Mary had a little lamb and she loved it :)

My one year old daughter has developed a new liking – English Rhymes. And she can listen to them anywhere, any time and while doing anything – eating, playing et all and still enjoys them. I downloaded the longest video I could find from the Youtube which stands roughly at an hour and half and has possibly all the rhymes that I have ever known. My daughter makes me and my wife sing them for her if we hide the iPad away from her.

Anyways having heard so many rhymes over the past few days what struck me was the amount of violence there is in something meant for babies and toddlers. Mind you I am not joking, I have heard all types of violent stuff possible. From people falling (Jack fell down and broke his crown) to monuments crumbling (London bridge is falling down); they have everything. They don’t even spare old men (I met an old man, who wouldn’t say his prayers, I took him by the leftleg and threw him down the stairs) and even animals, even the differently abled ones.  In a rhyme about 3 blind mice they have their tails cut off with a carving knife by a farmer’s wife J

Six Feet Under Chinatown

Manorama six feet under was on TV a couple of days back and I once again got glued. By the time the movie finished, it was already 1 am in the morning. Every time I watch this movie, the same thing repeats itself. I find it a fascinating, gripping tale that is equally fresh and enchanting every time. After finishing I just drifted to IMDB to check if others thought and felt about the movie the same way as I did. And indeed most people had rated it above 8 out of 10 but for one particular gentleman who had given it a one star calling it a blatant copy of the Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown'. So, I ended up watching 'Chinatown' with Jack Nicholson in blazing form.

This is one benefit of keeping an open mind, you often get introduced to extremely polarizing, yet mind and eye opening point of views and exactly why I love to do it, it helps me keep my 'world view' broad and avoid some of the common subconscious mistakes that we commit.

Anyways, without drifting from the topic, because of the above said review I consciously kept looking for similarities. What parts have been copied? What part of the plot lifted? So is it a copy? You decide! I will list my observations J (Spoiler Alert: You may want to stop here if not looking for spoilersJ)

Status, Status everywhere and lots of lines to think..

The title is inspired from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s classic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Status messages have become such an integral part of our lives. A substantial part of our time daily is spent on updating our 'Status’ on Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Buzz, Orkut and what not?? We humans are social by nature (as I read in textbooks during school days J ) and not so long ago people were complaining that the internet is isolating people and killing the very social fiber itself. But, like all great things, internet did its own thing, evolved its own solution to the problem - the Social Media (SM) tools and right now is flooded by them. And at the very core of this SM phenomenon is the ‘Status’. People update their status, look for other person’s status, comment on it and love being commented upon. So everybody has something to say and everybody has a 'Status' message.

You'll find lyrics of popular songs, lines from some poem or famous quotes from somebody as the status for most people. I, myself often, use them to share the links to the new posts on my blogs apart from sharing other messages which can at times be "just utter nonsense". Then there are status messages that want you to listen to a song, watch a video or read some interesting article on some random website. Well, I like most of them, but what I find interesting is the way people use the status messages to share the mood or the state of mind they are in. I am pretty sure that most of the times the status reflects the mind frame of that person, even if it is not in plain words. The more artistic ones choose a line from a song or quote or poem while others just mention a few words and leave the rest to your imagination. With due respect to all my friends, sample a few status messages on Gmail chat for some of my friends at this time:

"On iPhone with IM+"

“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A38LH9JvkiI&feature=related”

“Time and Tide waits for none”

"RANJHA RANJHA kardi ve main aape ranjha hoyi" –lines from a popular Hindi film number.

"I believe I can fly....I believe I can touch the sky..."

"Work, work n more work"

"where the hell is my status message.........."

"There is no point in living if you cannot feel alive!!"

"ek simple si coffee bhi kick deti thi, tere sang..." –lines from a popular Hindi film number.

"Why is God after my life????"

Note: For all my friends whose status I have mentioned here, I took the liberty of using these without permission because most of them are not original in the first place J. And for the ones which are originals, they are meant to be shared.. right?? I just shared them with a few more people, knowing that you all are my good friends and won’t mind the "free publicity" a bit ;)

In my personal opinion and with all due respect and love, I like the bottom half in the list more for the simple reason that they generate a curiosity and prompt the readers to initiate a conversation. Conversation is what we crave for; the need to vent out the feelings. Just go through each of the status messages once again and try and figure out the state of mind of the person, I am sure you will make many interesting observations J

OK..so how many times has it happened that a simple status message on your Gmail chat window or your Facebook homepage has lead to an interesting conversation with a friend? In fact, most of the times I start the conversation by saying something relevant to the status message of the person. Recently I had one such conversation, most conversations are interesting but this one took an unexpected turn. It was simply innocuous and never intended to go in the direction it went and even ended abruptly but I wish we can pick up the threads someday and continue from where we left J. It has been mentioned below; I hope you find it interesting too. Also, please do share any incidents where you had a similar experience; I am sure it happens a lot of times to each one of us.

DearFriend’s Status: I am what I am.

me: I know  what u are J

DearFriend: you know me as **********. I am more than that

me: hmm.. for example

DearFriend: To you My “ I” could not be more than a friend. My "I" or close buddy but My “I” cannot be more to you

me: see there is nothing kept in these topics close your eye(I) and just remember God ;)

DearFriend: if ever get a chance i would like to recommend a book "I am That"

me: aur main kehta hun ki “that is me”. its all perception :)

DearFriend: perception is a term when we tend to look at others and compare...there is nothing more than I. so where this perception could exist

me: wrong! perception is what we perceive, it's “my” vision it has 'I' written all over it that's why i said that is me :)

DearFriend: :) so whats your me ?

me: The world is how I see it what I see is what I am :)

DearFriend: thats so true

me: If all I can see is wrong then something is wrong in me If I see good there is something good in me :)

DearFriend: but there is something beyond  that as well. who is judging ... right or wrong. to you .. drinking may be bad.. for me its good

me: there is no judging everything is relative, relative to what I am :)

DearFriend: i live by one word.. experience..whatever comes

me: correct!! when a child comes to this world he is blank, he has no sense of right or wrong, his experiences make him draw his line of reference from which he measures right or wrong

DearFriend: i asked a prostitute.. what is love.. she said. its fucking Rs 1000 per hour.

correct ? right or wrong??

me: depends who is deciding. what his/her line of reference

DearFriend: you just use experience to avoid what you have already faced and didnt like.  but accepting that its all experience and keep on moving, that is what brings you closer to your SELF

me: sorry..I am enjoying the conversation ..but need to take a break..getting a call

DearFriend: same here. need to take offshore call :( cya later

me: tc bye :)

Note: Due permission has been taken from the person involved in the conversation before mentioning it here.

A Tribute to my Hero...

I read…felt overwhelmed…guilty about my behavior…tweeted about it…. but couldn't just stop at that.


So I sat down to pen.. rather key in.. my thoughts about this phenomenon - Big B as we fondly have grown to call him. We have held him in high esteem.. have greatly respected him, have been entertained by him for years and years now. Yet the era lives on .. the legacy continues.. having immitated him as a child.. doing mock fights with friends..aah..dhishoom!! aah…dhishoom!! Having lived his angry young man avatar in those teen years..Having his famous screen name as my real life name have prompted people to call me "Don", "Inspector Vijay" (some even promoted me to SP), "Vijay Dinanath Chauhan" over my growing years... Having adored…loved..his style, his cool demeanor, the wiseness on his face , the grace of his age...He's always been an eternal hero..while others have come and gone ..He has stayed ..solid as a rock!!!

(Image Coutesy:Chakpak.com)

I had heard/read a lot about his accident during the shooting of Coolie, of how the whole of India prayed for his well being, of how hundreds of fans used to gather outside Breach Candy to pray for his health.. But having read his account of the medical ailments he has been facing over the years (http://bit.ly/d5rHmp), how he has been transforming some of the disabilities into 'Styles' in his films; I am overwhelmed and the respect has grown a thousand times.

How many times do we complain about the problems that we face everyday and forget to count our blessings..Here is a man who has been fighting his health but never complaining (atleast in public) and going about his duties of entertaining us and keeping us in good spirits..

And I thought I was in a mess and had all the problems in the world and that God has been unfair with me of late. Thank you again, Big B, for being my hero, for inspiring hope in me, giving me the resolve to stand up against odds, for opening my eyes to the blessings I have and for letting me know how trivial are problems bothering me. Thank you!!

Of thoughts, books and irritating news readers..

Doing a little bit of an experiment today using the LOG feature of the notepad to write the BLOG :) Actually it happens often that when you sit to write something, you draw a blank and at all other times of the day thoughts keep jamming in your mind and keeping it busy. So thought of jotting them down as and when they come up. Please note that this is not a "Dear diary.." type of a blog on how I spent my day. But it's more a collection of various thoughts throughout the day that I feel are worth sharing. The timestamp below is just to emphasize that these thoughts cropped up at different times of the day and may be in part if not completely unrelated to each other.

12:32 PM 4/27/2010

"The price must be paid and the process followed. You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut."


4:27 PM 4/27/2010

Thought of buying a voice recorder so that I could capture my thoughts on the go. Because there are times when interesting things are going on in your head you are discussing, articulating, arguing with yourself on something but then soon you are jolted back to the reality of life and everything vanishes.Looked for some on the Amazon. The first one that a picked had a bad review, the other didn't have any review. Then thought if iphone had a voice recording feature. I know it does record videos but I just want to record the voice and keep the visual distractions at bay. Still can't make up my mind :( For those wondering why would I want to record my own thoughts, I have always had a secret ambition (not so secret now that I am revealing it
 now) to get a book published of my own. And I am not a natural writer who can come up with ideas at will but a more instinctive one the idea, the thought is there but it disappears as quickly as it comes, thus the need to capture it... 

4:47 PM 4/27/2010

How fascinating is the way a good book provokes your thoughts ..sets the train of thoughts running..I think that the mark of a good book is that it lets you sit back and introspect, evaluate what you just read..after every few pages.

11:09 PM 4/27/2010

While watching an old interview of Amir khan yesterday on youtube available in 5 parts (http://bit.ly/dx3Wza) I felt the lady taking the interview was rude and insensitive at times so much so that it looked as if Amir was left in tears. And a blog entry from Vir Sanghvi ( http://bit.ly/aR8nP0 ) set me wondering about the old Doordarshan days when celebrity guests were held in awe. The person taking the interviews were polite and cultured. The interview often started with the host giving the glittering details of the achievements of the guest. Questions were short and often open ended which left the guest with ample time to speak his mind and his heart. And the viewers got more insight into the mind scape of the guest. obviously if a person is worthy enough of being invited for interview on national television he must have something special.
The interviews were more focused on the positives of the person so that "the aam junta" could see the person as a role model. Nowadays, the hosts speak most of the time, are not afraid/ashamed of interrupting the guest, are loud and more importantly bent upon ridiculing the guest so that they can create sensational stuff at the cost of civility. Leave alone interviews, most news channels have news readers shouting at the top of their voices as if that would  make the news they are reading more credible. The Shrill voices and over-enthusiastic clumsy reporters clamoring for their two minutes of fame have forced me to stay away from news channels forever. I rely more on the Internet today at least I can choose what I want to read and filter out the junk.
But still often I wonder will we ever have anyone close to the Shammi Narangs and Ghazala Amins of yore..

Full Circle

Today life seems to have come back a full circle. Around 3 years ago, I landed in the US in Seattle for the very first time and today it was like a home coming when I reached here this morning.

Seattle -> San Francisco -> Boston -> San Francisco -> Seattle

This has been the summary of the approx 3 years that I have spent in the US. But Seattle has always been special probably because this was the very first place and first ones are always special. Or may be because we had such a big group of 16-17 fun loving fantastic people which made living here very very special. Or may be because it is one of the most beautiful and livable cities of the US. Or may be because my lovely wife is also here :)

Whatever the case may be but I am delighted.....Chalo I am tired after almost 44hours of journey..I 'll catch some sleep..rest a while before I am "Sleepless in Seattle"

The Reunion

Just fresh from a reunion with my school-time friends (1996 batch infact). Wow....it was great fun, so gud to see my chuddy-buddies after such a long time..I meet some of them after about 13-14 years. Ahh..in case you are wondering why I am excited here is a small introduction to each of them. All these guys are now successful and doing well in their respective fields but I 'll just restrict myself to the childhood memories that I have of each of them:

1. Bhedu- For me he is still 'bhedu' ("bhed" or "sheep") because of his curly hair. We also used to call him carpet since everytime we used to hit his head some amount of dust came up. How he managed to collect and store that dust in his hair is still a mystery.

2. Rhodda- He got his head shaved once and got this name foreever. Poor Chap. He was the first and quickest to complete his revision before the exams. Methodology was simple- Take the book, rotate it around you head thrice and everything in the book enters your brain- revision complete!!

3. Knight Rider- I guess was shortest in hieght, used to be the first person in the assembly queue. Despite his hieght- was always ready to fight with everyone and didn't mind getting beaten up. had a typical robotic style of running which made us assume he is half human- half machine, hence the name Knight Rider

4. Kaali- To this day I wonder why he was named Kaali. He was relatively fair and that too a boy. Kaali - the name never made any sense. In fact I posed the question to him this time and the answer was "Naam shakal dekh ke nahin harkaten dekh ke rakha gaya hai"

5. Nitin- His white Sunny and the cricket that we have played together will always be fresh in my memory. He was the permanent goalkeeper in our games period.

6. Munshi- You will find many people who mimic actors etc but here is one person who can copy just about anybody's style and mannerisms. Extremely talented..given a chance he could have given a run for their money to the likes of Raju Srivastava and Johnny Lever.

7. Shammi- Shammi was instrumental in getting this get-together happen. He was one who got his "connexions" together to bring everyone to the party. Next Harshad Mehta in the making....

8. Jossi- I think he was the strongest in our class who could have beaten up anybody if he wished but he has such a heart of gold that at most times he was at the recieving end and didn't hit back fearing that the other person would get hurt. A person who wouldn't mind walking miles because that made his muscles stronger...

9. Channi- If you look at him..he's a perfect gentleman..quite..sober. Give him some time to open his heart and he will blow you off with his sense of humour :)

10. Harry- He was one of the most studious people in the class till about 8th and then he grew out to be one of the biggest brats of the school. This time when we met I felt a certain maturity which I had not seen before

There were a lot of other people who could not make to this meeting and were badly missed. But I 'll restrict this blog to the people I met this time