Rambling on... again..

Kabhi jab mudke dekha zindagi ko Jitna socha tha jyada hi paaya... Aansoo the to hansi bhi thi Dhoop thi to saath tha saaya Pyaar mila aur chhuta bhi Jeevan mein kuch seekha bhi Chot lagne se dard to hota hai Par marham lagane waalo se pehchaan bhi Dosto ko bhi dhoondhna padta hai Apne aap kuch hota nahi Kisi aur ko dosh dena aasaan hai Khud mein jhankana aasaan nahi Kismat sabki ek hi hai Kuch hi log uska kuch kar lete hain Apne jeevan mein khud hi Pyaar aur khushi dhoond lete hain Itni sense of humor dena bhagwaan Aakhri saans jab aaye mujhe, Ye soch ke hans saku main Ki ab to saamne se daant paoongi tujhe! ;-)

NDTV Good Times - Lounge Host - Rajat Kapoor Guests - RJ Malaishka, Puneet (model / actor), Deepak (ad guy) Topic - The done-to-death conversation on Mars and Venus and their expectations from relationships some gems from the show - Till a man is single - he has no clue on what he wants... When he gets married - he has all clues on what he doesnt want!! Women treat men in their lives as a lifelong science experiment!! Men want their women to make them feel better about themselves... One of the best quotes of the show - Actually what men truly want is for their women to join them at the gaming console and be a part of their world!! ;-) Loved that bit completely... The new age woman has been written so much about that its almost nauseating. on the other hand - poor men! so ignored and underestimated... almost written-off actually.. they get stereotyped as the helpless mutts who have been forcibly removed from their mom's aprons and are now aspiring to search out the Mary whose poor l

What got me started on this topic was this entire helplessness that exists around controlling one's heart. i mean - life would be so god-damned simple if we could all logically decide who to love, what to support, how much to stretch, what all to feel (or not feel). If we could order the heart to like or dislike someone or something - it wouldnt catch us by surprise. It would make life and its course fairly safe, simple and straightforward. Possibly even open up avenues of spending more time enjoying it than crying / screaming / raving / ranting about things not under control. So then why does it all sound so boring to me??? Have always believed that the unpredictability of life makes it interesting - but is this really true? Isnt this just another way of consoling oneself when things dont go as per plan? What would anyone do if given a true choice between the two - choose what your life should be like or let it come to you one day at a time? How many of us will actually choose the

There are so many times in life when we get told - or at least i did - 'Dont be selfish...' or 'think about others around you'... countless times i can remember being in situations where this or something similar was the most common refrain... or even the easiest way of getting someone to quieten down and stop arguing! What amazes me is the fact that its not very often that someone tells you - 'think about yourself'... or 'do what you think is right for you'...or simply 'live for yourself'!! why is this seen to be selfish? and not equally human as looking after those you love or care for? after all - looking after yourself is the most 'basic instinct' possible for civilization to exist at all!! when it comes to a real crunch situation - and the social veneer gets ripped off, 99% of people would end up first taking care of their own lives and needs than someone else's.. so then why and where did it become bad to be selfish? And become

"The clay shapes the vase, but it is the emptiness within that makes the vase what it is .."

There's so much that goes on behind the scenes in everyone's lives... recently came face-toface with this reality yet again in sessions which were meant to encourage people to see the 'person' behind their colleagues... One of the few sessions that i think gave something new to think about to me at least. and what i got out of it was not that there's a story behind everyone - thats something i think i realized pretty much years ago... but what exactly do i do with the information that i have now about all these people!!! how is it that one is supposed to be with people after knowing these facts? does compassion start over-whelming the neutral attitude one has while dealing with colleagues? the fact that such intimate details about self have been shared with others - whats the best course forward - forget that you ever heard it? or maybe sometime actually broach the topic again? i mean - how else is one supposed to build on the ties these sessions are meant to create

Another year in the organization means another effort by someone up there to drive team building.. i sometimes wonder if the people who organize these things even care about whether the so-called objectives have been actually achieved?? or am i just getting cynical? (vs realistic of course!!!) ;-) anyways... 'what goes of my father' being the most common refrain used... everyone goes for these things - does the normal drink-dance-party-bitch bit and gets back home... clear conscience for the company... holiday for the employees... and yes - some poor souls actually manage to meet some new people and establish links which JUST may help in work life too!! hmmmm... no points for guessing that i didnt enjoy it as much as i would have liked to!!

What is it exactly about music that can affect me so deeply? tho' i dont think am an exception at all... have too many people around who seem to be equally susceptible to its power. But there's an amazing amount of boring consistency in 'my kind of music' - and tho i realized this ages back... havent really been able to get past it (have i truly tried... now lets not get THAT honest!!) My kind of music = either solid lyrics or absolutely foot-tapping dancable non-sensical stuff!!! Nothing less has ever passed my muster and hopefully will ever do... am severely allergic to anything that sounds like shattering glass or screeching tyres or even worse screaming witches!!! :-) But there's another aspect to music - am sure for everyone who's even a wee-bit involved in what's entering their ears - it creates associations... and memories... and sometimes these start overshadowing the original emotions that the song generated!! For example recently on a flight - a fr

I sometimes really wonder whether people who are forwarding mails - especially the non-joke varieties even realize the true power of some of the stuff sent around in the virtual world... i know i dont always get it myself... but then sometimes, a passing remark by someone who really read it thru will kind of jolt u back into thinking 'oh my god... so it DID make some sense to someone else too!!' anyways... what brought this on today - a random mail forwarded by a colleague on JK Rowling's speech at a Harvard convocation. amazing piece... really worth a read. its very real. something i would love to write if i were to address that profile of people... its honest and very grounded - in a funny self-depracating sort of way. Some excerpts - (Personal favorite is the last one...) "what we achieve inwardly will change outer reality" - written by the Greek author Plutarch There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment