The Questionnaire!

Okay, readers! This time I decided to do things a bit differently. As most of you know I follow Shobhaa De’s blog religiously; this time I decided to compose a questionnaire. Mrs. De asked her readers to answer these questions; so here it is…

What is your idea of happiness?
Dancing, writing blogs. Spending quality time with my hubby. Indulging in endless conversations with my girls and not to mention the international calls to India. At times cooking as well. Long drive with the loudest music. Watching countless documentaries of space. A mini walk after dinner combined with a discussion about Space, moon, galaxies with my beau!

What is your greatest fear?
Constant thinking. My mind running endlessly. Constructing all kinds of odd stories in my head and creating a fear of losing someone from life…

Which living person do you admire?
AR Rahman for being so down to Earth and so humble. Madhuri Dixit for being the superlative dancer out there. Wonder when she’ll give another blockbuster…

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience. I might be the most impatient girl on Earth. Literally… I easily get restless. On the other hand, I easily get excited as well, too excited. As my cousin says, “dude, you get excited way too fast”. Cannot stand dirty hands, don’t mind washing my hands 50 times a day.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
I hate fakeness with a passion. Be yourself! People who show off or may I use the word ‘swag’?

What is your favorite journey?
First: The journey that brought me from a small town of India to the United States of Amerikka. Second: The journey of finding my partner to getting engaged and finally getting married!

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience! No discussion, no arguments. Period.

On what occasion do you lie?
Whenever necessary! I mean, com’on…I’m not Satyevadi Harishchand, so you can expect lying at some point. However, to tell you the truth, it’s not difficult to catch me lying. I usually turn red and sweat! HA Oh wait, I do that when I go for a interview as well, does that mean I’m lying? I’m confused…!

What do you dislike about your appearance?
Lord, anyone who knows me well enough can answer this question. I’m a little over weight and hate my metabolism to the core since I gain weight in no time. However, I must rave about the fact that my hubby always calls me PHAT ! ! !

Which living person do you most despise?
Actually for this question, I’d like to rephrase it and use ‘people’ instead of ‘person’. Hands down, have been and will always the Government of our own country! Corrupt bastards.

Which phrases do you most overuse?
Amazing, Oh My Gosh, Pshshsh, Hey Bhagwan, and What say?

What is your greatest regret?
That I didn’t take deep interest in Astronomy as I was growing. That I didn’t learn swimming. That I didn’t become a maniac for workout in my teenage years.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Dancing. My big fat Indian family. Space.

When and where were you happiest?
Whenever I see my mom happy, I feel elated!

What is your present state of mind?
Wandering. Watching rain drops splashing outside; hearing thunderstorms every five some minutes; and countless other thoughts running through the mind…

How would you like to die?
Peacefully. Without hurting anyone…

What is your favorite motto?
Live and let live!
And like Shobhaa De said: ‘Don’t let the music stop…dance on!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Let it go – simple! Let go of that fear, the frustration, the tension, the attitude, the problem…just let it go! Live freely, breathe freely, and fly freely… The movie gave me the goose bumps the all over the body. HA! “The mantal experience, I swear.” Buowy’s acted exceptionally well. Beginning with Abhay Deol: he proved his firm foot in the cinema. I vaguely remember when few respected names in the B’town questioned his credibility in commercial cinema? However, post the success of ZNMD, the dude passed the test. Abhay’s attitude was so calm and composed throughout the film.

Moving on to Hrithik Roshan, sabke dil ki dhadkan… Frankly speaking, I didn’t fancy his role that much. But later, after some analysis, realized how his role was placed on a rollercoaster. His character went through numerous emotions. He performed extremely well. And now coming on to Farhan Akhtar [anxiously waited for his name to appear in my article] *blushing*. Hallelujah! Oh my Gosh, so where do I begin? The ‘dude’ seriously gave the goose bumps with his mantal jokes. He’s a treat to my eyes. I loved him from his debut movie. Farhan is such a convincing actor and I’m certain he must be very particular for his films. I doubt he went an extra mile to comply with his role. It’s as if the character came naturally to him. I really wonder if the persona is different from reel to real life.

Next I would like to comment on Katrina’s acting. The lady has grown immensely as she climbs up the graph in her career. The delivery of her dialogue was crystal. Her presence and emotions kept the audience intact throughout the movie. Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to Javed Sahab for writing such prudent lines for the movie. I believe the soul of the entire film were those few lines which came straight from the heart. The way Farhan articulated them after each quarter of the movie was heart-stopping.

Here are few lines…

Jab Jab Dard ka baadal chaaya, Jab gam ka saaya lehraaya
Humne dil ko samjhaaya, Dil tu aakhir kyu rota hai
Duniya main aisa he hota hai
Ye jo gehre sannate hain, Waqt ne sabko he baate hain
Thoda gam hai sabka kissa, Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar he num hain, Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyu tu aisa pal khota hai, Dil tu aakhir kyu rota hai…

India – Terrorist’s soft target!

…and it continues on! Same old story, same old tamasha. Terror attacks are not new to us. It’s absolutely pointless to watch television and the news. No point in watching the repeated ‘breaking news’, the egoistic anchors faking concerns about Mumbai and the same ghastly images. We are just not capable of revolting back in the same manner. We just cannot kill Kasab who’s been living in our own jail for past so many years. We just love to feed him daily. We have a problem! And our problem is simple…the system! Our biggest fight is with our system; and it’s been so deeply corrupt that there seems to be no turning back. Why do the mango people have to deal with such agony?

Another body was blown…with zero resistance! Why does Mumbai has to bleed again and again and again? I can continue rambling on about our corrupt politicians, the aam-junta, the terrorists, the media and so on… however, the truth simply is that: it will continue on, whether we like it or not! Not much has changed from 26/11 and nothing will change from this point onwards either. It was bewildering to see Barkha Dutt’s tweets and how she said ‘things are under control’. Not sure what exactly was under control after so many deaths??? Rahul Gandhi’s ill statement antagonized me even more. “We cannot stop every terror attack.” I would desperately want to find out which attack has he ever averted? Wonder when and where will be the next attack?

May God bless the souls who lost their lives…

How grand really, were the IIFA awards?

wish to give you my notions on the supposedly grand IIFA awards that just happened last weekend.

All over the social media including the page of a prominent South Asian website, many South Asians are criticizing the actual awards ceremony. Even though the stage was fascinating and the production fabulous, the show itself was a big disappointment filled with corny jokes and poor performances with panting lead dancers, uncomfortable pauses of silence, sub-grade sound quality, etc. The show was so pathetic that the hosts had to actually ask people for standing ovations! Standing ovations should come impromptu, when the performers say or do something that strikes a chord with the audience. Also, not enough big time stars showed up. Preity Zinta, Hritik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and a host of others were no shows.

So what did we taxpayers get for $12m that Michael Chan, the Ontario minister for tourism and culture, proclaimed Ontario dished out? Even he on Matt Galloway’s CBC metro morning show on Tuesday, June 21 seemed sceptical about the immediate benefits that supposedly drew in only 40,000 visitors, unlike other home grown festivals that draw a million plus visitors. All we got was a poorly organized and second rate awards ceremony that did not respect time (it started an hour late) and dragged on for 5 hours so that by the time the people rolled out, there was no TTC available to go home. Also many are questioning as to what exactly happened to the $12m? Was it used to pay exorbitant fees to enrich already rich Indian actors? If that is the case, surely the money will go out of Canada. And for what? To please the South Asian diaspora from which many are actually cribbing at how badly they got ripped off?

Besides this, right after the Brampton buzz event held over the June 17-19 weekend, one bold Bramptonian questioned the Mayor of Brampton on her facebook page as to what happened to the $300K that was apportioned to Brampton. The reply from the Mayor’s office was that no such amount was spent on the buzz event, that they were rumours. Also the rumoured $50K-$80K paid to Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu was denied. A few hours after Michael Chan came on CBC radio stating that all communities got $300K through a program called ‘Celebrate’, the whole thread on this subject was deleted from the Mayor of Brampton’s facebook page. Are we living in a democracy where we are allowed to express our opinion freely or what? Isn’t the Mayor’s facebook page there to express citizens’ gripes as well as praise the Mayor for the many good things she has done (and she definitely has, I will not deny that).

Another major question is did IIFA really crack the mainstream market? As Matt Galloway said on CBC metro morning, GTA’s number one morning radio show, for many it is a circus.

So Ontario dished out $12m plus $300K for each community, i.e $13m plus for a mediocre circus?! One that did not even please the audience it was meant for?! Maybe there was more money spent that we are unaware of.

Mohit Rajhans- who also comes on CBC radio, asked Bollywood actor Anupam Kher at the awards if Toronto should host more such shows. Kher said yes. When Mohit asked our premier Dalton McGuinty the same question, he was non-committal; some say the premier’s mannerism was such that even he seemed unsure about the sanity of spending so many millions for a circus.

I hope the Ontario government has learned a lesson. $13m could have been better spent on more meaningful programs. If certain cultures want to break into the North American market, they should do it on their own steam and money not ours!

Devil will dance tonight!

How many of you believe that Casey Anthony is not the murderer of little Caylee Anthony?

This is how I got so hooked to the case. One fine afternoon, while having lunch with the family, my brother initiated the story of Casey Anthony and how the media is going totally berserk over it. I was all ears while he narrated the entire story. However, I never kept the conversation intact in my head and never bothered to Google this lady. Days passed by and I kept hearing something or the other about Anthony’s case. This past weekend FOX news caught my attention while the prosecutor was blabbing about this murder. The courtroom grabbed my undivided attention. I sat for the next few hours and weighed all the allegations made towards Ms. Anthony. Ditto for the following day. 3 days went by and I was just about ready to hear the Judge’s verdict.

Today, while savoring on some Pulao, I kept my concentration on the clock. 2:15PM was the chosen time to announce Casey’s fate. My eyes and ears were dumbstruck when the lady said ‘Not Guilty’. All this time, I was too sure [like the rest of the country] that she was the murderer. However, the verdict was ‘not guilty’. It was funny to see how every single journalist on the news started their sentence with ‘I’m speechless’. It was also funny to see how every tweet said ‘I’m shocked’. …actually we can still bypass the media and tweeple’s reaction but what about Casey’s wicked smile right after the verdict. I bet no one missed the giggle she had on her face. Gets me wondering what she plans to do tonight! *giggling*
It clearly shows that this murder was premeditated. Casey decided to leave her parents house for 31 days [of course] to kill her daughter. She intentionally notified the cops after 31 days about her missing daughter. By that time her daughter’s body was completely decomposed and very minimal evidence could be found. To make it more brutal, Caylee’s skull was found with a duct tape on it. For heaven’s sake, which mother holds the courage to perform such act?

There was so much evidence provided to the court, however, the jury wholly ignored it. Apparently, they found the only twelve people who still think the world is Flat! No wonder Judge Perry decided to keep the identity of jurors under wrap. I gotta feeling that she’ll walk free on Thursday and will take up the book offer. Yup, she already got a book offer and I bet she’ll be making millions from her story. Oh yeah, and if anyone finds out the father of this toddler, please do share with the entire nation!

RIP Caylee Anthony…