed was followed by a WOOOOW. Was such good fun being a part of this :)
After the planetarium show we spent time with them in the playground outside, as they ran around and screamed their heads out :D
We then headed back to the YWCA centre where all of us had lunch together. One group here (from one bus) lost its way and took time to reach, by the time we'd served lunch to the younger kids. Less space, well managed... thanks to lost directions? :D
The children were thrilled with the trip, the teachers were happy, the YWCA members were glad that the children had such a good time ~ most of all it was a satisfying experience for all of us.
Though just for a day, however small it may have been... we had made a difference.

Quotes from Illusions

Read Illusions - The adventures of a reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach - the author of Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Not sure if it is the subject or the way the book is written, I was not too impressed with it. However the author had some very interesting quotes, like the ones below:

• Quit anything you want, if you change your mind about doing it. Its better than keeping the job and hating it.

• The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work

• If you want freedom and joy so much, can't you see its not anywhere outside of you. Say you have it, and you have it. Act as if its yours and it is.

• Live never to be ashamed if anything you do or say is published around the world - Even if what is published is not true

• The best way to avoid responsibilities is to say "I've got responsibilities"

• There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.

• Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours

• A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed. It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.

• You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.

• Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

This one's my favourite:
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.

Weekend Getaway

Bheemeshwari - A getaway about a 100 kilometers from Bangalore
Best known for - Fishing and nature camps
Activities include - Camping by the riverside, Coracle ride, Trekking, Rappelling

My thoughts - A perfect weekend getaway. Away from all the noise and commotion. All that you hear is the river flowing by, the birds chirping and the insects buzzing. Wake up to hear the rain, smell the air fresh and green, laze around on hammocks/swings by the river.
If you feel a bit adventurous you can:
1) Trek up to a view-point where you get a 360 degree view of the valley
2) Go for a Coracle ride. Beware - this is no ordinary boat ride. Close comparison would be 'brown-water' rafting :D More than trying to spot crocodiles, we were holding on to our dear lives hoping we'd get across the river in one piece
3) Go for a drive in an open jeep early in the morning, feeling the cold air hit against your face real hard.
In all, a place where you lose yourself to nature.

The Setting

The AccomodationRelaxation

@ Jungle Lodges & Resorts

Alarm - Short Animation

Awesome animation. What creativity!

Michael Jackson R.I.P

I remember the first time that I watched the video of Remember The Time and I was completely zapped. I fell in love with MJ - no... not his music, not his songs, not his dance but him. Thereafter, every time they played that song on TV, which ever part of the house I was in, I'd instantly appear next to the TV screen. I'd watched that video so many times, even my mom knew the story in the video and which scene came after what. How he transformed from the gold dust, the way he patted the dust off his shoulders at the begining of the song, the dance moves in that video... I remember most of that to date. It started with that song, but that was just the begining.

For my birthday that year, my dad took me to Archies gallery and got me two life-size posters. What more could I ask for! That's what I woke up to every single day...
First thing in the morning, it was his face that I saw. When getting ready for school, it was his songs that I listened to. Yes I was crazy.
I watched all his tour/concerts that they played on TV. When fans mobbed to get a glimpse of him, screamed, cried and fainted at the sight of him... no one at home understood those feelings and passed silly comments... I just nodded and secretly wiped away my own tears.

I bought lyrics books and memorized the words of all my favourite songs from his albums. On the school bus, his songs/videos were the hot topics of discussion. I even won tickets to watch his short movie Ghosts.Thrilled ~ is not sufficient a word that describes what I felt then.
I own every one of his albums. I even bought Invincible, though I was past the 'fan' stage. I liked his music, though I completely disliked him now.

All said and done, he was a legend. Crazy, troubled, insane but great. He will be missed.

1 Book, 1 Movie, 1 Song

Three Cups of Tea - One man's mission to promote peace... One school at a time
Greg Mortenson, on his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2 (The second highest mountain in the world) wanders into a remote region in Pakistan. Weak from hunger and loneliness, he reaches an impoverished village, where he is nursed back to good health. During his stay in the village, he realizes that one thing that is completely lacking there is schools for the children. His life's mission changes from scaling peaks to building schools for these children. How he raises money, co-ordinates the work and helps establish over 78 schools is what this true story is all about.
Nights in Rodanthe
Earlier in this blog, I had mentioned about the book by the same name, author - Nicholas Sparks. The movie did not have great reviews, but I wanted to watch it for Richard Gere.
Richard Gere - Oh my! what can I say - that face, those eyes, that smile and of course the acting .
"One Look at him and your heart just melts away" quote-unquote :)
Both Diane Lane and Richard Gere have given brilliant performances in the movie. They were just perfect for the roles. I also loved the shots of North Carolina especially the beach-side inn - just mind-blowing.

Love Remains the Same
From the OST of Nights in Rodanthe, by Gavin Rossdale. This is my song for this week.

So much more to say
So much to be done
Don't you trick me now
We shall overcome
So all that's left is praying

But we, should have had the sun
We could have been inside
Instead we're over here

Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
Too much time too long defending
You and I are done pretending

Guitar Gurus

"Bring umbrellas, raincoats, picnic rugs etc." True to those words, these were essential at last night's concert.

The Event: Guitar Gurus - An all night performance by five of India's finest guitarists. An hour performance by each artist and then time for them all to jam.

The Venue: Fireflies Ashram (Don't ask me why Ashram, that's just the venue) The amphitheatre set around a huge Banyan tree.
Finding the place was a big adventure, but one we saw the setting, the effect, the acoustics, we knew we were in for a treat :)
Though it rained continuously through the night, we huddled under umbrellas and enjoyed the warmth of the music.

First Act: John Anthony and his band Karnatriix

Guitar - John Anthony

Percussions - "Darbuka' Siva

Sarangi & Vocals - Faiyaz Khan

East meets West
(Sarangi & Electric Guitars)

The music was a blend of classical (Carnatic & Hidustani) and western. The band played one of my favourite songs of Saint Tyagaraja - "Entharo Mahanubhavulu", Pancharatna Kritis (Five gems of Carnatic music).
Click here for the video of this song from an earlier concert.
You should also check out a better audio of this song on the Karnatriix website.

Second Act: Amit Heri and Sanjay Divecha
This act had no percussion, no other accompaniments ~ just plain guitars.
Amit and Sanjay performed a couple of their own compositions - Peace song & Africa. After which they played some Jazz as well.

Amit Heri

Sanjay Divecha

Earlier in the blog I had made a mention of Charminar, this can be found on Amit Heri's site under Music and album -Morning Raga. Such a short piece, but such strong emotions.

Third Act: Derek Julien and his band

This band started playing at 1AM and they pumped up the volume and the rhythm and had everyone swaying to their music.For a sample of what they played last night click here.

Fourth Act: Vikramjit Banerjee aka Tuki
As it was already 2AM, we didn't stay to watch this act.

The event had such variety, with each group showing off their own unique style. It was a perfect blend of talent and melody. Definitely a musical night to remember. And yes, I'm picking up the albums of these guys. :)

though the event was great, there are two things that I was disappointed with:
1) Timing - The show started more than an hour late, we therefore could not watch stay till the end.
2) A group in the audience (obviously high on something) who created a lot of disturbance and did not let others enjoy the music. People are free to do as they please, as long as they don't bother others.

Good Bye

I don't like saying good bye, its one of those sad things in life.
In some cases, we're more than happy that the person is going away
And then others, when we wish the person would but just stay
Any other category? Not to be bothered about, as it makes no difference whatsoever.
But when it is time to use the *G* word... just have to do something to cheer up.
May be its time to flip through The Blue Day Book again.

The Constant Gardener

Based on the novel by John Le Carre, The Constant Gardener is a story of a Diplomat who tries to find the reason for his wife's murder. In his pursuit, Justin Quayle (played by Ralph Fiennes) discovers that his wife Tessa (played by Rachel Weisz) and her friend Arnold were trying to expose a conspiracy involving major pharmaceuticals and aid organizations in the African continent. Brilliant performance by all the actors, beautiful cinematography and hard hitting reality all well complemented by the music of Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias. A definite must watch, according to me.

Rambling on

Today begins with this song:

<Come As You Are - Nirvana

Come as you are
As you were
As I want you to be
As a friend
As a known memory

This week had to do some 'work from home' testing. Though this has become a very popular option, working from home has its pros and its cons.
Pro - you get to be @ home
Con - you have to work :)
Jokes apart, working from home is a pain because:
A) You never get to take a break - who do u go to have coffee with. You turn around and there's no one to speak to... just the 'study' table looking at you expectantly or the bed looking cozy and tempting.
B) You just can't get up and go away for a while - Just when you tell people brb, there's an urgent request that you have to handle immediately.
C) When you are at office, you can just turn around and ask people to do whatever it is that they've got to do. When you're at home... you patiently wait for them to do it. Patience! Its such a virtue...I've learned.

Another thing I've learned and seem to keep learning every single day is that you never really get what you want, you just have to learn to want what you get.
You get back home early, but its not the right day for it. When its the right day, you're in office working late. Finally its the right time, the right day and you're back, but it begins to rain... so disappointing! Then what you do is enjoy the sweet smell of the rain and the cool breeze, because complaining is not going to change a thing.,, so might as well enjoy the pitter-patter.

Watched two movies:
I am Sam : Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer in what I consider their best performances. And Dakota Fanning, to play such a powerful role at that age. Amazing!

The Apartment: This is an old classic that I've been waiting to watch for a long time now. An insurance agent who rents out his apartment to the biggies in his office, such that they have a place to take their mistresses. A romantic comedy that makes you smile all through.

There, another week goes by. In a couple of weeks, it'll be June and we'll already be half way through the year. That's another thing I've learned, no matter what you're doing/thinking, the clock just keeps ticking. Might as well do things that you like and get past the time, than wait for the right time... if there ever is such a thing as that!

That's enough rambling for now. Ciao

Movie Time

Off late, I've been watching a lot of movies. Many movies on my 'to watch' list have now been struck off. I enjoyed watching most of these, but in a couple of cases... I thought the hype was a bit too much :)

Before Sunrise/Before Sunset:
I had watched Before Sunset a long time back and loved how the movie was so non-movie-like. Every action, every dialogue felt so real. It just takes you to a totally different world that is so beautiful. After watching Before Sunrise (the prequel - if I may call it) I think Sunset is better. But then, both movies are awwww so sweet.

The Visitor (2007):
The story of a professor, who travels to a conference to find a couple living in his home. the couple happen to be illegal immigrants. How this incident changes the professor's life is what the movie is about. The movie gets you thinking.... but I somehow felt there was something lacking in the movie. whatever said and done, the message is very powerful.

The Graduate (1967):
Dustin Hoffman, a graduate, returns home from school and only to be enticed by the wife of his father's business partner. Agreed, the movie has great acting and a very different storyline... but not too sure why the movie falls in the 'One of the greatest movies" category.

Mama Mia (2008):
Meryl Streep rocks in this musical :) Any ABBA fan would enjoy this movie. But what I loved the most were the locations - the Greek islands, the beaches, the chapel atop the hill and of course the Music.

mama mia, here I go again
my my, how can I resist you
mama mia, does it show again
my my, how much I've missed you

Rachel Getting Married (2008):
This is completely an off-beat movie. Many parts have been shot like it is a documentary. You think you've seen Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries and Devil Wears Prada and thought she was cute? Watching her in this move, you'd hate her, because of the character she plays. That's the brilliance of her acting.
Anne plays a drug addict who returns from rehab for her sister's wedding. The relationship she has with her family and they with her and most importantly she has with herself is what the movie is about. Every part is played so perfectly - Anne, her dad, her sister and the man she is engaged to - very well made movie.

The Dark Knight (2008):
ha! what do I say about this movie, except that it is so brilliant. Don’t know why I missed this when it was showing in the theatres.

P.S. I love you (2007):
I know the title sounds cheesy, but the movie is a really nice one. Its about a husband, who through his letters to his wife, teaches her to live life. Hilary Swank. who plays the wife, receives the letters after her husband's death, when she really is in need of someone to guide her. Each letter perfectly timed, makes her smile, makes her laugh and makes her do things that she loves. They bring her back to life. Gerard Butler, who plays the husband makes the perfect match for Hilary in this movie. In case you are looking for something to warm up your heart, this is one movie to watch.

Man On Wire (2008):
You just have to watch this movie to understand what a masterpiece it is. No amount of description would suffice. Related link: If you want to fly

His Girl Friday (1940):
When Cary Grant comes to know that his ex-wife, Hildy is getting re-married, he tries every possible trick to get her to stay. The story is revolves around a newspaper office that is covering the story of a man accused of murdering a policeman. The movie just belongs to Rosalind Russell who plays Hildy in the movie. It is quick paced and has great comic-timing.

Atonement (2007):
Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, this movie is about a child who accuses her sister’s lover of a crime he did not commit. This is a life changing event for all of them. The surprise comes right at the end when you know the true story. Another movie that is very well made movie.

Thank You For Smoking (2005):
First it was No Reservations, then Dark Knight and now its Aaron Eckhart in this movie as well. Each role, completely different from the other, but played so brilliantly well. Nick, the protagonist works as the spokesman for a cigarette company. Though the public hates him, yet how he defends the company is what the story is about. He knows that smoking kills millions of people each year… It is a job that I do well and it pays my mortgage, thus I do it – is his answer to the question, why do you do it. A must watch for Aaron’s great performance.

Today

Indira Gandhi International Academy is an organisation that takes care of children of Sri Lankan refugees. There are over 250 children here and the organisation takes care of the food, clothing and educational needs of these children. The organisation, I understand, is in need of food supplies, school supplies and other things that the children need in their daily lives. There are many corporates and NGOs that have taken up projects to help out these children.

We are currently running a Toiletries Collection Drive - whereby we're collecting soaps, toothpaste, shampoo sachets and other items to be donated to the school. Most part of today went in co-ordinating and collecting these items. The end result was pretty phenomenal.
At the end of the day we were told that our department had made the maximum contribution :) Such satisfaction to have been able to make a difference.

Unable to find an official web page... a related link : http://www.onlytoday.org/causes-india1.php

One thing that puzzles me is - why someone would not be willing to contribute? Is the cost of one bar of soap/tube of toothpaste too much that you are unable to donate? When will this mind-set change?

Connexions

Thank you so much for the songs. I owe you one!
Rahman's music... pure bliss! No more words.

Himalaya - Instrumental

Mylapore Blues - Instrumental

Silent Invocation C - Instrumental

Yet to listen to the rest of the album :)

Update after 4 days: I've already had enough of this album. Cannot listen to it any more. I have checked and confirmed with reliable sources that I am not the only one who feels this way...

Apocalyptica

Upto now, I've only heard the cello being played as a part of an orchestra or a cellist playing a deep melody. Apocalyptica, a quartet from Helsinki gives cello music a whole new dimension and their music is damn addictive.

Path
I don't care
Romance

Sixth Sense

Very impressive (hard to believe at first) technology.
Sixth Sense is a wearable device (Camera + projector) that projects information onto any surface be it walls, hard surfaces or any other object. With simple hand gestures one is able to interact and retrieve any required information.
~ With just a gesture, take photographs of the object in front of you
~ With another gesture, view the photos projected on the nearest wall
~ Watch related videos as you read through the newspaper
~ Get information on the products, as you are purchasing them.
Technology of tomorrow - today?

Some images from the net:
Demo video
Pranav Mistry - The genius behind this digital prototype.

A walk through the slum

Location: Kader Sheriff Garden (garden being a misnomer)
Mission: To plan community work for the betterment of the slum children
Mission partner: YWCA
Team: Yet to be decided

We (here I mean the firm) are partnering with YWCA for the first time this year to be involved in some of their projects and help out in every possible way.
Every year when its time for community work, I choose to be a volunteer, however this time I decided I'd take part in the planning and organising as well. As a part of the team captaincy, I got a chance to meet up with the board of members of YWCA. This was a very sweet and enriching experience. There were in all about 12-15 ladies, well past their middle ages - former principals, professors, college founders who have come together with an aim to make a difference. Listening to each of them speak about their experiences was just so motivating.

The YWCA Bangalore project list among many things includes:
~ A lower primary school in the KS Garden slum
~ Day care centre for young children
~ Free computer course for girls from low income families
~ Leadership training for women from diverse backgrounds
~ Learning centres, hostel facilities, free counselling sessions
The list thus goes on....

Since our project mainly has to do with the slum children, we drove up to KS Garden. We could have reached the school from the main road but we wanted to walk through the slum to see for ourselves - the slum-dwellers' way of life.
This slum has about 1700 families living together in such pathetic conditions. No proper housing, no good sanitation facilities, hardly any space to even walk, dodging and ignoring all the dirt and the filth. What would life be living in such a condition. I again reiterate the fact that we take too many things for granted in life. In comparison to such a life in the slum - we are all so much better off, yet we complain about mundane and trivial things.
We reached the school which had just 2 rooms. Room = 4 walls, no proper lights. There are two blackboards on opposite walls of the class. Half the children face one board, while the other half have their back turned towards the other board. Thus 2 classes are conducted simultaneously in the same room. The other room for the older children was even more dingy with no light at all. Despite all things - one thing to be noted is the smile that all the children had on their faces, the jest with which they answered our questions and their dreams of making it big in life. Their lives revolve around the slum, they have no clue of the evil that awaits them in the outside world, but they have it in them to become 'somebody'.

Once we had visited the two facilities, we started planning our work. It would mainly involve:
~ Moral education classes for the children
~ Basic health and hygiene lessons
~ Personality development and other useful tips for the older children
~ A day excursion to the planetarium.

The basic plan has been drawn - the hows, the whats, the how manys are yet to be decided. This should be a real good experience.

Driving me crazy :)

It can get very annoying when drivers behind you keep honking when you have stopped for the red light. If it were green would I not go?
Pointing towards the light and signalling to driver in the rear view mirror did not help my case yesterday. So I thought a good way to communicate with the vehicle behind would be to have an electronic display board. Keying in text through a simple keyboard would feed the sign-board at the back. My board at that moment would have read "In case you didn't know red means STOP". Such a board could also be used for advertisement in case of commercial vehicles. And yes, the board would be functional only when the hand break is on, otherwise it would lead to a lot of unnecessary distraction. Ah! people should ask me for ideas :)

@ the driver who was honking - fine that you want to end up behind bars, don't make me your accomplice
@ the drunkard who decided to lay down in the middle of the main road - could you not find a better place to relax
@ people who decide to sprint across without looking - this is not your hallway, look before you leap

and to think driving on weekdays was crazy.... :)

Weekend movie

What starts off as a dark and sad story, turns into a really touching and inspiring one. the dialogues have been timed so perfectly and delivered so well that you want to watch some scenes again and again.
Though a few scenes like the one relating to the war could have been avoided/shortened, its a brilliantly made movie.
Cate Blanchett looks 'oh so wow', so does Brad Pitt in a few scenes.
One scene that I really liked is where Benjamin describes a series of events that all come together and result in an accident. Even if one of those events hadn't happened or had occurred a moment earlier/later the result would have been different. He starts off by saying "Sometimes we're on a collision course, and we just don't know it. Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it."

Other thought provoking quotes from the movie:
Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.

You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

It's never too late to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Quotations - Art Buchwald

In a recent conversation about books/authors, I learned about Arthur Buchwald. Haven't yet read any of his books but came across some of his quotes today.
Found these to be interesting. They make you smile, they make you think.

“Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.”

“We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.”

“You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it.”

“The best things in life aren't things”

"I worship the quicksand he walks in"

Miles Davis

Listening to It Never Entered My mind by Miles Davis.

I'm not that much into jazz (yet). The reason for that being, melody in this genre not being very structured (or so I think). Maybe I just have to listen to more of Jazz to appreciate it better.
Its the piano notes in the begining that made me listen to this song. After I heard it once, I started playing it in a loop and now I really like the flow of the sax too. A silent, dark room - perfect setting to listen to this song.

Its been a crazy period. Hoping that the coming week is just slightly better. One thing to rejoice about for sure... Tuesday is a holiday. Yippeee! Will be content with that for now.
:D

Delhi 6

All things said and done... Great website
Imagine a movie plot with too many thoughts to be expressed. Actually so many ideas you want to bring out that you cannot fit it into one movie. So you neatly lay out all these ideas flat on a sheet of paper, cut the sheet into many pieces and try to put together a collage. The movie now has only nice looking pieces, but loses its story flow.
That's how I felt when I watched Delhi 6. So many scenes end so abruptly that it makes you wonder if it was meant to be that way or if someone did a bad job with the editing.
With such a star cast, music, location like old Delhi - the movie could have been so much more. My greatest disappointment was my favourite song Dil Gira - picturisation of which was such a let down :( Innovative - yes, appealing - maybe not.
When shooting in old Delhi, there are so many things places/culture/activities that can be showcased, but that doesn't happen here. Where Rang De Basanti had so many lovely locations/shots/picturisation this movie comes no where close to it. The only saving grace is beautiful Sonam Kapoor.
Half way through the movie you start wondering.... What were they thinking

Music find of the week

Japanese music director/composer Joe Hisaishi



I'm still checking out the other videos on youtube. The music is so beautifully composed and performed. I really liked Asian Dream Song, View of Silence and Oriental Wind.

Spirited away:
Starts off in a slow, peaceful tone. A few highs with related lows. But when At 02:19 the beats blend in, the tune takes a beautiful new turn. Very soothing in its entirety.

Another version - The Name of Life:
Nice happy tone keeps you swaying to the rhythm.

Reclaim your life

My current favorite ad on TV - Tata Safari Dicor - The concept, the locations, the music/words (Life goes by before you know it, Can you feel it pass you by)- perfect.

If you looked back into your life
What would you remember?
The corner office?
The corporate powerplays?
The VIP lounge?
What would you remember?

An earlier ad, equally good.

Drawing some inspiration.

Met a couple of friends last evening after a very long time. Ashok, Vinay and their friend Ram who'd also come along with them. We were talking about what each of us were doing and I was amazed by what Ashok shared with us:
4 years back Ashok joined an NGO and moved to Nagapattinam, where he now involved with the rehabilitation of tsunami victims. They cover 40 villages around Nagapattinam.
In groups, they go on a survey, spend time with the villagers and identify persons who would need help.
Once they are done with rehabilitating a person, they would train him/her to in turn help out with identifying other persons who are in need of similar help. They would be a better judge as they know the villagers better.

Ashok then moved on to tell us an incident that was very close to his heart. There was a man in his late twenties whose lower limb had been injured during the tsunami. He had been undergone 5 different surgeries in a government hospital but had seen no improvement. Being unable to walk, he had lost all hope.
When Ashok's group approached him, he did not want to go through the entire cycle of getting hopeful in vain and refused to be a part of the programme.
The NGO members persisted and told him to try one last time, and he finally agreed. There was a complicated surgery performed to remove the broken bone and replace it.
A year after the surgery, with regular exercise the man started to slowly move around with the help of a walker. After the rehabilitation programme was complete, the NGO team told the man that they had done their part by helping him walk again, what he wanted to do further in life was up to him. The man got back to his profession - tailoring and now runs a successful business in his village :)

Best part of this post: Ashok, Vinay and Ram are visually impaired. I know Ashok and Vinay from my school days, when my mom used to teach in a blind school. Also, since all textbooks aren't (or weren't then) available in braille, we used to read out the text from the various books and record it on cassette tapes. The students used to make copies of these tapes, listen to them and learn their lessons. Another thing we used to be involved in was during examinations - the students would have a scribe read out the question papers to them, they would dictate the answers and the scribe would write the answers - all this with no extra time.

Ashok is happy and derives immense satisfaction from his work with the NGO
Vinay works in HAL as a telephone operator/assistant
Ram works on the marketing side of Shobha Developers.

We take too many things for granted, experiences like these make us think twice before we complain about our mundane lives.
There are some who would argue that they wouldn't want to compare themselves to the less fortunate.
But it is from personal experience that I say, we should be thankful for who and what we are :)