HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was Dad & Mom's 30th marriage anniversary today; 30 long years of a beautiful relationship which is the reason of my existence and being. 30 years is a very long time, I haven't even seen or experienced that (means I am way younger than 30!!). Some of you may have (older folks!!) so you may understand the significance of this time, or maybe it looses its importance for some after so much time. It is definitely a special day for me & so it is for my parents. For someone who gets startled by the thought of being married, this is a great example to watch. But I don't follow examples, I like to set examples!!

I have never been against marriage as an Institution & a social & personal entity but you do not have to be against something to not do it. And some things happen only at there right time, they can never get there meaning if done early or late (but better late than never, or too early). I don't understand why others (including friends & relatives etc) get more concerned about your marriage than you. But why am I talking all this... I guess the thought of marriage makes me paranoid, lol. Congratulations & lots of love Dad & Mom, tons of my best wishes for you forever!!!

When I lost my 5 rupees coin....

There is not much going on these days except Delhi being super hot & me being super tired/exhausted all the time; so I thought of writing something from past stories. Recently one day when I was going to the GYM (yes, I go to gym!!) my sister asked me to get a gel-pen refill and gave me a Rs 5 coin for the same. I put it in my lowers pocket & went on for the workout... I was in gym and I did my regular hour long gymming routine. Then I left the gym and went to the store to buy the refill. I asked the guy that how much refill was for and he said that Rotomac (remember, likhte-likhte love ho jaaye!!) is Rs 6 & Reynolds in Rs 10. I told him that my sis told me that there's a refill for Rs 5 & I need that one, turns out that the Rotomac was being offered for Rs 5 as well (I didn't intentionally bargain but it happened, it happens only in India!!). I put my hands in pocket to take out the coin & alas... its not there. I must have lost in the gym I thought, but who goes back to search for a Rs 5 coin & all that. But then I decided to go & look... I went back to the gym & couldn't find it where i was working out. Little disappointed but decided to look more... and yes, it was lying under a bench!!!

I was so damn happy to find my coin back, never thought I could find a lost coin. I'll tell you a ... there was this small kid of 7-8 yrs old whose mom sent him out to market to buy some stuff. He came back with the stuff and handed it over to his mom with the remaining balance, turns out that he's handing over 50 paise less and he couldn't find it anywhere. Seems he must have lost it somewhere on the way. The mom asks the boy to go back and look for the coin and get it back. The boy doesn't wants to go back all the way, that too in night but he has to. He goes back searching for the lost coin on road & everywhere but comes back empty handed. (now you would be expecting that he was beaten rudely & ferociously by his mom and all that, read further....) His mom was waiting on the door for him when he came back, he told that he couldn't find the coin and she didn't say anything. Nothing else happened but the boy still remembers the story and learnt something form it... he learnt the value of money!!

You must have guessed by now that the boy was me (you gotta be really dumb if you couldn't figure that out yaar). I learnt that every paisa/penny has value and it counts. Hard earned money should always be respected.. and you should always try to look for your lost money, lolzz. I remember when I lost my Rs 100 note at DTC Pass Center in Scindia House CP. I was so sad & mad, looking for it everywhere and couldn't find it. It was a big amount & was all my saving from my pocket money. I requested god to do something and didn't talk to him for days for not giving my money back (! literally used to not wish pranaam to god at temples for some days. afterall we think that he's responsible for all that happens, he must be doing it intentionally). Many other occasions I suffered some miscellaneous losses like these or others but hardly was able to recover it. But then you realize that winning & losing is part of the life and every loss makes your next win even more special & cherished. Like getting this Rs 5 coin back!!

So what do you think, giving importance to every penny is right or letting it go as a part of the experience & then blaming god... Alright friends & people, that's it for now. Please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO (I recently heard the pussycat version of the song and its nice)!!!!!

Trip to Vaishno Devi

I went to Vaishno Devi past weekend (Apr 12), the trip was adventurous & fun but as good as a war!! I was with one of my friend, we left Sunday afternoon by bus from Bus Terminal at Jeeval in Jammu (click here to read about my Jammu trip) and it took us around 1.5 hrs to reach Katra. You have to wait in a line to get the 'darshan parchi' (visitor-slip) which you need to collect to get in, it's free. We waited around 3 hrs in line till 5pm but it turned out that they won’t give slips anymore till 5am next day as there are too many visitors for the day. It was quite disappointing but we thought of checking for the passes at the Defense Camp which is 1 Km ahead near Brhamakumari where you get special passes for defense people (my dad is Ex-Defnse Personnel). When we reached there we were told that since 9 months policy has changed and now the passes are not available for families of Defense Personnel anymore. Again disappointment, but we talked to the guy there named Naidu and ultimately he was convinced to help us by giving us the visitor slips (not defense though, but he had few general slips). If you are convinced and work hard, nothing is impossible.. Or may be Maa Vaishno was calling us…

Then the journey upwards began which wasn’t too bad. Just be slow & steady and keep taking short rests when needed. Half the way to the top, the way splits into two… one way goes through Ardkwari in between & then further up to Bhawan (mata Vaishno’s temple), the way is little tough as it is steeper and longer than other way. Darshan at Ardhkwari is not easy as there are long waiting, you have to take a visitor-slip again here for this temple and the waiting for us was 2 days. Then there is the other way which does not go through Ardhkwari and it is shorter by 1 Km, its easier as well (less steep & newer road). You can take a short tunnel through Ardhkwari to get on this way but you end up walking 1 Km extra. The Pony-Ride which keeps coming on to you is a big nuisance, but you don’t encounter them on this road which is good. It took us around 4-5 hrs in total to reach till Vaishno Devi Mandir. Just before entry you have to get your slip stamped and they give you a group number fro entry into temple which is displayed all over TV (but it is hardly followed, you cant go before it I think but can go anytime after your number has crossed. Doesn’t even gives you any priority in darshan line).

Then you have to take holy-bath at the snaanghar which is at the end; just keep walking past lockers etc. The water comes out of pipes from somewhere but it is very cold n chilling, however bath is kinda fun. Then put your shoes, leather stuff & belongings (including cam etc) in the locker & go for the darshan. Darshan are open all day-night except the Arti in Morning & evening. When we got in the line at around 2 in night the security guys told us that darshan are closed till morning… another disappointment but we decided to wait. The darshan were open in half an hour!! It takes around an hour or so to get till the Bhawan Gufa (or the cave in which there are the Pindies). There is no photo or idol but just the mata ki pindies…. If its crowded they don’t let you go in the real gufa but the artificial one which takes you near darshan place (I was told that if there is less rush you get to crawl in that gufa and get closest darshan). They hardly let you see anything and you can’t even stand for few seconds for proper darshan. They don’t take your Prashaad (offerings, you can buy those even downwards before starting the climbing which is better as you get nicer stuff but you have to carry it. Options are less & limited upwards). After darshan you take the halwa prashhad & then it’s done. Don’t forget to take your stuff abck from the locker though…

The next is the visit to Bhaironath & it’s said that darshan is not complete until you visit there (it's said that Maa Vaishno killed Bhaironath who was a evil taantrik, however while dying he asked for forgieness & Maa gave him this aashish). Its 3-4 Kms up and you can walk, take stairs or take pony ride too. We decided to use stairs mostly because it was faster but painful too. The temple was not open early morning at 6am, so I think it’s only open from Morning till evening/night. You can also get some nice pictures from the top spot there. Now you can take another route to return back to Katra which goes through Ardhkwari too. If you have taken the visitor slip to Ardhkwari while climbing, you might wanna check while going back if your number has come, its easier way than waiting there only. Or you can go back to Vaishno Devi and take a tempo ride from there till Ardhkwari which runs ant fixed times starting 8am. The walk back is really tough & painful… climbing up is tiring but if you have not taken enough rest or do not have great stamina, the walk down is very painful & strenuous. You might wanna use stairs to get down which is quicker but be careful as well. I was really collapsing the way back but managed to get down somehow.

The other options to get up-down are using Pony-Ride or Paalki. Also you can take the Helicopter Ride which is very quick & takes you directly up from Katra near Vaishno Mandir (around 1 km walk away). But the fun is in walking and doing it yourself. Take proper rest while going up & coming down, you may even rest at Vaishno Devi for few hours before coming down. Also it’s good to have a larger group so you can support each other & enjoy the journey. Make sure you carry all the money you need before starting as ther are no ATMs on the way. That day, all the ATMs at Katra were not working as well (except one Axis bank ATM near bus-stand). There was too much rush to get the bus back to Jammu but we managed somehow. At the end I guess it’s all about your faith & will and nothing is tough. And as people say, you cant go until Mata is calling you.. And if she’s calling you, no one can stop you. Jai Maa Vaishno, Jai Mata Di!!!

Laugh and make people laugh with you!!!

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Delhi to Jammu to Vaishno Devi to Jammu to Delhi

This blog might be lil late compared to my previous quick entries; I have so much in mind but not getting time to write it. BTW, I am coming back from a trip to Jammu & Vaishno Devi this long weekend (Thu to Mon). The trip was damn tiring but fun as well. I went with my friend for his cousin’s marriage in Jammu. It was a very long drive of around 600 Kms, most of the road is okay but around 150-200 Kms stretch before Jammu really sucks as most of it is one way and under-construction/broken. But ofcourse most of the people suck in driving on such roads as usual...
We left Thursday night and were in Jammu by Friday afternoon. We tried paranthas & lassi at 2 places on the way but they were all bad, not as you would expect from a Punjabi road -side dhaba (my experience from Ahuja da Dhaba in Karnal has been always good but we didn’t go there this time). I attended Mehndi ceremony of the bride on Friday night & then the marriage on Saturday night/Sunday morning in Gurudwara, Punjabi marriages are nice with lots of Punjabi music & Punjabi food too (both could be overdose though, lol). Also we wandered in Jammu city which isn’t very cool, the biggest mall called City Walk was just too small & not god crowd; the crowd was better in Gole Market where there is Pehelwan di Hatti which wasn’t too cool either. Then we went to Vaishno Devi Sunday noon & came back Monday evening (would be writing separate blog for this, click here). After rest on Monday night we left from Jammu Tuesday morning & reached Delhi at night, but had to wait 3 hrs in traffic Jam on Rohini to Janakpuri route.
So this trip was a WAR & I guess we managed to win it, feels good to be back. Would be writing a lot more soon, all of that is in my mind. BTW, have you guys been to Jammu or nearby & how has the trip been? Share your experiences as well here… Alright friends & people, that's it for now. Please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

Fun at Call Centre!!!

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You are LIFE of the Team...

My manager Parasu said this for me in a Casual 360 Feedback we had yesterday, I did expect something good but not something so awesome. How did I feel... Amazing & very-very Happy! of course!! Others had there own views about me... like I am very sharp person, I am smart, I am cool but intelligent and intellectual (i guess people expect Intellectuals to be uncool & boring, I am not). I was also told that I am very friendly, quite approachable and have solutions for almost anything & everything for the team. Also that I am the coolest, most efficient, amazing & best person they ever met and all of them love & idolize me (yeah-yeah, I might be exaggerating at a few places. but so what, its my blog yaar!!). Feedback & Appreciation are very important in Life, not just at work or outside but in our personal lives as well. It's important to get and give the right feedback to your friends & family and make sure you know how things are going and how you are faring at it. It's nice to say a few words of appreciation at the right moments for your loved ones & let them know how much you appreciate them being in your life & how thankful you are. Thanks a lot everyone, Thanksss!!!
TRM Training was a nice experience (had to be, how many times you get paid to get trained & study!!) & I really learnt a lot. I put a lot of myself in these trainings and really worked hard (to not sleep, lol). It was a great team and I would definitely miss it; my manager is a nice guy & I really admire him too (he might be reading the blog so had to say this, lol... ohh, hope he's not reading this!!). It makes a lot of difference if you have the right kind of team & leadership around you, it gives you the right opportunity & energy to perform & grow. And ofcourse it's important to love what you are doing (atleast you have to not hate it...). Now we would be moving on to a new project & looking forward for good times in future (urgh, this is what TRM training does to you and you start talking of Forwards & Futures... grrr!!). Everything else is just cool, nothing special happened. I was on Navratri Vrat which got over on Friday, did all days fasting this time which was cool, Jai Mata Di!!. Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

April Fool...

"April Fool banaya, to unko gussa ayaa" (I made April Fool, she lost her cool), its a lovely song (one of the very few Indian songs for april fool; actually only one I am aware of). Today is Fools Day & I saw a weird dream... Himesh Reshammiya was performing outside my Colony in front of a small crowd in his new short hair look singing 'lut jaun is karzz pe' song from Karzz. Himesh singing on streets may be a happy thought for few people cuz they think this is what he deserves or maybe again painful to hear him sing. But I don't hate him, he may not be great he's an okay singer and i like some of his songs. (He's definitely a terrible actor though and he should just concentrate on music; he was looking okay in short hair though, lol!!). However we need to appreciate the importance of Fool's Day & fools in this world. Afterall they are the ones who let others feel smart; if there are no stupid people in this world, who would we look down at and feel good about ourselves. I am not kidding here... everyone plays there role in this world & so does the so called fools or stupid people (they could be damn irritating & PIA at times though!!!). And what about the tons of jokes & unintentional fun they add to our lives :)

I remember April Fool day as those nice days when it used to be tough to believe anything what friends told you because didn't want to be fooled, and always try & devise ways to make others APRIL FOOL. And not just on April 1 but the game used to continue for the whole week or even month (and the silly pranks used to be like 'ur shoe laces are open' or 'ur shirt is stained' etc, and we didn't even used to believe even if it was true). As a kid you are cheerful and excited about everything and try to enjoy it, but things change as you grow up and sometimes it becomes tough to be even excited about happy things or life anymore. Nothing special has been going on in past days, just usual stuff. Even the TRM trainings were off for 3 days (which was more than awesome) & are going to get over next week. BTW, I heard a news that US is going to give $1.5 Billion every year for next 5 years to Pakistan as aid; i think its too bad & it sucks!! You want to handover money in hands of an irresponsible country which cant take care of even themselves, just imagine how will that money be taken care of... what do you ppl think? Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... HAPPY FOOLS DAY, HAPPY NAVRATRI , JAI MATA DI & JAI HO!!!!!

Happy Navratri... जय माता दी!!!

The past week has been quite uneventful and so has been the weekends, nothing special happened. The weather was nice many times and I was mostly doing nothing. The boring TRM training was still going on in office part of which got almost over (would be totally finished in a week or two). My shoulder is getting better but i m still in lil pain. I actually showed to a 'zarrah' or 'maalishwalla'desi medicine as well. He said that its a muscle pull claimed to cure it in 3-4 days. It is not totally cured yet but its is feeling better, maybe because of the painkiller tablets he crushes & mixes in his medicine (i did see painkiller tablets lying on his table). A new experiment, lets see how it goes... On following one of my office friend's advice and he gave me some oil massage & tuesday I went towards Noida for some work and had to take Greater Noida Express Way. It's a nice road but goes on so straight & long without any proper directions/pointers that its very easy to get confused. I drifted kilometers away from Sec-127 where I had to go and then had to come all the way back. Another FYI... I was looking pretty cool that day wearing half-shirt & nice formal wear; that day I was standing outside this building just waiting for someone to come out & there were some cool girls standing/sitting outside from one of the offices there. They were looking at me very interestingly n nicely & kinda smiling too, then one of the girl sheepishly took out her cellphone pretending to be talking & tried to click my picture secretly. I am not kidding or boasting ppl, it really happened... she looked that I have seen it & after that she was really coming to talk to me; but by then the person coming to meet me from the building came out & I had to leave (still wondering who the person was, it was my DAD). Not very sure what's all going on & what should I do, I just hope it's all for good and brings some good!!

Navratri have started this week & I have planned to keep fast for all the 9 days, i used to fast for first & last day earlier. I have also been keeping fasts every Monday (not Solah-Somvaar for a good wife as ppl think... Monday is considered Lord Shiva's day) these days; but its not out of any blind-faith or something like that. It's for many decent reasons including healthy dieting (& practicing to fast & remain without food when needed if i need that in future sometime, lol) and just as a self-enlightenment process. It feels good... Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... HAPPY NAVRATRI , JAI MATA DI & JAI HO!!!!!

I am ON... Oye, it's Friday!!!

It was Friday & was a nice day today (the days when u really dont wanna go to work/college/school but still end up going, urghh!!), I mean the weather was just so great in the morning & evening (i was in office whole day so don't know about the day). I was wearing my cool black T-shirt in which I really look awesome, the effect of gyming is showing well in this summer now (it has already started getting hot in Delhi) with cool clothes (FYI... I went to office in morning & was standing outside the lift waiting for it to come. As the door opened there were 2 nice girls already in the lift and they literally gasped when they saw me & looked into each others eyes. I literally kinda blushed too, I know I was looking great in this T-shirt & my nice body/personality & smart me & all that, but didn't expect this like this. WOW, enough about me I guess!!!). This week was very tiring with continuous full day TRM-sessions going on where I was learning a lot in my so sleepy state (falling off my seat & reading about 'how to keep awake'; my easy way is to keep asking questions, but be smart like me & know what u r talking about). I really wanted to go out and have some fun, but seems everyone else is busy except me. This week has been nice though... however my shoulder is still in lot of pain since Holi, it sucks!!

'Oye its Friday' ended today with Shilpa Shetty (I don't like her much except Phir Milenge, there should have been a better guest for Finale... like ME!!) as the last guest in final episode. They might come up with more seasons in future but this season was pretty good too. Farhan Akhtar is a funny guy and his show has been nice too, he makes lots of PJs but they do sound funny on him. He's got a weird sense of humor but that has kept his show different from other chat shows by making his guest chit-chat comfortably on the show & show a different side too. With all the performances & gags there, it does reminds me of 'Saturday Night Live' or 'Mad TV' too. So with the show over, Friday might get more boring... or they might turn interesting too, who knows!!! BTW, I went to PVR Priya (it's one of my favorite movie-theatre in Delhi & very few of the single screens left now) to see 13B last Friday but it was not there, still wanna see it. Also waiting for Aa Dekhen Zara & New York. Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views).RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... This is JAI HO!!!!!

tera na hona jaane, kyun hona he hai...

i am feeling happy (not as in... Santa & Banta were feeling Happy, when Happy felt disgusted & left; lol), i am feeling good!! why... i woke up in time for office; i didn't sleep in the TRM session today; office day was fine; had a very nice evening & coolest was 'i had one of the best metro rides today'; and onto a great night!! what else... could be nothing much or just too much. not in a mood to right a poem today however i might later. but as i said... tera naa hona jaane, kyun hona he hai (even your not being here, is like you are here & everywhere!!!); i just luv this song & need to learn guitar chords for it..... and no speculations (or hedging) please, lolzz

I am alone... मैं अकेला

हो खुशी या ग़म मैं कुछ भी ना कहूँगा, मैं अकेला था अकेला ही रहूँगा...
रात काली है ना दिन में है उजाला, मैं गिरा मुझको किसी ने ना संभाला,
सोचता था चाहने वाले कई हैं, क्या पता था दिल से सबने है निकाला,
ना कोई उम्मीद ना ही है सहारा, है यकीं ख़ुद पे की सब कुछ मैं सहूंगा!!
है हज़ारों ख्वाहिशें दूर है मंज़िल, हो न हो फ़िर भी तो डरता है ये दिल,
सोचता हूँ तू जो मुझको जाये मिल, देखे रस्ता मेरा, है कितनी मुश्किल,
मुश्किलों में बन के दरिया मैं बहूँगा, मैं अकेला था अकेला ही रहूँगा!!!!!

बुरा ना मानो होली है... HAPPY HOLI!!!!

I really just love Holi and being home this Holi was great. Last year I was in DC and was really disappointed that nothing haapened all day on holi (we didn't even have an off ofcourse, US should have Holi as a holiday). However I went to a holi party in evening at a desi club which was fun. To see that same Indian flavor of music, dance & mast people was awesome. The usual guys dancing lunatically in groups, throwing colors & celebrating was cool to see (and in Indian style, the girls were either dancing with their partners only or just chatting in a corner). There were few americans as well & they were enjoying it too. Maybe it was not as good as my Indian Holi celebrations but it was lots of FUN. I remember my days as a kid when we used to celebrate holi in our Airforce Camp. the whole place is a family & we used to celebrate all day by making a group of our friends & visiting every home to play holi & eat nice sweets. Also we used to hide on roof-tops or terrace & throw colors or water balloon on people walking by (once an uncle got angry & came to roof chasing us, all of us had fled away except one of our friend & the uncle put hm in a water tank). That was awesome holi & I really miss that. Then we came to Delhi which is different but I still managed to catch some of my friends & try to celebrate with whatever few people I knew around. And that also has been nice. I did miss that last year so tried to do it this year; I also spent the remaining half of my day afternoon in Fun n Food water park with friends (its damn expensive though for a small water park, 450 bucks. And that too you have to pay 50 bucks more for a stag entry, thats really nice way of making money in India. either come as a couple & pay for your girl or just pay more as a punishment for being single). I also hurt my right shoulder/neck & left foot on a slide which is still in pain, but it was really lots of FUN!!!

I also consider holi as a day when you forget all enemies & woes to make friends and spread love. I had this nice friend in college whom I fought with & were not friends for almost an year, but holi came & we became the same cool friends forgetting all useless crap. That's the true spirit of Holi. And the next important thing is SWEETS: gujhiya, gulab-jamun, dahi-vada & lots of other awesome stuff (just forget the calories & say YUM. I almost lost one pack of my new found 2 pack due to holi sweets, the target is still 6 pack!!). My mom is definitely the best cook & best person in this world, whatever she makes is just awesome (me too!!)!! This holi was really an awesome experience, lets see what comes in future now. Anyways boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

FUNNY QUOTES

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dad is back home from hospital

As you might know that my dad was hospitalised after the accident; he's back home now and resting & recovering. Hopefully he'll get better soon, thank god!! I am thankful that my friends Sheshadri, Praveen & Jaswinder were there for help & support, that's what real friends are for... Things have not been going great for me lately, this was one more addition to it and was really a severe one. This was the worst till now and I pray & hope this would be last, I wish the good & great times are there for us further now... AMEN!!!

I have been very busy & tired since a week. I could not sleep all last weekend as I was at the hospital. And the week has been busy again with some tension & lots of TRM Training at work. I was actually falling off my seat during training session on Monday, partially because of tiredness & rest because of the boring session. Its not a new thing for me to sleep during classes, I used to do it a lot in college even sitting in the first row. I am a test to know how interesting a class is, it takes a lot to keep me awake during any session and if I am up it means its good. Like some of the TRM sessions I have been attending where I hardly slept (it gets really hard to sleep on the uncomfortable office chairs).

Lots of dad's friends & others are coming to see him now. Visitors who come to see someone who's/was not well is a very critical issue, I mean if people don't come its like you don't have any real friends or well wishers & if you do have many visitors then it means pain again. Keep on explaining them the same story of how & what happened (dad should refer them to my blog & ask them to leave there comments there, lol) and listen to same usual sympathy stuff and there past experiences. And on top of that my mom does the usual khaatirdari (sweets & then tea/coffee with snacks etc) stuff with guests even on these occasions, which she feels is her responsibility but I find ridiculous & painful in these times.

I watched Dilli-6 and it was not bad but weird, like me I guess. The movie was not as catching & stunning as Rang De Basanti or even Aks at all, but tried to make a point of its own. The performances were nice but the storyline & direction+editing was not as crisp. The Dilli they showed looked nice but movie should be named Purani (old) Dilli because all they showed was Old Delhi & that's not really how our Dili & Dillwalas (Delhites) are... Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). And hey, click if you wanna know about Crisis Credit . This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

my dad met an accident...

my dad met an accident Friday night... he was driving back home when he had a head on collision with a drunken driver coming from the wrong side. he's hurt and is admitted in hospital now; has got 10 stitches on forehead for a deep incision and minor injuries on the left hand & leg. he's stable and under-observation, recovery will of course take some time. these are the times when you have just one question in mind,"WHY". why did it happen... or why did it had to happen to my loved ones (but not me)?? what's the good/reason behind it?? or you thank god that thing's are not that bad at least and feel glad that worse was averted... or as people say that no one can fight destiny and things happen the way they are planned. not sure what to say, i m just glad dad is okay & getting better. and one request,

"please do not drink & drive irresponsibly, your fault can cause trouble not just for you but others too who are not part of your plan... and you or your loved ones can be in those others too".

ॐ नमः शिवाय... Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)???

Today was Mahashivratri, a festival of Lord Shiva and I had a 'niraajal vrat' (a fast where you don't even drink water) till evening. I am a religious guy and I am a proud Hindu as well. Also I respect all religions & I do believe in god in all its forms and ways. I have started weekly fasts this year on every Monday, for Lord Shiva (as Monday is considered day of Shiva in Hinduism) and also for fitness reasons (not because we need to save money in these days of recession but I have heard fasting once a week is good for health). Although these are 'falahaar vrat' (fasts where you can eat fruits etc but no grains/cereals, so feed on expensive fruits which doesn't helps recession or economy much) and are supposed to be good for stomach/digestion & health; probably will give me my flat tummy (& 6 packs which I have been targeting long time now). Yeah, the dream started 6 months back and I have been working hard with stable results (stable means my tummy has been stable without increasing and so has my weight been stable, not reducing much somehow though). I would like to wish Happy Mahashivratri to everyone who celebrates it and happiness to all others, may god bless everyone (what about those who don't believe in god?? may satan bless them or who ever they worship!!).

Anyways, I was going to talk about Slumdog Millionaire (SM) since LONG time and in the mean time it has won 8 oscars today (seems I got late in my movement); does it really deserves JAI HO (Jai Ho means 'hail/praise you' or 'victory be ours')?? I am happy for Rehman (whose name was not being pronounced right, they were saying REKHH-MAAN. Don't worry, Americans do that, I have been called RAAOOL!!), and for Resul & Gulzar as well. They worked for it and deserved it; in spite of the fact that I believe that all of them have done better work earlier (in fact I personally feel that SM is one of Rehman's most mediocre work in recent times, compared to all the great work he has done). But it's all about getting the right opportunity to get recognised and I am glad that they did. Danny & other's getting there awards is good too, I think because they have worked hard to earn it and it's nice to see that good work is being appreciated (except me who's still waiting to be appreciated... don't wonder what i did though, lol).

So what's my problem then?? The problem is why someone from outside India makes a movie on us, on our stories and our culture, our facts and about us... and gets all the accolades and awards for that?? Can't we come up and make a movie for ourselves?? And I think we actually have made great movies in past but they didn't get recognised at this level. Do they understand us more than us, and can express us better than we can do ourselves?? Last time it was Gandhi and now its SM, both the movies about Indians & India made by foreigners. It takes 26 years for India's name to shine in Oscars again and still done by not one of us ourselves... and we are rejoicing and celebrating it sooooo much as if I got a billion dollar lottery or something!!

The second pain is the movie itself; as an Indian it's sometime shameful to watch a movie like this. I mean it doesn't glorifies our country; even if it's not a complete lie or maybe a fact about us, it's till not a happy thing. And it has been definitely overdone too in some places. These kind of movies represent us in a very bad shape to outside world, it strengthens there misbelief. Even now there are people from western world who think of India as a country of snake-charmers & elephants & poor people and all that, I have met those people and hey really think so. Now this movie just strengthens the misconceptions. Why don't people make some movies which shows the positive side of India, the great growth and development going on & awesome things happening around us (like Chopra's or Johar's movie where Amitabh uses a chopper to go to office in K3G or the heroes go to Switzerland just to sing songs). And as such, all other countries have there share of dark side & poverty etc. Why somebody else tries to capitalize on our problems (shouldn't we be doing that ourselves; our politicians are better in that sense I guess, as they are really capitalizing all our problems)??

The third thing is why so much fuss about OSCARS anyways?? Oscars are not an International award or a Nobel of some sort, it's just an American Movie Award. International recognition for good work is always great, but why do we need an approval from an American award to tel us that we are great? I would love our work & artists to be watched by whole world as we watch foreign art & cinema but I don't think that we should create so much fuss & desperateness for an American Award for an Indian movie or artist (actor/director/lyricist/musician/technician). We are not part of there awards because those are not for our movies anyways. We don't give awards to there movies & neither do they care. If any of our movies does goes there under certain categories (like foreign movie or documentary etc) and it's greatness is appreciated it is good. Or if our people (like Rehmaan, Shyamlan, Bhanu, Resul etc) get recognised for there amazing work, which is really awesome. But we need to understand that world doesn't begins or stops at Oscars; and we need to continue appreciating & loving the great work of every artist & that's there biggest award (also we can support them by saying no to PIRACY. I was trying to rent Sarkar Raj this Saturday and surprisingly the guy was trying to sell me a good print of Dilli-6 which I didn't take as I wanted to watch the movie in theatre).

The phrase "Jai Ho" used to be very popular greeting of mine in college (wishing friends Jai Ho & all that) but then I saw some music-director/judge of Saregamapa using that and I stopped using it. But for me it's still mine & that's how many of my friends & people know Jai Ho!! Like the small beard under lip I used to keep (just because I couldn't grow a french cut beard & didnt wana grow moustache, i kept this as facial hair) which became a national craze after Amir Khan flaunted it in Dil Chahta Hai. Or my folded half sleeve shirt style which I have been sporting since college days has become a style statement after Amir did it in Ghajini (he copies me a lot i guess, even my chuha-cut hair which I had in school back in 1995 or so). Anyways, I'll stick to my style-statements & use them as & when I want without worrying about what people think... Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

(click & also read my TRM blogs here)

everything happens for reason... (part-1)

and 'reason' is in question... that's what i said last time. the reason is still not clear, confusion persists. things have been happening and i have been hoping they are good or will turn good. being positive is a great asset, i have had too much of it in me. as much that it tends i am overconfident, which i am sometimes. i always try to look at the positive side of things or look for something positive in it... just one thing i say, "there are 2 kind of people; people who wait for thing's to come & fit in there lives and people who fit themselves to the things as they come in there lives. however i am the one who tries to bring thing's in his life as possible and fit them as i need them".

last week on Feb 12 layoffs happened my company as well, around 8% people were exited. this was being expected for a long time and i personally feel that ours was kinda a late player in the game, seems they tried there best to not do it but couldn't avoid at last. the people came to office and had the mail in there inbox in sometime and then were told they'll have to leave the same day, i am not sure why this is done like this. i have been told that the people have been provided with good reverence packages and nice money which is really a good thing; nothing can make something like this happy but at least some compensation is nice. in fact few of my friends have immediately found new jobs with better money and seems that it worked out well for them, "a boon in disguise" as one of them told me. no one can feel absolutely safe in these times of recession, lets just hope things will get better...

(Oscars are close and I really do not want Slumdog Millionaire to win awards, really I don't!! I'll write a dedicated blog on this after the results are out and express my thoughts... read another funny blog entry here about layoff & management CRAP!!)

Valentines Day!!!!!

V-Day was around the corner, so just wanted wish you people a "Happy Valentines Day". As for me it was a sleepy V-Day, I slept all day (really i did!!). I woke up at 1 in noon to have lunch & slept again till 7 in night again. You might think I celebrated my V-day in dreams, but actually I didn't even dream about it (just plain sleeping. but i did get some dreams about office, grrrr). Not as if I have anything against it but I have never celebrated the V-Day as anything special till now... now that may mean that I never had a valentine with whom I could celebrate it or something else too (like what?? I'll leave that to speculations for you). BTW, do you think we need a reason to celebrate love? What if you don't have your love to celebrate with on V-Day (sleep at home like me??), or what if you want to celebrate love with someone at some other time except V-Day? I feel that with your love round the corner, everyday could be a V-Day or else none...

I am glad to know that V-Day went pretty safe in Delhi; with all the moral police hanging around, love is not an easy task in India these days (when was it easy though??). I did hear some bad incidents in certain parts but it wasn't too bad. One of my friend was in Mumbai & he told me that it was cool there too; he was on Band Stand in Mumbai and he told me that it was not crowded atall as he was expecting. But the good thing was that there was a big poster from NCP with there contact number in case of any issues, quite appreciable (i am glad that there wasn't a counter poster from Shivsena). We do celebrate everything too much though, we already have so many of our own Indian festivals & we still comeup with many other stuff & days to celebrate (a good earning for greeting cards & gift shops). I was in US last year on V-Day and didn't see much buzz inspite of... (ahh, i am not saying anything & will let you guys speculate!!).

I am still not very happy or excited but not as bad as earlier, just hoping things will get better (they eventually do) soon. I watched Luck By Chance yesterday, it was a nice movie. The storyline is pretty nice & the movie goes well, has a decent mix of comedy & emotions (no thrill, suspense or horror though, not even action). I am not very impressed by Farhan Akhtar as an actor though, he was nice in Rock-On but didn't work too well here. I felt the acting was not very sharp or hitting & the dialogue delivery was too monotonous, his expressions and personality are okay but not very impressed by his overall performance here. Konkona was great and Isha looked pretty too; Hrithik, Dimple, Sanjay, Juhi were all good. Rishi Kapoor has given an amazing performance in his role as a movie Producer; the role is funny, edgy and hits pretty well. Rishi still has all the charm & charisma and I really enjoyed his performance. The story is about a newcomer's luck which makes him a star without much struggle, but struggle of people around him to become something and his struggle to cope up with all of that.

Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!!!

...everything happens for good??? (part-1)

today is friday the 13th & i m frustrated, very frustrated... and that's causing me to write this blog. i had this question in my mind for long time and i am still debating, seems debate would go long. i had told in my previous blog that i used to believe & say that "everything happens for good; because if something better would have to happen, it would have happened". but how can i say that anymore when life sucks so much, i feel like... i m not in mood to discuss what has happened but things are not good atleast. i keep looking and thinking that the stuff which happened is good in someway or may cause some good in future, but how can i be happy if i see the good stuff being taken away from me in front of my eyes? how can i expect that whatever i got is right, when i can see that the better things are not coming to me & neither do i see them coming in future?? life is uneventful & unfruitful, i m getting bored now... i may be the one to blame, or i should say i am the one to blame; cuz this hoping good is not working. i am fighting my fight, i have always done that but how long? i dont just want to win but get over with this war... but i guess life is a war which never ends... life is a stage where we keep playing our part until we can't play it anymore and others come to take our part... life is a road where we have to keep travelling until we reach our end or find our manzil & get settled... yeah lots of BS people tell us or we tell people. all easy to say than do and still life sucks. but who said it's gonna be easy... who said it's gonna be always my way??? anyways, not much to say right now... will talk to you people later. just one last statement "everything happens for a reason", now the reason is in question!!!