Republic Day

This year after a very long time we had a get together in our building......and I could not believe how much fun it was to meet everyone....Usually when I go to parties, I get bored after sometime because I always do not know everyone present in the crowd. But its totally different when there's a party and you just know everyone and everybody seems like a family because you have known most of them for years....... it gives me a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that i have a lot of people around me!

These gatherings are a lot of fun and more like a family reunion, filled with music, dance, good food, endless teasing, having to listen to some really bad singers :D and dull jokes......but who cares?

Certainly not me :)

Another day at home

Today was Saraswati puja and inevitably another break from the usual otherwise monotonous life in general. As I knew from yesterday only that today will be a day off, I went and rented 3 movies. Last night ended up watching the 7Th part of American Pie(Book of Love).....it was not as good as the first 2-3 parts. Its getting more weird it seems.....will not watch it anymore....... today the day began with my usual household chores, gave anjali. Then watched a chick flick called 17again which featured Mathew Perry in it and also Zac. .......had a good lunch........then made custard.......watched a Bengali movie(Herar Angti) for a change after this. It was actually Rituparno Ghosh's first film and pretty good I must say...... not the usual arty films he usually makes these days.......will get back to studies now.

Christmas in Kerala

Rajasthan and Kerala have been always the top two Indian destinations I had always wanted to visit.........and I finally got my big chance this December when my aunt and uncle offered to take me along with them to Kerala.

After much deliberation on my uncle's part we decided to see Munnar, Thekkadi and Periyar. I personally would have loved to add Allepi to our list as well because that's where you can find the true essence of Kerala i.e in its backwaters. Anyway with much enthusiasm i set forth for this paradise early on 24Th morning to Cochin from where we were supposed to travel by road straight to Munnar.

I had heard that Kerala was a Christian state but just had not realized how different it could possibly be from a Hindu one. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many churches dotting the entire countryside.......and the best part was that they were all different but very pretty architecturally. I somehow felt like getting down and taking photos of each and every church that i passed by but due to time crunch was not able to.

We finally reached Munnar in the evening by which time the citizens had already stated lighting their homes and streets and Christmas's carols could be heard playing in the microphone... having studied in a catholic school. I never realized when bible reading and carol singing became part of my life... it actually felt good hearing all this after so long. Anyway that evening a big Christmas party was hosted in our hotel itself which was a lot of fun and the best part was that wine was free :)

We stayed in Munnar for 4 days which is basically a hill station. During this time we saw a lot of waterfalls, Nilgiri tahir(belongs to goat family), dams and even a sandalwood forest. The scenery was absolutely mind blowing at all times. This place is completely full of tea estates and coffee plantations. Perhaps the best part was (for me at least) was the rock climbing. I climbed almost 30feet and also did rappelling!

After that we stayed in Thekkadi for about 2.5 days. This place was a complete contrast to Munnar. Over here we saw the famous kathakali dance and other forms of their Kala. We also visited spice gardens which was quite a novel idea .......different actually.

My visit ended on 30Th December when i caught the plane back home. But would definitely like to see the other parts of Kerala someday. Its truly a wonderful place!

An Unexpected Bandh

Bandhs are a common sight for those who have grown up in kolkata. Its a usual thing for the locals almost......because every few months some party or the other is always calling a bandh in the city. The kolkatans on the basis of the information that who has called the bandh decide whether it is safe to venture out or not. This is because some parties are considered to have more stronghold than the others and as such their measures would be much more effective, for these parties in their quest to see that locals don't leave their homes often tend to become inhuman. These so called political parties are doing nothing but hamper and endanger human lives in this state. If they had been as religious in their mission to help in the growth of West Bengal then today this place would have been a far better place to live in.

I have heard people often complain about these strikes because most people feel that their daily lives get disrupted due to inconveniences in commutation and also since brawls are not uncommon on such occasions.

I on the other hand actually enjoy bandhs :) In fact as far as I can recall I have always thoroughly enjoyed these strikes, for they brought with them unexpected leaves from school, college and work. I somehow quite enjoy these stolen moments of staying back at home and hiding behind the excuse of strikes.....its not because i am afraid to step out but because I like the idea of staying back and doing things I want to do. For example today i got up late....had a good breakfast....watched 2 movies in quick succession and might go out in the evening. For me these political unrests act as a source of quick rejuvenation........much more better, effective and cheaper than beauty spas :)

Indipop

Indipop was very much in vogue during the late 1990's . India saw a great many new singers during that phase. It marked their foray into bollywood as playback singers for some while others just disappeared with time. I remember i was in school during that period and simply loved watching the videos in MTV and the one or 2 other music channels which were prevalent in those times.

Shaan, Hariharan, Rageshwari, Sunita Rao, Shwetta Shetty, Mehnaz, Alisha Chinai, Subha Mudgal were few of the famous singers of that period. Asha Bhosle too at that point had just started remixing a few of her famous songs such as "Do lawzo ki hai yeh Zindagani", "Parde mein rehne do" etc. Although " Raat Shabnami was probably her biggest hit around that time. I specially liked that song because it had Milind Soman in that video and in my then adoloscent mind, he was the most perfect man :) ....

The beginening of the millenium saw the rise of various Indian bands as well such as Euphoria, Band of Boys, Viva, Asma etc.........none which sadly exists today. Some of their famous songs were "dhoom pe chak dhoom", "Meri neend udd gayi hai", Chandu ke chacha" etc

So due to all this different bands or musicians we saw and heard a great many type of mixes in the music which had never been their before. These people brought with them a new genre of music which were experimental, and different from what the Indians were generally used to. A lot of fusion music also started getting popular during this time. They completely raised the bar of Indian musical standard.....although there were several dud songs as well.

Other songs which i liked during that period were "Dekhi hai sari duniya", "Ab ke sawan", "Pari hoon main", "Krishna ni begani" etc Those were really the days when i used to spend hours glued to the television just to watch these songs again and again.

These days good music in the form of Indipop would be only the sufi styled songs of Kailash Kher. I really liked his songs "teri deewani" and "saiyyan" and "Tauba tauba". Another guy with tremendous talent and potential is Raghav Sanchar. I completely love the instrumental music he has come up with in the song "om jai Jagdish Harey" where i believe he has played some 9 different musical instruments.

The market for Indipop has completely dipped theses days only those who can afford to make music are doing it but the result is seldom good. The level of music has also dipped. I for one would completely love to hear the yesteryear singers to revive their careers once again!

Personal Space

Personal space as we know, is generally an imaginary space, which we psychologically consider as our own. Its like an invisible bubble which is surrounding us. Invasion or intrusion at any point causes any person whose space has been infringed on , to become discomforted, anxious or even angry.

For example, a few years back I had gone to ORko's in City Centre for lunch with my family. The person who was serving us stood right next to us the entire time, making it difficult for us to have a decent conversation even. Its true that the poor person was only trying to show how efficient he was by being close to us but what he didn't realise was that he was intruding into our space. So the outcome was we didn't really enjoy the meal which we would have done in any other circumstance.

I am not sure when i became consciously aware of my personal space, but it has become something which i have come to value a lot. I have started giving a lot of priority to it of late and I completely dislike it when someone tries to step into my space. I usually take a lot of time to let people into my enclosed area which i consider to be my personal domain. I have had people telling me that i do not trust them but its not so always. Its just that i take my own time to feel comfortable around people.