Find_Love.com

'Find_Love.com'... Book Now !!! :D

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Ka71voFW0

Find_Love.com available on Flipkart ! Pre order now at a special price :)

http://www.flipkart.com/find-love-com/p/itmdj74a2k98fcrg?pid=9788184954166&affid=nme

God's love is so wonderful ;)

Gods love is so wonderful…

O wonderful love

so high.. you cant get over it

so deep you cant get under it..

so wide, you cant get around it..

O wonderful love !

Reminiscing one of my favourite ‘morning assembly’ songs,  back in school. This morning I heard another one..

‘We are the children of Somerville school.. God bless us and God bless the school’

Remembering God early in the morning is a good thing, our teachers and parents have only taught us good things. But the visuals I captured in this neighbourhood school today were a revelation. On second thoughts, not really ! But we were too busy growing up then and didn’t really notice !

A few young adults had flaked out, others looked traumatised due to the heavy weight (read : school bag) on their back. Some were busy pulling up their skirts while others were playing with strands of hair. The only person singing the song from the depth of his heart was the principal and the few staff members standing closest to him owing to lack of any choice. As I ogled from a distance, I had a burning desire to join them in singing their school anthem.

Sigh ! As school kids, we longed to experiment with the freedom college life brought along. But financial freedom would be so much better is the thought that prevailed when in college. Once we were employed, in the midst of urban frenzy, school memories gave us some solace and today we sooo want to go back !

Hence, living in the moment is not such a bad idea..

But I still want to be a part of this morning assembly in the neighbourhood school and sing along… ‘We are the children of Somerville school.. God bless us and God bless the school’ !

One hell of a bride !!

Marriage ! A sacred event in any man's life.. But at times, it should be confined to being a 'secret' event !

A traditional wedding in the family was in the offing. Excited relatives started pouring into the groom's household a day before the D day. Mehendi wallas arrived with bright ideas and a group of five famished men to decorate the feminine hands while men could be seen greeting each other as they started off a debate on politics, world affairs, professional goals etc. I was invited by the groom and family and the invitation cum instruction compelled me to attend all the functions.

At the mehendi, a live orchestra band was performing for us when all of a sudden, one of our excited relatives jumped on to the stage with his notepad. This notepad is a treasure for uncle ji. It has the lyrics of many famous bollywood melodies. Next, as expected, uncle ji had the microphone in his hand, eyes closed and with a deep meditative look, he took off. One song was followed by the next and the next. The audience looked bored and their voice decibles were now on the rise.

'Dance like no one's watching.. I guess sing like no one's hearing !' said a voice behind me.. Meanwhile, luck favoured us, Uncle ji had to respond to nature's call and I could feel my ear drums jumping in exhilaration.

Shagun ceremony in the evening and we were dolled up for the occasion. Bang at 7 pm, the pandit arrived and the ceremony started. The bride looked distracted though. A south indian bride pouting, laughing hysterically and giving a high five to her would be hubby was quite a sight. The groom's mother looked lost while the god fearing father clad in a white dhoti chose to ignore. The pandit was confused with one eyebrow permanently raised up.
Ceremonies ended, the bride and the groom stood up to acknowledge everybody's blessings.

Lo behold ! The bride started waving to the crowd much like Deepika Padukone in Om shanti Om !
'Thank you so much for coming guys'.. as she screamed out aloud, all expressions changed ! The elderly couldnt fathom what they just saw and the others were now standing in groups. Relatives have the potential to create content and here was a 'ready made breaking news' ! It had to be discussed !

I walked up to the bride and introduced myself. She was literally swinging from one side to the other, as she smiled and responded.. 'Glad you came. Please have dinner and leave' ! This was quite a statement. I guess she intended to suggest that I must not leave without having dinner. Words were not framed correctly and now it was confirmed, that the pretty bride was sloshed !!

A traditional south indian wedding is earmarked by sitar music playing in the background, men clad in bright starched dhotis, women loaded with gold jewellery and neatly draped kanjeevaram sarees, idli dosa sambhar vada in the menu. Alcohol doesn't feature anywhere ! Right.. wrong.. I leave it for you to decide..

But I had a good laugh.. and of course good food  ;)

So.. It's 'Exam Time' !

 'No dear, Maths it is and not English’

My world was shattered. I had dreamt of seizing the moment and doing my parents proud. After all, can you mess with ‘the boards’ ? My entire future was at stake and how could I be careless enough to not recheck the examination schedule ..

Just then, the door bell rang and I woke up in a cold sweat. 

Boards are done with, the nature of exams including the subjects completely differ now. Our exams are certainly less horrendous than the ones many teenagers are facing, the first battle having been fought today.

Infact this morning, I happened to visit a nervous 12^th grader who was trying to fill her ‘Encephalon’ to the hilt , refusing to relish the ‘pao bhaji’ that her father was forcefully feeding into her mouth. The mother looked sombre as she stood in a corner with a bowl of curd and sugar. The grandmother continued sharing words of wisdom as she tried her best to comfort the hassled teenager.

‘I don’t know anything..’ ‘I don’t remember anything’ ‘I am nervouuuusssss’ ‘Nahin aata kuch’ ‘I am sooooo dead’.. This bundle of nervous energy had unnerved the ‘khandaan’ and to feel a shade better, the entire family offered their prayers together. This is the ‘family exam’ , so what if there is only one representative walking into the ‘action room’ with the hall ticket.

I was reminded of my horror days as I walked out of the action packed house. Good luck to all the teenyboppers !

But, to tell you the truth…I did heave a sigh of relief.  Small joys of life J

Teesri Manzil ;)

 “This is a great workout. No wonder you are so slim..”

When you stay on the third floor of a housing society that has no lifts, you are no stranger to such compliments. Sweating it out in the gym or a stringent diet chart gets no credit, instead the endless row of stairs leading up to your flat grabs all the attention.

Its great to gaze down at the habitation from the much envied height, one also feels relatively closer to the Almighty  (distance wise).

The sun ensures that summers roast you since you are closest to the hot ball while the winters spare none in the city. But there are advantages too. Morning walks are no more a struggle during winters. Three rounds of ‘go up and down the stairs’ , the happy hormones are released and you feel joyful and fit. Also , my five year old neighbour is forever excited to slide down the railings of the stairs. Its his favourite game.

The other day a distant and indeed, a very difficult relative expressed an ardent desire to visit us. I received the entire clan at the society gate. They were visibly happy to see me and I am an expert at masking emotions. When near the stairs, I informed the five member group that it’s a long distance up and our heavenly abode is on the third floor . While four members acknowledged the facts with a smile, the fifth relative (whose mission in life is to see everybody married) was aghast.

‘Oh no, I cant climb.. It’s a long way up.. My joints ache.. No no no no..’

The emphatic ‘No’ made it quite clear that my beloved aunty was not getting much time to increase our stress levels, this time around. Back at the society gate, we bid each other ‘adieus’ and now, I was also deeply and truly happy to see them going.

Gratitude is a wonderful emotion and I am grateful to be residing on the third floor of an apartment without a lift and with narrow stairs that make the climbing up process even more cumbersome. So, a cup of tea ? Third floor ? Anyone ? ;)

How real is the virtual ???......

I love you… when did you last look into the mirror and say the three magic words to yourself.

How silly is what you just remarked, right ? Infact it isn’t silly my friend. We don’t love ourselves or appreciate who we are but strangely enough, expect the world to go gaga over us. To begin with, is our online identity an exact replica of our real self ? I guess not. Most profiles on Facebook have the profile picture of the Shahids, Katrinas and Priyankas of the world. Often if we are tagged in a picture and our nose appears a little crooked (actually that’s how it is) or our hair is not in place (or our scalp is showing), we prefer removing the tag and only like to keep pictures that have us looking like a dream.

A lot of thought goes into a status update. After all, we want at least 10 likes to begin with. The spirit to prove yourself as the cooler one naturally comes to the fore.

Last week I attended a wedding and the couple had met through a social networking site. The guy stalked her for months after which the girl agreed to meet him. It was love at first sight though she did realize that he was far from being the suave gentleman as portrayed through the online chats.

Infact, social networking sites have become another platform to know your romantic interest better. So, if you start conversing with this ‘eligible bachelor’ who is on the look out, the first thing he will do to bridge the gap is start following you on twitter or send you a friend request on Facebook. Under such unexpected circumstances, a well maintained , good looking Facebook page always comes to rescue.

But, if you look carefully.. the real self does reveal in those pictures and status updates. How does one react to a certain rape incident or celebrate his birthday with his friends or respond to a friend’s status update speaks volumes about one’s character traits and personality.

The social networking sites make you social enough to have 500 plus friends in your list but how many of them are we really friends with ? Most are plain acquaintances or people we had a chance encounter with or people who matter in the work sphere. Certainly, they cant be called  friends, yet who minds an impressive photograph or interesting status update inviting comments and likes from strangers ? Also, when we communicate with strangers online, we can be more confrontational and flirtatious than we normally are.. Words and expressions are framed appropriately, jokes are planned and the vocabulary is in place. If you want the world to know that you are single, then update your relationship status and all the eligible bachelors and spinsters in the town would get the intended signal. If you are confused about the relationship and wanting respite, then the status becomes ‘complicated’ so that ex flames can feel encouraged to try their luck again.

In essence, the online world is a virtual world where everybody concerned is trying to put their best foot forward, at times by conditionally expressing themselves and at other times through words of wisdom and portfolio pictures. But the person behind that laptop , even better ipad or tablet.. is you.. So why not be real ? The next time, you are tagged in a picture that shows your belly and also your scalp.. do not untag, instead make it your profile picture. Let the world know the real you and love you for who you are ! You are special, beautiful and unique just the way you are.. a sample like none other !