Enjoying snowfall after a decade

All of us want to wake up to a beautiful morning and what if you wake up to see snow clad mountains right in front of your eyes???????

“Awesome”, “Amazing”, “Waooooooo” and what not. That’s what I was yelling this morning.

I was fortunate enough to wake up to enjoy this view right from my bed room. Here's a glimpse for everyone to enjoy.

Location: Shimla, my mumz house

The adieu is still afar

It's been a long while that i've posted something on this blog. For those wondering if this space is still kicking, here's the word - this blog is alive and very much on the horizon.

Personal commitments and health issues kept me away from many things that I love to do - blogging being one of them. Soon there will be more fun notes about why life couldn't be better.

U-turn in dressing: Back to the 90's Govindas

Spoiler Alert: This post is strictly for those who grew up in the 90s.

Back in 1993-94 life was much simpler. I was in class five and life was just about books, friends, movies, vacations and stuff happening at home. We had a VCR - which was like the coolest thing to own - in that age. During vacations, dad got us video cassettes which were on rental basis and hence every minute with the movie cassette seemed precious. Occasionally we invited our cousins for these "movie shows" but rest of the time me and bro would fight about which movie to watch.

We saw 'Aankhen' (1993) and were dazed with the histrionics of Govinda and Chunky Pandey but one thing that struck us was the awkward clothing sense. Like these very bright coloured shirts in gaudy colours, Govinda in white shoes and pants and dancing away to glory. And it wasn't just Govinda, it was the popular trend. I clearly remember most friends discussing these absurd colour & dressing combinations, belittling this sense of dressing and codenaming "Govinda" to all people who followed this dressing.

Belonging to salaried-class family in a sleepy town, it was too much for our imagination to bear as to how could someone wear this awkward 'florescent' pant/shirt.

This went on for quite some years and whenever me and gang of college friends saw somebody with purple pants, bright yellow shirt, red/green cap or anything that would be bizarre by average sensibilities was called 'Govinda'; or 'Govindi' (if it was a girl). PS: This wasn't to belittle the great actor but his popularity was such that almost everyone wanted to copy his mannerisms and at times went really far aping his dressing style.  

Now cut to 2012, the bizarre coloured pants, striking combinations are in vogue (suddenly). This year the most popular clothing is chinos (now available in feminine version as well) - informal, comfortable cotton pants in as many bright colours as you can imagine - purple, bright green, yellow, red, orange - whatever you dare to wear.

Team this with a contrasting top/t-shit and loafers (both again in bright colours). You'll find many (read hundreds) of college kids, yonng professionals aping this dressing. And you'll find them everywhere - malls, eateries, so called "handing out" zones et al. 

Makes me think if I was wrong about the "Govinda" remark in the first place. And while I write this, I am reminded of bright red loafers that hubby dearest gifted me a month ago. He thought it was cool and would be quite a style statement for my Singapore trip and he boasted "try wearing something classy". "Classy?????????? bright red shoes???  Well so after so many ages I have joined the "Govinda" clan after all.

Just another reason why “Life Just Couldn’t Be Better"

Writing after a long time, but this incident is so compelling that I could not stop myself from sharing it with others.

It's a regular Sunday morning when I wake up only to let the maid in to do the basic chores. Other days, I don’t have that luxury and I'm already up and ready to leave for work when the maid turns up for cleaning. And maybe she was waiting for this day, she quietly mopped the floor besides me while I read the movie reviews. Then she politely asked me, "yeh jo aapka compooter hai woh dusre se alag kayon hai" (why is your computer different from others). I looked around and found that both my Ipad and laptop were kept on the dining table (somehow dining table becomes the gadget desk on weekend when I just use stuff and leave them for charging)

As I gaped at her, she pointed at the laptop "yeh wala" (this one). I understood she was talking about the laptop. I told her that this was a computer and was light and mobile and was called laptop. Then I probed into her query and realized she wants to know the difference between desktop and laptop.

I thought the conversation would end here, but it went on to an interesting point. She disclosed that her youngest daughter is studying computers (probably doing a basic course) and wanted to practice it further and hence wanted to buy the cheapest options available!

I have met her daughter at two instances, then I simply gave her some eatables and nodded happily. Now my respect for my maid has gone up by many notches. She works all day to ensure that at least one of her daughters has a better life. Two of her elder daughter are already married and they work along with the mother to earn their bread and butter. This is the third and the youngest daughter and is in Class 10th. Anyhow, I told the maid about assembled systems and how she could get a cheap deal at Nehru Place, especially if she gets a used desktop. 

My this bit of information seems to have worked like magic on her and she has been asking me for more information and probably a reference to buy on old, used desktop. She's trying to save up her money and she has made me a mentor for this assignment. Two things that struck me -

- Your parents will slog their asses off to give to the best in life. They are not God, but just next to God.

- If you want to make it big in life, then no body (not even God) will come in your way

I don’t know what further turn this story takes, but incidents like this make my blog title more endearing and apt - "Life Just Couldn’t Be Better" And how many of you agree with me?

Ten Things You'll Learn in First 2 Years of Your Marriage

Last week was a landmark of sorts as I celebrated two years of my marriage. These two years have been the busiest years of my life (this may look repetitive but believe me these were MAD years) where all my worldly knowledge, patience and skills were put to test. Here's a low-down on how these years passed:

 (Dedicated to Vishal Sharma)

- When your maid, cook & driver's phone no. are on top of your phone's 'Speed Dial' list

- When your maid's health matters more to you than your own sickness :)

- When your driver shows up in the morning, and you beam with happiness and recite 'Thank God. He's here"

- When Saturday shopping spree is replaced by weekly grocery stuff

- When you return from vacations carrying piece of native furniture/ethics paintings/artwork as memento. The regular retail list for bag, shoes, face packs, clothes is a forgotten story.

- When 'I have some personal work' excuse defines chores like attending distant relatives' anniversaries, neighbourhood get-togethers, loner landlord falling sick and you attending to him, some kiddie's b'day bash. All sorts of random things that you can't define and describe in corporate circles.

- When you'll find yourself fretting over recipes, how-to-clean-haldi-stains more often

- When you become a liaison officer between your parents, in-laws, distant relatives. Making sure each one gets equal footage (that word jus crept in form the work dictionary)

- When you'll surf internet mostly to download recipes

- When you buy Nalli sarees and call them 'investment' because you know it well that you'll wear them once your lifetime. Later your daughter may cut out a dress for herself using this saree (and you’ll happily oblige – at least its being used).

What you get in bargain:

- A long list of new-found relatives; and gradually many of them will be on your friends' list

- Your skill set on 'what-to-speak-when' will improve dramatically

- You will learn this secret art of smiling and attending guests even when you have chronic migraine. Much needed in life, especially in office. 

This is an endless list and will keep adding to it. You are most welcome to add on to this list.

Real life tales .... wish they were untrue

Just heard a story where a woman returning from office at midnight was struggling to open the lock of main gate to her house while her family slept peacefully saying that the gate is already open and assuring that she can just walk in easily. She spent 5 mints standing on main gate figuring the lock and other hinges of the gate. Now knowing how 'safe' Delhi is – whether day or night -, had the woman been mauled outside her house (as we know has happened in some cases in Delhi), would the family muster courage to admit that they had been careless in this entire situation? Probably, they could’ve claimed that it was woman's fault for returning home at wee hours – “what’s the need, you see?”. 

Would they admit that they'd been careless handling the entire situation? Is sleep so precious that you can compromise on somebody’s safety?

U-turn in entertainment

Till recently, we have watched Tv serials 'inspired' or plainly adapted from movies, where the serial's story-line simply follows a popular movie's plot and it eventually becomes successful. Recent one is 'Pyaar Ki Ye Ek Kahani' (PS: title is as tacky as the series) which is very similar/inspired to the popular vampire love story Twilight series. Also there's 'Love U Zindagi' running on TV which is an adaptation of 'Jab We Met'.


Now this trend is about to change with successful serials replicating their story lines on the 70mm screen. We recently had 'Khichdi: The Movie' in 2010 which was a cinematic adaptation of the famous tele-series by the same name. Now Pankaj Kapoor's famous Office Office joins this league. Kapoor's new movie (tentatively titled) 'Pension Ki Tension' which is a take-off of his popular sitcom Office Office. Kapoor, along with his co-stars from the TV serial are living up their tele-image on the big screen as well.

If this movie is a hit or not is yet to be seen but it is certainly a pointer of many new trends coming in entertainment.

BTW, do you want any specific tele-series to be made into a movie? You can share in the 'comments' section.