Jai Ho !!!

A.R Rahman Music concert.
Venue : Pune
Date : 31st May 2009

It was the impeccable music of Mr. A. R . Rahman on a Sunday nite, which enthralled the atmosphere of Pune.
The A R Rahman musical concert was rejuvenating in its own sense. It reminded of all the great Rahman creations, old as well as the new ones.
The musical maestro himself was joined by HariHaran and Sadhna Sargam.
Hariharan's 'tu hi re' filled the air with a few quiet romantic moments, and then there were songs from movies like Delhi6, Jaane tu ya jaane na, and Gajhini.
The final touch-up songs, Jai Ho followed by Vande Mataram sung by A.R Rahman, brought the crowd to their feet. It was nothing but a standing ovation to the Oscar winner.
All in all, it was a lovely, unforgettable musical evening. Hats Off to Mr. Rahman !!!

Back Home...

Finally reached home... It was the sweet, sweaty smell on the Mumbai airport which ensured it was my own country.(if at all there were any doubts).
The medical check-up for swine flu was another feather in the Hat. :)
We were given a form for the swine-flu-checkup in the plane.
There were a few Qs in the form, asking if u are suffering from any fever, cold or cough and other such stuff.
But surprisingly on the Mumbai airport there was neither a medical check-up nor a single glance at the forms.
It was mere stamping of the forms, without any look at the answers. A mere formality.
Just to clear my doubts, I mocked a small cough in front of the officer.. he asked me to move forward. :)
But still whatever it is , Phir bhi Dil hai Hindustani...
It feels great to be back home. Especially after a long tiring tour of two months (as described in my prev. blog). Now, I will be on a week-long, well-deserved (self appreciation peeps in here :) ) vacation , and will be found lying around in some jacuzzi tub...

Hop on Hope !!!

Hope is a little shaft of light, which for some, happens to be the reason for life.

It comes in all kinds of packets and forms. Mom consoles a crying child, saying, dad will get him a chocolate tomorrow. Well, its not the chocolate, which tranquilizes him. Its his faith, his hope.
We often talk about 'the silver lining', and its that silver lining (or golden, 'coz of the rising prices of gold in today's era :)), which helps us see through tougher periods.
Indeed, there are inspirations and motivations behind every success, but its the dream and the hope of fulfillment which gets you kick-started.
Sometimes, things in life do not fall in place, the best we can do is 'Hope'. Ofcourse, it does not mean we should stop trying, stop working hard, and just keep hoping. But hope for sure will be the amplifier which will keep us alive in the chase. Also, for instance, when a friend is in trouble, or someone needs you, the least you can do is 'Give Hope, if not Help'.

Umeed par toh duniya kayam hai, mere dost ...

Am I on a mission ??

Location: Quebec, Canada :
No cell phone, no landline and no Internet connection @ home.. just feels like I have been sent on some secret NYPD (if not FBI) mission by my Co.
It was only after 3 days that I could call home and tell my parents that I reached 'safely'. :)
Cannot call anyone from my office phone and don't have the liberty of talking in 'fluent' English to the people in the town (because only 12 % of the people here understand English.. could not get the stats for people who can actually speak English).
The presentations and the knowledge transfer docs here are in French, the team meetings are in French and we use google translator to understand the emails :)
The temperature varies anywhere from 0C to -15C.. with snow all around.
Whatz worse ? I have been given a laptop at client side, on which I cannot connect to the company network.. so haven't checked my corporate emails since last 45 days now ...
So all in all, right now I am feeling exactly like a fish out of water.I am indeed waiting for this phase to end, and head back home...(India rocks, if we keep aside the political aspects).
Just saying to myself 'Hang on Pal.. this too shall pass'.

Personal, Professional and Practical

Most of us would agree that we loved being a child... but is it not because we admired every small thing, laughed a every stupid joke, and winked at every dumb mistake. Is it not because we fought a 100 times with our best friend but when it came to playing cricket, we were hand in hand. Remember those days when our parents did every possible thing for a small smile on our lips.
Where and what are we today? This reminds me of the famous Deewaar dialogue : 'Mere paas gaadi hai, bungalow hai.. bla bla bla .. mere paas Maa hai'.
Are we not so much engrossed in our professional life, that we tend to ignore our personal one ?We tend to forget our friends' birthdays (thanks to Orkut, this does not happen any more, still, we don't call him.. we just 'scrap' him ), we forget to wish good luck to our little cousins for their exams, we avoid going to family functions/ social outings and we don't have 'time' for our parents. The list goes on..We never think, had it not been my parents, who would have helped me achieve my goals (it includes literacy as well :)).
Well I think its time for us to think.. try and balance personal and professional life. Its good to be practical in life, but some times let thy emotions overpower..

Restless Mind

Thoughts, as are called free-flowing, sometimes ponder over the mind for a period of time or sometimes leave without a notice.But how often do we stop thinking and conclude over a particular thought?
Our mind never stops thinking. Whether its at home, or in the office or in the bed... our mind never calls it a day.
The so-called thoughts are an assortment of family, career, long term goals, sometimes those love-struck moments and all in all finding happiness.But are we missing something here ? Are we not running too hard in the race of life ?
Sometimes we think so hard about success, that we miss small, petty moments of smile and laughter. With some peace and solitude to our mind, we might realize that even a small piece of cake from the little birthday girl in the neighbourhood, or a small walk in the woods, or a few relaxed hours with our family, or just a cup of tea with an old friend can be our moments of joy...
Rather than dragging the mind too far in the future, and then worrying about it, shouldn't we enjoy the present and live life as it comes. Of course, Life should be a planned event, i might not go for a haphazard life style, but we should remember the old saying : 'Too much of anything is hazardous'.