Sunday, May 20, 2007

Dreams

“But I, being poor, have only my dreams.
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.”

- Lines from a beautiful poem by W. B. Yeats


Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I'll be seeing you

Here’s the lyrics of a song I heard recently. It is from a lovely, romantic movie, The Notebook. It has a very simple and universal “rich girl meets poor boy” story. A common theme has been captured well by the director, with the help of good leading pair, Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling. Of course when you have as charming an actor as Ryan Gosling in the lead, things get even more beautiful. I won’t say that he is a great actor but he is good. I have see a couple of his other movies too & liked him in all – he draws you to himself plus when in a negative role, he has this dark aura around him. He is in ‘The List’ now and by that I mean my list of fav ppl ;-) The movie also has excellent cinematography with beautiful, picturesque locations. I especially liked the view which accompanies the opening credits of the movie and the sequence where Noah(Ryan) takes Allie(Rachel) for a boat-ride around a lake which is filled with geese.

Ok coming back to the song, I especially liked the lyrics, the music, and Billie Holiday’s voice - it's a bit different ;) you may not like it at first go. The song fit in perfectly with the situation in which it was being played, giving it a kind of nostalgic/haunting feel. Here goes the lyrics..

I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through.

In that small cafe;
The park across the way;
The children's carousel;
The chestnut trees;
The wishin' well.

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day;
In every thing that's light and gay.
I'll always think of you that way.

I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new.
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day;
In every thing that's light and gay.
I'll always think of you that way.

I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new.
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Analyze this ;-)

I was watching 'Analyze This' yesterday… another re-run :) .. one helluva funny movie.. I was laughing like anything most of the time while watching it.. Billy Crystal & Robert de Niro.. an awesome combo... :D .. as deadly as Danny DeVito & Billy Crystal in 'Threw momma from the train'. Please see it in case u already haven't.. u'll enjoy every bit of it.

Coming back to ‘Analyze This’, there are loads of funny scenes in here.. especially the ones where Billy Crystal , a psychiatrist, is conducting sessions for his patients. While watching those scenes, I realized thank god I was not a psychiatrist.. Most of the cases were so hillarious, I would have laughed out on the face of the patients.. :).. And I am serious about that.. I have a penchant for laughing at the most inappropriate times. During tonnes & tonnes of lectures in , my friends would say something funny and I would burst out laughing, while they would be very good in controlling their laughter.. During my engineering days, I and my friend Amrita..(Amu for me ;-) .. and here's a link to her blog), used to sit together during our classes and laugh together.. she would deliver one of her deadly one liners and keep mum. And I would have a very difficult time controlling my laughter.. This really worried me during my 3rd year of Engg as our HOD was about to take one of our subjects.. he being a terror in our dept, I was pretty skeptical of how I would fair in his presence. Thankfully I was never caught by him.. though I did laugh out loud a few times.. ;)

Hmm.. so as u can see, imagining myself at Billy Crystal's position was fun.. It has happened to me once too while I was trying to psycho-analyze a situation.... It was during the time I came to b’lore after completing my engg degree. I had joined as a SE in one of the big software companies. During the training period, I was staying at a PG in Koramangala with some of my friends. We used to go to office together, take the 5.30 bus back home and would have talk-sessions till late at night.. (the experience I had at the PG can fill a few more blogs). During one of our such, there was this girl, who came to us (us being me, chandra and preeti).. then very seriously she told 'Let me give u a case study, analyze it and tell me your opinion about it' (Fyi.. she was working part time and preparing for further studies and we assumed the case study was for that.. ) .. And then she started telling us abt the case..

'Let's assume a hypothetical situation.. there's a guy and a girl.. the girl really likes the guy.. he is her best friend.. she has counted on him and trusted him forever.. and the guy likes her too.. Let's assume they are working together.. and hence see each other everyday.. then all of sudden the guy gets very busy.. u see.. he is preparing for his MBA while working.. the girl realizes that & understands the situation.. she knows that his carrier / growth are very imp.. and she is supportive.. even lends him her book to help.. So now they see each other less often.. mind you she hasn’t told him that she likes him and neither has he..
Ok. then one day after a long time they meet again at their work place.. the guy seems preoccupied.. tells her he will return her books soon as he has read them & doesn’t need it any more.. Few more days pass.. since the girl also is preparing for MBA and needed the book.. she tried contacting him a few times but was unable to due to some reasons.. reasons are not imp.. ok.. now after another long passage of time.. they meet up and the guy returns the books.. he is grateful to her for her help.. and after some time says bye and goes.. '

Now she told all this to us and then stopped. We 3 are staying at her like.. “ok.. carry on..” Then she asks.. 'I just have one question.. why did not the guy just ask.. "How was your day, XYZ?" '

Ok.. now she is waiting for our expert comments.. Let you tell me our positions.. I was sitting on a bed.. she was sitting opposite to me on the same bed.. preeti and chandra were sitting on the adjacent one. After finishing this and asking her question, she stops and is looking intently at me for an answer.. And guess what did I do.. I burst out laughing on her face.. Yes that's what I did.. The most funny part being.. in the question, "How was your day, XYZ?".... 'XYZ' was her name. :-D

Oh my god.. the look on her face seeing me laugh was too much.. it made me laugh even more.. I was expecting preeti and chandra to laugh too.. I looked at them and those poor souls were just keeping quiet.. trying hard to control their laughter.. It was quiet some time before I stopped.. preeti and chandra (God bless them!!) did some analysis, gave some answers to soothe her and finally she went to her room.. The moment she went upstairs to her room, we had another bout of laughter.. this time 3 of us together.. Oh I know it was bad.. laughing at someone's prob.. but the way she told it.. it was too funny.. and also it had sounded so artificial when she was telling about it.

Whatever the case be.. that was yet another time I wished I had control on my laugh riots.. Asking someone 'How was you day, XYZ?'.. replacing it with their names was one of our favorite jokes during that time.. and it still is :-D

Moral of the story: Doing what Billy crystal did in 'Analyze this' is a difficult job. He did great!! ;-)

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Travel Bug

That’s what has always been roaming around me, making buzzing noises and putting a sting whenever it gets a chance. If there is something I enjoy more than reading & good food, it’s traveling. I have always been fond of it, at least as long as I can remember. All thanks to my dad.

My dad just loves traveling. Being a businessman, with the sole responsibility of the business and always being a tad too busy, he is not one who has had the luxury to enjoy it the way he would have wanted. Even with all the various strings attached, he has traveled a lot. Always taking out time during our summer/winter vacations and exploring new places. And it was not just limited to tourist attractions back home (though we have covered many places like Agra, J&K, Delhi, Chandigarh, Calcutta, nearly the whole of Orissa & Southern India, etc. I could not accompany my family to Rajasthan though.. Engg exams.. :-(.. ). Even the small places in and around our town has all been explored by us. The small creeks near by, a garden here, a farmhouse there. We just used to pack up and get into the car. The picnics we had were so much fun- a new place every time. With my father’s idea, we once had a picnic on boat. (A river passes through our town).Tied a couple of boats together, hired some people to row it, moved downstream and then back. That is one of the best picnics I have been to.

My father’s love for traveling has rubbed on me. (Even the reading part comes from him, though he was not into novels, just magazines, newspapers, articles and some philo books once in a while). And I, being my father’s daughter, try to satiate the bug as much and as often as I can.

Started working on this, as soon as I got a job and landed in Bangalore. Saw any near by places I could get a chance to. Went to Mangalore, Mysore, Kerala-Munnar, Cochin, Allepy, Pondicherry (I have been here about 5 times or so, thanks to my friend Rohini – its her hometown, a quaint, little & very cute French town.. first time was with my family). I could have covered many more places (Ooty & Shravanbelagola are few places I really wanted to see) but lot of times I had to back out of a plan due to absence of female company :-( . I have some ghummakad friends who were always ready with a packed bag. But my girl frineds, at most times, had some or other ties they could not break out of, even though they also like traveling.

So now here I am in a new & very different country with the possibilities to see some more new places. And I have dived in head on. Have seen some places already, Phoenix, Washington, Cary, Raleigh. Made travel arrangements for a few more – New York, Niagara Falls, Florida, Orlando. Before I head back home, I want to see San Francisco, California too. Let’s see if I can. Quoting Paulo Coelho: - “And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”- The Alchemist (Quite a book, I suggest reading it if you get a chance). And so I do believe he is right, let me add here my wish to see Paris & Rome too. Just in case universe needs extra time. ;-). After all there are miles to go before I sleep..