Life - or something like it

I was recently watching a video, shot by my brother-in law, when he was visiting the "Kanha National Park "in India. It was of a magnificent tiger who just walked past their open jeep in all its glory. This suddenly brought back the memories of my school days, when I had snagged a book from my fathers collection called as "Man-eaters of Kumaon" by Jim Corbett. The book was about Corbett's experiences with man eating tigers in the Kumaon region of India and how he saved the lives of many people by killing the tigers. Jim Corbett is still famous for being a naturalist and conservationist and a National park has been named in his honor. The book fueled in me the desire to see a tiger at close range.Though I had seen quite a few at the circus and zoo , watching it at close range was a different experience all together. There is nothing comparable to seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat. Many of us are still oblivious of the fact as to how closely our ex

After looking at the promos of the movie I was eagerly waiting for it to get released so I can see the pirated version on the internet (Well fellas dont go all "how can u do it ?" I am desperate...and there are no Hindi cinemas nearby to go to ) The star cast looked impressive and songs were also promising. Added to that was I love Saif ali so it was a chance worth taking.The print was quite ok. The movie started and the entrance of saif was so typical of Hindi movies as if dumb viewers like us, cant guess it anymore... The movie revolves around 6 main characters saif , bipasha , akshaye khanna , katrina kaif , anil kapoor and sameera reddy... This is not a review so I wont divulge into the storyline.. The first thought after watching the movie was... What was the director thinking...? The movie has so many twists and turns , it becomes difficult to follow the storyline. I feel Saif was totally wasted in the movie .Bipasha just looked hot and sexy (as usual) ,Akshaye Khanna

It is my Sunday ritual to call up my parents back home in India. I can clearly hear the joy in their voice and know how eagerly they are waiting for my call. Its been nearly a decade since my parents have been staying alone, since all three of us (my 2 sisters and me) have been married and moved away from our hometown. In the beginning it was for studies and then better job prospects that we had to leave our Family home. There is a whole new breed of such parents in today's India. They are living on their own and their children have either settled abroad or are working in another city. After the advent of globalisation as new and better opportunities both in terms of education and work came forth , the already nuclear family broke into even smaller parts , with the parents left alone and the children moving out. Most of the times it is the parents who encourage the children to take benefit of the opportunities at hand. At that time usually, parents are still working and have a bu

In my everyday chat converstions with my friend "Shipra" we came to a topic of dicussion on the movie "Matrubhoomi". I saw the movie last year and it still sends shivers down my spine whenever I remember the story. The movie revolves around a time when female foeticide has skewed the male female ratio so much that the heroine of the movie "Kalki" is married off to 5 brothers. The whole setting is of some village in Bihar. The movies leaves you with visions of barbaric men and scenes of violence. The theme of the movie "skewed gender ratio if we keep on killing the girl child" was good. The way it is put across by the director leaves you with a bad taste. The fate of the girl child today in India is as dismal as it was 2 decades back. Inspite of laws banning sex detemination of an unborn child, the killing of female foetuses is still common in some parts of India. The country which worships godesses like "Laxmi" and "Durga" w

The custom of Live-in relationship is very old in India, wherein zamindars and Nawabs not only had many wives but quite a few live in-women. In those times it was not considered immoral to have a live-in relationship. Post Independance, monogamous marriages became the in-thing. India still remains a conservative society where the institution of marriage is considered sacred. Plus chastity on the part of a woman is highly rated. The woman with a history of pre marital relations with a man will have less chances of getting married in the future. A decade back when I was studying in Pune....the concept of live-in relationships had just started emerging. Many of my classmates were in one and few of those relationships eventually culminated into marriage. There are conflicting views on this subject. Just today I was having a chat with "Shipra" a friend of mine who had no qualms about being in one. Her only condition was that both the partners should be unmarried and should be equ

Are we the same Country that gave " Kamasutra " to the world? Hard to believe but its an alarming fact. We are the same country that dishes out titillating Movies and Pop songs which scream of Sex,but are too shy to talk about it to our younger generation.Our media is flooded with images which definitely give rise to curious questions.Are we not being hypocrites . What signal are we sending to the younger generation? In spite of the rise in the number of abortions in adolescents .And reports about pre- marital sex happening ,we still turn a blind eye towards it.All under the guise of the so called "Indian Culture". We have to keep in mind that ignorance and sex is a potent combination.By avoiding to talk about it we are in fact leaving them no option but to discover it by way of experimentation. It still such a taboo to talk about the subject that many a time parents are shocked to know that their own kid, whom they thought is still too young has already star

I have had my share of Indian Bosses when I was working back home in India. They come in various shapes and sizes....and Mentalities. Since I was always moving from one city to another,owing to my husbands job.I had the opportunity of working for varied organisations with dramatically different work cultures. I have had bosses with whom I have shared a very good Rapport and then what can we say about those who haunt your nightmares and you wish you'd rather make his "Voodoo doll" and stick pins in it than bear working with him. Well this post is not about badmouthing bosses.Since we spend most of our waking hours working...its an attempt to understand this species "The Indian Boss". Some of them could give Hitler a Run for his money...with their rules and and wacko way of working.Quite a few of them do try to be really fair and some set such good examples that you just cannot forget them for their decency,fairness and leadership. When I was working for a re

This is one of the most delighful Romantic comedies I have ever seen....I fell in love with both the characters "Kathleen Kelley" played by Meg Ryan and "Joe Fox" played by Tom Hanks. The movie revolves around these two characters, who communicate well via email and fall in love without knowing each others real identity.In actual life they are Business rivals and Joe Fox puts Kathleen out of Business. "Shopgirl" and "NY152" are the Avatars under which they are emailing each other. The theme is so simple yet so sweet.The dialogues which are in the form of emails are Fabulous and so interesting. " The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee b

Can we really say that in today's world? In today's rush rush life its becoming harder and harder to hold down to relationships , rest aside FRIENDS!! In the thirst for moving upwards in our careers and and the race to be "successful" ,"liked by all" and the desire to have more....we have forgotten when life was simpler and friends were friends. Its so much easier to make friends and be a friend to somebody when you are younger and life is still uncomplicated.Friendships are the anchor and the life saving rafts in times of need.Hanging out together is the essence of it and so is just being what you were.There is no need for having any ulterior motive to being a friend. As we grow older and life thrusts more and more responsibities on us....the pureness of it all disappears.Then it all becomes a game of what you can gain from being a friend to someone.Expectations are high and pretenses even higher.Then it becomes tougher to identify true friends from this he

A particular song from the movie "You Me Aur Hum" really inspired me to write this post... अपने रंग गवाए बिन मेरे रंग में घुल जाओ अपनी धुप बुझाये बिन मेरी छाऊ में आ जाओ चलो यूं करे तुम , तुम भी रहो , मै , मैं भी रहूँ हम हम भी रहे , तीनो मिलके साथ चलें साथी जनम जनम के You me Aur Hum. This song aptly describes my relationship with my Hubby and soulmate Aniruddha... I have heard people say there is one person made just for you in this lifetime and I am sure I ve found him.. We are so very different and yet go so well together.... I feel the sucess of any relationship lies in the fact that without changing your personality you are able to blend with somebody and so can the other person. Just like the song I have always been able to be what I am and have tried to let him be too. Though we have had major differences in opinions about a lot of issues....the fact always remained that we are individuals and will have seperate points of view...respecti

Its been a Journey of Self Discovery since I moved to UK from India. After the hurried and Busy life back home where my schedule was overflowing with to-do's and pending jobs.Moving here was a blessing in disguise.. Back home...meeting friends was a hurried meal in a noisy Restaurant...with thoughts already on the chores for the next day.Spending quality time with my husband Aniruddha..was a mirage...it was always on our way to work that we could have time to ourselves... Pursuing hobbies and having actual conversations was a thing of the past.Also the only time you could be with your own thoughts was when you were not well and were allowed a sick leave from work.I am sure people in India will understand what I am talking about... Life on the Lancaster University campus has been wonderful...after recovering from the initial shock of "What do I do now that I have so much of time?" I realized that life is just passing me by when I am busy doing something else... I got in to

Whew!! Finally Summer is here..... I moved recently to UK from India....it was like coming from a boiling pot to a freezer... I landed here in September when you could still call a day a day and night a night....so it was not too tough to settle down...Weatherwise too it was mild then and quite a bit like India in the beginning of winters.. As winter approached and trees turned bare...the days started becoming shorter and the cold fierce... To top it all the University campus is away from the city on a hillock...with breathtaking views of meadows and rolling grasslands... Being so used to seeing the sun rise and set at certain times...at first it was weird to see the sun rising at 9 am and setting at 3pm. Even though I prefer cold to any other weather it was bone numbing...and the famous british rain...which can pour down at any given time... After surviving the first british winter I am definitely looking forward to the summer.... The hint of summer is already here....the days are now

Last week I made a new friend called Harriet and we met up for Coffee at Pizzetta..a cafe in the University... I had expected for the chat to be brief...since what could a Swede and Indian talk about... Harriet is a very interesting person........Outspoken, direct and full of fun. We met at 3 pm and were still chatting after 3.5 hours...given a chance we would have gone on.... All my pre conceived notions about our cultural differences vanished... Inspite of being brought up in such different backgrounds....it became evident that these differences is what makes people so interesting.... Our converstion moved freely from topics wide and varied....from Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" to Free Masonry...in which Harriet plans to do her Ph D to families and husbands... It felt so great cause we connected so well... religious and cultural differences were forgotten in this journey towards friendship..