moments...

I'm back !

2006-09-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, am back after a long hiatus. I'd been busy with the new job that I've taken up after a years sabatical. The job's quite interesting and gives me all the freedom to do something new. I am involved with ICFAI Business School's, ICFAI Centre for Business Research. We here in ICBR bring out derivative books on management topics. My first project is to bring out a book on, "Women: Balancing Home and Profession". The synopsis is waiting for approval. One thing we've got to keep in mind is to choose topics/themes on which books have not been written before. This has been done to avoid any kind of overlap. I'm waiting ofr my synopsis to get approved. Once I get a green signal, I shall go ahead with the project.

My second project is a book on , "Maritime Trade and Security" and the synopsis just got approved.

I am also in need of writers who would like to contribute for the books that I propose to write. Will let you know as and when the projects get approved.

Ritu Beri's Haute Couture in Paris

2006-07-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Ritu Beri is a renouned fashion designer in India who is presenting her latest collections in a fashion show in Paris. The show was telecasted on FTV and I found it quite interesting. It had an Indian touch right from the designs, ambiance and the music (amazing bhangra beats ). The only thing which seemed out of place was that instead of Indian models the designs were carried off by foreign models. Well, in India, fashion and textile industry has come a long way and Indian designers are proving their mettle globally.

Mid life crisis?

2006-07-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my study I have been pondering, for quite some time, about what next? Ever since I took a break from the routine 9 to 5 job, my thoughts have flown to hights uncontrollably. This break is indeed relaxing and has given me immense space to contemplate about various activities that I could take up henceforth. It has made me realize how I had been missing out on small yet important things in life. I feel, opportunities are aplenty but its a matter to choose and decide which one? And this has become a great task for me now. How I wish I had these thoughts as soon as I passed out of my collage. Well, this is when I believe that wisdom comes by age. Atleast in my case it has proved to be so true. I'd never imagined that this break could transform me as a person, my priorities and many other things.

So far, I feel, this transformation has been positive but again, the midlife crisis is what next??

Zindagi samajh main aati nahin!

2006-07-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Its been 11 long years since I took to writing poems in urdu.One of my very first poems, which is also one of my favourite, goes like this...

"Zindagi tu wo shay hei jo samajh main aati nahin,
faila hei tera wajood kyon itna jo kisi shay main samaati nahin,
mil mujhe, kabhi, kaheen ...toe do chaar baatain he hoon,
dil ki sunaayain tujhe bhi hum, kyon gale lagaati nahi,

tujhse behtar mujhe jaane hei kaun,
mera maazi tak tujhse chupa nahin,
meri ranj-o-gham ki shaamon ke aage
tere wajood ki kyon koi seher nahin,

ab tujhi se rishta nibhaana hei,
rishta mere khaaq main milne tak ka,
rishta jo jannatain naseeb karaaye,
ya ashqon ke paimaanon main dubne tak kaa,

zindagi tu wo shay hei jo samajh main aati nahn...!"

IBN- Pro "anti-reservation"?

2006-05-31T11:01:00.001-07:00

Looks like IBN once again gave coverage to anti-reservation rally. The news posted on its site about pro and anti protest rally in JNU campus seems to be in favour of anti-reservation. As the news was posted saying;

"On Friday evening, anti-reservation protestors at JNU were taking out a peaceful candlelight march. As per plan, their counterparts from IIT Delhi joined in the march. However, the pro-reservation JNU students, who mostly belong to or sympathise with the Left, didn't apporove".

For more details on this see;
Pro, anti-reservation clash in JNU

Anti-reservation - Virtual protests.

2006-05-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today, the doctors with the support of students from JNU (New Delhi) took out a pro-quota rally in Delhi. I wish there are more such rallies and demonstrations in the days to come. Moreover, Anti-reservation protesters are expressing their resentment through various blogs and websites. Unfortunately, many of these blogs and posts are getting abusive. Some of the bloggers have posted the links of "anti-reservation" logo on their blogs asking people to add the logo on their blogs or websites as a mark of protest against reservation. I have also come across a blog which is all set to make a movie on the issue and says that, "India is in need of action like rang de basanti for opposing reservation'..

well, I raise my voice in solidarity with those whose rights have been curbed for centuries...

"muddaton se aawaaz uth rahi hei,
gali,kuchon aur minaaron main,
har sadi main kuchli gayi hei,
hamari aabru ki dhajjiyan baazaaron main,

rehem nahin maangte,
haq maangne ka jazbaa hei,
kamzore katai naa honge ab,
ginti hamari hei hazaaron main..."

Zindagi..!

2006-05-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Life has always fascinated me more than anything else.It has nurtured me in ways that I have begun seeing life inside my own self. It has weaved me with different threads that today my existence resembles a pattern so colourful with intricate yet beautiful and varied designs.....

"Har roz mukhtasar si lagti hei,
zindagi falsafaa si lagti hei,
kabhi dariya si gehri,
toe kabhi halki baadalon si lagti hei,

khul si jaati hei pankhudiyon ki tarha,
toe kabhi band kitaab si lagti hei,
zindagi naam uss paheli ka hei,
har lamha jo kuch judaa si lagti hei..."

kya fanaa hogayi fanaa?

2006-05-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the movie is not even released and it has gained so much publicity.... all for the wrong reasons. Apparently the movie is banned all over Gujrat and angry mobs are tearing the posters of the movie especially those of Amir khan's. Well, the movie's paying the price for Amir's "real life hero image" and Amir's paying the price for raising his voice in support of "Narmada bachao andolan". Post rang de basanti nobody had expected that, out of the blue, amir wud appear as a real life hero extending his bepanaah support to NBA.

His professional life's in jeopardy and the reason... he expressed his personal views on a cause which he thinks he shud support.What has happened to our democracy where every citizen is supposed to have the right to freedom of speech as per the constitution? Amir is one among thousands of supporters of NBA. Its just that he is targeted by political parties for being a celebrity otherwise I dont think he has expressed anything different on the issue. Like many others, he spoke for poor and displaced people. Shud we say fanaa release se pehle he fanaa ho gayi? Lets wait and watch...

Reservation politics and Media

2006-05-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

These days media is abuzz in all its forms to take on the "anti-reservation" coverage nation-wide. It is indeed disheartening to see the kind of coverage given to these protests and rallies. I could see only one pro-reservation rally being given some coverage in bangalore wherein the effigy of narayan murthy was burnt.

The need is to find some alternative to make the voices of pro-reservation junta reach every nook and corner of the country and one of the possible and viable alternative (atleast in academic and other similar institution) that I could think of, are blogs. I have come across blogs which speak of the issue sensitively . The links of these blogs are;

Reservation and Merit
Mandal-II: It's the age of pro-reservation bloggers
The Superposition of enogamy on exogamy means the creation of caste

There is also an interesting article by satish deshpande and yongendra yadav in 'The Hindu' which talks of a scheme. The authors offer a scheme to ensure merit and social justice.The links for the articles are as under;

Meeting the challenge of Mandal-II
Reservation-an alternative proposal

Having read the articles, I would say these are the most thoughtful and well substantiated arguments that I have come across on the issue and I suggest , its a must read stuff.

Rise Above Your Emotions.....Can we?

2006-05-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

It is essential that human beings must know how to deal with their emotions or emotions will deal with them. Both men and women have emotions but all of us agree to the fact that men and women express their emotions differently. I would say that women are more aware of their emotions than men. In the sense, women express their emotions outwardly where as men internalize and burry their emotions. However, irrespective of the gender one has to deal with emotions lest emotions will destroy us. I know this isn’t an easy job in today’s world where we are gripped with emotional turbulence and insecurities each moment. A person who controls and masters it is more powerful than a person who is controlled by them. An uncontrolled emotion leads one to control people. I am trying to imbibe this in my life. Lets see how far I can succeed in controlling my emotions....hmmm... tough job indeed !

15 Park Avenue

2006-05-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

just saw this movie ....wonderfully made.

Well, to begin with, the movie is a thought provoking one. I read couple of reviews about it and came across different reactions expressed by people and their interpretations. It indeed has a powerful story of a 'schizophrenic girl' which is quite disturbing too. what I liked about the movie is the way it ends abruptly giving us a scope for interpreting the end. I feel it is one of the very few movies which is open to interpretation. I am still trying to draw as many interpretations as I can...

Konkana sen has been brilliant through out.I was moved by her intense acting and dialogue delivery. After seeing her wonderful performance, I feel that she has surpassed rani mukherjee in black. Waheeda rehman is another person who performed brilliantly. I liked the scene wherein she is trying to give her opinion to her daughter (shabana azmi) but after a while starts saying that she is a fool and has grown old hence shabana needn't take her seriously. This particular scene was very touchy and brought some tears in my eyes. For a moment I was reminded of shouting at my mother in a similar manner but the way shabana handles the emotions of hers and her mothers is superbly portrayed.

My Interpretation of the movie:

I feel the entire movie was shabana azmi's imagination. She knew that mithi (her younger sister) was schizopherenic and after her rape incident she started imagining mithi's life the way she wanted to.At the end of the movie shabana enters house no 15 and does not find mithi. This was the time that the doctor and jojo(rahul bose) takes her from that place. Shabana's hellucination is justified when the doctor once tells her, "dont you think all of us are schizopherenic in some ways".

At the end, I would say 15 Park Avenue is a must watch movie. I would also like to know your views on the movie.

Visit to Campus...

2006-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just back from a short trip to campus (hyderabad).Well, all my plans went phut cos of some strange shocking incident.Nevertheless....the place is blazing hot ! Here, in b'lore, its raining for the past couple of days and the weather is quite pleasant. Hmmm...feel nostalgic about campus. My room, gops chay, some gossips, long walks in the morning, the entire beauty of the place is breathtakingly awesome...Looking forward to another trip in a month or so.

Fear versus Faith

2006-04-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Today I watched an interesting programme on TV. The topic was, fear versus faith. How true it is,if we try to understand and look at the human existence, it certainly revolves around fear and faith. Irrespective of our identities, and potential, all of us are gripped in fear. It could be fear of our future, fear of loosing dear ones, fear of death and the list goes on…Fear makes you weak but Faith gives you tremendous amount of strength and confidence. It’s we who have to make a choice ..…. I personally feel that one has to EXPERIENCE it to understand and believe in it.

Google calender

2006-04-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Google has come up with a calender. Access it by logging onto
www.google.com/calendar/render

Malyalees....fish magic ?

2006-04-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

what to say about malyalees....arrogant? nah…..I had different reasons to praise them as a child. Until my school days, I used to think that they are THE most intellectual species on earth. The reason, one of my malyalee friends, my senior, had a profound impact on me. She used to solve maths problems for me in seconds. For me mathematics as a subject was nothing more than addition, subtraction, multiplication and division…. basically it was a bundle of problems in my life. I can say, this is all I learnt about this subject in my Alma matar. Well, I began showering praises on my senior by saying, "mini abraham, you are a genius and a god for me". By her reactions I understood that she had no probs with my praises. Ever since, I started believing and making others believe that this sort of intelligence came from the kind of food malyalees eat……basically fish.

Anyways, as I grew up, during my college days, again I was in awe of a malayalee classmate for the same reason.... her brain. She was sindhu nair, always a topper in the class. By then my belief about the 'fish magic' became stronger.

As I moved to the university, once again I found myself surrounded by a whole lot of malyalees. This time one thing that caught my attention was …...their SMARTNESS. I realised and understood that they are the ones with the survival instinct.

Rang de basanti....a story of true friendship.

2006-04-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Rang de basanti.....watched it thrice. Junta liked it for various interesting reasons but for me, one thing that touched my soul, and was ignored by everyone, is the friendship portrayed in the movie. It showed a bonding of true love and care which had no room for hatred, jealousy or pride.

Well, it's hard to find such bonding these days. The definition of friendship has completely changed today and what we see around us is mere superficial emotions, sans genuinety and deapth.

bhopal gas tragedy....call for a relay hunger strike

2006-04-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

I have already sent mails informing about the relay hunger strike being observed by people in connection with the deplorable and inhuman conditions of "bhopal gas tragedy" victimes. For more details on this, log on to www.bhopal.net

Fitness.

2006-03-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

Though late but I have realized the value of fitness in our lives. Be it yoga, swimming or working out in the gym, fitness is extremely important. More so, when we find ourselves often stressed out due to various reasons. Many of us have almost ignored this important aspect of our lives and the reason being, our busy schedules and to an extent, the carefree lifestyles that we lead. Our bodies need flexibility, which it looses gradually with age. The energy levels go down and stamina evaporates.

I have also learnt that breathing is very useful as it gives the body right amount of oxygen it needs for the vital organs to function properly. Proper breathing for at least ten minutes everyday is an exercise in itself. Friends, it's never too late ! I have become a fitness freak. My fitness regime includes a two - hour workout in the gym and sticking to a control diet.Its important to keep the body mobile always.Believe me, sweating out for 2 hrs is extremely difficult but at the end of the day it gives a good feeling. So here's the fitness mantra for all... eat healthy, workout and stay fit. Hope all of you will make fitness an important part of your daily lives.

phir wohi talaash ! (in search)

2006-03-17T03:03:00.000-08:00

My passion for urdu language dates back to my school days when I used to watch movies like Mughal-e-azam,umrao jaan, paakeeza and many more.From then on, there was an urge to learn more and more of this. Immitating dialogues with friends was part of my learning process. someone rightly said that Urdu is a powerful form of poetry and for me this language is a powerful medium to express feelings, to touch and understand emotions, through poetry.Here are a few lines from one such nazm...

kabhi uske aanchal se meheke thhi har sehar meri,
kabhi uski zulfon main aashiya dhoondhta thha,
sabaa le aati thhi uski saanson ki madhosh mehek,
ab biyabaan main, uss jahaan ko dhoondhtaa hoon.

aah kar nikalte hain dil se jazbaat jab,
har uss aarzoo ko, shiddat se dhoondhtaa hoon,
kar gayi mere ahsaason ko aabaad is taraha jo,
uss aawaargi ko, tishnagi ko, phir aaj dhoondhtaa hoon..!

Miss India.!

2006-03-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Is anybody watching Miss India contest 2006? Well, I've been regularly tuning in to catch a glimpse of the contestants. At the end of it, I could get to know some facts of this contest. The contestants of this beauty pageant seem to have no other goal but to win a crown and the title. For this, these girls were trained and groomed for about 40 days. The training sessions included everything right from getting up in the mornings and smiling at each other (even if one was least interested in the act) to learning etiguettes and much more....In a nutshell,the training( over 40 days) transformed them into people which they were not.......a desire and demand of the glam world I guess. This made me ponder how worth are beauty pageants for a country like ours already embroiled in many pressing social issues especially issues about women.On one hand there is 'rang de basanti' trying to instill a feeling of responsibility in the young minds of the country and on the other, there are beauty paegeants- a platform for entry in bollywood or a super modelling world.Gen x has to really make a worthy choice !

arz kiya hei...

"har taraf se sarfaroshi ki hawaa aati hei,
mere seenhe main bhi ek dil hei, jo sarfarosh hei,
dhuan-dhuan sa jab hatt-ta hei meri nazar se,
ahle watan teri tasveer nazar aati hei"...!

holi...!

2006-03-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

holy is a festival celebrated with lots of enthu and joy in our country. My enthuziasm and desire to play this 'strange game', with colours, was at its peak during my childhood. I wondered then, as to why some of the elders at home and in the colony kept themselves indoors on this day of fun and frolic. But, I understand it today, as I type these words confining myself to my study, on a holy day.......

hi buddies....

2006-03-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

I have been on a spree of creating blogs and now, my plight is such that I dont remember passwords of any of these blogs .So , here's a new one. Hope I remember the password ...