m.e.m.o.i.r.s

Know your future!

2009-01-05T02:48:00.000-08:00

Came across a forward with subject Horoscope 2009. That the year has just begun, a lot more such forwards will float everywhere.
These days I see even the so called ‘practical minded people’ running around everywhere with their horoscopes wanting to know what is in store in future. Number of TV shows on astrology and horoscopes have crazily gone up, so are the number of viewers!

From what I have seen earlier, the category and volume of people visiting astrologers was very orthodox and small in number. And it used to be mostly our parents/grand parents who used to visit known pandits and purohits who would mostly give recommendations on what has to be done with respect to a particular problem. And most of the times the problems were either related to marriage of daughters in the family wherever she had already crossed 25 or so (very few people hardly use to worry about son’s marriage as finding a bride was never a pain even when he didn’t have a job yielding him thousands of rupees every month) or couples who are childless showing their horoscope in hope to find a solution through poojas. Rarely people also used to go in search of astrologers at times of financial crisis in the family, health etc.

But look at what is happening now… you name a subject and there are claims of predictions being made on that! From buying a house, property dispute, court case to job, manager torture at workplace, investments in business, foreign travel opportunity, behaviour of their children, child’s education and neighbour’s noise!

And what is noticeable is the fact that being curious about future is not just limited to elderly people at home anymore. I have seen a lot of college students seeing astrologers. I am not giving any recommendations to anyone here to either go or not to go to astros anymore. I am just amazed looking at the trend in the society especially when more and more people are turning out to be literates (?)! Personally I myself believe in astro to some extent and have gone to known astrologers a couple of times… 3-4 times I guess and later decided that I am not gonna keep showing my horoscope to every other person and ask what is in store for me. I have full respect for a few of them for not being too money minded. Whatever has to happen will anyway happen? It is also not that if they predict not so good things I will sit and worry about it. I realized after hearing 3-4 of them that while I enjoy hearing good things that they say and in some corner of my mind hope that it comes true… and also keep waiting that so and so month/year so and so thing will happen types, whenever they mentioned not so good things, I just didn’t take even a word of it into my heart. It just doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t worry even a bit.! Am I not strong enough?? Lol.. touch wood!

So if you believe in astrology, want to know what is in store for you and still wanna be at peace - my suggestion is don’t run behind every other astrologer several times. Go to astrologers only if you have the will power to digest whatever they say. And note it can be to any extent. Else don’t even make an attempt.
If you are an average willed person, show it to one and may be take second opinion from one or two more max! If you notice that each of them told you entirely different things, just forget about it all and stop worrying about future. Even if they all talk the same language, focus on good things that they said and hope for good to happen. Just ignore the not so good things. Just ignore. If you can’t, my only question is why the hell did you go in the first place?!

Last but not least, take life easily…don’t break your head so much on something that nobody can see perfectly. Be optimistic, have faith in god and concentrate on how to tackle your problems practically. Result will just follow… Happy new year to all of you. And happy horoscope reading :-)

Love you all speechless creatures :-)

2008-12-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

I was busy enjoying the drive back home sitting in the office bus. We had traveled 3-4 kms from office through a short cut route which connects to bannergatta road. It was a slight curve on the road to take right turn and all of a sudden I hear krrrrrrrr…In just a fraction of seconds on the opposite side of the road a little pup wanted to rush through the road was hit by a car. Car just moved forward without stopping even for a second. How inhumane!!

Kew kew kew kew..little one made noise, quickly got up and went back to the place from where it started the race. Ufff.. I almost had a heart attack for those few seconds!! I took a deep breath after seeing him running back with a bent leg, standing and screaming with pain. Thank god, the doggie survived!! It was definitely not the mistake of the car driver because he was driving in his normal speed. But the pup rushed from nowhere which was not expected by the driver. While I was happy that nothing major happened to the cute little creature, was pissed off the way car driver/owner rushed ahead after that.

I had one hundred questions in mind…How can he not even stop his vehicle and check what happened to the animal? What is that he would have done if he had hit a human being instead of an animal? I am sure he would have stopped. What if the animal had died on spot or had major injuries? Who would have reached to its rescue? And now that pup had an injured leg (not sure how bad the suffering was) how many days it has to suffer before recovering?

I later went into a world of different thoughts altogether. So badly I wanted to get out of my vehicle, go hug the pup and check out if everything was alright. Felt like consoling him. But again, since I was in the office bus i knew no one will encourage it. If I had to get down, then I would have to arrange my own transportation back from that deserted place. I felt helpless. For a moment I also thought we are all willing to offer a helping hand only if we have all the other luxury and atmosphere to ensure that we don’t put ourselves in trouble in the process of helping others.

These days my love for animals has increased so much that a few weeks ago I even called up an institute who offer a vocational training in animal grooming. If given an opportunity even now, I want to make a career out of it. Just that there is lot of risk factor and I can’t afford it at this point of time. I believe the course fee itself is One Lakh for just 20 days training!!! I hope that each of us become little more sensitive towards these animals and show little care and affection at times of need.

~ I have l learned...

2008-12-08T02:34:00.000-08:00

Liked this peace......picked it up from pravsworld.com

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it may be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles a rainy day and lost luggage.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Craving for more

2008-12-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

When I entered the office rest room this morning, met this lady-maid who was sitting in a corner. It looked like she was waiting to talk to someone since she sits alone the entire day in the same place.(mostly).
I was dressing up and she asked me ‘Have you come here from the other office’? (I actually visited this office today for the second time to attend a few meetings)
Though little surprised, I didn’t show it up and answered ‘Yes’.
She said on her own ‘if someone is a new entry here, I can easily make out since I am familiar with all the faces in this office’
I told myself ‘wow’!
I asked her in return ‘how long are you with this company’?
She said ’14 years’!!!!
I was taken aback for a minute. 14 years with the company and doing the same work and still so happy about it..?!
I knew her profile is not such that she can invent something new everyday. It is also not that she get great salary hikes or perks to motivate herself and I am sure not even a word of appreciation for all the effort that she puts in.
I asked her a couple of questions on her whereabouts, working hours etc. She works between 6.30 am to 3.30pm. She has to walk 8 kms a day up and down. She starts from her home at 5.45am and reaches office by 6.30am.
To my surprise, she also said she carries lunch from home. I asked her how she manages all that. She said she gets up at 3am everyday, gets ready, and prepares food, complete all other work too.
My last question to her was “if you don’t mind, how much do you earn here’?
She said Rs. 4000 per month. She now has benefits such as PF, ESI etc. And am sure you have the same question as I had. Being in service for 14 years in the same company, same job what was her starting salary?
She said she started working for Rs. 300 per month without any other benefits then.
I was like uffffffffffff.. On an average she has got Rs. 300 increment every year. Cost of living has gone up like crazy..
I still have the same question in mind.. How does lakhs of such people manage their life with the salaries they are earning? I know it’s a law of nature, we just get programmed ourselves to whatever we have in hand, we all learn to manage it till the time we get more..

Mooooood Swings

2008-11-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

I don’t get influenced by mood swings too much. But still a few activities are mood driven… focusing on work, dressing up, answering mobile calls etc. It doesn't mean that my mood is spoiled or that I am irritated, angry, frustrated etc. It also doesn't mean I am upset about something or someone. It is quite simple and straight – just that I don’t feel like doing anything. I need some time off doing nothing. Just a little time….

At least these days I have realized it myself. I am happy most of the times. Touch wood! Nothing can really bother me…even if it does, not for a long time. It just takes a few minutes to get back to normal. Because I strongly feel nothing is worth breaking my head so much. There are a few things I cannot avoid, so I go with the flow. And in a few circumstances I prepare myself for the worst with options in hand. So that way nothing comes as a surprise or shock.

Foreseeing death? Science has no clear answer…

2008-11-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

Y’day my bro called me up to inform that his dear friend’s father passed away. He was around 67 and was suffering from stomach cancer for a few months. By the time they diagnosed, it was already in the last stage and doctors had given indication that he will not live for more than 6 months. A man with heavy built had shrunken a lot in very little time.

Yesterday morning he had taken two of the little pups for a small walk. When he wanted to enter inside the house, pups resisted and pulled him which was quite unusual behavior as per their family. He came inside, relaxed for few minutes and spoke about some kind of pain in his left arm. Later I believe he mentioned to his son (bro’s friend) that he will not survive for long and that he has been troubling them all for a long time. Again hearing such dialogue was unusual for family as they never heard him speak like that anytime before. A few minutes later he passed away.

What am I trying to say here is a lot of people can foresee their death a few days or hours before they pass away. Itz extremely surprising how that really happens. I have seen it with my own dad. I had never seen my dad talking so different anytime before. But he did, two days before he passed away. My dad started saying that he wants to go to his mom’s place soon. When we forced him to eat some food, he was saying things as in only mom’s cooking is tastier in the world..he will have food with his mom etc. His face had turned black 2 days before itself. My doggie at home was crying big-time the previous night. A monkey jumped through the hospital window, came to my dad and pulled his bed sheet. They say Lord Hanuman is ‘Prana Devaru’. Because I had heard a lot of people saying that these are some of the indications before death, I had started getting too panic about the whole aspect and was crying every now and then trying to imagine his absence in our lives.

When I reported my dad’s behaviour to the doctor, I guess even he understood what is going to happen. He said my dad is talking irrelevant things because of the blood circulation directly to his brain due to generation of some chemicals. (something on those lines). But I knew…. somehow my 6th sense told me that if my dad shows symptoms of immediate recovery all of a sudden, then itz even more obvious that he will not survive. There is a say in kannada ‘diva burns brighter than ever before it turns off’. Same thing happened… Dad who was not able to get up on his own for those 3 days - all of a sudden got up on his own in the mid night, walked in the corridors of the hospital, went to the toilet on his own several times the entire day.

While my other family members and relatives were very happy about the progress, I was trying to digest the fact that anything can go wrong anytime. And I witnessed the worst moment at 8.15pm on last day of diwali last year (2007). It was a colourful Sunday everywhere.

Anyway what I wanted to say was lot of people can foresee their death when it is about to hit them. No advancement in science and technology can still provide a logic to it. Isn’t it the superpower (I believe its God) that drives life and death?

DOSTANA...

2008-11-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

Finally Karan Johar realized that he has to stop giving audience the emotional drama of shahrukh weeping with co-actress/es. Dostana, a different Karan Johar movie for sure!
More humour, unique storyline and different set of actors too.. Not all songs are great as it used to be in his previous films.

Sam (Abhishek) and Kunal (John) happened to meet each other a few times before they realize they both are in search of a house. They both land up visiting a 3 bedroom flat on the same day same time and the land lady (priyanka’s aunt) denies to give it to any babas (men) as its only open for babies (ladies); because they will have to share the house with Priyanka! They both fall in love with the house so much that they want to start living in it at any cost. Now how? Sam gives this wonderful idea of both him and Kunal acting like a gay couple without really letting the outside world know! And they both haven’t seen Priyanka yet.

They both admit to the landlady that they are gay couple thinking her niece is another ugly figure like the mausi.. Guess what they are wrong! Obviously itz Priyanka. Guys you are too late. You have already admitted that you are gay and no way you can take it back and manage to stay in the same house. So now better continue to act like gay couple and live along with her. The actual comedy starts from here as to what all pranks they have to pull in, what stories they have to cook up and with what difficultly they have to act desperate for each other to prove that they are gay! That’s so much fun.. All three becomes best of friends. Abhishek is hilarious, he has done a real good job. John has beaten salman khan in exposing. I feel he has over done it..

In the process as expected, both starts liking Priyanka. And now they can’t reveal the truth nor can they continue to lie! They both even applied for permanent residency as gay couple (as the approval process is faster in getting PR). So lot of drama happens that way and you will find a new entry Bobby Deol as Priyanka’s boss, the one whom Priyanka hates initially. Anyway Bobby ensures he appreciates her work and gives her all that she was expecting professionally.. So its quite natural for Priyanka to fall in love with Bobby who has a 5 year old son already (don’t ask me about his wife, it was never discussed).

Its time for Jagda.. Jealousy sets in.. Sam and Kunal want to do everything possible to ensure that Priyanka and Bobby are not together. Ok, no more dragging its just 2.5 hrs movie. So finally Sam and Kunal admit to Priyanka all their mistakes and apologise. Now there is a condition put by Bobby on behalf of Priyanka that only if Sam and Kunal kiss each other in front of the big crowd, Priyanka will forgive them. Common movie is over.. yup, they kissed each other finally. Priyanka is proud to get back to her friends after the forgiving formalities J That is Dostana for you!!

I am still surprised why did Karan Johar chose this subject.. do you have any idea? He could have taken either Abhishek or John's role himself as it comes quite naturally to him :-)))

Back Stage.. On Stage..

2008-11-18T03:39:00.000-08:00

6th Nov was annual day celebration in our office. It was held at Christ College Auditorium. It was more of a business meeting combined with some amount of entertainment. The auditorium looked so classy with all modern lighting and sound equipments. They must have spent a fortune to create one such a set up. I took part in one of the performances which is a kind of MIME cum skit.

We had been practicing it almost since last 20 + days regularly. Our efforts didn’t go in drain as I witnessed a lot of people complimenting our performance immediately after the show.

The performance was for around 9 minutes and my role was for around 3 minutes overall I guess. Theme of the performance was Dream. I played the role of a beautiful college girl rejecting all the guys who fall for her because they are not successful in life. The girl’s interest is to get married to a rich guy!

I had to do catwalk on the stage twice in front of all these guys who comes to propose me. I could hear lot of whistling from the audience when I was walking on the stage J Then in the next scene I had to run behind a guy in slow motion (like they show in the movies) and later run away with a guy who is more richer!! Felt quite funny doing it all. I had not imagined myself acting on a big stage especially with a corporate group. Surprisingly I did not have even slightest stage fear! Let me try uploading the video..

Midnite music..

2008-10-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard varity of music numbers in the midnite? If not, try it out..dont put the volume too high or even too low.. melodious to jing bang.. old to new.. sad to joy numbers..romantic to meaningful numbers on life and existance. Itz quite amazing that people have made atleast one song for any situation in life. Dheere dheere se from aashiqui.. dil to pagal hai.. chup ke se from saathiyaa..zindagi ka safar, a kishore number....
I am listening to it all now and i can see my mood changing often depending on the kind of song that is being played on. And a lot of memories passing through during each and every song. From childhood days at home & school..from neighbours and holidays to the most recent happenings..
Few of which i love to cherish again and again to a few more which brings tears in my eyes constantly.. from learnings and gains to the failures and deepest loss of life!
Guess i am getting too senti now.. let me stop it all here and put on a jing bang music before i hit the bed.. Good night all of you!
You should try listening to music in the midnite when the entire world around you is sleeping .. no disturbance.. in absolute silence.. in dark..when you cant hear anything but music.. when u cant see anything but your own memories.. am sure you will like it.. let me know if you have such memories!

Fire Drill or Bomb threat?

2008-10-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

It was so dramatic...with atleast a few dozen cops, staff from fire engine service, ambulance, bomb squads along with their respective rescue equipments walking all over the place in tension. Name the instrument and it was there. Hundreds of us were standing outside the premises and watching the show! Initially it all sounded so funny, after few minutes felt quite stupid..but the climax was amazing! I felt it was a great show.. i mean great job too :-)
I am talking about a unique fire drill which took place in my office today. I have attended a few more such sessions in other corporates before. The previous ones were more of trainings for name sake with a security officer reading out instructions and rescue mechanisms like bible.
But the fire drill training which i happened to attend today was amazingly realistic. I am still thinking about the kinda arrangements that they had done. Must have easily spent 2-3 lakhs. Can you imagine getting 2 big vans full of cops, one fire engine with staff, 2 ambulances, bomb squads, videographers and a lot of people to make the show happen? Almost 60 outsiders along with the company emergency rescue team volunteers! Hundreds of us witnessed dummy but still scary bomb explosions with smoke and heat all over the place. While i enjoyed watching it all, was more worried about the pollution and its effect on my skin tone :-))
They happened to give a live demo of how affected victims are rushed to give first aid and other treatment. Normally when there is fire, all the lifts will be shut down. It is also advisable to use the stair case and emergency exit in the corners. We were jus watching and all of a sudden a guy was slided down from 2nd floor of the building (in the air). He was quickly fixed on the stretcher with ropes tied all over the body. He was parcelled from few hands in 2nd floor to a few more in the ground floor only using ropes! The guy happened to be one of the managers in the company who could not control his laughter even sleeping on the death bed!
Best of the moments was when they gave demo of a person who was rescued from the terrace (almost in the 10th floor) of the building. This was assuming a case where building has caught fire all over, where even the emergency exit cannot be used and at the same time the person fighting for his life has to be rushed for the treatment.
Again, this person who acted as a victim of a head injury was tied with ropes and made to sit and slide down in the air from 10th floor. You can imagine the amount of risk involved in doing so howmuchever an expert you are! It took a few minutes to receive the victim down in the groundfloor who was hanging in air for sometime. Btw the first few dummy bombs had pinkish smoke and particles spread all over the floor like the rangoli powder. The last one was a petrol bomb producing lot of heat and blackish smoke giving it the real effect!
I must say it was overall a very good show!

My first shot!

2008-10-20T03:45:00.000-07:00

I am quite exited about posting my first public blog. Light, Camera, Action….. yupeeeeeeee its all ready!
And I designed it all just in a day’s time. Yesterday and today! Isn’t it amazing? Are you saying ‘great job’…?? Thank you so much..
I have come up with a blog page for myself like a lot of others do.. but what do I write about? I know there are hundreds of things one can write about. But posting something or the other regularly? Uffff.. sounds quite tough..
But I am gonna try this out.. So you please be with me and keep giving your feedback! Aaaand for now, see ya!