fall colors!

quote unquote!

"Sometimes i wonder if anything's absolute anymore. Is There Still right and wrong? Good and bad? Truth and lies? Or is everything negotiable,left to interpretation, grey. Sometimes we're forced to bend the truth, transform it, cause we're faced with things that are not of our own making. And sometimes things simply catch up to us."

"There comes a time when every life goes off course. In this desperate moment you must choose your direction. Will you fight to stay on the path while others tell you who you are? Or will you label yourself? Will you be honored by your choice? Or will you embrace your new path? Each morning you choose to move forward or to simply give up.

vitamin M

Money saved is money earned.

new phase!

The city of dreams.

need to blog.

As I was talking to a friend I realized that I blog only when I really need to express myself and cant necessarily talk about it.Life has been quite a pleasant roller coaster ride with all its highs and bumps.

quote unquote!

If you don't ask, you don't get.
There are no strings attached to this one.

Maestro!

I used to wonder why people would stay up till the wee hours of the morning 'trying' to
work.It is 5.20 AM now, today I truly understand the joy of being up to hear the birds chirp as I prepare to fall asleep.Watching the sun rise in perfect silence,I am smiling.

I attended a concert by Mandolin Srinivas , a child prodigy and indeed a maestro in a true sense.
It was an absolute pleasure to watch the ease with which he churned music out of the Mandolin.
It seemed effortless for him, yet the joy that was shown on his face as he performed was magical.
Humility goes a long way in one's career.
Especially as an artist,it is essential to stay grounded.

From personal experience,I feel performing on stage for a large audience is a heady feeling.The first few performances are nerve racking. All I remember is blinding lights and a few eager faces staring at me. Only after 2-3 stage performances I had control over my senses and knew what I was doing.This is where practice kicks in,only if you can perform a few times without any mistakes during the rehearsals you can dream of having a flawless performance.

As I watched Mandolin Srinivas perform I thought to myself ,having played the mandolin for 35 years a stage performance must be more like a casual practice session.I wondered if he ever got bored of performing the same ragas over and over again.The smile on his face answered this question for me.A little later I was told that he practices for more than 5 hours a day.

I guess as an artist you can never stop learning.

hope!

Sometimes deep inside you know 'something is not meant to be' but there is one corner of you
which hopes and wishes that it should be.So the million dollar question is "Should we hope or plan for adversity?".

floating thoughts!

I attended my school's TEDx event yesterday.
The selection of speakers was a mixed bag.They had people ranging from wall street traders to scientists.
The moto of TEDx was 'connecting the unconnected'.
The most inspiring and yet a very simple message was by an economics professor.
He had worked in wall street for 27 years.
He had braved the infamous NY-NJ commute for years.(=waking up in the wee hours of the day and staring an Olympic sprint to get to work on time. )
Every morning when he woke up he had said to himself "I am going to earn the trust of the people I meet today."
He then went on to speak about how this gesture had paid back when he least expected.
I like the idea and feel it helps you function in an objective fashion.

Monday

I have complained and cribbed a few times on a Sunday evening about getting back to work on a Monday morning. Today has been an unusual morning where I realized that I would rather have something to look forward to on a Monday morning than not.

lou life!

make the world a better place!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF5g2i8_HM8

Artwork!

Time!

The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.

Mission almost accomplished.

Almost 80 days ago I set a blog goal for myself.
I decided to write every single day for 90 days,my blog is a testimonial of
how I dint achieve that goal.Although I can tell that I did manage to account and summarize a few of my thoughts and experiences over the last couple of days.


I have learned and unlearned a lot of things in this process.I have a lot of ideas bustling in my brain.I have added a few more things to my "been there loved it" list as I call it:(the order is unimportant!)
I want to climb the Himalayas at least once.
I want to become a multi-cuisine cook.
I want to sky dive.
I want to drive from the East coast to the west coast and experience the change of seasons.
I want to learn to play a musical instrument.
I want paint my wall.
I want to work with children.
I want to teach.
I want to have an awesome garden and a mini zoo.
I want to study liberal arts.
I want to visit Africa.
I want to be able to connect to all the friends that I have ever had.
I want to capture emotions in pictures.
I want to have a movie collection.
I want to run a marathon.
I want to walk in the rain.
I want to be able to recognize raga's
I want to be able to make a difference to the underprivileged (This sounds like a piece from a politicians speech!)
The list goes on...
I will edit this post every time I find something to add or cross out from the list.

spring is here!

Time to get those flip flops and sunglasses!

Busy bee!

Been busy with work.Busy is always good.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

chinese market!

Out of curiosity we stepped into the Asian food center this morning.
The minute we stepped in it felt like I was in the middle of a vegetable market in Beijing.Chinese shoppers hustling around with big bags.They had sampler stalls every few feet with chinese women screaming and trying to attract customers to their stall.There was shrimp pancake,seaweed soup,dumplings and many exotic dishes that I dint recognize.
When I walked to the tea section I was amazed by the collection.
There was a tea for every mood and every ailment.There was super slimming tea,laxative tea(it would be evil to offer it to a normal tea drinker,I nearly picked it up),yogi tea and the list goes on.There was a loud shrill announcement in chinese,I could hear a lot of shoppers get excited by the announcement.

I spotted a pink fruit named dragon fruit just to mention one among the many exotic fruits we saw.It was a refreshing break from the mundane super market aisles.Although I was not brave enough to sample any of the food that was offered I am definitely going back for the shopping experience.

I have always envisioned how my house would look when I have one.(not that I dont live in one rite now.)I know the kind of furniture I want, the kind of lamp shades the color of walls and even the kind of paintings that are going to adorn those walls.Now I have an important inclusion to the list.I want a bird feeder.
The lady who lives next door has one in our back yard.I saw her feeding the birds a few days ago.I asked her if she fed them everyday,she said she fed them only in winter as they could fend for themselves in summer.
Ideally ,I would also want 2 dogs(ok if I have to be practical then 1 would do),a fish bowl and lots of plants.So my friend jokingly suggested that I should live at the zoo.I don't think that is a bad idea at all :).

Music

Just added a play list to my blog.
Scroll down.
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I watched a movie named "Arranged".
As the name suggests the plot revolves around the evergreen topic of marriage.
I have heard people argue about which one is better arranged or a love marriage.
We can ramble on about our views regarding this topic.
'To each, his own' .

The element of surprise!

I have always been a sucker for surprises.
This morning I received a parcel.I knew it had the laptop charger that I had ordered,I was not too eager to open it. Had I not known what was in it I would
have ripped it open the second I had seen it.

That being said, I do not like the surprise and uncertainty that surrounds the future.I would love
to be able to say exactly what I will be doing in the next few months.
Maybe I should try and treat life like a mysterious gift and enjoy the suspense.

monkeying around!

He has the "are you kidding me???" look.

Flowers!

Flowers make me smile :D.
An evening with friends,music and good food can give me a high that even alcohol cannot compete with.
There are times when the silliest things people say make me laugh, and I laugh so much that
my stomach hurts.
I cant stop laughing when people fall.(don't judge me.)
Dogs make me smile.
The prospect of traveling to a new place excites me.
I am just happy being me :).

An engagement!

The door bell starts ringing every few minutes.

Loud laughing relatives start pouring in.

Attention craving kids start showing off their skills even as their parents proudly

ask them to display more.
The bride's parents tension levels and concerns start rising as the big day approaches.

Loud music,fun,laughter,spicy Indian food,dance and frolicking sums up a wedding house atmosphere.

Just another day?

Hell no!I believe every day is different in its own way!Wonder whats in store for me today.Of late I find myself waiting for something to happen.

O

Have you ever thought that if one thing hadn't happened, a whole set of things never would have either?It is a vicious circle .It makes me wonder, if it is a chain of planned events and if it is so do you think it is worth fighting it?Is it good to believe that if it is destined to happen it will?This needs some heavy duty thinking!Thank god for colors and shades.If anwers were just monosyllables, life would be a black and white flow chart of 'yes' and 'no'.

fountain pen.

On our way to lab, Mr P announced that he was stressed because he could not find ink in any store.It made me laugh but a little later into the conversation I realized that there were more people in the car who were passionate about using an ink pen ,the same one they had used for years.I very sheepishly announced that I dint remember the last time I used a pen, let alone an ink pen.This conversation got me thinking,over the years we get attached to people and places we live in and at times even the things we use. I am going to use an ink pen to write a letter.:)(brings back memories of high school.)

let it snow let it snow!

http://www.chase3000.com/userpages/calvinhobbes/

salt and pepper!

Somethings in life are not as bad as you imagine them to be.Only when you dive into it you realize how much you actually love or hate it.Its best to jump in with an open mind.I figured, I don't hate programming after all!

Take up as a career what you would do on a Sunday.

-Mark Twain

what's on my mind?

Disoriented

Feeling a little lost, 7500 miles away from where I started my journey.

lal bagh!

The child in me is still alive!

Recently, when I found a tube of fevicol the first thing I did was applied some on all my fingers.This is something a lot of Indian kids in school experiment with.After it dries up it peels off like dead skin.
The joy of peeling skin off your hand is glorious.
The joy of buying cheap ice candy and yummies(tangy fried waffers just for Rs 2) is something I enjoy doing even today.
Some priceless joys of life that never change!:)

I am leaving on a jet plane!

:) Even when I am 65 and teeth less leaving on a plane to get home will
put a smile on my face.There is nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.

A day in a my life!

Sun dog

On a peaceful (read sleepy afternoon) in lab,Rich came screaming into the lab.He said he had spotted a Sundog.Yes a sundog!!The entire battalion in the lab got up and walked out feverishly to see what he was talking about.Not knowing what to expect, we walked out of the door and set our imagination run wild.Hmmm... maybe its an orange dog or a bird or a fancy car.He pointed at the sky and said there it is!All I could see was the sun shinning in all his glory.
If this was his idea of a joke, I had half the mind to give him a piece of my mind!
Then when i strained my eyes and watched closely I could see a rainbow around the sun.
A circular array of colors around the sun.It was an unusual sight.
It is bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring on either side of the sun.
Yawn!!back to work.

Avatar

Loved the imagination and the vision involved.The colors and the effects used were remarkable.

A string of events!

Never had so much fun falling ever before in my life!I tried my hand on skiing.
I fell and got up very well knowing that I was gonna fall again.It is an art of training the
brain to trust your instincts and understand the physics behind the way a ski works.
My skiing mission started off as a been here done that mission ,but I know I am gonna go back and try it again and again.BTW 'Happy 2010',Hope this year brings a lot of joy and warmth.
Looking back at the year 2009 all I can say is it has been an eventful year.I know my
likes and dislikes a little better than the previous year.I am curious to find out what 2010 has to offer.
This is what one of my friends had to say about the new year :
"So another year passes ... What does that have to do with anything? You're basically the same person you were yesterday (maybe slightly more hung over) ... Basically I'd just like to live each day better than the day before."