DIWALI

Diwali is known as the Festival of lights and I believe that it catches everyone’s fancy, because even if it is only for a few moments, the bright lights emanating from fireworks lights up everybody’s night and manages to mesmerize even the most reluctant one of all! I bet it has something to do with psychology and remotely relates to conquer of good over evil and all that. However what surprises me the most is its lasting effect... of a shower of lights, the warm glow of diyas and the twinkle of ‘torans’! Maybe over the years, our brains have been hard wired to associate all those things with festivals and family and warmth which spin a web of excitement and fun. Yes ofcourse the monumental amount of goodies and comfort food does nothing to diminish this lasting feeling that leaves us in a state of bliss and contentment. Hope you had a happy diwali folks! And now let’s look forward to tequila shots at new years!

Fight!

When Spielberg lends his name to a movie, you just know to expect the best! Real Steel is set in the future, and centers around the sport of boxing in which giant computerized robots have replaced humans. At the heart of the story are a retired boxer (Charlie played by Jack) and his alienated son who share an interest in boxing. After his mother’s death, the son moves in with Charlie who takes him in only as a part his business deal. As the movie progresses, the father-son duo bond over their mutual love for boxing. After losing all his assets, including his last robot, Charlie unwillingly takes his son and his outdated robot to a fight. As the son controls his outdated robot, with Charlie’s aid and wins, the duo realize the worth of their partnership and train the robot together. What follows next is a series of wins as the robot finally makes it to the championship circle.

Boxing as a sport is violent even when a bunch of metal and screws go up against each ot

her. However, some endearing moments more than made up for the metal grating violence. Seeing the son yearn for his father’s approval and attention, Charlie’s love for boxing, the son’s dance moves as he enters the arena, all together gave the otherwise action packed movie a softer tone. It was a Thursday night on the 4th week of showing and still about 20 of us turned up for the 11 pm show. As the final round began everyone shared the excitement as the underdog robot-Adam faced the All Time Champion-Zeus! As both the robots switched to manual mode, the underdog robot (mimicking Charlie’s moves, a boxer himself) won hands down to the sleek and equally terrifying challenger’s robot (being manually controlled by his genius creator). All of us silently cheered as the underdog faltered but stood upright till the end!

Mausam!

Words may never do justice to emotion. More often that not we see that the beauty of certain emotions is lost in translation as at times there just isn’t a word (in the translated language) that is capable of grasping the entire spectrum of emotions. Mausam is one such word. It loosely translates to weather or climate. But in urdu, it implies much more. In context of this movie, it t implies the moment two people meet, time when love blooms, time of separation and most importantly the test of time that their true love stands. The director has managed to capture some of the rare moments of love oozing from stolen glances and silent exchanges. Everyday stories picturized are not far from reality and capture some strong emotions. However in today’s day and age of internet, it is difficult to accept that contacting people or staying in touch can be such a challenge despite what subterfuges were made by ill-wishers.. It would have been more realistic had they not chosen such a broad timeline or browsed only through riots and instead had included other happier life changing moments. Overall, I liked the movie for the principled main leads and their lifestyle and would definitely recommend it to those viewers who enjoy the beauty in simplicity and relish idealism and wholesomeness of love.

A Day without Cell Phones!

Getting over addiction is serious work. And a bunch of us attempted to do just that this last weekend! In fact, we truly didn’t know it was so easy to let go of our cell phone addiction. No 12 step program was needed. Like Kids all we needed was a distraction and our juvenile minds blissfully unwound itself and were rejuvenated.

After 24 hours of waterslides, ping-pong, cycling, nature trails, photo session, badminton, cards, food and delightful company, we trotted out of the country club feeling liberated and drained. Who knew laughter and merriment was the simple remedy for our weary souls!

When it rains, it sure does Pour!

Friday is possibly the most popular day of the week that dawns with promises of leisureliness layered with lazy lamhes and late nights! This particular Friday however put a dampener on things when the rain Gods chastised us with torrential rain and poor visibility that resulted in water logging and took me almost 2 hours to get to work. But no harm done, radio mirchi kept me company as I hummed along gyrating in my seat as my fellow drivers grinned and ogled at me. My shy alter ego (lets call her Avroop) sobered up immediately. So with Avroop in command, my mind drifted and I began fantasizing of ways to get me out of there. If only my little car could transform to a boat and whiz past the water logged areas and then perhaps into a sleek Harley till I escape to the sanctity of my office parking lot!

My obvious fascination and love of the movie transformers was instrumental for this reverie as I sincerely longed for my Chevrolet Beat to be one of those dynamic twins (ice-cream truck in Transformer 2)! Check out the green Chevrolet Beat in the picture below! That one is mine! Oh but I still LOVE loyal, honest and loving Bumblebee(the yellow Camaro) :)

More Monsoon Madness

Focus on God's extremely predictable and twisted sense of humor. You are going out for the weekend and just when you are standing at the bus stop, the heavens begin their downpour. Then when you are about to quit waiting for the damned bus which is more than an hour late and you cannot find a cab to get back home, the bus rumbles down the road to a halt and you are forced to get into it just to shield yourself from the rain. Then on your way to your destination you hit the mother lode of all traffic jams and are stuck in the middle of it when you realize you need to answer nature’s call! Tired and weary you reach your destination in one piece when it suddenly begins to pour again and you have to trek for 10 minutes in the rain with just one umbrella, two bags and an extremely aggravated mother in tow! And if you are still smiling at the end of it thinking, atleast the rain cooled everything…. You are a true monsoon lover! ;) :P

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLING

Whoever said the following is a genius…. And I sincerely apologize for not believing them before:

1.) Main cause of hair loss and thinning hair – Poor and unbalanced diet.

This is not a myth folks, please, please believe this. I have seen results in as little as 2 months.

2.) Exercising everyday increases stamina…

Most def does… from barely being able to run for one minute non-stop, I can now easily run for 17 mins (little more than 2 kms)… again in less than 2 months.

3.) Diet and Exercise works… Period

I haven’t lost any weight, but I guess the key word is “healthy”!

4.) There is no substitute for hard work

Truly.

5.) Being close to nature is heavenly!

I went trekking and visited wind farms, people this is true beyond the shadow of a doubt.

6.) Spend some time with children below the age of 5 and adults over 70.

Perspective people, right from the careless, trusting innocence to pearls of wisdom… forms the complete diet for mind, sprit and soul.

7.) Best sleeping pill = work day spent well + a calm mind.

Reading before bed will do the same to you.

8.) Experience is the best teacher.

Don’t we know it all?

9.) Kindness is the most precious jewel

Sometime a kind word is all we need and it goes a long way.

10.) Monsoons Rock!

Don’t you dare disagree with me on this one!! :) :P ;)