Eureka !!

Today was one unusual morning for me.

If it’s a usual morning I never even get to know when the clock strikes 6 as the earliest I get up is by 7 AM. Usual mornings, in case if one of us have left the curtains parted the previous night, then we just happen to barely open our eyes, drag one of us to the window to shut the curtains and sleep again. It’s a sight I love to see... although I have to tear my eyes to watch it … as after shutting the curtains, you’ll be able to see Saj in his favorite sleep posture … all cuddled up in such a manner that his bent legs touch his chest and his head bent towards the knees something like the doggie in the pic :-) . I dint get another pic to demonstarte ur pose Saj :-).

But today morning, I saw someone getting up at 6 and running. What struck me first was … maybe that was an emergency natures call..but nope it wasn’t. He was running to wards the television…with the anxiety of a small kid who wishes to watch a cartoon. After switching on the television, he came back to the bedroom again and dragged me down too to watch television. I was wondering whether he’s gone nuts early morning or is he dreaming or even whether I am dreaming.

It was when I shifted my attention towards the television screen that I realized what all this was for. All the anxiety in him was to watch the launch of India’s first lunar mission which was scheduled at 6:20 AM.

Indias first unmanned flight (Chandrayaan – 1) to Moon blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre along the coast of Andhra Pradesh. It was put into the earths orbit by PSLV – C11. The launch was 100% perfect. It was reported from ISRO as an error free launch. The scientists at ISRO felt so proud of themselves. The ISRO Chairman described it as a historic moment in India’s space programme. It was a 10 yr mission and it’s a dream come true. Chandrayaan will reach the moon in 16 days. It'll conduct experiments that would tell us how the moon was formed, what the chemicals are in its atmosphere, and how these could be useful to us on Earth. Finding Helium on the moon is one of Chandrayaan major objectives.

As per news media, the entire mission costs less than half of what that the US or Europe have spent on their missions. What sets the Chandrayaan project apart is also the amount of international collaboration involved. It's the first time mission where six countries are sending up instruments. 6 of the 11 scientific instruments the spacecraft will carry are from NASA and the European and Bulgarian space agencies. It'll put India among the top five space-faring countries of the world.
I was happy that I got to watch the historic event but sad that I missed “the moment” when Chandrayaan was released for PSLV-C11 and put in earths orbit coz of unnecessary channel surfing at that moment to figure out who airs it best and in the midst got stuck in the NDTV commercial. It was released into the transfer orbit 18.2 minutes after the PSLV-C11 blasted off. Anyways watched the moment being repeated and thus saw it.

Hey .. Watch out the pic below. That's me all set for the next 'manned' flight to Moon :-)

Regrets in Life !

"I have many regrets, am sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret...if you have sense, and if you dont regret them, maybe your are STUPID"
- Katharine Hepburn

I dedicate this blog post to Ps who inspired me to write this and let me relive my feelings and of course to my grandma who’s no more on the face of this earth but is still alive in my heart everyday. I terribly miss her.

Regrets in ones life can simply make life hell. Pursuit for happiness is never rewarding. Even if one manages to get hold of happiness and walk along holding hand in hand on a beach ... striving hard to enjoy every moment, regrets are like those pain inflicting pits which are hidden in sand which make you fall into them and fill you with timely pain and remorse, even before you realize that there’s a hidden pit. Such pain and remorse that inspite of happiness being along, its fails to strike a chord in you. You are unable to cherish what you could have at this point of time just coz you are deeply filled with regret.

Until and unless one does something to overcome the regret, like figuring out all the pits and filling them with sand such that the sands of time wear the regret off, you won’t be able to lead a happy undisturbed life.

My grandmother was one soul with whom I used to enjoy every moment. She was the proud mother of 5 kids and 10 grandkids. What a rich family. These days when kids beyond 2 or even one kid for that matter is difficult for a family to raise, 5-10 kids were very common those days. How much one debates for, among the dozen grandkids one has there’s always a personal favorite and I was the one for my Grandma.

She was a school teacher all throughout her life … and as teachers have this ability to connect well to kids, the way we related and the bond we shared was truly cherishable. She taught for around 36 years in a school nearby where my grandparents used to live and was a fairly good teacher I must say. Wherever I got out with her there would be a minimal of 2-3 people who would come to us reminding her that he/she was her student long back. I used to be proud of her for she had a personal interest in Hindi while in school and possessed quite a few noteworthy certificates just out of her interest and parallel study as the language was not of much importance in her school curriculum. I used to come down from North India during my summer vacations every year to visit her. One time she even came with us to the north and it was then that I realized how well versed she was in Hindi when I found her communicating with ease with our next door neighbors. The little culinary skills that I have which Saj keeps appreciating have been passed on to me by her. She was a great cook and my personal favorite chef. Whenever I was at her place she used to treat me like a princess.

Times flew by and my grandma turned really old. I began feeling sorry for her as the zest in her began to disappear, she could no longer walk around the house freely and make me my favorite dishes, she dint have the energy to wake until I was fast asleep listening to her stories. Time had just turned the way round when I stay awake waiting her to sleep..applying some medicine on her feet so that she can sleep well..supressing the pain infused in her by her inflated feet.

The end of ones journey (so called life) is quite unpredictable and one thing I noticed then about all her kids (or all kids in general) was that , it was only towards the end when her days were numbered all started pouring in love and affection..and showed how much they really cared for her and how good a mom and a grandmom she was. Why do we have to wait for that last moment to come to express our feelings to the ones we love..when we suddenly realize that we are loosing them ? Isn’t it really sad that they struggle all throughout their lives for our upbringing, in the best of ways they can and what is it that we give back to them in return? All they might have been waiting for is to hear a “Mom ..we love you so much” moments. Is it that difficult to speak it out? To express our heart and soul out to the ones who truly deserve?

After my grandma passed, on her 1st anniversary, her kids (my mom ,my uncles and aunts)together organized a pooja at the temple and gave offering (lunch one day) to all the inhabitants at the temple. I was so happy as I served them all again and again till I was ensured that they had eaten well. It was such a noble cause but still I wonder if all of them had given in a little extra bit to take care of her when she actually needed them , this lunch would have given them double the joy. They now regret !

Do you lead a life without any regrets? If then you are truly blessed. For the ones who aren’t, I hope they will make it a point to address their regrets to make their lives happier.
So if you have grandparents, reach out to them and hug them, kiss them …MuuuuAhhh..and tell them that you love them. Not just your grandparents but reach out to all whom you adore and tell them the difference they bring about in your lives.

This one’s for you granny:-

What is a grandmother..

A grandmother is a remarkable woman.
She’s a wonderful combination of
Warmth and kindness, laughter and love.
She overlooks our faults, encourages our dreams,
And praises our every success.

A grandmother has the wisdom of a teacher ,
The sincerity of a true friend, and the
tenderness of a mother.
She’s someone we admire, respect and
Love very much.

A grandmother will always have a cherished
Place in our memories and our hearts.
She’s someone for whom we want every happiness
In return of the joys she always brings.

A grandmother is all the precious
Thing in life …
When she’s a grandmother like you.

I wish you were here to read this post.

Poem courtesy - http://www.namesandthingszone.com

What makes relationships work ?

Building and maintaining relationships isn’t a cakewalk for anyone…and good relationships don’t develop overnight too. To maintain a relationship one needs to have these qualities :

In today’s modern society, more than 50% of all marriages fail for one reason or another. When you see your married friends in trouble, it makes commitment seem scary. It’s a common practice for people to try quitting when relationships are faced with challenges instead of taking time to get to know someone at a deeper level.

The truth is that relationships are hard…not as easy as the feel in the beginning. There will be hardly any moment when everything goes perfect and fighting doesn’t occur. In such circumstances, it takes a 100% commitment from both sides to make it a success. Its only once you break off from a relationship break, you feel that something is missing and you simply loose the zest to survive.

However, even though the odds are not very good, healthy, and long-lasting relationships are definitely possible and proven by many people. What secrets do such people possess? The answer is that they all work hard at their relationship. They made a decision of choosing to love their mate rather than relying on the warm and fuzzy feelings, which everyone knows will fade. By making love a choice you are making a decision that even in the bad times, you stick it out. Think of it like choosing a car. You pick out the make, model, year, color, and features that you believe are best for you. After driving your car for a couple of months, you realize that perhaps you should have purchased a larger car, or that maybe the leather seats would have been better, or on hot sunny days, the sunroof would have been nice. However, it is now too late so you choose to keep your car and make it work. It is the same for marriage. Not everything will be perfect and there will be major obstacles to overcome but you have made your decision and now you choose to make it work.

There are hundreds of things you can do to better your relationship. Remember, little steps taken every day will add up to big successes.

Kurukshetra - Review

Watched Kurukshetra last Satuday – the latest Malayalam patriotic flick from Major Ravi ( the army officer turned film maker ) after Keerthi-Chakra & Mission 90 days.

Keertichakra was based on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and Mission 90 Days on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Both these won critical accolades from many corners. Kurukshetra, a big-budget flick is based on the director's hazardous experiences of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in Kashmir.

The cause of the Kargil war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC), which serves as the de facto border between the two states. Nevertheless, India did not declare war against Pakistan - instead, Mr. Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India, ambiguously announced a "war-like situation".

There were three major phases to the Kargil war: During the conflict, Pakistan first captured several strategic high points in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir. India responded by first capturing strategic transportation routes, then militarily pushing Pakistani forces back across the Line of Control. The war ended on July 4, 1999, after US President Bill Clinton and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in Washington. The official number of Indian troops lost in Kargil was around 500.

The previews said that –
“Kurukshetra, a sequel to Keertichakra, feature three war sequences, constituting one-third of the movie. The movie will also feature real war practice sessions of the Indian Army. This is for the first time a Malayalam movie is getting permission to shoot the actual practice sessions of the Indian Army. The film is being shot in the high altitudes (13500 feet) of Kargil.
Mohanlal will appear as Colonel Mahadevan, who is all determined to reclaim the land grabbed by Pakistani soldiers in the Kargil valley. Kannada star Tanya Singh and Nehak Bhatia will be the female leads, but neither of them are romantically linked with Mohanlal in the film.The story, dialogues and screenplay are by the director himself.

After watching the movie … this is what I got to say:-

I was dragged for the movie by Major Ravi & MohanLal fans. If you ask my opinion from the eyes of a non – (Major Ravi & MohanLal) fan, I would say that the movie dint appeal me much considering the hype that got spread. I agree that MohanLal is a good actor and I do enjoy watching him on screen but this time it just dint click. The movie lacked any kind of scripting as such except for the war which I agree has been taken well except for the air stunts which don’t look real at all. There could have been some life in the movie which could keep the ones who are not die hard fans of mohanlal hooked on to their seats. I also hate it when people put in Hindi dialogues but when they are grammatically wrong. If you are putting in, then why don’t you just put the correct stuff in ? It was just unbearable when the protagonist himself says it wrong & especially dialogues which are supposed to make big impact in the movie. When he should have impressed me, whatever impression I had just oozed out.

Also I don’t think that in this movie his body language suited that of a soldier. Having thick moustache which is pulled up to give a fierce look just does not create the image of a soldier. There are hardly any songs in the movie and the ones that are not appealing to make you leave the theatre humming. They don’t support any cause.

However Siddique’s character was more impressive. Got nothing much to comment on Biju Menon as he hardly has any role in the film .. I donno y he was there.

In short – the ones who are die hard fans of mohanlal might find it great not the rest of the crowd who come forward looking for an entertainment or a peaceful time pass of 2.5 hours especially after spending double the amount on a ticket.

If I hadn’t seen it, I don’t think I would have missed anything.
Feel free to leave a comment on this post supporting your view.

Preview & Background Courtesy - http://entertainment.oneindia.in/

When i said "I'm Sorry " ROFL :-)

My house was all in a mess until yesterday when we finally decided to give the blighted house a total makeover. Three hours well spent and the results were pretty obvious for a guest coming in. But to my fate .. no one generally drops down to visit when the house is clean. All wait for the house to be messy again for their visit and always leave me sad with their comments especially my aunts..who end u teasing me like anything.

At the end of the day both of us were dead tired as though we underwent a military training the whole day. After taking rest for a while we decided to go out for a drive just to relax..and no doubts i will straight away be heading towards my chaatwaala.

"Bhaiyya ek samosa chaat dena".

"Samosa to khatam ho gaya .. kachori ki bana doon kya?".

That depressed me a bit but then..as any chaat is fine for me i said
"Theek hai".

I exchanged Rs10 note with the chaatwaala for my chaat and came and sat back in the car. 15 minutes drive back home and i thought i'll finish off the chaat in that time as Saj was driving. As soon as i started having it .. my eyes started watering..dint understand y as watering of eyes while cutting onions is genuine but i couldnt understand as to y it was happening while eating them. Whatever may be was my attitude as my eyes watering was sthng i could compromise
for the mouth-watering chaat :-). I was about to finish having it when i felt as if someone in the car was weeping. I checked by my side and saw Sajs face. he was indeed crying..and i had no idea y ?
I was so concerned .. that i started asking him over and over again as to what happened ?? I am known of looping my questions again and again unless i get an answer. Finally he said .."its because of ur chaat..ever since u started having that i'm weeping". I felt so sorry for him .. but at the same time started laughing like hell. Finally my eyes filled up again laughing and i said "I'm sorry".
He he :-)