Welcome 2008.

Happy New Year Folks!

Another year ends for a new beginning. 

This time am going to really take a moment to pause. 

I've always read about it, seen other people take time off their life to do this but

i've personally never done this. 

Maybe because i think i do this almost everyday!

You know look back at the events that made the day and those that didn't too!

But looking back at a year must be a whole lot different i think.

And looking at all the years that is yet to come will be different and difficult as well.

It is going to lead me into lonely alleys and less travelled roads.....

It is going to be impossible to do this on the first few days of the New Year at least.

Calls to make, people to wish, settling in the New year will take time....

End of the first week will be the right time.

mmm.... now the time has come to wish you all.

I wish all you guys know what is important to you at this point in life and may you all be blessed with it.

And may God be kind enough to see all those things that you can't see and help you take right decisions. 

A very happy New Year to you all.

the first situation of this kind

I've always known what to blog even before i sat down to blog.

But today seems like a special day. 

For the first time am not really sure. Ummm...

I always have too many things to write about, when there is nothing happening in my life.

You'd think that when many things are happening it is going to be exponentially high right?

Strangely it is not. 

We are now vacationing in California with my brother's family. It has been a lot of fun.

6 more days to go, a travelogue is due i know. Travelogue, anecdotes and Tanya's chronicles will be coming in its time...

Somehow i thought i owe it to the blog community here as to what is happening.

It is this assumption of having an audience who wonder about your whereabouts that keeps the wonder going. Another 'first time' feeling here!   

Will be back for the New Year. Wouldn't want to miss out on that.

Until then happy Holidays.

the Stuart little philosophy...

I have sort of always been conditioned to think that all the difficult questions in life have complex answers..

Why are we here?

Who am i? 

Why is there so much evil? etc...

after a while these questions and answers get boring. 

May be it is the complexity that drives me away. I don't know. You see right here is an example, i can't find the answer as to why they get boring after a while... 

Being in this state if you do find an answer to one major complex problem in the most unlikely place imaginable from the mouth of the most unlikely creature, now that's what i call interesting...

I was watching this movie 'Stuart little 2' with my daughter for the nth time. It is a kind of cute movie but .... well.... it is a kid's movie. So i can't expect much out of it. Never paid close attention to dialogues. But yesterday i did and look what i found...

A quick story line here..

(Stuart, the talking mouse is adopted by a human family, the Littles. Stuart makes friends with a small talking bird, Margalo who he believes is in the clutches of the evil Falcon. So he goes in search of the li'l birdie to save her. Snowbell, the smart-ass house cat reluctantly agrees to accompany him on this quest to find the bird.)

the scene...

Snowbell and Stuart have been searching for hours now with no sign of Margalo so Snowbell

says

"Give up Stuart. You know giving up is a good thing. If more people gave up there'll be fewer wars"

I tell you it was a sit-down-and-think kind of statement.

What a simple solution for the wars here. Just give up. I have always associated 'giving up' to being negative. But if people stop resisting certain things then maybe there'll be fewer struggles. Something else struck me too.... The answers can be simple. Utterly utterly simple.

 

Words fall short...

I've been in one of those moods lately... where my thoughts don't seem to stay on anything particular. It skips from one to other so fast. Elusive thoughts.

Emotions seem follow these thoughts. Or maybe emotions lead the thoughts. I don't really know. Sad, angry, happy, forgiving, nostalgic, dreamy.... all of this in so few minutes.

Somehow it feels really refreshing.

Like how it feels when you turn your cd on the random mode.

You don't really know what comes next, and it's exciting... 

I like the fact that there are still certain aspects of the mind that words fail to capture.

Language has a lot of catching up to do i suppose...

Or maybe words and language can never really catch up with the mind. More thing to ponder over...

Tell me your name and i'll tell you who you really are!!

I'm always fascinated by names of people.

Not nicknames. Real names.

Indian names especially has so much to tell about the person.

Purely from a sociological point of view that is.

It is a kind of conscious-sub-conscious thing that happens when you hear someone's name.

And it is okay if my first opinion changes of course. That's is fun too.

I would say it's a study.

i know many of you reading are going to say

'Don't judge a book by it's cover', but indulge me a wee bit and break away from norms

and you might be surprised by things....

What has my fascination with names got anything to do with you or this blog??

I'll tell you.

most of us blogging have only our names as our identity.

So for me it has become almost a study.

Now i'll come to the point without much adieu...

There is a website that gives the analysis of a person just by knowing their first name.

'Kabalarians'

It is not astrological or anything they claim that it is science...

Interested to know about yourself and a bit more about others too.

Blog pals beware everybody is really going to know everybody else;)

The general information is free so plunge in right away...

Tell me your name and i'll tell you who you really are..

Chronicles of Tanya

Lets say one day me and my daughter tanya are going out grocery shopping.

Lets say we get into the elevator in our building.

It is approx. 6ft x 10ft.

Lets say for some reason the elevator starts to shoot up and reaches the 27th floor.

Lets say a woman and a man get into the elevator

Lets call her Ms. Tight Pants and him, her boyfriend, Mr. Armani.

What say we drop 'lets say' and get on with the story....um?

She looked like someone out of Vogue and he a meek sidekick. She was upset with him for some reason and in that oh-so-sexy accent was blasting him nonstop. Her tongue was rolling without control and it kind of sounded musical to me but for the horrible reflection of her face i could see on the walls of the elevator. Mr. Armani saw that i saw. eeks! Embarrassing!

And me Ms. High Maintenance was thinking how ill-mannered these Europeans are and how bloggable this topic is. And suddenly a very audible sharp voice asked Ms. Tight Pants

"Are you a girl or a boy?"

Yes. That was my daughter. 

The woman i say looked soooo womanish (if you know what i mean!) that it would be considered blasphemy in her dictionary. You can imagine her shock. She went speechless. 

Mr. Armani( i'm almost certain) looked ready to laugh outright but some sense made him stop. I just started with my apologies when the elevator opened again and more Armanis and Tight Pants got in. We were on the 9th floor now.

You see here i have to enlighten the ways of my daughter a little bit.

She never stops asking the same question until she gets an answer.

Yes. She did it again. Overpowering everybody leaning appropriately looking straight at her went again, 

"Are you a girl or a boy?" . I know what you are thinking. She's just a little girl and nobody is going to mind but i tell you when there is only 6x10 ft space inside, you wish the elevator would just plummet down. 

Anyway like all moments that pass this did with my more profound apologies and a curt "Stop it" to my daughter. 

But just when i thought i had come out of that space with dignity, i added

"I'm sorry. You see i still haven't taught her how to differentiate!" 

Now the laughter was audible. Very audible!

I could have said a million appropriate things but in moments like this i feel the tongue has a mind of its own!

The elevator hit the lobby and boy i've never been so relieved to meet the ground.

And yes i answered her question into her ears and whisked her out of the building..

One more 'not to do list' for my daughter while getting out of the door

Don't hit the alarm bell

Don't press all the floor buttons in the elevator.

Don't ask "Are you a girl or a boy?"!!

Balding men, tummy tuck and saving lives.....

We have answers for everything.

Y O G A

Of late i've been fascinated with Indian Yoga, Mudras( science of finger and hand position), breathing excercises etc... Here are some pretty interesting finds...

According to Baba Ramadev, rubbing you finger nails can stop hair loss! In some cases regrow hair on the scalp as well. Who knew? and you thought your cat was just sharpening his claw.

And look at all the hair he has. Grrrr......

Method: Hold both your hands in the claw position and rub the finger nails against each other, this apparently solves the balding problem.  5-10 mins a day will do.  (Costanza would be elated...) 

2. Kapalbathi 

A kind of abdominal breathing excercise having many benefits like curing diabetes, building strong immunity...but the icing on the cake is natural 'tummy tuck' for women and men who hate to sweat it out at the gym. 'Crunches!'  begone i say!!

3. Now this is serious dudes and dudesses. 

Mritsanjivni Mudra  

This particular hand finger position is known to normalize the pulse rate and strengthen heart muscles but most importantly when this mudra is administered on a patient having a heart attack. Yes Heart Attack, it acts immediately like a sorbitrate tablet and the patient gets miraculous relief in the form of first aid! Isn't that a wonder.

Click on this link below for learning this mudra. Who knows you could save someone's life!

Mritsanjivni image.

Friday and saturday.

2 happy days.

I was not unhappy even for a second on these two days. Isn't that an achievement?

Around 9 p.m friday, it sort of hit me that i've been happy throughout and i thought

2 more hours and i'll be in bed with my small victory. I should admit that at this point 

i sort of manipulated the rest of the day a wee bit. Smiles smiles.

We watched 'Lord of the rings: Fellowship of the Ring 'for the next 2 hours. Every time i watch that movie i get suspended from reality and roam around with the hobbits, the elves, the dwarfs into a different land, different time... JRR Tolkein created a whole new language while writing this book. He created Elvish. The letters, words, phonetics, grammar and everything that comes with creating a language. And he being a professor was supposed to have been a brilliant one at that too. I wish i could sit in one of his classes. What a religious experience that would be. Listening to Old english as it should be spoken. Not understanding a word of it yet being fully alive at that moment! Anyway with such thoughts there was no space for anything sad in my mind.

Saturday started as usual and i had forgotten all about my little achievement till mid-day, we were already at the mall waiting to watch 'The Golden compass'. Tanya was all excited. She wanted to ride 'Iorek Byrnison', the huge Polar Bear. She was fidgeting in the seat until he appeared, with Ian McKellan's voice booming, Iorek the bear bounced up and down and tanya was in squeals. I was shoo- shooing her.(pssst. only for others' sake secretly enjoying her thrills) Nothing about the movie itself. Rest assured. Wouldn't spoil your movie day. Well, the day ended with us buying Transformers from Direct T.V. watched that too for the second time. An instant classic. I love the movie. The concept, the visuals and to top it all phenomenal dialogue delivery. Recipe for success.   

Yes. Movies. Two days of perpetual indulgence. Superficial you say. I say nah! Anything creative that has the ability to keep you in that state cannot be superficial. 

Gods.... lend me your ears..

When i sat down to blog today, i was resolved to write something from 'me'.

Meaning no stories from anywhere. Just my thoughts and words.

But blew it when i clicked on BBC. It was such a funny story that i just couldn't let it pass.

This news report is from India. 

The deities of Ram and Hanuman have been summoned by a judge to appear in a court!

Yes. You read it right.

A judge has actually sent the Gods a court order to appear in court to settle a dispute

regarding the ownership of a 1.4 acre plot. The priest claims that the land belongs to him.

But this land houses the two temples. The Gods had to be involved in such a case!! 

Further when the Two didn't turn up with the first notice, the judge sent another one which reads

"You failed to appear in court despite notices by a peon and later through registered post. You are herby directed to appear before the court personally" !!!

Nobody escapes the Law. Nobody!

I don't know what will happen if they really showed up tomorrow! I'm going to follow up on that. 

Here is the link for the full story. Smile around :)

Of buying and selling...

"It's better when you win it"

That is the tag line of some curious e-bay ads that's been airing for a while.

Never have i bought or sold anything on e-bay of course, forget bidding. 

Typical Indian mentality i'm afraid.

'Guilty until proven otherwise'. Very distrusting of such sites however big they've made it on the virtual world. But as usual things change. 

I was in the company of a very interesting friend yesterday who has bought loads on e-bay. 

Never sold anything though.

From a stamp with Hitler & Mussolini on it for 50 cents to wooden handmade aircraft models of the MIG series. Nothing above $100 mind you.

He is currently collecting currency notes with the face of the Queen printed in 70 countries so far across the world and intends to display it in the collector's guild somewhere and probably hopes to sell it for millions (!!!) later sometime.

And i was thinking 'Why the hell didn't i think of stuff like this?' Forget the money just to say that you're collecting these things makes you, what is the word?... 'eliteeeeeee' is it ;) just kidding. It must be fun, as close as you can get to archeology right?

Now the mind wanders.... Do i have something even vaguely interesting that is worth selling or be proud of owning?? And there it was, my crowning jewel ... my own , my precious..... There is a picture of J.F.Kennedy and Jacqueline together waving to the crowd at my uncle's place back home, personally signed by both of them when he was the President. My uncle who was a huge fan of the two had written a letter to them congratulating them and they in return had sent a snap with the letter from the White house. Is that cool or what? I'm tempted to try my hand in e-bay now. Although technically speaking it is not my ...er....own precious :P

Anybody got some extra bucks on you?

About $3 million would suffice ;)

Imagine going to space for a short vacation!

$3 million a ticket for a back up seat on a space probe.

Anybody interested? 

An agency named 'Space Adventurers' will train you for a space trip,

you know to whizz around the Earth.

As and when there is a drop out by an actual astronaut for whatever reason you get to take that seat! You know, you get to fill in. Isn't that neat? Just a few million bucks and you are all set.

And with $30 million you get to fly a rocket. mmmm....

Now we know what the super rich do!!

These are the hours when i say 'If only..... ;)

For more info click on this link Space.com

When death knocks!

I think, kids don't fear death like we do.

I remember when i was a kid, i used to do all sorts of really risky things. I mean really risky. 

I had fully understood what it is 'to die' meant i was probably around 10. But i would nevertheless try a lot of things. It gives me shivers now!

But as i grew up something happened. I fear the 'What if?' factor, i think. I even tend to avoid the topic as much as i can. If you are anything like me, read on...

Somehow this Oprah Winfrey show about a father, victim of spleen cancer, with 3 beautiful sons just seemed different. 

This man who was about to die in 6 months had a message to give to this world. In a crux it was 'Don't sweat about small stuff and it is all small stuff'. 

He had made his life's responsibility to get the message across to as many people as possible. He has gained popularity because of his dedication and thoughtfulness in such a crucial moment. It was really touching. He could go and wallow in self-pity instead he chose to tell people something important. He looked young, intelligent, very bright and healthy! yet he was going to die. And nobody could do anything because of its advanced stage. I felt helpless. Like me, the audience and Oprah herself were in tears with her suggesting that miracles could happen if God wills it and suddenly Oprah asked, 

"How do your friends feel about this?"

And he said

My best friend says "You know you've become so famous because you are going to die that if by chance you lived it might actually be a little embarrassing" and smiled at everyone. 

That instant almost all of them came out of the sinking feeling and actually laughed. He just taught us a lesson there. He could joke about his own death looming over him. How many can do that? I can't. The very thought gives me jitters. But he looked like like a man who had conquered death in his own simple way. He had accepted it completely.

And as one of my friends put it very wisely, he must have lived his whole life that way, 

strong willed yet humble and knowing the knack to flow with life where ever it takes us. I learnt something that day. Yes i did.

PS: My daughter saw snow for the very first time yesterday and boy was she thrilled! No camera here, just memories. Safely stored ;)