why blog ?

It is my happy place. Despite the rants and some outbursts (they are here to remind me to not get affected next time btw ;)) I try to keep it happy.


By not posting some utterly negative stuff which I face in real life. Not because posting it will make it any less real. Sometimes its better to not spread it around. Negativity is easier to catch on. Optimism takes time. And I would never ruin the eternal optimist in me because of few (!!) off days. Ironically, on really sad, way off days, the posts remind me of the person I could be, rather than the person I should be. Things, always work the other way round :)


By preserving myself I am just proving to myself I am not THAT self-destructive. Better to have a reminder of any night-mare as a stronger, better self. 


Also, who doesn't have the narcissistic trait ? This is the best form of self indulgence that I know :P


And I have been a serious nerd all life. This is a proof of that. How ? Only I know ;)


Anywho, all said and done, if and when I do write a book, all this will be immensely helpful as the milestones of the wondrous journey that started 26 years ago.


A really really vain, filmy part of me, wants my kids to know me (the happy part of me at least ?) through the blog. (ala rani mukerji in KKHH ..chorus aaaa-ing in background :D)


Oh and I have really nice people around me, so blogging about them and what I learn from them and the knowledge sharing becomes a compulsive outcome.


~nightflier


P.S. Since I am self-aware (sometimes its annoying!) and observe myself, I know this has not been the happiest of places. But I have clung on to my patronus(es) and hope to keep the essence alive :)

The finale

Pre script - this is about the last harry potter movie. If you have still not seen it or not much big a fan, then kindly avoid reading further :)


'It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller.' 
Quote from here - Alan Rickman's words.


I love JKR's series. I love how it glorifies friendships, valor, ability to make mistakes and love. I love the fact that, I read them when I was younger, less cynical, more idealistic and naive. Because every time I read the books they make me believe more. In stories, friendships, people, life in general.


Moving towards the movies, to tell you the truth, I don't like the adaptations much. I won't at least rave about them. From what I have read and seen, Harry Potter seems to be one of the mediocre ones. May be because, I really love the books and expected too much. Or simply may be the directors and my vision did not match :P
Anywho, point is, thus I decided to keep my expectations at home and try to like the movie for being a movie and not a book. You know what, it worked. I had goosebumps all over me every time something thrilling happened. I cried copiously through those stupid 3D glasses when they showed dead bodies of Fred Weasely, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. I laughed heartily when Minnerva Macgonagall proclaimed she had wanted to cast the Piertotum Locomotor charm for the longest time, in a time of utter distress and ruckus. I almost wanted to shield Harry when Lily died for him. I felt deeply in love, when I saw Severus grieve over Lily's dead body. I also wanted to get up and defend the castle of Hagwarts and cheer for Neville when he said those courageous words in front of an army of death eaters. I wanted to hug Albus Dumbledore, when he met Harry at King's Cross. To say to him, greater good had been achieved. (oh btw, my copy of deathly hallows reads, For the Greater Good. Wrote it myself, as soon as I got the book in hands :P)


If a movie was able to evoke so many wonderful emotions in me, I personally think then it was a good movie. 
And the casting felt impeccable, at least in the final installation. Personally I think, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Maggie Smith as Minnerva Macgonagall, Ralph Fiennes (Absolutely love him!!) as Lord Voldemort, Gary Oldman as Serius Black, Emma Thompson (love her too!!) as Sybill Trelawney are perfectly cast. And everyone else seemed to suit the roles too. Plus its been 10 years now.


The special effects, where needed were good enough. They could have had a better dragon though. Anywho I liked the movie. And it satisfied me, because as the 7th book was action packed, so was the movie. From start to end.

And if you are planning to watch it in 3D, then please DON'T. I beg of you. My reasons -

1. 3D is a rip off. You pay more for what, 100 times used pair of heavy, nose hurting, uncomfortable glasses (at least in India. The glasses in the US are better, if that was a comfort) ?

2. It's BAD for your eyes. It took my eyes more than 5 minutes to get adjusted to, today. I could just see blurry, shadowy images.

3. The movie did not even have any shots which needed 3D. In fact the darkness imposed because of the glasses, made the already darker movie tones even more gloomy!!

4. And if you want to read the experts, then please do so here - http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/01/post_4.html

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/why-i-hate-3-d-and-you-should-too.html

Case closed I say ? :) Good! Now I can stop ranting and start making sense :)

I recommend it in 2D!!!!


~nightflier


P.S. And brother who had taken to reading the series on my insistence, finished the 7th book on friday!! Only after that did we decide to watch the movie :)

fast and (furious?)

All through life we see that people who are slow in any given activity get punished. Of course, it's subjective. If you write slowly, you never finish your exams in time and suffer from comparatively less marks, affecting your acads. If you talk slowly, people get bored easily. If you walk slowly, you always get left behind in a crowd. If you grasp slowly, someone else eats the cake and benefits. 


No. I am not listing the benefits of being fast. I am not even criticizing the punishment for being slow. (After all we live in a world of relativity, and fast and slow are just that. Relative terms. The important part is being comfortable in your skin. Which can be left for some other blog post). 
I write this, because I feel horrid.


Since childhood, I have been a speed-lover. I wrote fast (which made me finish off exams well within time out, often with room for extra writing). I read fast (I read an entire library in a single summer.). I walk, talk, learn, grasp fast too. Of course haste (cos of the speed) has proven a folly too. But none of the loss suffered has been more than a trickle. Because, I always got chances. Thankfully. And I am still comfortable with speed. Also, I think I am considerably patient too.


The other day, while in the market, I lost Aai. Twice. She is a slow walker (when you compare her to me!!). But god only knows why I lost her. It wasn't dramatic. The losing and finding. The thought that why I could not slow myself down to match her speed bothered me. A lot. I don't hate myself for walking fast. I don't like the fact that I could not be thoughtful enough.


May be thoughtfulness should be made compulsory. Especially when you are constantly rewarded for being faster and faster.


~nightflier

The Royal Wedding

Pre-script : the title of the post should have been 'The best friend's (III) wedding'. But this one suits better, as you will know why :)


In between a horrible work week (in terms of volume and dependencies) and stupid rains, I was really looking forward to Pradnya's wedding! Yes despite the mental and physical dead-ness. (They had to pick me up from office itself!!)


A brief showdown of my history with Pradnya. We have popularly had great chemistry, being the only class mates who stayed in hostel. With the inherent stubborn attitude, things were not always rosy with us. But we bonded well in spite of our differences and have stayed close friends for 9 years now :) Life has taken us places, literally and figuratively. We have been to abysmal depths and awesome highs and its always been a comfort to have her by my side :) (and vice versa too ? )


Anywho, coming back to the wedding!! The journey was super different as we had respective parents along. I have not traveled with my parents and my friends' parents being together. So this journey turned into a major kitchen-talk and gossip-fest. Well the mothers could not resist noticing how we take them for granted and gossiping about it IN FRONT OF us!!!! Poor driver! Must have felt really put of place :P
I enjoyed both, cos I like cooking and manage a kitchen myself and the other part too, cos aai no longer feels like I am the only one who does't listen to her at times :P (Come on aren't all daughters like that ? ;-))
So the journey which was a 6 hour long drive felt like a stimulating bonding session.


When we reached the venue, we had already missed the events like engagement and haldi. Thanks to our amazing navigation skills :-/ We got to have the best dinner though, cos we dined with the bride and groom :D
We clicked loads of pics with mother-daughter poses and tried to make up for time lost :)


It was decided that all the girls would stay over at Pradnya's and not at the hotel, which just made the rather dull night (for us cos we had missed all the events) funner. Many many folds!!! Once at Pradnya's after taking care of next day's preparations and helping pradnya clean up, we indulged in loads of girl gossip. From group to one on one. Which is always fun and enlightening! :P

Next day we responsibly reached the venue on time with the bride and got back to get ready ourselves. Little did we know that what all grandeur awaited us! (I wore my own saree FYI, just a little help from aai for the pallu tuck :))

Tutari :)

There was Peshwai welcome for all the guests, with flower petals showered on us by girls clad in Nauvari sarees and putting haldi kunkoo on our forehead (I was on a office call so I was saved! :P) Oh btw Nauvari sarees are very traditional and are becoming rarer these days owing to not many knowing how to wear one.
There were guys with Tutaari (another traditional musical instrument..to listen go here) wearing pheta and dhotar (called dhoti in hindi). Very traditional and royal stuff indeed!

Amid all these, the groom made a very royal entry (on an elephant) and swept off the bride to the stage to wed her officially :) Mangalashtaka were chanted, akshata were showered and thus they got married. Do you realize I did not miss any of these, like last time :P


A lot of stage-photo-shooting happened. Amazing food was eaten. And we had to leave without witnessing any other rituals/ceremonies cos I HAD TO WORK!! sob..


A few more pics to end the post..



Here's wishing both the bride and groom a lifetime of happiness and sunshine :)










~nightflier

We - the colorful people

Sometimes I wonder, how come such weirdly different people like us are a family.
Again, not in a questioning way, just that plain ‘we’ amuse me way.


When we go for an outing, each has a different thing on their mind. Aai is constantly worried about if such and such wait will annoy baba (dad). Baba is worried over, oh so I have eaten chicken today, shall I go to the temple ? (He isn’t the most practicing religious person around, but then for Aai may be he thought so as she is a vegetarian and sometimes you practice it or not, such questions do arise). Bro is super pissed with me, as I forgot my cell phone at home (in my defense, had kept it for charging in the kitchen and between the rafa-djoker coin toss I lost track). My mind is  still in the match. I desperately want to be in front of the tv asap.


Anywho, we somehow scramble out of the temple, after much debate, yes publicly about how no one cares if you ate chicken (man, are we rude!!). The darshan happens quite peacefully. Once out, baba says we are going to do some saree shopping. An almost visible thought cloud hanging over my brain (which if read or spoken aloud) reads like this – WTH!! Meanwhile, aai who knows, a part of me is stuck at home dilly-dallies. I say in a stern tone, you decide what to do, don't put the decision on me. So 'all' oblige and walk towards the Saree shop (apparently its a shop whose 'AD' baba has seen on TV. Well, that's cute :)) 


And lost between the variety of cotton thats heaped onto us, we are a family again. We buy the gift. Baba makes aai buy one. Brother thinks I should buy one too. Heck I want to buy one too. Cottons are just amazing! I get rid of such thoughts immediately, as I won't be doing any *wishful* shopping till the year end (Yes, its a kind of a challenge). Bhel puri happens. Yes, like childhood days. Albeit we are the parents and are telling the bhel puri wala bhaiyya, to not make it too spicy. Wine and dine happens too. Like grown ups.
We come home. Djoker has sung. Peace has been made. Sleep is sweeter that night.


~nightflier

make way for THE girl :)

The friend who is (rather was) known as 'the pregnant friend' on this blog, gave birth to a baby girl this morning!


And despite the genuine happiness when a friend starts a new journey of life, this feels special :) May be because I got to spend a lot of time with the proud mother :)


And you know what, the child was born into the night (not exactly, you can say wee hours of morning)!!! Now I am going to ask the parents to name her after the night ;)


Wow, I am quite a bully for a newly crowned Mavshi (Mausi) :D


But this is such a happy friday..Chocolates for everyone please :)


~nightflier

I wonder...

As I stare out of the window, listening to the rustle of the leaves, the nearby chirping of the queer looking bird, velocity of the first rain drops hitting the ground, I wonder..

I wonder if you wonder too. How strange strings pull people together and equally stranger strings make them drift apart. Why do we fight for stuff. I ask a lot of questions. I dont necessarily seek answers. A validation of sorts I seek of reality. Or I seek totems may be. Totem. Which would yell into my ears, oh yes, silly girl, this is not your wild imagination, this is real. 

I talk in riddles. Unlike tom riddle. Oh I feel silly already.

Aai says, they named me after the night, as I was born into one. Most people find sleep in the night. I find an internal energy to pull myself together. And all these years to the question, 'so are you a morning person or a night' my answers of 'oh without doubt I am a morning person' sound so so silly now. This is epiphanical. Finally finding meaning out of stuff and to be able to define oneself. Or finding oneself ?

On answers of being a morning person, I never sleep beyond 6-7 hours. I used to wake up early, much to the envy of roommates who would rather complete their daily quota of 8-9 hours of sleep than give up on it, to give me company for chaha (tea) and nashta. KT has often wondered and questioned if I ever feel sleep deprived. I guess I now have an answer.

In the background Jagjit Singh is also asking a lot of questions.

hai janam ka ye rishta to badalta kyon hai..

courtesy - google

I hope he finds answers soon, like I did. To one question at least.

and Vivaldi's spring is playing too, again in the background - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vivaldi

Also in the background are, calvin and hobbes, smiling, talking and walking to god knows where. Nice pic to part on, no ? :)

~nightflier

P.S. I don't believe in definitions :)