tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133030132024-03-08T01:48:10.959+05:30SilenceSo many things are told without words being phrased. <br>Can you not know what silence hath expressed?<br>In the quiet emptiness of mere silence,<br>There is much more than what words can make sense...Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-18129660267792583032018-01-06T23:44:00.003+05:302018-02-01T21:56:00.432+05:30Just another year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is my second new year after I shifted back here. Last time went in a blur. I sat in a corner, remembered the last new year and cried. I was with my family so when I wasn't alone, I smiled, laughed and pretended that there was nothing wrong and it was just another new year. That was pretty much it. It wasn't too long so even if someone saw me crying, they just left me alone.<br />
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This time I was prepared so before new year came, I had my days planned out. I would keep myself busy and distracted. So I met with friends, went for a movie, and so on. And the day was gone. Ah, I should be so proud of myself. But here is the thing, as soon as the day ended my distractions were gone and reality hit me like a big strong wave that was building up for so long<br />
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New years are usually reserved for reviewing last year. But like I said last year went in a blur (well, almost) and I really don't have anything to review. Looking back at some of the things that I faced in the last year, I am not even sure how I walked through the storm. It almost feels like I am thinking about a different person. I don't think if I was given that situation hypothetically and asked if I would be able to go through it, I would have said yes. Even now if I am asked, I would say no. The only difference is that now I have already done it. I don't know if it has made me stronger but I am sure I am not the same person anymore - for better or worse.<br />
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I did not read much but there were two books that really helped me - both of them recommended by my friends for which I am really grateful to them. I will confess, at first I wasn't sure I wanted to read them but I am glad I did. They are "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Train" by Cheryl Strayed and "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi. Both the books deal with death and grief. They are not my stories, they cannot be but they are still there and perhaps someday I will be able to accept my story like they have been able to. Perhaps.<br />
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And this is a new year, as best as any time can be for starting to see that life goes on whether you want it to or not. Free will is overrated and so is fate.<br />
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-84497946713296513252017-12-28T01:36:00.000+05:302017-12-28T01:36:02.411+05:30Moving on<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is probably the first and only time that I will say this - listening is overrated.<br />
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Sometimes no one needs to listen. You just need to talk. And just so that the world does not question your sanity, you need someone to talk to. At that time it does not matter if the person is listening or not. What matters is that you are talking.<br />
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<i>Conversations.</i><br />
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<i>Those are the hardest. The ones that are no longer there And the ones that still happen. Most of the time, I still talk of him in the present tense as if nothing has changed. When I'm outside, I pretend that I'll come home and we'll talk about the day. And when I'm home, I pretend I'm waiting for him to return.</i><br />
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There is no such thing as moving on. In theory, an year is quite a long time but frankly, I think we have a twisted way of measuring time. It just doesn't feel the same. In a way this was the longest year I had and yet I don't think I am any better than I was before. By now I have already overstayed the warm support that my friends have been giving me and I don't blame them. Frankly a part of me thinks the same thing - isn't it time now? It should be but I am not ready.<br />
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Time, is supposed to make things better. But like I said, we have very misguided idea of time. It seems time is a master of its own. it can slow down or quicken its pace as it seems fits. More often than not, in a way that will not be in our favor. We give time too much credit.<br />
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Although, come to think of it, moving on is not really a choice. It is like standing in middle of a river. No matter what you want, you will be taken away with the current. Most of the days you will find a boat to ride or you will swim but I just feel so tired. I don't even know where the river is taking me anymore, so why bother!<br />
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This is a random blogpost. But perhaps in the future I can be a little more articulate.<br />
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-88021474669446429902016-01-03T20:26:00.001+05:302016-01-03T20:58:02.236+05:30Another new year, and some thoughts <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Happy New Year.</div>
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Last year was a silent year. At least here, in the blog. How will this year be? I don't know. At least there will be one post. This one.</div>
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The month of January is the month of beginnings, resolutions, turning a new page, reviewing the past year, and so on. Frankly, I don't know what to review in the past year. I had bad days, and I had good days. I had people who supported during the bad ones and people who celebrated the good ones. So, pretty much like any other year. But the plot of my story hasn't really advanced, except that changed my job. And I am happy with the change. But having said that, I have high hopes for this year. But we wait and hope for better things like any other new year.</div>
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I have been thinking of writing this post from the 31st December. Somehow I had the time, like always. So, I have been wondering how do we evolve - it never is a drastic change. It is a slow transformation for our betterment (at least that is what we would like to believe) but we never realize those minute changes until it is too late to turn back. </div>
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I am a woman from the modern era. I had the privilege to get good education, and the opportunity to apply my knowledge in a role of my choice and then continue to do so even after my marriage. Not to mention that I also skipped the elaborate ritual of arranged marriage and married for love. It might not be something to boast about in the western world but very few women in my country fall in this category. Many don't do it by choice, others never had the opportunity. I could consider myself lucky or be grateful to the people around me. I could also give the credit to my stubbornness but that will be too inconsiderate. I think it is a mix of everything. How many girls drop out of school because, they don't have the opportunity or because there is no school around? How many fathers fight with the government to get a school opened for the education of their daughters? How many students give up after their first failure in the entrance exams? How many mothers let their girls leave home for studies or work? There is more and I could go on and on but the point that I am trying to make is that it is not a one sided story. It never is. None of our stories are monologues. And while you should take your due credit, you should never forget all those people who have been responsible for your success in one way other.</div>
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So well, this post was not about this. At least not when I had thought of writing this. But I haven't written for so long that there are too many things to write. I am stopping here but I hope I will blog again soon.</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-81519341295111790882014-08-26T01:02:00.003+05:302014-08-26T01:02:56.136+05:30As the night comes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Tonight is one of those times when I have no idea why I am up so late. So what do you do when you realize that you are awake even though you have to wake up early next morning. I could go lie down and keep wondering what would make me fall asleep or I could just stop wondering and use the extra hours that have been given to me. Tomorrow is not going to change. I might not wake up early or I might still manage to do so. But that is something that I can care about only when it happens.</div>
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There are a couple things that I could do now -</div>
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<li>I could read the book that I picked up two days back - Shantaram. It is a lengthy book that is going to take some time to finish and I haven't been reading much these days.</li>
<li>I could arrange my wardrobe. I have been meaning to do that for the last two weeks. It would have been more but I wasn't home for the last three months.</li>
<li>I could finish the entry I started on my Australia trip. No, it is not in the blog. No, it will not be. </li>
<li>I could read a few more poems. I started it a couple of days back when a friend asked me to read her a poem. I haven't stopped reading yet. I am sure if this continues, she will regret that she asked me to read her a poem. </li>
<li>I could finish the leftover work from today morning. Nah! I will do that tomorrow. I will have to wake up early.</li>
<li>I could blog. So I am blogging. </li>
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I do not have much to blog actually. These days thoughts are too superficial. They just don't form words that I can pen down. The thoughts, they feel like distant whispers, too loud to ignore but too soft to capture. So I have learned to ignore them over time. It is like you get used to the rumbling sound of train if you live near the train tracks or the sound of rain if you stay in a tin roofed house. It is not pleasant, really. It is sad. I wake up in the morning with a hundred things in my mind. Most of them arrange themselves to become to-do lists. Lists that I have to check off before the night comes down. And I still miss quite a few of them. The others that couldn't make into the lists, stay there for days, sometimes months and are not heard until a day like today comes. And then I pick up one of them and pen down a blog or read a poem or talk to someone. And then they are forgotten for another month. A month is too long. But I seem to notice it only after it has passed.</div>
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They all say that we are given all equal time. I must keep losing those somewhere. Perhaps I have just misplaced them somewhere and there will come a day when I will have so much time that I wouldn't know what to do with them.</div>
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Not that I sleepy, yet. But the fact that I have to wake up early tomorrow is nagging me somewhere in my mind so I will take leave. Just in case you want to listen to my poetry reading, you can click <a href="http://soundcloud.com/ankita-m/sets/poetry-reading" target="_blank">here</a>. And by any chance if you happen to like it and have any request, leave me a comment.</div>
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Good night. </div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-68413378849894396402014-06-09T14:01:00.002+05:302014-06-09T14:11:45.313+05:30On the journeys of my life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I remember travelling a lot. Every two or three years, we would pack our bags and set off for a new destination. Not all of them have been awesome but I grew to love them nevertheless. I loved the places and more than that I loved the preparation, the journey, the anticipation before knowing where I will be next. I have never stopped boasting about it. Even today if I get a chance, I do that. I tell people that the number of states that I lived in is more than I can count on my fingers, I tell them that I have lived the life of the drought prone villages as well as the national capital of the country. I tell them I had travelled in trains, buses, flights, jeeps, and even trucks before I was even 10. I never, never regret those journeys or places. I am not in touch with any of the people from there. I don't think I will recognise them if I ever come across any of them. I don't think I remember the places much either but only in bits and pieces, the amazing journeys and the feelings that came with it. </div>
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But I was young then, intrigued by the idea of new people, new places, new stories, new friends. Later in life, I have wondered how different would I have been if there were no journeys. I have wondered how is it to grow up rooted in a single place with same neighbours, with friends whom you know from childhood throughout your life. I have wondered if it would have been much the same. Perhaps not. Today I know that transfers are different from travels. That it is possible to travel and still be rooted to a place. I don't know how different that would have been or how similar. I know that if I have to choose for today, I will choose travel over transfer but not for yesterday. </div>
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The yesterday's journeys have given me a thirst for novelty, curiosity to know more, travel (a little), to try and know people, to be a little more sensitive to differences, to be open to ideas, to be comfortable with solitude and more than that to love books. But perhaps it is also because of travels, that the idea of settling down unsettles me.To be in a place with no thoughts of ever leaving it, frightens me. The journeys have also made me detest cities. I like the calmness of towns and villages better. I probably miss out the fact that there are less luxuries and opportunities there, that my line of work allows me to stay only in big cities (That's not true at all. Never believe that no matter what your line of work is!). But the cities scare me and I continue to live there. (Such is life!) </div>
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They say the towns are no better these days. But how can they say, when they don't know what is it that I am scared of, when I have no idea what is it that I scared of. We are shaped by the journeys we have taken and also the ones that we have missed. A person can be known better by the things he or she evades than the ones he or she is ready to confront. How much do I know myself?</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-69072689914450345592014-02-23T19:25:00.004+05:302014-02-23T19:27:16.031+05:30Guest Post - Behind the Magnifying Glass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Here is the good news. I am blogging again. I will be more realistic this time and keep my blogging to weekends only. As a commitment to my blogging effort, here is a guest post from IndiaBookStore. Thank you IndiaBookStore for this beautiful article. :)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Behind the Magnifying
Glass- A List of Favourite Fictional Detectives</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hello from
IndiaBookStore! We are book lovers ourselves, so we decided to start a </span></i></b><a href="http://www.indiabookstore.net/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">service that helps everyone find books at the best prices online</span></i></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> (so that you can get more books for
your buck!) We also </span></i></b><a href="http://www.indiabookstore.net/bookish/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">blog</span></i></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> about books: reviews, interviews, articles, news, we try to have it all.
Thank you, Ankita, for featuring us here!</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Favourite fictional
detectives are not unlike old friends- you know their quirks, you are familiar
with their methods and yet, so often, they show a dazzling display of
brilliance and a capability to surprise you which reminds you all over again
why you love them so much. While fiction has had its share of brilliant
detectives, here is an extremely subjective list of my favourite detectives,
whose stories I can always re-read with relish, no matter how well-remembered
the culprit and the plot, just for the sheer joy of reading them.<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sherlock Holmes- How does one not begin with
Sherlock Holmes? A character so beloved that generation after generation tries
to replicate him in books, TV series and films. Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuth was
so iconic that Doyle was forced to bring him back from dead, eight years after
he had killed him off, due to sheer public pressure. Sherlock’s strength lies
in the fact that the stories are both character and plot driven. Hence, readers
not only remember the fascinating details of the Red-Headed league or the
chilly atmosphere of the moors in The Hound of the Baskervilles, they also
remember the easy camaraderie of Holmes and Watson with the same fondness and
delight. Holmes remains a cultural icon even today and recent adaptations
merely add to the greatness of the original detective.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple- This remains a
cheat since Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer living in London (first
seen in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920), and amateur detective Jane
Marple, an elderly spinster living in St. Mary Mead (first seen in The
Murder at the Vicarage, 1930) are unique detectives who would probably have
balked if they ever had had to solve a mystery together. Agatha Christie’s
iconic characters, whose stories are the third most widely published books in
the world, are brilliant, observant and polar opposites of each other. However,
the main essence of their books lies not in their well crafted mysteries, but
in the human interest present in the books. Christie spends pages devoted to
developing characters so that by the end, we not only want the culprit caught;
we want the rest to be proven innocent. The characters, the banters, the
humour, the tragic touch, the inevitable romantic end- hers is not a murder
alone, hers is a whole by-play of human life. Hercule Poirot proudly proclaims,
“Journeys end in lovers’ meeting” while Miss Marple smiles knowingly as they
happily match make and fix futures of people while fighting for justice in
their own way, making them the world’s foremost meddling and heartwarming
detectives</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Father Brown- G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown,
first seen in the short story ‘The Blue Cross’, 1910, is an old favourite.
Despite the rather Gothic atmosphere, the scholarly outlook of the author, and
the incongruous mildness of the detective (for detectives, even Miss Marple,
are usually very agitated by the evil in men. Father Brown, invariably, chooses
Christian forgiveness), Father Brown remains a brilliant if surprising
detective. To the reformed criminal and then his friend, Flambeau, Father Brown
is introduced as a mild, comical clergyman. The same man becomes a resounding
power of good and mercy who changes the lives of the desperate with his love.
Whether we see the books as an allegory of Christian forgiveness or a detective
series with a religious undercurrent, the books, and the man himself are
fascinating and worth a discovery. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Flavia de Luce- A snooty, precocious, eleven
year old genius solves mysteries in England in the late 1940s. If that is not
fascinating enough, she is also a budding chemist, has a habit of being where
she is not supposed to be and happens to live in a village which appears to be
haunted by an astounding number of murders. Miss Marple would have felt right
at home at Bishop’s Lacey. While her first book, Sweetness at the Bottom of the
Pie, has admittedly some weaknesses, the next books go from strength to
strength with author Alan Bradley’s awareness of his characters flaws and
strengths showing up more vividly in the narration. For fans of cozy drawing
room mysteries, Flavia de Luce will be a surprise packaged in the comfort of
old-world British murders.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Feluda- When it comes to favourite detectives,
it is hard to be objective with our very own Bengali detective Feluda. Thanks
to English translations of one of the most famous creations of Satyajit Ray’s,
Feluda has suddenly become accessible to the rest of the English speaking country
and no more remains just a treasured childhood memory of Bengali denizens of
the world. Helped with his nephew Topshe and his friend Jatayu, Feluda has a
unique contribution to detective literature in India. Not only are the
sensibilities of his plots very strictly maintained for a young audience, he
shows a fascinating side of India in the 1970s, becoming a living social and
historical study. While easy to dismiss as literature for children, it is
Satyajit Ray’s genius which makes the detective so relevant, entertaining and
plain, old good fiction.</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;"> </span>-
written by Ritika Palit</span></span></div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-45327060464068855012013-01-30T21:22:00.001+05:302013-01-30T21:27:02.898+05:30Of dreamers and dreams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I can't be a dancer if I don't dance. On an outset, this statement is so simple that nobody will disagree. It like wanting to count the stars without looking at the night sky. Yet the truth is is that most of us do so. We all dream and that is what
sets us apart from all others. If you are lucky, you haven't forgotten
your dream yet. And if you have, may be it is time you took a break to
dream </div>
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The other day I was talking to a friend who tells me, "... so if we all want to be that writer, why don't we just write the book? " Yes, why exactly? Where is that book I want to write, the song I want to sing, the journey I want to take and so on and so forth? It is there of course, in our mind. When I was in Varanasi, one of my wishes (that was never fulfilled) was
to watch the sunrise in the Ganges ghats. The first step to realizing
that wish was to wake up before the sun rose, which I did a few times
but on those days the clouds beat me to watching the sunrise. At least
you can't say that I did not attempt it but I still failed.<br />
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We all are afraid of failures and a distant dream is easier to nurture than a broken dream. So the book is never written in fear of rejection, the song never sung in fear of ridicule and the trip never made in fear of cancellation.</div>
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For some things, we can attempt and attempt and attempt and for some things, there is a deadline so they are attempted either to be completed, or to be given up. But most of our dreams require a lot of effort (sometimes just a little that is exaggerated by our devilish minds) and can be pushed to the tomorrow that never really arrives and hence we look at that treasured dream in the distant horizon and hope that we will reach there, one day.</div>
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And so this post is to remind me that dream, or no dream, I can't be a blogger if I don't blog. The actual dream of course, comes a little later.</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-88493911147664011942012-11-26T23:30:00.000+05:302012-11-26T23:36:38.132+05:30In Search of a Lost World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Before I was out of kindergarten, I had already tried falling into rabbit holes, getting inside mirrors and climbing up trees, none of which led to any different world. Before long I realized that the only thing that entered at night through my open window was cold and sore throat but never any one called Peter Pan nor any flying object that remotely resembled a fairy. I should have given up at that time but I didn't. <br />
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Before I started my high school I was sure that the charming prince that all the stories kept talking about was somewhere out there but in a different country or place, certainly he couldn't be from the same place that I stayed in. There was nothing charming about the boys I knew. By the time I went to high school, I had no interest in the prince anymore, charming or otherwise. There were other worlds of mystery and adventure that occupied my mind. By the time I finished my high school, I was so impressed by these imaginary worlds that I wanted to make one of my own. I believed everyone has a story and I believed each one of them are worth telling. And so I took time to listen to those. A friend once accused me of being a story stealer. The thought made me a little proud and I hoped with each story I stole, I was making my own story richer and better. <br />
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I wanted to tell my story. But I never did. Not after I finished high school, not in the college, not after graduation, not while I started working, not when I joined my post graduate course and not after I finished it, not when the corporate world sucked me up for the second time and not even now. Because, I don't have a story. At least not yet or rather not anymore.<br />
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By now I have lost even the fragments of my imaginary world. I don't have the thoughts or the characters who kept my childhood alive and colorful. Nor do I remember their features or presence. In fact I have started having doubts if they ever existed. They probably didn't. It is just that up until then, I believed that they did. Now I don't. I have heard, seen and read many stories. They all are still worth telling but perhaps I was mistaken. In the course of listening so many stories, I forgot how to tell one. And so now I no more want to create a world of my own. I just want to roam about or get lost in all those other created worlds. May be, just may be then I will find some of the fragments of my world back. </div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-30691651674366069132012-11-04T21:31:00.001+05:302012-11-04T21:32:34.609+05:30And so time passes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>"I go to sleep alone, and wake up alone. I take walks. I work until I am tired. I watch the wind play with the trash that's been under the snow all winter. Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?" - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger</i></div>
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That's the latest book I have picked up. There are a few more around. Some half read, some still not started and some on the verge of ending. They keep me company. It feels good to have books around me. Not a lot. Just a few so that I know I have something to do when I don't want to think or talk or when I can't sleep and songs are not enough. Most of the time I pick up a book and that makes everything simple. Cooking helps too but most of the time I used to be lazy. I have improved. One more task just gives me more choices on what to do to not think.</div>
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Then I pick up random hobbies. Blogging used to be a big thing once upon a time. One time I started crafts. Gifted that to someone. I started sketching. continued it for sometime but left all my books back at home so now I have to go buy them again. That will go in to my list of things to do. I picked up origami recently and used all available waste papers at home to makes all kinds of birds, flowers, butterflies. But it took too much space so I suspended a few of them above my bed and pasted the rest on the walls. If nothing else, it made my room a little more lively. Something that makes me smile every time I enter the room. </div>
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Weekends, I meet up friends, go for a movie (rarely) or a play (latest craze) or just make a list of things to buy and go shopping. I am not much of a shopper. Not when alone unless there is something specific that I want to buy. Discs and pubs don't excite me at all so those places are not even thought of unless someone else suggests and even then most of the time I find a reason to not go. I wish I started writing again. But these days words seem to just disappear before I can pen them down. Then again when I am trying to run away from thinking, how can I write. But I will again, soon.</div>
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<i>"I keep myself busy. Time goes faster that way." - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger</i></div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-66937686393351854402011-11-09T03:22:00.002+05:302011-11-10T01:49:16.073+05:30Veiled Existence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2B2ok5ahCXQ-uMdq6_paGrdUktLA19b7uTVFa1e8wPiAtadc20-OyujmdayQmziiV-DvVOdB_jjD8s0lwlWKZnUZYLrGR9reHyFyVUYIgZR2KdqqFZVC7OJRz5Ntw0pdST-TfQ/s1600/DSC01850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2B2ok5ahCXQ-uMdq6_paGrdUktLA19b7uTVFa1e8wPiAtadc20-OyujmdayQmziiV-DvVOdB_jjD8s0lwlWKZnUZYLrGR9reHyFyVUYIgZR2KdqqFZVC7OJRz5Ntw0pdST-TfQ/s200/DSC01850.JPG" width="188" /></a></div>
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There is only so much that one can know about somebody. The truth is that the picture is always incomplete. Add to that fact that we are all evolving everyday. What I believed yesterday might be a fairy tale today or what I will believe tomorrow might be even unknown to me today. But that should not be a surprise because how much do we even know ourselves. We try to complete our own picture everyday not for others but for ourselves.</div>
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And yet, every single day while going through our daily chores, meeting the same people we met yesterday, we keep thinking that we know them. We don't. We never will, just as they will never know us. It is common for most of us to complain from the very teenage days or sometimes even before that nobody understands. The opposite perspective is always lost: that we never understand anybody either. I could extend it further saying that even if I understood someone at that one moment of interaction we had, it was lost the very next moment because we evolve every single moment. May be the everyday effort to understand every single person around us is like the myth of Sisyphus: futile but still repeated.</div>
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Then again it is necessary at some level to understand a person so that you can interact. As a part of the society, that probably is the most important code of conduct that we follow. We try to complete the picture we have no idea about by our own whims and fancies and then when we have done so, we claim we have understood everyone. An illusion we create, nurture and defend for life. What can we do, after all to err is human. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Credits:</b></div>
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<a href="http://inkoncept.deviantart.com/art/veil-sketch-200653909" target="_blank">Inspiration for sketch<b> </b></a></div>
</div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-45568054893983515022011-11-03T03:41:00.000+05:302011-11-03T03:54:30.448+05:30Random Things About Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwL6tdhwa0FpyltJVarlCgGnFTXcYN6Z76EnP6s3MkZNH4ssdiubaU-9bWFGXQhhXeXgDmdpHR_P6wt90udcE3NKY0go233yOw6ERykxfDe2yIv7lIuqm1JJ2NqQKrYepqSQp9g/s1600/Mood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwL6tdhwa0FpyltJVarlCgGnFTXcYN6Z76EnP6s3MkZNH4ssdiubaU-9bWFGXQhhXeXgDmdpHR_P6wt90udcE3NKY0go233yOw6ERykxfDe2yIv7lIuqm1JJ2NqQKrYepqSQp9g/s400/Mood.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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DREAMER</div>
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You're a romantic in your outlook with a bit of taste for the exotic. You love feeling the sea breeze in your hair, sun on your skin... You always take the first dip. Your choice of drink shows you care about your health and make sure you're putting the right stuff in. When it comes to holidays you reckon they should always be indulgent - a very special treat and a chance to recharge your batteries in luxurious surrounding as well as spending quality time with family and friends.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxcrLYJhTK8uR7Oro-MuzowCZ5xDX98iI_t9vZ5BoUUCxpRjIxtrZeqbYAB5b8DifBeF-F99MU_ayfRk98hHN8uTcDzLNkBaNjm3t1X0Ghu5KDMR5Jer0DSAN5Q574R0jiiCyeg/s1600/Fun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxcrLYJhTK8uR7Oro-MuzowCZ5xDX98iI_t9vZ5BoUUCxpRjIxtrZeqbYAB5b8DifBeF-F99MU_ayfRk98hHN8uTcDzLNkBaNjm3t1X0Ghu5KDMR5Jer0DSAN5Q574R0jiiCyeg/s400/Fun.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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THRILLER</div>
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As for the home you have an expressive personality with contemporary taste. You like to be surrounded by the precious possessions that define who you are. For kicks you like to be spoilt rotten. It's always so much fun opening gifts. nothing beats that kind of surprise. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7KZ56-aZLiMa5AXXgFpgmEzVewZOeyzXUmW2uCmsaiz942XQVa13zvOLAF-oyy1x77CAmh9QxC0eYSpok6FI8RvVLLlqJzmRipH2h50_nVtrb-qVQBr2vRgUKlDC_DHZPnxytA/s1600/Habit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7KZ56-aZLiMa5AXXgFpgmEzVewZOeyzXUmW2uCmsaiz942XQVa13zvOLAF-oyy1x77CAmh9QxC0eYSpok6FI8RvVLLlqJzmRipH2h50_nVtrb-qVQBr2vRgUKlDC_DHZPnxytA/s400/Habit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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BACK TO BASICS<br />
When it comes to art you find beauty in the world around you. Nothing is more precious than natural treasures. As for music it's the soundtrack to your world. You're up to speed with downloading and your mp3 is always close by. Music helps you concentrate. you probably find it hard to ever switch it off. You're never happier than when you are snuggled up eyes shut. So whether you're worn out or just plain lazy lay back relax and catch up on some zzzzzs! When you think of freedom - the great outdoors spring to mind. Getting back to nature is a big draw. It's the perfect place to find peace and quiet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lhMZ5J6jqqFYswxzUHxW5PyfGdQwi8RMuU6TGqGeF3gGknIzTSPy4op1D0J3CKWl2yTBh1bJGeOpW8Ev_K7ZqhQYSFpKVtjZcOu85zSiD6TL3lPPkvzQhllJ-I2YW-SLq-iVmw/s1600/Social.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lhMZ5J6jqqFYswxzUHxW5PyfGdQwi8RMuU6TGqGeF3gGknIzTSPy4op1D0J3CKWl2yTBh1bJGeOpW8Ev_K7ZqhQYSFpKVtjZcOu85zSiD6TL3lPPkvzQhllJ-I2YW-SLq-iVmw/s400/Social.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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THOUGHTFUL</div>
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You're an indulgent character and you treasure your possessions. You're a magpie; if it sparkles you just have to have it! For you friendship is all about being there for one another. You can't imagine life without your best friends. And they are the first place you go when you need some advice or a shoulder to cry on.</div>
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Well, not bad I would say.</div>
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<a href="http://www.youniverse.com/quiz/personality#" target="_blank">Find you VisualDNA</a>.</div>
</div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-66253135847812124272011-10-15T03:32:00.001+05:302013-03-09T00:31:25.233+05:30One such evening<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">It was only half past seven in the evening. On normal days, you could still hear the din of the street. The lively chatting of the workers packing for the day, the crowded buses returning people after their day's work, the incessant beeps of the impatient commuter, and even the footsteps of the innumerable pedestrians. This time of evening, on a weekday, was as busy as the morning hour when people just began their day of work. Yet, today one had to strain one's ears to hear the same sounds. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_C9ys3-Td8QOifdsTIJUeGwf3NVEnX1c1kJsdxkO5IIVqdj5WceLciIoa6J8uvTmScDW_WC7iLzCKNZVNjORkUPtToAr9y62cagRSM3ZpleoyhOKSR_N9GmDYwmU9xJ03IHNL5w/s1600/cloudy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" id=":current_picnik_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_C9ys3-Td8QOifdsTIJUeGwf3NVEnX1c1kJsdxkO5IIVqdj5WceLciIoa6J8uvTmScDW_WC7iLzCKNZVNjORkUPtToAr9y62cagRSM3ZpleoyhOKSR_N9GmDYwmU9xJ03IHNL5w/s200/cloudy.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Not that the streets were empty but the crowd was missing. Only distant noise of passing vehicles could be heard. What was unmistakable was the occasional rumble in the sky. Neither threatening nor fearful but like a pompous notice of arrival. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The ambiance was shadowy tending to sombre but not quite gloomy. The sky was overcast with dark clouds. The sun was already resting behind the horizon. And the empty sky was the cloud's playground. Their game was not violent or intense, only filled with not loud yet booming roar of thunder that were inter-spaced by the murmurs of the trees. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The night had started to arrive early today, but the stars were not yet out. Outside, the current time could easily be forgotten. Only the street lamps devotedly lighted up the open. If you had not known that the lights are typically switched off before midnight, you could easily confuse the hour to be quite late. The wind teased the trees mischievously as it traversed its unknown path and the trees in turn giggled and swayed. The lights and shadows from the synthetic illuminations from the nearby buildings gave the surrounding an unnatural glow that could hardly swallow the duskiness caused by the nature. Rather, the contrast gave it an undeserved prominence. The cold whiff of the wind tingled the skin. The chill could only graze the surface but the cool sensation was welcome after the past few days. A slight drizzle was bestowed temporarily. It would have gone almost unnoticed if the scent from the newly-wet ground had not filled up the air. The freshness from the balmy earth diffused impartially and for sometime you could smell the lushness of a beginning everywhere.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The air was still now, the trees silent. The clouds had returned the sky to the night, their game over. This was not their destination, just a hiatus. The stars have taken their positions and are now glowing undisputed. With the air undisturbed, the transient fragrance of freshness is also lost. Only the chill that brushed the skin remained, not as a tingle anymore but a memory, and a flicker of sureness that next time, it will rain.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=cloudy+evening&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=wkq&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=646&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsu&tbnid=BfZGIvlt32Fk2M:&imgrefurl=http://photos.ibibo.com/photo/6117778/cloudy-evening-sunset-landscape-india&docid=fFofJ9wYKlSUMM&imgurl=http://mdb8.ibibo.com/09453616c7465645f5f5b255fdbc567fa7514a52b4eed610bb12d8d771333fad3922703af1eb752947f261a2d3631f90c22b25514.jpeg/cloudy-evening-sunset-landscape-india.jpeg&w=500&h=333&ei=HbCYTsWYAsbWrQfLn9GHBA&zoom=1">Credit for photo</a></span></div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-87636580030895076302011-10-02T01:46:00.003+05:302011-10-15T03:41:29.755+05:30String of Pearls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1wo0CVUilNe7vM_mLlav7PYcqqgpIsFkfmCufqBCdcLbk-2zlBmKa4VkTi9vMyqQ9xKMfPbWuErAo7C4TfOjoBWVvoAfBlk1YYauUcupkYVGj4MGKbwJUUuBDDKjV_9olxN15g/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1wo0CVUilNe7vM_mLlav7PYcqqgpIsFkfmCufqBCdcLbk-2zlBmKa4VkTi9vMyqQ9xKMfPbWuErAo7C4TfOjoBWVvoAfBlk1YYauUcupkYVGj4MGKbwJUUuBDDKjV_9olxN15g/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a>Ever wondered what keeps us going? Millions of people wake up everyday to go about their daily routine. What would happen if one fine morning everyone decides "that is it!" It's not really an uncommon question. Most of us have wondered about this, if not for personal reason then surely for professional reasons but have we really found the answer?<br />
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The question 'what motivates people' have puzzled corporates from the time of their initiations. Money which actually wins the voting by a large margin turns out to be wrong answer in several recent research. What then? Hope probably. But hope is so much futuristic. Something so uncertain. And why future? Why not past, something that has happened for certain.</div>
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Here, we are told, every organization, every strategy, every smallest activity begins with an objective that directs its course. Surely something like that happens with us all too. Except that we are not really always aware of that objective (except while filling up the forms). May be there is even a difference between what is and what we think. May be there is no objective, we just live in moments. Single moments that are strung like pearls in a string that we call our life. Perhaps it is memory that keeps the string intact. If we were to wake up one day with no memory of past, we would live each moment in itself, with neither fear, nor hope, nor regret. Each of these moments then will be a celebration because it will be first of its kind.<br />
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But then again, if celebrations are not remembered, are they any worth?</div>
</div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-41996010007329816922011-09-21T21:17:00.002+05:302011-10-02T02:12:01.057+05:30Lost Individuality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqWH2wPmla0z1ZQfBxYJiZcuMWDE0sJQbp8dD2gmex7YrQg80UKfw-324D-DJ2_7CosEe40JlsXXVsbCDQFEdsGjXsCtWN06tgsz4yZEXQqfw6ZV9-ncdFiJdsWVgNblLzzPFSg/s1600/empty_chair_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqWH2wPmla0z1ZQfBxYJiZcuMWDE0sJQbp8dD2gmex7YrQg80UKfw-324D-DJ2_7CosEe40JlsXXVsbCDQFEdsGjXsCtWN06tgsz4yZEXQqfw6ZV9-ncdFiJdsWVgNblLzzPFSg/s200/empty_chair_thumb.jpg" width="148" /></a>Among many other
things, we have developed the habit of grumbling. In fact I should say we have
almost perfected it by practicing it for all possible reasons in our and
other lives. I have been trying to find one such area which none of us grumble
about and I couldn't find it. Any help on the matter will be appreciated. Now
since I said "we" I obviously included myself and so this post is not
about blaming anybody but rather it is about grumbling about grumbling.<br />
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Then, what is wrong
with us? Probably nothing but accepting that would end my post here and now and
I am not quite ready to do that. Give me a chance , I don't bore you so often
anymore! So I was thinking about it for
couple of days (Fine! Make it a couple of hours) and the reason stuck me all
of a sudden when I was replying to a mail. And I realized that we keep grumbling
about everything because we take the easy way out. That doesn't sound very
profound, does it? But it is not that simple. You might think that taking the
easy way out means grumbling and not doing anything about it and that sure is
part of it but its still incomplete. The thing is that even when we do anything
about something, we still take the easy way out.</div>
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Now I have great
respect for whoever came up with the idea of majority voting and democracy.
Obviously there is currently no better way to have a government that solves
most of our problems (at least that’s what theory suggests). But when you start
applying the 'majority' idea to everything else, it really isn't the best thing
to do, certainly not with the current technology expertise and information
burst. Look at something as simple as education - our courses are designed what
the majority of students prefer, electives
are cancelled if a certain number of students do not subscribe to it,
only those companies are called where majority of people want to go. Why have
engineering colleges mushroomed in our country - not because we need a lot of engineers but
because majority of people want to become engineers. Some years down the line I
am probably going to say the exact same thing about management. It hardly
matters what the quality is. It hardly matters what percentage of them go
where.</div>
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Now that’s not the
end of it. Products are designed the same way. For example, why are most
product designed for right handers? One can argue talking about mass
productions, manufacturing and industrial revolution. But lets face it, that
was decades back and we have been through many more revolutions after that. Why
do we do it then? Because all of us including our policy makers and those huge
corporations that keep talking about how they cater to our 'needs' see us as
collective unit, as if we do not exist individually. There are other reasons,
majority gives you credibility, number of fb likes, number of comments, the
number of hits on a website, number of times a term is googled!</div>
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And that is exactly
why every one of us follows the herd because that is what is expected from us.
And then we complain that we do not think out-of-the-box. Sorry but we are not
really appreciated for that. Not that often at least. And by the time we realize
that, we are almost habituated to follow the herd. Now that brings me to the
first point, why do we grumble? Because everyone else does that.</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-24261292898093628762011-08-20T12:30:00.000+05:302011-09-21T21:18:34.534+05:30Heroism and Martyrdom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxZA_iD0fNXOzc8sxJ_J4ywp09HLrBwp_rBa88WVIHmVcXMW7VOUPunLUWQh-snhUAxHbUYYiOUzz_-q4YUMjZhyoPkzo0ZEX-4pynRQ-n5DU5B4yfJYqNUMHlLVSFc8_RMR6OQ/s1600/joan-of-arc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxZA_iD0fNXOzc8sxJ_J4ywp09HLrBwp_rBa88WVIHmVcXMW7VOUPunLUWQh-snhUAxHbUYYiOUzz_-q4YUMjZhyoPkzo0ZEX-4pynRQ-n5DU5B4yfJYqNUMHlLVSFc8_RMR6OQ/s200/joan-of-arc1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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When I took up the course for "Leadership: Inspiration, Dilemmas & Action", I hadn't realized what was in store. But with the end term over, I look back to a series of lectures that have rekindled my questioning. As part of the class presentation, groups had to take up sessions on given topics. Ours was "Heroism and Martyrdom" based on the book Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw. The groups were given the creative freedom to decide how they wanted to present.The topic was chosen by us of course. Our choice was based two reasons, it was about Joan of Arc, and it was a little later in the term. The third reason that it was based on a book applied for all other topics.<br />
<a name='more'></a>We were a group of 6 girls and we had no idea what we were going to do. As the term proceeded, groups came up with good to great preparation for portraying the plots of the story. Play was the best and most appreciated way. There were movie and video clips too. By the time our turn approached, we were out of ideas. We knew that we were not good enough for a play in front of the class and movie was out of question because it had no creativity from our part. And that was when we came up with the idea of a shadow play - directed, acted, recorded, edited all complete with background music and live narration.</div>
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That the whole thing came out so well and was appreciated by everybody present felt really good, but the whole process was more fun. The nights we spent with a white bed sheet to locate a place where the shadows were dark enough to be recorded and failed! Then finding a wall without windows and doors, finding lights to project the right size of image, to place the camera in the right angle so that neither the video was distorted nor the real people got recorded, the covering windows in the room so that the light from street lamp outside did not spoil the shadows. The first scene took hours and by the end of it we were already exhausted but it was just the beginning. And once it was complete, the editing started. The narration was supposed to be live so we had to ensure that the scenes were of the right duration, there was selection of music based on the scenes. And then there was the narration, shrinking a 3 hour play to just 15 minutes without diluting the essence is not an easy feat! It was an unforgettable experience.</div>
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And all this for just a fourth of the entire presentation. The rest of the time was for the analysis and the efforts put there were certainly equal if not more. We looked at the history, the themes, Joan's personality, the topic of heroism and martyrdom, comparison with other leaders and then ended with class discussion. Unlike other sessions, ours was scheduled at night just before dinner but during the presentation, we knew food was not the first thought in most people's mind.</div>
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A special thanks to Nidhi, Gayatri, Priyanka, Sonal and Pragya for making it such an awesome experience!</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-89514139484106780942011-08-20T02:55:00.000+05:302011-08-20T23:16:30.907+05:30My latest sketch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Dreams never give up!</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-30895938585552535132011-06-08T07:19:00.007+05:302011-08-22T20:48:36.188+05:30Morning Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It is said that time flies. Usually I agree. And yet the last few days have been a challenge to watch the time pass. May be when they came up with the idea that <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/extreme-fear/201003/how-the-brain-stops-time">anxiety dilates time</a>, this is what they meant. They talked about fear but who knows if there are similar other feelings.They might have forgotten about boredom.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUyZWjul6N0W0tZXjVBRF-ktsRlmhNh7W4OsY6XTjcI2BllHyGfM5HhFA2soZmk_adWAioz4gnkX0zWHINvPyZgRmDBHWervIMsnLrohGHSUtxSMYOnY8NIbIDruLJePt7-5Xzg/s1600/garfield+morning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUyZWjul6N0W0tZXjVBRF-ktsRlmhNh7W4OsY6XTjcI2BllHyGfM5HhFA2soZmk_adWAioz4gnkX0zWHINvPyZgRmDBHWervIMsnLrohGHSUtxSMYOnY8NIbIDruLJePt7-5Xzg/s200/garfield+morning.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Morning sleep has never been a problem for me. Sleeping again after waking up in the wee hours of dawn has been what I may call my 'forte'. And my mom is sure to second that. Yet for the last few days that is exactly what has been a challenge to me. I wake up and I fail to fall asleep again. Let me clarify that I have nothing to do in the morning that might force me to wake up early. No office, no classes, no commitments to keep. I can wake up as late as I want but the 'can' part doesn't seem to work.<br />
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This in itself should not be a problem. I am a nature person and what better time to appreciate nature than the morning - a time when the sun has not yet spread its wrath. But the day fails to start in that note because the unfinished sleep lingers in the back of my mind. And as the day trudges, its presence becomes too conspicuous to ignore.And even as I eagerly wait for it to appear from behind the curtain, it continues to evade me.<br />
By the time night arrives, the helpless waiting has transformed into a splitting headache and sleep has moved farther away. What follows is the expected pattern of my <a href="http://silentmomnts.blogspot.com/2009/11/and-it-is-morning-already.html">insomniac post</a> except the snooze part. <br />
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<i><span style="color: #444444;">[This post has been a draft for sometime.]</span></i></div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-83482882772170900292011-05-31T16:57:00.003+05:302011-08-17T03:10:40.641+05:30My Watchlist - Animation II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Now those of you who read my last movies post (<a href="http://silentmomnts.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-watch-list-animation.html">My Watchlist - Animation</a>), took my suggestion and watched the last 5 movies then decided never to take my suggestion ever again, this list is for you. Basically it is a fun list with animations as you expect them to be. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gho_sm9qmz-ciZ_kZgzg1xmz-hks2WQ5klkH9lhWGBSqCjKiDdcn6PfXEUVGHmM0GDcnwbqPtb9NHe-zkvUBkRdg9G7s29s3RRllaBDPG86oxmpWuBiah4zyPt13fOwjJJDkVw/s1600/Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gho_sm9qmz-ciZ_kZgzg1xmz-hks2WQ5klkH9lhWGBSqCjKiDdcn6PfXEUVGHmM0GDcnwbqPtb9NHe-zkvUBkRdg9G7s29s3RRllaBDPG86oxmpWuBiah4zyPt13fOwjJJDkVw/s200/Up.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I will start with <b>Up</b>. Amazing movie!!! This is a movie that tells you that neither romance nor adventure has anything to do with age. So those of you thought that in the coming years, age is going to be your excuse for shying away from either of these, it is time you found another excuse. And there is another thing that this movie says ... but if I tell you that there wouldn't be much left in the movie. So go find it yourself. <br />
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Talking of finding reminds me of another adventure - <b>Finding Nemo</b>. I already told its an adventure and the title tells the rest of the story - someone tries to find Nemo so Nemo must have got lost. No points for guessing this much. And the story has much more than that. It is a story of love, will and courage. And you can't miss those adorable expressions! </div>
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Talking about courage brings me to <b>Monsters, Inc</b>. This movie once again brings back memories from college days. <sigh!> Why do you think monsters scare us? Because they made their living that way until one fine day, the whole process turned topsy turvy. And that led to this movie. Imagine being one of them or imagine not being one of them. What then? Stop imagining, go watch the movie. </sigh!></div>
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Do monsters make you imagine giants? Because that is what I am going to mention about next - <b>The Iron Giant</b>. But don't go by the name, there is nothing to be scared of. I mean there is a giant and he is made of iron but that doesn't mean it is scary. Exactly the movie's point! There is more but you better watch it yourself. </div>
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All this iron stuff remind me of <b>Cars</b>. I watched this movie long back in my college days and it left a quite a memory. I love the song that it ends with but before that, there is a whole lot of things love about this movie. If you are out there making it big for yourself, then this movie might teach you some important lessons. And let me repeat you can't miss those adorable expressions! </div>
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<b>Happy Feet</b> is yet another adorable movie. If you love to tap your feet, then you just must not miss this. No this is not hip hop movie with numbers on which you can dance (you sure can if you want to) but there is more to it. Have you ever felt that you were different? May be there is a reason for that. And if you haven't then may be watching this movie will make you realize differences really do matter but not the way most people think. </div>
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All you foodies out there, how would you like your favorite dish served? Would you like it falling from the sky? If you ask me, I wouldn't. But then again I am not a foodie :D. <b>Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs</b> is an interesting movie - firstly because someone came up with such an idea and secondly because it talks about being yourself. I know, its a cliche but the way the movie brings this out is worth appreciating. </div>
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<b>Bee Movie </b>is also on the same lines - i.e being yourself but it is about a bee. And all those people who are on the threshold of deciding what career to choose must must watch this.Whether or not it will help you is a different thing, but if you watch it after deciding your career, may be you would think if only you had seen it earlier. Why do that? Why not just watch it now!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiXpXAG-n8dhjP5uMEEWzLX-EIKZFR-AHw4KTNowZ8ZPIQLcjhz622SMDDCjxZZ2wUiXsgb9Ys4W-IBp69kvyb3sa_MU_quoYIbYEEjfWu_Z94QdRbSu4Sq7WMASrOadR-2xyTw/s1600/howtotraindragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiXpXAG-n8dhjP5uMEEWzLX-EIKZFR-AHw4KTNowZ8ZPIQLcjhz622SMDDCjxZZ2wUiXsgb9Ys4W-IBp69kvyb3sa_MU_quoYIbYEEjfWu_Z94QdRbSu4Sq7WMASrOadR-2xyTw/s200/howtotraindragon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I will leave you with <b>How to train your dragon</b>. Who doesn't want a pet dragon! I mean think about it you have a fire breathing flying beast who listens to you! What can be better? Well, at least in fantasy. </div>
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Happy watching! I hope you like them. :)</div>
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If you think I have missed your favorite animation, drop in a comment.</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-76002861964780410182011-05-30T08:20:00.003+05:302011-08-17T03:12:58.660+05:30On a day like today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Dear Silence,</i></div>
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<i>Most of the time I love rains. And I have really cherished memories about them be it in the school days, college or work as must be evident from my numerous chats with you regarding rains. Although sometimes the muddy puddles in the middle of the road are a cause of too much inconvenience specially after rain has left. And yet the early morning drizzle like that of today often fills me with apprehension and gloom. If I wake up to rain, the most usual thing to do is to go back to sleep and wake up a little later hoping that I have successfully shortened the gloomy day to some extent. Unless commitments of the day render such a plan completely useless. In that case I just give in to my feelings.</i></div>
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<a name='more'></a><i>Now that I think of it, there are also times when rain reminds me of crying. May be it is the result of reading too many quotes about 'crying in the rain' so that no one can see the tears. I wouldn't be surprised if I have told you this before (since we have chatted about rains so often) that in my childhood I often imagined rain to be the time of war in the world of gods (up there). Mostly because they were accompanied with frightening lightning and thunder. It might have also been the result of watching Ramayana and Mahabharata during that time. And I thought the falling rain was either blood shed during the war or the family of the warriors crying. But that was long long back and I don't know why this came to my mind all of a sudden.</i></div>
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<i>So the thing that I wanted to tell you is that isn't it interesting how the same thing can give us completely two different feeling at different times? If it were evening I would have been rejoicing and smiling and yet just because it is early morning, it fills me up with apprehension. I wonder if something similar happens with everybody or do I just brood too much.</i></div>
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<i>Love,</i></div>
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<i>Anki</i></div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-13718914694569708482011-05-28T02:51:00.002+05:302011-05-30T08:21:31.538+05:30My Watch List - Animation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">This is not a movie review. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNQXdImdXl37c2GdIm-zo9U8LaRBNvn49DWeKIyVMhaoqEQmNl09V93u4BoDExz_wb9d0PBUGWvRIH0OYw40NXEH7J6FPHR16FlWuo7EDsexDCo2sVRQYy3lmy4FUu0V8Js4dAQ/s1600/walle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNQXdImdXl37c2GdIm-zo9U8LaRBNvn49DWeKIyVMhaoqEQmNl09V93u4BoDExz_wb9d0PBUGWvRIH0OYw40NXEH7J6FPHR16FlWuo7EDsexDCo2sVRQYy3lmy4FUu0V8Js4dAQ/s200/walle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During my stay in K, I had the chance to watch a couple of movies. Animation was top in my list and luckily I found quite a lot of them. :) Here is a list (not in any particular order) of some interesting animated movies that I came across. Not all of these are watched in K but I remember most of them are. I will skip the usual favorites of Toy Story, Lion King, etc but I cannot skip <b>Wall E</b>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anybody with even the slightest interest in animation, must watch this. I could tell you the summary but why spoil the fun, and anyways IMDB is always there for that. So it is the story of a lonely robot who falls in love and then moves across the universe (literally to find her). Now that plot itself would melt the heart of any romantic but that is not all. The movie is also about us and how we will have destroyed the earth. It is also about technology taking over us and about hope. But most of all I love it because there is so so much expressed in the movie with the minimum words.Lets start with the lighter ones now.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What do you think of when you think of fairy tales? I will tell you what comes to my mind - the damsel in distress or waiting for her prince charming. Once upon a time, they used to fascinate me but it has been some time since I moved on from them. <b>The Princess and the Frog</b>, as the name suggests is a fairy tale but with a twist. So there is a frog and there is a princess and there is a kiss that changes the story altogether. On the same lines of a fairy tale with a twist is the movie <b>Tangled</b>. A remake of Rapunzel with magical moments (literally). In my childhood I used to have those picture books where the characters moved when you turned the pages (like greeting cards) and I had such a book on Rapunzel. That might explain my bias for this story. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Tale Of Despereaux</b> is a story of a mouse and a rat (the movie start by explaining how they are different). It is about breaking the rules and doing what is not expected. There is a lesson worth learning in the story and if you like Ratatouile for a reason other than the food, there are chances you will like this. <b>Spirit - Stallion of Cimarron </b>is a story of courage and love. When I say love, don't confine it to two people. You might want to watch the movie to know what I mean. The last in the 'lighter' list is <b>Bolt. </b>Imagine living in a make believe world which comes crashing down and you have no idea of distinguishing reality and imagination. What do you do then? Whom do you believe? Would you believe a stranger over those with whom you have lived your life?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lets come to the heavier list now. <b>The Illusionist </b>also deals with make-believe life but in a different way. There was this line in the end which sums up reality in just 4 words. It may not be really a great movie, but see through it to understand why I have listed it here. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next movie can be scary. It was on a lazy day that I picked up a comics from a friend's room. Among other things, it led me to the movie <b>Coraline</b>. No, the comics was not about the movie. The authors were same. The lesson is something that we hear often, - be careful what you wish for, it just might come true. But the portrayal is more important.<b> </b>I was scared to dream for sometime after watching this. Dream as in the dream that you do when you sleep.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once while I was discussing movies with someone, I was advised not to watch <b>Waking Life </b>because I already think too much. So what did I do? I watched it right away :D This is also about dreams, more realistic. It is a series of disjointed dreams of a person in which there are a lot of discussions. If you enjoy intellectual discussions, this is a must watch movie.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>9 </b>is an interesting movie about 9 dolls that start with the lines<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: small;">"</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">We had such potential. Such promise. But we squandered our gifts." We as in the human beings not the dolls are. After you watch the movie, you have to appreciate the thought and imagination that went behind it. I mean animation itself needs so much imagination and then to come out with a concept like this is not something that you might want to pass.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8Ys8xPHoG54-yt_WdyIh5CbVGbT2uegTnlAjqD3QWxeiN5QOecerUyfRUsaFSqVgwSFQbGCs4OdgdaqONFyaK7udutMujAh4yD4E3FPAApQRp8jIk1CNWXzHjQ2V4Lkf5bxRrQ/s1600/GoF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8Ys8xPHoG54-yt_WdyIh5CbVGbT2uegTnlAjqD3QWxeiN5QOecerUyfRUsaFSqVgwSFQbGCs4OdgdaqONFyaK7udutMujAh4yD4E3FPAApQRp8jIk1CNWXzHjQ2V4Lkf5bxRrQ/s200/GoF.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The last two movies <b>Persepolis </b>and <b>Grave of Fireflies </b>are both foreign and war related. I thank Mathew Sir for the last one. You might not like them because the ideas are not the kind that you expect in an animated movie. Grave of Fireflies is a gem of a movie and must watch. Even if you blame me afterwards, I wouldn't mind. Give it a go. I don't have much to write about them because words are not enough.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Disclaimer: I am not a movie buff. But I do watch movies and like/dislike them. But any post in which I talk about movie is to be read casually. </div></div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-70524879808559767792011-05-26T20:59:00.005+05:302011-08-17T03:20:56.297+05:30Haunting Words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj6c4VcLOOmyhwvowX_UDZb02JXf7SWSOxtAQpjs3Nbs7lrQg-5oyoz6K2Yr9COpfjTXDn5zx47mipy8M3AWwByK8l-PAj4iSVMFMyEvMh9lqF8C0wJN17i7MD6Q8uJjhdOC0V1w/s1600/1-4472143-5129-t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj6c4VcLOOmyhwvowX_UDZb02JXf7SWSOxtAQpjs3Nbs7lrQg-5oyoz6K2Yr9COpfjTXDn5zx47mipy8M3AWwByK8l-PAj4iSVMFMyEvMh9lqF8C0wJN17i7MD6Q8uJjhdOC0V1w/s1600/1-4472143-5129-t.jpg" /></a></div>
Do words haunt you too?<br />
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I know it sounds weird but I have been haunted by words for some time now. Now there are different kinds of words that haunt.There are words that someone else told you and you liked them so you keep remembering them and feel happy. Now that would be a 'good' words-ghost. But it could be the other way, something you didn't like, something that hurt you or shook you to the core, something that you never expected and you had no reply to those. Those words might make you feel angry or weak or betrayed or just sad. And each time you remember them, that feeling is renewed, may be even magnified. Now forgetting would be an apt way of solving the problem but memory is often treacherous and mostly too independent. So the next thing to is to set out to prove those words wrong to yourself if such a thing is possible. If not, then as they say, time is a great healer.<br />
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Then as one of my friends pointed out there are words that you have said to someone and probably regretted. Those words also haunt. The solution is to find that person and make amends but most of the time there are other things that prevent you from doing so - pride, ego, fear, lost relationship and sometimes absence of communication.<br />
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For someone who tries to read every written word that he has his eyes on, words from flyers, books, posters and even graffiti may turn into ghost-words. And as before there are good ghosts and bad ones. And this time I cannot think of a remedy.<br />
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Words from books and movies haunt me sometimes. At times I know the reason and it is easy to get used to them or to find a remedy and at times I have no idea why they keep haunting. I try talking about them to somebody just to get them out of my mind and most of the time it works. The problem is to find a person who would be willing to talk about some abstract set of words. That's were blogging helps. ;)<br />
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But there is a fourth type of ghost-words that haunt me and they come from nowhere. Literally nowhere. Some morning all of a sudden I will keep repeating some phrase in my mind. I try to fit them somewhere but they don't fit. I don't know why I remember them. I don't remember having heard or read them nor even telling them to anybody. I try to figure if I had written something like that somewhere (recently or even not so recently) and they are not there. It is so frustrating! It is like trying to find the someone's identity with no success.<br />
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The problem is if I don't know why or from where I got hold of them, I have no way to prevent them from haunting me. Not only I cannot do something about them myself but I cannot talk or blog about them either because they exist as just four little words! So what do I do then? Sometimes I write a poem and if I like the result then I thank them for haunting me. But poems don't come as easily these days as they used to. :(<br />
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PS: The words that are haunting me now for the last few days are "On a day like today".</div>
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Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-77238938857184692602011-05-17T23:40:00.004+05:302011-06-01T07:41:58.135+05:30Back to books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">If nothing else, this internship at least rekindled my first love. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAMhuw-WBUchJkmdqU7V6hiNySoy7gTl95Rr4Iz8xgIZehRrViqjEBRYMbNr5JLfZL0v-DRhs9jvx6Cy6yDy5Low_lPM1OlnYLmJaN0TLRBU1y0-1jqzzyu5Ni_u-tMvqgdnIDg/s1600/489-books.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAMhuw-WBUchJkmdqU7V6hiNySoy7gTl95Rr4Iz8xgIZehRrViqjEBRYMbNr5JLfZL0v-DRhs9jvx6Cy6yDy5Low_lPM1OlnYLmJaN0TLRBU1y0-1jqzzyu5Ni_u-tMvqgdnIDg/s200/489-books.gif" width="151" /></a></div>So one day I was updating my bookshelf in <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/appreciatingbooks">Shelfari</a> when the about me section suddenly caught my attention and from there four little words stared back at me "Reading keeps me sane" and with that all those moments flashed before my eyes when reading had actually kept me sane. If then, why not now. :) So I was back to books. What about blogging then? Blogging keeps me alive. Not the 'alive and breathing' but the 'alive and living'. So in short last one year I had been insanely dead. Not that I can disagree.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what am I blogging today? Obviously its about books. And why? Because I came across this post - "<a href="http://silentmomnts.blogspot.com/2009/08/and-so-read-on.html">And so read on</a>" and I thought, its time I added another list. This time not just classics :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So here is a list (in no particular order) of what I have been reading in the last month:</div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith</li>
<li>His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman</li>
<li>A Room with a View by EM Forster</li>
<li>The Invisible Man by HG Wells</li>
<li>The Wedding by Nichloas Sparks</li>
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<ol style="text-align: justify;"></ol><div style="text-align: justify;">Let me start with <b>Vampire Diaries</b>. It is series of 7 books and I read one after another in 5 days. It all started because I saw the TV series 1st season and then I didn't have the 2nd season to continue. (This is exactly how I read the Twilight series, I saw the movie and then I continued to read all the books in one weekend) Before I continue, let me clarify that the VD book series and the VD TV series are completely different even though the characters share same names. So if you liked Twilight series, you will in most probably like this although if you are the kind of person who compares stories you might find them similar in some instances. That being told, if you like fantasies then it might interest you just because of the imagination (just ignore the love story). And if you happen to continue reading after the first 3 books, here is the first thing you have to do - give up logic. If you don't then surely after the 7th book. I am waiting for the last 3 books that are yet to get published. But, but, but... if you are a serious reader with esoteric taste, then don't blame me if you read it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>His Dark Materials</b> is a trilogy. You might have seen or heard about the movie "The Golden Compass", that is based on first book of the trilogy. Here is a book you must read. I first cam to know about this book because it had stirred up some kind of controversy among religious groups. Then I read about the book and also went to a bookstore to look for it. Then I watched the movie. But never had the time to start the books until now. You see, I wanted to finish the series in one go. Ok it is a book for the atheist and it talks about many worlds - the parallel world concept and an interesting war. And the protagonist is a 12 year old girl so its a totally different perspective. In short you should read. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A Room with a View</b> - I saw the movie and came to know it is from a book, so got hold of the book and read it. Now for many of you, reading the book after the movie could be a boring thing for the simple reason that you already know what is going to happen. I, however, happen to believe that movies don't do justice to the books and so I try to read the related book even after watching the movie. Then, it was also a classic, so I had more than one reason. It is a good read with some deep thoughts and confusions of an young mind. It is a love story with very little love in it and a lot of Italy ;). Give it a go if new people or new places excite you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Invisible Man</b> - No I haven't seen the movie. In fact I don't even know if there is a movie for it. I had seen it with a friend a little more than a year back and borrowed it to read but although I had started it, I could not finish it for this and that reasons. Now I don't know if it happens with you but sometimes half read books haunt me. Like there is this one book about holocaust, which was so frightening that I could not read it (some 8 years back) and now I don't even remember the title of the book but it haunts me that I haven't finished it and I cannot do anything because I don't remember the title. The Invisible Man also started haunting me when one day i was talking about supernatural powers with my friends and invisibility came in the conversation. So getting the opportunity, I completed it now and changed my idea about invisibility and also started doubting other supernatural powers. It is a sci fi, probably first of its kind, and if that doesn't make you read it, you better not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Wedding</b>. I have been a Nicholas Sparks fan for sometime now. It started with The Notebook - the movie. The book came a little later. The A Walk to Remember - again the movie, then the book. Then came some of his other books (not the movies) A Bend in the Road, The Choice, The Rescue, At First Sight and now The Wedding. I like romantic books but there is one more reason why I like Sparks' books, they are written from different perspectives. Each of his book tell something new and they sound more real than others. The kind of thing that you can imagine happening to someone you know. It gives hope and understanding. The Wedding is Part 2 of The Notebook but they have just one character and one place in common. So you can read it even if you haven't read The Notebook. But if you have to choose between the two, I would suggest The Notebook anytime. (I have a personal weakness for that book). That being said, I wouldn't suggest you to read it if love stories do not interest you. NO. May be some other Sparks' book but not this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What am I reading now? "<b>Games People Play</b>" by Eric Berne. Transactional Analysis, Psychology. I will tell about it more in some other post. If you like this post, keep checking, I will come up with more reading lists in future. The next one will be about the Indian authors I have read.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">PS: The above list is not an adequate sample of my favorite books or genre. This is a list of the most recently read books. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Happy reading!!! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-25540074276035528402011-05-04T22:24:00.006+05:302011-05-24T18:49:31.235+05:30Slaughterhouse 5 - This is not a book review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I looked up and then around. This wasn’t one of my favorite places to eat but this was one of those where I could sit alone unnoticed. It was perfect for getting lost. Firstly it was always crowded and noisy, then it was lighted dimly in the evening like it is now and most importantly it was such a vast area that there was no way one could see from one corner to another, no wonder no one cared. True, today was more crowded than usual and noisier than what I would have preferred. Even the lights were so dim that it strained my eyes to read. I was silently sitting in one of the edges where eyes don’t reach, and therefore the sound that made me look up was totally unexpected. Then I heard the voice:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“Sorry, I hadn’t noticed you. You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">And so I looked at him. He was dressed in formals, probably coming directly from office. Now why did I say office, he could have been a student. Well, almost. But students don’t roam around alone. So it was safe to assume he was working. He didn’t have any shopping bags so his purpose of coming here might have been same as mine. But he had a backpack which could hold a laptop. He had already pulled out the chair before he had ‘noticed’ me but he seemed to be waiting for my answer. I guess I didn’t have much choice. All other tables were occupied by groups of people; mine was the only one which was solo. And it was a table for four with ample space for two of us. So I shrugged and spoke out an almost unheard ‘no’, then got back to my reading.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">He unloaded his backpack and placed it on the chair next to his. Looking at the careful handling, I assumed there was a laptop or at least something as important. So probably I was right about the work. Was he a software engineer? Not necessarily. Oh, who cares! Keeping his backpack on the chair, he moved to get his order or may be to order something. I would have to wait long for mine. I had deliberately ordered a dish that was going to take time. I was not in a hurry and wanted to spend some time alone. Well at least, that was the plan and I was still hoping that he wasn’t a ‘conversationalist’. Remembering one of my flight experiences, I shuddered. My co-passenger, a middle aged man found it interesting that a school going (he assumed like most people!) girl would be traveling on such a costly flight and that too alone. What might have started as an intention (or so it seemed) to comfort me (I suppose he assumed I had no experience of flight) had turned into my nightmare. His constant chattering didn’t let me read or sleep or even watch through the window. And while he talked about his life, career, how he was going to make big in his life and what opportunities I was missing by getting stuck in school or college or work or wherever I was, I hoped the flight would end sooner. At the end of it I was so relieved that as soon as I got up, I had already forgotten the face of the person, leave alone his entire history.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">He was back at table by now. Soon, he opened his laptop and pored over the screen. Some nerd or loner! Oh well, look who is speaking or thinking! Surely I would have done the same thing if only laptops were easier to carry that book. That being said, I also don’t like opening my laptop in crowded places like this. Talking to strangers wasn’t one of my fortes and I avoided it unless it was absolutely necessary. Not that I was scared (most of the time) but I couldn’t see the point of the effort. Moreover, conversation is a two way activity and in one word, I am a ‘closed’ person. So I preferred to stay clear of strangers. This one on the contrary seemed exactly like me. A smile escaped my lips and rebuking myself, I concentrated in my book. By the time he was done with his food, I had already put down my book and was concentrating on my just-arrived order. That was the second time I heard his voice:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“You should read Slaughterhouse 5 by the same author if you liked this one.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By the time I realized what had happened and made up my mind to reply, he had already packed his laptop and left. If my life was a fiction I would have met him again but real life has few advantages and so has memory.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">PS: I haven’t read the book yet.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">PPS: Part of this happened but not necessarily exactly as described. :)</div></div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-85880428116540227712011-05-02T19:43:00.003+05:302011-05-24T18:47:51.131+05:30Colored Vision<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>If all like the colors that they are looking at, they would like others too.</i></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDW_qZcRHI9vIxOxldrByVN9Nh_nwhDO5hpqeKWLEJIjio3NMU9DQfuEZTKyu7kYLGKLd77HA8xvWmo8BeGqNgpEEUdF-jGJ2w8tM9qouvUfHVpIQNMFqwTu-v3_bq9zjNVc6qQ/s1600/Spirit4_Vivid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDW_qZcRHI9vIxOxldrByVN9Nh_nwhDO5hpqeKWLEJIjio3NMU9DQfuEZTKyu7kYLGKLd77HA8xvWmo8BeGqNgpEEUdF-jGJ2w8tM9qouvUfHVpIQNMFqwTu-v3_bq9zjNVc6qQ/s200/Spirit4_Vivid.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Imagine a bunch of children at a fair. Now fairs are very colorful places with lots of people and lots of things to see. Suppose each of those children in the bunch has a different colored glass. Then of course, no two of them will agree on what color a particular thing is because they see it differently. What is green for one is blue for someone else or even red for another. Interesting don't you think? May be not because you already know that they have different colored glasses which perfectly explains their perspective but suppose this knowledge was not known, wouldn't it seem a very unlikely situation except perhaps if the children have learned their colors wrong.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think any group of people are like those bunch of children each with an intrinsic colored glass for himself/herself. <br />
<a name='more'></a>Of course in this case they are not aware of the glasses. Each of them think that the way they look at the world is the only way to look at it. That certainly leads to disagreements and stereotyping or may be many other things that I cannot think of now. And when someone says "I don't like so and so", he/she is instantly pounced upon by others, even labelled as mad. If it is a notion that is very rare, one might start to doubt oneself too and make efforts to follow the crowd, change the color of his glasses without knowing what color to change to. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are times when diversity is given importance, not adequately may be or not in a way that it should be. Not as something that is natural but rather treated as something special, something supernatural. I don't know if that works. If you ask someone to 'not think of a blue elephant', that will be the first image that comes to his mind, followed by a cross may be. So it really didn't work - the not thinking part, did it? So is there a different way?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think accepting diversity can start only with ourselves. If we accept ourselves not as a part of the crowd but rather as a unique person with our own notion and dreams, then we can appreciate another person's difference. Only when we are proud of our differences, can we let others be proud of theirs. Only when we are ready to stand for the preservation of our individual traits, can we stand for others. So in my opinion we should start with us. We should learn to say "Isn't it great, I am different" instead of saying "Poor thing, he/she is different". Trust me, no one will disagree, in some way we all are different from each other. Wouldn't you say then if each of us like like being ourselves, we would like others to be themselves too?<i><br />
</i></div></div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13303013.post-53991960690649331422011-04-26T20:26:00.005+05:302011-05-24T18:46:05.528+05:30On Chasing Dreams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>When I am done chasing everyone's dreams that I think are mine, will I chase mine?</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Privileged are those who know what they want but blessed are those who know what they want and never had to rethink that. If I were to ask what is it that one wants from life or career, most of us will have an answer ready - money, fame, luxury and so on. Are we not limiting ourselves? There is so much more that we can get! Some of us will shy away, not sure if their dreams are worth sharing and important, some have never thought about it because there was always someone else who did the thinking and some only have a vague memory of where they had started. And yet when the so-often-asked question "Where do you see yourself 10 years from now" comes, we all have an answer. <br />
<a name='more'></a>A very similar answer. I sometimes wonder why even bother to ask when you know so well that we don't know and probably most of us don't care. Most of all, spare all the effort and read just one answer! Or may be they already do that. What is funny and probably interesting too is that in many ways we are taught to answer this question. No not the HOW to answer but the WHAT to answer. What to dream and what not to. It never comes from within us. Its someone else (doesn't really matter who) speaking through us. So are we mere mediums? We are so scared to express our dreams that somewhere we even stop thinking about them. What are we scared of? Failing, offending someone or making a fool of ourselves? Or may be dreaming.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEOhgZAxEf2QX24NwKyiBRZ3LQjNYaOaXzWfVKI1WbDYDUQjOu0oeF-c_M7ly-nwhYhXJAZYMklH-JMxiGFiQ6uIGgb1dTuATBCXZfpWQ66mh63ZXt88nHDqhhqUfhmykF_-snA/s1600/footprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEOhgZAxEf2QX24NwKyiBRZ3LQjNYaOaXzWfVKI1WbDYDUQjOu0oeF-c_M7ly-nwhYhXJAZYMklH-JMxiGFiQ6uIGgb1dTuATBCXZfpWQ66mh63ZXt88nHDqhhqUfhmykF_-snA/s200/footprint.jpg" width="200" /></a>Before you jump into conclusions, let me tell you I am not complaining. Unlike most of the people of my generation, I was given the chance to choose my dream. I will not say I chose wrongly because wrong and right are subjective. I do not regret because this is what I had wanted at that time. I could have chosen something else and then it could have been different. But I chose this because I thought this was my dream. May be it was not. Then what was? Now that is exactly the question where I stumble. I admire those who recognized their dreams and followed them, I am sorry for those who knew what their dreams were but did not follow them. But for people like me who misled themselves into believing what their dreams were, I have nothing to say. May be it is not too late for you to find your dream and chase it. But how will you know it is yours and not a borrowed dream. So I think that when I have exhausted all the borrowed dreams, may be I will come across mine, somewhere hidden in a dark corner. And although I do not regret leaving my footprints in all those places where I was not to be, I do wonder if at that time, I will have the strength to chase another dream and reach a place where I am supposed to be.</div></div>Ankihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265792005521296083noreply@blogger.com2