I had a dream...

Decided to post this because this is something I want to remember for long..... I get very vivid dreams almost every night. I thought how come I don't realize in my dream that it is a dream only and not reality... And the other day, my dream...or should I say "wish" came true... I was in some train in L.A. with my pinni and I thought, wait a minute... what is pinni doing here? why am I in L.A? and my India trip is not due for sometime at least.. so this can't be true.. I can't be with her now... And realized that I-was-in-a-dream! I looked at her and she smiled.. And then we continued that dream....

2007 Rewind

As the year comes to an end, it is time to look back and assess how the year went. As everyone would agree, it went too fast.. There are times when we feel time has slowed down, but look back at the same time again, it doesn't quite seem so. Time doesn't stop or slow down for anyone, so we better give it the respect it deserves, and make the best of it.

Here were my highlights of 2007:

1) Best vacation I had - We had a sorta "delayed honeymoon" trip to Hawaii... and it was the best time ever.. Absolutely beautiful weather, warm ocean waters, stunning vistas, amazing tropical flora and fauna, tons of opportunities for various water related activities... Nature at its best!

2) Inconvenient Truth - The documentary produced by Al Gore proved beyond any doubt that Global Warming is happening and it is high time we clean up our acts. Not that most of us don't believe in Global Warming, but only when you watch this documentary or read the book, you get all your facts and shows how serious this issue is. Watch it, learn, and DO something about it.

3) Bomb blasts in Hyderabad - Life is not bed of roses... and terrorism is a sad reality of life much closer to us than we think... Unfortunately, it took an incident at a significant place of my life, to shake me up.

4) 5.6 Earthquake in South Bay Area - Sadly, even this incident was a highlight of this year. Made me realize that life can be very unpredictable and there will be times that you are unprepared for. We shouldn't take life for granted, and always remember to make most of it.

5) F.R.I.E.N.D.S - I have always believed that families love you because... well, of course, because you are family, but friends love you because you are you. True friends are hard to come by, and one should always appreciate value of friendship. This year, I got back in touch with some lost friends (Thanks Orkut), past enemies (only in past), got closer to close friends and it all meant a lot.

Here's to a great year, and hope 2008 is even better! :)

It's a Miracle, Isn't it?

Do you ever wish you had superpowers? I do. I also promise God that I would not use it for wrong purposes, and would never show off.... So far, God hasn't trusted me...

NBC Show HEROES is about ordinary people who discover their superpowers, and with that their destiny. People with powers to heal oneself, fly, teleport, appear in someone's dream to guide, hear thoughts and be invisible, to name a few.

I've tried many times to see if I have any... Mostly I just analyze my dreams to see if they are somehow important.. let's say.. maybe predict future?! So far no luck! They just make me miss the people I dream about... I also dream about flying, floating and gliding in the air. And I have gained considerable success in my ability to control my flight.. Of course, only in dreams! :P Naah, I haven't tried jumping from anywhere to see if I can actually fly!

I've been getting pretty tired of finding my dreams not-so-important....So what do you do then? You look for smaller miracles in everyday life..

Yes, I love those pretty flowers.. big trees.. sunlight that just kisses you... But let me tell you about my favorite "miracle" so far..

My husband is not one of those people, who like to give full attention to whatever they are doing. Given a task, they are just about getting it done. There are only a few things that can distract them.

So this Sunday morning, it was sunny and beautiful outside. My husband decided to give our car a wash. And I got busy preparing lunch. When I was done, I decided to see how he was doing. I went to our bedroom window and peeked at him.... He was diligently shining our car.. As I admiringly looked at him, I thought about how lucky I am for such a sweet husband and thanked God.. And right at that moment, almost as if he heard me.... he looked up, noticed me at the window and gave his best smile! That made my day... and it was a "miracle"! (No! Not a coincidence!) :) :) :)

Back to the Blog..

Yeah, am returning probably after a year of my last post... Life has changed so much! (whose doesn't?!). Am in a happier and better place now, with very few complaints about life... Have been feeling very guilty about the blog though.. It was a promise to myself to write at least once a month, and am returning after a gap of more than six months! But as I keep telling myself and my friends "Better Late than Never" .. "Der aaye, durusth aaye"..

Hmmm.. Let me see.. What other promises I made to myself.. Going on vacation this year.. This should be fun to keep... :) Keeping in touch with friends more... Doable.. Learning art/skill... Art - cooking, an Indian language.. Skill - C++/COM. Have started both :) That's good.. isn't it? Exercise.. Haven't started that yet.. Am good at blaming the weather :) I'll now promise myself to keep tracking my progress through "sharing".. that is making them public... Isn't it a challenge!?!

With this new challenge in place for me here, am now going back to my life! Ciao!

Chantabbai, Hamein Rang De

I loved Rang De Basanti.

Everytime I watch a movie in theater, I want it to be worth my time and money. I don't watch movies for the sake of entertainment or "timepass" anymore. My TV takes care of that! So, when am in a theater, focussing my energies on movie and movie alone, I want it to be a memorable experience. After reading good reviews of the movie, I decided to give it a go. And I do feel, knowing less about the movie, does help a lot. I was taken for a ride where I didn't know what to expect next, and that's how I enjoyed it even more.

The comedy, acting, music, characters - loved everything. I don't watch a movie thinking it is a movie, it is more like an experience for me. I am right there.. with the characters..in the story. I don't watch all movies by getting immersed in them, but few of them. I was there in Rand De from the beginning to the end. So at the end, it became a part of me. It made me think... think of the country, my life, the movie, the ideas, the characters. I spent six hours watching the movie (yeah, watched it twice), but probably spent twenty hours thinking or talking about it. And that's a lot.

Yes, I didn't like the ending. But then, when I think about why the movie ended that way, I kind of get convinced by director's/story writer's point of view. After all, it was about the "third-kind" of people.

After a long time, got a chance to see an old (probably from 80s) telugu movie - Chantabbai, starring Chiranjeevi and Suhasini. My friend recommended that movie to me, saying it is funny and good. However, I didn't feel the same. I had to sit through the "jokes" (slap-stick comedy?) and predictable back talks. I also found the characters to be not-so-well-defined. I wanted to "think-80s", but didn't quite do it. I did enjoy the simple settings - the whitewashed walls and the garden/Goan trees/lake backgrounds for songs (as opposed to current all-foreign backgrounds). I enjoyed the simplicity in characters and their lives, and of course, I loved watching Chiranjeevi!

After waiting for two and half hours for the movie to get over, I still ended up admiring it. The one thing that I liked about it, how the movie had a social message in it. Movies are a media that can reach far and wide, especially into the rural parts of India, so I always appreciate movies which have some new idea or knowledge in it. Current movies seem to be missing that social message element in them, as they have different goals now.

I have realized that am not good movie-reviewer. So, I guess, I will avoid talking about movies in future. I still don't know what can I talk about... but that's for another blog. For now, let me just post this. Thanks for reading it through! :)

Here comes a writer

I am not much of a writer. But, since I took up this blog-writing, supposedly "online journal", I might as well try it out, and not quit! Yes, I am scared to write, probably because I still think about what others think about me. I still haven't reached the stage of "I will just be me, no matter what"... but I aim to reach there (In words of some famous person, I gotta be me - Source: Home Improvement).

As adults, we should learn to conquer our fears (Source: Will & Grace). So, let me not think that I am perfect and just start writing whatever comes to my mind. :)

Now, something about me. I like watching tv, movies, reading novels and listening to songs. But I end up spending most of my time watching tv and listening to songs. So most of my ideas are from either tv or songs, I think you must have known this by now. My friend has been insisting me from long long back to start my own blog. So, I finally started it, more for her, less for me. (such a good friend I am!!)

Thanks to her, I got enough motivation to open the blog. But then again, am not getting enough inspiration to really put something in writing. Started writing one article 3 weeks back, but I am just so critical of my thoughts, that the article is still incomplete.

So what made me finally write this one? a TV programme!! Yeah, as am writing this, there's a program in PBS about creative writing. So, I thought instead of watching it, and just thinking about my own writing, why don't I really "do" something?

That's it for now folks! I will be back! (Imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice!)

The Entry...

Well....my first post!! Finally....!!! Am sure DV will be very excited!! My New Year resolution is to post at least one blog every month.... Of course, I will increase the frequency if I get good reviews........ :) (And yeah, it has to be from someone other than you, DV!!). I hope to live upto ur expectations........! Rest in next! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! Let there be peace in the world!