It's that time of the year again.....marriage mania!!!

Three of my bestest friends are getting married tomorrow...not too each other obviously...well..two of them are actually!!!

Such a joyous, wonderful occasion & I'm stuck here, half way around the world, in this godforsaken country.

Such is the irony of fate.

And these aren't the only weddings I have or I'm slated to miss in the future. These kind of moments, sometimes, make me question my decision to *move*...you know..those "What was I thinking??" kind. I haven't quite found the answer to logically convince myself that it was the right thing to do. And, I don't know if I ever will. I just hope I muster up enough *testicular fortitude* to do something about it one day.

My new baby... Nikon D50 digital SLR camera

Today's fortune on orkut

The luck that is ordained for you will be coveted by others.


Funny, people actually *covet* bad luck??

I'm a sucker for Cameron's movies

Elizabethown is simply an awesome, awesome movie. I have never felt so emotionally attached to one movie. Maybe it was the tragedy, maybe it was the music, maybe it was Kirsten Dunst saying things like "You're already breaking up with me & we're not even together." in her own cute little way. The whole movie has a warm rustic feel to it. A small town ambience that I have personally experienced in Boulder. People living laid back lives so much different from the constant hustling & jostling that comes prepackaged with a big city life. Not that I haven't lived that life but time makes the human mind a little resistant to change. For the 22 years, I had lived in Bombay(now Mumbai) where people literally *lived* on-the-go. I had become used to that. After that, 3 years in Boulder has slowed things down for me which frankly I did not like initially. But now I absolutely LOVE it. It has allowed me to appreciate life a lot more than before. I think I have matured as a person more so in the last couple of years than all those spent in Bombay.

This is not a religious rant but...

...this moron absolutely blew my lid off.
http://krishworld.com/politics/?page_id=4
He is so ragingly "anti-right-wing" as he calls himself that he proclaims to kick any conservative's ass who might stumble upon his poor excuse for a website, thereby proudly upholding his "Gandhian" principles that he wants to so passionately adhere to. Missed is the fact that, he is so conservative in his own views that he totally neglects any positive points that might be in the views of the other side.

Let's just consider the first one (I could actually provide counter claims to every single event in his so called hall of shame)

1. Distribution of 75,000 Trishuls by Hindutva forces:

Very funny, considering that I don't see a single word being said about the millions of Bibles and stories of Jesus Christ that are distributed FREE by the missionaries not only in India but all over the world and to children under the age of 10 nonetheless. I myself have been a recipient of quite a few of them actually. The organised campaign to exploit the economically backward by giving them assistance and converting them to Christianity (under the blatantly false pretense of altruism) has been going on for decades if not centuries. http://www.christianaggression.org/tactics_deception.php I guess Mr. Krish was soundly asleep then, snoring his ass off. His whole persona reeks of hypocrisy which is so typical of any conservative. So, going by his super-algorithm or flowchart or whatever it is,

"Conservatism –> Fundamentalism –> Terrorism",

it's ASS-KICKIN' time folks, coz we finally found a terrorist.

The sad part of the whole situation these days is, such wannabe-liberal-yuppies don't know the meaning of the word "liberal" in the first place. To be a liberal, you have to be able to entertain a thought without needing to accept or reject it. Why is it always that anyone who claims to be a liberal absolutely has to be anti-hindu (with the sole exception of me AFAIK)??? Why this collective outburst against the one religion that has survived the test of time?? Here's a pop quiz, name one unprovoked act of aggression in the history of humanity that could be blamed on Hinduism. By and large, hindus are generally passive in nature. Of course there are always bad apples but then should you really blame the tree for that?

Don't get me wrong, I am not a zealot ...... but I'm no atheist either. Yes, I do believe in GOD but then I also believe that GOD was a monkey.

Blissful Ignorance

I woke up rather early this morning. It was a bit chilly outside with a light drizzle. Seemed like perfect weather go out for a drive & grab a bagel and some coffee from Einstein's (they're the only ones who'd be open at 530am). Nothing beats sipping hot coffee on the patio on a chilly morning. There were hardly any vehicles on the road at the time. Everything was so quiet except for the occasional chirping of the birds. I just sat there, enjoying the moment, blissfully unaware of everything else. I know all this sounds too trivial but moments like these are so far and few that you need to savor each one. Just relax and let go of everything. You have enough time in your day to worry about everything else. For those 30 minutes, let your mind be free.

Too bad I can't 'make' this happen everyday.

Perennial Infatuation

OK, now I get why girls have the "hots" for doctors !!! Apparently, I have a thing for doc-chicks too. And it's not limited to those on-screen. Casually thinking about all the crushes that I have had in the past few years, I realised that more than half of them either were doctors in real life or wanted to be one or played that character on screen. Maybe it's the power to sustain life that they have, maybe it's those non-descript scrubs that they so subtly flaunt. This area definately needs some research. Should contact the psychology department at CU & ask them to write up a proposal for this ;).

Currently fixated on Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) & Cobie Smulders (How I met your mother)

ElizabethTown

I'm a sucker for (sentimental but not quite teenie-pop) romantic movies. Sleepless in Seattle, A Walk in the Clouds, Serendipity, Kate & Leopold......and now ElizabethTown !!!

Oct 14th seems simply too far away. I dunno if I can wait that long.

Apples and Oranges

Most Forwarded Email to me in the last week

===================================================

I couldn't stop making this comparison..

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18

inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1

population of new orleans... 484,674

population of mumbai.... 12,622,500

deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100

deaths in mumbai within 48 hours of rain.. 37.

number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..whoa !!!

number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000

Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless

Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE

Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours

Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours

status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty

status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual

USA...world's most developed nation

India...JUST A DEVELOPING NATION..

oopss...did i get the last fact wrong??? Or am I just being proud of being an INDIAN?
===============================================================

No offense anyone else who forwarded this email to me ( i got this from a dozen odd people) but this was one of the most blatantly jingoistic emails I've seen in some time....you're comparing apples and oranges and concluding that oranges are sour....well apples simply CAN'T be sour, can they??

And taking glory in the fact that only 10,000 odd people were evacuated in a city of about 13 million is absolutely shameful. Much more people SHOULD actually have been evacuated. I dont know if its because of our perennially surging population but we've not quite learnt to place a premium on loss of life yet.

Finally some closure!!!

Thanks to this wonderful, wonderful old song by GreenDay. Had to dig this out from my HUGE music archive. Here's how it goes:

Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist
Directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
And don’t ask why
It’s not a question
But a lesson learned in time
It’s something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life


You bet I did :)

Talking toooo much

For the first time in 18 months of cellphone use here in the US, I exceeded my monthly quota of 600 mins. And not only that, I spoke for a good 30 more minutes after that, before realising that I had indeed overused. And the irony of the whole situation is...the last call that I made (which lasted those 30 extra mins) was very much postpone-able since today is the last day of the billing cycle.

Can my blog be pre-emptively nostalgic??

It's not a fancy-schmancy story with a happy ending. Nor is it a thank-you note where I should be expected to remember each and every little detail. It is an account of exactly what I feel at a certain moment when I finally take the pains to pen down the thoughts that have been going on in my head for the past 'X' days. X can be anywhere from one to a million days.

On an entirely different issue, I'm leaving Boulder today. Filled with happy memories but also sad thoughts. For three years I have lived here and it has become a second home to me. Funny how you can get attached to place so easily but realise the attachment, the belonging... only when its time to leave. When I came here, Boulder welcomed me with opened arms & now as I leave, I just wish those arms would close, hugging me in a embrace so tight as to not let me go. But I cannot be that selfish. Those arms have to remain open to welcome in another group of students from lands equally far as mine. Bye, Bye Boulder...I'll miss you. But wherever I go, I will ALWAYS call you home.

Serendipity

Last night I chanced upon this little known movie called EULOGY. Not exactly a star-studded cast but still generally consisting of people I knew or had seen onscreen, it seemed a risk worth taking for 90 minutes of my sleep. And even before the starting credits rolled off, I knew it had paid off. The story goes somewhat like this (and I quote IMDB here) "A black comedy that follows three generations of a family, who come together for the funeral of the patriarch - unveiling a litany of family secrets and covert relationships." Now this is a theme (of dysfunctional families) well explored in recent sitcoms n movies... Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, American Beauty & Spanglish to name a few. I kept wondering why they still base movie storylines on it?? Haven't they exploited the concept enough?? Movies, television, drama are supposed to be a reflection of the society, so has it become a prototype of the typical american family these days ?? Why has this nation gone so crazy all of a sudden these days? But if you really think about it, how do you know you're normal ? While we may not be perverted enough to ask Mom for an "erotic cheesecake" on our 11th birthday OR hide in a closet with Dad to see our lesbian aunts "in action" on the night before our grandpa's funeral nonetheless, we're all quirky in our own way. And that's what makes life interesting...worth living. All one can hope for is that his/her quirkiness doesnt drive a family member crazy enough to commit suicide. Not often these days, does a movie come out, that challenges your beliefs, perceptions about life and makes you wake up, take notice and think about it. No wonder it didn't make much money at the BO :D

Pain is temporary as long as it lasts

How do you live with the pain ....

....of realising that the Red Sox never won a world series in your lifetime, as you lie on your deathbed??

....of seeing the Red Sox go all the way the very next year after your loved one passed away??

....of committing the ultimate folly -- falling in love with your best friend, only to see it not materialize??

....of listening to everyone yap about how you two are perfect for each other, when the one person you want to, doesnt realise that.

....of the realisation that no matter what you do or try, your best friend will be just - YOUR BEST FRIEND !!!

Having seen people go through these ordeals, I can only hope that GOD doesn't have anything even remotely similar in store for me.

Faith No More !!!

The whole fortune thing turned out to be a damp squib after all. I was out the whole day trying to 'make-something-happen'. I got nothing, nada...ZILCH. Why is it that I always expect the impossible to happen and then get hugely disappointed when it doesn't?? Maybe I should give up all expectations. Maybe I should stop showing faith in things after all, maybe even people . Time and again, this has been the bane of my existence. Thats it. FAITH NO MORE people !!! Everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Here's to Mr. Akhil doubting-thomas Deodhar. Hip Hip Hurray !!!

Fortune favors the Cookie !!!

Here is my fortune for today on Orkut:

"Society prepares the crime: The criminal commits it."

I pity the poor, hapless soul who's going to be my victim.

But who could that possibly be ?? I am really mad at a coupla people, maybe I could bump 'em off. DRAT !!..they're too far away and my remote control is kinda 'unavailable' these days.

Shheeeeeeeeeesh !! Why the hell am I penning this down right now? Crimes are supposed to be written as memoirs not itineraries.

So, more on this tomorrow. And if you don't see any further posts, you know what happened ;)

The Five things I think, I think

1. What is it with girls and musicians?? Why is it that these dudes, no matter how crappy they look or how shambled their life is, manage to score chicks...ALWAYS??
2. Even though we may have evolved as a life-form on this planet, there isn't really an absolute definition of the good or the bad. Its always judgemental.
3. Jamie Foxx is a lock for the Best actor's Oscar this year. Period.
4. The following quote from John Phillips seems so apt for the Boston Red Sox right now.



Happy is the man who void of cares and strife,
In silken, or in leathern purse retains,
retains a splendid shilling.

5. Baseball is my new religion and Curt Schilling my new GOD.

   
   

   
   
   

Of Streaking & Plagiarism

No, I am not talking about people running naked on football fields. I am talking of the win streaks that are going on around the sports world. Is this a mere coincidence or is there some divine hand in this? The Patriots have gone more than a season without a loss and across the Atlantic so have Arsenal FC. Hell, even the Red Sox have gone 5 games without a loss (albeit this achievement does pale in comparison to the other two). Not so long ago, these three teams were perennial underdogs to their bitter rivals and as of today they shine atop the pinnacle of glory. I am going out on a limb for the RedSox by assuming that they would win the World Series. Actually a loss wouldn't hurt me as much as beating the Yankees brought me joy.

I happened to see "Phir Milenge" the other day. 10 minutes into the movie I was like "Oh NO! Not again. Yet another shameless rip-off." Sometimes, I really do wonder if these people have even an iota of conscience left in them?? Or are they actually paying the Hollywood guys money to to borrow their storyline? Or are the Hollywood guys that damn ignorant? And even after having such a superb storyline like 'Philadelphia' they completely screw it up with the most inept acting performances. Salman-I can't-cry-without-making-you-laugh-Khan hardly ever looks weak and debilitated in the movie neither from his looks nor via his acting. Shilpa Shetty seems to shed a truckload of tears at the drop of a hat every time she sees him. The only saving grace was AB Jr. whose carefully rehearsed speech at the end could have only been given in English for it to have any kind of credibility. Overall, what could have been a brilliant adaptation ends up as an also-ran.

Does money really buy success??

As I watched the American League Championship series conclude with THE GREATEST COMEBACK ever, one of my long-standing beliefs was justified. You cannot 'buy' success with money and as Ross from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. would say, "You could try but you wouldn't succeed." I guess Steinbrenner just found that out for a second year in a row.

The Yanks had the finest lineup that could be possibly assembled, this year as well as the last, but on both occasions they failed to win the ultimate prize in major league baseball and this time failing at the penultimate step. As if the 'steals' of Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi in the recent past weren't enough, they went ahead and acquired the highest paid player in baseball today. Load up all the talent you want Georgie-boy, you aint gonna win if you don't use your head. Having the right kind of personnel matters more these days than having the most talented (supposedly) ones.

Baseball is not the only sport to demonstrate this fact and neither is America the only place. A glaring example of embarassment of riches is Real Madrid - whose elections have quite the resemblance of their Indian counterparts with lots of promises and assurances being made. Only difference, the elected ones actually live up to them. A midfield that boasts of Beckham, Zidane and Figo should not have any reason to lose a single match. Yet as I write this, the club is languishing in the bottom half of the La Liga.

As much as I pride on myself for realising this fact, I rue it equally. If it weren't true, then India as an ultimately rich, cricket-crazy nation would have gotten some of the success that is deserving of their talent.

busybee or lazybee??

This post has been a long time coming. Somehow, whenever I decide to blog, a sudden laze comes all over me and I manage to put it off. Anyways, I have taken to a new hobby...I am learning to Tango :D.