Going (Coming) Home Now....!!!

Hyderabad has been my home for two and a half years now. Yes, it was a home without my people by which I mean no parents, brothers and sisters but rather a home built from friends. I have made numerous friends here, some whom I wish to remain in touch all my life.

When I left Mumbai, I was in search of independence…to be free from the relations I was given by the default called birth. But today I stand more bound than I was ever before. This time alone has taught me a great deal. In fact I think it has even brought me close to my blood relations. But this blog is dedicated to all the lovely people who I met in this city. From the intellectual nerds to the humorous buddies to the “always there” types. I met each and every one of you, learnt a lot about you and fell in love with at least some of you.

Being a Mumbaikar by birth and qualification I had never ventured out of that city. And though my previous blog depicts my HYDERABAD BLUES, this city is a place that has people associated to every corner of its topography. Whether it’s Prasads, PVR or the recently opened Adlabs (or shall I say BIG Cinema) I remember each movie I have seen, and most importantly I remember each joke shared with the person sitting besides me. There were memorable night outs with card sessions where I have lost enormous amount of money but I owe it to this city to have made a card strategist out of me. I remember the foolish dances in pubs where they play music well at least they think its music (sorry the HYDERABAD BLUES chipped in).

I will not mention names but I am sure people who read this and have shared these moments with me will know that it is them I am blabbering about. I have always believed that as one grows in life the set of people from which he chooses his friends decrease and hence it becomes more and more difficult to get best friends when you are older. And hence we all have best friends from schools and colleges. But even though I still hold to this point, I have managed to make best friends here. Friends whose marriages I will attend and friends who my kids will definitely call aunty or uncle and trouble for food. (Come on people my entire point of having friends is to feed my kids you all know how bad I am at that ;) )

And now I know why this city is called HYDERABAD…. “H(i)Y”…as in said hi, hello to someone new….DERA as in Hindi..ki maine yaha doston ka “DERA” bana diya hain and BAD as in….ab dekhe life iske “BAD” kaha leke jaati hain……

THE LOVE SONG...SING ALONG!!!!

Have you ever been in love? Now you don’t have to answer that question verbally. You can think of all the times (could be singular also) that you thought you were enveloped in this inexpressible bliss. Sometimes you could be blissfully unaware of the same.

A friend of mine, will of course not take his name as his identity needs to be protected, asked me to do something for him. Of course I’m all for love and so gladly did this for him. He plans to surprise the girl in question.. Now isn’t that lovely? How she reacts to it only god knows and for all of you interested in juicy tit-bits, you will be highly disappointed.
(Note to my friend – The inspiration of this post is you and your identity is strictly confidential and will not be divulged.)

Now in my life of 25 odd years, I have seen a lot of my friends in love. Even I have been in love but then when you are in love you can’t see yourself, can you? So that leaves you to pry on your friends. I have watched them doing stupid things, great sacrifices, buy gifts, throw abuses at each other etc etc etc. I totally believe that none of it is right or wrong it’s just hmmm….. It’s just is.

A person’s love story can be expressed in different song formats…the following is my favourite format

1. When boy and girl see each other for the first time….
Dard-E-Dil Dard-E-Jigar Dil Mein Jagaya Aapne....Pehle To Maein Shaayar Tha Aashiq Banaya Aapne
2. When they start going around…
I feel it in my fingers..I feel it in my toes..Love is all around me...And so the feeling grows...Its written on the wind...Its everywhere I go, oh yes it is...So if you really love me....Come on and let it show...You know I love you, I always will..My minds made up by theWay that I feel....Theres no beginning,Therell be no end..cause on my love you can depend
3. When they have their first fight, are not talking to each other but missing each other…

Baby when you're gone, I realize I'm in love..days go on and on, and the nights just seem so long..Even food don't taste that good, drink ain't doing what it should..things just feel so wrong, baby when you're gone..
4. Now point number 4 can have 2 cases hence
a. They live happily ever after
Apne rang gawaen bin, mere rang mein ghul jaoOhh..Apne rang gawaen bin, mere rang mein ghul jao....Apni dhoop bujhaye bin, meri chhao mein aa jao....Oh chalo yoon kare,Tum, tum bhi raho, main, main bhi rahoon....Hum, hum bhi rahein...Teeno mil ke saathchale...Saathi janam janam, u me aur hum
b. They don’t want to see each other’s face ever again
You bored me with your stories...I cant belive that I endured you for as long as I did...Im happy its over, Im only sorryThat I didnt make the move before you....
Well I just wanna say...I never really loved you anyway....No I didnt love you anyway
5. and yes there is always a fresh start (I’m a thorough optimist)
A little bit of Monica/Rohan in my life... A little bit of Erica/Joshua by my side... A little bit of Rita/Prasad is all I need... A little bit of Tina/Nikhil is what I see... A little bit of Sandra/Kiran in the sun.... A little bit of Mary/Sandeep all night long... A little bit of Jessica/Sukesh here I am.... A little bit of you makes me your man/babe

(the names can differ depending on who is singing it)

Please note all the names of boys used are in no way linked to me. They are names that are either husbands or boyfriends of some of my lovely girlfriends and I swear to all these girls that I have met the concerned boys only in their presence.

So you see I’m the eternal romantic. Whatever the conclusion of the story it is nice to have been the heroine of the film and as the heroine I can dictate terms, I say PACK-UP!!!!

Blog Interrupted!!!

Hmm…I started this blog spot more than a month back and the last entry is on 12th September. I have been busy at work (do I hear people laughing at this) and….blah blah blah…

Hay!!! Whom am I kidding…I travel with my laptop and can scribble any time I want. The point remains I just couldn’t think of anything to write. Even before starting to write this I penned few lines on the following:
The Rajarams (Assassinations by Economic Depression)
My ROUTINE travels to Pune and Delhi
Friends I have lost to this Crowded World
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (Men will be Men)

Now the first topic was a sad discussion on something that though is all over the news but to which I don’t have a first hand account of and hence I don’t think I can judge it.

To spare all of you of how I traveled for my sales meetings to Pune and Delhi and spent the entire day presenting plans for the quarter III of 2008-09, I chucked writing the second routine post.

Now the third post started on these lines…. “I once had a friend.....I have not met this person for many years now and have had just tit-bits of his life through a bunch of common friends. I knew him for more than a decade and then suddenly lost all contact.
I could write such similar lines for a lot of my friends. I’m a pretty social person and normally surrounded by people but the fact remains that if I had to pen down the friends I have lost to this crowded world they would definitely be a sizable number.”

I soon realized after the first paragraph that this story showcased my inability to remain in touch with people and not the other way round and so I couldn’t write any further.

Though the last topic was definitely an interesting one but would have to be associated to people and may be several people. Now I’m absolutely against gossip and that too if the gossip has no names I think it’s absolutely sinful.

So you see my leave of absence is justified. It is not that I didn’t try…the trial was, to put it mildly, not very entertaining.

A WedNesDay!!

I’m still not sure of my opinion of this particular movie….though all people I spoke to think that it is a good concept of “the stupid common man” (sorry you should have seen the movie to read this!) taking charge. The real question of course lies in the fact that how many of us are actually capable of becoming rather planning to be stupid. It is a great ask to be doing the job of cleaning scum anonymously. Not to be given credit for something that at least is perceived to be great as is depicted by Anupam Kher’s character as he lets go off the STUPID man at the end of this 2 hour tale.

Of course it is surely great to be doing this unthinkable act of killing terrorists to make this world a better place to live in and it is all glorified as we sit there in the theatre and applaud when Naseeruddin Shah’s character explains his actions. There are loop holes that stare out at you but all of us may choose to ignore – How come he got that stupid bench with the bomb stapled to it into an aviation base, how come a common man within a span of 25 days (as mentioned by him in the movie) learns the expertise to bounce calls so that he is not tracked. But then don’t we all ignore what we prefer to do when we are sure that something is right.

Besides what is the objective of the film maker I ask. Is it to make a movie and earn profit which I’m sure he’s assured of or is it to shake people from their inertia? I personally believe cinema is of 2 types – entertaining and provoking. Though I’m an avid film buff and have been earlier provoked by movies but the feeling of making a difference stays with me for no more than a week (maybe I’m too selfish to do anything for anyone else). So though I can stand up and say it’s a good concept but will it be a reality someday.

I may be a little philosophical here in saying that let alone making a difference in the bigger scheme of things we sometimes don’t even stand up for ourselves. Something small like littering (which I feel very strongly about), though I myself may have never done it but I have rarely stopped anyone else from doing it and I’m sure even this can make a difference. But then I think I cannot speak for all the people; maybe they do make a difference in their own small ways.

Another thing that I felt was totally wrong in the movie (and here I should say thanks to a review I heard on the numerous channels we have today for pointing this out) was the depiction of all the 4 terrorists as Muslims. What is that? The movie doesn’t mention the religion of the “STUPID” man but mentions starkly the religion of the ones he blows up. All this in spite of the fact that Anupam Kher at the end proclaims that we tend to find the religion behind each name.

Hmm...but all may be just plain good cinema and good acting in the end. This is not in anyway a review of the said movie…it’s just that “the stupid common man” replied on a WEDNESDAY and I choose to question it back on a FRIDAY!!!!

Hyderabad Blues....

Though there is no connection between the photo and the blog...just a picture of the Ganesh Idol at HOME...

I’m back from the week long holiday in Mumbai (already!!) and entered back into mundane office days….Get up...get ready (people who know me get irritated on the time I spend on this especially my sister)...go to office…come back home….have dinner…and sleep to glory. So now you know why I don’t have a blog coz guess all the posts could look identical. I think I’m going tangential again but what I want to say is I have again stepped back into the Hyderabad Blues.

Oh no!! I think I gave a pretty boring picture of myself…..It’s not the same everyday guys I do go for the occasional movie or the occasional dinner or the very occasional dance and I just hope the superlative “very” remains and I don’t have to look out for a even superlative option. I even have fun at work with 2-3 cups of hot chocolate that I drink everyday thanks to the vending machine options.

The last time I shopped in Hyderabad I had loved a pair of shoes that they didn’t have in my size and a t-shirt that said “for men” but I picked up both anyways. Did you know in Hyderabad the rickshaw drivers think they are controllers of our destiny and can dictate a sum of money so outrageous that if I had collected all that in the 2 years that I have been here I could have bought myself a car. See I told you it’s not all that bad!!

There are good days and bad days and in Hyderabad there are BLUE days…Beware of Latenights U will be Eveteased. I have lived for nearly 25 years in Mumbai but the blue days I have faced here are unbeatable. The opportunity of being so useful to MANkind was never felt by me before.

I’m thoroughly enlightened to pen a song so with apologies to Julie Andrews as I take inspiration from Sound of Music’s “These are a few of my favourite things”

Hot chocolate in office and shoes that don’t fit
Rickshaws that loot and movies that suck
Blue days in Hyderabad that choke me to tears
These are a few of my favorite things

Mumbai - The Beginning...

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps I begin my first blog post..not a great achievement in the eyes of many but a monumental in mine coz I have been wanting to do this for a long time but guess just too lazy to start. I am in Mumbai for the coming week for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival and guess find myself in a festive mood...(but my facebook mood states otherwise).....but then again Im always in a festive mood when I visit Mumbai...How ironic me visiting Mumbai when actually Im born and brought up here, but guess thats the part that makes me say As IT goes!!! The festivities started yesterday with a late night show of Rock On (the first on my list of things that one has to have protection to do in Hyderabad).. Loved the movie... Made me think if I love anything to the extent to revolve my life around it or to feel its my passion in life...guess not....but that besides I liked the movie for its songs...actors...and the association I felt towards it.

Still have to do a lot of things this week....