New additions to my friend list

IDEH

Ideh suddenly announced yesterday "its my birthday today!". What she meant was that she had completed a year in our lab. That reminded me that she is not really new to me. So I can say that I got to discover her all over again during our Pondicherry and Trichy trip.

My South India trip wouldn't have been half as interesting without her. Here's one great example. Bhakti and I were nicely sitting in a bus which would take us to Trichy while Ideh was standing down. All of a sudden we found Bhakti's suitcase in Ideh's hand which we clearly remembered having placed on the rack inside the bus. It turns out that while we had been busy looking out of the window one old man had cooly picked up the suitcase and walked out of the bus. Ideh told us that the man was walking so confidently that she almost believed the suitcase to be his until she peeped into the bus. That's when she literally snatched the case out of the thief's clutches!!

What I love about Ideh is her enthusiasm and boundless energy. She hardly ever complains. She can make an instant connection with anybody. However hard Bhakti and I tried to get our point across to our autowalla he only understood whatever Ideh said. One of the owners of a shop at Pondicherry actually believed Ideh to be an Indian when she is actually from Tehran. Her friendliness is infectious. I'll never forget her attempts to make me drink bitter coffee which would help me appreciate the sweetness of sugar.

Ideh is full of life and enlivens everything and everyone around her. She alone can blow a whistle on being bowled over by a classical dance performance. :)

AZAHAR

I've rarely called him by that name. To me he is Dingu or Mr Why. Dingu because whenever I talk to him I end up with bells going ding-dong in my head. And Mr Why because he has a habit of asking me the question "Why ?" all the time.

Two months back when we first chatted on ym he wanted to know what my plans for the future were. He totally wasn't satisfied with my answer that I was waiting for a year to go and then decide. Since then he has been after me to think and plan... think and plan. I have to admit thanks to his badgering (hehehe) I have ended up facing things that I had conveniently put at the back of my mind with no intention of bringing them to the forefront.

The other day Dingu said that if by making use of his suggestions I succeed in doing some new in my PhD then it'll make him happy. As his blog profile says he truly has a way of thinking which is unlike others.

I particularly love one of his quotes "Home is where the heart is and my heart is always with me... so I am always happy".

My South India Trip

I went for a short trip down South with two of my labmates, Bhakti and Ideh. The trip wasn't exactly short condsidering our 24 hour train journey to Chennai and the 5 hour bus ride thereafter to Pondicherry. After spending 2 nights and a day there we spent 6 hours on a bus to reach Trichy. We'd gone to Trichy to attend a 3 day coneference. From Trichy I came back alone to Pune with a brief stop over in Bangalore.

Here are a few excerpts from what all happened during the journey.

MR. SORRY

This was a character sitting in our compartment... absolutely meddlesome. He interferred while Ideh, Bhakti and I played cards telling us the rules on rummi. While Bhakti was being an amateur astrologist he once again interrupted to give his theories. Once he brought some weird people along with him to sit in our compartment. So I hid myself behind my Chemistry book Atkins while Bhakti made good use on the newspaper. Then he got some people who had been smoking fined by the TC when he had himself been smoking. Towards the end he had a fight with one of the train staff who was collecting money for the food that was served. Raising his voice he flashed his wallet showing something and saying filmy things like "you don't know me".

And after all this Ideh asks him how we can get to the Chennai bus-terminus in order to take a bus to Pondicherry!!

Anyway... It was Ideh only who came up with the above name for this man who had made a habit of saying sorry whenever we gave him cold looks as he'd try to get involved in our activities.

AUROVILLE ASHRAM

One of the places that we visited at Pondicherry was Auroville which was started by a lady follower of Sri Aurobindo who is fondly called by everyone as "The Mother". The idea of the starting the Ashram was that there should be one place on Earth where there are no differences on basis of religion, caste, creed or country and where noone works for personal goals. There are no posts at the Ashram and the researchers there are not awarded any degrees.

My one main question is that when at Auroville Ashram they do not believe in idol worship then why build at its central point a Matri Mandir?

Would the Ashram still be able to function if it was not started in a secluded place like the outskirts of Pondicherry but somewhere in the heart of a thriving city like Mumbai?

They might not be giving any degrees or offering any posts but what about the feelings of competition and jealousy that are so inherent in humans?

In order to unite people you tell them to leave their religious and cultural beliefs behind. I believe the real task would be to make them tolerant to each other's philosophies while still holding on to theirs.

DOGS AT AURO BEACH

While Ideh went to have a swim in the sea, Bhakti and I sat down at the beach cafe to eat something. My stomach was growling on account that it was nearing 4 pm and we had taken breakfast at 10 am. Besides we had walked quite a bit in Auroville Ashram and also in the local market for shopping. Soon growling came from some place else. Two huge dogs came and went on staring at us. One Uncle came to our help some 3 times and pushed the dogs away but they were real stubborn and kept on returning to our table. Finally Ideh came to our rescue and saved the day. But she couldn't save our appetites. The dogs succeeded in getting what they wanted... our food.

Anyway... the fun that I had at the beach eventually compensated for those few minutes (which felt like hours then) of discomfort.

IDEH

There's so much I want to write here that I am going to dedicate my next whole post to her.

DINNER AT COAST SIDE HOTEL

The food was absolutely yum but the service was verry slow. When they didn't serve us water for 20 min I went and complained. 5 min later Bhakti literally banged the table of the man-in-charge. Everyone seemed to be waiting for food to come. Finally when one group was obliged they gave a huge round of applause to the waiter and even tapped their glasses with spoons. :p

BUS RIDE TO TRICHY

There is only one word that I have for the scenery.... green. But the number of shades of green that were there were amazing. Obviously my unskillful efforts at photography couldn't capture what my eyes saw. It was beautiful and peaceful all along and a nice journey to contemplate. I didn't feel the need to talk in order to pass time.

SRIRANGAM TEMPLE

The temples were beautiful but what caught my attention was this sign... "Pay Rs 20 to go by shorter route (to see the temple idols)". It was sad to find men having turned even places of worship into a business for minting money. Another disheartening spectacle was to learn that these temples were restricted to Hindu's only. Had I read the notice before I wouldn't have joined the queue. Why do people create and then highlight the differences? Who are we to decide who is eligible to enter a place of worship or not?

Your dream vs your family

I saw a serial some days back in which the hero in order to decide whether he should marry the heroine or not asked her the following question. "If you had to choose between your family and your dreams what would you do?" The girl's answer is that she would never break the dreams of her family in order to fulfil her dreams.

This scene reminded me of a conversation between two of my friends that I heard while we were passing time at the Trichy railway station. One of them exclaimed "how can I leave my family who've been with me for 22 years, for someone whom I've got to know only for a short period of a year or two?"

The counter question by Ideh was "what if with this someone you would have ended up spending 30-35 years of your life?"

Life sure doesn't look like a box of chocolates to me. :p

Differently enabled

An article with the same title as above was printed in today's Times of India. I am quoting a part of the text here:

"The chief technology officer of Tata Steel, a person with multiple sclerosis who uses a wheelchair, has even the South American coal authorities turning to him for advice on the future of coke-making in Colombia. The advisory systems consultant of IBM Global Services India, who is visually impaired, is a member of a 4-member IBM world-wide team and the first blind IBMer to achieve IT specialist certification. The assistant director of filmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the "anchor on the sets" of his films.

People with disabilities are busy conquering new frontiers everyday. Every sphere they break into, they instantly win accolades and ardent supporters with their competance, professionalism and dedication, changing the way entire sectors look at people with disabilities."

Such people are living examples of the fact that how our life turns out depends up on what we make out of it.

In my class XIIth English textbook there was a story. It began with a blind beggar recounting to a rich businessman how he lost his eyesight when he was trampled in a stampede as someone from behind pulled him down in order to reach the exit first. The beggar was hoping that on hearing his account this rich man would take pity on him and give him some money so that he could survive another day. But what happened next was something unbelievable.

It turns out that this "rich businessman" was also visually impaired and the tale that the blind beggar had been narrarting in truth took place the other way round. It was the beggar who had pulled down the man in front of him and the man in front of him was none other than this businessman.

What makes this story extraordinary is that the stampede had occured in a mill where at that time both the beggar and the businessman were employed as labourers. Facing the same circumstances while one man chooses to use his disability as a means for generating sympathy for himself, another one chooses to succeed in life going on to prove that he is simply differently enabled.

Summing up... it really is on us to let a hurdle remain a hurdle or to jump over it and move ahead in life.

Reckless living

The above is R K Laxman's You Said It which came in Times of India a few days back. Funny though the cartoon might appear but it actually raises some very serious issues. One it talks about the poverty that is still rampant in India and two about the reckless way of living of those who are above the poverty line. It is the latter that I am going to discuss here.

When kids drunk in part by liquor and in part by their youth run their car over unsuspecting workers sleeping on the footpath they also in a way run over the families of these workers. On most occasions the news papers and news channels are able to create a stir among the public but justice is hardly ever delivered. I sometimes wonder how those guilty of taking a life can sleep peacefully at night and in the day be able to look everyone in the eye.

A friend of mine once proudly told me that he had could cross a road while just inches away from a bus! It left me completely aghast. Have people even stopped valuing their own lives?

What wouldn't some of us do to bring back a loved one that we've lost... to get some extra minutes or even seconds with them? Its a shame therefore to find someone putting his/her lives at stake just for experiencing an adrenaline rush that lasts only for a few moments.

I believe its time we realized the true worth of the life that we've been given. Its time we started caring again.

Men on marriages :)

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.

- David Bissonette

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

- Sacha Guitry

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

- Socrates

A happy marriage is a matter of giving and taking; the husband gives and the wife takes

Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

- Dumas

The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What does a woman want?"

- Freud

I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.

- Henny Youngman

I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years.

- Sam Kinison

There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.

- James Holt McGavran

I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me and the second one didn't.

- Patrick Murray

Is there God?

An atheist was walking through the woods.

"What majestic trees"!

"What powerful rivers"!

"What beautiful animals"!

He said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly charge towards him.

He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, "Oh my God!"

Time Stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came outof the sky! .

"You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident." "Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer"?

The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps You could make the BEAR a Christian"?
"Very Well," said the voice.

The light went out.

The sounds of the forest resumed.

And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke:

"Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

Mom or Dad?

"Who do you like best? Mom or dad?"

I came across this question a day or two ago in the form of a posting written by a 10 year old girl on her blog http://www.bandmanagerlife.blogspot.com/.

The answer to the above query is this phrase which my sister and I had concocted some years ago - "both are better".

Whenever I would return from school and later on from college I would give my day's report to Mummy. If I went out with my friends to watch a film then she would have to listen to my complete scene by scene narration. I once made her hear out my whole project report on the work that I'd done during the one month holiday (after my second year of graduation) that I'd spent in NCL. Only when I came to the end that I realized Mummy hadn't followed a word of it but she never stopped me from going on and on.

I am very close to Daddy now. Its just him and me at home what with my sister settled in Bangalore and Mummy watching us from the clouds up above.

Daddy is my friend, philosopher and guide all rolled into one. I enjoy going out to see movies with him and even shopping. If I am in nabad (the IITB slang for a nervous breakdown/great tension) then I just have to pour my heart out to Daddy. He always manages to give me the correct advice which solves my problem right at that moment.

Putting all the above in a line: I have had and am still relishing the best of both the worlds. :)

To wait or not?

Here is another "weight" problem :p

My take on IITs

Today on MTV's show Kya Baat the topic of discussion was "Are the IITs Overrated?". After watching the show I went into a flashback mode. I remembered that when I was in class 10th only two streams were considered as worthy to be taken up, namely, engineering and medicine. And for those who wanted to become engineers getting into IIT was their ultimate goal. Students literally burnt the midnight oil so that they could clear the JEE.

My route to IIT Bombay was different. I first did my graduation in Chemistry from St Stephens College and then joined IITB for pursuing MSc. Until then I had thought that students at IITs must be having their noses buried in books all the time. To my utter surprise I found among the IITians great sportspersons, managers, leaders, actors, voice over artistes, music composers, singers, costume designers and even some amazing set designers. I was left completely speechless when I saw this huge waterfall which the students had built at the OAT all by themselves for a play!!

Today many institutions offer degrees in engineering but IITs are one of the few places where one can do good research in pure sciences. All my MSc batchmates and even some of my friends from engineering departments are currently doing PhD as a result of their first brush with research here.

One of the points raised in the MTV show was that all IIT labs get good funding. This would be true if the comparison was with other Indian universities. But the picture would be very different if one were to size up the situation against the American and German univerisities.

So there is still a long road ahead that needs to be traversed. There are still many conquests to be made and many laurels to be won. In time the IITians will do all that and much more... this I am sure of.

Secrets for a Happy Marriage

With a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary at a churches marriage marathon, the minister asked Brother Ralph to take a few minutes and share some insight into how he managed to live with the same woman all these years.

The husband replied to the audience, "Well, I treated her with respect, spent money on her, but mostly I took her traveling onspecial occasions." The minister inquired trips to where?

"For our 25th anniversary, I took her to Beijing,China."

The minister then said, "What a terrific example you are to all husbands Ralph, please tell the audience what you're going to do for your wife on your 50th anniversary?"

Brother Ralph: "I'm going to go and bring her back."

Think Big!

Saddam Hussein was sitting in his office wondering whom to invade next when his telephone rang.

"Hallo, Mr. Hussein!" a heavily accented voice said, "This is Gurmukh from Phagwara, District Kapurthala, Punjab. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring the war on you!" "Well, Gurmukh," Saddam replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"

"Right now," said Gurmukh, after a moment's calculation, "there is myself, my cousin Sukhdev, my next door neighbour Bhagat, and the entire kabaddi team from the gurudwara. That makes eight".

Saddam paused. "I must tell you, Gurmukh that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command." "Arrey O! Main kya.. " said Gurmukh. "I'll have to ring you back!" Sure enough, the next day, Gurmukh called again.

"Mr. Hussein, it is Gurmukh, I'm calling from Phagwara STD, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!" "And what equipment would that be, Gurmukh?" Saddam asked. "Well, we have two combines, a donkey and Amrik's tractor."

Saddam sighed. "I must tell you, Gurmukh, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armoured personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my army to 1-1/2 million since we last spoke.""Oh teri ...." said Gurmukh. "I'll have to get back to you." Sure enough, Gurmukh rang again the next day.

"Mr. Hussein, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne.... .. We've modified Amrik's tractor by adding a couple of shotguns, sticking on some wings and the pind's generator. Four school pass boys from Malpur have joined us as well!"

Saddam was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Gurmukh, that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighterplanes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!" "Tera pala hove...." said Gurmuk, "I'll have to ring you back. "Sure enough, Gurmukh called again the next day.

"Mr. Hussein! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to call off the war." "I'm sorry to hear that," said Saddam. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well," said Gurmukh, "we've all had a long chat over a couple of lassi's, and decided there's no way we can feed two million prisoners of wars!"

What does love mean?

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

- Rebecca (age 8)

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
- Billy (age 4)

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
- Karl (age 5)

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
- Chrissy (age 6)

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri (age 4)

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
- Danny (age 7)

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
- Bobby (age 5)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."
- Nikka (age 6)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
-Noelle (age 7)

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
-Tommy (age 6)

"Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."
-Elaine (age 5)

"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says >he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
- Chris (age 8)

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
- Mary Ann (age 4)

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
- Karen (age 7)

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
-Jessica (age 8)

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PS: What is love for you?

Jab ... (When ...)

Jab chalti rehti hai zindagi
Toh hum ruk jaayen kyon?
Jab behti rehti hai hawa
Toh phir hum tham jaayen kyon?

Jab har raat ke baad aati hai subah
Toh hum andheron se ghabrayen kyon?
Jab shor karti hain saagar ki lehren
Toh hum aawaaz uthayen na kyon?

Jab eksi padti hain dharti par suraj ki kirne
Toh hum karen bhed-bhaav kyon?
Jab indradhanush mein mil jaate hain saat rang
Toh hum sab bhi isi tarah ek ho jaayen na kyon?

Jab phool bikher sakta hai apni khushboo
Toh hum muskurahatein baatein na kyon?
Jab pyar se badkar nahi hain kuch
Toh hum yeh rog jahaan mein phelaayen na kyon?

Here's my feeble attempt at writing an English version of the above poem.

When ...

When life keeps on going
Then why should we slow our pace?
When the wind keeps on blowing
Then why should we stop at one place?

When after every night comes a morning
Then why should we be afraid of darkness?
When the waves of the ocean are always wailing
Then why should we hesitate to raise our voices?

When the sunrays fall in every quarter
Then why do we discriminate?
When in a rainbow seven colours can come together
Then why don't we too similarly amalgamate?

When a flower exudes its fragrance all around
Then why shouldn't we too spread laughter and cheer in bounty?
When nothing greater than love can be found
Then why should in the world it be there in scarcity?

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PS: This is my first attempt at writing a josh bhari poem. :) So people tell me how you found it?
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Ek aur sher...

Pehle pyar karna nahi jaanti thi,
Ab bhulana nahi jaanti.
Dil toot jaane ke baad,

Kaise jodte hain use yeh nahi jaanti.

Pehle dil mein basaana nahi jaanti thi,
Ab wahaan se nikaalna nahi jaanti.
Jaanewaale ka intezaar kyon karta hai dil,
Is sawaal ka jawaab nahi jaanti.

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PS: The first line of this sher is actually a dialogue, from the the movie Kal Ho Na Ho, which I like a lot. I've just added some more lines to it. :)

Notice the notices

In an office:
TOILET OUT OF ORDER ..... PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW

In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT

In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office:
WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In another office:
AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Outside a secondhand shop:
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Spotted in a safari park:
ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Notice in a farmer's field:
THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE BUT THE BULL CHARGES

On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR THE BELL DOESN'T WORK)

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PS: I have to thank Ruchi for sending me this forward which I loved so much that I had to put it up here. :)

A "dog"ged life

A friend of mine once told me that whenever I wanted to change a particular topic while chatting I would invariably start talking about Aamir Khan (but of course!) or dogs.

I FEAR DOGS.

I guess it had all begun with our neighbour's dog chasing me. The dog who used to be kept mostly indoors was freely moving around that day and it decided to go after me. I dropped my school bag at the gate and ran to save my dear life.

In college I was once sitting outside the library writing my Physics Lab Journal. I was concentrating so hard that I freaked when this dog shoved himself right between my face and my register. I think it was God's way of punishing me for bunking a class and not completing my journal beforehand.

There are so many stories from my IITB days. My favourite is the one when minutes before an Organic Chemistry quiz I found myself stranded alone with eight dogs to my right and another eight to my left. I got saved that day by one of my classmates who was on his way to the department. On another occasion this guy whom I used to loathe came to my help. How I wish for my saviour to have been some knight in shining armour instead. On all other times I was happy to have my friend Chandrima acting as my bodyguard. Till date she hasn't been able to reason out why on seeing me, dogs which would be lazing around otherwise, would suddenly become active.

A few weeks back four puppies were born in the parking lot of my apartment building and I am already worrying about what will happen when they'll grow up. Mark Twain has said that "courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear". But for once I doggedly refuse to conquer my fear... of dogs.

A Beautiful Prayer

God make my life a little light
Within the world to glow
A tiny flame that burneth bright
Wherever I may go.





God make my life a little flower
That giveth joy to all
Content to bloom in native bower
Although its place be small





God make my life a little song
That comforteth the sad
That helpeth others to be strong
And makes the singer glad.




God make my life a little staff
Whereon the weak may rest
That so what health and strength I have
May serve my neighbor best.

Arz kiya hai ...

Kisi bewafa se wafa kya karna
Bhula diya hai jisne humein, usko yaad kya karna







Kisi ki jhoothi mohabbat ko dil mein kya rakhna
Gham mile hain jo bhi, unka hisaab kya rakhna





Jo nahi ho sakta tumhara, uski aarzoo kya karna
Nayi manzilein talaash kar, purane raaston ka kya karna

Nach baliye!!

For as long as I can remember I have loved dancing. As a kid I would copy the classical dances shown on Doordarshan but only in the close confines of my home. I had no intention of dancing anywhere else. So I gave my sister and her friends a hard time when they wanted me to be a part of a group performance to entertain a Durga Puja audience. I cried during the first rehersal and joined the rest of the girls only after a week had passed. I was in class II then.

My shyness persisted until class XII when finally at a birthday party my friends pulled me in to dance along with them. And from then on as if there was no stopping.

Today infact the tables have turned completely. I encouraged the girls in my lab to attend the Dandiya Nite at NCL Hostel. They did come and being first timers were initially hesitant. But few minutes into it and they began innovating their own steps.

People otherwise calm by nature were seen dancing to the beat of the dhol with abandon. People who were earlier unwilling to pick up the dandiya sticks later were found unwilling to put them down. In all we had such a blast that when we stopped it was way past midnight (!).

Sometimes in life we prefer to stand on the sidelines, feeling afraid to take the plunge on our own. On such occasions let the fun we had on dancing for the first time despite our doubts, act as a reminder about what we could be missing simply because of a fear of faltering.

Shero-shaayari from Aamir Khan films

Fanaa

Bhool ke humse jo bhool ho gayi ho
Toh bhool samajh kar bhula dena
Lekin bhulaana sirf bhool ko
Galti se bhi humein na bhula dena

Dur humse jaaoge kaise?
Humko bhool paaoge kaise?
Hum woh khushboo hai jo saanson mein baste hain
Apni saanson ko rok paaoge kaise?



Sarfarosh

Milte hi nazarein dil milaaya nahi jaata
Aaghaaz ko anjaam banaaya nahi jaata

Phool khilte hain bahaaron ka samaa hota hai
Aise mausum mein hi toh pyaar jawaan hota hai
Dil ki baaton ko hothon se nahi kehte
Yeh fasaana toh nigaahon se bayaan hota hai



1947-Earth

Husn ki chakki chali
Ek daana phas gaya
Tum phase toh kya phase Dilnawaaz
Saara zamaana phas gaya

My favourite romantic movie dialogues

1. My Best Friend's Wedding
Michael: Kimmy says if you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just...
Julianne: Passes you by...
Michael: Passes you by...






2. Notting Hill
William: I live in Notting Hill. You live in Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world knows who you are, my mother has trouble remembering my name.
Anna: I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.


3. Jerry Maguire
Jerry: I love you. You... complete me.
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello."




4. When Harry Met Sally
Harry: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

5. You've Got Mail
Joe: You know, sometimes I wonder...
Kathleen: What?
Joe: Well... if i hadn't been "Fox Books" and you hadn't been "The Shop Around the Corner," and you and I had just met...
Kathleen: I know.
Joe: Yeah, yeah. I would've asked for your number. And I wouldn't have been able to wait 24 hours before calling you up and saying, Hey, how about... oh, how about some coffee, or drinks, or dinner, or a movie... for as long as we both shall live?

Munnabhai's experiment with truth

I saw Lage Raho Munnabhai yesterday for a second time over and ended up liking it even more. How a local goon Munnabhai leaves Dadagiri to adopt Gandhigiri to get back The Second Innings House, an abode for seven old men, from the clutches of a mean businessman Lucky Singh forms the crux of this film. In a very simple way the movie introduces to us the two long forgotten weapons of satya and ahimsa (i.e. truth and non-violence), which Gandhiji used to end the British Raj over India.

I read somewhere that "lying can never save us from another lie". Only truth has the ability of setting us free. But then as Oscar Wilde had once said "the truth is rarely pure and never simple". :) I guess that is one of the reasons because of which we tend to choose the easier road (of lying) kidding ourselves that we won't be instrumental in causing hurt. On a few occasions we even resort to the other extreme remaining silent in matters of importance.

Munnabhai's gutsy confession to Jhanvi, the girl he loves, that he is a crook and not a professor is thus an example to be followed by those claiming to talk about anything under the sun but lacking courage to do so in reality.

As the film progresses our hero following Bapu's advice goes around affecting the lives of many people and propagating them (and us) to walk on the path of truth.

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PS: I'd like to end with the following Elvis Presley quote

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.

Heart, we will forget him!

Heart, we will forget him!

You and I, to-night!

You may forget the warmth he gave,

I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me,

That I my thoughts may dim;

Haste! lest while you're lagging,

I may remember him!

This is a poem written by Emily Dickinson which I came across a month or two ago. I had actually written it down and put it on my cupboard as a reminder to forget him but I ended up remembering him. There's a dialogue in this Aishwarya Rai film Kyon Ho Gaya Na which says "pyar ke liye sirf ek pal ki zaroorat hoti hai"... all love needs is a moment. But then why can't we fall out of love as easily? I'd heard this song from the film Mohra where the hero, suspecting his ladylove to have been unfaithful, croons:

Ae kash kahin aisa hota

Ki do dil hote seene mein

Ek toot bhi jaata ishq mein toh

Takleef na hoti jeene mein

I believe every person nursing a broken heart would want this to be true. :) But alas...

Idol worship

I remember that when I was in my final year of college some students during a group discussion declared that there are no idols left in our country to worship. What with so many politicians involved in some scam or the other and film personalities getting caught using dope and sports stars making money through ads while their stardom lasts, those students were not entirely wrong.

But they were not entirely right either.

By calling past as history we end up undermining its importance. Its time that we for a change look at the bygone era and search for our idols in the books that chronicle our fight for independence. We'll find great names like Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, Bhagat Singh and Azaad and many more. But all their sacrifices would have been in vain had the masses not joined forces with these leaders in India's freedom struggle. And therefore, I believe that one can find an idol even in an aam admi (a common man). All we have to do is look closely at the people around ourselves.

I've found my idols right in my home.

There are times when I don't listen properly to what my father is saying because I am more interested in what's coming on the tv standing in front of me. But there's never been a time when my father has done that to me. He is the most hardworking and honest man that I have come across in my life. Then there is my elder sister who like any elder sister can do no wrong. I try hard to be like her and talk like her while making presentations but I can't beat the original. :)

And how can one forget our mothers... their hearts filled with unconditional love... always putting the family first... always wanting the best for their children... many times giving up their own desires for our sake.

How about seeing an idol in our friends? Friends who jump with joy when we share a good news with them. Friends whom we can lean on in troubled times. Friends who continue to give proxy for us during attendance taken in classes, even after having got caught before. Friends who not only write their own assignments but ours as well so that we can spend one day less in the hostel, reach home a day early and at the same time not loose any credits for the home work.

Why not look up to our teachers who treat all students alike? Teachers who never say that they won't teach a particular student because he/she is not good. Lets learn something from their never failing enthusiasm at trying to get the best out of the worst bunch of kids.

Really there are many idols out there. We just have to open our eyes to acknowledge their presence.

After finally having accomplished the above task we should remind ourselves that an idol is not only meant for worshiping but also for emulating.

Something about me

Let me begin by introducing myself. I am NCLGIRL. The name comes from my workplace. NCL stands for National Chemical Laboratory where I am doing Ph.D. I had never thought that I'll be studying this long. Had I known this in class eighth then I probably would have been a lawyer today. My elder sister nicely spooked me out when I was still in school by telling me that I would have to put in at least nine years of study and even after that the only job I'd get would be that of swearing in the witnesses in court.

That said I am happy with what I am doing now. Ever since I had done a one month project at NCL after my second year at college I had wanted to return there to work. I was very impressed with the magnetic doors really. :D Plus the scientists that I'd met there were very down to earth. Infact things haven't changed in all these years. Some of the most knowledgeable scientists here are the most simple people who interact with us students like our friends. So while the atmosphere at NCL remains the same, it has changed me.

I used to be extremely shy in school and college. I was never one of those who raised their hands to ask a question or answer one. I preferred sitting in the audience during events rather than setting my foot on stage. But its not so any more. These might seem small things to some people but not to me.

That's enough of serious talk. On the lighter side let me talk about movies. I am a big time Aamir Khan fan. He is my first crush and first love. My Boss however doesn't think that I can be in love with AK because I have never met the actor in question. Hehehe. Well... but then Sir hasn't seen my huge collection of Aamir Khan photos, interviews and articles which I've been maintaining since class ninth. I've used some of these to make two scrapbooks and I'll need countless more to put in every bit of paper cutting that I have.

I've watched all of Aamir Khan films but the ones that I simply love are Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Sarfarosh, Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai and Rang De Basanti. He can enact dramatic, romantic and emotional scenes with an unparalleled ease. He becomes all these characters and makes you fall in love with each one of them. I can just go on and on about my favourite hero really. But let me save this topic for another post.

I guess I've written quite a bit but there's just one more thing to tell. The title of my blog is inspired by the name of my school's wallpaper called The Scribbler. I had thoroughly enjoyed my stint as the Student Editor. But I stopped writing after passing out of school. Thanks to this blog however, I am back at it again.