Thank You...

its thanksgiving tomorrow... and i know its a very American tradition... but considering the events over the last couple of days... i think its a perfect time for me to give thanks...

Well a couple of days back... i sought shelter at a church.. shelter from the heavy rains and strong winds... standing at the church the only hymn that came to my mind was " Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done"... it actually did..

its not like i was not grateful for a wonderful family and a home for solace.. but i am doubly grateful for both now... for a home where i can seek solace.. and family who i can fall back upon... parents who love me for who i am.. who put up with all my non-sense and unreasonable demands (well i've never had any) and torture (my friend claims i'm a torture :( )

and after i've thanked god for the wonderful family he's given me... its time to thank him for my friends... and six special friends at that..

the first who i know right from kindergarten... today we might be in different paths in life.. but if there is someone who i could have and can trust my life with is her.. she understands me like the back of her hand.. can understand what i never say.. if i managed to pass through my college years without too much trouble its just because of her...

the second.. my aunt.. well she got married to my uncle when i was in the second grade.. and from then to now she has always been my friend and guide.. filled the void of an elder sister.. and been there always...

the third my dumb friend who i know from kindergarten too.. but the bonds of friendship strengthened in high school.. we are mutual secret keepers :) and even if i dont speak to her in a long long time (because we have totally different routines) i know she 's always there... a truly special and cute friend...

the fourth and fifth are two little kids (well atleast according to me and i know i have support too) who are like my little baby sisters.. i totally adore them.. put with all their non-sense(or is it the other way round) i'm not too sure.. but whatever it is... they are really special... the amount they done for me is phenomenal (especially to get me out of my bad moods)

the sixth is a stupid donkey and dog of a friend... who i have no words to describe... its not really a very long time since i know him (i dont consider one year a very long period). but he's a great friend and an awesome person... who has put up all my bad jokes :P and stupid mood swings and cranky behaviour..

its a special thank you to each of these people and to all my other friends who have filled my life
with love and laughter...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING... :)

Flirting with danger???

i had this discussion cum argument with my friend over the definition of flirting.. According to him flirting can never be one-sided and is always reciprocated.. so i decided to do some research to prove my point..

i started with the definition of flirting, which happened to say that flirting is human interaction with a romantic interest.. so here goes my first point.. two people can interact with each other.. where one has a romantic interest and the other does not :P

then i looked at the origin of the word flirting, which is obscure and is attributed to the old French conter fleurette, which means the dropping of flower petals, that is, "to speak sweet nothings".. so there goes point number two... speak "sweet nothings".. one person can do the speaking.. the other may not.. :P

and then there is point number three flirting is used to as an expression of interest or gauging the other person's interest.. but you know what the other person may not be interested at all..

so what i really learnt by reading all that i did.. is that flirting may be one-sided and you may not really be interested...

Most of the times we spot the indications of flirting.. but sometimes considering it harmless we let the other person have some fun..but unlike the law where silence does not amount to acceptance.. if you do not put a stop to that one-sided interaction which you are not interested it does amount to acquiescence...and that can turn out to be a little dangerous..

Though i think i proved my point that flirting can be one-sided.. ill remember the line my stupid friend told me last night.. "its all about how you react" because unknowingly you might send out the wrong signals...

Keep me going???

Its just one of those "off days" actually to be very precise the second "off day" in a row.. Emptiness has no words... but that's the axiom I'm trying to disprove.. trying to dissolve my emptiness in words... its becoming like a natural state of being for me these days... i know i have a family that adores me.. Friends who care... and many who appreciate... but its just that many times there is feeling that there is more "ingenuinity" around me than true love and care...

Its not about high expectations and a demanding role that has left me feeling this way.. i have always believed in age old teaching of the Bhagavad Gita

"Karmanya vadhikaraste ma phleshu kadaachanma

karmphal heturbhurma te sango astav akarmani"

which means your right is only to do your duty, and not to its fruit or result. Neither the result of your action should be your motive, nor should you become inactive.

I have always believed in it and tried my human best to practise it.. but sometimes its really difficult not to expect something in return.. and as most people would agree having expectations from someone else is asking for disappointment..

There is a cognitive dissonance in my mind about what i want to do...no desire to express what i feel, (because truly i can't) and then there is again a tug of war between the head and the heart..

for now I'm trying to remind myself to do my duty.. to love and care.. to help and share...it should keep me going at least for the time.. and when I'm in a better state of mind I'll work on my cognitive dissonance..

Hypermetropia..... it is a long name for long sightedness.. thats how i always tried remembering that for my science exam.. but now i realize that long sightedness is not only the defect of the eye.. but many times even the defect of the mind... we look at the future.. try our very best to provide for it.. we forget that we can count the number of seeds in an apple but not the number of apples in a seed.. no one knows what the future holds..

whats the point in sitting and worrying oneself over something we have no control over.. we always see that which is close to us with a blurry vision not realizing that the happiness we are craving for is very close to us... look around yourself and you'll find...

happiness is no mystery it is here , it is now, it is you and me is....

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

Interesting and sadly very true.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

DOStana...

ok i know i am a really crazy hindi movie bug.. and i can watch almost any silly stupid emotional saga... and i went for dostana last night.. as most already knew.. and so did i... that its gonna be a typical Kjo candyfloss... well it in a true sense was.. what most say about the movie is that the "Kanta Ben" comedy is the crux of the story.. it is..

the movie has its element of freshness (shock value as many would call it), fun, frolic and dollops of entertainment...

But what i loved about the movie the most were two scenes... the first scene is the interval scene where ab and priyanka say their lives are not what they had dreamt and that they are losers.. driving the other two to frustration.. john says his life is perfect.. and their tears turn to smiles when he tell them that his life is perfect because he has them for friends in his life.. the scene may not touch many.. but too me it was really important... it reminded me what my friends mean to me.. how much colour they have added to my life... and just enough spice to make life perfect..


the second bit that was really touchy was the ending of the movie.. where john and ab are desparate for priyanka's forgiveness and are ready to anythin.. bobby deol challenges them to kiss each other in public.. well ya.. they did... but to me that frame had more than just the kiss.. it was the sentiment that drove them to do it.. the passion they had for that relationship of freindship.. that they discared all social boundaries.. ignored embarrasment and did what they did.. the scene may have its advocates and adverseries... but all i can say is that every realtionship should have the passion that this had..

Happy Children's Day

Childhood is all about those angelic eyes, innocent smiles.. lolipops and chocolates..the silly playfulness.. the carefree singing... the cute hugs.. meaningless fights that don't last.. the curiosity to know everything... the confidence to ask stupid questions and not feel dumb... the pure delight of a cold ice cream ticking the tongue.. the infectious laughter..those days in school.. the games hour and the after hour.. the clean and crisp uniform at the start of the day an then.... that was when life was simpler...

But as we grow up... each of these tend to fade away.. they fade away and make way for that self centered hugely boosted ego.. the stress trying to quest the pinnacles of success and glory... with no time to stand and stare at the beauty of life.. no time for near and dear ones.. that is how we made life duller..

Just a flashback to those days brings a radiant smile on most of our faces... then why have we complicated our lives to such an extent that the smile on our lips does not get reflected in our eyes..

Our life is all about our choices... why is it then that we don't make the choice to have that innocent and angelic smile.. why can't we see joys in those simple things in life??

it just reminds me of a poem i taught my little sister

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

What is this life full of care??? leave yourself loose and enjoy the funfair...

Today is the 539th birthday of Gure Nank Dev Ji the founder of the world's youngest religion.. well for most of the central government offices it was a day off... but for the followers of the religion.. it was a day huge funfair an fervour... it began with most of them offering prayers, singing songs and hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib... followed by what the kids (or atleast i love the most) the Karawah Prasad.. thats the traditional sikh sweet pudding.. and then the langar food...

Guru Nanak Ji was is a great prophet of peace. His teachings breathe the purest spirit of devotion. The love of God and the love of man were the very core of the message of Guru Nanak. We need to learn to serve the poor gently, quietly, and to have reverence for all the saints of the past. This is the first great teaching of the Guru. Guru Nanak's teachings revolutionized people in diverse ways. His teachings are of great interest today as they were in his own time.

The Guru on Babar's (the mughal king) request gave him his advise called Nasihat Nama in which he counseled ' worship God everyday and to be just and kind to everyone. The NAAM, the Sat Naam, the holy Word of God or the Kalma, was a panacea for all ills of life, here and in the hereafter.'

He founded no new sect. He revered all religions. He respected the saints of all times and places. He taught no new creed. He preached love, faith and noble deeds. For him all the people were of God. In the Hindus and in the Muslims, he saw the Vision of God in Man. In all the nations of the world, he beheld an endless procession of the race of man. To all countries and to all people, he sang the song of NAAM or the Holy Word.

Nanak was the prophet of peace and good will, harmony and unity. He was the prophet of Light and gave Light to all for seventy long years


The simplest way to pay tribute to the Guru his to follow is teachings.

Love knows no reward. It is a reward in itself. Service and sacrifice characterize love.

Do your duty.. towards your family and your community.. lead a pure and moral life.. full of noble deeds and kind words..

May the Guru's blessings be with you.

who wants to be millionaire???

i just read this book called "the millionaires" which is apparently a thriller about how two brothers try to steal three million dollars from a bank supposedly belonging to no one... its a perfect crime... its foolproof and no one knows... but suddenly they have the American secret service and a personal investigators at their back...

as i finished the book i was thinking what most people would do in a situation like that... a situation where there is a vulnerable mix of desperation and frustration... would you steal if you would never get caught.. if you are saying no.. then what if i increased that amount of three million to thirty million or perhaps a hypothetical best three hundred million.. would you??

if you said yes.. you're being mighty honest but if you're saying NO... then im sure that's only a hypothetical NO in nine of ten cases.. because its human instinct to go for it... the fact the guilt would go into overdrive and not let you live are variables that come into play later.. but at that point of time.. the split second of a time that you have at hand.. what would you do... and no dont say you dont have the nerve to do it..

think about it.. the perfect crime.. three hundred million dollars.. all in the taking... to bring freedom from all the financial misery... i would have fallen for it!!! would you have???

Monday morning blues...

Garfield hates Monday mornings.. so do i.. and so do most people... maniac Monday morning blues has affected most people since ages... but this Monday was not the usual Monday morning blues.. it had nothing to do with dragging myself to work... or that there was a whole week to work... this Monday was bluer than usual...

and don't ask me why.. because i don't know... it was not lack of sleep.. or a mount of pending work.. it was something else.. something was wrong.. but i could not really point a finger at it... it left me stressed out... stressed out right at the start of the week... and to top it all.. my schedule started with the work i hate the most.. but having no choice i went about doing it...

uh.. i finished up earlier than usual.. and then i decided it was time to bust the stress... plugging in my head phones.. i took my bike and sped off... twenty kms and an hour later.. i felt much better... much better about myself and the whole world around me... not completely stress free... but at least I'm no longer going to snap at someone and then regret it... its really amazing what some good music and a nice bike ride in a beautiful background with some chilly weather can do to our mood...

yesterday my life was duller.. now everything is technicolour...:)

Is there a science that can deal with the physical and metaphysical forces of the environment to make it peaceful and harmonious??? my office landlord definitely thinks so...

when he decided to get the exteriors of the building painted there was a rush of excitement in all of us.. Colours are the most powerful in influencing human mind and body...of course.. considering the boring the building we entered into everyday.. the very thought of a nice bright building excited us...that too considering the present day scenario where you have colour palletes that you can almost fall in love with... we though were in for a surprise.. whether pleasant one or otherwise we'll find out soon...

the topic in discussion at office was the colour that the landlord would chose... and there was shock number one.. parrot green.. well shocking as it was that was not all.. only a part of the building was done before we started seeing buckets of other colours coming.. believe it or not.. he brought in a variety of colours... he has painted every single cm of the exteriors...ranging from that parrot green to the "mithai pink" and cyan blue and process yellow... well the list goes on and one... that is when we thought that he was over obsessed with the rainbow... i don't think i can over exaggerate.. but the building now has possibly a shade of all colours including the ones missing on the rainbow..

on a lighter note though i bet soon the most popular time pass to kill work stress is going to be the childish "colour, colour which colour do you choose??"

the excitement has all died down.. we are all sulking back to work... with a though is change really good???

Yours or mine????

"its my perception, what is your problem?" i'm sure most of us would be guilty of having used the phrase mostly out of sheer frustration... and ten out of ten times we think we are right... but is that always the case?? are we always right.. its humorous enough to say "the only time i was wrong was the time i thought i was wrong" but that's not reality... each person is entitled to their opinion and their views.. it's how they perceive a particular situation or person...

if each person is entitled to such freedom of perception then isn't it our duty to respect this freedom... well.. of course it is.. but what do you do when two people have significantly different perceptions of the same situation.. different feelings and different emotions???

Most of the time we argue just to prove that our perception is right... there is a famous Buddhist parable which goes like this "two students argued and argued about their understanding of a lesson the teacher had taught in class, they finally decided to let the teacher judge who is right and who is wrong. the first student explained to the teacher what his understanding of the lesson was, and teacher said he was right.. the first student left the room with a triumphant expression on his face... the second student then explained his understanding.. and the teacher said that he was right too.. he also left the room feeling victorious... a third student who had seen what happened asked the teacher how could both of them be right when each had contradicting views.. the teacher told him that he too was right..."

Well we might have different, in fact opposing perceptions to same situation.. but the trick is to understand that the other person's perception is as important to him as yours is to you..

who will win the tug of war?? the head or the heart???

she had to choose... choose between the devil and the deep blue sea... she was confused.. should she listen to the logic of the head or the longing of heart... what should she do when both are pulling her apart... pulling her apart in different directions... the head with sound and practical logic and her heart with truthfully emotional reasoning.. she thought and thought.."People are governed by the head; a kind heart is of little value in chess" but is life a game of chess???
"the heart is wiser than the intellect" but is it really??? can u rely on the judgment of your heart even if logic and caution tell you otherwise?? she moved in circles.. never really knowing where she was going.. confused, indecisive and very very tearful..

She pondered, visualised and kept her cool.. she thought and analysed.. weighed pros and cons.. but solution was no where in sight..

and then she read somewhere... Follow your heart.. but. listen to your head... and at that instance she thought everything was crystal clear... was she right??? she doesn't know.. and mark my words.. she won't find out very soon either...

Her First Crush

There is an old an well-heard saying that you never get over your first love. Is that true even for "the first infatuation/crush"??

Well 6 years ago it was when she believed that "the first impression is the best impression" and a little feeling cropped up in her heart... how can someone be like this?? perfect.. well at least almost perfect... responsible, smart, attractive, intelligent, energetic, humorous, sensitive... name it and he has had the quality... at least that is what she thought... from the minute he spoke to her she was highly impressed.. it was obviously a child admiring the qualities of a mature adult... but she was mature too.. she knew what it was.. her first crush.. a little late by normal standards.. but that is what it was.. she enjoyed talking to him.. cracking a joke.. learning from him.. or just being around him.. and then he left.. she dint know where...

What she felt was a feeling that most would say wouldn't last more than a couple of months... and she... pinned her heart and kept it safe...

And a few years later he was back..

Six years later... even now.. when she sees him... her heart races... a flush of embarrassment.. and she still insists that its a childish infatuation.. six years is by no mean standards a short term...

Is it but just a childish infatuation??? Um.. i guess so... a strong one though... she never denies the strong and positive feeling she felt.. she of course still likes him.. a person whose qualities she appreciates.. ask her about him.. and you'll still find her blushing.... may be its true.. that it doesn't really have to be love.. but she still remembers it all.. probably for all her life.. because it was special.. her first thrill of emotion to have liked someone... or is it because he was so special??? that i guess is a question which even she will be unable to answer...

Isn't that what most call a sweet and innocent first crush???

When life gives you lemons...

Why cant I do what i want to?? the way Ii want to??? why do I have to succumb to others expectations??? why cant I live the how I want to??? why is life so hard sometimes?? why does it seem like a test I can never pass???

Is it true that unfairness of life builds character??? I don really care if it does.. I can construct my character well enough myself!!

They say "if life hands you lemons, make lemonade; if it gives you tomatoes, make Bloody Marys" it sounds simple.. make the best of what you get.. but it ain't as simple to do.. buts what would be simpler.. "when life gives you chocolate, make chocolate milkshake" but life doesn't always give you chocolates does it?? I know life is not meant to be all hunky dory but wen life gives you 5 blows in a row.. it is a little difficult to remain optimistic... life seems like a constant battle and nothing seems to be going right..

I wish I can turn the sour lemon into sweet lemonade.