May her soul rest in peace

It is a big loss for the south indian music industry. Swarnalatha was a great singer and I love most of her songs.

May her soul rest in peace.

There is so much I feel like writing about but then not able to put it down in words. :) Why am I feeling so stuck????

Fine let me start with this.. Eid Mubarak ho!!!!!

Right now I'm listening to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan saab's song..:) I'm becoming his fan day by day. :)

The vegetable prices in the market costs like gold...

Cricket season starting again from today... I'm not going to get the remote for sure... I hate this...

My colleague uses the F word so often that i get to hear it at least a minimum 100 times a day... Why cant people talk a little decently???? Do they think they are considered to be very modern and belong to the hep circle if they use the F word??? It sounds so indecent....

Somehow I dont like girls drinking and smoking... Coming from a state which doesn't approve of all this and living in the capital now makes a load of difference..

ok no more thoughts is turning into words right now.. :(((((((

I love week ends.....

Back to work after 2 years of hibernation... It is one week since i joined work and my clock has been moving so fast. No time for anything. I wish if there was some more hours added to the day. The alarm goes buzzzzz at around 5 am and then cooking then other household work. Full day's work at office and then back home... again work. By the time i hit the bed i'm like a dead log. :D

Today being Saturday what a bliss it is to get up late and be lazying around... You realise the importance of something only when you get it in ration or when you dont have it. How much i miss these days where you have all the time in the world for yourself.

I love week ends!!!!!!!

Its 3 months since i moved to this new place. There is a school near by and today morning i happened to hear the assembly. I was taken back in time.

Its years since i attended the assembly in school but still the memories are fresh... I used to be in the choir and we used to sing everyday in the assembly. It used to be quite a long assembly. First the song, then the prayer, then pledge, then newspaper, thirukural, then one of the faculty used to give messages everyday. Finally back to classes with the music on. :)

Then we would be called by our music teacher for practice for the next assembly. :) As i reached class 12 we had to choose SPL for the year. I was one of the candidates. Of course lost the election. :) but i had the opportunity of conducting the assembly when the SPL was not available.

So my day started with the memories of my school.. What a great time i had..:)

Meaningless lives

There was a news about a boy of class 12 committing suicide a couple of days ago. Reason being, he had met a girl of class 10, 2 months back in a dance class and had befriended her. They made plans of going for a movie and the girl's father saw them and warned the boy to stay away. Immediately, the boy returned to his house and committed suicide. The paper claims the girls father instigated him by his talks.

What nonsense???? What kind of a responsible individual will this boy turn out to be???? He seems to be such an emotional person. This boy could have committed the same mistake even if anyone else had scolded him. Say for instance his father or mother scolds him. If his teacher scolds him, else if his boss scolds him.

I would say the parents are also at fault. I can feel their grief but

Children must be taught to differentiate between good and bad. They must be taught to be responsible. They must be taught to be rational. 

What I fail to understand is they are big enough to know that they need to make a life first. How else will they support someone who comes into their lives? Why to rush things? You have all your life ahead you..

Recently I also came across another case where the son in a family committed suicide due to love failure. The girl denied saying he is not settled. This family has two daughters who are bread winners alongside their mother who worked in construction sites and is now a flower seller due to age. This guy is an irresponsible guy who used to take hard earned money by force from family just to drink. Steal things from home. The two daughters are not married yet due to family constraints. Now do we really have to mourn for his death? 

I don't see any strong cause behind their extreme steps.

When one can't handle rejection how will you survive? Everyone dreams of success.. Works for success but only after rejections do we taste success. 

I would call such people not weak hearted but people with a weak mind and weakly principled. They are people you can never count on.

How easy was it for them to end their lives? Did they think about their families? How devastated they would be? About the parents who would have spent sleepless nights from the time you were born? What about their dreams regarding you? All you have done is gift them sleepless nights till their end. 

I despise such characters and find them so selfish. 

Children should be taught the value of life right from a very small age. They should be guided at every step in life. They should be given right focus/goals in life.

On a second thought, why would they take such steps? What would be running in their minds in the final moments? Would they have liked to change their decision by any chance? Dint they speak to anyone about their problem? Dint they have any support system? Dint they talk him out of his problem? Where did things fall short? 

This only shows how important it is to have a support system... A support system that acts not biased and can knock some sense when it is most needed. A support system which can just extend those hands and pull you back from an abyss...

A visit to Agra

It was the 6th of July... my dad's birthday.. So the day started well with a birthday cake..yum!!!!We had to celebrate early as we had planned to leave to agra that day..

So at 6 in the morning we started our journey to Agra. The Palwal roads were pathetic. it took some time till we reached some proper roads. It was a nice journey as it had rained the previous day and the chill breeze hitting your face. It was almost 10 when we reached Agra. As we neared Agra the roads were so bad. It has a world wonder and is a very famous tourist place yet the approach roads and the surroundings are not maintained well. Its sad to see such a plight.. Finally we reached Taj Mahal. We finally got down in the parking area.

The Taj Mahal is almost 1 to 2 kms from here. You have battery cars and also jatkas (carts pulled by horses), hand rickshaws and camel rides. The rates are very very minimal.

So after a long journey we wanted to use the rest room and asked for one. The guy whom we hired to take us till the taj mahal showed us one. Man i would never step into it again if i was asked to do it. It was so damn pathetic. Absolutely nothing near to even 2 % of sanitation. The agony is the guy charges you for such pathetically maintained rest rooms. I wouldn't mind paying even more if it was kept clean. No proper buckets, mugs, lights, mirrors, wash basin, taps... yuck!!!!!

Then we got back into our hired battery car. The driver was busy giving information about the place. He said as there is a danger of the taj turning black because of pollution, the govt. has ordered that in a radius of about 1 km you cant drive any vehicles. Only pollution free vehicles can run that too only till the entrance. There is no industries here it seems. People have small cottage industry like handicraft work or the hand rickshaw type of vehicles. The govt. has given them free battery car for which they charge very minimal charges for their expense otherwise its free.

The Taj is closed from 10.30 am till 11.30 pm for cleaning. As we were there by 11 the driver took us to the meena bazaar there nearby. We got to see sarees made out of bamboo, banana which would just pass through a small finger ring with no difficulty. They are crease free... Quilts which can be folded into very small package. They are very light and thin too. You can really pick up some nice stuffs from there. All these are made by residents of the Agra jail. Best part is you can return them once you want to discard them too as these materials are re-usable. You get a 50% return value too. Shoes made from camel leather.

Finally its 11.30 and we are all set to go visit the Taj Mahal. There are 3 gates and finally we are at the Taj. Man its a sight to see... I loved the vast expanse.. There was nothing that could hinder your view. Shah Jahan definitely must have been a man with taste. hehehehe.. Lovely environment... beautiful gardens... You almost have to walk to the Taj for about 5 mins... As you enter you have guides and photographers mobbing you to engage them.. I tell you its worth having one. They get you some nice pictures. :) In fact there is a special place allocated for photgraphers. :) They charge you about 50 to 60 rupees(sorry i dont have the symbol downloaded yet :)) per photo and they deliver it in 45 minutes.. We also had few photo sessions done..

Then we strolled towards the Taj hogging as much as we can through our eyes. :) It was drizzling then... Lovely experience... Taj looks beautiful with its blue background (sky)... Everything about the Taj is so artistic... Let me add a few pictures...

As you enter the gates....

Wah Taj Boliye!!!!!!

I loved the flooring.... Symmetry is something you will notice everywhere in Taj...

Each colour semi precious stones were brought from different countries of the world. If you throw light you will notice its hollow and it gleams in the light. You can find this work everywhere in the Taj... Such beautiful designs.. I was touched by his love for his wife...

Such beautiful patterns are done through out..

The Yamuna....

Even the drain were given such attention and done tastefully..

A window

Parapet in front of the Taj

Taj through my eyes.

Camel rides available outside the Taj. They ply from the Taj to the parking area.

Horse carts...

It was noon by the time we came out and then we headed to the Agra Fort. You can see the Taj from the Agra fort and vice versa. It was a great feeling being inside the Fort. Though many rooms were not for public view still we can get hold of the life style of the Moghuls.

I was busy capturing them in my camera and finally my battery got exhaushted.. :P My parents and husband were then happy as i was worrying them to pose for the pics and was delaying by taking pics.. :) Typical me... but its a must see place

Other places which you can visit is the Sikandra; Akbar's tomb... Also if you have time you can touch Vrindavan...

It was such a memorable day in my life.... A day with history....

thinking of what to cook for the next meal drives me crazy... :((((((((

Sometimes when you are angry you have the right to be angry, but it doesn't give you the right to be cruel and hurt others.

Are bouquets a real nice way to express love or achievement or happiness??????

In fact I felt really happy when i got them... Those lovely coloured flowers impeccably arranged looked so damn fresh and so lovely... I was just so happy to get them... But the very next day when i see them all drying up i felt like they were all crying... I felt like all those beautiful roses pleading to me with their heads bowed saying you could have left me in those plants where i would have lived for a little longer...

I would rather prefer a bouquet made of scented paper flowers than real ones... for they dont die soon and also remind you of the occasion for a little longer....:)

Bugged up

I'm bugged up with Facebook... I keep hiding the applications almost everyday but then these guys have no limit for the number of applications available... Each day something or the other crops up... Sucks man...

Of course i would like to be in touch with my friends but then i'm not interested in their stupid status messages and the new applications they add to their profile... The daily horoscope is the worst thing you can ever find. Why should i know about their daily horoscope or who they love, who they want to kiss, who they want to date, who they were or are in their earlier or next birth... grrr... a total humbug...

Farmville another stupid application where in one spends so much time... Ask them they say so damn interesting... Ask them to get into the fields for real... As though they will..... They wouldn't dare to walk bare foot where will they get into agriculture... A friend of mine said had it been that this farmville was in real then the produce would have almost eradicated starvation, malnutrition and illness across the world... and i also happened to read in rediff.com that a lady went into labour thinking of farmville... and she asked her husband to water the plants... Man god save this lady.... So much addiction?????

Worst part is that i tried to deactivate my account but then it still is available when i log in next time.. Finally had to send a mail/request to them to delete my facebook account.

Maybe i'm old fashioned but still much happy with Orkut.

Nothing is a waste.... Everything can be put into proper use.. It just needs a bit of creative mind...

Over the last 2 weeks there were so many things which i would have usually thrown out as waste being turned into such great use.. it was like magic..:) Now i realise the power of the saying which i once read in Tamil..

"Siru thurumbum pal kutha udavum"...

Meaning : Even a small stick can be used as a tooth pick... ;)

Think..... Discover.... Live....

A boat docked in a tiny Goan village. A tourist from Mumbai complimented the Goan fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

'Not very long,' answered the fisherman.

'But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?' asked the Mumbaite.

The Goan fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The Mumbaite asked, 'But what do you do with the rest of your time?'

'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, play guitar, sing a few songs... I have a full life.'

The Mumbaite interrupted, 'I have an MBA from IIM-A, and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.'

'And after that?' asked the Goan.

'With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can

then leave this little village and move to Panjim, or even Mumbai. From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.'

'How long would that take?' asked the Goan.

'Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,' replied the Mumbaite.

'And after that?'

'Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting,' chuckled the Mumbaite, 'When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!'

'Millions? Really? And after that?' asked the Goan.

'After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings doing what you like with your buddies.'

'With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what I am doing now. So what's the point wasting 25 years?' asked the Goan.

And the moral of the story is?

Know where you're going in life. You may already be there.Life in the present world is indeed a rat race. Many who have qualifications from reputed universities too do not know where they are going in life.

The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it...:DDDDDDD

Growing old doesn't necessarily mean you are turning wise!!!!!!

will we learn????

We have been introduced to pencils and pens right from the time we were taught to write... We all know how important they are when it comes to writing. Have you ever been to the bank or post office???? The most common help that is asked is can i borrow your pen????

One very well knows he or she is going to the bank and they definitely need a pen. Then why doesn't it strike them that they have to carry one????

The worst part is to follow... That is you still go out and help them with the pen but then after getting it they don't have the courtesy to return it back... It just gets on my nerve... You have to go searching for them in the crowd asking for your pen... Then they show the most stupidest expression you can ever see in your life.... Man when you get something from someone at least be mannered enough to return it back with gratitude.....

We keep making plans for all big things in life out of air and fail miserably in all such small things which we actually perform often in our day today life...

When will will we learn????

Strange

I'm a person who loves being in the crowd and always like to be talking :) People find it strange if they see me silent. I belong to the talkative(though never damaging) clan. Love to be in the fun filled area. I'm famous for the number of friends i have and for the number of people i know when i pass by and for my friendly nature... :)

Today when i logged into orkut i dint feel like scrapping even one. I was going through my friends list and ended up not even scrapping one.. Its a very strange feeling... Why am i feeling separated? Whats happening?

Why is failure so painful????

We all face failure one time or the other... as a matter of fact we face more of failure than success.. Every question in this world however big the concept behind might be, boils down to an one word answer "yes or no". This yes or no may be in other term like success or failure, win or lose, correct or wrong... Everyone who has a question or expects a result knows only this can be an answer... You can avoid answering the question in a diplomatic way; still it has an answer which is one of the above mentioned choices. It can only be either this or that... then why is that we feel so bad when we lose??... when we fail???? isn't it a known option to us??? then why????????

As we are waiting for an answer, we begin to build up so many associated expectations based on the success of the answer. For example, you give an interview and are waiting for a result. It can only be a yes or a no. In the time we await the response, we build expectations based on the job we get (in actual we are still awaiting). We think we will buy a vehicle, take a home loan, buy this, buy that, do this do that, go here, go there.... too much expectations.. and when they come true, you feel unlimited joy, thinking about all those dreams you had are going to come true, but when you get an answer no or face failure, all the expectations that you had built along with the one event based on which you made your dreams, is shattered. There by you feel too much pain. All those hopes running into drain gives you the shock that you are not able to bear the failure.

Winners are those who succeed from this trauma... how do they do it????... they keep the dreams alive and fit those dreams into another event.. and try to get the first event right... when it comes into reality, then they realise the dreams that they saw...

But is it easy, not to build dreams based on something? God knows... even now i'm thinking of all associated things i would be doing once the thing for which i'm awaiting an answer comes true...

Wish u luck Gul!!!! you need it now.. :D Hope 2010 brings in a lot of pleasant changes...