Beedi jalai le by IITD guys

Bumped into this video on youtube. Somehow cannot make it to work directly. Enjoy the video...I wish we had camcorders available during our days.

Click here to see the video

Ya Rabba

One of those days when you wake up with a song in your head. Kailash Kher as Topi puts it so nicely has a earthy raw feel in his voice.

Ya Rabba De De koi Jaan bhi Agar..
Dilbar Pe Ho Na Koi Asar...

This song carries the crux of the movie Salaam-E-Ishq. I will give Sameer a pass grade on the lyrics and he has been given an exit seat on the Bus. This has significantly increased his chances of survival.

I am in the process of watching the movie Vivaah. I tried watching the movie yesterday but could only manage half of it. Went to Gurdwara Sahib Fremont last night and got my hands of this interesting book "Essays on Guru Nanak". I will try to write if I read something interesting.

Konkona Sen Sharma

She is the finest actress India will see in a long time to come.

She is fubext!!!

Konkona's Filmography

Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth"

Just finished watching this documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore (the almost President of US). I recommend all my friends to watch this one. Even though we all strongly feel about applying and taking initiatives to reduce global warming. After watching all the graphics and data in the documentary which clearly presented the impact of global warming over the last 30 years, I must say, I was shocked and to some extent terrified.

Please visit this website to learn more the movie and science behind it.
http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Spend some time on the website and probably take a print out of the 10 simple tips (link below) and paste it on your office/school noticeboard.
http://www.climatecrisis.net/pdf/10things.pdf

I came back from Atlanta yesterday. I was with Harpreet for 4 days, it was a very pleasant holiday. We relaxed during the first 1.5 days and played Wii for the next 2.5 days. Its amazing how much fun you can have with these advanced video games. Harpreet and I were at our all time lukha best during the trip. Infact, I even got a taana from Ishmeet that I seem to be so happy with Harpreet..hehe. Will upload some pictures from our trip to a german town called Helen pretty soon.

Music recommendation for you all from the movie Anwar. Awesome music, I am telling you this young music director Mithoon is going to go a long way. For those who do not know him, he gave you "Tere Bin" recently.

shore ka shor

I yearn for the sound of waves striking continuously on the shore. This is one sound that surpasses any other sound with its presence. It even surpasses the sound of you heart and mind and all you can feel, hear and think about is the noise of the sea.

That will be all.

I am begining to like Guru's music

This song "Ay Hairathe" will be loved by a lot and some will just listen to this thinking lyricist is "so funny only naa". But as soon as Alka Yagnik comes into the picture, you will realize that this is a lovely song. I love Hariharan's voice and his voice according to me just keeps getting better. A.R. Rehman led chorus make the song more interesting. Overall it is not an amazing song but listen to it for Alka Yagnik and Hariharan's voice.

Other good songs are tere bina (mazedaar song) and jaage hain, but this is an A.R. Rehman album so the songs which are your personal favorite change with time.

Its about to happen

Michigan Vs. Ohio

This Saturday

Its almost like India versus Pakistan cricket match.

Go Blue!!

Go Wolverines!!!

Gooo Michigan!!!!!!!

I am planning to wear my maize Michigan T-shirt to work on Friday. I know it is difficult to beat OSU because of Pittman but you need a HeART to beat them and we have it.

recommendation

More dead matter recommendations for you all:

Watch this movie "Khosla ka Ghosla" with 3-4 friends/family. Bahut mazaa aayega.

old pictures

I cannot sleep, I am watching Pink Floyd play in my living room. Seems like their music penetrates inside you and flows in your blood. I was just browsing through some old pictures and would like to share a few of them. The one on the left is from our Kurta Day. You have Nishant, Sumit, Amrish, Prateek, Me, Alvi, Soham, Vivek, Manish, Prashant in this picture.

Next one is an even amazing one. This one was taken during our fourth year corrosion lab. We did learn a lot during this lab class but it was more than the just oxidation and reduction. I remember Bhandari and Somani used to take off in the middle of the lab for other more important stuff. Look at Sidharth Bammi cleaning his ear at the back...hahahaha. You can see Harpreet, Parle, Ajay, Me and Sandeep in this picture. In addition you can see Sidharth, Rdot and Raghav Pradeep on the back. This picture perfectly shows what exactly we used to do in this class...

yeh hain meri kahaani

Major senti maarne ka mood kar raha hain but nahi maaronga because each one of you who reads this blog would be like "boss apni life mein koi kum tension, pain ya boriyat nahi hain"..hehe

So Mr and Mrs. Ranade are in town shopping for furniture. Actually I wanted to meet them for lunch but Ishmeet called me at the last moment and since "I am afraid of my wife" I did not go to meet them. Ishmeet padh le quotes wala part. She had a bet with me that I cannot publicly say this. Anyways, I am meeting them for a coffee later in the eveninng.

My current mood is like so dull...I am sitting on my bed with no lights in the room and as I am looking outside through my window, it is so sullen. The old chinese man is standing in the parking lot next to my favorite parking spot and is smoking as usual. He must be on his second packet already. I always think about talking with him about this life and sharing mine with him. But, he always has this local smoky layer of protection surrounding him. This smoke layer is very thick and I never dared to penetrate it or come close to it. Therefore, I changed my parking spot.

Parle has started actively blogging these days and Topi is happy that I am writing too. Between I got my car washed today, she needed it and had been telling me ever so sweetly that she needed to get the facial, manicure and pedicure. So there you go...yeh thi meri kahaani (abhi tak)

SK=AR

Just finished the movie Jaan-e-man. Something which crossed my mind when I saw Salman Khan (SK) crying in the movie is that he is the male Aishwarya Rai (AR). Both cannot act but look good when they are crying on the screen and have nothing to say. Funny that they form the "skar" (scar) on the face of bollywood. Waise the song "sau-dard" in the movie was a good one and Sonu Nigam again excels.

I am visiting Harpreet on Thanksgiving weekend for 4 days. Interestingly Alvi is visiting me next weekend. So next two weeks are going to be interesting :) .

Between, who do you think will buy craigslist.com and when?

crossy time

So I have decided probably out of my immense boredom since Ishmeet is in India that I will be preparing for a half marathon. I went practicing day before yesterday and since my love handles are so much in love with me lately, I decided to start off with only 3 miles. So the idea for this blog came to me as I was running.

I do not know about others but there is something I always do when I run and that is, I get flashbacks (I do not want to write I dream). Honestly, when I am running somehow I end up thinking about the past from a runners perspective. And one flashback which always occurs is from my first inter-hostel crossy. It was my second semester and I was running the inter-hostel crossy for the first time. I remember people in our hostel talking "Abey Sari nahi aaya" and I think Sari nahi aaya tha till the start of crossy.

So the crossy started and I without a great strategy went on running to the best of my abilities. I remember Chuddu or Rajat Garg telling me I am in top 40 at the guest house. So after the guest house the next landmark is the convocation building and after that there is a long down hill portion. I remember I was trying to just hang in there without losing too many positions and then it happened. I looked over my shoulder and I saw him literally sprinting towards the down hill road. It was Sari !! and it was magical. I got such a kick out of it and I without a thought just followed his energy. If he overtook 15 guys and I probably overtook 8 atleast in the next 1 Km. He was soon out my sights :) and kept on going.

I think he finished 19th and I was 29 (or 31), do not remember for sure. To this date whenever I am running I look over my shoulder and imagine a Sari just sprinting away.

There are many other stories related to crossy at IIT, I will write about them slowly because I feel they have to be told. There was an Alumni Inter-IIT PAF/Social in Bay Area yesterday. The brotherhood across the IITs was so evident and I guess its like wine. Do I need to say who won it?

I bought

Just bought two DVDs
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Voice From Heaven
Pink Floyd-Pulse

What will Paris Hilton space shuttle be called ?

Sluttle :)

memory lane

This blog was meant to be written two days ago. The purpose of this blog is just to make sure I somehow have these memories written somewhere.

First one, I think probably my third year mid-terms and as usual its Topi and myself listening to radio and trying to study. Shukla's steel trunk was borrowed because Topi can somehow never study without playing some tabla.

All of a sudden a Qawwaali starts playing on my Videocon dubba..

"Oh mubaarak Tujhe Hamnava mil gaya.."
Ab Tere pyaar ka Aina mil gaya"

God knows what happened we just lost it...there was something about the environment. We had these sudden attacks usually when we enjoyed something momentarily and lived that moment to the fullest. We both thoroughly enjoyed this song. Topi even wrote the lyrics and we sang it 2-3 times Qawwali style that night before giving up on it. I vaguely remember we even sang this song at some Meta event.

(I saw the video of this song 2 days ago, 6 years after I had heard this song for the first time that night. It is from the movie Ghulam-e-Mustafa.)

The second one "Lassi-oye.." it is my first song ever..hahaha with Gandhi (music by Topi). It was our second year and everyone was beginning to accept that Meta department was going to be our home for the next 3 years. Some professor was not in the class on time and all of a sudden I do not remember how someone said we need a song...maybe I do not even remember it correctly now. All I remember is Gandhi and I were there in front of the class and in total freak mode we composed and sang this song "Lassi-Oye" right there.

memories....Spoke with Saurbh Nishant after almost 2 years today. I envy him because he goes to run on Sameer Hill every weekend and I run on treadmill every other day :) no no I am not cribbing...hehehe

deliberate practice

I read an article on the importance of deliberate practice and how it differentiates the average achievers from those who excel in their fields. Basically this is what great achievers have in common. What is it about?

Its all about challenging yourself to excel and improve upon your existing skill levels continuously. Thats what it takes to be great. Just to quote few examples, Tiger Woods was 18 when he got is US Amateur Championship, everyone knows that. But not everyone knows that he had already put in 15 plus years of practice..interesting haina? I found it an extreme example since his father had supposedly introduced him to Golf at a very early stage of his life (18 months).

Lets take another example, the man I simply loved seeing play in my first year summers. Name is Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, the finest NBA action I have ever seen. Scotty Pippen and Michael Jordan in action...totaaal. Without digressing anymore, Michael Jordan supposedly got knocked off his high school team but fought his way up and used to practice even after his NBA team was done practicing.

So lets all do a little bit of deliberate practice to improve ourselves and enjoy the difference.

lost

I am so lost that I have no clue where to look for the right path. Maybe because I have accepted that I am lost.

something something

There is something about this combo = Alisha Chenoi/Vasundhra Das + Sonu Nigam + Mahalaxmi that I simply love.

Just came back from the movie Don and the fubext thing about the movie was this song "Aaj Ki Raat" superbly sung and the music reminds of those 70s and 80s era when the heroines used to dance in front the villain towards the climax....ekdum awesome feeling.

fubext is a new word created by me and I think in years to come it will get really popular among young kids .

mera kuch samaan

"Mera Kuch Samaan, Tumhaare Pass Pada Hain" this song from the movie Izzazat is supposedly even Gulzar's favorite. There is a line in this song ..."ek sau solah chaand ki raatein, ek tumhaare kaandhe ka til". I have discussed the significance of 116 with Gandhi, Parle, Topi and later with Ishmeet. I distinctly remember discussing with Gandhi about 28 days of lunar cycle but could never figure out why Gulzar used specifically 116 in the song.

The same topic got raised again while Bunnu and Pathak were here. And there Bunnu had the answer....and it was beautiful. So here it goes...

So Anuradha Patel (Maya) had spent four months with Naseer in the movie. So 30x4 = 120 days and in four months there are four nights of amavasya in four months...haina haina....bhaiyyan....badhiya. Chit prasann ho gaya.

atif aslam woh lamhe

Simply superb, I think this had to be part of my blog. Look at this fella, 20 something....living his dream.

Playing at Dubai Creek at 2:20am on a guitar borrowed from one of his fans.

the longest weekend

So we met, Bunnu, Pathak, Padma and me. As expected we tried to recap everything about IIT/H2 we could possibly think off. We told stories from our freshie times to our valfi's and discussed everyone with whom we had shared those great times. Sari, topi, chuddu, kabra brothers, skudge, bongi, kamath, chamaad, mooli, shukla, ambuj, pandya, pawan, basant, rishi rajan, bhurji, tau, OP, sarang, mhaskar, mhaskar cats, rajat, auri, ankur mohan, dhar, attri, TRP, munni, uttam, gaggu, kanhaiya, booba-lan and the list goes on. It was two nights of pure unadulterated cack sessions. There were moments of silence in between but the three seasonsed cacko's continued to come up with new stories. It was simply the best all nighter I have had in US.

Some other highlights of the weekend were that I also came to know about the snoring skills of Bunnu. We even managed to make a video of it :) (maybe I can send to those who want). Padma's birthday was also celebrated in style. However, Bunnu left this morning and Pathak's later this weekend.

I tried thinking about all I did this weekend, but somehow I am getting this strange feeling as if we were all together for 5-6 days or the whole thing happened in the past. Maybe the reason for this feeling is that I had similar fun moments only in the past in the place a lot of us call hostel two.

good things in life

<--This is what I am talking about right there.

And down here

friends

I read this quote while waiting for Forbes.com to load the story I was interested in reading...here it goes

"One of the best thing about old friends is that you can be stupid with them".So true, isn't it?

All my friends, we became the professionals we always wanted to be. Life somehow threw us all apart in different parts of the world. Friends with whom I sang those stupid songs, ate bhurgi at 4:00am in the morning. Friends with whom I drank, danced, played and spent the most memorable moments.....and I keep thinking its all gone. I even hesitate calling them thinking where would I start the conversation.Then one day I meet them and after the 1 hour or so its all back. All the stupidity is back...the jokes, the pranks, the bull shit. Keeping it short, being back with your buddies is priceless.

hmmm

Yaad nahi kya kya dekha tha, sarre manzar kho gaye
Uski galiyon se jabse guzre...apna ghar bhi bhool gaye..

more later

Ahista Ahista

Before I move to what I want to say I have to boast that I am finally running again. Ran 2.5 miles in 20 minutes and it felt good..

So I watched another movie just now. The name of the movie... Ahista Ahista. A very well directed movie with a simple story and wonderful performances. The movie hadvsomething usually missing from Hindi movies called characterization. It has been done nicely in this movie. Every character in the movie is nicely carved and has its own presence in the movie. I am impressed by Abhay Deol's performance. This is his second movie and to me he is already among finest actors of his generation. Music has been used nicely in the movie. So basically good man ki laltein ..the movie was delightful. (3.5 stars out of 5).

I feel so happy after writing these reviews.

Ishmeet's birthday is coming and I do not know what to gift her. So leave suggestions people, she like diamonds which I cannot afford...hehehe

no title

I somehow cannot think of a title as I am writing this blog. I do not even have a set idea for this blog. Infact this is not a blog, this is more like a diary. Yeah I think this is indeed a diary.

Having decided this is a diary, I think I cannot describe what is going in my head. The reason behind that is that so many of will read this and in the end I will end up like a drama king. Nevertheless, I feel like writing and I want to write so much, loads of it. Parle used to say if Chadha is happy his email lengths are short.

There has recently been not a single good music album out...that sucks. There is another interesting story I would like to share. I recently chatted with Jaswinder Singh, he is a sikh guy who sings ghazals and he is really good honestly. I remember he won SaReGaMa contest in my second year. He is a cool guy and maybe I will get to hang out with him when he will be visiting Bay Area alongwith Javed Akhar (yeah yeah topi is giving gaali to him) and Shabana Azmi.

The idea behing the show is also very unique. Shabana and Showoff Akhtar will be discussing poetry by Kaif and after a poem is discussed Jaswinder will be singing that particular poem. I am looking forward to it.

Writing is a good therapy, no matter how disconnected my thoughts are in this blog, I feel much better.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I was watching Tushar Kapoor's interview (the remote was kept on the other corner of the room). He was asked the question about his fondest memories in life. He said "the time I spent in Ann Arbor, Michigan...his undergrad school".

I liked his answer, not because I too attended Ann Arbor, Michigan but because I like people who like their undergraduate schools.

life

I think I need to watch Fight Club again. My life is missing it.
Those of you who do not get what it means have to watch Fight Club.

Also I want to pay my regards to Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib.

desh mere

desh mere desh mere, meri jaan hain tu
desh mere desh mere, meri aan hain tu

I think only after coming to US, in a alien country I have realized that I am an Indian. Honestly, for someone like me it took me to get outside of India, away from Indianness to realize how much love you I had for my country.

Being a sikh it is very difficult for me to say 1984 happenings did not affect me. Ofcourse I do feel hurt that sikhs were slaughtered in 1984. Still even after what happened in 1984, I love India, thats where my heart is. I will not say the same thing about Indian judicial system though.

omkaara

Yaar omkaara dekh lo bass. Movie has screenplay and direction in certain scenes which just touches you. Also the music is just terrific, specially the waking up song. First time I saw a movie with a waking up song, and the beauty with which Vishal has used this song....uffffff.

Other than this, life is okay. Bammi has moved to Bay Area, Topi is busy hunting job, Gandhi is already at it.

okay tata

a dialogue from the movie Syriana

Intense movie and a dialogue I loved in the begining of the movie.

A father and son (both pakistani) are sad that the company they were working for has been bought by Chinese. Sad over the new development and with fear of losing their jobs, the father tells the son:

"Chinese bade kharab driver hote hain, inhe gaadi chalana to door dhone bhi nahi dena chahiye"

I liked the dialogue more when I heard it but somehow after writing, it does not seem to be that funny..

anyhow

hbs working knowledge

A nice source of cool articles by the best in the fields. Give it a shot, you will learn something for sure.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/

I am going to watch Omkara today, seems to be a good movie. I just realized again yesterday how much I do not like loud punjabi's boasting their personal wealth. Also the artificial nature of their so called friendship with each other. No wonder that love increases exponentially as a function of the alcohol content in their blood.

game over

Something I liked about the movie "Being Cyrus". Its about chess,

"After the game, both the king and pawn go back into the same box"

attention is all about

Walking with a beautiful girl.

why me?

I used to wonder how does Babaji select the chosen ones. I am not defining chosen for what but somehow tonight as I sit alone in my living room I have this feeling that I am chosen.


But why me?

News

So here is the news. There is a movie coming out on the Komagata Maru incident. Dayam now I have to rethink the story of my first movie. It feels really bad that you nurture an idea for so long and just because you do not have the required resources someone else goes with the idea before you. Anyhow, my biwi made some awesome aloo ke paraounthe today. I have put on weight and need to start running again. Work related frustations are at an all time high.

aaj maamla sad hain

Khamosh sa afsaana paani se likha hota
Na tumne kahan hota, Na humne suna hota.

One of the days when you give a lot of thinking about where your life is headed to. Did you take the right decision ? And hazaaar other what if's. All this made me really flustered and sad to some extent. And I found recluse with nothing else but a song from Gulzar Sahib.

That will be all.

Kitne saahil dhoonde koi saamne na aaya,
Jab majhdaar mein doobe saahil saame aaya,
Tumne saahil ko pahle bichaaya hota.