To the year that was..

To start something on a good note, one has to end something on a positive note ;)

With this thought in mind I started my 31st morning by getting up early. The sleep late in the night and get up in the wee hours of afternoon routine had to be changed. So I decided to twist it a little, to let it not become a thing of the future (many of us call it a new year resolution). Early morning sun rise with some kick-ass yoga session and a 2 course breakfast with NYT and TOI in 2 windows felt really awesome. The rest of the day that followed has been great. Finished a lot of pending work on a lot of fronts.

Now as I get ready for the dinner party with a bunch of friends, I realize instead of calling anything I decide as a resolution, I am going to call it a 'thing' I am going to follow (The word resolution sounds might scary to a person like me, who has a tendency to break one by the tick of the clock). So my 'thing' for 2010 is not to be lazy. On any front. Be it health, relationships, studies, getting up early or even finding myself a job ;)

On this note a big cheers to 2009! clink ;)

And I wish you all a super duper fantastic and wonderful year ahead.

lots of joy, sunshine and love,

~nightlfier

3 Idiots and the emotions it evoked

I just finished 3 idiots and somehow I do not feel compelled to write a review. The movie obviously is pretty good with loads of flaws, but I dont feel much critic-ky as I sit to jot things down. Hence the title.

First of all, 3 idiots came real close to resembling college life as we all know it (specially if you have lived in a hostel). I have actually grown up watching movies like Dil Chahta Hai (thoda 'hi-fi only' for me, I studied in a government college, the most de-glamorised engineering school in Pune), Mohabbatein (truthfully trashy) and the likes of RHTDM etc etc. So these movies in a way created a kind of wannabe-ness among normal college junta. I very well know most of us wanted those DCH types pensive snaps atop a hill :P (In that case me too is guilty as charged ;)) So classes apart...

The very first connection I drew with 3 idiots was of sharing hostel room with more than one person. Thats where real fun and college life started for me. Sharing and caring became synonymous. The 'ye dosti hum nahi todenge' types bonds were formed in those hostel rooms. And even though rooms changed, floors changed, my roomies never changed. We had our share of sweet-bitter stuff, but no one parted ways. I give you 100 on 100 for depicting that, Mr. Raju Hirani!

And the funny hostel stuff that was shown in 3 idiots, like fighting for water and shower in a common bathroom, the late nights before exams and praying for good results, struck a chord too. I fondly remembered those hassles over who should get how many buckets of hot water (believe me when I say that!), that bathroom hogging and partially, booking a bathroom for dear roomie and never letting others take charge :P 

These fights became grimmer during exam times. Girls already used to be pretty edgy due to all the stress and all nighters. And such triggers would just worsen it! Also in spite of being from different tracks of engineering, we always had the compassion (thats just the correct word!) to listen each other out or hear stories, before and after any practical and written exam. We particularly had this going to Dagdu Sheth or Pataleshwar ritual, after every result. We did (I still do) pray to god for good results :D

So-oh many innumerable memories were evoked, that I actually overlooked many stupidities and flaws in the movie. 5 point someone was a fun read. Movie is actually loosely based on it, would be the appropriate way to put it. Also I felt a bit annoyed by the feel good factor that Hirani infuses in each of his movies. The movie definitely had its highs and genuinely good and light moments. But somehow those weren't consistent enough. Anyways alll izz (definitely) well, as far as touching hearts is concerned. And hence the movie works :)

3 idiots is a good end to this 'year of bad cinema' in bollywood! At least its heart is in the right place :)

~nightflier

An ode

An ode to all the cities I have resided in till date :)




That was the first feeling I got after listening to this song. Apparently Haniya (the lead guitarist of Zeb and Haniya) also said similar stuff in the making of video, that its an ode to Islamabad, the city where she grew up.
I guess it touches those chords of a strange longing inside you. The words and Zeb's haunting voice are captivating.


I have become a huge follower of the whole enterprise behind coke studio. I think Sony TV had started something similar in mid nineties. But they had obscure singers like Sudesh Bhosle and Amit Kumar performing old melodies. Coke studio sessions and the whole troupe is just amazing. They give a feeling of being in a mehfil and still have that cool and hep touch. Oh and most of the original songs have been tweaked to create semi-classical fusions. I think its a fantastic attempt. Because the results are superb!


Anyways enjoy!


~nightflier

Ramifications

'So you will not drink again, ever ?' asked he.


She went back in time, exactly an year ago, on the same day. It was his birthday, a nice evening. Everything had gone as planned. He had always wanted her to host a drinks party with his friends. And today as part of the biggest surprise she had decided to drink too, for him!


It is always difficult to be a first timer at anything. You never know how you would perform at the given task. In this case she had no idea, when was the time to stop. In the making merry spree, she had outnumbered the most experienced of the lot, to everyone's shock and amazement. The only thing she remembered was waking up late the next day to a tingling sensation in her head, which was just the start of the worst headache of her life. She smiled fondly at herself and looked around at an empty and neat room. Well, at least we cleaned everything before sleeping. And so she tried to remember. The only thing which came to her mind was calling a number. Everything after that call was blank. Not even a single image flashed in her memory. Panic replaced  the initial amusement. Well that was just the start of the hangover. Its indeed difficult to be a first timer at anything!


She stressed herself for any clue about what happened after that call. But to no avail. She even asked him and other girl friends. Everyone replied the same, 'you drank too much and passed out'. She thought may be they knew better. They seemed a little less affected and hence she agreed. After 2 days when the headache was gone and things had become normal, she again started thinking about that night. She vividly remembered a phone call. Now back in her senses she checked her phone logs and found a call to her ex on the same night, at 2 in the morning. Things were falling into place now. She had called him up in her drunken revelry and proclaimed that she still loved him. She felt like getting eaten by a dinosaur at that very moment. It was her husband's birthday and she had done the most unforgivable thing in the world. Well may be she thought, it wasnt that bad. May be no one was around when the whole call took place. She still had a chance to explain herself and rectify any misunderstandings, because he had been unusually quite since past 2 days.


She tried to broach the topic for the next few days. What and how he must have felt was eating her up. She wanted to explain things and apologise. But he never seemed interested in the topic. The silence was killing her. The distance was growing. The most amazing bond which they had build, had broken because of her. And then it became the itch of the relationship. The itch which was there but about which no one talked about. May be they both valued the relationship so much that they wanted to forget it. May be no one wanted to face the truth and accept it and move on. May be they were scared as the stakes involved for a fallout were higher. May be sometimes its better to reshape some misshapen memories by ignoring the bad part and outcomes. The possibilities were so many.


Which one had they taken.


It was his birthday again. No fancy party. It was a quite dinner. Just the 2 of them. He ordered drinks for them and asked her 'So you will not drink again, ever ?'
She smiled. Picked up her phone and called up her ex. She had tears in her eyes as she spoke, 'It isnt an yearly ritual to call you. But some mistakes need to be corrected. There was a time when I did love you. But I am truly in love with my husband now, a person who respects us so much that he wont risk a fallout for a mistake his wife committed over few extra shots of vodka. I am glad that I am saying all this in my senses now'.
He just smiled back at her and opened the bottle.


Sometimes its simpler to re-write a few memories and make bonds stronger. It is worth every drop in the bottle ;)


~nightflier

(500) days of summer

Its hard to resist  not writing about this movie!

I watched it yesterday after knowing about it for months. Perfect start to the movie watching spree.

Light, sweetly romantic and refreshing.

The USP is its non linear style of narration and acting. I really dont want to spoil anything for you so recommend it highly instead!

Very simple story presented in such an awesome way, that you want to watch it in spite of knowing how its going to end. Well, the director makes it a point to tell us whats going to happen eventually and then keeps us thoroughly involved and engrossed. Very clever!

Another 100 points to Joseph Gordon Lewitt and Zooey Deschanel. Zooey plays the strange and complex Summer really well and effortlessly. Also I think she is really beautiful in a fragile way. JGL on the other hand had to emote very complex emotions. Both have done a great job! 

Well rotten tomatoes says its 88% fresh. One more fact to add to its highly recommended status!

Do watch it. :)

~nightflier!

Priorities

Note to self: Never opt for a project group which has full time working people in it. No matter however good friends you are. Friendships can be saved, but its hard to change professional opinions. I hate to say this, but working people seem to have different priorities. 
For ex. A (sensible) student would never party, when all his other mates are trying to make things work on the project front. But it seems when you start working, you HAVE to party, otherwise your boss will not give you the much needed good appraisal. Really? Is the economy and recession so bad, that priorities have changed for so many people ?




Note to you working guy: 
1. Never get enrolled in a master's program without knowing/gauging the responsibilities.
2. There is no need to claim ownership in the hour of crisis. First you write wrong logic (excusing yourself with the age old 'hey, i work for 12 hours, I am tired' excuse) and then go on bragging about how 'it is your wisdom and brain-work' and then say that 'umm I am not sure how its supposed to work'.
3. Get a Life.


Highly irritated!!!


~nightflier


P.S. I know this isnt going to help, but outbursts do help!

twitter ka funda

I am not a woMAN of few words..I like to prattle..about random stuff..


I just realized this when I was tweeting and it went beyond 150 characters..
Thank you blogger for being there..as long as you give us a no-word-limit bar, I know people will keep writing.
And I am not saying this cos I feel twitter is stealing your thunder.


Twitter is good to gain information, to follow real celebrities and their uhh..normal (??!!) life, is less intrusive (something I prefer these days, more and more), and for me personally, tis great medium to send messages to friends and well many related perks.


So on a concise day I am more twitter-y and days like today more blogger friendly. I have also realized that I tweet more when I am studying (which is supposedly a good sign for a grad student). Whereas I blog when I am drifting (which happens every 84 seconds to be precise).


Anyways, you both rock! (that was supposed to be the moral of the story)


~nightflier

dilemma

OK so here I am. 

We are group of 4 people as part of a course project. 3 guys and me. 2 guys are working and the remaining 2 (me and other guy) are full time students.

And a very tricky part of the project requires that we all sit together and scratch our heads to optimize time and output. This working together process can be accomplished in a number of ways.

1. We all Skype.

2. Working guys come to school and we work from there.

3. Me and other guy go to the working guys place and work from there. This requires us to stay over, as they live in far off suburbs. (one of the working guy is a real good friend btw).

And here's what happened.

1. We skyped and worked through screen sharing. It was a chaos. Understanding accents in front of each other is different. But on phone, it can get really tricky to understand what exactly the other person is saying.

2. The working guys came to school, to get some work done. But half our time got wasted in finding a place where people were not getting disturbed cos of our brain storming. We did get some real work done this time. But then the working guys were tired and anxious of missing the shuttle bus to back home every 15 minutes. In short it was an evening full of distractions.

3. We (non working) people also went to the other school campus, so that it would be easier for the working guys to join us. Again travelling time, finding a suitable conference room etc reduced the efficiency.

4. Now we are needed to travel to the suburbs, to finish off the project.

And here's where it all started.

I am normally a flexible person who would not mind working extra hours and staying up late to get work done. So when I told friend 1 and 2 about this, they said, are you sure you want to go and stay over, being the only girl ?

Ummm seriously, this thought had not entered my mind (I do think of myself as a girl :P). I dont have any trust issues (or may be I have, me blogging about it kinda proves it!). The only thing I was concerned about was travelling for 2 hours (yah yah, lazy me!) with my 3 kg inspiron. So the whole only-girl-in-the-group-being-flexible-about-working-and-staying-up-at-a-guys-place thing, has started to make me uncomfortable. There's one side which says WORK is important who doesnt want to have a time crunch at the end and who thinks that, if she doesnt go then they will judge her for being Indian in her attitude (no offence but we are considered orthodox). वैसे मैं भारत के लिए कुछ भी कर सकती हूँ. 

May be I am giving it too much thought. At least now!

And then friend 3 said that 'You can always get work done! But first you should think about being comfortable.' Nice thought, miss practicality. 

As for me, I am still in doldrums over what to do.

Suggestions ?

Btw the project has 30% grade and its real important that we get an A on that one to maintain a good GPA (its a grad school thing, tum nahi samjhoge, non-grad-school-Rahul ;))

~nightflier

P.S. In such classic situations where I am in a dilemma, I normally go by my last minute decisions. I wrote it down, cos I know as girls, we do have to face such situations all the time (ok, at least once in a while).