HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!

Can you believe that it has been almost a half-year since I wrote something on my blog? So much for starting this blog! To make up for this rudimentary carelessness, I thought I will blog about my New Year's eve celebrations lest I get too engrossed in the daily grind and the celebrations seems to have happened eons ago. Mine was a blast and hope yours was too. As if the advent of the New Year was not reason enough, we had a friend's birthday too to ice the cake:) It turned out to be a complete blast and the party continued till morning which I assume most of yours would have too. Well this is the very reason we celebrate a New Year's eve party don't we:)- to welcome the first rays of sunshine and hoping that the gleam of the first rays washes away all the perils of the bygone year. Food was a major attraction- 4-5 rounds of food since the evening. Should we have called it dinner or should it have been called dinofast( combo of dinner and breakfast). We indulged in all the so-called junk fried food-- gobi manchurian, thai spring rolls, spicy corn chaat( an indian delicacy of sauteed corn,sev and potatoes) not to mention the normal rice, crab, chicken , rajma, paneer , dal, chutney . How can a party be complete without dessert- lemon tarts, baklava, tiramisu, pastries topped with exotic fruits and the famous "bengali payesh" which brings my mouth to that embarrassing watering-stage. If you have started thinking that we just ate and ate then sadly my friend, you are wrong. How could there be a party and no music and games! It was an interesting mix of Dumb Charades, passing the parcel and "Prem ki pariksha" for couples. I must admit that the last one was my favorite though I hate to admit that my results were unexpected.:) And no party can be considered to be complete without the delectable drinks.Ours was not an exception either. As all good things, this one too seems to have been over fast and though it is just the 6th day of the year it seems "long ago" as someone aptly worded it. The wheel of time does roll fast and I am already waiting for the next fun event!

The viral buzz about "3 Idiots"!

Yes, I truly think so ! The buzz about 3 Idiots has been viral and I am sure the directors/producers are thoroughly enjoying this stint!:) And why not when the film has been made well! The movie in no way is comparable to "Five Point Someone" by Chetan Bhagat. The writer seems to think that the story line is based on his script while the director says that it has been "loosely adapted" from the novel. I say, it has been "Bollywoodized" . And why not,because to the common man, spicing it up does make a difference.

I always have been an avid reader and to this day, I stand true to my conviction that the original books are much better than their bollywood counterparts. And I have my own myopic reasons for that. I can add life to the character in a way that I want. That beautiful girl can be blue-eyed if the author has given me the liberty and the handsome hunk can be the likes of Sylvester Stallone. I do admit that I tend to go overboard at times with my imagination. But it is just the way I love. So be it!

By the way, I do highly recommend this movie. Go see it if you haven't . If you have ever been in a technical institution like me, you can relate to yourself the theme of this movie very well and I think this is what is making the movie a hit among the intellectuals( if I am allowed that:) .

The buzz of Life!

For ones like me who love it..you guessed it right--music and for the very rare and limited species of the world who do not like music- well too bad! You are missing out on a major portion of the fun.
Without wasting much time, let me get to the gist of what I wanted to say through this blog. Last weekend, we had a great chance of a lifetime to go to a "Kailash Kher" concert . It was a kind of last minute decision that we made which I do not regret of course. I thank my friends to whom I attribute the pleasure of my attendance!

We were a little late albeit. We had a picnic in the afternoon and to get there after a hectic afternoon took us some time. When we reached the vicinity, we could hear "Teri Deewani " resounding in the air. I grew impatient to find a parking as it is one of my favorites from Kailash Kher's album. Hurriedly, after finding a parking, we rushed to the venue. I literally could not wait to reach there:)

The view that met my eyes were a sure treat:) Lots of familiar faces dancing away to the throes of his beats. Without wasting much time, we joined the crowd. As KK said" Dance till you get into a trance" and dance into a trance we did indeed! Even unfamiliar unknown faces seemed to hold hands to dance in the group. People forgot all their barriers and danced in unison. It felt as if we knew each other for a long time . Music is one that removes all barriers . Even my little one who was a little skeptical while going( since he thought that it would be a typical Indian classical musical evening) was sad when it seemed to have ended soon. He said that he had thoroughly enjoyed the concert and wanted to go to concerts everyday. Well if only we could! I sure understand your feeling sweetheart!

And thus came to an end a beautiful evening filled with the buzz of life- Music! And it sure did leave a trail of pleasant feeling and memories that will not fade in a long time.

When will the economy get better?

The downward trend in the economy has cast a gloom over the earth.
People are appalled and taking very cautious steps as if in the constant fear of treading the path unknown or better yet- known but unwelcomed, unwanted!

The decline of the financial market in the fall of 2008 started the fall of the "House of cards"! All segments of the market seemed to crash one after the other.
Then came layoffs and more layoffs. Companies became extremely cautious in their ventures. Job openings decreased and the job market has literally come to a standstill.It is frightening to go through an insecurity every single day!

And to top the already liquid market came Madoff scam! And the irony is he goes to jail for only 150 years! Go figure! Personally, I think in addition to 150 years he should be penalized to give all the money back to those innocent and unknowing people who had invested in his “Ponzi” scheme. This will teach all those wannabe-ponzi-scheme leaders a lesson,I hope.

This morning when I was dropping my son to school, the teachers were distributing
fliers appealing to protest against the budget cuts in education. These budget cuts
might lead to class sizes being increased. Teachers are fearing the impending layoffs. The so called recession (and I personally think it should be called “Depression “now) has been continuing for the last 15 months and economists and columnists say that it is going to get worse. Ha! Is it not worse enough?

Everyone is now watching and apprehending the impact of the stimulus package
to the market with the hope that 6 months from now the stimulus will show signs
of improvement. I sincerely hope it does!

Infatuation?

“He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, and he loves me not”. Anu kept saying alternately while picking one petal off the beautiful white daisy. She had not realized that she had created a trail behind her as threw the petals on the ground.
She had almost reached her apartment. “Hiya, what you up to”? Her heart almost skipped a beat as she heard his resounding voice. She was standing right in front of him and could not avert the strong gaze of Nirav. She loved his eyes and as she looked into those eyes, it was as if the earth beneath her feet would give away. Damn! She always had this feeling when she saw him. Was it excitement that she fell? Was it joy?

She had not expected to see him. But she had to admit that she was pleasantly startled.
“It is just a stupid game “she blurted out not knowing what to say. How she wished it was true and not just a stupid game.

And Thank You! Now I forgot where it had ended – was it “he loves me” or was it “he loves me not” she thought looking at the half bare daisy in her hand.

He smiled and walked along crossing her to reach his apartment. She had to admit that the smell of his musk drove her crazy. She closed her eyes, back turned towards him, and tried to fill herself with the lingering smell, thankful that he could not see her face.
“By the way,” he turned around, “I have good news ! I am getting married to Priya in a month”. “I will come to your house and give you the formal invitation card”.
“I just had to tell someone” she could hear the excitement in his voice.
.
Her head spun, her knees seemed to give way, and her legs suddenly became weak. She whirled around to turn and face him. He was smiling, still fidgeting with the keys to open the door to his house. The happiness in his face made Anu extremely sad.
How could he do this? How could he marry Priya when all that Anu thought about was Nirav.
“Congratulations! “ She had to force herself to let out the words. She rushed in to her house trampling the daisy that had fallen off her hands.
She threw the books onto the floor and slammed the door and literally collapsed onto her bed.

It was exactly one year back that he had moved in here. It was just before Valentine’s day. Anu’s mom was not very pleased about the fact that a young single guy was moving in next door as a tenant, very worried that they were to have a bachelor as a neighbor

They were still chatting over coffee when Anu had come home from college. She barged into the house as she always did. As she entered she realized and felt his strong presence, his strong personality, the magnetic charm that immediately seemed to draw her close to him.
“Hi , I am Nirav”, he had introduced himself. It was as if she could still feel the strong grip of his hands as she had on the first day. It was as if she had given him her heart that very moment.
After that day, she had not passed a single day not thinking about him. She had always managed to steal a glance at him be it when he was leaving for office or when he was returning home. She had almost aligned her chores according to his timings. On the weekends, she would stand on the balcony and wait for the moment when he would come out to his balcony- either talking on the phone or to water his plants. Her day was made- a single look from him and she would feel as if she was flying on the seventh heaven.
She had turned down so many proposals from many of her mates at college. She was beautiful and hence had no dearth of boys wooing her. She could not get herself to liking any of them. She couldn’t help herself- she could only think of Nirav. No one was anything like him in his looks or personality.

She realized that her pillow was all wet when she heard her mom calling. “Nirav is here, Won’t you come outside to chat for a while. He is here to give his wedding invitation.”
“I have a test tomorrow and I have to prepare for that” she replied back, trying to stabilize her voice as much as she could while gathering the pearls that had strayed all over the floor from her snapped necklace.

To my Childhood!

Childhood! Thou art a pleasant memory
A treasure to cherish.
A feeling of warmth
A blessing that has been!

I ache to go back
To Embrace your being!
I long to be
In the state I had been!

Gone are those days
Of sheer simplicity
Of being so bubbly
With all the ecstacy!

Memories, sweet memories!

Another year has passed by . With the advent of every Durga puja, I feel that I am moving away farther from my childhood. Of course the memories still are fresh.
With every passing year, I realize more that the very innocent and small pleasures of childhood are very precious and with all the stress of a normal adult life, these memories are a treasure - the planning that I had done as to what would be my puja dresses. We had this tradition( as any other traditional Bengali home) that we would buy dresses yes- loads of them actually during the pujas:) including shoes, matching sweaters and jackets and not to forget the very important girlie accessories like the braclet, the necklace that was in trend and the earrings that you simply could not do without! How would the dress-up be complete without those earrings! It was the only time ever I think that we really dolled up:)
The days just before the pujas would be so much more interesting with topics to discuss and talk about- what we would wear, where we would be waiting for a friend, how some of us had an advantage as we lived close to Durgabari. Some friends will understand this very well:)
And then, the actual days of the puja would be out of the world for us! Those days, I remember we never had a trouble of getting up early in the morning. We would wait and strain our ears to hear the sound of the "dhaak". And the first sound of "dhaak" would make us very excited and me and my brother would make up a case as to how we were getting late and that all of our friends would be missing us already. There would be stalls outside Durgabari that we would wait to see in case we liked something from there and could get it. For the boys it was generally the "pistol-bomb" All the boys would be bursting out those bombs and all the girls would be mad that they were making a lot of noise and how it was so unsafe:)
Evenings were thronged with cultural programs. In my younger days, it was more of an enjoyment from the audience and as I entered my teens, I had also started participating in those programs - be it a quiz or singing.
I wonder whether we will be able to give those small pleasures to our next generation- the treasures that they can pass on to their kids , the memories they can reminisce in their adult life, the memories that say " I look forward to the pujas, how my mom and dad had made the pujas so enjoyable for us" , the culture that is associated to the pujas, the Bijoya pranam that had so much of a meaning in our lives .