What A Life!

Note: Don't get critical about the crappy writing style, focus on content instead - specially from 3rd paragraph, starting with "In other news..."

Written: Jan 23 '11

I'm in Jonesboro today, which is where my parents live. Woke up at 7:30 in the the morning after only about a five hour sleep which was preceded by a long chat with Sindhu (roomie), which was preceded by hours of game play at Dave & Buster's with a bunch of friends, which was preceded by work and a quick meet with a friend at the Auto Show being held at the Georgia World Congress Center - I wasn't interested in the cars though, my attention was on typography, instead :) - which was preceded by a happy start to Saturday morning after only about a four to five hour sleep, which was preceded by a long chat with Nammo (roomie), which was accompanied by Zinfandel - drinking started around 8 in the evening on Friday night - the chat was preceded by all four roomies - Harini, Namrata, Sindhu, and I - watching Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and praising Shahrukh Khan without stop ;), which was preceded by a beautiful evening of poetry at Proma's while Poet Dude was visiting from Boston. Whew! 30 happenin' hours! Wonderfully refreshing!

I reached home this morning around 8:45. Had told dad a few days back that I'll be home early and he doubted my abilities, had to accept the challenge and shot up at the first sound of the alarm. At home, papa was showing off the Netfilx, Blue-ray combo and started playing Guzaarish. He left in the middle due to work but I was hooked! What an amazingly beautiful film! Everything about it is just beautiful: story, actors, acting, sets, songs, direction, you name it! Hrithik Roshan is such a wonderful actor, well, everyone acted exceptionally well in this movie. If you haven't already, watch it!

In other news, in the past week I met three of the people I look up to, consider my role models in some way or another. And for the first time I wasn't starstruck. After observing and listening to them intently, they transformed from being god-like figures to normal human beings, people who make mistakes, people who lose temper, people who can be irrational and judgmental at times, people just like me! This doesn't mean my respect has gone down, not even a bit. In stead, it has now switched to an interesting combination of more respect and more relatability. They, their ideas, their actions, their abilities, their perseverance, their courage doesn't seem so far fetched anymore. They are also human with emotional needs that needed to be either fulfilled or conquered for them to become the pillar they are today. And it doesn't end there. It is a life long process that they continuously fight, but at times can't help getting sucked in. They are just like me! Seeing that confusion, that irrationality in their faces and voices and past and present tales tells me that I too, just like them, can get past the hurdles and come out shining as long as I apply myself and do not give up. Thank you, Khuda, for showing me this light :)

Added: Jan 24 '11

In addition, the above observation cum realization may have also pushed me in the direction of being less judgmental. When I don't like something about a person, instead of jumping to the conclusion that they're incompetent, I have the option of accepting that 1) they may be going through a bad phase, or 2) they are just different than myself, and that's okay! It's absolutely okay.

Adding on to the "it's okay" state-of-mind: unhappy arguments and conflicts that don't result into anything but hurt, aren't taking a toll on me these days. Yes, they hurt. But that's it. I move past them as soon as I accept that I've been hurt. I don't turn around to hurt the source in return, and it's cool. One may think that this may be piling underneath the surface to erupt at a future date, but nothing is piling up! I don't feel heavy at all. I'm light. And I'm happy. I've been saying, "I'm happy!" so much lately, that I'm starting to wonder if it's a lie - but no, I have real happiness on my face! Then I wonder if it's a mistake, a dream. And I can't really deny that, because I feel life is a dream. Each moment a reality when in it, once past it, once it's no longer a reality of the present moment but a mere memory, it starts to have a dreamlike feel, doesn't it? For that matter even when we are dreaming, it feels real when in it. So whatever it may be, however long it may last, this continuous smile is my present reality.

Although I haven't been meditating, Vipassana is the definite culprit :). It is the one that helped me reach this state and the one that helps me accept and move past things on a moment to moment basis. It is the one that helps me smile :) ...and for the past few days, I'm overflowing with love. Unconditional love. I love everyone and everything around me. Sometimes it becomes so overwhelming that I don't know how or where to direct it. My eyesight becomes hazy, because it's so effin' full of love! WOW. I've never been here before. And although adjusting is taking some time, I definitely like it here :)

Soberld

This weekend was primarily nasha free and the results are worth boasting about. Instead of [a lot of] alcohol, consumed warm water with a hint of mint and caffeine. In spite of sleeping at five in the morning, woke up fifteen minutes before eleven and didn't even mildly feel guilty about it. Oh, and was up before eight on Saturday. Ecstatic, yes, very much so.

Besides these trivial yet exciting achievements, I ended up accomplishing, or rather doing, various things instead of lazily laying limp. Saturday began with the Enrollment Day at the Art Institute.

Disclosure: I've switched school and the area of study after wasting four years and [let me not mention how] much money at Georgia State. All this while, I was trying to figure out what to do, never feeling a hundred percent sure about anything. One fine summer night - late night - I realized I had blocked out the only thing that could make me happy, that made me happy all throughout high school - Design. Past eight years of my life came rushing back, helping me make sense of everything that had and had not happened. Parents, of course, aren't happy with the fact that their daughter, eldest of the two idiots they've raised, is twenty-two and still only has a high school diploma. Back when I lacked dedication and couldn't find direction, the same bothered me too. Now, I'm content with where I'm headed and the decision I've made.

-Future User Experience/Interface Designer

Had yet another question-answer, explain-my-stand session with dad at and after the Ai event. It has been going on for some time with successive failures. I don't see my arguments making sense to him until my actions start shaping my career. Which is understandable and thus - I've concluded - discussions are worth avoiding for the time being.

Moving on. With little, not so important, details in between - snacking at Chatpati after several years, putting a check mark next to "buy art supplies", late night, lighted up, chilly Atlantic Station walk, making french toast for breakfast, getting some money-bringing work done - lunch at Varasano's Pizzeria and Amy Schumer at the Punchline Comedy Club deserve ovation.

Varasano's is a fairly new joint, with only salads, pizzas, and desserts on their food menu. That's probably the reason why they excel at what little they offer. From the first sip of Death In the Afternoon - Champagne and Absinthe with a sugar cube - and the first bite of Nucci - Garlic, Olives & Emmenthaler finished with Arugula, Mushrooms & Herbs - to the last drop and crumb finding it's way out of the glass, off of the place into my mouth & beyond, the entire experience was heavenly. As soon as I first sipped, chewed, and swallowed, I was talking about my next visit to this pizzeria. If you're in Atlanta and you haven't been here yet, please allow me to accompany you :) (no, it ain't on me, we'll split the bill).

Sunday outing came to an end with comedian Amy Schumer performing at the Punchline in Dunwoody. I'm not into stand-up comedy, but I'm open to exploring if the event is free (deal tweets, peeps). Had been to a show once before, at the same location, and didn't enjoy it at all. Today, however, not hearing something - as a result of prolonged laughter - made me want to rewind the live show. That's all I gotta say. Good night folks, you've been a great audience!

I think I'm in Love...

...with someone on television!

No other love, darlin' I'm flyin'.
No, no other love, darlin' I'm flyin'.
And I can go, I can go anywhere.
No other love can take me there.
-"No Other Love" by Heart

Jennifer Beals came into my life as Bette Porter - one of the characters on the series "The L Word". I won't hesitate in saying, I'm obsessed with her. Her eyes, her lips, her teeth, her smile, her body, her figure, her hands, her fingers, her expressions, her [fictional] life on [The L Word], her scenes, her dialogues, her, her, her... fuck.

YouTube is where I spend a lot of my time these days, watching and re-watching and continuously watching her scenes in TLW. The way she embraces and pulls and kisses the other person, the way she looks at her lover in the middle of kisses or a love scene, the way she smiles when in love, leaves me weak in my knees. Thinking too much about her, which has become too difficult not to do for some reason, always results in a sigh and a fuck! out my mouth, space between my lips, and her in my eyes :)

FUCK!

Dhan Dhana Dhan DHOKHA

Just sat through Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. I had seen bad ratings, but read one good review. Would have watched it nonetheless, but the review made me look forward to it. However, I was very, very disappointed. The review was a dhokha and the film was a pain!

The bottom-line is, there really was no buildup. Okay, we get it this bankrupt football club needs to win a championship, and 30 Million British Pounds in order to save their club from being sold to some builder. BUT, at least try to show how in the freakin' world this team of fatties lacking practice or any good players goes on to win a championship! According to Boman Irani, the team's coach, they had to win 30 matches. I only saw three, played against the SAME TEAM - Aston!

John 'hot body' Abraham, plays for Aston when the film starts, randomly comes to this South Hall (fatties) Team, signs a contract with some other team in the middle of the movie, and then comes back to SH to play the championship game. WTF!

This Bangladeshi guy ends up crying in every scene because no one gives a damn about his team. Apparently, he came to UK just to play for South Hall.

For an unknown reason, the viewers are made aware of the sad little detail that Arshad Warsi and his wife do not have any children. In the middle of the movie, for no apparent reason, the wife becomes pregnant (no sex scene either!). How did she become pregnant? An affair, I'm sure, because Warsi is always playing football or entertaining his fatty friends, whom the wife despises. Anyways, so by the end the little bastard is born, named after the HERO of the film - J 'hot body' A - after all he's the only one who knows how to really play this 'pao hila gend uda khel'. The film, finally, comes to an end after every single damn individual gets his bloody photo clicked with the little bastard, even the team mates who never had a single dialogue, but could be scene in the background every now and then.

Unless the version I saw was significantly cut and lacking major parts of the movie, this was a total waste of time!

last.fm

I listen to music a lot. Used to play Bollywood stuff all the time, but now I'm extremely bored with that. Have started listening to angrezi sangeet (finally!). Like a few bands.

Discovered last.fm and iScrobbler through iusethis in mid April. Have been scrobbling ever since then. Came across a number of bands due to last.fm - Beck, Incubus, Spoon - by checking out what my friends and neighbors listen to. It's a cool little tool if one's into discovering new stuff and willing to check out other people's interests.

The 'recently played' list is available on the sidebar of the blog (is that what it's called? hmm...) as well.

Shady Shaadi

Listen to Gudgudee and Jaagte Raho. Two feel-good (and the only songs worth listening to) from the recent bollywood flick Just Married. Usually, I like Pritam's compositions. Lately, he hasn't been so amazing.

As per the 2+ hour film, it was nice. The end, however, ruined the whole thing. The writer could have thought of something else. Hell, after reading the script or at least when editing the stupid thing somebody should have said something!

On another note, how rational was it for the director to name the movie 'Just Married'? It's hard enough to find it on IMDb since in 2003 Ashton Kutcher's romantic comedy was released by the same name. Plus, there are a thousand other Just Married's on there.

SINGeet

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Closed eyes. Light creases on the forehead. The 'bindi' area applying its gravitational force on eyes and the creases. Neck moving slighty around allowing the head to lightly wobble. A humming sound generating from the throat, finding its way out the nostrils. Lips moving apart, giving way to voice.

dil ke mere paas ho itne
phir bhi ho kitni door
tum mujhse, main dil se pareshaan
dono hain majboor
aise mein kisko kaun manaaye
din dhal jaaye haaye, raat na jaaye
tu to naa aaye, teri yaad sataaye

:)

I like Mohammad Rafi's voice and songs as well.
Lyricists are awesome people.
Music Composers are even better (sometimes).

Mukesh

I feel sorry for myself.
I believe you should too.
Why?
Because...
Because, I like Mukesh.
Mukesh, the singer!
Yes, I like Mukesh the singer.

Then why am I sorry?
Why should you be sorry?
Because...
Because, I like Mukesh.
And, because...
Mukesh is amazing.
And, because...
I discovered the amazingness of:
Mukesh,
His Voice,
His Songs,
His Pain...
a little too late.
Too Late, I say... Too Late!

Why Late?
Why do I say, Too Late?
Well, because...
Because, it is late. Too late, I say.
Too Late.

I wish, I wish, I wish.
I wish, I had known him before.
I wish, I had listened to him before.
I wish, I had discovered him before.
I wish too many things, I know.
But, really! I really wish I had...

Before you ask me 'Why?'
I'll tell you 'Why?'

I listened to many stupid sad bollywood songs
in an era.
In an era, now gone,
Left behind, fogotten.
But I'll remember it always.
Remember it because,
I didn't have Mukesh back then.

Oh, it would have been an experience.
An experience, better than the one I had...
only, only if I had known Mukesh.
Known Mukesh back then!

I know.
I know, I need to answer 'Why?'

It was a time
of
Life.
of
Love.
of
Pain.

Something, Mukesh would have made better.
Just by being there.

Dhoom 2

Saw the movie yesterday. Going in, I did not have a lot of expectations. Reason? The promos looked amazing and everybody was extra hyped about the movie. Coming out, I wanted to see it once again!

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Hrithik definitely looks amazing in the movie. I've never liked his looks, until now. Aishwarya looks alright - I didn't pay too much attention to her - but she does have that 'I'm better than everyone' attitude. Didn't like her too much. Abhishek is just as before. Nothing different or extra-ordinary about him. Uday is funnier than before. Can't act, is there only for the jokes, but does a good job. Bipasha doesn't have much of a role, but I liked her in the second half.

Benizishi!

Song: Leja Leja Mera Dil
Film: An Evening in Paris
Leads: Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore



I absolutely love this song ever since the day I first saw it. Tagore doesn't have any terrific dance steps, yet the song is an 'item number'. And I just love the way she say's 'my name is suzie' ... makes me laugh everytime!

Doogtoons

After recently discovering the awesome world of Podcasts, I've been downloading a number of these using iTunes. I am a fan of Video Podcasts, because I often get distracted when listening to Audio.

These days, I religiously watch:
1) ABC World News
2) Bollywood Report from WahIndia
3) Doogtoons
4) Sam Has 7 Friends

Of the four shows listed above, I really like Doogtoons.
You'll have to watch the episodes for yourself to understand what I mean. The thing is not supposed to be educational or a 'typical' comedy - if there exists such a thing - but it's 'stupid funny' - don't know how to put the term any differently.

PS: I did share the link with one of my friends (residing in India) and he did not like the show.

Insight into my Personality?

The subject of movies is often discussed and talked about amongst friends. Back in the 'kids era' - yes I do like the combination of these two words - questions like "What is your favorite movie?" "Who are your favorite actors and actresses?" "What kind of music do you like?" "Which TV Serials are your favorite?" were often asked and answered. There could be several reasons to why every group of friends in this world has talked about these. Either there was nothing else worth talking about or these questions are very important! I used to believe the first reason - nothing else to talk about! But it seems the latter is true - these questions are very important!

Now the question - Why do I think "these questions are very important"? Well, because the rise of 'social networks' has emphasised the importance of these. No matter which social network, no matter whether it is being used largely or not, all of them have sections for - favorite movies, favorite music, favorite books etc. etc. So, do these tell something about the person? Or do they just serve as information that end up resulting in false interpretations?

How do you decide which kind of movie you like? No movie is perfect! Do we base our choices and preferences on Acting? Actors? Technology used? Special effects? Story? Climax? What?

Okay, another question. When someone first watches a movie or a new movie is released people again discuss it, ask others whether or not they liked the movie. This is not about favorites, it's only about the first impression. How do people judge this like or dislike towards the movie?

I, personally, did not like Omkara. The last 30 minutes were the best because the movie gained pace, but everything before it was slow and probably did not make sense to an average viewer (who has not read Othello). Although everything that happened in the first 2 hours was essential for the climax, as a whole I did not like the movie. Probably because it did not keep me involved, after a while I was not interested in what was happening on screen, I wanted it to just end!

Yesterday, I saw Sainik (a 1993 Akshay Kumar starrer). The movie did not have any story to it. They just made it out of the blue, probably to give these stars something to do. After the movie ended, I wanted to express my like or dislike. And for once I was confused. Although the movie did not have any storyline, although it was not all necessary to spend 3 hours watching it, although I could have done something better, probably watched another pathetic movie, I had a very good reason to say that I did not dislike the movie. This does not mean I 'liked' it, but I 'did not dislike' it either. The reason? I didn't really get bored. Although I could see, nothing is leading to nowhere, still the director had my attention.

How do you play this game of favorites? or likes or dislikes?

The Simpsons - Indian-e-fied!

Today, I came across this on YouTube.

Serves as good sequal to my previous Simpsons post.

mujhe bhi... Doob Jaana Re!

Watched Main, Meri Patni aur Woh - a hindi movie starring Rajpal Yadav in a leading role. Not a commercial movie, I don't think a lot of people with like it. I, however, enjoyed watching it. I guess one could say that this movie was somewhat like Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, but I rate it much higher than the Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Madhuri Dixit starrer.

The concept was beautiful. Mithilesh's insecurity, possessiveness, and willingness of sacrifice... is justifiable. The songs from this movie are very good as well. "Doob Jaane Re" is not only my favorite song, but is nowdays played 5 out of 10 times on my iTunes.

Title: Doob Jaana Re
Singer: Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal
Music: Rajendra Shiv
Lyrics: Rocky Khanna

Male:
(aaj maine dilse
baadlo se milke) - 2
sapno ki baarish se kaliya sajake
mahki umango se khushbu churake
halki si boondo mein
lahro ki goonjo mein
gum ho jana re
(doob jaana re
mujhko doob jaana re
tere paas aana re
mujhko doob jaana re) - 2

Female:
(chalte chalte maine yun hi
jaane mere dil se aisa kya keh diya) - 2
(kyun ye mausam bhi hai lagta ab suhana re
dhadkane bhi saath mere gungunati re) - 2
khamosh aanho ke simte irade
masum palko pe sapne sajake
halki si boondo mein
lahro ki goonjo mein
gum ho jaana re
(doob jaana re
mujhko doob jaana re
tere paas aana re
mujhko doob jaana re) - 2

Male:
(badlo se dil ka rishta hai purana re
hai safar anjaan lekin aazmaana re) - 2
maine na socha na samjha na jaana
rukte kadam phir bhi aise kyun chaahe
halki si boondo mein
lehro ki goonjo mein
gum ho jaana re
(doob jaana re
mujhko doob jaana re
tere paas aana re
mujhko doob jaana re) - 2

Female:
aaj maine dilse
baadlo se milke
sapno ki baarish se kaliya sajake
mahki umango se khushbu churake

Male:
halki si boondo mein
lehro ki goonjo mein
gum ho jaana re

Male and Female:
(doob jaana re
mujhko doob jaana re
tere paas aana re
mujhko doob jaana re) - 2

B-E-A-utiful!! Of course, it's nothing unique, yet it has made a mark on me. Such songs, which are not out of the blue, but can still make one smile - not for just a moment but for hours at a time - are the ones that always take my heart away.

It may get added to my (um.. our) playlist titled "humtum ke hontho par".