Through the hammock - Nature Notes, Manali

Heaven on earth...rohtang pass...:)

Bodies, gore and journalism...

Sometimes I wonder, will seeing bodies and gore make me immune to it? I've come across journalists who see these and feel nothing because they're so used to it. After all, in India every other day there are deaths in Kashmir due to grenade attacks, in Maharashtra due to farmers' suicides, then there are the bomb blasts, the fires, the terror attacks, the natural disasters and the list goes on.
I only hope I won't lose the compassion I have and I hope never get 'used to' seeing things like this. I'd like it to remain like this - where these things affect me, even upset me incredibly like they do at the moment....for it means I'm still human and have not been devoured by my profession.

Ankahee

Just got tempted to post one more thing...
Please do NOT ever think of watching Ankahee under ANY circumstances! Every character in the movie is fighting for the award of "most irritating character" including the kid! Other than that, the less said, the better!
Yes, you're probably saying 'who in the world asked you to go for it?' Just that we live a stone's throw away from a multiplex so the other night we wanted to go and watch a late night show and Ankahee was the only show at that time...so we just went for it! Anyhow, I strongly recommend you avoid the movie.
Ciao,
M.

I'm alive and kicking...

Yes people I'm alive even though the blog has been dead for a while...
Just discovered that blogger.com is no longer blocked in my office:)
That's not to say that I couldn't post from elsewhere...had just lost the inclination to write for a while and I'm not sure if it's totally back yet!
It was a nice feeling to see that people want me to update and that I guess is partly why I'm writing this particular post...just to say that no the blog isn't dead - not yet! But it makes me wonder what people find so interesting in this blog...I mean why would anyone be interested in my dull, drab life? And complete strangers too? But yes, it's a humbling feeling and I'm not complaining one bit :)
Been extremely busy with work but getting more satisfaction out of it now that my profile has changed...more fun and more meaning.
Apart from that, phew...there's so much that I haven't written on the blog! But I'll save that for another time...hope to write in more regularly now.
Ciao.
-M.

On the spur of the moment

I like being adventurous and doing things on the spur of the moment. So when my office told me that I could take the day off for holi, I was quite excited. I wasn't supposed to have an off - never did on Eid or Makar Sankranti or Republic Day or whatever. Apparently, there's a new rule now, according to which everyone gets offs in rotation. So, some people were off on Holi and others will be off on the next holiday.

Anyhow, coming to the point... mom dad had gone to Agra for holi so I decided I want to go too! I found out a travel agent in my sector, booked a ticket, booked a taxi to take me to the station at 5 a.m. and there I was sitting in the shatabdi to Agra. It was so much fun. I didn't do much more than making a few calls and collecting my ticket from an Uncle's place but the whole thing somehow gave me a sense of independence. The drive to the station gave me a feeling of exhilaration. Any city is so different in the wee hours of the morning. I remember driving back from ACJ in Chennai at 4 a.m. I just loved driving on the road by the Marina and driving at those unearthly hours (a 2-wheeler at that) used to make me feel so free for some reason. Sigh...I'm missing ACJ now:( I also loved observing the sounds of the night time and I love to look at the night sky. I must say the night sky is the best in the north-east - so bright and clear. In Shillong, I'd be on the terrace for an hour every night - just looking at the stars, finding constellations or making up my own!

Anyway, my trip to Agra was good. Didn't play holi, just met up relatives, cousins, niece and nephew! The little angels are as cute as ever. I think these sudden spurts of vacation can sometimes be more refreshing than the well-planned holidays. Ok I think it's time to log off. Ciao.
-M.

?????

Yo-yo/Ping pong ball - those are things I can identify myself with these days. Why are people so inconsistent in their thoughts/actions? Can't they make up their minds and stay that way forever? Or atleast for a reasonably long period of time?
Why am I expected to understand and adjust my thoughts/actions/feelings according to what people around me think/act/feel?
Can I have some stability in my life? Is that too much to ask for?
And can I stop adjusting and give up? Why is that never an option for me? Why is it something I find hard to consider, let alone try?
Why is nothing ever ENOUGH?
Is it ever going to be? Is there any point in trying yet another time?

Gibberish

Raindrops, wind, sunshine, twilight
Success, failure, day and night
Happiness, sorrow, joy, pain
Shadow, light, power, fame
Body, soul, life, death
Love, hatred and loneliness
-M

Existential Crisis

What do I really want from my life?
What do I want to be doing say 5 or 10 years down the line?
Where am I heading?
Am I heading in the right direction?
Or am I static here?
What do I do to be where I want to be?
And how do I know where I want to be?
I've always maintained that contentment is the key to happiness...
How do I find it?

Narnia & Rang De...

Ok, I've seen both the movies. Liked both. Over to Narnia first (in order of watching) - it's a brilliantly made film and kids will love it (that is not to say I'm a kid). If you like magical lands, witches and a war between the good and the evil then this is for you. The locales are beautiful, the kids very good at their parts. The witch's role is played brilliantly by Tilda Swinton and the lion 'Aslan' is oh! so lovable!!!
Now about Rang De Basanti...it's brilliant. A very fresh concept and simply awesome cinematography, screenplay and direction. Must hand it to Rakeysh Mehra for the idea itself. Aamir perfectionist Khan is his usual flawless self and Alice Patten has done a great job. Soha Ali Khan is extremely good as well. I'm a fan of Sharman Joshi and Kunal Kapoor now! In fact, all of them acted really well. The first half of the film was truly amazing, the humour not cheesy but simply fun. The second half, I thought was just a wee bit over the top but all in all it's a film not worth missing.
So, I've watched two films on 2 consecutive days...correction - 2 consecutive working days! Feels great especially because the movie hall is right behind my house and no other PVR offers 50 buck tickets (only for shows before 1:00 pm). At this rate, I can watch just about any movie in the hall!
Other than that, mom is out of town so tomorrow it's my day out with Daddy. Let's see what we'll do...maybe we'll go out shopping and stuff. Have to make a plan.
Ciao later then,
-M.

R-Day and more

Happy Republic Day:)
So, India completes 57 years as a republic. 57 years...wow, that's a long time. No, this post is not meant to write on what we've achieved and what we've not. I was just wondering if republic day or even Independence day can ever bond Indians together half as well as an Indo-Pak cricket match can!
Anyhow, the channel looks great today:) We had some fab stories and programmes. I'm quite hooked on to it. The naitonal anthem sung by the top voices of the country was particularly touching. I stood up in my drawing room...somehow, I just cannot remain seated while the anthem is on and I'm glad I have my patriotism in place. The office is full of flags today...couple of them on each desk. I quite like it:)
On a completely different note, Ruch came over to my place last night. We had a nice dinner at Pizza Hut. While we were having dinner, Ankur called and said - "Hi, where are you?" I said, "Having dinner at Pizza Hut. Where are you?" And he says, "I'm at your place...came to say hi to Ruchi!!" Poor thing! Whenever he tries to give me a surprise, something like this happens...this is the second time he's come home without telling me and not found me there!!! Some timing we have, huh?
Anyhow, Ruch & I went home & called him & then all three of us went out for ice-cream - in our sector only. It was fun - walking in the chilly night with my two best friends, eating an ice-cream & chatting & laughing. One of the times that I'm going to cherish. It was like what Boman Irani said in Bluffmaster about remembering 30 happy days of your life - this is definitely one of them:)
Today morning, Ruch & I went to the Spice Mall & while walking back, we bumped into an old hostel friend. It was wonderful to meet her after such a long time. We just stood by the roadside, catching up on each other's lives. It was such a nice feeling. She's just the same...same funny, warm, talkative girl. We exchanged numbers & it turns out she lives in my sector only. We'll hopefully be in touch now.
Then Ruch and I had brunch at Mc D (so much for my gymming) & I dropped her off to an auto and both of us proceeded to our respective work places.
Other than that, I'm going for the Chronicles of Narnia with Ankur tomorrow morning. Will update you on the movie tomorrow.
Ciao,
-M.

A happy morning

I got up feeling warm this morning…Delhi winter is not its usual self this year. Anyhow, my first thought was – I want to ride my bike to office today. So I called up office and told them I don’t want their car. (It was also because I could snatch a few extra minutes of sleep)
It felt great – driving on a winter morning, slightly foggy, empty roads, no red-lights, cold air in my face…I loooooooooooooved it. Looking forward to more such mornings and looking less forward to the summers!
-M.

Flood Control

Tuesday was the day I decided – this is it! Today I’m definitely getting back to gymming, I want all this extra flab out before I have to shed these winter clothes. So I was high on motivation. Came back home from work, got into my gym gear and waited for the maid to finish cooking our dinner. Then drove to the gym, happily singing and humming. I had a good workout but I missed my last gym…I definitely liked that better. Anyhow, did my exercise and drove back home. I opened the house, was looking for the light switch and wondered what did I just step into? I switched on the light and discovered our home is flooded!!! Right from the kitchen to the drawing room, it was water water everywhere. The maid had left the fresh water tap on in the kitchen! Then began my second exercise regime of the day. Me in rolled up pyjamas, broom in hand, sweeping the water back from the drawing room to the kitchen. But before that, I had to lift the wet carpet and put it out in the balcony. Do you have any idea how heavy a wet carpet can be? I didn’t either – until yesterday. By the end of it, I was a tired soul (and body). The good part – I slept like a log on water!
-M.

Relaxed Weekend

I had a nice fun weekend.
Mom & dad are in Pune so I didn’t go home this weekend. Met up with 2 of my 3 best friends instead and spent good time with them. Ruch and I can never fall short of things to talk about…we laugh on the silliest little things. And laugh like mad.
It’s only with her that I can agree to go have a Mc D burger for breakfast (of course that Mc D wasn’t open and so we had to skip it is a different story).
So this saturday, we met up after quite a while and talked endlessly. We had a nice dinner at Sagar and then dessert at Flavors (chocolate pudding & blueberry cheesecake…sinful…sighhhh!!!)
After that I was way tooooooo sleepy…

Sunday morning, Ruch dropped me to Noida…the drive was good fun with virtually no traffic. I just love to drive on the toll road (no it was Ruch driving but am just saying it generally). Actually, it’s been a few weeks since I drove. The last I think was the drive to Gurgaon when Bhai was in town.

Anyhow, back to my weekend…so Ruch dropped me back and then I went to Ankur’s place for lunch. Aunty made yum khana…(mummy come back soon from Pune). Then we just chilled out…watched ‘Hitch’. It was so funny. I loved it. Just couldn’t stop laughing. It has some very nice lines too. So that was that.

I thank God for the wonderful family and friends that I have. And I thank each one of them for being there for me. I really don't know what I'd do without any of them. Mom, Dad & Bhai for being the perfect family - forever guiding me and protecting me (and if I say anymore then I won't EVER end this post). Ruchi for understanding me so perfectly, always advising me and listening to me patiently about the same things over and over and over again. Ankur for bringing the endless humour and fun in my life and attending my countless phone-calls about random things in life. Dhanya for being there for me since class 6 despite the fact that we haven't stayed in the same city for the last 8 years. (Ok, did I sound like I was giving a thank you speech at an awards function?) They are all people I can't function without and I can write about them forever but I guess this will be it for this particular post.

Anyhow, here's the end of my weekend story - I went home and somehow landed up in a strange mood. It was not the perfect end to a beautiful weekend but nevertheless it didn’t damper the good time I had.

On a completely different note: suddenly, I feel like getting away from Delhi…I feel like taking a few days off and travelling by myself to some small little town – just discover some place by myself. Wishful thinking I know…sigh!!!
Ok, that’s all for now. More later. Ciao.
-M.

Another new year...

So it's the end of another year.
And what's new?
The balloons on the channel logo and the year-ender programmes and the Happy News Year Sting...etc etc..the list goes on. That's what life's about now. Can u imagine - the high for us on new year's eve is - the 2005 balloons on the logo are gonna burst at midnight and the 2006 balloons are gonna be up!
On New Year's day - we sit glued to the channel...calling up office, ruining the ticker person's life by pointing out mistakes early in the morning. The same ticker person who didn't get to come to office 2 hours late on the night shift (yes the others got that much time to party and reach office)& had to sit all alone waiting for breaking news to happen (or rather not happen).
On my 4 day vacation, half of each day is spent cribbing why I'm not getting the channel here, the other half wondering if we have what other channels do...I land up at my favourite niece & nephew's place, play with them for a while and discover they're getting the channel at their place so there I am glued to the idiot box, with my niece nudging me to play with her.
And here I am, back at work after 4 days and the systems crash for 5 hours and I realise, I could have had that holiday for just a bit longer!
Ciao,
M.

A Stranger with a Smile

I sat behind the wheel
Driving on, looking at the road but not really seeing...
Thinking of the hurt, feeling the pain, tears rolling down my cheeks
And then he came
Overtook me with great speed
Looked into his rearview with a smirk on his face
and then he saw my tears...
His expression changed
In a fraction of a second he apologised and that did it...
It made me smile!
-M.

Brilliant News

Here's some great news...our organisation now has an alliance with a certain well-reputed American organisation. Yes, I know you want to know the name but I don't think I should indulge in that! Anyhow, the good thing is that we get to share their resources and training systems and technology. We also get access to world-class footage of places where we normally can't keep correspondents. The best part about the deal is that they have no hand in our editorial or managerial policies! Rumours are that competitors were vying for the same deal. Apparently, the Americans are quite astounded by our facilities and the progress we've made over the last few weeks.
So, we were all pretty elated in office and had awesome black forest cake for celebration:)
The sad part is that we still don't get paid in dollars:( {Asking for too much, eh?}
Look forward to updating you more on this...after all, the journey has just begun.
Ciao,
M.

Of Love and Hate

"Love and hate don't cancel out each other. It's possible for them to co-exist and drive you mad."
-Erich Segal (Man, Woman and Child)
I really like the line....meaning, you can love and hate the same person for different reasons...both extremely strong emotions and I guess it would be maddening to love and hate someone. Strange situation, don't you think?

A long weekend!

I had a 3-day weekend...good fun:)
On thursday afternoon we were told we could have the next 3 days off. So I just called up mom dad and asked them to take me home...seriously, there's no place like home. I went back after a week and felt so good:)
On friday, I just lazed around, watched tv, surfed the net and talked on the phone.
Then on saturday, I met up Toni and Ruchi for lunch and it was good fun. We met up in Subroto Park and Ruch and I took a walk before Toni reached and it felt like hostel days. Then we proceeded to Priya's for lunch...had chinese at YO CHINA...my dish was fine but Ruch wasn't too happy with hers...Toni was thrilled about the babycorn and the mushrooms! After that, we went to Lajpat thinking we'll shop at Sabhyata and it turned out that a sale was on there but sadly, none of us liked anything! We then proceeded to Westside and no, I did not buy anything this week! For the last 3 consecutive weeks, I have been shopping from Westside...don't you think they should give me a discount?? Anyhow, Ruchi bought a cute purple top and then Toni had to leave. That night we also had a party at Akash Mess - Jaggi uncle had invited us...the food was yummmmmmmmmm...Ruch was also invited so basically both of us chatted more! Shalu was also supposed to come but she wasn't feeling too well.
Then on sunday, we went for satsang and I just lazed around for the rest of the day. Today morning dad dropped me back and I'm in NOIDA for the rest of the week.
More later...
Ciao,
M.

Work updates

So, I've completed a month at work. Got my first paycheck:)
It's been very good so far. Over the past 3 weeks, we were trained in camera shooting, editing and writing & reporting. The next 2 weeks will be production and news gathering. Well, it isn't really new to me but yes, I haven't handled the Sony PD 170 before, so it was new in that sense. But the basic functions are the same in all cameras.
The faculty is great -all very experienced and the best part is that they all have an amazing sense of humour.Working at IBN is a pleasure. We saw a promo of the channel yesterday...looked very cool. I genuinely liked it. I'd also seen the channel logo and heard the music a few days back. The logo looked fine but I didn't find the music very catchy. I hope they get it redone.
During camera training we went out shooting to India Gate and to Old Delhi (Jama Masjid & Chandini Chowk)...it was great fun:) At the risk of sounding immodest, let me just say that I shot some good stuff that got universal appreciation:) It was awesome to get my hands back on the camera. I just loooooooooooooove to shoot!!!
My gym sessions got done a while ago and now I'm back to aerobics with Finesse. So, basically I just run from office to aerobics class and reach back home by 8:00p.m. I have to look for PGs in NOIDA as well...guess office should be shifting by this month end or first week of october!!!Ok, ciao for now...will write more later!
Love,
M.