Diwali!
Diwali – one of the biggest festivals in India. Diwali means light, happiness, new clothes, crackers, great food. I am typing this sitting in my hostel in Bangalore, while my family is 800 Kms away. Almost everybody from my mother’s side of family is there, celebrating Diwali together. There is something about festivals, doesn’t matter if you are away from family for rest of the year. Festivals have less to do with God or religion, they are really about whole family meeting at one place and catching up on each other’s lives.
For me, this is not first Diwali away from home. In four years of engineering, Diwali always came in submission days, the busiest days in any engineering student’s schedule. I had my share of fun here in Bangalore. Yesterday, I had gone to my uncle’s place whom I hadn’t seen in last ten years! I couldn’t find the house by myself, so he was coming to pick me up. We didn’t need any help to identify each other. It works like magic, something inside you tells that this person is from your own family. Contrary to what I had feared, there was no awkwardness at all. My uncle’s mother, was as affectionate as I have always remembered her. Ages ago, I had gone to their house in Harihar. I was 10 years old then!
There were two parallel conversations. I was talking to my uncle (my mother’s cousin) in English and to his mother in Marathi. You see, my family is a marriage of Maharashtra and Karnataka. My father is a Maharashtrian while my mother is a Kannadiga, though she was born and brought up in Maharashtra. So, only Marathi was spoken in my home. I used to hear Kannada only when mom’s side of relatives visited. Though I can understand Kannada a bit, I can’t speak it. And my uncle can’t speak Marathi!
That brings me to a promise I have made to myself umpteen number of times but never took enough efforts to fulfill it – to learn Kannada. Literally speaking, it is my mother-tongue. And now when I am in the capital of Karnataka, the centre of Kannada culture, its high time I work towards it.
When coming back to hostel, the atmosphere in the city was beautiful. Lamps in front of each and every house, colourful lighting everywhere, and the smell of crackers..aah! Diwali was finally here. More surprises were waiting for me in the hostel. Some enthusiastic friends of mine had done Lakshmi-Puja. And then, it was time for crackers! What a joy! Diwali just doesn’t feel like Diwali without crackers. Thanks to my dear friends, Jayaram especially for arranging everything.
Not a bad Diwali, right?! 
8 comments October 17, 2009
Jab Kisi Ki Taraf….
So, I was going through my music collection today and came upon this song. Wow, I haven’t listened to this in years!
This is a piece of great work by Jatin-Lalit and Sameer.
What prompted me to write this post is a line of dialogue Ajay Devgan says just before the song starts. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video on youtube which covers that part.
It goes like this,
Kajol: Tumne us ladki ko bataya kyon nahi?
Ajay: Yeh pyaar bhi ajeeb cheez hai. Jab iqraar ki puri ummeed ho to bhi dil kehne se darta hai. Aur mujhe to inqaar ka pura yakeen hai. Voh kisi aur ko chahati hai.
We all have been there! You like this girl/guy but at the same time you know that nothing can happen because she/he is already committed to somebody else. And you don’t really want to break their relationship. You are just content at getting to spend time with that person, with no expectations. Of course, its not simple, but gradually you do accept the reality.
Disclaimer: This has NOTHING to do with my personal life!
2 comments October 13, 2009
Disappointed at NDA’s loss.
6 comments May 17, 2009
Sarca(u)stic ;-)
Whenever my mother has a holiday, she is a completely different person in the morning. You see, my mother likes to ‘use’ the holiday productively which means cleaning and putting the house ‘in order’. I simply shudder at this very idea! So obviously, my dear mother and me have peculiar conversations. Like these,
Dear Mother (DM): (looking at my bed) What’s with so many things lying on your bed? How do you even manage to sleep on that?
Me: (with cool voice and tone of an ascetic) Just four feet, that’s enough space for a man to sleep.
DM: Gives an expression filled with disbelief, disgust, anger.
I ignore her as usual and go off to jogging. I come back after 15-20 minutes,
DM: You back so fast?! (sarcastically) For how much time do you jog?
Me: Umm……..that would be……..2 minutes.
DM: I knew so! Actually, I think you go out only to buy the paper.
Me: You are absolutely right mother. I jog from my bike to the paper-stall wala. And even such a small distance takes me 2 minutes!
DM: Gives an expression filled with disbelief, disgust, anger.
I ignore her, as usual.
Add comment April 23, 2009
Atithi Deo Bhav!
2 comments April 15, 2009
मी का म्हणुन मतदान करु?
4 comments March 18, 2009
It’s not unpatriotic to love Slumdog Millionaire!!! Yes, I liked the movie and I am an Indian.
4 comments March 2, 2009
150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty
I have seen this tag on so many blogs over last few days. And why not, it’s a wonderful tag! The name is ‘150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty’. The rules are, 1. The things you have already done – make them bold. 2. Italics is for things that you are dying to do! Here I go!! 01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink 02. Swam with dolphins (That would be so freakin cool!!) 03. Climbed a mountain 04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 05. Been inside the Great Pyramid 06. Held a tarantula 07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (Hmm…. 08. Said “I love you” and meant it 09. Hugged a tree 10. Bungee jumped 11. Visited Paris 12. Watched a lightning storm at sea 13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise 14. Seen the Northern Lights 15. Gone to a huge sports game 16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa 17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables 18. Touched an iceberg 19. Slept under the stars 20. Changed a baby’s diaper 21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon 22. Watched a meteor shower 23. Gotten drunk on champagne 24. Given more than you can afford to charity 25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 27. Had a food fight (and I don’t even want to have one! May be, it’s because of the ‘Annam Purnabrahmam’ concept we have in India. I don’t even like covering someone with cake on birthday, why waste a delicious cake?! 28. Bet on a winning horse 29. Asked out a stranger (Kaash ine guts hote! Hehe!) 30. Had a snowball fight 31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can 32. Held a lamb (They are so cute!!) 33. Seen a total eclipse 34. Ridden a roller coaster (Feels amazingly scary 35. Hit a home run 36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking (People say I look like a fool whenever I dance…so yeah..I have done that!) 37. Adopted an accent for an entire day 38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment 39. Had two hard drives for your computer (Why this question is here in this list?! So what if I had two hard drives?) 40. Visited all 50 states 41. Taken care of someone who was drunk 42. Had amazing friends 43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country 44. Watched whales 45. Stolen a sign 46. Backpacked in Europe (Euro-trip baby!) 47. Taken a road-trip 48. Gone rock climbing 49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach 50. Gone sky diving 51. Visited Ireland (I am just in awe of Ireland and the scandinavian countries….will go there one day for sure) 52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (Yeah… 53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them 54. Visited Japan 55. Milked a cow 56. Alphabetized your CDs (I am not Monica, am I?!) 57. Pretended to be a superhero (Super-heroine rather!) 58. Sung karaoke 59. Lounged around in bed all day 60. Played touch football 61. Gone scuba diving 62. Kissed in the rain 63. Played in the mud 64. Played in the rain 65. Gone to a drive-in theatre 66. Visited the Great Wall of China 67. Started a business 68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 69. Toured ancient sites 70. Taken a martial arts class 71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 72. Gotten married 73. Been in a movie 74. Crashed a party 75. Gotten divorced 76. Gone without food for 5 days 77. Made cookies from scratch 78. Won first prize in a costume contest 79. Ridden a gondola in Venice 80. Gotten a tattoo 81. Rafted the Snake River 82. Been on a television news program as an “expert” 83. Gotten flowers for no reason 84. Performed on stage 85. Been to Las Vegas 86. Recorded music 87. Eaten shark 88. Kissed on the first date 89. Gone to Thailand 90. Bought a house 91. Been in a combat zone 92. Buried one/both of your parents 93. Been on a cruise ship 94. Spoken more than one language fluently (No problem for us Indians 95. Performed in Rocky Horror 96. Raised children 97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour 98. Passed out cold 99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country 100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over 101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge 102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open 103. Had plastic surgery 104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived It was not exactly an iaccident. I was climbing Kalsubai Peak with friends. There was a very difficult rock patch and my hand slipped. I somehow held on but I was not in a position to climb further. Pratik came down a bit and gave me a hand. If not for him, I am sure I would have been dead right now. Thanks buddy! 105. Wrote articles for a large publication 106. Lost over 100 pounds 107. Held someone while they were having a flashback 108. Piloted an airplane 109. Touched a stingray 110. Broken someone’s heart 111. Helped an animal give birth 112. Won money on a TV game show 113. Broken a bone 114. Gone on an African photo safari 115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears 116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild 118. Ridden a horse 119. Had major surgery 120. Had a snake as a pet 121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period 123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States 124. Visited all 7 continents 125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 126. Eaten kangaroo meat (Now why would I do that?) 127. Eaten sushi 128. Had your picture in the newspaper 129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about 130. Gone back to school 131. Parasailed 132. Touched a cockroach 133. Eaten fried green tomatoes 134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey 135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read 136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Again, WTH??) 137. Skipped all your school reunions 138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language 139. Been elected to public office 140. Written your own computer language 141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream 142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care 143. Built your own PC from parts 144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you 145. Had a booth at a street fair 146. Dyed your hair 147. Been a DJ 148. Shaved your head 149. Caused a car accident 150. Saved someone’s life Tag open to anybody who wants to take up! 
)
6 comments December 9, 2008
Surviving at Siachen
Siachen – the highest battlefield in the world.
Take a look at this video – http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/45794/.html
Life is very tough for the soldiers there……the biggest factor that keeps them going is ‘Pride of serving in Indian army’.
I salute them. Thanks for putting your life in danger for us, who can afford to live life peacefully.
Add comment August 9, 2007
Miscellany
My luck is with me these days!!! I just happen to bump into celebrities one way or the other………the latest in this series was Sandeep-Salil. (Non-maharashtrians may not even know them but they are a rage among young Maharashtrians). I was in a photo studio for some work and they were there, just sitting casually. I told them how much I love their songs. They were very polite and humble. I was just another fan for them, but they totally made my day
Touched 100 kmph for the very first time on my bike (Bajaj Discover 125) (Yeah, the roads in Pune are good enough to do that!). May be, I haven’t learnt anything from that accident I had few months ago 
The verdicts on 1993 blasts are finally out and Sanju baba has been sentenced to 6 years RI. My sincere opinion is, the justice has prevailed, finally. You can’t just forgive somebody because he is a star and he has changed now (acc. to him and his fans). And this was no petty crime. Those blasts had an overlasting impact on Maharashtra and whole country, in every aspect.
Add comment August 1, 2007
