slice of life

A crooning Shahrukh awaiting the arrival of his childhood crush while the lady is travelling back in his life in a Konkan railway train or a Kareena running haphazardly chasing the train which  always eludes her or the suave Saif strumming his guitar in the toy train which goes past the picturesque hills and serpentine tunnels enroute to Darjeeling..Cinema has always romanticized trains which have been a part and parcel of our lives. Or is it the matter of past with airtravel and international sojourns taking prominence. Whatever, train journeys always evoke nostalgia with discreet memories of each one of us attached to it.  However distant it could be, it is difficult to erase the memory of a steaming Kadak kulhad chai which the boy passed on hurriedly from window lest the train chugged away, many a times collecting his due while running along the train. Equally bright are those glimpses of hot pakoras or samosas served casually on old newspapers. Who cared how they were served

Generally me not the one to dig out people from the past (doesn't imply don't value the gems who have been part of the journey). Me is the one who believes in moving ahead and meeting and connecting with as many 'new' people as one can. There is so much to learn, imbibe,  listen to and absorb from everyone that we meet. Few leave an everlasting impression and few just fade away. But, definitely each touches the strings of soul somewhere somehow. One life and so many souls around to take away 'the nuggets of wisdom' from. But this blog is not 'me' blog. It's about somebody who left an indelible impression at a tender age. She was tall, stout, her hair done flatly and tied in the tiniest of ponytail perfectly complementing her round face. There were always a few grey strands glistening and her not so feminine sandals kept me in awe. Her cotton sarees were draped as casually as one can with even a mismatch blouse at times. One look at her and you inst

'For millions of years mankind lived just like animals And then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination We learned to talk' The Pyschedelic Pink Floyd's Keep Talking song ignites the power of talking.  Who can parallel the beauty of a rainbow hued Macau or the assymetrical  but simply gorgeous orchids. Nature is endowed with beauty, colour, evolved to perfection creatures but what sets the human race apart is the gift of language. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons for human tribe to take over and lead the pack of species. Yet in the contemporary World, we make so little and most of the times unfair use of this unique gift of nature to us. We have just stopped believing in baring our souls. Language or communication is the best way to express ourselves to others. We have this innate capability to observe, reason, and speak. However our conditioning becomes such that as we grow up, we start curtailing expressions, made to keep quiet wha

Ever seen a kid who is relishing her favourite food. It could be an ice cream, her favourite fruit or simply an innocuous occassional treat like simple home cooked non fancy pasta, which we in common parlance, called junk food. She eats with all her senses wide open. She is taking in the aroma through her tiny nostrils, experiencing texture of the food with her little  fingers and admiring the shape and colours of the food, she is so mindfully engrossed in... Compare it with an urban adult, who is always on the go, rushing through his food, with all his senses switched off and only his mind racing to chase those nerve-wrecking deadlines, or caught in the web of tangled relationships or trying to strike a balance between responsibilities and some leisure. No doubt, there is no connection with the food since it has been consumed most mindlessly and what ensues is a guilt and calorie counting spree and we can all imagine the havoc this can create on us mortals. "Choosing a meal

I get up and come out only to find empty tetrapacks and a few leftover popcorns strewn here and there on the floor. Inspite of eyes and senses still not fully awake, it doesn't take me long to realise that sports buff hubby had sneaked into the TV room to watch the late night kickass thrillers that are rocking probably every household around the world as the biggest sports extravaganza that Football world cup is on. I put up an angry facade but his sincere fandom is rather cute and then all this melodrama, drama, hype and hoopla that surrounds the world's biggest sporting event will lose its sheen had it not been the craziness and passion with which these fans follow making it an event extraordinaire. Right now the football fever is at its cresendo with the Ronaldos and the Messis and Neymars already out of fray, leaving a huge ripple of disappointment for the fans. Soccer is beyond boundaries. Soccer is the sport played most consistently around the world. It's not sectio

No this is not the season of love but then love always remain fashionable. But do we still live to love? A news read the other day evoked surprise...An eighteen year old boy and probably a year younger girl in a semi urban place, madly in love were opposed by familes and finally the worst happened..they committed suicide. Very sad news! Thirty years back, a bollyflick became a phenomemon sweeping the audience off their feet, with the leading man and lady, deeply in love and finally giving up their life for it's sake. QSQT was a rage, with the debutant chocolate boy, who the girls went gaga over when he crooned the magical 'Papa kehte hain..'( and who still is ruling hearts), the cutest and innocent female protagonist, a best friend who always stood by hero's side and the soothing music which lingered on for sereral years. It completes 30 years today. Very much my opinion, but we can't be making such a movie in contemporary times anymore. Love is not so innocent a