Road Movie - Extended Promo FT. Abhay Deol (Hindi Movie)

Some things are just not worth posting on facebook :)

Gulaal

A complete course in Politics.

love aaj kal

I have to say Imtiaz Ali knows how to use the whole Delhi feel or Punjabi feel in his movies. The scene which depicts Saif travelling to Calcutta just to see her is wonderful. Overall a good movie experience.

toubebas

Toube-Bas is all set to make an opening in the US market. We will be launching our first t-shirt, the IIT-B Skyline tentatively on August 13th!!. To see the actual t-shirt design and place orders on August 13th, please follow the link.

Pricing would be $15 per t-shirt.

IPhone post

This is my first iPhone post. Mood is complex and the uncertainities within are overpowering. Somani and I once discussed how much we both love secretary jobs, I think I would use this passion when I start sending out toubebas tshirts in a couple of weeks.

happiness

I wish I was a little more intelligent and had the ability to think deeper. My habbit of superficial understanding of everything helped me crack exams and get great scores but failed me to understand life and what I want from it.

That will be all.

choti baatein

"choti baatein ki hoti hain yaadein badi"

Just exchanged some emails with topi and puneet on good old Cheda Shopping Center opposite Y-point.

My IISc Day Part3

Later that afternoon, I met with Prof. Dwarkadasa again where he told me that I have been assigned to work with him during the summers. I was honest and upfront to tell him that I am not interested in Physical Metallurgy and would like to carry out my research on electronic materials. He was a very kind natured gentleman and offered his full support to me. Later that night I went to my dorm room and met my roommate Hrithvick, I do not remember his last name. Hrithvick was returning to IIsc for the second time and was carrying out research on genes and biology stuff. The moment we met, I was intrigued and impressed by his intelligence and confidence. On the contrary, he appeared to have figured me inside out. Within half an hour, he bluntly asked me that if I wanted to go to USA after your bachelors, to which I shamelessly said "yes".
Hrithvick smirked and probably crossed my name from his books completely. Over the summers, we rarely spoke or met as we were both busy carrying out research and were rarely in our room. Going back to that dilemmna I was in Prof. ESD next day told me that he had spoken with the registrar and if I am able to find a new advisor within a week to ten days, he would be okay otherwise, I would have to work with him to qualify for the Rs 2500/- stipend.

I have a strong feeling

That I am meant to do something really big. I am hoping I discover that soon.

That will be all and I end on this note.

"Abhi Abhi mere dil mein yeh khyaal aaya hain..."

Youth of India

I think Indian youth should learn at least one martial art. With everything that has happened in the last three-four years to Indians outside India, we should hit back!!.

Personally I plan to learn the sikh martial art of Gatka this summers.

IISc Days Part II

I reached Bangalore around 7pm and I clearly remember as I walking on the platform it felt as if the ground below was shaking. Anyhow, I managed to get an auto rickshaw an reached the IISc campus, clueless as to where I was going to spend the night. After talking to many people and dragging my big green VIP suitcase all over the campus, I met a warden who was kind enough to give me a temporary room for the night.
The room was huge, old and scary but I slept with the lights on. Next morning I attended a reception where I met the other 28 young fellows who were selected from all over India. They were all nice and warm people and to my bad luck, no girl worth my time was there. As I was used to such environments, I overcame this first disappointment with great ease and later that morning went to the Department of Metallurgy to meet my alloted Faculty member. I saw that Prof. ESD was mentioned in front of my name and I felt this was my chance to develop new solar cells. I reached Prof. ESD's office and noticed three other students in his office. I felt I was special so will talk to him once he is done with these other kids. But Prof. ESD immediately said, "Gurjeev, I have been expecting you, come on in"..I moved closer to the table..."7012 Aluminum Alloy would be your alloy to be used in NAL's unmanned aircrafts". Those words, I tell you....shattered me and they still echo in my head because those words were repeated in a slightly different form, again in Michigan. But that is a different story altogether.
Overconfident and loud mouthed which is not my natural style, I replied back "There is some error, I am here to work on solar cell materials". Prof. ESD, smiled at me and said "Come back in 30 minutes and we can talk more". I left his office totally shaken and shattered as if it was the end of the world. But when I look back, I have realized that life's challenges come in various forms and most of the times we just can't figure out things, can we?

Kaminey

I have a feeling...Kaminey would be the first blockbuster of the year.

That will be all

Son Of A Sardar

More than a sense of fulfilment and pride, a sense of urgency to stand up and act surrounds me.

long time

Do not have time to write blogs these days, facebook updates are way too convenient. But there are still somethings such as writing Heidi Klum is hot that I can only do on this blog. I think with Facebook having office colleagues and family, my blog gives me the privacy I seek (oxymoron ?).


That will be all for now

My IISc days-Part 1

Sometimes you get these early morning dreams down the memory lane and yesterday morning I experienced such memories from my IISc days. I had spent two months during the summer of 2000 at IISc Bangalore as part of Young Engineering Fellows. In those two months, I learned so much about myself, my passions and my friends that I can write a book on what went inside my head.

The whole Bangalore trip started off on a setback note. My parents were really proud of the fact that I got selected for this fellowship but my brother who is very passionate about booking tickets forgot to check that my train was not going to take 24 hours from Kota but rather 48 hours to reach Bangalore. We learned this only after reaching the station and I still remember the concerned face of my mother. But I assured her that I would be fine and what started after that was probably the longest journey of my life. I bought my first Filmfare at Nagda junction and read it twice word to word during the trip. I learned the importance of having a good book (not Filmfare level) in your handbag for such long trips. I also learned that the electric engine shiffts to a diesel engine at Kazipet Junction which serves the world's best Mango juice. Just like at Kajrat people go crazy about the wada-pav, people go crazy at Kazipet to drink some of these fruit juices.

Having successfully completed around 28 hours on the train, by the next day I felt much better, less bored and came down from my side upper berth. I slept that night feeling strangely confused and wondered why I was going to Bangalore for two months?, when I could spend that time in Kota/Delhi chilling with family

Bay Leaf Cuisine of India San Jose

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. The tikkas, curries and breads are all amazing and I think this restaurant has made me at least 5lb heavier in the last three years. Interestingly Bay Leaf has some coupons posted on google business pages. I have personally used the 15% discount coupon.

Pyar ke saath emotional atyachaar

Some cannot imagine me appreciating english songs, actually even I have some strange feelings declaring myself a big fan of english music. I guess it does not go well with my public image. But I hereby declare, I am a big Pink Floyd, David Gray, Billy Joel and now a Lisa Hannigan fan. Kasam se Lisa ne to emotional atyachaar kar diya (I was dying to use this phrase in my blog). The periodicity in her head movements is the killer and watch those feet enjoying the beat.

Delhi-6

Watched this movie on a rainy night four days ago with two kids. Honestly I came out with mixed emotions. The passion of the director was evident in the movie but sadly his hero could not carry the scenes well enough. Abhishek who was adding so much value to every scene in Yuva looked useless other than the achar making song "Saiyyan ched ...". Maybe it was the fact that I was sitting in the first row and Abhishek looked fat to me with his guppa-face covering the entire screen. Overall Abhishek was disappointing and I think the movie ended up being a *** movie instead of having everything to make it **** movie.

Sitting with two kids who have been brought up in USA, I realized that these movies are priceless to teach them about Ramayana and Indian culture. Needless to say RO-Mehra did a great job as a director but could have ended the movie better. The whole Amitabh helping out in his son's movie is not at all appreciated. Last but not the least, Soonam Kapoor is here to stay.

Nelly Kim

Everyone knows Nadia...but maybe not Nelly Kim. The second women in the history of Olympics to score a 10.0 in gymnastics and in the same games as Nadia. Respect...




Watched Slumdog millionaire today...good movie.

Luck by Chance

I have a feeling this movie would be a HIT....

I hope I can convince Ishmeet to watch this movie :)

chhabees janvary

Its only when I was standing on the other side of the line, I understood how much that line meant to me and how much I would love to be back...

Gajini...I don't understand why anyone would like this movie. From the begining the movie comes across as a second tier effort copying tits-bits from the Memento and the action scenes from Bourne Ultimatum. The Heroine is useless and tries desperately to enact what Madhuri, Sridevi, Juhi showed us 10 years ago. Overall a mediocre movie whose only saving grace is music by A. R. Rehman. That brings me to my second point, I think Rehman needs to cool down and stop being Reshammiya. He is in too many movies these days and I do not approve of that. Not that anyone cares but you never know he might realize it himself.

Going back to Gajini, the only good thing about the movie was the villians weapon. I think that is how these things happen in real life. But Aamir Khan, I expect better stuff from you, what you tried to show me in Gajini was a complete waste of time and I demand you to work on something original.


Signing off

Delhi -6

Saw its trailor for the first time yesterday. I could sense Rakeiysh OmPrakash Mehra (ROPM) all over. And Waheeda ..ufff..my $8 are already on this movie. It seems apna man ROPM loves Delhi to the core. It was clearly evident in Rang de Basanti and now he openly expresses his love with Delhi Pincode #-6. I checked out the music of this movie and it is splendid mix of various singers. A sureshot buy rating for this album from my side.

Chupke Se...

Whenever I listen to this song from Saathiya, it reminds me of Parle. Especially the lines "doston se jhoothi moothi baatein karke, teri-meri baatein karna". Saala ekdum senti aur jhootha banda hain. Dil ki baat kabhi nahi kar paata. Aur doosro ki kahani suna kar apni kahani sunaaya karta tha. Between only Gulzar can have words like February, sardi, Marwa, Mir in one line.

New Year 2009

The new year has arrived and we welcomed it with friends who are just like family. We sang, we danced and wish that the new year brings with happiness and peace of mind for everyone.

jaggu is back

Do not know what has happened to me but I am listening to Jaggu again. Something changed inside me and because of that I had lost my connection with him. But I am so glad to have him back with me.

Tere saath gayi woh raunak...
Ab is shehar mein rakhan kya hain...

Sab ganda hain par Dhanda hain

Recently we applied for a credit card for Ishmeet, so that she can start building her own credit history. And to my utter surprize citibank approved her a card for $25,000 credit limit (please take note this is based on spousal income). That is more than three of my personal credit cards combined. So now hopefully you get the title....

Topi recently reviewed the music of Gajini and he rightfully got the best song of the movie "Kaise Mujhe" sung by Benny Dayal. This song for me is probably one of the better ones after a long time. The best part is that there is a instrumental piece of this song in the album. Listen to the instrumental and give me two duaas...I am begining to like the whole idea of good instrumentals. Primarily because this is only place you get to hear quality flute and violin pieces. Otherwise the beauty of flute is simply lost in the drums and synth. Another thing worth mentioning about Gajini is the solo song sung by Shreya Goshal. A pretty crappy song lyrics wise but just enjoy her range.

what should I do....???

Note: If you have already submitted your biography to Marquis Who's Who, please disregard this email.

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If your data passes our initial screening, we will prepare your biography in Marquis Who's Who format and send you a pre-publication proof for your verification and approval.

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Kirpan

For the simple mind, the significance of sikhs carrying the kirpan (sword) is linked to our martial history which I believe happened by chance because someone had to take up the ownership to defend India and ofcourse Northern frontier provinces. But Prof. Puran Singh description is just so beautiful...here is goes.

"Every Sikh is to wear "His" Sword. Not his own. Kirpan is a gift from the Guru. It is not an instrument of offence or defense. It is a mind made intense by the love of the Guru. The Sikh is to have a sword-like mind. It is the visible sign of an intensely sensitive soul.'

The Sword Cuts rapidly and so does the mind

Taj Palace

"I have held my ground as human history has unfolded in its timeless procession of laughter and tears. Courage and cowardice, good and evil. I will prevail"

An adv. run by Taj Group in WSJ last friday.

flying back from NY

Flying back from NY was a cool experience. I saw three airplanes flying parallel or at an angle to my plane, different altitute ofcourse. This is just an amazing sight as you get an idea on how fast these planes are flying.

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is a cool movie.

cell phones

sometimes I wish, we had cell phone culture when we were in college...so many amazing moments could have been captured.

constructive ego

While reading a friends blog recently, I encountered this term constructive ego (CE). I must admit, I have been fascinated by this term since. My friend recommended that you should have a healthy dose of it. I used to refer to this friend as a "snob" quite often back in the days and so followed a chain of thoughts and I ended up thinking that what is ghamandi (snob) for me is maybe constructive ego (CE) for him. But the more I pondered, and did introspection to find out where my constructive ego is, the more it got clear that snob is completely different from CE and I probably suffer from a deficiency of CE.

The second reason chain of thought is, if I am right about this concept, why do I lack it? I seem to lack it more in my personal life rather than professional life. I could identify scenarios form my professional life where this constructive ego helped me withstand pressures and present my ideas effectively. But in personal life, I could not think of any scenarios where I could identify me using this CE to put forward my ideas or points. The lack of it always makes me go through pain and suffering. Some of my close friends all seem to have it including my wife. From all this introspection, I think constructive ego is a good thing to possess and in the times we live it helps us all to deal with life.

James Bond

So i went to see James Bond and sadly they spoke very fast english. I did not follow half of what everyone was saying..

that will be all

I salute

Every single paraolympian ever to take part in the Olympics against all odds. There is nothing I can write in this blog that can reflect what I just saw and felt. All I have is mad respect for these brave atheletes.

Dasvidaniya and Oye Lucky Oye

Both albums are very nice and capture their markets.

Dasvidaniya: is all about heart felt songs and my personal favorite is "Mumma", a sweet song about ma. I would rate this album a **** and recommend a buy rating. The music is by Kailash Kher (not 100% sure).

Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye: is all about Harpreet Singh :) The songs have the same masti that I would associate with Harpreet of good old IIT days. The lyrics are sharp and funny at many places. There is a Rajasthani number which is something I have never heard in a bollywood movie and for sure punjabi "folk" is making its way into mainstream bollywood. Songs like Jugni will rock the clubs for months to come. I would rate this album **** and recommend a buy rating.

Adsense does not makes much sense

I added adsense after both Topi and Parle added it to their respective blogs but somehow this whole adsense thingi does not makes much sense. It is perhaps the only google application I have come across as not so user friendly.

I still get the message my account needs verification when I have a account verfied confirmation email in my inbox...well...I got to love the tags for this blog.

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to one and all.....

what is love?

It takes a moment to fall in love but it takes a life to understand what love is....


I can hear Sathe saying... "Dude that is so gay, I can't believe you actually wrote that on your blog" and Abhi and Manav laughing.

Manav soon turns back and says...."*&626&%^od sab &^%$^&yaap hain"

Images from Gaffar Market

I clicked these while visiting Gaffar market during my recent trip to India in March 2008. I had visited Gaffar Market at least four to five times during my trip. My sympathies with all those who lost dear ones.

stay away from

Drona and Kidnap
Both are totaaal... tatti and very very bad movies

kabhi khud pe hasa mein aur kabhi khud pe roya

true....eh?

bata by choice

The company whose manufactured shoes were worn by yours truly from class H.K.G to class XII lost its founder recently. We lost Mr. Thomas Bata, the czech born founder of Bata Shoe Company. It is funny that all this while I thought Bata is an Indian compamy. Another benefit of reading newspaper.

Sri Guru Gobind Singhji was absolutely right about the uniqueness in Sikh identity

 

Our Canada Trip Summary...

 

Story of my life at Niagara Falls, Canada

 

Glimpse of Sheesh Mahal, Amer Fort, Jaipur

 

what i miss the most

What I miss the most
1) Go to sabji mundi on my Hero Ranger with a 20Rs note and get onions, tomatoes, dhania, mirchi, bread and eggs for Mummy.
2) Play in my gali with all my friends shunty, antriksh, sonal and raja. Maybe even badminton under street light on warm summer nights.
3) Cricket bet match with Amjad and his team. I still remember the key players in my team Nangia, Varun, Sonal, Shunty, Lokwani, Raja and Sambhav.
4) Stay up late with all my cousins (vicky, mini-di, gagan, deepa) making rooh-afza golas and sleeping on the chatt gazing at the stars.
5) Take a walk with Harpal Chacha to the paan shop at night and maybe have a softy at Jai Shiv Bakery.
6) Celebrate Diwali... bursting crackers and playing with the snake boxes :)
7) Enjoy the monsoon of all the things....get wet in the rain...kill the tiddies which come after the rains.
8) Eat kachoris at Sidharth Misthaan Bhandaar.
9) Sit behind Anant on his Hero Puch and check out Kota.

life

Life is full of strange surprises. I am waiting for my share.

Sikh image in Bollywood

The Happy-go-Lucky or maybe Always Happy - Always Lucky and loads of Dhucky sikh image might be getting a facelift in bollywood with Singh is King. It is strangely cute to see a guy in Pug and beard (semi-automatic) romancing with Katrina (feels good :p)

see this video and take a look..."teri ore"

PS: I lot of purists will not like this post and I know it.

Car maintenance

I have always felt there should be a resource to tell me how much any maintenance job on my car should cost. Moreover, the feeling that someone is trying to rip me off is so obnoxious that it stresses me out tremendously. Recently, when trying to get my rear brake pads and rotors replaced, I went through this traumatizing experience. I was quoted prices from $350 to $1100 for pretty much the same job (and more) so you can imagine the "someone trying to rip me off feeling" I was talking about.
I googled, yelped and forumed pretty much did everything to feel confident with my approach but in the end gave up and left the car at the Nissan Stealership. Recently I found a new pretty cool website that gives people like me the much needed information and honest price estimates. The website is called RepairPal and I would like to thank the creators. It provides you information on the statistics of how much any service job on your vehicle should cost you. For example, for the brake job I had paid $450 and I was not disappointed to see it as the average amount for that job. Interestingly, the lowest price that I was quoted for the job is also the lowest price according to the website. It is funny how I covered +/- 3 sigma by just making a 10-15 calls, scary isn't it.

khuda jaane

Khuda Jaane Ki Mein fida hoon,
Kudha Jaane Mein Mitt Gaya,
Khuda Jaane ki yeh kyun hua hain...

KK and Shilpa Rao have sung something not very unusual yet something very amazing. I guess I missed KK's voice

Avengi Ja Nahin - Rabbi Shergill

Comrades and Fellow Countrymen,
It is time for all of you to stand in respect for one musician, his name is Rabbi Shergill.

Listen to "Avengi Ja Nahin" and you will thank me. Maybe I am over reacting but if you listen to this album closely you will agree with me.

Lara Fabian - Ave Maria (De Schubert)

Enjoy

Atif Aslam, Kailasa and Richa Sharma Concert

So I went too this concert last Saturday, the band Kailasa featuring vocals by Kailash Kher was awesome and Richa Sharmaa was phenomenal. Not so suprisingly, Atif Aslam was the main act of the night and he did not disappoint mast tha patha....sometimes I think if Atif was a stock, I would have been a millionaire at least since I would have had probably the largest number of pre-IPO stocks.

I will end this post with a few lines from an upcoming song I am listening these days.
दिल की येही खाता हैं,
के दिल को नही पता हैं,
की दिल चाहता हैं क्या???

PS1: Naresh Paresh from the band Kailasa were great on stage.
PS2: Amaanat Ali should stop singing and join a dance troupe. He does not like singing and prefers to just jump on stage.

Reality TV as real as it can get

Amidst a lot of confusion over the contract and my resentment, Ishmeet had decided to participate in the saregamapa zee tv usa 2008 contest. She was enthusiastic on the amount of learning one gets in these contests and an international exposure. Last Saturday, her dreams were shattered because during the last few days when the audience applauded and the host Aishwarya praised her singing, the judges could not go beyond the fact that she is a Sikh girl singing a song with Punjabi influence. Instead of appreciating her singing, Suresh Wadekar gave her a condescending comment in the very first episode itself. Suresh now a veteran in judging these reality singing talent shows should know for sure that these songs are preselected and given to contestants one month in advance to practice.

The second episode was shot and Ishmeet rocked the stage again, this time with a sufiana song (predecided by Zee TV). But the judges were not impressed again because they could not bear to see Ishmeet performing at a level beyond her female peers. I do not want to divulge details about other contestants but there was this guy Jeoffery Iqbal and I can assure you he was goooood. Coming back to judges, other contestants and crew members told me that they felt a huge personality conflict between Suresh Wadekar and Ishmeet. I think he was taken aback by her confidence and voice throw, something he never had and had to stick to Bhajans and romantic songs his entire career. The other guy Aadesh Srivastav is not really judging but putting oil into the fire as needed. We all know how openly he dissed Ishmeet Singh during Star Voice of India contest.

After the third episode, these guys could not take it anymore and did what they do best. They broke Ishmeet’s confidence by giving her bad comments and forced Zee TV to change her song at the last moment for the next episode. She was given a “Lata-amma” song practically 4 hours before her performance (if you remove 8 hours of sleep time). She was competing with other contestants who had practiced their songs for over a month and a week of practice with live music. My darling angel went on stage like a brave soldier knowing her time had come because the judges did not liked her style of singing and confidence. She went on stage with just one practice with live music and did her best amongst all the pressure and tension. But it was her time to depart. Rest of it was all a formality.

In her exit speech, Ishmeet very politely reminded the judges that she does understand that her voice is different and she will make the best use of it. But I think even hundreds of Ishmeet cannot make people like Aadesh Srivastav and Suresh Wadekar understand that if Lata-amma sings an Abida Parveen song it is not going to match the class and level of Abida Parveen (vice-versa also holds true). No wonder these two guys have no actual work other than judging in their hands. Ishmeet performed her last act on the song “Yeh Ishq Hai” from the movie Jab We Met. As always she smiled in front of the camera and brought down the house. But she and everyone else in the crew knew she was targeted. She was targeted for being different, being a Sikh and being confident. I am sure if she had more time to practice the last song, she would have nailed that one too. But these heartless judges could not care for less, when Ishmeet walked to Suresh Wadekar after the show; he had an “I do not care” expression. I guess these guys work only when the cameras are rolling since they no longer care for music but something else. I am hoping Ishmeet got some learning from this experience, if not necessarily the one she desired.


PS: Suresh Wadekar stop wearing netted black shirts, your man boobs show off.

where were you

Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
Where were you when I was hurt and helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silenceI knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight..into the shining sun

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

I have a gut feeling the music will be very fresh and popular for this movie.

That will be all

PS1: Amitabh Bachan should stop writing his blog. Most of its is bull anyways.
PS2: Join http://www.lifeinlines.com/ by Maninder Gulati. I am still upset he let go of his kesh to get girls.
Ps3: The Bommarillu actress has finally arrived.
Ps34: I am running 5k after 3 years tomorrow, wish me luck

मेरा हिन्दी में पहला post

भगवान् गूगल वालों को लम्बी उमर दे और उनका स्टॉक $१००० तक पंहुचा दे।
दिल गद गद हो गया

surge ahead

Life has strange ways of challenging us. A person looking from outside will always get an incomplete view of whats happening in your life. Moreover, if you choose not to look at your life correctly you may also fool yourself.

The bottom line in life is that if you do not surge ahead you will always go down. Not because others will go ahead of you. Simply because you will slip down. It is only "you" (and no body else) who decides which way you want to go.

.

Jaane Kya

I guess Zubin is gifted...his voice gets into my head. Dayammmm......

Ishmeet Made it to SAREGAMAPA USA 2008 Finals

Bhailog,
Ishmeet will be travelling to Dallas for SAREGAMAPA 2008 USA Finals. She will be enjoying this experience with 20 other participants. I hope ZeeTV USA gets more sponsorship so that we do not have to shell out the expenses :)

http://www.saregamapa.us/new/contestants.asp

Jagjit Aur Chitra Singh - Sunte Hain Ke Mil Jaati

A rare classic...

Few pictures from Kota Trip

March India Trip Month of the Year + Tashan

My last three trips to India happened in this month of the year, which explains the title. I came back from India last Friday and this time even more desperate to go back again. Maybe it is the fact that I went back after two years but even 24 days felt less on this trip. I am sure, I will be writing a lot more about this trip in days to come. I travelled SFO-->Delhi-->Kota-->Jaipur-->Kota-->Delhi-->Kota-->Delhi-->Amritsar-->Delhi-->Kota-->Delhi-->SFO, in that order last month.

In the mean time going back to my first love, music....the music of Tashan is nice!!! I think it is going to play all over and turn out to be a huge success. Vishal Shekar are definitely maestros at churning music which is for those young at heart.

Very funny Indian ad for Godrej DVD Player

Another proof of the quality of Indian ads.

Classically Milds

Amazing new album my Sonu Nigam...soulful is the word.

It has been a long time since I have blogged. A lot is happening on the personal front. Plan to watch Mithya, funny how I do not feel the same for Jodha Akbar. We celebrated our second anniversary yesterday...time flies....

I pity Raj Thackarey

I think leaders (or not) like Raj Thackarey should be publicly punished and sent to jail.

Papa Cj - World Stands Up

Pretty decent....

THROW shAron STONE

Recently when interviewed by a Headlines Today news reporter Sharon Stone expressed how much she loves Bollywood and how much she is waiting for the right call from Bollywood. The reporter too naive or probably too much impressed by her answer asked Sharon if she recalls any recent movies from Bollywood and here comes the best part. Sharon Stone's reply was "Hmmmmmm Ymmmmmm yeah I loved this movie.....Hmmmmmm Ymmmmm Goshhh...it has been like six years....it was this beautiful love story ....such a nice love story....it had this female director....yeah I loved that movie"

music meri jaan

Revisited the music of Chameli a few minutes ago, sounded as refreshing as it used to. A very good album indeed.

Another short story, Ishmeet and I were listening to the music of Aashiqui and she so religiously pointed out that how much she loved the tabla in the song "Mera Dil tere liye dhadakta hain". Reminded me of a an old friend very kameena I must say who used to play tabla on the trunk of politician Shukla.

my roommates

My roommates/ apartment mates were in the following order. I would write more about each one of them soon

Rishabh Mehreja 1997-1998 Room #55
Ajit Ashwalayan Shukla 1998-1999 Room #101

Vishvesh Shriram Sathe and Manavendra Nath Mahato 2001-2003 Apt #2014

Ajay Mulki Rao (2004-mid 2006) Apt #1110

On Sanjay Dutt getting bail

"Yeh public badi jaldi bhool jaati hain. Aap buss judge saahib ko ek baar saza sunaane do, sab ka judiciary par vishwash rahega. Baad mein ek-aad maheene mein bail karwa denge. Kyon theek hain na?"

sab theek hain...sab saaf saaf theek hain

holiday season spending

I find it hard to understand why everything is taken to the level of fakeness(not sure if that is a word) in US. The Black Friday sale is another perfect example of this. Items are sold with an additional 5-10% discount on their usual price but the whole gimmick is to market it was over 50% discount. Patrons unaware of the usual pricing of the items tend to think they are getting an awesome deal and therefore end up spending on stuff they never really wanted. Americans on an average spend $570 on holiday gifts alone during the months of November-December. This gift spending combined with spending on the family makes this entire holiday season a huge factor in setting the pace for the American economy in 2008.

National Anthem Of India - Jana Gana Mana (By A.R.Rahman)

A.R. Rehman is a good man.

soon

Yes it is going to happen, finally I feel the urge to do it.

Another one from Sidhu bhaji

Sidhu's take on different forms of cricket (source: rediff.com)
Comparing the various forms of cricket with music, Sidhu said, "Test cricket is like classical music which has survived since ancient ages. One-dayers are like film music that leaves people enthralled and T20 cricket is like disco and rap which provides occasional pleasure in short bursts."

gut feeling

I have a gut feeling that a lot of you would know about my daily life after watching "Jab We Met"....amen!

History repeats itself

Shailendra Singh, a struggling singer was given the break of his life to sing for the Rishi Kapoor in his debut movie Bobby. History has repeated itself after almost 25 years as another Shailendra is giving vocals for Rishi Kapoor's son Ranbir Kapoor in his debut movie Saanwariya.

I happen to know Shailendra Hada because he was my brother's classmate. I also remember him singing in every single event at School, be it bhajans or awesome ghazals. As a matter of fact, our respective Father's were also classmates. I feel happy for him, check his vocals on this youtube link

Khalish

I just love this word...

Tum kaho to mein rok lo,
Jo tum kaho to nahi
Seene mein hain kaise Khalish
Teri kashish to nahin...

Enjoy this song "Tere Sawalon ke woh jawab" from the movie Manorama six feet under. It has the same effect as "Khamosh Raat, Sahmi Hawa" from the movie Takshak.

Rang De Basanti Chola

Just felt like posting this video on my blog. Ishmeet will be singing this song tomorrow for her play on Gaddar movement.

uk asian women

I have always love the way UK Punjabi women speak. The way they mix their sweet English accents with some words of Punjabi..adds an extra oomph factor. But unfortunately a recent study shows that they have the highest rate of suicide rate. Almost 80% of suicides are committed by Punjabi women in the UK.

I find this is very unfortunate and an huge shame for Punjabi's/Sikhs men. It is a shame that our women who have for centuries given birth to martyrs have to resort to such extreme measures. I just pray things get better.

I yearn to be with you

I do not know what got into me but recently I have this strong desire to meet the river Ganga. I feel like spending some time at the ghats and maybe even take a doobki in the waters probably somewhere more towards the northern end of Ganga.

I have this feeling that I will learn something when I will be there. Maybe about my ancestors or maybe myself.

my experiences in America

America is all about freedom of expression, religious tolerance and living the American dream. God only knows what this bloody living the American dream is all about. I will tell you something about my experiences searching for an apartment in this amazing country called America. It would not be a long story with lots of plots but a rather short one where I will tell you how an Indian can still feel completely alienated in this country.
I have always been living in apartment complexes so far in the last 6 years I have spent here. But this time around when my lease ended and my rent was increased yet again, bloody $1570 per month. Ishmeet and I decided that we should move out and look for an apartment outside the apartment communities. Thus began our journey to look for a home sweet home, close to my workplace, close to freeways, close to desi store and the usual stuff. Our first pick was a townhouse where the Caucasian manager was probably the finest actress I have seen. Ishmeet and I were too naive and felt that this would be it and how lucky we were to find this apartment. However, we never heard back from our actress manager. We learned our lesson or should I say were beginning to learn.
The second one was even better than the first one with a beautiful backyard. The apartment was shown to us by a gora son of a rich father. He too was a fine actor, showed us the house with lots of interest. However, he made one big mistake, he had told me earlier that he was going to fax the application to his father but he folded my application right in front of me. Two days later, we came to know that the unit was rented to someone else. The third and fourth ones were non-goras and promptly offered me their apartments but we did not take those places for our personal reasons. The fifth one was again a gora and man this guy topped it all, I could literally see on this goras face that he did not like my face. But I stayed there and irritated him even more. You can tell that by this time I had learned all my lessons. We finally took the sixth one, luckily this time the gora liked us and we liked the apartment.
This entire experience was an eye opener and showed me that as long as desis live in protected environments or rather try to keep their eyes closed they can continue to live this unknown American dream.

two controversies

Recently on SAREGAMAPA the three pakistani contestants got the lowest number of votes based on the Independence Day Episode. I should point that they stood in bottom three based on voting from all over the world, as Zee TV claims. To my utter surprise they introduced this random controversy that they got the lowest number of votes just because they sang Pakistani patriotic songs therefore, there should be no elimination in that particular episode. I do not like this at all...bloody bringing politics, controversies and all this country based tatti in a simple song competition.

The second controversy I cannot think right now because my mother-in-law made some yummy chicken soup for me and after drinking my soup I cannot focus on this blog.

Alvi and Madhur were here for the weekend and we had a very nice time. It is always good to be around good friends. I was meeting Madhur after a gap of two years and he was a changed person. Much more opinionated and strong person. I liked it a lot.

Mussarat - Sanwre

One of the best performances at SaReGaMaPa this year. Nusrat-saab sang the song originally for the movie Bandit Queen

speakers

facebook....

Whats up with facebook? Did they not think that hiring all of the best marketing folks in the world will be an over kill? I finally succumbed and joined facebook four days ago, I honestly felt that the site is nothing great. The only good thing about facebook is the small font size and that it is not blocked at my place of work.

One recommendation: Agnee, buy this CD. Its worth it.

And yes speakers was all about buying good quality speakers. Yesterday I burned a CD after a long time and noticed that listening pleasure of any song to a large extent depends on the quality of speakers you have. I guess a good speaker subsitutes for a Parle, a Topi, a Gandhi or a Shukla.

Wadali Brothers

Magicians, Musicians, Maestros

Try the following songs:

1) Tere Ishq Nachaaya
2) Ghungat Chuk Sajna
3) Dil Dena Te Dil Lena Sauda (*****)
4) Tu Maane Ya Na Maane (*****)

Read about these gifted musicians

Main Bauri Maira Ram Bhattar

A shabad from Ishmeet's latest kirtan CD

a trip to LA

 
That's my father-in-law at the Santa Monica 3rd street. As you can see we had a blast :)

The Gandhi Protests

Denied the permanent U.S. residency they'd been promised, high-skilled workers are taking to the streets in nonviolent protest. Thousands of bouquets were sent to the USCIS (US Immigration Services) and streets of San Jose saw engineers/doctors/other skilled workers on the streets.

Finally on July 17th, USCIS yielded and accepted all demands. I do not know how much role the flowers or the peaceful march played in all this but it was good to see everyone unite and stand together for a cause for once.

some of my favorite songs

A list of my favorite songs can be found at the following links

http://prats7uf.blogspot.com/2007/06/happy-birthday.html
http://prats7uf.blogspot.com/2007/06/addendem-happy-birthday.html

I would like to add two more though:

1) Jalpari theme from Saagar..listen to RD doing "Ta Ra...Tara ReeRaaRaa"..pure bliss.....trust me.

2) Mera Kuch Samaan from Izzazat.

SaReGaMaPa

I have always been a sucker of quality music and one of the best shows India ever produced well before American Idol was "SaReGaMa". I think even SaReGaMa was inspired by Meri Awaaz Suno but somehow SaReGaMaPa was our family show. I remember Papa and I would leave everything to watch this show and even Mummy used to finish her chores well in time to watch this show.

These days Ishmeet and I watch SaReGaMaPa and also Amul Star Voice of India. What amazes me is how much one show has impacted our country. Not so long ago when all we had were two or three main lead voices, these shows provided hope. Music which was traditionally nurtured in selected Punjabi, Bengali, Tam-Brahm and Marathi houses all of a sudden became an option for kids all of over India. I am sure so many parents would have felt that they should teach their kids music seriously just after getting inspired by SaReGaMa.

The end result is quite evident, we have so many quality voices in the industry (no no not Himesh) that every song gets a different voice. It has made life difficult for people who take Antakshri very seriously because remembering so many different lyricist, singers and music directors in a tough job now.

khilone ka dabba

Sometimes things around me our like a khilone ka dabba. Its colorful and full of so many desirable toys (read things). Without a doubt, I want all of them but they are so entangled and randomly placed that I just have no clue which one to pick.

I got my first issue of "The Economist" yesterday and as I expected I ended up reading most of it. I was shocked that one magazine had so much information and articles that were interesting.

I watched the IIFA awards too last night and I must say that I was happy to see Lara Dutta anchoring the show alongwith Boman Irani. Certain coffee drinking elements were not there and it felt good.

My in-laws are coming to visit us in a three days and I am mentally preparing myself for it. Hopefully it would be all perfect.

Mrs. Sonia Di Patil looks like a character from the south park. I honestly do not want her as the President of India. I think even her entire CV is build up on the issue that she is a female aur "Madam ka naam bhejto vote mil jaayega" attitude has brought her where she is.

Now you know what I meant by Khilone Ka Dabba.

one of those days

When you wake up and discover that you slept in an incorrect posture as a result you have a pain in your neck. I think neck pain is second only to toothaches. Somehow you manage to get out of bed and as you are brushing your teeth in a still sleepy mode. God only knows why, all of a sudden you picture an entire family standing with candles in their hands outside a cinema hall. You try to shrug this dream and try to think about Lara Dutta's awesome legs (am I allowed to say that now?). But something still bothers, as you cannot get over the thought, that why this dream occured at the first place. You finish brushing and go to the living room to catch the latest headlines on Aajtak and bang...the news reader says...10 years ago on this very day hundreds lost their lives in Uphar Cinema Fire. Not to my surprise the families are still waiting for justice which we all know will come in another 10 years.

I just pray to God to give strength to all the families who lost someone dear.

miss you always

It has been six years since we parted. You were there with me for four wonderful years and not a single day in the last six years has passed when I have not missed you or thought about you.

Looking forward to meeting you again soon.

The Bhullars ...

Okay there is no pro-sikh agenda here :) but I find it rather strange that I made the Saragrahi post and a few days later I read this story about the bravery of Bhullar family. A short one but still worth a few minutes.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=15&contentid=20070516021924531215e4be2

300 Spartans and 21 sikhs

While talking with Pathak the other day about this new movie called 300, I said that there are many instances of such bravery in sikh history too. To my surprise he immediately said and in his words .."abe sachi chadha, mere mann mein pahli baat yehi aayi thi, ki agar meine yeh movie banaayi hoti to shaayad sikhs warriors par hi banaayi hoti". Today I bumped into this interesting poster on the Battle of Saragarhi where 21 sikhs laid down their life's fighting against a huge army of afghans. Hopefully the creaters of this poster will not mind this.

1971

I want to write just one thing about this movie '1971'. It is one of the finest war movies that Bollywood has ever produced. The movie is very close to Lakshya to the levels of impact it leaves on you but with much much more heart.

The story is based on true facts and had to be told. Director Mira Nair once said, we indians should learn to tell our stories. Director Amrit Sagar has done full justice in telling this story that every Indian should know about. I would recommend all my friends to watch this movie on a warm sunny afternoon when they have all the time to think.

its all about you

Yes this post is all about her...the girl in my life...my wife Ishmeet. What makes her so different is her immense love for food. Matlab hum dono bhaithe hain and all of a sudden she remembers something about that nukkad wala omelette guy, they way he used to put full green mirchi's in the omelette, the amount of butter he used to put in the omelletes. Uff...and the way she describes it makes me wonder..yeh kya ladki hain yaar yeh. Yeh to buss ek kissa hain....I do not feel writing more on this topic all of a sudden but she mentions the paranthe wali gali and so many of her favorite restuarants.

So many things have happened recently....Spiderman-3 sucked all of a sudden. TaRaRumPum was strictly okayish. Parle is writing really great blogs and Topi is writing nothing. I met Mallad at Denny's after a desi party that he attended and was surprised to see some old H10 dwellers, also coming from the same desi party.

I am finally coming to the point in my job where I do not feel like working. I am surprised that it happened to me so early on..in just 3 years. I guess yeh dil maange more, maybe another omelette :)

I have fever

Yes friends, I am down with fever on a Thursday night so everyone in my office will think that I am taking Friday off not due to fever but to sleep. It sucks specially because there was an important meeting on Friday that I wanted to attend.

Maybe I have fever because I am sick of Ash-Abhi marriage news on Aajtak. Thanks to Jhanvi for coming into the picture and saving all of us.

TATA