Strangers in the Night

Frank Sinatra has a magical voice and I had heard some of the songs without knowing that the original number was sung by this legendary singer. Thanks to the several other artists who have sung his songs!

My favorite song is "Strangers in the night" as Frank Sinatra's voice compliments the soothing music. Lyrics so simple, yet so wonderful.

Well, I do not believe in love at first sight but this song is so amazing that I play it over and over again :-) Love is such a strong emotion and that has been potrayed so well with each word in the song. Certainly, a feel good song cause never experienced this kind of love. Sometimes I wonder if at all there is such kind of love in reality. Probably that's the reason I've never had such an experience :-)

This song has certainly made me a fan of Frank Sinatra and I would love to listen to more of him.

Who are they?

Anurag Mathur with his book "Inscrutable Americans" has made me laugh for a couple of days. Thanks to his writing skills and being an Indian we can relate to it more than anyone else.

It is about Gopal who travels to America from a small town in India to pursue his studies. His encounters with people and situation during his stay in US is so hilarious.

He has been instructed by his grandmother to eat food made only by Brahmins and also stay from women in the new country since they are mostly divorcees in search of relationship. The ideas he has about the country change gradually as he meets people.

Very well written about the transition a person goes through who has stereotypical ideas about another country. Something like most foreigners think that India is all about Poverty, Taj Mahal, Camels or Elephants for instance ;-)

Painting after ages ...

I do not have any formal training in the same and just wanted to experiment my painting skills. I can't remember that last time I have held a painting brush in my hand, probably in school. It was indeed fun to paint anything that came to my mind at that point in time.

I am putting up a picture that I painted a few minutes ago. I am open to comments ;-)

Man in the mirror

There are so many things that we complain about explicitly or have it on our mind. Just this noon there was no power and after a while the water in our apartment complex was used up completely. I just wanted to wash my hands after having lunch and realized that there wasn't a single drop of water. And thought of all the people who don't realize the importance of water and use it as they wish. Electricity is another story altogether with so many rooms being lit up with no one using it.

Well, that's when I thought of "man in the mirror". We would need to be grateful for all the resources we have and utilize it in the right manner. It starts with just one person and that is "you". Every time you are brushing your teeth don't let the tap water run or don't let the lights, TVs, AC or fan etc on in rooms unless you are actually using it.

I have just mentioned water and electricity while writing this as I can go on and on. I'm sure you could think of other things that we would need to be grateful for and use it accordingly.

New girl on the block

The other day I was watching her interview on TV and she seemed so confident and comfortable in her skin. She is Sonam Kapoor :-)

I really like her personality as she came across as someone I could relate to. She was frank about taking a year and a half to loose weight and that too by exercising & following a healthy diet plan. We've heard many actors answer this question in the most imaginable manner as possible ;-) The manner in which she answered many questions about her career was admirable.

Looking forward to watching her in "Delhi 6" as I haven't watched her first movie as an actor. Way to go girl!!! Being yourself is like carving a niche for yourself :-)

Bleeding stone

I been wanting to watch this movie and finally got to watch it last evening on HBO.

Wow, an amazing movie and I wish that I had seen it earlier on big screen. Leonardo Di Caprio is outstanding and the others too compliment the character they play really well. I had heard that after you watch the movie you would detest buying diamonds. And its so true!!!

I really liked the movie since its based on the civil war in Africa over control of the diamond mines. The insight that you get into diamond trading is awesome. There is story behind trading of all sorts but this one has really changed the lives of the millions who fled their village to stay alive. Especially seeing the children being exploited by the rebel group during the war is really sad.

And, I could so relate to the character of a journalist potrayed by Jennifer Connelly. She is a passionate person and through her area of work she wants to bring out certain harsh realities that would bring about a change to many lives. I am looking forward to getting into an area of work that would give me an opportunity to bring about positive change to many lives.

This is truly an inspirational movie and if you haven't watched it already then I would want to highly recommend it! Oh, yes the movie is "Blood Diamond"

Pink is the color

The Pink Chaddi campaign has become so popular and as a democratic nation we have our right to speak our mind. That is exactly what people in this campaign are doing and with humor in it.

Some may call it as a political agenda and others may look at it as voicing one's opinion. And everyone has the right to live their lives the way they want to. It surely has been successful in grabbing the attention of lot of indians here and abroad. We as women need to realize that we also have the right to live our lives just as anyone else.

Modern outlook is according to one's own convenience in our society and that is slowly changing cause women are speaking up. Lack of exposure to current way of life with certain people is actually changing thanks to media.

Branding women as forward and loose isn't going to stop us from stepping out of hollow rules made by the society. We will still choose the life we want to live and as long as it is of no inconvenience to anyone else's life I don't see anything wrong. We don't have to prove to anyone about our values and attributes that build us. And heading towards being an oppressed class of society is not the solution to developing oneself and the nation.

Another Grammy for Ustad Zakir Hussain

Ustad Zakir Hussain has really made us all proud by winning a Grammy in the world music genre. This is his second grammy :-)

There is not much of this in news since Slumdog Millionaire has captured everyone's attention for whatever reasons maybe. Even on TV or Newspapers we didn't hear or read much about the accomplishment of such a fine musician. So, I thought of writing a small piece on the same.

He is the youngest percussionist to have been awarded with the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. At the age of twelve he was touring and in US with over 150 concert dates a year, which is commendable. Truly a child prodigy and excellent personality.

He has helped in bringing our Indian music onto a world platform and even been awarded National Heritage Fellowship by US for Masters in traditional art. He has also spent sometime in Princeton teaching a survey on Indian classical music and dance. Truly, a fine ambassador of our country.

I would like to dedicate this piece of work to Ustad Zakir Hussain who has done us proud!!

Power of knowledge

Education is vital for all of us on this planet.

There is a ray of hope given any situation if you are educated. Gone are the days when it wasn't necessary for women or girls to be educated. It instills in us the confidence to lead the life that we want to.

We would need to break the barrier of caste, gender or any other thing. Another issue that we face in India is lack of resources, schools, classrooms and teachers etc.

Lot of NGOs' are working in rural areas to encourage educating girl child and prevent dropouts that are at an alarming rate. Our constitution states that everyone till the age of fourteen years have the right to "free and compulsory" education. However, the funds are unable to compete with the growing population. Also retention of students and teachers in the rural areas especially is quite challenging.

Initiatives like Teach India would go a long way in sharing the knowledge we possess. Something as flexible as this would help our generation to contribute to educating others in need. What is the use of being knowledge if you don't share it with others? So, I pledge to start small this year and also write about my experiences. I'm really looking forward to this!

Self Discipline

This is a term which was alien to me until a few days ago :-)

I don't have to worry about the tasks I'm passionate about but its others things that do not interest me. And, these tasks become routine and get to me after awhile.

If one has to be successful then, being disciplined is one of the key factors. So, how does one start?

I guess one has to chalk out a plan to organize these daily errands around their work and then follow them consistently. Self discipline acts as a substitute for motivation that one uses to overcome one's desire. It is the assertion of willpower over more base desires. Also known as self control.

So, lets see how this works out during the new year :-)

Dowry or Dahej

Dowry has been banned in India since the 1961, but does that mean that people are not yielding to it. In urban or rural area people still succum to it. Women are still subjected to domestic violence despite giving dowry. Such events kill the self confidence of women and also leaves the scars on for lifetime.

It is shameful that the so called "educated" people don't find it unusual to accept dowry even in our modern world. The bride's side is also commiting a crime by agreeing to give dowry. It is understood that their parents are of a different generation but should that stop the present generation from abstaining from it.

I know of women that are educated would not stand up for themselves when there is an issue of dowry in their own lives. There have been instances of a handful of incidents in India where women have refrained from getting married due to unreasonable demands by the groom's side. In this case the women had to defend themselves and no one came to their assistance. This is a lesson that the others would need to learn and once the giving stops the taking will automatically sieze. It is nice to see women in rural areas standing up for themselves by giving importance to education and their human rights.

We live in a society that still believes that women who speak their mind are feminists. But, no one ever said that such changes would take place overnight. So, I call upon the educated women to not yield to this and believe that these things will go on till we put an end to it.