Aaj madhosh hua jaaye re..
Mera mann, mera mann mera mann!
Bina hee baat muskuraye re..
Mera mann, mera mann mera mann!

Sometimes unknown people oblige as well !

today was just another day to work. the distance to office from home (around 2 km) is such that auto drivers do not agree to an easy ride, unless you are willing to shell out some extra bucks or get off half-way. yea, thats how auto-wallahs in Bangalore are typically. which is why I prefer to travel by bus. of course these are few and infrequent, so you need to be there on time in case you plan to take these. today was one such day when I was there on time and the bus was there at the stop, as if waiting for me to board and was almost ready to leave. I boarded, got my ticket and settled. suddenly I spotted a medical shop across the road and recollected that I needed some lozenges. I had been longing for these for the past couple of days thanks to my sore throat and cough. I quickly got down and requested the driver who was just about to rev up the engine , to wait for a couple of minutes so that I could get my lozenges from the medical shop. he just smiled and I knew he was OK with it. I got back in exactly 2 minutes and the moment I boarded the bus, we started off! It was a pleasant surprise in a world where auto-wallahs look askance at the mention of any place less than 2 kms away, and bus drivers are in an eternal race against time and against other buses.

My Latest Craze ..

Ye Ishq Hai ....from Jab We Met !

Haan hai Koi to wajah
Jo jeena ka maza yun aane laga
Yeh hawaon mein hai kya
Thoda sa jo naasha yun chane laga
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Hua hai teri raahon mein aakar (pucho na pucha na)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Milega teri bahon mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Todi maine sare hi bandhan zamane tere
Todungi na mein vada
Aadha hissa mere to dil ki kahani ka tu
Piya mein baaki aadha
Dekho na dekho mujhe kya
hua haiTeri yaadhon mein kho kar
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya hua hai
Teri baton mein jeekar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Mere jaise lakho mile honge tujhko
Piya, mujhe to mila tuu hi
Tu hi mere hooton ki khilti hui si hasi
Gila bhi piya tu hi
Dekho na dekho mujhe kya hua hai
Tujhe sapno mein lakar (dekho na dekho)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya hua hai
Teri baaton mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan

Haan hai koi to wajah
Jo jeena ka maza yun aane laga
Yeh hawaon mein hai kya
Thoda sa jo naasha yun chane laga
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Hua hai teri raahon mein aakar (pucho na pucha na)
Pucho na pucha mujhe kya
Milega teri bahon mein aakar

Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan
O raama
Yeh Ishq haaye baithe bithaye
Jannat dikhaye haan —2


Its a lovely song full of zeal and enthu. Have'nt yet got to see the movie, but have listened to the song umpteen times...Its truly amazing..Shreya has done a wonderful job yet again!

Kya maal hai !!

Wondering what this is? This is the cheesy, crass, tongue-in-cheek comment that I got from one of my office colleagues, when I wore a skirt to work the other day! I was completely taken aback by this kind of a reaction...which was accompanied by, "aaj terepe line maarneka Mann kar raha hai !"
Though a little shocked, I had the presence of mind to retort "achha hai ki mujhse aakar bole...kisi aur se bola hota to tumhari khair nahi hoti"..

Well, as I have come to realise, there are guys staring at you all the time, no matter what and how much you wear. But I have just resigned to the fact that - guys will be guys, desperation in their eyes, demons in disguise.

Navratri 2007

The last 10 days were filled with fun and enthusiasm. This was my second kolu after marriage. I had a small little 4-step kolu which had a gauri-ganesha pair, a shivar poojai set, a wooden band of 4 traditionally attired musicians, a wooden set of 5 fat women in descending order of height and weight. Since amma was around this time, she made the occasion even more grand and interesting with her shlokams , poojais and ofcourse her wonderful sundals and various varieties of sweets everyday.

I had invited all office friends home for 'vetrilai paaku' or 'haldi kunku' on a friday during the 10 day festival. We had a nice mehfil which lasted for almost an hour with guests as well as hosts taking part in singing carnatic music as well as filmy songs. We visited relatives and friends over the weekend and admired the wonderful kolus that they had in their houses. The festival concluded with 'Saraswathi Poojai' and then 'Vidyarambham'. For Saraswathi poojai we follow a tradition of keeping books and musical instruments in the poojai. On this day, kids usually get an excuse not to study :-) On the last day i.e 'Vijaya Dashami' or 'Vidyarambham' we are supposed to study from the books and play the instruments kept in the poojai. This day is considered auspicious for all good beginnings. Usually children start off with their music lessons, etc on this day. Also the entire house is adorned with flowers and everything at home blessed with a dash of chandanam and kumkumam.

My Nokia 3315

Yea...you guessed right, I'm still the owner of this vintage Nokia. It's one of my dearest possessions.
Got it in September of 2003 when I first joined work after graduation. Has been with me at all times, wherever I've been.. one thing that I can rely on :-)

What have I done in turn? Dropped it umpteen times, forgotten it at different places, only to be returned to me by some good souls.

Last month, after I returned home from a two day Coorg trip, my poor cell had gone down after being hungry without charge for two days. I tried different chargers, different plug points - at home, at work, at a friend's place ...but no...nothing changed...I thought it was dead forever :-(

After almost a month of being without a cellphone, I decided to go for a new one. Hubby and I went to a mobile shop at Jaynagar 4th Block. We had almost zeroed in on a new model. But the hunch that my 3315 was still not dead was very strong. I always thought it was immortal.
With a slim beam of hope, I plugged the shopkeeper's charger into it. And lo and behold, it sprung back to life. The phoenix had risen!
Of course! How stupid of me! It was the damn charger that had died. The 3315 was promptly packed with a new charger, and it was alive and kicking yet again.

Last weekend was the height!!!
I dropped my cell and it fell apart into 4 separate parts...the keypad, display, fore cover and the back cover... can you believe? But after all this, it was still in good order !!

I realized I've started taking my phone too much for granted ! Thinking about it I have concluded that

1. It happens coz I do not handle it with care.

Remedy :- Handle the cell with utmost care.

2. It also happens coz I do not have a cell-phone cover!

Remedy :- Get a cover for the cell, so that I can atleast avoid the cell from falling apart into shards!!

Pasta and Russian Salad!!

Last week was hectic and full of tension @ work. Hubby had gone to Delhi on an official trip for 4 days. I had decided to stay back alone!! I had not done this before but I gathered all courage I could and nodded in agreement when he asked me if I would stay back all by myself. I managed it as well :-)
When he got back, he treated me to some yummy Italian food! - mouth watering Pasta and delectable Russian salad..drool drool drool..The very mention of these is mouth watering!! And guess what, the best part was, I sat back and relaxed and caught up on a whole lot of gossip with a friend while our hubbies did the culinary honors. I guess this is what they call an icing on the cake :-)

Smile :-)

"Aah the kitchen is spic and span.. that particular showpiece there..where did you get that from? that really enhances the beauty of the drawing room, your bedroom is arranged so well..the cushions of varied sizes are just so cute :-) the dressing table design is fab..I'm surely gonna get a similar one done." These and many other such comments were passed by relatives when they visited our humble dwellings recently.
It feels good to realize that I'm not all that bad at maintaining my home, especially taking into account the long hours that I tend to spend at office. Also no prizes for guessing that mamma is also really proud of her daughter when she hears these compliments

Paartha Mudal Naale..

A mesmerising romantic number from the Tamil flick Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu. Bombay Jayshree and Unni Menon could not have done better justice to this love duet. Jayashree's deep, grandiloquent timbre and Unni Menon's mellifluous rendering capture the romantic mood wonderfully. Hats off to Harris (Jeyaraj) for skilfully blending Indian classical music like Veena, Nadaswaram and a change of pace with drums into the song. By now I'm sure Partha Mudhal is a fav with people of all ages. Some credit is also due to Sun Music for airing this song as frequently as our batsmen march back to the pavilion.
That's another story, of course...

Believe In yourself !

Mood right now : ecstatic

It's been quite some time since I posted something here. My poor blog was deprived of all the attention it rightfully deserves, thanks to what else..tight hours at work. Yes, "Believe In Yourself" is what I exactly want to tell myself now and am putting it down here so that I can come back and read it whenever I want to and feel the same frenzy of poetic inspiration!

Whether it's trying out a new recipe, drawing a new kolam design, solving a HOT customer issue, trying out a new hairdo, getting youself a short skirt, or singing a duet in public, there is always a first time for everything. Belief in oneself can transform the most undoable of things into the possible. Things might not go right at the first attempt. It takes patience, optimism and belief in one's own potential. This is my epiphany for the day and I can't hide my delight at this discovery.

Some inspiring lines to end with :-

Believe in youself and in your dream
Though Impossible things may seem
Someday somehow you'll get through
To the goal you have in view

Mountains fall and seas divide
Before the one who in his stride
Takes a hard road day by day
Sweeping obstacles away!

ET - The Extra Terrestrial

Though I've been a movie buff since time immemorial, it's only recently that I've started watching Hollywood fare. That too, thanks to my hubby, who could survive on a diet of Star Movies, Sony Pix and HBO, were there nothing else to feed on.
I must admit that it took me quite some time to start appreciating these. For 2 reasons - one, I find the accent tough to understand, and two, the themes are a stark contrast to traditional Bollywood potboilers.

Among the few that I've had the patience and motivation to sit through, E.T. is the one movie I've enjoyed the most. This eponymous movie revolves around the trials and tribulations (not entirely - bcos E.T had some fun too) of an 'unearthly' creature accidentally left behind during the earthly sojourn of some other-worldly characters. How E.T. is befriended by some kids, how 'it' gets emotionally attached to them, and how they help restore it to where it really belongs is what the rest of the story is about. The way the director (who else but Steven Spielberg) has splendidly blended science fiction and earthy reality is what makes the movie a pleasure to watch

For more infor about the movie

Click here

P.S:- If you've not seen it as yet, its a must watch. Grab a VCD /DVD at the earliest!

What's the latest record in the Guinness book?

click here and read for yourself

WC 2007!

WC this year has been a total surprise package. Or was it fixed by bookies and destined to be this way? The death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer during the world cup kinda confirms people's thought process in that direction. There were initially questions raised regarding the inclusion of minnows for the WC. But debutants Ireland and Bangladesh have created history and are through to the super-eights!! It is ignominious that strong-on-paper teams like India and Pak are on their way back home. They can now get back to doing what they are best at - prostituting for soaps, bikes, biscuits and the like..

Asha chi Bhaavgeete

I have my hands fully into releasing the second important one-off patch independently. The patch is ready and am currently doing some dev-testing from my end. Staying put on my chair since the morning has drained me of all my energy. In spite of this, I know I have to go on till I reach a point where I am satisfied and I've done enough for the day. It is at "testing" times like these that, Asha and her Bhaavgeete come to my rescue!
Asha may be well known for her peppy numbers, but I like her more for her marathi Bhaavageeten. These are steeped in emotional and philosophical content, and IMHO bring out Asha taai's real talent.
Listening to these is also a pleasant trip down memory lane for me. They are evocative of my time in Wipro (Pune). That was when I got hooked on to Marathi numbers, which in fact, also improved my fluency in the language.

"Yeh mera dil Asha ka deewaana ~~~"

Satisfying day at work today :-)

After a long long time, today was a real good day for me at work!
Everything went my way. All coding that I had done in the past few weeks was tested out correctly and I was really happy with myself. Also after a long time, I may not work the coming weekend ..yaaaayy :-)

Celebration means......

Celebration means......
Four friends.
Bahar barsaat.
Four glasses of beer.

Celebration means......
Hundred bucks of petrol.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.

Celebration means......
Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.

Celebration means......
3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.

Celebration means......
Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.

Celebration means......
You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.

You can spend
Hundreds on birthdays,
Thousands on festivals,
Lakhs on weddings,
but to celebrate

all you have to do is spend your Time with your loved ones.


P.S: - Read this in one of my mails. I developed an instant liking for these lines and couldn't help posting it here :-)

Of Bears and Bulls

I'm the kinda person whose knowledge of all things fiduciary is non-existent! Today morning, while hubby was watching CNBC, there was this term that flashed across the screen and sounded rather funny to me...Bullish! Now what was that? When I asked him, he immediately took 'stock' of the situation, and in his characterestic style (he likes wearing the pedagogic garb every now and then) ,gave me a lengthy exposition on bulls, bears and other wild life stalking the stocks. For a financially challenged person such as your's truly, it was news that carnivores had migrated outside Animal Planet and National Geographic and wandered into CNBC.

But here's a gist of my new-found knowledge :-
Bears are cautious animals who don't like to move too fast. Bulls are bold animals who might
charge right ahead. An investor is said to be "bearish" if he or she believes the stock market
will go down. A "bearish" investor will buy stock cautiously. A "bullish" investor believes the
market will go up. He or she will charge ahead and put more money into the market. An investor can be bearish or bullish about a particular kind of stock.

Likewise, the term "bear market" describes a time when stock prices have been falling on the
whole. A "bull market" is a period when stock prices are generally rising.

On Wall Street, the bulls and bears are in a constant struggle. If you haven't heard of these
terms already, you undoubtedly will as you begin to invest.

Here's a pic of
"Bull and bear statues in front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange"

If your expectations are real, there are no setbacks.

"If your expectations are real, there are no setbacks. If you are going to have unreal expectations from life or work, there will be setbacks. I mean, you will think they are setbacks. I never ever really think anything fails. Especially in creative work, you can't fail" . These are lines from one of the recent interviews of King Khan. Couldn't be closer to the truth!

Voices Within ..

That's the title of an incredible book on Carnatic music written by renowned singers Bombay Jayashree Ramnath and T.M. Krishna together in collaboration with Maithili Chandrasekhar, an acclaimed journalist. They describe it as a coffee table book. Coffee table books are rare, and readable ones are rarer still. This is surely one well-researched, well-written and thoroughly enjoyable addition to your coffee table (though you might want to take care not to spill any coffee on it, priceless that it is)
It's a tribute to seven carnatic titans of the last century. The book is steeply priced at Rs. 1900 and I had my initial reservations about buying it. I did not realise its worth until I attended the inauguration ceremony of the book by the authors themselves, at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja. Excerpts from the book were read out, just enough to pique the listeners' interest, but good enough to make them want to possess it. The book also had rare, vintage pictures.
For the first time, Jayashree and Krishna sang together in public. Though they denied the fact, it was a "zabardast - jugalbandi". They sang a favourite raaga / famous song of each of those seven musicians of yesteryears.

My hubby and I are now proud owners of this book.

P.S: - The book, which was released at a private function by President, A P J Abdul Kalam, at Delhi some time ago, talks about seven maestros who changed the course of Carnatic music in the last century-- Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, T N Rajarathnam Pillai, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, G N Balasubramaniam, Palghat Mani Iyer, M S Subbulakshmi and T R Mahalingam (Mali).

Kuch Sawal Zindagi Badal Sakte Hain...

That was the punch line of the ad campaign launched for the promotion of KBC-3 by King Khan! Though I'm an ardent SRK fan, I've not liked him in his KBC avatar thus far. Big B was far superior. Maybe SRK is trying too hard to live up to people's expections, but at times he appears arrogant and high-handed. Of his new-found shibboleths..."kachha kachha / pakka pakka" is doubtlessly the most irritating

Nevertheless, SRK's avowal in the ad campaign was indeed cool!

India in 1835 ...

LORD MACAULAY'S ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT :2ND FEBRUARY, 1835

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such high caliber, that I dont think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage! Therefore I propose we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will loose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation!"


And Alas ! we fell pray to their strategies :-(

Why?

Repeat the same routine everyday...get up early morning, make breakfast, prepare for dinner and then rush to office. It feels great at times to realise that I've been able to do all this and still reach office on time. But at other times I feel, is making breakfast and dinner really such a big deal?

Once at work, spend all day staring at the 'really dumb terminal', doing installations, coding, testing, sending status reports...ad nauseum. There just is no fixed time when this would get over. Its only when you decide that its enough for the day that you can leave. At times, after an entire day's work, there is a sense of satisfaction. Alas, such days are but few and far between. If you are willing to slog the entire night after the long day's work, you are most welcome to do so and of course, there's no one to stop you. There is no appreciation as well. Talk of thankless jobs!

Jaaneman tum kamal karti ho ...

This melodious number, with playback by Kishore 'da & Lata ji is from the 1978 blockbuster 'Trishul'. Its a lovely song and I tend to listen to it every time I feel I need that zest and enthu and relieve myself of some stress and let go of all pressures for a while ...
Kishore'da and Lata'ji surely play magic on people's minds through this and many other wonderful numbers !!

ramblings ..

Yes, its been more than a year now since I moved out of that divine place...called Pune. The place where I went to school, college and also did my first job! Yes, thats more than two decades at Pune! I miss those years when my little brother and I were taken care of by my Patty, as my parents were working. During school days when we used to get back home at noon, there was always sumptuous food made by paati, waiting to be devoured. And I can't remember a single occasion when we missed the customary and necessary thairu chadam, thanks to Patty. K and I used to fight a lot back then and Patty was always there to mediate and help us patch up! Till my time in school, I was in this protective cocoon...it was cosy and comfy no doubt, but every now and then, there was this urge to break out, venture out on my own, explore the big-bad-beautiful world.
It was during the halcyon days of my junior college and engineering that I did all the freaking out and man..was it awesome! I discovered the Sinhagads , the Vaishalis, the CCDs, the Baristas and ..the list goes on...
Once I joined work things things were really cool. The days when I managed to get back home on time, amma and I used to go shopping. Shopping for nothing in particular, but virtually everything in general. Of course, in most of these excursions, I'd end up splurging on goodies for myself:) The newfound financial independence gave me a giddy high - it's difficult to put it in words, but the world looked a lot prettier (and the wallet a lot lighter). Of course, it felt great to shower my folks with small gifts every now and then :)
oh...how I miss those days now....

"magar mujhko lautaa do bachapan kaa saavan
vo kaagaz kii kashtii, vo baarish kaa paanii"

Going techie ..

For the last three days i've been so much into some complex installations that I literally got these install screens in my dreams! So what are these so-called complex things that i've been trying to install? A CRS (Cluster Ready Services, which is Oracle's full stack of clusterware) and an ASM (Automatic Storage Management, a simple storage management interface) and RAC (Ral Application Clusters , which is a cluster database) on top of the CRS installation. And these installations are all on a cluster, i.e a group of two nodes or two individual physical devices, which makes it complex as compared to any other standalone installations. The other thing that is different here is that incase your installation fails for some reason, there is another complicated set of clean-up or de-installation steps which if you fail to do correctly, you can be assured that your installation will never go through! The three installations are interrelated in such an intricate manner that even a little careless mistake could have you repeating the entire set of steps over and over again. True, its the first time that am working with clusters and people who've done these already have gone through similar issues.

Dear blog, after writing my heart out here, I feel more enthusiastic and energetic to return back to the installations and am determined to complete them all successfully :-)

Some more ..

Kolams I drew for various occasions

Jute so Cute :-)

These days there is more ecology consciousness. "Save your planet" , "Stop pollution" , "Regulate your surroundings" , "Protect your environment" are the kind of messages that are flashed across various media.


Going jute would be one such eco friendly practice. Jute is also becoming a fashion and style statement.
Jute bags, wallets, folders, apparel, handicrafts, furnishings, carpets, textiles, yarn, jacket, cushion covers, shopping bags, table mats, upholstery, carpets & rugs, wall hangings and ohh..the list is endless.
My love for jute never ceases to grow ..

Should I start now????

um....
am at office now and its gonna be lunch time!!
Ive got lotsa pending work too.
This is not a good time to start blogging ...
I recollect what my thatha used to ask me very often, "Konjam sastrigal ta muhurtham ketukalama? :D "