Steps Away to Goodbye :)

A journey of one year, nine months and 3 days now....yeah, I still remember the day...27^th July, 2009; when it all began...that was the day when I came to DoMS, IITR...unsure if I would even be a part of it with my fingers crossed...that was the day of on-spot counselling...The day, when I officially conformed my Hello to the place...and today, over fifteen thousand four hundred hours later (okie, before you complain, thank me...I just reduced it into hours, not minutes or second....bhai thoda melodramatic hona banta hai...I'm an Indian above all :D ), the last couple of hours actually made me realize that it's almost the time to say goodbye..

Officially around 10 days, unofficially anywhere around 15-20 days...and no longer would I be able to crib about the hostel food out here...or rue the fact that Roorkee hardly has any proper shop for girl's clothes...nor would I stare ominously at the weekly time-table to cry over the fact that the faculties are way over their regular 30 hours limit....and yeah, I definitely can no longer earn anyone's sympathy for having endless classes on weekend, when people in most of the B-Schools are busy having fun and going out...to think of, I found too many issues with this place in last almost two years....but very soon, these would be the issues I would miss...because somewhere down the line, the grass on the other side is always greener..

Right now (rather till a month or two back), the life outside the classrooms and hostels....outside this whole educational system was kind of alluring...today, I still want to go out (just being honest)....somewhere I have had too much of studies and exams ( okie, former I in reality don't do, but later I'm forced to do...even if for the same of formality :P ) but the thought of a world outside this cocoon, isn't that pleasant anymore....there would be responsibilities and duties waiting outside...that would be a life full of profession...and it's not as if academics would go away from that life....but somewhere I'm quiet sure, what would be left behind would be the fun times...the opportunity to sleep whole day without any regrets....the last minute copy-pasting of assignments, the doodling when class is going on, late night gossips and leg pulling times...somewhere, slowly all this would fade away from life...

I've been a typical, mature, unapproachable me I believe...there are very few people out here who really know me well...rare are those who are close to me (and these rare species, I do hope, does know they are rare, in fact at least recognize you are the ones I'm indicating ;) Isharon ko agar samjho, raaz ko raaz rehne do ;)) ) and yeah, for the rest, I do regret not knowing much about you guys n gals....but this is how I've turned out to be over the years....trust me, no one feels as guilty as me for not being downright approachable and easy going, fun-loving gal...there are no big excuses for it....but that's how I am...for the moment, since some time (and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one day I'll change....but whether that one day would come in this lifetime or not, I am not sure ;)) ) 

None the less, I am sure all the 11 gals (excluding me of course...duh!! Common Sense!!) would definitely always be in my memories....in one way or the other...there definitely would come time when out of blue, I suddenly would remember an incidence involving all of you...bitter, sweet, sour, warm, cold....whatever they have been, they have been memories created, without realization, with no intentions...and they are here to stay forever...I haven't been the best person around....nor can I ever claim to be even remotely angelic...I just am not (and I doubt if I even have regrets about it...now be true, all white isn't that great, in fact, as the dresses for the farewell suggested, black is the flavor :D :D :D ) I have been far from my best...and it's now too late to change...but as we move out of this hostel, somewhere I'll always cherish the opportunity to have been able to spend time with you (okie, time to take a break, main Ekta Kapoor se inspired sound kar rahi hoon emotions k maamle mein :P ) Rest assured, it would any day be a pleasure to meet you naughty, lovely, angelic, devilish, cute, chirpy, plotting, scheming, giving, caring (and now search some dozen more adjectives from POD) outside the city called Roorkee...I'm sure, even though we would disperse in far off corners of the world, we still would be in touch...forever (if forever exists ;) )

As for the lesser befriended guy's side...I guess, all interactions have been limited to just a handful of guys...in fact somewhere I'm sure, there exists few in the male gender, I haven't even exchanged a single word with in those over 15,400 hours ( :"> ) As usual, it's again too late to amend that..but all in all I definitely can claim to know everyone's name n face :D :D  ( trust me an achievement, I definitely had no idea about all the guys in my B.Tech batch ;) okie okie, the batch was just 10 times larger, but still!!! and if any person back from KIIT is reading, please do not ask me to guess the names of guys in the different section of the same branch too :P ) And personally we might not know each other, but as batch-mates, we definitely have some memory or the other in common :)

Now, before it gets endless...and starts reminding any poor soul who actually is reading it, about some of our favorite faculties (not mine, but definitely every faculty has a fan following ;) ), I guess I should cut the whole scene short....but let me warn you, this ain't going to be the only post about MBA or our/my two years here, or a bunch full of complains or memories, but for the moment, this should do..

So here is for the goodbye we would be facing in next two weeks, which never would mean the end....because if nothing, memories sure are forever :)

PS: Please do not kill me for making a post out of anything...few things definitely are easier to be said impersonally....a face to face emotional talk (or Ekta Kapoor's melodrama for that matter) is again something, which doesn't come to me :(

They...

It's like remembering a scene from Hum-Tum.....There definitely exists a story between Hum and Tum, or so they said throughout the movie....and yeah, story they did have...even if it took a decade for it to meet a happy ever after....but then, that was a movie, does life has something called happy ever after...more often than not; life, by the virtue of it, has phases of up n down, ever after....what Hum-Tum had in store must have been seen by Indians a number of times with some smiles, some laugh riots, and some dedicatedly emotional people must have enjoyed it with tears... 

What They have in store, no one knows....neither does He, nor She...not even Me.........

You and me, meet a number of people in our life, some leave their footprints strong in our mind, some steal a part of our heart, and for the most...they just don't make a difference....with time the footprints grow faint, the heart recovers its pieces, but then there are times when all that time does is make the thoughts go deeper, hearts grow fonder...for these are the times when someone special walks in our lives, to remain there forever...the only irony of the whole situation is, on the face of it; we just never know where every one of the thousand of people in our who comes in our lives would fit....only time tells, there is just no being proactive about it....

He and She met....They had to....somethings are just destined....but neither does she nor he, knows when did they first meet each other....do you call their first meeting as the time when they together crossed the busy road intersection along with at least another two dozen people, or was their first meeting a lil less crowded rendezvous, like the time they brushed across each other in the school corridor....

He remembers noticing her first when her name featured somewhere in the list of "Girls to Date With", a result of  some very determined and diligent efforts put by one of his friend....it was all in fun, but then; he being he, should at least know every girl featuring in that list...even if she happens to be somewhere at the end, or maybe mark the end itself....

She, well she being a perfect she, can't ever confess knowing him before he noticed her....girls, as an unwritten rule, never take the first step....if asked to her, she would say, the first time she noticed him was when she received his friend's request....his profile pic, as per her, was the first proper look she had given to him....for he didn't look much familiar...and though they shared an array of mutual friends, adding a stranger, was just not cool....

But yeah, they did notice each other...they did over a period of time acknowledged each other's presence...formal meetings, informal gathering, common friends....when you are a teen, a lot is happening...to ensure you keep on bumping into each other, every now and then....and to be honest, they in reality, had no idea, when they actually took a step ahead of looking, meeting and noticing....

And that was how it was....for the years to come....they were their...just for the moment...same school, kind of homes in near vicinity (though never did one visit the other), the same building where they spent half their time...classes together at times...gossips that reached both of their ears...at times consistent, polar opposite at other views...the only things that actually did bind them in those early years were probably things and people who ranged from the ones to leave footprints which fade with time to the ones which never made their mark in the first place...

Neither of them had anything above acknowledgement for the other...they were two different individuals...so different...he was busy hanging out with his whole big gang of guys...trying to come out as the Cool Guy...he had a persona of carefree life...enjoying the moments..taking things as they come....She was completely opposite...there wasn't a gang for her, she was happy with the lil bunch of close friends....the demeanor of a girl mature more than what her age demanded...no one could even in their wildest dreams, could see her as The Happening Girl...They barely were what they looked in people to make them friends...so, forget a love story, it would take them years, to even become a friend....if ever they do....

Animation and Me ;)

Pre-Script: This post, in a way, proves how good of an aunt I am for my niece n nephews. It also clearly showcases me as a lead supporter of piracy as far as animation movies are concerned, again it 'll also let the readers (poor souls :( ) know that I still have a kid alive in me (yeah I know shocking, if anyone has fainted reading this, I sincerely request the person sitting beside them to sprinkle some water, because well I know I've the perfect serious gal image :P and I work hard to keep it intact, but we all have our weak points) but the motive of post in none of those cited above....to know the mystery; please read on :D

I kind of have this habit of stocking all the animation movies with me whenever I find them (or rather whenever I feel I'm wasting my internet's bandwidth by not utilizing it and keeping the torrent inactive :D ) Initially this habit of stocking the cartoon movies was on the pretext of doing so for my adorable nieces...like a sweet, responsible, loving, caring and completely devoted Aunt, I made sure to have at least a dozen or so movie ready in hand before the angels (read devils in disguise ;)) ) came for a trip to India....and then came those times when I was out of stock to watch anything (these are the days before I got absorbed by a number of series) and hence, I started watching the animation movies myself....

I remember watching a couple of Tom n Jerry movies while I was a kid...and yeah, Bug's Bunny too...but more often than not, what I caught up with in name of animation was episodic like TaleSpin, Mickey Mouse, The lil mermaid, Ducktales n so on.... not really a full length movie kind of thing....and hence, in the name n duty of being a "Maasi" I ventured in the world of movies without real people for the first time...

Since then, there have been lots of animation movies I have watched (again being a responsible Aunt you see, I need to watch the movies and make sure they are suitable for my niece...can't let them b badly influence, I'm more than enough of a kind in the family ;) )

But the last two movies I have caught, have actually made me question....question if something is wrong with me, or are the animation movies getting more serious than the usual adult movies....I for one am not a big time movies buff...I do see movies once in a while, but it's tough for me to see a movie with complete dedication...and I generally don't tend to flow out in emotions while watching movies...In fact I remember how we had a school premier of Kal Ho Na Ho, and the gals with me started crying since before the intermission till the end of the movie, and I was rolling my eyes, as to what on earth is wrong with these gals!!! I really have no business in crying while watching a movie, in general....

The only time I remember myself crying in a movie was during the Hum Aapke Hain Kaun show...and I was barely 7 or so that time....couldn't help crying when one of my fav person on screen was dying...I absolutely adored Renuka Shahne back then, and so it got a lil too sad for me...but over the years I rarely have cried...one movie which I love till date n still makes me cry has been "My Sister's Keeper" and I know how badly I'm recommending the movie to everyone around me (though bad guys these people are...they just don't watch it!!! X( )

But I'm afraid of my state of my mind now....the last two animation movies I've seen have left me in tears :( "Tangled" and "Despicable Me"....recently saw them n somewhere towards the end of both the movies I found my eyes wet....and this is grossly unacceptable... (I'm sure my niece n nephew never 'll actually even shed a tear in the movie) and there I was, feeling all what not for the lifeless in reality characters...not loving this shift in my emotional stability even one bit :(

Anyways, as for the movies, both of them are awesome, n must watch...specially Tangled...it's a visual treat and I doubt if there is anyone who can resist loving our very sweet Maximus....Despicable Me is a delight in itself thanks to the three girls, but still a lil faded in front of Tangled...but then comparing the two movies is like comparing two entirely different entity...must watch movies for any age group (and if any of you cries watching either of them, please let me know...it would be a solace to know I'm not the lonely miserable hopeless soul to do the same :-? )....and as for me...I'll keep wondering if the movies really were that amazing, or I finally actually have lost my nuts n bolts to cry for a animation movie :)

Post-Script: I'm a lil more at peace...happy with the fact that I didn't cry watching "A Bug's Life" :D :D :D Party time!!!! But then, the movie lost it's pace around the first 20 to 40 min....only to pick it again after an hour, but it was a lil too late...nice one for kids, I doubt how much buddhi's like me would prefer it though (specially in the absence of any absolutely heart stealing character...the lil ant princess named Dot tries to do the same, but isn't all that effective given the lil screen time she has had :| ) ...Anyways, I'm hopeful my season of crying while watching cartoons is over, but I'm going to test it again soon, with "Gnomeo and Juliet"..."ll keep you guy's updated, even if you don't want to be :D

Post-Post Script: The blog, of nothing else, gave me a nice excuse to play with pictures and create collage :D :D :D ....Here goes the creation ;)) (do pass me the compliments for the pathetic job done :P ) [As it is, this blog is a pure testimony to how useless n workless I am these days....laziness at its epitome...YayyyY!!!!! ]

Stranger In The Mirror : Not the Review

And I had to write this post 3 days back...but then, life came to a full circle...I remember my firs few days in MBA...same looks like the end...had an unending project report to deal with....n well the last presentation of the course actually reminded and made me go through all what I had in the very first presentation almost 18 months back...life doesn't change much, isn't it :)

So, "Stranger in the Mirror", a novel read by me ages back...has nothing to do with this post...

Nor as one of my friend thought (after reading my status message on FB around 4 days back), is it related to the horror/thriller movie Mirrors (again saw it over 2 years back)...

But this one was a personal reflection, which I prefer to believe holds true for everyone (ab I can't say I'm different in each n every aspect, one shouldn't be that abnormal too after all :P ) "If we look close enough in the mirror, we often find the biggest stranger in our life..." or something like that was the status message I had on Facebook...a quick way to put your thoughts across the world, and definitely better than Twitter (of course, isn't it obvious that I'll choose FB over Twitter...to a gal with never ending blogs, 420 words over 160 chars, the choice is simple enough for even a kid to make!!!)

Just had a thought....we all spend our lives in judging people (yes, I honestly do, n be honest, so do you...) we appreciate them, critique them...find their shortcomings or their strong points (and again lets be honest...from the finding the positive n negative in other, which part do v most often unearth??) We (or rather I'll shift back to I), I definitely can writes essays about the characters, habits and traits of at least a couple of dozens of people...it's just so simple...and I'm so stringent in my belief, so sure that what I think of that person, is how that person really is...and well, no one can change that opinion, but I myself...but why would I (it's tough to accept you are wrong, even if it's something you have to confess to yourself n not the world :-| )

But then, how often do we think of ourselves...how often do we actually measure ourselves on the same parameters, look out for same behavior n characteristics, as we assess in those around us....do we really know ourselves, what we truly are?? Truth be told, I at least don't!!!

Today, if I confess, I probably am the person I know about least....other's can call me predictable, but to think of, I don't know who I've turned out to be, someone I would have appreciated as an on-looker (like I appreciate few people around me..) or someone I would have found full of errors and condemned....is there any way, I can be as true at self-assessment as I am while assessing others???

Till date, I actually have tried making sure that I don't end up doing the very same things, which I don't like seeing other's do...which I raise an issue, complain or even crib behind their backs (yup, that a shortcoming, and being a gal, it's not surprising; but well I do talk about people, I do end up picking their wrongs...and I am not apologetic...because somewhere I know, the majority of us do that...and well, I don't think it's wrong too...it's a part of being in the society.... ;)) Nice excuse...right?? )

Anyways, to cut the long story short, I liked the novel "Stranger in the Mirror", the movie "Mirrors" was good enough to keep me glued till end (I've a bad habit of leaving movies half watched!!! ) but what fascinates me, is the person that reflects back while I look in the mirror....for that's one person I know the least about......

False Impression Gives Me a Character to Fall in Love With...

Jeffrey Archer, another author, whose work I used relish way back in past....I remember reading its thick, heavy n kind of never ending "Kane and Abel" around a decade back...I happened to have finished my 9th standard n was spending a huge chunk of time (read around a month) at di's  place...with her being in office throughout the day on weekdays, n no television in tow in her apartment, the sweet lil me had to keep myself busy with all the books I could find...wasn't surprising when it took me just a few days to complete a book, di was stuck with since weeks :D

It was a nice read...a paced story revolving around the life of two men, born on the same date, but with different fortune...and as has been my habit, I delved into all the novel written by the man (though I doubt I've read them all...I believe I've missed plenty) The kind of novels this guy writes can be broadly categorized into epic dramas or suspense (or thriller) novels...and truth be told, being the dramatic gal I'm; I loved Archer for those dramas spanning from birth till the end of men or even across generation...Sherlock Holmes isn't my favorite genre in any case... 

He is one guy, who actually has had a life as dramatic as his novel...a baron, a writer, a political reader to insider's trading only to even taste being a prisoner...hell of a life it was...and we think, it's the end of the world once u land up in jail (even his novels suggest so) but man, he continued with his pen even then (though I left reading him :P nothing related to his jail stint in any case ;) )

So, I just realized a couple of days back that there are now 3 proper fictional novels by him that are out since his time in prison and I haven't touched even one yet...and hence began my journey with "False Impression" .

Confession, before I move forward (yup, it's my kind of review...so it's bound to be like pages n pages long :P ) I generally tend to read a lil backdrop about the story of novels I pick...generally myself go through some shadowed reviews on various blogs and Amazon...but seems like amidst all my submission n rocking-rolling life, I started this novel without going into the backdrop or storyline of the novel...

Good, I didn't...else I would probably have not started with the novel (as I said, not a big fan of thriller or chases...) Bad, had I been through the reviews, I probably would have understood it's not a novel with perfect fit for me...I remember reading "Da Vinci Code", n getting so overwhelmed with all the artwork they mentioned that the entire novel got too heavy to take in for me (not to forget, I ended up comparing it with "Angels and Demons" and well "Da Vinci" just lost it with huge margin) "False Impression" is the next novel I've ever come across, full of painting and their history (and frankly I've no clue about them, never even had heard about them...like I had no idea what a Monet could be, losing which made a man sad, a man who didn't think twice before killing someone, gettin sad for a person?? Nah...till I realized its a painting :P ) And yet, I'll say hats of too Jeffrey, I not only finished the novel, I actually ended up learning about a couple of artworks...

A story spanning across ten days needs to be thrilling...keeping the suspense n action quotient up all the time, be enthralling and succinct...sadly, the book was neither of the two...at least not the first half...the entire backdrop of 9/11 actually had no correlation with the plot of the novel (only serving as a mean to give the lead a way to hide her presence, claim herself dead!!!) The way the characters kept jumping from one country to another, was kind of lame (it actually can make me all d more weary about travelling, n not to forget it also tempts me to think that every flight has a killer, a cop n a lead-in-run as its passenger :O ) The male lead, hardly had a role (except of-course trying out his luck with the female lead, n occasionally outwitting the bad man, actually woman :D ) 

And man, what a negative lead she is...I guess she is one character that got me completely hooked (how often do u find that the negative lead is a light frame woman??) This book was worth it for her (and I had to read d ending twice for her...trying to figure out if she is alive or dead...n seems like I'll find her again in some of Jeffrey's novel because to the best of my knowledge she was given a last moment life n chance to escape..) and well I would keep my fingers crossed that she re-surfaces in some other of his novel....she completely steals the show from the male-female lead...hats off!!

Other than that there are some characters here n there...all suiting pretty well to their character (including the negative lead, the assistants, and the friends for the leads...) but well, to be honest, none of the character had a depth or big background attached to it...in fact, one of the biggest mystery in the novel; the reason for the the lady assistant to be helping the female lead, was in fact a dampener (okie the dramatic me wanted some big mystery to be revealed and not a one paragraph revelation just before the novel ended)..

To cut it short, it was a decent read...the first half tested me a lil, but the second half was a page-turner...loved the female negative lead....in fact will keep my eyes open for more such characters, which I know would be hard to come across :( 

One-line Review: Read the novel if:

a. you like the chases and have a knack for thrillers 

b. want to see a negative female who goes beyond the kitchen politics but is actually in love with kitchen knives..

c. are interested even the tiniest bit in artworks :)

d. wish to read a lil more about the 9/11 destruction and a fiction on how the people trapped in twin towers would have gone through those moments...

and give it a miss if:

a. you are looking forward to a chase like Robert Ludlum's novel,

b. you prefer novels who have a good research work done about the character's background,

c. you actually are looking for a sensible, coherent, practical stream of actions

d. and last but not the least, are looking for some big mystery element.

(And dare anyone point out that it was way more than one line!!!)

Rating: 4/5 (and trust me at least two of these four point here are for Krantz, the female negative lead...yup I like d bad guys...oops...gals :D)

Post Script: Would be back soon...very soon!!! ;))

and no, it won't b a post on Prisoners of Birth, the next Archer novel I've started with :)

He

Pre-Script: This one was tough :P ...being a gal thinking about a guy's perspective in any case is tough...that's why a three days break even when I had planned to come up with the "He" in the very day itself...and yup, I know this might offend few "He"mans :D

He was born to succeed, or so he believed....being second was just not acceptable, right from the birth...maybe that’s why, even after being the second child in the family; he was the preferred child...he was born in the usual Indian middle class family...he sure was his father’s dream, his mother’s world...his sister’s adored brother...he in fact, was probably what his family looked up to, to change their lives, to secure their future...with great power, comes great responsibility...his demands were commandments for his parents...the price of it, was to fulfil their dreams, to be ahead of the race...

Not much can be said about his past, guys hardly talk about the times they were kids...but anyone can be sure that he had lots scrapped knees in those days, for he still had them...every game, every activity...he was prone to sport a mark or two...call them the testimony to the battle he had fought, and yes; won...ambitions are good, wishes necessary; but when you get in the habit of winning, accepting even a minor setback is tough...any other guy in his place would have been happy with what he had achieved...what he was capable of...but he was forever in the agony of not being the best...there always was something better he wanted, nothing probably was enough for him...

But he was human...he wasn’t a super-hero, he wasn’t the prince charming...he had his share of short-comings...or maybe they were short-comings in the eyes of the people who looked at him, because he was sure this is the way wanted to be...so often, the world witnesses the successful men...and every so often are those achievers alone...guys, even in the upbringing of our times, are taught to hold back feelings...he mastered the art pretty soon...emotions do not produce winners...his target was victory...a lil sacrifice of things or people, all was worth it for him in battle-field...emotions were a weakness...and rather than wasting time in the feelings which couldn’t be helped, he preferred investing time in ensuring that feelings did never arise...

Or so, he pretended...for humans can never let go off their thoughts...no matter how strong a mind is, it can’t altogether put the heart on silence...no matter what he claimed, tears in the eyes of those who cared moved him...he knew he was failing those who wanted and expected more than his fame and accolades... maybe it was easier to handle professional life than personal...he wasn’t running away, he was just ignoring it...but with time, probably failing in the same...

How would anyone understand him, when he failed to understand himself...he was a guy, so sure of himself, to the outside world...that no one could even imagine that he can be guy who breaks down alone at night...his maddening drive to succeed probably had camouflaged his need and reason to succeed...how long can one cut himself off from people, from relationship, from any distraction other than work...he had people around him, but he know there were hardly he could have called friends...how long can he pay the cost of his dreams, the burden of his responsibility, and most importantly, how long till he wrecks himself, a part of his fighting with himself...he knew he wanted someone, someone who can hold him together when he loses it out...but how does he ask someone to love him, when he has resolved not to love anyone...

Post-Script: Really nothing to say as such...this one, as said before can never match she...after all being a gal, I in any case can put in more colors to the gal...and well, this biasedness would continue...if, ever, this he and she together have any story forward :) However, hopefully there would be some break...and some trying out new things before coming back to these two fictional people ;))

She...

Pre-Script: Yet again, a completely different kind of attempt by me...just wanted to try something new...try not to read too much between the line...it's a lil of me, a lil of fiction, a lil of what I see around me...and I'll try to make this one short (oh trust me, that's one of the toughest thing for me to do :( ) Just giving theme based writing one more try, and playing with words myself :S

She came in this world as her brother's dream, his favorite person, as she was reminded for a good number of years...As she passed her birthdays, she loved hearing her grandma tell how much her father doted on her, her silly demands being orders for him....Her mom was probably the only disciplinary in her life, the only one who had a heart to refuse her whims and yet, her mom just wanted the best from her because mothers generally do know what their child is capable of...Blessed, she definitely was, for she had a sister who made sure she never felt odd in place, even if it meant her sister had to act like a child, ages younger than what her sister really was...She grew up reading stories that ended with "and they lived happily ever after..."

Life was simple, or maybe she was smart enough as a kid to treasure n remember only the pleasant incidents, or heck, maybe memories so distant usually turn themselves into a rosy picture...she knew she the preferred one, and she indeed made sure to get things her way...calling her spoiled might be unjust, but lil gals become more lovely, when they r just a lil willful too....like any other gal, she loved her dolls, they all had a pretty name....and years later, the pictures of those very dolls would remind her of her very first mean act...she regretted it as soon as she did, but she was scared not to admit it...yes, she was already growing up, even when she continued to love playing house and doctors....

Year passed on, time never stops; no matter how much one wishes....against all attempts, she did have to grow up....she saw a lot of what she never wanted to see, she got glimpses of her dreams come true...and then there were the days, when she realized that dreams are just dreams...she knew she would survive, she had what it takes to go on...and she did battle things which people probably never face in their entire life...she was strong, she was weak...she was normal and yet it seemed as if nothing around her had any semblance of normalcy..she was predictable and she could surprise the hell out of you with her unexpected behavior....she was an enigma, even to herself...she accepted she was humane, she was prone to error....knowingly-unknowingly, she was bound to hurt people...it stopped affecting her too much, she no longer spent sleepless night repenting for her deeds....

Her readings now ended on sad notes, they were full of complicated relations...no longer was life a game of black n white, it was grey all over....she loved her family they were always with her, somethings actually are forever...but then somewhere, somehow deep inside, the bonds were no longer so pure...she laughed, she cried, she actually did live...but somewhere down the years, her life was robbed of her...a part of her might have given up, but a chunk of her believed it's not over...there is a lot yet to come, and it would be a shame if she misses out on it...so there she sits, with a thousand thoughts in mind, a heart that has survived the winds of time, looking at the present with thoughts of future...yes she is a fighter, living life always has been a war for us...she would rebel, she would buckle, she would rule, she would kneel...but she knows, she has it in her to leave her identity in the world....

Yes, she has the child of yesteryears safe in her very core....for that's the childhood she wants to gift to the one of hers...she isn't extra-ordinary, she is you, if you truly look in the mirror....

Post-Script: I won't re-read what I've written, that never has been something I liked doing...I just hope it didn't come out as completely insane n insensible....and it didn't have a lot of "She" :P ...yeah I could have kept going on...at least doubled what I wrote...I'm sure I've missed a lot of her...but then she is beyond words...just something I noticed as I finished the piece, I haven't used any emoticons in the parts of her...and a post with so less of smilies (they being restricted to pre and post-script) is just another new to me :) . Do leave the thoughts on this one, if you have any...even criticism is welcome...that might be the only way you have to ensure that I keep my hands off from such stuff :)

Tilly Bagshawe: Mistress of the Game...the Game of Banking on a Brand Name??

Pre-script: This probably is a kind of review you never have read or heard of before...it hardly touches the aspect of the book but rather bears all the characteristic of something written by me (yeah, tangential is the term) and well, it's my most dedicated effort to stay with one single topic....which as you must know, is kind of impossible for me :D :D

Sidney Sheldon, I am sure everyone must have heard this name...and anyone of us who likes to read (no matter what genre he/she prefers) must have read at-least one of HIS book...stressing on the his because for a long time I was under the assumption that Sidney, as the name sounds and suggests (at least to me) must be a girl...it's just once that I actually happened to look at the back cover of one of his novels which printed his snap that I realized, oh God, he is a guy!!!

Looking back, I realize that it's almost a decade since I read the first Sidney book (well, yeah I was spoiled pretty early I guess...it was probably 9th standard that I got my hands on "The Best Laid Plans" by the author...a friend had just passed it across..and I graduated from Nancy Drews to a new league :-o ) And well, I've this bad habit of sticking to an author till I finish almost all my collection, so it was all over by 12th...almost all (and don't be suspicious about my interest in Sidney Sheldons, I have completed most of the Robin Cook, all Jeffery Archer, complete Dan Brown, a good deal of John Grisham and Robert Ludlum too...all by the 2nd year of B.Tech...I miss my sincere reading days now :'( )

All said and done, I like he fast pace in his novels (though few of the books have a lot of, to my imagination, impossible crap attached to it) and I generally love the suspense factor in it...the mystery or even just finding out what actually happened to the lead characters...were they able to achieve their goals of life n kind of stuff...and yeah, I love the sitcom penned by the same author (which was another revelation...how on this earth can I dream that the writer of such novels is associated with something like I Dream of Jeannie!!!! )

My one week of break at home (at the end of which came "Bored and Unstable Me...") was kind of dedicated back to the author...I happened to catch up with a mini tele-series based on his novel "If Tomorrow Comes"  which so happens to be one of my favorite by him...and well, for once I was pleased with the way it has been adopted in the mini-series...the story hasn't been cut-short, the way Twilight's movie adaption ruined the novel (so much so that I couldn't bring myself to watch any movie after the first one....but I'm fine if they adapt the fourth one...given that, the fourth part novel itself was a big let down :( ) and neither has the story been stretched beyond limits (yeah, you are right I'm talking about Twilight again, the television serial made out of it by Ekta Kapoor...Pyaar ki yeh ek kahani..ufff X( ) Do catch up with the series, I really enjoyed it even after having read and remembering the novel...and even the 4-5 hours it's spread over passes with all the entertainment intact (in fact this happens to be the second novel adaptation I actually have liked, the first being Gone With the Wind, which actually made it possible for the people who can't read 1000 pages of the book to get the story...and to think of, even Harry Potter generally has been nicely adapted though I haven't got any after the 3rd one :-| )

And other than catching up his series, I finally happened to read a book...more out of curiosity than actually following my reading temptation...I happened to stumble upon the title "Mistress of the Game" which is being promoted as a sequel to Sheldon's "Master of the Game" and I in fact if you look at the cover, it makes you feel as if Sidney Sheldon himself is the author, which would be shocking given the fact that Mr. Sheldon died soon after his not-so-well novel "Are you afraid of the dark?" , a kind of sequel to my first book "Best Laid Plans" had come out...so well, me being me, dug a lil deeper and realized that the novels are actually penned by a woman named Tilly Bagshawe, who claims to love Sidney's book and has done a lot of research to come up with the sequel so that it sounds and shapes the way it would have been had Sidney himself would have written (if he ever would have...which I doubt :-/ )

So well, picked up the book...and thought of giving it a read and I don't know if it's my time away from books or if it's the way that the book was written, it took me almost the entire week to actually finish it... which happens to be a complete contrast to the usual way I finish a book within the day or in one sitting (yup, that's one more reason I try to stay away from books these days...I leave all other works pending for the love of novels) 

And finally coming to what I feel about the novel....the story is mostly carried from where it was left in Master of the Game...Tilly didn't have to work much on setting the background and behavior of the character, thankfully Sidney had made the leads strong enough to ensure no one dared change their touches....the new generation brought forward by Tilly was kind of expected...the one with a subtle and peaceful mother grows up to be strong and determined whereas the son of the willful headstrong mom is expectedly over-shadowed by her and kind of lost in the efforts to please her...the relationships in the novel were badly misplaced in the name of copying the lines of Sidney (yeah I know and accept that his story lines had some unacceptable relationship equations too but this one seems to make sure that not even one person is straight!!! over-exaggeration...) The story ended at some strange place (which scares me that Tilly might try to bring yet another sequel :-S ) and well, truly saying I didn't like the way Tilly actually led the story to crumble the empire which formed the back-bone of the story...it's just not the way it's supposed to be... #-o

So well, it's worth a read if you actually have read the sequel and would like to spend a lil more time with the characters you had come to love and hate...but I just don't agree with the next generation which has been showcased, with the exception of Gabe's character (which has it's own flaws but thankfully hasn't ever turned into a vindictive person and he in fact seems to be the only person to keep Lexi in check lest she turns up like Kate, her evil aunt)...I can condemn Tilly and the publisher on one hand to showcase the book such that one is led to believe it's  Sidney himself (and I till date doubt how Tilly got the permission to use his name this way on the covers and all) and on the other hand hats off to Tilly for trying out such a dangerous stuff...fans of Sidney can both embrace or criticize her badly...

But in either case, Tilly has found a new route to success...the die-hard followers of Sidney 'll definitely pick up the book to read it once...just to see how similar or different it is, to applaud or rubbish it...and I guess that things did work out with Tilly, for she is already out with another novel, and yet again has Sidney Sheldon's name in much bigger font and on top rather than her own name (makes me wonder, does she wants to live in the shadows of Sidney and let go of her chances as a writer with different personal touch?? )...in any case, yet to read any novel by her (which isn't claimed as having Sidney's touch, and yeah she I guess has 3-4 of them before she got hooked to Sidney #:-s)

One line verdict: Give it a read if:-

• you are a Sidney fan and have read most of his work... :-?
• you got nothing better to read (which you probably don't, given you read this long review =)) )
• you like reading about the life journey of people with lots of ups n down and of course things gone wrong...
• you have the stamina left to read the sequel after reading the original, which happens to be a thick book itself but delightful too (and has made me wonder many times that, yeah again a hindi serial, had once come up loosely based n it's story line...though I don't recollect the name, it had Smriti Irani playing the role of the nice good grand-child)

And those who read it, would be left like me...a lil confused...and left waiting for their prediction of another sequel coming up...

Rating (he ha ha...me n rating something...I know how I say that the only way I'll fail is if I check my papers myself...I am bad in giving marks :P ) Anyways I'll be good n pass it with a 3.25/5  (see I'm still with .25 ...that's the way we are marked in the department :()

I hope I have able to maintain some single track theme...fingers crossed...catch ya laters :-h

And yeah, I've been a lil too liberal with emoticons in this post...just that it's long since I saw Yahoo emoticons again (Gmail has conquered it) so was kind of in a mood to revisit the old memories with all those long forgotten icons <:-P

Chasing the terrain of thoughts....

Seems like I had a long silence...so many things happened around me, giving me the perfect excuse as well as material to come up with a new post, but seems like the laziness genes always won over any determination to be active...now I guess it's too late to discuss any match that Team India has won, or the way they kept us hooked, on the edge, nail biting stuff we all went through in last 10-12 days...enough of analysis has been done...lots of things said n done (I've read right from the over-zealous happy statements about the win to people complaining that now that the cup is ours, it doesn't feel all that great :-/ ) In any case, for me, it was seeing The Man, who as per me deserved the cup (though his performance in the match that mattered was dismissal) was the whole reason of celebrating the win...and well, just realized how cute his kids now look...the daughter is just amazing... (yup from him I might soon become the fan of the 14 year old one ;) )

Just completed my last mid-semester few hours back and after 8 mid-sems in last 20 months, I'm still clueless as to how they can be called mid-semesters when unlike the conventional meaning of occurring in the middle (i.e. central area as per definitions and not just in between anywhere) happen twice during the semester...truly n frankly speaking, I probably will end up giving more exams in these two years course than I did during my four year B.Tech...though it's another fact that I never gave any exam out there with such less preparation n seriousness like I've done here...specially since the day I'm placed, I guess even the tiny-miny reason to study for good grades so as to facilitate placement has evaporated in thin air....

A couple of incidents happened in the last few days which actually made me wonder how unpredictable life is (and hence made me conclude that life actually is a Gemini, changing every now n then...) I guess I'm watching too much of serious stuff (can't help even if the light hearted sitcom like Sasural Genda Phool takes a turn-around to become a tear-jerker :( and then I know I'm hopeless when the animated children's movie Tangled ends up with tears rolling down my eyes :(( and I thought only movies like My Sister's Keeper could make one cry....mmm...last I found myself in tears so insensibly was I guess when the character of Pooja played by Renuka Shahne died in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...well, don't worry I was big enough to realize it's a movie n that pooja is different from this Pooja :D )

A friend (yeah, if you ae that friend I know you 'll recognize yourself and be happy happy the way you are on reading this :P ) once when reading my blog said that he likes the way my blogs jump from one topic to another...it's evident that I haven't sat down and worked on a theme rather scribbled down my thoughts...and what amazes him that how my thoughts jumps from one topic to another...it's like being inside my mind and wonder how can I connect completed isolated things (and yeah, the great me, took it as a compliment rather than a criticism and am happily living in that khushfahmi :D ) 

So yeah, even I myself find it tough to stick to a topic (rather it's tougher to find a topic you know...baaki sab toh excuse hain :) ) but then again there are time I actually wonder, who would anyone be interested in the tangential posts I come up...(but since I'm a Gemini I have both the question and the answer ready too...so answer is simple, if one has to read something logical, correct n sensible, aren't there a million such articles available for it over the net...me being the insane me, should continue serving the lil bunch of insane people like me who are ready to do (read read ) anything with a tinge of humor and sarcasm in it...I've to make my own positioning and differentiate myself from the rest na... (and still very soon I guess I'll come up with something I regularly catch up on blogs...words about some book...it's just that I've turned into a pathetic reader these days....series take up all my time :( )

With the end of the mid-sems, I find myself in the last month of my management journey...probably the last mnth of my academic life (yeah, I once had thought seriously about doctorate, but with every passing day that thought is slowly waved goodbye....now I really doubt I'll ever actually end up doing it once I join the job...but yeah the right incentives and reasons can lure me...) But u never know...as my di strongly trusts me...just to escape the work-load and expectations of job I can anytime run back to and embrace books...

Books, they say, are much easier to tackle than clients and bosses (oh please, at the moment books seems evil enough to make sure that I don't even remotely touch them...in fact, with the advancement of technology I hate even the presentations and slides...they in fact are worse than books...at least books have complete text and we are not expected to author books...presentations on the other hand have bullet points, which you need to expand when the questions ask you to write exhaustive essays and brief notes...and worst of all, you even have to make presentations yourself....see I told you, technological advancement is bad...we were happier and had peaceful existence in the golden old days our grand-parents enjoyed :'( )

I can go on n on talking about nothings but then again another friend complains about the length of my post (and well, even the great me couldn't take it as a compliment...it definitely was a from the mouth of a critic, I'll try to put a full stop...and refrain myself from starting another random post instantaneously ) It's just that I'm a gal...and if not talking in general, I do love to write (read type) in general...till it's for my assignments n submissions (which are in my hand a plenty n I've mastered the art of ignoring them :D :D )

It always feels good to be back!!!