Those priceless things called memories!

Just about two hours back before I began writing this post, I was in one of those moments where all you want to do is sit with a huge tub of ice-cream, plug in your headphones and face the blues. Someone like me, for whom mood swings are the commonest affair, needs to resort to books like The Secret once in a while for that little pep-up session and motivation. Just as I was done browsing my cupboard for the book, I happened to stumble upon my school slam book and thank God!

Though I’ve been contemplating to write something about my school life for ages now, I guess it had to be this very moment. As they say, when it’s right, it’s right. I passed out from school 3 years back, yet I won’t have a hard time in remembering each and exactly every event I experienced in school. We all left school with the promise that we’ll stay in touch. Let’s face it, doesn’t quite happen all the time. Coming out of school is no less than a butterfly shedding its cocoon. All of a sudden I felt thrown into this huge world. Honestly, I was quite aware what I wanted to do next and had it all planned, college seemed like a whole new adventure. It sure was but a year of college passed and then struck me the realization that there’s nothing that can match up to the school days. Moments like these when I chance upon reading my slam books, year books or stumble upon old images uploaded by my school friends on Facebook is when I realize what we’ve come to. My school life was nothing like the high school movies we have, it was so much more! When I think about all the drama, the gossip and the fights I’ve had in school, I can’t help but simply laugh about it. Also, I wonder why I came up with the comebacks I used during my school days. It’s ironic. When I was in school, being linked up to guys who you didn’t even have a crush on and being teased in the tackiest and cheesiest of ways was one of the major issues of your life. Now when I think about it, all I can do is laugh and say “What were we thinking?” New academic year at school meant new crush, new books, new schoolbag, new teachers and a new YOU! Come 8^th grade and all of a sudden, you’re grown up. I remember all the girls gathering in one washroom during the breaks just to dab on the kohl pencils and lip gloss. Those well-spent two minutes in the washroom would actually make us girls feel like divas! Now, all I can say is “School uniforms, two plaits and all that vanity? What were we thinking?” Personally, I don’t think there’s one person from my school I can hate. When you pass out from school, you realize that life’s too short to for hating that many people and before you know it, you’re dying to get a glimpse of those very people from your school. It’s not an easy thing to leave a place where you did most of your first things like the first swear word you mouthed, first crush, first boyfriend, first camping trip, the first time you held a pen and so much more! We all have that one teacher we feel always bears a grudge on us. But it is very likely that during the school farewell, you click the maximum amount of pictures with that teacher and also happen to miss her the most!

All of us wonder what we were thinking while we did all those silly things in school. Well, we weren’t thinking anything! It was simply not required. How else would we have moments like these? Moments like these are what memories are made of. I thought about all these moments and it took me no time to smile and be myself again. I figured why I should depend on Rhonda Bryne to tell me what to do when I’m low if I have more than 1000 people who can show me the path without even asking me to do anything.

What's your Raashee?

Possessive? Check. Sometimes jealous? Check. Moody? Check. Inexpressive? Double check. And you've just been introduced to a Scorpio or as I would like to put it, me! I'm sure I don't hate myself, I pretty much top the list of my favorite people. I remember telling my best friend one evening that there are only few people who can manage to claw their nails and crawl into my life without me minding it. She's surely one of those privileged people. Why? Well, she's a Piscean! Not that there's nothing else good about her that make me like her but I know I have this amazing chemistry with every Piscean I know, chemistry as good as that of Rakhi Sawant and controversy! (bad example, but you sure get the drift) How uncanny a coincidence can it be that the people I'm closest to are all Pisceans! Call me cynical or way too astrologically bent but I totally swear by the amazing Scorpio-Pisces chemistry! It's a straight 10/10 pair. There's absolutely nothing that can go wrong between me and a Piscean. I think I've almost figured out why things between me and a Piscean friend work out so bloody well. For starters, Pisceans and even Cancerians are the most sensitive people I know. You know you can always cry your woes in front of a Piscean and they'll be all ears. Even an inexpressive person like me wouldn't think once before confiding into the trustworthy and comforting Piscean. Another reason why I love them? They're never judgmental. Never. I can tell any of my Piscean friends anything, be it about my bitchiness, my nastiness, guilt or simply a mood swing and I know I would meet a reaction like "That's okay. You'll have it all figured."Another thing I truly admire about Pisceans is their capacity to love. While the Piscean men or rather man I know might be a quiet and shy soul but is indeed a great friend with whom I quite predictably share an amazing rapport, the ladies are mushy and how. Be it cooking for their men or sharing friendship bracelets with me, they sure know how to keep people around them happy, especially the people they love. Now, most girls wish to have a gay best friend most of the times, I'm happy to have my precious bunch of Piscean friends.
Before I end this, let's get some perspective people. I do have people in my life I love dearly and they are NOT Pisceans! So if you're my friend and not a Piscean, don't worry, I still love you*wink*. As far as my Piscean friends are concerned, stick with me till the end :)

The Real-life Slumdog Millionaire

This post is not written by me. But I found it worth sharing. We all know of the recent KBC winner, Sushil Kumar who has bagged a jackpot of Rs 5 crores. Though it's heartening and truly inspirational to see somebody's dreams come true, a well deserved win for sure, I came across a blog post which has a different perspective to it, would like to share with y'all.

Sushil Kumar from Bihar just won the Rs 5 crores jackpot (Rs. 50 Million) on the fifth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. (For those who do not know KBC, this is the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire)

Sushil Kumar will not receive the entire Rs. 5 crores, the tax department will eat up about one third of his jackpot leaving him with about Rs. 3.5 crores; that's still a sizeable amount.Let us see how it can help Mr. Sushil Kumar - a post graduate in philosophy and an IAS aspirant - in his life. He is currently a school teacher earning a meager Rs. 6000 per month.

In an interview Sushil Kumar revealed that he has some obligations that need to met first before he invests the rest of his money

• An elder brother who wants to set up his own business
• A younger brother wanting to quit his 'piddly' Rs. 1500 per month job and also wants to start a new business.
• His parents will want a nice big house - befitting the 'crorepati' son's status
• Sushil Kumar himself plans to quit his job in order to concentrate on his IAS exam.

Sadly, along with a big amount of money God does not gift one with 'financial wisdom' - not even the wisdom of knowing that he needs unbiased financial advice. I can see a tomorrow and, therefore, find it difficult to rejoice in his success.Why you ask? Here's why

Even in his small village there will be a lot of people chasing him — "investment consultants" There will be greedy hands pulling from all sides:Namely, LIC agents, mutual fund agents, bank managers, other life insurance companies, pension providers, brokerage houses and bankers.

It would be really interesting to track his life over the next 10 years on a year to year basis to see how much this money is scaring him, helping him, torturing him and helping him to meet his goals.

The author P V Subramanyam is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and a financial trainer by profession. Writing being a passion he also regularly pens his thought in his blog Subramoney.com

Hakuna Matata!

I totally think there should be a ‘Laugh and let laugh’ instead of 'Live and let live'. I find laugh so synonymous with life. “A day without laughter is a day wasted”, as quoted by Charlie Chaplin.”So, we all have problems. Yes, life can be pretty rough sometimes. I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humour in it. Not just in life, I think humour as a whole is so important in life.Maybe finding humour in these problems may not solve them, but admit it, it does make you and the people around you happy for a moment, and believe me, those little moments that make you happy are way greater than those many hurdles in your life.

Nobody is perfect and I am nobody. We can’t always be what the world wants us to be. So are you just an average guy or a girl, with no extraordinary skills, and almost the butt of jokes? Take it all with a pinch of salt. It’s the ability to take a joke, not make one that proves your sense of humour. It’s a funny little world we have. If our heart has been made to be broken, remember it’s also the same heart that is capable of making your best friends smile and crack up when their hearts are broken. Give your heart a chance to forget the tears, think of your problems in the wackiest way possible! Don’t waste away your life by thinking of all the heart burns or problems. You must be thinking that for me it’s probably very easy to say, since I’ve not even walked a step in your shoes, maybe it is true, but by reminiscing about the share of problems I’ve had in my life, all I do is think of those funny moments that happened, the funny moments that could have happened and the funny moments that are happening because of the concerned problem. When I say all this, I don’t mean that people are just not supposed to cry or crying is for the weak. Certainly not. Without being preachy, I’d say something most of you all have heard before, crying does not mean you’re weak, it just means that you’ve been strong for too long. But just remember, when you smile the whole world does smile with you, whether you believe it or not. How comforting is to see your loved ones laugh?! The joy is immeasurable.

So folks, been dumped by your partner? No problem! Just look at the line of suitors waiting for you to turn single. Being mocked at? Laugh along with the people mocking you! It’ll really amaze them. You’re broke? Those little meals are way better than a 3-course 5-star spread. Enjoy them. Failed a test? Now that’s a high. At least you’re good at something, failing a test.

Anybody can be emo , but it takes real nerves to hold up a laugh, look up and say “Bring it on life!” Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

Whatever happens, do not turn behind.

Heard this line before? Oh sure you have, unless you do not watch horror movies. So, Paranormal Activity 3 just released and one reason I'm really looking forward to it because of the way it's made (à la Blairwitch Project).I’m the kind of person who watches horror movies that would make you pee in your pants, trying to show off all the daredevilry and then clings to her Mom the entire night. But that's not the only thing horror movies have done to me, they taught me so much over the years. Oh wait, before you start getting all freaked out, my 'learning process' has nothing got to do with the psychos and ghosts from the movies. I'm a perfectly healthy and normal person to be with. There are these certain stereotypes associated with this entire genre of horror movies. You just have to see these things and you know that it’s nothing but a horror movie.

1. The actress who gets killed first ALWAYS has to be skimpily dressed. She’s either in a towel, or wearing a very skimpy nightie no girl in real life would wear unless she’s on her honeymoon.

2. According to horror movies, the only thing teenagers do is have sex and kill people on the roads. Then, traditionally the person they accidentally killed has to come back and haunt them as a revenge. And what about the sex? Well, our testosterone and estrogen driven teenagers NEED to have sex while they’re obviously unaware of the huge massacre going on. So, the guy gets killed first, the girl does some screaming business and before you know it, she gets killed too.

3. Everything happens at 3am! If you've watched ‘The Exorcist’ or ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’, you know why I say this.

4. There’s always a creepy little kid who does not usually speak and when he does, it’s always in a language you can’t comprehend. Till then, non-verbal gestures and awkward eye contacts do all the talking.

5. Ghosts are multi-lingual. That’s right! They cast spells or curse you in languages only they or the priest can understand. My take? Befriend them and learn new languages for free!

6. The kid in the movie ALWAYS has an ugly toy usually a doll or a joker who talks. And believe me, usually, it’s possessed. When I was a kid, my toys were never this creepy.

7. And we’re back to our not-so-innocent teenagers. The most common and done-to-death way of calling spirits? Planchit(Excuse me for the spelling if wrong) or the Ouija board. They have to do it in every freaking camp or an adventure trip. And I thought trekking and adventure sports were the deal.

8. Back home, in India, the biggest and probably the only makers of horror movies have been the Ramsay brothers(except Mukesh Bhatt and well, erm.. RGV).There’s always a deserted village with a bunch of tormented people which is visited by a group of ‘Shehri log’ and right after they reach their destination, there comes an old, feeble station master or a coolie(always played by the same guy) who asks the urban-ites to not venture into the haunted village or the ‘Haveli’.

9. Female ghosts are always good singers. They are always singing, looking for their lovers who were separated from them. They’re also well-accessorized (read Payal).

10. Whatever happens, the woman is ALWAYS the victim! She was either sexually abused or killed by her husband on her wedding night. Once she’s an ‘Aatma’ she starts looking for the man who had ruined her life and eventually kills him.

11. If there’s no ending a film maker can find for his horror movie, just make the lead actor say a holy chant or flash a sacred and holy locket and *BAM* you get rid of the ghost FOREVER. Couldn't you have done this before? What were you doing all this while running and screaming?!

So, as you see, making a horror movie is no rocket science. Find some scary looking people, too much white powder and any one of the above formulae as per your ‘creativity’. Your horror movie is ready! But remember, Whatever happens, DO NOT TURN BEHIND...

Rahul, naam toh suna hoga?

Raj, Rahul, Veer, Khan,G.One, call him anything you want... when the King appears on the screen, there's absolutely no lady who can escape his charm. When he laughs, I laugh, when he cries,I cry and when he romances, my heart skips a beat! You must be probably laughing by now and just passing me off as another Shahrukh Khan fanatic. But there's so much more to it.He's probably someone who taught me what romance is.. however I have no clue whether I should thank him for recreating a fairy tale on screen or get upset for making me harbor totally unrealistic expectations from men and romance.

From playing a man suffering from Asperger Syndrome to a young man singing 'Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam' to a deadly villainous Don we hate to love, there's no hat he hasn't donned.If perfection is overrated, maybe I'm overrating Shahrukh Khan.

There are some people in this world who inspire and some people whom we love, and then there is Shahrukh, who inspires and makes us fall in love. Whatever I say is no different, the world knows how this Pathani Delhi-bred boy who once didn't have a penny in his pocket to pay for the tea from a little stall outside Jamia Millia worked his way up to accomplish his long standing Mannat.

If there was anything such as an Alpha female, I would probably call myself one, with my own individual sensibilities of love, however when he says that "Hum ek baar jite hain, ek baar marte hain, shaadi bhi ek baar hoti hai, aur pyar....ek hi baar hota hai" in 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', I want to believe. Not to forget how envious I get when he says K-K-K-Kiran ( Well,Kiran is my Mom's name :P)

To the guy who makes every girl want to be a 'Chammak Challo' or a Simran, keep writing new chapters of romance every day!

Signing off, "Hum hai rahi pyaar ke,phir milenge, chalte chalte" :)

Don’t we all just love Auto Rickshaws?

Meter jams, Rickshaw strikes, hole in the pocket, pricey Rickshawalas? Yes, we’ve all been there and gone through that. Rickshaws are as much a part of Mumbai roads, as are potholes. Love them, hate them, we all know we can’t ignore them!

Not one Mumbaikar has been spared of even a single encounter with our dearest Rickshawalas! I remember stomping my feet after stepping out of the Rickshaw when a grumpy old Rickshawala kicked me and my friend out for (as he put it) too much ‘Chillam chilli ‘( who wouldn’t scream after coming across a hoarding which read ‘Sale at Mango’ ?!)

My Rickshaw encounters are plenty, be it being kicked out, picking up a fight with the Rickshawala or sitting through an idiotic Rickshawala’s conscious attempts to kick start a conversation(No, Rickshawalas don’t hit on me)

But at the end of the day don’t we just love Rickshaws??? Honest opinion, who does not enjoy seeing Rickshawalas get into fights and hurl abuses at each other, use unheard cuss words, the kind of words our parents struggled our entire childhood to keep us away from? Do you not enjoy coming across a couple getting ‘up, close and personal’ in the Rickshaw right next to yours? Well, I do.

We criticise them, we miss them, we hate them, we need them. The fact remains that Rickshaws are here to stay!