Bindaas Baatein...

People are to be Loved

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:25:00 +0000

Came across this email forward. Felt it suits our times completely... where are people are used more than loved. Genuine love, affection and respect have made way for getting people to get things done for us. Wanted to share this and make a small difference!

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car.

In anger, the man took the child's hand and hit it many times not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.

When the child saw his father......
with painful eyes he asked, 'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'

The man was so hurt and speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times.
devastated by his own actions...... sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches... the child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.

The next day that man committed suicide...

Anger and Love have no limits; choose the latter to have a beautiful, lovely life & remember this:

Things are to be used and people are to be loved.
The problem in today's world is
that people are used while things are loved.
Let's try always to keep this thought in mind:
Things are to be used,
People are to be loved.

Back to School... A Walk Down Memory Lane!!!

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:14:00 +0000

I walked into a Staples store the other day and there were these posters that advertised some interesting 'Back to School' offers. Colorful stationary, school bags and all other interesting school accessories. Wished I was in school still.

June is the month schools reopen in Bombay. June was the month I loved because of all the new school time goodies we got to buy. New books, new uniforms, new school bags [if we managed to wear and tear the old one ;)], new ribbons to tie our plaits, new pencil boxes, new fountain pens etc etc...

We are almost at the end of June and I remembered that I had promised myself a post on what I miss about my times at school. So here it is in completely random order... just as it came to mind...

My school itself - St. Agnes Girls' High School, Byculla!!! I miss the huge campus walking in and out of its gates.
Calling myself an Agnesian - especially in the presence of girls from Gloria's and St. Annes. (do not know why!!!)
Red House, Blue House, Yellow House and Green House - Red House being mine and my favourite :).
The colorful slides, monkey poles and the towering yellow giraffe in the primary school garden.
The framed rhymes that were displayed across the hall in the ground floor of the primary school building. Somehow those pictures and rhymes always had me awestruck... I have stared at them endlessly.
The playroom that was full of colorful toys and games. I guess it would charm me even now... as much as it did when I was in primary school. It's the kid in me to blame again :).
The audio visual sessions we had where we were treated to some nice movies.
Moral Science as a subject and the notebook with colored pages for it.
The huge black piano and the 'singing' classes we used to have.
The famous freeze-bell.
Lining up on the grounds and the assemblies that followed.
Sitting cross legged in those assemblies and the knee-fights that followed ;)
Playing Sunday Monday on the building stairs
The samosas, ragda and bhel in the school canteen - and the gossips about how someone found a cockroach in the canteen food :D
Sports Day - and the compulsory attendance rules for non-participants like me :)
The Inter-school sports meet (cannot recollect the name) and the endless cheering we did for our school.
The Agnes-Mary's girl school - boy school fights and wars :)
Annual Prize Distributions - and how my parents clapped with pride when I stepped up on stage to collect mine :)
Open Days and the exhibitions of books, craft work and needle work and the complimentary packet of Simba wafers from mom :)
Prefects with their sashes and belts - checking our nails, rolled down socks, shorts, badges and what not.
Flag hoisting and singing the national anthem on Republic Day and Independence Day
Taking turns in class to sit on the last bench - learnt to play book cricket on one of those days :)
The entire class getting punished and made to stand in a straight line on the tarred road in the hot sun.
The chemistry, physics and biology labs - including the skeleton in there :)
PT classes, Sir Andrew and his English and the way the girls took his case.
The green benches in the corridors that served as our lunch tables in the primary school and the huge lunch room for senior school too.
All of the teachers there... they all had something special about themselves and that could make another blog post by itself!
Baking classes and Ms. Farida and her ways!!! I remember we once ate up the extra cheese after making a dish. We got one of her 'You girls are made (read made, understood mad)!' for that. :D
Color dress days at school on special occasions.
Going around the whole school distributing sweets to all the teachers on my birthday.
Standing in front of a whole class of girls singing 'Happy Birthday to Priya' :)
Falling down, getting bruised and having that red medicine applied on to it.
The morning prayers and news being read out on the intercom.
The raffle forms for donations that we had to collect. There were another 25 odd Agnesians in the campus where I lived. Imagine rushing to every house before the others did.
The science journals that we needed to complete in senior school with diagrams and experiment observations.
The Science Exhibition we had in Class X. We went on to win it and participate in the inter school competition too. We did up something on Garbage Recycling and were super excited about it.
The huge library we had and the librarian Ms. Pramila Pant!!! Some of my friends got her convinced that my classmate Sriya and I were twin sisters :)
Polishing the black shoes and washing and applying white polish to the PT shoes - a weekend task that my sisters and me did dutifully to avoid lectures from dad.
My school uniform - loved the smart white uniform-red tie combination.
Waiting for the school bus to come and pick us up in the mornings and searching for the 'Blue' bus every evening :)
Travelling by BEST to school after seventh standard.
Walking, talking, breathing, road crossing with Nancy Drews and Enid Blytons!!!
Different subjects like arts, crafts, baking, community living, social service etc
Identifying hills, rivers and state capitals with different colors on the outlined maps of India for the geography exam
Standing in line to collect our corrected answer papers. Totalling and re-totalling the scores hoping the teacher had made a mistake.
The Khandala retreat in class X.
Picnics every year - from Hanging Gardens to the Planetarium to Esselworld and Tiku-ji-ni-wadi.
Collecting the hall tickets for the board exams, the school farewell and finally walking out of school with our SSC marksheets :(

I told you it was a long list. I am sure I have missed out a lot of other memorable things. Probably because I got carried away thinking about these. Would love to read your opinions on this.

Whether you were from Agnes or not, I am sure my school day memories would have taken you back to your own!!! Spare a moment and walk down your memory lane. You will come back smiling :).

dil toh bachcha hai ji...

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:27:00 +0000

It has taken me over a month now to get over the fact that I am a year older all over again!!! I am one step closer to stepping out of my 20's and it is a somewhat weird feeling.

I am not of the vain variety who dreads growing old. I do not hear an 'aunty... aunty... aunty' echo when younger ones call me 'aunty'! I do not freak out when I see that odd silver strand on my head. Well, atleast I do not yell loud enough to let the neighbours know :)

Aging, according to many other like minded people, is a state of mind. And thankfully for me, I have managed to keep the child in me alive and kicking! There's a thin line between holding on to the kid in you and being kiddish and immature. I am guessing I haven't crossed the line. Maybe the grown-ups around me can answer that. :)

I was reminded today of all the fun things I did as a kid. Took this chance to list out some of them.

School
I miss everything about school. From classes to special classes, homework to handiwork, black shoes to white sneakers, uniforms to 'colour dress' days, Open Days to Annual Prize Distributions, Class I to Class X... I miss it all. I still remember how we had this freeze bell rule at school. Whenever it was time for class after a break, we would hear 2 bells. The first bell was called the freeze bell. It was like a game of statue. You stand still and do not move for a good 30 seconds or so. On hearing the second bell we were to line up and get to class. Funny and peculiar it may sound, but we did it day in and day out. So much that I miss it till date. Loads of memories from school time are flooding my mind now. I think I will save them all for another post.

Summer Vacations
You call it jealousy or you call it reminiscing old memories but I simply cannot stop envying all the school kids in my apartment. Their summer vacations are on... and they are in the best of spirits. This part of the year used to be the best in all my years at school. I loved making that day long train journey from Bombay to Madras for a 2 month vacation with my grandparents. I miss all those long warm summers that I spent with them and everything they did to make my vacation even more special. Love you thatha and paati!!!

Doordarshan
Satellite transmission and DTH services have taken the television by storm. Channels have run into triple digit figures. Reality shows are the order of the day with melodramatic serials not far behind. Kareena Kapoor can throw a tantrum about missing her favourite saas-bahu serial, only to see Saif recording it for her to watch later!!! Cut back to a few years ago (few is not an understatement... the kid in me adds :D). Doordarshan was our only source of entertainment on television. DD-I and DD-II were more than enough to keep us entertained. I miss all the TV shows I watched on Doordarshan as well as the movies that were telecast over the weekend. Nukkad, Wagle ki Duniya, Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne, Jungle Book, Circus, Fauji, Byomkesh Bakshi, Tehkikaat, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Superhit Muqabla, Chitrahaar, Daawat, Udaan Surabhi, ... Oh I miss them all!!!

Bedtime@9.30p.m.
The Parent's Rule Book at our house clearly stated that we needed to get to bed by 9.30pm. That ensured we caught up on all the sleep our body needed. Over the years I have been wishing my family a good night's sleep later and later on the clock. I cannot remember when was the last time I went to sleep as early as 9.30pm. It is well past midnight by the time I retire for the day. Crazy lifestyles need a little order too. I have decided to consciously work on this. Early to bed and early to rise (the bigger challenge!!!) will surely make me healthy, wealthy and wise... on second thoughts let us make that - healthy, wealthy and wiser :)

Fancy Dress Competitions
I miss the many fancy dress shows I participated in. My mum looked forward to these more than me :). I remember getting dressed up as Baby Krishna once and as a Hawaian girl on another occasion. I won prizes for both :). We had these annual functions in our residential complex for Diwali and New Year's Eve. The whole process of deciding on what we're going to dress up as, preparing for it and going up on stage and enacting it out was a wonderful experience. I also participated in some group dances for some of these functions but somehow the Fancy Dress Competitions linger on in my mind. I will look up some of the pictures and hope to P.S. them to this post.

Kid Books
Tintin, Asterix and Obelix, Noddy, Chacha Chowdhary, Target, Tinkle, Champak, the complete Enid Blyton series, Secret Seven, Famous Five, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys - I am sure all or most of these feature on your list of favourite childhood books. I used to eat, drink, walk, talk, yawn, sleep and breathe books. Somehow, over the years I have not been able to devote as much time to books. I still love reading all of these books. I actually enjoy it even more when I read them now. I remember bringing down the library shelves in our clubhouse to find the best of books. Since I could get only one of them issued per week I would hide my personal selection behind some books that were rarely ever touched by the others. This would ensure they remained there for the rest of the week :). The best part would be the glances others shot at me when they saw me climb up a chair to reach the top-most shelf. The glance would be followed by a feeling of awe and shame put together when they noticed that the top-most shelf stocked books as heavy as micro or macro economics, physics or nuclear research. They thought they needed to learn a few things from this whiz-kid called ME :)

Fun Games
There used to be a host of games we kids would play every evening. Played a lot of interesting outdoor games like Catch 'n Cook, Blind Man's Buff, Kho-kho, Lagori, hopscotch (Googled this out... we used to call it 'Tippar' or 'Tipri' :D), Kitty Kitty Coming, Chor Police, Saakhli, Langdi, Hide 'n Seek, GoooooooollllllddddddSssssppppppott (that's how we used to yell it out :D) and many more. It has been years and years since I have even made a mention of these games. I have not seen kids playing all of these in the last so many years. Let your kids be kids and let them come up with silly yet interesting games like these and give it a name of their choice. Urge them to use their PC games and TV videogames as stress busters when they are much older.

*******

Wow!!! This post has been such a refresher. It took me back down memory lane and brought back many pleasant memories... each with a smile on my face. There sure are a lot of other things that may come to my mind. Will share those on my blog space later.

My take on growing up would be - Grow up as you are doing anyways but remain a child at heart always. I love to pamper the kid in me. I try as much to do everything I loved doing as a kid. This post has only helped me strengthen my stand. The kid in me is happy! The kid in me is jumping with joy! The kid in me is waiting for more! The kid in me is nudging me to hum along... 'dil toh bachcha hai ji' :)

Have you seen your golden house yet?

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:59:00 +0000

Got this story as an email forward. Food for thought I must say!!!

the house with the golden windows

The little girl lived in a small, very simple, poor house on a hill and as she grew she would play in the small garden and as she grew she was able to see over the garden fence and across the valley to a wonderful house high on the hill – and this house had golden windows, so golden and shining that the little girl would dream of how magical it would be to grow up and live in a house with golden windows instead of an ordinary house like hers.

And although she loved her parents and her family, she yearned to live in such a golden house and dreamed all day about how wonderful and exciting it must feel to live there.

When she got to an age where she gained enough skill and sensibility to go outside her garden fence, she asked her mother is she could go for a bike ride outside the gate and down the lane. After pleading with her, her mother finally allowed her to go, insisting that she kept close to the house and didn’t wander too far. The day was beautiful and the little girl knew exactly where she was heading! Down the lane and across the valley, she rode her bike until she got to the gate of the golden house across on the other hill.

As she dismounted her bike and leaned it against the gate post, she focused on the path that lead to the house and then on the house itself…and was so disappointed as she realized all the windows were plain and rather dirty, reflecting nothing other than the sad neglect of the house that stood derelict.

So sad she didn’t go any further and turned, heartbroken as she remounted her bike … As she glanced up she saw a sight to amaze her… there across the way on her side of the valley was a little house and its windows glistened golden… as the sun shone on her little home.

She realized that she had been living in her golden house and all the love and care she found there was what made her home the ‘golden house’. Everything she dreamed was right there in front of her nose!

The little girl's story higlights the fact that we tend to, more often than not, take what we have for granted. We tend to conveniently overlook what we have and how much it matters to us. The grass on the other side of the fence always seems greener. What is not ours appears to be bigger and brighter than what we have just earned.

It pays to be ambitious in life with newer milestones being set everyday. But it pays even more to spare a few moments to celebrate what we have already achieved.

The little girl in the story represents each one of us. I am only hoping each one of us have seen our golden homes... shining back at us with a smile :)

Random Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:03:00 +0000

THIS IS MY BLOG AND I STILL OWN IT!!!

Guess I needed that disclaimer given the fact that I have been in hiding for so long :).

My blog ranking on indiblogger got promoted to 43!!!! Yaay!!! All the more reason to write more and keep my space online alive.

I was not sure what to write about and that was when I realized that there are so many thoughts zipping through my head. I thought I could simply share them with you all... at the risk of rambling randomly :)

I have begun to love cooking and I enjoy learning and trying out new dishes once in a while. For all you novices like me, here's something you could refer to when you're left wondering how much sugar and how much spice :)

I have realized that aerobics is a fun way to lose weight. I have no doubts about the fun part, about the weight I will have to wait and see :)

I read in the news about how this psychic excise officer shot and killed a young girl and got killed by the police himself!!! Some people think the police should not have opened fire! I think it was better he paid the price for what he did. Otherwise this too would have ended up as long drawn legal battle that would go on endlessly till the girl's distraught family finally gives up.

I read somewhere that Raj Thackeray has been pulled up for calling VT... 'VT'. For me Victoria Terminus will always remain 'Victoria Terminus' and Bombay will always remain 'Bombay'. So I really do not see a problem with the way Raj Thackeray referred to it. They are having trouble remembering the names they have given. Doesn't irk me one bit!

There is a lot of talk and tweet about the Womens' Reservation Bill. I am confused whether I should celebrate because my clan has been empowered or whether I should worry about the probability that 33% of the Parliament could be filled up with remote controlled Rabri Devi clones!!!

The IPL is on in full swing. I know because that is the only thing that runs on TV at home and also because it has been a fortnight since I have even seen the TV remote and even more so because my husband pretends like he's paying attention to me... only when Akshay Kumar begins to laugh like he's been bitten by the Rahul Mahajan bug :D

Bangalore is getting hotter and hotter. Very unlikely they say. Grow more trees I say!

And on that note, I think I have a blog post ready to publish :). I hope to come back with something more concrete soon!!!

Oh!!! What a year this was!!! :)

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:45:00 +0000

It feels like yesterday when I bid adieu to 2008. It feels like yesterday when I wished all my friends a 'Happy New Year'. It feels like yesterday when I made my secret resolutions for 2009. And today is New Years' Eve already!!!

I like this time of the year when it's all festive and fun. We have so many festivals to celebrate through the year but the month of December and its last few days have this very specially different feeling.

Here's a quick round-up of some of the special things that happened to me during the last one year...

Made a trip with family to Mysore and Coorg. Lovely experience.
My little niece completed a year in February. She started walking around on her birthday. It was such a beautiful sight to see the little one taking her first few baby steps. She's moved on to running around, jumping around and tumbling around. She has even started talking now. She's one adorable niece. I miss my dear little Harini.
Shifted base to Bangalore in February. Joined up with Infosys. I am not commenting on how green (no pun intended!) the grass is on this side of the fence ;) but somehow it feels nice to be a part of India's most sought after company.
Ran a shopping marathon for nearly 5-6 months across every mall and every other shopping complex in Bangalore. I had my reasons and I had fun :).
The year that's rolling over has been a really special one for me. I met someone special and got married to him this year. He's changed everything around me... and made everything around me so special. Thank you Sweetheart... this one's for you... for everything!!!
My family just grew bigger. I now have an extended family - with the most adorable parents-in-law, the most bindaas sister-in-law and whole lot of new uncles, aunts, cousins and friends!!! I love all the attention they give me and I enjoy staying in touch with all of them.
He and Me went to the Andaman Islands together. It was one awesome trip. The clear blue-green waters, the clean white beaches and the dense forests were captivating. We visited Havelock Island, Ross Island and a few places in Port Blair itself. We had a wonderful week-long getaway that let us give each other all the time we had.

2009 will always remain as one of my favourite years... thanks to these and many other special moments in the last one year!!!

2009 came... and went by like any other year before it. 2009 came... and brought each one of us our share of smiles and frowns. 2009 came... and will disappear into history in a few hours from now. 2009 came... only to pass by and make way for 2010!!!

May the New Year brighten up each one of our lives and bring in an infinite supply of happy and pleasant moments. Wishing you all a Wonderfully Happy New Year!!!

Bangalore So Far...

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:24:00 +0000

I've been in Bangalore for a good five months now... been thinking ever since I landed up in Garden City, that I must spare some time and blog about how I've been doing in the new place. Somehow something or the other took priority and time decided not to spare itself :D Here's a quick one on what changed and how during my time in every Bangalorean's Namma Bengaluru :)

The big fat house hunt began as mission #1 when I landed up in Bangalore. I spent the initial first month at a family friend's place. Had a wonderful 'home away from home' experience there :)
After a month's hunt I found this little 1BHK for myself. Always had this secret wish to live alone, all by myself, some day. Was thrilled when this wish materialized :)
Got busy setting up my new house... it's a cute, cozy place that I enjoy being in :) Best part is I have IIM Bangalore as my next door neighbour and I ensure I make a mention of it when someone asks me for my address. That's the closest I could get to the IIMs :)
Got to be a part of Infosys! I never once miss the raising eyebrows or throats clearing when someone says 'Oh wow! You're with Infosys!' :)
Was on bench for the initial one and a half months or so. Having been in the IT industry for over 4 years and never once been on bench before was kind of making me feel left out! I completely enjoyed this 'bench time' :)
Joined up Infosys Toastmasters to continue my journey as a Toastmaster. Have been busy at work of late and not able to spare as much time for it. Managed to attend a few sessions and even MCed a milestone meeting here. Met some amazing Toastmasters and even shared the same stage as many distinguished ones :)
Crossed paths with a wonderful person at work. She's turned out to be my best dost at Bangalore. We've giggled like idiots, cried like babies, passed remarks at anyone we sight, shopped and have not yet dropped and have had loads of fun together :)
Shopped like never before... from clothes to footwear to you name it I've shopped it :)
Got to meet my batchmates from Symbiosis more often. Quite a handful in Bangalore :)
Met someone special for the first time at Bangalore... his folks and mine decided we go ahead and get married :) We're happily engaged now and we're getting married soon and I am so looking forward to it :) He's the best and the reason behind why you'll find me smiling at any time you choose to spot me... including at the end of every line above :)

Missed blogging and the whole blog duniya for a long time now... I do try and catch up with blogs that I read regularly... I hope to get back to being more regular with my Bindaas Baatein soon!!!

Thankyou Irena

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:46:00 +0000

In May 2008, a 98 year-old Polish lady named Irena Sendler died.

During WWII, she got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist but she had an ulterior motive. She KNEW of the Nazi's plans for the Jews. Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and, in the back of her truck, she had a burlap sack for the larger children. She had a dog in the back of the truck that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the noise of the children. She managed to smuggle out and save 2,500 children before she was caught; the Nazis broke both her legs and her arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the children that she smuggled out which she kept in a glass jar buried under a tree in herback yard. After the War, she tried to locate any parents that had survived and reunited the families. Most, of course, had been gassed but she helped those children to be placed into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007, Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize…

She LOST.

Al Gore won for doing a slide show on Global Warming!!!!

***********************************************************

I got this article couple of days back by email. My heart goes out in appreciation for Irena. I'm not sure how much the Nobel Prize would have even meant for a lady as selfless as Irena... but I strongly feel those who take a call about the Nobel Prize need to take a few moments off to think if they'd ever do something as selfless!!!

We may not necessarily get our due credit for the efforts we put in at work or the good we do as humans... does that mean we stop doing well or being good??? Does expecting appreciation and recognition take away the essence of what we're doing???

I'm not sure... I'm confused...

For the moment I'm all praise for Irena... hats off to you lady!!! May we have more of your type...

PS: this post's for my friend kavitha... thanks for pushing me to make sure I publish something asap :)...

The 2-minute Magic Spell

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:03:00 +0000

'Mummy bhook lagi hai' mumbled two little hungry kids... 'Bas do minute' said the mother... and quite rightly so in the midst of an exciting television ad jingle a yummy platter of noodles was ready in two minutes flat!!! Oh yes, I'm talking about everyone's favourite - Maggi Noodles!!!

If you're in your twenties or thirties and if you have not had Maggi... then you've probably just landed from some other planet. Maggi was and is my favourite kitchen rack item. It takes you just two minutes to decide to want to eat Maggi, then just about two minutes to get it ready and if you're really hungry... just another two minutes to slurp it down :)

Amit's ode to this favourite snack of mine prompted me to write this post. Apparently Maggi completes 25 years this year... 25 years of filling hungry tummies in the quickest possible time! It sure is quite something. I'm quite impressed by the different variations that the Maggi family has tried to offer over the years... somehow though the original Maggi Masala will always remain my favourite.

As kids, my sisters and me were even part of the Maggi Club. We used to get these fancy Maggi memorabilia, Maggi Club pin-up badges, loads of mailers from the Maggi Club etc. The mailers would be something that we waited for longingly... who else would be kind enough to mark letters to some less-than-10-year olds :) Maggi did!!! It connected with us right then... and the bond continues to last right through... up to now and am sure for a long way down the future. It is almost as if the 2-minute magic has cast a spell to last us a lifetime :)

Generation Fast Forward!

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:14:00 +0000

The young and trendy like to be referred as Generation Next... but the generation that's catching up loud and clear is Generation Fast Forward - a generation branding that I've done for the kids of today, clearly much quicker in thought and action than most of us who'd want to call ourselves GenNext just coz it sounds cool.

My little niece, who's as little as one does so many things that we would have probably never imagined when we were that age. She does everything from humming a lullaby to put her doll to sleep to walking around so matter-of-factly with a mobile when someone calls. She even speaks in some kind of language that she understands so well and speaks with a 'you don't understand this??!!' attitude!

When we were kids, we were known to be sweet, cute and cuddly. Kids of today are not just all of that but are also smart, intelligent and quick!

Here's a conversation I heard at a bookstore between an affluent mom and her smart little kid, a young guy all of 7 years maybe:

Rich Affluent Mom (RAM): Come on son, we've picked up enough books for yourself.
Smart Little Kid (SLK): Yes mom, just for Rs.2000. We can add some more to it. Check out this one, its ONLY Rs.675/-
RAM: Don't you think its expensive, son!
SLK: It's really worth it, mom! I've read about it somewhere and it is really worth the price (economics pro in the making... I never knew to judge if things were worth their price at 7 years of age!!!)
RAM: Son..!!
SLK: Come on mom, be a sport! You could even pick a copy for yourself!!!

Now how mean was that! Just imagine your own kid not willing to 'share' his books with you. Imagine him/ her asking you to get yourself your own copy of music, books or whatever else. I'm sure the kid didn't mean to sound rude, he was just being practical and detached... Now whether that's a good sign or a bad sign or no sign at all... I'm really not sure. Somehow that conversation struck me... and in a way made me believe that Generation Fast Forward have ways of their own... ways that may shake you up at times.

I'm intimidated at times... sometimes amused!!!

Chalo Coorg!

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:07:00 +0000

The Coorg part of the trip we made... read on...

We headed to Coorg from Msyore. The drive from Mysore to Coorg was enchanting. There were plantations on both sides of the roads - stretches of coffee, bamboo and pepper plantations.

We visited the Namdroling Monastery at Bylekuppe. The gilded statues of Buddha in the Golden temple were simply awesome. The quietness in the campus brought a sense of calm and peace. Apparently this is the largest Tibetan civilization outside of Tibet. It was interesting to see the monks dressed in maroon robes go about with their life on the campus. I bought some interesting bags from the Tibetan market.

The best part about the Coorg trip was some really interesting things that I did for the first time.

We put up at one of the home-stays at Coorg - a different quirky experience.
I tasted some Manglorean specialities for breakfast - puttu, kori roti et al
I plucked coffee (and ate the fruit too :P). Contrary to the bitterness associated with coffee, its fruit is really sweet.
I sat around a camp fire that we set up ourselves and gazed at the stars endlessly.
I got the water to boil using firewood every morning. Geysers have taken over today... but the firewood heating experience was one of its kind.
I saw the sun set from Raja's Seat and captured every bit of it on camera. On hindsight, I find it quite funny how we urbans stare with mouths wide open and cameras on focus at a sight as routine as a sun set!!! In a way it reflects how we take things around for granted. The sun sets everyday and looks just as awesome everyday... we just don't take the time out to catch a glimpse!
I saw a bamboo forest – a place called Nisargadhama with an enchanting hanging bridge over the Cauvery.
I climbed up a tree house at Nisargadhama. Exciting!
The trip was good fun except for the dearth of good vegetarian hotels around and the heat during the day. Never expected it to be so warm at Coorg in the month of January. Global warming to blame?? Where have the environmental warriors gone??? :(

Overall the whole Coorg/ Mysore trip was good fun, a nice break and just another reason to blog :)

Mysore Mazaa(la)

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:57:00 +0000

I have been long waiting to blog about my holiday to Coorg/ Mysore in January. I've finally mangaged to get down to that

I was between jobs when I took this trip - that kind of took away the excitement of being away from work :)

Here's the Mysore half of the trip. The Coorg experience will follow in my next post.

Mysore - a clean and beautiful city that immediately charmed me. We spent a day and a half there but saw almost everything that Mysore personifies. Here are a few quickies on what I saw or did at Mysore:

The Mysore Zoo - This is the best zoo I have ever been to. It spreads over a vast area and is home to a whole lot of animal and bird species. I'm sure anyone would enjoy a trip to the Mysore zoo - irrespective of how old you are or how old you feel! The magnificent tall giraffes were our hot favourites. This was the first time I ever saw a giraffe for real - and not just one. There were four of them standing tall. I almost couldn't take our eyes off them :)

St. Philomena's Church - We made a quick trip to this church built in the honour of St. Philomena in the Diocese of Mysore. Brilliant architecture, beautiful stain glass interiors and a stoic silence inside the Church made the visit worth every minute spent there.

Brindavan Gardens - Sprawling gardens and the beautiful water fountains are simply soothing. Once it was dark the fountains glittered in various colours. The musical fountain was beatifully choreographed. It was a very relaxing experience at the garden. Superbly maintained.

Mysore Palace - Awesome interiors. Left me in complete envy :). I could almost imagine the Wodeyar clan walking around in the huge palace (effect of an overdose of Jodha Akbar maybe :P)

We saw other places like the beautiful Karanji Lake (including a pedal boat experience), the Chamundeshwari Temple, the magestic Nandi and the Cave Shiva temple on Chamundi Hills, and the Lalit Mahal Palace.

The other good part about Mysore were the yummy dosas. Never had such tasty crisp dosas before.

What impressed me most about the city was it's people. I found almost everyone around to be extremely courteous - including people like traffic policemen who are otherwise so rude and grumpy. Almost every one of them we interacted with were ready to help - with a smile on their face. Something that has gone amiss in our bigger faster cities.

I sure am going back to Mysore soon - for its people, clean wide roads and its yummy dosas :)

Be an Alchemist

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:51:00 +0000

I had heard loads and loads about Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist'. One of the most common reason this book was recommended for reading was its extremely positive remarks about how it pays to remain in pursuit of your dreams - no matter how long it takes.

I happened to chance upon a copy of 'The Alchemist' at my aunt's place - picked it up for reading instantly.

I believe in omens and I am always on the lookout for them - in my own small way. Some of the dialogues between the shepherd boy and the people he encounters are so striking. I am not sure whether this book would have the same impact on everyone. I loved the book! Never felt so positive and charged up about my own dreams ever before. I am not sure if I am over-reacting; but somehow I can relate to almost everything that the shepherd boy goes through whilst pursuing the treasure of his life. I don't know... maybe this is an omen by itself!!! And I chose to believe that it is a good omen!

Coming back to the book; I think Paulo Coelho has drawn a brilliant parallel between human dreams and alchemy. Relentlessly trying till you're smiling about what you've achieved is common to both. The metaphor is striking and leaves an impression.

I've compiled some of my favourite lines from the book and what I feel about them. Here goes...

When you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.

This one's the best... has inspired many included our very own SRK in Om Shanti Om :P. I blindly trust my conspirators... whoever they are, wherever they are!

The world’s greatest lie: At a certain point in our lives we lose control of what’s happening to us and our lives become controlled by fate.

This one's for those who have stopped having faith in the earlier line :( We cannot let fate control our lives... it's just not right!

Most people see the world as a threatening place, and because they do, the world turns out indeed to be a threatening place.

Lesson for me... and maybe a couple of you too.

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

Another gyaan byte for us :)

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

Especially true of all nosey uncles and aunts who somehow have an opinion about everything we do or want :P

If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.

Beautiful simile!

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

I agree totally... your dreams are your only true companion for life!

Never stop dreaming.

Believe me... it serves as enough motivation to keep on trying till you get there someday! Don't forget to keep the fingers crossed too :)

Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.

I don't mind... all's well that ends well.

Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him.

Makes me feel special! I'm waiting for mine.........

Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.

Wow... Paulo Coelho even gave us a hint :)

If I really am a part of your dream, you will come back one day.

Some call it emossional atyachaar... some call it pyaar :)

“Even though I complain sometimes,” it (heart) said, “it’s because I’m the heart of a person, and people’s hearts are that way. People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren’t, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly.”

How true... we subject our poor li'l hearts through a whole lot of what not. I actually found this dialogue between the shepherd and his heart really really sweet - almost like an innocent kid giving an alibi! Let's stop being mean... let's be good to our hearts!

Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny.

One more reason to keep going.

Which way to the garden?

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Am on blogosphere after almost 3 weeks now!!! Feels like a lifetime.

Just about managed to access Blogger and here I am... in the Garden City of Bangalore... in search of the gardens :)

I've taken up a career opportunity here... but so far have been in the outskirts of the city. Am yet to explore the city and its beauty.

Bangalore... here I come :)

PS: feels kind of weird writing a typical blog. A first I think as compared to the rest of my posts. :) Will be back with more of those asap... I hope!

Slamming Success

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:31:00 +0000

I'm not sure if I am a big enough tennis fan to blog about India's performance at the Australian Open... but I sure am proud enough to do that.

The year has started off on a good note for Indian tennis - what with Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupati and Yuki Bhambri sizzling on court and emerging winners.

For Bhupati this may be another feather on his Grand Slam cap. I'm sure this is just the beginning of feathers for Sania and Yuki.

Congratulations guys, you've made us proud!!!

I was reminded of my stint as an avid tennis follower (you thought I was going to write player?? :P) when I read this post by a friend. I remember how we used to have Graf vs Seles camps set up at home during Grand Slam tournaments. Somehow over the years the interest in the game has kind of dwindled. Guess the interest levels will only get higher now... and am glad that this time round we'll be rooting for Indians given the promising talent we have.

Now that we've slowly made it to the ranking sheets... it's only fititng that we raise the bar. I'm looking forward to some day when we'll have an all out Indian vs Indian Grand Slam final. What say?

Are You Going to Finish Strong?

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Just as I was thinking about what I could write on next, I stumbled upon a video that perfectly appears to be a sequel to my earlier post.

There are a million obstacles that we may come across in life... but there are people around us with deeper sufferings who somehow still emerge winners. They are truly worth emulating.

My hero for the moment is Nick Vujicic. He was born without limbs and has continued to live without them. For someone like him probably managing to live life is a challenge in itself. What is amazing is that despite all odds he's also helping a whole lot of others (including those of us blessed with limbs) help live theirs more meaningfully.

Check out this video. It is just one of his inspiring short talks.

The audience is left in tears at the end of it. I'm sure you'll be silently sniffing once you're done with watching it. I only hope you feel as much stronger, as me once you're done with that :)

I'd only like to add... that however much you may feel down and out, just keep hanging on to the idea that things will only get better than what they are now... eventually! Hats off to you Nick... you made my day!!!

Hope is a Good Thing

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:04:00 +0000

After months of having got myself a copy of the movie The Shawshank Redemption I finally decided to watch it yesterday.

The movie is based on a Stephen King novella [new word I picked up when I wiki-ed for the book :)] called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Tim Robbins plays the role of a banker called Andy Dufresne who is given a double life sentence for murdering his wife and her lover - a crime that he badly wanted to commit but had not. As fate would have it he was sent to Shawshank Prison where he spent the next 19 years of his life!!!

Morgan Freeman plays the role of 'Red' who was another inmate at Shawshank Prison. Freeman sure has a class of his own. After this movie and The Bucket List he has one more fan in me :)

The movie is hard-hitting with a whole lot of dialogues that leave you dumbstruck. It is yet another visualization of how harsh things can get on the other side of the bars. It is yet another attempt to convey that there is nothing more powerful than hope. It is yet another attempt to reinforce the fact that no matter how mean life can get, it is that undying spirit of hope that will help us sail through and come out smiling despite the hardships that we will eventually leave behind.

I am glad the movie has influenced me positively. I only feel more positive about clinging on to my hopes, however irrational they may seem at the moment!!!

I decided I should put up a post about this on Bindaas Baatein. There's nothing more satisfying than spreading one's positivity around - who knows, this might just make you want to change your mind over things you have given up on.

I'll sum this up in Andy Dufresne's words from the movie - 'Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies'.

50 and running

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:10:00 +0000

2009 is probably yet another year with a lot in store for all of us. Our year-end posts will take care of summing that up :)

Among other things, 2009 marks the golden jubilee of 2 of my favorite comic characters - Asterix and Obelix!!! Just wanted to let them know how much I love them and the rest of the Gauls :)

I've read practically every one of the 33 titles and I doubt if I'll ever get bored of reading them up over and over again. The names of each of the Gauls - including the cute li'l Dogmatix - is something that always charms me.

The complete Asterix collection is definitely worth its space on your bookshelf - and mine too. Did I hear someone saying 2009 is good to go gifting??? :P

Movie Time...

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:36:00 +0000

'List out your New Year Resolutions'... I have been telling myself to sit down and work this out for the last week or so. But somehow I have not managed to get myself to do it yet. Ordinary people find it difficult to live by their resolutions. Some like me find it tough to even sit down and get those resolutions on paper (make that blogger :P)! I wanted to do it over the weekend but I ended up watching two movies back to back.

Ghajini was the first. I loved it! Aamir is at his perfect best. Asin did a good job too. I was only left wondering why the movie was named after the villian... and why Ghajini! Also Aamir's character was supposed to be some super popular business tycoon. How come no one recognized him then when he played Sachin!!! Oops sorry... when it's movies... you're not supposed to 'think' and ask! That apart it was a fine movie. I've decided to watch the original Tamil version now. I love watching sequels, prequels, originals, 'inspired from' movies and then play 'spot the differences and similarities' :P

Alright then... next on the list was the recent Tamil hit Vaaranam Aayiram. I could not get beyond the interval. No no no... don't frame opinions about the movie! I could not get beyond the interval coz my PC went for a toss around that time. Oh by the way did I tell you... one of the resolutions I'm contemplating is to stop watching DVD rip offs? Oh by the way again, did I tell you... I was contemplating that for my list of resolutions for the year 2045?? :P

Alright, coming back to the first half of Vaaranam Aayiram... it's an awesome movie! Yes, even though I watched only part of it for me it seemed like a perfect complete movie. And I must tell you that my review is not biased by the first half alone... the 'I hate suspense' keeda in me made sure I find out what happens in the second half :P.

The casting and execution was brilliant. Sameera Reddy had the perfect combination of oomph and girlish innocence. Surya and Simran played their roles beautifully! Surya stole the show in all the three roles that he portrayed. The school boy look and the old man look were well crafted. About the awesome hero look that had me floored... I think it just comes naturally to the guy! :-)

The movie's a little emotional. It hurts when Sameera dies in the blast and Surya's left heartbroken. Apparently he gets over it in the second half... drugs, realization, an army stint and a poem that his mum recites... come to his rescue!!! Somehow made me think that every real life love story that's not meant to work out should end that way. A blast or an accident or something fatal would make it a lot easier for the lady. For the brave macho gentlemen... life will somehow move on!!! (Thank God we don't have a Aadmi Mukti Aandolan trend around :P)

If I have to wrap up this review... I'd just say that it's a must watch for the 'romantically challenged' :P

Collect Your ‘Good Stuff’ Bags

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:18:00 +0000

(Here's the script I used for my 'Inspire your Audience' speech at CCTM. With this I finished the Competent Communicator series. I'm eagerly waiting to pursue my Advanced Communication track now.)

Picture this. It is eight in the evening. Rohit is at his office desk, busy with his conference calls. A few blocks away his wife Rita is busy at work, delivering some important presentations. Just another long day at work for the couple. At around 10 pm the two of them meet up and drive down to their home. They open the door of their apartment… the lights suddenly come on, there are balloons all over and a complete festive setup. There was a huge cake on the center table… ‘Happy Anniversary Mum n Dad’ read the icing on the cake. On the sofa… their 8 year old daughter was huddled asleep… with a frown on her face. Her parents had forgotten their own anniversary and she could not manage to stay up late enough to remind them!!!

How often have we felt just as sorry as Rohit and Rita?

The world we are in today almost literally personifies the phrase ‘Survival of the Heartless’. As mean as it is… that is how it is.

I want to spend the next few minutes trying to inspire all of you to slow down, look around and take stock of all the smaller, yet sweeter things in life.

Let me share a story with you all. It is written by Robert Fulghum and he calls it ‘The Daddy Prize’.

Molly lived with her father and brother. She was a little school girl. Molly would pack the lunch bags for all three of them every morning. Each bag would get a share of sandwiches, apples, milk… and sometimes a note or a treat.

One morning Molly gave her father two paper bags as he was about to leave. One regular lunch sack. And an extra paper sack.
"Why two bags?” Molly’s father asked in a hurry.
"The other one is something else.", she said.
"What's in it?” her father asked – more irritation in his voice.
"Just some stuff – take it with you."
Not wanting to get late for work, he stuffed both sacks into his briefcase, kissed Molly, and rushed off.

That’s how fathers are. Practical, to the point and always in a rush. But when it comes to their daughters there is an inevitable soft corner. Fathers of daughters would agree.

Coming back to the story…
At midday, while hurriedly gulping down his real lunch, Molly’s father tore open the other bag and shook out the contents. Two hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny seashell, a marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses, and thirteen coins.

He had a momentary smile on his face. The next moment he remembered he was getting late for a meeting. He swept the desk clean – into the dustbin – leftover lunch, Molly's junk, and all. There wasn't anything in there that he needed.

All those of you who are fathers here, just look back at the many moments you felt nice when your children did whatever little they could to make you feel special. When we were kids, my sisters and I would plan for weeks about what to present our parents’ for their birthdays or anniversary. The end result would not be so happening… a hand made paper card with doodles and wishes in our scrawly handwriting. But my parents were always sweet enough to speak so high about it. They would even put it up on display for a couple of days and boast about it to any visitors who dropped in. It felt really good.

Molly’s father sensed similar pride… unfortunately his ruthless demands at work did not let the feeling sink in. Wonder how Molly would react to her father dumping away her gift.

That evening Molly went and stood next to her father while he was reading the paper.
"Where's the bag?", she asked.
"What bag?", he asked without even looking out of the paper.
"You know, the one I gave you this morning."
"I left it at office, why?"
"I forgot to put this note in it."
She handed over a note and continued… "Besides, I want it back?"
"Why?", Molly’s father asked, surprised.
"Those are my things in the sack, Daddy, the ones I really like – I thought you might like to play with them, but now I want them back. You didn't loose the bag, did you, Daddy?" Tears puddled in her eyes.

He lied to her that he forgot the bag at office.
She pleaded with him to bring it back the next day… she was embarrassed.
He agreed.
As she hugged him with relief, her father unfolded the note that had not got into the sack: "I love you Daddy.", it said!!

He realized then that what the bag had was definitely ‘something else’. Molly had given him her treasures. Love in a paper sack. And he had missed it. Not only missed it, but had thrown it in the dustbin because "there wasn't anything in there that he needed."

Molly’s dad was filled with remorse. How often have we felt that way? How often have we hurt someone, maybe even without meaning to? I’m not sure if we can entirely blame Molly’s dad… coz probably each one of us here have done something similar to what he did… not just with our children… but with any of our near and dear ones. What I like about her dad is that he realized his mistake and set out to make amends.

After putting Molly to sleep, he rushed to office. He reached just in time before the cleaning staff began their work. He picked up the dustbin and poured the contents on the floor. He sorted out the trash looking for each piece of Molly’s treasure.

He washed the items and spraying the whole thing with breath-freshener to kill the smell of onions. Next he carefully smoothed out the ball of brown paper into a semi functional bag, put the treasures inside and carried the whole thing home. The next evening he returned it to Molly, no questions asked. The bag didn't look so good but the stuff was all there and that's how Molly looked at it.

After dinner he asked her to tell him about the stuff in the sack, and so she took it all out a piece at a time and placed the objects in a row on the dining table. It took a long time to tell. Everything had a story, a memory, or was attached to dreams and imaginary friends.

To his surprise, Molly gave the bag to her father once again several days later. Same bag. Same stuff inside. He felt forgiven. And trusted. And loved. And a little more comfortable wearing the title of Father.

Over several months the bag went with him from time to time. And came back each time too.

In time Molly turned her attention to other things...found other treasures… she lost interest in this game. Her father was left holding the bag. Molly gave it to him one morning and never asked for its return. And he still had it. He called it the ‘Good Stuff’ bag and kept it forever.

Spend some time thinking over the possible number of ‘Good Stuff’ bags that you may have turned down. Simple day to day incidents are potential moments to treasure.

I remember an incident from my family. My cousin sister was elated one Friday morning to see her jeans tearing away at the bottom. She badly wanted to have the torn jeans effect that her cousins from Bombay had. That evening when she came back from college she was shocked to see that our grandmother had neatly folded and stitched up the shabby looking trousers. My cousin was mad at her and yelled and howled. Poor grandma didn’t get the point at all. She was only trying to help. Fashion fads had taken priority over a loving grandma’s gesture. Today my cousin repents her impulsive reaction… all’s well between the two of them now. :)

People who truly care about you go that extra mile to give you their affection, love and respect. Good stuff may not always be tangible. It could be something as simple as a smile or maybe someone going all out to help you with something you are working on. At times you may not need that help, but that does not take away the warmth from the help someone offers.

Things today have become so materialistic, that we fail to appreciate their genuinenesss. ‘Whats in it for me?’ is what we ask ourselves before doing or accepting something.

As we grow older, our life revolves around work and money. Our families, parents in particular, slowly seem secondary. Money and work are important, but what is even more important is to strike a perfect work-life balance. We must not forget that we work only to lead a better life… not to stop living at all.

There are so many opportunities where we can collect our ‘Good Stuff’ bags. But we’re just too preoccupied to even spot them. Leave alone the pain we cause when we overlook the feelings behind the bags.

Take a couple of moments more… slow down your pace… contribute to the ‘Good Stuff’ bags of people around you… collect your ‘Good Stuff’ bags… if nothing else it will keep you smiling even when you’re sporting a toothless smile!

Wish Wash

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:16:00 +0000

It's a New Year again!!

Time again to draft out 'Happy New Year' and 'Seasons Greetings' mails (the lazier lot have the mail forward option :P). For those of us who still believe in paper greetings it's time to go greeting card, envelope and stamp shopping. For those who eat, drink and breathe blogs it's time to adorn our online spaces with festive stuff and the ever popular list of resolutions (mine's coming up soon :P).

'Happy New Year! Have a great 2009 and may you have all that you wish for in the year ahead.'

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? You either just read or heard a wish like that or wished someone the same just a couple of minutes ago.

How much do these wishes really help? Will the coming year actually brighten up with a handful of 'live the moment' wishes? I'm suddenly not convinced.

I don't mean to sound like a pessimist on New Years... but wishing each other on New Years or for that matter any similar occasion seems more like a formal pleasantry to me.

Life brings in its share of ups and downs irrespective of the wishes we accumulate. Of course I buy the philosopher's argument that little things like these add value to life. But I'm still confused about how much we really mean it when we wish each other. Is the well-wisher's job over once he or she simply conveys the wish??

Why wait for an occasion is what I ask!!! Why wait for the calendar to run out of pages before you want to wish all and sundry in your address book? Why not keep in touch and exchange similar pleasantries more oftener?

I believe that a truckload of clock-worked wishes don't really help. It sounds more like a part of the whole orchestra that's playing its chorus. I'd rather have a gentle hum through the year, even if it is from one person or a small bunch of people. It's this hum that will keep me going... especially during my 'life's not fair' moments.

Happy New Year, nevertheless.

Make way for the Competent Communicator!

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:57:00 +0000

This post is just a reflection of the one thought that's on my mind since afternoon today.

I completed the Competent Communicator series of the Toastmasters program today. And I'm so glad I have :)

CCTM, my home club, has brought me the best in more ways than one. I'm glad I've wrapped up at least one of the things that I took up here. I'll just work harder and keep my fingers crossed for getting the others to work!

The last of the 10 project series is one where you need to inspire your audience! I tried my best to inspire and move the audience. I'll post the script in my next post maybe, but for the moment I just wanted to brag a bit about my achievement of the day!

I am now Priya S, CC!!! :)

Another year slips by...

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:12:00 +0000

2008 is slipping away. Another 5 days to go. Each of you probably have your own way of bringing on the New Year. Some like to keep it simple. Some hit the dance floors. Some keep their pitchers full. Some seek blessings from the Gods above. And for some January 1st is just as ordinary as any other day on the calendar!!! In the end it all boils down to ushering in the New Year on a note that appeals to you the most.

For me, it's that time of the year when I take stock of all that happened to me and all that brought me a smile or a tear (usually works the plural way!!!).

Here are some of my bestest moments of 2008...

A little princess made her way into my family and all our hearts. My li'l niece , Harini, was born on the 13th of February 2008. She's a darling and is by far one of the best things that happened to me in this last one year. She's the reason I'm officially an 'aunty' :P... but she beautifully covers up for that with her smile and by doubling up as my punching bag :). That's a recent picture of hers alongside... post-processed and touched up by me... stuff I picked up from her dad.

Toastmasters happened to me in 2008. A special thank you to Swastika for introducing me to the Covansys Chennai Toastmasters Club (Covansys Chennai Toastmasters Chapter now... name changes I tell you :D). I am so glad I joined Toastmasters. Improving communication and leadership skills maybe its USP, but for me Toastmasters means a lot lot more... I met the most amazing bunch of people at CCTM and the times I've spent with them will always be cherished.

My short stint with Rebelz - a Chennai-based English theater group - for one of their shows. I know I didn't make as much of a contribution, but the few weeks that I spent with the Rebelz junta was by far the most fun weeks in my two years at Chennai. All the best guys for all your shows in the future.

My trip to Munich and the awesome experiences it brought along - the places, the people, the special moments by myself - was a perfect trip... away and yet not away!!! Given a chance I'd love to go back to Munich... quite a few incomplete moments to complete!!!

This was one year I spent watching a lot of movies. Some of the movies that left an impression - A Wednesday, The Bucket List, Fashion, The Pursuit of Happyness, Bridge to Terabithia (on someone's recommendation!)... and a few eye-sores like Yuvvraaj and Karzzz!!

iGoogle and Google Reader - my 'kill sleep at work' pills for the year :P News, views, interesting blogs... all of them RSSed in one window... read on endlessly!!! Guess that's made me more regular on my blog space too :)

Five of my really close couple friends got married in 2008. I felt just as happy for them as they probably felt themselves. I could not make it to any of the weddings in person and I still regret that... but I wish them all great lives ahead with a special mention on my blog :). Congratulations jodis... Ramya and Suman, Jay and Vrunda, Ojas and Shital, Sheetal and Sachin, Amrit and Rutvij.

That's about all that comes to mind for the moment. A lot of not-so-happening events also happened during the year but I've ranted a lot about all of that in my earlier posts.

The one thing I want to say before I wrap up this post... some things missed the list above coz they chose to stay incomplete in 2008. So be it. I choose to believe that they'll feature on my 'bestest moments of 2009' list... coz am not giving up on them!!!

My list for Santa...

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Christmas is just around the corner... and so are cakes, pastries, Christmas trees and Santa Claus :)

I did my schooling in an English Convent. Christmas was as much a part of my annual festival calendar as Diwali, Pongal or Ganesh Chaturthi.

Christmas at school meant singing Christmas carols, putting up plays on the life of Jesus (played the role of a shepherd in the manger where Christ was born - this is what happens when you're in an all-girls school :P), wearing coloured clothes to school on the last day before the Christmas holidays and secretly working out a Santa wish list :)

Somehow Santa Claus seems just as real as he is imaginary. Somehow I wish to believe he's packing his bags somewhere in the North Pole with stuff for me and all of you who believe in him.

Here's a sneak peek at my Santa wish list this year... in no particular order :)

Return Tickets to Bombay... i'm missing my frens there like crazy!!!
A yummy chocolate cake (like the one's Enid Blyton spoke of in her books) with zero calories... :P
A super-natural power to go kill those who master-minded the Bombay terror attack and other acts of terror.
A laptop of my choice... Dell's Studio 17 in Tangerine Orange is my choice for the moment :)
More of Abhishek Bachchan on the silver screen... and less of Katrina Kaif :P
Big time hits on my blog space... the new look better work ;)
The power to dream or wish for things that are possible... it hurts when your dreams remain incomplete... :(
On second thoughts Santa, please make that last one... the power to believe that incomplete dreams are only dreams that take longer to realize!
Additions to my Lucknowi Chikan suit collection... i can already sense one of Santa's elves coming along with them:)
A nice boss at the new job... i wonder if bosses feel just as weird when they're going to have a new subordinate!!!

Ten items on the list!!! I've been moderately good through the year :P... so Mr. Santa please start packing up my stuff right away :)

Merry Christmas all of you!!!

Kochi Trip - Toastmasters Style

noreply@blogger.com (priya) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:52:00 +0000

(Had to write about the trip for the company intranet... was soo lazy to edit the content and reduce the levels of being formal and professional :P just did a few changes here and there.)

I am a proud Toastmaster since January this year. It's surprising I never came across anything about this organization in the past. But like they say... 'better late than never'!!!

I am part of CSC Toastmasters (Chennai), which is a corporate club managed by the organization I work for. The club has been nurturing its members to be better communicators and leaders for over 2 years now. The best part about this club is it's member mix - the perfect combination of beginners, good speakers and experienced Toastmasters.

Participating in several contests and competing with Toastmasters from outside our club only helps evaluate ourselves and raise the bar even higher. We did exactly that when the Area and Division level contests came along in November 2008.

Nageshwar Sahu, a fellow Toastmaster from my club, won the second prize in the International Humourous Speech contest organized by the Toastmasters International at its Division G contest held in Kochi, Kerala on Nov 9th 2008.

Nageshwar kept the audience in splits as he recounted extremely hilarious experiences of his first time in the United States of America. Being funny and keeping the laughter meter high throughout a speech is not easy. Nageshwar had worked really hard for this under the mentorship of Janaki Prasad Pattanaik and some of the other members of the CSC Chennai Toastmasters Chapter. This helped him win both in the CSC Toastmasters club-level Contest and the Chennai Area Contest to qualify to participate in the Division G contest at Kochi.

Shadan, another member from my club also participated in the Humourous speech contest. Manikandan and I progressed to the Division contest in the Speech Evaluation contest.

We were accompanied by veteran Toastmasters Janaki Prasad Pattanaik, Kumar Viswanathan and Jayan Narayanan from CSC Chennai Toastmasters. Their presence and constant encouragement boosted our confidence.

Participating in the contest was a learning experience in itself. It was an honour to be part of the Toastmasters Division Contest where some of the stalwarts from the Toastmasters fraternity were present. We got an opportunity to interact with many eminent Toastmasters from Ernakulam, Bangalore, Chennai and Sri Lanka.

Our train journey to Kochi was a wonderful experience. I am sure none of us (and perhaps our fellow passengers too) would ever forget all the fun we had while travelling.

The journey from Chennai to Kochi was a meals-on-wheels experience. We feasted on samosas, idlis, biscuits, puris and chapatis (in that order if I remember right) through the evening. We were so full by dinner time that we had to skip the burgers we had packed!!!

We munched and laughed our way to Kochi. We reached the venue at around 3.00 am on the 9th of November, 2008. We had to put up at the contest venue itself - which was a beautiful resort called Sarovaram - excellent accomodation, delicious Kerala cuisine and a great ambience for the contest too.

After the contest was over we hired a van to take us around the city. We did not have much time as we were to leave the same evening. Being a Sunday most of the shops were closed. We managed to take a one hour ferry along the Cochin Shipyard though. It was a fun experience. Aditya and Lalitha from Chennai Toastmasters were also with us.

We headed to the station after a short stopover for tea and snacks. The return journey back to Chennai was equally interesting.

The entire experience was one memorable package. We learnt so much from the senior Toastmasters who were there. Many of them were kind enough to give us one on one feedback on our participation. Tips and ideas that will surely stay with us forever.

The Kochi experience was fun in more ways than one... more importantly it marked the completion of one more milestone in our Toastmasters journey!!!