Abhimaan

True to it's name, the movie Abhimaan was all about ego and how it mars relationships.

This Hirishikesh Mukherjee movie was brilliant in all aspects.

It had wonderful performances by the lead actors and the character artists - the mellow Jaya Bachchan with her all-expressive-eyes (gosh! just watch piya bina, looTe koi man ka nagar, tere mere milan..and you'll know what I am telling), and Amitabh Bachchan's perfect MCP act! (how I hated him in the movie ;-))

What makes it even more special are the songs. I just love the way the songs transition with the tone of the movie. Romantic (teri bindiya re), peaceful (nadiya kinare), melancholic (ab to hain tumse, tere mere milan), sad (piya bina) and fun (meet na mila re, looTe koi man ka nagar) too! SD Burman's melody and Lata Mangeshkar's rendition creates the magic that makes Hindi cinema (no, not bollywood) what it is.

Go ahead, listen to the songs. You will not be disappointed. Oh! Watch the movie too! :-)

Nanha sa gul khilega angna

Within the matter of a day, a new relation got added. I am now a maami of a cute little baby boy. :-) and it feels wonderful!! (pauses to do a small raise-the-hands-and-sway-from-right-to-left routine) Eagerly awaiting the pics now.

Congrats ka and anna!! Here's wishing the kid and you guys a lifetime of happiness!! Have fun.

Baby's first

Gosh! Time sure flies..my second nephew is growing up so fast! He even sent out a mail to me last week!

This is what it says:

G3XF7ZSAASEeSAZSZAQS


Oh, did I mention that he is all of 7 months now!!! ;-) Where is a baby-language dictionary when you need one.!

to be or not to be?!

With the uncertainty that life is, you never know how much of 'life' one gets to live! You might be the center of the universe one moment and the next moment..poof! You are gone. With that will be gone your thoughts, dreams, relationships..

Keeping this in mind, is it really ok to live the way we want to?

Do what you want to do, be what you want to be. Make your own decisions without considering external factors or people, no matter who they are.. parents, siblings, spouse, children? Even though such decisions end up hurting them. If you live this way, then, when you die, people might not shed a tear, might not remember you for long...? But do we really go through this life to be remembered 'nicely' when we are gone?!? To hear people say - 'Oh! He/She was such a good person' 'Rest in peace' blah blah, and the worst part.. you wouldn't even be alive to hear it!!! ;-)

On the other hand, we get a weird (couldn't find a better word) satisfaction giving away a few things/ambitions/dreams for the people who mean a lot to us. Not to forget, if others too act selfishly, where would we stand??! That thought is scary.

Uff..I can go on and on re-visiting both sides of the coin. Maybe the trick is to find a fine, delicate balance.

That's it!! a fine balance!!! (Few people, 2 actually, would rather say that the halo has made its official re-entry!)
Hmm..where should I start looking?

Mausam ka haal

N: No mails today, wassup?
M: Blue sky :)
N(taking a whole min to understand!!): Soon you'll see thunderstorms and lightning!! ;-)

jab saamne tum aajathe ho..kya jaaniye kya ho jaata hain

chaahatha yeh kahenge..sochatha woh kahenge
aaye woh saamne toh..kuch bhi na keh sake bas
dekha kiye unhe hum


Jagjit Singh and Asha Bhonsle's soulful rendition, lovely lyrics, soft music from the album 'Khwahishein'.
Listen to it here.
Watch it here.

Skanda's rules of classification

A typical conversation with my 3 year old nephew, say, while watching animal planet. (Can be equally applied to any other show on any other channel too!)

Skanda: Adhenadhu?
Me(or his mom): Tiger
Skanda: Tiger kacchatte?
Me: kacchatte
Skanda(watching the tiger stalk a deer): Adhenadhu?
Me:Jinke
Skanda: Jinke kacchalla?
Me: kacchalla

I flip the channel to Cartoon Network..

Skanda(pointing to a book, that Tom the cat, is reading): Chikkamma, adhu?
Me: Book
Skanda: Book kacchatthe?
Me(Eh?): Kacchalla (Notice, I tell something that he is not expecting, usually whatever he asks, that should be the answer!)
Skanda(assertively): Kacchatthe!!!
Me: ok kacchatte!

So, according to Skanda, there are 2 types of people/animals/things etc in this world.
One that bites and one that doesn't.
Simple ain't it! :-) Aahh..to be as innocent as a child again!

Tranquility

Nature's symmetry

These were taken at Ranganthittu on a cloudy Sunday morning. Added some shadow to the images to make the flowers stand apart. I liked the end result and kept the images that way.

Revisited..

..the joys..

.. the sorrows..

.. the fights..

.. the teasing..

.. the senseless debates, which at that time felt oh-so-important..

.. the various bahaanas for bunking classes**..

.. the fierce arguments for increasing the internal score-cards..

.. the last-minute exam preparations..

.. the aching, loving and broken hearts..

.. the awesome days spent here!!!!!





..revisited on friendship day.


**yeah, was still studious enough not to bunk without a valid reason!