Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

A sad story…

People are made to be Loved n Things are made to be used. The confusion in the World is, Coz people are being used and Things are being Loved.

I must have forwarded this SMS to everyone, coz I really liked the deep meaning in it.

Anyways here's my new blog.

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He sat there all day. I have been with him since I was 1 year old and adored him a lot. I have walked the roads, holding his hands and he had comforted me when the nites were too long.

And now it was a sad feeling when he wouldn't be sitting there. 20+ years and I had always seen him at the same place with his big round eyes, staring into me. I hadn't really held his hand in a long time or walked around with him. I understood that he was kind of ignored but I knew he was always around.

Just a day ago he was fine and then my dad said, “Loads of dirt settled here, I guess he needs a bath”. And he was put straight into the washing machine. It's not like the first time he had taken a bath there but this time it seemed different. For starters the washing machine was new. Secondly, he had turned extremely old and then the fur coat couldn't take it any further. By the time the machine was done with its work, he was ripped apart with all his cotton soaked into the water. His eyes had popped out too and the nose was intact but seemed like a running nose.

My dad had bought him for my 1st birthday from another country. He had the best brown coat with amazing round eyes and a smart nose. He was as huge as a real one, atleast I felt that way when I was a year old. And he was my constant companion when I went out with my parents or when I slept in my room. As the years passed by, he was placed as the best show-piece on the table top in my room. And now, he was the foremost thing to be thrown away. Ofcourse, I'll miss him..My Big Brown Teddy.

- Mana

 

Finding Billu Barber!!

Not really here to give details on the film. I didn't like the promos, so I might not watch it either, unless the review is really good.

Coming back to the subject….

It was last Saturday and me and my sis both had a hair-wash. The reason being we wanted a hair-cut badly, but the only probs was our barber and in a better language, our hair-stylist had quit the only parlor we attended without a notice and without any contact details.

We had prolonged our hair-cut for too long and we could not find the perfect replacement for our stylist. My sis and I both cursed our stylist for not informing us before leaving. We were so sad, that we must have told atleast a 100 people that we lost our stylist and needed recommendation of a new one. One of those hundred happened to tell us, that she had seen my stylist at a certain junction 5 kms away from my prior parlor.

What did she mean by that?

Could he have joined a new parlor in that area?

So last Saturday in the hope of finding him, the 2 of us (me and my sis) left the house and tried to search for every parlor in that vicinity. We walked a few miles and searched the rest sitiing in an auto, but in vain. We turned back and were on our way back home, when we saw a very small, but newly opened parlor(from its look) hidden amongst 2 shops. We took a U-turn and were back on the same route. We got off and asked for Billu well and triumph it was!!! He came right out. We were so excited seeing him that we actually narrated the whole incident to him and he couldn't imagine us, taking so much of a pain just for him. The happiness was mutual.

We had our haircuts and we left the parlor with his contact details (we did not want to make the same mistake twice). Well I personally think we would have found absolutely anybody or even God that day.

- Mana…………………..

 

The big Fat Gujju Wedding!!

Sitting in my living room, watching a movie on my big screen, my sweet little sister enters wearing a good wedding dress.

She asked - “How was dinner ? ”
I replied - okay

I asked the same to her to which she replied all the possible things she’s had today. Right from North Indian, continental, Mexican, pizza & more.

Where? - At a wedding reception of Gujju friend's brother.

I asked - So how was the couple looking?
And I saw a her eyes popping out, her jaw dropping down & an answer that nobody would want to hear - “I forgot to see them” !!!

Wow, welcome to the Big Fat Gujju Wedding.

A season for wedding is on. All the grooms & brides are all set to make “The Commitment” of their life. But the only question to ask is, why do they look so damn nervous?
Reason found was - marriage is considered to be so big & grand, that everything needs to be perfect. It is now status symbol these days. Some are busy with the group dance preparation, some with honeymoon planning, some are busy finding common grounds on the menu !!

So much happening, with so many options available & so many point of views (read family members & relatives) for every little thing that is to be decided. And there starts piling of difference of opinion. “Each one has his own, and no one agrees with others”.
So where does this end? This ends when you successfully vow in front of 1000 people that this is the trophy wife I got & spend your half year's salary on the honeymoon which lasts for couple of days. And it finally ends when all your relatives are gone back to their respective homes!!

May be some years down the line we’ll look at ourselves and get more nervous thinking how much time / effort / money / tension had gone into my marriage. And may be this is the reason why there are very few divorces in India Who wants to go through the grinding pain again ??

Anyway, lets talk about today, its about marriages these days, they are often turned into a Yash Raj production movie (with same or almost same cost of production too).

So much happening & so much preparation required.
Book the venue
collect the wedding clothes
upgrade house infra to support 100 guests
distribute wedding cards
arrange for wedding car
fix the menu
prepare for sangeet, DJ party
follow up with decorator, dj, mahraj
book the hotel for 1st nite
book for honeymoon

Well…did I forget anything?

Nopes…everything is in place

Wow…my first night, its ~ The opening ceremony ~

Shit….where’s the fu*cking condom !!!!!!!!!

Word of caution: Do not visit the home of your newly wed friend / relative. Because

You will (I mean compulsorily) have to watch all the shaadi ki movies & shaadi ke snaps. And, while you are interested in the sole pic of yours in the complete album, you will be served all the sweets & mithai’s that has piled up in the kitchen.

 

——The wedding season is on and this is the exact discussion with a friend:

Courtsey RS—————————————————————–

 

Awakening

Anger, Frustration and a lot of helplessness!! There is this feeling of being robbed, stripped, used and thrown away by a dozen people who aren't citizens of this country. These people freely walk into our motherland with huge bags of ammunitions uninterrupted, unremitted and with a license to kill innocent lives.

26th November, was no less than a huge devastating experience of emotions, lives and a threat to the civilians saying, “we did it again, what can you do to stop us?”

Why do we let them ask this question over and over again without any answers? We let them walk over our body, blood and soul. The problem is we see, cry and forget. But enough is enough!! This time we won't forget. When they bombarded us previously, we never knew their faces. We never knew what they looked like. We never knew the cruelty of their minds. We know now. We know those men in black, with a cynic face, red eyes and the desire to kill. We have blamed the politicians and ran rallies. I am in for all of those. I was amongst the ones to hold hoardings cursing them all. But would that be enough. It's I and you who never vote and then curse and question the legacy. Use it!! We have the power to bring in the right system, please use it!! Do some search, demand for young leaders, throw out the non-efficient ones. People who have some upper hand and power try and make use of it for the better.

The most important rule, 'DO NOT PANIC'. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to panic. I have read innumerable articles of how brave our forces were. They are trained for it. And so are these murderers trained not to fear death. Everyone reading this agrees to the point that 'Death is uncertain'. When a commoner dies, his death is grieved upon, most; by only his close ones, but depending on his situation his death is grieved upon by others too. God forbidden if you are ever in the face of a situation where death is certain, 'DON'T JUST DIE' FIGHT AND DIE!! We could term this as another war of independence, the independence to live in peace. But just getting killed by a handful of people in fear would only increase the count of deaths. STAND UP AND DIE WITH A FIGHT. A hotel of over thousands of people if united could have easily jumped over 10 people irrespective of the fact that they had machine guns. Even if a 100 people could kill 2 of them, it would have saved the other 150 from dying. Again like I said, it's easier to imagine than do, but all I am saying is TRY. We have seen this once. We know how much of destruction they can do. If we are waiting for the system to change, it might take ages. You are the system, the new age, the GEN-NEXT!!

Read the papers, read the good deeds, do not forget the lives lost, do not think it can never be you, do not wait till your near ones go through this so that you can take action, do not forget the sorrows, grieves and losses of innocent lives. Spread awareness through any means possible. Be alert, cautions and brave. This episode has got the patriotism in people alive, just hold onto it and never let it die. Who knows, maybe if we unite to take an action, we could possibly make the difference. Believe in it and do not give them a chance to say “We would do it again, and you won't be able to stop us!!”

Mana

 

9 words Women Use!!

9 WORDS WOMEN USE


1. Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.


2. Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.


3. Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end fine.


4. Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don’t Do It!


5. Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing . ( Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)


6. That’s Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That’s okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.


7. Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you’re welcome.


8. Whatever: Is a women’s way of saying &@!# YOU!


9. Don’t worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking “What’s wrong?” For the woman’s response refer to #3.


*Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid if they remember the terminology.


*Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, because they know it’s true.


—–Mana—–

 

Robbed!!!!


Every Dog has his day ..And every one has one day equivalent to a stray dog!!


Well it's a very bad attempt to making a phrase, but what I mean to say is, there is one day in the entire year which can be termed as “JUST NOT MY DAY!!” Everything goes wrong and is completely against you.


So here was my worse day of the year, at the start of the year ' 1st Feb 2008


The day had already been bad as I had a fight with my closest friend and the fight was not even based on anything strong to fight over. So it had been one lousy day and I had a party to attend in the evening. I had been looking forward to this party, but the day had drained all my energy with my over packed work schedule and a fight over the phone. I finally took a rick at 7:15 from my workplace to reach a destination which was termed as the most hectic traffic region. And to worsen things up, I did not know the exact location. So when I finally reached the place, the rick guy had almost showed me half the town, it was well past an hr and a half, I had taken atleast 6 u-turns after getting into the wrong lanes, my bro-in-law on the other side of my cell, giving me directions was frustrated and I am sure the Rick man was swearing at me in silence. Finally with very bad attempts to the most popular landmark of the town (Mr. Big B's bungalow), I managed to see my bro-in-law, mother and sister impatiently waiting for me and fighting with the rick man for not knowing the routes in the most popular area. After giving him half the fare on his meter and humiliating him for taking advantage of my ignorance to routes, we left the rick man, now swearing at me loudly behind my back.


After a heavy meal which lasted over hours all 14 of us at the party left at around 11:30 and were in search of the ricks dying to hit the sacks. The first rick arrived and I promptly got into it with my new “Coach” bag on my lap, my mom's hand over its handle and tying a scarf on my head. And then, I heard a loud accelerating noise, a few seconds of shock and silence, 3 of my aunties shouting “chor chor” and an empty lap. I was so shocked I didn't even realize that I had been robbed and when it struck me, there I was running on foot behind them in a chase gap of over miles. They were gone in a fraction of second on their speeding Yamaha which exhausted so much smoke that it was impossible for the 14 of us and the rick guy to even view the bike number.


My brother, sister, bro-in-law, sis-in-law, 3 sets of uncles and aunties, my mom and my younger sister along with the kiddos in my house look at me with an ex-pression of grief, sorrow, pity and anger all at the same time. So after a few moments of silence, finally the question was what did I loose?


“Did u loose ur credit-cards? We would need to contact them immediately. ” ' No I don't carry Credit cards, was my answer.


“So lets call the bank and inform them that the debit card's gone.” ' No I didn't have that either in the bag.


“How much cash?” ' None, I carry money in my pockets.


“Cell phone?” ' Its in my pocket too.


“Ok, so u din quite loose anything expensive, no cards, no cell and no money, so what do u carry in such a huge bag and what are u feeling sad about?”


Well now that was a valid question, but I was feeling sad not for what that bag had, but for my foolishness, for an open invite to get robbed, for being careless and for letting someone pick up my belonging right in front of my eyes.


What followed after a couple of days in the family: Were a lot of jokes like “Mana did you find the route?” and “Is your bag intact?” and “Did u dream about them?”–à Well yes I did dream that the thieves came back and returned my bag. It was haunting me over and over again, remembering how they had easily snatched my bag. That was followed by my thoughts which raced: “if only I could have got down and hit my heavy shoe at them, probably they would have fallen off”, or “I should have thrown the water which the rick guy was drinking at the moment of eve, on their faces, probably they would have fallen off”, or ” I should have howled real loudly and they would have fallen off” my main aim was to get back at them. But its impossible to think, blink or react at that moment and all you got to do is “forget and forgive and curse them a bit”.


Anyways, if you guys are wondering what I lost in the entire event, well a very expensive handbag (whose worth they would never realize and sell it off for a few 100 bucks), 2 shades of lipsticks(which they can gift to their girlfriends, if they have 1), a new pair of glares(which would not suit either of them), my company access card(which is in “denied access” status at the moment), a 1st-class train pass(which was due to expire in 3 days), food coupons worth 500 bucks(and I am sure they would not realize what those tickets are) and a couple of handkerchiefs which they can use to wipe off their tears for planning such a perfect plan, executing it and not getting its worth!!!!!!


——–Mana ——

 

Taare Zameen par!!

Its a forward…but I couldnt help pasting it here. I have loved the movie, but I couldn’t help wondering what the movie would be like if the following directors had directed it!!

If Karan Johar made Taare

Obvious starcast:

Shah Rukh Khan as the arts teacher (duh duh duh!!).

Aryan Khan as the dyslexic child (even if he could not act for nuts).

Rani Mukerjee as the kid’s mom (assuming Kajol is unavailable).

Abhishek Bachchan as the kid’s dad.

Amitabh Bachchan as the school principal (who cares if the role is ultra minute, he can afford it).

It would be shot in New York to appeal to the NRI audience.

The story line would obviously be different. SRK would fall for the dyslexic kid’s mom. The last scene would have the mom running to the teacher rather than the kid. And again, like in so many other movies, SRK would get someone else’s girl.

It would have one dance number.

The film would be titled ‘Kuch Taare Zameen Par .’

If Sanjay Leela Bhansali made Taare

Obvious starcast:

Salman as the teacher.

Rani as the mother.

Of course the whole film would be shot on elaborate sets. The school would be nothing short of Harvard university.

An orchestra would play every time anyone cried.

Slow motion, different camera angles for every scene.

The school uniforms would match the classroom walls even though that does not make a difference.

The film would cost 60 crores.

If Farah Khan made Taare

Obvious starcast:

SRK as the teacher (yawn).

In the original Taare, Aamir makes an entry at the interval point. In Farah’s version, SRK would be on screen on for 2.30 hrs out of the 2.45 hrs and would be introduced in the first scene itself.

The story would be changed to make sure the above happened. The focus of the film would be a teacher who helps a kid fight dyslexia.

To make it a complete entertainer, there would be a romantic angle, comedy, and action thrown in. Oh idea!! Nikumbh’s character likes another teacher and the kiddo helps him.. throw in some comedy moments there and you have romance and comedy settled. For action.. hmm.. lemme see.. oh yah, the kid gets kidnapped and the teacher fights the baddies to save him. Wow!! I’m quite an imaginative writer. I can see how Farah can write a film from scratch in two weeks straight.

The film posters would have a big SRK with the tiny image of the kid in the background.

If Rakesh Roshan made Taare

Obvious starcast:

Hrithik Roshan as the teacher.

Since Rakesh Roshan cannot think beyond science fiction these days, this film would have that too. Instead of dyslexia, the kid would have alienositis or something, a condition induced due to him witnessing an alien abduction.

Instead of Nikumbh being an arts teacher, he would be a physics teacher, and instead of asking kids to be creative, he would ask them to challenge the science we know.

In the scene where Nikumbh asks the kids to open their minds and make whatever they want outdoors, the kid Ishaan, instead of making a boat, would end up making a working spaceship prototype.

Nikumbh would cure the kids problem by making a full fledged version of the kid’s prototype, traveling to the alien planet, and asking them to give the kid his powers back.

The film would have music by Rajesh Roshan ripped off from some world music.

The film’s name would again start with a K.. probably ‘ Kuch Aliens Taaron se Zameen Par’.

The director would make sure Hrithik gets to show all his abilities. This would mean a scene with Roshan jr flexing his muscles, and a dance competition in the end, instead of an arts competition.

If Priyadarshan made Taare:

Obvious starcast:

Akshay Kumar as the teacher.

Paresh Rawal as the kid’s dad.

It would be a brainless comedy. The kid’s dyslexia would be made fun of. Half the times the parents will be running after the kid from one room to the other and that, in the director’s opinion, would be funny.

The film will be full of sex jokes. So for example, when Akshay would come to the parents telling them that their son has dyslexia, the ignorant father would say something inappropriate like ‘iss umar mein? par kaise, woh to hamesha boys school mein padha hai!’. And yes, the director would think it is funny.

In the climax of the film all the characters in the film would run around in the amphitheater for no reason, spilling colors on each other. That’s where the film will end, without any logical conclusion.

And of course, Paresh Rawal would emote like an epileptic himself making us question the boy’s mental abilities anyway.

 

That’s what we are!!

Anytime tea-coffee in a day,

B'day bumps,

Accentuated English,

Dashing clothes,

Onsite customers,

FM in buses/mobiles,

Late night parties,

Those sleepy weekends,

Crush on HR/colleagues,

Fight for appraisals,

Die-hard friendships,

Tears for love,

So much money, but so li'l time,

Nothing missing, everything fine,

People call it CORPORATE !!!

We call it Life ..!!!!!

 

 

Mana….

 

Mother’s Day Special!!

She was smiling over the bunch of papers in her hand. I dinn bother to disturb her; maybe they were love notes. But my sister, as curious as a cat went upto her and asked her what she was smiling over and she showed the papers. My sister burst into laughter and called me too.

The papers had just got back memories and we all remembered the day when Dad got us the computer 4 years back. It was an HP Compac Presario, with a Color Printer, webcam and a lottaf other attachments which we would have never understood at that age. It was very exciting to take pictures over the webcam and we made sure that everyone who came into our room, sat on the hotseat where the webcam was adjusted so that a picture is taken for sure. We must have had blown off 10 GB of space in just a week's time with the innumerable pictures we took amongst ourselves. First I posed, then my sis, mom and dad. It seemed like we were there to make portfolios.

And then it was the day. My mom's b'day and the International women's day come during the same time. So we thought, why not give her a special mother's day gift. A so-called brainwave ticked off in both of us (which my dad would surely call a destructive mind). We both got up early on Mother's day and started taking printouts. But these printouts, had a special poem or a special one-liner for mom(which my sister sat and searched all over the web) and attached to each of these poems on separate pages each was a photograph of mom which we had taken over the webcam. The printouts reached to a count of 44 and we were out of paper. We pulled out cellotapes and stuck these papers all over the house. On Walls, mirrors, doors, refrigerators, cupboards, washrooms and even on the furniture.

Two of the most contrasting reactions in my life were what I witnessed on that day. My mom got up and was thrilled to find what I and my sis had proudly tried to do for her. She was beaming with glee and almost hugged and kissed us on every paper she read. It took around half an hour for her to find each of our well-stuck papers all over the house and my dad was yelling coz we had finished half the cartridge and ruined the newly painted walls. But the smile on her face was worth all the scolds.

 

All about Dreams!!

I walked into my living room and suddenly realized I had the ability to fly.
I fluttered my arms and I was soaring towards the ceiling.
I saw the window was open and took my first flight out of the window and off I went to the terrace top.
Flew over rivers and deep valleys and just loved the view.
I could see the clouds above and gave a second thought if I should dare to fly any higher.
Maybe I should and I almost touched a cloud and returned back to my home after a nice flight.

This was probably the Nth time I had this dream and I woke up with a smile on my face. It was the most amazing experience I had and almost so real that I gottaf the bed and tried to flutter and see if I could get myself over the ground-level. It also made me believe that the magical world of Harry Potter existed and I was probably a part of it.

Another time I got a frightful dream and went and checked if all my teeth were intact. The dream was so horrifying, that by the end of it I had a handful of teeth which had fallen one by one by just a little tap.

I am more of a day-dreamer and very poor at remembering dreams that come in the night hours. But recurring dreams and the experience after that just made me think, if they mean anything or if they had a message to deliver. And as I pondered over my questions, I thought why not use the search engines and there I come across the most wanted site http://www.dreammoods.com. Search for your answers if you wanna figure out what ur dreams mean.

There's a lot to your dreams and the ability to make them happen and that was probably the reason why I was fascinated by the book "The Alchemist": It's a must read.

Go get what u want !! —- Mana