19 Questions

This one was long overdue.. tagged again by Amu and with a comment that goes ‘Ashma you should do this tag’. I had to do it of course.. :-)

1. What could be the 1 wish you will ask if a genie comes in front of you?
A: Ensure that I, my family and friends remain as happy as ever. But since happiness is determined by our own attitude so I'll ask him to grant us that attitude.

2. What could be the 1 period you would want to go in a time machine?
A: I am a hopeless romantic (when it comes to others.. somehow I don’t believe in it when I am the person involved) so I would like to go to the GWTW era. 18^th century world inhabited by dukes and duchesses.. :-)

3. What will be the 1 question you will ask if you happen to meet the captain of a UFO?
A: Can you understand what I am saying?

4. What will be the 1 thing you would do if you are to go invisible for 1 minute?
A: Nothing much can be done in that small a time. So maybe I will get myself picked up in a lucky draw with the prize being a full expense paid trip around the world. I will throw in some cash and gift vouchers into the kitty too.

5. What will be the 1 thing you do if you have 1 crore rupees rite now?
A: After confirming that it’s mine to take, first I will call up my friends and family to tell about it and then spend some part and invest some.. buy a house, etc.

6. Who will be the 1 person with whom you would love to live life long, apart from your Parents, Partner, Bro or Sis ?
A: My husband but I guess he will come under ‘Partner’. So other choice I have are my friends but choosing one person out of so many dear friends is difficult.. I need all of them.

7. What is that 1 song which you always hum, without even sensing that you are humming it?
A: Keeps on changing actually. I would listen to one song some day and it will remain in my head for days on end.

8. What is that 1 mannerism in you which can be easily noticed by others?
A: I guess my inability to stand still.

9. What will be the 1 thing which you would want to take with you to your grave?
A: No grave.. I will be cremated. :-D Anyways I will have to take something which will go there.. so maybe my good Karma, leaving behind the bad ones ;-)

10. What is that 1 habit of yours, which you are trying hard to get rid off?
A: My laziness.

11. Who is that 1 person who deserves a tight slap from you rite now?
A: I can think of no one right now.

12. What is that 1 food item you will not say NO, anytime when offered?
A: Daal chawal

13. Who will be that 1 dead famous personality, whom you would want to come back alive?
A: Right now Heath Ledger comes to mind.. (have recently seen The Dark Knight and he is very good in it)

14. Who is that 1 teacher, you would not forget anytime in your life?
A: If I have to choose one, it will be Karthik sir – He used to be my tuition sir when I was a small kid.

15. Who is that 1 friend, whom you are missing so much rite now?
A: Many – Amu, Vivek, Rachna, Ashwani – none of them are in bangalore. They are still here for me, so it’s not actually missing but I wish they were here with me.

16. What is that 1 thing you would do if you knew your death date?
A: I will make plans to enjoy my life till that day arrives and spend the whole of my last day with family and friends.

17. What is that 1 thing which you are planning to dispose for a long time and hasn’t done it yet?
A: My laziness again.

18. Who will be that 1 famous personality, with whom you would badly want to date?
A: It would be either Mel Gibson or Hugh Jackman.

19. Who is that 1 person with whom you are madly in crush rite now?
A: Right now - No one. I did see the movie Sixteen Candle couple of months back and the hero in there ‘Michael Schoeffling’ is Cuteeeeeeeeee.. :-)

Good things are being said about you..

......well almost ;-) How Sweet Are You?
	You are Sweet and Sour. On the sweetness scale you are right in the middle- just like sweet and sour sauce! You have moments of true sweetness, but you also have moments of sourness. You can be helpful and nice or you can be grumpy and lazy- it just depends on what day it is. Either way, you are still a terrific person and pretty normal and your friends trust you and are totally used to your mood swings!

Which Sholay Character Are You?
	You are Jai. You are the person of great intuition. The best part of your personality is that you will go to any extent to help others without harming others, though you will not show it. You are the man of courage. Though a very serious person, you are protective about others. You always make the right decisions.

What Animal Were You In Your Past Life?
	You were unicorn. You were mysterious and noble. You have fairytale traits, and other people can only dream in envy. Your nature is completely impossible to decipher and behind all that, you know that you shine bright, for only the luckiest people get the chance to know you.

What one word embodies you?
	I am the embodiment of Beauty. You are a person that views the world as this magical place, finding beauty in almost everything. You find beauty in the most simple and fundamental things, as well as in more complex things such as people. You're not one to look for beauty, you just see it. You understand things for what they are, and expect nothing more.
Got the link through Amu's blog. Here it is:-> Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Zodiac et al.

Hmm.. Sagi overrides Leo.. I've gotta give it a thought!!

Another tag.. again by Amu

1. Last movie you saw in a theatre?
The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian.

2. What book are you reading?
Blink

3. Favourite board game?
Would Playing cards count?? :-) If not this, then Ludo or Monopoly.

4. Favourite magazine?
Anything actually. As a kid, I used to love ‘Nandan’ :-)

5. Favourite smell?
Estee Lauder – Pleasures

6. Favourite sound?
I like the faint sound of a ringing bell (temple sortta), the splattering sound that rain makes, etc. Hmm.. in love with Michael Buble's voice at the moment.

7. Worst feeling ever?
Pity

8. What is the first thing you think when you wake up?
Too sleepy to actually think anything so early in the morning but the first thought I have is to see if I can sleep for few more minutes.. J

9. Favourite fast food place?
I luv food. Any place is fine as long as the food is good. Hmm.. I do love the veg burgers at McD. :-D

10. Future child's name?
Itne aage ki planning nahi ki hein.. though I would definitely like to have his/her name begin with ‘A’. I like the name ‘Arjun’ (thought of it for the first time when heard Sachin named his son this.. :-).. )

11. Finish this sentence “if i had a lot of money i'd..."
find ways of spending it.. beginning with a world tour..

12. Do you drive fast?
Yes. Got speeding tickets to proof that.. :-(

13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Nope

14. Storm cool or scary?
Cool!!!!

15. What was your first car?
Hyundai Elantra

16. Favourite drink?
Fresh lime

17. Finish this sentence "if i had the time i would?"
See all the places that I can (if I had all-the-money coupled with all-the-time I had), watch all the movies in my ‘to-see’ list

18. Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
I can have it in small quantities. I don’t like preparation where broccoli adds the main flavour.

19. If you could dye you hair,which colour would it be?
Burgundy – I am actually thinking abt it right now.. :-)

20. Name the different cities /town you have lived in?

Brajrajnagar, Rourkela, Bangalore, Greensboro (NC, USA)

21. Favourite sports watch?
I like ‘Fossils’ – not sure if it comes under the sportswatch category.. I have a ‘Fasttrack’ that’s quite cool.

22. One nice thing about the person who sent you this?
My best friend – that makes her pretty nice i think.. ;-D

23. Whats under your bed?
My suitcase which is filled with some of my clothes that I no longer feel like wearing.

24. Would you like to be reborn as yourself?
Yes. However I would love to have the independence that guys have.

25. Morning person or night owl?
Night owl..

26. Over easy,or sunny side up?
I don’t eat eggs but if I had I would have liked sunny side up. :-D

27. Favourite place to relax?
On the bed or on a sofa watching TV

28. Favourite pie?
Chocolate

8 things - Tagged by Amu

8 things I am passionate about...

• Movies.
• Books.
• Travelling.
• Food. :-)
• My friends and family.
• My independence.
• Moon, Rain and Sea – I just love them and have always been attracted to them. My friends say that since my origins are from Rajasthan, I get mad when I see water... ;-) Not sure of the attraction to moon.. hmm.. maybe coz i was born after midnight.. :-D
• My work

8 things I want to do before I die...

• Go for a world tour. Even if I can’t go for a world tour, I am sure I will never get ‘moksha’ if I die without seeing Paris. :-(
• Have a large movie collection. I have already started work on this.. :-)
• Have a library (this time of books of course :-) ) of my own.
• Drive my own M&M Scorpio
• Own a beach front house
• Make exercise a part of my daily routine.
• Write a book which at least some one buys.
• Be stinking rich.. ;-)

8 things I say often…

• Cool
• Good hein
• Moron
• Aur batao? / Aur kya?
• Great!
• Sure
• No probs
• Yes, tell me..

8 books I last read

• 100 years of solitude
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• A thousand splendid suns
• It’s not about the bike
• Katie
• The collected short stories of Roald Dahl.
• Eleven Minutes
• Blink (reading currently)

8 songs I could listen to over and over again...

• Save the last dance for me
• Jab koi baat bigad jaaye
• Nothings gonna change
• Sway with me
• Can’t take my eyes off you
• Zara Zara
• When you say nothing at all
• Everything I do

Phew!!!! very very difficult to come up with that list.. choosing just 8 from sooooooo many was a colossal task. :-)

4 people I think should do this tag...
Ashwani, Rashmi, Chitra and if you want it, it’s yours.

The ball is rolling

Took a big step today - one that will hopefully make my future even better than my present. (Ok.. I will agree, it comes nowhere near the BIG giant leap that I took last month but then lets talk about it some other time)

I have set the ball rolling before I have time to think & rethink my decision and then have the luxury to back out. Let’s pray that I finally come out of my ‘Lazzy gurl’ mode (as M called me recently :-)..) and start preparing for the road ahead.

Oh how I need all the luck that I can get my hands on now!!

Here is a girl

I got it as a forward a pretty long time back. Have got it again & again many a times after that. Couldn't help myself from sharing it here. I guess guys also have similar apprehenstions as well as expectations about marriage as we girls do. And guess this sums it up in a neat way. What you want, at the end of the day, is understanding and love from your better half.

As most of you might know, this is an old post which has been dissected. crtiticized and hailed like anything.. :)

Here is a girl,

who is as much educated as you are;

who is earning almost as much as you do;

one, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have because she is as human as you are;

one, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements;

one, who has lived with and loved her parents and brothers and sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;

one, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name;

one, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen;

one, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a naukraani, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her, and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding or if she learns faster than you;

one, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace, too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities;

yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise;

one, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;

one, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;

one, who just wants one thing from you - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding and love.

Are you man enough to give it to her?

Jodhaa Akbar

Disclaimer: The review contains some spoilers. Don't read this if you are very interested in watching the movie and are looking forward to it.

Had gone to see this movie with some expectations. Expectations were quite a few from the mega budget movie with a wonderful actor – Hrithik playing the lead and an oscar-nominated director – Ashutosh Gowarikar at its helm. I had also braced myself for reality aka disappointment so as to get the expectations in check. :) To add to that, I am not an Aishwaryaa Rai fan. None the less I went to see the movie expecting a beautiful love story. I was ready to disregard any historical errors that crop up. As the name suggested, it was to be a love story between a guy and a girl – Akbar and Jodhaa, who just happened to be emperor of India and a rajput princess respectively. And that’s what Mr.AG had been promising us - a love story and not a history lesson. At the very beginning, the movie claims this too – i.e., it’s a love story between two individuals to the point of even playing down the importance (and the controversy - this is another matter that our highly intolerant mentality still made an issue out of it) around the queen’s name.

So with these things on my mind, I started watching the movie. The first thing that struck me was the thought that Mr.AB is back again (don't know why he needs to have some input in everything now a days - either he or his voice is present in 99% of the movies and commercials.. ok.. I know thats a bit of an exaggaration but he ought to make himself a little scarce). Okay if we leave him aside, the movie starts & we find ourselves in the middle of a battlefield. Kind of expected in a period movie. What was not expected is the way the scene was shot. It was funny to the point of being downright kiddish. I somehow don't know how you can shoot a battle scene with no strategical thinking to it, where ppl are just running towards each other to embrace or maybe to do the chest-thumping hi-5's a la paes-bhupathi. At least that's how it seemed to me. So we see a teen Akbar being groomed by a prosaic bairam khan. The next thing we know, Akbar has grown into an ever-so-handsome Hrithik, who quickly but very effectively makes it clear that he is the boss. The scene also establishes the presence of an ethical mind.

The movie than criss-crosses between the life of the emperor and the rajput princess. Aishwaryaa looks beautiful in the part but that's why she is there in the first place. :) The princess is betrothed to a rajput prince(I will never understand why they make such characters so ugly looking.. maybe they dot want the girl to get tempted to stay and not leave the poor guy), whose father breaks off the engagement. The plot, with a slow pace and loads of unwanted scenes, webs together the marriage of politics between the two. And now starts the movie that Mr.AG had been promising us and took a really looooong time to come to. The journey that Akbar and Jodhaa make together has been conveyed well. The loathing/fear(on Jodhaa's part) and curiosity(on Akbar's part) gets gradually transformed into mutual respect -to- attraction -to- trust -to- love. And the direction of these scenes are brilliant. You can feel their feelings for each other change and gradually evolve into a deep bond. There are a lot of unforgettable and beautiful scenes in the movie:
- The scene where Akbar sees the face of his new bride for the first time. Hrithik is just amazing in this scene with his expressions showing us everything he is supposed to be feeling. I have fallen in love with him all over again. :D
- The scene where Jodhaa puts her two demands to Akbar in order to agree for the marriage. I somehow thought she expected him to refuse and I loved her reaction when he indeed agrees.
- The sequence where she prepares food for her husband and is asked to taste the food first to ensure that its not poisoned. I loved Hrithik's expressions in this scene. It's like 'oh. comeon let me eat first.. i would prefer that I die rather than her if it is indeed poisoned'. You can see his anxiety in there.
- The immediate sequence where he asks that he will eat from the same plate that jodhaa had used.
- All the small scenes taking place when 'jashn-e-bahara' song was playing. Especially liked the one where Akbar is trying hard to 'listen-to' his dai-maa's lecture :)
- The scene where Akbar asks his gaurds to throw his evil cousin from the terrace is also good. It shows us his anger and capability to be cruel if need be.
- The sword practice where Akbar is showing off his toned body well aware that Jodhaa is watching.. ;-)
- The sword-fight sequence between Jodhaa and Akbar when he is in Amer to take her back with him. It reminded me of 'The Mask of Zorro' :)
- The scene just before this is also good. The verbal fight that they have when they are in their chamber.
- Liked the scene where Jodhaa writes her hubby's name and he confesses on being illiterate.
- The fight in the end between Akbar and his brother-in-law, a straight rip-off from troy. It was good none the less.

Even though there are some really beautiful scenes in the movie, the presence of the n+1 unwanted, poorly scripted and acted scenes just make it unbearable. If I start jotting down the ridiculous scenes in the movie, it will take me quite a few days and LOADS of words, so I am gonna just leave it out. If the movie had remained true to its name, it would have made a gr8 romantic movie. But Mr.AG seemed undecided whether he wants to make a romantic movie or a historical one. In the end, he ends up making neither. There were so many scenes that could have been so easily deleted thus giving respite to the viewers too. At a length of some 3hr 20 min, it was tooooo long. All the more heightened due to the weak screenplay and flow of the plot. I was actually waiting for the interval to come (it was all too late coming 120 min after the start) and then for the movie to end.

Hrithik as usual was brilliant. This man has done all sorts of roles and convinced me in each of them that there is no one else who could have played it better. It is near impossible to see anyone else in the role of Akbar other than Hrithik. So here I am all over in love again. The scenes between Hrithik and Aishwarya are brilliant and I would give most part of that credit to Hrithik's performance. Aishwaryaa looked beautiful and is good in many scenes but also her insipid self in few others. Thank god she redeems herself in many scenes and thank you AG for giving her as less dialogs as possible. Rest of the actors are plain and simple 'bad'. None of the other supporting actors, with the exception of Sonu Sood (i didn't recognize him :-) ), make an impression, actually they make a bad impression. Kulbhashan Kharbanda was the worst I think - he looked so spineless for a king. Loved Raja Murad - his was a guest appearance, can't actually count him as a supporting actor. He has a lovely voice, you can't help noticing it.

The music is very good. A R Rehman just keeps on vending out beautiful musical notes. I specially loved the 'Jashn-e-bahara' song. Even 'Mann mohana', 'In lamho', 'Azeem-o-shaan' and 'Khawja' have good soulful music. The music is very romantic and meets/(exceeds?) the expectation from AR Rehman when it comes to Romance.

Overall the movie is too long and boring. There are many not-to-be-missed scenes but then it would be better if you wait for the DVD to come out and watch the movie after fast forwarding the many other useless scenes. After putting 3.30 hrs into this movie, I came out feeling disappointed and a bit angry too. Angry coz the movie could have been so much better and made a name as a classic romantic movie. It already has some very brilliant sequences to boost of. I might see the movie again but I am gonna wait for the DVD release. :)

A human shadow

What Kind of a Shadow are you?

You are a human shadow. If a loved one needs you, you are always right at his or her heels! Your deep social connection with human beings produces your qualities of genuine caring and charisma. However, at times you are naive to the true nature of your loved ones. Remember that humans' gift of free will does not always lead them in wise directions. But your essence of love and friendship represent the other precious gifts of humanity. Overall you are a strikingly valuable and innocent being who has a lot to give.

Take this quiz!

How is it that..

- ….. Life is looking better and worse at the same time.
- ….. I am ecstatic about the way forward as well as skeptic about it.
- ….. I want to get more responsibilities and I feel bad(somehow not serving enough) if I don’t get them. However when I do get more responsibilities, I am afraid of failing and not fulfilling expectations.
- ….. I like what I am working on but at times I hate it like anything. (I guess this is a universal phenomena in the world of IT professionals.. :-))
- ….. Every time I get hurt, it’s always followed by guilt that I must have done something which led to all this hurt. I hate feeling so guilty and when I vent out my guilt, people think I am trying to feel great by being humble, guilty (?) and that makes me feel more guilty. :-( Maybe I do just that. And now that I am writing it, maybe I am trying to be 'greater' still.
- ….. I want to get in a better shape (literally), get up early, exercise, etc but I also feel like sleeping that extra hour, minutes, seconds whenever I can.
- ….. I show what I feel and wish I was more in control of my expressions. At the same time, I wish I never loose this facet of my persona.
- ….. I expect less from others (I hope so) and even then sometimes I feel let down. However even after trying my best I am failing expectations of some people.
- ….. I am a selfish hard-core Arian but I also care about others and try to put myself in their shoes.
- ….. Life is indeed contradictions or is it contradictions that constitute life?

Hmmm.. Maybe it’s just me!!!!

My best friend's wedding - I

My best friend, Amu just got married, on 20th Jan to be precise. I had been looking forward to her marriage since the day I learnt she has given her concurrence to marry K*. K is a really nice and sweet guy who will give his 100% to keep her happy. Someone who will pamper her with his love and care plus give her a breathing space. (Though I agree I had my reservations about him when I first heard about it.. I was like.. "Come on you can get a better guy".. u know the kind of feeling u have for your best friend as if no one is good enough for him/her.. :)..)

*(Sidenote#1 - When talking about him with her and between us friends, we call him 'K'.. :-D)

So I had been busy with my own set of preparations for the D-day.. (arre I am one of the bride’s best friend, I gotta look great too.. ;-) and that means hard work!!

So I started with something like..

"It’s my best friend's marriage, what do I wear??". I couldn't just wear a salwar suit.. that is something you were in every other function/event.
"Should I get a lahenga?" - Naah,.. wouldn't be worth the cost. I will wear it to one marriage and then what!!
"I will get a sari!!" - Yup. That's what I will get a good sari. Ok.. one decision made.. Pheeew!! :-p

Then I started hunting for a sari. Went to loads of shops here in Bangalore and finally zeroed in on a beautiful mustard yellow colored sari. Since it was a day-time marriage ceremony, I didn't want to get a dark, bright sari which will make people run for anti-glare specs!! Since this was the first time I bought a sari for myself, I happily called up everyone I know to tell them about this. :) While I was happily telling my aunt* about my recent purchase, she says "Ok.. you got the sari.. good.. hope you know you have to accessorize it". I (rolling my eyes) was like "What's that????". And then I got a list of things I had to give my complete attention to, from buying bangles, necklace, earrings, bindi to sandals. Per her, it should either be matching or contrast based on how the blouse is? (matching vs contrast)!!

*(Sidenote#2 - My aunt = my bua aka my father's sister.. she is just 8 years elder to me and more like a sister-cum-friend-cum-activity partner-cum-stress buster-cum-secret keeper and the role is same vice-versa)

I started again on my shopping expedition.. everyone who knows me and I mean EVERYONE (I am not just talking about my friends and family here but also my colleagues, ppl whom I met in the bus while commuting to office, etc) , now knows about my recent shopping experiences. With help from my friends, I was able to accomplish this task. Special thanks here should go to Chitra, my friend who is a localite & who loves shopping as much as I do. She took me to this really amazing bangle shop, Bhawani Kangan, located in Jayanagar, B'lore. Hey if you like beautiful, colorful bangles, you are gonna love this shop. :-)

Next thing on the 'To-do' list was my tickets to and from Bbsr. Since I didn't have the luxury of taking more than a day off, I decided to fly. (Thank God, Amu decided to marry on a Sunday, a weekday would have led to downright fight with my PM. I just took 2 weeks off during diwali. :) ).

So once I tied all the loose ends here, I started calling up ppl again to extol and bore them with this info. In between all these talks I realized, in my excitement to buy things for myself, I haven't bought a gift for her. :-(.

Choosing a gift for someone is a HUGE responsibility. And if the person turns out to be your best friend, the task gets even harder. And to top it all, if it’s her marriage.. well you can imagine the Herculean effort that one has to put in. She is tying the knot and I am the one having anxiety attacks on what gift to get for her and the ‘would be’. For quite a few weeks before the D-day, I have been channeling all my thoughts, concentration & effort on this task. If you have interacted with me (through mails, messenger, phone, and face-2-face) during this period, I am sure you already know about this. ;-). After listening to suggestions from a lot of folks and inputs from some friends, I finally got her a wedding gift*. Hope she likes it. She did say something about liking it.

*(Sidenote#3 - While booking flight tickets to bbsr, it did occur to me that I could save up the fare and give her a big gift but then my being there is a better gift.. what say?? ;-p

This was all that I had to put in while preparing for my best friend's wedding.. more on the actual wedding ceremony and post-wedding updates coming soon!!

A promise fulfilled

So Mr. Ratan Tata has delivered on the promise he made some years back (4 years from what I read in newspapers) to us Indians. With the unveiling of 'Tata Nano' on Jan 10,2008 at AutoExpo,2008, he has handed over the 'people's car' to the common people. With a price tag of Rs 1 lakh, its the world's least expensive 4 wheeler. The moment I heard about its launch, I wanted to write a few lines related to it. Not about the car but about the man.

We will have to reserve our judgement on the 'Nano' till the time its ready to drive onto the Indian roads. There are still many miles to go on that. The price which will flare up after including all the taxes that needs to be paid. Everyone has concerns over the safety and fuel emission standards of the car. There are also concerns on the impact of large scale buying of this car on our already poor infrastructure. But lets keep it for others to divulge/discuss/dissect on.

This post is the only way I could think of to salute the man behind the Nano, a man who saw a small family's plight, made a promise to himself and the nation and then had the courage & vision to fulfill it against all sorts of challenges (rising cost, ridicule from his peers and sundry, and loads of technical/financial challenges which I am sure I can't even comprehend).

Whatever happens to Nano, Mr. Tata, you simply rock!!

Tata's Nano

What being "Me" entails..

Flicked it from Amu's blog.. (By now, you must know I love these things.. ;-).. )

What Ashma Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

20 Questions -- Tagged by Amu

Instructions: Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. Name Three Most Valuable Assets?

Friends/family, Positive outlook and a viewpoint (along with a willingness to change if it’s wrong)

2. If you have the chance, what would you probably say to your beloved one?

Thank you for making my life beautiful.

3. If you were to be stranded on a desert island, who are the 3 (i am making it 4) blog buddies you would take with you?

Amu – She is my best friend and has impacted my life (in a very positive way) more than she knows. Will have her for all the whacky, non-sense, intelligent, funny discussions that we have.
Ashwani – For all the philosophical discussions that he initiates.

Rashmi – For all the fun that we have together. (along with the fights ;-)..)

Vivekanand – For all the laughter that he provides.

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?

Paris – I have always dreamt of having a cozy/romantic dinner in any of the open air Parisian café/ restaurants and waltzing through the streets of Paris at night.

5. If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?

OMG. Lots of dreams. Maybe that one dream would be ‘a situation where all my dreams come true’. All I want is everything :)

6.Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?

I miss by grandfather a lot and I regret not being able to share my joys and achievements (small though they are) with him. I am sure he would have been excited, happy and proud.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

My independence

8. What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

My first reaction would be to take it, next one to try and find the owner and the last one to submit it to the police dept.

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

I would like to think that I would but I don’t think I will.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.

Amu – an invaluable friend, intelligent person, witty companion and I love her.

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

His understanding & friendship.

12. Which type of person do you hate the most?

People who say something in front and something very different behind you.

13. What is your ambition?
Be stinking rich ;-). Lead a happy and exciting life.

14. What is the thing that will make you think someone is a bad person?

A person who is wishing bad for someone else. Not the people who say just for the heck of it and don’t really mean it. But people who really mean for something bad to happen to the other person.

15. Christmas is coming, who do you like to celebrate with?

This Christmas is over. Christmas will come again next year. Abhi itni dur ke plans nahi banaye hein.

16. If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be?

I would have requested God for giving me the pleasure of my grandfather’s company for a few more years.

17. Are you a shopaholic or no?

I am an impulsive shopper. Though I think I am not a shopaholic as I am always within my means.

18. What is your stress buster?
Talking to my friends. They are my stress busters (and some times stress creators too.. ;-)

19. It would be 2008 in a few days, do you have a new year’s resolution?

Yes. The universal, most common and vague one. Will try and loose some weight. :-)

20. (My question) What’s one thing in yourself that you would like to change?

My moodiness. I do /don’t do things based on my current mood and sometimes it's pretty abrupt.

And now it's my turn... huhahahahaha.. :-) I would like to tag the following-

Ashwani, Chitra, Rashmi and Vivek.

Aaja Nachle

Saw ‘Aaja Nachle’ this weekend. I had been eagerly waiting for the release of the movie since the time I first saw the teaser some 6 months back. I was in US and we had gone to a nearby town to watch the hindi movie ‘Eklavya’. Seeing Madhuri Dixit dance to the beats of ‘aaja nachle’ (the title track of the movie – though at that time it was just the music playing as the songs had not released yet), I got pretty excited and started looking forward to the movie. So the moment I heard the film has released, I was waiting to see it. Didn’t get chance at the first weekend (thanks to yet another exam that I had to give). I didn’t want to read the reviews of this movie. It has happened since quite some time when ghastly movies have been praised like anything and good ones have been blasted left, right and centre. But even after intentionally avoiding reading the review column of the newspaper, I heard bits and pieces of it…. from friends, colleagues, and all who have either seen the movie or as in most cases, read the reviews.

Being a HUGE madhuri fan, I went to watch the movie with as unbiased and open mind as I could. So when the lights went dim and the movie started rolling in, I waited in anticipation for madhuri to dazzle the screen as she always does. I actually felt goose pimples on my hands when her name floated across the screen. And then she sizzled on screen urging us to dance with her. I do agree that I was a bit disappointed with the start.. somehow madhuri should have got a better entry than that for sure and the director fell short here. And then we all saw the same madhuri back on screen. It was like she has never been away. I am not sure how she felt coming back in front of the camera 2 kids hence.

The movie did start off fine. And even though she looked a bit old (something the makeup man/camera man should have handled better) , you can not help but admire her acting skills. She was so convincing in even the younger role in the flashback with her expressions, her naughtiness, her innocence in that part. This set the up pace for the entire movie. I enjoyed the movie immensely. Yeah on hindsight the story or shall I say the handling of the story could have been better, the movie seemed a bit unrealistic to me. Especially in the way the ‘choudhary’ sahab first fires up then gets cajoled by madhuri’s expert.. shall I say.. manipulation.. ;-). And then later betrays her before having a change of heart again towards the end. Also the character played by Irfaan Khan - such a talented actor - was so loose. Same goes for Divya Dutta’s character.. ok so I understand that she was always a weak gal but I was not able to understand what earth shattering situation arose that gave her so much strength later.

There are some similar idiotic instances in the movie. But what matters is madhuri was her usual self. She still dances beautifully, smiles even more beautifully and acts as good as she did earlier if not better. Arre she also was humorous enough to laugh at herself.. In that scene, when she plans to get her highly accented ‘dancers’ from NY and stage a show in her town and gets a reply with stress on an equally accented ‘dancers’.:-) The various other characters in the movie were also good, played with finesse by really good actors. Though again some characters were not that well formed. Also madhuri could have been given a stronger role. Somehow it seemed that the role didn’t do her justice.. it didn’t make her do anything stronger or different. That role could have been played by anyone and so easily by madhuri. It was so undemanding that it didn’t require a certain “Madhuri Dixit” in it. She should have got a chance to display her superb acting skills too along with her not-to-mention dancing skills. That’s where it fails in the expectations of so many madhuri fans. The film was too easy for her and unable to meet the expectations of her comeback movie. :-(

Even though it could have been much better, overall the movie was a good experience. Her fans saw madhuri dancing as only she can to the beats of ‘Aaja Nachle’ :-D. We saw madhuri on screen after a long break of 5-6 years. Hope our wait will be shorter the next time around. Go ahead and enjoy ‘Aaja Nachle’ and do temper down your expectations though and also don’t listen to too much of the negative comments in Media (Print/TV). I don’t know what they are using a basis as when rating movies.

PS: Another incentive, Akshya Khanna. He plays a good role in the movie and he is so sweet and charming – you can’t help liking him. With his enigmatic and suave personality, he will charm his way into your system. ;-)

More about me, me and ofcourse me..

The change in me

I have always been the kind of person who hates changes. I get so comfortable and used to everything (people, places, my work space, things.. anything), that I resist change up till the last moment I can. Oh you should see how get used to a good watch, or a shoe or a t-shirt.. I keep using it till my friends and ppl around me start commenting that maybe that’s the only piece I have.. :). My friends keep rigging me up and literally force me to move onto something else just for a .. u guessed it.. change.
Even though I am a lazy gal who simply detests changes, once a situation has actually changed, I adapt myself to it pretty fast. It takes me very little time to dig in, find a comfortable place, dig deeper and then mount myself there. :) I sit tight till the next change makes me move out of the comfort zone.

All that being said, you can imagine how difficult it would be for me to try to deliberately change myself. I have always given more than 100% to my work. Worked to the best of my abilities, gone beyond my comfort zone, worried sick about the status of a project or its deliverable, I have even had sleepless nights because of it. My project caters to a major US financial institution. Due to the time zone difference, the entire evening is spent on project meetings, tele-conferences, etc which continue till late at night. These meetings generally result in action items which are worked on during the morning half. So during a normal weekday you can’t even think of having an hour or a minute for yourself. On my way back from office, I used to ponder on one or other project issue. After reaching home and having my dinner, I would again call up my onsite counterpart for updates. It was not the working hours that were hectic; it was the constant strict deadline. Whatever the phase, the work is always demanding and since I am very good in worrying and taking tension, I had my work cut out for me.

This was my normal working day until I reached Onsite. During my Onsite stint, the pressure was more but at least I was back home by 8pm max. Very rarely did I have to stay late in office. Even then the habit of “worrying” was always with me. Then one day, a very good friend of mine - ‘P’ - suggested that I stop thinking so much about my work. I should do my best at work, think about solutions/innovations, etc but when things are not under my control, I should not start worrying either. After all - it’s work, not my life. He hammered the fact in till it entered my brain and was lodged there. Since then I have deliberately trained myself not to worry too much. It’s not going to solve anything anyways. I should do my best and when I can not do anything else, I should not worry either.

Now that I am back in India, looks like this training is bearing fruit. I still have work till late at night, onsite calls after reaching home & I still worry about the work but there is moderation to my "worrying" now. Whenever I start worrying about “what will happen now?”, I think about the situation & try to search for a solution. If I get it, well and good. But if I find that there is nothing that I can do about it at that moment, I just push back my "worry" saying “I anyways can’t do anything now, lets take it up once I reach office tomorrow morning”. As Scarlett so often said in GWTW – ‘After all tomorrow is another day’. And I will tell you, this has made life simpler. Unnecessary worries are a big headache. Thank you Popatlal!! ;-p

The "Loving" yours truly.. ;-)

From the kind of topics ( aka quizzes) I am blogging on, there are 2 inferences you can surely draw..
1. I am in the mood to hear good things about myself.. as Richard Gere would say - in need of a major "suck up" ;-)
2. I am too busy ( read LAZY) to think and actually write about something (although I have tonnes of things I could write on.. as an fyi, I just landed back in India.. back to Home-Sweet-Home.. )

What's Your Best Quality? Your Result: Loving Your best quality is loving! People like you because of your loving nature. You are a nice person that cares about others. Your loving nature makes you a good friend.

What's Your Best Quality?

Super (wo)man!!

"You are mild-mannered, good,strong and you love to help others."

Took this small time pass quiz.. Me.. super(wo)man.. ;-). Though I do like batman more.. but than you are what you are.. :D

Wanna know which superhero you are?? Here's the link -> Superhero Quiz

Behind the steering wheel

I decided to dedicate my next blog to all the varied and ahem, wonderful experiences that I have been having while driving my car.

• I have driven in the slow and relatively empty traffic of Greensboro as well as the hustle and bustle of New Jersey.


• I have become so infamous for driving fast, my colleagues here don't miss any chance they get to tease me around that.


• Drove at 100mph as well as 10mph (believe it or not both were on the same driving trip)


• Got ticketed for speeding.. and I was so above the speed limit, I had no excuse but to graciously accept the ticket. It didn't matter that speed limit being so low, everyone was above it.. I just happened to be the topper.


• And just when I am getting ready to fly back to India, I got a notice from DMV. My license is gonna be suspended for 6 months and that is for the ticket I got earlier. One speeding ticket and some 180 bucks of fine later, my license was getting suspended. Sooooo not fair!!!! :-( I have requested for a preliminary hearing to try my luck and get the suspension reduced or waived. But with my luck moving in the direction it is now - southwards, not sure if it is going to serve any purpose. But at least, I will be able to drive till it's time to fly back.
  

Speaking about driving, here's a pic of my car..

My black beauty :D

PS: And now I have to sell it off. :-( I am gonna miss her and the independence that driving it gave. I just looove driving. I used to drive a black TVS scooty (another black beauty) during my engg days and have many happy memories of it. Just like the Elantra above.