My Picks from the Year 2008..

Some time back, I was wondering 'which hindi movie would take away the honor for the best Hindi movie of the year 2008?' Now bollywood is all about biggies, the Khans, the Yash Rajs or the Johars. So I thought no use asking myself rhetorical questions. Wait a sec.. I have a blog and I can as well put it all together. So here it is. This is a post all about stuff from the year 2008 that I thought was best and happening. Now, this isn't complete in any way and its only what i liked the most. Apart from the world without, this year personally has been quite an experience for the world within me.. So I have put a few things (randomly) that the year 2008 had for me.

The song of the year : "Kahin to hogi woh". A love track from Jaane tu ya jaane na.

The album : Jaane tu ya jaane na.

The lyrics for a song : 'Kaise mujhe tum mil gaye' (Ghajini), Prasoon joshi.

The actors : Vinay Pathak (Dasvidaniya) and Heath ledger (The Dark Knight).

The movie(s) : English - The Dark Knight and Hindi - Dasvidaniya.

The dialogue : "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain."

The music director : A.R. Rahman. (Jodha akbar, Ada, JTYJN, Yuvvraj, Ghajini).

The sports person : Abhinav Bindra.

The cute (ah!) and the gorgeous : Asin.

The makeover : Aamir Khan.

The real find : Farhan Akhtar (as a singer), Yousuf Pathan (in IPL), Imran Khan (JTYJN).



And now, some of me in 2008..

The book I loved reading : The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan.

The most satisfying moment : Performing the song, kahin to hogi woh (so close to my heart) in front of my colleagues at Hyderabad.

The biggest surprise : Actress Revathy's visit to the University of Hyderabad. It was indeed a pleasure interacting with the gorgeous lady.

The moment of success : My M.Tech. project presentation. Can't believe, how much did I swoon over that.

The bitter moment(s) : Bitter (read as better) ! nah.. its all been going great and even though I had some bitter moments this year, they were all for good and I loved them. (ahem.. what a nerd!!)

The thought I got convinced : If you are clear about what you want. what you need and what you deserve, nothing in life would ever again seem like a bolt from the blue.

I hated saying : 'Good bye' to my friends while relocating.

The dream(s) come true : Not yet (i believe).

The language (not the programming language eh!) I tried (I repeat "I tried") learning : Tamil

The major stride : From university life to work-life.

I danced to the tunes of : 'Mauja hi mauja' and other punjabi tracks in the DJ night @ UoH.

The place I liked visiting : Chennai.

I caught up with : Paresh, Rakesh, Prashanth, Basanti (my high school friends) after like more than nine years. And.. Satya, Hemanth, Dillip, Priyanka (my 11th & 12th std buddies) after seven years.

The movie I connected to : Rock on.


(And this is a big one)..

The best gadget I got myself : (My) MacBook *.. :-)



Why so serious ??

From Untitled Album

I wish you all love, joy, peace and hope this New Year, 2009. May the dawn bring with it everlasting joy, prosperity and moments you'll cherish. The new horizons await you..


*All bragging rights NOT reserved. And btw, an "Apple" a day does keep the doctor away.. :-)

Soul'd out..

With so many things happening so fast, I only can say that the year has been no less than a roller-coaster ride for me. It was good, it was bad and it was ugly at times. Now that I don't have a series of exams to write or the compulsory classes to attend, I can say I am no more a "university student". I have got no more of university going life left for this year marked a start of new but different phase in my life although i believe education is for life and not just for making a living. It was a mixture of many feelings as the part of me was still unsure if it was ready to make the phase transition. Now i believe it couldn't have come at a better time. The past couple of months that saw a different kind of tsunami in the markets with the global economic meltdown making sure none of the private sectors were left unaffected. I wonder what is next ? Worst even was the terror attacks in Mumbai. How much more monstrous can an act of terror be ?

The year so far has been full of surprises for me, although I am not sure if I wanted them. I must say I had a very trying year with me not realizing the cause or the effect of the sequence of events unfolding in my life. Someone rightly said, God will always test a good man, but will never let him down. I know God has never let me down but HIS tests are never that obvious, are they ? They leave me completely soul'd out yet they never make me feel a lost soul. At times, it was me being the sole reason for discomfort to some. May be the helping part of me was equally busy hurting others, may be I was not being myself. I am not the sort of person to wallow in self-pity but only I know, how much did I hate myself then. Was it me ? Rubbing people up the wrong way. I don't know. All I know is that I have taken myself out with two words to myself.. "move on". It is not always what you see is what you get (or is it ?) and I have almost learnt to live with these surprises. Sometimes exciting and sometimes depressing. There is something about them that make life more fascinating. For some others, the twists and turns of the roller-coaster ride that life takes one through leaves one with a bitter and 'I-better-forget-that' kinda experience. Thats life for you. It can never be predictable, can it be ? But then, God doesn't play dice either, nor does he want us to i believe for the theory of probability unfortunately (or fortunately) can not be extended to the real life. Its the theory of living in the present that i believe in.

No matter how much the past may bother one, the fact is the past is unchangeable. The past is supposed to make us not repeat our own mistakes and I have learnt it in a hard way. At times circumstances have demanded me to act strange (may be even weird) and me not having learnt from my mistakes, didn't wimp out of it. There's many things i wish i didn't do. Now I know one mustn't make the same mistake twice and if one is clever enough he would learn from others' mistakes too. Future, in my belief is all about achieving one's goals and dreams. Dreams have their own place in everyone's life. Of what use is a life if only it is lived without any dreams. They set a standard for oneself and they have the quality that drives one to turn them into reality. Future isn't something that one needs to wait and watch it getting unfolded. Its all about make it happen and fate isn't blamed for anything for they believe they make their own fate. One can never deny the fact that, the past has a definite influence in one's life and the present in turn makes way for future. There has to be a balance maintained though to make the most now and that.. happens when one lives in the present. Nothing happens in life without a reason, be it the people we meet or the happiness or sadness that some incidents bring in our life.. it is only to make us stronger. Some might believe, life just hurts all the time. Oh, yeah ? Then one should picture one's life with only happier times with no bad patches. I bet one can never appreciate the brightness of the day unless one has seen the darkness that night brings with it. Its only one chance we have got to live this life with choice left to us. Life isn't all about just living it the way it wants us to. It is also about showing life the way we want to live it and the path we take matters the most for a gun can be used to kill a terrorist or to take an innocent's life. Perceptions do make a difference to our lives. All the hurt and agony that life may bring in one's life can never equal the sweetness of a single moment of joy. Its not enough to accept life for what it is. One must also learn to accept life for what it is not and surrender oneself completely to the Almighty..

I m alive..

Well, it seems like allz going good with me but for my blog. Yes, I am alive though its been ages since I posted something here (and that really makes me feel bad). Hope i get over this laziness of mine. Now there is something I (rather my blog has) received that made me wonder 'wowww, where did that come from ?' Its the award for my blog. The Freedom and Independent award from Barath. I dont know if I deserve it though but thanks a lot Barath for considering this blog worthy of this award. You do have a lovely blog dude and it has remained (and will always remain) an inspiration for my blog.


I would like to forward this award to the following bloggers.

1) Ajay - In love with life. A friend, techie, a musician and a blog buddy.. an inspiring blog indeed.

2) Karthik Prashant - The corner coffee table. A personal blog with a view of life from a different angle, a lovely blog brother.

3) Madhumita - I, Me, Myself. One of the most beautiful and colorful blogs. Simply superb.

4) Validus varon (a.ka. Fortis viator) - Chronicles of Fortis. A friend, a writer with a difference. Dude, your blog rocks.

5) Rampy - Just a thought. A techie, friend and a blog buddy. I don't miss a thing of this one.