Last Day Of The Year....

The papers and magazines I have been reading are capturing the moments with phrases like "New Year Blues", "Worst Year of Indian History?", "Thank God, Its Over" and so on....

I too spent some time looking back and came away less than encouraged. Mainly because I have a tendency to look down at things... specially when they concern me. So I decided that I will make a focused effort and talk about the good things first (no particular order),

1. I have blogged more regularly than I expected myself to.
2. Typical special days of the year have been well spent and properly celebrated.
3. Had a big work stint & holiday break in the US. Y was with me. Vegas, SFO. New York... fun oh fun!
4. Money scene improved. I actually have some savings and have been cautious about mindless expenditure. I feel in control.. which is a nice feeling.
5. Duties to mum, s, s, and n have been fairly nicely executed.
6. Work - did it well. Very well actually. good rating, decent hike - given the circumstances.
7. Home - nice and peaceful.
8. Y - good and nice. Next big step taken. It was easy. :) The build up is always the torture.
9. Obama, the elections were interesting. Got me interested in UN, UNHCR and a lot of interesting journalistic writings along the way.
10. Movies - Dark Knight, Ghajini, Oye Luck Oye, The Good Shephard, OSO, etc etc. Quite a few treats. Picked up most of the Merchant Ivory DVDs at a discount in the local store. Very nice. :)
11. Reading a lot more this year than the last. In the past 2 months alone - must have read 8 books. Nice. :)
12. Wining and Dining has been great as ever. :)

Hmm.. now the bad...
1. My fitness schedule. Has gone down the dumps. :( I can write a million worded blog post on this.
2. Stocks - thanks to the recession, I too have taken a HUGE beating on this. :(
3. Work - transition needs and anxiety. Tough times leave few options. worrying about what to do. What steps to take.
4. Me Time - has been a bit of a yo yo. I have rejuvenated whenever I got it. But not enough I think.
5. Restless. What Next? Bogged Down - feel less free, more constrained. Have tasted fearlessness fleetingly... its very liberating. Roadmap concerns - is all I can say on a open Blog.
6. Mumbai attacks. Affected me more deeply than I thought was possible.

See? When you put it down - seems like the good was more than bad. Work wise - it was not perfect - but hey thats life. Recession blues- its the pain with everyone - so I am in the bandwagon too. Guess cant complain much.

Fitness.. yeah - that bothers me like hell. It brings to fore - all the things that stop me from going forward. The reticence hidden behind laziness, bad self talk that slows me to inaction, not enough me time and so on.

As of now - today and yesterday - the interesting thing is how un-excited I am feeling about the occasion. How normal I am trying to keep the day. Eating regularly and catching sleep on time. And generally keeping it very low key.

Quite a contrast to the past years...when new year's eve meant *having* some plans..heading out.... *doing something*... :)

That perhaps I am aging did come to mind. :) But then again... I am bored - of anything that thsi city may have to offer - by means of new year celebration. Anything.

Maybe - quietly recharging my batteries for what promises to be the next 3 months of absolutely hectic work schedule is not a bad idea at all.

My New Year Wish? I have a set of goals. The same as last year. If I can maintain my equanimity, and one day at a time - work away @ the goals, I will achieve what I want. Just need to deal with or prevent the outside from messing up with my inside.

Happy New Year! :)

Mumbai Meri Jaan.

My eyes fill up with tears when I see the picture of this little child in a policeman's arms - drinking water - clothes soaked in blood. Hers ? Her kins? Where are they? From the time I have seen this picture in the morning, I cant just stop the tears flowing from my eyes.

PICTURE 16 in this slideshow -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/11/26/GA2008112603190.html?sid=ST2008112701218

With her nose, mouth being covered by the plastic cup - she becomes anybody's child, everybody's child. What did she do - to be subjected to this terror?? What kind of a world are we giving our children? Oh god! Help us. :(

I am so angry, so helpless, so shocked and hurt and heartbroken at the tragedy caused by this senseless act of terror! I havent been able to think of anything else much today.

Oh yes, we are resilient, Mumbai will dust off the shards of broken glass and move on to another day of work. The rest of us in elsewhere in India will also.

But, when will we all get together and work together and STOP this? When will our leaders unite and take strong and firm steps to prevent such acts in the future?

When will we say that this is UNACCEPTABLE! When will we all look in the face of Terror and say that you are not welcome here!

Like Mr Bachchan says, tell me what I need to do - what can I do to help? To help and make a difference. To bring about peace and safety to our nation. To make the cities safer for our children to grow up in.

They should be able to walk the streets like I did when I was a child - carefree. Skipping along with friends - gorging on ice candies... not thinking twice before going into a crowded fair, cinema or exhibition.

My salutes to the brave men of the army, navy and police working to resolve tihs situation. My condolences adn respect to the brave men who laid down their lives fighting last night.

God bless.

India on the moon!

Yay!

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Lunar_landing_has_Indians_over_the_moon/articleshow/3716744.cms

Way to go, my country! Congrats to team that made us all proud!

Congratulations USA!

Congratulations on the presidential elections!

Way to go! Y'all made history today.

Yes You Can!

Music of Yuvvraaj...

Upcoming film by Subhash Ghai
Music by A R Rahman
Lyrics by Gulzar...

Wow - thats a deadly combination! I cant wait -to see it will be as fab as Taal was.

Anyway - my two minute review on the songs/album - not listed any particular order. Just how I remember them.

1. Main Hoon Yuvvraaj: No song this. Just the voice of Salman Khan - calling himself Baaaaaaaaad! I love it. Score: 4/5. ( No 5 out of 5 because I wish Sallu spoke some more! :) )

2. Tu Muskura: Alka Yagnik's voice is too too shrill for my taste. :( I skipped after listening to 4 lines. May be the song itself is nice. Dunno. Score: 0/5

3. Tu Meri Dost Hai: I like it. Normal song. Reminds me of "Valparisio" - Mercury Falling ( Sting ) in the start of the song. Nice. Score: 3.5/5.

4. Shano Shano: Fantastic. Starts off in way that reminds you of Rang De Basanti - but moves on to its own dhun. Some lines are sung a la - Axl Rose... I love it. Score: 5 /5

5. Shano Remix: Is also great. Hip Hop. I love it too. Score: 4.5/5

6. Mastam Mastam: Sonu Nigam's voice is distinct and nice. The tune is very nice. We could have done without Alka's shrill voice inbetween. But well. Score: 3 / 5

7. Dil Ka Rishta: Again a nice nice song. Score: 4 / 5

8. Manmohini Morey: Classical. Seems like a great fav on the net. I dont like the distinct tamilian accent coming up every now and then. Otherwise nice. Score: 3.5/5

9. Zindagi: Again distinct celtic/irish tunes mixed with classical A R Rahman ( that reminded me of his early Roja days... ) Score: 3/5

A R Rahman's songs are fantastic. They sound so complete and full to the ear. Well recorded - almost like every sound was intended down to the last detail. That itself is a pleasure - the quality of recording.

That apart - the fact that his music grows on you... is such a treat! You can listen for a long time and love it. :)

As for Gulzaar saab's words... I haven't listened often enough to go beyond the music.

That's another treat I am looking forward to. Oh, to be surprised by the great poet with lines like "Kajra re, tere kaare kaare naina" or "Beedi Jalaile" or my favorite "naina thag lenge".. just to name a few songs from the recent past...

I am happy! :)

Long time no see...

Its been a long long month already. Missed celebrating Dassara, same case with Deepavali I am guessing. Mum's not keeping very well ( small hairline fracture - nothing serious ). Y has been busy too - we are not catching up much. Both of us are so caught up in our work. :(

Its been busy busy... and tiring. Mentally mostly - tense and pre-occupied.

Otherwise, I have been reading Mr Bachchan's blog regularly - and its such a delight to read. Following the US presidential race closely too. Its interesting.

Celebrity Blogs, Google Apps, Ubona.

Been a while since I blogged. Life is a bit down in the dumps, am out of rhythm, am not sleeping well, and dont seem to have a grip on the daily grind thats called life.

Its showing too - my dark circles have gotten darker, have started sprouting pimples, have a constant mild headache in the back, am so distracted and switched off. Days seem to roll into each other - cant figure a monday from a wednesday from a friday or a sunday.

Speaking of days, I watched the movie "A Wednesday" last week. Its a great movie. I had read a few reviews/blogs about the movie and I knew that the theme revolved around the 'common man'.

Apart from entertaining, the movie also strikes a chord with the common urban Indian - what with all those 'low intensity' blasts that have recently happened across the country.

When it happened in Delhi, all of us frantically called S to check if she and her family were fine. When it happened in Hyderabad, the same with N. Folks called me when it first happened so close to my workplace in Bangalore. For 'aam janta' like me and my sisters, those moments are scary.

That apart, I have been reading a few Bollywood Celebrity Blogs regularly. While most of them are trite and shallow - two blogs that catch my interest are - Mr Bachchan's and RGV's.

AB's Blog is by far the best celebrity blog I have read. I love his blog. I think, mostly because I never expected him to be such a fantastic blogger.

A writer yes - what with his literary legacy, but blogger, no! The details he shares, the clarity with which he connects - is simply amazing.

Ram Gopal Verma's Blog is interesting in the details of his life that he shares. When he is touting his beliefs ( or the lack of them ) or his movies, he sets out to provoke... but right now he is talking about his Hyderabad days and they make for a great read.

Both these bloggers regularly post! I think a lesson for me somewhere, there. Both have a disdain for the media and the misrepresentation they suffer at it's hand. And hints at the limited IQ of these scribes.. which I totally agree. One look @ the quality of the press coverage in popular newspapers and TV channels is enough to confirm that.

Now on to Google Apps. I know I am saying this in a half - ass way - but I have realised that I am no fan of google software. I used google desktop on Windows for a while - and am now using Google Chrome. Installed it the next day after the press release.

Clean looks etc - but there is always a mysterious slowing down of my desktop when I install google applications. I will write up a more coherent review on google chrome one of these days.

But right now, I am thinking of uninstalling chrome.

Ubona was recently in news in Bangalore press for interesting application of their Voice recognition technology. They have a foodie hotline - 080 40700000 - where you can call in and say the name of the food-spot you want to hit and get connected to make a reservation. A very cool application. I liked it and have started using it.

As usual - new technology from a startup, its application has gaps which we all can chip in to fill. So I have asked them to point me to a place where I can file in these issues.

So thats it. My random, wandering post.

See you soon, my cyber doppel.