Of Sense and Sensitivity....

Saturday evening went by , watching Aashayein. Loved it!
Cut to - The morning after .Sunday.
As usual, went about our chores and took the stash of the Sunday editions .

To my surprise/disgust/whatever you may like to call it (but something to that sentiment), read the following review on the movie :

http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment%20-%20Film%20Reviews&sectid=58&contentid=2010082920100829001951162724dc210

I definitely had a response for Mr.Minty!!
Have e-mailed him. Lets wait and watch if i do get a response! or my "Aashayein" go for a toss ;)

Here goes :

HI Minty!
This comes 4 minutes after reading your review on "Aashayein".

Just one question out of curiosity "Have you even watched the movie?"

Sad , but true , you seem to be in a real bad mood for the past few weeks.
It makes one wonder , if you can rate a movie like "Aisha"  3 stars , which has only no brainer-women strutting their stuff and  glamor quotient , What happens when movies like "Aashayein" are made with so much sensitivity ?

Well , the answer is,you rate it a mere 1/2 star , if it is to be believed it is not a  printing error.

In my opinion, which is not as privileged as yours to be published, Aashayein is made for the sensitive souls and for the numerous people who have seen their near and dear ones go through the struggle for a hope of survival. Aashayein is not expected to provide only a high entertainment score but it is also an inception of a concept to have a shelter for terminally ill people who choose to step out of the mainstream world into a cocoon free from fake sympathy and assurances of false hopes.

Instead of mocking at it , i would love to see you watch and understand the metaphor the movie clearly showcases.
The Indiana Jones angle is a tool to execute the one last wish for people who face their death for no fault of theirs. This makes it significantly different than the last wish offered before a criminal is executed.
"The bald gifted kid" is just a way to tell us humans that we should not give up hope.

One cannot blame you for not noticing such sensitivities in these metaphors. If Aashayein hurts your sensibilities, then I am sure the upcoming move ,"Mallika" would awaken them!

If you prefer John in Dostana as opposed to Aashayein, then you shouldn't have reviewed this movie at all in the first place.  Genuine critics are unbiased and unpersonal.Hard to find, obviously!

I wonder how many people may miss this sensitively made film after reading your review.

Sigh !!!

Prayer........

Prayer doesn't just happen when we kneel or put hands together and focus.

When u hug a friend, tht's prayer...

When u cook something to nourish family & friends tht's prayer.

When you send them off with 'Drive Safely' or 'Be Safe' tht's a prayer too.

When you are helping someone in need by giving your time,energy, and money, you are giving prayer and answering one at the same time...

Prayer is a vibration.It feels good. Prayer is the VOICE of LOVE.

P.S- This is something i read on the internet. Its not original :) (only putting the pictures in is my idea)Loved it , hence posted it here... :)

The joy of giving...A lesson learnt for life...

This is what my lesson for this weekend was!:)
All this while i've been thinking to myself... that i'm above all this materialistic pleasure..
Im way above a lot of people i know..
I wonder why money gives them such a high...
Why people are so egoistic.. why can they not let go...
And all through this unknowingly i definitely had an ego of my own which i was nurturing..

We had a maid who worked with us for about 3 months. She din't quite need to work and that was very apparant in the way she went about doing the chores assigned to her.

In no time we were kind of looking for someone to do a better job and hence gave her quite a decent notice period saying we will need to replace her and she seemed pretty ok with the idea.. so there was no guilt :P

Her last day with us.. was the day i learnt a lesson for life...
The joy of giving can compete with no other...

My husband was helping me clean the kitchen draw when a brand new box.. more or less of a showpiece by itself came out of there
... It was one of the many that i had bought for mom..on my trip to Jaipur nearly 3 years ago... she had never used it and it was still brand new.. so she passed it on back to me for our new home...
And the circle continued as i tucked it away to use it some other day too..




Out it came...
He looked at it.. as i showed it off to him and told him the story behind it and how i got it so cheap and how it could cost a bomb here.. and bla bla bla...
He din't say much. Just heard me out.
A brief silence .
"Let's give this to her" He says
"Who??!!" I say (with a "haw" expression on my face)
"The maid" He says
"R u crazy" I say
"Huh? Why? Whats crazy about that?"
"NO NO im not giving it" I say
"U know what it feels like to give? Have u ever felt the joy of giving?" He says
"Yes ofcourse i have, but.. but... not this... this has been stored for so long.. and i wanna use it someday" i say
" Ya, but you said you got it real cheap.. and it looks like it comes from her land, so whats the harm if u just gave it to her.. she'll be so happy"
"NO ways.. i love it and i am going to use it soon.. maybe even now" I say...
"Come on.. its ok love.. we CAN defnitely afford to make someone happy " he says...

I change the topic hoping he forgets about it and get on with my other chores...

Time comes for her to leave..She says her goodbye...

The words repeat a million times in my head and heart " the joy of giving .. the joy of giving..."

Involuntarily..not even realising what i am about to do.. I go .. pick up the box.. hand over the salary and this box to her...

The smile on her face was something that cannot be matched with any materialistic gain ever!
She was shocked and happy at the same time.The expression very obviously said " this is brand new.. why would she give it to me"
I did not explain as i did not think there was any need to...:)
I Just put my hand on her shoulders and say " Take care.. come by sometime "
She bid farewell and left.

I felt sooo small...
Here i was thinking i'm above all these materialistic pleasure and I can let go easily.. and all the gyaan...
But when it came to action it actually took some convincing... i couldnt believe myself...
But yes.. I have learnt this lesson.. and its for life...
I promise myself this...
I will never deny the joy of giving ever again! :)

Thank you my most prized possesion for teaching me the most important lesson of my life and unknowingly helping me grow on a spiritual level each day:)

Of My Little "Brown spotty"....

We got her home around a month ago... I like to call her , "her" .. for obvious reasons ;)

She was a tiny little white baby then... so scared , quiet , subdued....

Finches are supposedly quite a cheerful lot and are most of the time bursting with energy....

I did worry and wonder why she was the way she was. I was totally unaware of her being a baby.. the shop guy had not really mentioned it explicitly...chances are maybe he dint know either!

I noticed her every single day .. and as days went by... she looked weirder and i wondered what was going on...n i must admit - i did worry...

I looked closely... and it looked as if she was hurt on her cheeks.. i looked even closer and noticed that she was "hurt" in the exact same way on both her cheeks..
At once i knew i was mistaken... she wasnt hurt....
She was just growing up :)
She was getting her colours...

Everyday we noticed changes in her...
She developed spots on her wings... brown spots....
and her whole body was turning light brown...

And now when u see her.. She has Orange Cheeks and an even brighter orange beak.. with brown wings with white spots on them!!
Ah! What a beauty she is... :)

Just love sitting by the window .. watching her flutter away to glory as she bathes herself in her little bathtub ... going chirp chirp chirp ... :)

I think this is what she's going to eventually look like...
She's already quite close.. :)



Ahh!Watta Beauty! My little brown spotty :)!

Guess who got I.N.K.E.D ?!

Meeeeeeeeeee!!!! :)

18-06-2010... Thats the date thats going to remain etched in my memory forever...even if hypothetically i want to forget it... my TATTOO wont let me!

Yes! finally got myself one! A Phoenix ! Love it!

Now for the whole hue and cry about how painful it was! Yeah! All you sissys who said its hurts! Boo! :) Just kidding..;)

It hardly hurt... For all the women.. just multiply the pain 7 times to that of how it feels when you go waxing to the salon!

The artsist .. who for security reasons (my own) ;) .. i dont wanna name.. was a man filled with attitude..

rather for nothing!

For some reason .. these tattoo artists .. ive met a few ..have trucks of attitude...i wonder why!

I mean .. yeah they are good with their hands.. no doubt.. but then whats one losing in being humble..

Yeah.. we can trace and draw too.. but unfortunately we humans happen to trust someone else with this rather than ourselves

.. what to do! We are like that only ;)

But yea... thank you to him for a wonderful piece of art on my forehand which i am going to cherish for life..

My most prized possesion..:) .. after the husband ofcourse ;)

Of Innocence Lost and Found...

An evening trip to the local grocery store... brought back fond memories of my childhood....

Watched 2 little boys.. all of around 6 -7 years of age...come into the shop... and look around with hopeful eyes..for a particular packet of chips which has those small little toys inside them....

I had sudden flashes of how my brother and I used to rush into shops just like that and do the very same thing...

After around 5 minutes of looking around..arguing which one to buy..from the flavour to the colour of the packet... about how each one knew which is the better one to buy .. they finally agreed upon one particular packet and bought it!

Counting the coins they had.. which came up to an exact amount for that packet.. they proudly handed them over to the shopkeeper and looked thrilled with their purchase...

They could not hold their excitement back and opened the packet right then n there....and Lo! Behold! What an achievement! They jumped and danced and sang with sooo much happiness that people around looked as to what had happened... but all everyone could do was ....smile... :) at their innocence....
They had got the same toy which they had anticipated.. and were thrilled to bits!!

Loved watching them .. as they cycled off into the alley near by...
Brought back such lovely memories... of Innocence lost....and now found!!! :):

Of Evening turning into Night....

The view from my living room .... As i watched the skies fall asleep....