P.S. I Love you - Cecelia Ahern

Reading is one of the hobbies which keep me occupied when i actually feel bored. It keeps me company when i feel all left alone. Books are no doubt said to be man's best companions. I will not say that i am a voracious reader considering the fact that i have seen people so absorbed with reading, i can find then with books wherever they go, but yes i can say i read a good number of books to say that they are my best companions. Ok fine... I never thought i would be writing a review or an abstract of a book, but some books are so naturally adorable, that you just cant stop mentioning about them.

I normally read the brief description behind the book before purchasing one. And it so happens that i end up picking up books which have an intriguing storyline or the one having some information related to leading life peacefully. I was never a reader of Mills and Boons and hence do not read romantic stories. I happened to go to Odyssey store in Pune to buy some novels to satiate the reader in me. I bought a variety of books and then happened to see the book P.S. I Love you - by Cecelia Ahern. "Oh! Another of those love stories" i thought... but on second thoughts thought of reading the prologue. Instantly the subject seemed to be intriguing and i thought of buying the book.

The book tells the story of a Gerry and Holly. A lovely couple who were childhood sweethearts, married to be inseparably in love for seven years. And then as fate would have it, Gerry dies due to a brain tumour leaving Holly devastated... The once bubbly Holly now forgets to live. She forgets to eat making her all bones. She forgets all the charms of life and starts living life like a zombie.

Holly finds no meaning in life till she gets a package given to her by her mother. After opening the package she comes to know, that her dear Gerry is still with her. He has written her some 8 letters each to be opened on the 1st of every month. These contain tasks to be done which she would earlier either be embarrassed off, dread or just yearned to do.

The author has written the book in a clear crisp language, and you feel as if Gerry and Holly come alive and the book starts unfolding their life right before your eyes.
After reading quite a number of books, i felt this was the book which directly touched my heart and make me feel that life is just not about working, hating and criticizing, but there is just more of life to love, be loved and enjoy the company of your dear ones. The author has portrayed a beautiful story in simple words which looks so realistic.

Ok coming back to our Holly, Gerry even in his absence drives Holly out of the lonely life that she has put herself in. His letters are like the Bible to her, she follows each and every command mentioned to her by Gerry. Gerry in turn knowing Holly in and out, has written all those things for her to follow that she has either been fearing to do or just wanted to do from her heart...

She has bad memories earlier of a Karaoke concert in which she makes a fool of herself. But, following Gerry's advice she enrols herself again and faces the fear she had felt about it... Gerry also before dying arranges a voyage for her along with her friends. This was the one she was so eager to have earlier...

Holly starts living her life slowly... In one of the letters, Gerry makes Holly take up a job(unlike the one she had earlier which she used to hate) that she whole heartedly likes. She starts supporting herself...

Also there are her family members whom she never felt so close before as she felt now... She spends time with her brother(whom she always disliked), her sister( whom she never was in sync with)... her dear brother whom she adored so much... her mom and her dad who support her so much. Her friends who are there for her in such bad times of her.

Then there is this guy whom she starts liking... But then the guy is passing through a rough phase of relationship and then, finally makes up with his wife. And in the end Holly is shown to have become more strong mentally... her relations have taken a new dimension and she lives her life remembering Gerry and the time that she spent with him.

The author has so diligently highlighted the events in Holly's life that it makes you feel like her life is slowly unfurling in front of you. The turn of events in her life makes you think about your life. How would one cope if such a tragedy befalls him/her? I couldn't stop tears from flowing down my cheeks reading some of the pages... The book churns out the stronger of the human emotions... Love, Friendship, relations and life itself...

So... I'd say, this book is a must read for people who feel they can't live without some special person. Its for those people who have a stronger inclination to emotionally connecting storylines. This book will remain in my ever increasing collection as the one which made me see life through a different angle. Kudos to you Cecelia...

TV serials close to my heart..

A couple of weeks ago I was going through some blog regarding the favorite TV serials the author used to enjoy watching. The author mentioned some serials like Nukkad, Buniyaad, Hum Log etc... I have a faint memory of Hum log being played when i was small... but they are very faint memories and i don't remember the story at all...

I thought it would be really cool to post the list of serials i enjoyed watching right from my childhood till now. Though now, it is very rare that i watch any serial, and even if i do, i lose interest so very soon due to the same boring storyline and same "women-are-always-vamps" plots. Though there are a couple of stories i do watch now and then, and i'd definitely like to share my thots across on this blog.

As i said, i don't much remember the Nukkad's and the Buniyaad's... What i remember watching when i was a bit old were serials like Waagle ki duniya, Hum panchi ek Daal Ke, Mr Yogi, Mongeri laal ke haseen sapne, Kakkaji Kahe etc. There were all time favorites like Chitrahaar which used to be broadcast every Wednesday and i remember completing my homework right on time so tht mum would allow me to watch it. Another craze was ChaayaGeet, the old Hindi songs used to be telecast. And yes, Rangoli at 7 on sunday morning... Though Rangoli is still telecast, it has lost all his antique touch, no longer excites me...

Waagle ki Duniya... i remember we used to all watch it... those were the times when there was no Cable TV and we had compulsorily had to watch the good old DD1. The entire family used to sit together to watch Wagle and his antics. Even today when i see Anjan Srivastav on TV, i fondly refer to him as "Wagle". "Mr Yogi... Mr Yogi..." The title song would play and i would start singing along with it. Mohan gokhale played an excellent role in it, and when he passed away at a very young age, we still referred to him as Mr Yogi... So also i remember Om Puri as "Kakkaji".

Another serial i remember watching was Oshin, the story of the Japanese(or chinese?) girl. I used to not understand the wordings so much, but i used to love watching tht sweet girl :). Then there was Alif Laila which used to be played late night at around 11pm(imagine 11 pm was late night at that time). I used to bear all my Mom's scoldings to watch that serial. There was Shekhar suman's Reporter and Dekh Bhai Dekh that i used to love watching.

Ajnabi was my favorite serial which used be telecast on monday night at 10. Danny, Sooraj Thapar and that cute female... And yes, how can i forget Shakur Rana.. My blood used to boil when i used to see him :).
Mitti Ke Rang was a serial of all short shories...Arun Govil as Vikram of Vikram and Betaal...Sudesh Berry in Suraag...
Then here it comes... "Ta na na tana na na na... tana na na na na na na..." Malgudi days. Oh Gosh... i feel like going back to those old DD1 days...

Detective serials were so interesting... Byomkesh Bakshi , Sam D'silva with "Gopi" as his assistant in Tehkikaat etc etc. hey and yes... Mile sur mera tumhara... to sur bane hamara... Can you remember Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Lata Mangeshkar singing it?

The mythological serials were so nice... Ramayan, Mahabharat etc... Chandrakanta, was one serial i used to never miss... It used to be telecast on Sunday at 10 in the morning. Chandrakanta and the Prince and all those wizards and conspiracies...it used to be followed by all the serials for kids... I remember watch Potli Baba ki, alice in Wonderland, duck tales and yes, who can forget Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book and Mowgli, Bagera, all the monkeys and the wolves?

Saturday afternoon used to be time for Oshin, Turning point, Ank Ajube. Saturday evening was the time for "He man and the master of the universe", followed by Sports world. Then there used to be Surabhi which was so informative and episode, they used to make some nice designs of the lakhs of postcards they used to get as reponses from the viewers. Then there was "Bharat ek khoj" i remember it coz i used to see Nehru in every episode :). Samandar was another of my favorite serial.

Later started the daily soaps. I guess i was somewhere in the 9th 10th standard that these soaps started their telecast. I remember Shanti and Swabhimaan prominently. I used to start studing only after watching these serials.
This was also the time when DD2 or Metro started its telecast. Sea Hawks became my favorite.

Of all the serials that i mentioned, i would specially like to speak about "Kashish" A very short serial featuring Sudesh Berry as an egoistic director and "Mona"(i dont remember her name). the story of how he secretly falls in love with her and is very egoistic to let her know or even admit it. This is the serial i remember so distinctly. Wish i could watch it again... I used to love that female lead... she was so cute and starry eyed.

This is not the exhaustive list of the serials telecast on DD1, i just could recollect only a few. But i have missed out on a lot of nice serials which i couldnot recollect due to my faint memory now. And now let me speak about some of the serials i enjoyed watching recently...

"Bani is so sweet and docile..." My mom would say everyday. So i thot of joining her one day to watch the serial and the leading lady she so adorably adored... The leading lady was "Prachi Desai" and the serial... Ekta Kapoor's Kasamh se... it featured the stylish but heavy Ram Kapoor. The serial went on well.. til one fine day i was so pissed of with it, i just stopped watching it... mite be because i lost interest due to its never ending episodes.

and last but not the least, My all time Favorite but recent serial is... "KMH" or Kitani Mohabbat hai... I loved the pair Arohi and Arjun (Kritika Kamra and Karan Kundra). I just couldnt understand how well the chemistry went between them. again it was all ekta Again. This serial was telecast on NDTV Imagine, started in Jan 2009 and got over in August 2009, only 8 months :(. It was a short and sweet tale of both protagonists... So cute couple.

So here i think i should put an end to all listing of all the serials since i can just go on and on and on... Now even though we have so many choices (MTv, Channel V, Zee, Sony etc etc etc... but i hardly watch them. Its like we have lost interest now since every serial is at our disposal, just connect to the net and watch them online or download and watch it later...

The good old DD1 days when the entire family used to sit and watch serials... get so mingled with the characters that they would think them as one amongst them is now no longer witnessed. The wait for the serials to be telecast... the anguish when suddenly there would be a power cut while watching the most wanted episode... the long discussions about the actor's and Actress' life... nothing seems to be the same now...

DD1 has always been special wil remain close to my heart. Wonder if it was all like before, how would it be?? Wish i could once more witness all those crazy times we spent in front of the TV...

My Maggie Experience

A very queer topic to write something about? Well, this stuff was going on a long time in my mind and finally i thot of writing this down. "Mummy bhook lagi hai..."... "Bas 2 minute?" and then Maggie ... thus would go the Maggie noodle Ad on TV a couple of years back. Maggie is presumably the oldest and the tastiest easy to cook snack.

Ok so what made me write this blog about Maggie? A couple of months back, Maggie came up with an Ad asking people to send their "Maggie Experience" to them. The Maggie experience of people and their photos would be printed on the Maggie packet. It sounded a bit interesting to me, since i always found Maggie to be close to my heart, rather to my stomach.

I have so many such experiences with Maggie. I just find it so handy when my stomach growls, and i need something tasty to satiate my taste buds at the same time. My first experience with Maggie was i guess when i was about 8 years old, when Maggie had come advertising the noodles in our school. I remember each one of us getting one packet and immediately after going home, me asking my mom to cook it for me... Though i dont remember having liked it very much that time. I guess after that till my college , i had Maggie only ocassionally.

My stint with Maggie started when i attended my Engineering College: Goa Engineering College(GEC) and had to stay as a hostelite. My college and hostel were situated on a hillock away from commercial shops. The only link to commercial world to us was Ponda... And travel was equally difficult for all of us. We had to either have our own bikes, walk up and down the hill or stay dependent on the College busses which ran on certain timing. One such bus for the hostelites used to start at 7 in the evening and it used to ferry up the hill at 8.30 back. So we had to rely on tht bus itself.

There used to be a dearth of Water in the hostel sometimes. No water meant no Mess.. and hence no food cooked for us... we hostelites had to either make arrangements going to Ponda(Cafe Bhosle or Hotel Sanman) or hav nominal biscuits in the hostel itself. And when it was Semester time, it used to be difficult to go to Ponda, since the bus would be crowded and we couldn't afford to walk up the hill and waste our time. My mom came to my rescue .. She bought a hot plate for me and there i was, started cooking Maggie..rather Maggie to the rescue...

Eating Maggie in the Final year hostel was fun. Me, Rowee and Shilpa cooked Maggie whenever there was a water problem. Thank God we used to store ample water. Chatting with each other during Maggie break(Dinner break) and then studing.. burning the midnight oil :). It was so much fun to have Maggie with friends... We used to pile a stock of Maggie and keep!

My maggie stint continued when i reached Pune. We at I2IT used to stay awake late in the night completing Assignments and projects. Me and My group used to always go down to the Cafetaria at 1.30 in the night to find something to Eat. and that something used to be always Maggie... Rajesh Bhaiyya (The Cafetaria manager) had got so acquainted with our group and our timing... I used to always ask for a Tikhi(Pungent) Maggie. And the moment i used to go to order one, Rajesh Bhaiyya used to say.. "One extra tikhi Maggie"... I wonder how i used to eat it.. it used to be laced with chilli powder... and then my friends used to order banana milk shake for me... I used to hav 2 glasses... The Maggie we got in our Cafe was the best... so many different types... Plain Maggie, Chicken Maggie, Egg Maggie, Omellette Maggie, Cheese Maggie and so many others...

My best Maggie experience was high up in the Himalayas... how?? Well after Marriage, me and sriman had gone for a trip to Manali. High up in the snowclad mountains, there are shops selling Maggie. That is the best maggie i ever had in my life. Its so chilling high up there, and the hot and tasty maggie makes your day. I remember that Maggie everytime i remember Manali. The plain normal Maggie is priced at 80Rs per plate there, but it is all worth the cost.

And Last but not the least, my final Maggie experience in Pune. My Brother told me that one of his friends makes very tasty Maggie, and he just tosses it in Butter immediately before taking off the stove... I tried it and yippie... I made another Maggie recipe... "Butter Tossed Maggie" a delicious one...During my deputation in Pune, thanks to my hectic work , i used to wrap up my work at odd hours when there wouldnt be any restaurants open. And when my Lead asked me about dinner plans, i would meekly say with a giggle.. "Maggie"...

So Friends... here are all my Maggie experiences. I know all of us love Maggie and will have so many such tales to tell.. This is a tribute from me to one of the tastiest and wonderful snack i'd love to have... Thanks Maggie for being there whenever i feel hungry and therz nothing sensible to eat... you make my day...

I felt sad today...

Today i felt sad the entire day. I knew the reason for it, but i couldn't do anything to come out of this turmoil. Its not normally that i have too much Coffee, but today in Office i had 3 cups and still i couldn't get my spirits high up...

My mom had accompanied me to Pune last week when i returned back from the Diwali vacation at Goa. The past month and a half was very tiring for me... Office work and work at home... I had to everything on my own at my brother's flat... Right from Cooking, doing the Dishes till cleaning the house. And though i can cook, somehow i dont enjoy eating it... And the biggest thing is, my Bro is a silent kind of guy who doesnt talk much. And me being the talkative lot had to yearn to speak :( . My woes continued till my mom came here...

Suddenly, it was like how it used to be at my place back in Mapusa... the only missing person was my Dad... Poor thing... had to manage all by himself as he is also totally dependant on my mom for all the household chores and becomes helpless when she isn't around... Back in Pune, it was Me, mom and my Bro...

Suddenly the house has become chirpy and full of life... Me and mom we both like to speak a lot and now it was only the two of us who did the talking and my bro was a mute listener :) . He is of the type who just keeps quite listening to all that you talk and that makes you silent with just a small discrete and compact statement...

Since office work was hectic, i used to reach back home at about 10 or so in the night, and there i had my mom waiting for me... She would cook the niciest of food for us, The house sparkled all week long as she took care of it now... My house work was reduced to running errands for her... getting all the things that she required for her daily cooking n cleaning and also helping around with the cutting n stuff...
And She also oiled my scalp after a long long time... It felt so nice... the mother's touch

And today... she left for Goa... :(. Today in the morning when i was leaving for office, i had an odd feeling. I just dint feel like going... Neither could i concentrate much on anything... Me, Preeti and Sheetal took a long T break since neither felt like working... I called up a couple of my friends just to come up from this... and i felt better though momentarily.. And it was because of which i had the 3 cups of Coffee.. :(

As decided, My mom reached my office at 6.15 from where we were supposed to go to Swargate. My bro had decided to join us there... A mild shock awaited us there... We were informed that the bus to Goa was cancelled. Her designated Sleeper coach bus had had a flat tyre. So they made her arrangement in a semi sleeper volvo. At swargate where we were waiting for the tempo which would ultimately take her to Padmavathi, she met another lady who was also going to Goa... they both got on very well with each other and i had some comfort thinking that there is some person travelling along with her and she is not alone...

The wait of about an hour and a half was full of scolding for me :(. She just dint want us to stay back late in the night, though i had planned to see her off at Padmavathi. Finally when her tempo arrived, we thot it better to go home rather than go to Padmavathi... We Then said Bye to her and started on our way back... I dont know somehow i bro was in a mood to ride... He rode at a speed of 100Kmph on the flyovers of Pune and i was so so dazed... This was the first time i had travelled on a bike so fast...

I reached home and jus couldnt bear the silence again... I cried in sobs... very very much. It was kind of a rude silence which i just could not bear. I called up Sriman and just cried for about 10 min on the phone and then was normal back... My mom had already made arrangement for our dinner and so as per her instruction, we had dinner immediately after my crying session... I was so damn tired with the day's happenings and so drained of energy that i collapsed in bed immediately after the dinner and slept like a log...

So this was the day i felt very sad about... The day my mom left for Goa after giving me some nice time in Pune which was otherwise become monotonous. Sometimes i feel, what would i do without my parents being around... Though we arfe brought up to be so independent of anyone and can survive anywhere round the globe, i feel there is some special force which probably was left behind even after the umbilical cord was ruptured... Mother is the most wonderful gift God has given to everyone...

I wonder if i could anytime do justice to thins relation. I could have easily sent her on a flight, but somehow i couldnt convince myself that she would be better on her own. Shez grown old... i can see all the wrinkles on her face... shez grown thin... i can still remember her youthful days when her skin glowed... And i feel its my moral responsibility to take care of her...

When i think of moving out of Goa for a job, i always have second thoughts about it... Wonder whether its worth the job outside, if i couldnt be wid my mom when she needs me at the time she feels alone... and the same holds true for Sriman too.. What are we going to achieve anyways??? Anyways...

So last week for me was a very nice one, when i felt so wanted and cared for... Another thing bothering was i'l be leaving for Goa this weekend. I have grown attached to this place and the time spent with my bro here at Pune... Wonder whether i should go back or stay here... thats a different thought process though :)

So here i m guys... with some more updates from my side... Hopefully i wil be able to post more frequently on this blog... This blog remains as a place where i can write down come real nice memories which i traverse sometimes when i feel down...

Pune updates: August 30th till date

Hey there...

Its been real long that i put something here, the reason being obvious: My deputation to Pune for a period of 2 months. It looks like I have become oblivious to the world outside Pune. I am nearing completion of my deputation term, and here I am penning down the rendezvous of my tenure here at Pune.

Initially before leaving for Pune it was a mixture of feelings for me, at one end i was going to be away from home and Sriman and at the other end i was gonna revisit my memory of the best times of my life that i spent here... I was gonna see all those places, that i could recollect... All the time spent at ISquareIT with friends, the movies (E-Square and Inox), the visits to Natural Icecream Parlour, My College, The company where i completed my internship, Burger King, the visits to the temple on the hillock of hinjewadi, the late night drives in across the IT park around my college, CCD visits, Our birthday parties..late night maggie... Midnite Christmas masses etc etc etc Gosh I had so many memories of this city. and I was going to be staying there for a month.

Pune... The city which always mesmerised me with its efficasy and grandeur makes me nostalgic. It is here that i spent 2 years of my post graduation days, and it is here that i got placed into CA, my dream company which also gave me my best pals... So many memories associated with this place.
Another biggest advantage i had was, my brother had just moved to Pune for a new job just a month back and I already knew it would be a homely environs for me... These were the thoughts that made my decision tilt in towards Pune work and i was at my usual self, calm and composed.

I left Goa on the 30th of August with Preeti. The plan was to catch a flight from Goa to Mumbai, meet my friend Dhiru at Mumbai and then take a cab to Pune. I was already running late and the web check in would not work on my GPRS and so was the Phone checkin not working. Dhiru to the rescue... thank God. He did the Web Checkin for us. We reached Mumbai at 5pm. Chatted with Dhiru at the Mumbai Airport and then we took a cab to Pune at around 7pm. Our Colleagues who had were also on deputation along with us had already reached Pune tht morning. We reached the company designated hotel at 11 in the night. There i had landed back to Pune and my stints with this City started.

Pune has changed a lot over the 3 years that i wasn't here. I was so surprised to look at Aundh... It has turned into a commercial center. Earlier it was just another village in Pune. So many shopping centers and eateries. Pune has always been an education hub and is always full of students everywhere. Looking at the groups, i could embed my group's faces into theirs... My college life was just passing in front of my eyes and i was yearning to be there again... with all my friends.

My Group here in Pune consisted of Me, Bharath, Preeti, Mahesh, Harsha, Sheetal and Nitin...The Goa Group. I have always noticed some kind of bonding that links people of same locations when they meet outside their location of comfort. And the same happened to us. We gelled so well with each other, that we din't feel we were working out of Goa. The familiar faces had now turned into pals. The coffee breaks, the visits to cafe's, the birthday treats, pulling each other's legs during lunch and cofee...

My work over here is very hectic with sometimes we staying late too, which was not a common phenomenon back in Goa. But thanks to our Goa group, working was also fun. In the meanwhile Sriman had paid me a visit after 15 days in Pune, kind of a change for me..Work interspersed with fun... and time seemed to just fly. We just didn't realise that a month had already passed by. and it was time for Harsha and Bharath to go back. Mine, Preeti's and Mahesh's stay had been extended for a month. The evening these 2 people were supposed to leave was a sad kindof... It meant that 2 members from the Goa group were going and we would just be another 5 of us. It meant less fun :(

Since 2nd October was a holiday, we planned our much awaited Goa trip. 2 days in Goa and we were totally replenished. Another 15 days was normal for us, Since it was Diwali time, it meant lots n lots of shopping. Sriman paid a visit again over the weekend before Diwali and it meant more shopping :) . Diwali visit to Goa was fun with so much festivities going on... The only regret was, i just reached Goa on the Diwali morning at about 7, missed out on the Narkasur Competitions. It also meant culmination of Nitin and Mahesh's deputation, so now it was only me, Preeti, and Sheetal. And the Goa Group was reduced only to the 2 of us, Me and Preeti, since Sheetal was now on a permanent transfer to Pune.

Its just another week more in Pune and we will be back to Goa. I can see the ecstasy on Preeti's face wen i mention the end of our deputation. Shez desperately waiting to go to Goa and continue with her normal lifestyle which has all turned topsy turvy. Frankly speaking, it does not make any difference to my lifestyle whether i am in Goa or Pune or Hyderabad... these 3 places are so very close to my heart. I just feel like myself wen i visit these places...

All my initial thoughts of visiting the places in Pune that i had once roamed about took a backseat. Somehow i couldn't come to terms about roaming alone on those streets which once i used to visit with my entire group of six. and believe me, I did not visit any of those places including my college, Its just that i can't make those memories resurface again, as it would mean a pain deep down somewhere... The pain of being in Pune without all those friends...

Pune will always remain an integral part of my life wherever i go... and i don't think so the city will be alien to me even if it changes its face so frequently...
Pune will always remain the old Pune for me, the place where i had spent the best 2 years of my life...

The Cup of Coffee

The topic sounds a bit weird i know, but then i think I'd like to explain further, the of Coffee. I got a beautiful forwarded article a couple of days ago in my mailbox, the Subject of which was, "The cup of Coffee". Being of the inquisitive lot, i decided to read it till the end though it was a bit lengthy.

The story goes like this... It seems for a college party, a Professor who was always surrounded by his students, asked them to choose a cup of Coffee. The coffee was served in different cups, some of them very attractive, of myriad shapes, brilliant colors, while some of them were very plain and unattractive. The students shoveled and pushed each other to get the best of the cups. The ones who got the plain unattractive cups resented them and jealously eyed the beautiful cups in their classmates' hands. The Professor who was looking at all this happened to ask the students what was most important to them, the Beautiful cup or the Coffee inside the Cup.

The students in their bewilderment told him that they wanted the Coffee. The Professor then explained to them that, in life we actually go for things which are of less importance, leaving out the more important things. Our basic aim of survival takes a backseat due to this. We tend to fight more for physical appearance and on what the others feel about things. Rarely do we go listening about our own soul and in the melee we become confused and irritated.

The Coffee symbolizes our need while the Cup symbolizes the medium through which we try to get the need satisfied. We try to concentrate so much on the medium that we forget what our basic need is. Does the Coffee change its taste if served in Beautiful cups or in Plain cups? The answer is simple.... "No". Why then we think of choosing the best cups any envy someone Else's cup if it's beautiful? Probably humans are meant to have their thoughts that way...

Take examples of our day to day things. Starting with our house. We try every possible means to make it as beautiful as possible. We forget that the basic need is just to have a roof over our head. Of course I am not talking about those, who can afford posh houses, I'm talking about those people who though staying in humble but decent dwellings which serve all our needs, resent the ones staying in posh houses and would love to do anything to have a house like theirs.

Our clothing supposedly symbolizes our upbringing and education. The basic aim is to cover our bodies. But we tend to think beyond the basic need and sometimes make fun of people who according to us are not dressed up to the mark or dressed for the occasion. Our clothing thus becomes a status symbol or style material. But then why do we mock at people who either can't afford to buy the costly dresses or are not dresses appropriately according to us? Also, why then we resent those who according to us are dressed better than us? I know people will have some objection here, but what i want to say is, Dressing is our own will. What clothes we wear and how we portray ourselves is solely dependent upon us. I have seen some people so plainly dressed, made me think twice about their status in society, but the moment they started interacting and talking, I could feel the intelligence and the upbringing. Why then sometimes classify people only depending on the clothes they wear?

Coming to Food. The basic aim of food is to fill our stomach. Why then do we make so much fuss about it? Food in any form is recommended for us to stay alive. but, we think so much of our taste buds that sometimes we even tend to insult the culinary art of the person cooking it. We forget that it takes lots of effort for a person to cook something. Be it your mom or the chef in the restaurant. Why cant we eat without complaining? Why can't we eat thanking God for providing us every morsel and thank the cook we gave it in our plate? Why do we forget that the basic purpose of food is to fill our stomach?

Life in its most primitive form is very simple. It is we who make it complex. In the name of technology, we hide our greed and jealousy and strive to make a better living. A better living in terms of good clothes, a beautiful house and tasty food. Why then we forget the basic need of life?

Why do we then become unhappy and covet the Beautiful Cup of Coffee when God has given us the same Coffee albeit in a plain simple looking cup?

What if there was no money at all?

Have you ever given a thought to this concept? What if there was no money at all? Well well, long long time ago in the past u'l say there was no money at all. But, there were other forms of currency if you recollect your history books in the secondary school. We did have something called as the "Barter System" something like i exchange part of my rice stock with 5 of your earthen pots. sounds familiar? Also if you could recollect the golden coins which had some faces on it, dating back to the kings and princes. So lets take a look at how life would be, according to me. You might have some different opinions about this, but i will try to put down all that i feel here...

We all say, eat to live, not live to eat. But, can we stay alive without eating? even for a day? No, we can't. So basically all the robberies happen because we all need some livelihood. but what if food is freely available and is not an issue at all. Only condition is, you need to do some kind of work on this earth. If you do so, you are entitled to take all that you want to, to cook for a week. Let me start with some examples....

Lets start with a bright sunny morning... The milk boy comes to your door, rings the bell. You get up, collect the milk bags, give him a nice good morning smile without paying anything. He smiles and greets you and leaves. He stops a passing auto, gets into it and reaches the destination. Thanks the Auto fella and starts delivering packets to some other household. This is his schedule early in the morning. The same Auto fellow goes to the supermarket, collects all the things he thinks he will need for himself to cook for say a week, thanks the counter boy who is present only to keep the store organised and leaves.

You boil the milk, of course you don't have to pay for the gas person and the electricity that you use in the house. The electricians are present only to see that the system is working fine and there are no breakdowns in the service. He too just goes to the super market, takes all that he might require for a week and leaves without paying, but yes ... with that now-so-familiar smile.

Lets see the education part of it. Since food is no longer a concern, we can all think of going for some education, the one which are heart yearns for, and not governed by "social status related education". I think i want to be a potter, i pursue my dream. I make pots and sell them for free. I have all the basic elementary school education so that i will be called a "literate" person. Since i like to work with my hands and make different kinds of pots and utensils and want to try my hands at shaping them, I become a potter.

Say I am very much interested in making Rockets, I go to the proper college which gives me proper knowledge without asking for any fees. and i come out graduated as a rocket scientist. I Like farming, i form a group with other people who like farming and we take turns to plough the fields, which are of course not our own, but we do it, jus to get personal satisfaction for us. I want to be a goldsmith. I go the miners who mine Gold and ask them for a supply. Gold is no longer that expensive metal, but now available free of cost. I make all those designs which i feel will look good on people and keep it on my shop. Well, a lady comes, looks at the designs, selects one and leaves, giving me a nice smile.

So how will it be? I want to travel to the Rain forests or the Deserts of Sahara or the sail in the Atlantic ocean, I can do so freely. I will be provided free transport, free food etc, only condition i have to put some efforts in rendering some service to the society. I want o invent some instrument so that i can think of using it to communicate with someone, so i make the telephone, but i get all ther necessary equipments and apparatus from the person who makes them out of his own interest. I don't pay him anything, but i dont take any money either for making a couple of them and giving it to someone...

Sounds interesting? Well, you will feel that, in such a case, people would like to do only those jobs which they can consider as white collar jobs. They would not like to do something which can be considered as hard labour jobs. So so what then? simple, there will be some people who will really be interested such kind of jobs, they will get together and give the necessary service. Also, since machines will be available free of cost and on service basis, everyone, rich or poor will be bale to use them.

Imagine how creative the world will be... equal opportunities to all without any regional, language barriers. If each person thinks of a unique way he wants to build his house, we will have so many different types of houses. The only condition here, we will need to acquire the bare minimal skill set required to accomplish it.

Imagine, there will no longer be any poverty. Because, the main reason "hunger" being taken away people will be able to pursue their dreams. It is said that many of the terrorists who take to guns, do it because they co me from poor illiterate families and they want to come out of it. so they get brainwashed so easily. Now, if everyone is self sufficient, and can get a meal if they do some kind of work.

All will be able to follow their own faith and no one will compel anyone to change their faith or whatsoever. The world will be a better place to live. We will not require any political leader or any policeman since we will be mutually dependent and will have better things to take care of...

But what about the other human traits. What about those people who are always so lazy and do not feel like working anyways... I don't have answer to that :( !!
Can there be a way out of it? Is there anything else that i have missed out while thinking about this "No currency" style of living?
Well i just don't know whether this will be successful or no, but 1 thing is for sure, we will not have as many problems as we are facing today. Money is the reason for all problems... literally thats what i feel. So if we put an end to this nuisance, will we be in a better world?

My Ferry boat ride to Office

I am blessed with a unique road to office. And that is by means of a ferry boat. It's not always that i take this route, but yeah... now it has become almost 2-3 times a week every week. My office is about an hour and a half travel one way daily if I take my company transport. But company transport has its drawbacks, we need to adhere to its strict timings. If we miss it, it becomes so difficult to travel to office since my office is located in an industrial area which is not easily accessible by public transport. And the lazy bone in me always makes sure that i miss my bus. So the alternative that Sriman has is this Boat ride, an enjoyable and pleasurable trip to me... Read on to experience my Ferry boat ride...


I mostly take the morning 8.30 ferry. Since this is the shortest possible route to work for most of the population in the nearby villages too, at this time there is a huge rush in the boat. The ferry has about 6 wooden benches, 3 on each side and its so nice to occupy a seat on those... I normally am the quickest to rush and get a seat and enjoy the treat to my eyes...

Well, first of all, there are many who don't know the concept of a ferry boat.

A ferry boat, as can be seen from the picture, is a boat which is used to transport people, vehicles etc from one river bank to another. The vehicles range from cycles, to cars to even trucks and pickup vans. Its so convenient to use the water way. Its a huge saving of petrol and also precious time while guaranteeing a clean pollution free and peaceful ride to office. I just love this ride and the sights which it offers on the way.

The most remarkable things that i notice along are the schools of Fish. So many of them swimming together, rather jumping in and out together. I wonder how these small fish have the energy to continually jump for so long, also they do it in perfect unison, as if doing it in musical rhythm. All of them jumping in and out together. Occasionally, you c an find some single fish doing the jumping acts. As if performing solo. You will always find the small fish together and the slight big ones swimming alone.

Then we can see the poles which extend into the river, which are put up by fisher folks to plant nets to get a good catch. And sitting majestically on top of each of these pole is a white crane. Looks like there are sitting for some conference over there, a round table conference. They look to be in a perfect harmony unlike the normal board room conferences of ours. Once in a while you can see one of them getting up, swooping over the river and catching a fish for a meal. But most of the time they are on the poles. There is a nearby uninhabited isle. We can only say its not inhabited by humans. There are cranes here which continually stand in the water with one leg just to catch fish...

Then we can see the black fishing canoes with one or two fisherman on each. They row their boats and when they fill there is a good catch, they pull out the net, looks like they need a lot of effort to do so... They sing and hum merrily while doing their job. Then across the horizon where it is difficult to make out the difference between the sky and sea, you see a lot of ships sailing across. They are so many of them, but so very far.
Then comes the small motor boats with tourists in them. The locals have made this as a business to give tourists a ride in the river with these motor boats, though there are just about 2 or 3. The tourists wave at you in their ecstasy and you feel like returning their hello with one of your hand waving to them. Also passes along is the other ferry boat commuting people in the opposite direction.

The blades of the fan beneath the boat disturb the water tearing out a way for the boat. It is a nice scene to see the water getting back to normalcy once torn part, giving us a message of unity. Even though we are one, sometimes there are incidents which tear us down, but ultimately we have to become united some or the other day.
The water, so very serene... the green salty non polluted water of the Zuari... sometimes some fallen leaves are carried along with the water or even sometimes there is a small trace of oil left behind in the otherwise clean water...

Surrounding the river in most of the places is the green mountains and land. You can sometimes see some plantation on the hills, or some factory emitting smoke. You can also see some 3-4 churches all standing magnificently, each telling a century old Goan Life story. and at some places, we can just see the vast river and the horizon where the sky touches the river and we can only see the faraway ships.


The Zuari has 2 parallel bridges on it. One for the Road vehicles and one for the Konkan Railway. The one for the road vehicles is a busy one, Buses, bikes, cars etc ply on it busily.


The konkan railway bridge is beautifully built and is not so busy. sometimes you can be lucky enough to see the train passing over. It looks so beautiful. Sometimes you can see Goods train crossing over...

The Dabolim airport is close to the Zuari river, so you can many a times see an airplane passing by. you can also sometimes hear the loud sound of a jet speeding.
Sometimes in the late evening you can see a flock of birds passing by...
Late Evenings is the best time to travel. Various lights start coming up and the rives looks really enchanting. There is a soft breeze which blows and the sky color too is very inviting.

My travel time is approximately 30 minutes. These 30 minutes is a lot of time to do something which you like. Be it listening to music, playing a mobile game, or chatting with friends or just preferably enjoying the Zuari and the nature and doing some self introspection...
Well this is how my travel by the ferry is, a lively experience. Hopefully it will continue to enchant me for more time to come.Everyone should some or the other time take this experience...

A date with life - 1

Today m going to write about one of my date with life. I know it will raise a lot of questions regarding what this blog is about. Its nothing new that i write, could be just old wine in a new bottle. I will keep adding chapters to this series as and when i feel i had a date with life...

When i started gathering my thoughts as to how to put them across, an incident happened which totally changed my thought flow. Well folks, today i am going to write something about life, a god given gift and how we can date it to get the maximum pleasure out if it.

I met a school mate of mine online a couple of days back. I am frank to tell that this blog is dedicated to him, but might be a case with lots many people. People are so frantic about life now a days which makes me feel that life is much cheaper than death. Life has really lost its value. Well coming to my friend, i didn't know this guy much when in school. I left that school to join another one in my 8th standard that's a whopping 14 years back. So we were not at all in contact. Thanks to Orkut somehow we met online. and started chatting at times on GTalk.

Things were proceeding pretty fine enough when one day this guy comes and tells me that he doesn't want to live any more and that he thinks he will put an end to his life. And the obvious reason being "failure in love". Well... I was a bit hysterical first... didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this particular case. It has always happened to me that people come and tell me their woes and i try to help as much as possible. I was once upon a time a so called as Agony aunt... So if i sometimes feel like changing my profession it could be something like counseling people. That way it wouldn't be so boring cause each person behaves so differently irrespective of the other. Jokes apart...

Well I listened to his inputs and decided it was time for some thoughts to brainwash. My friend was in no mood to listen tell me that he has stopped thinking. I just thought of penning this down so that if at all someone who has a same problem reads this, it might be useful. What is life? What is its lifespan? what is it that keeps us going... emotions, energy? and what is like dying? what is death actually?

Fine let me try to answer these questions how i feel about it. Life is something which is very rare and short. We are born only once (Religious psychology apart, we can't be sure whether we will be the same person in the next life if at all there is one!)

Well, I tried to convince him to my level best. Life is not as serious as we make it to be. Life is very simple if we want to make it simple. We try to pursue things which might possibly be out of our reach and when we feel we can't get it, we become frustrated. Same thing applies to love... We pursue it... until we get it we don't rest... When its evasive, we try to follow it. We just cease to understand its value the moment we get it. When we get it, it loses its value at times. People soon forget the struggles(in case they had) associated with it.

People don't realize that expecting too much could be a huge deterrent to their relationship. Coming to my friends problem, he loved this girl for a couple of years, about 7-8 if I'm not mistaken. Finally after being in a relationship and being deeply in love, the girl decides to go with her parents wishes and break up with him. He is totally shattered. Now that love is evasive, he tries to go behind it and in the melee hurts himself more. He is unable to see her going away from her. He is unable to reason it out that it is finally her life and she has got a say in it. Its she who can decide whether she wants to be with him or no. He can't force her to do things she is not confident or sure of...

He can only control his life. I had a tough time telling him how precious life is. There are people who don't get a second chance... there are people who yearn for a complete life... There are people with disabilities, but still want to lead a normal life... There are dying people who just wish they had a few more years to live so as to take care of their kids and see them growing...

And here i have a friend, who just refuses to say that he wants to live. How do i convey to him the importance of life. Life... A date with life... When God has given us such a beautiful thing called as life, why do we show so much of a disrespect to it? Can't we devote our life to something much better, life devote it for a cause? I could put that point forward to him...

After lots of convincing finally he said that he'll let her Go... But... He will love no other... he will keep thinking about her and will not think of marrying any other girl... the same old story... "I have lost interest in life". Well, He can probably join some organization, some non profit organization and be a service to mankind and humanity...

He has a decent job in the Gulf. What else is required for a man to stay alive? A family back home... Agreed that love is very important in life .. but, if you keep yourself and your heart open, love will somehow find a way to your heart... these are my words to him... "There is no dearth of girls in this world, sometimes in life, u'l find a girl for yourself who will love you unconditionally, there is only a need to keep yourself open".

Probably till then he can join some non profit organization ... There are so many destitute in this world, people who require a roof on their heads, children requiring some patron who can sponsor either their education or their survival... There are the old age homes where you can hide yourself and your grief and strive to bring a small smile even though its for a short while... There are lots of people waiting for surgeries and a fresh lease of life, but can't afford them... he can be of some help to them...

There are people affected by natural calamities, probably he can lend a helping hand to them. When God has made you able, why not at least use your ability and help someone, which will liven up their lives and in turn give a different meaning to your life. After all love is not the heart and soul of life... and even though it is, Is it not enough that you gain more love not from a single person, but from a whole lot of them who will be really thankful to you?

Another option of mine to him was to immerse himself in some hobby or try to do something constructive in his leisure, so that it will be easy for him to overcome his grief? Like join some classes be it music, some foreign language class, or whatever... do something which will enhance your personality, add value to you and groom you up... that will be really useful since it will keep you occupied and prevent you from brooding over lost time specially during your leisure.

It is said that time is the greatest healer... and in case of life, it definitely is... With the passage of time, the gravest injuries seem to heal. Why then simply ruin your life over such a petty matter???

I don't know whether my piece of mind will be helpful to my friend. I sincerely wish that it does help him.... coz not many in this world are so privileged to get a life that he is leaving. I definitely wish that he should overcome all his grief and start life afresh... finally its not just a matter of life, its about living it, and... its in our hand how we make use of it and extract the best out of it...

Life, so many things written and said about it...And Death, we feel it will be so easy. We feel it will be so easy to give our life... We die and the problem all ends... But is that true? do we understand the consequences of giving our life? Firstly, it is such a loss to our families, they won't be able to come out of it... and does death really mean the end of life? Probably yes... but why did we live then if we had to die the way we did... Its better to do something worthwhile and be remembered as a person to face life, rather than to be remembered as a coward who couldn't face life ended it... why not make death the beginning of a life, a life in the memories of people who will be affected by our actions...


So... thus ended my date with life. And certainly life dates everyone. Be it a man or a women, the only thing needed is a different angle to see life, the way we perceive it to be. and death??? Death could probably be a new beginning if life is lived for something worthwhile...