Friday, January 22, 2010

Happy birthday , My friend !!

Yet another weekend…. a welcome relief :)
The week had been hectic as well as one that brought about a lot of tension and uncertainty at office. The week started off by a visiting delegate from our principal company dropping in to do a market –visit. I have made so many excel sheets and analysis reports that I could see only excels sheets and formulas in my sleep.

As in every Friday morning, the body alarm clock woke me up around 7.30am in spite of going to bed at 3.30am .Had gone to watch “3 Idiots” –TAKE 2 last night :) and came home late.

Made the customary calls to Amma and relatives. As usual, engaged myself in the cleaning of my bachelor den which I lavishly do only on weekends. Morning is always occupied in the above and then the normal facebook updates, a few customary mails, birthday wishes to be sent out etc That reminds me that I still have a Bday call to make to a friend of mine from school. Thanks to social networking sites, we got in touch after nearly 9 yrs thru Facebook .

Friendships have always been a passion to me and my friends a blessing in my life. Very few friends I have in this world – but each of them unique and indispensable in their own ways. Each of them has touched my life in a distinctive manner etching their marks on my individuality, leaving me as a better person than before meeting them :) .
Yes, we don’t keep touch on a daily basis, we are scattered around the world but then they live within me …. :)

I met Priyanka in Sept 1993 – ISK Salmiya- 11th std. Commerce batch. We were classmates and she used to sit in the bench just in front of me. I was never an outgoing person or a noticeable person who kinda stands out in the class for doing something exceptional. Was always content being in a corner of the classroom and dutifully learning the academics….we never fell in each other’s league at all…. I used to admire her sense of friendship with another of my classmate—they were always together J inseparable, more like Siamese twins :) -- Olga was a sweet person as well. They were so different but used to complement each other so beautifully.
I was always a loner and deep down me always yearned for a good friendship--- me as a person had a lot of issues at that time and it kept me drawing into myself even more. Wished for someone to share things or someone who would talk to me—but I would never take the first step :) . most of the friends I have today are the ones who took the first step :) (yup, they must be repenting now for that – ha ha ha)

So also did Priyanka – somewhere along the classes, she would turn back to talk and smile .She had a zest for life and I used to admire that in her. The first thing I remember about Priyanka is her smile, how she would turn back to chit chat between classes and get into trouble. Priyanka looked very different from the other girls in class – kinda rugged J ( I hope she doesn’t see this ). She used to wear big rimmed glasses, braces for the teeth, you would always see her in a long sleeve school shirt( even in summers), her tie would always be halfway down the neck, wear a sweater that would fit two of her and had a wonderful step cut short hair that was always falling to her eyes. She was unlike other girls who cared for their looks or how they dressed and but definitely she was good looking as well, in fact more than the others :)
She was interested in philosophy, psychology, palmistry, literature, cricket and of course economics. She was the Economics teacher’s favorite… I could never understand why the GDP, marginal diminishing utility and elasticity were so fascinating for her :) coz that drew a yawn from me in every class. And sitting right behind the economics expert made me quite visible to the teacher as well since she was always in the limelight for the Economics class.

In those days, in school, it’s so amazing how small things make a big difference to people. Once Priyanka had to go for an emergency l for 10 days or so, coz her grandma was not keeping well. Olga ( Priyanka’s best Siamese friend) was all lonely and down etc (looking back, makes us feel so kiddish and silly rite ?) These gals would talk for hours after school as well- Thank God, local calls were free - I always used to wonder how much can people talk and tat also someone we meet daily in school) . I was never a telephone lover – the only time I call up classmates were to either check about some homework or discuss something academically ( gosh how boring could I be ?:)) Looking at Olga’s loneliness, I took it upon myself to play a replacement for 10 days- I would call her and speak to her and honestly I found it quite enjoyable as well. Surprisingly Amma was happy since she could see I was taking the effort for a friendship (much unlike me in those days). And I’m a stickler for my words J, the day Priyanka came back to school, that evening I did not call up Olga J ( after all Priyanka was back – I was so adjusting in those day ;) apostles would have been ashamed of my benevolence). That evening I get 2 calls – one from Olga nearly after an hour of the normal time I call up- yelling at me where the hell I was :) and soon after that from Priyanka asking me how come you did not make your customary calls and from today onwards add me to the list as well…

We shared a beautiful friendship- they taught me how to talk, reach out to people, and listen to people, share thoughts. Priyanka used to boost my self confidence and they gave me that reassurance in friendships and left me as a better person. When we left school after 2 yrs, we all vowed to write to each other and keep in touch--- all of us maintained that for nearly 5 yrs or so… and then in this rat race moved on our own paths… I was still in touch with Olga those days and Priyanka had kinda disappeared , we used to search the Net, college alumni groups, social networking sites etc etc….and jus around a year back met her on Facebook. She hasn’t changed much—we do still talk on philosophy, psychology, human behaviour etc etc though now the physical distance does play a small barrier. She is based in Delhi and me in Dubai.

Funnily I used to search the orkut or facebook for a pic of Priyanka resembling the 12th Std imageJ but voila!!
Today she looks amazingly different- long hair, no glasses, thin, petite , pretty, trendy clothing--- he he – she calls it the ugly duckling to swan transformation --- to me my friend was always a Swan ;)
Today on her birthday, I celebrate the wonderful person she is and remembering the way she touched my life. I wish her all the best in this world – success & prosperity in all the field of life- career, personal life, health, good friends etc etc and I dedicate this blog posting to her…






Friday, January 15, 2010

A movie review

Another weekend….. a successful day of cleaning, cleaning and only cleaning!! And yes – have a clean & shining house to myself.

Called up a few friends to say Hello…. Everyone is busy in their own lives – no complaints but its amazing how relationships change with time…… Recently happened to see a beautiful movie on the same – ‘Rithu’ by ShyamaPrasad. It’s a movie that talks about the friendship of 3 people and how it changes with time.

Sharath (Nishan) is a techie who dreams of a life beyond the syntax on his monitor. Aspiring to pen a book some day, he has all his hopes pinned on his childhood friends Varsha (Rima) and Sunny (Asif), as he returns home after a brief stint of three years in the US. The once inseparable trio joins hands together once again, but as their fingers gradually drift away, Sharath realizes that the times have changed, and so have seasons and hearts.
The film is a complete breakaway from the average ‘commercial’ Malayalam movie. The movie explores several untouched or taboo topics often shied away by Malayalam cinema – subtle sexual references, homosexuality, the modern Indian girl etc etc. However, the movie does not judge its characters based on these traits – they are just accepted to be a way of life or dismissed as ‘personal matter’.

The most striking aspect of this movie has to be the fact that every one of us can identify with the characters. Everyone is so un-filmy and very realistic. This is probably the most novel part of the film. The scenes in Rithu deserve special mention. All locations are simply so beautiful! Camera work is remarkable and is nothing like what we’ve seen

In the end, Rithu doesn’t discuss an issue. Neither does it make a point. It doesn’t tell us “This is good, while this is bad.” Hell, it doesn’t even have a fully complete ending, but it has a truly endearing core theme. And this theme has been brought out very well indeed. All the things shown are real, true to life and totally identifiable. A must-watch for all, especially youngsters. Try to catch a copy of the movie--- don’t think u will regret watching it…..


After seeing the movie, I thought, Gosh that definitely needs a review… the movie is so fresh—with new faces, and beautiful locales and the essence of the story being that People need to change with time….. those who don’t find themselves to be misfits here !!!

Guess I should be learning something from that !!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year !!!


Yet another New year!! There was hardly anything exciting about this New Year, at least to me... I guess that's how it is when you have a silent New Year - a stark difference from others, who go into the New Year with a huge hue and cry, with New year eve bashes and parties.....But no complains.... the little that I get, I tend to find some kinda happiness in it......
A few Voip calls, some smses, loads of facebook & orkut greetings --- a typical Modern New Year.
Gone are those days of yesteryears wherein we used to invest on New Year & Xmas cards, shell away a budget to make those special calls , ensure that we celebrate a Family New Year or Xmas.
How I miss the actual greeting cards, rather than the link from e-card sites like
www.123greetings.com or now an even lazier concept is to post a Note on the social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut or Twitter…. Where is that personal touch anymore? Do we console ourselves by saying “We are moving ahead with time and technology and the way of the world. “ ? Or is it that no one has the time for that personal touch now; who has the time to actually go over to a cards shop, select a card for each person you care and then go home, address it separately ( how many postal addresses do we know by the way ;) (Would they accept email ids?)), get postage stamps and drop it at the nearest postbox? Quite a hectic task, ain’t it?
There was a point of time when Amma used to complain at the amount I used to spend on greeting cards alone…I used to have a card for every occasion J - Hallmarks & Archies definitely made a lot of money from me J And today my expenses for the same is absolutely null.

And talking about calls – especially in this part of the world where I stay, the Telecom giant mints money from the expats in the name of connecting people across nations ;) So the only choice is to depend on the 101 Voip softwares that are available, many a time giving a strain to your parents’ ears in order to save some money.

Parties, get-together, New Year bashes, Dance parties -yup its fun… to be out with friends till late night --- get sloshed and hit the sack by 3am on a New Year’s Day ! But then, there was definitely a different joy when we used to spend it with our own parents…..

Am I sounding very critical --- do I sound against modernization -? Am I turning back into a primitive? Nope, didn’t mean to do so b’coz the changing technology has its wonderful side of the coin as well. In addition to saving costs of communication (being too materialistic), it definitely has helped a lot in networking. Especially the social networking sites gives you access and helps you wish all your acquaintances, friends, relatives spread across miles and it keeps you in touch and updated about all their status. Webcam & chatting are not new anymore to parents who have the children working or settled abroad, who can pamper their grandchildren too through usi9ng this wonderful technological development.

But in between all this I do miss the personal touch – a greeting card, a New Year gift, a long distance call wishing you a wonderful year ahead and a family get together…… I guess Im just being nostalgic of my good old times.....