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Book Review : I, Romantic

2011-06-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

I usually do not impose my opinion on a book. But this one for sure deserved an attention. I finished this book in 7 days, undesiringly so, because I had to work in between, work out and eat and sleep too. But had I been totally unoccupied, I would have finished this book in one sitting.

This book is one gripping piece of fiction. Written by Rajeev Jhaveri, I,Romantic is a story narrated with all heart and sincerity depicting a picture of life in the army and the labyrinth of human emotions.

It strikes a chord as you turn the pages living the wrathful war the armymen fight against Pakistan, leaving many soldiers injured and dead to the internal tiffs within the army people.

The inaccessibity to all the pleasures of the world, that leads to the army professionals to get into poor means of satisfying their sexual urge. It talks about the dirty things which lies hidden and is seldom exposed to the civilians. Everything exists there, but one common thing which binds the armymen together is the spirit of protecting the motherland from the infiltrators.

The author has very beautifully mentioned the urge of human beings, and how one follows the natural instincts to satisfy it, be it love, sex, food, or survival.

The beauty of the book is the process of self discovery which the reader undergoes along with the protagonist, Avinash Rai. At every stage in the novel one can empathize with certain situations.
The beauty of women is unsubtley, but unoffendingly expressed that it adds one level extra to the word romance.

The transformation of the protagonist, from an army man to a man in love to a person looking for a purpose in life is beautifully portrayed.

This book is a must read for people who are die hard romantics and are in a process of self- exploration.
I strongly recommend this book to people who like some drama and are fiction lovers..

Rating: 3 /5

Next Review: Good Man Jesus and Scoundrel Christ.

Phoren Return

2011-05-26T03:33:00.000-07:00

I love my city. Nagpur, am talking about. Not Pune. With Pune I am just a bit possessive because this happens to be my Karma Bhoomi.

Nagpur is like that water tank where I can jump into and be very very sure that I would reach the bottom after 13 steps and I won't drown, despite not knowing swimming.

This is a bad bad example to begin with, but I can't help but sound mad.
There's this friend of mine who returns from The Great Britain and says "Nagpur is really hot, My Gawd!! ".

I felt like giving him nice raptas and taking him to Saoji, immersing his head into the spiciest curry ever, then taking him to the Telankhadi lake, give him a taste of the cool breeze, but leave the curry on his face to dry with the chilli burning on his face, making him realise what he missed for 1 long year, then take him to the samosawala, show him the samosa, make him smell it and not feed him, take him to the civil lines, and show this masterpiece to every single nagpurian walking on the streets, then shout out loud...
"Isko Nagpur ki Garmi 1 saal me buri lagne lagi"..

And then after that, am sure there'd be people who would beg, borrow, steal this friend of mine and give him all that he hadn't seen, smelt or tasted in last 1 year in his Great Britain.

Dare he talk about the summers of Nagpur.. !!!
It's not that we love it so much that we'd spend afternoons under the sun. But if you have tasted your own sweat in the scorching heat of Nagpur, you wouldn't make a statement like that..

Yes, this post is almost a warning for all the Phoren settled (temporarily) Nagpurians..
Come back home..but do not complain. Else stay put where ever you are!!

Hmmpphh!!

Osama WAS Hilarious

2011-05-05T20:48:00.001-07:00

Finally "was" succeeds the name Osama and I get a strange feeling about it. The feeling is entirely poisitive. That of peace and happiness.

Now Osama was really hilarious. If we think Woody Allen or Russell Peters or Sunil Pal, or Raju Shrivastava, are funny, Osama surpassed these gentlemen too.

How if you may ask. It was reported that Late.Mr.Osama Bin Laden has asked his children "NOT TO JOIN THE TERRORIST CAMPS".
Why not? if we may wonder. Either he was way too protective of his children, or he wanted them to do something else, have a career in social service, become a doctor, or an engineer, like every father wants his children to become.

He was one funny asshole. This joker also asked his wives not to remarry. He had 4 and the poor ladies had to live with just one, and that one is dead too, and they won't have any more.

He, sure, was something.

But whatever, I am glad he died. :D

In twos and threes

2011-05-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

This poor blog was stranded since so long. I wanted to make sure that this never happened, so I made multiple authors for this blog. Not one but two. But they failed to keep it up as well.

Now I seriously forgot the purpose of creating this blog in first place. It was a fad then to have a blog. But like we always do.. or do not do... do not settle with one. We want one more, everytime.. I settled with two more.

I had three blogs rolling at a time. But sadly just one survived. This one got avoided big time.
You know what's the math like? It's like you want to go for a wedding reception, and you alone are commonly invited along with the entire office team. But you end up with your entire family. Why? Because you would save the efforts of cooking, would subtract one outing, because you'd already been on one (this reception), and your kids would be really ecstatic to relish the pani puri at the chaat stall and have ice cream totally free of cost, unlimitedly.

Also, we see at times, there's a sale. Do we go alone? Yeah, how we wish. But we take a whole lot of friends along. Not to keep company, for sure, or ya, at times for company too, but to buy stuff in common and help each other in bargaining.

Do we ever pick up a detergent which has no offer, like 20% extra, or a soap free with 250g of Tide. We always look for deals. We do not settle with one. For us things should come in twos and threes.

I got talking to one my friend, a mother of a 3 year old, about how her married life was going on and she complained about the pressure that her elders were putting for conceiving another kid.

"A child should have someone to play with." It's always in twos... Children, detergents, outings, blogs... you name it and there is a math for it.

But since we always think about more, we got to give more too. Like more effort in maintaining 2 blogs (I say this to myself), more effort in bringing up 2 kids, more effort in using up all the free stuff that came along with the detergent.

So it's all about efforts.

I think, I somehow managed to get back to this blog, before it completed a year in isolation.
Dear Blog, since you were in twos, you will always be so... I'll take care..

More Views and Previews soon... :)

Of farewells and goodbyes.

2010-05-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

I make sure that I attend every farewell function and say a good bye to my closed ones if they are leaving. I also make sure that I see them off at the railway station, airport or the bus stand.
There have many instances where even I have received beautiful farewells and people have made me feel great when they came to see me off.

I have a strange philosophy, which may sound pessimistic, but I totally live by it.
I think I should try and visit my friends and family when they are leaving one place for another. I may have not met them for the entire time of their stay in my city, but I make sure I see them off.

There are two strong reasons for it:
1 . I may never get to see them again. This doesn’t mean that either they or I would die, but there may be certain circumstances which may not allow us to meet again. It could be because of commitments, frequent traveling, ill health, work, and family whatever.

2. The emotional connect that is generated during the time of departure is the strongest. So that means a lot to me and I guess it matters to the other person too.

I remember when I was going to see off a very close friend of mine, she was going to a new city, for her first job, she kept insisting that no one should come to the station lest she would become emotional and that would make her weak.
But I maintained that the last meeting at the station would be something that she would cherish all her life. So I asked her not to resist any friend from coming and seeing her off at the station. She heeded and I am sure she knows how special Goodbyes can be.

I can still recollect the most wonderful goodbye I ever received. It was when I was leaving one home for the other. All the friends had come to see me off at the station and bizarre it may seem, most of them cried, but I didn’t. I understood one thing, that I was important for them, even if it measured an iota. It was crazy, yet surreal.

There may be some brains who’d be wondering that why didn’t I visit them at the station/airport while they left.

For all the souls seeking the truth, let me tell you, that you guys are an exception and the exception to the two strong reasons I stated above are:

1. I am sure I WILL be seeing you again. I know there’s no surety about that, metaphorically speaking. But here I choose to be a thorough optimist. If you don’t meet me, I’ll meet you.
2. The emotional connect that is generated during the time of departure may reach the acme and may hold you back from departing or leave you with a pain. It definitely means a lot to me, but it should not be an impediment for you.

So, goodbyes and farewell are memorable. They are wonderful. But the hope with which you look forward to meet again, enlightens your life all the more.

I live with many such hopes.

Phoebe Buffay and her Musings.

2010-05-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

I love FRIENDS(have seen it over and over a thousand times now) to the core and I totally worship my idol Phoebe Buffay.

Now there may be people who’d appreciate the original actors for the roles they essayed. But I totally believe that Phoebe, Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica and Chandler are real people. I wouldn’t want to be told about my stupidity… Puhleeez.

Yeah, Back to Phoebe.
The kind of poetries that Phoebe writes and ultimately sings are the best and most sensible ones I have ever heard. :)

The other day, while watching one of the episodes, this rhyme struck me the most. I was kinda minding my own business, but I appreciate this candid attempt and a dedication to all the people who mind their businesses outrageously and for which I have kinda worked sometime or the other.

It only takes two heart attacks
To finally make you see
One of them won't do it
But the second will set you free
Tell all your hate and anger
It's time to say good bye
And that is just what I will do
As soon as those bastards I work for die..

Lalalallalllalalalaaaaa……:) :)

Mwah!! Phoebs… :*

PS: There's an application on the right panel that reads the best of FRIENDS quotes... so..Yenjoy!! :D

What hurts more? Absence of Love or Lover?

2010-05-17T05:08:00.001-07:00

Picture this.
There is child who has never stayed away from its mother. But after certain age, he is made to leave the city to pursue further education, as time may demand.
The child loves the mother infinitely. The mother’s love for a child is considerably more than the love of the child for its mother.

An army officer, who stays away from home, seldom visits his wife and children because of his posting at a distant land. He loves his wife. He misses his children. But situations do not permit him to be with his family all the time.

A daughter, who loves her parents dearly, leaves everything behind for a new set of parents (-in -law) and husband.

A couple, in love, immensely so, are separated by distances because of various reasons. They cannot see each other often, they cannot communicate regularly until they get married and they can neither convey their love for each other.

A group of friends – bonded by care, love and affection are separated owing to the different paths on which they are put but the manager called God.

There may be an absence of people in life. You may not have your loved ones around always. Their absence may make you miss them at times.

But what is there that seems missing? The person or the emotion?

Does Absence of love or that of the lover hurt more?

If Love is absent, then there is no meaning to the relationship. If the lover is absent, Love becomes stronger.

I feel , the emotion of love can never fade. The person’s absence may hurt , but the emotion of love can never. So the emotion needs to be stronger than the other person whom you are loving. That makes it easy to love without having expectations.

That’s why sometimes, beautiful quotes such as this make a lot of sense:
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

For me, Love is a noun first, then a verb. :)

Peter Answers

2010-05-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

Curiosity kills the cat, they say. Since morning everyone i know, around me, has been trying to know what's in store for them. The tarot reading provided by Peter is quite true and astonishingly so, it keeps many people wondering that how can it be so accurate.The excitement for me, did not last very long, because I found out how it worked.

For the lesser fortunate ones, who did not realise that this is some kinda trick, spent hours wondering about it's veracity and functioanlity. I still see them writing petitions to Peter. Poor people !!

How did Peter change lives?
- Shawn has been looking for a girl named Shreya because Peter answered that Shreya would be her next girlfriend's name. The guy, I am sure, is desperate and the search never-ending.

-Laila has resigned from her current job, because Peter answered that she will be thrown out of her current organisation.

-Nihal is planning to spy on his wife because Peter answered that his wife is dating someone else.

Ignorance, sometimes, isn't bliss.
Silly junta. I pity them. hhmph...

Please Suggest

2010-05-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, now suppose, you have this very very close friend, a girl who has been with you since ages. You’ve lived the teenage part of your life together, sharing all secrets, discussing crushes, stalking smart guys, visiting exhibitions, talking about dreams and ambitions, shopping and eating till you collapse, watching the restricted stuff ;) , and exploring nuances of life together.

And then you have another close and dear friend, a boy, with whom you’ve again, explored golden days of college life – staying in different cities though. You’ve shared all good and bad times, discussed views about politics, racism, reservation, what girls like, what they don’t, what boys like, what they don’t, how would your ideal partner be, what would you do if you find ‘the one’. You've talked about the crushes you had, all the times when you thought we were in love ( not with each other), your first kiss (again not with each other :P), your first job, aspirations and everything under the sun.

Both of them are your close friends. And one fine day, you find out that this boy-friend of yours is dating that girl-friend of yours. He keeps asking you about how she is, what is she good at? Etc.

And on another finer day, you call your girl-friend up and talk to her expecting her to tell you about all the exciting things going on in her life. And she tells you NOTHING about it.

You again call her and you keep doing that for, say, 20 times, and still you get to know nothing about it from your girl-friend.

The game gets interesting. But you get equally impatient. You are happy for your girl-friend becaue you think she could have got no one better vice-versa for the guy.

But the silence or reluctance, whateva, is supposedly killing you.

What do you do?
Wait?
Well, I did that.. and I am still doing it!
Stop talking to her?
No I can’t! She’s fun yaa!

Then what do I do????

Please suggest!!

Thanks, but no Thanks for your advice.

2009-09-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

Once you are past the age of pursuing education, people expect you to do things which the entire clan of dumbheads is doing. You go to a social gathering and you are hit by questions like “What are you doing these days?”. You candidly answer, “I am training students and working as an HR manager.” Then you get counsels like, “Why don’t you apply for the civil services, the government facilities are so good.” “Why don’t you go for an MBA in HR, that will help you in adding value to your job..” “You should stick to technology; the market is bouncing back now.” “Why don’t you get married and then decide what job you want to take up.” The last but one question is something that seems inevitable after a certain age. Once you are in age bracket of 22-28, you realize that the society is more worried than you, or your parents. There is a lot of social pressure and you have to answer them by either letting go your aims or settling for a partner irrespective of your mental preparedness, or face the wrath of the people.
There are a very few people who would come up to and say, “You are doing a great job. Wish you all the luck and success.” I have been waiting to hear that. But there has been a negative trend and all have decided to follow that path. I wonder how they would feel if one day their children get to hear all this shit.
There are some people whom I know, who have given up everything just to experience struggle. To go through tough times in order to realize what is their real strength; whether it is technology, people skills, management, or teaching. But when there is a hiatus accompanied so much pressure and nitpicks, one really is scared to let go the success factor and pursue struggle.
I totally respect those who have let gone their last name “Success” which refused to leave the identity and have taken up what they always wanted to pursue. A little struggle convoyed with a lot of support makes the journey worth passing through.
Some people really pull my spirits down. I only wish they get an iota of what they have been giving us!

Looking within

2009-09-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

What age is it when you grow up? They keep asking me... Why don't you grow up? You have all degrees and qualification but you lack the maturity. How will you train your kids to become good individuals if you lack maturity yourself? The alibis that i have been giving since ages have been ignored, always.
There was a nice movie where the actor adopts a kid to prove that he can responsible too. His girlfriend never beleives that they were good enough to get married because she always thought that her boyfriend did not know what resposibilities were. In the process to make his girlfriend realise that he isn't a blacksheep, he adopts a kid and later goes on to lose his girfriend which was obviously bound to happen. But in the process of realising his potential of being responsible and mature he realises that it is very necessary for the kids to learn certain things all by themselves. He also goes to the limit of letting the kid decide a name of his own and the kid names himself -Frankenstein.
But i have realised that i am under a lot of pressure and i keep getting directions at every moment in my life. Is it too much dependence on parents, my inability to make decisions, lack of freedom or am i simply bound by the values and morals of being obedient all the time. Well, i am not obedient all the time. My master says that disagreeing is different from disobeying or disrespecting. But when the youngsters, today, put forth their views, they are said to be the disobedient, useless, hopeless generation with no morals.
I beg to differ! There has to be some point of time when you have to let go the kid and let it grow all by himself. That is when you will see him grow in true terms. Some people prefer being children all their lives, carefree and full of enthusiasm. In the entire process of introspection you tend to lose your individuality. You can't make everyone happy, even if they are you elders back home. Because what you are cannot be changed but what and how you do things in certain situation can change with time.
The generation gap needs attention, otherwise this will go on and the expectations of our elders and the aspirations of the youngsters won't be ever aligned.

Pig Fear

2009-08-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

The main problem that a man faces is insecurity. Either he is afraid of losing his loved ones, or afraid of losing his job, or insecure about his funds in stock market or simply insecure that he might catch swine flu if he travels :D.
I was supposed to have some relatives from USA next month. But sadly, they cancelled their plans, obviously because of swine flu.
There's a little Chap in my apartment who asked me the other day, "Where did swine Flu come from?"
And i assumed and said that it was probably from countries where Pork was used as a major form of meat. United States of America is one of the Countries where Pork i.e. the Pig meat is widely used.
Globalisation, privatisation started in the west, then came to India and stayed here. The trend of following valentine's day, friendship's day started in the west, came to India and stayed here. The Swine flu which started there, came to India is probably going to stay here for sometime. Why are we able to breed such negative things for so long? The positives, obviously are supposed to survive.
The insecurity factor leads you devoid of so many things which you may regret later on.
Nonetheless, these are small things which makes us what we are - Human Beings...

Bloody Racism

2009-05-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

What if I hit you hard because you are darker than me? What if I abuse you because you are more intelligent than me? The rhapsody that engulfs my arena, after making you realise that you are a lesser creed and a threat to my existence, makes me feel so good. You don’t deserve to be here because you have an edge over many things. You don’t deserve to enjoy any rights for self development and that of the society. You cannot intrude and take my job from me. I know I can’t do it as good as you do it…. But it’s my job after all. I am less talented than you are, that is why I want you out of my domain. You are progressing and helping others progress too, that’s the reason why I can’t stand you. You are a developing economy and I ask you to go back to your nation and think about your welfare, not ours. I am a racist and rightly so, I can’t tolerate the fact that you are doing better than me.
Paint your self white and then come to my country… until then stay in your limits and go back…

This was an insight into the mind of a racist who believes not in humanity, who is scared because he doubts his abilities, who is afraid of domination- which is inevitable.

The country culture differs…. And I am proud to say that ours is the best, where guests are treated like God.
I feel sorry for the people who have belittled the honour of the countries they belong to by mistreating the Indians.
I feel very sorry….

Out of the mind... and into the post...

2008-12-05T06:53:00.000-08:00

Do any of these quotes soothe the wrath within you? Are you really going to sleep peacefully after knowing that the next terrorist attack could be in your city. Ae we vulnerable?? or are we brave? or are we in need of support...

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia"

some funny ones..
"I don’t worry about terrorism. I was married for two years.”

Or
"The most powerful military in the world cannot invade, kill or capture a network or destroy every loose weapon on the planet. The best response to this network of terror is to build a network of our own -- a network of like-minded countries and organizations that pools resources, information, ideas, and power. Taking on the radical fundamentalists alone isn’t necessary, it isn’t smart, and it won’t succeed."

There has been a lot of reactions on the attacks... it is no use only putting across opinions and perceptions.
It's time to act.... .

Preet-Vipreet.

2008-10-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

They say,You can have control over everything in this whole wide world, but u can never control a person's Free Will. What if someone gets the power to control a person's Free will? How would it seem if two people fall in love succumbing to the someone's else pressure?
A simple piece of rhyme for a very complex situation. :)

Dekh dekh, samajh samajh

kya hai ye sab sahaj sahaj

boojhe jo man ki uljhan ko

jaaye goonthi sulajh sulajh

man ke khel khilau main

jo chahe karvau main

chalo kahu to chale duniya

katputli banakar nachau main

bandh kar de apni ye vyarth khoj

bhool ja ye sab sanjog jog

chal nayee duniya main dikhaunga

ab na kar tu koi pratishodh

Dekh ladki, samajh samajh

baat ye hai bilkul sahaj sahaj

dhoondh rahi hai kisko tu

aankhon me kiski aas hai

dekh, pehchaan, yahi hai wo

jiski tujhko talaash hai

parakh le tu is naujawan ko

ye pyaar me majnu kehlata hai

jaan de de apni laila ke liye,

aise daav ye lagata hai

bhaagti hai kin sapno ke peechhe

ye haath thaam le tu ankhiyaan meeche

ye prem ka saagar hai apaar

ye dor hai tujhko kheche kheeche

baat meri samajh samajh

tu soch me yu na ulajh ulajh....

Dekho wahan utha hai dhhuan

Lagta hai dilon ka mel hai

Isne uske dil ko chhua

Yahi to mera khel hai

Pyaar ko jaano pyaar ko samajho

samjho kya hota hai manmeet

pyaar me doobo, yahi hai waqt

tumse hi hai meri haar-jeet

dekh dekh, samajh samajh

kuch bhi nahi hai sahaj sahaj

sambhaal kar rakhte hai log apne dil

aur main kehta hu ulajh ulajh

kathakaar kehlau main

katputliyon ko nachau main

socha jo tha, wahi hua

ab kounsi dor hilau main??

ab kounsi dor hilau main...

dekh dekh samajh samajh

dor gayi hai ulajh ulajh

dekh dekh aur samajh samajh...

--Writing Credits(Copyright(C)) -Yamini and Jincy

Ya, it ain't funny!!

2008-09-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

I owned a shop in the centre of the city and I liked it so much. The entire population of Kamazha loved my shop. Kamazha was the financial capital of Tramasia, I thought my proficiency and fluency in English, Tramasi, Gefrew and Marark would gain me more popularity. They did! The hoarding on my shop building said “Ghalib’s klothe”. It meant “Ghalib’s Cloth Store”.The maximum population spoke Tramasi in Kamazha –that was our national language.
I was the best trader in town. I had my shops spinning dollars for me. I was getting rich. As I saw fortune favouring me, I thought of giving myself some peace and visiting my hometown. How much I missed Mararkaz. My mother-tongue Marark. And my mother –Isabelle. I wanted to go home and see her face once. Tell her of my well being. That was the place where I belonged to.

But the violence back home was reaching its peak. The mango growers were being put to death because our mangoes would ripe before our neighbors’. The neighboring country wanted the land on which the mangoes matured before anywhere else. This would mean more trade and more money. In northern Tramasia, the mangoes were indeed a craze. The mango farms were beautiful. They were said to be heaven on earth. The shades of yellow signified the bright sun. The green leaves complimented the beauty of Mother Nature.

In Kamazha there was no peace either. I wasn’t a Gefrew, though I spoke the language well.(Gefrew was the local language of Kamazha) I was asked to change the name of my shop to “Hail Gefrew klothe Shop”. The local volunteers wanted to ban the national language and use the local language. My customers would have suffered because I had people from all places, from all castes coming and buying clothes. The activists came to our shops and hit our salesmen. They wanted everything, every deal to be done in Gefrew. The numbers had to be in Gefrew, the lines drawn on our accounts book had to be in the local language. We were asked to drink water in Gefrew, walk in Gefrew, talk in Gefrew (ofocurse!!!) and live as if Gefrew would rule the world. The entire nation of Tramasia was being segregated into parts. On one end there were mango fields being seized, on the other end people were asked to leave their hometowns giving way to naxalites and here we were suffering because we chose to speak Tramasi or Marark over Gefrew.

The jingoism had reached it’s peak, when I thought it would be fair to kill the forbearers of such dastardly acts.
Today I read in the Gefrew Times that someone killed the local leader in the local language –Gefrew…

I sit in my shop staring beyond what seems visible.

My Gramphone plays the song :
Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me
Let there be peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be
With God as our father,
Brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother,
In perfect Harmony…
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me….

Voila.. !!

2008-07-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

C#--

There is more to what i see
There is more to what i do
If i knew what exactly it is
I'd love to share it with you!!

There are views, there are previews, and then there are reviews.....
Phew!! Through this blog, i attempt to put forward my takes on certain issues. It isn't just about life, it isn't about inspiration. It is about life and inspiration in a bigger way... There is so much to our mere existence.

There wouldn't be exaggerations, nor euphemisms. The figures of speech that i chose for this blog are Pun and oxymoron ... all the way!!!

There will be infinite proxy posts.... so be game for anything that is worth a read, thought and opinion!!

Thought to think and a thing to do:
How to make God laugh: Tell him your future plans!!!
- Woody Allen (Hail!! Woody Allen!!! )