tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-320787612024-03-07T00:11:13.603-06:00The Maple TreeThe Maple TreeRadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-55960327630525728932008-05-29T17:46:00.008-05:002008-06-02T10:14:27.461-05:00Sunta rahe mera dil<p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Rahman is here again with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Ada. I am listening to 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi' for the 5th time since morning. It makes me feel younger. I mean I am still young but it reminds me of my teenage days. The music is very fresh, youthful and contemporary. I love the video of this song too. Aamir khan’s nephew Imran Khan looks cute and promising.<br />'Hawa sun hawa' from Ada is a true masterpiece sung by Sonu and Alka, a soft, romantic song with an amazing tune of flute. And there is 'Meherbaan' sung by the maestro himself. It is an enchanting experience to listen to Rahman’s voice and if it is coupled with good lyrics you bound to get hypnotized. <br />I am so glad I am born in the era of AR. He has so much impact on my memories! Ours was an all Girls’ school, a place where we could nurture our bold and bindhast nature. A group of 6 ‘aagaau girls' (snobs) used to rule that kingdom. Achieving good grades was like getting the passport to all the fun-filled activities. May it be dancing or singing or playing or debating or volunteering. We were the proud representatives of our school getting trophies from each and every competition that we participated in.The memories are still so fresh. We used to hum the song ‘Chhoti si aasha’ by Rahman. After school hours our melodious Corus would fetch a big audience of the fellow students. The world was so perfect then!<br />1995 came with ‘Rangeela’, right at the time when we were about to step out of the protected boundaries of the school to the whole new world of junior college। ‘Kya kare kya na kare yeh kaisi mushkil hai’, an apt song describing the confusing adolescence. We girls were fida on that tapori look of Aamir. There was another incredible movie that came in 1995, ‘Bombay’. Our flock was escorted by my friend’s parents to the movie theater (we were not allowed to go to the theater on our own back then when there were no multiplexes and people from various social classes used to go to the same movie hall). The darkness helped us hide our tears but everyone was deeply moved by what we saw on the screen. Rahman’s music had a great share in making that impact. Dil Se and Doli Saja ke Rakhna were instant hit in our hostel. Yes, in August 1998 I set my foot up in College of Engineering Pune. Again the hostle was a ‘Kingdom of Vivacious Girls’. And now I had a brand new Walkman (courtesy my brother) with a tape of Rahman’s most wonderful creation ‘Dil Se’. Listening to Sonu (one more weak point) in 'Satrangi' with one earplug in my ear and the other in my friend’s ear was a divine experience. The American people might find it weird but we Indians have our own idea of sharing. Sharing an ear-plug is one such great idea. Takshak’s ‘Khamosh Raat’ was such a beautiful song and if a handsome, blue eyed senior guy sings it you can imagine how crazy the girls would go. By that time we had become pro as ‘Rahman’s listeners’. You listen to his song the first time you barely like it. You listen to it the second time you discover new things in it and you listen to it the third time you feel like there is a whole new set of tunes you have not listened to yet. Once you get accustomed with the song you start loving it and then you keep listening to it for infinite number of times.Taal, Pukar, Lagaan, Legend of Bhagat Sing, Swades, Rang de Basanti, Guru, Jodhaa Akbar and now Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. How can a man be so creative! It makes me believe that some people are ‘Gifted’. For now enjoy the songs from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na <a href="http://www.dhingana.com/jaane-tu-ya-jaane-na/movie/songs/hindi/latest/3792">http://www.dhingana.com/jaane-tu-ya-jaane-na/movie/songs/hindi/latest/3792</a><br /> </span></p>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-144402396484196462008-02-25T14:13:00.006-06:002008-05-30T11:20:58.031-05:00जोधा अकबर<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">नम्रता आणि सारिकाच्या वेगवेगळ्या प्रतिक्रिया ऐकून आणि माझ्या अपेक्षा अनेक पटीनी कमी करून मी 'जोधा अकबर' बघायला गेले आणि हृथिक रोशन च्या प्रेमात पडूनच थिएटर च्या बाहेर <span class="">आले.</span><br />इतका हळूवार आणि तरल चित्रपट बनवल्याबद्दल आशुतोष गोवारिकर चे मनापासून कौतुक केले <span class="">पाहिजे.</span> चित्रपट बघताना अनेक प्रश्न मनात येता येता तसेच राहून गेले कारण पडद्यावर जे दिसत होतं ते इतकं सुंदर होतं, इतकं आकर्षक होतं की जे दिसतयं ते आधी बघावं आणि मग विचार करावा असंच वाटत <span class="">राहिलं.</span> थोडक्यात 'जहाँ-पन्हा का दिल दिमाग पे भारी हो गया ' :)<br /></span><a href="http://www.dhingana.com/album/hindi/latest/jodhaa-akbar/2898"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">http://www.dhingana.com/album/hindi/latest/jodhaa-akbar/2898</span></a>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-50380700339245646562007-12-10T14:01:00.001-06:002008-05-30T11:20:10.538-05:00नाताळ<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">दुपारचे २ वाजले आहेत. नुकतेच जेवण झाले आहे. माझ्या आजू बाजूच्या चार cubes मधे कुणीही नाहीये आणि मला प्रचंड झोप येतेय. पण मी इथे झोपू शकत नाही. का तर म्हणे हा professionalism नाही. Recently एका Internet Survey नुसार IT क्षेत्रातील 20% लोकांनी हे मान्य केले की ते ऑफिस मधे झोपतात. पण मी झोपण्याचा विचार सोडून blog लिहायला घेतला.<br />गेल्या काही दिवसांत बरयाच गोष्टी 'घडल्या'. त्यात EAD कार्ड चे प्रोसेसिंग, नविन जॉब आणि नविन गाडी ह्या जगाला सांगण्यासारख्या गोष्टी... आणि मित्र-मैत्रिणींबरोबर चकाट्या पिटणे, केस कापणे, latest गाण्यांची CD बनविणे, कपडे आणि shoes विकत घेणे, train ने ऑफिसला जाणे, नविन बॉस बरोबर downtown मधे फिरणे अशा अनेक interesting गोष्टी करुन झाल्या. आता 2008 येई पर्यंत हे असंच चालणार. Holiday Season म्हणजे नुसती धमाल. सगळी कडे christmas चे रंगीबेरंगी डेकोरेशन, दुकानांमधे सेल, माणसांची धावपळ, खरेदी, खाणे-पिणे आणि वेगवेगळ्या ठिकाणांना भेटी देणे... वर्षभरात 2080 तास काम केल्यानंतर कुणाला नाही आवडणार अशी मजा करायला?</span>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-51338621237709890172007-07-02T16:29:00.003-05:002008-06-02T13:48:04.271-05:00Perspective<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemWujPY769RFRofZk-CrE7Cd-vZcBNK-4ezmGpr80fkgVGY4evqKeqKnchZFvrcwz02s_r05slwDbUrxp5kQ42vFdBleOBEaz_5VYXYcbW3R12sVKiTMZZBYk2P62W038W287CA/s1600-h/Sai.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207357787871642322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemWujPY769RFRofZk-CrE7Cd-vZcBNK-4ezmGpr80fkgVGY4evqKeqKnchZFvrcwz02s_r05slwDbUrxp5kQ42vFdBleOBEaz_5VYXYcbW3R12sVKiTMZZBYk2P62W038W287CA/s320/Sai.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">माझी अडीच वर्षांची भाची, सई, नुकतीच शाळेत जायला लागली आहे. तिच्या शाळेमुळे घरात सकाळी सकाळी प्रचंड गडबड असते (म्हणजे घरातले सगळे उगीच प्रचंड गडबड करतात).<br />पू (माझी वहिनी) सईला सोडायला शाळेत जाते आणि २ तास शाळेतच थांबते.<br />सई शाळेत गेल्यावर मोठ्ठा भोंगा पसरते. आज पू ला फ़ोन केला तर पू ने सांगितले की सई आता अजिबात रडत नाही. मी आश्चर्याने विचारलं की अचानक हा बदल कसा?<br />तर पू ने एक अफ़लातून ट्रिक शोधली आहे. शाळेत पोहोचल्यावर पू सई ला सांगते की, ’आपण इथल्या झाडांना पाणी घालायला आलो आहोत. तू तुझ्या मैत्रिणींबरोबर खेळ तोपर्यंत मी झाडांना पाणी घालते.’ हे ऐकून सई हसत हसत शाळेत जाते. कधी कधी मात्र पू ची ही थाप पचत नाही कारण धो धो पाऊस येत असतो. सई ला प्रश्न पडतो की एवढ्या पावसात झाडाला अजून पाणी कशासाठी? मग ’झाडाची cutting करायला आलोय’ अशी पू ची नविन थाप तयार असते.<br />एकंदर ’आई कामाला येताना आपल्याला घरी न सोडता बरोबर घेऊन आली आहे’ ही concept ’आपण शाळेत आलो आहोत’ यापेक्षा नक्कीच भारी वाटते ना?<br />मला पण ऑफिस ला जाताना असा ’नवा’ perspective शोधला पाहिजे.</span></div>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-32864061590550197382007-06-27T23:00:00.001-05:002008-05-30T11:24:08.737-05:00आज मी पंकज ला मराठी मधे टाईप करायला शिकवले. गूगल ने दिलेल्या हया facility ने तो चांगलाच impress झाला. त्याला auto-help चा option फार आवडला.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-74601697186113796632007-06-22T11:23:00.001-05:002008-05-30T11:25:35.333-05:00<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today Joyce got Sticky Rice for us. She cooked it herself and I must say she is a good cook.The recipe is similar to Maharashtrian 'Ukadiche Modak'. The rice cone is wrapped in a Banana Leaf and then cooked on the steam of water. Now its my turn to cook Biryani. Everyone in my office is excited about the idea of eating Basamati rice :)</span><br /><div style="DISPLAY: none"></div><div style="DISPLAY: none"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ce3zyYFbuy4blhHXpVIOSJgoVbSo02WUIxbHlvr1tTTdA7FFSnA5kp_lz8xR3Kuehs-foNQIZ7hzoibMhX72Mm_gO18250LB0E60mJ0A2SzmPPGyfs7RlAKKQcF23VHWRUdreg/s1600-h/me+with+couger.jpg"></a></div>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-5280014199830746582007-06-14T15:22:00.002-05:002008-05-30T14:14:09.384-05:00Pardes<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Things I recently got to know about Houston:</strong><br />Incident 1:<br />A family of 4 (father, mother, a son and a daughter) is going to Havana for vacation.<br />Mother sends email to the school teacher asking for permission.<br />School teacher replies back positively with 'Have a nice time' note.<br />The family enjoys in Havana, comes back and gets a letter from county office saying<br />'This is a warning for criminal C offense. Your child had an unexcused absence for which you and/or your child may get a sentence to jail or a fine of about $500'<br />According to the law, the parents should make a phone call to the school EVERY DAY to inform that the kid is going to be absent.<br /><br />Incident 2:<br />A group of teens having lunch at a fast food place at around 11:30 in the morning get a ticket by the police.<br />The Day Time Curfew law does not permit the kids below 18 to go to the public restaurants during school hours (8:30 am till 2:30 pm).</span>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-66975386341084725532007-06-06T17:15:00.003-05:002008-05-30T14:14:47.457-05:00Cruel Story<span style="font-family:verdana;">"The world is too crowded" - one of my American collegues.<br />"What?" - I and my chinese friend with obvious astonishment.<br />"The world is too crowded. That is why every man has to think about his bread and butter and cannot do the things he really wants to do" my American collegue was getting grumpy. He wanted to be a movie director but landed in Georgia-Tech University for a bachelor of engineering and stayed there till his masters. These days he is doing 'Software Development'. We all were laughing at his comments. But we did not know that the atmosphere will get extremely serious in next 10 mins.<br />We started talking about the population and the policies to control the population in various countries.<br />"In China, the government forbids you from having more than one child" - My Chinese friend.<br />"What do you mean by 'forbid'? How can someone forbid you from having a child? I mean our government 'discourages' people" - I<br />"I will tell you a real life story. It is about my sister-in-law" she said.<br />Afterthat whatever we heard was shocking. Here is the story:<br />Her sister-in-law is in China. She has a daughter. She wanted to have one more child (a son). When she got pregnant the second time she hid in a country side home. She did not even go to the hospital as she was very scared of the strict government policy. One day she went to her house to collect some clothes. She was 8 months pregnant then. Someone saw her and reported it to the government. Within hours there were 5-6 huge men around her. They forced her to the hospital where the doctor gave her some kind of a shot. Eventually she delivered a cute little baby boy. But the boy could hardly survive for an hour. To put it correctly the doctors killed him. This is a normal routine in her country. The government forces the mothers to abort.<br />How can someone be so INHUMAN? We went back to the very basic question of morality. How does a human develop his sense of right and wrong?<br />I think our parents, our society and our surroundings play a very important role in this. But then China does have a developed society and a family system in place. What is missing there? Is it the 'religion'? When asked, the communists say "my religion is communism". I was surprised that how much a religion can make a difference in ones life. I may not believe in religious rituals but unknowingly my religion has helped me to develope the ability to decide what is right and what is wrong.<br />Thank God!<br /></span>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-32468701641978184002007-06-06T15:48:00.002-05:002008-05-30T14:15:41.922-05:00Metroपरवा 'Life In a Metro' पाहिला. मन जरा वेळ सुन्न झाले. अनुराग बसुच्या इतर movie सारखाच हा movie पण अंधारात घडणारा आणि depressing होता. पण realistic होता. story-line चांगली होती. काही काही गोष्टी unnecessary वाटल्या. e.g. धर्मेन्द्र ची story. पण एकंदर movie कुठे रेंगाळला नाही. गाणी background मधे होती आणि सुरेल होती. इरफान खान, कोंकाना सेन, के के मेनान आणि शिल्पा शेट्टी ची acting उत्तम. मला आवडलेलं character म्हणजे 'Monty', played by Irfan Khan. Monty हा इतरांपेक्षा 'weird', 'less polished' असा माणुस पण आयुष्यात काय हवय हे माहित असलेला. त्याचा एक dialog अतिशय आवडला 'ये शहर हमे जितना देता है उस से कई ज्यादा हम से लेता है'. Overall एक वेगळा movie म्हणून एकदा बघायला हरकत नाही.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-14833032088157699822007-06-01T13:09:00.004-05:002008-05-30T14:16:06.347-05:00The Incredibles<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today I am very excited!!<br />First of all it is the end of the week and I am going for 'The Incredibles' tonight.<br />I am going to see Sonu performing LIVE...How I wish I had the first row tickets. The group seems to be impressive. Sonu Nigam, Asha Bhosale, Kunal Ganjawala and Kailash Kher..Wawww</span>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-9360715347655884722007-05-20T10:46:00.001-05:002008-05-30T14:17:18.903-05:00माँ तुझे सलाम<span style="font-family:verdana;">Today I was talking to two of my colleagues, a guy originally from Vietnam and a girl originally from China. Both are in their forties and are settled in America now.<br />Our topic inevitably drifted towards ‘the migration - causes and implications’ as we all have migrated to USA from different countries.<br />Everyone shared his/her story.<br /><br />The story of the Vietnami guy (let us call him T) was like this:<br />T was living with his family in South Vietnam. His dad was a Hiring officer in the government. They had a big house in a big city of Vietnam. Basically he belonged to an upper class and educated family.<br />One day he was playing guitar in the backyard. He was happily singing the American rock music as every teen-ager would do. Suddenly the police came and arrested him. His offense was that he was singing ‘bad’ ‘American’ songs. His father went to the police station and got him released. Such incidents were normal in day to day life.<br /><br />Then the famous war of Vietnam started. During the war, the North Vietnam government arrested T’s father and put him in the labor camp for almost 12 years. Meanwhile T’s mother was taking care of the whole family. She was allowed to meet her husband once a year.<br />To add to the sorrow, the South Vietnam lost the war. The communist government started harassing T’s family. They were asked to evacuate their own house for no logical reason. When they refused to do so the government cut their electricity and water supply. The government even tried to stop the food supply to his family. The discrimination was everywhere.<br />The government brainwashed the school kids in favour of communism. Many kids, including T, fell into the trap. T’s mother was really shattered when she realized that her son is supporting those people who kept her husband in the jail.<br />She asked her kids to leave the country. T’s brother was the first one to escape. He went to Italy. T and his sister tried to escape but failed 4 times. Finally they succeeded to escape to the USA. They were kept in the refugee camp where T met with a fire accident. The left portion of his body is badly burnt.<br />He started his new life in this country. Eventually his father got released and his whole family came to USA. It has been 25 years since he is living in this country and he never feels like going back to Vietnam.<br />The story of the Chinese girl was not very different. Back in China, she belonged to a joint family. She used to stay with her grand mother, her parents and her uncles. One day the Chinese government asked them to evacuate their big family house. In return they got a very little money. All the brothers had to separate. Her grandmother was just not ready to listen. She stopped having food in protest of this decision. All her sons tried to persue her but after 10 days she passed away.<br />I was shocked listening to the stories.<br />I am so lucky to have a galore of fond memories of my country.<br />I guess we realize the value of the freedom only when it is absent.</span>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1162932915664284312006-11-07T14:55:00.001-06:002008-05-30T14:18:41.683-05:00Reminiscenceआज मी आख्खी दुपार पक्ष्यांची चित्रे बघण्यात घालवली. मला आत्ता उठुन बर्ड वॉचिंगला जावस वाटतय. ऑफिस मधे काम करत असताना अनेकदा माझ्या मनात विचार येतात की मी कितीतरी गोष्टी अनेक दिवसात केल्या नाहियेत. मला माझ्या मैत्रिणींबरोबर मनसोक्त भटकायच आहे. अचानक मैत्रिणीचा फोन यावा आणि गाडी काढून निघाव अशी एक ट्रिप करायची आहे. ट्रेकिंग करायच आहे. माझ्या कायनेटिक वरुन लांबच लांब चक्कर मारताना गार वारा श्वासात भरुन घ्यायचा आहे. आईबरोबर बाल गंधर्व च्या कट्ट्यावर बसून गप्पा मारायच्या आहेत. नाटक बघायच आहे. पावसाळ्यात सह्याद्रिच्या रांगामधून फिरायच आहे. लहान लहान ओहोळात पाय बुडवून चालण्याच सुख परत एकदा अनुभवायच आहे. एकाच गाडीत कोंबून माझ्या बहिण-भावांबरोबर प्रवास करायचा आहे. मनाचा वेग चकित करणारा आहे. मी गेल्या ५ मिनिटांत US to India back and forth असंख्य ट्रिप्स मारुन आलेय.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1162585500895550632006-11-03T11:25:00.003-06:002008-06-02T13:24:45.866-05:00A Beautiful DayI like to write when I have an exceptional day. Yesterday was one of those eventful days. I got up in the morning. Pankaj was ready to leave for office. I started with my daily errands. At around 8:30 am, I was all set to step out of the house when I realized that I do not have the keys. I started looking at every possible place in my house but no luck. Did I throw the whole bunch of keys in the trashcan? I started imagining myself searching for the keys in that Waste Management box down in the parking lot. Yuuk!<br />When did I use it the last time? I was trying to trace back but as usual my memory dumped me at the time of crisis. I gave up and called Pankaj. I was damn right. He went to the office with both the set of keys. That includes my home key, car key, office key and other, not so frequently needed, keys. Thank god. At least the keys were not in the trash. Pankaj was too busy to come home at that time. I decided to call up my boss. Waw! What a reason to take leave. "Boss, I cannot lock my house so I cannot come to the office today" :) But my schedule at the office was pretty much packed. I realized that I could not afford to take even a half day off. Pankaj and I decided that we will leave the home unlocked and I will use the duplicate car key. He will come and lock the home in his lunch break. I left for the office. I was late at work and there were a lots of emails and calls waiting for my attention. At around 11:30am Pankaj called me. He had gone home and had locked the door and everything was fine. Hushh…I was relieved. I replaced the receiver on the phone and saw my boss walking towards my desk. He had a document in his hand. Great! I was expecting a very important document from him.I am going to India in December. Being an alien in USA I have to go through the ordeal of the visa processing in my home country. I need an original copy of my visa document (I-797) from my employer for the visa interview. And there he was..with the document..no..wait a minute..with the ‘colored’ Xerox copy of the document? Shoot…He very sweetly explained that this is what he can give me. His attorney has advised him to keep the upper portion of original copy with himself. He can give me the bottom portion and a color copy of the whole. I tried to explain him that it will not work. The visa officers in my country have their own rules and moods. But my boss had nothing to do with them. He was happy going by his attorney’s advice, the same attorney who once had given me a green-card application form instead of H1-B visa application form. I was patiently explaining him that he does NOT need the original copy but I do. The document I-797 clearly says that the upper portion has to be kept with the employer. And my boss was doing right. At the same time most of the people from their own experience say that the visa officer needs to see the whole document. My task was to make my boss believe on something that is not written anywhere on any official document. Moreover I myself was convinced that what he is saying is right. I decided to send an email to the US Consulate at Mumbai to confirm the requirements of the document. As per my thoughts (this is very important because Pankaj’s thoughts on the same matter can differ by 180 degrees) I found a pretty good way to handle the tricky problem. I badly needed a break and it was already past noon so I left for the lunch. The immigration matter always makes me feel edgy and that day was no exception. I was driving away my negative thoughts while driving to the lunch place and BANG! A big, white Ford Ranger encroached my lane and hit me from left. I reduced my speed honking furiously knowing I could not go any more right since I was in the right most lane and there was a wall next to me. My front tire rim had hit the curb hard. When I regained my balance I realized that the truck did not even slow down after that reckless bang. I also realized that my car could still run. So I decided to go behind that moron. I caught him at the next light and shouted at him, asking him to pull his car in a nearby parking lot. I was down there in my civic and he was way up in his big truck. He conveniently ignored me and ran away as soon as the light went green. I was left with his license plate number and the description of his car. I stopped in a parking lot and checked my car. Thankfully there was not much damage. I called 911 and filed a case of ‘Hit and run’ giving them all the possible details. The police officer on the other end did not sound hopeful. <br />It was more than an hour since I had left office. I hurriedly packed some veggi-puffs from a nearby bakery and went back to the office. The afternoon was relatively uneventful. I decided to leave for home at 5. But it was not my day. The phone rang. It was Suzanna, one of our clients. She had some problems in the production process. I pushed my purse in the drawer again took a deep breath and started working on that issue. At 6:30 I disconnected the phone with a happy ‘Thank you’ note from Suzanna.<br />When I reached home I discovered that Pankaj was not at home and I did not have the keys. I called him and discovered that he is playing racquet ball with Sumeet and the game was at such a point that he could not leave it. I went to the court and got the keys from him. Finally I entered my house. I felt better when I realized that Pankaj had promised me to cook the dinner that day. I relaxed on the couch watching ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’. Pankaj came home. He was talking to me normally. But I could sense that something was wrong with him. I asked him a couple of times and he started off. He was very angry on my boss for not giving me the document. He was also angry on me for not pushing my boss enough for getting that document. At that point I lost my patience. And then whatever happened was the worst part of that day. We fought like cats and dogs. It went on for almost 3 hours. I slept tired of crying somewhere around midnight. The long day was finally over. When I woke up in the cold winter morning I had forgotten about our fight. I cuddled up in Pankaj’s arms for the warmth. The problems were still unresolved, the tasks were still incomplete but should that stop you from being happy? The sunshine got a brand new day with new hopes in our life. We decided to make it a beautiful day.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1157745218427598012006-09-08T14:53:00.001-05:002008-05-30T14:30:24.577-05:00भय इथले संपत नाहीकाही गाणी मनाला खोलवर स्पर्श करतात. त्यातल हे एक गाण.<br />अचानक जुन्या आठवणीमधे ओढून नेणार.<br />कवी ग्रेस चे शब्द, हृदयनाथाच सन्गीत आणि लताचा आवाज ह्या तीन गोष्टीनी कुणी मन्त्रमुग्ध नाही झाल तरच नवल!<br />त्यात ऐश्वर्या नारकर ने साकारलेली महाश्वेता डोळ्यासमोर उभी राहते. बर अल्फा टी व्ही च्या सिरीयल्स आणि घर हे एक पक्क समीकरण असल्यामुळे हे गाण मला नकळत घरी कधी घेऊन जात हेच कळत नाही. आत्ता आई जवळ असती तर दोघीनी हे गाण किती एन्जॉय केल असत! असो.<br />मला वाढदिवसाची भेट म्हणून हे गाण दिल्याबद्दल थॅन्क्स टू सिद्धार्थ!<br />आणि मला हे गाण ऐकायला एक छानसा आयपॉड दिल्याबद्दल थॅन्क्स टू प.<br /><br />भय इथले सम्पत नाही<br />मज तुझी आठवण येते<br />मी सन्ध्याकाळी गातो<br />तू मला शिकविली गीते<br /><br />ते झरे चन्द्र सजणाचे<br />ती वरती भगवी माया<br />झाडाशी निजलो आपण<br />झाडात पुन्हा उगवाया<br /><br />तो बोल मन्द हळवासा<br />आयुष्य स्पर्शुनी गेला<br />सीतेच्या वनवासातील<br />जणू अन्गी राघव शेला<br /><br />स्तोत्रात इन्द्रिये अवघी<br />गुणगुणती दु:ख कुणाचे<br />हे सरता सम्पत नाही<br />चान्दणे तुझ्या स्मरणाचे<br /><br />भय इथले सम्पत नाहीRadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1157140234755508452006-09-01T14:31:00.001-05:002008-05-30T14:35:16.611-05:00वळणआम्ही लॉन्ग वीकएन्ड साठी बॉस्टन ला जाणार आहोत. प बरोबर फ्लाईट मधे मस्त गप्पा मारता येतील ह्या विचाराने मला छान वाटतंय. त्याच्याबरोबर वेळ घालवायला मला नेहमीच आवडतं.<br />आपली आवडती माणसं बरोबर असली की वेळ कसा पटकन जातो नाही!<br />शाळेत असताना आम्ही मैत्रिणिंनी EsselWorld ला जाण्याचा plan बनवला होता. आमची अट एकच होती आम्ही ६ जणी कुठल्याही मोठ्या व्यक्तीला बरोबर न घेता <span class="">जाणार. </span><br />तो plan कधीच successfull झाला नाही. पण आम्ही मैत्रिणी कुठेही भेटलो तरी तेवढीच धमाल करायचो. त्या काळात 'ठिकाण' महत्वाचं नसायचं.<br />शाळेच्या trips तर अगदीच फालतू असत. एका वर्षी आमची trip जव्हार आणि डहाणूला गेली होती. तिथला काळा समुद्र आणि दमट हवा कुणालाच आवडली नव्हती. पण ह्या गोष्टींचा विचार करायला तेव्हा वेळ कुठे होता! आम्ही सगळ्याजणी गप्पा, गाणी, खिदळणे आणि खाणे ह्यातच दंग असायचो.<br />भूगोलाच्या पुस्तकात कॅलिफोर्नियाच्या फळबागांची वर्णनं वाचून मात्र असं वाटायचं की एकदा तरी कॅलिफोर्नियाला जावं. दहावीत असताना शाळेने South India ट्रिप काढली. किती तरी सुंदर आठवणी बरोबर घेऊन आम्ही शाळेतून बाहेर पडलो. कॉलेजमधे गेल्यावर वाटायला लागलं की जगभर फिरावं. तेव्हाच्या ट्रिप्स वेग़ळ्या कारणांसाठी special आहेत आणि आता प बरोबरच्या ट्रिप्स् अजूनच वेगळ्या, सुंदर आणि exciting! आयुष्याच्या प्रत्येक वळणावर आपल्याला वेगळ्या गोष्टी हव्या असतात. ते वळण संपायच्या आत त्या त्या गोष्टींचा आस्वाद घ्यावा. पुढच्या वळणावर तुम्हाला काय आवडेल काही सांगता येत नाही.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1157056953964105142006-08-31T15:42:00.001-05:002008-05-30T15:01:35.193-05:00My little fingerI just realized that I use the keyboard with only 4 fingers of each hand. I do not use the little finger at all. Arghh..wait a minute. I use the little finger for the ‘Control’ key. I asked my coworker. He does not use much of the little finger either. We use the index finger and middle finger the most on the keyboard. Also after every word I am hitting the space bar with my thumb. If not on a keyboard where do we use our little finger? I am trying to remember all the tasks I do with my little finger. I can’t remember any that is primarily dependent on the little finger. Thumb or the index finger are the leaders. They are the most strong and the able. The ring finger has its own charm. It gets a chance to be in the limelight at least once in a lifetime. The cute little finger seems really neglected. It is there just for the support.<br />When I was a kid I had this fear all the time. If I do NOT use my finger it may fall down one day. “We need to use each and every part of our body or else God might take it away thinking we don’t need it”. The thought must be implanted in my mind by one of those cocky cousins. But the effect was quite serious. My mother used to spank me for spilling the things down but I would still not stop lifting the glass with my little finger. The people we come across in life are so much similar to these fingers! Some of them always lead the task from the front. Some of them share all the limelight without doing any substantial task and some of them just provide the support without getting any attention.<br />Whatever it is. I love all the five fingers and if someone offers me an extra thumb at the place of the little finger I will politely decline the offer :)RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1156800853122436942006-08-28T16:33:00.002-05:002008-06-02T13:40:42.505-05:00गणपती<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczvPpzRqISYVvt077y5NGz9ffp-Oegj5tNztCujSUgeIxzQ3nmjVZhEk4UCDZxiAbpirF6Xkhc-oP4Zsd5VvpLba3MkhyR375Rro9pDcLHnOJbSScHWIIxL8W0ZS75R2S5d2dOQ/s1600-h/Ganapati.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207355910970933954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczvPpzRqISYVvt077y5NGz9ffp-Oegj5tNztCujSUgeIxzQ3nmjVZhEk4UCDZxiAbpirF6Xkhc-oP4Zsd5VvpLba3MkhyR375Rro9pDcLHnOJbSScHWIIxL8W0ZS75R2S5d2dOQ/s320/Ganapati.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>हा weekend अगदी छान गेला. शनिवारी गणपतीची तयारी केली. मोदक केले.<br />रात्री एका मित्राकडे जेवायला गेलो.<br />रविवारी सकाळी गणपती बसवला. आता घर कसं भरल्यासारखं वाटतंय.<br />गणपती बसवायचं हे आमचं पहिलंच वर्ष. अस म्हणूया की स्वत्:च्या जबाबदारीवर गणपती बसवायचं हे पहिलंच वर्ष.<br />त्यामुळे सगळं काही मनात होतं तसं साग्रसंगित झालं नाही. पण एका चांगल्या गोष्टीची सुरुवात तर झाली.<br />हेही नसे थोडके.</div><br /><p></p><br /><p></p>RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1156266725953709572006-08-22T11:50:00.000-05:002006-08-31T15:45:15.746-05:00Today again I am spending hours reading the blogs.<br />It has become an addiction.<br />There were days when I never used to open the browser unless needed.<br />Now a day if I am off my desk even for an hour I feel uncomfortable.<br />There are some people who really write well. Or I can say I can correlate to their writings. I religiously visit their blog page everyday and if there is a new blog I feel like my prayer has been answered.<br />Reading a blog is not a one step process. It involves Reading, Thinking and sometimes Writing blogs of your own just like I am doing it now.<br />These days everyone is writing blogs. <br />There are kinds who just want to write but never want to reveal their identity. <br />There are kinds who want to write but dont want to do publicity. <br />Then there are kinds who want to write and want to let the whole world know about it.<br />Whatever kind of writer you are someone is there to read your blogs. Sometimes the reader is known sometimes totally unknown. But that does not really matter. What matters is somebody likes to read what you write. Somebody can connect to what you write. This is a pretty good feeling, especially if one is an amateur writer.<br />I have seen so many of my friends started writing only after they discovered the blogger sites. <br />Blog is an expression of an individual and hence not written under the influence of any political or social pressures. That gives a blog a tremendous power. I heard Govt of India had blocked the blogger sites as an aftereffect of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai last month.<br />Anyway, I am happy that the sites are unblocked now and I will not miss any blogs written by my Indian friends.<br />Thats it for the blog about blog.<br />Happy blogging :)RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1156263250637424612006-08-22T11:13:00.000-05:002006-08-22T11:16:12.460-05:00October 28, 2005<br />today i dont have much work to do.hurricane wilma has disrrupted many operations at our client's office.i clutched this opportunity to put my thoughts together..though discreet..wanted them to get out of my mind.these feelings are subtle..they are there just for sometime..they do not create/destroy anything in this world..they are not important for any other person..but they need some outlet..or else i behave weirdly..these days it happens a lot!i suddenly start hating every single thing in this world. by 'world' i mean 'america'.the so called heaven on the earth.it becomes difficult to control my feelings of hatred. frankly speaking i am a happily married girl living in one of the biggest cities of america with a caring and loving husband with a good job in hand and with a couple of family friends around.wht more can I ask for? but..my mind goes back to the memory lanes so frequently as though I have come to a hell from a heaven.is it normal? i ask myself.i am a very practical person. my brain rules over my heart..atleast it used to. but i did not know that leaving my country can make such a big change in my mind.my body got adjusted within a week..but my mind is still struggling..it always says i dont belong to this place..i m a stranger here.and when ppl make u realise that, it becomes all the more unbearable.one of those newly arrived days, i was riding a cab.while giving the directions, i made a mistake at one point and the cab driver literally yelled at me "u fXXXing indians think urself too smart..". i was numb for a second. then i reacted 'practically', ignored the comment and got out of the cab. the only way I protested against him was that I did not give him any tip. <br />it makes me think why so many people leave our country? why do they not return to their homes? how can we make our country more livable? i think our generation cannot expect too many changes. but for the next generations, what efforts are we taking? Our previous generations provided us with the secure, loving and cultural environment; can we provide that to the next generations? Instead we chose to abandon that place. Someone would say its necessary for one’s own progress. Then why do we keep thinking about that comfort zone? <br />i am sure there are many such souls like me who want to go back to their home country. There are people who want to see better infrastructure, disciplined traffic, smooth and wide streets, 24/7 supply of water and electricity in their own country. There are people who want to eradicate the corruption and the poverty. There are people who want to put a smile on the face of every child of the next generation. I wish myself (and all those who think alike) the courage and the initiative to act!! Because if we just think and do not act we are no different than those who do not think.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1155860559223397902006-08-17T19:12:00.000-05:002006-09-01T14:51:44.536-05:00Today was an ordinary day.<br />I got up at 7:40 which is pretty late if you have to reach office at 8:30. <br />Every night I say 'if you want to have breakfast you have to get up at 7:15'. <br />But just like every other day I ignored myself and woke up at 7:40.<br />I admire my husband for this one reason. He never does any cribbing while getting up.<br />I went to the office without having breakfast. It reminded me of those days in Patni when we used to go to the cafeteria every morning in the flock of at least 10 people. That was the only good thing about Patni. I was surrounded by lots of friends and ready to eat food. <br />Today morning was allotted for knowledge transfer from my co-worker. I realized that my list of pending tasks will not get updated today. But I was happy with the KT session also. It gave us a chance to do some TP and we utilized the most of it.<br />At 12 we departed for lunch. I went to a south indian restaurant and had a crispy, tasty Masala Dosa. Devouring on to the Dosa while talking to my best friend who is in India was really a treat.<br />I could spend some time in the lunch break on reading a very interesting book that I recently borrowed from my friend, 'Maximum City - Bombay Lost and Found' by Suketu Mehta. I will write more about this book after I finish reading it.<br />The afternoon was little lazy as I was not doing any 'real' work. <br />I came home at around 6:30. By then hubby was ready to go for his Tennis game.<br />We talked for sometime and then he left.<br />I prepared a nice coffee and switched on the TV. Waw! There was Salil, my favourite VJ on B4U Music. I like him so much that whenever he is on the screen my face starts glowing and hubby starts getting J. <br />Jokes apart I definitely love music but one more reason I like watching B4U is that it reminds me of desh. I used to watch B4U Music whenever I used to go home for holidays.<br />Anyway, then I went out to the balcony to water my plants. At that time I missed my mom such a lot. She likes spending time with her plants. She waters them and she talks with them. They are as important to her as me and my brother. I envy those plants with whome she still spends an hour, everyday.<br />I went to play Tennis. Recently I have got a Tennis buddy. We both are equally bad at it so we both enjoy playing with each other. <br />Hubby and I came home, cooked food, had our dinner and then spent some peaceful time together. <br />All in all it was a nice day.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1155249836066522332006-08-10T17:43:00.000-05:002006-08-10T17:44:56.216-05:00माझी ऑफिसमधली सगळ्यात आवडती जागा म्हणजे माझ्या उजव्या हाताची काचेची भलीमोठी खिडकी. <br />आजूबाजूच्या यन्त्रिक जीवनातून बाहेर पडावस वाटल की मी त्या खिडकीत जाऊन उभी राहते.<br />ह्या सहाव्या मजल्यावरुन मला लाम्बच लाम्ब पसरलेली हिरवळ दिसते. एका छोट्याश्या रस्त्याच्या कडेला दुतर्फा लावलेली उन्चच उन्च झाड दिसतात.<br />एक लहानसा कारँजा दिसतो.<br />हे सगळ बघून मन प्रसन्न होत. आणि मग परत कामाचा उत्साह येतो. <br />ह्याच खिडकीने मला श्रावण आल्याची जाणिव करुन दिली. गेले काही दिवस रोज ऊन पावसाचा खेळ मी ह्या खिडकीतून बघतेय.<br />आज मात्र विजान्चा कडकडाट करत पावसाने जोरात आपली हजेरी लावली. असा जोरात पाऊस झाला की खालच्या रस्त्यावर पाणी साचायला लागत आणि त्या पाण्यामुळे रहदारीचा वेग मन्दावतो. मग एका बाजूला लाल आणि दुसरया बाजूला पिवळ्या दिव्यान्ची माळ फार सुन्दर दिसते.<br />चला साडेपाच वाजले. मी ही त्या माळेतला एक मणि होऊन घराकडे कूच करते.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32078761.post-1154546287882864392006-08-02T14:18:00.000-05:002006-08-02T14:24:45.210-05:00बुधवार दुपार..आज मी घरी आहे. बाहेर चाललेला ऊन पावसाचा खेळ ह्युस्टन मधेही मला श्रावण महिन्याची आठवण करुन देतोय.<br />श्रावण महिना लहानपणा पासुन मला फ़ार आवडायचा. माझा वाढदिवस श्रावणातला. आमच्या घरात वाढदिवस तिथीने साजरा करायचे. त्यामुळे एकदा घरी तिथीने आणि एकदा मैत्रिणींबरोबर तारखेने असे दोन वाढदिवस साजरे होत.<br />शिवाय कितीतरी सणांनी हा महिना गजबजलेला असे. दर सोमवारी उपवासाचे पदार्थ खायला मिळत. मंगळवारी कुठे ना कुठे मंगळागौर असे आणि शुक्रवारी पुरणपोळी. <br />शाळेतही श्रावणी शुक्रवारच हळदी कुंकु असे. मग वर्ग सजवणे, रांगोळ्या काढणे, साडी नेसुन शाळेत जाणे ह्या सगळ्यात एक वेगळीच मजा असायची.<br />श्रावणातला माझा अजून एक आवडता कार्यक्रम म्हणजे ब्रह्मगिरीची प्रदक्षिणा. हिरव्यागार झाडांमधून दिसणारय़ा सह्याद्रिच्या रांगा, खळखळणारे ओढे, भाताची शेती आणि त्यातून जाणारा चिखलाचा मऊ मऊ रस्ता! हे सगळ अनुभवायला आमच्या घरातले सगळेच उत्सुक असायचे. ही २० मैलाची प्रदक्षिणा पूर्ण झाल्यानंतर मात्र पायांची चांगलीच वाट लागत असे. आई पाय शेकण्यासाठी एका बादलीमधे गरम पाणी देत असे. मी सहा-सात वर्षांची असताना मला चालणं झेपणार नाही असा विचार करून घरातले सगळे मला चुकवून प्रदक्षिणेला गेले तेव्हा मात्र मला राग आवरेनासा झाला होता. निसर्गाला एवढ्या जवळून भेटण्याची माझ्या आयुष्यातली ती पहिली संधी होती. त्यामुळेच मला अजूनही तो निसर्ग खूप जवळचा वाटतो.RadiantSmilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17698655396921891159noreply@blogger.com0