2010 Round Up!

Every year that comes by has some story to tell and 2010 is no different. But this would be my first blog regarding a flash back at the year end. Unlike other years that passed by, 2010 has been a year worth looking back at. If 2007 was one of the years of my life which saw changes coming drastically in me from being a student to a professional, then 2010 was one which brought me back from a completely professional life to a balanced life which had certain things to keep for lifetime.

1. Trips back home twice in the year is a mark in itself. Going back and getting in touch with your family, friends, visiting your best hangouts like Ekamra Hatta, Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri beaches brought me back to life and I got connected once again.

2. From childhood to adulthood, never felt like I have grown up until I attended marriage of a friend for the first time. Chicku's wedding was a special event which brought me to reality - We have all grown up and now its time to take responsibility of our own life. Of course along with it brought back the memories of my childhood as I visited Talcher after 7 long years. It made me nostalgic for sure but made it obvious that how life has changed and however we wish we can never get back to our school days. They would remain the best days of my life. My heart felt wishes to her for a grand married life full of love, success and happiness.

3. Not sooner than expected, successful tieing of Knot of Anup and Pragyna in
mid year strengthened my belief in Love Marriages. They are a couple made for each other and have set an example in itself. Wishing both of them a Great life ahead, God Bless you Both.

4. Formation of Hum Paanch Group - As I wondered about season, reason and lifetime in my previous post, I realised I had a handful of them around me and I feel blessed to have them for lifetime. Thank you guys for everything! Vishal, Manish, Sonali, Dipika you four give reason to live life for a lifetime.

5. Few friends gone by, making a comeback makes me feel good about the years to come. This of course strengthened my belief on the saying 'Friends are forever'. Long live our friendship. Cheers to each one of them for standing by my side in all circumstances!

6. 2010 took me one step ahead in my career and not to forget the tough times I had in changing my Organisation. However my association with TechM over the last three years have been eventful and happening. I would for sure miss my first organisation which gave me the platform for what I am today. Thanks to all the people whom I met, I worked with and with whom I created connection for a lifetime. Time spent at Tech Mahindra would always be fresh in my mind and would be there as a happy memory.

7. Realization of the fact that no matter how I felt about Pune initially, now I feel like home when in Pune. Not a bad place to live in. I have always been a bit skeptical with change of place and have faced difficulties whenever I relocated but this time around I find it next to impossible to move away from a place where I have lived my precious three years. Its not the place but the experience out here that has pulled me back. Having struggled hard all alone to get settled and get a life here was the most difficult thing over the years and I truly believe I need to preserve what I have achieved being at Pune. Looking forward to continue it the way it has been so far.

8. One of the best thing to have happened over the last year - Sarah Hina's post as a guest blogger on my blog. Her enthusiasm towards blogging brought me back to my world and my sincere thanks to her for being so very considerate with my request.

These were few of the best things that 2010 had to offer. There have been many such things which are beyond my capability to express. There have been bad moments as well but I would prefer forgetting them and collect them as part of my tryst with Life.

Striking The Right Chord

There are several mails that float on the internet as forwards. In one of the forwarded mails I had read something which has been making me think for quite sometime now. I am not aware of the author, so I would keep the author as anonymous. 

"People meet for a Reason, for a Season or for a Lifetime." - Anonymous

How true the thought is! Ever since I read this quote, I started evaluating all those people I have met in my life and whom I remember till now. I have met uncountable number of people in my school, in my childhood days, in college, in graduation, at  my workplace, in my neighborhood and of course others who have come across me as a surprise. Many have left, many are still in touch and perhaps there are only a few who would be there with me for my whole lifetime. What makes me wonder today is what could have been the chord which connected us? Was it for a reason or for a season or for a lifetime. And I agree all are not for a lifetime. 

Those who have already left me had come into my life for either a reason or for a season. It is really amazing to realize who all were there for a reason because now when I sit down and think about all these people I find a reason behind our meeting each other. There were many learnings that I carry  forward and now I know the reason why we met. And for those who were there for a season, all I can say is that, they would still be there in my memory for long but I can hardly find a reason behind our meeting - that upsets me altogether.

Now, for all those who are there in touch, I am yet to realize which category they would fall into. Fingers crossed I await for the reasoning in me to categorize that.

But, the next question that dwells within me is what about all those new people whom we meet daily. And surprisingly there are many who have hit the right chord straight away. There seems to be some connection already existing prior to our meeting and that makes me think if our meeting each other was just a matter of coincidence or for a reason? I fail to know what could it be. However, I realize that it's not the days, months or years of interaction which decides if someone is for lifetime. But what matters is, striking the right chord differentiates someone from the rest. Yet the watch is ON!

A few lines from one of my favorite Odiya songs goes below -

'Baata re chalu chalu,

kebe kiye.... dekha hue...

mane rahe naaaa.. 

kichi loka kichi chehraa... haayeee

kichi loka kichi chehra...

mane rahe... bhuli hue naa....'

Well, before I sign off I would like to convey all my heartiest wishes for someone who celebrates her Birthday today on 1st September. A perfect Virgo, as she is, has come a long way from being just an acquaintance to a very good friend in such a short period of time. That's what I believe striking-the-right-chord is all about.

Signing off

Abhi 

Night – The Shield

Seems like the blogging bug has yet again bitten me!

It’s 5.45am as I start writing. Should I say it to be early morning or late night? I would prefer the later since the Night has not yet got over for me. Yes, you got me right! I have been awake all night continuing my urge to read books. Perhaps reading books over the last few weeks was making me ready to resume blogging which has been my biggest passion. Completed reading ‘34 Bubblegums and Candies’ by Preeti Shenoy. Will come up with a review for the book in another blog soon though. For now I have a different agenda.

Well coming back I wouldn’t completely give it to my reading urge though, for keeping awake all night. I had completed reading by 3am. To cut short, I kept myself awake to drop my friend at the airport half an hour back.

The bike ride after I dropped him at the airport back to my flat took me around half an hour as I needed to cover 25kms.  It’s still dark outside, my city being on the western part of the country where sun rises generally after 6.30.

I could feel the cool breeze kissing my nose, cheeks and ears as I cruised on Hero Honda Karizma! Kind of bike it is, you would never know you have crossed 80KMPH until you peep into the speedometer. Having kept awake the whole night I kept my speed within limits thanks to my frequent conscious effort to look at the speedometer. The air was fresh and there was this subtle silence except for the soothing engine sound which made my mind ramble around. There have been times when I have been on bike rides on night outs but I had always been accompanied by friends since bike rides have always been bliss specifically in the night when there is very less traffic and no pollution. Given that night life in Pune is good, it’s considerably fair enough to move about during anytime of the night enjoying with friends. I have always enjoyed night life in Pune with friends. And if it’s on a bike then there can be nothing better feeling than this. But today was different for the reason that I was alone with myself and couldn’t find any element which could disturb talking to me.  

As I gained pace and moved ahead the dark blue sky which was yet to be illuminated, shined upon me with its darkness and there was no trace of moon. The complete darkness had its own charm unlike those days when you would feel the urge to see the moonlight sky. The darkness that prevailed along with the pitched silence made me realise how close I was feeling to my own self. That was a kind of feeling which I had never felt before. But it was good and felt nice. There was no other thought that crossed my mind except that I enjoyed every part of the ride. No song playing in the mind, no hurry to reach home, no worries to bother about and complete blank mind could make me feel like Night has worked as a shield to all our botheration, worries and sorrows. They say with sun rise, Day brings in happiness, hopes and all beautiful things and you feel like singing it’s a New Day, It’s a New Life! But it was not the case with me. The moment I thought about dawn, sunrise and the beginning of a new day my blissful state seemed to be threatened. I withdrew the thought of break of dawn. I wished the Night should prevail till eternity so that I would be shielded of my sorrows, worries and responsibilities. Speaking right now I might sound like an escapist! It might seem like I never want to face my hurdles of life but if I go back to that state when I felt this, I suppose I wasn’t wrong if I wanted these to be at bay far away from me. Who would want worries to be a part of life? If it’s Night which plays the shield and works as a knight in shining armour then I would prefer Night to Day! Doesn’t that sound better? How do I gain by facing my problems and solving them? Yes, they do get resolved, but then it does keep you occupied with hundreds of thoughts. It keeps you alert throughout the Day. You struggle, fight and come out successful but how does it help? Can anyone resolve all the problems and guarantee that problems/botheration/issues/worries/sorrows would never come back? But Night does give you that guarantee of being shielded from all of the above until it exists. Even when you sleep you sleep tight. People suffer from sleepless nights because they are occupied with their problems that they would have to again face the next morning once Night is gone. So it’s not the Night but the Day that keeps them awake. The fear, the thoughts makes you sleepless.

Come Day, you again start running in the rat race and it hardly matters who wins. What matters is who manages to come out of it. He is the true winner. And I felt like a winner because I could see myself out of the race. Now I don’t fear waking up in the morning and facing issues since I feel out of the race. I am just waiting for the Day that has crept in by now to end and Night to take charge where I can again live the life which makes it worthwhile.

Truly, this bike ride did make a difference. I now wait for yet another Night to set in, another 12 hours to go. The timer is set!

Authentic Thanksgiving :)

Heya!

Now I couldn't find any suitable title for this post. ;) After, all the efforts that Sarah Hina took to come down and give her best for her post, I couldn't find any better way than this to thank her for this kind gesture.

It was her sincere instant response that made it possible. It was a great feeling to find a guest post from someone whom I have been following for quite sometime. Frankly speaking it was not long back that I knew Sarah but her first article on Aniket's website had made me an instant fan of her writings. And finally as she accepted my request, it made my day!

As it all went fine and got posted, the first thing I checked in the morning was my blog and it was there! I had never done so in my whole life even if it was my own blog! But that I was expecting to see her post I couldn't wait and it was a super duper moment! And I thank Sarah for making it so wonderful that it was.

@Sarah: I have been on and off my blog but this was the best moment which I have experienced through these 4 years of my blogging experience. It was my blog's 4th Birthday on 16th August and I too hadn't realized this until now when it struck me suddenly. So, nothing better gift that I could have expected on my blog. A BIG THANKS to you for making it so very perfect! Coincidentally it was the 4th year completion and what a way to celebrate it!

I extend my heartiest thanks to you for your gesture and efforts that you have put in to make this possible. Having book signing and releasing your first book this month 2010 is not a small thing. I understand how busy you must have been. You contributing to my blog during this rush hour of your own life, I suppose there can not be any better act of humbleness and hats off to you for that. If you could do this for someone else i.e. finding out time to publish the article and follow it closely answering to the feedbacks, then I should also at least do that for my own blog.

Thanks for giving me a reason to have a refreshing start to this blogging arena, and I hope I can take this further with all the energy that you have infused within me. You showed me that we should give our cent percent to our passion even if there are hurdles and we don't find much time to invest in our day today life. Blogging has always been my passion and I got a reasoning to pursue this ahead just because of the confidence that your post gave me.

Thanks again Sarah!

Best wishes for the release of your book and be it a huge success.

God Bless You :)

Signing off,

Abhi

P.S: Happy Birthday to Swati (one of my best friends from my College days). She happens to celebrate it on 19th of this month. My best wishes to her and may God bless her! Miss You DEAR :(

Authenticity

She runs to the woods. Removes her clothes. Drapes herself across the moss of old dreams. Spreads her legs for a sun. Counts clouds through the canopy. Mosquito-bitten thoughts. Swat, swat. This air she breathes, recycled from laughter and holocausts. Her lungs, two butterfly wings dripping with concrete.

All these words, like trees in a forest. How much rain can be cupped in their leaves? Why am I, as a writer, driven to saturate, to make the branches bend with weight?

Does it make me lighter?

Is that the goal?

Sometimes, when I read others’ work, I feel like a child.

Sometimes, when I work, I am a child.

Perhaps there’s not much value in questioning our writerly instincts and motives. Maybe this is the true self-indulgence. If we simply follow them—if we’re authentic to our voice—some new facet of truth will be integrated into the human kaleidoscope. I admire Cormac McCarthy for his cool, lean sentences. I admire Michael Ondaatje for his brilliant lyrical flights. In the past, I’ve tried to imitate such literary giants. When really, there are seeds still to plant between their mighty trunks.

I’m growing more comfortable with my strengths and limitations. My forest is mine.

Yours is a song the wind knows. 

She lifts her voice with the birds, the cicadas, the heat waves of summer.

A world spins faster. 

----

Other stops on my Meet Me In Paris Blog Tour: Travis Erwin • Aniket's Plum Blossom Flash Fiction contest • 25 Questions for Author Sarah Hina  • Author Spotlight 7SS with Aerin-Bender Stone • Jaye Wells • Poem at The Walking Man's • Poem Blossoms at Joaquin Carvel's

Plum Blossoms excerpt read aloud by Sarah.

Buy Plum Blossoms in Paris • Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Flipkart • Chapters • Borders • Your Local Independent Bookstore • Powell's Books • Books-A-Million

Great News - Guest Writer

Hello All,

I would like to make an announcement! We have a guest author on the blog and she is none other than SARAH HINA who is a 34-year-old writer, wife, and mother of two. Her debut novel, PLUM BLOSSOMS IN PARIS, is now available from Medallion Press.

It's an honor to have Sarah post an article on this blog, and I suppose this gesture from her has made me really ecstatic about it.

I would request all my readers to participate and pour in their comments for the post from Sarah.

Figments of Imagination or Reflections of Reality

Sometimes I wonder what is a creation. Is it just the result of imagination or the reflection of something which we see in reality?

off late I have been doing only two things -


1. My regular job at work
2. Reading books


Reading books has got into me for sometime now. Surfing the net, checking mails, chatting, talking over phone and even watching TV have bored me to the limits. And when I'm talking about reading let me be specific with it. It has only been few love stories now, but probably I would shift my gears soon to something different. But for now its love stories which have hit me like a wave of the sea. Yet to complete the books in my to read list.


I am simply awed by the books that I have read recently. I would prefer not to compare them to each other in any way because every piece is a result of the author's creation. And when it's creation of someone I have no right to compare when God even fails to compare among its creations.


Completed reading


'I too had a love story' by Ravinder Singh (yes for the second time of course). I had the same feeling after I finished with the book. However, I enjoyed reading it second time because I had known the ending and the whole tale earlier when I read, so perhaps I could relate to each and everything in a better way.


'A walk to remember' by Nicholas Spark was the next in the slot and though I had watched the movie in my first year engg ie long back, I still could connect to the whole of it. No where did I feel like I have already watched the movie, why do I need to read it any more. Books are better expressive than movies. I strongly feel that now.


'Dear john' again by Nicholas Spark, was the third book I have ever read from a single author other than Chetan Bhagat and I must admit I've become a big fan of Nicholas now. The next thing on the list is to go through all of his writings. Will surely get it completed soon. This book specifically moved me with the simplicity of it's writing and the portrayal of its characters. They are real to the core. Must read for our generation.


'A thing beyond forever...' by Novoneel Chakraborty came as a strong recommendation from one of the co-readers. Looked for the book the same day and completed reading it today. Not much of an effort though but it did give me a sleepless night after I stopped reading the 3rd section keeping the 4th for the next day i.e. today. Believe me I couldn't accept the fact that it ended. I wanted more from it and perhaps didn't want it to end. The best feature of this book is not the story, but the philosophy regarding life, love and God. All three of them so well gelled together that you could never escape anyone of it in your lifetime. Truly a master piece it does take you back to your school days and the early days of your adolescence.


After putting down these books in my shelf I would never dare to compare any of these to each other. And about losing these at any cost is not possible. So please be careful if you ever borrow them from me. Don't forget to return because I'm never gonna forget that you were the one who...


Lol! A feeling that sometimes always stays and you may have lost once or hundredth time... but it stays - Love

Like Never Before - The Heaven's Terrace

She stood there with tears in her eyes. The place looked the best like never before. She has been to this place since she was a kid. She was born and brought up in this heavenly place. But she wasn't sure if it was in fact heaven as others believed it. She doesn't remember since when but she would often walk through the market place and take the small path across the tea plantation to be with herself. Be it in happiness when she would have felt like sharing it with her mom or in her sorrows when she would like to weep in her mother's lap. In her tranquillity she would many a times remember how she had seen her mother being brutally killed by her drunken father's tyranny.

Shakti doesn't even remember how old she was when her helpless mother had left her all alone in this world. But her mother had no other option left when her husband had sold her off to a rich tourist from France. It was then that she had given poison to her 5 year old kid before she had jumped from the 'Heaven's Terrace' believed to be the most beautiful tourist attraction in the Western Ghats. Though Shakti was saved by her neighbour who found her lying unconscious in the nearby garbage bin at the end of slump where they lived but there was no news about her mother until three days. 3 days later her body was recovered by the police on the bank of the river which ran between the mountain ranges. Shakti was then brought up by her neighbour while her father had abandoned her. Her new mother, their neighbour told her about everything when she was 16. The person who brought her up was her mother's best friend whom her mother knew since she had arrived after getting married.

Shakti was told that her mother had gone to God’s place into the mountains since God too needed good people. As she grew older she realized what the truth was. She had always felt like being with her mom when she was here. Today was also no different when she wanted to be with her mother once again. Like never before, she felt her mom closer. She could feel the beauty of the place and how heavenly this place has been over the years. Things have changed and people around her as well. But two things are yet to change! Heaven’s terrace has no signs of change and has stood like it has been taken care of by God’s own people. The other one is her Father.

She was just 14 when suddenly her father had come and claimed to have her daughter. Upon insistence that he had no right on her, he had abused every one of having killed his wife and devastated his family. Everyone knew what he was up to. But no one could stop him from doing what he did to his wife and daughter. He sold his daughter to the brothel in the foot hill. Shakti was just a kid to understand anything about this and before she could realize, she was the prostitute who was wanted by the tourist visiting the place. Having no other choice she had accepted her cursed life and had nothing to gain and lose until she met Rahim.

As she slowly took each step towards the gate crossing the flags tied with faith by the travellers for all their secret wishes to come true, she remembered the first time she had met Rahim.

Rahim was a guy from the nearby village who too had visited the brothel to satisfy his physical needs. His build was of a guy in his twenties. As his eyes had met hers she could see a kind of honesty in his eyes. Though Rahim had come to satisfy only his physical needs but his eyes didn’t reflect an animal. He was escorted by Shakti into a corner room. Rahim broke the silence and asked Shakti her name. ‘Julie’ she had said. Rahim asked her actual name and this time Shakti spoke the truth though she was not entitled to do so. It was after long time that she had shared her actual name to someone. She didn’t know why she was truthful to Rahim. But there was some magic in Rahim’s eyes which perhaps made this 19 year old girl fall in love with him. They spent two hours in the locked room talking to each other. Rahim spoke about his tryst with life and how he had struggled to earn a living for his widowed blind mother since the age of 14. His mother had died a month before and Rahim was in deep pain and wanted to talk to someone. May be this is what he wanted. Shakti listened to him without speaking a word since he had paid for her. She could draw parallel to her life. She had tears by the time he finished speaking. He seemed much more relaxed and better as he had spoken out his heart to someone stranger to him. Sometimes it’s easier to share feelings with a stranger. That was perhaps the case.

Rahim visited the brothel frequently then after and insisted on paying only for Julie. When she was not available he would return back. Months passed by and they realized that they were in deep love with each other. On a thunderstorm night they were close enough and spent the whole night together for which Rahim had to pay extra. Shakti had been touched by innumerable people of who were rich, old, young and poor. She had seen many kinds of people who had one thing in common – an animal within. For the first time that night she had felt love. She had felt the softness in the way Rahim kissed her and took her into his arms. For the first time she had love. That was the happiest day in her life that she remembered.

Shakti was in tears, as she walked slowly looking towards the clouds that kept changing their shapes in the sky. She could see them engulf the distant mountain with their long stretched arms. She could feel the way Rahim used to hold her tightly against his wide chest. She used to get lost in his arms and dream about a better future which she could see in his eyes. He had promised that he would soon take her away to a dreamland where they would live happily ever after. He had started working harder at the mountains cutting trees with much vigour. He had got a new life to live. He wanted to start afresh. He had to earn a good amount of money soon enough to start a new life with his beloved. He had found Shakti and of course her name which was given by her mother got the justice. Her mother had always wanted her to be the symbol of strength. And look today she was turning out to be someone’s strength for life. He worked harder and his visits were not that frequent as they used to be. Shakti didn’t mind that since she could see a bright future. She would often come to 'Heaven’s Terrace' to wait for her freedom. She could see her beautiful hut in the woods. She too had tied a flag for her wishes to come true. She knew it would come true some day. But this was not heaven’s choice.

One day Shakti fell ill and had to be admitted to the nearby hospital as her condition was serious. The reason for the sudden health problem was not known until reports came. She was infected with HIV. Heaven broke over her head. She couldn’t believe it at the first time. She insisted the doctor for a re-examination. But the report was nothing different. Her dreams had scattered. She couldn’t believe that just when she had started living and was happy with her life, God could do this to her. She had always believed that her mother was with God and it was she who had fought with God to give her a better life. And there she was achieving all that she wanted. But that wasn’t true. She was once again betrayed by her own destiny.

After Rahim had come into her life, she had always declined to her owner and fought with the brutal lady who used to send her to the prospetive customers. She had told her that Rahim would come and pay the complete amount for her. But it was Monsoon and peak season for the travellers to visit this Godly place. The brutal lady didn’t have any interest to lose the hefty money that would come during this time of the year. Rahim too hadn’t visited since a month. So she had tweaked Shakti’s arm and sent her to a rich man from foreign in his fifties who had lodged in an expensive hotel. She cried thinking of that dreadful night which had changed her life upside down.

She didn’t know what to do. Rahim was unaware of it. She wanted to meet him and hold him in her arms for the last time. But she didn’t. She had earlier denied meeting him when he had come to meet her. She had been ignoring him for more than a month now. She knew Rahim would never leave her and she didn’t want his life to be spoiled. Thus, she had decided to go away from his life. She was now at the gate where she knew was God’s own place. It looked like never before. She could feel her mother waiting for her at the other side. She could feel her Mother embrace her for the first time. It was bliss. She felt like in the arms of nature. There was a sense of freedom, to have been freed from the shackles of this dreadful life. Her mother must have also felt the same. The place was so peaceful. She could feel the pain of departing from the one you love. Fifteen years before her mother had left her apple’s eye behind and today she was here leaving her life.

Was she actually taking her life away or was it Rahim’s?

First Attempt at Prompt Writing

I had never tried my hand at writing blogs at some other forum. Somehow I never felt comfortable. May be I was afraid to fail at the first go. Being a shy guy (yes that's what I consider myself to be :P), I refrain from going out and attempting to write something which may turn out to be a complete flop. The comfort zone is a major factor. I have been blogging on my blog since Aug 2006, so this has always been my place. A lion's own den. This reminds me of a saying 'A dog is even a lion in his own lane'. So that's how I have been.

Surfing through different friends' and fellow bloggers posts has been my hobby since long. I thank Aditi for her recent post regarding such a forum/site where bloggers post their write ups. The thing that attracted me was the concept of prompt writing. I need to give a bow to Aniket for taking the initiative to start something like this. Though I was aware of writing contests across the blogger community, I had never realized that if I give it a try I could even do it. I had never thought over it much. There are such good writers and bloggers on WWW that it feels a bit humiliating to post something as a competitor out there. There comes the best feature in Flash Fiction. There is no winner and there are no losers. I hate being called a loser by my inner voice.

Thus came the warrior within me to give it a try. I had my first attempt at prompt writing. I would require all your support in letting me know how I performed at this. It felt like writing in an examination hall in school. It took me about four hours to create the whole thing. I wouldn't consider it to be one of my best though. And personally speaking I feel I did justice to the attempt but I failed at one point. Limiting no of words within 1000. I've always failed to keep it short. And once again I struggled hard to make it within 1000 words. Finally the post had 1700 plus words. I consider myself to have done well. Pat on the back for that (chuckle). ;)

View my first post here.

http://www.flashfiction.in/2010/04/28/like-never-before-the-heavens-terrace-2/

Guncha koi mere naam kar diya

This is a song from the movie 'Main Meri Patni aur Woh'. It's a beautiful ghazal sung by Mohit Chauhan (dooba dooba singer). The lyrics is absolutely mesmerizing and is amazingly soothing to the ears. It can rest your soul in peace and can make your blood flow stand still. Its a soft, sweet and subtle one which can keep playing on your music player on repeat.

Mohit Chauhan has done full justice to the song with the way he has sung it. It's definitely one of the best songs by him.

The movie is as well too good with some outstanding performances by Rajpal Yadav, Rituparna Sengupta and Kay Kay Menon. All three of them have been my favorites and are definitely not the regular bollywood style performers. They are classic with their performance. It's story line is just perfect with a beautiful portrayal of a middle class married man who is just a common man. The relationship that he shares with his wife and all that he goes through due to his insecurities regarding himself. The emotions come with a real life feeling and anyone can connect to the characters quite easily. Its a sweet short simple movie which is a must watch.

If you haven't yet heard to this song then do listen to it and have another song added to your favorite playlist of songs.

Enjoy!

Lyrics

Guncha koi mere naam kar diya.....

Guncha koi mere naam kar diya.....

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Guncha koi hmm....

Tum jaisa koi nahi is jahaan mein

Tum jaisa koi nahi is jahaan mein

Subah ko teri zulf ne shaam kar diya

Subah ko teri zulf ne shaam kar diya

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Guncha koi hmm....

Mehfil mein baar baar idhar dekha kiye

Mehfil mein baar baar idhar dekha kiye

aankhon ke zazeeron ko mere naam kar diya

aankhon ke zazeeron ko mere naam kar diya

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Guncha koi hmm.......

Hosh bekhabar se huye unke bagair

Hosh bekhabar se huye unke bagair

Hosh bekhabar se huye unke bagair

Woh jo humse keh na sake dil ne kah diya

Woh jo humse keh na sake dil ne kah diya

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Guncha koi hmm.......

Guncha koi mere naam kar diya.....

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

NB: The lyrics above has a para (mehfil main baar baar...) which not in the video clip of the movie.

I believe I can fly

I believe I can fly by R. Kelly is one of the best songs that I've ever heard to. The lyrics is just awesome and can give life to a dead who would have had dreams to fulfill. I had heard to the song for the first time during my Malaysia 2008 visit and this song had given me goosebumps, just amazing.

For the first time I had heard the female version of it and finally after such a long time I could find the exact version of it. It is sung by Yolanda Adams and music by Kenny G. I feel this version is better than the original one. The video is just awesome with some marvelous photos through the slide.

Lyrics

I used to think that I could not go on
That life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
By leaning on the ever lasting arms

Bridge:
If I can see it
Then I can do it
If I just believe it
There's nothing to it

Chorus:
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly(x3)

Yolanda Adams
See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes the silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first it's got to start inside of me

(Bridge)

(Chorus)

Cuz I believe in me, yea,ohhhhhhhhhh

Yolanda Adams:
If I can see it

Be Be Winans:
Then I can do it

Yolanda Adams:
If I just believe it

Be Be Winans:
There's nothing to it, oh

(Chorus)

I believe I can fly(I can fly)x3
I can do anything yea,yea,yea.yea
I can flyx3
I can do anything, yea,yea,yea

Anything I wanna do(Anything I wanna do)x3
I can do anything
I can fly

Closest to My Heart

Few people turn to their saved photo albums, letters and what not to get back to their good old days. Their present of course is a reflection of their post. But it really feels great going back to those days which are always memorable. I too get back sometimes to my good old days. But not mostly in the manner people would generally do.

After a long time, as I have said earlier as well, I have been finding time with myself. To feel the best of your own life. Recently on one of my fellow blogger's post I had commented on how you can always enjoy with your own self without being bored. Bibhash thanks to you for writing that one on your blog. I could feel the need to be with myself. It had been really long time that I could find sometime. I visited my own blog reading different posts. Having read most of my favorites, I was taken back to my old days where I lived a life which can never be recreated. Something I left behind is never going to be the same ever again. It really feels great! Nostalgic is what you can say but it was a coincidence that I happened to do it on a day which I too hadn't realized until I had a look at the time stamp. I was reading one of the posts which is a fiction. I consider it to be closest to my heart. May be it had some resemblance to what I went through when I left Kolkata. Though there wasn't anything similar to the love story but yes, the theme that Apurv was leaving his place for his career was quite similar to my leaving Kolkata when I had options to stay back and compromise with my career. Though nothing great occurred as anticipated or I would prefer saying it was a wrong notion that everyone had regarding Pune center. But of course, my leaving Kolkata was quite similar to Apurv's circumstances. And the best part of coincidence is that I had written this fiction exactly two years back on 20^th April 2010.

Well, I would surely like to insert the link of my post which is closest to my heart. I expect a comment on the story, of course only if you like it. :)))

http://intangibleabhisek.blogspot.com/2008/04/take-care.html

Take care and sleep well!

In love with Love Story theme

I have been in love with my past all the time. Don't know why but I always keep getting myself into my past. I remember the days when three years back I left home and was at Kolkata to start a new life. A new life with Tech Mahindra. It was that time when I was attracted to radio. The fact that we didn't have a TV then, made me get attached to radio all the time. And within no time I was connected to the best programme on it. One of the programmes that had made fans all over Kolkata. It was a programme called 'Dil Se' hosted by the best RJ ever 'Jimmy'. It was aired on every friday from 9pm to 3am on 93.5FM.

The best part of the show was the background music that played on it. It was the theme song from the movie 'Love Story'. The theme of the programme was so good that it got me connected to me to the programme every friday. I just love that music. I have got shifted to Pune since long. More than 2 and half years now.. I was at kolkata for 4 months probably.. but the programme and the music left me mesmerized. As I write this, the music plays in the background on repeat. I have been trying to connect to 93.5FM specifically online but failed. I wish I could connect to 93.5FM online from Pune. But seems like a dream. But for now enjoy the beautiful tune online from the movie Love Story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rvz8KnyN0U

Have a great time!

The Bet by Anton Chekhov

The Bet is a short story which I had read long back in my school days in one of our syllabus text books. There were many such stories were in our syllabus but not all have left an impression in my mind. This particular story has been in my memory till date.

Somehow I searched for this story and I got it in the first go thanks to Google-e-azam :)) But reading it again after such a long time took me back to those old school days. Students generally think what's the use of these short stories and stuff like these in the syllabus which has no practical application. Don't know if you ever thought so but I used to think this way due to the heavy syllabus that existed. But now I realize such stories build our base with good principles and thoughts regarding life.

Specially this story has a lot in to learn from regarding life and it's importance. Of course at the end it renounces the things that we look for our whole life and work towards it. That's the philosophical side of looking and things. These thoughts make us stay grounded and reminds of the truths of life. though a short story it has its importance in real life - the way need to live and look at the world around us. It's not always the materialistic world that actually matter.

If you ever like reading short stories, you would definitely like it. I would suggest you to go through it. You can browse to the link below and enjoy this short narrative.

Here goes the link: http://www.classicreader.com/book/240/1/

Something about the writer: Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov was a famous Russian writer considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. He has 201 short stories to his name which have been published in form of different books by translations into English. His deep thoughts has done full justice to the characters and the age old debate on capital punishment vs lifetime imprisonment. His message through the story is crystal clear and open up different side of the journey what we all know as Life.

Happy reading!

Striking The Right Balance

Two and half years back I was bothered about something which somehow I have managed to understand to a greater extent. It was about striking the perfect balance between two different worlds around one’s own life. I was not sure how one could balance one’s personal and professional life.

Let me put it this way. I had been in a world of personal life for more than 20 years of my life. And suddenly when one gets into a completely different life altogether called professional life, it is obvious to perplex the best of the balanced minds. Considering myself not to be that balanced in my understanding of these two lives, I was surely a victim of this age old belief – One needs to keep his personal and professional life different. If ever you mix both of these then you end of screwing both big time. With confusion in mind I had tried my best to bring about the perfect balance. I would not say I succeeded to strike the right chord on the first shot. It wasn’t easy to bring about the changes in you to keep both these peculiar demons at bay across the thin line or better if I say this to be the silver lining.

One point that always bothered me was that how can someone keep his personal life away from his work place(better to say professional life) when he is present personally/physically at his work place for more than one third of the day? Worse if you are a workaholic and a bachelor! You’re bound to have your personal life revolve around you where ever you are. A ‘resource’ as they say in the industry is a human at the end of the day. He is bound to have emotions (like happiness, sorrow, pain, love, hatred, jealousy, anger, turbulence, expectations, relationships etc), friends and foes where he lives his life. And it would be unwise to say that you being a professional you shouldn’t let all these factors affect you. It definitely does affect but you need to bring your personal touch to bring about the right decision. Even in personal life we have these factors and we deal with them quite well. So why not deal the same way out here as well as well do in our personal life? And when I say the personal touch let me prove all those theories vague which pronounce to keep all personal things away while being a professional. Many say “He was quite professional in his approach and didn’t let his personal problems affect his performance.” Fine agreed but where did he bring about that professional approach from? One has to be personally connected to the whole thing.

As my experience goes, I am about three years old in the professional life. And I am proud to say that I have the perfect balance where I work. I always used to listen from people, at work there are no friends. And let me prove all of them wrong. I have my best pals where I work. When at office we still work together and resolve the conflicts quite easily which come up just because of the personal relations that we share. Had I kept my professional life away from my personal life then perhaps they would have never understood my behaviour or vice versa in a given situation. That goes true with my managers as well. Not always managers are demons. Not always they are wrong as it is mostly understood. There are times when one needs to go beyond and try having a look at the other side of it. And you seriously need to put yourself in other’s shoes to get the complete picture. But of course this is only possible if there exists a personal touch to it all. And finally you land up in creating a world where both the parties have acceptance level only due to your personal life being involved in it. And how do you achieve it all? By just letting yourself being You. Most people fail to understand this and in the pursuit of being the best professional they start becoming someone they are not. That is what I had landed up doing initially, and it is no worry when I accept that I screwed it big time.

I still find people around me who are being fooled by themselves. I hope to see them bringing about a change in their approach and understanding of these two different persons they want to be. Personating your work environment gives you a scope to judge the best thing you could do without bringing unnecessary complications into your life where you spend maximum of your time called Office.

Reaching out

How about making this post more interactive? Its just an attempt to connect to those people who have been following my blog for a while. Been a long time that I have been into this world of blogging. But perhaps this is for the first time that I am trying to connect to you all by having your take on it.

Now that I have been in and out of this world quite many times, the main reason that for this is I'm not quite sure about what would intrest you as a reader. Over these period of more than 3 years I have come across change in my style of writing, the stuff I have concentrated on and the agenda of every post. There have been suggestions to reduce the length of my posts and I have been trying hard to acheive that. So there have been quite many factors which have directed my posts. Sometimes, its just my mental state and circumstances in my life which have made me post my writing over here. But there is this missing link. That's you no doubt.

So, guys all I need to know is what is it that you think I should post more upon? Which category should I connect more through my posts. You can pick them from my labels cloud for your convinience. There have been posts on fiction, non fiction, peotry, philosophy, politics, sports, reviews, my fav topics related to relationships. So request you to come up with your thoughts and make a contribution to what you like reading and for what you land up here.

Yeah, I do sound a bit more democratic than my previous ways of posts which were comepletely autocratic. So guys hurry up and give me something to write about.

Eagerly waiting for your valuable response on this. Thanks

Commitment in LOVE

Okay, guys! I know not many readers follow this blog, but the very fact that I love blogging and getting down to write what goes through my mind here I am with my new blog. My last blog had come long back in July which is more than 6 months from now. I suddenly realised that the total number of posts for the year 2009 has come down to a single digit. A statistical data would reflect that it has been an exponentially decreasing graph perfect for research like the falling sensex. You can surely have a complete analysis on different trends of posts and all that mathematical calculations. So, if it continues it might soon touch the zero point. Thus an attempt to get back to this world of mine. Blogging has always been an amazing thing to do. But of course writing anything and everything doesn't make any sense. So I had been off for this quite an obvious reason.

Moving on with the fresh beginning, I would wish everyone a very Happy Valentine Day to all. Lets celebrate this day just for the sake of love but not for any form of it. It should always be taken as a reason to celebrate love. Do we really give ourselves the time and chance to let our near and dear ones know that how much we love them? May be you could use this as a medium to let others know how you feel about them. It's of course the right day to do so! Hence, do find out some time, and luckily today being a Sunday, you can't even complain for not having time! Go ahead if you haven't done it yet.

Of all the things that occurred to me during these more than six months duration I would surely consider few things which changed the way I perceive things around me. One of them being the word Love. I have always believed that it's love that makes everything worthwhile. No doubt about it though. But when we come to the point of commitment in love, I believe I had failed to understand what it was. It isn't about just the literal meaning of it. Quite a controversial thing to say and I know many may come up with different versions of the word 'commitment in love'. As I now understand this in a clearer way, I can say that it is about accepting one and everything about the person and his/her world. It's not the only person you commit to. You need to commit to the whole world around her (from now her would mean both he/she). Accepting doesn't always mean that you need to compromise. If you compromise then its not commitment in love. Its just an adjustment, and life doesn't run by making adjustments. You need to feel it internally. You need to prioritise how strongly you feel to take everything along with her in your life. Just having her to spend your life with isn't sufficient. It's also about how she takes your world with you. There needs to be a reciprocation of this event. I may love someone from the depth of my heart, but what I too need to know is how much I love her family and friends. I need to get everything right by knowing the same about her as well. That's when you say it as perfect couple bonded in love. I have had experiences of people around who keep continuing in a relationship just because they love each other or should I say they feel they love each other. But on the contrary I would often rather more than often find having differences, fights and arguments over the silliest of the things in the world. That is due to the fact that you have not yet started loving the world around her. As simple as that. And however you try, you end up some day walking in your own direction when the situation or should I say burden is too heavy to be over headed. Thus commitment and love are two different things which need to be looked at very carefully. I would define ‘commitment in love’ as companionship. How well you can give company to the one you love till the eternal without making any adjustments or compromises is the key to success of it.