Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Nostalgia........

With Riviera'08 coming up, i have got something that takes me down the memory lane.....

The whistle blew…. it was just that moment…. as if back to reality.
People walked past in black, in blue’s……some with tags and some without them.
I stopped near the central place….just in front of the main building… stranded;
As the train went off, I took a deep breath….
In that rumbling sound, I found, I had gone far… a lot….ahead.

The sound that I felt was so unfamiliar….something so close but it was usual,
Now it seemed as if I was missing a train…
My soul was running behind it…. I ran … I ran….but couldn’t catch it.
My VIT life … was running far ahead and I was left in the place, I was in.

This is how things will go on;
We got to move on.
I will carry back the moments of that journey, the passengers, the stoppages, the breaks, the jiffs and the jerks….everything.

Someone just rushed past me… and I was propelled and ushered into a dingy room by a strong hand……
It was the feel of Riviera… ‘Riviera -The Life’.

I was back to reality with the smell of fresh grass, the atmosphere, the chattering, the laughter, the smell of paint and the intoxicating smell of coffee beans.

Who’s a senior who’s a junior.. No one knew.
All had but one thing in common: ‘ The Riviera Tag’.


A year long wait and the countdown begin…
One question in minds,
Oh !! when? When? When will it begin???
This is what my heart keeps singing.

I am excited , anxious, elated;
Hoping it never becomes belated.
The cheering-jeering, the selections, the sounds from the auditorium, music, theatre, artists, budding talents, cosmopolitans…room for all;
We are together… we become one… lest we may fall…!!!
A mingling atmosphere, never seen before but only in one such grand event… “The big Success,” … always ……..

10 days, 20 days, 56 days, 90 days????.....
It all begins from the time the previous one ends..
A great beginning, the rapturous music, 4 days of fun and frolic;
You eat, sleep, drink, play, enjoy, cry, wile away and wait until you see the magic.
None to bother, it is all a ‘We’ that becomes ‘us’
Life is spicy;
We make it icy.


I stand with folded hands, still I get pulled….

“Come on… dance”,
“Come on… sing”, “Come on… work”,
“Come on… laugh”,
“Come on… just live life like a king…..”
We are on a spree;
As we are free.

We realize, we are the ones who can bring a difference… ‘ A transformation…’
There’s color, there’s wonder;
VIT says, “Come and ponder.”

The yellow buses, the horns, the whistles, all are replaced by the flickering light;
That blinds my sight.

Woooooooooooo all shout.. all jump,
The rock nites.., the musical roller coaster, the foot tapping numbers….
We go on…..
The dark sky, fully illuminated, shines and all faces shine along….
We hold hands, in that madness;
To sing the song of ‘ Togetherness’.

The reel like life rewinds……..
It’s the stadium… with thousands… cheering.
The journey ends ends for some….
There’s another waiting but none better than this one………….!!!!!!

Monday, January 28, 2008

It's all about dance.

I was told by my dear ones that I am not updating my blog so often, so here's something new I got to share. It's all about dance and my love for it. When i am happy i feel like dancing and my heart swings and sings..." My dil goes hmmm hmmmm...."just like the peacock that dances before the onset of the rain. It shows my full energy and happniess for me is associated with colour. You would have come to know by now about my love for colours seeing the name of my blog itself so here's something that made me get atttracted towards dance and it began with the new show called " Nachle ve with Saroj Khan " on NDTV Imagine . A show where few students on the sets and the viewers can learn this art . In this we can learn dance with grace and it brings out the meaning of the cliche" Dancing made easy" by one of the best Choreographers Bollywood has now. It's for all those who can be patient and can spend sometime in front of the Tutor box. I got to learn something new this weekend and wish people like me who are interested can learn. I don't know myself how often i will be able to follow this show but for all those who can I must say," Try out! It's fun!!!"

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Lead India……………..

तुम चलो तो हिंदुस्तान चले…. हिंदुस्तान चले…..

Well I am talking about the new reality tv show, Lead India, started by the Times of India group on 26th of January in Star one channel. With Anupam Kher as the host this show has taken the initiative to get the so called “ Humara neta” , kind of a responsible individual. We, will choose our leader and this is no more restricted to mere words but now it is a reality tv show. After the auditions in 8 main cities in India , there were 8 candidates who were slelected and I can the 8 gems. Once when they were introduced in the show I could just say that such people also exist even in India. We wonder whether there are such responsible citizens existing in India , who can become the real leaders but now we really don’t need to wonder as there are a few in the crowd who can.. ‘Make A Difference’. With 3 eminent judges like Kiran Bedi, Vikram Singh( Sr Editor Times of India grp) and Javed Akthar, something good can be expected froim this show. The best thing is the sound track that follows this show. How can one not stop to take a look at the show at least once when we have the captivating voice of Shankar Mahadevan and Sukhvinder Singh saying..( tum chalo….) In short I can say… It’s worth watching . This my message to all the politics lovers, “Here’s something for you, take a glance once.”( Lead India.. Star One)

With this show running on one side, I got an opportunity to be a part of a real India in my own way. I spent my day with my friends Aashi, Ippu and Ani in an association for women called “ Markaz-e-Niswan”(Center for Women) in Vaniyambadi ( a small town near Vellore district). We spent few hours with the girls and the women there, helping them out and interacting with them and I must say my day was great. We got to see some individuals on Reality tv shows but behind the screens there are some angels who not only think but also, practice what they preach. Yes… I am talking about a woman next door, a doctor, a wonder mother and an excellent human being Dr. Zahida Parveen( my friend Aashi’s mom), who thought of starting an association like this along with other women in Vaniyambadi. It is increasing day by day in strength and I really hope it goes a long way.

All this, took me down the memory lane, back to my school days where I must be thankful to my school for giving me a platform to contribute to mankind in my own little way. I get remembered of the motto which we were taught in the Rotary and Interact Club…. “Service above Self”.

Friday, January 11, 2008

My Blog got a new look...

Now here comes something exciting.... I got a new look here. I changed my previous blog... Just as we got for a "Make over", my blog went through a make over and must say i have got wonderful people around to help me with that. I decided this time i am just going to give it all to the person best suited for this job. Well.... it is my friend Harshit, whom i am talking about. I just presented some of my problems to him regarding my blog and i knew he had a solution to it.
In other words he is the painter who added colour to my blog!!! The perfect colour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think my blog speaks well about my love for colours. :)

TALENT!!!

I come from a place, where there’s real talent, in all the fields….. Well… to be precise
I belong to the Steel City, the place which was the stepping stone to the set up of one the top most business groups of the globe…. “The Tata’s…..”
Whatever it be, Tatanagar( mostly known as Jamshedpur) has certainly got a magic…
Anywhere across the globe you go and u find atealst , one!!! Be it the command over oration, diversity in culture (a real India seen……) or the portray of talent. Hidden talent is brought out and in some way or the other I can say The Tata’s gave a platform for an over all development of individuals there. A small town, with simple people…..
Now that TATA STEEL has completed 100 years (1907-2007), on this prosperous occasion there was a Carnival organized in the whole of the town….
A week full of fun for all the people there… I was missing the feel of it!! Still I got a good feedback from my parents of the everyday gala's. One such evening was a musical concert by “Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy”, Mahalakshmi Iyer and Shilpa Rao( “Tose naina lage fame…)
I heard it was short and pretty good but there was a discovery at the end of the show. This very singer, Shipa Rao is a product of the very city I belong to. I was shocked!!! Couldn’t believe it. Kept asking my dad…. “What did u just say??? Shilpa Rao from Jamshedpur?”
It was so surprising to know this. Another person getting famous in the line of people like R. Madhavan, Tanushree Dutta, Priyanka Chopra(who has her maternal grandparents here) and many more…..

To be talking a bit about Shilpa Rao… even the people staying there had were finding this news to be new. Her father is working in Tata Steel. I was so curious to know about her background but no where on net could I get to know deep about her. Just got an ear to ear info from the announcement Shankar Mahadevan himself made.

To throw light upon Shilpa’s musical jouney in bollywood, I would say that she got an excellent voice. A singer who can sing a slow and classical kind of number like “ Tose naina lage…..” and the peppy numbers with her strong voice in “ Saiyaan re…..”
( Salaam- e- Ishq)… Well not to forget the song , “Woh ajnabee….( The Train) which too became very popular. It was then when I found that she has given her voice to the song “ Stranger on the prowl( Ek Ajnabee) also. Well… wish her career graph soars high…

A superb beginning!!!

A transformation……………

This is something which I felt in the first year… Everything was the same, the place especially and I was so close to nature….. it surely made me feel good. In the beginning of the first year 2006, I was in Chennai, when I wrote this poem... That time I had people around but hadn’t just understood the importance of friendship….

Loneliness………

That night, New Year’s Eve, Me standing in Eliot’s beach….:
Not alone, but with half of Chennai around.
Why did I feel I was lonely… alone…. Stranded, with none by my side to protect me??
I was lonely inside.
The feeling that I had to face this dark world all alone made me feel lonely.
The dark clear sky seemed to merge with the sea.
As I stood, the strong waves splashed against me only trying to hold me back from my path.
The soft sand shrinking away from my feet……
Only I could balance myself, not only amidst the active sea but also in life…
Coming out of a protective atmosphere, it was difficult for me to find a place for myself…….. very difficult, even to make my presence felt in the crowd.

I realized, it was the time for me to be the cutting edge, face the world which was as restless as the sea…
The stars twinkling in the dark sky, only to show me my right path which could make me reach my goal.
The light house, every now and then throwing light on the sea, made me understand that the world was not fully dark.
I had a hope….. a hope to survive, with all my efforts.
The radiance just proved that there were angels sent in disguise, just for me in this world by the Almighty.
I was not alone……….

Slowly loneliness started bidding goodbye;
I was in full control, with strong steps,
I waded through the reckless sea, thinking, analyzing, pondering………..
A time came when I had to jump, higher than a wave to protect myself, just to prove that I could overpower those evil elements in this world.

I gained power, felt as if I was with the divine.
I looked up and felt as if the sky seemed to say, “Go ahead…… I am there to protect you. I will always be there with you.”

So what are you thinking over?????

If you had been thinking so then shun those thoughts and say to yourself, “I am not lonely, because I have the huge sky above to guide me and move along with me.”

Guess.. by now u must have understood the context of my writng all this…

Yes …………. It was great. I am bit late in updating my blog as I was lazy to type as for me pen goes faster than my hands on the keyboard……

Following………………. the concept of better late than never, I start here.
Today, 1st Jan 2008 , as I write this I guess I have , made an hat trick . I spent three years and each time it was the New year (in Chennai)(in my friend, Sandy’s place).
Everything was not the same. I was transformed. Three years of college life changed me completely. There is a vast difference between the beginning and the end of 3rd year. There’s uncertainty about my spending the New Year in Chennai again, next year. This year on New year eve I was with 4 of my dearest friends in a place called “Pyaverkaad.
It is about 50kms from Chennai, near Ponneri district. I didn’t need the world around. I didn’t bother. I had few loved ones that time and it was enough. After 3 years I got few gems in my life. The moments spent, the fun we had cannot be put in words. The last 2 days of the year were great for me. I could just chalk out those whom I loved the most and were in some way or the other sent by the Almighty for me!!!! I always felt no body’s lonely and I wasn’t too.

The place, the calm sea, the sound of the motor boat, water gurgling on corners, blue boats with their sky blue shafts lined up and the water, so clear… pebbles spread wide across the soft sand, the soft shining sun, white cranes flew across, small fishes jumping and trying to escape from falling into the net, the lagoon …. Everything seemed liked a fantasy, mesmerizing me… at each moment. All intermingled with nature. The cool breeze brought in memories of the Adventure novels of Enid Blyton which I used to read when I was (10-12 years old). My favourite author’s books and I used to read and imagine, today, I could stand there and actually describe like her and feel like her. I didn’t have to imagine anymore and the best coincidence was that we were 5 girls, just like “Famous Five “, one of the series of adventure books written by her.
To give a gist of it … It was EXOTIC!!!!!!!!!

What else………………
New Year went by watching Taare Zameen Par……..
I saw colour, I saw an Angel In Disguise. Just felt it was a universal law!!!!
An emotional journey and two and half hours sped past like clear waters…
It seemed like a low tide with just the sun shining mildly over.
Wasn’t it????? Something like my 31st of December, 2007…….Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who am I???

I was there, I had a home of my own, and I had my lodging…… I was loyal... I didn’t want to betray those lyzozymes, those glands and those ducts that gave me lodging. I wanted to stay with my friends, in a cosy place, a place which was the most happening and spotted by all. There was so much to be expressed always. I had to be always ready…. So much to work, so much of stress….. I had to be ready like that 11th batsman in a cricket match in which all the good batsmen were down and it was a match where anything could happen anytime……

I considered myself so lucky to be a part of the most important places. The place where I live: A storehouse of emotions…… that serves as the door to the soul of a person. I am appreciated always, just like the 11th batsman, always ready; either I make the match a grand success by saving the team in the last moment or even get the praise without coming into the field but I am praised always for being there for support and ever ready because in critical cases I am just there and before I come into the field the match is won!!!!! Or sometimes I’m not praised at all. Only chided!!! Still I am there always, protecting………….

Alas!!!! A day has to come when I need to leave my ‘sweet home’ and face the world … I am shed out... I travel down the lane… touching the soft flesh... I breathe fresh air….I go slowly…at times I’m wiped off in the middle of the journey by powerful opposing forces or at times I lay there in the corner as a tear drop ready to trickle down and loose myself …..But I give my host, the identity. I lose mine to make those eyes expressive…………

Angels In Disguise

All human beings are not the same. This has been proved biologically but have we ever thought that whatever be it, ultimately our soul remains the same. All are considered ‘humans’. We all are the same, just as those thousands of candles kept in an altar. Each appearing the same but every candle has it’s own spark. Just the same way, we too have different ideas and the spirit within us is also different. Being different, some may not believe in the existence of the supernatural power, which we all call ‘God’. To an atheist my answer would be, “There exists a supernatural power which controls all our actions.” Everything is dependent on our own look out, whether we find the power within us or along us.

An atheist would say that we are responsible for our own success or failure. In fact I would say that they are correct in their part but have they ever realized that when in trouble, we find out a way not always by ourselves but with somebody’s help. Why can’t these third persons be considered as ‘Angels in disguise’? Simply praying and preaching would not do. We must feel the divine power.

The study of Spirituality: ‘Metaphysics’ tells that there are many kinds of forces around us, demonic as well as angelic. These forces at times guide us to do something. Nobody is destined to remain happy. It’s our own will power and might that helps in crossing those hurdles. We can’t depend on ‘God’ for everything. Have we realized that in the event of attaining success there are many people who serve as the wrung of a ladder. Indirectly or directly we are influences by someone or the other in life. Whenever we are in need we get help in some form. Can we call this coincidence?????......

No!!!! They all are angels in disguise, just sent for us. It’s a rhetorical question here. Think!!!!!!