Taare Zameen Par

It's been less thaan 2 hours since i've watched the movie Taare Zameen Par and I couldn't resist myself blogging about it and breaking my long hiatus of about 6 months on the same.. One corner of my heart I'm afraid if I would be able to express myself fully cuz I'm penning about a masterpiece of a film.. Truly it is!

Drawn towards the trailers released for the movie, wanted to watch the movie atleast once! Unexpectedly, today got a chance to watch it, ALONE!! The first time I'm going to watch a film all alone by myself.. i would have denied the idea of watching a movie alone for any other, but for this movie I was decided to go for it, for I couldn't hold back the excitement.. Reached Satyam Cinemas for the special show an hour back.. Walked to the ticket counter.. I wasn't surprised when i heard all the tickets were sold out but for one.. And the last one was my ticket!! Felt too lucky.. Couldn't wait for an hour to watch the film..

The film is all about an 8 year old kid, Ishaan, who faces difficulty in recognizing letters and numbers, dyslexic, as they call it.. He rather finds his world in colorful stuff, fishes, dogs, etc.. His parents fail to recognise this and they put him in a boarding school hoping things would get alright. Things turn worse as he suffers his separation from his family and his academics are low as always.. One fine day, a temporary arts teacher arrives infecting joy and colors into the students. He gets to understand ishaan slowly and how he helps him out is the story..

Ishaan played by Darsheel Safary is one genius of a kid.. what a brilliant and mind-blowing performance has he given! i do not remember any child actor in the recent past who gave such an endearing, magnetic performance on any medium.....His eyes speak volumes.. His priceless expressions, toothy smile has won hearts.. Darsheel's little shoulders has carried the entire film with ease that at no point you feel being pulled along with the film.. May be that's the reason why Aamir Khan chose to move the first half of the film without his appearance itself!

Aamir khan has done a great job as a meticulous director and a perfectionist.. He has shone bright in this film as a director compared to being an actor.. Kudos to him for venturing such films! Sureshot it's gonna be the biggest grosser of the year for it appeals to all genre of audience..

All characters right from Ishaan's mom, brother,dad, Ishaan's friend rajan to all others have given a straight-from-heart performance..

Music has a dash of simplicity and innocence as the script.. Prasoon Joshi has penned the lyrics.. Gems!!!

This is the first ever time i'm writing a review for a movie, cuz i'm not able to get the film outta my head.. I think I've almost covered what the audience will want to know.. (hope it's not a spoiler) But still I feel that I've expressed much less of what I've experienced.. For a spectator like audience, the film would have been good and clean, but for audiences who identified themselves with the characters in the movie they would have been at a loss of words to describe about the movie.. I couldn't stop tears rolling down my cheeks at many instances (especially for the title song and 'maa' song).. Tears not because the film was tragic but because you are too overwhelmed that you can't stop expressing yourself through tears! I'm sure even if the see the film for the nth time, it would leave my eyes moist..
No wonder the film received a standing ovation when it got over !!! I've never seen any film where the people are still glued to their seats till the credits were rolling !

Films like these defying the usual mixture of romance, action and comedy comes but once in a while .. It is films like these that bring accolades for the Indian film industry worldwide .. Watch it for the lack of melodrama, watch it for the performances, watch it for the sheer genuineness that the filmmakers try to show!!!

Hats off to the Taare Zameen Par team for having given a path breaking film of a lifetime!!!

I'm Jus Lovin It...

Dunno to what do i attribute this exuberant state of my mind this week....

• Romantic Weather , awesome one.. isn't it..? dunno when it rains, when it shines. rains while sun shines:) that's the one of them in 'things i love' list in orkut.
• i've not missed my morning shuttle this week at all .. last shuttle for the morning is at 10.05 a.m. (even cognizant follows the extra '5 mins' stuff).. yesterday i went all my way slowly to catch the MTC bus at 10.20 a.m. and there i find my shuttle there.. Wowie!!
• i've had enough time for myself to while away, eat, sleep (tat has become a luxury these days) and smile :)

Lots more to list.. even the smallest of things.. err.. mostly only small things !! they've made my day..

"Ask yourself if u are happy and then onwards u cease to be happy"

i jus dunno who the great man is who said this.. but this is what i remember at this point of time.. lemme not count too much of my blessings.. jus wanted to let u knw that i'm having a splendid week :)

ToUcHWoOd!!!

Of Books and Me..

I've always had a great rapport with books right from my the time i realised i 'existed'...

• short stories
• absolutely long ones
• poems
• novels
• epics
• wat not!(no bragging) (but neva sth crap!)

i cud literally say that i grew with books... (now, don't relate to any panduish stuff.. plz...) the balcony in my terrace was a haven for me.. Leaning over the walls, in a small space, leaves of the coconut trees brushing aside, i had more than a conducive environment in my childhood days while i had books at my hand.. i've laughed rolling on the floor, teased the characters wishing they cud hear me, felt attached to many of them, cried n soon wiped away my tears not to be seen, lived some of the characters in the books for days together, was ready to spend an entire night to complete a book, bunked classes to read books and it goes on... words can't come between the bond i had developed with books.. College days came.. A fun package altogether.. Had lotsa ways to spend time... but still then i couldn't resist clinging to books cuz it was the better part of me.. i felt complete when i read books.. tat was until june 19th 2006

today is june 19th 2007

i've not even completed reading even a single book outta the 4 books i had bought..

• Catch 22
• Gone With the Wind
• Winning
• City Of Joy

And still more i had downloaded from the net a whole lot of books that counts to nearly 8 GB..

Not even OnE have i completed reading ! huh...

Lack of Time(that's a kinda lame excuse) due to joining this profession is what i'm attributing to half the stuff i've left undone..

i get up in the morning looking forward to read xyz novel in pdf i had left open and half way through it, on my office system .. and there i go giving the brightest of my smiles to ppl i meet on my way.. i login to the system.. there's is my pdf smiling at me.. :)
wait for sometime dear book, i'll check my mails...
and after that the day isn't mine ..


onsite co-rdinator: do resolve the issue and mail me the results by eod, meaning end of day (whose eod??.. cuz, sometimes the Indian Stretchable Time goes until his eod)

team lead: why so late kavitha? we could have called our onsite co-ordinator had u come before ten.. anyways, resolve the issue assigned to u by end of the day..

proj lead: so, kavitha.. have u prepared the quality docs(to hell with 'em) that i told u yesterday?
CMMI audit is jus a week away..

me: @ oc : sure mr.oc.. will keep you updated on the results.
@team lead: don't worry.. we'll call him this evening(wat's the use!)
@ proj lead : ok.. .. worthless job again.. huh..

i huff.. puff.., hunt here and there for resolving the code, and ahh.. finally i get it!! Gotcha :)
i solved it.. i solved it.. ..

time: between 6 p.m. this day to until (stretchable)a.m next day..

by that time, my pdf had been lost under the innumerable files that i had kept open for whole day long without reading a word... sigh! i feel bad... (that's the least i can do..), catch the cab back home, fall fast asleep...

But then frm today it isn't gonna be my regular 19th june '06 to 19th june '07 days..

i've started a book and will finish it asap.. i am not gonna name the book for you now.. but, will be back with a blog soon, sharing my views on it .. :)

Microsoft Certified...

I don't see myself a few years down the line as the

• World's nth best Programmer (!?!?!?)
• With software certifications from the world's renouned organizations
• Project Manager (make that ' few years' as 10)
• Or atleast a software techie

Then why the hell did i take Microsoft Certification and registered for a few more certifications??? That includes 3 Microsoft certification and 1 Oracle certification...

One day my team lead calls me and says that i shud co-ordinate with the team to take Microsoft Certifications to become a Microsoft Certified Professional(MCP)(!).. 3 MCPs would make you an MCAD, a Micosoft Applications Developer(!!!)...

i registered for the 1st MCP jus for the heck of it along with my team mates... then i had to choose a date for the exam... i hadn't thought which date wud be convenient for me so that i can prepare enuf(to pass atleast!), or atleast register with others on the same day they have booked(so tat they can 'help' me at the exam ;)).. I did Nothing of it..

i registered on June 7th.. i loved the date June 7th.. don't ask me why.. i do have some days which i love them for no reason at all.. likewise this is one among the list.... :) the date for the exam was registered and then forgotten..

so, forgot all abt the exam until june 5th.. then it struck me tat i shud atleast attempt to prepare.. being in the blessed production support project, things never go my way and i always have issues popping up and me hitting my head all night solving it.. thus go my days.. so, no time to prepare for the exam, cuz i've to start right from the scratch.

i would now like to tell u abt the concept of 'dumps', the word on everyone's lips as soon as they've registered themselves for any certification exam..this 'dump'contains all possible(or even the only) questions that would appear for ur certification exam.. they are sort of open secrets.. i got that dump frm my team mate.. jus 116 qns it has got..

Microsoft conducts a certification exam and i can become a Microsoft Certified Professional by jus cramming these 116 questions.. cool!

the D day came .. June 7th.. Last night i came home at arnd 12 .. Fell fast asleep.. Woke up religiously at 6.30 a.m.. Back to bed by 6.45.. Made up my mind and finally woke up at 7.30.. I've got my exam at 2.00 PM and i've not even had the feel of how will the questions look like.. I picked up all seriousness, took the printed booklet of the 'dump', counted the pages in it.. 163.. my mind calculates now.. 1 page 1 min... so, in abt 3 hrs i'll be able to finish it.. tat's gud! then, i called my team lead that morning and told him that i'll come to office only after my exam.. so all set .. and now ready to study....

i study for the first few hours.. by that time the clock struck 11.. clueless! not even finished half of it.. then i find that no way it's gonna work out studying each and very question line by line with the time i've got.. so, cram the rest of the questions to the fullest.. No second thoughts.. there i go, and when i finish mugging things up, the clock struck 1 .... i've have to have my bath, then my lunch, and also Revise!!!

i can never mend my ways.. right frm my college days, this is my way of living.. very simple..
Fritter your time first. Always rush at the last moment...

Now i run along the length and breadth of my house and in 10 mins i'm ready set to leave.. Check list now:
1. bring a photocopy of ur driving licence/PAN card/ Passport/..... (i've got my licence.. no photocopy) rush rush..
2.ID card

now no time to stop in front of any photocopying shop.. left things to its way and i take my 'Spirit', speed along the roads and when it is ten mins to 2 o clock, i reached the exam center.. that is TCO Cognizant office.. i literally run towards the block where i hope the photocopier will be there.. And thank God it is! took two copies of my driving licence and 2 o clock on the dot there i am at the test center.. phew!

finished the formalities, signed into the test.. Totally 44 questions 160 mins.. There i Go!

Believe me.. i never looked into any question... i jus saw the answers, clicked them, (i remebered the answers pakka while cramming them), kept on moving to the next. there were totally 44 questions and finally after clicking the 44th answer.. i see the time taken.. Hardly 20 mins.. And all the questions were frm the Dump!!! Now i decide to review them.. it is only now that i am looking/reading the questions.. each of the questions run to a paragraph and i lose patience now.. i again review the answers and submit .. The pass percentage is 70.. And, i get my scores online.. it is 86.2%.. isn't that cool!! studying for half a day for a certification exam and making it to 86%!! i am damn sure that i've clicked all answers as provided by the dump.. expected a 100%.. ;) but then, dumps have some wrong answers too.. forgiven!

and i go to my office now.. everyone congratulates me.. i tell my Project Manager(PM) abt my completion of the certification..

me: Srini, i've completed my MCP

PM: Good Congrats Kavitha.. MCP in what?

me: SQL Server, Srini.

PM: Fine.. So, any SQL Server related project work comes in our team, i'll allocate it to u..

me: eh!!??!!??!!

He sends a mail to the entire offshore team and to the onsite team abt my 'success' in this exam.. as usual people ask me for a treat and i deny it :)

But at one corner of my mind, i have this thought..what's the use of a certification when you haven't prepared for it, studied in the real sense, and put that knowledge into use in ur future?

i have no answers for it.. i still have 3 more certification exams to take:)

Think before you Pounce...

i got a forward mail:

'chk out the IIT gal rocking at IIT divas.. awesome one!!!'
http://www.youtopia.in/viewfile/4b57dd4bc29c669a8ff62bcd1a623413



I like to watch this video over and over again for more than one reasons.. fresh music, peppy anglo-hindi lyrics, and yes aahhhhhhmmmm watch the gal on the board with lilting movements and the poise she has.. seriously, her hips don't lie!

Cool that she was a student participating in the IIT music fest.. and, i jus fell for her with all those reasons above..

Then, jus a day later i saw one of my colleagues listening to the same song, watching the same gal but in a different ambience on the screen with a PAK Xclusive stamp on it.. now i get it... okies... it's a pakistani pop album and she has sung for it..so, she is not a student.. she is a pop singer!

so, lemme chk out this video again.. here's how i feel..
why is a pop singer presenting herself as an amateur dancer on the stage??
does she look tat very professional???
hhmmmmmmmmm..... i seriously wonder why do i think this way.. how could i contradict myself abt the same song sung by the same female which i adored a day back??


I see something/someone(sth/sb) and admire it for 'n' number of reasons.. and, when i get to know more about that sth/sb, i put them on a pedestal and start criticising it by giving 'n+1' reasons..

This happens often in our day to day lives.. we always relate(expect) the actions of any person to the image he/she has created in a group/society. aren't we jus dictating mentally as to how their actions shud be..? how sick!

wat if she is a student or pop singer??
who cares.. doesn't she enthrall us with her innocent voice?
doesn't she look good on stage with her movements?
doesn't she feel the pulse of audience?
tat is all that matters.... :)

and here we go

"i wish u could see urself the way i see ya,

u shine juss like a star mahia

cuz ur my only pyar mahia

maine tujh ko he dil may basaya

tu hi hai mera pyar mahia

tu hi hai mera pyar mahia

tu nay aisee adda say mujhay dekha

dil ho gya nisaar mahia

tu hi ha mera pyar mahia x2

tu nay aisee adda say mujhay dekha

dil ho gya nisaar mahia

tu hi ha mera pyar mahia x2

y dont u tell me mahi

ma mid at ease

how do u wish to see the loyalty in me

appnee wafa iqrar kya karoon

mar jaoon hudh ko jo tujh say juda karoon

tu nay aisee adda say mujhay dekha

dil ho gya nisaar mahia

tu hi ha mera pyar mahia x2

mahai u have set ma soul on fire

i felt juss like a rose mahia

when i was in ur arms mahia

i cant imagine that like without u where i'd be

i'm ur lady i'll go where ever u take me

terey beghair jeenay ki khaish nahin

main terey saath hoon lay chal mujh ko kahin

tu nay aisee adda say mujhay dekha

dil ho gya nisaar mahia

tu hi ha mera pyar mahia x2

mahia u've set ma soul on fire

i felt juss like a rose mahia

when i was in ur arms mahia

i don't care where we go or stay or what we do

ill take u r bain consider becuz i love u

jaisay bhi haal main rakhoo gay main rahoon

dukh bhi milay to pyar main haans kay sahoon

tu nay aisee adda say mujhay dekha

dil ho gya nisaar mahia

tu hi ha mera pyar mahia x2

i wish u could see urself the way i see ya

u shine juss like a star mahia

ur my only pyar mahia

maine tujhh ko he dil may bhasaya

tu hi mera pyar mahia X2

mahia u've set ma soul on fire

i felt juss like a rose mahia

when i was in ur arms mahia"

I write this blog as i'm watching the video for the nth time.. Each time i see it afresh and that never tires me :)

Is this my FiRsT Post??

Listening to 'Maahia' by Annie,
Having a deliverable in a few days for which i haven't worked in the past one week and whiling away my time till this moment,
Bugged by my PL prying into my cozy corner(my cubicle i meant :)) every now and then for a not-at-all-worth document,
Having a petty misunderstanding with my colleague-turned-friend,
Eyes drooping the moment i think of how to spend every millisecond of the left over two hours at onsite-offshore status call,
Two more issues during production support popping up,
Ogling now and then at my _ _ (now, don't ask me whoz this;)),
Having no option for another coffee break(tho i don't take it, i jus be there for killing time) of the day cuz our floor pantry guys have left for the day,
Exhausting every available way to make the clock strike ten(tat's wen i have my last shuttle),
there is the birth of my First Blog.. :)

i wished to start my first blog, sitting right in front of my lappy afresh, ideas blossoming, thoughts gushing ahead , and finally a conclusion saying 'Hi ppl! I feel happy to be a part of this blogspot.. blah.. blah.. blah'

so, now wat is that something that is striking me???Some of the most important(??)/ good(?!? c'mon)/ (will someone give me the right adjective as to how i can refer to my blogspot???).. okies lemme call it 'much awaited'(by me!)... No digression..
So, some of the 'much awaited' things don't come in a package of pink roses, lovely ambience, exuberant mood, and with all the lovely things on earth(raindrops on roses and whispers on kittens..) like the way i was waiting to create my blogspot..
boredom, frustration, not-got-anymore-to-lose situations too can be the drive for doing / the happening of something 'much awaited'...